A Ship in Harbor is Safe

"Just... be yourself." She glances over her shoulder at Sidney, as they both hear Tyson bark at the opening front door.

The door closes and Walt's voice booms over the dog's bark, "Athena, where ya at?"

"Kitchen!"

Sidney stands up straight, leaving his post next to Athena at the kitchen counter. He casually straightens his shirt out, looking up right before Walt walks into the kitchen.

Walt stops suddenly when he sees Sidney. The middle aged man's eyes narrow slightly, as he sizes up the younger, more in shape man. "You must be Sidney."

"Yes, sir." He nods, walking over with an extended hand.

Walt accepts the handshake, "nice to finally meet the kid who's stealing my daughter --"

Athena spins around quickly, still standing in front of the stove, "Dad!"

"What?" Walt looks at his daughter.

She shakes her head, glaring at her father, as he gives Sidney his hand back.

"It was a joke, kiddo. Relax."

Watching her father walk to the fridge and grab two beers, Athena nearly cringes as both men disappear into the living room.



"Is Mel coming to pick you up later?" Athena inquires as she closes the dishwasher.

Walt nods, "yeah, she's gonna be here at eleven or somethin' like that."

Athena cannot stop herself from cringing as her father leaves the kitchen again, two beers in hand. Before dinner, she lost count of the beers that her dad and Sidney had consumed. Pulling her cell phone out of her back pocket, Athena sends Mel a quick text. You can come pick him up anytime...

How drunk is he?

He's coherent... no idea how Sidney's doing, though.

Tell him I'll be there in 15.

Athena slips her phone back into her back pocket and takes a deep breath before venturing across the hallway, into the living room.

The television is on, playing some fishing show. Walt and Sidney each have a couch, and are watching the show with an unhealthy level of concentration.

"Mel's gonna be here in a few minutes, Dad."

He nods, not looking away from the television.

Athena looks between the two men. It'd gotten strangely quiet sometime after dinner while she was doing dishes. It was a dramatic shift from the belligerent cackling and speech that had been. She finds her way out of the room, opting to wait by the front door for Mel.

"Hey," Mel smiles, when Athena lets her into the house, less than ten minutes later.

Athena gives the woman a smile in return. "That didn’t take long.”

"How are they?"

"Really drunk." Athena shakes her head. "They're watching some fishing show."

Mel follows Athena to the living room. "Walt, honey. Are you ready to go?"

Looking away from the television, Walt nods. "Yeah, I'm tired."

Athena watches nervously as Sidney gets up as well, shaking her father's hand again.

"This is my girlfriend, Mel." Walt points to the tall woman.

Sidney smiles, as he shakes the woman's hand. "I'm Sid. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too. I'm gonna get him home now," Mel nods quickly to Athena.

"Text me when you get there," Athena abandons Sidney in the living room to walk Mel and her dad to the door and lock up behind them. Shortly thereafter, she finds her way back to the living room, attempting to get a look at Sidney's eyes, "how drunk are you?"

"I'm not that drunk," he slurs lightly, shrugging his shoulders.

Athena picks up the two empty beer bottles on the coffee table, "you could've just told him no, Sid."

"I'm not gonna," Sidney gets up and follows Athena into the kitchen, "tell him no. He's your dad."

Athena rolls her eyes, "so you're gonna get shitfaced because my father kept bringing you beer?"

Something about Sidney's face changes. His features fall slightly and his pouty lips seem to pout more than usual. "Are you mad at me?"

Athena shakes her head, "no. I'm just... upset with my dad right now."

In silence, Sidney watches Athena continue to move around the kitchen. "Why are you mad at him?"

She shakes her head, "don't worry about it, Sid."

He crosses his arms, "why are you talking to me like that if you're not mad at me?"

Athena throws her hands up in the air. "I'm not mad at you, Sidney... I'm just a little upset right now, okay?"

Sidney watches as she shuts the living room down, and comes back into the kitchen.

Athena grabs Sidney's hand. "C'mon, let's get you to bed."

"Are you going to bed, too?"

"Yes," Athena nods as she shuts the kitchen lights off and begins dragging Sidney through the nearly pitch black house.

"How do you know where we're going?" Sidney chuckles.

Athena shrugs, beginning to climb the stairs, "this is the house I grew up in. I should know it like the back of my hand."

Sidney feels Athena stop him from walking, by placing her hands on his shoulders.

"Okay, now do you think you can get yourself ready for bed?"

Sidney shrugs, rubbing his eyes.

"I can barely see you, Sid. It's dark in here."

He smirks, "you can help."

Athena rolls her eyes, not even bothering to banter back. She puts her hands under his shirt, pulling the soft cotton material up. "Arms up," she stands on her tip toes to get the shirt off of his arms and over his head. "You wanna try getting your own pants off?"

Sidney chuckles, "not really."

Athena tries not to smirk, but fails. "I think you're perfectly capable of doing this yourself."

"You're good at it, though."

She rolls her eyes, feeling the nearly unbearable heat of an intense blush crawl up the back of neck, into her ears and settling in her cheeks. Silently, she unbuttons and unzips Sidney's cargo shorts and listens to them fall to the floor. "Alright."

After sitting down on the edge of the bed, Sidney reaches out and grabs Athena's waist.

"Sidney," Athena speaks quietly. "You need to go to sleep."

He shakes his head, keeping one hand on Athena's lower back and reaching the other up to move her face closer to his own.

"Si--" Athena begins to protest, as she feels Sidney's hand entangle within a large amount of hair on the back of her head. She's cut off, however, by her lips being pressed against his.

Completely in control of the kiss, Sidney leans back onto the bed and pulls Athena down with him. He smirks into the kiss, feeling her body completely press against his.

Athena gives into the kiss, as she moves one of her hands to Sidney's face, before pulling away from him slightly. The smell of the beer makes her dizzy and she shakes her head slightly, "you're drunk, Sid."

"I know," he nods, running one hand down her side, resting it on the back of her knee.

"And you're almost completely naked."

"I'm aware," he chuckles.

She nods, shifting her weight slightly as she hovers over Sidney. "And I'm not completely sure that you know what you're doing right now, to be honest."

"I know what I'm doing," he sounds rather amused.

Athena sighs, shaking her head. "And you're drunk. And I'm sober."

"You think you're taking advantage of me?"

She nods, "just a little."

Sidney laughs, gently rubbing the smooth back of Athena's right thigh, careful not to actually venture under her cotton shorts. "You're not, trust me."

Athena shuts her eyes as she feels Sidney's lips meet hers again. It's no slower than the last kiss, but definitely more gentle.

Sidney smirks against Athena’s mouth when he feels her body relax again, as her hands begin to wander around his chest, shoulders and arms. He moves his hand from her hair, to her back.

Giving completely into him, Athena feels her stomach grow light, with that familiar wavering feeling; Sidney’s hands aren’t all over her or up her clothes, so he’s not completely out of control. This is a first, she brushes the thought aside, letting the weight of Sidney’s hand on her lower back push their bodies flush against one another. But instead of stopping and complaining, she just parts her lips, trying not to smile, completely letting him in.