"Something did happen that's made me not come around the club" he muttered, almost inaudibly, but Matteo heard him, he already had his eyes on Nate.

"Did someone hurt you? or threaten you"? He asked and Nate just shook his head, biting on his bottom lip, he didn't think it would be a good idea to give Matteo all the details of what happened, but he'd explain to the best of his ability, leaving out a few things, for personal reasons.

"No, no one's threatened or hurt me" he sighed out again "something happened between Spade and I"

He saw as Matteo's brows furrowed together "Gio"? He asked and Nate nodded, wondering if there was another Spade he didn't know about, of course it was Giovanni. "Did he do something to hurt you"? Matteo pressed, Nate just sighed out again and shook his head

"No, what happened wasn't really much of a thing, actually it wasn't really much of anything" he whispered, more to himself than to the blonde sitting beside him. "I didn't think Spade wanted it to be anything at all, so I pretended like it didn't happen, I avoided him" he paused, his eyes landing on Matteo again, he knew he had the blonde's attention with the way his eyes was set on him. "And then everything became awkward, but then a few days ago, it happened again, and this time I didn't start it, Spade did" he muttered before his eyes landed on his finger, he started fiddling with it again.

"Did you want it to he something more than what happened"? Matteo asked making Nate to look at him again, he shrugged his shoulder.

"I dunno, I guess I did at first, but then..." He paused

"Then what"? Matteo pressed

"Then after the second time I kind of got scared, everything became too real for me and I ran" he muttered, already feeling his skin and body crawl with anxiety and self consciousness, he felt as if Matteo would judge him

"Why did you run away"? Matteo asked gently, Nate swallowed because the reason he ran away might not be reason enough for Matteo but it was to him.

"I guess I was scared, I couldn't handle something real, and I didn't think Spade..." He paused, what he was about to say was hard and if he finally admitted out loud there'd be no turning back, and it would be stamped with him forever

Matteo's stared at him softly "You didn't think Spade felt the same way" Matteo stated, Nate's head whipped up as his brown eyes matched with Matteo's blue ones, he swallowed, feeling as though Matteo had spoken the words right out of his mouth "You're scared you would get hurt" he added.

This time Nate couldn't help but nod slowly. "Do you like him"? Matteo asked.

Nate lowered his head, feeling his body go hot with emotions and his face heat up, he knew a blush would have already appeared on his face, but it disappeared as fast as it came when the voice in his head reminded him how much of a pathetic person he was.

He looked up and sighed again "What does it matter if I do? He doesn't feel that way for me" he whispered, this made Matteo to scrunch his brows

He chuckled, making Nate to look at him, his face morphing into one of confusion, he was wondering what had suddenly become so funny and amusing to Matteo. "What makes you think he doesn't feel that way for you"? He asked and Nate just shrugged.

"A whole lot of reasons, first Spade's way above my standard, he can have anyone he wants, I really don't think he'd settle for someone like me, plus, he's not even gay"

This made Matteo to even chuckle louder than before "Are you"? He asked, Nate just scrunched his nose up, letting the tip grow pink

"Am I what"? He asked cluelessly

"Are you gay"? He asked and he saw the way Nate's cheek grew red, making them puff out the more, he lowered his head as he played with his fingers again

"I don't know, I mean... I..." He couldn't even answer the question, was he gay? He didn't know? But yet he knew he liked Spade He'd never been with anyone emotionally before, or even sexually, except.... He trailed off before shaking his head discreetly to rid it of that thought, that didn't count.

Matteo's cocked his brows at him playfully "You see, yet you like him, gay or not, it doesn't matter, what matter is how someone makes you feel" Matteo muttered out "And about Spade being way out of your standard, I don't think that's true" he added making Nate almost scoff out, Matteo shouldn't flatter him, he knew the truth and he just said it. "I don't know if you've noticed but you're very attractive man Nate, only a fool wouldn't see that, and I don't think Gio's a fool" he added, making Nate to look at him, seeing the slight curve of his lips, Nate also smiled a bit

"He shouldn't hear you call him that" Nate muttered and Matteo just swatted the words away with his hands

"He's not gonna do anything to me" he said, finally getting Nate to be free and at ease, he decided to add a bit of information for Nate. "You know, I've never seen Spade worry about anyone the way he worries about you" he muttered, this captured Nate's complete attention as he stared at Matteo with all his mind focusing and replaying what the blonde just said

Was he perhaps toying with him? Of course Spade doesn't worry about him at all, let alone the way Matteo was portraying it.

"He's never cared about anyone like he cares about you, the man is literally the devil, but I've seen him around you" he muttered, his eyes meeting with Nate's, as if his eyes would show him what he was saying "The Spade I've killed for, fought for and would die for, the Spade everyone refers to as the devil, I don't see that Spade when he's with you, all I see is Giovanni" he muttered, this made Nate's breath to hitch, he didn't know if he should believe Matteo's words, or discard it. It was hard to believe, why didn't he see all these things Matteo was pointing out "You bring out the best in him, he's gentle when he's with you, he likes you Nate, and I don't even need to ask him to know that, I've known way before he even knew he felt that way about you"

Nate's lips parted as he tried to understand and swallow what Matteo had just told him. It's not as if he didn't want to believe what Matteo was telling him, but it was too real and scary for him. If in truth Spade did feel that way about him, then what? What would he do? Did that mean he'd stop running away from the man? What if Spade ever found out what had happened to him years ago, would he still care about him or would he discard him? He swallowed hard

"What am I going to do"? He asked cluelessly and in a whisper

"I can't tell you what to do Nate, but I can tell you one thing, do whatever it is you want to do, what you feel is best for you, because at the end of the day your feelings matter too, if you like him and you wanna be with him, it's all up to you, and if you don't, just talk to him about it" he explained softly.

Nate could feel his heart warm up, it had been a while someone talked to him like this, Su was the one that used to talk to him like this, make him feel safe and at home. He nodded and swallowed the lump of emotions in his throat.

"Thank you" he whispered and Matteo just waved it off

"It's fine, what are friends for" he said with a smile before his eyes landed on the work on Nate's table "You brought work home"? He asked and the young man just nodded

"It's not really much, just a few last minute touch ups, the project's launching tomorrow, I wanted to be sure everything was in place before the big day" he whispered and Matteo nodded, picking up one of the piece of papers, going through it.

Nate almost forgot to ask the one question that had been on his mind since Matteo said something earlier on, he remembered and decided to ask now while he can "You seem to know a lot about Spade" he started and Matteo just hummed, his eyes still on the paper in his hands. "You know things only close friends know about people, but yet he never agrees you're his friend, why"? He asked, this time Matteo dropped the paper and looked at Nate.

"That's because I'm not" he said as if he didn't just agree to the fact that he wasn't Spade's friend Nate's brows furrowed even further as his nose scrunched up.

"But you said..." Matteo cut him short

"I'm his brother" he blurted out, this was even more confusing for Nate, before his eyes lit up

"Oh, you mean your brother in mafia and stuff"

Matteo just shook his head "No, Spade is my brother, my elder brother, by blood, we have the same parents" he explained.

Nate's eyes widened a notch as he almost choked on his own spit, he was more than shocked, he looked at Matteo and blinked twice. "Spade is your brother"? His voice raised up a bit as if he couldn't believe that someone like Matteo was Spade's brother, they were practically two different people with a lot of differences.

"Yep" Matteo muttered, popping the p sound with a loud pop

"And I'm just finding out"? He asked

"That's because you never asked, and probably because Spade and I don't look alike, he looks like our father while I look like our mother" he muttered the last part out, his cheerful face, gleaming away before he quickly changed it again.

"Wait, hold on, what happened to your parents"? Nate asked, jumping from one shocked discovery to asking questions about another.

Neither Spade nor Matteo had ever mentioned anything about their parents before, not even by mistake, but now that Matteo had, he wanted to make sure he knew about them, because he might never get a chance again.

He saw the way Matteo's smile slowly faded, he kind of felt bad for even asking, was he perhaps too nosy. Before he could take it back, Matteo already answered "Our mother died when we were still kids" he muttered, clenching his jaw as the sour memory resurfaced in his mind

"I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have asked" Nate quickly spoke up, Matteo just shook his head

"It's fine, it happened a long time ago" he was trying to down play his pain, Nate could tell, because he'd tried to do it countless times, especially with Su whenever she talked about their mother.

He didn't bother to ask about their father but Matteo still told him anyway. "Spade killed our father before he took over as Don" Nate gasped out, but Matteo's expression wasn't even showing that he was in the least bit bothered about what he just said.

Making Nate to kind of have an idea the kind of person their father must have been before he died. Probably like his own father, he wished he had that kind of mind that Spade had, he probably would have killed his father a long time ago.

Matteo got up, as Nate just watched him. "It's getting late, there are a few things I need to do at the club, like I said I just came to check on you" he said "don't forget to think about what we talked about, whatever you choose to do, no one would hold it against you" Matteo reminded him, and he just nodded, letting it sink in. He was definitely going to think about it, and he wouldn't let the tiny voice in his head stop him, because unlike before, now he had hope that maybe Spade liked him too.

That alone brought a smile to his face as he watched Matteo walk out of his apartment.

Who else loves the tiny chemistry and bond Matteo is establishing with Nate?

I do 😁😁😁