Warnings: Talk of depression, suicide and self-harm.
Disclaimer: I'm not lucky enough to own Glee.
Chapter 2:
Jake answered the door in his pyjamas, stepping aside to let Nick in from the cold night. The couch was swathed in blankets and Nina stood in their small kitchen stirring liquid in a mug. She smiled slightly, her tawny hair a mess and her eyes tired.
"I'm sorry I woke you guys up, I just, didn't really have anywhere else to go," Nick murmured, standing on the spot awkwardly.
"That's fine, what are friends for?" Nina replied. "Do you want a cup of tea or anything?"
"T-Tea would be great actually."
"You don't look too good, Nick. What happened with you two?"
They had moved to sit around the small table in the middle of the room. Nina and Jake sat on one side, watching Nick with worried eyes.
"We just had a fight, I stormed out and slammed the door but I didn't have my keys and he didn't answer me when I asked him to let me back in. I was out in the hall for a few hours before I called you."
"Is he okay?" Nina asked. She had never met two boys as oblivious to other people's opinions of them as Nick and Sebastian but she and Jake had agreed early on to play along.
"I don't – no."
"Well, that's reasonable, he's just had a-"
"No, I mean he's not alright," Nick clarified, shaking his head.
"What's happened, Nick?" Nina asked fretfully as she returned with another steaming cup of tea.
He took a deep shuddering breath. "I got home from my night class and the house was totally silent…
"Sebastian?" Nick called out, dropping his keys on the coffee table. He'd expected to find his boyfriend on the couch watching the game. A niggling sense of worry crept up in his mind but he shook it away as he headed into the bedroom. Perhaps Sebastian was sleeping.
The bed was empty; unmade and clothes littering the floor. Nothing unusual. Maybe Sebastian had gone for a walk.
He would have left a note, Nick thought to himself before he froze. On his pillow was a folded piece of yellow legal pad paper. He lunged towards it, unfolding it and reading it as quickly as his eyes would let him.
My dearest, beautiful Nick,
I'm sorry I'm doing this. I'm sorry you got so deep into this. I didn't want to involve anyone. But I guess that was always inevitable.
But I can't do this anymore. School is impossible, I'm cutting all the time and I just can't stand to see the look of disappointment on your face anymore.
But know that I have never stopped loving you, Nick. Not for one second. But you deserve better than this, better than me. I'm not worth the pain I know I cause you.
Stay safe and beautiful and strong. You're going to live a long life with so many wonderful things. Live for both of us, okay?
I love you. I'm so sorry.
Sebastian
"… I knew where he was then… He was so pale, I thought he was already gone but his eyelids were still flickering. He was even still trying to cut himself. There were pills all over the floor. I called 911 and just cried," the tears came again and Nick bowed his head. He felt a hand on his shoulder but he couldn't look up. He'd just betrayed Sebastian's confidence when the boy had no way to defend himself.
"Are you alright?" Nina asked.
"Of course he's not," Jake answered. "It's okay though Nick, you can stay here tonight and when you're ready to go back to the hospital, I'll go with you."
His head snapped up. "No! No! Sebastian can't know that I told you! He'd never forgive me!"
"Nick, he'll understand-"
"No he won't! He's just tried to kill himself, he isn't going to see reason!"
"Dude, calm down."
Nick pushed back in his chair and got to his feet, shaking his head. "You can't tell him! Just pretend you don't know! Or that you found out at school, they did some announcement or something about depression and suicide-"
His breath was forced from him when Jake jumped up and pulled him into a tight hug. He cried hysterically into Jake's shoulder as he returned the hug. He could hear Nina shuffling around behind them before Jake began carefully steering him towards the couch. He was helped down and his shoes pulled off before he curled up on his side, finally letting go of Jake. His friend sat down beside the couch as Nina draped a blanket over him.
"Do you want me to stay with you, Nick?" Jake asked quietly, watching his friend sadly. In the short time he'd known Nick and Sebastian; he'd never have guessed he'd be in this position.
"P-Please," Nick whispered.
"Okay," Jake said with a smile. "Do you need to go back to the hospital in the morning?"
"Y-Yeah, Seb's parents are driving up. They'll call me when they're getting close."
"Okay, try and get some sleep, buddy. I'll stay right here."
"Thank you," Nick murmured as his eyelids drooped and he drifted off to sleep.
A/N: Not sure what's going to happen next but I have other parts figured out. I won't update again tonight (it's night here) though. I hope you're enjoying this :) Frank xoxo