We drove in silence as I wrapped my arm around his narrow shoulders, pulled him against me, and kissed the top of his head. That was when the sobbing started. He put his head on my chest, and his hands gripped my other arm and back.
After arriving at Hugh’s place, we all sat on the couch, with Atlas sitting between us. He held wadded-up tissues, but he’d stopped crying.
“You leaving without a word fucking hurts, Atlas, not gonna lie,” Hugh finally said, sounding more resigned than angry. “Why? Why did you do it?”
I twisted my body to face him, my arm draped behind him over the back cushions, waiting to hear him out.
He looked back and forth at each of us, then sagged, looking down at his hands and shrugging. “I thought… Linden said it was me who made things harder for him. Once you two finally admitted your feelings, I guess I believed that was it for me. You two found each other, and I was just in the way.”
“Jesus, baby. I said that because it made me want Hugh more, but it didn’t make me want you less. You weren’t the one frustrating me,” I explained.
“Fuck me,” Hugh said, pinching the bridge of his nose before wrapping an arm around Atlas. “So, you just up and left us? No talking. No communicating. You just walked out of our lives.”
Atlas’s bottom lip trembled again, and I scooted closer to him. “I wanted you two to get… reacquainted with each other and be out of your way. I… planned to talk to you about it all, but it just hurt too much. I needed time.”
“Time? You should have come to us immediately,” I said and pinched his chin to force him to look at me. “Atlas… Fuck, we’ve all done a shitty job at communicating, but that’s over now. No more letting feelings slip by unsaid and unnoticed. We’re all guilty of this.” He nodded and looked at me with red, watering eyes. “I’m going to start by telling you I love you… You and Hugh both. You are as much a part of our lives as we are a part of yours.”
“Y-you love me?” he squeaked.
“Yes, Linden and I both do,” Hugh said.
“God, I love you both so much.”
And there went his waterworks. Hugh and I snuggled in with Atlas and let him get it out. “I’ve never been in love before. Hell, no one has ever loved me either. I didn’t want to leave at all. God, I’m… so sorry I did that to you. It seemed like the right thing to do at that moment.”
“Well, it wasn’t.” I stood and squatted between Atlas’s legs and rested my hands on his thighs. “We’re in this for the long haul, baby. The three of us. But…”
He sniffed and rested his hands on mine. “But what?”
“Linden and I are leaving Cross Corp,” Hugh said before I could.
Atlas’s eyes widened, and his mouth hung open. “What? Why?”
“We’re tired of it. I’m tired of not doing what I want to do; using my hands to create beautiful things. And Hugh… Well, he’s tired of his father never being happy. I also believe this is the best way we can all be together without worrying about the office. This isn’t playtime anymore, baby. We’re serious. Well, we’ve been serious about you, but this is our way of making sure we stay together.”
His finger dragged along the skin of my hand as he looked at Hugh. “W-what’s to happen to me? I liked my job.”
“We want you to come with us. Linden and I are going to create a new business doing renovations, restorations, and house flipping. We can’t pay you as much, but—”
Atlas flung himself at him, wrapping his spindly arms around his neck. “I’ll do it! Definitely!” Then he reached for me and pulled me into a hug. “God, I’ve been a fucking idiot.”
I chuckled and fingered back some of his fallen curls. “That you have, but we love you anyway,” I said, winking at him. “But I was an idiot too for not telling anyone I loved Hugh, and for damn years. To be fair, it’s not an easy thing to admit, being who we are.”
Hugh pulled us both into hugs, our heads dipping and resting against each other. “And I’ve been an idiot, trying to please Dad at the expense of my own happiness, and believing he’ll ever be proud of me.”
“So, we’re agreed? No more secrets. No more hiding our feelings, right?” I said.
“Exactly.”
“Yeah, I’m so sorry again for leaving.”
Hugh let out a dark, low rumbling laugh, one that went straight to my nuts. “We forgive you, but that doesn’t get you out of your punishment.”
“I can’t wait to learn my lesson,” Atlas breathed.
Chapter 32
Atlas
