Bath time went horribly, as always. As soon as Nathan heard the word bath, he had started up a huge tantrum. It had taken Dexter and Robert twenty minutes to get him undressed, and another ten to get him to even touch the water. But by seven o' clock, Nathan stood in his room, freshly showered, lotioned, and powdered. His face was still a little bit pink from the screaming, but he was silent as a mouse now, and waiting for Dexter to come in so he could read him his favourite story, Hansel & Gretel. It was eight thirty, right on routine, when Dexter came in from his own shower.
"Hey, you've already got your story out," Dexter said, sitting on the bed and pulling the duvet back. Once Nathan had gotten in, Dexter pulled up the covers and tucked Nathan in, opening the storybook and beginning to read… "Once upon a time, there was a brother and a sister. Their names were Hansel and Gretel…" Dexter got up to the part before noticing that Nathan was asleep. He was slumped over on Dexter, little snores emitting from his mouth. Dexter smiled and gently eased out from under him, lying him down on his pillow. I'll check on him later, he thought to himself.
Half an hour later, Dexter crept in Nathan's room to find him still sleeping peacefully. He crept in and laid himself down gently next to Nathan's still form. He inattentively started to run his fingers through Nathan's hair, letting his mind wander…
Seven year old Dexter cowered behind his mother's tall legs. His mommy had brought him over for a playdate. He still didn't know who he was going to meet, but his mommy had said that she was friends with the boy's mommy since they were little girls. He thought that since the boy's mommy was so important to his own, then the boy would be important to him. For the occasion, he had brought over his best Lego building blocks and monster trucks in his bright blue backpack. He hoped that the boy would like them, too.
"Dexter, come along, we're going to meet Nathan." He may not respond to you, or want to play with your toys, but that's normal for him," said the boy- Nathan's- mom as she led him to the small living room. On the couch sat a boy who looked to be about nine or ten. He wasn't doing anything, just sitting there looking at the window. Dexter thought that was a little strange, but quickly dismissed it from his seven year old mind. He went and sat down next to Nathan. When he looked closely at him, Dexter saw that he had dark brown hair and pretty brown eyes.
"H-hi, Nathan. M-my name is D-Dexter." He cautiously stammered out. The bigger boy didn't say anything, he didn't even look in his direction. He slid to the ground, and shrugged off his backpack. He saw out of the corner that Nathan was looking at the backpack. He looked up at him and said, "Come over here. I've got some blocks and cars that we can play with." He said, unzipping the backpack and dumping everything out. The toys made a loud crashing noise as they bumped all against each other, and Nathan's hands sprang from his lap to his ears.
Dexter stared at Nathan, who was starting to rock back and forth. Maybe he didn't like the noise. He grabbed two blocks and came over to Nathan, sitting next to him softly so he wouldn't startle him. He reached out to touch Nathan, but the second their skin made even the slightest contact, Nathan shied away and scooted over to the edge of the couch. Dexter followed, and said quietly, "I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to show you my cool building blocks. They're a whole bunch of different colors. I have red, yellow, green, and blue."
At the mention of the word 'blue,' Nathan slowly stopped rocking and put his hands in his lap. Dexter didn't know how he could hear him with his hands over his ears, but he went on the floor and came back up with three blue blocks and a blue truck. He put the blocks in Nathan's lap and he truck in between them. He carefully took Nathan's hand and put one of the blocks in it. His hand was really soft, and Dexter held on to it a little longer, before he let go and showed Nathan how the blocks worked.
"Here, see these little bumps here? They're what make the blocks stick together. You can build lots of stuff with them. Once, my mommy, sister and I even built a whole rocket!" Dexter prattled on excitedly. Nathan still didn't look at him, but he turned his head a little bit towards Dexter.
The two played for an hour more, Nathan taking lots of interest in the wheels of the monster truck. Unbeknownst to them, their mothers were watching them from the kitchen doorway. They slowly crept back to the kitchen.
"Nathan, you're my best friend," Dexter said, taking Nathan's hand in his and rubbing the back of it with his thumb, just like his mommy did it. Nathan Closed his hand around Dexter's, and slowly leaned on his shoulder. Dexter stayed very still for a long time. Looking down, he saw that Nathan had fallen fast asleep, Dexter's body making a very comfortable pillow for him. Their hands were still entwined, and Dexter felt sleep taking over him. He squeezed Nathan's hand and allowed the tendrils of sleep to pull him into darkness…
Dexter was shaken out of his sleep by Nathan shuffling over and throwing one arm around him. How long was I out? He thought to himself, slowly taking himself out from under Nathan's arm and replacing it with a teddy bear. He sighed softly and bent down to kiss Nathan's cheek. "I love you," he whispered, watching Nathan twitch in his sleep. He smiled and closed the door, going to his own room to get some more sleep.