author's note: i've been working on this for about three weeks now, and i literally just finished like two seconds ago. i'm so super proud of it. this is the longest oneshot i've ever written in my life. i maybe read into 'michael' a little bit too much, but i love headcanons and this was so much fun to write. so here's my nick/jeff version of one of the best episodes of this entire season; in which nick is very much an asshole, jeff doesn't want to deal with it anymore, and blaine ships niff more than anyone in the world. including nick and jeff.
tumblr: hey guys, so i changed my tumblr usename because my old one was really long and obnoxious. my new one is foralwaysforever-jess .tumblr .com / just remove all the spaces and follow meeeee!
disclaimer:lyrics belong to new found glory, from this amaaaazing song called "this isn't you."
i can tell that this isn't you;
every bend and curve is not what i'm used to.
you've been replaced by someone, he goes by your name.
even when our mouths touch, it doesn't feel the same.
When Blaine drops to the ground, screaming in pain, Jeff can honestly say that he has no idea what's going on.
Kurt falls to his knees beside him, looking every bit as lost as Jeff feels. Slushies don't sting that badly. Jeff watches, half in horror, half in a kind of morbid fascination. Blaine's writhing around and Kurt's trying to calm him down, trying to pry his hands off of his eyes so he can see what's wrong. Jeff takes a step forward, because yeah, Blaine transferred, but he's still their friend. But someone's hand grabs his arm and tugs him back gently. He jerks away, confused and scared. Nick's arm is still suspended in the air when he finally turns around. He's frowning, looking just past Jeff and right at Blaine. He doesn't look surprised at all. He doesn't really look like anything, really, but Jeff can always see through Nick's blank stares. That's when Jeff gets it.
"Nick," he says quietly, and Nick actually winces.
He grabs Jeff's arm again and starts pulling him away. This time, Jeff lets him, but he can't stop staring at Nick. "C'mon," Nick mutters, and it's completely silent. Except for Blaine, who's actually crying now, and Kurt, who's got Blaine's head in his lap and is whispering to him. One of the girls is calling for an ambulance. Nick turns back for just a second to look at Blaine, and his mask cracks. It's back up in a second, that cold glare that Nick puts on when he doesn't want to deal with something, but not before Jeff sees it.
When they get far enough away, Jeff yanks his arm back and demands, "What the hell was that, Nick?"
Nick stares at the ground and mutters, "I don't know."
"Bullshit!" Jeff yells, and it echoes through the empty parking lot. Some of the Warblers glance back at them and slow their pace, because Nick and Jeff never fight. They're like that annoyingly perfect couple—yeah, sure, Nick can be a douchebag, but Jeff's one of the only things he actually, really cares about. Sure, Jeff can be a little over excited most of the time, but his relationship with Nick is one of the only things he takes seriously. So maybe they're not perfect, but they're definitely perfect for each other.
At least, they were, until Nick decided to be an asshole.
Nick actually takes a step back. "It was rock salt," he says quietly, and he keeps glancing over his shoulder.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Jeff demands loudly. A few of the kids from New Directions actually look up, confused. Nick blinks, eyes wide. "Who are you? Cause you sure as hell aren't the Nick that I fell in love with."
"Yes I am," Nick says, startled. His mask is cracking. Nick's really good at a lot of things, but the one thing he's so frustratingly good at is putting up walls. They've been best friends since they were kids, they've been dating for over two years, and Jeff still a hard time telling what exactly Nick's thinking. "I am."
Jeff snorts. "You knew, and don't tell me you didn't," he snaps when Nick opens his mouth to protest, "You knew and you didn't tell me. You didn't try to stop it. Blaine's our friend, Nick! And you let some douchebag come in and ruin that! And yeah, Sebastian, you're the douchebag!" he yells when he catches Sebastian staring at them. "Did you hear Blaine crying, Nick?" When Nick takes another step back, Jeff follows him. "Well? Did you? That's because of you."
"It was supposed to be for Kurt," Nick sounds desperate, trying to get Jeff to understand. "I swear, it wasn't meant to hit Blaine. That was an accident."
Jeff stares, disbelieving. "You think that makes it any better?" He asks, and he doesn't even sound angry any more. He sounds completely disgusted, and that makes Nick wince. "Kurt's our friend too! What happened to 'Once a Warbler, always a Warbler?' Does that not apply to him? Yeah, he wasn't here for a long time but he was still here and he was our friend."
"Jeff," Nick whispers, and he reaches out to grab Jeff's hand.
"Let go of me," Jeff hisses, and Nick yanks his hand away like he's been burned. "You're not who I fell in love with. Because the Nick I'm in love with wouldn't let anyone hurt his friends. What's next? What if I transferred, joined an opposing glee club. Would you let someone hurt me like that? Would you help them?"
"No!" Nick shouts immediately, and Jeff can see him getting worked up.
"Really?" Jeff pushes, and Nick's glaring. "Because all I see is a pathetic dickwad that lets some asshole new kid take over his life and walk all over him. If he told you to hit me, I bet you'd do it, and judging by the look on his face, he wants to."
Nick's hands clench into fists. "I would never hurt you. Don't you dare say that."
"Well what's the difference?" Jeff demands, throwing his hands up, "I bet a year ago, you would have been horrified at the thought of hurting one of your best friends. But look what you just did."
"Shut up!"
They stand there, breathing heavily and just staring at each other. Jeff's never been so disappointed in his life. Everything about Nick's behavior is familiar, but he thought they'd gotten past this. This Nick, it's the one they had to get through to start their relationship. The one that would sit there and sulk for hours and get angry when Jeff asked what was wrong. The one that didn't trust anyone, wouldn't open up and didn't talk to Jeff for almost two months after realizing that he might have feelings for his best friend that weren't entirely platonic. But Nick's happier now, and Jeff likes to think that it's because of him. At least, he was happier until Sebastian showed up.
At first, Nick couldn't stand him. He thought Sebastian was cocky and rude and self-entitled, just like Jeff did. But something changed, right around the time Sebastian started bothering Blaine. Nick started pulling away from him, and started gravitating towards Sebastian. The rest of the Warblers followed his lead. Sometimes, Jeff feels like he's the only one who really sees what's going on, and he's not exactly the most perceptive person.
Everyone's staring at them now, in the same way people can't look away from a car crash. Jeff's the first to break the silence. He stares right into Nick's eyes and says, coolly, "Yep. I don't know you anymore." Nick flinches.
"Yes you do," he says quickly, "Jeff, you do."
"Why do you suddenly care now?" Jeff's yelling now, because this is getting ridiculous. "You've been treating me like shit for the past four months and now you don't wanna lose me? Fuck that, Nick. I'm done with you."
Nick doesn't move. Jeff kicks at the ground violently and spins around, starting off back in the direction we came. When Nick finally calls after him, his voice is breaking. He sounds so sad that Jeff almost turns back. Almost. "Where are you going?"
"To help a friend," Jeff yells back. He has to force himself to keep going because, oh, God, he just broke up with Nick. He just broke up with Nick.
"How are you gonna get home?" Nick tries again. Jeff hears Sebastian mutter, "Stop crying, Nick, he's not worth it," and Jeff very nearly runs back. Nick never cries. Not when his parents split up, not when his dog died. Jeff wants to turn around, he wants to pull Nick into the most crushing hug ever and tell him it'll be okay. But it won't be okay, because while a really big part of Jeff wants to turn around, an even larger part is pissed and so sick of being treated like he doesn't matter.
So he only yells, "I'd rather walk the two hours then be within five feet of you right now," and keeps going.
Nick doesn't respond, and Jeff doesn't look back.
When Jeff finally reaches the New Directions, all eyes fall on him. Even Kurt glances up for a second. Nobody says anything, though. Maybe it's the red in Jeff's eyes or the way he shakes when he kneels down next to Blaine. "I didn't know," Jeff whispers, and Kurt just nods. "I would have stopped it."
Jeff stands outside his dorm room for about ten minutes before he finally gets up the courage to go inside. He shoves the key in the lock but doesn't quite turn it yet. He'll just go in, gets his things, and sleep in Trent's room tonight. Because Trent was the only one who called Jeff and asked how Blaine was doing. He may be pissed off, but he's the least mad at Trent. Jeff takes a deep breath and pushes the door open.
Their beds are still pushed together, just like they were this morning and every other morning. Technically, that's not allowed, but Thad is the TA on their floor and he really doesn't care. They weren't even supposed to room together this year, once the Headmaster found out they were together. Jeff was with Blaine, and Nick was with Trent. But then Blaine transferred, and Thad claimed the single room. Nick was always saying how lucky they got. Until recently, when sleeping in the same room, let alone the same bed became hard.
Nick's sleeping, but he's not on his own side. He's on Jeff's, curled around Jeff's pillow, wearing one of Jeff's sweatshirts. Jeff stares. The more vindictive part of him wants to make a lot of noise, wake Nick up and then proceed to ignore him, but Jeff doesn't have the energy to put up a front. Tomorrow, he will ignore the shit out of Nick—and everyone else, because everyone else sucks. Nick makes a noise in his sleep, and his face scrunches up for a split second before it's gone.
Jeff tries to be as quiet as possible. He doesn't even fold his uniform, just throws it on the bed and leaves it there. If it's wrinkled tomorrow, well. Who really cares?
He falls asleep that night wishing the spot next to him wasn't so cold.
The next morning, it's painfully obvious what happened the night before. Not so much the whole hurting Blaine thing, because no one actually knows that they snuck out after curfew to go meet a rival glee club for a dance-off. It actually sounds kind of lame, when you think about it. No, Nick's just decided to be petty, and now he's mad at Jeff for being mad at him. Nick's acting like nothing's wrong, like he couldn't possibly be happier now that he and Jeff are done. It kind of hurts, but it's okay. Jeff's a damn good actor too.
And besides, Jeff knows it's all a lie. He's not the one that slept in Nick's bed last night.
"You two put on quite a spectacle last night," Trent says, and he sounds exasperated as he drops his books unceremoniously on the table. Jeff barely looks up from his bacon. The breakfast hall has been suspiciously quiet since Jeff walked in and purposefully sat across the room from the rest of the Warblers. The space next to Nick is empty, and no one's really moving to fill it. Then again, neither is Jeff.
"What are you doing?" Jeff asks warily. He loves Trent, he really does, but the guy practically worships Sebastian in the same way he used to worship Blaine. Just because he let Jeff crash on his couch last night doesn't mean he won't tell Sebastian whatever Jeff says.
Trent sighs and sits down across from him. "We screwed up, last night, I know," he says quietly. "If I knew that a slushie could do that much damage, I would have never went along with it. But I think you breaking up with Nick over it is a little overdramatic."
Jeff frowns. "You don't know?"
"Know what?"
"Shit," Jeff whispers. He runs a hand through his hair and says, "Trent, Sebastian put rock salt in it."
Trent's fork clatters to the floor. He freezes, and it would almost be funny if Trent didn't look so horrified. "You're serious," Trent says flatly. Jeff nods. "And…and Nick knew? But you didn't. And he didn't tell you," Jeff shifts uncomfortably, "Well, crap."
Jeff gives a wry smile and points at him with a piece of bacon. "Still think I'm being overdramatic? Fucker lied to me."
Trent opens his mouth to respond when Jeff sees the Warblers getting up from their table. "Shh, dude, look," Jeff hisses. Trent whips around. "Don't be obvious!" Jeff says, alarmed. He yanks Trent's arm and pulls back him back around. The Warblers are standing up from their table and making their way towards Jeff's. Sebastian's leading—of course, Jeff thinks, annoyed—and Nick's right behind him, pointedly look everywhere but at Jeff. He's laughing obnoxiously at something Thad said. It's probably not even that funny, Jeff thinks, because Thad's jokes are always really stupid. Also, he's definitely not being petty. Really.
Sebastian stops in front of them and gives a nasty smirk. "If you two are done pouting, we've got some unfinished business to attend to."
Something in Jeff's stomach drops. Keeping his voice calm, he asks, "Don't you think we've done enough?"
"Not even close," Sebastian says, and he winks. Jeff feels sick. He glances just over Sebastian's shoulder and looks Nick right in the eye. Nick's eyes are dead, but the smile stays in place. It's not the smile that Jeff's used to—it doesn't make his stomach flip, it doesn't make him want to smile back. It doesn't make him proud that that smile belongs to a person that belongs to him. Mostly, it just makes him sad and a little bit angry. "We're taking a little field trip to meet a friend tomorrow," Sebastian leans in, gets right up in Jeff's face and says, "If you want to keep your place in the Warblers, I suggest you come."
Jeff looks just past Sebastian one more time and catches a tiny bit of emotion in Nick's face. He looks surprised, almost. Jeff stares at him until Nick finally looks back. He gives a tiny smirk, and Nick glares right back. Jeff turns back to Sebastian and tries his best to look cocky. By the look that flickers of Sebastian's face, he's pretty sure he succeeded. "Wouldn't miss it for the world," he says, and he takes a quick bite of toast before standing up and walking out.
Jeff ends up missing it.
He doesn't even have to fake a stomach ache or anything, because the second he wakes up, he throws up. Maybe it's bad shrimp from dinner last night, or maybe it's the fact that he's so used to practically living in Nick's back pocket that he's going through withdraw. He'd like to think that it's the first one, because it makes him feel less pathetic. When Nick comes knocking on the door at ten o'clock—mostly likely sent by Sebastian to mind-fuck Jeff—he runs to the bathroom and doesn't have to pretend to throw up.
"We're leaving in half an hour," he says shortly when Trent opens the door.
"Alright, but Jeff's sick," Trent tells him, and Nick actually snorts. Three days ago, he would have been on his knees next to Jeff, rubbing his back. Or maybe not, because Nick was still an asshole three days ago. But at least they were still on speaking terms.
Jeff throws up again, and he figures Nick probably heard him because he hesitates when he asks, "…how long has he been throwing up?"
"Since he woke up," Trent says, and Jeff takes this opportunity to step out of the bathroom.
Nick's fully dressed and looking as dapper as ever, which really annoys Jeff. Because Jeff's supposed to be mad at Nick, not thinking about how good he looks. Also, he probably looks terrible and it's not fair. He watches Nick's cold face crack just a little. "You look like shit," Nick tells him, and Jeff scoffs.
"Fuck you, too," he says, voice hoarse. He falls onto the bed face-first and heaves a heavy sigh. Jeff feels like shit, just as much as he looks like it. "I'll get dressed, just give me a second."
"No," Nick says, "You're not going today."
Jeff rolls his eyes. Not that Nick can actually see him. "Because you don't want me on the Warblers anymore, right? Real mature, Nick."
He lifts his head up, and Nick's frowning. "No," he says curtly, "Because you're sick."
He slams the door on his way out, and Jeff flinches. Trent tries to bite back a laugh from where he's unfolding his pants and says, "Well, that went well."
Luckily, Jeff doesn't have to be there to know what happens, because Trent keeps him up-to-date every time something minor and extremely stupid happens.
(11:23) omg jeff it's santana. the hot lesbian one. wait you're gay do you still think she's hot?
(11:30) oh fuck oh fuck blaine has to get surgery
(11:35) they're singing now. we're sitting in the hallway. idk why we have to be here.
(11:39) oh shit seb just slushied her and nick was the one to give it to him. no worries though no rock salt this time
(11:45) fuck nick's like depressed he won't talk to anybody and he totally said your name really quiet and heartbroken-y.
(11:52) can you guys get back together or something?
(11:55) jeff?
(12:11) dude are you even getting these?
Jeff's not sure what exactly happened, but Nick's been acting weird ever since they got back. He won't talk to anyone, won't try to fake smiles or laughs, and he keeps sending Jeff these heartbreaking looks that make Jeff want to stab himself in the eyes. Just so he won't have to see them. At the same time, it's kind of comforting because Nick's acting like Nick again. Not that Jeff likes seeing Nick sad or anything, but this is the compassionate boy he fell in love with. The one that split his peanut butter and jelly sandwich in half every day for their entire fifth grade year because Jeff's mom couldn't afford food for five kids after Jeff's dad died. Jeff hasn't seen this Nick in a really long time.
"Feeling better?" Sebastian asks, faking concern.
It's just after Warblers' practice, and Jeff's shoving sheet music into his bag. He pauses at the sound of Sebastian's voice, glances up to see that stupid smirk in place. Jeff wants to punch it off. "Yeah," he says flatly, "Thanks."
"You know, you're just lucky that you've got Nick wrapped around your finger," Sebastian says conversationally, and the way he's circling Jeff makes him feel like he's being stalked by a lion or something.
Jeff shrugs. "Nick and I aren't together anymore. It doesn't matter." It still kind of hurts to say it out loud.
"Really?" Sebastian asks, raising his eyebrows. "Because Nick's the only reason you're still on the Warblers."
Jeff freezes. "What do you mean?"
Sebastian sighs heavily, like it's a chore to even talk to Jeff. "I was ready to kick you off. Us Warblers have to stand together—we're all about loyalty, and you sure didn't show any when you skipped out on us," He gives a quick wink and Jeff frowns.
"You wouldn't know the meaning of loyalty if it bit you in the ass," Jeff says, pulling the bag's strap on his shoulder. He turns to leave, because he's so done with Sebastian that it's not even funny. Part of him wants to quit the Warblers, just to get away from everything. The Warblers gave him the best three years of high school he could have possibly imagined, and he doesn't want to quit now because he's a senior. It's not the same, though. With Wes and Blaine gone, the council completely dissolved, Sebastian in charge, Nick hating him—it's not the same, and Jeff hates it.
Sebastian just completely ignores the fact that Jeff said anything. "It wouldn't be fair for you to just skip without any consequences, since everyone else managed to be there. But Nick wasn't having any of that. Kept swearing up and down that you were truly sick, but given your attitude the other night, I think it's understandable that I didn't believe him. But he told me that if you got kicked off, he'd quit. And I need my right-hand man."
Jeff tries really, really hard to keep his face neutral. He really hopes it works, because Sebastian's staring at him carefully, like he's waiting for a reaction. Jeff doesn't want him to know how it makes his heart go faster, because no matter how ridiculously charming that is, he's still pissed off at Nick. So he just fixes Sebastian with an even stare and says, calmly, "I wish he would've let you kick me off."
Sebastian actually looks surprised, before he frowns. "You're getting too cocky for your own good, Sterling."
"Someone's gotta put you in your place, Smythe," Jeff says, eyes narrowing. "Look, I'm sorry, but brainwashing all my friends and turning my boyfriend against me doesn't endear you to me. In fact, you suck." He gives a quick mock-salute and slams his way out of the choir room.
Jeff goes to visit Blaine.
Mrs. Anderson looked positively ecstatic to see him, which makes Jeff think Blaine probably didn't tell her the rest of the Warblers were involved. That pretty smile would probably be a frown if he did. She tells him to go on up, sweetie, he should be awake. Jeff gives her a charming smile and heads up the stairs. When he gets to Blaine's door, he pauses. He's not sure if Blaine knows that Jeff had absolutely nothing to do with it, and he don't think he'll be able to handle it if Blaine hates him too. He'd just like to talk to one person without getting glared at, or ignored, or pitied. Jeff knocks, and waits.
After a moment, Blaine calls, "Come in!" and he sounds cheerful enough.
Jeff pushes the door open and immediately starts talking. "Hi, Blaine, so I totally understand if you wanna yell at me but could you please just hear me out for a second? Because I didn't know about the rock salt and if I did, I would have stopped it or warned you or something. You know me, dude, I'd never do that to you. You're one of my best friends, and Sebastian's a dick—"
But Blaine's smiling. Beaming, actually. "Kurt told me," he says, and Jeff only notices just then that he's wearing an eye-patch. "Don't beat yourself up about it, okay? I mean, I know you, so you already have, but you should stop."
Jeff gives a sheepish smile and says, "Aye-aye, Cap'n."
"Cute," Blaine snorts, and Jeff takes a seat in the chair by his bed.
"How are you feeling?" Jeff asks, rubbing the back of his neck.
Blaine shrugs. "I've seen better days," When Jeff snorts, Blaine reaches over and hits him. "You're an idiot, you know that? I wasn't trying to be funny." Jeff only grins back at him. "Can we talk about happier things? Like, how are you and Nick?"
Jeff's face just kind of falls, and Blaine's eyes go wide. Before he can say anything, Jeff asks, "Shouldn't you like, hate him? He's one of the assholes that knew."
"Sebastian's manipulating you guys, it's his fault," Blaine says stubbornly, and Jeff thinks he's being a little naïve. "Please tell me you guys are just fighting."
"Uh," Jeff says intelligently, and he turns to stare at his hands. "No. We, uh, we broke up a few days ago."
Blaine lets out a loud groan that startles Jeff, and flops back onto his pillows. "Don't you have any good news?"
Jeff thinks for a second, before he shrugs and says, "Nope. This week really sucks." Blaine makes an agreeing noise and Jeff adds, "I'm basically kicked off the Warblers. Not officially," he says quickly, when Blaine frowns. "But everyone hates me. Including Nick, but he's an asshole."
"He's your asshole," Blaine counters, and the way he's staring at Jeff makes him feel like Blaine's looking into his soul. Jeff shrugs. "He's the asshole that you're still in love with, don't even try to deny that."
"Nick's not a loveable asshole anymore, Blaine," Jeff says, very seriously. "Like, he used to just be really sarcastic and it was kind of endearing. I'm talking freshman year asshole."
Blaine's eyes go wide. "Seriously? I thought you guys got past that."
"So did I," Jeff says darkly,"But Sebastian screwed everything up."
"Just," Blaine starts, stops, sighs, "Promise me that you'll try, okay? You're good for Nick. You're the only one that actually tells him when he's being stupid. You make him happy, which tends to be a very rare occurrence for him. I bet he's sitting in your dorm room right now, hating himself for letting you go. I've never seen two people more perfect for each other."
"You and Kurt," Jeff says immediately, and Blaine actually blushes.
"He needs you," That's all Blaine says, and Jeff's heart does a tiny flip.
Jeff's sitting in the passenger seat of Nick's car because someone up there obviously hates him.
Thad and David are in the back seat, singing along obnoxiously to some crappy song on the radio. It almost feels like how it used to be, except Nick and Jeff aren't holding hands over the center console because Nick's gripping the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles are white. Jeff's staring out the window, drumming absently on the dashboard and trying really hard not to glance at Nick every five seconds. The only other two cars available were Sebastian's and Trent's, and Jeff will be damned if he gets into a car that Sebastian's driving. Trent filled his up a little too quickly, which makes Jeff suspicious. He doesn't even know why they're going to McKinley. Jeff just wants to go home for the weekend, curl up in his bed and listen to sad songs.
It doesn't really help that Nick lives across the street from him, but at least he can lock his door.
"We found love in a hopeless place, we found love in a HOPE-LESS-PLACE!"
"Shut up," Jeff mutters, dropping his head into his hands. Nick shoots him a surprised look before he remembers that he's not supposed to care. "You guys are giving me a headache."
Nick pulls into McKinley's parking lot with a little more force than necessary, and it makes Jeff dizzy. "Jeff doesn't like love songs anymore," Thad says, mock-whispering and leaning closer to David, "Because he's single."
Jeff doesn't say a word, only opens the car door and gets out quickly, slamming the door behind him so hard that the car shakes. Thad and David stop laughing pretty quickly after that.
Sebastian leads them into the auditorium and Jeff tries to squirm his way through the crowd of Warblers to get as far away from Nick as possible. It doesn't work, though, because Nick manages to get the spot right next to him when they sit down. Jeff guesses he probably pushed his way through when Jeff was zoned out, ignoring the banter between Sebastian and New Directions. Kurt gives him a quick smile, eyes shooting over to Nick. Jeff shakes his head, and Kurt's smile fades a little. Nick crosses his legs, and his foot accidentally—or maybe not—brushes against Jeff's knee. He shivers.
"We're not doing Michael for Regionals," the one in the wheelchair—Artie, Jeff thinks—says, and Jeff wants to laugh. This has been Jeff's worst week in a long time, and it was all for nothing. They break into song, and they're great, like always. Jeff would be enjoying it a lot more if Nick wasn't sitting next to him. Or maybe if Nick was sitting closer.
Jeff shoots Nick a quick glance, and Nick's eyes are fixed on the glee club dancing around on stage. Sometimes, Jeff wishes he could be in a glee club like this, just rocking out and having fun. He loves the Warblers—or, at least, he used to—but they can be a little bit uptight and boring as hell. They could never pull this off, not in a million years. Artie starts rapping, and Nick glances over at Jeff, catches him staring. Jeff's hands twitch in his lap. "Hey," Nick whispers, and he gives a little crooked smile. That smile? That's the smile that Jeff loves.
"Hi," he says back, and he smiles, just alittle.
Jeff's not really surprised when Trent stands up and dances over to the stage, but Nick looks shocked. Rachel pulls him on stage, and that's when Jeff stands up to follow him. He can feel Nick's eyes burning into the back of his head. He jumps on stage and dances over to the pretty blonde one, Quinn. The new kid, Rory, is trying to teach him the Irish jig when Nick grabs his hand and pulls. Jeff's surprised at first, but Nick looks happy so Jeff twirls him and sings at him until he laughs. Jeff pulls him closer, one arm around his waist and the other keeping a tight hold on Nick's hand. They waltz dramatically around the stage and their faces are so close that their noses bump.
The song ends too soon and they have to pull away, because they're technically still fighting and Jeff isn't about to let Nick get off this easy. No matter how happy he is.
Sebastian's the only one still sitting. He claps sarcastically. "Very moving."
"C'mon, Sebastian," Nick says, and Jeff turns to stare at him. "Give it up." Nick looks over his shoulder, stares straight at Jeff and takes his hand.
Jeff's walking down the hallway, trying really hard not to get lost. He's only been to McKinley once before, and it was so Blaine could serenade Kurt after he transferred last year. He recognizes this hallway, though. It's the one he and Nick made out in for a good twenty minutes after their performance. The Warblers had went crazy trying to find them, because Kurt was afraid that one of the football players had found them and was trying to beat the crap out of them. Wes yelled at them for a pretty decent amount of time when they got back to Dalton. He knows it's this hallway because he can definitely remember backing Nick into that poster and kissing him until he couldn't breathe.
Jeff's kind of expecting it when he hears footsteps behind him. He knows who it is, and he doesn't even bother to turn around when he says, quietly, "I'm still mad at you."
Nick sighs. "I know." His fingers tangle in Jeff's and Jeff doesn't even try to pull away. "I'm sorry," he says softly, and he rests his forehead against Jeff's shoulder.
"I'm seriously pissed off at you," Jeff tells him, because he really is. But he also loves Nick a whole lot. Even if he can't remember why sometimes.
"Hate sex?" Nick suggests. He laughs weakly, like he's trying to get Jeff to smile.
Jeff spins around and Nick almost falls forward. Jeff manages to catch him. "I could never hate you," Jeff tells him, and he holds Nick's gaze for a long time. "You piss me off, and you argue with me, and sometimes you just kind of suck," Nick snorts, tries to hide his face in Jeff's shoulder. Jeff runs a hand through Nick's hair. "But I could never hate you. I love you too much," Jeff pulls away, stares Nick straight in the eye and asks, "Why do you think I stuck around so long?"
Nick swallows thickly. "Fuck," he says, voice hoarse. "I really screwed up this time, didn't I?"
"Yeah," Jeff agrees, and he brushes a strand of hair out of Nick's face.
"I don't deserve a second chance," Nick says. He won't meet Jeff's eyes.
Jeff actually snorts, which is probably highly inappropriate considering what they're talking about, but it makes Nick smile. "Nick, babe, if I didn't think you deserved a second chance, we would have never started dating in the first place. You would have screwed yourself over with the whole ignoring me bit."
"I panicked," Nick says, sheepish. He ducks his head, but Jeff tilts his face back up by his chin.
"This is like, you're one-hundredth chance. And you've used about fifty of them in the last few months. If I wasn't pathetically in love with you, I'd have kicked you out on your ass a while okay. Chances are, if you haven't scared me off yet, I'm not going anywhere, okay?" Nick doesn't look convinced. "You're fucking stuck with me, Duval," Jeff tells him, and he laughs. "But you have so major ass-kissing to do to make up for this."
Nick just smiles back, that crooked half-smile that Jeff just really loves, and says, "I'm stupidly in love with you, too."
"Pathetically," Jeff corrects him.
"That too," Nick says, eyes crinkling in the corners.
"I'm not kidding, though," Jeff says, and the atmosphere shifts, just a little bit. "You better convince me that I'm making the right choice, okay? Because I'm not putting up with your shit. If we're doing this, you're fixing it."
"Anything," Nick says quickly. He doesn't hesitate, not even for a second. "You're everything, Jeff."
"And you're sappy as hell," Jeff tells him softly, but he's pretty sure his cheeks are bright red.
Nick just rolls his eyes, yanks Jeff down by his tie, and kisses him.
i can't keep myself together around you.