Aunt Judy had a glass of wine, standing across from Nate around the kitchen island. Nate had been venting about how he felt and what had happened with Tyler, and the more he thought of it, the more he grew angry that Tyler had practically unleashed a low blow on him. Maybe he was being a tiny bit unreasonable but his emotions were skyrocketing, exploding in every direction that he was unsure what he truly felt.
The worst part was that he wasn't even sure if he truly wanted Dante back into his world, feeling much more at ease since he knew he wouldn't show up anymore, but at the same time, the intimacy they experienced together was out of this world and something he could not stop from running through his mind.
"Nate," Aunt Judy sighed, their gazes meeting for a second before he turned away, grabbing a beer can from his fridge. "How about you try to focus on school and a sport instead? Forget about both of them, they're not going to help you in any means."
"I know that," he exhaled, shrugging his shoulders as he stared at the lines across his palm. "But I'm not sure why I'm so angry with Tyler, it's like a fire in my chest that's just...directed at her."
"I really don't think she did anything wrong."
Nate had enough of hearing her side being defended. "You always have my back, auntie. Why are you against me for this one?"
Aunt Judy furrowed her brows, pausing for a moment and setting down her glass. "For the record, I don't always have your back, I tell you when you're messing up and in this case, you're messing up."
He rolled his eyes. "Raphael said that he was convinced because of her."
"And because of you," Aunt Judy added, as if it was an obvious answer. "You put the thought in his head first."
"And the only person you should be blaming is yourself."
Both their eyes turned when they heard the disembodied voice echo across the apartment. Nate hadn't expected to see him this early, but when Dante turned the corner, Nate's heart skipped a beat as his figure came to view.
Dante was wearing a burgundy suit, a gold chain across his neck, a few matching rings with a black watch that blinged whenever it crossed a light. His black hair was slicked backwards, and he seemed to be in a hurry, as if this was a quick stop he had to make. However, from the way his contorted face only grew even sharper and colder, Nate knew that this was not going to be one of their enjoyable intimate moments.
Dante's narrowed glare filled with disgust made Nate's breath get caught in his throat. It was almost as if they had never been on good terms, arch nemesis that met again under unforeseen circumstances. He rolled up the ends of his sleeves to his forearms, his dress shoes clacking as he made his way closer to the kitchen island, not breaking away from Nate's surprised gaze.
"You really are something, thinking it's alright to tell my sister you would punch her in the face." The rage behind his tone as he growled, his shoulders broadening while he sent a death glare in Nate's direction, made Nate break eye contact instantly. That made Dante shout, "You better fucking look at me when I'm talking to you."
"Dante, he—"
"Raphael, remove her, now." In an instant—and Judith knew it was coming—Raphael arrived from around the corner and grabbed her around her waist, throwing her over his shoulder and storming away from the kitchen. They both heard the front door slam shut, no longer any footsteps.
The silence that settled for a few seconds after Judy and Raphael's disappearance was terribly tense. Nate took a sip of his beer. "I thought you wouldn't show anymore."
"I definitely was not until I found out about the bullshit you did today. What the fuck is your problem?"
Nate turned away for a second; he was unsure as to why he suddenly felt flustered. Usually it was the other way around, but this time, it was clear that Dante was the dominant one; that was his true character. "I don't have a problem."
"Then why is Tessa calling me hysterical?" Before he could respond, Dante pointed a finger in his direction and stepped closer. "You yelled at her for what happened between us, told her to mind her business or something like that."
"She's being dramatic." Nate shrugged his shoulders, his voice low but still a strong enough tone as he met Dante's gaze. It was clear that he was not here on friendly terms, but Nate was not going to back down simply because she got her older brother to harass him over it. "We got into a little argument, that's all—"
He hadn't even realized there had been a smirk on his lip, only noticing when Dante growled, "You better wipe that little smile off your fucking face." Dante stepped closer, using his height as intimidation which made Nate swallow hard but keep his chin high. "The fuck do you have to argue about?"
Nate paused for a moment, taking another sip of his beer. "She was the one to ruin what we could've had."
"What the fuck are you on about, Nathan?" The belittling instantly struck one of Nate's nerves, seeing the snort as if he had said one of the dumbest things Dante had ever heard. "You drunkenly said that we didn't have anything and that you never wanted to be a part of my life."
He shook his head. "And I—"
"Stop doing that," he snarled, slamming his palm into the open beer can, sending it flying across the room, hearing it splatter against the wall.
Nate's eyes had drifted to the trajectory, raising his eyebrows in shock that this had just happened. He was taken aback that Dante reacted this way, specifically to him, and he furrowed his brows as he faced him. "You don't need to be violent."
"Oh trust me," Dante chuckled threateningly, "you have yet to see violent."
This was not heading the right direction and Nate swallowed hard, lowering his eyes for a second. He didn't want to physically fight Dante, but the room was terribly hostile that he wasn't sure if it would happen or not. Regardless, he was going to stand his ground to Dante.
"Look, I know I was drunk that day but I fucking took it back."
"It does not matter if you fucking took it back or not, the person that ruined it was you." He shoved his finger against Nate's chest, causing him to stumble a step backwards. The push has been surprisingly hard that Nate had to focus on his footsteps not to fall backwards. "I wanted to be with you Nate but you're the one that made fun of me to my fucking face."
Nate shook his head. "How many times do I have to apologi—"
"People that make fun of me are dead," Dante hissed threateningly, stepping towards Nate with his jaw clenched. "They die, I kill them. Do you know how lucky you are to be alive right now?"
He exhaled a long breath. "Dante, I was fucking dr—"
"We talked about this shit already," he chuckled in disbelief, interrupting him and furrowing his brows. "I don't care that you apologized Nate, I'm out of your life for good and we agreed on that."
"I never agreed to th—" Dante interrupted him again; it was almost as if all these thoughts were rushing through his mind at the same time that he couldn't stop himself from spouting them.
"Why are you causing trouble with my sister all of a sudden?"
Nate shrugged his shoulders. "Raphael said she's the one that convinced you."
"Convinced me of what?"
"To end things with me."
Dante exhaled a sharp breath, placing his palms on his waist. The mixture of the disappointment and rage he felt was apparent on his contorted face, even through the sharpness of his tone as he hissed, "How can you be this dull?"
Nate looked away; each of Dante's insults were jabs through his heart. "You don't have to be so rude."
"You're acting like a fucking idiot!" he spat, throwing his arms in the air as he noticed Nate's jaw tighten. "She convinced me not to fucking kill you! If I was you, I'd be grateful that she did!" He widened his arms each side. "She helped me see your point of view, that's all she did." He gritted his teeth and hissed through them, "But you have no business screaming at her that way. You even threatened to punch her in the face."
Nate rolled his eyes. "I wasn't going t—"
"If you roll your eyes at me one more time, I swear I'm going to lose it." That made Nate frown, finally taking a longer look at Dante, studying each line of wrinkles across his face. "Raphael isn't here and I have my gun on my hip, I'll fucking use it." There was something odd with his demeanor, as if this had crossed a line that should have never been breached. He seemed to be resisting the urge to unleash a demon from within him. It was almost as if Dante wasn't seeing him as the man he had feelings for, but a hidden hatred.
"Why are you talking to me that way?"
"That's my little sister Nathan!" he bellowed, stepping forward. "That's my blood. And I'm annoyed because I'm going to be late to a fucking meeting since I have to deal with you first."
"So Tyler can't handle her own battles?" he challenged, which caused Dante to exhale sharply through his nose, wanting to slam his fist across his jaw but resisting the urge to do so. This was not what he had meant and he knew Nate was being bratty.
"This isn't a fucking battle, this is you just randomly deciding to be an asshole to Tessa."
Nate shook his head. "I wasn't an asshole to you though, I was an asshole to Tyler. I can figure it out with her."
"Well this one involved my name so I decided to come here to sort it out with you and let you know that we are done. For good." The harshness in his tone felt like venom, sharply stabbing through Nate's heart as he felt the raw rage behind it. "Funny thing is that I was considering maybe having made a mistake, but hearing about the way you have been today, I know for a fact I didn't make any mistake."
He knew that hurt Nate when he saw the way he inhaled a sharp breath, his lips opening to respond but remaining speechless, stuck in silence.
"You're too young, too immature." The way Dante hissed those words, as if he saw Nate as a little boy with no backbone and useless, made Nate feel a sudden pressure on his chest. "You still lash out whenever you don't get your way which is way too childish; there's no way I could love someone like that, especially after we had already talked."
That caused Nate's lips to seal, a sudden gut-wrenching guilt and pain swarming his stomach.
"It's clear that my tendencies are influencing yours if you think it's alright to tell people you'll punch them in the face." Dante shook his head and sighed, "You're becoming like me, Nate. Aren't you noticing it?"
Nate shook his head, glancing away for a moment. Even though he knew Dante was staring a fact, he still was not ready to believe it. There was no way Dante had already influenced him to this point. "No, I'm not. I only said that because I thought she—"
"Shut up and listen to me because I'm only saying this once." He saw Nate's eyes widen as he spat, "You better fucking listen because if we have another situation like this, I'll handle it as if you're someone I don't know you, I promise you."
Nate's lips sealed, waiting for him to continue.
"We had our last bit of fun last night, but move the fuck on. We are over Nate, there's nothing and there will never be anything between us." Silence followed, Dante finally feeling that he got his point across and Nate truly heard him. He observed the way Nate exhaled, his shoulders even slumping over when he did. "The next time you see her, you better fucking apologize. Our little situation has nothing to do with her, it has everything to do with you and your big fucking mouth." He scoffed, twirling on his heels and shouting over his shoulder, "If you can't control yourself when you're drunk then that's on you. Not me, not Tessa, you. Don't fucking drink next time and maybe, just maybe," he turned for this, narrowing his eyes even sharper, "you won't lose people that cherish you."
After a few seconds of peering into his gaze, he started his way towards the exit. However, his footsteps stopped when he heard a vulnerable tone say, "I told you I was sorry for what I said and that I didn't mean it."
"Leave my sister out of this," he shouted, turning around to eye him coldly and menacingly. "If it had been anyone else, anyone, I would have killed them." He spat the word killed with such intensity that Nate felt chills crawl on his skin. "The only reason it's different this time is because it's you and I can't bring myself to end your breath. So consider that the next time you ever think of approaching Tessa with that attitude." He took a step forward and pointed a finger in his face. "This is your warning, because if anything happens again with my sister, trust me when I say that I won't be so nice to you next time."