The Dark Truths (Reese)

[Nathan Spencer]

A couple of days after Gray and Nate's talk, he found himself stubornly bent over a peice of parchment in the Slytherin common room. Upto now, the only word on this paper was Reese's name. He couldnt bring himself to write the rest of the letter. He'd been pondering over this for the last couple of days, trying to bring himself to finally tell her. The problem was he couldnt do it. He couldnt even write it. How was he going to talk to her about it if he couldnt even write it down. Telling her in a letter is a bit cold and cowardly though Nate.

He often found himself lying awake at night going over the conversation in his head. The conversation with Gray had opened up many new things, new things he hadnt really considered before. It had been kind of odd, the two of them had developed a strange kind of friendship. Nate looked out for Gray, even though it seemed like he couldnt give two hoots about him. After the conversation, Gray had run off to find Mickey and Nate had been left pondering. He knew he should tell Reese, the problem was doing it. It wasnt as easy as it seemed.

He'd found out a particular detail of Reese's life she obviously hadnt wanted him to know, and strangely he felt guilty that he knew about it... and guiltier about the fact he'd run off to play hero and probably put her through an enormous amount of stress. How would she feel when she found out there was a part of him that was a killer. The tip of his quill was tapping lightly on the sheet, he kept telling himself to just get it over with, the longer he left it the harder it would be. And Reese must be wondering why Nate was avoiding her... whenever he saw her he made some excuse to get away just as quickly. He knew it was hurting her, him trying to put distance between them... If he told her, it would be her choice then... to either distance herself from him or take the risk that he might one day hurt her. Afterall, it was no longer just his decision.

But I'll have to be perfectly honest... about everything.

Dipping his quill in the ink, he bent back over the parchment and wrote in his neat script; Reese, meet me at the lake after sundown. I have to speak to you. Nate. x It wasnt giving anything away, but it sounded urgent enough. With that, he left the common room and found a first year Gryffindor. "Do you know Reese Mackenzie?" He asked her, the small girl nodded, quivering slightly at the older boy... a Slytherin no less. "Give her this for me." He handed her the envelope and left, going about his daily business, thinking about how he was going to broach the subject with her.

[Reese Mackenzie]

What was the similarity between a slytherin and a huffle guy? Yes, both jerks. Strange perhaps, but to Reese it wasn’t. First Graham had avoided her like the plague to only write her some crap note to come meet him at a time he found to be best for him. And now, in the same frigging month Nathan pulled the same stunt. She had been understanding with Graham but now her patience had been thrown out the window. Guys sucked. Seriously.

Ever after the attack things had changed. Luckily Nathan had been safe and Reese had not regretted throwing herself in front of him for one single moment. But it had triggered all the memories she had been pushing away about Jake. She woke screaming in the night, calling out for Jake. And at the same time felt immensely guilty about crying about Jake a lot when she was actually starting to get together with Nathan. She liked Nathan and wanted to be with him but felt guilty about wanting Jake back. Those feelings about Jake would settle like they always did but in some way it made her feel like a bad person.

Reese didn’t want to bother Graham with all this. Her poor brother had enough to worry about on his own. So instead she just wanted some comfort, from Nathan. Not to cry in his arm and tell him everything but to spend some time together. However, it had seemed Nathan did not feel the same way. About spending time together. Ever after the attack she had the feeling he was avoiding her. Which got confirmed with him not having the time or whatever to hang out. Not even between classes or during dinner.

Not one single second. Which made her even feel more stupid for feeling guilty for thinking about Jake. Apparently not much was going on anymore between her and Nathan.

Now, she wasn’t a girl who would constantly walk after him so after a few days Reese had given up. Fine. If he wanted it for this way to be, then so be it. Although, honestly, it broke her heart and she was hurt that he suddenly didn’t want to be with her anymore. She had thought they might be moving towards something great, but apparently she had been deadly wrong about that.

Reese didn’t understand what was going on but she was to upset and to angry with him to go and ask. Not that she should be the one doing all the asking. Coward! Why did boys always ran away instead of heading into confrontation? What thought he that she would do? Cry and beg him not to leave her when he told her he wasn’t interested anymore? Pft. As if. Nathan was great – or used to be, reese wasn’t sure how to feel about him right now,- but she wasn’t going to act all pathetic.

At first she shad had torn the note –which he had used another gryffy for to give her, apparently he didn’t feel the need to face her himself?- into dozens of little pieces. Right. Now he wanted to meet her and she should just oblige to his request? What a jerk! Although, of course, Reese found herself to be walking to the lake after sundown. Her curiosity always got the best of her but tonight that shouldn’t be confused with anger. She was pissed off and he was going to known exactly how pissed of she was.

Dressed in a warm sweater, jeans and her warm boots Reese had also a scraf wrapped around her neck to keep herself warm. Coming up from behind Nate, she folded her arms over her chest and stopped to a few feet away from him to keep some space between them. “Fine. I’m here. What do you want? I don’t have all night.” she replied with an annoyed voice while she looked at him with narrowed angry eyes.

[Nathan Spencer]

Okay. So sundown came far too quickly for his liking. He hadnt had time to figure out how he was going to word this or exactly what he was going to say. But he found himself upstairs in the dormitory donning his black coat, dark green scarf --not that he really needed it-- and dark jeans. Ryan had been hanging out as he got himself ready, trying to get out of him where he was going and to be honest that just irritated him. "Look. I'm about to do something I may live to regret so dont mither me alright, I'm already on edge enough without your persistant questions." He snapped, which seemed to surprise Ryan... he never snapped at Ryan.

With that, he scooped up his gloves and left the dormitory, completely ignoring everyone as he left, a scowl evident upon his features. Anger right now (at Ryan) was driving him, but the more he walked the quicker his anger driven bravery ebbed away until the familiar feeling of dread filled his stomach and he had to fight not to turn around and go and hide under his bed. By the time he found himself outside, he'd forgotten how to breath and swallowing back the lump in his throat was becoming increasingly harder.

He knew he was either going to hurt Reese... or piss her off.
No good could come of Nate's honesty.

He found himself at the lake, it was darker than he would have liked but honestly, the more he thought about it the more it seemed ironic. Dark place for Dark truths. He laughed dryly, this was suddenly seeming like one of those very bad ideas he often got. His arms folded over his chest, and though it had been about a week since the attack, the scars on his face hadnt completely healed. Although, they'd healed quicker than anyone elses, now they were just faint pink lines as though the attack had happened months ago.

He heard footsteps approaching but still he did not turn. His heart hammered painfully in his chest and threatened to break his ribcage entirely when he heard the voice of the girl he was sure he was almost falling for. Turning around slowly, he looked at her with a guilty expression. Her words did not really give him incentive to spill his guts. But he had to, it was now or never. "I have some.... things I have to tell you." He spoke slowly and quietly, his brows arching downward over his eyes. Evidentally this was difficult for him. "And you're not going to like them... You'll probably want to punch me.... or worse when I've finished." He left it there for now, waiting on her reaction.

No going back now.

[Reese Mackenzie]

The attack hadn’t done anything good for Reese’s health but some magic had solved most of the damage done. Her three cracked ribs were fully healed and the cuts on her face were magically healed. She still had a few minor injuries on her hands but nothing that couldn’t heal itself in another week or so. The only thing that still bothered her, was her chest. It was still a little sore from where the spell had hit her and laying on it or putting pressure on it hurt. So when she folded her arms over her chest she slightly winched, but kept her arms in the same position anyway.

If she wouldn’t, she might end up smacking him…or worse. Which would be liberating but probably not such a good idea.

Reese didn’t like being out in the dark like this. Especially not after the last attack. They weren’t told to stay inside but it was advised to not go out in the dark alone. She suspected that they would be send inside once some teacher would discover they were outside. Which wouldn’t be a bad thing at all. It was odd for Nathan to be wanting to talk outside but whatever. Apparently that was part of his big plan or something. As long as he kept it short because it was frigging cold.

She had no idea what to exactly expect from him. If this was going to be a talk that was about him he didn’t like her anymore, he was going to a lot more trouble then he been going through for her for the last few days. Which back then had been: none. Reese liked Nathan, a lot. More than she had even let him know. And if this was a talk about he was with someone else, there was no way in hell she would tell him how much she liked him. Or had liked him.

With still narrowed, and angry, eyes, Reese kept looking at Nathan. He seemed to have some look of guilt written all over his face. That surely couldn’t mean anything good. Crap, she should have known something like this would happen. It always did, one way or the other. She snorted and looked away as he said he had something to tell her. Course he had, that was much was crystal clear to her. “Trust me, I already want to punch you despite whatever it is you so desperately need to tell me.” Oh she was pissed off.

Reese couldn’t stand seeing him act this guilty. It only flared up her anger even more. “You got some nerve to avoid me all this time and then ask me to meet you here through a note you didn’t even gave me yourself! And so help me God if this is some ‘I’m with someone else’ talk. I got the hint Nate, it’s crystal clear. ” she took this crap from Graham cause he was her brother. There was no way she was going to take this from Nathan. Not even for the reason that he was very cute.

Jerk.

[Nathan Spencer]

About being in the dark, Nate hadnt even thought. Dark, night was like a friend to him. Enveloping him, proving to him that no matter how dark the night seemed the sun always rose at the end of it. He could hide in it, hell he'd hidden enough under the dark tree's these past couple of days, but the thought that right now the night was dangerous hadnt even occured to him. She obviously wanted this over as quickly as he did. Nate didnt want to feel like this, like he owed her an explanation... if this was anyone else he'd have let the brood, wallow in their own anger but not Reese. She had the right to know. He hated this feeling. Guilt of not telling her, fear of telling her. Vicious circle.

"Oh, right well." Well that was comforting. She already wanted to punch him and he hadnt delivered the punch line yet. "Then you will want to maim, massacre or just generally kill me." His voice was still quiet, his eyes not holding hers for more than a couple of seconds a time. He rubbed his hands together, his gloves were in his pocket and he didnt even think about putting them on.

"Now I'm here... I dont know how to tell you."

That wasnt going to help much, he knew that. She was becoming angrier and angier, he stood there though and let her have her rant. Knowing only full well he deserved much more than just being ranted at. Though, his head snapped up when she said something about him being with someone else. Okay, maybe for now he should leave the whole Mickey situation out of this. That would probably end up making things worse. But his eyes betrayed no emotion, he simply shook his head.

"I wish it was that easy." He finally said, "I wish it was a simple thing like me not liking you, or me being with someone else. But its not." It wasnt as clear cut as she was making it. It was far more complicated than she could ever truly grasp. "I know I've been a jerk these past couple of days, and I know I have no right to ask you to stand there right now and listen to me. But I have to ask you for you're full attention... There'll be no point in this if you dont listen fully. I'm not asking you to understand or forgive me... I'm not asking you to like me either after this I know that would be asking far too much." He sighed and looked at Reese. "Before I tell you though... To answer you're previous rant... No, this is not about me being with anyone else... I'm not. There was only you, true we were never together but... point still stands. I never thought of being with anyone else... unfortunatly I'm about to make that next to impossible."

He was being formal. Nothing about that was natural, in fact it was strained. He was fighting against his better nature to force the words out. No big speeches, not this time. Not trying to spare his own feelings, or hers. Just the straight out truth. The biggest secret of his entire life, and the one that would probably break the two of them. But she had to know, she deserved it. "You know about Gray's condition right?" He was obviously referring to the werewolf factor. She must have noticed that he'd only been around Nate after that. "It's my fault he's in that position. Its my fault he's going through all that. I'm the werewolf that bit him, and I've regretted it ever since I first realised what I'd done. Not that it makes that any better but..." So, the big speeches was out of the window. "I've tried to help him through it as best I could..." He put his head down and waited for her to start yelling or slapping him or... generally kicking the shit out of him. He wouldnt stop her either.. He deserved it.

[Reese Mackenzie]

Reese was not going to stand there and pretend she wasn’t angry or that she was totally fine by what seemed to be going on. Or rather, didn’t seem to be going on anymore. She wasn’t okay with this and she wasn’t going to let anyone treat her this way without giving them a piece of her mind. Reese snorted when he went on how she would probably want to kill him now and that he had no idea how to tell her now that he had asked her to meet him. With a raised brow Reese looked at him, waiting for him to start explaining himself. And she was running out of patience fast. That clearly being visible on her face.

“Well? Either tell me or don’t. I’m not in the mood to play games Nathan.” If he was trying to piss her off even more he was doing a great job with that. She was confused though, when he continued how he whished it would be something easy like him being with someone else. So, what did that mean? Oh crap, he got another girl pregnant didn’t he? Reese’s eyes widened a little at that thought. Oh boy, that would totally blow. But then he continued how he hadn’t thought of being with anyone else but her. Now even more confused than before Reese raised a hand and rubbed it over her eyes. “Would you tell me already?! Dammit Nate you asked me to come down here, in the middle of the night, in the friggin cold to meet you here. I’m here okay? I’m listening now stop dodging the topic and just bloody tell me already.”

At this point Reese had mixed feelings about wanting to be with Nathan. She was obviously attracted to him and liked to be close to him. But if he was going to toy with her heart than she’d have to pass. She’d been toyed with too much and for once, she’d hoped Nathan would be different from everyone else. It seemed more and more so that he wasn’t. All she wanted from him was some honesty and apparently that already proved to be very difficult for him.

More confusion appeared in her eyes when her brother was dragged into the conversation. “Yeah course I do, but how do you know about it? And what has that to do with you…or me for that matter?” Nathan knew? Reese knew for sure that her brother and Nathan weren’t friends. Although, thinking about it, she had seen them walking through the castle a few times this week together. Wait, what?!

For a moment Reese just stared at Nathan, her jaw almost dropping when he said how he was the werewolf who had bitten her brother. No, this was a joke. NOT AGAIN! She looked away while her eyes started to water up. And for a moment she just stood there, staring at the grass while two silent tears ran down her cheeks. “How..” she began softly, her voice shaky but it took her another moment before she was able to look up at him again. “How could you…” she said, more tears starting to fall down her cheeks. “…why Nathan? Why would you do that to him? What did he ever do wrong to deserve something like this hu?”

She wasn’t disgusted by what Nathan was. Reese had seen enough in her life to not instantly run away screaming for her life. Sure, it would was definitely something she needed to process though. “I can’t believe this…” she muttered under her breath, who else she cared for was going to turn into a werewolf. First Graham and now Nathan? What was next? Jason turning into a vampire? “You know, I thought you were different. That for once there would be this guy who wouldn’t lie to me, who wouldn’t be a complete jerk and wouldn’t mess with the people I love. Cleary I was wrong about that. Just…just leave me alone.”

With that Reese turned around and started to walk back to the castle. This was just too much.