A/N: I started writing this during class today and was surprised to find how easy it was to finish the chapter, although this went in an entirely different direction than I had originally intended. Enjoy!


The next morning, Nick walked into Dalton High, only to find all eyes on him. He looked down at his attire, wondering if maybe he had forgotten to zip his fly, but it was zipped.

"Um, hi?" he said. A short blond boy walked over to him and handed him his phone. "Oh my God," he muttered. There on Facebook was a picture of him kissing Jeff. "Who put this up?" The boy shrugged and took back his phone. "Does anyone know who put this up?"

"Dude, Nick," Shapiro's voice came from behind him. Nick spun around and put up his hands.

"Craig, I can explain everything," he said hastily, but Shapiro put his hand over Nick's mouth.

"It's cool," Shapiro whispered. Nick looked up at him wide-eyed. "I'm gay too, Nick. You know how I'm busy almost every Friday night?" Nick nodded. "I'm with Smythe."

"Sebastian?!" Shapiro nodded.

"He's the only gay guy I knew who could give me what I wanted," Shapiro explained. "He's an asshole but he's pretty trustworthy. He swore never to tell anyone although he's always dropping subtle hints about it." Shapiro sighed. "Don't deny it anymore, Nick. It's hard to keep thinking you're not."

"I know I'm gay. My whole family knows," Nick said. "I just didn't know how you guys would react. I mean, you're always talking about chasing girls and getting pussy."

"It was all a cover for my denial, but I'm not hiding it anymore." The bell rang. "Come on, Nick, let's get to class."


"Holy shit, that's my brother!" Jenny exclaimed to her newfound group of friends in homeroom. One of them had just shown Jenny the picture on her phone.

"What the fuck? That's my brother!" Nate said from a few seats down. The two looked at each other and grinned sheepishly. "Oh, hey, Jenny."

"Hey, Nate." Jenny turned a new shade of red as she turned back to her friends.

"OMG, Jenny, you know Nate Duval?" Ally Watkins gushed. Jenny nodded and glanced at Nate, who was texting someone. She stood up, hitching her bag over her shoulder and walked over to him.

"Nate?" He looked up. "You want to go find them before something bad happens?"

"Yeah," he agreed. "Let's go." Nate grabbed his backpack and ran out of the room behind Jenny.


"Hey, new kid, you fuck Duval yet?" A guy called out to Jeff in the hallway.

"No!" Jeff snapped. He knew who was behind this; he could hear the voice sneering at him: I will make your days at Dalton a living hell. Jeff clenched his fists and was about to break his own code of nonviolence to break Sebastian's face. "Cameron!"

The brunet flinched and dropped his books. "Oh, hey, J-Jeff."

"Where is your brother?" Jeff said in a dangerously low voice. "I am going to kick his ass."

"Uh, it's best you don't, Jeff," Cameron warned, picking his books up from the floor. "Seb, he's well-trained in martial arts. You'll get seriously hurt if you mess with him."

"What is this I hear about kicking my ass?" Sebastian sauntered over and rested an arm against Cameron's locker. "Oh, good morning, Jeffrey, how are you?"

"Cut the shit, Sebastian," Jeff hissed. "I know you did this." He held up his phone to show the picture.

"Now why would you make such an accusation, Jeff? Do you have any proof?" Cameron opened his mouth to say something. "Shut it, Cameron." Sebastian crossed his arms over his chest and smirked, watching Jeff try to contain his anger.

"Why don't we take this outside?" Jeff grabbed Sebastian's collar and was shoved against the opposite locker.

"Rule number one, Sterling: no one fucking touches me." Sebastian straightened his shirt. "And suggestion number one: don't try to act tougher than you actually are. If you actually think you could take me in a fight, Jeffy, I can promise you this. The breath you take when I'm done with you will be your last. Come on, Cameron." Sebastian strolled away. Cameron followed him, but looked back at Jeff sadly.

"Jeff!" A voice called. The blond looked up to see his sister and a black-haired boy coming towards him. "Hey, are you okay? We saw the picture."

"I'm fine, Jenny," Jeff muttered.

"Where's Nick? This is his brother, Nate."

"Hey, Jeff, nice to meet you," Nate said, slinging an arm on his shoulder. "Do you have any idea where my little brother is?"

"No, I haven't seen him all morning," Jeff shrugged.

"Well, if he's not with you, then he's most likely with Craig, Louis, and Ted," Nate mused. "Come on, Sterlings, let's go find him."


"Is it true, Nick?" Louis asked. He, Ted, Craig, and Nick were sitting on the bleachers in the gym. Nick nodded and looked at his shoes.

"Nick, can I be totally honest with you?" Ted piped up. Nick looked at his friend. "I figured it out a long time ago. You're the only guy I know who actually listens to One Direction and follows them on Twitter," he elaborated. "On top of that, I've seen you checking out that new kid nonstop since yesterday. You've been looking at that picture of him on your phone for the past twenty-four hours."

"Nick, there you are!" Nate ran up the bleachers and hugged his younger brother.

"Nate, get off!" Nick whined.

"Please tell me you're okay." Nate ran a hand through his messy hair.

"I'm fine, Nate," Nick grumbled. "God, you're never this protective." Nick looked down at the two blond people at the bottom of the bleachers. "Jeff?" He stumbled down and looked at Jeff, who smiled softly.

"Hey, Nicky," he whispered. "I'm so glad you're okay." Jeff wrapped his arms around Nick. Once they separated, Jeff wiped his eyes. "This is my sister, Jenny."

"So you're the famous Nick," she chuckled. "Jeff doesn't shut up about you."

"Really?" Nick made a side glance at Jeff, who was chatting it up animatedly with Nate. "What does he say about me?"

"A bunch of stuff about how cute you are, how he wishes this wasn't high school so you two could get married."

"Jenny!" Jeff pushed his sister out of the way. "She doesn't mean that. She's making stuff up. Jenny's always full of crap."

"Pfft," Jenny scoffed. "You're one to talk, Jeff. Remember how you got rid of Alec?"

"I thought we agreed never to talk about that!" Jeff hissed. "Why don't you and Nate go make out somewhere?"

"We are not dating! Geez, Jeff, you always expect the worst of me!" Jenny threw up her hands in exasperation. "Besides, if you two get married like you dream about, we'll be in-laws and it would be totally weird."

"Nick, you mind introducing us?" Craig asked from behind Jeff.

"Sorry, guys," Nick apologized. "Jeff, these are my three best friends, Craig Shapiro, Louis Herlihy, and Ted Furler. Guys, you saw the picture. This is Jeff."

"Hey." Jeff waved.

"I like him," Louis said after a moment's hesitation.

"Me too," Ted added.

"Nick, you do your damnedest to be a good boyfriend." Craig clapped Nick on the shoulder. Nick grinned.


"Well, fuck," Sebastian cursed. He and Cameron were watching this exchange from the other side of the gym. "It wasn't supposed to go like this. Nick was supposed to be ostracized by his friends and Jeff was to be shunned. What am I supposed to do now?"

"Maybe you could leave them alone," Cameron pointed out.

"Where's the fun in that?" Sebastian looked at Cameron and back at the small gathering. "Cam, you have anything?"

"Even if I did, I wouldn't give it to you," Cameron replied. Sebastian grabbed him by his shirt front and slammed him against the door. "Okay, okay, all I know is that Quint's trying to get Jeff to audition for the musical. If Jeff auditions, so will Nick and you'll lose your shot at the lead because, let's face it, Nick has more stage presence than you." Sebastian released Cameron and mulled this information over.

"I think I have an idea," Sebastian smirked. "Come on, let's go."

"Goddamn it," Cameron mumbled.


A/N2: Mind leaving a review telling me how you feel about this?