Once again, people aren't mine, just the plot.
Things nobody knows, not even your friends, take me there.
Ever the gentleman, Shane carried most of Reed's things into the large, gleaming building. The gentleman facade kind of went out the window when he actively participated in "accidently" shoving Kurt into Blaine in the cramped elevator. But hey, he couldn't help himself. It appeared as though Wes and David couldn't either as they pretended to wrestle, Wes effectively pinning Kurt against Blaine the whole time.
When the elevator stopped on the twins' private floor, Kurt looked around in fascination. Though this was the first time Shane had seen the condo as well, he was watching something far more interesting.
He continued to watch as the boys raced towards the lunch that had been set up in the dining room. Studying Reed throughout the meal from the corner of his eye, he noticed another thing that rattled him. While the rest of the boys ate as though this was the first food they'd seen in weeks, Reed took his time. He would take a bite and chew slowly and deliberately before swallowing. What was really fazing was the look he made each time he swallowed. As though the action made him uncomfortable, or even caused him pain. Shane sincerely hoped that wasn't the case.
He snapped out of it when he noticed Reed had stopped eating and was watching Kurt intently. He forced himself to look at the others and try to catch up on the conversation. The twins were filling Kurt in on the party plans. Apparently all the lights would go out when the clock struck midnight, allowing anyone the opportunity to kiss whoever they like.
Shane noted that Reed didn't look too particularly thrilled about this. And if Reed didn't want to kiss anyone, then Shane would make sure no one tried to force it on him. Because anyone hurting Reed, in any way, shape, or form, was something Shane would not condone.
As the twins crept quietly around the huge mass of building that was Radio City Music Hall, Reed pointed to Shane's hands, signing out a question.
"You want to know why I brought this?" Shane took a guess.
Reed signaled that yes, that was what he was asking.
"Well I figure if Kurt and Blaine are gonna be singing together on this stage, and if it's a flirty little duet," he batted his eyelashes and puckered his lips making Reed breath out his laugh, "I'm betting that this will be something I'm gonna want to capture on film," he concluded, gesturing towards the camera in his hand.
"Come on! We found them!" the twins whispered not even a little quietly.
Reed rushed forward, smiling wildly as he watched the two onstage, who were oblivious to their new audience and indeed singing a duet.
Shane laughed and pressed record, running toward the stage for a better view.
He felt confused. Also a little irritated. Not with Reed, who was happily signing away to him, but at himself, for not being able to understand a single word. He'd never be angry at Reed for something he couldn't control.
Fortunately the twins were walking with them, all four of them a couple paces behind the rest of the group, heading back to the twins' condo. Kurt and Blaine were doing their best to ignore the pestering and suggestive comments being made to them from Wes and David.
"He asked," Evan began, and Shane was never more thankful that these psychos actually knew this language, "if you got the whole performance on video?"
"Of course I did," Shane laughed.
"Excellent," Ethan grinned, "We shall make good use of it then."
Kurt stopped walking and turned around, giving the two a fierce glare, "What was that?"
Reed was laughing, well as much as he could laugh, and Shane was melting.
"Kurt!" Blaine called, running after Kurt who was chasing the twins around, demanding they hand over the camera the two had snatched out of Shane's hands moments before. "Leave it, they're not worth it!"
The situation was only made worse when Wes and David decided to help the twins out, starting a game of Keep It Away From Kurt. Dwight simply rolled his eyes and entered the large apartment building that was close by.
Blaine made a grab for the camera in Ethan's hands, "Come on guys cut it out."
Ethan only gasped, "Keep it away from Kurt and Blaine."
Blaine rolled his eyes while Kurt scowled and the others cheered their approval, completely ignoring all the questioning looks they were being given by bystanders.
Reed was laughing again as he turned to Shane, pointing to the group of lunatics and jerking his hand to left and twisting his fingers together, which Shane recognized as 'R', before make a swirling motion beside his head.
"Oh I know this one!" Shane declared, "This," he imitated the swirling, "means like stupid or silly right?"
Reed nodded and mouthed 'crazy' with a smile tugging on his lips.
"Yay okay!" Shane clapped like a little kid, making Reed laugh again, "And so this," he made the first pointing action, "must mean like they or they're or something along those lines."
Reed smiled and confirmed.
Shane sighed with content and struck a tall pose, "I," he stated, "am a genius."
Blaine snorted from where he had stopped running, catching his breath, "Right. More like moron."
Shane couldn't even make a snide remark in return. He was in a trace, watching this beautiful boy press his hands over his mouth, trying to choke down the breathy giggles.
He couldn't really concentrate with his heart fluttering like mad.
"I can't believe they are still going at it," David said from where he was lazily lounging on the couch, he and Wes having long since gave up.
Bangs of pots and other cooking utensils were heard from the kitchen, along with the shrill shriek of Kurt's voice, "Just give me the freaking camera!"
Blaine stood in the doorway, looking tired, "Kurt come on, just let it go. It's after midnight, you should go to bed."
"Yeah," Wes snickered, "your bed."
Blaine turned, quite dangerously, to give the very loudly laughing Wes and David a death glare.
Kurt appeared to not have heard as he zoomed through the living room, chasing a pair of cackling twins down the hall. Blaine sighed and followed after.
"I don't even think it matters," Shane yawned and dug a hand into his pocket, "I have an extra copy." He displayed it smugly.
David laughed, "Nice."
Dwight stood and stretched, "Well I'm going to bed. I can't have my keen hunting skills dampered by sleep deprivation. So if you all don't mind keeping it down," he shouted the last part down the hall where more crashes could be heard.
Wes didn't even glance up, "I think that might be a lost cause Dwight."
Dwight just grumbled and stalked off to his room.
Shane turned to Reed, who was sitting a little further down on the couch he himself was seated at. His head was resting against the cushions and his eyes were closed.
Shane laid his own head down, and stared at the smaller boy lovingly. If this had been a cartoon, there would have been hearts in his eyes.
A vibration in his pocket snapped him out of it. He pulled his phone out and reluctantly looked away to view his newest message.
MHatter: You know, we'd be happy to admit you into a facility that will help you with your stalking problem.
He looked up to see Wes and David wearing identical smirks.
Shane's face flushed, "I do not have a stalking problem!" he declared rather loudly, causing Reed's eyes to snap open.
He raised an eyebrow, lifting his hands and carefully signing out something slowly.
"Reed, sweetie, we don't know what you're saying," Wes said leisurely.
Shane turned to him with a look of incredulity. Should he even be saying it like that?
But Reed only rolled his eyes and pulled out his own phone. A beep signaled the arrival of the message and David already had his phone out, reading it.
"Nothing really," he answered aloud, "just Shane being a creeper."
Reed looked at Shane quizzically.
"Wait, what?" Shane jumped up, "What did he say?"
He stomped over to David who was standing on the couch, holding his phone over his head. Wes ran to the other side of the room, throwing his hands up, "Over here!"
David tossed the phone to Wes's waiting hands.
Shane put his hands on his hips. "Oh no, don't start this again," he rolled his eyes and lunged for Wes, who was expecting it and quickly threw the phone back to David.
He was about to give up until he saw Reed, pressing his hands to his mouth again, laughing along. It might have been an extreme nuisance, but he figured anything that would make Reed laugh like that was worth it.
So he humored him, playing along, chasing the two all around the room until Kurt entered, proudly holding the camera in his hands. He had resorted to bringing out the cookies, which he wondered why he hadn't thought of earlier.
Blaine looked relived as he collapsed onto the couch. The look was swiped clean when the twins entered and, upon seeing the antics, spread out to different corners of the room, exclaiming, "Keep it away from Shane!"
Kurt sighed, "I won't be a part of this. I'm going to bed."
Blaine stood, "Me too."
As they disappeared into the darkness of the hall, Shane called, "Don't forget to kiss him goodnight!"
"Shut up, Shane!" they both snapped before they disappeared completely.
"All of you shut up!" Dwight's voice was heard from his room.
Reed was giggling again, pressing his head into a pillow.
Shane stopped and watched, feeling those butterflies kicking again. Suddenly a pillow was smashed into the side of his head, courtesy of one of the twins.
"Get your head in the game Little Bat!" Ethan called.
"Yeah," Evan agreed, "Stop staring at Reed long enough to focus!"
Shane blushed and looked away, avoiding Reed's face, which was also red and displayed a look of confusion.
"You should have seen him before we started the game," David said with a wide grin.
"Yeah," Wes laughed, "He was basically admiring him while he slept. "
Shane felt mortified. This wasn't helping his claim of not being a stalker at all.
"Oh well well well," the twins circled him, smirking, "Really now?"
"Yep!" David taunted, tossing his phone from one hand to the other.
Shane picked up the pillow that lay at his feet and slammed it harshly onto the side of Evan's head.
"Oh!" he reeled, feeling a little dizzy. "This means war!" he and his brother yelled, racing to collect weapons in the form of more pillows.
Shane saw Reed jump up and take cover behind the couch he had been laying on. Satisfied with the state of Reed's wellbeing, he charged at David, determined to make him pay for earlier.
Dwight lie in bed, listening to the ruckus that had been going on for over an hour. Crashes and screams echoed throughout the condo as pillows smashed into far more than just other bodies.
Every now and again Kurt's voice would be heard, yelling at them to keep it down, or else he would make them all suffer in the morning. While they had no doubt he would, that had seemed to be ineffective as the noise only continued.
Eventually Kurt and Blaine were lulled off to sleep with the assistance of their iPods, Dwight however, was not so lucky.
He groaned, throwing the pillow- which had not helped block out the sound- off his head and onto the ground. He got up and snatched something from the floor before entering the disastrous living room.
The twins had set up a rather impressive fort and were throwing everything from pillows to nerf balls at everyone from behind it. David was standing on a table, screeching like a banshee, dressed in makeshift armor. And Shane and Wes were fighting, black lines painted on their cheeks. Reed's fluffy head could be seen peeking out from behind the couch, only eyes visible.
"The next person," Dwight began menacingly, holding his crossbow in front of him at arm's length, "to make one more sound, I will not hesitate to shoot."
Everyone froze, staring at Dwight with wide eyes.
Seeing he had their attention, he continued, "Now it is three in the morning. And as you should already be aware of, that is the witching hour. I should not be awake, and neither should you. I will close my eyes and count to five, and by the time I'm finished you will all be out of my sight, and headed to your respective rooms, or arrows will fly."
Ethan snorted, "Yeah right," before an arrow landed dangerously close to his foot.
"One," Dwight started and everyone quickly dispersed, scurrying off to their rooms as he continued to count.
Shane stopped when he saw Reed turning the knob to the door next to his.
"Reed," he said softly, continuing when he had his attention, "Goodnight. And I'm sorry about earlier… pretty embarrassing…"he added quietly, feeling his cheeks tingle.
Reed looked as though he wanted to laugh. He moved his hand as if he were waving it off, which Shane suspected he was. Before he disappeared into the room he gave one last smile, touching his chin and moving the same hand twice above the other, mouthing 'good night' as he did.
Shane let out a breath he wasn't aware he had been holding and forced his heart to calm down. When he looked up he saw the twins standing there, looking at him with a knowing expression only they were capable of producing.
"Oh shut up," he weakly defended, going into his room and slamming the door.
Reed was bouncing up and down on the bed, trying his best to make the sleeping countertenor wake up.
Kurt creaked his eyes open at last, pulling the buds out of his ears and giving Reed a disbelieving look, "May I help you at such a lovely hour of the morning?"
Reed grinned and fell onto his knees on the bed, holding up two platinum cards and fanning himself with them casually.
Kurt's eyes grew wider as he looked back and forth between the small boy and the shining cards, "Oh no. No you are not! I've already been invited to stay in this Park Avenue condo in New York, flown out in a private jet no less! Not to mention the entire wardrobe of clothes you've dumped on to me, worth thousands of dollars, and that's not even counting the other products! You guys can't keep doing this, I feel like a charity case!"
Reed rolled his eyes with a look of irritation. He had been expecting this. He held up the ever present board.
You're not a charity case! And incase you didn't realize, we do this to all our friends, not just you. But you are the only one who likes clothes as much as I do! Please Kurt! Pleeease!
Kurt read the message and glanced back at Reed, who had the biggest pout he'd ever seen spread across his face, bottom lip four times its normal size.
He noticed that Kurt still didn't look completely persuaded so he added
Please go shopping with me to Bergdorf? You don't even have to get anything, you just have to put up with my company. Don't make me go alone! Please?
Kurt looked thoughtful, "Well," he finally said, and Reed perked up, anxious to hear the verdict, "I most definitely won't be letting you go alone… and I suppose someone has to make sure you don't knock over all the mannequins…"
Reed happily jumped up, leapt off the bed, and proceeded to meet the floor face first.
"Reed!"
"Reed, stay still! Stop moving around so much!"
Reed was squirming all around, making it very difficult for Kurt to fasten the pair of pants he had thrown Reed into.
"Please stay still, I can make them fit, okay?"
Reed wasn't so sure about that. He struggled to get out of Kurt's grip.
Suddenly Wes's voice came from outside the dressing room door.
"Are we positive that after this, we are finally leaving this place? It's been five hours and I'm pretty sure that dragon living in my stomach just ate my appendix."
"You're the ones who wanted to come with us!" Kurt snapped, still struggling with the zipper of the pants and the boy who seemed to be incapable of standing still. After all, he didn't invite Wes and David to come along. It was all on their own consent. The twins' had left early to shop for the party, and Blaine had went to track down Shane who had been suspected to have accompanied Dwight on another "hunting" trip. That left Wes and David, who maintained Kurt's first time out in New York wouldn't go over so safely if all he had with him was clumsy, quiet little Reed. That was a recipe for disaster if there ever was one.
With one finale jerk of his hand the jeans were fastened and Kurt grinned in triumph. Reed fell onto the wall in relief. He started nodding frantically, hoping Kurt understood his agreement with Wes.
He did, "Okay, yes we're leaving."
Sighs of content were heard outside the room. And then Wes spoke again, "Thank God. We'll go tell Blaine to come get us, and find someone to pick up these thousands of shopping bags."
Kurt scowled, "There aren't thousands. Stop exaggerating."
It was David who spoke this time, "We're only exaggerating a little bit. That's the messed up thing."
Wes laughed as he and David were heard walking away.
Kurt rolled his eyes at the door and turned back to Reed who he was irritated to find back in his old clothes. He brushed off his own clothing and avoided Reed's eyes. "So… we have to talk about Shane."
Reed stopped all movement except his quirked eyebrow.
"Oh don't look at me like that! You have to notice how he acts around you." When Reed's expression didn't change, Kurt continued, "He's following you around, watching you, he's basically worshipping you." Kurt found it rather amusing to watch Reed change colors right before his eyes, "He's willing to learn a whole other language for you. That's got to mean something. And it's delicious how flustered you are. Do you know what shade of red you're becoming?"
Reed threw a shirt at his head, which Kurt caught easily.
"Look Reed. If he's making you uncomfortable then you have to tell him to back off a little. Does he bother you?"
Reed shook his head. It wasn't that Shane was annoying, he was just very persistent.
Kurt raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest, "Well," he began delicately, "Do you like him?"
This caused Reed to freeze. He looked at the wall and lifted his shoulders once, feeling the heat spread across his neck rapidly.
Kurt sighed, "Okay I'm sorry about this breach of privacy I'm about to make here, but at this point I feel it simply must be asked. Which way do you actually swing? You've never shown any real interest in anyone and, no offense, but none of us can really tell."
Reed's eyes locked onto the ground, and he shrugged his shoulders lightly.
Kurt sat in one of the plush dressing room chairs, "Are you saying you don't know?"
Reed simply shrugged again.
"That's okay," Kurt assured, "Labels are just labels. They're unnecessary and you don't need one. Just keep being fabulous you. And when you figure it out, or fall in love, we'll all support you."
Reed now looked up, smiled slightly, and touched his fingers to his lips and back.
Kurt stood and walked over with a smile, "It's no problem. Now let's go find Wes and David. They couldn't have wandered off too far."
Wes and David might not have wandered too far, but Kurt certainly was. He was running along, trying to catch up to the tall blond with the unnaturally hazy green eyes. What was Logan doing here anyway?
Reed walked back to the door leading out to the street only to be met with no sign of Kurt. Where'd he go? First Wes and David vanished into thin air, and now Kurt was missing too! That would mean that he was alone.
Panic started creeping up his spin. Alone wasn't something Reed did well, not after…
His hands started quivering and he had to clasp them together to stop the trembles. He forced himself to take deep breaths, but a constricting throat was making that somewhat impossible.
Even though he was being given odd looks, it's not like he could talk to them. He couldn't even call out Kurt's name.
Right when he was about to go into full panic mode, he spotted a curly black head, trudging angrily through the street. Practically drowning in relief, he dashed out the door and nearly crashed into the tall dancer.
Shane stopped, "Reed?" he asked confused. Every ounce of anger he previously had evaporated the minute he saw Reed's fear stricken eyes. "Reed, what's wrong?"
His hands were still shaking as they clumsily signed. Shane felt his own bouts of fear as he realized he couldn't understand what Reed was trying to tell him. What if someone had hurt him? What if Wes or David were injured? What if there was a crazed killer attacking the store? Okay, that last one seemed a bit unlikely but still.
"Are you hurt? Did you fall on something? Did something fall on you? Are you hurt? Where are you hurt? Point it out," Shane spoke without any pauses.
Reed was shaking his head frantically.
"Uh, okay. Well is it Wes or David, are they hurt?"
Reed's head kept shaking.
"Then what's wrong? Here," he fished in his pocket and pulled out his phone, "type it on here."
Reed took the phone and typed out a short message, sometimes pressing the wrong buttons as his hands still had not calmed down.
We coulnt find wes or david and when I went to look kurt was gone too and I was left alone and itwas just scary I just cant be alone out here sorry if it sounds stupid I just cant
Reed looked away sheepishly while Shane read the message. He felt really embarrassed. Who freaks out this badly if they're just left alone? Why did he have to be such a baby all the time? It's not like it was going to happen again.
Shane's voice pulled him out of his thoughts, "I don't think that's stupid," he looked up to see Shane's now calm face, "And I saw Kurt just now. He was chasing Logan to the park. That's where I was going, to make sure that lunatic doesn't try anything," he craned his neck in the direction the two must have disappeared in, "Come with me," he looked back. Reed blinked. "I'm not going to leave you alone, but I'm not going to let Logan try anything with Kurt. He belongs to Blaine."
That made Reed smile and Shane was very much relived when he did. He turned and started walking, feeling Reed's hand clasp onto the back of his shirt. He smiled and grabbed onto that hand, holding it in his instead.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to lose you."
As they approached the two on the bench, Reed glanced away, cursing his cheeks for betraying him. Holding Shane's hand was bad enough, but blushing while doing it, that was just begging for questions to be asked. And no doubt they would be later, if Kurt's expression was any indication.
"Hey you two," he said, looking passed Shane and to Reed, who did not like the look he giving him one little bit.
"Hey Kurt," Shane said before turning to Logan, voice laced with feigned optimism, "Hey Logan."
"Hi Shane," Logan's eyes made it seem as though he wasn't all there, as did his voice. "Reed."
"So, are we interrupting something?" Shane had yet to release Reed's hand, and was making a show of it, swinging their arms between them. Kurt looked like he would like he would very much like to harm Shane in every way possible for his accusation, that was until the swinging started. Now he was staring at Reed with that look again, causing him to turn beat red and look anywhere else.
"Actually I was just leaving," Logan stood and turned to Kurt, his back facing the other two. He put a hand on Kurt's shoulder, "So I'll you see at the party?"
Shane grit his teeth. So now this lunatic was going to coming to the party? Where you could kiss anyone you wanted? And knowing Logan, he would most definitely be wanting to kiss Kurt. Oh no. No, that was not happening. When was Logan going to realize that Kurt was meant Blaine? And Shane would not allow him to break his brother's heart. Not again.
He slid his free hand into the pocket of his coat, grabbing the spare copy of the song Kurt and Blaine had sung on the Radio City Music Hall stage. Maybe this would help convince him the inevitable.
Moving very slow and discreetly, he dropped the memory card into Logan's pocket, successful as no one had seen. Well, someone did.
Reed looked up at him, confused. Shane was still glaring holes in the back of Logan's head. He lifted his left hand (his right one was still in Shane's) and tugged on the sleeve of his coat.
Shane glanced down at him, and Reed kept his hand up, sticking his pinky and thumb out while the rest of his fingers curled inward, asking just one question.
Why?
Shane simply pressed his finger to lips, making a hushed sound, "I'll explain later," he promised before he looked to Kurt, "Let's go, everyone's probably looking for us."
"See you then," Logan smiled as they walked off, Shane still holding onto Reed's hand.
Kurt quirked his eyebrow again as he watched Reed blush. He leaned down and whispered in his ear, making sure Shane wouldn't hear, "Well you two seem to be getting close."
Reed's left hand weakly connected with Kurt's stomach and he started laughed.
"What's so funny?" Shane asked, feeling left out of the loop.
"Nothing," Kurt smirked at the wide eyed look Reed was giving him, silently pleaded him to keep his mouth shut, "Nothing at all."
"There they are!"
They looked up to see all the rest of the boys running their way.
"You guys freaked us out!" Wes yelled when he was in front of them, "I go call Blaine and come back to find nobody there!"
"Where did you go?" David demanded to know, stepping forward.
"Us? You guys were the ones who disappeared on us!" Kurt retorted.
"Logan's in New York," Shane interrupted what he was sure would turn into a bickering fight.
"What?" Blaine pushed Wes and David out of the way, "Where?"
"In the park," Kurt answered calmly, "I followed him there. He looks bad. Like he's all drugged-"
"He's coming to the party," Shane interrupted again, receiving a glare from Kurt.
"It's not like we can stop him. He's a legacy. He gets to go," Blaine said, not looking too particularly thrilled to be saying those words. He turned to Kurt, "Are you alright? You look a bit shaken."
"It's not about Logan though. I think there are worse things we should be worried about."