Waking up was groggy but Nick didn't mind when he realized he was curled in Gatsby's arm. Nick thought about getting up but stayed curled in Gatsby's and gave him chaste kisses every now and then. Nick took the time to analyze Gatsby. His board swimming shoulders, his defined arms. Gatsby was passed out until 10:50, he groaned when he first woke up but was happy to see Nick still there.

"Where? Pain med, please," Gatsby mumbled.

Nick reached over grabbing the aspirin that had been set out along with the glass of water. Jay took them quickly and remained silent for ten minutes.

"Thank you," he finally said.

"Being hungover sucks, I know," Nick said back.

"No, not for that. Well, yes for that, but for stopping me also, last night."

"I knew you would regret it," Nick said, "I would do anything to save you."

"I wish I could live as free as you do."

"It takes time. You'll be ready one day, but that day certainly isn't when you're drunk."

"Part of me still wishes it was out there. I don't like being crammed in the closet but I'm scared of what they will all think."

"It's ok, one day," Nick assured him.

"Let's go to a restaurant an hour and a half away. We can eat there and spend the day as a couple without fear of judgment," Jay impulsively said.

Nick nodded, "want me to get a driver?"

"Yes, I don't want to drive all that way."

So the two got out of the bed.

"Nick, I don't have any clothes!" Gatsby complained.

Nick snickered thinking about the time Jay insisted he should have worn his clothes instead of his own.

Nick picked out some clothes from his closet that belonged to his father. They didn't fit him well but thought they might fit Gatsby adequately for the day.

"Try these, I think they'll work well," Nick said, throwing the clothes behind him towards Gatsby.

Gatsby glanced at them and decided while they may not be his style they were definitely better than being naked.

Gatsby looked stiff but happily followed Nick as he told them they needed to get going.

"I want to stop by the kitchen real quick, I want a muffin. Do you want anything?" Nick asked.

"You… Yogurt," Gatsby stuttered.

"Okay," Nick smirked and gave him a quick kiss, "we have to be careful, I'm sure some drunks are just leaving now. Daisy is still here, probably Jordan as well."

Jay nodded, lightly grabbing Nick's hand and tracing a few circles on the back of it with his thumb.

Nick looked down at their hands and back up with curiosity, "you're simply guiding me," Gatsby smiled. Walking into the kitchen they saw Daisy and Jordan both sitting on a bar stool.

"Hey, guys!" Jordan said with a yawn.

"I didn't realize he was still here," Daisy spit towards them.

"We are leaving," Nick said.

"What do you mean? You haven't been here all weekend! You're never here at all actually! I'm lucky to see you after school! You never come except for a few hours after school! Where do you possibly have to be?" Daisy started yelling.

"For your information, Nick and I are going out of town for the rest of the day, thank you," Jay stated.

"Nick! We talked about this! It's all in your head!"

"I know what I'm doing!" Nick started shouting back.

It all clicked in Jay's, he remembered Nick telling him about the argument, and then he did what he felt he had to do, not only for Nick but maybe for himself too. He took Nick and spun him so they were facing each other a few inches apart, "so do I," he whispered, as he pressed his lips to Nick's. Nick thought about pushing him away, blaming it on the hangover but Jay's hands were on his head and back ensuring that he couldn't slip away so he melted into the kiss.

"Did you drug him?!" Daisy exclaimed.

"I really don't think so," Jordan answered.

"How can you be so chill about this?" Daisy asked her.

"One, I already knew. Two I'm a lesbian and Nick is gay, there wasn't a chance to begin with."

"Did everyone but me know this?"

"That I'm a lesbian or that they are dating?"

"Well, both!" Daisy was pouting now but didn't care.

"Yes everyone knows I'm a lesbian, I'm very surprised you didn't. But no, I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who knew they were dating."

"She was," Nick chimed in, feeling awkward after standing there for several minutes after his kiss with Jay had broken.

"Seriously you told her?" Gatsby asked.

"That very first day," Nick smirked.

"We will talk about it later. Let's go!" Gatsby grabbed Nick's hand again and led him out of the kitchen.

Nick looked at one of the servants he was passing and requested that someone meet Jay and him so they could take the two of them out for the day. They nodded and when the two exited they found a car pulled out with the driver ready to go.

"Where do you want to go?" The driver asked.

Nick shrugged, Jay leaned forward and whispered something in the drivers ear.

"I trust him, take us wherever he said," Nick told the driver.

The driver nodded and began driving.

"Are you okay after this morning?" Nick asked.

"It's fine. She was going to know at some point and I know it bothered you that she didn't know. One day everyone is going to know."

"She'll bug me about it every day. You heard her, she still thinks you're going to hurt me."

"But you don't believe that though, do you?"

"Of course I don't. That doesn't change how much she'll talk about it every day."

"Would this make it better?" Gatsby asked as he brought his lips to Nick's.

Nick moaned slightly, "yes, that makes it a lot better."

"Well, I can make it a lot better anyday you need," Gatsby smiled as he resumed a normal position in the car.

"I have a question," Nick started, "shouldn't you have had to go… Into work? I don't think you've gone since we got together."

"No, they think I'm trying to recruit a few people."

"But what happens when you don't have anyone?" Nick asked because he certainly wasn't joining a mob, militia, or mafia of any sort.

"I'll tell them that I took care of the other two and that the last one was you."

"But, I can't, I'm not," Nick was stumbling over words trying to think how he could get out of this.

"Don't worry Nick. They rarely make our partners work with us, or work at all. They just have to know who you are and then you'll be safe. Unless we break up, then I would have to kill you, of course."

Nick's heart stopped, he knew Gatsby wasn't lying. With his lifestyle, it made sense especially when he knew about the gang but it still scared him. This meant he was attached to Jay for the rest of his life, literally. The moment they break up Nick figured he would get shot or something gruesome along those lines. Nick had started to notice small things about Gatsby, like how he almost always had some sort of weapon on him.

"Nick!" Nick finally heard Jay shout, and Nick shuddered out of his thoughts.

"You… You wouldn't kill me, would you? I could run away, move to Europe, pretend I don't know you, but you wouldn't kill me would you?"

"Don't worry about it," was all Jay said. This wasn't the answer Nick was looking for but it was better than admitting he would kill him without a doubt.

The car pulled into a lot and Nick had no clue where the pair actually were.

"This is one of my favorite restaurants from when I grew up, " Gatsby answered reading Nick's mind.

"You may get a table for one if you would like," Nick offered to the driver.

"Thank you, sir, but I was hoping to go away for just a half-hour maybe. I have some family that lives in this area."

"The time constraint isn't necessary, we will tell you when we are done. Besides this looks like a nice city, we will probably walk around for a bit afterwards."

"Thank you," The driver thanked him for he hadn't been shown such kindness in quite a while.

The couple exited the car and watched as the car drove away.

Gatsby grabbed Nick's hand in his, "no more hiding. Nobody here will know who we are so the world is just me and you."

This made Nick and knew regardless of what happened in the future maybe it would be worth it when he felt this much happiness now. The restaurant seemed small but it was perfect. They were sat and quickly ordered their meals.

"I wish we could do this every day," Nick remarked.

"I know, so do I," Jay agreed.

"Wherever we wanted to. Not over an hour away but close to our mansions."

"I'm trying Nick, I want to be there for you."

"Daisy told me a little bit, Gatsby, it's fine. You can take your time."

"How did you know when it felt right to come out?" Gatsby asked him.

"When I realized I couldn't hide anymore. I was hurting myself more than anymore could hurt me."

"One day Nick, I swear, I'm going to kiss you in the middle of the school for everyone to see, and nobody will stop me."

"I think you're the only one stopping yourself now," Nick mumbled, scared to say it aloud.

"Oh, we're whispering now. That may be true Nick but one day it won't be," Gatsby said in a low tone and leaned forward.

Nick brought himself forward so their lips met, "this is more than sufficient for now," he mumbled again.

"Anywhere you want to go after this? You were the one who mentioned we would walk around town."

"You were the one who said you grew up around here, show me your favorite places. I want to know about you."

"I guess we can do that," Gatsby smiled, and then the food was set in front of them.

They ate their meal in mostly silence. Nick tried to focus on all things he truly did love about Gatsby rather than the parts that scared him. He couldn't help himself as he asked a question.

"Does that mean I have to meet everyone? In the gang I mean?" Nick asked.

"No, we have a corkboard, each of us has our names on it and we are allowed to tac pictures of people onto the board. You don't have to meet anyone if you don't want to even."

"I would prefer not to," Nick blurted out.

Jay just nodded.

"Did you put them up there? Daisy? The guy you dated?"

"Yes, but they have both been taken down for a while now," Gatsby admitted.

Nick wanted to believe him when he said he had taken them down but something about the way he said it made Nick think otherwise. Maybe they both were still up there or maybe it was just stupid to worry about because Nick did believe that Jay would put him up on this safe board.

Jay set a large number of bills on the table to pay for the meal, "let's go, I'll show you around."

"That's not fair! I should pay for my share of the meal," Nick objected, but Gatsby had insisted as he pulled Nick out of the restaurant.

It was as if he had something to hide from in that restaurant but it just wasn't worth questioning to Nick.

They walked through the small town together, hand in hand. It seemed like nobody knew who Jay was but Nick didn't question that either. They went to a small bakery and Nick got a cookie while Gatsby got a cupcake.

"Okay, I have an idea!" Nick said with a small giggle.

"What?" Jay asked, almost worried about the answer.

"You know the jewelry store? We both enter at separate times and buy each other something and then we show each other when we both have something."

Jay thought for a moment, "ok, let's do it, you go first," he agreed.

Nick entered the store and a man behind the counter greeted him, "can I help you find anything?"

Nick thought, "yes, my boyfriend is coming in after me, I want a pinkie ring for him but I don't know his ring size, can you get it for me?"

"Can I make it obvious as to why I need it?"

Nick shrugged, "try not to be completely obvious but however you need to get it is fine by me."

"Consider it done."

"Alright, can I have a box just so it looks like I bought something? I can pay you right now for the ring if you want," Nick asked.

"Give me a minute to ring it up. Just the ring?"

"Yes, just the ring for me."

"You can go ahead and insert your card."

After a minute the transaction went through the man handed Nick a ring box, "you're all set. I'll get his ring size and have it ready for you."

"Thank you so much," Nick said.

Next Jay walked in and Nick looked around the small town square. He saw an ice cream shoppe, a water fountain, a few government buildings, a weaponry store, a local grocery market, a bank, a pizza place, a few restaurants, a library, the bakery, the jewelry store, and a clothing shop.

Before he knew Gatsby walked back out of the jewelry store, "he was so weird!" Jay complained.

"One second," Nick said as he kissed Jay quickly and ran back into the store. The man had the ring sitting on the counter.

"Thank you so much," Nick said again.

"Of course, enjoy the rest of your date," he said.

Exiting the store again Jay stood there confused, "you're not already cheating on me, are you?"

"No! No, I just, he did me a favor," Nick said.

"Alright," Jay said with skepticism.

"Come on, why don't we go sit by the fountain?" Nick suggested.

Jay nodded and they walked over.

"How do you want to do this?" Gatsby asked.

"How about I close my eyes, you give me whatever, and then we can switch so you'll close your eyes and I'll give you mine."

"Sounds good," Gatsby agreed.

Nick closed his eyes and waited for Jay's touch. He then felt cold metal around his wrist. A type of bracelet perhaps? When Gatsby dropped Nick's arm Nick opened his eyes and saw a golden watch.

"Oh, thank you Gatsby I love it!" Nick exclaimed.

Jay smiled then closed his eyes. Nick opened the box to the simple silver ring. Nick slipped the ring onto Jay's last finger. He kissed that back of Jay's hand and then let his hand drop.

"It's perfect Nick," Gatsby said, opening his eyes.

"I'm glad you like it."

"Is this why the owner was persistent in getting my ring size?"

Nick let out a chuckle, "yes, I told him not to let you leave if he didn't have your ring size."

"That makes me feel a little better about how strange he was," Gatsby admitted.

"Did you want to head back now?" Nick asked.

"Back to my place?" Gatsby suggested.

"We can do that," Nick agreed.

Nick called the driver who said he would pick them up in less than 5 minutes. They told the driver to go to the Gatsby mansion instead and the driver nodded. Nick and Jay sitting close to each other in the backseat and Nick ended up dozing off onto Gatsby. When they arrived Gatsby nudged Nick awake.

"My b-bad," Nick stuttered, "I didn't even realize I had fallen asleep."

"It's fine, really Nick," Gatsby assured him.

They walked in and Jay spoke again, "want to go skinny dipping?"

Nick immediately blushed, "I-sure."

Gatsby smirked, one of the best sights in the world was a flustered Nick.

"Come on," Jay directed, "the pool is this way."

The pool was just as grand as everything else in the house. There was a slide and diving board in the deeper end. There was also a jacuzzi off to the side of the pool. Nick had been so busy admiring the spacious area that he didn't notice Gatsby had already gotten in the pool.

"Don't just stand there," Gatsby laughed.

Nick stripped his clothes and got in the water. After about an hour the pair got into the hot tub. There were much less than 5 feet because they both very gay. Nick then got his first experience of making out in a jacuzzi. Jay bit and teased Nick's nipples and Nick became a moaning mess. They both enjoyed their first time in a hot tub and neither were opposed to doing it again.

"Do you want me to make dinner?" Nick asked after silence had overcome both of them and their breathing had calmed down.

"Only if you wear that," Gatsby smirked.

"Don't you have servants, they could see me like this," Nick hissed.

"I can get you an apron," Gatsby laughed.

Nick rolled his eyes, he really could have changed back into his clothes that were on the pool deck but he figured he would tease Gatsby while he could, "alright," Nick finally agreed, "I'll take the apron."

Gatsby smirked and took one of the towels off a rack and flung it around his waist.

He told one of his servants to fetch an apron, preferably a frilly one, and that dinner would not need to be made by the servants tonight. He nodded and in two minutes a pink apron with white lace was brought to them. Nick shuddered but as he agreed he wore the apron and only that as he walked to the kitchen and began to prep dinner. Gatsby didn't follow him to the kitchen so Nick had to decide on dinner himself. Nick decided on one of his favorite meals that he used to make. Well, the actual food was far from a meal, garlic bread, salad, soup, and baked potatoes were from a meal. However, it was still one of Nick's favorite things to make because despite not having a clear entree it was filling and he loved the variety. As Nick threw the potatoes in the oven and was going to start prepping soup he saw Jay come down with sketchbooks and an endless amount of drawing supplies.

"What are you doing?" Nick asked.

"I'm drawing my boyfriend," he smiled.

Nick groaned, this was not how he pictured Jay drawing him but did it really matter, maybe not. So Nick said nothing and made dinner as he normally would as if nobody was watching him and as if he wasn't only wearing an apron. It probably took a total of close to 50 minutes to prepare the whole meal but it looked good. Nick peered over to Gatsby's work, a side view of him focusing on what was in front of him as if he was completely oblivious to the artist's watchful eye. Some of the colorful pinks were also added as well as Nick's dark hair. The rest was still colorless but Nick thought it looked pretty good that way.

"You're amazing," Nick said as he set some food down in front of Jay.

"Not as wonderful as you," he insisted.

Nick didn't argue back, it wasn't worth it, instead, he sat down still only in his apron and ate the meal he had made.

"Want to watch a movie?" Gatsby suggested after dinner.

"Sure!" Nick agreed, "but I am putting on real clothes."

Gatsby chuckled slightly, "ok Nick."

Nick walked to Jay's room where the bag of clothes he had brought we're. He was about to dig through his bag when he decided instead to sort a bit through Gatsby's closet. Nick found a sweatshirt that he knew would probably be slightly large on him and threw that on. He also found a pair of gray sweatpants and threw those on as well. He assumed Gatsby really wouldn't mind and he entered the cinema room to see a movie paused on it's first second.

"What are we watching?" Nick asked.

"Don't worry, you'll love it," Gatsby assured, "wait are those mine?"

"Yes, they are," Nick answered, sitting down next to Gatsby.

"You're cute," Gatsby said, pressing play and pressing a kiss to Nick's head.

They cuddled together as they watched the movie. Nick didn't recognize it but enjoyed it as he sat with Gatsby. He wished every day could be like today was or at least he could go on a date with Jay just in the area and not have to drive far away as they did. One day Nick reminded himself, one day Gatsby was going to show everyone that he was in love with him. Nick fell asleep on Jay again. When the movie was over instead of waking him up this time Gatsby picked Nick up and took him to bed.

"I love you, Nick," Gatsby said as he kissed Nick's forehead, "so much, and one day, they are going to know."

Gatsby laid down next to him and unconsciously Nick moved onto Gatsby's chest. Jay fell asleep holding Nick close as though he might run away.