Was It Always Us? | COMPLETED ✔

𝙼𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙰𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜

"So you're not going to lash out at me anymore, are you?" I said, taking a bite of the food in front of me.

"I'll think about it." she said, and I smiled softly. 

"Look, I don't want us to fight like this. I admit what I did was wrong and I shouldn't have ghosted you, so can we please move on?"

"I'll think about it."

I groaned in frustration. Why did she have to make this so difficult? 

"What do I have to do to earn your forgiveness, then?"

She perked up and fidgeted with her fingers, deep in thought. Absentmindedly, she picked up the water bottle to take a sip, but instead, it slipped from her fingers and emptied on the table, staining my shirt. As if that wasn't enough, at that very moment, the ketchup also toppled over, and the whole container was dumped. 

On me.

Yay.

Lily looked mortified, her eyes wide. But then I burst out laughing. I didn't feel like it, honestly. I was quite irritated, considering I'd worn my favourite shirt and I had to walk out of this restaurant too. But I didn't want Lily to feel bad, or that it was her fault, and when she began laughing too, I knew it was alright.

"I'm so sorry, Atlas." she muttered between fits of laughter destined to kill.

"Is this what it takes to forgive me?"

"I suppose."

And then, she leaned over to give me a quick peck before pulling back and taking some napkins to clean up the mess. Heat crept up my neck and I involuntarily blushed a bit. Just before a waiter came to help us, Lily smiled sweetly.

"See? I can make my husband blush when I want to as well." 

I didn't reply.

After a trip to the washroom and vigorously washing off the ketchup, I looked fairly presentable, and after finishing with out food, me and Lily went back to our car. Lily mentioned that she needed to pick up Emmy from Alyssa and Marshall's apartment, and off we went. It took us around half an hour to reach there, and when Lily rang the bell, it was Marshall who opened the door. We immediately hugged each other, and then he did the same with Lily, inviting us both inside. Alyssa was in the kitchen, and as she waved at me and Lily, I regarded her with a smile. She nodded back. Emmy wasn't in the living room, and when I looked around the house, I couldn't see her anywhere else either. When I asked, Marshall said Ryle had taken her to his apartment for a bit, but they had texted him and he was coming in a while.

I seated myself in the lounge where Marshall joined me, holding on to Rylee. I smiled as I saw her and she sat on the sofa, between me and Marshall. Then, she smiled up to me before hugging me softly, and a grin formed on my lips.

"It's nice t-to see you, Atlas!" she muttered.

"Well, it's nice to see you too, tiny princess."

"I'm not tiny!"

"I think you are, though. Look at you."

"Daddy, he's calling me tiny!" she snitched to Marshall.

"Don't you dare call my daughter tiny, you get me?" he joked.

"Alright. It's nice to meet you too, princess."

"But I'm not a princess! I'm a queen."

I chuckled and so did Marshall.

"Queen, huh? I don't believe you are."

"Why?"

"Queens have crowns. And they wear pretty dresses. You don't have a crown."

She went quiet and thought for a moment.

"Daddy, I want a crown!"

Marshall's reply was interrupted by Ryle coming in with Emmy. His expression hardened when he saw me, and I thought I noticed some emotion flash through his eyes. Emerson immediately came out of his grip and ran for me, and I picked her up, embracing her.

"Where's Mommy?" she asked.

"Let me take you to her." I replied, getting up and leading her to the kitchen where Lily was conversing with Alyssa. Emmy began running again, and the smile on Lily's face made my heart melt.

What would I not give to see her smile like that all the time? 

If it were up to me, the fight between us would never have happened and we would continue on this straight path with no bumps or curves. But life isn't like that, and people have to compromise, sacrifice and come to mutual understandings. Nobody is ever perfect. We all make mistakes. What matters is moving on from those mistakes and making sure they're not repeated. 

"Earth to Atlas! Can you hear me from dreamland?" 

Lily's voice brought me back to the present, and I just shook my head. Emmy was tugging at my shirt, and I just picked her up and set her on the counter.

"Now you won't be able to get down from here." I said, and she began pouting and wailing. I backed away from there and Emmy stared at me, Alyssa and Lily, grumbling.

"Get me down from here!" she half shouted.

"Only if you give me a hug." I said and she nodded quickly. I picked her up and she hugged me before jumping down.

"D-don't do that again."

"Alright, alright, I won't."

"I'm hungry."

"Let me order something." Lily butted in but Alyssa stopped her.

"What use is your chef husband if he can't even cook us something?"

"Let me get to it." I intervened.

"You were kidding, weren't you, Alyssa?" Lily said, glaring at her.

"Of course I was! But you have to make up for that lunch you forgot about."

"I'll keep that in mind." I smiled.

Just then, I got a call and excused myself, going to the hallway, noticing Ryle gazing at me with what looked like anger. I chose to ignore whatever he was trying to convey and picked up the call, which was from Josh.

"Hey, Atlas?"

"Yeah?"

"Could you promise not to be angry at me?"

"What happened?"

"Promise me, please."

"Would you just tell me already?"

"Well...I went to this party with Theo, and there were some kids there. Selling drugs. There was alcohol too. I didn't know all that was going to happen. And umm...somebody tipped off the police. We're sort of in custody here."

"What?"

"WE'RE AT THE POLICE STATION, YOU DUMBO, AND I NEED YOU TO COME PICK US UP!"