A/N: Whew, Chapter 3 was long. Hey guys! Thanks again for all the support, I really appreciate it! This is a fun fanfiction to write. Although I work full-time during the week, I always find myself thinking about ideas for this ff. I apologize if it feels slow; to me, relationships take their time, and since this fanfic takes place within a span of 10 days, it will be a bit slow. However, Justicykes is developing, I promise. Anyway, enjoy! ~ Emily

Chapter 4

July 22, 2017

4:13 PM PST

Fey-Wright Rental Condo

Apollo didn't even stand a chance of winning our little bet. Sure, I packed a lot of bags, but I pack my things in packing cubes. Therefore, I slipped them into the set of drawers that Apollo designated as mine as soon as I opened my suitcase. The three dresses I packed were taken right to our closet and hung up, and my toiletries I hung right on the door of the spare bathroom. Long story short: I finished unpacking first.

I decided to wait for Apollo to crack open this pack. I felt like it was unfair for me to steal his beers, especially since he bought them prior to leaving. Also, it's no fun to drink alone, so Apollo could be my drinking buddy for the day.

To be honest, I'm not the biggest beer fan, but this is one beer that just screams vacation, so I won't mind. Plus, when you're not yet 21, you get what you can get.

I hear Apollo come down the stairs. "What, you here to rub your victory in?" He chuckles. I shake my head. "Nah, I wanted to wait for you." I pass him one of the Coronas from the case, whilst I grab one for myself. "It's no fun drinking by yourself," I state. He opens both of our bottles, and returns mine to me. "Cheers to a great vacation, and no case files for nine days," Apollo toasts. We clink bottles, and I take a sip. It tastes a lot smoother than I thought it would be, so much I wouldn't mind having more than one.

"Wanna go chill by the pool?" Apollo suggests. "Sure, lemme go change first. Watch my beer." I leave my bottle on the table, and I run up the stairs.

I decide on a coral-colored bikini top, with a black bikini bottom, both from a little store called Victoria's Secret. I take my hat off, slip into some black flip-flops, and throw my sunglasses on. I leave Widget on my bedside table, since he's not waterproof at all. Then, I confidently walk downstairs.

"Girl, where's the rest of your clothes?" Apollo asks me, sarcastically. I grab my beer from his hand, "Oh please, Apollo. Don't pretend you don't dream of seeing me like this." I jest with him. I walk over to the pool, where Trucy and Pearl were swimming. "Hi Athena!" Trucy yells from the pool. Pearls turns around and waves. "Wanna join us?" Pearls yells. "Not right now, guys. I'm gonna sit and relax. Maybe after dinner?" Trucy nods, and continues playing with Pearls.

I sit down on one of the lawn chairs, and place my beer bottle on the table beside me. It took me until now to realize that Apollo disappeared somewhere. Oh well, I guess I can take this time to myself. I take the remote for the speakers, and I change the channel to the Top 40 station. "Mask Off" by Future is playing, and I sing along to the melody.

You know, I haven't really taken any time to myself since moving home to the U.S.. I work my ass off every day, trying to be the best Lawyer I can be, as well as promoting Analytical Psychology. I spend my weekends sleeping, well, when we're not on a case, that is. I also work out, but that's routine for me now. For example, I woke up at around 6 this morning for my daily workout. Once I finish my workouts, I reward myself with a glass of orange juice

.
Wait, I was talking about time for myself. I don't do much to relax anymore, other than sleep and music. I guess that's something I can do, now that Boss's offering us vacation time.

Next thing you know, Shawn Mendes's "There's Nothing Holding Me Back" is playing over the speakers, and out of the corner of my eye, I see Apollo walking out of the condo, towards me. He changed into a pair of Blue ombre-ish swim trunks, and a pair of flip-flops.

To be honest, it seemed like he was walking as slow as those hot guys do in movies, whilst walking near a pool, and to the beat as well. Apollo looked good, and I mean it when I say good. He has good physique; the type of body that screams that he works out every day. Earlier today, I noticed his arm muscles whilst driving us here, and the tone of his arms made him five times more attractive.

Then, in that moment, Apollo removed his shirt, to reveal…a six pack? Oh God dammit, Apollo, is there anything else I don't know about you? I close my mouth, to ensure that I don't start drooling. This is my co-worker, for fucks sake, I can't be all googley-eyed over him.

"Sorry, would have been here sooner, but I couldn't find my flip-flops." He blurts out, whilst sitting down next to me. "Nah, you're good, I've just been hanging out." I state, whilst taking another sip of my beer.

Boss walked over to the grill with the burgers Maya must have bought from the supermarket, as well as some corn on the cob. I notice Maya in the kitchen, whipping up some salad. Surprise surprise, we're having burgers with Nick and Maya, again.

"Ready for another one, 'Thena?" Apollo asks me, holding up his empty Corona bottle. I stare at mine, noticing that I'm down to about two sips left. "Sure, I have a feeling we'll be whipping through these by the end of the night." I finish my bottle, and give it to Apollo to dispose of. "Yeah well, maybe tomorrow we can run out and get more." He winks at me. I smirk back at him, whilst he walks back into the kitchen.

Once Apollo returned with two more beers, the radio changed to a Bruno Mars song. Apollo walked over to me, dancing and singing along. I decide to stand up, and dance along with him.

"Girls, what y'all trying to do? 24 karat magic in the air. Head to toe so player. Uh, look out!"

"Well well, Apollo Justice knows a pop song. How the tables have turned." I joke around with him, clinking bottles with him a second time. "I'm not entirely uncultured either, Ms. Cykes," he answers, whilst both of us take a sip from our beers.

"Apollo! Athena! Come join us!" Pearls yells from the deep end of the pool. I didn't know she could swim that well.

Trucy stayed in the shallow end of the pool; I guess Boss never let her take the deep water test in school. Apollo placed his beer on the table beside his chair, slipped off his flip-flops, and cannonball'd into the deep end of the pool.

"Come on, Athena. Or are you too chicken?" He smirks at me with that trademark "Apollo" smirk again. I sigh, then I place my beer down on the table beside me. I drop my sunglasses next to the bottle, slip off my flip-flops, and I sit on the edge of the pool, my feet in the chlorine water.

"Athena, that's not in the water!" Trucy declares from the other side of the pool. "Aren't I right, Pearl?" She waves over to Pearls. "You are WRIGHT, Trucy!" Pearls giggles. God, that was so corny.

Next thing I know, two hands touch both of my legs, and they drag me into the pool. My entire body goes underwater, and right back up to catch my breath.

"Apollo, you asshole! You're gonna get it now!" I jest with my senior co-worker. I go underwater, whilst he is turned around, in the shallow end by himself (Trucy left the pool), and I do the unthinkable. In one swift motion, his trunks were down.

"Athena! What the fuck?!" He grabs his trunks and pulls them back up. "Payback's a bitch, Polly." I stick my tongue out at him.

"Oh, you've really done it now." He smirks at me, as he chases me around the pool.

Right before he caught up to me, Boss walks over to the pool. "Dinner's ready, come inside and get it while it's hot!"

Apollo whispers over to me, "More like burnt, am I right?" He winks at me. I chuckle at the comment, whilst we both remove ourselves from the pool, and dry off.

We sit in the kitchen eating area, since four of the six of us were partially-drenched. There were burgers, corn, a Caesar salad, chicken, and a nice fruit salad for us to choose from. Boss and Maya cracked open a bottle of "grape juice" (he's not fooling anybody, it's a Chianti), whilst Apollo and I stick to our case of Corona. As for Trucy and Pearls, they both were drinking Arizona Green Tea. Not gonna lie, it's awkward drinking in front of Mr. Wright, considering I'm technically underaged, and I'm only a year or two older than both Trucy and Pearls. However, he's not really giving two-shits what I do; I'm guessing since I have a college degree and I passed the BAR exam at 17, he considers me mature enough to make decisions on my own. Who knows, maybe he forgot that I'm only 18.

I turn my head to see Maya binging on like, three burgers. This is typical; Boss warned us before he introduced us to Maya that she has a special connection with burgers. Boss also told us that she loves putting peppers on her burgers, which I found to be disgusting; not too sure how Apollo feels about that.

I ate a bit of everything. The burgers were really good, despite Boss's cooking skills, and my favorite thing had to be the baked chicken that Maya made. I sure hope Boss keeps Maya around; she knows how to cook, maybe he could learn something from her.

Once dinner was finished, I, Pearls, and Trucy helped clean up the kitchen. Apollo and Boss went outside to clean off the grill, and to grab the beach chairs out of Mr. Wright's Chevy Cruze.

I sat back at my pool chair, donning my fourth Corona of the night, once the chores were finished. Apollo sat back down next to me, whilst Pearls sat on the other side of me; Trucy went back inside to shower.

"Athena, do you think Mystic Maya and Mr. Nick will ever get married?" Pearls asks me. When I processed what she said, I spit out my drink. "Um, well…" I start. "How long have they been dating, Pearls?" I wipe my mouth, and replace the alcohol I spit out. "They've known each other for 10 years, but only have been dating for about 5 years." She slumps into her chair. I sit up and look right at her, "Relationships work at their own course. There isn't a set time that people should get married at. For some, it takes ten years; for others, it takes three months. It all depends on the couple. If Mr. Wright and Maya like where they are at now, then there's no rush to get married. But who knows, maybe Boss has something up his sleeve." I wink at the girl.

A smile appears on Pearls's face. "Thanks Athena, I appreciate that!" She hugs me. "Hey Athena? Um, this may sound bad, but…what does your drink taste like?"

Well fuck, I never thought I would hear those words come out of Pearl Fey's mouth. "It's hard to describe. We have limes in ours, which makes it taste better. Without them, it's kind of like water." I take a sip from my drink, really noticing how the lime makes it taste better.

"Oh, okay!" Pearls says, laying back down in her chair.

I can tell the curiosity is killing her. I look around, to see whether or not Maya or Boss was looking. "Okay fine, you have have one sip. But, once you do, drink some of your tea to mask your breath. Maya would probably have my head if she found out you tried beer." I pass my bottle to Pearl. She looked around, making sure Maya couldn't see her as well, and then took a sip. By the face she made, I could tell she didn't like it. "Ew, that's disgusting!" She passed the bottle back to me, and downed the rest of her iced tea. "It's an…acquired taste." Apollo states. Her and I laugh at the statement. "Well, thanks anyway, Athena. I think I'll stick to iced tea and water for now." I smile at her, "I think you're better off." The three of us laugh.

The rest of the night consisted of us talking our brains off about life: Pearls admitted that she wanted to go to college, rather than continue her spirit medium training. However, she had no idea which college, nor what major she wanted to concentrate in. Apollo told me he sensed by his bracelet Pearls twiddling her thumbs when talking about majors; he thinks she knows what she wants to do, but is too afraid to say so. Maybe a talk with Maya will help with that.

By the time I checked my phone for the time, it was already around 10 PM. Pearls was off to bed, whilst Trucy was already in bed. Boss and Maya walked outside, both clad in pajamas.

"We're off to bed," Boss announced. "Remember, we're off to the beach tomorrow, so prepare to wake up early."

"Goodnight guys!" Maya states, whilst yawning. "Goodnight, see you in the morning." Boss also states, whilst the two walk back inside, walking up the stairs.

I turn to Apollo, whilst turning the music off. "It's pretty late, wanna head in for the night?" I request. "Sure, I'm pretty beat myself."

We gather our items from the pool area, and retreat back inside the condo.

Apollo allows me to shower first, considering I would take considerably longer to wash and become clean. Once I finished, I threw on my favorite pair of pajamas: orchid-colored lace up shorts, and a matching long sleeve shirt that says: 'Let Me Sleep,' as well as my least-sexy undergarments. If I have to share a bed with my male senior co-worker, I'm gonna be covered up as much as possible.

I walk out of the shower, and into, sigh, our room, to see Apollo watching some show on the TV. I think it's some late night talk show, but figuring that out is the least of my worries right now.

"Your turn to shower, Mr. Justice." I nudge to him, as I attempt to dry my hair with the towel I was using.

He nods his head, grabs some clothes from his drawers, and heads to the spare bathroom to shower.

Whilst Apollo showers, I sent an alarm for 6 AM, so I can get my workout in. I packed my yoga mat, so I can do some type of calming workout before we go to the beach. From there, I retreat to my iPad, so I can continue watching SVU on Netflix. I swear, I can't remove the legal system from my everyday life.

At the end of the episode I was watching, Apollo reappears in our room, looking refreshed from his shower. He was clad in a blue 'UCLA Bruins' shirt, and a pair of basketball shorts.

"Ready for bed, Mouthface?" he asks me. I turn my iPad off, and move over to the right side of the bed. "Yes I am, Craphole." He and I both giggle at our nicknames. Apollo shuts the lights off, as well as turns off the TV. He then gets in bed, sharing the covers with me. We both face polar opposite sides: I facing the right side of the room, Apollo facing the left side of the room.

"Apollo? I'm sorry we got stuck in this predicament." I state, trying to close my eyes.

"It's fine, it's not like we had any other choice." He turns his head, so our faces meet. "I'm Apollo Justice, I have no choice but to be fine," he smirks while asserting. I chuckle, placing my hand over his face. "I guess Athena Cykes must be fine as well," I smirk. I see Apollo smile, therefore, I shoot him a smile back.

"Goodnight, Athena," Apollo whispers, whilst turning around.

"Goodnight, Apollo," I whisper back, as I close my eyes, and drift off to sleep.