Senior year. His last year at Blackwell Academy had just begun and how was Nathan Prescott going to celebrate? By throwing a huge Vortex Club party where everyone got shit-faced at the school's swimming pool. He loves that feeling. The feeling of being free from all the burden and all the baggage he's got just for one night. He's sitting on the couch in the VIP area with a bottle of beer in his hand. He looks out and sees everyone enjoying themselves.

Nathan feels a buzz in his pocket and grunts in distress when he sees his father's caller ID on his phone.

"Hey, Vic, I'm gonna step out of a minute." He told his friend next to him and the boy heads towards the school parking lot and answers the call next to his red pickup truck. There's not a soul outside since mostly everyone's at the party, and he could still hear the music blasting through his ears clearly. He hits the green button on his phone, preparing for the worst. Why else would his father be calling him on a Saturday night other than to be upset with his disappointment of a son.

Warren's in his room, frantically looking for his headset in his dorm room to play Overwatch with his online friends.

"Come on… Come on… It has to be here somewhere…" He quietly says to himself looking through various drawers in his room, under his bed and mattress. Opening his closet, he digs under a pile of dirty clothes and spots the thing he was looking for. "Finally." He grabs the headset and heads to his computer.

Video games is one of Warren's favorite Saturday night activity aside from binge-watching TV shows and movies. He wouldn't want anything more. There was a Vortex party going on tonight but Warren never bothered to go to any of them. The boy wasn't into the party scene and was not interested in hanging out with elitist kids who are high and drunk off their ass.

A few matches go by, Warren losing every single one of them. Feeling stressed, he looks out the window. There was only the view of trees, the school was on the other side but he could hear the music blasting so loud from the pool. He sighed and got up from his chair, putting his shoes on. Maybe a short walk around campus would help him calm down from his losing streak before he breaks the screen of his monitor.

Humming to the music playing in his headphones, the boy walked past the school entrance, heading towards the swimming pool. He see a couple making out near the entrance and rolls his eyes. Warren takes a turn towards the parking lot and heads down the stairs. He stops when he hears faint yelling through the party's music and his own and takes the headphones off. Intrigued by what going on, he hides near a car.

Sure he didn't care about the party but Warren genuinely cares about the well being of people around him. He pops his head out to see what was going on. His hazel eyes widen. It was just Nathan, pacing around near his car, arguing with someone on the phone. By the tone of the rich boy's voice, he could tell how intense the conversation was.

"I don't know, dad!" He screamed. "I don't get it, I- NO!" Nathan looks as if he could lift his car and throw it at a someone.

He grunts and hangs up, violently throwing the phone into the cargo bed of his pickup truck. He sits on the curb with his hands in his face, crying. Warren couldn't help but feel bad for the boy. The two never really interacted much with each other but the times they have, it would often be Nathan making fun of him. It was weird seeing him look so vulnerable and not so confident but also an ass. His parents always taught him to do the right thing no matter who it involves, no matter the situation. With his parents' conscience haunting his mind, Warren sighs to himself and decides to approach the young man and tries to clear his throat to get his attention. Nathan looks up shocked, quickly wiping the tears away and looks to the side to avoid eye contact.

"What do you want?" He struggled to let out.

"Mind if I join you?" Nathan ignores the question. Warren just assumed that silence meant that he didn't mind so he takes a seat next to him. "Are you alright?"

"Mind your own fucking business. Why would you care?" He responds, looking the opposite direction from where Warren is.

"It seems like things got really heated for a moment there." Nathan covers his eyes with one of his hands but Warren could clearly see the tears rolling down his cheeks. Nathan couldn't believe that out of all people, the nerd what sitting with him, watching him in his worst state. Warren didn't know what else to do so he attempts to put an arm around the distraught boy, hoping it'll calm it down.

"Don't fucking touch me!" He throws Warren's arm off of him. "I don't like it when people touch me." He says quietly. Nathan gets even more annoyed when Warren decides to give him a full on hug instead. "I said get off of me!" He barely tries to get his arms off of him but gives in and breaks down in tears again as he holds onto Warren's arms in the hug.

"Breathe. Just breathe. Deep breaths. In and out." He hears Warren whisper to him. He doesn't know why but Nathan found Warren's hug oddly comforting. The crying boy does as he's told and feels more calm and relaxed. He can't remember the last him someone hugged him. He vaguely remembers his sister giving him one before she left the family. After a while he lets go and Warren pulls back.

"Why are you still here?" Nathan whispers.

"Because you were crying."

"I make fun go you, I give you shit at school. Why would you want to be with me right now?" He finally makes eye contact with Warren.

"My mom taught me that if I see someone hurting, I shouldn't look away. We need to take care of each other, even if we don't get along. I don't know what you're going through but I just felt like you needed someone here." Nathan doesn't say anything. He just looks at Warren with his puffy eyes from all the tears.

Nathan was always quick to shoot people down. No one in his life really cared about him. The Vortex club? Aside from Victoria, most of them only hang with Nathan for drugs and because his dad's rich. They think knowing a Prescott would benefit their own, selfish futures. His dad certainly doesn't give a shit about him; he and his mom barely says much to each other. He had his sister, Kristine, until she got cut off by their parents and moved to Brazil. She ran away when Nathan needed her most.

After Kristen left, Nathan was drawn to the ideas of drugs and alcohol. He had heard that it makes people feel better, feel really great, really high. He fell into that addiction. They were his go-to source of happiness whenever something shitty was going on between him and his family. It was odd that Nathan felt that similar feeling with Warren next to him.

"Is it okay if I asked what happened?" Warren asked.

"It was my dad on the phone. He found the report card I hid from him when Junior year ended and he's furious at how bad I did in almost every class. Every class except photography which to him is useless."

"I saw one of your photos is hanging in the hallway with other students. Your composition's really great."

"I know." Warren lets out a laugh.

"Wow, you don't even try to be humble, huh? Is that what made you cry? That your dad yelled at you for your grades?" Nathan shakes his head.

"It was what he said after." You're a fucking disappointment. A failure and an embarrassment to the family name. Why couldn't I have a different son born? You're a useless piece of shit who doesn't care about anything else other than getting drunk and high off your ass. When will you ever learn to be the person I want you to be. His father's words haunt his ears. "But I don't want to talk about it."

Warren sees the sadness in the boy's eyes. He doesn't want to push Nathan's button further than he already has tonight. It was clear he wasn't ready to talk about what really upset him. Warren looked back up at the pool. He sees the lights flashing through the windows and the music is still blasting. He begins to think about the times Nathan and the Vortex Club has tormented him and how weird it is that Nathan is with him now.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Nathan's voice interrupted his thoughts and he give his attention to the boy. "Why didn't you let go? Of the hug I mean. It was pretty long."

"I never let go of a hug first. Sometimes you don't know what people are going through and sometimes you don't know how long they need a hug for." Warren looks up at the night sky and see the light on a plane flying by as if it were a moving star. It was cloudy so he couldn't see the stars. It's a shame because he loves looking at them every night. There's something about space that fascinates him so much. The mystery that is the universe. No one really knows what's out there but someone's gotta take the risk to explore the universe. To see what's really out there, what it's really like.

Nathan follows his eyes and looks up at the sky as well. "The clouds are covering the stars."

"Yeah, but another night they'll show their beauty again instead of hiding behind shadows." Warren gets up from the curb and faces Nathan. "Wanna hear a joke?"

"If you're going to make a cheesy dad joke then fuck you."

"Hey, did you hear about the restaurant on the moon? It had great food but there was no atmosphere." Warren laughs at his own joke.

"Oh my God, you're a fucking idiot. What did I just say?"

"You like it? I have a whole book full of them."

"Maybe I'll have to break into your dorm and burn that shit to the ground." Nathan laughs. It was the first time he genuinely laughed in a while. All because the nerd in front of him made a lame joke.

"You should do that more."

"Do what?"

"Smile and laugh. I've never seen your face like that before. Every time I saw you in either in the hallways or in the dorms, you've always got this serious, angry look on your face. It just reeks of teen angst all the time."

"Gee, thanks, Warren. That totally makes me feel better about myself."

"Nathan!" His head shoots up and he sees Victoria at the end of the parking lot. "C'mon, everyone's about to take shots!"

Warren turns to look at her. "Looks like you're being summoned." He lets out his hand. Nathan stares at it and looks at him. He has a stupid smile on his face that he thinks is adorable. He takes his hand and gets up from the curb. "Uh, I guess I'll see you around?"

"Maybe." Nathan says as he takes his phone from the cargo bed and walks towards Victoria.

"What were you doing with Warren?" Victoria asks, starring back at the nerd who's still next to Nathan's car.

"I don't know. Being a fucking weirdo. Let's go before all the shots are gone." They head to the pool with Nathan trailing behind Victoria. He turns around and gives Warren a slight smile and a small wave. Warren scoffs and waves back.

Back to playing Overwatch, I guess. Warren thought to himself as he decides to head back to his dorm.