supernova

bonus chapter #2

"Atlas! You need to hurry up because I refuse to be late!" I yelled through the phone. I was waiting for him to pick me up at my apartment. This was supposed to be an important night for him. He was freaking out about it, and how he was being cool about it, not caring to be late was beyond me.  "I know it's easier to be late, but the earlier it starts, the earlier it ends. And if you end up enjoying your time, the more time you have with her," I pointed out.

Atlas's birth mother had contacted him a while back. He explained to me it was why he asked me how to forgive someone and what made me forgive my mother that night at Michael's house.

That night was nearly seven months ago.

Today, we were going to meet his mother, Houria. She had been trying to reach out to him for so long, and he'd been reluctant.

I made him talk to Amukta about closure. She and Deen were happy and Laia was old news. She cared for Laia and loved her, but she had moved on.  I didn't tell Atlas what he should or shouldn't do. I told the two of them to talk and left it there. I didn't want to influence his final decision.

Me wanting Atlas to see his birth mother comes from the fact that I lost mine. It was clearly biased, and talking to me wouldn't help. He decided after talking to Amukta that he wanted to have one conversation and see where it went from there.

"I'm coming, I swear. I'm five minutes away."  I checked his location to see if he was lying. He wasn't.

"Good. Don't drive too fast, douche." I joked.

"I'm your douche, bitch." He was right. 

"We know you are." I hung up and waited in my apartment lobby. He was there in five minutes, and I got in the car.

"I'm sorry, I woke up late," He locked the car and started driving.

"Could've just said that the first time, Atlas. How do you feel about this?" I asked him.

"Nervous. So nervous, I broke down in the shower, dude. I'm freaking out right now." I squeezed his arm resting on the tunnel console.

"You know that's normal right? Its okay to feel nervous, and if it's any comfort, you know I'm right there with you, right?"  I kept my hand on his arm.

"Arabella, you know it's a comfort to me. Don't ask stupid questions." Okay, getting him to joke around. That's a good thing; it'll help relieve some nerves. 

"Just making sure you don't hate me, Atlas," I cheesed. I saw him roll his eyes with a small smile on his face. "Why else would you trip me in a hospital?"

"It was an accident! I was walking to close to you, plus, be thankful it was in a hospital. At least I care about you enough to do it at a hospital so you get immediate care." He joked. He looked at me as his car stopped at a red light.  "Plus, you weren't watching where you were going."

"She was staring too hard at you!" I defended myself. There was a girl there staring so hard at Atlas, so I stared back at her.

"You looked like you were going to kill her. Plus, if we killed everyone who looked to hard at us, then there would be nearly no one left in the world. We're a hot couple. People will stare." He pulled into the Starbucks we were meeting his birth-mother at.

"Are you ready?" I asked as he parked the car.

"No. Absolutely not." I turned to face him and pushed some of his hair off his forehead, which was creased from stress.

"We are going to go in there, and you are going to know that no matter what happens, you are still you. This is an important moment of your life, but not one defining the future on a grand scheme. At the end of the day, the choice you make should be the one benefitting you the most. Okay?" I held his hands in mine while I spoke, giving them a a soft squeeze of reassurance.