three's a party

"I THINK YOUR BEHAVIOR IS BORDERING ON STALKERISH NOW,"

Athena raised an amused brow at the younger boy's words, her lips quirking up into a smile as she leaned back against his locker.

"Not that that would necessarily be a bad thing," Nick continued, his brows furrowing as his opening words truly processed in his mind. "I wouldn't want to be stalked, but if– you know what? Those are inside thoughts. What, uh, what do you want?"

"I wanted to formally invite you to a party tonight at my house,"

Nick's eyes widened and he looked at her warily, disbelief radiating off him. "Me? You want me to come to a party? I'm– I'm half deaf and a freshman,"

"I don't care," She looked at him confusedly, shaking her head. "But if your parents don't want you partying, you can just say it's for a study group or something."

"Why are you even having a party?"

"It's Caroline's birthday, it's a surprise party,"

Nick raised a brow, thinking of the blonde he'd done his best to avoid out of sheer fear. "Does she even know me? Why would I come to her birthday party,"

Athena rolled her eyes, tucking her hair behind her ears. "Look, you don't have to come if you don't want to, but I think you should. It'd be a good chance to make friends that won't steal your hearing aid, or make you embarrass yourself in front of pretty girls."

Nick looked briefly ashamed and the flush on his cheeks deepened considerably as he watched Stefan come up behind Athena and slide his arm around her shoulders.

"You ready to get to class?"

Athena nodded, leaning into his touch. "Yeah— and Nick, seriously, I hope you come. I put my number in your phone just in case you need it, okay? Oh, and bring a gift!"

Nick began to nod but he stopped, his gaze snapping up to her confusedly. "What would I even get her? What are you getting her?"

Athena and Stefan glanced at each other, the latter smirking as she looked back at Nick. "Don't worry about our gift, yeah? Just, uh, get her a scarf or something."

Stefan leaned forward, clapping him on the shoulder hard enough to make him stumble on his feet. "We'll see you at the party, alright?"

Nick watched in typical speechlessness as the two stalked off down the hallway toward their class. The boy frowned, feeling both overwhelmed and slightly invaded. He processed Stefan's parting words and shook his head in befuddlement. "I didn't say yes,"

He stopped again, patting his pockets frantically for his phone as he remembered Athena's mention of giving him her number. "How did she get my phone?"

──────

Athena hurriedly pulled her dress down, adjusting the tight, silk material as she rushed out of her room, Stefan right behind her with a particularly tight shirt on and a pair of jeans that Athena described with less-than-appropriate language.

As the goddess went down the stairs, Bonnie joined her, stepping out from her bedroom with a dress similar to Athena's, except in a pale lilac shade that made her bronze skin glimmer prettily. The witch smiled crookedly, and Athena grinned back, locking her arm with Bonnie's as they continued down the stairs to where the rest of the partygoers were waiting.

"So, what's the status update on the birthday girl?" Stefan threw his arm around Athena's shoulders, his green eyes alight as he looked at the witch.

"She's less than a mile away,"

Athena's eyes widened and she looked at the large crowd of her classmates all talking amongst themselves. She lifted her hand to her mouth and whistled through her fingers, easily silencing all of them.

"Listen up! Caroline's almost here, and if a single one of you ruins this surprise because you couldn't shut up, I'm going to rip your tongue out and feed it to you!"

The crowd tensed at her threat and she smiled sweetly, though the gleam in her eyes proved that she wasn't exaggerating in the slightest.

"Awesome," She looked around the room, gesturing to Damon at the far end of the hallway near the kitchen. "Damon, lights!"

The blue-eyed vampire nodded and dimmed the lights, managing to still look uncomfortable at the number of teenagers in his house despite his contentedness to celebrate Caroline.

Stefan lifted his head, his sharp ears catching the slam of Caroline's car door as she arrived. He nudged Athena, who tensed in anticipation and shushed everyone once more.

"She's here, everybody shut up!"

A voice echoed through the crowd. "How do you know she's–"

"Marcus, I swear to god, I'll take your tongue right now," Athena glared at the boy she shared a chemistry class with, watching the fear shine in his eyes.

They all quieted, the jingle of her keys slotting into the door making them all collectively hold their breath.

Athena let out a quiet, anxious breath that earned a reassuring squeeze from Stefan at her side that calmed her instantly.

"Athena? Stefan? I swear to god if you guys are–"

"Surprise!"

Caroline jumped in shock, her keys and bag falling to the ground as the lights brightened, illuminating the sea of familiar faces standing before her. She's frozen into speechlessness, but when she catches sight of Athena standing on the last few stairs with Stefan and Bonnie on either side of her, she finally lets out a laugh.

Everyone cheers when she begins to laugh, and she watches in delight as Athena makes her way through the parting crowd that moves out of her way almost fearfully. When she reaches Caroline, she immediately wraps her in a tight hug and Caroline's eyes warm with tears as she embraces the goddess.

"I take it you like the surprise?"

Caroline scoffs incredulously, pulling back to look at Athena. "You know I do," She shakes her head, still in shock. "How did you even do all of this?"

"Oh, you know," Athena shrugged, grinning as she tucked the blonde's curled hair behind her ears. "A few minor threats, and promises of free booze."

Caroline laughed again, shaking her head at the typical Athena-like manner of her words. "Jesus, Athena, I don't even know what to say. This is totally unfair, you know? We didn't even celebrate your birthday this year,"

"Don't worry about it," Athena waved her off, turning them towards the crowd again. She frowned, looking at them all confusedly. "Well, what the hell are you waiting for? Start the party, idiots!"

People broke off into groups, and Athena shook her head exasperatedly as she pulled Caroline towards the stairs. "Come on, Care, the surprises don't stop here,"

Caroline looked up at her questioningly, her thin brows furrowing. "What do you mean? Please tell me you didn't get me a present,"

Athena rolled her eyes, gesturing for Bonnie to follow as they passed by the witch. "You have nothing to worry about, Caroline. Just trust that I know what I'm doing, yeah?"

Caroline's eyes widened at the girl's words, and she felt her concern deepen. "I feel like I should be worried,"

──────

Athena's laughter was drowned out by the constant vibration of music and conversation blaring through the boarding house. She stood amongst the group of supernatural creatures, leaning into Stefan's side as he and Klaus tipsily recounted their escapades in the 20s.

The party had long since started, and the hours began to blur, but it was still early enough in the night that no one was too sloppy, much to Damon's happiness. Athena had only briefly seen him palming a kid's head while he took a bottle of finely aged whiskey from him with a glare.

Athena had been in high spirits all night, and it showed. Caroline was happy with the attention on her, not being able to walk a step through the house without being approached by someone. All of the immortal beings were playing nice for the time being, and as long as the peace was kept, Athena knew this would be a perfect night.

"Someone's here,"

Athena starts at the sudden change of subject and she looks up from where she'd dazed off into the swirl of her drink in the red cup, glancing at Klaus. "Is it a human?"

"Disgustingly so," He frowned and she rolled her eyes at his dramatics, turning to Stefan to press a kiss to his cheek as she stepped out of his possessive hold around her waist.

"I'll be right back, I'm gonna go see who it is,"

He nods, eyes watching her closely as she parts through the crowd with little fight, her intimidating presence and lingering threats enough to make the feat much easier for herself. She tucked her straight hair behind her ears, briefly checking to make sure both of her earrings were still in her ears before she swung the front door open. The boy standing shifted awkwardly and she smiled excitedly.

"Nick, you came!"

"Yeah, I, uh," He cleared his throat, eyes darting nervously behind him and directing Athena's attention to the unfamiliar face standing behind him. "Athena, this is my brother Daniel."

The boy grinned and Athena's smile dropped into a firm glare that didn't seem to deter him. "You know, I thought my brother was just lying to make himself look cool when he told me you invited him tonight. You didn't have to go through him just to get my attention, but I admire the effort,"

Athena's eyes drifted from Daniel's cocky smirk to Nick's look of despair, and then slowly back to Daniel who seemed to preen under her attention and remained perfectly oblivious to her disdain.

"Right," She drawled, eyes narrowing accusingly in a way that had Nick's eyes widening with fear. "So, Daniel, was it?"

"Oh, no, Athena–"

Daniel smacked the back of Nick's head, making him grunt in pain and flush embarrassingly. "Shut it, loser,"

"Let me get this straight, Nick. You thought I invited your little brother to my best friend's birthday party so that you would somehow find out and come for... whatever reason you seem to think I want you here?"

Daniel falters only slightly at her question, a flicker of irritation shining in his eyes. "Well, let's be honest, you didn't invite him because he's cool."

"And you think that you are? And, you know, if I believed that, it would mean I wanted you here so I could sleep with you?"

"I mean, come on, why else would you invite him?"

"You do know I have a boyfriend, right? And this is his house. So I'd be cheating on my boyfriend with you, under his roof,"

"I don't judge,"

Athena nodded slowly, seemingly contemplating his words as Nick mumbled pleas under his breath for his brother to shut up. Heaving a sigh, she shook herself clear of whatever it was she'd been thinking and reached forward to pull Nick in the door. "You should leave, Daniel,"

"What?"

"Because I said so," Stefan's voice suddenly interrupted the conversation and Athena smirked at his appearance by her side. "And it's my house, my rules. And my girlfriend."

Daniel chuckled, unable to hide the slight fear in his eyes even as he hid beneath his smugness. "Look, buddy, maybe you should worry about why your girlfriend was–"

Stefan pushed forward suddenly, pressing his arm down on Daniel's throat as he shoved him into the brick column on the front porch of the boarding house. The teenage boy choked at the sudden lack of air in his lungs, his eyes widening frightfully.

"You're gonna leave, Daniel, and you're never going to even think about my girlfriend again, so you hear me? And if you do ever get the urge to fulfill your little fantasy of thinking about her, let alone touching her, you're going to hit yourself very, very hard in the place all those urges come from. You got it?"

Daniel nodded dazedly, the compulsion fading into his mind as Stefan gave him one last threatening once-over before he shoved him off the porch. "Bye, now, Daniel. You let me know how you feel next time you wanna approach her, okay?"

Athena watched with a burning flame of desire in her deep brown eyes as Stefan turned back to face her in the doorway, his chest heaving as his possessiveness reared its head.

"Nick," Athena blinked forcibly to tear herself away from Stefan's heated look, giving the freshman beside her a pointed look. "Go get a cup of something good and join the party. And seriously, have fun. Oh, and don't forget to give Caroline her gift."

Nick slowly nodded, a small smile growing on his face as he turned and disappeared in the crowd with the wrapped box she'd put in his locker inexplicably.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Athena turned back to Stefan and pulled him inside, his laugh echoing as he kicked the door shut behind him. He wrapped an arm around her waist, the other hand cupping the back of her head as she melted into him, meeting in the middle of the embrace with a heated kiss that she immediately deepened.

Stefan chuckled against her lips, simultaneously chasing the plush pillows with his own hungrily.

Athena made a faint, wanton noise that he smirked at, nudging his nose against hers as they parted momentarily.

"What?" He muttered, peering down into her eyes knowingly. "Did you like that?"

Athena grabs the fabric of his t-shirt in her hand, yanking him closer to her with an almost animalistic noise building in her chest. "You know I did,"

"Well, what do you want me to do about it?"

Athena pushed her bottom lip out in a slight pout and looked up at him, her face otherwise innocent spare for the gleam in her eyes that made his pulse race excitedly. "We should go find Caroline and give her her gift."

Stefan nodded, leaning down to kiss her slowly once more before he intertwined their fingers and began pulling her through the crowd to where the blonde had been dancing for the better portion of the night.

The couple parted and Athena slid up behind the blonde, taking the place of whoever had been there before as she gripped the blonde's hips in her hands. Caroline leaned into her, dropping her head back against Athena's shoulder once she realized who was dancing with her.

"'Thena," Caroline grinned at her, eyes glassy with the few heavy drinks she'd had that mixed well with her overall happiness. "That kid brought me a present, and I know you bought it for me. You didn't have to do that, you know?"

"Of course I did," Athena swayed along with Caroline, the thump of the bass vibrating her skin pleasantly. "You're my best friend, Caroline. And you deserve a break, so, you get a shopping spree on me,"

Caroline's grin widened and Athena shifted her hands, sliding them so they were spanned across the expanse of the blonde's waist. "You're the best,"

"I know," Athena dropped her lashes in a wink that made her giggle. "That's not the only thing I got you, though. I know you love shopping, but I figured I'd get you something a bit more fun."

Caroline raised a thin brow, her curiosity piquing. She inhaled sharply when another set of hands landed on her, her eyes snapping from Athena to where Stefan had suddenly approached, sufficiently sandwiching Caroline between them.

Caroline's gaze quickly went back to Athena's, who smirked. "What's my present?"

Athena shrugged a shoulder, locking gazes with Stefan. "You wanna go find out?"

Caroline nodded, slowly but surely, and the couple both kept her pressed between them as they headed for the stairs, sharing sinful looks and laughs that didn't go unnoticed by their friends.

──────

Bonnie shook her head at the sight of the trio disappearing up the stairs with a twisted mixture of disgust at knowing what they'd be up to, fond exasperation that always remained when they were involved, and amusement at the odd dynamic. If she were in a position like Athena, she couldn't say she'd share her partner with her ex. Then again, she didn't have anyone to be so possessive over, so it didn't necessarily matter what she thought about it.

The only person she'd want in that position she certainly wouldn't share with anyone else in that way. He was just– he was standing right in front of her– "Oh, Jesus. Damon!"

Bonnie gasped in surprise, holding a hand to her racing heart while she clamped her plastic cup in the other. She glared at the vampire, and he shrugged apologetically, though she didn't miss the slight smile on his face at her reaction.

"Sorry, Bon-Bon, but I couldn't help but notice you aren't highly intoxicated like everyone else in my house."

His distasteful look out of the kitchen archways into the mass of drunk people made her smile as she set her still-full cup on the counter. "I figured one of us should be responsible tonight,"

"You're always the responsible one," He pours her old drink out in the sink and grabs the bottle of whiskey he'd discarded earlier, and a mixer to make it less harsh for her. "I think you deserve at least one night of delirious intoxication."

Bonnie smiled, taking a small sip of the drink he'd made for her and finding she didn't hate it. "I don't like drinking, it makes me lose control."

"Wouldn't it be nice to lose control once in a while?"

She shrugs, not having to think twice about it. "I have too much power to do that and feel safe about doing it. It wouldn't end well,"

Damon scoffs, taking a swig off the bottle. "What exactly in our lives ever ends well?"

Bonnie laughs at his honest words, having come to terms long ago with the chaos she signed up for when she got into all of this mess with Grams. She looked up from her drink, meeting Damon's bright eyes that swarmed with something she couldn't quite put her finger on.

Her heart stuttered under his stare, but she didn't dare look away, and her bravery seemed to snap Damon out of whatever had been clouding his mind.

"You should go in there, have fun, and meet a cute guy to take home for the night. Or upstairs, apparently," He sounded upset at the thought entirely, but Bonnie wasn't sure if it was because he was upset at the thought of her sleeping with someone, or doing it in his house.

Bonnie shrugged, tracing the rim of her cup with her fingertips. "I don't know, I'm not really into any of those guys."

"Oh, yeah? Why's that?"

Her crooked jaw shifted slightly as her lips twisted into a smirk, the sight unfamiliar but beautiful on her features. "I kind of have a thing for older guys, I guess,"

Damon leaned in slightly, his eyes momentarily falling to her lips before he forced them away. "I didn't think Klaus was your type,"

She shakes her head, eyes fluttering shut as she pushes up on her tiptoes to further close the gap between them. "He's not,"

"Bonnie,"

"Damon,"

"Bonnie!" The sudden yell of her name snapped her out of the trance she'd been in and she heard Damon let out a curse under his breath as Bonnie looked past his broad figure in front of her into the party.

Bonnie frowned, irritated at being interrupted but also relieved. She wasn't sure what she even wanted with Damon yet, but she knew it couldn't happen at a party for her best friend. "I– I think that was Rebekah, I should go see what she needs–"

"Bonnie, wait,"

The witch ducks her head down and disappears into the crowd in search of the Original, leaving Damon alone in the kitchen with a head full of questions and a special frustration reserved solely for Rebekah Mikaelson.

──────

The ringing of the doorbell wakes Athena up from what was probably the deepest sleep of her life, and she groans in annoyance. Her noise stirs the two people asleep in bed on either side of her and she turns, looking at Stefan as he raises a brow at her despite keeping his eyes closed.

He hums, shifting under the wrinkled sheets on his frame. "What is it?"

She slides out from in between him and Caroline, grabbing his shirt to pull over her frame and a pair of shorts she'd worn to bed earlier that week. "Someone's at the door, I'll get it."

"You sure?"

She nods, briefly stopping to give him a short kiss. "Yeah, just stay here, I'll be back in a minute."

He nods and burrows back into the bed, and Caroline remains ignorant to her consciousness entirely, making Athena snort to herself as she steps out of the bedroom and heads downstairs.

She grimaced at the mess throughout the house and the lingering people still passed out wherever they'd ended up by the end of the night. Stepping over a puddle of something she had no interest in examining, she reached the front door and swung it open carelessly as a yawn overtook her face.

Humming lowly, she leaned against the doorway and finally opened her eyes. All traces of exhaustion rushed out of her and she stood straight up, her eyes wide in surprise at the three figures standing before her, one familiar face leading the pack.

The suited man raised a brow at her unusual disarray, his eyes briefly darting behind her to examine the similar state of the house.

"Good morning, Athena. Am I interrupting something?"

Athena's jaw dropped slightly and she looked at the man in utter disbelief. "Elijah?"

──────

author's note; do u think they explored each other's bodies

my tumblr has the 18+ deleted scene from this chapter. it's the same username i have here @/theeoriginals  minors dni!!1!1!1!

originally published; 12.11.21.

edited: 12.9.23. 

- liz