A/N: Okay so I have a lot of apologizing to do. This chapter is quite late and relatively short. I know where I want to take the next one, and hopefully it will be longer! I'm also currently writing a book (yeah I'm kind of excited about that) and it's taking up a lot of my time, due to the fact that the ideas for that are fresh and coming and going so quickly that I don't want to lose them! Also, I just want to thank everybody who has subscribed thus far. I just keep watching the number go up and its crazy to me that so many of you are interested in my random head ramblings! Anywho, I hope you enjoy chapter three! We finally get a bit of confrontation between them! Yay for that (:

"Please… Please don't hit me."

Nick's heart plummeted into his stomach. Why on earth would Jeff think that Nick would hit him? He had never been pushy or aggressive in their entire relationship. …Had he? "I… I'm not going to hurt you Jeff. Alright?" He said in the calmest voice he could muster, although it was still a bit shaky. Jeff looked up slightly, tears streaming down his face.

"O…okay," the reply was barely audible, but it was enough for Nick. He cautiously continued to make his way across the room, steps now quiet and more precise.

"Jeff," he softly tried to get the boy's attention, simultaneously putting his arm around him. A frown etched itself onto Nick's face when Jeff flinched away from his touch as if he was being burned. Or attacked… Nick quickly pushed that thought far away. He would never hurt Jeff, and Jeff knew that. Right? Growing more concerned each second that his boyfriend refrained from answering him, Nick turned his own body so that he was face to face with Jeff. Well, face to fringe-of-blond-hair, seeing as how Jeff had let his head fall back into his hands to try and stifle the sobs wracking his body.

"Jeff, what happened? Ever since I got back you've been treating me like… like I'm not your boyfriend. Like I did something unforgiveable… What did I do?" The hurt that Nick had been trying to keep away from his features somehow made its way into his voice.

Jeff raised his head to look at Nick with big, watery eyes. The heart wrenching sobs had subsided to silent tears. "I… you didn't do any- anything Nicky. I… I had a bad dream about… about my Dad. That's it… I'm still just a bit shaken by it, is all," Jeff gave Nick a watery smile, before going back to staring at his hands.

Internally, Nick was thanking God it hadn't been something more than just a bad dream. A grin seeped onto his face. "Next time, just tell me! You really scared me there!" After a pause, Nick voiced the newest concern that popped into his mind. "He hasn't contacted you, has he?"

"You know my mom asked me to come home for the vacation…"

"Yes, but that's your mom. It's different. Jeff, has he called you or something?"

"No! God Nick, it was just a bad dream!"

"I… Sorry. I'm just worried about you, it's my job," Nick said with a wink at the end.

"No, I'm sorry for snapping at you… I just don't wanna talk about it now."

Nick nodded, placing a small kiss on Jeff's cheek. Pleased when Jeff flinch away, he stood up and made his way to his suit case, which was lying beside his bed. Slipping into the bathroom, he turned on the shower and quickly undressed as he waited for the water to heat up. Once it had, he stepped in and let the hot water run over his tired body. Even with the recent nap, he was exhausted. As he absentmindedly ran his shampoo coated fingers through his hair, his mind drifted to the sheer craziness that had gone on today. He'd been expecting to come home and have a great time with his boyfriend whom he hadn't seen in a week, and instead came home to a scene he'd only seen in his nightmares.

This still doesn't explain the suitcase…

Or why he's been distant all day.

There's no need to dwell on that, it was probably just a part of the nightmare.

I wonder if he's been having them all week…

He must have, there were way more than just a few scars on his arm.

I shouldn't have gone home.

Or at least, I should have insisted that he came with me!

I just need to make sure he knows that I love him. And that I'm staying here…

It took me so long to convince him of that in the first place!

I can't believe it just took one week away for us to get back to this.

Realizing that the water had started turning cold, he quickly washed his hair. Shutting the water off, he grabbed a towel and quickly dried himself. He threw on his clothes, his hand covering his mouth as he yawned. He quietly opened the door, guessing that Jeff was asleep.

He was. Nick always liked the way Jeff looked when he was sleeping; his face would soften and he would lose the lines that always seemed to be there, even when he appeared to be relaxed. There was always something nagging at the back of Jeff's head, and it took somebody that knew him as well as Nick did to be able to see that. The worry lines melted away into a serene look that mirrored the beauty of an angel, in Nick (slightly biased) opinion.

Deciding that if he didn't immediately fall onto a bed he would most likely face plant onto the ground, Nick made his way towards the bed that Jeff had fallen asleep on. (They didn't really know who's bed was who's anymore; the spent pretty much every night wrapped in each other's arms that it didn't matter.) The soft padding of his feet stopped as he second guessed his subconscious choice. While he typically wouldn't question the fact that Jeff would want to wake up in his arms, the odd behavior of his boyfriend had him wondering if it was the best decision. If Jeff had another nightmare about his dad, he could mistake the warm arms wrapped safely around him as the iron grip of the older man's arms, about to hurt him in some fashion. Finally concluding that he'd just take the safe route and sleep on the other bed, Nick let his exhausted body fall into an undisturbed sleep.

A/N: So did you enjoy? I always have this subconscious feeling that my writing sucks and just keeps getting worse… and that I'm overdoing it or something. So, as always, some feedback would be fantastic!