“it’s not whatever,” nate contradicted quietly. “my dad left us too. and it sucked watching my mom go through that and being helpless… you know? that’s why i try to do whatever i can to make her proud of me.”

“and how could she not be? she’s got the sweetest kid in the world,” kit said fondly, patting nate’s cheek. it was maybe just slightly on the wrong side of too affectionate when coupled with the look on his face, he knew. but then nate kissed the back of his hand before he could drop it back down, so kit couldn’t make himself feel too bothered about it.