Warning: Rated for cursing, slash and suicidal tendencies

Disclaimer: cheese

Author's Note: Last chapter eight months late! WOOOO...ahem...sorry, I've been quite ill as most of you know, and haven't had the energy to write...but here it is, the last chapter in this story! Thank you everybody who has been reading and I hope you enjoy...

Beep...beep...beep...

Itey became aware of things slowly. His head on a pillow. The strange smell surrounding him. A pain in his head. The soreness...

He tried to clear his throat but found it was too dry. Felt like acid burned it away... Light began to filter into his vision as his eyes fluttered.

Thoughts began to sift into his mind as his eyes opened wider. Where the hell was he...the last thing he remembered ...

He tried to sit up, but it felt like there was a twenty-pound weight on his chest. He looked to the right and saw his arm attached to an IV. A white sheet covered his torso and the smell, he realized, was the clean starched kind from a hospital...

Confusion clouded his brain. HOW could he be in a hospital when the last thing he remembered was lying on his bathroom floor as darkness took over his mind?

Itey looked to his left and felt his eyes go wide with shock. There, lying sideways on a hospital chair was Jack. His sandy head rested against the wall, his legs slung over the armrest, obviously trying to make the chair some sort of bed.

A woman wearing a shlumpy white outfit, who Itey could only assume was a nurse, walked into the room. She smiled slightly when she saw his eyes follow her.

"Oh good, you've finally decided to join us," she chirped as she went over to check his IV. Great. A cheerful nurse. "You've been out for around three days now yah know. You're a very lucky man," she absentmindedly muttered, taking his pulse. "If HE hadn't found you in time," she nodded toward the sleeping Jack "You wouldn't be here. And lucky you are," she lowered her voice, as though conspiring "He's cute!" Bringing her voice back up to her normal level, she continued. "Now, let me get you a glass of water..." She winked at Itey and left the room.

Itey's head began to spin. What. The. HELL?! She KNEW he was gay? No wait, not important, Jack had done WHAT?

His mouth formed the word 'Jack' but his throat refused to allow the word to be sounded. He gathered his strength to push himself up. He looked around the bright room, trying to find a way to attract Jack's attention without speaking. His eyes fell on a pencil, resting on a desk next to his bed. He reached over, grabbed it and carefully tossed it at Jack, wincing as he was still sore.

The pencil, of course, missed.

Before Itey could curse, the nurse re-entered the room, smiling widely and carrying a cup of, what he could only assume to be, water.

"Here you go," she said, handing him the cup. With a silent smile she left him again. Itey glared at her retreating back. Thanks for explaining things idiot!

Itey gently sat up and, clutching the cup in a shaking hand, took a sip. His throat immediately eased, being able to clear it now. He turned to croak at Jack.

"Jack." He cleared his throat again and took another drink of the water. "JACK," he managed to say loudly. Jack squirmed, eyes still closed, and crossed his arms over his chest.

Exasperated, Itey threw the half-filled cup at Jack's head.

This time, it didn't miss.

"Humphuh?" Jack started as the cup hit him and water spilled onto his hair. He blinked a couple of times and instantly looked to the bed. His face changed from worried to relieved to angry as he spotted Itey sitting up.

"Itey! You're up you're an IDIOT oh my God," Jack said, his words falling on top of one another. He grabbed Itey's hand in his. Itey stared at him dumbfounded. Jack's eyes were staring into his, so scared, so livid, so...loving?

"Jack, what the hell happened?" Itey asked slowly, his voice still gruff. "I thought I died."

Jack cupped Itey's face in one rough hand. His eyes began to shine as he told Itey what had happened-

Jack ran up the stone stairs of Itey's house. Snow speckled his hair and dampened his red face. He had run all the way from the bar, twenty blocks away, too impatient to wait for a train or a bus. He composed himself on the top step, breathing in deeply to catch his breath- to stop his hands from shaking. Which of course didn't work.

He reached one quivering finger out and rang the doorbell.

Jack could hear the ring bounce off the walls of the house, easing his worry that the doorbell would be broken.

A few minutes passed and nothing happened. A new worry crept into Jack's mind, one he had been trying to avoid. But that of course was ridiculous, there was no need to jump to THAT conclusion how silly

He rang the doorbell again, then more frantically as nothing was stirring inside the darkened house. He began to bang on the door.

"ITEY! Itey come on, it's me! It's JACK ITEY! ITEY OPEN THE DAMNED DOOR!" He wasn't sure why he started shouting. Unknown panic rose from his stomach into his throat. If he wasn't in of course he would be out why wouldn't he be out it's only what a normal person would do

He looked frantically around and spotted the flowerpot Itey had told him hid the key sitting on the sill next to him. Jack threw it to the ground, grabbing the key as the pot shattered.

Shaking hard he tried to fit the key in the lock. Please be ok please be ok oh god Itey

The door slammed open and Jack ran in the dark house, immediately noticing how the air wasn't much different from outside. How was he living with no heat...

"ITEY! Itey!" Jack called, running down the front hall into the kitchen. There were plates in the sink which obviously hadn't been touched for days. The fridge was open and Jack could see there wasn't anything in there but baking soda and lemons.

A panic gripped Jack's chest then and he took off, running through the house.

"Itey where are you? Itey? ITEY it's Jack, it's me! Where are you..." He ran up the stairs, taking two at a time.

The upstairs was as still as a graveyard- a thought that made Jack more frightened than he already was. A lump grew in his throat as he frantically tried to find what room Itey was in- neither of the bedrooms or the closet. There was only one more door.

Jack tried to push it open but found something was blocking it. He peaked through the crack and his body turned to ice.

Itey's head was blocking the door.

Itey's eyes had left Jack's face as he half-listened to his story. Jack's voice had cracked more than once telling him what had happened. He cleared his throat and continued speaking.

"They took you here and they pumped your stomach...all those pills." Jack shook his head, blinking hard. "And bandaged your head, where the door hit it...when they tried to get you out."

"I wasn't expecting to be disturbed," Itey whispered, looking at his dirty hands. For some reason those words triggered something in Jack's brain, causing fire to come back into his eyes.

"What the hell were you trying to pull Itey? Pie Eater leaves you so you try to fucking kill yourself? WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?" Jack yelled, his temper getting the best of him.

"I just...I...Jack please...," Itey whimpered, scared at the sudden rush of emotion. He couldn't bear it if Jack hated him and he would just have to re-try what he had already failed at.

"What is it Itey? Are you really THAT thick? Why would you hurt everybody like that? WHY would you want to kill yourself?" Jack asked, trying to calm his voice. He looked at Itey, but his friend wasn't there. It was a stranger, a child, defenseless and sad, so small and lonely.

Jack's heart clenched. He took Itey's hand in his and kissed the knuckles, but Itey didn't notice. A tear fell from his down-turned face onto his sheet.

"I had been sitting in the room...on our...my bed, and I was just thinking...I...I'm just a nobody. Nobody ever wants me," Itey whispered, his voice cracking at the end of the sentence. He rubbed his face, trying to make the tears stop but found it only made things worse.

"That's not true Itey," Jack said softly, his anger melting away for a minute.

"Yes it is!" Itey startled himself by yelling, looking up into Jack's face. "Pie Eater left me for some bitch! Skittery left me in fucking High School and you-," his voice cut off as he realized what he was saying and looked at Jack.

Jack was staring at him, his mouth slightly opened. He was still holding Itey's hand in his. Itey shook his head.

"I'm just no good," he whispered in a voice that scared Jack. It was a voice devoid of anything but hopelessness. He pulled his hand away from Jack's and rubbed his nose, trying to stop tears from falling. It usually worked too...

Jack felt his anger vanish as suddenly as it had arrived. He choked back his own tears, not caring if he sounded like a woman. Because it was true. "God...I just felt so helpless...I didn't want to go into the room because I'd have to open the door and oh shit, your head was RIGHT THERE Itey. RIGHT THERE. And YOU were right there, but I couldn't get to you...oh God..."

Jack stopped talking to wipe tears that had formed on his cheeks. He took Itey's chin gently and pulled it up, forcing him to look at Jack's pale eyes.

"I don't know what I would've done if you had died," he said slowly and clearly, staring straight into Itey's drowning eyes.

"You would've gone on, just as always," Itey whispered, trying to pull away from Jack's gaze. It was unsettlingly familiar. "I told you, I'm just a nobody. You would've cried and gone on."

Jack shook his head, not allowing himself to look away from Itey's face. "No," he choked. "No Itey, I wouldn't have gone on at all. I couldn't." He swallowed hard and took Itey's face in both his hands, cupping his chin in his palm. "I love you."

Itey pulled his head away from Jack, nodding. "I know you do, you're my best friend-"

"No Itey. Don't be dumber than you've already proved. I love you." Jack's pale eyes were so intense, Itey found himself falling into them. He saw it there, saw truth there...but it couldn't be true.

"Don't lie to me Jack, please," he said hopelessly. Jack ran a hand through his hair, almost frustrated.

"I'm not lying!" he half-shouted. "I LOVE you Gieuseppi! I have loved you since Freshman year! Of High School but you never seemed interested and then I was with Sarah for some reason and you were with Pie Eater after and..." he stopped, took a breath and continued, desperately trying to make Itey believe him "It was always you. Everybody was nothing, I was always nothing with them, but I knew," Jack whispered hardly, his eyes not leaving Itey's face "I knew I would be something..." his voice trailed off.

Itey looked like a hammer had hit him in the head. How come he had never known...was it it...

Itey's thoughts were broken but Jack's lips, gently brushing against his. Itey tensed for a minute, his eyes open wide over Jack's kiss, but he tentatively pressed back.

The kiss broke slowly, none really wanting to end the sweetness. They looked at one another, each surprised at what the other had done. Silence hung between the two, growing thicker with each second.

Jack finally cleared his throat. "So!" he squeaked, nodding.

"I've always loved you too," Itey whispered, looking at his hands again. "But you never seemed to want me...so I fell in love with Pie Eater, but I never got over you. I've always wanted you."

He looked up at Jack's face, blurred by the tears that were starting again. Jack leaned in to touch their lips again, but stopped as the door opened.

"Oh hello, so you're up too!" Jack groaned and turned his charm to the nurse. "Yes ma'am, I didn't want to sleep through your arrival again."

The nurse laughed and went over to check Itey's IV again. She nodded, content with what it said, and started talking again. "Great how you two are both up in time to bring in the New Year!" She laughed, waving good-bye.

Jack checked his digital watch and whistled. "Twenty seconds 'til it comes," he said, taking hold of Itey's hand.

A smile barely sat on Itey's lips. "Something tells me, it'll be a better year."

Jack smiled strongly. "Something tells me you're right."

Outside, part of the world counted down the arrival of the New Year. Champagne was poured, poppers' popped, confetti flew and lovers kissed.

Inside the hospital room, the lights glared, the T.V was off and little sound drifted into their world. Nothing interrupted their kiss.

End

Author's Note: DUUUUUUUUDE I just finished a fanfic! ::fireworks go off as a band plays some marching band thing:: I CAN'T BELIEVE IT AAAAAAAAAH! I feel special...so what if it's like...years late, and it's the sappiest ending EVER? ...ok so shout outs...

SHOUTOUTS

Braids21: DUDE I'm sorry I left ya hangin' so long =X Please accept these roses as my apology ::Mush skips over and hands roses:: THANKS FOR READING AND THE REVIEWS!

Chicago: Argh, I was so bad in updating this I know. I hope you enjoyed the story adnt hanks for the reviews! ::sends Mush over with llamas::

StrawberriShake: AH I FINISHED! Did you likey? I hope so! THANK YOU FOR THE REVIEWS AND READINGN YOU ROCK! ::sends Itey over with balloons:: those are for you,

Shadowlands: Pfft, Itey was hallucinating that Skittery was in his room silly. SEE I FINISHED I UPDATED! It's possible...thanks for being so patient dear. As a prize...::Mush, Skittery and Itey come out and start doing a strip tease:: For your viewing pleasure...

Nakaia Aidan-Sun: I FINISHED LOOK AT THAT! Thanks for reviewing all the chapters ::sends Blink over with tulips:: Those are for you hehe. THANKS FOR READING!!

Obsessed Wit' Aaron Lohr: Here, I gave you more and I finished it! YAY! Aren't you glad?? ::sends Mush with daisies:: those are for you! Thanks for reading YAY!

Thanks everyone for reading and reviewing! BYE

-!-Alarice-!-