The Way The World Ends ✓

Chapter 27. Nate

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Between the motion

And the act

Falls the Shadow

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Nate tried his best to control his impulses around Indigo, including the urge to strangle Andrew every time he saw him, but it was hard. She was his grounder in the lightning storm that was his life. He still hadn't made up with his dad, even though it had been three days since their outbursts. It was the longest they had gone without speaking, even longer than when Nate threw a baseball through the window when he thought about picking up a spring sport and attempted to practice for tryouts.

It was starting to take a toll on Nate. He never realized how good of a relationship he had with his father until they fought. He missed talking to his dad, but he wasn't going to be the first one to cave. He was too stubborn for that, and he thought that his dad was completely in the wrong. While it was true he had been spending a lot of time with Indigo instead of with his father at home, Indigo needed him right now. Couldn't his father understand that? He had been in love once. Nate and his father were both the same when it came to love: falling hard and fast in a whirlwind of emotion.

He picked up a few extra shifts at the coffee shop to avoid his dad. He worked until nine, hid in his room or visited Indigo, and slept instead of interacting with his dad.

Thursday night, Nate's father knocked on Nate's bedroom door. Nate sat in his desk chair for a few moments, trying to decide if he would open the door or not, when his father said quietly,

"Nate, I want to talk to you."

"What?" Nate asked, still looking at his history textbook and trying to keep his voice sounding like he didn't care, even though he cared the world. He wanted to be done with this standoff.

"Can you open the door?" His dad asked in a pleading tone.

Nate instantly felt bad and had to resist the urge to spring to the door. Instead, he walked slowly, taking his time creaking the door open to meet his father's disheveled appearance. He had a five o'clock shadow and his dress shirt he wore to work was now untucked and rumpled. His hair was sticking up like he had been running his hands through it in frustration. Nate thought that he probably didn't look much better. His own clothes were crumpled and coffee stained, his hair in its usual tousled state, and when he rubbed his palm over his face he felt light stubble. Even though Indigo secretly liked it when Nate didn't shave for a few days, loving the feeling of his rough jaw on her soft lips, he usually preferred to be clean shaven.

"Hey," Nate said awkwardly, wedging his body between the door and the frame.

"I'm sorry," his father rushed, never one to do well with social interaction despite his job as a sales rep. At least with that job, he had a script. Having a son didn't come with any sort of handbook saying what to do and when. "You're right. You're not me. I know you've been working hard. And as for Indigo, I really do like her. I know she's not your mom. Just be careful, is all I'm saying," Nate gave his father a hard look, and he continued, "sorry. I shouldn't think you're going to have the same experiences I did. Indigo is a good girl, and you're a good son. I'm sorry if you thought that I thought otherwise."

"It's okay dad," Nate said, not the best at words either, but it was okay. They understood each other anyway.

His father nodded awkwardly and asked, "do you want to watch basketball?"

"Sure," Nat responded, un-wedging himself and following his father to the living room.

That was their way of knowing they were okay again.