Legions (17 page)

Arie and Cyril had gotten
used to me being useless, and they attempted to get back to some
sort of routine. I imagined they were getting pretty sick of the
situation and pretty sick of me. I wrapped the blanket around my
shoulders trying to dismiss the overwhelming bite in the
air.

“Guys?” I tried my best to
sound cheerful. “Are you around?”

Nothing. In all of my
wallowing, I was embarrassed to admit, I didn’t even know if they
were home. If they left, I’m sure they told me. I obviously didn’t
retain it. I wracked my brain trying to figure out where they might
have gone. Not much came to me. I honestly don’t remember them
telling me anything.

I sluggishly moved to the
back of the house to take a quick look out back in case they were
out there, doubtful being as cold as it was. But maybe being
outside was more hospitable than what I was dumping into the
atmosphere. I quickly scanned the backyard seeing nothing but the
empty bench and overflowing cement birdbath. I tromped back into
the living room, looking outside through the big picture window.
Seeing nothing, I decided to slump down where I was, good a place
as any. I reached for one of the photo albums that I had gone
through a thousand times before in the time that I had been at this
house, our old house. Athen’s house, my house – so strange to think
we lived here by ourselves at some point without Cyril and Arie. I
can’t even imagine not having them as appendages. I couldn’t handle
this alone. Who am I kidding? I can’t handle this regardless of
anyone being around or not around.

I laid down on my stomach
wrapping the blanket over my body a little better as I dived into
the first page of Athen and I hugging each other in a frozen
memory. I’d take any frozen memory over no memory at this point.
The tears began to form in the corner of my eyes. The coldness
began trickling down my cheek. I did my best to flush them away but
they would not vanish. Without understanding what I was doing, my
finger kept tracing his image in the photograph over and over
again. As if touching his lips with my fingertip could lead me to
him. Before I could stop it a tear bounced down onto the image
staring back at me. I quickly grabbed the corner of the blanket to
wipe away the wetness. I wasn’t sure I was brave enough to turn the
page so I closed my eyes, laying my head on my arms. I’m sure Cyril
and Arie would be gone for a bit. I had time to compose myself a
little, possibly.

The vibrations slowly began
to creep up through my body. I sat upright quickly, and the tiny
pulses vanished as quickly as they came. I strained to hear
something, anything! But the streets were deathly silent. I quickly
laid back down on the floor, not sure what I was expecting or
hoping for, and then there it was - again. A rumbling, a trembling
was coming through the floor timbers. I was certain of it. I could
feel him. He was on his way here. How could that be?

I was sprawled on the
floor, letting every extremity feel the vibrations that were
getting stronger and stronger with every second that passed. My ear
pressed to the cold wood floor waiting to hear something more
definite, more real. I wanted more than a hum; although, I was
willing to let that be a sign. I wanted it to be him more than
anything. As the seconds ticked by, the shaking was becoming
impossible not to detect.

I slowly let myself sit up
not wanting to miss a shake or shudder as I saw the lampshade move
slightly. My blood started to pump in the same rhythm as the walls
around me. I was afraid a fire truck was about to drive by,
shattering my hopes. The energy was building all around me. Afraid
for what I might see or, more plainly, not see, I very slowly moved
to the living room window, not knowing what it might have in store
for me. Very gingerly, I began moving aside the silk curtains
hoping for something that wasn’t possible, and then the rumbling
stopped. I was crushed. My imagination had gotten the better of me
again. I whipped the curtains open, fully prepared to see nothing
but glistening leaves from the day’s latest rainfall plastered
against the cement. Instead what I saw left me breathless. I
reached for the windowsill to steady myself. The wait was
over.

Athen was removing his
matte, black helmet as he stood straddling his Ducati. Shaking his
head to get the hair out of his eyes, he began peeling off his
black gloves and jacket carefully. It seemed so natural. Like he
had been here a million times before, doing the exact same thing. I
didn’t know what to do. I had nobody to ask. It was so surreal. Did
they know this was going to happen? Was that why they weren’t here?
Does Athen really know where he’s at? I don’t even know where to
begin. I’ve screwed this up so many times before. I was
paralyzed.

Watching him swing his leg
over the bike so smoothly sparked an excitement like all of the
other times I had seen him, only it felt tangible this time. He
looked so gorgeous. I needed him so badly. I wanted to connect with
him in the worst way. I waited for him to see me in the window, but
he wouldn’t look up. I was staring at him as hard as I could,
hoping I’d somehow get him to look up. He wouldn’t. He turned away
and began opening the box on his bike. I was guessing to put his
helmet and gloves away. The distance between us was almost
unbearable. The chill that I was so accustomed to began to be
replaced with a heat running though my body. I was on fire - if I
could only see his eyes, his smile, anything to connect with him
again. His hand grabbed the top of the box and slammed it
shut.

Athen spun around so
quickly, his eyes finally meeting mine. His lips curled in the half
smirk as our eyes locked, this time for eternity. We would not be
kept apart. As he walked to the sidewalk leading to our home, I saw
that he was carrying a beautiful bouquet of red roses, with a lone
white rose in the middle. My heart began to sing. The wetness from
my tears began puddling at the base of my neck. There was no
holding back.

I ran to the front door,
swinging it open, crushing the flowers as I jumped onto him, not
letting go for anything. I felt his arms wrap around me as the rose
petals began their journey to the floor. His kisses violently
grabbing every part of my skin before moving onto the next while my
tears would not cease. My legs completely wrapped themselves around
his waist, my head buried into his neck. It felt like a
dream.

“My baby’s back.” Were the
only words that left my lips.

“I was never gone. Just a
little lost, my angel.”

Hearing those words made me
slip away into the madness that was our world. The world between us
two, built for only us to share. The worries of before slipping
away with every kiss creating our fortress that no one could
penetrate.

Chapter 20

What do you say we take off
before Arie and Cyril get here?” Athen’s eyes were full of
mischief. He knew their names. He knew me. I had no idea what was
taking place, and I didn’t care. He was here. He was
back.

“Are you
serious?”

“Yeah, I’m serious.” He
picked me up off the couch before I had a chance to say anything.
He already knew my answer. He carried me to the front door and
plopped me down outside, closing the door and locking it behind
us.

“Shall we?” He asked,
winking at me.

The thought of being alone
with him was almost more than I could handle. I really didn’t
understand what was going on but knew that Athen had somehow
figured this thing out on his own or at least parts of it. He
wasn’t scared off. His worlds were colliding, and none of us had
expected this. I wasn’t even sure that this was
possible.

I got on the bike behind
him securing the pink helmet that he had apparently picked out for
me, in complete disbelief. I was the one who was supposed to be
showing him things not the other way around. His eyes didn’t even
have the familiar green glow that I was used to, yet he was
accepting our world – his world. The sound of the bike’s roaring
engine tripped up my thoughts, grabbing his waist tighter as we
took off I soaked up everything that was happening.

He wouldn’t tell me where
we were going, and we had been on the bike for what seemed like an
eternity, mainly because of the rain, but I wouldn’t trade it for
the world. Resting my head on his back to resist the continuous
pelts of rain was stirring up the desire I had for him even more.
The firmness of his muscles, my arms wrapped around his waist, I
felt like I was in the middle of a magical dream.

We started down this long
driveway, and I began to tense up a bit. This could be a trap.
Maybe Lilith did get to him, and he was only following orders. My
body temperature began to rise as I played out all sorts of
scenarios of my impending doom, with the wicked woman hovering over
the entire scene. I was disgusted with this woman continually
entering my thoughts and planting seeds of paranoia and
jealousy.

He pulled into the sparse
garage, and my nerves didn’t lessen any.

“What’s up? Why are you so
tense?” He asked, helping me get my helmet off. His fingers were
gently undoing the straps on my helmet as I was looking up into his
eyes. They may have been missing the beautiful green glow, but they
were not evil. They were as kind as ever. His fingertips gracefully
touched my chin, bringing my lips so close to his. He was
absolutely incredible. His hair was tousled the way I loved. I was
in awe. I grabbed his shoulders, running my fingers down his arm,
trying to find some fault or giveaway this wasn’t really happening.
It was as if I was looking at my old Athen. The kindness was
radiating out from his soul, his eyes searching mine for
acceptance. He was here for me.

We walked up the two tiny
stairs leading into the house, he pushed open the door, only to
have Matilda standing there trying her best to wag her little stub
tail. Tears instantly began streaming down my face. I had missed
her so much.

“Surprise!” He said
faintly, nodding at me to move through the door.

Grabbing Matilda, I spun
around with her up high, hugging and kissing all forty pounds of
her. She recognized me instantly and began panting as soon I put
her back on the ground. Athen grabbed my waist and spun me around
to look at him. Matilda started barking in excitement, but her
warbles became more faint every second that Athen held me. I didn’t
want to let go. It was as if nothing had taken him away, except
that his eyes were still not changed. My head was resting on his
chest, hearing his heartbeat creating a comfort I couldn’t explain.
Feeling the warmth from every breath he exhaled was a gift like no
other. My Athen had returned. I felt foolish for thinking that he
could cause harm. There were so many unanswered questions, but
those all had to wait. Right now, all I cared about was being in
his embrace.

“I love you so much.” He
murmured into my hair, sending chills up my spine.

“I love you too, and I’m so
sorry.” My eyes began filling with tears, knowing how lucky I was
to have him back.

“Don’t cry, my angel.”
Athen scooped me up and began heading towards the back of the
house. There was barely anything in the home. Obviously, he didn’t
make himself too comfortable here. Everything was ultra modern, and
nothing was out of place, not that there was much to be out of
place. My heart began pumping quickly with every step he took, not
knowing his intentions. He carried me through the living room and
down the hallway to the bedrooms with the strength and confidence
that I remembered.

“I knew I’d find my way
back to you,” he whispered into my ear, “You were never far from my
thoughts. I just didn’t know it.”

I ran my fingers through
his hair, pulling myself back from him to be able to take in his
whole being. His spirit couldn’t be missed. It felt like this day
would never come. His kind, caring eyes were a gentle reminder that
this wasn’t a dream. Athen had returned. I didn’t have to wait
decades.

“I love you so much, Athen.
A piece of me died every second waiting for your return. I began to
worry that I’d run out of pieces to give. Every second you were
gone felt like an eternity. Every morning I’d wake up feeling a
weight on my chest knowing you weren’t there to hold me or make me
smile. It felt like breathing was even an effort. I couldn’t bear
the thought of going through the turmoil I felt for decades as you
had done. I don’t know how you did it.” I felt the tears begin to
well up, and my throat begin to constrict. I looked into his eyes
and felt as if I was able to see deep into his soul.

I closed my eyes to take in
a deep breath and regain my composure and before I knew it, I felt
the gentleness of his lips glide against mine. I knew whatever
plans we had for the afternoon would be put on hold. Athen’s
fingertips began running along the length of my arm. It had only
been months since I was last held in his embrace, but his touch
felt so new and exciting. I felt his lips on my neck gracing every
inch as he worked his way down. I began grabbing his shirt as he
made his next move.

“At least, I’m not making
you wait.” I whispered coyly.

His lips immediately
stopped gliding over my skin as he looked up at me. My heart
plummeted down ten stories wondering what I did wrong.

“Unlike you, I wouldn’t
have accepted no as an answer,” He said with his all too familiar
half grin, half smirk, “You did.”