Author's note: Sorry! Been a long time coming. My other twin has now had his operation on his ears, I am sick with something the doctors are trying to figure out (which involves a lot of blood tests), but I am alive.

Warning: Homophobic language and bullying. And a bit more angsty than normal.

CHAPTER TWENTY

He's been going for a few weeks now, he can't make every session because of glee club, but he enjoys the change of pace, the fact that Terence, and the instructor herself, have made him feel welcome. That and the fact that he has started feeling actively in control, that he's doing something to stop it happening again. It feels good. He stretches his shoulders once more before starting to pack his bag, smiling at Terence when he comes over to sit beside him so he can pull on his street shoes.

"See you next time T-Bear."

"T-Bear?" Kurt asks, holding back a little laugh and Terence rolls his eyes.

"It's a nickname from when I was a kid. Chantelle has known me a long time. It's really not that funny man."

"Oh… it's not… just, Dave is apparently called a bear cub at Scandals. And just… it made me smile."

"Fuck, my parents would kill me if they found out I had gone to Scandals."

He bites his lip, and hopes his face conveys some sort of sympathetic look. His dad would have words with him about underage drinking, not the fact that he's gay, but he knows from the small comments like this Terence makes that while kill might be an exaggeration it wouldn't be a happy home life.

"You know you can always come round to my place right? If you need to?"

Terence looks surprised at the offer, and he guesses they don't know each other that well really.

"Thanks man, but Dave's already offered. It won't come to that."

He doesn't know if he hears a quiet 'I hope' or if he's imagining it.

LSY

His feet skitter across the floor and he hits the lockers with a bang. It hurts and he briefly cringes at the thought of how often he used to dole out the same treatment to people smaller than him. Except there aren't that many people smaller than him, and he turns to find Carl looking at him with narrowed eyes, arms crossed before leaning in.

"Fag."

The word is spat in his face, and he can actually feel little spittles of actual spit on his face and he wipes them away with the back of his hand. His heart is beating over-fast in his chest, but he forces himself to stay calm, rolling his eyes and pushing past Carl to get to his locker. A hand grabs his arm, pulling him back and he shrugs him off. He's actually surprised Carl has the balls to do this alone, without the backup of several of his friends.

"You're not going to deny it?"

"What's the point? You're going to believe whatever you want anyway. And there are worse things in the world to be."

He didn't used to believe that, but he does now. That realization makes him smile, huff a little in amusement as he twists the combination lock on his locker. His response seems to confuse Carl though, and he knows a confused Carl generally becomes aggressive. Or more aggressive as the case may be, as he gets shoulder checked into the lockers again, Carl leaving but mumbling about how this isn't over. He hates how his stomach turns into a twisted heavy ball of anxiety.

LSY

"Hey Hummel! Wait up!"

He turns in the hallway to see Azimio jogging towards him, and he has to smile at the fact that even a few months ago the sight would have made him a little fearful. Now he just feels warm regard for his boyfriend's best friend.

"Azimio…"

"You seen Dave?"

"Well, not since Sunday night, but we spoke last night, and exchanged a few texts this morning. Why?"

"I went around last night and something's eating him up. Just wondered if you knew what it was."

"Did you ask him?" Kurt asks and Azimio sneers at him.

"Of course I asked him, I'm not an idiot. He just said it was nothing, but I know him man, he's pretty easy to read most of the time. Just thought he might have said something to you because of… you know."

Kurt snorts at the little hand wave Azimio does which is clearly meant to encompass 'you know' and he rolls his eyes but doesn't say anything.

"I'll ask him tonight, but you do know him better than I do, and unless it's about you know," he mimics the little hand wave, "then I can't imagine him not talking to you about it…" He pauses then, recalling Sunday night and maybe there is something going on. "Would Dave tell you if he was getting bullied?"

Azimio's face goes hard and he swallows, reminded strongly of the days when he was not friends with him.

"You think… he's being bullied at Carmel? They have an anti-bullying policy."

"Yes well, they have one of those here and it didn't exactly help me much did it?"

Azimio rolls his eyes but looks worried, and his concern is starting to make him feel nervous.

"Has he said anything?"

He shakes his head, wondering if he should mention Sunday night, or whether he's blowing things completely out of proportion. He's not going to jump to conclusions.

"Look, we can't do much right now. I'll talk to him tonight. It might be nothing. Don't go storming over there to stage an intervention or anything."

Azimio gives him a look, one that clearly states such a dramatic action is not something he would do, but something he'd clearly expect Kurt to partake in and he pulls a face at him. It makes Azimio laugh, breaks the building tension and he gets a light shoulder punch before a head jerk as Azimio walks away, telling him he'll catch him later.

LSY

Carl doesn't let up, but neither does he do or say anything as blatant as Monday. Instead Dave finds notes in his locker and bag, nothing threatening, just name calling, and he just throws them into the trash each time. He's pretty sure Carl is waiting to see whether he'll react, rise to the bait. He refuses to let it bother him. Well, he tries to not let it bother him. He's mostly successful.

When he gets home from school on Wednesday he finds Claire close to tears, Adam and Lily both screaming and he can smell something burnt. He stands paralyzed in the door for a few seconds, wondering if he can just leave again. He doesn't of course, instead drops his bag to the ground and immediately goes and settles himself on the floor beside Adam and Lily. They stop crying pretty much immediately, although Adam is hitting his thigh with a block. He looks up at Claire and offers a smile, trying to be reassuring. When she bursts into tears he's pretty sure he was the opposite of reassuring. He has no idea what to say, feels pretty helpless all round as he watches uncomfortably as Claire just cries.

Fortunately Lily and Adam don't seem bothered, apart from glancing at her occasionally as if to check she's still there, both of them now hitting his denim clad thigh with blocks like it's a competition and giggling. Ignoring her, and the fact that she's crying seems to be working, and the crying settles down to little hiccoughs and then loud sniffles.

"Of course they stop screaming when you walk in. I think they're a bit over my face."

He doubts that but he just shrugs, wondering if he can do or say anything.

"Uh, you want to have a break? I mean, I'm not as fast as you, but I'm sure I can feed them dinner and bath them by myself if you just need to… uh… rest?" He doesn't want to say anything, but she looks terrible. As if she hasn't slept in days, and he knows she's getting wiped out by the constant nausea.

"I wouldn't normally, but I think I really need to go and lie down. Just for a little bit. I… burnt the pasta. So just feed them a couple of jars. Thanks. You're a good man Dave."

The compliment embarrasses him, but as Claire forces herself to standing the embarrassment is quickly replaced by worry as he watches her stagger toward the stairs. He goes back to playing with the kids, driving the blocks around and pretending they're cars while wondering if it's too early to give them dinner. He'll be slower feeding them, and messier. He can do it though, he's done it before.

When he hears the door open he starts to frown but then swears quietly under his breath, realizing it must be Kurt. He's torn between wanting to grab him and never letting him go, or giving him an out, because Kurt doesn't need to help him with the twins just because it's a Wednesday night and it's their standing date night. Fuck. He has a standing date night. He grins and looks to the doorway, waiting for Kurt to make an appearance, because if anyone had told him a year ago he'd have a standing date night with Kurt Hummel he'd never have believed them.

"Hi."

"Hi," Kurt replies, and he loves the way Kurt's nose scrunches up when he's really happy, and how he's starting to know all these different levels of expression.

"Uh, not that I want you to leave or anything, but it might be utter chaos tonight. I mean, it looks good now, but Claire kind of needs a break, and I offered to look after everything. You don't need to stay."

"You're planning on doing it all on your own?"

"I… yeah. Claire really needs a rest. I've done it before."

"Not anymore."

"What?"

"You're not doing it on your own. I'll help. I know enough to help bath them and make bottles. Even if I can help out with little things it has to make it easier right? And they know me…"

He watches as Kurt sits on the ground, and Adam and Lily immediately abandon him to go and climb on Kurt. He likes seeing Kurt like this, not caring about his clothes, although he has noticed Kurt has started wearing less elaborate clothes when he comes to visit, like he's comfortable. Reaching out he runs his hand over the back of Kurt's, squeezing gently.

"I'm just going to check on Claire. I'll be right back."

Kurt just nods and tickles Lily's stomach, making her shriek happily and he feels all kinds of a sap for liking the sight. He takes the stairs two at a time, really just wanting to see if Claire needs anything, and to tell her Kurt is here, because that might offer her some reassurance that she hasn't left him alone to deal with everything. He pushes the bedroom door open and peers inside and huffs quietly. She must have been exhausted, because she's already fast asleep.

In the past he's always been a little anxious about looking after the twins, even when they're asleep, but he knows that with Kurt here it will be fine. And his dad should be coming home soon as well so it's not even the longest he's looked after them. He's pretty sure it's just the unexpectedness of it, because all the other times he's had time to psyche himself up and prepare himself for it, while this is completely out of the blue. He goes into the kitchen and gets a couple of jars, moving the highchairs to the table and laying out two bibs, his mind going over what else he might need to do.

He walks back to the living room and tells them it's dinner time, which gets an excited squeal and arm wave from Adam. He picks him up and Kurt follows with Lily. They work together seamlessly, and he guesses they actually do this almost every week, so it's not like it's new to Kurt. Plus Kurt is humming quietly under his breath, something which seems to keep the kids calm. Calmer anyway.

His dad arrives home just as he's taking them out of the bath and passing them to Kurt to dry. Of course he's absolutely drenched, being caught in the middle of Lily and Adam's splash attack, but at least he can easily change, and having Kurt laugh at him is worth a little water. His dad makes the bottles, insisting on taking over and putting them to bed, telling him to order whatever take out they feel like. Kurt surprises him with an 'oh god, can we get pizza?' which he agrees to immediately.

LSY

He flops onto Dave's bed and stifles back a groan.

"I think I am going to burst…"

He's eaten more pizza than he should have, and even though he's wearing his loose jeans he feels like he needs to pop a button. He opens his eyes and looks for Dave, and of course he looks uncomfortable in his own bedroom, as if he's unsure whether he can sit on his bed when Kurt has laid claim to it in such an obvious manner. He shifts to his side and moves so he's at the edge of the bed and pats the now empty space beside him. It's not the first time they've been on Dave's bed together, but he just smiles encouragingly as Dave settles himself beside him, stretching out. He's changed of course, which is a bit of a shame, because Dave definitely suits the clinging wet fabric he was sporting earlier.

"You okay? You're pretty quiet tonight."

"Yeah, I'm good. Everything is good. Just tired I guess."

He lets out a little hum, hoping that's all it is, but wondering if Dave would tell him.

"If there was something to worry about you would tell me right? Or tell someone? Right? David?"

"Az talked to you didn't he?"

He blinks and sits up a bit, looking down at Dave and frowning before settling back down to lie beside him, snuggling into Dave's side and using his shoulder as a pillow.

"He did, and is it that obvious that he talked to me?"

"We haven't had a chance to exchange two words to each other that wasn't baby related since you walked in the door. Look, I'm fine okay? Nothing for you to worry about. I can take care of myself."

That makes the tiny hairs all over his body prickle and he frowns, shaking his head, although it's really just a shuffle against Dave's chest.

"You shouldn't have to take care of yourself Dave. Just… promise me you'll say something if it gets really bad okay?"

"What, like you did?" He pulls away and sits up. "Shit. I didn't mean it like that. Fuck." He bites his lip, wondering what Dave meant exactly, keeping quiet because he wants to give him a chance to explain. "It's just Carl being a jerk and leaving notes in my locker and stuff okay. It's… nothing I can't handle. Plus I only have four weeks left of school."

"If that was meant to be reassuring I need to tell you that you failed. Badly."

Dave groans and he holds back the temptation to poke him in the side, because his gut is churning with worry, at Dave's comments and complete avoidance of saying he'll say something, anything, if he needs help.

"Fine, if it gets bad I'll say something, but seriously, it's like he's just trying to piss me off, and because I'm not rising to the bait it's just pissing him off more. Don't worry, Terence and Nate are around, and if he does anything else Carmel actually enforces their anti-bullying policy."

He nods and lets himself settle back down on the bed, still not completely happy with what Dave is saying, but he also knows there isn't much he can say or do that will change that, having lived through it himself.

"You know I did say something when it got really bad, you know I did, because that's why I transferred. I want you to know that… I'm here for you. And Terence and Azimio and Nathan and everyone else. You're not alone."

He feels Dave's arm circle him, tightening slightly and giving him a gentle hug.

"I know. Which is why I can handle little scraps of paper with juvenile taunts on them. Anyway, I wanted to talk about something more pleasant, like prom…"

He knows Dave is bringing up prom to distract him, but this time he lets him.