"I haven't slept in two days, cuz cold nostalgia chills me to the bone..."
Who? gotstarpower and warble_on_jeff
What? Sometimes you just need someone to lean on.
When? Wednesday, Day 2 of Nick's trial, around lunchtime.
Where? A hallway in the courthouse
Rating: Possibly high for language and topics, but here there be no sexytimes.
The judge had called a recess for two hours, for lunch, and to let everyone regroup and come back with their shit together, and Jeff had wandered out of the courtroom and down the hall toward the restrooms without even really thinking about where he was going. It was rote. Go to the bathroom and pee, because he needed to, walk back out into the hallway to get a cab and find something to eat.
Only he didn't make it as far as all that. Before he was even out of the hallway, his brain was a flooded zone of emotional overload. This trial was heartbreaking. Nick was a fucking mess, and watching him be grilled and torn apart by the prosecution when there was nothing any of them could do but just take it and stand by and watch? It was killer. It made Jeff's chest literally ache with the pain of not being able to reach out his hand in case Nick wanted to take it, or be there in case he wanted a hug. He wasn't sure how much Nick would want either of those things when all the things that he'd had to work through to allow Jeff as close as he had so far were being flung in his face all over again.
Nick was fragile... So fragile, and he'd been hurt enough. It near killed Jeff just to see him like this. Then there was the whole added bonus that now more than ever, his relationship with Nick had to be kept under wraps. He couldn't be the man in love with Nick. He had to be a friend... Someone Nick knew in school. Nothing more. He couldn't run to the rescue like he wanted to, and he couldn't tell the state's attorney to go fuck himself, either.
It was too much, and as one thing, and then another flooded into his mind, Jeff felt the stinging in his eyes that told him that tears were coming, and he wiped at them blindly with one hand while another reached out to brace on the wall. There was some sort of doorway there that was closed, and the lights were off, and Jeff found himself leaning against the door. His hand came up to cover his face as a choked, wet sob escaped him and he slid down settling on the ground, tucked out of the way where no one could see him as he fell apart.
What? Sometimes you just need someone to lean on.
When? Wednesday, Day 2 of Nick's trial, around lunchtime.
Where? A hallway in the courthouse
Rating: Possibly high for language and topics, but here there be no sexytimes.
The judge had called a recess for two hours, for lunch, and to let everyone regroup and come back with their shit together, and Jeff had wandered out of the courtroom and down the hall toward the restrooms without even really thinking about where he was going. It was rote. Go to the bathroom and pee, because he needed to, walk back out into the hallway to get a cab and find something to eat.
Only he didn't make it as far as all that. Before he was even out of the hallway, his brain was a flooded zone of emotional overload. This trial was heartbreaking. Nick was a fucking mess, and watching him be grilled and torn apart by the prosecution when there was nothing any of them could do but just take it and stand by and watch? It was killer. It made Jeff's chest literally ache with the pain of not being able to reach out his hand in case Nick wanted to take it, or be there in case he wanted a hug. He wasn't sure how much Nick would want either of those things when all the things that he'd had to work through to allow Jeff as close as he had so far were being flung in his face all over again.
Nick was fragile... So fragile, and he'd been hurt enough. It near killed Jeff just to see him like this. Then there was the whole added bonus that now more than ever, his relationship with Nick had to be kept under wraps. He couldn't be the man in love with Nick. He had to be a friend... Someone Nick knew in school. Nothing more. He couldn't run to the rescue like he wanted to, and he couldn't tell the state's attorney to go fuck himself, either.
It was too much, and as one thing, and then another flooded into his mind, Jeff felt the stinging in his eyes that told him that tears were coming, and he wiped at them blindly with one hand while another reached out to brace on the wall. There was some sort of doorway there that was closed, and the lights were off, and Jeff found himself leaning against the door. His hand came up to cover his face as a choked, wet sob escaped him and he slid down settling on the ground, tucked out of the way where no one could see him as he fell apart.