A/N: I'd like to thank you all for the 300 reviews, it means a lot to me that this fic is loved.
I'm rewarding you with my longest chapter ever, that will explain a few things. It was super hard to write, so I really hope you'll like it. Ch 30 will hopefully have a lighter tone, there's been enough drama lately.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Long seconds have passed since I rang the bell, but the door stays closed without any noise from the inside to indicate someone's home. I don't want to give up so easily though, so I try again, hoping to succeed this time.
"We'll come back later," Will concludes when another minute passes without a reply. I sigh as I face him and he reaches out to touch my arm in support. But we both turn when we suddenly hear the door open and see the confused teenage boy standing there.
"Hi," I greet him in a nice tone, "can we come in for a few minutes?"
"Are you looking for my dad?" Keith shifts his gaze from me to Will and back.
"No, we came to see you. Your father said it's okay," I try to convince him to let us in, we can't really talk there out in the open. Kurt gave us his permission on the phone when I called him after we'd left my parents' house, even if I couldn't really explain everything to him on the phone.
"Is it about school?" He's still reluctant to step aside. It's logical for him to think we are here because of that, he skipped school after all. Not to mention I'm with Will, who insisted on staying by my side, but I don't mind it at all. He gives me the courage I need to go through with this.
"No, it's about my daughter," I reveal that I'm not here as his principal and I notice the change in his facial expression at the mention of Gina.
He stares in front of himself for a while, without making eye contact with either of us, but after a few seconds of silence he steps aside and lets us in.
Under different circumstances I would be curious about the house Kurt lives in and I'd check it out properly, but right now I'm too preoccupied to care about that. We stop in the middle of the hall and wait until Keith closes the door.
"The living room is on your right," he instructs us and we enter the room. I cannot help noticing that the furniture is about the same style and age as in my parents' house, it must have come with it. But then I remind myself it's not why I'm here.
I take a seat on the couch, without waiting for any gesture and Will sits down next to me.
"Please, sit," I tell Keith, who eyes us suspiciously, but does what I suggested nevertheless, and I can finally begin to explain why we are here.
"Gina ran away from home today," I start with the most important thing, because I want him to know what's at stake and why he has to tell me the truth. "She's really upset over something and she hinted that you might know what that is."
I'm aware that I played a huge part in upsetting Gina, but it's not the time to tell Keith about that, he has to hear that from his father anyhow. But if I manage to inject him with some guilt, he might actually be willing to talk to us.
"That is between her and me," he replies, acknowledging that something is indeed going on and I'm convinced that it's a good start.
"She told me you're not friends anymore, is she angry with you for some reason?" I search for the answer desperately in his eyes, but he shifts his gaze on the ground and I take that as an admission.
"She is," he speaks the words unexpectedly.
"Did you…hurt her with something?" I inquire cautiously, since I have no idea about the nature of their argument.
"I didn't mean to," he defends himself and the sadness I claim to hear suggests that he actually cares about Gina. And even without knowing what happened exactly I find myself feeling sorry for him. However I know I have to be on Gina's side in this, even if she's not on my side right now.
"Do you think it is irreparable?" I try to avoid asking a direct question, even if that would be the easiest, but I don't want to overwhelm him. I'm actually surprised he's so responsive. Surprised and grateful for his cooperation.
"I hope it's not," he lifts his head to look at me and the eye contact convinces me that he's being honest. "I didn't do anything wrong, but she doesn't want to talk to me anymore," he admits and the sadness in his eyes is visible now. And I choose to believe his words. He wouldn't be sitting here with us, answering my questions if he didn't care about my daughter.
"Maybe if you told me what it is, I could talk to her, convince her to change her mind?" I offer, so I can help us both. First of all I want my daughter back at home and if she and Keith could fix whatever went wrong, Gina might be more receptive towards Kurt as well.
"I can't tell you," he shakes his head and sinks it again to hide his gaze from me and I feel disappointed.
"I can only help if you tell me what's going on exactly," I try to convince him, but a few seconds pass without any reaction from him. I glance at Will in desperation because I've run out of ideas, and he gets my silent wish.
"We really need your help here, Keith. Whatever it is you hurt her with, it will stay between us, we promise," he interferes and I hope Keith might take it better from him, man to man.
"It's embarrassing," the boy replies in a weak voice, but it's a glimmer of hope for me.
"Would you be more comfortable if I left, so you and Diane can talk alone?" Will offers us privacy and I don't understand how come I didn't think of that.
"No," he protests vehemently, surprising us both. He clearly doesn't want to be stuck in a room with me, but given our history I don't really blame him. And then a better idea pops into my head.
"How about if I step outside and you tell Will?" I voice it without thinking it through properly.
"All right." Keith's answer comes after a long silence, so we know he thought it through and even if I don't really like this solution I accept that it's the only way to get to the bottom of this. I leave the room so they can talk alone and close the door on my way out.
Resisting the urge to eavesdrop I look around and notice the kitchen on the other side. I enter the room and find the same old furniture in there. This house clearly needs an upgrade, it somehow doesn't suit its owner. But when I open a cupboard out of curiosity I find lots of modern gadgets inside. Kurt needs his tools for cooking, obviously and the thought of the last dinner he made for me puts a smile on my face.
That's when I hear the front door open, indicating that he's home. I haven't counted with him showing up, but knowing he's here makes me happy, no matter what are the circumstances. I close the cupboard in a hurry and exit the room to announce my presence.
"I thought you can't come home until later," I welcome him with a mild smile.
"I managed to get away earlier." He returns my smile and approaches me, but stops a few steps away. I'd love to find comfort in his arms and let him hold me tight, but I'm aware it's not an option, so I choose to fill him in on what's going on instead.
"Keith is in there with Will Gardner," I motion towards the closed door. "He's one of his teachers and the vice principle, and an old friend of mine. Alicia's husband," I explain every detail.
"Will you tell me what happened?" he eyes me, waiting for an explanation I know I owe him. He was generous enough to allow this visit without asking further questions on the phone, but he deserves to know the truth.
"Gina ran away from home," I confess and instantly see the shock in his eyes.
"When did it happen? Do you know where she is? Why didn't you tell me sooner? Did she do it because you told her about us?" he asks one question after another, not leaving me time to answer. I'm only able to open my mouth when I see that he's done.
"It happened today, after school. She went to my parents' house. She's okay, I've just talked to her. Looks like Keith upset her with something and that might be the reason why she reacted the way she did when I told her about us. But she didn't tell me the details, that's why we came to talk to Keith; to find out what happened." I only leave one of his questions unanswered, in the hope that it won't matter anymore, now that he knows the whole truth.
"I am so sorry," he expresses his support, which is exactly what I need right now.
"I just want my daughter back at home." I feel the wave of tears reaching my eyes again and no matter how much I try to fight them, they seem to be unstoppable. I can see in his eyes that he wants to do something, but doesn't dare to get near me under the circumstances.
"We will fix this." He sounds determined and I want to believe him. And even though we are partially responsible for this messy situation, I'm glad I don't have to face it alone.
The closed door suddenly opens and Will steps out, then Keith follows. He greets his father, tells him he's going out and leaves us without another word.
"Mr. McVeigh, I'm Will Gardner, the vice-principal," Will introduces himself, because I'm too preoccupied to focus on formalities.
"Kurt McVeigh, it's nice to meet you. Diane told me you are friends and I already met your lovely wife, so please, just call me Kurt," he offers and the two shake hands, while my anticipation threatens to burst out. I need to know what happened in that room and I try to make eye contact with Will to remind him.
"So I suppose Diane also told you why I was talking to your son," Will glances at me and I nod. "Maybe we should go back in there and I tell you both what Keith told me," he suggests and I quickly enter the room so they can follow me.
I sit back on the same spot of the couch, while Will thoughtfully occupies the seat Keith did, so Kurt can sit next to me.
"I promised Keith I'll only tell Diane, but you're his father and she'd probably tell you anyway, so…" he starts.
"Will, please," I cut him off, because I'm getting really nervous now.
"Sorry, so here's what happened. Keith told me that Gina caught him kissing someone else on that party on Saturday and she got really upset," Will finally puts an end to this mystery.
"Oh my god," I gasp. She didn't know that Keith was into boys until she saw him with one. I cannot even imagine how shocking that could have been for Gina, no wonder she ran to her best friend straight away. "He didn't tell her," I turn to Kurt in panic and he grabs my hand in return, to give me strength.
"I suppose you get the picture now," Will notes without saying the conclusion out loud, as he shifts his gaze between the two of us. And even though he probably noticed our hands together, he didn't react to it in any way.
"I should have known. She insisted that they were just friends and I wanted to believe her," I state with a lump in my throat realizing how selfish I was. I swept the problem under the rug and only focused on my relationship with Kurt, thinking it would work out between the kids. Now we know it didn't.
"Please don't blame yourself. It's Keith's fault," Kurt presses my hand, but it's not enough to make me feel better.
"He feels really bad about it. He said Gina's his only real friend here and he'd do anything to get her forgiveness," Will tries to restore my hopes.
"She is heartbroken," I admit, remembering how hard she cried in my arms yesterday. It will surely take a while until she recovers from something like that. And I have to be on her side, because she needs me now more than ever, no matter what she says.
"She will get over it, she'll soon fall for someone else. You know how they are," Will wants to comfort me, but it isn't really working.
"I hope so," I sigh, glancing at him to show my appreciation. "Thank you for talking to him."
"Of course," he flashes me a soft smile.
"We should probably go," I suggest, realizing we don't really have a reason to stay any longer. The secret is out and now I need to figure out how to break it to Gina and regain her trust. When I feel Kurt's hand holding mine tighter I look at him. I get his silent wish, but I need to put my daughter first now.
"I'm going to wait for you in the car," Will offers tactfully as he stands up. "It was nice meeting you Kurt."
"Same, I just wish the circumstances were different," he sighs.
"I think your son really needs someone to talk to," Will observes and I hope Kurt doesn't take it in a bad way, because I know Will is right.
"I guess I don't know how to talk to him anymore. He has so much anger inside," Kurt replies, the pain audible in his voice and now it's my turn to squeeze his hand gently.
"Maybe if we join forces, we can help him," Will says reassuringly and I couldn't be more grateful to him.
"Thank you," Kurt stands up, letting go of my hand and shakes Will's.
"I'll be out in a minute," I stand next to Kurt.
"Take your time," Will says softly before he leaves us alone.
I face Kurt, not knowing what to say or do. This situation couldn't be more complicated and it's impossible to solve it all in one day. But if anything, this talk with Keith gave me some hope that we will be able to figure this out eventually. But for now I really only want one thing, the same thing I wished he could do when he arrived home.
And when he fulfills my unvoiced wish and folds his arms around me to give me a tight hug, I'm capable of believing that someday everything's going to be all right.
