la casa di Salvatore | 02 | c. forbes

[ 14 ]

Caroline huffed a bit, fingers tightening around Athena's hand.

Matt shifted a bit, scowling at Athena. "You're new right?"

Athena leaned closer to the blonde, raising an eyebrow. "Have you ever seen me before?" She asked back.

Elena snorted.

Caroline smiled slightly at the annoyed look on Matt's face. The boy ignored Athena, turning toward the blonde hugging the redhead's arm. "Can we talk?"

Athena frowned a little and turned toward Caroline. The blonde met her eyes, and something in her eyes must've shown how terrified the girl thought that was. Athena turned toward Matt, "She's good. Thank you for stopping by."

Matt narrowed his eyes at Athena slightly. "Was I talking to you?" He retorted, jaw clenched.

"No, but she clearly doesn't want to talk to you," Athena said with a shrug, very nonchalant with this whole thing.

"Just let it go, Matt," Bonnie added, her foot touching Caroline's to give the blonde some support. Clearly, Caroline was much more affected by what Matt tried to do than she let on.

Matt rolled his eyes a bit. "Stay out of it, Bonnie," he said.

"Don't speak to her like that," Athena argued, her gaze sharpening just a bit as she stared at the boy, "you interrupted us. Clearly, they don't want you here. Leave."

Matt glared at her before turning his gaze toward Caroline. "You need someone else to fight your battles for you?"

Caroline shot him a glare. "Fuck you."

"You did," Matt smirked a bit.

Caroline rolled her eyes. "If I was actually, I probably would've come."

Athena's cheeks flamed immediately, her eyes widening. Tyler choked on his soda, the drink going up his nose and causing him to start coughing. Elena's jaw dropped, a shocked laugh spilling from her lips. Bonnie, her cheeks flushed as well, covered her mouth to smother her laugh.

Matt, his ears red out of embarrassment, sneered at Caroline. He turned to Athena, something like malice in his eyes. "I'm guessing you're her next victim? Beware, she's a slut. She can't stay loyal."

Caroline sees the moment Athena's homicidal tendencies take over. Sees the immediate shift from amused-protective to overprotective. The redhead can barely lift a finger before Caroline shoves her out of the booth and drags her away.

Athena stumbled a bit at the blonde's surprising amount of strength. Caroline dragged her out of the restaurant through the back door.

"Are you insane?" Caroline hissed, pushing Athena up against the wall.

The redhead frowned down at her, "yes."

"Athena," Caroline snapped, shooting her a glare, "it's literally the middle of the day. And we were in a restaurant full of people. Baby, you can't just fucking kill everyone."

Athena rolled her eyes slightly though her cheeks were pink from the pet name. "I wouldn't've killed him, Princess," the redhead muttered, tugging Caroline closer to her, "just lightly maimed him."

Caroline's eyes were already focused on Athena's lips, barely hearing her. "I'm trying to keep you from going to jail. My mom already thinks you're not a good person for me to be around," she whispered, sliding her hand behind Athena's neck.

"Mm," Athena pressed her forehead against the blonde's, smiling softly, "I am perfectly capable of staying out of jail, sweetheart. But thank you. Plus, your mother wasn't fond of me from the beginning."

"That's probably because the first time she met you, we were almost this close," Caroline smirked a bit.

Athena snickered a little. "'And I apologize for getting paint on your fucking clothes'," she quotes, smiling at the blonde.

Caroline shook her head, a bit amazed that Athena remembered exactly what she said. "You... are such an idiot," she muttered before closing the distance between them.

Athena's smile widened, wrapping her arms around the blonde. Caroline giggled a bit, poking the girl's cheek.

"I can't kiss you if you're smiling," the blonde said, amused.

Athena chuckled a bit. "I apologize. Kiss me?" She asked and Caroline did. The redhead slid her hand behind Caroline's head, deepening the kiss. Caroline wrapped her arms around Athena's shoulders.

Athena felt a presence behind Caroline and opened her eyes, pulling back a bit. Caroline frowned, confused. She turned her head to see what Athena was looking at, gasping when she saw a woman standing there. Sheila stood a few feet behind her, scowling.

The light-haired brunette smiled at Athena, looking amused. "Well, hello, baby," the woman said, her smile widening at the deepening frown on the blonde's face, "I thought cheating was beneath you?"

Caroline's brows furrowed as she looked up at Athena. "What is she talking about?" She pulled back a bit, but Athena's grip on her only tightened. "'Thena?"

Athena ripped her gaze away from the brunette, her gaze softening. "Go inside. Don't come back out," she muttered seriously, pressing a kiss against the side of the blonde's head.

"What? But—" Caroline tried to argue.

"Listen to her, sweetheart," Sheila piped up from her spot behind Hannah. She looked annoyed, not at Caroline but at the clearly unwanted presence.

"Yeah, listen to her," the woman echoed, smirking a bit at the blonde.

Caroline ignored the brunette, turning toward Athena who had her jaw clenched, glaring at the woman. Caroline tapped the side of Athena's jaw so the redhead's eyes would flick toward her. "We're talking about this later," she muttered before pulling away.

"Mhm." Athena pressed a kiss to the blonde's lips before releasing her fully.

As Caroline was walking toward the door, the woman seemed to need to get one last comment in. "She's not your usual type, Atty. Trying something new?"

Caroline tensed a bit.

"Go fuck yourself, Hannah," Athena snapped, and with that, Caroline disappeared into the restaurant.

Hannah cooed, walking toward Athena with a smirk. "So touchy. Blondie's made you soft, huh? What a pity..." She dragged her fingers up Athena's arm before the redhead jerked away, walking past her to stand beside Sheila. Hannah sighed and turned around, facing the two. "Well, now that I have my girls back... what shall we do, hmm?"

Sheila rolled her eyes. "This isn't the '70s. It's been thirty-something years since we last thought about you," she said, glancing at Athena who stepped slightly in front of the witch.

Athena knew that Sheila could protect herself. She was an amazing witch from a very powerful bloodline. Though, Sheila was her witch. She wasn't going to let anything happen to her.

"I find that hard to believe," Hannah smiled easily, not looking put off by the hostility the two were showing.

Athena rolled her eyes slightly. "I don't care why you're here. I don't care that you want us back. You're going to leave and you're not going to come back or I'm going to kill you," the redhead states calmly, stuffing her hands in her pockets.

Sheila presses a hand to her back when Hannah's lips twitch.

"Oh, but I've always loved small towns. I might just stay awhile. I mean..." her expression shifted to a sneer, "I do need to make blondie pay for what she did to my brother, no?"

Athena's eyes darkened immediately, "you're not going to touch her."

"Aren't I?" Hannah tilted her head, eyeing the redhead, "oh... my dear, it seems you have a choice to make." 

AN: I hope you enjoyed! thank you for reading! :)

finished: 04/28/24

wc: 1799