HomHS - Nate's Story Ch. 01

Nate's story: Chapter 1 - Jellybeans and games

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Author's note: I had a very pleasant conversation with one of my readers. I can understand that this side story is very sought after by readers of HomHS, and I haven't released it due to spoilers in it.

But it's true that those had been revealed in published chapters, and this reason is, therefore, no longer valid.

For that reason, I will treat this side story as every other, and I will release the first three chapters for public view.

SPOILER WARNING, if you haven't read up to chapter 22 HomHS and at least chapter 22 My New Personal Assistant.

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Friday, Feb. 7th, 2020:

I knocked on the door, and it took a while till Matt opened it. He was grinning like crazy and had a glass in hand.

"Wait for me, you bastard; Nate is here!" he turned to me with a wide smile. "Nate!"

I stared him down and asked if he was going to let me in. His expression shifted, and he looked at the opened packet of jellybeans in my hand. With understanding eyes grabbed my earpad and put it to his ear.

"Come in, man," he said cautiously and stepped aside.

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"Naate!" Everyone started cheering, but they all shut up upon seeing me.

"What's he listening to?" Daniel asked Matt as I just walked straight into the kitchen. It was separated from the living room only by a marble island, so I had a perfect view of all my buddies on chairs and sofa.

"Meshuggah."

"Damn..."

Everyone turned to me with worried and crumbled faces.

"What's going on, buddy?"

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One of the downsides of not drinking alcohol or smoking is that there are not many vices one can indulge in when he feels down like I do today. Well, down is not correct; I am furious beyond measure!

I stuck a hand into the poor packet and put a fistful of that colored sugar into my mouth so I didn't have to answer yet. I took a glass, filled it with water, and listened to the last verses of the song in my right ear.

I turned to the guys, and they just stared at me. Waiting. They knew me well enough to care. I don't get mad often. I am a fucking chilled person! Not really, but I make fucking sure I look the part!! God!!!

I love these men! They are still just sitting there and looking at me.

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I took my earpad out and turned off the music. "I have a new roommate," I said in pretend cheery voice.

John and Daniel looked at each other, and Matt raised his brow. "What do you mean?" Bran frowned.

I shrugged and took a sip of water. "What I said. Actually, he is not my roommate as I don't have a room anymore."

"What the heck is going on, Nate?!" Daniel looked at me sternly, expecting a clear answer. Poor Blake, she will have a hard time dealing with him when he will be worried for her.

I put my glass down and threw one candy in my mouth. "Well, today I met a new family member, or I suppose an old one... If you would like to know, not like I should be included in this apparently, but Ashley has a little brother."

"What?!"

"He is not that little, really, though. I think he is about my size but on steroids." That guy must live in the gym. I like to work out, but I never cared to look as ripped as he does.

"What are you talking about?!"

"This nice man came today, took his bags into my room, and claimed it his, as he let Ashley know ten days prior that he would come. She forgot to mention it. Probably must have slipped her mind as that little detail that she had got a brother in the first place!"

"Fuck!"

"Didn't her brother die?"

I grabbed a handful of jellybeans and chugged them into my mouth. "Obviously, we have different interpretations of the word dead. Cos he looks pretty much alive to me!" I said after I swallowed. I was pissed, I was fucking livid, and what didn't make anything better was that I was just evicted without notice or discussion.

"Just throw him out!"

"Thank you, John. It didn't cross my mind once!" I rolled my eyes. "You know that isn't the main issue. I would let him live there have I known he would come."

"Then what is the issue?"

"First, he is her brother, and the house is also his, legally. Second," I calmed down a little by now. I remembered our talk in my room when Rick helped me pack my things. "He may not be that big of a prick; I am just so mad at Ashley for not telling me! Like seriously! He is her brother... One that supposedly died when he was 21...! Ashley never wanted to talk about it as I never wanted to talk about Luke, but the point that we bonded over the early deaths of our younger brothers is killing me to the point of hating her at this moment!"

Guys looked at me with understanding faces; the eminent sadness in the room was heavy. I threw out the empty packet and came to sit on the couch next to Bran. He hugged me around the shoulders, and I soon felt Daniel's hand on my back. My eyes filled with tears, and I wiped them away as memories flooded my conciseness.

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"Why didn't she tell you?" Daniel asked behind me.

I smirked in frustration. "She kindly pointed out that she just never corrected me when we spoke about it."

"Classy..."

"Yeah, but didn't Dave and Martha say he is dead?"

"Father did, but mother always just started crying, and Ashley usually left the room after that. So we never spoke about it properly." Although they were just my in-laws, they insisted I call them mother and father. I liked them. They had their quirks but were nice people, at least in comparison to my parents, so I never minded.

"Maybe some other brother died?" John tried.

I shook my head. "No, I asked. Father meant this one. They renounced him."

"Why did they say he is dead then?" Bran asked.

"Some people consider that the same. I suppose he died for them. Why?" Matt spoke softly.

We just looked at him.

"Cos he came out as gay."

They all went quiet. Bran stood up, paced into the kitchen, took out a glass, and slammed the cupboard shut with a loud bang. But every one of us had the same look --absolute disgust and anger. How dared they?!

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"So let me be clear," Bran started filling his glass. "They renounced their son cos he likes guys, called him dead, and now four years after their death he came back home? Why does he even bother?"

"His landlord didn't prolong his lease, and he will stay there just for a few days or weeks till he finds a place to live."

"He can come to live here," Matt spoke seriously.

"Yeah, sure."

"I mean it. I don't need a fuck-place when Natasha is out of the picture anyway."

"Man, what kind of rent would he even pay for staying here?" I couldn't imagine the price of this place; with the location, the rent would probably be at least triple what he paid before wherever he lived.

"I don't care. We can discuss it based on how big of a prick he is."

"No, Matt. Thanks. I wouldn't want that."

"Why?"

"First, he doesn't know you, and second, I don't know that guy yet. I am not letting him live in your place."

"He is an adult; I am sure he can take care of himself," Daniel said.

"And he is staying in your room? Why? Can't he sleep on the couch?"

"No, John, that room was previously his, and from the way he spoke, I believe he assumes I sleep with Ashley."

"And where will you be sleeping?"

"With Ashley."

"Damn... You sure?"

"Yeah, we had one bed before. It will be fine. But I need to talk with her about this."

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"To be fair, you haven't told her about Luke much yourself."

"The difference, John, is that Rick is still alive; I haven't let her believe a lie like this!"

"Seriously, John, shut up!" Daniel growled at John.

"It's fine, Daniel. Just don't fight the two of you; I have enough stress as it is."

"And what about the nightmares?" Daniel looked at me with a severe look.

"I don't know. I suppose I will have to deal with it somehow. She knows about them, so she should survive a couple of nights. But, honestly, man, at this point, I am fine with sleeping on the couch if it comes to that."

"Do you still have those?" Bran asked caringly. Right, I speak with Daniel regularly, but with the rest of the guys, we meet maybe a couple of times a month, not to mention Matt's recent wall.

"I don't think they ever left; it's just that sometimes I manage to fall asleep again and don't remember it in the morning," I said truthfully.

"Right..."

"I told you, man. You should treat it somehow."

"No thanks. The last thing I need is not to be able to fall asleep without some pills."

"Suit yourself."

"It's fine. I am pretty much used to them by now. We are old buddies with every single protagonist."

Daniel just shook his head.

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We talked some more, and then John started talking about the pandemic. He and Abigail travel a lot, and he takes great interest in what is happening worldwide. So he took all the news about it very seriously. We knew about it since the first case in the US.

"Man... This is heavy. I hope the three of you won't get stuck there during the pandemic."

"It shouldn't be as bad here."

"I just hate the thought of being stuck in the house for I do know how long."

Daniel rolled his eyes and snarled at him. "Thank you, John. I am sure you will be fine. You will have lots of sex and somehow survive."

"Dan, seriously, stop it, you two." Matt interrupted John's response by putting his hand on John's shoulder.

Those two just stared at one another. Of course, they love each other, but oil and water are an understatement of how incompatible they are. John looked away, and Matt went to the kitchen and stood next to Bran.

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"Let's just talk about something else," I sighed.

"Sure, I think we have a lot more cheerful topics," Bran started laughing. "I finally got all paperwork from the divorce, so I am officially a single man," Bran slammed twice the counter in front of him. "Dan?"

"Are we doing this now? Daniel looked at Bran. "Fine, I haven't slept properly for weeks, and I am seriously in the stage when I go to work to take a breather," he hit twice the coffee table in front of us. "Matt?"

"I hate this game!"

We all started laughing. "You invented it, prick. Your turn!"

"It was more fun back when we were twenty-plus and drunk for that. Okay, I am officially single as well," he looked around, and we frowned. The deal is saying something that is bothering you, and no one can respond. We all knew that Matt was not hurt by Natasha leaving, so he didn't fill the conditions, and he knew it. "Okay, you bastards, the person I want is refusing to be with me," he banged twice on the counter. "John."

He sighed... "Damn... Okay, I feel like I am getting old for Abigail," he tapped the table. "Back to you, Nate."

"I have a brother-in-law."

After that, John, Dan, and I started banging with our fists on the coffee table in front of us and Matt with Bran on the counter. We kept the rhythm for a few moments.

I really did feel better afterward.

"I am glad I have you guys."

"I second that!" Bran grinned, and we all smiled.

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We spent the evening talking about various things, ate pizza in front of us, and slowly my bad mood dissolved. I still didn't know how I would speak about it with Ashley. It bothered me that she kept something like this from me and demanded that I move into her room. Even if it's just a few days, this is not the right approach, and I honestly expected better from her.

With that, I remembered I wanted to try something.

"Daniel?"

"Yeah?"

"I have a strange request, can I?"

"Sure."

"Can I sniff your neck?"

They all started laughing. I looked at him seriously.

"Really?" he grinned.

"Yeah," I said as if I asked him to hand me a pen and not this.

He grinned more and put his glass down. "Go for it."

I leaned over and sniffed his neck. He wore cologne I knew well by now. I smelled his musky sweat under that but nothing else... and it didn't do much to me. Maybe I was just stressed from everything happening, and my body reacted weirdly.

"So? How do I smell?"

"Good." I grinned, and he laughed.

"Me, me! Now me!" Bran raised his hand.

"Sure, come here!" I had to laugh.

"Are we now making a new game? I am not sniffing any of you!"

"Come on, Matty! You know the rules. Every game needs to be tried at least once."

"It's not a game, Bran. I was just curious." I smelled his neck with a smile as he leaned over me. "Yeah, you should shower. You stink," I winked at Bran.

"You know you love it!" he winked back at me, and we laughed. I loved how weird this guy is!

"What were you curious about?" Matt asked.

"Just that today I bumped into Rick. Yeah, that's his name, by the way."

"Your roommate?"

"My brother-in-law. My roommate is Ashley now."

"Right. So what about him?"

"Nothing, we just bumped into each other, and I smelled something I couldn't point my finger at, so I was curious if it's something I just never realized guys have."

Bran sat on the chair next to us. "That sounds strange, but feel free to share."

I laughed. "Thank you, Bran. It's nice to feel accepted."

"And what did you feel?" Bran asked.

"I don't know, really. It was just a brief moment. Probably I just imagined it."

"You can ask him what cologne he uses," Daniel shrugged with a smile.

"I don't think he uses any."

"Right, then it was just sweat," John pitched in.

"Thank you, man, you just enlightened me!" I laughed.

"Are we now seriously going to talk about how guys smell?"

"Sure. Care to join us, Matty?" Bran said smugly, staring at Matt.

He just shook his head.

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We played then a little, talked some more, and it was close to midnight when I came back in front of our house. I stepped out of the car and looked with contempt at the window where I had lived for the last few years. My intruder was probably doing something on my desk because he just stood up and looked from the window. I had to admit he looked huge and... good. His bulging biceps and pronounced stomach looked well from down here as he was shirtless. Seeing him reminded me of that instance when he caught me under the stairs. My body sent a strange chill down my stomach, and for some reason, I felt my cock stir. How interesting.

I unlocked the door and went to the kitchen, thinking... How much would I want Luke just to be renounced and live angry at me somewhere safe... What would I give if he would also be alive...

My eyes filled again with tears, and this time I let them. I don't know why Ashley hates her brother so much to call him dead, but I knew that I wanted to get to know this man. If there is a slight chance that he is a decent person, I want those two to have an opportunity to try to have a better relationship.

But now I needed to go to bed and await the tenants of my dreams. In what gruesome way will Luke die tonight? Well, let's hope it will be only him tonight. It was a pretty stressful day...

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