Atlas heard what Adonis said. He looked down, knowing that he was right. It was stupid of him to leave with Kaori all those years ago. He just hadn’t realized it until it was too late. However, it angered him that Adonis failed to see his side of the story. “You weren’t there. You aren’t me. You have no right to judge me when you have no idea what I’ve experienced and I shouldn’t have to tell you just to get some sympathy.” He returned, his voice bordering on yelling. “I lost years with my family and the boy I loved. Isn’t that enough?” His voice broke at the end of his sentence, giving away that not much was holding him together now.
It was hard enough for Atlas to come to terms with what he had experienced on his own. Hard enough for him to trust that he was home for good now. That when he went to sleep in his parents’ house, he would wake up in the same place and that his mother’s embrace the night before hadn’t been a dream. The last thing he needed right now was Adonis invalidating everything and belittling him by telling him he was just young and stupid. He didn’t know how much more he could take. Clearly, Adonis was getting bored because, after a moment of silence, he asked Evie about an English test. She didn’t have a chance to answer before Sebastian chimed in again.
Atlas gave a small nod, confirming that France held some bad memories for him. “Don’t worry about it.” He responded after he apologized. “They get better if you can speak French but even at the resort I worked at, the other staff would always come get me if there was an English-speaking guest because they would rather not go through the trouble of dealing with the language barrier.” He added. As Sebastian was suggesting they go out for dinner and skating, Evie’s phone began to ring.
“Hold that thought, Sebastian.” She said as she answered her phone. Her expression shifted to worry as she watched her phone. “Danny. Danny, slow down. You’re moving too fast, I can’t see your hands.” She instructed her brother, signing with one hand as she spoke before looking up at the guys again. “I’ll be right back, I need to take this.” She said to them, not giving them a chance to respond before she walked off. Atlas looked back to Adonis and Sebastian.
“We should probably wait for Evelyn to come back but I would be down for that.” He said, responding to Sebastian’s proposition. “Should we invite Figure, uh, Leon?” He asked, catching himself before using Leon’s nickname, just in case that would set Adonis off again.
@Kristi - Adonis + Sebastian