{"id":7350,"date":"2026-10-27T13:52:48","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T13:52:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/?p=7350"},"modified":"2026-10-27T13:52:48","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T13:52:48","slug":"a-16-year-old-boy-slept-over-at-his-best-friends-house-every-weekend-until-his-friends-mom-called-and-asked-when-is-my-son-coming-home-hes-been-staying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/?p=7350","title":{"rendered":"A 16-Year-Old Boy Slept over at His Best Friend\u2019s House Every Weekend \u2013 Until His Friend\u2019s Mom Called and Asked, \u2018When Is My Son Coming Home? He\u2019s Been Staying at Your Place for Weeks!\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

I thought my son trusted me, even after his father passed away. Discovering he had lied about his weekends for two months terrified me. Searching for answers would force me to face years of buried grief.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"No<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen is my son coming home? He\u2019s been staying at your place for weeks!\u201d Denise\u2019s question almost made me spill my coffee. \u201cDenise, what are you talking about? Nathan\u2019s been at your house since yesterday!\u201d \u201cLaura, I haven\u2019t seen your son in weeks.\u201d It was nearly nine o\u2019clock on Saturday evening. My sixteen-year-old son, Nathan, was supposed to be sleeping over at his best friend Cole\u2019s house.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut he stays with Cole every weekend!\u201d \u201cAnd Cole tells me he\u2019s staying with Nathan. It\u2019s the same story every week.\u201d Our sons had been close since kindergarten. Every Friday for two months, Nathan had kissed me goodbye and left with his backpack, supposedly for Cole\u2019s house. \u201cDenise, when did you last see Nathan?\u201d \u201cEarly August, I think. What about Cole?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSame.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eight weekends. From early August through late September, they\u2019d both deceived us.<\/p>\n

With Denise still on the line, I called Nathan twice. Both calls went to voicemail.<\/p>\n

\u201cCole\u2019s not answering either!\u201d Denise cried.<\/p>\n

I checked Nathan\u2019s latest message.<\/p>\n

\u201cMom, Cole and I ordered pizza. Don\u2019t wait up. Love you.\u201d<\/p>\n

My fingers trembled as I sent another text.<\/p>\n

\u201cNathan, I know you\u2019re not at Cole\u2019s. Call me now.\u201d<\/p>\n

The message was delivered, but nobody opened it.<\/p>\n

\u201cLaura, what if something happened to them?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cCome over,\u201d I said. \u201cWe\u2019re finding them tonight.\u201d
\nTwenty minutes later, Denise arrived. Together, we contacted the boys\u2019 friends and checked everywhere they normally spent time. Not one person had seen either of them.<\/p>\n

Searching Nathan\u2019s bedroom, I discovered a store receipt tucked beneath his desk lamp. It listed sandpaper, wood glue, and paintbrushes. The purchases reminded me of a conversation we\u2019d had three weeks before.<\/p>\n

\u201cMom, do we still have Dad\u2019s stuff?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCould we look through it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother time, honey.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019d been occupied with bills and had barely lifted my eyes. Michael had died three years earlier. Unable to sort his things, I had left them packed away. Nathan stopped asking\u2014until recently.<\/p>\n

I brought the receipt downstairs and showed Denise.<\/p>\n

\u201cDenise, look.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy would they need woodworking supplies?\u201d<\/p>\n

A possibility suddenly occurred to me: Frank, Michael\u2019s father, still lived in the house where Michael had grown up. Behind it stood his workshop.<\/p>\n

We hadn\u2019t spoken since Michael\u2019s funeral. Frank accused me of erasing his memory; I told him not to judge my grief. Neither apologized.<\/p>\n

I called him twice without an answer, then left a voicemail.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrank, Nathan\u2019s missing. If you\u2019ve heard from him, call me immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n

By eleven, Denise and I had called the police, provided descriptions of both boys, and explained where we\u2019d already looked. At midnight, we sat together at my kitchen table.<\/p>\n

\u201cHas Nathan been acting strange?\u201d<\/p>\n

I remembered his Sunday exhaustion, long showers, and evasive answers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought he was just growing up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMe too,\u201d Denise whispered. \u201cCole\u2019s been so secretive.\u201d<\/p>\n

I reached across the table and squeezed her hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll find them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet I couldn\u2019t stop wondering how much of Nathan\u2019s life I truly understood.<\/p>\n

At 4:06 in the morning, Frank finally called.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere\u2019s Nathan?\u201d I demanded.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re both here. Safe. My phone was charging in the workshop. I only saw your messages when I woke up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPut Nathan on.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLaura, let me explain.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter I speak to my son, Frank.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seconds passed before Nathan took the phone.<\/p>\n

\u201cMom?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you hurt?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIs Cole all right?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen why haven\u2019t you answered your phone?\u201d<\/p>\n

He paused before admitting what had happened.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe saw your messages. We were scared to answer. Grandpa didn\u2019t know we\u2019d turned our phones off after that.\u201d<\/p>\n

I shut my eyes, overwhelmed with relief and anger.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou let us spend the entire night looking for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFrank\u2019s bringing you home. Now.\u201d<\/p>\n

I immediately contacted Denise so she could collect Cole, then informed the police that both teenagers had been found safely.<\/p>\n

At 4:37 a.m., I heard a key turn in the front door. Nathan came in by himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere have you been?! Do you have any idea what you\u2019ve put us through?!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMom, I\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t you dare lie to me, Nathan! Two months! Where have you been spending your nights?! Have you been with Frank?\u201d<\/p>\n

He lifted his head. Only then did I notice how miserable he looked. His eyelids were puffy from crying, and sawdust was caught in his hair. Later, I learned he\u2019d cried when Frank said their secret was over.<\/p>\n

But the jacket on his shoulders left me gripping the doorframe. It was Michael\u2019s old brown work jacket, complete with the torn pocket. I hadn\u2019t seen it since my husband died.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, God, Nathan\u2026 what have you done? Why didn\u2019t you tell me sooner?!\u201d<\/p>\n

He lowered his gaze.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrandpa\u2019s selling the house. Cole and I have been helping him save Dad\u2019s things.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat things?\u201d<\/p>\n

Nathan rubbed his eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s something Dad started making before I was born. I wanted to finish it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He explained that he and Cole had spent their nights in Frank\u2019s guest room and their days working in his workshop. Frank had known all along that both mothers believed the boys were elsewhere. \u201cI begged him not to tell you,\u201d Nathan said. \u201cHe\u2019s the adult. He should\u2019ve known better.\u201d \u201cWhy didn\u2019t you ask me?\u201d<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING THE NEXT \ud83d\udc49PART 2-A 16-Year-Old Boy Slept over at His Best Friend\u2019s House Every Weekend \u2013 Until His Friend\u2019s Mom Called and Asked, \u2018When Is My Son Coming Home? He\u2019s Been Staying at Your Place for Weeks!\u2019<\/a><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I thought my son trusted me, even after his father passed away. Discovering he had lied about his weekends for two months terrified me. Searching for answers would force me … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3333,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,21,22,1,5,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aita","category-daily-article","category-reddit-stories","category-story","category-story-daily","category-viral-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7350"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7350\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7353,"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7350\/revisions\/7353"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}