6,000 words and I can't even get to the actual date yet. :P I'm such a failure. I guess everyone will just have to wait for the next chapter to see the big event.
Enjoy this stuff before the date and enjoy my new character.
Kurt always felt a little bit homesick when he left his house. He missed his father, and, even though they were much more recent additions, he missed Carole and Finn. He missed Mercedes being only five minutes away when he needed her.
When he was home, however, he missed Luce, the Warblers that he was growing closer and closer to, and most of all Blaine. And he was certainly not missing anything by not watching that thrilling poker tournament. His thoughts went more along that path as he got closer and closer to Dalton and his excitement grew. His head was filled with Blaine, and before he knew it he was humming old love songs he didn't know he remembered. Then he was singing them. By the time he walked in the doors of the dorm he was belting Van Morrison's "Moondance" at the top of his lungs
Well, it's a marvelous night for a moondance
With the stars up above in your eyes
A fantabulous night to make romance
'Neath the cover of October skies
And all the leaves on the trees are fallin'
To the sound of the breezes that blow
An' I'm trying to please to the callin'
Of your heart strings that play soft and low
The common room wasn't full, but Kurt still had a sizeable audience as he walked in. Boys, many of them Warblers, were channel surfing, chatting, or looking at things on their laptops. They all looked surprised, because for some strange reason spontaneous singing outside of your own room wasn't condoned there, but Kurt was honestly past caring. He was filled with happiness at the thought of Blaine and his date tomorrow, and at the marvelous weekend he had just had, despite Mercedes forgetting him and everyone knowing he read trashy romance novels. Hell, he was just happy.
All this happiness was multiplied by the inherently happy nature of the song he was singing. It was the type of song that made you beam ear to ear when you sang it; it was the type of song that made you want to dance. Kurt pulled the nearest boy out of his seat.
And all the nights magic seems to whisper and hush
And all the soft moonlight seems to shine in your blush
Can I just have one more moondance with you, my love?
Can I just make some more romance with you, my love?
Well, I wanna make love to you tonight
I can't wait 'til the morning has come
And I know now the time is just right
And straight in to my arms you will run
Wes was, naturally, surprised when Kurt grabbed his hands and yanked him up. He seemed amiable enough, though and allowed Kurt to string him along for a few seconds of dancing. Contradictory to the verse, he released Wes in a grand twirl, which Wes pulled off beautifully. Kurt went on has merry way, still dancing, and not caring at all that he'd just sang that he wanted to make love to Wes. He hoped Wes didn't care either.
And when you come, my heart will be waiting
To make sure that you're never alone
There and then, all my dreams will come true, dear
There and then, I will make you my own
As he danced down the hall, singing loudly but impeccably, many of the occupants were standing outside their rooms. Kurt suspected they had either heard the noise and were curious of had received cryptic texts telling them to come outside and watch Kurt. He suspected it was a pretty even mixture of both. He chose his next dance partner from among them.
And every time I touch you, you just tremble inside
And I know how much you want me that you can't hide
Can I just have one more moondance with you, my love?
Can I just make some more romance with you, my love?
After he let go of that person, he pulled Luce into the center of the hallway and finished out the song with him, sometimes rubbing against each other in a way that the Warblers among the crowd that had gathered were used to but that made the other boys blush.
Well, it's a marvelous night for a moondance
With the stars up above in your eyes
A fantabulous night to make romance
'Neath the cover of October skies
And all the leaves on the trees are falling
To the sound of the breezes that blow
And I'm trying to please to the calling
Of your heart strings that play soft and low
And all the nights magic seems to whisper and hush
And all the soft moonlight seems to shine in your blush
Can I just have one more moondance with you, my love?
Can I just make some more romance with you, my love?
One more moon dance with you
In the moon light, on a magic night
All the moon light, on a magic night
Can I just have one more moondance with you, my love?
As the song ended, he dragged Luce into his room and shut the door behind him. He and Luce were both panting hard from the dancing. Luce sat down on the bed and smiled.
"What brought that on?" He asked.
"Nothing in particular, I was just happy. While I've got you in here, though, I need your help with something," Kurt said, resulting in a curious look from Luce. He had lied to his father; he didn't actually have any homework to do. For some reason the teachers appreciated the tacky, commercialized holiday that is Valentine's Day, and left their student time to spend with their significant others. Kurt was glad about this because he had something much more important than homework to do. He called Mercedes on Skype while Luce looked at him, still perplexed.
"Kurt!" She screamed excitedly when she appeared onscreen.
"Hey, Merce, how was the concert?"
"It was pretty good, actually, I even had to buy a- Oh, is that Luce? Hi, Luce!" She spotted him in the background.
"Mercedes!" He replied with a wave.
"Okay, now that I have you both here…" Kurt began, "… I need some help."
"With what?" Both of his best friends asked at the same time.
"Well, you both know how I am going on my first date with Blaine, my first date ever, tomorrow, right?"
"What about it?" Mercedes asked.
"What the hell should I wear?"
Mercedes and Luce shared a glance saying that they should've suspected that question, and both started thinking seriously. At least it looked like it was seriously.
Mercedes started laughing before she even said her suggestion.
"A loose, flowing while shirt with either a deep v-neck or that's completely open in the front. And make sure your hair is loose and flowing too."
"Mercedes!" Kurt exclaimed at her reference to the typical male hero in a romance novel. Luce looked a little confused, and Mercedes apparently felt the need to explain her comment.
"Kurt reads trashy bodice-ripper romance novels."
"I know; he brought his favorite ones here. They're under his bed. I just didn't know all the covers looked like that. I thought Kurt had a fetish for those shirts or something."
"What kind of friends are you? Why does everyone look under my bed?" Kurt cut in, half-angry and half-amused.
"Why do you hide dirty things under your bed? That's the first place people will look!" Luce retorted.
"That and in your browser history. Did you know Kurt reads gay Japanese porn comics?" Mercedes asked Luce.
"Yaoi? No I didn't, but I love that stuff. I can recommend some good ones if you want," Luce replied, looking at Kurt.
"You read it too?" Mercedes asked.
"Yeah."
Luce and Mercedes began debating the pros and cons of yaoi and then the internet before Kurt remembered why he was talking to both of them in the first place.
"Guys! GUYS!" He yelled, getting their attention, "We are supposed to be figuring out an outfit for me!"
"Oh, right."
Both of them began rattling off ideas which Kurt then tried on, but none of them were quite right. They were running out of ideas and patience at the end of one and a half hours. Suddenly Luce got a gleam in his eye.
"Wait right here, I've got an idea! Put on your Calvin Klein slim-fits! The white ones!" He yelled as he rushed out of the room. Kurt complied, picking the pants in question out of the closet and putting them on his slim frame in the bathroom. They were dress pants, not his usual skinny jeans, but they fit snugly and hugged all the right places. He'd forgotten he owned them because they weren't ostentatious like many of his other pieces of clothing, but he was glad Luce remembered them. He looked damn good in them.
Luce returned with a pretty sweater that looked expensive, though Kurt couldn't tell the brand.
"My aunt gave this to me last year for Christmas. I'm not really the sweater type so I never wore it, but it would look great on you," He said while holding it up to Kurt's shoulders.
Kurt grabbed it gently, reveling in the soft feeling of the fabric. He didn't really like sweaters with patterns on them, but this was an exception. It was a dark shade of purple with a pretty light gray design on the middle and the arms. Kurt instantly fell in love with it.
"What brand is this?" He asked, determined to get his own.
"It's Rag + Bone, a Chatsworth fair isle sweater. I'm not sure you can find them online anymore, but you can have this one."
"Really?" Kurt asked hopefully.
"Yeah, it's not like I'll wear it anyway."
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" The words rushed out of Kurt's mouth as he pulled Luce in for a crushing hug. He ran to go try on his new acquisition. He slipped the sweater in over his bare skin and once again admired the softness- it felt like he was wearing a hug. He admired himself in the mirror before going out to show Luce and Mercedes. It wasn't what he usually wore, but he looked damn sexy.
Mercedes wolf-whistled when she saw him and Luce looked him over appreciatively.
"I think we have a winner," Luce said as Kurt went to choose accessories. He eventually decided on a gray-and-black wool captain's cap that was positively adorable and a washed gingham scarf that complimented the sweater nicely. He felt immensely satisfied as he looked at himself in the full-length mirror on his wall. Then he looked at the clock and realized he and Luce were already five minutes late for dinner.
"Mercedes, thank you so much for your help! I love you! We have to go!"
"Bye Kurt, Bye Luce!"
"Bye Mercedes!" Luce said as he disconnected them.
Kurt took off his clothes and put on normal ones faster than he ever had before, still taking the time to fold his perfect outfit before racing towards the dining hall with Luce, hand in hand. Of course everyone was once again staring at him when he got there. He figured his impromptu concert and dancing had something to do with it this time. After he got his food and sat down, Blaine put his hand around his waist and pulled him a little closer so their sides were touching. It sent a tingly thrill through Kurt's body, and gave him the courage to place his hand in Blaine's knee and trace the inside of his leg with his fingers.
"So, I heard you sang Morrison without me. And one of his best songs, too. Although he has so many wonderful ones it's hard to pick which are the best."
"If I knew I was going to do it I would certainly have invited you. However, it was really sort of spontaneous. Wait- you're a Van Morrison fanatic?"
"Yes, do you have a problem with that?"
"No, it just doesn't seem to fit well with your more recent musical obsession."
"What are you talking about? Katy Perry and Van Morrison go perfectly together! And I am proud to call any boy who spontaneously bursts out into the songs of either two my boyfriend."
Kurt chuckled and started singing "California Gurls" under his breath, which made Blaine snort and throw back his head in laughter. The other occupants of the dining hall threw him some odd looks. Kurt was just appreciating the sexy tone of Blaine's laugh when he realized what Blaine had actually said.
"Are we?" He asked tentatively.
"Are we what?"
"Boyfriends?"
"Wasn't that the whole purpose of confessing our mutual love for each other and me asking you out on a date?"
"Yes, but we haven't even been on the date yet, so I didn't know if you considered me-"
"You are my boyfriend, Kurt, and I might get very upset if you say otherwise."
"Okay. Then you're mine."
Kurt smiled at the affirmation, pleased Blaine was also labeling him "boyfriend." He knew from the New Directions girls, Santana especially, that neither a date nor sex necessarily meant two people were going out. After all if it did then Santana would be going out with Brittany (not that he didn't think they would end up together eventually, but they were still denying it). He couldn't describe the feeling that washed through him when he thought of himself as Blaine's boyfriend; it was too wonderful for comparison.
Kurt went through the rest of the night and the first few classes the next morning in a stare of jittery anticipation mixed with euphoria. Naturally he couldn't pay attention in any of his classes, which was ok considering all the teachers had Valentine-themed lesson plans. Kurt was surprised at the amount of slack the Dalton students were given near the holidays, considering it was a private school with a mission statement that included striving for academic excellence, but he was grateful for it. He couldn't think about anything anyway.
Until he got the text.
It was fourth period, right before lunch, when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out absentmindedly, wondering who it could be and assuming it was probably a "Good luck!" from one of the glee girls Mercedes had informed of his date. He experienced a mild shock when he saw the name Wesley flash across the screen.
Wes almost never texted anyone. Not many students at Dalton did, actually. Why did they need to text when all their friends were in their classes or right down the hall? They had their phones with them, but actually talking was easier. Wes usually only sent out texts as a mass reminder to the Warblers that there was a rehearsal/impromptu concert hat they needed to attend, and there was no rehearsal on Monday. Kurt read the message, perplexed.
Emergency Warbler meeting directly after school today. Be there as soon as possible and be in uniform. That means you KURT.
Kurt felt annoyance at the first words he saw. Emergency meeting? What could possibly be important enough to call that on Valentine's Day? Didn't Wes have a date with his girlfriend to go on or something? This was going to seriously cut into Kurt's prep time. That last comment was really unnecessary, though. Like he would show his outfit to Blaine before the date.
He was so annoyed that he was tempted to show up in his underwear, just to spite Wes, but thought that if whatever it was they were doing was important enough to call an emergency meeting, it was important enough to follow the dress code. At least he hoped it was important. If it wasn't there would be hell to pay.
Awoken from his dreamlike state, Kurt spent the rest of the day wondering how much of his preparation time would be cut. He walked into the rehearsal room with a bit of a frown on his face, which changed to confusion as he saw most of the boys decidedly more excited than they were during the few emergency meetings Kurt had already experienced in his career as a Warbler. It didn't take long for someone to tell him why.
"We have another transfer student coming!" Nick said excitedly. "You won't be the new kid anymore!"
"And why exactly does this pertain to us?" Kurt said, secretly happy to have a fellow new student but at the same time still annoyed.
"Well, apparently his parents are loaded-" Kurt's heart sunk a little as he heard this. He was a little tired of being surrounded by kids from rich families all the time, "-and they tried to pay for his acceptance into the Warblers."
"Without even an audition?" Kurt said, indignant.
"Of course Wes put his foot down and said that the kid had to audition and could do it tomorrow during scheduled rehearsal. So they used their money to pay for an audition today so they could make sure he made it. Something about him needing a creative outlet, which means he's either painfully shy or problematic. I'm hoping for the second one."
"So the Dean just took the money and made us audition him today? That's not fair; what about my preparation time?"
"When you run a school, even one like Dalton, and you get offered that amount of money, you can't turn it down. I'm sure 30 minutes won't make you look any less fabulous for Blaine," Nick stated with an amused smile twisting the corners of his mouth.
Just then, Luce walked into the room and sat down beside Kurt, wondering what was going on. Kurt quickly filled him in on the situation. Luce was rather unimpressed with the news, since he still held onto the mindset that he couldn't get to know them anyway. It was completely untrue now, but some habits stuck from when Luce's father abused him.
Blaine entered the room with a few other stragglers and Nick got up from beside Kurt, looking back at him and smiling before moving all the way across the room. Blaine took the available seat and Wes stood up from between Thad and David and started talking.
"We have a new student auditioning for a spot in the Warblers. Try not to scare him off," He said, and a couple of the boys chuckled. Kurt knew they would be perfect gentlemen. Perfect, robotic, boring, gentlemen, but still.
Everyone was respectfully silent as two sets of footsteps echoed down the hallway. As a Warbler lead the foreign boy into the room, Luce perked of from his bored slouch and looked interested. Kurt knew why.
He wasn't sure why his parents were making him do this. He didn't want or need to be in a group like they seemed to think. He didn't need friends. They wouldn't even come close to feeling like his friends in his improv group, and they didn't turn out such good friends anyway. The ripping feeling he always got when he thought of them was a constant proof of that. Friends don't even say goodbye. They're pointless. They always took someone else's side.
He didn't want to join the Warblers. He didn't want to be made fun of for something like that. At least improv was enjoyable enough to be worth the bullying he dealt with for being in it. He seriously doubted those stiff Warblers at an all-boys school would be. He didn't have the will to fight his parents about this, though.
He knew he was going to be made fun of. A no-harassment policy looks good on paper, but it doesn't do shit to protect people. It was going to be exactly the same as his old school, just costing more money and without Andy to help him deal with it. The name broke a healing rift in his heart and caused it to burn and bleed again, as it did every time he thought of it. Which was at least once every day. Not that its owner would even care.
He walked in to meet the nancy-boys he was sure the Warblers were, sing a mediocre song barely showcasing his talent, get reluctantly accepted, and prepare to be made fun of for the rest of his life. It was an inevitability.
He had a shell, a barrier that drove people away. It didn't work. The hair covering his eyes, the piercings, the eyeliner, and the black clothes kept most people away, the innocent ones, while merely making him more noticeable to the ones he wanted more than anything to avoid. It was his last day with a shield anyway, since he would be confined to a uniform and forced to take out his many piercings the next day for class.
He stepped into the large, brightly-lit room and was vaguely surprised by the number of people in it. He was used to any 'artsy' clubs scrambling for members. While some of the boys looked excited enough and all looked too stiff, none of them wore that desperate join-our-group-of-outcasts-we-need-members-and-friends look. They looked normal.
He scanned the room and saw that a council of three was in charge of the group as opposed to a teacher. He felt vaguely good about that, until he remembered the boys in charge were probably pricks. They looked normal, after all. To one side of them were two boys, a very pretty pale one with brown hair and blue-green-grey eyes and an olive-skinned handsome boy with beautiful hazel eyes. They were holding hands and casting blushing glances at each other, making him think that perhaps the members of the group weren't so normal after all.
He wasn't complaining; the less normal the nicer in his experience. But all thoughts vanished as soon as he saw who was next to the pair.
It was like a ray of sunshine had hit him when he saw the sandy hair and vibrant blue eyes, when he saw that bright smile. It didn't make him blush and warm as it would have made a normal person. Instead it burned him alive and rent him on two. He'd seen that smile and light before, in another place and time, and watched it burn out.
Andy had shone with the same light as this unknown boy did, and the blue eyes were replaced with green in his mind's eye. The face he saw caused an aching in his heart. It was a face he had hated more than any other, and it was the sole person he regretted leaving when he switched schools. It was the face of the person he had loved more than anything else in the world, and the face of the person who broke his heart. Not that he suspected Andy remembered any of that.
Andy hadn't even told him goodbye. His boyfriend of over two years, the one who he was head over heels in love with had shown him that love was indeed blind. He'd been oblivious to the fact that the pure sunshine was dying to be replaced by something more sinister. No, he'd chosen to ignore it. He'd ignored the fact that Andy was spending more and more time thinking of excuses not to go out, and less and less with him. Andy had ignored the bullying, the extra makeup to cover the bruises, his flinching whenever lockers slammed or someone touched him, and the joy fading from his eyes. The worst part wasn't being ignored. It was being told, instead of goodbye, that Andy could easily find another boy and already had several.
It was being slapped with the fact you're boyfriend was cheating on you and wondering when he changed into such a jerk when he used to be so sweet and innocent. Then it was realizing all the signs were there and you were too stupid to see them.
A voice, probably prompting him to introduce himself and begin, broke him out of the vortex of self-hatred a single smile had trapped him in. He tried to collect his thoughts, to remember the slightly intimidating speech he was going to use to scare them away from him. He tried to pretend he wasn't seeing any trace of anyone in the blond, blue-eyed boy sitting there. He managed to restrain himself from going over and punching the traces of Andy out of the surely innocent boy, kissing him, or crying all over him.
Breathe. Calm down. Breathe. That isn't Andy, even if they have the same smile.
He took a deep, shuddering breath, grasping onto the first line of what he was going to say. He began, grateful that his voice was steady and hoping the rest of the words would come to him as he went.
"My name is Ciarán (A/N: pronounced Keer-ahn). Spelled C-I-A-R-A-N. I'm gay but if I hear any 'queer one' jokes or make fun of the fact that my name is Gay -lic, I will not hesitate to punch someone's face in."
No reaction. Come on, it was something about not wanting friends, remember? And then about singing and expecting them to like it, but not you, He tried to tell himself, but it didn't work.
The words wouldn't come. They were erased by those blue eyes, sometimes fading into memories of Andy's green ones. He was filled up with a thousand conflicting emotions that welled over and poured out in his tender voice.
You whisper that you were getting tired
Got a look in your eye looks a lot like goodbye
Hold on to your secrets tonight
Don't want to know, I'm okay with this silence
It's truth that I don't want to end
You're hiding regret in your smile
There's a storm in your eyes I've seen coming for a while
Hang onto the past tense tonight
Don't say a word I'm okay with the quiet
The truth is gonna change everything
So lie to me and tell me that it's gonna be all right
So lie to me and tell me that we'll make it through the night
I don't mind if you wait before you tear me apart
Look me in the eye and lie, lie, lie
Lie, lie, lie
I know that there's no turning back
If we put too much light on this we'll see through all the cracks
Let's stay in the dark one more night
Don't want to know I'm okay with the silence
It's truth that I don't want to end
So lie to me and tell me that it's gonna be all right
So lie to me and tell me that we'll make it through the night
I don't mind if you wait before you tear me apart
So look me in the eye and lie, lie, lie,
Don't want to believe in this ending
Let the cameras roll on keep pretending
Tomorrow's all wrong if you walk away just stay
So lie to me and tell me that it's gonna be all right
So lie to me and tell me that we'll make it through the night
I don't mind if you wait before you tear me apart
So look me in the eye and lie, lie, lie,
So lie to me and tell me that we're gonna be okay
So lie to me and tell me that we'll make it through the day
I don't mind if you wait before you tear me apart
So look me in the eye and lie, lie, lie
Ciarán felt the prickle of sorrowful emotion tickling the back of his throat and gathering behind his eyes, but kept himself from letting it out in any tangible form. He wasn't going to cry in front of a bunch of rich boys he had just met. He forced his feelings back and tried to return a steely glare to his eyes. The three leaders got up to congratulate him; the middle, Asian one handed him a pin.
"I'm Wesley- you can call me Wes- and I would like to formally welcome you to the Warblers. You can put that on your blazer when you get to your room," he said, gesturing at the pin. Ciarán was surprised when the authoritative boy gripped his hand firmly and placed his other hand on his shoulder to welcome him. People tended to avoid physical contact with him. Wasn't Wes afraid of catching the gay? Obviously not, he thought, glancing at the friendly-looking, pale, pretty boy. Wasn't he afraid of the black clothes and glares and piercings, then?
The boy just looked at Ciarán kindly, and asked for his room number.
"113," he replied without thinking.
"Oh good, you're right next to Kurt. KURT!" The boy raised his voice, catching the attention of the pretty boy from before, "Ciarán is in the room to the left of yours! Can you take him with you, I have to meet the girlfriend!"
Girlfriend. So they weren't all gay or something like that. The Warblers were leaving, shaking his hand or patting him on the shoulder as they exited the door, not noticing his little flinches. They introduced themselves, though he had no hope in hell of remembering all the names. As Kurt left Ciarán followed, experiencing a feeling of dread precluding a rush of emotion as the Andy-esque boy came up beside them.
"Hi, I'm Kurt and this is Luce. Lucian, actually, but Luce is easier. It's nice to meet you, and if you have anything you need you can ask me. I transferred too, a few months ago, and I can answer any questions you have. If you don't mind me asking, why did you transfer?" Kurt put his hand on Ciarán's arm, noticing the small flinch, and looked as though he knew everything he was going through.
"Bullying." That was all. His parent's thought that was all and that's what they told the Dean, anyway.
"Because you're gay?"
"Yeah."
"Me too." Maybe Kurt did know want he was going through. The sideways glance toward Luce and the sigh told Ciarán that there was more to the story than he was being told. Of course. There's always more.
They had stopped in front of a room with the numbers 113 printed on it in a flowing script. Luce waved goodbye and walked down the hall to his own room.
"So my room is right next to yours if you need anything, especially fashion advice. You are allowed to wear normal clothes when school isn't in session, and as much as I admire black as an elegant color, your wardrobe leaves something to be desired. You can come anytime- except later tonight," Kurt leaned in close with a mischievous grin on his face and whispered, "I have a date."
Ciarán was really starting to like this boy, despite his promise to himself that he wouldn't make any friends.
"Good luck!" He said, smiling, "I guess I have to go rid myself of my makeup and piercings now."
"Smile more often, it's cute. Also you don't have to stop wearing makeup; it's not against the rules and it makes your eyes pop wonderfully. You don't even have to take out the piercings, though it might help you fit in. There's no real rule against them either, and Luce really likes them. I can tell," Kurt informed him as he was walking towards his room. He opened the door and went inside as Ciarán did the same.
He sunk against the door when he closed it. It really only took a few words to send him over the edge and drown him in bittersweet memories.
"He really likes your piercings," another freshman in his new improv club said, gesturing to the shy, blushing boy behind him. Bright green eyes looked out of an angelic face and Ciarán felt his face warm and his heart beat faster. He was instantly smitten.
The scene changed.
A low growl came from Andy who was sitting on Ciarán's lap as their tongues roamed each others' mouths. Ciarán moaned as Andy gripped his snakebite between his teeth. There was something in the way that he sucked and pulled on it that was unbelievably exhilarating. Ciarán felt his body heating up, and Andy pressed closer to him, whispering in his ear.
"I love your piercings."The boy murmured, and then nipped at the earring there before pressing his lips tight against Ciarán's.
Another shift.
"I don't care; I only went out with you because I thought all those piercings were hot anyway. I already have someone else to replace you. Several others, actually, and they've been replacing you for a while. One of them has a nipple ring."
Ciarán felt the tears rolling down his cheeks as he was thrown out of the hateful barrage of memories. He liked to cry on his own; people were unreliable. He didn't understand why his feet made him get up and took him towards the room next to his, they just did.
Kurt was laying his outfit out on the bed when he heard the knock. He opened the door and a bawling Ciarán rushed in and buried his face in Kurt's shoulder, making Kurt glad he hadn't changed yet and that the blazer was dark enough to conceal running eyeliner. He gazed wistfully at the outfit lying on his bed, knowing this would take even more time off his preparation. What was he, a magnet for gay boys?
No, a magnet for crying gay boys. Not nearly as fun, he thought as he cradled Ciarán's head close. The facts were that two of the three other gay guys he knew had ended up crying on his shoulder at some point, and he was beginning to see an unsettling pattern. He hoped this didn't continue in the future.
"What's wrong?" he asked softly, wondering if Ciarán would even tell him.
"Everything. Well, mostly Luce."
Kurt froze. He didn't know how to deal with it if his new adopted mentee had complaints about one of his best friends. He waited on baited breath for Ciarán to continue.
"His smile, his hair, everything about him reminds me of my bastard ex-boyfriend. And now everything else is too; I can't stand remembering how he broke up with me."
"So the song earlier?"
"Yeah."
"Just forget it. It'll be ok," He said, hoping it would be. He didn't have experience with this kind of thing.
Kurt sighed inwardly; he was in for a long rest of the school year. Ciarán probably couldn't go near Luce without crying and, as far as Kurt could tell, Luce had fallen hard and fast for Ciarán. He just resigned himself to his fate and rubbed Ciarán's back comfortingly.