Posting an earlyish chapter for y'all cause I'M GOING TO SEE DARREN CRISS TODAY!

Also outfit change, I'm still gonna be wearing my blue AVPM tshirt but with a skirt instead :D Hope to see you all there!

Enjoy this chapter - it may cause a bit of a ruckus...

Liz xxx

P.S Anyone that understand the bank I love yooooou :D

Chapter 39 - Stakeout

"Ouch." This floor was cold. And there was nowhere good to lean against.

I moved my torch to look at my watch, sighing at the time. Why was I still here? And why had nobody even noticed me? I wasn't sure whether to be impressed at my good spying skills, or offended that a search party hadn't been called. Blaine was still getting hassled – especially since Xavier had kindly made it his mission to blame him solely for our loss at Regionals – something most of us had fought defiantly but a couple had decided to agree with. It hadn't been Blaine's fault at all – New Directions had just been better. If anything his performance had put us streets ahead of Aural Intensity. Even so, things had kept on happening to the point where I had decided to try and catch this perpetrator (if it was one person; I was wary of Xavier but still felt it had to be a mix of several things) red handed. This had involved gathering together a torch, some snacks, my camera and a large one of Artem's jackets. It smelt funny, kind of like vodka and wood mixed together. I didn't know if Artem drank vodka or what kinds of European parties him and Stefan were secretly having in their room, but he certainly smelt of it. Dressing in my brilliant disguise (I'd also borrowed one of Stefan's hats, which I was trying not to think of as a hat he had killed many animals in whilst hunting on his estate) I'd made my way secretly over to Wordsworth and hidden myself away behind the janitor's cupboard door. It was a dark damp room and I kept prodding myself in the back with mops and things. Staking out wasn't all it cracked up to be.

Slowly sticking the last of my Red Vines in my mouth (I'd become addicted ever since I'd learnt of Blaine's obsession with them) I sighed, wondering if anyone was even going to come down the corridor, let alone Blaine's stalker. It had been a ghost town for almost an hour. The silence seemed to hold its own thrum and I kept mistaking it for real noises. As I chewed and listened to the sound of my teeth clashing together I suddenly heard a loud sound and almost knocked over the bucket I was leaning on. Footsteps. And they didn't sound like normal footsteps. They sounded like sneaky stalker footsteps.

Holding my breath so I almost choked on leftover Red Vine I moved onto my toes, my camera recording and poised to pounce on the intruder. The footsteps got closer, obviously heading for Blaine's room at the end of the corridor. My heartbeat began to race, getting faster and faster until suddenly…

"GOT YOU!" I jumped out of my hiding place, trying to look as scary as possible and hold my camera still to catch a video. The culprit screamed, jumping back so they crashed into the wall and went tumbling to the ground, crying out in pain as they clutched their arm. Wait, I recognised that shout…

"GABRIEL?" It couldn't be… Stepping forward I saw to my horror that it was. Gabriel was lying on the floor still rocking backwards and forwards in pain, his face screwed up in anguish.

"Aaaah! Kurt?" Also recognising my voice he stopped, looking up. I wasn't sure which of us was more shocked.

"What are you doing?" The question came out of our mouths simultaneously – I paused, waiting for him to go first. After all, if he had been doing this to Blaine he had some serious explaining to do.

"I, I just came here, to talk to Blaine."

"About what? He's not here."

"Um…" Gabriel looked like he didn't want to answer. Rage boiled inside of me.

"Gabriel, if you don't tell me right now-"

"-Ok ok! If you really want to know I was going to ask him about you!" I stopped.

"What?"

"Well you've been really good to me recently with my trig tutoring and stuff, so I wanted to surprise you with something. I figured Blaine would be the best person to ask." Oh darn it. Immediately I put my camera down, switching it off. I was a complete idiot.

"Oh man, I'm so sorry." I said, guilt rushing through me. I helped Gabriel to his feet and he seemed confused.

"What is this all about Kurt? And why are you dressed like that?" Glancing down at my outfit I laughed.

"Oh, yeah, this. I'm staking out."

"Staking out? What? Why?"

"Blaine thinks someone is stalking him with all the stuff that's been happening to him recently – I know it sounds ridiculous but things have been so bad recently that I'm willing to do anything. So I thought I'd try and catch the culprit red handed."

"By dressing up like a Russian?" I laughed again.

"Well you didn't recognise me did you?"

"True." My fellow Wildeian laughed, before looking back down the empty corridor. "So when I came down here…" I grimaced, looking back at his arm, which looked like it was already bruising.

"…I thought you were the stalker. I'm so sorry, but nobody has been down here in ages and you sounded like you were sneaking."

"It's ok. I didn't want to wake anyone up. It is dark you know. But I understand. If I'd been in your position I would have thought the same too." Gabriel smiled and I grimaced again. How could I have accused him? If anything Gabriel had helped me with Blaine instead of hindering him.

"So nobody has come down here in ages?" I sighed.

"Yeah, it's been like a ghost town. I'm so bored."

"Well if Blaine's not here I haven't got anything else to do – do you want some company?"

"Pass a Red Vine." Gabriel had gone back to Wilde to get some more supplies and his own disguise – I laughed at the huge coat he brought – it completely drowned him. As I placed the candy in my mouth I glanced over at my friend, who looked pensive.

"What's up?"

"I'm just a bit worried. If someone is stalking Blaine, then they're obviously pretty dangerous."

"Look," I began, placing a comforting hand on his "I don't seriously think Blaine is being stalked. I just want to check he's ok. Besides, I don't think there's anyone that could."

"What about Xavier?" I sighed.

"Whilst I hate Xavier with every fire of my being, and would love for him to be tipped on his sorry ass and carted out of here, I just don't see him as the petty revenge type. He would have made it a lot more obvious it was him if he was doing this. No, if it is one person then it's gotta be someone with real problems – maybe some long standing issue with him…" I paused, thinking… "But there's nobody here like that, so we're good."

"I hope so." Gabriel looked nervous – I gave his shoulder a comical shake.

"I think I really just wanted to wear this hat – do I suit it?"

"Yeah, the Russian look is very good on you." Both of us laughing we leant back and stared up into the roof of the closet.

Thinking about Gabriel's original mission made me feel sad. It was a shame he had so few friends – I had never understood why that was. Admittedly he did seem strange at first, but once you got to know him he was a lovely guy. With all the rules about tolerance at Dalton it seemed odd that that one was ignored. And then there was that weird thing about his family…

"Tell me more about yourself." Suddenly I turned over and spoke. I knew it was a corny line and the death of any date (saying it reminded me of the last person I had asked it to, and how it had turned out…) but this wasn't one so we were ok. Gabriel looked surprised.

"Um…what?"

"Well, we are friends." I turned onto my side and looked coyly at him. "I feel like I know barely anything about you."

"You know I suck at Trig."

"No you don't, because you have an amazing, gorgeous tutor. I mean you you, like your family, your past."

"Do you really wanna know about that?" Ergh. He was being awkward. I finally gave in.

"Ok fine – everyone's always talking about you and your Dad and I want to know what the Prada they're going on about!" Gabriel laughed, making me blush.

"Well. At least you're honest." For a second I wondered if he still wasn't going to answer, before realising that he was preparing himself.

"Ok. Here it is. People always talk about my Dad because, well, he's kind of famous."

"Ooh!" I squealed, clapping my hands together. (The fact that we were on a stakeout and therefore supposed to be quiet had completely left my mind – if anyone walked in on us now they were going to wonder what the hell we were doing.) "Do I know him?" Frantically my brain searched for any famous Fostons but came up blank. Maybe he had a stage name…

"He's not on Broadway if that's what you mean." I tried to hide my disappointment and Gabriel smiled. There went my front row tickets to Wicked…

"Have you ever heard of Goliath National Bank?" I spluttered.

"Heard of it? It's the biggest bank in America! My dad has all our savings with them. What, does he work there or something?" Gabriel grimaced.

"Not quite. He owns it."

My mouth dropped to the floor.

"WHAAAAAAAAAT?"
"Kurt, shut up! People will hear us!"

"Are you SERIOUS? YOUR DAD?"

"Yes yes, now be quiet!" Realising my volume I quickly calmed myself down, but my mouth still hung open slightly like I was catching flies. Seriously?

"Oh my Gaga…"

"I get this reaction from everyone. That's why I don't like to tell people."

"Well it seems like the whole school knows. Isn't he like, some kind of lothario?" Gabriel sighed, rubbing his temple.

"Yeah. That's actually how him and my Mum split up – he cheated on her with some twenty year old stripper."

"Oh, Prada, that's terrible." Reaching out my hand I patted his shoulder comfortingly. It seemed like a patronising gesture but I was genuinely sorry. Gabriel seemed to lean into it and sighed.

"I know. My father's a bit of a jerk. But he still manages to somehow control my life. And my mother joins in with him." My eyebrows furrowed.

"What? Your mother supports him?"

"The divorce was only to save her reputation. She still loves him. God knows why but she does."

"Jeez. That sucks." There was no other way to put it.

"Tell me about it." For a while we sat in silence, me pondering what I had just heard. So this was the mystery behind Gabriel. It was a lot stranger than I had been expecting. And kind of heart breaking. I wondered how I ever could have ever have found him creepy.

"You know you always have people here that care about you." I said suddenly. Gabriel looked up, seeming surprised. "I mean, parents can be sucky sometimes. I haven't exactly had the best childhood in that department – dead Mom, Dad remarrying... Not that Carol isn't amazing, because she is. But I totally could have had the evil step-mother thing going on." A small chuckle escaped from my friend's lips. The torchlight bounced off his cheekbones in a way that made me stop and stare for a couple of seconds. "What I'm trying to say is that things do get better. And in the meantime we will always be there."

"You mean you will." I looked surprised.

"Don't be silly! You have Blaine and Scott and everyone else." Gabriel laughed.

"Oh Kurt. You know they only hang out with me because of you. They think I'm weird."

"Well that's because they don't know you the way I do." Shifting myself to face him directly I took Gabriel's hands and forced him to look into my eyes. "You're a great person to be around."

"It's ok. I don't mind. Even if you're the only friend I ever have, I wouldn't care. You make me feel safe." As those grey eyes stared back at mine I felt a fizzle of energy surge through us – a connection I'd never felt before. A smile graced my face.

"I'm glad."

Suddenly a bang sounded from outside. I shot to my feet, my hands separating from Gabriel's and shoved my nose eagerly through the crack in the door, fumbling around for my camera.

"Is someone there?" Gabriel whispered, standing up behind me so I could feel his breath on my neck. My eyes strained to see anything in the dim light, but when I acclimatised to my disappointment I saw the door to the bathroom swinging back and forth.

"Nope." I said, turning back in frustration. "False alarm."

"You don't think, that maybe Blaine's making this up do you?" As we both sat back down Gabriel spoke. He spoke gingerly, like he didn't want to offend, but his eyes told me he was serious.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, he has been under a lot of stress recently. He could be getting a tad paranoid." I paused, looking at him for a few seconds. He did have a point. And if the attack on Xavier at Regionals was any indication, he had strong grounds to be right.

"I dunno." I replied, playing with the toggles on my coat. "Blaine's not the sort of person to do that. He knows how much I worry." Gabriel stretched his mouth awkwardly, seeing my hesitance.

"Well Blaine isn't exactly acting like himself recently is he?" I sighed. It did all add up. If Blaine really was stressed enough to start making stuff up, things were even more serious than I had previously thought. This wasn't a prank war or some stupid grudge. He needed help.

"What should I do?" I asked after a couple of seconds. I couldn't exactly confront him about it – it would probably only make things worse.

"Maybe you should spend some time apart, give him time to sort out his issues." My eyes flashed up to Gabriel, worry gracing them. I didn't like that idea. I didn't like it at all. "I mean if he has to think about you then he's not focusing on himself."

"But…"

"And they say absence makes the heart grow fonder…" My friend seemed pretty sure of his words – it was the first time he had ever challenged me with real conviction. I bit my lip nervously, a million different thoughts rushing through my brain at once. Why were things so damn complicated?

"I'm not saying you have to listen to me." Gabriel continued after a while, shifting his hand so it gently brushed against mine – a comforting, friendly gesture. "Do whatever you want – it's your relationship. I'm just saying what I think." I smiled weakly, rubbing his knuckle with my thumb.

"Thanks."

"Maybe we should get out of this cupboard." A couple of seconds later I broke the silence. Gabriel seemed to shake himself awake and laughed.

"Yeah, maybe we should."

"I'm cold." I spoke without even realising as we stood, surprised when my friend took his coat off and draped it round his shoulders.

"Damn Russian fashion eh?" He smiled and I smiled back, linking my fingers with his as we exited Wordsworth into the crisp evening air.