Chapter Text
Living with Gabe was....interesting to say the least. Even though Nolan was now 14 and had been living with Gabe and his family for a good amount of time it still felt weird waking up in his house.
The first few months in Gabe’s house Nolan constantly had nightmares of waking up and finding the various members of his family dead. He also always saw the wolf. And not just in his dreams, he felt like he saw it everywhere. He felt that stare following him everywhere he went.
Although now he was starting Beacon Hills High School and he was going to join the lacrosse team. Him and Gabe practiced over the summer and he felt pretty confident in his abilities as a goalie.
Now standing in front of the stairs leading up to his new school Nolan felt every single one of his nerves buzzing with anxious tension. A hand clapped down on his shoulder and Nolan jumped but turned around to find Gabe standing behind him and even though they were the same age, Gabe still topped Nolan by a couple inches.
“You ready?” Gabe questioned looking down at Nolan who had turned his head back to the front doors where students were piling in.
“I think so.” He said hoping his nervousness didn't seem too noticeable. Nolan heard Gabe chuckle lightly then he felt him grab Nolan’s hand and came around in front and pulled Nolan up the stairs.
When he was in grade school the world seemed so big. Everything was magical and it seemed like he could do anything and everyone believed in him. But now as he stood in front of his locker for the rest of the year, he felt that the world was too small. Like everything was suffocating him and he flinched at every slam of the doors or feet skidding on the floor.
Nobody seemed to notice him. Not that everyone did much before. He was usually the quiet kid who would stay behind to help the teacher during lunch or hide in the bathroom. He wasn’t bullied per say but he was just kind of in the background not wanting to draw too much attention to himself.
He gathered his books and closed his locker as gently as possible hearing it softly click shut. He looked down at the schedule in his hands trying to figure out where he was supposed to go first.
“Hey you new here?” Nolan flinched and snapped his head up at the new voice. Being as short as he was he had to strain his neck to look up at the person. He looked to be about the same age as Nolan, maybe a year older.
“My names Scott, Scott McCall,” the boy, Scott, held out his hand. Nolan looked down at it then back up at Scott’s face. He reached and shook his hand back.
“Nolan, Nolan Holloway.” Nolan swallowed nervously, then realized he’s been shaking Scott’s hand way too long. He also realized he hadn’t answered his question from earlier. Jeez he was making a great first impression.
“Um yeah, I-I-I am new here, I just-just started fre-freshman year.”
“Alright cool, so what's your first class?” Scott smiled down at him and Nolan swallowed again.
“U-Um, It looks like U.S History with Mr. Ra-Rander,” Nolan stuttered looking at his schedule, spread out over his books.
“Alright awesome I know where that is so I can walk with you if you want so you don’t get lost.” Scott offered, giving Nolan an option.
“O-Okay,” Nolan nodded and Scott smiled again and began walking down the crowded hallway with Nolan following close behind.
The rest of the day went off without a hitch. Nolan ended up getting help from several upperclassmen and managed to make it to all of his classes on time. He still had one thing to get through though. Lacrosse tryouts.
That had been the one thing on his mind all day. He had wanted to be on the team since he saw one of their games on TV. He also knew that the kid that had helped him, Scott McCall was someone who carried the team to victory everytime and Nolan idolized him and wanted to be just like him.
Lacrosse tryouts weren’t for another two weeks but Nolan knew he could practice more with Gabe and that they would try out together so it wouldn’t be as scary as if he were doing it alone. He was very nervous though as he didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of his idol which he had already done once today. And he especially didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of the coach as he’s heard how harsh he can be.
*timeskip to the tryouts day*
Today was the day. The day that felt like it could change Nolan’s life forever. After his parents death he really couldn’t find a healthy outlet for his emotions. When he and Gabe would practice lacrosse in Gabe’s backyard Nolan felt a little bit of a relief but he felt like now that he would have more space he could let himself expel as much energy as he wanted.
“Alright get your asses on the field now! We don;t have time for you lazy bums to be sitting around!!” Nolan could say that true to everyone's word, Coach FInstock lived up to the legend. Nolan grabbed a stick from the equipment bag and lined up behind everyone else. The first exercise was one he really had no faith in himself for. It was just a simple running exercise but Nolan felt like he was gonna trip and fall flat on his face.
He hoped no one could hear his labored breathing as he finally got in front. He looked down at the cones lined up and gripped his stick even harder in his hand.
“Let's go!! Let's go!! I don’t have all day for this!!” Nolan felt his face heat up with the Coach’s announcement knowing he was on the clock. He finally decided to go for it. The whole tim he was doing it he kept thinking: dontfalldontfalldontfalldontfall....and he didn’t! He managed to make it through the little course with no trouble. He felt pretty confident after that.
He was already a pretty decent distance runner having run track for years at his middle school. He hadn’t really practiced much shooting but he managed to score all but one goal and then when he played goalie he didn’t let a single ball pass. He’d seen the look of shock on the Coach’s face when he had deflected the 10th ball thrown at him.
Coach ended tryouts, saying they would get the results next week, but called Nolan over. Nolan was shaking with fear. Had he screwed up? Was he not good enough? Did someone say something to Coach?
“Good job out there today rookie.” Nolan was stunned. He had expected a lot of things, but not that. Especially not that. Not with what he had heard about Coach thus far.
“Thank you Coach.” Nolan was still stunned but managed to squeak out a reply fast enough it didn’t seem to draw attention.
“So I usually don’t do this but looking at how you played out there today what would you say to playing starting goalie for the season?” Coach glanced up at him from his clipboard.
Nolan was once again stunned into silence. This was certainly not what he had been expecting. Him? As starting goalie? Tryouts literally just ended and he was already secured a spot on the team?
“Uh-U-Um, ye-yes, definitely,” Nolan managed to finally find his voice again, “yes of course I w-would love too.”
“Great, well see when practice starts in three weeks.” Coach clapped Nolan on the shoulder and walked away. Nolan stood there stunned for a few seconds till he looked at his watch and realized the time and that Gabe was probably still waiting for him. He quickly put his stick bag in the equipment bag and grabbed his own stuff and sprinted out of the field as fast as possible. He couldn’t wait to tell Gabe the news!
Gabe, as it turns out, wasn't as excited as Nolan. When Nolan had come at him beaming and telling him the news with a rushed explanation Gabe had held his hand up effectively shutting Nolan up and responding with a curt, “we have to go.”
Nolan was confused. Was he not excited? Did he want the goalie position? Did he think he botched the tryouts? Nolan wasn’t sure why Gabe was responding the way he was. Since neither of them could drive yet and Gabe only lived about 15 minutes away from school, they walked along the sidewalk.
It was an awkward, tense walk back to Gabe’s house. Nolan desperately wanted to reach out and grab Gabe’s hand multiple times but every time he would try to, Gabe would shove him off. Nolan didn't get it. Sure they had only been dating for a few months but Nolan still thought he knew Gabe well enough that he would feel connected enough to share his feelings with Nolan.
Nolan scuffed his feet against the pavement, kicking rocks and bits of debris in front of him then continuing until he kicked it somewhere he could get it and started the process over again. He did this numerous amounts of time till Gabe finally spoke up in a somewhat more annoyed voice than before, “can you cut that out?”
Nolan, although it wasn't positive, considered that a win for the evening as it was the first time Gabe spoke to him since lacrosse tryouts ended.
They made it back to Gabe’s house, which was empty as both his parents worked late into the night, and Nolan decided to go straight to the pantry to find something to eat as he hadn’t since lunch that day. He rummaged through the drawers as Gabe leaned against the island in the middle of the kitchen seemingly glued to his phone. This wasn’t unusual as Gabe had always seemed to have loads of free time since he finished all his work early so he could do whatever he wanted.
What was unusual though was the fact that he seemed nervous and apprehensive when looking down. Nolan assumed he was messaging somebody because he would type something out then, presumably, when he got a message back his demeanor would change. Maybe somebody who was looking at him from a general standpoint couldn’t see it but Nolan knew Gabe possibly better than he knew himself and he knew the subtle changes in his eyes and face structure when he changes his mood.
Nolan was already halfway through his bag of white cheddar popcorn when he asked the question, when he swallowed down his handful, of “what’re you doing over there?”
“Nothing, don’t worry about it, Nolan.” Okay now Nolan knew something was up. Gabe never called Nolan by his name unless he was severely upset or mad with him. He tried to think back to events of the past weeks and couldn’t come up with any reason Gabe would be mad at him.
“Did I do something wrong?” Nolan asked, he was scared of what Gabe might say. Gabe tended to turn violent when his emotions got too much to handle. So Nolan began to subconsciously remember places he could take cover from the projectiles.
“Seriously, it's nothing. Just leave it alone..I’d let you know if something was seriously up...okay?” Gabe said, still not fully facing him, instead glued to his phone. Nolan sighed as he put the final amount of popcorn in his mouth and threw the bag in the trash. He dusted his hands off and grabbed his backpack from where he'd thrown it on a stool earlier.
“Well I’m gonna go do some homework so if you want to talk or need me for anything I’ll be up in your room.” Nolan said, walking towards the step leading upstairs.
Gabe hummed some kind of acknowledgement and Nolan glanced down feeling a wave of shame and regret wash over him. He felt somehow responsible for making Gabe feel this way. Maybe he should quit lacrosse. Tell Coach he doesn’t want the position and he should give it to Gabe. He turned sound and walked up the stairs to the bedroom he’s been sleeping in since he got here which was also Gabe’s room. He figured he’d get some work done while Gabe was in a mood. Best to just avoid him when he gets like that.
He thought if he did that and managed to avoid making Gabe irritated or mad before they went to sleep he would be fine in the morning and he could sleep on the decision to become starting goalie. Everything was always better after a good night’s sleep.