Chapter 6 – The Aftermath

Kurt stood blankly in the middle of the chaos as voices soared over his head and behind his back.

Jess was in a furious debate with Hannah, presumably over the things Hannah had said about Kurt. Jess was fiercely protective of her best friend and, had Josh not been Hannah's sister, she figured the other boy would be right by her side yelling too. To her credit, Hannah was sticking up for herself quite well. She had apologised and if Kurt wasn't mad at her, then why should Jess be? Jess conceded that, but insisted that Hannah needed to be put in her place and not feel so entitled about the things that she wanted.

Across the room, Emily and Matt were in the midst of a very heated argument. Emily was cussing him out for not telling her about his feelings for Sam, while Matt was sheepishly insisted that it didn't matter because they were together now and he no longer felt anything for Sam. Emily was screaming that it wasn't the point, that Matt should have been upfront with her when she asked him a direct question about his feelings in the past on that first date. Nobody wanted to even think about getting in the middle of that.

Chris, Josh, and Ashley were in their own corner. Chris was still mad at Ashley for invading his privacy, while she insisted that she had been through enough tonight and that she didn't need his anger to flare up at her as well. Josh was trying to mediate the situation, but his attempts at being calm were being drowned out by the loud voices of Jess and Emily.

Sam and Mike were grilling Beth about her time away from the cabin and what had happened to her. Beth refused to tell them anything, which had made Sam uncharacteristically mad. She held up her missing finger wound and claimed that she deserved to know why they had been trapped in there to play the game, causing her to lose a finger. Beth continued to clam up, so Mike tried to play it calm, which hadn't worked either. They were becoming increasingly angry at her.

Nobody, wrapped in their own issues, noticed Kurt standing idly by while it all happened.

He took a deep breath.

"EVERYBODY SHUT THE FUCK UP!" He roared, louder than anyone.

And everyone stopped in their tracks.

Kurt never yelled, not even when being yelled at himself. So they knew that when he did, it was time to buck up and pay attention to what he had to say. They knew Kurt was one of the more rational members of the group and, even though he had been slighted during the game, he wasn't angry at anyone, so that counted for something.

"Thank you! Okay, it's been one shit storm of a night and tempers are sky high right now. Yelling is going to do nobody any good. But I do realise we need to sort our shit out. So we do it in a healthy way, because this friendship group means the world to me and it needs to stay intact. Alright?"

Everyone nodded, blushing at their high tempers.

"Okay. So we're going to go in order of the damn game. Each person can choose to air any grievances the game might have caused, either with the group or in private. But we cannot shout and scream about it. That's just what that psycho wants. So we're going to start with Sam. Is there anything you want to say?"

Sam shuffled in her seat. "I wanted to know how we ended up playing the game in the first place."

Everyone turned to Beth.

Kurt nodded. "I was wondering that, too. Beth...if you don't mind telling us. I think you owe us that much at least."

Beth rocked back and forth in her seat. "I was headed to our bathroom. I saw that the window was open so I went to close it, and I looked around to see if anything had gotten in. Then someone...g-grabbed me and pulled out into the snow. I tried to fight him off but he was too strong. He pulled me away and gave me a set of instructions.

"He told me that I was supposed to plug the flash drive into the laptop which would set up the live audio and video feed."

"So you just...did it?" Emily raised her arms.

Beth bit her lip. "I didn't want to, Em! He s-said he'd hurt Hannah if I didn't. I couldn't let that happen."

"So you just put the rest of us in danger?" Emily raised her voice a little bit.

"Emily," Kurt reminded her calmly. "Civil voices, please."

Emily rolled her eyes. "Fine. I understand but I'm not happy about it."

Beth nodded. "I hate that I had to do it. I'm so sorry everyone, I didn't want it to end up like this."

Nobody interjected.

"He didn't say anything about me being in danger, though. I didn't know until it started what might happen."

Hannah smiled. "You're okay now, Beth. Nothing else is going to happen to you."

Kurt smiled. "You're right. Sam, are you satisfied?"

Sam nodded her affirmation.

"Okay. Matt, you're up."

Matt leaned forward. "I'd like to talk to Emily in private, if that's okay?"

Kurt shrugged. "Of course. Do you need a mediator?"

Emily grinned. "No. I got this."

"Play nice, Em," he warned.

Emily did a small curtsey. "When do I not?"

Kurt snorted. "Pretty much exclusively."

Emily and Matt walked across the floor into the other room.

Emily closed the door and leaned against it. "So this is a mess."

"You're telling me," Matt nodded. "You mind if I talk first?"

Emily gestured for him to start.

"I'm not going to pretend like Sam's answer didn't bother me, because I did. I'm not hard like you, Em. I care about what people think and I want people to like me. I know I'm not the best looking in the group, or the smartest, or most talented, but I know I'm a good guy. It just hurts when you know you're on the outside. If we were on a sinking ship, I'd probably volunteer to stay behind, but when someone else makes that decision for you and means it, it's not a nice thing to hear about yourself.

"I'm going to be really honest with you, because you deserve it. I'm incredibly insecure, Em. It's irrational, but I need the validation of my friends that I'm doing good, because I'm so hard on myself that I can't tell if I'm doing a good job or completely fucking the whole thing up. Here's the part where you tell me how I'm doing."

Emily chuckled. "I'm with you so far."

He hopped up onto the counter and she walked between his legs.

"Full disclosure. I did like Sam a while back, for quite a long time. But I want you to know that it doesn't change a single thing about us in my book. If I'd known you the way I do now, Sam wouldn't even have been in the picture. You're it for me, Em. I don't want anyone else. For what it's worth, I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I should've, but I didn't want to mess things up when they were only just beginning, you know?"

Emily smiled, kissing him briefly, wrapping her arms around his back. "Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me all of that. It's just that...what you said struck a nerve."

She took a deep breath. "Sam is the only person I've ever been jealous of. Me and her are pretty similar people, but she's the one everyone likes. I don't need to be liked, but it'd be nice. I'm not going to stop being myself to do it, though, I'm too proud. It just sucks. Sam is gorgeous, smart, athletic, popular, but above all she's a genuinely great person. I'm cold and sarcastic, because that's my way of coping with the world. When you don't show that you care, people can't hurt you as easily."

Matt used the pad of this thumb to wipe away a tear. She smiled vulnerably.

"I shouldn't have been so hard on you. If it was anyone else, I wouldn't have been. Hell, we've all liked people in the past. It doesn't affect us now, you're right. I just took it too personally because it's Sam. When she said what she said about you, I was pissed. Because where did she get off condemning you to death and saving everyone else? You're the best of us, Matty. You've always been the best of us. You're good, you're smart, you're really fucking hot."

Matt chuckled, blushing.

"You're never on the outside with me. Or the rest of the group for that matter. We love you, and we wouldn't have you any other way than being completely yourself."

Matt grinned, kissing her again. "I'm impressed."

Emily smirked. "That I didn't even raise my voice once?"

"Well, yeah."

"If I'd have gone first, I would have. But what you said made a lot of sense to me. I don't identify, but I can recognise it. I'm sorry you feel like that. I know I can be tough to be with, but I'm being honest when I say that I'm all in. I don't want anyone else, either."

As they reconciled their differences and went back into the living room hand in hand, everyone cooed and clucked at their reunion.

"Any oohs or ahs and I'm punching each and every one of you in the groin."

Nobody made a sound.

"We all good here?" Kurt smiled knowingly, meeting Emily's eyes.

Emily grinned. "Yeah. We're great. And nobody yelled."

The atmosphere in the room was considerably calmer than before. It was clear that the group were being methodical, waiting for Emily and Matt until they continued with the process.

"Okay, I still need to do this properly, though. Emily, do you have any other grievances you wish to air?"

Emily looked around the room. "Nothing that someone else isn't going to cover."

Kurt frowned, but let it go. "Okay. I guess we're onto...Mike."

Mike kissed Kurt's head. "I'm good. I think you're going to cover mine anyway."

Hannah looked terrified, but nobody was looking at her. She knew that Kurt would probably want to grill her about what she had written. And she didn't blame him, she just didn't know how to properly explain herself.

"Ash?"

She nodded. "Chris...can we?"

Chris folded his arms. "I think it's fair that since you invaded my privacy, you aren't entitled to any of your own in this situation."

Kurt winced. Harsh, but not unfair. He didn't think that Chris had that in him, especially where Ashley was concerned. Then again, what she had revealed had been extremely personal, something that Kurt was sure he'd want to talk about.

Ashley nodded. "I guess that's fair. You have to believe me when I say that I wasn't snooping, okay? Well...I was, but I wasn't being malicious. I was...it was the day that we hung out last month, at the movies. We got dinner and played video games at your place. I was thinking about...about kissing you."

Chris looked shocked.

"I wanted to know if I was going to make a fool out of myself. I called Josh but he didn't pick up, and I saw your diary just sitting there and I needed to know. If you written something about how you felt about me, then maybe I could figure out if what I was doing was right. If you hadn't, then I'd leave it alone. I didn't go looking for...that. I promise, I would never do that. You know me, Chris. You know me better than to think that I'd want to go behind your back like that. I know I did, but I couldn't risk messing this up. Because I really like you."

The guilt was clear on Chris' face, he had been harsher to her than she deserved, and now everyone knew about her feelings. He guessed that meant they were sort of on level pegging right now.

"Can we...can we talk about it later?" Ashley suggested.

Chris nodded. "Yeah, I think we should. I'm sorry, I had no idea."

Emily wasn't sure that was entirely true, but she held her tongue. It wasn't her place to say anything.

Kurt exhaled. "Okay. That was good. Chris, I don't suppose you want to say anything."

Chris faltered. "Uh...not right now. I'm still processing. I'll say what I need to say later."

Kurt nodded. It was as he had expecting. "That's fair enough. Hannah, your turn."

"Oh, Kurt I'm so sorry," she blurted, turning to face him. "I never meant to say any of those things to you! I was angry and upset, and I wasn't thinking clearly about anything. You have to forgive you, you know how much you mean to me."

Kurt's jaw hardened. "Is that everything?"

Sam winced. She knew that look. Hannah was not good in his book. And she knew that the girl was going to find that out in a matter of minutes.

Hannah nodded. "I don't know what else I could say that would help right now."

"Smart," Kurt whispered, only Mike able to hear him. "Josh, the floor's yours."

Josh stood up. "Chris. Ashley. Come with me."

He didn't look at them, instead led the way to one of the private rooms upstairs. The rest of the group sat in silence, their minds buzzing with the events of the night.

Josh stepped back and allowed them to enter the room. He stuffed the key back into his pocket and locked the door. "We're not leaving this room until we figure this out. I'm going to be really, really blunt and really honest here. We all like each other."

Chris frowned, sharing a confused glance with Ashley. "We...what? We who?"

"We us, Chris."

Ashley bit her lip. "I thought...I thought it was just me."

Chris took a seat. "I don't know what's going on."

Josh cleared his throat. "You like Ashley, right?"

Chris nodded, not meeting her eyes.

"You like me too, right?"

Chris looked up, startled, eyes filling with tears. "Yeah, man."

Josh nodded. "Good. Well, I like you too...and I like Ash."

Ashley smiled, taking both of their hands. "I like you both, too. I didn't know until recently, and it was all pretty confusing but I can't deny it."

Chris stood up. "So we...what do we do?"

Josh shrugged. "We could meet up for regular threesomes."

Chris gaped. So did Ashley.

"I'm kidding. Look, shit like this isn't easily done. Relationships are tricky enough with two people but, with three, it's even worse. There's jealousy and bitterness and resentment. And there's a chance someone could lose their feelings for one of the other two.

"But we can't help what we feel. We're us. So I think we should try and make something of this."

"A polyamory?" Chris whispered. "You think we could?"

"Only if you both want this. And really want this. We have to on the same page here. Either we're all in or we're all out."

"I'm in," Chris whispered tenderly.

Ashley nodded. "I...I'm in too."

Josh grinned. "I've wanted you both for so long now."

He could tell just from the gazes he got in return that the other two were thinking the exact same thing.

"So that's it? We just...go from here?"

Josh tilted his head, frowning. "I think we should mark the occasion." He turned to Ashley, holding out his hand. She took it and he pulled her in close, wrapping his arms around her waist. He leaned in slowly and caught her lips in his. She squeezed her eyes shut and sank into his embrace.

"Holy shit," Chris breathed.

Josh pulled away from the kiss and winked. "You're up, pilgrim."

Ashley put her hand on Chris' chest. Chris cupped her face in his hands and kissed her squarely on the mouth. It wasn't as intense as her kiss with Josh, but she felt the quiet passion behind the gesture. She knew that Chris was more the strong and silent type than Josh, and it was something she greatly appreciated about the two of them. That they were so different, but so similar at the same time.

Ashley leaned into the kiss quickly before breaking it, wanting to end the moment on a perfect note.

She blinked quickly, disoriented from the two kisses.

Josh licked his lips. "Come here," he growled, pulling Chris close to him, pressing their lips together.

Chris used his height to take control of the kiss from Josh, wrapping his arms around Josh's back to support him. Chris supposed this might feel weird, kissing his best friend, but it felt absolutely right, like he should've been doing it this whole time and he'd been missing out for years.

Josh grunted into the kiss and tangled his hands in Chris' hair.

Ashley knew that the two boys together would clash physically, their different temperaments making for something truly interesting to watch. Something stirred inside her and she knew that she was doing the right thing, heading down the right path.

As Josh and Chris pulled away from each other, panting, the three looked at each other, smiles spreading slowly across their faces.

"So that was new."

Chris nodded breathlessly. "Yeah. And awesome."

Ashley held out her hands and the boys took them. Her boys? That would certainly take some getting used to.

"Guess we should go and face the music," Josh wiggled his eyebrows as they decided to leave the room.

The three left the room and re-entered the living room area, where everybody was waiting patiently once more for their return.

"You guys okay?" Mike wondered as they retook their seats, giving sly looks to each other.

"Oh yeah, we're great." Chris nodded, grinning.

Kurt gaped. "You...you finally did it?"

Josh nodded back at him.

"Oh my god."

"Did what?"

Josh looked around to the others for confirmation. They nodded.

"Well...Chris, Ash, and I are dating."

Everyone looked shocked, aside from Kurt who knew this would be happening at some point. The shock was followed by congratulations from all around the room.

Josh stopped for a second. "Uh, Kurt, I might need to go again."

Kurt was about to inquire as to why, but he saw the look on Sam's face and stopped. "That's fine."

Sam shook her head. "No, it's okay. I know I already used my turn but I just want to say that I don't mind. I was confused about stuff, it happens. I'm really happy for you guys, truly I am. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. As long as I find someone who doesn't mind dating a girl with nine fingers."

The group chuckled lightly before Kurt turned to Jess.

"You got anything else?"

Jess tightened her mouth and shook her head.

"Right. Hannah, do you want to do this here or do you want to take this somewhere else?"

Hannah shuffled. She knew that Kurt was going to bitch her out one way or another, the least she could do was earn his respect by not hiding away from the consequences of what she had done. "Here's fine."

Kurt was shocked by her resilience, and slightly impressed. But he was still mad at her. "I just want to know what I did wrong."

"Kurt, you—."

Kurt's eyes narrowed. "Do not interrupt me right now."

Hannah bowed her head.

Beth knew that she was supposed to just let Kurt say what he needed to say, and rightly so, but she couldn't help but wanting to shield her sister from the hurt he was going to deliver.

"I would like to know what I did that was so wrong to you other than follow my own heart. I completely acknowledge your feelings, I know how rough it is to see something like that, especially when you've convinced yourself you deserve something that somebody else has, believe me I know that.

"But that doesn't give you the right to be cruel. Yes, we all say things in the heat of the moment but you didn't. You chose to write it all down in ink, to vent about the problem rather than coming to me and telling me how you felt. If I hadn't interrupted your writing, would you have talked to me about it at all?"

Hannah wisely said nothing.

"No, you wouldn't have. Because I might be a bitch, but you're petty, Hannah. You chose to write those things about me rather than coming to me and talking it through. Or even talking to Mike, which granted would've been hard, but it would've been more helpful."

Hannah nodded.

"How much of that did you mean? And be honest with me. You must've meant some of it deep down or else you wouldn't have taken the time to write it. And don't hold back, they're all things I've thought about myself at one point or another."

Mike was unsurprised but nonetheless impressed at how composed Kurt was being, when Mike knew that he was breaking apart inside. What Hannah had written had deeply affected him, having confirmed something he always thought about himself.

"None of it. Kurt, you have to believe me. I love you, you know that."

Kurt shrugged. "So you just wrote a bunch of lies about me? Forgive me if I don't believe you. We can talk about this some other time, for now I just want to forget the whole thing even happened. Thank you, everyone, for indulging me in that. I hope it's helped to clear the air a little bit."

Kurt slipped off his seat and headed upstairs to his room, Mike hot on his heels. Usually, Kurt would have rebuffed the advance, but he felt like he needed some comfort right now.

Hannah burst into tears, burying her face into Beth's lap. Beth stroked her hair, knowing that Kurt was absolutely right, and he didn't even insult her back. He just aired his grievance, and said what was on his mind. She couldn't wrong him for that. It was the mature thing to have done.

Everyone stood up awkwardly and returned to their rooms, Josh noticeably slipping into step with Chris and Ashley to figure out their rooming situation.

As Kurt entered his room, Mike locking the door behind them, he turned around with a crestfallen look on his face.

"Was she right?"

Mike sighed, Kurt finally allowing himself to feel everything that Hannah had said all at once, having had to hold himself together earlier for the sake of the group. "No, Kurt, no she wasn't right."

"It's not like I haven't considered myself arrogant and unworthy of love. I just didn't think my friends thought that way about me."

Mike chewed his lip. "Do you want the truth?"

"Always."

"You're the best person we know."

Kurt chuckled. "You said the truth, Michael."

Mike nodded solemnly. "You are the greatest person we've ever met. That's why you fit in this group so easily. You brought us closer together. That being said you also, through no fault of your own, bring out the things we don't like about ourselves."

Kurt frowned. "I don't follow."

Mike thought of an example. "Chris compensates for his anxiety with humour, right?"

Kurt nodded.

"Well you present yourself as the most confident person we know, and you're hilarious at the same time. I'm not saying Chris feels that way about you, but you get what I'm saying right?"

"Yeah, I think I do. But I'm just being myself, I don't mean to make anyone feel bad about themselves."

Mike kissed his nose, making Kurt giggle softly. "Baby, I know. It's our problem to deal with, not yours."

"I hate that I do this. I hold it all together until I can allow the dam to break and I feel everything. Even things I know I shouldn't."

"Like what?"

"Well, for instance, I'm feeling guilty because we kissed and we're...trying something. I feel guilty because I know how deeply Hannah feels about you."

Mike sighed. "You can't help that."

"Like I said, I know I shouldn't feel that, because it's not my fault. It's not yours, either, it's just how it goes."

A second of silence ticked by.

Kurt smiled softly. "I'm really glad you kissed me."

Mike grinned, blushing. "I'm glad you wanted me to."

"Okay, I know you said you didn't know when people are into you, but come on, Michael. I wasn't exactly being subtle."

He smirked. "How long?"

"Oh, Mike, I've been drawn to you ever since we met. Man, that seems like so long ago now."

"Seven years," Mike whispered. "You remember how we met?"

"You know that I do."

"You were so cute asking for directions. I remember you had a smattering of freckles right...here." Mike punctuated his point by ghosting his fingers along Kurt's skin.

"It was a warm spring," Kurt remembered. "You were the first person I saw and you pretty much set the bar for how things were going to go."

"What about Josh?"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Josh entertained me. Josh gave me the time of day, unlike someone who wouldn't leave Jess alone on the playground."

"So you moved on to Josh because you thought you couldn't have me?"

Kurt smirked. "I was a devious nine year old."

Mike chuckled. "Well, you've got me now, Kurt Hummel."

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "So I do."

Mike winked. "Well, what are you going to do with me?"