Page 20 of Atlas Uncharted

My heart pounded so loudly I was sure he could hear it. The walk back to my apartment was a blur, my mind racing with memories I’d tried to lock away—his hands, his voice, the way he’d looked at me that night in the grass, like I was the only thing that mattered.

By the time I got home, I’d convinced myself it was nothing. I had work to do, a life to live.

But then, late that night, there was a knock at my door.

And just like that, everything I thought I’d left behind came crashing back.

Bang, bang, bang.

My heart jumped into my throat at the sudden loudness. I wondered who it could be at this hour. I hesitated for a moment, then pushed myself up from the couch, grabbing my metal batfrom beside the coffee table as I crossed the room and opened the door.

Atlas leaned against the doorframe, dressed casually in jeans and a t-shirt, looking effortlessly delicious. My mind scrambled to make sense of how he was standing in front of me.

“How do you know where I live?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

“I addressed the wedding invitations,” he said, referring to the invite that sat unopened on my desk. “I saw you today,” he said, his voice rough, as he gently pushed past me and walked into my apartment as if I had invited him in.

I stood frozen by the door after closing it, my back pressed against the wood, watching as he took a seat on my sofa. He spread his long legs wide, dominating the space like I remembered him doing so well. He picked up my glass of wine from the coffee table, drank from it, my lip gloss transferring to his lips.

“What are you doing here, Atlas?” I asked, my voice shaky, betraying the calm I was trying to project.

He didn’t answer right away, just turned his head and stared at me with those intense green eyes, the ones that always seemed to see right through me. Then, when he finally spoke, they were my words. "Just because you can't have someone doesn’t mean the wanting stops. But some cravings are best left unsatisfied, lingering in the shadowy corners of your heart where they won’t set you on fire." He quoted a line from an article I’d written about unrequited love.

I felt a shiver run down my spine, not from the cold, but from the way he brought my words to life, like he knew their meaning and who they were about. “Okay,” I said, trying to deflect, forcing alightness into my tone. “You quote me instead of Octavia Butler now?”

He didn’t smile, didn’t play along. His eyes stayed locked on mine, his expression unreadable.

“Is that about me?” he asked.

I blew out a long breath, shaking my head as tension coiled in my belly. “Why would it be? We’re not like that, Atlas. We never were.”

He leaned forward, his gaze never leaving mine. “Why are you standing there like you’re scared of me, Kairi? You know me. We’re old friends,” he said instead of answering my old question.

I let out a laugh, but it sounded fake and hollow. “I know you, Atlas, but I wouldn’t call us friends.”

“What would you call us, then?” he asked, his voice dropping lower, more intense.

I shook my head. “Nothing,” I said, the word coming out sharper than I intended. We were nothing. What did he want from me?

“I wouldn’t call us nothing,” he rebutted.

“Okay. Then you’re an acquaintance, a friend’s fiancé.”

A shadow, something dark, crossed his face—hurt, maybe, or anger—but he masked it quickly. “An acquaintance,” he repeated, spitting it out like the word tasted bitter in his mouth. “A friend’s fiancé.”

I nodded, my hands trembling as I clenched them into fists at my sides, trying to keep myself from falling apart in front of him. “That’s all we ever were, Atlas. And that’s all we’ll ever be.”

“You sure?” he challenged.

“Positive,” I said, my voice wobbling and shaking.

He stared at me for a long moment, his eyes searching mine, like he was looking for something he couldn’t find. Then, slowly, he stood up, placing my glass back on the table.

I stumbled away from the door as he walked toward it, putting ample space between us. Remember, his hands were fast.

“If that’s what you want to believe, Kairi,” he said quietly.

And just like that, he turned and walked out, leaving me standing there, my heart in pieces, feeling like I’d just made the biggest mistake of my life.

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