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Chapter 3
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AN: Ok, ok, so I was wrong. I thought this would be a short because I was like: I want to write scene *** but with a fun lead up and a quick wrap after. Then I was hit by a scene that totally wouldn't fit the lead up and knew it would have to come afterward... sigh... Then other scenes decided they needed to be put in there between. I don't think this will be an EPIC but will have a fair amount of chapters. Not excessive, just not like my other shorts where it's 10 or less.
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David explained all that he had seen and known about the new boy. Sebastian rolled his eyes with excessive exaggeration. "I told you, special treatment for his Highness."
"But you should have seen the guy. There's no way he's anything but the kind of help you hide from guests. There's ones that are presentable because you can't hide them and then ones you keep far away from everyone else. This was the kind that you keep even your family from seeing even by accident."
"Are you sure it wasn't just a bodyguard or something?" Blaine asked dubiously.
"The most portly, casually dressed bodyguard I've ever seen." David answered but it did make the most sense.
"Probably to fit in better and not appear like a bodyguard." Sebastian tilted his head as he thought through what David had shared. "Still though, he shouldn't have been allowed on campus at this time of day nor to take... Kurt was it? off campus. It's against the rules and unfair to the rest of us."
Blaine snickered. "As if you've ever been hindered by the rules." Blaine only said what David himself was thinking.
"I bend them, I don't break them. This is a clear violation and several are definitely broken." Sebastian defended himself and accused the new boy at the same time. "He can be expelled for this."
"It's only his first day." David tried to hedge, the school surely wouldn't kick someone out for rule breaking on their first day, right? It wasn't like Kurt knew, even though David had told him it was against the rules.
"We'll talk to admin in the morning." Blaine decided and Sebastian agreed to the idea but David was a little hesitant. He hadn't been entirely pleased with being ignored like that and seeing who he went off with or worrying about the boy when he had other concerns. It was too much time away from his studies, so David threw up his hands metaphorically and surrendered to his roommates. They'd do what they wanted anyway, he wasn't going to try and get in their way again when it came to their absent fourth.
If the school expelled him, it wasn't the roommates' fault and nothing could be pinned on David. This could be a day forgotten or remembered as just an odd blip.
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Administration was not sympathetic to their concerns.
"But Mr. Wheaton, it's not fair to the rest of the Dalton student population! Why can he leave campus every evening?" Sebastian pointed out.
"Mr. Hummel only lives two hours away, it seemed pointless to make him stay when he has family so close." Mr. Wheaton appeared pressed upon and not wanting to have this conversation, at all. It was obvious he thought the same thing but he knew something else, something that had convinced him to allow this aberration of policy.
"Trent's parents live a half hour away but he has to stay on campus. He can't even go out to dinner with them if it's a school night." Blaine argued and David nodded along side him.
"Look, it's not a permanent situation. When the time comes, Mr. Hummel will room with you, but not now." Mr. Wheaton shooed them toward the door but the trio lingered. "I really can't say anymore. Now out with you lot. I have work to do."
Sebastian stayed behind to try and work his magic. Blaine and David waited for him in the corridor but when he came out, he only shook his head. He had unable to get anything further out of the group of adults.
"How peculiar." David commented out loud and Blaine nodded along with Sebastian's agreement. Sebastian had never struck out so badly before, usually he could get something more out of them. If Sebastian was unable to learn any more, none of the rest of them had a chance. "No wonder his arrival was so sudden and surprising. They seem to want to share very little with the rest of us. They definitely wouldn't have forewarned us. The least they could have done was let us know he wouldn't be staying. What if we were worried about him all night, not knowing he'd left on his own accord? He cold have been lost in the halls of Dalton."
He'd lost his audience though. They were both looking at the grand entryway to Dalton's main building. They were just off to the side, close enough to find quickly but not to impede on the grand scale that always greeted newcomers.
He looked over his shoulder to see what had captured them. "Oh, yeah, that's Kurt." His eyes scanned Kurt to figure out what had them so enthralled but he looked like he had the day before. He was definitely going to win favors with Wes with how pristine he kept himself and the Dalton uniform.
He looked back to his roommates when they still hadn't said anything. Was it his imagination or were both their jaws slack and tongues hanging out?
"What? What is it?" David asked, looking back to Kurt. He wasn't carrying any food.
"You never said he was so gorgeous." Blaine spoke first.
"Fucking hot as sin." Sebastian tacked on, almost correcting Blaine but in the end, just adding to his assessment. Then he grinned roguishly. "I'm going to be committing all sorts of sins when I fuck him."
"Sebastian,no! You agreed!" David was nearly whining with his protest. This was not a further complication any of them needed.
"Yeah, well that went out the window when I caught sight of him. He's clearly gay."
"And he's clearly mine, first dibs." Blaine cut in.
Sebastian scoffed. "Yeah right, why do you think that?"
"I saw him first." Blaine tried as his argument but got laughed at, they had clearly both seen him at the same time. "Because I'm not a man-whore to your caliber and I should get to at least take a crack at him before the expert moves in." Blaine smiled slightly. "Never know, I might try the relationship thing."
"You can do the relationship thing after I get my fill of him. I'll warm him up for you buddy." Sebastian was not buying Blaine's arguments over what he so clearly wanted for himself. "If you're in a relationship with him, I'll never be able to find out if he's bendy."
"Doesn't mean the relationship will last very long if I do one." Blaine countered. "Let me go first."
"No." Sebastian shook his head. "I haven't heard of a good enough reason out of your mouth to explain why I shouldn't just do what I want."
"You will wear him out." Blaine played on Sebastian's ego. "I will get sloppy seconds, overly stretched and unable to compete or compare."
Sebastian laughed a little harshly. "Ha! You're not going to share him the same night. I may use them and leave but even I won't accept that kind of behavior and timing. No man will leave my bed and go to another, even if it's not true, it makes it appear like they weren't satisfied with me."
"Which is why I should have him first." Blaine insisted.
David groaned and ran the palms of his hands downward across his face. "Do you two even hear yourselves. You're disgusting. He's a human being and not to be talked about in this way."
That caught them both up short. Even though both were gay and Sebastian at least had never had any sort of confusion over his sexual identity, they'd both dress a man talking about a woman like that down to size. It hadn't been anything serious between the two of them, they wouldn't have approached Kurt in that way but they understood David's point all too clearly.
They were both somewhat bashful and incredibly guilty when they apologized to David. He shouldn't have had to hear them say things like that and they shouldn't have been saying them in the first place. If Kurt had heard, they'd have lost all chances with him; any one with any kind of decency would have been appalled and anyone with any self worth would have never given them the time of day after hearing that.
They were appalled at themselves, they had no idea what had come over them. They glanced at each other and then quickly away, deeply ashamed of what they'd said.
That's what David meant when he told them they had to be careful around the other one. They could get carried away into a territory they didn't recognize by egging the other on. This was just words but actions could have easily followed. And words could really do a lot of harm.
The following silence lasted too long and David broach the space between them. "Is he really that attractive?"
"Yes." Both answered at the same time in the same resounding way.
David looked over Kurt again and thought he had some nice features but didn't really see him as someone he'd like to aspire to look like or change teams for. If you took race out of it, he thought Sebastian and Blaine were both highly attractive men and wouldn't mind sharing some of their traits to attract more ladies. It was seen as unfair by the female populate because those kinds of genes should repopulate, but they also put a lot more effort into their looks than straight guys typically did. That too was changing but was the general rule of thumb.
Still, the men he'd most like to emulate in looks were along the lines of Idris Elba and Lennie James when he was older.
David didn't ask why they thought so when it came to Kurt. He didn't want to start up another verbal war about who could describe Kurt best or what they wanted to do with him. He tried really hard not to let his own preferences influence how he thought about them and what they got up to behind... well not even behind closed doors. Just out of the way and on any surface they pleased. Their shared bedroom was not off limits.
For all of Sebastian's commentary about sex, the one thing David knew for absolute certainty- he was a one guy at a time guy. Maybe have a multitude of guys in one night but always just one at a time.
Blaine had slept with three other guys. He only knew that because Blaine had snuck in bagels on his way back from said guys' apartments and they each had a different label on the box. Blaine and Sebastian were playing with fire. He didn't know how much older these men were but Blaine was only 16 and Sebastian had turned 17 last month. Any one of the men they went home with could be arrested.
David thought that would be the end of it. Kurt didn't share any classes with either of the boys yesterday. There was no way Kurt would look their way and recognize them as his newest 'non-roomies'. David doubted that Kurt would see him and wave and Kurt didn't even look in their direction at all. He continued to look at the path his feet were guiding him, just watching out for pitfalls as he went.
So when both Blaine and Sebastian suddenly took off from his side at a run, David sighed pitifully. This was going to suck for all of them. The two were trying to out-speed the other and Sebastian's longer legs had the advantage, but only just.
Kurt had looked up at the sound of feet slapping the marble floors and he lifted his arms and covered his face as he dropped to the ground in one fluid motion. He was protecting himself, David thought with a start. He making himself as small as possible, maybe even one that could be jumped over or left unseen and untouched.
Sebastian and Blaine were both talking a mile a minute in introductions and attempted icebreakers and openers. They skidded to a halt and nearly still ran into Kurt as their shoes slid on the smooth surface. Silence filled the hall as everyone turned to watch and maybe intercede if need be.
All that could be heard once the commotion died down was Kurt's heavy breathing. Shaky pants and maybe even a slight sound of scared protest came from the slight boy warding off a non-existent threat.
They had done that. Blaine and Sebastian looked at each other in horror. They had only wanted to introduce themselves, get to know Kurt a little. Maybe still fight to be the one Kurt agreed to take on. Yet they realized their problem far too late.
Pieces started falling into place. There was still a large gap to the picture but it was so much clearer now. They at least had a frame of reference. It's why he came mid-semester, why he went home at night, why he didn't talk to anyone at school and hadn't been pleased to come in the first place. His reaction had unlocked so much of the mystery that was Kurt Hummel.
The question now on everyone's mind was, how far did it go?
Whether or not it would improve was not a question anyone thought about. It wasn't even a worry, they knew that this school was specifically designed to help boys like Kurt.
Not completely learning their lesson, both Blaine and Sebastian reached out for him at the same time, speaking in unison. "Oh my God, are you ok?"
"We're so sorry, we didn't mean to scare you!"
"Let me help you up!" They each touched an arm and Kurt was no longer on his feet. He was scrambling backward along the smooth surface of the marble, looking at them absolutely terrified.
"Good job geniuses." David pushed his way between the two of them and crouched down in front of a trembling Kurt. Positive- he was looking upward rather than hidden in his arms. Negative- he was staring at all of them as if they were going to lash out at him at any time and he wanted to see it coming so he could counteract.
David postulated his counteract would just be to move to lessen the incoming blow.
"Hey." He greeted softly and tried to put in as much warmth as he could. The new knowledge he'd gained from today's interaction taught him that he did care about this boy. No one should be that scared of those two jokers. "I'd like to introduce you to Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Idiot." He held out his hand slowly, palm up, invitingly. It was all up to Kurt. "They're our roommates. I pointed you out to them and they're like great big Labrador retrievers, super stupid but loyal and loving. Too loving sometimes."
He was so glad the fools behind him didn't protest his characterizations of them. Perhaps they weren't just dumb jocks after all and that they could learn and read a situation. He gave a small laugh and Kurt's face hesitated, fluctuating on whether to offer a small relieved smile or stay in it's current state of hyper-aware flight mode.
Kurt's hand tentatively, slowly reached out toward David's and David just let it sit in his hand for a moment. He let Kurt adjust to this new situation and then ever so slowly started to stand up. He brought Kurt up with him and soon they were just looking at each other, hands held, unsure what they were supposed to do next.
Kurt was the brave one and took charge of the situation. It was a good omen in David's mind that he did so. He turned toward the other two and they started forward at once. David held up his free hand to ward them off and they stopped instantly. Honestly, that dog comment was just verbal vomit but was very appropriate just then.
"Sorry." Kurt managed to say, glancing at David to include him in it. He grimaced and held a hand against the outside of his throat to help soothe it.
"I've got a cough drop, if that will help." Blaine offered up, he had a whole stash of illness fighters on him. Kurt's head shake was quick and decisive and Blaine's shoulders fell. "Oh, ok."
"Chemicals." Kurt tried and Blaine couldn't hear him and David didn't fully understand. Kurt's voice sounded rougher the second time around and he breathed out heavily in frustration. "Bad... throat."
Ah, David got it now. He tossed over his shoulder. "Blaine, your cough drops would only irritate his throat more, that's all." He was holding Kurt's gaze and Kurt nodded his approval for the translation.
Sebastian smiled kindly, noticing an in. "I could go get you some ice cream."
Kurt shook his head and mimed that it would make him fat. David laughed, ok so this Kurt kid was funny.
He was also relaxing around the other two now. He could see they only wanted to help and had been over-exuberant in introductions. He gestured that they could come closer. His hand lifted to his throat again, lending him support. "Sorry." He managed to gasp out and they shook their heads.
"We came on too strong." Sebastian spoke, his eyes softening as he took Kurt in at a closer distance.
Blaine nodded quickly and forcefully. "And too fast."
"We should have let David introduce you to us. Apologies for our negligent behavior." Sebastian was being surprisingly reasonable and well-spoken. David wondered if this was the charm offense Sebastian applied to the administration office. He never employed it with him or Blaine, had no need to.
"It's us that should be sorry." Blaine added with a small, friendly smile.
David knew time was passing far too quickly before their first period. They'd grabbed a bite to eat before going to the admin office just because they didn't open as early as they'd have liked. Class would be starting soon. "Do you have your school schedule? One of us might be in your classes."
Kurt pulled his schedule up on his tablet and the others sent it to themselves and then pulled up their own to overlay with Kurt's. All three of them had the period before lunch together. That was already more than David had anticipated.
Sebastian shared first period with Kurt, and Blaine the last. David shared the last period on Mondays with Kurt but the rest of the days outside those classes were roommate free. The schedule repeated every other day and they had class on Saturdays too. It made their every day schedule shorter but longer in terms of days they attended. It also kept every type of class even in length and frequency.
"All right then roomie, I'll show you where our class is." He slung an arm along Kurt's shoulders. He glanced down at Kurt, a legitimate contrite look crossing his features. "Sorry, too much?" He started taking his arm off but Kurt shook his head, breathing in and out and forcing a smile to his face. "It is too much." His arm lifted and Kurt shot a hand up to pull it down and shook his head again. "Ok, but let me know, all right?" Kurt nodded and as they walked away, Sebastian's head turned toward the two still standing there and winked at Blaine.
Blaine stuck his tongue out at him rather than what he really wanted to do. They were a bit too close to adults who would discipline him. Still, one of the teachers called across the room. "Mr. Anderson! That is not Dalton behavior!"
Blaine retracted his tongue and tried to look apologetic, but his eyes were watching the other two make their way out of the great hall and couldn't quite manage it. Still, the teacher let him go without further words. Blaine wasn't scowling, far from it in fact. Blaine just viewed Sebastian's actions as a fun challenge. Sebastian had thrown the gauntlet down. David inwardly groaned as he would be reigning his roommates in all the time now.
Poor Kurt, he didn't know what he was in for.
