Nick's father died when he was 10.

He didn't feel regretful, or remorseful, or even sad over it. Actually, he felt slightly relieved. The horrible ways his father treated him were responsible for those feelings. He did have to act like he cared at the funeral, but only for his mother's sake. She was torn up and crying all the time over his father, even if he was... quite rude to her in the last years as well. If she had found that Nick wasn't sad in the slightest... Nick didn't want to imagine how sad she would get.

It was very lucky he had his best friend, Luke, to talk to about the whole mess. Luke and Nick had been best friends since kindergarten. When this event happened in Nick's life, their friendship evolved. Rather than just being kids and playing together, Nick discovered he could talk to Luke, and Luke would listen. Ironically enough, this was the event that kept them being friends as adults.

One thing that was a recurring topic in Nick's confessions to Luke was his Uncle Pete. The man had come to take care of Nick shortly after his dad passed. He was unsure of what to think; his mother didn't care much for him anymore through her grief, but he didn't want another father figure to screw with the newfound peace of not having one. It was this grudge that kept Nick from appreciating all that Uncle Pete did then.

From cooking to cleaning to hunting to farming, Uncle Pete did it all. Yes, Nick's family were farmers; they lived on a large wheat plantation. The same went for Luke's family, whose plantation wasn't too far away. But even though Pete didn't live on a farm now, he did as a child, and recalled all the tricks he needed to get things done fast. He was leading the house away from collapse, but Nick hated it. He found every little thing he did wrong and reported it to Luke, and sometimes twisted the things he did out of proportion.

Once, before they went with the other children in the city to jump rooftops like the boys they were, Nick told a riveting story quite embellished from his imagination.

"Uncle Pete went an' done it again! He went fishin' 'n' when he get back home, he aint' got nothin' on him. Said he ate it all 'cause he got hungry. Well, now I'm hungry, Luke." What had really happened the night before, was that Pete brought home fish, but decided to freeze it for the winter. Instead, they ate a stew that Nick didn't like, and therefore didn't eat as much. Laying awake in bed after an unsatisfying dinner got his imagination rolling.

These stories were the sort of thing Nick thought up and Luke heard, so Luke could only assume Pete was the nastiest and most foul man on the planet. When Nick brought him over so they could work on a school project, he was a little nervous to meet him. But when he did, he was very kind and made sure both of them were comfortable and had what they needed to work. Actually, Pete was ecstatic to see Nick with a friend over. It hadn't happened in a long time, and not since Pete moved in. Pete offered to help with the project when they had trouble, but Nick denied the offers. Luke wasn't against the help, but wasn't going to stir up something with Nick right there in the house.

When they left to get Luke home, Luke started to talk about how he wasn't so bad.

"Really, Nick, that didn't seem like the same person you been talkin' about."

"Oh, it was. He was just acting for ya."

"Mmhmm... okay." Luke let Nick have his fun with his stories of Uncle Pete, but every time he came over, he was nice, and Luke knew the truth.

Nick knew the truth about Luke's family as well. Luke didn't like to talk about his family to Nick, thinking that Nick would feel like he got the bad life. He was right to do this, but Nick thought that anyway. When they went over to his house, there was always cookies and milk for them. Luke was received by a warm hug and kiss by his mother, and warm welcomes from his dad and sister. Nick was always said hello to with love as well; Nick was almost family to them.

But each welcome reminded Nick of what he didn't have at home. Each cookie dipped in milk made him think of the luxuries he missed out on. Nick wanted to have a perfect family like Luke. On certain days he would want it so bad, he would be spitting fire like the hormonal teen he was growing up to be. On those days he would stay away from Luke. He knew he would blow up on his friend and for a stupid reason, and didn't want to ruin their friendship.

Luke got suspicious about this, but usually something triggered the behavior that he made ties to; his father doing something especially nice the previous day. He didn't want to ruin the friendship either, and let Nick have his tantrum. "You gotta let it out somehow, right?" he always had thought.

Other than these rare times, the two never really had fights. There was one time when they had a brief argument over Penny MacGerin. Oh, Penny was a soft spot in their hearts they would always remember fondly and laugh about together. The cutest girl in 7th grade, nearly every boy had their eye on her. Luke was aware of her good looks, but didn't pay them too much attention. Luke had nearly all the girls to choose from anyway; he was quite the looker and the ladies' man.

Nick, on the other hand, was head over heels for her. He talked about her all the time. "Penny answered a question right today in science." "Penny glanced at me in the halls!" "Penny was late to math; I wonder why?" Luke was a little annoyed, but Penny didn't stop them from being friends, so why be rude about it?

All was good and well until the fall dance started to come near. The fall dance had the tradition of the girls asking the guys to the dance. And who was the first brave soul to ask Luke to the dance? None other than Penny MacGerin. Luke, thinking about how Nick would be crushed, said he would "think about it." When they talked about it later that day, Nick got upset like Luke thought he would. He thrashed around and argued about how Luke would steal her away. Luke yelled about how it wasn't his fault and he hadn't said yes yet. They went on until Nick had a realization.

He appeared thoughtful and said, "This... this is my ticket in! You take her to the dance, I'll take another girl. We go together, we get Penny to like me at the dance, we trade partners, and WALA! everyone is happy."

Luke was doubtful. Luke didn't know what girl Nick would end up getting, or if Penny would even end up liking Nick, or if Nick would get a date. But he agreed; how could he say no to his best friend? So at the end of the day, he agreed to go to the dance with Penny. They said they would meet at the party. Nick was also happy to report that he got a date as well; Stella Parnickle. Stella wasn't exactly a popular girl, and wasn't the prettiest, but Luke wasn't that concerned. It wasn't like they would date or anything!

Luke and Nick got dressed up their best, in matching black suits. Luke had a red tie and Nick had a blue bow tie. When they got to the party, Nick took a deep breath. After a quick pep talk from Luke, he braced himself and went inside to find Penny and Stella. It was a good thing he braced himself; Penny was there in the corner kissing Derek Flannery. Derek - the bad boy of the school.

Nick looked shocked at the two in the corner. Luke rolled his eyes and went over to tap Penny on the shoulder. She looked up at Luke for only a second, saying, "I'm going with Derek now." And continued her endeavor.

Luke came back over, shrugging, and told Nick what happened. They looked at each other blankly for a few minutes... then burst into laughter. They laughed so hard they cried, clutching their stomachs and bellowing laughter. They made this huge plan for Penny when they really just needed to enjoy the night. And they did!

Stella showed up, and they were dancing with her a bit. Fate would have it that Luke and Stella hit it off, and she would be one of the girls Luke dated in high school. It didn't last long, like the other smitten girls he dated. Jen, Flora, Macy, Stella, Hannah, and more; Luke was still very handsome and dated a lot of the ladies.

Nick, on the other hand, had one serious girlfriend for 2 years of high school; her name was Missy. Nick liked everything about her. With pale, "flawless" skin, long, "shiny, gorgeous" black hair, and bright, "light-catching, beautiful" eyes, Nick was 'in love' with her for a long time. They dated sophomore and junior years, while Luke coasted along, trying to find a long-lasting date. Luke couldn't seem to find that one special girl, and was a little jealous of Nick for finding 'the one.'

That was, until Missy broke it off in senior year. Nick was in pieces that Luke helped to pick up and put back together. Luke was obviously no longer jealous, but instead felt guilty that he ever felt jealous in the first place. If this was what love ended in, did he ever want that?

They graduated high school, with Luke feeling ambitious. He had taken an art class in senior year and suddenly found that he liked looking at art from the past. It sort of opened up a new world for him. So, he went to college majoring in Art History. Now, if there was one thing that was imperfect in Luke's family, it was that his father wanted him to carry on the family farm. That pathway for his career wasn't looking very good to him; it wasn't what he wanted in life. But to satisfy his father, he minored in agriculture.

Those four years of college were odd for him. He went to those classes, he got good grades, he graduated with his degree, but it wasn't what he expected. What was he to do with this art history degree anymore? He found he had rode that art wave out and he wasn't too interested anymore.

Luckily, the college wasn't far and he still was able to be friends with Nick, who stayed in his town being a farmer with Pete. Nick wasn't too ambitious and didn't really have an idea for what he wanted in the future. That's why, when Luke got his big idea, Nick was the first one he came to.

Luke had a passion, suddenly, to start a business. His parents had had trouble getting work done on the fields sometimes, and this new farming tool he had made would make it better.

"It will revolutionize farming around the world, Nick! Don't you see that?" He convinced Nick that his tool would change the face of agriculture.

Really, it wasn't anything special. Luke thought he would be able to be a businessman and please his father at the same time, so why couldn't it work? Nick just thought it would be fun to try and start up having a business. So on they went, spending all their money trying to get Luke's idea out there. They even borrowed money from the surprisingly supportive Uncle Pete, and sometimes Luke's parents.

But soon that cash was just funneled into the same place, and it was gone before they knew it. But who cared? They were having the time of their lives, "taking the town by storm" by day with their business, and chilling with cards and drinking by night. It was the dorm nights they never had together all the sudden, and they loved it. Luke knew deep down they would have to get out of their deep debt soon in order to keep on living, but he wouldn't think about it then. They'd cross that bridge when it came time!

But it never came time, because soon, all of that wouldn't matter.

Surviving would matter.