Camden

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"So...Natalie, is it?" I ask, pulling two cereal bowls from the cabinet and handing one to Chase. He nods. It's the morning of the dance and I waited for the very last minute to start asking questions. Better late than never, right?

I didn't want to push him after our blowout in the car last week, but I figure I should at least ask small details about his date.

"Yes," he frowns, dumping too much cereal in the bowl.

"How old is she?" I ask, pouring myself a glass of orange juice as I sit down at the table. It's Saturday morning we're just about to leave for baseball practice. Chase's day is full of fun, normal teenage things for a change.

"She's a sophomore," he says, smiling proudly as he shakes his wet hair to get his bangs out of his face. "Older woman,"

I feel a rush of relief at my nephew's cocky smile. It's the first time he's seemed himself in a week. I take a bite of cereal and think for a moment. A part of me is proud of him for scoring someone older, but the other, less experienced parent part is concerned.

"That's...cool I guess," I say, sipping my juice. I'm not sure where to go next. My teenage self would be slapping this kid five right now.

"Good? It's damn awesome. She likes me. I wasn't sure at first. I just knew she wanted me to ask her. Then I heard her talking to some of her friends about how hot I am and well...you're a guy. You can figure the rest out," he smirks. "I'd be stupid not to go with her."

"I can't figure out the rest. I haven't been 14 since two years before you were born," I laugh, realizing we're closer in age than it seems. "Break it down for me,"

"I'm saying when a hot girl wants you, you don't say no," he shrugs.

"Sometimes, you do," I challenge.

"You didn't..." he smirks. "One word: Harper. You two are dripping with sex. I'm not stupid. You were going at it before I even I moved in," My jaw drops in shock and disgust. "You guys are so back and forth that it's stupid! 'Oh, Harper, baby. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me..." Chase teases. "Oh, Camden. Fuck me harder..." he moans and my mouth drops. "Gross," Chase says with a smirk, before scooping cereal into his mouth.

"Woah! Too far!" I say quickly. "Watch it. That is completely different..."

"Oh yeah? "You guys were all angry and 'get away from me' and now you're all over each other again. I get it. I totally get it. You're sleeping with her again. Way to go," he nods.

"Actually, I'm not sleeping with her...unless of course you mean snoring and drooling and all that. We've done that, yes, but..." I shake my head, "that is absolutely way more than you should know. And I'm an adult, damn it. If I want to have sex with my girlfriend, I will...."

"Okay then," he wiggles his eyebrows. He kinda looks like me. "I don't blame you, man. She's..."

"And stop talking about her that way. I know she's more to you than an extra pair of legs walking around this place," I say, noticing a small change in his face when I mention what Harper means to him. But just like a true Fox man, Chase covers his feelings quickly, choosing a teasing smile over sadness.

"Just stop looking at me like that. It's creepy," I say, smirking back.

"Now you're just paranoid. I'm just saying. We Fox men are the same, Camden. As long as we are on the same page, we're good."

"You're lucky Harper isn't here to hear this. I can laugh it off, but she'd be beet red and mouthy by now," I say. Chase's smile fades again for a minute, but he recovers when I start rambling again. "And I'm about 100 pages behind you on this one. Now stop using metaphors and get serious. What's really going to happen tonight?"

"Fine. It's a dance Camden, okay? There'll be chaperones and horrible punch and all that stereotypical stuff you see on TV, I'm sure. We'll sit in the corner. She'll look at me like I'm lame because I don't want to dance. She'll probably drag her girlfriends in the bathroom about fifty times to check her makeup, and then we'll go to her friend's house and make out. I'll come home and go to bed and you'll drill with me questions in the morning, which I'll answer by repeating the exact same thing I've just told you now..." he says, staring into his bowl of milk.

"At least you've thought it through," I say. I think back to the way I was as a teenager and cringe. Kissing isn't the problem; I'm not ready for my fourteen year old nephew to sleep with girls in my apartment, however, and I'm not ready to have a conversation about it either.

I've never based my decisions on what others might think of me. I did what I wanted because I knew I'd never have to explain it to a kid. I wasn't ever going to be a father, I thought. I wouldn't have to feel like a hypocrite my his kid threw me the whole 'But you did it at my age' line. But here we are. A squeaky voiced kid is eating bowls upon bowls of cereal at my kitchen table, suggesting he's not planning on staying naïve for very much longer.

He's all talk, I'm sure, but I wonder just how much Andrew let him get away with at home. If things were as I imagine they've been, Andrew probably wasn't around enough to know what was going on under his roof. But Chase blushes too much to be overly experienced for his age. He's a ball of hormones that just happened to start rolling when he came into my life. Lucky me.

Karma is such a bitch.

It's funny how life works; I'm the worst role model when it comes to self-restraint, and now I have to convince Chase to keep it in his pants. I swallow, struggling to balance the 'cool uncle' and the 'strict dad' roles I've had to face so many times over the last few months.

"All that sounds fine as long as you get home by midnight," I manage.

"Yep, I got it," he nods. "Don't worry. I'm not planning on breaking curfew. She can drive, so we don't have to depend on anyone else. I won't be late. "Anything else?"

"Do you have questions, erm, I mean..." I cleared my throat. "I'm not encouraging or anything but I'm not going to pretend you're naïve, either, so if you do, you can ask me," I tell him.

"Yeah, how many dates before I make my move? You know..."

"Um, what? Your move? You're fourteen. You aren't supposed to have moves yet. You're supposed to be spending countless hours playing video games or Pokemon or whatever the hell you kids do these days. Moves? No," I shake my head.

"Well, I have moves. So tell me, how many times did you and Harper see each other before you two fucked?

"Stop saying that word," I say, eyes wide.

I definitely can't tell him the answer to that one. Nope. I definitely can't bringing up how I jumped her bones all of half an hour after I met her. Those days are a fun but distant memory. Things are so much better now.

"Not enough times, okay? But luckily we're 30 and understand that,"

Ooh, that was good.

"Just don't do anything I wouldn't do, okay?" I add.

"Sure. So you lost your virginity when, again?" he stares, disarming me for about the tenth time in five minutes.

"Okay, forget what I just said. Don't use me as an example," I frown. This kid is a little too good at weaseling information out of me. "Just be smart. That's all I'm saying,"

"You're kind of a softie right now," he warns.

"You're killing me, kid," I laugh. "I'm not soft. I just know what I want for once, got it? Take it from me. I didn't know shit at your age..."

My phone buzzes on the table, interrupting our awkward moment. Chase's grin triples in size when he sees the familiar face flash up on my screen.

"There's the little woman now," Chase teases, setting his cereal bowl in the sink.

"Get your shoes on," I say, before pressing the phone to my ear. The sound of her voice lights me up.

"Morning sunshine," I say. "Still on for tonight?"

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