Secrets that Kill (boyxboy)

Insurance

Nate waited till the girl was out of earshot to mumble, "Dumb hoe."

Erik let out a small chuckle, glancing down at Nate hands, which was still securely wrapped around his. "I never took you for the possessive type, Nathaniel."

"I'm not. I just don't like it when dumb whores check out my boyfriend."

An amused smirk spread across Erik's face. "In all fairness, Nathaniel, she had no idea we were a couple."

"Yeah, well, she shouldn't have just assumed I was your brother when I grabbed your hand. Since when do teenage brothers hold hands?"

Erik glanced down at their hands, which were still intertwined. "So, I take it this is a permanent situation, then?"

Nate flushed deeply, realizing he still had a hold of Erik's hand. "Oh, sorry, I, ah-"

"It took you long enough."

Nate did a double take, blinking twice. "What?"

"Well, this is the natural progression of things, Nathaniel. I would have done it myself if I'd known you were ready."

"Ready?"

"Yes, Nathaniel. You seem to be particularly sensitive in regards to making our relationship public knowledge. I can understand, due to your current situation with your mother, and I didn't want to put you in a compromising situation by holding your hand in public until you told your mother."

Nate wrinkled his nose, tugging Erik towards the door of the clothing store. "Stop being such a freakin' gentleman. My mom's going to find out one way or another. Besides, if I have to deal with people hitting on you right and left, it's only going to make my mood worse."

He highly doubted his mother would find out about her son's dirty little secret by word of mouth. The type of people she hung out with didn't exactly hang around teenage infested malls as much as they did formal dinners and tea parties.

Nate tried to pretend like he didn't notice all the people staring as he walked hand-in-hand with Erik down to the tuxedo shop. He wasn't so much self-conscious as he was annoyed. People were looking at them like they were some type of freak show, which wasn't helping his mood. At all. Erik, however, didn't seem at all bothered. He walked with the same confidence he always had, which, for once, Nate envied.

Maybe, one day, he'd be able to be that comfortable in his own skin, showing exactly who he was to the rest of the world. And hopefully, with any luck, Erik would be there with him, helping him through it.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Nate tried not to cringe as he entered the tuxedo shop. He wasn't a big fan of formal wear, of course, because it was indicative of formal events. Which made him uncomfortable. Besides, he didn't get the whole point to dressing up in an uncomfortable suit just to go somewhere and stand around where 200 other people were wearing the same exact thing.

Erik said something about going to speak with the store assistant, before hesitantly letting go of Nate's hand and heading off towards the store counter. Nate flexed his now free hand, feeling oddly bare as he stuffed it into his pocket.

He hadn't realized how much he liked the feel of Erik's hand in his. His skin was nice, soft, his touch a subtle warmth against his cooler hand. He missed it. Which was weird, really. He'd never thought of himself as the cuddly 'let's snuggle and hold hands' type, but then again he'd never been in a real relationship like this before.

"Nathaniel, " Erik called, motioning him over. "He needs to take your measurements to fit you properly for a tux."

Nate nodded begrudgingly, walking over and stretching out his arms to their full width and standing up straight as the man took his measurements.

"You know, you're so going to owe me for this."

Erik let out a small chuckle, leaning against the nearby wall and watching as the man finished up taking Nate's measurements.

"Don't worry about that, Nathaniel. I already have something in mind that I think you will find to your liking."

The suggestive smile on Erik's face made Nate flush and glare at the same time. He was going to be really disappointed if tomorrow night rolled around and Erik didn't lay off the gentleman act, at least for the night.

"Yeah? Well, we'll see about that."

"Indeed." Erik mused, pushing himself up off the wall and heading to the counter. Nate followed, his eyes bulging out of their sockets as the man rung up the price for the tux he'd apparently found for Nate, pushing it towards them in a white box.

"Erik! No way! That's too much!" He would have insisted on paying for it himself, except he didn't just have $850 lying around.

Erik shook his head, handing his credit card to the man despite Nate's protests. "It's a good deal, I assure you Nathaniel. The package includes cufflinks, tuxedo shoes, and a formal undershirt as well as the tux."

"But- I mean-"

"Nathaniel." Erik said, a small smile on his face as he turned to him. "I am the one that insisted you attend this event, correct? So, rightfully, I should be the one making the proper arrangements necessary to do so."

"But, Erik, $850 is, like, freakin'-just- way too much."

"A simple thank you would suffice, Nathaniel."

Nate hesitated as Erik extended the formal looking white box to him that the man had put the tux in.

"Are you sure?"

"Aren't I always?"

Nate sighed, smiling as he took the box from Erik. He'd never been spoiled like this before. Hell, it had been a big deal last Christmas when his mother had bought him a $250 ipod.

"Besides", Erik said, a crooked smirk on his face as he led the way out of the mall, "Consider this an insurance policy of sorts."

Nate raised an eyebrow. "What? You mean, like, so I'll feel like I have to go to homecoming and not have the option of backing out since you spent so much freakin' money on me because of it?"

Erik nodded. "I wouldn't necessarily put it like that, but yes."

Nate rolled his eyes, grinning despite his best efforts. Of course, he should have guessed. Everything was always more than it seemed with Erik. But could he really complain? It had gotten them both to this point.

45 minutes later, Nate found himself wishing to be back in that crowded mall with Erik instead of in his bedroom, alone with his thoughts. Yeah, he could go talk to his mother if he wanted, but interacting with her had becoming increasingly tiring these past few days. It wasn't her fault, he knew, considering he hadn't even given her the opportunity to accept him with open arms or anything yet, but it didn't make all her nagging for him to ask a girl out any less hurtful.

Whatever. He shouldn't just sit around here sulking. Heading over to the white box, Nate popped open the top and grinned. Lying there on top of the tux was a belt buckle, with a small note under it. So this was why he'd insisted on browsing.

Nate picked the note up, unfolding it before reading Erik's writing.

I thought you might need a little something to cheer you up. Hopefully, this brings up as fond of memories for you as it does me. With any luck, after tomorrow night, we'll have many more like this to reflect back on.

Nate grinned, picking up the belt buckle and running his fingers across it. For all the crap they'd been through because of their relationship up until this point, it had so been worth it. Moments like this made it worth it. Times when he felt down, and Erik knew just the way to cheer him up. Yup.

At least, if nothing else, one thing was going right in his life.