Warren's vision tunneled forward, his forehead beginning to throb with the start of a headache. His stomach turned to butterflies, and he didn't know what to expect of Nathan's reaction.
What seemed to occur for Warren in slow-motion soon became reality. Standing under the doorway was Nathan, his eyes drooping low and his hair ruffled like someone who'd just woken up.
Seconds pass, but Warren was too awestruck to speak. "Are you gonna talk? I don't got the time for this shit Gayram," Nathan swung the door, although something stopped it just as it was about to click shut.
A hand clung to the edge of the door frame, nearly getting crushed. "I'm worried about you, Nathan," Warren spoke gently.
"Worried? I don't need your fucking pity," Nathan's voice sounded frigid and hostile.
"I overheard your phone call and, I sympathize with you, not in a bad way, but well..." Warren paused, his eyes drifting past Nathan's face and into his room. "I want to get to know you better."
Nathan scrunched his face, leaning forward to bridge the gap between him and Warren. "Do you think this is some type of fucking joke, or whateverthefuck?"
"No, I don't. I don't know you Nathan, but," Warren took a small step forward as well, his face close to Nathan's, the male's warm breath flowing down his neck causing him to tingle with an odd satisfaction. "In the morning, when I helped you, you said or else. I didn't know what you meant then, and to be quite honest, I still don't. But, what I do know is, that short time we spent together.. it made me think, that you and I, despite being from two different parts of the school... aren't really too different at all."
Nathan didn't break eye contact with Warren the entire time he was speaking, although, Warren's words made him feel unusual. He shuffled back and forth on the balls of his feet, not knowing what to say, but then his expression turned grim.
"Not too different? Me, and the biggest geek in Blackwell?" Nathan chuckled loudly, but after a few seconds of silence, his expression melded into seriousness. "What the hell do you, Warren Gayram, think is similar between us?"
Warren's heart felt broken, defeated. He didn't come all this way just for Nathan to turn him away, no way. He looked past Nathan, past their conversation, and picked up on something he otherwise wouldn't of noticed. "Looking into your room, I see you playing Night of the Living Dead, a classic that paved the way for zombie movies that came after it."
Nathan looked shock for a moment, but quickly returned to his lax self.
"You.. know about that movie too? Shit, you nerds really do know all." Nathan remarked, a hint of approval in his voice.
Warren smiled widely, like a kid who gets to check out the new games when shopping with mom. "I'm a movie freak, Nathan. Speaking of which, that projector rig of yours looks sweet. Mind if I check it out?"
"No."
"Pretty please Nathan? I swear, I won't break anything," Warren looked at Nathan, then towards his room, while giving him the puppy dog eye treatment.
Nathan looked hesitant, like he was about to reject. Then, he sighed. "Ah shit, fuck it. Go ahead, do your whatever you.. nerds do," Nathan said while slowly returning to his room.
"YES! Trust me, you won't regret this!" Warren followed him into his room, closing the door.
Warren walked towards Nathan's projector, appearing to be quite giddy with excitement, looking back and forth from it and the movie being shown.
"The quality is superb, is that the newest edition of t-.."
"Blah blah blah, cut it with the nerd shit, else I'm kicking you out," Nathan spitted out as he took a seat and leaned back on his bed.
"My bad, I got carried away..." Warren rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, before walking towards Nathan's set of DVDs, mainly horror, but a few stuck out that were Warren's favorites.
"Wow, you really have it all. Even the one with the robot monkeys that take over the world?" Warren grinned.
"Yeah, well, we all have interests at some point," Nathan huffed out, appearing to grow annoyed.
Warren then walked towards his dresser, and surprisingly, the clothes he'd thrown near it were the type that wouldn't scream "rich boy" or anything. Although, the unabating silence was driving Warren's thought cycle, making him feel slightly anxious as a result. Not to mention the photography he'd seen pinned to Nathan's cabinets were quite unnerving in nature, and seemed to plummet him further in the darkness which was now surrounding him. Although, Warren didn't feel afraid. Rather, he felt a prodding inquisitiveness build up within him, and he wished to know more. He needed Nathan to leave the room, it was the only way to learn more about him, who he is, and what makes him act the way he does. It may be able to bring the two of them closer together.
Warren randomly selected a movie and pulled it out of its spot. "Nathan, this movie is great!"
"What's your review on it? Personally, I would rate it 8.5/10, but just because of the fa-"
"Do you ever fucking shut up? Fuck man, I'm gonna go take a piss," Nathan interrupted, as he stiffly got up and exited his room a moment afterward.
As soon as Warren could hear Nathan's step echoing in the hallway, he got to work. He leaped towards Nathan's computer, and, easily enough, it was unlocked. Within seconds, Warren was looking at archives of photos, some quite horrid and frightening, others just plain weird. Photos of smiling skulls overlaid until it forms a bigger skull, dead whales lying on a beach.
How does this help, think, Warren! Find something useful!
Warren quickly clicked onto his open window and looked at the tabs. From there, he pulled up Nathan's e-mail and looked to find anything. Right off the bat, an e-mail from Kristine Prescott, which Warren automatically assumed to be Nathan's sister, was the first of which he'd seen. It seemed important to Nathan then, and the e-mail itself gave a great first impression to Warren of her character. She seemed funny, nice, outgoing. A good influence somebody Nathan needed, but still, how'd she end up away from home? And, while the e-mail itself was sent in good-nature, how does Nathan perceive it?
While quickly checking through his recent e-mails, it only made Warren feel worse. The video of Kate was rude and uncalled for, and shouldn't have even been recorded, nonetheless posted online. Warren quickly exited off the computer, and opened a nearby drawer that would've been too awkward to go into before. Looking through a few random pictures, he saw something that made his heart drop. A picture of a drugged-up Chloe lying on the floor.
Fuck fuck fuck. I knew Nathan was bad, but.. this?
Warren bit his lip, putting the photos back and closing the drawer. Thankfully, right in time, as the sound of footsteps approaching the door became louder. He gently sat down on Nathan's bed, leaning back like Nathan had, trying to fake his interest in the movie. But really, Warren's mind was racing like a rocket ship, only that his thoughts weren't cohesive, rather, jumbled up and colliding in a vague effort to make sense of things. His eyes fell low, and locked onto the one thing that gave him some rationale for Nathan's actions. His medication, scattered pill containers, and alcohol.
Nathan walked through the door loudly, a smug look on his face due to conversating with friends of his. He stood in the doorway for a second, waiting for Warren to react, to say something, anything. Rather, the ensuing silence shrouded them, one waiting for the other's next move. Moments pass before, finally, Nathan begins moving.
He took a seat beside Warren. "So, got what you wanted? I need my sleep so I don't bitch like hell, so please don't take offense when I say, fuck off," The blue-eyed boy stared intently at Warren.
"Nathan. I know I don't know you that well, and it's stupid that I'm barely taking the chance but," Warren paused, his heart pounding like it was ready to burst. As hard as it was, Warren looked up at Nathan, his eyes locking with the boy he was once insanely afraid of. "I want to get to know you better. I'm an awkward geek, everybody knows it, I don't have many friends, and when I'm with you I f-"
"Sorry, time's up. If you want more Nathan time, pay up." Nathan walked to and stood next to his door, his hand beckoning for Warren to leave.
Warren was surprised, but not as much as he'd thought he'd be. Rather, he accepted the fact that him and Nathan would be a work-in-progress. Once he started walking to exit the room, every step proved surprisingly painful. Nathan's room was sort of a sanctuary to him, somewhere he felt safe, and now, getting to know Nathan, the scary wolf that was once on the brink of blowing his house down. It turned out he was misunderstood in every aspect. His actions, what he says, how he looks. As Warren walked past Nathan to leave his room, his eyes looked towards him. Whether it was sheer imagination or a fabrication from his own desires, Warren wasn't sure. Although, from what he could see, Nathan had a genuine smile painted across his face, the type of smile that makes you stop and stare at it, and wish that you had a smile that great.
I'm going to be back, Nathan
And next time, I'll be saying it.