Ship to Wreck

6

Hey guys. I just want to make you very aware that this chapter deals with issues including and surrounding rape and domestic abuse. The themes presented in the chapter will be revisited throughout the story, as well.

From here on out the chapters are very long and often dark.

Thanks for reading

***

Athena took a breath to steady herself, her hands shaking. She was drunk. Surely it was just... a dream. Right? It had to be.

She knew it wasn't. She knew that she just cheated on her boyfriend... And she didn't know if she regretted it. She had never felt the things that Christian made her feel, and it scared her.

Because it wasn't just confined to the sexual things she felt. Christian made her feel safe.

And she wasn't sure Kyle made her feel safe anymore. His work schedule had been gruelling lately, and he was taking out his frustrations at home. He was snapping at her far more frequently, sometimes just saying cruel things to get her to shut up.

Nevertheless, she still felt a crushing amount of guilt surrounding what she just did.

Thank god Kyle wouldn't be home until the morning and she could just find a way to approach the topic.

She just needed to sober up, first. She thought to herself as she called her Lyft. Everything would be fine.

***

Christian closed his eyes, chucking his wine glass at the wall and barely flinching as the glass shattered all over his living room.

Athena was the best thing in his life lately, and he just ruined it all. There was no way that she would ever speak to him again.

Just the thought of that made his heart clench in his chest and he closed his eyes, trying to hold in his tears. He should've said no. They were both drunk and that impaired their judgement. But the way her eyes sparkled, the way her hips moved, that damn tattoo on her hip...

No.

He took advantage of her and it honestly made him feel like the scum of the Earth. He didn't deserve her ever talking to him again. He deserved nothing.

She had a long-term boyfriend. She talked about marrying him, and honestly, Christian knew that he stood no chance. He knew that it would be the only chance he got... and that wasn't okay.

He 100% took it too far.

As Christian thought about the situation further, he felt tears start to sting his eyes, but he refused to let them fall.

So he wallowed in self pity for a few hours, thinking back to the time they spent together and mourning the loss of the one non-baseball friendship he ever managed to have. His heart felt empty without Athena.

...he never felt that way about a woman before. They were always just objects used to get him off, as horrible and degrading as that sounded.

Athena taught him that. That the way he had been treating women was wrong. That he needed to be a better man.

Athena made him a better person. And he fucked it all up.

He just wanted to make sure she was okay... it had been about an hour and a half since her abrupt departure, but he still yearned for some contact from her.

I am so sorry for taking it too far, Athena. I hope you made it home safe. I understand if we can't see each other anymore.

Concise... to the point. He just needed to make sure she was okay.