pairing: athena cykes x gn!reader (+ apollo justice)
summary: when showing up at the office unannounced, you overhear athena talk about her feelings for you...
tags: colleagues/friends to lovers, supportive!apollo, secretly supportive!phoenix, overhearing a confession, use of y/n
you shouldn't even have been in the office today. it was your day off and athena and apollo assured you they'd handle everything by themselves. and yet, when you passed by the office, you couldn't help but want to pay them a quick visit. but that quick visit was about to change everything for you…
“you should just ask them out, ‘thena!”
when you walked up the stairs towards the office, you could already faintly hear apollo's voice. you slowed down your pace, your curiosity piqued just from that one sentence.
“we work together! i won't risk making things awkward between us–”
you stopped right by the door, the voices clearer now. you knew it wasn't right to listen in on a private conversation, but just a bit wouldn't hurt, right? besides, you had the sneaking suspicion that they were talking about you…
“won't things just be awkward if you don't confess your feelings to them? i'm not saying you should rush into it, but eventually they'll notice, right? and then you'd wish you said something on your own terms.” apollo argued.
“they won't notice and they won't find out.” athena declared. “i can stay professional around them, so y/n will never know that i have a crush on them.”
that felt like the perfect moment to open the door and announce your presence. with a little smile on your lips, amused by your own timing, you opened the door and smiled at your two colleagues.
“good afternoon, apollo …and athena.” you gazed at athena intensely, something both her and apollo picked up immediately.
“oh, it's time for my lunch break!” apollo wasted no time to make up an excuse to leave. “i'll be in the kitchen if you guys need me! nice to see you here today, y/n.”
“apollo–!” athena quietly hissed, not happy that her friend left her alone with you. especially not after your sudden appearance after those last words of hers.
“erm…” after a moment of silence, athena cleared her throat. “what are you doing here today? weren't you supposed to take the day off? we had everything under control at the office…”
from the kitchen, you could hear apollo making some noises while unpacking his lunch. but really, he was trying to stay rather quiet, to listen in on your conversation. he knew this was about to be interesting.
“i happened to pass the office and wanted to check in on you two.” you replied honestly to athena's questions. “just wanted to see how you were doing. and i'm happy i came by now…”
“why?” athena was sure she knew the answer already, but she needed to hear it from you.
“i wouldn't have overheard your conversation with apollo if i hadn't come by. and i never would've known you had a crush on–”
“you weren't supposed to hear that!”
athena interrupted you, staring at you with an expression that was hard to read. was she mad? upset? anxious? you had planned to tease her a little about her crush on you, but now you felt like that maybe wasn't the best idea…
“i–” you started, quickly losing all of your confidence. “i'm sorry for invading your privacy.”
silence spread through the office again.
“i know you didn't want me to know about your crush on me, but if it helps you… i… like you too.”
athena's eyes widened and her body tensed up.
“you… like me too?” she repeated, just to make sure she didn't mistake your words.
“course i do.” you smiled. “but while you were talking about your crush on me with apollo… i was talking to mr. wright. asked him on his stance of colleagues dating and such…”
athena's face turned red. she not only had to grapple with the fact that you just confessed to her, but that you also had seemingly asked your boss for permission to date her.
“what did he say?” athena asked hesitantly.
“mr. wright has nothing against it.” you told her. “which means… if you'd be interested in dating me, there's nothing stopping us.”
“i… i am! very interested.” athena smiled, unable to believe her own luck. “as long as you're interested in it too, i mean–!”
