NOT ALLOWED

CHAPTER NINE: NANGS

THE line moved faster than any of them had expected and within moments they were pulling away from the building and back off onto the road.

The one thing that trudged through Athena's thoughts as she drove was the room she had once called her own back at the lake house.

It haunted her- much like a bad nightmare did- and she found she was unable to rid her mind of the disturbing images it carried with it.

Images she wished she could burn out of existence.

But alas, they were forever ingrained in her mind, and despite this, she felt better knowing that her brothers didn't have to carry that same burden with them.

That they had been pardoned from the trauma brought upon her in the house along the lake.

About fifteen minutes passed before they pulled up to a rickety metal fence, the same one that led up to their home, and as Athena moved to turn into the driveway, she found herself stopping at the sight of the front door cracked open and the things on the porch tossed around the surrounding yard.

Glancing back at Mitch, she slipped out of the car before he could protest, and he definitely did.

Seconds later he was grabbing her wrist and turning her around to face him, "we left the house to get coffee, not come here, and from the looks of it, someones already been through the place. Meaning we need to leave now."

Athena yanked her hand free, offering the man a glare as she turned and continued to make her way up the drive to the house. If some creep was in her house, she was going to find him, and then Mitch could do whatever the hell he wanted with him.

But as soon as she had started towards the house, Aidan and the girls climbed out of the jeep and followed after the older girl up to the front porch where Mitch made it very clear that he would be the first person to enter.

Which Athena was more than fine with, if someone was inside, better that he be the one that get shot rather than her or her brother.

Turning to look at the group of teens, he couldn't help but grimace, "stay out here while I clear the house."

Athena watched as the man turned back and entered the house before she glanced over her shoulder at her friends, "I don't know about you guys, but I'm going inside."

And so she did, it was odd to think that less than forty-eight hours ago she'd left the house for school, the same house she was standing in, and here, before her, it had been turned upside down by some unknown intruder.

When she did finally arrive at her room, she was lucky to find her pot untouched, which was all that she'd really been worried about.

But other than that, the only thing that had really been torn apart was her dresser and her closet, which was somewhat odd, but not enough to raise any questions with her.

Picking apart what was left of her closet, she grabbed the clothes that appealed to her the most and set them on her bed while she went to dig through the closet for her old softball duffel bag. Would bringing her bat with her put out any unwanted message? She hoped not, because if she was going to be stuck at home for lord knew how long with her father then she was going to provide herself some entertainment.

After a few moments of digging, she found it tucked away with another bag, one that she didn't care for enough to bring with her.

Quick to shove all her belongings into the duffel bag, she plopped down on her bed and stared at the window across from her bed, the leaves were beginning to fall to the ground, an everyday reminder that winter was quickly approaching.

Winter had always been one of Athenas favorite seasons, mainly because the cold was numbing, and with that, you could do anything you wanted.

She laid back in her bed at the thought, the cold seeping over her, reaching across every inch of her skin until all the warmth was gone and she was as cold as the snow they would see outside.

She closed her eyes, the white powder that would cover the lawns and the driveways, and on more than one occasion grant them snow days.

A sigh fell from her lips, she couldn't wait.

A creak came from somewhere near the door and Athena's eyes shot open, to her dismay, it was just Mitch, plain old boring stick up his ass Mitch, and he had his arms crossed, which she had realized was something he almost always did.

"Time to go."

She frowned, "I'm not ready to go." she replied gesturing to the space around her. Shrugging his shoulders, Mitch gestured to the window, "well, it's time to go, so get your shit and get outside. Or else."

Instead of replying- or doing as requested- she pushed herself into a sitting position and crossed her arms over her chest- much like Mitch- and glared up at the man from her spot on the bed.

"Or else what?" she quipped, she knew she wasn't scared of Mitch, but, he was intimidating, and that was enough to send chills down her spine. So much that she felt glued to her spot on the bed as he approached her.

He leaned down, his face inches from hers- a glare still evident among his features- "walk your ass outside, or else I'll give you a reason to not be able to walk."

Athena's face paled, there were two ways that could be taken. And she was pretty sure she knew which way he had meant it.

She waited until he was at the doorway to avert her gaze to the floor and grab her things- including her softball bat- and it wasn't until he'd exited the room that she stepped out into the hallway and made her way out to the front yard where the jeep waited for them.

Maybe she should have left Mitch back at the lake house.

They should've brought Pietro instead, at least he was friendly.

Quickly loading her things into the trunk of the jeep, Athena climbed into the driver's seat to wait for the others to come out. And they did, after a few more minutes.

When they did finally get Aidan's belongings situated, including his instrument, they returned to their regular seats in the car and with that, Athena started the car and pulled away from the driveway.

The entire drive back to the lake house, she thought of what Mitch had said and what exactly he'd meant by it.

Christ, she needed to get a grip on reality. Mitch Rapp was a weird-ass little twenty-three year old that was excited over the promise he'd get to boss people around all day for as long as he was to stay.

He was not attractive, or funny, or interesting in the slightest. He was a pain in the ass cry baby that was annoying all of them.

She tried to hold that thought in place as they began the drive through the woods leading up to the lake house, but it seemed that every time she glanced into the rearview mirror, Mitch's gaze was there, steadily watching her as if he was expecting something.

And each time, she shifted her gaze back to the road and wished she could restart the day.

So as soon as the jeep was parked she jumped down from her seat and rushed to grab her bag from the trunk before retreating up the stairs to the house. At least she'd be safe from embarrassment in her bedroom, she hoped.

Thankfully, her father wasn't home yet, and Pietro made sure to let them know that Apollo was in the office doing some work per his father's request. So they had the rest of the day to themselves, or until Stan came home.

Athena had an idea of what she wanted to do, go swimming, but not until later.

She would have Jeremiah take Grace and Amber home soon, mainly because she wanted some time to herself and because she knew their parents would want them home soon.

"Pietro?" she called from the doorway to her bedroom, she was half expecting him to ignore her-much like Mitch did- but within seconds she saw him rounding the corner from the living room to begin down the hallway, "yes?" he questioned.

"Would you mind calling Jeremiah to take Grace and Amber home? Or have Apollo call? I know their parents are expecting them soon."

The man nodded his head, offering a small smile as he retreated down the hallway to do as he'd been asked, she wondered why the boys had gotten the nicer bodyguard, it wasn't fair.

But at the same time, it made sense.

If anything, Apollo was the bodyguard to Aidan and Pietro, as he seemed to be the toughest of the bunch, and Athena being stuck with Mitch, was more than likely because she was the most defiant of the bunch, of Mitch didn't seem to take other peoples shit.

After a few moments, Grace and Amber made their way back to Athena's bedroom, both being made aware that Jeremiah would be there to take them both home in a little bit. She couldn't wait for him to get there, then she'd be able to finally relax and do something that didn't require her social battery, which seemed extremely appealing at the moment.

So when the sound of honking from out front became evident, Athena had to restrain herself from jumping up and down. But she did walk her friends to the front door where she watched as they climbed into the car and waved as Jeremiah began to pull away from the house.

She let out a sigh once they were finally hidden by the trees further towards the start of the dirt drive.

"What? Glad to have them gone?"

Athena slowly turned around to face Mitch, "no, but it sounds like you are." she replied her hands raising to cross over her chest, "yeah, well when you've been surrounded by teenagers for longer than twenty-four hours, you tend to feel relieved when most of them are gone."

The girl couldn't help but roll her eyes, boo-hoo, because babysitting a bunch of almost adults is so difficult, especially when you're only a few years older than them.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I think I'm going to go for a swim."

Mitch frowned, "where? In the lake?"

Athena smiled as she let her hands fall to her sides, "precisely."

Sliding past him down the hallway, she slipped into her bedroom and searched through the duffel for her bathing suit, it was a simple black two-piece that held everything exactly where she liked it.

Once she'd changed into the bathing suit she went on the hunt for a pair of sandals, and she managed to successfully "borrow" a pair from Apollo's room with the help of Aidan, who had assisted in finding her the shoes and a clean towel, but despite this, he still turned down her offer to go swimming, he was too busy cleaning his instrument to even consider the idea.

When she exited the hallway and made her way to the sliding doors that led out to the backyard, Mitch was seated on the sofa with his head leaned into his hand. His eyes were open now as he stood up, already crossing the room to follow the girl out.

As much as he hated it, he knew he had to accompany her everywhere she decided to go, except her bedroom and the bathroom, but at least Stan wasn't around to be an asshole about it.

He was still trying to figure out why he'd been assigned Athena and not the boys.

Irene was trying to make this as difficult as possible for him.

NOT ALLOWED

CHAPTER NINE: NANGS