Disclaimer: I do not own Glee. I don't own any of the Dalton Academy Warblers. But I do own...no wait, I don't own that, either. Darn.
Author's Note: I wrote The Apology, which was very well received, surprisingly. This is the possibly anticipated sequel, so I would go read The Apology first. I meant to post this one BEFORE "On My Way" aired, so it's totally non-canon to that episode. Here is Nick groveling to Jeff about the date. I'm not sure about this one, I'm pretty sure I'm going to be pressured to continue this...it was meant to be a short one-shot. So far it's 7 pages in word, and I just stopped it arbitrarily here. So, yeah. Reviews would be muchly appreciated. Tell me if I should trash this, or continue it. And for readers of Innocence Lost, I'm JUST about finished with the next few parts...should be updating soon. Sorry...
"Nick?" Jeff asked, his tone carefully neutral. "Do you know the meaning of the words 'bad decision'?"
Nick closed his eyes, pressing his lips together. "Yeah," he said quietly. "I think I do, now."
"I'm going to ask you a question, and you'd better tell me the truth," Jeff continued evenly. "Because I am this close," he held up two fingers very close together, "this close to telling you to fuck off and never speak to me again."
Nick nodded, chewing on his bottom lip. "Alright," he said. "Ask your question."
"Did you know that Sebastian had put rock salt in the slushie that he hit Blaine with?"
Nick's eyes widened, shaking his head automatically. "No," he said immediately. "I had no idea. You have to believe me, Jeff. I never had the slightest idea that he was going to put rock salt in. I was against the whole slushie thing from the very beginning."
"Then why?" Jeff asked, obviously trying hard not to lose his temper. Or maybe cry.
"Sebastian blackmailed me into it," Nick said, looking down at his hands. "He caught me doing something a few weeks ago, and he promised if I didn't go along with the slushie attack on Kurt that he was going to report me. But he didn't tell me anything about the rock salt, I swear."
"What did you do, Nick?" Jeff asked. "What could be more important than your friendship with Kurt and Blaine? Because I don't have to tell you, we, as a group, did some serious damage to that friendship."
"Nothing you don't know about," Nick said. "Sebastian, he um," the dark-haired boy rubbed the back of his neck. "He caught me coming out of your room at three a.m. awhile back. He's got pictures, time and date stamped, and he's promised to send them to my parents, your parents, and the Dean if I didn't go along."
Jeff laughed bitterly. "You're telling me that you're afraid that Sebastian will out you to your parents, and get you a slap on the wrist from the Dean for a movie night? That's why you got involved in slushying Kurt?" Because everyone knew that Kurt was the intended target of the doctored slushie.
Nick closed his eyes, trying to stay calm. "Yeah. It was stupid. And then, with Santana…"
"Tell me about that one, Nick. Tell me why you slushied that girl." Jeff's sarcasm was biting.
"Because Sebastian promised Trent and I that, if we didn't get the slushie, he'd put something ten times worse than rock salt in it. And I didn't want to find out what could be ten times worse than what he did to Blaine. Please, Jeff, you have to believe me."
Jeff nodded. "I believe you. I still think you were acting stupid, and childish, but I believe you. But you'd better go. You don't want to get back to your dorm room after curfew, after all." His tone was firm, and somewhat mocking.
"Alright," Nick said quietly. He took a step towards the blond boy, but stopped when Jeff shook his head. "I can't kiss you goodbye?"
"Go, Nick. I'll see you at breakfast. Maybe." Jeff closed and firmly locked the door behind Nick.
Only to have his door knocked on less than a minute later. "I told you to go away!" he called.
"Jeff, man, it's Trent. Can I talk to you?" Trent said through the door.
"Yeah," Jeff sighed, opening the door. "What do you want?"
"To apologize," Trent said. "And to tell you that I'm Skyping Wes tonight. I want to tell him what happened and ask his advice."
"Why are you apologizing to me?" Jeff asked. "I can think of a few other people that you should be apologizing to first."
Trent shook his head. "I talked Nick into helping me get the slushie Sebastian threw at Santana," he said. "I want to apologize for that."
"Why did you get that slushie?" Jeff asked, interested in seeing if Trent's answer was the same as Nick's. "Because, I gotta tell you, Blaine is my friend. And yeah, I turned tail and ran, same as the rest of you, but I can guarantee, as soon as he returns my text messages, I'm going over there to beg his forgiveness."
"I got the slushie because Sebastian promised that, if I didn't, he was going to put something ten times worse than rock salt in it, and make sure she paid for defending Kurt." Trent sighed. "Look, man, I just want to make sure everything's okay with you and Nick. You guys are so good together, almost as good as Kurt and Blaine, and well, that's saying something, especially coming from me. Cause, you know, I'm straight and all."
Jeff chuckled bitterly. "No, Trent, everything's not okay. I can't believe he had such a big part in that. And I'm having a real hard time forgiving him. I don't know if I really can."
"You gotta forgive him, man. He loves you. He feels awful about this. Man, come on!"
"Are you seriously grovelling about my relationship's future? When you aren't part of my relationship?" Jeff asked.
"Nick loves you," Trent said again. "You have to believe me. He's really sorry, he's beating himself up over this, and I hate seeing him so distraught…"
"Trent, give it up," Jeff said. "I'll have to make a decision about this, but I'm not going to do it with anyone else's input. Just go, okay?"
"Promise me you'll at least think of what I've said?"
"You've all but gotten down on your knees to beg."
"Would that help?" Trent asked seriously. "Cause I will, if it'll help."
Jeff bit back a smile. "Go away. Now. Before I report you for being out after curfew."
Trent sighed, then turned to the door. "Goodnight, Jeff."
"Goodbye, Trent."
Once again, Jeff locked his door behind another Warbler. He sat down on the bed and sent another text, this time to Kurt.
~Buddy, you have to know I had nothing to do with any of this. I'm sorry I ran, I just reacted. I want to see Blaine, can you arrange it?
To his surprise, Kurt called him back within five minutes. "Kurt?" Jeff asked, answering the phone.
"Hey," Kurt said. "Look, I'm against Blaine seeing any of the Warblers, ever again. But he's insisting. He goes in for surgery tomorrow. I'll text you when he's up to having visitors besides me, my family, and his. He doesn't have access to his phone because he keeps squinting at the screen and giving himself a bad headache, so I took it away."
"Man, I am so sorry, you have no idea. I'm barely speaking to Nick over this. I can't stand that he had something to do with hurting you guys."
"Don't leave Nick over this," Kurt said softly. "You two are good together. Not as good as Blaine and I, of course, but good. Think about it before you make any rash decisions."
"Thanks, man," Jeff said quietly. "I really do need to think about this. He hurt a friend of mine, then one of the other guys grabbed my arm, and pulled me away. Shoved me into a car before I could see what was really going on, before I could do anything more than listen to Blaine's screams."
"I didn't see you fighting him," Kurt said quietly.
"I was in shock. It's no excuse. But you guys had it well in hand, I knew you could handle it, so I didn't make a scene. I'm sorry Kurt. More sorry than you'll ever know."
"Uh-huh. You're lucky it wasn't worse," Kurt said quietly. "Very, very lucky. I'm on his back porch right now, he doesn't know I'm talking to you, and I need to get back in there and make sure he's alright. His mom is out of town, as usual, and his dad has been working long hours, so I've been staying here to take care of him. I'll talk to him after the surgery, but again, I'm not promising anything. But I need to go. Later." He hung up, leaving Jeff staring at his phone. Jeff wouldn't sleep much that night.
In his room, Trent loaded up Skype on his computer and called Wesley, who was living in Los Angeles, going to UCLA, so it was three hours earlier.
"Hey, Trent," the former Warbler councilmember said quietly, a look of obvious disapproval on his face. "Wanna tell me what's going on?"
"We fucked up," Trent said dejectedly. "Well, actually, Sebastian fucked up, and the rest of us just followed his lead."
"Right. Hide behind the new guy. Because that works just so well."
"How do you even know what happened?"
"Uh, let's see. David? Kurt? Blaine? Facebook? Take your pick. I'm pretty sure David called me when you guys were just leaving the scene of the crime. Kurt posted on Facebook that every last Warbler was going to die if he had anything to say about it, and my texts to Blaine came back with 'can't see, will text you after surgery'. Surgery, Trent. What the hell?"
"Sebastian has this thing for Blaine. Kurt has this thing for hating Sebastian. Sebastian told me about the McKinley slushie tradition, said it was just a high school prank, harmless. I didn't even know about the first slushie until we were on the way to the parking garage where it happened. By then, really, it was too late, and then we were singing and dancing, and I kinda forgot about it, until Nick and Flint handed it off to Sebastian, and then it happened, and there was rock salt, which no one knew about but Sebastian. It's bad, Wes."
"You're damn right it's bad. The New Directions could have you guys removed from Regionals. All it would take is a phone call to the Dean of Dalton, you know that. I've recommended to Kurt that he do so. I don't think a team that would cheat to win deserves to compete at all." Wes shook his head, the disapproval obvious over the webcam. "Look, Trent, I can see you feel awful. But you guys have to step up and take responsibility. Even if you didn't know about the rock salt, you knew about the slushie, You knew that Kurt came to Dalton to avoid the bullying, which that slushie was just a part of. You knew Blaine originally came to Dalton for the same reason. And you're telling me that you thought it was okay? And then, to repeat the slushying, this time to a girl, inside the walls of Dalton? Man, you're right it's bad."
"Are they going to turn us in?" Trent asked weakly.
"I hope they do!" Wes exclaimed. "But I know they won't. I'm embarrassed to associate myself with you guys right now. Once a Warbler, always a Warbler? You guys proved that isn't true. But in any case Kurt, or more likely Blaine, is more forgiving than I am, and both of them are determined to compete honourably, not removing you guys by force. Anyway, I recommend you talk to Thad and David. Get them to suspend Sebastian from Regionals. And give up on using Michael Jackson. You guys don't deserve it. Not at all. Let the New Directions do their thing. If you do that, then maybe I'll have something to say to you next time we talk. Otherwise, don't bother. I'm disgusted. By all of you. You're not Warblers, you're petty criminals."
"Wes, wait!" Trent cried, but the older boy ended the call. Trent knew he had to do something to make it right.
Jeff was very cool towards Nick the next day, and not at all surprised when Trent didn't show up for Warbler practice. He was, however, surprised to see that Sebastian wasn't there either.
Thad and David, sitting at the council table which held an empty seat, got everyone's attention when David used the gavel. "Warblers," Thad said, standing up. "It looks like we may be down to the bare minimum of twelve for our Regionals performance, and that means we're going to need some new, as-yet-untried soloists."
"Where is Sebastian?" Jeff asked quietly, sitting on a stool across the room from his possibly ex-boyfriend. He still hadn't made up his mind.
"Thad and I have decided that Sebastian will not be competing with the Warblers at Regionals. In light of recent events, we feel it is in bad form to allow someone who would stoop so low to lead our group. Additionally, our entire set-list must now be changed. We're not doing Michael Jackson." David looked around, expecting gasps of surprise, and was satisfied when all he saw were nods of approval. "So, any potential song choices for Regionals should be put into the suggestion box by week's end. Also under new business. Former Warbler Blaine Anderson, as you all know, is undergoing surgery today to repair his torn cornea. It is my wish that we put together a small number, perhaps just a quartet, of members to go to his house and find some way of apologizing for what was done to him."
The cacophony of voices rose to a fevered pitch before the gavel came down again. "Enough!" David exclaimed. "Just think about it. About who should be involved, about who should be left out. Suggestions can be brought to Thad, myself, or Jeff. Next order of business."
"Why me?" Jeff interrupted.
"Simple. We need a third council member. You're a senior. You're eligible, and you're one of the only seniors that we feel had nothing to do with the debacle that was 'Bad'. That was supposed to be a fun, dance-off type number. And it was incredible," David said. "Everyone in this room did an amazing job with their parts. And if it had ended with that, New Directions would have had to concede defeat. We would have won fair and square. But it didn't end with that. And that's why we're still competing at Regionals, but without the set-list we wanted. Because Former Warbler Kurt Hummel didn't think it was necessary to call the Dean. As you all know he could have. We could all be suspended or expelled at this point, and some of you don't even seem to care."
Thad touched David's shoulder. "Man, we need to push past this," he whispered.
"Right. Okay. Jeff, are you interested in taking Sebastian's place on the council? We could really use you."
Jeff nodded. "I'll do it," he said. He walked up and took the left-hand seat, pressuring David to take the center seat at the table.
The Warbler rehearsal continued, albeit subdued, with impromptu solo auditions. Right before the end of the scheduled rehearsal time, Trent walked in, his head down. He walked up to Nick, tapping him on the shoulder. "Man, can I talk to you in the hallway?" he asked softly.
Nick nodded. He excused himself and followed Trent into the hall. "What's going on?" he asked.
"I'm just back from seeing Blaine," Trent said simply.
"Really? Is he okay?"
"He's tired and sore. In a lot of pain, but he accepted my apology. On one condition. Well, actually, Kurt set the condition, and he called Santana to ask her if she'd accept the apology. And you and I have to take Santana and her girlfriend to Breadstix, sometime in the next week."
"No way," Nick shook his head. "Man, I'm in such deep water with Jeff already, you can't tell me I have to take a girl on a date."
"If we don't do it, our names are going to be on the Dean's desk," Trent said quietly. "Look, it's just one dinner at the Stix. With lesbians. Jeff can't fault you for wanting to keep the Warblers a viable show choir."
Nick sighed. "I don't know, Trent. I don't think I can do this. I have to talk to Jeff. Don't make plans until I talk to him, okay?"
"Make it quick, man. We've only got a few days to do it in."
"I'll try to talk to him tonight. If he'll let me." Nick looked down at his hands. "Once we do this, that's it, though?"
"That's it, as long as we treat them right. I'm going to ask my dad for the Bentley. I figure if we show them a platonic good time, we'll be through with it. On the plus side, you'll be seen in public with a hot girl, which should keep you firmly in the closet with your parents for a little while longer."
Nick sighed. "You know my parents will disown me, trust fund and all, if I come out. Jeff understands it, and accepts it. But it still upsets him. I can't do that to him, Trent."
"You have to," Trent said. "Otherwise, I'm afraid of what will happen."
"What's the worst they can do? Suspend a few of us?"
Trent shook his head. "No. The worst they could do…" he sighed. "Is expel us, and disband the Warblers. Other schools have done it. Man, we're in deep water. Wes is pissed, Kurt is livid, and Blaine…Blaine will forgive us, if we do this. We can make it right."
Nick sighed. "Alright," he said. "I'll do it. I'll just…call Santana and find out what day she wants to go out, so I know, and we'll go from there." He nodded firmly, and walked back into the choir room.
That evening, Nick convinced Jeff to come to his room, a single, for dessert after dinner. He'd ordered, and had delivered, a cheesecake, Jeff's favorite.
Jeff sat in the desk chair, instead of on the bed like he normally would, toying with the cheesecake. "Why did you ask me to come here?" he asked after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence.
"I thought you would like some cheesecake?" Nick asked.
"Not buying it. You're bribing me."
Nick rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah," he said. "I am. Listen, you know if I could take you out to Breadstix, or hell, any restaurant, just the two of us, I would. Which is why this is so hard…"
"What? Nick, just spit it out."
"Trent talked to Blaine, and by extension, Kurt today," Nick said. "He went over there."
"Blaine JUST had his surgery!" Jeff exclaimed. "Man, Trent's a real piece of work. I bet that was a lovely experience for everyone involved."
"Yeah, from what I gathered, Kurt wasn't too thrilled. But the real surprise was what Kurt's decided to do to those of us, bar Sebastian, who were involved in slushying the girl."
"What's that?" Jeff asked. "He isn't going to get you expelled, is he? I mean, not that you don't deserve some sanction, but I don't think I could handle it if you were expelled."
"Keep thinking that way. Because what's going to happen isn't nearly as bad as that. I…I have to go on a date. Not a real date, of course. But Trent and I have to take Santana and her girlfriend to Breadstix. For dinner."
"What?" Jeff asked incredulously. "You've got to be kidding me. You 'have' to go on a date. With a woman. And not just a date. A double date. Without me. Not a chance. You do it, we're through."
"I don't do it, the Warblers are through," Nick countered. "I will literally get down on my knees and beg if you want me to. But I need to do this. Not for me, I could care less about buying a girl dinner. Besides, they're lesbians. I need to do this for the Warblers."
Jeff shook his head. "I'll be leaving now." He stood up. "There's only one way you could ever get me to be okay with this. And I know you'll never do it, so forget it."
"What?" Nick begged. "Jeff, tell me what I can do to fix this?"
"You know what you can do. Call your dad." With that said, Jeff walked out of the room, letting the door fall shut behind him.
Nick swallowed uneasily. He couldn't. If he told his dad he was gay, and dating a fellow Dalton student, his dad would disown him. If not outright have him killed. The Duval family didn't take kindly to weakness. And homosexuality was, in his grandfather's eyes, the ultimate weakness. So he had a choice to make. And it was a complicated one. He grabbed his keys, ran out of the room and down the hall, pounding on Jeff's door.
"What?" Jeff snapped, throwing open the door. "I'm pretty sure I said enough."
"I just need you to clarify something for me," Nick said. "If I go home tonight. Talk to my family. Tell them everything. Well, not everything, because they don't need to know my sex life. But if I go home, and tell my family that I'm dating you, in love with you, and plan to be with you for a very long time, you'll be okay with me going on this forced date? You'll be okay with me saving the Warblers?"
Jeff sighed. "If I thought you would actually do it…yes. But hypothetically, if you actually came out to your family, and told them you were dating me, I would be fine with you going to Breadstix with the girls."
Nick nodded. "I thought that's what you meant. I just had to be certain. Do me a favor?"
"What?" Jeff asked, irritated.
"If my dad kills me, go on the date with Trent and the girls, to save the Warblers?" Nick leaned in, while the shock was still evident on Jeff's face, pressed a quick, hard kiss to his lips. "I won't be back before curfew, so I'll just stay the night at my parents' house. If they let me. If not, I'll call you and have you sneak me back in, okay?"
Jeff nodded, in awe. "You're actually going…"
"To tell my parents that I'm gay, and in love with you. Yes. I love you. And I love the Warblers. But mostly you. And I'd do anything to not have you mad at me anymore. And if that means risking life and limb, I'll do it. Because I love you. And…yeah, I already said that. Okay. I'm going now, before I talk myself out of it."
Like it? Hate it? Let me know! That little button right there? It's there so you can send reviews. Which are better than chocolate to me. Better than anything else that I've tried...oh dear...songfic plot bunny hatching. AHHH!