The Darkness That Consumes Us

Chapter 17

Andrea

There was a stretch of silence after the last of the story left Alex's lips. Nate's head was bowed, his eyes trained intently on the floor. Locks of his golden hair falling down his forehead and obscuring my view of his face. His shoulders moving up and down, at an accelerated rate.

Alex and I looked at each other worriedly. What was wrong with him?

"Nate, are you-" I was cut off by his gravelly voice, thick with sadness and desperation.

"Both of you went through all that. And you're still the strongest and best people I've ever met," he said the last part quietly. Almost as if he were embarrassed to say the words.

A genuine smile twitched its way up my lips, despite my best efforts to stop it.

"What's with all the flattery Nathaniel?" My brother said with a smile that matched my own, aimed at him.

Giving Alex a deadpanned look, he composed himself and unhunched his shoulders, straightening his spine.

"You ruined the moment, you dick," he grumbled and stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"So, you're good?" I raised an eyebrow in the blond's direction.

"Why wouldn't I be?" his dark blond eyebrows raising slightly in question.

"Oh, maybe cause Alex just confessed to beating a man, cutting off his fingers, then calling someone to 'deal with it,'" I said, shooting a knowing look in Alex's direction.

"He tried to rape you, he only did what he thought was right. I'm not going to freak out over it. Honestly, he deserved it," Nate said dismissively with a shrug.

"Plus, the detail that I would like to focus on right now is how you smiled when you saw his severed fingers," Nate shot back, trying to lighten the mood.

"I did nothing of the sort," I said blankly.

"Sure you didn't. You know I think that Amos guy had a point, crazy runs in your family."

"I mean there's no point in denying it," Alex replied with a smirk.

"Don't encourage this," I say in mock indignation.

"Oh please, like anyone can stop my amazingly witty remarks," he smirks at us both.

We hear the low rumble of a man's voice as he announces another fight for the night.

"On that note..." I say straightening my spine.

"Let's go watch another fight, we're already here," I say and dart my eyes to my brother. He raises a brow at me but says nothing.

We start walking out of the locker room when I feel a warm, ring-clad hand grip my wrist gently. I look up to see Nate staring at me and I know he wants to talk before we head out there.

"Alex, you go ahead. I have to talk to Nate about something," I say, still looking at my best friend.

My brother only spares us a questioning glance as he walks out.

You alright, or-," I drawl lazily up at him.

"Why didn't you ever tell me. I mean, I know you don't have to tell me everything but I thought we told each other the important stuff."

As he finishes I feel sympathy tug at my heart. Nate used to be able to talk to his parents about everything and anything before his mother left and the world fell off its axis for him. When we started being friends, even when there were three of us and when I barely talked, he told us everything. When he was going through it all, we knew every painstaking detail. The screaming matches his parents started to have frequently, the sounds of things being thrown and glass breaking, his mother starting to neglect him, his father crying himself to sleep when his mother would walk out after an argument. We went through it all with him, and in a way, we all knew that we had a bond for life.