Ryan rushed into work running late. "So sorry I'm late, Burt." He said breathlessly as he reached the desk. "Stacey has a hospital appointment and no one else could take her."
"It's fine, I understand." Burt smiled. "Just give me a quick call next time, will you?"
"Definitely." He replied. "What am I doing today?"
Burt pointed. "That car over there. Just a quick tire change and a clean up." Ryan nodded walking over to it.
"How are things with your dad?" Burt asked him, curious.
"I haven't spoken to him since that night." He told him. "He did call my mom the other night though, about the wedding, apparently he's mad that he wasn't invited."
"Well, Ryan, no matter what you should stick to what you believe in. Don't let that man come in and try to control your life again." He told him.
"I will always stand by what I believe in." He promised, not only to Burt but to himself.
Once again New Directions were all sat in the choir room, however this time it was a more relaxed setting. Mr Shuester was at a meeting and had told them to all discuss songs they could sing for Regionals. Blaine sat at the piano mucking around with a few keys, playing the songs he thought they should do as Kurt leaned against it admiring him and bobbing along whenever he played an upbeat tune. Alice sat with Rory, cuddling into him, both of them swaying to the music. The others danced, argued over songs and even sang.
Giving the piano back to Brad, Blaine walked over to Kurt leaning on the piano beside him. He watched his sister closely. Despite Kurt's reassurance he couldn't stop that worry he had in the back of his mind. What Sebastian had said had thrown him, he knew that Jeff must have told him what happened in the past but he didn't think it could happen again. She'd been taking her tablets and didn't seem to be showing any strange behaviour as far as he was concerned but was her bipolar disorder really the only cause of her cheating?
"What are you thinking about?" Kurt asked him noticing the distance in his face.
"Nothing really." He told him.
"Don't lie Blaine." Kurt replied.
"I'm still worried about that thing I brought up last Saturday." He answered, unable to hold anything back from Kurt.
"Well, if you're really that worried ask her." He said though he still didn't trust what Sebastian had told Blaine. Alice was a good person, she would never willingly hurt anyone though he could understand why Blaine would be worried.
"So I was thinking tonight we could go out for dinner then catch a movie?" Rory said to Alice as they sat together in the choir room.
"Yeah, sounds good." She smiled, kissing him quickly on the cheek. It was now Thursday, Rory was going home to Ireland in 3 days and for the past 2 nights they had been going out together to make the most of the time they had left. She cuddled into his shoulder, trying not to think about it.
That evening as Alice was getting ready to go out with Rory, Blaine knocked on her door. She called him in and he came and sat down on her bed.
"Alice, can I ask you about something?" He wondered, looking down at the carpet.
"Yeah sure, what is it?" She asked, quickly finishing applying mascara in the mirror and turning around to face him.
"Please don't react badly to this but someone said something to me and I was just wondering, have you cheated on Rory?" He questioned her feeling awkward about the whole situation.
Alice paused shocked, her heart beating fast with nerves. She walked over to the bed, sitting down next to him. "Who said that?"
"Well, he didn't exactly say you cheated but Sebastian suggested something to me along the lines." He answered her.
She looked away from him guiltily, letting out a frustrated sigh, she felt so angry. Blaine noticed that she was finding it hard to think of an answer. "You didn't, did you?" He asked her shocked.
"No! No!" She quickly said. "Not exactly."
"Alice?" Blaine mumbled.
"No, just listen. You know when I went to the bathroom at Regionals before we performed?" She asked, Blaine nodded. "Sebastian waited outside for me and he started going on about how he was bored with guys or something then he kissed me. I pushed him away, I promise, I didn't want him to do it."
"Sebastian kissed you?" Blaine laughed. "Alice, are you out of you mind?"
"You don't believe me?" She frowned.
"I...I just find it a little weird, that's all." He replied.
"So you don't, then?" She said. Blaine looked at her. "Blaine! I'm being completely honest, I would never do anything like that to Rory. I love him. Sebastian kissed me."
"Ok. I believe you." He told her. Wondering why on earth Sebastian would do something like that. Yes, the guy was happily going after Blaine even though he had a boyfriend but he was positive that he was gay, wasn't he? He decided to put it to the back of his mind for now, leaving Alice to get ready, and ask Kurt about the situation the next day.
"He did what?" Kurt exclaimed standing next to Blaine at his locker the next day.
"Apparently so." Blaine said shaking his head.
"I cannot believe that boy. He is seriously messed up in the head." Kurt said completely shocked by what his boyfriend had just told him. "What are you going to do?"
"Really I have no idea." Blaine answered him swapping books over. "The whole thing, it's just a bit strange to me."
"What you don't think she's telling the truth?" He asked him, Blaine closed his locker and leaned against it.
"I don't know." He shrugged.
"She's your sister! Why would she lie about something like that? Especially to you." Kurt told him.
"Maybe I should go see him." Blaine said.
"I'm coming with you."
After school Kurt and Blaine found themselves outside Dalton Academy. Blaine had quickly texted Sebastian telling him to meet them there and sure enough he came, over-confident grin and all. He looked disappointed when he saw Kurt standing next to him with his arms crossed.
"To what do I owe the pleasure?" He asked them.
"Let's cut it straight to the point," Blaine began. "Did you or did you not kiss my sister?"
Sebastian laughed. "Has she been telling tales on me?" He jokingly pouted his lip not in the slightest bit concerned.
"You jerk." Kurt said glaring at him.
"Well I couldn't help myself, she kept paying me visits and after hearing what she did to Jeff I had to try it out for myself." He explained.
"Listen here buddy, if you ever touch my sister again I can't promise you you will not be laughing." Blaine began to shout pointing his finger at Sebastian.
"I'm intrigued." Sebastian continued to act cocky not knowing the power of an angry older brother. He was stunned as a hand swiftly collided with his face and he fell into the wall beside him. He let out a sigh of pain checking to see if there was any blood around his lip or nose.
"I hope you get the message now." Blaine told him before walking away.
Kurt smirked at Sebastian following on after his boyfriend. "That was strangely hot." He squealed, squeezing his shoulders.
"Is that everything?" Alice asked Rory. They were in his bedroom at the home of Brittany where Rory had been staying during his time as a foreign exchange student. His last day of school had been hard, he had to say goodbye to the small number of friends he'd made at McKinely and he couldn't help but feel emotional.
"Yeah, everything but the clothes I'm wearing tomorrow and on Sunday and the stuff I'm going to be using until then but I'll remember to pack them later." He told her. They sat down on his bed both sighing. "It looks so empty." He laughed looking around the room which had once been filled with his things.
"It does." Alice replied with a small smile on her face.
"Alice, I have something for you." Rory told her. "It's nothing special and I was going to give it to you on Sunday but I can't wait." She giggled as he went into his drawer taking out one t-shirt he had deliberately not packed.
"A t-shirt?" She asked taking it from him.
"Like I said, nothing special, just look at what it says on it." He grinned sitting back down again. She unfolded it revealing the design of it. 'I Love Ireland' in big bold letters.
She laughed. "I love it."
"It's just something to remember me by and anyway it's a bit tight on me nowadays." He joked.
"Come here." She said wrapping her arms around him and hugging him. "I wish I'd brought something for you now." She sat, thinking of what she could possibly give him. Looking down at her wrist, she found the answer. Her old beaded bracelet that she had made when she was about 10 and for some reason had refused to take of since. "Here." She said taking it off and handing it to him.
"I really wasn't bothered about getting anything back." He told her.
"I know but I don't want you forgetting me now do I?" She giggled. "Plus it was getting a little tight for my wrist now anyway." She winked at him.
The two of them sat there for a while just smiling. They both thought of Sunday and how much they were dreading that day. Both of them wondered whether their decision to not have a long distance relationship was going to work.
"Hey, Rory." Alice began to speak again. She put the t-shirt on his bedside table and moved closer to him. "I really love you and I think what we have is so amazing. I know we're young but there's something that I want to share with you, something that no one else will be able to have." She took his hand hoping that he would understand what she meant.
He nodded,smiling. "I feel the same." He told her leaning in further and kissing her softly.
Alice's phone rang in her bag and she jumped up from the bed, pushing hair back from her face. "Oh gosh, what time is it?" She wondered out loud, running to search for her phone. "8:30am..." She whispered to herself before picking up the phone. "Hello?"
"Where the hell are you?" Blaine asked, you haven't come home.
"I'm sorry, I... Uhm, after packing Rory and I watched a movie, I fell asleep on the couch and he didn't want to wake me." She lied, quickly trying to gather all of her stuff. Rory watched her from the bed, laughing quietly at her nervousness.
"Ok, just be home soon. I was really worried about you." He told her.
"I'm sorry." She said again. "I'm just about to leave. I'll see you soon." She hung up, rushing to gather her things.
"You're so cute." Rory smiled, still laughing.
"Oh stop." She smiled sitting on the bed to put her shoes on. He came up behind her wrapping his arms around her and kissing her neck a few times. She giggled, "Rory, stop it."
"Do you have to go?" He asked her.
"Yes or Blaine will get even more annoyed at me and I don't want that. I'm seeing you tonight as well, Breadstix, remember?" She told him.
"Yeah, I know." He replied.
She stood up again, turning back around to kiss him. "Bye." She said heading towards the door. "I'll see you later."
"Bye." He smiled.
Blaine walked up and down the hall, waiting for his sister to come through the door. "Relax, Blaine." Kurt laughed. "She's young, give her some space."
"That still doesn't give her an excuse to be out all night, I had to cover for her." He said, crossing his arms.
"What like she covered for us when you had to sneak me out the door?" Kurt raised an eyebrow at him.
"Yeah but that's different, she's younger." He told him.
"No, what you mean is that she's your little sister, you're her over-protective older brother and you're worried." Kurt laughed again. He shook his head watching Blaine continue to stalk the hall, going up and down like a non-stop yo-yo. Alice finally came in, trying to quietly close the door so she could run upstairs for a shower without getting hassle. However, it wasn't that easy she realised when she was greeted by Blaine and Kurt in the hallway.
"Where have you been?" Blaine shouted.
"I told you on the phone, I fell asleep on Rory's couch." She repeated.
"I don't believe you." He told her.
"What's not to believe." She asked. Blaine went silent.
Kurt rolled his eyes. "He thinks you've done 'it' with Rory."
Alice laughed trying to hide her nerves. "Oh Blaine." She said. "I need to go for a shower and get changed. Please excuse me." She quickly walked past them, running up the stairs to try and hide the fact that she was lying.
"She never gave us a straight answer." Blaine muttered.
"Don't be so pushy, she's a teenage girl. Why would she tell her older brother of all people about that kind of thing." Kurt chuckled. "Now come on, we have a party to plan!" He pushed him towards the kitchen where the rest of New Directions were all discussing their plans for that evening.
Later that night showered and changed into one of her best dresses, Alice waited nervously for her boyfriend to come and meet her. She had came five minutes early and surely enough he came right on the dot at half past 6.
"Hello beautiful." He smiled, giving her a quick kiss. The way he usually greeted her. Alice thought about how much she'd miss that when he was gone.
"Hello." She grinned up at him. Both of them pushing back the sad feelings about it being their last night together.
They walked hand in hand towards the entrance of the restaurant. "It looks really quiet," Rory said confused. "Is it open?"
"Should be." Alice answered. "Why don't you just try the door?" He opened it and walked inside Alice following him still gripping tightly to his hand.
"Surprise!" The whole of New Directions jumped up from the booths making Rory jumped. Alice laughed, clapping excitedly.
"What's this?" Rory asked laughing too.
"It's your surprise party. We can't let you leave without a bang!" Alice winked, dragging him over to join everyone.
The night went by everyone, laughing, dancing to the music and talking. They all had a blast, almost forgetting that the reason this was being held was because one of the group was leaving. Alice tried to be happy and outgoing so that no one would notice the fact she was truly upset and also so that Rory could have a good night without worrying about her. It went by fast, almost too fast and before they knew it the party was over and so was Rory's time in America.
"I'll miss you." Alice cried looking up at Rory, they were at the airport, Brittany and her family saying their goodbyes at the door and leaving the couple to it. Kurt and Blaine waited outside for her, also having said their goodbyes.
"I will never forget you Alice Anderson." He tried to smile, wiping away a tear from her cheek. "I love you."
"I love you too." She said, then hugging him tight before looking up at him again. They kissed both wanting to stay in that moment forever, holding each other tightly afterwards.
"I have to go." His voice cracked as he squeezed her hand one last time taking a long look at her as if to memorise each detail of her face. Then finally he walked away, leaving her standing watching him until he was out of site. Alice wiped her eyes though it didn't help stop the tears from falling down her cheeks. She broke down into the arms of her older brother as she met Blaine again outside the airport. He held her tight though now there would be no hope in comforting her for a long time to come.