A/N: Have I mentioned that I'm overwhelmed with the out pouring of love? Have I also mentioned that I pretty much can't get this story out of my head? My muse has taken it and decided to run away to… where ever muses go with stories. However, he has yet to tell me what happened to Nick...
Nick cannot watch anymore. His roommate is jerking and writhing. And, even though Sebastian be an ass sometimes, damn it, he's the Warbler's ass. He's a brother, and they love him for all his eccentricities.
Nick cannot loose another brother.
He brushes past the medical personal crowding around Sebastian's bed. He goes into the hall to clear his head. He's not abandoning his brother; Sebastian is in the care of doctors, nurses, and Jeff.
He's surprised to find Sebastian's father leaning against the glass wall to the room. Mr. Smythe looks ghastly. His clothes are rumpled, his eyes are red rimmed and his shoulders are shaking silently. Nick wonders how close Sebastian's father is to the breaking point. Nick , himself, is hanging together by a few frayed threads.
"Nick, how did this happen?" Mr. Smythe asks, his voice shaking. "I thought he was getting better… I thought he was all right. … He said he was all right. He told me he was happy here. … That he was happy at Dalton. … He has friends there. You're his friend. … Was he just lying? Was he just playing me for a fool?"
Nick wraps his arms around Sebastian's father, a man he never though would get to a breaking point. Then again, when he met Sebastian last October, he never imagined he'd have seen Sebastian in the emergency room, twice.
Nick needs the hug as much as Mr. Smyth does.
Somehow, physical contact releases the emotions he's been suppressing. He's angry at Sebastian. How could he be so fucking selfish? How could he do this to everyone? How could he take those drugs? Where does a fourteen year old even get illegal drugs? … He is a fucking asshole! A master manipulator.
He tries to stop the thought, but he wonders if Sebastian is playing puppet master, controlling the strings.