This is definitely later than I meant for it to be. But thanks to everyone who has reviewed and favourited/followed this story so far. I hope the fact that Nathan and Warren finally get together makes up for the delay.
He must have done something absolutely horrific in a past life to end up like this. Don't laugh, reincarnation was totally a thing! Hell it was on The Simpsons and everything, you know before it stopped being funny. Wait, what was he thinking about again? Oh yeah, Victoria. No, not like that! Just no on so many levels. Seriously she was like the last person he'd…wait, no he needed to focus. Let's start over.
When Victoria told him to be ready that Saturday and then basically ignored him the rest of the week, Warren figured she'd forgot. Well she had been hanging around with Max more, doing whatever girls did in their dorm, so it wasn't like he saw her that much to begin with. But no, apparently she hadn't forgot, because that would mean something good had happened to him and really, when did good things ever happen to him? Well aside from meeting Max; that was like the best thing that had ever happened to him. Well that and the day the vending machine malfunctioned giving him an extra soda, that was a pretty good day too.
Wait, what was he just thinking about? Oh yeah, the wicked bitch of Arcadia Bay. Okay so maybe that was a little harsh…
"Take this and this, Nathan get over here! You take this and these and make sure he tries them on. If you're gonna start hanging out with us, you're gonna have to look the part. I get the whole geeky fanboy thing you have going on, but that's no reason you have to actually look like one. Just look at Nathan, he's into that sort of stuff but at least he looks good while doing it. Besides, maybe after we're through with you, you won't be such a loser. You might even get a date out of it, right Nathan?".
Screw it, Victoria was a bitch plain and simple. And why was Nathan turning red?
"Whatever".
Of course he was ignoring what had happened with Victoria, you know the whole him and Nathan thing she'd insinuated. Because please, he still hadn't decided if he should laugh or vomit at the thought. Plus, well they had like barely anything in common. Well okay they both had similar taste in movies and they both hated shopping, but so what? Like that would suddenly make them friends? Except, well that was pretty much what he and Max had in common and they were friends. Well fuck. But it wasn't just that they didn't have much in common. He and Nathan were clearly on opposite ends of the societal scale. Nathan was the stereotypical rich boy with daddy issues and he was just Warren. Freaky super smart hipster nerd who was only ever liked by his own kind.
"You okay?" Wait, did Nathan seriously ask him if he was okay. Like in an actual 'I care enough to ask' kind of way?
"Uh, yeah. Just, I'm really not into the whole shopping thing". God, could he have sounded any lamer? And who even says lamer nowadays? Or thinks it for that matter?
"Good".
Okay now he was officially confused, you know if anyone was actually keeping track. "Good?"
"At least you're not a complete girl".
Was that supposed to be a compliment? "Okay?" he tried. When nothing else followed, namely insults or sneers, he shrugged, or tried to at least. It was kind of hard to do so when he could barely keep a hold of the clothes Victoria had shoved at him.
Warren entered the changing rooms with Nathan close behind. With a huff, both dropped the clothes onto a nearby chair. When Nathan didn't immediately leave, Warren looked at him strangely.
"I've got it, thanks. I'll just uh, you know try stuff on". Nathan remained where he was, watching him rather intently. Understandably, Warren grew more uneasy the longer Nathan just stood there. "Is something wrong?"
"I'm not going back there by myself. So quit being such a loser and strip already. The sooner you do it, the quicker we can get this over with".
Warren almost felt inclined to believe him. Or he had until he happened to notice just how intense Nathan's stare had become, the moment he began lifting up his shirt. "Okay no, I can't do this with you just watching me like that. You're freaking me out here. Just please, can you just wait outside? Or at least turn around?"
Nathan scoffed, but he did turn around. However he made no attempt to actually leave. Warren counted it as a win all the same. Getting Nathan Prescott to do something he asked and on the first time too? Absolute win for sure. Even if he was still being all weird and kinda creepy. But then, like he'd said, Victoria was out there waiting for them. Honestly he didn't blame him for wanting to hide from her.
Shaking his head, Warren grabbed the first pair of skinny jeans he found, wincing as he tugged them on. While Victoria had assured him they were in his size, she'd refused to show him the label, he begged to differ. They were at least a size smaller than he usually wore, enough so that he was seriously concerned about his ability to walk, without looking like some demented human-duck hybrid. But in fairness to her, he could sit down without them bursting at the seams. And to be honest, the longer he had them on, the less constricting they felt.
Naturally, Warren remained oblivious to the way Nathan was blatantly checking him behind his back. It was probably just as well, that would have just made things all the more awkward.
"Right, now the shirt".
Warren bent down, again ignorant of Nathan's gaze, as he grabbed the first shirt he saw. Sadly, although it was a t-shirt and he supposed he ought to be happy about that, there were no characters (from anime, tv, movies or video games) of any kind. No instead it was a grown up shirt. Mostly plain in a dark green, with some no doubt famous designer brand stitched into the breast. Which probably explained why it cost like fifty bucks. He only hoped Victoria wouldn't force him to buy it.
"Looks good". Warren very nearly had a heart attack. Perhaps rather stupidly of him, he'd actually forgotten Nathan was there for one brief moment.
"Y-you think?" he stuttered. He tried not to spaz out as Nathan took this as permission to approach him. "Feels kinda tight" he admitted.
"That's the point dumbass. You wanna get laid, you've got to be willing to show it off. Simple. Would you quit fidgeting? It's starting to piss me off". And pissing off a suspected psychopath was definitely not on Warren's to do list anytime soon. "That's better. Wait turn around a sec".
Was he-? No, there was no way Nathan had just checked him out. Absolutely no way, not in a million years.
"Nice ass".
What…the…fuck!?
Mind. Blown.
"Wha-?" Well you could hardly blame him for forgetting how to string words together. This was just, a whole other level of weird even he was struggling to comprehend.
"I said you have a nice ass. Objectively speaking. If you actually wear this shit, you'll probably have girls begging you to screw them. Of course…" Nathan smirked, "I'll bet there'll be just as many guys waiting to bend you over. What's wrong, does that freak you out? You're not homophobic are you?"
Seriously, what the fuck!?
"I-I'm bi, so no". Why did he say that? Seriously what was wrong with him?
"Y-you are?" Wait, hold up. Did that-? Was Nathan Prescott actually blushing?
"Yeah". Well this was awkward.
"You ever been with a guy?"
Warren checked his phone. 12.23; the exact moment he'd lost his fucking mind. As had Nathan, apparently. He didn't bother answering. The fact that he looked like a fucking tomato should have been enough of a clue.
"You wanna try? With…with me?"
There were no words. No seriously, where were all his words? He always had something witty to say! Hell that was his thing, the resident jokester or whatever. But here he was, stood with his mouth agape as let's face it, one of the most popular guys in school, asked him out. When the fuck had his life turned into some shitty hallmark movie? Seriously this was not funny on so many levels.
"Is this a joke?" Okay wrong thing to say, Nathan did not look happy.
"Do you really think I'm that much of a dick?" Nathan glared at him. Wisely, Warren said nothing, although he did his best to look somewhat ashamed. Apparently it worked. "Look, I know this is beyond fucking insane." Understatement of the century. "But think about it. We have the same taste in movies and I know because we live right across from each other. You're one of maybe two people on this campus who actually appreciates classic horror, who isn't some aging hipster dick who screws around with his students I might add". Warren almost felt bad for Mr Jefferson just then, but yeah the guy was kind of a creep. "Plus, you know you're pretty hot. A little weird maybe, but we'd balance each other out".
The psychopath and the weirdo. That would be one fucked up balance.
"Uh, okay?" This wasn't happening. Clearly he was either in a coma, having one hell of a nightmare or suffering from a stroke or something. Or aliens, aliens always made sense in this kind of situation.
Nathan sighed. "Look, I'm not going to jump you or whatever. Just finish trying shit on and then we'll talk. Cool?"
"Y-yeah".
It was the most awkward ten minutes of his life. Not helped by Nathan's blatant ogling every time he turned around. But strangely enough, the thought of asking him to leave never crossed his mind. No, instead his mind decided to torture him with images of them together. Doing things he'd only ever seen in porn and low budget B-movies. And yep, things just got all the more awkward. Not helped by the fact that the new jeans just seemed to cling to every part of him. Thankfully his little problem didn't take much persuading to at least lessen. Especially when Victoria announced she wanted to see him in the clothes. Had she been out there this whole time? God he hoped not. He'd already been humiliated enough, hadn't he?
As expected, Victoria seemed pleased by the results. In her own little way of course. Just as Warren had tallied up the cost of everything, already well aware that even that one pair of jeans were pushing it, something amazing happened. Amazing and highly disturbing he might add.
"That'll be $379.87". The preppy blonde smiled at them. Without so much as blinking, Nathan handed his platinum card to her.
Let's recap. Nathan, the guy who'd just asked him out or if we want to be more specific, asked him to have sex with him, didn't even bother consulting him before buying him nearly $400 worth of new clothes. Now that in itself was pretty fucked up. No what was really disturbing was how both Nathan and Victoria acted like this was totally normal. Like people just did shit like this all the time. Which yeah, now that he thought about it, wasn't that what Victoria did for Max. Wait, did she…like Max? Like that? Could…could he watch?
"So, Nathan asked you out?" Victoria asked as she sent Nathan to buy coffee.
Seriously, fuck his life.
"If this is some kind of joke, it really isn't funny".
Victoria stared at him, he was pretty sure that if this were a video game, she'd totally be reading his levels. "You really have no idea. Wow, just wow. If you must know, Nathan's been into you for an embarrassingly long time now. But since you weren't once of us, it made things…difficult. But then Max came and you and her hit it off. But so did we, which meant there were two options. Break you two up and be the bitch everyone already thinks I am, or let you two stay friends, buy you a fucking clue and a half decent wardrobe and invite you into our group. This way everyone wins. I get Max, Nathan gets you and you and Max have someone to complain to whenever one of us inevitably screws things up".
It took a good two minutes for his head to stop spinning. "You're lying". She had to be.
"Not this time. Why are you so freaked? I'd have thought you'd be way more into this. Think about it. You'll get instant popularity points, you'll finally be getting laid, more people will like you and you'll have Max right there with you. Isn't that everything you wanted?"
Yes. Wait, what? No, no, no! This was insane! This was…it was like so goddamn cult or something! This was…'exactly what you wanted' his mind supplied.
It was perfect.
When Nathan returned, handing Victoria her overly complicated drink before offering Warren his latte, Warren barely even registered it.
"Looks like I broke your little boytoy. Such a shame". He could hear the smirk in Victoria's voice, he could even see the concern in Nathan's eyes, but he just found himself unable to react.
"This…you weren't joking". It wasn't a question, simply a realisation. One that turned everything on its head. "You…like me". No one (aside from Brooke) had ever liked him before, you know like that.
"Yeah". Holy shit, Nathan actually looked nervous.
The three of them made their way back to the car. Nothing more was said until their bags were stored and Victoria demanded Nathan's keys.
"I'm not risking dying because you two were too busy making out to pay attention to the road. Go sit in back. Talk, make out, do whatever you want. Just let me know if you're gonna start fucking so I can pull over and watch".
Warren really hoped she was joking. Judging by the smirk on her face, it looked like she was. But he only relaxed slightly when he saw the same look on Nathan's face. That meant it was all a joke…right?
In the time it took for them to return back to campus, Warren learned three things. One, Victoria should never be allowed to drive again. He counted at least three cars she'd almost hit after he and Nathan had gotten somewhat distracted. Two, Nathan's vocabulary extended to more than just insults. Much, much more in fact. It was apparently extensive enough for all the feelings and other shit to be brought out into the open. So for the first time, he actually had some idea about what Nathan was thinking. And three, as much as he hated to admit it, Nathan was one hell of a kisser. Of course by the time they'd pulled up, parked and gotten out of the car, Warren knew three more things. One, things would never be the same. Two, he was pretty damn sure Nathan had given him the mother of all hickey's. And three, he officially had a boyfriend. Who just happened to be one of the most popular boys in school, but he was ignoring that for now. After all, this was in no way some crappy hallmark movie. No this was real life. And life, as he knew all too well, was really fucking strange.
I was seriously tempted to finish this story there. Mostly because that last line was just perfect. But no, I'm assuming people will want to read more so I'll just have to continue. Plus I kind of love writing this pairing.
Anyway I hope you liked it. Please review and let me know what you thought.
KB
