┏━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┓

𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗬 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗘

one shot:
you are in love !

┗━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┛

morning, his place, burnt toast, sunday.

IF SOMEBODY WERE to ask the students at East High which couple there was the cutest, they would, without a doubt, answer with Athena Blake and Ricky Bowen. Maybe some would say Violetta Chase and EJ Caswell, or Ashlyn Caswell and Big Red, or Carlos Rodriguez and Seb Matthew-Smith . . . but most of the time, it was Athena and Ricky.

They were either the couple that people loved or that people hated. Athena and Ricky were frequently spotted walking down the hallways of East High, their hands tightly interlocked and Ricky maybe sneaking in a kiss or two to the girl's cheek. Whenever they were around each other, smiles were placed upon their lips and their cheeks were painted with the lightest shade of red. They were so cute, it physically hurt.

Maybe the fact that they were so domestic had something to do with it. Whenever they were over each other's houses, they could be seen baking something in the kitchen, cuddled up on the couch watching a TV show or a movie, or taking a nap with each other in bed. Perhaps it had something to do that they were best friends for years before they came a couple, but ever since they started dating, they had begun to act like a married couple.

Sunday mornings were personally Athena's favorite. Her and Ricky always had a sleepover on Saturday nights, either at Athena's house or at Ricky's condo. They would go over and do whatever they wanted. Most of the time, like always, it was baking and watching something, but Athena was in the process of teaching Ricky more things on the piano and Ricky was in the process of teaching Athena the guitar. And at the end, they would always fall asleep in each other's arms, warm and comfy underneath the covers.

Athena woke that particular Sunday morning, this time in Ricky's condo. Her eyes slowly fluttered open, seeing the sunlight peek through his blinds and cast a golden glow on everything.

Her head was laying on Ricky's chest, her arms wrapped around his waist as his were pulling her in loosely, clearly releasing her from the tight grip he had on her before. Athena picked her head up from Ricky's chest and looked at him, smiling softly at the sight. His curls were messy and his lips were slightly parted.

Athena decided to get up, wanting to go find something to make for breakfast. She reached up and pressed a small kiss to the exposed skin on his collarbone, something that he had done to her in basically the same position before they had started dating. Athena watched as he slightly stirred in his sleep before his head rolled over, facing away from her.

She let out a quiet laugh before carefully removing himself from his embrace, trying not to wake him. When she had successfully gotten up, she turned back to check on him. He was still sound asleep. Athena then grabbed her phone from the nightstand and took it with her as she silently left the room.

Athena went into the bathroom and started to brush her teeth. As she did, she checked her notifications. There weren't much — just a couple texts from Violetta talking about something cute EJ had done, Ashlyn gushing in their girls group chat about how she wanted to take them to this café one of the upcoming days, and Artemis, her older sister, sending her pictures of short haircuts because she claimed Athena needed a change.

She looked back in the mirror and stared at her long hair. Maybe she did need a haircut.

Athena shook her head before leaving the bathroom. However, when she walked into the kitchen, the smell of something burning immediately hit her. She stopped in her tracks and watched as Mike Bowen pulled two black pieces of toast out of the toaster.

"Good morning," Athena greeted. "Burnt toast?"

Mike laughed, placing the pieces of toast on a plate. "I'm horrible at cooking. Horrible."

"You can make a mean bowl of cereal, though."

"I don't think that counts, 'Thena."

She shrugged. "I think it does." Athena giggled and reached out, taking the plate of burnt toast from him. "Before you cause the house to burn down, let me make breakfast."

Mike sighed in relief. "What would we ever do without you?"

"Starve, probably." Athena moved to the trash can and threw away the burnt toast. "Go sit. I know how much you love the morning news."

Mike squeezed her shoulder as she stood at the counter, making her give him a quick smile. He then left to the living room where he turned on the TV, the news softly sounding throughout the condo. Athena focused back on breakfast. She put more toast in the toaster and got eggs from the fridge. After cracking them in a bowl, she beat them with a fork and added just a small amount of milk before pouring them into a pan. She grabbed a spatula from the drawer and waited by the pan.

you keep his shirt, he keeps his word.

The only thing that made her look away from the pan was the sound of a door opening. She glanced over her shoulder, only to see a slow-moving figure leave his room and go into the bathroom. Athena grinned slightly to herself, because Ricky looked so cute when he was tired.

Athena started to push the egg around in the pan, watching as it started to scramble. She set down the spatula and took the toast out of the toaster, it being perfectly toasted instead of burnt like before. Athena put more in before picking her spatula back up and moving around the egg some more.

Ricky must've been extra tired and slow this morning, because in the next five minutes, Athena had managed to finish cooking the scrambled eggs and made two more pieces of toast while he still hadn't come out into the kitchen. She set them all out on plates and gave one to Mike, who had already stood up from the couch and went back into the kitchen.

"I'm eating in my room," Mike told her. "You and Ricky can have the couch and the TV out here. Thanks for the breakfast."

She nodded with a soft smile. Athena then turned back to the cabinet as Mike walked off, wanting to get a glass for water. She opened it up and stared up at all of the glasses. However, when she pressed up onto her toes to reach one, her hand was just out of reach. She sighed and strained a little more, but she still wasn't quite there.

Suddenly, a hand reached above her and took the glass with ease, setting it down on the counter. Athena looked up, only to see Ricky standing slightly behind her, hid tired eyes glinting. He then wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her in close to him. Ricky nuzzled his hews into her neck and slightly started to sway back and forth. Athena closed her eyes in content and leaned back into his chest, reaching up to place her hands on his arms.

"I could've gotten it," Athena insisted quietly.

"Mm-hmm," Ricky hummed in response, picking up his head for a moment only to press the gentlest of kisses to her neck, sending shivers up her spine. "Definitely."

"I was getting there before I was rudely interrupted." She opened her eyes. "Do you want some breakfast? I just made some."

"Yes, but I would like something else first."

"What?"

Ricky slightly pulled away from Athena for a moment. He then gently spun her around so that they were facing each other. Ricky stared down at her in adoration, making her heart beat against her chest. He placed his hands on either side of her face as she wrapped hers around his waist, clasping her hands together at his back.

"You didn't give me my morning kiss yet, so I cant fully start the day," Ricky stated.

Athena rolled her eyes, but there was a ghost of a smile on her lips. "Oh my God."

"I'll be waiting."

She shook her head before pressing up onto her toes. At the same time, Ricky pulled her in by her face closer to him. Instantly, they placed their lips on one another's. Athena's tiredness seemed to go away, instantly waking her up. Their kiss seemed to be as golden and bright as the sun outside and as sweet as the morning air. Athena made sure to hold Ricky a little extra tight, because she was sure that if she let go that she would just float away.

Because Ricky always made Athena feel like she was flying.

Finally, after a couple long moments, the couple pulled away from each other. Ricky lowered his hands from her face and removed her arms from around his waist, opting to hold both of her hands instead. He took a step back and started to take in her appearance, everything from her disheveled hair to the way his t-shirt that she had worn to bed was oversized and how the necklace he gave her which she never took off glittered in the morning light.

"You look pretty," Ricky commented.

She laughed. "I'm in my pajamas."

"Exactly. And it's my t-shirt. Absolutely beautiful."

"Shut up."

and for once, you let go of your fears and your ghosts.

Seeing Ricky act so happy and carefree around her made Athena's mind spin a little.

The past year had been especially hard on him. He had started to watch his parents' relationship fall apart at the seams to the point where Lynne Bowen spent most of her time in Chicago than Salt Lake City.

Then, he broke up with Nini Salazar-Roberts because he couldn't say that he loved her. Now, that one wasn't entirely his fault, Athena knew he just didn't say it back because his parents didn't say it to each other anymore. But their breakup had sent him into a spiral, which then led him to auditioning for High School Musical.

After that, he had found out his parents were actually divorcing. On Thanksgiving, when calling his mom, he had been told that his mom had a new boyfriend named Todd. And then Todd had been invited to opening night of High School Musical, which shook Ricky up so much that he had EJ go on as Troy in Act Two instead of him.

Christmas came, and Mike had told Ricky that they were moving out of the house that he had grown up in to move into a condo. He stopped being Athena's neighbor and lived farther away than a trip across the lawn.

Oh, and Athena broke up with Ricky. She liked not to think about it. Athena hated herself for adding onto Ricky's sadness. Although it needed to be done for them, it wasn't exactly the fondest memory. Usually, whenever Ricky would start to pull away from her, she would hold on tighter. However, this time, she let him slip away.

Ricky Bowen wasn't a fan of change. And the amount of change that he had gone through in the past year seemed like a punch to the stomach for Ricky. The poor boy just couldn't catch a break.

He seemed to be doing better, though. Ricky started to smile more like he used to and began to seem like his old self again. Ricky had done that all by himself, and Athena watched from the sidelines proudly.

Athena could still tell, however, that he was sort of struggling in relationships after he watched Mike and Lynne struggle. She was always patient with him, letting him take his time to figure out what he was feeling and how to deal with it in a way that was healthy.

But in the past couple of weeks, Athena started to notice that Ricky wasn't afraid of most things anymore. He declared that he loved her more and more, apparently determined to not make his parents' mistakes.

Athena and Ricky were a forever type of thing, and Ricky wasn't going to let his fears ruin another good thing that he had. Not again.

one step, not much, but it said enough.

The two of them ate their breakfast in silence. None of them really needed to say anything, anyways. It was comfortable, just the two of them sitting at the kitchen table munching on toast. Then they wash the dishes together, Athena at the sink washing them and Ricky standing next to her drying.

Soon enough, Mike came back out from his room saying that he needed a cup of coffee. Athena agreed — even though she started to become slightly more energized from the way Ricky touching her made her feel more alive. The sweet smell of coffee surrounded the entire condo.

That's where Athena and Ricky are found now after breakfast, sitting on the couch in front of the TV with mugs of coffee in their hands. If one were to look in the mugs, they would see that Athena's was a very light shade of tan from all the creamer she put in while Ricky's was darker since he only put in a splash. In a way, it seemed to resemble their personalities — Athena, the sweetest girl, and Ricky, a sweet boy if that person managed to get through the darkness clouding in his head.

Athena sat with her knees tucked into her chest, resting her warm coffee mug on top of them as her hands were wrapped around the mug. Her eyes were on the TV, which was playing an episode of Full House, but she really wasn't paying attention. There was no way she could when Ricky's head rested on her shoulder, his curls slightly tickling the skin of her cheek.

She sipped on her sweet coffee before leaning her head on top of Ricky's, her insides filling with warmth from both the hot liquid and from Ricky being so close to her.

"Hey, Attie?" Ricky began, picking up his head and looking at her, his nose brushing against her cheek.

"Yeah?" she responded.

"Wanna be my girlfriend?"

Athena laughed slightly. "I'm already your girlfriend, baby."

"Yeah, but I've just got to make sure that I'm not dreaming sometimes."

"Dreaming?" she repeated.

"Well, I mean, I'm sitting on the couch on a Sunday morning sipping coffee with my amazing girl," Ricky explained, dropping his head back onto her shoulder. "It doesn't feel real."

"I can assure you that it's very much real. You and I are real."

"I'm glad that it's real."

She smiled at him. "You're sweet."

"As sweet as your coffee?"

"That's debatable."

"I don't get how you even drink that stuff," Ricky continued, sitting up properly and looking down into her coffee mug. "That's not even coffee anymore, that's cream and sugar."

"Well, you're not the one drinking it, are you?" Athena questioned, taking another sip of her coffee. "At least I don't drink basically black coffee."

Ricky's eyes narrowed. "Whatever."

"Uh-huh."

Athena then reached up and placed a hand under his chin, going in to press a quick kiss to his cheek. However, Ricky turned his head at the last second, making her lips press onto his instead. She giggled at him, the taste of coffee both from her and from him lingering.

you kiss on sidewalks, you fight and you talk.

After finishing her coffee, Athena had decided that it was probably time to get ready for the day even though she wanted nothing more than to stay in her pajamas. She had gotten some of her clothes out of the drawer in Ricky's dresser — yes, she had a drawer there — and changed in Ricky's room before letting him back in. Athena had then left to allow him to get changed as well before going back in when he opened the door once more.

She now stood in front of the mirror, sighing slightly at her knotted hair. Athena picked up her hairbrush and started to brush her hair, wincing slightly as all the knots unraveled. Ricky watched as she brushed her hair from his place on his bed. Finally, Athena had unraveled her hair, but it still looked like a mess.

"Oh my God," Athena complained, staring at her hair that went down to her waist. "What am I supposed to do with all of this?"

Ricky tilted his head. "I thought you liked your long hair."

"I did, but lately, it's just felt like a little too much. Artemis thinks I should get a haircut. She keeps sending me ones from Pinterest."

"How big of a haircut?"

Athena took her hair between her fingers. She raised it up until it felt good, which was above by her shoulders. Athena looked at Ricky through the mirror to see his eyes widened.

"Short, I know," she agreed. "But it feels . . . right."

"If it feels right, you should go for it," Ricky told her. He gave her a grin. "You would look so cute."

Athena shook her head and focused back on the mirror. She pulled her long hair to one side and started to braid it, really not having the strength to do anything else. Once she had finished braiding it, she tied the end off with a hair tie and looked at the mirror in satisfaction. At least it was out of her face.

"I brought my laptop," Athena revealed, gesturing to the bag she had brought on the floor. "There's some work I need to get done for tomorrow."

Ricky groaned and stood up. "No."

She gave him a look. "Ricky."

"Can't we just stay in bed all day?" Ricky complained.

"I would love that, but I unfortunately cannot," Athena replied. "I have a paper that's due tomorrow and it's nowhere near finished."

"Forget about your paper."

"Ricky—"

She was cut off by Ricky wrapping his arms around her waist and picking her up. Athena let out a small shriek as her feet left the ground and clutched onto his shoulders so she wouldn't fall. Ricky then merely jumped sideways onto his bed, forcing them to lay down while staring at each other.

"Ricky, I'm trying to be a good student," Athena protested as they laid there.

"And I'm trying to be a good boyfriend," Ricky countered.

"Hey, you are a good boyfriend."

Ricky squinted at her. "It's you that makes me a good boyfriend."

Athena squinted back at him. She then moved her head forwards and kissed his nose quickly. Athena laughed, her heart beating fast at the way his nose scrunched up from it.

"Come on," she encouraged quietly. "The sooner we get done with math, the better."

one night he wakes, strange look on his face.

It took about five more minutes, but Athena had finally managed to get Ricky up to do at least some homework. Athena sat on Ricky's bed, her laptop sitting in front of her as she navigated her way to Google Docs. The Only Exception by Paramore started to play softly in the background.

Athena started to write her essay, the clacking of her keyboard mixing with the scratching from Ricky's pencil. She rested her back against his headboard while he laid on his stomach in front of her.

A knock then sounded at the door. Both of the teenagers looked over as the door opened, revealing Mike. He was holding his car keys in his hand and had a light jacket on.

"Hey, I'm heading out," Mike told them. He then raised his eyebrows, noticing their positions. "You convinced him to do homework?"

Athena grinned. "I'm a miracle worker."

Ricky stared between the two of them in disbelief. "I would've done it on my own."

"No you wouldn't have."

"Athena!"

"Okay, okay," Mike interrupted, laughing slightly at the two's banter. "I'll be back soon. Love you guys."

Athena and Ricky replied saying they loved him too before Mike left, shutting Ricky's door behind him. Athena turned back to her essay, her eyebrows knitting in thought as she wrote down the words on her document. Softly, she started to hum to the tune in the background.

If Ricky was being honest, he intentionally chose to play The Only Exception. Not only was it one of Athena's favorite songs, but to him, he always thought of her when the song played. He had started to believe that love didn't exist after his parents divorced and Nini broke up with him. But Athena, the girl he had been best friends with forever, his Attie, had changed his mind.

"But you are the only exception," Athena quietly sang to herself. "You are the only exception."

"I don't know how you expect me to do homework when you're singing like that," Ricky said.

Athena looked up. Ricky was staring at her, nothing but amazement and adoration written across his face. That look he gave her made her cheeks heat up in a flush and sent butterflies swarming in her stomach.

"Sorry," Athena responded.

He placed his chin into the palm of his hand. "Keep singing. Your voice is angelic."

"This is a way for you to get out of doing your homework, isn't it?"

"Is it working?"

"No," Athena stated. "I think you should know by now that I can resist your charm."

Ricky smirked at her. "So I'm charming?"

"I hate you."

"No you don't."

pauses, then says, you're my best friend.

Athena had finally finished her essay, submitting it before she let out a sigh and closed her laptop. She took it off her lap and placed it to the side, only to see Ricky still laying on his stomach, now reading a book for English class. Athena turned her body upside down and flopped onto her back, her head landing right in front of Ricky's figure.

"You finished?" Ricky questioned.

"And submitted," Athena added. "Thank God."

Ricky put a random piece of paper in his book to use as a bookmark and closed it. He then rolled off of his stomach and sat up straight, patting his lap. Athena instantly got the message and adjusted herself so that her head was laying on Ricky's thighs. Ricky reached down, absentmindedly starting to run the R charm on Athena's necklace back and forth.

Athena knew what was happening all too well. Whenever Ricky was stuck in his thoughts or had to ponder about something, he always managed to touch her in some way. Whether it be rubbing his thumb across her knuckles, or twirling a lock of her hair around her fingers, or tapping his fingers on her thigh, or in this case, playing with the charms on her necklace, he always managed to focus better with it.

"What are you thinking about?" Athena inquired softly.

Ricky looked down at her with a strange look on his face and paused for a moment. "You're my best friend."

Athena basically melted.

"You're my best friend, too," Athena replied. She then thought it over for a second. "Actually, you're in the running up with Violetta. I consider you two on an even playing field."

Ricky scoffed. "Wow."

"Okay, but you get the boyfriend and best friend title, we have to cut Vi some slack."

"No we don't. She can deal with being dethroned."

Athena gave him a disbelieving look. "She will smack you upside the head. She literally punched my arm the other day because I showed her a new song I was writing and then admitted that I didn't know if it was good or not."

Ricky's expression turned curious. "You're writing a new song?"

"Mm-hmm. It's called Paper Mache World. At least that's what the working title is. I've actually been writing it about Violetta and EJ. Ever since watching their relationship grow, I've come up with a pre-chorus and a chorus. I didn't tell her that it was about her, though. Want to hear it?"

"Of course I do."

Athena reached over and grabbed her phone off the bed, smiling softly at the picture of her and Ricky as her lock screen, before navigating to her notes app. "And they said to just sit still, apparently I'm just a girl. Who cares for fancy people who can't even fall in love? I'd rather travel round to find in this goldfish bowl, who cares about the system and everything they stole? 'Cause I'll find you in this paper mache world."

Ricky stared down at her in amazement. "How do you write stuff like this? Please, spare me some talent."

She scoffed. "Dude, you wrote Perfect Harmony. Literally shut up." Athena sat up from Ricky's lap and locked her phone. "It's not finished yet, but when it is, I'll show her the whole thing."

"Are you writing any other songs right now?" Ricky questioned.

Athena's eyes narrowed. "Are you trying to ask me if I'm writing any more songs about you?"

"Maybe."

She shrugged. "That's for me to know and for you to find out."

and you knew what it was, he is in love.

"I'm never going to find out, am I?" Ricky voiced.

"Now, I never said that," Athena protested. "You could find out, but the time has to be write."

"Can you at least tell me, like, a title?"

"Ricky."

"You're killing me here, Attie."

Athena sighed. "Fine." She paused for a moment. "Feels Like."

Ricky raised his eyebrows. "Feels Like?"

"Yep, and a title's all you're getting."

He let out a grown. "Athena."

"No, it's not finished yet."

Ricky then gave her his puppy-dog eyes. It always pulled at her heartstrings and made her weak to her knees. She stared at him, and she was sure she was looking at him in a way that could only be described by one word. Her heart raced against her chest and her stomach fluttered, like it always did around him.

And then Ricky leaned forwards and kissed her. Athena could feel her mind start to spin, but she reminded herself that this was only Ricky's way of trying to get her to crumble.

"How about now?" Ricky mumbled around her lips.

Yep, there it was.

Athena pulled away first. "No."

Ricky rolled his eyes playfully before wrapping his arms all the way around her and practically jumping on top of her, sending them flying backwards onto the bed. Athena landed on the bed with a grunt, feeling Ricky's weight on top of her.

"Oh my God, Ricky get off!" Athena exclaimed, but she was also laughing at the same time.

"Okay, okay, fine," Ricky responded.

However, he didn't just roll off of her like she expected him to. He only tightened his grip around her and rolled them both over. Ricky was now laying on his back while Athena was practically laying on top of him.

"What a Sunday morning, huh?" Athena began, her voice quiet.

"Just riveting," Ricky commented, making her giggle. "But anything's better with you."

Athena practically felt her heart explode at that. She then lowered her head, attaching their lips together again. Who could blame her for doing this, when he just said something like that?

After a couple long moments, Athena lifted her head back up, and her and Ricky stared at each other.

"I love you," Ricky told her softly, his eyes trailing across her face.

Athena smiled at him. "To the moon and to Saturn."

And they meant it. They were two stupid teenagers in love. Maybe it was dumb to say that since they were only sixteen, but they both knew that's what it was. Athena Blake and Ricky Bowen were helplessly in love, and neither of them would trade it for the world.

═ • ° • ✧ • ° • ═

HIIIIIIIII

so yk I was listening to you are in love by taylor swift as one does (which is so their song btw) and I got a SPARK OF INSPIRATION to make them be so domestic that it hurts

in honor of about one month until our babies aka MY CHILDREN ricky and athena come back to us, I decided to write this cute little one shot to GET THE HYPE BACK UP

and it may or may not have to do with the fact that I miss them terribly and I'm having withdrawals <3

anyways, I hope this one shot can hold us over until next month when book three comes out :)