[Old Version] Playing for the Other Team [Old Version]

Chapter 5

That night Nathan dreamed of Jonathan. He dreamed that he was smiling, and laughing alongside him. His heart skipped a beat by the very thought of the blond smiling at him. Nathan woke in the middle of the night, and couldn't – no matter how hard he tried – go back to sleep. He laid there and twisting and turning, trying to fall back asleep, but he was wide awake.

He gulped and sat up on the edge of the bed. Smothering his hands over his face. His cheeks were warm, and his palms were clammy, and in his chest, his heart beat like crazy.

Nathan got up and made his way to the bathroom, glancing at the alarm clock on his nightstand as before he went inside. 03.34. When he turned the lights in the bathroom on, the bright lights blinded him and he stumbled towards the sink, squinting his eyes to try and get used to the light. His eyes adjusted slowly, and when he got a glimpse of his reflection he gulped again. He was blushing. Like a school girl. Tomato red.

He splashed some water on his face to try and cool off. Nathan let out a shaky breath and looked back up at the mirror, he looked a little better and less flustered. "Calm down, Nate... it was just a dream," he told himself, running his fingers through his hair, and eventually he was able to go back to sleep.

The next morning he was very quick to get out of the bed and look himself in the mirror. He was relieved to see that everything was normal. No abnormally flushed cheeks, and normal heartbeats. He smiled to himself. Everything was fine. Everything was good.

He skipped breakfast and jumped into his car. He needed to clear his head and decided that a drive around town would do him good. However, he didn't expect that he'd end up outside Jonathan's house. Much less knocking on the front door. Nathan didn't even remember exactly how he got there, and quickly regretted what he was doing, and turned around to go back to his car, just as the door opened.

"Yes?" A small woman asked. She was short and had her dark hair tied into a messy bun on the top of her head. She wore a pink bathrobe over her purple pajamas, but Nathan recognized the familiar yellow-green eyes. She had to be related to Jonathan. "Can I help you?" She asked.

Nathan glanced at his car, and then back at the woman. He gave a weak smile. "Um... Yes." He nodded. "I'm looking for Jonathan." he continued.

The woman looked surprised at first, but then smiled at him, and nodded her head. "Oh." She chuckled. "Yes, he's home. Come on in." She said and moved out of the way so that Nathan could enter the house. He hesitated before doing so. The woman – that Nathan assumed was Jonathan's mother – smiled at him again. "I'll go and get him for you." She offered, and left Nathan in the narrow hallway to go and fetch Jonathan.

The hallways was small, and it wasn't very much space between the top of Nathan's head and the ceiling. At the end of the narrow corridor he could see a small kitchen, and in the room next to it something he guessed was the living room. The entire house seemed smaller on the inside, which was odd because it was already small on the outside. The inside reminded him of a trailer, but everything was very clean, and tidy.

"Jonathan! There's someone here looking for you!" He heard the woman call.

"Mom!" Nathan heard Jonathan exclaim. "What are you doing out of bed?" Jonathan came rushing out from the living room and across the hall – not even noticing Nathan – and disappeared where the hallway turned to the left. "Go back to bed, you're not supposed to be up and walking yet." He said, pushing his mother towards one of the bedrooms. When he came back out, he walked back out into the hallway and stopped when he saw Nathan. "What are you doing here?" He asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

Nathan gave an awkward smile. "I-... I thought I'd pick you up." He said. "If you want a ride to school?" he added when Jonathan crossed his arms over his chest.

"I can take the bus," Jonathan said with a shrug. When he heard his mother cough wildly in her room, he turned on his heels and went back inside to check on her. "Are you alright, mom?" Nathan heard him whisper.

"I'm fine." His mother replied quietly. "You can go to school."

"Are you sure? I could stay home if you-" Jonathan began, but was interrupted.

"No, you have to go to school, Jonathan." His mother said firmly. "And let that nice boy give you a ride. He offered you, and it would be rude to say no." She added. Nathan knew he had to pretend like he hadn't heard that.

He heard Jonathan sigh before muttering, "All right." There were a few seconds of silence. "I love you, mom. See you later."

When Jonathan came back, Nathan turned his head and acted as if he hadn't listened in, and was admiring an odd painting on the wall. "Still offering me that ride?" Jonathan asked him, after closing the door to his mother's bedroom.

Nathan nodded at him with a smile. "Yes, of course," he said.

Jonathan nodded slowly and picked up his backpack, that was leaned against the wall. "Shall we leave then?" He walked past Nathan out the door.

Nathan followed. He noticed that Jonathan's mood seemed to rise as they walked towards his car. Jonathan was excited to ride in his car again, and Nathan noticed it even though Jonathan was obviously trying to hide it.

They both got into the car and Nathan turned the engine on, pulling out on the street. "Can I open the window?" Jonathan suddenly asked, giving Nathan a pleading look.

Nathan tried not to stare. "Yeah, sure." He said with a smile.

Jonathan wasted no time on opening the window and leaned closer. His hair got caught in the wind and turned into a golden mess on his head. Nathan felt his heart race in his chest, and he had to tear his eyes away from Jonathan and keep his eyes on the road. "This is so cool!" Jonathan laughed. It was possibly the most beautiful laugh he'd ever heard.

Nathan didn't want to go to school. He wanted to drive around like that all day, but after taking a 'wrong turn' and having to drive around half the town he finally pulled into the school's parking lot and turned the car off.

"Thanks for the ride," Jonathan said, his face was fairly blank like he'd cleared it when the car stopped. He almost looked a little annoyed.

"It's all right," Nathan said. "I could drive you home after school if you want." He added.

Whatever restraints Jonathan had on his smile disappeared, and his face lit up into a bright smile. "Really??" he asked.

Nathan was fairly sure that he was about to faint, his head felt way too light for it to be healthy. "Y-yeah, really," he said with a nervous smile.

Jonathan smiled to himself and leaned back against the chair. "Oh my gosh..." He sighed and then looked back at Nathan. "Thanks, Bone." He said, shrugging his shoulders with a crooked smile adorning his lips.

Nodding stiffly, Nathan smiled back. "It's cool." He managed to get out. "I'll meet you by my locker after school? It's by the home economics classrooms." He added.

Jonathan climbed out of the car. "Definitely!" He chirped, smiling again. "See you later!" He waved before shutting the door and then hurrying across the parking lot to the entrance of the school.

Nathan stayed in the car for a long time after Jonathan had left, scared of moving a muscle. He was pretty sure something would break if he did. His heart was racing so fast that he was scared it's pound its way out of his chest. When he finally had calmed down enough to move he was almost late for class, and had to run to his locker and get his stuff before getting to the right classroom, where the lesson had already started.