A second chance -Patrochilles reincarnation AU

Chapter 4

The two boys ran through the entire mall on their way to the ice cream shop.

"Last one there has to pay!" Achilles had said, then he ran away, Patroclus took a second to fully process what Achilles said. Then he started running too, trying his hardest to get there before Achilles.

"Not fair! You should've at least warned me before you started running!" Patroclus said once he got to the ice cream shop. Achilles was already there and was looking at the different ice cream flavors meanwhile Patroclus was struggling to catch his breath. "How the hell do you run so fast?!"

"I don't know" It was very clear that Achilles was very focused on the ice cream flavors. "But, since you got here last, you have to pay!" Achilles said, and before Patroclus even had the chance to complain, he pointed to the big menu on one of the walls of the ice cream shop, more specifically to a flavor. "Oh my god! They have bacon flavored ice cream?" The two of them laughed about it. Bacon flavored ice cream? Who even thought that was a good idea?

"Do you think it tastes good?" Patroclus asked after they were done laughing.

"I mean, probably not." Achilles says, still not completely sure if he should ask for one of those fancy, expensive ice creams the shop had or take pity on his friend and just go for what he always ordered: chocolate ice cream. He decided to not be so cruel towards his friend.

Patroclus got choco mint ice cream and after the boy paid for both of their ice creams, they left the shop and walked around the mall for a while. They occasionally stopped by at some stores, but most of the time they spent it joking around and just talking, like they always did.

"Shit, it's already getting late. I gotta go back home" Patroclus said, clearly upset about having to leave 'so soon' even though they spent literal hours there. "Bye, see you on Monday?"

"Yeah, bye." Achilles waved to Patroclus as he walked away, and of course, Patroclus waved back to him and then started walking towards the exit of the mall. Achilles was kind of upset about him having to leave already but, he understood that he couldn't stay there so late or he could get in trouble plus, it was about time Achilles started heading back home too, or his mom would get angry and worried. There was nothing worse than his mother being both angry and worried at the same time. So he also made his way back home.

As soon as Patroclus got to his house, he headed upstairs to his room and started texting Britney. He had been talking to her about this boy he had met at the cafe, about how he seemed to get nervous when spesking to Patroclus at first, or how during one of their many video calls he found out Achilles knew how to play the lyre and did it quite well, and now, they went on a date. A date! His best friend since elementary school had to know about this.

And so, he told her about it, everything. Including the whole Diana thing "Dude, I think he was definitely trying to drop hints that he likes you. I mean, there was no need to grab you by the waist and pull you closer to him, he definitely likes you!" Britney said, you could almost hear her smile through the phone, she was glad her best friend was finally getting more friends, especially considering how bad he was at socializing, and she was even happier at the small chance of him finally getting to date someone, after nearly 16 years.

"I don't think he likes me, she was really annoying so, maybe that was the only way to get her to leave him alone?" Oh, Patroclus. Why must you be like this?

"Dude, he held your hand during the entire movie. He likes you, no doubt. Plus, he got a couple's combo for the two of you! What's more romantic than sharing a fucking couple's combo with someone, Pat? Absolutely nothing!" Britney was determined to help her best friend finally get a boyfriend. It didn't matter what it took.

"He was probably just trying to be nice. Also, he probably held my hand just because he noticed I was scared and was just trying to be a good friend?" Here you have him, Patroclus, a professional self-friendzoner.

"Pat, look, I love you, you're my best friend and you have been since we were 6. But why are you so dumb? He likes you. Just accept it already and start dating!" She wasn't even trying to hide the fact she was starting to feel pretty angry at just how blind her friend was. "Plus, you already know he likes guys!"

"Alright, fine, let's say he does have feelings for me. How the hell do I bring that up? Just casually go 'oh, hey do you happen to have a crush on me, by any chance?"

"Maybe try being a bit more physically affectionate and see how he reacts? Y'know, try hugging him or something? Of course, don't do anything too weird, maybe play with his hair" Britney always had much better advice compared to Patroclus. "Or maybe try telling him nice things? Like, 'oh, you look very good today!"

"Oh my goodness, thank you, Brit. That is a kind of okay idea!" Patroclus was glad he had someone like Britney in moments like these. "Well, I gotta go, bye! Good night Brit."

"Bye Pat. If you decide to take my advice, tell me how it goes!"

And he did, the next day he said something nice to Achilles.

"Hey, Achilles. You look really good today!" Patroclus said with a smile on his face.

Achilles smiled back and said "Thank you, Patroclus. You look very good today too." Even though they both seemed kind of okay on the surface, the both of them were panicking just a little bit.

This went on for a while, and Patroclus started wondering if he would ever be able to tell Achilles how he felt. It didn't matter, as long as he had him in his life. They started hanging out in other places more often, and meanwhile Achilles had already been planning to tell Patroclus, Patroclus was still having a hard time dropping hints to Achilles. Hoping one day, he would be able to tell him how he felt and then they would be happy together, though this was just another one of his smal fake scenarios, he still loved it. He loved the thought of it, the thought of being able to kiss Achilles and touch him.

Patroclus' thoughts got interrupted by a notification from a specific someone...

Heyyy, author here, hi! Sorry if this one was a bit rushed, like I said, I've been really busy lately sorry lol