A/N: Hey everyone! Here's chapter 10 :) Sorry it's a bit short again. I'm just so freaking busy, I barely have time to work on this at all! It's quite sad actually :( Thanks so much for reading this though, and thanks for all those reviews! You guys are DA BOMB. Oh, and this one is entirely Nick's POV, but the next chapter will be back to Jeff's POV.

I haven't been doing these...so I probably should. Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN GLEE

NICK'S POV

I quietly clicked my bedroom door shut and tiptoed down the stairs, running a hand through my dirty brown hair. I made my way to the kitchen, only now just realizing I hadn't eaten in over 24 hours. I was bound to be hungry, but I didn't really feel it. I found my mom and Nana sitting at the kitchen table, chatting quietly over cups of coffee.

"He's asleep," I sighed, taking the coffee mug and pouring myself a cup. I pulled a chair out at the table and collapsed into it, taking a large gulp of my drink.

"Since when do you drink black coffee?" Mom asked, looking at me questioningly.

I looked down at the cup, noticing that it indeed was black. "Since Jeff went to an abandoned car shop to meet his dad and got beat up and took 2 hours to go to sleep."

"You should eat something, dear," Nana urged gently.

"I just don't get it," I said, ignoring my grandma. "He seemed fine at the hospital. Other then, you know, the broken leg."

"He's been through a lot, honey. It's normal for him to be anxious," Mom explained, taking another sip from her cup. "Don't worry, it'll get better."

"It's weird for him to be this clingy. He doesn't want me to leave his side."

"Or do you not want to leave his side?" Mom questioned, a knowing smile growing on her face.

I rolled my eyes, not wanting to admit she was probably right. "It was like this last time too," I said, referring back to 8th grade when Jeff's dad had last physically abused him. "He wouldn't sleep in his own bed for weeks."

"Or would YOU not sleep in YOUR own bed for weeks?" Nana asked teasingly.

I sighed, loudly setting my coffee cup on the table. "You guys are being really annoying."

Mom laughed as she got up, rinsing out her mug and sticking it in the dishwasher. "We aren't judging you, honey. You've been through a lot too, your behavior is completely expected."

"Yeah, well. I feel like if I take my eyes off of him for more than 20 minutes he'll do something stupid again," I ranted, walking over to the counter and grabbing an apple. I took a large bite before adding, "And it really pisses me off."

"You're mad that you don't want to leave Jeff for more than 20 minutes?" Nana asked confusedly.

"No, I'm mad at Jeff for being stupid! He should've told me about the note. I mean, he could've freakin' died!" I said while chomping loudly on my apple.

"You're not mad at Jeff," Mom said matter-of-factly. "You're mad at yourself."

"Excuse me?"

"You're mad at yourself for not being there to save him," Mom said simply.

"Boys are so oblivious," Nana added with a smirk.

Mom sighed in agreement. "Nick, it's your nature to be overprotective. But I promise you, there was nothing you could've done. You had no way of knowing something was wrong."

"But I did know something was wrong. Jeff had been acting weird all day, and I ignored it and went to the freaking movies. It was a crappy movie, too, about this dumb-ass guy who found this-"

"Honey, the point is, you have no reason to be mad at yourself. You're not at fault here. Jeff's dad is the bad guy, okay?"

I nodded. I had to believe them. I knew they didn't blame me, and I knew Jeff didn't blame me, but it was hard not to blame myself. I felt dumb for believing Jeff when he told me over and over again he was fine when he clearly wasn't. I knew something was up and I just ignored it.

I threw my apple core in the trashcan. "I should get back upstairs. If Jeff wakes up and I'm not there, he's gonna FLIP." I ran back up the stairs, hearing Nana chuckle once I left the room and mumble to Mom, "Do you think Jeff's going to be the one flipping out?"

I rolled my eyes. Whatever. I slipped back in my bedroom, careful no to wake my sleeping boyfriend.

Sleep.

That sounded nice.

I crawled into bed next to Jeff, snuggling up to him and sighing softly. I was almost asleep when a loud buzzing noise jerked me awake. It was Jeff's damn cell phone. I glanced over at the blonde lying next to me, and he remained still.

I reached across him to the nightstand on his side of the bed, not too worried about waking him up since he was apparently dead to the world. The caller ID was unknown, so I figured it was probably a wrong number, but I answered it just in case. "Hello?

"Is this Jeff Sterling?" I heard a soft-spoken, younger sounding woman ask.

"Um, no, but this is Jeff's phone. Who's calling?"

"I'm with the Westerville police department. I have some news for Jeff, so if you could have him call me back, that'd be-"

Westerville police department? What was this about? "Uh, hold on. I think I hear him coming in now," I lied. "One second." One Mississippi. Two Mississippi. Three Mississippi. I cleared my throat, ready to do my best 'Jeff' impersonation possible. "This is Jeff." Oh God, that was awful. I sounded like a 10-year-old girl with a stuffy nose.

"Hi, Mr. Sterling, my name is Lisa Roberts. I'm an officer at Westerville police department. I'm afraid I have some bad news."

I cleared my throat again, trying harder to sound like Jeff this time. "Yes ma'am, what is it?" I mentally slapped myself. Ma'am? Seriously, Nick, since when does Jeff say ma'am?

"Your father's body was found in a Mrs. Sheila Delaney's apartment on South Brook Street today. He had a gun in his hand. I'm very sorry."

"He…he killed himself?" I chocked out, forgetting all about trying to sound like Jeff.

"I'm afraid so. Do you know Mrs. Delaney?"

"Uhh…um, no. No, I don't think so. How did you…uh, how did you get this number?"

"You were the only person listed on your father's emergency contacts. He had also made several recent calls to this number," the woman explained.

"Oh," was all I managed to get out.

"Is there anyone else I can contact?"

I shook my head, and then realized she couldn't see me. "No, just me. Thank you."

"Again, I'm very sorry for your loss." We hung up, and I sat on the side of the bed for a few minutes, still in a state of shock. How the hell was I supposed to tell Jeff that his dad committed suicide? This definitely qualified as a shitty week.

I groaned quietly, dragging myself out of bed and back downstairs. Mom was still in the kitchen, joined by Dad. Nana had apparently gone to bed. Mom smiled when she saw me. "What happened to Jeff flipping out?" Her face immediately fell when she saw the expression on mine. "Honey, what's wrong? Is Jeff okay?"

"Uh, yeah," I said, taking a deep breath. "Yes, he's fine. I got a call from Westerville police department. Er, Jeff did."

"What happened?" Dad asked with concern.

"Jeff's dad…he, um. He committed suicide."

Mom's jaw opened slightly in shock. "Whe-how…what?" I nodded, staring off into space. "Does Jeff know?"

"No. And how am I supposed to tell him?"

"Do it gently," Mom advised.

"Yeah. Like, buy him some of those donuts he likes," Dad added.

"Really, Dad? I don't think donuts would soften the blow too much on this one."

"The sooner the better," Mom said. "I know it'll be hard, but he has to know as soon as possible. It will be better for both of you."

Our conversation was interrupted by a loud thud. I shot out of my seat. "Omigod. He's awake! What do I do?"

"First, go make sure he didn't just die," Dad joked. Mom slapped him lightly on the arm.

I scrambled up the stairs and into the first door on the right, finding Jeff on the floor, looking up at me pitifully. "Hi, Nicky."

I groaned, kneeling down beside him to help him sit up. "Jeff, what were you doing?"

"I was thirsty."

"What did you call me?"

"Nick, I'm perfectly capable of getting my own water," Jeff defended himself.

"Babe, you have a broken leg."

After a long pause, Jeff mumbled, "Whatever."

I chuckled, picking Jeff up and carrying him back to the bed, careful not to hurt his broken leg. I laid him down, propping his leg up on some pillows, and pressing a kiss to his forehead. "Listen, Jeffy, I have to tell you something."