Jeff laughed, rolling his eyes as he let Wes drag him and push him to sit down. Wes's smile was lopsided, like it always was when he was drunk, his hair was messed up and his tie had been thrown aside. Shirt untucked, pants rolled up and hands clapping together excitedly. It wasn't an uncommon sight. In fact, Wes almost looked less drunk than all the other's in the room. David was sitting on the floor, his back leaning against the couch, his shirt completely off and thrown aside. His drink was in his hand, but half of it dribbled down his chin as he attempted to take a drink. Jeff knew David's actions made him look like he'd had a lot more alcohol than he actually had. His mind always seemed sober, his body and actions just liked to disagree.
Kurt was leaning against Blaine's chest, sitting between his legs, giggling as Blaine whispered something in his ear. Blaine's fingers traced along Kurt's arm softly and Kurt hummed along to the music. Kurt's hair look too perfect, way too perfect. Like he'd been fixing it up every few minutes. Jeff snorted. Wouldn't really surprise him if he had. Blaine's hair, however, was messy, gel free and unkempt. Trent was glaring wordlessly at Thad, who was flicking through a phone that was definitely not his (Jeff suspected it was Trent's, given the glares). He laughed loudly, obviously finding what he was reading entertaining. And then there was Nick, curled into the corner of the couch tapping his toes (shoes had been lost hours ago) and giggling childishly. "One piggy, two piggy..."
Jeff sighed, pulling his legs to his chest and resting his chin on his knees. He smiled, looking at Nick. He was always so innocent when he'd had a few drinks. His face light up with brighten amusement, his eyes wide in hope as Wes clapped his hands again. It wasn't as though a child had taken his place, merely Nick's movements and actions were innocent and giggly. Not immature, just childlike.
"Okay," Wes spread his hands out like he was planning to make a big announcement, before drawing them together again. It reminded Jeff of Jack Sparrow (Captain, his mind automatically corrected him, causing him to laugh quietly to himself) in a way, though he wasn't sure why. "I think it's time we played a game."
"A game, a game!" Nick nodded enthusiastically, sitting upright in the couch, his eyes gleaming in wonder and enjoyment, "what kind of game?"
David groaned, "anything but spin the bottle, please."
"I vote we play get-Trent's-phone-back-from-Thad," Trent quipped, still glaring at Thad who was practically doubling over in laughter at whatever the latest thing he read was.
"Truth or Dare?" Blaine suggested and Kurt shook his head, snuggling closer to Blaine.
"No, because then someone else might get dared to kiss you."
Wes rolled his eyes at Kurt before turning back to the group, "we'll play twenty questions. Except, without the twenty. So questions. Is that a game? Questions!"
"So, like a game of Truth?" Blaine couldn't help interrupting, with a shrug.
"I-" Wes glared at him and crossed his arms across his chest, "fine. Like a game of Truth. But not Truth. Questions. And I'll start."
Jeff pretty much tuned out after that, not really paying attention to the game. It was stupid really, just asking about what the others had done. You get asked a question, and it was a 50/50 between freaking out or just answering it, and then you asked someone else. Nothing groundbreaking.
"Jeff... Jeff... earth to Jeff," David clapped loudly in Jeff's face causing him to jump and look around.
"S-sorry guys. Just got zoned out there. We finished?"
David laughed, "nooo... it's my turn to ask a question and I choose you, Jeff-a-chu!"
"Really David, really?"
"Anyway, you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you Warbler?"
Jeff rolled his eyes, "I solemnly swear-"
"-I am up to no good?" Blaine offered, blinking in curiosity.
"No Blaine. I promise I'll tell the truth. Just ask the damn question David."
"Jeez, touchy. Okay," he grinned mischievously, "is the person you like-"
"-love-" Wes coughed fakely, not even attempting to disguise the word.
"- in this room?"
"W-what?" Jeff's eyes widened and he felt his face heat up. "I don't think I have to answer that," he mumbled, staring down at the floor.
"Sure you do! That's the point of the game. Now, is the person you li- shut up Wes- like in this room?"
"No?" Jeff replied, but the lie was obvious and David raised an eyebrow, "fine. Yes. No-"
"Who is it? Who is it?" Nick asked, tilting his head in a mixture of confusion and- was that jealously? No, Jeff shook his head, couldn't be.
"One question per turn," he said quietly before turning to Wes, "my turn. Last time we played spin the bottle. Did you and David continue what...ever that was, back in your dorm?"
Wes glanced at David who shrugged half-heartedly and Wes nodded, "yup." He ignored the chorus of 'details, details' that half the Warblers broke into and turned back to Jeff, "now Jeff-"
"You can't ask someone a question, if they just asked you Wes."
"Trent, I swear-"
"No, he's right," Blaine nodded, "they're the rules. C'mon Wes, pick someone else."
Wes sighed in annoyance and turned to Kurt, "fine. Kurt. You and Blaine. Have you done the dirty yet?"
Kurt spluttered, his cheeks turning red, "I- um- well- uhh. N-not completely."
Nick grinned, "but you have done something then? I knew it, I knew it, I knew it. Kurty and Blainey sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-"
"More like mouths and hands on dicks," Wes interrupted, suppressing a laugh. Both Kurt and Blaine scowled at him, their faces bright red. Blaine's arms wrapped around Kurt, as though he was scared he was going to lose him.
"Okay, okay. My turn. David, details. You and Wes."
"That's not a question," David hummed thoughtfully, tapping his chin.
"Fine. David, please with a cherry on top, give us details of you and Wes after spin the bottle last time."
Wes rolled his eyes but nodded at David who shrugged, "okay. Well, we uhh, made out here for a few minutes-"
"-yes, that we all got a lovely first row seat too-"
"-and then afterwards we headed back up to the room and continued making out there-"
"That's it?" Thad shook his head, looking disappointed.
"- and, well... uhh..."
Flint gasped and looked between the two, "you totally had sex, didn't you?"
"No! We didn't have sex. Wes and I are both perfectly content with being heterosexual males. Drunk or not. We just... helped each other... you know, get off."
"You could just say hand job like a normal human being?"
"Because that's totally heterosexual," Blaine interrupted, biting his lip to stop himself from laughing.
David rolled his eyes and turned back to Jeff, "okay, there's no rule against asking the same person as last time sooo... is the person you like-"
"-love-"
"-Nick?"
The room went silent and Nick's eyes widened at the question and he pulled his legs in, wrapping his arms around them and resting his cheek on his knees, his head tilted to the side and looking at Jeff, waiting for an answer.
Jeff sucked in a breath and stood up, brushing himself down with his hands and shaking his head, "I - I don't want to play this anymore."
"Aww, come on Jeff. Just answer the que-"
"No!" Jeff practically yelled, glaring at David, "don't you understand that's private? As in, you shouldn't force someone to say the person they like is in this room when they haven't even come out of the closet yet? Hey, big surprise guys, Jeff is gay! Thanks for waiting until I was ready, really-"
"-you could have just said no," David said quietly causing Jeff to laugh sarcastically.
"I'm not a liar David. You of all people should know that. Now, I'm going back to the dorm. Don't follow me." With that Jeff turned and basically stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
David glanced around the room, "I didn't- I mean, we all knew! Jeff's told us about his crush on Johnny Depp countless times before. I just thought he didn't want some big coming out thing, it was just a thing. Jeff is gay, I'm hetero-," he paused for a moment, "-flexible? Straight but shit happens? That's kind of an accurate description given what you lot just found out."
Blaine sighed and shook his head, "it's not your fault David. He was fine until you mentioned, well," he glanced over at Nick, "Jeff's never been in the closet. I don't think it ever existed for him. He was always just Jeff. I think he just got defensive."
The group didn't really notice when Nick slid off the couch and slipped out the door. His feet pattered on the ground and he ran a hand through his hair. Reaching the dorm he shared with Jeff, he took a deep breath and knocked softly.
"I said don't follow me," Jeff yelled, "go away David!"
"Jeffy?" Nick poked his head in the room, "it's me. Nicky... can I come in?"
Jeff sighed, "I can't say no, it's your room too. C'mon in Nick."
"David didn't mean to say anything to make you sad," Nick mumbled, sitting next to Jeff on the bed and resting his head on Jeff's shoulder, "we all knew you were gay. No one cares Jeffy."
"I know you all knew. That's - it wasn't- you know," he shrugged, turning his head away from Nick.
Nick threw an arm over Jeff and pulled him so they were laying down, Nick's face buried in Jeff's neck. This wasn't unusual. They had always been more touchy-feely than most best friends. Nick's hair was messed and he had a faint smile on his face, as he turned to look at Jeff, "does Jeffy love Nicky?" His voice was innocent as his eyes fluttered closed, snuggling closer to Jeff.
With a sigh, Jeff nodded. If he had any luck, Nick wouldn't even remember this in the morning. That was the most likely scenario really, he often didn't remember things in the morning after drinking, "yes Nicky. Jeffy really loves you."
Jeff squinted his eyes the following morning, blinking fast because of the sunlight that was streaming through the window. His bed felt empty and his heart sank, realising that Nick wasn't there anymore. He must of remembered and freaked out. Jeff groaned, pulling his pillow over his face. Maybe he could just try suffocating himself. His best friend probably hated him, and the rest of the Warblers probably thought he was some big coward.
"Jeff?" Okay, that was definitely Nick's voice. What was he doing there? Had he come to say goodbye? They had been friends for years, it was possible that even though he hated him, he would still say goodbye.
Jeff didn't move the pillow from his face, mumbling something that was completely inaudible and muffled. Nick rolled his eyes and dragged the pillow away from Jeff, tossing it aside. "Jeff, it's me. Nick."
"I know it's you Nick," Jeff sighed, pushing himself up so he was sitting instead of lying down. He glanced at Nick hopefully, maybe he hadn't remembered, "you're... how do you never manage to have a hangover?"
"Because I wasn't that drunk?"
"You were playing piggy with your toes," Jeff replied, raising an eyebrow.
Nick shrugged, "I do that sober. It's fun. I think we... uhh, need to talk. But- before you interrupt, I brought you breakfast!" He handed Jeff an apple and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, "well, I got you the only thing they'd let me take from the kitchen."
"Look Nick- I didn't mean to say anything- I was drunk-"
"-bullshit, you didn't have a single drink last night."
Jeff glared at him, "couldn't this be one of the times you didn't remember?"
Nick's smile faltered a little, and his voice went soft, "but I want to remember."
"Why? So you can mock me? Say, look at me, I'm Nick. I get all the girls I want and even the stupid gay guys love me!"
"You don't give me much credit. Aren't you supposed to be my best friend Jeff? Do you really think I'd ruin a friendship over that?"
"I just- why don't you hate me?"
"I could never hate you," Nick frowned, looking at Jeff worriedly, "I'm your best-"
"My best friend. I get it. My straight as an arrow best friend."
"More like straight as a curly fry," Nick mumbled and Jeff stared at him.
"W-what?"
"I'm not straight Jeff. I've never identified as straight, not to myself."
"But... you've had girlfriends."
"And a boyfriend. I like... I like people," he said with a shrug, "I think... it's not like bisexuality- it's more pansexuality? I'm attracted to people because of who they are, not what gender. I don't know, I haven't really thought it out to label myself."
"Oh." Jeff looked down at the bed, his hands playing with the sheets. So, Nick liked guys but he was just Jeff's best friend. As he always had. That was a stab to the gut, even when Nick liked guys, he didn't like him. Of course, who would ever like him?
Nick sighed, "I like you Jeff. A lot. More than a friend."
"You don't have to say that," Jeff muttered, "it's okay, I get it. Friends?"
"No, you don't. I like you Jeff. I liked you since Freshman year. When I first met you, sure, you were just this cool dude but you want to know the moment I realised I liked you? We went for ice cream, you remember? It was the first time we'd left campus together, just the two of us and you got a vanilla ice cream cone. But," he bit his lip to stop the laughter, "we were walking back and it just suddenly fell from your hand. And you just stared at it for a moment before saying how it was no Elphaba."
Jeff smiled, "you had no idea what I meant."
"I know," Nick returned the smile, "I hadn't seen Wicked then, and when I asked what you shrugged, and stepped over the ice cream saying how it didn't defy gravity. And that it was clearly melting." He reached up to cup Jeff's cheek in his hand softly, "but do you want to know the moment I fell in love with you? It- I admit, it took me awhile. Two weeks ago, we were sitting in this room and you were trying on ties. I thought for sure you had a date with a strapping young gentlemen," he chuckled, "but your Mum was picking you up for your sister's birthday. When I thought you were going on a date, I was so jealous. It was like someone had taken a knife and stabbed me in the heart.
"Now, I know I - well- I've dated people since I've known you. Even after the ice cream thing but I didn't- I mean, I knew you were gay, but it's so wrong to just assume you would like me. That's like saying all girls like their guy friends which isn't true. So, I distanced myself and I was happy being your friend. I didn't want to screw anything up, I didn't want you to get insulted or run away-"
"-now who's not giving enough credit?"
Nick laughed softly, "I know. It was wrong of me, and I'm sorry. Do you- can I- I want to- uhh," he trailed off, biting his lip nervously, his eyes flicking down to Jeff's lips. They looked perfect and kissable. He just wanted to lean forward and - oh, okay. Nick knew he hadn't leaned forward but Jeff's lips were suddenly on his. Jeff smiled into the kiss he'd initiated, his arms coming up around Nick's neck.
"I've wanted to do that for so long," Jeff murmured, leaning his forehead against Nick's, "I'm sorry if you didn't want to but I- I just just needed to."
"Jeff," Nick warned, "I wanted it. I want you."
Jeff's heart was hammering in his chest and he swallowed thickly, "I-I want you too."
"In that case," Nick closed the small distance between them, kissing Jeff softly, "we've got to catch up on a lot of wasted time."
"You promise?"
"I promise."
"Nick?"
"Mmm?"
"I- I love you," Jeff said, his voice shaking a little.
"I love you too."