Chapter 6 #2
If Nathan concentrates, he can follow the stretched silhouette of Will’s emotions.
It’s like walking over an arched bridge, unable to see the other side of the descent and yet still knowing exactly what’s there.
With every kiss the path grows clearer, more distinct, sparkling with meaning like rainbows bursting from a piece of glass when the light hits just right.
The brightness on the other side of the bridge is stunning, Will’s emotions as dazzling as the sun.
They sit on the bench for hours, kisses interspersed with bursts of conversation. Will worries about what it means, their bond, when he’s a Blank and Nathan’s not, which Nathan quite frankly can’t bring himself to care about.
Will is his and he is Will’s, bonded forever. How can the future be anything but bright? How can anyone argue with this feeling, this connection?
Will breaks off a kiss and presses their foreheads together. “Nathan. Nate. My Nate.”
Laughter bubbles free from Nathan’s tingling lips. “I like the sound of that. Yours. Even if my dad would go nuts hearing you shorten my name.”
“I don’t care. I just… I want something to whisper in your ear. Something only I call you. Something just for us.”
Nathan feels like he’s melting, turning into a warm, happy puddle in the wintery air. “Us sounds so good. Call me Nate, Nathan, whatever. Just keep calling me yours.”
Their lips collide, drawn together like magnets, unable to let go even if they wanted to.
Eventually the kisses grow heavy and sultry, hormones and the bond and years of quiet yearning compressing into a ball of need that sits low in Nathan’s belly. He can feel Will’s desire, more confident and less fearful, tinged with regret.
“I wish I’d waited for you.”
“I know. I wish we could have had that together, but—”
“It’ll be another kind of first time.”
Nathan smiles and then starts, remembering the silver on Miriam’s wrist. “Hey, where do you think our markings are?”
Will smiles, pure happiness lighting his eyes. “Most people get them somewhere on their arms, right?”
They push their sleeves up eagerly, shivering in the cold and too excited to care.
There are faint markings glowing on the insides of their forearms, trailing indistinctly upwards.
Nathan traces the hazy shapes just under Will’s skin, following them into the inside of his elbow, where they merge with the blackwork butterfly tattoo he got when he was seventeen.
“I can always get it removed if it doesn’t look right with the markings. They’re more important.” Will strokes Nathan’s nascent marks, tilting his arm this way and that so the light catches the subtle multicoloured glimmer of them. “I wonder how far up your arm they go.”
“I could send you a photo later?” Nathan winks, blushing almost immediately.
“I’d like that. If you’re comfortable. We don’t need to rush into anything.”
Nathan can’t help but feel cherished. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” Will leans forward, kissing him again. “I’ve loved you forever. I can’t wait to love you in a new way.”
Eventually the sun starts to sink in the sky, the passage of time unaffected as much as they might wish otherwise. Will insists on walking him home, pulling him under a tree to claim one last kiss and a promise to talk later.
Nathan has to repress his grin as he walks into the house.
He can hear his father talking to someone, so he runs up the stairs, careful to keep his steps as quiet as possible, and throws himself on his bed. Safe in his room, he grins as widely as he wants to, hugging himself happily as he thinks about what the future will hold.
He goes to send Will a message, but he can’t quite figure out how to put his emotions into words. As he stares at the screen, he sees that Will is typing, and within a few moments, his phone vibrates.
I love you, I love you, I love you
He replies with a string of sappy gibberish and closes his eyes, phone clutched to his chest, falling back into euphoria.
“Nathan.”
His eyes fly open and he’s sitting up before he knows what’s happening. His father is standing beside his bed, eyebrows knitted together. “Um… yeah?”
“I’ve been calling you for ages. You look… what happened?”
Naive joy carries the news from his mouth before he has a chance to think. “Will and I. We’re bonded. He’s my bondmate.”
His father’s face slackens and turns pale as he staggers back on his heels. “You and… Will?”
Nathan frowns, confused.
“You’re bonded with a… with a Blank.” His father’s voice trembles with emotion.
Nathan scrambles to stand, grateful that the bed is between them. “Yeah. Happened a few hours ago. We couldn’t be happier.”
“Oh, you’re happy, are you? What kind of future do you think you’ll have with a…
with a Blank? You think you’ll get a happy ever after with him?
” His father is shouting now, and Nathan presses his back against the wall, his pulse racing.
“You won’t consummate it, this so-called bond.
You’re going to live with your uncle. We’ll leave tonight. ”
Nathan is so shocked he can’t speak.
He realises he’s shaking his head. “I’m not going anywhere. If you don’t want me under your roof anymore, that’s fine, I’ll move out, but I will not leave my bondmate. I won’t leave Will.”
His father laughs, an ominous, humourless sound. “You forget, boy, that while you might think yourself a grown-up, you are not legally an adult, and as your father, my decisions are final, and that includes where you live. You leave tonight. Pack some clothes.”
Nathan’s eyes snap back to his phone, lying on the edge of the bed. Before he has the chance to move a muscle, his father snatches it.
“You won’t be contacting Will again. I’ll be keeping this. Pack some clothes, Nathan, or you’ll go with nothing.”