Chapter 14: Quiet

It's much too quiet in here
I want to disappear
I'm hearing myself thinking too clear
It's too quiet in here

- Demi Lovato

Bella POV

"Tell me again," I asked Nate, turning around to stare him down, "Why are we here?"

"Because, I want to meet this so called family of yours," he answered simply, whilst dragging me through the Fiores' driveway.

"Don't you remember what happened last night? As far as he knows, we're – "

Nate grinned at me. "Precisely."

I paused. "What are you up to?" I asked suspiciously.

He tried to look innocent. "Whatever do you mean?"

"Nate…" I warned.

"I don't have some super evil plan behind my sleeve, Bella. Geez, I thought we were past this," he teased.

I tugged on his shirt and forced him to stop walking. "I know you, Nate. And I know when you're deviously planning something."

"Am I not allowed to be curious about them? It's not often that I find other full-blooded Phoenixes. Sorry darling, but you're just not gonna cut it," he said, grinning.

"I see, so this is because I'm only an Asher," I replied, playing along with his game.

"Precisely. Now, can we go meet them now? Por favor?" he pleaded, his Spanish sounding horrible as hell.

"You suck at Spanish. Don't even," I said.

"I'm offended!"

"No, you're not," I chuckled.

"There, at least some of your nervousness has been misdirected," he pointed out, continuing to walk up the driveway.

"Who said I was nervous?"

"Please, you are so obvious."

"I am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"What are you? Ten?"

To further make his point, I stuck out my tongue at him. "Whatever."

He chuckled. We finally made our way to the front door. Nate knocked three times and waited patiently.

"You know," Nate started, turning to me, "Mandy never did go home."

"I expected as much," I said, snickering.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mandy's voice floated towards us as she opened the door.

"You were supposed to go home last night, young lady!" Nate mock chastised.

Mandy rolled her eyes. "What are you? My dad?"

"Mandy, who's at the door?" I heard Adrien's voice from the kitchen.

"It's just Bella and our friend Nate!" Mandy answered.

"Nate? Who's that?" Adrien soon appeared next to Mandy. He took in Nate's appearance and smiled. "Hi!" he greeted.

"Nice to make you acquaintance, sir," Nate shook Adrien's hand. "I've been meeting to meet you bunch for a while."

"Bella?" Adrien asked. "Why don't you make him comfortable while I prepare some lunch?" I nodded, greeting him with a hug.

I turned to Nate. "Well, come on then."

Mandy followed behind us with Ives soon appearing beside her. "So, you're Nate!" Ives exclaimed.

Nate turned around and grinned. "And you must be Ives." They shook each other's hands. "I've heard nothing but good things about you." Nate winked at Mandy, who scoffed in return.

"Mandy's told me a lot about you too," Ives said in return, "Like the fact that you're – "

Mandy moved quickly and covered Ives' mouth. "Shut up," she hissed.

Nate bellowed with laughter. "Geez, Mandy. Giving away my secrets already? You two must be more serious than I thought."

I mock sighed. "I've been trying to tell you this whole time."

At this point, the rest of the family finally joined us to see what the commotion was about. Everyone stared at Nate suspiciously. It's not everyday that they meet someone new, especially someone close to both Mandy and me. I saw that Landon was by himself. I wonder where Mara is.

"Hi, everyone!" Nate greeted chirpily. "I'm Nate Anderson."

I turned to see Rhia with her head cock to the side. Slowly, a smile spread on her lips. "Oh, this will be interesting," Rhia commented. Everyone turned to her. "What?" she asked innocently. "I'm Rhia," she introduced herself to Nate, who shook her hand. "Welcome to our humble abode!"

Nate took one look at her and simply said, "I like you."

Rhia beamed at this. "I like you too."

We all watched their exchange. "Who are you and what have you done with Rhia?" Daniel asked seriously.

She rolled her eyes at him. "I'm allowed to like people every now and then."

"You never like anyone," Patrick pointed out.

"Hey! She liked me!" Mandy interjected.

Rhia grinned evilly. "See? Point proven."

Everyone proceeded to introduce himself or herself to Nate. When it was Landon's turn, I could instantly feel the tension.

"Nice to meet you," Nate greeted, "Landon, right?"

"Mhmm," Landon replied in return, uninterested.

"Don't be rude!" Rhia exclaimed. I could already see some hidden plan formulating behind Rhia's eyes. Of course, she would.

"Whatever," Landon mumbled.

Somebody's jealouuus! Nate sang in his head.

Oh my god, don't even start! I shouted at him.

"So, Nate," Rayne said his name as if testing it out, "Are you staying here indefinitely or…?"

Nate shook his head. "Today is actually my last day. I'm leaving tomorrow. I'm only here to visit my two ladies." He put his arms around Mandy and me and pulled us close to him.

"You're ruining my hair," I groaned.

"Oh, boo hoo," he teased.

"I like him. Bella, can we keep him?" Ives asked. "He could be my new best friend!"

"Nope!" Mandy shut down the idea. "Not allowed. You two are bad enough separately as it is."

I nodded. "I agree."

"How'd you guys meet?" Daniel asked Nate.

"Well, my flock and I, were travelling through Los Angeles a few years ago. We came across Mandy and Bella there. We were surprised to see such a small group of Phoenixes, since we usually tend to travel in a group of four or more," he explained.

"And the rest, as they say, is history," I added quickly, wanting the topic to end.

Both Mandy and Nate grinned at my interjection.

"Someone's trying to hide something," Mandy teased.

"Are you embarrassed of me?" Nate asked with mock hurt.

"Oh, is Bella hiding something?" Rhia asked, but as I looked at her, I could tell that she already knew.

"Kids, time for lunch!" Adrien announced, diffusing the situation. I let out a breath of relief.

Patrick tisked. "You're not off the hook."

Daniel passed by me with a grin. "We're going to find out your little secret."

I rolled my eyes while smacking Nate hard. "What was that for?" he groaned.

"What the hell are you doing?" I whispered harshly.

For a moment, I dazed off as I watched Landon pass by me without a single word. I sighed. I guess he's still mad about last night. But why? It's not like he has every right. He's engaged for Pete's sake!

"Stop being so paranoid," Nate said in reply. I huffed.

Everyone soon gathered around the dining table. Landon seemed to try to sit as far away as he could from me. My attention from him broke away when Patrick started talking.

"So, Nate, you into photography?"

Nate's eyes lit up at this. Here we go. "Into it? More like it's my life!" Nate chuckled. Patrick grinned, finding someone else who loved the art. "That's actually why I'm here. I had some contacts telling me that there's going to be a photo exhibit held by Patrick Fio – " Nate's eyes widened. "No way!"

"No way!" Patrick echoed. At this point, we watched the two of them with curious eyes. "You're the one interested in buying my photograph?" he asked, surprise coating his words.

Nate laughed. "Well, what do you know?" Nate grinned incredulously.

"Look who found a friend," Ives teased.

"Oh, shut up," Patrick snapped, rolling his eyes. "It's not everyday that I find someone else who has good taste."

"Umm, excuse you!"

"So, like, can we start eating?" Marc's innocent voice asked.

"Right!" Adrien interjected. "Now that I've made you lunch, I'm off to work. See you later, kids!" We all muttered a goodbye to him as he sped out of the house. Even Adrien knew when chaos was about to erupt. He learned just as much during yesterday's breakfast.

At this, we took our cues and started eating almost immediately. I didn't realize how hungry I was until I took the first bite out of my meal. Mid-bite, I felt someone staring at me. I didn't have to look around to know who it was. I could instantly feel the tingle his stare sent down my spine.

Nate, oblivious, went ahead and continued to talk to everybody. I could tell that he enamored them. Nate had that kind of aura about him.

I stayed quiet, but smiled at their conversations.

"How do you like Disneyland?" Ives asked.

"Are you kidding me? It's like the happiest place on earth!" Nate replied with much enthusiasm. "Bella and I spent a lot of time there when we were in California. Huh, Bella?"

I gave him a nod of encouragement.

"Oh my god, you are so cool," Marc said dreamily.

"Where is the rest of your flock?" Rayne asked.

"They're up in Canada right now. It's our temporary place at the moment. We usually don't stay in one place for longer than a year."

"It must be lonely constantly traveling."

"Not really, I mean, I have everyone I need."

Soon, I drowned out their voices. All I could focus on was his intense stare on me. I wonder where Mara is. I'm sure if she were here, he wouldn't be so blatantly obvious, I thought to myself bitterly, stabbing at my food.

Despite the loud conversations going on around me, it still felt too quiet. I felt like I was suffocating.

Bella.

Oh my God, I'm going crazy. It was almost as if I heard him whisper my name like a caress. I clenched my eyes close, hoping to hell that no one else would notice.

Shut up shut up shut up!

I wasn't in the mood deal with my thoughts of Landon at the moment. It didn't help that he kept gazing at me like he hasn't seen me in years. Okay, bad comparison. If he wanted to say something, why can't he just say it? Instead of letting my imagination run wild, thinking about what thoughts were going on in his mind.

You have Mara. Stop. You're engaged. Stop stop stop!

Clang! I stabbed my plate loud enough to leave a clang echoing through the dining room. Everyone stopped his or her conversations to look at me. I looked up at them, embarrassed.

And to add salt to the wound, Landon just couldn't help himself and asked, "So, how long have you two been together?" He turned towards Nate with a defiant stare.

I gaped at Landon. WHAT. What the hell was he thinking?!

Mandy, Nate, and I soon turned to look at each other. Mandy and Nate broke into incessant giggles. I, on the other hand, was still stunned that Landon burst that out of nowhere.

Even the rest of the family started laughing.

"That's hilarious," Rhia commented, pretending to wipe away a fake tear.

"What?" Landon asked defensively. "I really want to know."

"Jesus, Landon, you're so oblivious," Rayne added.

"Can't you tell?" Daniel asked Landon.

"What?" Landon repeated. "I don't understand what's so funny."

It was Mandy who finally decided to put him out of his misery. "Landon, Nate is gay."

Landon turned to Nate with wide eyes. "What?" It was as if that was the only word in Landon's vocabulary today.

Nate nodded with Mandy's statement. "Yup, I'm as straight as a curve."

"I'm surprised you didn't notice," Marc chuckled. "The way he talks. The way he dresses. It's written all over him."

"Hey, don't be stereotyping me," Nate joked with a grin.

"But but but – " It seemed that Landon was lost for words.

"Hell, the guy is into photography," Ives added.

Patrick took offense in this. "Hey! I like photography too! That doesn't make me gay!"

Ives patted him down. "We're just waiting for you to walk out of the metaphorical closet." Patrick glared at him.

"I think that the fact he's gay makes this infinitely better," Rhia piped in with a victorious smile on her face.

Finally, it clicked into place why Rhia took such great liking towards Nate. She knew just how Landon would react. But knowing Nate was gay, Rhia knew there was no real threat.

Suddenly, I felt better. The quiet receded from my mind. For now.

"So…" Landon started off.

"It's actually the reason why I'm leaving tomorrow. My poor boyfriend, Blake, is just dying without me. I'm heading back to Canada for him," Nate explained with a smile.

I saw Nate and Rhia bump fists under the table. And then I realized, both him and Rhia were conspiring this all along. You little shits.

I turned to Landon and saw the tips of his ears turn pink, surely from embarrassment. But I could also see a sense of relief in his facial features. Relief? What for?

"But you guys just seemed so cozy," Landon defended.

Nate laughed and turned to me. "Bella, you wanna tell him the story?"

I groaned. "Must I?"

Ives perked out. "Is this the secret you were trying to keep earlier?"

Rayne looked excited as hell. "Oh! Please do tell!"

"Before Nate decided that he was gay," I turned to give Nate a pointed look, "Let's just say that he experimented on me. He asked me out, tried so hard to be attracted to me – "

"You are attractive," Nate interjected. "Just, you know, not my type."

I rolled my eyes. "Anyways, after a while, he realized he just wasn't that into me. He was more into Blake, his now boyfriend. I was his last stop before gayness."

"Well, when you put it that way…" Nate laughed and so did everyone else.

The rest of the afternoon went just fine, after we got that out of the way. As I looked at Landon, I could tell that he seemed more content with himself.

I scoffed to myself. Jerk. God, who did he think he was? Making me feel so self-conscious?

I looked up and met his eyes one more time.

Fly back to me… his words echoed in my head. Words that came from a memory from long ago.

The hopelessness that I saw in his eyes last night was gone. His eyes burned with a fire that I haven't seen in a long time. They were a stormy gray, as if clouding up with smoke. I couldn't distinguish exactly what he was feeling.

It's you. It's always going to be you. And just like that, all my annoyance towards him melted away. Although we haven't spoken a single word to each other since that day in the tree house, I could still feel him all over me. He occupied every part of my being.

For once, I welcomed the quiet. Because, at least, he was there with me, whether he knew it or not.

Oh yeahhhhh, Nate is gay! Who would've thought? How embarrassing for Landon! :D

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To keep ya'll interested, I'll let you in on a little secret, the next chapter's title is PHOTOGRAPH. Hmm, that can mean a lot of things... especially a specific someone *cough PATRICK *cough*

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