Well guys I've decided to post it. I am so so so so so unbelievably sorry. Thank you for anyone who has continued their interest in this story. I don't even have an excuse for why I'm so late. Feel free to berate me in the comments. :(

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee

Chapter Three

Claire was nervously wringing her hands. Her face was pale and her palms were sweating. She looked like she was in the verge of tears...probably because she was.

Blaine looked even worse. His curly hair was springing free from its gel prison, freed by drips of sweat. He had had to stop the car due to his hands shaking and himself crying so hard he couldn't see. Ten minutes on the side of the road, and Claire had almost driven them there herself.

When Lily and arrived, she took one look at her children, both of which were looking extremely concerned, and knew she wasn't just having a horrible nightmare. She rushed up to the admissions desk.

"Hello," the lady at the desk said, "how may I help you?"

Lily took a small breath to steady herself. "Um...I'm looking for a boy named Kurt Hummel. He's about sixteen, came in from McKinley High?"

The lady's eyes widened slightly, "Oh," she said simply, "he's in surgery right now. He has a compound fracture in his arm. His ulna, I believe."

Lily looked at the desk lady, clueless. What the hell was an 'ulna?' She sat down in one of the boring, beige seats in the waiting room. As she sat there, she thought about the last time Claire's face had worn that expression. She thought about the last time she was in the ER.

(Flashback)

Lily paced the room, anxious. Why had she allowed Blaine to go the stupid Sadie Hawkins dance anyway? She shoved a chair backwards in frustration. It was all her fault anyway. And now her beloved son was in the hospital because he had gotten stabbed at a school dance.

Lily was so lost in thought that she didn't notice Claire racing in, frantic, and all but grilling the poor receptionist on her brother's state. She didn't notice her until, that is, Claire slumped down beside her, fuming.

"Claire, sweetheart," Lily took her daughter's hand, "I'm so, so sorry. It's all my fault."

Claire flared up at her mother, chubby cheeks bright red from anger (and the fact that she had ran from cheer practice to the nearest bus station, which was about three miles away. But we don't talk about that.) "Yeah, Mom," she spat, "it is."

Claire ripped her hand from her mother's and stomped out of the room, heading towards the vending machine in the hallway.

Lily was shocked, but she didn't have time to dwell on it before the doctor came out.

"Lily Anderson? My name is Doctor James Law. I have news on your son's condition..."

(End flashback)

This time, Claire seemed less angry. Well, that wasn't exactly true. Claire seemed less angry at Lily, and more angry at the jock who had done this to Kurt. She was kicking her feet, arms crossed, glaring at a specific spot on the wall and angry tears cascaded down her cheeks like tiny waterfalls of frustration and worry.

Blaine was shaking like crazy, though. He had his knees up to his chest, and his eyes were closed. His hands were gripping each other and shaking like a house in an earthquake. He wasn't crying, per se, but he was sniffling.

The doctor chose that moment to appear at the doorway. "I'm here for the parents of Kurt Hummel?"

Lily stood, and beckoned for her children to stay seated. They didn't need to hear this. She knew that while Blaine wouldn't exactly know what was, Claire definitely would.

The doctor had a neutral expression as he explained what had happened. "Some bullies at school beat him up. Well, one tilted his arm back so much that he has a compound fracture in his ulna. That means he has bone sticking out of his arm. He's going to need to be in a cast for five or six months. Visiting hours are over right now, but they start tomorrow at seven in the morning, so you can visit him then."

Lily nodded absently. She turned around and gathered her children, and they were gone.

When Claire got home, she immediately took out her phone and sent off a group text to the Crawford Country Day Cheer Squad.

Claire - EMERGENCY CHEER PRACTICE! i need to blow off some steam meet at my place in fifteen kk

The responses were immediate. Claire never called emergencies unless it was a literal life or death situation.

Emily - b right there boo

Maggie - np b there soon

Flo - ur gr8 b there

Hannah - oh sweets be right there

Stephanie - coming

There were more, but Claire didn't read them all. Instead she got up and changed into her uniform: a skirty dress thing (as she called it) with violet that started with a diagonal line near her chest. There was an white for the rest of it, and navy blue letters reading CCD across her chest showed it was her school's cheer uniform.

Now, usually the team didn't practice in their actual uniforms, but they did for emergencies. Claire wasn't sure if their coach even knew about their cheer practices that happened whenever someone was stressed. At least it wasn't an orgy.

Claire headed to the bathroom in between hers and Blaine's rooms to do her 'makeup'

Which was really just a fancy way of saying lip gloss.

She ran downstairs just in time for her cheer squad to arrive, and they all headed out to the back yard.

There wasn't much talking during warm ups. They did their splits and heel stretches in silence, each waiting for someone else to start a conversation.

Finally, Emily asked the question on everyone's minds: "So, why'd you call an emergency practice?"

Claire looked at the girls, her closest friends. They knew about everything in her life: about her brother being gay, her crush on Thad, even about her reluctance to agree to foster another person. They knew about her grudge against her mother, how she'd only started speaking to her when Kurt had arrived.

So why was it so hard to tell them this?

Claire took a deep breath, and began. "Well, you guys know how we were fostering someone, right?"

The group nodded. "Well, he's in the hospital now. He's got a compound fracture on his ulna, which is part of his forearm, and he's gonna be in a cast for six months. Six! Can you believe it?"

Everyone looked shocked. They all knew what a compound fracture was. After all, not all stunts go well, and they'd had more than a few girls end up in the hospital because of it.

Claire felt the tears come of their own accord, and she burst into sobs. And all the girls. Every. Single. One. Went and hugged her, some crying along with her. They knew that there probably wouldn't be any actual practicing today, after all, it was ten o'clock at night, but they had come closer as a team. And in the end, that was what mattered.