A Ship in Harbor is Safe

Athena takes a deep breath, feeling her pores expand. Unable to move her upper body, she inches her feet toward the edge of the bed, in a poor attempt to remove them from the confines of the heavy blanket.

The quiet hum of Sidney’s light snore is familiar to her ears, only making it seem quieter and more natural.

She attempts to extend her arm out to pull the blanket, unable to reach the end of the blanket to move it. “Jesus, why is it so hot?”

“Mhm,” Sidney mumbles, continuing to snore lightly.

With an exasperated sigh, Athena relaxes her body and closes her eyes. Her hands absentmindedly rest on the forearm weighing down her concaving abdomen. She whispers, opening her eyes to stare up into the darkness, “how are you not burning up right now, Sid?”

Slowly, his light snoring fades and he seems to react to Athena running her fingers across his forearm. “What?”

“Aren’t you burning up?” Athena whispers, tilting her head toward Sidney. She can’t see him in the pitch blackness of the room, but she feels him shake his head.

“It’s not hot.”

She chuckles, “I’m ninety-nine percent sure that I’m sweating right now.”

“Move the blanket then,” Sidney laughs.

Athena smiles, “are you laughing at me?”

“Yes,” he admits, reaching over her and grabbing a handful of blanket, pulling it off of her.

Feeling the cool air of the bedroom on her damp legs, Athena quietly sighs. “I just didn’t want to wake you up, throwing the blanket all over the place.”

“I probably would’ve slept through it, honestly,” Sidney yawns.

Athena grabs his left arm, which hasn’t moved, “now I feel like a piece of shit for waking you up.”

He laughs again, “don’t… just go back to bed.”

After a few minutes, Athena begins to giggle.

“What’s so funny?” Sidney chuckles.

Athena brushes a stray piece of hair out of her own face, turning on her side to face Sidney. She curls her arms up in front of her chest, feeling the weight of Sidney’s arm resting in the dip between her ribcage and hipbone. “I can’t sleep.”

“You didn’t even try,” Sidney whispers.

Athena nods, curling her arms a bit tighter to her chest. She closes her eyes, letting her body relax and begin to invade the dip that Sidney’s body creates on the mattress.

“And you wonder why you got so warm,” Sidney whispers, slightly tightening his arms around Athena’s body.

The young blonde smiles, moving her leg in attempts to adjust her short cotton shorts that won't stop riding up. “It’s not my fault you’re like one of those personal heaters.”

“I am not some source of heat,” Sidney laughs.

“Mhm,” Athena nods.

Sidney continues to talk quietly, “if that were the case, I’d be the one sleeping without a blanket.”

“Shhh,” the young girl looks up toward Sidney’s face, “I’m trying to sleep.”

After a moment, Sidney laughs, “did you just shush me?”

Giggling, Athena presses the side of her face into the front of Sidney's shirt. “Go to sleep, Sid.”



“So,” Sidney awkwardly looks up from his dinner, to look at Athena.

The smile on her face is one of amusement, “Sid, is there something you wanna talk about?”

“What would make you think that?”

Athena smiles as she sets her fork down. Brushing hair over her shoulders, she tilts her head to the side, “you just said ‘so’ four times in a row.”

He shrugs, “that doesn’t mean anything.”

The young girl laughs, “talk to me, Sid.”

Sidney watches the young woman rest her right elbow on the table, tucking her hand under her chin as she stares across the table at him. “I was just thinking,” he clears his throat, “your flight leaves in a couple days.”

She nods, “Friday.”

“And I’m leaving in a few weeks for Pittsburgh. I thought maybe you’d wanna… take a trip?”

Athena tilts her head to the side again, “what are you talking about, Sid?”

“Well, I thought it’d be better than Thunder Bay.”

“Pittsburgh?”

He nods, “yeah.”

“I appreciate that, Sid.”

“That’s a no, isn’t it?” He manages to keep a straight, emotionless face.

Athena shakes her head, leaning forward slightly, “no! I wasn’t saying no. That’s just… that’s a big invitation.”

“So, inviting you for the season would be too much?”

Shaking her head, Athena smiles, “it sounds fun, actually.”

A smile tugs at the ends of Sidney’s mouth, but drops as soon as Athena begins talking again.

“But, I do have to go home and talk to my dad about it.”

Sidney furrows his eyebrows, “is he gonna say no?”

“I don’t think so. But, I still need to go see him. I haven’t talked to him in, what, two weeks, now? And I still need to go get a new phone.” Athena touches the bridge of her nose.

Shrugging, Sidney leans back in his seat, “you could just call him. We can get you a new phone here.”

Athena smirks, “I’m not going to ask my dad if I can go to Pittsburgh over the phone, Sid. And I’m not going there with just two weeks’ worth of clothes.”

Sidney sighs, looking back up at Athena.

She smiles, “that was a good try, though.”

“What if your dad says no?” Sidney asks, looking up from his glass after a moment of silence falls over the dining room.

Athena shrugs, “he won’t.”

“You seem sure about that,” Sidney smiles.

She shrugs, lifting her glass to take a drink, “just be happy you’re not the one having to ask him.”