Chapter Text
Clothes.
God, why were some of Nathan’s most casual clothes his pajamas? He wasn’t trying to bring his old life with him when he did this. That was the last thing he wanted or needed. Yet still, they were the only clothes he had. Several button-ups, which had been laundered and ironed to perfection, which he washed every Friday night and folded right away to avoid wrinkles. Every day for the past two years, he’d worn the same 5 button-ups, which were, as his father put it, “casual” enough to wear to a high school. Every day, he’d put up with comments about how pretentious he suddenly looked one year. This was, of course, before people began to respect him. The shirts were white as clouds and always worn under his "infamous" jacket, which he’d gotten his father’s approval to wear. His pants, which also were all the same, and formal as all hell. These went through the same routine as his shirt. Washed every Friday night, folded right after, repeat every week for the entire time he’d spent here. They, too, were what made him seem pretentious. His socks, which he packed because he had no flip flops, or slides, or any open-toed shoes. They were each the same pair, all ankle-high and bleached white. Because of his slacks, they were covered, but Nathan hated the feeling of the fabric made from whatever the hell his dad thought was eco-friendly, or whatever.
As one would probably tell, his dad was the one who controlled everything he did, everything he said, and everything in general. If he wanted to try for the football team, he asked his dad for permission first. If he wanted to try out for the lead in that year’s school play, he asked his dad for permission. Every little aspect of his high school life was ruled by his father, who wanted Nathan to be a cardboard cutout of himself, and to eventually lead the family on. Have kids, have them be pretentious and spoiled as fuck, and have them have kids who were also spoiled and rich. One can get the point here.
Yet, Nathan despised this. He really, truly hated his father with every fiber of his being, more than any human alive. If Nathan did something even remotely wrong, he was given a lecture about it. One time, he’d wanted to be in the school’s production of The Tempest, which his father, of course, had approved, but the night of the show, his nerves were at their peak, to the point where he was physically shaking. Thoughts of how horrible he’d do ran through his head and all he could think about was the fact that he would do bad. He regretted ever deciding to sign up for the play, for auditioning for a lead role. Seriously, he had considered not even showing up.
But there his father was, after forcing him to get to rehearsals before the play that night, moments before they got up on stage and performed for those who showed up, scolding him for being nervous beforehand. Scolding him for feeling a human emotion that every normal human would have before something like this. Acting as if it were his fault that already, he’d had anxiety issues. And, while his father believed that his own words were true, there was no way that Nathan would ever do so. Even if he were to have kids and grow up as a rich parent, if his kid, who, diagnosed with certain issues, was anxious before some big thing, he’d never even think of scolding them for it. However, he wasn’t his father, and his father certainly didn’t have the same views as he did. While his dad thought of the whole anxiety thing as an excuse, Nathan knew—so did so many other people in the world—that it wasn’t, and that he really, truly, was moments from freaking out.
And because of his dad’s dumbass repeated mantra that always went something like “Don’t embarrass me in front of everyone” one way or another, he just told himself that. It worked. He didn’t freak out on stage; he didn’t do anything on stage other than what he was supposed to do. Another lecture from his dad in a familiar disappointed tone was dodged, even though he knew there would be many more to come.
Sure, he hated his dad, but sometimes he was right. So right that it made Nathan angry. He depended so much on his father, yet still despised the man for controlling him and his actions.
Luckily for him, he wasn’t going to have to deal with his dad for much longer. He had his only pairs of clothes, which he knew he was going to throw out as soon as he could. He could get new clothes some other time. Clothes that didn’t remind him of this. This was what he was running from, after all.
He left his dress shoes behind, forcing his sneakers, usually used for Gym and Gym only, on his feet without untying the laces. They wouldn’t go on right away, which prompted frustration from the hot-headed teen. After shoving his foot more forcibly, he fit his foot in. This process repeated with the other shoe until he stood up and looked around his room. A duffle bag lay beside him on his bed, already packed with clothes. However, he took the bag by its strap to move it to the floor. Taking his covers from the bed, he folded them up into a less than neat square before shoving them inside the bag as well. Normally, the bag would be full of sports equipment of whatever sport at the school he was forced to do for the duration of that sport’s season, but he’d dumped it out onto his floor. The sturdy bag served a new purpose now: it was his getaway bag.
Next thing Nathan knew, he was shoving his pajamas, which consisted of a baggy shirt that was formerly owned by his father at one point as well as some sweats into the bag. He then added his underwear. After several moments, everything that was deemed a necessity for being on the road was packed into one bag. Nothing that told tales of what he was now—nothing of sentimental value, even—was packed. He had his clothes, his meds, and lastly, his phone. Even that, he’d get rid of it quickly—stomp it in the parking lot of the school, probably—after calling his sister and saying some sort of goodbye for a while. Even if it was late where she was, it’d be better. If she didn’t answer, she wouldn’t have the access to making him feel guilty for leaving. She was different than him; she would never think of running away from home. But really, she had. She’d left him with his asshole of a father to deal with.
Needless to say, he was more than done with dealing with him.
He had a set plan. He was leaving behind everything but the necessities. He knew that if he brought anything to remember this place by, that he’d eventually want to come back, possibly even feel some sort of homesickness. He couldn’t afford coming back here and to face the complete and utter criticism from not just his father, but everyone in his family. He’d surely not be allowed anywhere out of Arcadia Bay for months. And, out of all the dumb shit he’d done, whether deliberately or by accident, this would become the number one. He’d feel regret if he took anything with him. If he even missed one aspect, it could make or break this runaway trip. He didn’t want to come back now, but he could later. It was a risk he didn’t want to take.
This was the explanation for mysteriously blowing Victoria off for days, for she was the one thing he’d miss most about Arcadia Bay. His closest friend, the one person who knew about his problems and didn’t victimize him or take advantage of him for it. She was there when he was freaking out, there when he needed help, and there at any time of day or night. The teen had even once admitted to keeping her ringer on practically always (and extra loud at night) to try and be there whenever she was needed.
Victoria may have had a reputation for being a bitch to others, but to him, she was his best friend.
Nathan couldn’t afford to want to come back for her. He resorted to blocking her number in his phone the last few days before he planned to run. He avoided her in the halls. Avoided her even in their shared classes. If she knew what he was about to do, it’d crush her, and it’d eventually crush him.
This was the same thing for other people he knew. It wasn’t as strong as it was with Victoria, though. People like… Warren. He’d barely known the junior and used to hate his guts (especially after the bitch beat him up), but they made up to the point where they weren’t necessarily enemies. More acquaintances than anything. They knew each other’s names, knew each other’s grade, knew basic shit about one other, but they weren’t incredible friends. Certainly not to the scale of what he and Vic were like. Yet, he’d probably miss something simple like being at the top of the school hierarchy, with all that “power.”
The young adult made sure of having everything he needed several times before he was sure he was set to go. It was a form of stalling that he didn’t even understand as such. A reluctance to leave this shithole for something new. He had a few stops before he was out of here, but his subconscious knew—it was time to go and he secretly didn’t want to.
Nathan’s eyes set themselves on his phone, which displayed the time as 12:07 AM. It was late enough to leave.
Heaving the bag over his right shoulder, the young adult leaned forward to take a grip of the doorknob and turn it as slowly as he could. If this were to go smoothly, he needed to be quiet and stealthy. This certainly wasn’t his first time sneaking off campus at night, but this time, he was carrying a duffel bag full of clothes and blankets and shit, making it quite packed to the brim. Because it was on his back, it could easily be noticed more than just a lanky kid could be.
After stepping out into the hall, the first thing he noticed was that it was quite dark. At night, the hallway’s lights were dimmed, making the hallway to the courtyard almost seem eerie. However, it wasn’t like Nathan was scared of the dark. It just enhanced his fear of getting caught. No fear, though, was going to stop him from leaving this shithole of a town. After talking for months about leaving with Victoria, he was finally going to do it. Not an ounce of remorse for those he called friends flickered through his mind. He was too caught up in this to care.
Creeping down the hallway toward the bathroom was his first task. It didn’t take long, and when he was there, he didn’t take the fact that the light was on too seriously. Plenty of people left the lights on by accident, even though they weren’t supposed to (there were signs all over about “saving energy,” which were, quite frankly, stupid).
So, while crouched, Nathan crept into the bathroom. It didn’t seem as if anyone but him was in there, and so he let his guard down for just a moment before placing the duffel down on the ground to grab his toothbrush and other toiletries. He snagged some dry shampoo from someone else in the dorm; after a few days on the road, the male would certainly need this more than whoever owned it would. He didn’t plan on staying in any hotels or motels anywhere in a certain radius of this place, and he wasn’t going to lug around huge bottles of shampoo and conditioner if he wasn’t even guaranteed a shower every night. It would have to do.
He didn’t take but five minutes in the bathroom grabbing his things and was out in a flash. His guard was back up in a matter of seconds as he turned out the lights and crept toward the front door of the boys’ dorms. All he needed to do was get out, then sneak past the courtyard, and finally sneak to his Jeep and then leave. It was simple. He’d done this a number of times, and he could do it again.
Though right as he was approaching the door to the courtyard, a whisper shot through the silent room, and Nathan’s pulse increased drastically.
“What the hell are you doing?” Someone had whispered. It surely wasn’t the voice of a guard; the voice wasn’t deep or at all adult-like, meaning it must have been a student that caught him.
His body instinctively swiveled around to face the person who caught him. Quickly, it became apparent the reason why the bathroom light was on. Another student—Warren fucking Graham—was in there at the time he shoved a bunch of shit into his bag and then made a careful yet quick beeline to the door out to the courtyard.
And now he was caught. What he was supposed to do, he didn’t really know. He had planned for a security guard to catch him rather than a student. He guessed he didn’t have to answer the junior’s question. It would really be better if he just left without a word, without any insight into what he was doing. It was the nerdy 16-year-old, however, who spoke up first, with an assumption.
“Are you—are those drugs in there? Drug money?” Asked Warren, to which Nathan’s expression quickly grew exasperated. Did Warren really think he was dumb enough to just carry a shit ton of drugs around like this? And—why was that the first thing that came to mind?
“Fuck no, Graham. What kind of question is that?” Nathan spat back, his voice a small whisper in fear of waking any other students up. Sure, Nathan did drugs and drank maybe way too much at parties, and even sold drugs to other students, but he wasn’t dumb. If the bag was full of drugs, he would not be doing this as openly as he was now. He knew other ways around the school, but for bolting, the most direct way was the best. It would take all but ten minutes to get out of here, and it was the most open. There was no need to take a more indirect route.
“I dunno… I was just wondering…” Warren replied in a tone that made him seem like a puppy that had just been stepped on. His eyes shot down to the floor and he went quiet, defeated by just a simple question.
“It’s not fucking drugs,” The older male spoke up, eyes drilling holes into Warren’s skull with how intense his glare was, “I’m just leaving this shithole.” This was all he planned to say on the matter, and he even began to turn and leave Warren and the whole rest of the school behind, but then the other started running his damn mouth again.
“Wait—why? Isn’t your dad, like—”
“Fuck off about my dad. I’m leaving for a reason. You figure it out. I don’t have to tell you anything,” Nathan spat, his temper growing quite quickly. This statement made Warren only cower further back in fear. It was apparent that the senior had either forgotten about or simply didn’t care about the “pact” they had made after their fighting with each other. The shaggy-haired male had approached Nathan and asked about possibly forgetting everything behind them, like how he beat the shit out of the older teen and how they had pretty bad discourse with each other, and Nathan had answered with an answer that at least sounded like a yes; “Whatever,” was his exact response. So, quickly, Warren tried to diffuse the situation.
“Hey, wait, I’m-uh… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you mad or anything. I don’t want to fight.” He desperately apologized, backing up a bit more just in case, “I just wanted to know, I swear.”
“Well, if you’re so interested, this place fucking sucks. Is that good enough of a reason?” Nathan asked, venom in his voice. It was true. He was sick of his dad, and of others, taking advantage of the way he was for their own benefit. Ultimately, he was sick of everything here. He didn’t need or have another reason to leave. No amount of convincing could pry him from his decision. Yet, Warren could at least try… right?
“You… shouldn’t leave, Nathan. It’ll get better. Maybe if you just say something—”
“I didn’t ask for your input, loser. Just fuck off. You shouldn’t be awake just like I shouldn’t. Just go to bed and don’t tell a soul about this.” Nathan wasn’t going to let up. He’d imagined this day—the day he left Arcadia Bay—for years now, and he’d never actually had the guts to do any of this until today. Warren—as well as any other person—wasn’t going to control him and tell him to stay. This was his decision to make, and he had made it.
“Come on… You should think about this,” Begged Warren. He couldn’t let Nathan ultimately throw his life away and run off to some unknown place. He went to this school after all, which was meant for gifted students. Nathan had to have something that he came here for in the first place. If he could just—
“I have thought about this. And it’s happening, I told you to go, so just… do it! Before I-I—” He had nothing. No threat in mind. He wasn’t bringing the godforsaken gun he’d had on him for the longest while, and he didn’t want to cause a ruckus at, like, 12 in the morning when everyone else was asleep. It’d get them caught.
Luckily for Nathan, he didn’t have to have any threat, because Warren was going to back off about it. It seemed as if he would never get Nathan to stay. Maybe it was for the best, though. If Nathan was gone, it meant that he wouldn’t pick on those weaker than him and start fights for no reason. Ultimately, other than dealing with Victoria, school would be more enjoyable.
But Warren immediately expelled the thoughts from his mind. It was rude to think like that. Even though Nathan was a complete asshole, Warren couldn’t find the heart to do anything rude after he’d beaten up the other boy. After hearing his pleads to stop, and his weak, cracked voice uttering an apology, he’d immediately felt so incredibly bad, but he wasn’t able to show it. He regretted his actions greatly. Yet, he couldn’t find it in himself to just turn around and walk away, leaving the elder male to run away alone. If he were going to run away, he would have wanted company of some sort.
He’d already started to turn around, defeated, but he quickly spun around on his heels to face the taller male, a determined look in his eye.
“What if I came with you?” Warren blurted out, his voice a bit louder than Nathan would have liked it to be. The other immediately retaliated against the idea, as he would have guessed would happen. Maybe it was a good thing, though, because truly, he had no idea what he was doing.
“Hell no, Gayram,” Nathan laughed mockingly, thinking that Warren must have been kidding himself, or trying to make some dumb joke and then tell his friends—and the whole school—that he’d left. Which, they would eventually figure out, but Nathan needed time to run without anyone knowing. Warren could potentially ruin his whole plan with some dumb joke. However, Warren continued to persist, despite the rational part of his brain yelling “No!” at him.
“No, I mean it…! I… I’ve been wanting to leave, too,” He bullshitted. This really was all bullshit, all a big lie, because though Warren thought about moving somewhere else when he was older, he never thought of doing so as a teenager. He, unlike Nathan, had loving parents not incredibly far from Arcadia Bay, and good friends, and he liked his school, minus the violence that broke out between him and Nathan. He was ultimately happy here, and he’d not felt anything that Nathan was feeling. But he didn’t want Nathan to go alone. Even though this was a shitty thing to make an impulse decision about, here he was, doing it.
Nathan was wary, though. He had been tricked so many times in the past, with empty promises and lies, and who’s to say that Warren wasn’t lying? The kid had beat him to a pulp and been a shithead to him, even if he tried to make it up afterward. It simply didn’t seem real enough to believe, yet.
“I told you. I don’t need some sort of partner. If you want to leave, do it yourself,” He spat, eyebrows furrowed in a still-angry expression. His words were almost enough to prompt Warren to give up on it, finally, but this decision was something he was sure of—at least at the moment. He wanted to go with Nathan so that the teen had someone there, even on the road. And he was going to. He just needed to convince the other to let him come along.
“No, I mean—it’ll be way easier if we go together, right…? I’ll bring my own stuff, my own money. I can also help pay for gas, and-uh… I can drive. I… really don’t want to run away on my own. You probably don’t either. I just… um… I feel like I need to go, I guess. And you’re doing it too…! It could be good.” He tried to convince, his voice growing more and more desperate throughout his whole mini-speech of why he wanted to come with Nathan. It felt awful to lie about the reason, but he felt that the only way to be able to come along was to relate to the other.
And for Nathan, why the hell was Warren’s sob story working? It was so incredibly dumb, and he sounded so desperate. So why was he considering having his “former” enemy along with him? Could it possibly be the offer to drive him, so that he himself didn’t have to drive so much? Or maybe it was because he wanted someone with him deep down (though he’d never admit such a thing). Whatever the reason was, he didn’t want it to be true. He didn’t need someone with him. This was supposed to be a solo mission.
Before he knew it, he was blurting out an answer.
“Oh my god. Whatthefuckever. I don’t give a shit. Just hurry your ass up and let’s go, okay? I was supposed to leave ten minutes ago.” He answered. Warren’s expression went from hopeful to surprised quite quickly, and a tiny bit of joy entered his heart at Nathan accepting his request.
“Uh… sure! I’ll just grab some clothes and, uh… I’ll be right back, swear.” Warren said, visibly excited. This made Nathan roll his eyes as the other practically ran to his dorm.
This was scary for Warren, but it was going to be… fun. A chance to understand Nathan maybe, and a chance to perhaps get closer with him at least a little. He knew, deep down, he would regret this later, but there was nothing stopping him. In a matter of minutes (and asking himself several times if he really wanted to do this), he was done packing and walking fast to meet up with Nathan, who, to his surprise, had really stayed for him. They were really doing this. He was running away with Nathan Prescott for pretty much no reason. It was exhilarating.
As soon as Warren approached Nathan, he crouched. He himself did the same, grinning a little with his backpack full of clothes and some personal things he couldn’t live without. He said “Sayonara,” to his laptop, but his phone still remained in his pocket. He’d miss watching pirated films…
“Alright. Be quiet and follow me, got it? If we get caught because of you, you’re dead.” Nathan snapped, eyes glaring toward the younger male. Warren nodded quickly and silently, and then they were out.
Goodbye, Blackwell.
The thought uttered through Warren’s head repeatedly as they crept through the courtyard, and toward the Jeep that Nathan owned. Soon it was, Goodbye Arcadia Bay. The thought of leaving the place he’d grown to love in such a short time was saddening, but he couldn’t think of it right now.
Regret had begun to set in, but given the angry, reluctant glare that Nathan’s face was stuck in, he knew that there was no going back. He had to just accept that he made the most impulsive decision of his life and that he could not reverse it.
His decision was final, as was Nathan’s, and he became aware of that as the silence set in heavy layers in the space around them.
There was no going back.