AN - Hello again! So I have the next chapter for you...but there are some parts I'm not too sure of to be honest. I hope they work for you though!
I'm also testing the waters with a new character here, so if you spot him let me know if you want him to reappear or not ;)
Warnings - angst, mild violence I suppose...and triggers maybe?(I don't know when to correctly warn for triggers, so if anyone could give me a hand I'd be forever grateful).
Enjoy! :)
As it turns out, helping Blaine would take a lot of work.
The next few days gave Kurt no help in improving Blaine's state as he continued to suffer the unnecessary daily torture McKinley High threw at him. The universe also seemed to enjoy torturing Kurt in the process too as the days passed and Kurt could only watch helplessly: another teacher, a window, a crowd in his path as Blaine was victim to every slushy, every shove, every insult, and every glare sent his way. And those were only the ones Kurt witnessed.
But there were a particular three incidents which stood out for Kurt, amongst the list longer than his own arm, three incidents which he couldn't seem to shake.
The first was the morning after his discussion with Blaine. Kurt was making himself a morning cup of coffee in the teachers' lounge when a trio of towering jocks stormed past the open doorway, making a beeline for a set of lockers visible through the window of the lounge. Following the sickening feeling in his stomach, he followed them with his eyes only to wince as Blaine was shoved ferociously backwards into the open door of his locker. The jocks descended onto Blaine's hunched form, and Kurt watched as one he recognised as Gary leaned close into Blaine's ear and whispered something, which from the way Blaine swallowed hard Kurt guessed it wasn't a friendly good morning. Just as Kurt was considering leaving and going to check on Blaine, a bundle of blonde energy skidded next to Blaine and grinned widely at him. Blaine seemed to visibly relax, and even though his face contorted a little as he shouldered his bag, Kurt felt a little relieved that Blaine had at least given half a smile.
The second time was the next day, again in the corridors. Kurt was aimlessly wandering to his car to collect some books between classes when his blood turned cold. "Hey faggots!" he spun around so fast he had to regain his balance, but he didn't fail to see the cups of red and purple ice launched into the unsuspecting faces of Sam and Blaine. Kurt moved at once, dodging students and teachers alike through the corridor as he made his way toward the pair, only to be met with a puddle of melting E numbers on the floor and no Sam or Blaine anywhere to be found. It was at this point Kurt decided the universe was working against him.
The final incident had taken place during lunch as Kurt chatted idly with a couple of other teachers, drifting in and out of the conversation and scanning the crowds of eating students. He was aimlessly watching the Glee club dancing around their table together while he smiled fondly at the memories it gave him when an impressive clatter followed by loud laughter sounded behind him. Kurt swivelled around in his chair and gasped when he saw Blaine sprawled across the floor, presumably what was his lunch now scattered around him. Blaine wasn't the clumsy type – Kurt knew that, so when he spotted Bradley Hunter and Azimio Adams sharing a very indiscreet high five, his sickening suspicions were only confirmed.
Apparently a month of detention for hitting a teacher with a slushy didn't discourage bullying.
That was yesterday, and Kurt still hadn't managed to get the way the other teachers surrounding him dismissed the incident with an annoyed sigh and returned to eating their lunches out of his mind. Kurt may not have been a teacher as long as the others at this school, but he was pretty sure their actions were not the correct ones to take.
However, Kurt knew he was in no such position to be questioning the discipline tactics of the more experienced teachers around him, so no matter how much it bugged him he would just have to keep those thoughts and opinions to himself. Putting it to the back of his mind, Kurt began to tidy up the papers on his desk.
"Sooo…up for another night at Scandals tonight, handsome?" a voice laced with cockiness danced across the room to Kurt's ears, which recognised it at once.
"Piss off. You really think I'm going there with you again after last time?" Kurt challenged, turning to face the doorway.
The figure grabbed at his chest painfully and gasped, "That's not very nice, is it professor? In fact, I feel deeply wounded by your ignorance."
"Oh I'm sorry, where are my manners?" Kurt replied sarcastically, "Please piss off." He finished bluntly and walked toward him, taking in the stance of the man leaning against the doorframe.
Sebastian Smythe, mathematics professor here at McKinley high, stood with toned arms folded over a broad chest wearing his notorious confident smirk and raised eyebrows and Kurt over his emerald green eyes. Sebastian was one of Kurt's closest college friends, and by some sheer chance of fortune (good or bad, Kurt was undecided. It tended to vary) had landed their first jobs together here in McKinley. When they first met in college it took a while to adjust to each other's personalities, but they managed to and now shared a comfortable banter no one but others they went to college with could understand.
"Well, I guess it's better than your last decline. I do recall something along the lines of 'sex addict' and 'go fuck yourself.' By the way? Great advice." Sebastian grinned and winked. Kurt could only look up at him in utter disbelief.
A student with long curly hair walked by the doorway, smiling shyly and blushing as she gave a small, "Hi, Mr Smythe." Sebastian only had to smile in his charming way and wave a little and the girl was sent down the corridor in a mess of giggles.
Kurt shook his head, "And here's me thinking you were gay…"
"Please, of course I am. What with an ass like yours strutting around Lima it escapes me how there's a straight guy left in this place." Sebastian waved the accusation away confidently, "so, you up for it?"
"Not tonight. Tomorrow, maybe?" Kurt sighed. He wasn't really in the mood to spend the night looking after a drunk and horny Sebastian - again.
"Sure. You're one of the lucky few to have my number - drop me text if you change your mind, gorgeous." Sebastian winked again and moved out of the doorway for Kurt to pass through.
"I also thought the creepy compliments would stop after college too. Obviously not!" Kurt said over his shoulder as Sebastian walked backwards down the corridor, holding his arms out.
"What? I can't help it. Plus they're all true so you shouldn't be complaining!" he shouted after Kurt.
Laughing, Kurt turned away again and decided to go pick up a coffee before lunch. Just as he turned the corner however, all ideas of coffee or breaks were eliminated immediately. He spotted Blaine, walking in quick strides down the corridor; head down as he was pursued by, yet again, three jocks in letterman jackets. One of them managed to grab Blaine by the collar of his shirt, violently hauling him back as his books were sent everywhere and swiftly pinning him to the wall. Blaine put up no fight, only squeezed his eyes shut and attempted to cover his face with his arms. Kurt was sure he could hear Blaine mutter frantically something about, "Not my face. Hit me as hard as you like anywhere else, just not my face." his voice breaking every few syllables.
That really had done it for Kurt – no way in hell was he about to stand by and let this happen again. Inhaling deeply he stalked over, all his normal control gone as he swore he could feel his temperature rising by several degrees. Rational thought left his mind the moment he saw the tallest boy raise his fist into the air.
"What the fuck do you think you are doing?" Kurt screamed louder than he ever had at a student before, grabbing his wrist and hauling him around to face him.
The voice was so surprising, so random that Blaine snapped his head up just to make sure he wasn't hearing things.
Nope, he definitely wasn't hearing things. Mr Hummel stood face to face with Bradley Hunter, positively shaking with fury, his fingers on a tight lock around Bradley's wrist. Bradley was so blown away at the unexpected outburst that he stood in silence for a good few seconds until Mr Hummel forced him back to reality.
"Well? I'm waiting!" Mr Hummel continued, his breathing was coming hard and Blaine watched his jaw clench repeatedly as his eyes bore into Bradley.
The other two holding Blaine to the wall released him immediately and slowly started shuffling away from the scene, hoping to go unnoticed. They weren't so successful.
Grasp not leaving Bradley's wrist, Mr Hummel sent a glare toward them and they stopped at once, eyes hitting the floor.
"Let me go. You don't have the right to be treating me like this!" Bradley came back to life, struggling against the grip around him.
"And you have the right to be treating Blaine like this?" Mr Hummel exploded, causing Blaine to flinch back at his tone.
"That's different, we're students! You're a teacher! I could have you fired for this!" Bradley continued to fight back, yanking his hand away harder.
The grip didn't loosen, "Go on then! Because if I'm going to lose my job for anything it's going to be for protecting someone innocent." His voice became so low it was no more than a venomous whisper.
Bradley scoffed, "But he did ask for it. He still is. Being gay does that kind of thing to you, you should know that Mister Hummel." he narrowed his eyes at Mr Hummel, holding his gaze and finally wrenching his arm free.
Now Blaine's been terrified before. The years of torturous bullying and screaming matches with his father have him terrified on a regular basis, but none of that could compare to how he felt when he saw fire in Mr Hummel's eyes. Blaine watched as his English teacher slowly walked forward, backing Bradley up to the wall opposite Blaine.
Mr Hummel's fist rose to press against Bradley's chest, "You really think that I'm going to let you - some stupid, shallow student –"
"Kurt!" a different voice echoed down the hallway, "Kurt, what- what are you doing? Stop." Blaine tore his gaze away to see Professor Smythe running toward them. "Kurt, calm down. Let him go." He placed his hands on Mr Hummel's shoulders.
"Let go Sebastian. For the love of all that is good, let me go." Mr Hummel demanded through clenched teeth.
"You know I can't do that, Kurt. Now come on, let go. Don't be stupid." Professor Smythe continued. Blaine marvelled at how calm and composed his voice was.
It was a few more seconds before Mr Hummel let go of Bradley, but even then he continued to glare at him through the slits his eyes had become.
"I think you boys should go. But don't think this is over. I want an explanation." Professor Smythe said, side-glancing at Blaine.
Blaine gathered his books as quickly as he could, but took his time standing – the room seemed to spin a little and he was shaking quite a lot (whenever that had started). He couldn't help over-hearing the conversation between both his teachers as he was leaving.
"Want to tell me what the hell that was all about, Kurt?" Professor Smythe scalded.
"You wouldn't understand, Seb." Mr Hummel snapped, but he seemed to instantly regret it, "It's just, I- Blaine…" he didn't finish.
Professor Smythe's voice was softer when he spoke next, "Blaine reminds you of high school, doesn't he?" Blaine's brow furrowed at that. It seemed more a statement than a question, "Kurt, if it's too hard for you to help him, you know I will."
"No! No, I'm fine. I want to, need to help him." Kurt responded.
Professor Smythe sighed, "Okay well…if you won't talk to me, talk to someone Kurt. Please."
"I know, I plan to." He reassured.
Their voices trailed away as Blaine turned the corner, but the whole ordeal only started to replay in his mind immediately, his frown lines becoming even deeper. Why was Mr Hummel so angry?What did Professor Smythe mean when he referred to 'high school'? Why did either of them care?
Kurt rubbed a hand over his face tiredly before knocking briskly three times on the door in front of him. It opened surprisingly quickly but he was relieved to see the familiar face behind it smiling warmly at him.
"Kurt Hummel. Aren't you a sight for these sore eyes? Get in here!" Kurt began to feel relaxed already and he allowed himself to be hauled into a much welcome hug by one Dr. Quinn Fabray.
"Hello, gorgeous," he sighed, inhaling the wonderful sent of her perfume, "I assume you got my message?" Kurt asked, apprehensively pulling away only to see Quinn smiling sadly at him.
"Yes. And I know what you're thinking. Just because I'm a psychologist and you need to talk does not mean you are insane. We're still friends after all; my profession just helps me give better advice. Understand?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
Kurt laughed humourlessly, shrugging in agreement, "I guess. We can still follow the whole 'what's said in here stays in here' stuff though right? Cause…well really, I don't think it's my place to be telling other people this." Kurt let out in a rush, causing Quinn to form delicate frown lines beneath her wavy blonde hair.
"Let's just go through this slowly. And of course, I won't tell anyone. I'm also rather glad you came to me with this rather than the likes of Sebastian." She laughed, guiding Kurt toward the front room.
Once they were both seated comfortably next to each other on Quinn's lavish white sofa, Quinn sat patiently and waited for Kurt to start. He sat nervously, watching specs of dust highlighted by the last light of the day dance through the air and wringing his hands together back and forth. I shouldn't be here, he thought.
No. If he wanted to help Blaine, and god he wanted to help Blaine more than anything, he had to figure out how and to him, Quinn was the only person he trusted enough to tell everything. Well, mostly everything. He would leave out the whole part about having romantic feelings for Blaine.
Kurt took a deep breath, "I don't…I don't have to tell you everything, do I?" he asked, turning to face Quinn.
She smiled softly and reached out to take his hands in hers, "Of course not, sweetie. Just tell me as much as you want and I'll do my very best to help you with whatever it is." Kurt nodded slowly, working out how to tell her in his mind.
He started off slowly, "Okay…so, basically I have a student- Blaine, his name is Blaine. And he um…he's getting bullied, really badly bullied." Kurt felt Quinn's hands tighten around his ever so slightly as he continued, "I keep seeing it, day after day, his face contorted in physical and emotional pain and the majority of the time there's nothing I can do because there's always something in the way of me getting to him to help. But even when I am there he…he just puts on this mask of bravery and tells me everything's okay when it's so obviously not and doesn't let me in to help him." Kurt looked up into Quinn's hazel eyes," That's all I want Q, I want him to let me in. I want to…I need to help him because there's so much of myself I see in him and I do not want Blaine to be that way but he just won't let me in and I don't know what to fucking do!"
Kurt wasn't sure when he started crying, but all of a sudden Quinn's arms were around him and he was sobbing brokenly into her shoulder as she made soothing noises and gently rocked back and forth. They remained like this for a good five minutes when all of a sudden Kurt realised exactly what he was doing and pulled himself together immediately.
This is for Blaine. You have to be strong, be strong for Blaine, he reminded himself and wiped furiously at his eyes with his sleeves.
"Here," Quinn said, offering him a tissue, "Well...that wasn't quite what I was expecting." She looked thoughtful for a few moments while Kurt cleaned himself up and regulated his breathing. When she spoke again her tone was serious yet soft, "Kurt, first of all, Blaine isn't you. For one he actually has teachers fighting to help him." she offered him a smile which he returned slightly, "Okay, so you say he won't let you in?" Kurt shook his head, "Does he know he can trust you?" she continued.
"Of course he does. I've lost count of the amount of times I've reassured him that if he needs anything he knows where to find me." Kurt defended.
"Well, have you shown him that he can trust you?" Quinn prompted, making Kurt look at her in confusion. "It's not always enough just to say 'you can trust me' over and over, maybe you need to act. Give him that little shove in the direction of feeling that he can trust you instead of just hearing the words." Quinn finished, looking at Kurt intently.
Kurt took in this information, considering it very carefully. Quinn always did know the right words to say, even before she became a psychologist (and a very good one, she worked hard to get to where she was now). Away back in high school whenever anyone was troubled, she would be the person to set them in the right direction. Kurt was ridiculously grateful for her.
"Okay?" Quinn said, smiling warmly and squeezing his hands a little.
Kurt nodded slowly, "Okay." And returned her smile, feeling like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
"Now, fancy a catch up on this week's Next Top Model?" Quinn asked, getting to her feet. Kurt sighed contently, feeling a little more relaxed about the whole Blaine situation now that he had an idea bobbing around in his head.
Later that night Blaine lay in bed staring at the ceiling, ignoring the stinging at the back of his eyes that wasn't caused by his pain medication. He refused to cry. He wouldn't cry.
Blaine wanted to trust Mr Hummel…Kurt, more than anything. He wanted to believe so bad that he could make things better. But the confusion he felt after the incident today only made him doubt that belief. Did he care? Why did he care? And Blaine wasn't prepared to build himself up for disappointment, not anymore.
No, he refused to cry. He wouldn't cry.
Now I'm afraid I can't say the next chapter will be up soon, it's exam time for me so I don't think I'll have much free time for the next couple of weeks. It will definitely be out before the end of the month though, so stick with me!
I'm starting to feel bad for doing this to poor Blaine...
Leave a review? You have all been so amazing with your reviews, thank you so much. They give me encouragement to keep writing.
Thank you for reading! :)