𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐍𝐀 | 𝐬. 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞

55

The silence filled the cavernous, empty room, but neither rushed to disrupt it. If one were to walk in on the two, they'd risk suffocating from the weight of the air between them, whether it be the intimidation or the unsaid truths that lay between the father and daughter.

Her fingers danced through a rhythm, and she berated herself mentally for the outward show of her nerves. Swallowing roughly, she thought of his question again.

Did she miss him?

Did she miss the mornings before school when she would be reluctant to get out of bed and Stefan would bribe her with a cup of coffee he always said gave him cavities just by making? Did she miss the weekends when they would shut their phones off and just sit with each other, content in their bubble and unaware of the fate they would soon suffer?

The lingering touches, always reluctant to part, always afraid that it would be too long in between the next moment they had alone together. The hidden, shared smiles and the looks that would be lost on anyone else but each other. The plans for a future they had once hoped to share, with a big wedding that all of their friends attended and a house all to themselves, and perhaps a cat or a dog, or something. Did she miss the thought of Stefan being hers for eternity?

The answer was undoubtedly yes.

She missed his eyes and the way they sparkled in the sunlight, and how he saved his humor, his smiles, and his heart all for her. How they shared the most real parts of themselves, and no one else.

She missed the thought of Caroline, Damon, and Bonnie being there through it all, laughing and crying with them like a family would like they did when they were still a family.

But she had none of that now, and she couldn't even blame Stefan for it all. Instead, she had a throne that was cold to the touch and a crown that threatened to break her strength. She was buckling beneath power that she never even wanted.

"Athena?"

Her father's voice brought her from her mind once more and she blinked, biting the tip of her tongue to distract herself from the lump forming in her throat.

"Do you miss him?"

She shakes her head and then swallows around the concrete in her throat. "No. No, I don't miss him." She shrugs, feigning nonchalance with a too-tight smile that her father most likely sees right through. She doesn't have it in her to try harder. "How could I when I've got all of this? It's paradise."

Zeus, despite his doubts, smiles at his daughter. "It's home."

"Yes, it's," She breaks away from his piercing gaze for a moment to glance around the palace.

"It's something."

It would never be home. Her home was with her family, and these people weren't her family.

The man clears his throat, quick to change the subject at her appeasing answer. "Would you do me a favor?"

She nods, awaiting instruction.

"In the top drawer of my desk, there's a silver box sitting with a few pens around it. Would you bring it to me?"

Athena simply nods again, giving him a small smile. "Yeah, of course,"

He mirrors her smile, watching her step down from the throne and gather the fabric of her dress in her hands. "Thanks, honey,"

Turning down the hallway in a quick retreat to the throne room, Athena walked mindlessly, making a few sharp turns before stepping into her father's office, and pushing the door wide open behind her. She looked around, finding a room similar to his office at their house in Mystic Falls yet startlingly different.