Netflix, snacks, and editing videos kept Clark up until almost four in the morning. His phone buzzed constantly, comments still pouring in about the explanation video he'd put out days before. By the time he closed his computer, he could practically hear the birds chirping outside. He rolled over and passed out, and eight hours later, he woke up still a little tired. He forced himself up and bathed, changing out of his pajamas. He headed downstairs and was about to get food when he heard voices coming from the living room. He stopped and listened, trying to uncover who the voices belonged to. They were barely audible, and he needed to get closer.

Clark crept to the archway and strained to listen. There were two male voices and a female. He recognized his mother and father instantly, but the last one took a moment. It suddenly came back to him. The man he'd run into outside. Nakota.

"...I plan on going back to school. I've been doing this for a year now and while it's great, I don't see myself doing it forever."

"What do you want to do?" his father asked.

"I was considering something in the law field."

"That's wonderful," Stacy said sweetly.

"This is awkward, but do you have a bathroom?" Nakota asked. His father gave him instructions to find it and his parents waited until he was gone to speak again.

"I like him," his mother said enthusiastically. "He looks like the guy you'd expect to find behind you at the grocery store. A little quiet, minds his own business. And a lawyer... It's admirable." Clark could practically feel his father's grin as he agreed with her.

"What are they saying about me?" a voice next to Clark whispered. He jumped and turned around. Nakota stood smiling, patting his wet hands off on his coat. Up close, he looked much taller than six feet. His short hair was styled nicer than yesterday, and he was dressed up more as well. Second interviews had to be a big deal to him.

"Uh—" he started, but stopped when his parents came out of the living room.

"Oh, good, you're up," Stacy said. "We want you to meet Nakota." She led them back to the couch and took a seat. Clark and Darin joined her, and Nakota sat on the opposite one. "I know your dad told you a little bit about him already, but there are a lot of interesting things he saved for this interview."

"Like?"

"Well, for starters, all he did in prison was read. The classics, the contemporary, all of it. He learned two languages as well. Spanish and French."

"Tres bien," Clark said simply.

"Merci." Nakota looked at him curiously, like he was trying to figure a puzzle out without separating the edges from the middle pieces. "Do you speak it?"

"Only when I want to sound pretentious." Stacy looked at him crossly and he cleared his throat. "Not to imply that you're—"

"No, I understand," he assured him.

"I have an idea," his father said. "Clark, you're going to pick up that game today, right? Call of Duty?"

"Yep."

"Why don't you and Nakota go do that? It'll be a test drive. See how things work between the two of you."

That idea didn't sound at all appealing. All Clark wanted to do today was grab the game, pick up some pizza, and lock himself in his room. At the same time, he didn't want his father to feel pushed aside. He kept his sigh quiet.

"Sure!" he said.

Darin smiled and patted Clark on the knee. "I've got to start packing, so I'll leave you two to it." He and Stacy left the two of them alone.

For a minute, Clark wasn't sure what to say. He and Nakota stared at each other across the coffee table, wordlessly sizing one another up. Clark shrugged and jumped up. "Maybe we should get going? I've gotta be sure I get a copy today." Nakota nodded and stood, adjusting his shirt while he waited for Clark to take the lead. Clark headed outside and climbed into his car. Nakota passed his vehicle and headed for a Mustang parked a few yards away. "Hey, where are you going?" he asked the man.

"This is a test run, right? We don't ride together." Nakota buckled himself in and pulled out of the driveway. He stopped once he was around the corner. Clark made a face and pulled his phone out, dialing Ruby's number. He hooked it up to his car so he didn't have to hold it. As he drove, he glanced at his rearview mirror. Sure enough, Nakota was behind him, just far enough to not be suspicious, but close enough that Clark felt safe.

"Hello?" Ruby answered.

"I'm dying," he said.

"I hope you don't mean literally, because that would be awkward."

"No, like, I'm dying inside. I told you my mom and dad were getting me a bodyguard, but it's the same dude from yesterday."

"What dude from yesterday? Shit, do you mean that pervert at the movie theater? I swear to god I saw him beating off."

"I think I'd actually drive off a cliff if my parents hired him. It's this guy I ran into whenever I was going inside. I spilled my shit all over the floor, and he picked up my underwear."

"Not the cute pastel ones."

"They were definitely the cute pastel ones."

"Jesus Christ, that's bad luck. Well, is he cute?" Clark hadn't really thought about whether he found the man attractive or not. Sure, exterior-wise, he looked nice. He was in shape, tall, with brooding eyes and an almost permanently-clench jaw. His hair and his eyes were the same shade, both nearly black. And his teeth... If there was one thing Clark liked the most about someone's physical appearance, it was their teeth. Nakota's teeth were as straight and white as Congress.

"I mean, he's not ugly. Might have a stank personality though," he shrugged. "You'll probably see him the next time we hang out together. He's supposed to follow me wherever I go."

"Damn, it's starting to become a trend. Well, Whitney Houston, you and your bodyguard need to stay out of trouble and be safe. You called right when I was about to get my nails done."

"You have fun," he said. They said their goodbyes and Clark hung up the phone. He turned left at the light and pulled up to the store. He'd originally planned on going to Target because he wanted to pick a few things up for a DIY video, but they were sold out. Now he was at a rusty old store with one busted window. It was almost relaxing to know that Nakota was back there watching him.

Clark climbed out and headed inside, smiling at the cashier. He maneuvered through the store until he found the proper section for games. He grabbed two copies, one for his Playstation and the other for Xbox. He had friends on both consoles, and he wanted to play with them all, not just one half of them.

While waiting in line, he watched as Nakota entered the store. He nodded at an employee and met eyes with Clark. For a moment, Clark expected him to say something, but he looked away and wandered through the store as if he were a regular customer like anybody else.

Clark payed for this games and started to look back at Nakota before he realized that this was how things were supposed to be. He was supposed to be in the background at all times, never really letting his presence known to Clark but still close enough that it would defer someone from attempting something. He pushed through the doors and returned to his car, tossing the games inside once he was inside. He waited for Nakota to exit the store before rolling his window down.

"Is that how it's always gonna be?"

"That's how it needs to be," he said. Nakota stopped by his window. "You picked up on it early. I saw you hesitate to turn around. That's good that you stopped yourself."

"Why?" Clark asked.

"Because I don't want you to think about where I am. You're supposed to know that I'm somewhere nearby and that takes the stress off of you. If something ever were to happen, just know that I'd be right there to get you out of the situation, no matter what."

"Hm." Clark looked up at Nakota for a moment, trying his hardest not to smile. He didn't want to seem like he wasn't taking this serious, because he was. It was just that compared to how he felt with Leon in the house, Nakota seemed like a huge improvement. When it came to security, Nakota offered a lot more, but when it came to looks, Clark had to admit that the Rottweiler was much cuter.

"I think we should get home," Nakota said. He looked down at his watch and nodded. Clark pulled his seatbelt across his chest and waited for Nakota to return to his car before he backed out of the parking lot. The drive home was different than the one to the store. He'd almost been worried when the test run began, but it was actually quite harmless. It was an in-and-out job.

The two returned home a little after one, and Clark immediately headed up to his laptop. He let his followers know that he bought both games and that for the rest of the day he'd be online. He also shared his account names on both systems. Before he finally settled in to play, Clark went down for food. In the fridge, he grabbed a prewrapped sandwich and a bottle of water. He sat down across from Nakota, who worked his way through a gross-looking smoothie that Clark's mother would have loved.

"What's that?" he asked.

"Protein smoothie." Nakota looked at his glass and swished the contents around.

"Looks... yummy." Clark unwrapped his sandwich and took a bite. When he looked up, the man was waiting for him to explain what he was eating. "Roast beef and pepperjack."

"Yummy." Nakota said it the same way that Clark had, and he narrowed his eyes playfully at the man. "I noticed you guys have a lot of Tupperwear in the kitchen. Why's that?"

"Oh, it's this thing my mom is obsessed with. My parents are always away from home and they never have time to cook, so they figured they'd cook for themselves, store it in the fridge, and then reheat it at work. Marie used to cook for me, but..." He dropped his gaze, laser focused on the mahogany table.

"I'm sorry about what happened to your maid."

"I'll be okay. I'm just worried about her kids. She had two of them. They're both grown, but I can't imagine finding out something like this. When I saw them at the funeral, my heart broke for them. That guy just... he just came in and—" Clark cut himself off. He couldn't bring himself to say the words.

"It won't happen again, y'know."

"You don't know that for sure."

"I do. I know what I'm capable of, and I know what you're capable of, too." He sipped his smoothie. "I heard what you did. Not all people would have been able to think the same way you did. You didn't want to hurt him, but you would have had you been put in that situation."

"I didn't know what he did to Marie when I had the gun. If I had, I might have hurt him." Clark knew it was a dark thing to admit, but it was the truth. Had he stumbled upon her body first, and then grabbed Darin's gun, he'd have shot through the door. It would be self-defense. On the other hand, he wasn't sure if he could live with himself knowing that he'd killed someone – even if that person was a murderer.

"That doesn't matter. You were scared, and you handled it. That's what matters. And if he comes back and I don't get to him first, you'll be okay. You're a smart kid."

"I'm not a kid," Clark corrected him. Nakota made a face.

"How old are you?"

"I'll be twenty-one next month." All his life, Clark had been called a kid, and today was proof that that wasn't going to change any time soon. He was cursed with an eternal baby face, and it was the bane of his existence. He constantly got carded at R-rated movies, and he was positive that when it was legal for him to drink, he'd have to prove his age at every bar he visited.

"Sorry, I thought you were a lot younger. Fifteen or sixteen. I've met some twenty year olds who look like they're eligible for a retirement home." Clark smiled.

"Well, thank you. I might start growing a beard, just so people won't look at me funny as much."

"I won't stop you from doing that," Nakota replied. He scratched his own beard and one side of his mouth curled up into a smirk. They continued to talk as they ate. By the time they were done, Clark knew that Nakota was from Texas but moved to California when he was eighteen. He also knew that his least favorite type of sandwich meat was bologna, mostly because that was all he ate when he first moved. It was cheap, and he could make it last. On his way back to his room, Clark stopped and asked,

"I don't think you told me how old you were. You have one of those faces where you could be like, thirty-five, but I might also confuse you for mid-twenties."

"I'm twenty-six," Nakota said. Clark nodded slowly. He was glad that he'd turned away the man with military background. Sure, he might have been perfectly trained for this line of work, but something told Clark that their relationship would be a little strained. He was in his fifties, and they'd have very little to talk about. At least with Nakota, he'd have some things to discuss, like television shows and movies they'd both seen. What would he have talked about with the other man? Incontinence?

Clark returned to his room and grabbed his headset. He decided he'd play with some people on the PS4 first, and then he'd switch to his Xbox after that.

"I'll stream later in the week, tonight is just about fun!" he tweeted. Once he was all set up, a notification popped up on his screen. He had a group invite from one of his friends online. He accepted it and waited for Lawson to connect as well.

"Dude, how's it going?" Lawson asked.

"It's going good! We haven't talked in, what, three weeks?"

"Seems like that!" Lawson split his time between California and New York, but even with the distance between them, Clark appreciated his friendship immensely. He didn't have very many friends to begin with, and even fewer who were even slightly interested in video games, so meeting Lawson had been a blessing. They both also shared a passion for videos as well, and that only strengthened their friendship.

"Well, are you ready to kick some ass? Because I played the hell out of the beta, and I demolished everyone."

"You sound pretty cocky," Lawson teased. "I'm down to destroy if you are."

"Let's do it, then." Clark waited for a few others to join the party before they started up the game. In a matter of minutes, they were firing bullets into the other team, easily wiping them out. The scoreboard was in constant shift, Lawson and Clark stealing first place from each other over and over again. As the seconds ran out on the clock, Clark threw out a grenade. It exploded, killing three of the enemy players. At the last possible second, his name rose to the top of the board and the game ended. He could hear Lawson curse, and that cursing soon turned into laughter.

"You're the worst," he said to Clark.

"Technically, I'm the best."

"I'm not a sore loser, so I'll let you have this one, as long as you promise to collab with me soon. We need to get something put together." Clark shrugged and said,

"Fair enough. You've got yourself a deal."