Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, nor do I completely own Nick and Jeff (although I'm pretty much creating their personalities myself since we haven't gotten to know them too well on the show).

Nick really hated the way everyone at Dalton was staring at him. The Dalton rumor mill had somehow heard about his trip to the hospital, as well as the fact that he had been diagnosed with some kind of psychological problem. He'd heard various different rumors about what was wrong – everything from a suicide attempt to schizophrenic symptoms. Somehow no one other than Sebastian had figured out the truth. And Nick had to admit that he was thankful that the other boy wasn't saying anything about what he knew.

"I wish you would just tell me what the doctor said…I want to help you, Nick…" Nick closed his eyes, sighing at Jeff's begging to know what was going on. "Please, Nick. You don't seem to be getting better."

"Why does it really matter?"

"You're sick, and there's nothing I can do to help you if you won't tell me what's wrong," Jeff replied. "I just want to help you." Nick felt the bed shift as Jeff laid down next to him, slowly starting to run a hand over Nick's stomach until Nick shoved his hand away. "I don't understand, Nick! You don't want me to touch you anymore, you're always tired, and you refuse to tell anyone what's wrong with you even though we know something's going on because you came back with the pills that you refuse to take…" Nick opened his eyes as Jeff slowed to a stop in his tirade for a moment. "Because you don't care that you're sick." Nick sat up as Jeff started moving away from him.

"Jeff…"

"No… you really just don't care that you're sick, do you? You don't want to get better."

"I'm not sick…" Nick began. He watched as Jeff went into the drawer of his desk, where Nick had stashed the pill bottles he'd left the hospital with. "What are you doing?" Nick closed his eyes as Jeff pulled the bottles out of the drawer.

"Olanzapine. Fluoxetine. Vitamins… Nick, what is this? These… why aren't you taking these pills, Nick? Why won't you tell me why they gave you these?"

"Because I don't have a problem…"

"They put you on an anti-depressant… and I don't even know what the other one was, but it has to be something serious." Nick sighed and shook his head as Jeff brought the bottles to him, reading all of the labels and pulling out pills, handing them to Nick. "I want you to take them, Nick. Whatever's going on, the doctor thinks you need these. And I think we should trust him…"

"It's not your choice."

"I could call your parents." Nick scoffed.

"My dad's main concern was whether or not I was going to screw up my academic record and fuck up everything I've been working towards for the past four years," Nick replied. "The psychiatrist wanted them to take me out of school here… he said that the pressure was too much, that it was just going to make things worse. My dad refused."

"Why did they want you to leave Dalton?"

"They keep saying I have an eating disorder. That I'm 'sick' and it's only going to get worse. But it isn't true…" Nick shook his head as he spoke. "I'm just… I'm tired or something. But I'm not sick, no matter what they try to tell my parents." Nick felt Jeff put a hand on his, standing up and pulling Nick to his feet.

"Come with me." Nick followed reluctantly, groaning as Jeff stood him in front of the mirror. "Just look at yourself… look." Nick closed his eyes when Jeff tried to turn his face towards the glass. "Please… just tell me what you see in the mirror."

"This is stupid…"

"What have you eaten today?" Jeff asked. "I mean other than the banana you had at breakfast…" Nick pulled away from his boyfriend, turning around and shaking his head.

"You believe them."

"What they say makes sense…"

"No, Jeff, it doesn't… because I'm not sick. I'm fine."

"Nick…" Nick shook his head, walking away from Jeff and opening the door of their dorm room.

"I'm going for a walk."

"Nick!"

Nick didn't really pay attention to where he was going as he walked; he just wanted to get as far away from Jeff as possible. He didn't even really take notice of the fact that he was leaving the school's grounds – a no-no on school nights without explicit written permission. He just didn't care.

By the time Nick actually realized what he was doing, he was well beyond the area around the school that he actually knew, and to be honest he was lost. No keys, no cell phone, and no real idea of what he should do. All he really knew as he sat down by the side of the road was that he wanted to be left alone. And he was, for a while.

He recognized the dark blue color of a police car pulling up beside him without even really looking at it. "Son… everything okay?"

"I'm lost…" Nick admitted, looking up. "I wasn't paying attention, and I walked further than I intended to…"

"Where are you supposed to be?" the officer asked, getting out of the squad car.

"Dalton…"

"That's more than three miles from here…" the man began. Nick sighed. That meant he'd been gone for more than an hour. Everyone was probably already starting to freak out about the fact that he was gone and he didn't have a phone with him. "Come on… I was on the way home, but I'll turn around and take you back." Nick nodded, standing up and getting into the back seat of the cruiser as the officer opened the door.

"Is something going on?" the officer asked as he got back into the front seat. "I thought you Dalton boys weren't allowed off campus during the week…" Nick shrugged, staring out the window as the officer started driving back towards the school. "Hey… look, as long as it isn't anything illegal, you aren't going to get into any trouble for telling me."

"I just fought with my roommate. I needed to get away from him."

"So you broke the rules at school to get away from your roommate?" Nick shrugged. He didn't really care that he'd broken the rules. "You'll be in trouble, won't you?"

"That's the least of my worries," Nick admitted. He closed his eyes, sighing.

"You're what… seventeen? The biggest worry you've probably got is getting your homework done and not getting caught sneaking out…" Nick bit down on his bottom lip, looking out the window and realizing that he knew where he was now.

"I'd rather walk the rest of the way."

"I don't think…"

"I'd rather walk. Please just stop and let me out." It bothered Nick that there wasn't a handle in the back, effectively trapping him behind the cage even though he wasn't under arrest.

"I'd rather drop you on campus, for your own safety." Nick started running his hand over the door, trying to figure out some way out. He felt panicked, suddenly worrying that something horrible was going to happen if he didn't get out of the car.

"I have to get out of here… I can't do this, I have to get out…" he began.

"Hey, hey… calm down… we're almost there, and then I'll let you out."

"Please!" Nick couldn't stop the tears from burning at his eyes and running down his face. He was hyperventilating, and it hurt like hell.

"I'm pulling over… just calm down, kid…" As soon as the officer opened the door, Nick was out and leaning against the side of the car, trying to breathe again. Nick jumped as the man put a hand on him.

"Don't touch me!" Nick pulled way, starting to walk again.

"Kid, where are you going?"

"Back to school!" Nick pulled his blazer tighter around his body, suddenly cold.

"You can't do that…"

"Unless I'm under arrest, I can!"

Nick ignored the fact that the officer was following him as he walked, driving slowly behind him all the way up to the gates. He really didn't care; he just… he needed to figure out what was going on in his head, what he needed to do to get things back on track. Because he couldn't keep going without a plan. He would never convince everyone that he was really okay if he didn't figure this out.

A/n: So I decided to try to get this chapter up as quickly as possible, because I know some people are really interested in where this is going and want an update soon. I'm… not as pleased as I could be with this chapter, but I'm okay with that because I don't have the time to perfect all of these chapters and I know that y'all like my quick updates. It serves the purpose I need it to serve within the story, and it's not a bad chapter, so I'm content with it as it is.