Okay, so, I meant to have this out wayyy earlier than now, but I got caught up in Thanksgiving, finals, spending time with a friend I might never see again, Christmas, Chanukah, etc, etc. However, I really do hope to have the next and final chapter up within the next week or so. That's pretty optimistic, but I think I may be able to do it.
Booking a plane ticket last minute cost an arm and a leg, not that Nick was particularly surprised by that fact. He knew that it was true, having looked at flights earlier on when he and Jeff were first planning their trip. Luckily, Lacey was willing to throw some money of her own into it, citing a need to keep fighting the good fight in the name of true love.
Part of him was telling him that flying to Sweden on a wild goose chase was insane. Who knew if Jeff was even still there, or if he had even followed through with going in the first place? It would certainly be a lot faster and cheaper to fly out to California and see if he had gone home.
He reasoned with himself that, in a way, trying to track Jeff down in Sweden might've been easier than in San Francisco, since he knew what hotel they had booked a room in, and he had no sort of address for Jeff's home.
More than that, though, he had to admit to himself (and to Lacey), he was still looking for something new. The novelty and excitement that Sweden had been when the suggestion first came up still spoke to him, and there were two ways this could go: 1) he would travel across an ocean and reunite with Jeff and get engaged, completing quite possibly the most epic love story he'd ever heard of happening in real life, or 2) he would leave the continental United States for the first time and, while missing out on the next great love story, he would still get what was likely to be the experience of a lifetime.
"I mean, either way, it's not like I could just sit there and do nothing," Nick found himself explaining to the elderly woman sitting next to him on his flight from Chicago O'Hare to Stockholm-Arlanda.
"Well, of course not," she said with a smile, chuckling.
"Like, my sister says that she's sure that we're going to end up back together either way, but…"
The woman smiled and put a hand on his arm. "But if you can get a head start, why not, right?"
"Exactly," he said, her understanding and support helping to assure him that he was making the right choice in flying out to Sweden practically blind.
He spent the first half of the flight just talking to the woman. Apparently she was a new widow, her husband having passed recently and now that she didn't have him to take care of her life was feeling empty. She was going to be travelling through various parts of Europe, starting in Sweden.
"I'm not really sure why I chose Stockholm as my first stop. Sweden isn't really one of the big ones people want to see before they die, is it?" she had said, laughing softly. She then took his hand and gave him a smile that reminded him of his grandmother, adding, "But I think maybe it was because I was meant to meet you and hear your story."
And Nick really wasn't sure if he would ever be able to find the words to get across just how grateful he was that he had talked to her, because her words gave him so much more confidence in this whole thing. Sure, it was one thing to have his highly biased sister say that what he had with Jeff was worth doing something this drastic for, but it was another thing entirely to have a near complete stranger agree. Not only that, but she emphasized to him over and over how sweet she thought it was, and how good it felt to hear about someone else's great love after losing hers.
She got tired after a while and he stopped bothering her so that she could sleep. He attempted to do the same, but he was just wired enough that he couldn't get himself to. He kept playing out different ways this could go in his head, with them things that had been said to him mixed in.
I want you and me to be penguins together.
He could show up and find Jeff and they could go back to their hotel room, everything looking good (or he could not even make it that far before Jeff sent him away). But as soon as he would bring up the possibility of them actually getting engaged after all, Jeff could so easily turn him down. When they had last spoken things had seemed hopeful for them; Jeff sounded absolutely sure of their relationship even in the face of a denied proposal.
But given enough time and space to really think about it, Jeff could just as easily have talked himself down from a place where getting married now seemed like a reasonable and good idea to do. After all, yes, Jeff was a highly impulsive person, but he was also intelligent and thoughtful when he wanted to be.
I know that it's quick and it's probably crazy… Please know that I've thought this through.
Or he could show up at their hotel and he could find where they were supposed to be rooming and… Jeff could just not be there. He wasn't sure if that would be better or worse. Sure, things could still have a happy ending if that were to happen, but he would have to track Jeff down back in the States, and even then there was no guarantee what his answer would be. That would just put him back in the first possibility he was juggling in his head, just in a different geographic location.
He's your forever person. The kind of person you can run away from a million times but will still be there when you get back.
No. None of that was going to happen.
He had to keep telling himself that, convincing himself that it was the truth and nothing else was. That felt most likely after all, didn't it? He had spent most of his year with Jeff and he had felt more in those months than he could ever remember in the rest of his life and that had to count for something.
So he had to count on the belief that his sister was right: he could push Jeff away but he would still be there. If he could just do that this one time, then he would never have to risk it the rest of those million chances he had.
He was barely aware of the light coming on to put seatbelts back on as they were preparing to descend, still wrapped up in his thoughts and attempts to either sleep or look like he was sleeping.
What brought him out of it again was the woman next to him setting a paper down on his tray. "That's my email address," she announced. "Write to me."
Nick nodded slightly, looking at the slip of paper and picking it up. "Okay," he said.
"I want you to keep me up to date on how things go with your special guy," she said with a soft chuckle. Tapping her pocket, she went on, "My kids got me a smartphone a few months back, but I only just recently got a good hold on email, so I think it'll be a bit before I can even think about tackling text messaging. So email me. And I want pictures of him."
"Of course," he said with a soft laugh, nodding as he folded the paper and slipped it into his pocket. By then the plane was landing and he sat in comfortable silence with her until they were allowed to move again.
As Nick reached up into the overhead compartment and pulled down his bag as well as hers, he heard her laugh softly and he gave her a questioning look.
"I just realized that I don't think I ever caught your name," she said.
"Oh," he said, chuckling softly as he handed her her bag. "Nick. Nick Duval."
She hummed, smiling at him. "Bridgett Simmons," she said. "It's been nice meeting you, Nick."
"You too, Bridgett," he said, stopping short and letting out a soft laugh as something clicked in his head. "Bridgett. That's Jeff's sister's name."
"Good name," she said with a wink, nodding in approval. "I like her already."
Nick laughed softly, shaking his head to himself as he hitched his bag up on his shoulder.
Bridgett reached over and squeezed his shoulder. "Go get your boy. I'll be waiting to hear from you," she said before turning and getting off the plane.
He watched her for a moment, letting other passengers go by before he left the plane as well. He walked out to baggage claim, watching the other passengers reuniting with luggage and loved ones, and eventually getting his own suitcase when it came out.
For a bit, he paced around the airport lobby area and considered his options. Part of him wanted to just go find somewhere to sleep to regroup before going and seeing about tracking Jeff down, but at the same time he was too wired with the knowledge that he was likely back in the same city as him and he knew that sleeping wouldn't work. Sure, he was dog tired and probably looked it, but after all, if sleeping hadn't worked on the plane, why would it work now?
So he left the airport and got in a taxi, directing the driver to take him to the hotel where they'd booked. Once he was there, he steeled himself and walked up to the front desk, silently praying that they had a somewhat lenient policy about guest privacy; it wasn't like he was expecting the clerk to tell him Jeff's room number or anything, he knew that no hotel that wanted to stay in business would allow that, but some hotels were more reluctant than others to even confirm that a certain guest was or was not there.
"Um, hi," Nick said as he stepped up to the counter. He panicked a second later, biting his lip as he asked, "Do you, ah, speak English?"
The man behind the counter let out a soft laugh, nodding. "Yes, sir," he answered with a smile, his words laced with an accent that was quite apparent but not strong enough to make it difficult to understand. "How can I help you?"
"I'm here to ask about somebody who should be staying here?" he said, inwardly wincing at the way his voice hitched up at the end with nerves to sound like a question. "So that you could maybe call up to his room if he is, you know, here?"
"Yes… I can do that for you," the man affirmed, turning slightly to look at his computer. "What is the name, sir?"
"Jeff Sterling," he said.
Nick watched him as he tapped on the keyboard and clicked a couple of times, his brow furrowing. He could feel his heart starting to pound at the look of mild confusion on his face; what if Jeff wasn't here? Despite what he had told himself about accepting it no matter what and accepting the trip as an exercise in adventure, he was pretty sure he might have a breakdown right there if it turned out that Jeff wasn't there.
Eventually, though, the man turned back to him with a smile. "Okay, sir, yes, I have found him," he said. "Should I call Mr. Sterling down to the lobby for you?"
"Yes, please," he said, nodding quickly and letting out a breath of relief. "I would really appreciate it."
"Can I tell him a name?" he asked as he reached for the phone.
Nick bit his lip at the question, hesitating for a second. "Would it be a problem if I said no?" he asked. He received the same confused look that the computer was receiving a moment ago, so he considered his options for a moment, figuring that some sort of explanation would help his case. He hesitated for just a moment before starting to talk, reminding himself that Sweden was a progressive country and the fact that this was a gay relationship probably wouldn't be a sticking point. "I want to surprise him. I'm in love with him and he asked me to marry him and I said no but I realized that I really need to fix that, so… Yeah. I want to surprise him."
The man laughed softly and nodded. "Alright, sir. It sounds like you have a noble goal in mind. I will call him."
Nick shifted from foot to foot as he watched him pick up the phone and punch a few buttons. He glanced at a mirror hanging on the wall as he half listened to the phone conversation; he could see in his face how very tired he was, but there wouldn't be any hope of helping that.
"He says he will be down in a few minutes," he said as he got off the phone.
Nick nodded slightly, stepping back away from the counter. He dragged his suitcase over to where there were a few chairs, taking in a long breath. For a second he considered sitting down, but he knew that he was about to get back up anyways so he decided against it. He just stood there, staring at where the elevator doors were, feeling a bit like he was suffocating.
And then, there Jeff was. Just as beautiful as he remembered him, barely dressed for the day and his hair a bit of a mess from laying in bed (and he wasn't sure what time exactly it was, did he wake him up?). He looked around the lobby for a moment with a look of adorable bemusement before his eyes landed on Nick and his face lit up.
"You're here," he said with a wide grin, crossing the room towards him and quickly wrapping him up in a tight hug.
"Yeah, yeah I am," Nick replied, chuckling happily as he enveloped him in his arms in return. "I… I really needed to see you."
"Oh, believe you me, the feeling is mutual, ducky," he said, squeezing him even tighter though Nick wasn't sure how that was possible.
They stood there like that, holding onto each other as if they both felt the need to make up for lost time, for a bit before Jeff pulled back, taking in the sight of Nick and running his fingers though his hair. "Hey, so, um, want to take that up to my room?" he asked. After a second he bit his lip, backpedalling quickly, "Unless that's presumptuous, I mean, there's only one bed in there, and I mean, I still, you know—"
"Jeff, Jeff, sweetie, honey, yes, I want to be with you still, and I want to put my things in your room," he cut him off, chuckling softly at how goddamn adorable he was and how he hadn't realized until now he much he had missed that.
"Okay, good, great," Jeff said, his smile growing. He leaned in and kissed Nick's cheek before grabbing the handle on his suitcase, both actions making Nick's heart do weird little fluttery things in his chest. He led him back onto the elevator, reaching for his free hand as the doors closed.
"We've got a weird amount of catching up to do given how short of a time we've been apart," Nick said with a soft laugh.
"Didn't feel like a short time," he commented.
"I know."
Jeff looked over at him, smiling. "I seriously can't get over the fact that you're here. You're seriously here."
"Nowhere I'd rather be," he said with a grin.
The elevator dinged and the doors came open, and they got off to head down the hall for their room. Once they got there Jeff put Nick's bag on the floor over by his own, then grabbed Nick and flopped onto the king bed in the middle of the room. "You said we had catching up to do. That makes me feel like you've got a story to tell," he said. "So c'mon, tell me about your soul."
Nick chuckled softly at his wording, nodding. "First, though, I want you to do something for me," he said.
"Anything," he said with a nod.
"Propose again," he said. "Ask me to marry you, right now."
"Right now?" he asked.
"Do you have the ring?"
"I mean, yeah, I do, but…"
"Then get it," Nick said, grinning. "And ask me to marry you."
Jeff just looked at him for a moment, his brow slightly furrowed as he looked at Nick searchingly. After a moment he seemed to decide not to worry too much about it, nodding slightly and rolling over so that he could go over to his luggage. He pulled the ring out and looked down at Nick on the bed, asking, "Should I get down on one knee and everything? In which case, you should sit up, too."
"No, no getting down on knees necessary," he said, reaching out to grab at Jeff, who let himself be pulled back onto the bed easily. "Just ask me."
Letting out a long breath, he nodded. "I feel like I need to make a speech again."
"The first speech was enough," he said. "It was beautiful. Penguins, mating for life. I want to be your penguin."
Jeff laughed softly, leaning in and kissing him, their noses brushing together. "Let me have my moment, Duval," he said. "I practiced that speech in my head for hours. I could probably repeat it word for word right now."
"If that's what you want to do, go ahead," he said with a shrug.
"No, no, I think I'll say to you what I've wanted to since we last spoke," he said. He held up the ring between them, going on, "I didn't realize how much I started to count on having you in my life until I was facing the reality of not having you readily available. It feels insane to care about you and crave you as much as I do, but I really do, and I never want to have to wonder when I'm going to see you next again. And I don't want you to have to worry, either. I want you to be able to have this ring right here to look at whenever we're not together, to know that I'm always right there."
He paused and looked up at Nick, who gave him a grin.
"So, yeah… Will you marry me?"
Nick let out a laugh and nodded, closing the distance between them to kiss him again. "Of course," he said against his lips. As they kissed their hands moved between them, slipping the ring on Nick's left hand ring finger.
Jeff pulled back after a bit, looking down at the ring on Nick's finger with a grin. "That went a lot better this time," he said with a laugh.
"It did," he said, nodding and chuckling. "Though, you maybe lose some points for ending your speech like you were presenting a project in school. So… Yeah…" He grinned as he teased him, giving him a playful shove.
"Hey, give me some credit, you put me on the spot," he laughed. "Generally the person who is doing the proposing gets to decide when it happens."
"And you did," Nick said with a nod. "The first time. This time, well, I figured that it needed doing."
"I'm not going to fight a good thing," he said. "It absolutely did need to happen."
Nick hummed happily, giving him another quick kiss. "Now everything is right in my world."
"Everything?" Jeff asked, bumping their noses together and raising an eyebrow at him. "Again, my love, I feel like you're going to have to fill me in here."
"Alright, alright," he said, nodding. "Honestly, not… Not a whole lot really did happen. It kind of felt like it did, probably because of how time decided to slow down to a crawl the instant you left."
"That happened for you, too?" he asked with a soft laugh.
"You have no idea," he said. "Which I guess is part of the reason I knew that I had to come back to you. That and a very stirring lecture from my sister."
Jeff let out a laugh at that, his eyebrows raising. "I knew I liked her for a reason," he said teasingly. "Oh, how I wish I would have been there to hear that. I think it might've been entertaining."
"She was a lot gentler about it than she could have been," he said with a small shrug. "Though she did make it very apparent how much she thought I was making a horrible mistake in saying no to you."
"Which you were," he affirmed with a nod.
"I know," Nick said, rolling his eyes and pecking Jeff's lips again. "But that totally is not the point."
"Then what is the point?" Jeff asked with a soft laugh.
"The point is that I am now back in your arms, completely prepared to fully devote myself to you, now that I have tied up some loose ends," he said. "Which is to say that I talked to Natalie."
He could feel Jeff tense up ever so slightly at those words, the way one does subconsciously when bracing themselves for bad news. "Yeah?" he said, looking at him with curious eyes though his voice as well betrayed his hesitation.
"She's not pregnant," he said. "And she never was."
Jeff nodded and smiled at him, the nerves rolling off of his shoulders almost tangibly. "That's good," he said, taking his hand again and squeezing it.
Nick had to stop for a moment, finding himself a bit struck by how very much Jeff's reaction was indicative of why their relationship worked. In the time they had known each other, they had never really fully addressed the topic of Natalie's pregnancy. It was just the elephant in the room that made Nick uncomfortable to talk about. But even without ever articulating exactly what his thoughts on the matter were, Jeff had somehow been able to glean that truth from him anyways. And even now he didn't need to say out loud what those feelings were, Jeff just celebrated with him but also gave him the small comfort he needed in that small part of his mind that had kept asking, Well, what if? That wouldn't be so bad, would it? You like kids, don't you?
(And, of course, Jeff was well within his rights to say "I told you so," given that when they had first met he had told Nick point blank that he didn't think that she was really expecting. But he didn't.)
"Yeah, it is," he said finally, pulling his hand free from Jeff's to cup his face as he gave him another slow kiss.
They laid there like that for what was probably hours, just talking; at first they caught up on the sights Jeff had seen thus far, then just went on to talk about anything they could think of until, as Jeff would later love to remind him over and over, Nick literally fell asleep midsentence, and Jeff let himself follow after.
When they woke up again the clock on the nightstand informed them that it was getting late in the evening. Jeff laughed and lightheartedly bemoaned the "complete and utter waste of an entire day" while Nick just chalked it up to jet lag.
"We can try and do something more active tomorrow," he said with a soft laugh.
"But we've slept all day, and now we're going to have to sleep again to get to tomorrow," Jeff replied with a pout.
"I know, I know, but I don't really feel like getting out of bed right now," he said.
"You're lazy and awful and I can't believe I made the decision to legally attach myself to you for the rest of my life," he said with a laugh.
Nick just laughed and grinned at him. "You love me," he said, leaning in and kissing him slowly.
"I do, I do. Far too much for my own good," Jeff said with a soft laugh before kissing him again. He wrapped his arms around him, pulling him in closer and shifting so that Nick was laying on top of him.
They kissed like that for long enough that Nick had absolutely no idea how much time had passed, their bodies pressed in close tangled up together. Eventually Jeff put his hands on Nick's chest, pushing him up slightly. "Do you want to have sex?" he asked in a whisper.
Nick blinked in surprise at the question but nodded. "Do you?"
"Mhmm," Jeff hummed and nodded, giving him a small smile before pulling him down to kiss him again, his hands moving down to pull at Nick's clothing.
It was different with a guy, and there was no denying that. But as their bodies moved together, Nick found himself anything but missing the longer hair and curves and smudged makeup that had had always marked his prior intimate encounters.
Instead he was looking down at Jeff and taking in the sight of his gentle abs and firm skin and the blush that covered it. Part of him was sure that he could get off from just the sight of Jeff like this.
This was, he decided, one of the best things he had ever done. Lips on lips, lips on skin, hands anywhere they could touch, eyes always returning back to meet each other again… Nick had been fairly certain before that he could never feel closer to Jeff than he already did; he proved himself wrong.
And after, using a wet washcloth to clean Jeff up then curling up with him, their still slightly sticky skin pressing together in a way that should have been unpleasant but wasn't… That was probably the best part.
Jeff was curled up into him now, his face nuzzled up against Nick's shoulder. "I love you," he said softly against his skin, reaching over and taking his hand again.
"I love you too," he said with a soft, happy laugh and squeezed his hand.
Jeff hummed happily, pressing soft kisses over his shoulder and his neck, causing goosebumps to pop up over his skin. He chuckled softly at the sight, continuing his actions. Eventually he laid his head back down and pulled the blanket up over them again, just looking at Nick adoringly.
Nick let his eyes fall closed as he felt Jeff's arms warm and close around him. He started to drift off to sleep, lulled by the sounds of their breaths, lined up perfectly so that Jeff exhaled as he inhaled.
He was almost asleep when Jeff spoke again. "Are you awake?" he asked softly. "I want to tell you something."
"Yeah, I'm awake," he said, opening his eyes again to look at his fiancé and giving him a smile. "What is it?"
"It's…" Jeff started, furrowing his brow as he looked like he was concentrating, trying to find the right words. "I was so, so worried about having sex with you."
"Why?" he asked softly, trying to make sure his voice was free of judgment or anything else.
"Because, well, in the past, it's like, well…" he started and then stopped again with a sigh. "I always hated it. With other guys. It didn't matter if I was, you know, pitching or receiving, or if I tried it out with different guys. I just… I never enjoyed it."
Nick nodded slowly, furrowing his brow. "Why didn't you tell me that?" he asked softly. "We didn't… We didn't have to do that if you didn't want to, if you felt like you had to or something…?"
"No, Nick, no," he said quickly, shifting so that he could peck his lips. "That's… No. I mean, yes, in the past I've had sex just because I felt like it was expected of me. But I wanted to do this, for you, even if I wasn't going to enjoy it."
"That doesn't make me feel better," he said, biting his lip.
"Shh, shh, honey, please listen," Jeff said, rubbing his hand over Nick's chest. "It was… It was different with you. I have no idea why, but it was… I liked it. I really did." He let out a soft laugh, giving Nick a smile.
"You mean that?" he asked, smiling at him.
"Yeah, I do, I promise," he said with a nod, kissing him again. "I don't know what made it better, but it was."
"I'm glad," he said. "I'll try and make sure it stays good."
"Right," he said with a soft laugh, rolling his eyes fondly. "I don't think it was just a matter of being good sex. But the effort is appreciated."
"Anything for you," Nick said, kissing him softly. "Just so long as you want it. If you ever change your mind about that, that's okay, too."
Jeff nodded, smiling at he kissed him again. "Okay," he said. "Thank you."
He didn't say anything back, just smiled at him and ran his fingers through Jeff's hair.
"You can go back to sleep now," Jeff murmured. "In fact, you should. I intend to actually do things tomorrow, so we should get some sleep."
"Okay," he said, nodding. "You're right." He reached out and turned the lamp off, bathing the room in darkness. "Goodnight, Jeff."
"Goodnight, Nicky," he said back softly, his eyelashes tickling skin as he closed his eyes. "I love you."
"Love you too," he whispered, pressing a kiss to his hair before laying his head down to sleep.
The next two weeks were a flurry of activity. While they indulged in some lazy time spent lounging about in their room, watching Swedish television and trying to come up with what all of the actors might be saying, they spent the majority of their days out and about.
Jeff had prepared a list of things that they needed to do together and he organized their days to strategically get them all done.
They visited Rosendal's Garden and reminisced as they walked about one of their first encounters which had, too, happened in a park like this ("Bookends, Nick, it's bookends"). The air was cold and they lamented their decision to come in the late autumn, but they accepted it because there was still plenty of beauty to take in and plenty of amazing food to eat, and promised to themselves that they would come back at some point in their lives during the summer.
Walking around in Stortorget, they took in the medieval charm and mused about what kind of place they wanted to live. Nick had always been charmed by places that had an old town feel, and Jeff hummed happily as he agreed with him. They had yet to fully address their more immediate plans as far as where they wanted to live, but this felt like a honeymoon and no part of him wanted to break that.
Jeff had insisted on them spending a day in Sodermalm, excitedly chattering about how he'd read that it was hipster and fun and there were plenty of bars. They went through several small shops and galleries and he was about sure that Jeff was going to explode at any minute. They stayed up late that night and Jeff got a little tipsy and he was absolutely the most adorable thing Nick had ever seen.
If money had been no object and immigration not an issue, Nick wasn't sure that they ever would have gone home.
As is the way things are, they did go back to the States, just before Thanksgiving to spend it with Nick's family. Nick had sent ahead word to his mother that he would be bringing Jeff along, part of him wanting to surprise his siblings with the extra guest when they got there. He was fairly certain that they would expect him to come back with Jeff in tow (whether or not they would have admitted as much out loud had he not brought him along), seeing as how they were possibly more confident in his relationship than he was. Charlie, being the more grounded and subtle one of the two of them, would probably have less of a reaction, but he knew that Lacey would be surprised enough to make her reaction worthwhile.
And sure enough, it was.
When they walked into his house they were first greeted by Charlie, who let out a laugh and grinned widely at the sight of them. "Hey, would you look at that," he said, pulling Nick in for a hug and then Jeff. "Wasn't sure when you'd be coming in."
"Well, here we are," Nick said with a soft laugh.
"There you are," Charlie agreed with a nod, chuckling again happily and squeezing Nick's shoulder.
He smiled back at him as he walked in and greeted his parents sitting in the living room.
Celia stopped him when he tried to pull back, grabbing his left hand and looking at the ring. "Ooh, look at that," his mother hummed as she inspected it. She looked over at Jeff with a grin, adding, "You've sure got some good tastes."
Jeff laughed softly, a light blush touching his cheeks. "Thanks," he said.
She hugged Nick again and then nudged him towards his father to show him the ring, then Charlie who hadn't thought to look at it before, the idea of his younger brother being engaged feeling so foreign.
"Where's Lace?" Nick asked, raising a brow as he looked around the room which was distinctly lacking in his sister.
"Mm, I think she's in her room," his mother said, glancing over her shoulder toward the stairs.
"Alright, thanks," he said with a nod, taking Jeff's hand again. They dropped their bags off in his room before going on to Lacey's, finding her spread out over her bed asleep.
Nick glanced back at Jeff with a grin, giving him a signal to keep quiet, before crossing the room to get onto her bed. He made slow movements, trying to keep the surface of the mattress from moving too much and disturbing her as he leaned down over her. He brought his hands close to her ear, then brought them together in a single loud clap.
Lacey startled awake with a yelp, rolling over. Blinking quickly and seeing who it was she started to laugh and kneed him. "What the hell, I could have died of a heart attack!"
"You're a physically fit, healthy-eating girl in your early twenties, I think you're okay," he said with a soft laugh.
"You don't know that," she said, chuckling and shaking her head. She reached up and pulled him down to lay beside her, saying, "C'mere, baby brother, you got in my bed, you're snuggling."
Nick laughed, rolling his eyes but allowing himself to be pulled down. "Fine, I'll cuddle with you, my very unobservant sister."
"What?" she asked, furrowing her brow.
Just laughing softly, he pointed towards where Jeff was still standing.
Lacey all but screeched excitedly, sitting up quickly. "Other baby brother!" she said as she launched herself out of bed and hugged Jeff tightly. "You're here!"
"Of course I am," he said with a smile.
"So, our Nicholas fixed everything up?" she asked as she grabbed his hands and pulled him toward the bed. "PS, you're joining the cuddling party, no excuses, you're family now."
"I would be more upset if I was left out," he said, chuckling.
"Don't encourage her," Nick groaned, shaking his head.
"Can't help it, gotta get in good with the in-laws, right?" he said, laying down and sliding an arm around Nick as Lacey settled in against him.
"In-laws?" Lacey repeated, a wide smile spreading across her face.
"To answer your question about Nick fixing things up, yes, he absolutely did," Jeff said with a laugh. He grabbed Nick's hand, showing Lacey the ring.
"Oh my god, this is so exciting," she said, giving them both hugs that were less awkward than they could have been given the difficulty of hugging someone properly while laying down. "We need to celebrate, there is celebration in order."
They listened in amusement as Lacey mused about what all she should do to celebrate, what alcohol needed to be bought, could she possibly get them fake IDs or maybe get a bunch of people together to create a better environment for it, or maybe something more quiet at the house would be better anyways, more modern, etc.
But eventually their jet lag got the better of them and they fell asleep, making Lacey put off any and all plans she was forming in her mind.
"Angels," she said softly to herself as she looked down at them sleeping.
They were woken up on November 26th to Lacey in their room, grabbing their blankets and pulling them off the bed. "Drunksgiving!" she said. "Wake up, it's Drunksgiving!"
Nick groaned, shaking his head. "Stop," he mumbled, throwing an arm over his face. "Thanksgiving is tomorrow, and you're confusing it with Christmas."
"No, I'm not," she said, sitting down. "I said Drunksgiving. As in, we getting drunk off our asses."
"That sounds like a terrible idea," Jeff said, opening his eyes slowly to look up at her. "It's still morning. I'm sleeping."
"No, it's almost noon. I would hardly call that morning," she said.
"We're still adapting to Pennsylvania time," he mumbled, shaking his head.
"That makes no sense, it's already practically evening in Sweden, you should have been up for hours by now," she whined, pouting down at them.
"Why do we even need to start drinking now?" Nick asked, furrowing his brow. "Day drinking for me just means I'm going to fall asleep, like… way too early."
"We need to pick out the alcohol now. Drink later," she said with a soft laugh.
"See, I'm just not sure that that is a good idea. I think that picking the alcohol can wait," he said.
"Fine, jerks," Lacey said, shaking her head and getting up. "Later, though. We are definitely going to drink later."
"Alright. Love you, Lacey," Nick mumbled before snuggling back in against Jeff.
"I don't want to get drunk," Jeff said softly.
Nick just chuckled, nodding. "Me neither, really," he murmured.
"Does this mean we're old?"
"Probably," he said. "I don't mind, though. Anyways, if we just hang out in here, she might forget about it."
"You really think that'll work?" he asked with a soft laugh.
Shrugging, Nick replied, "I don't know. It might."
"You're too hopeful for your own good," he said, kissing his cheek.
"What can I say? You've rubbed off on me," he said.
"Oh god, you just got even cuter," Jeff groaned, pressing his face into the curve of Nick's neck. "I'm going back to sleep now, before I explode."
Nick laughed softly, closing his eyes again as well.
It wasn't long, though, before they reached the conclusion that they were well and truly awake by then. Still, though, they weren't entirely ready to be up and about and around the family (not that Nick didn't love his family, of course, it was just that, well… after spending time with almost exclusively Jeff for company, it was a bit jarring to go back to having practically no alone time with his fiancé), so they turned on the TV and started a movie marathon.
One or the other kept dozing off every now and then, which necessitated explanations of what was going on in the movie.
"You're really terrible at explaining things," Jeff said with a soft laugh.
Nick shook his head as he looked over at him. "Okay, but you're completely awful at describing people or remembering their names," he said. "I'm surprised you can even follow the plot of these movies given how awful you are at distinguishing people."
"Well, at least I can follow the plot," he teased back with a laugh. "I really think you're just making stuff up."
"What I said makes perfect sense if you knew what I was talking about."
"And there's the problem," Jeff said with a laugh, kissing Nick's shoulder. "I absolutely do not know what you're talking about. That is why I asked in the first place."
Nick laughed and kissed him, admitting defeat and falling silent again to return their attention to the movie playing, currently Good Will Hunting ("I'm still really mourning Robin Williams, if I start crying, you can't judge me").
Of course, Lacey wasn't going to let go of Drunksgiving so easily. She turned at the door to their room again as the afternoon started creeping into evening, knocking a few times. "I went to the liberty of getting us some Cuervo," she said through the door.
Nick glanced over at Jeff, raising an eyebrow.
"It could be fun," Jeff said with a small smile, laughing softly.
"Mm…" he hummed in thought, biting his lip before sighing and nodding. "Alright, I guess you're right."
"Wonderful," he said, kissing his cheek. "If nothing else, it'll be nice of us to throw Lacey a bone. I think she's earned that."
"You always encourage her and I don't think you know how dangerous that is," he said with a soft laugh before getting up, pulling Jeff along with him. They went to the door where Lacey was standing with Charlie, apparently having just collected him as well, and quite possibly the largest bottle of tequila Nick had ever seen. They then went out with her to their covered patio, pulling their chairs into a circle to face each other to drink.
There were not very many things that Nick would remember later on about Drunksgiving 2014. What he could say for sure was that they had started out with good intentions, mixing margaritas for themselves and maybe pouring a bit heavy on the tequila, but that quickly devolved into drinking straight from the bottle and passing it around.
He vaguely recalled Lacey pouring what was probably an extra shot and a half or so of tequila into her margarita then wimping out and handing it off to an unknowing Jeff to finish.
There was also a hazy memory in there of Jeff calling Charlie a pussy in order to get him to finish off the bottle.
At one point Nick realized he needed to do laundry and, as happens when intoxicated, that suddenly turned into a thing that needed to be done now. He would look back and marvel at the fact that he and Lacey's combined efforts to get the washing machine running did not break said washing machine.
The last memory that he had was laying in the dark with Jeff, about to go to sleep, repeatedly asking Jeff if he thought he was "that drunk" and if he was "that drunk, you would tell me, right?" As far as he could recall, Jeff, being the saint that he was (and not particularly more sober than Nick was), assured him that he was totally fine and wrapped his arms around him to sleep.
Getting drunk the day before Thanksgiving, as just about anyone could have predicted, was a terrible idea. The first half of the day was spent laying around feeling miserable and never getting too far from a trash can or toilet, and about the time that dinner was served was when the four of them started to feel slightly more human, just enough so that they managed to eat some of the more plain foods like turkey and bread rolls.
"I don't feel bad for any of you," Celia announced to them. "You brought this upon yourselves."
Shortly later she also made the sweeping declaration that alcohol was banned in future years from the entire day before Thanksgiving until dinner is served, saving them from potential disasters such as this.
The last few days of November were spent with Nick's family, playing stupid pranks and laughing and telling jokes at each other's expenses. With Jeff feeling more and more like he was a part of the Duval family, he felt more like it was past overdue that Nick met his family. And so, they agreed that for Christmas, they would be flying out to San Francisco.
FYI, my original intention for this chapter was to include more adventures in Sweden and shenanigans in the Duval household, but seeing as how this is super late, some corners were cut. I might, after all is said and done, if anyone but me even cares, revisit this verse to write more about this missing moments.