Walking Under Stars (Gabe)

The trip with the cab had made Athena drowsy but she was determinate not to fall asleep, instead she spent the entire ride looking outside her window and occasionally looking at Gabe's reflection wondering why the male had such an effect on her. She had found other guys pleasant before him but she was never too attached to them and she always got over them after a week or two but Gabe case was a complicated one. She knew had met him a long time ago but never bother getting to know him, but now that she had given him a chance to get close to her Athena realized she was unable to push him, like a spider trapped in her own spiderweb she stood a bystander as the wall she had building between herself and the others was breaking into pieces. "Perhaps we should walk for the rest of the way." She finally suggested, even though emotions of affection could cloud her judgement in the future it would be far worse to deny them. "It's a very beautiful evening. It would be a pity not to enjoy it." She added waiting for Gabe's reply.

Gabe was enjoying his time with Athena, kind of happy that she minded having him along. He wasn't sure at first, but she looked rather peaceful taking her nap. Though, when she wanted to pull over and go for a walk for the rest of the way, Gabe nodded and paid the taxi. "Sounds like a wonderful idea, maybe we might be able to see some stars out tonight?" Gabe would say as he got out of the taxi and then opened the taxi door on her side, being a gentleman atleast. After that Gabe would then offer his hand. "Shall we then?" Gabe would say with a smile, obviously happy for the moment. "I don't think ive done this alot, so i'm pretty excited to say the least.

"Endymion's nights are beautiful. I haven't really noticed that until recently. It might sound strange but ever since I became a cadet my world view has changed." Athena confessed, she knew that most of the information regarding her training and work as cadet were classified but no law could prevent her from giving away harmless hints, especially to a person as trustworthy as Gabe. "There was also something I've been meaning to ask you for some time but it would be... unseemly to ask in frond of the driver. We wouldn't want him to hear our personal conversation now, did we?" Normally Athena preferred to have her intention hidden but that trick wouldn't work on Gabe's situation. Athena took a deep breath before she said what ought to have been said long ago.

Changed? How so? Not to sound ignorant, but isn’t the world how we see it right now? With the good and the bad, the good is still something worth treasuring. “  Even so, that was something that Gabe had in mind in terms of his own opinion. Hmm, you had something to ask me?”  Gabe stopped walking and looked to Athena, wondering what it was about? Maybe there was something on her mind that was troubling her, and she needed someone to confide to? Either way, Gabe was all ears and willing to listen if she needed someone right now.

And then it happened. Athena was quite straight forward with asking if Gabe liked her. He had a bit of a surprised look on his face at first. But then he took his glasses off and smiled at her caringly.



“Of course I do. Ever since I met you..“


Though, there was something on his mind. “But I wasn’t too sure how much a source of ….affection… could fit into your life right now. The last thing I want to do is get in your way.

For the first time in forever Athena found herself speechless, Gabe had given her the answer she wished for and yet she wasn't satisfied, though she had to admit a bold deceleration of her intentions was a pleasant change to her usual mysterious demeanor. She made no move to approach him, the distance she had build between them seemed to work fine and even though her recently realized emotions threatened to break her walls the girl was determinate to put one last stance before giving in.

"Why would someone like you like someone like me?" She finally said, slightly louder than she wished. "Surely by now you must have realized that I'm not exactly an angel."

A model, a cadet, a strong leader, i could say the same for you. How can such a great person like yourself with such high-end achievement find your way to a man like myself? But where we are, right? There is nobody in this current world that's completely pure, we all have our past. I for one started gambling at an early age, imagine how that went? We did wrong thing, terrible things for other, but why is that something we have to identify with when it's paired with the willingness to change and move forward? " Gabe would then look up to her. "I don't care about that, status doesn't matter to me. There's no sort of.....real reason be attracted to someone....or want to try to have something more with someone. i think its an unexplainable process that just happens, and since it feels right in your heart, you're less likely to regret. For example..." Gabe them moved up a little closer to Athena. "Athena, i just so happened to fall for you. When talk to you, i always end up smiling at the sound of your voice. Your iris tends to glisten whenever we make eye contact, and its always a warming sensation throughout my body whenever i hold your hand ...so.."

Gabe then pulled out the two of hearts." Is this the neutral feeling of two hearts, or the unreasonable feelings of one? either way, i don't regret telling you that.

Athena reached out in order to touch the card Gabe had pulled. She couldn't remember the last time she felt so confused about her own feelings, she wanted to kiss him but at the same time run away, that sensation served as a reminder of the reason she had decided not to get too close to anyone. Affection was a chain holding a person down from achieving their true potential and yet people where unable to avoid that deadly trap. "Oh Gabe..." She said as she moved her hand away from his card pulling towards his face only to caress his right cheek gently. "I truly like you... but don't you see it? I have all this power and authority by being a cadet yet I desire more. I know myself better than you, my ambitions will know no limits and I'm afraid that you will eventually hate me for that, this very thought is what I fear the most, I dont' want you to hate me but if you get close to me you will." Athena pulled her hand away from his face and lowered her head. "Even the reason I started hanging out with you is awful, why can't you see that I'm rotten inside like everyone else?" The last sentence came out way louder than she intended, she was losing control of her emotions for the first time in years.

Gabe could feel the warmth of her hand on his face as he frowned. He didnt necessarily understand where she was coming from in that regard. For gabe, he was pretty much content with the way things were. He didnt have any sort of strong status, but the money was good, and he felt as if he made a good set of friends over the last few days. Life was ok, right? "Wait..." Gabe grabbed her hand gently as she tried to move it away from his face. "I don't understand, you want more for yourself, and you dont feel satisfied with the way things are, even if they are going well for you.  It's called being ambitious, an overachiever, but why do you think i would hate you for that? "

Gabe was a little silent for a moment as well. " You know, we lived near each other for a while and we had our first conversation on the way to the academy. You asked for my help in terms of the election, and i helped you. You might say, i outlived my usefulness after being elected, but you was still hanging around me even after that. '' Gabe smiled once more. " We all have a past to us,  theres a quirk, a quality, something that makes us different and unique. That doesn't make you an evil person Athena, that just makes you a person....like everyone else. And if everyone else is being held to the same standard,  then i am making the choice if wanting to get to know you more, and being more involved in your world, and i'll make that judgment for myself, and at the same time, you can also confirm your feelings.

Athena lowered her gaze, a gesture that could only mean she was defeated. The girl wondered how could defeat taste so sweet, she didn't like to lose and especially not battles of will but for everything she came up with Gabe had an answer for everything, though Athena knew from the start she would be willing to give in to him if he chose to push the matter further. "Just don't say I didn't warn you." She finally said after raising her head, his face appeared even prettier under the starry sky, Athena knew this wasn't going to end well but at that moment she didn't care, Gabe was a mistake she was more than willing to make. "This is so weird.... this is not my first confession though I have to admit being the one who makes the first step is a new experience but those feelings. They're much nicer than I expected." Athena managed to maintain her composure and not give in the need to giggle out of nervousness. "We should take things slow. I've always been rushing my relationships but I don't want to do that with you as well so if it's alright with you would you like to start dating? Officially I mean." Even though she attempted to be formal the girl couldn't stop rubbing her legs together while making nervous gestures with her hands.

"Yes, you was quite loud and clear  of how dangerous you are. But that's kind of why it makes it exciting too, right? " Gabe would say a little playfully. "Oh, so you don't experience those feelings often? I would have thought it would have happened at least once with everyone after your heart. but i guess there is a first time for everything, right?" Gabe could tell that she was feeling a little nervous  about this, as well as uncomfortable. "Dont worry, you can trust me. We can take it slow, and never would you be in any situation of doing something you don't want to do. " Gabe then gave her a small kiss on the forehead. " See? That didn't feel like the end of the world, right?  Allow yourself to have a normal side of life, all to yourself.

Athena grinned as she felt Gabe's lips on her skin, it was an innocent yet erotic gesture, nevertheless it was fitting and even though she would have preferred a kiss there was nothing wrong with a traditional and slightly conservative romance. "I guess it's not wise to fight my emotions." She said as she gazed at his eyes. "I can't promise you anything but you can be certain I will try my best to make this relationship work. Opening up to someone will be difficult it's been so long since the last time I did that so you better be patient with me."

The time was running late and Athena realized her parents would get worried if she didn't return home soon. "Well since we agreed to try this out how about we start by taking me home?" She offered her arm at him "You can keep telling me how beautiful I am till we reach home."

"Well, i think that the thing involving emotions is that we have to go through them and experience them, for us to truly understand them. " Gabe then took her hand gently and led the way back to their neighboring area. " Promises are hard to keep, due to circumstances. Were both adults, i understand that, but i never jump into anything without giving it my all. Just thought you should know that..."

Gabe smiled when she insisted that he took her home. "Of course, why would i keep you waiting, but i wouldn't bore you with things you already know. You know that you are beautiful, you know i think you are. How about what you didn't know, like my intention to take you to see that new movie tomorrow?