Salutations! This is the sequel to "Cold Body," so if you want to understand some of the references, it's pretty necessary to read that first!

Main characters: Nathan, Warren

Other characters: Hayden, Sean Prescott

Pairing: Warren/Nathan

Warnings: language, homophobia, yaoi/slash, abusive situation, Sean Prescott in general

Important Note: This fanfiction was published before the release of episode 4.

Nathan ground his teeth, glaring at his phone. Any minute now...

WarrenPeace: U coming over tonight?

Nathan took a deep breath, his fingers tightening around the electronic device. He would not type back. He would not. He would-

PrinceNathan: yeah be right there

Nathan grunted in frustration, letting his phone drop into his lap. Oh, how his body betrayed him.

Not that he was surprised. He went through the same routine every night: First, he would shower and all that shit, getting ready to sleep. Then, instead of sleeping, he would sit up in his bed, shivering like mad after taking his damned pills, waiting for his phone to vibrate and that stupid dork's stupid face to appear on his stupid screen.

The worst thing was that Warren would always ask a question he knew the answer to: Of course Nathan was coming over - ever since that night a month ago, when hadn't he snuck across the hall, crawling into Warren's bed like some bitch-?

No, Nathan refused to think of himself in that way. He HATED the little twerp, resented him with all his being. Never had it occurred to Nathan that they were doing anything truly promiscuous - Warren was just...Warren just...

"He just holds me all night long, is all," Nathan muttered, gritting his teeth as he pulled himself out of bed, going over to his closed door. He really was like a little bitch, crawling back to her master.

Nathan squeezed his eyes shut, his hand lingering on the door handle. He could just not go. He could just stay in his room, burrow into the blankets and forget that the past month had ever happened. At least that way, he'd be able to blaze up and not have to worry about Mama Warren getting his panties in a twist.

Nathan sighed heavily, turning the doorknob. He knew he wouldn't be able to do it - he was weak. And Warren...

Warren was so warm.

Nathan walked across the hall in two steps, letting himself into Warren's room and closing the door behind him in a matter of seconds.

As usual, the other boy was sitting at his desk, Rubik's Cube and phone sitting beside his keyboard as his hands rapidly soared over the keys, playing that stupid nerd game.

Nathan's lips curled in disgust, wanting nothing more than to leave. The shiver that raced up his spine, though, kept him in place.

Warren must have finally sensed him by that time, because he closed his laptop, turning around. "There you are. I was beginning to wonder if you were coming at all."

Lies. Warren knew he was coming. He always came.

"Whatever," Nathan muttered, going over to curl up in Warren's bed, pulling the sheets around him. A few seconds passed, and then the bed dipped, as Warren crawled in beside him.

Nathan hated the way his body's shivering ceased, as soon as Warren wrapped his arms around him. He hated the way he relaxed at the gently rubbing of Warren's hand on his back. He hated the way he had to fight his body not to lean into the hand carding through his hair.

He hated how comfortable being around Warren made him.

Ever since that night that Warren had helped him when he was at his lowest, he couldn't help the way his body automatically relaxed, the way he felt the urge to go up to him, to touch him...

He, of course, never acted on the latter desires - no, he had some self control.

But as displayed by his continuous nightly visits, the self-control stopped about there.

Warren's hand suddenly stilled in his hair. "You okay?"

That was another thing he absolutely despised about the other boy: He was too damn caring.

"I'm fine," Nathan grunted, squeezing his eyes shut tighter.

Warren shifted. When Nathan's eyes opened, he saw the two wide, brown orbs staring at him in the darkness.

"What?" he asked defensively, rolling over so that his back was to Warren. It was easier to be irritated at the other when he didn't have a set of puppy dog eyes staring at him.

"You've been acting differently, lately," Warren said, seemingly hesitant. Nathan stiffened. "I...was just..."

"I'm not acting differently. Fuck off, Graham," Nathan snapped, burrowing deeper into the blankets. He hoped Warren would drop the conversation there.

His hope was in vain.

"You HAVE been acting differently, at least around me. Like, you're not as much of an asshole-"

"I said FUCK OFF, Graham!" Nathan growled. He wasn't different. He wasn't different. He wasn't-

Oh, who was he kidding.

Ever since he had been coming over to Warren's room, he had been sleeping better. He would wake up refreshed - frankly, he would wake up happier. The effects of the drugs didn't seem to be as bad either, for whatever reason. He could focus in class, and he didn't need to schedule constant Vortex parties as an excuse to get high and/or wasted.

He'd honestly never felt better.

And that drove him insane.

What was it about Warren that made Nathan feel like a better person?

Soft snoring interrupted his musings - the dork had fallen asleep. Nathan sighed lightly, gently rolling over so as not to disturb the other boy.

As he laid his head against Nathan's warm chest, listening to the soft pounding of his heart, Nathan drifted off to sleep.

Nathan always made sure to wake up before the rest of their floor, so that he could sneak back to his dorm without anyone seeing - after all, Nathan was aware of how it would look to all of them, and he didn't need those sort of rumors getting around to his dad.

Nathan maneuvered out of Warren's arms (a great feat within itself, considering how tightly the other boy latched onto him) before climbing off the end of the bed and making for the door.

Nathan opened the door, glancing down the hall - nothing. He shot a quick glance the other way, before tip-toeing across the hall-

"Nathan?"

He froze, his blood turning to ice in his veins. The lingering warmth of Warren's body pressed against his immediately evaporated, leaving him shivering. In spite of that, he slowly turned to face the one that had spoken to him. "Yes?"

Hayden was standing with his shower kit, obviously having come from the restrooms. His eyes, however, were darting between Nathan and the door he just exited.

"You're up early," Nathan spoke again, though his throat was tightening. He could see the gears working in Hayden's head.

The two of them had been friends as long as Nathan could remember - Hayden stood by him through everything, even going so far as to defend Nathan when he really didn't deserve it.

But Nathan knew the truth - his father had believed him incapable of taking care of himself, especially with all the mental-health issues...Nathan knew his father had been paying the other boy off to keep an eye on him, having him report back with any suspicious activity.

And coming out of another boy's dorm in the early morning - yeah, that counted as suspicious activity.

Nathan held his hands up in what he hoped was an appeasing manner. "Listen, I can explain-"

Hayden just shook his head, holding up a hand of his own. Nathan immediately silenced. "You...don't need to explain..."

Nathan's teeth immediately sunk into his lip, as he stumbled forward. "No, let me-"

Hayden just shook his head, turning away. Nathan could only watch as the other boy walked down the hall, disappearing through the door leading to the stairs.

With Hayden no longer in sight, Nathan could feel a tangled web of emotions knitting together inside of him, building up as though about ready to explode.

He slipped into to his room, shutting the door perhaps a touch too violently, before stalking over to the wall across from his door.

He slammed his fist into it with all his might, the phrase, "Damn it!" leaking out through his gritted teeth.

Nathan went through the day in a thinly veiled, carefully hidden panic. For the first time in a month, focusing on his classes was a struggle, not lashing out at his classmates was even harder. He continuously shot glances at Hayden, who carefully avoided his eyes at seemingly all costs.

It was after his last class of the day, when Nathan was considering escaping the company of everyone to toke up by himself on the roof of the dorms, that his phone vibrated.

PrivateNumber: Come home immediately.

Nathan stood in the middle of the courtyard, staring at his phone and shaking for a full minute, before he felt someone tap his shoulder. He whirled around, ready to bite the head off of whoever dared to touch him.

The angry expression froze on his face. Warren rubbed awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, shifting on his feet. Nathan shook himself, opening his mouth to tell the other boy to "go fuck himself", when Warren spoke first.

"You okay? You've been acting off all day?" Warren asked quietly, clearly trying to be discreet. However, his eyes stared intensely into Nathan's searching for a sign of whatever caused him such distress.

The words, spoken so gently and the eyes...looking so caring, so worried...

Nathan swallowed, trying to bring some sort of moisture back to his suddenly dry throat. "I'm fine," he croaked out, finally.

Warren's eyebrows furrowed, but Nathan turned away, walking as quickly as his suddenly heavy legs could carry him towards the entrance to the school.

He couldn't think on Warren, couldn't think about how he seemed to care, at the current time.

After all, he had somewhere to be.

Nathan's house was as you would expect: It was big, with numerous elaborate rooms filled to the bursting with famous works of art and photographs. Most of the rooms were bright and well-lit, as they were adorned with expensive lighting fixtures and chandeliers, as well as several floor-to-ceiling windows.

There was one room, however, that was not at all like that. There were no windows, as every wall was covered with bookshelves and wood panelling. The room was small, but in spite of that, it was filled to the brim with ancient furniture and artifacts. The crowdedness of the room in combination with the heavy lingering scent of tobacco smoke made the room a very suffocating place to be in.

Needless to say, Nathan hated that room. He especially hated the man that inhabited that room.

The man was, of course, his father.

Nathan took a deep breath, before knocking lightly on the door.

There was a long pause, in which Nathan hoped his father didn't hear the slight sound - his regret at returning home was building by the second.

His wishes were in vain. "Come in, Nathan."

He took a deep breath, before following instructions.

His father looked like an imposing giant, the way he was hunched over the large desk, the single lamp in the room casting long shadows on his already-severe face.

When his father's eyes rose to meet his, Nathan immediately felt like fleeing. However, he stood his ground - he could not show his father how much he truly feared him.

"Close the door and sit down, Nathan," his father spoke clearly, deliberately.

Nathan pointedly ignored the second instruction, lingering by the door. "What do you want?"

His father pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes with a sigh. Nathan tensed, as his father stood up to his full height, slowly coming over to stand right in front of him.

"I talked to Hayden-" he began.

"Hayden's a load of shit," Nathan scoffed.

"Is he now?" Nathan bowed his head, gritting his teeth.

"He just...he just saw this situation and jumped to conclusions-"

"The situation being you sneaking out of another boy's dorm in the early morning?" his father's anger was clearly rising. "Goddammit, Nathan! Do you realize how this looks?"

"He...we..." Nathan cleared his throat. "There's nothing-"

"There isn't? Tell me, who is this kid this...Walter?"

A shooting flare of anger shot through Nathan at that. "His name is WARREN!"

His father blinked, seemingly in shock at the random outburst. Nathan himself was quite shocked at how defensive he had gotten.

He didn't have time to think on it though, because his father's hand suddenly shot out, firmly grabbing ahold of his hair and jerking his head back into the wall.

"I thought..." his dad seethed, "...that all this nonsense was gotten rid of... This..." Nathan squeezed his eyes shut, as his father's lip curled in disgust. "This same sex shit... You are a Prescott, not some fucking fagget..."

Nathan squeezed his eyes shut, as the hand tightened in his hair, his father's hot breath rushing into his ear. Nathan's heart was pounding, his body shaking, his lungs felt like they were going to explode, and on top of everything, he was beginning to get a massive headache from how hard his dad was tugging on his hair.

He wished Warren were there.

The thought surprised Nathan so much, he opened his eyes to meet his father's.

'Where did that come from?' Nathan asked himself. Why then, of all times, did his brain decide to jump to that conclusion.

His dad jerked his head again, causing him to wince. Ah, that was right.

When Warren touched his hair, he was gentle.

"Nathan Joshua Prescott!" his father roared, jolting him out of his thoughts.

"We haven't done ANYTHING!"

His father released his hair immediately, for which Nathan was grateful. However, that gratefulness was short lived, as a second later, he was crumpled on the floor, the left side of his face aching and the back of his head suspiciously wet.

Nathan breathed heavily, as his father grabbed ahold of his wrist, jerking him back to his feet. He swayed, but his father kept a firm - perhaps too firm - grip on his already-aching wrist. "I don't wish to punish you, son, but I can't have you doing these foolish things-"

Nathan's head jerked up, glaring at his father, though he wasn't sure how effective that was, with his one eye beginning to swell shut. "Foolish things? God, do you ever listen to me?!" Nathan jerked his hand away, ignoring the sickening pop that rippled through it. "For your information, he's the reason I'm still alive! With all the fucking medicines you had those doctors put me on, it was a wonder I hadn't been in that situation before...but when I was laying there dying, WARREN was the one to help me, WARREN was the one to save my life!"

Nathan turned towards the door, jerking it open. Before he left, he turned back to his dumbstruck father. "And for your information, I'd take getting disowned before I'd stay away from him. So if I was you, I'd pick your fucking battles."

Nathan then turned and left before his father could come to his senses.

The walk back to Blackwell was a long one. Nathan became overtly dizzy multiple times, and had to stop and rest. At one point, kneeling in front of Two Whales, he felt like laying down and giving up.

However, the shivers racing through his body moved him forward.

Finally, he made it to the staircase in front of Blackwell and began ascending it. His head injury would have none of it, though, for he soon collapsed.

He squeezed his eyes shut, his arms wrapping around railing beside him, in an attempt to stop the Earth from moving so much.

Nathan wasn't sure for how long he sat there shivering, until the buzzing in his pocket shocked him back into reality.

He maneuvered his uninjured hand into his pocket, fishing it out.

18 messages. All by the same person.

WarrenPeace: Hey, you coming over?

WarrenPeace: ?

WarrenPeace: U akright?

WarrenPeace: alright*

WarrenPeace: Come on, ur freaking me out.

WarrenPeace: plz answer!

WarrenPeace: NATHAN!

WarrenPeace: thats it im coming over

WarrenPeace: ANSWER!

WarrenPeace: ur doors unlocked...

WarrenPeace: UR NOT IN HERE WHERE R U?!

WarrenPeace: srsly dude im freaking out

WarrenPeace: please answer, im super worried

WarrenPeace: Did i make u mad?

WarrenPeace: I didn't mean to i swear!

WarrenPeace: please, just answer!

WarrenPeace: I dont care if ur mad at me i just have to know ur alright!

WarrenPeace: PLEASE NATHAN!

Nathan squeezed his eyes shut, as they began to suspiciously burn. After he got himself under control, he managed to type back a response.

PrinceNathan: at entrance 2 blackwell plz come quickly

The phone slipped through Nathan's fingers, clattering on the ground. He closed his eyes once more, leaning against the railing.

He stayed like that, his mind wandering aimlessly, for hardly more than a few minutes, before the sound of the pounding of running feet met his ears. A second later, Warren's warm hand was laid against his cheek, his voice urgent and pleading with Nathan to open his eyes.

Nathan, however, couldn't force his eyes to open, not with the gentle hand on his cheek and the other hand frantically yet delicately running through his hair.

He was safe.

The next time his eyes opened, the early morning light was coming through the window, shining over Warren's bed, a soft cloth was wrapped firmly around his head, and a blissfully warm body was laying beside his.

However, Warren wasn't asleep - he looked like he hadn't slept all night.

"You're awake," Warren whispered, his eyes wide.

Nathan swallowed hard. The pain shooting through his head and wrist (which was also thankfully bound) was slight, but enough to be distinctly uncomfortable. "I'm...sorry for not texting you..."

Nathan was cut off, when Warren suddenly wrapped his arms around Nathan, hugging him tightly.

Nathan blinked in confusion. "Graham-"

"Man, you have no idea how worried I was! I asked around, but no one knew where you were and then I got your text and I rushed right down..." Warren pulled back, his eyes meeting Nathan's. Warren's eyes were suspiciously shiny.

Nathan cleared his throat, looking away.

"What happened?!" Warren exclaimed, his arms once again wrapping around Nathan. One hand drifted up to card through the sections of his hair not trapped under the wrap.

Nathan swallowed again, as a lump had formed in his throat. "It's nothing-"

"It's not nothing!" Warren exclaimed, hugging him tighter. "Man, I know this may be hard for you to understand, but I care about you! A lot!"

Nathan jerked back, climbing to his feet. He couldn't look Warren in the eye, when he spoke next. "I...will you give me a minute?"

He left the room without another word, ignoring the strange looks he got, as he headed up for the roof.

Once there, he sat on the ground, leaning against the door, yanking a joint out of his pocket. He lit up immediately, closing his eyes as the drug took over.

What was this feeling, that was overwhelming him? Everything ached, and yet felt so...so relaxed? Calm? Not quite...

No, he felt happy. He felt so happy it hurt?

Why?

"I care about you!"

That had been what Warren said.

Care.

About.

You.

Nathan gritted his teeth, letting the smoke whoosh out through them. The enjoyment he usually got from smoking was missing. Instead, it just tasted like ash.

Warren was like his new drug. Warren was all that made him feel that good any more.

Just being around him.

Feeling Warren run a hand through his hair.

Warren's heat.

Warren's holding him in the night.

And that wasn't it. He loved Warren's dorky texts complete with emojis, the way he would talk on into the night about movies, the way he would get into video games, the way he solved a Rubik's Cube like nobody's business...

The cigarette fell from his fingers, sputtering out as it hit the roof. Nathan's eyes jerked open as possibly the most wonderfully terrifying thought occurred to him.

Did he love Warren Graham?

Did I just end this fanfic like this? I think I did!

I'll probably write a third part to this, just to wrap things up. Plus, more Grahamscott is always fabulous!

Thanks for reading! Please leave a review, if you so desire!