Leave Me Alone, Big Brothers! [BL]-Chapter 160: The Night Everything Broke

Dylan stood there, his hand still resting on Zane’s sleeve. He did not look at Nathan. He looked only at Zane, his expression a mix of longing and hurt. The initial sweetness in his smile was gone, replaced by a desperate kind of unease.

"Zane, are you okay? I haven’t seen you for a long time," Dylan said. His voice was louder now, trying to compete with the noise of the crowd. "You never come to the car racing events anymore. You never reply to my messages. I thought something happened to you."

Zane took a deep breath. He looked down at Dylan’s hand on his arm as if it were something repulsive. He didn’t pull away immediately; he stayed still, his body stiff.

"Dylan, stop this," Zane said. His voice was quiet but very sharp. "Don’t act like we are close. It will cause a misunderstanding."

Dylan didn’t let go. If anything, his grip tightened. "What do you mean? We are close. You know how I feel about you. You know I love you! Didn’t you say you would consider a relationship between us after the final exams?"

What? Nathan felt the air leave his lungs. He sat frozen in his chair, staring at both of them. The words I love you and consider a relationship echoed in his head. He looked at Zane.

Zane was staring at Dylan, his jaw tight.

Nathan realized a few things very quickly. First, Zane had lied. Zane had told him he had never been in a relationship, but here was a handsome boy claiming they were close enough to discuss a future. Second, the ’playboy’ rumors Lucas had mentioned were likely based on reality.

Zane felt Nathan’s gaze. It felt like a physical weight. He quickly brushed Dylan’s hand off his shoulder again.

"Don’t assume things as you like, Dylan. I never promised you anything."

"I really regret it, Zane," Dylan begged. He stepped closer, ignoring the people at the nearby tables who were starting to look over. "Please. I broke up with Mario. I’ve told you that. Just give me a chance. We were so good together before."

"It is none of my fucking business who you are with or who you break up with," Zane snapped. He didn’t care about being polite anymore. "Get out of my face, Dylan. Right now."

Zane spoke in a low, pressing tone. He was trying to contain his rage, but it was leaking out. He looked at Nathan, his eyes pleading for Nathan to understand, but Nathan wasn’t looking at him.

Nathan looked at the table. His mind was racing right now. He felt a deep, sharp pain in his chest that was different from the anger he felt toward Alexander.

He felt betrayed. His brother had lied to him and played him, and now his boyfriend was revealed to be a liar about his heart.

Nathan took a long, deep breath, then stood up. His chair scraped loudly against the floorboards. He looked at Zane, then at Dylan.

"Fix your problem," Nathan said. His voice was flat and devoid of emotion. "I’m going home."

Zane’s eyes went wide. He stood up immediately, nearly knocking things over on the table.

"Nath, wait—"

Dylan reached out and caught Zane’s arm again, stopping him from moving around the table. "Zane, please! We need to talk!"

Zane didn’t even look at Dylan. He ripped his arm away with so much force that Dylan stumbled back. Zane’s face was dark with fury. He leaned in close to Dylan, his voice a dangerous whisper.

"Listen to me very carefully," Zane said. "I never promised you anything. Not before, and certainly not now. Never. If you make him misunderstand me, I will make you regret we ever spoke. Stay away from me!"

Dylan stood still, his face pale. He looked at Nathan, who was already walking out of the bar.

"What? Is he your boyfriend?" Dylan asked, his voice shaking.

"Yes!" Zane shouted. He didn’t care who heard him.

Dylan looked like he had been hit. He looked betrayed and physically hurt. "But you always rejected me. You told me you had to focus on your studies. I was willing to wait for you until the exams were over. Why are you choosing him now?"

Zane took a step toward Dylan, his eyes narrow. "I don’t know if we speak the same language. I. Never. Loved. You. Not before, not now, and not later. You were a friend, and you ruined that when you started acting like we were more."

"I thought you were just angry because I was with Mario," Dylan said. He looked like he was about to cry. "I thought you were jealous."

Zane shook his head, looking disgusted. "First of all, I don’t care about Mario. Second, I couldn’t love you even if I forced myself to. You’re not the person I want."

Dylan stared at Zane. The light in his eyes died out, replaced by a dull sadness. "Why are you being like this? We used to be so close. Why did you change?"

"I didn’t change," Zane said. "You’re the one who made things like this. Your stupid idea of bringing Mario around and claiming I was your boyfriend to make people talk... it was sickening. I stayed away because you were suffocating me."

"But you said you’d think about us after the tests," Dylan repeated. He clung to that sentence like it was a life raft.

Zane ran a hand through his hair, looking completely frustrated. "I told you that so you would leave me alone to study! I didn’t think you were delusional enough to believe it meant I liked you! For the last time, I do not love you!"

The argument was drawing a lot of attention. People at the bar were whispering and staring silently. Zane didn’t care. He only cared about the fact that Nathan was gone. He looked at the door. He didn’t wait for Dylan to say another word. He turned and ran.

Zane burst out of the bar and into the cold night air. The wind hit him, making him shiver, but he didn’t stop. He looked left and right down the narrow alleyway. He didn’t see Nathan.

He ran to his car. He pulled on the door handle, but it was locked. He looked through the window. The interior was empty. Nathan wasn’t there.

"Where is he?" Zane whispered. He felt a surge of panic. It was a physical sensation, a tightness in his throat and a shaking in his hands. He wasn’t sure if he was panicking because he had lost Nathan, or because he was terrified Nathan would never speak to him again.

"Please, Nath, where are you?"

Zane took his phone out of his pocket and dialed Nathan’s number. He held the phone to his ear as he walked quickly toward the main street. He heard the ringing tone. One, two, three, four times. No answer.

"Dammit!" Zane cursed. He tried again. Same result.

He walked down the sidewalk, pushing past groups of people. He checked the corners of buildings and the entrances to other shops. The area was too big, and there were too many places to hide.

"Please, Nathan... pick up," Zane murmured. His lips were trembling from the cold and the stress. He kept walking, his feet splashing through the slushy snow. Every person wearing a dark jacket looked like Nathan for a split second, making his heart jump before he realized it was a stranger.

Nathan was not far away. He had walked two blocks down the street until he found a small, quiet park. It was mostly empty except for a few couples sitting on benches in the distance. There was a small playground with a set of swings and a slide.

Nathan walked to a large tree near the edge of the playground. He sat down on a wooden bench beneath its bare branches. He felt the cold wood through his jeans, but he didn’t move. He sat with his eyes wide, staring at the empty swings.

He didn’t know why his heart felt like it was being squeezed. He had expected the world of the Salazars to be dangerous. He had expected Alexander to be a liar. But he had not expected Zane to be part of that pattern.

He thought about Dylan’s face. Dylan was handsome and seemed to know Zane well. Nathan felt a wave of inadequacy. Who was he? Just a kid from a broken family who had been moved into a mansion.

"Why are people so mean?" Nathan asked the empty park. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

He thought about the lies. Alexander lied about the kidnapping to "protect" him. Zane likely lied about his past to make Nathan feel special. Everyone was managing him. Everyone was treating him like a piece of trash.

He felt a deep sense of loneliness. He couldn’t go back to the farmhouse. He didn’t want to go back to the mansion. And now, the person he had trusted most hurt him too.

Tonight was really something. Everyone felt like they wanted to hurt him so badly.

"Nathan, why are you so stupid?" he whispered to himself.

He remembered the warnings from Lucas. Lucas had told him Zane was a playboy. Lucas had told him not to trust easily. Nathan had ignored him because he wanted to believe in something good. He wanted to believe that Zane was different, because he truly trusted the boy.

But...

Nathan felt his eyes water. He wanted to cry.

He reached into his pocket and felt his phone vibrating. He took it out and saw Zane’s name on the screen. He watched the screen until the light dimmed and the call ended. Then it started vibrating again.

Nathan didn’t answer. He couldn’t talk to him yet. He didn’t want to hear more excuses. He didn’t want to hear Zane explain how Dylan was "just a friend" when Dylan was clearly heartbroken.

Maybe he was just not ready yet.

The wind picked up, blowing a few stray flakes of snow onto his jacket. Nathan tucked his hands into his pockets and pulled his hood up. He felt small and insignificant.

His mind was racing.

"I just want to go home," he said.

But he realized he didn’t know where home was anymore.

He sat there for a long time, his breath creating small clouds of steam in the air. He watched a group of teenagers walk past the park, laughing and talking. They looked so normal.

Nathan felt a tear roll down his cheek. He wiped it away quickly with his sleeve. He wasn’t going to cry. He wasn’t that weak. He had been through a lot of bad things and he was still holding on. He wouldn’t let something like this make him weak.

But as he sat alone on the cold bench, he didn’t feel strong at all. He just felt tired.