Atlas

Twenty Five

It had been a week since Atlas had let the love of his life walk away.

It seemed silly, calling someone the love of your life when you had only known them for a short period of time.

What was even sillier was letting them go.

While Atlas along his young adult years had quite a few girls fawning over him, he never quite found them as interesting as Grace. It's not like he hadn't tried – he had given them a fair chance – but Grace was different. And he wasn't just saying that.

The following Sunday, when he woke up, he felt like he had a hole in his chest where his heart should be.

He made breakfast, then patiently waited for his brother to arrive. He tidied up what needed to be put in place, and sat on the couch, folding and unfolding his hands.

When Adrian made his way into the apartment, he couldn't help but frown. "You look terrible."

Atlas took baby Luna and held her tight, eliciting a giggle from her.

"Thanks for coming."

"I came for Phoebe." Adrian said smugly and dropped on the couch. "Plus Christmas is in two days."

"How's that going?" Atlas kicked the door closed and joined his brother. "I mean Phoebe, not Christmas. Do you want water or something? Breakfast?"

"No thanks. It's going well, we call everyday."

"Are you guys dating?"

"I don't know." Adrian scratched the back of his head and sighed. "I don't want to tie her down, with the baby and everything. I guess time will tell."

Atlas passed Luna to Adrian and went to the fridge to pour them both a cup of juice.

"Look, I know something's on your mind, so spit it out." Adrian said to him. "Is it about Abingham?"

The word felt like a sharp knife cut. "I really don't know, Adrian. To be honest, I haven't thought much about it."

"Would you like to talk about it?"

Atlas shrugged. He had done a lot of thinking this past week and he had decided to let things be. "You were right. I can't change the past. No point looking back."

"No you can look back, Atlas, just don't dig. Everyone has skeletons in their closets, our family just had a whole basement of them."

"Family." Atlas spit the word out. A crazy mother. An imprisoned father. A psycho sadist for an uncle.

Adrian tilted his head. "You say the word like it is supposed to bring you shame." He placed his hand on Atlas's shoulder. "You're my family, Atlas. You can never bring me shame."

Atlas raised an eyebrow. "Even after what I did in Edinburgh five years ago?"

Adrian laughed and told him how the local town members still had WANTED posters up against him.

"You're going to therapy, by the way." Adrian added. "That's a non-negotiable."

Atlas took a long time to think. "Look. I want to. For you. For..."

"Grace?" Atlas didn't respond. Adrian grew worried. "Please don't tell me you fucked things up with her."

"I – wait, we'll get to that. About the therapy thing – good point. But I don't have the money for it right now."

"So?"

"So that's a problem."

"No, its not."

"Yes—"