since I had woken up, my thoughts were consumed by Atlas. My eyes would flit to his for a split second and I'd find my thoughts returning back to our conversation last night.

Even as we sat across from each other on the dining table in the lobby of the hotel, I couldn't properly meet his eyes.

What would it be like finally letting go and letting myself become overtaken by all of him? What would it be like to run my fingers through his hair and over his lips without second-guessing myself?

My head was spinning with those questions as I sipped from my glass of Sparkling Cider. Julia sat next to me, chatting animatedly with Dawson about some classes she wanted to take next year. Leah talked to Jude and Atlas about their plans for the next school year. Jude said he had an internship lined up for him this fall with this doctor that works at the regional hospital. Atlas has said that he, too, had an internship with this pretty famous author that lives a couple hours away from them. He said that he also had this art program he might go to.

I watched him flex his fingers on the table. My eyes met his briefly before I looked away. As I picked up my cup and took a sip from my drink, my phone buzzed in my pants pocket.

I placed my cup down and pulled my phone out of my pocket. I glanced at the screen and a small smile stretched across my face. I quickly excused myself from the table and walked over to the couches right outside the restaurant.

I quickly answered the call and pressed my phone to my ear. I took a deep breath.

"Mom?" I asked.

On the other side of the phone, Lydia giggled, "No, it's not Mom."

"Lydia," I smiled, "Where's Mom? Did you call me?"

Something fell on the other side of the phone before she answered, "Yeah, Mom told me to wait till you call, but I don't care."

I let out a small laugh, "Well, what's up? Why are you so excited?"

"Okay, okay," She said, her giddiness shining though her words, "You'll never guess,"

I groaned, "Out with it already,"

She laughed, but before she could get two words out, Mom shouted in the background, "Dia!"

The phone switched to the speaker and she giggled, "I'm calling Eden! I'm telling her!"

Mom yelled at her to wait and after a few seconds, Mom joined the call, "Eden, honey. How are you? How's France?"

I laughed, "It's so good. We visited the Eiffel Tower earlier and I went to the opera with this guy yesterday and it was all so cool!"

Mom laughed, "Who's this guy?"

My cheeks burned red, "Oh, no one."

She laughed and Lydia groaned in the back, "Can I tell her now?"

"Tell me what? What's the big surprise?" I asked, a small frown on my face.

Mom laughed, "Fine, Lydia you can tell her."

Lydia exclaimed, "Okay, Eden. So, my school says I've been doing really, really good. Like really, really good—"

"Yeah, yeah. I get it. Really good," I said, exasperated with her storytelling skills.

She giggled, "Well, this really good school chose three students from our school to go there. Almost everyone who goes there becomes like really famous and rich."

"Wow and what happened?" I asked, a small smile on my lips.

She took a breath, "I was chosen to go!"

My eyebrows rose. "Oh, my God. Lydia, that's so great! Are you excited?"

Lydia was created for an opportunity like this. Her level of intelligence was crazy and caught you completely off guard. She was a lot like Leah in that way. Leah was the smartest person I knew, but you wouldn't guess that from first laying your eyes on her. Lydia was the same way; When she had a conversation with you, she used a lot of slang and said like and really a lot. But when you asked her a question about Math, Science, English, or even matter-of-factual, she'd know the answer.

She let out a small excited squeal, "Yeah. I can't wait to be smarter and richer than you!"

I rolled my eyes, "I hate you,"

She laughed slightly before her laugh died off, "But the bad thing is that Roman is going. Nova is also going and I like her, but I hate Roman."

I laughed, "Hate is a pretty strong word,"

She scoffed, "I know and I hate him. Like, he can trip down the Grand Canyon and I'd throw a party."

I let out a small laugh and Mom told her to stop, "Roman is a nice boy. You're just being mean to him."

Lydia let out a strangled sound on the other side of the phone, "He cut my Barbie's hair off last year and said that it looked better that way!"

I let out a small laugh and Mom told her to cut it out. She then turned her attention to me, "We'll let you go, Eden. Packing to do."

I blinked, "What?"

Mom stopped, unsure of what I meant, "What?"

I took a deep breath, "You just said packing. Why are you packing?"

She let out a small laugh, "Oh, right. The school that Lydia's going to is in D.C.,"

My eyebrows rose and involuntary tears pooled in my eyes. I choked back a dying sound crawling it's way up my throat, "Wow, that's—"

"Super cool!" Lydia finished for me, "Maybe we'll run into like some celebrities while we're at the mall."

I forced myself to laugh, "Yeah. But, hey, listen, I gotta go."

Mom laughed slightly, "Okay, you have fun. Talk to us soon,"

I told them I would and hung up before I broke out into tears in front of them. I don't know how long I sat there wrapping my head around the idea of moving, but I snapped out of it when a tear fell onto my lap.

I didn't want to leave.

I didn't want to move away from Leah and Julia. I could barely function properly without them. I didn't want to move away from Hamza. I couldn't imagine looking out the window and seeing someone else. I didn't want to leave the town I grew up in for some city overcrowded with people I didn't know and never would.

I dropped my head into my hands and calmed my nerves. It would be okay. I should be happy for Lydia. I should be happy for my parents. They need a change, a place to finally stop worrying about the neighbors' prying eyes.

I ran my hand through my hair and moved to stand up, but stopped when I saw Atlas climbing the short set of stairs to the place where I was sitting. I dropped my head in my hands and tried to come up with a story that he'd believe.

I didn't need anybody worrying about this right now. I'd tell them tomorrow morning.

Atlas took a seat next to me and I looked at him. He was really distracting me, just sitting there and watching me with those blue eyes that changed colors as I stared at them for too long. He was leaning back, his legs spread out in front of him, watching me and waiting for me to tell him what was wrong.

"Hey," I breathed.

He cracked a smile, "What's wrong? You look devastated,"

I let out a small laugh that I hope didn't sound like a sob. "No, I'm fine."

He leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees. "C'mon, what happened?"

I took a deep breath. If I was going to tell anyone, I'd tell him. What'd he have to lose with me going away? When this summer ended, we'd already be forcefully split apart. We knew that.

"I— My sister got accepted into this prestigious school." I said, sighing softly. Atlas didn't interrupt, letting me take my time with my story. I glanced at him, "We're moving to D.C. right when I get home,"

Atlas's eyebrows rose a fraction, his eyes flickering about my face trying to take in my emotional state right now. I felt my face tingle with unshed tears and I swallowed back a sob, "My whole life is back home and they're making me leave early. They're making me leave Leah and Julia and Hamza and Ms. Haver next door and the—"

I didn't get a chance to finish my rant because my tears started to fall. I dropped my head in my hands, "This is so fucking embarrassing,"

Atlas let out a small laugh, pulling one of my hands from my face and holding them in his. I looked at him, the tears in my eyes stopping as my eyes ran over every beautiful feature of his: his cheekbones, his soft mouth, his arched brows, his eyes that held hundreds of galaxies in them.

"You'll be okay, Eden." He breathed, wiping my tears with the pads of his fingers. "You'll meet new people and..."

He didn't finish whatever it was he was going to say. I raised my hand and rubbed my tears away, "I don't want to,"

He smiled, but didn't respond. We looked away from each other and every other second, we'd meet each other's eyes. We were avoiding the big question looming over the both of us.

"Hey, Atlas?" I finally said, causing his eyes to snap to mine. My eyes flickered from his eyes to his lips to the curl of his hair to the smoothness of his nose to the sharpness of his jaw to the empty piercing on his earlobe. I took him all in.

"Hmm?" He asked.

I licked my lips before I spoke, "That night on the roof with the song and the dance and the book, I..."

I took a deep breath, unable to string my words together with the way his eyes were taking me in. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, "It wasn't a mistake and I don't regret it. I just— I'm messed up, you know that, right?"

He smiled softly, shaking his head, "You're just not over it yet."

I blinked back the urge to ignore all the tension and press my lips to his. His lips were an inch or two away from mine and the sweet smell of the cake he had a few minutes before tinged my lips.

I continued, "I don't want to stop. I want to say I know where this is going, but I really fucking don't. You confuse the hell out of me and I think I like that, but I don't think I can take the aftermath."

"I've been walked out on way too many times," I sighed, laughing softly after.

Atlas raised his fingers to my face, holding my chin in his hand, a soft smile on his lips, "I can promise that I won't walk away,"

My eyebrows rose, a small laugh ready to tumble from my lips, "Are you sure?"

He smiled, "Baby, you'll be the one walking away, not me. I assure you,"

I frowned. It was because I'm leaving. He was right, I'd be the one saying goodbye.

I don't know how long we sat there, staring at each other and taking in each other's words. We could've sat there a lifetime, not moving, not breathing.

Atlas's other hand rested on my knee, "Eden?"

Ignoring the heat that was burning my knee and the rest of my body, I responded, "Yeah?"

His eyes flickered to my lips for a moment and flitted to my eyes again, "I could kiss you right now,"

My eyes widened and my cheeks burned red. My eyes almost fluttered close as I imagined my lips pressed to his, his hands in my hair, and his hands on my waist. I felt my head swim and my nerves tingle.

"Was this part of the agreement?" I asked to which he smiled softly.

His lips were closer to mine, closer than how we started, "It can be,"

My eyes flickered to his lips for a moment and I felt my stomach burn with desire. I wanted this. I wanted his lips against mine, I wanted his hands in my hair, I wanted his nose brushing mine.

His lips brushed against mine and as my lips parted, I heard the sound of Leah's laugh too close for comfort. I pulled away the same time Atlas did, my heart beating frantically in my chest, my blood rushing in my ears, the feeling of Atlas's lips against mine— even if it was for a mere second— forever ingrained in my mind.

Atlas's eyes met mine before he stood up and offered me his hand. Unsure if I was able to stand properly on my own, I took his hand and helped myself up. Atlas let go of my hand and I took a subtle step away from him. The smell of his cologne wafting around me was like I was being engulfed in flames. In his arms, I was dying, I was wilting.

Leah and Julia made their way up the steps followed by Jude and Dawson. Bright smiles lit up each of their faces and I could only imagine what mine looked like. I peeked a glance at Atlas and as usual, his face was calm, nothing but a small smile on his lips.

Leah waved at us and skipped over to us, "What happened? Who'd you call?"

I stretched on a smile, "Oh, it was just Mom and Lydia checking in on me."

Leah nodded and draped her arm over my shoulder, pulling me in the direction of the lobby. The rest of the group trailed behind us.

"Where are we going?" I asked, watching Leah as a smile lit up her beautiful features unbeknownst to the bad news that I'd be sharing eventually.

She looked at me, pressing her cheek to mine, "They're showing Ocean's Thirteen at the movie theater an I am not missing my chance to drool over Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, and George Clooney."

I let out a small laugh.

As we made out way to the theater, I snuck a glance at Atlas and noticed that his eyes were already on me, watching me as he talked to Jude right next to him. I turned back around and ignored the way my heart hammered in my chest.

What even was this thing we had going on?

We liked each other, I think that part was clear so far. We had come out and said that we did... I think. We were both aware that we wanted something more than just the glances and the brief touches, but we hadn't talked about what.

So, right now, we were just two people who confessed that they liked each other. Two people who wanted to feel their hands in the other's and feel their lips sliding against the other's.

I let out a sigh as I fell back onto the cushioned seat in the movie theater. Dawson took a seat next to me and Julia on the other side of me. Atlas was seated next to Dawson.

There were only a few people in the theater, but it seemed like hundreds. And as the first scene played on the screen, all I remember thinking was wishing that the theater was empty, except for Atlas and I.

hey guys, i hope you liked this chapter cuz there's a lot going on here LMFAO what do you guys think of the way Atlas and Eden are handling their little romance going on rn? ALSO imagine being this upfront and honest in a relationship- oh wait, imagine being in a proper relationship? LMFAO

(super cute chapter btw). AND we're you guys expecting that news from her mom? LMFAO im setting up a who,e spin-off for lydia and roman I HATE MYSELF AHAH

also, listen to 'the end of the world' by Sharon Van Etten rn GRR

also, thank you so so much for 25K. i love you all so much and i hate my sister for going to her friend's house without me (i have a teeny tiny crush on her friend's older brother). sleep tight and smile today <3