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For Sale

Chapter 1

Oddly enough it's Curtis who discovers his secret. It was midnight. He was tired, he was hungry, and the trick offered him extra if he could get a little rough, Nathan was hardly going to say no. Nathan never said no.

The alley was close to the Community Center, he never went far: there was nothing worse than having to walk a long way back after working half the night. Curtis had realized while out at some club with Alisha that he'd left his wallet in the locker room. He told her to stay behind while he went back to get it, and, because the Gods of chance apparently hated Nathan, he happened to take a short cut through said alley. He saw them almost immediately, the bright lights from the street shining into the dark alley.

"Wow, sorry, I-Nathan?"

Fuck. Fuckity fuck fuck fuck. Nathan could think of nothing else at the moment, and he was pretty sure he'd said it out loud a couple of times. The trick, who was digging his fingers so deeply into Nathan's hips he was sure to leave bruises, continued to fuck him violently, apparently not caring that they had been spotted or that the person who had spotted them apparently recognized Nathan. As Curtis watched in fascinated disgust, the man came. With a grunt, he pulled out, and handed Nathan the money.

"See ya around."

And just like that, he was gone. Curtis continued to stare in silence for a moment as Nathan pulled his pants up and shoved the money into his pocket. Finally, Curtis spoke: "Are you a fucking rent boy?"

"...Yeah."

To Nathan's shock, Curtis began to laugh, "You fucking would be, you sick prick."

He supposed he really shouldn't have been surprised, everything Nathan did was one big joke, even his deaths. Why would any of his mates (if you could even say they were that) bother to take anything in his life seriously. He should've been relieved that this wasn't going to turn into the "save Nathan" hour, or worse, but more likely, the "abandon Nathan and never talk to him again because he's a freak and a loser" hour. But there was a tiny part of him he'd never openly acknowledge that wanted to be saved. Then again, this was Curtis, their relationship was mostly based Nathan taking the piss and Curtis responding with an obscene gesture. It might have been different if Kelly or Simon had found him. Alisha definitely would've just run away in disgust.

Seeing no other choice but to be his usual self and laugh it off, Nathan responded: "You're just jealous because you're not nearly pretty enough for anyone to be willing to pay."

"No, I'm just disgusted because I have normal morals and standards, unlike you, you sociopath." The words were harsh, but there didn't seem to be too much malice in Curtis's voice, so Nathan took it as more joke than insult and grinned.

"Don't s'pose you wanna get sumthin' to eat? I'm starvin'."

"Well...I'm suppose to meet Alisha." There was a moment of awkward silence where it was pretty much established that Nathan needed to not be alone right now, and Curtis didn't really want to leave, which Nathan guessed meant that he cared more than he was showing. "...I'll tell her my mum called and wants me home."

Curtis texted Alisha, they stopped by the center to grab his wallet, and before Nathan knew it they were sitting in a McDonald's. Curtis ordered a small soda while Nathan got a burger, large fries, a milkshake, and chicken nuggets, it wasn't every day he ate food he didn't steal from the Community center vending machines.

"That's a shitload of food, Mate."

"Well I don't exactly get to eat a lot that often, do I?" It came out darker than Nathan intended, Curtis's facial expression clearly showed he noticed.

"So how did you end up...you know?" Nathan smirked, it was always odd when he remembered how...innocent Curtis was in some ways, compared to the rest of them.

"Suckin' cock and gettin' fucked in random alleyways for cash?" Nathan supplied, relying on his usual crassness to get a grimace from Curtis and maybe get them to a place that was a little less serious. "I illegally squat in the community center and I have an ASBO, Mate, what else am I gonna do for money? A fella's gotta eat, it was either this or dealin' and I've got a feelin' anyone who'd buy from me would take one look at me, knock me on the head, take the shit, and run."

Curtis smirked a little bit, which Nathan would count as a success. "You won't tell the others?" Damn, he realized too late he'd brought them back 'round to serious.

"How'd you even manage to keep it from Kelly?" Curtis asked, curiosity mixed with the pity Nathan wished desperately would away written on his face.

"...By being very very careful," he answered honestly.

He'd starting turning tricks a month after the first time he died, after learning from constantly thinking about fucking her for a month, he'd gotten better about keeping his mind on other, less depressing and embarrassing things when she was around. Though, to be honest, Kelly would probably be the most understanding, for all their problems, she'd always been real good about him being a homeless: hanging out with him at the center after hours, inviting him over for the occasional dinner. But she would be adamant about him quitting, not willing to understand that there wasn't more in this life for him, that this really was all he was worth.

Alisha would get that, after she was done being thoroughly grossed out, she'd chalk it up to Nathan being Nathan, and, with her lax approach to sex, she'd probably just leave it at that. It was Simon's reaction that terrified him, actually. Somewhere along the way, after he realized that despite his finding Kelly attractive, she felt more like his sister than a girlfriend, he'd fallen for the awkward little bastard. Simon was the most honest, genuine person he knew, it and didn't hurt that he had a pretty face and was built like a god under her pedo-clothes. But Nathan had no idea whether Simon would find him sickening or pity him, and both seemed like horrible options. He and Simon were actually getting to a place where they were friends, where Nathan messed with him a little less, and Simon was starting to give as good as he got. He couldn't lose his chance, he couldn't.

"Curtis?" he said, cutting the awkward silence they'd been sitting in, "Please don't tell them."

"...I won't. But eventually they'll find out. You know that, right?" he looked from his food, the pity was still in Curtis's eyes, but so was a bit of genuine compassion. Maybe they really were mates after all.

"Well...I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it, won't we?" And Nathan took a bite of his burger.