Carpe Noctem - cash au -

Something, Something, Something Dark Side

Nash POV

5:15pm.

To say my mother is furious is putting lightly, she is livid. I can hear her yelling on the phone, presumably talking to Chad, all the way from my bedroom. Cameron and I are lying on my bed, he's playing with my hair and occasionally leans down to shower me with small kisses. He hasn't left my side since the whole incident happened and I'm so grateful for his presence. He's making this whole situation bearable. It's insane how quickly Cameron has cemented himself in my life, I honestly cannot imagine life without him and I wonder how I even made it this far.

I'm exhausted. I wish I could fall asleep but I know even if I try, I won't be able to. It's difficult for me to sleep on a regular night, much less after a day like this one. Someone knocks on the door and Cameron gets up and opens it for me. My younger brother, Hayes, is standing on the other side of the door.

"Uh...hi?" he says awkwardly. He's met Cameron before but they haven't really interacted much.

Cameron smiles and steps aside to let Hayes in. "What's up, man?"

Hayes comes inside and plops down on the bean bag, Cameron lies back down next to me and I pull him close, snuggling with him again. I can tell Hayes feels uncomfortable, his eyes are everywhere but on us.

"So can you explain what's going on?" Hayes asks me quietly. I wonder what Chad told him, I know he must have gotten to him, trying to get at least one person on his side, even if it's my 14 year old brother.

"Chad found out about Cameron and I, he freaked out." I tell him, trying to stay calm. "He said some horrible things, I said some stuff back and then he slapped me."

The mark on my face has faded a bit, but it's still noticeable. It was the first thing my mom saw when I walked in the door earlier and she grilled me on what happened. She started crying as she hugged me and it was difficult to maintain my composure, I hate to see my mom cry.

Hayes eyes widen after I'm done talking and he studies my face. "But...dad has never laid a hand on us. Even when we misbehaved horribly."

I shrug. "Guess he really hates me."

Hayes scoffs. "He doesn't hate you, Nash. You're his freaking son."

I take a few deeps breaths to control my anger, this situation isn't Hayes' fault and I don't want to take it out on him.

"You didn't see the look in his eyes, Hayes. You didn't hear how he sounded when he called me a faggot." I say to him, unable to mask the hurt in my voice.

Hayes is quiet for a while, I guess he's thinking things over.

"I'm sorry that happened to you, Nash. You don't deserve to be treated like that, especially after what he did to our family," he replies softly. He comes over to me and I sit up. He wraps his arms around me in a tight hug. I let out a sigh of relief, happy that my brother has my back. He pulls away after a bit and then goes to sit back down on the bean bag.

"Does Will know?" he asks randomly.

I shake my head. "I haven't told him. He's in the middle of midterms right now so I don't want to stress him out. I'll tell him when he comes home for fall break."

I glance at Cameron who's busy texting someone on his phone.

"What's up?" I ask him.

"Just Matt asking if you're okay. We left without really saying anything to him and Carter and they're worried. I guess Carter has been trying to text you too," he replies and puts his phone down.

"I don't even know what to say to Carter, I mean I quit the football team," I say quietly.

"What?! You quit football?" Hayes says, his mouth dropping open.