Part 23

"I didn't know you could sing dude", Nathan said when Wesley had fallen asleep again and they were all sitting around his bed.

"Neither did I", Alvaro said and made a grimace.

"You should audition for the Warblers", Otto said happily.

"No… It's not my thing… I don't like singing. I like listening to you guys sing but I don't like singing myself."

"Why not", Kim asked. "You're good."

"I just… don't think it's fun."

"Don't worry we won't force you if you don't want to", Lucas said. He was by Wesley's side again, holding his limp hand in his. "Besides we have other things to worry about."

"Yes", Mark said and nodded. "We must get Wes back."

"What are you talking about", Kim asked confused.

"You saw his eyes right", Nathan asked and Kim nodded. "That's how Wes looked when he first came to Dalton… back then he only called himself Wesley because he didn't feel secure with himself or with us. He didn't know what it felt like to have someone care for you or love you as much as we do."

"Yeah I understood that from what you said out in the corridor", Kim said and nodded. "Do you know where his father lives so I can ride over and kill him?"

"You usually kill people when you ride over them", Otto teased and Kim gave him a tired look.

"And what are you gonna ride", Alvaro said and smirked. "A horse?"

"You know what I mean", Kim said and flailed with his arms.

"Actually… no."

"Don't you English talking people say that you ride a bus, you ride a train or you ride a bike?"

"Yes we do", Lucas said. "But you don't 'ride over and kill him' you go over there and kill him. The way you said it made it sound as if you were riding over him with something and then kill him."

"Maybe I should", Kim said and crossed his arms. "You don't treat kids like that. Don't this country have something like BRIS? I know Wes would only do good from it."

"Something like what", Mark asked.

"BRIS is a Swedish organization. It stands for Barnens Rätt I Samhället, in English that means the Children's Rights In Society. Huh... should call it CRIS then."

"What's that, BRIS I mean", Otto asked.

"If you're a kid that wants to talk to someone who doesn't know you and that you can be anonymous with you call up BRIS. You can talk to them about anything and they listen and give advices. They are nice I like them. They make great jobs for kids."

"They make kids work? What kind of sick country is Sweden?!" Nathan asked and looked really upset. "And here I thought Sweden was a fair and just country that treats people in a good way! And now you tell me that sick place has child labor?! They never tell us that in geography class!"

"What", Kim asked confused. "We don't have child labor."

"You just said so!"

"I did? When?"

"You said BRIS makes great jobs for kids!"

"Yeah isn't that how you say it when someone makes good jobs?"

"What the hell?! You think child labor is good?" Nathan was completely livid and red in the face.

"No!" Kim on the other hand was looking scared and confused at the same time.

"Then why are you saying so?!"

"I'm not!"

"Hold it", Lucas cut in before Nathan would start yelling. "I sense a misunderstanding here… because of language barrier. Kim."

"Yes Lucas", Kim asked and looked at him, but still kept an eye on Nathan. He freared the older boy would attack him.

"Do kids have jobs in Sweden?"

"No, not until they are 15, they can have summer jobs then."

"And is BRIS offering jobs to kids or forcing them to work?"

"No… did I say that?"

"It sounded a bit like it."

"I didn't mean that!"

"So what did you mean", Otto asked crossing his arms.

"Like… um… if you have a test and get good grades on it. Then it is a job you did good. Or if you help someone and you are good at it. You do good jobs for them."

"Oh I get it", Mark said and chuckled. "You mean that BRIS do good work for kids' rights and stuff like that."

"Wasn't that what I said?" Kim asked confused.

"No." the others all said at the same time. Kim sighed and grumbled:

"Jag hatar engelska."

"What", Nathan asked.

"Nothing", Kim said and looked innocent. Mark just snorted. He may not speak Swedish or whatever language that was but he knew when someone was only pretending to be innocent. He wasn't the only one. Lucas and Alvaro knew too and were both chuckling or sniggering behind Nathan and Otto's backs. Otto opened his mouth to ask something when Wesley groaned and Lucas felt him cling to his hand.

"He's having nightmares again", Mark said and swore. He got around the bed and put a hand on Wesley's forehead. "Hey little buddy you are safe, you are not in the dark anymore. We're here."

"Come on Shorty relax", Lucas said with a soothing voice. His hand was kind of hurting, he didn't know his Shorty was so strong. "We are all here. There is nothing to worry about."

"Jerry", Wesley groaned and Lucas and Mark shared a look.

"Here he is", Nathan answered and moved towards the bed and put his phone to Wesley's ear.

"Kiddo can you hear me", Jerry said through the line and Lucas felt the kid relax at ones. "It's going to be okay. They are all there to help you. Just take it easy. There is no darkness anymore. Okay? Go back to sleep kiddo. Don't worry."

Wesley relaxed at ones and was fast asleep again and Nathan put his phone to his ear to talk to Jerry. Mark and Lucas though looked at the boy in the hospital bed. What could they do to heal him if the only thing that helped was Jerry and he was not able to be there?

As soon as he came back to school everyone noticed the change in the smallest Dalton Academy student. He was quiet all the time, didn't meet anybody's gaze and just stuck to his room when he wasn't in class. It was hurting his friends to see him like that. Heck it was hurting everyone to see him like that.

Wesley avoided crowded hallways and he avoided all closets he could at all costs. He did all his school work and nearly didn't do anything else and Justine was having enough of it.

It was the second meeting since Wesley came back and he was nowhere to be seen. She marched out of the practice, ignoring all questions she got and just walked to her baby's room. She didn't even knock as she stepped inside. She was prepared to start lecturing but stopped dead in her tracks. Wesley was sitting on his bed, hugging his knees and crying. But she saw something else, there was blood on his bed , from a wound in his hand. She hurriedly closed the door behind her and hurried inside.

"Honey what happened", she asked and sat down on his bed and his head snapped up.

"I broke it", he mumbled sadly.

"Broke what", Justine asked while digging through her bag and found her first aid kit. She gently took Wesley's bleeding hand and started to clean the wound.

"The picture", Wesley said and looked at the floor beside his bed. Justine followed his gaze and saw the picture of Wesley and Jerry. The frame was broken and glass shards lied beside it. There were also books there and a phone.

"My phone rang", Wesley mumbled. "I tried to get it out but dropped everything I had in my hands and knocked the picture over… when I picked it up glass got in my hand… I ruined it and it punished me."

Justine chuckled a bit.

"Oh sweetie it didn't", she said and he looked at her. "Who was it that called?"

"I don't know…" he looked away again. "I didn't get time to see."

She smiled again and finished cleaning his wound. It didn't need stitches but she taped it and put a band aid over the wound.

"Oh well they will call you back", Justine said happily. "It was probably Jerry or Mark… or Scott or Bastian or Brad R or Fredric or Richard."

Wesley gave her a look.

"What", she said. "It can be either of them. They have mostly heard about your little trip into the darkness and are now worried sick about you, like the rest of us." Wesley looked away again and she sighed. "Come on sweetie let's go." She patted his knee and got up.

"I don't want to go to Warblers' practice", Wesley mumbled and she turned to him by the door.

"Who said anything about Warbler practice", she said and smiled somewhat evilly. Wesley swallowed feeling a bit uncomfortable. "Come on!" She grabbed his arm and pulled him with her out of the room and out of the dorm.

"Why hello there", Trixie said when she saw Wesley and Justine. "Shouldn't you two be at Warbler practice?"

"Yes but we felt that we needed a break", Justine said happily. "Wes is feeling a bit under the weather and is in need of some cheering up."

"I see", Trixie said she looked at the younger of the pair and saw him look... not as himself. She decided that Trixie was right. "A hot chocolate, without whipped cream but with just a bit of cinnamon and vanilla in it and a caramel mocha is coming right up! Go get a table darlings."

The pair went to a table and sat down, Justine sent a text when Wesley wasn't looking. She told the council where the two of them were and that maybe they'd come down later when rehearsal's were over. Trixie soon appeared with their orders and then pulled up a chair.

"Darlings I heard there was quite the circus at Dalton a few days ago", she said and looked worried. "What was it about?"

"Nothing", Wesley mumbled.

"Oh shush on you", Justine told him before taking his hand. "You see Ma the whole circus started when Wes here went missing."

"What?!" Trixie asked in horror and looked at Wesley. He didn't meet her gaze and he'd paled a bit. "What happened baby?"

"I don't want to talk about it", Wesley mumbled.

"It started like this", Justine said and told Trixie everything that had happened. How Jesse by mistake locked Wesley into that closet and then forgot about it. When she mentioned that Trixie's mouth fell open and then she started cursing like a sailor. Justine stared at her in shock and Wesley was shocked when he was suddenly pulled into Trixie's warm embrace.

"Oh sweetcheeks I know how you feel", she said patting his hair in a soothing way. "When I was just a wee little girl my parents locked me into cupboards and stuff like that all the time. I hated the darkness, to be alone and to be inside a room that is locked and small spaces worse than anything. I was so afraid all the time and my teachers picked up on something not being right.

I never took part in any hiding games and freaked out in gym class whenever we had to crawl through tight, dark spaces. My teachers asked me and I wouldn't tell them of course… not until one day when a bully locked me into a closet. I screamed and screamed and clawed at the door so my nails broke and I started bleeding. A janitor found me and took me to the nurse. I was screaming in fright the entire time, they had to sedate me because I was hurting myself and them.

They took me to a hospital and there I told them what had happened. I told them that I was locked in by that bully and that my parents did that all the time… What hurt the most was that no one came for me. None of my friends tried to help me. For many months I thought that no one cared about me. But honey I was so wrong. A lot of people cared about me. My teachers, my uncles, my cousins, my friends at school and even my bullies. When everyone heard what I've been through everyone took care of me.

My uncles promised that I would always live with them and that they would always come for me. I didn't believe the last part until they came and got me at school on a stormy day when it was dark out. Every time school ended after sunset my uncles came or my friends followed me home. You see sweetie I wasn't alone… even though I felt like it. My night terrors told me I was alone but by light I saw that it was not true."

Wesley closed his eyes and tears slowly made their way down his cheeks. Justine smiled and took his hand and he looked up at her.

"See sweetie", she said. "That's what we've been trying to show you. Remember what happened last year when the juniors were jerks?" Wesley nodded. "You didn't trust Charles, you didn't trust that he'd help you if need be."

"But he did", Wesley whispered.

"That he did sweetie. Those goons didn't stand a chance when Charlie put his mind to it. Remember the look on their faces when he punched that guy that went for you before no one else had time to react?"

"Yeah", Wesley said softly.

"Honey you know we came for you, deep down you know we did. You weren't awake when we found you. We will always be there for you baby. Never doubt that. I know that's what Jerry would say if he was here and you know it too. Mark told us what happened when you were at the hospital, what happened when you were asleep. Do you remember talking to Jerry?"

Wesley nodded. He'd thought that was just some strange dream. He remembered Alvaro singing to him and then hugging him. He remembered Mark, Otto, Lucas, Nathan and Kim hug him too. He remembered feeling really drowsy again. He recalled someone scooping him up, someone that smelled of liquorices and salt.

After that he only remembered feeling utterly horrified and someone taking his hand. He didn't know who's it was. He'd been dreaming that he was in darkness again and the Warblers all stood around him in a circle. They were all shining and then… one by one they faded away. It was the Warblers of today and last year. The one to go first was Jesse and Wesley had no idea why. He just knew he couldn't trust Jesse. Then one by one the others faded and it got darker and darker. He'd tried to call out to his friends but no one answered and soon only Lucas, Mark and Jerry had been there. Mark and Lucas disappeared at the same time and then… Jerry started to fade. Wesley used all strength he'd been able to muster and screamed his name… and Jerry answered. He said something that soothed him and Wesley didn't remember anything else.

"Wes", Justine asked sounding a bit worried and Wesley looked up at her. "Are you okay honey?"

He nodded and moved away from Trixie so that he could hug Justine. She smiled and pulled him tight. Trixie smiled at the duo and left them alone. She returned to the kitchen to give Nelson a piece of her mind. He was messing things up again. Justine just smiled in thanks to her and then hugged Wesley closer to her.

"Hey!" a voice suddenly called and Wesley's eyes widened. Justine felt him stiffen and looked up and saw a group of boys walk up to them. Wesley recognized them right away. One of them was Toby, the kid from the ice-skating incident that Christmas, then there was Huey who was the one responsible for Wesley getting beaten up in the park that day and all their friends. All in all it was those two and four more.

"What do you want", Justine asked and let go of Wesley. Today she was sporting her normal Dalton uniform, the girl-one, she was also wearing some jewelry and she had a black long-haired wig on her head.

"You hottie", Huey said and smirked. "Nothing. The little shit you're with? A lot."

"Oh you are not touching him", Justine said sharply. "Run home kiddies coffee is not for babies such as you."

"We're not kids, we're in middle school", Toby said smugly.

"Oh but baby that is a kid."

"Oh and what about the twerp with you?"

"Wes? Why he attends Dalton Academy which is a high school… which means, and try to keep up, that he is a high school student."

"Uh Justine", Wesley tried.

"Hush baby I'm talking now", she said and patted his hand but never looked away from the middle schoolers. "So he can be here."

"Are you dating that kid or something sweet cheeks", one of the other boys asked. "Why? You can do so much better."

"Yeah I wouldn't mind tapping that", another said.

"You mean like this", Huey said and slapped Justine's butt. Wesley's eyes widened.

"Oh no you didn't", he whispered.

"Oh no you didn't!" Justine screamed and slapped Huey across the face.

"Wow she got spunk too", Huey said and smirked. "I like that. How about a kiss babe?" He made kissing noises and his friends did too.

"Sure", Justine said and smiled. Wesley stared at her. He saw the wickedness in that smile, but the others didn't. They just made ooooh noises. She waved with her finger, telling Huey to come closer.

"Close your eyes sweetie", Justine said. Huey complied and Justine pulled him into a kiss. His friends started cat calling while Wesley stared. Justine pulled Huey closer to her so they were flush against each other. Huey put his hand on her butt and squeezed while she tangled her fingers in his hair. She parted her lips and invited him in. She was one of the best kissers at Dalton and it became clear that Huey thought so too when he moaned. Justine then took Huey's hand and put it between her thighs. Wesley saw Huey's eyes snap open wide in terror and he backed off looking horrified.

"What's wrong babe", Justine said sweetly sucking on her finger a bit. "Not your kind of thing?" She fluttered her eyelashes at Huey and he ran. Justine turned to Wesley.

"Not his cup of tea", she said and Wesley started to laugh.

"Hey shut it kid!" Toby yelled and hit at him. Wesley reacted on instinct and performed a judo-throw. Toby landed on the ground and Wesley stared at him.

"How'd you end up down there", he asked shocked.

"Why you little shit!" Toby yelled and flew up and at Wesley. Wesley dodged a punch and backed away.

"Watch it", Justine yelled and pushed Toby back. He just snarled and two of his friends grabbed Justine's arms. Wesley stared in horror as Toby and the other two came closer to him.

"Now where were we", Toby asked and smirked evilly.

"You were on your way", an angry voice said behind him and he twirled around and saw the Warblers, all the Warblers, stand in the door. They all looked murderous.

"Unhand my woman", Mitch growled and the two boys did and Justine strutted up to Mitch and put her arms around his neck.

"Oh baby I love it when you go all possessive", she said and kissed him, he kissed her back. Wesley cocked his head to the side and looked at Toby.

"Where were we", he asked.

"Fuck off", Toby said and marched out. "I'll be back."

"For what?"

"More."

"More what?"

"You know what?"

"More ass-kicking?"

"You little!" Toby shouted and twirled around to hit Wesley again but a firm hand on either of his shoulders stopped him. He looked up and saw the Everett twins glare at him. All the Warblers looked at him and his friends. They were five to 28. Toby may not be the smartest guy in the world. But he was not a complete idiot. The five of them against 26 high school dudes, one high school girl and a kid that could throw him like a rag doll? I don't think so. The group ran, they had to figure out what was wrong with Huey after all.

"Yeah that's right! You better run", Justine yelled after them and crossed her arms over her chest. "Creepy little shits."

"What happened", Nathan asked and pulled Mitch away from her.

"They were coming on to me!"

"Why? Ow!" Justine had slapped him.

"Hello", she said and motioned for herself. "Isn't it obvious?"

Her friends looked at her in confusion.

"No", some of them said, the others just looked confused and she turned red in the face with anger.

"They think she's hot", Wesley spoke up. "She ain't bad looking."

She smiled.

"Thanks baby", she said and gave him a peck on the lips.

"Hey!" Charles objected and pulled her off of Wesley. "He's too young for that!"

"What, I know a hot girl when I see one", Wesley said and crossed his arms. But then he looked at Justine. "You are a wicked one too though."

"Thank you sweety", she said and blew him an air kiss.

"Did we miss something", Otto asked.

"Justine just used all the charms of a girl to twist a boy's head a bit", Wesley said happily.

"But Justine isn't a girl", Jesse said and Wesley glared at him.

"I am too", Justine shrieked angrily.

"No you're just some dude that dresses up as one."

"Oh just you wait until I can get my hands on you St. James!" She stormed towards him but was held back by her classmates and fellow Warblers Joseph and Roger.

"What", Jesse asked. "Okay you have long hair which makes you a girl. But the rest is just fake."

"Have you looked in a mirror", Wesley asked and then covered his mouth, his eyes wide. The Warblers stared at him before they started to laugh, except Jesse. Otto patted Wesley on the back.

"Welcome back buddy", he said and Wes smiled up at him, the normal glow starting to grow back into his eyes.

"It's good to be coming back", he said and smiled shyly.

TBC Sorry for the LONG wait. I have been busy :P And I had no ideas ;) But maybe Justine's actions compensate for that? Not?

Answer to non-members' (or not signed in members') reviews:

Sarah - Maybe not forever but for quite some time... I mean Wes is only 13 and I plan on ending it when he is 16.

Lissi47 - Be my guest ;)