Thread for notabadguy

[medicpetrelli]

Living away from home for the first time was proving more difficult than Peter thought it would be. He had big dreams of freedom and being an adult, but when it came down to it he missed his bed, he missed home cooking, and he missed getting to see everyone for dinner. Including Nathan.

Fortunately, because he came from money he was able to get an

Comments

[medicpetrelli]

Peter kept his eyes down on the floor and walked through the door without looking at Nathan. Yeah, he knew it was his fault, but he hadn't done it with bad intentions. Sometimes he put his foot in his mouth and thought Nathan would appreciate a joke. He needed to remember not to do that. Not that it mattered, though, because this was over, and Peter felt sick. He got himself a cab and cried quietly all the way back to his dorm. His stupid roommates there when we got home and they asked questions about the fancy new things Nathan bought him, but Peter told them to do whatever they wanted. He wouldn't have been able to take care of them, anyways. He ruined nice things.

For the next two months, he thought about Nathan nonstop, and his schoolwork suffered because of it. Peter drank a lot of beer and kissed a lot of girls trying to forget about his stupid brother, but it didn't do any good. He was barely scraping by with D's for a few few weeks until he managed to snap himself out of it, and remember how important Nursing school was to him. More important than a stupid fight with his brother, even. He buckled down and put all of his energy into studying, managing to bring his grades back up to B's where he was comfortable with them.

Come late October it was time for Angela to start freaking out about her Halloween party. And, as per Petrelli ritual, she held a nice Fall dinner to go over everything. That meant Peter and Nathan had to be present, along with Arthur and several party planners. It was a pain in the ass but Peter was glad to get away from nasty college food. He felt like he'd grown a lot in the past two months, even if he was nervous about seeing Nathan. He went into the dinner planning on being calm, cool, collected, and responsible about everything.

Peter even had a new look going. He bought a nice pair of black slacks and a nice crisp white button-up shirt for the dinner, fixing his hair and shining his dress shoes. He wanted to impress Angela, too. Maybe Arthur...just a little bit.

Peter showed up fashionably late, getting out of the cab and checking his cellphone while he walked inside. Girls still went after him left and right which meant Peter had a lot of text messages to answer each day. He walked up calmly to the house despite how hard his heart was racing over getting to see his brother again. Fortunately, Angela immediately pounced on him once he was inside, fawning over how he looked and kissing his cheeks. "Mom, stop," he said with a smile, but let her. He was proud of himself for being more mature and he was glad she was too.

[notabadguy]

Nathan had spent the last two months working, putting everything he had into it. He was determined to be the best, and buckling down was the only way he could do it. He missed Peter of course, but if Peter couldn't be around, then at least he had work. Peter was a distraction anyway. One that his father had warned him about repeatedly. At least Arthur would be more satisfied this way.

He always looked sharp for these dinners, but for this one, he made sure to look extra good. He wasn't doing it for Peter, though. It was all for himself, and his date, Sarah. They had been dating on and off for a few weeks now, and he really felt like showing her off. Also, not because of Peter. Really.

His family seemed to like her well enough. She was rich, gorgeous and did whatever Nathan said. Still, he found himself looking around for Peter, who was late, of course.

When he finally heard Peter's voice, he straightened out his tie, standing up taller and putting his hand at the small of Sarah's back.

SARAH WILL DIE A PAINFUL DEATH AND CHOKE ON EMO BANGS DDDDDD:<

[medicpetrelli]

Peter kissed Angela's cheek and then shook Arthur's hand, accepting his compliments about how slick he looked.

"How is school, son?" Arthur asked him firmly, and Peter bit his tongue about how fantastic his nursing classes were going.

"Great. Got a law course next semester." It wasn't a lie, at least. He'd seen one open and jumped into it. Peter was tugged sideways by Angela then. She said something about someone named Sarah and brought him into the living room where Nathan stood with a very pretty thing. Bitch, Peter thought, and then immediately felt bad about it. She was innocent in all of this.

He slapped a smile onto his face when Angela introduced them, avoiding Nathan's eyes as much as he could. Peter took Sarah's hand and kissed the back of it. "Nice to meet you."

[notabadguy]

Nathan looked over at Peter when he entered the room, trying to keep a blank look on his face. He looked a little different. More pulled together, maybe. So it was probably good for Peter to have some time away. He could finally start being his own person.

"So this is the infamous Peter Petrelli," Sarah laughed lightly, leaning into Nathan. She looked at Peter for a moment longer, giving him a smile, then turned her attention back to Nathan, commenting about something or other. Nathan was only half paying attention, his gaze running across Peter.

"Hey, Pete," he said casually, "How's college?"

[medicpetrelli]

"Great," Peter said, offering Nathan an uncomfortable smile. "Ma, when's dinner?"

Angela rolled her eyes. "Still eating nonstop, I see. I swear I could never keep enough food on the table," she said to Sarah. "Dinner will be in about fifteen minutes dear, socialize for the time being." She left the room to fetch a bottle of wine so that everyone could have a drink.

Peter slid his hands into his pockets and tried not to look antsy. "So, Sarah, how'd you meet my brother?" He could guess, of course. Probably on the street. Or she just randomly woke up in his bed.

No, Peter, bad! Mean.

[notabadguy]

"Oh we kept running into each other at various fundraisers. He caught my eye as soon as he walked in. He has that effect on people," Sarah smiled, running her fingers down Nathan's face.

Nathan gave her a most charming smile, his arm sliding around her waist, "And of course, I couldn't resist," he tilted his head, then looked at Peter, "Are you still running around trying to find a date?"

[medicpetrelli]

His jaw was clenched tight, but Peter kept up his smile. "Been on several dates," he said, telling a little white lie. Kissing girls while drunk counted as a date, right?

"Haven't found the right girl yet. Or guy, for that matter." His smile widened when he saw the look on Sarah's face. Yeeeeep. That's right, the bisexual child over here. "Looking for the perfect man these days." He knew it was a death wish if Arthur overheard but whatevs.

[notabadguy]

Nathan nearly rolled his eyes when Peter went on about his dates. Yeah, right. When he mentioned guys, he coughed, trying not to choke on his drink.

"You might want to keep your voice down about that," he warned Peter, seeing the look on Sarah's face. "You better find yourself a nice girl. You're never going to get away with anything else." He tried not to think about the two of them in bed together.

"Nathan, I need a drink," Sarah tugged on his sleeve, not looking at Peter anymore. "Come with me." Nathan nodded, wanting to get her away from Peter anyway. He knew Peter would just try to pull something.

"Catch you later, Pete," he said casually, then headed away with Sarah, over to the bar area. He was trying to ignore the feeling in his stomach. He wasn't sure what it was, but he knew it was Peter related.

[medicpetrelli]

"See ya," Peter said dryly. At least he'd startled Nathan with the man-hunt thing.

Peter plopped down on Angela's couch and rubbed at his forehead. When he'd first gone to college he hadn't been able to wait to get home. Now, he was home, and couldn't wait to get back to college.

Guess he really had grown up.

[notabadguy]

Nathan couldn't help glancing back at Peter when he went off with Sarah. He didn't seem all too upset about Sarah, so... that was good, wasn't it? Peter was moving on. That was the best thing to do and definitely more healthy.

So why was it bothering him so much?

After Sarah had gotten her drink, she started talking with Nathan again, but he only nodded and tossed in a couple words here and there to make it seem like he was paying attention. He had that down to a science by now. Really, he was wondering if Peter had been with other guys.

[medicpetrelli]

Peter sat there like a bump on a log for as long as he could until Angela called everyone to the dining table. With their family and five party planners, the table was fairly packed but Peter managed to sneak a seat on the end, away from the rest of the family. He'd rather talk with the planners, honestly.

As they all sat down, Angela raised her glass and nodded for the rest of them to do it too, so Peter complied. "I'd like to thank you all for coming and helping me figure out the details of this years Halloween ball. Here's to another frightening year," she said, then took a sip.

"Frightening indeed," Peter murmured under his breath, and then chugged some of his wine, earning a glare from Arthur. Wonderful.

[notabadguy]

Sitting next to his father and Sarah, Nathan joined in as much conversation as he could, trying to get his mind off of other things. There were enough people to keep him distracted from Peter and he was glad his brother was all the way on the other side of the table.

He raised his glass with everyone else for the toast, his gaze finally sliding over to Peter when Arthur glared at him. He hated when Peter would instigate there father. It never ended well for him.

[medicpetrelli]

Their first course was brought out; some fancy palm-sized salad of glazed mushrooms and dark greens. Peter let out a quiet sigh and poked at it. It looked like it was from another planet. He should have been used to it considering he grew up on it but fuck, he just wanted pizza.

Angela decided to strike up conversation with her youngest across the table, since he'd chosen to sit far away form them like a bad boy. "Peter, dear, how are things at school."

He put his fork down and smiled. Time to liven things up a bit. "Great! I've got all A's and B's right now, and I'm applying for an internship at Sacred Heart Hospital for this coming fall. It would count as credit toward my nursing classes."

"Fantastic," said Arthur. "You can try it and see that it isn't a good fit for you, son."

Peter thinned his lips. "Nah I think it'll only make me want to be a nurse more, dad."

He recieved a bastardly smile from his father. "Peter, no son of mine will be a nurse. Stop wasting my money or you'll be paying for this on your own."

"Really, dad? In front of our guests? Fine. I'll pay for school on my own."

"With what money?" Arthur asked on the tail of a rolling laugh.

Angela put her hand on Arthur's arm, trying to get him to shut his damned mouth.

[notabadguy]

Nathan tried to stay out of the conversation as much as possible, but he had already told their father that Peter was going to take some law classes. Now he was going to look like a liar, too. Great.

"Peter, you said you're going to take some law classes as well, right? So you'll get to see the difference." He prayed for Peter to go along with it. Peter was supposed to talk to their father rationally, like a grown up. He almost laughed out loud at that.

[medicpetrelli]

"I'm taking a law class next semester, but I already know it isn't what I want to do."

"Perhaps you and I can step outside to talk about this after dinner," Arthur said calmly, with anger boiling beneath his surface. "Now isn't the time."

"Nothing to talk about. And you brought it up." Wow, Peter had grown some balls. He wasn't afraid of Arthur. Without Nathan to lose, this place didn't seem so scary anyore.

"Watch your tone with me, boy-"

"-Okay!" Angela interjected. "How about the next course. Do you eat meat, dear?" she asked Sarah, giving her an apologetic smile.

Screw this. Peter put his napkin on the table and got up, then went around the table and kissed Angela's cheek. "Thanks for inviting me ma but I have an exam to study for. Nice to meet you Sarah."

He headed for the door, ignoring Angela's quiet protests. Arthur kept calm, but inside he was happy. Peter didn't belong in their house any longer. Not until his powers manifested, anyways. Then he'd know his place in this family.

[notabadguy]

Nathan clenched his jaw, watching Arthur. This was all going downhill and Peter was being a complete brat.

"Yes, Mrs.Petrelli, meat is just fine," Sarah said politely. Nathan gave her a tight smile, then narrowed his eyes as Peter got up. Usually Arthur would get up and follow Peter, dragging him into his office and give him a good 'talking to'.

Nathan rubbed his forehead, keeping his eyes down as Peter walked off. He wanted to follow after Peter, but he didn't want to leave the table, or the dinner party, when his parents had gone through so much trouble for it.

He had planned to take Sarah back to his place after dinner, but now this whole thing with Peter was nagging at him. He had gotten an earful from Arthur about trying to defend Peter before, but was thankful Nathan was no longer spending all that time with his brother. Which only made Nathan want to see Peter more.

Dropping Sarah off, he headed to Peter's apartment, knowing he would probably regret this decision. It was stupid. He really didn't need to see Peter right now, especially after tonight's fiasco. Yet, here he was, buzzing the door.