#probablefox

“Were you even going to talk to me about it?”

Apollo looked up from his suitcase where he was packing and over towards the door. Athena was standing just outside of it, one arm crossed over her body to hold onto the other. She wasn’t looking at him, she couldn’t seem to meet his gaze.

“I was going to, Athena,” he said. “So much has happened since the trial though, there hasn’t been time.”

“Right… I guess you’re right.” She stepped into the room tentatively, unsure if he really wanted her there or not. She swallowed, readying to ask him the one thing she really dreaded knowing. “You’re going to stay here in Khura’in, aren’t you, Apollo?”

He sighed. “I’m still thinking about it.”

Just the fact that he still hadn’t decided to go back with them broke her heart. It meant there was still the chance he was going to stay. She refused to cry though. “I know we were never really official, Apollo. We never really talked about what our relationship was, and we tried to keep it quiet from Mr. Wright and Trucy… but I hope you know I care about you, deeply. And… if it were up to me, you’d be coming back with us.”

“I know,” he said quietly.

“I guess I’ll leave you to your decision then,” she said, turning to leave.

“Wait.” She stopped. She could hear him shuffling, getting up, and his footsteps coming towards her. He reached out to take her hand and pulled her back around to face him. “Will you stay with me tonight?”

“Trucy will wonder where I am…” she said.

Apollo squeezed her hand. “Please?”

She looked up into his face and nodded, her defences crumbling easily under his stare. She had to. It might be the last night she was able to spend with him, and she knew she would regret it if she didn’t. He led her back to his futon and pulled her down with him.

“Athena, I care about you too,” he said, reaching forward to brush part of her bangs away from her eyes. “But with Dhurke gone, I feel like I owe it to him to help rebuild…” He paused, noting the sad look on her face. “But I still haven’t made up my mind.”

She decided not to mention how the discord in his voice became more apparent as he said that, and tried to ignore the devastation she felt. Maybe he would change his mind by morning, but for now all she could do was enjoy being with him one last time.

She flung herself forward into his arms, causing him to fall backwards on the futon, and brought her lips down to his, kissing him hard and deep. He kissed her back, leaving one arm around her waist and bringing the other up to untie the ribbon keeping her hair up to let it fall down around them.

***

The next morning, Athena woke wrapped in Apollo’s arms. She managed to quietly slip away from him without waking him, and went to the door to make her way back to her and Trucy’s shared room before anyone noticed she was gone.

She tiptoed into the hallway and started making her way down it when she heard a yawn from behind her. She whipped around to find Phoenix behind her, making his own way down the hall back towards the room she knew he was staying in. He was still wearing pyjama bottoms and a t-shirt, and looked just as much like a deer caught in the headlights as she probably did.

They stared at each other for a few seconds, but Phoenix was the first to speak. “Were you, um, with Apollo?” She was sure her face turned bright red as soon as the words were out of his mouth. Phoenix continued before she could confirm or deny his suspicions. “I always sort of had a feeling there was something going on with you two. You’re both adults, so it’s fine, but I get why you wouldn’t want to tell me.”

He knew? After all this time he knew, and she was always so worried about him finding out, because relationships between colleagues were never a good thing and she was sure he wouldn’t approve of his only two employees being in a romantic relationship. They’d tried so hard to hide it. Not that it mattered anymore. If Apollo’s heart was anything to go by, he’d already made his decision.

“Y-Yeah, I was,” she admitted. “He’s probably going to stay here, so it was the last time I’d really get to see him.”

Phoenix fell into step beside her as they made their way back to their respective rooms. “Maybe, maybe not. He might decide to come back.”

“I doubt it,” she sighed.

He patted her shoulder sympathetically. “We’ll just have to wait and see.”

She nodded. “Yeah… and Mr. Wright?”

“Hm?”

“Do you mind not telling anyone else that you saw me? We were never really official, so it’d just be weird for people to know now.”

“As long as you don’t tell anyone that you saw me.”