Ship to Wreck

19

Here we goooo 👀

***

Athena sat on her dad's couch the evening before Christmas Eve, mindlessly watching the Packers play the Vikings in Minneapolis.

"I'm going to order a pizza for supper, sweetheart. Anything special you want on it? Just the usual?" her dad asked gently.

He knew something was wrong, that his daughter was in pain, but he didn't want to make her feel bad about it. He was a good, careful dad, and he knew she would talk about whatever was bothering her when she was ready.

He hoped she would, anyway.

Athena snapped out of her daze and looked at her father. "Yeah, the usual is great," she replied quietly with a nod. She wasn't hungry, in fact she was a little nauseous, but she knew her dad would worry if she rejected dinner for the second night in a row. He had already remarked on how pale and gaunt she looked . . . She didn't need to worry him more.

While her dad was occupied placing a pizza order on his phone, Athena was disrupted by a text.

You should take a test.

Larisa Braun and Megan Davies had been encouraging her via group chat to take a pregnancy test for the past week – all because she casually mentioned that her boobs hurt. It wasn't that uncommon for her. Her boobs hurt whenever her period was about to show up.

Athena shook off the suggestion.

I'm not pregnant, you guys. Just normal period things.

She couldn't be. She used protection . . .  usually. She was safe.

She clenched her eyes shut tightly when another wave of nausea hit.

She was fine. Totally fine.

***

Athena found herself on the couch again – this time her couch – or Christian's couch, really. This time alone with a bag of fun-sized Kit Kats.

It had been over two weeks since Christian rightfully kicked her out of his house and a week since she saw her boyfriend, and she felt crippling loneliness. This wasn't a feeling she was used to. With Kyle, she just accepted loneliness. She preferred it.

But she knew she very much preferred both men to solitude, and that they were both important to her. Both of them . . . They both made her feel a little like herself again. A little less like a person someone had destroyed so severely.

But she broke Christian, and she was lying to Gio every waking moment she didn't tell him about sleeping with not just Christian – but now his brother too. How could she admit to the man she loved, and whose love she desperately craved, that she was nothing but a filthy slut? She didn't deserve Gio. She knew that. He was so good.

And she didn't deserve Christian either. She knew that, too.

She brushed away her tears and unwrapped another candy bar before gracefully popping the whole thing into her mouth.

She was halfway through another episode of 90 Day Fiancé when she heard the apartment door fly open, and she jumped to her feet instinctively at the noise, heart pounding against her ribs. Kyle was here, and he'd do unspeakable things to her. There was no way she could escape him, as she stood in front of the TV in nothing but underwear and one of Christian's Under Armor shirts. It still slightly smelled of him, and it usually made her feel safe . .  .

But not right now.

Her heart raced harder when the intruder walked into the living room, his eyes big and brown.