Call Me Romantic (BxB)

Chapter 2

{ꔫ NASH ꔫ}

A strong sting comes from Nash's nose when he slowly opens his eyes. He stares at a new cloud than the old one from 20 minutes ago though he doesn’t feel lightheaded or anything. He reaches for his nose and when he pulls his fingers away, his blue fingertips are coded with a deep shade of red. At least it’s there, he thinks to himself. 

The coach jogs over and places a hand on Nash's back to help him sit up. Nash groans as he does so, his blue eyes unfocused and blurry with some tears rolling down his cheeks. He didn’t even realize he was crying until now. 

"What happened?" the coach worried, with a horrified look on his face. His hair looks grayer by the second, and when he frowns his wrinkles intensify. If sports were stressful enough for this poor old man. 

Though the coach is trying to communicate with him, Nash only stares forward at Val, who is yelling at Sam but he can't hear her because his ears are ringing. He feels his nose and is unsure if it's broken or not.

Sam looks over to Nash for a few seconds, and they make eye contact. Something about his glaze feels apologetic and ashamed. Very ashamed. But he just looks away, not admitting he shouldn’t have done what he’s done. Nash feels the same way.

Well, this is embarrassing. Nash swears Sam never behaved like this before. When they had classes together, Sam was mostly the class clown who would get sent to the principal's office, something about men not following rules can either be such a turn-on or turn-off. Nash quickly fell out of love with him when he started to focus more on art and mental health since he wasn't doing very well. Okay, maybe it's mostly because Sam got a girlfriend too, and was with her for 2 years.

After a couple of seconds, the ringing stops, and he can take notice of Val's dramatic shouting. They are about a couple of feet away from Nash and yet he can hear crystal clear.

"What is wrong with you? Who the fuck do you think you are to hit my brother!" She ranted and pointed her finger in Sam's face as he stared down at the grass, his curls in his face.

Nash's face aches and he can notice the blood getting worse every time he touches his nose. It drips down his fingers in a thick redness.

A redhead, whom Nash quickly realizes is Mark, runs with some tissues and hands them to Nash which he quickly accepts not wanting to get blood on his sweatpants.

"Jesus Christ, that kid is out of control." Mark shakes his head before turning to Sam, who is scratching his neck nodding to Vals raving about his behavior like a mom would.

Nash puts the tissues on his nose and groans. Is his nose broken? He hopes not; there are already so many things unfair about his body. His chest, his hips, legs, hands, height.. A broken nose will do nothing good and just add to that stress.

Val continues to yell at Sam about human decency while the coach helps Nash up to his feet. Nash blinks a couple of times before taking the tissue away and staring at his blood. Good thing he's not too squeamish about seeing his blood like Val is. He quickly puts the tissues back just in case.

"Are you dizzy?" The coach has a hand on his back before taking it away slowly as if he’s going to tumble back down.

"No."

"Here, let me peek at your nose." The coach moves in front of him and Nash slowly takes away his tissues. He just knows it's not a pretty sight by the way the coach exhales deeply and presses his lips together. 

"Well, it's not broken, but I would still go to the doctor."

Nash nods and then places the tissues back on his bleeding nose. He's not going to the doctor. He hates them. At least he knows that his nose isn't done for. Thank god.

The coach waves the teammates back to the game, and they move on. Nash can't help but feel a ping of guilt in his stomach because he stopped the lacrosse game all over a stick. He convinces himself it’s not his fault after a few more thoughts.

Val walks away from Sam, still looking angry, until she sees Nash standing up. Sam stands behind her without moving closer to them.

"Are you okay? Do you have a headache? Is your nose broken? I'll kill him. I swear to God!" Val's concern turns into irritation. Talk about mood swings. Sam slowly starts walking away after that. She glances back at Sam, who is now sitting on a bench and staring at the ground. He's no longer interested in the game. He can't play either way, benched or not.

"I just want to go home, please; this is embarrassing." Nash shifts his eyes to the bleachers, which are only half full. Fortunately, it's not a football audience; it would've been much bigger. He can see some people staring at him. To be fair, he would do the same. 

Yet, there's no doubt there's going to be a video of it out there somewhere.

Val nods and walks away to call their mom.

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Ember watched Nash approach her green Jeep. "Who did this?" Val and Nash's mom, Ember, asked with a thick layer of anger. Nash gets in the car as Val is saying bye to Mark, which takes ten years.

"It's fine, Mom." 

"It's not fine; someone assaulted you! I'm pressing charges." Ember cuts Nash off with a 'talk to the hand' gesture. Her black, thick hair is in a messy low bun. She was probably at work and had to leave early. She's used to it by now. Nash got in trouble a lot when he was a kid. Nothing important, mostly getting in fights, wearing too many masculine things, or even hanging out with the boys too much. Nash always wondered why the teachers cared about the last two. It's not like he's some unholy hobo.

"Mom, it's fine; please don't. I'm mortified enough." Nash puts his seat belt on and leans against the car seat. 

A stranger gave up their water bottle earlier so Nash could wipe off his bloody fingers and nose. He knew his mom would flip if she saw the blood.

"Fine, but I'm not happy, and I do not want to ever see that kid near you or in my house," she demanded, admittingly laying down her boundaries.

"Yeah, yeah. He won't be a mom," Nash promises, annoyed, and crosses his arms as he stares out the window to the gates where Val and Mark stand. Nash and Ember both gaze out the window at Val kissing her boyfriend bye and taking 12 years. Actually, no, not kissing, which is surprising. They are talking about something, and it looks awkward.

"I swear, if that boy breaks her heart, I'm running him over," Ember teases, but there is a sense of truth behind it. Nash smirks. He always loved how Ember never failed to say what she thought no matter how fucked up it is. 

He had to respect it, he could never.

"Me too," he agrees, and Val finally separates from Mark while he runs off to the game again. The ref was probably yelling at him, and he had to leave quickly. They've been together for 3 years now, so it's hard to imagine them saying bye to each other without making out. Maybe it's because Ember is here.

Val gets in the back seat of the Jeep and sighs, "Guess who it was." Her elbow leans on the car door, and her hand rubs her forehead. Her hoop earrings are tilted to the side a bit as she rests her head on her hand.

"Val, don't." Nash looks back and shakes his head in desperation. It's embarrassing that he got punched, but it's even more embarrassing because it's about the boy he was obsessed with for 4 years. 

"Sam Carter." 

Ember gasps and turns her head to Nash. Her dark brown eyes widened soon making her normally stern face become furious, "What!? Are you serious? I'm pressing charges." 

Nash buries his head in his hands but not too hard because his face still hurts a lot. Her hands grip the steering wheel, and she starts to back up and get the hell out of there. Finally,

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