5.37am

Nick woke up early the following morning. As anyone who has ever stayed in a hospital would testify to him, there was no chance of a long lie unless you were drugged up to the eyeballs - and even then, only if the nurses let you. He wondered where he was for a second, and then it all came flooding back to him. The proposal; the accident; the news and his suicide attempt. Then the discovery that it had all been a mistake. He lifted up his right arm so he could see his hand, and smiled at the silver band on his ring finger. He was a fiancé now, but only thanks to Trent. If he hadn't found him and intervened, then he might well not be here; Jeff would be alone and in pain. 'Or dead too, at his own hand. After all, plenty of means around here if you look for them,' he thought with a shiver. He would have to tell him the truth, to save Trent having to carry around his secret…

He hoped his friend was sleeping now. Not long after Jeff had proposed, the Sterlings had arrived, and he and Sebastian had said their farewells and headed back to Dalton. They had not wished to intrude on the tearfest that the reunion of Jeff with his parents had obviously become. They had spent a good part of the day picturing funerals, and worse - his death in a car crash, praying he had been dead before the fire. To have him back was something like a miracle. There was no mention of the friendly sheriff that had informed them their son was dead, but Nick knew that Jeff would want no recriminations meeted out. He had made a mistake, and that was it. No need for blame or talk of compensation. Eventually, Mr Sterling had come to speak to him, to ask how he had ended up here, and so he told most of the truth. That he had been drunk and slipped. He received no criticism, only sympathy; and then the ring had been spotted. Nick had waited with bated breath for a reaction, and to his great joy, it was totally positive. He was welcomed to the family with open arms. By the time his future in-laws had left, he had been dog tired, and he fell asleep in seconds.

Now he wondered what the day held. He knew that his sister was on her way, which was good. She was fully aware of his sexuality and of his relationship with Jeff. He suddenly realised that she was still under the impression that he was dead. She was in for as big a surprise as the rest of them had been when she got here… He became aware of hurrying footsteps in the hall, and looked up as the door was opened. There, framed in the doorway was a red-eyed Kurt, Blaine appearing behind him only seconds later. "Hey guys," said Nick quietly. "What brings you here at this time?"

"Where is he, Nick? I need to see him with my own eyes, because I have heard two versions of events," said Kurt, stepping into the room. "And I am guessing that this is not the result of an accident either…"

"No, it isn't. I think you can guess what I was trying to do, but falling down the stairs was not a part of that, trust me. Too painful. And as for where Jeff is…" - he stopped, and looked up at the door again - "….he's right behind you…"

There was a squeak of delight from Kurt, a sigh of relief from Blaine, and then the former was hugging Jeff, who was struggling to stay upright in the face of the sudden onslaught. Blaine made his way over more slowly, and gently prised the now crying Kurt from his friend. "Let him sit down, Kurt. He's been in the wars too. You don't want to knock him over and hurt him." Kurt saw sense, and let Jeff make his way over to the bed, where his first action was to lean down and kiss Nick, before he settled himself on the bed next to him, whilst Kurt and Blaine drew up chairs at the bedside.

"So, although this morning was quite a shocker, I actually want to say that I am glad that you didn't tell us what you thought had happened. Yesterday was quite an emotional one, and I think it would have pushed Kurt over the edge if he had found out so soon after…"

Nick stopped Blaine. "Actually, we haven't told Jeff everything that happened yesterday yet. I guess this is the moment that we have to." He turned to his fiancé and took his hand gently, before looking up at his face, full of concern. "After Kurt said yes, we got some really awful news. You weren't the only person that missed the proposal. Someone even closer to Kurt was absent too, and they were on the freeway. It was Kurt's stepbrother, Finn. He didn't make it, Jeffie…"

Jeff's face crumpled, and tears started to flow. He let go of Nick's hand and reached out for Kurt's, taking it gently. "Oh, Kurtie, I am so sorry…" Kurt smiled and nodded, tears falling from his own eyes again. Blaine placed an arm around him, and there was silence in the room for a few minutes. Then Nick asked the question that had been on his mind since the two of them had appeared.

"So, who told you? I remember Sebastian calling Burt frantically to ask him not to tell you what had happened, so I know it wasn't him."

"It was Brittany," said Blaine. "When you guys found out, I think someone went to tell the other Warblers; they were in the Senior Commons with some of our guys, who were still in shock. So, they all knew what was supposed to have happened. Santana told Brittany last night when they had a chat on Skype. And you know what Brittany is like…"

"She sent me a message saying how sorry she was about Finn - and that she was sorry the blond dolphin had died too, and to tell his dolphin that she was sorry. It took me only seconds to recall that Jeff hadn't been at the proposal…"

"He woke me up screaming his head off. I dashed into the room, and he showed me the message. I was shocked, but I needed confirmation. So I decided to call Sebastian; he didn't answer, so I called Santana. After she had stopped threatening to kill me for calling her so early, she told me what had been said - and I lost it too. That got Burt charging in - thankfully, Carole had taken a sleeping pill, so she slept through it all…"

"My dad walked in to the two of us crying our hearts out and Santana shouting down the phone. He asked her what was going on, as he could get nothing out of us, and he told all three of us what had really happened. I looked at Blaine, and then my dad said 'I'll see you two when you get back.' He knew where we needed to be. We needed to see that it was true for ourselves. And I am so glad that it is. If it hadn't been…."

Nick looked at Kurt, and knew what he was saying. That his mind couldn't have coped with another death at that point; that he would have collapsed in a mess. If he knew how close he had come to a third death - well it didn't bear thinking about. Blaine would have been as bad, he knew that. He could see that his friend was struggling to stay on top of his emotions for Kurt's benefit. He smiled at Blaine, and he smiled back - and then his eyes widened. Nick realised that he had just looked down, at his right hand…

"Oh, my, God! Was that why he went to the mall? There's a part of me that wants to yell copycat very loudly, but I can't, because I am so happy for you both!" Blaine turned to look at a confused Kurt, and then simply said "Take a good look at Nick's right hand. See anything new, like on yours…"

Kurt looked, and for the first time since he had been told, his lips twitched up in a smile. Then he was leaning over the bed and hugging them both, saying how happy he was for them. Jeff was as effusive with Kurt, studying his ring closely. Blaine walked round the bed to sit by Nick, and whispered in his ear "I hate to think what those two are going to be like when they start actually planning the wedding… Fancy eloping with me instead?"

"Never. Not in a million years. And neither would you!" replied Nick, and from the smile on his friends face he knew that he was right on the money in his supposition.

In the end, it was the arrival of the nurse that ended the little meeting between the four friends. She was not exactly pleased that they had visitors at such an early hour, but Nick quietly explained the situation to her and her attitude softened at once. Kurt knew of course that it was best not to upset an on duty nurse, plus he was still thinking about Carole - he knew that he had to get back to her and see that she was alright. He doubted it, as he himself could only think that he would never be properly alright ever again. There was always going to be a little bit of his heart broken. So they left, with a quiet promise that they would keep in touch. The nurse then separated Nick and Jeff so that she could run her morning checks on them, promising them that they could be back together as soon as she was done. She knew better than to separate them. She could see the pure love and devotion that they had for each other radiating out of them and to be honest she was more than a little jealous, having lost her own husband a few years before. She turned away to allow them to part with a goodbye kiss, and then Jeff was wobbling back to his own room.

The tests were over as quickly as possible; but then the doctors arrived and they were far less sympathetic towards the needs of the young couple. Nick found himself undergoing a series of prods and pokes, and listening to the doctors discussing his injuries. He was also sure that he heard the words 'very, very lucky' more than once in the course of their conversation. He knew that he was - the fall could quite easily have broken far more bones than it did, and the fact that his skull had escaped any damage did seem even to him a miracle. Eventually, one of the doctors came up to him and after introducing herself, spoke about his injuries. "So, young man, that leg of yours is going to be in a cast for quite some time I'm afraid. We are talking at least eight weeks, and quite likely three months before we can think about removing it. It was quite a minor break as it happens. Someone was looking after you when you fell down those stairs, that's all I will say… So, you will have to use a wheelchair, at least at first, because of your arm. Once it is strong enough, then we can talk about crutches. The good thing is that at your age, the recovery should be swift, and we also didn't have to insert any pins. All that will depend on you though. You will have to be very careful what you do for a good few months after we take the cast off too - no sports would be my recommendation. Now the bad news is that you should still be able to take your exams; I suppose that does mean that you will be able to head to college, if that was what you had planned. If you had planned a round the world vacation, then it would be out of the question however."

Nick let her words sink in. Three months in a cast. Confined to a wheelchair for the remainder of his time at Dalton in all probability. 'I'm going to be the Artie of the Warblers,' he thought to himself. He looked back up, and realised that whilst he had been deep in thought, the doctor had moved on to the next patient. 'The good thing is that I am alive,' he thought. 'I could well have done so much more damage to myself in that fall. And if Trent had not intervened as he did…' He heard a noise and looked up to see Jeff shuffling in the door again. "I'm going to be in a wheelchair for a while, Jeffie," he sighed. "Which is ok, because…"

"I know Nicky. It could have been a lot worse. The thing is that I am going to be on these things for a while too. So, I guess that Trent is going to be doing a lot of pushing around."

Nick laughed, knowing full well that he would volunteer immediately when he found out. "I think that we should get Sebastian to help out too. He might even suggest it himself."

"He'll probably draw up a rota so that all of the Warblers take a turn. Do you think we could get a wheelchair with space for me in it too, so that they can push us both about all the time?"

"I think that would be a step too far, my love," replied Nick with a smile. "There is one thing though. Where are we going to sleep when we get back to Dalton? I mean, I don't think I can go back to our room whilst I am in a chair, can I? The door is too narrow, and the fire regulations and all will mean it is impractical. We're going to need to talk to the Principal and see what will happen. I think there is a room on the ground floor, but they might not let us share; I mean, now that we are engaged it might be deemed inappropriate."

"I can't see that, Nicky. After all, we have been boyfriends for a long time, and they never tried to split us up. Principal Carmichael is a man of the world, and he must know that we are not sleeping in our own beds every night like good little boys. Plus, if we tell him that proximity will be good for our recovery…" Jeff stopped as he heard someone clearing their throat behind him. It was a familiar noise, one which he had heard so many times before. He looked at Nick, who had face palmed, but was now barely hiding his laughter.

"Well, Mr Sterling, we shall have to see if proximity is a good thing. Maybe the world would be better off if there was some distance between the two of you for a while. After all, they do say that absence makes the heart grow fonder." Aaron Carmichael could only smile at the look of horror on the faces of the two boys at that line. He had absolutely no intention of separating them naturally. The room on the ground floor that Nick knew about had been set up for just this situation, and in any case, Jeff would also be of restricted mobility for a while. He had even asked Mlle Lefevre and an overjoyed Agnes Hamilton to start preparing the room for its first occupants in quite some time before he had left the school that morning. Still, it didn't hurt to make them wait for confirmation…

He looked at the expressions on their faces though, and knew that he could not do that after all. Both of them looked so horrified at the prospect, and they had all been through more than enough trauma in the last few hours. "The room on the ground floor is being prepared for both of you as we speak. I don't think anyone at Dalton would forgive me if I even attempted to separate Niff! There will be some questions from the governors about the morality of letting you share a room that is isolated from those of your peers, but I can handle them - after all, I managed to control them when they wanted you to be split up and share with others." He stopped and let the information slip in. "They found out from someone that the two of you were a couple, and there were questions asked about whether it was appropriate given that you would have opportunity for, as they put it, 'immoral activities.' I merely pointed out that if I split you up, you would still do those things, just elsewhere. It was quite a battle but in the end, my reasoning one out. They still felt it was wrong, but they were sure that in the end, you would separate eventually."

"Actually, sir, there is something that you should know," said Jeff. "I asked Nick to marry me last night, and he said yes. We are in this for the long run. Yesterday just proved that all the more."

"So that's why there was a sudden outbreak of cheering from the Senior Commons last night… I sent them all to bed with a flea in their ears for that, given the time. Well, this is a first for me. Two boys, at my school, engaged to each other… When I started teaching, I could never have imagined that this day would come. Times change and though it is often not for the better, this time it is. You boys have my blessing and my warmest congratulations. I would ask you only two things - firstly, keep this as quiet as you can, as otherwise I will have the governors descending on me, and they would be much, much harder to fight this time, particularly over the room sharing. And secondly, no rushing off and becoming the first married couple to be students at Dalton. I think that would be a step too far, even in current times, at least for Ohio. We still have much to do here. So I warn you right now - if I hear that you have headed to New York for the weekend at the last minute, I will be extremely displeased with you. Mainly because my wife loves a good wedding, and she would never forgive me if she missed out on yours…"

Nick and Jeff could only laugh at that. They had no intention of getting married yet. After college was what they had always suggested in the past, and that had not changed. They still had to contend with Nick's parents, who weren't even very pleased that Nick was gay - his father maintained he would grow out of it. Even Jeff's parents would be set against them marrying at their current age; and their peers would probably agree. So they were more than happy to accept what the Principal had said. He stayed only long enough to examine the ring, and to inform them that it was very fortunate that neither of them had broken the arm they wrote with, as it meant they would still be able to complete the homework that they would be being sent. That elicited two groans, but one look at them showed him that they were still smiling. As he walked out of their room a short time later, he felt his steps were light. There did seem to be light at the end of the tunnel, and unlike yesterday, those lights were not those of an oncoming train.