aridnie: She is. Nobody has any idea how much of one.
MusicalEscape: Its okay if you haven't noticed I nickname everyone too. Nathan-Nat, Natty: Gabriel-Gabby, Gab: James-Jamie, Jboy: Nikel-Nike: Zach-Z. Yep I love nicknames. Some of those haven't been said yet but they will. It's just easier.
xsilvershadowx: This was only the first confrontation with Karofsky. The next one is the real problem.
Switch: Thank you so much for telling me that. I'll have to change it.
Dbz27: Thank you so much for the holiday wishes. I would've answered back but I haven't had my computer for a while and my phone doesn't really do anything but let me look at emails.
Okay so I know some of you expected something way more with the confrontation with Karofsky but this is just the first one with him. Kind of to introduce him to Blaine. This is the last we've seen of him.
Sorry about the long wait. I haven't had my computer for awhile and updating on my phone or kindle is damn near impossible. Thanks for your patience.
Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or the song 'Far away' by Nickelback.
Kurt opened his eyes slowly, the smell alone telling him where he was: the hospital. He was so sick of this place. Groaning he sat up, confused on why he was here this time. He didn't feel hurt, so what happened?
"Kurt, you're awake. I'll go get your doctor." Burt stood up to leave.
"Dad, wait, what happened?"
"Blaine said you fainted while heading back to the football field. You had a really bad panic attack. I'm sure Blaine can explain the rest."
Kurt winced, "I'm not going to get admitted into a mental hospital, am I?" He didn't want to go.
"No, kid, you won't have to be." He started to leave again.
"How long was I out?" Kurt stopped him once again.
Burt sighed and rubbed his forehead, "It's Wednesday about three, so not even a full day."
"I missed school." He replied, needlessly. He missed his first Warbler practice too.
"I called your school. I also had to tell your friend, Blaine, to go back. He wanted to stay all night, but there was no way he was getting out of school. Now I need to get your doctor, Kurt, or you'll be here longer."
When his doctor came back he was told things he already figured were going to happen. His medication dosage was going to be changed, again, and medication switched in some areas. He had to stay away from any potential stressful situations. By the end of it, Kurt just wanted out. He wanted to see Blaine, make sure Karofsky didn't do anything after he blacked out. The thought made him sick.
He was discharged about an hour later and somehow managed to wave off any ideas of him getting into a wheelchair, hospital policy be damned. Soon Kurt and his dad were walking down the hallway, Burt bringing Kurt back to Dalton even though he wanted Kurt to come home to rest for the day. Kurt also fought that idea off, he had to see Blaine. They were near the doors when Kurt saw a familiar figure out the corner of his eye.
"Zach?" He asked. The boy wiped around to look at him, eyes wide.
"Kurt! I-I came to see you, but you're already out it seems. You're going back to Dalton, right?" Zach was smiling widely, bouncing on his feet. He stopped after a few hops though, settling on just looking at Kurt anxiously.
"Yeah, my dad's going to drop me off."
"I came with my mom if you want a ride back. She has to drop me off and we live only 20 minutes away from Dalton. That way your dad doesn't have to make the long drive back to Lima."
"I can go ask."
"Okay." Zach responded quickly, "You ask, I'm going to go to the bathroom. I'll be right back." Kurt watched as Zach practically sprinted to the toilet.
"He's in a hurry." Burt commented, approaching his son.
"That's just how Zach is. Dramatic about everything." Kurt replied, before asking his dad about Zach's suggestion. It took more convincing than he originally thought. Zach was back and helping him convince his dad it was alright. Ultimately it took Zach's mother to finally allow Kurt to go with them.
So with Zach by his side he followed Zach's mother to their car. Kurt smiled; he knew where Zach got his looks from. He was a male version of his mother. They all climbed in while Zach's mother put some quiet music on for them as she began the drive home.
Zach immediately slumped against his seat, closing his eyes.
"Are you okay?"
Zach cracked an eye open, "Yeah, Blaine said they took you to the hospital and I couldn't sleep. I was worried about you. Do you want to talk about it?"
Kurt shook his head, "No, you can sleep. I might try to sleep as well. Hey, why did your mom drive you to the hospital?"
Zach gave him a sleepy smile, "You heard Nikel I always crash cars when I drive them. My parents don't trust me driving anymore." He barely finished that before he was out. Shrugging, Kurt closed his own eyes and managed to doze off as well.
Kurt woke up with a jolt to see Zach's mom pulling her hand away. She must've shaken him awake. Groaning, he opened the door and got out of the car. He looked to see Zach doing the same. He thanked Zach's mom before the two went into the school. It was dinner time and the building was quiet, everyone was in the cafeteria already. They headed in that direction only to be stopped by Nikel who was exiting with some food.
"Hey! Welcome back, Kurt, how are you feeling?"
"Fine, thank you. Is Blaine in there?"
Nikel shook his head, "He's in his dorm; I was just heading up there to bring him food. Loretta's coming over in a bit just so everyone's aware."
Kurt glanced at Zach who was staring blankly at the statement. Though they resolved their issues two days ago, he could still see some tension between them. It probably would always be there…at least until Zach confessed. They switched directions and continued walking.
"Just so you're aware, I'm not going to play nice. I need to practice for solo audition's coming up in Glee."
"Please don't sing an offensive song to Loretta, Zach, I'm begging you."
"No promises." He said stopping outside Blaine's dorm, "In fact I can almost guarantee the opposite."
Nikel ignored Zach with a roll of his eyes and held out the food to Kurt, "Do you want to give it to him? I need to fill out some paperwork before Loretta gets here."
Kurt nodded, accepting the plate. Nikel gave them a quick smile before leaving.
Kurt turned to Zach who was ramrod straight, "Uh you talk to Blaine, I'll be in our room." He sprinted away from Kurt and all but slammed the door to their dorm room in his rush.
Frowning, Kurt turned to Blaine's dorm and knocked quietly. It took a few minutes but finally Blaine opened the door. A grin broke out on his face when he saw it was Kurt, though he had a look of concern in his eyes.
"Kurt, you're back!"
"What happened to your eye?" He blurted out in return.
Sighing, he gently grabbed the boy and pulled him into his room. They both sat comfortably on the bed. Blaine looked anywhere but Kurt, biting his lip.
"Blaine?"
"Sorry. You passed out after seeing that guy. He made a couple more comments I'm not going to repeat and I made some comments back. It must've pissed him off because next thing I know his fist connected with my face," Kurt gasped, covering his mouth with his hands, "Santana showed up then still in her zombie make-up. That girl is amazing. Does she have a Kurt sense or something to know when you're in danger? Anyways, she started causing this big scene and a few more people showed up and the guy took off. We took you to the hospital. They checked out my eye and cleared me. Your dad made me go back to Dalton."
"I know, he told me." He looked at Blaine and carefully moved his hand to trace over the bruise, "You shouldn't have done that, Blaine. Karofsky is dangerous. He could've really hurt you. He could've-"He stopped talking, finding that he had trouble breathing.
"Kurt, breathe, come on. That's it. Careful breathes, like me. There you go." He finally calmed down and they sat in silence for a bit.
"Kurt." Blaine whispered, "Is he the one…"
"No." He said a little too quickly.
"Kurt, you could press charges against him. He could go to prison."
"Nobody will believe me anyways. Nobody will do anything; it's something that happens if you're gay. It's a part of life and nobody's going to do anything about it. It's my word against his, it won't end well."
"You can at least try."
"He threatened to kill me, Blaine! If he doesn't go to jail I'll spend the rest of my life looking behind me, knowing he knows I told. I can't."
"And what exactly are you doing now?"
"I'm trying to move on." He snapped. He sighed, lying completely down on the bed, "Can we not talk about this anymore? Please?"
The pleading tone in Kurt's voice stopped Blaine from saying anymore. Instead he let out a sigh of his own moving to lie down next to the other boy. Their sides were touching and Blaine moved his hand to grab Kurt's. Kurt moved his hand as well, interlacing their fingers.
"What are you doing tomorrow?" Blaine asked suddenly.
"Homework? I don't really know." Kurt shrugged in return.
"Well would you like to go out with me after I go to Warbler practice? Like a date?"
"You-You still want to go out with me?"
Blaine sat up on his elbows and looked down at Kurt, "Kurt…I really like you; you're amazing. I'd be honored to go out on a date with you."
"Yeah." Kurt whispered, "That sounds nice. Where are we going?"
Blaine smiled impishly, "Now that's a surprise."
Kurt pouted, "Fine. So did you hear Loretta's coming to visit? We should probably get up and make sure Zach doesn't do something crazy." Blaine gave him an odd look, "Okay something crazier than normal. Then again he's really tired so he might actually be civil."
"I was just going to say do we have to babysit him? I didn't get back from the hospital until almost one in this morning. I'm exhausted. Then I had to answer everyone's questions at breakfast where you were. You should've seen some of the boys they wanted to leave for the hospital to see you as soon as I told him."
"Yes we do," He said before he furrowed his eyebrows, "Wait you told everyone this morning?"
Blaine looked just as confused, "Yeah, I got back too late to tell anyone right away. Why?"
He shook his head, "No reason. I must've misunderstood, Zach. It's no big deal."
They lay like that for a while longer. Hands clasped and Kurt leaned his head carefully onto Blaine's shoulder. Blaine had his head onto of Kurt's and fell into a light sleep. Kurt, on the other hand, stayed awake. He had a lot on his mind, which seemed like a usual occurrence now-a-days.
Kurt woke Blaine up after a bit. He could hear voices outside and he could only assume Loretta was over. He needed to be Zach's support system. Together they went to the common's area, holding hands. Nikel, who was sitting next to Loretta on the love seat, smiled at them, while Zach, who was sitting a single chair, wolf-whistled. Though he was grinning as well, Kurt could see the strain. He obviously didn't want to be around the two.
"So when did that happen?" Nikel teased.
"Yesterday before the fainting incident," Kurt replied, making a face, "Zach, are you okay?"
Zach was tapping his fingers rapidly on the arm of the chair while his eyes seemed to never stop moving. They focused on Kurt for a minute before moving away again.
Loretta rolled her eyes, "Zach's never okay. Crazy people are not okay. I'm sure there's a mental hospital somewhere with his name on one of the doors."
Zach barely looked at her, "Yeah, I'm fine Kurt, just debating what song to sing for my solo audition."
Loretta narrowed her eyes in on Zach. He's never ignored her like that before. Nikel and Blaine both looked surprised as well.
"Why bother? You've auditioned many times now, you never get it." Loretta continued.
Zach shrugged, "If I don't try, I'll never even be considered."
She gritted her teeth, "Whatever, Zach, I'm just saying you're unless when it comes to singing."
"Loretta," Nikel snapped, "Be nice."
Zach stood up, "I'm going to go back to my room. I'll see you guys tomorrow."
They watched the blond walk way before looking at each other shrugging. They've never seen him pass up a chance to argue with Loretta.
"He must be really tired." Kurt commented.
Loretta snuggled up against Nikel, "Who cares? He'll be annoying people again in no time. Might as well enjoy the silence while it lasts."
Nikel lightly pushed his girlfriend away, "That's really mean, Loretta."
"Fine, maybe he needs to get laid. Find him a girlfriend." She smirked, "Or boyfriend?"
Nikel shook his head, "I'm not finding a boyfriend for Zach, Loretta. That's just weird." Nikel looked around at three shocked faces, "What? You didn't know Zach was gay?"
"You did?" Loretta finally replied, "And you've shared a bed with him?"
Nikel just shrugged, "He's my best friend; of course I know he's gay. I mean he never said it outright, but I'm not blind. He's just picky. He hasn't found a guy he likes enough to date yet. And Loretta, I share a bed with him sometimes, because I've been doing that since before I knew. It's not going to change."
Kurt withheld a groan. So much for not being blind. They sat out there for a while longer before Kurt became sick of hearing Loretta talk and got up to leave. Blaine followed him not wanting to get stuck alone with those two. He grabbed Kurt's hand, once again, for the short walk back to their rooms.
"I'll see you tomorrow morning."
Kurt leaned forward and carefully kissed Blaine's cheek, "See you tomorrow." He echoed, letting go of Blaine's hand, walking to his own room.
He shut the door to his room and looked around, not seeing Zach. He was in the center of the room when he heard retching from the bathroom followed by the toilet flushing. A few minutes passed before Zach walked out. He barely glanced at Kurt before falling face first into his bed. He moved to his side, curling up in a ball not even bothering to crawl under the covers.
"Zach, were you just throwing up?"
Zach opened on eye to look at Kurt, "No."
"I heard you." He tried.
"I wasn't throwing up Kurt, let it go. God you're not my mother, fuck off!" Kurt stiffened like he was just slapped. Zach hasn't spoken to him like that since that incident when he thought he was a homophobe.
"I was just concerned." Kurt retorted, going to his drawers to grab some pajama's and moved towards the bathroom.
"Well don't be. I'm not a child."
Kurt practically slammed the door to the bathroom. Zach was acting like jerk and he didn't like it. When he came back out, Zach was asleep, under the covers. Rolling his eyes, he went to his bed. He could only hope the blond would be in a better mood in the morning.
Kurt woke up the next morning and got ready for class. He was completely ready when he noticed Zach wasn't up. It was starting to get late.
Groaning he moved over towards Zach's bed and called for him.
"Zach, wake up. You're going to be late for class."
Zach barely opened his eyes, dark circles under his eyes, "Not going."
"You can't skip, Zach."
He did a half shrug, burrowing deeper into his pillows, "I'm not going. Don't worry about. I'll call my parents."
"Are you feeling alright?"
"I'll be fine. Let me sleep."
Realizing, Zach wasn't going to get up Kurt went back to his side of the room to grab his backpack. He spared a look back at Zach to see the boy was already asleep.
Quietly he went out the door and waited for the rest of the boys to join him instead of them knocking and potentially waking Zach.
"Hey, Kurt, why are you out here?" Nikel greeted, raising an eyebrow, "Is Zach's oddness wearing off on you?"
"Actually, Zach's sick. He's sleeping right now so I didn't want you guys waking him."
"Oh stay away from him when he's sick. He's always cranky." Blaine said from the other side of Kurt.
Kurt turned and smiled at him, "Hey."
Blaine grabbed his hand and squeezed lightly, "Hey."
"Ugh you two are going to be a disgustingly cute couple, I can just tell. Now come on, let's get breakfast."
Breakfast without Zach was an uneventful event, though holding Blaine's hand nearly the whole time caused some of the boys to gently tease them. Blaine grinning brightly the whole time while Kurt just dunked his head down slightly embarrassed.
The rest of the day was the same. Blaine would show up to walk Kurt to each of his class and the other boys would wolf-whistle among another comments. None were bad, but Kurt wasn't use to the attention, at least good attention like this was. No insults were being thrown at him or Blaine.
When it came time for Warbler practice, Kurt followed Blaine, knowing Blaine just assumed he was there to sit in like he always asked him to. They were surprised to find Zach there, sitting in a single chair in the corner, looking better than he did earlier.
Wes called everyone to order and smiled, something the other boys weren't used to seeing, "Everyone attention, I'd like to welcome our newest member, Kurt Hummel, who auditioned in front of council and was accepted. Make him feel welcomed."
There was a stunned silence before everyone broke out in cheering, Blaine turning and wrapping Kurt in a hug.
"I can't believe you joined and didn't tell me!"
"Surprise?"
"This is amazing!" He laughed before lowering his voice a bit, "Though I wish I could've seen your audition."
Wes and David called everyone to order once again after a few minutes of cheering, "Well its auditions week, you guys, Zach you're up today. You have something prepared?"
Sighing Zach stood up and slowly walked to the middle of the room. The music started and with a deep breath so did Zach.
"This time, This place
Misused, Mistakes
Too long, Too late
Who was I to make you wait
"Just one chance
Just one breath
Just in case there's just one left
'Cause you know,
you know, you know"
There was a passion in Zach's voice as he sang.
"That I love you
I have loved you all along
And I miss you
Been far away for far too long
I keep dreaming you'll be with me
and you'll never go
Stop breathing if
I don't see you anymore
On my knees, I'll ask
Last chance for one last dance
'Cause with you, I'd withstand
All of hell to hold your hand
I'd give it all
I'd give for us
Give anything but I won't give up
'Cause you know,
you know, you know"
Zach put everything he had into the end of the song. His voice echoing through the room as he finished.
"I wanted
I wanted you to stay
'Cause I needed
I need to hear you say
That I love you
I have loved you all along
And I forgive you
For being away for far too long
So keep breathing
'Cause I'm not leaving you anymore
Believe it
Hold on to me and, never let me go
Keep breathing
'Cause I'm not leaving you anymore
Believe it
Hold on to me and, never let me go
Keep breathing
Hold on to me and, never let me go"
Everyone applauded his surprising performance. Instead of his usual cocky showmanship Zach opted to return to his seat in silence. Though, he wore a proud smirk.
"Zach that was amazing!" Blaine complimented as they walked out of practice.
Zach shrugged, "It was nothing. I'm going back to my room now."
"Are you still not feeling well?" Kurt asked, tilting his head.
"I'm fine, just need to rest to be back to 100 percent. You know the drill."
"Okay, well I'll be back later."
Zach mustered up a smirk, "Why? Going out on a date?"
"Shut it, Zach."
Together the two boys walked towards Blaine's car and got in.
"So, where are we going?"
"Just out to dinner nothing too fancy. I hope that's okay?" Blaine replied as he drove.
"It's perfect."
As they drove they talked about their favorite music and other interests. They talked the whole way until Blaine finally stopped outside a small café.
"I found this place when I first started at Dalton, it has the best home-cook meals and desserts you'll ever have." Grabbing Kurt's hand he led him into the mom'n'pop like restaurant. Kurt pulled his hand away just before they entered the restaurant, giving Blaine a sheepish look.
They took their seats and stared at one another all of a sudden feeling awkward. After a few moments of awkward silence, in which their order was taken, Blaine broke out laughing, Kurt started to chuckle as well.
"How is it we can talk the whole car ride here but we get all nervous as soon as this date actually begins."
Kurt shook his head, "I don't know. We're being idiots aren't we?"
"Just a bit."
They fell into easy conversation after that. Soon they were done eating and walking around the park not far from the restaurant. Though it was getting chilly out it was perfect walking weather. Grabbing Kurt's hand once again they made a few laps around.
"Kurt." Blaine started, pulling on his hand to make his stop in front of him, "I really like you. Thanks for agreeing on going out with me."
Kurt rolled his eyes, "Only you would thank me for something like that. I really like you too. I mean obviously, only for you would I go out on a date still in this hideous Dalton uniform."
He laughed, "Sorry, we probably could've changed first."
"It's fine. It's perfect."
Blaine leaned forward and gently kissed him. He wasn't sure what he expected but to be smacked was definitely not it. He stumbled back a step. Next thing he knew Kurt was next to him, trying to grab his face and see if he caused any damaged. Well besides the bruise that was already there from Karofsky.
"I'm so sorry, Blaine, I didn't mean to. I really didn't. I'm so sorry. I can't believe I did that. I'm so sorry."
He focused his eyes on Kurt who looked so heartbroken.
"It's okay, Kurt, I'm fine. May I ask why you hit me?"
"I don't know. You kissed me and my mind flashed back to…that and I just reacted. I told you I'm a total screw up."
Blaine wanted to smack himself. How could he forget about the kiss incident that Kurt told him about? No wonder he hit him.
"You're not a screw up." He held out his hand, "Come on lets go back to the dorms." He frowned when Kurt didn't grab his hand, "Kurt, I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at myself if anything. I didn't even think…"
"You shouldn't have to." He was looking at the ground, "Don't you see? You shouldn't have to worry about getting hurt every time you want to kiss me. Or say something that might trigger a panic attack. You could do so much better than me."
Blaine moved and lightly grabbed Kurt's chin forcing him to meet his eyes, "No I can't. There's nobody better for me than you. I want to date you."
Kurt wrapped his arms around Blaine's shoulders and hugged him close, "I don't deserve you."
He hugged him just as close, "You do though; you deserve so much happiness."
So there's the chapter. The next chapter already a few pages in and takes place two months later, at Christmas. I should have it up sooner than I did this one. I know Zach was actiing really weird this chapter but it'll be explained soon enough. He's just...well Zach...
Preview of Chapter 14:
1.)
He grew more concerned as he watched his dad shift uncomfortably, "Well you should invite him here for Christmas Eve, at least. Finn asked Rachel since she doesn't celebrate Christmas at home, you should ask your…boyfriend."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I want to meet him properly this time. The last time I saw him was at the football game and you two weren't dating then."
2.)
"Did you hear? There was an ambulance outside of Dalton, they were loading someone inside."
"Really? Who?"
"No clue."
Hearing footsteps the two boys looked up to see Kurt running towards them. He stopped in front of them out of breath. He was abnormally pale and shaking.
"Kurt? What's wrong?"
"He just collapsed in class and wouldn't wake up. The teacher called 911."
"Who? Who passed out?"