Of Coffee Shops and Love Stories
A/N: Today my friends I present you with a thought that happened one day when I was at work and somehow sprung into a whole story. I'll talk to you at the end!
Jeff had been up since stupid o' clock and it was almost 5 pm now. His feet hurt and he was exhausted, and the pain in his mouth was giving him a migraine. Thankfully he was off in a few minutes. A coworker slapped him on the back playfully.
"You off at 5?" Kurt asked.
"You bet your sweet ass," Jeff replied. "I'm dead on my feet right now. I can barely think, and this migraine isn't helping."
"Yeah well the whole letting your teeth rot thing probably doesn't help with that either," Kurt quipped. "Does saying it's a migraine make you feel better about your denial?"
Jeff's face got red. "I told you about that in confidence," he squeaked. "And for the record the migraine part isn't a lie. I've got a double whammy going right now."
"You're a mess. Get your face fixed idiot."
"I'm an adult, let me make my own self destructive choices." Jeff turned around when he heard a customer walk in. He pushed aside his utter misery and quickly fell into customer service mode. "Hi, how are you?" Jeff smiled even though he currently felt dead. "What can I get started for you?"
The two exchanged polite greetings before the man went ahead with his order "Can I just get a granda blonde roast please?"
"We only have pike brewed at the moment, that's our medium roast. Is that okay?" Jeff said almost robotically. He finally got a better look at the guy and saw Nick Duval DMD embroidered on his scrubs and he couldn't believe he hadn't already noticed. Usually seeing anyone in scrubs sent up red flags in his head.
"That's fine."
Jeff smiled awkwardly and accepted Nick's payment before turning around to get the coffee. Jeff could feel the man hovering as he waited for his drink. They were really slow at the moment so there were no other customers. Apparently it was slow enough for Kurt to take note of the man's scrubs too.
"I found a solution to your problem Jeff," Kurt commented. "He's had a toothache for weeks and thinks complaining about it will make it go away," Kurt now said to Nick.
Jeff didn't turn around and completely ignored the two even though it was probably rude. He was starting to tremble. He didn't think what Kurt was doing was funny in the slightest. "Kurt don't you have something better to do?" Jeff whispered harshly.
Nick smiled knowingly at Kurt. "Oh is that so?" he said in fascination. "Well Jeff. Your name's Jeff right?"
"That's my name," Jeff said bleakly. "Well unfortunately it looks like we need to brew more pike. I apologize for any inconvenience. I'll bring your drink out to you when it's done unless you'd like something else," he offered as politely as he could in attempts to end the conversation.
"No that's fine. However I do have a question for you. I ask this in the least awkward way possible, but do you want my business card? If you are interested in getting that problem taken care of that is?" Nick asked.
"Thank you so much but no thank you. Nick your coffee will be done in a few minutes okay?"
Nick's face blanched. He could tell the barista wasn't interested in having this discussion. He silently sat down and waited for his coffee.
Jeff was shaken as he readied another batch of pike, and his frustration with Kurt wasn't helping his bad mood. After a few minutes the coffee was done but in his distracted state he tried to put the lid on the coffee when it was on the edge of the counter and managed to pour scolding coffee all over himself in the process.
He screamed when he felt the burning liquid going down his arm. "Dammit!" He ran to the back to soothe the burn with cold water, telling Kurt to get Nick another cup.
Nick looked concerned as he watched Jeff run off to the back. He felt guilty for making him uncomfortable since he was probably the reason for the injury. Nick knew it was probably against rules somewhere but his doctorly instincts made him check to see if everything was okay. He pushed open the door and found Jeff running water over the burn. "I'm so sorry. That was my fault. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable."
Jeff scowled. "I don't think you're really supposed to be back here," he said bitterly. But he quickly felt bad for being so rude to Nick. He was concerned enough to walk back here after all. "It wasn't anything you did. I'm just clumsy. I'm sorry about your coffee. I was supposed to be off... uh two minutes ago. So the other barista will get your coffee, okay?"
Nick scoffed. "I just snuck into the back of an establishment I don't work at and you really think it's the coffee I'm concerned about?"
Jeff finally looked away from the water running over his fresh burn to take a good look at Nick. He was a clean cut guy in his late 20's and he was pretty damn good looking. Jeff silently scolded himself for checking out the guy that was the reason he spilled scolding liquid all over himself. Jeff sighed deeply. "So what are you riddled with guilt for harassing your barista?"
Nick gaped. "I wasn't–"
"I'm kidding, Nick." Jeff turned off the running water and looked at the spot on his arm where the coffee burned him. He could see Nick looking concerned too. "I'll be fine. This isn't the first time I've spilled coffee on myself. My skin is just red. It's hardly a burn."
"Can I look?" Nick asked tentatively, like he wanted to confirm the damage he indirectly caused wasn't too serious.
Jeff furrowed his brows but let Nick take his arm to look over the burn. "Like I said it's fine. It will heal."
Nick hummed in thought before letting go of Jeff's arm finally. "You're right, it looks like a pretty shallow burn."
"Well I'm off now," Jeff said, taking off his apron and folding it up. "So this is where we part ways I'm afraid. Until you come back to make me pour more coffee on myself that is."
Nick smiled apologetically. "I do still feel bad about that. Are you sure there's nothing I can do to make up for it?"
The two lingered there for a few more seconds. "Probably not, no," Jeff said.
"Are you sure? I know this is awkward and I normally wouldn't offer under different circumstances but I do feel bad for making you spill coffee on yourself. Your coworker did mention something that I happened to be very qualified to help with..."
Jeff's face blanched. "No thanks." He walked out of the back and clocked out on the register that wasn't being used to ring up orders. Nick was still standing there. Jeff sighed. "Nick you don't owe me anything. I'm a barista. I'm constantly spilling hot things on myself. I'm fine."
Nick still looked concerned however. Even though they'd only known each other for a few minutes he felt oddly connected to Jeff. "I know you're fine. I just hate leaving you like this. I want to help."
"I don't need help." Jeff recorded the time stamp to clock out and then walked away from behind the counter but Nick was still lingering.
"Humor me," Nick insisted. "Let's just sit down and talk for a few minutes. We're in a coffee shop so you don't have to worry about me murdering you."
Jeff sighed deeply but for some reason, he trusted the cute stranger. "Fine," he agreed. They took a seat in the back. "Look Nick I really appreciate your kindness but I'm really tired. So can we make this quick?"
"Well... I can try. I guess it depends on how honest you're willing to be."
Jeff gave Nick a questioning look. "About what?" He had a sneaking suspicion he knew.
"Honestly, and this is going to make me sound crazy, but I feel oddly drawn to you. I just have a feeling you need my help. I don't do this. I don't go out of my way to offer my professional help to people. If they're interested then cool, if not whatever. But with you I just know this is serious and you need someone you can trust," Nick tried to explain.
"You're right, you do sound crazy. But for some reason I'm not leaving so that makes me crazy too." Jeff thought for a second. "I don't get it. Why do I want to trust you?"
Nick smiled a little. "The universe has a funny way of bringing people onto your path sometimes."
"Nick to be perfectly honest with you I can't tell if you're flirting with me or if you just want to fix my face."
Nick laughed. "Maybe a bit of both?"
Jeff hummed. He looked down at his hands.
"Are you in a lot of pain?" Nick asked gently. "I know you don't feel well. I can see it on your face and in how you carry yourself. You need help."
"A bit," Jeff under-exaggerated. Nick gave him a pointed look. "Okay a little more than a bit."
"Was it due to some kind of injury or did it just happen?" Nick asked.
Jeff grimaced in response because he wasn't sure how to answer that question. Nick raised his brows in question. "I ummm... bingo?"
"Bingo?"
"It's... different reasons all across the board. I have bingo for sure. I've won this game of self-destruction. What's my prize?"
Nick had to hold back a laugh. "Well I have a feeling you're not gonna like it."
"Yeah I walked right into that one," Jeff sighed, rubbing his face in frustration. "Where's this going Nick?"
"Come into my office and at the very least let me do a consultation. Let me assess your health and see what's going on. Free of charge," Nick offered with a dashing smile.
Jeff whined. "Nick, listen. I really like you, I do. But I would rather have my arm gnawed slowly by a grizzly bear."
Nick raised a brow. "I'll refrain from commenting on how dramatic you sound, I understand you're apprehensive. Hmm." He pulled a business card from his wallet. "Here. That's my name and my office address. Google it. Read some reviews." Nick slid the card across the table.
Jeff accepted the card warily. "Are you sure you-?"
"Yes Jeff just look it up. Confirm for yourself that I'm legit and trustworthy."
Jeff started trembling again. The constant pain he'd been in was starting to wear him thin in all honesty, and even though it was completely ridiculous he googled the information on the business card. He could feel Nick watching him as he looked through his website and read some reviews. "Well... okay I'll give you that your website setup is nice and people have mostly good things to say about you. 4.7 out of 5 stars. Not too shabby. But why not 5 stars?" Jeff asked seriously.
"Because you can't please everyone," Nick said simply. "Take a little extra time with one patient to make sure they're comfortable, another patient in the waiting room gets impatient. Sometimes my schedule runs over a bit. It happens."
Jeff nodded in understanding. The reviews seemed to confirm that. "So you take your time and go slow?"
"Absolutely. If the patient needs the extra time we'll take the time. Not every office does it like that but it's something I really value. Any other questions?" Nick asked patiently.
Jeff thought for a few seconds. "Tell me why I should trust you," he prompted.
"Well," Nick thought. "If I was bad at my job there would surly be some reviews to tell the tale, and there really aren't. Other than the time management stuff. Besides, you need someone to trust. Lo and behold, I walk into your life. The perfect solution to your problem. If you needed a sign from the universe that it's time to face your current situation I'm going to assume I'm your sign."
Jeff wanted there to be some type of red flag, something to give him a reason not to trust this stranger. But there was nothing. He was generally anxious but his gut was telling him to trust Nick. Jeff ran a hand over his face in frustration. "I'm completely insane. The sleep deprivation has gone to my head and I've finally cracked."
Nick cracked a smile. "This is you giving in isn't it?"
"I didn't say that."
"I think you did, basically," Nick said.
Jeff shook his head. "Yep. That's my cue to leave. Nice knowing you Nick."
"Jeff you and I both know you don't want to do that. Tell you what we're gonna do. You're gonna get in your car and follow my car to my office where I'll give you a personal tour. Then you can decide for yourself how you feel."
"I feel like this is how people get murdered so I'll pass," Jeff said.
"Jeff I'm not going to murder you."
"That's exactly what someone who was going to murder me would say."
Nick smirked in amusement. "Why don't you go tell your friend over there we're going on an adventure? He'll know where you are which would make it impressively hard for me to get away with killing you or something else barbaric."
"I think your whole profession would be considered something barbaric," Jeff quipped lamely.
"It actually says on my degree that I'm a qualified barbarian."
"I don't know what that joke is supposed to mean but I'm gonna go tell Kurt where we're going. Only because the pain in my face is currently making me want to die and it's wearing me a bit thin. Probably clouding my judgment." Jeff walked over to the register where Kurt had taken over for him. "Well it looks like I'm leaving with the cute stranger over there so if I don't text you in say 2 hours I'm probably dead."
"You're actually letting him help you? Has hell frozen over? Actually it's probably better I don't question it. See ya lover boy," Kurt singsonged.
Jeff huffed in annoyance and then turned back around. Nick was standing there waiting for him and suddenly Jeff felt his stomach start twisting with awful anxiety. What this trip would entail finally hit him and he felt sick with panic.
Nick could see the panic starting to rise in his new friend. "Uh oh. Let's walk outside and talk about it," he said throwing an arm around his shoulder.
Jeff felt helpless but he so badly wanted to trust this stranger. So he followed. He sat down at a table outside immediately where he was already starting to tremble. "This is a bad idea. I don't think you realize how much this messes me up. You really don't know what you're getting yourself into, Nick. I don't know if you just think I'm some cute stranger that you're going to help out and then walk merrily into the sunset with but anxiety really doesn't look good on me. Maybe you should just give me the number to a trusted colleague and we'll call it a day."
Nick sat down across from Jeff with a concerned look on his face. He listened patiently to Jeff spout his worries and before he spoke. "I might do that if I didn't already know you would never call. I'm going to be really honest with you for a second Jeff. You're already in pain, a lot of it, and you've admitted that. For any other person that would be enough to push them to take some kind of action, but it hasn't been for you. So what more will it take? I think I know and I don't want to see that happen to you."
"I'll do something about it this time," Jeff said meekly.
Nick frowned. "I'm sorry but I just don't believe you. Your worries are more than valid and I promise I'm going to take every precaution to make sure you're okay and comfortable, but I want you to stop trying to give yourself a way out. I know it's easier and by far the safest thing to do in your mind but you know exactly how you're feeling right now and do you think waiting longer is going to do anything to help that? The only way to get rid of the awful anxiety I know you're feeling right now is to face it head on. It's not the cushy choice but it's the only choice that's going to help you in the long run."
Jeff didn't say anything and just rubbed at his temples. "I don't know if it's the best idea to do this while I'm incredibly sleep deprived."
"You can take a nap when we get there. You don't have to do anything but agree and I'll take care of the rest," Nick insisted.
"You just don't give up do you?" Jeff sighed.
"Nope. Ready to go Jeff?"
"Not really."
"Too bad. Time to go." Nick stood up and looked at Jeff expectantly. "This is a good thing Jeff. You'll see that when this situation is behind you and you don't have to deal with it anymore."
"Forgive me for not being able to see that far ahead."
"I don't expect you to. Just know that peace is coming. You just have to deal with the panic first." Nick offered a hand to help Jeff stand up and he reluctantly accepted.
The duo walked to their respective vehicles which happened to be parked right next to each other. "That's weird," Jeff commented.
"Tell me this wasn't meant to happen. We were bound to cross paths eventually. But you really don't look well. Are you okay to drive?" Nick asked.
Jeff didn't answer right away which told Nick he wasn't.
"Welp it looks like you're riding with me. We'll come back and get your car after. I don't want you to drive in your current state. We can talk some more on the way there." Nick unlocked his car and opened the passenger side door for Jeff.
"Well your car is incredibly nice so it looks like you are who you say you are," Jeff said as he got in.
"I am indeed who I claim to be. This isn't an elaborate scheme to kidnap you."
"Could have fooled me," Jeff said as Nick started driving. "I feel like this has been pretty one-sided so now you have to tell me something personal. I mean really dive deep. No shallow first date stuff, I want something juicy."
"Juicy huh? How deep do you want me to go?"
"All the way. The first thing that popped into your head, something you're afraid to tell people."
"Great," Nick sighed. "Are you sure?"
Jeff had to fight a smirk crawling up his face. "Now you're uncomfortable. This is an interesting twist. But yes I'm sure."
Now Nick was the reluctant one but eventually he started to speak. "Fine but you're not allowed to say anything until the end of the story. You have to listen to the whole thing first."
"Deal."
Nick sighed again but forced himself to start speaking. "In high school, I was a good student, made good grades and all of that jazz. But I didn't realize until I went to a fancy college that I only ever made the good grades because the work was easy for me. I didn't have to work for it. I went from being top of my class to struggling to pass my class. I felt like I was working harder than I ever had, and at a college as competitive as mine was even then I was barely average. I failed my first class that semester and up until that point I'd never even made a C. I took it really hard. I took the next semester off to reevaluate what I wanted to do with my life. I felt like my dreams were crushed. I wasn't smart enough to accomplish what I wanted to– and I only ever made one plan. So what was the point if I couldn't achieve that goal? I don't know how to describe what I was feeling. I want to say devastated but I don't think that quite covers it. It shattered me. I didn't feel like I had a future at that point and I didn't know what to do. I just knew I didn't want to live to be a failure." Nick paused for a moment to collect himself before continuing with the story. "I imagine you know where this is going. I took a handful of pills– and this isn't one of those stories where I'm gonna tell you I regretted it the instant I did it because I didn't. I laid down in my bed like I was going to sleep and I felt at peace. But it wasn't like falling asleep. I could feel the drugs starting to kick in and it was the most horrific thing I've ever felt. I was going to die panicking– I wasn't going to peacefully slip away like I'd romanticized in my head. Thank God my dad got home when he did. He found me in enough time to call an ambulance and my stomach was pumped. It took me a long time to recover from that, and I surely didn't realize it instantly but eventually, I came to the conclusion that I was just going to have to make another plan and find a way to live. The only plus to surviving a suicide attempt is people take your cry for help seriously after that. So I got help and I healed from that awful period of my life. I hate how simple that sounds because it really wasn't simple and I still struggled for a long time after that. Life didn't just instantly get better because I survived. But I found a way to get where I wanted to be and I'm proud of my life now."
"Well I'm really glad you're still here," is all Jeff could string together after hearing Nick's story.
"I appreciate that. I really do. Thank you for not judging me," Nick said.
"I only think more highly of you now. Look at the life you've made for yourself now. Are you happy?" Jeff asked seriously.
"I'm content. But I wholeheartedly believe happy will come in time. For now, contentment is all I could ask."
Jeff nodded in understanding. "I suppose contentment is better than hopelessness."
Nick nodded in agreement. "Well there's my dark secret. Your turn."
Jeff's lips turned up in amusement and the mood in the car quickly shifted. "Oh so you're making me spill more than I already have? How dark are we talking?"
Nick shrugged. "Dunno. First thing that pops into your head."
Jeff laughed awkwardly. "Well if I tell you the first thing that popped into my head it's not going to exactly help my case."
Nick raised his eyebrows in question, prompting the blonde to explain.
Jeff rubbed at his face, partly due to embarrassment and partly due to how exhausted he was. He knew he was going to tell Nick and he was probably going to regret saying it. "Well, when pain gets to a certain point ibuprofen doesn't help anymore. So I had to find other things to help."
"Jeff," Nick sighed. "What have you been taking?"
Jeff just shook his head. "You're not gonna like it. We'll just leave it at that."
"You don't have to tell me. I know what helps. Probably makes you feel really nice too huh? Tell me it's just pills."
"That's not right. I didn't have that type of reaction when you told me your story," Jeff defended. "But yes it's just pills. I think I'd throw up if I tried to inject something into my own veins, and I do have a line I don't cross."
"Because what I struggled with is behind me. You really don't understand the difference? Or is it because you don't want to?"
Jeff shrugged. "What do you want me to say? I'm not allowed to just lay in bed and sulk about how much pain I'm in. I have to work so I can pay my rent. I can't take sick days. I have to find a way to function and this is my way."
"This type of thing ruins lives. This isn't how you function. It's not a solution. Jeff I don't need to tell you how bad this is." Nick sighed deeply to calm himself down, he was getting angry and frustrated. He was already starting to care for Jeff very deeply and it hurt him to realize how bad the situation was. "Look, we don't need to talk about it. You're an adult. I can't make you do anything. I apologize if my frustration is showing. But it's even more important that we deal with this now," he said as they pulled into his office. Nick parked in his spot and turned off the car.
"I shouldn't have told you," Jeff said. "I can't believe I did this. I can't be here. This was never a solution," he said frantically.
"There aren't any other solutions," Nick said calmly. "Take all the pills you want, eventually the infection will kill you. It happens very rarely because we know how to treat it now but it can still happen if you refuse treatment. Jeff I know you don't like it and I can't imagine the lengths you've gone to to avoid it, but you will receive the best treatment from me if that means anything."
Jeff was starting to feel physically sick but at this point, he was essentially being shamed into cooperation. Maybe Nick didn't see it that way but he felt trapped. "Please don't make your first impression of me based on what I've had to do out of desperation. I used to be so much better than this."
"You still can be. C'mon. I'm sorry I got frustrated. I'm not going to bring it up again and I won't hold it over your head. All I want you to know now is that you're safe and you're going to be taken care of. I'm not going to make you do anything you can't handle today. We'll assess where you're at and go from there, but nothing serious will happen today. I promise. It's just us here right now, all of the other staff have left for the day so I wouldn't be able to do anything major even if I wanted to." Nick's voice sounded calm and comforting and for a second Jeff thought he might be able to trust him.
Jeff got out of the car slowly and walked with Nick. "Are you sure you want to deal with me? You might be underestimating what I can handle."
"Odds are I've dealt with far worse."
"Yeeaaah well we'll see about that."
Nick's office was fancy, to say the least. A lot of money clearly went into the construction of it.
Nick unlocked the door to the office and held the door open for Jeff. The two walked in and Nick flipped on the lights. The waiting room looked like a living room and it surprisingly felt cozy.
"It doesn't smell like I thought it would in here," Jeff commented.
"Nope. The smell is a trigger for a lot of people so we use different chemicals to avoid the signature odor. Lucky for frightened nymphs such as yourself. Follow me back here and we'll get started," Nick gestured for Jeff to follow him to the back.
Jeff tensed up and started walking slower. Nick noticed quickly and decided it was time to use a bit of charm on his new friend. "Jeff tell me, does the environment feel different than it did the last time you were somewhere like this? Do you feel more at ease?"
Jeff stopped to think about what he was feeling, and to be honest, he didn't feel as unsafe as he remembered feeling last time. He was anxious but somehow he was okay. For now.
"I trust you which helps. I don't feel unsafe. Just... worried."
"About?" Nick prompted.
"What lengths it's going to take to fix this mess I made."
Nick frowned a little. "If it's any consolation I'm a pretty good guy to have in your corner. I won't let you down."
Jeff was doubtful but he followed Nick into an exam room.
"Sit down and get comfy while I wash my hands. Are you okay with doing that?" Nick asked sweetly.
Jeff wasn't going to say no so he sat down.
"Well I'll tell you one thing, this surprisingly isn't the most awkward first date I've been on," Nick mused from the sink.
Jeff scoffed. "Never use this place and date in the same sentence ever again, please. For the love of all that is holy. This isn't a story I want to tell at my wedding."
"Already thinking about weddings huh? Is this date going that well?" Nick teased as he slipped on a pair of gloves.
Jeff glared at his new friend. "You know that's not what I meant."
"Hey, I don't blame you for wanting to take me off the market. I'll make a deal with you, you get through this and I'll show you what a real date looks like this weekend."
"You lost me at the get through this part."
"Well, I was trying to give you something to look forward to. This is probably going to kill the mood anyway though." Nick started to lean back the chair much to his new blonde friend's dismay.
"Hey whoa, a little warning would be nice next time," Jeff fretted.
"Hey Jeff, I'm going to put a piece of paper over you now. Try not to hurt its feelings okay?" Nick smirked and put a bib over Jeff.
"For such a highly educated man you make very little sense sometimes."
"I'm confusing you, that makes perfect sense. Any other concerns before we get started?"
"What you're just ready to jump into it?" Jeff worried.
"Well yes, but if there's anything you're worried about you can warn me and I'll know to be careful. I'm flipping on the light now, but you let me know if you need a break."
Jeff sunk further into his misery as this cute stranger now hovered over him and a bright light was moved over his mouth. This is where the panic really started to set in. The room spun as Jeff struggled to find something to say.
But Nick was already prepared for this. "Jeff at no point will you feel pain when you're under my care. Tell me what you're worried about. Where's it hurt so I know? I'll know to be careful."
Jeff took in a shaky breath. "Upper right, second from the back. Lower left second from the back..."
Nick mentally noted what Jeff said. "Looking forward to being able to eat normally again?" he teased gently.
"Well, I haven't exactly thought that far ahead." Jeff heard the clink of metal being picked up and Nick instantly noticed his jumpiness. Nick hummed in through before setting his tools back down. "I think you need happy gas. You're a bit tense. Does that sound okay?"
Jeff was pretty sure he hadn't taken a proper deep breath since the chair went back so he quickly nodded in agreement. Nick laughed a little. "Yeah, you could use some. I'll be right back."
Nick returned with a canister and a mask. He pulled in a few things and then put a mask over Jeff's nose. "Take a really deep breath in through your nose for me. This will help."
Jeff did as told and at first, he didn't feel anything. "I don't think it's working."
"Give it a second. I promise in about 30 seconds you won't care about what I'm doing." Nick moved the mask to cover his face and then picked up the two tools again. "I know where to be careful Jeff, you can trust me. Is the gas helping yet?"
Jeff's eye movements quickly slowed and he felt a bit dizzy. A warm calmness spread all over his body and he started to feel sleepy. "Oh yeah I think you're feeling it. Go ahead and open really big for me Jeff okay?"
Jeff, suddenly realizing he went from being terrified to high off his ass, mostly wasn't afraid. He was busy admiring Nick. "Brown eyes are really under rated. You know? You look like a puppy. You've got puppy eyes."
"I think you inhaled just enough of that stuff my friend. Is it okay if I help you open? Since you keep getting distracted," Nick smiled.
"I'm really tired," Jeff yawned.
"I know. Close your eyes and open really big for me Jeff, please? Focus," Nick said sternly but gently.
Jeff slowly resigned to his capture and let Nick help him open.
"Good Jeff. Just relax. I won't hurt you."
Jeff squeezed his eyes shut, trying to ignore the feeling of scraping metal. It didn't hurt, nothing hurt so it was okay. He could ignore it.
"Jeff this is the one that's really hurting you isn't it?"
Jeff tensed as he felt Nick hovering. It appeared he found one of the main problems.
"Okay I suppose that doesn't really require an answer. No shit this is hurting you. Don't worry I'm not touching it, just looking. But you're doing so good Jeff, I know you're scared but you're doing so good. Just let yourself relax while I do this."
As Nick started the exam he first took notice of the large fracture on #3. He silently remembered how earlier Jeff talked about having bingo, and this looked like the bingo number one that was due to some kind of injury. It was about as bad as he expected. The fracture was down to the roots and the tooth wasn't looking great. He'd take X-rays to confirm but Nick already knew this wasn't going to be an easy fix. He kept his comments to himself as he charted, finding the other mystery on #19– a rather monstrous cavity. Naturally with a case like Jeff's, where there are years of neglect involved, it's not going to be sunshine and rainbows. Nick found 3 other cavities, which weren't as notable but certainly there and certainly needed treatment.
Jeff tried to zone out for the rest of the exam, trying to ignore every time he felt the tool sticking to another tooth and trying to ignore the guilt rising in his chest over this. There was no reason to let it get this bad and here he was years later finally having to deal with the consequences.
Nick finished a few minutes later. "Okay well, I'd like to take a few X-rays to confirm everything. Get your chart filled out and such. The good news is there's nothing wrong with you that I can't fix. That hasn't changed. I'm going to send you away feeling better than you ever have when this is finished, and that's a promise. I'm going to get you out of pain and feeling good again. I want you to remember that when we talk about treatment okay?" Nick took the mask off of Jeff's nose and sat him up. "X-rays and then we'll talk, okay?"
Jeff listened to Nick speak and his head started to clear, probably not for the better. He allowed Nick to take a few X-rays and it was over pretty quickly.
"How are you feeling?" Nick asked.
"Well I feel like you're trying to drag out news I know isn't going to be good anyway. Lay it on me Nick. I've been avoiding this for years... it's okay. I think we've both come to the understanding that this sucks and I have to deal with it, and there's no point in feeling guilty about it because all I can do at this point is do better. Not let this happen ever again."
"Well, I don't think I could have said it better myself." Nick smiled encouragingly at Jeff as he pulled up the X-rays on his laptop to look them over. "Will showing you make it worse or better?"
"Maybe you should just break it down for me. I'll leave the X-ray looking up to you. I don't need this to be any more real than it has to be."
"Okay so worse. Got it. Well okay here's what we're looking at. You're gonna need a few fillings. I found 4 cavities, one you were pretty aware of, the others aren't as severe. As far as our little-broken friend– the one that's probably causing you the most pain right now, it's gotta go. The fracture from where that filling broke off is too deep for me to treat, once a crack goes beyond the gum-line I can't do anything. But I'll put an implant there and once it's healed you'll never know the difference," Nick explained as cooly as he could.
Jeff sighed deeply. "Yeah well, guess I saw that coming. Never had a tooth yanked out of my face before so that should be thrilling."
"It's not bad. You'll be numb and you won't feel any pain. It's really the least time consuming and easy procedure. It's easy. You just kinda pop it out," Nick offered.
Jeff grimaced. "Absolutely lovely."
"Wanna do it now?" Nick asked excitedly. When he saw Jeff's look of dismay he quickly backtracked. "Just a suggestion. I could fill you up with some more of that gas and get it out tonight, one less thing to worry about and you've already done the hardest thing."
Jeff quickly shook his head. "You just sat me up and turned off that godforsaken light, you're not gonna get me to lay back down again, especially for that torment."
"Okay well, fair enough. Just thought I'd offer. I'm just saying there's really no point in putting it off when you're already here and I can have it done in a few minutes. You already know you trust me. What's the worst that can happen?"
"Hmm well I'll start at the part where you want to rip a very painful tooth out of my face."
"Isn't the whole painful tooth part why you don't want it in your face?"
"I don't WANT it there but I'm not exactly thrilled about the extraction part, forgive me."
"You're forgiven."
"That was sarcastic."
"I'm well aware, I'm just trying to distract the cute boy in my chair. Is it working?"
Jeff gave Nick and tired look but he couldn't keep a straight face with how Nick was looking at him, and he ended up smiling at this stupid brown-eyed puppy he was currently falling so hard for.
"You know you've got the prettiest smile I've ever seen," Nick mused.
At that Jeff promptly got red in the face. "It's just really funny you say that, especially now. I feel the need to call you out on your bullshit because I know you see so many pretty smiles every day. I'm nothing special."
"Do you know what I see every day? A bunch of phony people with disingenuous, fake smiles. I stand by what I said. You've got the prettiest smile I've ever seen and you can't make me take it back, because you know what I saw in your face just then? Happiness. Pure and wholesome happiness, even if it was only for the split second while I made you forget everything, it was god damn beautiful."
"Fantastic, I'm blushing even harder. Like a fucking school girl. All because of some guy that just wants to rip teeth out of my face and leave."
"Woah hey, listen. Would some guy that's just trying to rip teeth out of your face do this?" Nick leaned in and cupped Jeff's cheek, and before Jeff knew it he was leaning in and closing his eyes almost instinctively, and then he felt Nick's lips on his. It was magical and reassuring and everything he ever wanted in a kiss from past loves but never found. When the kiss finally came to a close and their lips parted Jeff only had one thought:
"Oh God, I'm falling in love again."
A/N: Well I'm clearly not getting any less angsty for this story. Let's talk about some of my inspiration and get personal for a second. I wanted to write something different this time and as I was writing it seemed fitting for Jeff's story that I took on this specific storyline. I was reading an old vice interview the other day where Gerard Way and a bandmate were talking about their drug abuse, and I think how easily it can happen can be summed up in this quote from the interview. "Vicodin just seemed so much safer because they came in a bottle with your mom's name on them, you know? So it must be okay." And in my mind, that's exactly what happened to Jeff and how it could happen to anyone under the right circumstances. Gerard was just some guy trying to record an album but it hurt to sing so why not take something? Jeff is fictional but this does and has happened to people. I didn't go into this to necessarily create sympathy for drug addicts, because frankly, I'm related to one that just almost overdosed on heroin in front of her kid. She's only alive because her child found her. That disgusts me and I don't have anything to do with this person now, and I'm by no means saying we should enable those in active addiction. I don't support this behavior or condone it, I'm simply writing about it. So with that being said, I hope everyone enjoys this little love story I've started.