Soothing Siblings, Undiluted by Diffidence
Author: ebb in and away
Rating: T (see warning)
Spoilers: Up until now(very few, but the ones that are there are somewhat large)
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Glee.
Warning!: There are some situations in here that might possibly be triggers. If you might possibly have any, please DO NOT READ THIS. I don't want anybody to be hurt or upset. There are mentions of bullying. If you have issues with swearing, you might want to skip this story. If you have problems with two people of the same sex being in a relationship, you may want to skip this story.
Chapter 3
"Blaine?"
"Yeah?"
"What happened to Beatrice?"
Kurt and Blaine were on their way to Kurt's house for dinner. It had been a mostly silent ride so far as Blaine concentrated on his driving and Kurt worked through the events of that afternoon.
"I can't say. I promised Nick when he told me that I wouldn't tell anybody unless there was an emergency. I can tell you that it wasn't rape, but that's all I'm allowed to say."
"Will I ever find out?"
Blaine considered for a moment.
"You might. Most of the Warblers find out eventually, and you were a Warbler for a little while."
"Is the attack what makes her act like a little kid?"
Blaine chuckled.
"No, apparently she has always had a more child-like response to the world. The attack certainly didn't help, but Nick says that she was like that before…what happened, happened."
Nick and Jeff had reached their dorm with Beatrice and were now waiting for her to get out of the bathroom. Nick had called his mother to let her know where Beatrice was and that she would be staying, and she had readily agreed after he had mentioned that Beatrice had had another flashback. Beatrice walked out of the bathroom in a spare set of pajamas that belonged to her brother and walked over to him.
"I'm going to take a shower, ok Little Bit?"
Beatrice nodded and hugged Nick, then sat on his bed as he went into the bathroom. Jeff sat on the edge of his bed, facing her.
"Are you excited about our trip tomorrow?"
Beatrice smiled.
"Yep."
Jeff chuckled.
"Any idea what flavor you're going to get?"
Beatrice considered.
"Jeff? Do you still have the list?"
"Of course."
"Can we look at it together? Please?"
Jeff laughed.
"Sure."
He pulled a sheet of paper out of his nightstand drawer and walked over to sit by Beatrice. Beatrice studied the list, then looked up at Jeff.
"What are you planning on getting?"
"Three scoops of orange sherbet. You?"
Beatrice frowned.
"I'm not sure yet."
"Well, do you know how many scoops you want?"
"Two?"
"Alright, do you want them to be the same flavor? Or do you want two different flavors?"
Beatrice paused, considering.
"Two different flavors."
Jeff smiled at her.
"Ok, I'll tell you what. If you can figure out one of the flavors you want tonight, I'll let you try mine tomorrow and we'll see if you want that to be your other flavor. Alright?"
Beatrice grinned, clearly pleased with this plan.
"Ok."
They went back to studying the list, Beatrice leaning against Jeff. Nick emerged from the bathroom and grinned when he realized what they were looking at.
"Plotting ice cream choices already?"
The two sitting on his bed looked up and grinned.
"Of course. You know how much thought needs to go into this."
Jeff was holding back laughter, Nick could tell. It didn't bother Nick though. So many people laughed at his sister, and he hated it when they did, but Jeff had grown up as a regular fixture in their household. Jeff never meant to mock Beatrice. The more Nick thought about it, the more he realized that Jeff was actually the only person who could fully understand Beatrice besides himself. Jeff's happy nature and seemingly limitless enthusiasm made him the perfect friend for Beatrice. Nick knew that Jeff had always picked ice cream flavors carefully, either according to his mood, or according to his never ending curiosity towards new things. Jeff wasn't laughing at Beatrice. He was laughing at himself. Nick moved to sit on Beatrice's other side.
"Have you made any progress?"
Beatrice nodded enthusiastically.
"Jeff's getting three scoops of orange sherbet."
Nick laughed.
"Kurt's going to look at you like you've gone mad again, you know that."
Jeff's grin became mischievous.
"That's part of the fun."
Nick shook his head in amusement as he looked at Beatrice again.
"And what are you planning on getting?"
Jeff answered for her, using a terrible imitation of a French accent.
"Your Little Bit is going to be getting two scoops of ice cream. One will be mint chocolate chip. The other has yet to be determined."
Nick's eyes widened.
"You guys really have made progress."
Both Nick and Jeff understood how difficult it could be for Beatrice to make decisions. Jeff dropped his fake accent, which had already made Beatrice start laughing.
"She normally wants mint chocolate chip, it is your favorite after all. She's going to try a bite of mine when I get it so she can see if she wants that, or if she wants something else."
Nick nodded.
"Alright, Little Bit. Go to the bathroom, and then come back so I can tuck you in."
Beatrice ran into the bathroom and shut the door. Nick turned to Jeff.
"Dude, thank you so much for helping me take care of her."
"It's no problem. You know she's more than just my best friend's sister to me, right?"
"You count her as a friend, yeah."
Jeff shook his head.
"Well, yeah, I do, but that's not what I meant. I've almost always counted her as a little sister. Are you ok with that?"
Jeff looked nervous. Nick smiled at him.
"I'm definitely alright with it. And I'm pretty sure that she looks at you like an older brother."
Jeff was stunned.
"Really?"
Nick nodded.
"You're one of the few people that she was never really afraid of."
Beatrice came out of the bathroom then, walking over to give Jeff a tight hug.
"Night, Jeff-Jeff."
Jeff smiled.
"Goodnight, Beatrice."
Beatrice crawled under the covers on Nick's bed, scooting over to make room for Nick. Jeff and Nick each crawled into their beds.
"Goodnight, Jeff."
"Goodnight, Nick."
Jeff leaned over and flicked the light off. There was the soft glow of a nightlight shining through the doorway of the bathroom, just the right amount to help Beatrice feel safe.
"Goodnight, Beatrice, my Little Bit. Love you."
Beatrice let out a yawn, then turned to curl into Nick's side.
"Goodnight, Nick. Love you."
Before long, all three were asleep, perfectly content with a scene that had been part of their lives for years, even if the rooms and buildings had changed.