So, first things first. This is not part on the Unicorns and Angels 'verse. It is instead another AU, based on the fact that at the proposal, one key Warbler was missing. The question is - why? And this came to my head...

2pm

"Where is he Duval? He knew the time, he knew exactly how important this was, so where the heck is he?"

"I'm his boyfriend, Sebastian, not his keeper! Do you think that if I knew where he was I wouldn't tell you? So, I will tell you again; he told me that he had to go and pick something up at the mall, and he would be straight back. I tried to go with him, but he said that he had to go on his own. He must have got held up somehow. I have tried calling him three times already for you now, and it just goes to voicemail, so I assume that he is driving back. You know as well as I do what a cautious driver he is. He will get here, I am certain of it. He was so angry that he was off sick when Blaine came and asked us to do this, and you know that he has come back early just to be here today."

"The fact remains, Nicholas, that he isn't here! We have a whole routine choreographed with the New Directions, which will fall apart completely if he fails to show up and soon…."

"Actually, Sebastian," said Trent, walking up, "it won't. Turns out that they have a missing member too and a far more significant one. Finn hasn't shown up. Blaine is doing the kind of deep breathing exercises that you see on stress prevention videos, although Sam is helping him a great deal. Rachel is screeching down her phone to his voicemail every two minutes, and Mercedes is trying to stop Santana from going over and throttling her. Artie is being the voice of reason as usual, and that blonde Cheerio - Kitty, I think her name is - is just finding it all so amusing. Oh, and Tina keeps flirting with me, despite the fact that I have told her that I am gay about a million times already."

Sebastian shook his head, pulled out his phone and dialled. He sighed, then spoke. "Sterling! You had better get here pretty soon or you and I are going to have to have a long chat about your timekeeping and your priorities! Call me, or Nick, or better still, just get here and talk to me face to face!" With that Sebastian stalked off in the direction of the door leaving Trent alone with a concerned Nick.

"Where is he Trent? He said that he would be back half an hour ago. He told me that he was getting a surprise for me; that he hoped that I would love it. You know how much he was looking forward to seeing Blaine ask Kurt the big question…"

"He was bouncing about like Tigger on acid, yes…"

"So were you Mr Nixon, and before you say anything, I admit that I was too. What do you think will happen if Kurt says no?"

"We would have to stop Blaine doing something stupid - but I know Kurt. I doubt that this will be too much of a shock to him. In fact, I am almost positive that he will already know what is going on - I mean, Finn is involved and we all know that he cannot be trusted to keep a secret. That is probably why he hasn't arrived - he'll be afraid that Blaine will kill him! Ok, Nick, put your phone away. He will be here. If he misses it, he misses it. With Finn AWOL too, maybe it is better that he isn't here. It gives us even numbers for that dance."

"True, but it just isn't like him to be late!" Trent sighed and nodded. He wouldn't dare to admit it to nick, but Jeff's absence was spooking him out too. He didn't like it one bit. After all, he had been dropping hints that he was intending to do something special too. He had an idea what it was, but for now, all he could do was wait and hope that he would arrive in time.

He did not have time to wonder long. Sam suddenly shouted that Kurt was almost there; Sebastian was suddenly barking orders at the Warblers in a tone that would not have been out of place coming from Hunter. Even the thought of that name still sent a shudder through Trent. Nick was on his phone again, frantically telling Jeff that they were about to start; that Sebastian would probably kill him; but that he loved him and just wanted to see him. Trent suddenly felt Sebastian's glare upon them and he dragged Nick into his place. "He'll be so upset," he said to his friend. "Just remember that Nick. No shouting, just comforting arms. I will try and restrain Sebastian. Now, sort out your hair, and smile. This is a happy day after all!"

Nick nodded, and quickly sorted his hair back into place, and fixed a smile on his face. He wasn't going to ruin Kurt and Blaine's moment, not for anything. He glanced over to Blaine in his mustard yellow suit (only he could pull that off!) as Rachel adjusted his bowtie and tried to calm his nerves, as he stressed as to why Kurt was standing outside talking to his dad for so long. And then he heard the first notes of the Marseillaise begin. He looked at Trent, who nodded. And Nick put his whole focus on what he had to do…

As he had waited on tenterhooks under a shower of rose petals for Kurt to give his one word answer to his old friend's question, Nick spotted something that puzzled him. A figure had appeared in the doorway as Blaine had uttered the final words of his proposal. He recognised the guy as one of the older New Directions - Puck he seemed to recall his name was - but it was his facial expression that worried Nick. He looked as if the weight of the world had just fallen onto his shoulders. Whilst everyone else was smiling in anticipation, he wasn't. As Kurt said yes and the room erupted into cheers, he looked as if he was about to burst into tears. If Nick hadn't been sure that he was straight, then he would think that he wanted to marry Kurt, and now his dreams had been shattered. As it was, as everyone began to crowd around Kurt and Blaine, he stepped forward and grabbed Burt by the shoulder as the latter stood beside Will Schuester. He saw the two of them follow Puck back out of the room…. Then Trent was pulling him into the melee, to see up close the small circle of metal that signified his two friends commitment to one and other. God knows that he wanted to ask Jeff the same question, but that could wait a little longer - at least until they had left school. But hey, it just seemed so right for Kurt and Blaine, and he was more than a little jealous…

He didn't get long to look at the ring as it happened. Burt and Will came back into the room, their smiles now fading, their faces ashen. Will stepped over to Rachel and Nick heard him ask her quietly to come with him for a moment. Burt was spiriting Kurt away too, with Blaine in tow. They were no sooner gone than Puck stepped back into the room, and made his way over to where Mercedes and Santana stood with the younger New Directions.

"So, Puck, any idea where Hudson is? This was his little brother's big moment, so he had better have a good…" Santana tailed off as Puck suddenly burst into tears. His sobs drew the attention of the whole room, which fell silent as Mercedes stepped up and put an arm around his shoulders.

"What's going on, Puck?" said Sam. "Burt and Mr Schue just took Kurt, Blaine and Rachel away, and now…" Puck wiped at his eyes and just stared blankly at him.

"What's happened to Finn, Noah?" said Artie quietly.

"He was on his way, so up for this, so excited…. There was an accident on the freeway. A pile up. He got caught in the middle of it. He didn't make it. Finn's dead. My best friend is dead…."

At that statement there was absolute silence. In the space where only a few moments earlier there had been loud cheerful noise you could now hear a pin drop. All eyes had turned to Puck - well at least those of the New Directions and the older of the Warblers. Tina was clutching Artie's hand, who was just shaking his head. There was an air of disbelief. They wanted to accept what Puck had just said but at the same time, they were all hoping and praying that it wasn't true. It couldn't be. Someone like Finn could not just be snuffed out, just like that. It wasn't possible. It was not right. But there was the fact that three people, the two that were closest to him and Blaine, had been spirited away, and that did not bode well. Nick felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. It had to be true - it wasn't something that you made jokes about. Plus it would explain why Jeff wasn't here - if the freeway had been closed, then he would be caught in the traffic chaos that would have occurred as a consequence. He would be stuck in a queue of slow moving traffic somewhere. He almost felt guilty that he had an explanation for his boyfriend's absence when it meant that someone else had been killed…

"Please tell us that it isn't true, Puck," said Tina quietly.

Then her answer came in the sound of an aching sob from one direction, closely followed by a scream from the other. A scream that was unmistakeably Rachel. That was all it took to send Marley crashing towards the floor, stopped only from doing so by the timely arms of both Jake and Ryder. To everyone's surprise, Santana also stumbled, and was caught by a startled Seth, one of the younger Warblers. Tina fell on top of Artie in a dead faint. Sam just stood there, staring forward, tears rolling down his cheeks; he stood alone until a tearful Mercedes beckoned him over, and then he fell gratefully into her arms and those of Puck, all three of them devastated by their loss.

"Poor Kurt," Trent whispered in Nick's ear. "This was the happiest day, probably of his life so far, and now, in a moment, it has to be one of the worst. I know how it feels to lose someone that you love so suddenly. My heart goes out to him, and Blaine. To all of them… he was one of the good guys."

Nick nodded and looked at Sebastian, who seemed to be frozen in shock. "We should take them all to the Commons, Sebastian. Let them grieve in private, rather than here in the main hall…"

"You're right, Nick. Show them the way guys. Get them coffee, drinks… they have lost a friend. Kurt has lost a brother. He was a Warbler, and you all know what that means."

So it was that the Warblers guided the New Directions towards the Senior Commons; helped to carry Artie over the stairs; to support Tina as she stumbled in a zombiefied stupor. Once there, it was Artie that pulled out his phone first and announced that he was going to call Mike, so he didn't find out about it on the news. That lead to Santana making a call to Brittany; Puck attempting to call Quinn, and in the end having to pass his phone to Mercedes when words just failed him. Around them, the Warblers made a fuss, bringing drinks and snacks, offering tissues, just listening. All the old animosity was put aside; Kurt had lost his brother, and the Warblers were honour bound to support him and ergo, his friends.

Trent had in the course of doing this had come across Blaine slumped to the floor outside a classroom, as Kurt sobbed in Burt's arms inside. He had at once sat down next to him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. Blaine had promptly thrown himself against his chest and proceeded to sob his heart out. Trent could do nothing more than hold him as he did so, knowing that soon he would be back to comforting Kurt, and putting his own pain and loss back to the dim recesses of his mind.

As Trent had predicted, Blaine cried only briefly, then as he realised that the intensity of Kurt's sobbing had diminished in the room, he pulled himself back out of his friend's warm embrace, and began to search frantically for something with which to dry his eyes, his own pocket square already crumpled and damp. Trent pulled out a small pack of paper tissues and handed it to Blaine, who took it with a nod of gratitude, and pulled one out. He swiped at his eyes, and then blew his nose. "I don't know exactly how to deal with this Trent. I know I need to be strong for Kurt, but it hurts so much. He was so young, so full of promise for the future. He was going to be such a great teacher, because he just got kids! He knew what it was like to struggle; to have to juggle popularity with doing what you enjoy. And now… Then there's Rachel; I heard her reaction…" He paused, as he shuddered involuntarily. "I don't even know how I am going to face Carole, Trent. This is all just such a mess…"

"I don't know any of it either, Blaine. I guess that you just have to be there, to react to what they are doing at the time. That is the one thing that you are so good at - empathy. Now, go on, get back to your fiancé. We are taking care of the others for you. If you need us, for anything, we are all in the Senior Commons." Blaine nodded, and got back up, before walking into the classroom where Kurt was now sitting staring off into space, as Burt talked to someone - probably Carole - on the phone. Trent felt so devastated for his friends, but knew that he could do nothing just now to ease their pain, other than be around to listen when required.