Sorry it's been so long! But I'm back now, so you guys can breathe a sigh of relief. ha-ha. Anyways...
Rachel: Stop it.
Kurt: Stop what?
Rachel: What you're doing is wrong. Sam is cute, but he's not worth losing Blaine over.
Kurt: Oh, how I've missed your insanity.
Sorry, I just loved that bit. (PS: Did anyone else notice the giant picture of Blaine in Kurt's locker? I thought that was adorable)
The next morning when I woke up, it took me a minute to realize why I wasn't in my own room. Then it all came flooding back to me and I wanted to hide under the covers, curl into a ball, and never come out. But then I remembered the promise I'd made to Daddy B about being strong, so I forced myself to get up. I pulled on jeans and a t-shirt and threw my unruly curls into a ponytail. Forgoing make-up (did it really matter what I looked like?) I went downstairs, only to greeted by the sympathetic faces of my grandparents.
"Oh, Liz!" Grandma Carole said, as if she was surprised that I was out of bed. "We just thought that you'd want to stay home today."
"No," I said, a little too forcibly. They looked at me strangely. "I mean, I have to go. I prom... I have a big test today," I was quick to correct. I couldn't tell them that I'd promised my comatose father that I would be strong for him. They'd have me committed.
"I'm sure your teacher would understand..."
"Carole," Grandpa Burt cut in. "If she wants to go, let her go. Trust me, she's exactly like Kurt. Once he makes his mind up, there's no changing it. She's not going to budge on this. Right, Liz?" he added, glancing at me.
"Right," I affirmed.
"Okay..." Grandma Carole said, still unconvinced that I was able to go to school. "But if you need anything, anything at all, we're just a phone call away."
"Got it." She smiled at me and went to go see if Gabe and Ian were going to accompany me to school. As she went up the stairs, I sat at the table and put my head on my arms, exhausted. Maybe I should... no, I had to go to school.
"He's going to be okay," Grandpa Burt consoled, putting his hand my shoulder. "It's not nearly as bad as it may seem right now." When he said that, I believed him. Grandpa Burt had, after all, been in a coma himself once - a real one, not a medical one like Daddy B was.
"Thanks, Grandpa Burt," I said, raising my head.
"Anytime."
Fifteen minutes later, and I was in Grandpa Burt's car with Anna and both of my brothers, on our way to school. As we all climbed out in front of the main entrance, I started to have a change of heart. Why was I here? I needed to be at the hospital. What if he woke up and none of his kids were there? He'd think we didn't love him. But it was too late. Grandpa Burt had already pulled away. So I turned my back on his quickly disappearing car, intent on getting in the building without any distractions.
"Liz? You sure you can do this? I can call somebody to come get you, if you want," Anna said softly, already reaching for her phone.
"No, I'll be okay, Anna. Seriously," I added, catching sight of her dubious face.
She was about to open her mouth to say something, but somebody calling my name stopped her. "Liz!" they called again and I turned to see Matthew rushing towards us. Reaching us, he said, "So what happened to you yesterday?"
"Family...family emergency."
"Anything I can do to help?" I shook my head, but he slung his arm over my shoulders anyway, like I was already his or something. Normally, the brashness and Neanderthal-ness of the action would have annoyed me, but today was anything but normal. So I leaned into him as he led me into the school, glad to know there was someone willing to catch me.
When I opened my locker, a folded piece of notebook paper fluttered to the floor. Thinking it was just loose notes, I bent down to pick it up. I unfolded it to determine what folder I needed to replace it in, but as I read the words on the page, my breath caught in my throat. In neat, block-style handwriting I didn't recognize, someone had written:
Hope your fag father dies.
I started to cry and Matthew snatched the paper out of my hand. It was quiet for a beat as he read it. Then he said, "God, this is disgusting. I'll never understand why people are so homophobic." I heard him crumple the paper in his fast. "Liz, you okay?" I shook my head. "Hey, don't listen to these assholes. There's absolutely nothing wrong with Kurt being gay. They're the ones who should die for saying stuff like this." I couldn't tell him that that wasn't why I was crying - that they were talking about my other dad. Because that would mean admitting that I'd lied to him and I think I was in too deep for truth-telling at that point.
"I - I guess so," I said shakily, wiping away my tears.
Matthew smiled down at me and tossed the hurtful scrap of paper into the nearest trash can. He anchored me to his side and I clung to him, not realizing how unstable I'd become. "Where's your first class? I'll walk you there."
Matthew - who had been walking me to and from class all day, probably making himself late more than once - and I walked into the choir room and I took the seat in between my brothers. After the day that I'd had, it was a relief to be with my family, in a place that I loved. Julia Clark walked in the room and stopped right in front of me. "Hi, Liz," she said sweetly, which shocked me. 1) Julia Clark was a capital B Bitch and 2) I didn't think she'd even known my name. "Saw you read my little note. Did you like it?"
"That was you?" She just smiled and went to go sit next to a girl named Natalie.
"What was that all about?" Ian asked. I shook my head, not wanting to push Gabe - who was perched precariously close to the edge of the cliff - over the edge. Ian looked at my strangely, but let it slide.
Mr. Schue walked in the room and explained how Daddy K wasn't going to be with us for a while (he adamantly refused to leave the hospital, in other words). The he asked if anyone had a song prepared. Gabe raised his hand half-heartedly, as if he really didn't want to, but some outside force was making him. "Great, Gabe."
"I was going to do 'I'm Too Sexy'," he tried to joke, the words falling limply from his lips. "But then... something happened and I..." he shook his head, trying to organize his thoughts. "Well, I changed my mind. So it might be a little... a little rough." He closed his mouth, having given up trying to form a coherent sentence. The music to a song I didn't know started and then Gabe sang:
I remember Daddy's hands, folded silently in prayer.
And reaching out to hold me, when I had a nightmare.
You could read quite a story, in the callouses and lines.
Years of work and worry had left their mark behind.
I remember Daddy's hands, how they held my Mama tight,
And patted my back, for something done right.
There are things that I've forgotten, that I loved about the man,
But I'll always remember the love in Daddy's hands.
Daddy's hands were soft and kind when I was cryin'.
Daddy's hands, were hard as steel when I'd done wrong.
Daddy's hands, weren't always gentle
But I've come to understand.
There was always love in Daddy's hands.
I remember Daddy's hands, working 'til they bled.
Sacrificed unselfishly, just to keep us all fed.
If I could do things over, I'd live my life again.
And never take for granted the love in Daddy's hands.
Daddy's hands were soft and kind when I was cryin'.
Daddy's hands, were hard as steel when I'd done wrong.
Daddy's hands, weren´t always gentle
But I've come to understand.
There was always love in Daddy's hands.
Daddy's hands were soft and kind when I was cryin'.
Daddy's hands, were hard as steel when I'd done wrong.
Daddy's hands, weren't always gentle
But I've come to understand.
There was always love ...
In Daddy's hands.
He finished, tears flowing freely down his face, and Ian rushed to help him before he collapsed. Ian set him back in his seat gently and I patted his curly head, letting him cry into my shoulder. Everyone clapped, unsure of how to react. Gabe was usually the tough-as-nails football player - the guy who never let people know what he was feeling (a trait, Daddy K said, he'd picked up from our uncle Puck). So to see him crying like a little kid was probably unnerving.
"Thank you, Gabe. That was... Yes, Julia?" Mr. Schue said, glancing towards Julia, whose hand had just shot up in the air.
"Mr. Schuester," she said in that "I'm an angel, so I'm better than you" voice she usually used, "I don't think that Gabe fully understood the assignment. Weren't we supposed to sing a song about who we were? As in, something to let everyone get to know us? I just don't feel that that song fulfilled the requirements."
"Maybe you'll change your mind when my fist connects with your face," I shot at her turning around to glare at her. She didn't understand the connection that Gabe had with Daddy B. To him, that song was who he was, because Daddy B was who he was.
"Liz!" Mr. Schue said curtly. "That's enough. You, too, Julia." I watched the triumphant look slide off her face. "I think that Gabe understood the assignment perfectly. Right, Gabe?" He nodded, the movement so faint that it was almost as if he hadn't. "Well, I think that's good for today..." He looked at me and the twins and I was grateful for him understanding that we just needed to get Gabe to the hospital. "Unless anyone has anything they want to share." No one moved. I think they all noticed that Gabe was in no condition to continue. "All right, so I guess that's it." Gabe got up and bolted, leaving Ian to get his stuff.
Ian and Anna left together, which left Matthew to walk me out front to wait for Grandpa Burt. "So what's wrong with Gabe? Is your dad, like, sick or something?"
"Yeah, something like that," I replied honestly.
"Well, tell him I hope he feels better. I've seen some of the old competition videos - we really need his help if we're gonna make it all the way to Nationals again." I was confused for a millisecond, but then remembered that he thought I only had one dad.
"I will." We walked out of the main entrance and I saw Grandpa Burt's car idling by the curb, everyone already in and waiting for me. "Well, there's my grandpa. Gotta go."
"Okay." He kissed my cheek so quickly I might have imagined it. "I'll text you later."
"Okay." Then I walked away and climbed into the front seat of the car.
As I buckled my seat belt, Grandpa Burt said, "Someone special, Liz?"
"Just a friend," I replied, but I knew my face (which felt like it was on fire) told otherwise.
"Yeah," he laughed skeptically. "You know, Kurt said that once upon a time, too." And with that, he turned the key and drove in the direction of the hospital.
Did you guys laugh? Cry? Go "aww"? Get angry? All of the above? Feel some other emotion that I didn't mention?
Oh... and before I go, I wanted to add a few more of my fave quotes from "Rumours"
Artie (about Sam): Well, Quinn and Kurt are both here, so we know he's not doing the dirty. (Kurt's face was priceless).
Sam: Santana told me to never talk to you alone because you would try to steal all of my gold.
There's a milion more... what are your faves?
Review!