Beauty and His Beast [MxM] (UNEDITED)
Chapter 28

Fortis POV

"Your mother?" He asked as he tilted his head and looked at me with those beautiful blue eyes of his.

"She's not much of a people person that's why she lives so deep in the woods. I come and see her now and then, keep her company and that." I replied as we reached the place I had been wanting to bring him for weeks.

"So this is where you've been going all this time." He said as he looked at the little hut in front of us.

"Have you been watching me?" I asked and smirked at him as he turned a bright shade of red and tired to look at everything around us.

"Observing. Not watching. Observing." He stated causing me to shake my head as I pressed a kiss on his temple and walked ahead holding his hand until I reached the door.

I hadn't even touched the door yet when it opened, causing a smile to appear as she stuck her head out. Somehow, she had always known whenever I was here even without me alerting her.

"Took you a while. I see you've brought someone" she said in that sweet motherly voice that had always soothed me over the years.

"This is Ares." I answered and gestured to the beautiful man standing next to me who had suddenly lost all sense of his previous valor, now replaced with a shy front that made me just want to grab him and kiss the life out of him.

"Uhm, Hello." He greeted making my mother smile widely as she opened the door and took him into a hug which he clearly was not expecting since he looked at me wide eyed and mouthed at me asking me what he should do.

I chuckled and shrugged, shaking my head as he hugged my mother back, smiling when she pulled away. She held the sides of his face and looked at him while she too smiled.

"You really are as beautiful as they claim." She said making him widen his eyes and look at me.

"You know who I am?" He asked to which she laughed and pinched his cheek as she walked inside.

"Son, there is not a single person who does not know who are." She answered as she led us to her seating area where Ares and I sat next to each other as we spoke.

All the while I had watched and observed him. He seemed quite comfortable and at ease conversing with my mother, occasionally laughing at something she would say.

"You're a healer." He asked, although it sounded more like a statement than a question. She smiled back at him as she sipped her tea before she lowered her cup.

"I am. I was the one who delivered him." She replied as she smiled in my direction.

"Wow. You delivered Fortis. What was he like as a baby?" he asked with awe in his eyes as he eagerly waited for her response.

"Fortis.. A beautiful name. Quite befitting." She replied smiling at me before she turned back to Ares and answered his questions.

We stayed a while longer, having lunch with her before we bit farewell and swore oaths that we would return soon.

We walked back, hand in hand as he held the bag of tea herbs she had given him since he claimed it was the best tea he had ever tasted.

"She's nice. I like her." He said after a while, causing me to smile as I placed a kiss on the side of his head.

"She's not your real mother is she?" He asked after a while and looked ahead, almost as if he didn't want to see the discomfort on my face at his question.

"What gave it away?" I asked as I turned to him and smiled at him.

"Well for one, she's actually nice." He replied to which I fake gasped and pretended to be hurt by his statement which brought laughter from him. Such laughter that ignited warmth deep within my heart.

"I'm actually very nice if you must know." I replied and pulled him against my chest, wrapping my arms around his waist while he chuckled and wrapped his arms around my neck.

"That you are" he replied as he chuckled.

"She's not my biological mother, but she's the only mother I have ever known. She raised me and taught me everything I know." I replied to his earlier question and watched as he smiled at me and placed his hand on my cheek, running his thumb across it.

"I never knew my real mother. She gave me up when I was born. Never knew why either. When I was a kid I wondered why, but now I just don't. It's not something that bothers me anymore." I added and shrugged as I looked at him.

"Well I think you turned out perfect. Regardless." He answered as he smiled at me and pressed a kiss against the tip of my nose.

"You may not have had the life that most people did, but you became someone so much better than most people I know. And I don't understand it myself, but you make me question everything I always thought I knew." He said as he looked into my eyes.

"I like you Fortis. For who are. You're different and I don't mean it in the way that everyone says it. I like who you are, how you make me feel. I always thought I knew what I wanted and yet when I'm with you, it's like all those things don't matter and I only see you." He said smiling at me.

"You always have a way of saying all these things that leave me with nothing to reply." I said as I felt this lump in my throat that I hadn't felt in years.

"I'm glad I knock you off your heels." He answered as he smirked at me and pressed a kiss to my lips before he pulled away and pressed his forehead against mine.

We walked the rest of the way back in silence, fingers laced, just enjoying each other's company and that alone was enough. We didn't even need to speak, just walking side by side, feeling his presence next to me made me feel like I had everything in the world. That nothing else was worth thinking about but him.

We walked back to the castle, entering it through the hole I had made years ago with the sole purpose of going to see my mother. We walked until we reached the doors of my room where I felt him stop. I too stopped and turned to look at him as he looked at the ground.

"What's wrong?" I asked and took a step towards him when he looked up at me with those priceless eyes of his, staring at me with a look that made me just want to pull him into a hug.

"I'm not going to be coming back here am I?"