Uncle X Nephew

Chapter 1: Only One

Seth's POV

I've been texting this guy on Tinder for about one year. We have planned multiple times to meet up, but other plans always came up. This time, they won't. I can drive and we are going on vacation where he lives. His name is Danny, he IS in his mid 30s, but does age really matter. I'm 18 and this is my last vacation with my family before I move into my apartment.

We were headed to Colorado, where that guy lives. I was really nervous, but I didn't show it. I wrote and doodled in my notebook, I've never seen Danny before, but he's described himself before, stubbled jaw with a moustache and goatee, and long hair. He said he didn't want to give much away. We don't call or FaceTime, we only text.

We arrived at my grandma's house and got everything situated. Grandma wasn't at the house so we went to my uncle's house. My Dad never liked my Uncle's girlfriend, May, she was a crazy dog lady. I stood outside their giant apartment as my Dad went up the stairs ahead of me, "Seth, let's go." I didn't realize he called after me until he threw a rock at me, it hit my shoulder. It didn't hurt that bad, but I went up the stairs and went inside after Dad.

"Hey Bro!" I saw Daniel, Dad's brother, my uncle, go in for a hug with Dad. I went past him and hugged May. She visibly wasn't wearing a bra and she just had a tank top on. I was Bi so I didn't really care. I saw the anxiety filled Chihuahua shaking under the blanket. I sat beside her and uncovered her. I slowly stroked her head to calm her down. She stopped shaking after a couple seconds.

"Hey Seth, how did you do that? I've tried everything to calm her down." May said looking at me surprised.

"I don't actually know, I have anxiety all the time, so I guessed whatever I use on myself it could work on a dog." I said as I looked at Dad and Daniel sit on the couch. May nodded her head as she say beside me. We didn't talk about much, school, work, and some other life decisions. I opened my phone to see a message from Danny. I opened it quickly and responded:

S: SORRY, I guess my ringer was off.

I heard a phone go off. My heart sunk, 'Whose was that!?' I saw May open her phone and see a message. It wasn't the message I sent, it was something else. I calmed down and looked at stuff around my phone when I got a message:

D: Don't worry, it's fine. Did you get to Colorado safely?

S: Yeah, maybe we can see each other?

I heard a phone go off again. I looked around, this time it wasn't May. I looked over to Dad and Daniel, Daniel has his phone out. I attempted to look over without making it noticable.

I saw the messages...

Every message we've sent each other for the past hour...

It can't be...

Why...

I felt my heart sink slowly as I felt a panic attack coming on. I had to stand up, "..Dad..." I breathed out as I reached my hand out for him. He quickly recognized what was going on and helped me stand up.

"What's going on, are you okay?" May said helping with my other arm to hold me up.

"He's having a panic attack. You have to be quiet." Dad said as he rubbed my back gently. It took me a couple minutes to calm down after such sudden news. Dad led me to the kitchen table to get me a glass of water. I chugged it, but regretted it after. I felt like I had to puke, but I also just needed to spit. I kept everything down and put my head on the table for something cold.

I already knew who Danny was, so I might as well make sure he knows it's me. I took out my phone and texted Danny:

S: I just had a panic attack, I think I'll be fine. I had such sudden news I figured out.

I turned my head to look at Daniel stop everything he was doing. He stared at his phone for a sold 2 minutes. He looked straight at me, 'He knew...and in the worst circumstances.'