Supported

After the necessary introductions were made, Grace was invited into the Sterling house for a coffee and a chat. She quickly explained what had happened. "I got a call from Dad last night, early evening, to tell me to book a flight home today, as he needed me to accompany him and mom to church tomorrow morning. I was startled and asked him why. He told me that you had been seduced into a life of sin, and we had to come together to pray for your soul. When I asked what he meant he told me it was none of my business, just that you had disgraced the family name in public that morning, and we needed to present a united front. He told me to charge the flight to his credit card, then hung up. I was curious, so I checked Facebook. Not yours, but Trent's. There was a link to the best video I have seen in a while. I knew then that I needed to come home to see you - I guessed where you would be, thankfully remembered the address and then lied to dad about when my flight would arrive. I have another two hours before he will expect me. So, what exactly happened?"

Nick quickly explained everything, from the moments after the kiss to the dramatic scene at lunchtime. The actions of her father made Grace so angry, that she almost refused to go home - until that was Jeff suggested that she should be their Trojan Horse. Everyone looked at him with curiosity at first, until he explained what he meant - then it was a widely welcomed suggestion. It was such an audacious plan that it might just work. Having agreed to go with it, there was just time for Grace to sit with Nick as he called their grandmother. The conversation was brief and to the point but confirmed his suspicions - she had always been expecting the day to come when he came out. She had seen how his face lit up at the mention of the word Jeff; witnessed first hand his determination to be with him, no matter what. She was just shocked that it had taken him so long - she had nearly lost the bet she had placed with her husband that Nick and Jeff would be a couple before they left school. At that last comment, Nick and Grace looked at each other, then burst out laughing.

Grace had to leave before their father smelt a rat, but their grandmother swiftly agreed to Nick coming to live with them short term. "I will never stop loving you, whether you turn out to be gay, bi or straight. You are a wonderful young man, and although I have yet to meet Jeff, he must be every bit as nice for you to want him so much. Bring him over tomorrow when you move in - you'll need a hand unpacking no doubt. No arguments - in fact, bring as many of your friends as you like…" As his sister drove off back to their parents house, he felt so much lighter in his heart. He was not losing his entire family after all.

His joy increased when to his shock, the Sterlings phone rang with a call for him. It was his Aunt Helen, who had heard about everything from her brother. He had called her in an angry state, demanding to know if her son had helped to pollute Nick's mind. She had informed her brother that he was a darn fool, and that as far as she was concerned, she wanted nothing more to do with him. She had angrily slammed down the phone and had begun to worry about her nephew. In desperation she had called Jeff's uncle, to ask for his brother's phone number, in the hope that Nick would be there. She was in luck, and her call was to tell him that she loved him. That he would be welcome in Chicago anytime and if he wanted to bring his boyfriend with him, so much the better. It would save him having to go back and forward to Alan's house.

That night, Nick found himself alone in Jeff's bedroom. His parents had been quite insistent that last night was a one off, given the circumstances. Now that the nature of the boys' relationship had changed, they felt more comfortable if they slept apart. Jeff had been mortified that his parents would even suggest that he would be having sex with Nick when they had only just got together - there would be more than enough time for that side of the relationship to develop. It would be one of mutual exploration as they decided what they were comfortable with. Nick on the other hand could clearly see their point and did not want to destroy the relationship that Jeff had with his mom and dad as his own had been. He had offered to sleep on the sofa, but Jeff had almost at once said no, if anyone was going to sleep there, it was him. It felt strange sleeping alone that night - he missed the warmth of his boyfriend. Funny how one night could make the habits of a lifetime odd.

The next morning Operation GettheStuff began early. Trent, Sam, Blaine, Jeff and Nick were in place close to the Duval house an hour before the church service would begin. Sebastian was parked with sight of the church, so that they could confirm that his parents had actually entered. About 20 minutes before the start, Mr and Mrs Duval, along with Grace, drove away from the house; the latter had sent a text to Jeff's phone seconds earlier to say that they were leaving. The drive took 10 minutes, and 5 minutes later Sebastian sent a group text to say that they had entered and the operation was go. Moments later, three cars converged on the driveway of the Duval's home. It no longer felt like that to Nick. Instead, he felt like he had returned to the scene of a crime. In some ways, he had.

Jeff had suggested that Grace leave her door key in the same plant pot that Nick had left his car key in on Friday night. That way, they could gain access to the house legitimately. She had done so, and in no time the 5 boys were in Nick's room, collecting up books, clothes and pictures in bags and boxes, before taking them out to the waiting cars. In no time at all, the room was bare. Nick had asked Jeff to help him up into the attic, and had found what he was searching for in no time - his old teddy bear, battered with years of love. By the time they returned downstairs, the others were already outside. Jeff had made the suggestion that they leave a window open so that after locking the front door, someone could climb back in, place Grace's key in her room, and then leave, ensuring that no-one could blame her. They would just assume that Nick had had a spare cut at some point.

In the end, it was Blaine that climbed through the open study window, ran up the stairs to deposit the key, then ran back down to climb out. As he did so he noticed something lying in Nick's father in tray on his desk. With a smile he grabbed it, shoving it in his pocket, before climbing back out. Sam pulled the window back down and with a satisfying click the catch locked into place. They made their way back to Blaine's car and drove off, following the other to Nick's grandmothers - and not a moment to soon, as they all received a text from Sebastian saying that church had ended, and the Duval's were on their way home.

By the time they reached Nick's grandparents, Sebastian having joined the convoy part way there, things had already begun to kick off. Mr Duval had, on arriving home from church, had gone into his study and immediately spotted what was missing. When he went upstairs to Nick's room seconds later and discovered it stripped off any sign of his son, he was furious. He suspected Grace at once, but she reminded him that he had been the one to unlock the door, as she couldn't find her key - she must have left it in her room. Sure enough, when he went to check, her key was lying on the dressing table. That was when Nick's mother made the discovery that the kitchen door wasn't locked - in her hurry to leave for church that morning, she hadn't checked it. As her parents started to argue, Grace left the room and quickly sent a text to Jeff, letting him know what was going on. "I almost feel sorry for your mom, Nick. She is going to get the blame for everything now. There is only one thing I am curious about - what did we take from your father's study?"

"I have no idea. We didn't go in there, nor did Trent. But that was the room where we opened the window so that Blaine could get in and out. It must have been him. Text him and ask."

Jeff quickly fired off a message and waited. His phone buzzed and he pulled up the message - and just laughed. "The message is 'Does this answer your question?' I thought it was rather cryptic until I really looked at it." He turned the phone to face Nick. He looked at the screen confused until he suddenly spotted who the text was from - Nicky.

"He got my phone back! Tell him I will love him forever, just not as much as I love you, because I don't want you and Kurt getting jealous." His world was coming back together.

If his grandmother was shocked when the four cars arrived and six boys appeared, she didn't show it. She opened the door and pulled Nick into a hug, crying when she saw his cut head. He remembered his manners after a few moments, and began to make introductions, starting with his friends and finally, introducing her to his boyfriend. His grandfather had joined them by that time, and like his wife before him, gave Nick a hug, as Jeff was being hugged by his wife. Introductions over, they began to bring all the bags and boxes from the cars into the house, carrying them upstairs to the guest bedroom. They decided not to unpack straight away, mainly because Nick's grandmother had prepared a large lunch, which all of them stayed for.

They were about halfway through their meal when there was a knock at the door. It was Grace, who had decided to decamp as her parents arguing carried on. She joined them in the meal. Once the meal was over, and the boys had cleared the table and washed up, Nick's friends made their excuses and left, leaving only Jeff and Grace. His grandfather took that as an opportunity to have a discussion about the long term. He knew that Nick would be off to college soon - but he was welcome to stay with them for as long as he wanted. He couldn't guarantee that there wouldn't be trouble when his father found out where he was - in fact he half expected it. Jeff was also welcome at any time, as long as they respected the rules. There was a moment of silence before he informed them that his only rule was that they had to be decent in the house, except in Nick's room, where as long as they were quiet, they could do what they liked.

Jeff and Nick were startled at that to say the least. "I was young once, too. When you find the person that you love, you want to express that. I could tell you not to rush things, not to do certain things in the house - but I'd rather you did them here than in the back of a car on lover's lane where it might be unsafe. Times have changed a lot since I was your age, boys, but there is still a lot of homophobia out there. I want you to be safe, in every way. I'm going to the drugstore to pick up a couple of things later so I'll pick you up some things. You might not want to use them yet, but they'll be there for when you do." By this point, Jeff was staring at the pattern on the carpet, Grace was suppressing her laughter and Nick was bright red.

Then it was Nick's grandmother's turn to speak. "I also wanted to raise something with you. The last year had been traumatic for both of you, in many ways, what with that business in the Warblers, Jeff's illness and now this. I just wondered if you had considered taking a year out before college - deferring your admission to next year would give you a change to recuperate, and more importantly, allow you to get to know each other better. Maybe you should think about it."

Nick turned to Jeff. Getting to know each other better sounded like it might be fun. A year of freedom before college like heaven. From the look in his eyes, it seemed like Jeff might well be in agreement on the subject…