I seriously have grown to hate computers. And I legitimately don't understand why I don't have mine back yet. It's been torn from me all summer, and it sucks so hard, I can't even… Ugh.

Anyway.

I just… seriously felt like angsting the heck out of something, and decided that it was about time to write a new chapter of this. And then I'll probably write "Love Taps", even though I honestly don't want to. I seriously hate multi-chapters. I'm definitely not writing them anymore after this. Just tons upon tons of long one-shots, as those make me happy and don't suck the life out of me. #TrueStory.

This chapter is funky, but not in a bad way. It's just... it's broken up. You'll see.

"Wait, shit, are you serious?" Trent badgered him after class, and Nick felt a little guilty. It really wasn't his business to be telling anybody else about Jeff's problems, but Trent had been worried for good reason, and it also didn't seem too fair to let him simmer in the dark. Nick bit his lip and nodded, and Trent let out a puff of air. "That's messed up…" he said after a moment, leaving Nick to flop back on the other boy's bed and groan into his pillow.

"And I just left," he moaned. Trent contemplated this for a second.

"Well, he did tell you to. Maybe he just needed some time alone to process," the sassy Warbler replied, but Nick didn't feel comforted. Jeff was his… He was his Jeff. They were always together, they always wanted to be together, so why would Jeff want to be alone? Especially when he was upset? It didn't make any sense to Nick, and Trent seemed to pick up on that. "I think it's time you had another lesson," he said after a moment, and Nick pulled the pillow just far enough away from his face to glare at him.

"What kind of lesson do you have in mind?" he asked grumpily, but Trent's lips were sealed.

"You'll see," he told him airily, pulling out his phone to send out a mass-text. Nick buried his face in the pillow again.


"This is kind of small for a 'lesson'," Nick pointed out. Last time near all the Warblers had been present to put in input on his walk, posture, hair, expressions, personality, existence… Now he was faced with only the head council and Trent. Wes frowned.

"We didn't think it would be right to air out all of Jeff's business in front of the rest of the club," he informed him, and Nick couldn't help but to agree. "Besides, this is a serious matter, and serious things go over better when shared between a few people who really care," he said matter-of-factly, and Trent snorted and rolled his eyes in response.

"Pull that out of a fortune cookie?" he asked moodily, and Wes threw a dusty old pen from the desk he was sitting on at him, resulting in a whine from Trent. "That wasn't very serious!" he complained, but Wes just stuck his tongue out.

"You aren't very serious," he bit back, and David got between the two.

"Alright, seriously, guys. Enough. We're here to talk about Jeff not be stupid," he reprimanded them. The two boys let out equally frustrated huffs but complied, David taking control of the conversation. "Nick, we wanna talk to you about how you should be later with Jeff. Because you do have to go back to your room when this is over." Nick let his eyebrows notch together.

"Um… No offense, but I've been taking care of crying Jeffs since he and Sebastian," he couldn't help but spit the name, "got together." Wes rolled his eyes.

"Yeah? And now he's knocking down your door to ask you out, then, huh?" he asked, and Nick immediately quieted. "Look, we know that you're really good at taking care of Jeff and talking him through stuff. And we know that you two don't shy away from being close and touching and stuff. However. You need to step up your game. Not to use Jeff's obvious sadness to his advantage, but you're about to get the chance at something intimate. So use it." Nick made a disgusted noise.

"I'm not doing that," he replied, and Thad got up from the desk he was sitting in.

"Why not, Nickpea?" he asked, placing a hand on Nick's lower back and leaning down close to him, practically whispering the words in his ear. Nick flinched away from the touch and the hot breath on his neck.

"First of all, that's Jeff's name for me," he said, and Thad scoffed. "And second, because it's creepy," he told him angrily, and Wes jumped up.

"It's not going to be creepy when it's you and Jeff!" he exclaimed, walking over to David and curling into his side. Wes's hand crept up to cup David's jaw, and David grabbed Wes's wrist in response. They're eyes locked for a second before Wes broke all contact with the boy in favor of sneering at Nick. "See? It's not creepy when it's me and David! And you guys are gay. We're straight. If we can do it, then you so can, too!" Nick crossed his arms, but no one paid him any attention. Wevid and Trad were too busy cuddling to prove their point to give him any mind. Nick sighed and left the room.


"Jeff?" Nick called out quietly, awkwardly walking into the dorm with a tray in his arms. How he managed to unlock the door without spilling either of the cups of tea was beyond him. "I brought tea for you," he said as softly as he could. The room was dark, and he couldn't see Jeff's face. It was like he hadn't moved at all since Nick had left him that morning. His heart broke. He took a deep breath and sat down on the edge of Jeff's bed, placing the cafeteria tray on his own. "You're not okay." Jeff sniffed.

"No, Nicky… I'm not…" He sounded broken. It made Nick feel broken, too. He thought back to his lesson earlier and steeled himself. Nick fell down next to Jeff, wrapping an arm around the smallest part of his back, and tangling his free fingers through his hair.

Jeff flipped.

One second he had just been lying there –unmoving- like he had been all day, and then next his whole body had practically contorted as he threw himself off of the mattress. "Shit, Jeff, what-"

"Don't touch me," he yelped, cutting Nick off. "God, you can't just… you can't just touch me like that without warning. D-don't… don't…" Jeff melted into a puddle of tears and Nick stepped back from him. Sebastian had done something wrong.

Sebastian had done something very wrong indeed.

I'm really down to the wire to when I told you everything would be updated. Haha, *sheepish smile* whoops. BUT I'M STILL GONNA DO IT, SO NO WORRIES! ONE UPDATE DONE, TWO TO GO.

Also.

Would any of you be interested in some 1D fanfic? Cause… I just, like, wrote up some friendship oneshots last night for no real reason other than to avoid doing everything else that I was supposed to, so… Yeah.

I can post that if you want.