Chapter Text
The next day after classes Hektor shows up at the university library where he finds Achilles waiting for him outside.
“You're late,” the blond bastard snarks and lifts up his sunglasses to look Hektor in the eyes.
Hektor glares back. “By two minutes, Jackass.” He tries to shove past him to get inside, but Achilles grabs his wrist and Hektor catches his scent again. He scrunches up his face and Achilles rolls his eyes.
“Oh, don't be a baby, Troy-boy! Can't handle some pheromones? You're acting like you just got your secondary gender. Now, don't forget what I did for you. You fucking own me, dumbass.”
Hektor grits his teeth, “Yeah. Fine. Whatever. Just fucking let me go.”
Achilles loosens his grip and Hektor yanks his arm back, looking over his sore wrist. Achilles scoffs like he's being dramatic, but furrows his brows in worry when Hektor turns away and heads inside. The son of Peleus takes a deep breath and follows after him.
The two find a table in the corner of the library and sit down across from each other. After a moment of awkward and angry silence, Hektor sighs and asks in annoyance, “What subject do you even want help with??”
Achilles purses his lips and pulls out his textbooks for Math, English, and Ethics…
Hektor stares, bewildered. “Wha—...what the fuck is your major??”
Rubbing the back of his neck in the most cliche way possible and averting his gaze, Achilles laughs lightly, “I'm…I'm still undecided, but I'm here on a Track scholarship…”
Hektor is only more confused. “How the fuck have you not decided yet?? It's so far into the year already!—”
Hektor gets a quick hush from the passing librarian whom he quickly apologizes to before returning his attention to the idiot in front of him.
“Ugh. Whatever. Just tell me what you need me to teach you.”
They start with math and Achilles is genuinely worried that Hektor is going to think he's just a dumb, rich, incompetent, spoiled, cunty, stupid, ignorant, racist, bland, basic, egotistical, narcissistic, stupid again, plain, insensitive, sexist, bitchy, blond playboy. It's not like Achilles is stupid or anything. He just has a hard time focusing and would much rather be doing something much more hands on. It's been like this since he started at this university. All through grade school, middle, and high he did just fine because he had someone to hold his hand through it all and make him look and feel independent. He knows he didn't get here by himself, but he would never admit that aloud. Point is that moving out has really fucked up his organization. Patroclus has suggested multiple times that he probably has something, but Achilles refuses to accept that. He must just be having a hard time adjusting. That's part of why he's always out partying. He's just trying to feel like he's a little less alone and prove he isn't a loser. Oh gods, Hektor is going to think he's pathetic. He probably does. He would be right.
To his genuine shock, Achilles finds that Hektor is actually a really patient and overall great teacher. He quickly noticed Achilles’ difficulty focusing and adjusted to keep him engaged and showed him a few really helpful memorization techniques. It was also kinda hot to hear Hektor speak about these topics so naturally and confidently, knowing it all off of the top of his head. And if he didn’t he wouldn't lie about it and instead just learned it along with Achilles(though he still remembered after a quick look or caught onto concepts almost immediately.)
“Hey, um, are you any good at biology?” Achilles questions with a stupid little smile that Hektor feels his heart skip a beat at the sight of.
“I—uh, yeah, I would like to say so. Why?”
“Wow. So humble. I was just hoping you could help me with that too. It's kinda a subject I really suck at. I just don't really care for it, sooo…” Achilles trails off.
Hektor scoffs playfully and leans back in his chair. “Isn't your mom, like, a famous marine biologist? Didn't she help pioneer the advancement of modern deep-sea research or something?”
“Well, yeah, but I don't really care about how life works,” Achilles sasses.
“Well, yeah, but you play sports and whatnot so you should probably know how your own body works,” Hektor sasses back.
Achilles lets a small laugh escape, “Yeah? Well…well fuck your semantics, bitch.”
Hektor stifles his own laugh, “Yeah? Well good to know my English lessons are sticking, jerk—”
Hektor gets cut off as his phone rings. It's the station. Again. Omfg again.
“Shit. Sorry, I gotta take this.”
Achilles rolls his eyes. “Hey, you're supposed to be helping me. And you should have your phone on silent when in a library. So disrespectful.” Achilles shakes his head in disappointment, but Hektor just shakes his head before standing and stepping a few feet away to answer the call.
“Hektor?”
Hektor’s eyes go wide.
“Paris?”
“Oh. Good. It went through. Okay, so I'm using my one call for this and I kinda need you to pick me up.”
Hektor sighs, glancing back at where Achilles is waiting impatiently, giving a deadpanned stare and tapping his finger on the table.
“Dude. Paris, seriously. This isn't the best time and I told you that if this happened again—”
“Hektor, please…you—...you promised.”
Hektor groans, knowing he can't say no when any of his siblings sound like that. Curse his oldest-child protective instincts.
“Fine. I'll be there soon. Just hold tight.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
“Yeah, yeah. No problem—”
“And I'm sorry.”
After a moment of silence Hektor sighs, “It's okay, kiddo. I'm not mad.”
On the other line Hektor hears the muffled sound of a cop telling Paris his time is up and the call ends before he can say bye. Hektor feels slightly defeated and turns back towards Achilles.
“Hey. Sorry. I kinda gotta go—”
Achilles furrows his brows, annoyed. “What? You can't be fucking serious.”
Hektor gets defensive, but keeps his volume acceptable, “I'm sorry! It's a family emergency. I need to grab my brother—”
Achilles cuts him off again, “Aren't all your siblings like our age?? Can't this wait???”
Hektor groans and rolls his eyes. “You don't get it because you don't have siblings who need you. You're just not used to not having all the attention, huh?”
“Oh, fuck you. You can't just bail on me like this, asshole!”
“Oh my gods, we can reschedule! Right now I gotta go pay a bail—”
Both men pause before Achilles snaps out of it.
“Wait, what?” He looks so confused. Hektor looks mortified at having revealed one of his family's biggest secrets. If Achilles didn't have enough dirt on him before, he most definitely does now.
“I—...I just need to go pick up my little brother from the police station, okay? Let me just bring him home then I'll come back,” Hektor tries to compromise.
Achilles calms down, but still makes his own proposition, “Why can't I just come along? It's, like, a 20 minute drive there and you could, like, teach me on the way.”
Hektor looks at him like he's an idiot. Which he is.
“What? Dude, I can't tutor you and drive.”
Achilles crosses his arms, “Well…fuck that cuz I wanna go anyways.”
“Why??”
“Because I'm being annoying. And also because if you don't I'll tell everyone that your brother is a stoner.”
Hektor glares. “He isn't a stoner.”
“They don't know that. Not yet at least.” Achilles flashes an innocent yet mocking smile and Hektor finally relents
“Fuck. Fine. Just don't spread any damn rumors.”
Arriving at the station Achilles continues yapping Hektor's ear off as he had been doing the entire 40 minute drive there. It had taken longer than expected due to traffic issues.
“I'm just saying that it's pretty stupid to say fyp out loud cuz it takes the same amount of sound parts to say as for-you-page!”
“They're called syllables, Achilles.” Hektor reaches for the door handle, but Achilles quickly jumps in front and opens the door himself.
“Ladies first!” He says with a smug grin. He expects Hektor to be angry, but instead the other man just plays along.
“And they say chivalry is dead,” Hektor shakes his head before walking through the door. Achilles didn't know Hektor was so comfortable with his masculinity. Damn. That's kinda hot.
Once inside, Achilles watches as Hektor greets the cop on shift like she's an old friend before they are taken over to the cell where Hektor’s little brother is lying on the bench inside, staring at the ceiling.
“What was it this time, officer?” Hektor asks.
“Nothing, actually. He was just wandering the street.”
“Oh. So no bail then?”
“Well…I didn't say that. He kinda…got a bit fussy when we said we were gonna take him home and sorta bit one of our guys. Poor Jerry's traumatized.” the cop shakes her head solemnly.
Hektor swings his head towards Paris, “Dude! What the fuck!?”
Paris sits up from the bench and looks back at Hektor. “He grabbed me too tight. I panicked.”
Hektor's expression softens before he asks the officer, “Alright, what's the bail?”
The guard sighs, “Well usually attacking a police officer could get you a range of years in prison and like a fine of $5,000, but since Paris is a kid and Jerry forgives him it'll only be three thousand.”
Paris stands and stomps up to the bars. “What!? You said it would only be like one thousand! That is not one if you know how to count!”
The cop just shrugs. “I said like. That's like about a thousand.”
Hektor watches Paris groan in annoyance and sit back down. “Sorry, Ma'am. I don't have that on me right now—”
“I'll pay it,” Achilles, who has been silent this whole time says, which catches the attention of everyone.
“What? No. You really don't—” Hektor tries to reason.
“No, no. I insist. The faster we get this over with, the faster we can leave. You're not the only rich kid in town, y'know.”
Hektor is about to retort, but Achilles is already making the transaction(however the fuck that actually works irl). Once complete Paris is let out of the cell, is handed his bag back, and follows Hektor silently outside and into the car. Obviously, Hektor drives. Achilles is in shotgun again and Paris sits in the back.
“I'm going to take you home, Paris,” Hektor states after a moment, leaving no room for debate. Still, Paris does.
“What? No! Hektor, please! You—you said—!”
“I don't care what I said! Either that or you go back to rehab—” Hektor cuts himself off as he sees París’ expression in the rear view mirror. He sighs, “Dammit. Okay, fine. You can stay with me tonight. Is that cool?”
Paris sniffles, having started the water-works quite fast, “Um, yeah. Thank you.” Paris wipes his tears.
Glancing at Achilles and knowing Paris would prefer to keep this private, Hektor switches to begin communicating in their mother tongue.
“Paris, please. I need you to tell me what happened,” Hektor asks, looking at Paris through the rear view mirror again to find his brother fidgeting before sighing, “Paris…”
“Mom and Dad were mad. Really mad.”
“Why? Because you ran away again?”
Paris sighs, “Um, yeah…after you left they sent me to my room and then Father…he came into my room drunk and…he…he…”
Hektor’s grip on the steering wheel tightens. “He…?” Hektor prompts.
Paris swallows and mutters, “Promise you won't get mad at me?”
“Why would I get mad? Just tell me what happened,” Hektor softens as he realizes he is being too harsh and might scare Paris’ walls back up, “I won't get mad. Promise.”
Paris takes a deep breath, “He caught me trying on one of Kassandra's old dresses…”
Both Hektor and Paris hold their breaths in the deafening silence, the buzz of the moving vehicle the only thing grounding them to reality.
Hektor had always known there was something different about Paris. Of course, he always has and always will love his little brother with all his heart, but maybe he failed to consider that maybe Paris had never been his brother in the first place.
Realizing that Paris may take his silence for unacceptance, Hektor coughs to clear his throat and says, “I see. Are you hurt physically at all?”
Paris sniffles, “N—no…not really. Just a few bruises is all.”
Hektor nods as they drive up to the campus parking lot. Exiting the car, Achilles turns to Hektor.
“So…um…”
“I'm so sorry about all this. Can we reschedule? I'll try to free up time, but…” Hektor sighs and glances over at Paris who is standing a few feet away, hood up and hands tucked in his pockets.
Achilles purses his lips and nods, “Um, yeah. No problem. I'll uh…I'll text you.”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
Walking off in the direction of the apartment building down the street, Achilles smiles softly to himself as he plans out the words he will share with the man waiting for him there.
Patroclus looks up from his spot on the couch when his golden retriever- chihuahua mix of a boyfriend bursts through the door.
Before Achilles can even start ranting about anything Patroclus speaks first, saying, “How was your date, Babe?”
Achilles stares, frozen in his overdramatic pose with his hands in the air and mid step at his boyfriend's words.
“Wha— it wasn't a date, Pat!” Achilles pouts and stomps his foot like a little kid.
“Okay, fine. Your assessment of a potential third then.”
“I—...okay, well, that's pretty accurate,” Achilles relaxes his posture and overexpresses his realizations by holding his thumb and index finger under his chin. (Like dis🤔)
“Yeah, yeah. I know. Just tell me how it went.”
Snapping out of it, Achilles jumps over the back of the couch like a parkour pro to land a seat next to Pat.
“Okay, so get this! Hektor’s little brother has a criminal record!”
What?
“What?”
Achilles laughs at his lover's adorable head tilt, “Hektor’s brother—Paris? I think? I thought all his siblings were closer to our age, but Paris seemed young. Highschool, maybe. Though he might've just had a baby face. Anyways, Hektor had to cut our study session short because he got a call from the police station. I tagged along because I'm a talented blackmailer and I ended up paying the bail so now we have even more push over this bitch!”
“Woah. The fuck you mean, we? This is all you, man. I don't know if it's like an alpha dominance kinda thing, but whatever you have for Hektor is getting a little too…manipulative. I get that you're into him, I know I am, but don't you think your controversial habit of manipulation that should have sent you to a psych ward by now if you weren't crazy rich is only going to make it harder to, y'know, charm him for lack of better terms…?”
A beat.
“Naaahhhhh! I'm not crazy! He's cute! And really smart! Are you sure you ain't just jealous, Patty-cake?”
Pat can't help but laugh at the terrible nickname and pulls Achilles into a kiss to shut him up before pulling back, holding Achilles’ face in his hands and smiling softly at his idiot.
“Maybe I'm the crazy one for falling for you…Just…promise me you'll stop if he says he isn't interested, m'kay?”
“I swear it on the Styx.”
“You sure?” Hektor asks, referring to Paris telling him that the injuries weren't so severe.
“Yes, Hektor. I'm okay. I promise.”
“Okay, okay. I just wanted to make sure.”
Paris hums in response and nods before turning to the guest bedroom Hektor had set up. Hektor has his dorm to himself for now. When the year started he had requested such and their father found it to be reasonable enough.
Before Paris can take even more than two steps, Hektor’s voice sounds, “Hey, Paris?”
“Mhm?”
“Are you my sister?”
Paris tenses up, afraid to turn around and look Hektor in the eye..
“Can I be?”
“Of course, kiddo,” Hektor says calmly and immediately, wanting her to know that he cares. “Is there a name I should know?”
Paris still doesn't turn around to look at him, but it's fine because he can hear her smile as she speaks.
“Um, no. Not yet at least. I don't know yet…thank you for asking.”
Hektor nods, “No problem, sis. Feel free to tell me if you ever do. Night.”
“Night, Hektor.”