Love you, too...

Chapter One: After the Battle

Achilleus had had enough. Enough of fighting, sickos, and death. All of it. First Paddy, now Skinner? He'd just had enough. He strode away quickly, just wanting to be done. Leave it behind. It was a new time now. They'd won, the sickos had lost. No use thinking about it all anymore. He didn't show it, though. Held his head high, spear in hand. He was a victor, a hero, a fighter. Tough and didn't give in to silly emotions. In reality, though, he was just as broken as the rest of them. Only difference was he didn't want to admit it. He'd had enough crying and sniffling at the museum in his room, and what good had that done him? Then he'd heard a voice. Will.            

     "Achilleus," Will called out, and in a moment was there at Achilleus' side. Achilleus stopped. His heart was beating fast, faster than it did in a battle. He liked Will. A lot. 'Specially since Ed and his crew went out to find Ella. Will had caught Achilleus' eye. He was cool, smart. Good with a crossbow. Cute, too. Trusted, liked. Achilleus couldn't say the same for himself. Wasn't sure anybody really did like him. Achilleus was a right jerk sometimes, yeah, he'd admit that. Proud of it most of the time. He was Jerk Extraordinaire, the biggest bully in London. Well, there wasn't that much competition for that anymore, he thought. Not many left to compete for it. Except for the sickos, but thanks to the battle the lot of them's dead now. His mind flashed back to the days before the Battle of Hyde Park- and the battle itself. What had happened. What Will had told him. That confession in the room, right before Will had left with the rest of them. 

     "Achilleus, I-" Will panted, but Achilleus didn't let him finish. 

     "I like you, too," he told Will simply. "Don't know why, little nerdy bugger like you, but I do." 

     Will's eyes went wide and the corners of his mouth tugged into something like a smile for a second, but then it was gone. "Well, uh- I wanted to ask you something. Are you alright? I heard about Paddy, and, well, Skinner, and I just wanted to make sure you're fine." his tone was concerned and his sympathy and worry was genuine. Achilleus could tell by his stance, his face. He shrugged. Tried not to let the sadness and grief that was climbing up his throat, choking him, show. Tried to be tough. "They shouldn't have gone. But that's that, and I can't do nothing about it," said it like if they had just gone away on an outing or something. If only. Achilleus didn't say he was fine, because he wasn't. Honestly, he felt like curling up into a little ball and wailing like he was a baby again. A sad, little, wimpy baby, crying though it wouldn't fix nothing. Just make things more of a watery mess. All this time, he'd been holdin' up a shield as Mr. Tough Guy, mean and vicious and could kill you if he wanted to without breaking a sweat, no emotions. But now, after everything, and Will being there, patient and gentle and right to the point, well. He couldn't keep it in anymore. After all the blood, carnage, and death, Achilleus couldn't go through all that without opening up. Nobody is a machine, Jordan had said. And he was right. Not even Achilleus was. Achilleus heard the pain, the guilt, the grief in his own words. I can't do nothing about it. 
      Will apparently heard it too. He rested a hand on Achilleus' shoulder. He had serious eyes, fixed you in a way that made it hard to look anywhere else. Not like Justin, though, or Einstein. Einstein. Achilleus really hated that kid. If it were up to him, he'd have given him to the sickos. But Will was different. His stare was serious, yes, but there was a softness in his gaze. He looked at you with an examining air, but at the same time welcoming. Achilleus found some sort of comfort in him, a feeling he hadn't felt in a long time. It made him jittery at the same time he felt comforted. Strange combination. 

     "It's okay," Will said quietly. "I'll be there for you." 

    "That's what you said in my room," Achilleus noted bluntly. 

    "Yes, it was," Will replied. "And it was just as true then as it is now." for whatever reason, Achilleus trusted Will. That he would be. And that Achilleus, for the first time in what seemed like an eternity, could lean on him. The two boys walked off together, comforted by the other's presence, and both thinking of the times they'd shared together, before this. Short but meaningful, like the lives of the fallen. Paddy. Skinner. Hayden. Arran. Freak. Deke. Adele. And much, much more. Lives that had mattered. And hopefully still would in the future. Achilleus would make sure of that. Paddy was the one who deserved the statue as far as he was concerned, not himself. And if Will kept his promise... no. Not if. Will would. Achilleus was sure of that, more than anything. He was going to let Will in. Maybe the future wouldn't be so bad.