Our Soul Divided

04| Keepsakes

Stetson

Today is a good day. Athena is up and has eaten breakfast already, and has asked me to show her around the bunker. I am thinking that, depending on how she takes it, we may even leave the bunker to go on a food run.

She seems better. Maybe it's that she's eaten real food, or maybe 5 days was enough time for her to get past the shock. I hope that is the case, but we'll need to tread lightly.

Rain took her to show her the shower and help her get clean. The old man who created this bunker created it for himself, I assume, because the amenities and stock he had here didn't last long.

We did have a chance to stock some things up before everything went to hell. When the Elites took Athena, Dorian and I knew it was coming and we had a common goal, a common enemy–we became immediate friends. After about two years of working together to build this place and come up with countless foolish plans to rescue Athena, I called him more than a friend. He was my brother.

I walk over to an area that we had set up like a sitting room of sorts. Two old and ragged sofas and chairs all surround a broken coffee table. We play board games here sometimes. Now it's filled with some of the vets of this place with a newcomer I couldn't place.

"Hey," I mumble to the group.

"Stetson, hey," Ridley straightens a bit from the couch where he's eating a can of soup.

Ridley is as brawny as they come. His dark hair is piled into a bun atop his head. He doesn't bother shaving, so his beard is braided beneath his chin and his bushy eyebrows nearly hide his dark eyes when he's bunching them in concern like he is now.

"Don't look at me like that, ya old bogan," I laugh and slap his back.

"What's going on?" he asks, now trying to hide his concern.

"Athena seems to be feeling betta, so I'm going to show her around. But I want everyone to be gentle with her," I glance around the circle of people and all eyes are on me. "See to it?"

"You got it, boss," he grumbles.

"What did I tell you about calling me that?" I roll my eyes and walk away.

I make my way to the place I call my room and sit on my bed. I reach behind the makeshift table and pull out the wooden box that I stashed there. Inside I've placed things that are important to me, that I keep hidden from everyone in case of a raid.

I pick up the ring that I had held so many times. It's a simple silver band with a teardrop-shaped garnet set on its side. I had meant to give it to her a long, long time ago. Now, even in this box, it's dirty and tarnished--ruined. Like, me.

I toss it back into the box with a flick of my fingers and reach for the notebook tied closed with a leather sting. I flipped through the worn pages and snorted. I had written in this thing like I was good for something. Like one day, we could all read it and laugh.

I stopped flipping on a drawing that I had done one day when I couldn't make myself leave this mattress. I had drawn a sketch of that day on the hilltop that she had remembered yesterday. That day, that kiss turned my whole world upside down and my world's axis shifted. Everything I've done from that day forward revolved around her.

I closed the notebook and threw it back in the box with a thud. I spotted the photo at the bottom. I had handled this photo so much that it was tearing and crumbling on the corners. I picked it up and gently rubbed the edges as I had done so many times before.

It was a photo that Dorian had taken of the three of us. We were at a bar for Athena's birthday. She was wearing this sparkly blue dress that barely covered her thighs. Her hair was down and smooth curls covered her chest and spilled over to my chest on her right and Dorian's to her left. She was laughing when he snapped the photo. Dorian was smiling and I was staring at her with a smile on my face.

It was one of the many moments that the three of us had been truly happy and everything was perfect. This photo kept me going on bad days.

I hear Rain's voice outside the curtain of my room. "He's probably in here," she says. I throw the photo back in the box and close it quickly to shove it behind the table again. I wipe my palms on my thighs as they walk in.

"What are you doing in here?" Rain asks.

"Waiting for you guys," Athena steps from behind Rain. Her wet hair is soaking the grey shirt that Rain had given her. It barely covers her belly button. The jeans she wears are tight like they aren't quite her size. And she wears chucks like she always had before.

She gives me a shy smile. And Rain looks between the two of us before she turns and leaves the room. "Where'd you manage to get those?" I point to her shoes.

She shrugs gently, "Rain brought them for me. They're really dirty and I think there might be blood on them." She cringes.

I snort at her, though she clearly meant it as a joke, that is entirely possible. "But they fit, yeah?"

She nods and shuffles slowly to the bed where I'm sitting. She sits on the edge and slowly turns her gaze to me. I swallow hard as my gaze flicks from her eyes to her lips and back.

I want to kiss her so badly, but she needs time.