Disclaimer: I clearly do not own anything within...props to Disney and such.

A/N: So it kinda figures that this would end up being the first fic I managed to complete after finishing 'In Training'. The seed for this was planted by an off handed comment from thiscoffeeshop. So...she's to blame? :)
Warnings(?!): This is so crack!fic that I ain't even going to try justifying it. Also, the fact that this is slash should go without saying.
Oh, and Nyke would clearly be Nick/VanDyke's ship name. Deal. ;)

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Nick wasn't sure how it happened...per se...

A week or two after the play, he'd been sitting alone in the library when Van Dyke had joined him. He'd dropped a bag of beef jerky between them on the table and said: "here, dude, if you're hungry." Nick had been hungry so Van Dyke offered a welcome distraction. Nick had spent more time chatting than working on his essay that day and hadn't minded at all.

Joe had initially been angry for reasons Nick could only assume were 'Stella', when Van Dyke started popping up in their presence. Nick understood, of course, after the whole Three Musketeer fiasco that Joe would still be smarting. He did, though, take personal insult that anyone, especially his own brother, would think someone he was starting to consider a good friend would be using him as a means to get closer to Stella. And if Nick had started making a point of limiting the time Van Dyke spent with Stella he hadn't noticed.

When they started eating lunch together, it was a heralded occasion. He and Van Dyke were both at the height of popularity on different ends of the spectrum. To say it had gone over well was an understatement. And sometimes, when they were sick of the adoring masses, they'd eat alone outside.

The day that Nick had been heading away from Van Dyke's locker and was stopped by a smiling Stella who said how nice of a guy Van Dyke was only stood out for two reasons. One, he recalled not thinking much about the slight welling of what possibly but probably wasn't jealousy the bright smile Stella directed at Van Dyke had caused. And Two, Stella had added: "He's kinda like a mix of Joe and Kevin, y'know?" Nick hadn't known but as he pondered over the comment through the rest of the day he was slightly odded out to realize it was kind of astute. He wasn't sure why he was odded out by it but there it was.

The first football game Nick had attended garnered him more stares than that basketball game had. Nick hadn't paid them any mind and eagerly called encouragement out to Van Dyke on the field. The giggling cheerleaders who had given Nick a flag with Van Dyke's jersey number on it a couple games later had been thanked sincerely. And when Nick wasn't waving it about and cheering at one of Van Dyke's games, he kept it pinned up in his locker.

When Macy had come up to him in the school hall and started gushing about how supportive everyone on the fansite was about it all, Nick had smiled politely before thanking her and making a quick exit. Supportive? Van Dyke had bumped into him and asked him about the exchange. Nick had shrugged and turned back to see Macy smiling widely and giving him thumbs up. He'd said: "I have no idea. But apparently people support me." Van Dyke had laughed and called him "very supportable" before slinging an arm over his shoulder and walking him to class.

It was The Big Man that remarked one night that Van Dyke seemed to spend more time backstage at their shows than Stella did. Nick had just shrugged. He liked seeing Van Dyke watching from the sidelines and having someone who wasn't a stagehand waiting for him with water and a towel when he finally stepped off stage.

Nick also didn't think much of the hushed argument he'd overheard from his parents. Sometimes his dad went a little overboard on the band stuff and his mom was the best person to reel him in. He'd caught snippets of 'fangirls not liking it', 'doomed' and 'closet' from him father before he'd heard his mom say: "You'd be surprised about what teenage girls are ok with now-a-days, Tom." Nick had been curious but hadn't asked.

Nick didn't look a gift horse in the mouth when Joe started handing over Yankees and Giants tickets. He knew full well the tickets came as a way to get Van Dyke as far away from Stella as possible and Nick was always up for a game. The pair became such a regular sight around the local sporting events that the Knicks' manager gave them courtside seats for the season. For free.

When Ellen called, Nick didn't think it was that odd to be called on for a solo interview. He'd done them before and, sure, this time he wasn't actively promoting a cause but he was always happy to help. In the end though he had to turn her down. Finals were the following week and even he needed time to study. He promised her the interview the following month, which provided him more than enough time to find something talk show worthy.

But really, Nick still wasn't sure why everyone seemed to think him and Van Dyke were dating.

Nick hadn't been angry or confused or much of anything when Joe had first started referring to Van Dyke as his 'boyfriend'. Teasing was teasing and Joe was older and more immature than him. And as one month turned into four and Nick started having random conversations with random people, he had started to realize that maybe it wasn't simple teasing on Joe's behalf.

But him and Van Dyke weren't dating. It was...Nick wasn't sure. It wasn't a ridiculous or horrifying thought. It wasn't even exactly a pleasant thought. It was just there, apparently plainly visible to everyone who weren't the two people in this apparent relationship.

Nick still wasn't sure what had set Joe off initially. Nick doesn't recall the 'boyfriend' crack coming out snide the first time. Or any of the times since.

But Joe had started referring to Van Dyke as his boyfriend none the less.

Were there signs Nick hadn't seen?

Nick hadn't even written Van Dyke a song. And song writing was a staple -- a given -- in Nick's dating world. So why anyone thought they were heads over heals in love was beyond him.

Nick was writing him a theme song though. They'd been joking around one day while watching ESPN and the next thing he knew he'd been promising to write Van Dyke his own theme that would blow the SportsCenter one out of the water. Nick rationalized that there weren't any lyrics so it really couldn't be the same thing.

And so what if he had a nickname for Van Dyke? It only happened because Joe, after he started to say they were dating, still giggled whenever Nick said the name 'Dyke'. Nick had called him 'Van' for about a week before shortening it down to simply 'Vee'.

And so what if Nick had pushed back the band's last recording session because it fell on one of Van Dyke's games? They'd postponed sessions before. Well, Kevin or Joe had forced them to postpone recording sessions before. And did it matter that the last, and only, time a postponement had happened directly because of Nick was when he had strep throat two years ago and his mom made him stay home?

Him and Van Dyke were just ... close. They were Nick and Van Dyke.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Nick was once again sitting in the library, this time surrounded by books for his paper on Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Theory, when Van Dyke found him and grabbed the seat beside him.

"Hey, I can't make it tonight. Could we reschedule for tomorrow?"

"Oh. Uh, yeah. Of course, Vee. Tomorrow sounds great," Nick said, smiling as he made a mental note to call the studio asap and see if maybe the band could get in there tonight instead of tomorrow.

"Awesome," Van Dyke checked his watch and groaned. "Sorry, I really got to book it. Just wanted to touch base and," Van Dyke paused and dug into his bag before tugging out a tupperware container and handing it over, "give you these. My mom made, like, diabetic-safe cookies for you. There's carob chips in them. My grandma's been sending her recipes since she found out." Van Dyke squeezed Nick's shoulder before taking his leave.

Van Dyke passed Kevin on his way out. "Ooh, are those cookies?" Kevin asked, sitting across the table from Nick. At Nick's nod, Kevin said, "Wow, Van Dyke is an awesome boyfriend," He made an attempt at snagging a cookie but received a slap for his efforts.

Huh. Maybe he was. Nick grabbed a cookie out of the container and bit into it.

Huh.

Well, apparently Nick had a theme song to finish writing for his boyfriend. Maybe he'd add some trumpet.

He also figured he should probably look into seeing if him and Van Dyke were on the same page because if they were they were both clearly missing out on the physical aspect of their relationship.

Him and Van Dyke were dating.

It actually made a lot of sense, now that Nick thought about.

It also gave him a great topic to discuss on Ellen in six weeks.

Nick bit into a second cookie as it occurred to him that he was dating a senior who was the captain of the football team.

Damn, Nick was awesome.

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Fin
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Thanks for reading! Y'know...if anyone actually did... ;)
So, am I completely crazy? Have I inspired you in wanting to write about the epic love affair that would be Nick/VanDyke?
Epic.
^_^