Between Friends: A Writing Project

1 prompt, 3 days, 5 friends... and the crazy stalker *coughDON'TFLATTERYOURSELFSTEPHcough* that wanted to play :P

Prompt: The exact moment that two best friends fell in love – from StarGleekBelle

Word count: 725, not including lyrics… Lyrics bring it to 920. Oops…

Characters: Who else but Niff?

Summary: Jeff discovers that the song in his head matches the song in Nick's heart. Because, hey, you didn't say it needed to explicitly follow the prompt. And, you didn't say that they had to get together at this point in time :P But, go read :P

Come up to meet you, tell you I'm sorry,

You don't know how lovely you are.

I had to find you, tell you I need you,

Tell you I'll set you apart…

Nick walked through the hallway, eyes downcast, not even aware that he was singing under his breath… Clara was in hospital again. And he was stuck at school. He knew their time was limited. And every hour he spent here, was an hour with her stolen.

All he had in consolation was that song.

But tell me you love me, come back and haunt me,

Oh, and I rush to the start.

Running in circles, chasing our tails,

Coming back as we are…

Around the corner. Up the stairs. Keep looking down. People won't care. It's not like they care about you… It's not like you've gone out of your way to make friends…

Just get through the day. No, this next class. You can go break down at lunch. Just 53 more minutes. One period. You can do this.

Don't think about family. About her lying there, gasping for breath…

She's okay. She's in hospital. She's okay.

This won't be the last.

Nobody said it was easy.

It's such a shame for us to part.

Nobody said it was easy.

No one ever said it would be so hard.

Oh, take me back to the start.

The second bell rang out, warning its students of the eminent start of class, just a minute away. Nick still had to get into Brynmawr… which was a good few minutes away, considering all the students he had to navigate through.

Good. He could allow himself a little weakness. He could allow himself to keep singing under his breath. To rub at his reddening eyes, to sniff, to press a shaking hand to his forehead to help lock any signs of emotion back in there.

To be human.

She's a good girl, loves her mama,

Loves Jesus, and America too.

She's a good girl, crazy about Elvis,

Loves horses and her boyfriend too.

Jeff… wasn't entirely sure how he'd managed to get Tom Petty, of all artists, stuck in his head. Maybe it was Blaine's influence… He'd been singing it all morning, God knows why, and how he managed to get up so early, and every bloody morning. Better than an alarm clock…

But, point being, it was now stuck in Jeff's head. And so, the Australian found himself sprinting from guitar lesson to maths (no, he was not going to call it math or any other horrible American abbreviation, thank you very much), singing it aloud as he ran.

All the vampires walking through the valley

Move west down Ventura Boulevard

And all the bad boys are standing in the shadows.

All the good girls are home with broken hearts.

So, apparently all the good girls would be saved from Edward Cullen. Interesting. Though, then again, perhaps that was why they all had broken hearts. Because they realised that he wasn't actually real.

I mean… come on. Sparkles? Seriously? There are so many reasons you could give, as to why vampires couldn't go out in the sun. And you settle with the most emasculating, throwing-pixie-dust-around, fourth-of-July metaphor.

… And let's not go into just how, exactly, Jeff knew about sparkling vampires… Or why the reading draw of his bedside table had a false bottom…

The second bell was ringing. Jeff quickened his pace again… though at least today he had a valid excuse for being late.

And I'm free, freefallin'

Yeah I'm free, I'm freefallin'

CRASH!

"Ow…"

"I'm sorry!"

"No, I should have been paying attention…"

Jeff's hazel eyes glanced up, into those of his… friend. Nick. Whose own eyes were seriously bloodshot and brimming. "Are you okay?"

"Yes. Fine," he bristled slightly. "Just… running late."

And… the hesitation in his speech. If the red eyes weren't enough, that was definitely a clear indication that something was wrong. Nick didn't halt in his speech. Nick chose every single word five minutes before they left his lips, to avoid awkward pauses and whatever other fears he had accompanying his painful shyness.

But… Jeff wasn't one to pry. So he stuck out a hand, helped his friend back to his feet. "Yeah, I gotta run… I'll see you at lunch?"

"Sure. Lunch. Sounds good." Nick turned, meant to walk to class… his back hunched over, shoulders heaving as his emotions fought to release themselves.

And I'm free

Nobody said it was easy

Freefallin'

It's such a shame for us to part

Yeah, I'm free

Nobody said it was easy

Freefallin'

No one ever said it would be so hard…

"Nick?" Jeff had turned back around the instant he heard the first melancholic note. He knew what that song meant… it was a song of comfort. Nick only sang it for his sister, or for Jeff that time he got homesick. Though it sounded… almost happier, meshed with Tom Petty. Like Jeff felt whenever Nick was around.

Nick turned back around, this time with tears streaking his face.

"You're not okay." Jeff said simply, putting an arm around the brunet.

Nick shook his head.

"Then, come on. Come with me." Jeff pulled him closer – the first time, really, that he'd hugged anybody at school – and, similarly, the closest Nick had allowed anyone to him – Nick finally letting go, a cry of anguish escaping him as he burrowed into Jeff's neck. "Don't worry about class. Come talk to me instead."

And, he trusted him.

Mm… not entirely happy with this. But, in all fairness, the girls who started this had much less time than myself, so I'm unwilling to really change it a whole lot. Niff just deserve a lot more words than I can afford them at this point in time!

… And, I was aiming for a Happy Feet type thing. Not tooooooo sure how that came across, but, meh. It sounds cute in my head. :P

Next prompt will be better! Promises!

Also, thank you to the lovely, lovely ladies who have let me butt into their group and steal their prompts. These ladies are: Different Child, GleekMom, Melissa Motown, momaboutown, and StarGleekBelle. They are all fantastic writers in their own rights, and you should most definitely go read everything that they've posted. I can only hope I live up to their standards – because these guys are BRILLIANT.

Basically, the principle is, one prompt, given to us with… 72 hours to prepare something and post it, and a word limit that we all basically fail at, of 500 words. So, nice and short one-shots. Because I've wormed myself into a little niche, at this point in time I won't be giving my own prompts – and in all fairness, I can't give too much of a commitment at this point in time anyway, because of uni – but with Different Child and GleekMom's blessing, I'm allowed to write for the prompts they have. I can only hope I do them any sort of justice!

And, well, I know I have WAY too many WIPs going, but I want to get as regular writing as I can. Plus, I only have 6 weeks left of semester, and 2 weeks of exams following that. So that's 2 months of irregularity… and hopefully it'll continue beyond that! But, I'll do my best. 500 words is usually fairly easy to squash out. :P

Well, anyway… I'll leave you with that rambling for now. Note that my usual ANs will definitely occur down the bottom, if you've found me from TSAB or any of the TSAB!verse fics that I have :D

Love me? Hate me? Want me to test if the seaweed really is greener in somebody else's lake? Please let me know!

Keep smiling! :D