"Jeeefffyyy!" whined the small 5 year-old girl in the doorway to the kitchen. "I'm hungry!"
Jeff groaned in exasperation. "I know, Lily," he sighed to his little sister. "I'm working on it…" He just needed to find the phonebook, hoping that the local pizza place delivered to his place.
"I want food!" she cried. "I'm starving!"
Why did his parents have to leave him in charge? Babysitting his little siblings was not his idea of an enjoyable Saturday, especially not when he had the culinary knowledge of a small child. And there were no instant meals left to microwave! Jeff turned back out of the kitchen, lifting Lily into his arms. "Come on. Why don't you go play with Kandy in the living room?" he offered.
"No, I don't wanna! I want food!" she protested, pounding her little fists against his shoulder.
"I know you do! And I'm working on it!" he assured her in an irritated snap. He set her down in the living room where his youngest sister, two year-old Kandy, sat on the floor playing with a stuffed bear. "Just stay in here with Kandy or I'll never get any food prepared."
She crossed her arms, sticking out her lower lip in a grudging pout. "Fine," she gave in.
"Good." He ruffled her hair before dashing back to the kitchen. He opened a cabinet drawer and pulled out the handy-dandy phonebook. He looked up the closest pizza places, only to curse under his breath when he read 'Pick-up Only.'
He couldn't leave a 5 year-old and 2 year-old home alone to go pick up some pizza. But Lily wouldn't quit complaining until he fed her. They didn't have anything simple enough for Jeff to cook on his own, seeing how he barely knew how to even use the oven.
He did the only thing he could do in a situation like this: Call Nick.
Nick—good ol' faithful Nick—answered the phone on the third ring. "Hello? Nick speaking."
"Oh, thank God," Jeff praised. "It's Jeff."
Nick laughed softly on the other line. "Thank God? It's nice to hear from you too, I guess?"
"No, no. I need some help. Are you at home?" Jeff asked his friend.
"Yeah. What's the problem?" Nick queried.
"My parents left me at home to babysit and I'm really failing at the whole ordeal," he mumbled. "Lily won't stop complaining, and we don't have any food that I can make for her. And the pizza place doesn't deliver!"
Nick laughed. "Oh, no. You're not starving your little sisters, are you?"
"I'm trying not to," he said. "You know how bad of a cook I am though. Mind coming over and helping a bro out?"
"Alright," Nick agreed. "But only for Kandy's and Lily's sake!"
"Thank you!" Jeff exclaimed. "Get here ASAP. Lily sounds like she just may die of starvation."
Nick's house was just behind Jeff's so he easily arrived within a couple minutes. The instant he was in the doorway, Lily dashed over to greet him with a leap-and-tackle hug. "Niiiicky!" she exclaimed happily.
Nick staggered but managed to catch the small five year-old when she leapt at him. "Ah! Heh, hey, there, Lily," he greeted her with a laugh. "You know, you're actually getting a bit too big to keep doing this every time I come over…"
She ignored him, but allowed him to set her back down on her feet. "What're you doing here, Nicky?"
"Well, I suppose I'm here to cook!" he told her. "Since it appears that your older brother isn't able to."
"Hey—I'd more than likely burn the house down," Jeff defended himself.
"Yay!" Lily cheered. "So we're finally going to eat?"
"Soon enough," Nick answered. "Just give me a little time to make something."
She frowned and crossed her arms again. "How long will that be?"
Nick chuckled. "How long has Jeff been starving you kids?" he asked jokingly.
"He hasn't fed us at all since mommy and daddy left. And he ate all the bread!" Lily complained.
Jeff smiled innocently when Nick looked over at him, eyebrows raised. "Yeah…Wish I hadn't or I would have just given them some PB&J sandwiches."
Nick rolled his eyes with amusement. "Oh, well. So, what've you got for me to make?"
"Well, my parents expected me to make spaghetti. But hell if I know how to make that," Jeff said.
"Ah, great. A good old Italiano dish." He brought an Italian accent into his voice as he said it. "I've got lots of training in that type of food. And spaghetti is very basic."
Oh, that was right. His parents owned that fancy Italian restaurant around the corner. It was called 'Breadstix,' Jeff recalled. Plus, his family was mostly Italian, hence the last name, 'Romano.'
Jeff led Nick into the kitchen, motioning for Lily to go back to the living room. As he got out the ingredients his mom had left for him, he said conversationally, "So, what goes on, bro?"
"Nothing much for today," Nick responded as he got out the needed pots and such for the meal. "Although I did have a very awkward dinner with Lewis's family the other night," he brought up randomly.
Jeff felt his jaw clench. "Already?"
"Yeah, I was a little surprised about it, too," Nick said. "I suppose it wasn't all that bad. But it was pretty awkward."
"Erm…His parent's knew he was...out?"
"That's the thing," Nick said. "They both seemed kind of shocked when he introduced them to me. But then they just didn't seem to care."
"Oh, really?"
"I guess that's better than what it could have been," Nick mumbled. "I felt kind of bad for Lewis, though. He seemed pretty upset at his parents' lack of a reaction."
"Well, at least they weren't angry or upset," Jeff said. But only for Nick's sake. He knew how nervously paranoid his friend could get about homophobia. It was the whole reason he joined Dalton with Jeff in the first place. He never really could seem to handle the jeers, taunting, and dirty looks he used to get as a gay teen in public school.
"I agree." Nick quickly went to work with the ingredients Jeff had set out and soon had a pot of simmering noodles and a separate pot of sauce, to which he added many of his own touches of spices and such. "I didn't expect to meet his parents so soon, though."
"You two have only been together a week, right?" Jeff questioned. "Sounds a bit too rushed…"
"I wouldn't say that, exactly," Nick disagreed. "It just seemed like he was fresh out of the closet to me. When I came out, I took things really slow, one step at a time. But I suppose he doesn't plan to do the same."
Jeff recalled that he had been the first person for Nick to come out to, back when they were both in seventh grade. It seemed only natural, as they had been best friends since sixth grade. The funny thing was that, in actuality, Jeff had been one of Nick's first 'crushes.' It didn't last too long, and Jeff had been pretty oblivious to the whole thing. Needless to say, it didn't really mess up their friendship in the least, and Jeff only learned about it a few years after it all.
"So do you…do you really like him? Lewis, I mean?"
Nick glanced at Jeff, appearing slightly taken aback by the question. Which was to be expected, since Jeff never took interest in that kind of thing, ever. Nick seemed to think about it for a moment before responding. "Well, yeah. I guess so. He's the first real boyfriend I've ever had," he began slowly. "Of course I like him. A lot, actually. I'm happier now than I've been for a long while."
"I—I see." He felt ever so slightly crushed at that. He'd been there for Nick for nearly six years, they were best friends, and he hadn't been 'happy'?
"Ah! Looks like this food is almost done," Nick announced suddenly.
"I'll set the table, then," Jeff decided, covering up his dejection. He couldn't take it too personally. They were talking about Nick's romantic relationship with Lewis. Jeff and Nick were just friends. Just. Friends.
With the help of Nick, Jeff got both his little sisters at the table with a plate of spaghetti before them. They all ate their fill, and miraculously, Kandy didn't get too much of the sauce on herself. Lucky for Jeff, he was able to put Kandy to bed right after dinner with little fuss.
Now he just had to deal with Lily for the rest of the day. He was relieved when Nick decided to stick around. He could usually keep Lily busy single-handedly, and even have fun doing it.
And so, for the rest of the night, Lily pestered Nick endlessly, forcing him to do her hair for her, play 'tea-party,' and finally to tell her a story before she went to bed. He didn't complain once and didn't even seem in the least bit irritated or annoyed by the 5 year-old girl's antics.
All in all, Jeff and Nick didn't really get to take any time aside to hang out at all, thanks to Lily. Not that Jeff was complaining about it. Nick practically took over the whole babysitting job for free, and Jeff got to take all the credit when his parents came back home.
Yeah, sorry for the awkward, undetailed end. I was getting tired of writing this part, and the inspiration I started with kind of dissolved. Anyways, thanks for reading! Feel free to review, please! :)