Forbidden | BxB

34

Nicholas bit his nails and sighed. He reached over and picked up his phone. There was still no calls or texts from Brayden.

Nick: Did I do something wrong?

Sent at 7:46

Nick: Hello?

Sent at 7:53

Nick: Brayden what the hell?

Sent at 8:14

Nicholas stood up from his bed and put on his sweatshirt. He grabbed his keys and left his room. He jogged down the stairs and almost ran into his mother.

"Where are you going?" She asked, looking startled.

"Brayden's being a dick," Nick said and bent down to slip his feet into his shoes. "I'm going to go see what the problem is."

"Alright..." Kirsten said. "Be careful...And be home by ten thirty. It's a school night." Nicholas rolled his eyes but nodded. He pressed a kiss to her cheek and left the house.

—

Brayden stared at the ceiling while playing catch with a baseball. He threw it up in the air and caught it, but he was barely paying attention to his actions.

Tears clouded his eyes and he let out a sniffle. He put the baseball down to wipe his eyes and he let out a strangled sigh.

Noticing his wallet on his dresser, he reached over and picked it up. He opened it and took out the small, bent photo of Nicholas that was in the back.

It was a recent photo, one that Brayden had taken when Nick was sleeping. Stripes of sunlight that passed through the blinds fanned across his bare chest.

Nick's lips were still pink and puffy from whatever they had done the night before. His freckles were very noticeable in the light.

There was a knock on the front door and Brayden looked up. Oh no.

He heard his father beginning to get up from his chair in the kitchen. Brayden hopped to his feet and darted out of his room.

"I got it!" He yelled.

Jordan pointed a finger at him. "If it's that Holland Boy you better make him leave and never come back." Brayden gulped and nodded.

Jordan sat back down and Brayden continued his way to the front door. Once he was out of his father's sight, he sighed and slowly opened the door.

Nicholas stood there with his hands stuffed into his pockets. He looked fucking gorgeous.

Stop.

"What are you doing here?" Brayden asked, quickly looking between the boy and towards his father.

"You weren't answering my texts or calls," Nicholas breathed out, as if he hated what he was saying, because he did. He hated sounding like a clingy boyfriend.

"Maybe you should've taken the hint," Brayden said harshly, knowing that Jordan was listening. Nicholas sullenly looked at him.

"Did I do something?" Nick asked, confusedly. "Because I'm sorry if I did."

"You need to go, Nicholas," Brayden forced out. His hand tightened around the doorknob, like he was fighting with himself on whether or not to close the door. Brayden just wanted this over with.

"Wha–Why are you being a douche? Is this a joke? Because it's not funny."

"Leave," Brayden groaned and started to close the door. Nicholas stopped it with his hand.

"Fuck you," Nick spat, "Why—"

"For God's fucking sake Nicholas, just go! I don't fucking want you here!" Brayden yelled. It took every piece of him, every muscle in his body to not lose it, to not cry right now. "Don't come back here, either."

Brayden had never seen Nick look so lost and hurt before. His eyes became dull and any trace of a smile was erased from his features.

Nicholas stayed silent and Brayden wanted to let out a whimper. He was in no position to want anything from this boy right now, but Brayden couldn't help but want him to fight. He wanted Nick to fight for him.

Nick was too shocked to cry. He was too shocked to do anything but stare. This was his best friend, since they were kids, telling him to leave. This was the boy that he had loved since he was thirteen, telling him to go.

"I don't love you," Brayden said, sealing the deal, completely crushing Nicholas inside.

Nick took a step back and finally a tear rolled down his cheek. He quickly wiped it away. Brayden felt his own eyes watering.

"I'm sorry that you feel this way," Nick forced out. "I'm sorry for giving you everything when you didn't want any of it."

Brayden nodded. "It's okay. We all make mistakes."

"Yeah," Nicholas let out a broken laugh. "And my biggest mistake just happened to be you."

"It's better this way," Brayden nodded. "You hating me. This is good."

Nicholas nodded, not having anything else to say to this stranger. That's all that Nick saw and heard as Brayden spoke. This wasn't the Brayden he knew.

Nick bit his lips, gave Brayden one last glance, and turned on his heel.

Brayden wanted to reach out and pull him into one last hug. He wanted to place a kiss onto his forehead. Fuck, he just wanted to be with him.

But he couldn't.

He closed the door, not waiting for Nicholas to drive away. Brayden locked the door and trudged back to his room.

"You did the right thing," Jordan said as he passed by the kitchen. "Faggots don't deserve to associate with us."

Brayden ignored him and closed his bedroom door. He locked it and laid back down on his bed.

The picture was next to him and he rolled over onto his side to look at it. He placed his fingers on top of Nick and tears dripped out of his eyes.

"I'm fucking sorry," He sobbed.

—

There was a storm brewing inside of the five-foot-eight boy. All of his emotions swirled inside him, causing mayhem in his mind.

He didn't cry until he knew he was alone in his room where his parents wouldn't notice. He didn't yell until his face was tightly smashed into a pillow.

Everything was just falling apart when it was finally starting to look alright. Nick scolded himself for ever believing that it was going to stay okay. Nothing good ever stays.

Brayden proved that.