Okay so... long chapter. :D

Chapter 23

When daylight streamed through the door, and Jeff could hear people throughout the dorm waking up and getting ready for classes, Jeff just gave up on sleep.

"Oh god, I feel terrible," Jeff said, and rubbed at his face. He looked around the room. It was a disaster. He was just glad his laptop was still in his bag, and untouched.

He just groaned and plopped back down. He didn't want to go to his class today. Maybe just missing one day would be fine. He had somewhat of an excuse.

Nick had his arms wrapped around Jeff, trying to keep him warm, and make him feel safe. Although, he couldn't be sure if this was making him feel safe, or not anymore. He wished he knew what Jeff was thinking so that he could just put his mind at ease.

His hold on Jeff tightened slightly, nuzzling his face into his neck, "I'm sorry." He hated that he had Jeff this worked up. If he knew what it was he could say to make him feel better, he'd say it in a heartbeat.

Nick closed his eyes and sighed softly, "Just stay here. We'll have a day to ourselves, and you can ask me anything you want. So I can put your mind at ease. And then hopefully you'll be able to get some sleep."

Jeff sighed and leaned his head onto Nick's shoulder.

Nick smiled softly when he felt Jeff's head on his shoulder. It was simple, but it was nice. He liked to think as small a gesture as it was, it meant that maybe things would be okay.

"I just need to shower. That will be a challenge though," Jeff said, and sat up on the bed. He'd have to tape a plastic bag to his arm, or just shower with one arm. He got up and stretched, taking off his shirt. His phone was lying by the door. He picked it up.

He nodded when Jeff mentioned showering. Watching him move around the room. He hadn't expected to come back and find the place like this. He had no idea he had gotten Jeff this angry. He wished he could've stopped it from happening. If Janine had just listened to him when he said he needed time, maybe he could've found a way to tell Jeff that was better than this.

"Great. At least I have insurance," Jeff said, and saw the crack on the screen. He sighed and put it on his empty desk, not bothering with any of the other broken stuff yet. He pushed the hair out of his face and puffed out a breath of air.

"I have terrible anger issues. I hardly ever get angry, but when I do, it's bad," Jeff said.

Nick looked down at his hands, sighing softly, "I'm really sorry, Jeff."

"Really, it's okay. I got it out of my system, and it's better now. I'm okay with you being… you," Jeff said. He stretched back and cracked his back. "Oh, I needed that," he sighed. He opened the bathroom door and trudged in.

"Oh god, why didn't you tell me how terrible I looked?" Jeff pouted and turned on the shower before walking back out to find some clothes. If he didn't have bruises all over his shoulder and back, a dumb cast, and just looked like shit, he'd actually look sexy right now, with his low hanging pants and no shirt.

When he called out from the other room, Nick just shook his head, "You don't look terrible. You could never look terrible." He kept his eyes on Jeff, sighing softly, "If you need anything, just let me know, okay? I'll be right out here." He looked around at the mess on the floor. He'd have to clean that up while Jeff was in there. It would be the only thing to keep his mind off things while he waited.

"This is going to be really hard. You never realize how much you need both of your hands, until you can only use one. I'd ask you to help, but I'd be naked, so … yeah. Not yet," Jeff said, and got his clothes.

Well, he couldn't really ask any more than that from Jeff, right? He didn't expect Jeff to just accept this. He expect all that anger that was taken out on the things scattered around the room to be taken out on him instead. He just watched Jeff, biting his lip.

Jeff rolled his eyes at that statement and closed the door behind him. He set his clean clothes on the counter and stripped off his pants.

Holding your hand out the shower while cleaning yourself was extremely hard. Manageable, but hard. He'd have to get a waterproof cast in a few weeks, and for now get some plastic sleeves. The cast came out of the shower with only a little bit of water on it, but it wouldn't ruin it. He tripped around the small bathroom to get dressed, and made it out alive.

Nick was quick to clean up everything scattered around the room. He picked up everything, broken or not, setting it back neatly on Jeff's desk. He wasn't sure what was and wasn't worth keeping, but he didn't want to throw anything out just in case.

He sat back on Jeff's bed, running a hand through his hair as he waited for Jeff. He sighed softly, wondering what Jeff was going to ask him, how he was going to answer all his questions. He just hoped that he wouldn't scare him away now, after all of this.

Jeff went out of the bathroom, not even bothering to fix his hair. He stopped, "Why did you clean up? I was going to do that," Jeff said. He felt bad now, he's the one that made the mess, he should have cleaned it.

Nick bit his lip nervously, looking over at the mess now carefully placed on Jeff's desk. He smiled reassuringly, shrugging, "I don't want you to hurt your wrist. Besides, the only reason you got that angry was me."

"My wrist is fine. It really only hurts when I whack this dumb cast on stuff. It just seemed bad because I was like really high that day. I guess Janine liked me or something, but I'm not complaining. I didn't feel anything," Jeff said. He playfully glared at Nick.

Jeff sighed and went to inspect his damage. The only thing that was really broken, was his lamp light bulb, and his papers were all crinkled and now completely unorganized. He didn't feel like going through them right now, so he just slouched his shoulders and sat cross legged on the bed in front of Nick, and ran his good hand through his damp hair, to at least straighten it so it wouldn't dry completely frizzy.

Nick looked up at Jeff as he sat across from him, smiling fondly. It was crazy how much he meant to him. He hadn't known him that long at all, but Jeff was so amazing. He made him so happy. He would've done anything to make Jeff happy, and to keep him safe. He just hoped he could keep Jeff happy. He missed his smile. "I love your hair like that." He murmured softly, trying to lighten the mood.

Jeff smiled at Nick. There was a silence, but nothing of the awkward kind.

Nick shrugged. He knew Jeff didn't think it was so bad, but Nick was a worrier when he came to people he cared about, and he hadn't had anyone to care about in such a long time, he was making the most of what he had. He smiled brightly at Jeff's glare, looking away after a moment.

Reaching out, he took Jeff's hand, squeezing gently, "What do you want to know?"

Jeff honestly didn't know what he wanted to know. It was a tough call.

"Would it be weird to ask you to show me, uh, your eyes?" Jeff asked, hesitantly. He didn't know if Nick really wanted to do that. He could think of tons of questions, but really, none of them were coming to him right now.

Of all the things Jeff could've asked him, he really wasn't expecting that. Jeff was amazing to have not turned and ran just from this so far. He was worried it would be the eyes that would really have him turning and running, but if Jeff wanted to see them, he'd show him.

Looking down at their hands, he let his eyes flick over to black, looking back up at Jeff with a hesitant smile.

Jeff watched Nick carefully. He didn't really say anything at first.

"That is really weird," he finally said. "It makes it look like you have sunglasses on only your eyeballs," Jeff said, and chuckled. He was one for making jokes out of everything, trying to make it less hard for him. Even if they're terrible.

Nick bit his lip nervously as Jeff spoke. He chuckled softly, shrugging, "I guess it does." He'd never really thought about what it looked like before. He just knew that people wouldn't like it when they saw it. "It doesn't happen all the time. Just when I'm angry, or sometimes when I'm really happy. Demons do it to scare people sometimes, but I've never really seen the appeal of that."

Jeff sighed, "So what have you been doing this whole time? How old did you say you were again?" He couldn't remember. Most of last night was a blur. He rubbed his thumb lightly over the fingers that Nick had, holding his hand.

"I'm a hundred and eighty two. I've been a demon for a hundred and sixty five years." He smiled fondly, watching Jeff's thumb move over his fingers, "And I told you, I travel a lot. I've been all over the world, really. It's been…interesting, I guess." He shrugged.

"I can see the appeal in scaring people. It works too," Jeff said, shuddering, remember the time in the closet.

Nick frowned. He never liked the idea of scaring humans. That was probably because of that one thing that just kept coming back in Nick's mind, "I would do anything to be human again. Using the eye thing to scare people doesn't seem very human."

"You would just give up living forever? I would want that. I don't want to die. Even if I live till I'm 90 I wouldn't have lived long enough. I'm ambitious, so dying just doesn't fit my schedule," Jeff commented.

Nick frowned, shaking his head, "Living forever is not all it's cracked up to be." He smiled sadly, "Watching the people you care about grow old and die while you just have to keep going…it's not exactly fun. Kind of why I haven't let myself grow attached to anyone…'till now."

"Well living forever with the person you love would be an adventure," Jeff suggested.

Nick smiled softly, "Well, if I could live forever with the person I love, I think that would probably make me the happiest guy in the world, but things haven't really worked out that way." He shrugged.

Jeff sighed, "What about history class? How much of that crap is actually accurate?"

Nick chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck, "History class…I haven't paid much attention to be honest, but what I've head is right. Just…really, really dull in comparison to actually being there."

"So were you in any armies or did you know Hitler personally or something," Jeff asked. The history part was really cool, because he happened to like history and would be amazing to hear it from a firsthand account.

"Wait if you can't die what happens if someone were to shoot you? Does the bullet just kind of repel off your skin?" Jeff wondered.

"I tried to avoid armies and stuff as best I could. I can't die. Being somewhere like the army would only draw attention to that. I was forced into one once, though. You know, being seventeen, they just made me join up because they needed all the people they could get." He sighed softly, "It's not exactly something I like to think about. And if people shot me, I'd just…get the bullet out of the wound, and let it heal. It never takes long."

Jeff was very amused, "But would the bullet hurt as much as a human would? You have like magic healing powers? Do you have any powers? Can you do any cool stuff? I mean I know you're fast, and stronger than normal people but is that is?" Jeff just went on and rambled that all together.

Nick raised an eyebrow at Jeff, smirking, "Jeff, I was never shot when I was a human. I have no idea what that feels like." He laughed, shaking his head. He hadn't expected Jeff to be quite so excited like this, "I can't die, obviously, and my wounds heal within a day. We can uh, travel from place to place just by thinking about it. Kind of why I told you never to worry whenever you thought I might be lost." He chuckled softly, shrugging.

Jeff nodded, "Can you like take people with you? When you 'travel'?" he asked. That would be so cool, they could go spend the day in Paris or something, and then just come right back. That would be really romantic actually, even if he was terrible at French.

Nick frowned. He'd never thought about that before. Mainly because he'd never been close enough to anyone to consider it. Would that be possible? That would be kind of cool. "I don't know. I've never tried that. I'll have to look into that." He smiled softly, shrugging. It would be perfect if he could do that. Jeff really seemed to want to get out of that town for a while.

"You can try if you want?" Jeff suggested, hopefully. The idea of teleporting sounded really fun. He chuckled and shook his head.

"I mean, you can try to move us to like the other bed?" Jeff said, looking at the empty bed next to his. They mostly just slept in Jeff's bed.

Nick quickly shook his head, "No, I don't want to yet." He smiled reassuringly, gently squeezing Jeff's hand, "I mean, if I can do it, then I would love to take you places, but I don't want to try it until I know it's safe. Taking Jeff's hand, he brought it to his lips, "I wouldn't want it to go wrong and for you to get hurt."

Jeff sighed, "It's okay. You can find out, and then let me know." He was disappointed, but understanding. "So what about you? Can anything hurt you? Like, a certain metal or something? Like werewolves and silver, and the moon, and vampires and wood and the sun? Do they exist by the way? Are there more than just demons out there? Ghosts? Black dogs? Angels maybe?" Jeff was rambling again, and mashing all of his questions together. He was bad at this.

"Of course." He shifted closer unconsciously, smiling a little brighter, "And if I can, then I'll take you all over the world. All sorts of different places." He gently squeezed Jeff's hand.

"Good. I'd love to see everything," Jeff smirked.

"Well, holy water hurts me. It's like it…burns. And if you know how to exorcise me, well, then I'll be gone." He smiled sadly, not really wanting to think about that. "I don't know if any of those things are real. I mean, I haven't seen any, but if I exist, then sure, maybe. Who knows."

"Well I don't know how to exercise a demon, so you're in luck. It's not like I would exercise you anyway. That would mean I couldn't see you," Jeff said, and smiled, kissing Nick's cheek.

Nick chuckled, looking away as Jeff smirked. He was more than a little thankful that Jeff didn't know how to perform an exorcism. If he did, he probably would've done it when he found out, and that would be the end of him. Smiling fondly as Jeff said he wouldn't, he moved closer, leaning his shoulder against Jeff's, "Well, I'm glad I've made enough of an affect for you to want me to stick around."

Jeff smiled, and took a deep breath. "Of course. I don't want you to go anywhere," he said. He loved being in Nick's presence. It was calming to him, and when he found out about the demons, he realized that he just felt safe in Nick's arms. Like nothing could ever touch them. "I don't really know what else to ask. I want to know more, but I just can't think of anything on the top of my head," Jeff said.

Nick nodded, smiling fondly. He was glad to know he hadn't completely terrified Jeff yet. Jeff still liked being around him. That was something, right? Shifting in the bed, he moved to Jeff's side, pulling him into his arms, "I'm not going anywhere unless you want me to. I don't know where else I'd go." Kissing Jeff's cheek, he rested his head on his shoulder, "When you think of any more questions, don't hesitate. Just ask."

"I'm sure they'll be completely random, and the weirdest things ever," Jeff said, and laughed. He actually knew they would be. Then one sparked in his mind, "What about like eating? Do demons need to eat like certain things to live? Like vampires are with blood and whatnot?" Jeff asked.

Nick chuckled, shrugging he really didn't mind what the questions were. It was just nice to be able to be open about it with Jeff without fear of scaring him away.

Holding Jeff close, he frowned, shaking his head, "Well, I mean, I eat normal foods. You'd probably have noticed by now if I didn't." He was worried, because this was probably going to scare Jeff, but he had asked, "Demons…see humans as food."

"Oh," Jeff muttered. It was a strange thing and even if he expected the answer, he was surprised. "I don't suppose… You…?" he asked, not really asking it directly.

Nick shook his head quickly, "Not you. No way. I don't think of you as food, I promise." The very idea made Nick shudder. He'd seen plenty of humans as food before, but never Jeff. He wasn't sure exactly why, Jeff just never felt like anything more than a human. An adorable human that act like a kid more often than not. "I mean…I've seen humans as food. It's only natural for me, but not you. Never you."

"Oh-Kay," Jeff said. He sounded kind of unsure of his answer, but he knew Nick wasn't lying. Did he know that? Of course he did… Jeff sighed. He didn't say anything after that.

Nick paused after a moment of silence, sighing softly. "Just…hang on a second, okay?" He reluctantly got up, shifting to his side of the room and rifling through one of his drawers. After a moment, he smiled to himself, quickly making his way back to Jeff's side.

Jeff watched at Nick rummaged through his things. He stayed silent, and bit his lip, waiting.

He held up a necklace. It was simple, black cord with a blue sapphire gem and taking Jeff's hand, he placed it into his palm, leaning against him, "This necklace has been in my family for a long time, but I want you to have it."

"Nick…" he whispered, looking at the beautiful crystal, "I can't accept this. If you say it's been in your family, then it's old, and worth a lot of money."

Nick shook his head, closing Jeff's fingers over the necklace. He'd had it for so long, but he'd never had any use for it. It wasn't the only thing he had left of his family, but it was important to him. "I don't care how much it's worth. I want you to have it." Leaning his head against Jeff's shoulder, he murmured, "It's part of my family, and you're the closest thing I have to that now. You and Janine."

"Oh-kay," Jeff let out a shaky breath once again. He didn't want to take this from him, but he could see how much Nick wanted him to have it. Jeff slipped it over his head, and wrapped an arm around Nick. "Family," he whispered. He couldn't believe how close they've gotten. It was literally like they were destined to get together. Something like this doesn't come around more than once. He thought about his future. The future where Nick was in it. Where they have kids, where they owned a house. Where he was happy.

Nick smiled brightly when Jeff slipped the necklace on, shifting closer. He didn't think it was possible to feel as close to anyone as he did to Jeff. Especially after such a short amount of time. He missed his family more than he cared to admit. Having people to rely on left you open to pain, but he still felt it was important.

Nick brushed his hand over Jeff's cheek, looking into his eyes with a fond smile. Closing the gap between them, he kissed Jeff softly for just a moment before wrapping his arms tightly around him, sighing softly, "Thank you, for not running away. I honestly thought you'd never want to see me again."

Jeff smiled and looked into Nick's loving eyes. He leaned into the kiss and sighed after he wrapped his arms around him. "I didn't want to run. It didn't scare me that you weren't human. It scared me that someday I'm going to die, and you'll just move on," he whispered.

"I won't just move on." Nick brushed a hand gently through Jeff's hair, just looking into his eyes for a moment. He wasn't sure what words would be right to use in the situation, but he had to say something, "You're special. I've met a lot of people, but you…you're something different." He just felt right with Jeff. More right than he had in such a long time. Kissing Jeff's shoulder, he murmured softly, "I could never just move on from you."

"I'd want you to move on and be happy. I wanted you to get another demon and live forever, because if I were in your position I wouldn't be able to live with that," he said, and furrowed his eyebrows. He was silent for a second and then said, "But I chose the selfish way and want to stay with you." Jeff kissed Nick on the lips and lie his head on Nick's chest, trying to listen to his heartbeat. There wasn't anything there though. Jeff was taller than Nick, and it was slightly weird lying that way, but it was okay.

Nick shook his head, "I told you, I don't really get along with other demons. I wouldn't be able to get close to anyone like I am with you." He held Jeff a little tighter, nuzzling his neck, "It isn't selfish. This is what I want. If anything, I'm being selfish, messing with your life like this." Smiling against Jeff's lips, he ran his fingers gently through his hair as he rested his head on his chest, his head tilted to the side as he watched him.

Jeff didn't reply to what Nick said. He didn't like it. He was holding him back from living out an eternity with someone he loved. If they kept going, they wouldn't be able to leave each other. He scooted up and held himself up on his elbows to look into Nick's eyes, lying on his stomach. He kissed him, and lingered there for a while, slowly moving almost on top of Nick.

Nick wasn't really sure what he was expecting from Jeff, but it wasn't this. This really wasn't much, but it had been so long since anyone had even considered being so close to him like this. Nick had to remind himself that he had to keep his cool.

Leaning into the kiss, he pulled Jeff closer, smiling against his lips before he realized what he was doing. He probably shouldn't go much further than this, especially when Jeff didn't know how badly things could go wrong if he did. Reluctantly pulling away from the kiss, he rested their heads together, murmuring softly, "Jeff, slow down, okay?"

Jeff let out a breath, and closed his eyes. "What, we can't make out?" he asked, not really getting off of him, but moving back a little. He was a teenage boy after all. He knew he wasn't ready to have sex or anything, but at least something.

Nick chuckled nervously. Making out was okay. It was just how far that ended up going that he was worried about. Nick pulled Jeff close again, kissing him more firmly before reluctantly pulling away again. He bit his lip, thinking of a way to say it before groaning and shaking his head, "Making out is fine, just try not to get me too worked up."

Jeff didn't say anything, but grinned and leaned down to press his lips to the other boys harder. It was nice kissing Nick. He'd never really done this before, and it was really great. "Why not? Are demon boners harder or something?" he asked, not really paying attention. He blushed and bit his lip, realizing what he just said.

Nick just stared wide eyed at Jeff for a moment before laughing, rolling his eyes, "Wow, Jeff. Just…wow." He wasn't expecting anything quite like that to come from Jeff's lips.

Running his fingers through Jeff's hair, he sighed softly. Why did being a demon have to have so many drawbacks? "If I get too worked up, I won't be able to control myself. Demon instincts will kick in, and I don't want to hurt you."

Jeff covered his face with his hands. He felt like his whole body was blushing. "Oh god. I'm sorry. That just kind of blurted out," he said. He chuckled a little bit and shook his head, not being able to show his face to Nick. "I get what you're saying, but I completely ruined that moment. Way to go me," he said, and laughed. That was really terrible.

Nick chuckled, wrapping his arms around Jeff and pulling him close, resting his head against his chest. He never thought a heartbeat could be such a soothing sound, but there it was, and it was beautiful.

Nick threaded his fingers with Jeff's, sighing happily, "Let's just pretend that didn't happen, yeah?" He chuckled.

Jeff chuckled and let out a breath he was holding. "Gladly," he said. It was still embarrassing, and he knew he'd never forget that. It was better just lying there anyway, listening to each other breathe. He liked that.