Leave Me Alone, Big Brothers! [BL]-Chapter 64: The Van

Chapter 64: The Van
Nathan walked toward the back of the school.
’I will ruin your brother’s reputation.’
Jonas’s words echoed in his head with every step he took.
What did that kid mean? What did Nael do?
Boyfriend? Nael has a boyfriend? That was quite surprising. But it wasn’t enough to ruin his reputation, right?
Nathan clicked his tongue, convinced that Jonas was just trying to threaten him. He was wrong if he thought he could scare him.
When he arrived at the backyard, Nathan looked around.
The wind howled through the skeletal branches of the trees, kicking up flurries of dry snow. He trudged through the drifts, his eyes scanning the dilapidated gardening sheds and the old, boarded-up brick annex.
Nothing was there. No people. He was sure Nael wasn’t there. There was no way Nael would be in that old, dilapidated building, right? No way.
Nathan scanned the area once more.
It was silent. Too silent.
He pulled out his phone, his fingers stiff with cold. It was better to send Nael a message.
Nathan: Where are you? Louis is waiting.
It took a while for a reply to come. Then his phone vibrated.
Nael: I still have something to do. Group assignment with the science club. Might be late, don’t wait for me!
Nathan stared at the screen, his jaw tightening. Liar. He had just seen Nick and Jonas walking toward the parking lot. If there was a group assignment, the two "best friends" wouldn’t be leaving.
A boyfriend? Jonas’s words echoed in his head again. Who could Nael possibly be hiding with in a place like this? And why lie to him?
Frustrated and unable to find a trace of his brother in the blurring snow, Nathan turned back toward the pickup zone. It was better to go home. It wasn’t his business if Nael really had a boyfriend. So far, he’d always been fine. There was nothing to worry about, right?
As he rounded the corner of the main building, a shadow detached itself from the wall. Nathan frowned, turning away.
Before he could react, a heavy hand slammed into the brickwork right next to his head. Shock shot through him. Then his body was yanked into the narrow space between the school and the equipment shed.
Gabriel Perlich stood over him, eyes blazing with a strange, dark fury. He was alone this time, with no goons to back him up, which made his raw size even more intimidating.
Nathan could only gape in shock.
"Why do you keep making problems when I never touch you, Salazar?" Gabriel growled, his voice a low vibration of rage. "What’s the point? Telling everyone I’m some kind of monster, a ’bad guy’ who enjoys tormenting people? You want to die that badly?"
Nathan took a breath, trying to calm his racing heart. He stared at Gabriel, genuinely bewildered. "What the hell are you talking about? I haven’t said a word about you! Are you crazy?"
"Don’t lie!" Gabriel moved closer, his chest nearly touching Nathan’s. "People are looking at me like I’m a criminal because of the ’rumors’ you’re spreading. You think because you’re a Salazar, you can ruin my reputation just for fun?"
"Ruin your reputation?" Nathan laughed, a sharp, bitter sound. "You’re the one who caused problems with me! You hid my history notes, right? You broke my locker lock! And you reset my laptop! Are you fucking crazy?! Are you psychopathic?? If anyone is making you look like a bad guy, it’s you!"
Gabriel frowned, his grip on Nathan’s collar loosening slightly. "I didn’t touch your locker. I didn’t take your notes. And what? Reset your laptop?! I don’t play those petty games."
"Then who—"
Nathan’s words died in his throat.
A low, guttural hum of an engine reached his ears. His gaze drifted past Gabriel’s shoulder toward the school’s side gate.
A white van was idling there.
The sight hit Nathan like a physical blow to the stomach. The world tilted. The cold air suddenly felt thin, as if he were suffocating. The snow, the school, Gabriel, everything vanished, replaced by a dark, blurry memory of a similar van, the smell of a hard van floor, rope, and the sound of zinc.
His heart began to hammer against his ribs—thud, thud, thud—so loudly he could hear it in his ears.
"Hey? What’s wrong with you?" Gabriel asked, his anger flickering into confusion.
Nathan didn’t answer. He stared at the van’s door.
It slid open with a heavy, metallic rasp. A man stepped out, large, wearing a dark tank top despite the winter cold, his arms covered in thick, dark tattoos.
That tattoo.
Nathan had seen it before.
His legs turned to jelly. His hands trembled violently, his breath coming in short, jagged gasps. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead despite the freezing wind.
"Salazar?" Gabriel’s voice softened, laced with genuine alarm. He let go of Nathan’s jacket, watching as the boy’s face turned a ghostly, translucent white.
"Hey, Nathan! Speak to me!" Gabriel panicked, unconsciously calling him by name.
But Nathan was focused on the van. The men stepping out moved stiffly. His instinct screamed at him to run, and he stumbled, tumbling onto the snow.
"No..." Nathan whispered, his voice a broken thread.
As the tattooed man turned his head in their direction, Nathan’s survival instinct—the one that told him to run—finally snapped.
He pushed himself off the snowy ground and ran. He didn’t care about Gabriel shouting after him. He didn’t care about the fight. He didn’t care about looking tough.
He just ran.
He burst through the main gate, his vision blurring, tears of panic pricking his eyes. He didn’t see where he was going until he slammed into a solid, warm chest.
"Shit! Nathan!" Louis’s strong arms caught him. Feeling the boy’s body trembling, he reflexively held him upright.
Nathan looked up, saw Louis, and grabbed onto the older man’s coat, burying his face in the fabric, his body shaking so violently he could barely stand.
"Louis... Louis, it’s them," Nathan sobbed, his voice unrecognizable. "The van... the man..."
Louis’s kind face hardened instantly. He looked past Nathan, his sharp eyes catching a big kid standing in the distance, then shifting to the white van at the gate. He didn’t ask questions. He didn’t demand explanations. He simply wrapped an arm around Nathan’s shoulders, pulling him close in a protective embrace.
"I’m here," Louis said, his voice a steady, unbreakable anchor. "I’m here. Don’t worry. Don’t be afraid, Nathan."
He hadn’t known Alexander’s plan would terrify the boy this much. But he couldn’t possibly say that what had happened before was just a trick.
Louis hugged Nathan tightly. "I will protect you. No one is taking you anywhere ever again."