Another chapter. It's longer than the latter two and contains a lot of Warblers and Sebastian, but also Blaine, Tina and Sam. I hope you guys like it!
Also, thank you so much for reviewing belleblue13! Really nice to read, it caused me to go and write more.

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, and the quotes above the chapters belong to the show. I do not own the songs. I do own the main character, though.

Song(s) used: None, sorry... It just didn't fit in this episode.

The Role You Were Born To Play

"Hey, how's that homelessness working out for you? Give not being homeless a try!"

"I don't even want to know how many people you fucked in this bed."

She slowly sat up, pulling a hand through her hair while looking at her brother. She still felt ill, but at least less than before. Marie-Claire could actually see something now, while this had been quite hard at first. The dancing black spots had disappeared, her head didn't ache as much and she didn't shiver anymore. Her throat still hurt and she had this pathetic weak feeling, but she decided it could have been worse – she had already experienced that. Also, she had slept in a good bed and could already smell the cup of tea that stood on the desk, furthermore covered by papers, piles of books, pencils and a softly buzzing laptop.

She smiled at the familiar sight. The curtains were in front of the window, but she could smell the fresh air, though she still was quite warm. The light next to the bed was on and a chair was moved from the desk to the bedside, probably to watch her when see was sleeping – not in the creepy Twilight style, but in the brotherly way to take care of someone. She knew Sebastian would have hardly left her alone in this room.

Her brother was now standing in front of the closet, staring into a mirror and pulling onto his tie. She saw him smirking in his reflection. "That's not my bed. You won't want to touch the other, though," he remarked. She glanced quickly at the bed on the opposite side of the room and raised an eyebrow, looking with question written all over her face at her older sibling. He immediately understood her. "Jeff. He usually sleeps in Nicks room anyways."

"In one bed?" she asked disbelievingly. She couldn't get the fact that the two still claimed they were nothing more than friends, even though everyone – not just the Warblers of the guys in Dalton, but even their parents and total strangers – thought they were together.

"No, Nick doesn't have a roommate. The last one left since he got irritated by the fact Jeff managed to sneak in at night," Sebastian explained.

She smiled. "That's five sentences without insulting people or talking about sex. Dalton is doing you good, bro."

He turned around, facing her. "Nick and Jeff in one sentence is sex." She chuckles, but then had to cough. Sebastian came forward and put his hand on her forehead. She rolled her green eyes, but he stared concerned at her. "Damn, you should have told me," he claimed. "Instead, I had to be called by that famous Latina bitch to tell me my sister was lying in a filthy hall of Moron High."

"Well –"

"Shut up. I want to know how you got all that bruises." He looked at her sternly and she immediately sensed it wouldn't help to lie. Both Sebastian and she had their ways to find out the truth and even if they hadn't, it would sooner or later be revealed anyway.

She lowered her glance, bit her lip.

Sebastian grabbed her shoulder, causing her to wince slightly. He softened his grip, but didn't let go. She looked in his eyes and felt the urge to cry – but she wouldn't. They never cried, not since the death of their mother.

"MC, who did this?"

If Blaine and Kurt thought they knew the dangerous side of Sebastian, she would laugh at them, right in their face. The only times her brother was really threatening was if someone was hurting her or commenting on their mother. Now, it was the first one, and even though she hadn't said a word yet, he looked about to kill someone, his face turned dark and the hand he didn't touch her with clenched.

She sighed. "Seb, don't." She looked him in the eye. "Please, don't go and … do anything, okay?" He now seemed only more murderous now she was trying to protect the perpetrator. She licked her lips. "Howard," she then stated simply.

Sebastian abruptly let her go, stared for two seconds disbelievingly in her eyes before getting the assassin poker face, turning around and storming out of the room, leaving the door wide open. She heard his footsteps in the hall.

"Sebastian!" she screamed. "Seb! … Fucking hell…" She threw the blankets away, kicked her feet over the side of the bed before standing up unsteadily. Because of the illness and the sudden movement when she hadn't walked around for at least a day, she could hardly stand. Her thoughts were panicked. "Trent! Nick! Jeff! Fucking hell get your asses out here and stop him!" she shouted on the top of her lungs.

She heard some doors opening – too many to be only from the guys she called, but she didn't care, since everyone was needed – and before she could take another step, she heard the angry shouting and cursing of her brother on the hallway. She staggered forwards, almost fell but kept herself up her feet using the wall. Jeff came rushing in, grabbed her arm and pulled her along. She half ran next to him, but could hardly stand on her feet. Despite herself, she was grateful for the arm wrapped around her.

"The fuck – I didn't ask you to kidnap me…" she muttered.

"Nice to see you too, MC," Jeff said way too enthusiastic – she wanted to throw up. "Sorry, but Bastian will need someone to convince him."

"A girl who can't stand on her own bloody feet?"

"Kind of, yeah. At least you can curse, that's what we need, I guess," he responded cheeky.

She saw Sebastian being held back by Trent, Nick and a dark haired Warbler she recognized as Thad. They struggled against the long boy, but managed to pull him back, despite the murderous expression on his face and his clenched fists. Jeff whistled.

"How did you get him that angry?" he wondered.

"Oh, just tell him your father abuses you," she answered without thinking.

"What?!" Jeff exclaimed, but she didn't pay attention to him anymore.

"Hey, fuckface. I wouldn't kill anyone, if I were you. It would be a pain to get your stupid ass out of jail," she remarked. Sebastian turned towards her. "No – don't start about me not telling you all this shit. I could have, I didn't, you would have done the same, that's basically it. Don't judge me and please don't give me your 'older brother' crap because I really feel too damn ill for that. If I don't watch it, I will throw up and Jeffy here won't like that, since Nick won't kiss him when he stinks."

Sebastian walked forward, grabbed her arms forcefully, but while Jeff moved back and Trent moved forward, she knew just what to expect. Luckily, since the hug she was pulled in the next second was bone crushing and she just got enough time to take a deep breath.

"Bitch…" he muttered.

"Jerk," she responded with a smile.

Nick moved to Jeff, put an arm around him. "Woo! Touching family moment," the brown haired Warbler grinned, looking at his blonde mate.

He received two deathly glares.

"Way to ruin it, Nicholas…" Trent sighed.

Thad just turned towards the others. "Show's over, guys. Get to your work, don't forget to listen to the Warblers next week and stay away from the Smythes' bad sides." He actually managed to get everyone in their rooms – from the traumatized freshmen to the deeply amused seniors.

"What's going on here?"

Marie-Claire looked up. The hug had broke off, but Sebastian still supported her – she knew that without his strong arm, she would have had trouble standing. Maybe it was time to go back to his room, but now she was staring at the boy who approached them. His face stood annoyed and he was watching the two siblings with even anger in his eyes.

"Hunter," Sebastian greeted the guy, while the other Warblers slowly backed off. Claire raised an eyebrow, not liking the influence only the appearance of the guy had. She studied him for a while, feeling his glaring eyes on her.

"Who is she?" Hunter asked – though it sounded more as a demand.

"Marie-Claire Smythe, asshole," she responded immediately.

He moved forward. "What did you call me?"

"Asshole," she replied. "So, you're the new captain? You're quite a bastard, aren't you?"

"Who said that?" Hunter glared at the other guys, who winced – except for Sebastian. Her brother moved forward as well, wanting to say something, but she pulled him back and cut him off before he part even open his lips.

"Your face," she said smoothly. "So, new captain, you're doing solos?"

"Of course."

"Are you gay?"

He was now confused, quite taken back. "No?"

"Too bad, you didn't pass the test. You know, being a pain in the ass like my brother here isn't enough to become captain or sing. You have to be gay, otherwise you can't. It's Warbler tradition," she explained patiently.

"Hey, I'm not gay…" Nick protested hesitantly.

"Look next to you."

He listened, much to her amusement, and found himself looking at Jeff. The Warbler blushed, lowered his glance.

"Exactly, gay. Now, Hunter, what's with the face?"

He was angry.

"MC, I think that's enough," Sebastian muttered in her ear, sounding very amused. She didn't have to look at his face to know he was grinned widely. "You're supposed to be ill. And you're supposed to like the Warblers."

"Mm…"

"Apologize," Hunter demanded, stepping closer.

She released herself and moved towards the guy, now standing face to face with him. If she leant forward, she could kiss him. Or a head-butt. She preferred the latter. He wasn't exactly her type. "Sorry for comparing you to Sebastian. You're even worse. Now, I'm going to lie in bed and puke my organs out. You're not allowed to join, new guy, though I'm sure Seb wouldn't mind."

She deserved the elbow she received in her side. The guys and she didn't wait for a response of the new captain, instead turning around and walking away. Sebastian was quickly next to her, ready to catch her if it was needed. She decided she didn't wait to embarrass herself and put a hand on his arm for support. He gladly gave her some.

"So … father?" he suddenly asked, his look darkening.

She nodded silently, glancing at the others. Thad, Trent, Nick and Jeff all went with them, looking as though it was expected of them. Sebastian noticed her doubt. They had always been particularly good at reading each others minds.

"They know about mom," he informed her.

To say she was surprised, was an understatement. The pure shock on her face must have been hilarious, since the guys burst out in laughing, Sebastian shaking his head with his trademark smirk on his face. "The fuck, Seb, Dalton is really doing you good."

"About dad," her brother just said.

She sighed. "Well, he finally did what we expected."

The others gasped. Apparently, Sebastian had really told them everything, so about their suspicions too. The siblings had always suspected their father would lose his temper sooner or later. He wasn't the man to keep calm. His sorrow turned into anger turned into violence. They had seen it coming and when Sebastian left, it finally had happened. She felt a shiver going over her spinal cord. Her brother put his arm around her.

"I threatened him," she said blankly, carefully removing all emotion from her voice. "Held a knife under his nose. He went too far. That was a few weeks ago." She shrugged. "Well, I was getting pissed off by the situation, so I packed my bags and left."

Sebastian, despite his anger and concern for his younger sister, rolled his eyes. "Who did you live with all that time?" he wanted to know.

She sighed, having dreaded the question. "Ah, you know…"

"MC."

"Some homeless people. I guess. Around the corner or something."

"Fucking hell, Claire, no wonder you're sick!"

He dropped her ungallantly on the bed. Marie-Claire, who hadn't even noticed they had already entered the room, moaned. "I hate you…" she muttered, putting her legs back under the covers and curling up in the having got cold bed. The girl didn't miss the fond glance of Sebastian, but didn't comment on it. Instead, she focused on the four Warblers standing in the room. "What are you doing here?" she groaned.

They grinned at each other. "We need to see if you're alright, of course," Jeff said.

"You could be dying, we wouldn't want that," Nick agreed

Trent laughed. "And we certainly can't leave you here with –"

"Sebastian bloody Smythe," Thad finished.

The siblings looked amused at each other. "What's happening at school, MC?" Seb asked.

"Ah, not much. Blaine is even worse at handling a break-up than a hangover, Tina is still a complete bitch, we have got this guy walking around who is an alumni but doesn't know what to do with his pathetic life – I think you blackmailed him, Seb."

"Ehm… Who was he again?" her brother tried to remember.

"Finn? He wasn't the cheater from last year and also not the one who went out with a teacher. You blackmailed him with … what, a badly created naked picture? You could have done better."

Sebastian silently agreed, not entirely liking that his sister spoke about such things so easily, especially with the other Warblers around. They were looking at him with accusing faces, now hearing about two other victims he had. "Have you got some important lessons?"

"Nope, duh, school's easy at McKinley. Can't I just gender-switch and come here?" she rolled her eyes. "I think everyone is busy with this musical, Grease, but it's not really important. I heard that boy yet a girl lead singer from Vocal Adrenaline wants to play Rizzo, that's about the breaking news I've heard. Even you have more gossip around."

Trent grinned at the others. "We're awesome."

"Claire, go to sleep, I'll send everyone away," Thad suddenly said, noticing the exhaustion on her face.

She shrugged. "Sure, shut up guys and leave me in peace." She pulled the covers over her head, draping herself in the blanket and turning her back on the others, enjoying the soft bed. "Jeff, be nice to Nick tonight. I don't want to be disturbed tonight."

She heard the laughter fading away when darkness overtook her.

Walking around in McKinley after being a week at Dalton sucked. The public high school had the smell of sweaty teenagers hanging around in the air. Jocks pushed smaller kids into lockers, teachers crowded in their personal rooms not looking at what was happening and Glee club was strangely excited about the upcoming musical. Apparently, Finn had gotten a new guy to sing the lead and he could be joining the club. Also, there was some more rivalry between Marley and Kitty, and between the new guy and Jake.

She was now looking at the new guy. His name was Ryker, he hadn't got the best grades though he always studying hard, and he was a football player. She wasn't quite sure whether she didn't like him or he just didn't draw any attention, nor negative, nor positive. He was laughing with Marley, the two standing close as a couple. Behind them, Jake was watching uncomfortably. Marie-Claire rolled her eyes, knowing where this triangle would end up.

Some fights, some tears. Add a cheerleader, more fights, more tears.

She grabbed her iPhone, turning around. Her fever was completely gone. She felt perfectly fine and finally had a roof above her head again. Without blackmail. Nick and Jeff had decided to room together, what ended up in Sebastian having a bed next to him free, which ended up in him insisting that she should stay with him in the dorm.

They were only breaking about all the rules at Dalton. It would work out. The Warblers were supporting them, Sebastian and she had gathered all the blackmail material from all the people at Dalton in case they needed it. Hunter didn't know. She looked at the screen of her phone, smiling. The Warbler chat was always busy.

Trent – Claire, everything alright?

Nick – Yeah, like, Sebastian didn't lock you up in a cage? He was so worried.

The chat was the only place Nick and Jeff were separated. The guys had insisted on it, since the exchange of Jeff's phone took the two friends way too long. Everyone had grown irritated and the almost boyfriends had reluctantly agreed on using two phones.

MC – Guys, it's McKinley. No worries.

Jeff – people shove u into lockers

MC – Learn how to text.

Nick – No shit with bullies?

MC – No, Nick! Fucking hell, I can take care of myself.

Thad – Any updates on ND?

Sebastian – Smooth spy you are, Thad.

MC – Shut up. Thad, there is this guy, Ryker, who'll join us in the future.

Trent – In the future?

Thad – Huh?

MC – He's the lead in Grease.

Nick – What kind of name is Ryker? It sounds ridiculous.

Jeff – I like it my mum considered calling me Riker

Sebastian – Congrats Jeff.

MC – That was almost a normal text.

Nick – Autocorrect.

Thad – Of course.

Trent – What else?

She shook her head, amused, and put her phone back into her pocket. The Warblers were always enjoyable. Sebastian had been lucky to go to Dalton – even though he was an asshole, the guys there had accepted him. He had even been compared to Blaine, not in sense of his voice, but more of how he acted. Apparently, the ex-Warbler had been quite a smooth criminal himself when he had come to Dalton.

Marie-Claire sighed. She wished she could go to Dalton. It was already amazing that she was allowed to sleep there. Well, at least by the guys, the school would probably kick her out immediately, but they would never find out and their blackmail material always proved itself to be useful.

"Smythe?" a voice called out.

She turned around, only to be facing the Asian girl she hated. Her eyebrow seemed to raise automatically. The green eyed girl crossed her arms and waited for the other to speak. Tina was obviously considering her words, glancing over her shoulder. Marie-Claire, following her look, noticed another alumni leaning against the lockers, looking at her with concerned eyes. She wondered why everyone always was worried. Didn't they have other things to think about?

"You're okay?" Tina asked.

She was dumbfounded. Okay, she didn't show it, but her eyes could have fallen out of her face. Slowly, she breathed in. "Why wouldn't I?" she responded with a question, keeping her position.

The Asian girl shrugged. "You were quite sick."

"I'm fine now."

"Okay. I'll see you at Glee."

That was very surprising. She didn't say anything, just watched her fellow Glee clubber walking towards the other Asian. A tall guy, silently waiting until Tina came to him. She know realized he hadn't been looking at her with concerned eyes, but at his friend. Claire wondered what was going on between the two of them. She supposed the guy was Mike, so that made him her ex.

Damn. Why had everyone such complicated lives?

"Claire!"

She didn't even have the time to recover from her previous, very unnerving yet perhaps promising, talk. With a deep sigh, she turned towards Blaine. Much to her surprise – what was it with everyone catching her off-guard today? – pulled he her in a hug. It was a short one and he clearly hadn't foreseen his own actions, but she still looked shocked at him.

He smiled painfully. "What? You were suddenly gone. For a week!"

Crap. She wasn't a puppy that had to be kept on a leash.

"I can take care of myself," she shrugged.

"So that's why Santana said she called Sebastian to come and carry you out of school?"

"Not my idea." She still had her arms crossed. Her face had to be quite grumpy looking right now, because she was pissed off by the people asking her how she felt and what happened. Even though only Tina and Blaine had, up until now. "Has something interesting occurred while I was gone?"

"The musical! Too bad you can't play…" Blaine was forcing to sound excited. He obviously was still struggling with his breakup. She wondered if she should have kept it a secret to Sebastian. The guy had some sense of privacy, but her brother could still be pretty persuasive and the ex-Warbler in front of her looked like he couldn't take anything.

"I don't want to," she said. "Anything else?"

"Not really. Where were you?" he turned the conversation to her.

She rolled her eyes, starting to walk towards the choir room, not knowing what else to do. She hated breaks. They forced her to socialize, since the New Directions had this awful tendency to stick together. "Dalton."

"Oh…" She didn't miss the longing look in his eyes. Marie-Claire wondered why he still was at McKinley. He should go back, in her opinion. She would do it, if she was him. Then again, she would have never left if she was him. "A week long? It's not allowed."

"Fuck the rules. We didn't tell anyone."

"And the teacher didn't notice?"

"Do they ever? Dalton has all these tight rules, but no one follows them, not even the teachers. That's what happens if you allow females to teach at an all boy school." She smiled warmly, thinking about the overenthusiastic Warblers.

Blaine looked puzzled at her. "So you can smile, like, genuine."

"Of course," she scoffed. "Well, dumb stripper was surprised too. It must be a miracle I can move my lips." She could have answered worse. But somehow, she didn't want to insult the broken boy in front of her. He was still acted like an immature child, crying about some Kurt Hummel who was in New York having the time of his life, yet she didn't want to hurt him.

They walked into the choir room, sat down. "So… Why weren't you home?" Blaine asked.

She sighed. "Some privacy, gay boy."

"Sorry." He said nothing.

She wondered when he had become so vulnerable. "I ran away." And she so trusting.

"What?" His eyes rounded, looking shocked.

She chuckled, despite herself. "My father was pissing me off, so I ran away, but I did something wrong apparently, since I ended up sick. And now I secretly live at Dalton with my older brother."

"What did your father do?"

"Fucking hell, do you want to know everything?"

"I couldn't have been something small. You're not a person to run away." He looked serious.

Of course, he was right. She wasn't the person to run away. She faced her troubles, even though she most of the time did it in a wrong way. But she had never, ever backed off. "Just drop it," she heard herself saying. Pathetic.

"What did he do?"

"Blaine, stop digging asshole." She didn't know why she hadn't a better reply. She just didn't feel like talking about Howard Smythe. He was the man who managed to make her life even more of a living hell than it already was.

"Claire…"

"Fucking hell! Okay, he tried to beat the crap out of my occasionally. So what?" she snapped, standing up and trying to walk out of the choir room. But Blaine grabbed her arm. She flinched – talking about Howard brought up some memories. Somehow, she had expected the fist making her way into her body.

"I'm so, so sorry, Claire…" Once again, the boy pulled her into a hug. She felt her head resting on his shoulder, wondering why she didn't push herself away from him. But it felt kind of nice. The warmth of his body, his steady breathing. She realized he was crying. Her hands unconsciously moved to his back. She embraced the guy, forgetting about her always cold attitude, about her carefully build walls.

Tina and Sam appeared in the doorway. She saw them over Blaine's shoulder. What had started him comforting her, had ended up in her comforting him. Her green eyes crossed those of the two others in the choir room. Marie-Claire slowly pulled away. Blaine pressed his head in her shoulder. She softly stroked his hair with her fingers, looking quite helpless at Tina and Sam. They moved forward, confusion written on their faces.

Welcome to the soft side of a Smythe.

She resisted the urge to say it out loud, instead gestured them with her free hand to come closer, mouthing instructions towards them. Tina nodded – Sam didn't understand a word, of course. The girl said something to the blonde, then turned around and left. The ex-stripper walked towards them.

"Blaine, we're going to take you home," Marie-Claire said to the singer in her arms.

He said nothing. Perhaps embarrassed. Or just too mentally drained to care.

Sam put an arm around Blaine, she let him go, then walked forward and kept the doors open. Like this, they walked slowly outside, trying to avoid as many people as they could. Soon, Tina joined them, having told Shuester that Blaine was ill. They managed to reach the car quite quickly. Tina hesitated. "I…"

"I can bring him home," Sam immediately said, knowing what she was about to tell.

Marie-Claire nodded. "I'll go with them." She wanted to make sure Blaine was alright. Tina shot her a surprised look, but didn't say anything, instead giving Blaine a kiss on his cheek, smiling at Sam and then watching the two helping Blaine into the car. Sam was driver, she sat down next to him, keeping an eye on Blaine.

The ex-Warbler was asleep within two minutes. "He must have been exhausted," she said softly, without thinking.

Sam nodded. "He beats himself up because of Kurt." The worry in his eyes was clear.

"You think this is where he belongs?" she asked, wondering what the hell was wrong with her today. She didn't insult anyone, she had hugged Blaine and know she was asking Sam dumb blonde stereotype Evans for information.

"What's this?"

"McKinley."

"Yeah, of course! We're his friends. Where else would he go?"

She sighed. "Dalton, obviously."

"Ehm… What was that again?" Sam wanted to know, looking confused.

"That private school were he went to, before Kurt dragged his ass out of there."

"Blaine wanted to go himself," Sam claimed, though Marie-Claire didn't believe him. She hadn't met this Kurt – well, she had seen him, but she had never insulted him right into his face – but she already didn't like him. "He shouldn't go back to Dalton. That mean gay boy who tried to hit on him goes to school there." He remained silent for a while. "Oh, you don't know that, do you? There was this arrogant prat who tried to get Blaine, away from Kurt. He stole our ideas, blackmailed Rachel, insulted everyone single one of us and put Blaine in the hospital."

She chuckled.

"What?" Sam exclaimed.

"Shut up, Blaine is sleeping. And the guy you're talking about is my brother, so you'd better be a bit nice about him, or I'll slice you to pieces." Sam looked at her with a blank face. He was trying to remember, but his eyes stood so confused that she helped him out of the deep. "Marie-Claire Smythe, Sebastian Smythe? You already knew."

"Oh, yeah!" He turned serious. "Keep him away, though. I will punch him in the face if he comes close to Blaine now. He can't take it."

She nodded. "He won't, I already talked to him."

"Does he know you're homeless?"

Her neck ached from turned her head that quickly. "What the fuck? How the hell do you –"

"It's obvious. I was homeless once," Sam explained.

"I'm not homeless."

He looked skeptical.

She wondered how the hell he could look that way. It wasn't like him, as far as she knew. "Seriously, I'm not. Anymore. I live with Sebastian now."

"At Dalton?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

Sam shrugged. "If you ever need help…"

"I know."

No, she didn't. She hadn't known Tina had been capable of asking her how she was. She hadn't known Sam would want to help her. She hadn't known Sebastian had actually made friends. She hadn't known Blaine saw her as a good friend. She hadn't known all of it.

But she kind of liked it.