A/N: Yep, so I just finished writing this, and I've put some good progress on the next chapter. We're coming to the end, folks. There's probably only a chapter or two left, then an epilogue, and of course, a separately posted sequel, which will be called Don't Break My Heart or How Not To Be a Heartbreaker or some shit like that I haven't really decided. Enjoy this chapter while I write.

A lot happens in this chapter, even if it doesn't look very long.

Chapter Thirty-Two:

"'I love you and I trust you and I know we're going to be together forever.' The words echoed in Blaine's head as the confetti dropped. There was a crowd of thousands and he could clearly see Kurt in the sea of heads, but the only thoughts he had were for Sebastian. Such a simple thing, and yet Blaine knew how much it meant to Sebastian – how much forever really meant to both of them. Blaine had promised it before, to Kurt, but he meant it so much more now. Even if they hadn't won, it would have been worth it, just to bring the Warblers this far."

"Nationals is not a joke, people!" Hunter yelled at the Warblers. No one seemed to notice he wasn't Captain or Vice Captain anymore, he ran the tightest ship the Warblers had ever sailed on. "Do any of you know what the pressure is like at Nationals? No, none of you do!"

"Scuse me," Blaine said, raising his hand. "Pretty sure I know what it's like to win Nationals. Do we really have to go through this again?"

"Okay, fine," Hunter conceded. "Anything you'd like to add, Captain?" He spat the last word.

"Yeah, actually," Blaine said, stepping out of line to take Hunter's place. "Nationals is not a joke, gentlemen. So far this year our Sectionals was a win by technicality. Regionals was a breeze. There are 49 other teams out there and every single one of them wants to win. Vocal Adrenaline came in second last year, second to the New Directions, which this team has lost to twice, and tied once. Do you think we even have a shot if even a single one of us is not working his hardest?"

"No," the team mumbled.

"Good," Blaine said. "Now let's run the choreography for Beat It one more time and we can hit the hay. We leave bright and early tomorrow for Philly."

"I got the mail," Sebastian announced. "Well, actually, Nick got it for us and shoved it at me. Did you know we have a mailbox downstairs?"

"Yeah," Blaine said. "I don't check it much, my mail is supposed to go to my house." Sure enough, they sorted through the mail, and most of it was for Sebastian – a VISA bill, a clean bill of health from the STD checkup center, the last Sebastian would get for a long time – but there at the bottom of the pile, right underneath a letter to Hunter from his mother, was something for Blaine. His NYADA letter. Blaine stared at it. It was the only place he'd applied. He absolutely had to get in. Sebastian was already into NYU for pre-Law. Sebastian's father had bought them a penthouse apartment in Manhattan, they were moving in just a few weeks, right after graduation.

"Open it!" the Warblers insisted, all assembled in the hall.

Blaine had gotten in.

"Congratulations, baby," Sebastian murmured in Blaine's ear as he hugged him and swung him around. "Let's add the cherry to the top of that, shall we?"

"Nationals?"

"Nationals."

For some reason, the Warblers were driving to Philadelphia. They didn't know how or why really, but it wasn't really that far, and Hunter liked to drive…

That's how Blaine ended up squished between Nick and Jeff in the backseat of Hunter's SUV. Sebastian was in the passenger seat because he was the tallest. And also the whiniest.

"I'm bored, does anyone mind if I sing?" Blaine asked, his head falling on Nick's shoulder.

"No, go ahead," Hunter replied, handing Blaine his phone, which was hooked up to the stereo system of the car.

"No, no, nah…" Blaine said, trying to find something good. "Wait! Perfect!"

Jitterbug.
You put the boom-boom into my heart
You send my soul sky-high when your lovin starts
Jitterbug into my brain
Goes a bang-bang-bang til my feet do the same
But something's bugging me
Something ain't right
My best friend told me what you did last night
You left me sleeping in my bed
I was dreaming but I should've been with you instead

Wake me up before you go-go
Don't leave me hanging on like a yo-yo
Wake me up before you go-go
Don't wanna miss it when you hit that high
Wake me up before you go-go
Cuz I'm not planning on going solo
Wake me up before you go-go
Take me dancing tonight
I wanna hit that high~

"A plus, ten for ten," Sebastian said. "Number one guilty pleasure song."

"Thank you," Blaine said, also getting a high five from Nick.

"Good, now we're five minutes closer to Philly," Hunter remarked dryly.

"Oh, come on, Hunt, what's your guilty pleasure?" Sebastian teased.

As usual, 'you' almost popped out of Hunter's mouth, but he just laughed.

"No, no, I don't want to play this game," Hunter said.

"Okay, how about, instead, we each say one thing no one else knows about us?" Blaine suggested.

"Oh, that's fun! I'll start!" Jeff exclaimed. "I had a crush on Blaine when he first transferred." Everyone in the car burst out laughing. "I'm serious! He was really nice to me, and I wasn't used to that."

"You're a goober," Nick said.

"Alright, I've got one," Sebastian said. "I hate when people shorten my name to 'Sebby'." More laughter. "Oh, come on, it sounds so stupid! Just Bas or Bastian."

"You want to hear stupid names," Nick said. "You know what Nick is short for?"

"It's not Nicholas?" Sebastian asked.

"Copernicus," Nick said. Laughter. "Copernicus Duval. I've never been called that. It's been Nick or Nicky since I can remember."

"I didn't even know that," Jeff said. "Well, you never told me. I did know."

"How did you know?" Nick asked.

"Going through your stuff," Jeff said with an innocent shrug.

"Hunter?" Nick prompted.

"I… didn't get a scholarship to come take over the Warblers," Hunter admitted.

"You… what?" Nick asked.

"I almost got kicked out of my military academy for steroid use," Hunter said. "And my father thought it was better for me to recreate my image somewhere low key, so I can go on to West Point next year."

"Wow," Jeff said. Sebastian put a comforting hand on Hunter's thigh. Hunter sighed.

"No, it's okay, when we win tomorrow, everything from last year will be forgotten," Hunter said. It was quiet for a moment.

"Blaine?" Jeff prompted.

"When I'm alone, I like to rock out to Adele," Blaine said.

"Seriously," Jeff asked. Blaine nodded. "Like Fire to the Rain? Legit?"

"Course," Blaine said. He pushed a few buttons on Hunter's phone and the track came through the audio system.

I let it fall
My heart
And as it fell
You rose to claim it…
It was dark and I was over
Until you kissed my lips and you saved me
My hands feel sure but my knees were far too weak
To stand in your arms without falling to your feet
But there's a side to you that I never knew, never knew
All the things you'd say, they were never true, never true
All the games you played you would always win, always win

But I set fire to the rain
Watched it pour as I touched your face
Let it burn while I cry cuz I heard it screaming out your name
Your name…

"I told you Blaine could pull off Fire to the Rain," Nick huffed at Sebastian.

"That was Trent," Sebastian replied.

"I agreed with him," Nick said, folding his arms.

"I think the question was actually tabled, because Jeff was screaming for One Direction," Sebastian reminded them.

"Because One Direction rocks," Jeff replied. Sebastian laughed.

"So, Hunter's going to West Point, then, I'm headed to NYADA, Bas is coming to NYU," Blaine said. "What about you two?"

"University of Michigan," Nick said. "Finally got my acceptance in yesterday's mail."

"He could have gone anywhere and he picks Michigan," Jeff said.

"Go Blue," Blaine said, giving Nick a high-five.

"But I guess we'll both be there, and that's all that really matters, right?" Jeff continued. Nick smiled and tried to get a kiss to Jeff around Blaine, but couldn't.

"This is a super long-ass drive, and I'll probably regret asking, but why don't you tell us the story of how you two got together?" Sebastian asked, stretching out like an asshole.

"Well, it was a beautiful and magical time…" Jeff began.

For a full account of the story of how Nick and Jeff met, please rewind to Chapter One and read all 32 chapters again. (Can also be found in an abridged version in Chapter 21 of My Dark Side.) Then proceed:

"We're there already?" Blaine asked, jolting awake. He'd fallen asleep a few hours ago, head on Nick's shoulder.

"Yeah, sleepyhead, you missed most of the story," Jeff said, indignantly.

"We slammed Sebastian a few times, just to make sure you were really asleep," Nick said. Hunter parked the car, and the quintet gathered their bags. They checked into their rooms, and then loaded up the elevator.

"So, I made a decision," Hunter said. "I know I'm not Captain anymore, or even Vice Captain, and I'm barely on the council, and I'm kind of a jerk, and I sort of made Sebastian come onto me and got Blaine very angry with me…"

"Did this story have a point, because I'm sure pissing me off again wasn't it," Blaine interrupted.

"I want Nick and Jeff to have Two Princes," Hunter said. "They sounded so good when they sang it before, and they've never done a duet together."

"Yeah, and I don't think Nationals is the best time to try that out," Blaine said. "We want to win, don't we?"

"Hey," Jeff said. "We gave up Regionals two years ago for you and Kurt. Then you cheated on him and ruined all our good work. You could at least return the favor."

"I'm not saying you can't have the song if Hunter wants to give it to you," Blaine said. "He's on the council, he has the power. I'm just saying, don't sleep with Sebastian while you're dating someone else." Sebastian punched Blaine in the arm softly, and Blaine laughed. "It worked out for me, but I don't think so much for you."

"If you had to date one of the other Warblers besides each other, which one would you pick?" Sebastian asked.

"Blaine," Nick said at the same time Jeff declared, "Sebastian." They turned to stare at each other.

"Oh-hoo," Blaine said, looking at Sebastian. "Interesting. What about you, Bas?"

"Oh, definitely Hunter," Sebastian laughed. "Hunt?"

"Yeah, if I had to pick one of you, I guess it would be Sebastian," Hunter grumbled.

"What about you, Blaine?" Nick asked.

"Oh, God," Blaine said. "I don't know."

"If you had to," Sebastian said. "I won't be offended. Tell us."

"I don't know!" Blaine exclaimed. "Hunter, I guess."

"Ew, why Hunter?" Sebastian asked.

"You said you wouldn't be offended!" Blaine argued. The rest laughed, except Hunter who seemed revolted. The elevator finally dinged them free on the 15th floor.

"We'll see you later, I guess," Jeff said, as they all went their separate ways.

"Practice in my room at 6 sharp," Hunter called.

"So, a 26-year-old junior manager at the Gap," Sebastian said to Blaine. Apparently Jeremiah had come up at some point during Nick and Jeff's story.

"Yeah," Blaine said, almost wistfully. "If he and I got married, the Gap would give me a 50% discount."

The Warblers setlist was amazing: First Two Princes, originally supposed to be Hunter's solo, but now Nick and Jeff's impromptu duet. Then Blaine's solo Don't Know Nothing by Maroon 5. Then Sebastian got the honor of singing the lead in Beat It (provided there was no rock salt, unless it involved Jesse St. James), and Jeff and a few others were providing lead backup vocals, and there was a lot of dancing, and it was all very awesome and epic and guess what?

The Warblers won.

Confetti fell on their heads and everyone hugged each other, and everyone who had come to watch them rushed up onstage to hug them as Thad lifted the trophy into the air above his head. Wes was there telling each of them how proud he was of them. Kurt and Rachel and Sam were there, all trying to strangle Blaine with their happiness, but all Blaine could see was Sebastian (who was hugging Hunter and jumping up and down).

Jeff dragged everyone to all the tourist locations after the buzz of winning had worn down a little. Mostly Jeff wanted to go everywhere because he thought at least one of them would make a good backdrop for Nick's proposal. He'd checked before they'd left – Nick had definitely packed the box with the ring in it. He was proposing here, in Philadelphia, at Nationals.

At the Liberty Bell? The Liberty Bell was beautiful. But Nick didn't propose.

Independence Hall? Independence Hall was beautiful. But Nick didn't propose.

By the Rocky Statue? The Rocky Statue was cool. But Nick didn't propose.

Walking down Market Street? Market Street was cool. But Nick didn't propose.

They went to a bunch of different places, because seeing them as National Champions might be different than not. But Nick didn't propose.

Finally, totally dejected, Jeff returned to their hotel room.

"What's the matter, baby?" Nick asked, hopping into the bed with Jeff.

"Nothing," Jeff said. "I was just thinking about next year."

"Next year?"

"When we won't see these guys anymore," Jeff said.

"I was thinking maybe for Christmas we could go to New York and visit Sebastian and Blaine and Kurt and them," Nick said. "Go ice skating on Christmas Eve, walking in the snow through Central Park, see if we can make it out of the city without getting attacked by angels…"

"Sure," Jeff agreed with a smile. "But they jumped and created a paradox, so…"

"Yeah, but just in case," Nick replied. "You know, J, I've been sitting on something for a while here."

"What's that?"

"The future and stuff," Nick said. "We're going to be together for the next four years, but then what?"

"We'd have to start real life," Jeff said.

"Exactly," Nick said. "Real Life. It just seems so … scary. We won't have Blaine and the Warblers anymore, it will just be us. You and me, Nick and Jeff, the Niff. And it only seemed logical that we start our life together as soon as possible." He slid off the bed and got down on one knee. Jeff felt like he might die he was so happy. "They'll tell us we're too young to know what we want, they'll tell us we've never been with anyone else, so how can we be sure. But I'm sure, and I've been sure since I was seven years old. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Jeffrey Sterling, will you marry me?"

Jeff slid off the bed too, his arms around Nick in a flash, and sobbing out, "yes, yes, yes, of course, yes," not even taking a look at the ring Nick had pulled out of his blazer, just hugging him, crying into his shoulder.

Finally, finally, Nick had proposed.

And that's not even the end of the chapter!

"J, you didn't even look at the ring," Nick said.

"I don't care about the ring, I just want you," Jeff replied, slightly muffled by the way his face was buried in Nick's chest.

"Sebastian and I spent a lot of time picking out one you'd like," Nick said, his frown evident in his voice. Jeff pulled back from their embrace to inspect his engagement ring.

"Wow," Jeff said. There were two rings in the box, one for Jeff and one for Nick. Jeff picked one out at random, looking at it.

"That one's mine," Nick said, with a slightly amused expression. Jeff took Nick's left hand and slid it onto his finger.

Jeff took the other one out of the box to look at it. 14k gold, a simple band, and on the inside something was engraved. He tipped it to the light.

I Niff You

Jeff was crying again as Nick took it and slipped it onto Jeff's finger.

"Do you like them?" Nick asked nervously.

"Of course!" Jeff exclaimed. "Just… how did you afford them?"

"Every cent of my allowance, birthday, and Christmas money for 10 years," Nick said. "And a small loan from Sbastian for mine, but that doesn't matter. You and me."

"I love you," Jeff burst out, wrapping his arms around Nick again.

"I love you too," Nick replied.

The next morning, Nick and Jeff were awoken by Hunter banging on the door. They had a long trip ahead of them and Hunter was leaving in ten minutes.

Ten minutes later, Nick and Jeff were in the back seat of Hunter's SUV but Sebastian and Blaine were not.

"Where are they?" Hunter huffed.

"Couldn't be having sex again, I think Sebastian may have actually broken Blaine," Nick said.

"Haven't you learned anything about their voices from three years of eavesdropping?" Jeff asked. "Blaine broke Sebastian."

"Yeah, that's what I heard too, but Sebastian's a top, so it doesn't make sense? I mean, you can't break me," Nick said.

"Oh, watch me try," Jeff said with a grin.

Hunter rolled his eyes from the front seat.

"They have five minutes, or so help me, I'm leaving without them," Hunter said.

Six and a half minutes later, Hunter was pulling his SUV out of the parking garage, ready for the 10 or 12 hour drive back to Westerville, Ohio, and Sebastian and Blaine were still nowhere to be found.

"Hunter, can we tell you something?" Nick asked, climbing over the center console into the front seat. Jeff stretched out in the back, taking up the whole seat.

"Sure, anything that's not extremely graphic details of the two of you having sex," Hunter replied.

"Oh, well, I guess that rules out about 85 percent of the stuff I wanted to say," Nick said. Jeff laughed, but Hunter didn't. "What do you think about gay marriage?"

"I think basically everyone I know is gay and I'd really rather not have them live in any more sin than they absolutely have to, so what the heck, why not, let them get married," Hunter said, with a small shrug.

"Jeff and I are engaged," Nick said. They were stopped at a red light, but the news didn't seem to shock Hunter at all.

"You weren't engaged before?" Hunter asked. "I thought you were practically married already."

"No, that's you and Sebastian," Jeff interjected.

"Don't be mean, Jeffers," Nick said, blowing a kiss into the backseat. "I proposed to Jeff last night. And since Sebastian and Blaine haven't had the decency to show up, congratulations, you're the first person we've told."

"Thank you, I'm honored," Hunter said. Nick stole Hunter's phone and hooked it up to the speaker system. The three boys sang at the top of their lungs all the way back to Ohio.

Humming to himself, Hunter unlocked the door to the his dorm room, and an awful sight befell his eyes. Sebastian had Blaine bent over the desk, both totally naked. Hunter sighed and let the door fall shut in front of him, taking a seat in the hallway, staring up at the light, trying to burn that image of Sebastian and Blaine and dozens others just like it out of his brain.

But he couldn't.

And as much as he tried, he couldn't come to terms with the fact that he wanted to be the one Sebastian bent over the desk.

Or did he?

"Hunt, you can come back in, we're finished," Sebastian's voice called from inside the room. Hunter got up from his seat on the floor, shivering as he unlocked the door again. "Nice of you to finally show up."

"Do you have a teleport or something?" Hunter asked.

"We flew," Blaine said, pulling the bathrobe he was wearing tighter around him. "We're gonna take a shower now, but you can have the room." He and Sebastian disappeared into the bathroom, slamming the door with a giggle.

Hunter let out a frustrated grunt and punched the mattress of his bed. The water shuddered on from the shower in the bathroom, and Blaine's giggle could be heard over the sound of it. Hunter sighed and took a jump into his bed, fully dressed.

Only five days left.

Only five more days.

Graduations are hard for everybody. This one was especially hard on the subjects of this story, who'd lived with each other every day for four years. Even Hunter, who'd only been with the group one year, was sad to be leaving high school. The Warblers were more than just a show choir, they were a family.

A family, who made vows to keep in touch. Nick and Jeff were going to visit Sebastian and Blaine in New York all the time, and Hunter promised to pop down from West Point when he could. Trent was going to be staying in Ohio, but he would pop by from time to time if he got the chance. Thad was staying right in the area, University of Lima, as were a few others, but Beats was off to UCLA with his boyfriend, Mark, whom he hadn't seen in quite some time, and David was going to Northwestern to be a doctor, where his girlfriend was already in the nursing program. (She'd been visiting when she'd come for Regionals.)

Thursday night was Graduation, and the Warblers threw a big party after it, just the Warblers and Kurt, no chicks. No one really knew for sure why Kurt was there, but he was an honorary Warbler, and Blaine's best friend, after all.

For their party, they first proceeded to get really drunk, then they began doing every number they'd ever done, starting with Teenage Dream, and they worked their way all the way up to Bad before hell really broke loose.

Nick let slip to Blaine that Sebastian had been blackmailing the Warblers during Michael Week, and Sebastian ran away from Dalton, thinking Blaine wouldn't love him anymore, leaving only his tie and a small tape recorder behind.

"He's gone," Blaine announced, walking back into the practice room.

A/N: Bum bum bum CLIFFHANGER. I'm worse than Ryan Murphy. JUST KIDDING. LOL. That would take a lot.

Leave me a review because YOU SHOULD ALL LOVE ME RIGHT NOW.

Samantha.

Next Chapter: Calm your tits, we find Sebastian, and Nick and Jeff have a lot of behind-the-scenes sex. And something with Hunter. Seriously, I haven't written it yet.
And later: What part of I'm not there yet do you not understand?

:D