Kurt wasn't sure how it happened, or when, exactly. All he knew was that when he got back from Warbler rehearsal that night, his room was silent. Too silent.
The usual sounds of rustling feathers and the occasional chirps that comes from the cage sitting on the desk across the room weren't present. Kurt furrowed his brow; he had been relaxing after the rehearsal when he noticed the silence. He got up from his bed, where he had been leafing through the latest Vogue that had just come through the mail, and went over to inspect the quiet cage.
When he approached it, all he could see was a few yellow feathers scattered around a motionless form of a bird. Pavarotti.
Kurt's hand flew to his mouth in shock. "Oh my god!" he cried. He grabbed the cage and ran out into the hall, and straight to the door at the end of the hall. He knocked on it furiously, and there was a five second delay before the door opened. Kurt nearly punched Blaine in the face in his frenzy as Blaine stood there in the doorway, looking bewildered at Kurt's manic behavior.
"Kurt, what's wrong?" he asked, concerned.
"Blaine, oh my god, don't hate. Please tell them it wasn't my fault—I don't know what happened! I just was sitting there and, oh my god, please don't let them hate me—I just feel so sick and-"
Blaine stopped him by grabbing his arms and shaking him slightly. "Kurt." The other boy looked up for a second into hazel eyes and had a sharp intake of breath. Blaine just looked at him calmly.
"Now Kurt. You're going to come in and sit down, where you are going to calm yourself down and take some deep breaths before you tell me what the problem is." Blaine tugged Kurt's chin up so he was looking at him. "Do you understand?"
Kurt's reply was a meek "Yes," and he went over to sit on the chair that sat in front of Blaine's desk. He took some shaky breaths, then blurted out, "Blaine I think Pav is dead. For real this time." He held up the cage that he took with him as proof to the fact.
Blaine went over and inspected the cage and the bird that lay still in the corner. He scrunched his face, and said, "Kurt, are you sure? The last time, Pav was just molting. See, some of his feathers are gone, like that last time, even."
Kurt shot him a death glare. "I am positive. This is definitely not like the last time. Pav lives in my room, Blaine. I know this bird. The only other person who knows and loves this bird as much as I do is Flint, my roommate." Blaine considered this, then nodded in agreement. "That makes sense. But Kurt, how do you think it happened?"
"That's the thing. I have no idea." Kurt thought for a moment. "I mean, Flint and I always keep water in his dish, there's always food in there. He has a nice perch. I don't really know. He seemed really happy." Kurt was at his wits end trying to think of how Pav could have just up and keeled over like that.
He gasped. "Oh my god. I didn't think he would actually—Oh no!" He peered into the cage to confirm it, and then looked at Blaine with guilt written over his face. "I think he ate the berries I put on his cage. For some decoration."
Blaine looked confused. "Berries? How could Pav get sick from eating some berries? Birds eat berries all the time."
Kurt just paled. "But they weren't real berries. They were glittery. And made of plastic. And they're missing from the side of his cage. Oh my god, I killed Pav!" Kurt burst out into another fit of hysterics, and Blaine had to wrench the cage from his hands and put it aside to get him to shut up. Blaine wrapped him in a hug, and patted his back. Kurt was still sobbing, though not quite as loudly as before, and he was choking out words every now and then.
"Flint *sob* Pav *sob* loved that bird *sob* going to hate me *sob*" Blaine just rubbed comforting circles on his back and hushed Kurt until he was just sniffling quietly. Kurt pulled away and wiped his red eyes. "Blaine, Flint is going to kill me. He loves that bird. He loves him more than I do, I think. I don't know how to tell him!"
"Kurt, it'll be okay. Hey, why don't I tell everybody. We don't have to say how he—er—passed on, but I can tell everybody if you're worried about it." Kurt looked at him with gratitude and sniffled again. "Thank you, Blaine."
Blaine held out his hand and pulled Kurt up from the chair. "Come on, we've got some damage control to do."
They stood at the edge of the woods on the outskirts of the campus at Dalton, and most of the Warblers had decided to show up in mourning of their favorite bird. Kurt held the cardboard box in his hands and Blaine dug a shallow hole in the ground with a shovel they found in the janitor's closet near the commons. When Blaine was done digging the hole, he motioned over at Kurt to place the box in the grave. They covered it with dirt, and then stood up to face the small crowd that had gathered at the site.
"Would anybody like to say a few words, for Pav?" asked Blaine. There was silence, until Jeff nudged Flint forward. He looked around at the ground and then spoke.
"Um, I would," he said. He looked up to face Kurt and Blaine. "You all know how much I loved Pav. I think it's fitting to bury him here, in the outdoors. I've always wanted to take him outside sometime, but I never got the chance to when he was alive. I just—I—I just… I JUST MISS HIM SO MUCH, OKAY?"
Flint shot Kurt a death glare, as if he knew it was all his fault, and advanced towards him. "YOU!" Trent and David ran up to Flint and grabbed him arms, pulling him back before he got too close to Kurt.
"Whoa, Flint, buddy! Calm down. It's nobody's fault! The little bird's heart just gave out!" said David.
That started the flurry of excited interjections from the rest of the Warblers. They were all getting in each other's faces speculating about Flint's reaction, which caused some suspicion within them all. Wes turned to David and Trent, and said, "Will you two get him out of here? He's not stable right now." They nodded and led him away from the gravesite. Wes jumped in the middle of the argument and waved his hands around. "Now, you guys, I will have order!" They all stopped in the middle of their arguments, and turned to face him.
Logan stood near the back of group, where he hadn't done a thing in retaliation to Flint's response. "Geez, I thought I was bad when I don't take my pills." Thad glared at him. "You mock us, sir!" he scoffed.
Wes glared at them both, and then spoke. "This has gotten out of control, you guys. Let just all go back to our rooms and calm down, where we can discuss this later like civilized people." They all nodded in silent agreement, and followed him back to the school.
Kurt and Blaine remained, with looks of shock frozen on their faces. Blaine was the first to come to, and he turned to Kurt. "Well, that didn't quite go as expected," he said. Kurt still hadn't said anything until Blaine waved a hand over his face. "Kurt?"
The boy shook his head as he snapped out of his shock, and spoke. "What. In. The. Hell just happened?"
Blaine just chuckled a little, and shook his head. "You know, I'm not really sure."
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