Hey, guys! New chapter! Not sure when the next one will be out, since my laptop's adaptor doesn't work anymore... I won't be able to type for a while, sadly :'( I had to steal my brothers' laptop to put this one up!

Let's hope my computer gets fixed up soon! I love typing this story! :)

Things remained pretty tense around the Griffin household. Jeff was grounded from his cell phone, the television, video games, and the computer, and on top of all of that, he wasn't allowed to leave the house except for school, unless he was with one of his parents.

He'd never really been grounded before. His parents claimed this time was for back-talking and hiding his relationship with Nick from them, but he wasn't sure that those were the only reasons. That may be the shell of it all, but deep down, he wondered if his parents just didn't want to accept him as gay. All of this seemed like their wasted attempts at keeping him away from Nick.

He always managed to get around it of course. He and Nick both left early for school every day so they could meet up at the Lima Bean. At school, they had a few classes together, and then of course there was Warblers practice. After school, they lingered at the library or school parking lot for as long as they could. Thanks to school, they were still able to see one another for a few hours a day at the most. It was less than either of them would like, but at least they got to see each other.

They worried about what to do once school was out. Final exams were coming up in a few weeks, which meant school was almost out. If his parents held to their threat, Jeff only had three weeks of Dalton left, EVER. How would Jeff and Nick see each other then? Would Jeff be forced to sneak out all the time? It seemed like the only option, but he knew that he would resort to that if he really had to. He couldn't stand being away from Nick, and he sure as hell wasn't going to let his parents' narrow-mindedness keep them apart.

Lucky for him that Nick lived so close to him. It wasn't too hard to sneak over to see him, but it was only possible late at night or any time Jeff's parents weren't home.

Nick's parents were understanding to the whole situation, but they were against the whole 'sneaking around' business going on. They didn't agree with the way Jeff's parents were handling this issue, but they weren't going to stand in the way of their 'parenting' method. It made seeing Nick even harder than it already was because every time they caught Jeff sneaking over to see Nick, they sent him back home. It was so frustrating.

Jeff held onto the hope that his parents might change their mind and see things his way. It didn't look like it would happen very soon…His mother wouldn't talk about it at all while his father seemed constantly angry with him for one reason or another.

Bottom-line: Jeff and Nick loved each other, but the whole world seemed to be against them being together.

…

Nick and Jeff left school a little late that Friday, as usual. The parking lot was pretty much vacant, apart from a few cars and a couple of hoodlums lingering by the outside wall of Dalton, laughing like hyenas as they colored the walls with graffiti.

As disrespectful as it was, Jeff figured it would be best not to confront them. There were at least four of them, and if they were violent, Jeff would be toast. Clad in a Dalton blazer, he wasn't exactly 'intimidating.'

They seemed to immediately notice Jeff and Nick, however, and they dropped their spray cans to come over and 'greet' them. Jeff stopped and held his ground, wondering if he should just go back inside to avoid the encounter all together.

Nick suddenly gasped and hid behind Jeff hastily, clutching the sleeve and collar of Jeff's blazer with trembling hands. "Th-that's…" he barely whispered. "Jeff, that's T-Tommy…!" he hissed urgently.

"What?" He tensed as the leather-clad gang stopped in front of them. He barely recognized Tommy Baker smirking at him.

"Jeff? Jeff Griffin?" greeted Tommy, eyes glittering with menace. "I knew you left public school, but I didn't know you went to Dalton Academy, school for gays!"

"Ha ha," Jeff muttered sarcastically. "Very funny. Now go away, you aren't welcome here." He was seething with fury deep down at just the sight of this guy. Tommy Baker was the one who told Nick to kill himself back in seventh grade. He was a snake.

Tommy smirked. "And who is this cowering behind you?" he jeered, peering around Jeff. "That's not the freak Nick Romano, former school fag, is it?"

Nick edged away from Tommy's gaze, his breathing becoming frantic. The poor guy was utterly terrified of this hoodlum. Jeff glared at Tommy. "Back off, Tommy," he warned, spacing himself out protectively in front of Nick.

"Aw, isn't that so disgustingly sweet, boys?" Tommy sneered to his friends. "Protecting his spineless little freak of a boyfriend. Looks like he caught the gay disease, too."

Some of them pretended to gag at that. Jeff frowned, unsure of what to do. It didn't look like these guys were going to leave them alone, but it sounded like Nick was about to have a panic attack behind Jeff. These black-hearted snakes lived off of fear, and Nick was so obviously terrified.

"I'll call the police if I need to," Jeff threatened. "You're trespassing and vandalizing private school property." I just wish my parents hadn't taken away my phone!

They just laughed. "Oh, yeah. We're so scared of the threats from a schoolboy," Tommy mocked. "Do we need to teach you queers a lesson?"

Jeff tightened his jaw. "Look—we don't want any trouble, okay? We were just leaving," he eased, holding up his hands.

Tommy turned to his posse, talking a beer bottle from one of them. He held it by the neck and smashed the bottom on the concrete, leaving the edges broken, yet sharp and jagged. Jeff backed up a pace, dread filling his chest. He couldn't face up to four guys, especially not when one had a broken-bottle weapon. Still, he refused to move from where he stood in front of Nick. He wouldn't let Tommy hurt Nick more than he had already.

Tommy stalked close to him. "You know, I have a just a bit of a bone to pick with the homo standing behind you," he muttered.

"Nick has never done anything to you," Jeff snapped. "Just leave him alone already!"

"Ha! You're wrong there," Tommy growled. "After that kid went and tried to kill himself, I ended up getting suspended and sent to Juvie Hall for three months! And the stupid faggot didn't even die." His eyes were burning. "He can't do anything right."

"Shut the hell up!" Jeff spat. "No one gave you the right to determine who deserves to live or die. Neither of us has ever done anything to you—so what do you have against us?"

"Gays deserve to die and rot in hell, where they belong," Tommy shot back. He suddenly shoved Jeff aside roughly, causing him to stagger and fall.

Nick scrambled back with a strangled gasp and Tommy grabbed his wrist like a snake suddenly lashing out at a mouse. Tommy smirked. "Well, I see scars," he laughed. "Too bad you didn't die." He placed the neck of the bottle in Nick's hand. "Well, you know what they always say: Try, try again!"

Nick looked completely out of his wits. His eyes were wild and panic-stricken, his entire body trembled uncontrollably, sweat trickled from his forehead, and his breathing was close to hyperventilation. It was a wonder he was still standing straight. The bottle quivered in his weak grip and he looked at with uncertainty and fear.

"Well? Go on. Kill yourself already—you failed before, it's time you finally took care of it once and for all," Tommy prompted menacingly.

Jeff scrambled back to his feet and shoved Tommy back fiercely. "I said back off!" he snarled furiously. When Tommy staggered back, Jeff took the broken bottle from Nick and chucked it halfway across the parking lot. It shattered when it landed.

Tommy whirled on Jeff. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

Jeff's hand formed a tight fist and without a second thought, he swung it, full brunt, across the left side of Tommy's face. He stumbled back and fell with a cry of pain and surprise. He sat up, holding his nose with a moan. "Ugh…He-he broke my nose!" he stammered furiously, wiping away the blood. "Get him! Make him pay! Now!" he ordered his gang.

Maybe that wasn't the smartest thing to do…Now it was four against one. Nick grabbed Jeff's shoulder urgently. "Jeff…!" His voice was edged with alarmed panic.

Jeff motioned him away frantically. "Don't worry about me, Nick, just stay back," he ordered. He pushed Nick back a few feet before one of the gang members grabbed the lapels of Jeff's blazer, jerking him closer to the other three. He didn't have a moment to fight back before someone gripped his hair and forced his head down so they could knee him square in the chest. The breath was knocked out of his lungs and he felt a tight, sharp pain around his ribcage. He gasped painfully at another blunt force striking the side of his head, causing him to stagger and fall to his knees. Somebody else threw a kick to his side, and he was sent sprawling to the concrete with a cry of pain.

He had no chance to fight back, let alone defend himself. They were on him in an instant with a flurry of fists and sharp kicks. Jeff did his best at deflecting them and protecting his face from damage with his hands, but their blows slipped right through. He was already in too much pain to keep track of any of his injuries, and he was starting to feel extremely light-headed and dazed for some reason. He couldn't focus and everything in front of him was blurring into a mess of bleeding colors.

"Hey, hey, hey!" someone said. "That's enough guys. We don't want to get busted for murder, do we?"

The pummeling abruptly stopped, to Jeff's vague relief, although the damage was done. He was hurting and aching all over. Four against one really wasn't a fair match at all.

"Let's split—just leave the fag. We've wasted too much time here." There was Tommy's voice. There was a murmur of agreement. As each of them made off, they each took care to spit in Jeff's face with smug triumph, sending insults back at him as they stalked away.

Jeff wiped away the sickening residue with the torn sleeve of his blazer. His vision cleared a little, although everything with color seemed to melt together awkwardly. He felt the worst of the pain deep in his chest, to the point where it hurt to simply breathe.

The moment the gang was gone, Nick raced to Jeff's side. "Jeff! Oh my God, Jeff, are you okay!" Nick was crying and trembling madly, although he seemed to have pushed his terror away for the moment. He dropped to his knees beside Jeff, wincing at the bruises and blood.

Jeff wanted to respond with an 'I'm fine,' but he knew for a fact that he wasn't. He was in so much pain that he could hardly move and he winced with each inhale of breath.

Nick went on shakily. "Y-your head…it's bleeding…" he quavered. He unbuttoned his own blazer and took it off quickly. Very carefully, he slipped one hand under Jeff's neck and raised his head so he could hold the cotton fabric of the blazer against the wound Jeff assumed was there. Although, he couldn't really feel anything on the back of his head. There, he felt a strange numbness, which probably wasn't a good sign in the very least. Nick shuddered involuntarily as he pressed the blazer against the injury. "Are you okay?" he asked again. "What hurts?"

Everything? Although he figured he should be specific. "Mostly my chest," he managed to answer with a moan.

Nick frowned. "I-I think you really need to go to the hospital," he said, his voice still quivering.

Probably. It would be smart. But who would take him? Nick was still in a bit of a panic and Jeff was the one in need of hospitalization. Neither of them was fit to drive at all.

He didn't regret facing up to them, though. And getting a nice right-hook in on Tommy felt amazing. He really deserved it, too. After all the things he did to Nick, and still trying to come back for more? He was an appalling and twisted human being.

Even though in the end, Jeff was the one who ultimately lost…

Nick touched Jeff's face with a soft hand, and Jeff guessed he must have some pretty ugly bruises and scratches and whatnot covering most of his face. It sure felt like it, with the pain and heat throbbing throughout his features. Nick's deep green eyes were filled with torment. "I'm so sorry, Jeff," he whispered. A warm, salty tear landed on Jeff's cheek, stinging whatever open wound that was there. "This is all my fault. If it wasn't for me, this would have never happened."

He was blaming himself? How the heck was this Nick's fault? Just because he was Tommy's target of torture? Or because Jeff had been trying to protect him? Jeff managed a weak smile and touched Nick's hand. "Hey—I was the one who had to go and punch the gang leader," he joked feebly. "Not really one of my smartest ideas ever…"

Nick sniffled. "No…not really," he agreed half-heartedly. "I'm going to go get the secretary inside—stay here and don't move, okay?" he told Jeff.

Trust me… I won't be moving anywhere on my own at all. "'Kay," he agreed weakly.

Nick kissed him, a quick peck on the lips, before standing and darting to Dalton's doors.

The office secretary came outside to check on Jeff and immediately agreed to take him to the hospital. It wasn't easy getting up and limping over to the car, but he managed it with Nick's gentle aid.

Once at the hospital, the doctors took over. They were calm and collected, which was a much nicer atmosphere than any of the rest he'd seen for a while. They put him through a number of simple tests and examinations and they cleaned and bandaged the worst of his injuries. He even got some pain medication, but only after they were done examining his injuries. Turns out, he had a few cracked ribs (which was why it hurt so much to breathe) and a broken finger. On top that was several bruises, a blackened eye, some scratches, and he'd busted open the back of his head. The doctors kept asking him silly questions like, "What's today's date?" and "What is your name?" and "Where are you?"

Turned out that he had a concussion, too, if there weren't already enough injuries on the list. It was only a minor one, though, and they said he was fine to rest and sleep if he wanted to. And by the end of all the tests and examinations, Jeff was utterly exhausted. There was nothing he wanted to do but sleep.

Sleep would just have to wait a little longer, though, for just as he was settled down in a scratchy, uncomfortable hospital stretcher bed, his parents rushed in.

His mother, crying and breathless, threw her arms around him in an instant hug. "Oh, Jeff, honey! What happened to you? Who did this?" she demanded immediately.

"Owwww! Ow, ow," Jeff winced at her tight grip around his ribcage. "Mom, cracked ribs," he told her in a pained mutter.

She pulled back quickly. "I'm sorry!" she exclaimed quickly. "I didn't know. Does it hurt?"

Only a whole freaking lot. "Just a little," he lied, grimacing. "I got some painkillers."

"Who did this to you, Jeff? Tell me what happened," she demanded fretfully.

"Umm…" He blinked a few times to clear his clogged mind. With the concussion, thinking straight was even harder to do than usual. "Some guys in the Dalton parking lot," he answered. "They were messing with us."

"Us?" she echoed.

"Nick and I." He didn't care if his parents knew that he'd been with Nick. He wasn't about to hide it. "They were threatening Nick, so I punched the main guy. Needless to say, it didn't go down well with the rest of the gang," he mumbled.

"Is Nick hurt, too?"

"No. I don't think so," Jeff replied. "He was just really shaken up. But I think they were going to hurt him. They had a broken bottle with them, and they told Nick to…to cut himself…If he didn't, I'm not sure what they would have done. I stepped in before anything happened," Jeff explained. "Well, to him, at least."

His mother blinked at him. "Wait. You did this for Nick…?"

He frowned. "It isn't his fault. Those guys were nasty hoodlums. They wouldn't have left until they tasted blood, and I wasn't about to let it be Nick's. You can't blame him for what happened to me," he said strongly. Nick had been through more than enough with Tommy as it was. "It was all on my own free will."

She stared at him for a long minute. "You really do love him, don't you?" she said finally.

"That's what I've been telling you," he said. "I would never have said it if I didn't mean it."

She smiled gently at him, brushing his bangs out of his black eye. "I believe you," she murmured. She looked back at Jeff's father, who stood near the door. "Is there anything you'd like to say, Charles?"

He looked at her blankly for a moment before clearing his throat and crossing the room. "So…how many guys were there?"

Jeff frowned. That wasn't really what he'd wanted to hear from his father. "Four," he muttered.

"You took them all on?"

"More like they all dogpiled on me," he corrected. "But I guess I started it. I threw the first punch, literally."

"In order to, um…to protect Nick…?"

"I guess," Jeff sighed. "They were old bullies who just had it out for him for whatever reason."

His father nodded thoughtfully. "I see." He paced to the opposite end of the room and back slowly. "I suppose…I may have, um, overreacted… a little when you first…came out," he said slowly. "I can see that you do really care about Nick after today. I don't doubt that. And I think, perhaps, we can talk about your grounding…"

Jeff brightened up. "R-really…?" he gasped. "You mean I'm allowed to be with Nick?"

"That's what it sounds like," his mother said with a smile. "We should have been more understanding in the beginning, Jeff. I'm sorry for letting you down. I don't want you to think for a moment that I'd ever love you any less, no matter what you tell me." Her eyes were completely sincere.

Jeff grinned. "Thank you!" he breathed, beyond overjoyed. And all it took was me being mauled by some wannabe gangsters to make you realize this!

"Now you should get some sleep," she decided. "You look totally exhausted."

He nodded in agreement. "What about Nick?" he asked. "He's not still here, is he?" It had been a few hours now since Jeff was admitted and he kind of wanted to share this good news with his boyfriend.

"I think Mrs. Romano took him home," his mother answered. "Like you said, he was pretty shaken up."

Jeff nodded. "Oh."

"The doctors only want to watch you overnight, while you have that concussion. If you fare well, you can come home tomorrow morning," she told him.

"That's good," Jeff said. He was just feeling a little concerned for Nick. He didn't still think that this was his fault, did he? Guess Jeff could find out tomorrow. He was half-asleep sitting up. The pain medication was a real knockout.

His parents left so he could rest. For the first time in weeks, he fell asleep quickly and slept soundly through the night. Whether he had the painkillers, the fight, or the fresh acceptance from his parents to thank for that, he didn't know, but he welcomed it nonetheless.