CHAPTER 6

8 months earlier…

"EVERYBODY! EVERYBODY! LISTEN UP!"

A booming voice sliced through the party like a knife through hot butter, miraculously managing to silence the nearly 100 people who were gathered in the backyard. Well, they called it a backyard. It was more like a private beach than anything else, connected to a mansion belonging to Theo's best friend's family. It was him who was hosting the party that night.

Theo felt himself roughly dragged by his best friend onto the porch and up a few steps, until they were towering over the rest of the teenagers at the party. Instantly, upon seeing Theo, cheers and screams erupted like fireworks. Without really intending to, Theo had become the most popular guy in school. He was an incredibly skilled football player, and as Marley had never failed to remind him, he had captained and carried their high school team to its first State championship in nearly 3 decades.

And in Florida, that was a big deal. It was a HUGE deal. Florida lived and breathed football like a nun breathed religion. Despite being only 18, Theo had quickly become a household name all over town, with many people touting him as the next big thing in Football. And it wasn't just fans too. In his vastly successful senior year over the past few months, Theo had caught the attention of a plethora of scouts. Colleges had been tripping over one another in their effort to sign him. It had been a huge decision for him to make, but Theo had eventually decided to commit to University of Florida as recently as last week. It made sense to him. He loved living in Florida, ever since he had moved right before the start of High School. As of next year, he'd be a Florida Gator. Or so they all thought.

"I'd like to make a toast to my buddy, our CAPTAIN, right here!" Theo's friend exclaimed, slapping Theo on the back and holding up the drink in his right hand. "He fought for us this year! He'll be fighting as a Gator next year! We all love him! Let's show Theo some love, everybody!"

Theo blushed furiously, staring down at his feet, as he listened to all of the praise from the numerous teenagers around him. He didn't let any of it get to his head. In fact, he was a little bit embarrassed by it all. They all loved him, and he still didn't quite understand why. Sure he had made some big plays for the team, but so had the rest of them. They surely wouldn't have brought home the championship without the efforts of each and every member of the team.

After making the toast, the teenagers began to scatter once more, and Theo's friend practically dragged him over to the large cooler at the side of the house. He pulled out 2 beers and handed Theo one of them, but the boy quickly handed it right back to him.

"Nah, I'm good man. You know I'm not a drinker." Theo murmured.

"Just one!" Theo's friend encouraged him. Theo shook his head.

"I'm good, thank you. Designated driver. I'm getting Marley and I home. I need to stay sober." Theo told him.

"One beer won't mess with that!" Theo's friend argued. "Come on! You've got to have one! We're celebrating! Our captain's going to Florida next year!"

"You can stop calling me that, man. Football season's over." Theo remarked. Theo's friend shrugged.

"Alright. Would you prefer Thesus Christ. Because I heard 1 or 2 people calling you that once." He remarked. Theo raised an eyebrow.

"That's what they were saying? I thought they were talking about religion and just had a really unfortunate lisp." Theo responded, to which his friend guffawed loudly and shoved the beer back into Theo's hand.

"Come on! Please! Don't make me beg! Just have 1!"

"Fine." Theo sighed, accepting the beer and cracking it open, before lifting it in front of his friend. "To big things in the future. For both of us."

The two boys clinked bottles and drank. They drank a beer. Then had another. Then had one more. 3 beers. It wasn't enough for Theo to feel drunk. But by the end of the night, he did indeed feel ever so slightly tipsy and off his game. He was fine though. He was still sober enough.

The night flew by as they all celebrated the Football team's State Championship win, as well as ringing in the New Year together, and so by the time the early hours of the morning came, it was finally time to go home.

"Ready to go, gorgeous?" Theo asked Marley, who was leaning against him, her arms wrapped around him in affection. She was slightly more drunk than Theo, but given that neither of them were big drinkers, neither were too intoxicated. Only enough for their judgment to be slightly skewed.

"Yeah, let's go home." Marley murmured. Theo quickly sought out his friend to let him know he was leaving, and the boy promptly bid him farewell.

"Are you sure you're good to drive?" His friend asked him. "It's pretty greasy and slippery out there."

Any other day, any other day at all, and Theo would've probably said no. He probably would've tried to call a taxi, or crash at his friend's house. But not tonight. No, he had had one too many beers to be thinking clearly. He was sober enough to be able to think he could drive, but drunk enough to not know that he couldn't.

"Yeah, don't worry. I'm all good."

Theo jolted awake with a start, ripped from his nightmare. He knew what happened next. He had seen it every night for the past 8 months. If only he hadn't accepted that first drink. If only he had remained sober, it could've been so different.

Theo had been thrashing around ferociously in his sleep, tangled in a web of blankets and comforters, his entire body flailing so wildly that he was dangerously close to flying off the bed. He could feel his brow dripping with sweat, so when he finally managed to disentangle himself from the cocoon of bedding, he knew that he definitely would not be able to find sleep again.

Glancing sideways at the alarm clock on his bedside, Theo groaned. 4:30. That was typical of most of his nights now. He wouldn't be able to fall asleep for hours after his head hit the pillow, and he would be rudely awakened by nightmares a few hours later. Defeated that he wasn't going to fall back asleep, Theo decided to leave the house and go for a workout. Exercise was the only brief time he could take his mind off everything, even if it was only for a few hours. Theo felt slightly bad that he was leaving the house before Santana had awakened - she had actually been nice to him the night before - but he left her a note to let her know where he had gone.

After a long workout, Theo decided to go for a walk. The sun had just started to rise, and it had occurred to him that he hadn't quite seen any part of Lima yet. The night before, he had gone straight from the bus station to Santana's place, so he was yet to explore the city at all. It was an hour into his walk though that Theo realized that there was quite literally nothing for him to explore. If the city looked run down last night, it looked even worse by the light of day. So instead, the boy found himself walking along the outskirts of the city. Somehow, he managed to find a walking and hiking trail of some sort, so he followed it for a while, burrowing within the lush shelter of the treeline.

An eternity later, Theo came to a clearing and he stopped dead in his tracks. For once, he was actually in awe of Lima, and the site that was before him. As the dense forest cleared, a small opening appeared. The tall trees that once engulfed the path now allowed for the warm, golden rays of the early morning sun to peek through. The clearing was alive with the sounds of rustling leaves and chirping birds. The sweet smell of wildflowers filled the air, intermingled with the earthy scent of the forest. As Theo stepped out of the tree line and into the clearing, a breathtaking view awaited him.

The town below was so small, yet bustling with life. The rooftops glimmered in the sunlight like precious gems, and the sounds of an early morning rush floated up to his ears. The contrast between the peacefulness of the forest and the liveliness of the town was stark, but the clearing was the perfect vantage point to take in both.

Marley would've loved this place, Theo thought to himself, as he sat down in the clearing. It was perfect for her. She had never loved living in the big city in Florida. She had always much preferred the peaceful tranquility of a small city, and Lima not only provided that, but was still full of life. Just like she was.

Sitting there in the clearing and watching the sunrise, it reminded him of all of the mornings that him and Marley had climbed to the roof of her house and done just that, all bundled up in blankets together. The familiar aching pain in his chest amplified considerably.

"Hey, babe. How are you today? I hope everything's going well for you up there." Theo whispered, staring up at the sky as he spoke to his wife again. "So I'm here. I'm in Lima, all ready for my fresh start. But, now that I'm here, it just… it doesn't feel right."

Theo looked down at his feet for a moment, before staring back up at her.

"I just… I don't feel like I really want a fresh start to be honest. I definitely don't feel like I deserve one. It all just feels so unfair. Why do I get a new start but you don't? Where's the justice in that?"

Theo gulped and took a deep breath.

"I just feel really guilty. About everything. About what happened to you. About how nice people have been to me since I arrived here in Lima, only because they don't know my past. I don't deserve any of it, and I don't know what to do next."

Theo sighed.

"You were always so good at guidance, you know? The biggest things and the smallest things, you always just knew what to do. You made life so easy. You seemed to always have all of the answers. And I guess when we were dating, I figured that at some point, you'd have rubbed off on me enough that someday, I would too. But now, without you, I just… I feel like I'm clueless. Makes me wonder whether it was the same for you, and you were just better at hiding it."

Theo forced himself to keep his emotions at bay as he continued to speak to her. He spoke to her for a while longer, before eventually he was forced to drag himself away from the clearing as it was time to head to school…

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"Mr. Martin? Come on in."

Theo looked up and saw a South Asian man, presumably the principal of his new school, standing opposite him. It was his first day at his new school - McKinley High - and although he had only been there for 15 minutes, he already wanted to leave. People chatting with their friends in the hallways, couples making out against lockers, cheerful voices coming from all over… it was all so nauseating. These 'friends', these 'relationships' that were supposed to last forever… they would all implode within a year of graduating, he knew it. Someone would inevitably let the other person down, abandon or betray them in some way, and like the snap of fingers, that would be it.

Following the man into his office, Theo learned that his name was Figgins and he was indeed the principal of the high school. He spoke so passionately welcoming Theo into the school, but it was wasted on the teenager as Theo probably hadn't even heard half of what Figgins had said. Fiddling with the zipper of his black bomber jacket, Theo tuned out for most of the conversation. He honestly didn't care in the least about what sports McKinley offered, or what clubs he'd be able to join. 8:30 to 3 he would be here, and he wouldn't stay a second longer. A high school graduation was what he wanted out of this place, all he wanted out of this place, and he was going to do what was necessary to achieve that. Nothing more. Nothing less.

"Alright, let's have you sign some final registration forms really quickly and then I'll give you a tour of the school."

That snapped Theo back to reality. He signed the last few of his forms, officially becoming a McKinley High School student, before being led out of the room by Figgins. Outside in the corridor, he was met by an extremely short, brunette teenage girl, who was looking at him expectantly. He knew exactly who she was based on the things Santana had told him and showed him about the Glee club last night, but for the sake of it, he played the fool.

"Mr. Martin, this is Rachel Berry." Figgins introduced the pair. "Rachel is a model student here in McKinley. Straight As. Captain of the McKinley Glee Club. Star of the school play. She'll be showing you around the school and taking you to your first class today."

With that, Figgins retreated back into his office, leaving the two teenagers standing face to face with one another. It was ironically funny: the two were opposites in every conceivable way. Theo was male; Rachel was female. Theo was tall; Rachel was short. Theo was burly; Rachel was skinny. Theo's hair was disheveled, while not a strand of Rachel's was out of place. Theo had clearly thrown on the closest items of clothing on the floor to him, while Rachel's attire was meticulously planned, ironed and selected. Everything about Theo screamed jock or athlete; while Rachel simply screamed diva.

The two stood opposite each other in silence for a few moments, neither really knowing what to say. It was awkward, to say the least.

"So… I'm Rachel." Rachel eventually started the conversation, sticking out a hand. Theo shook it.

"Theo." He grunted in reply.

"Well it's nice to meet you, Theo. And welcome to McKinley. It's an… amazing high school." Rachel said.

As Rachel spoke, she began to lead him around the school, showing him a variety of the different facilities McKinley had to offer. Just like everything else in Lima, this was certainly the polar opposite of what Theo used to experience in Florida. Whether it was the gym, the basketball court, the football field, the classrooms, the hockey rink, the auditorium, or anything else, everything was covered in dirt, dust, mold, or a combination of all 3. Any equipment available had probably been there since the turn of the century.

As they walked around more of the classrooms, Theo raised an eyebrow.

"It is?" Theo murmured, disbelief seeping into his tone. Based on what he had seen so far, and based on what he had heard from Santana last night, it certainly didn't sound like it.

"It… can be. If you surround yourself with the right people and get involved in the school." Rachel stated. "So what are you interested in? Sports? Theater? Music?"

"Do I look like a musician?" Theo grumbled quietly, trying to put Rachel off with his gruff tone. Rachel, however, was unfazed as she shrugged.

"I don't know. Sometimes it's the people you least expect." She told him. "Our school show choir is almost entirely made up of football players and cheerleaders."

Of course, Theo already knew all of this from Santana, but he didn't say anything. He let Rachel speak, her unending stream of one-sided conversation completely lost on Theo, who only responded with a few words here and there. He felt kind of bad about it to be honest: Rachel was clearly at least making an effort with him, and he was giving her nothing back.

"You don't talk much, do you?" Rachel commented, looking him up and down as they continued to walk around the school together. Theo, once again, didn't speak, merely shrugging. He wished this tour would end as soon as possible, so he could slink back into the shadows where he felt he belonged.

Thankfully, Rachel eventually gave up on making conversation, and the tour soon came to an end in the corridor where they had started. However, this time, they weren't there alone. There were a few other people there, previously standing by the lockers, but perking up in interest as they saw Rachel and Theo. Large smirks began to spread across their faces, like sharks smelling a drop of fresh blood in the ocean, and they began to prowl towards the two teenagers, encircling them as if they were prey.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" A malicious drawl from the boy standing opposite Theo forced the other teenager to drag his eyes upwards and face him. Theo found himself staring at a tall, slightly rotund teenager, dressed in a letterman's jacket, clearly a member of his high school football team, and quite poorly playing the part of 'bully jock' from every single Disney movie he had seen during his childhood. The bully closed in on him, squaring up to him and sizing Theo up, getting so close to Theo's face that he could practically smell the rudeness and insolence on this guy's breath. "Well, aren't you going to say hello to me, new kid?"

Theo was no stranger to bullies, growing up with several minor ones and a few very big ones. He didn't need to hear another word to know exactly what kind of person he was standing opposite. This boy opposite him ruled the school. Or at least he thought he did. Nobody had ever stood up to him before, nobody had put him in his place, and this had led to him being allowed to roam free, pick on anyone he chose to. He was backed by a gang of a few other large football players too, all of them clearly relying on the safety-in-numbers approach to gang bullying.

Theo HATED bullies. He hated them more than anything in this world. And in any other moment, Theo might have taken his chances at a fight with these guys. He was minorly bigger and in better shape than any of them. He certainly knew how to fight. He would have wanted to show all of them that he wasn't someone to be messed with or picked on. But not today. Not anymore. Now, after what he had done 8 months ago, Theo believed he deserved everything he got from these guys. So he simply remained silent, allowing the bully to insult him further.

"Is this kid deaf or something?!" The bully exclaimed, turning to his friends and cackling loudly.

"I don't know about deaf. Maybe he's just really, really, dumb." The bully's friend, a dark-skinned teenager who was just as large, and appeared to be the right-hand-man of the bully in charge, laughed.

"Which is it, new boy? Dumb or deaf, huh? Helloooo? Anyone in there?!" The main bully remarked, knocking on Theo's forehead none-too-gently as he did.

"Leave him alone, Karofsky." Rachel, who was standing beside Theo during all of this, told him. It was clear to Theo that she was no stranger to these bullies, but just everyone else, there was little she could do to stop him.

"Stay out of this." Karofsky snapped at her, before turning his attention back to Theo. "You know, here in McKinley, it's pretty rude to ignore someone who's talking to you."

And yet, Theo continued to do just that, scowling daggers at Karofsky and his friends, but still not saying a word.

"It is. Maybe we ought to teach you a lesson or 2 in respect." Azimio snarled, beginning to curl his hands into fists.

"Guys, can we please not do this? It's his first day." Rachel tried to reason with the bullies.

"I said, stay out of this!" Karofsky shouted again, before uttering another word under his breath. "Bitch."

That certainly got Theo's attention.

"Hey." Theo quietly growled, addressing the bullies for the first time. "Apologize."

The group of bullies stared at him, almost incredulously, before bursting into raucous laughter.

"You were right, Azimio! He can talk! He's just so, so stupid!" Karofsky chuckled, before turning back to Theo, his eyebrows knitting back into a scowl. "What did you say, new boy? I just want to make sure I heard you right."

"You heard me just fine." Theo muttered, speaking quietly but standing as tall as he could. "You're going to apologize to Rachel and you're going to do it right now."

Nobody was more surprised by this most recent development than Rachel, but she couldn't just stand around in awe at someone finally standing up to Karofsky. Alarm bells were already ringing in her head, sensing that this was going to escalate further and wasn't going to end well.

"This guy… I can't tell if he's actually being serious or if he's just playing around." Karofsky remarked, a hand squeezing Theo's shoulder, acting as if it was in a playful way, but his fingers digging into Theo's collarbone as he did so. Theo did not hesitate to slap Karofsky's arm away, before shoving him into the locker behind him.

"You're damn right I'm being serious. Now apologize!" Theo barked, raising his voice for the first time. Karofsky stumbled against the locker, stunned, newfound fury beginning to take shape on his face, and Theo more than willing to meet him. However, before the two of them could come to blows, another hand grasped Theo on the shoulder. He didn't even need to turn around to know who that was - he could practically sense the aura of menace radiating from behind him. Turning around, his hand curled into a fist as he prepared to let it fly, but just before he could, he was met with an unexpected, rather cold surprise…

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"This guy is the worst! I swear to God!" First class had just ended at McKinley High, and Santana was walking out of the classroom with her friends, ranting about her morning, absolutely livid.

"Wait… so this guy who moved into your place last night, just walked out this morning? Didn't say a word to you?" Mercedes asked, slightly confused.

"Yeah! He just ghosted me this morning and left before I even woke up! On his first day here too! Like who does that?!" Santana spat, any sympathy and positive feelings she had towards Theo the night before was fading quickly now.

However, Santana was immediately interrupted by a very familiar chant that was occurring on the other end of the hallway.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!"

It wasn't creative in any way. But boy was it an informative chant, one infamously known all over the world as a signal that violence was occuring nearby. Curious to investigate what the commotion was about, Santana and the other Glee club members ventured towards the origin of the noise, where a crowd was beginning to gather. When Santana arrived, she groaned in annoyance…

Theo was standing by the lockers, surrounded by Karofsky, Azimio and a few other bullies, drenched in a purple slushie. Theo, his hair and clothes dripping with the freezing liquid, looked ready for a fight, his jaw clenched and his fists raised. But knowing that this could only end in one way (and it wasn't good), Santana rushed forward to intervene before she could stop herself.

As Theo was about to swing with a punch, Santana caught his arm out of the air and roughly pushed him backwards.

"Stop!" She demanded firmly. A flash of recognition sparked in Theo's eyes as he saw her, and it caused the boy some hesitation. It was enough for Santana to send a clear message to him. "Walk away."

She knew that Theo getting into a fight now, one his very first day of school, was hardly a good idea. It wouldn't take much effort at all for the school to spin in Theo's direction, with him being the new kid and all, and that would only make things end up worse than they already were, even if that meant that Karofsky and Azimio walked off free.

Thankfully, it seemed like Theo got the message. Turning on his heel, he backed away from Santana and the group of bullies, and he stormed away down the corridor, kicking the door open angrily as he exited the building.