Sorry it's been a while! Finally, Chapter 3

I don't own glee or characters; otherwise Klaine would still be together.

"Jason?" Nick asked, softly. "As in Sadie Hawkins Jason?"

I nod and look down at my hands, playing with my fingers in my lap. Nick sat there silent for a long time, just observing the picture.

I really haven't thought about Jason, the boy I caught staring at me in the hallways, the boy who freaked out when Timmy Leder found a spider in his desk during biology, the boy who would cut people in line just to make sure he got a cookie before they ran out at lunch, the Jason who snuck notes into my locker or hurried to sit by me in history, that that boy, is gone. Forever.

I feel a hand take mine and the picture slipping into my other.

"Thank you," Nick says, quietly.

I look up to see sadness mixed with gratefulness in his eyes, tears shining in them and on his cheeks. I smile a little and pull him into another hug. When we pull away, it's a little bit awkward, but neither one of us cares.

"I didn't know you owned a guitar." He looks over to the case, still out from under my bed. "Do you play?"

I hesitantly nod. I can trust Nick. He's the closest thing I have to a friend.

"Oh, cool! I tried playing, but I could never grasp what to play and the cords." Nick gets up, laughing a little and walks over to the case. "May I?" He asks, looking up at me, questioning.

I give him a thumbs up and I grin when he picks the guitar up gently, and holds it out, looking at it.

"This is a beauty." He grins and walks over to me, still holding the guitar. "How long have you had it?" He asks, setting it in his lap. I hold up six fingers and he raises an eyebrow.

"Days?"

I shake my head.

"Weeks?"

Another shake.

"Months?"

I shake my head again.

"Years?"

I nod.

"Wow, you must take really good care of it."

I have. That guitar is my baby. It's the last birthday present I got from my parents. It means a lot to me.

"Will you play something for me?" Nick looks hopeful and excited, bouncing a little on the bed.

I freeze. I never play for anyone. Not my parents, not for Cooper. I've only played for Jason. He loved to hear me play, hearing the sound of the strings being plucked, the steady cords, the sliding of the notes when I tune. He used to say that when I was playing I'd scrunch up my face a little, and how "adorably dorky" it is. I used to play for hours, and he'd just listen and not say a word. Sometimes I would sing, but most of the time, I didn't. I'd just play whatever I felt like playing, whether it was a top 40s song or a Beatles song. He'd never interrupt me or criticize me.

I jump as a hand rests on mine. I look up at Nick to see him smiling slightly.

"You don't have to."

I breathe a sigh of relief and begin to write a response, but it was interrupted by a knock on the door. Nick gets up to answer it and soon after I hear a "Blaine!"

I move towards the door to see Jeff, Thad, Trent, David, and Wes at the door.

"Would you like to join us for a night out?" Thad asks, casually. "We're just going to go get some pizza and rent some movies. We'd love for you to come." Jeff and David nod in agreement.

I smile slightly and ignore the butterflies in my stomach at the thought of actually hanging out with friends, or having friends to hang out with. I nod and my smile grows as Jeff jumps up and down.

I turn around and walk to my bed to retrieve my book when Trent asks "You play guitar?"

I start to panic inwardly and I can feel a blush coming up my neck. I sheepishly turn around and shrug like it was nothing, then I quickly push past them and walk out the door, looking over my shoulder once to see if Nick was following.

As I walked a head of them I hear them whisper:

"He plays?"

"Why didn't he tell us?"

"Do you think he'll play for us?"

"Did you see his Harry Potter poster on the wall?"

That one makes me grin a little. I can always count on Jeff to not make a huge deal out of things.

"….then you distribute the x and divide by 34 and then carry the 78. After that you times it by pi and plug it in. Simple as that."

I stare up at Nick in amazement and frustration. Grabbing my math notebook, I stare at it for a while, then grabbing my leather notebook, I write: Come again?

Turning it around for Nick to see, I raise my eyebrow as he rolls his eyes.

"Blaine, seriously, it's not as difficult as it looks."

Whatever you say, genius. Can we please get something to eat now? I'm dying of starvation and I'd rather eat pizza than learn this.

Nick laughs and nods. "Okay, okay. I admit defeat. Let's go eat."

I scramble off of my bed and almost fall on my face when my feet get caught in my blanket. I look up at Nick to see him rolling his eyes once again. He holds out a hand and I take it gratefully and he hauls me up.

"Serves you right. Next time try making your bed." And with that we head out the door.

We get in line to get some sort of soup they were serving for dinner and pay for our meal.

As we head to the table, I see that Kurt is sitting with some Dalton students from some of my classes. I also notice that one of them has an arm around Kurt's shoulders. Looking at this makes my heart sink.

We reach the table and sit in our usually spots. Shortly after, Jeff, Thad, Trent, and David join us.

"Where's Wes?" Nick asks, raising an eyebrow and taking a sip from his milk carton.

"Oh, he's researching our competition or something." David replies.

"He's probably polishing his gavels." Trent says under his breath and everyone laughs, except me. I'm too busy looking at Kurt's table, wondering what the deal was with him and the other student. This doesn't go unnoticed by Jeff though.

"That's Sebastian Smythe. Lead Warbler, straight A student, star of the lacrosse team, and Kurt's boyfriend. They've been dating for about a year now."

My heartbreak must have been written all over my face, because Nick pats me on the back.

"Fish in the sea, dude. Fish in the sea and that guppy is dating a shark. I would stay away if I were you, that shark has bite."

I roll my eyes and push away my untouched food. Jeff, of course, takes this opportunity to call dibs on pretty much everything on my tray, but Trent shoots me a look of worry.

"Aren't you going to eat? You didn't eat lunch either."

I shake my head, sighed, and made a mental note to text Cooper sometime tonight.

After what seems like ages, I'm curled up under my comforter.

I reach for my phone and slowly type out the words that I know will cause more fuss than I'm worth, but I send it anyway.

I wake up to a text from Blaine. When I read it, I have to do a double take. Worry starts building up.

I must have read it wrong, he got help. He's better. I think, knowing that that's not true, that he'll probably never get better.

I did it again.