“Shit, sorry.” Kurt said, taking a step back.

“Fuck, didn’t see you coming.” One of the other boys muttered.

“No, I’m sorry. I should have been watching.” Kurt replied, straightening out his shirt.

There was a minor silence before Kurt looked the two boys over. “Are you two new here or something?”

The pair looked at each other before looking back at Kurt. The blonde one spoke first. “Uh, yeah. I’m Isaac. This is Josh.” He said, pointing to his red haired friend.

“I’m Kurt Hummel, this is Blaine Anderson.” Kurt extended his hand, and both boys shook it hesitantly. “Welcome to Dalton.”

Blaine was eyeing the duo with distaste, and Kurt elbowed him. “Yeah, welcome to hell.”

Isaac and Josh mumbled what sounded like ‘thank you’ in unison.

“Anyways, we have to get going. It was nice meeting you.” Kurt said smiling, pulling Blaine after him as he brushed past the two boys.

Isaac and Josh shared a glance as they watched them leave, an evil smirk playing on both their lips.

“I think we’re going to have one hell of a time here at Dalton” Isaac said, with a glint in his eyes.

Josh nodded in agreement. “And we know who we’re going to start with.”

—

“Are you going to tell me what that was about?” Kurt asked as they climbed into the car again.

Blaine shrugged. “They seem like trouble.”

Kurt laughed. “Blaine, it’s a reform school. Everyone should seem like trouble.”

“It’s the red hair. Gingers are always up to something.”

“Blaine!” Kurt smacked his arm. “What an awful thing to say. Isn’t that like, hairist?”

“Hairist?”

“You know, sexist, racist…” Kurt trailed off.

Blaine just stared. “I can’t believe you just compared what I said about gingers to being racist.” He failed horribly at keeping a straight face.

Kurt crossed his arms and looked out the window. “Laugh it up, chuckles. It’s still racist.”

Blaine shook his head in disbelief, but Kurt’s annoyed expression meant he made sure to keep his gesture small.

They pulled up to the hospital and both boys sighed slightly before getting out of the car.

Kurt leaned on the trunk with his hands, shifting absentmindedly on his feet. “So I guess once Jeff tells us who it is, we’re all going to freak out and track said person down, hm?”

Blaine nodded in agreement. “Yes. I’d gladly hold them down so Nick could tear them apart, limb by limb. In the literal sense of the words.”

Kurt shivered slightly at the mental image caused by Blaine’s sentence. It was gruesome to imagine, but he knew the other Warblers would be happy to join in.

“Shall we go in, then?” Blaine asked, jerking his head towards the hospital.

Kurt dropped his arms and silently followed after Blaine, clasping their hands together as they walked. The air between them was tense, and Kurt wasn’t surprised. What would you expect if you were about to find out who nearly killed one of your best friends?

—

When they reached the waiting room, the two boys were surprised to see the Warblers.

“Why aren’t you in there?” Blaine asked jabbing his finger towards the sliding door.

David looked over wearily. “Nick passed out, so Jeff told us to come out here. He also told us to send you guys in when you got here.”

Kurt nodded and walked towards the door, bringing Blaine with him.

When they reached Jeff’s room, they could see Nick curled up on the couch at the end of the bed.

Blaine pushed open door, smiling at Jeff. “Hey man, how are you feeling?”

Jeff rolled the apple on his tray away from him. “Like I got the shit kicked out of me. What kind of stupid question is that?”

“Good to see you haven’t lost your sense of humour.”

Kurt looked over at Nick sleeping and frowned. “How’s he holding up?”

Jeff rolled his eyes. “He’s gone insane. He proposed last night. Started talking about the future and all that shit.”

“Can you blame him, though? He almost lost you. If I ever loved someone as much as he loves you, I probably would have bought the ring already.” Kurt said quietly.

Jeff remained quiet, poking at the food on his plate.

Blaine cleared his throat. “Feeding you well then?”

“Terrific.” Jeff answered sarcastically. “Next time you come visit, please feel free to bring me a nice, greasy big mac.”

There was a snort from the couch as Nick sat up slowly. “You’re ridiculous.”

Jeff smirked. “Well, since we’re all here…”

“Not all of us…”

“The important ones.” Jeff clarified. “Let’s get down to business, shall we?”

Nick crawled onto bed beside Jeff, while Kurt and Blaine took over the couch.

“Story time!” Jeff said, rubbing his hands together.

—

Jeff slammed the door behind him. Who the fuck did Nick think he was? They were boyfriends, for crying out loud. What was he so afraid of?

He grumbled as he headed towards the bathroom. When did being with Nick become difficult? Things had always come to them easily. Now it seemed like more of a struggle than anything.

Jeff dropped his bag to the ground, splashing water onto his face. When he looked up into the mirror, he nearly had a heart attack.

“Fuck, man, you scared me. You could have just asked me to move instead of standing behind me like a creep.”

Damian took a step forward. “You and the fucking Warblers, man. Walking around here like you run shit.”

Jeff raised an eyebrow, suddenly feeling a little uncomfortable. “We do run shit around here, bro.” He said more confidently than he actually felt. “You fucking around on Blaine was low, by the way. Especially with Cameron. News travels fast around Dalton.”

Before Jeff could react, Damian punched him in the face. “What the fu-” He stopped talking mid-sentence when he saw the flash of silver coming from Damian’s pocket.

“I figure maybe if one of you get’s knocked back down to solid ground, the rest of you will start acting like normal human beings.” Damian chided.

Jeff’s mind was racing. He wasn’t just going to sit here and take it. So he swung. He fucking swung like his life depended on it; because it could very well be that it did.

He kept swinging until he felt the metal slice his arm, until he felt his blood leaving the confines of his veins. Jeff was pushed backwards, and he smacked the back of his head against the sink.

As he landed on the floor with a deafening crack, his vision became blurry and only one word left his lips before he began fading into oblivion.

“Nick…”

—

When Jeff finished talking, everyone in the room remained silent.

Kurt was biting his lip, eyes filled with tears he was desperately trying to keep contained. Nick was full out sobbing into Jeff’s chest.

Blaine however, looked just about ready to kill. His fists were clenched, and his jaw was set. “Are you fucking kidding me? Damian McGinty was the one who fucking attacked you?” He stood up but Kurt pulled him back down.

“Just wait.” Kurt said, his voice still shaking from Jeff’s recount. “We need to make a plan first.”