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. These become more detailed as the story goes on. 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 4
David had texted Thad with their plans to go out, so David, Wes, Thad, Jeff, Nick, Sebastian, Trent, and Beatrice had woken at around 9am, gotten ready by 11am, and were now on their way to the mall to meet Blaine and Kurt. The plan was to do some shopping before going to get a late lunch and ice cream right after that. Beatrice was in the backseat between Nick and Jeff, Wes was driving with David in the front passenger seat, and Trent, Thad, and Sebastian were in the far back of Wes's van. They reached the mall without any issues, and Beatrice grabbed Nick's hand as soon as they were both out of the vehicle. Nick had a firm, but gentle, grip on her hand, and he would squeeze gently every now and then, trying to give her a little bit of extra comfort. They all walked to one of the clothing stores in the mall, looking around for Blaine and Kurt. They found them after a few minutes, both looking sad that it wasn't safe to hold hands, but still happy to be together. Kurt looked at Beatrice, then at Blaine.
"I'm going to have fun giving her a makeover."
Nick's hand squeezed Beatrice's. Jeff spoke up.
"No, you aren't."
Kurt looked confused.
"Why not?"
"This is the sort of thing she is comfortable in. She won't wear high heels, she hates skirts, and she has repeatedly asked me what the purpose behind a sleeveless shirt is."
Kurt's eyes widened.
"But…she could wear designer clothes if she wanted to. She could be in fashion, turn heads. Why wouldn't she want to?"
Nick sighed.
"Kurt, she grew up looking to me as an example. Even when she wanted to be like mom, to look like mom, she refused to wear skirts and high heels. She never tried on mom's high heeled shoes, only her flats or tennis shoes. The rest of the time, she was trying on my dress shoes and tennis shoes. Jeff has had reading glasses for years, and she used to try those on, even though she doesn't need them. Fashion isn't something that she has ever really been into."
Kurt looked upset.
"Did she have the chance to be?" "Well, she was allowed to wear anything within her school's dress code, but we never really showed her a bunch of fashionable stuff. She has to wear the uniform at Crawford Country Day."
Kurt held his hand out to Beatrice.
"Let's go introduce you to the world of fashion."
Beatrice followed, but refused to let go of Nick's hand. Kurt picked out various shirts and skirts before leading her to the dressing rooms and sending her in with the clothing. They boys waited as she tried on the first outfit, wondering how this was going to go.
"Nick?"
Nick straightened from his position leaning against the wall.
"Yeah, Little Bit?"
"Part of the shirt is missing."
Most of the boys chuckled, with the exceptions of Kurt, Blaine, and Sebastian. Nick took a deep breath, trying not to let her hear the laughter in his voice.
"What part is missing?"
There was a brief pause.
"The sleeves."
David, Thad, and Trent burst into laughter.
"Do you have the shirt on, Little Bit?"
"Yeah, and a skirt."
"Ok, Little Bit. Can you come out of the dressing room so we can see it?"
There was a pause, then the door opened. Beatrice looked confused and worried.
"I didn't rip it, honest."
Nick looked at Kurt for confirmation.
"She didn't rip it, that's how it looked when I found it."
Kurt looked at Beatrice.
"She looks great in the outfit, the only thing that could make it look better is if she were standing up straighter."
Nick sighed.
"Little Bit, do you want the outfit? Will you wear it if we get it?"
"No. It's pretty, but I don't feel comfortable in it."
Nick stepped towards her.
"Why don't you feel comfortable in it?"
"I feel…exposed? I don't feel right not having some sort of sleeves."
"Ok. Go back in there and pull out the shirts without sleeves, including this one, and hand them over the door to me. Just tell me when you are going to, ok?"
"Ok."
Beatrice went back into the dressing room, locking the door behind her. Kurt turned to look at Nick with a worried expression on his face.
"I don't understand. She said the clothes were pretty, but she doesn't want them?"
Jeff spoke up.
"Kurt, she does like the clothes, but that doesn't mean she feels comfortable in the clothes. I mean, I can remember when she was about 10 years old and she had to wear a dress to a party. She fidgeted the entire evening."
Jeff and Nick smiled as they remembered that party, and the aftermath.
"What happened?"
"As soon as the party was over, I went back to Nick's house to spend the night. We got to their house, and Beatrice practically flew out of the car. By the time we got in the house she was yelling for Nick. We went up to his room and found her pacing. Nick asked what was wrong, and she asked him to let her borrow a shirt and pants."
Kurt looked surprised.
"She didn't like wearing a dress?"
Nick laughed. "She absolutely loathed wearing a dress. To make matters worse, mom had insisted that she wear shoes with a slight heel on them. Since she had no experience with walking in them, she had to cling to either me or Jeff to stay upright. She only wears skirts at school now."
"Nick?"
Beatrice's voice floated out of the dressing room.
"Yeah, Little Bit?"
"I picked out the shirts with no sleeves."
"Ok, pass them over the door to Jeff."
Jeff reached up over the door so she knew that she could hand them out.
"Thanks, Jeff-Jeff."
Jeff grinned.
"No problem, Beatrice."
Jeff hung the clothes on the rack nearby before turning back to Kurt.
"Is it safe to guess that she just handed me most of the clothes that you sent her in there with?"
Kurt sighed.
"Yes. All she has left to try on is 2 shirts, 4 skirts, and a pair of jeans."
"Jeff?"
He turned towards the dressing room.
"Yeah, Beatrice?"
"My legs fell asleep."
Nick spoke up.
"Little Bit? Are you wearing the jeans Kurt sent you in with?"
"Yes…"
"Take them off and try one of the skirts on."
"Ok."
Jeff turned to Kurt.
"Kurt, seriously, don't feel bad if she doesn't get any of the clothing. She's always been more comfortable in pants and a t-shirt."
"Alright. I tried."
Blaine smiled at him. Trent nudged Wes and David, giving them a questioning glance. Both of them nodded. He spoke, voice barely above a whisper.
"Guys, can we surprise her?"
Nick looked over.
"Surprise her how?"
Trent grinned.
"Hat shopping."
Kurt and Sebastian both looked confused, but the rest of the boys were grinning broadly. Sebastian rolled his eyes, trying to feign disinterest.
"Why would you surprise her with hat shopping?"
David was smirking now.
"Because out of all clothing items that she could be interested in, she loves playing with hats."
Kurt looked astonished.
"Really?"
Nick chuckled.
"We think that it's Jeff's fault."
The boys, excluding Kurt and Sebastian, laughed. Sebastian wasn't even bothering to hide his curiosity now.
"Why do you think it's Jeff's fault? I've never seen him in a hat."
Jeff spoke up.
"We think it's my fault because I used to go with Nick and Beatrice when their mom took them shopping. Nick and I would try to keep Beatrice in a good mood, so he would use fake accents and I would grab hats from the shelves and put them on her. If we got the chance to stop by a hat aisle while their mom was trying on clothes, we would have Beatrice hold still and try to stack as many hats as we could on her head."
Nick picked up where Jeff left off.
"Jeff and I were 13 years old, so we could watch Beatrice without too much trouble. We realized that she loved hats the same year that we joined the Warblers, mostly because the entire group went on a shopping trip and Trent had offered to watch her while we tried on clothes. We had just come out of the dressing rooms and Beatrice was standing there with a beret on her head."
Nick smiled as he remembered.
"Beatrice was so excited. I mean, her posture isn't good normally, but with that hat on, she was standing up straight with a huge smile."
"Nick?"
The boys turned around. Beatrice was back in her normal clothing, looking relieved. Nick pulled her into a hug.
"Yeah, Little Bit?"
"Am I done trying clothes on now?"
"Did you try on all of the skirts and the two shirts that had sleeves?"
"Yep."
Beatrice pointed to the clothing rack where she had hung up the clothing.
"Then we can go to the next store."
Beatrice grabbed Nick's hand and turned to Kurt.
"I like the clothes that you picked out. They are really pretty, but I don't feel comfortable in them. I'm sorry."
Kurt smiled.
"It's alright."
Wes laid a gentle hand on Beatrice's shoulder.
"Let's go you guys, we've got some more stores to visit before we go get lunch."
"Then ice cream?"
Wes smiled at her.
"Then ice cream."
The group left the store, Beatrice happy to be with her brother, and all of the guys excited to see her expression upon learning about the surprise.
