Warning, this chapter begins pretty silly and ends rather drama/ansgty. I absolutely love writing angsty and drama scenes, as well funny parts, so I'm gonna attempt at combining two of those things in this chapter. There is more drama now because I find it easier to keep up a story line with those, instead of just something funny but pointless.

Regionals was so close. Some of the Warblers were beginning to lose it, nerve wise. Randy had a test the same week as Regionals, assigned by a teacher that disliked the Warblers. He had asked her to reschedule the test because he was too busy to study for it because of Warbler rehearsals. She said that her class was more important than some silly singing group and that it shouldn't even be in this school.

So, Randy being Randy, answered every question with witty answers. The teacher had given him detention and scolded him, telling him that Christopher Columbus wasn't from 'Coba Cobacabana, the hottest spot of north Havana', Napoleon wasn't 'some angry bitch on his period' and Poland wasn't invaded by the Germans in the year 'Fuck you'. The words 'It's not gonna suck itself' etched onto the back page, that was supposed to be blank, thank you very much, were very distasteful and unnecessary. He was supposed to be banned from performing with the Warblers and disbanded from school for at least a week, but luckily his parents were very powerful people and demanded that he would be allowed to stay if he could get above B+ on his final test in the subject and if he took detention. Nick had also gotten detention for yelling at his teacher about how no one really cared about Geometry and how useless it was when he lost it during a project he didn't understand.

So the Warblers had come to a decision, they needed to relax. They had decided on having a gathering and just hang out. They had planned on hanging out in the senior commons, but since they almost always hung out there, they had decided to go to the mall in Lima. It would be a win-win, since several boys were craving ice-cream and some had to do some shopping. While most clubs hung out in the cafeteria or in their dorms, the senior commons were almost always occupied by Warblers in their free time. Several guys at Dalton also hung out near the senior commons in case they'd burst out into song.

Since the fight with Thad, Chris had a green bruise on his jaw. Thad, himself, had a purple black-eye. It should be healed enough before Regionals so they could hide it with make-up. They currently had some make-up on, but it wasn't enough to hide the bruises completely.

"You know what song I absolutely love?" Robert began randomly. They were standing close to the entrance, some eating their ice-cream, others holding a bag of stuff they had bough. Jeff, Trent, Kurt and Chris had bought some clothes and Kurt realized he wasn't the only Warbler interested in fashion. "The random nonsense in the beginning of the Lion King."

Several Warblers started to sing the beginning part rather loudly, until they were unable to because of how hard they were laughing.

"Guys, guys, don't ruin a perfectly good song!" Blaine said with a big smile on his face. Several people had turned to give them weird looks but the boys paid them no mind. Next to him, Kurt had his eyebrows raised but he was laughing at them.

"You're just jealous because you don't know the words!" Trent said in a diva-like manner, with wiggles and everything, and snapped two times while waving his hand in the air. He tried to hold character but failed due to the guys laughing around him and laughed as well.

"Hey, you guys remember in the Lion King when the monkey held up Simba in the air like some god? I don't know why but every now and then I get the urge to do that to my cat." Terry said.

"You also tried to do that to me once." Randy added.

"Push me and I'll do it again." Terry shot back.

"What was Scar's name before he got his scar?" Jeff wondered out loud.

"Prince Raphael the second of the East." Nathan replied.

"Seriously?" James asked. Nathan only laughed, leaving James with a confused look.

"Okay, I've just got to ask," Randy began. "You two are dating?" He asked, pointing at Thad and Flint. They nodded. "And you?" He pointed at Jeff and Nick, who nodded as well. "And you?" He pointed at Blaine and Kurt, who smiled. "Wow, we have three Warbler couples. That's so cool."

"We've not only caught up with the Crawford girls, but we've gone past them. We've got three couples, they have two." David said.

"We rule in every way, baby!" Terry said with a smile and pulled a victory pose. Flint hummed the Final Fantasy victory song.

"What about back at your old glee club? How many couples are there?" Chris asked Kurt.

"Three plus." Kurt answered. When Chris shot him a confused look he explained it further.

"Well, there are Mike and Tina and then there Brittany and Artie. Lauren and Puck are borderline dating, and Finn is with Quinn right now. That's it, I think. They break up and get together all the time, that's why I said plus." Kurt said.

James's phone began buzzing and Robert groaned. "Who the hell keeps texting you? You're even worse than Frank constantly getting texts from his new girlfriend."

Frank blushed slightly. "At least I get texts."

Robert mocked offence and raised a finger in the air. "Oh, oh-ho, you did not just go there."

"Just this girl from Crawford I've been seeing. We're going out on a date this weekend." James said. "By the way, I'm going to need some tips. I'm like, the least romantic guy there is."

"Is she in the glee club?" David asked. James nodded. "Well, serenade her. Find a song that fits how you feel about her and sing it to her. She will love it, I promise."

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Someone asked from behind them.

Nick's eyes went wide, the color drained from his face and his breath got caught in his throat. His hand shot out and grabbed Jeff's tightly. His back was turned to the stranger, but Jeff was facing him. He looked confused but then his eyes widened when he figured out who it was. Kurt saw Jeff's and Nick's face before he saw the stranger, but he already knew who it was.

Randall.

Most of the Warblers looked confused but defensive at the same time. Just taking one look at Nick's face made Nathan and Terry realize something was very wrong and they stepped forward, between Nick and the guy.

"Aw, does the little faggot need body guards?" Randall taunted. Jeff opened his mouth and was about to say something but Nick squeezed his hand tighter.

"If you love me, don't say a word." Nick whispered and Jeff closed his mouth.

"Alright, who are you and what the hell is your problem?" Terry asked the guy, sounding agitated.

The guy smirked. "Why won't you ask the fairy? Surely, he's told you about me. He'll do anything to get sympathy and attention, now won't you, Nick?"

Nick didn't answer. "Just leave." Nathan said to the guy.

The guy laughed. "If anyone should leave, it's him. I'm not the one who's being a disgusting homo."

Terry snapped. He grabbed the front of the guy's jacket and pulled him close to his face. "You listen to me and you listen good, alright? The one who's being disgusting is you. He's done nothing to deserve this from you. Leave right now and don't even dare to lay your homophobic eyes on him or any of us again. Just get your ass over to your little friends, who are currently laughing at you right now, and hang your head in shame for being so god damn ignorant."

He let go of the guy. He looked scared, but he tried to cover it up with a cocky grin. Terry still looked furious and quite frankly, he was scaring Kurt. Nathan looked like he was ready to jump on the guy any second.

The guy fixed his jacket and scratched his chin. "Alright, I'll leave. I don't want to be seen with failures like Nick anyway. I mean," the guy said and cackled, "what kind of moron can't even kill himself? How the hell do you fuck that up?"

They were too shocked to yell something after him, too shocked to chase after him, too shocked to give him that punch he deserved. Nick's eyes were squeezed shut. The guy had said the only thing he didn't want him to say. He could have cut down Nick all he wanted, yelled all of those hateful things at him, but he just couldn't mention that. Only Kurt, Jeff and Nathan knew. Nathan didn't pay the guy any attention after he said those words, he only saw him leave from the corner of his eyes. He turned to Nick right away, knowing he didn't want that specific information to slip out.

Things were silent for some time. Everyone was focused on Nick's trembling form. No one dared to be the first one to pipe up, but Blaine eventually stepped up.

"Is it… I-Is that true?" He asked. Nick's trembling only got worse and tears slid down his cheeks. Jeff pulled him in an embrace, one hand stroking his hair while the other held him tight. Nick's hands were wrapped around Jeff, his hands squeezing the fabric of his blazer.

"It is," Nathan said quietly. The Warblers looked taken aback. None of them had been expecting this. Yes, they knew he had a horrible time at his old school, being bullied and taunted, but they never knew he had been driven to suicide. Even Thad, Nick's roommate had no idea it was this bad. He did consider that Nick might have had suicidal thoughts, but he never thought he'd actually gone through with it. The lack of information on this matter was annoying some of the Warblers, but they knew better than to push it.

Few people were coming in and out of the mall and where they were standing and few people passed by. Jeff held Nick, waiting for him to calm down a little, while a couple of Warblers stood on the lookout in case the guy would return.

"Wanna go back to Dalton?" Jeff murmured in Nick's ear. He nodded. "C'mon, it's okay." Jeff said, releasing him from the embrace and grabbing his hand instead. The Warblers followed them out of the mall and into the parking lot. They had shared cars, thus only taken three. Jeff and Nick got into the backseat of one of them, as did Thad who had requested so. It was Terry's car, so he drove it, and Nathan joined him in the front seat.

The car ride was quiet. Nathan tried his best to keep himself from shooting Nick worried glances, but Terry adjusted the rear-view mirror so he could see Nick in it. Thad held his hand in silent support and Jeff held him.

"Please don't hate me if this affects Regionals." Nick said, his voice hoarse.

"That's not even a possibility." Thad said gently.

No, I don't hate Nick. I feel bad for even writing this. But don't worry, I won't torture him much more. I think.