Nikolas held onto Atlas and refused to let go, as if he could save Atlas from this horrible situation with sheer willpower. He kissed his cheek, then the side of his head, then rested his chin on the man's shoulder and flicked a pleading look towards Tessa. She was already looking at him, as if waiting for that silent question, and with that confirmation, she turned to Atlas and stood up. Nikolas didn't let go of Atlas, but he didn't force Tess away either when she came up in front of him and used a finger to tilt his head up, forcing Atlas to look at her. "First of all, those people should know that shit happens. People have lives outside of their careers, surprise surprise. You had all the time in the world to finish those songs, a few minutes lost from having lunch is nothing compared to that. Secondly, you aren't going to be knocked down that easily." She smiled softly and reassuringly. "We got you. All of us." She gestured to the people in the room. "Don't have a studio? Use mine. These guys will too." She flicked her eyes briefly up at Nikolas for confirmation that, yes, the band will start up again, and for real this time, then back down to Atlas. "Anyone gives you shit? We got your back. Who cares what that stingy manager thinks of you? You have an amazing voice and beautiful songs. Once you get a huge fanbase, he'll regret ever giving up on you." She gently but firmly took hold of his chin, as if to solidify her next words. "You're one of us now. You feel like you're being torn down? We'll build you back up and return the favor to that bastard—or multiple. Need a shoulder to cry on? Come to us. We got you."
Atlas listened intently to Tess, a soft smile on his lips. Subconsciously, tears fell down his cheeks, but they were less sad tears than happy tears. He hadn't had a group of people- friends- that cared about him like this. People that would defend him if something was wrong or people that would comfort him. It was an amazing feeling. He definitely hadn't planned to cry withing the first ten minutes of meeting Nikolas' friends, but here he was. Unsure what to say, he stayed silent, but his smile brightened. Looking around at everyone in the room, then back to Tess, he wiped away his tears. "Thank you…" He basically whispered, thinking that was the best thing he could say at the moment.
Nikolas wordlessly let go of Atlas so that Tess could scoop the crying man into her arms and hug him tightly. "Aww, don't cry, babe." She petted his hair down, then pulled back and held his shoulders as she smiled down at him. "We know what it's like, to feel like you have nothing and no one, that the world is against you. It's why we're all together, now, as friends and basically siblings." She flicked her eyes up at Nikolas at that last part. Then they widened, and she grinned brilliantly. "And speaking of siblings, I have a surprise for you." She turned around and snapped her fingers at the two on the bed. "You two, don't break him or I'll break you." With that, she kissed Atlas' cheek and slipped out of the room. Nikolas watched her go with a look of confusion, then directed his attention to Atlas. "She's adopted you."
Atlas eagerly hugged Tess back, then watched her leave the room. A small, but bright smile showed through the still falling stream of tears. He had never felt so loved and accepted by a group before, or at least he hadn't in a long while, and it felt amazing. He glanced up at the two on the bed before turning back to Nikolas. He went towards his boyfriend, wrapping his arms around him and burying his face in the man's chest.
Nikolas smiled and hugged Atlas close, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. Everyone was quiet for a little bit, then Kit finally spoke up. "So I see we adopted yet another stray into our band of rats." A muffled slap and a snicker as Ryker playfully hit Kit. Nikolas rolled his eyes and looked down at Atlas, as if to make sure that he was okay behind the tears. He couldn't stay long, however, before Tess was calling him from downstairs and insisting that he 'get his ass down here immediately.' He sighed and kissed Atlas' forehead. "Think you can fend them off while I'm gone?" he asked, ducking just in time to avoid getting hit in the head by a crumpled piece of paper.
Atlas stopped crying as he felt Nikolas hug him back, all that was left was the stains on his cheeks. "I sure hope so, but if you hear anything concerning you'd better get back up here asap." He said, looking up at his boyfriend and giggling. He looked over at the others and let a smile through. Letting go of Nikolas, he walked over to the chair that Tess had previously been sitting in and sat down.
Nikolas parted from Atlas with a quick kiss to his lips, then hurried downstairs as per Tessa's screaming request. Kit and Ryker exchanged a silent grin. Ryker sat forward and faced Atlas, propping his head up on one hand while Kit settled into a nest of pillows and write down ideas for songs. "Couple questions," Ryker said, green eyes focused on Atlas, "Firstly, how long did it take for you to snag him? Secondly, what do you know about his sister?"
Since the chair was a spinning chair, Atlas sat in it backward and rested his chin on the back of the chair. "Well, it only too a few hours actually. So two days ago, I got home from recording and went to take a shower. I always sing in the shower and so, as per usual, I did that. But it was different that time, Nikolas seemed to have the same idea. I started singing, he must have heard me through the paper-thin walls and joined me. Then the second I was finished showering and stuff, I went to his apartment. So then the next day we walked out of the building together and I invited him to the studio. Eventually, he came and we chatted. I kissed him a couple times from impulse, my impulse control is so bad it's not even funny. Anyway, then we became official at lunch." Atlas nodded to himself as if to remind himself that it had actually happened in such a short amount of time. "That was so much more than you need to know, but whatever. Another thing about me, I overshare quite a bit. Um, yeah." He said, almost to himself, but definitely loud enough for Ryker to hear. "And I didn't even know he had a sister."
Ryker barely heard everything past 'a few hours', but he had the decency to wait until Atlas was done before groaning dramatically and flopping back onto the bed. Kit laughed and playfully shoved Ryker with his foot. "HA!" Ryker flailed an arm to attempt to smack the cackling Kit, but repeatedly missed. "Oh shut up, you. I don't want to hear a word out of you."
"It took you months to rope him in. Months. It took him a few hours. Damn, your dating game is awful."
"Shut. Up."
"Never." Kit grinned devilishly, then faced Atlas. "Yeah, he has one. When he was twelve, he was called into the hospital after she was checked in and diagnosed with leukemia. Her adoptive family was there, but her father was a bit sus and set off Nik's warning bells. It took him a few days to put things together—that bastard was abusing her and his wife." He scowled, then scooted forward as if getting closer to Atlas would set in the importance of what he was going to say. "When Nik confronted him, he called security and banned Nik from visiting his sister from then on, claiming he was getting violent—which, to be fair, I wouldn't doubt he was when he was told he couldn't see her anymore. But, I digress. Anyway, later, Nik was told by said douchebag that she died, unable to fight her cancer. He was absolutely crushed."
Atlas giggled, watching the two others argue amongst themselves. However, once Kit started talking about Nikolas' sister, he was dead silent. He frowned and didn't say anything even after Kit finished. Looking up at Kit, then Ryker, he opened his mouth with the intent to break the silence, but he had nothing to say, or at least he couldn't think of anything to say.
Neither one of them looked particularly somber. Kit looked a little angry at the thought of what Nikolas' sister's adoptive father had done, but other than that he had a spark of happiness in his eyes. He met Atlas' eye and grinned. "Kid, he was told she was dead. I'll give you one guess as to what Tess was so eager to show him downstairs and why it's taking so long."
Atlas didn't even have to think to figure out what Kit meant. His eyes widened and a smile grew on his lips. The sadness for Nikolas he had felt, was masked over by excitement and happiness for him. Although he was definitely angry about his sister's adopted father, that anger probably won't go away for a while.
Ryker pointed towards the door, also grinning as he sat up. "The twins found her and brought her here. Nik doesn't live with them no more, so she introduced her to Tess, who updated her on everything about her brother. Somehow one of Nik's old foster brothers caught wind of her being here and manipulated him into quitting racing in exchange for 'information' all of us bet on him not believing him, so here we are." He gestured to the house vaguely. "She's adorable."
Atlas nodded a little to himself, listening to Ryker. "Oh man, this is great. And I bet she is." He lifted his chin off the chair, spinning it side to side a little. "When're we gonna go down there?" He asked, eager to see Nikolas and meet his sister, but he wanted to give him enough time to reunite with her.
Kit got up and pulled Ryker up with him by the back of his shirt. "Why not now? Barging in is our specialty, and if they didn't want an audience they wouldn't do it in the house." He gestured for Atlas to follow, but waited while Ryker opened the door and made his way downstairs ahead of them. Kit was clearly the more responsible one of the group, and tended to have a more comforting protective instinct towards others than the others, though was closely rivaled by Nikolas.
Atlas would have jumped right up and closely followed Ryker, but if he had done so he would have probably tripped on the chair. So instead, he carefully got off the chair, smiled at Kit in a way of thanking him for waiting, then followed him down the stairs. A wave of nervousness once again rushed over him, it wasn't as bad as before meeting everyone else though.
Kit stuffed his hands in his pockets as he led Atlas downstairs, then leaned against the wall when they got to the kitchen and flicked his eyes back to catch the guy's reaction to the scene unfolding before them. Ryker was perched on a counter, an easy and happy smile on his lips. Tess was sitting right next to him, legs crossed and a bright grin on her face.
Nikolas had a girl tightly but still carefully wrapped in his arms as if he couldn't bear to let go, lest she disappears forever. The girl returned the tight hug with one of equal ferocity, face buried in his shoulder and muffled Greek blubbering pouring from her lips. Only when Kit cleared his throat did they pull apart enough for them to see the new arrivals.
Kaiti Katsaros, a girl the same age as Tess, had a striking resemblance to her older brother. Just as Nikolas had stunning silver eyes, Kaiti bore blue eyes so light that they bordered on silver, with the outline of the irises being a solid silver that match Nik's. Her waist-length pitch-black hair was silky smooth and haphazardly pulled up into a bun, tons of stray strands falling all over her face and down her back. Sharp and prominent features as if carved from marble, yet they had a softer edge to them to give her a slight look of innocence beyond her owl-ish eyes. Her frame was slim with subtle curves—still recovering fully from the damage chemo, abuse, and cancer did to her body—but no one would be surprised if she managed to build up lean muscle. Like her brother, her skin was pale, but she had a hint of a tan creeping through, and a natural rosy color to her cheeks. When she smiled over at Atlas, deep dimples dented said cheeks.
He had followed Kit and stayed close to the wall. A large and bright smile appeared on Atlas' lips as he looked at the girl. He would definitely be able to tell she was Nikolas' sister, even if no one had told him. And, Ryker was one hundred percent correct, she was adorable. This whole scene made him beyond happy, especially for Nikolas and now his sister.
Nikolas spotted Atlas, and there was nothing but pure joy and love in his eyes. This was definitely a surprise he needed, and he'd forever be in the twins' debt for this. Kaiti darted her gaze between the two men, then zeroed in on Atlas and clasped her hands together, making the silver hoops around her wrist clink together. "He. Is. So pretty. Ohmygosh." She turned back to Nikolas with a wide grin, who just shrugged with a sheepish smile, then turned to Atlas once more. "Hi! I'm Kaiti! I think you know by now who I am to your boyfriend." Nikolas muttered in Greek, "I never said he was my boyfriend," to which she replied in rapid Greek, "And I'm not an idiot."
Atlas only giggled at Kaiti's reaction to him. "Thank you! I'm Atlas, it's really nice to meet you!" He gave her a smile. Now he had double the Greek to listen to, to which he wasn't complaining, but he didn't like not knowing what they were saying. But he loved seeing Nikolas so happy, he knew the man deserved it.
Kaiti gave up on pleasantries and rushed over to Atlas, throwing her arms around him in a tight hug. Nikolas watched closely, still vigilant over her due to her cancer which had made her bruise easily, but was otherwise all smiles and happy to see his sister and boyfriend meet—two of the most important people in his life. "It's so nice to meet you too, Atlas!" she said sweetly, "I like you already," she added with a giggle.
Atlas instantly threw his arms around Kaiti, a very large and very bright smile on his lips. He tightened his grip around her a little and glanced at Nikolas. His eyes were shining. Meeting his boyfriend's sister was amazing, especially if he was also seeing her for the first time in a while, like a big family reunion. "I like you already as well!"
Tess slipped away to talk to the twins about transferring Atlas to their studio and everything, parting with a grin and a hand ruffling Kaiti's hair. The girl squeaked at the unannounced touch, but giggled and didn't pull away from Atlas until a few seconds after. "I'm glad I earned your approval. It'd be a shame if my brother's boyfriend," she twisted around and stared directly at Nikolas, earning a half-smile in response, "didn't like me." Nikolas crossed his arms over his chest and angled his head. "Still don't recall telling you that he was my boyfriend." Kaiti didn't waste a second before rebutting with, "Still not an idiot."
Atlas giggled, watching the siblings. When Kaiti pulled away from the hug, he did as well, letting his hands go in his pockets. "You think you're glad? If my boyfriend's sister didn't approve of me I'd actually be screwed. So I appreciate your approval as well." He smiled at Kaiti then Nikolas. Today had already been wonderful, with meeting Nikolas' friends and his sister.
((just a quick fyi, Kaiti's name is pronounced "kah-tee"))
Kaiti grinned and bounced on the soles of her feet. Atlas wasn't the only one incredibly happy with how today turned out. Seeing her brother again was a dream come true, and she had so many others to meet along with him. It made her happy to know that he had made a family of his own, instead of shutting himself into isolation like she had thought he'd done. Seeing him so happy, smiling back at his boyfriend with unguarded joy, filled her heart with a much-missed warmth. However, things never stayed all fuzzy and warm for the people in this house for long. Tessa came back into the kitchen and leaned against Kit, an arm hooked around his neck for balance. He didn't seem fazed at all, just looked over at her and waited for what she had to say. "Good news bad news," she said, fixing her gaze on Atlas. "The twins have agreed to take up your career alongside us." She vaguely gestured to the rest of the people in the room, indicating the four starting the band. "But, Cin'll have to get in contact with everyone already attached to said career and work things through with them. It won't be face-to-face, but I'm pretty sure she wants you to be present so you know what's going on."
