The Beast Within Me | Nate Jacobs

Puppy Eyes

Ivan was seven years older than Bee. The kind of kid who'd asked for a sibling so much his parents had given in.  As a child he'd been cheerful and caring. But as he'd grown up he'd become deeply introverted. Not that anyone could blame him. His aspirations were too big for someone who went to school at East Highland.

He had the kind of creativity that set him apart from other people. Everyone used to think of him as mellow and soft just because he was sensitive, but in reality he was very aggressive with the things he wanted. He moved to New York to be a photographer. He'd left college when he realized it didn't suit him and started working to build his reputation from scratch.

"Happy birthday." Bee said as she hugged her brother.

"I've missed you, midget." The nickname had stuck even after Bee had grown up to 5'8. She was still short next to him, who stood tall and lean at 6'1"

Ivan's eyes darted to Nate after he broke their hug.

"I heard you tried to kill my sister." He said without a hint of emotion in his tone.

"Ivan—" Bee knew her brother had a dark sense of humor but wasn't really sure Nate would get it.

"Fifteen years ago I would've been glad." He interrupted her. "But now I need her so our dad doesn't arrange an insane plan to move to a bungalow in the middle of nowhere." Ivan got closer and shook Nate's hand. She noticed his expression relax as Ivan loosened up.

"How are you man?" Nate asked him before they both walked in.

Her brother had moved in with his boyfriend and was living without roommates for the first time in his life.

"So, how was the flight?" Ivan asked. "I thought you'd be taking the overnight bus."

"My dad actually got us the tickets." Nate said as he left his backpack on the floor. "Since it was a short trip. He thought we'd have some more time." Bee's eyes darted at Nate's. His comment had reminded her about the argument they'd had the past week which he'd obviously won as they'd ended up going by plane. He shot her an innocent smile.

"Sweet." Ivan said. "Well, get yourselves comfortable. I mean as comfortable as sleeping on a sofa bed can get. We have some friends coming over tonight. Bee did you invite any of your friends?"

"No, I think I'll catch up with them tomorrow." She said.

"Right, that might be for the best. Although you're only here for the weekend. So suit yourself." Ivan said. "Nate, let me show you around."

Bee stood still without realizing it as they both went down the small corridor and her brother showed him the photographs and canvases that hung on the wall. Even though she wasn't really listening her heart warmed with the sight of the two of them, merely existing in the same space. What if life could be like that?

A knot started to form on her stomach. She suddenly felt like she wanted to vomit. Not food, as her stomach was pretty much empty, but words. Even though she didn't understand where all that urgency had come from she suddenly felt like she wanted to ask him to please stay with her. To please be the person she thought he was. She brought her fingers to her lips.

"Bee?" Ivan called her as they walked out of the bedroom.

"Yeah?" She asked as she snapped back to reality. She stood up straight trying to get her head back into the moment.

"I was just telling Nate, you can shower or whatever and have some breakfast." He said. "I'll be going to the gallery in fifteen. I'll be back by three."

"I'll take up on the shower." Nate said. Bee rolled her eyes, knowing full on well how much of a maniac for cleanliness he was by then.

"Of course you are." She said. "We've got campus visits starting in two hours. We'll probably be back around six."

"It's fine." Ivan said. "Take your time."

As Nate got into the bathroom her brother and her had breakfast in the kitchen. To Ivan that was usually a green juice and hard boiled eggs, but he'd gotten bagels for them from her favorite place.

"Do you know how exhausting it is to be related to you?" She asked ironically. "Every time I see you you get better, better looking, more successful, is there a limit to all of this? What is it?"

"If there is a limit I'm still miles away from achieving it." Ivan said. Bee shot him a sympathetic smile.

"You look better too." He said. "You look happy. And now I understand why you haven't facetimed with me for more than five minutes for the past two months."

"What?" She asked. "First of all you're lying, second of all I've been studying."

"It's insulting that you're treating me like this." Ivan said shaking his head as he filled water into the expresso machine. "The reason is naked taking a shower in my bathroom as we speak. Don't lie to me."

"We're not dating. We're friends."

"Please." He said. "You're really naive, Bee. You really are."

"Fuck you, really."

"Just tell me the truth."

"We're not dating. We're like— Well" She said feeling her cheeks getting hotter. She hated to admit it. "It's nothing serious."

"You're eighteen. Of course it's not serious. But that boy — that high school football jock — is here in New York city looking at colleges with you on the weekend." He said matter of factly. "Just wake up, honey. He looks at you with puppy eyes."

"The word puppy I— that's disgusting." Bee grimaced. "You wouldn't use it to describe him if you actually knew him."

"I do not need any details, unless you want to share them."

"I don't." She said. "And that's not what this is. We're friends. I'm just trying to help him. He might hate it here, at least he'll have seen something outside East Highland."

"Not you again trying to fix people."

"Just shut up, will you?" She asked. "I can't wait for Dereck to get here. I like him a lot better than you."

Ivan shot her a condescending smile. She almost hated how much he could read her.

Author's note: Hi all! Thanks for reading. Updating after this gets 15 votes 🤍 would also love to hear from you all.