The Four Months Deadline

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"You don't get to walk in and out of my life at your convenience."

                           - Anonymous

Athena took a peek from a swift backward glance.

Xerus' big figure was enveloped by a trenchcoat as dark as his soul, and it was so close from reaching the ground.

It was supposed to be a very fleet glance but damn was he irresistible.

The astounding gloom that shaded his features was unparalleled to no one— probably not even Theo, despite Theo claiming a special place in her heart already, and that scared her all the more.

The anxiousness formed on her face as she tried to hide it but Xerus was to ept at reading body languages.

Athena composed herself by clearing her throat. "N-No of course not, I wasn't going to say that." A fucking mammoth was more suitable. However, she was convinced that she still hadn't lie at all but it would be smart to play nice while she was alone with Xerus in his home. "That would be really rude."

If this had been any other woman, Xerus would have taken pleasure in witnessing the pure terror decorate their face by stalking closer from behind them and circle them like sharks with his mesmerising yet baleful hazels.

Her long inky hair that cascaded over her shoulder blades unfortunately reminded him all over again that she wasn't a normal girl.

The soft, silky, dark image of it that he had been so accustomed to since childhood caused his blood to boil and he so wanted to just rip them off of her head. "It's funny since insolency was what your puberty worshipped. Fuck, I can't even stand breathing the same air as you. You fucking stink!"

Athena crinkled her eyebrows, maintaining eye contact with the pretty golden phoenix of the door. It wasn't a pleasant feeling to be called stinky but she wasn't nearly as insulted as she would be in normal days.

But, one thing was crystal clear— Ace may had been right again, and she abhorred him being correct.

Xerus— leader of the Thieves, God of the elites— was someone she had bullied in the past. Still, this could be false, right? She certainly hoped so.

Nevertheless, she needed him to speak. She wanted to clear things, things she had most likely forgotten. If it wasn't that, then she wanted him to tell her this was just a cruel bet or perhaps a prank.

Then again, a prank wouldn't have gotten so far that he'd cause a ruckus in A-List. "Xerus, first off, I want to apo—"

"How many fucking times should I say before your dumb head understand? Don't fucking call my name!" Xerus voice thundered, making the unclear opera music fail to reach her ears even after Xerus had ended his sentence.

His voice, being too loud, it patently deafened her. "Then I should just call you X? Like the X-Files or an IPhone X?" His ear-splitting tone must have made her deranged altogether. She gulped, "Sorry, I was just kidding." She so wasn't.

"No. Not even the first letter of my name. After this, we won't have to see each other anymore so don't even fucking bother," Xerus made sure his eyes stayed the hell away from her but no matter if he stared at the princely gasolier above or the very distant parlour down the hallway, it never ceased to drift back to her. "Now let's stop wasting my time. Hand over those pills and get the fuck out of my sight."

A large metal block dawned on the top of Athena's head as she rummaged through her brain for a not-so-bad answer. "About that..."

This made Xerus' eyes wide in fear. "What the fuck about it?" He contained so hard to keep his cool while his hands balled themselves into fists, his nails digging into his flesh.

Knowing Athena, she loved to torment with people's weaknesses and he regretted ever counting on her again. "I fucking knew it. Why was I so fucking stupid? So fucking stupid for trusting someone like you to give back something that would satisfy you in the end." He scoffed so loudly that it moved the still, cool air in the room. "So? You came here just to tell me that I would need to give a call to the medias to have it back?"

Athena felt a sudden guilt swell in her. Xerus was taking girls' virginities like they were free candies at a reception counter and she would never in a million years condone it, but the way he was saying it, the tone and words he was using with her told her he was the victim instead of her. "You can relax. The pills are laying somewhere safe in Ace's home."

"And why the fuck is it sitting there? You would have brought it with you if you really had any intentions of returning it at all. You fucking told Ace, didn't you?"

Athena somewhat felt like she was unable to keep up with her lies. "Yes. Yes, I did." With her telling the truth, also had its own precinct, and that was to never put Ace's safety on the line even if she had to make up with something and be a full ass sinner again. "But he won't do anything! I swear! And he doesn't know its yours!" Athena paused for a second. "He told me his friend has the same problem and wanted some of them desperately, so I..."

"That's bullshit!" Xerus exclaimed at the top of his lungs, tearing apart his vocal cords. "I believe nothing that comes out of your filthy mouth. All you do is fucking make people trust you and you fucking rip that trust out of their guts! I trusted you time and time again and where has that ever gotten me?"

Athena took the chance to slide in. "Tell me. What did I do to you? How did I ruin that trust?" Athena finally asked, a smaller part of her glad that she did it as to switch subject. But, she did really want to know his point of view of her.

Every time Xerus was being reminded that Athena had completely forgotten about him sent a pang in his heart, and that hurt would gradually awake the heat within, bubbling into steams. "I tell you today, you forget tomorrow. What's the fucking difference?"

Athena started to pick at her nails, her lips being pulled in between her teeth. "Just tell me, please. I want to know. I don't think I will forget it this time." Oh, she will definitely not, but it was Xerus' choice to walk her down memory lane again.

The tension that piled in the air threatened to crush Xerus. Even if he wanted to tell— no, scream, yell, bawl the things she did to him when he was younger, his lips remained still, yet not entirely, they were slightly quivering.

He could never bring himself to talk about the trauma he endured. No one could know of this. He had decided not to tell a single soul of this horrendous experience, afraid people might take him as a laughing stock.

Despite it, there were still a handful of people who had witnessed the dire incident nonetheless. Xerus could only put an end to their gossips by paying them handsomely.

Theo Cielo was also one of the few lucky witnesseses, but even he, didn't know the full story and neither was he aware the girl he dated happened to be the same girl who was supposed to be off limits.

Xerus had thought both Athena and him would ever only be the two person who knew of the entire story. Even that, he was mistaken.

Athena waited a whole minute for an explanation just to receive none, so she gave her assumption a shot. "Did you use to go to Crème De La Crème elementary school? Was I a big bully to you?"

Xerus squeezed his eyes shut at the mere mention of his former school that he despised so much. "I wasn't even mad about that."

Athena jumped to face him at last, just to see him turning around as quick as he could, letting his back be on full display, as well as the exotic trenchcoat that hugged him. "So I did bully you!"

Xerus' hand rubbed his face vigorously, mad at himself for not having enough courage to face her straight on. He thought he had it in him. He thought today was the day he'd make their roles reversed, but he had failed before it even started.

Athena began apologizing, though it happened a long time ago; it clearly affected him greatly. "I know me apologizing now doesn't really change anything and if I could, I would by all means go back in time to fix everything. But, I can't, and all I can say is I'm really sorry for what I did to y—"

Xerus' derideful, taunting chuckle made Athena shudder and stopped talking.

"Fix everything you say? I, Xerus, couldn't even fucking fix it!" He turned around, rage outshined his fear as he strided towards Athena with furious eyes. "What makes you think you fucking can, hmm?! Saying sorry and shit but you don't even fucking know what for. You can go all day, all year saying you're fucking sorry, it don't fucking mean shit to me!"

Athena parted her lips. She wasn't good at apologizing, she knew that much, but in that moment, Xerus managed to convince her that the word 'sorry' was nothing but a word to provoke people.

What else could she say then? Sorry again? That would be stupid.

"Then is there any possible way for me to—"

At this point, Xerus was too impatient to let her finish her sentences. "Make up to me?" Athena nodded. "Sure. By getting out of my sight." Xerus bore his eyes into Athena's, piercing through every futile walls she built around her to avoid this. "Forever!" He bellowed.

Confused, Athena furrowed her eyebrows, searching for answers in his wrathful hazels. "What's that suppose to mean?"

Xerus stood in a three metre radius from her, making her feel like she was a trapped animal and he watched her every movement from the outside of her cage. 

To Xerus, this was the closest he'd allow himself to stand near her. Athena was Xerus' dreadful plague, and so was him to her. Hence, the distance he put was fair to both of them.

Athena saw his pupils dilated as he fixed intense gazes to her. "In four months. I will give you four whole months to stay in A-List. When the time is up, pack your fucking bags and leave this place. Don't even try to plead Ace to back for you. If you do that, you're both out of the school."

Athena rushed a few feet towards him, eyes widened to its maximum that she felt tears began to brim there. "How can you do this?! I worked my freaking ass off just to get in here! And now you are acting immaturely by holding grudges and kicking me out?!"

"You're not even suppose to be here in the first fucking place so shut the fuck up! You and your little friend think you guys can get away with it just by switching some names?! For the love of God, don't embarrass yourself with stupidity like that!" Xerus exasperated.

He hated people breaking his rules, especially when that someone could awake his old wounds just by him looking at her; it made him bleed an enormous inferno.

Athena's jaw clenched and she stopped breathing as though the air in Xerus' home was fatal. "You're so selfish! I know I may not have been perfect in the past and might have caused you pain but I'm trying my best to clear things out with you. Can't you see? But you won't let me! Now, just because you feel like I would get in your way from enjoying your school life to the fullest, you're expelling me! I even paid for the ridiculous amount of the school's fee! You're not even the principal so who are you to talk?!"

Xerus lifted his head, unintentionally showing off his refined jaws to Athena. "Who needs a fucking principal when the God himself is standing right in front of you?" He scoffed disapprovingly before adding, "And you're a fucking barn girl, those aren't your money. You love leeching off of the rich for your benefits. You are just like the girls I wished you were not."

Athena was very much distracted by his certainty of knowing her so well. Barn girl? He knew of my animals? But not even Ace knows much of them until I took all of them here with me.

"You're right. It's Ace's money, but I promised to pay him back with every penny I've got. And, you may also be right that I was just a barn girl but what right do you have to be probing into my personal life?"

"Don't be so full of yourself, bitch. Who's got the fucking time to be checking on you?" Xerus knew her by heart— from the way she would shyly leave when she's met with humiliating incidents, to her treating her barn animals as if she gave birth to them. He didn't need any machines or private investigators to do that for him; they were all carved into his brain already.

Oh, how he wished they didn't.

"If you don't have the fucking pills, then you're useless to me. Get the hell out this second! I've tolerated with your ugly ass long enough! GET THE FUCK OUT NOW!" Xerus couldn't stand any longer. He wanted her out— out of his sight, out of A-List, out of his life and if it was possible, out of this cruel world once and for all.

He never wanted to see her again, for she held a lethal weapon— his emotions.

"Does that mean you don't want your pills back?" Athena questioned, baffled that she could really go out of Xerus' home unharmed but Xerus took it the wrong way.

"So is this the part where you bargain for money? If so, you're not worth any. Now go crawl back to the trash you came out of. Out! Fucking now!"

Athena bit her lip, thinking if she would end up with more consequences if she had not given the pills back sooner or later. Ignoring it, she went straight for the door. She'd most likely had to come back to negotiate with him about the four months deadline some other time anyway. Doing it now would only make things worse. "I'll be off then." She twisted the knob. "Sorry again." She didn't want to apologize as he was treating her rather ill but felt like she needed to.

She supposed she needed to do it every time she come across him. Bullying someone was one thing, but to forget about it entirely was something else. She hated herself for it.

At the very time when she pushed open the door, she came eye to eye with bright blue eyes— Derek, who had his hand out, reaching for the door handle as well.

Athena got a glimpse of both Ricardo and Felix who stood behind Derek. With eyes so broad, they were just as shock as her.

There were around seven marginally drunk, noisy girls around them three.

Derek pushed the door a little more to get Xerus' attention. "Umm... Xerus? Have you forgotten about the little game we are going to play today?"

Xerus crossed his arms, remaining a poker face to hide that he had really overlooked it. It was a stupid idea Felix had came up with when they had their usual gatherings and somehow he had agreed with it taking place at his home. What great timing. "Yeah... You guys can come in but let that bitch out first."

Derek looked down at Athena and then back to Xerus, swallowing hard. He took it that Athena was here so that Xerus would watch all three of the members who broke his rules, beg for her forgiveness.

Derek had no complains in that and was even willing to do it but Xerus' harsh words made him perplexed. "But Thieves should make it up to her, no? Let her join our game," he insinuated, coming closer to Athena. "Hey umm..." He scratched the back of his head. "Listen, I'm sorry for what happened the other day. I've done horrible things to you. I was a douche." He looked to Felix and Ricardo. "We all were," he admitted. "It's fine if you don't forgive us but we can all have a good time playing some fun games together. Are you up?" He checked her face for approval but couldn't as she was giving the 'fuck off' face to him while looking elsewhere.

Athena looked around. She failed to catch sight of any bodyguards and assumed that what Xerus meant by 'getting out' was to walk back to Ace's home by freaking feet. She hardly even know the route here.

So, she took up a challenge she wished she hadn't. "What game exactly?"

"Seven minutes in Heaven."

______________________________

There you go guys!

What do you think will happen?

Oh and some of you want a back story of Athena and Xerus 🤭 Let me tell you this... It's coming soon🌹💋

See you guys on the next chapter! Thanks for reading! ❣️💋

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