So here we go, another chapter in less than a week. Posting early as I will be heading home soon after checking out a few things in New York first hand. I also got the chance to see a Warbler in action on a Broadway stage; I think they'd all be proud of Wes...
Anyway, as ever thanks for reading, and let me know what you think...
April Fool's Day 2016: Part III
At that moment in the street outside, Nick and Jeff were hastening along in the direction of the Spotlight, hoping that the reaction of those that they believed had gathered there would not be too severe. When they had stepped out of the subway, they had both received the same text from Principal Carmichael, expressing in no uncertain terms his and Principal Lefevre's opinion on the chaos that they had managed to unleash on Dalton that day. They had left the Warblers devastated at even the suggestion of their separation, and that had disrupted the classes of the entire school in the end. He ended by stating that never before had April Fool's Day been so chaotic through the actions of former pupils, and he never wished to see that happen again. They had paused in horror, and had between them composed an extremely contrite and apologetic message, which they sent from Nick's phone, and now they could only await a reply. Both of them now walked along in silence, both of them cowed by the knowledge that this time they really had taken things too far. If the message to Brittany had been sent it might have halted the process, but given that the word had hit Dalton long before that hour had passed, it might well have been too little, too late. If they had been informed of the growing rumour mill then they could have sent out a group text, and admitted it was a joke, and then apologised to Mike and Sam. Even that would probably not have avoided them coming to this. Tina and Rachel had done their worst in spreading gossip, and they would still have ended up with a great big mess.
Suddenly, as their destination came into view, Jeff's steps slowed and then stopped, and a moment later, the footsteps of his husband halted too. "This is all such a mess, Nicky. If I was them, I would hate us for what we have done, so if they all do, then I won't blame them. If it is bad, then we concentrate on trying to salvage our relationship with Mike, because otherwise home life will be impossible. I just wish that we could go back, and…."
"We can't Jeff, I'm afraid. Just as we cannot postpone the inevitable confrontation any longer than we have. We have to face the music, however nasty the tune might turn out to be. I suggest that we go in, say sorry, and no matter how hard they treat us, no matter how nasty the things they say to us, we just accept it. We have royally screwed up, and that's all there is to it." Jeff nodded, and held out his hand. Nick took it, and with a neutral expression firmly fixed on both their faces, they walked the last few steps to a place where they had until now had only happy times; now they walked in to confront their fate.
Inside, Sebastian was unsure how well his pleas for mercy on his two friends had gone down. Faces were still red with anger, although he had noticed some softening slightly since he had stated the case for his fellow Warblers' defence. He realised that the whole thing really centred on the way that Mike and Sam acted when the two idiots arrived, as they had been the victims of the original prank. Worse still, time was marching on. It was nearly noon, and everyone knew that for a joke to count as an April Fool, it had to be over with by midday. He looked up, and spotted two familiar figures in the street. He sighed, and pulled out his phone; he quickly typed out a message to Trent and Thad - 'It's high noon at the Spotlight. I've done my best to save them, but now it's up to them to make or break the situation. Will update as soon as the tensions drop…'
Then the door opened, and they were there; not greeted by the usual cheerful calls of recognition from their friends, but by a stony silence. As they walked towards the group, Sebastian could clearly see that Jeff's heart was breaking, and the pain that the silence was causing was written in Nick's eyes. He considered walking over to stand with them, to put his own neck on the line, but he stopped when he saw where they were heading; straight to the table where Mike sat with Sam, Santana and Brittany right beside them. 'Like the Christians going to the lions,' he thought. Nick's eyes suddenly met his for a moment, and he allowed a brief smile to flicker over his face; just a hint to show that no matter how bad it got today, he would still be their friend. If the worse came to the worst, he suddenly realised, he might be the only person that they had left in the city…
"Mike, Sam," started Nick, "we made a stupid and ill-thought out decision this morning to play a despicable prank on two of our closest friends. We decided to make the two of you think that you were witnessing the end of Niff. It seemed like a fun idea at the time, but in hindsight, our actions were wrong; they were cruel to the man that we value not just as a roommate, but as a close friend and confidant. They were mean to our talented neighbour across the landing. We should have brought closure to the whole scenario so much earlier, but what can I say. We were fools, and we relished the initial reaction that we had achieved. We decided to prolong the joke just a little longer, and then we made an omission. We had set a time to send a message to someone to say it was just a joke, and could they let everyone know. That message was not sent in error. That is unforgivable. All that we can now say to you, and to every single other person in this room that we have been privileged to call our friend up until now is that we are truly sorry for all of the pain and distress that we have caused by our actions. Mike, if you want to move out because you can't bear to live with us any longer after all of this, then we will understand. It would break our hearts, but we would not stand in your way. We will take whatever punishment you guys think that we deserve, because, as I have already said, we are both just so very sorry for it all." His words done, Nick bowed his head. At his side, Jeff's eyes had not left the floor since he had arrived there. Although they could not be certain, it was clear from the way his shoulder's were shaking that he was in a degree of distress, and his grip on Nick's hand was probably all that was holding him together. As he observed them from the sidelines, Sebastian's heart ached for them. All he could hope for now was that his friends survived this…
Mike looked around the room, taking in the expressions on the face's of all the other people gathered there. The others who had only ten minutes or so ago been gathered there in their singular mission of reuniting the warring fractured Niff, and getting everything back to normal. They were all there, he realised, because of the actions that he and Sam had taken in spreading the news of the argument, rather than doing what Nick and Jeff had anticipated; sitting on the news, and trying to fix it themselves before they had brought everyone else into the equation. That fact was prominent in his mind in no little part as a result of the words spoken by Sebastian before his two roommates had arrived. It was ironic, he guessed, that he was the one trying to restore calm and order, to bring back the peaceful equilibrium they had all enjoyed, when back in the day his arrival had usually indicated that chaos was about to enfold them. He turned his eye onto Sam now, and saw that he too was fully aware that every eye in the room was upon them - well, apart from the two pairs that were firmly directed to the floor. He had never felt so uncomfortable in his life as he did now. He and Sam had been placed in the position of judge, jury and executioner. His words could destroy the world around him; ruin their successful partnership at the diner, not to mention completely trash his home life. Heck, he loved living with those two guys, not to mention their judgemental cat! What made matters worse was the fact that from the way Sam was staring at him, he was waiting for him to speak. 'Wes, what on earth do I do?' he thought. 'I'm hurt, and upset, but at the same time, I know that I have to shoulder some of the blame for how today has unfolded. What do I do?' There was, however, no answer to his question. There was no draught from the wings of an intervening angel as they arrived. Nonetheless, he could hear a little voice in his head, telling him to go with his instincts. He looked at Sam again, and saw that he was looking at him, and that his eyes were shining with unshed tears. He glanced away, to Brittany, and the moment he saw her face, he knew exactly what road he had to take…
"I really am at a loss as to what to say here… I get that all of this was intended to be a joke, and if I had stopped to consider it for long enough, I would have realised at once that what I was hearing was not possible; that there was no way that the strongest relationship that I know could have fallen apart without any warning. A love like Niff, it doesn't evaporate overnight…. Hearing the two of you arguing, however, just hurt something inside me so much, and left me so upset, and so I turned to my usual source of comfort in that kind of situation. Let us just say that as a result, what should have been a molehill turned into Mount Everest. I think that if you two halfwits had thought harder before you embarked on your ill-advised prank, you would have realised that is exactly what I would have done. To cap it all, you decided to prank Sam too; did you forget that he is, like me, with one of the biggest gossips known to humanity?" Mike paused, as someone sniggered. "Of course, events outside your control elsewhere also played a part. If Sebastian had been in his normal classes, then he could have poured cold water over the whole idea the moment that Santana was told, and washed away all of our theories there and then. The thing is, we can't go back to the start of today, and just pretend that none of this happened. A lot of mistakes were made by the two of you, but also by the rest of us. We are all to blame here. Now as I look around I see one thing; something important. I see that every single one of your friends that was able to get here, has come here, with a couple of exceptions. Others are on their way I believe. And we all came here because we were desperate to see the two of you reunited and at peace. We came here because we all love you guys, in the main. I'm sure that some people only came in the hope of witnessing a fight; I know that is true, and so do they… Right, so, the words you are all waiting for. I can't forget what has happened today - and given that you have a propensity for pranks, apparently, it might be best that I don't. However, I can forgive. So, I do - and what about a nice brotherly hug to cement that apology from both sides?"
He had barely uttered the last words before he was nearly knocked over by a blond whirlwind. Jeff wrapped his arms tightly around him, his face pressed into his shoulder. The whole room could hear him whisper "Thank you, thank you, thank you," to Mike, who just pulled his friend every bit as close. Nick walked over in a more sedate manner, but headed instead to Sam, and held out his hand. Sam promptly shook his head, a gesture which made all the assembled company's hearts fall, and elicited a gasp from more than one. Sam looked at them, smiled, and then pulled Nick into a bear hug, a handshake not being the right thing at all at that point.
On seeing that, Sebastian breathed a sigh of relief, and took the chance to send a quick group text to all the Warblers, stating that the panic was over; Niff was ok, and World War III had not just broken out at the Spotlight. As he pressed send, he became aware that Santana had walked across to stand behind him, and was leaning towards his ear. "April 1st 2017," she whispered. "We prank those two in a fashion that they will never forget. You in?"
"Such an act of revenge would be small minded and petty!" Sebastian whispered back. "What are you intending on doing? And just how big are we going to go?" he gave her his trademark smirk, and she smiled right back. Over his shoulder, Santana could see that Kitty had overheard, and she knew that she would be in with them. They had a whole year to plan, so they could no doubt come up with something that would knock Niff's socks off…
In the mean time, Nick and Jeff had been receiving more hugs, and more words of reproof, ranging from Michelle's "Wes would have killed the two of you." to Brittany's "I'm so glad that it isn't true, because Caleb would have ended up a delinquent if he had found himself in a broken home." They would also have to find time to reply to the numerous texts that they had received; messages from Flint, Trent, Ethan and Rory, all glad that it wasn't true, but angry that they had been lead to believe it was. There was nothing from Beats, which seemed strange; but more of a concern was the fact that there was nothing from Luke. If Jeff's cousin Flora had spread the story to her mother, aunt and elder brother, then surely she would have told her younger sibling. His lack of reaction had Jeff very worried…
Across town, Beats had received the text from Sebastian and had smiled as he read it, though inwardly he cursed that he hadn't realised himself. He was about to reply when he heard his name being called by one of the doctors. He had been at the Beth Sinai Hospital for what seemed like days, and had been subjected to every eye test known to man, in his opinion. He had sat in silence through most of them, but a couple of them had made him feel very uncomfortable. When that had been the case, he had just grasped the angelic hand that was holding onto his just a little bit tighter. Wes had been waiting at the hospital for him, just as he had promised, and although he had not wished for company in the beginning, Beats was exceptionally glad for his calming presence as the day had worn on. They could not really converse, of course, except for the handful of brief moments when they had been left alone; just knowing he was there was the biggest help of all.
Admittedly, when all the texts about Niff had started to appear that morning, Wes had begun to groan as he pictured the scenes of chaos that were unfolding, but he did not feel the need to rush off to help resolve the crisis. This had confused Beats at first, but now he knew why Wes had stayed relatively calm; he had known what was going on long before anyone else twigged. Beats had been about to reply to Sebastian with a smug comment about how he had guessed it was all a joke long ago, but he didn't, mainly because Wes would instantly contradict him; he had seen how the news had made his friend sad. In any case, all that was trivial at the moment. Other people's lives did not matter, not when your own was throwing up something more concerning.
As Beats settled in his seat across from the senior doctor, he felt as if he had been transported back to Dalton. It was as if he waiting to be spoken to by the Principal for some alleged misdemeanour - not that he had ever caused that much trouble… Wes had come in with him, and sat with care in the second chair at Beats' side, trying not to bring attention to himself.
"I'm sorry that we have kept you waiting for so long after the final test, Mr Harper, but I wished to consult with the senior ophthalmic resident on what I believed that I was seeing from the results of the tests. She was in agreement with me, and we have come to a joint conclusion on where we need to go now. So, firstly, just to confirm once more; the problems that you suffered with your eyes after the head trauma on Valentine's Day - I would be correct in stating that the worst of them were quite short lived, and that the blurring of vision that you suffer from now has markedly decreased?"
"Yes, that is the case."
"I would also be correct in saying that prior to the incident in February, you believed that your were suffering from eyestrain. You felt tired, and your eyes were particularly painful after reading or writing for a long period of time under artificial lights?"
"Well, yes, but as I said at the time, it was due to pressure of work, nothing else."
"I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but that assumption is wrong. What you were suffering from then was the initial symptoms of what is now manifesting itself more strongly. As you are aware, we took a number of images of your eyes, and carried out a series of pressure tests on them. All of them have together lead my colleagues and I to the same conclusion. It would appear that you are in the initial stages of a condition known as early onset glaucoma. That is the reason for the pain in your eyes, which you believed to be a mere eyestrain. Normally, it is all too easy to miss these signs, as you are much younger than the normal sufferer of glaucoma; but it was easy to identify it as a suspected cause from the routine eye tests that were performed when you were admitted after the incident. Normally, most people would say that ending up in hospital after a fight is a bad thing; in your case, the man that hit you and landed you in the ER did you a very big favour."
Beats took a deep breath, and decided that he had to ask. "So, how bad is it? Will I go blind in the end? Is there anything that can be done to prevent that?" he asked quietly, feeling Wes tighten his grip as he did so.
"If we had not caught it at this very early stage; if you had continued to dismiss it as just an eyestrain, then yes, there would have been a very real possibility that by the time the severe symptoms manifested themselves, the inherent complications from that could have left you more or less blind. However, we have caught it at a stage when it is still eminently treatable, and although I cannot give you any absolute guarantee, it is my opinion that you will not lose your sight totally. As for treatment, that is an issue that we will need to sit down and discuss in depth in the future; for now, we will be giving you eye drops, which I'm afraid you will need to put in on a daily basis - and that will be long term, quite probably for the rest of your life. Also, to help your eyes, and help to cut the pain, you will have to wear spectacles, mainly for reading and writing. It is unavoidable, I am afraid, if we are going to safeguard your eye health in the long term. We have taken the necessary measurements so as to be able to prepare a pair for you right away, as the earlier you begin to use them, then the quicker we will sort out the problems. All that you have to do is select a pair of frames; my colleagues in ophthalmology have been briefed, and are awaiting your arrival."
Beats nodded as the doctor began to give him directions to the department, not actually taking any of it in, although fortunately Wes was. He knew after all exactly what was going through Beats' head at that moment. A pair of glasses would be an immediate and obvious sign of eye problems; the moment he saw them, Elliott would become distressed, and assume that he was entirely to blame for the whole thing. That guilt from the man that he loved would be much harder to handle than the whole issue with his sight…
Beats was shown out of the doctor's office with a letter to the ophthalmic staff to tell them who he was and all that was required. He could hear himself thanking the doctor as he left, but his head was still a complete mess, the reality of the situation still not completely sinking in. Wes could see this immediately, and he leant an arm to his friend to direct him to the correct department. However, the moment that he came across a deserted bench in an otherwise empty corridor, he sat Beats down, and took a seat right at his side. "Ok, tell me what is going on in that head of yours. Don't say that there is nothing going on in there, because trust me, I will not believe you for one single second."
"I knew that there was something wrong with my eyes long before the battle with Elliott's dad, but I was stupid and just dismissed all of the warning signs, Wes. I just carried on, struggled with the issues… If Mr Gilbert hadn't decided to pay his son a visit that day, if I hadn't been there, then I would have continued to ignore it. I would have carried on saying the sarcastic 'Ok, Mom!' to Flint when he pressed me to go and get them checked out… He is going to be unbearable, isn't he? All 'I told you so!' when he finds out… My mom and dad will lecture me as well. As for Ell, he will put it all on himself, which is madness, but rational thought doesn't always come in to the equation when it comes down to it. I will tell him the truth today; I have to, because he needs it to be made plain; it is not his fault. I'm not sure that I am ready for the glasses either, or the whole eye drop regime - in fact, did the doctor even give me a script for them? I don't remember, and I am assuming that it will be a specific kind of drops that I need, not just one that I can select from the pharmacy shelf at random."
"Relax. It is all written in the letter you have shoved in your jacket pocket. You might have lost all concentration in there, but I didn't. Ok, so you aren't all that keen on the glasses. Firstly, you don't have to wear them all the time, just for reading and writing; and secondly, the right pair will make you look hot in any case. All of this will make your eyes better, and you will lose all of the pain in them, which is no bad thing by any means, is it? You'll find doing your school work easier, not that you have much of that left now; but it will make studying for your finals, and completing them, much easier. Yes, the others will all react to them at first, and that will be difficult; but when you start work, you will be wearing them from day one, so as far as your future colleagues are concerned, it will be the norm for you, and they will not bat an eyelid."
"To be honest, my biggest worry is Ell; he is my main concern. All the rest of them I can handle, but I don't want to see him hurting. That would destroy me entirely…"
"Right. I will arrange for us to have reinforcements on hand when you tell him. I will get Kurt to join us, because we both know that Elliott will listen to him."
"That's not a bad idea; maybe Dani too if we can. She has an uncanny ability to soothe Ell when he is at his worst… Right, let's do this - although I have to admit that I have no idea where we are going…"
"Just as well that I paid attention then, wasn't it," said Wes. "Follow me…"
They did not have to wait long to be seen in the optometrists office. They took advantage of the time that they had to spend waiting browsing the available frames at the urging of the receptionist. Beats proceeded to try on what seemed like half the store to him at Wes' urging. Some of the styles just made him cringe if he was honest, others made him laugh out loud when he saw them on his face in the mirror. A pair of half glasses made both him and Wes think of Principal Carmichael, especially when he put them down to the very end of his nose and stared over them. Beats almost managed to persuade Wes to try them, but agreed that as the receptionist, if they glanced over, would then see the pair of frames floating unsupported in midair, that it probably wasn't the best of ideas.
In the end, it came down to a choice of two - a round pair of metal frames, which made Wes think of Harry Potter, or John Lennon; and a pair with tortoiseshell frames, which Beats described as being very hipster. Wes shuddered at even the use of that term, but he refrained from saying any more. They did suit him after all, and he had a pretty shrewd idea that they were the ones that Elliott would also like the most. By the time that the ophthalmologist was ready for him, Beats had made his final decision, and held out the 'hipster' frames. As everything was in stock, he was told that he could come back in half an hour and pick up the two pairs that had been requested on the letter. The speed was a pleasant surprise, as that meant their visit to Elliott could be less rushed. Wes suggested that they head to the hospital cafeteria for a spot of lunch, return for the glasses, and then head down to the diner. Beats agreed - he had not felt hungry up until that moment, but now he felt ravenous. A full stomach would also fortify him for a difficult afternoon; first, heading to the diner to speak to Elliott, and see what was going on with Nick and Jeff; but then the harder task - heading back to Princeton to show his new glasses to Flint…
