I Have Friends In Both Places
Ten

Atlas sat at the edge of his bed and moved his feet back and forth, watching as Lele rushed around his room, rambling loudly. “You two would honestly be, like, so cute together. You’re like- what does Galen call it? OT- OTP? Yeah, you guys are my OTP, oh my goodness. And, you’re like the perfect height for each other, too.” Lele grabbed a pair of black dress shoes with a white dress shirt. “And, to be honest, you guys are just freaking amazing.”

Lele threw a pair of pants at Atlas and told him to put them on. Atlas shimmied the tight pair of pants that were not comfortable at all up his legs and quickly caught the white shirt from the air as Lele threw that. After dodging multiple throws from the boy, Atlas was fully dressed and terrified of what the night would hold.

For a few endless minutes, Lele was telling Atlas tips on how to talk, act, and eat. “Now, do you know how to kiss? Because you don’t know when that’s gonna happen, and y’know, you might wanna know. I can show you how to do it. Because I’ve kissed someone before and like you’re not-” A knock sounded at the door, interrupting Lele’s most absurd sentence yet.

Atlas immediately flew from his seat so he wouldn’t have to listen to any more of Lele’s rambling and opened the door quickly. He was immediately met with Alijah who was dressed in a burgundy suit that complimented him nicely. Atlas felt his breath get caught before he gave the boy a shaky smile. “Hi,” he mumbled out.

Alijah grinned and responded with a “hello.”

Atlas didn’t know what to say after that, so he simply stepped out of the room and grabbed the hand Alijah had extended. Alijah intertwined their fingers and grinned before leading them on their way. Atlas looked over his shoulder to see Lele give an excited thumbs up before disappearing into the room, leaving Atlas to chuckle a bit at how dumb his friend could be.

Alijah led Atlas down a few corridors he didn’t recognize, which wasn’t surprising. Through the month he had been there, there were very few halls he had memorized. He could walk to the library, to the dining room, and to Lele’s room from his room or the others, but that was as far as he had gotten. It had surprised him a bit as Atlas often found himself wanting to explore new passages, but this was different. This was something he didn’t truly understand.

As Atlas followed Alijah down the hall, he took in the form of the boy. Alijah walked confidently and smoothly, knowing that no matter what, he was the leader. He was proud, and his stance showed it. His shoulders were back, head high, and his steps seemed to rattle the whole place with how powerful they were. Alijah was ice cold, a blizzard in Atlas’s eyes.

Atlas’s steps were not as confident, but he still held himself the right way. He had always been taught that if you look like you know what you’re doing, no one will question you, and Atlas kept that mentality. No matter the situation, he tried to hold himself highly, only letting his guard fall when he was by himself or had truly given up. His steps were faulty as he wasn’t sure where he was going, but his shoulders were squared, and his head was high. Atlas wouldn’t let his shoulders fall. Alijah might have been a blizzard, but Atlas would be the fire that melted any ice he laid down, just hot enough to control the blizzard, but not enough to destroy it.

Alijah finally approached a door after a few moments of walking, much less time than he expected, and opened the door easily. It dragged a bit against the floor before hitting the wall in the new room. Atlas stepped through the doorway and grinned at the new surroundings. It wasn’t a room, it was a field filled with ambrosias, pink camellias, bright daffodils, red tulips, and more. A gazebo painted white and blue sat on top of a hill, and a white wooden path led up to it. It was night time, and fairy lights lit up the path and structure in a faint glow that had Atlas grinning so much that his cheeks hurt.

Atlas let out a breathless sigh and turned to see Alijah already looking at him. “Are you serious? This is- this is beautiful!”

Alijah smiled back a bit and nodded. “I was hoping you liked it. I made it specifically for you.”

Atlas’s eyes widened, and his lips fell from a smile to the shape of an o as he looked back over the land. “Are you kidding me?”

Alijah laughed at that. “I am not.”

Atlas cautiously made his way up the path, Alijah following him, watching him. Atlas took in every little detail from how the ground was covered in what looked to be fresh-fallen rain to the flowers that peeked through small parts of the board he was standing on. He was careful not to step on them.

The gazebo was another story. It was beautiful with fairy lights hanging down to form a makeshift chandelier, the roof was partially glass, so he was able to peer out of it, and the entire structure was enclosed with large wooden pillars. A table sat in the middle with flowers from the field placed in the middle and a basket beside them, a radio on the other side.

“I know it’s crazy cheesy, but I figured I might as well go all out.” Alijah’s voice was quiet, as if he was afraid he’d break the calming silence around them.

Atlas nodded. “It’s beautiful, Alijah. It’s absolutely beautiful.”

Alijah grinned at the confirmation in his words and motioned for the boy to sit down at the picnic table. “Then, let’s eat. I don’t have a lot, but I wasn’t sure what would go well with it.”

Atlas watched as Alijah pulled out four sandwiches from the basket along with small bags of chips and fruit. They ate happily, exchanging random details about themselves that seemed mundane, but it made them closer. The bond that was originally from attraction in features grew to an attraction of the mind, something powerful that was hard to break because when you get to know someone for who they really are, you understand them to the point where you would kill for them. Their friendship blossomed along with their interest, and when Atlas found himself sitting in the field, not afraid of ruining his suit with the wet grass as he weaved together flowers into a crown, a trick he had learned from one of the humans he had watched in the past, he was content. Alijah hummed along to the song playing from the radio, a song that was soft and made the mood even better.

By the end of the night, Atlas knew that Alijah’s favorite color was actually deep green, unlike the suits he wore, part of him slightly missed when Heaven was good, he had a small stuffed animal from his old angel friend that was thousands of years old, his ‘mother’ was a woman he had never talked to after he was five, and many little, little things. Atlas told him everything about himself, and he felt his soul brighten just a little bit as they exchanged flawlessly worded sentences.

No matter how much Atlas doubted himself and Alijah’s intentions in the beginning, Atlas knew that Alijah would be a good for him, someone he could trust. Atlas truly believed that Alijah was good, no matter how many stories he had been told, and that was more than Alijah could have ever asked for.

Alijah laid back against the ground, letting himself relax a bit into the soft earth. “Thank you, Atlas.”

Atlas hummed in questioning and looked over his shoulder to the boy with half-lidded eyes and face that screamed comfort. “What for?”

“Thank you for coming on this date, for joining us in our plans, for making Hell just a bit brighter. Thank you for everything. I don’t think I’ve seen Lele this happy in a while nor any of the others. You make everyone just a bit brighter.” Alijah’s words were slurred with tiredness, and Atlas watched as he blinked to keep himself awake.

Atlas smiled at the statements before standing up, taking his finished crown with him. “Let’s get to bed, Alijah. We have a big day tomorrow.” That was true. Galen would be coming tomorrow, and Atlas didn’t know how to feel. Excited? Nervous? Terrified? All at once? Either way, he was coming, and there was no getting out of it.

Alijah nodded and lazily got to his feet with the help of Atlas. They stumbled their way to his room where Atlas successfully dropped him off at the door.

“Goodnight, Atlas Axel,” Alijah had mumbled before pressing a kiss against the top of his head.

“Goodnight, Alijah Hood,” Atlas had responded, his cheeks flooding red.

Both boys fell asleep that night thinking of the other, but no one needs to know that, now do they?