Just Call Me MatPat {Natepat}

4

He squeezed my hand as we walked along the sidewalk. 

It was his first day back at school. My parents had been assigned temporary custody by Nate's mom, and were able to pull some strings with the school. He nearly cried when they told him. Poor boy has apparently never been shown common human decency. Living life as himself seemed to be some strange anomaly to him. 

So he was to be referred to as Nathan. He was to be referred to as a boy. He was to be treated the same. 

Like a human being. 

"You nervous?" I asked. A stupid question, but if he squeezed my hand with anymore force it was quite possible he'd break it. 

He gave me a look loaded with sarcasm. "Fucking petrified." He whispered, his expression softening slightly. I placed a kiss to his cheek, grinning as he blushed, still not used to affection like it. 

"I'm not going anywhere. So no matter what you'll have me." I told him, hoping that was a comfort to him, rather than something that would unnerve him even more. "You'll have the guys as well." 

He pushed his glasses up, with a trembling hand, scuffing his shoes along the sidewalk as we walked. "You think they'll still be friends with me?" 

"Jack and mark are gay and I'm pretty sure Peej has a thing for Felix. They can't really be transphobic without being hypocrites." I replied, tracing circles into his hand with my thumb. "If not, I'll beat 'em up." I winked at him and he rolled his eyes. 

"As if you could, you're barely the same height as me." Nate replied, straightening his posture, he'd had a growth spurt recently, and was now very much enjoying the inch of height he had on me. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't pleasant to have him kiss me on the forehead more often, now that he actually could, his hugs felt nicer now too, he was the one making me feel safe. When I first met him I was maybe half a foot over him, look how far we've come. 

Suddenly his confidence vanished, as we approached the school, I could have laughed if I didn't know how difficult it was for him, to walk through the school gates. Back into a building filled with nothing but torment for him. I kept our hands interlocked, I'd be confident in him if he wasn't confident in himself.

"Hey Matt! Hey Nate!" A familiar Irish accent belted across the playground and soon a flash of green was running toward us. 

Jack immediately went for Nate, hugging him tightly. Nate laughed, letting go of my hand to hug the Irish boy back. "Where've you been man? I missed ya!" He spoke, once he let go. "We have so much to catch up on!" 

I smiled, watching as his shoulders relaxed, and when he took my hand it was a gentler grip, calmer. 

"It's been a week Jack." Nate laughed. "You can't have been that lost without me." 

"Mark tried to eat an eraser yesterday. We were lost." Jack replied, as they approached the group of boys. 

"I thought it was a marshmallow!" Mark protested.

PJ and Felix were deep in conversation, Bob and Wade didn't seem to be here. 

The Irish boy laughed, wrapping an arm around the American's waist. "Sure you did babe. How you feelin'?" He asked Nate. 

"Yeah, we've been worried sick." Mark added. 

Nate squeezed my hand, pushing up his glasses. "My dad kicked me out. So, I, uh, I've been staying with Matt. I've been better, but I'm alright." He offered the two a small smile. I knew he'd fucking hate it if they pitied him. I'd hate it if they pitied him. 

He didn't need the looks of sympathy, or the kind words. 

"That sucks ass. If it makes you feel better, you're not alone here. Mark and I, we aren't hiding it anymore." Jack replied. 

Nate glanced at Mark, a confused look on his face. "But you were always so scared?" I didn't know what they were talking about, seemingly Jack didn't either. 

Mark laughed. "So were you, yet here we are." 

Nate rolled his eyes. The bell rang its shrill cry. 

"It's now or never." I murmured to him, as he seemed almost frozen in place, watching students flow through the door, the late kids running through the gates and across the asphalt. He was just staring, fear written in his features. 

He glanced at me wearily, biting his lip. "Is never an option?" I laughed, and tugged his hand gently, to my surprise he didn't resist. 

I placed a gentle kiss to his lips, grabbing his jacket with my free hand, to pull him closer. He was smiling a tad more when I pulled away. That usually worked. 

"I'm sure they'll be glad to see you." I told him, squeezing his hand, as we walked through the door to Mrs Donovan's room. "It'll be alright." 

Taking our usual seats, I let out a breath, a sigh of relief. 

I was glad that he was okay here, he was staring out the window as we waited for Mrs Donovan to show up. The usual chatter of the class around us buzzed through the air. I was Just glad he made it here. 

I was proud of him. 

The teacher walked through the door, told us to calm down, and proceeded to call the roll. I answered to my name but I could notice the discomfort on Nate's face, unsure of what she'd call him. 

"Nathan Smith?" She called, not glancing up from the paper. Immediately everybody was staring at him, remembering his stage speech, or wondering who the new kid was. 

Our friend group were beaming at him. 

"Present." He replied, a small smile on his face, as I nudged him, and Jack shot him a thumbs up.

I took his hand again, squeezing it. "Told you it'd be alright."