A/N: Heyy everybody. Here's chapter 12! We're getting very close to the end of this baby...like 1 or 2 more chapters. I'm working on another fic that's related to this (sort of..not really...idk) and I'm super excited about it. So, yeah. Watch out for that in a few weeks. or a month. or two months. I don't really know. Thanks again for all the reviews, favorites, alerts, and just for reading! You guys are so amazing and I love you (: I don't own Glee, btw
I jolted awake, startled by the sound of the phone ringing downstairs. Nick stirred beside be, nuzzling his face into my shoulder. I checked the alarm clock. 9:45. I was glad I had slept through to whole night, I guess. My leg did sort of hurt though.
"Morning, sleepy," I whispered, kissing the top of Nick's head. He mumbled something incoherent into my neck. "What?"
"It's not morning," he said louder. "Go back to sleep."
"Actually, it's nine-forty five. AM. Last time I checked, AM meant morning."
"Go back to sleep," Nick croaked again.
I sighed into the brown hair underneath my nose, and pulled a face at the smell of it. "You seriously need to shower."
Nick grunted and pulled away, rolling to his side of the bed, out of my reach. "Happy?"
I frowned. "No."
"Didn't think so."
"Hey, boys," Mom greeted, coming into the room. "I'm glad you're awake."
"I'm not," Nick grumbled, pulling the comforter up over his head.
Mom chuckled. "So I need you guys to watch Lanie for me today. Nana has book club and your dad and I will most likely be spending the entire day working out details about Mr. Sterling's death and Jeff's welfare."
"Sounds like a blast," Nick mumbled into his pillow.
"Where's Kennedy?" I asked.
"School, of course," Mom said with a laugh.
Oh, yeah. It was Thursday. I thought about how much school I was going to miss and dreaded all the work I was going to have to make up. I decided to put the thought out of my head.
"Speaking of Kennedy, though, I need you to pick her up today, Nick."
"And leave my handicapped boyfriend alone with a toddler?" Nick asked, lifting his head from the pillow to look at Mom disbelievingly.
"Don't worry about me," I piped up. "Lane and I will be just fine."
Mom looked a little uncertain, but agreed as long Nick and I both kept our cell phones on in case I needed anything.
"Well, I guess that's about it. Dad is waiting for me downstairs. Be careful," she said in a very motherly tone, kissing us both goodbye. "And make sure to stay off your feet as much as possible, Jeff," she instructed as she left.
Nick turned to me. "Well, Jeffy-bear, what do you want to do today?" He asked, trying to muster up some enthusiasm.
"Go skiing," I said sarcastically.
"How about a movie?"
"That's not skiing."
"Well…we could watch a movie about skiing?"
I chuckled. "I was kidding, babe. I need to text Trent to see if he can email me his lab notes, and then we can watch a movie. Not about skiing," I added.
Nick smiled, hopping off the bed to check our stash of movies and pick one out. "I kinda like this whole 'no school thing.' You should break your leg more often."
I rolled my eyes and pulled out my phone, typing a quick text to Trent. I ignored all my other messages from various people inquiring about my health. I'd have my personal secretary, aka Nick, fill them in later. "What did you pick out?"
'All of our good movies are at Dalton. The only ones we have here are Ice Age, Cheaper by the Dozen, and Princess Diaries 2," Nick said, reading off the titles.
I snorted. "Why do we have Princess Diaries 2?"
"It's Kennedy's," Nick explained.
"Yeah, but why is it in our room?"
"Don't ever under appreciate Julie Andrews or Anne Hathaway, Jeffrey," Nick said seriously, ignoring my question and popping the movie into the DVD player before crawling back into bed.
"I knew you'd pick that one," I grumbled.
Nick grinned and I pulled him into my embrace, settling in for two hours of unbearable cheesiness.
The morning and early afternoon went by more quickly than expected. Nick and I watched all three of the movies in our room, plus a couple we found downstairs that were Dad's. We had eaten most of the popcorn we owned, plus about seventy million Pepsis each, which was probably a mistake on my part since getting up to pee wasn't all that easy anymore. 2:30 came around pretty fast and it was time for Nick to go pick up Kennedy.
"I'll be back soon, okay? Try not to move too much. Lanie should stay asleep the whole time I'm gone," Nick said.
"Nick, I have a mending broken leg. I'm not exactly terminal," I said from my place on the couch.
"Just be careful. And don't get up for anything unless you absolutely have to." Nick kissed my forehead. "Love you."
"Love you," I mumbled distractedly back as he slammed the door. I grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, flipping through the channels until deciding that the crap they played on Thursday afternoons was really not worth watching at all. I decided maybe I could take a nap, but having not done anything all day, I wasn't particularly tired. I needed to keep my mind busy, though. Just sitting here made me think about my dad too much.
I reached over to the end table for my book that I had to read for English. Shakespeare. More specifically, Hamlet. It kinda sucked. Might as well get something done, though.
After about 20 minutes of miserably reading my book, I was interrupted by the phone ringing. I knew I only had four rings to get to the kitchen and answer it, and that was practically impossible, but I sat up and got my crutches as fast as possible. By the time I got there, the phone had stopped ringing, but I just hit the dial button to call them back.
"Jeff? What the hell are you doing on the house phone?" I heard a familiar voice say.
"Nick? What the hell are you calling me on the house phone for?" I said, mimicking his tone.
"I was…nevermind."
"You were testing me," I said matter-of-factly.
"You shouldn't be getting up the answer the phone, Jeff!"
"I'm hanging up now." I set the phone down on the counter, rolling my eyes. I had just stumbled back into the living room and fallen back on the couch when the phone rang again. I sighed, annoyed. I felt kinda stupid that I forgot to just bring the phone in here, but whatever. I managed to get to the phone in time this go round. "Nick, if you don't quit calling me, I swear I'm-"
"Jeff, honey? It's Mom."
"Oh, " I sighed. "Hey Mom."
"I was jut making sure you're doing alright."
"I'm fine."
"We've been in meeting after meeting with different officers and attorneys. Everything's been practically worked out, so we'll be home pretty soon."
"Mmkay."
"I'll fill you in more when we get home."
"Mmkay."
"Be careful."
"Mmkay…loveyoubye." I hung up, sighing loudly before walking back to the living room, bringing the phone with me this time. I had read no more than one more page of Hamlet before I was cut off by a loud cry from a certain toddler upstairs. I groaned, fighting the urge to pound my head against the wall. I grabbed my crutches again and stumbled my way to the foot of the stairs before realizing it was no simple task to climb them without assistance. Nick and I hadn't really thought about that.
As I was contemplating the best way to tackle this situation, the doorbell rang. OH. MY. GOSH. Could this afternoon get any worse?
Actually, yeah, it probably could. But whatever.
I walked the few steps to the door and swung it open gruffly, feeling pretty miffed. I almost went into shock when I saw who was standing in front of me. "Mom. What are you doing here?"