Notes: I have no excuse. But next chapter is almost ready, so I can promise at least that one will be up sooner. As always, thanks for the revierws, you make my day.
I hope you like Ren, we'll be seeing a lot of him from now on. (and excuse my poor excuse of a southern accent, I promise to tune it down to the minimum next time.)
The song they sing is As she's walking away, from thr Zac Brown Band
5. Be still, I already know
Nick sees it all in flashbacks; He sees a dark haired boy with no confidence and no drive jumping on a table and turning the world into a huge cloud of shimmering lights for everyone who's watching.
He sees the broad smile, the gleaming in his eyes, he watches him grow until he's not a boy anymore, until he's so strong and so bright, that he's more like a God than a human.
Nick sees it all, like history repeating itself, it's like life's giving them back a part of what it took from them so they can see that people like that can be found more than once, that a talent like that can happen twice.
The boy keeps singing and dancing, and the room keeps revolving around him, and the Warblers all move from side to side with the people on the dance floor as they learn how to line dance.
When the song is over, and the applauses and cheers have died down, the boy jumps out of the stage and heads to the bar.
"Go follow him!" Flint urges, pushing Nick in the desired direction.
"Why do I have to go? I'm not good at talking to strangers!"
"Oh please, don't be a wuss." Hunter crosses his arms over his chest and raises an eyebrow, trying to conceal his amusement.
Nick flashes him an angry glare.
"Where did all that Captain, my captain crap go?"
"That's exactly the point, Captain, my captain. You're the only one who can do it."
Thad and Jeff share a look, and they both try their best not to burst out laughing.
"Okay, I'll go, but if I can't convince him, we're bringing in Sebastian."
"Our secret weapon!" Exclaims Jeff. "With the superpower to seduce a sugar cube into jumping inside a glass of lava."
Nick shakes his head and walks up to the guy who's chatting animatedly at the bar with the girl that greeted them.
"Hey! Did you enjoy the show?" The girl asks when he spots Nick walking towards them. "Ren, this is Sebastian's friend. Do you remember Sebastian? The guy I told you 'bout?"
Ren turns from the bar to look at Nick, beer bottle in one hand and the other in his pocket, and smiles. And he has that kind of smile that makes Nick realize that he'd trust him with his life, if it came to it someday.
"A' remember." He takes his hand out of his pocket, and tends it to Nick. "I'm Ren. Y'are?"
"I'm Nick, Nick Duval. We go to the same school."
Ren's smile widens.
"The Warblers, ain't it? You guys are amazing." He turns to the girl. "Molly, you gotta see them perform, they're somethin' else, swear to God."
"Why don't you guys show me?" Molly asks, smiling at Nick. "Call your friends over there and go on stage, pick a song, any song you want."
Nick throws a look at the expectant Warblers and then looks back at Molly and Ren.
"See, the thing is...we came here because Sebastian told us about Ren, and since we're one member short for Nationals, and we go to the same school, we thought that maybe you'd like to join the Warblers?"
Ren stares at them, eyes wide open, and then leaves his beer in the booth and starts to laugh.
"Y'all want me to join the Warblers?"
Nick nods, confused.
Ren looks at Molly, still laughing, but she shoots him a serious look, and frowns.
"Y' serious." Ren says, dumbfounded, as he looks back at Nick. "Y' really want me to join."
"Yeah, what you did up there was...it was something else. It's been a long time since I saw something that amazing."
Ren remains silent for a moment, eyes wandering around the room, then, when he looks back at Nick, they're sparkling with mischief, and his smile widens, and there's a hint of laughter in his voice when he speaks.
" 'Kay, Warblers." He says, in a voice loud enough that the other Warblers can hear him too, over the noises of the bar. "I'll join you, but you gotta show me what you're capable of fist."
Nick shoots a helpless look at the Warblers, and immediately Jeff runs to his aid, smiling brightly at Ren.
"Hi, I'm Jeff. You were awesome up there, really, but, you see...what you mean when you say show you, do you mean like, here, right now?"
"Right here, right now." Nods Ren.
"See...we don't really..." Starts Nick, but Hunter is at his side in an instant, cutting him off.
"Pick a song, right here, right now." Then, as if remembering something important, he extends his hand. "Hunter Clarington, by the way."
Looking at the other Warblers, Nick just knows that they're not ready. They haven't performed live, without rehearsing in what seems like forever, and he knows that their confidence is not what it used to be, but Hunter seems so sure, he doesn't even care that they will probably lose their only chance at getting Ren to join, and as a consequence, loose their only shot at regionals.
"As she's walking away, d'you know it?"
Hunter jumps on stage and smiles daringly.
"Let's see if you know it."
And Nick has a feeling that this is just the beginning of the most disastrous night of his life.
.
"Okay, my young, gelled Padawan, are you ready?"
"No. I mean, I don't think so. Is this really necessary?"
"Of course it is. Don't you ever watch movies? Do you ever read? This is the most interesting part, this is where everything begins."
"...I don't think I'm getting what you're trying to say."
"Gosh, Blaine! Could you be any more clueless?" Sebastian sighs and passes a hand through his hair.
Blaine stares at him, then at the guy behind the bar, and raises an eyebrow.
"Let's see." Sebastian starts again, straightening his back and leaning against the back of his chair. "This is the beginning of the night. There's that guy over there, and he's been looking at you, and he's thinking the same thing that I'm thinking, that being that this is the beginning of the night, and at the beginning of the night everything is possible."
Blaine nods slightly, taking the last gulp of his beer and eyeing Sebastian's already empty bottle.
"I really don't know, Sebastian. I'm not like you. And that guy, he's not looking at me, he's just trying to see if we've finished our drinks or..."
"Shut up, Anderson. Stop right there." Sebastian leans in closer to Blaine, almost bending over the table, and he looks at him, green eyes sparkling, smirk tugging at his lips. "I know what that guy is seeing. That guy is seeing your lips, how adorable they look when you purse them when you're confused, he's seeing your eyes, the way the light makes them seem almost golden, he's loving the way you steal shy glances at him, and he's thinking that yeah, maybe there's nothing there, but maybe, just maybe, there's a possibility. And because this is the beginning of the night, everything is possible."
Blaine stares, speechless, as something in Sebastian's eyes changes, and he can almost see it there, the look of adoration he was so used to, that smile that's almost a promise, that was once reserved just for him. It's not like the looks Kurt used to give him, full of blind love and clouded by admiration, it's the kind of smile one has when they look at something they want with such desperation that looking at it hurts so badly, that they have to smile not to cry.
"You used to look at me like that." He whispers suddenly, without really thinking. "Like I was the beginning of the night."
"Well, you were the beginning of the night, killer, just not mine."
"I was Kurt's?"
Sebastian frowns, then laughs, and shakes his head.
"Kurt and you, you were like the morning after, when all the fun has already passed, and you wake up without really remembering what happened, but with that feeling of fondness that comes when you kiss a puppy or pet a cat." He smiles slightly, and his gaze softens. "You're not the morning after, Blaine, not Kurt's and not anyone's. You're the beginning of the night. That's what I saw, and that's what I still see."
Blaine will swear, at this very moment, that he has never, and will probably never again feel for anyone as much gratitude as he's feeling for Sebastian now.
"Why are you doing this, Sebastian?" He asks, unsure.
"Well, I've been bad long enough, I guess I'm growing old." His eyes darken for a moment, but before Blaine can say anything, he's all smirks and winks again. "Now go, killer. I plan on making you get us drinks until you come back with a phone number, or a used condom, whatever comes first."
"Then we're going to get a whole lot of drinks..." Blaine mutters.
He stands up in wobbling legs, and as he walks up to the booth, eyes darting from the bartender who keeps eyeing him to Sebastian, who winks at him and nods, he feels something building up in his stomach, and expanding until it reaches his arms and legs and chest. It takes him just a minute to realize that its strength, a kind of strength he didn't have, and he finds himself back at the doors of Dalton, feeling small and hopeless and scared of everything.
Then he looks back at Sebastian, and he sees that smile, and he sees the Warblers looking at him, and he remembers.
There, at that bar, at the beginning of the night, he remembers what being Blaine Warbler meant. And for the first time in a long time, he's fearless.
.
Thad can't really believe what he's seeing, what he's listening. They're in the middle of the stage and they're dancing, and he's not thinking about what he has to do or what he has to say, or if he's getting the lyrics right. He just looks at Ren, the way he moves like he doesn't care about what he's doing or how he's moving, like the only thing he cares about is that he's having fun.
They're all having fun, really, Thad realizes, even Hunter seems to loosen up with every step, and it's all so familiar, that it makes something inside of him twist painfully until the music, and the laughter, and the present, become so much more powerful.
"Wise man next to me did say 'bout the one that got away: Son, I missed my chance..."
I missed my chance, I missed my chance...
Ren circles Hunter as he sings, and he smiles, and Hunter realizes that even though the words have pierced him like daggers, the other boy has no idea of what he's done, of what those words meant, but he sees it like a flash in his head; the rest of his life wondering what happened to that green eyed boy who brought down all his walls and fought his wars without hesitating. What a miserable life that would be, he thinks.
"Don't you let regret take place of the dreams you have to chase, ask her to dance...go on, son. You might fall down on your face, roll the dice and have some faith."
Something inside Hunter's chest starts to ache, and for a second, he thinks that he's having a heart attack, only he knows that he's not, and that maybe, in the future, when the world is ready, the ache will stop, if he takes his chances and makes the right choice now. He stops dancing, because his legs can barely support him anymore, and he's thankful that the song is already almost over. It's like a dense fog was clouding his mind, with him not even knowing, and is now suddenly gone, leaving everything clear for the first time.
I missed my chance...
That's not going to be him.
He's seen it, at military school, kids who've let every chance pass and turned to perfectly oiled machines, with no drive and no choice, who will grow up to be effective and successful but utterly miserable. He wonders what would those men think, about the chances they let pass, about the ones that got away, and he feels sad for them.
That's not going to be him.
"Hunter, hey, Hunter! Are you here, man?"
He shakes his head and snaps out of his daydream, staring at Flint, who's beaming at him.
"That was AH-MAZING." He exclaims, gaze traveling to one Warbler to another, then to Ren. "What do you have to say now, huh?" He asks, full of a confidence that surprises Hunter.
Ren remains silent, then bursts out laughing, smile wide and eyes sparkling with a joy that is contagious.
"Okay, y'win." He says, raising his arms in mock surrender. "That was awesome."
"We make a good team." Thad says, giving Ren a reassuring smile. "Don't we?"
Ren stops laughing and nods, then looks away almost sad.
"I didn't expect you to be that good. Y' got me, Warblers. And I'm real sorry, but I really can't join."
The front door opens then and two boys come in, laughing so hard they almost drown the sound of Ren's words, and as the Warvlers keep questioning him, Hunter turns to look and there they are, Blaine and Sebastian, arms slung over each other's shoulders, laughing their hearts out.
Sebastian looks up for a second, and somehow, from opposite corners of the crowded bar, his eyes find Hunter's.
Go on, boy...
Hunter sees the miserable life he could live, vanish in an instant.