"Thanks. I had a lot of fun." Athena smiled at him and he returned the smile.

"Good. I'm glad we were able to get to know more about each other."

"Yeah, and if my dad finds out I skipped half a day of school, you're dead 'cousin' CC."

CC laughed and reached over to give her an awkward side hug before letting her out of the car. Athena hurried up to her room to get ready for babysitting and checked her phone on the way up.

From Lacey: Where the fuck did you go today? You weren't at lunch and Jane said you didn't ride home with her?

From Athena: Long story short: CC picked me up from school early so we could hang out.

Athena walked into her room and threw her phone over to the bed; not focusing on the phone at all.

"Ow!" Someone exclaimed.

Athena whipped around at the sound of the voice. "What the fuck?! Eric? What are you doing in my room? Creep."

Eric put Athena's phone down on the bed beside him and stood up. "I just, uh, came to see if, uh, you were okay. You know, after I was kicked out and everything. You weren't hurt, were you?"

"No...? I'm fucking fine, Eric. You can leave now."

Eric obeyed and walked out the door and down the hall to find Jane. Eric was getting weirder and weirder by the second.

"What is he smoking?" Athena muttered to herself as she ran a brush through her uneven hair.

She grabbed her jacket, keys and phone before heading across the street to the Pinkertons' house. She rang the doorbell and a few seconds later, Mr. Pinkerton answered.

"Ah, Athena! Hello! Come in, come in! Kids! Athena is here!"

There was a shrill scream as four year old Sydney and eight year old Brandon came running down the stairs.

"Brandon! Stop pulling Sydney's hair!" Mrs. Pinkerton scolded as she walked into the living room to greet Athena. "Hi, Athena. Thank you so much for babysitting for us. We were desperate."

"Oh, it's no problem at all." Athena said.

"Well, emergency numbers are on the counter and the kids should get tired in a few hours. We'll be home around 12:30 if that's alright?" Mr. Pinkerton asked and Athena nodded.

"There's money on the table in case you get hungry and want to order a pizza or something. Oh, and Brie is in the playpen. She'll be easy to put to bed." Mrs. Pinkerton added, referring to their third child who was about six months old.

Athena said goodbye and closed the door behind them. "God, save my soul." Athena mumbled.

"Athena! Braid my hair for me? Please?" Sydney begged.

Athena smiled down at her. "Oh, alright." Athena agreed.

Sydney cheered as she grabbed Athena's hand and pulled her towards the living room.

~2 hours later~

"Brandon, please stop taking Sydney's doll." Athena pleaded as she rocked the screaming baby in her arms.

The doorbell rang and Athena groaned as she walked towards it. "Who is i--Oh." Athena opened the door to see CC standing outside on the front step. "What are you doing here? I just saw you a few hours ago."

"Call me crazy but I couldn't stay away." CC admitted.

Athena blushed as she got lost in his deep brown eyes. The shrieking coming from the baby in her arms brought her back to reality.

"Ugh. This baby has been crying for an hour." Athena looked down at the baby and back up at CC. "Oh, come in for god's sake." Athena closed the door after letting CC in. "Shh." Athena tried to calm the baby down.

CC looked at the baby and then at Athena. He wrapped his arms around her from behind and swayed with her. "We make a great family, huh?" CC laughed a little and Athena smiled.

"Hey! I know you! You're that man down the street that plays the drums!" Sydney said when she saw CC standing in the hallway with Athena.

"Hey, you're right!" CC knelt down in front of her so he was eye level with her.

Athena watched him for a moment before going upstairs to put Brie to bed.

"Do you remember my name?" CC asked her.

"Um..."Sydney thought for a minute. "Um... Um... CC? It's CC, right?"

"Wow, you're smart!" CC said and Sydney smiled.

"I like you, CC. You're cool." Sydney jumped into his arms for a hug. "Hey, Athena? Is CC your boyfriend?" Sydney asked.

Athena smiled and looked at CC and then Sydney. "No, Sydney. CC and I are just really good friends. Max is my boyfriend, remember?" Athena responded.

"Oh, yeah... I don't like Max." Sydney made a face.

"Why is that?" Athena asked.

"I don't know." Sydney responded. "I can just tell there is something bad about him. I don't like him."

Athena shrugged Sydney's comment off. "CC? Can you put Sydney to bed for me?"

"Sure thing." CC said. "Let's go, princess!" CC picked up Sydney and brought her up the stairs to her room. He put her down on the bed and tucked her in.

"CC?" Sydney called out to him in the dark room, sitting up in bed.

CC walked over and sat down on the end of the bed next to her. "What's up, kiddo?"

"Do you like Athena?"

"Well, yeah, sure I like her."

"No, but I mean really, really like her."

CC smiled. "Yes, Sydney. I like Athena, very much."