Secrets that Kill (boyxboy)

Conspicuously Absent

" I'm sorry. I fucked up really bad. I was an asshole." Gah, no. That didn't sound right.

Nate cursed under his breath, staring at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. He'd spent the last hour trying to come up with some sort of apology that would trick Erik into thinking he still deserved him.

"Erik, listen, I didn't mean to hurt you."

But he had, hadn't he? The fact that he hadn't meant to really didn't matter all that much at this point. The look on Erik's face flashed across his mind again for the umpteenth time.

Yup. No words were going to fix what he'd seen in his eyes, what he'd put there.

Glancing at the clock, he realized he was out of time. School started in 20 minutes, and he had to leave now if he wanted to get there on time. Taking the stairs two at a time, he couldn't deny the nervous dread pulsing through him as he pushed open the front door and-

"You wanna hurry up!"

Amber was sitting there in front of his house in her hot pink slug bug, an odd smile on her face.

What the hell? Nate's eyes narrowed in suspicion as he made his way down to her car and slid into the passenger seat. He'd begged her to give him a ride to school millions of times. She'd always refused, arguing she didn't want to wake up the extra 15 minutes it took to drive from her house to his.

"What are you doing here?"

"Just thought I'd drop by and cheer you up." She chimed, an over exaggerated smile on her face.

Yeah right. Amber wasn't the type of person that went out of her way to do nice things for other people without a damn good reason.

"Liar."

"No, really, I just-"

"Amber, cut the crap. It's 7:25 in the morning and I didn't sleep last night. I really don't feel like having to drag the truth out of you."

A small frown crept onto her face as she let out a frustrated sigh. "Damn it. I promised not to say anything."

"About what?"

"If I tell you, you can't tell anyone. Alright?"

"Amber, c'mon. Just tell me." Nate snapped, his patience running short.

"Fine. Look, don't get mad, but Erik asked me to come and pick you up."

"Erik?" Nate asked, confusion spreading across his face. "Why? After last night..."

"He told me what happened..." An awkward silence fell between the two of them for a split second before Nate cleared his throat.

"When did you talk to him?"

"This morning."

Nate hesitated, afraid of the answer to his next question but forcing it out anyways. "Is he still mad?"

"Nate, I really don't think I should be talking with you about this-"

"C'mon Amber. Please. I couldn't even sleep last night because I was so messed up about everything that went down."

An oddly serious look spread across Amber's face, one that scared the hell out of Nate. "You really like him, don't you?"

Nate opened his mouth, ready to say no. Something stopped him, though. He'd done enough lying already. That's what had gotten him into this mess in the first place. First he'd lied to Erik about what happened to his hand. Then he'd lied to himself about there being nothing between him and Erik. And finally he'd lied to Zack about his drinking history. Maybe if he'd told the truth, Zack would have made sure he hadn't drunk so much, and then this whole mess could have been avoided.