Here you go! New chapter, out later that I had hoped it would be, but it's here nonetheless :) It's quite long compared to most of my chapters on this story, if that makes up for anything?

I have a Tumblr for my fanfictions now, so follow me! My URL is Ikazuchi-Touketsu. I'll post spoilers on there for new chapters, answer questions, and maybe accept prompts for one-shots :) And check out my other stories if you like! I've been working on a few new niff fics lately you might enjoy.

Anyways, hope you like it, and be sure to review!

Senior year was off to a terrible start.

Tyler took care of Zeus's body singlehandedly to save Jeff the trauma of the ordeal. Things were bad enough as it was. Jeff couldn't stand the thought that his beloved dog was gone forever.

And what's worse, they couldn't even do anything about it. All they could do was bury Zeus and deal with it. What was done was done, and they couldn't very well call the police on their own father.

But Jeff knew he'd never forgive his dad for this. He murdered Zeus.

That night, since Jeff couldn't sleep, Tyler stayed up with him and they talked. They stayed away from the topic of Zeus and their father since it was too sensitive for Jeff to handle without breaking down. Tyler came up with lighthearted subjects and told humorous stories about his college life so far.

It was comforting. Jeff was grateful to have Tyler around right now, especially as he became more and more aware of the fact that he was leaving again in a matter of hours.

It was 5 am and Tyler was in the middle of telling a story about a failed prank on a stingy professor when Jeff blurted out, "I'm going to miss you."

Tyler stopped midsentence and smiled faintly. "I'm going to miss you, too, bro," he murmured in return. "But it's not like I'm going to be away long. I'll only be a few hours away. I'll come visit on the weekends when I'm available."

"I doubt that," Jeff muttered.

Tyler blinked and furrowed his eyebrows. "Why?"

"That's what you said last time," Jeff pointed out, "when you first went away for college. Yet I can count the number of times you actually visited on one hand."

Tyler frowned. "That wasn't intentional," he mumbled.

"Is college life 'harder than you expected'?" Jeff guessed skeptically. With Tyler's IQ, nothing was hard for him academically.

"No," Tyler answered. "No one ever invited me back home."

"It's your home, Tyler," Jeff said. "You don't need an invitation, you know."

Tyler hesitated before speaking again. "I didn't think anyone wanted me around," he admitted quickly and almost too softly to hear.

"Why would you think that?"

"Like I told you—I've been seeing a counselor," Tyler began uncomfortably. "So I'm…more aware of how people react to me. And last time I visited, I realized everyone was visibly annoyed with me. And when I stopped to think about it, I couldn't remember a time when you didn't seem irritated with me. So I figured it would be better if I just…left everyone alone," he said quietly. "And frankly, you weren't so welcoming when I came home for the summer, either. You wanted to stick me in one of the girls' rooms, if I remember correctly."

Jeff frowned guiltily. "I'm sorry about that—but you can't really blame me. You took over my room! I've been sleeping on the floor for the past two months," Jeff pointed out reasonably. "But that doesn't mean I don't want you around. You're my brother. And, honestly…I don't know what I would have done if I didn't have you around this summer."

Tyler managed a slight smile. "It's been rough," he sympathized. "I hate to leave you alone here with dad…"

"I'll be fine," Jeff said, although he wasn't sure if he was telling the truth. Would he really be fine when Tyler left?

Things weren't getting better. But hopefully they wouldn't get any worse.

…

The only thing that motivated Jeff enough to drag himself to school that morning was the fact that he'd promised Nick he'd see him at school last night. Having gotten no sleep, he went to the Lima Bean and ordered an espresso with as many shots of caffeine as they would allow before heading to school.

Even with the excess caffeine, he ended up sleeping through most of his classes. He figured that was a good thing, though, since he couldn't accidentally burst into tears while fast asleep.

He only saw Nick finally at the end of the day in Warblers practice. He greeted Jeff with a warm embrace. "Jeff! I wasn't sure you came to school today…"

"I almost didn't," he admitted with a yawn.

"I would have understood if you felt the need to skip a day or two…"

"I'd rather be here than at home," Jeff said, "because I know after school, I'm going to have to tell Lily and Kandy about…what happened."

Nick frowned. "I could help, if you need it," he suggested.

"Sure," Jeff said. Lily and Kandy loved Nick, and he was much better at solace than Jeff was. Maybe he'd deal better with the aftermath of the news when Lily and Kandy would be no doubt sobbing hysterically. "That actually might make things a lot easier…"

Thad cleared his throat at the council table. "Nick, Jeff? We need to get this meeting started," he urged quietly.

"Oh, sorry," Jeff said. He couldn't seem to get this council thing right, and it was only the second day back to school. Maybe David had been wrong to elect him in his place after all. He and Nick took their places on either side of Thad and allowed him to bring the second meeting of the year to order.

"Order!" The banging of the gavel silenced the room. "Good afternoon, Warblers. Let's get down to business…" He looked to Nick.

"Um…while Sectionals is still a while away, we should begin preparations immediately if we hope to make it to Nationals this year," Nick went on in a clear voice. "First of all, the council will be holding auditions for soloists in about a week, and we'll also be looking at requests for duets, so feel free to suggest some."

"Once we've figured out our song selection, Jeff and a group of our best dancers will work on the choreography," Thad added.

I will? This was the first he'd heard of this. But it made enough sense. Of the council, he was the best dancer.

Sebastian, who was seated on the arm of a sofa, spoke up. "Will there be auditions for the best dancers?"

Thad glanced at Jeff, as if expecting him to answer. "Sure," Jeff responded. "I can hold auditions if you want."

"We'll set up audition lists for everyone to sign at the end of today's meeting," Nick announced. "If you're interested in trying out, we expect a signature by tomorrow."

"I believe that is all for today," Thad said conclusively. He rapped the gavel against the sound block. "Dismissed."

With that, all of the Warblers began to gather their things. Most of them were talking excitedly about what songs they were going to audition with and conjecturing who will be the soloist this year now that Blaine had transferred.

Nick quickly wrote up a dance audition sheet on a piece of notebook paper and tacked it up onto the bulletin board along with the already-made song audition sheet. The moment he stepped away from the board, the Warblers lined up eagerly to sign their names.

There was still some time left before the final bell sounded. Jeff dropped his head onto the council table tiredly and closed his eyes.

He wished he could sleep here. He didn't want to go home.

The exhaustion was worse than he expected. Within seconds, he drifted…

He was suddenly right in the place where he didn't want to be. The living room walls surrounded him. The front door was replaced by bare wall. He was closed in.

Jeff's father was standing over the sofa, bellowing terrible curses as he swung a beer bottle the size of a club in his hand.

Zeus's body was crumpled at Jeff's feet. His beloved canine companion was mangled beyond recognition. Blood oozed from his ears, eyes, and nose. His skull was bashed in so badly that his brains were gushing out of the cracks and maggots writhed in his torn ribcage.

Jeff would have screamed if his attention wasn't diverted elsewhere. Sitting on the sofa, cowering under their father's rage, was Lily and Kandy. They were crying.

"Jeffy, help!"

His father raised the beer bottle club above their tiny heads, ready to smash their skulls in the same way he'd done to Zeus.

"No!" Jeff screamed. He tried to run at him and stop his father, but he couldn't move. He looked down, horrified to see the maggots from Zeus's chest were crawling up his legs and chewing through his still-living flesh. "No!"

"Jeff!"

The living room dissolved and Jeff's eyes flew open. He was back at the council table again. Nick was standing next to him with a hand on his shoulder.

"You fell asleep," Nick said quietly. His green eyes were full of concern. "I think you were having a nightmare…"

Jeff could feel his heart pounding in his chest and his limbs were trembling. He was breathing heavily as though he'd just run a mile, and he couldn't get it under control. It was just a nightmare, he thought. Despite this realization, he couldn't seem to calm himself down. His mind was still panicking.

When he felt the tears coming he pushed himself to his feet and embraced Nick closely, burying his face in the shoulder of his blazer and closing his eyes tightly to fight the waterworks.

He just knew everyone was staring. He was the worst council member ever.

Nick held him close and murmured, "It's okay…"

Jeff swallowed back the sobs building in his chest. He couldn't break down again, especially not here in front of everyone.

Thankfully, the bell rang. Jeff heard Thad's voice, "Well? That was the bell, get out of here!" followed by the shuffle of feet and murmuring voices as the Warblers ambled out of the choir room.

The images from the nightmare were still there, clear behind his eyelids. He opened his eyes—which didn't help much, since all he could see was the up-close navy blue of Nick's blazer—and they instantly brimmed with tears. He blinked them away. It was just a nightmare, he told himself again. Just being in Nick's arms made him feel safer, somehow, and he could feel the terror of the dream ebbing.

"What's wrong?" Thad asked once the room was empty. "What happened to Jeff?"

"Um…" Nick hesitated.

Jeff would have explained himself, but he was afraid if he spoke or even simply pulled out of Nick's embrace, he might breakdown again like he had last night.

"Jeff…just hasn't been having the best week," Nick answered carefully. He rubbed Jeff's back soothingly and added, "His dog passed away last night…"

That was only half of the story. If they only knew the rest of it, Jeff's behavior would probably be a lot more acceptable. But he couldn't let anyone know.

"Oh," Thad said softly. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Could you give us a moment?" Nick asked.

"Of course," Thad answered. "In fact, I think I'll be going home now. I'll see you tomorrow." To Jeff, he added, "I hope things start looking up for you, Jeff." Then he left, leaving Nick and Jeff alone in the choir room.

Jeff drew in a breath, relieved that he'd managed to avoid falling apart completely in front of everyone. While he no doubt got everyone's attention, at least he didn't end up sobbing hysterically at the front of the choir room.

Confident he wasn't going to cry anymore, he pulled out of Nick's arms and brushed his sleeve over his moist eyes.

"Are you okay?" Nick asked gently.

Jeff sat down in his council chair. "Yeah," he said quietly. "…I think so."

"Was it a nightmare?" Nick guessed.

Jeff nodded stiffly. "That's what I get for falling asleep in class," he mumbled. He looked up at Nick. "They were all staring, weren't they?"

Nick frowned. "Sort of…" he answered reluctantly.

Jeff sighed shakily and dropped his head. "I don't think I've ever done anything half as humiliating at that. No one is going to take me seriously now. I should just quit now while I still can."

"Don't say that," Nick protested sternly. "You deserve to be on the council. David thought so."

"Maybe David was wrong," Jeff muttered.

"It's only been two days," Nick pointed out. "You're having a bad week. Things will get better. You can't quit yet."

Jeff sighed. "I guess you're right." He didn't want to argue. The nightmare was still fresh in his mind and he wanted to go home and make sure his sisters were okay. "We should get going. Are you still coming with me…?"

"Of course," Nick answered. "Why would I have changed my mind?" He held out his hand for Jeff to take.

Jeff smiled slightly and took Nick's outstretched hand as he stood up. "Just making sure." He intertwined their fingers, thankful for the warmth that Nick's touch brought. Especially now that his life just seemed to be getting darker and darker every day.

Would things ever get better?

…

Both of his parents' cars were in the driveway. At first, Jeff didn't think much of it. His father had lost his job, as he stated so last night before murdering Zeus. Of course he'd still be home.

The bars weren't open at this hour.

But now he was feeling uneasy. Nick hadn't been over since the beginning of summer break, before his father started drinking. What if his father was on another binge? What if Nick noticed the ridiculous number of beer cans and bottles in the trash and refrigerator? He prayed his dad was still sleeping off hangover.

Jeff stopped at the front door and made a show of digging in his pants pockets for his keys, listening closely at the door for any sign of conflict. Nick raised an eyebrow at him.

"You know you put your keys in the pocket of your blazer like three seconds ago, don't you?"

Jeff laughed a fake, awkward laugh. "Oops…" He grabbed his keys from his blazer. "You know I'm tired."

Nick nodded understandingly as Jeff turned to unlock the door. He pushed it open slowly, peering inside warily as he did so. He had a feeling Nick was probably looking at him strangely, but better that than for him to witness Jeff's father in his violent drunken state.

He spotted Tyler across the living room in the kitchen drinking a soda by the counter. To Nick, he said, "Wait out here for a moment!" Before Nick could respond, he closed the door in his face and dashed over to Tyler. "Tyler! Is anything going on? Where are mom and dad? And Lily and Kandy? Are they okay?"

"Whoa, slow down," Tyler protested.

"Hurry! Nick's waiting at the door—I wasn't sure if it was safe to invite him inside."

"Oh, well…um…Dad's been pretty quiet today. I think he's still sleeping," Tyler answered. "Mom took Kandy to some Mommy and Me class with grandma or something…They took grandma's car. And Lily is off in her bedroom, drawing as usual," he finished. "Why wouldn't they be okay?"

"No reason," Jeff said. He hastily made his way back to the front door to let Nick inside. "Sorry," he apologized as he opened the door. "I had to check on something."

Nick seemed confused as he stepped inside. "Right…"

"Kandy isn't here right now, but Lily is," Jeff said. "You haven't told her about Zeus yet, have you, Ty?" Jeff asked his brother.

"No," he answered. "I'm the worst person to break bad news to people. I was hoping someone else could…"

"That's why Nick is here," Jeff said. "He's going to help me break the news to her."

Nick waved in greeting but said nothing.

"Great," Tyler said. "Then I don't have to do it." He stopped himself. "Err, that was insensitive, wasn't it? Sorry."

Jeff managed to smile. Tyler really was trying to be more 'socially acceptable.' Jeff said, "Don't worry about it." He took Nick's hand. "Well, we should get this over with."

He led Nick down the hallway to Lily's bedroom. He peeked inside to find his little blonde haired 6 year-old sister sprawled out on the floor, coloring a picture.

"Hey, Lily," Jeff greeted quietly.

Lily looked up. She noticed Nick and Jeff suddenly became invisible. "Nicky!" she exclaimed delightedly. She scrambled to her feet and raced to greet him.

Nick dropped to his knees before she could leap into his arms as she normally did and greeted her with a hug. "Hey, Lily!" he crooned. "Were you drawing something?"

"Yeah!" she said happily. She pulled away from him and grabbed her drawing from the floor. "Look! It's a unicorn. Ellie at school told me stories about them today, so I wanted to draw it."

Nick smiled. "That's a very good drawing," he praised.

"Do you want it?" she asked.

"No, that's okay. You keep it. You should hang it on your wall," Nick answered. "But first, Jeff and I want to talk to you about something."

"Okay," she said. "Do you and Jeffy still love each other?" she asked innocently.

Nick laughed softly. "Yes, we do," he answered patiently. "Very much."

"That's good," she said seriously. "I was worried, because Jeffy was in lots of trouble when mommy and daddy found out. Mommy is okay now, though." She looked at Jeff, appearing extremely upset all of the sudden. "I'm sorry I made daddy hate you, Jeffy."

Ack! Nick sent a questioning look at Jeff and Jeff dove forward and scooped Lily into his arms to place her on the bed and away from Nick. "Dad doesn't hate me, Lily," Jeff assured, except he wasn't so sure himself. "It's okay."

"But he always yells at you," Lily protested. "And after church that one day—"

"Lily!" Jeff interrupted hastily. He prayed Nick didn't wonder about that. "It's okay. Dad doesn't hate me. But right now, we really need to tell you something important."

Lily looked like she wanted to protest again, but she remained silent. Nick stood up and moved around Jeff to sit next to Lily on the bed.

"Are you listening?" Jeff asked softly.

"Yes," Lily answered.

Jeff drew in a deep breath. He could do this. "Okay, Lily… Zeus…passed away last night." He said it slowly and deliberately, trying hard to keep his own tears back.

Lily took a moment to comprehend this. "What?" she squeaked. "He died?"

"He was hit by a car," Jeff said gently. While this lie wasn't so comforting, it was like a feather pillow next to the truth. "But he's in a better place now."

Lily's lip trembled. "But he was so happy with us!" she cried. She hiccupped and began to cry. Nick leaned over and gently pulled her closer to him.

They'd dealt with pet deaths before, which was almost a relief. Jeff didn't have to deal with the denial or bargaining. By now, all Lily knew to do was cry out her grief.

Jeff was finding it difficult to cover up his own emotions at the whole thing. Lily sobbed very openly into Nick's Warbler blazer, occasionally crying out Zeus's name. Nick hugged her soothingly and murmured, "It's okay, Lily. He's probably up in heaven now, playing with all the other dogs! I bet he's really happy, and I bet he'll still be looking after you from heaven."

"Really?" she sniffled in a trembling voice. "You think he's in heaven?"

"Of course," Nick said. "He was a very good dog. He never even growled at people."

Lily smiled through the tears. "That's true," she said. "Do you think he'll make lots of new doggy friends?"

"Sure," Nick agreed.

"And do you think he has wings now and can fly?"

"Maybe."

And this went on for a little while. Lily was cheered up pretty quickly, although she was still really upset. Before long, she drew a new picture of Zeus with Nick's help. He was in heaven, had angel wings, and was playing in the clouds with a few other angel dogs. Lily went through and named all of them and she made Nick put the picture up on her wall.

Soon, though, Nick managed to get her to go to bed. Once she was definitely sleeping, Nick and Jeff quietly slipped out of the room.

"I can't even imagine how badly that would have gone if you weren't here," Jeff whispered thankfully to Nick as they walked to the living room.

Nick smiled vaguely. "It helps that Lily is such a cheerful little girl," he said. "But what was that she said about your dad? He still shouts at you?" He turned serious eyes on Jeff.

Among other things. "It's nothing," Jeff assured. "He can get angry sometimes, but it's not a big deal."

Nick stared at him incredulously. "Are you sure? Lily seems to think he hates you," Nick pointed out uneasily. "Jeff, please. If there's something going on, tell me. I can't stand not knowing."

It'd be worse if you knew. "It's fine," Jeff insisted. "Lily is a six year-old girl. The occasional shouting must seem like World War III to her, but it's really hardly anything." He trailed away and suddenly asked, "Did you mean those things you said to Lily?"

"What things?"

"The stuff about Zeus being in heaven," he answered. He couldn't help but feel curious about it. Was he just trying to cheer Lily up, or did he believe it, too?

"Of course I meant them," Nick said. "I wouldn't lie. I know there's some debate about whether or not animals go to heaven and all, but I personally believe that they do…"

"No, I wasn't wondering about that particular detail," Jeff said. "It's just… I didn't know you were religious." It seemed strange. Nick? After everything he'd been through in his life, and the fact that he was gay, still believed in God?

"You didn't?" Nick sounded surprised. "My family is Catholic. I thought you knew that."

"I knew your family was," Jeff said. "I just didn't know you were."

"Oh," Nick mused. "Well…That's a reasonable assumption, I guess. But, yeah, I am. We don't go to church much, since my mom thinks a lot of them are corrupt, but we're still Catholic."

"And you've always…?"

"No, not always," Nick said. "Back when…when things were bad in 7th grade, I stopped believing for a while. I thought that all those things that were happening to me was proof that God didn't exist. And if He did, He must hate me. But in my support group after I…um…" he faltered for a moment and drew in a breath, "After I attempted suicide, I met some people there who helped me recover. Especially this girl called Summer. She was going through the same kind of things I was, so I could relate to her. She told me how her faith was what helped her overcome a lot of her problems, and she convinced me to try it. She convinced me that God didn't hate me, or anyone else."

"Wow." Jeff thought he knew everything about Nick… He couldn't bring himself to voice his own opinion. The last time he went to church, he ended up with a broken wrist before the night was over.

"I assume you don't believe…?" Nick guessed. "You seem surprised."

Jeff shook his head. "My household has never been particularly religious. We go to church twice a year to appease the rest of our more religious family members, but that's about the extent of our faith."

"Maybe someday I'll teach you about my faith," Nick suggested. "I won't ask you to believe the same things I do, but it wouldn't hurt to just talk about it..."

Jeff shrugged. "Maybe," he agreed. He wasn't holding his breath for any religious breakthroughs. His experience with the whole subject was a bad one. "You're not going to get all preachy on me, are you?" he asked warily.

"No, not at all," Nick said with a breathy chuckle. "I don't preach. Everyone is free to believe what they want to believe, in my opinion."

"Good." He didn't expect Nick to become preachy, but he couldn't help but worry. Being preached to about heaven and hell never did much to help Jeff believe anything.

But how could Nick believe in something that supposedly condemned him? At least, every other religious person seemed to think homosexuality was an offense punishable by an eternity in hell. Jeff's aunt and uncle were a good example of such people.

Nick suddenly backtracked. "You distracted me from our original subject," he said, "about your dad."

"I told you already it's nothing," Jeff insisted.

"She said he always yells at you," Nick pointed out mildly. "I thought you said he was okay with this now?"

"He's never been 'okay' with me being bisexual," Jeff admitted. "He's dealing with it, and accepting that it's true. But he'll never be okay with it. And yes, it's a source of conflict between him and me. But it's really not as bad as Lily said."

"He isn't abusive, is he?" Nick asked worriedly.

"Not at all," Jeff lied. "I'd tell you if he was." He felt a stab of guilt when those words left his mouth.

He had to lie. Nick would never believe him otherwise, and it was better for them both if nobody knew the truth.

"You promise?"

"I promise."

At that moment, Tyler tiptoed into the room. "Am I interrupting?" he asked quietly, glancing between Nick and Jeff. Behind him were his packed bags—a suitcase and two gym bags.

"No, not at all," Jeff said, relieved for the subject change, yet he felt his heart drop remembering Tyler was leaving tonight.

Tyler motioned to his things. "I have to get going," he said half-heartedly. "I want to hit the road before it gets dark."

"Do you two want me to leave?" Nick asked politely. "If you need a moment…"

"If you could," Jeff said gratefully. "Thank you for your help with Lily. I love you." He kissed Nick briefly.

Nick nodded once and smiled. "I love you too," he said. "I'll see you tomorrow at school. And get some sleep tonight, okay?"

"I'll try," Jeff said skeptically.

"Call me if you can't sleep," Nick ordered. He kissed Jeff once more before he turned to leave.

Jeff turned back to Tyler, who jokingly said, "I still haven't gotten used to that."

Jeff rolled his eyes. "I'll get the gym bags?" he offered, starting for Tyler's things.

The two of them brought Tyler's things outside to his car and loaded them up in the trunk. Tyler hesitated, however, before getting into the driver's side. "Are you sure you're going to be alright around here without me?" he asked concernedly.

"If I said no, you'd still have to leave," Jeff pointed out. "But, yeah, I'll be fine. Don't worry about me."

"I'm only a few hours away," Tyler went on. "Call or text whenever. I'll visit every weekend when I can."

"I expect nothing less," Jeff said.

Tyler suddenly hugged him, although it was very short-lived and Jeff didn't even have a chance to return the hug before his brunette brother pulled away. "I know I don't say it much—or ever, really—but I love you, bro."

Jeff was taken somewhat by surprise. "I can't even remember the last time you said that to me," he said with a laugh. "But I love you too, Tyler."

Tyler chuckled uncomfortably. "I'm not touchy-feely. You know that."

"Yeah," Jeff agreed. "I'll miss having you around. Lily and Kandy are great and all, but they aren't the best company."

"I'd imagine," Tyler sympathized. "Listen, if something happens at all around here with dad, call me. Alright?"

"Sure," Jeff agreed. He wasn't entirely sure whether or not he'd hold true to it. While it was nice to have someone close who knew what was going on, Jeff hated to have people worrying about him.

"I'll see you soon." Tyler opened up the driver's side door and got inside the car.

Jeff stood back and waved goodbye as Tyler pulled the car from the driveway. He didn't move from the driveway until the car disappeared around the corner down the block.

Alone, he wandered back inside his broken home and went straight for the safety of his bedroom.

At least now he had the bed all for himself again.