She looked up, and the look of hurt.. the look of pain on her face was something she just couldn't hide. It wasn't a selfish pain, it wasn't for her, it was for him. He didn't understand. She could see it, that he didn't understand.. again.
"You protect her.. but who protects you from her?"
Right now, she was the one trying, but it wasn't working, and she was running out of the ability to fight on her own. She was running out of the strength required for battle.
Aphrodite's exposure had been one of herself too, she had exposed just what was important to her too, and it hadn't been Ares.
"Okay....okay..."
She answers softly.
"If this.. this is what you want. So be it. I cannot force you to see. I cannot save you from yourself. I will not fight you, to fight for you."
She rises slowly then and moves to pick up the bottle of champagne.
"If this is what you want.. then you have to live without me, because I can't... I can't stand by and watch this happen. I can't just stop fighting to save you."
The bottle is offered back to him, with a bloodied handprint upon its surface.
"You can't have me, and this life you've chosen for yourself. You've made your choice.. you have to... go now."