Picking up the Pieces

Jeff's Story

            Burt returned some time later with Kurt, Blaine, and Finn. Nick was sitting on the couch, Jeff's head resting in his lap while they watched TV. Carole was sitting at the kitchen table, papers spread out in front of her.

            "Hey guys," Blaine said as he sat down on the floor,  pulling Kurt down onto his lap.

            "No, no, stay there," Kurt said as Jeff went to sit up, "We're fine." Kurt smiled at Jeff who smiled back slightly, laying back down as Nick resumed running his fingers through Jeff's blonde hair. Finn had flopped down in the chair as Burt walked into the kitchen.

            "Hey," Burt said, kissing Carole lightly, "What is all this stuff?"

            "The hospital faxed some papers over. Some information about the medication Jeff's on, when he needs to take it, and when his next appointment is. They already told us all this, but thought it would be good to have a hard copy since we have four teenage boys living here and a fifth who will be around as often as possible," Carole told him.

            "How were they?" Burt asked and Carole sighed.

            "Nick had a bit of a breakdown earlier, apparently his isn't the first time this has happened to Jeff and Nick has been blaming himself for not stopping it. Jeff managed to set him straight soon enough." Burt nodded and looked into the living room where the five boys were sitting. he could see Nick running his hands through Jeff's hair, Kurt sitting on Blaine's lap, and Finn sprawled out in a chair. He smiled at the sight because, despite the bad circumstances, they all looked happy.

            "Why don't we look at these later?" Carole said, her voice bringing Burt back to the present.

            "Sounds good," Burt said, smiling. He helped clear away the papers and then called the boys for dinner. Finn, who was normally first in the room when there was food, helped Nick steady Jeff as he walked instead of running ahead. Carole was pleased to see this as she knew it would help the boys feel more comfortable and less of a burden.

            "This looks great mom," Finn said as they all sat down.

            "Yeah, it really does, thank you," Jeff said, trying to cut his chicken with one hand. While everyone else tried to be polite and not watch his struggle, Nick reached over and squeezed Jeff's knee under the table. Jeff looked at him and saw the questioning look in his eyes. Sighing and blushing deeply, he smiled slightly and pushed his plate over to Nick who cut up the food before passing it back to Jeff.

            'Thanks," he mumbled, thankful that Kurt and his family weren't staring at him. They finished dinner and Finn and Kurt picked up everyone's dishes. Nick stood to help, but when Jeff tried as well he got told to go sit down on the couch.

            "Do you think you can get upstairs?" Carole asked him and he nodded as she and Burt helped him to the couch.

            "I think so, if I have some help it'll be easier," he told them and they nodded.

            "Thank you," Jeff said suddenly and Burt and Carole looked at him.

            "For what?" Burt asked.

            "Just, everything," Jeff said, "For letting me stay here, for letting Nick stay here, and for not judging me."

            "Jeff, do you really think we're the type of family who would judge you?" Carole asked.

            "No," Jeff said, "It's just... This happened at my old school too... Before I transferred to Dalton. They beat me up and I ended up in hospital. I hadn't come out to my parents at that point and when they found out that's why it had happened they were furious. Not at the boys who did it, but at me. They hated that their son was gay. When they decided to transfer me to Dalton... A lot of people thought it was because they were trying to protect me. But really they just didn't want me around. The last time I talked to my parents was before my first Christmas at Dalton. Since then they've wanted nothing to do with me."

            "Well then they obviously don't know what an amazing son they have, do they?" Carole asked and Jeff smiled. At that moment, Nick, Finn, and Kurt walked into the room. Nick sat down next to Jeff and put his arm around him. Finn sat down on his other side and Blaine and Kurt sat on the floor again. Blaine leaned against the couch and Kurt sat between his legs, his back resting on Blaine's chest.

            "How about we watch a movie before we all head to bed?" Burt suggested. They ended up watching the new Harry Potter film and then went to bed. Nick and Burt helped Jeff up the stairs and when he got into his room he immediately lied down and Nick moved the air mattress so he could be there if Jeff needed anything.

            "You alright?" Nick asked as he lied down.

            "Yeah, I'm fine," Jeff said, "I love you."

            "I love you too."

So apparently when I wrote this chapter I was going for maximum cheese and fluff and angst levels. I was also very creative with the title.

Thanks so much for reading and let me know what you think!