#profs!au

So how does it fall out from Nate's POV... at first, it's same old same old. He and Billy have another blowup, Billy bails to go crash at his brother's place, and Nate wins him back. But Billy's not back entirely - the pattern's broken somehow, and he's distant in a way he normally isn't after a break-up-make-up. So Nate goes investigating. He's around the department all the time, and knows Angel from social events like the wine and cheeses, and she can corroborate what he already suspects - Teddy and Billy are together a lot, and it doesn't look innocent. Then Hallowe'en happens, and he gets a real look at the kind of connection zinging between them, and that jealous side kicks in really strong.

It's really easy to externalize a problem - to say, for instance, the problem is 'the events that lead to me becoming Kang,' not 'the traits I carry inside me that will lead to me becoming Kang.' And Nate externalizes this one as well. The problem with the relationship is not the teenage dysfunction and codependence that he and Billy have found themselves clinging to as adults, the problem is The Interloper. In true Nate fashion, he sets out to remove the problem.

He sets up the bracelet as a failsafe. If things go the way he's starting to suspect they will, given Billy's distance, their escalating fights, (and the strong liklihood that Billy's either sleeping with Teddy or is about to), then he can pull the trigger.

He buys a bracelet and breaks the clasp, gives it to Angel, and has her deliberately drop it in Teddy's office as physical proof she was there.

He's using Angel very much as a tool. If Teddy accepts Angel's offer and tries to sleep with her, then Nate's vindicated! He can prove to Billy right then and there that Teddy's no good, and all will go back to normal. If Teddy doesn't go for it, then the bracelet has been planted as a way to 'prove' that he assaulted Angel, and Nate can get him out of their lives that way.

I figure Nate has some money socked away - his parents' life insurance settlements, maybe. Something he tucked aside for a rainy day. He taps that to pay off Angel's tuition. It's an altruistic gesture, sort of, even if nothing else needs to be done. He can always pass it off as a favour for a gifted student, if it comes up later on.

So that happens, Teddy fends her off, and Nate's life goes to shit.

Jessica posts the Christmas potluck pictures on the website, including the picture of Teddy and Billy kissing under the mistletoe, and Nate loses his mind. It's been a constant refrain of "Teddy said this" and "Teddy did that" for the semester, and he's already deeply suspicious of Billy's feelings for the guy. Which, to be fair, isn't wrong!

Nate and Billy have a blowout to end all blowouts, because after everything Nate's done for Billy... now he has actual 'proof' that Billy's been cheating on him. (deliberate irony there - Nate is badly hurt by 'proof' of a bad thing that never really happened, which is what he was setting up for Teddy.) D-Day.

They break up, Billy runs into the door, manages to give himself a black eye, and so forth. Teddy takes Billy out drinking that night and they almost hook up. Cue Christmas break.

If pattern holds, Nate figures, Billy will get in touch over break. At least at Christmas.

He doesn't.

Nate holds off on pulling the trigger w/r/t the abuse accusations. It will be better if it happens during term, with the largest number of witnesses in the department. Over break, the college might be able to sweep things under the rug. So he waits, and then in January, Angel sees Billy and Teddy arriving together at the school on the day of the fire (Teddy feels like he's being watched - he is). She reports in that it's still on. Nate starts to gather up the money for the next payment to Angel, to set his plan in motion.

Angel later overhears Billy yelling 'at Teddy' in the hallway that 'it's over, he's done.' Billy's angry at the committee he's forced to be on, which we find out as the scene moves into his office, but Angel doesn't (swish of long dark hair and a familiar form in the hallway). Nate gets that information, wonders if it's all over for real? Maybe it was just a fling, and didn't mean as much as he thought it might. He still has a chance to get Billy back, without risking himself in the bargain.

He goes to Billy's place with a rose in hand... and finds Teddy there. Words are exchanged. It's time to burn all his bridges.

Nate calls Angel, she makes the report, and Teddy gets in deeper trouble than he's ever been in before. Nate just has to sit back and watch the ball roll, as far as he's concerned, but - damn him - Teddy manages to weasel out of what was an entirely reasonable trap.

At that point, Nate's basically shot his load. He's pulled his tricks to try and get Teddy dismissed, and that hans't worked. He's tried to woo Billy back, and that hasn't worked. He's been thoroughly and formally replaced, especially that summer once Teddy moves in to his old apartment. Nothing he said to Billy seems to have had any impact on Billy's feelings about Teddy, or caused him to reflect on himself and his own actions in any reasonable way.

Nate's emotionally immature, but he's not dumb. At the end of TNTFT He's gone off to throw himself into work and lick his wounds for a while. He's partially hoping for the karma bus to wander along and destroy Billy and Teddy, -- because part of him remembers what it's like to be in a relationship with Billy, and how self-centred and fucking oblivious he can be at times.

Part of him wants to be happy for them, because he really, really did love Billy. And when you love someone, aren't you supposed to want them to be happy? And Teddy seems to be making Billy much happier than Nate ever could. So he should be able to let them go and be happy.

But he's really not that 'good' a person. He can't quite bring himself to get to that point. So instead he keeps on externalising; his narrative from then on will be "I had a long-term boyfriend, but he dumped me for another guy." And if he ran into Teddy one day, and there was no chance of getting caught, he'd be at least momentarily tempted to shove him into oncoming traffic.