Chapter 14

This time, this place
Misused, mistakes
Too long, too late
Who was I to make you wait?

On my knees, I'll ask
Last chance for one last dance
'Cause with you, I'd withstand
All of hell to hold your hand

Nickelback - "Far Away"

Athena awoke the next day with the headache from hell, but she smiled despite the pounding between her ears. They'd had a hell of a night. They'd started out with the shots and Joker had convinced them of another round after that. They'd played pool and listened to the band. They'd never heard of them before but they were quite good, especially when there was a lot of alcohol involved.

She remembered hitting on the bartender to try and get them free drinks and failing miserably, causing Joker and Dave to collapse in laughter. They'd managed to steal a bottle of whiskey after that and drunk half of it. The other half they'd bartered off to two guys with a car so they could give them a ride home. They'd been much too drunk to drive.

She looked at the bedside table and saw a glass of water, thanking her drunk self for providing it before she decked in the bed. She fumbled with the drawer and got out an aspirin which she swallowed along with all the water in the glass before collapsing back on the bed, waiting for the pill to start it's magic on her headache.

She could hear a groan from somewhere outside her door and smiled. That sounded like Joker with a hangover.

"Shep?" His voice was week and her smile widened. Now this was a déjà vu.

"Yeah?" She winced at the rough sound of her voice and the pounding in her head when she shouted.

"I'm dying"

She started laughing and then groaned when her headache doubled.

"So am I"

Athena lay still and trying to think of nothing at all to make the headache disappear when her omni tool chimed. When she saw the call was from Joker she chuckled despite the pain. That lazy man.

"You could come in here, it's not a long walk"

His answer was another pained groan and the sound of him drinking water.

"I can't. Might throw up if I move. And my head is seriously killing me"

Athena smirked but the worried part of her took over and she sighed.

"You have aspirin?"

"Yeah already taken two. The things don't work"

"They might if you shut up and lie very still"

He muttered something she didn't catch but she thought she heard the word 'bitch' in there somewhere and smiled to herself. It was she who broke the silence after several minutes.

"Thanks. For last night. It was just what I needed" It was too early and she was in too much discomfort to have a serious conversation right now but that needed to be said.

"I know. It was really fucking fun though!"

She smiled as images of last night flashed before her. Dave's grimace when he swallowed the shots. Joker laughing so much he almost fell off his chair. Dave almost got in a fight because he accidentally poked someone with the pool cue. The grins on their faces when she'd stolen the whiskey and their laughter when she'd failed to charm the bartender.

"It really was"

She had almost forgotten what it felt like to have no worries there for a few hours and she was reluctant to go back to life as it was right now. Maybe if she just stayed here in bed for a while and kept talking to Joker... but her traitorous stomach betrayed her with a loud rumbling and she heard Joker's scoff from her 'tool.

"You know, I heard that from here"

Athena laughed and found that her head didn't pain her much anymore. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and got up, wincing slightly at the quick motion.

"I'm gonna get dressed and make some coffee and breakfast"

"Bring me some?"

"Of course"

She pulled on the same clothes that she'd wore to the club even though they smelled slightly of alcohol. She must have spilled some or gotten spilled on. She got the pot brewing and started making sandwiches when the door opened and Dave stumbled in. He looked like she'd felt before she aspirin and she grinned.

"Good morning?"

She only got an unintelligible sound as answer as he slumped down on a chair with his head on the table. He stayed that way, totally unmoving, until the smell of coffee spread through the small room and he stirred. When she put a cup down in front of him he mimed a 'thank you' but made no sound.

Athena grabbed a cup and a few sandwiches to bring to Joker, but he emerged from his room in the same instant, dressed in the jeans from the day before but no shirt. Athena lifted and eyebrow at his naked chest and he shrugged before he sat down at the table.

"Couldn't find it"

She put the two cups and all the sandwiches down on the table and seated herself. She had to force herself not to laugh out loud as she saw the two zombies that was Joker and Dave carefully sip their coffee and taking small bites of the sandwiches, as if taking anything in too fast would cause it to rush out again.

Amazingly, she herself felt rather well now that the aspirin had kicked in. She kept smiling whenever she thought of last night and decided that she would work her ass off to make sure they could have such good times often again. She couldn't do much about the other gang members and Eric's dislike of her but she could lay low so that they didn't get a reason to bother her. And she could talk to Kaidan.

She had to apologize for the way she'd run away from him the night before. She'd acted like a child but in that moment she'd just wanted to escape and have a carefree night, and that serious conversation had not been part of the plan.

Today however, she felt like making amends and fix the things she could so that life could get back to normal as quickly as possible.

She looked up from her cup to find both Joker and Dave watching her.

"What?" Her mouth was full of bread but they could apparently understand her since Joker answered.

"How can you stuff your face like that? Aren't you feeling shitty too?"

"I did. But then I took an aspirin and got some coffee and food so now I'm fine" She shrugged and took another large bite. "In fact-" She swallowed hard, "I'm gonna fix things today" They kept staring at her like they didn't understand her. But this time she hadn't spoken with a full mouth. "I'm gonna talk to Kaidan"

Joker let his head fall back and lifted his arms in a victorious gesture.

"Finally!"

"Yeah, I know" Athena grinned at him, knowing that he'd tried to convince her to do just that several times. "But better late than never, right?"

"I guess you'll find out"

Athena stuck her tongue out at Joker, comforting herself with the thought that it couldn't get worse between her and Kaidan then it already was. No need to be afraid.

She stood up and left for the shower, leaving Joker and Dave back at the table. She couldn't go see Kaidan right away, she'd have to sneak away later after she'd had some work done and something to show for both yesterday and today. She slipped into some comfortable shorts and when she entered the kitchen again, both Joker and Dave were in the same place, still looking miserable but at least a tad livelier. The data pad was also in the same spot she'd left it in; on the floor beside the door.

She picked it up and started going through the scenarios again. No matter what the LS's would want, having some guys on the balcony would be smart as they'd have the best view. They'd already installed lamps on the outside of the base and om the houses around so they'd see someone approaching even in the dark.

Athena and Dave would be on guard duty later tonight and stand watch outside the front door of the base. It was the worst possible post, because if the Lost Sons were serious about the raid, they'd want to silence the ones standing guard there as quickly as possible, making it the most dangerous place on the base. Probably why they'd been stationed there. Fucking Eric.

She kept coming up with ideas for defending the base for another three hours before she sent her material to Eric and Yennie. She stretched in the chair and checked the time. It was only four a clock but she hadn't gotten ay other jobs to finish before guard duty and that was eight hours away. Time to go see Kaidan.

She had to walk back to the club to get her bike as they had left them there last night, but it wasn't a long walk. She found it, good as knew, and soon sped off, trying not to get cold feet.

They road to Kaidan's house was familiar and yet she stopped and found herself hesitating before making the final turn. It wasn't normal for her to be this nervous and it scared her a little. Well, I've gotten this far. And maybe they won't be home.

That thought didn't seem probable because of the black car in the driveway. She cursed silently and stopped the engine, not really wanting to park her bike beside the car. She felt as if she wasn't allowed to anymore. She thought briefly about knocking on the door but quickly decided not to and brought up her omni tool instead, sending Kaidan a message.

I'm outside. Wanna talk?

- Athena

It didn't take Kaidan a second to answer, maybe he'd heard her bike from inside and knew she was there.

I'll come out.

- Kaidan

Not a minute later she saw him walk towards her. He must have exited from the other side of the house. He had his hands in the pockets of his jeans and looked everywhere but at her. He seemed really uncomfortable and she felt a pang of guilt that it was her fault.

He walked up to the bike and stood there in front of her, still not looking at her. Apparently he found his shoes very interesting. Athena waited for him to look at her so she could figure out if he was mad and in that case how much. What she dared to mention and what would be better kept silent. After a whole minute of watching him look at the ground she lost her patience and cleared her throat.

"I wanted to talk to you. Wanna do it here or move it to the beach or somewhere?" She added the last two words in a rush and silently scolded herself for thinking of going to their place at the beach where the original fight had taken place. Not a good plan.

Kaidan finally looked up at her.

"We can go over there" He motioned towards the small gathering of trees on the side of the house. The place where they'd first kissed. Good plan.

She frowned when a completely different thought hit her. I promised Oliver that he could come with us to the club but haven't called him at all. But then she shook her head. Of all the things to feel bad about, that wasn't one of them. He'd probably forgotten about it already.

"Oliver asked after you. Wanted to know if a good band would be playing sometime soon"

Athena jumped at the sound of his voice and felt her heart rate speed up. Geez, get a grip. She was acting like a jumpy rabbit and felt like kicking herself. Focus. He obviously had the same flashback she'd had about the night with the party here, since he just mentioned Oliver. Did that mean he still remembered their kiss? Of course he did, that was stupid. She chided herself for thinking otherwise even for a moment. Kaidan wasn't that kind of guy.

He was apparently the kind of guy who thought they should have their heart to heart leaning up against the exact same three they'd been leaning up against during their first kiss. Terrific, she thought and smirked sarcastically. That shouldn't make things awkward at all.

But then she realized that he might be just as nervous as her. She knew what she was about to say, almost, but he had no idea why she wanted to talk. She had been the one to push him away, he had no idea if she was here to break up with him or try to make up.

Athena took a deep breath and gathered her thought before she launched into the speech she had come up with during the day.

"I'm sorry about yesterday. I freaked out and I shouldn't have. It's just... when I saw you I kinda panicked. Don't know why but I was in a really shitty mood and I didn't have the energy to have this conversation right then. I actually meant to have this conversation with you several days ago but I chickened out. Guess I was afraid that you wouldn't forgive me for the things I said. Not that I'm any less afraid now but I hate being scared so I thought I'd just get it done with" Jesus christ, I'm rambling on like an idiot!

Suddenly she had no idea what it was she had planned to say. She had relied on the fact that he would accuse her of things and that she would have to apologize for everything but he didn't say a thing, just stared at her, and his face was unreadable. Athena was starting to panic and looked down at the ground.

"Kaidan... I'm sorry"

Before the words were fully outside her mouth she could feel him wrapping his arms around her and she reveled in the sensation. He was close and she had craved him this close for a week. She felt like she'd been starving and finally gotten what she needed. She hugged him so close she feared she might be hurting him, but he didn't try to stop her.

Their mouths sought each others out and she lost herself in the sensation of him. The feel of his lips on hers, finally, and the strength of his arms as they surrounded her.

They broke off the kiss, both panting for air, and he hugged her even closer, pressing her face to his shoulder. When she felt him kiss her temple, some restraint in her broke and she could feel the tears running down her face and onto his shirt. She tried to pull herself off him to not soak his clothes, but he refused and held her close. She didn't mind succumbing to him and stayed right where she was, crying her heart out.

She could feel his tears on her shirt as well and felt relieved that they didn't need any words to apologize and forgive each other. After a long time of standing there, they slid down to the ground to sit with their backs against the tree, still holding each other.

Thanks for reading this short chapter and thanks to the people that reviewed! I means a lot so please keep doing that :)