AN: So it has been WAY too long...

So I decided to try to continue "Snowstorm"! I actually tried to do this like three months ago, and I doubt anybody remembers this anymore, but yeah. Here it is.

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or Dalton, or any of the characters.

Enjoy.


Boys tromped through the pristine layer of sparkling snow on their way to the Dalton cafeteria, a hum of chatter filling the clear, cold air. But from this light rumble of conversation, four voices were missing.

"We need to talk."

Kurt frowned at the at the voice crackling from the phone resting on the bedspread beside him. "What, no hello?"

Reed huffed. "C'mon, Kurt, this is really important. It's... sorta about Shane."

Blaine rolled his eyes and loosened his hold on Kurt to lean closer to the phone. "What has he gotten himself into now, Reed?"

"Nothing! Well, it wasn't his fault this time..." Kurt could practically hear the cherubic boy wring his hands worriedly. "You guys know we weren't able to make it to Dalton yesterday. We were stuck in the storm, and we had to stop... and, well, the closest place was your old place, Blaine."

Blaine stiffened. "So?" he said, a little too sharply. Kurt patted the top of his head comfortingly.

"Well... we were sleeping..." Reed halted, as if too afraid to continue.

"Spit it out, Reed," Kurt said, a little impatiently. Reed gulped over the phone.

"He- he just showed up... and he... Mr. Anderson found us." Reed blurted.

Blaine froze completely, and Kurt's eyes widened, his face white. "What?" he choked in disbelief.

Clearly distraught, Reed stammered into the phone. "We didn't think he'd show up! He just appeared! And- and he stormed in and grabbed me and started just screaming at Shane, 'cause, I- I mean, it was kinda obvious, since we were, y' know, sleeping together. I... may have been shirtless." he added sheepishly.

Kurt winced.

"Shane's driving: we're like an hour or two away, but he's not himself." Reed lowered his voice. "He's been really, really quiet. He's so zoned out, I doubt he can hear me right now, and I'm sitting right next to him! He keeps saying he's okay, but he's obviously not." He made a little pained sound. "I'm really worried, you guys."

Kurt sighed. "Oh, Reed."

A small sniffle answered him.

"You have to promise to stay strong for him and yourself, okay, Reed?" Kurt said gently. "We'll talk when you two get back. Okay? Okay. Bye."

Then, after softly closing the phone, he turned and opened his arms, completely anticipating was was to happen next.

Blaine threw himself into his boyfriend's embrace, and sobbed.


An hour and a half later, the battered Camry rumbled into the parking lot beside Windsor House. Class had just let out for the day, and while most boys had retreated to the warmth of their dorm rooms, a few still frolicked in the trampled snow, not noticing the latecomers.

Reed looked over at his boyfriend, who sat with a bland expression, still, even though they'd already parked.

"Are you sure you're all right?" he said softly, gently removing Shane's hands from the steering wheel and holding them between his own. Shane turned and offered the little artist a weak smile. "As long as you're here."

Reed nodded and got out of the car, grabbing his suitcase and linking hands with Shane before walking into the crazy of Windsor house.

"Incoming!" A pair of identical blonde blurs hurtled down the staircase, Nerf guns a-blazing.

Kapwing! A neon foam dart affixed itself to Shane's forehead. The Tweedles grinned, expecting retaliation, possibly in the form of an epic Nerf war.

Nothing. Shane just heaved a sigh and started trudging upstairs, Reed following him, shooting undecipherable looks at the twins, who just stood there, speechless. They walked down the corridor in silence, stopping in between the dorms that Reed shared with Kurt and Shane shared with Blaine.

"Relax, Shane," Reed said. "You're all right."

Just then, the door to Shane and Blaine's room open, revealing Kurt and Blaine with somber expressions on their faces.

"Reed, I thought I heard your voice." Kurt said, breaking the silence. Reed could only nod.

After yet another extremely awkward pause, Blaine reached out and tugged his brother into the room they shared, gently closing the door. Kurt flinched at the muffled sounds of crying that began almost immediately.

"Well, then," he said somewhat unsteadily, but he swiftly regained his composure. "You. We need to talk." And with that, he dragged the smaller boy into their room, shutting the door with a decisive click.

Wes, brow furrowed, turned to the boys who had also been peering around the corner- Ethan, Evan, David and Dwight. "What the hell was that?" he hissed. "That was not okay."

"I sense evil..." Dwight muttered under his breath.


"All right, start from the beginning."

"I've already told you everything that happened, Kurt. I don't wanna talk about it anymore!" Reed huffily pushed his suitcase into their massive closet. Kurt sighed.

"Reed, I know you're upset and worried about Shane, but we need to talk about you. We both know you're not good at handling stuff like this."

Reed stomped out of the closet, brushing past his roommate. "What's that supposed to mean?" he grumbled, knowing Kurt wasn't going to give this up.

"It means that I want to make sure that you'll be able to handle it when you actually come out. Sure, it'll probably be better than what has happened Shane and Blaine, but there some people who won't accept you."

Reed groaned, flopping down on his bed, glaring up at the ceiling. "And you think I don't know that, Kurt? You think I think I'm invincible? Because I know I'm not."

Kurt sat down gently next to his friend. "I'm just saying, Reed. I know you're scared, but someday you're going to have to come out. Even though most people know about you and Shane," he added. Reed blushed lightly as Kurt continued. "I know your mom will accept you, and I'm pretty sure Clark already knows, but one day you will have step out into the world and own that you like boys. One boy in particular. And people will treat you differently for it."

"I know, Kurt." Reed sighed. "I... I guess I'm just scared. After everything that's happened with Shane and Blaine, and after everything that happened last year," The artist's hand absent-mindedly rose to the back of his head, where Kurt knew it was tracing the slender scar that would probably be there forever. "I don't want anymore drama. And then he just had to barge in and scare the crap out of Shane, and right now I just want to focus on us. Him and me. Okay?"

Kurt blinked, and gave him a gentle smile. "Okay. You can talk to me whenever, all right?"

Reed nodded silently, and slowly walked over to their closet. "I'm going to unpack now."

The countertenor gave him quick nod. "You're going to get through this, you know."

"I know," Reed said.


Blaine and Shane lay side by side on one of the soft beds in their dorm room: Blaine's head resting on a pillow, Shane's on a balled-up blanket at the foot of the bed. The elder's curls had sprung free from his usual gelled hairstyle, and in that moment, they'd never looked more like brothers.

"So... it happened."

"Yeah." Shane sighed. A pause. "I knew it was going to, someday. Just not then, not with Reed there. Not as much of a surprise. I always told myself that I'd someday be brave enough to come out to him. I didn't get a chance to prove myself, Blaine. That's what really kills me."

"I know," Blaine sighed, too. "I know." They lapsed into silence again.

"What did he say?"

"Dad?"

"Yeah."

"First... he asked me what was going on. It was sort of obvious, though, so I just asked him to let Reed go. He was- he sort of had him by the arm. Then he said that... that you 'corrupted' me and all that shit. Seriously, that is one of the most bullcrap things I've ever heard, I'm pretty sure I knew before you did. Anyway- we yelled for a bit... I told him the truth about Micah... and then he just glared at me, and told me to get the hell out of his house." Shane's voice broke. "He's supposed to be our dad, Blaine, how could he do that? Last year, when Reed and you were in the hospital after the fire and everything, I was almost sure he was ready for us to become a real family again. But... It didn't happen."

Blaine didn't know what to say. It was all true, he knew that. And he simply didn't know how to make it better.

"Well," he started slowly, "I know you've been put through a lot of stuff. You and me both, bro, but especially you. And I know things always seem to somehow get worse, but... there are times where I can just look around and say 'I'm so glad to have all this'... friends, school, Kurt, Reed. We've all been through this together, and that's what makes us us.What makes you you." He nudged his brother gently with a socked foot, propping himself up enough to see that Shane was beginning to grin. "The fact that you've gone through all this stuff and been stronger for it proves something to everyone. That you are incredibly, undeniably brave. Don't let this bring you down."

"Okay," said Shane. "I won't."


Reed frowned, staring at the canvas grumpily, the sleeves of his paint- splattered shirt bunched up at his elbows. His paintbrush was held at the ready, just... waiting for that perfect final detail that would bring the whole piece together. Most of his art had been destroyed last year, and he was under pressure to rebuild his inventory after his mother had been convinced he was okay. And for a while, he'd seemed to lose all motivation, let alone inspiration. But then Dalton re-opened, and things slowly made their ways back to normal.

Until now.

He huffed, turning to the window, scanning the campus for inspiration. The day was drawing to a close, and he'd spent the most of it painting, pouring his emotions into a picture that now seemed unsatisfactory. There was nothing, he decided, nothing outside that he wanted to paint. Nothing to keep his mind blank and busy.

Reed saw Spencer and Merril casually walking hand in hand towards Hanover House, breath puffing in silent, romantic clouds. He saw Julian and Logan, rosy-cheeked and laughing, pelting each other with snowballs. In the dying light, Reed could see the affection reflected in their eyes. And he'd never seen Logan so... carefree.

"What are you wearing."

It was a soft query mixed with a hesitant chuckle, and Reed's heart skipped a beat at the familiar voice.

"Oh. Hi." His eyes met Shane's, then ducked down bashfully to regard the enormous flannel shirt covering his designer label cardigan and jeans. "Oh, umm... I actually think this is Finn's- Kurt's stepbrother's- I think... Kurt was going to burn it but he let me use it as a smock instead." As he stuttered, Reed tried to sort out the emotions in his head- jubilation at Shane's openness (an improvement from earlier in the car), concern, and the fluttering nervousness he always felt around the curly-topped dancer.

"How are you?" he asked awkwardly.

Shane shrugged, a rueful grin flitting across his lips. "I've been better," he said as if admitting a small secret, "but I've decided that... it isn't going to change anything, especially who I am. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?" He closed the door, walked over to the canvas. "This is nice."

Reed blinked. "Umm... thanks?" He stepped forward, surveying the boy with narrowed, skeptical eyes. "I've been trying to to get... the light shining off the snow just... right." A pause. "Really?"

Shane smiled, if a little sadly. "Yeah. I... thought over it for a while, with Blaine's help, and... I realized I don't... need him. Dad, I mean. I have you, and I have Blaine, and Kurt and the Tweedles and everybody else here. ...What else could a guy want?"

Reed's smile was real, and it lit up the whole room. "Shane Anderson, I do believe I love you."

The said boy simply leaned down to cover Reed's smiling lips with his own, clutching the smaller boy tight to him in a kiss made simply of trust and need.

"You keep me strong, Reed."


AN:... Did that make any sense to you? I had a scene with the other Windsor boys, you know, explaining to them what's going on and stuff, and there were some pretty good lines, but it just didn't flow. If I ever get it right, I'll add it as a bit of an epilogue.

So hey! I started when there was actually a chance of there being snow on the ground! (Actually, we had a basically snow-less winter.) But anyway, now it's March! Happy Birthday to me!

P.S. I actually have that Jogan snowball fight scene written out. Should I publish it?

Thanks for reading! Please review~

~Sarah~