Chapter 28 – I Hate You!

I woke up the next morning in the same position I fell asleep in last night. Looking over at the clock, it read 4:25 in the morning. Deciding I had about two hours until the temporary separation started, I started to preen Nick's collar bone with affection, hoping he would wake up. My hope came true when Nick mumbled and opened his blue eyes. His hand came up and petted my hair, trying to get me to calm down.

"Katie, calm down. You're okay, sweetheart, you're okay. Nothing is going to happen today. I promise." Nick soothed as I stopped. He brought our lips together as we kissed with passion and sorrow. Passion for our love, and sorrow that we will be separated. The kiss lasted for several minutes until we needed air. Breathing heavily, I laid my head on his chest and kissed the area where his heart is. "Sweetheart, are you okay?"

"I don't want you to leave." I admitted, locking my eyes with his.

"I know you don't, but it was your idea." Nick commented. Grimacing, I sat up and pouted.

"Shut up." I grumbled. Before walking to my closet, I turned on the lamp. A dim glow filled the room as I made my way to the closet to grab my uniform. After I did, I went to my bathroom to take a shower. I took a fifteen minutes to do my routine. Walking out of my bathroom after I was done with everything, I found my daughter on my bed, glaring at me. Frowning, I asked her, "Kourtney, why are you up this early?"

"That's not important, Mom. I'm mad at you at the moment." Kourtney said harshly.

"I can tell." I told her as her glare pierced my heart. In her eyes, the three words I dreaded to hear were clear. Looking elsewhere, I gathered my laptop, keys, bag, and my phone. As I reached the doorway of my bedroom, Kourtney spoke again.

"Why are you making Daddy go away for four days?" she asked me. I couldn't tell her it was for a competition.

"It's hard to explain right now, hon. Please respect that." I tell her.

"I…" Kourtney's voice wobbled a little before she calmed herself to continue. "I hate you!" she exclaimed. There it was. Those torturous three little words.

Trying to clear the lump in my throat, I stated in a monotone voice, "Go back to bed, Kourtney. I'll see you after school." Immediately after that, I strode down the stairs, where Carole and Nick were talking. Saying a quick hi to Carole and accepting the cup of coffee she offered, I was out the door. Not looking to see if Nick was following me, I drove to Dalton in silence. I had an hour and a half till school started, so to pass the time, I walked to the dorm rooms. Arriving at Winchester, I walked up to 17C – my old dorm room. I knocked to see who would answer, and to my surprise, it was Kurt.

"Katie, what a nice surprise. Please come in." Kurt greeted, stepping aside to let me in the room. Taking a look around, I saw he had started to decorate the room. Pavarotti was in his cage on a dresser. He chirped happily when I arrived. "He knows who you are because I told him about you."

"Hello, Pavarotti. You're a happy Warbler this morning." I cooed in a chipper tone. Kurt chuckled as he got Pavarotti his food. "It's better than what happened to me this morning." I told Kurt.

"What happened this morning?" he asked as he put Pav's food in his dish.

"Kourtney told me she hated me." Kurt froze when he shut the door of the cage. "She is blaming me for taking Nick away. Maybe she would be happier if it was me being at Dalton and Nick at home. I was going to use this time to bond." I said as I laid on the bed.

"Does she know you were abused or that you tried to take your life?" Kurt asked me. I shook my head. "Then, tell her tonight. She'll understand, I hope." With that, he disappeared into the restroom to do his morning routine.

"Looks like it's just you and me, Pav." I say to the bird. I whistled some random tunes to the bird and have Pav copy them to pass the time until Kurt was done. A knock on the door sounded through the dorm. Kurt opened the door, and Shane walked in. His smile dropped when he saw my expression.

"Sister, why art thou upset?" Shane asked me like he was from a Shakespeare play.

"Thy daughter told thee she hates thee." I answered in the same way.

"Oh, Katrina, my darling sister, how could anyone hate you?" I shrugged and let him hug me.

After a while, we headed towards the school building to go to first period. Either Jeff or Shane (once he knew what Thad did) escorted me around the school. I didn't go to my break, and I ate lunch by myself. It stayed like that until Warbler practice. Carole and Kourtney showed up to the Senior commons before practice. Kourtney launched herself at me with tear-filled eyes.

"Momma, I don't hate you." Kourtney cried into my blazer. I picked her up and let her cry. "I love you. I'm sorry."

My heart was pieced back together when she told me she loved me. "No, baby, I'm sorry. I haven't been a good mother like I should've. After the separation is up, you, Daddy, and I will have the weekend together. Aunt Mercedes and Uncle Kurt will be there, too." She just nuzzled her face into my shoulder. I looked Carole. "Thank you, Carole, so much."

She shook her head and said, "She realized what she said and started crying. Kourtney kept calling for Momma, so I brought her here." And with that, she left the commons. Kurt walked up to me and Kourtney and smiled.

"I wondered why Carole was here." Kurt commented as he held up Pavarotti's cage. "Kourtney, this is Pavarotti, or Pav for short. Isn't he a pretty bird?" Pav chirped in appreciation for being called pretty.

Kourtney was so entranced with Kurt's warbler that she stopped crying. "He's beautiful, Uncle Kurt." Kurt sat on the other end of the sofa, and Kourtney sat in the middle of the couch between us. Her eyes were locked on Pav's cage.

Thad walked into the Senior commons with everybody else, and he had a very unsettling, creepy smile on his face. I had to ignore it because Warbler practice was about to start.

Once everyone was situated, Wes called the rehearsal to attention. "Warblers! Warblers! Quiet down!" All of the Warblers shut up. "That's better. Today we need to teach Warbler Kurt the choreography and run both songs top to bottom. Sectionals is almost here, and I want to see if the first day of the temporary separation is going according to plan." Nick and I grimaced at that. "Alright, Warblers, to the auditorium." Kurt took Pav's cage, much to Kourtney's disappointment, to the auditorium and everybody else followed.

Kourtney sat in the audience while Kurt sat Pav's cage on the piano. We taught Kurt the moves to the ballad and ran that a couple times before we moved onto Hey Soul Sister, and if I do say so myself, Kurt was a natural. He got down the moves with no problem. We ran the annoying pop song (A.N. – I like this song, my character doesn't) a couple more times before Wes let us out. Nick stayed behind to say goodnight to Kourtney and that he will see her in a few days. After that, I took Kourtney to McDonalds, where she got a Happy Meal and a toy, and I got a chicken sandwich.

After we ate, I took her home and got her ready for bed and sang Bubbly by Colbie Caillat until she fell asleep. I walked to my room, undressed, and curled up on the bed, cuddling with Nick's pillow. Please let this week go by fast!

*Glee!*

A.N. – Two updates in two days! Let me know how I did and Sectionals will be up next. Rate, Fave, and Review!