Hello :)

*waves* This is a story.

My critical fairy critic (me... – m) is telling me that's not enough. Well, here we have Dalton Academy. In the end, this turned out to be a non-Klaine AU. Here you go :)

This is a Niff story, my first try at it, but don't be scared. I am really trying to do it right.

Right! :)

Enjoy ~

Oh and:

Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own Glee. I'd be scared if I did.

Chapter 1 – Eat, clean, sleep

The pen moved so fast against the screen that anyone else would have thought it was done for. "Wow, how did you do that?" a redhead leaned over his shoulder, pale blue eyes goggled at the portable console and humming appreciatively.

"Lots of evenings of practice," Jeff grinned from his seat in the corner of the common room and went on to the next level. His friend smiled too and went to the chair beside him, taking a comic book out of his messenger bag and losing his mind in it.

Dalton was snowed in. Well, not really, but the wind had been forceful enough to cut off their electricity in the middle of their fourth class that day. Nobody bothered to call them back again, so now the uniform boys just strolled around, killing time in between lunch and dinner. Or sleep, some of them might sleep too, Jeff thought, glancing under his bangs at his colleagues.

Thanks to Miles, who now was serenely reading a brand-new copy of Scott Pilgrim, he hadn't had any meeting with that action for – now – two days, he glanced at the clock, as if it was going to tell him the date. As if he didn't know how hard his body was aching for sleep and when it all started. He made the ginger play all the Mario that he possessed and the other drowned him in Marvel comics.

We're like a geek duo, he thought, only to punch himself mentally after that. We are a geek duo. It wasn't that bad. The boys in their school had, somehow, miraculously got over that phase when all they did was pick harmfully on each other. The jokes remained, the atmosphere softened.

"Oh, there he is!" another voice burst out in the slightly crowded common room and the blond raised his eyes, behind his black-rimmed glasses, to meet another's.

The other teen stopped in front of him, wavy brown hair a little fuzzy from the fast pace he kept until then. Cade was his English literature partner, but what was he doing there? Jeff narrowed his eyes suspiciously at him, knowing that he didn't stay in the dorm.

"This is Jeff," Cade motioned and from behind his shoulder appeared another teen, who nodded, recognising him. The blond did the same and put his Nintendo down, waiting while smiling somewhat awkwardly. That was Jeff, always socially awkward from the first four seconds. "This is Nick," the boy continued, making the latter step forward, in plain sight.

He knew Nick. For once, they were both Warblers and they had had their small – very small – portions of small talk there and, in the second place, mostly everyone knew Nick. Or so he heard. Or so he had chosen to hear. The dark-haired singer wasn't spectacularly popular, but he was nice. Friendly, Jeff explained in his head. Did he want them to be friends? He had been over that many times before and yes, that was what Jeff wanted.

"So we were talking this morning and Nick hasn't seen the Dragon Tattoo. I offered, but he's currently in his 'legal' state so he keeps away from any piracy. Didn't you have the original?" Cade ventured, talking animatedly to him, like he always did and making Nick laugh at his tone.

"Ah, yeah, I do. It must be...there...somewhere...?" the blond trailed, shifting his head robotically towards his roommate, who only lifted his eyes from his book and smiled sheepishly at him.

Nick grinned at both of them before speaking. "Well, it's no hurry. There's still time 'til winter holiday."

"He understands, you don't want to see his room," Cade put a hand on the boy's shoulder, but resumed to whispering unsubtly and not low enough to Jeff. "He has all this ancient tapes and CDs of bands nobody heard about thrown all over the place."

No, I don't, Nick retorted mentally, raising his eyebrows at his friend, who only gave him an innocent smile back. Like most of the times, he just let him go at it; it was one of Cade's favourite activities, after all. And it was interesting to see the process of it all, how a hit with his wardrobe's door could become an almost mortal injury in less than a few hours. Not only once did his friends expect him to be in hospital or dead for eight hours.

Soon enough, they were out in the hallway again, the brown-haired teen determined to finish all his 'duties' before going home for the day. In between two series of begging for homework, though, Nick slipped from his proximity and went unsuspiciously on his way to his room, putting his earphones back in as he reached the stairs.

If you'd been human, I would have dated you..., he murmured to his iPod, stopping for a moment afterwards to analyse his words. That didn't sound right. He shrugged anyway, starting to hum the chorus from Stayin' alive absently, surprised at the lack of people in that part of the Academy.

As he reached the first floor, he unlocked his door and stepped inside, glancing once again at the second bed in there. His roommate had been on a leave of absence for almost two weeks now and, from what he saw of him in the hospital, he wasn't going to be back until after the holidays. More room for Nick. More boredom for Nick. At least the Warblers had some sort of plan for their free week which they – strangely – made to sound quite safe.

As safe as a group of teenage boys under the same roof, at a mountain resort, during winter could be, at least. He doubted that he was going to come back unharmed. My parents wouldn't even believe me if I did, he scoffed, picking up his tapes from the bed. They were far too accustomed to his 'school injuries' already. Fortunately, they never got worse than a broken arm. And that was the only accident there was, he added, soundlessly.

o0o0o

"Jeff, man, where did you put it?" Miles turned hopelessly to him, shoulders fallen. If Cade dared to say something about their room earlier, this was ten times worse.

Jeff was halfway through his clothes, throwing them everywhere, sliding under the bed to gather some more, shoving his board and video games aside until he, finally, let himself fall, on top of everything, on the bed. An old version of Final Fantasy was hurting his hip, but he let it stay there as he inhaled the dust in the air.

"Oh, it was here," came his friend's cheerful voice from the other side of the room and he could only see a hint of the lost book under the other's schoolbooks before his roommate was gone, running for his life – or better, for the life of his comics.

But he couldn't be bothered to hunt him down right now; the lack of sleep was yet again getting to him. A miracle, really, for the others not to say anything about the dark circles under his eyes. Then again, most of us have something to keep us up all night these days, he worded before scratching everything up. Maybe it's not all night for everyone.

With one last effort, the blond got up, his body heavier than ever and started shoving his clothes back into the drawer, folding them as best as he could. His mother wasn't going to be impressed by his domestic skills anytime soon.

CDs, CDs now..., he ran his hand unthinkingly through his hair, not bothering to care if he looked like an albino hedgehog for the next couple of minutes. "Oh, right," he voiced out, waking up a little more and rummaging through a cardboard box. Nick's film. "Come on, I know you're here..." his hand stopped on the right one and pulled out the grey carcase he was looking for. He didn't even know why he had bought it in the first place; The Girl With The Dragoon Tattoo was most distinctly not his type of movie.

Just say you got lucky, came the reasoning and, for a while, he accepted it. At least, until he started to question its true meaning. Jeff glared hard at the wooden floor for quite some time then, almost scaring the surrendered Miles out of the room again. No, he was lucky. There was no need to hide that the opportunity to talk more to the dark-haired teen made him happy. Really happy.

But so did many other things. "Supper?" he turned to the redhead, who only grinned, as if he hadn't been in mortal jeff-danger just a minute before. He reached under his bed and tossed his friend a Mars bar, continuing his evening lecture. "We really need to clean this up..." Jeff added after his first sugary bite, looking at the chaos on the floor.

Miles only nodded absently, already laid down on his stomach in his piece of serenity. A loud thud resonated from the first floor, but as no screams followed, they both ignored it.

o0o0o

After allowing the situation a few seconds to sink in, Nick glared unbelievingly at the top of his wardrobe, where a space showed the absence of a box. Of course it did, since its contents had just landed on his head, knocking him to the floor.

"Dude, you okay?" he heard coming from behind and when he turned, Thad was a few steps from his open doorway.

Nick sighed – which was enough to show his friend that he wasn't, yet, dead – and got up, dusting his shirt and trousers and then smiling calmly at the other. "I'm fine, I've been warned a few times already," then he looked at the CDs on the floor. "I hope none is broken," he leaped forward, starting to rearrange them in the box.

How can you even exist...? Nick goggled his eyes at a particularly old CD and soon he was lost for the world. Luckily enough, Thad was more than used to his sessions of obsession and he stopped talking after a couple phrases. Something about girls or...curls? The room's occupant wasn't sure; he had never been a good multi-tasker.

"Okay, Nick. Bye! Don't refrain yourself from visiting if you get lonely in your...room," the boy called, marching slowly to the door and elongating his every word, even if he knew he was not listened. With one last almost pitiful smirk at the brunet, he exited the room. "Oh, hi, Jeff!"

"Hi..." the blond grinned clumsily and waited for Thad to disappear at the end of the hall before knocking at Nick's open door.

Maybe I shouldn't have hurried, he grimaced at himself and then at the DVD in his hands, folded closely to his chest. He could have waited for a few days, maybe even the weekend and tell Nick he still hasn't found it yet so they could have had something in common to talk about at Warbler practice or at lunch. That would've diminished his awkwardness, or so he hoped.

But then again, Nick could have just taken it from someone else and that wasn't cool. If Miles was to hear him now, he would've said he hadn't over-thought something this much since he purchased his Xbox last year. I should have waited, he repeated, but I'll get over it.

At the silence that followed the knocking, Nick looked over his shoulder to see Jeff. "Yeah, sorry. Come in," he got up and pushed some tapes out of the other's way. "Looks like Cade was right about me," he hid his faint embarrassment behind a grin that even made Jeff's heart light.

"I-I've seen much worse," the other rolled his eyes, his fingers fidgeting at the movie's wrapper. Oh, right... "Here, it was just lying there," he half-lied.

Taking the DVD in his hand, Nick turned it over and absent-mindedly looked over the description, leaving Jeff to play somewhat restlessly with the sleeves of his baby blue sweater. "Um..." the taller one mumbled when the silence trailed – in his opinion – for too long and the other glanced up, a small smile still on his face as if it was glued there. "Do you-...do you need help?" Jeff grinned awkwardly, gesturing to the messy floor around them.

Come on, Jeff, be f-r-i-e-n-d-l-y. That's what makes people want to be friends with you. Nick blinked a few times, acknowledging the fact that the other was still present. Usually people were just leaving him to it when he dozed off – which was far more often than it should – but, right, Jeff didn't really know him that well. I wonder why that is, he thought. Jeff seemed like someone he would get along very well with.

"Not really..." Hey, weren't you saying something about getting to know each other two seconds ago, an inner voice mocked, incredulous. "But, yeah. I need to put that back," he gestured to the fallen box and then at the wardrobe and the blond nodded.

"I think I can reach that."

"Thanks. Let me put these back first."

He went back to the collision point and the other followed, praying to every God he knew not to trip on anything. For a moment, he pondered whether to kneel too and help, but a runaway tape brought him to his knees in an instant.

"Dude, you have like, this relic Bee Gees tape," he exclaimed, raising it to his face and almost knocking his glasses over with it. "How is it not fossilized yet? I half-expected it to turn to dust," he rambled on, excitement pure in his eyes.

"That..." Nick started, staring at him. "Yeah, that's old," he laughed, then went to his desk and took another one from a drawer. "This is even older."

"Get out!" the blond gasped before he could stop himself and grabbed the new one with his free hand. The dark-haired boy beamed even harder as he sat back on the floor, near him.

He hasn't got to meet any new people in the campus since their freshman year and this felt strangely nice and new. Because that was almost all there was to Nick; the CDs, the tapes and the occasionalrecords. As Cade often mocked him, he wasn't that interesting after you got over his collections. Now I wish I brought my tape deck, he frowned a little, reminding himself to get it back from the house sometime during the holiday. Preferably, after the mountain escapade, just to be safe.

"Are you a fan?" Nick asked when he thought the other was calm enough to hear him. Not all people shut off reality, Nick, something in his head scolded him again.

Jeff's brown eyes turned toward him along with an apologetic smile. Don't lose your head around normal people, man, his mind also admonished him. "Not really. I just...get really excited around cool stuff," he forced a laugh. "Sorry...," he mumbled lastly when the other returned to arranging the CDs in the box and he tried to help him.

"No reason to be. Actually, I'll keep these ones out," Nick smiled reassuringly and shoved the leftover disks under his bed. Inwardly, he most likely feared that the box was going to be too heavy, but he managed to convince himself he needed those CDs down. You never know.

Okay, I have up to ten seconds to think of something to say. Go! Jeff got up and – slowly – took the box in his arms, walking – slowly – and minding the floor until he faced the wardrobe. Did you see anything? Damn, I should have read all those band names, maybe there was something I liked too. That would have been a good idea, indeed, but he couldn't resolve to it now, so he raised the box carefully above his head, letting his loose sleeves fall and expose his arms almost up to the elbows.

Maybe Nick wanted to watch the movie now. Would he be invited? Well, it was his movie so the other must have expected him to have already seen it. Which I almost did, he frowned at the box, standing on his toes and pushing it with his fingertips. Why would they put things so tall in our dorms? Oh, I've done it.

"Done," he turned and added uselessly, keeping his hands in his pockets now. "Are you going to watch that now?"

The brunet glanced up at him from where he sat on the side of the bed. "I don't think so. Is that okay? If you need it, I can ask for it next week." How he could talk so clearly while never breaking eye contact was a mystery to the blond, who only shook his head.

"No, I've-..." seen it before. Don't say that. "I have to catch up with Miles' Marvel collection first," he grinned, balancing his weight from one foot to the other. Wow, we really talk.

Nick bit his lip unconsciously, looking at the floor and then raised his eyes again. "Well, if you finish until next week, we can watch it together," and his expression added the mandatory: If you want to.

Oh. Jeff winced and stumbled into Nick's desk when his foot hit a chair he definitely had not seen until then. Inhaling deeply to ease the pain and to keep a poker face on at the same time, it was really hard for him not to jump. That was a habit he did not need in this situation, but his stomach was so warm with pride and happiness. I did it. I don't know how, but I did! His impression hasn't been so bad that the boy didn't want to know him anymore. Oh, it was better than Christmas.

Be that as it may, he couldn't keep a cool appearance if he had to talk at the same time. "Yes, definitely. I'll finish it...and if I don't, I'll get away somehow," the blond beamed childishly and then worded an excuse to leave when he feared he was going to put his foot in his mouth. Like he always did. Excitement and sociable Jeff never worked well together.

How was it?

Next chapter comiiiiing...next Saturday :)