The Quiet

Chapter 39

Chapter 39

*Nathan's Point of View*

My eyes felt droopy while they traced the surroundings that we drove past. I didn't sleep much last night and I had to go to Athena's house early, my body felt like passing out every passing second. Even after I left, I wasn't able to sleep. No matter what I did to sleep, I knew deep in my heart that I needed her to be with me. The beach was far from our town, so it was important for us to leave early to be able to get a good spot near the water. Athena plugged her phone into her car stereo but kept the volume low for my sake. It feels like I closed my eyes a million times during the car ride, sleep never came over my brain.

I gave up on trying to sleep so I sat up on my seat and turned up the volume on the stereo. Her phone was on shuffle, therefore, she had to control over which songs played. I could see out of the corner of my eyes that Athena was glancing over at me. "Yes?" I asked, giving her my full attention.

"Babe, could you change the song for me?" She didn't take her eyes off the road as she handed me her phone. Athena was a responsible driver from what I could see, she never looked away from the road to do anything other than looking at me. She was worried about my lack of sleep and went to the extent of pulling over to give me a blanket that she keeps in the trunk of her car. I grabbed her phone and her hand, giving a kiss to her knuckles. She smiled and retracted her hand. I put her passcode into the phone to unlock it and changed the song. "Next," she rejected the song.

As I searched through her Spotify music library, her phone vibrated. I felt my fist tighten when I read the text, it was from Dean. It read, "I miss you already, let's finish what we started yesterday ;)."

I felt my emotions inside while I stared at the text message. "You got a text," I told her. She glanced over in my direction again.

Her face held a curious look, "from who?" Her hands found their way to the radio to turn the volume down to hear my response. I knew that she didn't know it was from Dean. From the look on her beautiful face, she was confused on who it was from.

"Dean," I revealed. I saw her face drop when his name left my mouth. I felt the rage rising inside of them from thinking about what happened yesterday. The way he made her feel, he was connected to Athena in a way that I wasn't. They have a connection that I crave to have with Athena.

She didn't hesitate to say, "delete the message. I don't want to know what he said." I clicked on his message and stared at it again. I wanted to know why she didn't even want to know what he said, what if it was important?

"Are you sure? What if it's important?" I voiced my thoughts to her, regretting it as soon as it came out of my mouth. Why was I hesitating to delete his message? I didn't like him being around her, but here I am vouching for him.

Athena's hand pulled on the gear shift to put the car in park, we were sitting in the parking lot of the beach. "Nothing is important when it comes to Dean. I know how he is and what the message was most likely about." She turned off the car and rotated her body to look straight at me. "He was someone who entertained me when it was needed, I have no legitimate feelings for him. I only did things with him because it was a way to get my mind off of you, it was my shitty way of coping." The teenage girl grabbed my hand and began tracing my skin with her fingers. "I am not letting him ruin us again. I am not going to let you leave me again, I can't." She grabbed her phone back and swiped Dean's text away to extinction.

My heartstrings were pulled when I thought about the pain I put her through when I left. I knew what I did was wrong, but I needed to fix myself first before I could be with her. "I am sorry I did that, princess." I pressed my hand against her hair, to push a few strands behind her ear. "All that matters is that we are together now. Everything is going to be okay." I leaned over the center console, giving her a passionate kiss on her plump lips. Athena was my drug and I was already addicted again. "Come on, let's get a good spot before someone else takes it."