Saving Athena ✓

19) Perception

A t h e n a

The sound of a cup falling wakes me up, I freeze, and it's like dad all over again. I pull the covers off of my body and carefully get up, peeking through the door and relax when it's only Ace, he has a handle of a mug in his hand but the other half is on the ground, he looks up at me and back down at the mug like an adorable puppy.

"It broke," he mumbles. His white dress is completely unbuttoned, showing his bare chest, the crevasses in his abs and I force myself to look at his face. I go to walk over but he holds his hand out to my chest, stopping me. "You see the glass right?" His voice is back to being blank, no more sweet drunken Ace.

"Are you okay?" I ask, he drank the pills I gave him for his headache, but the glass mug is now broken.

He almost smirks, "I think I'm still drunk."

I laugh, "I think you are."

He grabs the broom and sweeps it all up before throwing it out, he sits down at the table and lays his head on it. I go and sit across from him and swing my feet back and forth. He looks up at me and rubs his temples. "What did I say last night?"

"Oh, you don't remember?" I don't know why that makes me a bit upset.

"No," he holds his hands to the side of his face. "What did I say?"

I shake my head and shrug a single shoulder. "You didn't say anything, I asked them to drop us off here since you couldn't tell your right leg from your left, and then you fell asleep."

"That's it?"

I nod. "That's it."

I get up, making my way to the sink as I reach up and go for the cups, only to feel Ace press behind me as his hands grip the countertop on either side of my waist. I turn and furrow my brows. He tilts his head and licks his lips. "I didn't ask you to dance?" He whispers. "Didn't ask you to hug me?" He bites his lips and smiles. "I said something about Chad, don't know what though."

"You remember..." My words fizzle out as I laugh softly.

"Being drunk doesn't necessarily mean I forget everything."

I narrow my eyes at him. "Are you still drunk?"

He rests his head on my shoulder. "Maybe."

"You need to sleep."

"I need a hug," he says instead, wrapping his arms around my waist. "You're so short," he adds and I laugh, freezing when he picks me up by the waist and places me on the counter, now we're the same height. "Better," he smiles and hugs me again.

✧

When I first met Ace, he hated me. Maybe he still does but I've carefully unraveled the edges of his wall of self-preservation. Progress, undeniably slow progress.

✧

Eve smiles, peeking down from the menu and I bite back a giggle. We stood close and peer up at the cafe, she had brought me to one and said it was better than the one I went to. I order a strawberry cupcake and she orders a chocolate croissant. Instead of the last bakery, they hand us our treats on plates, not so decorated that you don't want to eat them.

I smile at her again, happy to have finally made a friend.

"These are so good," she says, licking the ice cream that got on her upper lip. I bite into my cupcake and instead of grimacing, I relish in the sweet tangy flavor. We wave to the waiters before we step out and walk down Bullivant road. It's littered with little shops and such, cute little bakeries and stores are placed neatly beside each store. I watch from the glass of each store, some are just empty and some are bustling with business.