"Hello," I Lied.

Nate

Nate woke up and realized he was being half held, half dragged. Gathering his wits, he felt the ground coming closer to his face and stumbled. It's dark out and he could hear cars passing them by. Suddenly, Nate learched forward and vomited on the grass. He moaned before another rush of what felt like his intestines came up.

"Shhh..it's alright." Someone pushed his hair back, whispering into his ear as he trembled. Suddenly he felt weak and vulnerable. A wave of hot tears leaked from Nate's eyes as he sat up and Rachel grabbed his left hand, kneading his thumb. "Are you okay?"

Did he feel okay? Was he alright? Trying to figure it out, he mentally winced as he thought about Cassie practically mauling him. "No." He said. "I feel like-" With another churn of nausea, he pitched to the side, puking up whatever his stomach had managed to hold on to.

Rachel took him back to his hotel room, where the party was done with. Kyle was sleeping half naked on the floor next to the bed, snoring quietly. "Where's your dad?" Rachel asked, glancing around the room. Nate had no idea, but at the moment, he just wanted to be alone. He felt disgusting; It was a wonder to him how Rachel could stand to be next to him. He felt like scum.

"I just need to get some sleep, Rach." She frowned, biting her lip.

"Alright. I need to get home anyways. My little brother's alone tonight, and I need to make sure everything's fine." She put her hand on his shoulder. "I'll see you tomorrow?" He nodded as she let herself out.

Finally alone, or at least with his sleeping brother, Nate walked into the cramped bathroom. Peeling off his sweaty shirt, he glanced into the mirror and examined his face. He looked fine, completely unharmed. It's not like being raped

by a girl was exactly a bad thing, right? I mean..it'd be scary for another guy, but a girl's not so bad. Then why did he feel so ashamed?

Nate kicked off his jeans, turning the shower on hot. When the steam started to fog the mirror, he stepped into the tub gingerly, getting used to the water. Everything felt...surreal. Not the same.

All of a sudden a loud knock vibrated around the room. "Nate! I need to piss, hurry the fuck up!" Nate sighed, leaning against the wall of the shower. All his energy left him, and he closed his eyes, feeling too tired to even breathe.

After a few minutes, he turned the water off, neglecting to wash his body or hair.

He let Kyle in, and as he fell into bed naked, fell asleep almost immediately.

A gentle rocking woke him up. His dad and brother stood next to the bed, staring at him with concerned expressions. "Uhh, what's going on?" Nate asked, feeling surrounded. His dad coughed, sitting on the bed.

"Rachel called. She told me about what happened last night. Do you want to explain?" He asked, no hint of scolding in his voice. He shuddered anyways, feeling guilty for no reason he could think of. Nate shook his head, gathering the blankets further up to his neck. His dad sighed. "Nate."

"Dad?" His father looked serious. Nate felt himself breaking, getting the vibe that he was about to be in grave trouble.

"I was thinking about it all last night, and I think it would be best if you left." Nate's mouth dropped open. All senses seemed to shut down, and he gaped at his father as he explained. "You shouldn't have come back here. I want you

to go back home. You need Jack. It's obvious, to everyone." Nate almost argued that they had only been back one night, but realized that it was perfect- he did want to go home.

A couple of days later, Nate arrived in taxi in front of Jack's home. Kyle had talked to Ricki about everything- Nate was still in confusion about how Jack and Ricki met- and it was set up. Nate was moving in with Jack and Ricki, but no one's told him why he's coming back so early. Nate wanted to do that himself. Holding three suitcases was difficult, but he felt like he could manage to drag them through the door. He couldn't wait to see Jack, to be with him.

He hadn't even had the guts to tell him he wanted to have sex with him.

Holding his breathe, Nate smiled weakly as Jack opened the door. He clutched his baggage against his side, knuckles white, palms sweating. "Jack."

The one word seemed to dry out his mouth. His boyfriend's eyes were blood shit red, and it was obvious that he had been crying- it was either that, or he was high off his ass. Suddenly Jack's face twisted into one of anger and he slammed the door on his face. Nate stood, shocked. What just happened?

"Jack? Jack! Wha-" Suddenly the door opened again, and before him stood his old friend Ricki. "Ricki, what's going on?"

Ricki glared at Nate with narrowed eyes. "I think it's best that you don't stay here."

"What? What do you mean? What's going on? What's wrong with Jack-"

"Just leave, you asshole! Jack doesn't want to see you, get it? Leave!" As the door was slammed in his face a second time, Nate felt stunned.

"Jack?" He whispered in a trembling voice. He pressed his hand against the door, feeling lost.