Athena
The morning sun stung my eyes and I shuffled under the covers. It smelled slightly woodsy and masculine; a scent I haven't smelled in years. After initially opening my eyes awake, my head hurt upon every movement of my body.
I felt like I've been hit by a bus.
My eyes were too sensitive to the light the huge, tall window from the side emitted and I closed them back again, only to hear someone chuckle in the background.
"Good morning to you too." he said richly as he laughed.
I struggled to open my eyes again and immediately saw a lean, standing figure with a towel wrapped around his waist, eating a waffle. His long, brown hair was hanging down and seemed to be slightly wet as his chest shone with smaller droplets of water. I grunted and groaned at the mere sight of him.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, my voice sounding raspier than normal. What did I even do last night? I'm so tired and yet, I don't seem to remember why.
Elliot stood straighter as he turned to me with his head cocked to the side. A smile was slowly taking shape on the lines of his mouth as he bit into his waffle once again.
"You should be asking that to yourself. You're in my apartment." he said as if it was the simplest thing in the world. I squinted at him as I rubbed my painful eyes.
"Why?"
He laughed, shaking his head subtly as he finished off his waffle and headed over to one side of his navy blue and white apartment, preparing something in his small kitchen. I waited for him to answer, watching him as he took some pans and preheated them up on his stove. Noticing that I have been watching, Elliot turned his head toward me and shrugged.
"You had too many sangrias, babe."
Elliot and I stayed quiet for a moment, letting the sound of sizzling and cracking fill the apartment, overwhelming the excruciating awkwardness I feel that I was the one who ended up knocked out instead of him.
He later stretched his arms sideways, pivoting his torso as he moved. Light sweat shone on his bare back as he turned to me and held up a pan.
"Want some eggs? I made some." he said with a kind smile.
"Okay." I barely whispered as I closed my eyes and merely laid down again on what I assume must be his bed. It smelled intoxicatingly like him.
Silence filled the gaps between our short exchanges of conversation and I let the sound of eggs crackling as they cooked take over my heavy mind.
"You seem ecstatic to be here." he said, peering over to me a little with his addictive green eyes. I shot my eyes open again and rolled them at him as I slowly sat in bed, pressing my head against his walls with the covers up to my chest.
"I don't even know why I'm here. How the hell did I manage to waltz through this place?" I asked in a frustrated tone. I seriously don't have a single clue how I ended up here. I'm not sure if I'm even near uni. More so, I don't even know if anyone's looking for me back there.
With one of the eggs done as Elliot transferred it onto a plate, he took the opportunity to rub his hands onto his bath towel and face me.
"You didn't. I took you here." he said like it was another thing that was so obvious and widely known. Elliot later turned back to the kitchen and continued cooking, returning the familiar crackling sound of eggs and breakfast.
I stayed quiet for a moment, coming into a realization of thousands upon thousands of possibilities that could've happened last night. My hurtful eyes widened at such realizations.
"Did something, --unlikely happen yesterday?" I asked, feeling my voice go from drunk raspy to a bit frightened. If something did happen, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself for being easily swooned. Especially by him. I felt anger surge in my chest not for him , but for myself.
Elliot immediately turned to me with a playful face and a slight hint of a smile. I held my breath for the time he looked at me weirdly. I gulped and awaited the worst before he suddenly let out a rich, full laugh and shook his head.
"Athena, do you seriously think I would take advantage of you deadass drunk? No. I didn't do anything to you, I swear." he said, raising both his hands up in surrender as soon as he turned off the stove.
I sighed and nodded. Slowly uncovering myself from his blanket, I breathed in relief as I looked down and saw that I still have on the clothes I wore the day before. I looked up to him as he had his back turned again as he plated some food.
"Good to know." I muttered as I slung my legs over the bed and grounded my feet on the floor, looking over to the far edge of the bed where Elliot must've placed my shoes. My chest felt light knowing that he really did have good intentions and I felt the slightest hint of comfort in his presence.
I combed my fingers through my short, blonde hair, attempting to untangle all the gritty bits from having a bedhead. Rubbing my painful eyes as I rid them of the usual morning rheum that formed from the previous night of sleep, I stretched out my arms a bit and immediately felt the shock of hangover dizziness that came with the immeasurable headache slowly pounding away at my head.
"How's the hangover doing?" Elliot asked as he brought over two plates full of breakfast over to a small table he had in the center of his kitchen. I was slightly annoyed he didn't bring one over to me since I can barely get out of bed with my high sensitivity towards my surroundings, but I didn't want to come off as entitled or anything like that.
"Shit." I said as I stood up quite off-balanced, I almost crashed into his standing lampshade nearby. My head still hurts and I can barely open my eyes normally. At this point, the only thing I can do is squint.
He laughed as he sat down on one of his chairs and pulled one up for me as well.
"Likewise." he said with a crooked grin on his face.
I glared my eyes at him as I groggily made my way to the table and sat down with a loud thump on the chair as I flopped on it.
Elliot began eating his breakfast first. I stared at his plate and then over to mine and noticed that we each had different food plated on them. His was healthier; with avocado on toast and eggs. Mine was the usual, all-American eggs and bacon. I watched him eat with such finesse, I couldn't help but notice he doesn't look drunk or hungover at all. It was unusual.
"How come you don't look hung over and I look like I've been hit by a bus?" I asked before I took my fork and stabbed it into the eggs.
"Practice. I have a high tolerance for alcohol these days." he answered as soon as he swallowed his food, his head nodding slightly.
I snorted at him with my eyes still squinting. They still hurt and my head still felt like a boulder balancing on a twig.
"Showoff." I said.
Elliot took a bite out of his toast with his dazzling green eyes still fixed on me, a slight smile on his face. I couldn't help but feel a bit conscious of my appearance and I took small bites out of my own food, looking away.
"Still the same Thena, I see." he said, shaking his head before turning back to his breakfast. I grunted at him.
"Shut up. My head hurts and I hate sunlight." I spat as I shoved an amount of bacon and eggs into my mouth. He smiled.
"Okay. Once I'm done with these I could get you some sunglasses if you want." he said with a shrug. I looked back up at him with a frown and shook my head.
"There's no need for that. I think I can squint my way through breakfast. What time is it, even?" I asked, the throbbing in my head still pounding hard, I can barely think.
Elliot peered behind him to view the time on a modern design clock and turned back to me.
"Around eight in the morning. Don't worry, it's Saturday today in case you forgot what day it is." he said, focusing back on his food.
"At least it's the weekend." I shrugged.
We were once again silent. The sound of utensils scraping the white porcelain plates were a pain to my senses and I despised the silence of the both of us ignoring each other as we eat. As much as I would want to keep ignoring him, there must be some way to get rid of the painful sound of utensils clanging and scraping to ease my hangover sensitivity.
"I could accompany you back to uni if you'd like." Elliot suddenly offered as he continually ate breakfast without batting an eye on me. I raised a brow at him and hang my fork in mid-air, still full of eggs. I shook my head and leaned back into the sleek chair I was sitting on. It was cold; extremely cold for my senses.
"Thanks but I can carry my weight on my own. You don't have to do that." I said, finally shoving in that forkful of breakfast into my mouth.
It was Elliot's turn to stop for a while and look at me like I was missing out on an important detail to the story. He shot me a questioning look and had, 'Really? ' scribbled all over his face. I shrugged.
"Athena, do you really think I would let you go out with you all hung over? I'll bring you back to campus, alright?" he said, this time, almost sounding sincere. Almost.
His offer sounded quite good and yet I stopped myself from immediately accepting. The image of Owen casually popped into my head and I couldn't help but feel a little guilty for not leaving him a text or something. I know he doesn't mind where I'm going or what I even do but I should've done something to let him know of my whereabouts. If I always make sure I know what he is up to, it is about time he would know about mine.
"But I have a boyfriend." I told him.
Elliot was unmoving for a while as he pursed his lips before he shot his eyes back to me; unbothered. He cocked his head sideways, letting his shoulder-length hair swoosh over to his left as it covered half his face as he took a bite out of his toast.
"So? I'm just gonna make sure you make your way back safely. What does a boyfriend have to do with that?" he asked nonchalantly with a quick shrug.
He was right. Whenever I start to feel uncomfortable around him, I really do use the boyfriend card to avoid situations with Elliot. Knowing that he still has reserved feelings for me after he admitted it a few times too many these past weeks, I had the right to squeeze my way away from him; but I did it in a way that was totally wrong. I used Owen to escape Elliot when I should've been evading him on my own accord. Owen has nothing to do with this. It is wrong to even use his name for silly excuses to avoid Elliot.
My head started to throb more around the front of my head and I couldn't help but bury my face in my hands as I let the headache subside for a while. All this thinking made me feel sicker than I had been moments ago.
"Fine. I guess it's okay." I finally told him. I slowly raised my head out of my palms and finished off the remainder of breakfast with Owen still on my mind.
"Good. Maybe we can grab some coffee on the way out. It'll ease your hangover a bit." Elliot suggested as soon as he finished off his plate and took mine with his, bringing them over to the sink.
"Okay. We'll get coffee. But promise me one thing." I said slowly.
Intrigued, Elliot put down the plates over to the sink first before turning back to me with a confused expression.
"What?" he asked.
I inhaled slowly and squinted my eyes a bit. They still hurt from the effects of alcohol and yet at this point, my mind was full of Owen. I couldn't stop thinking about him ever since he first popped into my head and I wondered why he didn't pop up sooner.
Elliot probably thinks I would be easy bait for him to come crawling back into his arms but I won't. I'm happily grounded where I currently am and I don't want anyone or anything, to interfere. I rarely get this chance at life with people and I wouldn't let Elliot affect Owen in any way, direct or indirect.
"Never talk down on Owen. Got that?" I said, looking over to him still seated where I am. I don't want to stand just yet since my vision would go all wonky and I would most likely barf whatever I had just eaten. Elliot stared at me innocently and sat back down on the table.
"Since when do I do that, babe?" he asked softly.
He still calls me babe even after I told him not to. I don't feel the flutter of butterflies now that I'm hearing it from him these days. I feel nothing.
"For as long as you knew he existed. I know you, Elliot. Don't belittle him. He's experienced enough and I would like to keep him as unbothered as possible from you." I said, in defense of Owen. I don't want him to get crushed, especially by a person who I know would be able to hurt him mentally more than physically. Or maybe both if angered.
Elliot shot me a hurt look and for a moment, my heart ached for him and wanted to take back what I said. I never meant to hurt anyone, including him, after all. His green eyes looked pained and his mouth was a straight, thin line. This was one of the fewer times that I've seen him get this hurt.
"Why am I always the bad guy? I'm doing my best to change, okay? I'm trying. I'm trying to regain your trust, Thena. We were friends, right? Even as friends, I would be okay with that." he said in a soft voice that slightly wanted me to draw closer to him and reassure him that it's not his fault. But in the truth, it really was his fault in the first place. I got hurt because of him and was traumatized for it, after all. I just don't want the same thing to happen to the people I love.
I stared sadly at Elliot and sighed.
"I know. Just don't tell him things that would crush him, okay? If I'm ever going to trust you again, don't lay a finger on him. Understand?" I said.
He nodded with his head slung low.
"Yes, Athena. I understand."