Okay. Last chapter. Cause if I don't just end it now… It'll never get finished.

Thank you so much for sticking around despite my total slowness at the end here! I hate finishing stories! I always get all mournful and like… "AGH! I'LL MISS YOU!" You know? So yeah. Last chappy. Here we go. *sobs openly*

Jeff sat on Nick's bed next to the other boy just like usual, except this time Nick's fingers were intertwined with his boyfriend's not his best friend's. The two could hear the rest of his siblings playing Mario Kart downstairs, screaming as they fell off the road. Apparently Jackson had decided to keep the party going… Nick had been more than willing to hand off the Wii controllers to the younger kids, desperately wanting some alone time with Jeff. He hummed.

"You know you're not allowed to go home ever again." Jeff rolled his eyes, but a small smile creeping up his face gave him away. "I'm serious," Nick continued, "I'm going to go back and get all your stuff for you. You're never stepping foot in there again," he told him, but this time Jeff just frowned.

"But Nick… she's my mom, and Jess, and Jack, and James-"

"Will be fine," he finished for them. "They can stay here if they need to, I'm sure my parents would be fine with it considering my mom gripes all the time about wishing she had been able to have more kids, especially with Kaylee off at college and all… Plus, it's not like I go to Dalton on a scholarship. We've got money to spare for them." Jeff still seemed uncertain, and Nick squeezed his hand a little tighter. "Let me take care of this, Jay," he begged, and Jeff looked at him steadily for a second before speaking.

"I wish I could hate her," he mulled quietly, and Nick didn't know how to respond. "I mean… It would be so much easier if I could. Then everything she said wouldn't seem so true, and I… I don't know…" Nick scooted a bit closer to the blonde. His blonde.

"You do know it's not true, right?" he asked, and the way Jeff bit his lip forced Nick to thwack him in the back of the head. "Jeff, don't do that. I will not have you insulting my boyfriend." Jeff sighed and let himself fall back on the mattress.

"I can't help it, Nickpea… I don't know if I approve of him for you, yet…" he said nearly inaudibly, and Nick flopped on top of him, their bodies pressing together and their faces only millimeters apart. Nick smiled down at him.

"Well, then. You obviously don't see what I see in him," he replied. Jeff –for all of his insecurities- smirked back at him playfully.

"Oh, yeah? And what's that?" he asked expectantly, and Nick beamed, kissing the taller boy's nose, marveling at how natural this felt. It was really only a step up from their friendship before. Nick definitely would have done earlier today, even if he and Jeff hadn't gotten together. He played along with Jeff's game.

"Well, obviously he's hot as hell, but you most definitely knew that already…" he said, and Jeff hummed gratefully in response. "But there's more about him, too. He's intelligent, and humble, and sometimes he needs a bit of encouragement, but he's definitely the strongest person I've ever met. I feel like if you could stop being so stubborn, you'd probably really like him, too." Nick pretended to think for a moment. "But don't fall for him too hard. Cause he's all mine." Jeff actually giggled beneath him, and Nick smiled contentedly. Jeff's hands tangled with his own.

"It's crazy how you do that…" he said, words warm on Nick's chin, and he remembered how close their faces were. He rolled to the side and stared up at the ceiling.

"How I do what?" he asked, and Jeff rolled over and rested his head up on his hand. Nick met his eyes.

"How you make everything so much better… It's like… It's like you come around every day and somehow make me perfect," he answered, and Nick's heart clenched a little bit and the content smile he hadn't realized he'd been wearing fell from his face a bit.

"You don't need me to make you perfect, Jeff. You already are." Jeff laughed, breathing life back into the room, the sunset outside hitting his hair and skin and giving him an ethereal glow.

"Actually, Nicky, I don't think I would be anything without you."

"Get it in, Nicky!" Trent shouted the second Nick picked up his phone later that evening. Jeff watched as his roommate's face reddened completely, the blush rapidly crawling down his neck. Jeff couldn't help but giggle as Trent continued, Thad supporting the boy's demands in the background. "Seriously! Take a stab! Get some! Stick it up in him! Make him beg! Love him hard. Just f-"

"Trent, you're on speaker phone and he's right here!" Nick interrupted, and there was the tell-tall tumbling sound of a phone being dropped and a bunch of laughter in the background. "Trent! What the heck?! You have a bunch of people over there?!" he exclaimed, and Trent made some indiscernible mumbling sounds on the other side of the line before the phone was passed up and David's voice came through the speaker.

"We've thrown an impromptu Niff party!" David said, his words a little slur cause –hey- drunken Warbler parties! "We're all here except for you, which is why Trent was supposed to be calling, but sex is okay right now, too…" David told them, like he hadn't thought about what he was saying before he had said it. "But yeah!" he brightened, "Even Wes is here! Say 'hi', Wes!"

"Heeeeeeey, Ni-ffz," Wes said, hiccupping a bit, and Jeff looked over at Nick, his eyes saying it all. Wanna be sober in the midst of a bunch of drunks? No. No, Nick really didn't. He put a hand over the speaker of the phone, and whispered over to the blonde.

"How long do you think this conversation will be if I don't say anything back?" he asked and Jeff snorted, holding up two fingers. "Two minutes?" Jeff shook his head. "Two hours?" Jeff nodded, and Nick plugged in his phone but kept it open, pulling out Life out of his closet to silently play as David babbled into the phone and Trent whined for it back.

"And Blaine is here, and Kurt is here, and Trent is here cause it's his house, and Sebby is here, and Thad is here, and Flint is here…" Eventually, however, David ran out of people to list, and the phone switched hands a couple times to a bunch of whiny people who congratulated them for finally getting together and complaining about just why aren't you here. Nick and Jeff snickered, passing by pay days and Life cards. Eventually there was a loud clatter and the other side of the line went dead. Jeff beamed as Nick stood up to click it off.

"Apparently we were destined to be together," he said, and Nick rolled his eyes.

"Apparently," he agreed, "Trent has been shipping us since day one…" Jeff ticked past him and adopted some twins in response, and Nick couldn't help but pout. "Wait, stop! No fair! I wanted twins, and all I got was a daughter!" he complained, and Jeff peered up at him like he was stupid. Cutely of course, but still…

"You've got, like, six chances, still…" he said, pointing to the other blocks with "Adopt Twins!" written on them. Nick stuck his tongue out at him.

"Right. Cause all two of those make six," he said, feigning superiority. "Learn to count, Jeff," he commanded, and the blonde laughed again. Nick hopped the sound would never stop…

"Will you be okay staying with the Duvals until their lawyers get all the emancipations settled?" Jeff asked nervously before going back to Dalton for the rest of the school year. His siblings each nodded and threw Nick's parents appreciative smiles. Mr. and Mrs. Duval were great people and had willingly opened their home and resources to Jeff in his family.

Has Jeff ever mentioned that he really loved Nick?

"We'll be fine, Jeff," Jessica told him, pulling him into a big goodbye hug. "Now get in the car, or you won't get there until three in the morning," she instructed, pulling away, and Jeff wrung his hands together.

"I know, but I'm just worried that-"

"Relax, bro," Jackson said, pulling him into an embrace of his own. "The only bad part about you leaving is that we'll miss you," he assured him. "Now seriously, get driving. You don't wanna be tired for your first day back." He let him go, and Jeff nodded, James hopping into his arms before he could get anywhere. The twelve year old let him go after about ten minutes of hugging, flipping his bangs out of his face.

"See you soon, Jeffie!" he said, looking a little upset, but nothing too major, and Jeff ruffled his hair before joining Nick in his sky blue Eclipse. Nick had been watching their whole little goodbye session on the driveway, sharing happy looks with his parents every time they gave each other a hug. He smiled at his boyfriend when he climbed into the car.

"It seems like they're really gonna miss you… That was a whole lot of family love that I just saw." Jeff smiled goo-ily, looking back at his waving siblings as Nick pulled the car out of the driveway.

"Yeah… yeah it was…"

*Sobs* I'll miss you all so much and… *sobs* That was so painful… and my computer is dying to symbolized the dying of my soul right now.

GOODBYE FOREVER, LOVE TAPS! THANK YOU SO MUCH, YOU LOVELY REVIEWERS!