Hunt Me Down {boyxboy} ✓

Chapter 18

A/N: Dedicated to @Nicolexex

 

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Nathaniel’s POV

I closed my diary and placed it in the sliding drawler of my desk. I’d tried to write but my thoughts seemed too jumbled to pen down. With a deep sigh, I leaned back in my chair and rubbed my temples.

It was October 31 and my sister had gone to a party. Not the Halloween party the school had organized yesterday evening; this one was her type – lots of alcohol, loud music and no adult supervision. I would have tagged along to babysit but I was too tired. I had not slept two nights in a row, the lovely affects of which were fatigue, grumpiness and a splitting headache. I’d looked for something to ease the last but my search had left me empty-handed; maybe mom had taken whatever medicine we’d had to ease her migraines.

Perhaps the worst thing about my situation was that I had no idea what had caused. I’d been restless all night before October 30 and had not been the best of company; I’d had to actually force myself to dance with Irene.

She’d been wonderful, of course. Understanding, attentive… The perfect date. She’d been on the committee which organized the dance – picking the 30th so that people would be free on the actual holiday; besides, it had been Friday – so a lot of teachers and some students came to congratulate her for a job well done. She’d given each a polite but brief reply before turning her attention back to me, sympathy clear in those dark eyes. She’d even suggested we’d go home early but I’d refused; I didn’t want her to miss the party because of me, especially after she’d invested so much time and effort into it.

I vaguely remembered the uniform black and orange present in the decorations – pumpkins, balloons, banners and fake candles so that nothing would be lit on fire; I vaguely remembered that the non-alcoholic punch had been sweet, cherry-flavored; I clearly remembered that at some point I wanted to shout to everyone to just shut up but instead I’d smiled – or at least had tried to – and asked my date for another dance, silently pleading that the event would be over soon and I could go home to the peace and quiet comfort of my room.

Perhaps I could go over to the Harris’s and see if they had anything for my headache. The only reason I had not done so by now was that I was afraid to see Hunter; he had not reacted well to Irene inviting me on a date or maybe it had been my positive reply which had caused him to leave us without a word and slam the door. I didn’t think Irene had noticed; she had been too surprised and giddy that I’d said yes. Vallery definitely had noticed though and had even followed Hunt inside; once she’d come back to our house, I’d asked her what had happened but she had just shaken her head and gone to her bedroom.

So now I was scared if not terrified that Hunter might be angry at me, that he might be disappointed. One of my biggest fears had always been letting down the people I cared about…

Cared.

As a friend, of course; I cared for him as a friend. We could never be more than that. He was a guy and so was I. He didn’t like relationships and I’d never had time for a long and stable one. Maybe if…

Two quiet knocks on my window had me turning my head in its direction.

Speak of the devil…

I got up and opened the window for him. He landed almost silently on the soft white carpet. He wasn’t grinning or smirking… That’s what he usually did when he came over using the tree between our houses. He would jump in, light the left corner of his lips – always the left – then he would sprawl himself on my bed, his eyes sparkling mischievously. What had he come here for tonight if not to tease me?