Jeff nodded with the understanding of someone who hadn't been there himself, but could see for himself the difficulties Nick was facing. "It has to be hard, Nicky. I know it can't be easy facing all this on your own. Who babysits Rory while you're at work?" He paused, remembering how Nick used to get really sick with his diabetes sometimes when they were in school together, but Jeff was sure that, between working in a medical profession, and trying to keep things under control with his health for Rory's sake, Nick probably had that well controlled now. "It has to. It gets lonely enough when you just work a lot, but when you work a lot, and your whole life is about making sure he's okay... There have to be nights you just wish you could crawl into bed next to someone who understands... Who's kind of in the whole thing with you."
Once Rory had been placed in his lap, it was clear that the little boy was trying to figure out who Jeff was, and if he could trust him or not. Jeff just smiled warmly, and let his hands take the place of Nick's on the boy's waist. After a moment, Rory seemed satisfied that Jeff wasn't some sort of crazy psycho, and settled in on Jeff's lap. It still wasn't a look of contentment that Jeff was getting from the little one, but that was to be expected with a stranger and teething. Jeff's hands remained firmly in place on the Rory's waist, but his attention turned back to Nick for a moment. "Maybe that's it. I know I'm not as ADHD and bouncing off the walls as I used to be, but a lot of that is just due to a really good medication that finally got balanced out to the right doseage. We did have fun in school. We had a lot of fun. I thought about that a lot over the years, you know? The fun we had. I used to wonder where you were and if you were okay. But maybe sometime we could hang out for a little while... Maybe once Blaine's better and can watch Rory for you? We don't have to do anything crazy like get drunk or act like idiots, but maybe just shooting a game of pool or something like that. Something that wouldn't take too long so you didn't feel like you were too far from Rory." Pausing, he turned to look back at the little boy, his words replaying in his head if he tried to figure out if any of that had sounded wrong. "Don't worry about that too much right now, though. If you want to catch up sometime, I kind of live here, now, so it won't be a big thing when and if you ever do have time for a hang out. In the meantime, I'm totally cool to come hang out with you and Rory, too. Sometimes, you just need somebody to be there to listen, I think. Especially when it's somebody who's an old friend who wants to help. I'm seriously here for you on that, dude. Take a raincheck... Call it in anytime I'm not at work. I mean it. I'm seriously glad to help."
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Once Rory had been placed in his lap, it was clear that the little boy was trying to figure out who Jeff was, and if he could trust him or not. Jeff just smiled warmly, and let his hands take the place of Nick's on the boy's waist. After a moment, Rory seemed satisfied that Jeff wasn't some sort of crazy psycho, and settled in on Jeff's lap. It still wasn't a look of contentment that Jeff was getting from the little one, but that was to be expected with a stranger and teething. Jeff's hands remained firmly in place on the Rory's waist, but his attention turned back to Nick for a moment. "Maybe that's it. I know I'm not as ADHD and bouncing off the walls as I used to be, but a lot of that is just due to a really good medication that finally got balanced out to the right doseage. We did have fun in school. We had a lot of fun. I thought about that a lot over the years, you know? The fun we had. I used to wonder where you were and if you were okay. But maybe sometime we could hang out for a little while... Maybe once Blaine's better and can watch Rory for you? We don't have to do anything crazy like get drunk or act like idiots, but maybe just shooting a game of pool or something like that. Something that wouldn't take too long so you didn't feel like you were too far from Rory." Pausing, he turned to look back at the little boy, his words replaying in his head if he tried to figure out if any of that had sounded wrong. "Don't worry about that too much right now, though. If you want to catch up sometime, I kind of live here, now, so it won't be a big thing when and if you ever do have time for a hang out. In the meantime, I'm totally cool to come hang out with you and Rory, too. Sometimes, you just need somebody to be there to listen, I think. Especially when it's somebody who's an old friend who wants to help. I'm seriously here for you on that, dude. Take a raincheck... Call it in anytime I'm not at work. I mean it. I'm seriously glad to help."