Meant To Be (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Decisions

 

What in God’s name am I doing? Nate gripped the steering wheel with enough force to make his knuckles turn white and stared at the road ahead like he was trying to decipher the Da Vinci code, anything to keep his eyes from wandering over to the young homeless guy’s cute face. CUTE?! He swerved slightly and saw Alex’s hand grip the seat tighter. At this rate he was going to give the poor guy a heart attack. Nate breathed deeply and stopped at a red light; he turned to look at Alex, who had removed his hood once inside the car.

“My house isn’t far from here.”

Alex looked at him, blue eyes wide, “Okay.”

Nate cleared his throat, “Do you want to stop at Burger King or something?” Wonderful, yes, there’s a nutritious place to eat. He silently scolded himself.

“No.”

The redhead was still staring at Alex when the lights turned green and the car behind had to beep before Nate realised. He sped off a little too fast, cursing under his breath. He still didn’t know why he’d decided to take the youngster home. Something in his brain had just forced him to take care of Alex once he’d seen his face. It was as though someone else had been controlling his body and before he could do anything about it, Alex was already in his car, on the way to his house. Alex could obviously see Nate’s inner turmoil and spoke up, a blankness clouding his face,

“You don’t have to take me to your house, you know. You could drop me off right now.” He didn’t look away from the windscreen as he spoke.

Nat stopped mid-argument inside his head and turned to look at his passenger, “No. Of course I won’t do that. You’re coming home with me.” He watched as Alex’s expression turned to one of worry,

“Do I have to… do anything?” His cheeks flushed a little as he asked.

“’Do’?” Nate’s eyes widened as the realisation of the question hit him, “No! No, of course not!” God, what had this kid been through exactly? It was a question he wasn’t sure he wanted the answer to.

The rest of the journey was spent in silence; now and then Nate glanced over at Alex but he didn’t dare look for more than a couple of seconds in case he got caught. Once he pulled into his driveway, Alex was snoring softly in the passenger seat. Nate prodded the sleeping boy’s shoulder softly and the blonde’s eyes shot open. For a moment, Nate thought Alex was going to hit him but he managed to control himself and quickly got out of the car. He stared at Nate’s house as the redhead fumbled for his keys and then waited to be invited inside once Nate had the door open.

Nate kicked off his shoes, Alex doing the same, and gestured to the living room, “Make yourself at home. There’s a bathroom and spare bedroom down the hall so you can go clean yourself up if you want,” Nate gestured towards the cut on Alex’s cheek, “I’ve got some antiseptic wipes too if you need some.”

Alex muttered a ‘thanks’ and made his way down the hall. Nate’s house wasn’t exactly huge but it wasn’t cramped either; the hallway was quite narrow and Alex could see a study and another small living space through two open doors. Once at the end of the hall, he stepped into the small bedroom and took off his big coat, wincing as it caught the gash on his cheek. There was a wardrobe and a set of drawers on one side of the room and a window on the other, which overlooked a square-shaped garden, complete with tool shed.