Sunsets and Constellations | B X B

• N I N E T E E N •

He didn't fucking know how to do it without hurting someone in the process, it was always Viggo he took his frustrations out on, and more recently, Elijah.

Arius was taken aback by how much Elijah's bewildered and hurt face had affected him. In that moment he felt it was justified, but when he thought about it, his heart ached with regret and remorse for what he'd done
No one deserved that, and Elijah?
Fuck no.
He was one of the nicest people Arius had come across and was only asking out of genuine concern.

Or was he?

Arius couldn't fucking tell anymore. His ex girlfriend was the sweetest, most considerate person until he was labelled a handicap. And then she had abandoned him, mistreated him, gaslit him and had the audacity to expect him to understand that she was doing it for both of them. She had to.

What if Elijah was just trying to be friends with him out of pity, the same reason Tamara had ditched him? After Elijah had seen his prosthesis, he had tried to be nicer to him, he'd try to strike up a conversation with him, and smile at him an awful lot.
Arius didn't know it was possible to find someone so irritating and endearing at the same time.
But Elijah hadn't once asked what had caused the accident and Arius was grateful for that.

There was a part of Arius that told him Elijah was the way he was because that was him, he was that kind of person and didn't have any ill intentions.
After all, what could Arius give him that everyone else couldn't?
But the bigger part in Arius told him that he wasn't a charity case, he wasn't something that was to be fixed and Elijah was doing it only because he had some sort of a hero-complex, he was doing it to feel better about himself.

What was he to believe? Wasn't it better to nip it in the bud rather than let it grow into a whole fucking tree and then die out miserably?

He would never rationally understand what he had done that day in Charlottesville. The fact that Elijah wasn't even annoying him relentlessly like he used to, or that he wouldn't tease him was so fucking unacceptable, it just didn't feel right.
When Elijah saw him approaching, he would literally take off in the opposite direction and he had even gone as far as skipping dinner.
His smile wasn't as bright as it used to be, and Arius hadn't seen him for days together.
It was simply awful.

He didn't know what snapped in him on that day, he was never the kind to apologize to someone but he'd apologised to Elijah for being a rude fuck and then they'd hung out for the rest of the day.

It had been a week since their Ice-cream parlour escapade and Arius and Elijah would spend their lunches together talking about basketball games and strategies, the cosmos, indie movies and thrillers among other things. Their debates during philosophy class were the highlight and there wasn't one person who was opposed to the heated discussions.
They would even hang out together sometimes after dinner, just talking about random stuff.
Needless to say, the snack that had sparked their friendship was not a one time thing.
It was so easy with Elijah these days, they would talk for hours on end and not be bored and Arius always felt better in the other boy's company.

It was like Elijah had a gift. Whoever he spoke to, he made them feel like they belonged. He was always cheerful and it was fun listening to his antics and all the bullshit he had gotten upto in his old school. He had the attention of every single person when he was talking about something he was passionate about. Arius just couldn't figure out what it was about Elijah that drew everyone toward him.

They were friends now, and Arius was liking it so far. It wasn't anything deep, but it was perfect.
An added bonus was the fact that Viggo was really proud of Arius for being mature and making amends with Elijah.