April Fool's Day 2016: Part IV
Across town at the diner, what had originally been intended as a desperate mission to save a marriage had become instead a small scale celebration of the relationship in question. With both Mike and Sam willing to forgive, if not forget, at least for now, the others had all come round, although some of them had needed a bit of help to do so. They could not stay angry at them, although Kitty had called them something very rude, which had made Marley go bright red, but had then qualified it by saying that they were her favourite ******, much to the amusement of most people. However, there was still one more moment of drama to come, just before the clocks finally ticked over past noon and away from pranking time. It left most of them shocked at the time, and none of them would ever quite get it out of their minds…
It was not long after Kitty had made half the room roar with laughter that the door to the diner had been flung open, to reveal a grim faced Seth, a red-eyed Duncan, and between them, seemingly only standing with their aid, a broken and sobbing Luke. The latter, on seeing Nick and Jeff, had broken free, and run across the room to fall to his knees in front of them, before grabbing their hands and starting to plead. "Please, please, please, don't do this! Don't split up! You have to sort this out or I will die! You need each other; we all need you together, and so you have to fix this! Please, I am begging you, make it up with each other, because my heart is breaking at the thought of the two of you no longer being together…" With that, his face crumpled, and he began to sob, his whole body shaking as he did so. Across the room, Duncan was also crying, being held in the arms of Seth.
It was his turn to speak next. "Guys, you have to sort this our, for all our sakes. These two are just inconsolable at the prospect of their being no more Niff, and I have to agree with them; the world would be a lot sadder if the two of you weren't together." The place fell silent, as Luke continued to sob hard, Duncan cried in silence, and at his side, Seth too began to swipe at the moisture in his eyes. All eyes swung to the two young men at the centre of this new chaos, and they knew they had to tell them the truth. This time, it was Jeff that spoke.
"Look, it's ok. We aren't going to split up, we promise. To be honest, we never actually were. It was all an April Fool's prank that got badly out of control. We're sorry if we hurt you, but we aren't getting a divorce."
In the blink of an eye, the sobs stopped, and Luke dropped the hands of the two young men in front of him, before rising slowly to his feet, his face bright red. As he moved to stand by Duncan's side, as Seth staggered away to slump in a seat, Santana turned to Sebastian and whispered, "I don't know what you are thinking right now, but if you're thinking like me, it is probably this isn't going to be good." Sebastian couldn't help but nod in agreement.
"A PRANK! All of this was supposed to be some kind of JOKE! How could you do this! Do you have any idea, any notion, of the complete and utter living hell you have left us to suffer in since I got that call from my sobbing sister?" yelled Luke. "It was as if everything in the world that we knew to be sure and certain had just been snatched away!"
"It was a prank does not suffice for the damage you have done to us today" screamed Duncan. "Have you any concept of what receiving this 'news' from Flora did to Luke. He collapsed in a heap on the floor, then started screaming. I had to take the phone off him and be told by her too, because I was getting no sense from him! He fell apart, and that broke my heart."
Luke turned his back on Nick and Jeff, turning to face the others, and addressed them. "Well, after this there is only one thing I can say. We will be ok, me and Duncan. We will be ok because as far as I am concerned, these two will not be in our lives anymore. They will not exist. I no longer have a cousin in this city. They can stay away from the two of us, because we will be staying well away from them!"
"No, please, don't do that!" said Jeff, his face drained of all colour. "Please just let us explain and try to make some sort of amends. We will do whatever you want us to do to get it back to the way it was, the way it should be, and that's a promise from both me and Nicky. Please, I'm begging you, Luke, don't do this, because if I lost you now in this way, it would destroy me. Please, can we try?"
"Whatever it takes? In my opinion, it would have to be something really rather special," said Duncan quietly.
"No. No, it would be no use. I can't even bear to look at the two of them now. It's over. We are still family, but that's all. You don't have to like or be friends with family after all, especially not when they have just done something so cruel that it has shattered your heart into a million tiny fragments. Right now, as far as I am concerned, if I never see the two of you again, I will be so very happy…" With that, Luke shook his head, and with Duncan at his side, began to head slowly to the door.
Those words were all it took to start Jeff crying, and now, as Luke walked away, he began to sob, as Nick cried at his side. Half of those in the room were every bit as stunned at the new twist in the tale, and were frozen in place. The other half knew that they now had a new relationship to attempt and save. Seth was left in the worst position of all, torn between his roommates, and his two fellow Warblers. He just shrugged, bowed his head, and sat quietly in his seat.
It was Santana that dashed to the door to bar the exit of the two younger boys as Jeff began to wail as Nick held him in his arms, his heart broken as he realised that he was responsible for driving a wedge between himself and his cousin. Mike was as white as a sheet, knowing that eventually people would conclude that he was responsible just as much; after all, he had phoned Tina, and started the whole thing. Sebastian went to take a seat by Seth, who now had his head in his hands. He sat down by him and raised his head to face him. He did so just as Santana stood in front of Luke and Duncan. In those faces, they saw the same thing. What they saw made them shake their heads in disbelief.
"This is not cool," whispered Sebastian to Seth. "Just wait until Thad and Wes find out. Have you ever been hit by Mr Bangy…?"
"Ok, so even by my standards, this is cruel and twisted. It is worse than the original and I am ashamed to say I know you right now," said Santana in a low voice. "This ends right now, or I will go all Lima Heights on you. I can guarantee that some of the other people in here will feel the same way. I mean, do I need to call your mothers and tell them about this?" With that, she frog-marched the two young men back over to where Niff stood, wrapped up in each other's arms, in floods of tears. The rest of the room watched in bemusement, apart from Seth, who looked on in woe, and Sebastian, who looked as if he was about to kick off. Once she had them right in front of the other couple, she turned to them, arms folded, and as Sebastian walked across to stand by Nick, she said loudly, "Well, go on then! You have about one minute left!"
And then Luke uttered the words. "It's not very nice when something horrible like that happens, is it? But hey, guess what? April Fool!"
There was a sharp intake of breath from every corner of the room as they all realised what Santana and Sebastian had, and suddenly saw what was taking place. Luke, with assistance from Duncan, and probably, to a very small extent, from Seth, had just turned the tables, and played almost exactly the same kind of prank on Jeff and Nick. He had let them believe that their actions had caused a massive rift between them, and that a strong family bond was about to be torn asunder. This time, however, there had been an audience of their peers to witness first hand what was going on, and the devastating consequences.
In an instant, they could all see the reaction to Luke's words in Nick's face. His sadness and grief had changed to outrage and fury as if someone had flicked a switch inside him. All that Nick could see was that his husband had been reduced to a sobbing mess in his arms, broken by well chosen, well aimed words, and as was always the case when someone hurt him, Nick immediately hated the person that had done it to him. Sebastian had anticipated this, and that was why he had left Seth to stand by Nick's side; to be ready to grab his irate friend before he pounced on Luke and attacked him. That was a real possibility, and as a result, the tension in the room was palpable. The room fell totally silent, as even Jeff's wails of anguish had come to a sudden, abrupt halt.
Luke was staring at Nick, as the latter stared back at him with a snarl on his face. All the bravado that Luke had had moments earlier when he had snapped out those words had vanished. He could see the fire burning in Nick's eyes, and it frightened him. He almost wished now that he had not done it; had not convinced Duncan and an extremely reluctant Seth to go along with him. The fact was that as he and his two companions had been about to walk into the subway in Bushwick to head to the diner, his mom had called. She told him that what he had heard from Flora was wrong; that Jeff had just called her sister, and told her that it was all a joke gone wrong. He had hung up, and promptly let out a yell of total rage, frightening Duncan and Seth. He had spent the morning feeling hurt, bewildered and distraught because of a prank. He had almost turned there and then to go home, but Seth had convinced him that they should carry on with the plan to head to the diner, so that he could confront them and get the apology that he deserved, rather than letting the whole thing fester for days. It was once they were on the 'L' Train that the idea had come to him, had grown, and had become the plan. It seemed though that his plan had been every bit as ill-conceived as his older cousins. In fact, his might actually have been ten times worse. He felt tears starting to form in his eyes again, as Duncan took his arm, his own face crumpled and sad. Across the room, Seth was staring blankly into space, looking lost. Luke had a feeling that he had just lost a man that was not just his cousin, but a good and loyal friend…
And then they all heard it. A faint noise at first, but then growing more distinct.
Jeff had started to laugh.
'Oh, Lord!' thought Sebastian. 'He's had another breakdown, and this is the hysterical laughter coming!' Nick also looked worried, and a bit tired, understandable as his mind had just been through the entire gamut of human emotions in the space of a couple of minutes.
Then Jeff lifted his head, revealing his usual smile. "Oh, boy. At least now we know which side of the family all of my pranking genes come from. That was a pretty nasty trick to play, but maybe we deserved it after what we did. You really had me convinced that I had lost you, Luke."
"It was too cruel. Is shouldn't have done it! I was just so angry after I had been left so upset, and all of it for nothing. Duncan and Seth just went along with me, by the way. They're innocent in all of this."
"Not entirely," said Duncan.
"And I could have done something to try and stop you," added Seth.
"Just as Nicky and I could have said something sooner, and stopped this whole sad affair right in its tracks so much earlier," said Jeff. He turned to his husband, and placed a hand on his arm. "Now, Nicky, you need to calm down before you burst a blood vessel. I was hurt, distraught and in bits, but then, so was Luke. I'm ok now, and so is he, I hope. I mean, there is just one thing we have to do from now on, and that is watch these two closely, as I think they are after our place as the Princes' of Pranks…"
"It isn't just the fact that they hurt you that has me mad, Jeffie," said Nick. "I'm annoyed by the fact that they got one over on us!"
Jeff burst out laughing again at that admission - and in a moment both Luke and Nick had joined in. Alongside, Duncan looked just the tiniest bit baffled by the whole thing, whereas Sebastian just shook his head, and wondered quite how Wes had endured all those years of playing the peacemaker amongst these guys without cracking up.
"So, is that everything back to the way that it should be then?" Brittany whispered to Santana.
"I think so. I hope so," came her answer. Santana paused as she watched Jeff pull his cousin into a hug, and smiled. "We all just need to remember, this time next year, not to believe a word that any of those guys say, because if this happened again, I might be serious when I say that I am going to kill them."
Lunch that day at the diner was not the awful affair that they had all imagined it would be. People tried to forget the events of that morning that had brought them there, and instead focused on the friendships that they all cherished so much. Nick and Jeff did still have to deal with some phone calls though. The first came from Tina, who told them off loudly for doing something so stupid and irresponsible; then Mike took the phone from Nick, and told her off in no uncertain terms for spreading what he had told her in confidence to Flora in the first place. He was tempted to tell her that it had caused Luke and Jeff to have a massive fight, but in the end he kept that to himself. Thad called too, of course, and used his call to reiterate his disapproval, and to inform them that he had found out what David had said to them, and once Wes had finished talking to him, he had weighed in with a stern admonishment of his own. That news got a laugh from around the room, as they pictured the poor young man sitting there, whilst two men with gavels shouted at him. Even Sebastian laughed, although he fully empathised with Thad's position.
It was nearly one o'clock when the door opened, to reveal Grace, standing there in her smart office attire, and with a facial expression which let them all know that she had come to voice her own opinion. The others all pretended not to listen as she took her brother and his husband to a quiet corner, where they could have at least a modicum of privacy, and then gave them a long speech about the dangers of immaturity and irresponsibility. The married couple said nothing as her tirade continued, then once her speech was finished, she said "Of course, I knew it was all garbage from the start!" then took her leave, collecting a sandwich and a coffee to go to consume on her way back to work. After that, people started to drift away, back to the tasks and chores that needed to be done; back to the plans they had made before what was now being dubbed 'Niffmegedon' had been predicted. Mike had been promised a special dinner that night, and he accepted, before he headed off to put in a few hours at the dance studio - after all, his finals were not that far away.
Just as Niff were about to head out the door, Nick's phone started to ring again. This time it was Flint, with a very vocal Ethan in the background. Flint announced that they were still waiting for a personal apology from the two young men, for the fact that they had broken their hearts that morning with the worst prank ever in all of world history. As the call was on speakerphone, everyone could hear, and Jeff took umbrage. "I would strongly disagree with that assertion! I think that label applies to the one where a person, or persons decided that even after the disaster we had with the council table collapse prank, that it would be hysterically funny to glue Wes to his chair at the table a few weeks later."
"Ok, but in mine and Drew's defence," Ethan began, "we had no idea that Mrs Carmichael would come in, and that Wes, being his usual dapper self, would offer his seat to her before he had a chance to sit in it…"
"I always wondered which idiot had done that," said Flint. "Ethan, I am ashamed of you!"
Jeff laughed at the note of disapproval from Flint, but carried on. "Yes, you couldn't have known, anymore than we could have predicted that Mike and Sam would be silly enough to share the news with the two biggest gossips in the western world!"
"Ok, I can agree with that. Shall we just say that what you two did today ranks at the same level in the lexicon of Warbler pranks as the glue on the chair?" said Ethan.
"We can agree to that," said Nick.
"And we can all agree that the continuation of our beloved Niff is the best thing ever," said Flint. On that statement, none of them had any cause for disagreement or dispute.
Once the two young men went on their way, life at the Spotlight returned to normal, but would only do so that day for a short while. The door opened, and Beats walked in, trying his best to look casual. Elliott spotted him, and his face lit up at the unexpected visit from the man he loved. He failed to notice that Wes was at his side. By the time that Elliott had made his way over to hug Beats tightly, Wes had left his side and had headed across to Michelle, who was also happy to see him. "Hey, Birdy, to what do we owe this unexpected pleasure? If you have come to tell off this two idiot pranksters, then you are too late, as they have headed for home, suitably chastised by their colleagues and friends, I should add."
"No, cuz, it's not those two that are the reason behind my visit today. I have been keeping Beats company. He had to go back to the hospital, and now he has been given some news that he really needs to share with Elliott in private."
"By the look on your face, the news isn't exactly good…"
"It's not all that bad either though. To be honest, it is all a bit of a mess. If you could spare Elliott and your office for a few minutes, I would be grateful."
"Consider it done."
"I would also like to borrow Dani for a few minutes, as a bit of moral support for Elliott. What he is about to hear will knock him sideways, and she had always been a calm and rational voice for him. Kurt will also be joining us."
"Ok, now you actually have me worried," said Michelle, glancing across at the two young men that were still hugging. "I take it that it is related to the actions of a certain Mr Gilbert, and you think that Elliott is going to blame himself for the consequences?"
"Yes, that is exactly what I am predicting. Although, in all honesty, what he is about to be told shows that his father's actions produced something that is the opposite of a bad result… It's complicated, and you will find out what is going on soon enough, but just now…"
"Elliott is the person that needs to know first," said Michelle. All she hoped was that when he was told, the young man would be ok in the aftermath.
The moment that Beats told Elliott that he needed to talk to him in private, he was worried. There relationship had been going so well, and the incident with his father had only served to make them stronger as a couple, or so he thought. They had been less physical with each other since that day, that much was true, but he had attributed that to the fact that whilst his ribs were healing, Beats did not want to risk causing him any more pain in an accidental touch. Beats had also come to sit quietly in a corner of the courtroom as his father was committed for trial, although there was a large part of him that felt that such an event would not be a good idea. It would only serve to increase further the animosity between sons and their parents and sister. He had not broached the subject yet with his boyfriend, but he was certain that when he did, Beats would know exactly where he was coming from, and agreed to a deal that would offer them all protection in the long term.
So why was he now scared that everything was about to fall apart at the seams? Was it a reaction to what he had seen that day with Nick and Jeff? Or was it the deadly serious look on Nate's face as he had said those words? He could not bear to lose him, not now… As he followed him into the back office, Elliott prepared all of his arguments in his head, all the thing he would say to keep his true love at his side. It was only once they were in the office that he realised that Dani had come with them, just as he noticed that Wes and Kurt were sitting at the desk. The presence of these three additional people did little to quell his deep rooted fear that he was about to lose the best thing that had ever happened to him. He took a seat as Beats motioned him towards it, Dani perching on the arm of the chair at his side. Elliott involuntarily held his breath, as he waited to hear the worst…
Beats was not unaware of the fear that was written large on Elliott's face, and he knew that he had to act quickly, and just get it over with to save him pain. "Ell, I asked you in here because there is something that I have to tell you, and you aren't going to be pleased by it."
"Look, whatever…" began Elliott, but he stopped as he saw Kurt shaking his head at him and placing a finger to his lips.
"Ok, my love, there is no easy way to say this, so instead I will just show you…" Beats pulled his new glasses out of his pocket, and put them on.
At once Elliott started to cry; to wail; to just plain lose it. "Oh, God, no! This is all my fault. I am so sorry, it's all my fault, and if you can't forgive me, I get it. I just want you to know that I am so, so sorry, and that I still love you, and always will," he blurted out, tears running down his cheeks as Dani placed an arm around him.
Beats sighed, then said, "I love you too, and always will, Ell. Now stop those tears, and more importantly, stop taking the blame for something that you did not do! It was your father that attacked me, and that was only because I chose to intervene when he was hurting the man that I want to spend the whole of my life with! It is true that the blows that I took to my head that day did affect my vision, but that cleared up, and it is not the reason why I have had to get glasses now. In fact, much as it pains me to admit it, I'd have to say that I actually have to thank your dad, because without him, things could have ended up so much worse." Beats stopped, as he had to laugh at the incredulous look on Elliott's face at that statement. "Before that day, I had always been a martyr to tired eyes, to pain if I read for too long. Flint had been nagging me to go and see someone about it for weeks prior to it. I just thought that it was eyestrain. If your dad had not hit me; if I hadn't ended up in the hospital, I would still have been ignoring the issue, and still have been putting off a trip to the doctor. I would still be unaware that what I was suffering was not an eyestrain, but the earliest symptoms of glaucoma."
"But that's awful!" gasped Elliott. "How bad is it?"
"Because it is still in the early stages, nowhere near as bad as it could have been if I had kept on ignoring Flint and not even mentioned it to you. I'll need to put in eye drops every day, and the glasses will be a permanent fixture on my face when I need to read. It will get worse, I'm afraid, over time. That much is true, but there are things that they can do now they know about it that will slow down its progress, and reverse some of it. It was a huge shock to me, and I am so grateful that Wes insisted on coming to the hospital with me, after I had stupidly resolved to say nothing to you and Flint about my appointment today. Then again, he probably knew what was going on… The thing is, it is not the end of the world, and it is not going to leave me blind in the space of weeks. There are only two things that I hate about it; firstly, that I have to be grateful to your dad; and secondly, that Flint is never going to let me hear the end of this…"
Elliott looked at Beats and his serious face as he made his last statement; a face that he actually had to admit actually suited the pair of tortoiseshell glasses that sat on his nose. "I think that is terrible; having to be grateful to that man for anything is not at the top of my list of fun things, if I am honest… I am glad though that you found out what was going on, and that you will be able to live with it. I have to admit that I actually really like your glasses; they are very on trend, and unlike so many of those hipster types that come into the diner, you actually have to wear them."
"Not for everything," said Beats. "There are some things that I will be taking them off for…"
"Erm, you do realise we are all still in the room?" said Dani, with a laugh.
"I meant for a shower, or when I am at work tonight, actually!" said Beats in a mock scandalised tone. "I have no idea what else you could be inferring, young lady!"
At that, Elliott started to laugh, and was joined within moments by everyone else present. The potential crisis having been averted, Wes and Kurt took their leave; the former had a pile of paperwork to sort through, and Kurt wanted to head to see his dad. As they left, they both wished Beats luck with Flint later. "I have a horrible feeling I might need it," he replied with a sigh. "He will go on about this, absolutely non-stop, for hours on end."
"He will, and he should!" replied Elliott. "If I'd known that you were having those kind of issues with your sight, I would have dragged you howling and screaming to an optometrist myself! Promise me, here and now, in front of a witness, that you will tell me from now on if you are feeling ill, so I can help. I will do the same myself, naturally."
"If that means that Elliott stops telling me all the time, then I am in complete agreement with those sentiments, Beats," said Dani. "Ok, I am going to get back to work. I will tell Michelle that the two of you just need a few more minutes to sort things out. Just behave, ok!"
"As if we would do anything else!" came Elliott's response as she walked out and closed the office door behind her.
Alone, Beats turned to his boyfriend, and took his hand. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you what was going on, Ell. I just thought that you had enough worries of your own without my troubles - and I never imagined it would be anything too serious. It turns out that I was wrong, and I have to admit that if Wes hadn't been around to nag me…"
"It's ok - I am sure that you did what you did with the best of intentions, but from now on, if it worries you, it concerns me. I still feel so guilty that you got dragged into all of this."
"Well you shouldn't, because I got myself into it, and I would do exactly the same again if I had the chance to do it over. I love you, Elliott Gilbert, and nothing can or will alter that fact. Your battles are my battles now, and that applies to Josh too."
"I love you too, Nate. It's just…" Elliott stopped as he saw Beats frown. "Ok, so we are doing secrets? Well, I have been keeping one too, from you and Josh. I don't want the case against my dad to go to a trial. It will drag me, Josh and you into the press spotlight, and there are some people out there who would use us to make their case; would abuse us for it. It won't solve anything in any case, just make them worse. If my dad goes to jail, and he probably would, then it would enrage my mother, and the consequences of that might make everything that has happened so far seem like a Disney film."
"You want to cut a deal, don't you? Fine by me, trust me; but it has to be watertight, and it can't be all for his benefit. It can't disrupt your life, nor those of Josh and Scott for that matter. He has to pay for what he did in some way. He might have had a hand in getting me to get my eyes checked out, but he also put the pair of us in hospital, and he traumatised Josh. As long as he is punished, and as long as Josh agrees with it, then I will go along with a deal. I have seen more than enough of courtrooms what with Hunter's trial and all…. I still can't believe it was all over two years ago. So much has changed since then…"
"Yeah, an eventful two years… Three Warbler weddings, engagements, you becoming partially my boss, and of course, poor Wes…"
"I suppose I am your boss. I've never really given it much thought before, but yes, I am. So, as your boss, I should encourage you to stop slacking and get back to work. As your partner, I want a kiss first. Then I will have to go and face the music with Flint, and let school know where I have been and why. Then, if you aren't working on Sunday…"
"I won't be; I'll make sure of it," said Elliott, before he leaned forward, and his lips met Beats', the two of them sharing a deep kiss, filled with joy, hope and love.
