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crazedlunatic · 2 years ago

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Hero

“Hey, I thought you were going to pick me up after work!” Adrian walked into Matt’s kitchen.

Matt, who was sitting at the kitchen table and still in his uniform, looked up. The fact that he was still in his uniform was unusual. He generally took it off as soon as possible because usually it was disgusting. It could have anything on it from blood to urine to serious drug residue on it.

“Hey.” Matt said, taking a bite of a cereal bar.

“Are you… okay?”

“Sorry. I, uhm, was going to call but I just got home.”

“You were supposed to get off at 4:00. It’s 10:00.” Adrian looked at him, confused.

“I had to stay late.”

“Did someone call in?”

“No. I had to talk to a chaplain.”

“Like… a preacher?”

“I guess but it’s kind of more of a counselor thing for us. He only brings religion into discussion if you bring it up first.” Matt sighed as his personal cell phone started to ring. He held it up to his ear. “I’m fine, Mama. I’ll call you in the morning. I’m going to bed… yeah, I promise… Yes, I’ve eaten.”

Adrian sat at the table next to him, confused. Any other time Matt talked to anyone from his family on the phone, it was usually laughing and joking. Something was definitely going on.

“Yeah, Mama. I know. Yes, I know Logan is down the street. You do know I’m almost 23, right?” Matt gave Adrian an annoyed look. “Good night. I love you too.”

“What happened?”

“I haven’t eaten since this morning and if I don’t eat this before I talk about it, I won’t eat and then I’ll be sick on duty tomorrow. Can you wait?” Matt said.

“Yeah.” Adrian, who had leaned forward, sat up straight against the chair. He moved his foot back and forth anxiously because it was literally taking forever for Matt to finish his Cheerios breakfast bar. Forever. He’d seen Matt down two in the span of three minutes however it seemed to take Matt a whole minute to take one bite and swallow it.

It was just weird.

Matt let out a frustrated sigh when his phone rang, picking it up. “I’m literally going to turn my phone off if you people don’t quit harassing me. I am in bed trying to sleep.”

Adrian gave him a look seeing as he… obviously was not in bed.

“Fine. I am at my table. But I’m also fine and I would like to eat so I could go to bed and be back in hell bright and early in the morning… God, Mark. No, I don’t want a three day weekend… you guys are driving me crazy. I will stop by Mom and Dad’s in the morning and I’ll report to your office like a good boy as soon as I make it in… Sorry, I’m not trying to be a dick… okay, bye.” Matt shut his phone off.

“Matt…” Adrian bit his lip as Matt’s work cell phone started to ring.

“I can’t. I’m done.” Matt stood up, walking out of the room and leaving his cell phone to ring.

Did he ignore his personal cell phone? Only all the time.

The work one? Absolutely not since he was over forty people who often needed approval for stuff or who even knows what they needed.

Adrian followed Matt into the living room and sat next to him.

“Why don’t they just hang up?” Matt groaned.

“Matt…”

Matt glanced at Adrian, his eyes teary.

“What happened today? Why do people keep calling you?”

Matt covered his face when his cell phone started to ring again.

Adrian hopped up and quickly went back into the kitchen. He saw it was Matt’s dad and answered it. “Hey, I think he needs some downtime right now.”

“Can you stay there tonight?” His dad asked urgently.

“Yes.” Adrian’s response was instant—like he would have left Matt like this alone anyway. Because this just wasn’t even his Matt.

“Call me on either phone if you need anything and try to make sure he eats more than just a stupid breakfast bar, okay?”

“I’ll try to get him to.” Adrian said.

“Go ahead and turn his work phone off. Is it okay if I call you if something comes up?” Matt’s dad asked.

“Of course. You can always call me.”

“Thank you.” Matt’s dad sounded relieved. “Let me know if you two need anything, alright? I’ll let everyone in the family know that you’ve got your phone on you but hopefully they’ll leave you alone.”

“You don’t have to thank me.” Adrian glanced at Matt in the other room, who was staring at his shoe and clearly lost in thought.

“Just… Make sure he falls asleep before you do, okay? Otherwise he won’t get any. I’m going to see about getting his shift tomorrow covered.”

“Okay.” Adrian said, eyes still on Matt.

After a few more sentences which were mostly Matt’s dad saying without saying to keep an eye on Matt, they ended the call and Adrian turned Matt’s work cell phone off. He then came back into the room slowly and sat next to Matt on the couch.

Matt leaned against him, slouching down so his head was on Adrian’s shoulder.

“Do you want to talk yet?”

“No.” Matt whispered as Adrian stroked his hair.

“Do you want to watch something?”

“No.”

“Can I do anything?” Adrian pulled back a bit to look at him.

“Just… be here.” Matt let out a shuddery breath.

Adrian continued to run his fingers through Matt’s hair for nearly an hour, his stomach in knots. The only time he’d gone this long without hearing Matt’s voice when they were together was if Matt was asleep.

Finally, Matt pushed himself into a sitting position and he looked at Adrian.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” Matt said, his voice sounding more like his own. Not quite there, but… not like it had been an hour prior.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“I don’t want you to have to think about it.” Matt frowned.

“I want to know.” Adrian insisted.

“It’s… pretty bad.”

“I know.” Adrian nodded. “But I still want to know. You need to talk about it.”

“I was riding alone today and… uhm… I got a call about an unresponsive kid but nothing other than that.” Matt sniffled a bit. “And I got there and this, uhm… this mom r-ran over her son b-but not all the way so, like this three year old little boy’s face and skull is crushed in and he’s barely breathing and there’s nothing I could do but hold this dying baby as this mom is freaking out and I didn’t know what to do. Like… what? How do you hold this dying baby and just… sit there like a fucking kid because you can’t do anything? And why didn’t the parents hold him? Why? And why did the ambulance take so long? Not that they could do anything either.”

“I don’t know.” Adrian whispered, his heart breaking. Maybe it was horrible but he was still more worried about Matt. He had never seen Matt like this and he didn’t want to ever again. And if Matt’s dad was that worried, how bad had it been for him to stay six hours after his shift ended talking to a chaplain?

“And it’s so messed up. I’m sitting here thinking why didn’t she just finish running him over so this poor kid isn’t in this pain? And why couldn’t I do anything but just sit there? Why couldn’t the EMT’s tell me something to do over the phone? Why didn’t she know where her kid was? I know it’s not her fault but why? Why do all these horrible things just perfectly align and end up in this horrible, horrible thing? I felt so useless. I couldn’t do anything and he was still alive. I’ve never felt so useless in my life. I always make it better but I couldn’t d-do anything. And I just love the kids.” Matt covered his face, beginning to cry loudly.

Not even normal cries. It was louder and much harder than that.

“I can’t… Like, I’ve cut people down from ceiling fans and I’ve seen these mangled bodies and I’ve walked into welfare checks with dead old grandmas and grandpas but nothing hurts like this. And she knew. The dad knew. We all knew this baby boy was going to die. You don’t live without a skull, Adrian. You can’t.” Matt sobbed. “So, what’s the fucking point? God. Why didn’t she just run all the way over his head so he didn’t have to—oh my God.” Matt leaned over, throwing up.

Adrian pulled Matt into his arms when he stopped puking, wrapping his arms around him tightly.

He didn’t even know his heart could feel this broken. The last time he’d seen Matt, earlier that morning, he’d been so excited. They were going to go to a festival in Boston when he got off work at 4:00. Sure, they’d only catch the end but it was something to do. And he’d been so happy and laughing like he always did.

And this was exactly the opposite.

Matt cried harder into Adrian’s chest, hand gripping Adrian’s side—not painfully. Just enough to know Adrian was there.

“Shh.” Adrian rocked him a bit. “Shh, shh, shh. It’s okay.”

“It’s not.” Matt protested, sitting up and looking down at his vomit. “It’s not okay. Nothing is okay, Adrian.”

“It will be.” Adrian touched his wet cheek.

“God. I’ve got to clean that.” Matt moved to stand.

“No. You stay there.” Adrian stood and went into the other room to get some old towels. He could feel Matt’s eyes on him as he cleaned it up. “I’m going to throw these in the washer and I’ll be back, okay?”

“Thank you.” Matt’s voice was soft.

Adrian forced a smile before going into the laundry room. He took a deep breath, pulling dry clothes out of the dryer and putting them in a basket. He then moved the stuff in the washer to the dryer, turned that on, and then started the towels in the washer.

He came back into the living room, placing the clean clothes basket on a chair next to the couch.

“You didn’t have to do that.” Matt said.

“I know.” Adrian sat next to him again. “I love you, Matt.”

“I love you too.” Matt gave a very forced smile.

“You are such a special person to do what you do… and you’re so brave. I know tonight was really hard and I’m so sorry, but you’re my hero… and you are also that boy’s parents hero because you did something they couldn’t and you comforted that boy in his last moments.”

“He wasn’t conscious.” Matt shook his head. “It didn’t even matter. He didn’t know.”

“I don’t care.” Adrian shook his own head.

“It just… hurt more than when it’s adults in speeding accidents… or kids in speeding accidents. Or anything.” Matt sniffled and wiped his eyes. He then whimpered, “I don’t know. Adrian, sometimes I love this job but sometimes I r-really hate it.”

“You can do anything you want to do.” Adrian whispered even though it wasn’t like anyone else could hear.

“No. I’m not smart like you.” Matt shook his head.

“You want to know a secret?”

Matt gave him a weird look.

“I know you are. I talk to your mom, you know? She told me that you got into NYU, Boston University, Harvard University, and Amherst College. You couldn’t pick one so you decided to take a year off to figure out what you wanted to do, you got an associates in law enforcement, and began police courses the day you turned 19.” Adrian looked him in the eyes. “There’s a reason you’re over people twice your age and that reason isn’t just because of who your dad is. You can do anything you want to do… and for the record if you do go to school, I will go wherever you go… because I know you can do it and you’ll deserve it a lot more than me.”

“I can’t quit my job… The force has put too much money in me. In three years, I start active SWAT training. They’ve spent thousands sending me to classes on management and training, tactics…”

“And you’ve used it well and you’ve saved hundreds of lives.” Adrian said. “I just hope you know that your happiness comes first. I’m here whether you’re a law enforcement officer or not… and I’d love you even if you worked at Taco Bell… Blaine would really love that because he’s a big Taco Bell fan.”

“I have thought about it.” Matt admitted. He then added, voice softer, “Mama really wants me to go back to school.”

“What do you want?” Adrian asked.

“You. To be with you.”

Adrian smiled and kissed the top of Matt’s head. “Besides me?”

“I don’t know.” Matt bit his lip.

“Well I’m here for you whatever you decide.” Adrian stood. “Come on. Let’s at least try to get some sleep, okay?”

“I have to get up so early.” Matt sighed.

“Your dad texted me. Your shift tomorrow is covered.” Adrian held out a hand to help him up.

A look of relief flooded Matt’s face and Adrian wrapped an arm around him.

“You are my hero. I hope you know I wasn’t just saying that.” Adrian looked at him.

“I better be because I didn’t give you a ticket that day.” Matt attempted to joke.

“Tomorrow will be better.” Adrian promised once they got into Matt’s bedroom. He immediately went to Matt’s dresser and pulled out two pairs of pajamas.

Matt took one pair and pulled them on. “I don’t know why you don’t bring your own. I told you that you could have the two drawers I never use.”

“You know I have to steal everything that you love. Food, blankets, clothes…” Adrian changed into the pair he usually stole—which also happened to be the pair that Matt wore the most.

Matt laid down as he rolled his eyes.

Adrian laid next to him, draping an arm over him and scooting right up to his back.

“Can you wait for me to fall asleep before you do?” Matt asked, voice soft.

“I already planned to.” Adrian kissed the back of Matt’s shoulder.

“Thanks.” Matt said, relaxing against Adrian. “I love you, Adrian.”

“I love you too, Matt.”

#adrian/matt

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sugarcarnation · 3 years ago

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Which characters do you like the most that the fandom at large would tear you apart for? Why do you like them and why do you think they get so much hate?

well the most obvious answer to this question is miss rachel berry. i absolutely adore her and i remember being so happy that the show had a female main character who i loved and then i entered the fandom expecting people to feel the same and well. as you might be able to imagine i was in for a rude awakening

and okay im not gonna pretend that rachel was a perfect human being because she sure wasn’t. but she’s really not as terrible as people are claiming she is. i love her because she’s incredibly ambitious, funny and (yeah i’m gonna say it) a good friend

as for why people dislike her so much i think a lot of it has to do with her being the main character and in turn taking up a bunch of screentime. in addition to that she can be quite selfish (although that applies to almost everyone on this show) and doesn’t always realize when a line has been crossed (again she is really not the worst offender when it came to that though)

and then i do believe that the whole lea michele thing added to people disliking her because this fandom has problems separating the actor from the character but i don’t wanna gonna go into that too deeply lmao

other characters i love who aren’t really appreciated by most of the fandom are definitely tina, artie and the season 4 newbies

the hatred tina is getting is downright absurd at times because what did she ever actually do to deserve it? in my opinion the whole blaine debacle in season 4 is the only time where she actually did something bad. and then this isn’t even what people are criticizing her for so like what is the fandoms deal with her lmao

similarly to rachel i love her because she’s ambitious and not afraid to stand up for herself. but exactly that seems to be the problem because i guess people don’t like it when anyone who’s not their favorite character is taking up the spotlight in any shape or form

artie is a case where i genuinely don’t know why anyone has a strong hatred for him. i could get not having strong feelings about him because he admittedly didn’t do much but that alone should mean that there’s no reason to dislike him so much

and yeah the conversation with ryder in lights out was bad but sam was just as guilty as artie when it comes to that situation and he is adored by most of the fandom

i know artie gets criticized for his treatment of women and i agree that it wasn’t great all of the time but in the end he was a great boyfriend (especially compared to other characters) and in my opinion a very fun character

and lastly i think the season 4 newbies are mostly just disliked because their introduction to the show was pretty bad in most cases. and i can understand feeling kinda bitter that your favorite character got replaced by a low budget version of them but i think that watering the newbies down to that is a disservice to them

they all developed to be really fun characters who aren’t just copies of the older characters and did the best they could with the admittedly not always great storylines they got

in my opinion it is kinda telling though that kitty is by far the most popular newbie character. this fandom at large just has a thing for the mean cheerleader and will ignore every other character

#obviously not everyone who likes any of the cheerios is like that #i like them too #but in my experience a lot of people who only have the cheerios as their faves aren’t gonna like the other characters all that much #rachel berry #tina cohen chang #artie abrams #unique adams #marley rose #jake puckerman #asks

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softsadsassysweet · 3 years ago

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Rewatching cowboy bebop and clinging to the fandom online for comfort. Something I’ve seen people rip each other to shreds over in forums and that I want to address for the sake of catharsis:

Were Spike and Faye in love?

First of all, I don’t understand you die hard people who are like “no they weren’t in love and you’re dumb if you thought they were!!”

Who pissed in your Cheerios? Why must you take something meaningful from other people?

More importantly, why can’t Spike and Faye both be in love and not in love at the same time?

Isn’t that real life? Yes the writing could be telegraphed and obvious, but the whole point of these characters is their development through nuance.

Obviously they find each other attractive. I’ve never seen Spike check out anyone harder than he did Faye while she was his dealer at the casino. But fuckability isn’t enough to keep either of them engaged with a romantic prospect for long. Attraction comes and goes, it is as fleeting as the next bounty.

But Spike and Faye are bound together through fate and their choices. They choose to partner up and to protect each other.

So why isn’t there a telegraphed and obvious romance between two partners? Well in laymen terms, they’re kinda fucked up.

Spike is obsessed with the myth of Julia. His trauma revolving around that relationship keeps him in a longing loop to the past. He doesn’t have the emotional availability to love someone else.

So then why not explore a physical relationship if not a romantic one? I think that for Spike, Faye would be way more meaningful than just sex. It’s not even about respecting her, you can respect someone and just sleep with them. I think Spike has an emotional relationship with Faye. They relay their feelings through actions. She banters with him, sings to him while he’s unconscious, and shows up to save his ass in a pinch. There’s consistency with Faye, which equals safety. (Side note about the “Ballad of the Fallen Angels” episode: I think Spike was so touched by Faye singing to him that he kind of had to ruin it. It was too much like Julia and it unsettled him. He had to under cut that moment to protect himself.)

Spike knows himself. Sleeping with Faye could result in revealing emotional parts of himself, specifically with her because of their dynamic. They’ve gotten too close to each other through proximity. He knows things about her past that he can’t unsee and vice versa. Emotional intimacy is tough for both of them and if they breached the physical, it would be a mess and they know that.

If he’s going to keep the peace and be able to stay focused while they’re in a shoot out, he can’t get any kind of feelings involved. The reasoning isn’t that deep. It’s obvious. Don’t shit where you eat.

Also, if he’s going to hold on to Julia then doesn’t that mean he can only be a receptacle for her? Wouldn’t being close to someone else invalidate that? Wouldn’t becoming close to someone else give him less of a reason to hold onto the past?

Now as for Faye, I think her reasons are a lot less complicated. Point blank, Faye has not had a lot of safe or consistent male relationships (if any relationships) in her life since she’s awoken from her cryogenic sleep.

I don’t think she wants to throw sex or romance into her dynamic with Spike, despite her more obvious interest/attachment for him. She needs that familial relationship more. She needs someone who is plutonic and safe. (Yeah okay she has that with Jet, but they’re um rocky.) She gets along with Spike. That sibling rivalry, banter, and protective behavior is probably the closest she has to a real family, along with everyone else on the Bebop.

She doesn’t want to lose them.

I think Faye also came to terms with the fact that Spike is unavailable. In the Jupiter Jazz arc, she seemed really pensive about learning there was a woman Spike is in love with. That scene where Faye is lounging on the couch whispering Julia’s name over and over. There’s so much behind that. To me it always came across like Faye was also falling in love with the myth of Julia (My bisexual self recognizes you Faye). Or maybe because Spike cared about Julia, Faye cared about her now by default. Or Faye was wondering what kind of woman could have a hold on Spike in a way she couldn’t. They were flirty sure, but Faye’s attachment is deeper than that. In my opinion, it’s more about keeping Spike close to her and Julia threatened that. That desire to keep him close could be solely familial or it could be romantic. But why couldn’t she be feeling all of those things at once?

Their relationship, like everything else in Cowboy bebop, is captivating because it feels just out of reach. Nothing is directly said and because of that I have the impulse to gaslight myself out of the things I pick up on. But the writing is there.

So I think Spike and Faye are in love, and not in love all at the same time. Their dysfunctional parts and their desire to hold onto each other keep that from coming to fruition. Maybe in a different life? Or maybe all of that hope for them to be happy is best lived in fan fiction.

Either way we’re gonna carry that weight of everything that could have been and things that were left unsaid.

#cowboy bebop #faye valentine #faye x julia #Spike X Faye #Spike #SpikeSpiegel

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angelhummel · 2 years ago

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Someone smarter than me pls explain all the meta going on in Rachel’s dream sequence in 5x17 bc I feel like a lot of it doesn’t even make sense

Like the only appearance and costume choice that makes sense is Kurt wearing the same sweater he wore from their Defying Gravity diva off. And I guess Blaine being in his Warblers’ uniform since he was literally their competition twice. And Sue and JBI cause they’re just always creepily antagonistic. Same for Becky I guess. I mean they were part of the hecklers club or whatever but Rachel literally didn’t even perform when they were doing that

Karofsky is there which doesn’t totally make sense. Obviously she didn’t like him bc of how he treated Kurt but it’s not like he was personally out to get her. Also he’s in his bully whips uniform which is when he was seemingly turning over a new leaf and that was the least antagonistic he ever was to anyone while they were all at school together

Tina kind of makes sense to be there even tho lbr she wasn’t much of a threat to Rachel except that one time. In s3 when she was in her mod phase, yet she’s still same old goth Tina in the dream. It makes sense for Tina to still view herself that way in Props but is that just how everyone sees her despite her growth?

Santana, again, makes more sense. Tho I still don’t know why she’s in her Cheerio uniform sans high pony. Just a weird detail idk. Also Rachel’s dreaming about Santana seeing her naked and constantly making heart gestures at her while she’s performing. When their feud is still fresh and the only one that’s still lingering. So that doesn’t really make sense except Rachel is gay and wants Santana’s love and support and also to see her naked

And Sam being there at all doesn’t make any sense. Like they always had a pretty good relationship and were never really at odds with each other

And also. Where is Mercedes?? She’s in the ep so it’s not like Amber was just busy and couldn’t make it in. I mean maybe for that scene, who knows?? It’s still a weird omission since she’s the only other character that was ever actually Rachel’s rival. Like she easily could’ve been there in her AIATY outfit, or either of her WSS audition dresses

idk its weird im just rambling <3

#glee #lol glee #rachel berry #kurt hummel #blaine anderson #mercedes jones #tina cohen chang #santana lopez #sam evans #episode: opening night #season 5 #5x17 #my thoughts

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gleegirlimagines · 4 years ago

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Getting the Girl

The Titans were in need of a kicker after Kurt quit the team. If you asked her, that was the reason Y/N was trying out. If you asked Matt, Mike, or Puck, the reason she was trying out was to finally shut Finn Hudson up once and for all. The oaf had made Y/N his latest target to pick on. Mainly because he knew of her crush on his girlfriend Quinn. He liked to rub it in her face that HE was dating her and not Y/N. She couldn't take any more of it. So she decided that she was gonna be McKinley's next kicker.

Puck, Mike, and Matt had tried to talk Y/N out of it but to no avail. So, being the good friends they are, they decided to help Y/N. As they took to the field to help her practice, Sue and the Cheerios had made their way out to do their cardio for the day. The group on the field failed to notice a certain head cheerleader watching them practice along with Santana and Brittany. "Ah, so looks like Y/N is trying out for the team. That's hot." Santana said. Brittany giggled and agreed. "Do you think she'll help me achieve my perfect record of making out with everyone at school?" Quinn's head whipped around. "What?" "Yeah. I have a list of everyone I've made out with and she's not on it. It would mean a lot if she said yes." Quinn shook her head in disbelief before going back to watching the group. Suddenly, a voice called out from behind them. "Hey babe!" Quinn mentally groaned as Santana did it loudly for her. Finn walked up to the trio smiling. He leaned down to kiss Quinn but she turned her head, making him collide with her cheek. "Brittany, Santana." Santana gave him a fake smile as Brittany did the same. "I'm gonna go ask her."

Before Quinn could protest, both Santana and Brittany ran off in the direction of Y/N and the boys. Finn looked where the girls where headed and scoffed. "What's that freak doing out here?" Quinn glared at him. "She's trying out for your team. You need a kicker do you not?" Finn's jaw dropped. "Yeah. But we don't need a fucking dyke on our team. People aren't gonna take us seriously!" He whined. Quinn sighed. "Finn. They don't take you seriously now. What makes you think that's gonna change if a girl joins the team?" Finn groaned. "I'm gonna go give her a piece of my fucking mind. Dykes don't belong on the team." Finn stormed off as Quinn followed after him.

Y/N was talking to Santana and Brittany about things when Finn walked up to them. "Finnocence. Can't you see me and B are trying to seal the deal here?" Finn glared at the two. "And I don't give a flying fuck Lopez. I'm more worried about the fact that there's a dyke freak trying out for my team." Y/N rolled her eyes. "Because you guys suck and need a kicker. That's where I step in Hudson because obviously you can't lead us to a win." Finn scoffed. "I'm the best quarterback this school has ever had. And if you're only trying out for kicker, then why are you also throwing the ball around? It's called kicker, not quarterback." Puck spoke up. "Because idiot, we know Tanaka is gonna test her other skills. And maybe, if we're lucky, he might realize that she's a better quarterback than you."

Finn lunged at the mohawked boy before Y/N shoved him back. "Leave the fucking field Finn. We're done talking to you." He glared at her before turning to Quinn. "Let's go." Quinn stood there not moving. "Quinn. Let's go!" Quinn put on her ice queen glare and turned to the boy. "No Finn. I still have stuff to do. You can go." Finn stood in shock and stormed off to his car. Santana and Brittany looked at Y/N. They were extremely turned on. "So Y/N, does our offer still stand?" Y/N smirked. "Totally." Both Brittany and Santana kissed her cheek before running off.

Puck slapped Y/N on the shoulder. "Good for you dude." Y/N smirked before looking at Quinn who was glaring at her. "What Fabray? Jealous?" Quinn glared at the girl before running off. Matt spoke up. "What's got her panties in a bunch?" Y/N shrugged. "I don't know. Let's get back to practice though."

Y/N followed the boys to their locker room to get their stuff. No one was at school so it would be fine and Y/N was already cool with the team. When they all walked in, they heard groaning and moaning. They all looked at each other and poked their heads around the column of lockers to find a shocking scene.

Finn Hudson was fucking a cheerleader that wasn't Quinn Fabray. All four people witnessing was shocked. Y/N felt anger course through her veins. How dare this idiot cheat on Quinn. Y/N pulled out her phone and snapped a few pictures and videos before all four of them hauled ass out of the locker room.

They ran all the way to Y/N's car. "Holy fuck. What the fuck just happened?" Y/N was still shocked. Puck was angry. "He's a fucking idiot for cheating on her. She needs to know. Hey, maybe if you tell her Y/N she'll give you a chance!" Y/N looked at him. "Are you serious Puck? Really?"

Two days later, after a successful tryout on Y/N's part, pictures of Finn and the girl fucking in the locker room were posted all over the school. Y/N was standing at her locker getting her books when Santana and Brittany walked up to her. "So. We had fun at Breadstix last night. You're actually really cool." Y/N smiled at the girls. "Thank you Santana. And Brittany I hope your record is now perfect." The blonde smiled and nodded. "All thanks to you. Also, have you seen Quinn? I wanna check up on her." Y/N shook her head. "No. It sucks though. Finn is an idiot." Santana nodded. "But hey, you get to have a chance with her." Y/N giggled and shut her locker. "You're starting to sound like Puck." The three walked off to class, not knowing that two people had overheard their conversation.

Y/N was walking to class texting Puck about the game when she was yanked into an empty classroom. "Hey what the fu-!" She was cut off by a hand on her mouth. "Shhh or we'll get in trouble." Y/N finally processed who yanked her in the room. "Quinn?" The blonde smiled at the girl and took her hand off her mouth. "Hi." Y/N smiled at the girl's shyness. "Hi. What's going on? Why did you yank me in here?" Quinn didn't say anything and just pressed her lips against Y/N's. Y/N kissed back almost instantly. The pair pulled away when air was a necessity. "I broke it off with Finn. I wanted to thank you for those pictures." Y/N stuttered before Quinn cut her off again. "Puck told me after I grilled him about it." Y/N's jaw dropped. "That snitch." Quinn giggled. "No. You should thank him. By the way, I'm gonna be cheering for you and only you tonight." She walked off swaying her hips as Y/N watched mesmerized. God, she couldn't wait for tonight.

The game was going awful. Every time Y/N stepped onto the field, Finn would do something to get her tackled. She was hurting all over and Coach kept yelling at Finn and Y/N was getting stressed. She sat on the bench cradling her ribs after a particularly hard hit when Quinn snuck up behind her. "What's up with Finn? Why is he putting you in situations where you're getting hurt?" Y/N shrugged and groaned. "I don't know." Puck ran up to Y/N after coming off the field. "He found out you took and posted the pictures. One of our teammates saw us posting them and overheard us talking about catching Finn in the act." Quinn gasped. Y/N sat shocked. "Fuck."

The game just got worse. Y/N got tackled time and time again much to the amusement of Finn. Tanaka called a timeout during the second quarter. "Hudson what the fresh HELL are you doing out there?! You're killing our kicker!" Finn smirked and sat back on the bench. "Well coach, some people need to be taught a lesson. I'm just doing my job." Tanaka's face turned red. "Did you just blatantly admit that you're doing this shit on purpose?" Finn blanched. "U-um no?" Tanaka pulled him up by his jersey. "YOURE BLOWING THIS GAME FOR US BECAUSE YOU GOT CAUGHT FUCKING SOMEONE ELSE?!" The team snickered at how scared Finn looked. "Y/L/N! You're playing quarterback for the rest of the game. Jameson! You're taking Y/N's place as kicker! Get back on the field!"

Y/N as quarterback was going great. She had managed to get the Titans back in the lead without a dance to distract the other team. Y/N could see Finn sitting on the bench fuming. Behind the bench however was a much better sight. Quinn smiling her million dollar Cheerio smile while yelling for the Titans. God, she was falling for this girl. Hard and fast.

The Titans ended up winning much to everyone's satisfaction (except Finn's). As Y/N was getting changed in the girl's locker room, the door swung open to reveal the oaf in question. Y/N rolled her eyes. "What do you want Hudson?" He glared at the girl. "I want you gone. Off the team. Away from my girl." Y/N smirked. "From what I've heard, she's not really your "girl" anymore." Finn saw red as he swung and connected with the girl's jaw. He only managed to get one hit in before Tanaka was bursting in pulling him off the girl and out of the locker room. Puck, Mike, and Matt helped the girl up. "Damn dude. He really packs a punch." Y/N shrugged. "I'll be okay."

Y/N had her bag on her shoulder as her and the boys headed out of the locker room. Mike had been nice enough to get her some ice for her jaw. As she walked holding the ice against her face, she caught Quinn's eye. She was standing with her parents hoping to introduce them to Y/N. At the sight of Y/N's jaw, she gasped, dropped her Cheerio bag and ran towards the girl. Y/N jumped at the blonde girl suddenly appearing in front of her. "What happened to your jaw? Was it one of their players? I'll kick their ass." Y/N chuckled at the girl's worry. "It wasn't one of their players Q. It was your ex. He ambushed me in the locker room saying that he wanted me off the team and away from you. I'm okay."

Hazel eyes filled with fury as she called Santana and Brittany over. The two suddenly appeared. "What's up Q?" "I want Finn slushied and dumpster tossed for the rest of forever." Y/N went to protest but Quinn put her hand up. "No. He deserves it after all he did to you." Santana smirked. "Aye aye Cap." The two smiled at Y/N before walking off. "I was hoping to introduce you to my parents. They want to meet you." Y/N froze. "Your p-parents?" Quinn smiled at the girl's nervousness before pecking her lips. "Yes. My parents." "Ah, so this is the famous Y/N Quinnie?" Y/N looked behind Quinn to find a blonde woman who looked identical to Quinn standing next to a tall, blonde man. "Yes. Mom, dad, this is Y/N Y/L/N. Y/N, this is Judy and Russell Fabray."

Y/N smiled as best as she could before wincing. "Oh dear. What happened to your face?" Judy cupped Y/N's face. Quinn's eyes darkened. "Finn happened. He ambushed her on the locker room. Y/N is the one who caught him cheating on me." Russell spoke up. "Well I'm glad you caught him Y/N. He didn't deserve my daughter anyway. Now Y/N, my Quinnie has spoken very highly of you. What are your intentions with my daughter?" Y/N looked at Quinn. "To love and appreciate her for as long she'll have me. If your concern with me sir is if I'll treat her better than Finn, then you don't have to worry because I will." Judy and Quinn looked at the girl with shining eyes. Russell smiled and held out his hand. "Welcome to the family Y/N." Y/N smiled and shook his hand. Quinn wrapped her arms around the taller girl's waist, burying her head in her chest. "Can we go home and watch a movie and cuddle?" Y/N smiled and leaned down to peck Quinn's lips.

"Lead the way baby girl."

#quinn fabray x reader #glee imagine #quinn fabray #finn hudson #santana lopez #brittany s pierce #noah puckerman #mike chang #matt rutherford

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dreadpoetssociety · 4 years ago

Text

Fevers Don’t Exist

TW: Fever ? (I’m not sure what counts for triggers so pls lmk if I miss anything)

Prompt: hi!! could u do one maybe where like, the reader is an actress on supernatural and she plays like their younger sister on the show or something and she gets sick at a con or something? Thanks !!

NOTE: Hey guys, I’m alive!!!! I know I have a lot of Spencer prompts atm, but it’s really hard to write them when I’m not like, hyper focused on Criminal Minds. I am going to try though! So sorry I’ve left so many of you in the wind, I am a very inconsistent person, my bad. But here’s this! It’s REALLY bad because I’m terrible at being realistic but like idk it’s something.

I really don’t even know what to put for tags on this.

()()()()()()

Ah, September. You knew what came along every September, and looked forward to it for the first eight months of every year. Secaucus, New Jersey. You loved every con you went to, truly. Everyone was so nice, you love staying in hotels, panels are such a great time, the whole thing. It's a great experience outside of the set to get connected with fans. And, they loved you almost as much as you loved them. You were typically closer in age, since you were still just a teenager. You also started out as a fan of the show before somehow snatching a role, so you really were with them at one point. Everything that excites them excited you just as much. And, you loved making friends with them. You weren't allowed to be reckless with your phone number, so you made a snapchat that you shared exclusively with con goers, whom you made swear to secrecy. It was like a club, and you just enjoyed genuinely talking to everyone. But, when you woke up that first morning, you knew it was going to be a long day. Your body ached, and you were still pretty exhausted. You had a fever, but didn't really know if it was a fever because you were still young, and God forbid you ever decided to recognize the signs of you being sick. It was almost like a form of denial, not knowing. You were sweating, but freezing, and your throat felt particularly dry. Your headache rested underneath your eyes for the most part, to which you just blamed on being tired. Your stomach didn't hurt, but you definitely weren't hungry. Even though you hadn't felt exactly 100% the past days before, and you obviously weren't feeling right now, you just deduced that it was all because you were tired, and had a late flight in. As a responsible person does, of course. You didn't even bother taking any medicine for it, because hey, you obviously weren't sick, you'd feel better in a bit, and you didn't have any, so why waste the time, right?

You groggily got dressed and met up with "the boys" (even though they were all older than you) for the free breakfast downstairs, in a separate room, since fans did happen to stay in the same hotel. You grabbed some Cheerios, only to conspicuously throw them away after.

"You good, Y/N?" Jared asked out loud, gaining the attention of Jensen, Misha, and Alex. You could feel their eyes burning through your skin. Or, maybe that was the fever. It had to be their eyes, you convinced yourself, you didn't have a fever. You were fine.

"Yeah, why?" you asked, faking the perk in your voice and confused eyes. Your eyes felt really heavy, you noticed.

"You just... You look exhausted. And pale." he said, "And you threw away that cereal without eating any of it."

You looked down at yourself as an effect for what you were about to say, "Wow, well that's one way to make me self-conscious. I thought I looked kind of poppin'." you laughed slightly, trying to play it off.

"W-wait, no that's- that's not what I meant! You look fine, I just-" he was embarrassed. You and the others chuckled.

"I'm kidding. I'm all good, just went to bed late, y'know?" you smiled. It was hard to try and mask the rasp in your voice, and doing so made you feel the need to cough, so you downed some water until it dialed down a bit. He nodded. In your mind, you blessed your acting skills, thinking you got away with it. What you didn't know was that Misha, Jensen, and Jared, as fathers do, knew every trick in the book, and each noted to keep an eye on you. Not to mention, they'd been acting far longer than you had, and could just tell when one switches into a character. They all figured that if you weren't sick now, you would be in days to come, and exchanged glances with each other, while Alex innocently continued to chew on his toast.

"Well, if you're tired, I don't think you have a panel or anything for another hour or something, maybe you could catch up on some sleep then." Jared suggested. You shrugged.

"Nah," you said, "I've got photo-ops in like, twenty minutes. I should actually probably get going. I'll catch up later!"

You left with a wave, and disappeared into the hotel somewhere. You stopped in your room, allowing yourself finally to set free the coughs living in the back of your throat. You blamed it on your throat being dry since you didn't drink enough water. Not on germs. So, you grabbed two water bottles from the small fridge in your room, and left, making your way towards the convention center.

You felt slightly better during photo-ops, which just confirmed in your mind that it was impossible that you were sick right now. You smiled and talked to everyone. There was one girl, who introduced herself as Meredith, who stuck out in your mind. She gave you this super cool hand painted keychain, which you very excitedly put on your keys instantly.

"Dude, I've been looking for a cool keychain. Not just one of those janky ones you find at like 7-11, like a cool one. This is so exciting." you smiled genuinely. You had just recently bought yourself a car, and thought that your keys looked a little lonely, and searched for hours on Etsy for something to spice it up a bit. A weird obsession, thinking about it now.

She laughed, "I'm glad you like it!"

"Hell, yeah! Now, are there any poses you wanna do? Or do you just want to hit that casual look? I could make it look like I'm meeting you." you stupidly rambled. One of your traits that was so widely known was how funny and awkward (in a good way) that you were. It took you a long time to get to that point, though, because you were always anxious about meeting others. You still are every now and then, but it's different here.

"I was just hoping to get a hug." she said, "If that's okay with you."

"Yeah, that's cool!" you wrapped your arms around each other and shot the camera a grin. The girl looked a bit confused.

"Hey," she said, quietly, "are you like, okay? You feel really hot."

Nervously, you replied, "Oh, no, yeah totally fine. I'm just wearing two layers, and it's getting spicy in here."

"Yeah," she answered, "don't push yourself, okay?"

"I won't, thank you. It was really nice meeting you!"

"You, too! Thanks!" she waved goodbye and you moved on to the last few people in line. She was right, though. You realized that you felt worse than you did when you walked in. You thought it had gone away for a while, but now it was just amplified. You noticed you were cold again, but that you were sweating as well. It must've just been the temperature in the room. These conventions aren't always able to keep a steady temp in the entire building, right?

This day, you didn't have much to do. Most of your events were on the other days to come. You had one panel in a few hours, and then a panel with Jared, Jensen, and Misha a few hours after that, and then bam, the day was over. You just had to get through those two events. Just two.

Two, events. And both were an hour. So, two hours out of the day. Rookie work. Yet, as your panel approached, the headache had expanded from under your eyes to anywhere that there was space to hurt, your throat ached and so did your lungs from how much you were going off somewhere to cough in privacy, your body felt heavy, you couldn't tell if you were hot or cold at this point it was some weird combination of both, your stomach hurt just slightly, the world was moving around you a bit more than it usually would, and the fever you "didn't" have had climbed a degree, probably two. And, at some point during the day, you got pretty congested. You felt like you could just fall asleep at any moment. Jared and Jensen happened to be walking by where you had been waiting by yourself, away from any congoers or employees, and noticed that even though you were leaning against a wall, you somehow were still swaying.

"Y/N?" Jensen called out, worried. You heard him, you knew you were supposed to respond, but didn't know how. Maybe you did have a fever, and maybe you sort of let it out of control. It was like you were comprehending them, but not at the same time. You heard everything, but it just swept right through your feverish mind. The walked in front of you and examined you within seconds. You felt Jared's cold, really abnormally large man hand sweep your hair back and land on your forehead.

"J, she's burning up." you felt another hand on your face. You, quite exhaustedly, swatted it away. They couldn't figure out how it'd gotten so bad so quickly. You were sick this morning, but not to this degree. They knew then that you had just shrugged it off all day, and your teenage fever brain probably didn't even think to take any kind of medicine or anything for it, even if you were trying to hide it.

"I'm good. Just tired. Fevers don’t exist." you finally mumbled, taking a few deep breathes, which you hadn't really been able to do in a bit without being rudely interrupted by a bone-shaking cough. It felt nice, almost. The boys sighed at you and shook their heads.

"Y/N, you should go back to your room and get some rest. We can bring you some stuff that'll help." Jared suggested. You shook your head and opened your eyes, which somehow felt even heavier.

"Nah," you said to them, "I've got a panel, I think, in like, I ‘dunno, some minutes or something. Something I-" you pushed yourself off the wall to try and make your way somewhere, but stumbled a step or two, which result in Jensen and Jared instinctively to grab you in order to keep you steady.

"Like hell we're letting you go to that, Y/N, you can't even form a sentence, or stand for that matter. You're out of your mind. We're going to bring you back now, we'll take care of your panel thing." Jensen stated pretty sternly. You were about to fight back, and they could see it, but you coughed a few times, and they could almost feel it in their own chests. You just nodded in defeat.

"Yeah, maybe I could just like, sleep, for an hour or two." you whispered, tiredly. The two were still holding you steady, and could see you already falling asleep before even going anywhere.

"Or six, by the looks of it." Jared joked lightly.

"Poor kid." Jensen said to Jared as the were walking out of your room. They helped you get there, and you were gone before you even saw the bed, "Why do they always have to pretend like they aren't sick? Look where it gets them."

"Don't know, man. You can't talk, though. You literally tell people you are immune to illness." Jared laughed quietly, shutting you door.

"Well I am. I am the perfect example of health. I don't get sick."

"Yeah," Jared rolled his eyes, "Right. Watch you catch what Y/N has. You practically carried her all the way here. There's no way you're escaping it." Walking towards the center, the back way of course, Jensen scoffed, "Please, germs take one look at me and know not to mess this up. And, by the logic, that means you're already infected, too. So, tell me, princess, what sort of soup do you want spoon-fed?"

Again, Jared rolled his eyes, and the two laughed. They weren't making fun of you, they were making fun of each other, and knew that you would've wanted in on that action.

"Y/N probably would've destroyed us if she heard that. Something along the longs of 'You want me to tuck you in? Carry you bridal style?'" Jared pitched his voice a tone higher for it. Again, the two men laughed.

They made their way backstage of what's supposed yo be your panel, and informed the crew about what was going on. They were just going to fill in for you, probably tell a few embarrassing stories.

When they made their way through the curtain, the crowd shouted. They were obviously excited to see the two leads, but also were obviously confused. "Alright, you're probably confused." Jensen stated the obvious, "Because obviously, we look nothing like Y/N, and thank God she does not look like us." The crowd laughed.

"Anyway, Y/N can't make it today. She's really sick-" the crowd cut Jared off with a unison "awe." People yelled out that they hoped she felt better, tell her to take care of herself, and so on.

"Yeah, poor kid looked like she was just going to fall asleep right where she was standing. She literally tried to come anyway, like, kid, you're making no sense. Y/N couldn't really fight against us, though, so she's sleeping now." Jensen explained, "So we came here to chat in her stead, but just know she really was planning on coming. That kid loves you guys." and again, the "awe" rolled through the crowd.

"If she wasn't sick, she could totally kick both your-" the last word was cut off, but was implied anyway, someone screamed from the crowd, which resulted in laughter.

"Yeah, probably. Even if we were stronger than her," sarcastically, of course, "she'd still beat us. Kid's too fast, and I'm too old." Jared laughed.

In the last ten minutes of the panel, Jared decided to give you call. Not only to check in on you, but so you could at least say hi to your crowd. When you heard the phone ring, you groggily opened your eyes and aimlessly reached for it.

"Hello?" you answered. Jared almost frowned at how sick you sounded, even with just one word.

"Y/N?" Jensen stepped in, "It's Jensen."

"Unfortunate." you sighed exhaustedly. It was joke, a really tired one, but still enough to make the crowd laugh.

"We're here at your panel, we thought you might want to say hi." Jared said loudly, holding the speaker of his phone to the microphone.

"Panel?" you asked. Panel? What panel? Your delirious mind was clearly confused, "Who's that?"

"Y/N, the con. The convention panel?" Jensen actually sounded worried. They probably should've thought to give you some sort of medicine to do something about the fever you had before they'd left.

"Oh," you closed your eyes again, almost falling asleep, before remembering finally what it was they meant, and after a moment, "Oh! Crap, the panel thing, I'm late."

"No, Y/N, stay there, we've got it covered remember? You can't come. You can say hi to them, though." Jensen interjected quickly.

"Okay, hi guys." you just followed as told.

The crowd responded with a series of hello's.

"'M really sorry. I hope they aren't boring you." the two men could practically hear you closing your eyes. The crowd responded in inaudible chatter. Jensen and Jared walked from the mic for a second.

"Sorry if we woke you, kid." Jared apologized, having just realized they probably could've left you alone, "W also just wanted to check in. See how you're doing."

"How are you feeling?" Jensen asked, but got a mumbled word in response, "Alright, well, just go back to sleep, we'll be up there soon."

Jared hung up the phone, and the two began to answer the last few questions and close up. They waved their goodbyes to the crowd, and started heading back your way.

"Jensen, you got any over the counters with you? Thermometers or anything? All I've got is Advil, and I don't even know what's really bothering her yet other than that cough and being tired."

"Yup. Danneel always makes me carry literally an entire medicine cabinet, just for these moments. I'll go get 'em and meet you there. It'd probably do her some good to eat something, too. I don't know if she's got like, a stomach virus thing going on, though." Jensen answered.

"I'll see what she'll say and let you know."

The two parted ways, and Jared made his way to you. Even though he'd only talked to you just a few minutes before, you were dead to the world by the time he opened the door. The room was boiling, and Jared looked over to the thermostat to see that you'd at some point put it on to 90 degrees.

"Jesus, Y/N, I know you've got a fever, but damn." he said, more so to himself than to you. He looked over at you after turning it down to see you curled beneath what looked like any blanket you could find. He came over and started removing the blankets slowly, and shook you gently to wake you up.

"Y/N, wake up for a minute, it's Jared."

"'Mm." was all you said, until you realized your layers of warmth had been moved, "What're doing? It's cold."

"Y/N, you're dripping in sweat. It's the fever making you cold."

"I don't have a fever." you retorted, "I'm good. Just tired."

"Kid, you've been tired the whole day. You've been sleeping this whole time." he tried rationalizing.

"I have?" you questioned, closing you eyes again. Jared put his hand to your forehead again. Somehow, it was warmer than the first time he'd done it before the panel. It was then that Jensen finally appeared, a whole bag of things in hand, "Could you bring the thermometer over?"

"Yeah, gotcha." He walked over and rummaged through the bag at the same time, pulling out a thermometer.

"Y/N, we need to take your temperature." Jensen said.

"No need." you said, "'M not sick."

"You are so obviously sick, I'm not asking." again with that stern voice. Jared gave him a "Hey, she's sick, back off a little" sort of look, but it had worked, and you let them take your temp. They were almost shocked when the thing beeped at 103.

"Should we take her to a hospital? That's way too high." Jared asked.

"If it gets any higher, yes, but let's see if we can bring it down first." Jensen replied.

"No hospitals." you demanded, opening your eyes and glaring at them.

"We aren't bringing you yet, Y/N, but I need you to eat this so you can take some meds." he held out two pieces of toast that he must've brought from his room. You hated toast even when you weren't sick.

"I'm not really hungry."

"I know, but it'll help. You haven't told us what's bothering you yet, either." Jared responded.

"Nothing's-" you coughed a few times, a bit violently, "bothering me." "We can see that." Jensen said sarcastically.

"Everything's bothering me." you whispered, giving up.

"Your stomach hurt?" Jensen asked. You waved your hand from side to side to signal a so-so, "Think you'll get sick at all?"

"No, it's not like that, I don't think." you breathed out, another cough escaping you. You took a few bites out of the toast. It made you uncomfortable, but it was then that you realized you probably felt that way since you really hadn't eaten much that day or the one before, which probably contributed to the splitting headache. It didn't go away after, either though. You pushed yourself up. You almost fell over, but Jared put a hand out for you.

"Alright, good. Take this. I'm going to be frank, it tastes disgusting." Jensen handed over a small cup of liquid, "Sometimes, if you take it like a shot, it helps. But you shouldn't know how to take shots, but if you do it, I won't judge." And so you did, causing the two to chuckle slightly at you.

"You were right, about the sleep thing." you slumped back onto the bed heavily, like a brick.

"When am I ever wrong?" Jensen asked, "Don't answer that, actually."

But you were already sleeping again, and the boys decided to stay nearby for now. The next panel wasn't for another few hours anyway, and they just didn't want you to be alone. Also, incase you were wrong about the toast, and it decided to make its return. Jared's phone began to ring loudly, to which he very quickly tried to answer so his obnoxious ringtone wouldn't wake you up again, not that you wouldn't have just fallen back asleep anyway.

"Misha? Hey, what's up?" Jared answered. Jensen walked over to hear what was going on on the other side of the line, but Jared just decided to put it on speaker.

"Where are you guys? I haven't seen you all day. Felicia, Alex, and I are going out for lunch, we were wondering if you guys want to come. I tried calling Y/N, but she didn't answer, so." he rambled.

"That's because Y/N's not feeling well." Jensen said, giving him a solution to his predicament of not being answered, "We're with her right now, so we'll have to pass."

"She's sick? Is she okay?"

"Yeah, I think so. She's just got this crazy fever we've been trying to bring down. Thinking about it now, Jensen, we should probably check it again."

"A fever?"

"It's been at 103 degrees for like, two hours. At least for what we know of. She's probably had one all day, but as a dumb teenager does, she just tried to ignore it."

"If it goes up you should-"

"Yeah, we know," Jared said, "we're trying really hard to avoid that, though. Also, she'll definitely fight against it, I don't know."

Jensen, from the other side of the room at the sound of a beeping thermometer, could be heard on Misha's end, "It went down, finally. 102.2."

"Thank God, I was getting worried."

"Should I come there? Do you guys need any help?" Misha asked.

"I mean you can, but I think we're good. She's just been trying to sleep it off the whole time, so not much is really going on." Jensen was closer to the phone now, "Like, she's got this cough, a headache, and you can hear how congested she sounds, but mostly I think she's just exhausted. I honestly don't know how because she's just been sleeping for hours."

"Fatigue."

"Yeah, poor kid. I don't think I've ever seen her so tired, it almost makes me tired to be honest." Jensen joked.

"Maybe you're just getting sick." Jared slipped in.

"Not possible. I am immune."

"Nobody is immune, Jensen." Misha sighed.

"I'm not nobody." he shrugged.

"Alright, well, we're going to get lunch then. If you need anything let me know, and tell her I hope she feels better." Misha concludes.

"We will, thanks Misha." and with that, Jared hung up. For a few more hours, the two hung around. They were there when you woke from some fever dreams, and when you needed a cough drop, or twelve, and wake you up every now and then to check your temperature, which raised and dropped and raised and dropped, but currently was at a very steady 102.4. But, soon enough, it was time for them to leave for the last panel of the day, and unsurprisingly, you tried to follow suit.

"Y/N, we gotta go, but we'll be back in about an hour from the panel." Jared said. You took a deep breath and sluggishly pushed yourself to the side of the bed. Having been sick, and not having sat up in a few hours, the blood rushed from your head, leaving you dizzy.

"What're you doing?" Jensen asked.

"The panel. I missed the last one I should go to this one. I feel okay." you yawned, then coughed slightly.

"Y/N, really, you shouldn't even think about pushing it like that." Jared said. Jensen walked over to you, half on the bed, clearly trying to steady yourself just from the movement of sitting up. The spinning room honestly almost made the toast make a reprise, and you hiccupped, and held your breath.

"Hey," Jensen grabbed a can quickly, noticing, "are you going to be sick?"

Giving it a minute, it went away, and you shook you head no, causing a huge tension to leave the room.

"Alright, well, remember how you said I was right all the time earlier?" Jensen pun the can down.

"No, must've been the fever." you half joked, causing Jared to laugh.

"Alright- well- okay, shut up. We agreed I'm always right, and that I was right about needing sleep, so I say you need some more." Jensen demanded rather than suggested.

"Yeah, or at least lay around and do nothing. I can't imagine ever sleeping as much as you just did." Jared joked, pushing you very gently back down, with his hand on your back, knowing you would just hit the bed without it. Your eyes were heavy again, and your throat was painfully dry, and you coughed. Your aching head also agreed with the two of them to your dismay.

"Maybe just a bit more." you mumbled, "A few minutes."

"Yeah a few minutes, sure." Jared smiled, knowing you were probably going to knock out for a few hours once again. You opened your eyes again.

"You think," you coughed, "that they'll be mad?

"Who?" Jensen asked.

Feeling pretty sick, you said, "That I don't go? I don’t feel really good."

Ah, the fever comes to play once again, it seems, but the two felt some sort of triumph now that you've at least admitted to being sick, even if it's been hours. It concerned them, though, if you felt bad enough to admit it.

"No, they'll be fine about it. We'll be back soon. Misha or Alex might come in to check on you, alright?" Jared answered, to which you nodded.

They weren't gone long. You spent half the next day sleeping, too, until you could stand without swaying. You did sneak back to the con, against Jensen and Jared's orders, since you really didn't break that fever and cough for a few more days, only to be caught after a tweet of you at the con was trending and the cast caught wind of it. But, eventually, you were better, and got the chance to help Jared take care of an "always immune" Jensen. And he was more stubborn than you were.

#jensen ackles x you #jensen ackles x reader #jensen ackles x y/n #jared padalecki #jensen ackles #jared padalecki x you #jared padalecki x reader #y/n #supernatural #supernatural x you #supernatural x reader #sickfic #spn #spn cast

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fandomcelery · 3 years ago

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Feelings are complicated, aren't they?

Pairing: Santana Lopez/Brittany S. Pierce

Word Count: 2107

Rating: Teens and Up

Tags: Sexuality Crisis, Internalized Homophobia, Pining

Beta: @useless-fanfictions helped me out a lot on this fic, especially since I'm just starting out writing, so a big thanks to them!

Summary: Walking next to Brittany felt normal and right, but at that moment it felt slightly wrong. A bunch of questions were running through her mind. Was she acting differently? Was it obvious that something was off? Oh god, does everyone think that she’s gay?

Or, the one where Santana realizes she might have feelings for Brittany and panics over it.

Read it on Ao3

For the Glee Character "This-or-That" Challenge: @gleethisorthatchallenge

Prompt: Sharing a bed or Sexuality Crisis

The way Santana feels around Brittany is normal, right? Sure, she’s never felt it for any other person—not even any of her previous boyfriends—but it’s a completely normal feeling. And yeah, okay, she also defends Brittany all the time when people insult or make fun of her, and when Brittany sticks up for her and is always by her side, she can never stop smiling. She always feels warm whenever she compliments her about literally anything that she’s wearing, or how her hair looks that day, or really anything that makes Santana feel pretty.

There’s also the fact that they have sex regularly even though they’re in relationships with guys who would willingly have sex with them as well, but that’s different. It must be different, because if it’s not—

No, it’s not an option for it to not be anything but platonic. It’s got to be, it just has to be.

Even though Santana hates when people flirt with Brittany and will usually try to scare them off when others aren’t looking. Or when they get into fights or arguments, big or small, she feels like shit when she can’t talk to Brittany, and then that means they can’t have their sweet lady kisses that make Santana feel like they are the only two people left on the entire planet.

Feelings are complicated, aren’t they?

As long as she always stands her ground, keeping their relationship just friends, and convincing Brittany—and a little bit of herself—that even though they’re in relationships they can have sex and it’s not cheating because they’re both girls, she will be fine. She just has to keep telling herself that their relationship isn’t anything, that they’re strictly friends and that she doesn’t have feelings for her best friend, because if she did then she wouldn’t know what she would do with herself.

She’s not homophobic, and just because Kurt freaking Hummel struts around with his gay flag waving in the air doesn’t mean that everyone can or has to. And even if they do, they’ll get bullied and harassed, just like him. It’s the way that everything goes, the straight popular kids are on top, and the gays are at the bottom, even though that’s ridiculous, it’s the way it goes.

She’ll just keep it to herself—even though there’s nothing there, obviously—and everything will be fine. She hopes that if she keeps telling herself that then maybe it will be.

***

Of course, that’s not what happens. The following Monday, after the weekend Santana had realized that something is different, it seemed like everyone has been staring at the two of them differently, but it might just be her paranoia talking.

Walking next to Brittany felt normal and right, but at that moment it felt slightly wrong. A bunch of questions were running through her mind. Was she acting differently? Was it obvious that something was off? Oh god, does everyone think that she’s gay? She is suddenly on the defensive side, glaring at the people who she thought were looking at her and Brittany weirdly. Maybe people always looked at them this way and neither of them ever noticed or cared; except now she did.

She knows the route they take to get to their next classes by heart because they always walk together, even though their schedules don’t really line up. Most people think that all the Cheerios just walk to class together in groups because the outfits look good together—which they do, she thinks conceitedly—and because of the cheerleading cliques. For a while that’s why Quinn, Brittany, and Santana would walk together, but then they actually got kind of close because of Glee Club, and now Quinn walks with Finn to her classes and Santana walks with Brittany.

During her fourth period that she has alone she can’t stop thinking about Brittany. How when she walks to class she hugs her binder to her chest, or how during class she always fidgets with her pencil when she’s in between writing, or how even if she doesn’t care about what people are talking about, she’ll listen to them anyway (like this one time a few days ago when they had arrived early to glee club and Rachel had come up to Brittany and her to ask for dance lessons, going on and on about something that had to do with her being a star and needing to know how to dance better, and Santana had only been paying attention to Brittany and ignored Rachel’s harping), Santana admires the way Brittany exists, and how it seems like nothing really bothers her. She doesn’t know why all of the sudden it’s hitting her, especially since she’s been friends with her for so long, and no, she doesn’t have feelings for her, they’re just friends.

***

They walk to their usual seats during lunch together, every now and again bumping shoulders with how close they are while they’re talking. Santana sits down across from Brittany, as she doesn’t miss a beat from what she’s saying to sit down.

“And I swear that Lord Tubbington has a gambling addiction, but he won’t stop—” she takes a bite of her food, “—and I don’t know what to do.”

“Why don’t you just take away his laptop privileges?” Santana suggests, also taking a bite of her own food. It’s not bad, however, it’s not good. Then again, it’s the school’s food. When she looks up at Brittany, she looks quizzical, like she hasn’t thought of doing that.

“That probably would work,” Brittany responds, and continues eating.

Santana’s focused on something else. That something else is Brittany’s physical appearance, everything about her: to her flashing smile, to her thin and perfect eyebrows. her slim waist, long legs, and her torso—which she shouldn’t be staring at in the middle of school, and yet she is. She is stunning to Santana, with her lean appearance and bright golden colored hair pulled perfectly back into a ponytail. Her blue eyes seem to twinkle all the time.

“Santana?” Brittany asks after she’s been staring for a moment or two.

“Huh, what? Sorry, I was just, thinking,” she responds quickly and looks away to other tables where other kids are sitting, she lets go of her lip that she must have been biting on.

“About what?” Brittany takes another bite of her food, almost finished, whereas Santana has barely touched hers.

“Nothing important,” she mumbles, taking a drink from her water bottle. The answer seems to satisfy Brittany and they go back to normal and easy conversation like Santana hadn’t been just staring at her best friend’s boobs.

***

Glee Club isn’t that different. Rachel and Mercedes are fighting for a solo that Mr. Schue handed out, he doesn’t know how to handle it, and so they’re trying to argue over one another. Finn, Puck, Matt, and Mike are making bets about something in football. Kurt, Tina, and Artie are talking about something—she can’t hear their conversation, and honestly doesn’t care—and so it’s Quinn, Brittany and her talking about the Cheerios like they always are.

“Sue’s been on our asses about winning at Nationals,” Quinn comments as she sits down next to Brittany.

“She’s just concerned about staying on top,” Santana remarks, looking around the choir room. She looks up at the two who are arguing over one another and laughs a little bit. Everyone knows that Rachel’s going to get the solo, she usually does. Mercedes probably knows that, too, and yet she’s still going to fight for it.

“And her paycheck,” Quinn adds.

Eventually Mr. Schue stood in front of the class, apparently they had sorted it out where Rachel got this solo and Mercedes would get the next one.

This Glee practice they were going to focus on their choreography added with singing, and it wasn’t that big of an issue for the three cheerleaders (and it was mostly for the jocks to practice anyway, since they were the ones having problems, other than Mike, surprisingly).

Afterwards everyone was tired and sore, they had to start over a bunch of times because someone kept messing up (Finn). Slowly the choir room emptied, and Brittany and Santana walked to their next class together. They were going to walk with Quinn, but she had muttered something about a “troll trying to steal her boyfriend” and went off to walk with Finn. They separated at their different classrooms, and the three of them were going to meet up for Cheerios practice that was after school, which was their usual plan.

***

After practice Santana was even more exhausted than when she left Glee rehearsal. She grabs her water bottle that she had placed in her locker when she first got there. She gulps down a quarter of the bottle before putting it back.

There are many girls around her, yet the only one she’s focused on is Brittany.

Ever since they walked into the locker room, Brittany, and another cheerleader—Hailey was her name—were talking nonstop to one another. It’s not like Santana was eavesdropping, but it’s not her fault they were standing so close and speaking so God damn loudly.

“One time she made a girl cry just because she talked back,” Hailey continues while she brushes her hair in the mirror.

“I know, I was there,” Brittany responds, leaning up against the lockers next to Hailey’s that no one’s using. “Sue can be a bitch sometimes.”

Hailey wraps her hair in a ponytail and starts to put the hair tie around it. “Don’t let her hear you say that she might move you down the pyramid,” she jokes, which gets a laugh out of Brittany. “However, she is the best cheerleading coach McKinley can offer, so I guess we’ll have to put up with it,” Hailey states.

They all know that that’s true, no other teacher will coach the Cheerios, and she’s the only one that’s gotten them to Nationals and gets a pretty big paycheck put towards the cheerleading team.

And listen, Santana doesn’t do jealous, okay? And she’s not. She just doesn’t like Brittany hanging out with another person so closely. And it’s because no one understands her like Santana does is all. And sure, Brittany has other friends, but usually they go through Santana to talk to her, so she knows them, or they’re all in the conversation. This is an entire new person, and they’re jokingtogether, which Brittany can do on her own, of course, but-

“Stop pining and either go talk with them or leave already,” Quinn mutters behind her.

Santana whips around and glares at her, and Quinn smirks.

“Oh, come on, don’t think I didn’t notice.” She walks past Santana to get to her locker, and Santana decides to do what Quinn suggested.

She grabs her water bottle from her locker and makes sure all of her things are put away before she leaves to head home.

***

She can’t be in love with her best friend, right? Sure, she and Brittany are close, and they do practically everything together, and Santana loves everything about Brittany, but that doesn’t mean she’s in love with Brittany.

Those thoughts are how Santana finds herself pacing in her room, not for the first time in the last few days, lost in thought. She looks over at the photos that she has on her walls of all of the Cheerios, but there are a few of either her, Brittany, and Quinn, or just the two of them.

She walks over and picks one up to look at it. She gets the same feeling that she’s been getting every time she thinks about Brittany, yet she’s been ignoring it for a while now. Except this time, she doesn’t. She feels butterflies in her stomach and doesn’t even realize she is smiling at Brittany’s picture. She sets down the photo when she does catch herself, and goes to lay down on her bed.

Even if she was gay, how would she know? Would having feelings that aren’t actually feelings enough to be considered gay? And what would everyone else think? Maybe she should turn to the internet, she thinks. She sits up and grabs her laptop that she keeps on her bedside table and loads it up.

A few searches later she realizes that maybe terms like bisexual or even lesbian fit her. Some more questions pop up in her head after that realization, but at least one thing’s certain.

Santana is in love with her best friend, and she has no idea what she’s going to do about it.

#gleecharactertot2021 #gleetotchallenge2021 #glee #santana lopez #brittany pierce #brittana #sexuality crisis #elliry writes #uefnajnfvedhbfhrsyuhebgveahj

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kuiinncedes · 3 years ago

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relight that spark

jatp au - chapter 1 - part 2/15? - 9,385 words

the prologue/part 1 (tumblr link) if you missed it!! (ao3 link) :D

so obviously this is pretty slowly updating already and it probably willll get worse 🤪 i might post the next part in like a week tho, it's not a full "episode" chapter and i already have it fully written and i'm pretty happy with it 😗✌️

this chapter is pretty long and i apologize for that bc i know i get annoyed when i have to stop in the middle of a long chapter and then my phone like loses my spot or whatever lakdshgjfs but idk how else to do it so .. just have my apology lol sorryyy <3 the next "episode" chapter is looking to be longer tho sdlkhglsj

LASTLY BUT NOT LEASTLY A HUGE MASSIVE FUCKING THANK YOU TO MEG @neversatisfiedwithlife FOR BETA READING THIS FOR MEEEE AND BEING SO SUPPORTIVE AND WONDERFUL LOVE YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU SM 💞💖💓💗💕

chapter title and lyrics in this part from "wake up" from the julie and the phantoms soundtrack (whichhh if you haven't heard it... you should listen to it after reading maybe 👀)

plot and a lot of the dialogue from julie and the phantoms so like credit to all those creators and writers 🤪

warnings for this chapter: grief, mentioned character death (regarding kurt's mom)

read below the cut or here on ao3!! <3

2020

There’s a deep-seated weight of dread in Kurt’s stomach that he’s unable to ignore for the entire morning.

His last chance at the music program -- he needs to play again today, for the first time in over a year, or he’s done.

It’s all he can think about all day. He makes it through his first few classes, somehow, walking through the halls almost mindlessly, thoughts far away and only worrying about what he’s going to do, barely paying attention to who he’s almost running into, because he doesn’t know what he’s going to do.

It almost feels like last year again, when school started and everyone knew and everyone was staring at him in the hallways, even though he knows that they’re not right now and he knows most of these people couldn’t care less about him not being able to play at this point, but in his head it feels like they all know, like they’re all waiting, waiting and watching for him to play again and sing again.

He has been, too, for over a year.

He stops at his locker to wait for Mercedes before going to class.

“We’re gonna get tattoos together,” comes her familiar voice out of nowhere.

Involuntarily, Kurt smiles a little, turning to Mercedes. “Umm…?”

She shrugs and smiles back at him. “You know, when we’re adults and out in New York together or something. Just -- you know, at some point.”

Kurt raises an eyebrow, silently saying, where the hell did this come from. Mercedes raises both of hers as if to say, answer the question. “Just curious,” she adds out loud. “Could start planning them now.”

He chuckles. “Of course. I’ll get all the matching tattoos with you.”

Grins and silent agreement pass between them and they both turn toward the lockers, a welcome break in the slowest part of the day, the voices and noises of other students filling the air.

“I know you don’t want me to ask, but…” Mercedes starts slowly after a moment, and Kurt nods his head in acknowledgement; he knows what she’s going to say. “Do you know what you’re going to do today?”

He puts some books in his backpack, mainly for something to do. “I’ll know in the moment,” he says, somewhat truthfully. He could just say what he thinks will happen, which is nothing. But Mercedes can see right through him anyway, so might as well stay somewhat positive until it happens. Or rather, doesn’t happen.

Mercedes sighs a little. “Mrs. Harrison said today is your last chance,” she tries, leaning on her side against the lockers.

“I know, I was there,” Kurt says lightly, letting his eyes scan the contents of his locker a tenth time. Mercedes reaches over and squeezes his hand lightly. Her eyes tell him that she’ll stop talking about it for now, and he squeezes back gratefully.

The conversation with Mercedes has really helped, though; it always does. If he’s going to spectacularly embarrass himself in front of his music class, and probably for the last time, at least he’ll have Mercedes there.

She sees it in his smile, and she sends it back. You always will, is her silent whisper.

A sharp, cheery voice pierces the air and makes them both turn their heads, and the uplifted mood from the conversation with Mercedes disappears when Kurt sees none other than Quinn Fabray, in her Cheerios! uniform, complete with a tight ponytail and perfect smile as she hands out what appears to be flyers to passing students, who are immediately won over by her status, closeness, sweetness. Finn Hudson lingers behind her with his guitar case and his own stack of flyers that he’s not handing out nearly as enthusiastically.

“Spirit rally Friday!” Quinn’s saying as she all but shoves another flyer into the face of a nervous freshman who takes it and scurries away, doing a double-take once they pass her. “Come see the Cheerios! do their new routine, and my group, the Unholy Trinity, perform our brand new original song!”

“What’s she handing out?” Kurt whispers to Mercedes. A corner of his lip quirks up despite the general unpleasantness of seeing Quinn.

“Desperation?” she answers with a small smirk. When Kurt turns back, Quinn is in front of him. He holds back a grimace at her fake smile and cheeriness.

“Hey, guys!” she chirps, as if they’re just any two other students at this school. “Here you go, my group’s performing at the spirit assembly on Friday!”

Kurt flinches back a little as a flyer appears much too close to his face and he takes it instinctively, holding it lightly in his fingertips. It truly looks like something Quinn designed -- perfectly professional, impressive, eye-catching -- and he can’t say it looks bad, as much as he might want to. He eyes Quinn over the top of the flyer.

“I’m sure you guys have nothing better to do,” Quinn continues, that smile still on her face, and there are the claws, Kurt thinks as he resists the urge to rip up the flyer right in front of her.

“Oh, my gosh, Quinn, thank you!” Mercedes says in an exaggeratedly sweet voice, clearly -- or at least clearly to Kurt, and likely Quinn as well -- imitating the specific tone of voice that Quinn takes, and Kurt stifles a laugh.

“Oh my gosh, Cedes, don’t bother coming!” Quinn says with a wide smile, turning away with a whip of her ponytail to continue pushing her flyers.

Kurt looks back at Mercedes, mumbling, “She did not just call you Cedes,” while Mercedes crumples up the flyer in her hands.

“Well, she did,” Mercedes says. Kurt can see the anger behind her eyes and he raises a concerned eyebrow. “I’m fine. She just… you know.” She dismisses his silent question.

“Yeah.” He loops his arm through Mercedes’ and they head down the hallway, almost running into Finn not three steps from Kurt’s locker.

“Oh, hey, sorry guys!” he says with a sheepish but genuine smile that contains all the warmth missing from Quinn’s. “Did you -- I guess Quinn already got -- ”

“Yep, she got to us,” Cedes says quickly, steering Kurt around Finn. “Thanks, Finn, bye!”

“Please tell me you are over him,” Mercedes says when they’re in a quieter area at the end of the row of lockers. Kurt realizes he’s staring and quickly looks away.

“Yeah, I am.” Mercedes looks at him skeptically and he insists, “I am, promise! You just… don’t find a nice jock like him around here that much.”

She nods, satisfied, and raises her eyebrows meaningfully. “You know they’re going to get married and have a bunch of demon babies.”

Kurt’s jaw drops open slightly and he laughs. “You can’t say Finn isn’t a sweetheart.”

“Only one of them has to be a demon to make a demon baby,” Mercedes says matter-of-factly.

“What… it’s a dominant gene?”

“Of course.” Mercedes turns back toward Quinn and raises her voice. “Demon!”

The two of them push against the wall, hiding behind the end of the lockers, when Quinn snaps her gaze back. Kurt can’t hold his laughs in this time, and he feels a little bad about it, but… considering what Quinn’s done to them, he can let himself and Cedes get away with it.

“There’s that smile,” Mercedes says gently as they gather themselves. “Now let’s go prove everybody wrong.” She pulls him toward the music room and slowly but surely, the sickening feeling in his stomach returns. He sits down next to Mercedes and just breathes. She squeezes his hand again.

Mrs. Harrison starts class soon after they arrive, getting into the last of the progress performances which are both a chance for the students to show off to their classmates, and also a checkpoint for participation in the music program, which is the part Kurt’s concerned about.

He barely hears as Finn finishes his drum solo and everyone claps and then Mrs. Harrison is calling his name and he’s standing and walking to the piano and oh god.

“Take your time,” Mrs. Harrison says gently.

That’s all he’s been doing for almost a year, just taking his time, but nothing has come of it. He sits down slowly, opening his music in front of him but it’s like his eyes don’t see the notes and just gloss over the page. He looks down at the keys, sets his fingers in place reluctantly.

It’s been so long that the keys almost feel foreign under his fingers when they once were the most familiar thing in the world. It’s been so long that he barely remembers how the song should go and why did he think he could just do this, it doesn’t matter how good at sightreading he’s always been. It’s been so long of him locking the memories in a chained and padlocked safe in the back of his mind and he’s terrified of playing again being what opens it because playing and singing and music has always always meant Mom, and she’s gone which he still sometimes forgets and it always hurts like hell to remember again, so letting himself remember so much more will only make reality that much worse. It’s been so long and what if he’s forgotten, what if he opens himself to the memories just to find that they don’t exist anymore?

It’s been so long; it’s been over a year, but doesn’t that mean he should be fine by now?

He knows avoiding the memories hasn’t been the best idea, but right now he can’t think of anything he could have done differently, can’t linger and regret his choices because he feels so vulnerable and exposed finally sitting at the piano in front of his whole class for the first time in a year, and the choice is right there and maybe he could do it but not in front of everyone his brain screams, and he can almost feel Quinn’s sharp, judging, so far from friendly gaze fixed on him and that is what breaks it, that is something he definitely can’t take and he pulls his hands back with a short inhale and the whirlwind in his mind stops and he can mostly breathe again.

It’s been so long.

Heart still pounding, he gets up and apologizes to Mrs. Harrison because she really has tried to help him and he appreciates it but he still can’t, and Quinn makes some comment and Mercedes fires something back but he doesn’t hear any of it, he just has to leave.

He knows Mercedes follows him out and she calls out his name when he’s halfway down the stairs. He’s started crying at some point and he doesn’t know when. All of it is just such a mess and so present in his mind; he was so close to music again, to Mom, but he’s not ready. He’s scared.

“Kurt,” Cedes calls again, quieter, her voice soft and choked, pleading. “Come on, please. Come back… and show them you can sing .”

He turns to look at her at the top of the stairs. “I can’t,” he says, voice rough with tears. “I’ve tried, for over a year I’ve tried…. I’ve tried for Dad, I’ve tried for Mrs. Harrison, fuck, I’ve even tried for Quinn.” He gives a short, bitter laugh as more tears spill down his cheeks.

“I’ve tried so hard for you.” He gestures up to her, voice breaking. “I’ve tried for Mom.” He closes his eyes for a moment, takes a breath. “And I’ve tried for myself.” Mercedes is also crying a little now.

“For over a year, I’ve tried,” Kurt continues weakly. “But I just -- I can’t. Not… not now.”

He runs down the rest of the stairs and out the door, and he knows he just got himself kicked out of music, knows he just ruined everything.

From mercedes 💖, 2:04 pm:

Are you leaving?

From mercedes 💖, 2:06

Tell me when you get home. I love you

To mercedes 💖, 2:08 pm:

i will, at the park for now

From mercedes 💖, 2:10 pm:

I’ll bring your stuff around later.

To mercedes 💖, 2:10 pm:

thank you

To mercedes 💖, 2:11 pm:

i love you. i’m sorry

From mercedes 💖, 2:12 pm:

Nothing to be sorry for, just take care of yourself okay?

From mercedes 💖, 2:13 pm:

Give yourself a hug from me until I get there to do it for you

“Hey, kiddo, how was your day?” Burt asks as he walks in, putting a hand on Kurt’s shoulder who’s doing homework at the kitchen table.

“It was okay,” Kurt responds with a small but hopefully convincing smile to hide the worry eating away at him inside, because if the school’s already contacted his dad about today, about Kurt ruining his last chance…

“I gotta go again in a bit,” Burt says, taking a drink of water. “Some guy really needs a car fix by tomorrow morning, but I’ll be done by dinner.” Kurt nods, some relief flooding his veins. He turns back to his homework.

“Oh, another thing,” Burt says and Kurt stiffens again. “I wanted to come and check in with you -- I talked to a real estate agent today, and they said if we’re serious about selling the house, we need to take some pictures and stuff, clean everything… and I was wondering if you’re up for cleaning Mom’s studio?”

Kurt’s immediate surprise and hesitance must show on his face even as he tries to keep his composure, because Burt quickly assures, “It’s okay if you’re not ready, I promise; we have time. You know I just -- I wouldn’t even know where to start in there.”

Kurt smiles a little. “No, it’s okay,” he says. “I can try tonight.”

“Awesome.” Burt ruffles Kurt’s hair, which from anyone else other than maybe Mercedes would not end particularly well, but Kurt just laughs and tries to brush the loose strands out of his eyes. “I’ll see you later, Kurt. Love you.”

“Love you, too, Dad.”

Kurt exhales slowly as his dad leaves again.

Cleaning out the studio means having to confront exactly what he’s tried to avoid for a year. The disaster that was music class today doesn’t make him feel better about it… but at least this time he’ll be alone -- none of the pressure of having to live up to the standards of well-meaning teachers or aggressive ex-best friends, none of the pressure of having to play at all, especially from the competitive nature at school. And… maybe he needs it.

Moving from here will only help you move on. Kurt’s aunt’s words echo in his mind. A part of him recoils at the idea of leaving his childhood home -- leaving the spaces his mom used to inhabit and her light and energy used to fill to the brim -- and starting over, someplace where there are none of those memories… he can’t tell if that’s a good thing. It feels like more of the running away that he’s been doing for a year, and he wonders if it really will solve anything.

But maybe he does need it. If staying in this house for the last year hasn’t helped, a change would be good, right?

Turning back to his work, he takes a deep breath and starts planning dinner in his head. He’ll tackle the studio after dinner’s ready.

To Dad, 7:39 pm:

dinner’s done, i’ll be in the studio

Kurt takes a slow breath as he opens the doors to the garage.

It’s not that it’s his first time in the studio after his mom died -- someone had to water the plants -- but he kept any interaction with the rest of the room minimal, so it still feels different to take in the full space instead of just rushing to the plants in the back with his head down. It always came with some guilt; it felt like the least he could do to keep some life in the studio when he could barely even bring himself to enter, let alone fill it with music as it needs to be.

He walks in slowly, some apprehension tickling the back of his neck, trying to stay calm. The familiarity is almost overwhelming this time as he looks around, actually taking in the room. The guitars on the wall, the couch and table, all of his mom’s decorations and knick-knacks. The chairs on the ceiling, story told with a fond smile from his dad about his mom wanting to decorate in a fun special way even while 7 months pregnant. The plants in the back, flourishing in front of the wall of windows positioned to let in the sunrise beautifully, not that Kurt has seen it happen recently.

And the grand piano -- in the center of the room, covered with a sheet, neglected for over a year. Kurt pulls it off now absentmindedly, letting the fabric pool over his feet. He takes a deep breath even though he probably just filled the air with dust, and goes over to the bench. He doesn’t open the lid, not yet. Some sheet music is on the seat and he places it on the piano without looking, sits down and gently touches the fallboard, inhaling shakily, not opening it to reveal the keys but just… remembering what it used to be, what it used to -- still means….

“I’m so sorry, Mom,” he whispers, eyes fluttering shut, “that I haven’t been here.”

With his eyes closed against the dark emptiness of the room, he can almost forget. It’s too easy to think that when he opens his eyes, his mom will be there, and she’ll be writing a song with him, or she’ll be playing, or they’ll just be talking…

Before the idea can flood his mind and leave him reeling when he returns to reality, Kurt stands and looks around the room again. There really is a strangeness to the place now. What used to be so comfortable and an extension of home -- sometimes even more home than the main house -- was always warm and brimming with emotion and joy and music and life -- now cold and dark and hollow, quiet. The familiar bones have an unsettling foreign emptiness around them. It feels wrong.

It needs to be filled. But… Kurt can’t do that.

He misses his mom -- always, but it’s amplified in this space that was always hers. He misses the feeling that the studio used to bring, that spirit that is now dimmed and suppressed. Covered, but still there. He can feel it like a gentle heat behind his skin. Not bad, but overwhelming, and he just….

The loft, Kurt decides suddenly. He’ll start with the loft. There aren’t memories and emotions so confusing and thick there that he’s barely able to avoid it, to push his way through with no energy left to untangle and understand. The loft is just full of random old stuff that his mom wouldn’t throw out and his dad teased her about.

So the loft first. And then he can ease into the rest when he’s more ready. After all, his dad did say they have time.

It’s significantly dustier in the loft; old instruments and random bags full of clothes are scattered and piled across the floor, his own electric keyboard propped up against the wall. Kurt stands on the stepladder a few steps below the actual loft floor, looks around a little, his eyes landing on a CD case lying on the ground -- black with a simple stark white word design: Sunset Curve. He picks it up, eyeing it thoughtfully, brings it back down to the main floor and decides to put it into the old CD player.

He doesn’t really know why he has such an urge all of a sudden. He’s listened to some music, but not nearly as much as before, and has actually chosen to listen to music only a handful of times since his mom died.

But… the studio needs music. As an apology for a year of neglect, and as a goodbye, he can let this music redeem the studio’s spirit a little, fill what he’s left hollow.

And he doesn’t want to be alone in the silence with his memories while he’s going through everything, even just in the loft. As something completely unfamiliar and random, this can give him the distraction and none of the pain. At least, that’s the plan.

Stepping down from the loft stairs, he glances at the picture in the CD case as he opens it -- a band of four who all look like teenagers, staring seriously into the camera -- he doesn’t get a good look at them, just slides the disc into the CD player and takes a seat on the couch.

The opening song starts strong with a gritty guitar riff and a 1, 2, 3! counting the band in. Despite himself, Kurt starts nodding along to the beat. It really is a great song, unique and upbeat…

Then some kind of… panicked screaming makes itself heard, first quietly and he thinks it could be part of the song, but it crescendos and gets unbearably loud --

And then there are three strangers appearing out of thin air before his eyes, screaming as they fall to the ground heavily. Kurt would wince at the sound of the impact --

That part’s certainly unlike any CD he’s listened to before.

He’s frozen, heart hammering and eyes widening as he stares at the three strangers picking themselves up off the ground, taking in their surroundings a little…

“How’d we get back here?” the middle one -- a shorter guy with black hair -- says breathlessly.

Kurt screams.

It’s not his finest moment, but three complete strangers just appeared in his mom’s studio, seemingly just popping into the air, and he can’t say he’s never been superstitious in his entire life or that he isn’t drawing immediate conclusions -- supernatural conclusions, fucking ridiculous conclusions. He doesn’t love that he runs into his dad on his way back into the house which may have also involved a little yelling about seeing ghosts (ghosts who screamed back, for the record), but he makes it to the safety of his room and texts Mercedes frantically, who doesn’t respond.

“Come on, Cedes,” he hisses to himself, shooting off another text. “Answer me!”

A knock from his doorway startles him and he just barely manages to hold back a shout, turning to see his dad leaning into his room hesitantly.

“You okay?”

Kurt gives him what must be a hysterical-looking attempt at a reassuring smile, all wide eyes and clenched teeth. “Yeah, no, totally fine, sorry for -- scaring you,” he replies choppily, tone not even convincing to himself. “Just, um, practicing for a school play.”

Burt definitely doesn’t believe him, but nods slowly anyway. “Well, I’m gonna go clean up -- ” He gestures over his shoulder with a grease-covered hand. “Dinner in like, ten minutes?”

“Yeah. Sounds good,” Kurt says shortly, forcing another smile and a thumbs-up.

As soon as the door closes, Kurt turns back toward his window and tries to get a glance of the studio, but it’s blocked from this angle by the trees in their yard. Apprehensively, he heads back to the garage, thankfully not running into his dad this time, phone in hand and thumb hovering over Mercedes’ phone contact.

When he goes in, it’s empty; no sign of anything out of the ordinary happening.

He scans the space warily, feeling jumpy and nervous, but nothing happens and he mumbles, “I know I saw something, I’m not crazy.”

He hears a soft popping noise and then, “Well, we’re all a little crazy,” from behind him and he turns with a sharp gasp.

“Oh, my god, who are you?” Kurt yells, maybe a little too loud because the black-haired boy winces slightly and all three of them step back a little. “What the hell are you doing in my mom’s studio?”

“Your mom’s studio?” the black-haired guy scoffs. “This is our studio!”

The tall blonde guy bounces forward. “Yeah, like, the piano’s new, but -- ” He looks to the right and his face lights up. “My couch!” he calls, running over and jumping straight onto it.

The girl -- hair black and in braids -- rolls her eyes. “Not your couch, Sam.”

The blonde -- Sam? -- sits up indignantly, stabbing a finger in the cushions. “Hey, I spent more time on this couch than any of you. Pretty sure it’s mine at this point.”

Kurt just watches them with wide eyes, jaw hanging open, with absolutely no idea what to do.

“But these aren’t our instruments,” the black-haired guy says warily, looking around. At some point he and the girl have linked arms, Kurt notices. He watches as they all take in the studio, faces getting increasingly confused and worried. Kurt raises an eyebrow that apparently can go higher than it already is.

“Because… it’s my mom’s studio…” he manages to say again, mind still whirling at the hurricane of new and completely nonsensical information.

“Can you just -- give us a minute?” Sam says, jumping over the coffee table to join his friends. They turn away to talk in a huddle, and Kurt stands awkwardly as they talk in failed attempts at hushed tones.

Tina’s trying to ignore the pounding of her possibly-only-theoretical heart -- she’s dead, how can she even feel a heartbeat -- as she watches Blaine and Sam talk to the… living person in front of them. Sam makes his usual comment about “his couch” and Tina snarks back with her usual response and it gives her some comfort, some familiarity even in this studio which should feel like home, has for so long, and it still does to an extent, but everything here is suddenly different.

The comment does send the strange boy’s attention back to her, though, which she doesn’t really like. Blaine wraps an arm around hers and she squeezes his forearm in gratitude. He did that a lot when they were alive -- knew how and when to offer her his touch to reassure her a little.

At least there’s something that’s still the same.

At least her boys are still the same.

She tries to focus on Blaine’s arm in hers, on Sam’s dumb comments as he comes bounding back to them, hissing, “Guys, what is going on here?”

Tina shrugs. Blaine whispers, “Who is he?”

“He can hear you,” the person in question says pointedly from behind them, but Sam ignores him and says, “Maybe he’s a witch.” He looks up, pointing. “There are chairs on the ceiling.”

“There’s no such thing as witches,” Tina hisses.

“Are you sure?” Sam shoots back. “Because I used to think there was no such thing as ghosts!”

Tina swallows. “That’s fair.”

“So we’re going with witch?” Blaine asks.

“No!” Tina waves her hands at both of them. “No, come on. You guys are just -- he’s probably just overwhelmed, okay? Let someone with a softer touch handle this.”

Maybe “softer touch” wasn’t the right phrase to use in this instance, she thinks, but she really just wants answers and figures she might as well be straightforward. “Why are you in our studio?” she asks, maybe a little too aggressively, stepping up to the alive stranger.

He looks down with a shocked expression and Tina realizes she accidentally got close enough to touch him -- or… pass her hand through his, partially. They both watch as he brings his hand through hers again. It’s a weird feeling -- warm and kind of tingly, or like she’s putting her hand through water.

“Oh my god,” he says, eyes wide. “How did you do that?”

Tina raises their eyebrows a little. “Okay, clearly you don’t -- clearly, he doesn’t get it,” she says, addressing the guys behind her. She turns back to the stranger, gesturing to herself and the others as she explains, “We’re ghosts. We’re just three ghosts, and we’re really happy to be home, so… thank you for the flowers; they really brighten up the room.” She tries to smile at him.

“We’re actually in a band called Sunset Curve,” Blaine pipes up, stepping up to flank her on the left.

“Tell your friends!” chimes Sam on her right.

“Last night was a really big night for us,” Blaine says, a little sadly. “It was gonna change our lives.”

Tina whispers, “Uh, I’m pretty sure it did.” Blaine huffs and elbows her gently.

“This is freaking me out,” the stranger says, shaking his head as he takes something from his pocket.

“What is that; what are you doing?” Blaine asks.

Alive Stranger looks up, fingers still touching the face of the object. “It’s my phone -- nope, stop talking to them! There’s no such thing as cute ghosts,” he says, seemingly to himself.

Sam gasps. “Think we’re cute?” He raises an eyebrow, making one of his insufferable Sam faces; Tina almost laughs.

The boy looks up again with wide eyes, gaze flitting to each of them as if watching for a reaction, swallowing and going back to his phone.

“Who’re you calling?” Tina asks, trying to see the side facing him because that doesn’t look like any phone she’s ever seen.

“I’m googling Sunset Swerve.”

“Sunset Curve!” Blaine, Sam, and Tina correct him at the same time, Sam drawing a curve in the air with his finger.

The stranger laughs nervously, staring at them with wide eyes and then back at his phone. “Okay… so there is a Sunset Curve.” He swallows again. “You guys did die. But not last night.” Tina’s stomach drops a little; Blaine and Sam get closer.

“Twenty-five… years ago,” the boy finishes, a confused look in his eyes.

Tina barely has time to register this before Sam says, “That’s impossible. All we did after we floated out of the car was go to that weird dark room where Tina cried.”

Her mouth drops open. “I wasn’t -- I -- we -- ” she squeaks, voice jumping up an octave. “I think we were all pretty upset,” she says, but she supposes Sam is right.

He pats her back and doesn’t have a chance to respond again because Blaine steps in, “That was just for, like, an hour, though. We just showed up here.” Tina and Sam nod.

“Look,” the living one says, finally turning his “phone” toward them. They lean forward to see a screen with a photo of them -- and Artie, Tina thinks distantly; she feels his absence acutely and it spikes through her chest -- taken for their summer tour, and a bunch of small text around it that she can’t read, a bold headline at the top reading, Sunset Curve: A Hollywood Tragedy. “I’m just telling you what my phone says,” he explains. “You guys died in 1995. It’s now 2020.”

“So this is the future?” Sam asks incredulously as the boy pulls his phone back. Something else sticks out in Tina’s mind, though.

“So -- it has been twenty-five years,” she says, pausing to gather her thoughts. “I have been crying for twenty-five years -- how is that possible?!”

“You’re a very emotional person,” Sam reasons.

“I am not!” she insists, but the tears already pressing in the back of her throat want to prove otherwise. Distantly, she reminds herself that she’s with her friends who’ve seen it all and she doesn’t need to hold back, but the presence of this complete stranger also overrides the ease of her relationship with the guys. Sam rubs a comforting hand over her shoulder, and she swallows the tears down.

Alive Stranger shakes his head. “I gotta go… eat dinner,” he says slowly. He turns back around once he’s walked past the three of them and says, “Look, I’m really sorry for what happened to you guys, but this isn’t your studio anymore. You have to leave.”

“But we -- ” Blaine starts, starting to go forward but a sharp glare stops him and he clears his throat. “We didn’t even get your name.”

“It’s Kurt,” the stranger snaps.

“Cool, I’m -- Blaine,” Blaine says hesitantly. “And this is…”

“Sam, hey.”

“Tina, how’s it going…”

“Ba-da,” Blaine sings weakly, gesturing his hands in front of them like he’s presenting them to Kurt.

They all watch for Kurt’s reaction, but he just sighs and leaves the studio. He leaves the doors open, probably to remind them that they technically just got kicked out of their studio -- or, Kurt’s mom’s studio -- someone’s studio, but really it’s been their home for so long…

“Kurt seems nice,” Sam says cheerfully, trying to lighten the mood.

Tina turns to him. “Did you miss the part where he kicked us out, or…” she says drily. Sam shrugs, a hint of a smirk on his face. “Okay,” Tina mutters, turning to wander around the studio some more. If they’re going to be kicked out, she wants to spend as much more time as she can here.

Kurt’s mind is a storm. He doesn’t know where to start with this new information -- with an evening that took such a sharp turn from reminiscing and sad and somewhat painful into just… something so completely different and unexpected.

Dinner Kurt can do. He can put the craziness of ghosts aside because dinner is easy, dinner is simple; dinner is important.

His dad has already set everything out so Kurt takes his seat across from him, sending a not-completely-true nvm everything’s fine, sorry for worrying you text to Mercedes, who finally got back to him at some point when he was distracted…

Distracted talking to ghosts.

“How’s it going?” Burt asks as he sits down and it takes Kurt a second to remember he must be talking about cleaning the studio, and not actually about ghost musicians.

Ghosts don’t exist. There are no ghosts in the garage. Don’t think about ghosts.

“It’s good,” Kurt says, poking at his food a little. “I’m starting with the loft.”

Burt smiles. “Those old instruments need a home.”

“Yeah,” Kurt says, returning the smile. “Mom would like that.”

The instruments probably belong to some ghosts, Kurt realizes, but… nothing he can really do about that. And that’s if the ghosts can even touch objects.

They eat in comfortable silence for a while and then Burt sets down his fork. Kurt looks up apprehensively.

“So I got an email from the school today,” he starts. Kurt fiddles with his fork and drops his gaze.

“Hey, it’s okay, Kurt, I’m not mad,” Burt promises.

You should be, Kurt thinks -- all that money spent for him to audition for and attend the music program, and for private lessons and sheet music and piano maintenance, just for him to throw it all away.

“I know those classes can be hard,” his dad says, and Kurt almost can’t take his gentle tone, feels guilty about it even though he appreciates it. “But… you still like music, don’t you?”

Kurt shrugs. “I don’t know, maybe?”

“I know the memories are hard, believe me, Kurt. But, every time I see you, I see Mom, you know? And I love that, I really do. Maybe, if you give yourself a chance, you can, too.” Kurt looks up hesitantly to see his dad’s gentle, loving expression and eyes slightly glassy with tears. Looking down again, he swallows, and nods.

“Yeah,” he says quietly. “I will. I’ll try.”

Because what he said to Mercedes earlier on the staircase is true, but… he’ll always try harder for his dad.

“It’s okay, Kurt,” Burt assures him. “We’ll figure it out, I promise.”

Kurt smiles and almost starts eating again, but music suddenly blares from outside, startling both of them, Kurt barely holding back a loud swear.

“What is that?” Burt says, getting up but Kurt rushes to reassure him, saying quickly, “I must have just left the CD player on in the garage! It’s fine, I’ll go get it!”

He runs back to the studio where the ghosts are still there apparently, and have somehow gotten instruments from the loft and set everything up to start playing, and play really loudly -- and it honestly sounds good but Kurt can’t focus on that because they’re going to disturb the entire neighborhood and get the cops called on them for a noise complaint and what is he supposed to say -- no officer, it was just the three ghosts in the garage being idiots, sorry?

Kurt yells for them to stop but it’s useless; he can barely even hear himself over how incredibly loudly they’re playing. Blaine, on an electric guitar that Kurt remembers seeing in the loft, turns and sees Kurt, walking towards him and finally playing one last chord when Kurt makes a horizontal cutting motion with his hand, and Sam, on the bass, follows, Tina playing one last short drum roll, looking up with a wide grin.

They all look… alive, Kurt thinks, despite literally being dead, so different from the confusion he left them with -- relaxed and loose and faces lit up, the energy flowing through them almost visible. If he didn’t know they were ghosts and made of air, he’d expect to be able to reach out and feel them, breaths hot and fast from the exertion and adrenaline, skin warm and slightly sweaty, hearts beating strong like the steady percussion of their band.

It reminds him of how music used to make him feel.

“Cut it out!” Kurt snaps, trying not to raise his voice too much. “The whole neighborhood could hear you! I thought I told you to leave!”

Blaine looks back at his bandmates, bewildered. “People -- people can hear us play?”

“Yes!” Kurt says exasperatedly. “My dad heard you from inside!”

“… What did he think?” Blaine asks after a moment. Kurt opens his mouth for an irritated response --

“Everything okay in here?”

Kurt whips around to see his dad in the doorway and smiles with wide eyes. “Yeah! I just -- had to turn off the CD player,” he lies.

People have told Kurt before that he’s a good liar; he really hopes that’s true after the evening he’s had -- he's having.

Burt’s attention is elsewhere, though, seemingly forgetting about the chaos from just a moment earlier. “Wait, is this the junk that was in the loft?” he says, excitedly eyeing the instruments and… the ghosts that he can’t see.

“Junk?” Blaine exclaims. Tina stands up, her eyes on Burt, drumsticks gripped tightly in one hand.

They all watch apprehensively as Burt weaves through the instruments, even going so far as to rattle Tina’s cymbals and tap the drums, much to her horror. She fixes Kurt with wide, urgent eyes, to which Kurt just shrugs and gives her a helpless look. Hey Dad, actually, the ghost drummer wants you to stop, so…

“Hey, this stuff’s in pretty good shape,” Burt says excitedly. “Maybe we can make a couple bucks, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Kurt agrees weakly, mostly just watching as Tina fails to push Burt away from the drums.

“I like the song you had on,” Burt says, finally stepping away from the instruments. Tina rubs down a cymbal with her sleeve.

“Sweet! We’re Sunset Curve,” Blaine pipes up.

“Tell your friends!” Sam says, to a fond eye-roll from Tina.

“It’s just an old CD I found,” Kurt says, ripping his attention from the ghosts.

“Well, it’s nice that you’re listening to music again,” Burt says sincerely. “Out here, you can play whatever you want, whenever you want.” He waves his hands out on either side for emphasis, going through Sam and Blaine’s bodies. Kurt chuckles weakly.

“Oh,” Sam says, looking down at where Burt’s hand was in his stomach just a moment before. “That’s nice.”

“Stay out of this,” Kurt hisses.

“Sorry, Kurt, I’m just trying to help -- ”

“Oh! No, not you, Dad,” Kurt says quickly. For fuck’s sake -- “Just -- just give me a minute -- ” He starts pulling his dad toward the door. Burt stops him and says, “Hey, we’re gonna figure out this music program thing, okay?”

“Thanks, Dad,” Kurt says with a smile, and gestures for him to leave.

Once Burt is out of sight, he turns back to the ghosts.

“Wait -- ” Tina waves her drumsticks around a little. “So -- only you can see us, but everyone can hear us?” Kurt nods in confirmation. “What kind of ghosts are we?” Tina says.

“Who cares, dude!” Sam says, stepping up to Tina’s drum kit with a grin. “People can hear us play!” The three exchange fist-bumps as Blaine says happily, “We might be dead, but our music isn’t.”

“And Kurt’s dad likes our music!” Sam cheers.

“He’s a dad, it doesn’t count,” Tina mumbles, smiling and pushing Sam playfully when he turns to her with an offended look.

Confusion and annoyance bubble up inside Kurt along with something like anger at, just, all of it and he groans and says loudly, “Why can’t you guys just be normal ghosts? You know, go hang out at an old mansion or something! I hear Pasadena’s nice!” and turns to leave, slamming the door on his way out.

He just… has had too much going on today. He needs to -- ignore his homework and the problem with school and maybe just sleep in for the next two days. That would be really nice.

He’s so caught up in his head and he jumps and yells when a ghost appears in front of him with no warning.

“Don’t do that!” Kurt exclaims.

“Sorry, I’m sorry,” Blaine says quickly. “ -- You do know how rad this is though, right? People -- people can hear us play!”

“Yeah, good for you,” Kurt replies, a little too harshly. “It’s just that I’ve had a really, really, awful day. I’ve gotta go.”

He walks past Blaine just to turn around again when he says, “I’m really sorry you had a bad day.” Kurt nods; he can tell Blaine wants to say more, so he waits.

Blaine continues slowly, “I just… three ghosts just found out they had a bad twenty-five years, and then they find out that the one thing they lived for in the first place, they can still do. So you can kick us out, but -- we’re not giving up music. We can play again; that’s a gift no musician would ever turn down,” he says earnestly, eyes wide and almost pleading.

That hurts in Kurt’s chest a little more than it should and he looks down again to avoid the passion and excitement shining clearly in Blaine’s eyes, in his voice, in his words. He swallows down the feeling that statement unearths inside of him, but suddenly his bad day is at the forefront of his mind again -- his bad year.

That’s a gift no musician would ever turn down … some musician he is, then. But he already knew that.

Blaine says softly, “You’ve gotta know that. Clearly your mom is into music.”

Kurt swallows. “Was,” he says, monotone and quiet. “She passed away.”

He hates that it’s become easier to say; he wants to either spit the words out or break down sobbing but he manages to keep his voice steady. (In the back of his mind, he wonders why he just told that to a random ghost he just met. Maybe he’s just going crazy. He’s literally talking to ghosts, after all.)

Blaine’s face falls. “I -- I’m so sorry,” he whispers.

“Yeah, we -- we didn’t know,” Sam says quietly. He and Tina have also left the studio, standing on the other side of the low wall separating the garage area from the pathway back to the house. They look up with sympathetic eyes and Kurt looks away from them too -- can’t meet any of their wide, well-meaning gazes right now.

“It’s fine,” he dismisses. “Sorry I got mad.” The ghosts are thankfully looking at each other now, seemingly silent conversation passing between their glances. “You guys are pretty good,” Kurt says, trying to change the subject and lighten the atmosphere.

Blaine raises an eyebrow, turning his gaze back to Kurt. “‘Pretty good’? You know that’s just, like, 25 years of rust being dusted off, right?”

“Do you play, too?” Tina asks.

“No, no, I don’t play.” It’s not exactly a lie anymore but it scrapes in Kurt’s throat with his haste to answer. “That’s all my mom’s stuff in there.”

“She’s an amazing songwriter,” Blaine says.

“Yeah, she was,” Kurt answers. “Wait… how do you know?”

Blaine opens his mouth, glancing at the others for a second. “We found a song on the piano,” he says. “If it’s hers… your mom was really talented.”

Kurt nods. She really, really was.

He feels like he doesn’t have the energy to say it again, so he just stays quiet. Somewhat awkwardly, he turns to leave, sensing the end of the conversation and part of him desperately wanting to just leave and not have to see these ghosts again….

So Kurt surprises even himself when he pauses and turns back to face them. “I guess,” he starts, and their gazes snap back up to him. “If you need a place to stay… you can stay in there.” He nods toward the studio and the ghosts’ faces light up. Kurt can’t help but smile back. “There’s a couch that turns into a bed, and in the back there’s a bathroom with a shower, if you still need any of that stuff.”

“Awesome!” Sam exclaims quietly, earning an elbow in the side and a questioning look from Tina. “What? Dude, I just really like showers,” he defends.

Tina rolls her eyes. Kurt takes a breath, raising his hands to gesture vaguely at the three of them. “This is just… too weird.” He nods to himself, finally leaving this time, leaving the ghosts to… do what they will.

The fact that there are ghosts in his mom’s studio…. Maybe there’s a chance that Mom knows them -- sent them, he thinks… but decides to not get his hopes up. She’s gone and he needs to just keep it at that.

What he really wants is to tell Mercedes, but he doesn’t know how.

What would you say if I told you there were three ghosts living in my mom’s studio? Kurt thinks on his way back to his room.

You’d say I’m crazy.

It’s some point in the night; they figured out that they don’t need to sleep -- can’t sleep, it seems like, which is honestly really annoying in Tina’s opinion because they’re ghosts with literally nothing to do for too many hours at a time -- so they’re just hanging out in the studio, with the lights outside giving them a little visibility through the garage windows, but it’s kind of nice to just sit in the dark.

Tina has been on the couch with Sam, lying on their backs, heads in opposite directions, legs pressed up against each other. Sam’s bass is unplugged, laid on his stomach and extending over Tina’s legs. He plucks out notes and Tina accompanies with a soft beat using just her hands and body parts as instruments. Sometimes it’s a familiar bassline -- a Sunset Curve song rehearsed or performed or recorded before -- and they also hum the harmonies that they know, and sometimes they improvise -- Tina storing the good bits in her mind for a future writing session.

Blaine is in the loft where they hoped a light could be on and maybe go unnoticed. Tina assumes that he’s writing; he always was when they were alive. And of course, now he has 25 years of dark room and relative nothingness to catch up on writing about.

It feels like another quiet night from when they were alive, each of them with an excuse to escape their homes for the night, and they’d all crash here, filling the studio with soft music and noise. Blaine would stay up writing and sometimes singing while Sam and Tina (and Artie) would try to sleep, telling him to stop humming, or, since the main house inhabitants who would care about the noise were rarely there, they would sometimes join along with him and make it a Sunset Curve midnight rehearsal.

They’ve never had the best sleep schedules anyway.

Tina giggles quietly as she and Sam play into nothingness, both parts running uncontrolled and unable to get back on track. They both stop and Sam starts playing a familiar line -- parts they’d worked out before with bass, drums, and both guitars, but never actually put into a song. Tina waits for a moment to come in with her part.

She’s nearly startled off the couch when Blaine poofs down beside the couch with his guitar and starts his part. Tina starts laughing -- probably too loud but they’re pretty sure only their music can be heard anyway -- and slides off the couch to sit on the ground, picking the drumming back up on her legs.

“You guys wanna check out this teleportation thing?” Blaine asks, playing the challenging guitar riff meant for electric guitar messily on his acoustic without a pick.

Sam sits up and puts his bass to the side. “Absolutely,” he says. “Where’re we going?”

“I have an idea,” Blaine says, setting his guitar down. He pulls Tina up and extends a hand out for Sam. “I think I can take you guys with me.”

“What?” Tina squeaks, but a second later, she’s sitting far above the ground, outside, on top of the marquee of the Orpheum. “Oh my god,” she mutters, looking down dizzily at the people passing by on the sidewalk. Her body tingles with a weird uncomfortable energy for just a few seconds before it fades.

“Yes!” Blaine laughs, kicking his legs up excitedly. “I mean, I know being a ghost isn’t our first choice, but it sure is easy getting around!”

“Easy for you, maybe!” Sam cries on Blaine’s other side. “I lost my shirt on that one!”

Tina looks over and sure enough, Sam is shirtless. She stifles a laugh behind her hand. “Like that’s a concern,” she pipes up, but Sam’s shirt appears right as she says it. They all laugh and sit in silence for a moment.

“So why’d you bring us here?” Tina asks, looking out across Hollywood Boulevard, the new and old buildings and shops, the people and cars of the future. The light of the Orpheum’s neon sign shines in her periphery, same as it did on a night twenty-five years ago. “Just another reminder of where we never got to play,” she says wryly, turning to face Blaine on her left, patting his shoulder. “Thanks, Blaine.”

Blaine rolls his eyes. “I’m telling you guys, it’s not over yet!” Tina reappears on the sidewalk right below them, almost losing her balance and falling through a person walking past. She shoots a glare at Blaine for teleporting them with no warning again, but he just grins back and starts down the sidewalk, Sam following. “Let’s see how many places we can play tonight, yeah? Check out the music scene of the future? And no trouble getting into those clubs anymore!”

Tina laughs, falling into step with them. She watches Sam walk straight through someone going in the opposite direction and doesn’t realize someone is in her way, which shouldn't be a problem, until she bumps into them.

She feels them.

“Hey!” she says involuntarily, turning to see who it was -- another ghost? A tall man with a cape and top hat nods at her with an acknowledging and almost menacing gleam in his eye, then turns again and walks away.

He could see her, he could touch her -- he has to be another ghost, right?

“Tina, you coming?” Sam calls. She swallows and takes one last look, the other ghost having disappeared among the other people on the sidewalk, before turning and running to catch back up with the guys.

“I just ran into someone,” she says, a little breathless -- she doesn’t know if that’s from running, which she doesn’t think she can actually get breathless from, or the fact that she ran into someone.

“Another ghost?” Blaine says.

“I mean, it has to be, right? Uh, Kurt -- Kurt can see us but he can’t touch us…”

“And his dad couldn’t either,” Sam adds.

“It must have been another ghost. He looked like a… performer, or something.” Tina wrinkles their nose a little as she remembers his whole get-up, completely out of place among what she’s seen so far of 21st century street fashion. (But then again, so is she, and her friends.)

“… I guess we’re not alone, then,” Blaine says, breaking a short bewildered silence.

“We’re never alone!” Sam exclaims, walking between them to throw his arms around Blaine and Tina’s shoulders. Tina laughs and grabs his forearm, mystery ghost forgotten for the time being.

Blaine responds with a grin, “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Kurt wakes up earlier than usual the next morning. He thinks he still has school -- he doesn’t know how being removed from the music program works, but no one told him not to come and besides, he does have non-music classes to keep up with, even if he doesn’t necessarily want to. He gets ready as usual, leaving breakfast out for his dad, and there’s still half an hour before Mercedes should be getting here.

Perfect. There’s something he needs to try by himself… for himself.

He heads out to the studio with his things, a fluttering feeling in his stomach, but it’s different from the feeling before he tried to play in class yesterday, like the butterflies had turned to stone and were rolling around inside him, weighing him down and making him nauseous. This time it’s promising, hopeful, familiar -- butterflies fluttering normally, peacefully.

The room is empty when Kurt pushes the doors open and drops his backpack by the entrance.

“Guys?” he calls hesitantly, to no response.

He wonders if he should be worried about where the ghosts might be, or relieved for if they really did leave after all, since that is what he wanted… but he realizes relief is not at all what he feels at that possibility.

But if the ghosts aren’t here, then all the better for what he wants to do, so he decides to ignore their absence for now.

Kurt walks up to the grand piano in the middle of the room, thinking. There’s something… something deep loosening in his chest -- something about Blaine and the others and their intense passion for music that is so different from the intense judgment and competition at school that made it so impossible for him to play yesterday.

The way Blaine had talked about music…

The one thing they lived for in the first place -- they can still do.

A gift.

Kurt spreads out the sheet music that he found yesterday, just placed on the piano lid without a glance and it’s still there, so Blaine and the others must have just taken a look at it. He recognizes his mother’s handwriting, achingly familiar and beautiful in a minimalistic way, the neat notes and lyrics, clean and legible even without the help of staff lines. His heart stutters and he gasps a little as he reads some of it -- he recognizes the song. Something his mom told him she was writing when she got sick.

Kurt used to be so involved in her songwriting, but as she got worse and Kurt grew away from the piano (and from his voice), he never asked about this song.

She’d finished it.

Here’s the one thing I want you to know, you got someplace to go…

And he needs to hear it.

His fingers tremble slightly as he places them gingerly on the keys over the starting notes of the song. It feels completely different than it did yesterday; he doesn’t know if it’s the lack of teacher and students watching, the insanity of yesterday evening in between, the song itself… but the stones turned back into butterflies and it almost feels like it did before….

He wants to play, to make music. For the first time in a year, he actually feels like he can. And he needs to.

And if -- when -- it unlocks the memories… he thinks he’s ready.

Kurt takes a deep breath and plays.

#i somehow added like 25 words in my final edit just now lol #idk if anyone really cares but suspend ur disbelief at kurt singing julie's songs XD #i definitely know it probably would not work with her songs as is #they have Very different voices i am aware but i'm also too lazy to do anything about it so . they can be adjusted #to fit his voice right lol i just have no idea how that works 🤪 i just play piano and even then not really 🥴#so just like imagineee lol #i love how in the last part i said what would be endgame in this fic but like #damn i don't have any idea what's happening past what happens in the actual jatp show and #even then idk what's gonna happen within those bc it's not exactly the same 😂#lol but those ships Will probably like #have hints or something if that makes any sense laksdhgdjfs anywayyyy #kurt and the phantoms #my ficsssss #glee fic #glee #idk how i tag things lmao i think that's good enough XD #DRUMMER TINA DRUMMER TINA DRUMMER TINA #oh my god it's finally happening skdghsdhdkghdhjfhgjfgh #i've been working on this since my family went on vacation at the end of june so like two months fuckdghjfdkl #anyway lol hope y'all likeeeee 🥺💖#omg we're at 79 pages of google doc total lol

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olivia-anderson-fanfic · 4 years ago

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A Miraculous TikTok Account

Part 3

First

It was a good thing that Master Fu was giving them a month to get used to each other before he was going to make them start posting, because Chloe doubted any of them would give a convincing performance if they were supposed to start acting as friends.

It’s almost like suddenly shoving five people into a confined space and saying ‘play nice’ caused tensions. Who knew?

They were, for the most part, avoiding each other.

After all, even before the whole ordeal, their best relationships with each other were tense. Ladybug had something against Chat, Carapace didn’t see eye to eye with Ladybug, and everyone definitely hated Chloe.

The only person who didn’t seem to be mad at anyone was Rena… but she was also relatively new, and Chloe was pretty sure everyone agreed with her when she said that Rena was annoying.

Chloe walked into the kitchen and fought back a wince when she saw Rena at the table eating cereal. She turned around as slowly as possible. Maybe she wouldn’t notice her, she was on her phone after all --.

“Chloe!”

Dang.

Chloe turned back around and tried for a smile, exhausted as she was. The worst part of all of this was that none of them could properly express their grievances without fear of someone being akumatized.

“I have some questions for you!”

She was still going to be super passive-aggressive, though.

“Again? Didn’t you get enough information the first few times?”

“Nope! Every answer just gives me more questions.”

She supposed she should just be glad that she wasn’t currently in costume. Her wings tended to buzz when she was annoyed and she doubted Rena could take any of them being angry with her.

“Okay. Go ahead, I’ll answer while I make myself food,” said Chloe.

Rena started questioning her about her powers. Luckily they just seemed to be the basics of her powers (Do all bees listen to her or only worker bees? Does she need to eat a lot of honey to create honey in battle? How do her wings carry her if, by all known laws of aviation, there is no way --?). Sure, they were awkward questions to answer because she only had theories, but the words ‘I don’t know’ seemed to satiate Rena just as much as proper answers.

She saw people shuffling in to make food and take it back to their rooms as quietly as they could while Rena was distracted with Chloe. She sent them glares out of the corner of her eyes but she didn’t call out to them or anything. This was a consequence of her own screw up, she would have to be the one to deal with it.

So, she drizzled honey on her cheerios and resigned herself to answering more questions.

Know what? Even if this is the direct result of her own mistake, she was allowed to complain.

And complain she would.

These people are the worst.

You already know why Rena was annoying to live with. Her constant questions gave Chloe no peace outside of her room.

And, inside her room, she had to deal with listening to Ladybug working on… something above her at all hours. Did Ladybug sleep? Signs point to no. Chloe wished that Master Fu hadn’t let her convert the attic into a room, it was very clear at this point that the people who made the house had not expected people to live in the attic. For some reason.

Chat Noir was… a cat. He slept almost the entire day and left things everywhere in the few hours he was awake. (Chloe understood that he likely had a maid back at his house, she wasn’t used to not having her normal butler around herself, but even she was better about picking up after herself.)

The only slightly tolerable one was Carapace. He spent most of his time hiding out in his room, studying.

Chloe had considered getting a job to get away.

(She wouldn’t actually get one, obviously, that was peasant stuff. Still, the fact that she even briefly thought about it is proof enough of the stress she was under.)

Beyond that, chores were just… not getting done. Have you ever seen a cat do something it was told to? Seen a turtle do anything at all? No? Chloe hadn’t seen that, either. The two bathrooms were a mess of different products. The washing machine was constantly in use because people kept forgetting that they were the last person to put anything in. She was beginning to forget whether or not the floors were carpeted she hadn’t seen them in so long…

(The only things that got done were the garbage and dishes, and only because no one wanted the house to smell. Chloe wasn’t sure who did them. Chloe also didn’t care as long as it wasn’t her.)

So, yes, things were not looking good. The only reason no one got akumatized during that first week was that everyone was working to stay calm.

Eventually, they adapted like all humans -- or partial humans, because at this point she was pretty sure everyone was at least a little bit their animals -- do when put in a new situation.

Chat, after getting a single pimple because he couldn’t find one of his skincare treatments in the mess, ended up cleaning the bathrooms. It was here that the girls realized that some of the products in their own bathroom were, in fact, Chat’s products, but they were fine with it because now they didn’t have to bother cleaning.

Rena took up the rest of the cleaning. Apparently even the five of them were less messy than her younger siblings were. Whatever she found that had been there for days that wasn’t hers was thrown into Chat’s room -- which ended with a lot of things going ‘missing’ but it was better than finding stuff everywhere.

Ladybug ended up doing laundry. It seemed that Ladybug had some kind of knowledge about clothes (maybe it had something to do with the job she apparently had?), because they found that their clothes were completely devoid of wrinkles and that the colors were bright even after a few washes. They weren’t going to question it.

After seeing Chloe and Chat’s spending habits, Carapace had decided that he would be the one to go to the grocers. It may be Master Fu’s money, but apparently he couldn’t handle the idea of spending that much more than they needed.

And Chloe? Chloe did nothing.

Just kidding. She tended to all of the plants in and outside the house. She rather liked gardening, she thought, but she figured that it was just a side-effect of the bee miraculous. Either way, it led to the group having fresh herbs and vegetables on hand for cooking.

Hardly anyone cooked, but still. It’s the thought that counts... or something.

Chloe had finished her gardening for the day and now she looked at the sign up sheet for patrols.

She huffed a little when she saw that Chat had signed up for the night. Again.

She walked to Chat’s room to ask him to just let her have patrols tonight or at least take her with him.

She fought the urge to roll her eyes when she opened the door and found him curled up in a tiny patch of sunlight, asleep.

Wait… asleep…

She smiled at her kwami. Pollen never talked -- and she was pretty sure she’d never heard any of the others’ talk either -- but that didn’t mean that Chloe couldn’t tell that Pollen was disapproving of what Chloe was thinking.

“Oh, shut up --.” The kwami frowned and Chloe gave a little huff. “I didn’t mean -- whatever. Sorry. Buzz on.”

Chloe flew over to where Chat was sleeping and considered him for a minute. He looked so peaceful when he was asleep…

Well, who was she to disturb that peace?

She picked up his phone and turned off the alarm to wake him up for patrols. A finger pointed at him, she mumbled the embarrassing call for her powers (“Don’twakeupdon’twakeup ‘Sticky Situation’ stayasleeeeep -- nice.”) and smiled when he was almost instantly coated with honey. She hardened the honey around him to make sure he was properly stuck.

(The honey stopped at his shoulders, a good distance away from his face and hair -- she was pretty sure he’d kill her if she did that and, with his power, that wouldn’t be hard.)

She stepped back and admired her handiwork.

She loved her power.

She snapped a picture and left the room.

Chloe hummed as she flew down the stairs to the main room. She crossed Chat’s name off of the list and replaced it with her own.

She made her way over to the couch and laid across it on her stomach to wait for patrols to start. She scrolled through TikTok absently, looking for ideas on what to do…

“WAIT WHAT’S GOING ON --?!” She heard Chat’s voice yell, confused, but it cut itself off. There was a beat and she heard him yell again: “PLAGG, CLAWS OUT! CATACLYSM!”

Ah. Dang. She’d been hoping that she’d already be gone when he woke up...

“CHLOE! WHAT THE HECK?!”

Did he really need to figure out it was her so quickly? Sure, she was the only one that could use honey, but come on!

She looked back at her phone for the time.

One more hour…

She saw Chat’s red face at the top of the stairs and tensed.

Well, there really is no harm in going early.

~~~

Taglist

@nathleigh @mialuvscats @sassakitty @th1s-1s-my-aesthet1c @blueslushgueen

#a miraculous tiktok account #chloe bourgeois #queen bee #rena rouge #alya cesaire #adrien agreste #chat noir #miraculous team #rewriting miraculous #ladybug #marinette dupain cheng #nino lahiffe #carapace #chloenette #chlonette #adrino

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slipping-through-my-fingertips · 3 years ago

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Music for the Soul

Summary: Soulmate AU where the song your soulmate is thinking of gets stuck in your head.

This fic is inspired by and gifted to @yellowpaintpots.

Notes: canonical, this is S2 E6 and a little beyond but it’s not exactly like the show obviously.

AO3

Kurt Hummel was used to not fitting in. At McKinley High, he was often an odd man out. He did partner projects alone, he held his tongue around bullies and had no one to complain to, and most days, he had an entire lunch table to himself. No one sat with the kid in weird, homemade clothes unless there was no other choice.

What kept him going was music. He had one earbud in as he walked down the halls. Choosing from playlists his mother used to listen to, Broadway soundtracks sung by people still performing on stage today, and to the thrill of his father, rock classics. If Burt Hummel had passed anything onto his son, it was his music tastes and the fantastical idea of soulmates.

The image of a white knight coming to save him by serenade was one that haunted him before he fell asleep. A boy, which little eleven-year-old Kurt held close to his heart, picked out by the universe meant just for him. Even when he started to find the fantasy a little too cheesy, it kept Kurt going until he found the glee club.

No one could touch him or change him because there was someone out there who would love him exactly the way he was.

The New Directions were a hot mess when they started, of course. The 5 of them weren’t winning any competitions when they first found themselves in the choir room but they were five misfits who finally had friends. People who understood the passion of music and an adult who shared that same passion and would hopefully guide them to their dream futures.

Just months later, they became a mixture of a dozen sophomores and freshmen with a Sectionals win under their belt all ready to face the Dalton Academy Warblers in a few weeks. With Regionals looming over them, glee had become much messier than usual. With plenty of in-fighting about solos and song choices, the choir room was always a jumbled, loud mess. That is until Mr. Schue came up with the idea for a school musical. It was taking their minds off of Regionals for the time being.

Kurt was all too happy to be auditioning for a role instead of sitting in the back row wishing he had a shot at a solo. His voice was too unique for Ohio. But someday, he knew, it would get him to Broadway. He held that thought close to his heart while tuning out Rachel’s insistence bickering.

Yesterday, Mr. Schue had decided their school musical was going to the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Kurt loved cult classics as much as the next person but he wasn’t sure how Mr. Schue had gotten this approved by Figgins. It seemed too risqué for high schoolers.

He only hoped whoever his soulmate was enjoying the soundtrack he had stuck in his head this week.

Kurt planned on auditioning for Riff Raff. Already putting mental outfits from his closet to wear. The wound of Mr. Schue assuming he’d play Frank N. Furter based solely on the fact that he was gay was still fresh but his audition was going to blow everyone away.

He had chosen “Dammit Janet” for his audition despite it being a Brad and Janet duet. Quinn, who was hoping for Magenta, was going to be his partner. They had joked about the main roles already being off the table before auditions; it was clear Mr. Schue had chosen Finn and Rachel for the leads. It was hard to be upset when Quinn had instantly offered to do a joint audition with him. Their voices went so well together and Kurt liked spending time with her.

Ever since Kurt and Mercedes had their stint as Cheerios, they had gotten closer. The three of them even had a weekend sleepover this past Saturday. Mercedes had dumped the Cheerios but Kurt stayed on and Quinn had just gotten back on the squad after her dismissal last year. Coach Sue had them sing during practice last week and Quinn was waiting for him after their showers with the suggestion of a double audition song.

They had been having rehearsals in the auditorium during their shared free period and twice after glee club on days when it wasn’t already reserved. As the day came closer, Quinn offered her house to practice in since her parents were rarely home and so Finn wouldn’t become Rachel's spy. Though, Kurt assured her Finn was much too engrossed in video games to bother with their rehearsals.

Since they increased their run-throughs, Kurt’s had one song in his head all morning. In case the lyrics weren’t already ingrained into his head, he had his own little concert in his head. Just after lunch, that changed. A mere 3 hours until his audition after school his soulmate’s music had taken root. As much as Kurt was willing to bow down to the queens of pop, what he wouldn’t give for 5 minutes of something other than Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream”. This bubble gum pop song had gone from ‘oh, that’s a good song to scream in the car’ to ‘if I hear it one more time, I’ll rip my ears off’ fairly quickly.

It hadn’t helped that his brain went from one song on repeat to another.

As he sits in geometry, he tries to hear Mr. Finnegan’s explanation of arcs but his brain has other plans.

Let you put your hands on me in my skin tight jeans.

Kurt knows it’s just a song but the image is so clear in his head.

Smooth, soft skin. Obviously, someone who used lotions regularly, Kurt expected nothing less from his soulmate. Neatly trimmed fingernails so they wouldn’t catch on Kurt’s pants when fingers trailed up to cup his knee. The grip would be teasingly light. He never let his fantasies get too far. Especially outside the privacy of his bedroom. In all honesty, even when he was alone in his bed at night envisioning the same kind of scenario, Kurt didn’t really know what came next. He wasn’t even sure what kissing really entailed.

What if his soulmate is ready for...certain things...Kurt’s not even to verbalize yet. What if he’s imagining their first meeting very differently then Kurt, who’s hopeful they’ll have coffee or a meal together before they do anything besides maybe hand-holding. The touch of the fingertips is as sexy as it gets, unless you ask Katy Perry it seems.

He spends the rest of math wondering what the boy with Katy Perry in his head must look like. Kurt wonders if his soulmate wears bright colors like his idol or maybe Katy is a secret shame that he’ll only share with Kurt.

…

Blaine liked fitting in. He enjoyed the uniform for many reasons. One, he thought the blazer looked stylish. It was also nice knowing what you had to wear every day, one less thing to worry about people judging you for. Plenty of people at his old school picked on him for his bow ties but at Dalton, everyone had neckwear. The standard blue and red striped tie. He liked how neat it was; there was a certain way to wear said uniform.

Everyone was the same here. No typical hierarchy of jocks and cheerleaders. Only the Warblers stood out simply because everyone knew them.

How could you forget a group of boys singing acapella at all hours of the day?

Blaine might joke that they’re teenage rockstars but really they are just a group of talented guys who liked to sing.

The Warblers were the first real friends he ever had.

When he was still attending public school he held tightly to the idea of his soulmate since it seemed hopeless to wish for friendship. Not when he was being harassed for a sexuality he wasn’t sure of yet and being pushed to the ground in the parking lot for it.

But a soulmate was a guarantee. Everyone had one. By the time Blaine reached eighth grade, he knew. All of those middle school bullies had used words Blaine didn’t quite understand until that moment.

He was surrounded in the parking lot after school having missed his bus because someone had stuck gum in his curls during last period. That was the day Blaine started to seriously consider investing in some gel. Maybe that would prevent some bullying. Anyway, he was surrounded, being literally kicked around by a group of soccer players and friends.

Other students had gathered to watch the so-called fight but Blaine thought their chants would only grab the attention of a teacher or so he hoped. No one came quickly. He had enough injuries by the end for his mom to insist on a trip to the ER. A big black eye and sprained his wrist along with plenty of bruising on his limbs.

But he honestly didn’t remember getting hurt beyond the initial pushing to the ground. When the bullying got bad like this he pulled out those daydreams. This time around it wasn’t this blurry image of hand holding, there was a boy. Blaine hadn’t seen his face but his voice was soft and comforting, inviting Blaine in. There was an outstretched hand just out of reach for Blaine to take. Blaine knew then. His soulmate was a boy.

When everything was over and he was being released by the doctor, all he knew was there was some boy built perfectly for Blaine just waiting to be found. Waiting for him.

He hadn’t even been upset by his injuries because he was sitting with these thoughts of ‘how do I come out to my parents?’

Instead of deciding that day, he kept those daydreams close to his heart for the next year and a half. Until the issue of high school came out and Blaine didn’t want to go back to public school. To his surprise, both of his parents took it well. They were more concerned for his safety than his sexuality. Together, they decided on Dalton. A private school with a zero tolerance policy for bullies. That was that.

He still had his doubts at Dalton. Was he really good enough to be a lead soloist let alone go onto Broadway someday? Could he make it out of Ohio? In those moments, Blaine still came back to his soulmate. Someone, no matter what came, Blaine would have by his side.

When he imagined his soulmate, Blaine could never truly figure out what he’d look like. All he saw was that outstretched hand. Usually, people could draw up a picture in their heads based on the music they heard.

For Blaine, the genre of music didn’t help. His soulmate was clearly someone with mixed taste.

Today’s selection was...a musical. Blaine wasn’t familiar with the characters Brad and Janet but he had looked it up at lunch. Some kind of cult classic people went to see in the weeks leading up to Halloween. It was October so it made sense for the soundtrack to be stuck in his soulmate’s head. Blaine wondered if he had gone to see it, wondered who he saw it with.

The Warblers thought he was crazy. Imagining that his soulmate was off with some other person. It was rare to date seriously before meeting a soulmate but Blaine always told them the same story of his parents. Both of them had been in very serious relationships before they met. Hell, his mother had been engaged. Neither of them thought they’d meet their soulmate, which was also fairly rare but had happened.

When they met, they didn’t drop everything to be together. The wedding was put on hold but his father hadn’t broken up with his girlfriend right away. His parents wanted to be together only if they agreed with the universe’s choice.

Blaine knew his dad had been wary of his mother’s music taste. Pam had been deep into her metal phrase in her early twenties. His dad, Robert, was not a fan. He loved classical music. Forever dooming Pam to hum music without lyrics meanwhile Robert was cursed with “nonsense yelling” as he called it. Lucky, both of their music tastes had shifted over the years to have more overlap. Though, Blaine and Cooper had been subjected to dinners with a mixtape of Def Leppard and Bach.

They got together in the end, which was the important part, but what if they hadn’t chosen each other? What if Blaine’s soulmate was deeply in love with someone else and he’d spend the rest of his days loveless and alone?

When he voiced these thoughts aloud, his friends usually told him what a downer he could be, which tended to shake those fears away. If his parents, different as they were, still fell in love it would happen to him too. It was just a matter of when.

…

The next day at lunch, Mercedes was fretting over her soulmate.

“What if he’s super young, Kurt?”

“What makes you think that?” He asked, stabbing his salad.

“He’s got The Backyardigans theme song in his head again,” she sighed. “He got to be like 7. I’m just not comfortable with that.”

“It’s an age gap for sure,” Kurt agreed, but he’s fairly sure Sam Evans was singing that song after PE today, “or maybe he just has younger siblings. Don’t let your only-childness cloud your judgment.”

She hummed in agreement and pushed her tater tots around.

It was sort of a hard way to figure out your soulmate unless they were obvious about what music they had playing in their heads.

Some people, like Mr. Schue, we’re pretty obvious. He had been singing in the auditorium when Ms. Pillsbury found him. It was a pretty clear-cut match. As far as Mercedes was concerned, Kurt is sure she’ll overhear Sam’s humming soon enough.

He doesn’t want to spoil anything for his best friend nor does he want to be wrong. Soulmate meetings only come once in a lifetime.

Well, the first soulmate meeting that is.

There are plenty of people, like his dad, who lose a soulmate too soon and are gifted another one later in life. Kurt was so happy when he introduced Burt and Carole at parent-teacher conferences. They had just been listening to the Wicked soundtrack in the car ride over and Carole Hudson did not strike Kurt as the type of person who knew “I’m Not That Girl” by heart.

“Are you nervous about auditions?” Mercedes asked. “The list goes up today after glee.”

“Not at all like,” he shrugged, “I think Quinn and I did well.”

“Oh no, Kurt, we crushed it,” Quinn said, sitting down with her lunch.

He smiled at her. Quinn went on to compliment Mercedes on her audition, having heard part of it from outside the audition. She would’ve been inside with Kurt to watch but Coach Sue wanted to meet with her head Cheerio about their upcoming competition. From what Quinn had told them via text, Sue was going all out at practice today.

“She doesn’t want us to be late,” Quinn said. “That list better be up right away.”

“We should change before glee,” Kurt suggested.

“Good idea.”

Once Quinn had sat down the rest of the New Directions filed in. With interlocking pinkies, Santana and Brittany wandered over taking the last two seats available.

“Cheerios practice is gonna be hell, hope you’re up for the challenge Hummel,” Santana said.

He shot her a short glare.

“Kurt always understands the assignment, Santana,” Quinn quipped back.

Brittany nodded in agreement smiling at Kurt from across the table. She gave him a small wave half hidden by her lunch tray. In return, Kurt waved back just as shyly.

They had an interesting friendship. Kurt had kissed Brittany before. He was sure it hadn’t phrased Brittany as it had him. After all, she had kissed almost every boy in school. Some kind of record, he thought.

They sort of dated for like a week when Kurt was trying to convince himself he was straight. When he firmly realized he was kidding no one, not even himself, they broke up. Since then, he and Brittany had remained close. They were both Cheerios and in the glee club, it made sense.

He was happy to have Brittany in his life, even if that meant Santana by extension came with her. Santana was fine outside of the public eye. If the Unholy Trinity incited Kurt to their sleepovers, Santana was a different person. She put up a front at McKinley, extremely similar to the one Kurt attempted when he dated Brittany.

Few are privy to why she did this, Quinn and Kurt knew and he was fairly certain Mercedes did as well. She was very perceptive that way. Brittany was Santana’s soulmate. It explained so much about their relationship. Always in sync, completing each other perfectly, a literal better half.

Honestly, it gave Kurt so much hope that everyone’s soulmate was like that. A missing puzzle piece.

He really hoped his soulmate listened to more than just Teenage Dream because the lyrics were slowly creeping into his everyday language.

Usually, Kurt found himself hyper-focused in glee club. He got an energy boost just from walking into the choir room. Like a light switch turning on. His focus wasn’t always on whatever lecture Mr. Schue was pursuing, sometimes he watched his fellow glee clubbers (catching himself up on drama just by sideways glances), or mentally mapping out his next performance.

Today, Kurt wasn’t able to do any of those things. With the soundtrack of Teenage Dream (again) in his head, all he was thinking about was the center of a bulletin board with the cast list for The Rocky Horror Show on it. How far down the list was Riff Raff? How many names came before his?

Someone was snapping in front of his face. Kurt shook himself from his daydream to find Mercedes.

“Boy, wake up!” She said, “cast list is about to go up.”

Either glee club had gotten shorter or Mr. Schue was putting it up early.

…

Blaine didn’t really understand why the Warblers were concerned. Doing an improv performance was not new to them. In fact, Blaine had done three already this school year and he was only a freshman.

The first one he did had been way back in September, he hadn’t even been an official Warbler yet. Warbler Tradition said: all potential freshman recruits were required to perform again after their auditions with the whole group. It was a solid way to see if they fit in well with the other established Warblers. Blaine fondly remembers vibing along with the older Warblers and fellow potentials to a medley of Pink songs. None of the freshmen had solos but it was still a fun time.

At the time it seemed like all of Dalton fit into the choir room and surrounding hallways but in reality it was the entire freshman class. Improv performances weren’t something any middle schooler had seen before but the upperclassmen of Dalton knew the Warblers had plenty of improvs to come for the rest of the school year. The first one was special. Just for the newbies.

Three days after that performance, Blaine had gotten word that he was to be a new Warbler and two months after that he was granted his first solo. Now, he was slowly becoming their go-to soloist for almost every performance for an audience. Blaine had become a vital part of all rehearsals for the most part. He was honored by their commitment to him honestly and he loved to sing however, a week and half of preparations was a tad excessive. Still, he walked his way to rehearsal positive that the council would have at least five points to discuss before they actually started singing.

He walked into the choir room shaking his shake fondly and smiling at the Warblers already present.

The council were always first to arrive. Together. Then it was a mixed bag of who followed. Usually Trent was there, punctual as always, and Blaine took the seat between Trent and Jeff.

The room was mostly full already.

Nick came in shortly after Blaine and sat across from him immediately asking if there had been a pop quiz in Stanton’s class earlier and was rather relieved to find out Jeremy was a filthy liar, who liked to start trouble. Before Jeremy could get on Blaine’s case about being overly sincere, the meeting began.

Wes banged his gavel and welcomed everyone before gesturing for David to read off last meeting’s notes. Once the talking portion of the meeting was over, they pushed the furniture aside to make room.

...

A week later Kurt was happy to have one musical under his belt but thankful the performance run had been short. If you thought the New Directions were dramatic during competition weeks, it was nothing compared to their musical rehearsals.

Now, Mr. Schue was having the brilliant idea to host a boys vs girls competition. Of course, Kurt hadn’t wanted to work with the boys. They were sure to exclude his musical talents and he doubted he could get them to agree to any of his costume suggestions.

This was hardly a challenge. It was bland and they had done it already.

Kurt was sitting in the back of the choir room pouting. Yes, pouting. Full on arms crossed, head down, and bottom lip puffed out. Until, Mr. Schue had an actual brilliant idea, Kurt’s suggestion of course, to spice things up.

The boys did not appreciate Kurt’s six hours of work putting two posters together. Even with the assignment to bring more feminine qualities into their performance, the boys ignored his input. So, when Puckerman suggested Kurt spy on the Warblers, he was thankful for a reason to leave. He packed up his projects and headed home to change.

When Mr. Schue found out who their competition was, Rachel and Kurt did some googling. He had seen the all-boys school uniform and was fairly sure he could replicate it with clothes he already had.

He pulled some looks from his closet. Once satisfied he looked up directions to Westerville.

Dalton was huge. It looked like a museum. How on earth was Kurt going to find their choir room? He hoped there were signs inside or a map.

As he walked down a spiral staircase much too pretty to be in a school, he decided to just ask for directions. He was going to get lost if he kept walking without help.

When the boy he stopped turned around, all Kurt could think was ‘I’d love to put my hands all over you.’ Which was a ridiculous thought to have because he didn’t know this boy and where had that even come from? Oh right, Teenage Dream was still playing in his head. Thanks, Katy.

If only his soulmate knew he was using this song to fantasize about running off into the sunset with another boy.

…

Blaine loved being in the spotlight. Wes would say it was because he didn’t get that kind of attention from his parents but that simply wasn’t true. Well, unless Cooper was around; he always pulled focus when it came to their parents. Older sibling privilege, he assumed.

But he was running late. He stayed behind in class to ask a question which turned into his teacher rambling. Didn’t he know the Warblers had a performance today in the senior commons and Blaine was their lead singer?

He was checking the time when someone stopped him on the stairs.

A beautiful boy. Unlike anyone Blaine had ever seen before. He almost missed his name because he was caught up in memorizing his face.

There was something said about being new, which Blaine doubted since he wasn’t in uniform, and Blaine mentioned a shortcut he knew of.

It wasn’t really a shortcut. More like the long way to the Senior Commons but less crowded. Everyone was making their way to the Warblers and Blaine wanted as much time alone with Kurt as he could get.

He wanted Kurt’s full attention. It was no wonder he instantly wanted to show off. Teenage Dream fit his vocals perfectly and Kurt was an excellent audience. In fact, Blaine was set on serenading him.

He had no way of knowing that exact song had been playing all day long in Kurt Hummel’s mind.

Afterward, Blaine lost himself in a group hug from the Warblers but Kurt’s beaming smile caught his eye. He pulled Wes and David aside, confirming his own suspicions that Kurt was spying on them first before convincing them to invite Kurt for coffee.

The four boys sat at a table. Kurt seemed very nervous now. Blaine wasn’t sure if it was because he had been caught or something else was going on. In the end, Blaine thought it best for just him and Kurt to have a conversation. Not at all because he wanted alone time with him.

This clearly wasn’t the time or place for romance.

Once they were alone the whole tale seemed to flow out of Kurt: the name calling, locker shoving, his biggest bully. Blaine could relate.

Sometimes he felt phantom pains in his right leg from Sadie Hawkins. At first, Kurt scoffed when Blaine began sympathizing. If he were Kurt, he might not believe himself.

Private schoolboy bullied? Blaine sure didn’t look like someone who lacked friends. It was fairly common knowledge that Dalton had a zero tolerance policy for harassment. So, he explained. As brief as he could about his own experience with public school bullies.

Kurt and he seemed to have more in common than a love for music.

He doesn't have any plans to see Kurt again though Blaine has plenty of ideas on how they could get together. Coffee at the Lima Bean. Old musicals were playing at the revival theater. Maybe another high school was putting on a play this weekend. All Blaine needed was a good enough message to ask Kurt out. He drafted plenty but none sent.

After school, Blaine knew Kurt might need an extra push. He was pretty sure classes at McKinley were done for the day.

He sent a single word. Less second-guessing that way.

Courage.

Then, he walked to the library to start writing an essay on Lord of the Flies for English.

However, he found himself unable to concentrate. Usually after a performance, Blaine had the song stuck in his head for at least a day or two afterward. In addition to humming in the weeks of rehearsals, of course. Instead, Blaine found himself thinking about Start Me Up by the Rolling Stones and oddly Livin’ On a Prayer. Both songs he thought better suited his father or Cooper’s tastes. It was a mashup of the two songs like his soulmate was hearing them simultaneously.

When he started thinking about his soulmate, there was a clear picture of someone. It didn’t take long for Blaine to bring up those blue eyes and the soft complexion of Kurt Hummel. Which was crazy thinking. He had no idea if Kurt was his soulmate.

Soulmates tended to be around the same age but just because Kurt was also in high school meant nothing. By that logic anyone at Dalton could be his soulmate too.

During his brief time with Kurt this week, Blaine heard no music from his mouth. In fact, Blaine had done all the singing. Even with half his brain saying he was nuts to think Kurt was his forever, Blaine couldn’t let the thought go.

…

Blaine’s text comes in in the midst of the girls’ performance. A wonderful mashup and excellent costumes. Tina had texted Kurt about the leather jacket idea early this week. He was very proud of how they managed to pull the looks together in such a short time. It was impressive.

Altogether, Kurt was feeling great. The boys had their rehearsal, apparently their performance was turning into an apology. Kurt wasn’t sure what they had done to Coach Beiste but apparently, she was quitting. He and Blaine were texting periodically now. No one knew it but Kurt was surely developing a huge crush on the Warbler boy.

Then, he confronted Karofsky. He didn’t want to feel the same regret Blaine did—no one messes with the Hummels.

It seemed like mere hours but in reality, it was days, Kurt was enrolled at Dalton and saying goodbye to the New Directions.

He was full on having a Vanessa leaving Troy moment here. Kurt Hummel has got to go his own way.

God was he nervous to start at a new school. In the middle of the school year too. Being the new kid was going to be hard but not as difficult as staying at McKinley would be.

When Kurt was greeted by Blaine’s smile outside the office on his first day, it made Kurt relax. At least he already had a friend here.

It isn’t until they’re walking down the hall together—Blaine insisted on escorting Kurt to his first class—that Kurt noticed Blaine was humming.

“Is that High School Musical?” Kurt asked.

“Oh, um, technically it’s the sequel.”

“What about us…” Blaine sang, “what about everything we’ve been through?”

“What about trust…you know I’ve never wanted to hurt you?”

Blaine chucked. “Cheesy but true. Such a good movie.”

“We should watch it sometime,” Kurt suggested.

Instantly, he wanted to take it back. He’s been told he can come on too strong. Especially around cute boys.

“I’d love too!” Blaine said. “I have it on DVD.”

Kurt doesn’t see Blaine again until their one shared class of the day right before lunch. He sits across the room from Blaine during history but next to him at the Warbler’s lunch table.

Most of the group has the same lunch so Kurt is introduced to them before his audition later this afternoon.

“Nervous?” Wes asked, “you shouldn’t be.”

“Yeah, from what Blaine's told us you're a great singer,” Trent added.

“He’s barely heard me sing,” Kurt replied, poking Blaine’s arm.

He only sang one line of a song to the other boy today.

“Well…” Blaine rubs his neck abashedly. “I might’ve watched some New Directions videos on YouTube.”

“Oh, I forgot Rachel uploaded those.” Kurt tunes to the other Warblers then, “I hope I don’t disappoint.”

After lunch, Blaine walks Kurt to class again. “Between you and me, you’re a shoo-in.”

“Really?” The Warblers were such an esteemed group. Not at all like the disorganized New Directions. They had also been a glee club for far longer.

“Really.”

***

Blaine has had High School Musical songs in his head all day. Whoever his soulmate is, at least he’s got good taste in Disney Channel original movies. Then as the Warblers were preparing for Kurt’s audition, the song switched. An Evita song.

His soulmate sure did love musicals. Blaine was rather happy about that. He could already picture them sitting on the couch cuddled under a fluffy blanket with any number of classic musicals laid out before them. Arguing over if it was too soon to rewatch Moulin Rouge and whose turn it was to make popcorn.

They’d be in a big city apartment. Somewhere where no one cared if they were gay. All anyone wanted to know was how they discovered they were soulmates. Their origin story.

From that point, the daydream grew fuzzy. Blaine couldn’t come up with that meet-cute story. It hadn’t happened yet and nothing his brain could come up with would ever match up with his future reality.

He shook his head, bringing himself back to the choir room.

The room was buzzing with excitement. It wasn’t every day the Warblers auditioned someone mid-semester. Of course, Kurt had special circumstances but the group was notorious for never breaking tradition.

Blaine tried to focus but it was difficult without Kurt at his side. Lately, he had been distracted whenever Kurt wasn’t around. All Blaine could hear, despite the loud room, was the song in his head.

I had to let it happen

I had to change

Then, Kurt walked in and music started to play. For a split second, Blaine thought he was imagining the words from “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” coming from Kurt’s lips. Surely he hadn’t chosen the same song as Blaine’s soulmate had in their head. He knew it couldn’t be his imagination when Trent leaned over and whispered to Blaine how much he loved this song.

Like lightning striking a tree, Blaine had a realization. Kurt Hummel was his soulmate.

Oh god, what was he going to do?

His skin was burning as if it was burned away like bark. He drooped in his seat desperate for water to put himself out with. To put a stop to the tingling sensation bubbling up under his skin.

All he wanted to do was reach out and touch Kurt. Some part of his brain was able to override that thought. He couldn’t ruin this audition for him. There was plenty of time to spend with Kurt after this, Blaine had all the time in the world to talk with his soulmate.

Soulmate.

Never did he think he would find his soulmate this soon. Gosh, they were only teenagers. They had so much life to live together. This was rare, special, to find your soulmate so quickly in life. Blaine would cherish it, he’d be thankful for this gift for rest of his days.

But how in the hell was he going to tell Kurt? It had to be romantic. Blaine always thought it would be when he finally came face to face with his soulmate, his one true love. There was so much work to be done and so little time to do it. Now that Blaine knew, he didn’t want to spend another day without Kurt knowing too.

He used to dream about running dramatically in slow motion towards each other and embracing just as it started to rain, which of course led to a fabulous first kiss in the sudden storm. But Blaine knew how unlikely that would be.

He’d just have to build a new fantasy, which he thought would be easy to do if Kurt was his so-called Prince Charming. Whatever happened was going to outweigh everything his imagination had come up with thus far.

First and foremost, he’d had to sit through a discussion of this audition, which he was barely able to pay attention to. All he wanted to do was walk up to Kurt, cup his face, and kiss him. After Kurt was finished, the council dismissed him. Blaine knew he’d find Kurt just outside the choir room because they had plans afterward but now he had no idea how he was going to sit through coffee with Kurt and not tell him.

“He’s very good,” Trent said, nudging Blaine.

He nodded in agreement. It seems most of the group concurred, Kurt was a good fit for them.

Kurt Hummel was the perfect fit for Blaine too. Even if he didn’t know it yet.

***

Kurt didn’t consider himself to be a good reader of social cues especially when his own emotions were involved. See, Finn Hudson and Sam Evans. Crushes on straight boys never ended well. With Blaine, he swore things would be different.

They were friends, classmates, and hopefully, soon they’d be fellow Warblers. Kurt was not going to mess this up. Even if Blaine was really cute and friendly and super kind and understanding. There was so much to love about Blaine, Kurt found it hard to find something he didn’t like.

He had found focusing on his dislikes of a person kept his feelings at bay. Like how messy Finn could be really shut down any romance fantasy Kurt had drawn up. Except, Blaine didn’t dye his hair like Sam, he was completely organized (Kurt had seen his dorm room; spotless), he was modest and genuine.

It made sense that everyone at Dalton wanted some of his attention. Blaine embodied Kurt’s idea of a gentleman and then some.

After his audition, Kurt sat outside the choir room waiting for his results. The council would discuss with the full group, release them, and regroup tomorrow with a vote. Kurt was waiting for Blaine to be dismissed because Blaine had promised to buy him a cup of coffee.

Some of the Warblers who were leaving had some pretty nice things to say about Kurt’s performance. Just general praise which soothes some of his initial nerves. Mostly, he just wanted Blaine to walk out with a big smile on his face. That boy couldn’t keep a secret. Kurt would know if he was in or not just by looking at his face.

Kurt was joined on his bench by a boy who introduced himself as Duncan.

“I was super nervous after my audition. I just got in at the beginning of this year so I know what you’re going through.”

Kurt felt his shoulders drop in relief. As much as Blaine tried to assure him the audition would be perfect, Kurt felt like he couldn’t relate much as the star of the glee club. Back at McKinley, Kurt rarely had center stage. Here, Blaine always had everyone’s attention.

“That’s actually great to hear,” Kurt said, with a slight chuckle.

“Seriously, Kurt, I don’t think you have anything to worry about. I’m a little concerned they’ll kick me out just to have your voice,” Duncan teased.

They keep talking about what it’s like to be a new Warbler since Duncan is positive Kurt will be getting good news shortly. He offers up some pointers to get on the council’s good side.

“I loved your song choice by the way, so weird because Evita had been in my head all day.”

It feels like someone’s dropped an ice cube down his back. He sits up quickly.

Oh, Kurt thought, is this it?

“You did?” He must’ve heard wrong. There’s just no way.

“Yeah, I love that musical,” Duncan confirmed.

Could it be this easy? He wondered.

“We should hang out again soon,” Duncan told him, “I’d love to get to know you. Newbie Warblers gotta stick together.”

Kurt gives Duncan his number before the other boy wanders off. Before Kurt can get too deep into any fantasies of his soulmate, wondering if that soulmate has just left him or not, Blaine comes out from the choir room.

“Hey you,” Blaine greeted with a big smile.

“Are you allowed to give me any inclination?”

He shook his head but was still smiling wide which made Kurt feel like good news was in his near future like Duncan had said. Kurt was telling Blaine how long he had practiced the song over the weekend with Rachel and Duncan reassurances when Blaine blurted, “Duncan Samuels?”

“Yeah, we just met.”

Should he tell Blaine about them being soulmates or wait until he was sure?

But Blaine just nodded. Something was clearly bothering his friend. For now, Kurt was going to let it go because he was sure Blaine would come to him if he wanted to talk. He didn’t want to force it out of Blaine.

Kurt couldn’t even get Finn to talk to him during their warm milk chats at night. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to pull the information out of Blaine if he tried.

“Anyway,” Kurt said, continuing his previous line of thought, “Rachel has this whole stage setup in her dads’ basement.”

“I don’t find that hard to believe based on everything you’ve told me about her.”

After that comment, their coffee date is back on track, Kurt doesn’t bring up his potential soulmate meeting.

***

Duncan Samuels was his lifelong nemesis. As far as Blaine was considered his life began when he figured out Kurt was his soulmate and if Duncan was going to interfere with that they were now enemies. Since their coffee date yesterday, Blaine hasn’t heard a word about Duncan but he also had yet to see Kurt today. They only had one class together after lunch, which Blaine was on his way to now.

Kurt saved him a seat and delivered the news.

“Duncan and I are going for coffee today.”

Those words were devastating.

In normal circumstances, Blaine would’ve asked Kurt why he wasn’t going to rehearsal but of course Kurt wasn’t a Warbler…yet. Blaine knew the Warblers were going to announce Kurt’s membership at the end of day, which meant this was the last rehearsal Kurt wouldn’t attend.

So instead of a calmly said, normal statement, Blaine spent the next minute freaking out.

Duncan was the worst! He was going to steal Kurt away from him before Blaine ever got the chance. Well okay, the rational side of him thought, Kurt isn’t being stolen he’s going willingly.

“That’s nice,” he finally said.

There was no way for Blaine to stop Kurt and honestly no reason to try since Duncan posed no threat to Kurt. He didn’t need a protector. Blaine knew they were soulmates and he’d find a way to tell Kurt later on. At the end of it all, Kurt was his soulmate. He just knew it.

“Are you free when I get out of rehearsal?”

“For you?” Kurt asked, “of course, I’ll probably still be in the cafe.”

“I’ll come find you,” Blaine told him.

Still, all throughout Warbler rehearsal, Blaine’s attention was elsewhere. He needed to get out of here and meet up with Kurt. Wes knew it too because he pulled him aside at one point while David ushered the guys into a new arrangement.

“What’s up with you?” He asked, “I need you focused for competition.”

“I will be,” he vowed.

“You didn’t answer my question.”

Blaine looked back at the other boys but they were already harmonizing.

“It’s Kurt.”

Wes smiled. “Don’t worry about him. He’s in, I can’t believe we have a countertenor on our team now. We’re going to wipe the floor at regionals.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Wesley. McKinley already knows what a talent Kurt is, he won’t be a surprise to them,” Blaine reminded him.

“Ah, but they didn’t utilize his talent,” Wes said, “it’ll shock them to see Kurt in the spotlight.”

Wes patted Blaine’s back and guided him back to the group to finish up rehearsal.

Blaine couldn’t help but check his phone again before he tuned back into rehearsal. He knew Kurt was getting coffee and that’s why he wasn’t answering his phone.

One of the best things about Kurt was when you were with him everything else was put aside. Blaine was sure if things got really serious, Kurt would shut his phone off entirely to prove a point. Right now, it was annoying as hell. Blaine needed to see a reassuring text that Kurt wasn’t running off into the sunset with Duncan Samuels.

What if his phone was turned off because the two of them were standing at the altar? Everyone turns their phones off in church.

He really really needed to talk to him. Blaine didn’t want to be the type of soulmate that holds onto that information too long. It’s like he’s lying to himself not being with Kurt.

Once rehearsal was finally over, Blaine rushed over to the on-campus cafe where he knew Kurt would be. He had to be there.

When Blaine pushed his way through the door, he saw Kurt was sitting alone nursing what looked to be a cup of tea. When Blaine approached him he could tell it was Chamomile.

“Can I sit?”

Kurt nodded but didn’t say a word as Blaine hung his bag across the back of the chair and removed his blazer.

He expected a question about the Warblers, perhaps an inquiry about his status to become one but nothing came. Kurt wasn’t even drinking his tea.

“What’s wrong? Did Duncan say something to upset you?”

“I’m fine, Blaine,” Kurt said, “Duncan didn’t do anything wrong. It’s me as usual.”

Blaine didn’t understand.

“Am I that unlovable?”

“What?”

Kurt was the most kind, sincere person he knew and Blaine had only met him a few weeks ago. He was most certainly lovable considering Blaine fell for him in just under 3 weeks

“I can’t really blame him,” Kurt continued, “it’s not his fault we aren’t soulmates.”

“You thought he was your soulmate?”

Maybe telling Kurt wouldn’t be too difficult after all.

“It’s just he made this comment yesterday that made me think…but of course I got too ahead of myself again and really I should know by now,” Kurt mumbled the last bit, “nothing ever goes to plan.”

“You can say that again.”

This cafe wasn’t a romantic candlelit dinner. He didn’t have rose petals to scatter around. There was no champagne to toast. But he had the most important thing.

Blaine reached across the table to grab Kurt’s hand. “Think of a song.”

“Why?”

“Just do it,” Blaine said.

Kurt’s face was scrunched up in a “I’m confused but I’ll trust you” kind of way.

As soon as the song hit him, Blaine opened his mouth to sing, “this could be the start of something new…it feels so right to be here with you.”

“How did you—?”

Blaine smiled at him. “Pick another song.”

“Your cares and troubles are gone. They'll be no more from now on.”

His mouth opens slightly.

“Your turn,” Blaine said, “ I want you to sing what comes to mind.”

Wasn’t the best way to prove they were soulmates to test each other?

Blaine wanted Kurt to have his own moment of realization even if he engineered it. He didn’t want their “how-did-you-know” story to be him informing Kurt about their connection. Instead, he wanted to tell people about listening to Kurt’s Warbler audition and thinking how odd it was to know the song he was going to sing before it began. Kurt’s story would start with a laugh because he imagined someone other than Blaine as his soulmate the very same day.

And wasn’t that just so silly of him?

Rather than have Kurt just sing to him, Blaine harmonized with him. This was the proof. He’d sing everything Kurt could come up with and vice versa.

“But baby, can't you see there's nothing else for me to do? I'm hopelessly devoted to you.”

“Blaine,” Kurt said. “We’re….”

He nodded.

Before Blaine even realized it, Kurt was out of his seat leaning towards him, they’re kissing. Kurt’s fingers are curved around his chin and his other hand is tickling the curls at the back of his neck. The tiny wisps of hair that always escape the gel by the late afternoon.

Blaine would happily keep his curls loose if it meant Kurt would keep his hands in his hair always. Especially, if it meant they’d never stop kissing.

Eventually, Kurt has to pull away. They’re still close enough to feel each other’s breath.

“Soulmates,” Blaine whispered.

It had been quiet while they kissed like everything else in the world just stopped. All the sounds of Dalton came rushing back all at once. The students in the halls, coffee orders being called out, and the shuffling of chairs as people came and went.

“When did you know?” Kurt asked, sitting down again.

Blaine pulled his seat around so they were closer and Kurt immediately reached for his hand.

***

3 months later.

Blaine hadn’t been upset to lose to McKinley at Regionals. How could he have been when he got to sing with his soulmate in front of a crowd? Their duet was so in sync and the crowd could tell. He doesn’t think he ever received such a loud applause.

Blaine had wanted to just be in that moment forever—staring into Kurt’s eyes hearing the words in his head just before they were said aloud, gripping his hand before pushing him into the spotlight to soak up the audience’s love.

No, Blaine was happy about Regionals. The Warblers had worked hard on the set; their second place trophy sat on the right corner of the council’s table at meetings now. What Blaine was concerned about was Kurt’s leaving.

His dorm room was empty now, the last suitcase zipped up. Blaine was sitting on his boyfriend’s mattress taking in the last moment that Kurt was a Dalton student.

“I’ll miss you too, you know, a lot,” Kurt said from the doorway.

“I know,” Blaine replied, “it’s just sad.”

Kurt took a seat next to him on the bed.

“I’ll sing to you.”

Blaine smiled. “Promise?”

“Everyday.” Kurt kissed his cheek.

They were going to be okay.

#klaine fanfic #klaine fanfiction #soulmate au #klaine #my fics

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kurts-still-here · 3 years ago

Text

Hugs and Hickeys Kurt/Sam FanFiction

Hi everyone, I was inspired to write another Hevans fic by someone on Archive Of Our Own and because I love them so I’d appreciate it a lot if you checked it out and told me what you think. You can leave any comments on here or on Archive Of Our Own or FanFiction.Net. Thank you!! 😁😁😎😎

Archive Of Our Own: https://archiveofourown.org/works/32896744

FanFiction. Net: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13929156/1/Hugs-and-Hickeys

Kurt and Sam were currently in Kurt’s bedroom, in the middle of making out. They had been waiting for this day for a while now seeing that they had to be very careful and had to plan out their make-out sessions and dates since they were dating in secret. Secret relationships were hard work.

Kurt had Cheerios practice on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 6:00 to 9:00 and then Sam had football on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 5:00 to 8:00. They both had glee club together on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:00 to 5:00 which only gave them Fridays and the weekend to hang out and go on dates. But seeing as no one else knew about their relationship except their parents who had promised to keep it a secret it was hard to come up with excuses as to why they couldn’t hang out with their friends over the weekends.

Finn would always invite Sam and the glee guys over to their house for sleepovers and game nights and the glee girls would always invite Kurt over to one of their houses for a sleepover or for him to go to the mall with them. It was easy for Sam to make up excuses at first because he was able to say that he had homework or that he had to watch his siblings. But as time went on his friends had gotten suspicious of him because he would always use the same excuses over and over again causing Sam to have to come up with a different plan. Kurt wasn’t as lucky as Sam was in the first place because first, he was a terrible liar and second, he knew that his friends wouldn’t believe him if he told them that he had work to do over the weekend because Kurt was one of McKinley’s top students and always had his work done.

So eventually they just went with it and Kurt would go with the girls and Sam would go with the guys. Whatever free time they had they took advantage of. In the rare event that Sam was not invited over by Finn and that Kurt was not invited by one of the girls and Finn was over at Puck’s house, Kurt would invite Sam over and they would watch movies or make out or just sleep together because they were tired out from their busy lives. If Finn was supposed to come home at a certain time then Kurt would set an alarm as a reminder for Sam to leave before Finn saw them. Sam never wanted to leave so Kurt started adding an extra 5 minutes to the alarm to give Sam enough time to complain before Kurt kicked him out. Sometimes they would get really lucky and Finn would spend the weekend out of the house, allowing Sam to not have to leave so soon but that was an even rarer occasion.

Yes, their secret was hard to keep especially when they loved each other so much and wanted to be around each other as much as possible but it was also fun and romantic in a way. The way they could make eye contact and they could see the love they had for one another in their eyes. How they could look at each other and it was like an inside joke that was only for them. The way they would get all lightheaded and would feel fluffy inside when they brushed shoulders or accidentally touched hands with each other (even though it was never an accident to them). The idea of them being together but being the only ones who knew about it, not having anyone in their business was comforting and calming.

Ever since Kurt had personally introduced himself to Sam in the hallway when Sam had first joined the new Directions they knew they had loved each other, it was love at first sight. Sam had decided that if they won the competition then he would tell Kurt how he felt about him on their “date” but that never happened because Finn intervened. Sam came to the conclusion that even though he loved Kurt and he was pretty sure that Kurt loved him that Lima was not the place to be in a relationship with another boy, especially McKinley. So even though Kurt had broken off their partnership and they had gone their separate ways regarding the duets, Sam had still told Kurt how he felt about him and was relieved when Kurt said he felt the same way.

They had both agreed to keep the relationship a secret, only telling their parents because they had the right to know who their children went out with. Kurt had made his dad and Carol promise not to mention Sam and him to Finn because first of all, Finn was the reason that they had decided to keep it a secret in the first place along with bullies and second of all, because once Finn knew then the whole glee club would now and then the whole school would know and then the whole town would know and then so much for their romantic secret.

So yes it was hard but they made it work because they were so in love. They didn’t know how long they would keep it a secret but right now all they cared about was the time that they got to share with each other and it was enough for the moment.

Little did they know that soon their secret would fall apart and they would be exposed. And it was all because of Sam’s big lips.

“I love you so much Kurt,” Sam said while he kissed Kurt’s neck. “You’re so cute and hot and sexy and I love you.”

“I love you too Sam,” Kurt said, giggling. He loved how much Sam complimented him, telling him how good of a boyfriend he was or how good looking he was. How sweet and kind he thought Kurt was and how he wasn’t afraid to show his love for Kurt. Sam was the sweetest guy he had ever met. “You're sexy too.”

“I want to be with you forever,” Sam told him, in between sucking Kurt’s neck. “I want to go to New York with you and I want to be a model and you’ll be a successful designer and we’ll be rich and successful and we’ll start a family and we’ll be together forever.”

“You’re too cute Sam,” Kurt told him. “I want that to.”

They continued their kissing until Kurt’s phone went off, signaling that it was time for Sam to leave before Finn got home. Kurt pushed Sam away and Sam groaned before leaning in for another kiss.

“Sam, you do this every time babe,” Kurt said, reluctantly letting Sam continue to kiss him. “You have to go now or else Finn’s going to find out about us.”

“I hate Finn,” Sam said, pouting. “He’s a douche.”

“You know usually I’d stand up for him but he really is,” Kurt agreed. “But if we want to keep this between us then you have to go Sam.”

“Ugh,” Sam said when Kurt playfully pushed him away again. “Is it such a crime for a guy to want to make out with his boyfriend?”

“Sadly, apparently to some people it is babe,” Kurt said, sighing sadly to himself. “But remember that next week my dad is taking Finn to a football game with Puck and all the girls are busy so we’ll have the whole weekend.”

“I don’t want to wait,” Sam said. “I know we both agree that this is romantic but I feel like I never get to spend time alone with you. There’s school and glee and then I have football and you have Cheerios and then all our friends want to hang out and there’s only so many excuses I can come up with. I just want to kiss you and cuddle with you and go out on romantic dates with you. It’s not fair.”

“I know it’s not Sam but it’s just for the moment. It’s not like we’re gonna keep this a secret forever.” Kurt reminded him.

“Well how much longer do I have to wait before I can hold your hand in public without having to worry about being slushied or without having to worry about Finn?” Sam asked.

“Well when the time does come we’ll just have to deal with it. Let’s just remember how much fun it is to have our own little secret.”

Sam went into kiss Kurt again and Kurt accepted it but stood up making Sam stand up along with him and then grabbed Sam’s bag before walking him to the door, still attached to him.

“Sam” Kurt whined. “You have to leave, like now.”

“Come on, I still have a good ten minutes?” Sam guessed but judging by Kurt’s raised eyebrow he had gotten it wrong. “Five?”

“It’s not just if Finn sees you here. What if you two drive past each other? He’ll get suspicious and then he’ll ask me and you know how much of a terrible liar I am right? We’d get exposed and I don’t want everyone to find out from someone else. I want to tell everyone, with you, when we’re ready to. Now seriously, go,” Kurt said, one hand on his hip and the other pointing out the door.

“You know you’re really hot when you’re mad babe,” Sam said, a playful grin on his face. Kurt just smirked and rolled his eyes and Sam gave him one more kiss in the lips before walking out of Kurt’s bedroom.

“Call me when you get home,” He shouted after Sam.

“I will,” Sam shouted back and once Kurt heard Sam close his front door he closed his bedroom door and went to go get ready for bed.

He went into his bathroom to grab a washcloth and then put some water on it before walking back into his bedroom and going to sit at his vanity. He took all his skincare products out and neatly placed them on the table before taking the washcloth and gently pressing it onto his pale skin. And that’s when he saw…

A giant hickey on his neck.

His thoughts admittedly went to Sam (even though they had already been there) and he just stared at his neck with wide-eyes, softly touching the mark with his fingers. This could not be happening, this thing was huge. Of course it was, Sam had big lips and they were wonderful when you kissed them and Kurt loved it when Sam kissed his neck with them but never had he given him a hickey. Kurt had to admit that it was hot and he wasn’t mad at Sam for giving him one. He was nervous about how fast all of this could fall apart.

If his friends saw the hickey then they would obviously want to know who it was and once again, he was a bad liar. They would see right through him and it would only get worse when they would name off their list of suspects. They would probably think it was Blaine and of course it wasn’t Blaine so Kurt wouldn’t be lying to them about that. His friends would probably still think he was lying though so then they would probably contact Blaine seeing that some of them like Rachel and Mercedes were friends with him. Blaine would say no because it wasn’t him but then would get suspicious about why they had thought it was him in the first place.

Yes Kurt had had a small crush on Blaine but that was before he fell in love with Sam. His feelings for the Warbler were completely platonic now. Then Blaine would ask him why his friends thought that he had given him a hickey and then Kurt wouldn’t know what to tell Blaine because if he told him it was Sam then Blaine would definitely tell Rachel or Mercedes. Then the whole glee club would now and then the whole school and then the whole town and then their secret would be out.

Maybe he was overreacting and overthinking the whole situation and you could just tell him to cover it up with some makeup but then the makeup would get in his clothes and he couldn’t have that happening. You could just tell him to wear one of his stylish turtlenecks but it was April and turtleneck season was over.

After thinking this through and coming up with nothing he pulled out his phone and snapped a picture of him standing in the mirror, focusing on his neck. He then sent the picture to Sam and told him to call him when he got home, that it was urgent.

He paced back and forth in his room, forgetting about his skincare routine and instead focusing on the problem at hand. Sure he could just tell everyone that it was from Sam and that they were dating. Yes, Finn may bitch at them at first but he would get over it and he knew that the rest of the club would accept it but he wasn’t worried so much about them knowing as he was them telling. He didn’t want his romance with Sam to be scarred with slushies and locker shoves and dumpster dives. It was bad enough that he had to endure it, he didn't want the same for Sam. Plus, they had only been dating for about five months and he wanted their secret romance to last just a little bit longer.

He had continued pacing for about ten minutes when he heard his phone ring. He quickly picked it up and answered it, knowing that it was Sam.

“Hey babe,” Sam said through the phone. “Nice pic,”

“I don’t think it’s as nice as you think it is,” Kurt said, rubbing his temples. “You don’t see anything wrong do you?”

“No,” Sam said at first, confused. “But if this is about your clothes then you already know I don’t know anything about fashion so text Mercedes or someone else.”

“No Sam,” Kurt said, frustrated. “Zoom in on my neck and I think you’ll see the problem.”

“Okay?” Sam asked. “Give me a minute,”

Kurt patiently tapped his foot as he waited to hear Sam’s reaction.

“Whoa, babe, how come I didn’t see this before? Who did that to you because I’m gonna go and beat their ass right now?” Sam shouted into the phone. Kurt just rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“I’m pretty sure that it’s impossible to beat your own ass Sam,” Kurt said, plainly, waiting for Sam to understand.

“What do you mean? I didn’t hit you and give you a bruise,” Sam stated.

“Sam you gave me a hickey,” Kurt said, giving up on any hope that Sam would get it. “How does that look like someone punched me? Yes it’s a bit larger but your mouth is smaller than a fist honey.”

“Wait, I did that?” Sam asked, as his voice changed from confused to freaked out. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry Kurt. I didn’t mean to leave any marks. God, please don’t break up with me. I can buy you something to fix it with. Or…” Kurt cut him off.

“Sam babe, calm down. I’m not mad at you, it’s hot. I just don’t know how I’m going to cover something this big up. You do know that if the glee club finds out about this that they're eventually going to find out about us? I don’t want that to happen,” Kurt assured his boyfriend.

“Can’t you cover it up with make-up?” His boyfriend asked and Kurt thought it was funny that Sam thought it was that easy for him.

“Not unless I want make-up on my outfits. No, that’s not an option. My clothes are expensive and so is dry cleaning. It’s bad enough I have to deal with slushies and garbage juice.”

“How about something like one of those shirts with the long sleeves but the sleeve is for your neck… god what’s it called, I’m blanking on the name?” Sam asked and Kurt heard him snapping his fingers.

“It’s called a turtleneck, babe,” Kurt informed him. “But that’s also out of the question because it’s April and if I’m seen wearing a turtleneck in the spring then the girls will definitely know something is up and their first guess will be that I got my neck sucked.”

“Well that’s all I can think of.” Sam admitted. “Gosh, babe I’m so sorry. I ruined our secret.”

“No, Sam, don’t say that” Kurt assured him, changing to a softer tone. :You didn’t ruin anything, you just have to be more careful next time.”

“But your neck is your favorite place,” Sam whined. “And I like kissing it too.”

“You know me very well Sam,” Kurt joked but then he suddenly got an idea and he snapped his fingers. “I think I figured it out.”

“What is it?” Sam asked him, excitedly.

“I may be able to make a short-sleeved turtleneck using one of my out of season ones. Apparently they're really stylish in New York. All I would have to do is cut the sleeves and maybe do something with the cuffs so it doesn't look ridged.” Kurt thought aloud to Sam.

“Like I said, I don’t know anything about fashion but it sounds hot. And anything as long as it covers that up.” Sam told him, sounding hopeful.

“Okay then. Whew, that’s a relief. I can breathe again,” Kurt said, walking into his closet and finding the boxes that he had put all his last season stuff in. Yes, he was dreading wearing something from last season but at least it would be his own and he dreaded the thought of everyone finding out about him and Sam more. Sacrifices had to be made in secret relationships.

“Let me see here,” He told Sam. “I have a light blue one, a dark blue one, a black one and a white one. Seeing that it’s spring I think either light blue or white but what do you think babe?”

“Which one is tighter?” Sam teased and Kurt rolled his eyes.

“The white one but then it would be see through and I could always make the blue one together if you wanted. Plus the color would complement my eyes, don’t you think?

“I think you’d look great in anything,” Sam said.

“Flattery will get you far in life honey,” Kurt told him, laughing at his boyfriend’s comment. He really was the sweetest. He was so lucky to have Sam. “So I guess the blue one it is.”

He picked up the blue one and put the other shirts back in their box. He put the box back and walked out of his closet and back into his room. He took one of the mannequins that he had to make his own pieces of clothing and put the blue shirt over it.

“Okay, I gotta go now Sam but I’ll text you a picture when I’m done with it alright?”

“Okay, I’m sure it’ll be great.” Sam paused. “I’m really sorr…” Kurt cut him off again.

“Sam, honey you don’t have to keep apologizing. It was an accident and we figured it out. Besides, it's just another one of our little secrets right? Don’t worry about it, I was just freaking out a little.” Kurt assured Sam once again. He hadn’t meant to make Sam feel bad or to make Sam think that he was mad at him. Kurt just tended to stress out over everything and he always wanted to know what was going on or what was going to happen.

“Ok, I’ll forget about it. Good luck with your shirt babe,” Sam said. “Goodnight, I love you.” Sam blew a kiss into his phone.

“I love you too honey,” Kurt said, blowing him a kiss back. “See you tomorrow.”

Sam hung up and Kurt set his phone down on his bed before he turned all his attention to his project. He was in for a long night.

Kurt had spent four hours working on his shirt but it was worth it because he looked stunning in it. He had cut the sleeves and then folded them up and sewed them down. He had made the shirt skin-tight for Sam and had decorated the end of the sleeves with embroidery jewels. Then he paired the outfit with black skinny jeans, a pair of black leather boots and a pair of sunglasses. He had sent Sam a picture of his outfit when he had finished getting ready for school and Sam was ecstatic about the outfit. Sam had said that he was glad that he had given Kurt the hickey and that he should give him more, making Kurt roll his eyes.

Kurt grabbed his bag for school and headed downstairs to grab a piece of fruit for his breakfast. He walked into the kitchen and saw that the rest of his family was in there as well. He grabbed an apple and sat down at the table with his dad and Finn while Carol stood at the stove making Finn and his dad eggs and pancakes.

“Good morning sweetie,” Carol said when he had sat down. “You look nice today.”

“Thank you Carol,” Kurt beamed. “I made the shirt myself.”

“Well it’s lovely dear. Isn’t it a nice shirt, boys?” She asked her husband and son. Neither of them responded, Finn still being half asleep and his dad looking at the newspaper.

“It’s okay Carol,” Kurt assured her. “I know they aren’t interested into the fashion stuff.” They laughed together before she turned her attention back to making breakfast. Kurt really didn’t mind that his dad wasn’t interested in his outfit today. He didn’t want his dad to ask some stupid question like “You’re dressed up today, is it for anyone in particular?” and then stir up any suspension in Finn. It was better that his dad and Finn didn’t pay any attention to his turtleneck.

Kurt ate his apple while checking his social media and then waited for Finn to wake up and eat his breakfast so he could drive him to school. Thankfully the car ride was like any other day, they both sang along to songs on the radio and talked about glee club. Finn didn’t ask any questions about Kurt’s outfit which just made Kurt even more confident that his secret with Sam was safe.

When they arrived at school they walked in the building together and down the hallway before splitting up when they saw their friends. Finn went over to Sam, Puck, Mike and Artie while Kurt went over to the girls who were already standing at his locker, waiting for him.

“Look at you, white boy,” Mercedes said, holding out her arms to give Kurt a hug which he returned. “You look good.”

“When did you buy that shirt?” Brittany asked him. “I’ve never seen it before.”

“I made it Britt.” He told the girls proudly. “It was originally a last season, long-sleeved shirt but I cut the sleeves off of it and put some jewels on it and ta-da.” He informed them, spinning around. “It’s one of my best works.”

“It’s a nice shirt and it really shows you off but a last season shirt?” Quinn asked him, sharing a knowing look with Santana. “Are you okay Kurt?”

Kurt’s body froze for a moment but he quickly got a hold of himself and smiled and nodded to the girls. Of course if anyone were to notice something was off it would be Quinn and Santana.

“Yeah, everything’s fine. I was just really bored last night and I was going through my old clothes when I found this and you know, it goes with my eyes and I was bored so I made it my own..” Kurt rambled and was starting to think that he blew his cover. Now all the girls were looking at him funny, like he had two heads.

“Uh huh,” Santana said, slowly nodding her head. Kurt froze again as she walked up to him, taking her long manicured finger and lifting the collar of his shirt down to find out that he had a huge, hickey on his neck. “Exactly what I thought,” She said as she lifted the shirt down more so that the rest of the girls could see.

“Oh my god, Kurt,” Rachel loudly shrieked, capturing the attention of the guys who were on the other side of the hallway. “That hickey is huge.”

“Keep your voice down Rachel,” Kurt hissed at her as he pulled his collar back up. “I don’t need the whole school to hear that I have a huge hickey on my neck.” He frowned and paused. “But it’s not that bad right, like it’s not that big is it?”

The girls exchanged an uneasy look with each other before collectively saying “No” except for Santana who said, “Yes it looks like a fish sucked your neck.” Which made Kurt even more nervous since they could put two and two together and figure out that it was Sam.

Speak of the devil, Sam and the rest of the guys had come over to see what had made Rachel yell about Kurt. Finn, Mike, Puck and Artie were all confused while Sam stood in the back of the group, trying to make himself unknown to the group. Kurt was glad that Sam had been thinking and that he had stayed with the group because if Sam wasn’t there then that could just make him an even bigger suspect in their mystery.

“What’s going on?” Puck asked the girls.

“Yeah, what happened Kurt, why’d Rachel scream?” Finn asked him. Kurt was still to nervous to speak so he just stood there, knowing that one of the girls would eventually tell the boys.

“Someone sucked Kurt’s neck,” Brittany answered, dreamily. “Was it Blaine Warbler?”

“What? No Britt, Blaine and I are just friends plus Blaine’s mouth is not that big,” Kurt rambled, ignoring the looks on his brother’s and male friends’ faces. “We aren’t dating, just friends.”

“Well if it wasn’t Gelmet then who was it?” Santana asked him and the group turned a questioning eye on Kurt, pressuring him to tell the truth but Kurt wasn’t going to crack. He would lie if he had to whether they ended up believing him or not.

“That’s for me to know and for you to never find out,” Kurt told them, sternly. “It’s known of your business.”

“What if we guess?” Tina asked and the group nodded their heads in agreement with the idea.

“No, no guessing. I’m not telling you who it is, you probably don’t even know who it is.”

“I think I have a right to know who my brother’s dating,” Finn stated. “I mean does Burt and my mom know?”

“Actually they do,” Kurt told him. “And no, you don’t have a right to know. I’m a teenage boy, stop treating me like I’m a baby who needs his brother to look out for him. A boy sucked my neck, I don’t want to go flaunting it around hence the shirt.”

“See, you obviously don’t want us to know who it is because you know we wouldn’t approve which is why you’re so defensive,” Puck said, raising an eyebrow. “Who was it Princess, a bad boy, some motorcycle dude. Whoa, did you have sex with this guy?”

“No Noah, I did not have sex with this guy,” Kurt hissed as Finn grew pale and the rest of the group looked even more shocked then previously. “We made it, we’re dating, we love each other and I’m not telling you who it is. Give it a rest.”

“You aren’t getting off that easy, White Boy,” Mercedes told him.

“Yeah, we’re all friends here, if one of us had a hickey then we would totally tell each other who did it,” Puck said, Artie, Mike and Santana nodding along with him.

“I wouldn’t want to know that information,” Kurt mumbled.

“Just watch out Kurt,” Rachel warned him. “We’ll be watching your every move today and we will figure out who gave you that hickey.”

“Yeah and then when we do, we’re all going to have a nice chit-chat so we can figure out whether we approve or not,” Finn said. “Right guys?”

“Right,” All the guys said except for Sam who was just half mindedly listening in on the conversation.

“Umm Sam?” Artie asked him, waving his hands in Kurt’s boyfriend’s face. “Earth to Sam, are you with us?” Sam snapped out of his trance and looked up to see that everyone was staring at him. He quickly glanced at Kurt who told him with his eyes to say something.

“Uh, yeah right, We’re gonna find this guy Kurt and we’re gonna teach him a lesson.” Sam said, trying to sound like he was paying attention but failing miserably.

Everyone including Kurt just rolled their eyes at him and then turned back to Kurt as the bell rang, signaling that it was time to get to class.

“Remember Lady Hummel,” Santana lectured him. “We’re always watching.”

And with that everyone left Kurt standing at his locker as they walked off to their designated classes. Kurt was a complete wreck inside, seeing as his plan had completely backfired. Someone was going to figure it out and then they would confront him and Sam and then the truth would be out and then it would be so much for their fun, romantic secret relationship.

Kurt sighed and took out his phone when he heard it ding. He saw it was from Sam and opened it up.

To Kurt: Hope you aren’t mad at me for kind blowing our cover 😊

Kurt smiled and texted his boyfriend back.

To Sam: Of course I’m not mad babe, you just need to pay attention some more 😊

To Kurt: You look even better in person. See you later? 😊

To Sam: See you later. Love ya!! 😊

To Kurt: Love ya too!!

Kurt put his phone in his pocket and started walking to his first period class, thinking of how he was going to get through the day with his friend’s eyes constantly on him.

“Sam this is a disaster,” Kurt half yelled, half whispered at his boyfriend. He had managed to get away from all his friends and to find Sam so they could talk in private in the choir room. “They’ve literally been watching me all day. Santana and Brittany went through my call log and messages, luckily I had all our conversations deleted and then I was on my phone in the hallway and Puck and Finn nearly scared the crap out of me when they ambushed me and took my phone. I can’t take this anymore.”

Sam was just sitting down in one of the chairs as he watched Kurt pace back and forth, worried about how upset Kurt was. “What should we do?”

“I don’t know,” Kurt admitted, running his fingers through his hair in frustration. “I don’t know but we need to figure out something quick before they find us here.”

“Babe,” Sam said, concerned, getting up to take Kurt’s hands so he would stop ruining his hair. “It's not that serious, just calm down.”

“But it is,” Kurt cried. “I don’t want anyone to know. You know how much more harassment I’m going to get if the football team and the other jocks know that we’re dating. They’d think that I converted you or something and they’d be even more mad at me and then you would get tortured too and I don’t want that for us.”

“Well if that’s what’s bothering you then I don’t care about those dicks.” Sam said and Kurt laughed a little at Sam’s choice of words. “Seriously, I’d rather get slushied or shoved up against a locker a few times a day then see you this stressed out. Besides, I can always beat them up if they bother us.” He said, nonchalantly.

“Don’t you see though Sam. We shouldn’t have to worry about that kind of stuff. We shouldn’t have to go through that just because we love each other.” Kurt explained. “And sure you can beat them up but at the end of the day it’s not going to change how they feel about us.”

“Well it will send them the message to back off,” Sam said, hopefully. “I’d do anything for you Kurt.”

“And I'd do anything for you Sam,” Kurt said back, smiling.

Sam leaned forward to give Kurt a kiss which turned into them kissing each other, staying glued together.

“Sam, babe,” Kurt said, trying to get Sam to stop but even he didn’t want it to end. “Sam, we can’t do this here.”

“Why not?” Sam asked, innocently. “No one else is around and I want to kiss you,”

“You know exactly why not,” Kurt huffed. “At any moment someone could jump out from behind the door or something and then they would see us.”

“Well… and don’t get mad at me but what if we just tell them?” Sam asked and Kurt raised a questioning eyebrow at him. “Just the glee kids and we make the like, swear to secrecy. Then we wouldn’t have to hide from them anymore and we could hang out more.”

“Is that what you really want though Sam?” Kurt asked him. Yes Kurt wanted that but he also couldn’t fully trust the glee club to keep a secret because they were terrible at it. “Quinn and Santana are the most gossipy bitches in the school and I’m not saying that they’ll deliberately tell anyone but they have friends outside of this club, what if it slips?”

“Then we’ll deal with it when the time comes babe,” Sam said, rubbing Kurt’s hands. “But I’m not ashamed of you and I hope you aren’t ashamed of me, so I don’t want to hide anymore. At least not from our friends.”

“I’m not ashamed of you Sam,” Kurt said, taking his hand and brushing Sam’s cheek. “You're the best boyfriend in the world. You really want to tell them?”

Sam nodded his head eagerly.

Kurt sighed. He didn’t want to disappoint Sam by denying his request seeing that he was so happy about the idea of not hiding anymore. “Okay, yeah, let’s tell them. I’ll text them to meet us here right now.”

“Yes,” Sam exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air. He picked up Kurt in a giant hug and spun him around the room. “Now we can hang out more and I can kiss you more and we can actually go out on dates and we won’t have to worry about running into anyone. Yes, this is amazing babe,”

“I’m glad you think so,” Kurt laughed as he typed the message into the glee group chat.

From Kurt

To Everyone: Meet me in the choir room ASAP, I have something to tell you 😁

From Santana

To Everyone: Does it have anything to do with your mysterious loverboy?

From Brittany

To Everyone: ????

From Puck

To Everyone: ????

From Artie

To Everyone: ????

From Finn

To Everyone: ????

From Quinn

To Everyone: ????

From Kurt

To Everyone: Maybe, okay

From Kurt

To Everyone: Just stop with the question marks 😡

From Rachel

To Everyone: ????

From Rachel

To Everyone: Wait sorry I didn’t mean to do that

From Kurt

To Everyone: 🙄

From Santana

To Everyone: 🙄😑

From Finn

To Everyone: Okay little bro we’ll be there in a few

From Kurt

To Everyone: Take your time 😊

From Santana

To Everyone: You wish Lady Hummel

From Santana

To Everyone: I’m already on my way, running down the hall

From Kurt

To Everyone: 🙄🙄

From Santana

To Everyone: 😎😛😍

“Okay, they’re on their way,” Kurt told Sam who was jumping up and down in preparation for their big reveal. “So you just want to tell them outright or…?”

“Yeah, pretty much,” Sam stopped jumping and shrugged. “It’s not like we have time to plan out a song,’

“I guess you’re right,” Kurt said but then he saw that Sam’s face lit up and could tell that he had gotten an idea. “Sam? What are you thinking?”

“I’m gonna hide in the closet,” Sam said, casually. “And then when everyone is here I’m going to jump out and come over and passionately kiss you.”

“Okay, um wow babe, that’s actually not a bad idea,” Kurt said, thinking the plan though. “I actually love it.”

“You do?” Sam asked. “Wow, thanks babe.”

“You’re so smart Sam,” Kurt told him, going over and kissing him. “I love you.”

“I love you too babe,” Sam said, returning the kiss. “This is so awesome, I’m gonna go hide now,”

“Okay,” Kurt laughed. “Don’t make too much noise, alright?”

“I won't,” Sam promised him as he slipped into the closet. Kurt realized that not only would they be telling their friends that they had been dating each other for five months but Sam would also be coming out to them and the closet idea was cute.

Kurt paced back and forth with his arms behind his back as he waited for everyone to gather in the room. It was their free period right now so they should be there at any moment. And he was right because soon enough Santana and Mercedes entered the room, Santana out of breath from running across the school in order to get there. Kurt told everyone one by one to take a seat until everyone arrived. After Santana and Mercedes, it was Quinn and Tina, then Rachel and Finn, Brittany, Finn and Artie and then lastly Puck and Mike. Once everyone was seated Kurt stopped his pacing and addressed the group.

“As you all know by now, I’ve been secretly dating someone for five months now and it seems that you guys would like to know who it is,” He said.

“Damn straight Princess,” Puck yelled as everyone else nodded their heads. “Whos’ the lucky guy?”

“Well, Noah, you guys know him personally and I think that you’ll approve of our relationship but you have to promise us something, okay?” Kurt told them.

“What is it?” Tina asked.

“You guys can not tell anyone else. Okay, our parents know and you guys will know now but no one else. We don’t want to get any harassment from being together and we know that if this gets out to the school that they won’t like it. So do you guys think you can do this because you don’t exactly have a clean track of keeping secrets?” He asked them as Santana, Quinn, Rachel, Finn and Puck shafted in their seats.

“I think we can,” Mercedes said. “We’d do anything to see you happy boo.”

“What about the rest of you? I need to be sure that everyone is on the same page here,”

He got a collective response of “yes” and smiled, preparing himself for the special reveal.

“Okay then, get ready,” He clapped his hands together. “Get on out here babe,” He yelled and Sam opened the closet door like they had planned and then walked over to Kurt and gave him a big kiss in the lips in front of everyone. The glee club was shocked to say the least. Kurt and Sam kissed some more while they stared at them with their jaws dropped.

Kurt and Sam pulled apart from each other and turned to face their friends. “So, what do you think?” Sam asked them.

They were surprisingly speechless. It wasn’t like they didn’t approve because they loved both boys and saw that it was apparent that they were madly in love and that they cared for one another. It was just that they had thought that Sam was straight and they were 99% sure that it was Blaine the whole time. They were mad at themselves because with the size of the hickey on Kurt’s neck and the size of Sam’s lips the two clues fit together like a puzzle. They felt stupid.

“Um guys?” Kurt asked, waving his hand in front of the group. “Are you guys there?”

“Yeah, we are,” Quinn said, speaking for the group. “Just… processing I guess,”

“Well, what do you think?” Kurt asked them, happily. “Aren’t we cute together?”

“Yeah, super cute,” Artie said, blankly.

“The cutest,” Puck added.

Kurt and Sam shared a concerned look. “You guys are scaring us,” Sam admitted. “What’s up, you aren’t going to expose us are you.”

That snapped everyone out of their trance because they didn’t want Kurt and Sam to regret their decision in telling them the truth. “No, of course not,” Finn assured them. “It’s just…”

“I knew there was something fishy with you, Trouty,” Santana said, pointing an accusing finger at Sam. “No way you were straight.” Kurt and Sam just smiled.

“Wait, you said five months?” Puck asked, bewildered. “You’ve been dating since September and we didn’t know until now?”

“Pretty much,” Both boys said, shrugging.

“Wow,” Artie exclaimed. “That’s dedication right there,”

Everyone nodded along in agreement again. “Well we’re happy for you two,” Quinn beamed. “And we promise we won’t tell anyone else.”

“Yeah, we won’t expose you,” Puck added. “Anything for my bros.”

“Oh my god,” Kurt said, turning to Sam. “What a relief right babe?”

“Right,” Sam agreed, taking Kurt’s hand. “You wanna go out later tonight, like out-out?”

“Sounds great, I’d love to,” Kurt said, squeezing his hand.

“Wait, does that mean we can do double dates now,” Tina asked. Her and Mike had been wanting to have a couple to go on double dates with for a while now but they couldn’t stand Rachel and Finn and they were the only other actual couple amongst their friend group at the time.

“Sure, we’d love too, right Sam,” Kurt asked his boyfriend.

“Yeah, but not tonight.” Sam told them. “I haven’t taken Kurt out on a proper date yet and I want it to be special.”

Tina and Mike nodded their hands. “Aww you’re so sweet babe,” Kurt told Sam.

“I know I am,” Sam joked and Kurt kissed his cheek one more time before they went over to sit down and join their friends. Kurt felt like a ton of bricks had been lifted off his back and was glad that they had told their friends. And it was all because of Sam.

#glee #glee fanfiction #hevans #kurt hummel #sam evans #fluff

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dreamypeaches · 4 years ago

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the lucky ones | pope heyward x reader

summary: after finally confessing his feelings to you, his childhood best friend, you and pope get a surprise.

warnings: pregnancy, cursing, tiny bit of angst, mostly pure fluff

word count: 1.7k

a/n: here’s some good old childhood friends to lovers, unexpected pregnancy, and dad!pope goodness. this is literally just my dream, so pope heyward, if you’re out there, hmu.

“So…”

“Yeah.”

“This is real?”

“No, it’s cake.”

“Fuck you.”

Pope looks down at the two pink lines before staring back up at you. From your place across the couch, you’re chewing on the inside of your thumb, eyes filled with anxiety, unable to read the expression on your best friend’s face. Except, he wasn’t just your best friend anymore. Though you hadn’t labeled it, whatever new level your relationship was on was far from platonic. Not after the way he kissed you and held you that night. Not after you moaned his name in the most sinful of ways. And especially not now, with the weight of reality falling onto your backs.

“What do you want to do?” Pope questions, staring back down to focus on the positive sign, still not fully comprehending the impact such a simple picture could have on his life.

“Well, obviously we can’t keep it,” you comment, not even questioning your words until Pope’s eyes widen, eyebrows coming together as he stands up.

“What do you mean we can’t keep it?” He asks. It’s you’re turn to be shocked, shooting his a confused look as he crouches in front of you, gaze falling onto your torso that was currently growing a little piece of you and him.

“Pope, how could we take care of a baby? You’re about to start medical school and that’s going to be insane! You don’t want to deal with being a father on top of that. And what am I going to do?”

He’s quiet for a moment, fingers reaching out hesitantly, landing on your stomach.

“Yeah, it is going to be insane. But…I love you. I’m completely in love with you and have been forever. There is no one else I’d rather have a life with, have a family with. So why don’t we start now?”

The look on his face is so hopeful you almost want to lie to him. It breaks your heart to have to speak the truth with tears in your eyes.

“You can’t say that, Pope. Sure, we’ve been friends forever, but that’s nothing like being in a relationship, like being parents! What if we don’t work well like that? What if we hate each other? Pope, I never want to hate you.” You start to sob, falling forward into his open arms. He clutches you tightly, wishing just his touch could make everything better.

He’d never expected to be able to touch you like this. You were his best friend since diapers, and he’d been in love with you since he discovered what love was. When he came home for the summer after graduating college, he’d made a decision. He wasn’t the same anxiety-ridden, awkward teenage boy you had grown up with. He was a man and he was accomplished and he had missed you like crazy, only seeing you on holidays and over the summer for the last four years. He’d planned it all out, bringing you to your favorite place when you were kids, a little nook in your backyard you called you’re happy place.

Talking an laughing like old times, Pope held you close before thinking screw it and asking if he could kiss you. Of course you said yes and one kiss turned into a full on make out which led to your bedroom which led to where you were now, sobbing into Pope’s arms as you tried to come to terms with the fact that nothing would be the same.

“We’ll figure it out, love. We don’t have to keep it if you don’t want to. It’s your choice and I will support you no matter what. Just tell me what you need.” Pope whispers against your neck, holding you like his life depended on it. You take a deep breath, your sobs subsiding as you allow Pope’s words to cover you in a comforting blanket.

“I just want to lay down.”

Pope nodded, standing with you in your arms and carrying you to the bedroom. You curled up in his side, whispering to him to turn the tv on. He did as you asked, putting on your favorite show and allowing you to escape for a while. You spent the rest of the day like that, intertwined with each other, not speaking despite the thousands of thoughts running through your heads. Exhaustion overtook you eventually, the emotional weight of the day washing over you and forcing you into unconsciousness, but not before you made a decision.

When you woke, it was early the next day. Pope, of course, was already up, always an early riser. He still had an arm wrapped around you scrolling through his phone before dropping it to the side as you stirred beside him.

“Good morning, love,” He says, shooting you a smile. You smile back up, your thoughts before falling asleep coming back to you, making your smile light up.

“Let’s do this, Pope,” You say. His brow furrow for a moment, not understanding the context of your statement. “Let’s have a baby. I love you, I want this with you. We can do it.”

Pope’s look of confusion bursts into one of pure happiness, his arms gripping you in a bear hug and pulling you onto his chest as he peppered your face with kisses. The joy was contagious, giggles falling from your lips as Pope started to list off all the ways you could make it work, and you couldn’t help but believe him. You looked into the future and you knew it would be okay.

1 year and 9 months later

Your phone buzzed for the millionth time that morning as you prepared breakfast. The smile that had yet to leave your face only grew as you read the message from Kie.

Tell Sylus happy birthday from his favorite auntie! Can’t wait to see you tomorrow!

You turn to now one year old, happily eating cheerios and blueberries in his high chair.

“Sy, Auntie Kie says happy birthday!” You say.

“Kie! Kie!” Sylus exclaims, grin showing off his two new bottom teeth.

“What about Kie?” Pope asks, walking into the kitchen in nothing but a pair of sweatpants, hair still damp from the shower.

“She just texted, wishing Sy a happy birthday. I’ve been blowing up all morning, not that any of the messages are for me. I swear, everyone we know loves our child more than us.”

Pope chuckles, arm encasing your waist as he pecks you on the cheek.

“Who can blame them, he is the cutest child in the universe. Aren’t you, Sy? Aren’t you the cutest little chunky money?” Pope’s baby voice comes out and he moves over to his son, fingers tickling his chubby belly as the now one year old giggled.

“Anyways, not everyone is focused on Sy. JJ texted me this morning congratulating me on getting laid a year and nine months ago,” Pope says. You scoff.

“Of course he did.” You turn the stove off and scoop the eggs onto a plate, adding some toast, fruit, and bacon and laying it in front of Pope. Filling your own plate, you sit on the other side of Sylus, picking up his milk that had fallen to the ground.

“So, what’s the plan for today, love?” Pope asked. The both of you had been lucky enough to get the whole weekend off. Today was Sylus’ actual birthday, tomorrow you’d be making the short trip to the Outer Banks for the grand party both your and Pope’s parents were putting together. It was times like these that made Pope getting into med school at Chapel Hill all the better.

“I was thinking we spend some time at home, maybe open up that new present we got him and let him try it out while we finish packing. Then we can stop at the aquarium on our way to the Outer Banks, you know how much he loves it there. Then we get to your parents house and spend at least an hour watching your mom and my mom gush over out little angel and shower him with an unnecessary amount of gifts. Sy is asleep by 8:30 and we’re in bed by 10.”

Pope nods along, eyes moving from his son to you as you spoke.

“Sounds like a plan.”

The day had gone just according to that plan. You were getting ready for bed, brushing your teeth and washing your face as Pope put Sy down. That clearly wasn’t happening when Pope walked into the bathroom, a pajama clad Sylus in his arms.

“Is he giving you trouble?” You ask with a smile.

“No, actually, there is one last gift for the day. Can you give it to mommy, Sy Sy?” Pope coos at the child, who is playing with a small box in his hands. After asking him once more, Sylus sticks his pudgy arm out, stretching across the space to hand you the box.

“I know it’s Sy’s birthday, but I thought it was the perfect time to give you this.”

You smile, giving Pope a confused look before lifting the lid. Your smile falls, eyes filling with tears as you lift the simple ring from the box.

“Pope…” Is all you’re able to say as your eyes are trained on the shiny object.

“I love you, Y/N. I know we didn’t really do things in the right order, but that’s okay. I love the life we’ve created and I love our son and I love you and I’m ready for this next step. So, will you marry me?”

“Mama cry? Mama cry?” Sylus says, reaching towards you as tears fall from your eyes, racing down and over your smiling lips. You take Sylus into your arms, kissing him on the forehead before looking back at Pope.

“Of course I’ll marry you.” Pope crashes his lips to yours, reducing his passion slightly so you wouldn’t drop Sylus. He takes the ring from you and slips it on to your finger, kissing the skin around it before grinning up at you. Sylus points to the rings and babbles, clearly interested in the bright item. You and Pope just laugh, walking together to Pope’s childhood bedroom. Laying Sylus down in his crib, Pope pulls you against him on the bed as you admire the jewelry on your finger.

“I can’t believe I get to have this. I’m marrying Y/N Y/L/N. I must be the luckiest man in the world.” You giggle, pressing a sweet kiss to his smiling lips. Looking back at the sleeping boy beside the bed, you sigh in content.

“I think we’re both the lucky ones, my love.”

taglist/moots: @jjmaybby @dontjinx-it @butgilinsky @rekrappeter @diverdcwn @rafecameron @prejudic3 @starlightstarkey @https-luna @sunnypogue @obxmxybxnk @jjmayybank @euphoricheyward @socialwriter @kindahavefeelingskindaheartless @peachydrews @outerbanksbro @poguestyleskye @softstarkey @bricksatanakinswindow @mdlyncline @poguemackin @downbytheouterbanks @rae131415 @ptersparkers @prkerspogue @moldisgoodforyou @outrbanks @girlsru1eboysdroo1 @tempestuousjj @stargazingstarkey @anxietyandtacos @uwubonebabie @joshy-obx @sortagaysortahigh @overly-b @highondrew @madelynsclines @cherryobx @royalmerchant @wtfkie @toriswrites @ilovejjmaybank @broken-jj @vindictive-hearts @fttayla @rafej-cambanks @stfukie

#pope heyward x reader #pope heyward fluff #pope heyward fic #popeappreciation #obx fic #my writing

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wheresmynaya · 4 years ago

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Lost in the Lights Ch.1 | Brittana

Looks like I’m back at it again! Honestly it’s only because it’s currently (American) football season and I’ve been wanting to write QB!Britt for SO LONG and Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince gave me lots of feelings about it.

Also the Steelers are still undefeated so I’ve been in a good mood.

Summary: Brittany S. Pierce is new to WMHS and quickly finds that the students there aren't as open-minded as the ones she's used to, especially when she takes over as the Titans' starting quarterback. Many heads are turned including Cheerios Co-Captain Santana Lopez who has some obstacles of her own to tackle.

Available on ff.net (x) ao3 (x)

Once Brittany taped up the last box and set it aside for the movers to take, she took the rare moment she had alone and reminisced. She knew this day was bound to come. Since her father’s passing earlier in the year, Brittany’s mother – Whitney – had begun making the arrangements to move closer to Brittany’s grandparents in Ohio. Aside from a handful of friends, they didn’t really have anyone else close by and with Brittany’s little brother – Pete – still too young to stay home alone and Brittany busy with school, Whitney needed the extra help.

The move made sense, but Brittany dreaded it in silence. She was going into her Senior year and being the new kid at school wasn’t how she planned on spending it. She kept her feelings in check though as she boxed up her whole life and said goodbye.

Brittany didn’t want to make things harder by digging in her heels, so she put on a brave face for the sake of her family and finished her Junior year without making any complaints. Instead, Brittany did everything she could to help make the transition a little easier.

With a light knock on Brittany’s door, Whitney made her presence known.

“You ready to go, Britt?” Whitney asked gently.

Brittany could feel her throat tightening. Was she ready? The answer was obvious and deep down, Whitney knew that. She closed the distance and gave her daughter a hug.

“I’m sorry, kiddo,” Whitney whispered.

Brittany just nodded and held on tighter.

It had been a long drive and it seemed like everything started to look a little greener the further they got from the coast. Even the trees changed from the bushy palms Brittany grew up with to tall oaks, but after what felt like a million hours the Pierce Family finally made it to their destination.

“It’s a good looking house, right kids?” Whitney asked cheerfully as the family stretched their achy limbs in front of their new home.

It wasn’t anything special, just a typical three bedroom, two bath. The siding was white, the shutters were blue and the wooden fence looked relatively knew. At a quick glance, the house looked like any other on the block. Brittany didn’t have any complaints though and when she glanced down at Pete, neither did he.

“It’s cute,” Brittany agreed with a smile then nudged her brother, “What do you think, Petey?”

“I like the windows,” Pete pointed up at the shutters, “Blue’s my favorite color.”

“Mine too,” Brittany winked.

“Well, go pick your rooms,” Whitney instructed.

She didn’t get a chance to tell them that they were the exact same size, one just faces the backyard and the other faces the front. The two took off towards the house giggling the whole way while Whitney just shook her head and trailed after them.

It took them a couple weeks to settle into their new place with the help of Brittany’s grandparents, but it was finally starting to feel like home even if she felt like something was missing.

Or rather, someone.

Some nights she could hear the soft whimpers coming from her mother’s room and some nights Petey makes his way into Brittany’s bed because the dreams keep him up at night. Everyone misses him and that makes the transition a little harder. The nights are usually hard for everyone, but they manage to get by together.

It’s better during the day when it’s light out and there’s less time to overthink things. An Ohio summer has nothing on a Florida one, but Brittany doesn’t complain about that either. She can catch a tan wherever the sun shines, so she does just that.

She and Pete find a park within walking distance of their house and visit often while Whitney is out job hunting. Most days, Pete has more energy than Brittany can keep up with so the park really comes in handy. On the rare occasion, Pete sometimes would rather sit with Brittany on a blanket under one of the big trees there and color.

Sometimes, Brittany joins him because as Pete would say, “You’re never too old for coloring.”

One day while they’re at the park, Brittany spots a couple of guys that look to be around her age. They’re a little ways away, tossing a football back and forth. She can just barely hear their voices, but they’re muffled and mix with the sound of her music playing from her phone.

“How’s this look, Britt?” Pete asks as he holds up his coloring book.

Brittany nods, “Excellent color choice for the hair.”

“I thought so too,” Pete grins and goes back to his scribbling while Brittany lazily flips through the latest issue of Sports Illustrated.

She switches from reading articles to watching the guys play. She notes their form and posture and she can’t help but critique them. Their throws are pretty average, but they aren’t too bad and she goes back to reading.

“Watch out!” Brittany hears one of the guys yell. She braces herself and holds out a protective arm over Pete’s head. Soon a football bounces down just a couple feet away from her blanket and rolls to a wobbly stop beside her.

“Way to go, Sam! You almost hit them,” The lean guy yells back to the shaggy-haired blonde.

“I thought you had that!”

“It was overthrown! Do you think I’m seven feet tall?”

“You could’ve jumped.”

“This is why you’re third string when we don’t even have a second.”

“Whatever Mike, I’m just having an off day,” The blonde grumbles as he trails his friend.

“You always say that,” Mike shakes his head and starts to jog over to Brittany and Pete, “Sorry about that!”

“That’s alright,” Brittany smiles as she reaches for the ball and pushes to stand. The leather feels familiar in her hands and it’s just now that she realizes she hasn’t picked up a ball in so long. Her fingers automatically slide into position between the laces though like they’re magnets being drawn together.

Brittany sets her eyes on Mike and draws her arm back to throw a perfect spiral.

The pass connects with the intended target – obviously – but the looks on both of the guys’ faces is priceless. Brittany smiles proudly as they whoop and holler. She didn’t realize she kind of misses that.

“Show off,” Pete teases though he matches her proud smile.

“That was an awesome throw!” Mike applauds as he rushes over, “Like Woah! Sorry, I’m Mike. That’s my friend, Sam.”

Sam’s still a little ways away but he waves as he jogs over, his blonde shaggy hair bouncing with every step. He kind of reminds Brittany of a golden retriever, eager and a little dorky.

“I’m Brittany,” Brittany greets and pats Pete’s head, “This is my brother, Pete. We just moved here.”

“Oh, I think we’re neighbors!” Mike grins, “The house with the blue shutters?”

“Yeah, that’s us.”

Sam finally joins the group, “Great throw! Can you do that again?”

Brittany shrugs casually, “Yeah. Probably.”

Mike and Sam drop their jaws in disbelief.

“My sister’s a quarterback,” Pete informs them, “She’s the best at school.”

“I was the best at our old school,” Brittany corrects and ruffles up his blonde hair.

“You were a,” Sam blinks, “I’ve never met a girl quarterback.”

Brittany tries to keep from gritting her teeth at the way he says girl. She knows he didn’t mean any disrespect, but it still makes her skin crawl. She forgets that some places aren’t as progressive as her old school, so she keeps the polite smile on her face.

“You have to try out,” Sam insists, “You’re better than half of those guys and no girl has ever tried out before. It would be so cool!”

“You saw me throw one time,” Brittany chuckles.

“Exactly, that’s how much we suck!”

“Hey!” Mike shakes his head and gives Brittany an encouraging smile, “You’d be great on the team.”

Mike seems genuine enough, they both do, but Brittany’s unsure of how she’ll be received here. She’s already going to be the new kid in school, she didn’t really want to add on to that by being the first girl to try out for the team.

“I don’t know,” Brittany looks unsure and glances down at Pete, “I wasn’t planning on playing this year.”

“You’ve got to,” Mike adds, “You have a killer arm.”

“Would totally bench Hudson,” Sam jokes with Mike.

Mike nods, “Without a doubt.”

“Is Hudson your current QB?” Brittany wonders.

“Yeah, for three years and we haven’t made a single playoffs appearance,” Sam answers with the shake of his head.

“Sam was going to try and play him for the starting position,” Mike explains, “Clearly he needs some work though.”

Sam scoffs and punches at Mike’s shoulder.

“Clearly,” Brittany chuckled. She liked these guys. They were kind of dorks but harmless and they seemed friendly.

“Well, we don’t want to pressure you if you don’t want to play,” Mike says a little more seriously, “But if you change your mind, try-outs are next Tuesday at William McKinley High at noon. See Coach Beiste.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Brittany replies, “Thanks.”

“Cool. Well, how about one more for the road?” Mike suggests and holds out the ball to Brittany.

Brittany was happy to oblige and slaps her palm against the leather, “Go long.”

The guys took off running, playfully shoving at each other as Brittany took her stance and got into position. She let them get a few more yards further before drawing back and letting the ball fly.

Again, it was a perfect throw.

When Sam caught it this time, Mike cheered while Sam did a celebratory dance. It wasn’t the smoothest thing Brittany had ever seen, but it was the funniest and it had her and Pete laughing harder than they had in awhile.

That night at the dinner table with Whitney, Pete talked animatedly about his and Brittany’s day. Brittany always loved how excited he got about the smallest things and he always told stories with so much detail. They were worried that it would fade with their dad’s passing but Pete was still so full of love and light.

“We made friends at the park today too!” Pete said which piqued Whitney’s interest.

“Oh really?” Whitney smiled and looked to Brittany, “Making friends already?”

“I wouldn’t call them that,” Brittany chuckled as she picked mindlessly at her plate, “A couple guys from the high school here were playing catch. Apparently one of them is our neighbor too.”

“Mike!” Pete clarified.

“Yeah, Mike and Sam. They tried talking me into trying out for the football team,” Brittany explained, “I don’t think I’m going to play this year though.”

“What? Why not?” Whitney asked worriedly, “You’ve played every year since middle school.”

“I know, but I want to be able to help out here if you need me to,” Brittany reasons and glances over at Pete, “I don’t want to get stuck with football like I always do.”

“You love it, Britt, and you’re good at it,” Whitney tells her, “You should try out.”

“What about Pete?” Brittany questions, “No one will be home when he finishes school.”

“Gran will pick him up,” Whitney suggests easily.

“But – “

“No buts,” Whitney gives her a stern look, “It’s your Senior year and you love the game. If you want to play, you should. Isn’t that what your dad always said?”

Brittany feels something clench in the pit of her stomach and she isn’t sure if it’s a good feeling or a bad one. She can still hear her dad’s voice gently guiding her and maybe that’s what helps her decide this time too.

“Okay yeah, I’ll try out,” Brittany announces and it’s the first time she finally feels like herself again since moving to Ohio.

It’s a muggy Summer’s day when Brittany arrives at her new school for try-outs. She can already feel all eyes on her as she walks through the gate and joins the others on the field. She spots Mike and Sam with a few others and they wave at her while the others give her curious looks. Brittany gives them a nod but stays focused. It feels like it’s a hundred degrees there, but she’s use to the heat after growing up in Florida. She stands tall with her chin held high as she makes her way over to the Coach.

She’s pleasantly surprised when she finds that the Coach is also a woman.

“Coach Beiste?”

“Cheerios try-outs are held in the gym,” The woman tells her without a second glance.

Brittany bites her lip and tries to shake the nerves, “I’m not here for a cereal ad, Coach. I want to try-out for the team.”

The woman pauses and eyes Brittany curiously as she says, “This is football try-outs.”

“I know,” Brittany nods resolutely, “I’ve played before.”

“Position?”

“Quarterback.”

Coach looks impressed, “What string?”

Brittany smirks, “I was the starter.”

The woman blinks and it’s similar to the look Sam gave her.

“What’s your name, kid?”

“Brittany. Brittany S. Pierce.”

“You just move here or something?” Beiste asks as she jots down Brittany’s name on the clipboard, “I haven’t seen you around.”

“Yes,” Brittany nods, “I just moved here from Florida.”

“Alright. Well, you won’t get any special treatment on my field,” Beiste tells her sternly, “You’ll run the drills, same as everyone else and I’ll see how you go. You throw up, it’s an automatic out.”

“Of course,” Brittany grins, “I don’t want it any other way.”

It’s no surprise to Brittany when she aces try-outs. She’s always been pretty athletic and she starts every morning with a run so she’s in tip-top shape and breezes through the drills. Even the team’s resident quarterback – Finn Hudson – struggles to keep up with the others. Brittany notes how uncoordinated his movements are and starts to understand why the team hasn’t made a playoff appearance.

Finn’s saving grace though is that he has a pretty good arm, but Brittany is confident that hers is better. Actually, she knows it is. If they’re going to compare stats, Brittany has him beat in every category but she lets her talent speak for itself. No one likes a cocky new kid on the block.

“You’re promising, Pierce,” Coach Beiste tells her after the third day of try-outs, “Between you and me, you can run circles around Hudson and I have no doubt you can outshine him.”

“I appreciate that, Coach.”

“But, he’s been our starter for nearly three years now. He’s got the team’s respect and trust,” Coach Beiste reasons.

Brittany nods. She hates how she has to start from scratch here. At her old school, she didn’t have to prove anything to anyone, they just knew she was talented because they grew up with her. Here, they don’t know anything about her and that puts her at a real disadvantage.

“You can’t just come in like a bat outta hell and snatch it from him,” Coach continues, “You’re going to have to play for it; prove yourself to me and the team that you can do a better job. You’ve got to really earn this.”

Brittany saw that coming too so she nods, “I understand.”

“I took a look at your record. I hope you don’t mind,” Coach Beiste says, “It’s very impressive, Pierce. I haven’t seen talent like yours in awhile around here. I almost forgot what it was like to see stats like yours.”

“Thank you. I’ve been playing for a long time.”

“I can tell, so this is what I’m going to do. There’s a pre-season game coming up,” Beiste tells her, “I want to put you in, see what you can do. If I like what I see, you might just be able to nudge Hudson out. There are a lot of Seniors on this team, I know they’d love to see the Championships and I think you can get them there.”

“I know I can,” Brittany says without a second thought.

Coach pats her hard on the shoulder pad, “That’s what I like to hear. Go get cleaned up.”

While Brittany gets packed up a little while later, she feels someone standing close by. She waits for some off-handed comment – she’s heard a few of the guys mumble them under their breath – but it never comes. She figures it’s either Mike or Sam but when she turns, it’s neither of them.

“Hi,” The guy greets. His voice is meek, almost angelic and it takes Brittany by surprise.

“Hi,” Brittany smiles back though as she stands.

“I’m Kurt,” He says and does a showy kick, “I’m the kicker.”

Brittany notes his small stature compared to the other guys. There’s not an ounce of muscle on him it looks like, typical for someone on special teams.

“I’m Brittany,” She replies, “Not sure what I am just yet.”

“I hope you’re going to be our knew QB,” Kurt grins and takes a seat next to Brittany’s duffle as she continues packing up, “I’m rooting for you. I know there are a few others that are too, they just don’t want you to know about it. I don’t really understand the point, we all want to win.”

“Thanks.”

“Sure,” Kurt nods and starts to admire Brittany’s keychain, “Oh! We play for the same team.”

“Obviously or this would be pretty embarrassing,” Brittany says with a straight face.

“No, I meant – “

Brittany grins slyly as she watches his face turn red. She glances down at her rainbow unicorn keychain in his hand and meets his gaze, “I know what you meant.”

Kurt laughs it off awkwardly and tries to recover, “It’s nice to finally have someone to talk to on the team.”

Brittany can hear just a hint of sadness in his tone and looks up, “They don’t talk to you?”

“They do, but it’s not the same. We don’t have much in common. All they want to talk about are video games and hot chicks,” Kurt scrunches his nose like there’s a bad taste in his mouth but then he looks at Brittany and relaxes, “Then again, you might be able to relate with that last one.”

Brittany chuckles as she reties up her hair, “You think so?”

Kurt eyes her and nods to the keychain again, “I don’t know many female quarterbacks that are straight. Actually, I don’t know any female quarterbacks.” Kurt ponders for a moment then looks to Brittany apologetically, “I’m sorry, that was intrusive. I apologize.”

Brittany gives him a pat on the knee as she stands. She pulls up her heavy duffle and adjusts the strap on her shoulder, “You’re not wrong, but I’m here to play football. Not drool over girls, no matter how pretty they are.”

Kurt smiles, “Good to hear. It would be nice to win for a change.”

“I’ll do my best,” Brittany tells him, “I’ll see you at practice.”

Whitney and Pete are in the stands along with Brittany’s grandparents on the day of the game against Crawford County Day. Brittany’s been sitting on the bench for a whole quarter and her knees are bouncing at the opportunity to get on the field.

She watches her team in action and it’s almost embarrassing how ununified they are. It’s like no one’s taking charge – no one’s leading – and it hurts to watch.

“Blitz! Blitz!” Coach yells, “Watch the blitz!”

Brittany can see it coming, but Finn doesn’t change plays.

The ball is hiked and Finn hands it off to their Running Back – Noah Puckerman – but the defense slips through from all sides. Puckerman is swallowed up in an instant.

It’s a loss of three yards, third down.

Brittany glances over at Coach and her face is beet red.

The next play is even worse. It’s meant to be a simple slant pass, but the lack of communication between Finn and the receivers – Mike and Sam – has everyone on different pages. When Finn drops back, no one is open and the pocket collapses in on him for a sack.

Brittany cringes at the hard hit and shakes her head.

“Damn it, Hudson!” Coach snaps and throws her hat on the ground.

The Titans finish the half down by 13 points.

It’s the longest twenty-minute halftime Brittany has ever endured. Coach just tears into the team for being so sloppy. Apparently Crawford County Day is meant to be one of the easiest teams on their roster so the fact that the Titans are behind already isn’t really a good sign.

“Good thing this is just a scrimmage!” Beiste yells, “I’ve never seen so many poorly executed plays in my entire career. What the hell was that out there?”

“They’ve gotten better, Coach.”

Brittany presses her lips tight together to keep from laughing at Finn’s excuse.

“I am captain of the U.S.S. Kick Ass, not the U.S.S. Back Talk,” Beiste said pointedly and looked at Brittany, “Pierce, your starting.”

“Wait, Coach!” Finn argued, “You can’t start her, she’s…she’s –“

Brittany arched her brow at him, waiting for a lame insult to come tumbling out.

“She’s gunning for your job, Hudson,” Beiste cut in.

“You can’t be serious!” Finn crossed his arms, “We don’t even know if she can play.”

“You just keep your eyes on me then,” Brittany smirked as she pulled on her helmet, “I’ll show you how it’s done.”

“Woah!” Sam cheered and high fived Mike.

“Shut up,” Puck shoved at them both, “Have some respect.”

“You’re one to talk,” Kurt replied meekly.

Puck rounded on him, “What was that, Hummel?”

Kurt just lifted a dainty hand and admired his nails quietly.

Brittany just smirked. Maybe she didn’t have the entire team on her side yet, but she liked her odds so far.

At first, things were a little rocky. It seemed that the offense wasn’t use to someone taking charge – they weren’t use to her taking charge – but Brittany kept at it and it started to pay off.

Once she got into her groove, she could read the defense so easily and adjust accordingly. She’d hear the grunts of disbelief whenever she’d call an audible, but by the last quarter she felt like she had finally made ground and gained some of the team’s trust.

Because by the last quarter, the Titans were up by 3 points.

She could play it safe with just seconds to go, but this was just a scrimmage and she wanted to make a lasting impression. She didn’t just want to win with a field goal attempt, she was confident that she could put more points on the board before the final.

Brittany straightened up and motioned for a timeout. The ref blew the whistle and Brittany gathered the team for a huddle. She took out her mouthguard and looked around at her teammates.

“I want to try Blue 80,” Brittany tells them.

“You’re ballsy, Pierce!” Matt Rutherford – the Tight End – said but it came out as a compliment.

Mike and Sam looked between each other before Mike spoke up, “We’ve never made a completion with this play.”

“Guess we should change that,” Brittany shrugged.

“You really want to blow the lead?” Dave Karofsky – the Right Guard – mocked.

“It’s the last play of the game,” Sam defended, “The worse that could happen is it gets intercepted and they run it all the way –“

“Shut up, Evans!” Azimio – the Left Guard – snapped, “Don’t jinx us.”

“It’s all or nothing,” Brittany reasoned, “Scared QBs don’t make plays and I think we can put more points on the board. You with me?”

She held out her gloved fist and waited for the other’s to join her.

Puck was the first to hold out his fist, “You pull this off, Pierce, and I’ll tell Finn myself that you’re the better QB.”

“You’re on,” Brittany smirked and watched as the rest of the team joined her, “Titans on three. One…two…three!”

“Titans!” They yelled out in unison. Brittany was impressed, she was already making them a more cohesive team.

Everyone got into their positions, what looked to be a simple running play. The defense fell right for it and adjusted accordingly. When the ball was snapped, Brittany faked the hand off to Puck and swiftly dropped back, watching as the other team went after him instead of realizing she still had the ball in her possession.

Meanwhile, Mike and Sam broke away from their defenders and jetted up the field. Both were wide open, but Mike crossed into the endzone just before Sam did. While the pocket still held, Brittany made her decision and let the ball fly before it could collapse in on her.

She hoped and wished and prayed to anyone who was listening that Mike would catch this thing. So much was riding on this; the team’s trust, their respect, solidifying her position as the new quarterback. Mike needed to catch this.

The relief she felt when he did was unmatched!

The crowd roared and Brittany’s chest swelled with pride. She glanced up at the sky and smiled, her dad would’ve loved that play.

Soon she was swarmed by her new team and they hoisted her up on their shoulders as they chanted her name, “Pierce! Pierce! Pierce!”

“Hate to say it, bro,” Puck said as they carried Brittany off to the sideline where Finn was close to throwing a tantrum, “But the girl’s got mad skill. She’s got my vote.”

“Who cares about a vote. That’s not how we do things,” Finn scoffs, “It’s up to Coach.”

“Easy, Hudson, you could learn a lot from her. Kid’s on fire,” Coach Beiste smiled proudly and patted Brittany on her helmet, “You got the job, Pierce. Titans, your new quarterback.”

“Thanks, Coach!” Brittany grinned while most of the team cheered.

After the game once everyone had changed out of their uniforms, Brittany was surprised to see Puck approach her with an interesting offer.

“Yo Pierce! Wait up,” He called after her.

“Hey,” Brittany nodded.

“I’m throwing a party this weekend before school starts up again,” He says, “I wasn’t going to invite you because didn’t know if you were cool yet.”

Brittany gives him an unbelieving look but it goes over his head.

“The whole team’s going and considering you’re our QB now I figured it was only right that I let you in on it,” Puck then gave her a sly grin, “Lots of hot babes will be there if that’s your thing. Is it your thing?”

Brittany chose to ignore the question, “Thanks for the invite. I’ll try to swing by if I can.”

“Not to brag, but my parties are usually pretty awesome,” Puck flaunted, “If you want to start off on the right foot at this school – being the new kid and all – you’re gonna want to show up.”

She couldn’t decide if that was meant to be a threat or that he just sucks at persuading, but Brittany shrugged it off. She was beginning to get the impression that Lima might live up to the stereotype of being a small town.

Brittany didn’t waver though, “I’ll keep that in mind, Puck. I’ll see you around.”

\\\\\

As a Cheerios Co-Captain, Santana Lopez knew that there were certain social obligations that she had to keep up with. One of those obligations being the End of Summer party Puck always threw. Only the top dogs of McKinley were allowed to attend and if you didn’t it was basically social suicide.

With everything that happened last year, Santana couldn’t afford to miss it no matter how much she hated going. It was like her reputation had been in freefall and she was barely holding on. She couldn’t have that – not for her Senior year – so she sucked it up and told her parents she was sleeping over her best friend’s house.

Quinn Fabray – the other Co-Captain of the Cheerios – was the only person it seemed like that kept Santana sane. They considered themselves the hottest bitches McKinley had to offer and most of the student body couldn’t help but agree. They had the looks, the smarts, the snark; they were the perfect duo and were set on ruling the school.

Santana hoped that last year was just a minor blip in their legacy. She had high hopes coming into Senior year, she already felt like she had hit rock bottom and she was over feeling sorry for herself.

The best way to feel on top again? Attend Puck’s party.

Of course, it was easier said than done.

The music is loud and there are people everywhere. Honestly, Santana has no idea how these things have never been shut down. She thinks maybe the dopes down at the Lima Police Department are just too swamped with real crime-fighting to deal with Puck and his shenanigans for the millionth time.

That’s obviously a joke. Nothing interesting ever happens in Lima, the LPD are just a bunch of lazy fucks who apparently don’t care about a couple dozen kids drinking underage.

Santana sits with Quinn at the edge of Puck’s pool and they just people-watch as they dangle their feet in the cool water. It’s a hot night and there are already a couple drunken idiots wading in the shallow end, singing along to the music at the top of their lungs.

She looks down at her red solo cup and swirls the amber liquid. She barely has a buzz so she takes another gulp in hopes that she’ll catch up and finally start enjoying the party.

Quinn watches her wearily but does the same. Neither of them want to be there but appearances are important, especially to them.

Speaking of appearances, Santana spots a leggy blonde across the way through the glass double-doors. She’s dressed casually in cut-off jean shorts and a white t-shirt. Santana raises her brow; she wishes she could show up to a party looking like that. It took her an hour alone to do her make up, let alone pick out the right outfit.

Santana continues to watch her – though she feels a little weird for it. She’s never seen the girl around here before and decides that’s the reason why she can’t take her eyes off of her – she’s just curious. A little piece of her deep down inside calls her out for lying.

Still, Santana just assumes the blonde came with one of the football players since that’s who she seems to gravitate to. She notices the familiar faces from the football team – Sam Evans in particular – and watches as he hands the blonde a red cup.

The girl smiles in return and wow, Santana’s a little star-struck by its brilliance. Sam must’ve said something dorky because now the girl’s laughing and shaking her head at him. Santana’s never seen someone so effortlessly beautiful and she has to bite her cheek to keep from smiling too. This girl, she has one of those infection kind of smiles and it’s trouble.

Mike Chang walks up next and clinks his cup against the girl’s and together they begin to chat.

Santana quickly glances to Quinn to catch her reaction. Mike and Quinn aren’t exactly official, but it’s obvious they have a thing for each other.

Quinn’s not looking though and Santana feels a little relief. She can’t deal with a jealous Quinn tonight, and a little part of her doesn’t want this new girl to have to deal with that either.

When Santana glances back, she recognizes Sugar Motta – McKinley’s resident Richie Bitch – pulling the blonde girl in to dance and suddenly Santana’s watching a little too closely.

This girl can clearly dance and the way she moves with Sugar is so graceful. Sugar on the other hand isn’t as fluid, but their hands smooth over each other teasingly. When the blonde’s hands land on Sugar’s hips, they start to sway together and Santana can just tell that the blonde’s the one leading now.

Santana can feel this coil within her tightening the longer she watches, her mouth getting drier at the way she takes control.

Then the song changes and the two laugh and carry on so carefreely as if nothing happened. Their moves mimic the steady rhythm and they start to bounce with their fists pumping at the air in time to the pounding bass.

Santana frowns at the slight pang of jealousy; she used to be like that, so uncaring and full of life. She danced with whoever she wanted – boy or girl – and it didn’t matter, but now…now it does.

“Who’s she?” Quinn asks, her gazing lining up with the blonde talking to Sugar.

“No idea.”

“Should I ask around?”

“No!” Santana blurts and Quinn eyes her suspiciously. Santana adjusts, “No. I’m sure we’ll find out sooner or later. She’s hanging around Sugar and you know she can’t keep her mouth shut for more than two seconds.”

Quinn smirks, “True.”

When Puck finally rears his ugly mug, Santana’s surprised they were able to dodge him for so long.

“Hey ladies,” He greets with his signature smirk, “I’m not interrupting, am I?”

There are beer stains on his open button-down and Santana can smell the tanning oil on him from where she sits. He’s got a nice body or whatever, but that doesn’t mean he needs to strut around basted in Hawaiian Tropic. She can’t really talk though, she and Quinn have both made out with him at some point in time.

“Scram, Puckerman,” Santana replies with a roll of her eyes, “I’m not drunk enough to deal with your lame ass.”

“Is that any way to talk to the host?” Puck mocks and squeezes in to sit between the Co-Captains.

Santana groans and shuffles away from him, but he throws a heavy arm around her and Quinn’s shoulders. She can smell something stronger than beer on his breath and scoffs as she gets out from underneath his arm, “You’re gross.”

“Whatever. I’m not here for you anyway,” Puck brushes off and leans heavily against Quinn instead, “I know you’re not on the menu anymore or has that changed?”

Santana’s taken aback but her heart begins to pound wildly at the accusation.

“Choose your next words carefully,” Santana warns.

“What?” Puck laughs, “You still trying to hold out on me?”

“Puck,” Quinn snaps and shrugs out from under him too.

He’s too drunk and wrapped up in his own bullshit to notice that he’s crossed a line, but his voice grabs the attention of those surrounding them.

Santana suddenly feels small, trapped even. It feels like everyone’s staring now and listening to Puck’s drunken words.

“All I wanna know is if that phase is over with now?” He says and it’s like the final blow for Santana.

She shrinks back and her vicious words that use to come so easily for her die on her tongue. There’s a crowd gathering now and she notices the blonde girl from before eyeing them too.

“It’s not a phase, asshole,” Quinn snaps and surprises everyone watching by pushing him into the pool.

Santana’s eyes go wide as she sees the big splash. She’s never been so thankful to have Quinn as her best friend.

“What the hell, Quinn!” Puck grumbles as he resurfaces, “I had my phone on me still!”

“Shouldn’t have been a dick then,” Quinn shrugs and hooks her arm with Santana’s, “Let’s go, the beer’s flat here anyway.”

Santana finally kicks into gear and nods, “Yeah. I’m not trying to be hungover for practice tomorrow.”

Santana doesn’t know why, but as they turn to leave she looks around for the mysterious blonde. To her disappointment, she’s nowhere to be found.

They make their way to the street and begin the short walk home in silence. Santana’s heart is still racing even though they’re so far away now that she can’t even hear the low thrum of the music emanating from Puck’s place. She hopes that no one saw her choke on her words, maybe they’ll be too distracted by Quinn’s actions to remember.

It’s not until another ten minutes later when they’ve arrived at Quinn’s house that Santana finally finds her voice again.

“Thanks Q,” She says quietly. She knows she doesn’t need to elaborate and she’s thankful for that too.

Quinn only lifts her shoulder in a lazy shrug, “You would’ve done the same for me.”

\\\\\

The first day of school rolls around quickly for Brittany, but despite being the new kid she makes friends relatively easy. Kurt’s in her first class and she’s honestly so relieved to see a familiar face.

He takes it upon himself to show her around and introduce Brittany to his friends. So far, Brittany’s met a Tonya or Taylor – she’s not very good with names – but she’s nice. There’s also Mercedes – she remembers that name – who Brittany met in her Astronomy class and alongside Kurt guide, they guide Brittany through McKinley High.

It’s a total Mean Girls moment and Brittany finds herself laughing at how eager they are to show her around.

When they get to lunch, she notices that everyone is pretty cliquey which is something she isn’t use to. At her old school, everyone mingled with everyone. It didn’t matter if you played sports or if you were considered cool, people just hung out with whoever they wanted.

At McKinley High, that’s clearly not the case.

All the football players sit together but instead of joining them, Kurt leads Brittany and Mercedes to a different table close by. They get a couple of curious looks, but all Brittany can focus on is what they’re wearing.

“Why have they got on their letterman jackets?” Brittany questions with a laugh, “It’s so hot outside, they have to be melting.”

“How else do expect them to establish dominance?” Kurt says sarcastically, “I only wear mine on game days. You don’t have one yet, right?”

“No,” Brittany answers, “But I do have my own number now.”

“Oh good,” Kurt grins, “It’s official now.”

Kurt and Mercedes are still trying to give her the rundown, but Brittany’s starting to reach her peak when it comes to taking in all the new info. Whatever they’re saying now is kind of going in one ear and out the other, the only thing that brings her back is spotting the familiar brunette she saw at Puck’s party.

Even if Brittany drank a little more than she anticipated, she was still sober enough to remember the saddest looking girl at the party.

“And those are the Cheerios,” Mercedes tells Brittany as if she could read her mind, “McKinley’s cheerleading squad and top of the social food chain.”

“I haven’t seen them at any of the games,” Brittany looks to Kurt for an explanation.

“They don’t bother with pre-season,” Kurt answers, “They’re basically the only ones here winning any titles. Coach Sylvester practically lets them get away with murder.”

Brittany notes all the high ponies and uniforms, everyone’s make up is on point and there’s not a single hair out of place. They all look immaculate, but Brittany focuses on the two that she’s most familiar with.

“Who are they?” She asks.

“The blonde one is Quinn Fabray,” Kurt informs her in a hushed tone, “She’s Co-Captain along with the brunette – Santana Lopez – and both of their families are loaded. They’ve been best friends since ever, you rarely see one without the other. Quinn’s kind of a prude and Santana’s – “

“A complete bitch for no reason most of the time,” Mercedes finishes for him.

Kurt shakes his head, “She has a reason.”

His cryptic words interest Brittany. Hell, she’s been interested ever since she saw Quinn push Puckerman into the pool.

“Doesn’t give her an excuse to terrorize us,” Mercedes reasons, “The girl is trouble.”

Kurt bobbles his head from side to side and looks back at Brittany, “It’s best if you stay out of her way, Brittany. It’ll make your life a whole lot easier.”

“You think?” Mercedes asks, “She’s on the football team, the quarterback even. You think Santana will mess with her?”

Kurt shrugs, “She still messes with me doesn’t, she?”

“That’s true,” Mercedes frowns.

Brittany just nods, but that doesn’t extinguish the curiosity that has blossomed within her.

And maybe someone above is testing her, because when Brittany arrives to her final class of the day she finds the exact person Kurt and Mercedes have been warning her against interacting with: Santana Lopez.

And to make matters even worse, the only available seat left in the room just so happens to be the one right next to her. Brittany shakes her head and glances at the board to double check she’s in the right place.

Creative Writing – Miss Holliday Room 215

Brittany’s definitely in the right place and lets out a sigh.

Might as well bite the bullet, Brittany thinks as musters all the confidence she has left and she approaches the table. She’s been rushed at by guys ten times the brunette’s size moving at full speed on the football field and yet, she can’t help but feel a little nervous when she comes to stand before the Co-Captain.

“Hi,” Brittany greets with a polite smile, “Can I sit here?”

Santana glances up at her like she can’t believe the audacity Brittany has. She eyes her up and down then goes back to filing her nails, “No.”

Brittany nods, so Kurt and Mercedes might’ve been right.

“There aren’t any other seats left,” Brittany adds.

Santana doesn’t even look up this time, “Sounds like a personal problem to me.”

Brittany has to bite her cheek to keep from laughing. This girl is something else but Brittany’s never been one to back down.

Unfortunately her teacher – Miss Holliday – approaches, “Are you seriously starting off the year by being a pain in my ass, Lopez? Don’t give the new kid a hard time. Move over.”

“Fine,” Santana rolls her eyes and slides her books closer to her side of the table.

Brittany looks back at the teacher and smiles, “Thanks.”

“All good,” The woman says casually. She’s young and reminds Brittany of one of her favorite teachers at her old school, “Have a seat, Sweet Cheeks.”

Brittany does as she’s told and gets settled next to Santana. She can feel the tension radiating off the Cheerio, but tries to ease it by introducing herself.

“I’m Brittany,” She tells the brunette and adds a friendly smile for emphasis. If she’s going to be stuck sitting next to her for the rest of the year, they can at least be civil. Right?

Wrong.

“I didn’t ask,” Santana retorts and spends the rest of class giving Brittany the cold shoulder.

For some reason though, that only makes Brittany want to get to know Santana even more.

Afterall, she loves a challenge.

\\\\\

It’s the last Cheerios practice indoors and Santana and Quinn soak up the privilege of conditioning in a space with A.C. There are many reasons why Santana dreads having to join football team outdoors for practice, one being that it’s hot as hell still during this time of year and also she can’t stand the cat-calling.

With Coach Beiste as the acting head coach now, the guys are a lot more tame but Santana still hates how she feels like she’s being watched all the time. Some of the other girls on the squad don’t mind it too much though, they’re all about teasing and the pleasing apparently.

“How’s your schedule this year?” Quinn asks between stretches.

“It’s alright,” Santana shrugs, “Super easy. I got Holliday and Schuester again.”

“Lucky!” Quinn says, “I got Hagberg. I wish she would just retire already.”

Santana agrees then she remembers her last class of the day and how the mysterious blonde from Puck’s party now has a name, “Hey. Remember that girl we saw at Puck’s?”

“The blonde one?”

“Yeah, her. Brittany,” Santana murmurs the name, “I have a class with her.”

“Oh! Is she cool or something?” Quinn’s intrigued, “She’s pretty and she’s got some moves. We could get her on the squad?”

Pretty, Santana thinks it’s an understatement now that she’s seen her up close. She’s never seen eyes so damn blue and that smile – again, wow.

Quinn catches her swept up in her thoughts and quickly plays it off, “Hell no.”

“Really? Why not?”

“She’s just…,” Santana racks her brain for an excuse but she’s blanking, “She’s just not Cheerios material.”

Quinn calls her bluff, “How would you know?”

“I just do,” Santana scoffs and continues to struggle for a reason, “There’s something different about her, okay?”

“Different is good though, right? We could use that.”

“God Quinn, just drop it alright?” Santana snaps and walks off.

Quinn just laughs in disbelief, “You’re the one that brought her up!”

The rest of the week is a little of the same. Santana goes through the motions of her day although a hidden piece of her longs for her last class with Brittany. She still ignores the blonde’s attempts to make conversation, but it doesn’t seem like the girl is giving up anytime soon.

Quinn still presses for Brittany to join the squad, but Santana’s not having any of that either.

Quinn can’t understand why Santana’s being so adamant about the decision. Santana doesn’t know why either. In fact, there are a lot of things Santana doesn’t understand when it comes to Brittany, but she’s not exactly ready to unpack any of that.

If anything, she’s afraid of what it all could mean.

It isn’t until Friday night that things begin to get a little clearer for them all.

It’s the first regular season game which means it’s the first game the Cheerios make an appearance in. The Titans are pumped but Santana isn’t sure what’s gotten into them, they never win so cheering for them always feels like a waste of time. There’s a different air about the team this year though, but Santana doesn’t think much of it as the game kicks off.

Santana and Quinn and the rest of the Cheerios do what they do best and breathe life into the crowd like always, but they find that they don’t need to work as hard to keep morale up because the Titans are actually winning for a change.

In fact, Santana has to check the score twice to make sure she’s reading it correctly.

Home: 9 Away: 0

“What the hell?” Santana bumps Quinn with her pompom, “We’re winning?”

“Weird, right?” Quinn replies and nods over to the Titans’ bench, “Wonder if it has anything to do with that?”

Santana blinks, “Is that Finnocence?”

“Yeah, it is.”

Santana snaps back to the field, “Then who’s out there?”

“Sam?” Quinn questions but they know he’s #6 and #6 is on the other side of the field catching a perfectly thrown pass.

They both look to the quarterback and Santana asks, “Who’s #12?”

“No idea,” Quinn shrugs, “But he’s killing it!”

Santana doesn’t know much about football but she does know a lot about winning and whatever this guy is doing seems to be working.

Santana and Quinn spend the rest of the game trying to figure out who’s beneath #12’s helmet, but decide that someone already on the team must’ve been given a new number with the promotion to quarterback.

There’s really no other explanation.

All that though is quickly forgotten as the game ends and the Titans come away with their first win of the regular season. It’s practically unheard of considering their losing streak. The stands erupt in applause and Santana watches as the Titans go wild too. Sam and Mike hoist #12 onto their shoulders as the quarterback pulls of his helmet.

When Santana sees long blonde hair cascade out from underneath it, she just about faints because the Titans’ new quarterback isn’t some random guy: it’s Brittany.

“Well,” Quinn’s equally surprised and bumps Santana with her shoulder, “Looks like you were right about her being different.”

#cant stop wont stop lol #no really its bc im still unemployed and writing is the only thing that makes me feel like i'm doing something productive while i job hunt #Lost in the Lights #Brittana #Brittana fanfiction

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