Me or him

Chapter one

"Get out! I knew I couldn't trust you. You're disgusting."

Atlas stared at Terra to see if she was serious, and with the furious look he was given, he got his answer. Atlas grabbed Tyler's hand and led him to the living room. He then picked the four-year-old up and placed him on the couch.

"Put these on, okay? I'll be right back." He handed Tyler his light-up shoes that the little boy wanted so badly. Atlas then made his way back to the bedroom to try to come to an understanding with his girlfriend, or maybe now, his ex-girlfriend.

"Terra-"

"Don't! You're lying! My brother would never try to do anything like that."

"Why would I lie? I'm telling the truth, Terra. If I'd known you'd pinned me to be a liar, I would've kept it to myself. He tried to get me to have sex with him, and I said no; he got mad, and that's when I called for you!"

"Get your shit and take that little nigga with you!" She yelled at Atlas with way more volume.

"Tyler has nothing to do with this; don't bring him up." Now Atlas is furious. This only fed Terra's ego more, so she continued to say many things nobody should ever say about an innocent child.

"I knew I should've never dated a half-faggot! We're done. Don't show up here anymore."

Atlas sighed and went back to the living room, where Tyler was patiently waiting, swinging his legs back and forth. Atlas is just praying that his innocent ears didn't pick up anything that was said.

"Come on, buddy, we're leaving."

Tyler hopped off the couch to take Atlas' stretched-out hand. Atlas leaned down and grabbed the small Spider-Man book bag that held all of Tyler's stuff, and they made their way out of the door.

"Where are we going, Dah?"

Altas ignored him for the time being and opened his car door. He strapped Tyler in the back before going to the driver's side to get in. He started the car and buckled his own seatbelt before letting out a heavy sigh. He didn't know where to go. He and Terra have been dating for a year. About a month ago, he was forced to move out of his apartment due to issues with the water pipes. Terra said Atlas and Tyler were more than welcome to stay at her house for the time being, but that was until her older brother got out of jail.

"Dah stressed?"

"Yeah buddy, I'm fine though."

"Where are we going?"

Atlas sat there quiet for a moment because he didn't know where to go and he didn't want to be a burden to anyone. He could go to a hotel since he has more than enough money to do so, but he would use that as a last resort so he could save what he has right now.

"Dah?"

"Yeah buddy, I'm thinking. You want to go to GG house or Eri's house?"

"Eri's house!"
———

"Thank you for letting us stay here. I'll be out by next week."

Eri smiled up at his best friend and patted his shoulder. "No problem, you can come here anytime! You and Tyler are more than welcome; I was starting to think you forgot about me." He lightly chuckled.

"Dah, the cat! Look!" Tyler pointed to one of Eri's three cats; this one was under the kitchen table. Atlas then realized that this was probably the real reason Tyler wanted to come here.

"I see him buddy."

"Can I pet him?"

Eri gave Tyler the green light to pet the sleeping cat. Once the little boy was out of earshot, Eri started to ask Atlas his own questions: "So what happened to Terra?"

Atlas shrugged his shoulders. "Her brother got out of jail like a week ago; he tried stuff with me, and when he wouldn't leave me alone, I told Terra. She accused me of lying."

"I told you not to date her," Eri said, shaking his head. "I didn't like her from the beginning. She was quick to rush a lot of things."

"Is that the only reason why you didn't like her?" Atlas asked already, knowing the answer. Eri and Atlas are childhood friends. They grew up together and experienced plenty of things together. At one point, they fooled around a bit, but then Atlas found someone he truly liked, so he ended it. Four years ago, that ended, and they started to fool around again, until he met Terra last year. Atlas always thought that the fooling around was just for fun, until Eri lashed out when Atlas found someone else. It's been two years since they last did anything sexual together.

"I hate the fact that she took you from me; why can't you just be with me, Las?" Eri leaned his head on Atlas' shoulder and pulled him into a hug. "I'll treat you right; I won't do anything that'll upset you; just please pick me for once."

"Is it because I'm a guy?" Eri asked and looked up into Atlas' eyes. It's true that Atlas has only ever been in committed relationships with women. It's not for any specific reason; he just seems to be more prone to relationships with women. Don't get him wrong; he is more than confident in his sexuality, but sometimes he'd rather go for the latter.

"I'm bi, Eri. That has nothing to do with anything."

"But you only date women, what do they have that I don't!"

"You're getting loud." Atlas warned and looked over to Tyler, who is still playing with the cat. Tyler has a thing for animals; he loves any type, and more than anything, Atlas wants to get him his own little pet, but they have to get more stable first.

"I'm sorry, you just... It hurts, Atlas."

"I just got out of a relationship, and I don't want to start another one anytime soon. I'm just going to settle and focus on Tyler for now."

"But are you going to come back to me?"

"Eri, I don't like how you wait for me; you're not a second choice. You should be prioritized and treated well. I took advantage of that."

"No, you didn't; I kept going to you." Eri hugged Atlas tighter. "I want you and only you. Why can't we be together?"

"Let's just drop this, okay? I didn't sleep last night."

As much as Eri didn't want to drop the conversation, he did. Atlas is a gentleman and, overall, a good person. He just can't be in committed relationships, and when he does fall in love, he loves hard. Eri has been with him through all his breakups, and he was the shoulder Atlas could cry on. Eri just doesn't understand why they can't be in a relationship, but can do everything that couples do. It's not just sex; they go on dates, buy each other Valentine's Day gifts, and even act like a couple in public. Eri has had a crush on Atlas for as long as he can remember, and it hurts that he can't move on. Atlas was his first everything at 18, but Eri still doesn't have the strength to let anyone else touch his body.

"I'll take care of Tyler; he doesn't look like he'll be sleeping anytime soon, so you go lay down." Eri turned to look at the little boy. He smiled as he watched him interact with another one of his cats that came from under the couch. Sometimes he found it crazy how much Tyler reminded him of Atlas. His personality, his love for animals, and his laugh. Sometimes he even sees a resemblance in features between the two, but it wasn't possible, and many DNA tests proved that.

"No, it's oka-"

"No, you can go lay down; I'll cook something to eat and wake you up when it's ready. I promise nothing is going to happen to him. He's fine, Las, you need a break."

Atlas couldn't say in words how grateful he is for Eri. It was well known that he needed rest. Caring for a four-year-old, having a needy, clingy girlfriend, and having a job that takes up a lot of time are bound to make anyone tired. Maybe he should treat himself to a nice place one of these days.

After thanking Eri, Atlas went to the familiar bedroom and stripped down to his boxers before face-planting on the bed. Eri hates when people sit on his bed with 'outside clothes' and since Atlas doesn't feel like pissing off his friend right now, he decided to obey the rules.

It wasn't long until Atlas was out into a deep sleep—something he needed and hadn't had in such a long time. He decided to take advantage of this.