The Way The World Ends ✓

Chapter 24. Nate

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Here we go round the prickly pear

Prickly pear prickly pear

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"Nate, where have you been the past two days? I've seen you maybe twice for just a few minutes this entire weekend! What's going on?" Nate's dad asked, exasperated with his son. "Are you on drugs? Talk to me, Natey."

"Dad! I'm not on drugs. Nothing is going on," Nate half lied through his teeth, not wanting to involve his father in the more complicated aspects of his relationship. He also knew that if he told his father what was going on with Indigo, he would call the police or tell the school. As much as Nate wanted Andrew to pay for what he did, he wasn't going to go against Indigo's wishes. It was her choice to press charges or not.

"Then where have you been wasting all of your time? You know better than this. Just because you got into college doesn't mean you can slack off." His dad lectured, slamming their breakfast plates down on the table in frustration. "What time did you even come home last night?"

"I've been at Indigo's house, okay? She's had a long week and so have I." Nate confessed, leaning his elbows on the counter to press his palms into his forehead.

He saw his father still in the kitchen, eyebrows drawn together and water glasses unmoving in his grip.

"Are you using protection?" He asked seriously, turning his head to look at his son's face, which turned bright red.

"God, dad!" He stuttered out, embarrassed beyond belief. "We're not having sex and I know to be safe! Don't you trust me at all? You accuse me of doing drugs, slacking off when you know I've been working my ass off all year, and having unprotected sex," he counted off each on his fingers. "Who do you think I am?"

"I'm not trying to offend you, I'm just worried about you. I know you love your girlfriend but trust me when I say that you have to be careful around women. Don't get too swept up by her to the point that if you break up, you're completely lost," he warned, pointing his fork at his son.

"Dad," Nate began, becoming angrier by the second. "Indigo is not mom. And I," he stressed, pointing at his chest and then at his dad when he said, "am not you. Jesus, can't you understand that? My life isn't the same as yours." Nate knew that it was a low blow, but he was angry. He was angry with his father and his mother and Andrew and school and a lot of things. He wouldn't have his father say anything bad about his Indie, at least not while he was around to hear it.

"Stop taking our Lord's name in vain," his father gritted out, clearly more broken and ashamed than angry by his son's outburst.

"How can you think that God cares about any of us after everthing he's let you go through?" Nate asked in the heat of the moment, knowing he would regret it later. He didn't mean to hurt his father.

When his father didn't respond, Nate turned on his heel, grabbed his bag off the floor and stormed toward the entrance of their house.

"Where are you going?" Nate's dad called after him as he yanked the door open.

"I'm going to school, not that you expect me to," he fired back, slamming the front door behind him.

Nate wasn't the type to just storm out on his father. In general, they got along well because they were all each other had. When they butted heads, they really did, but they usually got over it within twenty-four hours. However, this was the angriest Nate had ever been with his father. He knew that his father was hurt by his mother, but did he really expect the same thing to happen to Nate? Not every woman was going to break a man's heart.