So, this chapter is quite important. A lot happens here and we start to understand something about the two main couples.

In the next chapter, we'll finally meet the other Warblers too, so don't worry!

I really hope you'll like this and I'd be glad to know your opinion about this story.

Thank you.

Enjoy.

Secrets

As soon as rehearsals end, Blaine and Kurt go back into their room. They don't have any projects to finish for the night, all their homework done. They'll probably just talk until one of them fall asleep, that's what they've been doing the past few days. It's their new routine and they both like it. Kurt is easy to approach, he accepts every awkward behaviour Blaine may have, he even admitted to like Blaine's Bananas in Pajamas bed sheets. Blaine still remembers how much Sebastian laughed at him when he saw them and Danny, his second roommate thought Blaine was a ten years old kid who happened to be there because of a misunderstanding. Instead after Kurt admitted to liking them, or to quote him finding them 'absolutely adorable', they discovered just how much they had in common.

Kurt is also incredibly reassuring. Even if he is unaware of it, just with his eyes he can calm Blaine down when he's having a bad day. It happened the first time when professor Tate announced a test on something that Blaine hadn't studied yet, so he spent the whole night up studying, trying to figure out how to pass the test. So Kurt stayed up with him all night, helping him or just telling him how great he was doing. It happened again. Every time Blaine felt like breaking down, Kurt was somehow next to him and Blaine felt better.

They are silently walking to their dorm when Sebastian approaches them with an impolite "Blaine, can we talk?" not even acknowledging Kurt and Blaine instantly turns to his roommate, looking for help. He doesn't want to talk to Sebastian, he thought he had made it clear.

Kurt shrugs, giving Blaine a chance to decide what he wants to do. So when he finally looks back to Sebastian, he mumbles, "I'm busy," already looking for Kurt's hand and as soon as he grabs it, he leads him to their room, almost running, his breath caught in his throat. He needs to calm down right now, or he might faint. Everything is spinning and he feels dizzy, he isn't even sure if he is walking straight. He's probably hunched over or swaying back and forth. Kurt is holding him up now, Blaine can feel his warm hands around his shoulders, he just can't look at him.

Somehow they arrive at their room and Blaine slides against the first wall he can reach, sitting on the cold floor when his legs finally give out. And when did he start hyperventilating? This is not good, not good at all. It's not normal that as soon as Sebastian got near him, he had a panic attack. He can feel it, his heart racing, his hands sweaty, he is shaking so bad and he knows that he's going to have a heart attack just then and there. He is having a fucking panic attack. It had been months since the last one. Fucking Sebastian.

"Hey, Blaine? You okay?" Kurts voice breaks through his thoughts.

He seems so worried and Blaine wishes he could tell him that it's not as bad as it looks and that he is going to feel better in a couple of minutes. It's just that he is so scared right now that he is not sure if he is going to feel better at all. He opens his mouth, trying to say something, trying to tell him 'Panic attack', but no sound comes out. He gulps as much air as he can, knowing it won't be enough.

He can't breathe and he's going to pass out, all while Kurt looks at him wide eyes and scared to death. If he won't talk to him after this, Blaine won't blame him. He is just waiting for Kurt to stand up and leave him there to die alone.

Kurt instead sits next to Blaine and puts his arm around his shoulders. He likes Kurt's scent and he loves when Kurt touches him, just not right now, so he tries to move away. He can't breathe, he needs more air, more room, he can't be touched. But Kurt's grip is too strong and his other hand ends up on Blaine's chest, pressing down slightly, forcing him to breathe out all the air trapped in his lungs.

"Good. You're doing good," Kurt tells him, like a mantra "Just calm down. Easy."

"S'ry," is the first thing Blaine manages to say after a while. His vision better now, even if everything is fuzzy, he can see flashes of light and shapes all around and it's better than two seconds before. He can't say how long it had last. Panic attacks are usually no longer than a couple of minutes. Even if it seems so much more.

Kurt slowly moves his hand from his chest, trying to convince him that he can breathe on his own but he still holds him with an arm around his shoulders and Blaine carefully puts his head on Kurt's shoulder. He is exhausted, his legs are still shaking, his chest hurts and his throat burns. Not to mention how embarrassed he feels.

He has never seen someone else going through a panic attack, he has no clue how it looks but he has seen how the others look at him after he has one and they always look so scared. He feels so sorry that Kurt had to see that.

"Feeling better?"

Blaine nods, still out of breath and closes his eyes, trying to calm down his heart beat. It's okay, everything is fine. Sebastian is not here and Kurt hasn't gone anywhere.

"Can you tell me what happened?"

"Sebastian happened."

Kurt forces him up and carries him onto the bed, sitting next to him once again, with a bottle of water in one hand and helps him drink a few sips.

"Care to elaborate?"

Blaine knows he has to. Kurt deserves an explanation but he doesn't want to tell him any details. So he talks about his first year at Dalton. He transferred here after his classmates decided it would be fun to kick him in the parking lot, leaving him there with a broken arm and a collapsed lung. That's the reason why he and Sebastian became friends, they shared a lot of bad memories, had almost the same experiences.

He has to tell Kurt how Sebastian deceived him, letting him think they were friends and then forced him.

"Sebastian isn't a bad guy. He just-"

"He is a horrible person, Blaine!" Kurt yells. "He is so horrible and I am so sorry. But, why didn't you tell anyone? I don't get it."

"Kurt, almost everyone here has had bad experiences."

"Yeah Blaine, you're right. That's not an excuse." They're both crying at this point.

"It does though," Blaine says, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, "Sebastian didn't want to hurt me. He cared about me, I know that."

Kurt grabs his shoulders with both hands, looking at him right in the eyes, trying to focus him as much as he can, "Blaine? Sebastian raped you, in your bathroom. You need to tell someone."

"Please, don't say that word," Blaine whispers. He still can't say it, he probably never will. He isn't even sure it can be considered rape; they had something more than a friendship, Blaine never said he was a virgin, there was no way Sebastian could have known that he didn't want it. Right? It had just been a coincidence that they were closed in the bathroom and that the small space was scaring Blaine so much that he couldn't talk. But, Sebastian knew indeed that Blaine hated small spaces…

And what's the point of telling this to someone? Sebastian was as scared as Blaine was. He won't do that again. Maybe it could sound naïve on his part, but he still believes Sebastian is a good guy, even if he can't talk to him without feeling sick.

"Oh God," Kurt hugs him and Blaine feels like he can really cry for the first time, without feeling guilty about it.

"Calm down Princess."

Sebastian can't take it anymore. It's been at least twenty minutes since Thad started to complain, whimpering and fidgeting, forcing him to stay awake.

Instead of calming down, Thad switches on the light next to his bed, annoyingly lighting up Sebastian's side of the room too, so he curls up in the bed, covering his face with his pillows, still trying to sleep.

"Sebastian?" Thad calls, his voice rough, tear strained, "Please-"

"I said, let me sleep," he grunts.

"Please, can you give me my phone? Please."

Sebastian stays still for a moment, his head under his pillow, his eyes closed, processing what Thad just said. Then he stands up, tugging his sheets with him and snaps, "Can't you get your fucking phone by yourself? And why in the hell do you need it in the middle of the night?"

Thad stares at him crying, knowing that if he really needs it, he has to get it by himself. So he carefully places his feet on the floor, with what looks like an incredible effort to Sebastian and he holds his breath standing up.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asks, almost worried by the way Thad has to rely on the wall, trying to balance his weight on one leg. When his roommate doesn't answer, Sebastian looks down, focusing on the foot Thad is keeping off the floor and which looks painfully swollen, "What happened to your ankle?"

Thad takes another small step, trying to reach the phone on his desk and clenches his teeth, "Someone made me fall," he answers.

"Oh, come on! You didn't fall that bad. And you could walk few minutes ago."

"Yeah," he answers, trying another small step and feeling his leg give out under his weight.

Sebastian catches him as he loses his balance, holding him with one hand on his left arm and the other on his waist. "Come on. Just- just sit down." He doesn't like being so close to him. Actually, Sebastian doesn't like being close to anyone, but Thad is leaning on him heavily and he can't let go.

"I need to go to the nurse," he breaths out.

"Can't you wait until tomorrow? Try to sleep and let me do the same, will you?"

Thad swears and, come on, Thad never swears! That's what really worries Sebastian. Not to mention how pale Thad looks, nor the way he is shaking in his arms.

Sighing Sebastian helps him sit on the bed again, staring at him for a moment and deciding his next move. He wants to help him, but what if he hurts him more? He should just go back to sleep and let him be. He can't help him, he can't be gentle with him now, or he will do it again and he can't let himself do that. He won't hurt Thad like he hurt Blaine.

"Do you think it's broken?"

"It's not. I just really need to go to the nurse. Please."

"I'm not helping you."

"For God's sake, Sebastian. Just give me the fucking phone," he snaps, tears running down his cheeks, his lips quivering, "Give it to me and I won't bother you again. Don't think I'm happy to be here asking for your help."

"Why do you need your phone?"

Thad gives him a look and Sebastian feels stupid for a moment, "To call someone who can help. I can't walk and I really need to go. So, if you-"

"Okay," Sebastian sighs. Fuck, he has to do something. It's his fault if Thad is hurt. And he has to admit that the idea of scooping him up in his arms excites him.

"What are you doing now?" Thad asks when Sebastian approaches him.

"I'll take you to the nurse, Princess. But tell this to someone and I'll kill you. Deal?" he says, finally taking a hold of Thad and literally carrying him bridal style. "You're just lucky your roommate happens to be so tough," he says, hoping that it sounds like a joke more than anything else.

Thad barely nods, but he doesn't dare to answer, afraid that Sebastian would change his mind.

He walks quickly, afraid to be seen and for the first time in his entire time at the Dalton Accademy he is happy that his room isn't too far from the nurse station. At least he won't have to walk through the whole school with Thad in his arms. Not that he wouldn't be happy about that, it would just look awkward.

"Why are you crying again?" he asks, rolling his eyes at the way Thad acts.

"It hurts. Can't help it."

Sebastian shrugs, pushing the door open with is foot and finally letting go of Thad, next to one of the beds. "Is there anyone here?"

A nurse comes a few seconds later, when Thad is already laying on the bed, covering his eyes with his arm.

"Smythe, what have you done this time?" the nurse asks, giving him a weird look. He had been here quite a lot last year, so she is just waiting for him to show what kind of harm he has done this time. Well, it isn't his fault if when he gets angry he tends to punch whatever happens to be in front of him, which sometimes happens to be a wall or a mirror. But he hasn't done that this time. Actually he hasn't punched anything since the beginning of the year, which is weird, now that he notices it.

"He didn't do anything," Thad answers, "I fell."

"Oh."

The nurse turns in Thad's general direction and Sebastian crosses his arms on his chest, awkwardly shifting his weight from a leg to the other. What is he supposed to do? Should he stay here or just go away? In the end he has done his job, taking his roommate here, he isn't supposed to stay with him. they are not friends. But on the other hand, it's Sebastian's fault that Thad fell. He broke his ankle, holy fuck!

And Sebastian really didn't want to cause that. He had probably pushed Wes on purpose, but it was his way to punish him for the words he said to Thad. And fuck the zero tolerance policy, he would have been happy to hurt Wes. What he had said, the false statement about Thad's shape, that was bullying too. You don't know how someone could react to that and Wes should be more careful when he opens his mouth.

He is focused on his own thoughts, until the nurse says the word "injection", disappearing a second later.

"Injection?" he asks worried and Thad bites his lip, closing his eyes again as he answers, "I'm hemophiliac."

"And so?"

"And so what?"

"And so what does it has to do with an injection? You hurt your ankle, you aren't bleeding or anything ."

"Why don't you just go back to sleep? Leave me-"

"Alone, yeah. Fuck that." Nope. No way. He carried him here, he has been almost gentle with him and he won't just pretend not to care. "Why do you need an injection?" he asks again.

"Because my ankle is bleeding inside, that's why it looks so bad. The injection should stop the bleeding. Happy now?"

"Hey, you don't need to be so harsh."

Thad manages to laugh, even if there is no happiness in his laugh, "Isn't that what you always do?"

"I helped you."

"And I said thank you. End of story. You don't need to baby me."

Sebastian bites his lip hard. He is so mad at himself for the way he always manages to do the wrong thing at the wrong moment with Thad; he really doesn't hate him. Actually, for some abnormal reason he would be glad to make a good impression on him. It's just that the harder he tries, the worse the things go. And this whole thing just keeps reminding him of what happened with Blaine last year.

"Look, I-"

He doesn't have a chance to end his sentence, as the nurse comes back carrying a tray with… well, Sebastian doesn't even know what kind of medical items are there, but there is a needle and that's enough for him to turn his gaze away. He barely listens to what she is asking or how Thad is answering, but he can't help but widen his eyes when the nurse finally stabs the needle into Thad's thin hand. His hand, really?

He shakes his head, forcing his eyes away and focuses on Thad's impassive face until his hand is covered with a band-aid.

"You need to rest for a couple of days, you know that, right?" she says, once his ankle has been tightly wrapped up, "If it's still swollen like this tomorrow, you need to go to the hospital. And you should stay here tonight."

She takes her tray again and goes somewhere.

So Sebastian shrugs and takes a chair from the corner of the room, getting next to Thad's bed, sitting on it with his legs crossed. "What now?" he asks when Thad gives him a weird look.

"Why are you still here? Didn't want to sleep?"

"Mmmh," Sebastian locks his eyes to Thad's, waiting for his reaction when he says, "What would you do if I'd tell you that I'm worried about you?"

"I'd say that I really don't want you to make fool of me and I'd like to be alone."

Sebastian shrugs. He can't blame Thad for how low he thinks about him, but it still hurts. And he's worried about him, by the way. He always looks so sad that Sebastian's heart aches; he always shuts himself down, doesn't dare to answer when it's not necessary and that's not normal. He knows this kind of behaviour, knows it too well for his own displeasure and it's really not okay.

They stay silent for the next ten minutes, until Sebastian decides to say something incredibly ridiculous. "You're tough, you know? I might like you."

"Tough? Me? But, you just spent hours telling me to stop crying and be a man!"

Sebastian shrugs, "You have been walking around the whole evening with a bleeding ankle, you let the nurse stab a needle into your hand without even blinking. That's pretty impressive."

"The great Sebastian Smythe is afraid of a small needle?" he says, almost smiling and Sebastian allows his body to relax.

"Never said that."