Atlas POV
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As we walked back, I kept looking at Cyrus. Watching for any attempts at telling the others. The mall kept getting louder though. Louder. Brighter. Busier.
Everything kept invading my senses and mind but I put up with it. It was the only thing keeping me from realising that Cyrus had seen. Everything. He had seen the scars. He had seen the bandages.
I blinked, trying to not only keep my thoughts away, but also drown out the overwhelming noise of the mall. Suddenly, I bumped into something hard. Looking up, I saw what it was. Ah. Riftyn. He looked down at me, amusement flickering in his eyes, before talking to Magnus. Wait. Magnus?
Quickly looking around, I realised we had stopped. We were at the food court, and had met up with the others. Oh. Maybe I was a little too distracted with my thoughts.
Either way, Magnus soon brought us over to a table. We all sat down, and almost instantly, the warm chatter of the boys was brought forward. How they were so comfortable in a situation like this, I didn’t know.
Although Niko seemed a little on edge. Maybe he didn’t like the mall either- but he was basically jumping up and down this morning. Even so, I knew that I didn’t like the mall.
I paused a bit, stuck in my own thoughts, before I was brought back by someone calling my name. “Atlas? What did you want?” it was Colten.
“Hm?” I raised my head. Oh. Food. “I’m not hungry” I told them. It wasn’t exactly a lie. I guess I wasn’t not hungry. I just… didn’t want to eat here. Of all places. Let alone anywhere.
Magnus narrowed his eyes at me, but supposedly let it go because we were in the mall. “Alright.” he nodded. “Who’s coming with to get food?” Almost everyone put their hands up. In fact, looking around, it was everyone. Who would have thought.
Even Cyrus, who didn’t like eating too much put his hand up. Ever looked back at, concern written all over his face. “You’ll be okay for a couple of minutes?” he asked. I shrugged, before turning away my face.
He cared. He cared he cared he cared. He actually cared. He asked if I was okay. He cares. They care. A warm bubbly feeling erupted in my chest as they left. I could feel my eyes warm as tears prickled at the edges.
I don’t think I’ve ever had someone ask if I would be alright. And now Ever and the others were. Looking back at them, I realised just how far they had gotten. Soon enough, a group of laughing girls covered them from my sight. It was then that I realised just where I was.
With the guys gone, I looked around as everything seemed to get louder, and more people seemed to swarm my vision. The lights got brighter, and I blinked haphazardly, trying to get my focus back.
My leg shook beneath the table, and I gripped the hem of my jumper. Loud noises filled my ears, and I ended up squeezing my eyes tight, wanting it all to go away. I could feel the warmth of others around me.
It wasn’t good warmth. It was scary warmth. I wanted out. I didn’t want to have to stay here. To wait here. I was trapped. I didn’t know where to go. Everywhere just seemed loud, and bright, and my vision kept falling out of focus.
I looked up, and the bright lights blinded me, and I felt like I was looking at the hot sun. Everywhere I looked I could barely see, and the chatter of crowds kept filling my senses. I couldn’t think straight.
I could barely move my hand without it shaking. I didn’t know what to do. Feeling a warm hand on my shoulder, I was brought back to reality. Snapping my head up towards the hands owner, my fist was already in motion.
Eyes widened, I brought it back down, before getting a good look at the person. My mind was already racing, and the fact that a random person had just touched me made it even worse.
Heart beating, I sucked in a breath, before masking my face with a emotionless look. “Get your hand off me.” I told them, and it was then that the face came into vision. I still didn’t know who it was.
A boy, a little older than me, was staring down at me with menacing eyes, and a taunting face. Looking around, I realised there were more. All staring at me. They all looked the same. Smug faces, muscular arms, basically a typical jock.
The one that had their hand on me backed off, raising both arms in the air. “Woah woah, no need to get angry.” Standing up, I pushed my chair in.
“What do you want.” It wasn’t a question. It was a statement.
“You’re with those faggots right?” The boy nodded in the direction of where Magnus and the others had gone. I glanced in the direction, before snapping my face back towards him. Just in time to catch the fist flying towards my face.
“Get him” The boy laughed, before another popped up behind me, and started pulling my back towards the stairwell. Tossing my head back, I heard him groan in pain, and watched as the taunting faces turned dark. “Oh? This one thinks he’s tough”
“Haha, he wishes.”
“Little bitch is probably waiting for his daddy”
I gritted my teeth, ignoring each remark that was being thrown at me. The biggest one came forward, and I backed off, not wanting to hurt them as I had done with Colten and the others.
They kept pushing forward, until I was backed into a stairwell. “you know, you never answered us earlier,” the first one began, grabbing my wrist to hold it in place. My eyes narrowed, daring him to go one.
Clearly, he didn’t get the message. A punch was speeding towards my face, and I tilted my head to the side, barely missing it. “Of course he’s with them, just another fag” Another laughed.
“Of course. Those fuckheads always stick together.” I wasn’t bothering to see who said what. There were too many. All that was going through my mind was to stop.
I knew they were bad people. I knew what they were calling the others. But I also knew that I didn’t want a repeat of what had happened at home. As much as I hated them.
But fist over fist and kick over kick kept coming, and I was slowly feeling myself snap. They were too, I could see their expressions slowly turned to rage as they didn’t get a single hit.
“Little bitch. Let us hit you” One snarled, and I breathed in, trying to calm myself. It wasn’t working very well. “I suppose they’ve claimed you or something. Isn’t that what you dipshits usually do?” the first one taunted.
“Gotta say, you all look stupid as fuck. What’s with those little ones, and the big scary ones at the front?”
“What. You think they’re gonna protect you or something”
I glared at them, clenching my fists. “I don’t need protection.” I gritted out, and swung out my fist to the closest boy. He dodged, before another came forward. Sending out a kick, the next doubled over. “Bitch. What the fuck, man”
Don’t snap. Don’t snap. Don’t snap. I was chanting in my head. Sure, I hated this place, but I didn’t want to get kicked out. But I did want to seriously injure these assholes.
They can’t talk about Magnus and them like that. No one should. Staying wary of my actions, I did my best to stay level headed. I ran through a couple, pushing them over as I went, before realising I had ran into a corner.
Shit. There were too many, and I could barely see where I was going. “Aw. Poor little faggot. Ran and hid. Shame his boyfriends aren’t here to save him. Like they’d be much use anyway.”
One sniggered, and the rest began to join in, adding smaller taunts onto the first. Taking this as an opportunity, I slipped past them, in the direction I thought was the exit, trying to be careful not to jostle the bandages.
Apparently, I was being a little too careful. Feeling my collar being jerked back, I was forced to face the rest of them. Fucking god. There were a lot more than I thought. I don’t even know how they fit into such as small stairwell.
“Don’t you go running away now.” The one who was holding me smirked. My blood ran cold. If I didn’t want to open up the cuts, I couldn’t exactly put all my effort into fighting them off. I don’t particularly enjoy bleeding out in the middle of a shopping centre.
My eyes snapped open as I felt the first fist to my stomach.
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