Yeah, alright, it was Nathanâs great idea to go for a man who clearly didnât respect others (no one with that many naked women tattooed on their body ever does) but god, didnât mean the guy had to be a jackass and throw Nathan out before Nathan even got a chance to clean himself off. Now here he is, loitering in the manâs backyard (didnât want to go to the front, neighbors hadnât looked too friendly), in a ruined shirt, trying to decide which pathway through the extremely shady back-alley offered him the lowest chance of getting mugged. Is this all completely Nathanâs fault that heâs in this situation? Absolutely. Is he going to acknowledge that? Absolutely not. Or well, not until heâs safe at home.
He checks his phone, puts his home address into his map app, and groans at the destination time it gives him. Fuck, of course the bastardâs house had to be in the most inconvenient location, not even close to a single subway station or a bus route. Out of the nearest options, thereâs the eastbound subway but heâd get home at three am and the southboundâs no better. While Nathanâs fiddling around, trying to map a path that can get him home safely, he hears a peculiar sound: a gunshot coming from within the house that most definitely had only one person in it when Nathan left. Thatâs strange, Nathan thinks, brain trying to work through all the reasons a man would shoot a gun at this time of night so soon after a hookup. Was he trying to scare Nathan off? Thatâs a rather odd way to do it if it is. Really, what the hell is he thinking?
And then a man who is definitely not the man Nathan just fucked exits out the back door. Nathan freezes, halfway between the door and the gate that leads to the alleyway, and it doesnât take long for his brain to put two and two together. Well, this really isnât something he should get involved with but he also canât just pretend like he didnât just hear whatâs heâs ninety percent sure was a murder. âMan, those fireworks, am I right? Donât know why they chose this time of night but itâs not my place to question when they choose to set them off. You, uh, you heading to the southbound subway cause, um, thatâs where Iâm heading to, you know, go to sleep and forget about the fireworks,â Nathan says, hands go up slightly to show heâs not reaching for anything, âTo be honest, guy in the house was an asshole, I wouldnât question whether or not people decided to put fireworks in his house to prank him. Thatâs none of my business.â