Forever's Not Supposed to End

Jenna's point of view

"Can I see it again? Can I?" slurred Nathan, tugging on Matthew's long sleeved shirt.

Matthew sighed and rolled up his sleeve, revealing the fresh tattoo around his left elbow.

"There's no me, without us."

It was possibly one of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen, and Nathan couldn't stop staring at it. It was the most meaningful gift Matthew could have given to Nathan after everything they'd been through in the past few months.

"I fucking- hic- love you," he mumbled and hiccuped, hugging his brother who laughed slightly.

"I know, but I think you've probably had enough to drink now," he said, gently trying to pry away the bottle of red wine clutched in Nathan's hand.

"No. It's Christmas, you're supposed to drink," he giggled, trying to force the bottle to Matthew's mouth.

"Mhhm. Thanks. So... Jenna are you staying over?" asked Matthew, taking the bottle from Nathan and putting it on the floor down by his feet so Nathan couldn't get at it.

"I was going to, but he's a little.. wasted," I sighed as Nathan rested his head on the table.

"I have spare blankets if you want to crash on the couch? I mean, it's snowing pretty bad," he said, glancing at the window again.

"The couch is kinda taken," I smiled, looking at Hayley curled up fast asleep on the couch.

"Well I was going to pick her up and carry her to our bed so, it'll be free once I find the strength to do that," he smiled at her sleeping form and leaned over, gently pushing a strand of hair off her face.

"You're going home?" gasped Nathan, grabbing my hand across the table.

"Yes Nathan, I think I am," I said slowly.

"But but but but you can't," he stammered. His eyes were bloodshot and out of focus and he was swaying slightly. I could tell he was going to fall off his chair.

"Shall we go talk about it in your room?" I offered, quickly helping him stand up before he hit the deck.

"Ooooh in my room," he giggled, winking at me.

I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"Need me to supervise to make sure he doesn't try anything?" offered Matthew.

"It's OK, you can probably just go to bed. I'm sure I could kick his ass if he tried anything," I said as Nathan draped his arm around my shoulders.

"I'll be right here if he starts bothering you," nodded Matthew, I smiled gratefully.

I finally managed to drag Nathan to his bedroom. He fell onto the bed giggling, and I sat beside him.

He was frustrating me.

The first few times he'd got drunk it had been almost cute. Now it was just getting annoying. He was the most wonderful guy, but he clearly had issues if he needed to drink this much, especially on Christmas day, when he was supposed to be spending time with everyone.

"Nathan, why do you always drink so much?" I asked quietly, taking his hand and looking into his eyes.

He mumbled something and looked away from me.

"Come on, I want to help you, and I can't help you if you don't tell me," I said, my hand finding the side of his face and caressing it gently.

"I'm scared," he whispered.

"Scared of what?" I prompted.

"Losing everything," he muttered, closing his eyes tightly.

"Well that's just silly," I said, pushing his hair back off his forehead and lowering myself so I was laying down next to him with one arm across his chest.

He placed his hand on top of mine and smiled slightly.

"You can do so much better," he mumbled, starting to push my hand away.

"Don't you dare. No I can't. I've never met someone like you. You're beautiful inside and out, and I'm so lucky to be able to call you my boyfriend," I said, holding his hand tighter and kissing his cheek.

"You mean that?" he said quietly, slurring slightly.

It broke my heart when he'd get so drunk.

"Of course I do, I'm not going anywhere," I said, kissing his temple softly.

"I love you," he said clearly, looking me right in the eyes.

My heart skipped a beat.

"I- I love you too, but let's do this properly when you sober up?" I smiled as he leaned up to kiss me.

"Can we do this now too?"

"Can we just go to sleep? You've had a lot to drink Nathan, I think you need to sleep it off and we can talk about it in the morning, but I really do love you," I smiled, kissing his lips gently.

He kissed back, tangling his hands in my hair. The kiss turned heated and he rolled on top of me, starting to kiss my neck.

"Mmm, don't," I said half-heartedly trying to push him away.

"But it's Christmas," he smirked, going back to kissing my neck, his hands sliding up my legs under my dress.

"You can't just use that as an excuse for everything," I giggled.

"But... but... but... I'm horny," he whined, pressing himself against my thigh so I could feel his erection through his jeans.

"Nathan, you're wasted," I giggled, shaking my head and pushing him off me.

"But you can take advantage of me?" he offered and I shook my head again.

"We're going to just go to sleep now OK?" I said firmly and he gave up.

"Fine," he sighed.

"Where are you going?" he asked, panicked as I started to get out of the bed.

"To get you a glass of water and some painkillers for when you wake up with your horrible hangover," I said, kissing his forehead. It was hot. Much hotter than normal.

"Wow, you have a fever," I said, pressing the back of my hand against his forehead to feel his temperature.

"You got me all hot and bothered," he smirked, putting both hands behind his head.

"No, Nathan, seriously, do you feel OK? You have a massive fever," I said, worry starting to creep into my mind. I didn't want Nathan to get sick, especially not at Christmas.

"Well I feel fine, just a little bit sexually deprived," he pouted.

"Hmm, OK," I said, leaving the room to grab him a glass of water and painkillers ready for the morning.

"He behaving himself now?" came Matthew's voice from behind me as I searched for a clean glass.

"Yeah, just about. He's got a fever though, I'm worried he might be coming down with something," I said, quickly washing a glass as there were no clean ones anywhere.

"That would suck, I'd have to stay away from him, I'm not allowed to get sick," he said, rubbing his head.

"Hopefully it's nothing," I said, grabbing the box of aspirin from the cupboard.

"I hope so. Anyway, I'm going to crash, so I'll see you in the morning I guess," he yawned.

"Night Matt," I said, giving him a one-armed friendly hug.

"Sorry about him being so drunk... he's got some issues... it's up to him to tell you, otherwise I'd let you know but I mean, it's not my place," he explained as he started switching off all the Christmas lights around the living room.

"We talked about it a little bit, I'll try and get him to open up, depending on how he's doing in the morning," I said and Matthew nodded. I could see he was struggling to stay awake so I pointed to his bedroom door and he smiled and nodded.

"Night," he smiled as he walked into his room and closed the door behind him.

Nathan was already passed out by the time I got back to the room.

He'd clearly tried to get changed, as his jeans were pulled halfway down his thighs and his shirt was gone, thrown on the floor.

I pulled his jeans off the rest of the way and took off my dress, putting on his shirt to sleep in as I didn't bring anything of my own.

I set the glass of water and pills on his bedside table, then curled up next to him, draping one arm across his chest and closing my eyes.

His breathing was shallow and he was definitely running a high temperature.

I couldn't sleep knowing he was sick, so I went and grabbed a wash cloth and a bowl of cold water. I wet the cloth in the water, and started dabbing at his forehead, hoping to bring his temperature down at least a little bit.

He stirred slightly and his eyes fluttered open.

"Just sleep, I got you," I smiled, taking his hand.

"I don't feel so good," he mumbled, closing his eyes again.

He had turned very pale and I was getting really worried.

Within a few hours he was sweating and shaking uncontrollably, and I was way too worried to continue dealing with it on my own.

I knocked tentatively on Matthew's door.

"Hey Matthew? Nathan is... I don't know, something is really wrong," I sighed.

The door opened and I was met with Hayley, who looked exhausted.

"I'm so sorry to wake you," I sighed and she shook her head.

"It's fine, I wasn't sleeping anyway. What's going on?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.

"He's got a crazy fever, and he's shaking and stuff," I explained quickly as she followed me back to Nathan's bedside.

She pressed her hand to his forehead, in the same way as I had and retracted it almost immediately. Se traced her fingers over his wrist, feeling his pulse. I knew it was elevated.

"I think its just some kind of flu, but I'm not a doctor," she said, looking up at me.

"But you're a nurse, that's almost the same," I said, taking Nathan's hand.

"I'm not anymore, and I never really was, I never wanted to be. OK, we need to try and bring down his temperature, so no blankets, and as soon as he wakes up try and have him take a cold shower. And we need to keep Matthew away from him, because if he gets the same thing it could be way more serious for him," she said, and I nodded.

"I'll keep him in here," I said, re-wetting the wash-cloth and starting to dab at Nathan's forehead again.

"Alrighty," said Hayley, yawning and stretching, then wincing slightly and putting one hand to her stomach and grimacing.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Oh. Nothing. I think I ate too much today, I feel kinda sick," she said, moving her hand away.

"Better get out of here before you catch Nathan's flu," I said and she smiled and nodded.

"If you need anything, or if he gets worse, just let me know," she said as she left the room.

"Thank you," I said, closing the door behind her and going straight back over to Nathan who gripped my hand gently.

"Hey," I said softly.

"Hey," he mumbled.

"How are you feeling?" I asked, pressing the cold cloth to his head again.

"Like I got hit by a truck. My whole body hurts," he sighed, shifting slightly as he tried to get comfortable.

"Hayley said you might have the flu," I said, trying to stop him from pulling the blankets back over himself.

"I'm cold," he whined.

"But you have a fever, so we need to get your temperature down," I explained as he finally opened his eyes.

"Thanks for taking care of me," he said with a weak smile.

"Any time," I leaned down ans kissed his forehead gently.

"You should go to sleep," he said, pushing my hands away and taking the cloth and bowl of water and putting them on the side.

"I need to take care of you though," I tried to reach across to get the cloth back but he pulled me down gently so I was laying next to him. He flicked off the lights and lay back down.

He rolled onto his side to face me, one arm pulling me close, his forehead pressed against my cheek. I held him gently, my fingers playing with a few strands of his sweaty hair.

"I meant it," he whispered after a few minutes of silence.

I smiled slightly. Maybe it was a little too soon to be calling it love, but I really didn't care. It felt right.

"I know you did, and I did too," I said, kissing his cheek gently.

I felt him smile and it made me smile even more.

Sure, Nathan had his problems, but he was truly the sweetest guy I'd ever met and I could see a real future for us, so long as he would let me help him through everything he needed me to.

Hoping that he'd be feeling better in the morning, I finally allowed myself to fall asleep in Nathan's arms. This hadn't been how I'd expected this night to turn out, but in a different way, it had been a nice Christmas after all.