I Think I Like You... {Kaiser}

[thejokerlaughsatu]

Nathan stared down at his sketchbook. No matter what he tried to draw, he always kept turning back to the same page, this same unfinished sketch. Most of the body was done, and the clothes were gently shaded in, but the face was incomplete. He almost couldn't bring himself to fill in the hair, and the features. Those happy eyes, and that sweet smiling mouth... and how his blonde hair shone in the sun... He shook his head and tried to force the thoughts away, but his eyes again strayed to the blank face, mentally filling it in.

He wasn't entirely sure, but... he thought he might have a crush.

A tiny one, of course, just a passing thought that would be gone at any moment... but while it was there, it was strong... and it was bliss. Nathan had never had a crush before, at least not like this. Sure, when he was little he'd picked out a girl to chase around the playground, but so had every boy, and that wasn't a real crush. He hadn't even given her an earthworm for a wedding ring, like so many other boys had. No, even back then, he'd known it wasn't real.

But this... even looking at the incomplete picture, his heartbeat sped up as he imagined his younger roommate's sweet, sunlit smile, directed only at him. What a feeling this was... but he couldn't let anyone know. As far as they knew, he was straight.

[Kaiser Joseph Kittes.]

Kaiser typed away on his laptop, not paying attention to his jerk of a roommate. 'I don't know what his deal is. The boy was working on an essay for Mr. Cromwell about the character development in the book they were assigned to read. Kaiser had the advantage though because the assigned book was one of his all time favorites, 'To Kill A Mockingbird.' The essay was so easy he was barely paying attention to it. His mind stayed on Nathan. 'He didn't have to be so mean to me.' The boy thought as he snuck a peak at what the other boy was doing. 'Of course, he's in that stupid sketch pad, the one that started all this mess.

[thejokerlaughsatu]

Nathan put down his pencil. That typing... what was it all about? If Nathan had been writing, he would have been writing down all of these emotions, these feelings that he couldn't place. What would a normal kid do? Probably ask his dad about it... fat chance of that. Not only would he have to go off campus, but he would have to go to an asylum.

No... he had to ask Kaiser, find out if he liked him back.... or at least make him not hate him so much. It was strange, that he would like someone like this when they'd both started out hating each other... but the way Kaiser looked when he smiled...

Nathan closed the sketchbook and sat up. "Kaiser... can we start over?"

[Kaiser Joseph Kittes.]

"Start over?" The boy asked his roommate. "After you said all that horrible stuff to me? Called me all those names? Why would I want to start over?" The boy asked Nathan. 'It would be nice though.' Kaiser thought to himself as he looked at Nathan. He was a really cute guy, maybe they had just gotten off on the wrong foot. Kaiser stayed silent for a few moments, just staring into Nathan's eyes, trying to figure out if he was actually telling the truth or not. This could be a trap or something, he had no clue what Nathan was going to do.

"Fine." The boy said, swiveling his chair around to face Nathan. "If you want to start over you have to apologize for all those mean things you said to me. They really hurt my feelings." The small, blonde boy said as he pushed his hair our his face. "If you do that then, Ok. We can start over."

[thejokerlaughsatu]

Nathan felt his face heat up as Kaiser's eyes met his. Could he tell what he was thinking? Maybe he was being too obvious, and Kaiser already knew. Should he just leave now, and request a new room? It was drastic, but what else was he supposed to do? If Kaiser already knew, and he didn't want to talk to him, Nathan wasn't sure if he could handle the humiliation.

Apologize... Nathan took a deep breath. He didn't usually do things like this for anyone, but he did want Kaiser to be his friend, and hopefully a lot more. Even the fact that he was willing to give him another chance sent a surge of warmth through his body. "All right... I... I'm sorry," he said weakly.

[Kaiser Joseph Kittes.]

"Wow." Kaiser said softly as he looked over at Nathan. "I really didn't expect you to do that." Maybe Nathan wasn't as mean as Kaiser thought. A smile went across the boy's lips. "And I'm sorry for saying the stuff I did. "I didn't mean most of it I was just angry...I don't really think you're crazy. Sorry for saying that." Kaiser said as he looked down at the floor. "So...uh..?" He said looking back up to Nathan. "What...made you want to start over?" Kaiser said as he scooted his chair closer to his roommate. "I mean, it was kinda...out of the blue I guess." Kaiser wasn't sure what nathan wanted, but he had apologized for the mean things he had said, maybe he did actually want to be friends.

[thejokerlaughsatu]

Nathan shrugged uncomfortably and stared at the floor. He didn't often talk about "feelings" or anything of the sort. His mother hadn't wanted much to do with him, and his father had been too unstable to deal with it. Any other friends he'd had before coming to Power's had all been the "rowdy" type, boys who preferred to skateboard or chase girls instead of watching a movie or talking. But even without prior experience, he knew he had to lie. Coming out and saying "I think I like you" was too... blunt. So unromantic. "I dunno... I... I just don't want to be enemies with my roommate. Or with anyone. I haven't made any friends here yet... and I don't want you to go telling everyone that I'm some sort of freak."

[Kaiser Joseph Kittes.]

"Ah." Kaiser said slowly nodding his head. "I would never have done that anyway..." The boy said looking at Nathan. "I just said those things cause I was angry. I was never really going to tell anyone about you or your drawings...which since we're friends now...you're drawing was really good. The guy was pretty hot." Kaiser said with a small giggle. "Do you draw like that all the time?" Kaiser asked, not daring to actually look at the sketchbook, that's what got him in trouble last time. "I'd love to see sometime if you want to show me. I promise I won't tell anyone about your drawings."

[thejokerlaughsatu]

"Not all the time... I was just practicing..." He glanced over at his sketchbook. There wasn't much else in there that he didn't want anyone to see... there was really only that one picture, and then the one he'd done before it. The rest was all mundane, things like trees or animals or landscapes, or occasionally people (though they were always clothed)... would it really hurt to let Kaiser see it? Besides, it was an act of trust. Maybe Kaiser would start to like him back. "All right... go ahead." He held out the book.

[Kaiser Joseph Kittes.]

"Well it was really good for just practicing." Kaiser said with a small smile. "What? Really?" He asked as Nathan handed him the book. "Are you sure?" He asked before taking the book in his own hand and opening it. "Wow, you're awesome." The boy said as he flipped through the pages. "I suck at drawing, like bad." Kaiser flipped through a couple more pages until he landed on the page that had gotten him in trouble the first time. A slight blush crept across his face. "Sorry I called you gay for drawing this...I didn't mean it to be offensive. I just thought..." Kaiser said as he closed the book and handed it back to Nathan. "Sorry."

[thejokerlaughsatu]

Nathan nodded shyly, but stared out the window as Kaiser flipped through the pages. He knew what was in the book, and he knew his gaze would wander from the pictures to the boy looking at them. He couldn't let Kaiser catch him staring. "It's fine," he said, and even though he didn't turn back from the window, his face turned red as well. Here it was, the moment of truth, but he couldn't bring himself to say the words. But Kaiser couldn't ever like him back if he didn't know it was an option... "I sort of... am. Kind of."

[Kaiser Joseph Kittes.]

"Sort of? Kind of? What do you mean Nathan?" Kaiser asked as a confused look flew across his face. "Like are you bi or something? Or curious?" Kaiser asked, knowing the question was probably really uncomfortable for Nathan. He had never understood that, how people could get so uncomfortable when talking about their orientation. Kaiser never cared, so what if he was gay? It didn't change anything about him or his personality, he was still Kaiser. "I don't understand Nathan. Why'd you say you weren't when I asked you? You didn't have to lie to me...I wasn't going to tell anyone."

[thejokerlaughsatu]

Nathan shrugged and leaned against the wall. "Bi, I guess... I don't know. I've never really liked a girl... but I don't think there's anything wrong with them." He took a deep breath, glad that he'd caught himself before he could add anything incriminating to the last sentence. As far as Kaiser knew, their relationship was completely platonic, from both ends. "I just didn't want you to be right... and I haven't really told anyone yet. I've never dated anyone, so nobody knows."

[Kaiser Joseph Kittes.]

"Wait...so-" Kaiser said as he was figuring out what Nathan was saying. "-I'm the first person you've told?" The boy asked as he looked over Nathan. 'I wonder why he is telling me. He didn't want anything to do with me at first and now he wants to be my friend and tell me all his secrets.' Kaiser was most certainly confused. "I've never dated anyone either...I've never even kissed a boy actually." He said with a giggle as the blush went across his face again. "But I know for certain I'm gay..."

[thejokerlaughsatu]

"R-really?" Nathan wouldn't have guessed that Kaiser was gay, not after his reaction to the sketch Nathan had been doing in public. "But... yeah. I guess you are... I can't really tell anyone else, and you'd already guessed... and I figured you deserved to know, if you were straight and had to live with me." He'd already met people who didn't want anything to do with him. If he told them his orientation, they'd probably leave him even faster.