Just a little something I wanted to try. Shouldn't be over 7 chapters long though. Hope you enjoy :)

Un-beta-ed work, so all mistakes are mine!

Welcome to Aurora High School, where Kurt is the new kid, the Briggs twins and gang are Parkour addicts, Tasha's brother's is in jail and Edgar's coach is a molester. Oh, and Patterson has self-esteem issues.

In This With You

1

Remi woke up gasping. Her body felt tense and stiff and damp with cold sweat. Her shoulders were shaking slightly. She could hear the orders ring in her ears, as clear as if they had been spoken right next to her.

'Kill it,' the instructor ordered firmly. She watched the small living creature gnawing on some straw, its bright dark eye upon her. She reached out, slowly covered the bunny's head in one hand and-

A deep shiver ran through her spine. Her hand reached out and encountered something warm and solid. When she opened her eyes, she realized she was touching the faded green of Roman's T-shirt. The tension within her bled out at once and she bit back a sob. Nightmares. Memories. Sometimes she had the former, sometimes of the latter, but a combination of both often required external help to shrug them off. She knew it would be bad last night. They both knew it would be bad, so they had migrated to her bed to be together in the morning.

Her brother was still sleeping; she could hear his regular breathing pattern, feel the rising and lowering of his chest through her hand. Her restlessness hadn't awakened him, and she was glad for it. He needed the rest. Her nightmares were vicious, but she could handle them during the day. Roman would sleep thoroughly but had a harder time reining in his feelings when fully conscious.

Remi flattened her hand against his chest, feeling his heartbeat. Her bed was slightly larger than her brother's, but they still needed to lay close to each other to be comfortable. The shutters hadn't been completely closed to let the morning light filter. She blinked away the last traces of sleepiness and focused on the resting face in front of her. She memorized once again the line of his eyebrow, his nose, his slightly parted mouth, the stubbly chin and cheeks. The sight soothed her. They had been born on the same day, her preceding him by twenty-seven minutes. In spite of the physical differences, he was her double, her flesh and her blood, another part of her that anchored her to the world. Nightmares could come and go but as long as he remained by her side, she would fight her way back to stay by his. As long as they were together, they were always stronger.

Roman stirred, shifting position in his semi-awaken state. His moving brought him closer and when he cracked an eye open, his face stood inches from hers.

"Morning," she greeted softly. The corner of his lips twitched upwards.

"Morning," he replied, his voice still a little rough from sleep. She tried to smile back, but failed. He lifted an arm, inviting her to close the remaining distance between them. Remi immediately scooted closer and buried her face into his shoulder. "That bad?" he asked sleepily.

"I don't want to talk about it."

He grunted and held her tighter.

"We still have an hour," he muttered. "Try to sleep some more."

Remi knew he wasn't being dismissive. At this point, nothing much could help her aside from her brother's embrace. He smelt like sweat and that awful cheap lemon soap he seemed to be so fond of, but he was solid and real. And more importantly, he kept the nightmares at bay. So she closed her eyes, relaxed and let herself doze off.

ITWY

The alarm had been ringing for a full minute but Kurt couldn't find the strength to cut it off. He lay on his back, staring at the ceiling, wondering if getting up would even be worth it. His life sucked, had sucked for a long time and that fact wouldn't change just because they had moved from Pennsylvania to Colorado. His mother would still pretend nothing was wrong, his sister would still hate him and he would still hate his father.

His drunk, asshole, fucking murderer of a father.

He immediately pushed the rising anger far into the back of his mind and lashed it tightly. He needed to keep control for now. Snapping on the first day in his new school wouldn't do. He had promised he would watch his temper, work on his mood swings. He didn't want to become his father.

The incessant beeping finally got to him and he slammed the buzzer with more force than necessary. Today was a new start, their new start, and he would make it work. He had to believe it would work, or everything they had done would be for naught. And yet, he couldn't find the strength to get up.

His phone beeped, distracting him from his thoughts. Kurt glanced at the screen, smiled as he saw the name of the sender and even more its content.

'Don't get lazy on your first day.'

Only Allison Knight would make him smile when he'd feel so depressed with a simple text. Of all the things he had left behind, his best friend was one he already missed.

'Wouldn't dream of it', he texted back. Then he glanced at the time and smirked. 'Aren't you supposed to be in class?'

The time zone was different from one State to another, but he could swear she should be at least in first period. She was either skipping class or being really bored.

'Math', was her one-word reply and he chuckled. Allie positively loathed mathematics.

'Be easy on your next tutor', he typed and pressed sent. A pouting emoticon returned ten seconds later. Kurt grinned and decided he had postponed his rising long enough. He threw the covers off, stepped out of bed and readied himself for a new day.

ITWY

"Hey Cade, think you'll hit the Playground after school today?"

Cade briefly looked away from the road and glanced at his foster brother. Markos was scrolling through his latest text conversation, a light frown on his forehead.

"Who's offering?" he inquired.

"Roman. Apparently Remi had a nightmare. The bad kind," he added afterthought. "She might be a bit edgy so he's offering to blow off some steam."

Cade nodded and took a left turn. They were picking up Danny on the way. Which made him wonder…

"Does Nas need a ride?" he suddenly asked. "I can't remember if she's on her own today."

"Nah, her father is dropping her off at school," Markos checked his phone again and started writing an answer to whoever he had been talking to. Most likely Roman. "I'm game for tonight. So what do you say?"

Danny's house came into view. Cade pulled into a full stop and honked. Then only he considered his options. His homework was mostly done, safe for a book that needed reading and a few easily solvable things. No TV show worth his interest aired today. His fingers tapped the wheel as he focused back on a point he hadn't considered earlier.

"Roman asked? Not Remi?"

"You heard me the first time."

Cade snorted. If Roman was offering on behalf of their fearless leader, then it must have been a helluva nightmare. Even though they had known each other for a full year, the twins had always been very hushed about their past. Still, the bits and parts he and the others had gathered in time indicated they had had a one-of-a-kind childhood.

"Fine," he answered eventually. "But I have to see Borden at three."

"Roman's scheduled at four, so we'll head there 'round five."

"Works for me." That would give him far enough time to complete his assignments. "Does the invitation extend to the others?"

Markos glared at him.

"Of course it does. Our group isn't the 'Orphans Only' club." His phone beeped twice. A quick glance at his screen and he mumbled: "Ana's coming; guess we'll have to drive her home. And Kat will be there…that's weird, I thought she had a thing tonight."

"Kat will go anywhere as long as Roman's there," Cade commented slyly.

Outside, Danny stormed out of his house, looking every bit like the devil himself was on his tail.

"Just like you'd go anywhere as long as Nas comes too?" Markos remarked with a hint of a smirk. Cade didn't have time to shoot something back, Danny literally flung himself into the back seat.

"Sorry guys," he said, hastening to lock his seatbelt. "My granny's staying at home and is trying to feed me her family stew. Drive please before she realizes I accidently forgot my lunchbox?"

The two foster brothers snickered and took off.

ITWY

Edgar Reade watched Freddy dart away to class. His football buddy had been acting strange for weeks and it was worrying him. Coach Jones had assured him he was just going through a hard phase, and the best was to let things unfold with time. Still, he didn't like the light in his friend's eyes dying a little more every day. And Freddy had become so closed off lately…

He shook his head and focused on his next move. The extra morning training had made them late, and he was expected in ten minutes at the secretary's office. The building was just in sight, so he didn't feel the urge to hurry. He walked through the crowd of the last late students at leisure, which was probably why he spotted his best friend among them. She approached with her usual scorn on her face and hadn't seen him approach. Edgar grinned and sneaked behind her.

"So, Tasha, woke up late today?" he asked casually.

Tasha jolted and stared at him in surprise. Edgar's smile immediately vanished. Her eyes were red and puffy and the detachment on her face obviously fake.

"Oh, hi Ed." She replied lightly, but the heart wasn't into it. That worried him even more.

"What's going on Tash?"

Her voice wavered and the smile she had attempted to give him faded quickly. Edgar stepped closer and touched her elbow for comfort. She was a tough girl, not many things could make her break. She looked away, lips pressed together. Uneasy.

"They are moving my brother," she said tersely. "He won't tell me where."

Edgar bit back a wince. Josh Zapata had been arrested eight months ago for petty theft, drug dealing and homicide. Since he had surrendered quietly and cooperated with his lawyer, the court had cut him a deal. But Tasha still had to bear the consequences of having a criminal in her family on her own. Her father had left them when they were young; her mother spent half her time at work and the other dealing with a bottle. Josh and she had been very close growing up and while she hadn't been blind to his whereabouts, watching him walk away in cuffs had been the worst moment in her life.

"I'm sorry Tash," Edgar said genuinely. He had always considered Josh to be a bit of an ass, but the guy did care for his sister. "If you need anything, just say the word."

He was probably her only friend -aside from Patterson, but that girl was friendly with everyone -in the whole school after the case was made public. Most had shunned her and a few parents had even attempted to make her change school. Headmaster Pellington, for his many flaws, had stood his ground on that last part, emphasizing that her brother's faults weren't her own. Reade's parents liked her well enough and had welcomed her under their roofs when she had needed space before. With a little convincing, he was sure he could coax them into lending their couch a few nights.

"I'll be fine," Tasha assured him. "I think he will still call sometimes."

He didn't know what to say, so he settled for a classic but genuine:

"I'm here if you need me."

She gave him a weak smile of thanks before asking:

"Aren't you supposed to be in Carter's class right now? I thought it was this way," she said, nodding towards a rather far away part of their high-school.

He shrugged innocently. Part of the reason why he agreed to the job was the bonus out-of-jail card he'd get for any lateness in class. Especially Carter's.

"I'm supposed to welcome the new transfer student. Doctor Borden thought it might help," he explained.

"As long as he or she doesn't turn out like the Briggs twins," she muttered bitterly before glancing at a spot over his shoulder. "Speaking of which…"

He followed her stare. Near the entrance gates, a group of students had gathered briefly. Edgar watched them greet each other and then promptly separate. Markos and Cade Lipinski, Danny Mitchell, Nas Kamal and of course, Remi and Roman Briggs. Tasha held a grudge against the two latter ever since she had been designated to show them around school at their arrival last year. In spite of his numerous attempts to pull the truth out, Edgar had never gotten the full story behind their mutual animosity.

"I should go," she muttered. "See you at lunch."

"Same table," he confirmed before taking off to the secretary's office. This time, he was late.