Of Power, Glory, and Love

Disclaimer: I own every character, but other than that... no? No.

Well, I hope you guys enjoy this. This is chapter one (of who knows how many but obviously more than one) of a gay original high school fic. Again, sit back, relax, dim the lights, close the blinds (or keep them open if you have any hot neighbors), and please, make sure your keyboard is in a safe but reachable distance.

In each chapter you'll see some song lyrics, which either by itself or the song as a whole will play a part in the chapter. For those who want to know which exact song I'm referring to, search Granny Niblo Fair to Midland on youtube, then click on their 1st demo of it. If you want to see a live version of it, check out Fair To Midland: "Granny Niblo" (Old Acoustic - 2003)

As for the meaning of the title of this fic, VNV Nation came out with an album a few months ago entitled "Of Faith, Power and Glory", saying that those are the 3 things that either make or destroy a person. I got to thinking, what are (if we were to boil it down to 3 things) those 3 things, and thus, the title of the story. Will those themes play out in the story? Hmm, probably will have to read to find out.

-------------------------------------------------------

And he's wide-aware of his usage.
I tell him: "People are calculators;
only efficient if you're pushin' the buttons."
Believe it. Believe it. Believe it. - Fair to Midland, Granny Niblo Says Otherwise


BEEP BEEP BEEP

"....."

BEEP BEEP BEEP

"Mmph..."

BEEP BEEP BEE-

He silenced the accursed machine, his right hand finding and swatting the off button, effectively filling the room with peace and quiet. "Mmm, that's more like it," Nathan mumbled in a sleep-filled voice. He yawned, a hint of his white teeth peeked out past his lips. He shifted in bed, trying to find a comfortable spot.

He sighed after ten minutes passed, reluctantly arriving to the conclusion that he wasn't going back to sleep anytime soon. He gave up, rolling slowly out of bed in his blue boxer-briefs. He stretched, his arms showing a bit of muscle definition as they rose above his head. His chest, as well as his stomach, was toned, but not overdone. He wasn't one to spend many hours in the gym, but when he did, he focused on explosive workouts. Strength with speed, and not just brute force. Not that he really ever needed to use it, after all, they say the most powerful thing is the human brain.

"Ughn," Nathan grunted, shaking his long light-brown hair out of his light brown - occasionally green - eyes. "I hate having to wake up early in the summer, but noooo, mom says we need a haircut today or she'll kick me out of the house, or something, crazy women," he mumbled, toying with his matted down hair. "I need a shower."

-------------------------------------------------------

"Nathan!" Shouted a shrill voice, inches away from the bathroom door. The woman's voice was loaded with annoyance that flooded through the whole house. "Nathaniel Alexander Young! You hurry up with that shower right now or so help me god I will break that damn door down! I have a meeting in.. in 45 minutes!"

She waited another minute, and getting no response, stormed off down the hallway and down the second floor stairs. The middle-aged woman rounded the corner, intent on finding a screwdriver in the kitchen, when she paused at the sight before her.

"Hey mom," Nathan's eyes glinted green as the sunlight shone through, hitting them at the right angle. A gentle smirk graced his features as he continued, "I think the lock on the bathroom is broken."

His mom sighed, rubbing her eyes as she felt the beginnings of a migraine coming on. "Whatever. I've got to get going soon." She gave her son a stern look. "You best have got your hair cut by the time I get back home from work."

"Or...?" Nathan trailed off, his long nimble fingers playing with his shark tooth necklace that hung around his neck.

"Or you'll be grounded for a whole month." she retorted.

"Fine," Nathan said, jutting out his lower lip in his patented pout.

A whole month of the same routine, but his mom wasn't going to cave in this time. She gave him a stern look while placing a hand on her hip, while her other hand pointed towards him. "I'm serious, Nathan. If you don't get it cut today, you're father is going to shave it off in your sleep tonight."

"Alright already! I got it, okay? I'll get it done today."

"Before I get home, Nathan."

"It'll get done today, I promise, okay? Or you can ground me for two months."

She sighed in defeat, looking at his shaggy long hair one last time. "Fine," she murmured, looking at her watch. "Oh shit, I've gotta hurry up." She spun around and started heading towards the stairs.

"You didn't forget that the door isn't working, did you?" Nathan called out in a cool voice.

"Fuck!"

He chuckled, his eyes glinting another shade of green. It's pretty tough to get into something that's locked, isn't it? he mused to himself.

-------------------------------------------------------

"Hey, Em', it's good to hear your voice again."

"Justin!" Emily cried into the phone, her voice bubbling with excitement. "Oh, so you finally decided to call me, huh?" She said in mock-hurt tone.

"N-No, it's not like that." He fidgeted, pulling on a strand of his dark-brown hair. "I meant to call you sooner, honestly! But we've been so busy with moving in and mom and dad have been ordering me around to lift this and carry that. Jessica and Kim aren't even helping!"

"Still, it seems like you could've saved some time for your best friend... or, at least I thought I was you-"

"No!" He shouted, his blue eyes widening. "You still are! You still are! I'm sorry Em', really, it's jus-"

Emily burst out laughing on the other end, causing Justin to move his ear away from the phone until her laughter died down.

"That wasn't very funny," Justin grumbled, plopping his agile frame down onto his chair.

"Oh it was too," she said, a hint of laughter still carrying in her voice. "So, my dear gay friend. Meet any hot guys yet?"

".... I told you not to say that over the phone!" Justin fumed, his teenage voice cracking slightly from the anger.

"I'm sorry! I forgot, really," she tried to assure him. "You know I wouldn't intentionally..."

He let out a quiet breath. "Yeah, I'm sorry too." He replied as he motionlessly got up and peeked out of his room to make sure no one was in hearing distance. Satisfied, he made his way back to his chair and plopped down again. "No," he said in a hushed tone, "w-well, maybe one.. or two, but I haven't been out much yet."

"So did you jump their bones?"

"Ah! NO! Are you kidding me?! They were like... sooo hot. And I.." He paused, his voice dropping down another level. "I'm just..... me."

"Oh come on Justin, you're selling yourself short. You're very pretty."

"Guys aren't suppose to be pretty," he said with a pout.

"Okay, my bad. You're very tough," she said, making her voice gruff, "and manly."

Justin giggled softly through the phone, causing Emily to do the same. "Yeah, alright, alright, enough picking on Justin for the day."

"You know I love you, Justin. You could get any guy you wanted. Seriously, just all you have to do is gather up your courage and talk to him."

"I know," he sighed softly.

"I tell you what. The next hot guy you see, make sure to talk to him. You don't have to fuck his brains out, but, talk to him, okay? Who knows, something good might come of it."

"Yeah, or maybe I could get my heartbroken."

"That's the spirit!" she chirped. "Now, go on out there and be somebody!" And with that, she hung up.

Justin smiled to himself as he let the phone linger next to his ear for a brief moment, then hung up as well. He stood up and walked to the other side of his room, looking into the full-length mirror on the outside of his closet door. He examined his 5'8'' frame. Nothing special, he thought to himself. I'm neither scrawny nor muscular, he continued, lifting his shirt, showing off his pale white skin and lack of chiseled abs or perfect pecs. My face, he stared into the mirror, his dark hair hung low, framing his gentle countenance, flowing down to his chin. His fingertips traced his his red, somewhat dry lips. He blinked his long dark lashes a few times and sighed. "I look more girly than manly," he murmured to himself. "Maybe I should get a haircut."

-------------------------------------------------------

"Hey Brett, thanks for the ride dude," Nathan said as he hopped out of his friend's car and looked towards the Fantastic Sams building.

"Don't mention it. Hey, you helped me and Cindy stay together after she caught me cheating on her, so I owe you, alright? 'Sides, I have to pick up some groceries for my mom before she comes home."

"One year of friendship and that's the thanks I get? Always the nice friend, aren't you?" Nathan chuckled, turning his gaze back to his friend; his hazel sparkling with mirth through his soft bangs.

"Always the smart-ass." Brett retorted.

"Meh," he said, waving his hand. "Thanks again; I'll meet you back in about 45 minutes or so. It looks like everyone is getting ready to head back to school in a couple weeks."

"Yeah, sure thing," he said as he revved up his truck. "See ya later, kiddo."

Nathan smiled warmly and gave a short wave to his friend as he roared out of the parking lot. "Jackass," Nathan muttered to himself as he dropped the smile, then turned on his heel and started for the entrance. "Well, whatever. Might as well get this done."

Entering the salon, Nathan was greeted kindly by one of the stylists as he shuffled over to the register. He glanced about the room, seeing a strong majority of young kids, and a few outliers flipping through three month-old magazines to pass the time. The 15 year old strolled over to the far wall where the last 2 unoccupied seats were. He sat down, ignoring the flirtatious smiles and shy glances he received from a few of the women in the area and began flipping through a sports magazine. It wasn't that he had no interest in the opposite sex, he did. Equal opportunity, in his opinion; however, his last two relationships had both been with the opposite sex. The former lasting around three weeks, while the second went for a little over one month; and truth be told, he was getting bored.

"Um, h-hi. Is this seat taken?" Nathan looked up from his reading, meeting the bashful countenance of a boy around his age. Piercing clear blue eyes glanced briefly into his hazel orbs before darting away, his cheeks turning a light shade of red under Nathan's scrutiny.

"Sort've, you might have to wrestle my imaginary friend out of there first." Nathan said as he flashed the teen a smile that a model could be jealous of. He took note of the boy's soft delicate facial features, long dark eye lashes, and a hint of a beautiful smile that was trying to work its way to the surface. "I'm Nathan, it's a pleasure to meet you," he said, sticking out his hand.

"I'm Justin," he said as he accepted the handshake. He let out an inaudible gasp as a pulse of energy trailed across his skin from the brief contact, and he fought to stay still and not break down into a puddle of mush as he sat down next to him. "So," he began, nervousness evident in his voice as he pulled on a strand of hair to calm his nerves, "what're you in here for?"

Nathan furrowed his brow as he gave his new acquaintance a sideways glance. "Well I was planning on buying a movie ticket, but this line just doesn't seem to be moving."

"I.. That's not what I... ah, forget it." Justin sighed and turned the other way, glancing out the window.

"Hey, it's just a joke, yeah? Lighten up, heh, you have to admit, it was a silly question." Nathan giggled, nudging Justin softly with his elbow.

"Hehe, well sor-ry, I was just trying to make conversation with.. er, with someone that's from around here." Justin covered, his face cracking up in a cheesy grin.

"Ah," he said, contemplating his new friend's words. "So, when did you move in? 'N was it somewhere close by?"

"A little over two weeks ago. It's been hectic, really. Moving everything out of the truck and, yeah, definitely not my ideal way to spend my last few weeks of summer vacation." The boys laughed, and that's when it happened. Justin stilled as Nathan's forearm brushed against his as he re-situated himself in his chair. The lingering warmth left the teen abuzz; his body overly reacting to the stimulus as his cock came to life, growing to its full six inches and creating a noticeable rise - to anyone that may happen to look - in the front of his shorts.

"Yeah, go on," Nathan encouraged, giving his undivided attention to him.

"Oh, yeah... um, we moved into that house on the corner of Olinda and Lever street. It's that nice little three story house."

"NO WAY!" Nathan shouted, startling those around him, which he briefly noticed that there were a lot fewer people than when he first entered. "Dude, I live two streets down from you! NO LIE! We should like, hang out sometime. If that's okay with you, that is."

"No, yeah, I'd... I'd love to hang out with you.. sometime.." all the time was left unsaid as he fought off another wave of nervousness that threatened to seize him.

"Nathan, we're ready for you now. Right this way," the hairstylist said, introducing herself as Stacey as she ushered the young teen back. Nathan turned his head, giving his new friend one last look as he went back with her. God, he's so-

cute! Oh my GOD! I can't believe I just had a whole conversation with such a major hottie! Justin squealed internally, his hands balling up into fists as he fought to maintain his composure in front of the few people that were left. He shifted and adjusted himself when a voice broke him out of his dreamy state. "Justin," it said, "you can come back as well."

"So what are you looking for today, Justin?" Said the warm portly fellow, Robert. "How much are we taking off?"

"Well I..." he started, tugging on his bangs, "I kinda would like to cut these off and maybe go for a more... I don't know," he trailed off as he caught his reflection in the mirror.

"You're cutting those off?!" Nathan broke in, looking almost insulted at Justin's suggestion. "No way, dude, you look great with that look. Maybe a inch-and-a-half off so it doesn't get too long until your next haircut, but otherwise, I wouldn't change a whole lot. Like, with me, I just want my bangs cut so they're out of my eyes, so about two inches. That should last until Christmas break. And of course, layering and all of that fun stuff."

Robert looked back and forth between the two, then gave Stacey a knowing look. He began spritzing Justin's hair and took up the conversation. "So, are you guys friends then?"

Justin glanced out of the corner of his eye towards Nathan, who responded without hesitation. "Yeah, we are."

"Well that's cool," Stacey added as she worked over Nathan's hair. "I'm sure you're both just dieing to get back to school, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, of course," Justin giggled. "Tenth grade should be fun." he finished, his light, soft voice sending small tremors through Nathan's body.

"Me too," Nathan said in a quivering voice. What the heck is going on here? This new kid... is he.... fuck. I'm like... jittery and.. my palms are sweaty. I haven't done any cocaine recently. Ahh man, I... I like him, don't I? He keeps checking me out in the mirror, can he be any more obvious? What a pup, he thought to himself. Hehe, he's got his eyes closed now. God he looks gorgeous. Lithe body, not too frail, but he looks like someone who would love to cuddle, and-

"Agh! Careful! Warn me before you slam my chin down into my chest next time." he grumbled, only to earn an unsympathetic 'sorry'. Stacey was muttering something about him not paying attention. He quickly lost his train of thought as Stacey continued on, talking aimlessly while shaving the back of his neck.

"Okay, all done kiddo. How does everything look?" Stacey said, holding the mirror behind his head so he could check it out.

"Fine," Nathan said absentmindedly as he stood up. "Where's Justin?"

"Oh, your friend?" She said, a knowing tone in her voice. "He finished up before you. He didn't have as much to cut off, so once he was done he up and left."

Nathan's hazel gaze looked down at the pile of hair that was being swept up from Justin's vacant seat. "Oh, I see."

The teen hurried along, brushing his clothes off with his hands and walked to the front to pay. He gave a quick once over to the room, but couldn't find a trace of Justin anywhere. He couldn't have just walked out of here without.. exchanging phone numbers or something! Could he? Nathan rubbed his chin in thought as he received his change and pocketed it, then stepped outside, and froze.

Leaning against the smooth brick wall, trying his hardest to look inconspicuous, with his dark-brown locks now hanging prettily against his soft white cheeks, contrasting heavily with the blush on his face, was Justin. "H-Hey," he said meekly, pushing off against the wall and walking towards Nathan. He felt small tremors race down his legs and up as high as his face as each apprehensive step drew him closer to the other teen.

"Hey," Nathan replied, matching Justin's tone and pace, meeting him halfway. He inhaled deeply and shivered as Justin's faint scent enveloped him, inciting him to move closer towards its source.

Justin stared him in the eyes as their souls connected. "I.. I never really.. I mean I've never.." his voice died out as some unseen force began drawing them even closer together. His breath hitched in his throat as Nathan's lips brushed against his, and felt tingling electric sensations as Nathan's light calloused hands took ahold of his as they shared their first kiss. The planet, no, the universe itself seemed to creep to a standstill as Justin melted in the loving arms of the taller boy, which held him close as Nathan tilted his head and deepened the kiss. Justin quickly responded, adding a bit more pressure as he became more comfortable.

Nathan broke away, his breath coming in short puffs while his lips tingled, his whole body feeling rejuvenated and alive. He could feel his cheeks flushed, with Justin being in the same state, only, from the looks of it, to an even higher degree. He smiled and squeezed his hand lightly, breaking those hazy blue eyes out of their dreamy state.

Justin immediately looked around, his heart racing a mile a minute as he tried to find if anyone had witnessed the most amazing and sinful event in human history. He kissed a guy! ON THE LIPS! IN PUBLIC! Where were the reporters? The church people condemning him to hell? Where were the people with camera phones, taking videos to post later on YouTube? He fidgeted and took his hand away from Nathan's, immediately regretting the lost connection, although tendrils of energy still raced through his system. "I.... I can't believe I, I- we, we kissed. I kissed you. Oh my god, I'm sorry, I- mmph!" He was cut off mid-ramble as Nathan silenced him with another kiss, leaving him in another lustful daze.

Nathan held his gaze, his hazel orbs shifting over to green as the sun moved out from its cloudy cover. "I like you," he whispered, his breath ghosting over Justin's ear, raising goose bumps along his skin. "Will you go out with me?"

He gulped, the words slowly sinking into his conscious. "Y-Yeah. I'd love to," he whispered back, suddenly feeling very drained. His legs buckled, and he fell into Justin's embrace. To any passerby, it looked like a comforting hug between two long-time friends. Not to Justin, though, as the two held each other, feeding off each other's energies and proximity as the world and the universe started up again.

This was so much more.

-------------------------------------------------------

AN: YES! Chapter one, complete! Hopefully it's catching your interest. Please review, let me know what you think. It'll be maybe another half month, maybe one whole one.. before the 2nd and 3rd chapter comes out. And yes, I do plan on updating very regularly.. probably a new chapter every week-and-a-half to two weeks.

Although, I will be honest, reviews can act as a catalyst and really get it started sooner.

Thank you for reading!