STALEMATE [MAFIA] [MXM] ✓

17: TALKS

Donny leaves pretty quick after that, and Atlas takes fast showers. Salem knows it won't take long before he's out, and the guy will likely want to have a conversation about... recent events. No doubt he wants to know where exactly he and Salem stand, relationship-wise, and Salem would like to avoid that talk. Mostly because he honestly has no idea.

Salem wants Atlas so fucking bad, and he always has. He can't even deny that to himself anymore. Salem wants to be with him more than anything in the world, and he was able to convince himself otherwise for awhile. All the times he thought Atlas was unattainable, he would lie to himself until he believed he didn't want it either.

There's no use, now. Especially since Atlas has nothing holding him back anymore. Salem obviously can't afford to lose his job, but maybe they can just be careful? He's so sick of pretending like Atlas isn't absolutely fucking everything to him.

That's the thing about love. It's unconditional. Salem found out Atlas was from a family he's been taught to hate—everyone's been taught to hate—for as long as he can remember. Atlas has broken his heart multiple times, has treated Salem like absolute shit. He had his reasons, but still. Most people would've given up.

However, Salem didn't. He wanted to, but he just couldn't. Atlas has done some truly evil things, has said some really horrible shit. Yet, still, Salem's feelings remain unchanged. If Atlas attempts the conversation, Salem doesn't stand a chance. He'd like to figure out a few more things first.

So, he makes the decision to avoid Atlas. Not forever, but at least until he can figure his shit out a little better.

After Donny leaves, Salem doesn't know what to do. He wants to stay away from Atlas, but he doesn't want to leave. He still has a few days before he needs to go back to work, and he needs to fill the time somehow. This is why he goes to Ruby's room. He hasn't been able to spend much time with her lately, anyway.

After she lets him know that he can come in, Salem enters the bedroom. He finds the girl seated on her bed, homework spread out in front of her. She glances up at his entrance in curiosity. Salem starts out with an apology, wanting to make his peace as soon as he can.

"Sorry I haven't been around as much." He apologizes. Ruby brightens up a bit at that, happy that he'd recognized such a small thing. "How is everything?"

Salem pulls her desk chair up by the bed. That's one upside to living with Atlas. Not only is she safer, but it's also just generally a better living situation for her. She doesn't have a bunch of storage boxes taking up space in her room, she has an actual desk. She has a whole walk in closet, which seems to be pretty full of clothes. Salem's been gone a lot, so for all he knows, she may have gone shopping with Natalia or something.

Salem was unable to provide all this for her. He was supporting both of them on a cop's salary, which for Astren, really isn't all that much. Atlas makes more money than him. Like, a lot more. He probably makes Salem's salary multiple times over in a month. So, this is very good for her. All he needs is for the two to get closer and he can go back to his apartment.

The thought of that has him frowning, and he realizes that he doesn't want that anymore. It may have been the original plan, but now... now he wants to stay.

Salem decides to ignore all this until he can't anymore, because he's a responsible adult.

"It's fine," she says, "I actually have straight A's."

Salem raises his eyebrows, happy at that. Wow, he actually feels so proud of her right now. They really do have a parent-child relationship.

"Good job." He says, smiling at her. She smiles back, blushing a bit. She looks kind of flustered. It's probably because she's not used to much praise. "How do your teachers feel about that? You're probably towards the top of your class."