Hello again!
I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and a great new year!
A big thank you to Melbi and NCISfan768 for reviewing :D
They were sitting around the table – the nine of them – with full stomachs. Lunch had a while ago finished, but they remained in the Dining Room talking and laughing and being rowdy like the young men they were.
Nick was glad to have met Thad, Blaine, David and Wes, as well as Sam and Finn. He'd never really had much in the way of friends, and he wasn't sure whether they'd all keep in contact once the ship docked, but in the here and now, Nick was content.
He had Jeff by his side, and his friends surrounding him with their laughter. There was nothing else in the world he could really wish for at that point in time.
Jeff's hand was in his, and the boy's thumb was lazily drawing circles on the top of Nick's hand. He was relaxed by the feeling of it – it was Jeff's own way of telling him he was always there. Nick's spare arm was lying across the back of Jeff's chair, and they were both sitting back in their seats, their bodies angled in towards each other.
Nick looked over at Jeff and smiled, and the blond leant his head back against Nick's arm as he returned the gesture, not looking away.
Nick was truly amazed at just how beautiful Jeff was. His features seemed perfect, his face well proportioned. It was his eyes that got to Nick the most, though. If he could, he would undoubtedly look into them all day.
And his hands. Nick had always loved hands. They were second only to eyes in telling a person's emotions. They could give away any feeling so easily. The shake of a fist in anger or a gentle stroke down the arm in love, hands were definitely one of Nick's favourite things. Since he had met Jeff, he had learnt that there was nothing quite like the feeling of having the fingers of another threaded between your own, or the comfort of gentle hands resting upon your waist. Jeff's love was by far his favourite emotion to read with the hands.
At least, he hoped that was why Jeff couldn't keep his hands off him.
Nick smiled despite himself, and it caught the attention of the blond next to him. Jeff looked over, a quizzical look upon his face.
Nick shook his head, telling Jeff not to worry about it. His boyfriend would definitely think he was crazy if he told him what was going through his mind.
He closed his eyes and leant his head back, quite happy to hear the others talking around him without joining in himself. He was just beginning to think about the wonderful life he had ahead of him with Jeff when he heard a soft whisper in his ear.
"Nick?"
He opened his eyes and saw Jeff's own looking into his. He moved his head closer to the blond's. "Yeah?"
Jeff lowered his eyes shyly before looking back up at Nick. "Can you come with me?"
"You want to go?"
"Yeah." Jeff nodded.
"Alright." Nick stood, pushing himself up from the table. He pulled Jeff up with him and he let go of his hand to wrap his arm around his waist.
All eyes at the table were on them.
"We're going to go, you guys." Jeff smiled, looking around the group of friends. "We're going to do some exploring."
Sebastian choked on the water he was drinking. "I bet you are."
"Sebastian!" Nick rolled his eyes while the others laughed.
"Leave the poor guys alone, Seb." Blaine hit Sebastian on the arm closest to him.
"Yeah," Wes grinned, "they're young and in love and you're just jealous."
Sebastian just shrugged with a grin on his face. "I can't help it. They set themselves up for it, you know. Every single time."
"And you have to open your mouth and make them feel uncomfortable every single time." Sam raised an eyebrow and looked at Sebastian.
"Of course." He frowned as if it was the simplest thing on earth. "Nick's my family. It's a rite of passage. Comes in the job description, right Nicky?"
Nick looked amused. "Something like that."
Jeff shook his head, smiling at the group. "Alright. We'll catch you later on, guys."
As a chorus of goodbyes arose from the table, he took Nick's hand in his and they walked out of the Dining Room.
They walked silently towards their cabin for several moments until Nick's curiosity got the better of him.
"So," he glanced up at Jeff and nudged him with his shoulder, "what are we doing?"
Jeff smiled down at him, now slightly doubting the idea. He stopped walking, taking Nick by surprise even at their slow speed.
He looked up and down the empty passageway and then looked into his boyfriend's eyes, taking both his hands in his.
"Can you paint me a picture?"
Nick blushed at the idea. "Um, I guess so. What would you like me to paint?"
"Us." Jeff was so sure, said without a moment's hesitation. "I want you to paint a picture of us."
"Us?"
"Yeah."
"Wow, ok." Nick breathed out slowly. "Why?"
Jeff smiled. "I want to remember these few days for the rest of my life, Nick. Once we get off this boat, we're going to start a whole new chapter, and for our whole lives we're going to look back at this short time and reminisce about it. And while this trip's given me your love – which is more than I could ever ask for – I'd also like something else, another physical reminder, of this wonderful time. If we can ever somehow find a way to have some sort of family together, I want to have something to pass down so that everyone knows how and when we first met."
Nick was watching his boyfriend in silence as he spoke, almost overwhelmed by the devotion inside him.
Jeff looked away. "You probably think it's stupid, I know. And I guess it does sound sort of crazy but I just – "
Nick cut him off, kissing him suddenly and wrapping his arms around his middle. Jeff responded by looping his arms around Nick's neck loosely and pulling them to the side of the corridor where his back came to rest against the wall.
Nick ran his hands down the blond's side gently and pulled away after several moments.
Jeff grinned. "I take it that's a yes then?"
Nick pushed Jeff more firmly against the wall, his arms still tight around his waist. "That's a big yes. Could you be any more perfect?"
"I'm not perfect. I've got flaws." Jeff ducked his head slightly.
Nick pushed up against him and leaned in to whisper in his ear. "Not to me you don't."
Jeff smiled and leaned down to kiss Nick softly once more. "Well might I say that you're pretty perfect yourself, handsome."
Nick smiled, the idea that Jeff wanted to somehow have a family with him sitting in the front of his mind. They were only nineteen years old, and had only met just three days before, but Jeff was so certain of what he wanted. Who cares if it was virtually impossible – just the idea of it made Nick smile.
Although the possibility of them being able to do so was quite slim. Nick thought that they were both still really to have to come to terms with how they would be seen and treated when they were out in the world. Nick had never himself seen a relationship where both partners were of the same gender, but he knew that it was highly frowned upon by the large, large majority of the population.
He and Jeff were still going to have to come to terms with the enormity of it.
But if Jeff wanted a family with him, Nick wouldn't be able to stop trying to get that for anything.
