Let's end Episode 6 in Athens with Atria, a little #Eldria, and an unexpected visitor... ;)

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Scene 14: New Leaf

A.D. 2015 

They hadn’t spoken, since that heartfelt hug last night. She hadn’t even seen him. Sure, he was her sort-of-brother, not another one of her boy toys or random hookups or whatever. But still, after anything remotely touchy-feely accidentally happened in her life—let alone something sincerely heartfelt—Atria had to take a while to recover.

She hadn’t said a word, when she’d run to the doorway, fallen into his arms. And he hadn’t needed to hear a thing. Just stood there, existing in all his impossible beauty, holding her close, silent and still until her sobs subsided. Which had taken too long. She’d felt ashamed, upon finally withdrawing from the embrace. But he’d wiped her tears away so sweetly that the shame was almost swept away along with it.

Then he had kissed her forehead, which was sweet and all, but always fucking killed her, which was stupid, since she totally knew by now that hugs and forehead-kisses were the farthest she would ever get with Eldor, which was a fact that she would just have to accept.

But the worst part was that he had then asked her a question. One that he should’ve known better than to ask. But so he had. Asked if she might like to accompany him to hit up some nightclubs, which had sounded super promising, until he had gone on to say: ‘with Cloe.’

Like, what the fuck? Was the guy nuts? In what universe would Atria ever agree to be a third wheel? She had tried to tone down the bitchy scowl that crossed her face as soon as he had asked. Averted her gaze and declined because she ‘wanted to work on her essay.’ Whether or not Eldor believed that bullshit, she knew it was a reason that he would respect.

So he had left, and she had shut the guestroom door behind him and sat on her bed and bitchily scowled the night away.

Since then, she had been shut up in her room, pretending to be sleeping in till noon. Eldor had knocked around that time, peeking inside in response to her silence, then slipped away, hopefully falling for her Sleeping Beauty pretense. Atria had heard him head out—no doubt to see that doe-eyed girlfriend again, she’d mused disgustedly—and only then had she ventured downstairs. To find a note left on the kitchen counter: ‘Stepped out to run a few errands. Be back in about an hour. Please make yourself at home. My home is yours. Always, Eldor.’

Her first instinct had been to roll her eyes into the back of her skull at how sickeningly perfect he always was.

But then something had given her pause. Her gaze had flickered toward a small square set upon the windowsill behind the kitchen sink: a picture frame. Holding a tiny photo of two faces, all too heartbreakingly familiar to her. The same image of two embracing children that Atria had treasured in a little silver locket all her life, till she’d tossed it down a gutter, just the other night.

What she had been so quick to throw away, Eldor had saved. Always. This silly thing was sitting on a windowsill in his perfect little house, which meant his perfect hands had put it there on purpose at some point. Somehow, she knew that it had been there for a while.

Well, shit—cue the weepy waterworks again. At least she’d had an hour to let it all out and redo her mascara before he got back.

Which she did, sauntering downstairs as she heard him come in, recent tears hidden behind expertly applied eyeliner and a casually applied smile.

He grinned as she entered the kitchen, where he stood unpacking groceries, which no man should be able to make look sexy, but he did. Of course. “You’re awake! Hope you slept well? Have you eaten yet?”

“Slept like a baby, as always,” she lied as she reached into the nearest bag to help him stock the pantry. “And no, I haven’t. Starving.”

“Good. Because I just bought all the best grub Athens has to offer, and we’re gonna have a big fat Greek dinner later today. To celebrate.”

She arched a brow, pulling out a jar full of plump purple olives. “Celebrate what?”

“You being awesome and applying to law school. You know how proud I am of you, right? And hey, how did that essay go last night?”

“It’s, uh… it’s in progress. Might take me a while.”

“Of course; take your time. I’m sure whatever you have to say will blow all the admissions folks away. Oh, also, I meant to mention—if you do end up at Sterling, I know someone who’s going there now.”

“That’s cool. Friend of yours?”

“Yeah, we were… we were good friends, once. His name’s Westin.”

She didn’t pry into the awkwardly uttered past tense. “Is he hot?”

He laughed, reorganizing the fridge instead of answering.

“Hey, so I, um—” Atria began after a brief silence, biting her lip before finishing the sentence, “…I’ve decided to stop being such a bitch.”

 Eldor stopped shuffling food around and turned to look at her.

“And such a sex-crazed slut, and stuff,” she added. “I mean, like, if I can. At least while I’m staying with you. Being a slightly better person seems like… sort of the least I can do. As a thank-you.”

He blinked, lips parted though not yet sure what to say in reply.

Atria kept talking before he could. “For opening your home to me, so nicely, and, you know, just—just… for everything,” she explained with a smile, sincere and yet painfully strained. “I figure I should just stay with you as a sister for a while. Keep things cool. No drama. Turn over a new leaf, or whatever people call this self-improvement thing. Maybe, uh… maybe I’ll even be up for getting to know Cloe sometime.”

His ebon eyes brightened and darkened all at once. “Wow, I, uh—well, I’m really happy to hear that. As long as you’re happy. If it’s what you want. But anyway, um… Cloe and I are kind of taking a break.”

She blinked. “Oh? You two already had your first fight?”

Eldor looked down, shook his head. “I wouldn’t call it a fight, no.”

“Well,” Atria sighed, grabbing up a big tub of Greek yogurt, “I guess I shouldn’t pry. Not very polite of me. The new Atria is all about polite.”

He chuckled, shifting the subject to something benign and boring as they finished shelving groceries, sampling snacks as a light lunch—quite light, so as not to spoil their appetite, in anticipation of a huge dinner tonight.

Later on, he told her he was going for a run. Asked if she wanted to join.

“Now you want to be jogging buddies? Oh, that’s pushing it, bro,” she teasingly objected. “I’ll pass. Not really my kind of workout.”

“Yeah? What kind do you like to…” he started to ask, with all the innocence in all the world, which was adorable. New leaf or not, her exercise of choice was obvious. “You, uh… don’t have to answer that.”

She grinned, green gaze glinting with laughter. “Wasn’t planning on it. The new Atria wouldn’t approve of the answer anyway.”

Eldor smiled, but there was something heavy, almost sorry, in his eyes and in his voice as he addressed her now. “Hey, listen,” he urged, taking a few soft steps toward her. “Change can be good, really good, but you shouldn’t need to censor or suppress anything. Not with me.”

It was always a lot harder to meet his gaze when shit got deep.

“And please,” he went on, “promise me you won’t feel pressured to change in ways that you don’t want to. Or in ways that feel untrue. The new Atria seems cool and all, but… make sure she’s still you. Okay?”

“Sure,” she whispered. "Promise."

Her eyes were then pulled to the window at a sudden peal of thunder, followed by a splash of rain against the pane.

“Well, that came out of nowhere,” Eldor remarked, glancing outside at the darkling sky. “Pretty weird. Rain’s so rare around here.”

“Yeah, so I’ve heard. Still going on that run?”

“Of course,” he replied, with a wink that only he could make look virtuous. “A little rain should never stop a warrior from marching on.”

“Right. Go march your ass off, soldier,” she answered with a laugh, fighting the burning urge to smack said ass as Eldor headed out.

But then he unexpectedly stopped in his tracks. “Do it.”

She blinked up at him. “What?”

“Smack it. I saw you look. What did I just say about censoring…”

Atria happily obliged before the sentence was complete. And to her very pleasant surprise, she saw him smile, a little bashfully, a little sinfully. Maybe having enjoyed the smack more than he should have…

She flashed a sultry glance way too suggestive for the new Atria’s standards. “Wait a sec... Is this—is this a new Eldor I’m seeing here...?”

“Shut up,” he muttered, leaning in to kiss her forehead. “See you soon, sis.”

She tried not to be wounded by that last word, as he left. Tried not to think about the sight of him all soaking wet with rain and sweat.

Which promptly made her ever sex-crazed mind stray to her first night with a certain someone else. Out in the rain. Grabbing his ass, as deliciously firm as the one she’d just smacked… The hottest, wettest night of her entire life…

But she shut off that train of thought as soon as it’d embarked. Decided to turn over a domestic sort of leaf and try to start preparing dinner. Fumbled around in the kitchen for a bit.

When the doorbell rang, a while afterward, she didn’t even pause to think before answering it. Just assumed that it was Eldor. Which was dumb, she realized later, because why the fuck would he ring the bell.

She opened the door. Blinked and stared. The man standing there, out in the rain, a dark rose in his hand, was most definitely not Eldor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

... Who could it be?!?! Take a wild guess... hehe ;)

I hope you all liked the first episode of Book II :D  Next scene, we'll kick off Episode 7 back in B.C....

** And if you liked this one, please don't forget to vote! :) **