The Fates (Book II)

6.14 - New Leaf

“Slept like a baby, as always,” she lied as she reached into the nearest bag to help him stock the pantry. “And no, I haven’t. Starving.”

“Good. Because I just bought all the best grub Athens has to offer, and we’re gonna have a big fat Greek dinner later today. To celebrate.”

She arched a brow, pulling out a jar full of plump purple olives. “Celebrate what?”

“You being awesome and applying to law school. You know how proud I am of you, right? And hey, how did that essay go last night?”

“It’s, uh… it’s in progress. Might take me a while.”

“Of course; take your time. I’m sure whatever you have to say will blow all the admissions folks away. Oh, also, I meant to mention—if you do end up at Sterling, I know someone who’s going there now.”

“That’s cool. Friend of yours?”

“Yeah, we were… we were good friends, once. His name’s Westin.”

She didn’t pry into the awkwardly uttered past tense. “Is he hot?”

He laughed, reorganizing the fridge instead of answering.

“Hey, so I, um—” Atria began after a brief silence, biting her lip before finishing the sentence, “…I’ve decided to stop being such a bitch.”

 Eldor stopped shuffling food around and turned to look at her.

“And such a sex-crazed slut, and stuff,” she added. “I mean, like, if I can. At least while I’m staying with you. Being a slightly better person seems like… sort of the least I can do. As a thank-you.”

He blinked, lips parted though not yet sure what to say in reply.

Atria kept talking before he could. “For opening your home to me, so nicely, and, you know, just—just… for everything,” she explained with a smile, sincere and yet painfully strained. “I figure I should just stay with you as a sister for a while. Keep things cool. No drama. Turn over a new leaf, or whatever people call this self-improvement thing. Maybe, uh… maybe I’ll even be up for getting to know Cloe sometime.”

His ebon eyes brightened and darkened all at once. “Wow, I, uh—well, I’m really happy to hear that. As long as you’re happy. If it’s what you want. But anyway, um… Cloe and I are kind of taking a break.”

She blinked. “Oh? You two already had your first fight?”

Eldor looked down, shook his head. “I wouldn’t call it a fight, no.”

“Well,” Atria sighed, grabbing up a big tub of Greek yogurt, “I guess I shouldn’t pry. Not very polite of me. The new Atria is all about polite.”

He chuckled, shifting the subject to something benign and boring as they finished shelving groceries, sampling snacks as a light lunch—quite light, so as not to spoil their appetite, in anticipation of a huge dinner tonight.

Later on, he told her he was going for a run. Asked if she wanted to join.

“Now you want to be jogging buddies? Oh, that’s pushing it, bro,” she teasingly objected. “I’ll pass. Not really my kind of workout.”

“Yeah? What kind do you like to…” he started to ask, with all the innocence in all the world, which was adorable. New leaf or not, her exercise of choice was obvious. “You, uh… don’t have to answer that.”

She grinned, green gaze glinting with laughter. “Wasn’t planning on it. The new Atria wouldn’t approve of the answer anyway.”

Eldor smiled, but there was something heavy, almost sorry, in his eyes and in his voice as he addressed her now. “Hey, listen,” he urged, taking a few soft steps toward her. “Change can be good, really good, but you shouldn’t need to censor or suppress anything. Not with me.”

It was always a lot harder to meet his gaze when shit got deep.

“And please,” he went on, “promise me you won’t feel pressured to change in ways that you don’t want to. Or in ways that feel untrue. The new Atria seems cool and all, but… make sure she’s still you. Okay?”

“Sure,” she whispered. "Promise."

Her eyes were then pulled to the window at a sudden peal of thunder, followed by a splash of rain against the pane.

“Well, that came out of nowhere,” Eldor remarked, glancing outside at the darkling sky. “Pretty weird. Rain’s so rare around here.”

“Yeah, so I’ve heard. Still going on that run?”

“Of course,” he replied, with a wink that only he could make look virtuous. “A little rain should never stop a warrior from marching on.”

“Right. Go march your ass off, soldier,” she answered with a laugh, fighting the burning urge to smack said ass as Eldor headed out.

But then he unexpectedly stopped in his tracks. “Do it.”

She blinked up at him. “What?”

“Smack it. I saw you look. What did I just say about censoring…”

Atria happily obliged before the sentence was complete. And to her very pleasant surprise, she saw him smile, a little bashfully, a little sinfully. Maybe having enjoyed the smack more than he should have…

She flashed a sultry glance way too suggestive for the new Atria’s standards. “Wait a sec... Is this—is this a new Eldor I’m seeing here...?”

“Shut up,” he muttered, leaning in to kiss her forehead. “See you soon, sis.”

She tried not to be wounded by that last word, as he left. Tried not to think about the sight of him all soaking wet with rain and sweat.

Which promptly made her ever sex-crazed mind stray to her first night with a certain someone else. Out in the rain. Grabbing his ass, as deliciously firm as the one she’d just smacked… The hottest, wettest night of her entire life…

But she shut off that train of thought as soon as it’d embarked. Decided to turn over a domestic sort of leaf and try to start preparing dinner. Fumbled around in the kitchen for a bit.

When the doorbell rang, a while afterward, she didn’t even pause to think before answering it. Just assumed that it was Eldor. Which was dumb, she realized later, because why the fuck would he ring the bell.

She opened the door. Blinked and stared. The man standing there, out in the rain, a dark rose in his hand, was most definitely not Eldor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

... Who could it be?!?! Take a wild guess... hehe ;)

I hope you all liked the first episode of Book II :D  Next scene, we'll kick off Episode 7 back in B.C....

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