Disclaimer: Sadly, I still don't own Glee.
A/N: So, here's part two! Enjoy! Also, thank you to everyone for the lovely reviews. They mean so much.
Sectionals flew by and when the Warblers tied with New Directions Wes took it to mean that they were on par with New Directions. Kurt repeatedly tried to tell him that the featured soloists at Sectionals were not the lead soloists, but the council member would hear none of it. This meant that instead of having any free time during the week, the Warblers had none. Wes scheduled so many extra practices that they'd had to intervene just to schedule time for studying.
By the end of the first week both Kurt and Nick were lying limply across their beds, neither having enough energy to do more than burrow into their mattresses and sigh in contentment. Kurt buried his face in his pillow, intent on not moving for at least twelve hours. He was just starting to fall asleep when a loud knock at their door roused him. He groaned, pulling the pillow over his head and not making any move to actually answer the door.
"Who is it?" Nick shouted from where he was sprawled.
"It's Blaine."
Kurt groaned into his pillow before lifting his head slightly to inform Blaine that yes, he could come in but that no, Kurt wouldn't be moving. He heard the door open and close as the other boy entered and soon felt a slight pressure on his shoulder. He turned his head to see Blaine poking him.
"Scootch."
"No," Kurt said. "No, see that requires movement and I said I wasn't moving. Lie on the floor."
He expects Blaine to pout at him until he finally succumbs to the pleading eyes and moves over. He doesn't expect Blaine to immediately drop the floor and curl up against one of the legs of his bed. Kurt peers down at him, taking in Blaine's positioning and deciding that it has to be the most uncomfortable thing ever.
"Blaine, I was just kidding," he says. "Get up here."
"No, it's fine. It's not the most uncomfortable I've ever been." He doesn't say it any certain way, but for some reason Kurt isn't sure he likes that phrase leaving Blaine's mouth.
"What does that mean?" he asks.
"Just that... I've sat in less comfortable places?" Blaine looks up at him, brow furrowed in confusion before shaking his head and digging through the bag he brought with him. Kurt lifts his gaze to find Nick looking back at him and he shoots him a questioning look. Nick shrugs and glances at the boy on the floor before burying his head back into his pillow.
"So, what's up?" asks Kurt, settling back into his mattress.
"Not much. Wes, told me to let you guys know that he added a practice for Friday afternoon." Twin groans meet his statement and Blaine laughs at them. "Come on. It's not that bad."
Nick ignores him in favor of shoving his head underneath his pillow in an attempt to drown him out. Kurt snorts and shoots Blaine a look that has him wanting to backtrack.
"Not that bad? Blaine, it's not bad for you because you don't have to spend all of rehearsal learning new choreography. They just let you do what you want."
"Well, sometimes I'd rather be doing that." Kurt turns over to look down at Blaine, brows furrowed.
"Do you not like having all the solos?" he asks. Blaine shrugs a little, fiddling with one of the zippers adorning his bag.
"Sometimes," he says, quietly. "Sometimes I don't want to have all the attention." He shakes his head, dismissing the conversation before standing and gathering his things. Kurt watches him.
"Blaine..."
"It's okay, Kurt. Not a big deal." Blaine smiles a little, reassuring his friend. "Hey, what are you doing tomorrow?"
Kurt groans and flops back onto his pillows, bringing up both hands to cover his face.
"Studying."
Blaine gives him a sympathetic pat on the leg before leaving the room. Kurt removes his hands from his face when he hears the door click closed and looks across the room at Nick.
"That was weird," he says.
"Little bit."
"Is he always like that?" Kurt honestly didn't know Blaine that well yet, and wasn't quite sure what to make of the seemingly many sides he had.
"Honestly," says Nick, sitting up and pulling the pillow into his lap. "I don't know. I don't talk to him much. He's gotten a lot better."
"Better?" Kurt asks. He sits up now as well, copying Nick's stance.
"Yeah. He was a lot like you. Overwhelmed, ya know?"
"I'm not overwhelmed." Kurt's voice raises just a little with indignation and Nick laughs at the affronted look on his face. He gets a glare in return but it slowly morphs into a self-deprecating smile as Kurt drops his gaze down to his pillow. "Okay, so maybe a little."
"It's alright. Dalton's a lot to take in. You'll get used to it, just like Blaine did."
"Yeah. So," Kurt says softly. "What do you know about Blaine?"
Nick shrugs, resting his elbows on his pillow and placing his chin in a hand.
"Not much. His dad is a senator, so he's in Washington a lot. Blaine doesn't go home much, but when he does it's to his grandparents' house in Michigan."
"That's... kind of sad." Nick shrugs again, brushing it off.
"I'm sure he's used to it."
Kurt stares down at the pillow in his lap. He can't see Nick staring at him from across the room, so he misses the thoughtful look on his face as he takes in Kurt's profile. The hunched shoulders and limp hair. It isn't a look Nick's used to seeing on Kurt.
"Hey," he says, breaking the silence. "It's been a couple days."
"A couple of days since what?" Kurt asks.
"Since we played the roommate game."
Kurt bites his lip and Nick wonders if bringing it up was such a good idea. All he'd wanted to do was take Kurt's mind off of Blaine.
"Okay," Kurt says. "You go first?"
Nick shifts on his bed, gripping his pillow a little tighter. Kurt eyes him, wondering why he's nervous.
"Kurt you... you don't." Nick sighs, running a hand through his hair. "Okay. So, we've known each other almost a month, right? So, I mean. You don't have to answer this, if you don't want to, but I've been wondering... where's your mom?"
Kurt isn't all that shocked at the question. Nick's nerves gave away the seriousness of the question and Kurt was just hoping that he wouldn't bring up Karofsky again. He studies Nick for a moment, taking in the wide eyes and honest curiosity on his face. He doesn't like talking about his mother, but he figures Nick will find out one way or another.
"She died when I was eight." Nick's eyes close. He was hoping that wasn't the way Kurt would answer.
"How?" he asks.
"Car accident. It wasn't even something overly dramatic like a drunk driver. It was just... raining. The other car tried, but he had to slam on the breaks and his car hydroplaned through an intersection. Killed her on contact."
Kurt stops, looking down at his pillow and swallowing audibly. Nick thinks about going to comfort him, but he doesn't want to be the cause of Kurt's breakdown. Silence resonates throughout the room, broken only by their steady breathing.
"I didn't understand, at first. I thought she was playing. Some grown up version of hide and seek. It wasn't until a few weeks after the funeral that I really knew she wasn't coming back."
Kurt stops again, struggling to keep his tears from falling and Nick can't stand. He tosses his pillow aside and all but leaps from his bed, coming to a stop beside Kurt without actually touching him. He stands above the other boy. A steady presence. Something to ground him.
"We were supposed to go to the museum that weekend. She promised." A sob breaks through Kurt's resolve, and he folds himself into the pillow in his lap. Nick settles beside him on the bed, wrapping a strong arm around Kurt's shoulders and shushing him gently. They'd finally reached that point in their friendship where touches like this were welcome. Kurt didn't shy away from his contact and Nick was careful to not squeeze too hard or upset the still sore muscles along Kurt's back.
"It's stupid.."
"It's not," Nick interrupts. "She was your mother. Mom's don't break promises."
"But I knew! I knew she was dead. I just didn't want to acknowledge it."
"Kurt," Nick says, soothingly. "You were eight. No one wants to believe their parents are dead that young. You still thought she was invincible."
And with that, the dam breaks. Kurt's sobbing into his pillow. Nick turns and wraps himself around his roommate, holding him together even while he lets all the anger and sadness out. He visibly holds himself together, not letting his mind slip back into the memories he tries so hard to repress.
"Nicky."
It's a whisper in his mind. A voice he hasn't heard in two years and he closes his eyes against the sharp sting of sudden tears. He stifles a sob and suddenly Kurt's jerking his head up to look at him and pulling himself away. Nick grabs for him, needing to stay grounded for a moment.
"Nick?" Kurt asks. He's hesitant and Nick knows this has to be weird for him.
"I'm sorry," he whispers. "I can't... I'm sorry."
"Nick, what's wrong?"
Nick just shakes his head, bringing a hand up to rub at his eyes and looking away from Kurt's own teary gaze.
"I just... memories. I'll tell you. I promise, but I can't yet. After break, okay?"
Kurt wants to argue, wants to force Nick to tell him what he's so upset about, but he knows that'll only make the situation worse. Instead he nods and places a comforting hand on Nick's shoulder, offering what little he can.
Kurt wakes in the morning afraid for his relationship with Nick. They didn't say anything after Nick's minor meltdown and Kurt doesn't want things to be strained.
He doesn't have to worry for long because Nick is already up and dressed and holding out a coffee for him to take, a small smile present on his face. Kurt searches his eyes for any kind of discomfort and only takes the coffee when he's satisfied that Nick isn't doing it to placate him.
He makes quick work of the beverage before grabbing a shower and getting dressed. He passes Nick on his way out the door, messenger bag laden with numerous textbooks and gives him a pat on the shoulder as he does. Nick smiles up at him from where he's seated at his desk, and Kurt sends a soft goodbye as he leaves.
He drops the act as soon as the door closes and furrows his brow in concentration as his mind wanders over the events of the previous night. Aside from a few minor anger issues Nick's never shown that much vulnerability. Kurt's glad that he feels somewhat comfortable enough with him to let him see it, but at the same time Nick obviously doesn't feel comfortable enough.
He shakes the thoughts from his head and wanders down the hallway toward the senior commons, intent on learning everything he possibly can about Charlemagne.
He barges back through the door that night, shoving his bag on his bed and ignoring the wide eyed look Nick is giving the door, which is housing Mr. Schue as he waits for Kurt to look up the UPC on the fur-lined tracksuit he saw the other day.
"Umm, hi? Kurt, why are you bringing strange men back to our room?"
Kurt stops assaulting his laptop's keyboard to stare at Nick. He shoots a glance at Mr. Schue to see him gaping at Nick and then grabs one of his shoes to chuck at his roommates head.
"Nick. Don't be gross. That's Mr. Schuester. He's the coach of New Directions."
Nick rubs at his shoulder because Kurt's aim is shit and that shoe freaking hurts, thank you very much, and then catches up to what Kurt told him.
"Your old glee club? What, you spilling secrets now?"
"Keep it up and you'll get the other shoe."
Nick brings his hands up, maybe to let Kurt know that he was kidding, but more than likely to defend himself should Kurt really decide to throw more footwear at him.
"Hey, it's a legitimate question. Spy."
"Shut up." Kurt finally finds what he's looking for and prints of the page before crossing the room to hand it to Mr. Schue. His old teacher takes one look at the picture and gives Kurt a relieved look as he pulls him into a hug.
"This is perfect, Kurt. Thank you."
"It's nothing. That tracksuit practically screams Sue Sylvester. I doubt anyone else in the world would want it."
Mr. Schue laughs and gives him one more squeeze before letting go and looking back down at the paper.
"Well, I should go take care of this so I can get home at a reasonably decent hour." He folds the paper, slipping it into his back pocket before looking back at Kurt. "You take care of yourself, Kurt. I'm glad things are better for you here."
They say their farewells and then Mr. Schue is gone, heading back down out of the dorms and to his car and Nick is still sitting at his desk, waiting for Kurt to close the door and explain.
"He needed shopping advice. Don't give me that look, Nick."
"He drove two hours for shopping advice? Does he not know how to work a telephone?" Nick's turned to lean against his desk, arms folded across his chest as he looks at Kurt.
"I've learned to stop questioning Mr. Schuester."
Nick let's it go, deciding it's easier to not question the insanity that is New Directions.
"So how was studying?"
"Ugh," Kurt groans. "Horrible. Thank God Blaine interrupted me."
"Oh, yeah? What'd he want?"
Kurt sits on his bed, pulling his laptop back into his lap.
"He needed help practicing a song for a gig he has."
"Where's he singing?" Nick hasn't heard anything about any of the Warblers having gigs over the break. They have to be careful with that, because they'll lose their amateur status if they make too much money.
"The King's Island Christmas Spectacular." Oh, well that explains it.
"Uh, Kurt? There hasn't been a King's Island Christmas Spectacular since 2005."
"What?" Kurt looks up from his computer, disbelief shining in his eyes.
"Yeah. My family used to go a lot, but then they stopped the show."
"So, Blaine lied to me?"
"I wouldn't think of it like that. While he did lie, maybe he was too embarrassed at what the actual gig was the mention it to you. Or? Maybe he just wanted to sing with you."
"I doubt it." Kurt closes his laptop and sets it aside. "Whatever. I'm tired. You're going home tomorrow right?"
"Yeah," Nick says, nodding. "I have to be home really early though, so I'll probably be gone by the time you wake up."
"Oh." Kurt stays on his beg for a moment, worrying his bottom lip before launching himself across the room and embracing Nick in a tight hug. Nick's surprised, but catches himself and returns the gesture. "Have a good holiday."
"You too, Kurt."
The following week Kurt's sitting on the couch in the Hummel-Hudson living room when his phone buzzes. He grabs it from where it's sitting on the armrest and smiles when he sees Nick's name on the screen.
"Merry Christmas, Kurt. Hope you're well. See you in the New Year!"
He shakes his head, sending back a quick response returning the greeting before locking his phone and digging into the pile of presents waiting for him. He looks over to see Finn mauling his own pile and wonders how he got so lucky.
Now, if only he could figure out how to confront Blaine.