Ship to Wreck

8

Athena's guard had been up even higher than the previous days after receiving the text from Kyle, but she couldn't let Christian see that. She couldn't risk him being hurt.

"Hey, Thenes," Christian smiled softly, handing her two pieces of toast and an egg over hard. He managed to not fuck it up this time, and he was probably way too proud of himself for that.

"Good morning," she whispered, barely making it through her breakfast. Her stomach was in knots following the ominous text from Kyle, the nausea threatening to overtake her.

"Are you okay?" Christian frowned, almost instantly picking up on her behavioral shift. "Are you in pain?"

"No I... I think I need to shower," Athena whispered, her eyes wide with fear. Kyle was going to find her. Kyle was going to hurt her again. Kyle would probably kill Christian, and it would be all her fault.

She was a dirty whore. She needed to shower now.

"Okay," Christian frowned, able to see the emotional roller coaster she was on. "I'll show you where the towels are, okay? I'm going to leave the door unlocked in case you need me, okay? But I won't go in unless I have to."

"Okay," Athena nodded, barely hearing a word he said. "Thank you."

Christian nodded and showed her to the towels, concern causing three small wrinkles to furrow on his forehead.

***

Athena made it into the shower--barely--before completely breaking down. Fear had completely overtook her body, to the point that she didn't recognize the water running cold and her entire body starting to shiver.

Kyle is going to find you. He's gonna hurt you. He's going to kill Christian...

Athena's thoughts consumed her as the water continued to wash over her, so much so that she didn't hear Christian's kind voice calling out to her until he was practically next to her.

"Athena?" He asked again, causing her to nearly jump out of her skin, her eyes wide as she looked at him.

"Oh, Thenes... Let me help?" he asked softly, not even bothering to take off his clothes as he got in the shower.

Kyle is going to kill Christian...

***

Athena had been in the shower for a long time, and Christian was getting concerned. He knew that he needed to give the woman her space, but he also knew that she was in an extremely vulnerable place.

There was a very thin line between caring and betraying boundaries that he felt he was constantly teetering over.

But it had been an hour, and he knew that the water would be cold by now.

He didn't want her to get sick...

So he called out her name. Three times...

No answer.

Christian bit his lip and checked the clock, shaking his head and getting up. At the very least, he wanted to make sure she was okay.

"Athena?" he questioned softly, gently knocking on the bathroom door.

No answer. This was starting to scare him... he just needed to make sure she was okay. He gently opened the door and, not looking at her, stood next to the shower.

"Athena?" he repeated, a bit louder, cursing himself as she jumped and looked at him with wide eyes. She looked terrified, and she was shivering. Christian bit his lip as he carefully thought out his next words, not wanting to cross a boundary.

"Oh, Thenes... let me help?" he asked softly, looking into her eyes and immediately getting in the shower once she nodded. "We're going to wash you up, okay? Can I touch you?" he said softly, squirting the shampoo into his hands. It smelled like cherries, almonds, and vanilla... Like Athena.

"Okay," Athena whispered, her mind obviously very far from the situation at hand.

Christian nodded and ran his hands through her soaking wet hair, trying to be as gentle as possible. He knew that Athena was probably still really sore, and he didn't want to hurt her anymore.

"I'm right here, Athena," Christian promised, gently rinsing the shampoo and massaging the conditioner in. "You are safe. I promise," he whispered, tilting her face so she'd look at him.

He wasn't prepared for the tears that streamed down her cheeks and the vigorous headshakes.

"NO! He'll get you Christian... He'll hurt you. You don't understand. He's going to find me," she whispered, her breaths coming as pants. "I have to go back."

"No," Christian said sternly, gently running the loofah over her body. "You aren't safe there, Thenes. You are safe here... I can get a security guy for us. The Brewers have been wanting me to get one for months."

"No. I... I can't burden you like that," she whispered, looking down and wincing as he washed over her hip.

"It isn't a burden. You need to be safe, and that's how I can guarantee that you are," Christian frowned, rinsing her off. He needed to get her out of the shower and into warm clothes.

"He knows that I left. He knows I ran away... Christian," she sobbed, curling into his chest in fear.

"I will protect you. You will never see him again," he said, feeling his own shoulders start to tremble from the icy water pelting them. "Let's get out of here and get warm."

Athena nodded, still clinging to him.

"Can I carry you?" he whispered, grabbing a towel from the warmer and wrapping it around her.

"I... yeah," she whispered, her head still buried in Christian's neck. "I'm safe with you," she mumbled, her trembles starting to subside.

"You are, Athena. You are safe with me. Always," Christian promised, getting his clothes out of the dryer and carefully putting them on her. They were warm. She needed to get warm. "I'm going to put the blanket in the dryer, okay? I will be back in a few seconds."

"No! Stay, please. I... he'll find us. I don't want him to hurt you," she whispered.

"Okay... I'll stay," he whispered, letting out his own shiver. "I just need to change. I'll stay right here," he promised, quickly stripping and changing, not even thinking about it.

Athena grabbed her phone, hands shaking.

Kyle
I will find you, Athena
23 More

"Oh god," Athena mumbled, thanking her lucky stars that she turned off Find My iPhone and the three other location tracking apps Kyle had her download. She couldn't put Christian in danger.

"Thenes? What happened ba...?" Christian swallowed the baby that threatened to escape. "What's going on?" he frowned sitting next to her.

"He..." Christian watched as Athena swallowed harshly and bit her lip, just giving him her phone. "I'm scared," she whispered.

Christian read through the threatening texts, and his heart dropped and anger built.

"He won't find you. You are safe with me, Thenes. I promise," Christian said softly and squeezed her hand. "Come with me to the game tonight, okay? I can keep you safe there, and you won't be alone."

"Okay," she nodded, already trusting Christian emphatically.

Maybe that was her problem; she trusted too easily.