Nathaniel’s POV

Surprisingly, the eccentric neighbor – a man who did not tell me his name but nevertheless introduced his cat, Mr. Jinglebottom – had given me accurate directions and about fifteen minutes after I’d had the “pleasure” of conversing with him, I’d reached my destination.

I entered the convenience store looking for one specific thing: Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Fudge Brownie. It was a favorite with Val and I and we were both known for seeking comfort in food. We had moved in our new house this morning so I, being the efficient person I was, was almost done with unpacking. Vallery, being the procrastinator she was, was not even halfway finished. My sister was getting really irritated with having to spend so much time taking things out of their boxes and finding a place where to put them, so I decided that she could use some chocolate therapy.

I browsed through the shelves but nothing caught my eye until… Ah, there it was, in the refrigerated foods section. And I was lucky; it was the last pint of my desired ice-cream. I took it to the cashier – a pleasantly smiling woman at about my mother’s age - and after I paid for it, I placed the item in my dark blue messenger bag before getting out of the store.

The moment I stepped on the footway, I zipped up my jacket. It was one of those chilly yet not unpleasantly cold early autumn evenings. Enjoying the slight breeze, I walked towards our newest house slowly. It wasn’t late so I was surprised there were almost no people in the streets or in the store I’d just exited. But I liked it that way; I enjoyed the quiet. The only downside to it was that it gave me time to contemplate on matters I did not wish to delve on.

I’d made friends in the town we’d just left. I should’ve known better by now; the deeper a bond I established, the more it hurt when it was time to cut it. But it only hurt in the beginning; after that the pain was replaced by emptiness, by a sense of loss. And then came a small relief in the form of emotional numbness; I felt nothing, not even loss.

Vallery was smarter than me when it came to friendships; or at least more prescient. I shook my head, thinking how she hated planning ahead. Yet even though she made connections each time we settled somewhere, they were rarely so strong that she’d grieve when we moved away.

My mother was a social chameleon: at the new place, she’d calculate the collective mentality of the neighborhood and would act accordingly. If our neighbors were artistic, she’d take an art class; if they were religious, she’d go to church; if they were environmental activist, she’d buy only eco-friendly products. Each time we relocated, she became a blank canvas and would let the people around her paint her in whatever colors they chose.

As for my father, he…

A moan.

Just as I was about to pass a crossroad, I heard a moan.

I stopped walking and looked around me. Not seeing anyone at first, I went on my way, turning my head to the side to see whether there were any cars or was it safe to cross.

And that was when my gaze fell them.

The couple was passionately making out. The shadow of the building they leaned on was what had initially sheltered them from my eyes. I wanted to look away but stood rooted as I’d made a realization: the couple consisted of two guys.

One of them - the older one - appeared to be in his late twenties and seemed to be a businessman. He was wearing an expensive-looking suit, an even more expensive-looking watch and a briefcase was discarded next to his feet. His short, dark hair was gripped by the other man’s hand. His own hands were placed on his partner’s jeans-clad thighs.

The second guy seemed to be just a little older than me. His bleached hair contrasted to that of the businessman and his casual attire probably cost a tenth of the older man’s suit.

I was not sure why the two of them had caught my attention. Perhaps it was because of the difference in their age, or maybe the difference in their social status, or perhaps it was the heated, almost blatant nature of their actions that any random passerby could become a witness to. Whatever had got me staring…

“I am staring,” I murmured the sudden realization that had dawned on me and moved my feet to finally cross the street and give them some privacy. I’d only made one step when a deafening honk made me jump back on the footway. The vehicle had missed me by a long shot but I barely paid any attention to my lucky escape, because as I followed the car with my eyes, my gaze once again fell on the couple.

They were no longer making out. The older guy was looking at me panicked but what got me transfixed wasn’t his terrified expression. It was the blond guy’s amused gaze and sly smirk that I couldn’t take my eyes off. His expression was both playful and threatening; somehow curious and a warning.

When I finally managed to look away, I headed towards our house once again. But this time I wasn’t walking. This time I ran as if the Devil himself was hot on my trail and I slowed down only when I reached our new two-story home. I’d barely walked through the front door when my twin ran to me.

“Where were you, Nat?” She asked, looking peeved. “You left me to unpack on my own. I could’ve used some help or at least some moral support. And why are you out of breath?”

“I was running.”

“Couldn’t wait to get back to me, huh?” She smirked just as I took out the ice-cream.

“Didn’t want to make you wait for this,” I said, handing it to her and smiled, hoping she wouldn’t notice how perplexed I was by what I had just seen.

It wasn’t because I’d witnessed two guys making out. I had never seen that except on TV but I wasn’t homophobic; just a bit surprised since I hadn’t expected to randomly run into such a thing.

The reason for my confusion and why I didn’t want to tell Vallery about it was my reaction to the blond guy. I was embarrassed by it. One moment I just stood there and stared at him probably looking like a complete lunatic, the other I was running as if my life depended on it - again, looking like a complete lunatic.

I still couldn’t figure out why I did either of those.

I felt someone slightly nudge my side with their elbow.

“Huh?”

“I asked you if you wanted a spoon,” my twin said.

“For what?”

“The ice-cream, what else?”

I looked around me and realized we were no longer in the hallway. I’d followed Val or she’d followed me into an unfamiliar room which, given the sink, fridge, stove and counters, could be none other than the kitchen.

“Yeah, thanks, sis!” I replied, taking one of the spoons she was holding and sitting on a stool – an uncomfortable plastic thing, not like the wooden chairs in our last house.

“So… Wanna tell me what happened?” She asked, sitting down as well and taking a scoop of the Chocolate Fudge Brownie, straight from its container.

“We should eat out of bowls; mom will give us an earful if she sees you.”

“It tastes better like this,” she waved her hand and pointed her spoon towards me, “and don’t try to change the subject.”

“What subject?”

“I mean you spacing out and looking all perplexed and stuff.”

So she did notice. I shouldn’t be surprised - we weren’t very similar but we were really close and even though we hung around with different crowds, each of us always had the other twin’s back; we would stand up for one another against peers, teachers and even against our own family.

“Nothing happened,” I stated, my gaze aimed at the floor. I couldn’t look her in the eyes and lie to her. I knew she’ll be aware that I wasn’t telling the truth but I really had no wish to discuss the matter even with Val.

“Bro, you just lied to me; I can always tell when you do that.” I turned around and looked at her blue eyes, keeping my mouth shut tightly. She sighed and went on:

“Okay, okay… I can see you don’t want to talk about it. But you know I’ll be here when you do, right?”

I just nodded in reply.

“So how about you join me as a rebel and eat straight from the container?” She suggested, tilting the ice-cream towards me. “Come on, Nat, come to the Dark Side; we have Ben & Jerry’s.”

I laughed and took a spoonful of the chocolate treat.

“It does taste better this way,” I admitted, licking my utensil.

“Children,” my mom’s voice summoned from the living room and I immediately jumped off my seat and hid the spoon behind me.

“Come here, I want to show you something,” my parent’s voice called again at the same time Val mouthed ‘funk’.

“Coming, mom,” I shouted back, throwing the spoon in the sink and heading for the living room. “Aren’t you?”

“Just a few more spoonfuls of therapy and I’ll come,” she insisted. “Sometimes I think chocolate solves everything. Even you look less stressed.”

Not stressed, I corrected her in my mind as I walked out of the kitchen. Just utterly confused and thoroughly embarrassed.

I really hoped I never saw that guy again.

*****

A/N: As usually, my first chapter is rather on the short side. I hope you still enjoyed it (please vote if you did) and I’d love to read anything you have to say about the story so far so don’t be shy to comment.

Why do YOU think Hunter (that’s the guy with the bleached hair) had such an effect on our Nathaniel?

Have a great time wattpading, everyone!

xo,

CatMint5