NEEDLESS TO SAY, NO DINNER WAS MADE. Rhett and Steve, both having been deprived of Girl Scout Cookies growing up, were off to one side, testing the various kinds of cookies, Steve helping Rhett grade his papers and come up with lesson plans. Because the two were off in their own little bubble, Nicky and Sam were left to their own devices, the ice shattered the moment the cookies were thrown into play.

"Sorry if you thought I didn't want you around," Nicky said, taking a sip of his milk, "I didn't mean to make it out like that."

Sam raised an eyebrow, his glass half raised. "How'd you know I thought that?"

Nicky motioned between them, shrugging lamely. "I'm a psychologist. And I had no friends growing up, so..."

Sam laughed at that, throwing his head back, and Nicky watched him with bright eyes, laughing as well. It was nice to see the man laugh, as he had the face of a person who always seemed to be serious.

"What about Kimmy, she liked you," Sam said, reaching out to smack his arm lightly, and Nicky wanted to jump out of his skin in pure joy, goosebumps prickling under his jacket where Sam had touched him.

"Well, yeah, Kim was the best," he said, thinking back to his high school best friend who somehow found him tolerable, even though he was two years younger; it seemed to be a recurring theme with all the friends he had.

"You still talk to her?" Sam asked, setting down his glass and shifting to just face him, tilting his head to the side.

Nicky scoffed, shaking his head. "Do you really think that I, Nicholas Green, am still in touch with Kimberly Trainor, lead actress in three different franchises and star of a hit TV show that's been running for over four years? Because, uh, you'd be right."

Sam laughed, leaning forward. "No way, you still talk to Kimmy? How's she been? Besides, you know, being famous and acting and whatever."

"I don't know," Nicky admitted, shrugging, "It's been a while, but maybe she'll just drop by one day. She has one of the original keys to the loft, actually."

Sam raised an eyebrow. "Do you just make keys for everyone or is it only if they're very close, because I know Steve has a key here and now you're telling me that Kimmy has a key..."

"Do you want a key?" he asked, trying to sound casual, going so far as to prop his ankle on top of his knee, "Because you're always welcome here, whether or not we're home. Please, we're starved for friends."

Sam laughed again, and Nicky wondered if the man just laughed all that time at whatever anyone said, or if he was laughing because he pitied him. But the laugh seemed genuine, so he toyed with the notion that, maybe, Sam found him funny.

"How about I just knock on the door and if no one's home, I'll call and see when I can drop by another time?" he asked, and Nicky shrugged, pouting.

"If that's what you want," he sighed, exaggerating so Sam knew he was fine. Of course, what Sam said next made it so there was no way he was going to be fine.

"Probably can't call without your number," the older man pointed out, gesturing towards Nicky's phone on the coffee table.

He watched with faint amusement as Nicky stammered, scrambling for his phone, hands shaking as he pulled up his number and scanned over it, mumbling apologies for not having it memorized, as he often just carried around his business card.

"You have a business card?" Sam said, taking Nicky's phone and typing in the number into his phone, finding it rather funny to watch the younger man squirm, "You're pretty legit, huh?"

"Well, yeah, I didn't work my ass off for nothing," Nicky replied, unable to keep the defensive tone out of his voice that he always used whenever anyone scoffed at the fact he had majored in psychology.

Sam caught onto that, immediately raising an eyebrow. "You have no judgement from me, I think it's great. I was a counselor for vets back in D.C., and Steve tells me you like to lower your prices a lot."

"Yeah, I do. And Steve told me about that," Nicky said, nodding, "What made you want to take that up? I'm not, you know, trying to wrangle you into a session, I'm actually curious."

Sam relaxed slightly, moving to pour himself some milk and grab another cookie. "Well, I've been on two tours, you know, I've seen a lot. Figured I could try to help other people who are struggling, because I know a lot of people have it worse than me."

Nicky tilted his head. "That's really great of you, Sam. But do you try to downplay what you went through because you've met people who you think have had it worse than you?"

Sam scoffed lightly, looking down into his milk glass. "I thought you said you weren't wrangling me into a session."

"I'm not," Nicky said, now in his calmer mode saved for sessions or touchy subjects, "I just want to know."

Sam quirked his lips up. "Well, I'll have you know that I always tell everyone that their pain is just as important as anyone else's. It's not a contest to see who has it harder or who has it easier, it's about personal healing and getting better. But it's easier said than done."

Nicky nodded solemnly. "I hear you there."

"But that's not to say I'm struggling too much, I've gotten better over the years, I'm coping," Sam said, shrugging and taking a long sip of his milk, forcing Nicky into a silence.

When he set down his glass, the younger man spoke, "It's okay to not always be okay, Sam."

Sam sighed and shrugged the tension from his shoulders, looking over at Nicky who just looked back. He couldn't find it in himself to be upset, as was the case whenever anyone tried to tell him what he told others everyday; it was just hard to hear his own words be thrown back at him. But Nicky looked at him with an understanding of how he would react, but a need to let him hear his words, and Sam had to respect that.

"Same to you," he mumbled, and that made him feel better, especially when Nicky just gave him a small smile, raising his glass in a mock toast, Sam clinking his glass against his.

Glancing over towards the dining table, Nicky did a double take, only to smile fondly, Sam following his gaze.

Rhett was straddling Steve's waist, his face buried in the crook of his neck. At first look, it was a fairly risque sight, but upon further inspection, it could be easily seen that all Rhett was doing was clinging onto Steve, the other man wrapping his arms around him and just holding him. It was an intimate act, but not at all sexual, and Nicky just smiled.

Sam shook his head, a similar smile on his face. "Damn. You know, Steve hasn't been this happy in a long while."

Nicky forced himself to look away from the scene, feeling as though he was prying on a moment he wasn't allowed to see. "Really?"

Sam nodded, looking away as well. "Yeah. I'm not sure if I've ever truly seen him this genuinely happy. Rhett's good for him."

Nicky couldn't help but look back over at his roommate, his roommate who had stuck with him for so long, even after everything that had happened. "Works the other way around. Rhett's been in love with him all his life. And they're actually really good together."

Sam looked over at him, catching the bittersweet look the man had in his eyes. "You have someone like that?"

Nicky scoffed. "You interrupted the last date I've been on since...have I ever gone on a date?"

Sam made a sound in the back of his throat, eyebrows raised. "No kidding?"

The younger man shrugged, pulling in on himself. "Yeah, most people don't like me." He reached out and, because he was a child, dunked his cookie in his milk before taking a bite, unaware that he looked utterly dejected.

Sam tilted his head, just looking at Nicky for a moment. Then, reaching out and mumbling around the lip of his glass, he said, "Most people aren't worth it, anyways."

º º º

Nicky wished he could say that, after that day, he and Sam were best friends from there on out, and quickly fell into a whirlwind of love and romance.

But he couldn't. Because, as most realities went, that was not the case. While he and Sam weren't joined at the hip or talking a good amount of time, the man didn't completely fall off his radar, often coming with Steve if the man came for dinner, sometimes texting Nicky, though that wasn't very frequent.

"It's progress," Rhett said, the two of them lying down on Nicky's bed, "You're actually talking now. I mean, you never used to smile, now look at you."

Nicky raised his head from where it was buried in Rhett's shirt, looking at him, surprised. "You-you remember that?"

Rhett scoffed, pulling up so they were eye level. "Of course I do. I mean, my memory's dead in my teenage years, but I remember ending up here with you."

Originally from the '40's, same time as Steve, Rhett had bumped into Nicky sometime in his first few days in the new century, a year before Steve showed up, due to powers gifted to him by another experiment built for reconnaissance should America and its allies foresee losing WWII. Stranded, he ended up living with Nicky and everyone else at the complex, Nicky taking him as a roommate and teaching him modern culture.

He had liked Rhett then, about three months into the man's stay, when there was the inkling that maybe he would have to stay for longer. Of course, he had liked many people throughout his years, Terran being a very primary focus, but Rhett had been one that, no matter how hard he tried, he still couldn't fully get over.

"So you remember me never smiling?" Nicky asked, because he was so sure no one remember how he never used to smile, as he never found any reason to.

"Well, yeah. Though I saw you smile back then, just not a lot. But you did," Rhett shrugged, wrapping his arms around Nicky and just holding him.

"That's 'cause I liked you," the younger man mumbled, feeling incredibly childish once he said it.

Rhett smiled. "Yeah, I know. I still remember you telling me, you were so cute back then. And sad. Really, really sad."

Nicky scoffed. "Wow, thanks. You were still a huge ass, even back then."

Rhett laughed and reached out to poke Nicky's nose, sobering lightly, but still smiling. "You've gotten a lot better since I first met you. I'm really proud of you."

Nicky's face screwed up as he felt a surge of emotion so strong he felt the sudden need to cry. His chest constricted painfully, his heart aching, and he wasn't sure if it was because he was happy or sad, all he knew was Rhett's words affected him more than he wished they had.

"No one's said that to you a lot, huh?" Rhett said, more of a statement than a question, eyes searching Nicky's face before sighing and tugging him closer, "I'm sorry, kiddo, c'mere."

The younger man clung onto Rhett like a lifeline, reveling in the warmth of the blond, anchored by the strong arms keeping him in place, the soft voice mumbling words to him that sounded robotic, but filled with heart. That was the thing about Rhett, he never knew what to say, so he said what he hoped was alright, but poured his heart and soul out, despite his detachment. Any other person would hate it, but Nicky cherished it more than anything else.

He cherished the fact someone was willing to try.

"I'm getting better, yeah?" he asked, because he needed to hear it from someone else, needed the proof that he truly was getting better.

Rhett nodded, arms tightening around the smaller man. "You're doing so much better, Nicky. You really, really are."

That was all he needed to hear. He didn't need to be perfect, or even okay, not then, not now. All he needed to hear was that he was getting better. That was all he could ask of himself for now. And there was nothing wrong with that.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I've missed writing Nicky when he would just give advice and remind people to give themselves credit and look out for themselves, like, I miss Nicky from Lonely Hearts, he was much more childish, but also much more wise, all at once. Nicky from Past Lives was sadder, much more a tired soul, now he has his own story and I'm trying to figure him out.

We're making progress with the relationship, we're getting there ya'll, it's happening! Albeit, a bit slowly, but it's picking up!

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!