Upon arriving at the Chill Grill, Athena pauses for a second. Do they really want to even see me?

Felix watches her, a hand on the entrance door. "Are you okay?"

I have to do this, Athena thought. She nods her head at Felix and smiles.

"Let's go."

She gives the door a gentle push and guides Felix into the diner. It wasn't much but to Athena, it held her favourite memories. It was a small diner that was a famous hot-spot for locals and tourists passing by. The place was a vibrant yellow that would look sickening to most but there it fit just perfectly. Each wall was plastered with album covers of artists the manager of the diner loved as well as license plates and sappy quotes from people of the present and past. There was just something so warm about it all and Athena let out sigh just at the thought. Felix was gazing around too. Athena smiled at that.

"You like it?"

Nodding his head, Felix whispers out in awe, "This place is super cool."

A loud shriek broke off both Athena and Felix's trances. They turned to the direction of the sound and Athena had to hold in a laugh.

Sitting at their usual spot by the window, Chan was seated staring intensely at his fist while the other four jump around ecstatically, hugging and screaming. Normally, screaming should get you kicked out of a public setting like the diner but today was one of their slow days and the restaurant was run by Jisung's older brother Brian, so they got away with a lot of stuff. (Also, they were the only ones who called him Young K so he decided to tolerate them.)

They must've been playing rock-paper-scissors for who's going to pay, Athena thought with a laugh. They always did that and it seemed that Chan was still the one losing. Athena tugs on Felix's sleeve, urging him to follow her to the table. He leans down to her ear and whispers,

"Are they always this crazy?"

"Oh, you have no idea."

Once arriving at the table, all banter stops as the group lays their eyes on the two.

"ATHENA!!"

Somi leaps out of her seat--mind you she was sitting on the inner seat with Jisung and Seungmin sitting beside her--and engulfs Athena in a suffocating hug.

"I'VE MISSED YOU SOOOOOO MUCH YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW! AND I THOUGHT YOU WERE NEVER GOING TO COME BACK TO US BUT YOU DID AND I'M JUST SO HAPPY RIGHT NOW!"

"I'm happy too but could you release me before I die from air deprivation," Athena mutters out.

"Oh yeah! Of course." Somi quickly lets go but doesn't stop smiling.

As Somi lets go of Athena, Jisung lets out a screech and smiles brightly before latching his arms around Athena. Felix watches the scene play out, clenching and un-clenching his jaw unconsciously. The boy was just slightly irritated that they were all holding Athena so close. It distressed him and he wished she'd tell them to let her go but Athena did none of that. Instead, she latched her arms around Jisung too and patted his head with a giggle.

"OMG!! I can't believe you're here! It really has been too long since we last saw each other."

Athena nods. "I know and I'm sorry."

"Why would you be sorry Athena? We should be sorry. In all honestly, we thought you still hated us," Chan blurts.

"What?" Athena gasps. "I could never hate you guys. Never. I thought you guys hated me."

"We could never," Seungmin states quickly.

Silence falls amongst the group, causing them all to feel awkward and unsure of what to do next. Somi, never one to let an awkward silence go on for long, speaks up first.

"Okay, enough of this sadness. We came to have fun right?" Somi exclaims. "Plus, Athena brought a friend."

Somi wiggles her eyebrows like crazy and Athena rolls her eyes. Felix and her take a seat at the head of the table, situating themselves comfortably before beginning the introduction.

a/n

just an fyi, as much as i am using stray kids as characters and i may reference to outside things, this is an au so their personalities are not going to match the personalities they have in real life as well as what they do. i'll probably add this to the 'beginning' chapter but i forgot to do so beforehand. 

hope you guys are enjoying,

~tallproud