A/N: Dedicated to RubyofRaven. Thank you for all your support ♥

*****

Nathaniel’s POV

A loud groan left my lips as I slumped down on the bed in my room and covered my head with my pillow.

First on that street, then in my new school, and now in our new house. What was next? Moving into my room?

“Want some company over there?” His voice seemed to come from my right.

I slowly removed the pillow from my face but dared not to turn my head towards the window.

“Natty, I asked you a question,” he said in a teasing manner. I didn’t respond. “Oh, well, I guess Natty didn’t hear me. Then I’ll just have to come over and ask again…”
“No!” I shouted, jumping off the bed.

Hunter smirked through his window. He had his back on the wooden frame, one of his legs casually swaying outside, the other rooted to the sill.

How grand: he wasn’t moving into my room, he only had his next to mine.

I’ll have to ask Val to switch with me when she comes back, I thought and sighed; we’d only just finished unpacking and arranging our belongings and now we would have to do that again.

“Oh, Natty, what are you thinking about?”

“It’s Nathaniel or Nat, not Natty; I’m not five. How much older than me are you anyway?”

 “You didn’t reply to my question.” He tilted his head to the side. “Why should I reply to yours?”

“I was wondering what we are having for dinner,” I replied, looking at my feet.

“You are a terrible liar, has anyone ever told you that?”

“Vallery,” I admitted. “All the time.”

“Do you try to lie a lot?”

“No,” I resented, my gaze on him again.

“Ah, so that’s why you need practice. Now back on track: what were you thinking about?”

“Is it that important?”

“I’m curious. Besides, you refuse to tell me and that makes me even more curious.” He scratched the light stubble on his chin.

“I was thinking about switching rooms with Val,” I admitted.

“Do I frighten you that much?”

“No. Maybe just a little bit.” His lips curled up. “Do you want to scare me?”

“A little bit of fear is useful; it will help you know your place.”

“My place?”

“I’m on top; you are bottom.”

“What the Hell makes you think you are better than me?” I asked and felt my face burn up.

“You didn’t get the double meaning?”

“Double meaning?” I repeated.

He swiftly turned around so that both of his legs were now hanging out. I started forward – a silly instinct to try and catch him if he were to fall through his window. Silly indeed as one – I would not be fast enough to do so, and two – our windows were somewhat six feet away from each other so he was out of my reach.

“First – I’m stronger than you and that makes me better; second – I want to take off your clothes and get on top of you. Do you get it now?” He asked sweetly.

“I’m not interested,” I shot out, looking away from him.

“Not now,” he noted so I looked towards him again.

“Or ever. I like girls, Hunter.”

“People change; people experiment,” he commented. “And if you don’t: can’t win them all, can we?”

“So you don’t really care if I sleep with you or not?”

“You are cute,” he grinned what I now came to recognize as his signature smile – left side of the mouth curled up, right side barely twitched. “And you are fun to tease. I don’t go around prowling on little hetero boys in the night though; if you really don’t want it, I’ll just tease. Can’t help that, it’s in my nature, Natty.”

“I told you: I’m not a child; don’t call me Natty. And don’t act like you are that much older than me. You are only one year ahead.”

“But I’m repeating senior year.”

“You flunked?”

“I was in jail.”

I took a step back.

“In jail as in the real thing?”

“No, Nathaniel, the one from the Monopoly game,” he sneered.

“I mean, you were in jail and not in juvie?” I clarified.

“Been there too, but not this time. Did I become a whole lot scarier now?” He asked as I unconsciously distanced myself from him even further.

I gulped.

“What were you in for?”

He leaned forward and for a moment I thought he’d climb on the tree that grew between our windows and use it as a bridge to gain access to my room. Instead, he challenged:

“Come over and I’ll show you.”

My heart beat quickened as I did not know if I should take him seriously. He had that same playful yet threatening expression as that first time I’d seen him; like a predator who wished to play with its prey before tearing it to pieces.

“Oy, bro,” the pounding on my door startled me. “Mom, wants you to help her set the table for dinner.”

My first instinct was to run to the door and beg my sister to come into my room. I needed her here. Whether Hunter was just fooling around or he seriously wanted to hurt me, I still was not sure of, but Vallery’s presence would definitely help me calm down. What had stopped me with my hand over the handle was shame. Was I going to hide behind my younger twin’s back? Was I going to expose her to potential harm in the face of our criminal neighbor?

“It was a joke,” a quiet, cool voice came from behind me and I turned my head to see Hunter no longer on his sill but with both feet in his room. He was shaking his head. “I guess I overdid it with putting you in your place.”

“I thought you liked scaring people,” I noted, letting go of the door handle.

“Scaring, yes; terrifying…” He smiled. It was no longer that cocky, flirty smile. It was a flat grin, cold as the look in his grey eyes. “Not people like you,” he concluded and shut the window.

*****

“His room is next to yours?” Vallery exclaimed loudly and I put my hand over her lips to hush her.

“Do you want mom to hear?”

“She’s all the way in the living room. And what if she hears?” She asked, rolling her eyes but this time her tone was lower.

“She’d ask what the big deal is and I don’t want to tell her,” I explained, taking the last chocolate chip biscuit, splitting it in two and giving the larger piece to my sister.

“Do you want to switch?” She offered, a couple of crumbs falling from her mouth. She gathered them in her hand and threw them in the kitchen sink before sitting back on the stool next to mine.

“I thought about it,” I admitted. “But no, thank you.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t want him to know how much he intimidates me,” I summed up, remembering that awful realization of how much of a coward I was and the consuming embarrassment that came with it. I’d made up my mind not to act that way anymore. I’d face Hunter and tell him to leave me alone. “Besides, I don’t want you near him,” I told her my second and final reason.

Or was it really the final one?

That cold tone, the forced grin and the steely look into his eyes made him… Vulnerable. That was not a word I’d usually use to describe someone like Hunter Harris; I was sure everyone else would interpret those signs as their cue to remove themselves from his presence. He would scare them in the same fashion he scared me. Yet I felt like he was just that: vulnerable. As if in that moment he was trying to hide something, or run away from something, or maybe he was disappointed of himself?

Was that even vulnerability?

No that was not the right word…

“Ouch!”

“Well, I had to pinch you; you were spacing out again, bro. You do that a lot you know.”

“Were you saying something?” I asked as I rubbed my arm over the injured spot.

“I was telling you that I can take that boy on.”

“Vallery, you are not fighting with Hunter Harris,” I reproached. “Or anyone else for that matter.”

“Is that an order?” She crossed her arms over her chest and her lips formed a thin line. As much as she hated being compared to our mother, the two looked very much alike when they were angry.

“No, it’s a plea,” I replied, my tone softer than before.

We turned our heads towards the hallway as we heard the front door close shut.

“Oh, my, daddy’s home,” Val’s voice grotesquely imitated that of a little girl. “Almost forgot we had one.”

“Where is your mother?” The forty year old man who we called our father greeted us as he entered the kitchen, rubbing a hand over his face. He looked tired; he always looked tired.

“Living room,” Val said. “But don’t worry: the happy housewife has prepared dinner for you. It’s cold, but that’s because you are late… Again.”

“Val,” I muttered, hoping she’d shut up before they started another sandal.

“Some of us actually have a job,” my father’s tone was stern and I knew that no matter what I did at this point, they’d get into a fight or at best one of them would get angry and leave the room. “And responsibilities. Do you know anything about that? Do you even understand what responsibilities are?”

“Yes,” she smiled sweetly at him. “They are the excuse people give to stay away from their home and their children.”

“I’m not in a mood for this, Vallery. Today was…”

“Let me guess, daddy? Important. Decisive. Crucial. Determinative of your whole career.”

“I suppose I should be glad you are expanding you vocabulary,” he noted coolly.

“Whatever!”

My sister jumped off her stool and headed upstairs, my father’s gaze following her out of the kitchen. He sighed once she was out of sight and took the plate with his portion of the meal to the microwave.

“At least I can talk to you, son.” He gave me a tired smile as he waited for his dinner to heat up. “How was school, my boy?”

“Fine,” I lied. It would have been if I had not met Hunter.

“Making new friends?”

“A few.”

“And the teachers?” The microwave rang so he opened it. He took his plate and sat beside me, on the same seat Val has just vacated. My eyebrows furrowed as I contemplated on how long it had been since I’d last been this close to my father.

“The teachers are alright and so are the classes,” I replied.

“Good.” His smile was wider now. “Not that I expected otherwise. You are a smart boy, Nathaniel. Your mom and I have high hopes for you. You can be anything you want: a doctor, a politician… Come to think of it, I could see you as a politician.”

“I’m not interested in politics, dad,” I hurried to interrupt him before he gets carried away. “I like writing.”

“Sure, it’s a nice hobby,” he waved his hand dismissively.

“It could be a profession,” I dared to suggest.

“You? A Writer?” He laughed. “You can do better than that, my son. And I know you will. A writer,” he repeated, shaking his head.

“I’ll go see how Val is,” I said, getting off my stool.

“Calm that girl down before she goes off and does something stupid again. I wish she was more like you, son. Instead she keeps letting us down.” A crease has formed on his forehead and he sighed again.

“She doesn’t disappoint me,” I commented, my hands balling into fists.

“You are young my boy and your love for her makes you biased. When you grow up, you’ll see things the way I see them.” I opened my mouth to protest, but he went on: “Now go to her, before she finds trouble again. She’s an expert at that.”

I turned around and slowly walked upstairs. I felt exhausted already but I was not allowed to rest just yet. I was the older brother, the responsible sibling, and as such I had to take care of Val first. For me, she always came first. At least appeasing her would distract me from thinking about a pair of steely grey eyes.

*****

A/N: It was about time I introduced you to their daddy; such a lovely fellow. As for Hunt: any ideas as to what got him in jail?

To be honest, I have a few, but I haven’t settled down on anything in particular so I’d love to read your suggestions.

If you enjoyed the chapter, please support it by voting. Also, I know that the Add button was absent for a couple of days but it’s back so click on it and include Hunt Me Down in your reading lists; that way you’ll know when it’s updated :)

Hugs, kisses, have a great time wattpading,

CatMint5