Rebound Pt. 04

"Well... I think I already am." He said. "I definitely might be kinda a little head over heels." He blushed. "You sure this won't cause a shitstorm of trouble for you?"

"No more than for you." I grinned. "Takes two to tango, stud." Nate laughed.

"No one would ever blame me." He batted his eyelashes at me and I slapped him playfully on the shoulder.

"Cut that out!" He grinned and I caught his hand and kissed each of his fingers. "So you don't mind if I move out?" I asked. He squeezed my hand and sighed a little as he looked at me.

"I'll miss you in my bed every night." He said quietly.

"Yeah but my bed's bigger anyway." He smiled.

"Alright, dude. You're right. This place gets smaller by the day." Funny how he calls me dude. Levi always called me darling. I used to feel special when he'd say that- I was HIS darling. But I was Nate's dude, and the way he said he was so sweet and soft and I knew it meant more than a thousand of Levi's darlings.

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Months later.

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Jude

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"Oh fuck." Nate said.

"Huh?" I glanced at him. He was leaning on the bar and staring very pointedly at the scant drinks list in front of him

"Your ex is here." He muttered. I tightened my mouth. We don't see him much. Obviously we sort of go out of our way to avoid him. Not that I don't see him- Denise was true to her word and refused to let me go, and Levi and I saw each other at least once a month when our visits overlapped. We were kind and polite to one another, and he asked me about Nate, and I asked him about work because his whole new thing with men seemed way too complicated for me. Nate knew. He didn't... mind. He knew I didn't have a family and he loved his own mum so much I think he understood my need for Denise. But he didn't exactly love it. So we avoided seeing Levi, or talking about Levi.... but you know, this is a small city. I motioned for two glasses of the free plonk they call champagne at these events and handed one to Nate.

"Ye-ah... thought he might be." I mumbled. "Drink up."

"Way ahead of you." He finished his first glass with an impressive scull and grabbed mine, with an apologetic smile that was cute enough I wasn't really mad at him. I made a mental note to slow him down in a minute though as I grabbed another two. He's always been more into uh.... Less... legal ways to relax, and as a result his alcohol tolerance is surprisingly low for a lad in his late twenties. "Ah crap." He mumbled as he glanced across the room. "He's coming over."

"You can run away, dude." Nate squeezed my shoulder.

"Na, gotta like you know, defend my territory or whatever."

"Defend your WHAT?" I raised my eyebrows. "Last time I checked I was a man not a fucking disputed piece of land." Nate grinned.

"No dispute." He said. "Mine." He took a deep breath and plastered the fakest smile I've ever seen on his face as Levi approached us. I straightened up and nodded at Levi. He smiled at me.

"It's been too long." He shook my hand and leant on the bar next to me, reaching for a glass of something red. He glanced at Nate and looked him over. Nate's hand drifted to mine and I squeezed it tightly. He didn't need this. Levi was such an ass.

"Ah, Levi, nice to see ya- but we gotta gap..." Levi blinked at me. He looked kind of... amused.

"Gotta gap?" He raised his eyebrows and looked at Nate with a grin. "That has to be your influence, Jude used to talk like an adult." To his credit Nate laughed.

"Ah shit." He said. "That is all me, sorry dude." He smiled at me. "Terrible influence. Jude's even got a tattoo now." Levi's eyes flew open.

"Really?" He stared at me. "Where?" I laughed.

"Ah, story for another time. Nice to see you Lee." I ushered Nate away from the bar and he gave me a grateful look as we found some of our colleagues.

"Thanks." He said. "Thought I could do that. Sorry." I shrugged.

"I'm not ready either." I glanced back to the bar, where Levi had been joined by his latest whoever, and he was draped around him, as charming and lithe, and blonde as ever. I looked back to Nate. He grinned as he followed my gaze.

"Well, I'm definitely cooler." I laughed.

"Hotter." I kissed his forehead. "Kinder. Funnier...." Nate held his hand up and cut me off.

"Ergh." He mumbled. "Ok, no more comparing me to your ex. Tonight's about me." I nodded.

"Every night's about you, you're very demanding, but yes." I grinned as he punched me lightly in the arm and grabbed another glass of bubbles from a caterer passing by. "And slow down." I took the glass from him. He pouted. "Don't be cute." I rolled my eyes. "That doesn't work on me anymore." Nate wrapped his arm around me.

"Really?" He blinked his big blue eyes at me. "You sure?" I smiled at him. Ugh. I love him so much. I am completely and utterly wrapped around his finger. I don't even bother to pretend I'm not anymore. But one of us has to be an adult sometimes.

"Nate! Congrats!" Ryan suddenly appeared between us, thankfully parting Nate and his wine which I was seconds from giving back to him. Ryan pulled Nate away to go and socialise, while I ended up on the outskirts. Nate's so good with people, in a way I never really got the hang of. He was making everyone laugh- he always was. He'd actually taken to an office cubicle like a duck to water, and was always remembering people's birthdays and listening to their life stories and somehow still managing to get his actual work done.

"Well." He admitted to me once. "To be honest the work is really easy. I just have to be careful or they'll give me a promotion so I like to balance out my day with a lot of gossip." I rolled my eyes at him.

"You could be in middle management last year if you applied yourself." Nate shook his head.

"Nu-uh." He said firmly. "You're management material. I'm here to look pretty dangling off your arm."

"Well, you definitely do a good job at that." I teased. I wondered if he'd ever change his mind. He was a little hesitant with new things, but once he felt confident he would usually quietly take over. He's an airhead, yes, but he's actually very smart. It makes me a little insecure sometimes because Nate's everything. Talented, smart, kind, popular. God, sometimes I really wonder what he's doing with me. And whenever I do, he always turns around and gives me that smile... and that's it. He's here because he loves me. God knows what I bring to the table... ok well, literally I do bring food to the table. Nate still can't cook to save his life. Maybe that's enough.

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"They're doing the ceremony soon." I heard Ryan say. "Maybe we should get moving..." I glanced down at my arm which was suddenly in a vice like grip. Nate had gone white and was clutching me for dear life.

"I think I'm going to throw up." He said stiffly. I put my arm around him.

"You're fine." I said. "We practised. Just look at me and pretend it's just us." He closed his eyes and winced.

"Can we just leave?" He whispered. I stroked his back and held him.

"Well, yeah. Of course we can." I touched his cheek and he blinked up at me. "You wanna ditch?" I asked. Nate sighed.

"Yes."

"Well let's go then." I kissed his head and he sighed.

"I can't." He said. "But thank you for giving me the option. Ok. Let's get through it." He squeezed my hand.

"Another drink?" I offered without thinking. He grinned.

"Why not?"

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Nate was gracious in his acceptance speech. Probably only I could tell he was bordering on chopped- I don't think the stumble he did on stage was taken as anything more than nerves or the usual Nate just generally being bad at walking. He said that he was humbled to be there tonight among so many outstanding members of the community and he felt he'd cheated the system by basically hanging out with animals. But his Wellingtonian Award wasn't just to do with Nate's voluntary work with animals and we all knew that. They'd gone into detail about his work with marginalised groups, his work with Russell on the non profit they'd built together providing gender affirming clothes and free therapy to those who couldn't afford it- he even put me to shame by petitioning for a more vocal Maori and Pacific Island LGBTQIA+ presence in various government departments. Nate was a bouncing firecracker- he could never sit still, he could never do nothing if he could do something. He was the youngest person getting an award that night and he'd told me a million times he didn't deserve it. But he did. I knew he did. He thanked everyone he worked with as quickly as he could and paused before he escaped the stage.

"And thanks Jude." He swallowed. "Love you." He turned bright red and skipped off as quickly as possible. "Oh God." He mumbled as he threw himself in my arms. "That was awful." I kissed his forehead.

"Love you too." I whispered. "Proud of you." I held him as his breathing returned to normal and he slowly sat up in his chair as the other Wellingtonians being celebrated took their turns.

Levi was there because Edgar was on the Wellington City Council. I'd heard through the grapevine they were getting married. I'd also heard they'd reached an arrangement Levi and I could never manage, which is why he'd been draped around some other guy at the bar earlier. It was Edgar who welcomed Nate and the other award receivers back on stage for a final cheer and photo op. Levi glanced at me as Nate shook hands with the others and for a second the rest of the world fell away as I caught his eyes. He sighed deeply and ran his fingers through his hair. He looked at Nate, and he looked back to me, and he nodded slowly, and began to clap.

Maybe I couldn't read him- maybe I could- I don't know for sure. But I think I knew what he meant. I smiled as Nate sought me out. He was looking nervous again, going white and sweating... but he grinned as he saw me, and my stomach lit up because his smile has always made me happy.

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The photo that they ran in the paper is one of my favourite of Nate. They took it while we were smiling at each other. I framed it, because I'm allowed to do that, because I love him- and he complains how embarrassing it is every time he sees it. I like to move it around the flat to annoy him- putting it over the bed, or in the bathroom cabinet, or over the mantlepiece...

"Ugh." He rolled his eyes and threw it at me as he reached in the kitchen cabinet for a bottle of wine. "One of these days that's ending up in your ass if you're not careful."

"Wouldn't be the worst thing that's been up there." I grinned. "It's your fault. Don't be brilliant and I won't have to save pictures of you from the paper."

"Oh my God, shut up dude!" Nate hit me gently. "You know I was just a diversity award."

"You're still brilliant." He rolled his eyes.

"Come walk Wasabi with me?" He changed the subject. I grinned at the stupid and delightful Shiba Inu who's ears perked up the second she heard her name and the word 'walk'. Wasabi was being adopted in two weeks after months of being passed over because she only had three legs and in Nate's opinion the rich cunts who wanted Shibas were incapable of loving an imperfect dog. In the meantime she'd been living with us and was a pretty welcome addition to the rotating cast of cats and dogs and chickens and god knows what else Nate always seemed to be looking after.

"Landlord would flip if he saw the shit Wasabi gets up too." Nate bent down to pet the dog. I rolled my eyes.

"Landlord might have decided long ago that if he cared about resale value he'd be dating someone who didn't come with a small zoo." Nate grinned at me.

"I gotta put on real clothes."

I sighed as I attached a leash, waiting for Nate to get everything else together, and I scratched Wasabi's ears.

"You excited dummy?" I asked her, "You're getting adopted soon." The dog panted at me, smiling. I grinned at her, a little sadly. I'm sure her new owners were delightful and kind and lovely.... but damn I was going to miss this dope. Nate stumbled out of our bedroom after a minute, swearing, tangled in a leash. I laughed as I caught him. "I already have a leash." I pointed at Wasabi and Nate huffed.

"Tell me that before I almost garrotte myself next time." I grabbed his arm.

"God, how did you make it through childhood?" I sat him down and untangled him as he rolled his eyes at me.

"I genuinely think it's getting worse." He grunted. "Thanks, Jude." I kissed his forehead as we headed out.

"It's what I'm here for." I held his hand and we swung our arms as we headed to the dog park.

Nate lay down with me after I'd exhausted myself running around the park like a total dork playing fetch, and he entwined his hands with mine.

"You know, ditch the suits and you're actually kind of an idiot, Jude." I laughed.

"It's that stupid dog." I said, watching Wasabi wind up a dog twice his size. "I think I love her." I sighed and Nate grinned at me.

"How much do you love her?" He said. I sat up and narrowed my eyes at Nate. I knew that tone of voice. He blushed as I looked at him- still cute, but decidedly less cute with that guilty tone of voice attached.

"Nate..." Nate bit his lip.

"Lot's right? Like you wouldn't be mad if I got really upset when her owners backed out last second and I felt really bad and maybe I stepped in and filled in some paperwork...."

"Nate!" I laughed happily. "Please tell me when we adopt a kid you'll at least ask me?"

"But you love Wasabi!"

"Yeah, you got lucky this time." I squeezed his waist. Nate suddenly froze and looked at me.

"Wait. WHEN we adopt a kid?" I bit my lip and shrugged.

"Uhhh...."

"Uhhhhh." He mocked me. "Kid, huh? A human one?" He stared at me, resting his head in his hands as I looked literally anywhere else.

"Well..." I swallowed. "Well. I think we'd be pretty great for a kid. A human one." Nate looked away from me, and he reached for my hand.

"Ok." He said slowly. "Uhh... like not tomorrow or anything...." I started to laugh.

"No." I smiled. "And I guess.... On that note I have to say that marriage turns out to be... not my thing...." Nate shrugged.

"That's ok." He said quietly. "It was never my thing either." He cleared his throat. "Having said that I'm not opposed to... like... spending the rest of my life with you." He looked down at his lap and I could almost feel my heart growing.

"Oh... Nate...." I couldn't stop myself. I pulled him close to me, circling my arms around him... and Wasabi was suddenly all over us, slobbering on our faces. I grinned as I pulled her off and tried to allay her jealousy. "Would you?" I asked Nate, as we stood up and gathered the random objects that Wasabi had deep seeded affection for together for the walk home.

"Would I what?" He grinned at me.

"Would you... not marry me, but spend the rest of your life with me anyway, and adopt two human kids and like, god, maybe 20 canine ones?"

"Yeah." He rolled his eyes. "Of course. Although I really think we should start with just one dog and see if that works."

"You're the one who adopted one without telling me."

"And also, Jude, you're like total DILF material don't get me wrong...." I laughed and nudged him in the ribs as he winked at me. "But I'm a few years away from taking care of myself, let alone a kid. A human one." I wrapped my arm over his shoulder and squeezed it as Wasabi led us home.

"I didn't mean anytime soon." I said, staring at the sky. "And for what it's worth- if, or when you think you might be ready... You'd be an amazing Dad. You'll make them laugh, and you can help with their homework, and you'll be the cool one, and I'll be the strict one which sucks but let's be realistic here, and I'll probably do all the cooking, but I quite like cooking..." Nate squeezed my hand.

"I think about it too." He said quietly.

We walked in silence, our hands entwined, both of us in our own worlds, when Nate was suddenly yanked away by Wasabi, who'd spotted something she found really interesting on the other side of the road. He swore as he chased after her, expertly dodging traffic, before falling over in his attempt to catch her. She jumped on top of him, adoring the new game. I tried not to laugh too much and I slowly jogged over to join him and helped him up. "On second thoughts, Jude, you might be the cool dad." He grumbled. I pulled him into my arms.

It didn't really matter. As long as it was Nate, I didn't really care if I was cool, or smart, or handsome, or anything really. I squeezed his hand as we walked back to the house.

"Love you." I said absentmindedly. He said nothing. I glanced down at him and he smiled as he looked up.

"Crazy isn't it?" He said. "I never thought I'd say that to anyone, least of all the hot married guy who drinks too much coffee that Russell kept telling me to stop bugging." I snorted.

"Well, you know. We're Bella and Edward or whatever." Nate nudged my ribs.

"Not Bella and Edward." He rolled his eyes. "I've come to the conclusion we're both way smarter."

"No shit." I smiled. "So who then?" Nate grinned at me.

"Nate and Jude." He said. "Trust me, that's a really fucking good love story." I grinned and kissed his forehead.

"I love a story with a happily ever after." I said. He paused on the doorstep to our house and wrapped his arms around me. I closed my eyes, and pressed my lips to his, and I giggled as Wasabi whined and scratched against the door, doing her best to ruin the mood. Nate blinked his big blue eyes at me and we smiled at each other.

"Me too." He said.

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FIN

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