A Ship in Harbor is Safe

Athena’s gaze stops on Jordan’s face when she hears her bedroom door creak open.

Jordan’s tight jawline, and the iciness of his eyes, make Athena sink into the wall a little further.

She watches his expression falter for a split second when Sidney’s footsteps make the hardwood floors creak, which stops when he halts less than a foot outside of the door.

Athena feels her knees shakes slightly. She allows herself to glance back and forth between the two men, who are staring at each other.

It is painfully obvious how caught off guard Jordan is, the way his face contorts as he shakes his head. He is unwillingly putting his feelings on display for both Athena and Sidney, without saying a word.

The dark-haired man stands with much more confidence – his bare chest is slightly puffed out and his shoulders are squared off. His jaw is tight and his eyes, uncharacteristically, are just as hard as Jordan’s. His hair is still wet, but the curls aren’t falling into his face.

“What the fuck?” Jordan says slowly under his breath, slowly looking toward Athena, “you’re kidding.”

Swallowing what little spit is remaining in her nearly dried up mouth, Athena doesn’t move. She just stares at Jordan, feeing tightness develop rather rapidly in her chest.

“Please tell me this is some kind of sick joke,” Jordan doesn’t look away from the petite blonde woman.

Sidney shakes his head, “it’s not.”

Jordan slowly looks away from Athena, narrowing his eyes at Sidney.

“Jordan,” Athena whispers, “just stop, okay?”

Looking away from Sidney, Jordan looks back at Athena. “Fine, you want me to stop?”

She says nothing, just letting her jaw slack as his voice grows louder.

“I’ll fuckin’ stop, if that’s what you want. Just don’t expect me to start giving a damn again when you get pushed to the back burner.”

Sidney moves in front of Athena quickly, blocking Jordan from advancing any further. “Back off.”

Jordan shakes his head, slowly backing up. A dry laugh escapes from Jordan’s throat, “whatever.”

Athena watches Jordan turn around and walk down the hallway. Every noise he makes, in the process of exiting the house, seems to echo in the silence. Biting her lip after hearing the front door slam shut, Athena looks up from her feet, to see Sidney quietly retreat back to her bedroom.



“What’s wrong?” Marc collapses onto the couch next to his brother, with a beer and a plate of food.

Jordan doesn’t look away from the windows, staring out at the calm lake. “What’s not wrong right now?”

“Whoa,” Marc nearly drops his sandwich back onto the plate, noisily crushing a few potato chips in the process of saving his entrée. “You’re not supposed to answer like that.”

The younger brother shrugs, “how am I supposed to answer?”

“You’re supposed to say you’re fine and then change the subject.”

Jordan shakes his head, “I’m not fine and I… I can’t think of anything else right now, anyway.”

Marc looks slightly uncomfortable as he shifts with his plate in his lap, taking a long pull of his beer. The older brother lets out a deep, loud sigh, before speaking quietly, “what’s wrong?”

“I took Jared’s advice, went and talked to Athena.”

Marc nods slowly, attempting to slip a potato chip into his mouth without Jordan noticing. “How’d that go?”

“She…” Jordan shakes his head, sinking further into the couch, now staring up at the ceiling. “She didn’t even wanna talk to me. I guess she cried about it before she even let me into the house.”

“What’d she say?”

“She kept saying I was pushing her away, but she’s the one pushing. She just… she won’t hear me out.”

Marc nods slowly, again. “And you’re extremely upset about this because?”

Jordan slowly turns his head, glaring at his brother.

“Is this about that little crush you’ve got?”

“This has nothing to do with that,” Jordan growls, crossing his arms.

Marc smirks, devouring another potato chip. “So what’s got you so upset?”

“She’s got a friend over.”

The older Staal sets his next potato victim down on his plate. “Why’d you say friend like that?”

“There’s no way they’re just friends,” Jordan shakes his head, staring at the ceiling. Under his biceps, he clenches and unclenches his fists. “No possible way.”

Marc cannot dispose of his plate and bottle onto the coffee table quickly enough. “What the fuck are we talking about here, Jordan?”

“Don’t you mean who?”

“Whatever. Just tell me.”

Jordan laughs dryly, shaking his head. “You wouldn’t believe me. Hell, if I didn’t see him with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it either…”

“Jordan.” Marc adjusts himself again, this time to look at his brother.

The blonde takes a deep breath, saying the name under his breath. “Sidney.”

“What?”

“You heard me,” Jordan’s jaw is tight again.

Marc laughs, falling back into the couch. “No fucking way.”

“Would I lie about this?”

The older brother shakes his head, “maybe you’re just reading into it too much.”

“No,” Jordan shakes his head, “I’m not.”

After a few moments of silence, Marc shakes his head. “I don’t know how to say this without hurting your feelings, Jordan… but, you can’t start getting jealous over this now. You can’t get jealous over it at all, really.”

Jordan glares at his brother again.

“You have Heather, remember? And it’s not like you ever planned to leave Heather for Athena.”

Rolling his eyes, Jordan sits up slightly. “And how do you know that?”

Marc chokes on the beer he just halfway swallowed. “What?!”

The blonde says nothing, looking back toward the window-view of the lake.

“I can’t believe you just said that,” Marc says quietly, shaking his head.

Jordan shrugs, “forget I even said it. That ship seems to have sailed.”

Marc scoffs leaning forward to grab his food and beer, “calm down, bro… it’s not like they’re gonna be together forever.”



Gently kicking off the wooden deck with her dangling right foot, Athena gets the porch swing to move slowly again. She keeps her forehead pressed against her left knee, not even opening her eyes when she hears the back door slide closed.

Sidney doesn’t say a word as he takes a seat on the other side of the porch swing. After staring out at the wooded backyard, he lets his gaze move over to Athena. He gently rests his hand on her back, but she remains silent and motionless. “You’re not talking to me now?”

“I don’t know what to say,” she whispers, not moving.

He clears his throat, gently moving his thumb against her cotton top. “You alright?”

She nods, “yeah.”

“Look at me,” Sidney whispers, continuing to rub her back.

Slowly, Athena pulls her head up, opens her eyes and looks over at Sidney.

“Are you okay?”

Athena nods, “yeah.”

Sidney lets her move under his arm, and he continues to watch for what feels like at least five minutes, as the petite blonde moves around in an attempt to get comfortable before resting her head on his shoulder. He smiles, “you comfy now?”

Smiling, Athena nods and slowly looking back up at Sidney.

“You sure?”

She nods, “yeah.”

He barely lets the single word leave her mouth.

Athena feels her body freeze up as Sidney’s lips press against her own. After a second, which seems almost too prolonged, she lets her eyelids fall. As her lips continue to slowly move against Sidney’s, she keeps her left hand on his arm and her right hand on his, which is on her leg.

Sidney smiles when Athena removes her lips from his, quickly opening his eyes to see hers still closed.

She doesn’t even open her eyes, slowly moving to rest her forehead back on Sidney’s shoulder, hiding the small smirk lingering on her tingling lips.