When Our Paths Crossed (bxb) - Complete

Don't Take Walking for Granted, Kiddies

AFTER ELI STORMED away with a--albeit adorable--pout, I sat out in the cold for a few minutes, letting the chill seep into the marrow in my bones. June always tells me that I am trigger-ready, looking for a fight even when there isn't one. I guess she's right. I'm so eager for an argument that I can't keep a friend for long. All except Dan. He'd been around the longest, though I suspect it's because he's always on the defensive like me.

Eli's nothing like Dan, and I have to stop treating him like that. It's hard to stop when Eli keeps pushing all the right buttons.

I wheel down the house, guests spilling out onto the lawn. The music is so loud it drives all my thoughts out of my head until all I hear is the pounding of the song. Thankfully, there are no pesky stairs I need to worry about, but the drunk idiots prove a worthy obstacle. They gawk openly at me, a few of them too surprised to get out of my way. As if they haven't seen anyone in a wheelchair before. 

Finally, after cursing and running over a few toes, I successfully made it into the house, which feels just cramped in a chair than if I was standing. My eye level is lower, the bodies around me a wall I can't look over. People shuffle out of my way, a spotlight blindingly on me. My skin is pinched with claustrophobia, beads of perspiration forming on my forehead. Coming here was a mistake. I know that now. My shoulders sag under the panic, and my chest is gripped in an ironclad fist. 

Don't take walking for granted, kiddies, because if you lose it, your whole life will change. Possibly forever.

If I remember correctly, Rin's den is just down the back hallway, and it's usually quiet. Admittedly, it's dead because people are stoned or looking for a fix, but it's the only place I can think of that doesn't involve a set of stairs, so that's where I go. June can worry all she wants. I like to think I have more willpower than I let on. Besides, if I want to check out for a few hours, why can't I? I've been through so damn much why I have to walk the straight and narrow anymore when I can't even walk?

My body responds desperately at the prospect when I approach the den. It's tucked awkwardly under the stairs, making it a quiet haven. The door is propped open, and I see a few people already sprawled out around the room. Rin proudly perches on her throne front and centre, her raven hair shining, her eyes dark and glossy. She throws her head back in laughter at something being said. Then she drops it suddenly, her eyes locking on me.

"Atlas," she grins. "I had no idea you'd be turning up! You've been M.I.A. for weeks. We thought you were dead." Her eyes flick down to the chair I'm sitting in, and I try not to fidget in embarrassment. When she meets me again, her brow is wrinkled with pity. "Although something has happened, I see. What happened to you, boo?"

"As good as dead," I shrug, trying to act casual, "but nah, my sister hauled me off to rehab and then I was in an accident..."

I trail off thinking of Dan minutes before we pulled out of the parking lot. The phantom trace of his lips brushes my lips. My heart aches at the memory. I squeeze my hands into fists and lock onto the table in front of Rin. The ache from Dan shifts at what's littered on the table. A dessert dry feeling coating my throat, and I squeeze my hands tighter.