At first, he was starstruck, in disbelief that Nate was really a couple feet away from him. But then, it was as if all his memories began to replay in his mind, the ones where he felt weak and spineless, begging this fool to at least realize that what they had done meant something to him. Doing something so unmanly had sliced his ego in half, which was why his teeth gritted for a moment, his eyebrows lowering before he turned away from them, his attention returned to the man before him. "Anyhow, where were we?"
Raphael nudged Nate, seeing Dante seconds from starting a making session again. "Say something!" he screamed through a whisper, seeing Nate swallowed hard for a moment as he thought of something that would catch his attention.
After a few deep breaths, he asked uneasily, "We should talk, Dante."
They both saw Dante flinch at that, pausing during his kiss and slowly pull away from his partner, his eyes violently shifting to Nate who felt his palms became moist with sweat. It was no question that he had yet to be forgiven but he had never seen Dante this way which meant he had no idea how he would react. Dante gently moved the man aside, his shoulders broadened as he stepped towards them, his menacing eyes so cold and murderous that Nate yelped, taking a step towards Raphael as if he would protect him if anything went south.
Dante leaned in towards Nate, raising one eyebrow while his hands rested on his hips. Without turning away, Dante growled menacingly, "Who brought him here?"
It took a few seconds for Nate to realize he was addressing Raphael, who shrugged his shoulders and glanced elsewhere. "Not sure, but maybe you should talk to him."
"It's not a phase Ralphy," he snapped, straightening his spine and finally shifting his gaze to his companion. "I told you that I'm fine; you keep ruining my nights—"
"Talk to him," Raphael insisted, tilting his head to the side as he watched Dante's gaze cool for a second while their eyes met. "See where it gets you. If nowhere, then you can go back to making out with..." he pointed towards the man who still stood alone in the corner, "...whoever that random is."
"This random man?" Dante snickered maliciously, reaching for the man and pulling on his collar to approach, as if he was his servant that he could throw left and right without any repercussion. The man almost dropped his drink, but began to blush when Dante wrapped an arm around his shoulders, brandishing him to the others. He seemed a bit flustered as he noticed Raphael and Nate's eyes both examining him, not impressed by his looks, both almost seeming disgusted.
"This man's name is Chris," Dante said with pride, squeezing this guy's shoulder as he noticed both of their eyebrows furrow. "He replaced you, Nate!" Nate felt another sting through his chest, as if he was pierced with a needle. The long grin along Dante's lips made it even worse. But Nate was taken aback by his own emotions; why was he upset that he was replaced? That meant he would be free of Dante, no more needing to be on alert that he could show up any moment or not having to answer calls if he was ever to be on a date again. "That means I can kill you and your aunt now."
Oh, he had forgotten about that part as well; that had been apart of their deal.
Raphael couldn't help but chuckle when the smile on Chris' face instantly fell, a horrified gaze replacing it—he had no idea who they were.
"Then kill me." Both their eyes widened in shock when they heard what Nate had said nonchalantly, without any fear at all, even taking a step closer towards Dante. He sent him a challenging glare. "You always have a gun on you, right? Pull it out right now and shoot me, you'll have half of it done so might as well."
Dante seemed hesitant, not budging at all with a blank face. Even Raphael didn't know what to say, not even sure how Dante would react.
"What's wrong? Are you scared?" Nate raised his eyebrows after a scoff. "Big bad Dante can't even kill me, someone he met a week ago? I guess you're not as tough as you make yourself seem." He noticed Dante's teeth grit. "Oh, maybe you're scared Chris here won't be able to tease you with a knife long enough so that you'd c—"
Raphael saw Dante's fingers reach for the backside of his waist and instantly leaped forward, gripping his elbow before Dante could retrieve his gun. He shoved the man aside, tightly gripping Dante's chin and lifting his head for their gazes to meet. And when Dante saw the flames behind Raphael's eyes, he knew he had messed up terribly. "We're leaving," he hissed harshly, a venomous tone as if poison was laced in his voice. "You better not cause any more scenes."
Dante wasn't afraid of Raphael, but oh boy did his demeanour instantly change. The rage in his face fell, as if his entire body had gotten rid of the alcohol in mere seconds, sobered up instantly for a few minutes. Raphael gave him a head start towards the door with a shove, irritated that Dante's drunken self would have really brandished his gun and threatened to shoot Nate in the middle of a bar. He always did dumb stuff when he didn't want to admit what he was feeling, but never had he almost done something of the sort.
Nate didn't budge, realizing what had almost occurred. It was only when he heard over his shoulder, "We're leaving," that he was startled and began making his way to the exit, following behind them. Would Dante really have shot him if Raphael hadn't been there? Another stinging in his chest, which he didn't understand why he felt those. He was absolutely certain he had no feelings whatsoever for Dante, why would he?
Dante was an arrogant asshole, not to mention an actual assassin, maybe mafia leader of some sort. He didn't care about anyone but himself, other than Raphael, and he condescended upon everyone that wasn't made of a mirror. There was nothing from him that was appealing, other than his looks of course.
Nate gulped, biting his bottom lip as he made his way to the passenger seat beside Raphael. Even though everything pointed to his hate for Dante, as he eyed Raphael talk to him sternly before shutting the door, having taken the gun Dante had and shoved it at his waist, Nate realized that he had actually missed Dante.
The start of the drive had been quiet, none of them saying a word, rather listening to the frequent puffs of Raphael as he exhaled his cigarette smokes.
Until Raphael spat, "Speak!"
They both heard Dante shuffle across the backseat, laying his head down. "I have nothing to say to him."
Nate noticed from the corner of his eye the glare he received from Raphael when he didn't respond for the next few minutes. He exhaled a long sigh, glancing over his shoulder to see Dante with his eyes closed, his lips slightly parted as he breathed softly, appearing to be asleep.
Nate swallowed hard, folding his arms over his chest before he said, "Look, that night meant something to me too, Dante."
There was a short pause, Dante not responding right away. His eyes remained closed, letting the silence sit for a moment to a point that Nate felt a bit nervous. However, when he did respond, it wasn't addressed to Nate.
"Where are we headed?"
Raphael glanced over his shoulder; he hadn't really decided but he needed Dante to have a chat with Nate since that was what had been obviously bothering him. Dante was stubborn and had the emotional intelligence of a teenager, but he, like every other human being, felt certain emotions that were better to be shared than bottled in oneself.
"To his apartment." When he saw Dante's gaze widen, he spat, he narrowed his eyes at him through the rear view mirror. "You're spending the night at his place."
"What?" They both said in unison, Nate quickly turning his face to eye Raphael who exhaled an annoyed sigh. There was no way he would be able to take care of a drunken Dante on his own.
"He'll..." Nate gulped, leaning towards Raphael and whispering, "He'll kill me."
The reaction from Raphael didn't help at all; he began laughing, "He won't kill you...at least I don't think so."
"I just might," they heard Dante hiss, folding his arms as he sat up in his seat.
Nate widened his arms, desperate that this idea was changed. "He almost killed me at the damn bar in front of everyone!"
There was a short silence, Raphael eyeing Nate for a few seconds before his eyes diverted to the road. "You know, maybe he will, he's still a learning progress after all..."
"What the hell?!" Nate exclaimed, attempting to open the door but realizing it had child's lock. "Let me out of here!"
Raphael shrugged his shoulders, leaning back in his seat with a straight face. "You wouldn't be the first person he killed anyway."
"But you were boasting in the bar right?" Dante raised an eyebrow challengingly, leaning forward and bringing his face between the seats, seeing an uneasy Nate push himself away, his back slammed against his passenger door. Dante licked his upper lip, as if he was imagining how he would devour him. What did you say again? Big bad Dante can't even kill me, someone he met a week ago?" Nate's breath was stuck in his throat.
After a wink, Dante leaned back in his seat, "We'll see about that."
Nate glanced towards Raphael for help, but Raphael acted as if he hadn't heard him, even whistling a short tune, acting distracted. He had no protection this time and he swallowed hard, not wanting to even glance over his shoulder since it made him worry even more. Just thinking about being alone with Dante made him scratch the side of his neck; would Dante really try to kill him? He had spoken pretty rough at the bar, but it was merely because there were multiple people around. Now that he would be alone and Dante was drunk, there was no guarantee on what would happen.
The moment they parked outside the apartment, Dante exited the car and began heading inside while Nate stayed seated a bit longer.
Sadly, Raphael wasn't one with any patience, and he hissed, "Get out or I'll kill you myself," which startled Nate who raced outside, closing the door behind him.
Nate was too late for the elevator and waited for it to return before pressing his floor. When the elevator doors opened, he paused for a moment when he heard from down the hall. "What the fuck are you doing here?" It wasn't Dante's voice that had said that though and that made Nate's skin begin to crawl. "I said, what are you doing here?!" Andrew shouted again in Dante's face.