la casa di Salvatore | 02 | c. forbes

[ 19 ]

Chapter Nineteen
July 22nd &
July 24th, 2009
07/22/09 + 07/24/09

Caroline and Athena were walking along a trail silently. It was nice and comfortable. It was a wonderful day out, not too hot and not too cold. Caroline had asked Athena if she wanted to go for a walk after bumping into her at the grocery store.

"I can hear you thinking," Athena murmured, bumping her shoulder into Caroline's gently as she looked over at the blonde, "everything alright?"

The blonde huffed a bit, reaching for Athena's hand. The redhead gladly let Caroline interlock their fingers and swing their arms between them.

"I know I said that... I wasn't ready," Caroline swallowed as she glanced up at Athena who was staring at her curiously. "And I think... I think you should know why."

"Oh, honey, I don't need to know. I promise. If you want to, then that's fine, but I want you to know it isn't needed," Athena quickly assured, moving her arm over Caroline's shoulders, their fingers still intertwined and tucking the blonde into her side.

Caroline sighed, relaxing into the woman. "I know, but I want to tell you. I haven't really told anyone and if... if we want this to go any further then I need you to know." Athena nodded, kissing the side of her head and gesturing for her to go on. "Okay, so... you know how I was dating Matt, right? Before you got here?"

"Mhm. The blonde kid from The Grill, right?"

Caroline nodded. "Yep, that's the one. Anyway, the whole reason I kind of dated him was because I didn't want to accept that I didn't only like boys. I wanted to prove that I liked boys, that I wasn't—" she sighed, leaning further into Athena's side, "that I wasn't gay. It worked for a while since I still do like boys and everything, but when I got comfortable it was just... I kept noticing other people too. Like very pretty girls or people in general. And it was taking a toll on my mental health.

After a while, I talked with Tyler who had noticed I wasn't sleeping very well and that I seemed sad. He was worried. Really worried. So we talked for a while and I came to the conclusion that I needed to just... be for a little while. Let me figure it out without others interfering. I tried to break up with Matt the next day. He accused me of cheating on him since somebody saw me with Tyler the night before and told him.

I instantly argued that no, I wasn't cheating on him because I wouldn't do that. Also, Tyler and I—we're great friends, but we weren't great partners to each other. Anyway, I told Matt that I needed to find myself and that we should take a break. I didn't know how long it would take, but I knew I didn't want to, like, fully break-up 'cause I did like him. He got all pissy at me. So, I tried to walk away, but he stopped me. He apologized—he didn't mean it—and then tried to have sex with me," she blew out a frustrated breath, her eyes a bit wet as she thought about that night.

Athena had stopped walking some time ago, wanting to give the blonde her full attention.

"It was... he scared me that night. He wouldn't let me go until I threatened to kill him with the knife my mom makes me carry around," she shuddered a bit at the memories of Matt's panicked face as she shakily held the blade inches away from his heart. When he had let her go, she had run like she was being chased by 10 men. "I just... I think that night messed me up more than I believed it did," she shrugged, sighing and stuffing her hands into her pockets. She looked up at Athena, her eyes widening a bit when she noticed the look in the redhead's eyes.

It was a mixture of anger and understanding.

Caroline didn't know if she wanted to know why Athena looked that way.