Apollo closed the folder on his desk, letting out a relieved sigh as he leaned back into his chair. When Apollo and Athena first settled in at his desk earlier in the day to start working on their current case, they were having a much harder time than usual finding a valid enough point to use as the foundation for their defense. It was taking so long to find the right starting point that he worried they would be spending the rest of the weekend working on just this one case. But, after spending most of the day going over the evidence again and discussing every theory they could think of, they finally found a point solid enough to use as a foundation to build their defense. Once they finally had that, building the case was so easy that it was like they'd never had any trouble in the first place.
"We did it!" Apollo turned his head to look at Athena when he heard her speak. She was still sitting in her own chair right next to his, her hands raised in the air as she smiled brightly, looking like she couldn't be happier. Even though she was clearly just as relieved as he was, he wasn't surprised at all to see that her reaction was the opposite of his. While spending the entire day sitting at his desk searching for a starting point had left him feeling worn out, she looked like she somehow had even more energy than she did before they even started.
"Yeah. I was starting to think we weren't gonna find anything." It wasn't like this was the first time they'd had a hard time building a case. Almost every case they took on ended up having some kind of challenge that they hadn't anticipated when it was first brought to them. But this time, finding a foundation to use in the first place was so difficult that he started worrying that a point for them to start on didn't exist at all.
Athena lowered her arms and placed her hands on her knees, turning to look at him with an understanding frown. "Yeah. I don't know why it was so hard to find that one." Then, she gave him a bright smile. "But we found it! And that's all that matters."
"Yeah," he agreed. By now, they were used to most of their cases being more difficult than they first appeared. Even when a case seemed simple on the surface, there was always some kind of unexpected hurdle they had to get passed before it was ready to be defended in court. But not once did they ever let that stop them from giving it everything they had. No matter how long it took, no matter how many late nights they spent hovered over the evidence as they did everything they could to build their defense, they always did whatever was necessary to make sure their cases were as solid as they could be.
But, even though they were both prepared to work on this case for the rest of the weekend if that was what it took to be sure it was ready before the trial began on Monday morning, Apollo couldn't help but hope it wouldn't take them that long this time.
Ever since Apollo first moved here, there was so much work to do and so little time to get it done that taking time off wasn't possible. Even after Athena first moved here and eased his burden by taking on half the workload, there still wasn't enough time to spare for a day off even if they wanted it. But, after they'd worked together to get a routine going that made it possible for them to get all of their responsibilities done on a steady and manageable schedule, they went from having no time for anything but work to finally having the option for a day off if they wanted it. And, ever since the first day off they took three weeks ago, taking Sunday off was now part of their regular schedule. Closing the office on Sundays was no longer so they could catch up on tasks that they were behind on. Now, it was a free day they could use to do anything they wanted.
But, no matter how manageable their schedule had become, the day off was still only possible if all of their pressing responsibilities were done by the time Saturday evening came around. So far, they'd managed to get everything done on time and were able to take every Sunday off for the past three weeks. But when they ended up having an unexpectedly hard time building the case they were currently working on, Apollo worried that they would be spending tomorrow working in order for it to be ready by Monday morning. Which was why he couldn't be more relieved that they'd managed to get it done before the day was over. They wouldn't have to work for the rest of the weekend like he originally thought. They could once again use Sunday for a day off.
And since he'd just closed the office for the day just a few minutes ago, the timing couldn't have been better.
"That was the last thing we needed to work on," Apollo started. "So… I guess we're done for the day."
"Great!" Athena said as she got out of her chair. She picked up the folder and held it up for him to see, looking at him with a bright smile. "I'll just get this entered into the network, then we're all done!"
Even though getting all of the case files into the network for a digital backup was something that needed to be completed eventually, it wasn't really anything that they needed to get done anytime soon. Since most of the files were just old cases that Apollo had to sort through when he first moved here, they weren't at all a priority. But, whenever they were done building their defense for whatever case they were currently working on, they made a habit of entering it into the network right away. Not only was it important to preserve the evidence of a case that was currently in progress, but sometimes it was also easier to review the evidence on the computer than it was to pull the file.
Despite that, he wasn't planning on asking Athena to do it this time. It wasn't like he was surprised that she'd already volunteered to do it herself; he knew by now that she was the type to jump in and get things done. But he'd told her there was nothing left for them to do because he was planning on letting her be done for the day while he finished the file.
"H-Hold on," he started, suddenly feeling the need to try and stop her.
His reaction must have surprised her, because her smile suddenly faded and she looked at him with a confused frown. "What?"
He just watched her for a moment, not sure what to say. Then, his eyes widened and he clenched his jaw when he realized how ridiculous he was being. Which one of them finished the file didn't matter, and he knew that. And yet, letting her do it after he'd said they were done for the day felt wrong. He knew it didn't make sense, but he couldn't help himself.
When Athena first agreed to come here and work with him, he hadn't imagined her doing anything but help him with all of the work ahead of him. Helping him take on a workload that had proven to be too much for him to handle on his own was why she was here in the first place, so he never imagined her doing anything more than that. Even after their circumstances led her to living under the same roof with him, he still never imagined her doing anything more than what she came here to do. But, right after she moved in with him, she started helping him in ways that he never would have imagined. Even though it made sense for them to share in the responsibilities of taking care of their apartment now that they were roommates, he still never expected her to do anything more than work on cases when she moved in. But, almost immediately after she started living here, she voluntarily started doing her share of the household work. After that, it ended up leading to a routine where they were both able to equally share in taking care of the office. Before she got here, having time to take care of himself and the office was something he didn't think was possible. Not with all the work he had ahead of him. But, after she initiated the routine and gave him a place to start, it went from something that felt like it wasn't possible to part of their daily routine.
As if all of that wasn't enough, just having her here with him made him feel more content and ready to face everything ahead of him than he'd ever been before. He already knew that having her around was what he needed more than anything. And yet, seeing her there every morning, ready and waiting for him with a smile on her face… he hadn't known until then just how much he really needed her. She gave him the courage he'd been missing, making him feel like he could handle anything that was brought his way. Every day, she would joke around and tease him, making him feel relaxed and content in a way no one else had ever been capable of. Because of her, he went from feeling like he would never be able to handle everything ahead of him to feeling like it wasn't so impossible after all. He knew it was possible that she wasn't even aware of what she was doing; maybe she didn't know how much having her around meant to him, maybe she had no idea that, just by being herself, she was making him feel better than he ever had. Either way, ever since the moment she got here, she'd done nothing but improve everything around him, and he had no idea how he would have been able to do it all without her.
But that was exactly where the current problem on his mind started. It wasn't until recently when he really started considering everything that she was doing for him that it occurred to him. He wasn't sure why it took him so long to see it, but it finally made him realize. She was doing everything she could for him. But, what had he done for her?
He knew it shouldn't be bothering him. He knew there was no point in worrying about it and it was ridiculous to even think about it in the first place. They were best friends and had already learned long ago that they could count on each other for anything. They cared about each other, which was why she was working so hard to be there for him in his time of need. If their positions were reversed, he would have been there for her in the same way she was being there for him right now. But, no matter how much he told that to himself, it didn't feel good enough. Because it wasn't just right now that she was being there for him; in the entire time they'd known each other, it felt like she'd always been the one who was there for him. No matter how far he looked back, he couldn't remember a time that he was there for her. At least, not in the same ways she was always there for him. Nothing he could recall doing for her felt as important or impactful as anything she'd ever done for him. And that made him feel guilty.
He knew he shouldn't be feeling that way. He was well aware that comparing who did what for who was completely pointless. Their friendship hadn't grown to be as strong as it was because they thought they owed each other anything; a friendship built on something as superficial as that was no friendship at all. They were only as close as they were because they cared about each other. Nothing more, nothing less. They were on even ground, and always had been in the entire time they'd known each other.
But that didn't stop him from wanting to thank her somehow. Even though he knew he didn't owe her anything, even though he knew she was only doing all of this because she cared about him, he still wanted to find a way to thank her somehow. But nothing he thought of felt like it would be good enough. Nothing he could think to say to her or do for her felt like it would be enough to repay her for everything she'd done for him. All he could think to do for her right now was make sure she got the day off she deserved every week without exception. It wasn't much, but it was something. It was why he'd been so worried earlier when it was looking like they would have to work tomorrow, and why he was so relieved when it wasn't going to have to be that way.
It was also why he was currently overreacting to the idea of her working on a case file after he officially told her she was done for the day. Giving her a day off once per week wasn't much, but it was all he had to give her right now. Which was why he'd suddenly felt the need to try and stop her from entering the case file into the network after her shift was already over.
But he knew he was overreacting. Which one of them finished the file didn't matter, and he knew it. Trying to stop her wasn't going to help anything. All he was doing was worrying her by getting so worked up over the smallest things. Ever since he'd recently realized that it was hurting her to hear the constant tension in his voice, he promised himself that he was going to try harder to relax and stop letting the little things worry him so much. Getting so worked up over something that didn't matter wasn't helping either of them; all it was doing was putting unnecessary stress on him, which in turn caused him to give off strong negative emotions that did nothing but worry her. And because the last thing he wanted was to do anything that would make her unhappy, he decided to let it go and stop worrying over something that didn't actually matter.
"Uh…" he started. He cleared his throat and sat up straight in his chair. "Nothing."
She just watched him carefully, her expression saying that his reassurance wasn't entirely convincing her. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah," he said, trying to calm his nerves to lessen whatever emotion she was hearing in his voice. "I guess… it's just been a long week."
She was quiet for a few moments, then she suddenly smiled at him, like his assurance had convinced her. "Well, you can relax now, cause we're all done!" She suddenly leaned down slightly, her eyes narrowing as her bright smile turned into a mischievous one. She lifted her hand that wasn't holding the folder and reached forward, gently poking the end of his nose. "And since you get to sleep in tomorrow, you'll be feeling all refreshed before you know it."
Ever since they'd made their day off part of their regular schedule, Apollo had taken the opportunity to start sleeping in. He never did that when Sundays were simply a day where they closed the office to catch up on work, feeling that it would be wrong to stay in bed when Athena was already out here working. But now that Sundays were their normal day off, they were both free to start their day however they wanted. And since he didn't need to worry about feeling guilty that she would be working while he was still asleep, he started taking the opportunity to sleep in whenever they had a day off.
And because Athena was still awake before him and in the main office waiting for him after he'd woken up, she never missed her opportunity to tease him about it.
He narrowed his eyes right back at her, trying to ignore the way her touch made his heart skip a beat. "Uh-huh." He knew that what she was saying was just in good fun and she wasn't actually making fun of how much he liked to sleep in. But he still didn't understand why she always got such a kick out of teasing him over things that should have gotten dull to her after a while. He could only guess that his reactions were more animated than he thought they were, and that was why she never seemed to get tired of repeatedly teasing him over the same things. Instead of questioning why she got such a kick out of it, he just decided to be glad that the antics always made her so happy.
Her smile widened, then she straightened up, turning and heading towards her desk. Apollo just watched her as she sat down and immediately got to work entering the file into her computer. Since the file was the last of their work for the day, he didn't know what he was supposed to do while he waited for her. So he just sat there, trying to think of something to do and coming up with nothing.
The phone on his desk suddenly started to ring. When he looked at it and saw the name on the caller ID, he felt a disappointed pang drop in his chest. It was the courthouse, specifically someone from the Reform Office. If they were calling him right now, there was no doubt they were calling to set up a meeting. And because he worried they would schedule it for tomorrow, he was suddenly finding himself tempted not to pick up the phone.
He reached for the phone and answered it, knowing he didn't have a choice. As he had a quick conversation with the person on the other end of the line, he found that his assumption was correct. They were indeed setting up a meeting to talk about a law they were thinking about passing, and they needed him to be present for it because it involved one of the cases he'd worked on. Though he was disappointed that his work wasn't over after all, he was relieved when they didn't schedule it for tomorrow. Rather, they wanted him to come over right now, as they were trying to pass the law before trials started on Monday morning.
And he was even more relieved when he realized that Athena didn't need to be present this time. Normally when the reform called for a meeting, it required both Apollo and Athena to be there so they could all discuss the law before it was decided if it should start the process of being passed. But thankfully, the law they were considering involved a case that he worked on before she even got here, so she didn't need to be there. Though that meant that his work for the day wasn't over yet, he was at least grateful that Athena's was.
After he hung up the phone, he turned to look at Athena. He found that she'd stopped what she was doing, looking at him with a confused frown. "Was that the Reform Committee?" she asked.
"Yeah," he said, turning in his chair to face her. "They set up a meeting to discuss a law they're trying to pass before Monday morning."
"Oh. So then they scheduled it for tomorrow?"
"No, it's right now."
"Really?" Athena asked, looking surprised. "That's a little short notice."
"Yeah," Apollo agreed. "But don't worry, they only asked to see me," he said as he stood up. "The law they're trying to pass involves one of the cases I worked on before you got here, so you don't have to go."
"Oh," she started, her confused expression returning. "Okay." He didn't blame her for being confused. In all honesty, he was a bit surprised himself. This was the first time since she got here that they asked to see just him rather than the both of them. It made sense that she didn't need to be there since it involved a case that she knew nothing about, but it was still the first meeting he would have without her ever since she got here. Though it was a bit strange, he was at least glad that this meant she was still done with work for the day.
She seemed to get over it quickly, suddenly smiling brightly at him. "Okay, then! I'll just go to the rental store while I wait for you to get back," she said. "That way, we can still watch a movie later."
"Sure," he agreed. They had already made plans to go to the rental store after their shift was over, but now that he had to go to a meeting, she would have to go by herself. Though he wasn't thrilled to find that his work wasn't over even after he thought it was, at least they didn't need to cancel the plans they made for the night if Athena went to get the movies while she waited for him.
"Great!" Athena said, her expression unchanging. "As soon as I'm done with the file, I'll head out! I really need a good walk anyway."
Apollo blinked, staring at her in surprise. "You're gonna walk?" It was true that their original plan was to walk there together when they were done with work for the day. But, now that she had to go by herself, he knew walking wasn't a good idea. Though they'd already been to the rental store more than once, she'd never gone there by herself, so he was all but certain that she didn't know the way well enough to go on her own.
She frowned again, looking confused. "Well, yeah. We were gonna walk anyway, remember?"
He knew he didn't even need to explain the problem to her. She was fully aware of exactly what he was thinking. But because she still refused to admit it when she was about to get herself into a situation where she could get lost, he knew he would need to relay the obvious to her either way. "Uh… yeah. But you don't know how to get there by yourself."
"Sure I do!" she said, smiling brightly at him. "We've been there enough times already, so I know where I'm going."
No matter how much she tried to insist that she wouldn't get lost, their past experiences had already proven that couldn't be further from the truth. He felt a little guilty for getting so worked up every time she tried to go somewhere by herself, but he couldn't help himself. All he could think about were the times that she got lost when they still worked at the agency. She always found her way back in the end, but he still didn't like the idea of her losing her way while he wasn't home. If she lost her way while he was in the meeting, he wouldn't be able to do anything to help her. Even if she somehow managed to get over how stubborn she was and decided to call him for help, he would still have to stay at the meeting until it was over, not being able to leave to go and get her no matter how much he wanted to.
"Why don't you just take a cab?" he started. The last thing he wanted was to be in a position where he couldn't help her if she got lost, so he hoped she would consider a travel option that didn't require her to depend on her non-existent sense of direction. "We can take a walk together later after I get back."
"Why waste money on a cab when I can just walk for free?" she said, her expression unchanging. She leaned forward and folded her arms on her desk, narrowing her eyes at him with a mischievous grin. "Besides, you know you're gonna be too tired for a walk after you get back, you sleepyhead."
He narrowed his eyes at her, his face flushing. Because she'd started calling him that every morning not long after she moved in, he'd eventually gotten used to it and it didn't affect him as much as it did before. But, proving that she had a way to get under his skin that no one else was capable of, she'd managed to find a way to make the comment make the heat rise in his face once again. Even when he started getting used to her antics, even when he started finding ways to keep everything she did from making his heart race, she found a way around his defenses and made his feelings for her harder to hide than they ever were before.
"Okay," she started, sitting up straight in her chair. "How about this?" She opened the top drawer of her desk, pulling something out before she closed it again. She got out of her seat and walked over to him, holding the items out in front of her, offering him to take them. When he looked down, he saw that she was holding a pen and a small notepad. "Why don't you write down the directions? If you do that, there will be no way for me to get lost."
On one hand, he thought that was a good idea. If she had clear directions in front of her, it decreased her chances of getting lost. On the other hand, though it decreased her chances of losing her way, he wasn't fully convinced that it would completely remove the possibility. Even with written directions, one wrong turn would be all it took for her to lose her way. The fact that she had no sense of direction all but guaranteed that it was at least still a possibility.
But then, as he stood there, watching her smile at him, he suddenly felt guilty. Though it had already been proven that she got lost easily, he felt that he was being a little unfair to her. After all, she had yet to get lost ever since she moved here. No matter where she went or how familiar she was with the routes she took, she hadn't lost her way since she moved here. Not even once. Though he knew that didn't completely remove the possibility that she would get lost this time, he knew it was wrong for him to be so doubtful of her. Even though he couldn't help but worry, the last thing he wanted to do was hold any of her weaknesses against her. After all, even if he did decide to express his concerns or try to insist that she shouldn't go by herself, there was technically nothing he could do to stop her. She was her own person, and she was free to do whatever she wanted. So instead of worrying about things that weren't in his control, he decided to just have faith in her and give her directions to decrease her chances of getting lost.
"Okay..." he said, still feeling a little hesitant as he accepted the pen and notepad. He opened the notepad and wrote down the directions, trying to be as clear and specific as he could to make sure she knew exactly where she was going. When he was done, he handed them both back to her.
"Great!" she said, accepting them gratefully. She put one hand on her hip and smiled, pointing at him with the pen that was in her other hand. "Now get going, Mr. Justice! We won't have time to watch a movie tonight if you stay out too late."
He narrowed his eyes at her, his face flushing as his heart suddenly started racing. As if she didn't have enough ways to get under his skin already, she'd taken to calling him 'Mr. Justice' after their shift was over, using the excuse that she couldn't call him 'boss' when they weren't working. Maybe it was all fun and games to her, maybe seeing the way he reacted to her antics amused her. But with the way he felt about her, it made him want to crawl into a hole and hide in order to escape the awkward and intense feelings that were building inside him.
After he left the office, he took a cab to the courthouse. He'd been in enough of these meetings by now to have an idea of how it would go, so he assumed he wouldn't be gone for more than an hour. And because the round trip to the rental store shouldn't take Athena more than an hour, he estimated that they would get home at about the same time. So instead of worrying about her, he decided to focus on the meeting so he could do his job properly and just look forward to spending the rest of their evening together.
But by the time the meeting was over, it had taken much longer than he'd anticipated. Because the Reform Committee was trying to get this law passed before Monday morning, a lot of technicalities needed to be discussed, causing what should have been an hour long meeting to drag on for three hours before it was finally over.
As Apollo sat in the back of the cab on his way back to the office, he ran a hand over his face as he let out a long, tired yawn. He knew it was still too early in the evening for him to be this tired, but he couldn't help himself. Even with their one day off per week giving him more time to rest than he had before, he and Athena still had to stay up late every night in order to get all of their work done so they wouldn't fall behind. And because he was always the most exhausted at the end of the work week, he was starting to feel so groggy that he wasn't sure how much longer he would be able to stay awake. Even though Athena had just been teasing him when she said he would be too tired to go on a walk with her after he got back, she ended up being right. And since it had started raining not that long after he arrived at the courthouse, that would have been another thing stopping them from taking an evening walk.
Once he got to the office and paid the driver for the fare, he quickly jumped out of the cab, rushing towards the front door in order to escape the heavy rain that was pouring down on him. Even though he'd had his keys ready and opened the door in record time, he still had enough water on his head that he needed to shake the droplets out of his hair after he went inside. He shivered a bit, the raindrops that had fallen onto his back chilling him. The weather forecast had called for rain, but it wasn't supposed to arrive until tomorrow morning. But since they planned to stay in tomorrow, it wasn't a big deal. He was just glad that this didn't happen during a day they were walking home from the courthouse.
After he quickly ran a hand through his hair and confirmed that he didn't need a towel, his eyes scanned the main room for Athena. When he found the room empty, he couldn't help but be surprised. Because she'd been so eager for them to watch a movie together tonight, he just assumed she would be in the main room waiting for him.
"Athena?" he called out. He stood there for a moment, listening for any sound that could have indicated that she'd heard him. When he heard nothing but silence, a small wave of unease washed over him.
Then, he realized that he was worrying for nothing. Because he'd ended up staying out a lot later than he'd thought he would, she certainly would have gotten bored if she just had to sit there waiting for him. Without a doubt, she'd made herself busy doing something else while she waited for him. The idea that she would just do nothing while she waited for him was ridiculous; with how much energy she always had, she could barely sit still. She was certainly keeping herself busy somewhere around the office, so all he needed to do was go find her and see if she was still up for a movie before they turned in for the night.
He walked across the room, dropping his keys on his desk as he headed for the kitchen. If she wasn't in the main room, the most likely other places she could be were the bathroom or the kitchen. But because the open bathroom door confirmed that she wasn't in there, the next most likely place was the kitchen. When he reached the kitchen entryway, he stopped and looked inside.
And when he found this room empty as well, the unease in his chest began to spread. He wasn't sure why he was suddenly feeling so uneasy. After all, if she wasn't anywhere out here, she was most likely just in her room. But, even though he was aware of this, something felt off. Ever since he first walked into the office, something felt out of place. He couldn't quite put his finger on what it was but, whatever it was, it was making his inability to find her suddenly make him feel anxious.
He turned and briskly walked across the room, ignoring his growing anxiety as he headed for the bedrooms on the other side of the office. He knew he was overreacting. He was just thinking too hard, letting his imagination get away from him because he was tired. She was surely just in her room, and all he had to do was knock and let her know that he was home and ready to watch a movie with her if she was still up for it. But, something in the back of his mind, something that he still couldn't put his finger on, was trying to tell him that something was out of place. And no matter how much he tried to place what it was, he couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right.
Right as he was about to pass the couches in the main room, he suddenly stopped. The feeling that he hadn't been able to shake became stronger, and he suddenly turned his head to look. When he saw nothing but an empty room, the unease in his chest grew. But he had no idea why. He just stared, having no idea why the sight in front of him was causing the anxiety inside him to suddenly grow.
And then, it suddenly dawned on him. The fact that the living room was empty was exactly what was wrong. Even if Athena not being in the living room could easily be explained by her being in another part of the office, that still didn't explain why the living room was empty. The entire reason she'd left earlier was to go to the rental store, so there should have been at least one movie in the living room somewhere. Whether they were in a bag or just set somewhere on their own, she would have left them somewhere in the living room after she got back. There was no reason for her to put them anywhere else. But, even after he scanned the room for a second time to see if he had just missed them somehow, he realized that there was nothing there.
As the realization dawned on him, he rushed towards Athena's room, his heart rate quickening as the unease he was feeling quickly grew into panic. He tried to tell himself he was overreacting. Even though it didn't make sense for her to bring the movies into her room, he knew there was still a chance that she'd done exactly that. Assuming that she wasn't back yet just because there was nothing in the living room was ridiculous. She'd probably just brought them in her room with her when she got back and had forgotten about it. She was probably in her room right now. She had to be.
When he reached her door, he quickly knocked without hesitation. He held his breath, his heart hammering in his ears as he listened for any sign that she'd heard him. When a few moments went by without her answering, he knocked again. "Athena?" he called. "Are you in there?"
And when a minute went by with nothing but silence, the growing anxiety inside him spread into a full on panic. If she wasn't anywhere in the office, not even in her room, then the only remaining possibility was that she wasn't home. And if she wasn't home, then that meant she had yet to return. And if she'd had three hours to finish her trip that should have taken her no more than an hour, then the only explanation he could think of was that she'd gotten lost, and had been wandering around in the rain for the last three hours.
His eyes widened, his heart suddenly hammering as he quickly pulled his phone from his pocket. He immediately dialed her number and put the phone up to his ear, holding his breath as his panic quickly grew. When the phone rang five times and went to voicemail, he immediately dialed again. He knew he shouldn't be calling again so quickly without giving her a chance to call him back first, but the idea that she'd been wandering around in the cold rain for hours was making him desperate to get her home as soon as possible.
And when the call went to voicemail again, he couldn't help but feel confused. No matter how stubborn she was when she got lost, she always answered her phone. Her lack of answer wasn't because her phone wasn't charged or because it was turned off; the fact that it went through all five rings instead of going straight to voicemail was evidence of that. But, no matter how stubborn she was, she never refused to pick up her phone when she was lost. In the past, she would pick up every time, even if she didn't want to.
Since she wasn't answering his calls, he sent her a text. He had no idea how much time passed as he stared at the screen, his heart rate quickly rising as he waited for her to answer. Though the text had shown that it had successfully been sent, it showed no indication that she'd read it. So he sent another, just in case the indication was wrong and she didn't actually get the first one. But no matter how long he waited, no matter how long he stared at the screen, the texts remained unread, and there was no sign of her returning his calls.
And as he stood there, waiting for her response in vain, a possibility suddenly dawned on him. Something that he hadn't thought of until now, a possibility for her lack of answer that hadn't occurred to him before. And the thought alone twisted his chest so painfully that he suddenly lost his ability to breathe.
What if the reason she wasn't answering… was because she couldn't answer?
His heart hammering so loudly that it was deafening him, he dialed her number again, holding the phone up to his ear as his head began pounding along with his heart. He held his breath, listening closely as the phone began to ring. And with each ring that sounded without her answer, the panic in his chest felt so heavy that he could barely breathe. When it reached the fourth ring with still no sign of her answering, his panic was so strong that he began to feel dizzy. If she wasn't answering because something was wrong, what was he supposed to do? Without knowing where she was and having no way to find her, he didn't even know where to start if he went out to try and look for her. And if he couldn't find her because something happened to her, he couldn't even call for help because he had no idea where she was. The idea that she could be in trouble, the idea that she might need help and he would be powerless to do anything about it… it made him feel helpless.
And as the phone began to ring for the fifth time, right as his vision began to blur from the dizziness that had started clouding his vision, the ring ended halfway through as an audible clicking sound signaled her answer.
"Hey," he heard her say on the other end of the line, her tone lacking her usual cheer as she sounded slightly frustrated.
The sound of her voice woke him from the dizziness that was threatening to send him unconscious. But it didn't calm the painful hammering of his heart. Though he was relieved that she'd finally answered her phone, it didn't explain why she'd taken so long to answer, nor did it mean that she wasn't in some kind of trouble. "Are you okay!?" he started, his panic making him speak much louder than he'd meant to. "Where are you!? Why didn't you answer the phone!? Are you hurt!?" He took in a breath, then started breathing unsteadily, his widened eyes staring at nothing as he waited for her response.
After a short silence, she finally answered.
"Um… which block is East Avenue on?"
Athena let out a frustrated sigh, grabbing one end of the ribbon in her hair and pulling it loose. Though she was used to keeping her hair tied up, the rain had soaked it so thoroughly that it was heavy, making the ponytail feel like a heavy weight that was painfully pulling the side of her head. Now that she'd freed it from the ribbon and let it fall behind her, it stopped the pain in her head that had been on the verge of giving her a headache. Though she was slightly more comfortable now, she still had no idea where she was.
She just stood there in the middle of the empty sidewalk, the rain pouring down on her just as strongly as it had since it started over two hours ago. Being caught in the rain didn't bother her. She didn't care that wandering around trying to find her way had left her entire body soaked, nor did she care that her hair was heavy and that her clothes were sticking to every inch of her body. What did bother her was that, even though she'd brought written directions with her this time, she'd still managed to lose her way.
Knowing that she had no sense of direction never made her any less angry with herself whenever she got lost. It didn't matter that she'd fully accepted long ago that she didn't possess a sense of direction; it didn't change how thoroughly embarrassing it was for her to accept the fact that she simply didn't have such a basic, simple skill that came to most people easily. Instead, she had to depend on other people to help her find her way whenever she inevitably got lost. And every time that happened, every time she had to let someone lead her home like a lost, helpless child, it was the most embarrassing experience of her life. No matter how many times it happened, she never got used to it, and she could never stand it.
As if all of that wasn't enough for her to feel ridiculous for losing her way yet again, she'd had written directions this time. Even with clear directions in front of her, she still couldn't find her way back to the office. The directions had led her to the rental store just fine; the problem occurred when she'd tried to follow the directions backwards to get back home. For some reason, though she'd been able to follow the directions just fine, she somehow got turned around when she tried to follow them backwards on her way back. Before she knew it, she'd gotten turned around, and suddenly had no idea where she was. And in her embarrassment, in her shame of getting lost in a more pathetic way than she ever had before, she refused to ask for help. She wandered around, trying to find her way back on her own, somehow believing that finding her way back without help would somehow make up for her mistake. Even after it started to rain, she refused to call for a cab that could just take her home. After she'd made a point about walking to the rental store because it would be a waste of money to take a cab, she couldn't go back on it now. She had to find her way back on her own, no matter how long it took.
When the sound of a ringing phone cut through the sound of the pouring rain, her eyes moved to the plastic bag she was holding in her hand. Because she didn't want her phone to get damaged after it started raining earlier, she'd put it in the plastic bag. She looked around her, trying to find a place she could find shelter from the rain so she could answer the phone. She had to walk a little further before she found a business with an awning hanging over the front door, and she went to stand underneath it. Now that the awning was protecting her phone from the rain, she untied the plastic bag and retrieved her phone.
And when she looked at the screen, she saw multiple missed calls and texts from Apollo.
She just blinked, staring in surprise at the screen. Apollo rarely called her this many times in such a short amount of time. Usually, if she didn't answer her phone, he just waited for her to call him back. She couldn't imagine why he'd felt the need to call her so many times so quickly.
Before she could think on it any further than that, Apollo's name appeared on the screen again when the phone started ringing again. For just a moment, she hesitated to answer. If she picked up now, there would be no way for her to hide the fact that she was lost, and she would once again have to let him help her find her way home. Though she hated that she'd embarrassed herself yet again, though she hated the idea that she had to admit to him that not even his written directions were enough to keep her from getting lost this time, she knew she had no choice but to answer.
Frowning against the frustration she was feeling with herself, she picked up the phone right as the fifth ring was about to end.
After Athena told Apollo which road she was on and he made her promise to stay there so he could come and get her, he immediately left the office and took a taxi to pick her up. Even though speaking to her on the phone had confirmed that she wasn't in some kind of trouble, he wasn't completely convinced that she was unharmed. With her stubbornness often keeping her from admitting it when she was in some kind of pain, he knew there was a chance that she was hurt and was refusing to admit it when they were speaking on the phone. Which was why he couldn't have been more relieved when he arrived to her current location and saw her. The look on her face made it clear that she wasn't happy at all, and the pouring rain had left her soaked to the bone, but she was clearly unharmed. And that was enough to make him feel like the weight of the world had been removed from his shoulders.
As soon as the cab pulled up to where she was standing, he quickly got out and tried to offer her the open umbrella he had in his hand. Before he could even try to say anything to her, she walked passed him, pointedly ignoring the offered umbrella as she got into the back of the cab, not even looking him in the eye. And now, on their way back, she just sat there, staring at nothing and staying completely silent.
Apollo just sat in the back of the cab, unable to take his eyes off of Athena. She was sitting on the other side of the backseat next to him, her elbow on the door just below the window while she leaned the side of her head against her hand. Her other arm was on her leg, her fingers curled underneath her palm while she tapped her pointer finger against the top of her leg in quick, irritated repetition. She just stared ahead, her lips in a straight, neutral line and her brow turned down in a deep frown. It was the same angry expression she'd had ever since he'd arrived to pick her up a few minutes ago, and it hadn't changed at all during the entire trip home. She just kept staring ahead, looking more angry than he'd ever seen her.
And even though he hadn't taken his eyes off of her the entire time, she had yet to look at him at all.
And because he had no idea what to say to her, he remained silent as well. He'd already learned long ago that there was nothing he could do or say that would make her feel any better when she was down like this. Because getting lost was the thing about herself that she disliked the most, she always ended up relentlessly angry at herself, taking a much longer time than necessary before she would finally overcome it and forgive herself. And no matter how much he wanted to help her get through it, no matter what he tried to do for her or thought to say to her, he knew nothing would make her feel better any sooner. When she got this upset with herself, he couldn't do much more than wait for her to come down from it on her own. So he just sat there and watched her, trying to instead just focus on how relieved he was that she was okay.
But just because she was unharmed this time didn't mean he could fully convince himself that he was ready to let this go. Out of all the times she'd gotten lost in the past, this was the first time he could ever recall her not answering her phone during the first call. Even if there was a good explanation for why she took so long to answer this time that he had yet to learn, it still made him realize something that had never crossed his mind before. If she ever ended up in a situation where she was lost and was unable to answer her phone, what would he do? Without her picking up the phone and giving him an idea of where she was, he would have no way of finding her. And because of her high tendency to get lost, he couldn't even convince himself that he was overreacting to the idea. Until now, his worst concern to the idea of her getting lost when she went somewhere on her own was that she might tire herself out by wandering around for too long, or maybe catch a cold after walking in the rain for too long. But now, after she'd taken so long to answer her phone this time, the possibility that she could end up in a situation where she couldn't answer her phone was suddenly brought to him. If that ever happened, she would be unable to tell him where she was. He would have no way to find her, and would be powerless to help her if she was in trouble.
And because the idea of something happening to Athena terrified him more deeply than any fear he'd ever known, his mind immediately began racing as he searched for any possible way he could stop such a scenario from ever happening.
And because he'd been trying to think of something ever since the moment he'd left the office to pick her up, he thought he might finally have an idea.
Finally taking his eyes off of Athena for the first time since he picked her up, he pulled his phone from his pocket and started looking through the options in the system. If this function on his phone worked the way he thought it did, it would guarantee that Athena would never end up in a situation where he couldn't find her. But because he'd never actually used this option before, he would have to put it to a test to see if it would even work at all. And after he found the option in his phone's settings and activated it, he realized that it would only work if Athena's phone had the option as well.
"Athena," he said, turning his head to look at her.
"What?" Athena said. Her tone was low, like she was still in no mood for conversation. She didn't look at him, still staring ahead with the same frustrated expression she'd had ever since he'd picked her up.
Apollo knew in the back of his mind that he should probably wait until she wasn't so upset to bring this up. But his desperation to find out if this worked so he didn't need to worry about her getting into a situation where he couldn't help her was so strong that he wasn't thinking about anything but testing this idea as soon as possible. "Does your phone have one of those tracking options?"
That must have been enough to get her attention. Though she didn't move and her expression didn't change, she turned her eyes to look at him for the first time since they'd gotten into the cab. "Tracking options?"
"Yeah," he said, looking back down at his phone to look through the options. "It's one of those things people use to find their phone if they lose it." Though he'd heard of the option before, he'd never actually used it. Because it required another person's phone to use it properly, he just never thought about activating it before. But now it occurred to him that he could use it to find Athena if she ever ended up in a situation where she was lost and couldn't tell him where she was. As long as they both activated the option, they could use it to track each other's phones. And as long as she always had her phone with her, he could use it to find her if she ever got lost and didn't know where she was. He couldn't think of a better way to insure that she would never end up in a situation where help would be unavailable to her. It reminded him of the technology used in electronic dog tags. People often put one on their dog's collar and used a similar program to find their dog if it ran away. Though that wasn't the intended use of the phone tracking system, he was confident it would work the same way. "It works just like those electronic dog tags that people use to find their dog if it gets lost," he explained. Since it seemed like Athena didn't know how this program worked either, he thought the electronic tags were a good example to use for his explanation of what he was talking about. "If we both activate the phone trackers, then we can-"
He trailed off when he turned to look at her. She'd lowered her hand that was previously holding up her chin and laid it out against the door, her head turned to fully look at him. Both of her hands were clenched into fists, so tight that her knuckles had turned white. Her brow was turned down into a deep, angry frown, her teeth clenched and a fire in her eyes. For some reason, she looked more angry than she had before.
But what made his eyes widen and a sinking feeling drop into his middle was that her sudden anger seemed to be directed at him.
"Oh, so I'm a dog now, am I!?" Athena said in a volume so high that she was almost yelling. "Just because I can't follow directions as well as you can, I'm suddenly a helpless animal that needs to be tracked at all times!?"
At Athena's words, Apollo's eyes widened further, and the sinking feeling in his middle spread to the rest of his body. He'd been so desperate to find a way for her not to end up in a situation where she couldn't be found if she needed help, and he was so eager to make sure that she understood how the program worked that he didn't realize how his wording sounded until now. And as he played what he said back in his mind, he realized that his wording had indeed made it sound like he wanted to track her as if she were a dog.
"N-No! No!" Apollo said quickly, shaking his head. As she continued staring at him with fire in her eyes, Apollo lifted his phone out to her so she could see the screen. "I just meant we could use the tracking system in case we lose our phones!" He took a moment to give her a chance to say something. When she didn't, he continued. "The tags were just an example! I didn't mean it like that!"
And for the next few moments, they continued to stare at each other, Athena's angry glare never wavering. Before Apollo could think of anything else to say, the cab suddenly came to a stop when it pulled up to the office.
Without saying anything, Athena turned away from him, removing her seat-belt and quickly exiting the cab.
"Athena!" Apollo called to her, his voice getting cut off as she slammed the door behind her. He quickly removed his own seat-belt and went to open the door on his side, but was stopped when the cab driver yelled at him to pay for the fare. Apollo quickly retrieved his wallet from his pocket, pulling the biggest bill he could find and throwing it into the front seat before he exited the cab and ran after her. He reached her just as she unlocked the office door with her own keys, and he followed after her when she went inside.
"Athena, wait!" he called to her, watching her with wide, desperate eyes as he shut the door behind him. She stopped walking as she was halfway to her room, standing there with her back to him. Though she'd stopped like he asked, she didn't turn to look at him.
Apollo clenched his jaw nervously, searching his mind for the right words to say to make up for what he said. "I'm sorry," he started, watching her as she continued to keep her back turned to him. "I didn't mean that the way it sounded. It was just an example, that's all. I wasn't trying to- I mean, I was…" He trailed off when he realized that there was no way for him to word his apology other than to admit that he wanted to use the trackers to find her if she got lost. No matter which way he worded it, it would end up sounding like he was treating her like a dog.
Then, she suddenly turned around. She put her hands on her hips and smiled at him, like she wasn't upset at all. But he knew better. He didn't even need to see Widget's angry red glow to know that she was still angry. Even if she could fool someone who didn't know her with her feigned happy expression, she couldn't fool him. The slight line in her brow and the way her smile was clearly forced, not at all like her genuine bright smile when she was happy told him that, despite her happy appearance, she still couldn't be more angry.
"What's there to apologize about?" she started. Her volume was normal, but her voice was slightly strained, like she was holding back the urge to yell. "It's a great idea! Someone who gets lost as easily as I do should never be allowed to leave the house without a tracking device. Better yet…" She leaned forward slightly, her false smile disappearing as she narrowed her eyes at him, like she was no longer trying to hide how angry she was. "Why don't you just get one of those dogs tags?" She straightened back up, her false smile returning as she moved her hand to her necklace and pointed right next to Widget. "I'll wear it right here and I promise never to take it off." She put her hand back on her hip, narrowing her eyes at him again. "Unless you'd rather get a collar. I'll wear it if you demand it, boss." She narrowed her eyes even further. "Or would you prefer 'Master?' I guess they're the same thing now." Her false smile returned. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna get some dry clothes and take a shower. Wouldn't want the office to smell like wet dog."
She turned and headed for her room, opening the door and turning to look at him as she stood in the doorway, watching him with her false smile. "And while you're getting that collar, don't forget the leash." Then she waved at him and shut the door.
And Apollo just stared at her closed door, his mind whirling as he tried to process everything that had happened in the last few hours. Even after she left her room and headed for the bathroom, he said nothing to her, worried that he would only make it worse. And she didn't look at him, walking passed him like he wasn't even there. Even after he cleared his head enough to go sit on his couch, he still didn't know what to think of everything that had just happened. And when she left the bathroom and headed straight for her room while still ignoring him, he was still no closer to knowing what he was going to say to her to make up for what he'd done.
It didn't matter that his intentions had been good and that he hadn't meant to upset her. He knew she was already feeling awful after she got lost, and he managed to make it worse. At the end of it all, he'd managed to embarrass her with his poor wording, and he was at a complete loss of how he was supposed to make it up to her.
Athena sat on her bed, leaning her back against the pillow that she'd propped up against the wall, her legs stretched out to the other end with her ankles crossed. She had her arms wrapped around herself, her head turned down as she stared at her bed without really seeing it. She'd been sitting here ever since she'd returned to her room, her mind still reeling over everything that had happened in the last few hours. It had caused so many strong emotions to surge through her that she didn't know how to handle them all, so she'd shut herself in her room, having no idea how to sort through everything she was feeling unless she spent some time alone.
And now that she'd sat here long enough to sort through her emotions and get them under control, she could finally think straight again. And when her clear mind was able to think through everything rationally without anger or embarrassment clouding her mind, her chest felt heavy by the weight of guilt when she realized the inexcusably harsh way she'd treated Apollo.
Ever since the moment she'd gotten here, she'd been doing everything in her power to help him through the hardships he'd faced in the last few months. It was the main reason she'd moved here with him in the first place, and she never stopped doing everything within her power to keep his spirits raised until he was finally ready to start coming to terms with it all. Though the road he was on was difficult and he hadn't reached the end of it just yet, he was feeling better than he had since she got here. After he finally confided in her over two months ago, after she gave him a safe place to grieve and he finally released the emotions he'd been too afraid to let come to the surface, it was suddenly like nothing had been bothering him in the first place. He went from being so tense that the smallest things startled him to taking things in stride, just like he always did before. The emotions in his voice were no longer constantly shifting, completely back to the normal, consistent peaks that he'd always had before. He was calmer than he was before, able to relax and not seem so burdened by everything around him. And when he smiled, it was genuine, not lessened by stress or forced out of obligation. It was his real smile, content and warm, the one she'd fallen in love with so long ago.
And, according to his own words, he told her he never would have been able to get to the point he was at now if it hadn't been for her. He'd said as much the night that he confided in her, thanking her for giving him the time he needed and for helping him start facing the things he'd been too afraid to face on his own.
And that only made her guilt that much heavier when this time, instead of being the reason he remained content, she ended up being the reason his voice was full of out of control negative emotions.
She couldn't help but be angry at herself every time she got lost. Even if she'd long ago made herself accept the very clear fact that she simply didn't possess a sense of direction, it never stopped her from doing everything within her power to find her way without the help of others. It wasn't just her embarrassment when she had to admit that she, an adult that should have long since learned how to find her way on her own, had lost her way again. It was also her fear of needing to depend on others for anything at all. It wasn't as if she would ever try to claim that she'd gotten to where she was now without the help of others. She was well aware that she'd only been able to get to where she was now because of the help and support she'd received from other people. But despite that, for as far back as she could remember, she'd always had to work through the most difficult parts of her life by herself. Even when she was only a child that should have been expected to lean on others, even when there were people in her life that cared for her and guided her along the way, there was still never anyone there that could understand enough to help her through it all. While she knew that her upbringing during the earliest part of her childhood had been anything but normal and her special hearing made it hard for anyone to understand what she was going through even if they wanted to, the fact still remained that she'd felt alone for most of her life. And she'd become so accustomed to doing things on her own that she'd quickly picked up a habit of believing that she was better off getting through her problems by herself. She'd been getting through her life without depending on others for so long that she still felt the need to resist the help of others and do everything by herself. Even when she needed help, even when she was in a situation she knew she couldn't handle on her own, she still resisted any help that was offered to her.
And the habit was so ingrained in her mind that she even resisted help from Apollo, the one person she loved more than anyone else in the world.
It didn't matter that she'd only been angry at herself and hadn't meant to take her anger out on him. It didn't matter that she was fully aware that he was only trying to help and she knew he didn't mean what he said the way it sounded. And it didn't matter that she knew she'd overreacted and had no right to speak to him the way she did. The fact remained that she'd taken her anger out on him. And though he was only trying to help, she'd treated him in a way he didn't deserve. The way she'd treated him was inexcusable, and she knew it.
Ever since she'd answered the phone when he called her earlier, she'd been wracked with guilt. The highly peaked panic in his voice, the worry that was almost out of control as he desperately asked her where she'd been and if she was all right… it was like a stab to her heart. It was already hard enough for her to hear him in so much pain, to hear that he was under so much distress that he could barely breathe. But to know that she was the reason he was feeling that way, to know that she was to blame for causing him so much pain, it made her more angry at herself than she'd ever been before. If only she hadn't been so stubborn, if only she'd just called him for help instead of wandering around for so long without telling him where she was. But she didn't. Because she was too embarrassed to admit that, even though she'd had clear written directions in front of her this time, she'd still lost her way on her way back. She was too embarrassed to admit that she'd gotten turned around when she tried to follow the directions backwards, choosing to wander around for hours rather than call him when she knew she clearly needed help.
And though she'd done her best to keep her anger at bay, though she'd refused to talk to him after they'd gotten into the cab because she worried that her anger would make her say something she didn't mean, she still ended up doing it anyway. And she couldn't blame Apollo for it at all. Even though she knew that all he was trying to do was help, her angry and embarrassed mind took what he said the wrong way, and she lost her temper and took her anger out on him.
It didn't matter that she didn't mean anything that she said. It didn't matter that Apollo knew her, that he was fully aware that she got angry when she was embarrassed, and that she wasn't really angry at him and hadn't meant to snap at him like that. What did was that she'd treated him in a way that he didn't deserve. And she owed him an apology.
Her mind made up, she got out of bed, heading for her bedroom door. It was getting fairly late now, and she didn't know if he was even still awake. She knew how tired he was at the end of the week, and she wouldn't have been surprised if he'd already turned in for the night. But if he hadn't, she was going to apologize for her behavior, preferring not to wait any longer to clean up the mess she'd made.
And when she opened the door to her room and saw him sitting on his couch in the living room, she was glad to see that she wouldn't have to wait to make up for what she'd done.
Apollo met her gaze as soon as she opened her door, his eyes widening as she stepped out of her room and shut the door behind her.
"Athena," he said quickly, getting up off the couch and walking around the coffee table to stand in the middle of the room. He didn't make any effort to approach her, just standing there with an expression of guilt, his widened eyes making him appear desperate. "I'm sorry," he started, raising his hands to waist level like he was trying to emphasize his apology. "I didn't mean… I was only trying to help with…" He trailed off, then he lowered his hands to his sides, looking defeated. "I'm sorry. I never should have said something so stupid."
And as she stood there, hearing the high anxiety in his voice, seeing him looking at her with so much guilt and apologizing to her as if he thought the entire situation was his fault… it made her guilt weigh heavier than it did before. In the entire time she'd known Apollo, he'd always felt the need to take the blame for situations like this, even when he was clearly not the one at fault. Even when it was clear that the blame was all on her, even when they both knew that it was her that should be apologizing to him, he still tried to take the blame and apologize when he hadn't done anything wrong. He was so desperate to clear the air with her, so anxious to make sure nothing bad remained between them that he would do anything it took to make things right between them again.
And, even though she never liked seeing him take on a burden that wasn't his, his willingness to do whatever it took to make things right with the people that he cared about was one of the most admirable parts of him. And it was one of the countless reasons she'd fallen in love with him in the first place.
Refusing to let him continue taking the blame for this, she walked towards him. When she reached him, she didn't hesitate to wrap her arms around his shoulders and the back of his neck, pulling him close to her in a comforting hug. She pressed the side of her face against his ear, tightening her hold on him to assure him that he didn't need to feel guilty anymore. And she said nothing. She just continued to hold him, refusing to let go until she knew that he'd calmed down.
And after a few moments of hesitation, she knew she'd succeeded when he wrapped his arms around her, hugging her back as she felt him relax.
And she just stayed there like that, not ready to let go just yet. Even though she was hugging him like this in order to calm him down before she apologized to him, she couldn't deny that she'd also just wanted to hold him. Even though she'd gone back to hugging him whenever she felt like it, it was never like this. They were always quick, friendly hugs, ones she did on a whim to surprise him or raise his spirits. It was rare that she ever got the opportunity to just hold him like this. And though her heart was full of a desire to tell him how much she loved him so she could hold him like this whenever she wanted, she had to settle for rare times like this. So she closed her eyes, her heart rate quickly increasing to a flutter as she took in his scent, unable to deny that being this close to him were the only times that she felt truly content.
But no matter how much she knew she could easily stay like this forever, she knew it was time to do what she planned to do from the start.
"There's nothing for you to be sorry about," she said, her voice a bit quieter than she meant it to be. "You didn't do anything wrong."
"But…"
Athena finally let him go, backing away from him and looking him in the eye, giving him a reassuring smile. "No buts. It was my fault, and we both know it." Her smile faded and she watched him with an apologetic expression. "I'm sorry, Apollo. I never should have taken my anger out on you. It was wrong."
"It's fine. I understand. I know you didn't mean it." He still looked hesitant, but his expression finally smoothed out after a few moments. "Besides, I still didn't help by saying something so…" He frowned slightly, like the memory was unpleasant. "... stupid."
"What do you mean?" Athena started, putting her hands on her hips and giving him a bright, genuine smile. Though she wasn't done apologizing just yet, she already felt the guilt fading away. "I don't remember you saying anything stupid." Her smile widened. "It's a great idea!"
Apollo's eyes widened, like he was surprised. "… It is?"
"Of course!" Athena started. In all honesty, she'd understood what he was trying to say from the start. Because she'd been so angry at herself when he first brought it up, she'd taken what he said the wrong way and lost her temper. But after she'd calmed down and thought about it, she understood that he was simply trying to find an easier way to find her when she was lost. When she thought about how he must have felt when she wasn't answering her phone, how panicked he clearly sounded when she didn't answer, she realized it was actually in their best interest to do something about it. It didn't matter that she hadn't heard her phone because it had just been in the plastic bag she'd brought with her from the rental store in order to protect it from the rain. The fact remained that, if she was ever in a situation where she couldn't answer her phone, he would worry. And because the last thing she wanted to do was cause him any kind of stress, she decided there was nothing wrong with letting him have that comfort. "What's wrong with making it easier for you to find me?" She paused, giving him a moment to think about it. "Besides, I think I owe you some peace of mind."
Though she hadn't know what his response to that was going to be, what she didn't expect was for his expression to slowly turn to one of sadness. It made her own smile fade, and she watched him, suddenly worried by his shift in mood. Before she could ask him what was wrong, he said something she didn't expect.
"You… don't owe me… anything…"
And she just watched him, having no idea what to say to him. She couldn't imagine what had caused him to suddenly look so guilty. She could only guess that he still felt guilty over this whole thing, and was trying to tell her that they didn't need to do anything about it. But that was never her plan from the start. She knew how difficult she could be and, just because she had a hard time controlling herself when she was angry or embarrassed, there was no reason for him to suffer because of it. She had every intention of giving him that peace of mind, knowing that she owed it to him.
"Okay then," Athena started, her bright smiling returning. "How about this? Instead of using the trackers for that, why don't we just use them to keep track of our phones in case we lose them?" If he was going to refuse the real reason he wanted to use the trackers because he felt guilty, she would give the impression that they were going to use them for something else. Either way, the trackers would be activated and he would get the peace of mind that he deserved. "That's what they're for anyway, right?"
And after a few moments, his sad expression faded, and he smiled at her. It was a genuine smile, the one he'd refused to show for so long, the one that meant his heart was truly content. And the sight of it made her heart race.
"Sure," he said, and they both got their phones. After going through the settings and entering the necessary information, they confirmed that the trackers were were working. Whenever they opened the program, the location of the other was indicated with a tiny dot that blinked on the screen, insuring that they would always be able to find each other wherever they went.
After they put their phones away, they smiled at each other. Even though Athena regretted the way she'd handled the situation at first, she knew they would find the right way to handle it in the end. After all, they were best friends, and every experience they went through always managed to somehow bring them closer than they were before.
Athena put out her fist towards him, giving him a warm, content smile. "Thanks for looking out for me, Apollo." Even when she treated him in a way that she didn't mean, even when her faults got the best of her and he suffered because of them, he supported her in everything she did and forgave her for every one of her mistakes. He understood her in a way that no one else ever had, and she didn't know what she would ever do without him. Even though she knew she didn't deserve how good he was to her, she couldn't have been more grateful to have him there with her, and she couldn't have been happier to make him the central part of her life. "You're the best."
And as he reached out to her and pressed his fist against hers, the smile on his face made her heart flutter in a way that only he was capable of.
Chapter Songs –
Apollo – 'All of Me' - Boyce Avenue
Athena – 'Whatever It Takes' – Lifehouse
Both – 'Still There For Me' – Corbin Bleu and Vanessa Hudgens