Disclaimer: I don't own glee
Also THANKYOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR KIND WORDS! Gah, I can't put into words how much they made me smile- I love you guys!
It was 11:50 and lunchtime was approaching. The two boys were sat on Kurt's bed, Blaine making sure to disturb as little as possible and not intrude on the other boy's personal space. The only thing that connected them was their interlocking hands and the quiet music Blaine played as they sat there- Kurt recognised it easily as belonging to Disney's Hercules. Kurt wasn't a hundred percent sure how they had got into the hand holding position, but remarkably, he found he didn't really mind it. Sure, he wouldn't consider Blaine as a best friend, they'd only met eachother the other week or so, but he definitely didn't consider him a threat. Had he done so, he would've moved rooms the day they'd met, even if that meant him having to sleep on the floor outside. To him, Blaine was a friend. Not one he'd go out of his way to go on shopping trips, he barely did that anymore anyway, but one who he knew would always be there and, dare he say it, rely on.
"So.. I think my wall now looks a lot better, has anyone ever told you that you should consider going into interior design?"
Kurt blushed lightly, following Blaine's gaze up at the wall. After silently checking with Blaine whether it was alright, Kurt had managed to change the curtains to ones of a deep burgundy that brought out the highlights on the canvases, complimenting them perfectly. Although the risque blue ones had been cleverly pulled off, the bright shade clashed with the pictures horribly. The room now had a more organised, yet creative feel from the odd mementos and bit and pieces Blaine had stuck to his- their, Kurt corrected himself- bookshelf. Even Kurt had to admit it looked good.
'Thankyou,' wrote Kurt, giving a small smile at the compliment which increased as Blaine reciprocated it back.
"No thankyou, it'd probably look awful without your help. Did I ever tell you about that time Wes trusted me to paint his room whilst he was away? He'd already picked out the colours of course, I just didn't agree with them. Instead, I painted them a mixture of mustard yellow and what I thought was a nice shade of green."
Kurt winced as he pictured the combination.
"Yeah," laughed Blaine, "that was his reaction too, I don't think he really appreciated it though because he's never trusted me since."
Suddenly, there was a sharp knock at their door and a tall, dark haired figure burst in, not even asking if he could enter, desperation clearly in his voice as he called out for Blaine. Immediately, Kurt leapt to his feet, disentangling his and Blaine's hand in an instant and looking like a deer caught in the headlights. Seeing Kurt begin to panic, Blaine copied Kurt's movement and stood up to, wordlessly positioning his body so he was ever so slightly in front of Kurt, somewhat hiding Kurt who thankfully moved behind him, managing to control his breathing. Nick, looked up at them with sad eyes, too distressed to notice the miniscule movements between the boys and barely registering that they had both stood up.
"Blaine! Crap, Blaine it's- it's Jeff. I told you how he was ill? He's now- I think he's got a fever but anyway, he just- he just fainted! Please, you've got to help me get him to the nurse, he's awake now so he can walk but I don't want to risk him fainting on the way down there. Wes, Trent and David are all out and the twins found a new passageway into town so they could escape their grounding, I- I didn't know who else to go to. Please?"
"Whoa, Nick. Slow down, of course I'll help, where is he?"
"In his room, I managed to get him onto the bed, but.."
"Okay, you need to stay calm." Blaine said bluntly, still managing to comfort him at the same time, "do you want to go back to Jeff and make sure he doesn't hurt himself? I'll be over in a minute, just keep an eye on him."
"Yeah, sure," said Nick before rushing back out the door to his boyfriend.
Once the teenager had left, Blaine turned back around to face Kurt who had slumped down onto the bed as the door shut. Considering whether it would be a good idea to take Kurt's hands into his again, Blaine knelt down in front of the other boy, looking up into Kurt's eyes.
"Kurt?" The said boy was pulled out of his trance and stared back at Blaine as if only noticing now he was looking at him, "will you be okay if I go? I mean, you can come along, it's just that the Nurse might try and give you a check up after the other day and I don't want you to be pressured into anything."
Kurt looked at Blaine, wondering why he hadn't left yet- Jeff was one of his best friends, what did he have other him?
"Kurt?"
The boy nodded, half automatically. Sure he'd be okay, he'd been okay during his last week at McKinley, at least he'd survived it and he doubted anything Dalton could throw at him would be much worse. He'd be okay.
"Okay, just- just be careful. I'll be back soon, not that I mean you need to stay here. I don't mind, it's not like I'm going to or can tell you what to do. I-"
Kurt gave a small smile at Blaine's rambling and nodded towards the door.
"Right. Yes, Jeff. Ok. Umm, see you later? And again, thankyou for helping with the room- I owe you one."
And with that, Blaine disappeared out the door, leaving Kurt reeling slightly in the knowledge that maybe, somebody cared.
After Blaine left, Kurt had fallen into a deep stream of thought, reconsidering what his initial thoughts of Blaine and only resurfacing to reality when his stomach growled loudly. He rolled his eyes slightly before gingerly peering out his door, finding the corridor empty. Kurt couldn't help the uncomfortable feeling though at the back of his mind- maybe he should wait until Blaine got back. He was so used now, especially from the past week, of having the boy by his side and just having the knowledge that Blaine might even stop him getting hurt, had given him the courage to open up to him a bit. Of course, Blaine could just be being friendly so he had the benefit of surprise when he did attack him, but sometimes you had to take risks. And, although it may be unwise, Kurt had taken one by trusting Blaine. But sometimes risks payed off.
Biting his bottom lip, Kurt nervously left the room and hurriedly made his way downstairs towards the cafeteria, hoping to grab a salad or sandwich. The pressure on his lip increased when he reached the bottom Windsor corridor, although with the day students gone and most boarders away, there were still a few people scattered about. Most stood in small groups, only the odd few not but each of them playing on phones or, in one case, head bent over a thick book, probably trying to cram in some facts before some sort of exam. Unconsciously, Kurt moved to opposite sides of the corridor as he walked past the people, head bowed and looking at the floor. He hated walking past the group's especially, unable to convince himself that they weren't all staring at him.
Kurt stared harder at the floor, trying to ignore the imaginary glares and pulled his arms across his chest, as if to protect himself from the looks. He was concentrating so much on the floor, Kurt didn't notice the approaching person until they walked into him, nearly dropping their phone on the floor.
"Shoot! Sorry mate, didn't see ya there. I'm tryna' find someone," the tall teen said, looking down at Kurt who instantly took a step back, wanting to flee. The male had obviously dyed black hair although, as far as Kurt could tell on a glance, it didn't come from a bottle. Decorating the tips of the spikes were a violent shade of pink and Kurt wondered how he could possibly get away with it with the school uniform rules especially with the masses of eyeliner and eyeshadow. However, Kurt had to admit, he pulled it off well.
"I'm Connor and, since you look kinda sane, I'm guessing you're Kurt. Heard a lot about you- all good stuff of course. Anyway, if you're sure you're okay, I need to go find Mikey, he's run off and he promised me something when I find him."
Kurt's eyes widened slightly, mind immediately wandering.
"Cookies, Kurt!" Connor giggled and Kurt pulled away even more, afraid the punk looking boy might be offended and strike out. The porcelain boy lost it when the teen moved forward to give him a clap on the shoulder, the raised hand bringing back too many memories and Kurt ran past him, leaving Connor wondering what the heck had just happened.
Under a minute later, Kurt had escaped to the gardens, slowing his pace as he once again wrapped his arms around his torso, eyes now looking up though his lashes and darting about. All he wanted to do was get some food and then curl up on his bed whilst playing his iPod- unfortunately, that wasn't going to happen today.
It was a struggle to get Jeff to the infirmary, Blaine wasn't going to lie. Nick and Blaine had nearly had to resort to carrying the boy when he fainted again, just managing to to rest him on the floor before he fell fully unconscious; Blaine had already phoned ahead to the nurse to inform her of had happened and the golf cart was waiting outside the Windsor building to collect them as usual procedure.
"Come on, Jeffy please! Wake up! Wait, Jeffy? Jeff? Are you okay, can you hear me?"
Jeff gave a low groan, moving to sit up from his position on the floor.
"Hang on, Jeff, not so fast," said Blaine, kneeling next to Nick and helping him to prop Jeff against the wall. "We don't want you fainting again."
Suddenly, the blonde teen let out a pained cry and Nick looked despairingly at Blaine, close to tears at seeing his boyfriend in this state.
"Jeff? What's the matter?" Blaine asked, taking charge again after giving Nick a comforting smile.
"My head it- it's on fire! Nicky- Nicky make it stop, please, it hurts!" Jeff begged, matching tears falling from both his and Nick's eyes.
"Okay Jeffy, I will, you'll be okay," said Nick, his voice cracking ad he helplessly picked up Jeff's hands, giving them a squeeze, "you'll be okay."
Whether he said that to comfort himself or Jeff, Blaine wasn't sure.
Eventually, Jeff was ready to try walking again, the pain making him more determined to get to the nurse so the fire in his head could be put out. To all the boys' relief, Jeff luckily didn't faint again and they were able to sit Jeff down in the elevator without a reaccurance of the previous actions. Sure enough, the golf buggy was parked by the entrance which was only a few feet away and Blaine and Nick pulled the other boy over to it, piling him onto the seats whilst Nick took a seat next to him, lightly wrapping his arms around him so he couldn't fall off. Blaine meanwhile, stood on standby watching, having decided not to go so he could get back to Kurt. He waved goodbye to the disappearing boys, the driver going at a comfortable pace so as not to jolt them, before he headed back inside, taking a quick glance at his watch as he did so, feeling surprised as he realized just how long he had been gone.
During the time it took Blaine to do this, Kurt had somehow managed to find himself in trouble, his technique of hiding his head as he walked obviously being useless, either that, or the three boys had been keeping an eye out for him, knowing he'd have to get food at some time.
"Well if it isn't our favourite mute- hello Kurt." To some, this short greeting could sound friendly but, coming from the muscled boy in front of him Kurt recognized to be Harrison, it sounded the complete opposite, especially with the sarcasm dripping from each word.
"What- don't you like me?" He asked, taking a step forward into Kurt's personal space intimidatingly, "pity."
If it was possible, Kurt shrunk in on himself even more, pulling his sleeves over his hands and staring intently at the floor, ignoring the bubble rising in his throat.
"I mean, I'd be offended if I didn't know where you came from."
Kurt froze, almost looking up in shock as tears pricked his eyes, how did he know? And why the neck did the bullies have to follow him everywhere? It wasn't fair- couldn't he have a life without being constantly on edge or was that too much to ask? He bit his lip instead, shaking his head as he tried to walk away hoping- praying- that someone would come and help him. He wanted Puck, or Finn, or his dad. He wanted Blaine.
"Leaving already? In fact, maybe you should just pack your bags and go. You don't belong here- your father's a mechanic who probably earns as much in a year as I get pocket money in a week. Face it, you're never going to fit in."
Tears were now beginning to pour openly down his cheeks and Kurt hastily wiped them away with the back of his hand, pushing past the two boys who accompanied Harrison who had formed a human barrier in front of him.
"Ruuude!" He heard the prefect call after him before he disappeared around the corner, almost falling through the door that led to the girls toilets that he had grown to know so well. Although it was the weekend, Kurt was sure it'd be empty as usual and he was correct. He breathed out a sigh of relief before shutting himself into a stall, allowing the tears to fall freely.