A/N: Hi! Thank you for the reviews and follows/favorites! I really appreciate it and it seriously makes my day :) I'll probably be updating slower next week due to school work but I'll try to update as much as possible.
Nathan up stared at the ceiling, unable to sleep. He was finally able to wrap his mind around the fact that he had a brother. In fact, they've already "bonded" through various things like Nathan taught Clay some soccer and they went biking the other day. Turns out, even if they were complete opposites, they still got along pretty well. He also was able to to process the fact that he had a father who was living in London. A father that he never knew and that was with his brother. Well, he obviously knew that he had a dad, but he never allowed himself to think about the possibility of ever meeting him. He also wondered how the hell his life suddenly became a Hollywood movie. This kind of shit just doesn't happen in real life.
He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. When he was a kid, he tried asking his mom a couple of times why she and his dad separated but all Nathan got were vague answers. Then one day, his mom gave him the photo of his dad. She told Nathan that his dad loved him even though he wasn't with them. Nathan felt a stinging in his right eye and furiously wiped away the tear that was threatening to fall. He's always wondered how it was to have a dad. Clay got to experience that. But Nathan knew he was being unfair because Clay in turn didn't know what it was like to have a mom. Did Clay also wonder what it's like to have a mom?
Nathan suddenly sat up from his bed with wide eyes. He just got a bizarre idea. He didn't even consider what time it was when he quickly walked out of his bedroom to cross the hall to Clay's room.
He still had the decency to knock though.
"Clay? You up?"
He heard a loud thump from behind a door and was mildly worried when the door suddenly flew wide open to reveal a bewildered-looking Clay.
"What the hell happened in there?"
"I kind of..sort of.. fell off the bed." Clay said sheepishly.
"Yeah, we gotta work on your clumsiness." Nathan decided as he pushed past Clay and entered his brother's (yes, he had a brother now) room.
"Why would we need to do that?" Clay asked as he closed to door and went back to sit on his bed.
Nathan dragged a chair close to Clay's bed and sat on it. "So I have this idea."
"Why do I find myself afraid to find out whatever this idea of yours is?"
"Just here me out okay?"
Clay rolled his eyes but nodded.
"Alright. So you're probably wondering what its like to have a mom right?"
Clay just nodded. It was probably to Nathan's advantage that Clay seemed to still be half-asleep. He wasn't opposing him like usual.
"I also wonder what it's like to have a dad." Nathan admitted quietly, hoping Clay wouldn't hear it.
The look on Clay's face showed that he heard it though. He just smiled. "He's great. I mean, dad is. You'll love him."
"Mom too." Nathan agreed, face reddening. So another opposite trait. His brother had no problem with being an open book while Nathan runs way at the first mention of anything emotion-related.
"So what's this idea of yours?" Clay asked, steering the conversation back.
Right. Nathan cleared his throat. "So I'm suggesting that we switch places."
Clay looked like he was going to fall off the bed again. They really needed to fix that if this was to work. "Switch..what?!"
"Switch places. In a week when camp's over, you go to New York as me and I fly back to London as you."
Clay seemed to be thinking about it. Nathan waited for him to process the information.
"I don't know..I mean, it's going to be obvious. They'll figure it out."
So Nathan needed to convince him more, then. Alright, that he could do. He didn't win the Marketing Award last year in school for no reason. He had mastered in the arts of persuasion from an early age.
"They won't." Nathan said in his most assuring voice. Then he adapted what he figured was a convincing British accent. "I'll just talk like this and blurt out unsual things every five minutes."
"Okay, that was really on point." Clay laughed. Then he schooled his features, "And I'll just act like a jerk 98% of the time."
Nathan grinned, impressed at his brother's American accent. "See? They won't notice a thing."
"But how will we switch back?"
Good point. But Nathan was already steps ahead. "We tell them the truth at the end of the summer, and they'll have to switch us back. Then they'll meet."
He expression Clay had on his face made Nathan smirk. He knew that Clay already agreed.
The living room of their cabin had turned out looking like a lecture room what with all the posters on the walls filled with various writings and drawings. For the past four days, Clay has been learning everything he could about Nathan's life. In turn, Clay taught Nathan everything he needed to know about his life in London. Clay found out that Nathan played for the soccer varsitiy has his school. It made Clay want to back out then and there because there was no way he would be able to fake playing that. But then he remembered that the switch would only last for the summer so he was safe. Nathan also told him about his mum's bestfriends; Bonnie and the twins named Katherine and Elena. Nathan said that he'd always see them visiting the house with their children. The children were like cousins or second siblings to Nathan. He also told Clay about his Uncle Matt. The one who acted like a second father to Nathan. Clay asked him if he was dating his mum but Nathan just laughed and told him that Matt was just like her brother and that his mom never dates anyone.
In turn Clay told Nathan about his Uncles and Aunt. About how he was closest to his Aunt Rebekah and that she was the only one who knew about his sexuality as of the moment. Nathan didn't seem to mind about Clay being gay, for which Clay was grateful for. In fact, Nathan even made a rather touching speech for which he made Clay promise never to mention to anyone or else there'd be repurcussions. Anyway, Clay told Nathan about his weekend activites, his friends and the various everyday things that he needed to know.
Clay reckons that they pretty much have everything covered. In two days, he would be seeing his mum for the first time. He couldn't wait.