A Ship in Harbor is Safe

"Alright," the excitement in Sidney's voice is plain as day. "Are you ready?"

With his large hands covering her eyes, Athena nods. She can feel him smiling, and it's contagious. "I don't know, I'm kinda nervous."

"Don't be nervous! Why would you be nervous?"

She shrugs, "surprises make me nervous."

"This is a good surprise," Sidney smiles. "Are you ready?"

Athena smiles, "yeah."

“Are you sure?”

“You better hurry,” Athena smiles, putting her hands over Sidney’s, “before I change my mind.”

He laughs, squeezing her hands and pulling them away from her face.

Athena stands frozen in place, with Sidney behind her, holding her hands.

“What do you think?” He asks after a minute.

Athena attempts to turn around, stopping halfway because of her arms being twisted awkwardly. “Um… what happened to the Range Rover?”

“It’s right there,” Sidney smiles, using both of their right hands to point to the filled parking spot next to the light charcoal colored Mercedes – it matches the Range Rover’s paint job perfectly.

“Um, wow,” she smiles, “it’s nice. It’s really nice… I just always took you for more of an SUV guy, I guess…”

Sidney wraps his arms around Athena’s waist, resting his chin on Athena’s shoulder. “Well, I guess I’m glad I didn’t get this for me, then.”

“Who’d you get it for, then?” Athena rests one of her hands on Sidney’s forearm, the other on one of his hands. When he doesn’t respond, she cranes her neck in an attempt to look at him. “Sidney, why aren’t you answering me?”

A smile grows on Sidney’s face, stopping when it finally reaches his eyes. He turns his hand over in Athena’s, quickly putting the cool metal key ring in her hand and closing her fist around the key.

She quickly begins shaking her head, unable to move her slack jaw. “I… I-I can’t take this, Sid.”

“Yeah, you can,” he smiles.

The petite blonde begins to shake her head again, “I could never pay you back for this, I can’t accept it.”

“You don’t have to pay me back for anything. That’s why it’s called a gift,” Sidney smirks.

Athena bows her head and lets her hair shield her face from Sidney. She attempts to blink her tears away, but the prickling behind her eyes continues until two single water drops stain the concrete between her feet.

“Why are you crying?” Sidney whispers, slowly turning Athena around to face him. He begins to move her hair out of her red face.

She shakes her head, “I’ve never gotten anything this nice before.”

“Do you like it?”

She nods, “I love it.”

“That’s all that matters,” he brushes her hair back, resting his hand on the back of her neck and gently placing his lips on Athena’s warm hairline.

Athena sniffles, looking up at Sidney as he pulls away. “Thank you, Sid.”



Feeling the cool marble beneath her feet, Athena begins to walk faster toward the staircase. With her arms crossed under her chest, she ascends the stairs in the pitch blackness of the apartment.

The dim light of the bedroom shines through the halfway open door.

Right as Athena places her hand on the door, it's pulled open and she quickly takes her hand back.

Sidney smirks, pulling Athena closer to him by her waist and gently pressing his lips against hers.

After a few minutes, Athena pulls away and rests her head on Sidney's bare shoulder. She inhales the smell of Irish Spring, gently rubbing Sidney's hard back, "I still have to figure out how I’m gonna thank you."

Sidney says nothing, but laughs gently.

Athena pulls back slightly, to look up at Sidney's goofy smile. "You think I’m kidding.”

"I don’t expect you to try and pay me back.”

Smiling, Athena shakes her head. "Give me a little credit."

"Just a little?" Sidney smirks.

She nods, feeling a smirk grow on her own lips.

"Alright," Sidney nods.

Athena is caught off guard when Sidney's mouth crashes onto her own, but she responds quickly. She moves her feet slowly, letting Sidney direct her toward the bed.

Effortlessly, Sidney lifts Athena up and sits her on the edge of the bed, making sure their continuously moving lips and tongues never part as they collapse back onto the bed.

Athena tilts her head back as soon as Sidney's lips stray from her own, wandering down her neck. She runs her hand up Sidney's abdomen, as a small moan escapes her lips when Sidney hits a spot at the base of her neck.

Sidney smiles against her soft skin, hovering less than an inch above her smaller frame.

"Don't be so cocky," Athena smirks, quickly grabbing Sidney's face before he can even move to go back to her neck.

Wordlessly, Sidney licks his lips and smirks. "You haven't seen anything yet."

Athena's eyebrows go up as she slowly lets one of her hands slide down onto Sidney's chest. Using all of the strength her right arm and leg can muster, she pushes Sidney off of her and onto his back next to her.

Sidney opens his mouth to protest, stopping when Athena straddles his lower abdomen. A smirk takes over his lips and his eyebrows rise.

"Don't act like," Athena puts her hands on each side of Sidney's shoulders, slowly leaning down and hovering a few inches above his face, allowing her hair to create a curtain of sorts around their faces, "you've accomplished something because you got one little noise out of me, Sid."

"You didn't even let me start."

She smirks.

"And, it wouldn't be the first time."

Athena blushes, leaning down and letting her lips collide with Sidney's, as his hands begin to wander.

With one of his hands on her ass, and the other on the back of her hair, Sidney easily turns them over again.

Athena immediately releases another, louder, moan when Sidney finds her neck again. Tilting her head and closing her eyes, she swallows heavily and smirks.

Sidney picks the petite woman up by her hips, moving her further onto the bed. He climbs on top of her again, roughly pressing his lips against her own. He slowly lets his fingertips slide under the hem of Athena's tank top, slowly pushing it to the top of her hip bones.

"You're teasing me," Athena pulls away, shaking her head at Sidney.

He smirks, "you don't like being teased?"

"Does anybody?"

Without a word, Sidney kisses Athena again. He blindly moves his hand down her body, before resting it on her cotton shorts.

Athena's fingertips dig into Sidney's shoulder and back before she can stop them, feeling his finger move up and down the inseam of her shorts. She pulls away, this time breathing heavily, "not helping."

"What will help?"

She shakes her head, narrowing her eyes at him. She can't grin back, so she shakes her head.

With a smirk on his face, Sidney shakes his head. "You're sure you wanna do this?"

"Yeah," she nods. "I'm sure."