A Ship in Harbor is Safe

“When was the last time you talked to Athena?” Jordan attempts to remain casual, looking up from his cell phone to stare at his brother.

Blinking, Jared shrugs. “It’s been a while.”

“How long is a while?”

“Maybe about a week, or so?” Jared shrugs again, focusing on his bowl of cereal.

Jordan leans forward, “can you give her call, see what she’s up to?”

“Why don’t you?” The youngest Staal’s mouth is full of half-chewed Frosted Mini Wheats.

The blonde throws his hands up slightly, “she’s not gonna answer my call.”

“You two are fighting, why do you want an update on her so bad?” Jared stirs his cereal to coat it with milk.

“Can you just do it?”

Shaking his head, Jared looks up at his brother again. “She knows I’m reporting to you, Jordan. It’s not some secret, okay? Just… just talk to her yourself. Like, kiss and make up. Do something.”

“I’ve tried!” Jordan licks his lips, “she won’t talk to me, Jared.”

The youngest brother shakes his head, like he’s been slapped, “no, you screaming at her was not trying. That’s probably part of the reason she won’t talk to you. Maybe if you tried actually talking to her, like a civil person, she’d talk to you.”

“What am I supposed to do, if she won’t answer my calls? Just show up at her house?”

Jared quickly gets up from the table, only halfway done with his breakfast. “I don’t know, Jordan. Figure it out.”

Slack jawed, Jordan watches his younger brother leave the kitchen with his bowl of cereal in hand. “Where are you going!?”

“Away from you and your drama!” Jared hollers back.



Silently walking into her bedroom, Athena cannot help but smile to herself as she approaches the bed.

On the side of the bed closest to the door, Sidney is asleep on his back. Light snores are coming from him and his curly hair, untamed by any kind of product, litters on his forehead.

Athena slowly climbs onto the small space of the bed, on Sidney’s side, that he is not occupying. Hesitating slightly, she reaches up to brush the curly locks away from his face.

Sidney slowly cracks his eyes open, smiling at Athena.

“Morning, sleepy head.” Athena whispers as she brushes the last piece of hair off of his forehead.

“Morning,” Sidney rasps the single word out.

Athena bites her lip, “you must be really tired.”

“I ate and drank too much last night.”

She giggles, “well, if you’re interested, I made you breakfast.”

He smiles, opening his eyes again.

“Hurry and get up,” Athena playfully slaps his chest as she gets up off of the bed, “before it gets cold.”

Sidney slowly pulls himself up in the bed, moving his legs off of the bed.

Athena rocks back and forth on her feet, with a smirk on her face.

Yawning, Sidney rubs his flannel pajama pant covered thighs. “What?”

“Behind you,” she smirks.

Looking over his shoulder, Sidney chuckles at the sight of Tyson sprawled out where Athena once slept.

“C’mon!” Athena urges as she turns around and begins to exit the room. “Before the food gets cold.”



Athena stops moving her glass of orange juice closer to her face when a loud knock erupts from the front door, causing Tyson to run from the living room into the foyer, barking loudly. An audible sigh escapes her lips, as she closes her eyes.

Slowly, Sidney stops eating and looks at Athena.

She takes a large sip of her orange juice, setting the glass down. “I should probably go see who that is.”

“I can go get it, if you want.”

With a smile, Athena shakes her head. She rubs Sidney’s upper arm gently as she walks by him, “just keep eating.”

Tyson continues barking at the door, barely showing his freakishly white teeth.

“Get back, Ty,” Athena grumbles, moving around the Rottweiler. “Move it, doofus.”

The dog continues to grumble, but complies with Athena’s commands.

Unlocking the door, Athena gently rubs her right eye as she turns the door knob and pulls the door open. Her shoulder rests against the threshold as she looks up, feeling all of the air in her lungs drain, right along with all of the color in her face.

“Hey,” Jordan says quietly, licking his lips.

Athena blinks, with wide eyes, not saying a word.

Jordan slowly bows his head, rubbing his face with both of his large hands. “We need to talk, Athena.”

“About what?” She whispers, slowly tightening her jaw.

“Can I just come in, and we can talk? Please?”

Athena resists the urge to look back at toward the entrance of the dining room, instead keeping her eyes on the man holding her screen door open with his large body. “Right now isn’t a good time,” her voice shakes slightly.

Jordan’s eyebrows rise swiftly. “Oh… why not?”

“I have… company.” Athena crosses her arms.

The blonde man’s eyes grow wide. “Oh,” his jaw tightens. “Who?”

Athena shrugs, “I don’t know if that’s any of your business, Jordan.”

He laughs, shaking his head. “Wow.”

“What?” Athena asks, shrugging lightly.

Jordan shakes his head, staring down at his feet. “I just want to come talk this shit out with you. I don’t care who is sleeping over your house, okay?”

She smirks, shaking her head. “Yeah… don’t try to lie to me, Jordan.”

“Listen, if you don’t want to talk to me… just say so.”

Athena rubs her forehead with both of her hands, “it’s not that I don’t want to talk to you, Jordan. I would love to be able to talk to you again, but the last time I talked to you… you threw a fit and you said a lot of things.”

“And I’d like to talk to you about that, but you don’t wanna listen.”

“Yeah, I just don’t wanna get yelled at again.” Athena shrugs as the words pour out of her mouth, “I’m too hung over for that right now.”

Jordan stares down at the petite woman, the only thing blocking him from entering the house. “Athena, look at me.”

Slowly, Athena looks up from the design on Jordan’s shirt, to look him in the eyes. She shrugs, “what?”

“Please.”

Her gaze falls and she attempts to look over her left shoulder, only seeing the heavy, tan door. Hesitating, she looks up to make eye contact with Jordan again. “Just… wait here.”