Chapter Nine
A/N: Okay Chapter 9 is here! And it's a whopper! It took me all day off and on, and it didn't turn out the way I thought it would, but I think it works. So I hope everyone else likes it. Happy reading and reviewing!
Jenny pushed open the heavy door of Dalton Academy, certain it had to weigh about as much as she did. When she had managed to close it against the chilly wind outside, she turned around to face the inside of the school.
"Oh good Lord. I've stepped into Hogwarts." She watched as a boy with glasses passed her. "And there's Harry Potter." She marvelled at the wing staircases on either side of her, leading down to a marbled foyer. Absently, she ambled down the staircase to her right, looking around at the beautiful architecture and woodwork. Jenny was unaware of the quickly growing gathering of boys at the bottom of the stairs watching her.
"Hello." One boy asked, drawing her attention. She jumped, slightly startled.
"Oh, hello." She did a mental count of the number of boys at the bottom of the stairs: ten and counting.
"Are you lost?" Another boy at the front asked. "Because heaven is a long way from here." Jenny laughed.
"Has that ever worked for you?" The boy shrugged. "Then stop trying because it didn't work." She smiled. "Actually I'm looking for Blaine..." She realized she had no idea what his last name was.
"Are you sure you aren't looking for me, beautiful?" Another boy cracked. She made a face. The pick-up lines were getting old.
"Trust me, I would never be looking for you, short stop." Everyone laughed. The first boy spoke again.
"Actually, Blaine is a friend of mine. He should be in the Warbler's Common Room. I could show you the way if you like." Jenny was relieved to finally have an answer.
"I think it's best if you just gave me directions. It's sort of personal." He did what she asked and directed her from the foyer to the Warbler's Common Room.
"I'm Darcy by the way." He smiled. She returned the smile. She had to admit, Dalton had some good looking students. Darcy had black hair and grey eyes and strong features.
"I'm Jenny. Thank you for the directions. It was nice meeting you, Darcy." She waved and walked off in the direction she was given. Within minutes, she found the huge set of oak double doors that led into the common room. Jenny stood and stared at the doors for a moment. She couldn't decided whether to politely knock or just storm in. She decided on both. She gave a short curt knock before throwing her weight into the doors and letting them swing wide, marching into the room. She stopped short when she noticed the room was completely empty.
"Well, that was dramatic...and incredibly pointless." She muttered to herself. Jenny took in her surroundings, head swivelling around. "A fireplace? The closest thing McKinley has to that is the beat up furnace in the basement." She then noticed a small, unobtrusive piano in the corner and moved over to it. There was some sheet music let on the stand, so Jenny sat down on the bench and flipped the switch on the piano lamp to turn it on. Her fingers ghosted over the keys, as she tried to decide if she should play. After taking one last look around the deserted room, she let her fingers put pressure on the keys. Soon, she was lost in a world of beautiful music.
Blaine was just heading back to the Warbler's Common Room. He had just come back from a bathroom break. The Warbler's had all been dismissed already, but he had a few things he wanted to work on when it was quiet. As he approached the room, he noticed that the doors were thrown wide open, and the sound of his music was drifting into the hallway from inside. When he stepped into the doorway, he definitely wasn't expecting what he saw. Of all people, it was a girl sitting at the piano, looking as if she just stepped in from outside, wearing a leather jacket and slouchy beanie hat and scarf, her long dark brown, almost black tousled hair tied in a loose ponytail off to one side. He stood and listened for a minute. She played well, especially since she was sight reading, which he knew because no one had ever seen or played his music before.
"Can I help you?" He finally asked. Jenny jumped off the bench, tipping it over as she tried to turn around and tripped over it, falling. Blaine, alarmed, moved quickly through the room to help her up.
"Are you okay?" He asked, worried she may have hurt herself. He offered his hand to help her up.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." She looked up as she took his hand. "Well aren't you just the person I was looking for!" She accepted his hand and pulled herself up.
"I'm sorry, I don't understand." Blaine's brow furrowed. "Do I know you?" He picked up the piano bench.
"No, but you know my friend Kurt." She put her hands on her hips. The cobwebs cleared and he recognized her as the girl sitting on the grass outside McKinley.
"You're...uh..." He tried to think. "Janie right?"
"Jenny actually." She corrected.
"I don't mean to sound rude, but what are you doing here playing my music?" He asked. Jenny's eyes widened.
"You wrote that? It's beautiful!" She pointed to the sheet music that he was now gathering into his hands.
"Thank you." He tucked it under his arm, waiting for the rest of her explanation. After a minute, she continued.
"Well, I'm here to talk to you. It's time for some answers." She sat down in one of the chairs without being invited to do so.
"Jenny, this is between Kurt and I. It doesn't really have anything to do with you." He tried to politely dissuade her.
"Actually, that's where you are wrong. I care about Kurt a lot. I grew up with him and he's had it pretty rough. I'm not about to let you keep hurting him. He was really upset and hurt after whatever that phone thing was." She wasn't about to back down.
"Jennifer there are things about that phone call that you and Kurt don't know about." Blaine said defensively.
"And that's what I thought, so I decided to give you the benefit of the doubt. I drove all the way out here just to talk to you. So tell me." She ordered. Blaine sighed and sat down. He knew she wasn't about to give up.
"I had no idea that my friend had switched our phones. He told me he was texting our other friend's sister. I didn't find out what happened until Kurt phoned because he was so upset." He ran his hand through his neatly styled hair.
"I knew all of that." She stated. "What happened that I didn't know about?" Blaine bit his lip.
"Did Kurt tell you I was trying to tell him something when he hung up?" He asked, glancing up at her face.
"He just said that he hung up on you because he was upset." She propped one booted foot up on the chair. Blaine took a deep breath.
"I was about to tell him something big. It would have changed everything." He started fidgeting with his tie.
"Which was?" She prompted.
"I was trying to tell him I love him." Blaine blurted out. Silence descended on the room. Finally, Jenny cleared her throat.
"Well, that definitely would have changed things." Jenny softened. She fell into thought for a moment as Blaine nodded. "Can I ask you a question?" He nodded. "If you love him, why didn't you just tell him when you two were in the park? Why did you tell him you thought you might have feelings for him only because he was your friend and he's gay." She twirled a piece of hair around her finger.
"He really did tell you everything didn't he?" Blaine was amazed by how much she knew about the situation. He sighed again, preparing to tell her everything. "Do I have your confidence? Or are you just going to run back to McKinley and tell Kurt everything?" He asked.
"I can only give you that confidence if you promise to tell him yourself." She decided that was fair, and so did Blaine. He conveniently left out a date that he needed to tell him by.
"Well, I started off telling him in the park, but I just...chickened out." He started. Jenny waited patiently. "I wish I didn't hurt him. It's just because I'm scared."
"Why are you scared?" She asked.
"All of my gay friends that have partners go through them like they change their clothes. I don't want that for Kurt and I. I really do love him and I don't want us to get together, just so we can break up a few days or weeks down the line." Jenny reached for his hand and squeezed it.
"Blaine, how do you know for sure that that's going to happen to you and Kurt? You've already admitted that you love Kurt. How many of your gay friends can say the same? You've probably already known Kurt longer than most of them know their boyfriends." Blaine appreciated finally having someone to tell all of this to- someone other than Wes and David. They proved to be more of a hindrance than a help.
"I guess that's true. I just still don't want to have a few minutes of happiness with Kurt only to have to not talk to him ever again. I don't know if I could do that." He admitted.
"But you are doing that now. Don't you see? What you are doing is pushing him away. You can't push people away just because you are scared of what might happen." She held onto his hand.
"You're right. I just need to stop being scared. Nothing is ever going to happen if I am." They talked for awhile longer about what Blaine should do. "So how is Kurt anyway? Is he still being bullied?" He was concerned.
"Yes, but I'm working on that. He's doing really well, minus the fact that he's still upset about you. I managed to take his mind off that by letting him give me a makeover." She smiled as Blaine laughed.
"And he did a fabulous job as usual. That was really brave of you. And very thoughtful." He thanked her. "So you really are sort of Kurt's protector these days aren't you? You haven't even been around for a week and yet you are already fixing everything. It's no wonder he loves you so much." Jenny looked up at him.
"He said that?" She sounded completely shocked. Blaine's brow furrowed.
"Of course he did. You are like family to him. He couldn't stop talking about you the other day." Jenny was quiet for a minute. She looked to Blaine like she was trying to pull herself together.
"Are you okay?" He asked, wondering if she hit her head when she fell.
"I'm fine. Thank you." She smiled. "Anyway, so you have to make sure you tell Kurt. Don't be afraid. Aren't you the one that always tells him to have courage?"
"Okay, I think you officially know way too much about mine and Kurt's relationship." Blaine laughed, although what she said hit home. Jenny laughed too. Jenny's phone started ringing in her pocket. When she pulled it out, Kurt's number was on the screen.
"Do you want to talk to him?" She asked Blaine, who violently shook his head.
"No not yet." His heart was in his throat. She pressed talk.
"Hello?" She answered, putting it on speaker phone.
"Hey you." Blaine heard Kurt's voice on the other end and a pang of loneliness hit him. "So where are you?" He asked.
"Oh, I just had to run some errands, but I'll be back soon." She didn't exactly lie, so she didn't feel bad.
"What sort of errands? More shopping perhaps?" Kurt laughed. "Did I create a monster?" He asked. Jenny laughed.
"Oh hey, I put on my iPod in your car and sang a little bit!" She changed the subject.
"Really?" Kurt sounded excited. "How did that go? Do you feel better about singing now?" Blaine was impressed with how smoothly she distracted him.
"It went okay. My throat is a little sore now, since it was a lot more singing than I'm used to. It's like riding a bike, it will come back to me with some practice."
"Make sure you drink lots of tea!" Kurt advised. "You should come over when you are done running errands. We can do our homework together and I can make a pot of oolong. It's very relaxing. Besides, I want to talk to you about last night. I still don't think I totally understand why you didn't want to move in with us." Blaine's eyebrows disappeared into his hairline.
"We will talk about it later okay? I'll be home in about 45 minutes." She said, avoiding Blaine's eye. She and Kurt said their goodbyes and Jenny picked up her bag.
"Well, I guess I had better get going." She stood up.
"I'll walk you out. What's this about you not singing? I heard you were really good. And what about you moving in with Kurt?" Blaine asked.
"It's a long story that has nothing to do with you." She smiled.
"Oh I get it. You are allowed to know every detail of my relationship but I'm not allowed to know anything about you." He got up and started walking with her.
"Precisely." She smiled. They were just about at the door when they were stopped by a teacher.
"Blaine, who's your friend? You know you aren't supposed to have girls in the school." Blaine opened his mouth, but was floundering for words. Jenny helped him out.
"I'm his sister. I'm sorry, I know I was supposed to report to the main office, but I just couldn't wait to see my brother. I was out of the country for a few months on an exchange trip and I missed him a lot." She smiled, hugging Blaine, who smiled.
"Yep." He managed to agree, hugging her back.
"I'm sorry, sir. I promise the next time I will adhere to the rules. I know how much this school values them and so does my brother." The teacher seemed to soften.
"Alright, well, consider this a warning then." The teacher nodded and walked away.
"How on earth did you come up with that?" Blaine looked at her, completely incredulous. "And how did you know you needed to report to the main office?"
"I work well under pressure, and besides, every classy school has rules like that in place." She smiled, heading over to the door. "So remember what we talked about. You have to tell Kurt. I will do whatever I can to help you. I want to see Kurt happy."
"I will remember. Thanks for the talk, sis." He smiled, hugging her. She laughed, as she opened the big door and walked out to the car.
"Dude, you definitely didn't tell me you had a sister." Darcy was watching from the other side of the foyer where he was sitting doing his homework. He saw the whole situation with the teacher. Blaine smiled.
"Yep. We've just recently developed a close relationship." He gave Darcy a friendly slap on the back and walked away back to the Warbler's Common Room.
Jenny finally pulled up to Kurt's house. She was so hungry. She really hoped there was some leftovers from dinner.
"Hi Dad." She smiled, still not over the initial fuzzy feeling of being able to call him that. "Hi Carole. Kurt's downstairs?" She asked.
"He is. Are you hungry sweetie?" Carole asked.
"Oh yes I am!" Jenny rubbed her stomach.
"There is a plate of food in the fridge for you, just heat it up and you can go eat it downstairs." Carole felt very attached to Jenny. So many bad things happened to her.
"Thank you!" Jenny smiled, heading into the kitchen.
A few minutes later, she headed down the stairs with a glass of water and some leftover dinner- roasted chicken and vegetables.
"Jenny!" Kurt smiled. "Where have you been?" He was lying on his bed, reading a textbook. "By the way, have I told you how spectacular you look today?"
"Not since this morning." She smiled, sitting on the floor and digging into her dinner.
"Okay, so I've been thinking about it all day and I thought I would have more of a chance to talk to you but I didn't."
"So tell me again why you can't move in with us." He snapped his textbook shut and gave her his full attention.
"Because my brother is going to be home soon." She took a bite of chicken to her mouth and savoured it.
"That doesn't really answer the question though." Kurt pointed out. He suddenly remembered the conversation he had with his dad. "Hey, is there anything I didn't know about you when we were little? Possibly still don't know?" He asked.
"Like what?" Jenny asked, avoiding his gaze and steadily eating.
"I don't know. You tell me. Does it have something to do with you being invited to move in?" He asked intuitively.
"Kurt I really don't want to talk about this right now." Jenny started to feel backed into a corner.
"What is this about? You have known everything about me since preschool. You were the one that let me be the Princess instead of the Prince. So what is it that I don't know about you? And please don't give me some crap or change the subject. I want to know what it is." He sat up.
"Things are just complicated right now Kurt." She put down the plate of food, suddenly not very hungry anymore.
"Things are complicated? That's all you can give me? For crying out loud Jenny, things are complicated for me too. Look at my relationships with just about everybody. Blaine apparently loves me but he doesn't because it wasn't him and I just about came to blows with Mercedes today trying to defend you, and yet there seems to be this policy where you don't have to open up to me." Jenny started to feel terrible.
"I'm sorry Kurt."
"Yeah I'm sorry too. I thought best friends were totally honest with each other." He snapped.