Nate cranked the heat up to high on the shower, scrubbing at his skin till it was red and raw. God, he couldn't believe Zack and he had...gah, he couldn't even think about it. This was so not how things were supposed to have gone. At all.
Then again, what else had he been expecting when he'd accepted Zack's invitation? Some nice little picnic with rainbows and ponies? Yeah. Right. Because his whole life had just been one brilliant fucking fairy tale up until this point.
What had made him think this would be any different?
15 minutes later, Nate was lying in his bed, wide awake, his damp hair matted to his face. He'd hoped the shower would take some of the edge off the frantic feeling clawing at his chest. It hadn't.
The alarm o'clock to his right read 2:17 A.M. in bright red numbers. He really should get some sleep. The last thing he needed was to be saying shit that would make things worse because he was tired and groggy. The problem was, though, every time he closed his eyes, he saw the look on Erik's face and the two words that had been trumping the rest of his thoughts since then.
Absolutely Nothing...
Gah. It wasn't just the way he'd said it...or the tone in his voice...or the fact that, for once, Nate was actually scared Erik might take the hint this time he'd pushed him away. It was the look in his eyes, the undeniable knowledge that he'd actually hurt him.
It wasn't as if he hadn't done enough to warrant it. He'd lied to him about the whole Sean incident. He'd rejected just about every advance he'd made. He'd gone and had sex with...god, he wasn't a virgin anymore. And he couldn't even remember it.
Yup. Just another part of his life he'd managed to royally fuck up.
Yeah, this sleep thing was so not happening.
Reaching for his phone, he dialed Amber's number. She was probably asleep, like most normal people at this time. But, really, he couldn't find the energy to care all that much, considering she'd played a big part in this whole god damn mess.
"Hello?" A groggy voice mumbled, obviously Amber's.
"Good. Your up."
"Nate? What the hell? Do you know what time it is!"
"Listen, Amber, I talked to Erik?"
Amber's voice went uncharacteristically silent on the other end.
"Amber? Hello?"
"Hi...listen...you should know something."
"Oh, fuck. What the hell did you do now?"
"Nothing...it's just...you saw Erik, right?"
"Yeah, that's what I just said."
"Well, umm, did he look a little off?"
Nate opened his mouth to tell her to stop asking stupid questions and let him get on with the story before it struck him that she was probably talking about his bruised eye and busted lip.
"Yeah, he looked like he'd gotten into a fight or something. Do you know what happened?"
"Well, I'm not saying this is for sure or anything, but rumor has it after your little study date him and Sean got into it, bad...over you."
"Over me?" Nate could feel his throat tense up like he'd just swallowed fire.
"Yeah...something about a note or something like that, and him threatening you. Did that actually happen?"
Nate hadn't heard her last question. He was such a fucking asshole. God. He'd gone out partying with the attitude that he didn't owe Erik shit while Erik had confronted his best friend- well, at least Sean had been his best friend at some point- to clean up his mess.
He needed to fix this, needed to somehow make it up to him. He had to.
"Nate? Hello?"
Nate remembered he was still on the line with Amber, and suddenly didn't feel like talking.
"I've gotta go Amber, lets talk later at school-"
"Wait! You haven't told me what ha-"
"Tomorrow. I promise."
The silence that followed told him she was pouting on the other line, but obviously knew fighting him on the issue wasn't a smart moving considering he'd had a hell of a hard night.
"Fine." She mumbled, though it was obvious she wasn't too angry.
"Alright. See you at school."
"Kay. Bye. And Nate?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't' beat yourself up over this. It's only normal for people our age to go out and do crazy stuff like this every once in a while..."
But it wasn't normal for a guy like Erik to like someone like him. At all.
"Yeah...thanks. Bye."
Lying back down on his bed, he knew he wouldn't sleep at all.
He had to figure out some way to get Erik to forgive him. And he wasn't sleeping until he did. Something about tonight had made everything a hell of a lot more clear. Maybe it was the whole 'you don't know what you've got till it's gone' thing. Or maybe it was realizing that he'd hurt Erik, and the guy had stuck around until he'd kicked him out anyways. He had a feeling, though, it was the fact that Erik had thought him being a virgin was cute, and Zack had taken it from him in one drunken night without giving a crap that he was drunk and too boozed up to consent.
Yup, he could really pick 'em alright.
Zack dug his hand into his pocket, retrieving the last of the pills from last night. They had worked perfectly. Nate hadn't been able to remember a thing. And he'd been so out of it that he'd passed out on the linoleum floor only a few hours after they'd arrived at the party.
It hadn't been hard slipping the little pills into his drink. To his credit, Nate had only had one beer...which was suprising, considering most teenage boys his age jumped at the chance to get drunk off their ass. One beer, however, was all it took. Funny, he'd never thought to use date rape drugs before. Then again, that's what allies were good for, wasn't it.
Beep. Beep.
Zack dug into his pocket, pulling out his phone. Speak of the devil. He'd just gotten a text from his new little friend now.
Did it work?
Zack couldn't help the cold smile spreading across his face.
Perfectly.
Good. How is he?
Erik?
Who the fuck else?
Zack scowled at the text, a bit upset he was having to deal with such a hot-headed individual. But beggars couldn't be choosers, which, unfortunately, was what he was right now.
He's pretty upset. We almost got into it.
I told you not to touch him.
And I didn't.
A few minutes passed before the next text came through.
And they didn't suspect a thing?
Nope.
Good. I'll text u if we encounter any more problems.
Same here.
With that, Zack shoved the phone back into his pocket, almost feeling bad as he remembered the look in Nate's eyes when he'd told the boy they'd had sex. Almost. At least he hadn't actually had sex with him.
Admittedly, he would have if Nate had been coherent enough to play along, but the boy had passed out before he'd gotten he chance. The little lie, though, had done it's job. Erik seemed more than content with leaving Nate alone, as things were.
And, after a few days, Nate would get over the little 'mistake', as he'd called it, that he thought happened last night and forgive him. Then things would go as planned. Just as they had been before that annoyingly cocky pretty boy had come into the picture. Yup. He would have Nate all to himself.
Reaching into the passenger's side of the car, Zack picked up the shirt Nate hadn't bothered taking from him. He didn't blame him, really. There had been a lot going on, between the drama and the fighting. Besides, that gave him a little souveneir, and a reason to approach Nate again. Holding it up to his face, he inhaled deeply, immersing himself in the boy's scent.
Sean tossed his phone onto the desk, easing his body down onto the bed in his bedroom. Zack had proven to be more than a worthy ally. The guy had followed him after the little spat in the Diner when he'd crushed Nate's hand. He'd been expecting him to beat the shit out of him, or try at least, but instead he'd proposed something completely unexpected.
Zack wanted Erik, who he'd quickly realized had become more than a threat to his and Nate's...relationship, or whatever the hell you'd call it, out of the picture. And Sean wanted Nate to stop fucking around with Erik. So, seeing as they both had a common goal, they'd joined forces.
Funny, he hadn't figured the guy to be all shady and shit. Then again, appearances were deceiving, and didn't he know that better than anyone.
So, all he'd had to do was provide the date rape drugs, and Zack had done the rest.
Of course, he hadn't expected the little fight he'd had with Erik the day before to go down. But he hadn't had a choice, really. Erik had demanded the note back when the truth had finally come out, and told him to stay away from Nate. Unfortunately, he'd chosen to convey the last part with his fists after he'd realized what Sean had done to Nate's hand. And there was no way in hell he was going to just sit there and take it like some fag while Erik laid into him. Which had just pissed him off, honestly.
That, and assured him he was doing the right thing here.
He couldn't understand why the hell Erik seemed to like the pathetic loser, but when it came down to it, it really didn't matter. He'd done what he had to, since the little finger breaking apparently hadn't sent a clear enough message. And he didn't feel bad. At all.
In fact, he'd been a little disappointed to find out Zack hadn't raped Nate. The fucker would have deserved it. But, the mental torture he'd go through thinking the whole thing happened was almost as bad as the real thing. Which brought him at least a little satisfaction.