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𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗙𝗘𝗖𝗧 𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗬

chapter nine:
when he thought of home, he
thought of her !

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"POPCORN OR ICE cream?" Artemis asked from the kitchen.

After a long week of school, and in Athena's case, rehearsals, the two sisters decided to have a movie night. While Artemis got the snacks from the kitchen, Athena was scrolling through Netflix to try and find a movie to watch. Ultimately, she stopped on Clueless, an all-time classic.

"Popcorn," Athena decided. "So I can enjoy it throughout the entire movie and not just in the first couple of minutes."

Artemis quickly made the popcorn before walking into the living room. She placed the bowl of popcorn down on the coffee table. Just as Athena went to press play, a knock was sounded at the door.

"Seriously?" Artemis complained. "Can't we just get one hour of peace?"

"Quiet, Artie," Athena scolded. "Let me go get it."

Athena stood up from the couch. She ran her hand through her hair in effort to make it look better for whoever was standing outside. Athena opened the door to reveal Ricky standing there. He was holding his skateboard and helmet in his hands but was on the verge of dropping them because his hands were shaking.

"Oh." Athena suddenly felt self-conscious in one of Ricky's overly large sweatshirts and pajama shorts, but that thought was wiped away as she stared at his face. His eyes were glossy, almost as if he was about to cry, and his entire facial expression just screamed broken. "Ricky, are you all right?"

"Can I come in?" Ricky abruptly asked. "I was skating around for a while and ended up here."

He didn't wait for an answer and pushed past Athena to go into the house, kicking off his shoes and placing his skateboard and helmet by the door. Athena watched him in concern and she shut the door slowly behind her. She quickly locked eyes with Artemis. Athena nodded her head towards the stairs urgently. Artemis immediately got the message, and she grabbed the bowl of popcorn before she went upstairs.

Athena, concern raging through her veins, studied Ricky from her spot by the door. He was sitting tensely at the edge of the couch. His fingers ran through his hair, making his curls even more messy. Athena could tell from his slightly shaky hands and the way his cheeks were flushed that something was making him anxious.

"Ricky, hey," Athena began softly.

"I'm sorry for coming here so out of the blue," Ricky replied, staring straight ahead of him. "I didn't know where else to go. Miss Jenn told me to go home, but the first thing that came to mind when she said home was you."

Her cheeks dusted a light pink and she offered him a small smile as she sat down next to him. "You're my home too, Ricky. And you're always welcome here. You know that." Athena paused for a moment. "What happened?"

"Athena, it's my parents," he announced. "They're getting divorced."

Her heart immediately broke for him, and she quickly took his hand in hers, interlacing their fingers together. "Oh, Ricky. I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault, Athena." Ricky released a shaky breath. "My mom said she's going back to Chicago for good and that her and dad are getting legally separated." Ricky looked up into Athena's eyes, staring at her with an emotion she couldn't quite place. "Athena . . . I'm really, really scared this time."

She frowned. "You don't have to be scared, Ricky. There are so many people around you that will always be there to catch you when you fall."

"It's just . . . things have changed so much in the past couple of months," Ricky continued, wiping away a stray tear with the back of his hand. "I — I guess I believe that if things keep changing I'm going to lose another important person in my life. First Nini, now my mom . . . I don't think I can go through it again."

"Ricky, you'll never lose your mom. She loves you so much. I know she does. As for Nini, she still cares for you even if you're broken up. And about you being scared of losing people . . ." Athena then lifted up their interlocked hands. "Just remember, no matter what happens, you will always have me. I promise."

"I know," he responded softly. "Life just feels like one big test right now."

"Of course life is a test," Athena agreed. "But you don't give up, you grow."

Wake Up.

There was never a more perfect time to give that song to Ricky than now. Athena always told herself she would wait until the right moment. Well, this was the right moment. She felt as if her song could help him feel better in a way.

Athena squeezed his hand gently. "Can I show you something?"

Ricky immediately nodded and stood up. Athena led him up the stairs to her room, where she stopped by the keyboard that was in there. Laying on top was the folded up piece of paper that held the lyrics to Wake Up. Athena, taking a deep breath, let go of his hand and picked up the paper.

"What is it?" Ricky asked.

Athena looked up at him. "Do you remember that song I sang at the auditions?"

He nodded. "Yeah, the one about waking up and raising your voice to the rain."

"Well . . ." Athena held out the paper to him. "I wrote it for you."

Ricky gingerly took the paper from him. Athena interlocked her hands behind her back as he opened it up. Her heart rate began to increase anxiously as his eyes scanned over the words. She didn't know if he liked it or not. Her room was encaptured in silence. Neither of them said anything for a long couple of moments.

He finally held up the piece of paper. "You wrote this for me?"

She nodded. "Over the summer, I saw how distraught you were after Nini and everything about your parents being distant. I wanted to try and help you, but I didn't really know how to. So all the thoughts that were going through my brain . . . well, I wrote it all down."

"Athena, I . . . I don't even know what to say." Ricky held out the paper to her. "This is incredible."

She pushed his hand back. "No I — I want you to keep it. Just look at it whenever you're feeling down and remind yourself to relight that spark."

Ricky, for the first time that night, smiled brightly. It made Athena smile as well. He folded up the paper and put it in his pocket. Before she could even process what was going on, Ricky surged forwards and brought the girl into his arms. Athena sighed in content and sunk into his comforting embrace. She laid her head on his chest while he rested his chin on the top of her head. Little did they know this is exactly what the both of them needed. For Athena, the reassurance that everything could still be okay between them besides the voicemail she listened to earlier that day. And for Ricky, the comfort that came from his best friend that she wouldn't be going anywhere. Not now, not ever.

Finally, Ricky was the one who pulled away first, yet he opted to hold onto her hands. "Thank you, Athena. I mean it."

Athena squeezed his hands gently. "Anytime." She suddenly got an idea. "Why don't you chill here for a while? I can make some hot chocolate, we can play some piano, maybe watch a movie later?"

"Best friends night?" Ricky questioned, and Athena nodded with a small laugh. "I'm so in."

"Cool," Athena replied. "I'll be right back."

Athena left her room and padded down the stairs. Once she entered the kitchen, she saw Artemis sitting on top of the counter eating ice cream out of a bowl. She set it down next to her once she noticed Athena.

"Sorry our movie night got cut short," Athena apologized sheepishly.

Artemis shook her head. "It's fine. Ricky needing comfort from you is way more important than watching Cher fall in love with her ex-step-brother. You know, priorities."

"I guess so," Athena responded while getting two mugs from the cabinet. "Definitely another day, though. Ricky's gonna stay a little while."

Artemis groaned. "God, how much longer will you two be denying your feelings for each other?"

Athena's eyes widened and she spun around. "What are you talking about?"

"He looks at you like you're the only girl in the world and you look at him like he's the star you revolve around. It's painfully obvious, and I'm getting really tired of this whole will-they-won't-they thing."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Athena denied, turning back to her mugs to hide her burning face.

"Whatever you say." Artemis hopped off the counter and put her empty bowl in the sink. "Have fun. Oh, and when you finally get together, I'm going to say I told you so."

Athena stood there for a moment while Artemis went back upstairs. She shook her sister's words off. Even though things could have been changing between them, Athena didn't want them to. Being best friends with Ricky while hiding her feelings was better than living without him after confessing.

However, as she made hot chocolate for the two of them, it seemed an awful lot like she was trying to convince herself that.

--- ☆ • ♫ • ♪ • ♫ • ☆ ---

AFTER LOTS OF piano playing (where Athena was mostly trying to teach Ricky), many cups of hot chocolate, and laughs, the two were finally settled down on Athena's bed watching a movie on her laptop. Despite everything confusing between them, it felt so normal. Athena never realized how much she missed just the two of them having fun by themselves.

Finally, 50 First Dates ended on Netflix. Athena yawned and stretched her arms above her head before leaning forwards towards her laptop.

"Do you want to watch another one?" she asked.

There was no response. Athena glanced over her shoulder to see Ricky sound asleep under her covers. She smiled softly at his relaxed state and shut her laptop. Being as careful as possible, she stood up slowly and placed her laptop down on her desk. She grabbed a pair of pajamas and went to the bathroom, getting changed and brushing her teeth for bed. Once she walked back into her room, she grabbed a pillow and a blanket so she could sleep downstairs on the couch. Ricky looked so peaceful that she didn't have the heart to move him. Athena turned around and tried to leave as quietly as possible so he wouldn't wake up. However, that didn't work.

"Attie?" Ricky questioned sleepily, his eyes fluttering open.

Athena offered him a small smile. "Hey. Go back to sleep, it's all right."

He yawned. "Where are you going?"

"Downstairs, you can sleep up here."

Ricky held his arms out towards her. "Can you stay?"

Athena hesitated for a moment. They had shared a bed countless times. What was different now? Here's the answer: quite literally everything. Athena was reminded of the voicemail and Artemis' words.

She forgot those thoughts. Ricky needed someone with him now. Athena wouldn't let anything get in the way of her comforting her best friend.

"Of course," Athena agreed.

She put down her pillow and blanket next to the bed before crawling underneath the covers. Ricky moved towards her and pulled Athena closer to him by her waist. He tucked his head under her chest, and even though he was so much taller than her, it seemed to work. Athena relaxed underneath his touch and began to run her fingers through his curls as she closed her eyes. Ricky closed his eyes as well and began to fall asleep again. However, out of nowhere, Athena felt Ricky press his lips softly to her collarbone. Her eyes snapped open and she looked down. Ricky seemed to be sound asleep now. Athena felt chills throughout her entire body and moved closer to him for warmth even though she knew it wasn't from being cold.

Not knowing what the heck had just happened, Athena closed her eyes once more to try and fall asleep. There was one thought in her mind before she completely fell asleep: friends don't do this.

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omg look at how fun this is teehee I love athena being so confused

also stan artemis bc she knows what the fuck is up