i can see you - tsitp

two.

NATE PULLS HIS sweatshirt over his head as Jeremiah enters his bedroom. Even though Nate has his house just down the street, Susannah has almost always insisted he stay at her house.

"All the boys are here!" she had said when he was younger. It might've been a day where he was feeling excluded as they talked about what they'd done at nighttime. Since that day, Nate has always slept at the Fishers'.

"You ready?" Jeremiah asks, wrapping his arms around the doorway. It's the night of the big beginning-of-summer bonfire that a bunch of kids usually go to. Nate has been going for the past few years.

"Hell yeah, you know it." Nate returns, winking as he puts his cell phone in his back pocket. They meet Steven out in the hallway, and the three boys venture out to the backyard to get Conrad.

The oldest of the three is sitting at the edge of the pool, smoking a cigarette that dangles from the corner of his lips. It's almost falling out of his mouth. He and Belly are staring at each other intensely, and for a moment, Nate feels an energy that he's sure he's interrupting.

But Steven doesn't give a fuck, because he interrupts them with ease. Nate has a feeling it's on purpose— Steven has always played the overprotective brother card.

"First bonfire of the summer!" he shouts, making Conrad look away from Belly, but her stare lingers for a few seconds. Nevertheless, the boys at the doorway laugh.

"Alright, we're totally taking my car." Jeremiah grins, holding his hands out. "You're not driving." he points at Steven. "And tonight is your night to have fun." he looks at Nate, who rolls his eyes but joins in laughing with Steven.

"Come on, man, we're leaving." Jeremiah clicks his tongue at Conrad, who slowly gets up. "You ready?"

"Can I come, too?" Belly's tone of voice is eager, and Nate feels bad; he knows the answer. She's practically the same age as him, but she's younger and she's the girl of the group.

"Uh, no." scoffed Steven, and that's the last reason why she can't go; Steven is the overprotective older brother.

"The moms are getting everything set up for your movie night." Jeremiah adds in a gentler tone, because he can see the way Belly's face has fallen.

"It's looking good in there," Nate points back inside the house, "save me a brownie, Princess?" She nods silently, watching as Conrad gets up. For a fleeting moment, Nate wants to damn Steven's rules, but he doesn't. "See you."

"Let's go, slowpoke." Jeremiah calls out to Conrad, who raises his hands with a look on his face.

"Have fun with the moms!" teases Steven, to which Nate slaps him on the arm and scolds him.

*

Nate is talking to some girls at the party when his phone buzzes— he's completely forgotten about Taylor, and maybe that's a bad thing.

Taylor
remember not
to flirt with anyone in
front of jeremy and the
others

Taylor
we've been dating since
last week

Taylor
flirt with whoever u want
when they're not around

nate
You my girlfriend or
my jailer??

Taylor
i'm gonna take away your
flirting privileges

nate
Noooo not my
flirting privileges