"Reed!" Shane shouted after the boys. He did think about being calm about this then he quickly changed his mind when he saw the distress Reed was in. "Let him go!"

"Let him go you demons!" Dwight shouted along with Shane. That had stopped the boys running with Reed. They started to laugh as they turned to face Dwight.

"Did you just call us demons, freak?"

"Yes and I'm well equip to deal with you lot." Dwight said smugly.

"Well guys I think we need to teach this freak a lesson."


"You better not have got caught Kurt." Mercedes said looking at Kurt sternly. Kurt had just told her about the kidnapping to the warehouse. Although it was a lovely gesture, Kurt could be in serious trouble if he was caught. "You know your dad would not approve of this."

"We'll come to that bridge if it even appears. If anything, it will be them that will get into more trouble than me as I was kidnapped." Kurt said trying to ease her. He knows that his dad would not be happy about him missing two periods by being in a warehouse somewhere in Lima where he did not know. He would not mention it unless he asked about it.

"Dude you were kidnapped?" Finn butted in as he came around the corner with the rest of New Directions.

"Are you alright?" Puck asked.

"Yes I'm fine and it wasn't really like that Finn. Do not mention that to my dad." Kurt replied acting as though nothing had happened. He looked to Blaine who wore his usual smile but Kurt knew that he was nervous about something. "What's wrong Blaine?" He whispered.

"Nothing, why'd you ask?" Blaine said looking at him funnily.

"You just looked a little nervous about something."

"He's just nervous as he's with you and you make his feelings go mad." Puck teased.

"Very funny Puck." Kurt said rolling his eyes. Blaine blushed and tried to hide it from peering eyes which was hard as all of them were staring at him with googly eyes. Kurt could not believe that they were already embarrassing him within five minutes of seeing him. They continued to chat until they got outside where they had left the Windsors. He looked across the grounds and saw none of them. Not even one. "Great. They've ran off to probably do something else. Do you know anything about this Blaine and be honest with me?"

"No, I don't and I'm being one hundred percent honest." Blaine replied as he continued to look for any of the boys. "I did expect that the Tweedles would have disappeared as they have hundreds of plans for you that they won't tell anyone but it's odd for all of them to go. At least some of them would have stayed knowing we were returning in a very short period of time."

"Blaine, you're rambling man." Sam said.

"He can't help it when he doesn't understand something." Kurt said lightly but not truly directing it at anyone as he continued to look for them especially the small clumsy redhead. "This better not be another joke as this one will not go down very well."

"What do you mean another joke?" Rachel asked prominently.

"Never mind that now. I'd rather concentrate on trying to find them before they do something that can get all of us into trouble not just them." Kurt was not in the mood for one of their gags at the moment when it was very sudden with no warning. It was the Brightman way but not in his old school where he was meant to start off again as a new person from being in Dalton and that was going to be very hard if they were going to ruin that chance for him on his first day back. "I think we should-"

"Reed!" The word was shouted in the distance.

"That was Shane!" Blaine said as he ran towards the sound. Kurt was next to follow along with the guys. They followed Shane's shouting until they found them at the front of the school. Dwight and Shane were surrounded by the team while just behind them Karofsky was holding onto Reed but they could see that he was awkward about the situation. When they arrived Dwight had sprayed his holy water at them all and was beginning to throw rock salt at them as well. Azimio picked up Dwight in the same fashion he had with Reed.

"Hey Adams! Put the boy down!" Puck shouted.

"What do you want Puckerman?" One of the team members said as they turned to face him.

"We all want you to leave them alone." Puck replied. Whilst everyone was facing Puck, Karofsky let go of Reed immediately and told him to run. Reed looked at him for a minute and ran in the opposite direction as everyone else. He could not stay around while a fight was going on.

"Well tell your freaks to get out of our way! Especially this one who throws salt at you!" Azimio shouted in disgust.

"What gave you the right to pick on people who you don't know?" Shane retorted. "You can't just go around picking on anyone who would be fun and easy because they're either smaller or frailer than you lot!"

"Is the ginger your boyfriend mate?" Someone teased whilst the others laughed.

"Yes he is for a matter of fact," Shane replied.

"Oh we have even more fags in the school today boys. I think they should be shown a very warm welcome to McKinley."

"Any welcome that's going to happen is your face getting a welcome from my fist!" Puck shouted in their faces.

"You're not touching one hair on his head." Blaine interjected as he stood next to his brother with Kurt on the other side. The rest of the New Directions boys surrounded the football team enforcing they were not going anywhere although none of them had noticed that Reed was missing.

"Fine, we'll let the fags be together. We'll get our ginger ball later." Azimio said as he turned to leave. He nudged every New Direction boy he came across with the rest of the football team doing the same. As soon as they were gone Blaine launched himself at Shane.

"Are you okay? Did they hurt you? Did they hurt Reed or Dwight?" Blaine asked in a rush. Panic was clear in his voice. He did not want to think back to the problems they both had when they were last at a public school dealing with the jocks.

"Dude, are you alright?" Finn asked Dwight who was shaking. He just nodded slowly gripping onto his water closer to his chest. He continued to stare at where the jocks had left. Finn nervously looked around him for Sam and Artie to simply shrug their shoulders at him not knowing what else to say so Finn did not say anything else to him.

"I'm fine," Shane replied to Blaine. "Where's Reed?" Everyone looked around looking for Reed and seeing no one. Seeing that Reed was not around, Shane bolted for it in hope to find his boyfriend.

"Shane!" Blaine shouted after his younger brother. He turned to Kurt who was watching his brother run. "We need to split up and find him before those jerks find him. It'll be worse as he'll be alone and they know that Shane is his boyfriend. What if they do the same things to him like they have done to you Kurt?"

"Blaine, breathe. We'll find him before they find him. Nothing will happen to him. Trust me." Kurt said calmly. "Could yous help and get the girls involved as well? The more the better chance we have finding him quicker."

"Of course we'll help Kurt." Mike said.

"Looking for a small curly redhead? That shouldn't be too difficult to find." Artie said with a reassuring smile to Kurt and Blaine. With that the boys spilt up and looked for Reed with Sam running to get the girls involved.


When Shane found Reed he was huddled into a corner with his knees touching his chin. The redhead was curled up into a ball on the ground not wanting to be disturbed or to even be found. He did not want to face the world if it was like that. How could Kurt stand that kind of behaviour? No wonder he left to come to Dalton last year. He simply had no idea what the guys were like here. He was more than happy to be at Dalton and not this evil place that seem to cause torment and abuse right in the public eye with no one caring to help.

"Reed?" Shane asked tenderly. He placed a hand on Reed's shoulder first to see if he was okay to touch him. When Reed jumped up at the touch he could see how scared Reed was. His eyes were wide with shock and bloodshot from all the crying he must have done when he ran away. For Shane it hurt him deeply seeing Reed like this because it was his fault. He did not protect him the way he should having vaguely known what had happened to Kurt here. He had failed Reed. He had promised he would always be there to protect him and he did not do it this time. He could have prevented them snatching Reed up into their beastly arms and ran away with him causing Reed to become highly distressed.

"Reed?" He asked again trying to calm the boy down and presented himself the best way he could to show that he would not hurt the painter in any way. "I'm not going to hurt you. Please look at me." Reed had looked away when Shane asked for the second time. The action alone broke Shane's heart into pieces. He had broken Reed's trust in him as he knew Reed did depend on him for protection at times. Slowly but surely, Reed looked to Shane, who had positioned himself next to the smaller boy. "I'm so sorry Reed. This is all my fault. I shouldn't have let them get to you or even let them near you. I was meant to keep you safe and I failed. Extremely. It's all my fault. You're now hurt because of me and it hurts me to know that. Looking at you now breaks my heart knowing I've caused this to you. I never wanted to hurt you in any way and I never wanted to let anyone get the chance to hurt you while I was around. I could have stopped it well before anything else could have arisen. I'm so sorry Reed." Shane let his head fall into his hands. He hated himself at this moment and if he could not look at himself how could he expect Reed to even give him a slight glance? There is an awkward silence between them so Shane sang quietly to himself.

And I won't go
I won't sleep
I can't breathe
Until you're resting here with me
And I won't leave
I can't hide
I cannot be
Until you're resting here with me

He stopped himself from carrying on as he hears Reed beginning to sing to himself. He listens intently to hear what Reed is singing.

I Picture You In The Sun
Wondering
What Went Wrong
And Falling Down On Your Knees
Asking For
Sympathy
And Being Caught In Between
All You Wish For
And All You Seen
And Trying To Find Anything
You Can Feel
That You Can Believe In

May God's Love Be With You
Always
May God's Love Be With You

Shane listened to the beautiful sound of his boyfriend singing although he was singing in pain. It hurt him but it was so beautiful at the same time the feelings conflicted within him as he wanted to look at him but was too ashamed to do so. Reed was beginning to fade away so Shane carried on the next verse.

I Know I Would Apologize
If I Could
See Your Eyes
'Cause When You Showed Me Myself You Know
I Became
Someone Else
But I Was Caught In Between
All You Wish For And All You Need
I Picture You Fast Asleep
A Nightmare Comes
You Can't Keep Away

Reed looked up to Shane who was singing to him. He liked it when he sang with him. He could see in his eyes that he was blaming himself for what happened and was living with regret already. He continued to watch Shane sing as he joined back in creating harmonies with their voices.

Well I Don't Know Anymore
What Its For
I'm Not Even Sure
If There Is Anyone
Who Is In The Sun
Will You Help Me To Understand
'Cause I Been Caught In Between
All I Wish For And All I Need
Maybe You're Not Even Sure
What It's For
Anymore Than Me

As they continued to harmonise throughout the song, Reed plucked up the courage to reach over and hold Shane's hand. He had always seen Kurt and Blaine do it and it seemed to bring them comfort. Shane looked up then to see Reed smiling a little bit as he held his hand. The gesture alone gave Shane hope that they were going to be okay. It was not going to back to normal instantly but at least this was a start of them mending. Maybe his guilt would eventually leave him alone and he could be carefree again instead of his every action being affected by his guilty conscious.

'Cause If I Find
If I Find My Own Way
How Much Will I Find?
If I Find
If I Find My Own Way
How Much Will I Find?
You You I'll Find You,
You, I'll Find You, You,
I'll find You, You

As the last note faded away, Reed and Shane continued to stare at each other. The moment could have lasted an hour and Shane would not have known. "I'm sorry." He said again as Reed was now looking at him.

"I know." Reed whispered as quietly as he could. "It wasn't your fault Shane." He said louder so Shane could hear. He didn't know what else to say as he could see that Shane was eating himself up about it. So in hoping actions spoke louder than words, he hugged Shane in comfort. Shane thought he was the one who was meant to be hugging him for comfort not the other way around but he was more than happy to accept the hug that Reed was giving him. At least he was not afraid of touching him.

"We should go find the others as they're looking for you." Shane said simply. Reed nodded against his shoulder and retracted himself from the hug with a small smile. Shane got up first and help then other up before they began to walk to find everyone else. "Plus we need to see if the Tweedles, Mad Hatter and March Hare have returned with madness from Warblerland." He joked.

"I had completely forgot about that. I hope what they have planned has nothing to do with me." Reed replied with the hint of worry. Suddenly behind them the twins appeared out of no where.

"Don't worry little Dormouse." Evan said.

"Nothing's going to happen to you." Ethan continued.

"As we're going in for revenge."

"Sweet, sweet revenge." They both said with their Cheshire grins which meant they were up to something and it was big. In other words, do not mess with the Brightman twins if they are wearing that grin and hope that you are not their target.


TBC

AN: My longest chapter to date! I'm strangely proud of that fact weirdly. I feel quite bad for doing that to Rane but I had to, the idea was not leaving me alone. I hope it wasn't bad as I worried that it would be terrible. Thank you for the reviews and everything, they mean a lot to me. Being honest I didn't expect really anyone to read this or to even follow it but thank you all that has done so and has put up with my terrible update patterns.

Songs used in this chapter were 'Here With Me' by Dido for Shane's mini solo and 'In The Sun' by Joseph Arthur for the Rane duet.

Thank you once again and I hope you are enjoying this fic!