Yes, I'm back! I am SO sorry for my prolonged absence. I was suffering from writer's block, which doesn't go well with a big heap of busy honors classes in school.

But here's the newest chapter! I hope it's worth the wait. The next chapter will be out soon, I promise!

Also, if you want, you should follow my sister's Tumblr. I might post there sometimes about my fanfictions, just in case I accidentally take another one of these 'breaks.' (Not that I plan to, of course!) Her Tumblr NiftyNiffler.

Summer break didn't go as hoped. Jeff often stayed away from home to avoid his father even though he seemed to have gotten over his disdain at having a gay son, at least so far. He was less explosively angry, in any case. He was always in a somberly bitter mood, but at least he wasn't losing his temper all the time anymore.

Nick's birthday came and went in the summer month of June. Jeff had spoken to Nick's mom about a great gift idea he'd had…

In the years Jeff had known Nick, it was obvious that the brunette loved animals. (except for dogs.) He'd always wanted a cat, but couldn't have one due to his mother's allergies.

So, naturally, Jeff went for the next best thing. He talked to Mrs. Romano and managed to get her permission to get Nick a pet rabbit. The night before Nick's birthday, Jeff went out to the pet store and adopted a small and fluffy baby bunny. It was white with black splotches of fur. He also got a cage and an outdoor pen. The day of Nick's birthday, Jeff built the pen outside in the Romano backyard.

As an understatement, Nick was very happy with his gift. He called the bunny 'Patatina' after a few days of it being nameless, which was Italian for potato chips or something like that. Jeff wasn't entirely certain, since Nick had forced him to look it up in an online translator instead of just telling him.

Sadly, Nick and Jeff weren't able to spend much of summer break together. Nick's parents decided to vacation in Italy to see their Italian relatives the last month and a half of summer.

And of course, soon after Nick left for Italy, Jeff's father took up drinking…

…

Jeff found himself tagging along with Tyler and Vivian on yet another one of their dates in his usual attempts to stay away from home. He did this a lot since Nick left for Italy a few weeks ago. Vivian was nice about it and Tyler understood, but Jeff could tell that the two were getting irritated with him.

He didn't know what else to do. He had no other choice and nowhere else to go during the day since Nick wasn't around.

Tyler finally talked to Jeff about it after tonight's 'date.'

"Look, Jeff," Tyler started in an exasperated tone. They were still in the car after Tyler dropped Vivian off at her home. "This isn't really working out. You can't keep following me and Vivian around every night like a lost puppy."

"It's not like I want to," Jeff muttered. "You know I can't stay at home."

Tyler sighed. "I know, but Vivian is starting to wonder. I don't know what to say to her. You won't let me tell anyone," Tyler said. "Not to mention the fact that we have no privacy if you're always here. Imagine if I followed you to every one of your dates?"

True, that would get very annoying… "Then what am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know. Hang out with other friends?"

"Most of them are either on vacation or live too far away," Jeff answered.

"Then do something by yourself. See a movie or something. You don't have to be with another person."

"That would cost a lot to do every night," Jeff countered. Plus he didn't particularly like being alone. Of course, he wasn't going to admit that to Tyler.

"Get a fake ID and go to a bar," Tyler suggested. "I've got like four of them. You could borrow one. It's fun and free, unless you want to buy a drink or go to an expensive club."

It was hard to argue that. It was illegal, yes, but that hadn't stopped Jeff from drinking before. It wasn't really appealing, but neither was being the third wheel for Tyler and Vivian.

Maybe it was worth a shot. At least it would kill time when he needed to be away from home. "Alright," he said to Tyler. "I'll try that and leave you alone."

"Great!" Tyler exclaimed. He grabbed his wallet from his pocket. "Who do you want to be; Eliot Addams, or Dorian Rice?"

…

The next night, Jeff found himself in his car alone, driving to the nearest bar he'd Google'd, which happened to be a gay bar called Scandals. It was close and he figured he could try it out. If he didn't like it, he didn't have to go back.

He'd take any excuse to stay away from home while his father was drinking.

He pulled into the parking lot and got out of his car. It was 7 pm, so he had a few hours to kill before it would be safe to go home. He headed to the front doors, readying the fake ID—Eliot Addams—that Tyler had lent to him.

The bouncer stopped Jeff outside the door, and Jeff calmly showed the man his ID. There was a long moment's pause as he examined the ID where Jeff started to second-guess this whole thing. What the hell was he doing here, anyways? He'd never been to a bar before in his life, no less a gay bar. What would this look like to Nick if he found out?

He didn't have much time to change his mind before the bouncer handed back his ID and said, "Alright. Have a good time."

Jeff walked on inside, figuring it'd be rude to just turn and leave now. Maybe he could leave out a side door or something. Upon entering, loud music of techno and bass met his ears, drowning out the conversations at every corner. The inside was dark and very drab next to the sparkles and glitter adorned by some of the visitors here. There were a few drag queens here and there, and a few guys dressed in wild arrangements of feathers and bright colors.

For a moment, Jeff felt instantly out of place. He turned to find the exit again when someone else approached him.

"Hey," the other guy greeted in a voice of silk. He was tall—even taller than Jeff, but only slightly—with moussed-up hair and a clean white face. His eyebrows were thick and his forehead was broad, but the look went well with his long face. "Noticed you standing out here like a deer caught in headlights… I'm Sebastian." He held out his hand for Jeff to shake, offering up a wolfish grin.

"Umm, hi," Jeff greeted uncomfortably, shaking Sebastian's hand. "I'm Jeff."

"You're new here, aren't you?" he guessed. "I've never seen you around before."

Jeff nodded. "Yeah. Just trying it out. But I was getting ready to leave…"

"You just walked in the door," Sebastian pointed out. "Come have a drink. I'll introduce you to a few friends of mine."

So I don't have a say here? Jeff didn't argue, though, and allowed Sebastian to lead him across the room to the bar. They approached a group of two girls and one guy.

"Hey, guys," Sebastian greeted cheerfully. "I caught that guy you were checking out, Jonah," he said to the other boy, motioning to Jeff. "Tah-dah."

Jonah flushed. "Sebastian!" he snapped, though it was good-humored. To Jeff he said, "Don't mind him. He likes messing with people. We don't take him seriously most of the time." Jeff wasn't sure what to say, so he just smiled awkwardly and nodded in understanding. Jonah gave him a welcoming smile. "So, you already know that I'm Jonah," he said. "That there is my sister, April." He pointed to a girl who looked a lot like him with short dark hair and hazel eyes. The only physical difference—apart from gender, obviously—was that April was more tanned than her brother. "And her girlfriend, Erin." Next to April sat the pretty blonde-haired and blue-eyed girl Jeff assumed was Erin.

"Nice to meet you," Jeff said to them.

"Hello," Erin greeted kindly. "Good to meet you, too."

April nodded a greeting. "You don't look 21 to me," she observed thoughtfully. "Fake ID?"

Jeff glanced around warily before nodding at April. "I'm 18."

"Same with us," she said.

"All of you?"

"I'm the oldest, and I'm only 19," Jonah told him. "But shh… Don't tell anyone." He grinned and winked teasingly.

Jeff could already feel himself warming up. Maybe coming to Scandals wasn't a bad idea after all.

"Well, I'm going to hit the dance floor," Sebastian announced. "Who wants to join me?"

…

Jeff had a great time at Scandals. He forgot all about any worries he may have had before walking in the doors. Most of the time he spent in the bar he was with Jonah since Erin and April were preoccupied with dancing together half the night while Sebastian seemed to be very busy flirting with all of the attractive guys in the room.

Jeff didn't mind spending time alone with Jonah, though. He was fun to hang out with. The two of them had a good time on their own, singing and dancing along to the music and, in Jonah's case, enjoying a few drinks. The hours breezed by and at 2 am, Jeff decided it was probably time to head home. He said goodbye to Jonah, who stopped him to ask for a phone number.

Jeff hesitated. He didn't have a cell phone anymore and he definitely didn't want Jonah calling his home phone. What if his father answered? He probably wouldn't tolerate any other gay friends and Jonah's voice was…a little obvious. Like Kurt's voice, just not as soft. "I actually don't have a phone number I can give you at the moment," Jeff answered. He hoped Jonah wouldn't wonder about that. "But you could give me your number instead?"

"Sure," Jonah agreed without question. He fished a pen from his pocket and took Jeff's hand to write his number on the palm. This close together, Jeff couldn't help but notice how good he smelled.

Jonah clicked the pen and put in away again. "There. Call me anytime so we can meet up again sometime."

"I will," Jeff said. "I had a good time."

"Me too," said Jonah. "Next time, you'll need to teach me some of those wicked dance moves of yours!"

Jeff laughed. "Maybe," he said. "Well, I'll see you later, then," he said. They waved goodbye and Jeff turned toward the exit.

…

On the drive home, Jeff could feel guilt settling in. For a while, he wasn't sure why. What was he feeling guilty for? He'd done nothing wrong. He knew his dad would disapprove that he'd gone to a gay bar, but he definitely wasn't feeling guilty for his father's sake. He could care less what his father thought as long as he was unscathed in the process.

He didn't think Nick would really mind that he'd gone to Scandals, either. Not that it was anything anyone would expect from Jeff, but that was beside the point. Nick was easygoing enough to accept it.

Along that train of thought, however, he realized why he felt guilty.

He was attracted to Jonah.

So he really was bisexual. He'd never really found other guys appealing like he did Nick, but obviously there were a few out there… There had always been some stupid thought—or hope—in his mind that the only guy he liked was Nick and he was otherwise straight.

There goes that theory.

But why should he feel guilty for a petty attraction to some other guy? It wasn't like he'd done anything wrong. Not to mention he probably wouldn't be feeling this way if it was a girl he found attractive.

Maybe he still wasn't completely comfortable with his sexuality? That was no doubt true, especially thanks to his dad for refusing to accept it. Still, he couldn't bring himself to feel guilt for anything his dad thought.

He had been questioning his relationship with Nick lately, though. That was where the guilt was coming from. Somewhere in his mind, he wasn't sure if being with Nick was worth it…

Yet being with Jonah might be? That was just a ridiculous thought. If he ever broke up with Nick—which he never, ever wanted to do—then he'd probably pretend to be straight with the hope of pleasing his father. So this guilty feeling he was having was nothing but a displaced emotion. He managed to convince of this and effectively pushed it out of his mind.

It was nearly 3 am by the time he crept into the house. He fell into bed and was asleep almost instantly.

That night he dreamed about Jonah.