Love you, too...

Chapter Five: New and Strange

We are done with flashbacks! Yay! This takes place a week after the first chapter. 

This was all too weird. Too strange. Unfamiliar. This whole thing. Peace. Achilleus couldn't use that to describe London. Hadn't been able to in a year. But now... now London was peaceful. Sicko-free. It was all just there. This past year, every single day, hour, minute, second he was suspicious. Of people, but mostly of deceptive surroundings. Peace was equivalent to suspicious, most likely certain death. It was eerie, and it was a new reality. Almost worse than the disease-filled London. He still wasn't used to it, after a week. 

     He thought of all this as he sat in the outside, wary and still shaken. He wasn't sure how he felt. He was sad, yeah, but more than that he felt numb. Emotionless. Unable to cry any longer. Unable to feel anything. Will was fixing that some, but still. If he thought too long about Paddy or Skinner he'd feel worse. He tried to relax, Will there with him. Imagine- Will comforting Achilleus, the tough fighter. Will, the sensible, clever one, well-liked, popular. And then, Achilleus, the hotheaded, at times rather an idiot, a jerk, and not popular unless you counted his fame and a small amount of appreciation. Mostly it was for him being a good fighter. He hadn't minded much before, didn't now either. Not much, at least.

     They really were an odd pair.

     Will sat next to Achilleus, his hand resting on Achilleus' arm now. Comforting, sort of. Sort of like affection. Was it or wasn't it? Feelings were confusing. Usually, Achilleus didn't bother with feelings. Couldn't care less about other people's. But when he did want to care, did care, he sucked at being somebody you'd want to hang around. Most of the time he went back to his normal jerk self. He let that happen too often. The way he showed 'affection' was being an overall bully. Will didn't seem to mind. 

    "Will? Why're you bothering, anyway? I don't want none of your sympathy. I'm good. I don't need you sticking around anymore to make sure I'm alright. I'm not a little wussy baby," Achilleus said, trying to cover up his sincere question with a mean protest. 

     Will cocked his head like a dog. Achilleus liked dogs, but he was more of a cat person, to be honest. That reminded him- Miss Jones. He'd feed her later if she was still at the museum. 

     "What d'you mean?" Will asked, his expression soft and calm. Quite a contrast to his cuts all over- his face, his arms. He, like the rest of them, looked vaguely like Achilleus now- his scars everywhere and all. "I'm here because I want to be. I like you, Akkie."

    "Nobody calls me Akkie unless I let them. And I ain't rememberin' lettin' you, or lettin' you on my arm like that," Achilleus told him.

     "Well, I guess I'm nobody, then," Will joked, smiling kindly. Achilleus wondered how he did it. Stayed so nice and calm and likable. 

     "You said it, not me," Achilleus said dismissively.

     "Well, am I going to stay nobody to you? Or am I somebody?" Will asked, inching closer. Hand sliding down to Achilleus' own. Took guts.

    "Depends. You're a wimpy annoyance to me if that's what you mean." Achilleus said flatly, heart beating quickly. Will's hand was on Achilleus'. "And what's with the affection? You're hopin' for a kiss?" Will didn't answer his question, though. 

     "Do you like me, Achilleus? Like I like you? I'm sorry if it's rushed. I just... I don't want to waste time. One of us might die and then we'll have no more time. I like you and I want to know you," Will said simply. Eyes looking straight into Achilleus' and holding them. Not like Jordan's, though. Softer.

     Achilleus swallowed. Will was right, and this was what Achilleus had been thinking about, hadn't it? Before it was too late...

     "So you're saying you wanna be my boyfriend, huh? Kissy-kissy mush and all that? Or d'you want protection from the extinct sickos? Nerd can't defend himself?" Achilleus said, being his regular self again. Hinting he wanted to be his boyfriend. Just not being so obvious about it.

     "That's his way of saying he likes you," Maxie hissed as she walked by with Blue, both smiling and snickering at Achilleus' sad attempt at 'flirting'. Will seemed somewhat embarrassed but not bothered by them.

     "And I like you too, you idiot," Will sighed, leaning in close to Achilleus. Is he gonna kiss me? Achilleus wondered, pulse racing. Instead, Will stopped inches from Achilleus' face and bopped his nose with his finger. Then he stood up and walked inside the museum, leaving Achilleus to stare in wonder at Will. Achilleus really did like him. A lot. The way he smiled, how he was always so calm and smart and clever and not intimidated at all by minor things and still just as good a fighter and alert. Achilleus didn't just like Will. He loved Will. He just didn't show it the way other people did. He noticed Maxie and Blue laughing quietly, muffling their laughs. Oh, well. He'd kill them later- and Will, for that nose bop. Just... not really. It had felt good, he had to admit. It was new and strange, and he had to say he kind of liked it. 

    Another new, unreal thing he had to get used to. Or was it got to get used to? He glared at Maxie and Blue and they went quiet- but not really. He supposed the news would be out soon. He was genuinely surprised that he wasn't bothered by that. In fact, he felt kinda excited. He'd never really had a boyfriend before. The closest thing he'd gotten to that was kissing a boy behind the school once. It'd been a dare on the other kid's part, though. Kiss the big, bad bully Achilleus and we'll give you some coins. Achilleus had beat them up after that. What'd happened to them, he wondered. He shook the thought from his mind. No need to dwell on that. New start, fresh page. More things to get used to. More things new and strange.