Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. I do own Jane, Candy and Sarah though.
Read on, oh faithful ones...
...
Chapter Twenty-Nine
...
The morning seemed too bright to most of them. Blaine and Kurt had disappeared some time during the night, and a text from the latter to Mouse revealed that he'd taken Blaine to his house so they could get back to Dalton faster than from Rachel's house.
"Too much sugar last night, kids?" Scott, one of Rachel's father's asked with a grin.
Rachel gave a quick nod, closing her eyes as the motion made her feel nauseous. Ian, her other father, didn't seem to believe that they all looked nauseous and sensitive simply due to too much sugar.
"I'll take Rachel and the girls," Ian said, making it very clear that they would be talking about just what had happened.
"All right, I'll take the boys. Do you want breakfast before we go? There's still enough time for toast, or cereal?" Scott offered.
A groan rolled through most of them, and Mercedes slipped her sunglasses on, ignoring the fact that they were inside and the light was dim.
"I wouldn't mind some toast, please? Everyone else can have juice. It'll help settle their stomachs after so much sugar," Mouse added.
"Toast would be good," Puck agreed, his stomach rumbling.
"I'll make your breakfast up, and you can organise the juices," Ian said, leading both to the kitchen. When they were inside and out of earshot of the others, he looked at them sternly. "Just what happened last night? By the smell that's oozing out of the lot of you, I'd say that alcohol was involved. Did you get into our liquor cupboard?"
"No, sir, we didn't get into your liquor cupboard," Mouse replied. "As to the rest of it, I would prefer that you talked to Rachel... Do you mind if I get the juices?"
"Fridge is there behind you," he said with a nod. "Glasses are in the cupboard to the right."
"Thank you," she replied, turning to get it organised.
Puck was silent as he helped Mouse get the glasses out. When she'd finished pouring two glasses, he left to give them to his friends, continuing until they all had a glass. They were silent as they drank the juice, and Scott looked a little confused by their overwhelming silence. Puck returned to the kitchen to eat breakfast. At Ian's insistence, both he and Mouse took small bags of trail mix for everyone. He said that it would help settle and absorb the alcohol that they may or may not have consumed. Ian also muttered that Rachel would be grounded until further notice, even if his single-malt scotch was still safe and locked away.
They left the house quietly. Tina was sitting on Artie's lap, her head buried in his shoulder when the sunlight hit them. He was wincing at the brightness himself and almost ran into Scott's car.
"Definitely time to get going," Ian muttered. "Come on, ladies, let's go before Scott has a coronary over his beloved car."
They grinned a little as they filed into the small van. The second van was filled with the boys in a matter of minutes, and they left the driveway soon after.
"Why do you own a van for the three of you? It's not a rental from what I can see," Mouse said, peering at the dashboard.
"Rachel's extra curricular activities often involve driving a lot of people around. Or a lot of costumes. There was a time when she refused to leave the house with no less than three spare outfits in case the weather changed," Ian said with a grin, glancing in the rear view mirror to look at his daughter.
Rachel was resting her head against Quinn's shoulder, her eyes covered with dark sunglasses.
"How about some music for the drive?" Ian asked, pressing a button on the stereo.
Oh, sweetheart put the bottle down,
You've got too much talent.
I see you through those bloodshot eyes,
There's a cure, you've found it...
"No, Daddy. It's too loud. Turn it off. Please," Rachel groaned.
Ian almost swerved the van off the road in surprise. As it was, he pulled over to the side of the road, his hazard lights on immediately. Taking off his belt, he twisted around in his seat to look at Rachel in shock.
"What do you mean 'turn it off'? You made me put the radio on when you broke your leg and arm and had to be taken away in an ambulance!" Ian stared at her for a moment. "What on earth happened last night?"
Santana burst into tears, and Brittany wrapped an arm around her shoulders, Mouse offering her tissues from the front seat. Rachel went red, but couldn't meet her father's eyes, even through the sunglasses.
"Kurt came over with his boyfriend last night, and he thought the BYOB meant beer, not blanket..." Rachel said, her voice soft. "We drank the beer, and then the boys got more, and we drank it all. Please, Daddy, don't be angry with me. I just feel so sick right now, and I'm so sorry, just please don't be angry."
"I'm not angry, Rachel. I'm disappointed in you. Do you understand how careless it was to do what you did? Do you even know how many drinks you consumed last night?" He continued when she was silent, unable to give a definite answer, "You could have had alcohol poisoning; you could have hurt yourself; you could have done any number of stupid things while under the influence of alcohol, and you could have hurt others. I understand about peer pressure, Rachel, but this was just plain irresponsible. I thought your Dad and I taught you better than this."
Santana was still crying, and Rachel felt like she could burst into tears alongside her at any moment. Her Daddy's disappointment was worse than his anger, the result making her stomach feel like it was twisting into hundreds of knots, all of those knots aflame inside of her.
"I'm sorry, Daddy," she said, choking on her words.
Ian didn't reply, but simply drove back onto the road once more and took them to school in silence.
...
"Why are you smiling?" Quinn muttered to Puck as she got out of the van to see him looking ridiculously happy. She might not have been the subject of Ian's disappointment, but she'd felt it as if it was her own father in the front seat; his disappointment over her pregnancy replaying in her head all over again.
"I got good news on the way over," Puck said, shrugging.
When he didn't elaborate, Quinn just shook her head and muttered about getting cryptic answers too early in the morning, moving past him to get into the school. The rest of the girls filed past, all of them feeling as bad as Santana and Rachel looked. Puck grabbed Mouse's hand, waiting until the others had all left to say something.
"I've got really good news," Puck murmured into her ear.
"What is it?" she asked.
"I'm clean," he said, grinning.
It took Mouse a moment to realise just what Puck was talking about, and she grinned at him.
"Congratulations, Puck," she said, kissing him.
He tried to deepen the kiss, but Mouse pulled away with a laugh.
"Just because you're clean, it doesn't mean we're going to have sex right now. Come on, I don't want to be late for English," Mouse said, tugging on his hand and leading Puck up to the school.
He rolled his eyes, but grinned and let her lead him away.
...
"All right, you've all got the next week off in order to prepare and study for your final exams. I know you'll want to go off and party straight away, but please try to resist until after you've finished. You need this time to prepare mentally for the three-hour exams. You have no idea what questions the exams will ask, so you have to learn everything,"
Jefferson took a moment to look over the class, to ensure that they were actually listening to what he was saying. He just hoped that they would take it to heart.
"You already know your required reading for the English exam, which is Shakespeare's Macbeth, and you have a set of questions from last year's exam. Today, you'll be going over these questions and seeing if you can answer them correctly. Think of it as a mock exam, so yes, that means no talking. In fact, all of you can switch your phones off right now."
A groan of annoyance went through the room and he glared at the students briefly.
"It's either you turn them off, or I keep them up here for the rest of the lesson. I just said that this is a mock exam. In an exam you can't have your phone on your person, turned on or off, so just be thankful that I'm still allowing you to keep it. Come on, the sooner you start, the sooner you'll be able to leave," Jefferson added. "If you have any questions, raise your hand and I'll come to help you, okay? No, that doesn't mean I'll give you the answer."
Mouse turned her phone off, slipping it back into her pocket immediately. She felt nervous about the mock exam, her head already trying to guess what sort of questions she might or might not have to answer. She let out a shaky breath, waiting for Mr. Jefferson to hand out the mock exam papers.
"Don't look so sick, all of you. This isn't the exam you have to worry about," Jefferson said, going along the tables and putting the papers in front of them.
"These aren't the exams you're looking for," Puck said, waving his hand and chuckling.
Mouse grinned slightly at his joke, not feeling as tense and shaky now.
"All right. Begin... now," Jefferson called, his eyes on the clock.
Opening to the first page, Mouse picked up her pencil and started to read the questions.
...
"I know that Regionals are over, but I still think it's important for you to practice your singing. It's a way to relieve tension," Schuester added, looking over them.
"Unless there's a song that relates our entire course load over five subjects, I seriously doubt any tension's going to be relieved," Santana muttered.
"Ah, all right then... Well, I have good news for you, that might make up for it. Since you all did such a great job at Regionals, Principal Figgins has requested that you sing at graduation!"
There was a moment of silence, each of them thinking about the pros and cons of this request. Candy lit up brightly and put his hand up, waving it a bit to get Schuester's attention.
"Yes, Candy?"
"Can sweet sing if sweet's not graduating?" he asked, worrying at his lip.
"Of course. You're part of Glee club, aren't you?" Will said, grinning at him.
Candy grinned brightly and clapped in excitement. "Can sweet wear a cap too?"
"I'll let you wear mine, sweetie," Mouse offered.
"No, that's Mousie's!" he said, eyes wide with seriousness.
"Well... Maybe Mrs. Komp will let you make your own cap in class?" she suggested.
"Oooh! Sweet can make it mascot colours!" he said excitedly. "Sweet has to go!" he called, leaving the choir room quickly.
Will seemed surprised at his sudden departure, but figured that Candy had given them all a reason to sing at graduation now, and deserved the time off. It wasn't like they really had to practice anyway.
"So what do you all plan on doing after school? Before college," Schue asked the group, attempting a smile.
"Get a job, earn money," Artie said, shrugging.
"Earn a lot of money," Puck added with a slight grin.
"Work, get money," Finn said in agreement.
"Become a billionaire," Mercedes said, laughing.
"Money, money, money,
Must be funny in a rich man's world.
Money, money, money,
Always sunny in a rich man's world," the girls sang.
"I wanna be a billionaire so very bad,
Buy all of the things I never had.
I wanna be on the cover of Forbes magazine,
Smiling next to Oprah and the Queen," the guys sang, Mike and Matt high-fiving each other.
They all sang together, Will joining in as well.
"All the things I could do,
If I had a little money,
It's a rich man's world.
"Every time I close my eyes,
I see my name in shining lights.
A different city every night.
I swear, the world better prepare,
For when I'm a billionaire."
...
At lunch, Mouse saw the rest of the Glee members sneak off with Artie, something about red cups being whispered between them. She frowned slightly, and looked to Puck beside her, who looked just as confused and shrugged.
"Mousie? Where are they going?" Candy asked, looking between her and Puck, and the group ahead of them.
"I'm not sure, Candy. But wherever they're going, they're getting there fast," she muttered, seeing that the others were already nowhere in sight.
"Hey, Mouse. Do you have a minute?" Will called, jogging over to them.
"Yes, Mr. Schue?"
"Alone, if you don't mind? We can go to my office," Will offered.
Surprised, Mouse nodded reluctantly. Candy still didn't look pleased at the Glee members going off without him, and Mouse's departure would set off a tantrum on an epic scale. He folded his arms over his chest, pouting and glaring at the same time.
"Hey, come on, Candy kid. Let's go see who's at the bleachers. Terrence is probably worried about you," Puck added.
At Terrence's name, Candy's expression softened and his arms fell to his sides. "Why can't sweet go with Mousie too?"
"Mr. Schuester probably wants to talk with me about the Spanish exam, right, Mr. Schue?"
Realising that he was being offered a very tidy solution, Will nodded enthusiastically. "Right. Verbs, adjectives, all of that boring stuff. Why don't you go out and enjoy the sunshine, Candy?" he added gently, smiling at him.
Candy didn't look as though he believed them, but let Puck lead him outside anyway, looking back over his shoulder.
"This won't take long, Mouse," Will promised, leading her away.
"Uh, Mr. Schue? Where are we going? Your office is down that hallway," Mouse said in confusion as they passed the hallway completely.
"This is a shortcut."
What the hell was going on?
Will glanced about surreptitiously before opening a door and ushering her inside. Mouse stopped short on seeing that she was inside of the staff room. She was more surprised to see that Coach Sylvester, Ms. Lemay, and Principal Figgins were sitting at the same table - let alone in the same room - without someone sustaining a permanent injury. Mr. Jefferson, Emma, and Coach Beiste were there too, and in the background were the rest of the McKinley staff, all of them smiling at her knowingly. It was downright creepy.
"They couldn't decide whose office to go to, so the staff room was renamed Switzerland," Will muttered in explanation. Then he cleared his throat slightly and moved to sit between Coach Sylvester and Principal Figgins. He indicated to the single seat across from them. "Take a seat, Mouse, and we'll get started."
"Get started on what, exactly?" Mouse asked. Seeing that she didn't have much choice, she sat down on the seat.
"For the first time in a long time. Years, even. Since before I started working here," Figgins added, musing.
"Get to the point, Figgins," Sylvester muttered, showing that Switzerland definitely wasn't a place without hostility.
"Yes, yes... The staff of McKinley High have come to a unanimous decision and you have been elected to be put on our Honour Roll," Figgins said proudly, sitting up a little straighter.
"But, sir... We don't have an Honour Roll," Mouse said, wondering just what the hell was in their coffee. Maybe they'd all been switched to decaf?
"Exactly! You will be the first Honour Roll student at William McKinley High School," Figgins exclaimed, folding his hands on the table before him and waiting for her response.
...
"You all right, Mouse?" Puck asked, frowning when he saw her somewhat dazed expression. "Jane?" he said, concerned when she didn't answer his question.
"Hmm?" she asked, blinking and looking at him, as if surprised that he was before her, or that she was even outside.
"Are you okay?" he repeated, moving to feel her place a hand on her cheek.
"What are you doing?" she asked with a frown.
"Feeling for a temperature."
Jane laughed softly, taking his hand and moving it up to her forehead. "You put your hand on a person's forehead or the back of their neck to feel for a temperature. But I'm fine."
"Hmm, I think I should double-check," Noah murmured, his hand moving to caress her cheek before slipping behind her head to rest on the back of her neck gently. "So how hot is someone meant to be to have a temperature, anyway?"
"Well, you don't have a thermometer, so feel your own forehead then check against mine," Jane said, her eyes hooded as he stroked her neck.
"Hmm, you're boiling. I think I should take you home," he murmured, grinning slightly.
"We've got a mock exam for Spanish next. You wouldn't be trying to avoid that, would you?" Mouse asked, opening her eyes and looking at him pointedly.
"Can you blame me for trying?" Puck asked, cupping her cheek and kissing her with a grin.
Grinning a little herself, Mouse kissed him back, her arms wound around his waist. "Come on, you can sing to me in Spanish while I finally have my lunch," she said, leading him to the bleachers.
Candy realised that Mouse had arrived and hurried over, tugging Terrence along with him.
"Mousie! Sweet can throw the ball! Even better than Lee," he said proudly, waving Terrence back a few steps.
Terrence moved back obligingly, and they all watched Candy as he held the ball carefully, his tongue sticking out with concentration. With a loud oof of noise, Candy swung the ball and let go, the ball sailing up into the air. Terrence actually had to run back to catch it, and jogged back to the bleachers, looking as proud as Candy.
"Well, he's right about throwing better than me. But I'm not meant to throw the ball anyway. I'm meant to catch it," Lee muttered, sitting next to Puck as Candy and Terrence continued to throw the ball to each other.
"Yeah, keep telling yourself that, Lee. One day, Candy's going to be taking your position on the team," Puck said, chuckling.
Lee shook his head with a grin, and they all kept watching as Candy and Terrence played, Candy catching the ball and running away from Terrence, giggling wildly.
...
"Hair of the dog. Best way to get rid of a hangover," Artie murmured, pouring a generous amount of alcohol in everyone's red cups.
He'd gone to the staff lounge before class when the teachers were in their home groups and Figgins was busy counting the school funds, and raided the cupboard that he knew they kept their weekly 'Friday afternoon staff meeting alcohol' in. Apparently, Coach Sylvester and Ms. Lemay could only be in the same room with a large amount of booze involved.
"Are you sure?" Mercedes asked, the swirling liquid making her stomach feel all ... sloshy.
"Positive. My cousin swears by it," he replied authoritatively.
Mercedes felt light-headed, her eyes stinging in the minimum light of the choir room, and if having another drink was meant to get rid of the awful pounding in her head, then she'd do it. Even if she felt like she'd be sick if she had another drink. Everyone else was already drinking, their eyes closed tightly and sour expressions on their faces. Mercedes sighed and lifted the cup to take a drink. The smell reached her before she could take a drink, and she paled on realising that no, drinking this would definitely not help her. She ran from the choir room to find the nearest bathroom.
"Oh god, I think I'm going to be sick," Tina groaned, running out after Mercedes.
The mention of being sick did things to Brittany's stomach and head, and she ran out after them, Rachel following almost immediately. Quinn was sitting on a chair, her head between her knees, her breathing slow and her body trembling as if she was cold, despite the warm room. Santana was pale and slumped against the back bench, sobbing into her hands as she tried not to pass out.
"Are you sure that was alcohol, man?" Mike asked, his head swimming as he ran out of the choir room.
Matt and Finn ran after him, both groaning and holding their stomachs. Artie doubted that he'd reach the bathroom in time and rolled out to the closest rubbish bin. A disgusted and horrified screech sounded behind him as he heaved into the bin, but he was too preoccupied to worry about the banshee.
A matter of minutes later had Mr. Schuester, Emma, Coach Sylvester and Beiste, and Principal Figgins leaving the staff room to discover nearly all of the Glee club in various stages of alcohol poisoning. The discarded bottle of whiskey was found in the choir room almost instantly, along with the collection of red cups and two very sick Cheerios - Quinn shaking and Santana on the verge of passing out completely.
Emma rushed over to them, helping Santana to sit up properly and wrapping her cardigan around Quinn's shoulders. She asked Beiste to bring water and some of the fire blankets from the nurse's station, and with a nod, the woman left quickly. She returned in a matter of minutes, arms full with blankets, and a large jug of water clutched at the front precariously. When they were each wrapped in a blanket and sipping at their drinks (the bin was dragged into the room in case they needed to use it), Emma and Beiste left to call an ambulance as well as the students' parents.
"Remember when Jane showed that video of DUI accidents at the staff meeting last year?" Coach Sylvester asked with a chuckle, taking the bottle off the desk and dumping it in the bin.
Figgins shuddered at the memory, images of crushed cars, impaled bodies, split skulls, and limbs hanging on by threads of skin (or in one memorable case, sitting a metre away from the person in the car entirely) replaying in his mind, despite the amount of times he'd tried to suppress them.
"Yeah, that's the last drinking session we had at school," Schuester muttered, his stomach turning at the memory as well. "I thought we threw all of the alcohol out after that?"
"I kept a bottle in case I ever needed to poison the lot of you just to get some peace and quiet," Sue replied, shrugging carelessly. "I did keep it under lock and key, so these little bastards have been stealing as well as trespassing in the staff lounge."
"So... We won't have to pay for their hospital bills?" Figgins asked hopefully.
"No idea, check with a lawyer. But I do know that if this lot don't get better quickly, they're all going to have to repeat senior year. And if that happens, I plan on making them go through Hell," Sue said, turning and leaving the group of students and staff without another word.
Will turned to look at his students, his disappointment all too clear on his face. "Emma and Coach Beiste have gone to call your parents as well as an ambulance. You're all probably going to need to get your stomachs pumped. We can't try to get you to throw up the alcohol yourselves, because with this alcohol poisoning your gag reflexes won't be working properly and you might choke to death on your own vomit," he informed them, ignoring the winces of disgust. "Just be thankful that Regionals are already over. Could you imagine a Glee club who can't sing because their throats have been permanently damaged with pumping tubes?"
"Will we be able to sing at graduation?" Rachel asked fearfully, her eyes wide.
"Who knows? And honestly, who really cares?" Will asked, leaving without looking back.
...
"The whole school's talking about it. There's a rumour that you all had a chilli eating contest, thanks to that Suzie Pepper girl and someone almost died. Of course, my favourite one was about all of the girls being possessed, and how the exorcism resulted in the girl's bathroom looking like something out of the Exorcist," Puck said.
"Oh, I don't know; I thought the one about them getting alcohol poisoning and destroying two school bathrooms and a bin was the best one. Of course, that's also the truth, so it probably won't be believed over the rest of the rumours. Unless someone put pictures of you all looking absolutely plastered on Facebook," Mouse said, looking to each of their friends.
They all looked like shit, their eyes bloodshot and teary, their bodies hunched, and they were all dressed in hospital gowns that didn't help the washed out colour of their faces at all. Every single one of them looked like they'd been dragged through hell itself by their tonsils. A thick tube had been forced down their throats, scraping the sensitive vocal cords, and man-made machines pumped out the alcohol in their stomachs.
"Thanks to your little stunt, you've all missed the mock exams we did at school today, so you now get the pleasure of doing them in hospital. Good luck with it," Mouse said, her tone far more sarcastic and dry than any of them had ever heard before.
"Why are you so upset?" Quinn muttered.
"Yeah, you weren't the one who got their stomach pumped," Finn added.
"No, but I'm the one who has to go out there and explain to my brother why all of you are in hospital. I have to explain why he can't sing at graduation, and I'm the one who'll deal with the repercussions of this for a lot longer than any of you will. He's going to be traumatised by this; you all know what Sarah does to him when she drinks, yet all of you are meant to be his friends, and he's not going to be able to know how to process this. Candy is going to be too terrified to come near any of you for weeks, maybe even the rest of the year. He hates alcohol more than I do, and you know what? He is going to be so disappointed in you, even more so than any of your parents, if any of them even give a shit about what you've done. So, no, I didn't get my stomach pumped, but I have every fucking reason to be upset."
Mouse left the room, ignoring the sobs coming from most of the girls. She couldn't go into the waiting room, not to where Candy was waiting, his confusion and innocence showing so clearly in his face. He might have heard the rumours at school, but he wouldn't have known which one to believe. She just couldn't believe that they'd done this to her, to him, to themselves. Didn't they have more sense than this?
She felt arms encircling her body, and opened her tear-filled eyes to see Puck before her. He hugged her without saying a thing, and Mouse cried into his shirt, feeling helpless, useless, betrayed, stupid, and any number of things that she couldn't hope to name.
...
Candy's eyes widened in alarm when he saw that Mouse had been crying, his bottom lip trembling as he got teary-eyed too. "Are... They... Okay?" he asked between a sudden onslaught of hiccups.
"They're all very sore at the moment, sweetie. They had something put down their mouths to help them get something bad out of their tummies," Mouse explained, trying to think of a way to tell Candy what had happened.
"Can sweet show them his cap?" he asked, looking at the slightly-squished graduation cap he'd been holding ever since leaving school.
"Sure, come on, sweetie," Mouse said, taking his hand and leading him to the room.
The school had organised to have all of the students placed in the same room, as a preemptive to any lawsuits that the parents might try to slap on their wrists. Each of the parents had been made very aware of the fact that the alcohol had been kept for memorial purposes only, had been locked up in the staff room, and that the school was in no way at fault.
As Mouse approached the room, she realised that she was still too upset and angry at all of them. She couldn't bring herself to go in, not even with Candy by her side. She opened her mouth, trying to think of something to say, to tell her brother that they had to go without seeing their friends. Puck stepped forward and took her hand from Candy's gently.
"Mouse doesn't feel well right now, so I'm going to take her back to the waiting room, okay? Do you think you can go into the room by yourself, Candy? I'm sure they'd all love to see you," Puck said offering him a smile.
"Sweet is a big boy now," he said proudly, smiling.
"Yes, you are. Call if you need me, okay?" Puck said.
Candy nodded, feeling important, and big and brave. He watched as Puck led Mouse away, then turned and looked into the room carefully, a sad look on his face when he saw that all of the girls were crying and the boys looked sad enough to cry soon too. He hoped they'd feel better when they saw his graduation cap. With that in mind, Candy smiled brightly and stepped into the room, the cap on his head proudly.
"Sweet finished his cap!" he said, smiling at each of them in turn, his best and brightest smile.
Worryingly, the girls just seemed to cry even more, and the boys turned away from him, tears leaking onto their pillows. Biting his lip, Candy tried to think of something to make them smile again.
"Sweet knows a song to sing at graduation!" he announced, but not even Rachel seemed interested.
His eyes filled with tears - he'd tried his best, and it wasn't good enough! - and Candy sank down onto the floor, his knees up to his chest as he sobbed along with the chorus. He called for Puck loudly, his words choked with his tears.
It didn't take long for Puck to realise that something was wrong, and when he left Mouse sitting in the waiting room, he heard the loud crying long before he reached the room. He ran up the corridor, his mind filled with the worst case scenario, and flung the door open to see everyone crying, Candy sitting in the middle of the beds, sobbing for him. An indescribable emotion overcame him and Noah swooped into the room, picked Candy up and carried him out.
"It's all right, Candy. I've got you. I'm here now. I'm here now, I've got you," Noah murmured over and over, his hand stroking Candy's hair gently.
Jane paled on seeing her brother in Puck's arms, hurrying over as fast as she could. "Is he all right?"
"I think he's just a bit emotional; everyone was crying in there and that probably set him off too," he replied quietly. "Come on, let's get you both home," Noah murmured, still holding onto Candy carefully.
Jane nodded and followed him out to his car without a word. Candy was set down in the backseat gently, the seatbelt wrapped around him. Jane sat next to him, and he turned into her body immediately, crying against her shirt. Apart from Candy's sobs, the trip to Jane's house was a silent one. Candy refused to get out of the car unless Noah carried him inside. Once he was set down on his feet, Candy wiped at his eyes and tugged on Jane's hand, asking for a movie. She let him lead her upstairs, tucked him into bed with his plush Bullseye horse and set Toy Story up for him to watch. He held onto Bullseye tightly, tears still falling every now and then, and fell asleep halfway through the movie.
"Are you all right, Jane?" Noah asked softly when she came back downstairs, standing off the lounge and moving to her.
She went to say that she was fine, that she was just tired, but Jane found herself shaking her head and drawing him into a hug. Noah wrapped his arms around her gently.
"Stay with me? Please," Jane added, her voice cracking.
"Always," Noah murmured, pressing a kiss to her forehead softly.
He guided her over to the lounge and sat down, pulling Jane onto his lap carefully, his arms around her once more.
...
End of the twenty-ninth chapter.
Thank you for reading. I hope you liked it!