Nick paced around his office as he tried for the fifth time to call Jeff. He wasn't answering his phone, but Nick didn't blame him. He wouldn't answer his phone either if the calls were coming from the person he was trying to avoid.

He sat down at his desk and let out a frustrated sigh. Why hadn't Jeff told him how frightened he was? Had he known he would have made it so much easier for his husband. Nick thought it was just the slight nervousness everyone had when they went to the dentist. Now Jeff was gone, nowhere to be found, and Nick had no way of finding him.

He stared at his phone again willing it to ring, when a thought came to his mind.

"I'll call Blaine" he mumbled to himself "he'll know where to find Jeff, or at least Jeff will answer his calls."

Blaine and his fiancé Kurt were very close with Nick and Jeff. They all went to high school together and stayed in touch after college.

Nick dialed the number and waited for an answer. "Hey Nick, what's up?!" He heard a bubbly voice respond from the other end. "Hi Blaine, listen, I don't mean to be frank with you, but I'm looking for Jeff and he's not answering my calls. You and Kurt haven't seen him today have you?"

"I'm afraid not buddy, but hey if you want we can swing by the house and see if he's there?" Blaine offered.

"Yeah that'd be great" Nick agreed "I really appreciate it. I think he'd be more receptive to see you anyway" Nick joked.

"Aw, did you guys have a fight?" Blaine inquired.

"Not exactly" Nick chided "But I'm sure he and Kurt will talk about it when you find him. I just want to know he's ok."

"Will do nick, hey we should hang out this week! Movie night?" He pressed.

"Sounds fun Blaine" Nick replied. "Oh and when you see Jeff, tell him I'm sorry and not to worry about it anymore ok?"

"I will Nick, take care."

The line cut off and Nick waited to hear news on his lover.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jeff's POV

Jeff arrived back at their loft out of breath. He had probably run 12 blocks without stopping before he'd felt safe enough to walk. His tooth was killing him and his increased heartbeat made his jaw throb painfully.

He unlocked the door and made his way to the kitchen grabbing a bottle of cold water from the fridge. Uncapping the bottle on his way to the living room he took a large swig and felt a shock hit him square in the jaw. Jeff fell to the ground, bottle forgotten and leaking all over the floor, and sobbed quietly against the wall. He didn't realize how bad his tooth hurt until now. Panic rose in his chest as part of him knew he should call nick, while the other half screamed against it.

Jeff sat there running his free hand through his unkempt blond mop while he began reliving all the fearsome nightmares he had been suppressing for the last week. What if Nick didn't numb him right? What if he had to pull his tooth out? Oh god what if he had to pull ALL his teeth out? Jeff felt helpless and afraid, and he began to shake with fear as a few stray tears escaped his eyes. He knew, he KNEW there was no way this would be painless, and if Nick hadn't been the reason Jeff was panicking he would have huddled in his arms and had a good cry while nick rubbed soothing circles on his back.

The scene was pitiful and Jeff knew if Nick walked in and saw him like this he would be dragged kicking and screaming back to his office. Jeff got up from his spot on the hardwood and wiped away the tears as he made his way to the couch. He sat absently prodding one of his old fillings and remembered all those bad memories from so long ago. He had to think of a way out of this.

Suddenly there was a faint knock on the door. A familiar voice bellowed "Jeff? Buddy, you home? It's me Blaine, Kurt and I thought we'd drop by."

Jeff sighed in relief; he jumped up from the couch and walked to open the door.

"Jeff how are you!" Kurt's light voice cooed. He pulled him in for a quick hug. "We hear you and Nick had a fight" Kurt inquired in a hushed tone. Jeff's face blanched. So Nick told them to come, he wanted their help finding him.

"What happened over here?" Kurt's voice pulled him from his paranoid thoughts. He observed the water that had run all over their dining room that he had all but forgotten. "Jeff is everything alright, you seem scattered?"

"I'm fine" Jeff lied "I tripped, sorry, I was going to clean that up."

"Don't worry about it" Blaine interjected "I'll clean up, you and Kurt go talk about what happened with you and Nick."

Kurt led Jeff to the living room and sat him on the couch. "So, what's the problem?"

Jeff couldn't lie to Kurt; he was one of his closest and most sincere friends. He would never laugh at Jeff. "Kurt, promise me you won't laugh" Jeff mumbled. "Of course not. Whatever's happening is serious or you wouldn't be this upset" Kurt soothed.

"You know how you have a thing about doctors Kurt? And blood? It freaks you out right?" Jeff pressed. "Yes I do." Kurt replied. "Well I feel the same about dentists" Jeff continued. "Nick sort of...found out today" Jeff stammered.

"I see" Kurt murmured "and I take it you left in a hurry or Nick would be home with you?" He inquired.

"Yes" Jeff looked ashamed "I'm scared Kurt. My tooth hurts so badly but it'll hurt more if Nick tries to fix it" Jeff started to sob. Kurt pulled him in for a tight hug. "Nick would never hurt you Jeff, you know that. But I do understand how you feel. Blaine practically has to hold me down when they take blood at the hospital" Kurt joked. "But it will only get worse if you don't take care of it now" Kurt said. Jeff's face fell, he was nervous again.

"Just remember what Blaine always tells me when I feel scared or hopeless" Kurt whispered.

"Courage."

And with that he and Blaine said their goodbyes and left Jeff to sort out his thoughts. He felt a little better confiding in someone else.

"Oh one more thing Jeff!" Blaine poked his head back in through the door. "Nick wanted me to tell you he's sorry and you don't need to worry about it anymore" he repeated.

Jeff breathed a sigh of relief "well that's nice" Jeff muttered to himself. "At least I know Nick won't be bugging me about this anymore.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nick's POV

Nick heard his phone vibrate from across the room. He swiftly moved to pick it up and read the text from Blaine:

HE'S HOME. GAVE HIM YOUR MESSAGE. SEEMS MORE RELAXED
-Blaine

Nick reached for his backpack and tool case he had arranged to take home and walked out to his car. He clearly wasn't going to get Jeff back in his office, so he was bringing his office to Jeff. He felt bad being sneaky with Jeff but he'd clearly seen his husband would be difficult otherwise. It was going to be a long evening.