Chapter 1
he was out of my league,
and out of this world,
but i couldn't seem to get over this boy,
so i asked for help from the one i trusted the most
— — ~
Atlas swore he wasn’t in love. He didn’t like Aelius like that! So he confronted his best friend for help.
. . .
Atlas paced around his dorm room, his sister sitting on her bed, looking at him like he was some kind of maniac.
“Atlas.. you look... off?? Did something happen to you? Did you fail your exam (Atlas is an art major) or something??”, his sister Atalanta asked, raising her eyebrow. She took out her lollipop from her mouth as well.
“Or… Is it something to do with that ‘crush’ of yours, which is definitely not your best friend you’re planning to seek help from?”
Atlas stopped pacing around the room and crashed onto his bed. He shoved his face into a pillow and muffled out, “What are you even doing here anyway… We’re in different buildings. Go back to yours.”
“SO YOU ARE STRESSING OVER THAT CRUSH! Text me if you need romance advice hahahaha- ”
“HOW WOULD YOU KNOW HOW I'M FEELING-”
“SHUT UP I’M TRYING TO BE A GOOD SISTER”
The door slammed shut right after her sentence.
— — ~
Atlas knocked on his sister's dorm room door, his face red. It quickly opened.
“Heh.. so you finally came around to ask me for relationship advice..”
“Shut up!”
—
“Alright, so tell me how you feel about your so-called ‘crush’. Don’t reveal the gender to me, please. I don't wanna deal with more yuri or yaoi.”
“Well.. I think about them a lot. Whenever I see them around someone else, I get jealous. I feel.. overprotective of them, if you get what I mean.”
“...”
“Damn. You really are whipped.”
Atalanta sighed, rubbing her temple. She was happy for her brother that he was falling in love, but with HIM? ‘I’m worried that HE won’t reciprocate his feelings for him and leave him heartbroken..’
[Meanwhile with a certain someone..]
‘I wonder how Atlas is doing.. Is he okay? Is he eating well? He texted me that he’s going to his sister for advice.. but what kind of advice..??’
[NAME] stared at the sky, worrying about their soon-to-be boyfriend (hopefully, if their confession goes well). They’ve been planning, ever since they met, to confess to him. But it’s January, and he only has a few weeks left until Valentine’s Day.
…
“Okay, I get it. So you like your crush. Not like, but love.”
“Atalanta…”, Atlas’ face was stuffed in one of Atalanta’s MANY plushies. Coincidentally, it was a SUN plushie, and it reminded Atlas of a certain someone. His face flushed.
“Ahahaha.. I get it now.. You like them. A lot. So much that you think of them in my room. You gay γαμώ.”
Atlanta giggled so hard that someone from Atlas’ building could hear her. She then realized she switched up to Greek.
“Τέλος πάντων, πήγαινε να δεις το αγόρι σου. Στην πραγματικότητα, πείτε στον «καλύτερο φίλο» σας για αυτά τα «προβλήματά» σας. σίγουρα θα μπορούσε να σε βοηθήσει”
— — ~
It seemed like Atlas was running around the place. First, he goes over to his sister’s dorm, which, may I remind you, is on the other side of campus, then he goes to the Astronomy corridor where he meets his best friends (boyfriends), classmates. He asked them where Aelius was, but they didn’t know either.
- - - - -
‘Haah.. Where are you? Aelius..’
‘I miss you, Atlas.’
// AELTAS //
~ — —
i've seen him
and i need him to be mine!
believe it!
i'm in love and i mean it!
his name's Aelius and i need him to be mine!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
if you knew all i've done?
the things i can't undo
i am not the person you knew
i know that you've been waiting, waiting
— — ~
Atalanta was excited.
. . .
“Atalanta.. stop jumping around, we’re in public. Why’re you so excited to see your girlfriend anyway?”, Atlas was immediately shut up by Atalanta when she ran away from him.
“ATALANTA!!”
Atlas ran off to chase Atalanta, who was running at top speed. He crashed into someone.
“Atlas?”
“Aelius??? What are you doing here?”
Atlas was pulled into a hug by Aelius. He was... warm. Like the sun. Atlas flushed.
‘What was.. What is Aelius doing..??’
Aelius put his chin on Atlas’s head, then pulled out of the hug.
“Atlas, are you okay?”
“Yeah.. I’m fine.. But what are you doing here?”
“Oh, me? I’m here to pick up a relative.”
“...”
“Atlas?”
“Are they named Aethra..??”
“How’d you know?”
“Ahahaha.. Funny story.. Aethra is dating my sister.”
. . . . .
“What?”
—
Atlas was holding onto Aelius as he bridal-carried him while running. Why was Aelius so strong, he thought. At the same time, however, it felt nice being carried by Aelius. He felt loved. Of course, though, Aelius wouldn’t reciprocate his feelings.
Aelius looked down to see Atlas and smiled.
‘Atlas looks so pretty today..’ Aelius looked up again until they reached the gate, where they saw Aethra and Atalanta fighting over something probably stupid.
Aelius put down Atlas, and he ran up to his sister and ruffled her hair while scolding her.
“Why’d you run off from me, huh??”
“Haah? Can’t I go see my LOVELY girlfriend, who's been away for, what, five months??”
“And besides, if I didn’t run off, you wouldn’t be able to see that crush of yours!”
“ASHSHSSHSHHSSHHH SHUT UP!!!”
“Oh? My dear Atlas has a.. crush?? I never knew about this?”
“SHUSHHHH!! DON’T PRETEND YOU DIDN’T KNOW AETHRA..!!”
Aethra chuckled, then turned to her cousin, who was just watching the scene, shocked at the fact that Atlas has a crush. Aelius’ smile was warm.. Atlas wanted to have that smile directed at him instead of Aethra. “So, how’s your brother?” “He’s doing well. Apollo’s made some new friends.”
Atlas smiled. He was happy that Aelius was happy, even though he wasn’t the cause of it.
Little did Atlas know, the person he loved liked him back..
— — ~
Light footsteps were being heard as Aelius walked into the airport. He was off to pick up his cousin, Aethra, and then meet up with his older brother, Apollo, and hang out with his friends. All he wanted to do was stay in his dorm, not head out. His train of thought was interrupted, however, by someone he didn’t expect.
“Atlas?” Aelius was shocked to see Atlas here. Was he moving? He didn’t want to think about that.
“Aelius??? What are you doing here?”
His surprised face is cute, he thought. Aelius soon realized what he was thinking and brushed it off. Out of impulse, Aelius pulled Atlas into a hug.
‘Like a puzzle..’
The two fit into each other perfectly, like Atlas’ body was made just for him to hug. No one else's. He knew he was being a bit much by pulling him into a hug, but he decided to go even further by putting his own chin on Atlas’ hair. His hair smelled nice, sandalwood and slight gunpowder mixing together well.
He wanted to embrace this feeling forever, with him always in his arms. But that paradise had to wait. Aelius let go of Atlas reluctantly, before asking him a question.
“Atlas, are you okay?”
“Yeah.. I’m fine.. But what are you doing here?”
“Oh, me? I’m here to pick up a relative.”
“...”
Atlas was silent, like he was thinking about something. Was it bad? Did he say something wrong? Is his delusion of Atlas actually moving away.. real?
“Atlas?”
“Are they named Aethra..??”
How did he know her name?
“How’d you know?”
“Ahahaha.. Funny story.. Aethra is dating my sister.”
Aethra was.. dating Atlas’ sister?
“What?”
~
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~
Aelius couldn’t resist. He saw that Atlas was sweating, probably chasing after his sister Atalanta who ran towards Aethra’s gate. Aelius carried, bridal-style, Atlas. It was fun, but the thing that made his heart slightly flutter was when Atlas held onto him, like he was deeply cared about. Atlas looked comfortable, he looked safe, and that was all he needed to know.
He looked down to see Atlas, and he smiled. A genuine smile after all the years he’s been putting up a fake smile.
Again, he reluctantly put down Atlas, silently sobbing like a wet sopping cat internally, never letting Atlas know about it. He then saw Atlas run up to his sister, who was just fighting with her girlfriend, to scold her about running off from him. Aelius smiled, but that smile quickly faltered when he heard that Atlas has a crush.
‘So he has a crush.. Maybe I should stop liking him then. I’m sure his crush is a great person..’
“Oh? What’s up with you? Are you shocked by the fact that your “boyfriend” has a crush?” The words “on you” were left unsaid by Aethra.
“Hahaha.. I’m not..!! I’m proud of him, you know.”
His cousin did NOT take the bait.
“You’re jealous, aren’t you?” She laughed for a moment until she brought her attention back to Aelius. “His crush.. It’s you.”
“?!”
“You’re lying, bluffing.”
“Oh? Now why would I ever lie about something like this?”
“It’s just..”
He sighed.
“I don’t think I’m good enough for him. He deserves someone better.”
Of course, Aelius thought that he was the best candidate for Atlas, but alas, he could meet ANYONE, and like them more than Aelius.
Aethra saw this, and patted his back.
“Hey, why don’t we change the topic? How’s Apollo doing? I heard that you’re being forced to hang out with his friends. What were they called? The Pantheon?”
Oh yeah. He completely forgot about that.
“Mhm, I’m gonna head out soon. Originally, I was going to pick you up but it seems like you’ll be in good hands with..” He looked over to Atlas and Atalanta where they were bickering. “Your girlfriend and her brother.”
Aethra turned as red as a tomato.
“H-how did you know we were dating..??”
“Atlas told me.”
She sighed.
“Of course Atlas told you..” She looked up to see him dazed.
“Hey! I know you like Atlas but you don’t have to be in a daze when you’re thinking of him! Do you dream of him at night or something??”
Aelius looked away. The wall was very interesting today.
“....”
“So you do dream about Atlas. I’m telling Athena about this-”
“WAIT NO PLEASE-”
~
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~
Aelius sat next to his brother who was speaking in Greek. He was trying to listen to what he was saying, but his mind kept on drifting to the words Aethra said.
“His crush… It’s you.”
“te blestemă, Aethra... haah... de ce mi-ai spus asta înainte să mă duc să-l văd pe Apollo și prietenii lui... ah, dar Atlas arăta frumos astăzi…”
Apollo looked over towards his younger brother.
“este ceva în neregulă, Aelius?” he asked.
{“Is there something wrong, Aelius?”)
Aelius shook his head. “este doar Atlas.. arăta frumos astăzi”.
(“It’s just Atlas.. He looked very pretty today.”
Apollo immediately caught on. “ohoho.. iti place.. Atlas?”
(“Ohoho.. Do you like.. Atlas?”
“!!”
“μη-όχι! δεν τον συμπαθώ!”
(“N-no! I don’t like him!”)
Aelius accidentally switched languages from Romanian to Greek.
“πρόκειται για τον Άτλαντα, σωστά;”
(“This is about Atlas, right?”)
Apollo’s friend, Aphrodite said. She was holding her boyfriend, Ares, arm.
“αν σου αρέσει τόσο πολύ που έπρεπε να αλλάξεις γλώσσα, ραντεβού!”
(“If you like him so much that you had to switch languages, date him!”)
“Ποιος είναι αυτός ο «Άτλας» για τον οποίο μιλάτε όλοι, και που ο Αίλιος θέλει να αγαπήσει;”
(“Who is this ‘Atlas’ you all speak of, and that Aelius desires to love?”)
Zeus said, one of Apollo's other friends. Honestly, how many friends did Apollo have??
“Ο Άτλας είναι η συντριβή του Αίλιου, αν δεν το ξέρατε. Είναι σπουδαστής τέχνης στη σχολή που πηγαίνει. Είναι ωραίο παιδί.”
(“Atlas is Aelius' crush, if you didn't know. He's an art major at the school he goes to. He's a nice kid.”)
Hera, Zeus’s girlfriend, spoke up. She learned about love during her time at school. She’s a marriage counselor now.
“Ερμή, έχεις κάτι να πεις για αυτό; Αθήνα;”
(“Do you have anything to say about this, Hermes? Athena?”)
“ξέραμε. και οι δύο τρέφονται ο ένας με τον άλλον. Δεν μπορώ να πιστέψω ότι δεν τα έχουν πάρει μαζί. πέρασαν, τι, 10 χρόνια;”
(“We've known. They both have a crush on eachother. I can't believe they haven't gotten their stuff together though. It's been, what, 10 years?”)
Aelius was shocked. He didn’t think that Athena was actually here. And she’s known for 10 years? Hermes too..
“Τέλος πάντων, προσθέτοντας σε αυτά που είπε η Αθηνά. Θα πρέπει να του ζητήσετε να βγουν! Η ημέρα του Αγίου Βαλεντίνου πλησιάζει σύντομα. Θα μπορούσα να ρωτήσω τον αδερφό του τι του αρέσει και τι άλλο, αν θέλετε.”
(“Anyways, adding on to what Athena said. You should ask him out! Valentine's Day is coming up soon. I could ask his brother what he likes and stuff if you'd like.”)
Somehow, Aelius completely forgot about Hermes’s multiple connections. It was slightly concerning if you thought about it for a bit. Now that he thought about it, he didn’t know Prometheus that well.
“That’d be great. Thank you Hermes..”
“Don’t thank me. Aelius. You very well may fail. Good luck.”