Nail Polish Lust

It was late Sunday, nearing midnight, and still no one had come for Nate, or called for that matter. He had work in the morning, and Nate had school plus the long drive to get back home. It wasn't like Pete to be late, he was an asshole but he was usually an asshole that was on time.

Standing, he once again paced around the living room, quiet so as not to wake Nate, the boy had gone to sleep in his room, exhausted from a wild day spent trying to fit everything into their last few hours together. The sense of unease that had been growing since the time Meg had said they’d be there had come and gone surged up again. He had tried to call Pete's cell earlier but no one had answered.

So he paced. And waited.

It was nearing two in the morning when the phone finally rang. Dan dived for it, all but ripping it out of the base, "Meg?"

The voice on the other end took a shaky breath and he immediately knew it was Pete, even before he was told, "Dan…let me talk to Nate."

"Nate's asleep. Where the hell are you two?" Something was wrong here, very wrong, he spoke up again before Pete could answer, "Let me talk to Meg."

Pete laughed, a shaky sad noise, "God Dan. You can't. She's been in an accident; the doctors don't think she's going to make it til morning. Wake Nate up, and get out here. He needs to see her before she goes." A soft wet snuffle accompanied the words and it hit him that Pete of all people was crying.

"Shit. We'll be there. Give me an address." He ripped through his kitchen drawers, not caring when two of them hit the floor from being yanked so hard, papers and menus and the detritus of life spilling out over the floor. He pawed through the mess finding a pen and paper, quickly writing down the address Pete shakily gave him on the back of a Chinese takeout menu. If he drove like a madman he might get there in two hours.

When he hung up the phone he looked up to see Nate standing in the doorway, observing the mess, fear livid in his eyes, "What's going on? You're crying."

He didn't want to do this to Nate, god the boy already had so much to deal with. But he couldn't keep it from him, "Your mother's in the hospital. It doesn't look good. We're going to see her now."

Nate's eyes widened and he shook his head as if that would make it all go away. Dan could see Nate's world crumbling to dust in his frightened eyes… he felt the same way. His big sister was dying. Meg was dying.

He grabbed Nate in a rough hug, one the boy barely responded to, before he pushed past Nate to grab the boy's jacket as well as his own. "C'mon Nate, get down to the car. I don't know how much time we have to get out there."

Nate still didn't move from the kitchen doorway, Dan had to grab his arm, lead him to the car, and all but physically push him inside to get the kid seated. Nate looked up at him as he was buckling the boy in, tears shimmering in his eyes that Dan somehow knew would never fall. Dan didn't know what to do for him, there wasn't anything he could do but touch his cheek gently.

And drive.

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Trevor stood in front of the Ellington’s house, it was huge, too big for a family of three. Just another way to flash how much money they had. He looked up contemplating the doorbell. He had been looking forward to this, even now he could feel the burn of anticipation, of lust, low in his belly and his finger itched to hit the doorbell.

But he didn’t move to press it. The whole drive over he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Dan. And Nate. How much fun it had been at the arcade, how Dan had still spent the day with him even after they’d been caught together by someone he worked with. How easy it was to be with Dan. How good he was in bed.

And it all coalesced at once into the decision he was really making here, this wasn’t going to be a quick one off and back to his life. No, if he went in, fucked Luke whatever this weird thing was that he had with Dan would be over. Because that’s what made Luke so attractive. It was the easy way out. He’d go to the college his parents wanted with Luke, and he’d get caught up in a new life and a new world, and it would be so exciting. And easy. And paid for.

And maybe he and Dan would call each other sometimes, but Dan wasn’t the sort to chat on the phone and long distance relationships were hard enough without the added burden of their age differences. It’d be too easy for Dan to let him go, return to his life, and not having to worry about losing his job or worse because he was screwing a teenager.

Trevor wiped his hand on his jeans shifting back and forth, undecided. Then he took a step back and turned, walking away. He liked who he was with Dan. Maybe it was time to send off that application he’d filled out to UCLA...and to look into some kind of student loan. Of course...that all depended on whether Dan would let him stay with him. He’d just have to convince him that artsy English majors could be just as hot as Harvard grads.

He broke out into a jog not stopping to call another cab until he was around the corner and away from the Ellington’s. After all, he knew what he wanted now but there was no reason to see how hard it would be for Luke to change his mind.

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Dan didn’t get back to the house until the next day, his mouth tasted like old hospital coffee the Doritos he’d had for breakfast out of the vending machine. He felt empty, dog tired, emotionally drained. Nate was with his father, they were both staying in a hotel near the hospital. He had offered them a place here but of course Pete refused. Meg was still hanging on by a thread, she was a fighter. Despite it all he still had hope that she’d pull through.

When he stepped in he paused, the lights and tv were on, which wasn’t how he had left it, but there hadn’t been any signs of a break in. Before he could get further than that Trevor stepped out of the bathroom,”Hey!”

Dan blinked, “How did you get in?” He asked voice harsher than he intended it to be.

The boy shrugged, “Your landlord. If he asks you got your wallet okay.” He was walking toward him as he spoke, running his fingers through his hair, “Where you been? I spent the night, thought you‘d show up y‘know, yesterday.”

He relaxed and tossed his coat on the hook on the door, “My sister’s in the hospital. Been down there with Nate. She’s...alive.”

Trevor frowned, “I’m sorry, how’s Nate doing?” He reached for his hand and Dan let him tug him over to the couch. He sat grateful to have somewhere comfortable to sit, “He’s about as good as you’d expect. He’s staying with his father.”

Trevor nodded and sat with him, “Sorry.”

They were quiet awhile. The only noise was some show on the discover channel, lions roaring on the African plains. He stared at it without any of it sinking in.

Trevor nudged him, “Hey, I um. It’s not the best time but I need to talk to you.”

Something in the boy’s voice made him snap to, looking over at him, “Yeah?”

He was fidgeting with his jeans, hair falling into his eyes, “Can I move in with you? Sudden I know but. I’m about to get kicked out of the house and all and I’m pretty much eighteen, so it won’t be long before this is okay.” He shifted slightly not looking at him, “I’m not going to Harvard. I just. That’s not me.”

Dan knew he should think it over, push Trevor to stay home. Should be responsible. Shouldn’t be entertaining the idea of moving in his underaged lover (though in a month he’d be legal. Barely.). It’d cause problems, the kid would be invading his space, and taking up his time, getting in the way. Causing problems with work.

He was divorced, alone, and his only relative was probably going to die tomorrow. Work wasn’t satisfying anymore. They’d figure it out.

“Yeah.” He nodded to the kitchen, “Spare key is in the junk drawer.”

Trever beamed, but didn’t do more than that. “Thanks. Hey I’ll get us a pizza.” A quick squeeze to his thigh and then the boy was up, getting the key out of the kitchen, calling up the pizza place, bustling around. Noise in what was usually a silent apartment.

Something inside of him relaxed.

The End.

Hello everyone. This is the final chapter of NPL. One day I'd like to pull it all down and edit it, it really could use it. I apologize for ending the story so abruptly, I just wanted to give it a little closure since I'm obviously not doing what I had hoped with the story. Thank you everyone who continued to comment and check in on me and nudge me and threaten me with a horrible horrible death if I didn't work on this again. I know this isn't what you had hoped for but it's the best I can do right now. I appreciate all the feedback i received for this. I hope you enjoyed.