Believe it or not, but after nearly a year I reupload this story again- and I intend on finishing it as well. So last year, I got this prompt and wrote this One-Shot and I received so many requests to continue it, so I did- but then I stopped writing it. But now, nearly a year later, I am back. I rewrote it, finished it and every second day a new chapter will be uploaded until Christams Eve. I hope you enjoy the rewritten edition :) The first chapter kind of remained the same, but the others are completely new.
Enjoy, and only 22 days until Niffmas :D
It was December 2nd and Nick sighed as he made his way up the drive to the home of his best friend. Fresh snow covered the ground of the Sterling residence and the dark-haired boy had to be careful not to slip and fall. Nick's hands were freezing. His breath was visible and he couldn't wait to get into the house and warm himself by the fireplace. He ringed the doorbell and waited for Jennifer Sterling- Jeffs' Mum- to open the door.
"Nick!" She smiled and let the boy come in. "Thank you so much for watching after Jeff today."
"You're welcome Jennifer. You know I like to spend time with him whenever I can!" Mrs. Sterling nodded and grabbed a coat as her husband –Jack- came from the kitchen. "Hello Nick!" He flashed a smile and also took his coat. "Have a nice evening you two and thank you so much."
When Nick closed the door behind Mr. and Mrs. Sterling he heard noises from the living room.
"Jeffy!" Nick made his way to the room that was full of Christmas decoration and smiled as he saw his best friend sitting on the floor playing with a car. The blond boy looked up and his face lit up as he realized who was talking to him.
It always broke Nick's heart to see Jeff and still he tried to visit his best friend as often as possible. Dalton without Jeff was just not the same. Sure it was still fun with his friends but the most important one was missing- and that since a year now. Nick sat down next to Jeff and stroked the blonds' hair. Jeff giggled. He may look like a 17-year old boy but a terrible accident had caused him to act like a 6-year old again- and that curse would linger over him for the rest of his life.
It happened last year, one week before Christmas as he got a call from Jeff's mobile phone. "What's up buddy?" he asked joyfully, totally stuck in the spirit of Christmas. He remembered that he decorated the Christmas tree with red and blue balls to bring the spirit of Dalton to his home during holidays, when a stranger answered from Jeff's phone. "Nick Duval? You are mentioned in this phone as the number to call in case of emergency!" Nick felt his stomach clench.
"What happened?" He whispered the words in fear and forgot the Christmas decoration in his hand that dropped to the floor and broke into pieces.
"Your friend had a car accident. He will be taken to the hospital in Lima. Can you please inform his parents?" Nick didn't respond anymore. All he could do was staring at the wall on the other side of the room and he felt the first tear running down his cheek. They didn't tell him in which conditions Jeff was but he could feel that it was bad.
He didn't hesitate to call Jeffs' parents before driving to the hospital. When he arrived and asked about Jeff the nurse refused to give him any information. Nick screamed and begged but all he was told was to keep calm and take a seat. 'The doctors do their best to help your friend, Mr. Duval!' the nurse had said and gave him an annoyed look. It was when Jeff's parents arrived that he finally found out the truth about his friend. His head was hit really hard, he had several broken bones, bruises and he fell in a coma for over a week.
When Jeff woke up again Nick believed in a Christmas miracle because the doctors hadn't give him a chance to survive. But Jeff wanted to live. He had been so strong for all his life and a stupid car accident couldn't take it away from him!
When he woke up everyone was with him- his parents, his grandparents, his aunts, his uncles and Nick. Some of them cried because of joy, others just prayed and thanked god for this miracle but it turned out that Jeffs' brain was heavily damaged. That's when he was stuck in the head of a 6-year old. He spoke but his vocabulary was the vocabulary of a young boy. He can pay attention but only for a short time. He can't go to school because he won't be able to learn things anymore. He can't write, he can't read and most importantly, he was going to stay like this forever.
Already a year went by since the accident. Jack and Jennifer took Jeff from Dalton and he lived with them at home. Nick tried to visit his best friend as much as possible. He came by every second weekend and in the holidays and sometimes he took care of his best friend when his parents needed a relaxing evening during the week as well.
"What are we going to do, Jeffy?" Nick sat down next to Jeff who didn't pay attention to his former best friend. The car seemed way more important to him and Nick flashed a sad smile. After some minutes the car lost its importance though and he grabbed Nick's hand. He giggled for no reason and Nick couldn't stop a tear running down his face.
"You sad!" Jeff stuttered and wiped Nicks' tears away. "Not cry Nick!"
Nick wrapped his arms around Jeff and started to whimper. "I miss you so much, Jeff! I miss your pranks, I miss you as my roommate in Dalton and I miss your laugh, your smile and how you always seem to get out of trouble!"
Jeff blinked at Nick in surprise and Nick immediately wanted to slap himself. Why did he have to be so emotional in front of Jeff? It was not like the blond would understand.
"Dalton!" Jeff mumbled and pointed at Nick's blazer. The shorter boy still hadn't changed out of his school uniform. Nick watched Jeff in surprise. From where did he know that this was the blazer of Dalton, if he couldn't remember anything at all?
It was when Jeff started humming 'Uptown Girl', the song Nick got the lead in last school year only a few months before the terrible accident happened that Nick's jaw dropped.
"That can't be possible!" Nick murmured as Jeff hummed. Nick pulled out his mobile phone and searched for a picture. When he found it he showed it to Jeff, who immediately started humming the melody of 'Animals'. Nick gasped. The picture had shown the Warblers performing the song and Jeff seemed to know it.
"Do you know this person?" Nick showed Jeff another picture and the blond boy nodded excited. For him this seemed to be a funny game and every time Nick looked at him in surprise, it made him giggle.
"Blaine!" Jeff tilted his head and clapped his hands, enjoying Nick's confusion.
"You remember it!" Nick gaped at him.
"No crying again, three!" It where this simple four words that made Nick start crying even more and hugging Jeff as tight as he could. Jeff never called Nick 'three' since he lost his memory and acted like a 6-year old. How could he remember? Was there hope for him?
Nick looked at the Christmas tree and couldn't stop thinking if this was a miracle. Maybe there was hope for Jeff after all. Maybe he could get his best friend back.
"I love you six!" Nick mumbled and inhaled the familiar scent of his best friend while he held him close. Jeff giggled.