And on it goes...

Thanks for the feedback for the last chapter, you guys are amazing! Thanks so, so much!
For this chapter I have to thank Eraman, she gave me an idea that I just had to use, and so... yeah. This is it.
Hope you enjoy!

When Nick awoke, it was already morning. He heard birds singing outside, and the sun shone through the window. He rubbed his eyes and sat up slowly, stretching his whole body. He ran his fingers through his hair, trying to turn the mess into something that let him look like a human. He gave up after a moment, though. He pulled on his jeans and opened the window slightly before he left the room. His first way was to the bathroom, then he went to look for his friends. He found them in the living room. All of them. Brittany and Santana lay on one couch, hugging each other while they were sleeping. Jeff was curled together in an armchair and Wes was sleeping on the shorter couch. Nick couldn't help but smile at the view. He decided to let them sleep for a moment longer and walked towards the kitchen. The coffee was halfway ready as a very sleepy Jeff entered the kitchen.

"I smelled right!", he cheered. "I would kill for a coffee."

"I'm afraid that you have to wait for a moment. And I would really appreciate when you be patient and let me live." Nick offered him a smile and turned towards the cupboard to grab two cups.

"I think I can control myself for a while." Jeff leaned against the wall and watched Nick moving through the kitchen. "How are you, Nick?"

"Honestly?" Nick poured the coffee into the cups. "Milk or sugar?"

"What?" Jeff raised a brow. Was that a code the Westerville kids used to talk about their feelings? Maybe milk and sugar was rather positive, and pepper and salt for bad emotions.

"Do you need milk or sugar for your coffee, Jeff?", Nick specified his question with a little laughter in his voice.

"Oh... well, it's too early for me, I guess. Nothing, thanks."

Nick grabbed the two cups and moved over to the kitchen table. As the boys were seated, he rubbed his nose awkwardly. "I'm sorry for yesterday, Jeff. Usually I wait for people to know me for longer until I break down in front of them."

"Never mind." Jeff took a big sip of the black liquid.

"You'll burn your throat, are you crazy?" Nick watched him with horror in his eyes.

Jeff just shook his head and laughed quietly. Nick liked the sound, it was warm and honest. "A matter of training.", the blonde admitted. "You haven't seen me on school mornings yet. I'm not myself without coffee... some people really wanted to inject me the caffeine." Nick shrugged in response, sceptically eying his own coffee. "So, Nick. Are you done with trying to change the subject, or do we have to talk about the weather first before we can get to the point?"

"Uhm... it's sunny outside?" It was more a question than an actual sentence.

Jeff locked eyes with the shorter boy. "Nick. If you don't want to talk to me, that's totally fine. I'm just concerned how you get along, so just tell me if you're okay or if you need anything and I let it drop."

Nick bit his bottom lip hardly and tried to hold Jeff's gaze. Half a minute later he resigned, his eyes wandering down to the wooden table, where his fingers were already tracing the pattern. He suppressed a sigh before he began to speak. "I think I'm okay, Jeff. I'm just... confused. It's like... a part of me died – or no, not died actually, but if feels numb. Everything is a big blur, but at the same time I remember every word they said. And the look in their eyes, the... disgust. And it hurts, because... I don't know. I'm still the same person I was yesterday before they knew."

"You are. And from what I see, you're a great person. You're honest about yourself and you're strong. No, really!", he underlined as Nick just snorted. "Don't think that I don't know how much courage it needs to tell anyone what you really feel. I was a mess before I came out, I just was blessed with a supportive family. And I'm sorry that you have to go through all of this shit, now."

"I don't know if I can ever get back.", Nick admitted so quietly that his voice was barely audible. "But tomorrow we have to go to school again, and I need my stuff. And my clothes. And a place to live. And a job... damn!"

"Hey, one step at a time. We'll get your stuff today, and you can stay here at least for the time Brit's parents are out. Until then, we will have something figured out, I promise."

Nick groaned and rested his head on the table. "I shouldn't have told them. I hate this troubles, and I don't want to be a burden to any of you."

"You're not!", Jeff soothed, voice as soft as velvet.

"Yes, yes. I am!" Nick's head shot up, and Jeff discovered an anger he hadn't seen in Nick's eyes before. "And there's nothing I can do about it, because I need help. I hate it!" As quick as the burning flame rose in his eyes, it faded again, leaving Nick feeling empty. He sighed. "Sorry. I'm not ungrateful, I promise. It just... sucks."

Jeff nodded, not sure what to answer.

"Hey, is it okay when I go get a shower? I feel like I could need one.", Nick asked eventually.

"Sure.", Jeff smiled. "Do you want to borrow some clothes? I mean, I'm taller than you, but your arms look like you're working out and... forget about that. It's still early."

Nick chuckled slightly amused. "Yeah, thanks for the offer. I'll find a way to return the favor anytime."

"Gosh, Nick. That's nothing you have to return, I mean, we're talking about clothes. Come, we'll find something for you." They quickly finished their coffees and headed over to Jeff's room.

…

"Coffee. Jeff, babe. You're an angel!" Santana smiled relieved as the blonde boy balanced a tray with some cups, a big can, a pot of milk and lump sugar into the living room. Her girlfriend looked up for a moment and covered her face with the blanket. Obviously somebody needed a little more time to wake up.

"As much as I love to hear that, Nick has been preparing everything. I'm just the waiter."

"How is he?", Wes asked and sat up.

"Confused, but he seems to cope everything remarkably well. Listen guys." He let himself fall onto the spot next to Wes. "He need to get home to get his stuff. Schoolbag, clothes and so on. I would offer to go with him, but I don't think that this would be the best idea. I mean, you don't bring a new guy to your nonsupporting parents just a day after you came out, right? I don't want to mess the situation up more as it's now."

"You're right." Santana nodded. "I'm going with him."

"Me too!", Wes decided. "San, it's not that I don't think that you can have an eye on him, I'm afraid that his parents will blame you for making him gay or whatever shit those homophobes can think of."

"Thanks." Jeff was surprised that the Latina didn't try to argue or to change his mind, another evidence how deep their friendship really was. "Where is he, by the way?"

"Taking a shower!", Jeff answered.

"Nope, he's already finished." Nick entered the room, his hair still damp. Jeff bit his lip absently as he noticed how his simple gray shirt tightened around the muscles. It was about time that the boy got his own stuff, or he'd get completely insane.

"We just decided that Santana and I are coming with you to grab your stuff!", Wes informed his friend.

"You did?" Nick grinned and sat on the floor, his back resting against the couch on which Jeff and Wes were seated. Wes ruffled his hair playfully.

"Of course we did. You know us."

"True." Nick took out his phone. No missed calls, no messages. He sighed and glanced at the time. "Maybe we should go right now. The chances are good that they're visiting friends right now, they often do that on Sundays."

"Alright, then." Wes and Santana jumped out of their seats. It took them not more than five minutes to get ready and leave the house with Nick. Once more, Jeff and Brittany found themselves left behind, but they didn't really care.

"You like him." Brittany stated after a while and cuddled deeper in her blanket.

"What?" Jeff snapped out of his thoughts.

"You like him. Nick.", she repeated.

"So?", Jeff asked carefully.

The blonde girl smiled sympathetically. "Nothing. I just noticed."

Jeff smiled in return. He couldn't really understand the way Brittany's brain was working. She often seemed so confused and unaware of what was going on around her, but then there were moments like that. Maybe her mind wasn't able to get all the complicated and tangled parts of the human behavior, instead she could point out the core, the source that caused all the troubles.

"I like Nick, too. And I think he could like you, he's just scared right now."

Jeff was still unable to reply. Brittany fell silent as well, and as he looked up at his cousin the next time, the girl had fallen back into a light sleep.

…

"They're car is gone!" Nick smiled relieved as he pulled out his keys to unlock the door of the Duval's house. He stepped inside carefully though, afraid that anyone would be still there. Luckily enough, his worries were unnecessary.

"Come on, Nicky." Santana grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the stairs. Nick hadn't even recognized that he stopped right in the corridor. "Let's grab your stuff and leave, so we're back at Brittany's when they return.

"Right, yeah." Nick's hands were shaking as he went towards his room and opened the stairs. Nobody seemed to have entered the room since he left it, everything was untouched.

"Okay. Wes, you pick up some clothes. I will catch the stuff you need for school and so on, and you go to the bathroom and grab your things. I don't know which ones are yours."

The boys followed Santana's orders without arguing, it sounded like a good plan after all. Nick hurried over to the bathroom and threw all his stuff into a big cosmetic bag. He was just about to return as he heard a key unlocking the door and steps in the entrance. His face lost all of it's color as he ran back into his room.

"What's wrong?", Wes asked alarmed.

"They're back!"

Wes and Santana shared a look. Santana quickly packed Nick's laptop inside the bag she already filled with many different things and pulled the zipper. "Maybe we can get out without being noticed." Her voice was meant to sound reassuring, but Nick was shaking violently.

"I can't meet them.", he whispered over and over again. "I can't."

Wes shouldered the bag he'd packed and made a sign to leave. "We'll try to sneak out. Come on, Nick."

He grabbed the trembling boy at his wrist and pulled him with him. They already were halfway through the corridor when a voice cut through the silence. "Mom, dad? You won't believe who came back!" Kayla! Wes hissed.

"Shut up!" Santana spat.

"Who are you to talk to me, lesbian?" The blonde girl tossed her hair back and smiled arrogantly.

"Don't call her like that!" Nick tried to defend his friend, but his sister just laughed.

"Ah, I see. Sour spot, right, fag?"

Wes was about to yell at the girl when her parents entered the hallway as well.

"Nicky!" Mrs Duval offered him a false smile. "I take that you came to your mind?"

"Not at all!", Nick answered and tried desperately to give his voice strength. "I am who I am, and if you can't accept that..."

"I can accept many things, but I can't accept a fag in this house." His father stated and crossed his arms.

Nick was about to cry. Santana and Wes, who of course had noticed that, stepped in front of him in a protective way.

"What's wrong with you all? He's your son!" Wes was furious. Sadly Mrs Duval knew him since he was in preschool, so she wasn't intimidated at all.

"Don't you dare talk to me like that. We raised our son as a good boy. Polite, thoughtful, helpful."

"And he is all of the things you listed." Santana tried to convince the adults. Her voice was trembling with disappointment. She'd always wished her family to be more like the Duvals, she'd never expected them to turn out as simple homophobes – like way to many other people she knew. What was wrong with all of them? Why couldn't they see behind the 'gay'-label?

"You!" Nick's mother stepped forwards and pointed at Santana. "You brought that crazy idea into his mind. You were such a sweet girl, once, and now... you're just as disgusting as he is now. I should talk to your parents."

"You will do nothing like that." Santana jumped towards the woman, but Wes hold her back instantly.

"You clearly have to learn to show respect to adults." Mr Duval still stood in the door frame.

"Like you're respecting your family?", Wes asked innocently.

"I respect my family. That's why I had to make the decision I made. When Nick has overcome his little confusion, we're willing to take him back in our family with arms wide open." Kayla snorted, so her father glared at her. "You can go into your room, Kayla. Now!", he added, as the girl opened her mouth to protest.

"Then you'll better not wait for me to come back.", Nick stated with tiny voice. All eyes were on him in an instant, and of course Kayla made no attempt to leave.

"Nick, get out!" Wes directed as he noticed that Mr Duval was shaking angrily.

"But..."

"Nick, get out for heavens sake! Santana?" He waited until the girl had dragged his friend outside before he turned back to the Duval family. "You should be so ashamed of yourself. All of you. You're adults, and you should know how to behave. All the social values you're expecting from your son are totally lacking when it comes to you. Do you know how hard it was for Nick to tell you? He only did because he trusted you, and what did you do? You want everyone to be just like you, but I thank god that most people have the ability to think! The only ones disgusting are you."

Nick's father raised his hand to slap the boy, but Wes ducked quickly, so his hand just hit the wall. The man cursed, but didn't try to hit him again.

"You broke him!" Wes told them as he turned to leave. "But we'll do everything possible to keep him from believe in what you have said."

"He will return. He needs his family." Mrs Duval whispered.

Wes laughed sarcastically. "The family who'd just told him that he's no longer a part of it? Don't worry, he has a family that holds his back. It's just not... yours."

"You can't pick a family..."

"Then how can you decide to throw somebody out of it?" Wes glared the Duvals. As no one answered, he just nodded. "I see."

He left the building and entered the car, turning back to watch Nick and Santana. "Are you okay? Both of you?", he asked, concerned about his best friends. They nodded, but Nick was still indescribable pale. Wes sighed quietly as he started the engine.

…

It was around midnight as Jeff resigned. He'd tried to sleep, but all he did was turning around in his bed. He groaned tiredly as he got up to get a cup of warm milk. Maybe that would help after all. When he went towards the kitchen, he heard a strange noise out of the visitors room. He stopped hesitantly in front of the door and knocked. "Nick?" There was no answer, even the noise he'd heard stopped. Jeff opened the door a slight and looked into the room. Nick sat on his bed, obviously not sleeping as well. "Nick, are you okay?"

The brunette turned his face towards him, and Jeff could see that tears were streaming over his face, even if he wasn't making a noise. Shit, what was he supposed to do? Wes wasn't there anymore, his mother had called and asked him to come back. Santana and Brittany were sleeping in Brittany's room. Maybe... "Do you want me to wake up Santana?", he asked hesitantly. He was a little bit terrified of the thought of waking the Latina, but from what he'd seen earlier this day, she would get up without asking twice. But Nick just shook his head. "Then... do you want me to stay here with you?" At first there was no reaction, then Nick nodded haltingly.

"But... just if you want to!"

"Move over!" Jeff closed the door behind him and sat besides Nick. The smaller boy rested his head against his shoulder, falling silent again. Jeff felt his tears soaking his shirt, but he didn't care. He carefully brought his arm behind Nick and caressed his hair with his fingertips. They remained in this position for a long time, none of them speaking at all. It was a very intimate moment, and to Jeff it felt as if they already knew each other for months or years, not for days. Eventually, the boys became tired and fell asleep. Nick curled into Jeff's side, who just pulled him closer and held him all night long.

TBC