Leon winced as Persephone slapped him across the face and proceeded to lecture him about his wife being pregnant. “Why is everything my fault? It takes two people to make a baby and I’m a teenager, too!” He reminded her, not liking how she was pinning it all on him. He also didn’t like how she was painting Yeong-Mi as this helpless girl while he was the younger one in their relationship. Not that he had allowed himself to be much of a teenager, anyways. His grief and subsequent mental illness had caused him to mature faster than he should have. “I didn’t plan this. I’m not some evil mastermind. Yeong-Mi and I decided together that we wouldn’t use protection and whatever happened, happened. It just happened faster than we thought.”
He looked down, fighting back tears as she began telling him how his life wasn’t worse than hers. The underlying message was one he had heard before. What right did he have to feel sorry for himself when there were so many others who had it worse? “Why does it have to be either/or?” He asked her, keeping his gaze pointed down. “Why can’t I recognize that you’ve been dealt a sh-tty hand in life without invalidating my experiences and my depression? I’m not trying to one-up you, Persephone, I never was. I’ve told you time and time again that I would take care of you and our child, whatever you needed. I mean it when I say that but I’m not a mind reader. If you need something, tell me! You were lecturing me about my behaviour so I explained why I was acting that way. That’s all.” He would’ve also mentioned that some of his money was his own, that he’d earned through working but she had made it very clear how she saw him and he knew he couldn’t change that.
After he was done, he crossed his arms, avoiding eye contact with her. He was keeping his guard up in case she wasn’t done yet but he relaxed when she apologized. “Are you sure?” He asked in response to her denying his offer, looking back at her. He wanted to make sure she wasn’t just being nice.
Leon’s heart fell out of his chest as Persephone told him what happened to Atlas and his hand covered his mouth. He fought back tears but a few managed to escape. Over the years, Leon had thought of so many different scenarios as to what happened to Atlas but the reality was worse than all of them. All it did was intensify his desire to help him get out of this situation. There was a bit of relief in the fact that Leon knew that there was a loving home for Atlas to return to but he knew that it wouldn’t erase what he had to endure over the past three years.
Leon nodded when Persie asked him if he was serious. “I would never lie about that.” He responded. Atlas, who looked like he was trying to hold back his reaction, excitedly embraced Leon. “Thank you.” He said before letting go.
“Don’t thank me yet, we haven’t got you out.” Leon replied, not wanting to celebrate too early. “I’ll buy you a ticket so you can come home with us but you need somewhere to stay until then because you can’t go back to where you were living with her.” His tone was firm, making it very clear that he wasn’t allowing it to happen. The only thing he didn’t know was whether Adonis would let Atlas stay in their room with them or if that was even a good idea. Adonis did not like Atlas. He had made that very clear when they were together and Leon had a hunch that ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder’ wouldn’t apply in this situation.
@raviola - Persie
Mentioned:
@Kristi - Adonis