Serenade Me

Part 33

Leaving for the elevator to go back up to the dining area, Sean leaned back against the bar at his lower back. The others climbed in, but only Nate slid up beside him. Sean lowered his eyes to the carpet with a small blush. Just having Nate so close right now was making his heart skip. His adrenaline hadn't settled yet after the Dino match and he was feeling... exposed. His mind was recalling the details of the match but was wondering what could have happened... if it had been just them playing. LadyKiller and Tigger were excitedly chatting amongst themselves over how Troy would react. While Nate raised a hand to brush his knuckles across Sean's neck, asking warmly. "You ok?" Sean nodded, staring at his feet as he told him. "Ya. It's just... I don't want to stop... I wanna stay... with you." Nate smiled, scooting in closer to rest his head on Sean's shoulder. Sean moved his hand to rest on Nate's lower back, when the elevator dinged. Forcing himself to follow the others out, Sean dragged his feet. He didn't want the day to end... Yet, he could feel it approaching.

The girls were done for the day and as much as Nate wanted to stay. There was Pax to consider. Reluctantly turning in their gear, Sean followed Nate out to the car. Slipping into the passenger side, Sean pulled the Dino pin from his pocket. Staring at the snarling Raptor head with an egg in its mouth, Sean smirked to himself. Nate slipped into the driver side, starting up the car. Pocketing the pin again, Sean told Nate curiously. "Nate? Do you think I should go to Pax?" Nate kept his eyes on the rush of traffic, answering softly. "It depends. Is there a reason you want to avoid it?" Sean scoffed, slumping down in the seat as he mumbled out. "I can think of two in particular." Nate took a calm deep breath, then told him gently. "You can't be afraid to do things, because you fear running into them. If you want to go. Go. Nothing says you have to talk to them. Just remind yourself why you are really there. Don't let them keep you from living your life." Sean glanced out the window, replying softly. "I know... but they just have a way of getting to me. They know how weak I am."

Nate's hand reached out to rest on Sean's thigh, before he told him seriously. "You're a lot of things, Sean. Weak isn't one of them." Sean chuckled sarcastically, muttering out. "You saw what happened when I came back from walking Rylo... Mark didn't even have to try to get into my head. He broke me... What else would you call it?" Nate squeezed his thigh, telling him confidently. "The only one that can break you... is yourself. Everyone else just spouts what they believe are hurtful words at you. You choose the words they say to affect you. If you doubt something about yourself, then their words have advantage in the subject. You let those words in and you use them to beat yourself down." Sean gave a small shrug in response. Nate slid his hand off his leg to take ahold of the wheel, adding out sweetly. "Besides, If we were all perfect than we'd be robots. It's the mistakes and emotional agony that makes us human. Every person has a weakness. People will always seek to hit it in the hopes of covering up their own flaws. The trick to surviving is to know your weakness. Know it. Accept it. Fortify it."

Sean huffed, asking defensively. "How?" Nate straightened up in his seat, answering seriously. "I know who I am. Even if no one else sees it. I'm not going to let anyone change me. They can say whatever they want about me... I refuse to let it. Because if I let it in, then I start to believe them. I won't let them drown me for their own pleasure. I'm not perfect and I don't pretend to be. I'm just the best me. They can't hurt you with things you already know about yourself. By that point, they are just stating the obvious." Nate chuckled a little and Sean smiled. Turning his head to look at Nate, Sean softly uttered out. "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." Nate laughed whole heartily, before telling him sweetly. "Well, the verbal ones anyway. I'm sure hitting someone with a book is a loophole." Sean laughed loudly, before chuckling out. "Leave it to our generation to destroy an age old saying with a loophole." Nate chuckled, snarking back playfully. "We are just sarcastic enough to point out obvious solutions."