Disclaimer: I own nothing.

3 6

Nick sighed as he stared at the blank sheet of paper in front of him, trying to clear his mind. His drawing materials were spread out on the desk next to him in the otherwise empty art studio. It was after school on Friday so the day pupils had left for the weekend and the boarders were mostly relaxing in the common rooms or catching dinner. He was having trouble deciding what to paint for his homework assignment he had been given the previous Monday and was due on Monday morning.

His phone buzzed to signal an incoming message. He picked it up and smiled softly when he saw who it was from, his best friend and roommate, Jeff.

Hey 3, where are you? Trent, Thad and I are going to the cafeteria for dinner as I'm starving! Blaine and Kurt invited us to a fireworks display tonight - wanna go? - six

Nick quickly replied that he would skip dinner but was up for the fireworks.

Cool! Meet us in the parking lot in an hour - i'll drive you, me, Thad and Trent. Klaine are going separately - six

He fired off a positive reply, then tossed his phone back onto the bench after switching it to silent to try to concentrate on this project for the next 50 minutes, leaving him a few minutes until he could grab a sandwich to go from the cafeteria before the display.

His art teacher's words echoed around his head ...your assignment this week is to draw from your heart. Find that which your inner self finds to be beautiful and draw a representation of it. This may be an actual person, animal, item, landscape or a more abstract depiction of feelings.

The trouble was, Nick was finding it very hard to concentrate on the assignment this week. What did he find beautiful?

Nick tried to think of beautiful things, so he started thinking of geographical areas that he found pretty to look at. Yes, he thought, Dalton's grounds are stunning at certain points during the day, depending on the level of daylight. When he was walking through the grounds the previous day with Jeff after Chemistry they had taken the slightly longer path past the lake - perhaps he could go down there at sunrise tomorrow to take a few photos for inspiration?

Yes, he thought, that is such a beautiful place, especially when the wind had tousled the leaves in the trees, just strong enough to blow Jeff's fringe out of his beautiful eyes...wait, what?

Frustrated, Nick picked up his pencil and started to draw simple lines across the sheet. These lines became grass-like and gradually trees took shape, along with the outline of a single figure. He added the lake as he realised this was what his subconscious was wanting to draw, together with the little mooring platform he and Jeff sometimes sat on when they talked about anything and everything going on in their lives - just as it had always been, they shared everything. But then the lines got darker and more confused, the figure became Nick himself, sat on the little dock looking lost and confused. Okay, maybe he had just drawn a self portrait, not exactly material for this assignment.

Nick groaned in exasperation and stood up, packing his things away. It seemed like the harder he thought about the project, the more elusive his perfect subject matter became. Staring at yet another piece of blank paper was going to get him nowhere tonight. He decided he would be better off grabbing his camera and heading out to the fireworks with his best friend and the other warblers to have a good time, relax and maybe snap a picture or two for inspiration, before heading to the lake again in the morning.

3 6

Nick ran back to their shared dorm finishing off the last of his hurried sandwich. He hastily changed into some dark wash jeans, the red t-shirt that Jeff liked on him, a dark v-neck jumper and his coat. In his haste he forgot that he would be outside all night and neglected to take a scarf, gloves or his beanie hat.

Jeff and the others were waiting by his car when he got to the parking lot and Nick's face lit up with a smile when the blond caught sight of him. Nick had the urge to run over to hug his friend, but he had only seen him a couple of hours ago in English. He clenched his fists and held his arms firmly to his sides to stop them reaching out what is going on in my head?

Jeff smiled at Nick and was just about to offer him the seat upfront with him when Thad jumped in first. He rolled his eyes at Nick and got in the driver's seat while Nick got in next to Trent, trying to mask his disappointment. Well, at least it was only about an hour's drive.

Trent shared the art class with Nick, so he seemed eager to discuss it on the way.

"Hey Nick, have you decided what to draw for this week's art assignment?"

Nick groaned loudly in response, heard by those in the front seat. "No! I'm really stuck for inspiration this time, but I've got my camera with me to see if I can get some photos tonight that will help me. Otherwise I'm going to get up early tomorrow and explore the grounds at sunrise and see if I can catch a break in this mental block I'm having."

Jeff locked eyes with Nick in the rearview mirror. "What's the assignment? Maybe I can help?"

Nick smiled his appreciation, Jeff was so sweet and thoughtful and caring...what the hell is going on with my thoughts today? He coughed to hide his inner turmoil and instead replied "Thanks man, but I wanted to keep the assignment topic a secret so when you see it you can tell me what you think of it without knowing what I'm supposed to be portraying and then you can give me your unbiased opinion first. I really value what you think about my painting."

"Okay, I get it, but let me know if you need any help, three." Nick thought he detected something in Jeff's tone, like he was flattered his opinion mattered that much to him.

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