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“That’s bullshit, Nathan, you’re totally dating Warren.” Victoria says, sitting on the edge of his bed.
“The fuck I am.” Nathan mutters, sorting through his movie collection. Did Warren take his copy of Cannibal Holocaust ?
“So how come Zach calls me every time you go to his room?” Vic asks, her voice pseudo-innocent. She inspects her nails.
“That sounds more like your problem.” Nathan passes, bending down to reach a few magazines on the bottom shelf. He flips through the pages before walking over to his printer.
“He says he asked you about it.”
“Yeah, and I fucking answered.”
“Why were you in there, then?”
“I lent him Deep Impact. ” Nathan says without hesitation. He scans page after page of the book, glancing toward his computer.
“That’s funny, Zach said he owed you money.” Victoria says, her tone shifting into smug. Nathan freezes where he stands. Busted. Well shit, he might’ve not been busted if he didn’t freeze up.
Victoria stands and walks to Nathan. She rests her hands on his shoulders and turns him to face her.
“Look, Romeo, I’m not gonna tell anyone. I’m just gonna wiggle my eyebrows at Warren whenever he dares to make eye contact with me.” she grins, looking between Nathan’s eyes.
“I didn’t even confirm or deny your putrid accusation.” Nathan sticks his nose up slightly. The snobbiness usually puts people off, letting him get his way, but not with Vic. She’s the second richest person he knows. And she’s a girl, which adds five thousand damage in terms of controlling things, including conversation.
“Come on, Nate, you’ve been talking to me less and less over the past few months and that geek walks up and down the school like he owns the place. Only you walk like that.” Victoria says.
“God fucking damnit. Whatever. He’s a good fuck.” Nathan says, balling his fists.
“Gotcha, bitch. I’m serious though, I’ll zip it.” Victoria makes a zipping motion over her mouth with a hand.
“I’ll tell Zach to fuck right off in return.” Nathan sighs. God fucking shit piss damnit.
“This is why I like being your bestie.” Victoria pats him on the cheek before walking over to the door.
“Oh, God, Vic, you know I hate your fucking cliches.” Nathan growls, shutting the book in his hands with a snap. He walks to return his book to its proper place.
“Whatever. See ya.” Victoria waves her fingers and exits Nathan’s room.
Nathan stands from the shelf and sits on the bed, staring at the door.
“You can come out now.” Nathan calls into the space of his room without looking away from the door, just in case.
There’s a loud thump behind him and Nathan turns to see his closet door open and Warren face down on the floor. He turns over on his back and grins at Nathan while resting his arms behind his head.
“Do you think she noticed?” Warren asks.
“It’s a fucking miracle she didn’t, considering how loud you were breathing.” Nathan kicks at Warren’s body lightly, making the boy flinch and get up on his feet.
Warren places a hand on Nathan’s shoulder and kisses him softly, and if they weren’t, well, dating, Nathan would have thought the gesture absolutely degrading.
“It’s my turn to pick the date.” Warren mumbles against Nathan’s lips. This has gotten really intimate real fast. Calm the fuck down, Nathan. It’s supposed to.
“Yeah?” Nathan answers smoothly, placing his hands on Warren’s hips.
“Do you want me to tell you what I’m thinking?” Warren asks.
Nathan doesn’t say anything for a moment. He hates surprises. He’s had more than a few...unpleasant ones. He trusts Warren more and more every day, and he knows that there can’t possibly any reason for Warren to want to hurt him. But he still can’t bring himself to wait.
“Tell me.” Nathan says, leaning back until his legs touch the bed. He sits, bringing Warren on his lap.
“A picnic.”
“You mean like, on the ground?” Nathan asks, pushing Warren away from him a little. “Gross.”
“That’s what picnic blankets are for, dumbass.” Warren replies, scooting back where he was, rubbing up just right. Not that it really turns him on.
Nathan hasn’t exactly been “in the mood” since Warren tried to stick it up his ass. It’s not that big a deal as Warren makes it out to be. His dick still rises, but he’s just kind of out of it when Warren tries to instigate something. He feels bad not only for himself, but for Warren, too. Poor guy just wants a good fuck, but now that they’re together it’s not like the kid can just go hit up Luke or someone else.
“Besides, it’s gonna be at night, y’know, like, under the stars.” Warren adds, stroking Nathan’s arm lightly.
“Oh my god.” Nathan deadpans.
“What?” Warren asks, his voice high and his eyebrows scrunched together.
“You’re such a fucking--”
“--wonderful boyfriend?” Warren finishes, leaning down to kiss Nathan lightly.
He so badly wants to throw Warren on his bed and show him what a wonderful boyfriend is, but he just can’t muster the will to. It plays over and over in his head like a fantasy but he’s not able to do anything to make it real.
“So, sounds good, then?” Warren asks, eyes wide as he looks down at Nathan.
“Fucking-- fine.” Nathan says. As if he would ever say no.
“Good. I’ll see you…” Warren trails off, pulling his phone from his pocket. He taps a few times and then holds his phone above his head. “...Tuesday?”
“Please tell me that isn’t a real-time constellation map.” Nathan says.
“Well--”
Nathan shoves him off his lap, making Warren pout.
“Get out of here, nerd.” Nathan directs, pointing to the door with his finger.
Warren kisses him again and skips out the door.
Nathan lies back on the bed and tucks his hands behind his head. He takes a few deep breaths. Dear God.
He rolls over to the drawer beside his bed and pulls out half a joint and a lighter. He flicks the lighter and smiles to himself when he sees the tiny flame appear. He holds it at the edge of the paper and lights the spliff.
Nathan lies back on his bed, joint in hand, and stares at the ceiling. He tries to push out those stupidly cliche thoughts of how quickly things have changed, for worse and for better, but then he realizes he hasn’t actually had the chance to process his life. The smoke is harder to exhale while laying down, but Nathan feels like he deserves the struggle for some shitty reason.
Nathan ends up scooting up until his back is against the headboard, one leg bent at the knee, the other straight out on the crumpled sheets. Fuck, he wishes he could photograph himself like this, but setting up the shot and being in it perfectly enough for it to look good is too much work for a high guy.
Nathan thinks about Warren. He thinks about him more than he wants to. They’re dating, but it’s not like, he doesn’t--
He doesn’t love Warren, does he?
He can’t.
Though if he didn’t at least really like Warren, he wouldn’t stick around and wait for his libido to return to normal.
Fucking hell. Nathan takes a drag from the joint.
Just get through the next date. Don’t think about all this shit. Nathan takes a few breaths and tries to slow his brain by playing the movie Nosferatu in his head. His eyes close.
Nathan wakes up with a burned out stub between his fingers and a buzzing phone in his pocket. He cringes at the stub and drops it to the floor. His phone stops buzzing, and it reminds him to pull it out.
2sday by the beach.
Thanks for the vague time and location, Warren.
Nathan closes his eyes again.
He receives a new detail as the days count down to their second date.
At night.
On the edge.
Near Midnight.
Remember tht parking lot Frank uses?
Dress casual. But nice. But like not 2 nice.
I got him to fuck off tht night.
And soon Nathan gets the gist.
It feels a long time coming, the date, because Warren makes a point to grin stupidly every time Nathan looks at him, even when he’s hanging in Nathan’s room the day before.
“I don’t believe in that ‘don’t see your date before the date’ bullshit you pulled on me last time.” is the first thing Warren says when Nathan opens the door before letting himself in.
Now Nathan is in a mustard yellow sweatshirt and his only pair of light blue jeans, because he has no fucking clue what Warren considers to be “casual but nice but not like 2 nice” in his wardrobe. He rolls up the legs at the bottom of his pants in an attempt to look like he just came from painting a sunset.
It actually takes him a good while to find the spot Warren had designated, and if not for having done many a deal with Frank in these parts, he might have never found it in the light, much less at eleven forty-five at night. There are tiny candles lining the path down to where a dark shadow blocks the ocean, surrounded by more tiny candles.
God, his boyfriend is a fucking fire hazard.
Nathan walks down the path, his heart racing (why the fuck? he’s done this before, that kid is his boyfriend ). As his steps get nearer to Warren, the dark figure turns to look at him. It’s quite eerie.
“Hi babe!” Warren says, kicking all horror movie vibes from Nathan’s mind almost immediately.
“Hey fucker.” Nathan grins back. He comes to a stop on the edge of a fluffy blanket.
“Ta da!” Warren displays the area around him with his arms and scoots over for Nathan to sit beside him.
Nathan bends down and scrambles to get into a comfortable position beside Warren. He leans in to give the boy a peck on the lips.
“Nice outfit, Van Gogh.” Warren snorts, his eyes glancing from Nathan’s sweatshirt to his rolled up pants.
“You said casual, I didn’t--”
“Van Gogh is fuckin’ hot, man.” Warren smirks.
“What?”
“Mmm, the way he used the impressionist style and bright, unmixed colors, God. I’d let him stick a paintbrush in me anytime.” Warren’s voice lowers. Nathan slaps him lightly.
“You’re a fucking dork.” Nathan states as if that is the best insult ever said.
“I’m your dork.” Warren giggles back.
Oh God, he is, isn’t he? Wow, he just-- he forgets that the boy in front of him is his sometimes. It’s still too much for Nathan to wrap his head around.
“Lay back.” Warren whispers. Nathan does so, feeling the blanket shift as Warren does the same.
“There’s Orion.” Warren points.
Nathan knows the belt as well as any other guy, but as Warren drags his fingers along the sky, connecting the dots between the belt and the sword, up his body until he reaches his head, and the shield. Then he points at Taurus the bull, who Orion is apparently fighting off.
“I brought ice cream.” Warren says abruptly.
“It’s like, forty degrees.” Nathan replies.
“It’s reverse psychology on your body.” Warren defends, “Besides, it’s yummy and we can share a spoon.”
Warren sits up and reaches into a insulated lunchbox beside him, pulling out a tub of ice cream and a spoon. Nathan sits up with him and takes the spoon. Warren pulls the top off.
“It’s vanilla. I wasn’t sure.” Warren says.
“I fucking love vanilla.” Nathan assures, leaning close to Warren’s ear, adding, “But only in food.”
It’s a good line, but it doesn’t really get his stomach stirring and his heart beating faster. Warren seems slightly affected, though. His breathing is a little more erratic than it was. Nathan takes the opportunity to scoop some ice cream and shiver when the freezing substance meets his lips. He looks back at Warren, who suddenly looks reserved.
“Something wrong, babe?” Nathan asks, taking another scoop and waving it in front of Warren’s lips. They open lazily and Nathan feeds the spoon between them. Once Warren swallows, he looks at Nathan.
“I’m sorry I ruined your libido.” says Warren.
“Warren, you didn’t ruin it. You just -- you broke its arm, I guess.” Nathan replies, mentally hitting himself because really? That’s the best analogy he could think of?
“Yeah, but like, technically that’s the only reason we’re together.” Warren points out, his voice even, as if he were simply stating a fact and not subtly accusing Nathan of only dating him for sex.
“You really think I’d still be with you if I only wanted to fuck you? My dick is shot.”
“Some guys are desperate.” Warren shrugs, opening his mouth as a signal for more ice cream.
Nathan snorts as he scoops in the tub. “I have more class than that.”
“Whatever you say, Mr. ‘The movie sounded cool’.”
Nathan rolls his eyes and shoves the spoon back in Warren’s mouth, feeling goosebumps cover his neck. When Warren finishes that bite, Nathan takes one last bite of his own before closing the tub (because it’s too shitting cold). He lies back on the blanket, taking Warren with him.
Warren will point out a constellation occasionally, but mostly it’s quiet now, save for their breathing. Nathan turns his head so it’s right in Warren’s neck and kisses it absentmindedly. This would be the perfect time to fuck, if he could just want to. Warren’s breathing is heavy again, making Nathan’s chest tighten. It’s not fair.
“Do you want me to…?” Nathan asks, pulling Warren from his lull. His eyes open to look at him, and he frowns.
“I can’t make you.” is Warren’s reply.
Nathan sighs. It’s all his fault, all his fault, his fault.
“Just make out with me or something.” Warren says, and Nathan doesn’t hesitate to roll over on top of him.
The first kisses are quick, they’re I’m sorry s and I wishes from Nathan, a sweet promise. Warren’s lips slow Nathan’s racing heart, his hands pulling at Nathan’s mustard sweatshirt. Nathan kisses down Warren’s neck and opens an eye to see his boyfriend staring up at the sky.
“Where’s our constellation?” Nathan asks, turning back over to snuggle up beside Warren.
“Right there, you see?” Warren points. Nathan follows his finger. “We’re intertwined at the legs--”
“Of course we are.”
“--and you’re smiling.” Warren says.
“What are you doing?”
“I don’t know. There aren’t any bright enough stars in my face for me to tell.” Warren states, making Nathan laugh.
“Perfect.”
Nathan lays his head on Warren’s chest. His eyes droop as Warren combs his fingers through his hair. One by one, the candles around them burn out, and the moon lowers. Nathan’s breathing evens; he is asleep.