Meant to Be Chapter 4

Chapter Four: The Coming Storm

To say that it was raining would be an understatement. The heavens seemed to have opened and decided to spill forth every drop of water to have ever graced the Earth. Nate watched through the car window as people scuttled into shop doorways and used various objects as shelter; briefcases, carrier bags, their first born. The weather had changed so dramatically and quickly that no one was prepared, even Nate had forgotten his coat, although that could have been due to the fact that he had spontaneously hugged his new roomie. He swallowed dryly at the very sharp memory as he pulled into the car park beside the coffee shop.

With the grace of an injured antelope, Nate darted through the car park, into the coffee shop and shook his soaked hair like a dog, much to the dismay of nearby customers. He smiled meekly and made his way into the back room where he put on his apron and used a towel to pat himself down.

"Natey-Watey!" The voice was unmistakable. Lily.

She waved him into the storeroom, her brown bobbed hair bouncing, and he begrudgingly stepped into the confined space with her. Tins of coffee lined the walls, along with two large fridges full to the brim with milk and in the very corner of the room, a cardboard cut-out of Mel Gibson. Why Mel was there was a total mystery to Nate but he'd never found the opportune moment to ask about it. Maybe now was the time. First, however, he had to see what Lily wanted.

"You're soaked, poor thing!" She lifted her hand to pat his head but realised too late that she couldn't reach and brought it down to rest on his chest, "I need you to work a bit later today, Penny has the flu." Nate's annoyance must have shown on his face because Lily was talking again before he could respond, "Sorry for the late notice but no one else is available." Her hand was still resting on his damp shirt and in the small room Nate could smell her perfume as Lily tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

His shoulders slumped and he nodded, knowing there was no way out of it, "Alright. No problem." His thoughts turned to Alex and how he would be waiting for Nate at three, "Ah, I need to make a phone call!"

Before he could dash off, Lily grabbed his wrist and planted a large tin of coffee into his hands, "No time!" she waved a well-manicured hand towards the main shop, "We're super busy today because of the rain! Go! Serve people!"

And that was how the day continued; customer after customer and no minute spare to make his phone call. By three o'clock, Nate had forgotten all about letting Alex know that he would be late home and instead was busy mopping up spilled milkshake. That's when he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"Hey, Nate!" It was Kyle, his brother's partner. His glasses were steamed up and his scruffy hair was speckled with drops of paint, much like his t-shirt.

Nate smiled and stopped mopping, "Hiya! You alright?"

Kyle took off his glasses and started to wipe them with his shirt, frowning when paint transferred onto the lenses, "Not too bad, thanks." He was always a little more reserved when Simon wasn't around, something that Nate knew his brother found utterly adorable when he told him about it.

"Want something to drink?"

Kyle nodded, still concentrating on his now-green tinted glasses. As Nate started the coffee machine he stared into it's reflective surface, his mind wandering for a brief moment. What if it had been me Kyle had fallen for? I look the same as Simon... The thought brought a grin to his lips and he snorted, yeah right, they were meant to be.

He turned back and handed Kyle his coffee; the shorter man had put his glasses back on but was struggling to see through the green smudges and almost knocked the cup of coffee off the counter. Nate caught it before it fell and desperately tried to think of something to start a conversation, he didn't want to be standing in an awkward silence for however long Kyle was going to stay.

"So-" the redhead's voice cracked and he cleared his throat, a blush forming on his cheeks, "So, where's Si?" Maybe the mention of his brother's name would somehow summon him here to dispel the awkwardness.

"Having a smo-" Kyle snapped his mouth shut. He knew Nate despised Simon smoking - what he didn't know was that Nate ignored his own advice and smoked when he felt stressed - and he was usually smart enough not to mention it. Maybe the smudge on his glasses was clouding his mind, too.

Nate gritted his teeth, "Oh, really?"

The glass door swung open and the little bell above it jingled merrily as the older Laird twin stepped into the shop. He looked fed up; his top half seemed to have remained somewhat dry but his trousers had soaked up the moisture from the ground and his shoes squelched as he stepped towards the counter. He saluted Nate nonchalantly and placed a soft kiss atop of Kyle's damp hair. He frowned at his love and gestured to the green smudge on his lens,

"The fuck is that?"

"Paint."

"And where have you been?" Nate had his best 'accusing mother' voice plugged in.

Simon noticed instantly but tried to play it cool, "Parking the car?" The small infliction in his tone made it into a question and his red eyebrows twitched as he waited for his brother's response.

"Was this car small and cylindrical and deadly?"

Simon looked down at Kyle, who shrugged apologetically, and then turned back to Nate, "You do it too!"

Nate frowned, "Not as a habit! Just when I need one!"

"It was one little fag, okay!" he looked at his partner again and smirked, "Not to be mistaken with this one." The comment made the other two men grin and Simon knew he was off the hook, "Anyway, you should be consoling me!"

Nate puffed out his cheeks, a little upset that he wasn't going to be able to scold him now, "Why?"

"Bastard umbrella folded in on me! I was standing out there like a fucking traffic cone!"

Nate and Kyle burst into laughter and Lily wandered over to see what was happening, woe betide anyone should have fun without her,

"Ah, you must be Nate's brother!" she peered up at Simon like he was a piece in a museum and his bright eyes peered back,

"No, not me. I'm just a random guy who happens to look exactly like him."

"Oh, you," she held out her hand and Simon shook it, encasing her tiny one in his huge paw, "I'm Lily, Nate's manager, nice to meet you!"

"He's mentioned you," Simon winked at Nate, which produced a small groan from the latter, and watched as Lily's face turned a shade not unlike the twins' hair,

"He has?" She looked like she was going to start growing a tail so that she could wag it. Nate had to stop this before it went any further down a track that he didn't like the look of,

"I said you were my manager, that's it." He started to make his way around the counter in an attempt to ferry his brother away as Simon continued sliding the knife in,

"He said you were his 'sexy' manager, right Nate?"

With more force than was perhaps necessary, Nate shoved Simon away from the counter and Lily and grumbled into his ear, "I'm going to tell Kyle about your stuffed panda collection in my attic if you keep going." He heard a click in Simon's throat as he swallowed and then watched as his head nodded briskly, "Good boy."

Thankfully some more rain-soaked customers came in to busy Lily and she said Nate could have a quick break. He sat at a table by the window; Simon and Kyle sat opposite him on the comfier bench, backs to the glass. There wasn't anything in particular that Nate wanted to talk about, and if there was one thing he hated it was small talk. Instead, he stared out at the street, at people scurrying out of the rain and then at the raindrops themselves as they slithered down the window like they were shaking their none-existent hips to some silent beat. A streak of lightening split the dark sky overhead and a moment later the loud rumbling of thunder began. It sounded like a snoring bear and Nate felt it in his chest as it grew closer.

Beside Simon, Kyle seemed to freeze. His eyes bulged behind his green-tinged spectacles and he gripped the table like it was an organ and he was about to play some 'Phantom of the Opera'-type piece. Nate tried not to stare as Simon silently peeled one of Kyle's trembling hands from the table and threaded his fingers through his own, a gesture than somehow melted Kyle from his frozen state slightly. The redhead leaned into Kyle and spoke gently,

"We can go now if you want?"

Kyle nodded stiffly, eyes still bugging out, and Simon got to his feet,

"We'll be off then," he pulled Kyle on to his feet, a comical sort of movement that looked like he was some sort of ragdoll Simon was dragging along, "See you later."

Nate waved as they left and continued to stare out into the storm. Everything was a dull shade of grey, not blue like artists portrayed water, but bland, boring grey. No blues. No blue. Blue. Like blue eyes. Alex's bright blue eyes.

"Ah, cock!" Nate scrambled to his feet and dashed into the back room to get his phone. It was almost four thirty and he could have kicked himself for forgetting to ring Alex. The poor lad was probably sitting like a right melon waiting for him to get home.

With clumsy hands, Nate opened his locker only to realise that he hadn't brought his coat, his coat with his phone in. He slapped his hand to his forehead and moved into the hallway to use the landline. That's when the lights went out. Ignoring the lack of visibility, Nate fumbled for the phone and pressed it to his ear only to hear a whole lot of nothing. He stared at the handset for a moment in disgust and showed it the bird before slamming it back down. He was debating whether to ask to leave early (again) when a small knock on the back door made him turn.

Nate opened the rarely-used door, expecting a delivery man to be standing with a crate of mangos or other such item, and was instead faced with a soaked-to-the-bone, dishevelled young man in an oversized shirt that was practically see-through. Alex.

"Alex?" It was all Nate could manage as he stared at the drowned rat before him. Alex looked up at him, bright blue eyes rimmed with water droplets; his nose was red and he kept sniffing loudly as he stared. After almost a minute of mutual staring, Alex pointed a dripping hand beyond Nate,

"Can I come in?"

"Shit! Of course!" Nate pulled him inside and slammed the door behind him, making sure he locked it properly. He grabbed a towel from the rack and started to rub Alex down quickly, like he would melt if he let him remain wet for much longer. Once he'd finished he handed Alex another towel and he dried his blonde hair, which was sticking to his forehead and cheeks. He sneezed as Nate ushered him into the staff room.

Nate made his lodger a large cup of tea and Alex took it thankfully, his shaking hands wrapped around the cup as he inhaled its sweet scent,

"Thanks."

Nate watched him carefully and sat beside him on the threadbare sofa, "Why are you here?"

Alex took a sip of the hot tea and turned to look at Nate, "You didn't come back." He didn't say it as an accusation, more of a fact, like it was bound to happen.

Nate cursed himself internally, "I'm so sorry! I was literally just about to call you but the lines were dead and I forgot my mobile..." the excuses came pouring out and, even though they were legitimate, even to Nate they sounded like lies.

Alex shrugged and took another sip, "I was going to make something to eat for when you got back but I couldn't find the wok so I came to ask you where it was." With what must have looked like the most ridiculous expression, Nate muttered a 'huh' as Alex continued, "I didn't want to use your money, you've done enough already, so I walked."

"You what?!" Nate had assumed that Alex had gotten drenched walking from the bus stop but he'd actually walked all the way from the house? He must have set off at exactly 3 o'clock to be there now. Was he that eager to see me? He looked at the younger man now and nipped the damp shirt between his thumb and forefinger, "Why didn't you wear a coat? It's been raining all day!"

"I didn't want to use your stuff again... I felt bad!" Alex sniffed once more and continued drinking his tea as Nate mulled over what he was saying.

The redhead slapped a hand to Alex's thigh and chuckled,

"You can use whatever you want, whenever you want. Okay? What's mine is yours and all that jazz." He pondered for a moment and then added, "That's what friends do."

Alex's cheeks pinked at the statement and he smiled broadly, "We're friends?"

"Duh," Nate grinned and ruffled the blonde's hair, an action that made Alex's jaw clench.

"There you are!" Lily marched into the staff room with her hands on her hips and an exasperated look on her face. She'd obviously been run ragged out in the shop, "What are you doing? I need you out there, Natey!"

The nickname didn't go unnoticed by Alex and he shrank back a little, concentrating on the cup in front of him rather than the deranged-looking lady. Nate got to his feet slowly, noticing his knee twitch as he did so, and stood over Lily,

"I was helping a friend."

Lily peered around Nate's lanky frame to look at Alex but he still didn't meet her gaze,

"Oh, well," Lily straightened her apron and tapped a pointed finger on Nate's nose, "Abbey's arrived for her shift now so you can go home if you want." She wiggled her fingers at Alex before turning for the door, "Nice to meet you!"

Once she'd left, Alex put down his tea and stood up beside Nate; he frowned up at him and pouted slightly, "Was that your girlfriend?"

Nate made a face not unlike a rat caught in a trap and shook his head, ginger hair swishing side to side, "God, no."

Despite himself, Alex smiled.