Chapter Two

Her mouth quickly turns into a smile before she walks forwards and hugs them. "Hey, Luke." Athena whispers to him and Luke hugs her back quickly before they both let go. "Hey there Snow Bell." Luke says down to her which makes Athena glare up at him.

"Oi. I've told you before not to call me Snow Bell." she informs him but it makes Luke chuckle before walking around her and into the living room. "So, what are you doing here Snow White. Emily didn't tell me that you were staying the night when I talked to her yesterday." he points out making Athena sigh. "Um… yeah. It was more of a last-minute thing…" she trails off before breathing in and out then going to join him in the living room. "My mum was put into a medically induced coma yesterday. I called Emily around nearly half ten last night for her to come and pick me up and I asked if I could spend the night as I don't think that I would be able to spend the night at my house because of it. She said yes and as you can tell." she finishes making Luke nod his head.

"I'm so sorry, Snow White. But on an unrelated note, do you happen to know where my wonderful girlfriend is?" he asks her in which she shakes her head in response. "No, sorry Luke but if I had to guess, she would be in her room still asleep." she tells him. "Do you want me to go and get her for you?"

"Nah. I'd better go. She'll get mad at you for waking her up if you do. I can't say the same for me?" Luke tells her making Athena laugh and nod her head.

"I guess you're right." she answers before Luke heads down the hall towards Emily's bedroom whilst Athena heads up the stairs and heads back to the guest bedroom where she is staying.

She lays down on the bed with a flop before grabbing her phone from her… bedside table? "Did I put that there during the middle of the night?" she asks herself before shaking it off and going onto Instagram and scrolling through her feed. However, she quickly shuts it when she sees a picture of a daughter with her mum. Shutting the app, she gets out of bed and grabs her clothes off the chair that is in the corner of the room, neatly folded before putting them on.

She walks downstairs, with her bag on her back, after finishing getting herself ready. She walks into the kitchen to find Emily and Luke stood on one side of the island in the middle of the room. Athena walks over to the cupboard and grabs herself a glass before heading over to the fridge and pulling out the apple juice and filling the glass. She walks over to the island and stands opposite the couple. "So? How was your sleep?" Emily asks her as she takes a sip of the apple juice. "It was good until I got woken up by a motorbike engine and a knock at the door." Athena sneers towards Emily and Luke. "How come you never told me that he was coming over this morning?"

"Sorry. It slipped my mind. I guess that's what you get for waking me up at the dead of night." she fires back at her, making Athena shake her head.

"Touché. Although, next time, drop me a little hint." she tells Emily before putting her empty glass down and out towards the door. "Hey! Where are you going?" Emily asks her shouting after Emily, who is now near the front door. "The park!" she shoots back. "I need time to think about what I'm gonna do about my mum!"

She walks out of the front door, heading down the path from the house to the street and heading off in the direction of the park.

Athena sits down on the park bench before taking out her phone and headphones. Taking the headphones out of the case, she plugs them into her phone before playing her Spotify playlist and then turning off her phone. Listening to the instrumental version of A Thousand Years by The Piano Guy, Athena feels tears beginning to flow down her face. She wipes them away quickly so that she doesn't let anyone see them before skipping the song and Our Last Summer by the Mamma Mia cast begins to blast through the headphones. After a few songs, a bit of calming down and reading chapter five of A Fault in Our Stars by John Green, Athena stands up from the bench, continuing to read A Fault in Our Stars, she walks around in the direction towards the Hospital to go and see her mum. She may not have made up her mind about when she wants to wake her up but she can still go and see her.

Athena stares at her mum from the chair next to her bed. She's been sat there for over three hours now. She almost missed lunch because she had zoned out but if it hadn't been for Doctor Hansen, going downstairs to the little shop by the entrance and getting her a cheese, chicken, pepperoni and salami, onion, lettuce, tomato wholemeal baguette along with a bottle of coke zero and a bag of Chilli Heatwave Doritos, she would've starved. Athena shuts her eyes for a few seconds as a few tears roll down her face. However, she doesn't wipe them away, she just lets them fall. A knock at the hospital room door snaps her out of her thoughts and she looks up to see Emily, Luke and her Aunt Diana and Uncle Steve, from her dad's side of the family, stood at the door. "Hey." Athena mutters quietly to them. Aunt Diana frowns at her niece slightly before walking over to her and bringing her into a hug. "Let it out. Just let it out." she whispers to her and Athena begins weeping out tears.

"I- I- I do- don't k-know w-what I'm g-gonna d-do without h-her." she cries. Tears fall down her face and onto Diana's shoulder. "Hey, don't cry. Don't be like that. Your mum would want you to be strong. She would want us all to be strong." Diana tells everyone which makes Athena nod her head before she sniffs. "Come on. Let's get out of here." Steve tells Athena and Diana once he walks over to them. "I'll go and get you your favourite ice cream. Ben and Jerry's Brownie and Cookie Dough ice cream." Steve promises Athena which makes her smile before both she and Diana stand up. "Come on." Diana says before turning to Luke and Emily. "You want to come?" she asks them but they shake their head.

"We're fine, Mrs Johnstone. Luke and I were only here to find Emily as we went to the park to try and find her but we couldn't." Emily informs Diana which makes her nod her head.

"Alright then. Emily. Luke. It was nice to see you again." she tells them before she walks out of the Hospital room with Athena and Steve.

Sitting in the ice cream shop around the corner from her Aunt and Uncle's house, she is facing her Aunt and Uncle as they sit opposite her. "So, how's school going? How's the play going?" Steve asks Athena, wanting to get her mind off of her mum and his sister.

"Uh, well, the tickets for the play is coming out next month as we're nearly done practising. And school is going well. We've just finished our mock exams and our real exams are going to be happening in a few months." Athena informs her Aunt and Uncle before having a spoonful of her ice cream. "Um. Athena. Steve and I were talking yesterday and we think that it would be best if you moved into our house just until your mum gets better because we don't think that you staying in that house is very good for your mental health so we want you to move in with us, if that's alright with you, of course." Diana suggests which makes Athena nod her head. "Sure." she agrees, making both Steve and Diana look at her in shock. "Seriously? Because we were only suggesting it. We weren't even sure if you would say yes or anything." Diana stutters out.

"Yeah. Of course. I- I've been wanting to get out of the house since mum started virtually living at the hospital." Athena says with a slight frown on her face. "Besides, it'll be nice staying with you. It'll be like a very long sleepover."

Steve and Diana look at Athena in shock for a few seconds as she eats her ice cream. Athena looks back up at them to see them staring at her. "What?" she asks them slightly confused. "Was it something I said? You know what, I won't move in. I'll just stay li-"

"Athena. It's alright. We're just in shock, alright. You can definitely stay with us." Steve says, cutting her off. "Are you sure? Are you one hundred per cent sure because I'm happy to keep living at home." Athena tells them, causing them both to chuckle at her.

"We're sure, 'Thena. And hey, just think. You'll be closer to the school and the hospital so you can go and see your mum after school and still make it home in time for dinner instead of having to travel over five miles from your house to school." Steve chuckles, making Athena smile brightly. "Yeah. I guess you're right." she smiles.

Standing in the middle of her bedroom, Athena stares at the nearly empty bedroom with boxes, full of her things, are taken out by her Aunt and Uncle. "Come on, Athena. It's time to go." Diana tells her niece after coming back from the car to find Athena staring around her room. "You all right, 'Thena?" Diana asks her, causing Athena to snap her head towards her bedroom door. "Huh?" she asks her aunt.

"I asked you if you're all right." she tells her.

"Oh, yeah. I'm fine." she assures her aunt.

"Are you sure about that because you looked like you were in your own world for a second there." her aunt asks, causing Athena to nod her head.

"I'm fine, auntie. Just… reminiscing the memories I've had in this room. I… I just can't believe that I'm moving." she whispers before she heads over to her door and her aunt. "Are you ready, Athena?"

"Yeah. I'm ready."

Turning off her lights, Athena takes one last glance before leaving her room and shuts the door before heading down to her aunt and uncle's car and getting in and heading to her new home.