Without further ado... part 3! I'm glad you all are sticking around with me. We still have a long way to go, but I hop you enjoy it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh GX nor the song with which this songs shares a title.
Chapter 1
Bastion POV
I woke up with no urgency to do anything. I stretched and looked at the clock. 9:04. Atticus probably isn't awake yet. He normally got up around 10 or 11 on weekends. I was glad to not have much to do. The university was almost on winter break so I only had a few final things to finish up then I didn't have work until the break was over.
I made my way to the kitchen and opened the cupboard. I pulled out my derivatives mug and my sine curves mug trying to decide if I was in the mood for coffee or tea. I settled on tea and put the sine curves mug back. I got the tea steeping and picked up the newspaper.
I decided that while I waited for the tea to steep, I should get the mail. I walked out of the kitchen a headline on the newspaper caught my eye. I opened it to read but after only a few lines, I ran into something and fell backwards.
I thought it was just my clumsiness that cause me to walk into a wall, but when I opened my eyes, Atticus was looking down at me, looking just as surprised as I felt. His face was so close to mine and I could almost feel the blush across my face.
It had been four years, and my crush on Atticus was still strong. We'd been roommates for a year and a half and I suppose that wasn't going to do anything for my feelings. I had never said anything about it and only Dana knew about how I felt. The hardest part about it was that Atticus kept asking me every so often if I'd found any pretty girls yet.
I never knew how to respond so I always gave vague answers that always seemed to leave Atticus confused.
During my thoughts, I figured Atticus would have gotten up already, but he was still there and neither of us had even moved, just stayed where we were and stared at each other.
I loved his eyes. They were a beautiful shade of brown and they shined with his ever present enthusiasm. How ever much I wanted to just look at him all day, I figured this was not the best position for either of us.
"Um, Atticus, mind getting off me?"
He seemed distracted but once I spoke he came to his senses. "Oh, sorry, Bastion." He stood up and then offered a hand to help me up. "I wasn't paying attention. I was sorting through the mail."
That's when I saw envelopes all over the floor as well as my newspaper which had fallen out of order. "I was reading the newspaper and wasn't watching where I was going." We cleaned up the mess and then I offered, "I was making some tea, do you want some?"
"Sure. That sound great."
We made our way to the kitchen. "Honestly I thought you wouldn't be awake yet. You're never up this early."
"I guess I just couldn't stay asleep. December is my favorite month after all. I find it easy to wake up. 'Tis the season, you know?"
I smiled. "Yes, I understand." I found it easier to wake up on mornings of particularly interesting lectures I was to give. I may not like one month in particular, I certainly understand his reasoning. "What kind of tea do you want?" I got him down a mug and my box of tea leaves for him to pick one.
He took the box from me and I picked up my mug to drink it. "You always have great taste in teas. I'll try this new blueberry one."
I was surprised. That was the type of tea I was drinking now. It was weird that Atticus had picked the same type of tea as me. "Sure, good choice. You want me to make it for you or do you want to try your hand at it?" Atticus wasn't a very avid tea drinker and he seemed to always ruin it when he made it himself.
"Bastion, you know I ruin it every time. If it's not too much trouble, I'll ask you to make it."
"No trouble at all, Atticus." I started to make his tea as he got a phone call.
"Hello. Today? But it's Saturday. Oh. Yeah, I get it. Yeah, 'tis the season. I'll be there in half an hour." He hung and started to storm off to his room.
I assumed that he got called into work. I guess it's a good thing he had gotten up. I put his tea in a thermos so he could drink it on he way to work.
Sure enough he came running from his room in a rush his suit a mess. "Atticus."
"I have to go to work, Bastion. Holiday rush and what not."
"Atticus, come here."
He broke out of his rush and looked at me, and did as I asked. The buttons on his vest were misaligned, his cuff links were backwards, and his tie was incredibly crooked. "Atticus, you won't get many customers looking like that." I unbuttoned his vest and started with his tie, undoing it and retying it. He let me. I glanced at his face and he looked . . . comfortable. I looked away knowing if I held my gaze any longer, he'd see the blush on my face. I buttoned his vest correctly when I was done and quickly fixed his cuff links, then stepped backwards.
"So how do I look, Bastion?"
"Like you're not a hot mess like you were a minute ago."
He didn't say anything, just smiled at me, like he and I did this routine every morning. I imagined a life like that. Waking up every morning and me tying his tie before he goes to work before I leave for the university. Then he gets home before I do and he possibly surprises me with dinner. Then after dinner we curl up on the couch for a movie.
I shake the thought and frown internally. Nothing like that is going to happen. My crush on Atticus is only that. One day I will find a nice young lady to live with and so will Atticus then these feelings would dissolve and I can pretend it never happened.
"Well, you should get going to work. I put your tea in a thermos."
His face seemed a little upset but if he actually was, he didn't say anything about it. "Right. See you later, Bastion." He took the thermos and headed out the door. He looked back at me for a split second then he went.
Atticus POV
What was that? It was just an accident. Something most people wouldn't care too much about. Something most people would just forget about and then move on with their lives. But now . . .
Something had changed. I thought I might have romantic feelings for him. But what use is it. Bastion wouldn't go for a guy like me. I'm not that smart, don't have many skills. I sell clothes at a men's wear store. How is that a career? What Bastion is doing with his life is a career. He doesn't need me holding him back. I know I've asked him many times if he's found a girl, and, granted, while he's never given me a straight answer, one day he will find one.
Still, I couldn't deny that our relationship is no longer going to continue as it has the past year and a half. This is inevitably going to end in pain, but that's not going to happen today.
I just can't get over it. When he fixed my tie and vest, I felt a lot like a husband whose wife was making sure he looked his best before he went to his office. Only replace husband with me, and wife, with Bastion, and office with a men's wear store. It felt homey, like it was something I could get used to.