Lost Hope

ONE

〡↻ ◁◁ II ▷▷ ↺〡

Athena drove through the streets leading to Heathrow Airport cursing everyone she laid her eyes on. This was not what she expected when her mother had convinced her (more like threatened to cut off her pocket money if she didn't go) to pick up her cousin and his bandmates, who were staying with them for a bit, from the airport.

Honking loudly when a car sped up in front of her, despite being very much mistaken, Athena took a sharp turn and cursed all her cousin's ancestors—that she had knowledge of—when she saw how people were crowded outside the doors of the airport just to catch a glimpse of the stupid band.

Deciding she didn't really care if she ran over some mindless fangirl, she stopped right when she saw four distraught looking young men standing just outside the airport doors, and honked loudly (just for the sake of the girls' families).

Rolling her window down a bit, she grinned and hollered, "Hop in, lads!"

Henry Adler was the first to recognise her behind her Ray-Ban sunglasses and he wasted no time in running to the passenger's door, wrenching it open and jumping in, closing the door quickly. The others immediately followed his action, trusting his decision, with one of them throwing himself over the thighs of his two other bandmates, as they climbed into the backseat.

"Go, go, go, go!" urged Henry, running a hand through his overgrown hair.

"Hold tight, then," said Athena, rolling her window up again, as the fans started knocking and punching the car. "That's Will's car!" she hissed, glaring at the windows and honking loudly to make them clear the way, before speeding out of the airport's driveway.

"Ow, Blake, get off!" groaned Isaac Carter.

Athena glanced back and sniggered when she saw that most of Blake's weight was on him, as he sat in the middle.

"What's up, Carter?" she asked, having met and liked him when she accompanied Henry to one of his trips to their management when the band was forming.

Isaac glared at Blake until he squashed himself between Isaac and the boy with a blond quiff, who sat next to the window behind Henry. Then he turned to Athena and grinned widely. "Thea! Been a while! How're you doing, love?"

"Peachy." She grinned, glancing at Henry who seemed to be in another world. "What, Hens, not gonna greet your cousin?"

Henry snapped out of his thoughts and quickly gave her a side, one-armed hug. Athena opened her mouth to say something after a few minutes but Henry beat her to it. "What happened to you?"

She didn't know why but, for some reason, his question was hard. What happened to her? "What happened to me?" she asked, playing dumb.

"You've changed. Like, a lot," said Henry slowly, as though thinking his words over.

Athena smiled grimly. "Well, you don't stay the same after three years, do you, Henry?"

He shook his head. "I've changed, not as much as you have, though."

Athena's jaw clenched. How dare he ask a question like that when he had been the one to cut off any means of contact between them? "Had you been there through it, you would've understood. I suggest you drop it so we stay calm for the time being," she said, her tone cold.

The boys in the back pretended they didn't have ears—that could very much hear everything—and unlocked their phones, busying themselves.

Henry swallowed and nodded.