The Submissive Assassin (BxB)

Chapter 147 - "Do you like strawberry cheesecake?"

"I'm pretty tired; how about we head back to the base together?"

The fact that he completely averted the question made it even worst, and Nate resided the urge to mention it, since they both had agreed they were not together and could do what they wanted with anyone. Even though he knew that, part of him had expected Dante not to engage in anything intimate with anyone, especially not Eleanor—clearly he had been wrong.

And it made him feel even worst when Dante stepped away from him for distance and shoved his hands in his front pockets, his body language completely retreating from Nate. The tight uncomfortable smile on his lip was not helpful either, and Nate was seconds from declining since he definitely needed to chug a whole bottle of liquor, when they heard a sudden commotion near the bathroom.

Jake had stumbled out and smashed his head against the wall, which made him drop onto the floor, groaning under his breath. His entire body felt weak, mainly because he had been punched in the head too many times, and he could barely walk straight. After Lucius had left, he had passed out for a couple minutes and finally felt good enough to attempt to leave, but clearly he had been wrong.

"Holy, what happened to you?" Dante approached him first, studying his face and seeing the swelling around one eye, a busted lip, and the bump on his head. "You got into a fight?"

"Your crazy brother beat the fuck out of me," Jake mumbled before he titled his head to the side and spat blood. "I need to go to the infirmary."

"I'll carry you, can you climb onto my back?" As he reached down and grabbed Jake, they were about to make their way to the exit when Dante realized Nate wasn't following him. He turned around and saw the reluctance through Nate's face. "You coming back?"

Nate swallowed hard; he did not want to be around Dante at all, especially seeing the aftermath of a hookup with someone else. "I rather stay."

Dante paused for a moment. "I would like for you to come back with me, but if you don't want to, I get it and I'm not going to force you."

That was definitely a new side to Dante that he hadn't yet witnessed, and even though he wanted to stay, a sudden guilt began to roam in his stomach since he had been told that so nicely and respectfully. That was why they ended up, all three of them, heading back to the base a couple hours past midnight. All three of them were sober, as those five shots hadn't done much to Nate, but there wasn't much conversation since all of Dante's questions were being shut down by Nate's dryness.

"How was your night?"

"Fine."

"That's good—at least you had an hour or so to yourself?"

"Right."

"Well, other than the fact that Andrew basically ambushed you."

Nate's jaw tightened. "Right."

"Trainings only going to get harder from here. You should really take advantage of the very few times Draco decides to be nice to us." Nate glanced towards Dante, wondering if he was being completely genuine with this conversation, even though Nate was being evidently cold. When he met his gaze, the squinted grey irises and the curled lips into a smile, showed that he was totally oblivious to Nate's thoughts. That only made him more angry; Dante had been completely wooed by someone else that he couldn't read Nate anymore. "I wanted to tell you this; yesterday after training, our chef had slices of strawberry cheesecake and it was delicious. I'll save you some next time." When Nate didn't answer, Dante added, "Do you like strawberry cheesecake?"

"It's my favourite type of cake, but you would know that if we were together." That comment had been harsh, and Nate quickly turned to Dante. "Sorry."

That only made Dante's smile grow even more. "Don't worry, I'm bothering you with this conversation." He adjusted Jake on his back, who was dead asleep, before continuing on. "I'm new to this whole friend thing, so maybe these types of things aren't what friends talk about."

"No, Dante it's not you, it's..." Nate shook his head, dismissing the words that were at the end of his tongue. "I'm just really tired. We can talk tomorrow after I get some rest." Dante didn't respond, simply nodded his head and the rest of the walk was in complete silence.

When they were finally inside, Nate was moments from turning away from them when Dante called him back. "Let's go make sure Jake is alright. He's our friend too." What was this whole new persona of Dante? And the worst was that Nate couldn't even refuse since he felt guilty, as if he was the one in the wrong. Withholding a series of curses, he reluctantly dragged his feet towards Dante and followed him to the infirmary, where they dropped Jake onto one of the beds and explained to Sarah what they had seen.

The concerned Sarah instantly began her examination, and the both of them eventually began making their ways to their bedrooms. However, they passed Dante's bedroom, and Nate was surprised to hear his footsteps still behind him. He glanced over his shoulder, seeing the nonchalant Dante walking with his hands in his front pockets, staring into space and whistling an unknown tune.

Nate cleared his throat to catch his attention. "We passed your room."

Dante shrugged his shoulders. "I'm walking you to yours."

"It's fine, you don't have—"

"I need to talk to Lucius and Lucius has been there recently." It was sharp and flat, without any further explanation. It was as if Dante didn't even care about him anymore, as if Nate was no longer a pertinent thought in his mind or being in his life, and Nate could practically feel the hurt itching at his skin and reaching deeper and deeper the more they stayed near one another. He felt as if he couldn't breathe properly, and it didn't help that they didn't even talk the whole walk to his own bedroom. He finally felt as if he could breathe when he reached his bedroom, but when he pushed it open, his breath fell caught in his throat again.

"I had to rush around and get all these things, so that's why I was gone the whole night." Dante stepped passed him, a gleaming grin terribly bright that it was glowing on its own. Amongst the balloons and the gift on the bed, there was a cake box and he reached for it, pulling it open and revealing the strawberry cheesecake with a small sign.

And while Nate was frozen in time, observing the eyes of his soulmate gleaming with such happiness, Dante beamed, "Happy nineteenth birthday Nathan Kennedy!"