TRIGGER WARNING: non graphic mentions of past physical and sexual abuse

Chapter Five

Kurt, Blaine, Sam, Quinn, Elliott and Dave all decided to have lunch at this cute out of the way restaurant they spotted as they entered Bern. Kurt had told Blaine before they'd left for the tour that he wanted to experience each of the locations they visited like a native. Yeah, doing the touristy stuff like the Eiffel Tower was sweet and romantic, but when it came to food, he wanted to try places off the beaten path.

They laughed and talked about various things, but Kurt and Quinn kept noticing little things, like how when Dave had put his arm around Elliott's shoulder, Elliott would shift forward a little, but the way he did it made it look like he was just reaching for something, and not moving away from the other man. They didn't think Dave was even aware of how his boyfriend was reacting.

Quinn frowned and stood up from the table. "I need to go powder my nose," she said. "Kurt, join me for a moment?" She gave him a look that only he could read, one that said she needed an excuse to talk to him for five minutes.

Kurt nodded, and kissed Blaine on the tip of his nose, squeezing his hand under the table before standing and joining her.

The blonde woman led him back to the restrooms. "What is Elliott doing?" she asked, frowning. "Why is he so intent on subtly trying to put distance between himself and Dave? I thought he really liked him."

Kurt was frowning, too. "I don't know. I'm worried he's going to push Dave away, and I'm not sure how that will play out. I know Dave is a very sensitive guy. If he realizes what is happening, he might be crushed."

Quinn sighed. "I know Elliott has had his heart broken before, but pushing a great guy away because he might be scared it will happen again, is a surefire path to more heartbreak. Did Blaine say how soon Emma could meet us over satellite?"

"She won't be available until after tonight's show. Can you get Elliott to our hotel room?"

"I'm sure that won't be a problem. I just hope Dave doesn't realize anything before then."

"We'll just have to run interference on him until after tonight." Kurt glanced back at the table. "Crap. We may already be too late." Quinn turned to look at what was happening. Elliott had suddenly jumped up from the table and was rushing out of the restaurant. Dave had a shocked expression on his face.

Quinn grabbed Kurt's hand and the two of them ran back to the table. "What happened?" she demanded, looking right at Blaine. Sam was shifting in his seat, an expression that said he felt a little out of place in this situation.

Blaine shook his head. "As far as I could tell, Dave only said that Elliott looked good in that new shirt he was wearing. Dave?"

The other man looked at them, still looking stunned. "I tried to take his hand under the table. He just jumped up and ran off!"

Kurt and Quinn exchanged glances. "You go after Elliott," Kurt said to Quinn, before turning back to Dave. "Dave, don't give up on him, yet, okay? Quinn and I have a plan. We think some dark stuff in his past might be holding him back. The best thing you can do is stick it out and let him know you're not going anywhere."

Dave looked at him. "What kind of dark stuff?"

Kurt just shook his head. "We don't know all the details. We're pretty sure his dad used to beat him up for being gay. Other than that, he refuses to tell us anything."

Dave turned and looked towards the door. He'd never in his life felt more grateful for his own dad's support, even if his mom had turned her back on him. "I'm not letting him go. I don't know how to make him believe that."

"Just keep doing what you're doing. But like I said, Quinn and I have a plan. Unfortunately, we won't be able to initiate it until after the show tonight. Try and act like everything is normal. Don't call attention to the fact that you know something is wrong. It could end up in an unwanted argument. Elliott's never been good about admitting when something is bothering him. We think that might be due to the verbal and emotional abuse from his father."

Dave sighed, and nodded. "Thanks, Kurt. I've never felt this way about anyone before. I really don't want to mess it up."

Kurt offered him a small smile. "I know you don't. I've seen how much you've changed, Dave. It's for that reason, I'm doing everything I can to prevent either of you from unnecessary hurt right now."

…

As the curtain rose after intermission, Mason and Madison stood centerstage. "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen," Mason said, voice soft. "Tonight we need four volunteers. Would each of you please look under your seats? If you find an envelope taped to the bottom of your seat, would you please bring it to the stage with you? Do not open them, but please hold on to them until the time is right."

Three men, two tall, and one medium in height, as well as one woman, who was rather short, all made their way to the stage. They seemed to be between the ages of twenty and fifty.

"Welcome," Madison greeted each of them. "Please, each of you take a seat." Four stools were brought out onto the stage, and they each sat down, holding their envelopes.

Mason smiled at the first man, who looked to be around fifty. "Hello sir, what is your name?"

"Wilhelm," he replied in a German accent.

"Thank you Wilhelm. Would you hold your hand out please?" When the older man complied, Mason extracted an old fashioned key from his pocket and placed it in his palm. "Wilhelm, I need you to hold this key in your hand for now. Make sure it is in sight of the audience at all times, please."

He moved on to the second volunteer in line, the woman. "Good evening. And your name is?"

"Josie," the woman replied. She looked to be in her early thirties.

"Josie, I have here a well used deck of cards. Can you shuffle them for me? As many times as you'd like." As she began to shuffle the deck, he moved on. "Welcome, would you tell me your name please?"

"Kurt," the man replied.

"Wow, really?" The audience laughed. Mason grinned. "Well, Kurt, I need you to hold one of your hands out, please." He took a small wooden box from Madison and placed it in Kurt's hand. "Would you examine the box for me, and try to open it?"

The man studied the box thoroughly, trying to open it. "It's locked."

"Thank you. Now if you could just hold the box between your hands like this," he placed the man's hands on each side of the box, with the lock facing out. "There. And finally, our last volunteer. Your name, sir?"

"Jamison," he replied.

"Nice to meet you. Jamison, I have several very old pictures here of random people. I want you to pick one of the photographs. It doesn't matter if I see it, but do not show it to my sister, please. You may share it with the audience."

Once the man had shown the audience the photograph, Mason instructed him to place the photograph face down on his palm and place his other hand on top of it. Next, Mason picked up a Polaroid camera, and moved to the edge of the stage, facing the four volunteers. He snapped a picture, and when it emerged, placed it face down on a small table on the opposite side of the volunteers from Madison.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen, I have a story to tell you. A story of a love triangle, and a tragic ending. You see, a hundred years ago a woman had two men who were in love with her. She loved the poor farmer's son, but her parents wanted her to marry the wealthy banker's son. The two men fought over her, and one of them pulled a gun. There was a struggle, and the gun went off, the bullet struck the young woman, killing her instantly."

The audience let out a gasp, some of them cupping a hand to their mouths in shock.

"To this day, no one knows which of the two men had pulled the trigger. But tonight, Madison will solve the mystery. Sister, dear, are you ready?"

Madison took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes." She moved to stand beside Wilhelm. "The key you hold unlocks the truth." She placed her hand under the one he held out with the key in it. She took another deep breath, and concentrated on the key that laid flat in the older gentleman's palm. Slowly the key began to turn, as if opening an unseen lock.

There were more gasps from the crowd. There were people who slid forward in their seats, sitting on the very edge.

Madison let out a small gasp as she moved a step away from Wilhelm. Turning, she faced Josie. "The card on top of the deck, without looking at it, decide if you want to keep it, or cut the deck and place it in the middle."

The woman considered briefly, and then cut the deck, bringing a new card to the top. "Please turn the card over," Madison instructed. When Josie flipped the top card over, the King of Hearts was revealed. Madison moved on to Kurt. "Please, open the box."

Kurt frowned, but did as instructed. This time the box opened without any trouble. Inside was a single bullet. Finally, Madison moved on to Jamison. "The picture you chose. Was there a name on it?"

"Yes," The man replied.

"What was the name?"

"Jack."

Madison then moved to the photograph Mason had taken with the Polaroid, and picked it up, showing it to the audience. When the cameraman focused on the picture, it showed a ghostly woman standing behind Jamison, pointing at the photograph.

People in the audience let out a scream and some looked around frantically, looking for signs of a ghost.

Madison's voice rang out clear and strong over the crowd. "Each of you brought an envelope to the stage with you. Please open them and show the audience what was inside." The four volunteers opened their envelopes and held out the pieces of poster board they found inside. Each one of them had a single word printed in large, bold letters on them;

Jack. King. Killed. Me.

There were more gasps from the crowd still. A woman in the center section fainted into her partner's lap. Other members of the audience recovered faster and started to applaud the twins.

Mason thanked each of the volunteers, shaking their hands, as Elliott and Quinn handed each of them a gift bag and ushered them off stage.

"Thank you all," Madison said. "I hope tonight we laid more than one spirit to rest."

…

Quinn had her arm linked through her cousin's. "Elliott, it will be good for you. I promise it's just going to be the four of us, just like it always is when one of us needs it."

Elliott looked at her. "I don't know how many times I have to tell you, I'm fine."

The blonde woman stopped in her tracks, just a few doors down from Kurt and Blaine's hotel room. She released Elliott's arm and crossed her own over her chest, arching one perfectly shaped eyebrow. "Elliott William Christopher Gilbert, do you really think I don't know when something is bothering you? Now, you are coming into Kurt and Blaine's hotel room with me, end of discussion."

Elliott groaned. "I really hate it when you call me that."

"At least when I do, you know I mean business. Now come on." She grabbed his hand and pulled him along to the door, knocking on it.

Elliott tried to pull his hand away, but she held on firmly. "Please, Quinn, just drop it? I really don't need this. I'm fine!"

"You're not fine," Kurt said, opening the door, and grabbing his other arm, pulling him inside.

Blaine was sitting in their little lounge area with his laptop open, running Skype where they had put in the call to Emma just moments before.

"Sit," Kurt and Quinn said together, pushing Elliott down on the couch in front of the computer.

Elliott's eyes were wide with fear, and he was pale and sweating. "Please, I just want to be left alone."

Quinn sat beside him. "Elliott, we all love you and care about you a lot, and we're really worried about you. You're pushing Dave away, and he's scared and confused about why. He really loves you, and is worried that you don't feel the same about him."

"I know Dave, Elliott," Kurt said, sitting down next to Blaine. "He acts a tough game sometimes, but he can be very insecure, especially given his history of bullying. Dave walks on eggshells a lot of the time, because he's always worried if he's doing the right thing now. He told me today he doesn't want to mess this up, and he's not going anywhere."

Elliott just stared at him for a moment, and then a tear slid from his eye. A moment later he was choking back a sob, the tears falling faster and faster. "I don't deserve his love. I'm not worthy of him."

Kurt exchanged a worried glance with Quinn. "Elliott, that's not true. Do you know how much you've done for me just by being as good a friend as you have been? If it weren't for you, I don't know if I would have made it through high school. You were my support, my rock, the one who always encouraged me to stand strong against the bullies. What would I have done without you?"

Quinn was nodding her head. "Kurt told me you asked him to lie for you when you ran away. He also said you never told him what was wrong, except that you were scared. Please talk to us, and talk to Emma. She's here to help."

Elliott was shaking so bad he could barely speak. "He said he'd kill me if I ever told."

Kurt went still at those very familiar words. "Who?"

The taller man just shook his head frantically, hugging himself with both arms. Again, Kurt exchanged a worried glance with Quinn.

"Was it Uncle Luthor, Elliott?" Quinn asked as gently as she could.

At the name, the older man flinched, and tried to hide in the cushions of the couch, whimpering. Kurt could hear a female voice speaking softly to Blaine from the computer screen, but was focused on his friend.

"Elliott," Kurt said gently, reaching out a hand and placing it comfortingly on his arm. "Did you know he apologized to my dad that I was a pussy?"

The older man didn't reply, just let out a little choked sob.

Quinn ran her fingers through his hair. "You know no matter what happened, Kurt and I both still love you, right? Nothing will ever change that."

"But you need to start talking, to let all this out, because Elliott, I'm really scared if you keep bottling it up and not talking about it, you're going to hurt yourself one day," Kurt said, fighting back tears of his own. "I don't want to see you hurt, not now, not in the past, not ever again."

"Elliott," Blaine said softly. "If you rather I left while you three talk with Emma, I can do that. But remember, he's not here now. He can't hurt you anymore. What is said in this room stays in this room, okay?"

"And if you're unsure about talking to Emma," Quinn added. "I can put in a call to Tina and she can tell you how much it helped her."

Elliott grabbed her hand, squeezing it hard. "Don't leave me."

Quinn squeezed his hand in return. "Never."

Blaine stood slowly. "Do you want me to go? I'll leave the room completely if you want. If not, then I will go over there and sit with Tobi and Ginger. I think Raja wants this spot." The tiger had moved towards the couch when Elliott had started crying, but had been keeping his distance, not sure what was wrong with his friend.

Elliott just kind of awkwardly nodded his head. Kurt held out his free hand for Raja and the tiger cautiously approached. "Why don't you put your head in Uncle Elliott's lap and give him some of your soft comfort, boy," Kurt said to the animal.

Raja leaned against the older man, leaning his head in his lap, one paw resting on his knee. Elliott seemed to calm some as the cat nuzzled closer to him.

Blaine leaned down and gave Kurt a quick kiss. "I'm just going to be over there if you guys need me." He passed behind the couch and gently squeezed Elliott's shoulder. "Feel better, Elliott. We need our Starchild."

Kurt waited until Elliott had taken a few calming breaths before he spoke again. "Emma is on the computer screen. You don't have to look at her, but I think it would help if she listened in to this. Is that okay with you?"

Elliott nodded again, his hand still in Quinn's. He looked from Quinn to Kurt to Raja, nodding a second time. "I...I don't know where...where to start."

"How about with why you ran away? Or at least, what might have led to it?" Quinn suggested gently.

Elliott let out a shiver as the memories came flooding back. "He found out about Brooks. He was angry, and he was drunk, maybe high, too. I don't know. I've never seen him like that before." His voice cracked, and he turned his face away again.

Kurt was quiet for a moment. "Elliott, did he tell Brooks to get the hell out of town? Is that why he left?"

Elliott shook his head. "No, Brooks left with the carnival. His uncle owned the company that ran the rides. Dad saw me kissing him goodbye."

Raja nuzzled his head a little closer, as Kurt let out a sigh. "Well that at least gets rid of the concerns Quinn and I had that he just ran out on you. What happened after your dad caught you kissing him goodbye?"

Elliott opened his mouth, closed it again, then closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "He slapped me. Called me a dirty faggot, said I was worthless and that no decent person would ever love me." He turned more into the pillow, trying to hide again, his hand unconsciously fisting into Raja's fur.

Quinn squeezed his other hand again. "Elliott, that's not true. We love you, all of us, so much. You are a wonderful person. And Elliott, Dave loves you too. He's not like Daniel, or that other jerk. He's here to stay. And Uncle Luthor, he's gone. He can't stop you from being happy, or hurt you anymore. So now you can do what you always should have been able to. Get out your anger at him."

Elliott just shook his head. "Dave won't want me after he learns the truth. I'm toxic. I'm tainted and worthless!"

Kurt had gone very still again as a thought occurred to him. "What else did Luthor do to you that day?"

The older man suddenly went rigid, his eyes becoming wide and glassy and now staring forward in that way that was looking, but not really seeing. He could remember, clear as a bell, the last seven words his dad had said to him that day. The last seven coherent words.

"So you want to be a faggot?" he got out in a broken whisper, in a state that suggested he wasn't even aware of what he was saying.

Kurt was looking at Quinn in horror as they both realized just how much they hadn't known. "Elliott?" Kurt said softly. The older man didn't respond.

Quinn shifted so she was kneeling in front of the couch looking at her cousin's face. "Starchild?"

He blinked at the name of the alter ego he'd created to hide behind. He looked at her, although he didn't seem to recognize her. "It hurt. And he beat me as he did it. I thought I was going to die. He said he was going to kill me." The words were spoken in an even, emotionless tone, as if someone was reading them from a script.

"Oh my God," Kurt choked out, a hand coming up to cover his mouth. He stared wide-eyed at Quinn.

"I think you should let him rest now," the voice came from the laptop speaker, soft and unassuming. "Let him sleep, but don't leave him alone. I'd like to talk with him in private once he's rested for at least twelve hours."

Quinn frowned. "Emma, Elliott has short sleep syndrome. He can only manage to sleep like two or three hours at a time. And sometimes not even sleep aides help that much. Do you have any suggestions?"

There was a moment of silence as the woman considered. "I'm not authorized to give out prescriptions, but I have a psychiatrist associate who can. I can speak to them about getting him a script for Ambien, but I should caution you, some people have strong reactions to it."

Kurt sighed. "I know. I take it myself."

Quinn snorted. "I'm not sure whether sleep shopping should be considered a strong reaction or just a strange one. By the way, Elliott and I were wondering, whatever happened to that Marie Antoinette portrait?"

Kurt shrugged. "It's hanging in my old bedroom back in Lima. My dad hung it there to torment me with. He thinks sleep shopping is hilarious."

"So do the rest of us," Quinn said, trying not to laugh. "Though we had a thought, you might be able to use that for an illusion."

Kurt just rolled his eyes. "Maybe now is not the time to be thinking about that." He glanced down at Elliott, who seemed to be fast asleep now. "He's never fallen asleep that fast, at least not since before my mom died."

"The sleep disorder developed around that time, well, slowly around the time things started getting worse for him," Quinn said, having sobered rather quickly. "It's possible finally talking about it might help, at least some."

Kurt looked back at Emma. "Does he need a script for Ambien? I take it, but I don't get it as a prescription."

She asked him about his dosage, and then consulted her computer for a moment. "I think it would benefit him to get a higher dosage, one that requires a prescription, but it may take a few days for it to get through all the red tape in a foriegn country, so if you don't mind sharing, he can take the lower dose for now."

Kurt frowned. "That reminds me, if you say there's red tape and we're moving around a lot, how can we be sure it'll get to us where we are, when we need it?"

"You'll be able to pick it up from any pharmacy once it gets through the proper channels. Just call the closest one to you and say you have an escript you need to fill."

"Okay, thanks Emma," Kurt said, nodding his head. "In the meantime, I'll share some of mine with him, see if it helps any better than Melatonin."

"He can continue taking the Melatonin as well. It might help prevent some of the unwanted side effects from the Ambien."

Quinn nodded. "Alright, thanks again," she said, disconnecting the Skype call. "I'm sorry he might have crashed your private night with Blaine," she added, looking at Kurt.

The blue eyed man shrugged. "Don't worry about it. As long as he's okay, that's all that matters. Raja, be a dear and go get a pillow or two from the extra bed, help make Uncle Elliott more comfy, okay?"

Quinn shook her head as the animal went and got the requested items. "You act like he knows exactly what you are saying, and it's almost scary when he does what you tell him. I never knew tigers were so intelligent."

Kurt just smiled softly at her as he took the pillow from Raja. Tobias wandered over, dragging one of the cow hides, and draped it over the sleeping man.

"These animals will never cease to amaze me."

Kurt smiled again. "Just like regular house cats and dogs, and babies too actually, they have a keen sense of when comfort is needed."

Quinn sighed. "I think a lot of comfort is going to be needed, by all of us, to get through this. I knew there was a reason I always hated Uncle Luthor. I thought my dad was a bastard, but this…" She couldn't finish the thought.

Kurt reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Forget him. You have my dad now. You know he's taken on the job of being everyone's father. There have been times in the past Elliott called him dad, and my dad never bothered to correct him. If you want to call him dad too, he'd be okay with that."

"That goes for my dad, too," Blaine said, rejoining them. "You know he always looked after you, especially when you got pregnant. I think he was just a little relieved to know it wasn't my kid, but still, he's always thought of you as the daughter he always wanted but never had."

Kurt smiled up at his fiance. "Besides, there's no rule that says your real dad can only be your biological dad. So now, you have two of them."

Quinn hugged both of them. "You know, magic must be real. It's the only way to explain how you two exist."