--<3--
Athena woken up early in the morning to get ready with a shower and breakfast before anyone else was awake. She was hoping to get as little contact with the bikers as possible. It would be hard but oh so necessary, show though to herself.
Now she was out on a morning walk as the sun was rising in the horizon giving the water that first twinkling minutes. It made her miss Sweden more than before. Memories of her walking by her family's summerhouse a few summers ago made her smile. She places her hand against the necklace she had dangling by her neck, while thinking about the Christmas she got it from her brother. Gazing out over the ocean, she wondered if they still were alive or if she was left alone. The thought made tears burn in her eyes making it hard to see anything clearly. Athena had been trying to push the tears down for so long, and she hadn't cried a tear since she left her home in Sweden. Letting them down now made her discover a relife, finely letting her feelings out. To feel the loss of her family surface inside her and for her to mourn made her feel more human then ever.
For her, it was confirmation that she wasn't an empty human being, but like everyone else being able to feel more than anger and coldness. Athena slowly closes her eyes, letting the wind go through her hair and cool down her skin as the tears freely fall. She felt a sort of freedom being able to do this as she knew she had not much of a choice but to stay in this area. When Athena choice to go back again, she pushed her hands deep inside her pockets. The sea was bringing cold winds, so the warmth in her pockets was welcomed.
A branch was broken behind her, and she turned around fast to see whatever had broken it, to be met by a dog looking up at her, just as surprised as she was to see it. It slowly moves over to her, sniffing the air like it tried to choose if she was a treath. Recognizing it from yesterday she looked up and around, trying to find its owner.
"Well, where is Gunner?" Athena said in a dog voice to the dog that now had circled her a few times. When she took a step forward, the dog was going of starting to bark highly. Athena was surprised by this action because she thought it would have barked before if it felt like she was a treath.
"I know I seem like a dangerous woman to you, but I promise I mean no harm," She tried to say to the dog, but it continues to bark, and crept closer to Athena. It wasn't much to do about it, so she stood still. She knew that if she continues to walk, the dog would think she was a danger and attack. Athena was now looking around again for its owner, now more desperate not to get killed.
"Tie, get down," A voice as deep as the ocean spoke, giving Athena pleasant tingles. The barking stopped immediately, and Tie laid down with his head between its leg and looked up at Athena. She turned around to see Gunner stand in the morning sun with two dogs more on the each side of him.
"Morning, out on a walk, I see," He said, putting a hand over one of the dog's heads. Gunner looked over at Athena, who stood calm and took in the muscle man. He had on his mc cut today with a pair of black jeans. His hair was in a bun, and his eyes looked intensely at her. He had trimmed his beard just a little, not much but notable by Athena, who had checked him out the day before.
"Yeah, I like breathing in the sea air and seeing the beautiful morning," Athena answered, looking out over the sea. She felt his presence come up next to her. He wasn't too close, he stood at a comfortable distance looking out at the ocean.
"It's beautiful with the sunrise," He admitted. Athena could feel him look at her, so she turned to look up at the tall man. The waves of the sea hitting the rocks created a beautiful sound, and together with the perfect reflection from the sun, Gunner looked like a god, Athena thought. The ocean's smell mixed with the masculine smell Gunner owned made Athena a bit weak on her knees.
"I understand it sucks to be here, but I hope that you will find a way to enjoy your stay... You are a pretty good fighter, so I'm sure it won't take too long to teach the girls some moves, I mean," Gunner states. Athena nods slowly, turning to look over the sea again. Athena sight as she thought about the reason she was here in the first place.
"It's not the place that sucks, it is the people I don't trust... Nothing against you, but I don't know you or the other bikers, and it makes me uncomfortable," Athena tells him, Gunner gives the blond girl a small smile.
"The first time I met Jax, the president, I thought he was an arrogant prick, but when I got to know him as my leader and friend, he became pretty nice and caring... He might seem like an evil idiot right now, but when you gain his trust, he would go through hell and back for his members," Gunner tells her looking back at Tie and whistling to letting him come over to where they were standing. Tie walked over to Athena and sat down next to her feet, she looks down at the Doberman looking over the sea.
"I don't see him as evil, he cares about the girls, and that is admirable. He just found this way easier. This way may not appeal to me, but I understand his train of thought, and that is good quality for a leader... But he is arrogant, and that pisses me off," Athena replied, looking down at Tie. She suddenly came to think about a sailer when she looked at the guard dog. His eyes were looking over the sea like he was watching the land he wants to explore. This dog had so much more than Athena ever will know, she thought for herself.
"Understandable, you want to go back together, or should I leave you alone?" Gunner asked Athena, she turns to look at him and shrugged her shoulder like she didn't really care which one he chose to do.
"Do whatever you want. I wouldn't hate some companies back," Athena answered, not knowing why she didn't push this man away when she could. He made a hand gesture for her to start to walk. So there they were walking, the route back together with three dogs tripping behind them doing what they wanted, but were still keeping eyes on the two of them.
"How old are they?" Athena asks, taking Gunner out of his thought, looking down and back at the three dogs playing together.
"Tie is four and the youngest, Scooby is the middle one and are six while General is seven. I had one more, but she died a year ago," Gunner tells Athena. She frowns but doesn't say anything for a few seconds.
"I had a dog too when I was little, it died three years ago, and I haven't had the heart to replace her," She said, thinking back at the golden retriever she had asked her dad to buy when she was 12.
"A dog is like a family member, so I understand how you are thinking, but you wouldn't replace her, only find a new friend," Gunner told her wisely, making Athena look up at him and smile at him for real for the first time. She admires the passion he had for his dogs. He looks down at her giving her a feeling of warmth and caring.
"It's nice to meet someone with a passion for something he loves. People nowadays are so occupied by their work, or themself to care about someone or something else," Athena admits making Gunner smile soft. He looks over at General and whistles him over, and stops walking. Athena for some reason stopped as well to look at what he was going to do. He reaches out his hand for her like he wanted her to take it.
"What are you doing?" She asked, taking one step back from him seeing the dog looking at the two of them.
"Trust me, Athena," He says, looking intensely at her. Athena swallowed but placed her hand in his big and ruff hand. It was a weird feeling going through her as she felt like she trusted him. He softly and gently laid his and her hand on General.
"Amico," He tells the dog, and he instantly stood up with his tale going from side to side. The dog turned to Athena and puts his body against her like he was begging for petting. Athena let out a small chuckle and let go of Gunner's hand to pet the dog that was now loving the rubs he got. Gunner looked at them both with a pleased look on his face, his body was reacting by seeing the mystery girl pet his dog so lovingly, even if he suppressed the feelings.
"You are a good boy," She tells the dog sitting down on his level for him to climb over her making her lay down on the ground laughing with General licking her face. The other two dogs looked at Gunner, waiting for instruction.
"Amico," He tells them, and they left their places and walked over to Athena, now sitting up again, ready to give them all pets and rubs.
"They are so good behaved," She says, looking up at Gunner, who smiles down at the sight before him. He crouched down to rub Scooby on his head.
"I train them every day to be good boys," He tells her. Athena smiles at General, who is now almost sitting in her lap, enjoying the attention and the free time from work.
"You know Italian?" Athena asks Gunner, making him look up at her and nod.
"You know it as well?" He asked, and she shrugs with her shoulders.
"A bit, I like knowing a lot of things, and Italian is a great language with a great history behind it and its country," She says. Gunner nods, standing up again giving Athena a hand to get up. She takes it and stands up, brushing off her clothes. The dogs start to run around with each other again to play.
"So I am a friend?" Athena joke translating the word Amico, Gunner, on the other hand, look over at her seriously and nod. Rustle was heard from a few bushes as the dogs fell into it playing, but other than that, it was pretty quiet.
"Yeah, I at least see you as a friend, then whatever you see me as is up to you," He tells her, looking into her eyes. She was frozen to the place not ready to hear something like that, it warmed her heart to know that he saw her as a friend, but a voice in her head told her to keep her distance from everyone who wasn't her family. She mastered a smile.
"Thank you, Gunner," She said gently and continue to walk with him to the house they were both living in at the moment. The dirt sidewalks tuned in to gravel, making crunched noises as they walked on it in silence.
"There you are!" Jax's voice was saying from the main house's entrance door as he saw Athena and Gunner walk the last meters from the beach walk. He looked between them a few seconds before smirking.
"Your teaching starts in an hour, so get ready for it Athena," He tells her and looks over at Gunner, giving him a look before walking in again. Athena pressed down the want to roll her eyes and walked into the busy kitchen. Both bikers she had seen before and hadn't seen were standing and sitting eating breakfast. By the stove, she could see Jeremiah cook something that smelled delicious. Gunner told the dogs something Athena couldn't hear, but they were waddling away to three dog beds in the corner of the room and laid down. Gunner turned to Athena.
"What do you want to eat for breakfast?" He asked, and she just shook her head, turning to go over to the stairs. On her way over to them, she answered his question.
"I ate before I went out, so I am full," She told him, looked over her shoulder, and gave him a small smile before climbing up the stairs leaving the bikers to eat their breakfast. She walked proudly to her room and opened it. Inside, she changes to the closest things to a training set she had. Looking up at a clock hanging over the door leading out to the corridor, she saw that she had around forty minutes before getting to her work. She walked over to her desk and took up one of the books she had. She put it under her arm and scramble up a pen from her bag. After that, she tasked herself to found her notebook and then leave the room, locking it behind her. On her way to the big entrance door, she opened the book. She was reading, not listening to all the bikers chatting away while eating.
"Having your nose in a book Athena?" She heard Jax say, she paused, looking up from her book and over at him to see a smirk on his face.
"Why not come over here to my lap and throw that book away," He said, and she stares at him for a few seconds in pure disgust.
"My morning was good before seeing your ugly face, Jax," She replayed, turning to walk out, hearing a few bikers laugh lowly, probably not wanting their leader to hear them.
"At least I could make you scream, I am sure that book can't," Jax said, and a growl was heard from somewhere in the room, making a few bikers look over at someone, but Athena didn't care and had her full focus on the idiot to the leader.
"I was so sure you didn't have anything in your pants, just something to make people believe you actually had a decent size... And for the screaming, lovely Jax, this Russian book gives me plenty of frustration to scream about, so I am fine" Athena hit back sarcastically, making the guy drop his jaw, unable to answer. She took this chance to walk out and close the door with a pleased smile on her lips. Maybe this stay won't be as boring as she thought, and a special tall biker has her under a spell, even if she won't admit it yet.