Chapter Thirty-Six: Something's Coming
(Christina Perri – Jar Of Hearts)
Quinn walked down the corridor, books hugged tightly to her chest and keeping her head down. She no longer looked people in the eyes very often; it made her paranoid. She was always worrying about whether or not they were judging her. Coming back to school had been difficult, all though the questions she had had to answer from various people had been a lot worse. The names whispered around school grounds were equally as unpleasant.
She just wanted to get on with life, and put the last miserable year behind her, unfortunately her peers had not been so willing. Brittany and Santana had been very supportive at least. Santana had even been in a good mood lately and wasn't being nearly as insulting as she was normally. It was peculiar, but Quinn decided it was best not to question it; having her friends all back on her side and on good terms with one another was not a situation she was about to take for granted. Finn had obviously been kind to her also, but she had not wanted to intrude too much, seeing as he had other things – or people - on his mind these days…
The blonde Ravenclaw sighed as she headed towards her next classroom. Only, when she pushed the door open to her Defence the Dark Arts classroom, she found it empty.
"Hello?" Quinn asked, scanning the surroundings as she took a few steps inside, confused.
Then the door shut behind her with a click, causing her to jump and spin around.
Jesse stepped out of the shadows as a hand flew over Quinn's heart in surprise.
"What are you doing here?" She asked sharply, realising afterwards that perhaps she had put just a little too much scorn into her words. "Where is everyone else?"
"They had to move to another classroom, due to the faulty enchantment that one of the students cast in the previous lesson here, making it rain from the ceiling." Jesse answered calmly.
"There's no rain falling in here." Quinn said flatly, narrowing her eyes.
Jesse smiled; "No, the kind student told his professor that they could all evacuate while he worked to fix his mistake."
Quinn folded her arms and stared blankly at him; "And the answer to my first question?"
Jesse smiled as he approached her very slowly, wary of her next move and fully prepared for her to bolt away from the situation. He raised his hands defensively.
"I'm here because I wanted to talk to you."
Quinn threw her hands in the air and let out an exasperated sigh. "When are you going to give it up? I've given away the baby. She's gone, and I have no interest in having any involvement with you or her ever again."
Jesse nodded and stepped forward, drumming his fingers on his upper arms and pursing his lips; "You know it's funny because you speak these words, but I don't see any validation of them behind your eyes."
"Yes well, I think that you have already proven that your evaluation of my thoughts and feelings can fall short at times." She replied bluntly, trying to step around him. But he was too quick and blocked her off, making her turn back angrily.
"Why can't you just let me get on with my life? I thought you liked Rachel, anyway?"
Jesse looked at the floor then, licking his lips before he returned her gaze. "I have… moved on. Rachel is happier elsewhere and I have had time to think over the holidays and my…affections have been placed elsewhere."
Quinn snorted. "Yeah sure they have, the fact that she's unavailable now has nothing to do with it at all then? Thought you'd move on to someone who you reckon you have more of a chance with?" She stepped forward so that their faces were inches apart. "Well here's a news flash for you St. James: I'm equally unavailable to you if not more so. I think it'd be best if you realised that nobody wants you anymore. Not me, not Rachel. Nobody."
Jesse remained cool as he returned her glare with a tiny smirk. "I hardly think you can rule out everyone, in fact I can think of a number of girls who would quite happily fall down at my feet for a proposal of dating me."
"Good. Go ask them then." She tried to barge past again but he placed his hands on her shoulders and looked up at her from underneath his eyelashes.
"I don't want any of them, I only want you."
"For what? The next five minutes? Until some other girl takes your fancy. Face it Jesse; you're fickle and that's why you never wanted to be exclusive with me; you didn't want to appear unavailable yourself, so you kept your options open in case someone else appealed to you. The only reason you wanted to be in an open relationship with Rachel was so that you could play games with me. Well, I'm done with that. I can quite happily find a guy who respects me and who loves me for who I am, not for a reserved period of time when they feel lonely and want someone to cling to while they realise that their lives are as empty as someone who's experienced a Dementor's Kiss."
This time she managed to walk around him, batting his hands away and heading straight for the door, but he still managed to catch her and pulled her back, causing her to fall on the Slytherin's waiting lips.
Jesse tried to put his hands to her face but before he got the chance she slapped him directly across his own.
He fell back, startled by the violent reaction, as if he could hardly believe that she could reject him so fiercely.
"And you leave me just as cold." She said with one last look of disgust before she pulled open the door, and strode away from the classroom.
Quinn felt her blood boiling as she thought over his arrogant words and smug facial expression that she wished she could erase from her mind forever.
Quinn tore down the corridor and soon found herself bursting from the large oak doors and out into the school grounds, trying to contain her rage as her heart pounded in her ears.
I know I can't take one more step towards you
Cause all that's waiting is regret
And don't you know I'm not your ghost anymore?
You lost the love I loved the most
I learned to live, half-alive
And now you want me one more time
She took a deep breath as she shook her head angrily, carrying on striding down towards the forest trees at a rocket's pace.
And who do you think you are?
Runnin' 'round leaving scars
Collecting your jar of hearts
And tearing love apart
You're gonna catch a cold
From the ice inside your soul
So don't come back for me
Who do you think you are?
I hear you're asking all around
If I am anywhere to be found
I have grown too strong
To ever fall back in your arms
She fought back tears as she found herself immersed in the trees. The lattice of the canopies stretched far above her and created a tessellated pattern of leaves on the ground. She slowed her pace with her fists clenched and jaw tight.
I've learned to live, half-alive
Now you want me one more time
Who do you think you are?
Runnin' 'round leaving scars
Collecting your jar of hearts
And tearing love apart
You're gonna catch a cold
From the ice inside your soul
So don't come back for me
Who do you think you are?
Kurt and Rachel looked up from their seats in Hagrid's hut.
"Did you hear something?" Kurt asked Rachel in a hushed voice, glancing towards the window as Hagrid busied himself in his kitchen – or the corner that best resembled one by the fire.
"Yeah, who is that?" Rachel asked.
"I have no idea, no one I recognise…" Kurt pondered. "Do you think that we should go check?"
He glanced up at Hagrid whose back was still turned.
Rachel stood up, "I'll go, one of us has to stay with Hagrid... Make sure he doesn't set the hut on fire again." She whispered the last part.
"Sure?" Kurt asked, his expression looking as though he would much rather leave than be in danger of preventing the fire hazard.
Rachel smiled, "Yeah, it's fine. Just… Don't eat whatever he gives you." She whispered.
Kurt rolled his eyes. "Honestly Rachel, I'm not stupid."
She grinned before apologizing to Hagrid and exiting the hut.
Dear, it took so long
Just to feel alright
Remember how to put back
The light in my eyes
I wish I had missed
The first time that we kissed
'Cause you broke all your promises
And now you're back you don't get to get me back
Who do you think you are?
Runnin' 'round leaving scars
Collecting your jar of hearts
And tearing love apart
Rachel entered the clearing and her eyebrows rose to her hairline as she spied the blonde Ravenclaw sitting on a rock as she continued to sing.
You're gonna catch a cold
From the ice inside your soul
So don't come back for me
Don't come back at all
And who do you think you are?
Runnin' 'round leaving scars
Collecting your jar of hearts
And tearing love apart
You're gonna catch a cold
From the ice inside your soul
Don't come back for me
Don't come back at all
Who do you think you are?
Who do you think you are?
Who do you think you are?
"Hey," Rachel said, as Quinn's last note faded into the air.
Quinn whipped her head round. "Jesus, must people keep intruding on me unannounced?"
She sighed, feeling bad for having snapped. "Sorry, I… didn't mean to…"
"Bad day?" Rachel guessed, walking forwards with her hands clasped in front of her.
She had never exactly had a proper conversation with Quinn, and had in fact spent the majority of the last year hating her and blaming her for the events that occurred between herself and Finn, which she now knew Quinn never deserved, and a considerable amount of guilt remained on that account.
"Something like that..." Quinn said, looking uncomfortable herself.
"Is it because of the-"
"It's not the baby." She answered automatically. Whenever she had looked gloomy lately that was what people had always assumed – as if they expected her to have some form of post-natal depression, but she was sure that her foul mood – at least at that moment - was to do with something quite different.
"…Jesse?" Rachel hesitated before speaking the name darkly.
Quinn coughed a laugh; "He's not the favourite of anyone is he? Well, that's some comfort.
Rachel smiled and decided to take a seat next to Quinn.
"I feel like I should apologise… Before, when I thought that-"
Quinn held up a hand. "Honestly, don't. I'd have felt just the same in your position. It was weird for me too… I didn't think so well of you either, but I guess we were all just pawns in his twisted game."
"Do you really think he's that evil?" Rachel asked, frowning as she wasn't completely convinced that the Slytherin – member of that house though he may be – was filled with total malice.
Quinn considered this; "I believe that he's ignorant and has his head too far up in the clouds, but no. Not evil. I think that imagining him as so makes me feel just that little bit better, though. Is that bad?"
Rachel shook her head. "No… I can relate."
Quinn smiled and looked down at her hands as there was a short silence; both girls unsure what to say to the other.
"So…you and Finn, huh?" Quinn asked, attempting small talk.
She tried not to, but Rachel couldn't help but smile at the mention of his name - something the Ravenclaw did not fail to pick up on.
"You're lucky. He's one of the good ones." Quinn remarked.
"I know… perhaps too good," Rachel pursed her lips. "Sometimes… I- I think that maybe I'm not quite good enough for him. I'm kind of conceited and overly ambitious… some would say to the extent of being a borderline sociopath…"
Quinn shrugged. "We all have our faults. He has his too, but if you can find a way to love someone in spite of those things then you're probably going to last way longer than those who are blinded. You guys were friends for so long, you'll probably be all right."
Rachel nodded and watched as the Ravenclaw girl picked at the small amount of dirt beneath her fingernails.
"Quinn… You're all right aren't you? I mean I know you were close to Finn last year, and I know that you have Brittany and Santana, but sometimes you need more people around you. I mean I don't know, what you went through… it can't have been easy."
"Not quite." Quinn admitted.
"Would you… I mean, dinner will be in the Great Hall soon… and Kurt and I are at Hagrid's for the moment… Do you want to maybe, I don't know, come hang out with us?" Rachel asked, apprehensively.
Quinn looked up at Rachel for a moment, a little taken aback.
"You don't have to, if you don't want. I just thought… I mean Brittany sits with us a lot, and Santana did this morning. Not sure why… But yeah…"
"Yeah, okay." Quinn said.
Rachel smiled. "All right, shall we?"
The tiny brunette stood up from the rock and Quinn followed suit, ready to go with her to Hagrid's.
"Rachel?"
The Gryffindor girl turned around.
"Thanks."
"No problem."
"But you do realise that we're going to crush you Gryffindor's tonight?"
Rachel grinned, finally feeling the tension drop between them as she put her hands on her hips, "We'll just see about that one, won't we?"
That evening Kurt and Blaine were headed down towards the Quidditch pitch, Kurt had accompanied Blaine early as he would be going to have a last minute pep-talk and perhaps a quick warm up before the match started that night.
Kurt looped his arm around his boyfriend's as they walked.
"I can't believe I'm doing this," He shook his head, teeth chattering.
Blaine pulled him closer in an attempt to keep him warm; "Because you love me?"
Kurt narrowed his eyes; "You can't start using that as an excuse now you know; it doesn't mean that I can't hate you a little bit at the same time."
"Aren't you meant to be telling me words of support and encouragement?" Blaine asked with a chuckle.
"That's not how I roll; I do sarcasm and put-downs regarding fashion sense and Broadway knowledge."
"You're so very unhelpful," Blaine sighed.
Kurt laughed and rested his head in the crook of Blaine's neck, "You'll do great; I'm not even the least bit worried. And please, if you can do anything to make Wes shut up for a few hours, I will be your very own personal cheerleader."
"I don't know about a few hours… minutes maybe."
"Even that would be bliss," Kurt remarked.
Blaine smiled, "Now about that cheerleading proposal…"
They carried on together down the path, discussing this idea and were half way towards the pitch when Kurt heard a rustle in the trees beside them. He pulled up short. The January night meant that it had become dark very early on in the day and so now only the lights from the castle and the faint glow of the stadium up ahead provided any kind of visibility. Out of his natural reflex response, Kurt's grip on Blaine's arm tightened as a cold shiver ran down his spine.
"What is it?" Blaine whispered anxiously in his ear, staring around them as well.
"I think I heard someone." Kurt hissed back, eyes wide in panic.
"Kurt it's all right, they're probably just another Quidditch player going down to warm up." Blaine tried to reassure him but then Kurt turned his head to look over his shoulder and Blaine could feel his body jump as he took in a short intake of breath.
Blaine turned around to find Karofsky standing a few feet away from them and, just like Kurt, he acted on impulse by pulling his wand from his pocket.
Karofsky held out his hands defensively. "Whoa - Chill out, I'm not going to hurt you."
"Then why are you sneaking up on us in the dead of night?" Blaine demanded quickly, though he lowered his wand but stayed close by Kurt's side.
Karofsky looked away for a second and then down at the ground, shuffling his feet from side to side; "I wanted to talk to you both."
Kurt and Blaine exchanged puzzled glances between them and Kurt's old bully, unsure about what results would be produced from this fresh encounter.
Karofsky took a step forward so that they could see his face a little better and Blaine whispered: "Lumos."
The three boys stood, measuring one another up for a moment as the tension built between them.
"I err… wanted to apologise." Karofsky said finally.
Kurt stared at him for a while but said nothing, inviting him to continue and Blaine took his lead in the silence.
"…I just, okay." Karofsky took a deep breath; apologies obviously weren't familiar territory for the Slytherin and he looked thoroughly out of his comfort zone. "Look, I know that I have done some bad things to you both in the past…"
Blaine snorted but Kurt just shook his head quietly and the older Gryffindor held his tongue.
"…Yeah okay, really bad things. Terrible. I wish I could take them back - I really do - and I felt that a while back but then I did worse things. I tried to meddle with you both and… Well, it wasn't cool. I don't… I don't want to do that stuff anymore. I know that it has taken me a long time to come to realise this… and I don't expect you to forgive me or anything… I just…needed to tell you. I'm just… I'm so freaking sorry, Kurt, for what I did to you and-" He looked at Blaine for a brief second. "Well, I'm sorry to you both."
There was a slight pause until they were certain he had said his piece. "You promise that you're going to leave us alone?" Kurt asked in a quiet voice.
Karofsky nodded.
"This isn't some kind of trick, or game, or something?" Blaine asked apprehensively.
Karofsky shook his head earnestly.
Kurt looked at Blaine who returned his gaze for a moment, trying to read the other boy's thoughts on this sudden turn of events.
Kurt turned his head back towards Karofsky.
"I forgive you, Dave." He said simply.
Blaine looked reluctant as his boyfriend and the burly Slytherin watched the Gryffindor Chaser. His lips were held tightly together as he seemed unwilling to accept this random stroke of good fortune.
For a moment, Kurt worried that Blaine would never allow himself to forgive the boy before them, but then his shoulders finally relaxed.
"Me too." Blaine said quietly. "If you never do anything to hurt Kurt again then we'll put the ugliness behind us and carry on with our lives. Deal?"
"Deal," Karofsky answered, looking thoroughly relieved by this reaction; obviously he had expected one that was much worse.
Blaine held out his hand tentatively and Dave shook it.
He looked as though he wanted to disappear then, into the night but Kurt stopped him.
"What about you, Dave?"
He looked up in reply. "What do you mean?"
"Have you… Are you okay? With yourself I mean?" Kurt asked and Blaine looked at him quizzically.
Dave bit his lip. "I'm not sure. Getting there maybe. I'll have to see."
Kurt nodded. "I won't say anything, you know, your secret is safe with us if that's how you want it."
Dave looked at Blaine then, who nodded in assent.
"Thanks," Dave said. "…You don't… I mean do you judge me… for hiding?"
Kurt even smiled slightly. "No, I'm happy for you to be whoever you want to be at your own pace, so long as you don't take any aggression out on others because of it."
Karofsky nodded. "Yeah, I won't. I promise."
"I believe you." Kurt answered.
The Slytherin stood there for one more moment, a little awkwardly.
"Good luck in the game," He said to Blaine finally, before turning on his heel and heading back up towards the castle.
The two boys watched him go for a long while before Kurt broke the silence.
"That was-"
"Unexpected."
"Yeah."
Blaine shook his head. "Quidditch?"
"Yeah, suddenly sounds much more appealing," Kurt replied, taking Blaine's hand as they headed back towards the stadium.
The Gryffindors stood in their stand having pushed to the front row in their haste to watch the upcoming match. Kurt, Rachel and Mercedes stood eagerly awaiting their friends to enter the pitch. Just across from them, Wes and David were already roaring their support and making rude gestures towards the other three, who rolled their eyes. Trent and Brittany could also be seen in the Hufflepuff stand, looking content to watch an impartial match. Trent was obviously better friends with his fellow warblers, but then again, seeing them being bad losers was always an entertaining experience for everyone involved, so he was torn.
Quinn turned up at the Ravenclaw stand and made her way towards the two boys there, tapping Wes lightly on the shoulder. He made room for her and she looked across the stands at Rachel who beamed widely.
"I told you she was nice." Kurt gloated as he saw their interaction.
"Shut up."
Mercedes held a hand up to Kurt who high-fived her and they both flicked their hair in unison.
Rachel scowled.
At that moment however, a voice came across the intercom and began introducing the teams as they entered onto the pitch to roars from the crowd. The noise was almost deafening and Kurt was glad that he had brought his earmuffs this time, which reduced the sound slightly.
Each of the players zoomed out on their brooms in a haze of Red and Blue, so that Kurt had to squint to make out Blaine and Finn amongst them.
He needn't have bothered with the former, who decided to fly up and shoot directly past their stand in front of the three spectators, grinning at Kurt as he did so.
"Show off!" Kurt yelled as Blaine did a loop-de-loop in the air. "Focus on the damn game!"
Blaine just laughed and swooped back towards the rest of his team again.
"I thought you didn't care about Quidditch?" Rachel smirked.
"I don't." Kurt said, folding his arms.
The whistle was finally blown and the match commenced.
The first twenty minutes or so went by rather uneventfully, with several goals being scored either way, Gryffindor with a slight advantage as the score tolled up.
The snitch had barely been sighted, most likely due to the fact that a thick mist had begun to settle around Hogwart's grounds making vision difficult despite the well-lit arena.
They watched as Blaine decided to fly higher where the haze siphoned out, hoping that he would be able to oversee the game and make more informed tackles from the above position.
"Gryffindor have the Quaffle, passing to Emery, Diggron takes it, narrowly missing a tackle from Somerby and heading towards the left goal- She scores! 80- 50 to Gryffindor, now with a decent advantage."
Kurt could have sworn that he could hear David's boos from across the stadium and he looked across at the loud-voiced Ravenclaw who was grinning as he searched for Blaine in the sky, clearly the victim he had intended to direct his taunts towards.
But then David's heckles trailed off as he looked up at the Gryffindor Chaser, a strange expression crossing his features.
Before Kurt looked up he could already feel the sinking sensation in his stomach as his night-time surroundings seemed to darken further. He could hear his uneven breaths as his eyes followed David's line of sight.
Blaine was in the same position he has last seen him. This was unusual; normally when on the pitch the Gryffindor could barely keep still for two seconds, let alone two solid minutes. But Kurt could see him now. Frozen. Staring ahead at something in the distance that Kurt could not even hope to make out in this mist.
But Blaine had seen something.
Something that had rendered him immobile.
Only his profile was visible but as Kurt felt a chill run down the length of his spine, numbing him right down through his fingertips, he recognised the hollow expression on Blaine's face. It was the exact mirror of how he had looked the first time Kurt had come across him on the train. Staring blankly into some unknown abyss, but there was an additional streak of shock and horror engraved across his skin.
And that was when he fell off of his broom.
I feel like I'm being a very bad author since I haven't updated in ages and now I've gone and left it on a major cliffhanger! I'm hoping that you will forgive me, because you will want to wait and see what happens next.
I kind of just want to bring Sebastian in so that Kurt may punch him in the face, but I'm not sure how to do it... maybe I'll just pray for it to happen on the show, ey?
Please, Ryan, let it be. Listen to Chris, he knows best.
TTFN dudes.