"Traumatic events, by definition, overwhelm our ability to cope. When the mind becomes flooded with emotion, a circuit breaker is thrown that allows us to survive the experience intact, that is, without becoming psychotic or frying out one of the brain centers. The cost of this blown circuit is emotion frozen within the body. In other words, we often unconsciously stop feeling our trauma partway into it, like a movie that is still going after the sound has been turned off."
David Medici, uncle of Athena, found himself in a very difficult and dangerous position.
He watched with mounting trepidation as his niece entered the mansion, passing by the hanged portrait of her parents as if it were invisible.
With his hands clasped tightly, he hesitantly granted the young girl his full and undivided attention. They've had their difficulties, he thinks of her wrists and the scars (so similar to the way his younger sister had taken her life all those years before) and he hurts. And then he thinks of how she made her decision, stop practicing magic or leave.
She chose to leave.
The look he found in Athena's eyes, however caused the man's stomach to coil and tighten.
"Do not give me that look."
She sighed, leaning back against the wall. She was dressed richly in a fashionable silk blouse that peppered against her skin, colored in royal red, and her ears adorned with glittering jewlery.
"What have you done?" Asked David slowly, in his familiar yet raspy voice.
Athena's brows quirked upward in response, momentarily, and she challenged him to continue with pursed lips. It was universally understood throughout the Mystic Falls that Athena hated any kind of authority. Rules were boundaries that she despised having in general.
"My mother left them for me."
"Your mother went mad because of her all consuming need to be more powerful," David growled back. "I told you that this was unacceptable and I told you-"
"That you didn't approve," Athena finished, rolling her eyes. "Yes. I know."
She watched as her uncle's jawline tensed and released, knowing her words struck him.
"Where have you been staying?"
The young girl just raised and dropped her shoulders. "Here and there."
"Athena-"
"Why did you invite me here?"
"Because I worry about you."
Athena just stared at him blankly. That's the face that always shook him to the core. The pure emptiness in it.
"I want to move into the servants house."
On the property, there was a home, for individuals back then that housed servants and slaves. It hadn't been used in over a century, a two story thing that was broken down with a large hole in the roof.
"I-"
"You said I can't practice magic and live here, then fine. I won't live here, I'll live there."
"Athena, you don't have the resources required to fix that old thing up. I don't understand why you won't even attempt to consider stopping your use and practice of magic."
Athena simply flexed her fingers, the only outward reaction to everything occurring around her. "Can I just have one thing in my life not burdened by expectation, Uncle. Please. Just this once can you allow me to do something to make me happy."
It was manipulative of her, using the idea of happiness as a tool against her uncle. Either way, it ended just as she expected.
With her new home, not being the inside of her car, but the old broken down home.
A genuine smile brightened her lips.
She ended up at the party she said she wouldn't attend. Not necessarily to do anything other than find Caroline and share a drink or two.
"Get me a drink," Athena says as soon as she runs into the blonde.
"Fuck off," Care replies. Still with an inebriated giggle she's off towards the direction of drinks, because rather then finding Athena's ways annoying...she finds it endearing, intent on getting Athena one.
While standing around doing absolutely nothing she caught Stefan's eyes. He was on the bridge with Elena, probably falling in love with her (that thought made her inwardly laugh) his eyes latching onto her with such feroicity she nearly wanted to step back.
She's the one to break the eye contact.
Athena wastes no time finding someone to entertain her, that someone being Tyler. It's obvious to everyone that Tyler still has some lingering feelings for the girl, but Athena is inscrutable, a code that can't be cracked, not even by her closest friends.
She laughs at the appropriate times, and says the right things, but it's all so forged it nearly makes Stefan feel sick.
"What happened to her?" Stefan finds himself asking.
Elena follows his gaze to Athena, and he watches her gaze change. For a half-second, she looks like Katherine.
Maybe it was the way Elena tilted her head, but it made Stefan stop and look at her...really look at her. His throat tightened, and he had to force the lump down his throat when he met her doe eyes.
Stefan didn't often think of his life as a human. His past was something he liked to keep crushed down, down where not even whiskey could reel it back up to inspect. There was something in the expression on her face, though, that sent him back.
And it made him want to put as much distance between him and Elena Gilbert as possible.
It was both dark and innocent, conniving yet kind.
"Athena has always been a complicated person." Elena says quietly. "I can't say what happened, because she hasn't really told anyone. We all know what happened. No one knows why."
"Has she always been like that?"
Elena wants to ask him why he cares, but she chalks it up to pure curiosity. Everyone is curious these days. About her. About Stefan. About Athena.
But to be honest...she hadn't ever understood Athena.
She's tried. God, she's tried. It's been a battle over a decade in the making, and still has to admit complete and utter defeat.
Sometimes she is brutal, with the same caustic, vibrant personality at times Elena loathed. Other times, she is torrid and unpredictable in all her glory. She can be horrifying and blistering one moment, all curse words and derogatory insults, only to segue into shocking moments of tenderness before rocketing right back into sarcasm and lewd gestures.
And sometimes she is...calm.
Elena's brown eyes are fixed on the girl, she is the perfect model; quiet, still, apathetic to being watched.
"Yeah," The Gilbert girl says dumbly.
"Yeah," Stefan agrees.
There's a part of Stefan that acknowledges that feeling anything remotely positive towards Athena Medici is always going to result in him getting hurt. It's an inevitability, but he's unsure how to stop it. He reasons Athena would make a good friend. She's kind and attentive, receptive to conversation and he can see the fiereceness in her eyes. That should clinch it, but there's something else; something more.
Stefan thinks it's in her eyes.
There's so much there: secrets and truths, passion and guilt, weariness and concern, regret and eagerness, and pain.
It's a lot, and Stefan can't shake the feeling that he's the only one who can see it.
Conversation passes sluggishly after that, and she can't help but feel a tad bit jealous at the way Stefan's eyes jump over to Athena every now and then like she is the most beautiful thing to ever walk the earth.
But his attention always comes back to Elena, and for now, that is good enough.
Caroline feels Stefan's words pierce through her, of course she isn't enough. Of freaking course.
Elena was everything, everyone wanted. Beautfiul and sweet and kind and she was just a dumb blonde- she feels a whimper well up in her throat.
Drunk, she stumbles over to Athena, and almost immediately the girl takes Caroline in her arms.
"What happened?"
"Why do you even care?" Caroline snaps.
"Are you kidding me?" Athena snaps right back, pulling away so quickly it was like she was never touching Caroline.
"No. I'm not," Caroline swallows a loud breath of air. Her pain, anger, and sadness boiling outside of her. But even still, pity is the only true expression on her face. "You wouldn't understand."
Athena's eyebrow hitches up, and sober Caroline would recognize that as a dangerous thing. Drunk Caroline doesn't care.
"What the hell does that--"
"I would do anything to be special. To be seen. Anything. You don't want to be seen, Athena. You want to disappear," Caroline's eyes are dark with anger, or something, and Athena almost flinches away from them.
She remembers being uncomfortable in those stupid plastic chairs that the hospital had, watching countless doctors, nurses, and patients rush past her.
Caroline's thumb had shakily traced the plastic lid of her coffee that tasted like absolute trash. Hospital coffee is always burnt, she had just begun to realize, but it is just enough to keep her going when she feels like she can't take anymore. Her eyes were burning but she was afraid to blink, afraid to look away from those double doors that determine whether people live or die. Her body aches but she dares to not move from her position. No, she is going to be right there when the doctors finally come out and tell her the news that she has been waiting for.
"I'm trying, Care. I'm trying everyday to make up for what I did- everyday feels like an apology and I will forever have the sacrs to remind me that I- how does it makes me a bad person that I would like this year to be just a little bit better than last year?" Athena growls at her, because how fucking surreal is this--the second biggest bitch in the school telling her she's heartless.
The words mockingly dance in her mind.
Weight, grades, magic and control.
This year is going to be perfect, even if she has to punt Caroline off a cliff to make it that way.
There's a blatant change in posture from Athena that throws Caroline off. She holds herself high and her face slides into a mask. It sends a shiver down her spine watching the transformation, and her heart stutters.
"I know it looks like I don't care about anything because I don't parade my feelings around like the rest of you, but I do care...especially about you. So why don't you tell me what happened so I can try and be there for you."
Despite her words, Athena's face is stony mask of indifference.
"I'm sorry," Caroline sobs. "I just wish there would be someone who would look at me first. See me. I'm tired of being the second choice. Not good enough. Not anything, enough."
"There will be other people to see you, Care." Athena directs the taller girls head to her shoulder. "Elena is everything this town loves. She's a founders kid, average grades, helpful around the community. Guys like Stefan, like Matt, they like that. That average girl. But you Care, you're a fucking hurricane. You're passionate and stubborn and so dangerously beautiful- it really is unfair- and one day a guy is going to see you and only you and not be able to take his eyes off of you. There is absolutely nothing wrong with you. The only person who's in the wrong is Stefan, especially if he's being blinded by Elena enough to willingly hurt you."
Closing her eyes for a moment, Caroline does all she can to fight off a wave of... she has no idea what she's feeling in this moment.
"Thank you, Athena." She wraps her arms around the other's girls waist. "You can't leave me. Okay. I need you."
Caroline's hand, for the first time ever, goes to Athena's arm. To her scars.
"Okay?" The blonde presses.
"I-" Athena closes her eyes and sucks in a harsh breath that hurts. "Yes, okay."
Caroline rubs at her temples, feeling nearly exhausted and the meager light and noise around her, just starting to hurt.
"Do you have a headache?" Athena asks, looking very put together. It's in her appearance only because Caroline can see the misery in her eyes. Anyone who bothered to look would be able to see it.
Caroline gulps. "I think it's just starting."
"Would you like a painkiller?"
The blonde chuckles. "You're a bit of a junkie, aren't you, 'Thena, always carrying those painkillers."
Athena forces a smile that doesn't reach her eyes. "Just don't want anyone else to be in pain," she says softly, digging in her bag for the required pills.
The calculations that rocket through Caroline's mind are visible on her face, and Athena feels her jaw muscles twitch when they briefly linger on pity. That however fades, and the part of Caroline that sticks around is the one filled with sympathy.
And then Athena walks away, ignoring the way Caroline says 'Thena' because it sounds too much like Lyla, and ignores the sympathy on her face because it's just too much.
She rushes to the woods behind a tree, where she sits, alone. Then she digs her nails into her thighs until she's sure she's not going to cry.
It takes a good five minutes.
She's starting to leave when she sees him, staring at Elena with longing and tinge of sadness in his blue eyes.
"You know going after Vicki like that was pretty pathetic."
The blue eyed man turns his eyes to her, and she watches the affection bleed from his face almost instantly.
"Excuse me."
Athena's lips turned upwards into an amused grin. "I don't know," she says, almost like she's musing to herself. "I was just expecting something more. You know, something really boundary pushing...but it all just fell kind of flat."
Damon leaned forward only slightly, the girl was enveloped in moonlight, small and radiant. Everything about her appearing ethereal; from the way she moved to the smaller, more intimate details, like the twin braids that framed the sides of her narrow face.
Athena Medici.
He's heard rumors about her from the party goers. About her beauty. About what she did to herself. Still nothing could have really prepared him for her charm, his entire chest feeling as though it caved inward.
A familiar smirk slid onto his face.
"I'm not sure what you mean."
Athena lips quirked then. "No?" she asks mockingly.
"No," Damon confirms. "It seems I've yet to introduce myself. I'm Damon, Damon Salvatore. It is truly a pleasure to meet me, I'm sure."
A wild look glimmers in her eyes. "That remains to be seen."
"Oh?" Damon says with false innocence. Athena had no faith in his taste for innocence.
"What can I say," Athena begins, twiling her wild curls around a finger. "I'm not easily distracted."
He prowled closer, the warmth of her skin, the power flowing off of her making his muscles loosen. She was radiant, a queen. A lesser beauty might have been swallowed up by the lavish attire, perhaps overshadowed - but not her. The luxurious red had only accented her natural charms; the shimmering jewels had brought out the brightness in her eyes.
He takes in the red solo cup she holds in her right hand. "I've heard about you, Athena Medici. Alcohol is a rather decstructive coping mechanism, isn't it?"
Athena rolls her eyes unmoved by his snarky comment. "And yours aren't?"
He looks back at her quizzically. "What do you mean by that?"
"Damon your coping mechanisms often require people to die." She deadpans. "Or be seriously injured."
Yours do to, Damon wants to say. But he bites that back.
"Clever girl," Damon murmurs, and he smiles. Something in that smile should have scared her, made her uncomfortable. It didnt. She was constantly battling internally, afterall, if it wasn't her uncle toying with her emotions on a regular basis, it was the constant linger of danger weighing heavily on her narrow shoulders.
Sometimes it felt as if she had enemies stretched far and wide.
Athena clears her throat, her nostrils flare, and she defiently raises her chin. She refuses to be cowed by her own embarrassment. "Making the best of what you left behind."
Afterall she didn't need to just level the playing field, she needed to change it.
"You should have just stayed away. Curiosity killed the cat," he smiled mockingly, he got closer and closer, forcing his body into her personal bubble.
"Good thing I got the nine lives along with the curiosity."
He smirked at that.
"It was a lion who attacked your friend-" His pupils dilated.
Compulsion. Really?
"She's not my friend and we are in virgina. A wolf would've really been a better explanation." She crossed her arms over her chest. "Truthfully, Damon Salvatore, what you do doesn't bother me. The idea of you going after someone I care about does."
His first instinct is to lunge and rip her apart, he pushes it down.
"Someone's ignoring their survival instincts," Damon circles her.
"I call it appealing to the bigger predators interest." She lets her eyes dart up and down and over him. "Is it working?"
"Who knows." Damon can't fight the sudden visceral interest that grabs at his mind. "Mercy isn't exclusively reserved to humans."
"Neither is cruelty."
She takes in his attire. All black with a leather jacket. Something about his clothes struck her, as if he were dressed for an escape, at any given moment.
As he approached even closer, Damon regarded Athena thoughtfully with his cool silvery eyes.
His focus is shot when they hear a laugh, turning the both catch Elena and Stefan far off in the distance. The two of them hidden from view within the trees.
"It is all so romantic, isn't it?" She inquired sarcastically, despite her better judgement.
Damon's brow furrowed. He looked as though he made to laugh, but his voice eventually broke past his amused smirk smoothly, "isn't romance what all wonen desire?"
No.
Yes.
Perhaps?
Athena's jaw did a series of pushups as she flattened her hands against her jeans, oddly fidgety beneath Damon's pressing stare. "No I don't think so...What I desire…"
Her voice trailed as she considered her words carefully.
There was a mountain of pressure upon Athena's shoulders, at all times. Not only from herself but from the eyes of everyone around her.
Damon simply watched her patiently – looking almost contented to do so. The look within his eyes -gentle, kind, and eager to listen- scooped Athena up into another momentary bought of grief.
Decidedly sick of feeling sorry for herself, Athena shook her hair back and forth and glanced upwards towards the darkening sky. A songbird flitted through the air, singing to the duo in greeting, and Athena watched as the small creature dipped and soared in playful merriment. How nice it must be, she considered, to be a songbird…
"What I desire right now is to laugh and have fun. I have been lacking in both for a while now." She stated earnestly, observing the small bird until it was lost among the trees. "But that's not why I came to you. Caroline Forbes. Bonnie Bennett. Tyler Lockwood. Matthew Donovan. Remember those names. Those are the people off limits. Under my protection."
He grabs her wrist. His thumb pressing into her skin.
"And how long will that last for?" Damon says haughty, "Until the next time you try and-"
He stops himself, letting the words hang. She can fill in the blank.
Athena's chest began to rise and fall with heavy breaths as Damon's eyes grew ablaze with satisfaction. Her lips twitched, as if she were holding back the desire to snap. Somehow, despite it, her voice came out even and clear, "you came to Mystic Falls for a reason. Help me and I can help you."
"Just like that," he snaped his fingers.
Athena turned her back to him, pulling out of his grip, dismissive. "You help me and I can help you."
She walks away a moment later, and Damon glares on after her, even with the repeat cycle of what just happened playing in his mind.
Women do not walk away from him. There are natural laws about this, surely.
"Can I do anything for you, Stefan?" Athena mutters her voice airy.
"You need to stay away from Damon." The words are automatic, damn near autocratic and out of his mouth before he can think better of it.
Her eyes almost immediately narrow into furious amber slits, bristling like an angry cat.
"What did you just say?" she asked, her tone flat with barely-constrained wrath. "Because even with standing right here, I couldn't have possibly heard that right."
And her voice steals something from him.
"Athena-"
"Shouldn't you be chasing after Elena?" Her expression goes cold. "After all, you hurt Caroline for her."
"I didn't mean for-"
"No of course you didn't Stefan," She shakes her head. "All you saw was Elena." Her eyes are blazing and beautiful as she enters his space so freely, as if it were her own. "There are better ways to reject someone Stefan, ways without making them feel less."
Without thinking he reaches for her hand. Her skin is so soft and warm, and he can feel her power like electricity humming in her blood. It makes his teeth ache.
Athena felt the vibrations of a low growl against her before she heard the sound. She looked at Stefan in surprise, to find him staring intently at her wrist.
"He marked you."
Athena glanced down to see a small purple smudge on the inside of her wrist, a forming bruise in the shape of a fingerprint.
"I'm not yours to take care of," Athena reminded him.
"You're not his either," he said darkly.
"That," Athena allowed a small smile to come up, "we can agree on." She steps away, purposely. "Don't worry about me. Just go focus on Elena."
"Why are you so intent on pushing me towards Elena?"
Athena laughed then. "Why are you going out of your way to talk to me when you could be with her?"
That's the very same question the youngest Salvatore was asking himself.
He could sense her indifference.
Athena did not care about being here, talking to him. She didn't care about being stared at. She was genuinely calm, as if everything she had experienced rendered her unable to care about such minor things.
God, she smells good. O negative if he's not mistaken. The universal donor.
"Because I want to know you. Is that truly such a bad thing."
Her expression darkens and low laugh falls out of her mouth. "You hurt my friend, Stefan. Right now any expectations I've had of you have fallen short. So excuse me if I don't share your ideals for friendship between us."
Stefan's eyes fill with hurt and guilt and it makes her feel horrible knowing she is the cause. Athena almost wants to take back everything she just said. Hide it within herself and go back to being tentative acquaintances. But then she thinks of Caroline. How hurt she was.
"Just...I- I should get going."
This woman.
Athena.
Stefan couldn't bring himself to draw back from the line that was so clearly drawn between them. And in those honey- gold eyes he could see the thoughts swirling in them as if they were smoke under glass. The cunning mind at work beneath that face- the one he hadn't been able to get out of his head since the first time he saw her.
So he just...moved.
Every instinct in his body came roaring to the surface, so violent he had to choke them with a brutal grip or else he'd find himself on his knees begging for her touch, for anything.
But he leaned in, and grazed the tip of his nose along the side of her neck.
Soft-her skin was so soft; so fragile. He could scent blood rushing just beneath her skin. Stefan breathed the smell of her into his lungs, stirring his cock.
Athena. Athena. Athena.
"Stefan?!" She murmured, "What are you doing?"
"I have no idea."
He doesn't think he's said anything so honest in a while.
She's running.
It's 2am, late and boring and she can't sleep so she runs.
She runs until all of her muscles burn and her vision blurs and then she goes back home.
She's exhausted and grateful, because at least she's feeling something.
"Come on, you and Elena can't avoid each other forever," Bonnie says lightly, pulling the other brown girl closer, linking their pinkies together.
And Athena just sighs, he gold eyes darkening. "You aren't going to let this go...are you?"
The grin that moves up on Bonnie's face is pure mischief. "Nope."
"So then what?" Caroline says with a hum, practically buzzing with excitement. Athena faintly wonders if Elena can even tell that it's false.
"So then, nothing."
The Gilbert girl casts a wary glance in Athena's direction, but offers no other reaction to her presence.
"You and Stefan talked all night. There was no sloppy first kiss, or touchy-feely of any kind?"
A laugh bubbled out of Athena.
"Nope, we didn't go there.
"Not even a handshake? I mean, Elena, we are your friends. Okay? You are supposed to share the smut."
"I object," Athena raises her hand, but Caroline smacks it back down, leaving the other girl pouting.
"We just talked for hours."
Romantic.
Boring. But romantic.
"What is with the blockage? Just jump his bones already. Okay, it's easy. Boy likes girl, girl likes boy, sex."
"Profound," Bonnie mutters, shaking her head.
And then Elena gets up, swallowing a huge breath of air.
"Where are you going?" Bonnie says, throwing her head back to see the other girls eyes.
"Caroline's right. It is easy. If I sit here long enough, I'll end up talking myself out of it instead of doing what I started the day saying I was going to do."
Caroline and even Bonnie look mildly impressed, whereas Athena just plays with her french fries.
"You should let Athena give you a ride."
"What?" Athena and Elena say at the same time. Both girls glancing at each other before looking at Caroline.
"You two need to talk anyway." Bonnie claims and Caroline nods in pure agreement, matching smiles painted on their lips.
"Umm I mean sure I guess." Athena says ungracefully. Practically stumbling out of her chair when Caroline pushes her forward.
The drive is taken in moderate silence, neither girl really knowing how to bring up the conversation that apparently needs to happen. Music plays, low and barely a whisper of sound, until Elena asks "How do you know where Stefan lives?"
"His last name is Salvatore." Athena answers bluntly. "Salvatore boarding house..."
"Oh," Elena mutter back.
"Yeah."
There is no more conversation after that.
"No one's answering."
"Then maybe we should leave-" Elena opnes the door and walks right in. "Or we could just enter someone else's property when they may or may not be home. That works too," Athena mutters sarcastically already annoyed with the other girl.
"White people I swear," she whispers under her breath.
"Stefan?" Elena calls out. "Stefan?" Going deeper and deeper into the house. Athena reluctantly follows behind her. If the cops get called she's 100% blaming Elena.
Damom slides into view, a smug smirk darkening his handsome features, as he looks between Athena and Elena.
"I'm sorry for barging in. The door was open."
"You must be Elena, and it's a pleasure to see you again, Athena. I'm Damon. Stefan's brother."
Elena's eyes go wide. "You two know each other."
A low laugh makes it's way out of Athena's mouth, drawing herself closer towards the window. "You could say that," she casually throws over her shoulder.
Damon's eyes dip appreciatively over Athena's form, every step she takes away causes her hips to sway in the most enticing manner.
He licks his lips.
Elena feels a rouge sense of uncomfortableness drip inside of her, drawing Damon's attention back to herself as she says, "He didn't tell me he had a brother."
"Well, Stefan's not one to brag."
"And you've know him for like two days," Athena throws in. She's touching things. Aligning corners of items so they match. Her hair is pulled back in a high ponytail, leaving her long curls dancing behind her every time her head moves in the slightest way.
Damon let's out a short bark of laughter whereas Elena just glares.
"Please. Come. I'm sure Stefan will be along any second."
As fast as vampire speed can take him.
Athena watches the almost predatory way Damon's eyes jump to Elena's neck. Hungry and deadly. Does she even see she's the prey?
"Wow. This is your living room?"
"Living room, parlor, sotheby's auction. It's a little kitschy for my taste." Athena rolls her eyes and tries to tone them out. "I see why my brother's so smitten. It's about time. I never thought he'd get over the last one. Nearly destroyed him."
Is he really instigating a pissing contest with Stefan? At his big age? Couldn't be me, Athena thinks lightly. She finds the nearests chair and plops down, her legs already burning from all the standing and walking.
"The last one?"
"Yeah. Katherine. His girlfriend? Oh, you two haven't had the awkward exes conversation yet." Damon prods, his eyes practically gleaming with chaos. Elena has to be blind to not see what he's trying to do.
"Nope," Elena says, glancing towards Athena who's picking at her nails.
"Oops," Damon lets out with mock care. "Well, I'm sure it'll come up now. Maybe he didn't tell you because he didn't want you to think he was on the rebound. We all know how those relationships end."
"You say it like every relationship is doomed to end."
"I'm a fatalist."
"Or just annoying," Athena comments bluntly. Damon Salvatore reminds her of an obnoxious, hyperactive toddler with a potty mouth.
It's just an accident waiting to happen.
Stefan knows it the second he enters the boarding house and hears both Elena and Athena. In his mind he registers how much a hazard it's going to be as he descends the stairs at a slow and measured pace.
Elena has ignorance as an excuse.
Athena already knows how Stefan feels about her being around Damon.
"Hello, Stefan," Damon calls first, smug and burning.
"Athena," Stefan starts before letting his eyes land on the Gilbert girl. "and Elena."
It's such an odd thing really.
Nobody seems to have noticed, and, if they have, nobody is commenting.
It's okay.
It's just, well, the person he was worried about was Athena. Not Elena. Not the girl he should be worried about.
That's - that's not okay, right?
She should have been the first person on his mind. She should have been the person whose name he called out. She should have been the person he wanted to warn about the danger.
And, yet, she wasn't.
Elena wasn't any of those things, and that's -
Whoa.
Stefan knows he shouldn't, but he still looks at Athena, who is resting with her feet up. Practically sunken into the chair. She tries to have her feet reach the coffee table, but she's too short and they just fall to the floor adorably, as if Stefan hadn't-
Hadn't what?
Panicked at the sheer thought of Athena getting hurt? Almost wanted to shove her out of the house and take her somewhere she can always be safe?
Stefan takes a deep, calming breath, and then forces himself to look away from Athena. It doesn't work in the slightest of ways. Athena's eyes are concerned, and her lips are parted, as if she wants to ask a question. For a moment, Stefan is lost.
So, so lost.
Oh.
Everything suddenly makes so much sense. It's amazing how he didn't see it before. He called out Athena's name for a reason, and, now, he's staring this girl in the face, and everything is falling into place.
Okay.
"I didn't know either of you were coming over."
"I know, I should have called -" Elena hasn't seemed to notice his momentary loss in focus.
"Oh. Don't be silly. You're welcome any time. Isn't she, Stefan? I should break out the family photo albums or some home movies. But I have to warn you he wasn't always such a looker."
"I bet you weren't either," Athena snarks, all dangerous with glowing eyes.
"I can't say there's ever been a time I wasn't this- perfect," Damon moves until he stands right in front of the chair Athena sits on, forcing her to look up at him. "I'm sure you're the same way."
"Awe, Damon," Athena coos, a wickedly amused smile on, "Are you calling me perfect?"
Stefan decidedly does not like that. At all.
"Thank you for stopping by, Athena and Elena. It was nice to see you two."
"Yeah, I guess we should probably go." Stepping back Elena looks ready to run away, her eyes darting between Athena and Damon and Athena and Stefan. Looking confused and hurt. "It was nice to meet you, Damon."
"Great meeting you too, Elena." And Damon offers down his hand to Athena. She rolls her eyes and takes it not expecting herself to be pulled hard enough until she is flush against the eldest Salvatore brother's chest. "Sorry about that, Athena. Guess I don't know my own strength."
He holds her against him for just a moment. She is warm and curvy and her scent is filling his head.
And that's when it happened.
Damon's smirk faded into a smile, faint and soft, and his eyes seemed to hone in on Athena's, and his head tilted down towards the girl and his lips- twitched. Just a tiny twitch.
See, Stefan knew that face. That was the face Damon had made dozens- no, hundreds- of times, over the years, in his presence. It was the face he made right before he kissed someone.
And he was making it at Athena.
She scoffs pushing him away. "I'm sure that's true."
"Whew," Damon said mockingly. "Great girls. Just absolutely fascinating."
Stefan digs his teeth into his bottom lips and resists the urge to growl.
"You on the other hand look exhausted," Dampn huffs a laugh. "Did someone overexert themselves today? Let me guess the hospital."
Stefan pushes his hands into his pockets to keep from strangling his brother. "Someone had to clean up your mess."
"Well, were you successful," Damon taunts, the scent of Athena on his skin. "Did your powers of persuasion work. If you don't feed properly none of our little tricks work right."
"How long was Athena and Elena here."
Damon stalked over to the in-home bar, slow steady steps. Taking his time pouring himself a drink. "You know I thought it was just Elena who caught your attention."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't you, Stefan?" Damon says after a hearty gulp. "I mean I'm sure initially it was Elena and then you saw Athena and then it all changed. Because damn, that girl is something. Isn't she? I could hardly even see Elena with Athena standing right there."
Stefan feels his stomach curl and his body shake as the veins rise up beneath his skin.
"Is that why you insist on playing this game?" Damon steps froward. "Pretending that you are just this normal high-schooler."
"I'm not playing any games," he thinks of Athena, of the way her eyes caught the light. The way she seemed to affect everything he thought he knew about himself.
"Relax Stefan," the image of Athena and Elena crossing Damon's mind. "We both know the closest you'll ever get to humanity is when you rip it open and feed on it."
"What kind of game are you playing, Damon."
The eldest Salvatore just smirks, that familiar, irritating smirk.
"Guess you'll have to wait and see."