A R I U S
Arius was lying on Viggo's bed as he did his math assignment for the holidays. He'd already done his and since each of them were assigned a different set of questions, he had offered to complete Viggo's paper.
"Did you submit your form?" Viggo asked, playing a progression of chords on his guitar.
"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. I'm not going home this time man." Arius said, looking up from the papers.
"What? You should've told me, I would've stayed with you, idiot." Viggo said, aggressively twanging the strings again.
"Eesh, the tuning's off, fix it before you hit the strings again." Arius said, wrinkling his nose.
"Where's Mads?" He wondered aloud.
"Oh, I think she and Tirzah have some sort of bet going on. Something about who can run up to the oak tree and back fastest, in nothing but a tank and shorts."
"I'm pretty sure Tirzah will win." Arius chuckled.
"Why aren't you going home anyway?" Viggo asked, as he sat down on his bed next to Arius.
"Dude, I really don't want all the patronizing and extra love and affection. I know, I know they do it out of concern and all, but it really pisses me off sometimes, and I just don't want to say mean things." Arius grimaced, recalling his conversation with a certain someone that he'd recently struck up an odd sort of friendship with.
"Whatever's best for you man. But you're going to be stuck here all alone, all of us are leaving for the holidays." Viggo reasoned.
"I want to spend time by myself Vig, I've hardly had that after I lost my arm. Besides, the food is perfect, the nature's captivating. I can walk around for days without the usual bustle, I'm really hoping it does some good y'know? The nightmares struck again last night."
"Again? Did Koovs or Madilyn wake up?" Viggo asked, sounding alarmed.
"No, I can't just say 'hey guys I'm having a nightmare, please stay up with me for the rest of the night' come on!" Arius rolled his eyes.
"You can call me, you know that right? I have my phone loud at all times just so I can be there for you, okay? Call me, or I'm going to get us to room together somehow." Viggo stated.
Arius just nodded. Calling Viggo and disturbing him in the middle of the night wasn't exactly his ideal solution. He'd play soccer for two hours every day and come back to the dorms dead tired.
This was what he hated most about the consequences of the incident. He was always dependant on Viggo, he felt like a fucking five year old who couldn't tie his shoelaces right.
Viggo hadn't signed up for this when they became best friends, it just wasn't fair.
Nothing was fucking fair.
He got so angry sometimes but he had to bottle it all up inside because fake it till you make it, right?
But it never worked for Arius, everything was just building up inside his head and he was nearing his saturation point. He just didn't have the will to do anything anymore, which was why he was so reluctant to make friends or even engage in class activities for that matter.
He had gone off on Elijah once and regretted it everyday. As much as he wanted to forget about it, it always was at the back of his mind.
In his defense, he was the kind who liked a little peace and quiet to himself when he was going through something troubling. But when he'd called out Elijah and yelled the fuck out of his lungs at him, he felt strangely light after he'd done it and realised that it was better to express his feelings, to let it all out somehow.
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.
Elijah :
We're decorating the dining hall for the kids and teachers who are stayin' back, you joining us?
6:34 pm
Arius replied a quick yes and looked up just as the door swung open, revealing Jake all wrapped up in a thick coat and boots.
"Hi guys, just dropped by to check if y'all were going to the dining hall thing, Tiz is making us all go." He said, shaking his head.
"Yeah we'll come, Kingston asked me about it." Arius said, sitting up straight.
Viggo shot him an amazed look while winking ever so slightly as Arius rolled his eyes at him.
For some goddamned reason, Viggo was convinced that Elijah was crushing on Arius real bad. Arius thought it was just stupid although he hadn't missed how Elijah would always zone out while looking at him and those sudden blushes that would colour his face red. Ryder would be giving him teasing looks similar to the ones that Viggo would shoot at Arius.
Elijah was super-model level hot, the kind that got a cheerleader girlfriend and then became a teen father. Their parents would support them and when it was the right time, they'd have three more children and live in a house with a white picket fence happily ever after.
Viggo was plain stupid if he thought Elijah liked Arius. He just wanted Arius to get a boyfriend or girlfriend because he thought it would really help him heal from the toxic relationship he'd been a part of.
Besides, he himself hadn't felt anything of that sort toward the green eyed boy apart from the fact that he was ridiculously good looking. Which a lot of people were, according to Arius.
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"The mistletoe, genius! Not the star!" Elijah exclaimed from the chair he was standing on as Arius handed him the big star just to annoy him.
"What's that? I can't hear you over all the commotion." He said, feigning confusion.
"I will smack the bejesus out of you, this is the third time Arius." Elijah laughed as he jumped down from the chair, looking for the mistletoe.
"Hey Ry, have you seen the mistletoe? I need it!" He yelled unnecessarily loud.
"Shut it Johnson, my ears are going to bleed from all that boombox volume."
"What's that? I can't hear you over all the commotion." Elijah shot back, yelling right in his ear this time as Arius shoved him away.
"Why? So you can kiss your secret crush under it?" Ryder smirked just as Elijah blushed scarlet.
"A crush? Why haven't I heard about this yet?" Arius asked Elijah.
"I- no, I don't like anyone, she's just being a child." Elijah blushed even more.
"That's rich, coming from you! You're the most childish seventeen year old I know." Arius teased while Elijah threw a bell at him.
He was really fucking annoying sometimes but Arius couldn't bring himself to be mad at him for more than a minute, Elijah just seemed too pure for that, whatever the fuck that meant.
They spent the rest of the night, bickering and squabbling and pushing each other all while laughing about it.
What they didn't do, is notice all the weird stares they were getting from the people around them, including their friends who were beyond confused by their hate-love relationship.
"So I'll see you after New Year's huh?" Elijah asked him as they walked back to their dorm behind their friends.
Madilyn and Koovs were arguing about something while Viggo was telling Tirzah that Black Christmas was a shit movie. Ryder and Jake were talking in hushed tones about something and the newest addition to the group, this guy called Kaz from student council and philosophy class was talking to a girl.
"Actually, I'm staying behind! Not going this year." Arius said, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
"What? No way! You're stuck with me for the next two weeks." Elijah laughed, eyes shining with excitement.
"What the fuck? Just go home Kingston, I want to spend my Christmas in peace." Arius groaned.
"Oh shut up, we're going to have fun!" Elijah said, shaking his shoulders.
"Let go, I'll fucking dislocate your shoulders if you keep doing that." Arius warned in humor.
"I have the perfect basic prank idea for when they're all going to leave! You in?" Elijah asked, letting go of his shoulders.
"Yeah, whatever." Arius mumbled, pretending like he wasn't remotely interested.
"You owe me, I actually sat through the whole of The Breakfast Club with you! That movie was so fucking boring."
"It was not, you just have bad taste." Arius countered.
"No, you're just boring and monotonous." Elijah grinned.
"Right Kingston, we've got to part, I'm sleepy as fuck." Arius said, stifling a giant yawn.
"Night, sleep well!" Elijah said as he joined Ryder by his room as Arius, Madilyn and Koovs waved and climbed upstairs after saying goodbye to everyone.
Arius completely missed the affectionate, lingering stare on Elijah's face as he bid him goodbye for the night.
He had absolutely no idea how much of Elijah's heart he had captured with his curly hair, broody behaviour and the odd friendship they shared.
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A/N
If I were to be honest, I really didn't like this chapter that much. It's a little weird, but I don't know if I'm overthinking it.
I hope the next chapter makes up for it!
If you like what you read, do vote and leave a comment.
Much Love XD. Thank You!