Salutations, I hope you enjoy this trash.
Main characters: Warren, Nathan
Other characters: Max, Hayden
Ship: Grahamscott (Warren/Nathan)
Warnings: Accidental overdose, vomiting, slash/yaoi, language, some texting, DOGE references
Important Note: This fanfiction was published before the release of episode 4.
Warren tapped his fingers along the Rubik's Cube he held in his hands, as he fought to beat his last record. It was early evening, he was bored, and he needed something to distract him from just sitting and waiting for Max to decide to text him back.
He knew he was being annoying. He knew he was being desperate. But it had been a long time since he had had a friend that he connected with on so many levels.
Warren paused in his musings, staring at the cube in his hands. He had solved it in three and a half minutes - he could do better.
He sighed, allowing it to drop onto his bed beside him, as he, inevitably, picked up his phone, checking to see if Max had texted him back yet.
Nothing.
"Maybe she didn't get the last few texts?" Warren mused aloud. He tapped away on his phone.
WarrenPeace: Yo! Mad Max? Hows it shakin bacon?
Warren visibly winced, rereading the text. God, he was a dork.
In spite of that, he received an immediate text back.
MadMax: Victoria's flipping out over her hair. Apparently Taylor did something...I reeeally wanna see...but too scared to open the door! O_O
WarrenPeace: IF U DO LOOK SEND PICS
Warren smiled down at his phone. The smile faded, however, when she didn't respond.
WarrenPeace: Max?
WarrenPeace: DID THEY CATCH U?
WarrenPeace: R U DEAD?!
MadMax: Calm down! I was just sending Kate a cat video!
MadMax: [link]
Warren breathed a sigh of relief, looking out over his phone at the rest of his room. He really did need a new hobby, because Max would surely tire of his constant texting eventually. Brooke had...that's why they barely talked anymore.
He picked up the Rubik's cube once more, mixing it up, before working it back into place.
Four minutes. Damn.
His phone buzzed on his leg, making him glance down.
MadMax: Did you watch it? :3
WarrenPeace: Totally.
MadMax: LIES.
Warren jumped as shouting picked up in the hallway. He heard a shout of "Go long!" before a football came flying past his open door, followed by a breaking sound. Warren sighed heavily - it must be a Vortex Party night.
WarrenPeace: Sorry, my doors open and the amount of testosterone in the hallway is making me incapable of enjoying kitties.
MadMax: KITTIES.
MadMax: But ikr? Must be a Vortex thing tonight.
WarrenPeace: That's what I'm thinking.
He looked up, noticing a few of the guys gathering outside the room across from his. Immediately, his nose wrinkled in apparent disgust.
Nathan Prescott.
The guy was a total creep, from what Warren had seen and heard. He was always sneaking around, acting weird. He was disrespectful to everyone, even Warren's favorite teacher, Ms. Grant (which pissed him off to no end). He always acted like he owned the school and everyone in it, and possibly worst of all, he was one of the ring-leaders of the Vortex club (and Warren was pretty sure he was the one writing all that graffiti about him all over the school).
Warren was a nice guy, really, but even he had his limit - and that limit happened to be Nathan fucking Prescott.
Warren ground his teeth together, watching as Logan and Zachary banged on his door.
"Yo big NATE!" Zachary shouted, as Logan jiggled the doorknob.
"Hey!" Logan grunted. "Why'd ya lock the door, bro?"
Warren shook his head, turning back to his phone. Idiots. Maybe he should actually put forth the effort to stand up and go close his door...
He slouched down more in his bed. Yeah. Not gonna happen.
"Move aside, gentlemen," a new voice said, from outside his door. Warren didn't even need to look up to recognize the refined tones of Hayden Jones.
MadMax: Ugh, Victorias freaking out again.
WarrenPeace: Y?
MadMax: Nathans not answering her texts. She thinks hes fucking someone.
Warren had to stop himself from laughing aloud.
WarrenPeace: LOL!
WarrenPeace: Did she really say that holy shit
MadMax: ikr?! much jealous.
WarrenPeace: so desperate
MadMax: wow
Warren looked up from his phone to see Hayden working at Nathan's lock, talking while he did. "He's probably high or something. His dad called him home for a "discussion" and we all know how Nathan is after that sort of thing." Logan and Zachary nodded, leaning beside the door.
Warren rolled his eyes. Knowing Nathan, he probably was high. There was never a time Nathan didn't have his door closed, especially when he was smoking...but God, he smoked so damn much, he practically filled the entire floor with his fumes. Warren had to shower twice a day and wash his clothes more than he should have to, so he didn't have to go to class smelling like burning grass.
Of course, Nathan wasn't the only one responsible, but the others only smoked on occasion. Nathan was a daily thing.
WarrenPeace: Hayden and the other Vortex buffs are tryin to bust into his room
MadMax: If he is with somebody, wouldn't that be a surprise?
WarrenPeace: Tell me about it.
WarrenPeace: If they get in, ill give u a full report ^u^
MadMax: THANKS *o*
A sudden click came from the hallway, causing Warren to look up in anticipation. Somehow, Hayden had managed to get the door unlocked, and was going inside.
Warren smirked to himself. He hoped whatever had kept Nathan holed up in his room was incredibly embarrassing - getting a text-laugh out of Max was practically the reason for his existence, these days.
"Nathan?" Hayden's voice called, breaking Warren out of his fantasy.
Hayden must have entered Nathan's room, for he was no where to be seen. Looking around Logan and Zachary, he could see that Nathan's room was totally dark. Surprisingly, there wasn't a cloud of toxic fumes wafting out - at least Warren didn't have to worry about that.
However, a different sort of uneasiness settled in the pit of his stomach, as Hayden called again, this time louder, more urgent. "Nathan?"
Warren leaned forward slightly, to see if he could get a better look, ignoring the buzzing of his phone.
He nearly fell off his bed, when Hayden suddenly yelled. "Somebody call an ambulance, NOW!"
A shiver went up Warren's spine, bringing him to his feet. He shuffled nervously to the door, watching as Logan and Zachary rushed inside, flipping the light on in the process.
By that time, nearly all the guys on their floor were emerging from their dorms, to see what was happening. Warren himself had just reached Nathan's door frame, when Logan came rushing out, talking high-speed on his cellphone, and Zachary followed, his fingers urgently tapping away on his phone.
With the huge forms of the two football players out of the way, Warren could finally see what caused all the commotion.
He felt like being sick.
Hayden was kneeling beside Nathan's form on the floor, shaking him in an attempt to rouse him. Nathan was curled up, hunched over, looking incredibly pale and sweaty. The thing that made Warren truly nervous, though, was the massive amount of prescription pills sitting on the floor beside him, a couple of the caps still removed.
What had Nathan gotten himself into?
Hayden suddenly whirled around, his wide eyes meeting Warren. The absolute fear in his usually-calm eyes unnerved him to no end.
"You're a chemistry nerd, right?!" Hayden asked quickly, grabbing his wrist, jerking him down to kneel beside Nathan's prone form. Warren looked between the two of them in confusion. "HELP him!" Hayden demanded.
Warren blinked, feeling his heart begin to accelerate. "I-I don't know about this sort of-"
"Listen!" Hayden ground out, grabbing ahold of Warren's shoulders tightly, his eyes shining with desperation. "I know you don't like him, and I know he can be a real ass sometimes but...goddammit! He doesn't fucking deserve to go out like this, you hear?"
Warren tried to swallow around the sudden lump that had formed in his throat, his eyes dropping to look at Nathan's unconscious face.
He looked really bad. In just the short time Warren had been there, he had paled even more, and his face had contorted in obvious pain.
"I don't know how much I can do...but I'll...try to keep him alive until the ambulance comes-"
Hayden suddenly but briefly wrapped his arms around Warren in a quick hug, before backing up a bit. "Thank you, Graham."
Warren nodded absentmindedly, already focusing on Nathan. He placed a hand on his brow, paling himself.
Fuck. He was really cold.
"Grab as many blankets as you can, he needs to warm up," Warren ordered. He didn't know that much about this specific area of medicine, but what little information he had gained from reading medical textbooks (for fun. He really did need a life.) would come in handy.
He began pulling at Nathan's coat working it off, before moving onto his shirt.
Hayden came back, a huge pile of blankets in his arms. "What are you doing?" He asked, plopping them down.
"His clothes are soaking wet...he must have sweat through them. They're really cold, and since we don't want him going into shock...yeah..." Warren mumbled. Hayden seemed to get it, for he immediately began wrapping the blankets around Nathan's now bare upper-half.
Warren shifted, unsure what to do now. Finally, he placed a couple fingers over his pulse, and a couple over Nathan's trying to gauge how bad-off he was.
Warren jerked his hand back, grinding his teeth. "His pulse is way too slow, and is getting weaker-"
Warren's speaking was interrupted by a horrible ungodly sound, coming from Nathan. At first, he was't sure what it was - and then he noticed the way Nathan's too-thin stomach was working.
"Roll him on his side, quickly!" Warren said, as they worked him over. Sure enough, a horrible liquid came leaking out of Nathan's nose and mouth. The stench was raw and nasty - clearly Nathan hadn't eaten anything before overdosing.
Warren was careful to avoid the mess, as he gently but firmly patted Nathan's back - he didn't want him to choke, after all. But Nathan just kept on heaving, throwing up the horrible mixture of bile and medicine.
His eyebrows furrowed, as another problem rose to front and center. "He keeps this up, he's going to become dehydrated...quick, get some water, I'll see if I can get him awake enough to drink any..."
Warren immediately began shaking Nathan's already quivering body, slightly, trying to rouse him. Nathan merely clenched his teeth, curling up even more.
"Come on, Nathan, you gotta wake up..."
Warren winced, grinding his own teeth. Where the fuck was that ambulance? If they were there, they would have already had him hooked up to an IV, and would be removing the toxic fluid from his system and be replacing it with new, by now!
Hayden left and returned in record time, carrying a large glass of water.
Warren suddenly slapped Nathan's face, surprising himself.
But it worked, as Nathan's eyes slowly opened to slits. Warren winced at the raw agony he saw swimming around in the glassy eyes. "I'm sorry buddy, but you really need fluids, or you will be worse off than you already are."
Nathan's eyes weren't focusing at all, merely gazing through him. Slowly the eyes closed once more. Warren held his hand up, with a wince, not wanting to slap him again, but Nathan's raspy, halting voice stopped him. "Don't...care..."
Warren's hand dropped, before he grabbed ahold of Nathan's face, his fingers digging into the cold, sweaty skin, before he pushed Nathan's hair out of his eyes. With his hair pushed back like that, instead of falling in his face, he almost looked like the douche-bag Warren was familiar with.
Only this wasn't him at all, was it?
"You may not, but there are a lot of people who certainly do!" Warren ground out.
For a second, he thought Nathan was unconscious again. But then the eyes opened slightly again, a bit of liquid leaking from them. Warren's own eyes widened in shock.
"Do...what you...want..." he whispered, his eyes lolling slightly.
Warren looked up at Hayden, his own eyes reflecting his confusion and fear. Hayden immediately placed the glass to Nathan's lips.
He got a few sips back, before he was unconscious once more.
A knock on the door caused Hayden and Warren to jump. "Is that the patient?" a man in uniform asked, already coming to kneel beside Nathan.
His eyes met Warren's briefly. "May I?"
Warren looked at him in confusion, before glancing down at his hands. One was still placed over Nathan's pulse to monitor it, and the other hand was still running through the other boy's hair.
He blushed, nodding, as he retracted his hands.
The paramedic tested Nathan's pulse, listened to his heart, and said something quickly into the walkie-talkie on his shoulder. Two more people came in wheeling a stretcher. Warren watched as Nathan was carefully lifted onto the stretcher, straps secured over him so that he didn't roll off. And then they three paramedics left, carrying Nathan out of the dormitories and down to the waiting ambulance.
Warren just sat there on the floor in numbed shock. Distantly, he noticed the head security guard David Madsen, Principal Wells, and Officer Berry enter the room, each asking both him and Hayden a load of questions. Eventually, Samuel came in with his cleaning supplies, and began working on the stains on the floor, at which time he and Hayden were told they were free to go.
Warren numbly stood and walked across the hall to his room, ignoring the stares. He quickly shut the door, before going over to plop on his bed.
He jumped, as his phone began buzzing like crazy. He yanked it out from under him, wincing at the screen. Max had been busy, it seemed.
He nearly dropped the phone as it began buzzing yet again - she was calling him.
He hesitantly answered, "Hello?"
"Warren?! Jesus, where did you go?!"
He smiled a little, at the concern in her voice, before a worried frown took over once more. "It's...a long story..."
There was silence on the other end. Max was waiting.
Warren hesitated. "It's better if I tell you in person. Can you meet me in the pool?" He needed a serious cool-down, and swimming always cleared his mind.
"Sure, no problem. See you soon."
Warren dove into the pool, allowing himself to sink to the bottom, as he closed his eyes. Being the co-captain of the Otters had it's perks - specifically, having access to the pool at any time during the day. Or night, in this case.
He swam up for air, just as Max entered. She immediately came over, sitting on the side of the pool. "What happened?!" she demanded.
Warren sighed heavily, resting his arms on the side of the pool, and his head on his arms. "Nathan Prescott..."
Max looked like she was about to spit fire. "Nathan Prescott? The creep? What did he do?!"
Warren closed his eyes, but that did little to halt the pounding of his head, as images of Nathan (pale, weak, sick) flashed in his mind. "He...almost died..."
Max faltered. Without even looking at her, he knew she was staring at him with wide eyes and a dropped jaw. "What?"
Warren sighed once more, pulling himself up to side beside her. "I...everything happened so fast..."
Max patted his shoulder. "Take your time."
"Hayden and the other Vortex groupies were banging on his door, but he wouldn't answer. Eventually they were able to break in...but...he was...he was really sick, Max, holy shit. Like, I've never seen anyone look like that before. He was all pale and sweaty...and his eyes..." Warren ran his hands through his wet hair, trying not to think about when he was going the very same thing earlier with Nathan.
Of course, he couldn't help it. Nathan seemed to be the only thing his mind could focus on, at the current.
Max suddenly, grabbed his chin, turning his face to hers. She wore a stern look. "Warren, everything's alright, okay?"
He nodded, before getting back to the story. "Anyway, Hayden basically forced me to help him, until the EMT people arrived...and...that's basically it."
Max leaned back on her hands, her own eyebrows now furrowed. "Do they know what happened?"
Warren shrugged. "They didn't say. Hayden seemed to think he overdosed, and I think he's right?"
Max looked at him, something seemingly dawning on her. "Is he on some sort of medication?"
Warren thought back to the numerous pill bottles he saw back in Nathan's room. The labels he saw on them all bared Nathan's name. "Yeah, I think so."
"That'd make sense...I mean, when he's not obviously high, he still acts really doped up, like he's over-medicated or something."
Warren rubbed his arms, suddenly cold. "Yeah..."
Max gently ruffled his damp hair. "I'm sure he'll be fine, if he's in the hospital now."
"Yeah...but I'm worried...that I didn't do enough."
Max gave him a gentle look. "I'm sure you did all you could, Dr. Warren."
He rolled his eyes slightly, smiling. "Ugh. After tonight, I don't see becoming a doctor in my future. Waaay too much stress."
Two days and three nights passed, and Nathan was back.
He ignored most of the questions shot at him, with the occasional "fuck off" or "mind your own business, bitch" thrown at those who were inquiring about him and his health. Despite looking rather sick still, and a bit too thin, Nathan was acting like his usual, dick-ish self.
Warren kept his distance, though his eyes were trained on the other boy the entire day. The urge to go up to Nathan, to touch his face to make sure it was an okay temperature, to run his hands through Nathan's feathery soft hair, to just have a coherent conversation with the other boy was strong.
But no, he couldn't do that. He didn't know Nathan, not truly. In fact, before he had helped him that night, Warren had hated the guy. Maybe he still did, and whatever these feelings were was just some sort of motherly instinct from seeing the other almost die.
The night after Nathan returned, Warren was sitting in pretty much the same position he had been that night that seemed so long ago: Rubiks cube in his lap, phone in his hands, the open door and window creating a nice cross breeze.
The hallway was abuzz with noise, as usual, and as usual, Warren was ignoring the noise in favor of texting his best friend.
MadMax: has he said ANYTHING to u?
WarrenPeace: No...i didn't expect him to, though.
MadMax: aww
MadMax: thats a shame
MadMax: does he even know u were the one that helped him?
Warren had thought about that himself. Did Nathan know that Warren was the one to help him until help arrived? Probably not. None of his groupies would have told Nathan that, as it probably would have made the other boy mad.
WarrenPeace: Probs not. But its probably a good thing, though, considering i took his shirt off.
MadMax: WHAT
MadMax: YOU DID NOT TELL ME THIS
MadMax: ?
Warren laughed slightly, but was interrupted by a door slamming shut.
Warren's door, to be specific.
Warren looked up with wide eyes, as Nathan stood in front of his freshly shut door, his head bowed slightly. "Wha-"
"Hayden told me what happened," Nathan ground out, still not looking up. His hands furled and unfurled, as he swayed slightly on his feet. In spite of that, Warren paled.
"I...I'm sorry..."
Nathan's head raised slightly his narrowed eyes trained on Warren. "You don't even deny it?"
Warren, not sure what to say, shrugged.
Nathan continued looking at him, before saying "Tch!" turning to go.
"Wait!" Warren exclaimed. Nathan didn't turn back around. Warren hesitated, before asking, "Are you...feeling okay?"
Nathan glared at him over his shoulder. "Don't pity me, motherfucker!"
His hand grabbed the door handle.
"I'm not pitying you! Honestly! I was...was..." Well, he wasn't sure what he was doing.
"You were what? Worried?" Nathan clicked his tongue again, clearly in disbelief. "Don't even try to pretend to care."
Warren felt his patience running short. What was with this guy anyway? What about this selfish ass had Warren so enamored earlier, that he couldn't keep his mind off him?
His brain stuttered to a halt. 'Enamored?' he thought to himself in disbelief. Had he just used that word to describe his feelings towards Nathan fucking Prescott?!
"I-I'm not pretending!" Warren exclaimed, knowing the response was rather delayed. He needed to keep with the program, and stop letting his big brain run away on other things.
He stood up, going over to stand slightly behind Nathan. "It...it honestly scared the shit out of me to see you like that..." Warren admitted. "I mean...it would anyone. You always seem so..."
Nathan released the door handle, turning to give Warren a challenging look. "I always seem so..."
"Solid," Warren said without thinking. He winced, blushing. "I mean...like a statue. Like nothing fazes you, nothing can hurt you... You're really strong. Seeing you passed out like that...near death..." Warren swallowed, feeling that lump in his throat return. He didn't want to act all emotional and stuff in front of Nathan, someone who would most likely mock him for it.
However, Nathan didn't immediately start in with the hateful comments. In fact, he stood there silently, his eyebrows furrowed as he stared at Warren. Warren recognized that face - it was the face he made every time he received a complex chemistry problem. A face that recognized a challenge, a puzzle, but a face that was also determined to figure things out, to solve the problem.
As though realizing he and Warren had been standing there, just staring at each others faces for the past minute, Nathan ducked his head, his cheeks coloring slightly. "They said...I could have died. I would have died, had..."someone" not been taking care of me..."
Warren's eyes widened significantly. "O-oh..."
Nathan swallowed, then swallowed again, then ran his hand over his face. "Fuck, are you going to make me say it?"
Warren gave him a half-smile. "I wouldn't complain."
Nathan glared at him, but it lacked some of its strength. In fact, the boy had slowly been becoming paler and paler, the longer he stood. Warren could tell what was about to happen.
He quickly grabbed Nathan's arm, helping him to sit down on Warren's bed. Nathan mumbled curse words and "I'm fine"s and "let me go"s under his breath.
Warren ignored those words, instead having Nathan to lay against his pillows. "Just chill out, already. You looked about ready to pass out..."
Nathan opened his eyes, glaring, but didn't move from where he was slouched against the pillows. "Fuck...off..."
Warren ignored him, instead working on getting Nathan's shoes off. He then helped the boy to prop his legs up on the bed. Nathan seemed to be struggling, as though he wanted to get up. When Warren placed a hand against Nathan's forehead, the other boy swatted it away.
"Fuck off, Graham!" he growled.
Warren gave him a worried look. "Your skin is like ice! And you're shivering."
"I don't need your help!" Nathan exclaimed, making to get up. This time, he succeeded, but not for long. He swayed dangerously on his feet, only managing to stop himself from collapsing completely by Warren's arm around his shoulders.
Warren swayed with the weight, until they both crashed onto the bed. Immediately, Warren grabbed ahold of his shoulders, glaring fiercer than Nathan had ever seen. "Listen! You almost died a couple days ago, and while you might feel a little better, you can't go doing things that might result in you getting hurt, or even sicker! Okay?!"
Nathan stared at him in shock, before a fierce glare overtook his features. "How dare-"
Warren sighed heavily. "Dude, just chill here for a little bit, then you should be fine. I don't want you going back to your room, only to pass out, okay?"
Nathan gave him a suspicious look, before nodding slowly. He leaned back against the pillows, his eyes not leaving Warren.
Feeling awkward, Warren grabbed up his phone, going to sit at his computer chair.
Oh God. Max's texts.
MadMax: So you took off his shirt...
MadMax: is there somthin about you i dont know?
MadMax: ?
MadMax: Ok, nvrmind, forget i asked
MadMax: in any case, if u werent so dorky & nathan wasnt such an ass id ship it
Warren groaned, squeezing his eyes shut.
WarrenPeace: DAMN FUJOSHI
MadMax: rly going all out with the Japanese terminology there, aren't u?
MadMax: But i concur.
Warren rolled his eyes, glancing up at Nathan.
The other boy had closed his eyes, but obviously wasn't asleep. His face was pale and sweaty, though thankfully not as such as a few nights previous. However, Nathan hadn't disturbed any of Warrens sheets or blankets, and judging by the way he was shivering so violently, he was probably very cold.
Warren set his phone down, going over to the bed. He picked one of his biggest and softest blankets from the stack at the end, coming to wrap it around Nathan.
Blue eyes shot open. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"
Warren bit his lip. 'Stand you're ground,' he told himself. "You looked cold..."
However, instead of biting Warren's head off, he merely frowned, pulling the blanket tight around his shoulders. "Yeah...I was..."
Warren waited, but no thanks was forthcoming. He sighed heavily, deciding to go sit at his desk again, already regretting his decision to have Nathan remain in his room. Figures the guy wouldn't be grateful for any of the stuff Warren had done for him. It was so typical - everyone used Warren, but never even bothered to thank him afterwards, let alone offer real, sincere gratitude.
It pissed him off.
He sat at his desk, flipping up his laptop, and putting up his headphones. "When you're fine, let yourself out," Warren grunted.
He brought up D&D on his laptop. Time to shut out the rest of the world and be a Paladin.
Warren wasn't sure for how long he was playing, the volume super loud in his ears, when a cold hand settled on his shoulder.
He practically flung his headphones off, whirling around, eyes wide. "What the bloody-?!"
Nathan took a step back, dropping his head. Warren blinked, surprised.
Nathan stood there, shivering slightly. He had the large blanket wrapped around him still, a hand keeping it around his shoulders. In spite of that, he was still incredibly pale, his lips having a practically blue hue to them.
"Do...you need to go back to the hospital-"
"No," Nathan said immediately, before ducking his head further.
Warren paused his game, standing up. "You're really cold..."
Nathan shifted. "Y-yeah...I know..."
Warren swallowed, before quickly moving to Nathan. His arms snaked around Nathan's waist, pulling him flush against him.
Nathan immediately struggled. "What the fuck-?"
"This is why you tapped me, isn't it?" Warren murmured. Nathan's struggling ceased, though he remained silent. Warren pulled back, looking him in the eye. "You felt you needed more heat, and body heat is pretty powerful?"
Nathan squeezed his eyes shut, but gave a slight nod.
Warren had Nathan lay down again, pulling the blankets up around him, before climbing under as well.
Laying next to Nathan was like laying next to a block of ice: He was cold and unmoving - so unmoving, Warren kept moving his hand to Nathan's chest, to make sure he was breathing.
Slowly but surely, the other boy loosened up - perhaps the darkness of the room made it easier to pretend he was lying next to someone, anyone not Warren.
Nathan kept pushing closer to Warren, wriggling, as though he were trying to suck every last bit of warmth out of the other boy.
Warren was fine with it, honestly. After all, they were both guys, this didn't mean anything. He was just making sure Nathan didn't die from his body going into some sort of shock.
That was it.
It was something he was sure any decent person would have done in the same situation.
Maybe.
Warren felt himself slowly drifting off, his hands gently rubbing the slowly warming body beside him...
"Thanks," Nathan whispered.
Warren blinked into the darkness. "What?"
"You heard me."
Warren swallowed. Great, now he couldn't sleep. "What made you do it?"
Nathan shifted slightly, moving closer. "I don't know what you mean."
Warren scoffed. "Right." When Nathan made no sound, Warren turned his head to look at him. He could just barely make out two glassy eyes staring at him in confusion. "Why'd you try to kill yourself?"
Nathan didn't say anything for a beat, and then he laughed. It was a quick laugh, oozing bitterness. "God, for how big your brain is, you're pretty fucking stupid."
Warren wasn't sure that was a compliment or an insult. He didn't have time to contemplate it, as Nathan continued.
"You don't know who the fuck I am, so stop trying to analyze me!"
"Then tell me," Warren said quietly.
Nathan opened his mouth to retort, but seemed to think against it, as his mouth clicked shut. "Why are you even pretending to care?"
"Now who's claiming to know everything about whom?" Warren asked. "I do care about you, as a human being."
Nathan just laid there. Warren rolled over on his back, staring up at his darkened ceiling.
"I didn't overdose, at least not on purpose," Nathan said, in a voice barely above a whisper. Warren had never heard Nathan speak in such a soft voice.
"They just keep adding on and adding on...they just keep burying my problems beneath the meds...a lot of fucking good that's doing."
Warren glanced at Nathan out of the corner of his eye. The other boy had begun to shiver again.
"I only took the amount they prescribed me, nothing more," Nathan said quietly.
Warren suddenly felt that sick feeling in his stomach return, an inexplicable urge to do something bubbling up inside of him.
He reached over, pulling Nathan close to his side, running a hand up and down his chilled back.
Nathan froze at the touch.
"So they over-medicated you?" Warren asked, trying to break the awkward silence.
"S-seems like it," Nathan whispered.
Warren closed his eyes. "Did they lower the dosage when they took you in?"
Nathan nodded his head, his soft hair brushing against Warren's cheek. Without thinking, he rolled back over on his side, facing Nathan, so he could gently run his fingers through the hair.
Nathan closed his eyes, looking like he was about to drift off.
"Do you...always feel this cold, after taking your meds?"
Nathan's eyes opened to squint at Warren in the darkness, before he closed them once more, ducking his head into Warren's chest. "Yeah. It's...stupid..."
Warren swallowed, knowing his next words held the weight of the world. But laying here, Nathan in his arms, touching that soft hair and getting a glimpse of the soul everyone else had failed to see...
"You don't have to be cold anymore," Warren whispered, hugging the other boy close.
Nathan didn't say anything in response, but Warren knew the other boy had heard him, as the hand that was bunched up in his shirt tightened, almost imperceptibly.
They would not let each other go...
My...my babies...UGH!
Why do the have to be so cute?! Tumblr has been huge inspiration in the Grahamscott department (there has been more and more people getting into the lovely trash-ship). XD Keep it up!
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! Review, if you so desire!
