Athena opened the door and saw Celso standing there. He was breathing hard and staring at her with a weird look in his eyes. His hair was wet from the rain outside and his clothing was drenched.

"What do you want?" she asked irritated. She crossed her arms.

Celso didn't say anything but stared at her. She rolled her eyes and grabbed his arm. Pulling him into the room, she shut the door and pushed him towards the bathroom. "You're wet. I'm not sending you away when you're wet." She shut the bathroom door and leaned against it. "Why are you here?" she asked quietly.

"We need to talk," his answer came quietly from behind the door.

Athena rolled her eyes. "Now you want to talk."

"Athena," he sighed. "The past is horrible for me. I never want to relive it. I know that I need to tell you if you're going to trust me, but I don't want to relive it. It was a hard time, Athena."

Athena closed her eyes and leaned her head against the door. "Will you ever tell me?"

There was a long pause from the other side. Suddenly, the door slowly opened and Athena fell backward. Before she could hit the ground, strong arms caught her and held her still. She looked up to see Celso's face close to hers. She blushed and looked away when noticed that his shirt was off and hanging behind them. He set her down on the ground beside him.

"I will tell you," he began quietly. "It's just a long story and a hard one to tell." He leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes.

When Athena was sure that he couldn't see her, she let her eyes wander his body. He was perfectly sculpted. She wanted to run her hands ov-

No! she shook her head. She got rid of the thought and stood up. She leaned against the counter and closed her eyes. She never heard Celso get up and come behind her.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder. "I promise I will protect you and I will tell you about my past, but only when the time comes."

She sighed and leaned against him. "You promise?"

She felt him smile against her. "Yes, I promise."

They stayed like that in a comfortable silence before Athena asked, "Celso, why is it that we act this way?"

"What way?"

"Like we're a couple?"

Celso hummed before answering. "Because of the pull. It's what it does to us. That's how the protector stays around and the one who he - or she - is supposed to protect always runs back to them." He pressed himself closer to her. "Why do you ask? Are you uncomfortable?"

Athena opened her eyes and turned around. She smirked at him. "Not at all." She pulled him closer to her and kissed him. She knew that it was a risk to do this since this was the first day they had met, but she didn't care. She felt like this was right and she wanted to do.

Their lips moved in synch. Athena reached up and ran her hands through his hair. She tugged at the ends of them.

Celso growled and hoisted her up on the counter so she was sitting down. He ran his hands up and down her thighs as he began to kiss down her neck. She moaned as he found the soft spot on her neck and sucked on it. No doubt she was going to have a hickey there. Celso brought his lips back up to hers and connected them again.

A knock suddenly sounded on the door making both of them separate. Celso pulled Athena off the counter and went towards the door.

Athena quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "Let me answer the door. If it's Derek, I wouldn't want-"

"Who cares what your brother thinks about this, alright?" He grabbed her chin and gently forced her to look at him. "I promise you, not even an overprotective brother can keep me from you." He pecked her lips before letting her open the door.

Athena watched him walk away and sit down on the bed. She then turned towards the door and opened it. Derek stood there in the doorway.

"I - um - wanted to say that I'm sorry," he slowly told her while running a hand through his hair.

Athena pulled him into the room and closed the door. "Sorry about what?"

Derek stopped when he saw Celso sitting on her bed with his shirt off. He took a deep breath before continuing. "My apology is towards him actually. Listen, Celso, I'm sorry about not believing you earlier. I might still be a little hesitant on believing in the whole demon thing, but if my sister believes whole heartily about it, I guess I can tolerate it. Also-" Derek paused. "Can you please put a shirt on?"

Athena bit her lip to keep her from laughing as Celso got up and walked to the bathroom. He came back out wearing his shirt. Athena could tell that it still hadn't dried all the way. Celso came over and stood behind Athena.

"So, are we alright?" Derek asked nervously.

Celso chuckled lightly before sticking out his hand. "We're alright."

Derek smiled, grabbed his hand and shook it. "Well, it's late and that's all I wanted to say." He kissed Athena on the cheek and wished them both goodnight.

Once the door was closed, Celso wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to him. He kissed her neck. "Now, where were we?"

☆

Athena woke up early the next morning to the sound of her alarm clock. She reached over and turned the alarm off. She started to get out of the bed when a strong arm tightened around her waist and pulled her back down. She laughed and turned over.

"Celso, I've got to get up," she told him.

"No." His voice was husky from sleep and it made Athena's stomach flip.

She pushed against him and eventually got out of the bed. She walked towards her suitcase and got a pair of clothes before heading to the bathroom. She took a quick shower and got dressed. She walked out of the bathroom and noticed Celso's figure still laying on the bed. She went over to the side of the bed and climbed up next to him.

"You need to get up," she told him. "You promised that you would come to the asylum with us today."

Celso grumbled and pushed himself up. Athena turned away and started to walk away when Celso grabbed her waist and pulled her to him. She was sat on his lap and he began pressing kisses down her neck.

"Celso," she moaned. "Not now." She hated that she said those words, but she needed him to get ready before Derek came banging on the door.

He didn't listen to her as he connected his lips to hers. Athena gave in and began to kiss him back. She wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. She pulled him closer to her and deepened the kiss.

Celso flipped them over so he was on top. He trapped her hands above her head and kissed down her jaw and neck.

A knock sounded on her door and made them separate from each other again.

"Now you'll have to get ready," Athena teased.

Celso smirked and gave her one last kiss before getting off the bed and walking towards the bathroom. Athena got off the bed and opened the door just as Derek was about to knock again.

He smiled as he said, "Good morning! Are you ready?"

"I am," Athena answered slinging her backpack over her shoulder. "Celso's just now getting ready."

Derek looked confused and his body got stiff when she said that. "Celso's here?"

"Yeah," Athena shrugged. "He's coming with us."

"Why?"

"Because what happens if we meet another demon, Derek?" Athena gave her brother a pointed look. "We can't protect ourselves from them and I don't want a repeat of last time." She shivered involuntarily from the memories flashing across her mind. She shook her head to get rid of them and looked up as the bathroom door opened.

Cello came walking through the door wearing a black sweatshirt and his jeans from yesterday. He gave Derek a smile and walked over to where Athena was standing.

"Alright!" Athena clapped her hands. "Let's go!" She led the way out of the door and into the elevator. Silence crept into the elevator as Athena tried to come up with something to break the tension, but thankfully the elevator doors opened.

Celso took the lead through the city. Derek grabbed Athena's arm and gently pulled her back behind Celso.

"Did he spend the night in your room?" he harshly whispered.

Athena rolled her eyes. "Yes, he did."

"Did he-"

"No, Derek," she interrupted him. "He didn't do anything. I asked him to stay since I didn't want him to walk back home at that time. He slept on the ground and I slept on the bed. Everything's fine, Derek."

Derek studied her a moment before letting go of her arm and nodding. He let her run back up with Celso and dropped the conversation completely.

Celso intertwined their hands together and smiled down at her. "I have a car on the other side of the city that we'll take to the asylum. I don't want you all to take one of the cities taxis."