– Athena & Jake –

   There are certain moments you have when you just think about one certain thing, where your mind can't focus on anything else – like it was tattooed in your brain and it can't be removed. It just keeps repeating, making you zone out and think about that certain thing. And no matter how hard you tried to push it to the back of your mind, you'd come up unsuccessful. Athena was feeling that way right now.

   She paid no attention to anything Mrs. Roberts was saying, instead she dwelled on the image of how her father would always stare at couples and the way he looked when he talked to Jake's mum. There was something there that she hadn't really seen before – she just didn't know if it was a good or bad thing. She hoped it was good.

   Subconsciously, she fiddled with the crayon she had received – cyan was the colour – a few minutes before she had zoned out. They haven't had use of the object just yet because really, Mrs. Roberts was just speaking on and on about class rules and that they are to have fun and learn – it was one of the rules. She, the teacher, hadn't even realized that she had already caused the hyperactive kids to simmer down.

   Beside her, Jake watched her zone out and wondered what she could possibly be thinking about. This was the first time he's actually seen her not pay attention to the teacher – and it was strange to say the least.

   But eventually, he got caught up in his thoughts as well. He wondered what it felt like to have a father like Athena had. When the two were saying goodbyes, he had watched their interaction. Sure, his mother was affectionate towards him but he wanted to be hugged, kissed and just have a father figure there for him. Earlier in the car when he'd asked about his father to Monica, he didn't know it was a soft spot until he asked it. He was simply curious, because he'd watch a bunch of other kids with two parents, looking as if they had the whole world. He wanted a full family like the other kids.

   In that moment, Jake wished that he had a dad.

   Blinking out of his thoughts, he looked back to Athena to notice she has yet to shake her thoughts. Fiddling with his turquoise blue crayon, he tapped her shoulder making her snap out of her thoughts.

   "Are you okay?" He wondered in a whisper, making sure that Mrs. Roberts didn't hear him. And though Jake Highland was one for being a trouble maker he had promised to be good for his mother and he wasn't about to break it. This was one of the many characteristics Monica loves about her son, how loyal he was.

   "Yeah," Athena murmured still in a daze. Her eyes drifted back to the teacher watching as she wrote on the chalk board – the noise greatly annoyed Athena – something about learning how to correctly write and count the first few numbers. Athena had already been taught this by Miss. Kayla, she didn't really have to listen to understand this.

   "You aren't paying attention," Jake murmured, his small eyebrows rising in the slightest – he remembered the movement as something his mother would do when stating the obvious. Although he hadn't paid attention himself for a while, he didn't say anything because Athena could easily tell his mother and he'd be in trouble.

   Athena placed the crayon down before looking over to Jake. She then remembered his interaction with his mum, it made her wonder if that's how her mum used to be. She could basically feel the love Monica gave Jake and she had that same feeling with her dad, but it's different, isn't it?

   In that moment, Athena wished that she had a mum.

.

   A few minutes later it was snack time, and of course Athena and Jake had secluded themselves from the other kids and sat together in the corner of the room where they had the bean bags. Athena sat in the red one as Jake sat on the yellow one, both having apple juice and animal crackers in their small hands.

   "My Dad looks lonely," Athena finally admitted, ducking her head down because she knew that Jake didn't have a dad – she felt mean bringing him up but he had asked her earlier what was on her mind. So she told him.

   Jake sat silently, lifting a cracker to his mouth before nibbling on it slowly. He wanted to know how Athena came up with such. Sure, Jake is at a young age but he couldn't read any feelings like Athena could. He wished he could observe people like her, because it was pretty cool, he thought.

   "He looked a little happier with your mum," she continued, pushing her braids behind her shoulders. Harry has been doing her hair in braids lately, because she liked how cool it looked and he thought she looked adorable with them – he told her that various times. She looked up when Jake was still silent.

   He was looking at her with parted lips the cracker he was nibbling on had dropped back into the plastic bag. He didn't like to eat the head of the animals; he thought it was too mean to do so. Immediately he thought back about wanting a dad, he desired it so much. To kick a ball around with him, and to be called 'kiddo' or 'sport' – he did love it when his mum called him 'fire ball' but it didn't fill the spot he was missing with not having a father –, it seemed truly amazing to him.

   "He misses my Mum," Athena said looking at Jake, knowing that he'd have an idea of what to do. Athena may be observant and pretty smart for her age but she couldn't piece these points together. Yes, she knew that her dad looks lonely, that he misses her mum and that little part of him that wasn't happy seemed to be triggered when talking to Jake's mother. It seemed like simple math but that wasn't really her favourite subject anyway.

   Jake picked up another animal cracker, meeting Athena's gaze once he pulled out a turtle. He knew those were her favourite so he handed it to her before grabbing a tiger – his favourite.

   He was stalling because of course he already had an idea, but he had promised his mother that he'd be good. And he wasn't too sure if what he thought about was good or bad, but it was meddling – and though he doesn't know what that means, he knew it probably wasn't all that good.

   "I want that little part to be happy again." Athena knew that 'little part' was the little part that held onto Katelyn so tight that it seemed as if it was a nail stuck in a plank of wood and there was no hammer in sight to remove it. She knew that Harry was overall happy but that nail was still there, just waiting to be released because it was rusted and bent.

   Jake couldn't hold his thought in anymore. "What if we put them together?"

   Once saying those words, Jake thought about Harry and how it would be like to have him as his Father figure. That was the main thing on his mind, but this was also for Athena's benefit too. Her Dad will be happy again and she'll have a Mother figure she'll remember. It was a win-win for both of the young children. Although Jake knew Harry would be happy again he wondered if his Mum would be too. He doesn't really know if she's lonely or if she misses his Father – maybe he'll ask Athena to observe her later to find out.

   "What?" Athena questioned, for she had zoned out again. Only this time she was thinking of turtles because she had eaten the turtle Jake had handed her – she wondered if the turtle's family missed him. Her gaze flicked over to Jake who was sipping his apple juice as if trying to stall what he had just said. He told his mum he'd be good.

   He placed the juice box beside his bean bag before leaning back. "Your Dad and my Mum, they'll be happy."

   At that, Athena leaned back in her bean bag as well. Her apple juice was long gone – she was in love with apple juice –, sitting by her feet and the bag of animal crackers lay on her lap. She looked up at the ceiling and tried to picture it, picturing Monica as her new Mother figure. It didn't seem bad in her mind, but maybe she is a bit biased because she really wants a Mum.

   "Do you think it will work?" She questioned sitting herself up to look at the brunet. He simply gave her a small smile that looked more of a smirk. She automatically knew that it was a dumb question.

   "Have you met me?" Was all he said before Mrs. Roberts had said that snack time was over.

.

   During nap time, Athena's mind was still reeling about the plan Jake had suggested. Jake, the little boy that laid beside her, already in a peaceful sleep as if what they had just talked about didn't concern him much – but it did, he just knew that this would work whilst Athena was on the fence about it.

   Harry and Monica. Monica and Harry?

   Sighing, the blonde tugged the blue blanket up to her mouth before closing her eyes once more before huffing softly. This happened five more times before she finally gave up on trying to take a nap. She then glanced over to Jake, wondering if he'd be upset if she woke him up or if she'd get in trouble by Mrs. Roberts for doing so.

   Deciding on waking him up, her eyes scanned the room in search of the teacher before poking the boy lightly.

   "Jake." Poke. "Jake, wake up." Poke. "Jake." She nudged his shoulder lightly. "Jake."

   Groaning softly, Jake raised the blanket over his head as if it'd keep the sound of Athena's voice out. It didn't. Instead it just encouraged her to rip the blanket off of him, giving him a cute, innocent smile when he glared at her.

   "What?" He murmured, his hand rubbing his eyes. He sat up slightly, using his elbow to prep himself up and give Athena his drowsy attention.

   "What if it doesn't work?" She asked, turning on her side and going into the same position as Jake. He pursed his lips, subconsciously plucking the loose threads from the blanket.

   Athena was thinking about how the plan might not work. She's seen relationships before – Miss. Kayla had a lot of boyfriends – and she saw how wrecked they would be after "breaking up" – Athena didn't understand the term but knew it wasn't good for Miss. Kayla told her that it wasn't – and it made her think. What if Harry went through that ... again? He'd probably have that nail in even deeper.

   "It will," Jake insisted suppressing a yawn. He stopped picking at the loose thread and reached over, grabbing her hand – he had seen a bunch of older boys do it to girls, and he's a big boy so he did it – and noticing how soft her skin was. "Believe me."

   She looked down at their hands before meeting his gaze once more. She did her talent, she observed him carefully trying to decipher if he was believable or if he was just trying to assure her without being too sure himself. All she could see though was how he believed his plan to be foolproof, he truly believed that it will work and that really was all the assurance she needed.

   Jake Highland was known for great plans; she had no reason to not believe him.

   Sighing, she flipped her hand over to where their palms were touching. It was weird to have someone's hand in hers that wasn't Harry's. Probably because this hand was almost the same size as hers and Harry's was about three times bigger, but it felt nice.

   "Okay."

   "You believe me?" He questioned, trying to make sure that she did. His eyebrows were raised and his teeth were down on his bottom lip, he thought about how his Mum might react if she found out about his meddling – not too good, he thinks.

   Athena gave him a small nod before retrieving her hand and lying on her back. She said nothing more. She simply closed her eyes and tried to put the last few minutes of nap time to good use.

- - -

(A/N):  okay, before any of you say this, I know they don't have nap time or snack time anymore but this is fiction and I needed them to talk about the plan. So, yeah. I hope you all liked this chapter because here we have the meddling kids, yay! The next chapter will be of Harry and our love, Liam Payne (he was mentioned in the first chapter if you don't remember) so yeah, be prepared for some Lirry. Please vote, comment and share – it will really mean a lot because I love this story so much. 

Oh, and I had this updated because it's my year anniversary on Wattpad! So, yay my page is one year's old... I'm seriously so grateful for all of you and all that you've done for my stories, it means a lot!

Importance of Chapter: Well, it's pretty obvious but just in case, I'll say it anyways. This chapter to show how Jake and Athena had decided on doing a plan – a.k.a. the whole plot to this story is that plan so this is a major chapter. Especially how Jake wasn't sure what Monica wants – they don't know if she even wants to be in a relationship or not so keep that in mind. It also shows you their friendship – and how friggen' cute they are – and how they are there for each other.  I guess that's it...

SONG FOR CHAPTER:   EVER EVER AFTER – JORDAN PRUITT

Importance of Song: This song is basically what Jake and Athena could see happen with their plan for their parents. It says that everyone could be happy in the end and even if things might go wrong there is still the ending. Basically shows their optimism on the whole plan (even if Athena was a bit hesitant), mostly Jake because he desires to have a father so much and he believed he could gain one in the end.

READ: I'd really like to know if you all enjoy this story, so please comment and share your thoughts xx

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