reconciliation

ATHENA COULDN'T HELP BUT BRING DAMON INTO A HUG THE SECOND SHE SAW HIM STANDING IN THE LIVING ROOM. Stefan had texted her earlier saying he was quote-unquote giving up on Damon's rehab, which meant he'd taken Athena's words to heart and realized she was right the whole time (shocking).

She'd rushed to the Salvatore house, a smile growing on her face as she flung herself at him, punching a grunt of surprise from him, even as he reciprocated the hug. "I still got it, even at death's door,"

Athena steps back and punches him in the arm with a glare. "Shut up," It's easy to remember why she's so easily annoyed in Damon's presence. Glancing around the otherwise empty house, she frowns. "Where's Stefan?"

"Wow, you're held captive in your own basement for a few days and suddenly you're replaced as number one vampire," Damon mocks, holding a hand over his heart and pinching his eyes shut.

He peeks an eye open and sees her flat glare, heaving a sigh at her intolerance. "I don't know, some car wash fundraiser that Caroline asked him to go to. I don't pay attention to his every move."

"Yes, you do," She scoffs at Damon but feels oddly nervous at the news that Stefan has gone to the fundraiser. Caroline was such a shit starter.

She turns to leave the Salvatore house, adjusting the strap of her bag on her shoulder as she goes.

"Where are you going?"

She heaves a sigh. "To a fundraiser, I guess,"

──────

Athena eyed the cheerleaders splashing water on one another and glanced down at her red swimsuit top. Her denim shorts were pulled up around her waist, and she wouldn't be taking them off unless Caroline had a viable threat to give her.

She walks over to the table Caroline is sitting at, counting the money they've already raised. "I hate you," She sits down across from her, and Caroline fakes ignorance.

"Why? Was it something I did?"

Athena grabs a stack of money and rolls her eyes as she begins to count it. "You know exactly what you did, you scheming bitch,"

Caroline laughs and writes a dollar amount down. "Okay, so here's the deal. No friend discounts, no freebies, no pay you laters. We are not running a charity here."

"I got it, Sarge," She mockingly salutes her ex-girlfriend, smirking at the glare she got in return.

Athena jolts when a hand lands on her shoulder and she looks up at the body it's attached to, a lax smile growing on her face at the sight of Stefan.

"Hey," He looks down at her with a grin that she tries her hardest to return without grimacing.

"Hey," She stands up and Stefan drags his hand down from her shoulder to her lower back, and she stifles a shiver when his calloused fingers rest on her exposed skin.

Caroline stands up, eyeing them both up and down, scrutinizingly. "The event is called sexy suds, you know," She pointedly looks at Stefan and walks off, and Athena laughs under her breath at the bewildered look on Stefan's face.

"Did I just get scolded?"

She nods. "And judged, yeah. The dress code was sexy, not 'I'm about to commit petty crimes,' Stefan. You look like you're about to steal an old lady's purse."

Stefan laughs incredulously but unzips his jacket and drapes it over the metal chair by the table. Athena whistles at the sight of the tight shirt he's wearing and Stefan rolls his eyes, so she takes his arm and drags him towards the cars waiting to be washed.

"See, I'm someone that thinks things are sexier when wet," She smirks, picking up a soaked sponge from the bucket by her foot, and squeezing the water out of it over the top of his head.

He lets out a shocked gasp at the freezing water, but he's stifling laughter as he looks at Athena. "Oh, so that's what we're doing?" He reaches down, grabs the hose at his feet, and sprays her with the cold water, making her squeal at the frigid temperature.

"Do you surrender?" He points the hose at her accusingly, and she pushes her wet hair over her shoulders.

"In your dreams," She grins daringly, baring her teeth at the challenge. Stefan watches with wide eyes as she grabs the bucket and throws the water at him, completely soaking him.

Stefan fixes her with a glare and Athena's face drops. "You're in for it now," He pushes his hair back and lunges for her, laughing as she exclaims loudly when he grabs her waist and throws her over his shoulder, taking her over to a large trough of water.

"Stefan!" She laughs, wrapping her arms around his waist so she won't fall, even though she knows Stefan wouldn't drop her. "Stefan, we're supposed to be washing cars!"

"You started this,"

She groans and smashes her face into his back as he turns them towards a waiting car. "You win!"

"What was that?"

She pushes herself up, unwrapping her arms from his waist so she can push herself upright and use his shoulders as support. "I said you win, asshole," She grins as she says it, though, and Stefan's arms come down to her thighs, propping her against him momentarily.

Slowly, he lets her back down and when her feet touch the ground she looks up at him. Bending down slightly, she grabs a full bucket and offers it to him.

They start washing a car, both on either side of the hood as they scrub soap into it with soaked sponges. Her eyes fall to the daylight ring on his finger and she looks back up at him. "Is that affected by things like water? Will anything mess with the magic?"

"No, it's fairly indestructible," He shrugged, squinting at her through the bright sun.

She nods and is silent for a moment before speaking again. "Thank you,"

Stefan looks at her confusedly. "For what?"

"For letting Damon go," She tries to shrug her gratitude away, but the tone of her voice is too sincere to truly hide anything. "I, uh, I stopped by and saw him before I came here. I know he's kind of an asshole, but I think we're friends. So,"

Stefan contemplates her words for a minute and eyes her closely. Her swimsuit top is soaked, clinging to her skin. Her jean shorts are wet, too, and the fringe where they're cut off is tangled together in an unruly manner. Her hair has dried some under the sun, but it's still damp and curling into natural waves. He thinks she's utterly breathtaking, and the thought makes him blink out of his Athena-induced stupor.

"I wouldn't have done it if not for you," He says the words easily because they're the truth. He would've let Damon rot in the basement, but his inner turmoil about the whole situation and Athena's defense of his brother's character even after a short time of knowing him had him buckling.

She seems to balk at that for a moment, before settling on an easy half-smile.

He finds he'd rather have to deal with Damon than have Athena mad at him.

That realization is a little startling, and he finds himself dazedly washing the windshield of the car in its wake.

He came to Mystic Falls for Elena because he thought that she'd drawn him here. Knowing what he knows now, he can't help but wonder if it had been something else bringing him back to his hometown all these years later.

Maybe that pull, and the connection between him and Athena was what brought him back. Or maybe he was looking too much into it, and he simply enjoyed her presence because she made him feel so carefree. She made him feel human but didn't expect him to be one.

It could be that. But he knew it was much more.

──────

Elena walked over to the car, looking awkwardly between Athena and Stefan. She tucked a piece of her straight brown hair behind her ear and cleared her throat, getting their attention.

Athena glared at her instantly, and Stefan just looked back down at the shiny hood of the car they were washing awkwardly.

"Um, Athena, can I– can I talk to you?"

"I'd prefer it if you didn't," She narrowed her eyes at Elena but threw her towel at Stefan who caught it easily.

Elena turned and Athena followed after her, sending Stefan a reassuring look when he watched them go worriedly.

Athena shrugged when Elena stopped, a good twelve feet away from Stefan. Though, Athena knew he'd still be able to hear if he wanted to. "What do you want?"

"I have a question. About Stefan," Elena wrung her hands nervously under Athena's scrutinizing glare. "This man just came up to me and told me he knew who Stefan was."

Athena looked at her somewhat disbelievingly and Elena quickly hurried to elaborate. "She said she saw him and his brother Damon in June of 1953. He recognized their rings."

"Have you ever heard of ancestors? Or family heirlooms?"

Elena grumbled, getting frustrated with her lack of cooperation. "Don't you think it's odd that this man would tell me that he's seen Stefan and Damon before? In 1953? It's not a little weird to you that he says they look exactly the same. Rings and all?"

She wants to scream at Elena. For being nosey in the first place, but for coming to her of all people about her suspicions. As if Athena would ever be copasetic long enough to find out anything. Clearing her throat, she flicked strands of her drying hair off her shoulder and glared at the girl. "No, Elena, I don't think it's weird. I think you met a senile old man who probably escaped from the looney bin. You should've done us all a favor and called the police."

Athena shifted, cocking a hip out as she looked at Elena. "And even if it was weird, why would you tell me? I figured you'd be too busy blaming me for shit I had nothing to do with to even hold a conversation with me."

"I know you and Stefan are close, I just wanted to make sure you knew what you were getting into." Elena glanced at her ex, who was already watching them from afar, his face drawn into a concerned look.

"As far as I'm concerned, you and Stefan aren't together anymore. Nothing he does is any of your business anymore, Elena," She eyed the girl's face, watching hurt flood her eyes at the harsh words. "Maybe you should realize that he was only lying to you."

With that, Athena walks away, back towards Stefan who's watching her closely. "What?"

"You didn't have to lie for me," He shakes his head and she rolls her eyes, yanking her towel back from him.

"Of course I did. Besides, I'm never going to miss an opportunity to hurt Elena's feelings."

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author's note; stefan watching athena go in on people: that's my baby! go baby! yeah, what she said!

originally published; 11.20.20.

edited: 11.27.23.

- liz