Hey guys! Chapter 19 finally here! Terribly sorry for the wait. I started school recently, and it's taking up all of my time. But I promise to keep writing if you promise to keep reviewing!

And sorry if this chapter seems a little choppy or uneventful. I wrote it in spaced out time intervals and forgot a lot of what I'd been working on...And its a bit of a filler chapter. Next one will be a lot better! (I hope :))

Jeff missed half of the next week of school in order to heal up a bit. With exams coming, though, he didn't want to miss too many classes, so he ended up going back on Thursday.

Needless to say, he got a lot of stares. The Dalton uniform did well to cover most of his half-healed bruises and injuries, but there wasn't much he could do to cover his face. Sunglasses were against school policy, so he couldn't conceal his swollen black eye, and he couldn't wear a hat to hide the scar on the back of his head.

A lot of his friends had already heard what happened from Nick, so he didn't have to explain his injuries to them. Still, there were some people who gawked in the hallways, and it made him feel uncomfortable and maybe even a little self-conscious.

School finally wrapped up after an agonizingly long day of chest pain and awkward stares. Jeff wasn't really the type of guy who thought that scars and wounds made him look tough or cool. It actually made him feel unapproachable, and he was normally a very laid back guy—no one was ever afraid to talk to him on a normal day. Right now, he probably looked like he'd gotten into a fight, something unheard of for a lot of Dalton students.

Nick was one of many who suggested Jeff try concealer to cover up the bruises and such. He just said that he'd rather not.

He may be bi and all, but he wasn't really ready to start wearing makeup…

Besides, most of his injuries were already healing nicely. He might stop getting strange looks everywhere he went in just a week or so.

Good thing, too. Junior year was coming to a close, and that meant one thing: The Warblers Annual End-of-Year Party. It'd been a tradition for as long as the Warblers had existed in Dalton. It was meant as a way to say goodbye to the senior members and elect a new council for next year…although those were becoming minor details nowadays. Now all anyone looked forward to was the party itself.

Every year, someone had to volunteer their home for the party, since they weren't allowed to throw the party at school. In Jeff's sophomore year (when Tyler had been a senior and a part of the council) the party was held at the Griffin household. Tyler made sure that the party was epic, being the party-animal that he was, and there were several details about the whole bash that Jeff would rather forget about. Needless to say, there was quite a bit of alcohol, which led to some…crazy incidents. Warblers were a lot less dapper when drunk.

Before every party, some of the seniors gave speeches. Then each council member elected a junior to take their place at the table next year. Everyone voted—normally effortlessly and without any arguing—and then the real party began. The ones hosting the party always determined the type of party it would be; wild, social, boring, classy, or just plain crazy.

With a host like Tyler, the party was most definitely wild and crazy. He lived in the now, never thinking of the consequences of his actions. And who doesn't love a good party every now and again?

Who knows how this year's party will go. It was all up in the air for now. Jeff just hoped he'd be healed up enough to attend.

…

Life with Tyler was complicated, just like before. Jeff quickly realized that Tyler hadn't really changed much, if he'd changed any at all. He was the same obnoxious and lazy older brother he'd been before. Once Jeff was up and walking around again, it became pretty evident. First of all, he took over the bedroom he insisted on sharing with Jeff, claiming the bed for himself and leaving Jeff a spot on the floor at the foot of the bed. When Jeff complained, he argued simply with, "I'm older."

Like, by that merit, he can do whatever he wants? Well, Jeff hadn't expected anything different. Tyler had always been like this. He did have his good traits, but it was kind of hard to acknowledge them when he acted like this all of the time.

A few other problems: Tyler threw his laundry in with Jeff's and insisted that he wash his clothes, even after 'worrying' about their clothes getting mixed up. Whenever Jeff tried to make any food for himself, Tyler always ended up eating it instead. And he literally did no chores at all if he could help it. Whenever mom told him to do something, he just passed the task on to Jeff.

Yeah, he was extremely lazy. Although Jeff just might be a little bit of a pushover for just putting up with it…He just knew that arguing with Tyler was like yelling at a brick wall. And the worst part was that Tyler never really seemed to realize when he was getting on someone's nerves. He was completely oblivious, no matter how many hints you dropped. You had to tell him straight up. For a while, Jeff thought he was being oblivious on purpose to get his own way or something, but nope, Tyler was just that dense.

Another irritating thing about Tyler was how inappropriate he was sometimes, even without meaning to be.

For example, the other day when Nick was over, Tyler came right out and asked, "So, how exactly do you guys…you know, 'do it'?"

"Tyler!" Jeff snapped, mortified.

"What? I'm just asking," he said defensively.

"Why would you even think to ask something like that?"

"Just wondering. I've never known any gay guys before," Tyler went on. "So, how exactly does that work? Is it all just oral, or—"

"Tyler!" Jeff snapped again. "Shut. Up." He glared daggers at his brother, silently begging him to just zip his lips. He could feel his face frying, though, and he didn't think he'd ever felt this embarrassed before in his life. And from the looks of it, Nick seemed just as uncomfortable, biting his nails and staring at the ground, blushing madly.

Tyler held up his hands. "Chill out, bro, it was just a simple question. No need to get all ticked off at me."

"If you're so curious, then look it up," Jeff muttered. "Don't ask me about it." Besides, he and Nick had only been together a few weeks. Did Tyler really think they'd gone that far already?

Tyler had left them alone after that, but it was just too awkward. Nick made up an excuse to leave, and Jeff didn't really blame him.

Today, Tyler was insisting on going to the Warblers meeting with Jeff. Even though he really didn't want to have to deal with his older brother, Jeff agreed. There was rarely a point in arguing with Tyler, and besides, he was a former Warbler. Why shouldn't he be allowed to see some of his old friends?

At the meeting, everyone seemed pretty happy to see Tyler. He was always kind of popular everywhere he went…

Everything seemed fine at first…but Jeff quickly regretted his decision on letting Tyler come.

"Now, let us get to the point of this meeting," Wes announced from the table. "As you all know, exams are coming up next week. And you all know the Warblers end of year tradition."

Thad took up the announcement. "Right now, all we need to focus on is where this year's party will take place," he said. "Are there any volunteers?"

Tyler was the first person to speak up. "We could have it at my place again this year," he suggested.

"What?" Jeff choked. Before he could protest, the room broke into excited chattering. Everyone remembered last year's party well, probably. Or, at least, they remembered it had been crazy and epic. Most of them had been too drunk to remember the fine details.

Tyler knew exactly how to make a party wild.

"Are you sure?" Wes asked Tyler.

"Totally," he said. "I love a good party with my Warbler brothers!"

"Alright, then it's decided!" Wes agreed. "We'll have the party at the Griffin household again this year." He slammed his gavel down once.

Jeff cursed under his breath. While a great party was nice once in a while, a TYLER party was too much. And now that it was going to be in his own home, it would be impossible to not attend.

Last year, their father's liquor cabinet had been totally cleaned out and drunkenness ran rampant. Jeff couldn't recall too much from the party itself, but he remembered the cleanup effort. Tyler hadn't helped at all and just slept off his hangover for the next two days after the last party. Jeff cleaned the whole house up, with some help from Nick. There'd been a ridiculous number of empty cans and bottles and cups all over the house, inside and out. Somehow, there'd even been some bottles on the roof. Not to mention the scattered snacks and food all over the floors, staining the carpets and walls with a variety of colors. The curtains to the dining room windows had been torn down and went missing. Someone broke one of the dining room chairs, an upstairs window, and two lamps. It was tough cleaning that mess up and leaving behind no evidence for his parents to find.

Of the stranger things they found around the place during the cleanup: food on the ceiling (which was really hard to clean up), a pair of pants hanging over the TV screen, and pieces of some Dalton uniforms floating in Nick's backyard pool.

Jeff couldn't recall anyone leaving without their clothes…Even being as drunk as he'd been, he thought he should remember something like that.

Jeff hoped that Tyler wouldn't be able to top last year's party. The last thing he needed right now was another major cleanup operation.

Thank you for reading :) 36