Told you guys I'll be back on Tuesday :D
And so! Happy Easter for those of you who had already celebrated it. For the rest...see you on Saturday!
This chapter took me close to two weeks...or more. I can't understand why. Lazy.
Before we go on, I'd like to bow very very very low. Oh, fudge, I'm in my knees. Wordy Anon, I don't know what did I do for you to be so sweet and nice to me, but here I am, praising you. I squealed so much at that humongous review (don't you dare apologize for the lenght, I simply adore those) and it made me warm and fuzzy inside and out =w= I...I...yeah, I don't know what to say to you. You saw some things there and I'm very happy you did :) Thank you so much and I'll give you an extra piece of cake at the party!
And so...
Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or mushrooms (no, really...I've ran out).
Chapter 10 – Round the teapot
Monday. Sunny Monday. He had left his room early, since there was no one to keep him company. He should have expected it; Miles' home was quite far away. And it was Monday, which meant Sunday had passed, which meant he had won. He had survived.
Jeff couldn't remember the last time he had freaked out so much. If Saturday night had been bad – nightmarish bad –, Sunday morning was slightly better. At least his stomach didn't tie itself in knots every time he murmured Nick's name. He had tried calming down: such a radical change couldn't take place in less than a day, right? He was, as he had already suspected, hallucinating.
So now was Monday and – oh, God – Nick was right in front of him, evidently waiting for him. Okay, his plan to avoid him the day before had been a success, but only thanks to his friend's busy program. Birthday plans, things that sounded important. But now...wow.
I never expected that admitting my feelings would make him look this much..., the word caught in his throat as he stopped in front of him. They were probably both going to breakfast. His brown eyes flickered over his friend's body, taking in the drastically different aspect it had that morning. Was it just the missing blazer? Was that a new shirt? And what was the matter with those jeans, anyway? He had no choice but to swallow hard as he raised his gaze, finally letting the word pass between two dazed thoughts. ...hotter. Oh, that didn't go well with his empty stomach.
Nick didn't even say a word of his own – not like Jeff needed any more triggers so early in the morning – and he just returned to walking to the cafeteria once Jeff caught up. Oh, my God, the blond almost tripped over his feet as they passed the large windows on the ground floor. What if he knows already? Oh, God, he must. But how can he know? Jeff, Jeff, have you told anyone? No! What if there's a mind reader in the school?
"So...um...," the air refused to get into his lungs. "How did yesterday go?"
Nick seemed to be quite shaken to reality by his voice and, for a moment, he looked at him with confused hazel eyes. Jeff bit his lip. Nick's random daydreaming periods always came as a bonus in his daily life. A good one. One of his favourites, even.
The brunet sighed. "This...happened," he gestured at his clothes and Jeff cursed his teenage body for not being able to say no to some more staring.
Out of common sense, though, he raised an eyebrow. Nick rolled his eyes; he didn't usually do that. Jeff felt proud of his suddenly observant spirit.
"Lewis," the boy groaned, "thought it would be only kind of him to take liberties with my wardrobe, so...," he gestured to his outfit again. "He changed all of it. Nothing too drastic, thank God. At least I don't see the big difference."
You have no idea..., Jeff caught himself thinking before making himself busy with arranging his glasses. Well, at least I am not yet hopeless, I wasn't seeing things.
"It-" he tried to find his voice again, hiding his hopefully inexistent blush behind his black frames. "...it looks really good on you." Ah, damn that unwanted emphasizing.
Seeing that Nick was gazing straight into his eyes, he nodded and his mind cheered when his friend's face lighted generously. Does he-...Maybe I need to tell him that more often.
"There he is!" David exclaimed from the doorway of the dining hall and Thad appeared behind him.
"Nick, we gotta talk to you," Thad grabbed one of his arms. "Looking sharp too. Exactly what we need, right?" he winked at David, who grabbed the boy's other arm.
"Right. We'll bring him back later!" David added towards Jeff and all three of them turned a corner and closed themselves in an empty study room. "Nice shirt," he grinned and Nick crossed his arms over his chest self-consciously. He looked from one kidnapper to the other and waited. "So! Here we are, Nicky..." Nick habitually narrowed his eyes at him, "...to announce you that..." useless suspense.
"You have a solo!" Thad erupted, throwing his hands energetically in the air.
Nick felt his mouth fall open and he hastily closed it again. "Wait, are you serious?"
"Positive, Nicky," David winked again. "Now listen closely," he leaned over an armchair and gestured for them to come near him.
o0o0o
This day, the cafeteria's radio was, surprisingly, working. He doubted anyone had observed that. It's so crowded, Jeff thought, standing on his feet and eating from a bowl of cereals.
"Am I doing this right?" Wes asked while playing on the borrowed DS and the blond looked over his shoulder to see.
"Yeah, you're good," Jeff answered, taking another mouthful of Cheerios. David, Thad and Nick were still missing and it was getting close to a quarter of an hour absence.
Unlike the rest of the dining hall, there were a couple empty chairs at their table (well, conjoined tables), but he didn't feel like sitting yet. The day spent indoors in frozen agony gave his body time to become overloaded with energy.
"OK, so lookee here," Cade seated himself beside Trent, facing Wes, but looking at everyone at the table. "First, you're all invited." The boys got interested. "Second, I need your help."
"Obviously," another Warbler near them laughed.
Wes smiled, still playing fervently. "Shut up, Mark. We're good guys, we'll help," he looked at Cade, who bowed low over his toast.
"I have the place, the day, the hour," the brown-haired boy continued, but now not as confidently, "...I just need the plan." A loud 'oh' from the others.
"What's the theme?" Jeff asked, making them raise their heads. Have I really not talked to you until now or...? he raised an eyebrow at the group. "Nick said you had one."
"Hmm, that's impressive," Wes hummed at Cade, returning Jeff's Nintendo.
"Tea party," the other murmured. "The plan's for a tea party."
"I think I can...," Jeff talked behind his spoon until Wes gestured for him to put it down. "I can help, if you want. I know someone...well, my mom does."
The planner's eyes were uncomfortably drinking in his every word. It made him shut up. "Can you really talk to someone? I thought about it, but, see, I don't know anyone and dad's jokes wouldn't let me live if I asked my parents."
Jeff smiled. "It's sort of a family friend I haven't met yet. I'll ask mom. When do you need it?" Personal best and still going. He was on a talking roll this day.
Taking his time with retying his tie, the boy finally spoke up. "Wednesday. Actually, Wednesday night. I booked her for that night."
"Busy girl," Trent grinned along with the others.
"Basketball tournament practice," Cade responded proudly, gaining a few appreciative whistles. "Where have you been?" he glanced behind Jeff, who also turned.
"Oh, that's our little secret, isn't it, Nick?" David stopped him before any sound came out of his mouth and took a seat at the table.
"Better hurry up, breakfast's almost over," Wes told them, raising from his seat and retrieving his school bag. "Jeff, didn't you have to set the laboratory before science today?"
Brown eyes widened behind slightly thick glasses. "Shit!" the blond exclaimed, clasping the only half-finished bowl tighter in his hands after having almost dropped it. "Here. I'm gone," he passed said bowl over to the still-standing Nick and fled the room within seconds.
"Anything important?" Cade glanced at his best friend but was ignored as the other seemed to ponder the age of the Universe over Jeff's cereals. "Nick?"
"What?" his greenish eyes jolted upwards and soon after that he seated himself in a chair too. Well, it was late, he thought as he took the first spoonful in his mouth.
"Wednesday, be ready," his friend sighed and jumped to the more important fact of the day.
"I'll try," Nick smiled before continuing his almost-shared breakfast.
o0o0o
Two days into the week and he already felt suicidal. Almost. Not really. Not at all. He just felt like someone had set all Hell loose in his head. Okay, not that bad either. Can't a man be poetic without making it sound like he's dying?
"That was, no matter what you'll say, inhuman," Nick huffed once they were out of the French classroom. Their colleagues weren't looking any better either.
"Polly-voo-franzy?" Jeff grinned at him and was delighted with the irritated look on his friend's face. "Sorry, I tried to keep her off you guys, but she was too focused on the torture."
Well, yeah, Jeff did talk a lot more during class today, with or without the teacher paying attention to him, but that didn't make his headache better. "Evil," he mumbled before coming back to his composed self. Quite impressive. "How are the plans for tomorrow going?" Cade couldn't be reached under the circumstances.
"Mom talked to her, she talked to Cade. It should be fine," he marched down the hall, trying to keep his mind off the fact that wow, they were talking more these days. Or was it just his mind acting drunk again? And Nick's clothes kept looking better and better on him, damn them. How could they? It was the same uniform, for Pete's sake!
"Thank you for the help," Nick glanced at him with a heart-warming smile. Jeff thought about it; he had never had jelly legs before. "Without you, it would have all fallen on me and, despite what he's thinking, I'm not good at these things," he sighed. "Thank you, I'll buy you an ice-cream for it." A grin. "Or two."
Jeff almost instinctively grabbed at his stomach. He was pretty sure it was not allowed to act like it currently was. Why was everything so different from what he had expected? He didn't know what his body wanted in order to stop or if it was supposed to stop at all.
"You deserve one too, after this class."
"Oh, I'll be fine," Nick waved it off and they reached another corridor. "My stop," he smiled.
"Maybe I'll sneak some ice-cream in, tomorrow night," Jeff laughed. "See you," he leant closer to Nick, stopping short when their faces were inches apart.
The brunet didn't even blink until a moment later, when he too mirrored the other's puzzled look. What were they just about to do? Pulling back quickly, Jeff patted his shoulder with a trembling hand and they separated.
o0o0o
"No. What I did last summer was crazy. This is...just..." she was in denial about her speechlessness.
More than happy with the result, Cade grinned, still holding her shoulders and he twirled her around a black, waist-level teapot, circled by five coloured cushions. Dozens of placements like this were splattered around the slightly damp grass of the park, a few still-barren trees close by, just perfect for a few light bulbs to be hanged from them on straws.
"And the mushrooms?" she laughed, kneeling down and stroking a big, plastic mushroom among other smaller ones.
Her boyfriend grinned. "These are for the booze. I figured it was safer than in the teapots."
She goggled. "There's something in them?" she hurried to the closest teapot and peeked inside.
"Un-spiked punch or alcohol-free cider," he answered, glad to see her almost freak out.
"Oh, my God..."
"Should I call the guests too?"
The girl flailed her arms, nudging him to move faster as she glanced at the whole 'landscape' around her. On a black table, there were at least ten kinds of biscuits...not to mention the tarts on the one next to it. She was right, this was insane and it hadn't even started.
However, in a matter of seconds she was already engulfed in group hugs and cheers that didn't let her voice out another astonished gasp. "Going well?" Nick asked when he stayed behind, on quieter grounds with the party's co-host.
"We made it five minutes, maybe I have a chance," the boy grinned, stomping excitedly on his feet.
"Don't get drunk," the other added, worriedly. He was certainly not going to carry him home after this.
Cade smiled. "You too," he got a grimace. "S-sorry. Well, let's have fun," he patted him on the back and went for the crowd.
o0o0o
"Aw, look at them," David cooed from a distance when the girls he was previously trying to woo were distracted by somebody else. No hard feelings.
"Our very own little lovebirds," Trent grinned, sitting on a dark purple cushion near the rest of their group.
"This may beat...," Thad looked around and stopped. "Nick!"
"Beat Nick?" Wes laughed, mending the teapot at their centre to pour himself a glass of chilled punch. Good thing they had radiators around, else they would have already frozen to death.
The boy turned from where he was watching the couple silently, a few metres away. Blinking, he pushed a few dangling light bulbs out of the way and took the place he was given around the cold, giant teapot, smiling slightly. He knew he was going to be amused by them from the first moment he had spotted them and he hadn't been mistaken.
Thad shook his head and stole Trent's glass instead, making him groan in response. "I was saying," he turned towards Nick, "that this may beat that time you planned their whole date."
The brunet frowned. "He had threatened me that time."
"It was still the best first date," Trent grinned before looking at the couple again, who were glowering over some tiny plastic mushrooms.
The evening light was already getting dimmer so nobody could see the far parts of the park anymore. More lights had been turned on around them and, whether it was the social atmosphere or the discreet opening of some alcohol bottles around those around them, they weren't quite as cold as they feared.
Somewhere relatively far from them, somebody let his overcoat dangle wildly in the air as he ran.
"Geronimooooo!"
"Wait for me! You don't even know where it is!"
"No, I don't!" the ginger kept on running down the descending path on the hill – God bless parks for their natural ambient – stopping only by grabbing a thin tree with his hands.
"Stay," Jeff took a hold of his shoulder and inhaled deeply, a few tendrils of his bangs already sticking to his forehead, "here," he finished and raised his eyes to the artificially lighted park.
"Tie me," Miles breathed, laughing half-heartedly.
"You're not gonna leave it, are you?" Jeff involuntarily checked said accessory.
Miles had started making fun of him for it even before he had the chance to put it on. It only made sense, no doubt he was jealous, not anybody found that pattern nowadays. At his smirk, the blond pouted.
"Let's go, it's around there," he pointed at a few twinkling, yellowish lights at the corner of the alley.
They drew closer, this time trying to walk at the same pace. For mid-march, it was still quite cold, especially as it was drawing close to eight o'clock. Jeff felt thankful for the dark green hoodie he had brought, despite it not going quite well with his shirt...or tie.
The place wasn't at all noisy yet. The music was good and, even thought the volume was quite low, they could still hear it. Cade, however, seemed to have something to say about it, as he was currently retrieving small, colourful – painted, for good measure – bottles out of mushrooms. What a sight, too.
"Hey! Hey! Take this," the boyfriend hurried towards them with two half-full glasses.
"What's this...?" Miles sniffed at it and raised an eyebrow at the co-host. Jeff, on the other hand, took a good gulp out of it as soon as he saw its fluorescent red and green colours.
"Ugh," he grimaced childishly, glowering at the glass now. "It's spiked...ugh," he wanted to put it on a table, but there was none around him, so it remained in his hands.
"Come on, it's not that bad," he turned in place to look at the rest of the party. "Thank you for helping me," he smiled back at Jeff, knocking their glasses together, then doing the same with Miles'. "You too, for putting up with us these past days."
The other just nodded while Jeff glanced from his drink to Cade again. "I didn't really do anything, but I'm glad it turned out good," he finally smiled.
And then it happened. Something as powerful as a nuclear explosion, some may think, but a good part of them didn't even seem to acknowledge it. Cade stared at one of his friends who had leaned closer to tell him some secret words. Jeff, on his part, caught the warning signs he had been given.
"I gotta go," Cade's eyes widened at them and immediately ran to another part of the party's site.
"What...?" Miles' mouth hung open without any words coming out anymore.
"Come on," Jeff grabbed his elbow and dragged him away from the eventual, metaphorical fire.
"But what happened?" his friend persisted even when they got to something that the blond seemed to consider a 'safe place'.
Jeff shrugged. "Dunno. They told us to duck," he pointed at David and Thad in the distance. "Let's go there."
The redhead gave himself a few seconds to assimilate the information while his friend was already getting ahead. "Wait!" he shouted, hurrying after him. "Like in the Weeping Angels' episode?"
The other's laugh did not make him feel any better. Avoiding a few close-knit packs of girls and boys alike, Jeff with the grace of the dancer he denied he was most of the times, Miles stumbling a little on his track, they finally reached their destination.
"So the superhero came, after all," David chuckled at Jeff, looking around for two more cushions for the newcomers.
"And R-..." Trent tried to say, but Miles' glare quickly shut him up.
"I'm not Robin," he said, leaving no room for discussion.
"Oh, you liked him, come off it," Jeff voiced wanna-be carelessly as he got a black cushion for himself and placed it innocently beside Nick. "Hey."
"Hey," the brunet smiled, watching him as he sat down. Not good for your breathing, Jeff, the other mumbled in his head.
"What's that?" Wes eyed Miles' drink as he took a 'seat' too.
The ginger looked at his glass as if he had seemingly forgotten about it and frowned. "No idea," he passed it to David's extended hand.
The senior squinted at it suspiciously, exchanging a glance with Wes before taking a good sip of it. As by instinct, Jeff finished his glass at the same time, quite scared of what he was going to find out, but not intending to let it go. It was quite tasty, after all. This time, his throat burned a little harder and he missed Nick's slightly worried look.
"Oh," David laughed, lowering the drink. "It's safe, nothing too strong. We've been right. I'm gonna smuggle one of those mushrooms," he got up rapidly as some of them encouraged his plan and went straight for the more social areas.
Immediately, Trent and Wes got a hold of Miles between them, no doubt telling him about all the advantages of being a Warbler and how good it could be for him and how it will help him in the race for presidency. The usual stuff. While Thad was showing a hopeless Nick his prey for the night, a set of two strawberry-blond haired twin girls, Jeff looked over them at a running Cade in the distance, frowning at his behaviour.
"We're having a small problem with the cake," Nick startled him with a whisper, naturally leaning closer to him.
Half of his grey cells were yelling ABORT, but he only managed to smile waveringly, staying frozen in place. Across the...teapot, he saw Miles narrowing his eyes at him. That could either mean that he looked strange or that his friend was finally getting scared by the two pests nagging at him. Hopefully not the first choice, but most probably.
Not good, not good, not good, his heart was frantic up to the point that it was getting ridiculous. You're doing this to yourself, Jeff. It's not such a big thing. It must have been the drink too, there was no way he could be affected like that solely by Nick's voice. Or closeness. Or breath, so close to his cheek. No, no way. That was absurd.
"You don't want to be in his way while he's freaking out," he continued and Jeff could have sworn that Nick's forehead touched his hair. Oh, dear Lord in Heaven...
"Okay," he whispered back, turning his head ever so slightly, just enough to look into bright hazel. Then someone pulled on his brown and blue tie.
"The Raggedy Doctor," Nick grinned, still holding onto the material.
Jeff spared him an incredulous look as they were now at a normal distance again. He blinked. "How could you know everything that I've watched?"
A light, but nevertheless visible blush for the other's keen glasses spread on Nick's cheeks. "It's just...bits. I used to get bored a lot."
"Used to?" the blond inquired, glancing at his captured tie again.
His friend eventually let it go, sending him a significant smile. Me? Jeff widened his eyes and Nick grinned in agreement. However, the last few actions seemed to have exhausted the brunet's resources of courage or whatever he thought he needed then, as he rapidly sunk into himself, looking at everything but at Jeff.
o0o0o
Thump. The boy landed on his back, giggling at the stars.
"You're drunk, Dave. Anything to say about this experience?" Wes grinned at his best friend who laughed as if he owned the world.
"Wheeeezeeeey!" the senior giggled again, moving his hands in the air until Wes and Thad got a hold of them.
Trent, on the other hand, got closer to Nick and Jeff. Miles had been hiding behind them for a while now, anyways. "Bound to happen," he gestured at the other three. "Better than the other time, though. Should we help him out?"
"Nah, give him a little more time, he's having fun," Nick smiled at the laughing David.
"In his own little twisted world," Miles hummed mysteriously behind them, getting a fit of giggles from Jeff. "Stop it, you only had one drink," he frowned.
"You're a gnome!" Jeff laughed, hiding his face into Nick's shoulder. Just one drink, yes, but it had been his first drink ever. How could he have known? "Okay, okay, I'm good," he wiped his eyes while still keeping a big smile on his face and giggled at the faces Nick was pulling at him.
In the end, the cake was not the start of a disaster. It arrived a little late, true, but it was still intact and fluffy and green and downright insane. And who had ever thought of incorporating candy floss in a birthday cake? Cade did, apparently, as he had designed more or less the whole thing.
"Well, this ought to clear his mind of those breaking up thoughts for a while, right?" Trent glanced at the couple as they took a break from another group of people and were walking around the decorated, still barren trees.
"Hopefully," Nick agreed, leaning back on his elbows on the grass. "They'll be fine."
"Can somebody give him a damn candy?" Wes rose from the ground, where he had been decrypting David's amused chokes and some colleague of theirs threw a couple of green pieces of sugar at them.
Trent let out a calming sigh. "Lovely. Why are we making a singles' corner here?" he turned in order to see the other three better and grimaced. "Unacceptable."
"It's not like we can help it," Miles mumbled grumpily, hugging his knees. Almost imperceptively, Nick nodded too.
The asker goggled quizzically at both of them, then shared a displeased look with Jeff, whose circuits were working so hard that he hadn't had any reaction to all that. Don't say anything, the alcohol will change your words. He blinked forcefully, trying to wake up for good. Don't say anything.
"Of course you can help it, it's the only thing you can do," Trent groaned, turning his eyes towards the night sky.
"And you?" Miles shot back, distrustful.
"I...," he cleared his throat, "I'm working on it."
The two in cause grinned at their small victory. "We promise we'll do our best then too," Nick smiled innocently at him, knowing that he didn't buy any of it. "Jeff?" he turned his head as the blond ducked and shook his.
"Nothing." Don't say anything.
Out of nowhere, the redhead started throwing question after question at Trent and wow, I didn't think it really mattered to him, Jeff mused, looking with wide eyes at his roommate.
"Of course it's enough! Geez, Miles, most say there aren't enough nice guys on this Earth," the victim smiled motherly at the distressed teen.
"But that can't...that's not..."
"That makes you a good friend. You need a little more to attract someone romantically," Nick spoke, glancing at the two of them, then drifted back into his own soul a little.
Readjusting his shirt, Trent scoffed. "You're both paranoid and you're all going to find your paranoid halves."
At this, the ginger kept on pressing on the matter, but Nick shut their conversation a little more off as Jeff's eyes were still trained on him, drifting in and out of focus. Tired, he was tired. How late was it, anyways? "I don't see that happening anytime soon," the blond stirred as Nick's whisper reached his ears in time with a small, somewhat sad smile.
And before he could catch it, it was out. "I've got to tell you something."
He knew he did, but now it was definite. He had to confess some time and if it was going to boost Nick's confidence, then it was all for the best. He hadn't totally screwed up, after all. The brunet's big eyes looked into his and he felt his mouth dry.
"But not now." Raised eyebrows. "Too much noise," he brushed it off and went to get himself another glass of harmless juice.
Happy Hung-...chapter's end! XD
Thank you so much for reading. Your comments or flails (why would you do that?) or complaints are much appreciated are guarantee you virtual chocolate and hugs. Or whatever you want...we have bread too.
Many thanxies to Xim, by the way, for helping me with the party decorations. The teapots are hers. XD
Next chapter, next Saturday :) Jeff will be a very brave little soldier.