Secrets that Kill (boyxboy)

In Plain Sight

Nate had missed Amber. He really had. But living these past few days with her while Erik was gone had only made his reasons for loving living with Erik all the more obvious.

She woke him up by jumping on his bed, often stepping on a few of his fingers. With Erik, he woke up to a few lazy kisses, slowly easing him into his day. Amber always hogged the shower, so that by the time it was his turn the water was ice cold. Erik insisted on letting him shower first. Amber's breath always smelled like Doritos and bubble gum, Erik's like peppermint ( he still chewed the cinnamon gum, even after he'd stopped smoking). The differences were endless. Really.

Most of all, though, he missed his midnight walks with Erik. Every night, he'd found himself lying wide awake, staring at the clock around the time he and Erik would normally be walking through the park. It had only been a few days, and he already missed him like hell. The aching in his chest refused to be satisfied by the meager texts he received from Erik, checking on him every few hours to make sure he was alright.

"Nate."

Nate snapped his head up, slamming the notebook shut that he'd just spent the last 15 minutes doodling Erik's name in with big, loopy hearts. Meeting Sean's pained gaze, he recoiled slightly. He'd done his best to avoid Sean these past few days, but there was only so long you could manage that when you shared the same class with someone.

"What the hell do you want, Sean?"

He knew he probably should have been at least a little scared of the guy, seeing as he had just admitted to playing a role in drugging him, but his anger at the fact that he'd betrayed Erik far outweighed any fear he might be feeling.

"Nate, c'mon. Don't be like that. I fucked up, I know. But Erik's still my brother, whether he wants to be or not...just talk to him for me and-"

"No way. I'm not going to try and convince Erik to let a piece of shit like you back into his life. You've already hurt him once."

"I was trying to protect him. You know I was. And you know I wouldn't even be coming to you like this unless I was desperate."

Nate bit down on his lip, feeling totally stuck between a rock and a hard place. Yeah, the guy had done something that was fucked up and all kinds of screwy, but he was still Erik's brother. And, despite the fact that he had handled things totally wrong, in the end he'd still been trying to look out for Erik's best interests. And he had to respect that.

"You need to understand something, Sean. Erik and I, we aren't some sort of fling or phase or whatever. We're for real-"

"I know. I mean, at first, yeah, that's what I thought, but after all that's happened, I get that now. I fucked up. I made a mistake. But I care about him. And whether he wants to admit it right now or not, he needs me. Now that we have no fucking clue who knows Erik's secret, he needs someone around to watch his back that he doesn't have to worry about looking out for."

Nate felt a pang of guilt pulse through him, his body tensing slightly. It killed him that he knew, if it ever did come down to an altercation, he'd be next to useless in helping Erik.

"You know, I'd try my hardest, though. I mean, even if I knew I was going to lose and all, I'd still-"

"I know." Sean's features softened for a split second, a look of understanding flashing in his eyes that Nate hadn't thought the guy was capable of. "I don't get it, you two's relationship. I really fucking don't. But that doesn't really matter. Not anymore. You make my brother happy. Like no one else can. And really, even if he's safe or whatever, if he's not happy none of it really matters."

Holy shit. If Nate hadn't known better, he could've sworn Sean actually looked remorseful. His eyes were red and swollen, as if he hadn't slept in a few days. He'd probably been killing himself over this Erik shit, seeing as his only little brother had pretty much gone off by himself to go after some stalker that could very well be dangerous.