“Look, you have every right to hate me for what I did,” Atlas started, wanting to attempt to explain himself one last time. He understood that it might take awhile for Adonis to move on from this fully, he could see it in his face that he hadn’t been completely unaffected, but he still wanted to try. “I just want you to hear me out. I thought I was doing what was best at the time. Emphasis on ‘at the time’. I was acting on impulse and it was never intended to be long-term. I did it because I loved Leon and I would have endured a lifetime of heartache if it meant that no physical harm would come to him.” He placed an emphasis on the word ‘physical’ because he knew when he left that it would hurt Leon but at least his life wouldn’t be in danger.
“Okay, Adonis, take a deep breath.” Evie instructed after he responded to her. Atlas was kind of glad that she had decided to stick around. Lord knows what would have happened if she hadn’t. Especially with how riled up Adonis seemed right now. “Yes, Leon’s been through an unbelievable amount of sh-t for someone our age and he didn’t deserve any of it but it happened. We can’t change that and getting mad about it isn’t helping. Can’t we just focus on the good things?”
“Adonis. I left the way I did for a reason!” Atlas finally snapped after Adonis continued to rant. He’d had enough of the way that he was being spoken to and how he kept missing the point. “I didn’t say where I was going so that if my parents or Leon were questioned about where I was by anyone, they could say they didn’t know and not be lying. I was protecting them! I didn’t think about what would happen when I came back because honestly, there was a point at which I didn’t think I would and it hurt. You keep talking about it as if I was tanning on a beach somewhere, which is not what happened. I need you to understand that and I need to know that you understand that. I was taken from a foreign country that I was just starting to call home to another foreign country where I didn’t even speak the language.”
“B-by who?”
Atlas noticed an immediate change in Adonis’ demeanour. It almost seemed like he cared and Atlas almost believed him. He let himself relax, hoping that he wouldn’t need to fight anymore and Evie took her hand off his arm. “Trust me. It’s better that you don’t know.” He answered. He didn’t need to have other people feeling the same paranoia he felt.
He nodded to confirm when Sebastian asked if he was in France but he had to pause to think for a second when he asked him how it was. His memories of the country were not exactly fond ones but he tried to think about things he saw that weren’t tied to the reason he was there. “I didn’t really see much of the country but the view from the resort I worked at was quite beautiful.” He answered with a small smile. “The people were pretty nice, too. More so when my French got better.”
@Kristi - Adonis + Sebastian