Athena\u2019s Pow\u00a0<\/p>\n
Leah wanted to ask more questions, I could see it in the way her brow furrowed with concern and her mouth opened slightly like she was about to speak. But something about my tone, the fragile edge in my voice, must have warned her off.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She just nodded and led me back to her car, though she kept stealing worried glances at me as we walked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I could feel her eyes on me, studying my face like she was trying to solve a puzzle. The weight of her concern felt heavy on my shoulders, another burden I wasn\u2019t sure I could carry right now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The drive home was a complete disaster. I was so lost in my own head, so completely shaken by what had just happened, that I kept giving Leah wrong directions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My thoughts were spinning in endless circles \u2013 was it really him? Had Daxon somehow tracked me down? Was I losing my mind, seeing threats where none existed?\u00a0<\/p>\n
I saw him turned, it wasn\u2019t him. I really need to get my shit together, this was becoming embarrassing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We missed the turn to Tristan\u2019s place three times because I told her to go straight when we should have turned left, then right when we should have gone straight. Each mistake made me feel more foolish, more broken, like I couldn\u2019t even handle the simple task of getting home.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe we should try the GPS, Leah suggested gently after the second wrong turn, but I shook my head stubbornly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I know the way. I just\u2026 I\u2019m distracted.\u201d But even as I said it, I realized I was directing her toward streets that didn\u2019t make sense,\u00a0<\/p>\n
roads that led away from where we needed to go.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAthena,\u201d she said finally, pulling over to the side of the road and putting the car in park. \u201cI think you need to tell me what\u2019s really\u00a0<\/p>\n
going on. We\u2019ve been driving in circles for twenty minutes, and you look like you\u2019ve seen a ghost.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I looked around and realized with fresh embarrassment that we were only two blocks from where we\u2019d started. My mind was so\u00a0<\/p>\n
completely scrambled I couldn\u2019t even remember how to get to the place I\u2019d been living for weeks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The familiar streets looked foreign, threatening, like the landscape had shifted while I wasn\u2019t paying attention.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d I said, pressing my palms against my eyes and trying to push back the tears that were threatening to spill over. \u201cI\u2019m just\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
it\u2019s been a really long day. The house is just up there, close to the blue one.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
How could I explain to Leah, that I\u2019d just chased a complete stranger through an alley because I thought he was the man who\u2019d spent\u00a0<\/p>\n
years systematically destroying my sense of self?\u00a0<\/p>\n
How could I tell her that I was so broken, so paranoid, that I saw my abuser\u2019s face in every shadow? That the training hadn\u2019t done\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
18:37 Fri, Jan 2 d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 46\u00a0<\/p>\n
anything to how scared I am of Daxon.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When we finally pulled up in front of Tristan\u2019s place, Leah turned off the engine and looked at me with genuine concern etched across her features.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you want me to come in with you? I really don\u2019t like the idea of leaving you alone when you\u2019re this shaken up. Marcus won\u2019t mind if I\u2019m a little late getting home.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The offer was tempting. The thought of walking into that empty house alone, with nothing but my spiraling thoughts for company, made my stomach clench with anxiety.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But I couldn\u2019t drag Leah into this mess. She had her own life, her own problems, her own happiness to protect.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I shook my head, not trusting my voice to stay steady if I tried to speak. \u201cI\u2019m fine. Drive safely, okay?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAthena, you\u2019re clearly not fine,\u201d she said softly. \u201cWhatever happened back there at the market, whatever you saw or thought you saw, you don\u2019t have to deal with it alone.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
For a moment, I almost broke down and told her everything. About Daxon, about the years of abuse, about how I\u2019d run halfway around the world only to discover that you can\u2019t actually escape from the monsters that live inside your own head.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Instead, I forced what I hoped was a reassuring smile. \u201cReally, I just need some rest. Thank you for everything today.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She clearly didn\u2019t believe me, but she let me get out of the car. I could feel her watching me as I walked to the front door, probably making sure I actually made it inside safely. The weight of her concern followed me all the way to the porch.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Memories Drifted Into Soft Silence by Kyx Frost 46 Athena\u2019s Pow\u00a0 Leah wanted to ask more questions, I could see […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[77],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-second-gear-of-love-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26203\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}