Lean On Me (Nathan x reader)

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I was on my way to the cemetery yet again. I always went monthly to change the flowers on my sister's grave. She died when we were both children, so I never knew her. Still, she was my twin sister. Whenever my parents started taking me to her grave, I always wanted to go there. I always felt like I had a piece of me missing. Being at my sister's grave was the only place I felt whole. Whenever I could drive, I started going on my own. I would spend hours at her grave, telling her about my day and everything that was going on in life. Everyone at school made fun of me because I was the weird girl who went to the cemetery to talk to her dead sister. It never bothered me any. I was with the one person who I felt could understand me if she was alive.

I pulled into the cemetery and grabbed my blanket from the back and my small picnic basket. I walked over to my sister's grave and saw someone else there. From a distance, they had a hat on their head, bill of the hat backwards. Even from this far away, I could tell something was wrong. Their shoulders were slumped forward and shaking. Their head was down. I've spent so much time in the cemetery that I know the signs. They were crying.

I walked closer and recognized who it was. I've seen him in the cemetery before. His name's Nathan. I've seen him come and go whenever I'm here visiting my sister. He's also a pretty popular guy in school. Normally he looks like he's dealing pretty well. But, right now, it looks like he cracked. I've seen it happen before. Everyone cracks due to grief every now and then. Sometimes it happens when you get the news. Other times it happens at the funeral. People have very different ways of expressing and dealing with loss and grief.

"Hey, are you ok?" I asked, walking up behind him. He jumped before turning around. "Sorry. Did I scare you? I didn't mean to. You just looked sad. You're Nathan, right?"

"Yeah, I'm, uh, Nathan."

"I'm (Y/n)."

"Oh yeah. Don't we go to school together?"

"I guess we did. I didn't really pay attention to the people there. They kinda just bullied me."

"Aren't you the one who always hangs out in the cemetery?"

"Ya know, that was kinda hurtful."

"Sorry," Nathan said, fixing his hat to hide his uncomfortableness. "I didn't mean it to come out like that."

"Apology accepted. Now, what's wrong?"

My words made him start crying again, and I immediately pulled him into a hug. Having hung out in the cemetery a lot meant I have seen people crying a lot. Pretty much all the time, a hug and permission to cry is just what people needed. His head rested on my shoulder, tears soaking my shirt. I kept rubbing his back with my hand, going into an instinctual comfort mindset.

After a few minutes, I pat his back lightly and said,"You good now?"

"Yeah, I guess," he sniffed out."

"You wanna stay with me for awhile?"

"I, uh, I don't wanna bother you," he dragged out. His statement seemed nice enough, but I knew the truth behind it.

"You just don't want your friends to see you with me." I crossed my arms and glared at him.

His face immediately went white. I'd sussed him out.

"No, no no no no no. That's not what I'm trying to do."

"Oh cut the baloney, Nathan. I know that you don't wanna hang out with the 'weird girl's in the cemetery."

"No, please, (Y/n). I didn't mean it that way. Ok, maybe a part of me did. But you know what I'm going through unlike any of my friends."

"In what way am I different from your friends, Nathan?"

"Because you care!"

His sudden outburst made me quiet down momentary. Still, I'm fuming. "How do I care about you Nathan? You're literally always with your friends. We've never spoken before today."

"None of my friends ever cared when my dad died. They just told me to suck it up and didn't even talk about it when I tried to bring it up. You're the only person besides family I've ever cried in front of. The last time someone cried in my friend group cried, they got told to quit being a baby and man up. You're the only one I can actually be a person!"

"What about James and Cedrick and all them? You all seem like best buds."

"I mean in school. The popular group."

"Then leave them and hang out with your actual friends."

"I just feel like I can't get out."

"Well, let's have some lunch while we figure this out."

I led him back to my discarded blanket and picnic basket. I flipped out the blanket and set the basket down. I opened the top and started pulling out the food I brought. Granted, it wasn't a lot of food because it was just supposed to be for me, but I could share what little I brought.

"Why did you bring all this stuff to a cemetery?" Nathan asked as he sat down.

"I come here all the time to see my sister." I gestured to the small headstone next to us. A small lamb sits on top, signifying this as a child's grave. "I come here all the time to talk with her and catch up with her."

"How old were you?"

"About a month. We were twins. Ever since I can remember, I felt like I had a piece of me missing. This is the only place I feel whole."

"Wow. I guess I never thought about it like that."

"No one ever does."

"Hey Nathan!" someone shouted from the road. We looked up and saw Nathan's less annoying friends.

"Hey everyone!"

"What are you doing with (Y/n)?" one with blond hair asks.

"Are all your friends total jackasses?"

"She's chill guys."

"If you say so," the one with caramel colored skin said.

"You got enough food for everyone?"

"No idea. Let's see if we have enough!"

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