Guys. It's here.
You may hate me for this. I can safely say this is THE most intense, heartwrenching chapter I've ever written.
Enjoy
Chapter 42 - Cliffhanger
I awoke groggily again, unsure what had happened. This time I wasn't in my bed.
"Morning." At the sound of a voice I jerked upwards. Gabriel was standing by the mirror, wiping his face with a towel.
"Hey, easy." He said with a smile, noticing my reaction. "It's ok."
"What…?" I couldn't get the rest of the question out. I was still dressed in my clothes from last night.
"You and Blaine had a fight, you came back here, I helped you. You didn't want to sleep alone."
"You slept here too?"
"No. I was on the floor." I glanced round the room, still dazed. I couldn't see any evidence of any bedding on the floor, but figured Gabriel had probably cleaned it up. Abruptly I noticed his roommate, Sebastian, sitting in his bed. He was staring at me intently, as if I were an alien.
"Umm…" I went to get up, running my hand through my hair to try and flatten it down, when suddenly three loud knocks sounded on the door.
"Great." Gabriel sounded annoyed. He dropped his towel in a chair and walked over to the door, opening it halfway.
"Oh. Scott." Scott? Immediately I sat up.
"Is he in here?" My best friend sounded angry. He tried to get through the door but Gabriel stopped him.
"Kurt doesn't want to see anyone right now." He snapped.
"No, I'll see him." Jumping off the bed I walked towards the door, looking at Gabriel and signalling for him to let me past. My friend seemed pained, and for a second I thought he might stop me – eventually though he begrudgingly stepped back and I went out into the corridor.
"What the hell are you doing?" I'd barely acknowledged him when Scott shoved me on the shoulder. I cried out but he slammed Gabriel's door shut so he couldn't come and save me.
"Scott! What are you doing?"
"Sorry." Immediately my best friend was apologetic, patting the patch of shoulder he'd touched. I felt like flinching away but didn't.
"You should be."
"But DUDE! What are you doing?" I knew he was angry about Gabriel – he had reason to be. But it wasn't what it seemed.
"Gabriel's just helping me out."
"By letting you sleep in his bed?" When you and Blaine are having trouble?" It did look bad.
"I'll admit, I didn't plan on staying over, but Gabriel is the only person that understands what I'm going through. Blaine's accusations are ridiculous." Scott sighed, leaning his hand against the wall.
"Actually…" He said, sounding hesitant, "…they're not." Oh great.
"Not you as well!" I called out, anger gracing my tone, "Are you serious?"
"Gabriel's weird." Scott said, looking like he didn't like what he was saying. "The things Blaine is saying sound like they could have been done. I'm worried."
"For goodness sake! Don't you ever think about how Gabriel's feeling? Nobody ever cuts him any slack!"
"Kurt." My best friend leant forward, touching me gently on the shoulder and lowering his voice. "Blaine came to me. The person that a couple of months ago he couldn't stand. I'm all he has left."
"Well that's his problem." I said after a pause. "He shouldn't have accused Gabriel when he didn't have any proof. I love him, but he can't stop me from seeing people." Turning around to go back in the room Scott let out a cry, grabbing hold of me in desperation. I slapped his hand away.
"Stay out of this. It's not your fight." I looked at him, staring right in his eyes to show I was serious. Slowly my best friend dropped his hand away and sighed.
"Don't do this Kurt.
"I'm sorry, but I am."
When I shut the door to Gabriel's room behind me a deep sigh escaped from my lips. He was close by and walked over, holding out his arms for a hug. I buried my face in his shoulder and sighed again.
"Are you ok?" He asked soothingly.
"Yeah." I replied, trying to sound upbeat but failing. "I just feel terrible. Scott's my best friend."
"He's probably just upset about you and Blaine. Break ups affect other people too." I paused, pulling away slightly.
"Blaine and I haven't split up." Gabriel looked confused.
"What?"
"I never said we'd split up. We're just…taking a break. Once he realises what he's saying is ridiculous I'll take him back." The shock was still written on my friend's face.
"But…he…"
"I love him. I can't get rid of that. It's just…complicated." Burying my face back in his chest I closed my eyes, trying to block everything out for just a moment. "I wish it would all go away."
"It'll be ok." Gabriel said after a while. I felt his hand reach out and begin to stroke my hair and sighed, enjoying the feeling. "I'll make it ok. Do you want to get ready for class?"
"Yeah."
If I'd thought my other lessons pre 'the date from hell' had been awkward – this was ten times worse. Gabriel walked me to class and made sure we stayed away from any senior areas. Half of me was desperate to see Blaine, but the other didn't want to see him at all. When we parted outside history I felt like my life ring was being ripped away from me, clinging to Gabriel so he had to pry each finger away. I sat silently in the classroom, watching the clock before the lesson had even started.
The walk to lunch was long. I'd arranged to meet Gabriel in the cafeteria because he had to stay late from Trig and walked quickly, wanting to get there as soon as possible. The corridors seemed to stretch out rather like they had when I'd first entered Dalton - the same nerves and uncertainty jolted through me so I felt sick. I was about to turn another corner when I suddenly heard my name being called out.
"Kurt!" Turning round to find the source of the voice I groaned as I saw Nathaniel running towards me. Oh great. I did not want a lecture from my Head Boy. He did seem rather anxious about something though.
"Kurt!" He said again as he got nearer, gasping for breath when he stopped in front of me. "There's a fight!" I stopped preparing my 'none of your business' speech.
"What?"
"Blaine and Gabriel. In the cafeteria. Fight." Instantly I dropped everything and ran.
There was a crowd gathering outside the entrance to the hall – I pushed through frantically and a couple of people let me pass upon seeing who I was. When I surfaced into space a scream flew from my throat. Blaine had Gabriel by the neck again, pressed up against the wall by the servery. As the smaller boy flapped his arms to try and get him off he raised his fist and punched him straight in the face.
"BLAINE!" I rushed over, grabbing my boyfriend by the waist and pulling as hard as he could. The adrenalin must have had an affect because he moved backwards and Gabriel fell to the floor, immediately clutching his nose and gasping for breath,
"Gabriel!" Throwing Blaine away from me I dropped down and wrapped my arms around my friend, cradling him like a baby. "How could you DO this?" I shouted, turning my head round to glare upwards. Blaine seemed shocked that I'd appeared so suddenly – he was clutching his knuckles with his eyes wide open but I didn't care.
"Kurt…I…" It was amazing how quickly his anger had disappeared – a couple of boys that had been standing nearby grabbed hold of him so he wouldn't come back at us and he struggled but didn't break free. Funny how they hadn't been willing to do that before.
"How DARE you hurt my friend!" Now my anger was bubbling and I felt Gabriel put a hand on my arm to stop me from shaking. My face was red and all I wanted to do was punch him back. What gave him the right to do that?
"Kurt…" Now Blaine looked desperate. Normally the sight of his puppy dog eyes would have sent my heart fluttering, my cheeks flushing and my brain off into dreamland. Now it just made me hate him even more.
"Stay away from us. Stay away from me." Sensing the conversation was over the boys began to pull Blaine away from us. Now he kicked and screamed – the same word over and over again. Kurt, Kurt, Kurt. They felt like stabs to my heart but I grit my teeth and instead focused on Gabriel, who had a steady stream of blood tickling from his probably broken nose. Gaga he looked terrible.
"Gabriel…" I said, trying not to cry. "I'm so sorry." My friend sighed, bringing his hand up to my face. Nathaniel had launched into action, ushering people away from the scene, and he walked over.
"We need to get you to the nurses room." He said plainly, his face stern. He obviously didn't approve of Blaine's actions any more than I did.
"Yeah, the nurses room." I knew I should stand up, but didn't want to move. "Oh Gaga Gabriel this is all my fault! I'm so sorry!"
"Hey." Gabriel said as the tears began to fall down my face, stroking one away gently, his face calm and serene. "It's ok. Blaine won't ever hit me like that again. He won't hurt anyone." He smiled, stroking my face some more and I closed my eyes, sighing.
When I got back to my room I collapsed on my bed, exhausted. I couldn't take any more of this. Gabriel's nose wasn't broken – I'd stayed right until the doctor had confirmed it – but I still felt terrible for what had happened. And Blaine. Well I didn't even want to think about him.
As I laid on my bed staring up at the ceiling my mind went back to something Gabriel had said, right before we'd left for the nurses room. 'Blaine won't ever hit me like that again'… What did that mean? I was sure he'd probably been concussed and just talking nonsense – there was no way to stop Blaine completely. Unless…
No. I slapped myself on the arm for even thinking about it. That was Scott and Blaine talking. Gabriel was the innocent party here – after all, he was the one with a messed up face. I tried to think about how I was going to sort this with Blaine – how I could ever forgive him for what he'd done. It seemed impossible at the moment, but I knew I would have to speak to him sometime.
Suddenly there was a knock at my door.
"Kurt?" I groaned.
"Go away Scott."
"Oh come on Kurt! Let me in!"
"No. I don't want to talk to anyone! I'm going to sleep." Turning over onto my front I tried to block out my best friend. My best friend who I didn't want to talk to. Just like my boyfriend that I didn't want to see. And my friend that was lying in a bed with a bloody nose.
Help.
I must have actually fallen asleep. When I woke up the sky outside was dark and I glanced over at my clock to see 7:34pm flashing back at me. Groaning I rolled over and stared back at the ceiling. Maybe this would be better if I just didn't wake up. Maybe if I thought hard enough I would realise this was all a bad dream, and that I'd actually been asleep next to Blaine the whole time. I missed his warmth around me when we cuddled. I missed his scent, and the taste of his tongue when we kissed. I missed him. Suddenly my door knocked loudly. I jumped to attention, forgetting to ask who it was.
"Kurt?" Instantly I flew off the bed.
"Gabriel?" I was completely shocked. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be resting!" My friend still looked a mess – he was still dressed in the shirt the nurse had given him in the place of his bloodstained one and it was too big for him so he seemed small and frail. It was the look on his face that disturbed me the most though.
"We need to leave."
"What?" The confusion was evident in my voice as Gabriel gripped hold of my hand. What was going on?
"We need to leave. You and me. Now."
"Why? What's happened?" Suddenly Gabriel pushed us both inside my room. I was surprised but let it happen, guessing he was still a bit traumatised from what had happened earlier today.
"If I tell you, you're not gonna like it at first. But it's for the best." Now my eyebrows furrowed. This was weird.
"Gabriel… I said, now very wary, "what's happened?"
"Blaine is gone ok!" The words came out in a rush – Gabriel seemed annoyed that he was having to say it. "He's gone!"
"Gone where? What's going on?"
"Somewhere he won't bother us anymore. So that's why we have to leave." He tugged at my hand again, starting to look panicked, but I stayed still.
"Gabriel, I am not going anywhere with you until you tell me what's going on."
"HE'S GONE!" The shout made me step back "I got rid of him! For us!"
"What?" Now my worry had turned into deep concern. Gabriel's grip got tighter on my hand and I felt unnerved by it.
"You said you wanted it all to go away – that Blaine was the only thing keeping you from having what you wanted."
"What? What are you talking about? What do I want?" Suddenly Gabriel stopped. He seemed surprised, cocking his head to the side in the way I'd seen creepy little girls do in horror films.
"Well isn't it obvious Kurt? Me. You love me."
My stomach dropped.
"Gabriel…" I was now frantically trying to think of a plan. Gabriel smiled, before laughing manically. He swung our hands back and forth happily.
"I'll have to admit, it took a while for you to realise." He said. "I had to help you see what a horrible person Blaine was, that he wasn't good enough for you."
"Wait – you did all those things? You stalked him?" The realisation hit me like a bullet. Gabriel laughed again.
"Well, I wouldn't say stalked. That suggests that I liked him. You needed to see what he was really like behind the bravado and good looks." My hands were beginning to shake with fear, but I tried to hide it, worried what Gabriel would do if he found out.
"And now you have seen it. He attacked me."
"Did you provoke him?" I asked the question as calmly as I could.
"Not really. I just told him his chance was up. That you'd found your real soul mate. He didn't like that very much." He giggled again, squeezing my hand and I shivered. Holy crap. Holy crap.
"But then you said after all this you might take him back." Suddenly Gabriel's face dropped. He almost looked like he was about to cry, but for once I didn't feel any compassion. Only fear.
"That upset me. I'd worked so hard to have it all go to waste. So then I realised that he'd have to go for good for you to see that you didn't need him anymore." Suddenly I heard voices outside my room. I inched towards the door slightly, craning my ears, before my heart stopped.
"FIRE! FIRE IN WORDSWORTH!"
"Gabriel? What's going on?" Now it was impossible to hide the fear in my voice. The realisation had spread and my legs were beginning to go weak. Everything Blaine had said… it was right. He was right. Blaine.
"Oh Kurt." Gabriel had noticed my emotions, stepping forward and bringing his hand to stroke my cheek. I wanted to pull away but knew that wasn't a good idea. "I know you're scared. This isn't how I wanted to end it. But if we leave now we can start a new life. We can get married, change our names. Nobody will ever know what happened. And we will be together forever." On the last word he smiled. It wasn't the smile I was used to. The kind, Gabriel smile I had grown to love. This was a crazy smile. Gabriel was crazy.
"Yes." Suddenly I came up with another plan. Gabriel paused, unsure what my yes meant.
"Kurt?"
"Yes. Let's run away together." I tried to make my voice sound as upbeat as possible, forcing a smile. Gabriel beamed.
"Oh Kurt. That's all I ever wanted." He stroked my cheek again, gazing into my eyes. "I never stopped loving you. Even when I said I had, I never stopped. You are my everything. Do you love me?"
"Umm…" I faltered briefly over the words. All I could think of was Blaine. Blaine potentially trapped in a fire, burning to death. Oh God.
"Kurt?" Now Gabriel seemed angry. His grip on my arm tightened and I almost screamed. "Do you love me?"
"Of course!" I replied hurriedly. "Of course, I love you!" The grip relaxed.
"Excellent. Oh Kurt." Suddenly his face began to move towards me and I realised we were going to kiss. Every fibre of my being screamed to pull away – to leave this room and run as fast as I could until my legs couldn't work anymore. But I pushed that aside and closed my eyes. Gabriel's lips touched mine and he attacked my face. It was nothing like the first kiss we'd had. Whilst that had been filled with passion, this held only desperation. Gabriel cried out in my mouth but the sound was horrifying instead of beautiful. His hand gripped the back of my head and I felt like being sick. I felt like screaming louder than I ever had before. When we finally broke away he looked ecstatic.
"Wow." Gabriel said with a smile. "Just as amazing as I remember. Now, let's get your things and go." He suddenly began walking around my room picking up things and throwing them onto the bed. I panicked. This hadn't been a part of my plan.
"Um! Gabriel!" I called out, making him turn around. My brain was frantically searching for words.
"Yes?"
"I'm just gonna…go see Nathaniel!" Suddenly the inspiration came. Gabriel looked confused. "I need to say goodbye – sort out Head Boy…stuff. You stay here."
"I don't know…" He seemed wary, so I leapt forward.
"I won't be long. Two minutes tops. You can pack my stuff and then we'll go. Forever." Gritting my teeth again I gave him another quick kiss, which Gabriel hadn't been expecting and relished.
"Forever." He mumbled in pleasure. "Ok. Be back soon. I love you."
"I love you too." Elated that my plan had worked, I forced one last smile before exiting the room.
As soon as I shut the door behind me I let out the breath I had been holding in a cry. My legs almost collapsed beneath me and tears pricked at my eyelids, but I pulled myself together and stood up. Oh my God. This wasn't happening. Gabriel wasn't a psycho. He hadn't tried to kill Blaine.
Blaine.
Like that all other thoughts went out the window. I thundered down the corridor and out of Wilde into the cold evening air.
When I looked towards Wordsworth my heart stopped. The back half of the building was on fire – huge bright flames that lit up the grounds and burned with a heat I could feel from where I was standing. Everyone around me was panicking – shouts rang out and people pushed past me, all screaming things like 'FIRE!' or 'HELP!' I felt my body beginning to collapse again but fought through it – forcing my feet to move again as I raced towards the building. The fire brigade were probably on their way – but it was most likely too late for Blaine now. If he was trapped in there… I screamed, unable to hold in my emotions.
When I reached the front of the building my eyes began to frantically search for my boyfriend – panic and tears blurring my vision so I screamed some more. Several teachers had formed a barrier across the entrance so no students could get in. I tried to get past screaming Blaine's name but they pushed me away.
'BLAINE! BLAINE!" My heart was pounding in my chest – I tried another tack and raced round to the side of the building. Maybe if there was a fire escape I could climb up and get inside. I had to save him. He couldn't die…
"BLAINE!"
"KURT!" Suddenly I heard a voice and stopped dead. Like lightening I spun round and fixed my eyes on the figure running towards me.
"BLAINE!" Sheer relief washed over me. I pelted towards him, using the last of my energy and we crashed together with almost enough force to knock each other over.
'BLAINE! Oh Blaine Blaine!" Wrapping my arms round his neck I crushed his body to mine, saying his name over and over again into his neck as I kissed it frantically.
"Kurt." Blaine said, pulling me away so he could look into my eyes. "Kurt it's ok."
"Oh Blaine I'm so sorry! You were right! Gabriel is crazy! I thought you were DEAD!"
"Woah, slow down Kurt, what happened?" Stroking my hair he looked at me, trying to calm me down. His face was blackened with soot and the sight made my cry out and hug him again, before I was pulled back out. "Kurt."
"Gabriel, came to my room…" I began, unable to properly get my words out. "He said, he'd got rid of you, so we could be together. He's insane! He did all those things to you!" I burst into tears again gripping onto his neck and Blaine rocked me back and forth, making comforting noises. I couldn't believe I had ever doubted him. He'd nearly died and it was my fault.
"Did he say he started the fire?" He asked calmly. I couldn't believe he was acting like this when he'd been the one under attack.
"Yes! He wanted you dead! You were right all along and I didn't listen to you!"
"Sssh." Blaine said, grabbing my face so I would stop shaking, stroking my tears away. "Sssh. It's ok. I'm not dead. I'm here."
"How did you get out?" I asked, my voice still choked.
"Well I was asleep when it happened – the smoke woke me up and by that time I couldn't get out the door." I began to cry again but Blaine rocked my back and forth, concentrating on his story. "I opened the window and saw I could reach the fire escape so climbed along the ledge and then down from there."
"You could have DIED! You could have fallen and you could have DIED!"
"Sssh! I didn't die. I'm here, right now, look." Holding out his arms with a comforting smile I laughed, crying and laughing at the same time.
"I'm never letting you go again." I said, tightening my grip round his neck as I spoke to prove my point. "Never. I love you."
"I love you too." Our lips met, and for one second – the world was right again.
"Kurt?" Suddenly another voice echoed across the area. I froze. My eyes were still looking at Blaine, our faces only inches apart as we'd broken away from our kiss. I couldn't face looking to my left.
"KURT!" Turning round every muscle in my body tensed. Gabriel was standing a few feet away from us. His eyes were fixed on the two of us and one emotion was written across his face. Anger.
"So this is how you repay me." He said, taking one slow step forward as he spoke. "This is how you repay all my hard work for us. By betraying me."
"Gabriel-"
"-YOU!" Gabriel interrupted my boyfriend's attempt to diffuse the situation, making us both jump. "YOU SHUT UP! YOU'RE NOT EVEN SUPPOSED TO BE HERE! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!"
"How could you try and kill him Gabriel?" I said, still keeping my arms fastened around Blaine to protect him. "That's not what I wanted!"
"Of COURSE it is!" He shouted back at me. "You said you wanted it all to go away!"
"I said I wanted all the fighting to stop. All the hurt to go away. I didn't mean KILL HIM!"
"You love me Kurt. I know you love me. You told me." Taking another step forward I pulled Blaine and I back, fear beginning to creep up again.
"I never loved you Gabriel. You just created it in that sick little twisted mind of yours. You're crazy."
"Kurt…" Blaine put his hand on my shoulder, a warning in his tone.
"NO!" I countered. "He tried to kill you! I don't care how he feels – he's crazy and I hate him!"
"Crazy eh?" Gabriel said. Stopping where he was and smiling at the two of us. "You think I'm crazy?"
"Yeah. You're sick and crazy."
"Kurt…" Gabriel laughed.
"I'll show you crazy."
As soon as the knife was revealed from his back pocket I screamed.
"Oh my God!" Immediately Blaine pushed me behind him, covering my body with his so I could barely see what was going on. "Gabriel!"
"Do you like it?" The Wildeian said, looking at the knife with pride. "I borrowed it from the kitchen. Hope they don't mind."
"Gabriel, you don't have to do this." Blaine warned, putting his hands out in surrender.
"Oh, but you see I do! Kurt doesn't realise what a filthy little piece of work you really are, how you don't actually care about anything but yourself. You put him under your spell and he's not gonna be released from it until you, are, dead."
"NO!" I tried to push past my boyfriend but he held me back. Gabriel glared at me.
"Scream any more and he dies now." Instantly I held my tongue, but I still fought with Blaine until he snapped out at me.
"Stop it Kurt. This is my battle. I face the consequences." Shoving me backwards he stepped forwards.
"Ok. So you hate me. I get it." He began. I wanted to pull him back but my feet were somehow rooted to the floor with fear. "I have what you want. But you are not a bad person Gabriel. You do not have to do this."
"How DARE you tell me what I can and can't do!" Gabriel shrieked, waving the knife in front of him. "That's all you ever do! Order people around because YOU know best! Everyone should be perfect like YOU! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ME!"
"If you do this, you'll regret it for the rest of your life."
"No I won't. It'll be the best goddamn thing I've ever done! Kurt and I will be free."
"If you do this Kurt will never forgive you." Gabriel stopped. He looked over at me, for a second the sincere affection I'd seen before all of this happened flickering in his eyes. Then like the flames behind us – it was extinguished.
"Kurt will hate me for a while. But then he will realise it was the only way. You have to die for us to live."
"NO!" Suddenly unable to stand back any longer I raced forward towards Gabriel. My fist contacted with his shoulder but my lack of energy meant it had almost no effect. Gabriel gripped hold of my wrist and flipped me onto the floor. For a weedy guy he was surprisingly strong.
"Kurt." He said, almost patronising me. "Why did you have to go and do that?" Looking back up at Blaine I realised in horror there was nothing separating them now. There was nothing to stop Gabriel from rushing forward and stabbing him in the heart. The area we were in was deserted – nobody could hear us over the fire and nobody would. My reckless action was the last one my boyfriend would ever see.
"Prepare to say your final words, Blaine Anderson." Gabriel laughed, a cold cruel laugh that sounded like pins being stabbed into my ears. He raised the knife and lunged forwards I closed my eyes, not wanting to see the only man I would ever love die.
"AAAAH!" A shout rang out but to my surprise, it wasn't Blaine. Opening my eyes I saw my boyfriend still standing, still unharmed. Gabriel didn't have the knife in his hand – it was somewhere else. In someone else. The figure let out another groan, stumbling forward a couple of paces before crashing to the floor.