A Meerkat's misery

Back in New York, Sam Evans stood outside the townhouse in Manhattan that Cooper had bought with his inheritance from Blaine and his grandparents. It stood in a row of identical houses on a good street in Murray Hill, the only difference being that it was a little shabbier than the rest at present. He climbed the steps to the front door of the main house, and rang the bell, before opening the unlocked front door and heading in. Cooper was expecting him, and stepped out of the drawing room to greet him. "Hey, little bro, how are you? And what is so important that you need me to spy on my tenant? Dave went out about ten minutes ago, but Sebastian is still at home, as requested. So, what gives?" Cooper was startled when Sam suddenly burst into tears, and rushed across the room to hold him. "Hey, Sammy, what is it? What has got you so sad? I haven't seen you like this since Blaine…" He stopped mid sentence and glanced at Sam. "Please, please tell me it isn't something like that," he whispered.

"I wish I could Coop," said Sam with a sob, "but I can't. There has been another one. It's Wes. He's dead…" As Sam burst into tears again, Cooper felt his heart drop like a stone. With those words, the world was shattered - and he knew that the impact on his tenant was going to be huge.

As Cooper held the still crying Sam close to him, tears slipping from his own eyes, his mind slipped back to a day four years earlier, when he had been home in Ohio, and he had been charged with taking Blaine to his new school. He had been home more than once since the night of that fateful Sadie Hawkins dance, just to check on his little brother. At the time, he had sometimes seen it as a bit of a chore, but he knew in his heart even then that he was the only family member that actually gave a damn. He knew that their housekeeper, who was a more of a mother to them both than Pam had ever been, would have taken him to Dalton quite happily, but Cooper wanted to check it out for himself, to see if it was good enough for his squirt. After all, it had been chosen by their father, and he didn't always make the best decisions….

The school had actually looked very impressive as he had driven up to the front door. He parked the car, and then helped Blaine with his bags as they made their way to the school's reception. Inside there was a scene of organised chaos, as a line of boys with bags and family made their way towards the desk. In front of them stood a brunet boy with his father; the boy kept muttering about missing Illinois and his friends, but went totally silent when his father said "Oh, be quiet, Nicholas!" Then they were called forward, the man glancing at his watch the entire time.

'Typical!' thought Cooper. 'Another man a lot like father, and another boy just as anxious and new to this as Blaine.' He was disturbed from his thoughts by a call of "Next!" from the desk, where a younger woman was waiting.

"Hi, I'm Cooper Anderson, this is my brother Blaine who is down to start here today," he said with a flirtatious tone. He heard Blaine groan next to him as he knew what his older brother was doing.

"Ah, yes. I am Mlle Lefevre, and I will have the pleasure of your brother in my class, I believe, for French. I hope Blaine that you will be very happy here. As you know, we have a zero tolerance, anti-bullying policy here at Dalton. If anything happens, or you just feel the need to talk to someone, my door is always open. Now, as is practice here, you have also been assigned a mentor who you can turn to. I believe that you like to sing?" Blaine nodded, his eyes still downcast. "In that case, you and your mentor are well matched. Mr Montgomery?" As she said those words, Cooper noticed for the first time a line of boys sitting quietly in the back, and saw a studious looking Asian boy rise up and head towards them. "Ah, good," said Mlle Lefevre. "Wes, this is Blaine Anderson. I know that you will take very good care of him…."

Cooper had followed his little brother and his mentor to the dorm room that he had been assigned. Number 37. "By luck," said Wes, "I am in Room 38 with my friend David. He won't arrive until later today - he is only entering his junior year and only seniors like me are mentors. On the other side in Room 36 we have Jeff Sterling, who is to be rooming with another new arrival, Nicholas Duval. Both of them are sophomores like you. Jeff is - well, he's Jeff. He's a very lively guy, a bit of a joker, but one of the best friends you could wish for. He is a Warbler, like myself and David. That's our show choir here at Dalton. We are always on the look out for new members if you are interested…" Blaine nodded, and then headed into his room. Cooper went to follow, but Wes discretely held him back and let the door close behind Blaine.

"I've been told what he has been through," Wes said to him, in a low voice. "I just want you to know that none of my Warblers have any problem with anybody being gay. Jeff is gay, and so is Trent Nixon - he's another sophomore, and a really sweet guy. It wouldn't surprise me if there were others that just aren't out yet. The thing is, he is amongst friends here. I will protect him from harm, and so will my boys. Our motto has been the same for generations - 'Once a Warbler, Always a Warbler.' We are a family. He will not come to any harm here. If he decides that he does not wish to stay in the dorms, then I will only be a phone call away. You can trust me…"

For some reason, Cooper had felt that day that he could entrust his brother to someone that he had just met for the first time in his life. Looking back, he knew it was because Wes had been so genuine; had meant every single word. He had left Dalton that day happy that Blaine now had the protection that he needed. Now four years on, that good, trustworthy young man had followed Blaine into an early grave. It was a tragedy. No other word could adequately sum it up.

It was only once Sam felt able to that he and Cooper descended the steps down to the street, then down again to the door that gave entry to the little apartment that Sebastian shared with Dave. They could hear Sebastian singing to himself - a sound that stopped abruptly the moment that they knocked on the door. It took a moment, but eventually the door was opened by Sebastian, clad in a robe and a pair of sleep pants. "Hey, Coop, Sam, what brings you guys here? Excuse my state of dress but Dave and I are having a lazy day. He went out to get some fresh bagels for lunch. So, as I said, any special reason for the visit, or were you just passing?"

"Sebastian, you need to go and sit down - we have something that we need to tell you," said Sam. It earned him a curious look from the former Warbler, but he complied, heading to the little living room to sit on the couch as the other two followed him. The room was stylishly decorated, Sam noticed, as Sebastian sat and looked at him expectantly, all ears. "There's been an accident…" Sam began, and he saw a look of horror suddenly cross Sebastian's face.

"Oh no, not Dave. He never looks properly when he crosses the street. What happened? Is he in hospital? I need to go and…"

"It's not Dave, Seb," said Cooper, sitting down next to the panicking boy. "I mean, think about it. If something had happened to him, they'd call you, not us."

"You're right, I just had a moment… so who then? Not Niff or Trent? Please, not one of them…."

Sam now sat down on the arm of the small couch, on Sebastian's other side. "It's Wes, Sebastian. He had an accident yesterday morning. It was fatal, I'm afraid. I am so sorry…"

There was a moment of silence, as Sebastian just sat and stared at his hands. "Wow, Wes, eh? Wonder who they will appoint as Head Warbler in his place? Well here, anyway. No doubt Klaine will have anointed him as angelic Head Warbler by now. He was a good guy. He and I always had our differences - we clashed when I was in my freshman days at Dalton, and he was only Deputy Head of Council under Louis. That of course was before mommy dearest decided to pack us both off to Paris. Then I came back in Junior year and acted like a complete douchebag. He came to see me after I slushied Blaine - did you know? Stormed into the Senior Commons one afternoon like a whirlwind. Tore strips off all of us after he had kicked the freshmen out. Asked if we were proud of breaking our Warbler oath; our promise to always care for each other. He really laid into David and Thad; he made them both cry, which set most of the others off. Then he turned to me, dragged me out of the room by the tie, straight to Carmichael's office - he wasn't there, but I think he might have been the one to send for Wes. He just let me have everything he had got verbally. By the end of it, you have no idea how chastened I felt…. I will miss him - he could always make me feel so guilty…"

Sam and Cooper looked at each other with concern when Sebastian stopped speaking. There was no sign of any kind of emotion as he spoke, no telltale dampness around the eyes, no alteration whatsoever in his demeanour. "Are you ok, Seb," said Cooper.

"Yeah, I'm fine. We weren't that close. I was never one of his boys from that golden year when he was in charge - that year I was getting the wrong kind of reputation in Paris. He was a great man, and it is a tragic loss. I'm sure the rest of them will be crying buckets full of tears for him. It's Thad I feel the most sorry for. He just gets him, and then, bam, he's gone. Me, I'm tough. Hunter saw to that. I'm fine, trust me…"

With that Sebastian got up and left the room. Sam turned to Cooper and said, "Why don't I believe that for a minute?"

"Me neither, Sammy. He's bottling it all up, just as Wes always did…"

Just then, the front door opened and Dave appeared. He looked surprised to see them. Cooper got up and took him to one side and told him why they were there. Sam could see his face fall as Cooper related the worst. "Where is he?" he asked, when Cooper had finished.

"Bedroom, I guess," said Sam. He and Cooper followed Dave at a distance as he made his way to the main bedroom at the back of the house. Sebastian was sitting there on the edge of the bed, with his back to the door. Dave put the bag of bagels down on the bedside table and went to sit on the bed at his side.

"Sebby?" Dave said quietly…

Sebastian turned to look at him, and Dave put his hand gently on his shoulder. That one movement was enough to crack the façade, and in a moment, Sebastian was howling in Dave's arms, lost in the pain of losing the one friend that had never lied to him, and had always told him the truth, no matter how hard that was to hear.

Seeing Sebastian fall apart was terrible, but it was also a great relief to Cooper and Sam. It felt wrong to admit it, but it was a sign that he was taking the news as they had expected. "This is probably what happened in Bushwick too," Sam whispered to Cooper as they retreated back to the living room, to allow Sebastian to fall to pieces away from their prying eyes. "Sebastian can be a bit cold and aloof at times, but Nick and even more so Jeff wear their hearts on their sleeves. Trent is exactly the same, and even with Rory, he is going to feel so alone in Washington DC. I mean, David and Thad have each other to turn to in L.A. Here, Sebastian has Niff, and Beats and Flint are only a short train ride away - I wonder who is telling them? I hope someone is - they are such good guys as well, those two… Even Ethan and Drew have each other to turn to in Ohio just now. But Trent is alone, away from the other Warblers, and he must be hurting…"

"They'll know that, Blaine and Kurt. I'm sure that they will spend as much time as they can with Trent. There is one thing that we haven't done yet, Sam. One thing we omitted to tell Sebastian - we never mentioned the funeral…"

"What about the funeral?" said Sebastian, as he suddenly appeared at the door. The robe was gone now, and he was wearing a worn old Dalton hoodie above his sleep pants. "Do you know when it is? I'll need to arrange time off and then there will have to be a group Skype call later to decide what we are going to sing, the atmosphere, all of that kind of thing…" His voice tailed off as he saw the way that Sam was looking at Cooper - the latter sighed and then spoke.

"His family decided that they did not want his friends at his funeral. So, they cremated him this morning, so Sam tells me. I am so sorry Seb…"

Sebastian went pale, and fell down onto the couch, in tears again. "We don't get our chance to say goodbye….how can they be so cruel? We meant more to him than they ever did. We were his family, not them! And a cremation, so there is no grave to visit either…. They didn't deserve him, and he didn't deserve this…" By now, Dave had taken a seat next to Sebastian, and he took the sobbing boy into his arms, and just held him. Right now, he knew that he needed to know that someone was there; that somebody loved him. For without Wes Montgomery, the world was suddenly a more frightening and lonely place.

By the time that noon came in New York, all the Warblers that were closest to Wes knew. Nick had managed to hold back his tears for long enough to make a Skype call to Beats; Flint was also there, about to head out to work. It was a glimpse of a red eyed Jeff in the background that gave away the fact that something was very wrong.

Five minutes later and the two young men in Princeton were crying like babies, clinging to each other for dear life, their hearts shattered. There would be no work for Flint that day - instead after he called in sick, he and Beats headed for the station to catch the first possible train to New York, and the company of Nick and Jeff.

Ethan and Drew were told by Thad. The latter had accepted that no amount of tears and wailing could bring back the man he adored, so he concentrated his energies on dealing with the devastated David, and making sure that all of those closest to Wes knew what had taken place. Actually calling them had been hard to build up to, but he knew that he had no choice. He made sure first that they were with someone, and then he just came out and said it. It was harsh, but he didn't see any better method. Listening to them breakdown all those miles away in Ohio hurt Thad; but in a way, he saw it as a tribute to Wes that his death could provoke such feelings in all those that had known him.

Jasper and Brad had been at Dalton, visiting the Warblers and their new council of Seth, Edward and Colin when a message was passed round the school that all Warblers were to make their way to the Senior Commons at once. They had all assembled, Jasper and Brad standing uneasily in the corner. There was something about this that was unprecedented, and that made them fearful. The moment that the former Principal, Aaron Carmichael appeared in the room, they knew that something was wrong. When he finally uttered the words, there was a stunned silence in the room at first. Then the tears began to flow. It was the end of an era. The most illustrious and celebrated Warbler of them all, their Head, was gone. No-one believed that he could ever be replaced…