Chapter 7- Acclimated: Part Two


Mystic Falls wasn't a particularly big town, so Kurt was able to just walk across the town and be at Elena's house in around twenty-five minutes. During his walk there, he kept reconsidering going, wondering whether he would fit in, wondering whether he was wrong to argue with Klaus the way he had. He had a point when Kurt thought about it rationally. He didn't know Tyler, at least not in the way that Klaus knew him. He supposed that he should have listened to what Klaus had to say, rather than dismiss him. It was just that he felt trapped, controlled, and the something that was inside him was rebelling against that very notion. The burst of power he'd had earlier in the school bathroom was telling of something, he was sure of it. Something was changing within him, and it was altering his brain chemistry.

By the time he arrived at Elena's house, Kurt had talked himself in and out of apologising to Klaus. As he knocked on the door, he was against it.

Elena answered the door, pleasantly surprised to see Kurt standing there. If she was being honest with herself (which she was making a concerted effort to do lately), she hadn't counted on him showing up.

"Hi, Elena. I hope it's okay that Caroline invited me here tonight."

Elena nodded. "I asked her to. You're new to the school and we want to get to know you. I think some people need to separate you from Klaus in their minds."

Kurt stepped into the door. "Do I even want to know that story?"

"Maybe another time."

"You have a very nice house."

Elena preened. "Thank you. Everyone's in the main room, we're deciding what takeout to order. Tyler wants pizza but Caroline wants Chinese. It's a thing."

"I assume Caroline is going to win that discussion."

"You catch on quick," Elena commented as they turned into the living room.

Carole, Tyler, Stefan, Matt, and a pretty black girl Kurt had never seen before were sat on the couches, assembled in a circular pattern. They all looked up as he entered.

"Kurt, you made it!" Caroline waved him over, giving him a tight hug as he sat next to her. Tyler gave him an easy smile. Matt and Stefan gave him polite nods.

"I think you've met everyone here," Caroline said. "Oh, this is Bonnie! She wasn't in school today."

Kurt looked across to her. She was deep in thought.

"You're a witch."

Kurt blinked, surprised, before nodding. "Apparently so."

Kurt missed Matt's surprised glance.

"You're powerful but untrained, right?"

Kurt's eyes widened. "Telepathy?"

Bonnie shook her head. "I can sense your power. I'm a Bennett witch, which means my bloodline is purely powerful witches. Your power is wild and untamed. If you want, I could help you find ways to control it?"

Kurt nodded vehemently. "I need a few pointers."

Bonnie reached out for his hand. "Let me see something."

Bonnie grabbed his hand and jolted, a powerful surge of energy flowing through her. She ripped her hand away from Kurt's, panting as she appraised him.

"What?"

"Your magic. It's raw, but it's dark. I'm never seen magic like this before."

The room turned to stare at Kurt. Caroline came to his rescue.

"So we're decided! Chinese food."

Tyler groaned as Caroline Googled a menu. "I'm never going to win that one, am I?"

Caroline grinned. "Nope. But it's good that you've adjusted your expectations."

Kurt took a seat in between Tyler and Stefan, the latter giving him an easy nudge.

"Don't let it bother you too much," he whispered. "Bonnie's powers only developed about a year ago, so she's still a beginner. I've seen pretty much everything at this point and dark magic isn't as rare or definitive as it might seem. It just means that however your powers manifested in you originated from something dark, like a curse or something."

Kurt fidgeted, feeling a set of eyes on him, knowing that Bonnie would be paying very close attention to him. "Isn't that bad enough?"

"Not always," Stefan said soothingly. "Just because you're born or made a certain way, doesn't mean you have to live up to that. I'm a vampire and I choose not to succumb to the worst parts of what that means."

Kurt nodded, understanding. "Where have you been for the past few weeks?"

Stefan gazed at Elena, who was frowning at them. "Right where I needed to be."

Kurt smiled, feeling a desperate pang of something indescribable in his chest.

Caroline turned to them. "What are you two girls gossiping about over there?"

"Just my dark dark magic and potential to raise hell," Kurt chuckled.

Bonnie's eyes softened. "Kurt, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have reacted so harshly."

"It's better that I know, right? No surprises along the way."

Bonnie nodded, relief flooding her face. "I'm always here."

That touched Kurt. There weren't many people that could say would go to bat for him like that without even knowing him. Klaus had done so all those weeks ago, but that was mostly for his own personal gain. Caroline had become something of a spirit guide, but Bonnie was willing to look past the darknesses inside him and help him if he needed it, and he knew that was a special thing for her to have done.

As Caroline went around the room and took people's orders, Tyler leaned into Kurt.

"I'm guessing Klaus gave you a hard time earlier."

Kurt looked back at him, astonished. "What makes you say that?"

"I know the guy a little too well, Kurt. I know I'm not supposed to badmouth him," Tyler shot a quick glance at Caroline, "but I like you. I don't want to see you hurt."

Kurt was liking Mystic Falls more and more by the second. Tyler could have been a straightforward jock stereotype, but his soul seemed to run deeper than that. Kurt was beginning to think that his hatred of Klaus had some foundation, but wasn't in a place to actively judge Klaus for the way he treated others when he had been nice to Kurt. Their little spat earlier in the evening that clouded things a little, but every friendship had those sorts of disputes, didn't they?

"He cares about me," Kurt smiled. "We're helping each other, but if it gets to the point where I feel as though he's hurting me, I'll just handle it."

"Where would you go?"

That question stung more than Kurt would have liked. Before he could dwell on it further, his phone buzzed, signalling an incoming call.

Quinn.

Heart beating rapidly, he stopped the buzzing and placed his phone flat down on the arm of the chair.

Why was Quinn calling? It had been weeks. Kurt realised that his phone would be ringing, which would let Quinn know that he was (probably) fine and not dead to transmit that message to his father.

Not that he cared.

"You okay, Kurt?" Matt asked, frowning in concern. Kurt was amazed at the compassion these people exhibited towards somebody they didn't really even know.

"Yeah," he mumbled, "just sales callers."

Bonnie raised an eyebrow (maybe she was telepathic) and Kurt shook his head, everyone else having bought his excuse, he rather thought.

Bonnie plastered on the perfect fake smile and turned to Caroline. "Charades while we wait?"

Caroline did a quick headcount. "There are seven of us."

"I can be a referee or something," Kurt offered, not wanting to disrupt the already-planned game night with six friends.

"Nonsense," Caroline waved him away, "we were counting on Elena's brother Jeremy coming to join us, but he's off brooding somewhere."

"Aren't we all?" Stefan grinned.

Kurt deftly flipped his phone over and saw the missed call notification.

Seeing Quinn's name on his screen made everything so much more alive.

For the past few weeks, he had been living in a state of emotional paralysis, feeling as though everything was on autopilot. His whole being was changing, hormones racing around his body, his personality shifting ever so slightly into chaos. The influences of Klaus and Katherine were imprinting on him, his mind running faster and faster until he couldn't keep up with some of the thoughts he was having.

He wasn't the Kurt Hummel who was best friends with Quinn Fabray anymore. He was different, altered, someone who saw the bigger picture at least. It didn't matter if he sang on a Broadway stage or had the best outfit in the room, it mattered what he did with his life. He had potentially saved a woman's life in New York and that had sent him on a journey that the old Kurt couldn't have even comprehended. Lima Kurt thought that being in New York, singing Wicked with Rachel was the best life could get.

Mystic Falls Kurt had powers and confidence and influence.

At some point lost in the stupor of Kurt's introspection, the doorbell rang.

"Kurt, could you help me plate up dinner?"

Kurt snapped himself out of his reverie, happy to help. He stood, trailing behind Caroline as she paid the delivery guy and took the food into the kitchen.

She placed the bags on the counter and turned to Kurt, hands on her hips.

"What's going on?"

As Kurt stared into her eyes, he just saw Quinn and her unyielding, icy glare. He knew that, like with Quinn, he couldn't lie to Caroline. She was going to see right through him and could probably heart his heart racing as he contemplating lying to her.

His mouth tightened. "One of my old friends tried to call me."

Caroline nodded in understanding. "Why didn't you pick up?"

"I left Lima behind for a reason. I'm not the type of person to just follow a strange man on a quest to god knows where. I needed to go with Klaus."

"Did you?"

"I'm not sure what you're getting at, Caroline," Kurt muttered.

Caroline smiled. "Kurt, it's okay to admit that you might have made a mistake."

"I didn't make a mistake."

"Look, I'm not the first person to tell you that Klaus isn't good news, but I might be the one person in that room who is unbiased enough to mean it." Caroline shifted in her stance. "I actually like him a great deal, but he's hurt the people closest to me and that's something I can't overlook.

"I'm not warning you away from him or anything, but I want you to know that you have a choice. You could go back to Lima. You could call your friend back and say that you were kidnapped or that you needed some time away, or anything. Being in this kind of world isn't always what it might seem."

"Why are you telling me this?" Kurt wondered.

"Because I care about you. I know it hasn't been long, but I feel like I already know you really well. And you deserve a chance at a semi-decent life. I don't know if tagging along with Klaus is going to give that to you."

Kurt inhaled deeply. "I…"

Tyler poked his head around the kitchen door. "Will you two hens quit chatting and bring the food in?"

Caroline waved him away.

She took a second and blinked. "Oh."

Kurt blushed. "It's not…I mean…"

Caroline's eyes lighted. "Kurt, it's okay. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tempted when he came after me. I get it."

Kurt stared at her, suddenly uneasy. "Really?"

"I think without his whole vampire-hybrid-werewolf-curse thing, it really could have worked out. But it was over the moment he decided to come after my friends."

"I need to know the whole story. Including why he and Tyler hate each other so much."

Caroline shrugged. "That's for them to tell you, I guess."

He returned to the living room and Caroline sighed.

"We can talk about this more later. If you want."

"Thanks, Caroline," Kurt smiled genuinely. He really was in need of a confidant outside of Klaus and he rather thought that Caroline would fit the bill somewhat perfectly.

As they dished up the food, suspicious glances were sent their way from Elena, Bonnie, and Matt, but Stefan and Tyler had presumably heard everything. It would explain why Tyler was sat vibrating and why Stefan was trying to calm him down.

As they ate, Caroline decided to start the games.

"Alright, since Jeremy bailed, I'll be the adjudicator and you six can play. How about we have Kurt and Tyler, Bonnie and Stefan, and Elena and Matt?"

Everyone nodded, Tyler looking less than happy about it. Caroline shot him a dangerous glare and he seemed to soften when Kurt sidled up next to him, displacing Stefan.

Kurt wiped his hands on a napkin and sighed. "I know you heard."

"I shouldn't be surprised, should I? He comes blazing into town, demonstrates the fact that he's a psychopath, and suddenly everyone is all over him."

"Everyone?"

Tyler bit his lip. "You know what I mean. I don't wanna tell you what to feel, Kurt, but I also feel like I need to protect you."

"I can take care of myself," Kurt snapped, more harshly than he had intended.

"I don't doubt that. Klaus can be very manipulative when he wants something."

Kurt felt Caroline's eyes on them. "Shall we talk about this tomorrow?"

Tyler shrugged. "If you want. I'll be here."

"For now, let's just concentrate on wiping the floor with everyone else, huh?"

Tyler broke into a smile. "Now that's more like it."