Atlas

Sixteen

Grace

I had woken up one afternoon, realizing my heart was beating very frantically in my chest.

"It's the stupid energy drink you had before bed." Reece said disappointingly when I called him a couple hours later.

I had called him to check up on him, and it turned into an hour's worth of therapy – mostly about him and Dimia.

When the phone call ended, I took some time to sit and think things through. About my mom, Reece, Atlas, everything.

I made a list of whatever was upsetting me and crossed it out as I packed my emotions into tiny, neat bundles instead of them being wrapped around each other.

Mom joining DWB – with time, I had accepted it. And the fact that I was going to be there with her seemed to calm me down more than upset me that she was going to be positioned somewhere unsafe. She had talked to her boss, who was thinking of sending her team to the Mediterranean. No conflict areas, so that was great.

Reece and Dimia breaking up – honestly, the only thing I was upset about was how Dimia was going to take the breakup. I had told Reece to do it when we all went back to Seattle for the winter holidays, since she'd have a good support system. But since Reece was having second thoughts of breaking up with her, he said he would wait a while.

Atlas – That was a tough one. I knew he made me happy and meeting him had to be the best thing that happened to me since I came here. We hadn't put a label on our relationship, but I think it was pretty clear.

Atlas, however, needed to work on himself. He was volatile, and it was something that did concern me. Maybe I'd raise the issue to him later.

Once I fell a little calmer, I went about studying for the day. Exams were right around the corner and I wanted to impress mom more than I actually wanted to pass.

At around six, the doorbell rang.

"It's open."

Atlas walked in and greeted me with a kiss on my cheek. Every time I looked at him, I got butterflies.

This man was drop-dead gorgeous.

He grabbed a bottle of water from my fridge and jumped straight on the couch. "Why is there a piece of paper with my name under mom, Reece and Dimia on it?" he asked curiously.

I finished writing the last sentence I was scrawling down on my notebook. I just shrugged. "Figuring out stuff."

He held his arms out. "Come here." He pulled me into his lap. He was warm, dressed in a sweatshirt and pants, and he smelled amazing.

"Hungry?"

I wrapped my arms around his neck. "Extremely."

"You're done studying for the day?"

"Mhm." I agreed. I was barely listening. My hands were running through his soft hair.

"I want to take you out to dinner."

"Date night?" I pulled back, an exciting glimmer in my eye. He must have noticed, because he chuckled.

"Yeah."

"Now?"

"Whenever you're hungry."

"Alright." I got up. "Let me go change. Where were you thinking of taking me?"

"I dunno, sweetheart. What do you feel like eating?"

"Sushi."

"Okay. I'll go shower. I'll come get you in fifteenish?"