Let Freedom Ring ~ Day 2

Sunday - 1 July 2012

Deuce slowly began to fade into consciousness, trying to figure out where the hell he was. He could hear the television in the background, the sound of the news anchors soothing voice making its way into his head. He shifted slightly, his eyes still closed as he began to realize that he was laying on something… no, someone. He could hear the steady beat of a heart and feel a firm body beneath him as he felt an arm come up to slide around his waist. The murmur of other voices reached his ears, his brain immediately recognizing his brother’s voice, his brow furrowing when the body he was using as a pillow rumbled slightly as it answered Ty.

The smell of coffee hit his nose as he tried to snuggle back under the blanket, turning his head to nuzzle against his human pillow as the scent of Old Spice over-powered the smell of coffee and that familiar smell was all it took to wake up his brain and for him to know exactly where he was and who he was lying on. Nick. A sleepy smile crossed his face as he slowly opened his eyes, blinking a bit at the slightly blurry room. He felt the hand that had had been around his waist move up to slide into his hair, tugging gently as Deuce turned his head up to place a light kiss on the underside of Nick’s jaw.

“Mm morning.” He murmured sleepily before laying his head back down on Nick’s chest, not wanting to move just yet.

Nick chuckled softly as he stretched his head down to kiss the top of Deuce’s head. “Morning sleepy head. About time you decided to grace us with your presence.” He couldn’t help but tease as he rubbed Deuce’s back, not minding the fact that his body felt numb from holding Deuce’s weight for several hours.

“Time ‘s it?” Deuce asked sleepily, stretching slightly, causing one pajama clad leg to escape the blanket cocoon they had made for themselves.

“Time for you to get your lazy ass up!” was the answer that came from above him as Ty thumped him hard on the leg. “I thought I fucking told you to sleep upstairs.”

Deuce didn’t even bother replying verbally, choosing instead to silently flip his brother off as he placed a hand on either side of Nick’s chest, pushing himself up.

“I swear to fuck, if you’re both naked under there, you’re going to die in about two minutes.” Ty threatened as he walked around the couch, crossing his arms over his chest as he glared at them.

“I’m wearing pajama pants, dammit.” Deuce grumbled as he carefully pushed himself the rest of the way up, wincing when his bad leg protested the way he’d been sleeping all night. He shrugged it off as he looked over at his brother, giving him a little grin. “Don’t worry, we didn’t defile your couch the way that I’m sure you and Zane have done more than once.”

“Tried to.” Nick muttered as he pushed himself up, yawning as he rubbed his fingers through his head. “D wouldn’t let us.” He continued regretfully as he sat up. “And fuck Ty, you need a new couch. This damn thing is uncomfortable.”

Ty shook his head as he walked back into the kitchen to Zane. “I swear to God, I just might kill them both before today is over.”

Deuce laughed, overhearing his brother’s last comments, calling back to him. “You can kill Nick, but Ma would murder you if you killed me!”

He didn’t even wait for a response as he leaned over to give Nick a proper good morning kiss. “I smell coffee!” he announced happily as he got to his feet, tugging Nick up with him. They shared a few more kisses before making their way into the kitchen, Deuce immediately walking over to the coffee pot, making himself a cup of coffee, smiling as he inhales the aroma before taking a sip.

“Feeling human again?” Nick teased as he nudged Deuce over, pouring himself his own cup.

“Getting there.” He grinned as he reached over, snagging a piece of bacon off of Ty’s plate before leaning back against the counter. “Any plans for today?” he asked as he looked over at the clock on the microwave to see how late they had let him sleep in.

Ty looked at Zane before shrugging. “Thought we might go to a game this afternoon. Sundays are early games and that’ll give us time afterwards to head out to dinner or do whatever. You know we don’t plan shit around here.”

Deuce shrugged as he stole another piece of bacon. “You know I’m good with whatever. Game sounds good, though.” He nodded toward Nick. “Think we’ll get him into an O’s shirt?”

Nick growled softly. “If you kill me first and dress my dead corpse.”

A chorus of laughter went around the kitchen as Deuce lightly bumped his shoulder against Nick's. “You should come back to Philly with me. I mean, you’ve seen Baltimore a ton and…” he broke off with a shrug, a slight blush crossing his cheeks at how desperate he imagined he must have sounded.

“Sounds like fun. How long do I have to annoy you in the car?” Nick asked with a grin as he looked over at him while he ate his plate of bacon and eggs.

“Two hours on a good day. Three if traffic is shitty. It’s why I make the trip so often to visit Ty and he comes up to see me. Just a hop, skip and a jump away! You can either switch your flight back to Philly or I can drive you back to Baltimore.” He shrugged a bit, a grin on his face, leaning in to give Nick a kiss once he realized that Ty and Zane had left them alone in the kitchen with the breakfast dishes.

“I’ll look into changing it to Philly. A couple hours extra with you is more than worth it.” they moved over to the sink, quietly starting to do the dishes together with Nick washing and Deuce drying and putting them away since he knew where everything went.

“When did you want to leave?” Nick asked once the small sink of dishes was done and put away, studying  Deuce carefully before planting his wet hands against his bares chest with a laugh.

“Asshole!” Deuce laughed as he led Nick up the stairs to the guest room. “Uh, either after the game tonight or early in the morning? Either is fine with me.” He dug into his small bag, pulling out a shirt and a pair of cargo shorts.

“Tonight.” Nick said almost immediately, unable to keep the smirk off of his face. “If I don’t get to have sex with you tonight I just might go completely fucking insane.”

Deuce glanced toward the open door as he laughed. “Fine, fine, we’ll head home tonight. Game is an early one, so we’ll see if we can skip dinner with Ty and Zane and head back to Philly and have dinner ourselves.”

Nick grinned happily as he gave Deuce a kiss before turning toward the door. “I’m going to go find some clothes before Ty kills me for walking around in just shorts.” The grin was still on his face as he grabbed his bag, leaving Deuce alone in the guest room.

By the time they made it back downstairs, Ty and Zane were already in the living room, an old action movie playing on the TV. Ty turned to look at them, raising an eyebrow as he gave them both a once over than nodded slightly once he was satisfied that they were properly dressed and hadn’t gotten up to anything naughty upstairs.

The four of them were in the middle of a deep conversation about baseball; the only thing they could all agree on was their deep seated hatred of the Yankees, when Deuce’s phone started to ring from where it was charging in the kitchen. He groaned as he pushed himself up off of the couch, limping into the other room, answering his phone without even looking at the display to see who it was. It was a ringtone he used for patients and patients families, if he was being called on his vacation when he was supposed to be deep in the mountains, then he knew that it couldn’t be anything good.

Deuce listened quietly for a few moments, his voice low as he spoke to the person on the other end of the phone, resting heavily on his elbow as he leaned against the counter. “No, no I’m closer than planned. Something happened with my friend and I didn’t make it to West Virginia. I’m in Baltimore with my brother.” He explained softly as he closed his eyes, worry trickling its way down his spine as he heard footsteps behind him that was quickly followed by a gentle hand on the back of his neck. He nodded, making a sound of affirmation as he rubbed his hand over his face. “I’ll be there as soon as I can. If I leave now, I should be able to get the next flight to Philly.”

He heard the soft gasp of surprise coming from behind him, opening his eyes to glance over his shoulder at Nick, giving him an apologetic look as he said his goodbyes into the phone before ending the call. He immediately started to look up a phone number before glancing up to give Nick a quick kiss. “Go into the living room with everyone else. I’ll explain in five minutes, I promise.”  It was obvious that he was shaken by the news that he had received, doing his best to keep his calm doctor face in place as he found the number for the local cab company. He did his best to give Nick a reassuring smile as he watched him walk into the other room, letting his mask fall and the worry cross his face as he spoke into the phone, getting a cab to the airport. He knew that he could drive back to Philly, but if he could get to the airport and catch the next flight out, it would be a hell of a lost faster than driving and hitting Sunday traffic.

Once the cab was confirmed, he walked into the living room, well aware of three sets of eyes on him. “What’s going on?” Nick asked, looking up at Deuce from where he was sitting in one of the arm chairs.

Deuce sighed softly, dropping his car keys into Nick’s lap. “I have a cab coming. I need to go back to Philly. I can’t go into details, but I have a patient that needs me. He won’t talk to me on the phone and I’m afraid if I don’t get there soon…” he trailed off, the worry evident in his voice.

“Can’t you just call someone else? Like an ambulance or one of your shrink buddies?” Nick asked as he looked down at the keys in his hands, hating the thought of the idea that Deuce was leaving him already.

“I can’t, Nick… this guy… he’ll only talk to me. It took months to get him to open up. Things were getting better…God I don’t know what happened to put him in this mood today.” Deuce shook his head slightly, his hand drifting down to rub through Nick’s hair.

Zane nodded sympathetically. He and Ty knew what it was like to get a call in the middle of what was supposed to be a relaxing day off and have to race into work with little to no warning. “Hope everything is okay with this guy.”

Deuce smiled his thanks as he squeezed Nick’s shoulder. “Go to the game, have dinner, do whatever you three want to do tonight. Then drive to Philly and God, I hope I’m home by then. ‘Kay?” He smiled down at Nick, giving him a quick kiss as he heard the cab honking outside. “Grab my bag when you leave?” It was nothing he needed right this moment, but he’d need some of it eventually and he didn’t want to have to drive back to Baltimore just to get his bag.

Nick nodded as he leaned up for another kiss. “Be careful and let Ty know what’s going on since I don’t have my phone?”

“I will. Promise. Call me when you leave Baltimore, okay? I’ll let the front desk know to let you up.” He gave his brother and Zane a hug before stealing another kiss as he hugged Nick tightly. “See you in a few hours.” He said with a slight grin as he double checked his pockets for his phone and wallet before hurrying out the door.

While they were at the game Deacon had sent a text to Ty telling him that he hadn’t gotten to Philly in time and that his patient was in the hospital in critical condition. He didn’t know how long he would be there, and didn’t really have time to talk, so he told him to let Nick know to go to dinner with them and to take his time. Nick couldn’t quite enjoy himself completely. It wasn’t that Ty and Zane weren’t good company, or that it wasn’t great getting to spend some time with them, but he was worried about D and whether his patient was going to be okay. Besides the fact that he missed him already, and honestly he’d had a lifetime of being the odd wheel on couples outtings and he was more than ready to be a set.

After the game they went over to The Green Turtle for dinner. When they were seated Zane excused himself to use the restroom and Ty turned to face Nick. “I know we’ve discussed this on the phone,” he said, “But I need you to look me in the eye O and tell me why you and my brother are a good idea.”

Nick swiveled in his seat to look into his best friend’s face, a face he knew so well. He adored this man, not in the way he used to, but still, he’d cherish Ty Grady until the day he died. He held eye contact with hazel eyes that were similar to Deacon’s but didn’t mesmerize him in the same way, “I’m crazy about him, Ty.” He started, “I’ve never felt anything even close to this. I would gladly die for him, kill for him, if it meant keeping him safe. He’s…he’s it for me.” Nick looked at the worn wooden table for a second, “I know I haven’t shown you much in way of me being capable of a relationship, “ He looked back up at his best friend, “But you weren’t either, until you met Zane. I guess you could say Deacon is my Zane.” Nick shrugged, “I guess guys like us hold out until we find the one, yeah? And now we both have.”

Ty pursed his lips and nodded as if he approved of the answer. “You are two of the most important men in my life besides Zane, so I want you both to be happy.” He said, “That it’s with each other…yeah, still kinda bat shit crazy, but…it’s cool.” He held out his hand and Nick clasped it. Ty pulled him close with the grip to speak into his ear like they’d done before on countless missions in the past. “But best friend or not, Irish, you hurt him and they will never find your body.”

“Never.” Nick laughed but held his voice firm, “You have more of a chance of him hurting me.”

“Nah,” Ty shook his head as he pulled back some, “I know my brother better than anyone and I’ve never seen him like this. He didn’t take his eyes off of you from the time you arrived until the time he left. He’s got it bad.” They unclasped hands and settled back into their seats, “Lord knows why, but he does.” Ty added with a smirk just as Zane came back.

“If you two are planning on running away together don’t let me interrupt,” Zane said with a raised brow, “But I’m not footing the bill for dinner.”

“Nah, I’ll stick with you,” Ty assured his partner, “He’s no good in the mountains. I would have died up there if I was with him.”

“It was the hottest summer West Virginia had seen in years!” Nick protested when they all laughed, “I’m never gonna live that down, am I?”

“Nope,” Ty answered with a satisfied grin as the waitress approached their table.

By the time they had gotten back to Ty and Zane’s place it was nearly six. Nick tried to give Deacon a call from the house phone before he left to let him know he was about to get on the road but it went right to voice mail so he left a message. He assumed D was probably still at the hospital and didn’t have reception. He grabbed his and Deacon’s bags and said his goodbyes to the guys before setting the navi in Deacon’s BMW for D’s address and headed for Philly. The normally two hour drive took Nick closer to three due to all of the traffic coming in from the Jersey shore so by the time he showed up at the building he felt disheveled and in need of a stiff drink.

After checking in at the front desk and letting himself into Deacon’s place he was surprised to find an empty penthouse. Damn, D must still be at the hospital, Nick picked up the cordless house phone to try his cell. Again right to voicemail, so Nick left another message, this time letting Deacon know that he’d arrived. He dropped their bags on the couch and turned in place to look around. The penthouse was enormous and very nicely decorated, and the view…the view was something else. Large ceiling to floor windows replaced most of the outside walls revealing the Ben Franklin Bridge lit up in all its glory. Nick walked over to peer out, not really sure what to do with himself until Deacon came home.

Deuce groaned as he leaned his elbow against the bar, rubbing his eyes as he wobbled slightly on his ever faithful barstool. He had been too fucking late. He hadn’t had a very long career, but so far the only way he’d ever lost any patients had been to natural causes. But this time? Fuck, this was his fault. If he hadn’t gone to Baltimore or if he’d tried to drive home instead of flying or if he’d just waited a few more fucking hours to leave Philly then maybe, just maybe his patient would still be alive. He reached for the shot of whiskey that was sitting in front of him, managing to get more of it on his shirt than in his mouth, his hand shaking with exactly how drunk he was.

The bartender and an old friend reached out to pull the almost empty glass of beer away from Deuce, replacing it with a glass of water. “Deuce, you need to get home. You have a way to get there?” Max gave the younger man a worried look as he wiped the bar in front of the doctor. He had been serving Deuce for years and he’d never seen him quite this drunk when he didn’t have a group of friends around him. Sure, he’d come in and have a couple of beers and shoot the shit a couple times a week, less if things were crazy, but him getting this smashed in such a short period of time had him worried.

Deuce shook his head groggily as he blinked at Max. He had taken a taxi to the bar and his car was who knows where with Nick. Wait. Nick. Nick could pick him up. But shit, Nick fucked up his phone… he groaned as he rubbed his eyes, feeling like his eyeballs were floating from the sheer amount of liquor and beer he’d had that evening. House phone. He’d call the main phone at the condo. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, blearily staring at the phone as he tried to dial the right number, grinning sloppily when the call went through.

“Nick… ‘m so fucking drunk right now.” He slurred once Nick had picked up the phone, but just the sound of Nick’s voice made him feel just a little more sober.

“Deacon? Where are you? I’ve been here twenty minutes, are you okay?” Nick asked, the worry evident in his voice as he picked up the keys he had just dropped on the kitchen counter.

“Bar.” Was the only thing he managed to get out as he shoved the phone toward Max, knowing he would never be able to give Nick directions on how to get there.

Max shook his head slightly as he took the phone from Deuce, speaking into it as he kept a close eye on the man that was wobbling on his bar stool. The conversation was a quick one, Max giving the man on the other end of the phone directions to the bar, trusting that he could find his way.

Less than ten minutes later Nick walked in the door, shaking his head slightly when he saw the state that Deuce was in. He nodded at Max before sliding his arm around Deuce’s waist, helping him to his feet, ignoring the pain in his ribs as he helped Deuce out to the car. He helped him into the passenger seat and looked around to make sure they were alone before kissing Deuce’s temple gently. “What happened, baby?” he asked as he put the car in gear, driving toward Deuce’s place.

Deuce grumbled softly. “Can’t talk ‘bout it. Even dead ‘s still private,” he muttered as he closed his eyes, the sight of the city passing by him through the car window making him queasy.

Nick winced at Deuce’s words, reaching over to gently rub Deuce’s shoulder. “We’re almost back to your place. Then we’ll get you poured into bed, ‘kay?” They could talk things over when he was sober and less likely to spill things that he wasn’t supposed to.

Deuce nodded slightly in agreement as he leaned his head back against the seat, mentally convincing himself that it would be bad to puke all over his new car. He protested slightly when the car came to a stop, slowly opening his eyes once the familiar voice of the valet registered in his brain. He made a mental note to tip the young man extra the next time he came out to grab his car, looking blearily up at him as Nick helped him out of the car and into the building.  Deuce didn’t even remember crossing the lobby or going up the elevator, but he did remember the feel of falling face-first into his pillow without even bothering to take his clothes off. His bed felt really fucking good right now was the last thought he remembered as he slipped into unconsciousness.

Nick shook his head slightly as he reached over to the bed, quickly removing Deuce’s clothes, dumping them into a small pile on the floor before covering him with the blankets, making sure the rooms small trash can was within arm’s reach for when he woke up. He watched him for a moment or two, smoothing his hair away from his forehead before kissing his temple softly, turning off the lights as he exited the room, leaving him to sleep.

After making sure Deacon was settled in bed, Nick changed into a pair of basketball shorts with no shirt, and debated what to do. He was oddly comfortable in the penthouse already but he wasn’t at all tired. He padded into the kitchen in bare feet, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge and leaned against the counter to weigh his options. He thought about watching TV, but even with D dead to the world he was afraid of disturbing him. He stood there drinking his water for a minute before setting the bottle down and finding himself wandering around the place. He hadn’t really gotten a good look around earlier, and Deacon sure as hell wasn’t in the state for show and tell when they’d arrived back from the bar.

Nick peeked briefly into what was obviously Deacon’s office before moving down the hall. He flicked on the light in the next room revealing a decent sized guest bedroom, larger than Nick’s cabin, tastefully decorated with a few modern dressers, a king sized bed and a flat screen TV mounted to the wall. There was a large standing mirror in one corner, and a Fichus tree in the other. A few modern artwork pieces hung here and there with some family photos and different stylish décor scattered around the flat surfaces. Nick nodded, very nice.

He moved on to the guest bathroom. Tiled in large cream squares, much like the master bath, a double vanity and a large tub shower round. Now this was a VIP guest head.

Everything was so pristine and modern, looking brand new yet somehow very comfortable. Even though the penthouse was enormous, every room at least twice the size of Nick’s place, it still felt cozy and homey for some reason. He wandered if D had hired an interior designer who’d planned it that way, or was it perhaps due to a woman’s touch. Nick decided on decorator and he resolved not to ask Deacon so he wouldn’t possibly contradict that thought.

Nick peered into the master to make sure Deacon was okay before continuing on. There was a small utility room with washer, drier and cleaning supplies followed by a hall closet. Finally a smaller guest bedroom containing a decent sized couch, still large by the 580 standard, that apparently also doubled as the catch all and extra storage room as well. He almost turned to leave and go back to the living room when something caught his eye. Two shopping bags stuffed full were next to an older looking hutch, and sticking out of the top of one was a long picture frame. Smiling sideways at Nick was a beautiful blonde woman with her arms around an equally grinning Deacon. The curiosity got the better of him and Nick peered over his shoulder quickly, not the first time tonight he had the feeling he was being tracked, before entering the room.  At first he reached out with his index finger and pushed at the handle to look down inside the bag. The long frame was sort of a collage and there were a few smaller frames in there along with a photo album.

“Fuck it,” Nick sighed and sat down on the floor crossed leg facing the door and started to empty the bag looking at each item as he did so. They were all pictures of Deacon and who Nick assumed must be Livi, several of them also containing mutual friends. It pained Nick to admit that they were a very handsome couple. Individually either one of them could have been a model, put them together and it was like Ken and fucking Barbie. The photos ranged from vacation memories to bar shots to ones taken inside the penthouse or other residences and other random places. Some carefully positioned, others candid, but in all D looked so happy it hurt Nick’s stomach. Of course he’d been happy with his girl at one time, he admitted to Nick not too long ago that he’d loved her, and they’d been together for a couple of years, but still it hurt. Then Nick’s insecurity reared its ugly head, pointing out to Nick that even though D was happy now, maybe that would change eventually too. What if he found someone he liked more than Nick? What if he decided he missed T & A? Well, T & P because Nick had an A, but still…what if Deacon started missing the fairer sex?

Nick told his brain to shut the fuck up before he puked as he closed the album and carefully placed it, and the frames, back into the bag. He started to slide the second bag towards him when the hair on the back of his neck warned him again he wasn’t alone. He glanced up to the doorway and found an orange fur ball of a kitten sitting there looking at him.

“Have you been stalking me the entire time?” Nick whispered to him, but Winchester didn’t move, just sat there and blinked his large green eyes at him.  “You’re pretty quiet, you should be a ninja.”

Nick glanced into the other bag and caught sight of women’s clothes and decided not to go there. He looked back at the kitten as he stood, “Don’t tell your daddy I was being a snoop, okay?”

Winchester looked over his shoulder towards Deacon’s room as if he knew what Nick had said, then back at Nick. Nick nodded, “Yup, him. Let’s keep this between us.” Why am I having a conversation with a cat? Nick thought and chuckled at the absurdity of what a guilty conscience would make you do.

“Deal?” He smiled, figuring what the hell, D loved that damn cat so they might as well get used to each other, but as he took a step forward the cat took off in the direction of Deacon’s room.

“Fuck, don’t wake him.” Nick hissed, making haste to catch the traitorous fucker. Winchester was a fast little shit though, and by the time Nick reached the bedroom he was on the bed and trying to worm his way under Deacon’s chest.

“No, Win, he needs his sleep,” Nick uttered quietly, “Come on, you want a treat or something?” Did you even give cats treats like you did dogs? Nick had never owned a cat, had never really been around any except for that wicked thing that Jenna’s mom called Darling but that hated everyone else and Ty’s old cat that was a recluse and would hide whenever there was company. “Ah…toy? Food? Want to eat?”

At the last question Winchester stopped trying to burrow and whipped his head around to face Nick. Jackpot. “You hungry? You want to eat?” Nick repeated hopefully, “Come on.” Nick started towards the door but the kitten just looked at him speculatively.

“Well, let’s go,” Nick encouraged him, trying to make his voice higher and none threatening, “I could use a snack too.”

Nick turned and headed down the hall quietly, hoping the kitten would follow and leave Deacon be. When he got to the kitchen he opened a cabinet and found a pouch if that fancy tuna fish, shrugging he tore it open and pulled a fork from the utensil drawer. Nick loved tuna, it was a good source of protein and delicious to eat on its own, plus cats liked fish, right? He found a dessert plate in the dish strainer and set it on the counter where he dished a small amount of tuna onto it. He felt soft fur brush his ankle followed by a meow and Nick smiled. He bent to scoop up the kitten and set him in front of the plate where Winchester proceeded to dig in. Nick leaned his elbow on the counter and began to eat the rest of the tuna with his fork right out of the bag, looking at his nibble mate, “You were so trying to bust me, weren’t you?”

Winchester paused to peer back at Nick as he licked his chops. “Yeah well, keep your mouth shut and I’ll keep slipping you the good shit. We need to be friends, you and me, I plan on sticking around awhile so we’re gonna have to share him, yeah?” Win blinked once than went back to his treat “I’ll take that as a yes.” Nick smirked as he continued to eat as well. Maybe this little dude wasn’t so bad. He loved to eat and he loved Deacon, they already had two things in common.

Deuce awoke with a groan, his stomach lurching before he even opened his eyes. He kept his eyes closed, feeling the comforting weight of Nick in bed next to him along with the feel of Winchester’s furry body curled up against his leg. He tried to convince his stomach that it wanted to keep in the contents of everything that he had eaten and drank that entire day, but no matter how much his brain tried to convince his stomach, his stomach had other ideas. He slowly pushed himself up, trying to be as quiet as possible because he didn’t want to disturb Nick as he got out of bed, and managed to stumble across the room. He ran his shoulder into the doorframe, not even bothering to turn on the light before falling to his knees in front of the toilet and ungracefully losing everything in his stomach as he gripped tightly at the toilet seat. His entire body felt sweaty and clammy despite the fact that he felt overheated.

He reached up and managed to flush the toilet before leaning his head against the seat, groaning softly. Just the thought of actually getting to his feet and walking back to the bed was more than he could muster. The blankets and softness of his mattress combined with how damn comfortable Nick was sounded so fucking amazing right now, but he just didn’t have the energy to get to his feet and walk the distance, and crawling there sounded like entirely too much work.

“Fuck it.” He murmured softly as he stretched out on the tile floor, the coolness of the tiles making him shiver despite feeling a little warm. He reached an arm out, pulling over a towel to use as a pillow and closed his eyes as he felt a paw gently smacking at his face followed by a soft purr as the kitten nuzzled up against his shoulder. He licked and nipped at the skin there to announce his presence before curling into a little ball, purring the entire time as Deuce drifted off to sleep, hoping that Nick wouldn’t fall over him in the morning.

Nick woke as soon as Deacon left the bed, but knowing what he was stumbling into the bathroom to do, he left D to his privacy for a moment. After the toilet flushed and the next room got quiet, Nick crept in to check on D. The large bathroom has a warm yellow glow from the nightlight plugged into the outlet on the vanity. Deacon was lying in a ball, his hands tucked between his knees with his head resting on a rolled up towel and Winchester tucked against his chest.

Nick frowned at the pitiful sight and kneeled down, resting his hand on Deacon’s back, “D…come to bed, baby.”

“Can’t,” D mumbled “Gonna be sick again—“ he barely got the words out before he lurched up to hug the porcelain idol and toss much more than just his cookies. Nick winced in sympathy and Winchester scrambled into the far corner to watch with wide eyes. Deacon hung his head and reached up to flush without looking before collapsing back onto the floor. “Better stay here.” He rasped. “Besides, the cold tile feels kind of good.”

“I get that,” Nick nodded and got up to retrieve the throw from the reading chair in the corner of the master bedroom. He brought it back into the bathroom and covered D with it. “You don’t want to catch a chill.”

Deacon pulled it up around his shoulders and curled into a ball again, “Thanks,” He uttered with chattering teeth.

“Been on your end of this situation enough times to know what you want.”He opened the long linen closet door and pulled out a washcloth then went over to the sink. He ran the cloth under the cool tap and rung it out, then pulled a Dixie cup out of the holder and filled it with cold water.

He kneeled down next to D again, “Sit up a little and wash your mouth out so you’re not stuck with a bad taste.”

Deacon groaned but pushed up a little onto his elbow and reached for the little cup with a shaky hand. He took a good sip and handed it back to Nick and laid back down with a sigh, pulling the blanket back up again. Nick folded the damp cloth across D’s forehead once he was settled and sat down with his back against the wall behind Deacon, bending up his knees and resting his forearms on them.

“Anything else I can get you?” He asked.

“No,” Deacon croaked, “Thanks…go back to bed, I’m okay.”

“I’ll go in a minute.” Nick shrugged even though Deacon couldn’t see him, “You need to sleep, so just try to relax.”

Deacon didn’t respond other than to make a little noise, and Nick watched his back, observing his side rise and fall with his ragged breathing. Finally the cadence became even and the sound of D’s breathing heavier. Nick pushed himself onto his knees and crawled over to peer at Deacon’s sleeping face. He actually didn’t appear as grey and sweaty as before, maybe the worst had passed and he’d be able to get some sleep. Nick removed the wash cloth to dampen it once more, placing it back across D’s forehead before kissing his cheek tenderly and leaving to go to bed. He probably wouldn’t get much sleep knowing Deacon was uncomfortable in here, but he needed to try if he wanted to be in decent condition to nurse D’s hangover tomorrow. He stopped in the doorway to turn around and check on Deacon one last time, Winchester had made a little nest out of the blanket by D’s stomach and was sleeping soundly with his daddy. Nick couldn’t help but smile at the sight, unexpectedly thinking, ‘My little family.’

Nick's songs of the day

"Inside Your Heaven" ~ Carrie Underwood

(I prefer the Bo Bice version, but couldn't find it on youtube)

"Together Again" ~ Janet Jackson

"I've Fallen in Love with You" ~ Joss Stone

Pictures of Deuce's place

Entrance/Valet

Lobby

                                          

Den / Dining room in back

Kitchen

Deuce's Office