Wow. This is my first ever original slash fic and I'm thrilled. This opening chapter's a bit brief, but it's designed to give everyone a feel for the characters (whom I loved to death) and hopefully make you want the second chap! It's already in the works. So here goes.

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Nate sighed loudly as he unclipped the leash and watched Luna amble over to the couch. He was tired, hungry, and badly in need of a shower. But he had a lab write-up to do, so everything else was on hold. As he made his way to the back of the house, however, the voice that he had initially written off as temporary insanity grew louder. He froze.

There was someone there. Oh God, all of his worst nightmares were about to be realized. It was some horrible criminal who was going to rape and murder him and they would never find his body and…He breathed in deeply. He needed to calm himself down; after all, they didn’t know he was here yet. He had the advantage. With his nerves steeled and his muscles tensed, Nate crept towards the door he was sure the voice was coming from.

And ran right into said intruder. Shocked, Nate lifted his eyes and found another teenage boy staring right back at him. With some effort, Nate schooled his features into nonchalance and gazed at the things the thief had dropped.

“You know, that DVD player’s broken.” The boy just stared back at him, one eyebrow raised. “Look, I’m just pointing out that it would have been worthless to you.”

“I could have sold it.”

“And have to explain, to the sort of person who buys stolen goods, why it doesn’t work?” The thief at least had the good sense to look embarrassed. “You really suck at this.”

“What?”

“You. Suck. At. This.”

“Suck at what?”

“At stealing. I mean, you picked pretty bad stuff to steal; a broken DVD player and about forty bucks, I knew you were here before you noticed me, and you let me catch you.”

“Shut up. I’m sure you couldn’t do any better.”

“I’d sure as hell realize that you can see the sidewalk from the bedroom window. If you’d been thinking, you’d have been watching.”

“I didn’t know when you’d be back.”

“All the more reason to watch, numbskull.” The other youth bristled at that.

“Look, I was a bit flustered, OK?”

Nate chuckled. “No need to get so feisty with me, I’m just pointing a few things out. Now, do you want something to eat?”

“What?”

“Are you deaf? I asked if you wanted some food.”

“I broke in to your apartment and you’re offering me dinner.”

“Yes. Now, what do you want?” Nate shook his head when the other boy refused to speak. “I have chicken, ramen, cereal, cheese…um… leftover pizza and maybe some bagels. I think they might have gone moldy, though.”

He was rewarded with a blank stare.

“Oh, and if you think of running or anything, just remember; I know exactly what you look like and I have no qualms about calling the cops. And I doubt you have a gun on you.”

The thief muttered something under his breath.

“What was that?”

“Anything’s fine.”

“Hmm?”

“Whatever you’re having is fine! Jesus, how many times to I have to repeat myself?”

“Ramen, then? I’ve got a lot of work left to do and I don’t feel like making anything complicated.”

“Sure.” He slid into a stool at the bar, lackadaisically watching Nate light the stove and fill a pot with water. As they waited for it to boil, an uncomfortable silence took hold of them. “I’m Alex, by the way.”

“Nice to know. A bit out the blue, but nice to know.”

“Well, you’re feeding me. The least I could do is tell you my name.”

“True.” Just then the water started boiling and Nate hastily turned down the setting on the stove before adding two packets of ramen and prodding them gingerly with a fork. The awkward silence struck Alex again as he tried find something to say.

“Umm…aren’t your parents gonna be pissed when they find out you invited a criminal to stay for dinner?”

“No.” Nate didn’t even look up from the pot, taking it off of the stove and leaving on the counter as he took out two blue bowls.

“They’re that chill, huh?”

“No. They’re not here.” Nate divided the noodles equally between the two bowls. “How much water do you want in yours?”

“Just a little bit. That’s fine, thanks.” Nate added most of the remaining water to his bowl, then took the stool next to Alex. Without speaking, he started adding flavoring to his ramen, handing Alex his packet with his other hand.

“They don’t live here.”

“What?”

“Heh. I guess you really are deaf.” He smiled softly. “My parents. They don’t live here. You looked like you were going to explode if you didn’t ask.”

“Oh. Are they…”

“No, they live on the other end of town. We just don’t get along well, to put it mildly.”

“Obviously. How do you pay for this place?”

“It’s not that expensive. Just a couple hundred a month, and I told the landlord that I didn’t have a job, so he went easy on me. My parents paid for the first month, and then I found a job.”

“They paid for you to move out? Man, I wish my parents would do that.”

“Yeah, they wanted me gone that badly. My mom’s been threatening to kick me out since I was twelve. She actually got her way this time.” Nate smiled bitterly and began to eat, now that copious amounts of steam had ceased to issue from his ramen. A bit embarrassed at the revelation, Alex hurriedly turned to his own bowl. After a few minutes, Nate rose and made his way towards the pitiful, ancient fridge.

“Want a drink?”

“Sure. What do you have?”

“Water, milk, orange juice, Powerade, Cocaine…”

“W-what?”

“…Mellow Yellow, like, a Coke, umm…scratch the milk, it’s definitely gone bad. Dammit, I don’t want to have to go to the store tomorrow.”

“Cocaine?”

“You know, the energy drink. You can’t have any. It’s too expensive for me to give to random guests.”

“Can I have the Coke?”

“Yeah, sure, I don’t really like the stuff. Friend of mine left some over here ‘cause she’s freakin’ addicted to them.” He reached in to the fridge and retrieved the requested soda, as well as a bottle of Powerade. “To be honest, I only drink soda for the caffeine.”

“You could drink coffee,” Alex suggested.

“It takes too much time to make, and I’m not very good at it.”

“It’s really not that hard.” Alex smirked, opening his coke and chugging at least a quarter of it. Nate just glared at him.

"We all have our little problems.” Nate took his seat and quickly finished his food. He then took his bowl and spoon into the kitchen and placed them in a older-looking dishwasher. Alex made a move to get up and help with his own dishes, but Nate picked them up before he had a chance.

“I have my own way of arranging the dishes. I get pissed whenever someone else does it.”

“That’s kinda strange, not gonna lie.” Alex raised his hands in mock-defense and moved backwards a few steps.

“Haha. Living alone gives you weird neuroses, let me tell you.” Nate shrugged fluidly and held the Coke can out to Alex.

“Thanks,” he muttered, and took another long drink. “So, um, I guess I should head home and all…” Unsure of what to say, he trailed off. Nate nodded imperceptibly.

“Door’s right there.” He gestured with his right hand before heading towards his bedroom and the lab report he had meant to do before he ran into Alex. Once in the doorway to his room, he sagged against the wall and waited for the click of the door before he slid to the ground.

Outside, Alex looked up at the darkening sky and cursed. It was going to rain and he had no bus tickets. He glanced back at the door to Nate’s apartment and weighed his options. Walk the fifteen minutes home, possibly in the rain, or stay with the creepy kid who was just going to do his homework the whole time. Not really a difficult decision. Still, as he shoved his hands in his pockets and headed down the sidewalk, he couldn’t help looking over his shoulder again.

Maybe he’d pay creepy kid another visit.

-

Next time (dun dun dun!): Alex pays Nate another visit, character descriptions, and a rather unorthodox storm-scene.