Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise. The song in this chapter is Somewhere Over the Rainbow! :)
When Blaine returned to his room after dropping Jeff off at the buggy, he wasn't surprised to find that Kurt wasn't there- it was lunch time after all. Thirty minutes later, he was starting to get anxious but guessed Kurt must have just decided to eat in the dining hall. Blaine chose to grab a slice of cold pizza out of the mini fridge he had recently stored in their dorm. After an hour of getting back, Blaine had begun to pace the floor in impatience and worry- where was Kurt? Exactly thirty minutes after that- Blaine had counted the last few minutes in seconds as he had stared at the clock- he couldn't shift the feeling that something bad had happened and left the room in search of Kurt.
Meanwhile, Kurt sat on a toilet lid in the empty bathroom, arms wrapped around his legs although, by now, he had ran out of years to cry, and simply had the damp tracks on his face and red eyes to show he'd been crying. His legs were beginning to get cramp from the position he held them in and he finally gave into temptation, stretching them out and standing up. Although by now he was used to be alone, the boy longed for the warm feeling of someone beside him to tell him it was going to be alright.
But was it?
Kurt stifled a low sob as he undid the door to his cubicle, already missing the security of the small room, even if the room he was currently in housed that space and nobody would come in. He slowly dragged himself over to the mirror, taking in his poor appearance and the paler than usual skin and winced at the sound of his stomach growling. But although he was hungry, he knew if he tried to swallow anything it would come straight back up. He recognized the feeling from before, although after the Karofsky incidents, it had been much worse and he had spent whole hours dry heaving over a toilet bowl. At McKinley, the girls' bathrooms had always allowed him an escape and provided almost happy memories of him and his now ex-friends' chats and friendly meet ups- but after Karofsky, it also served a reminder of the bile rising up and spilling into the toilet.
He sighed as he turned a tap in front of him, allowing the cool water to run over his hands before splashing his face in the pristine sink. Wipe away the evidence. Wipe away the hurt. And maybe, he could wipe away his past and vulnerability as well. But there was little chance of that- they'd stay with him forever. He was broken; not speaking, barely eating. From Harrison's and the other bullies' point of view, they'd won, they'd triumphed. He had been reduced to nothing and that's exactly what they had wanted and Kurt had let them, or so his mind taunted him. Nobody would ever want someone as damaged as him.
"No."
It was about three quarters of an hour since Kurt had uttered that word when he had finally dared leaves the safety of the room and go back to his room, peering around the corners for Harrison before he did so though. The shock he felt towards himself had sparked new emotions and he had spent most of the time figuring them out, the rest being spent either hyperventilating as his mind created hauntingly realistic scenarios about Karofsky hunting him down.
"Say anything and I'll kill you," he had said as the older boy had held the knife against his throat, "I'll fucking kill you."
Well now Kurt had and the paranoia and fear had instantly filled him, making his body and mind shake uncontrollably. Logically, he knew Karofsky had no way of knowing what he had done but unfortunately, the instability of him mind took other and he, at first, expected the bully to enter the room at any given moment, ready to plunge a fatal blow from his knife into him and end it all there and then like he'd said he'd do. However, after this new fear had subsided, a new feeling Kurt almost didn't recognize joined him. Strength.
The strength that maybe, he was getting stronger. The strength that he didn't have to give up fighting. The strength that filled him and gave him confidence- if this was a battle, maybe, just maybe, he had a chance at winning.
"Kurt! I mean umm, hey! Jeff's down in the nurse's office now...I was looking for you," greeted a smiling Blaine, eyes lit up in a way that reminded Kurt of a puppy as he looked up at him. "You okay? You disappeared for a while."
Hurriedly, Kurt gave a nod, forcing himself not to put his walls up- Blaine was his friend. He pulled out his notebook- 'what time is it?'
"Nearly two o'clock," Blaine's stomach growled loudly at this and Blaine gave a small smile, "have you had lunch yet?"
Kurt nodded in reply, biting his lip nervously at the lie.
"Snap! Guess I'm still hungry though- oh well. Anyway, umm... do you want to go outside? It's getting quite sunny."
'I have homework to do..' wrote Kurt, frowning as he showed Blaine the writing.
"Oh. Ok."
Inside, Kurt fought a mental battle as the other boy's face fell slightly. In the end, he took a deep breath and asked- almost his way of proving to himself he was making progress. 'But...umm, you could come to? It's just some parts of science I don't really get.'
Kurt almost swore he saw even Blaine's hair light up at this, "of course! I mean, if you're sure, I'd love to. Which bit don't you get?"
'Balancing equations?' Kurt wrote, although if he was honest, he already knew this part easily but he was afraid he'd appear stupid if he admitted to not understanding something he really didn't know. This would be a test for Blaine: if he laughed at him, Kurt would avoid him from then on, if he didn't...well, Blaine might honestly want to be his friend too.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Blaine and Kurt, the twins stood below them, listening to their conversation through the ceiling, or in Kurt and Blaine's case, the floor. They were standing in a freshly discovered corridor, hidden below the school and unknown to all the students and teachers with the exception of them. Like the others, the tunnels had been carved into the rock centuries ago, possibly once a hiding place for gold or thieves- the possibilities were just one of the things that attracted Theo and Fors who were now exchanging gleeful looks.
"Yes! Aww, our Bambi, do you think he might be getting better?" One of them asked the other, probably Fors.
"I hope so, I like him. He deserves to be happy- I mean, he doesn't look like a murderer or anything."
"Yeah, and if Blaine helps him.. Well.."
"Fors...No."
"But-"
"No."
"Aww, c'mon!"
"No."
"Fiiiine," whined Fors, unable to go against his brother. "But we're upping the game on mission wevid."
"Do you need to even ask?" Fors just grinned in answer, "anyway," said Theo when they approached their exit, "see anything?"
Fors gave a searching look at the monitor he held in his hand, they had devised it years ago and it's sole purpose was to look into rooms near them and find out if there were any teachers in them. It had saved them from getting caught many a time and it was often used when trying to go through the exits and entrances to the catacombs so nobody else knew of them. It wasn't just that the twins didn't want to share them, but it was also the high risk of teachers blocking the entrances or people getting lost in them. It was very easy after all.
"Nope," grinned Fors.
"Right, in that case, do you want to go first or shall I?"
"You can, I've got the monitor so I can call up to you if there are any teachers coming."
"Ok, see you at the top then," said Theo, gripping the rope that they kept dangling down from the exit. Quickly, he gave it a quick look to get the length although he already knew it from past experience before scaling it, reaching the top in a matter of seconds. "Okay," he called down, his voice a loud whisper whilst his breathing was normal having been climbing ropes regularly so he never got stuck underground. His brother and him usually went to the gym so they could keep their muscles up, it was something they had learnt from their brother as well as a few escaping tricks, always good when trying to get through particularly small gaps. "Okay, anyone up there?"
"Nope, all clear."
"Right," said Theo, grimacing as he removed a hand from the rope and pushed open the window seat's bottom, letting it fall back using the hinges as he pulled himself up, collapsing on the floor next to it. "Your turn."
Under a minute later, Fors had joined him by his side after shutting the seat down and getting rid of any evidence.
"We really need to get a rope ladder for that thing."
Blaine and Kurt sat together in their room, the large wooden desk in front of were they sat. They had decided on sitting in there because Blaine had thought there'd be less chance of them being disturbed- plus he couldn't get enough of the new colour scheme. Both of their purple chemistry books lay open in front of them, Kurt's catch up work resting lightly on top.
"So balancing equations is pretty much getting the same amount of each atom on each side, so if you had two carbon atoms on one side yet two on the other, it wouldn't be balanced. You'd want to put a two in front of the single carbon atom and then it'd be right. You with me?"
Kurt nodded, smiling slightly as Blaine ran a hand through his hair- or more, because of the gel, over it. The pale boy could see the younger teen was nervous too.
"Okay, umm, in that case, do you want to have a go at your sheet? I can go over it again if it helps..?"
Kurt shook his head, smiling politely- 'no, it's fine. Thankyou.'
"No problem."
After Kurt had finished the first few equations, he picked up his sheet, checking his work before holding it up to Blaine, silently asking if he could make sure he was doing it right. The hazel eyes scanned the paper, a broad smile on his face as he handed it back- "all right! That's awesome, well done!"
Kurt smiled, pulling out a spare sheet of paper, 'thanks.'
"Anytime! Anyway, I guess I should let you get on with it then. I'll be over by my bed if you get stuck. If that's okay with you of course," he added hurriedly.
'It's fine,' wrote Kurt, showing Blaine the paper, 'I think I've got it now anyway.'
"Okay," said Blaine, standing up and heading towards his bed, picking up his acoustic as he went: it needed a tuning.
Gently, he began to pluck each string, continuing until the notes sounded right and a melody was formed. He was so lost in his own world he didn't realize Kurt had turned around to watch until he looked up.
"Oh..um, I'm sorry," he apologized quickly, "I'm disturbing you, aren't I? Sorry, I'll stop," Blaine put the guitar down by his feet, blushing slightly at having fallen so deep into the music.
'No, it's nice- it's good.' Kurt wrote, biting his lip out of habit as he held up the paper, 'you play?'
"Yeah, self taught," grinned Blaine.
'That's...wow, well done!'
"Thanks."
Kurt smiled before turning back around to his work, making sure to do this before the situation got awkward. Before he knew it, the upbeat melody Blaine had been playing was accompanied with lyrics Kurt recognized easily from the many times he had rewatched the musical on DVD.
Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high
There's a land that I dreamed of
Once in a lullaby...
Kurt smiled and realized he was tapping his foot along to the beat. He turned around, watching Blaine's fingers dance over the frets as his face lit up at the music.
Somewhere over the rainbow
Skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream
Really do come true...
Oh, Someday I'll wish upon a star
And wake up where the clouds are
Far behind me...
Where troubles melt like lemon drops
High above the chimney tops
That's where you'll find me...
The only difference to the original musical song was the tune, but Kurt had to admit it suited Blaine well.
Oh, somewhere over the rainbow
Bluebirds fly
Birds fly over the rainbow
Why, then, oh, why can't I...?