italics — rues narration

when fez came to talk to athena that same night, he managed to catch her at just the right time. she was just getting back from the mall, one of the only times she actually left the house that week.

fez pulled up right when she was walking up the block with her bags, and she practically ran to get into the house before he could catch her. but, it didn't work out exactly how she wanted.

athena's eyes widened as she saw the familiar beat up blue car parked right in front of her house, her hands gripping the two clothing bags she was holding tightly. she gulped down the huge lump in her throat, her eyes shifting between her house and his car.

she prayed that he didn't see her as she rushed to get to her front door, which she did manage to get to in time, but fez was already getting out of his car and walking towards her. she put her bags down for a moment to get her keys out of her pocket, but by the time she got them out, fez had walked up right behind her.

he grabbed both of her bags off the ground, the girl turning around quickly.

"hey!" she complained, reaching for her bags but fez moved back. "nah, you're not getting them until you talk to me." he turned around and began walking to his car, but not without athena trying her best to pry her bags away from his hands that weren't giving up. "you can try, but you ain't getting them."

athena walked right behind him as he opened his backseat door and threw the bags in, athena protesting behind him. "stop! those are expensive and your car is dirty!" he scoffed in response before closing the door and locking his car. he stood against his car with raised brows, "you gonna talk?" he asked, bending down to her level.

"we don't have anything to talk about." she lied. he nodded, "yeah? so why are you ignoring me?" he asked. "i'm not." she lied again. "i've been texting you and calling you for four days and you didn't reply once, you wanna lie again?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "i'm not lying! now can you give me my bags so i can go into my home?" she begged. "no."

"fez." she spoke sternly, copying his mannerism as she crossed her arms over her chest. "we can do this all night." he challenged. athena frowned, "fine! god, you're so pushy." she said, putting her hands up in defeat.

"what's up?" he asked. she shrugged, "i don't know," her voice trailed off. "is it because i kissed you?" he asked. she shrugged again, "i don't know." he shook his head, "you gotta talk to me. i can make this better, just explain it to me." he urged.

she twisted her lips to the side as she struggled to find the words to say to him, "i wasn't ignoring you because you kissed me." she started. he nodded, "i don't know why i was ignoring you, actually. i don't know. sorry i keep saying i don't know, but i don't know. i guess i'm just so used to be treating badly," she shrugged.

"you think i'm gonna treat you bad?" he asked, an offended tone in his voice that made athena retract her words quickly. "no! that's not what i meant," she said. "i meant like, that's what i'm used to." she tried her best to explain, thinking that fez didn't get what she was saying.

despite her beliefs, he was understanding fairly well. "look, i don't know what your lil shitty ass boyfriends did to you. i know you didn't deserve it. but i'm not like that, you know that." he motioned with his hands as he spoke, which made athena smile. "i know, fez." she nodded.

"i mean, i like you bruh. and i haven't liked someone in a long ass time." he admitted. "i like you too. no doubt that i like you." she reassured him. "i don't want you to be scared to be with me either. if you need time to trust me like that, i'll give you time. i'll wait for you as long as you need me to, i'm not going anywhere."

"if you want to be with me." he added. "i do want to be with you," she confirmed. fez held back a big cheeky smile, though it wanted to shine through so bad. "you just let me know when you're ready." he said. she nodded as fez stood up straight from leaning against his car and pulled athena into a big hug.

she smiled as his hand gently petted her hair mindlessly, "i missed you." she said, her words muffled by his chest. he chuckled, his laugh vibrating against his chest and making athena giggle, "i missed you too."

he pulled away from the hug shortly after, his hand fumbling with his keys, the sound of his car unlocking made athena smile. "get your bags and go home." he unlocked his car with his keys and opened the back door, holding it open for athena to grab her bags out of it.