Once again thank you for all the wonderful reviews! They really do mean a lot to me, and since I'm almost done with school, I've had a bit more time to write and this chapter just came flying out.
MusicalEscape: Chapter 11 yay :). Slow road to recovery for sure but sadly all good things have some setbacks.
perchance to wake: I'm not sure how she got so evil, she really wasn't supposed to be this bad. Though eventually her own past will be explained giving some reason for her…attachment problems.
wolf of infinity: I loved your review because as I read it I'm thinking it's me! I thought Glee was just some singing show until I was surfing on Youtube and ended up listening to Its my life/Confessions and was surprised I liked it. Then I saw a clip of Kurt singing Roses Turn and Burt's reaction afterwards. I ended up watching all of Season 1 and the beginning of season 2 that I had missed in a few short days. Kurt is completely the reason I started watching Glee. I'm glad you like the OC's I know it's not some peoples thing but I'm quite attached to Zach and Nikel and I'm glad other people like them as well. This chapter may break your heart just a bit more then ;).
I'm going to apologize now, while there's story progression this chapter is kind of a filler to set up necessary pieces for the next couple of chapters. This chapter is not Beta'd, I will apologize for that now as well. My beta's on strike. Her demands are a cookie that I refuse to give her. So, anyways, on with the chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or 'Teardrops on my guitar' by Taylor Swift. I just own OC's.
Kurt groaned, rolling over in his bed to see Zach looming over him, jumping on the balls of his feet, smiling.
"Come on Kurt, up, up! Take your pills and shower we have to go…oh and put clothes on, you probably should do that. Oh! And brush your teeth, and comb your hair…ugh this is going to take forever!"
"What are you talking about?" He mumbled, moving to pull the covers back over his head.
"It's hump day aka Wednesday and because neither of us have anyone to hump we're getting up early and-"
"If you say hump each other I'm never talking to you again." Kurt was not happy, even more so when he saw it was barely 5:30. He had just started sleeping through the night without the help of sleeping pills and here was Zach waking him up.
"Fine, now get ready!"
Kurt never got ready so fast in his life but Zach's constant nagging was getting annoying and he just wanted this over with. The only time Zach had been quiet was while Kurt was in the shower, but Kurt assumed he just couldn't hear him over the water.
"Ready, where are we going?"
Zach just smiled and went to the door when there was a knock just seconds later, "Perfect timing, everyone."
He opened it to reveal Blaine, Sammy, and Nikel. Oh, so he left to wake them up while he was showering.
"See this is why I don't sleep at this school often." Sammy said stifling a yawn.
"Oh stop whining! Let's go, let's go!" He practically ran out the door. The others looked at each other as they heard him yell, "David! Wes! Good everyone's here."
"He's going to wake the whole floor with his yelling." Blaine announced looking at Nikel.
"No shit and who do you think they'll bitch to?" Nikel replied, rubbing his forehead, "Come on let's get out of here before he succeeds in waking the whole damn building."
"Do you know where we're going?" Kurt asked Blaine quietly, as Nikel moved ahead to grab Zach by the back of his hood and pulled him along to get out of the dorms faster.
"It's a Wednesday, so probably to get coffee. At least once a month, on a Wednesday, Zach wakes everyone up to get coffee claiming we need it for 'Hump Day'. I forgot you didn't go with us last month."
They reached the parking lot and Zach started jumping around, excited, "I call driving!"
"NO!" Five voices yelled back startling Kurt.
"Don't ever ride with Zach." Nikel told him, "Actually don't ever let him drive."
"Why?" He chuckled at the pout Zach was sporting.
"He's a terrible driver; he had three accidents his first year driving." Nikel responded, "Trust me, I was in the car for one of them. I found the imaginary brake better than Zach could find the real one."
"Hey! Two weren't my fault. Old people can't drive." Zach grumbled, trying to defend himself. He wasn't that bad of a driver, other people just didn't know how to get out of the way.
"True…but seriously what the fuck?" Sammy jumped in, "Three accidents? I've had one in the three years I've been driving."
"You only got your license last year…"
"I didn't say legally driving now did I?"
"I'm driving," Nikel stated, unlocking his vehicle. He wasn't going to listen to them argue all day.
"We won't all fit." Blaine pointed out, "I'll drive separate. Kurt, do you want to come with me?"
Kurt nodded, following Blaine to his vehicle.
Nikel moved and put his hand over Zach's mouth before he could wolf whistle at them or something equally as embarrassing. Sammy rolled his eyes, getting in the back with Wes and David.
"Ew, Zach did you just lick my hand?" Nikel snapped, pulling his hand away.
"I shall not be silenced!" Was the reply he received as Zach got into the passenger seat. Wiping his hand on his pants he moved to drive.
"Oh who invited the girls?" Zach asked once they arrived at the coffee house. Both girls were in their Crawford Day uniforms.
"Hey Loretta, Allina." Nikel greeted, ignoring Zach's annoyed mutters.
"Sammy, how are you feeling?" Allina immediately went to Sammy's side as they entered the building fussing over him.
They pushed some tables together and the group sat down all with coffees in front of them.
"Hey Allina, do you think the Crawford Glee club could come to Dalton next week. We have some songs we want to run past you." Wes asked the beautiful girl next to Sammy, who was still fussing over her boyfriend.
"We should be able to."
"Oh Kurt, you weren't properly introduced. This is Allina, Sammy's girlfriend." Blaine explained.
Kurt smiled at her and jumped when she let out a squeal, "Oh my god, I recognize you! You were on McKinley's cheerleading team. You guys totally beat us at Nationals."
"You were a cheerleader?" Zach shouted, causing some other occupants to turn and look at him.
Kurt blushed, looking at the table, "For a little bit. I didn't like it much."
"Their team is amazing! The Cheerios are the hardest team to beat. I heard their coach works them so hard that they actually have members who die."
"She was never convicted." Kurt added, seeing their stunned expressions.
"Are we really going to talking about cheerleading the whole time?" Loretta interrupted with a bored tone.
"Let's talk about how bitchy Loretta is. That sounds like a lengthy topic with lots of insight and examples." Zach snapped back at her from across the table. She flipped him off.
"Better not, she'd be too pleased to be in the center of attention."
"Not you too, Allina." Nikel groaned.
"Sorry, Nikel."
"It's okay, Allina," Zach smirked, "Your mama just taught you not to lie."
"If you guys don't stop it I won't speak to either of you ever again." Both immediately shut up after that.
While they moved back to safer topics Kurt couldn't help but watch Zach and Loretta. While Zach ignored her and went back to talking to Nikel, Wes and David, she remained glaring at him. She spent the whole coffee session watching Zach like she was waiting for him to make a move on Nikel. Kurt raised an eyebrow, Zach was right, she was a bitch.
After the coffee fiasco the boys headed back to Dalton and split up to go to their separate classes. Nikel and Zach walked down the hall towards their English class. Zach was hopping around from one side of Nikel to the other, quoting random movies.
"I'm on one side; I'm on the other side. I'm on the east bank; I'm on the west bank. It's not that critical."
"Zach if you don't stop I'm never letting you have coffee again."
"Pssh like you can stop me."
Nikel raised an eyebrow, keeping the rest of his face emotionless, "Watch me."
"So obviously you're not going to blindfold me for this."
"I'm not even going to touch that one." He grumbled before snapping his fingers, "Oh I wanted to ask you-"
"Wait, he said what?" Both boys stopped talking and glanced at each other. That sounded a lot like Jamie. Smirking at the idea of getting some dirt on the boy, Zach took off and froze right by the corner Jamie was on the other side of. Sparing a quick glance, he saw he was talking to Gabriel. That wasn't surprising at all. Nikel stopped next to Zach, curious as well. They had missed what Gabriel said in reply.
"So what? He told you off now you're crushing on him?" Jamie asked. He raised an eyebrow at the look he was given in return, "Oh shit."
"Oh shut up, he just intrigues me is all," Gabriel replied, standing in the middle of an empty hallway, staring back at his best friend.
The other boy groaned, "Just like Nathan. Of course, you didn't even know Nathan existed until he screamed at you...you're an idiot you know that right?"
"Did I ask for your opinion?"
"Nope, I give it free of charge."
"You sound like your cousin."
"I do not sound like that." Nikel grumbled before Zach shushed him.
"Whatever, I'm just saying. What happened to the fact he's here on scholarship meaning he's obviously poor not to be able to afford this place."
Gabriel shrugged, "He's pretty; I believe that makes up for that."
"Always going for the pretty boys," Jamie muttered, "Fine I'll stay out the way and I'll even be –I can't believe I'm saying this- nice to him. Man, that leaves a bad taste in my mouth."
Nikel and Zach pulled away then in order to make it to class on time. They shared a glance as they took their seats. This was going to be trouble. The real question was should they warn Kurt…or Blaine? You'd have to be blind not to notice how Blaine acted around Kurt or even how Kurt was starting to act around Blaine.
They were the first ones to leave the class as soon as the bell rang.
"So do we say anything?" Zach asked, surprisingly serious.
Nikel sighed, "No, not yet. We'll see if Gabriel actually tries something first. We didn't interfere with Nathan and well…we all know how that ended."
"True." He nodded, "Hey, what were you going to ask me?"
They stopped outside Nikel's class; Zach's being just a few doors down.
"Oh yeah," A big smiled crossed Nikel's face making Zach smile as well, "Will you go shopping with me after school tomorrow?"
"Shopping? For what?" He smile turned teasing, "My birthday was last month, remember."
It took all Zach had to keep the smile frozen on his face as Nikel explained why he needed to go, "Sure. I'll help you."
"Thanks, see you at lunch."
He waited until Nikel entered his class before the smile dropped from his face. What did he agree to? He walked past his class and headed towards the dorm rooms. He suddenly didn't feel so well.
When Zach didn't show up at lunch Kurt became worried. It was eerily like Sammy just two days earlier. Telling the rest to stay and eat he headed to the dorms with a plate of food for both him and Zach, hoping he'd find him there.
He entered their room to find Zach facing away from him, his guitar in his hand. He quietly closed the door, listening to Zach's unique singing voice.
"He says he's so in love
He's finally got it right
I wonder if he knows
He's all I think about at night
"He's the reason for the teardrops on my guitar
The only thing that keeps me wishing on a wishing star
He's the song in the car I keep singing
Don't know why I do
"She better hold him tight
Give him all her love
Look in those beautiful eyes
And know she's lucky 'cause
"he's the reason for the teardrops on my guitar
The only one who's got enough of me to break my heart
He's the song in the car I keep singing
Don't know why I do
"He's the time taken up but there's never enough
And he's all that I need to fall into
Drew looks at me
I fake a smile so he won't see"
Instead of putting the guitar down he kept holding onto it bowing his head down to look like he was hugging the instrument. A sniff caused Kurt to move.
"Zach."
He didn't move right away, but eventually turned to lean against his headboard to look at Kurt. Kurt moved forward and sat down next to him and handed him a plate of food.
"What's wrong, Zach?"
"He wants me to go shopping with him." Kurt knew instantly he was talking about Nikel.
"Are you sure he's not gay?" He asked, giving him a weird look.
Zach let out a humorless laugh, "Positive…he wants me to help get a promise ring for the bitchress, you know since I'm his best friend."
Kurt flinched, "Ouch, sorry."
Zach fiddled with his guitar a bit, "I saw it coming and yet it totally caught me off guard. Does that make sense?"
"Yeah Zach it does." He moved to sit next to Zach on the bed after grabbing the guitar and setting it against the wall, "Put in a movie, I hate silences. It makes me…remember."
"Class starts in 10 minutes. I'm not going so I could watch something but you, on the other hand, don't have time for a movie."
"I'm not going either. I'll just say I'm feeling ill. Trust me they'll believe me with all the medication I'm on."
"That's the first joke I've heard to say at your own expense like that."
"Just put something on…that's not gory."
Zach stuck out his tongue, "kill joy."
A knock at the door jolted Kurt awake. He looked around to see he was still next to Zach on his bed and Zach remained unconscious. Apparently they both fell asleep watching the movie. Sighing he went to the door, only to find Nikel on the other side.
"Nice hair, Kurt. Did I wake you up?"
Groaning, he put a hand in his hair and moved out of the way so Nikel could enter the room. Kurt watched as Nikel jumped onto Zach's bed and began poking him in the forehead.
"Wake up, wake up, wake up…by the way Blaine will be here in a few minutes. He was worried when you never came back down." He turned back to Zach, "Wake up-"
"I'm awake…stop poking me."
"That's what she said."
"Really? We're going with those jokes?"
"Sure. I have to cancel our Call of Duty match today, Loretta called and I need to go to her house and protect her from her stupid aunt again."
"That's fine; I'm going to hang out with Kurt anyways. He's cooler than you and he doesn't-"
"Don't say it. You promised never to bring it that up again." His phone beeped; he quickly pulled it out, "Damn it, Loretta's here already. Kurt will you distract her so I can get ready?"
"No." He moved to fix hair.
Nikel turned to Zach, his expression pleading, "Fine…I'll go distract the bitchress. You owe me…big!"
"Thank you!" He lurched forward, hugging him, "You're the absolute best. I'll be down in 15 minutes at most."
With that, he ran out of the room leaving the door open. Groaning, Zach got up.
"You are a masochistic."
"Shut up." He growled. After one last pained look he left to meet Loretta in the common's area.
Kurt moved to go to the bathroom to fix his hair when he saw his phone was blinking. Picking it up he saw he had 5 missed text messages.
'Dude heard Burt talkin 2 school you didn't go to class are u ok?'
'Kurt? Answer me!'
'If you dont answer in 5 mins Im going there.'
'1 min left'
'Im on my way'
Oh crap. He looked at the time of the text and knew Finn was already on his way. Well that would just be another stupid thing to deal with. He moved to the mirror to try to fix his bedhead.
"Why is your door open?" Kurt jumped, "And why weren't you in class?"
"Hey," Kurt greeted Blaine after a moment, satisfied he no longer had bed head, "I fell asleep so I missed class. Sorry, if I worried you."
"It's fine." They stood in an awkward silence unsure what else to say.
"Where's Zach?" Blaine finally settled on a safe topic.
"Distracting Loretta."
"Are you serious?"
Kurt just nodded.
"Want to go spy on them?" Blaine asked, a sly smile crossing his face, "It's bound to be entertaining."
"Why not?"
Walking side by side they headed towards an empty common's area. Zach and Loretta stood in the middle, glaring one another down.
"I bet your brain feels as good as new, seeing that you've never used it." Loretta snapped at Zach, an evil smirk on her face.
"I don't exactly hate you, but if you were on fire and I had water, I'd drink it."
"Shock me, say something intelligent."
Zach exhaled sharply, his shoulders slumped, "We need to stop fighting."
Loretta scoffed, "What? Give up?"
"I'm being serious, you…ugh!"
Loretta glared at him, "Fine! We will. When you learn to leave my man alone."
"I do!" Zach snarled back, "He's my best friend, you stupid bitch. I hang out with him, I play video games with him-"
"And you fucking pant over him. You have a crush on him, but he's mine, and you need to back the fuck off."
"I have never tried to come in between you two. You're a selfish, self-centered, scared little girl, but I've never tried to make Nikel leave you. I guess it just shows which one of us actually loves him."
"You can't have him!" She screamed, stomping her foot.
"He's not an object to be had!" A slap resonated through the room.
Blaine abandoned their hiding spot to grab Loretta before she could slap Zach again. Kurt's eyes were wide at the full blown psycho bitch that was Loretta.
"What the hell is going on?" Nikel stormed into the room. Blaine let go of Loretta and she approached her boyfriend, "Loretta are you okay?"
"I'm fine; I was just showing them a scene from the play Crawford is hoping to put on. Right, Zach?"
Zach snorted, "Fuck this shit." He pushed past them and headed back towards his room.
"Zach, where are you going?"
"Go out with your stupid bitch of a girlfriend. Blow me off again. Whatever. Fuck it, and fuck you, Nikel!" He disappeared from view then.
"You wish." Loretta snarled. Nikel turned to Loretta then. Seeing this, Blaine and Kurt looked at each other and slowly back out of the room, trying to get away from the awkward tension.
"So…Zach's gay?" Blaine finally said as they went to his dorm.
"Yep."
"And likes Nikel."
"Basically."
Blaine sat on his bed while Kurt stood closer to the door.
"You knew all this?"
"Well Zach is my roommate. We talk. How did you not notice?"
"I didn't even know he was gay to be honest."
Kurt just shrugged, looking around Blaine's room. He began to slowly move, looking at all the pictures and sheet music he had lying around. A soft knock at the door interrupted his snooping. Blaine opened it to find Zach standing there, looking very withdrawn. He moved out of the way and Zach all but ran to the bed and plopped down.
"Can I stay with you guys for a while?" There was a weird tone in Zach's voice and it took Kurt a moment to realize it was loneliness, something he never heard in the other boy's voice before.
They sat around and talked, trying to stay on safe topics. Eventually they got into an argument about the worth of musicals.
"Are you kidding me? West Side story was sooo boring!" Zach whined, lying upside down on the bed while Blaine and Kurt sat on the floor.
"It's a classic." Kurt replied.
"I'm guessing you're going to try to tell that Sound of Music was something amazing as well."
"You don't like Sound of Music? We can't talk anymore." Kurt looked completely offended.
Blaine sat back and just watched how animated Kurt became while arguing his favorite movies. Those eyes were alive with a passion he's never seen there before. He could almost see the boy that was probably there before the abuse. He wanted to see it more often. He looked beautiful.
"I see, tossed aside for a musical." He put his hand on his heart, "I'm hurt, so hurt."
"You two are ridiculous." Blaine said laughing.
Kurt pulled out his phone to see that Finn just text him, 'so im in the common area come down b4 i come find u.'
"Crap." Kurt took off without another word leaving two very confused boys behind.
Kurt practically ran back into the commons room, he really didn't want Finn roaming the halls.
"What are you doing here!" He snapped, as soon as he saw the big buffoon.
"You wouldn't answer your phone I was freaking out, dude."
"So you drove two hours instead of just waiting for a reply."
Finn slung an arm around Kurt, "Of course, if you were in trouble you wouldn't have answered."
Like that was perfectly logical. Then again, in Finn's mind it was probably was a completely sane reaction. Especially with Kurt's track record of getting into trouble.
Blaine and Zach walked into the room at that time, stopping short when they saw the two.
"Who's that with Kurt?" Blaine asked, his voice sounding off.
"I don't know. What do I look like? The person who has a little book that has all Kurt's relations ticked in? Because I'm not, good sir."
"That doesn't make any sense." Blaine hissed, "He just put his arm around him. They seem really close."
"Good observation, Blaine, now tell me what noise a dog makes." He blinked to see Blaine walking away, "Where do you think you're going?"
"To see who he's talking to."
"Just admit you're jealous already, jeez." Zach muttered following the other boy.
Kurt looked up as they approached and shrugged off Finn's arm. He was confused by the serious almost glare-like look Blaine shot Finn.
"So Kurt, who's this?" Zach asked when he realized Blaine wasn't going to say anything. Really that boy could play the jealous card perfectly.
"Oh this is my step-brother, Finn. Finn these are two my friends, Zach and Blaine. His girlfriend was the one I was talking to at Sectionals."
Blaine relaxed and threw Finn a charming smile, "Pleasure to meet you."
"Uh, you too dude." He scratched the back of his head, "So since I'm here I kinda wanted to ask you something. Rachel says I shouldn't give your, uh, well I didn't understand exactly what she said so I'm just going to ask anyways. We're playing a game next week and New Direction is doing the half-time show. They really want you to come, they miss you. So, will you come?"
"I'll think about it Finn."
Finn shrugged, "Works for me. So, since I drove all the way out here and don't have to be back home for a while…what do you guys do for fun?"
Zach smirked and Kurt was almost happy to see Zach back to normal, if only it wasn't directed at him, "Do you play Xbox?"
By the time Finn left it was almost 8. Kurt showed Blaine and Zach that he could play Call of Duty…surprisingly well actually. Zach decided to go back to his room, figuring Nikel would be coming back soon and wasn't ready to see him.
Knowing he needed some time alone to figure out his own head, Kurt went back to Blaine's room to watch a movie. They both settled on Blaine's bed much like they did at Sammy's house. Kurt didn't even flinch when Blaine moved close enough that their whole side was touching one another. It just felt comfortable. Even though he knew Blaine was gay it still showed him how comfortable Blaine was with touching him. He didn't feel like a disease or a freak. He felt like Kurt.
'No one pushes the Hummels around.' His dads words rang in his ears.
"Hey, Blaine." Kurt said suddenly during a lull in the movie.
"Yeah."
"If I go to Finn's game will you come with me? I don't, I don't think I can go back to that place by myself."
Blaine reached out and gently took Kurt's hand, "Sure, Kurt. I'll go with you."
Kurt smiled at him briefly before turning back to the movie. Blaine didn't let go of his hand.
I hope everyone liked the chapter. Sorry if it seems a little choppy as stated at the beginning this was kind of a filler chapter for what's to come. Each piece had a very specific purpose believe it or not.
Coming up?
Kurt sings.
Zach and Nikel have a little chat that may or may not fix things between them.
Loretta's past and her creepy attachment to Nikel.
Gabriel apologizes for his behavior to Kurt.
Blaine realizes if he doesn't act he could lose Kurt.