Things were changing.

The moment the news started spreading that people were waking up, Nathan knew his current free ride was over. He would not be able to crash at his father’s apartment while he was holed up in the hospital for much longer, which meant he was out with no place to stay. Sure, he could ask Angela to let him stay with her, and he was absolutely sure she would do what she could to help him, but he was too proud. It was his decision to leave home, to come here, and he had known then that he might not even have a place to stay. The apartment had been a nice perk, but until he was ready to actually meet his father, there was no way he could continue to stay there.

So it was back to the streets.

He didn’t mind so much, as he was good at finding places to stay each night, and he had more time for causing trouble, rather than sitting back and watching TV. It took a few days since vacating, but he soon saw his father return home. He didn’t look great, wobbling on a cane, but Nathan couldn’t go and talk to him yet. It was too much of a bother: clearly, Tony wasn’t well yet, and he had a ton of other stuff to do. He went to work soon after getting out of the hospital, and then, as Nate found out with some surprise, ended up being a drunk.

It was strange, witnessing his father walk to a bar, get drunk, and stumble his way home. It wasn’t just once, though he didn’t hit it as hard as he had that first night. What had happened during his first day back at work to make him need to get so wholly smashed? Nate hadn’t bothered following him all day, and hadn’t seen him while he was at the library. He had no real idea about the man’s personal life, or the fact that the hamster, who Nate had been taking care of for Tony while he had been in the coma, had died. But surely a hamster wasn’t the true source of his apparent alcoholism, anyway, right?

Did Nathan really want to get to know another wreck? He had left his mother because she had been an absolute waste of time. He essentially had been taking care of her for longer than she had ever taken care of him. The moment he was old enough to walk, talk and feed himself, she had disconnected. It hadn’t been abusive, and she loved him as much as she could, enough for a passable mother, but living where they had, in the neighborhood they had, he needed more. He became too much for her, always in trouble, constantly making her miserable, and even he saw that it was time to just go out on his own. After he had dropped out of school he began to talk more and more about his father, about wanting to find him, and eventually she had just given him. A mutual goodbye, and here he was.

With a man who lived in an apartment complex in a shitty part of town, near as bad as where Nathan had grown up, a short walk to the nearest bar presumably for easy access. He had heard from a few people, while gathering information on his father, that Anthony Darrow was a respectable, nice enough Librarian. It seemed to Nate, however, that he was no better than anyone else. No better than himself, or his mom.

But maybe he just needed some more time.

Nathan would talk to him eventually. Most likely at the prodding of Angela, though he had yet to really include her into this part of his life. He was sure she would understand, but he wasn’t quite as sure that he was ready to tell her. Or anyone. But then again, she was the one person he had who he knew he could trust, and who actually knew him. Who he wasn't just a jerk to for the fun of it. If he could tell anyone about his most estranged father, and get some advice on the situation, it would be Angela. But he doubted it would change anything, would it? For now, he would remain the angry, punk kid with no ties, and see what happened. No use rushing into something, just to screw it up.

He was not the kind of kid who liked failing. If he thought he was going to make an idiot out of himself, he wasn’t going to take the risk. So, hunkering down at the park for a few hours at least, he was left with these thoughts and more, and the firm resolution to not talk to his dad.

Yet.