holmes ➢ sequel to athena

Chapter Five

Midnight Rooftop Talks: a Series

The stars above twinkled lightly despite being in the middle of the city. The full moon shined down on her face and hair, revealing a bit of a distressed look. Athena was sitting on the roof, which was accessible through the fire escape next to the window by her bed. She was alone at the moment, holding a bottle of whiskey. And it felt like her entire soul was falling apart.

God, she didn't even know what was wrong anymore, but it felt like her insides were eating her alive. Sherlock wasn't dead, John let her stay when she wanted, Riley was still Riley. But everything seemed so lackluster, and she hated that.

An airplane blinked above her, and she thought about what would happen if she were on it. Would a new scenery change this?

Probably not. London always had this uncanny way of exciting her, but since Sherlock came back, it's just been too noisy, too busy, too full. And somehow, boring. No, not boring. It was like all the color of the city had dulled.

"Hey, what're you doing up here?" It was Sherlock.

Unlike what any rational teenager would do, she took a sip of the whisky and sighed. "Existing." After a moment of silence, she said, "Did you take the fire escape up here?"

Instead of answering, he sat beside her and took the whisky bottle away. "You're going to be a raging alcoholic at this rate."

"So be it."

"That's almost all the letters used to spell 'sober.'" He closed the cap and put it in his coat pocket. "You should be asleep, it's past midnight."

"You should too. You're not on a case." She closer her eyes and leaned back.

"Touché."

∞

The next night...

Athena was on the roof again. Riley fell asleep on her bed an hour ago, leaving her to sit awake and think obsessively about the universe and how it hates success. Her immediate reaction was to grab some alcohol and climb to the roof.

It had only been ten or so minutes before she heard clambering below her on the fire escape. Riley emerged and walked toward her. "I reached out for you but you weren't there. I figured this is where you'd be."

She took a swig of whiskey and frowned, wrinkles creasing around her mouth. "Yeah..."

He sat beside her. "You look upset."

She nodded, and muttered sarcastically, "You've been working on your deductions."

He didn't let the comment get to him, but merely wrapped his arms around her, letting her body fit into his like a puzzle piece. "What's wrong?"

She sighed and lasted her head on his shoulder.

They didn't say anything after that, they just sat and looked at the navy sky until it began to grow purple and pink and orange due to the sunrise.

"It's Saturday, we should go to sleep," he whispered into her ear. He was greeted by the soft sounds of her slow breathing. He smiled and picked her up. "You beat me to it."

∞

Athena looked around her room silently, patting Riley's head affectionately as she jumped out her window and onto the fire escape. She cringed at the metal made a loud clattering sound below her feet. God, that would even wake Sherlock.

"Come back to bed, babe," Riley said as she began to climb the stairs.

"I can't sleep," she called over her shoulder. Before they knew it, they were both seated on the roof, this time alcohol-free.

"I just don't understand, I know I should feel fine. Nothing is immediately wrong, but I feel so empty and isolated and broken." She took a deep breath and looked at her lap.

"You'll get through this, baby girl."

She leaned on him and sighed. "It makes no sense."

"Life never does. You'll figure it out, sweetheart."

She shook her head and blinked back some tears. "I wish I didn't have to." She was falling apart at the seams.

Riley pet her hair, and held her closer. "It's okay. Everything is okay. I'm right here, and I will help you through it."

What did she ever do before Riley?

She never thought she would have to question what would happen after.

--
So in this edit, she has depression, and she did not get rejected from Oxford.