A/N: Okay, so Chapter 21 is kinda just a chapter to lead onto what is going to happen next and it kinda turned into an excuse for some Niff fluff, which is never bad, I suppose!
Disclaimer: I do not own Glee.
"You fainted?" Sebastian laughed incredulously as Nick recounted the day's happenings to him and Thad.
"Yes, I did," Jeff said, blushing a little, "I was shocked, that's all. One hundred thousand pounds is a lot of money."
"You can say that again!" Seb cried, "That's more than a lot! I say, Nicky-boy, what are you going to do with all of that?"
"Jeff and I were thinking of using some of it trying to do up the house," Nick replied, "But that's going to be difficult while the war's on, what with all the tradesmen off fighting, and materials in short supply. We'll do what we can now, and then we shall have to wait until this war is over, I suppose."
"That's boring," Sebastian muttered, "You should do something exciting with it!"
"I'm actually quite frightened of having that much money," Nick admitted, "I don't want to get carried away with it."
"We won't let you," Jeff reassured him, wrapping an arm around the brunette's waist and nudging him with his shoulder. "Now, shall we get on up to this house then?"
The other three boys all nodded, and got up from where they'd been sitting around the Sterlings' kitchen table, drinking mugs of warm milk, which Jeff's mother had made for them.
They headed out across the fields to the old house, passing Jeff's father and the land girls as they went. Santana threw Nick and Jeff a playful wink, while Brittany waved wildly at them; the others just sort of simpered and waved coyly at the four boys. Jeff had to fight the urge to laugh since Thad was the only one of them interested in girls in any way, and he was engaged in a conversation with Sebastian and taking no notice of them.
"I want to go up the drive," Nick said suddenly, as they came over the crest of the penultimate hill, and they could see the gravel path twisting up past the side of the next hill, behind which lay the house itself. "I want to go up to it properly, not like we're going to break in again."
The others agreed, for they couldn't really say no to Nick; this was his family's ancestral home after all.
And so, they walked up the winding drive, and the house loomed up in front of them all of a sudden in such a majestic way that Nick had the same vision he had had the first day they'd been there; the one of carriages rolling up to the door and their occupants alighting onto the front step. It was such a vivid image that Nick was sure that he had just passed a duchess as she fixed her dress, and narrowly avoided a wayward footman as he checked on the wheels of his carriage.
And then, Nick looked up and he could just see his grandfather stepping out onto the front step and welcoming his guests; he saw him as a young man, looking very much the same as he did, and he immediately understood that he was imagining a ball from the last century.
"Nicky, hey, Nicky, are you alright?" Jeff's voice interrupted him, and suddenly all of the visions were gone. "You've gone white, are you sure you're not ill?" the blonde boy was still talking to him.
Nick shook his head to clear it, and then turned to look at the other boy.
"I'm fine," he said, letting Jeff wrap an arm around his waist and support his weight a little. "I just didn't expect this to affect me so much."
And there it was again, the same as when he and Jeff had first gone up there all those months ago, the overwhelming feeling of being attached to the building some way. Before he had thought of it as being smitten with the house, but now he knew that it was just what coming home felt like.
They went right up to the front step, and then Jeff pressed the key into Nick's hand and went to stand back with Thad and Sebastian, but he did not make it more than two steps before his best friend caught his hand and laced their fingers together tightly.
"Stay," Nick said softly, "Do this with me, please?"
Jeff looked at him in surprise.
"But this is your house," he said, "I just thought that you would want to do this on your own."
"No, this is our house," Nick said firmly, and with that, he turned the key in the lock and the door swung open, revealing the entrance hall and the wide sweeping central staircase.
He took Jeff's other hand and pulled him close, kissing him deeply as they stood on the front step. The blonde boy smiled against the other boy's mouth and tried to press himself even closer.
"Our house," he whispered happily, once they'd broken apart for air, and then he pulled Nick up for another kiss.
"Oi, do you mind?" a rather irritated voice interrupted them, "We're still here, you know!"
Jeff giggled as he wrapped his arms around Nick and then turned to face Sebastian, who was standing a few feet away with his hands on his hips, looking rather annoyed.
"Oh, good, you've stopped," Seb said, "I thought I was going to have to prise you two apart with my own hands."
Next to him, Thad laughed and shoved him playfully in the side.
"Leave them alone," he said, before hurrying up to stand beside Nick and Jeff on the front step. "Come on, let's go inside."
"You go ahead," Nick said, pulling Jeff to one side to let Thad and Sebastian pass. "Go and have a look inside, we'll be there in a minute."
The other two boys nodded, and, without even a comment from Sebastian, stepped over the threshold of the house and quickly headed for the staircase, disappearing upstairs within a matter of seconds.
"Wow, this house is huge!" came Sebastian's cry of approval a few moments later, and then there was silence.
"So, why are we still standing out here?" Jeff looked down at Nick with a smile on his face.
"Because I wanted it to be just us for a moment," the brunette said, "So that I could carry you across the threshold privately."
The blonde raised an eyebrow and laughed lightly.
"Really?" he asked, "Isn't that something that you're supposed to do after you're married?"
"Yeah, but I don't think that we're going to be able to get married anytime soon," Nick said, "So, come on, indulge me."
Jeff blushed but relented, and allowed Nick to slip one arm under his legs, and the other under his arms, before hoisting him up against his chest.
"This is nice," he murmured, wrapping his arms around Nick's neck.
Nick merely smiled adoringly down at him, before stepping carefully over the threshold and into the entrance hall.
"Thank you," he said softly, leaning down to kiss the boy in his arms.
Jeff giggled again, he seemed to be doing that a lot at the moment, and then settled comfortably into the space between Nick's shoulder and chin.
"No, Jeffy, you need to get down," the brunette laughed, as the blonde boy ran his nose teasingly over his collarbone. "Jeffy, you're heavy."
"I'm not," the other boy replied indignantly, but his words were muffled by Nick's skin. "Carry me."
"Carry you where?" Nick tried to sound exasperated, but it was hard to disguise how nice it felt to just hold Jeff in his arms, even if the blonde boy was actually taller than him.
Jeff gestured rather wildly with one arm in the vague direction of the door to their right.
"Sofa," he said, "In there, please."
Nick rolled his eyes and made his way across the tiled floor to the room Jeff had been indicating; it was the first room that they'd ever gone in, and the furniture was still arranged how they had left it. Crossing over to the sofa, he went to deposit Jeff on it as gently as he possibly could, but it seemed that the blonde boy had other ideas, for he would not let go of Nick's neck and pulled the brunette down on top of him so that they became a mass of tangled limbs.
"Jeff!" Nick cried in surprise, as his arms went flailing in an attempt to find something to support himself with before his body crashed into Jeff's and they both just lay there laughing for several minutes, neither of them caring at the slightly awkward position they were in.
Nick was just leaning in for a kiss when footsteps in the room halted him.
"Seriously, we are still here," Seb's voice cut in, "Couldn't you two have waited a little bit longer?"
Nick sighed heavily and let his head fall defeated onto Jeff's chest.
It was Friday morning. It was an ordinary day.
Jeff came running down the stairs with only one arm in his jumper, and the rest of the material bunched up around his neck. His parents shook their heads at the sight of him, and his father pushed the pile of letters across the table.
"Any for me?" the blonde boy asked, wrestling with the empty arm of his jumper as he tried to fully dress himself.
"Not today, I'm afraid," his mother said, "There is one for Nick though."
"Oh, good," Jeff said happily, "He'll be pleased."
But his parents gave him warning looks and he backed up a little.
"Mum? Dad?" he asked warily, gingerly reaching for the envelope and picking it up.
The War Office insignia was emblazoned on the top right corner.
"Oh," Jeff said quietly, "I see. Well, I'll…I'll take it up to him."
Harry Sterling nodded solemnly.
"Alright, son," he said, "We knew that this was coming."
Jeff nodded.
"I guess," he said in a resigned tone, "But I guess in my head I thought that if I ignored it for long enough, then it wouldn't come true."
"Life doesn't work like that, son," his father said gently.
"So it seems," Jeff replied, turning away and walking slowly back up the stairs to his bedroom.
He knocked carefully on the door.
"Nicky? You ready yet?"
"Almost, Jeffy," Nick called back, "Are you alright? You don't usually knock before coming in."
"Today's different," the blonde said tiredly, pushing the door open and finding Nick doing up the buttons on his shirt.
The brunette looked up in concern as his best friend entered and immediately sat down heavily on his bed.
"Jeffy?" he asked, "Jeffy, is something wrong?"
"This came for you," Jeff held out the letter limply.
"From my mother?" Nick asked innocently.
Jeff shook his head.
"Sadly not," he said, "Look at the front."
Nick held it up in front of him as he tried to do the last few buttons with one hand. he noticed the insignia and the colour drained from his face.
"Of course," he said softly, "Of course, it would be that." He looked down at his shirt. "Stupid buttons," he muttered, his hands shaking too much now to get the button through the hole.
"Let me," Jeff said, getting up and carefully buttoning Nick's shirt deftly. "There, all done." He kissed the brunette's forehead tenderly, before taking his hand and making him sit down to open the letter.
Cautiously, Nick pulled out the paper inside and read through it in his head.
"My birthday," he said, "Well, the day afterwards, I have to go up to London and register there. Apparently I'll get more details there as to where I will be sent for training."
"I'll come with you," Jeff said immediately, "To London, I mean. Maybe we can do a bit of sightseeing this time around?"
Nick smiled weakly.
"Maybe," he said.
"And I'll write to Hunter," the blonde continued, "He can come down with us and hopefully then you can at least get stationed at the same place as him. How about that?"
"I'd like that," Nick said, "Thank you, Jeffy."
Jeff kissed to side of his head and smiled.
"You're welcome," he said, "I'd do anything to make this better for you."
Jeff wrote to Hunter as soon as he could, and Hunter replied with the agreement that he would get down to London to meet them on the day after Nick's birthday. He also sent words of encouragement, telling Nick that it wasn't too bad really, especially since not much had really happened in the past few months; Jeff read that bit out to the other boy, and he'd thought that he'd been about to burst into tears.
Jeff's parents suggested that Nick and Jeff get the train up to London on the evening of Nick's birthday so that he could spend some of the time with his friends in the village, but still make it up to London in time for the registration.
"You can pop in and see your parents too," Mrs Sterling said with a smile, "I'm sure that they'd love to see you on your birthday."
Nick had agreed, and he and Jeff had set about planning their trip.
"I want to see Buckingham Palace," Jeff said, lying on his back on his bed while Nick lay on the floor and scribbled their plans down on a sheet of paper. "And Big Ben, and St. Paul's, and Trafalgar Square."
Nick laughed.
"I'll just take you on the general tour then," he said, "Just about everywhere, right?"
Jeff squatted at him lazily with one hand.
"I'm just excited," he said, "I've not seen London properly before; that time with your cousin's funeral doesn't count."
"Where are we going to stay?" Nick asked, "My house?"
Jeff rolled over so that his head was hanging over the edge of the bed and he was looking down at the brunette.
"Actually," he said, "I had something I wanted to ask about that."
Nick screwed his face up in confusion.
"Really?" he asked, "What was it?"
Jeff blushed a little before continuing.
"Well," he said, "You know how you'll be eighteen when we go down there, what with it being your birthday and everything?"
Nick nodded.
"Yes," he said slowly, not entirely sure where Jeff was going with this.
"Well, I was wondering whether you could get some money out of your bank account," Jeff said, "I mean, I would pay for it, but I really have no money, and I don't know where I would get any this quickly. But I wanted to ask whether we could take some money up to London with us and pay for a room for the night, at a hotel or something, you know, just the two of us."
When Nick looked up at the other boy, he discovered that he had gone completely red and was sort of looking at him with a desperate look on his face, as though willing him to say something and save him from drowning in embarrassment.
"Oh," he said softly, "Oh, I see. Well, won't people think that it's a bit odd if two boys turn up and book one room?"
"We could say we're related?" Jeff tried.
Nick raised one eyebrow.
"That's creepy," he said.
"Fine," Jeff sighed, "We'll book two adjoining rooms. Though they'd better be adjoining, because I'm not running down the corridor to come and find you."
Nick laughed.
"I'll see what I can do," he said, "There's a few nice places to stay in London which we should be able to afford."
Jeff grinned happily and clapped his hands together.
"I can't wait!" he cried, "Though I'm sorry about using your money."
Nick waved his apologies away.
"It's fine," he said, "I'm not entirely sure what to do with it if I'm honest, and if I get to spend it on you, then why not?"
Jeff blushed again and tried to roll over before Nick saw him.
On the floor, the brunette laughed and then quickly added a new plan underneath the old one.
Nick's birthday went splendidly.
Jeff dragged him downstairs at some time in the morning which was far too early for him to be up, and opened the back door to reveal the Warblers, led by Wes, who Nick hadn't realised was back home, singing to him, before wishing him a happy birthday and handing over their presents.
Well, present, because they had all clubbed together and bought him a smart new jacket, which he put on immediately and declared that he loved it.
"It's a little unseasonal," Thad did apologise, "Since the weather is just starting to get warmer, but we thought you might want something to remind you of us, and it might get cold at night."
Nick hugged all of them and promised to come back and visit whenever he could, because if Hunter was able to, then he would be too, and they seemed to be satisfied with that.
After dinner that evening, Mr and Mrs Sterling took Nick and Jeff down to the station in the cart; Nick's clothes all packed back into his case and Jeff's room looking as though the brunette had never even been there. The stationmaster greeted them as he always did, waving them onto the platform with a cheery smile.
"There's a lot of them out there today," he said, "Busiest we've been all year; they can't all be getting the same train." He laughed and they went through the other door, wondering what he was talking about; or at least, Nick did, the Sterlings themselves didn't seem to take much notice.
As soon as they all stepped out onto the platform though, Nick suddenly understood what the stationmaster had been talking about.
For there stood all of the Warblers, minus Hunter, of course and their parents; Mr and Mrs Clarington; half of their class from school; Miss Bailey; Miss Jones; and even Mr Hill and Mr Young.
Nick's mouth dropped open, and he turned to face Jeff in disbelief, only to find the blonde grinning wildly at him.
"Are they all here for…?" he trailed away as the other boy nodded.
"They've all come to send you off," he said, "We're all really proud of you, Nicky."
The brunette blushed a little and tried to sink into the ground, as though he was trying to hide from the attention.
"But Hunter does the same thing," he said, "Did he get a big send off?"
Jeff chuckled.
"Do you think that Mrs Clarington would have let him go without one?" he asked. "But no, this one is special, Nicky, because Hunter went because he wanted to go. You don't, Nicky, but you're going anyway, and that makes you incredibly brave."
"I don't feel brave," Nick said, "Not at all."
And then, Jeff was gripping his hand tightly and whispering encouragement in his ear, just like that, and he felt marginally better.
The train was due in ten minutes, which gave Nick the chance to say goodbye to everyone and thank them all for being so kind to him while he'd been staying in the village.
"I'm going to miss seeing you with Jeffrey in my shop," Mrs Jones said, as she pulled Nick in for a rather tight hug. "Stay safe, won't you? And look after Jeffrey while you're in London for a bit, please? You know what he's like."
Nick laughed.
"I'll do my best, Mrs Jones," he said, as, behind him, the blonde boy pouted.
Mrs Jones smiled warmly.
"You and Jeffrey make a lovely pair," she said, "I'm very happy for you two."
Both Nick and Jeff grinned at each other and then at the woman in front of them.
"Thank you," Nick said gratefully, the riddle which Mrs Jones had said to him the first time they'd gone to her shop together sticking firmly in his mind suddenly. "I guess my manners did come in handy," he said.
Mrs Jones chuckled.
"I guess they did, dear," she said, "It's just such a shame that Jeffrey's manners aren't quite up to par with yours." She and Nick laughed as Jeff huffed in annoyance.
"Everyone's so mean to me," he whined, tugging on Nick's arm and pulling him away with a final wave to Mrs Jones.
Finally, there was just Mr and Mrs Sterling left for Nick to say goodbye too. Josie Sterling hugged him tightly, telling him to stay safe and that he was welcome back at their house whenever he was home on leave. Harry Sterling shook his hand, and then hugged him as well.
"You're a good boy, Nicholas," Mr Sterling said, "Well, man, now, I guess. You take care of our son and we're very grateful for that; in fact, we were saying the other day that we could think of no one better for Jeffrey. You take care now, what with all this flying business, and come out unharmed, even if only for Jeff's sake."
He smiled and patted Nick on the back.
"I wouldn't dream of hurting him like that," Nick said, his voice catching in his throat emotionally, "I love him too much, sir." He turned to address both of Jeff's parents. "Thank you for everything that you've done for me, it means an awful lot that you took me in back in September and I have had the best time with all of you. I'll be back again soon."
"We look forward to seeing you," Mrs Sterling said, "Now, you and Jeffrey have a train to catch."
And as she turned them around and gave them both an encouraging push forwards, the train itself pulled into the station in a cloud of smoke. The guard, a young woman in her early twenties, got out of the last carriage and looked up and down the platform for potential passengers, starting a little in surprise at the amount of people gathered on the small station.
Nick and Jeff climbed aboard at a door in the third carriage, and, leaving their cases by some chairs, they stuck their heads out of the window to wave wildly.
The guard's whistle went, and the train began to pull out of the station. The crowd on the platform gave up a cheer and calls of good fortune rang around as the two boys leaned out of the carriage window and shouted their goodbyes until the train rounded a corner, and the station and the village were lost from sight.
The two boys managed to find a hotel easily enough, for there was a nice one just a few streets away from Nick's house, to which they had already been that evening, since Nick's parents wanted to see him on his birthday.
It had been an experience, Nick could call it that, he supposed, since the majority of the time they were there his father was silent, clearly upset that his only son was being forced to fight; while his mother had kept up some small talk for a bit, before breaking down when the two boys went to leave.
Nick couldn't blame them, he guessed, he wanted to cry too, and he'd always known his father's views on the war. He just didn't have a choice this time, did he?
The woman at the front desk of the hotel had raised her eyebrows in surprise when Nick had requested two rooms with an adjoining door, but while he tried to think of a plausible reason, Jeff had been so jittery beside him that he'd just given up and let the woman think what she wanted to.
The hotel rooms were perfect for the two boys, not too small or too large, and there weren't any flashy pieces of modern decorating which Jeff could break, or trip over, or get too enthusiastic about. There was also the fact that every room seemed to be furnished with a double bed, regardless of whether it was actually a single or double room; something which neither boy minded.
Nick decided that they should both eat something before anything else happened, since Jeff needed to calm down, and he thought that maybe some food might soothe his nerves, or get him to sit still for a few moments at least.
Several sandwiches from the hotel restaurant later, and Jeff still didn't seem very much better, in fact, he was now pacing.
"Is something wrong, Jeffy?" Nick asked, reaching out a hand to catch the blonde's own and to halt him in his tracks. "You haven't looked comfortable all evening. We can always go back to my house, if you want?"
Jeff shook his head.
"No," he said firmly, "I want to do this. I want to do this with you. It's just a big deal, you know? And I'll admit that I'm a bit nervous."
"I understand, Jeffy," Nick nodded, coaxing the other boy to sit down on the sofa beside him so that he could wrap his arms around his waist securely. "We'll go slowly, alright? And I'm going to take care of you."
The blonde smiled gratefully, and leaned into kiss the brunette deeply. Nick smiled into the kiss and reached up to wind his arms around Jeff's neck, pleased that he seemed to be calming down more effectively through this than any sort of talking.
After a few minutes, the two of them were breathing heavily and they broke apart for a second to catch their breath. Jeff smiled up at Nick, who was supporting himself on his arms above him.
"Happy birthday, Nicky," he said softly, "I hope you like your present."
A/N: And so, this means that next chapter will be a rather sad goodbye... :(
Thank you for reading, and please leave a review to tell me what you thought or to ask a question about the history.
Historical Points:
1. Just a small point this time, the train guard here is female - this job would not have been avaliable to women previously but during the war, with a shortage of men, women were required to take over; also, train guards are now known as conductors :)