#nandoooooooo

Nando’s papa:

For a minute, things are quiet. At least Papa gets a room to himself during these appointments, so there aren’t other patients or doctors around. It makes it slightly peaceful, if that’s possible. Sebastián can hear the distant sounds of a busy hospital, but this room is just him and his papa.

“When,” Papa says, slowly, “is your senior game?”

“Oh— uh, March second, I think.” He meets Papa’s eyes. “How come you ask?”

So my very very old fic better that we break has officially seen its final day and is gone from AO3. I would apologize, but I’m pretty sure exactly no one is sorry to see it go, mostly because the entire plot of that fic is “Nando’s high school ex-boyfriend is a total asshole.”

Anyway. The reason I deleted it is because I wanted to post a new fic, which completely contradicts that one, due to it containing an account of the way they break up which is different from what you see in that old fic. As I’ve said many times on my blog, I find myself constantly changing small details within my own writing, and sometimes, that means things I wrote a long time ago are no longer technically accurate.

So anyway. Without further ado. I’m finally going to start posting this new one. May I present the five times that Nando thought about going to Kiersey College and the one time he decided he was actually going to go.

Chapter by chapter until we’re done!

Mrs. Lorenzo is still smiling. She’s always been a nice lady, and Sebastián decides that he’ll forgive her for pulling him out of study hall. “So… did you give any more thought to college over the break?”

“Uh… well.” Herein lies the problem. It’s not that Sebastián hasn’t thought about college— in fact, he feels like he’s been ‘thinking about college’ for longer than most of his fellow seniors. It’s just that, well… this winter break, college wasn’t really the first thing on his mind. He settles for, “A little.”

Carter, this is for you

***

“Sebastián?”

Quinn peers out the window of the car for a moment more, after getting his boyfriend’s attention, watching the world outside as he finishes his thought. “You’re… going the wrong way.”

“No, I’m not.” Sebastián’s reply is so confident and quick that it’s enough for Quinn to look away from the street and toward the driver’s side. When he does, he finds Sebastián smiling, and he looks Quinn’s way long enough to give him a smile that’s both sincere and sweet. Which just confuses Quinn all the more, because his response doesn’t make any sense.

“Yes, you are,” he argues, and looks out his window again. The streets of downtown Kiersey are gray and snowy, and the sky, by the looks of it, might have more snow left to give. Sunset is coming, but it’s not quite here; the streetlamps haven’t turned on yet. “You just missed the turn,” Quinn explains, and points backwards, toward the street they were supposed to turn right onto, for emphasis. “The church is down that way.”

Sebastián, when he consults him again, is still smiling. This time, he doesn’t take his eyes off the road. All he offers as an explanation is a brief, cheerful, “I know.”

Papa sets his magazine aside. “What are you stressed about?”

Sebastián exhales. He’s never going to figure this out if he isn’t honest with his family about it. “I dunno,” he says. “College?”

“Oh, Sebastián.” Mama is frowning, but not in a disapproving way; it’s more just sympathetic. “Don’t be stressed about college. You don’t have to make any decisions yet.”