Jan. 25, 2013, 4:09 p.m.
Second Chances: Counting the Stars
M - Words: 5,062 - Last Updated: Jan 25, 2013 Story: Complete - Chapters: 21/21 - Created: Jun 21, 2012 - Updated: Jan 25, 2013 323 0 0 0 0
The world was crumbling around her, and Kurt was the lone pillar of sand keeping her upright. But soon even he wouldn't be enough. She slammed the door and whirled around breathing heavily before she crumbled and thick hot tears started falling from her eyes. There were no hysterics, no heavy breathing, no snot and hyperventilation. The tears simply fell from her eyes like a snowflake would from the sky. Soft, slow, and so eerily beautiful as they fell through her crumbling world.
Cooper was here. He was standing outside Kurt's door, and from what she could gather he wasn't here for her. In fact, he hadn't even known she was here. He looked just as shocked as she did though not as visibly distraught; but that couldn't be properly judged at eyelevel, Cooper was an artist at hiding his emotions.
She didn't know how she ended up in Kurt's arms, but his gentle petting of her head brought her back to reality. She was still crying, and she was latching on to him with a death grip as he whispered comforting nothings into her ear.
Stacey relaxed into his touch, and she felt Kurt relax slightly too, as he felt her finally show some sort of feeling and signs of well-being.
"Ugh," Stacey pushed herself off of Kurt wiping at her eyes. "This is gross."
"Who was that?" Kurt asked kindly buy firmly, ignoring her. He knew Stacey. She would try to avoid the topic as much as possible but Kurt didn't have time for her games today. That was Cooper, as in Blaine's missing brother. And Stacey knew him. She knew him and had never told Blaine. The realization dawned and Kurt and he suddenly felt very angry. She had known where he was all this time and she had never said anything?
"Didn't you hear?" she replied with bitterness in her voice. "That was Cooper Anderson."
"Yeah I gathered," Kurt replied crossing his arms, resting his weight on his right leg. All the comfort and warmth he radiated before had disappeared and Stacey shivered.
Her pillar of sand shook.
"What I really want to know," Kurt said. "Is how in the hell do you know him? That's Blaine's brother; the same brother who disappeared, leaving Blaine to fill his shitty ass life."
"Yes." Stacey said. "I know." She wiped at the rest of the tears that still continued to fall even though she tried to stop them. This was too deep. By simply opening up the door, a gash that went all the way down to the bottom of her heart had been reopened and started spewing out every thought and feeling. The tears couldn't be helped, nor the painful aching in her chest. But she yearned for them to stop anyway. Each pound of pain, each a tear, was a memory of a touch, a feeling, a scene of things she had longed to forget. They were too painful to remember then, and are still just as a painful now.
"Okay let me try this again," Kurt said doing his best to keep his bitch face as Stacey cried without even noticing. It was odd, like seeing ice burn; an oxymoron that somehow makes sense despite all the laws of the English. "How do you know Cooper?" he asked, his voice getting softer. He couldn't be mean, not right now. They had both been surprised and she was hurting, he needed to be there for her.
"It's…"Stacey sniffed and looked at the door wondering if Cooper was still there. She hadn't heard him leave, but then again she hadn't really been in a state to have, even he did. "It's kind of a long story."
Kurt rolled his eyes dramatically pulling his southern friend into a hug. "I don't know about you," he said walking away from the door towards the kitchen. "But I have all night."
.o...0...o.
Cooper stood frozen outside the Hummel residence. That was Stacey. Stacey was inside Kurt's house. Stacey was inside Kurt's house with Kurt. Kurt was probably talking about Blaine. Stacey was probably talking about him, and they were both probably talking about the Anderson's and how screwed up they were.
He groaned in frustration pulling at his hair. This didn't make any sense. His mother kicking him out? That made sense. Cooper coming to Kurt's house because he had nowhere else to go? That made sense. Stacey being at Kurt's house like they were friends? That didn't make sense.
Stacey didn't…why was she back in Lima? She hated it here, she had had plans. No, they had had plans. And like everything else in Cooper's life, they had gone to shit, once again because of his family.
Cooper looked around himself in a sudden fit of anger for something to kick.
This.
Wasn't.
Okay.
The world couldn't just rip Stacey away from him and then dump her back into his life again. He had come here to help Blaine and get his life back on track, not to completely derail his own. He had just laid out the paths; Cooper wanted to stick to them.
But it was Stacey.
"Fuck!" Cooper growled raking a hand through his hair. This was a lot to take in. Surprises were bitches sometimes. Needing something to channel his energy into, Cooper started pacing. He walked from one expanse of the deck to the other, crossing pass one big window to the left and the door over and over again.
Stacey was back in his life.
He looped.
She was back again.
He looped.
And she was pissed. God, she was pissed.
He raked his hand through his hair.
But she had a right to be.
His jaw clenched.
He paced, focusing on nothing but his feet stepping one in front of the other. Left. Right. Left. Pivot turn, right, left right. His heart matched the melancholy timing of his feet as it settled in an odd mix between racing and slowing in anguish. A hollow feeling he hadn`t felt in a while started to claw itself out from his chest and Cooper wanted to scream. His hands dug back into his hair and he paced faster. He didn`t know what to do. He had to talk to Kurt, but he couldn`t do that without talking to Stacey he was sure of it. And while he wanted, no needed to talk to Stacey, he didn`t think he was ready for it.
Cooper's entire life was filled with choices that always seemed to screw up everybody else's life but his own. It was selfish and heartbreaking, and he had developed a thick skin to protect himself. But something's were too much and what happened to Stacey….he wanted to puke just thinking about it.
She blamed him for it. Of course she did. He shouldn't have left.
He stopped pacing. Stopped walking. Stopped breathing. He simply stood and let every emotion pour through him. The hurt, the anger, the guilt, the sadness, the memories of happiness. He let them wash through his brain, over his heart, set tingles under his skin, and for a brief moment Cooper felt like he was going to burst.
And then he breathed out, and every emotion left through his mouth. They poured out of him in a single breath, and Cooper felt like himself again. His hands left his hair and he blinked before looking back at the door. He wasn't ready to go in yet, but he knew if he left he may never come back, and he had returned with a plan he intended to fulfill.
Feeling oddly hollow, but much better for it, Cooper lay down outside the Hummel's front door and stared upwards into the dark star-lit sky. His hands were folded underneath his head, and he started counting the stars.
.o...0...o.
Houston we have a problem
(8:02pm)
What is it?
(8:03pm)
Elvis has left the building
(8:05pm)
ALONE?
(8:05pm)
…yes…
(8:06pm)
*Incoming Call*
"…Hello?"
"Where the hell did the hobbit go?"
"I—we don't know."
"How can you not know?"
"He just upped and left!"
"You just let him!"
"It's not that simple…"
"No, it's very simple. You guys had one job. Get Blaine here and you couldn't even do that!"
"Calm down Satan, I'm sure the boys have a very good reason for letting him go."
"Thank you Mercedes—"
"You have three seconds to explain before I find out where you live, and go Lima Heights Adjacent all over your prep school asses."
"I—"
"Three seconds."
"Blaine had an unexpected visitor, and things were said that he wasn't ready to hear so he stormed off before we could stop him because he needed time to think."
"Who was the visitor?"
"I don't think that's our business…"
"WHO was the visitor?"
"It's not in my rights to tell you."
"…"
"Hello?"
"Where did he go?"
"Who?"
"BLAINE."
"Where did he go?"
"We don't know….that's usually Kurt's area of expertise."
"Fine. Thanks for nothing boys."
"We're sorry—"
*Disconnected*
.o...0...o.
Blaine didn't hesitate when he got into the car. He knew where he was going. Like he said, he needed to think, and there was only one place he could do that properly. He had had slightly disconcerting thoughts about leaving the Warblers in his house, but he'd done it before and they'd been fine. They would probably leave soon anyway since he kind of completely destroyed their plans. He would have felt guilty about that if he wasn't in such an emotional overload.
He drove without really seeing, and was lucky that there were no cars on the road or he's sure he would have gotten into a crash. He pulled violently off of the dirt road and was out of the car before the wheels had fully stopped spinning.
It was a warm night, and he was fine in his jumper and sweatpants combo. He walked quickly through the trees, his eyes on the ground as he blocked out all of his thoughts. He couldn't let them in yet. He wasn't ready.
Walking on auto-pilot Blaine made his way to the clearing, and sighed in relief as its calming atmosphere flooded him. It was still as beautiful as ever. The sycamore tree branched high into the night sky; its leaves looking as if it were scraping the top of the world, almost touching the stars. The stars themselves were bright and twinkled kindly in the night sky, helping the waning moon shine its pale light over the world. The grass under his feet was dry and warm practically begging Blaine to lie in it. But he ignored its call, heading straight for the tree whose promises of height and freedom where what Blaine needed.
He climbed it quickly, and nestled comfortably into his usual spot on his favourite branch about three quarters of the tree high. His back was against a part of the trunk and he could feel the life pulsating through this tree. It had seen generations. It was old and wise, and held a certain magic that only memories could create. Blaine couldn't even fathom the things that this tree had stood through, always growing; always reaching for the stars, never stopping no matter the weather…It reminded Blaine of a certain someone.
He sighed and closed his eyes, resting his against the trunk, chin lifted so his head was tilted towards the sky.
Kurt.
His heart ached for the porcelain skinned boy, his fingers missed the soft caresses on his skin, his mouth missed the sweet kisses, and his entire being missed his presence. They could sit for hours without talking and it was beautiful because Blaine would get to just feel Kurt. Feel his presence and everything that was going through his mind. Feel the love that radiated off of him and wrapped Blaine in a sensation he was sure he'd never felt before.
Blaine missed Kurt with everything he was, and it was all his fault. Kurt had been right, Blaine had had a choice. But he had acted like a scared little boy, and he made the wrong one. Now he had lost the better half of himself, his dreams, his sister, his brother and any chances of happiness he had ever had.
He opened his eyes and was met with a thousand twinkling stars.
And now Cooper was here, and everything Blaine thought he knew was burning in flames around him. Cooper hadn't left of his own accord; his mother had kicked him out with nothing and made sure he stayed away. Why? Because he wanted to live his own life, something Blaine now wasn't allowed to do. Obviously Jane Anderson hadn't gone to the measures she took with Blaine. Cooper never did hang on to ties…Blaine had more to lose.
Blaine looked at all the stars, all the shining balls of gas floating in space millions of miles away. They never changed. They always changed. They were constant in their never ending, never always changing antics. They were always here.
Blaine felt like a coward. Because even know, when all the truths were being told, and all the web of lies were being undone, he was hiding. No, not hiding, thinking. But not taking action. He didn't know what action to take.
Jane still had him under her spell. If he tried to leave she'd destroy the one thing he loved. But if he didn't leave her twisted family he would die. Blaine scoffed at himself, that wasn't even a hard choice. He would much rather be miserable then see anything bad happen to Kurt.
You could always tell him, a little voice said. But he couldn't, because he knew what Kurt would do. And he couldn't let that happen. His mother may be a manipulative bitch, but for some unexplainable reason, he still loved her.
She was his mother.
Blaine sighed and impulsively started counting the stars.
One.
Two.
Three.
What was he going to do?
Four.
Five.
Six.
He didn't even know what his options were.
Seven.
Eight.
Nine.
That's a lie, they were just both rather unappealing and potentially messy. He could stay at home, take over the company, never talk to Kurt again, and bend to the wills of his mother while he grew old sad alone, and potentially "straight," in the eyes of all his employees. Or he could tell Jane to stick it where the sun don't shine, try to win Kurt back, set things right with Cooper, and figure out what the hell he'd do if his mother throws another bitch fit and throws him out like she did Cooper. Blaine rolled his eyes at himself. He knew which one he should choose. Which one would be the right thing for him to do. His mother was crazy and didn't deserve to control his life anymore.
But then there was the thing…the reason he was in this mess in the first place. He had more to lose, and Jane would destroy him. He could just tell everybody but nobody would take his word over Jane's, not where it really mattered. Blaine banged his head against the trunk.
What would he do?
Ten.
.o...0...o.
Rachel paced in her room, surprisingly calm, which should be expected considering drama is her element. That exchange had taken her by surprise but it wasn't unwanted. She had learned a lot of good information. Mother was crazier than expected, Cooper is still awesome, and today was the day that truth would be set free.
She looked down at her pajamas and shook her head quickly before running to her closet. She needed to be dressed for the occasion. Tonight was going to be a big one and she wanted to be looking good.
After a few minutes of rummaging she finally settled on a sleeveless pink vintage scooter dress, black tights, and a black cardigan tied together with a shiny black belt on her waist.
It was very darling.
Rachel smiled at her reflection and did a small twirl. Now it was time to get stuff done. First things first; Blaine. She needed to let him know the truth about Cooper and help the boys get him to Kurt's house. They were obviously having a hard time since they were supposed to be there a long time ago. She slipped into her black flats and left her room walking over to Blaine's.
.o...0...o.
Jane Anderson's head was pounding. Cooper always knew how to rile her up but that had been too much. He had pushed every button possible and smiled as he watched her fall. She supposed it was her fault; she had trained him to be that way. It was good for a business man to know how to do. Pushing people's buttons and making them react the way you want them too…manipulation was an art and she and her son were experts at it.
She pushed open the double doors that lead into her grand master bathroom and set the bath. She needed to relax. The steaming hot water poured from the taps and the heat instantly heated the room, and relaxed her muscles. She'd be so pleasant afterwards. She poured in bath salt, and about half the bottle of bubbles, because bubbles make everything better. When the bath was full and the bubbles at maximum froth, she slipped of her garments and slipped into the hot water.
"Mm," that felt good. She dipped her long curly hair back into the water, and felt it straighten out against her back. She slid all the way down until her ears were under water, and only her eyes, nose and mouth were above the surface. All noise was blocked out and Jane breathed.
She surfaced.
"Jane!" a voice yelled, and she sighed.
There goes her peace.
"In the bath tub," she replied to her husband's call.
Four seconds later and Paul stormed in, his face a stoic mask, but Jane could tell there was a storm brewing underneath. He must have found out about Cooper.
"Do you have something you wish to tell me?" he asked, his ocean blue eyes flashing with the emotions rolling under the surface.
"Anything in particular?" Jane asked playing absently with the bubbles in the bath. "Or would you like me to tell you that that tie doesn't match that shirt, I fired three people today, I hate all of Blaine's friends, I know you had fast food for dinner when I specifically asked you to eat healthier, and your new secretary is a gold digger who fancies you, and I want you to fire her first thing tomorrow morning."
Paul Anderson rolled his eyes. "Cute," he said. "But funnily enough, none of things have anything to do with what I want to talk about."
"No?" Jane asked in mock surprise. "Then please tell me, what is it that has you so ire."
"Cooper." Paul said. "Cooper was here and you…kicked him out!"
"Yes," Jane said pausing to think about it. "I did, didn't I?" She looked at her husband. He was standing perfectly straight but his muscles were tensed, his jaw clenched, and his face was stoic. "You're mad," she said sounding confused. "Why?"
"W-why!" Paul spluttered, slightly shocked at his wife's cold heartedness. "We haven't seen him in six years."
"Now that's hardly true," she contradicted with a patronizing tone. Paul looked confused and Jane rolled her eyes. "I'm not stupid you know. I'll admit it took me a few weeks to notice, but the important thing is that I noticed."
"What are you on about?" Paul asked looking at his wife like she was crazy.
"Oh yes, that's it," she said nodding her head. "Keep up the act. 'You don't know what I'm talking about. I'm a crazy sociopath who doesn't love her kids. Blah, blah, blah.'" She mocked.
"You think I'm acting and yet…"
"The money," she sounding exasperated. "You gave Cooper his trust fund money. Not when he was eighteen though, that would have been too suspicious. So you waited a year and then took out the money, replaced it mere seconds later with your own so that I "wouldn't notice it was gone." And then you gave it to Cooper." She cocked her head and smiled. "No I'm wrong. You had it in your possession another year before he finally took it. How odd…"
"Oh that," Paul said scoffing at his wife. "I'm surprised it took you so long to mention that."
Jane shrugged. "I was biding my time."
"Well you're still wrong." He said moving to sit on the edge of the bath. "I never saw him then."
"No?" Jane asked seriously this time.
Paul gave a small smile and shook his head. "No. It was all done through e-mails and letters."
"But you were supposed to meet him at the caf�."
"He never showed."
"Huh…" Jane stopped to think this over before looking back at Paul. Cooper took after his father in almost every way. From the piercing blue eyes, to the strong jaw, and tall height, he could very well be a replica. "So is there a reason you decided to storm in here?"
"I like being dramatic?" He asked.
"Yes, Rachel gets that from you." Jane said nodding, leaning back into the water. "But I know you, and you're actually quite angry. Care to tell me why?"
"I'm surprised more so than angry actually," Paul said.
"Oh?" Jane raised an eyebrow.
"Don't get me wrong," Paul continued. "I am very mad, but I have a few questions first."
Jane sighed, closing her eyes. "Shoot."
"Why did you make him leave again?" Paul asked putting his hands in his suit pockets. "I think once was enough to get your point across don't you think?"
"He's here on a mission," Jane said playing with the bubbles again though her eyes still remained closed.
"Which is…?"
"I don't know, cause chaos. Destroy everything I've worked hard to create—"
"Give his brother his life back?"
Jane groaned. "Not you too," she said opening her eyes. "I thought we'd already had this conversation."
"Yes we did," Paul said. "And I never agreed. You can't blackmail Blaine into this."
"Well apparently," Jane said. "I can."
"It's not right."
"This company needs a successor."
"And you don't think it will fare better in the hands of somebody who actually wants it?"
Jane rolled her eyes at her husband's denseness. "My multi-billion dollar company can't go to just anybody."
"Well duh," Paul said, resisting the childish urge to splash water into her face. "I'm not going to pick some hobo off of the street. I'd choose a trusted person, someone who's been with us for years and is dedicated to this company—"
"Nobody is dedicated to anything but money," Jane said matter of factly. "End of."
"I think it's a pretty good reward for keeping the company afloat."
"Well that's just it," she said looking at her husband hoping that her message would sink in through his thick skull. "I don't want it to just be…afloat. That's not how you make money, that's how you get by. I want it to be soaring, like it is right now."
"You're welcome," Paul said.
Jane rolled her eyes. "It's your duty."
"Yes," Paul said. "It's mine. Not Blaine's or Cooper's."
"Yet."
"Well never if we have my way." Paul said.
"Now when has that ever happened?" Jane cooed. Paul glared at her and she smiled, turning her head to look at the wall, the back of her head facing her husband.
"Any other questions?" she asked, though it sounded like a dismissal Paul ignored it.
"I do actually."
Jane sighed lolling her head back to him. "Go on then."
"You seriously overreacted," Paul started. Jane clenched her jaw and rolled her eyes. "Why?"
"I'm pretty sure it's obvious as to why," she replied sounding bored. "I thought he was gone for good. His presence was unexpected and surprising. Plus its Cooper, he knows how to get under my skin." Paul nodded, raising his eyebrows quickly in agreement.
"Anything else?" she asked when they lapsed into a brief silence.
"Not really, no," Paul said with a tight smile. "This was very…informative."
"Did you learn anything new?"
"No," Paul said getting off of the bathtub. "Just what I needed to."
Jane turned back to him, and her eyes raked his body appreciatively. "I look forward to playing this game with you," she said with a smirk.
"This isn't a game, Jane," Paul replied.
"Then why are you playing?" she asked with a coy grin. Paul rolled his eyes and walked to the double doors, holding each knob in a hand. He turned to look back at his wife who had one leg raised out of the water. They made eye contact and Jane winked sliding a hand down her calf, over the inside of her thigh, disappearing into the water between her legs.
"Your move," she said.
And Paul left, slamming the doors behind him.
.o...0...o.
"I'm actually really scared," Jeff said as soon as Wes hung up the phone. "Santana sounds pissed." Nick sighed from the doorway shaking his black haired head sadly.
"She has every reason to be."
"What happened to us?" David asked looking at the three sullen boys around him. "We used to be the best planners in the world. We had a scheme for everything; I mean it's a proven fact that Nicholas Cage was only able to steal the declaration of independence because he used Plan #3705."
"I still think #6908 would have been better, much more explosions," Jeff said looking put out.
"He wanted to steal it, not blow up the white house," Wes retorted.
"But then he stole the president…"
"Which was Plan #20 I might add."
"Again," Wes said lying down on Blaine's comfy ass bed. "That's thievery not destruction."
"But destruction is so much cooler," Jeff pouted, spinning slowly in the desk chair.
"Alright," David snapped, bringing the wandering conversation back to order. "We need to focus."
"It's hard," Jeff said still spinning. "Because we don't have a plan for this."
"Then we need to make one," Nick said firmly, turning away from the entry way and walking over to David who was spread out over the love seat that was under the massive three paned window. "We need to make Plan #...876543, Is that what we're on?"
Jeff shrugged. "I thought it was 876544, but sure."
"Whatever," Wes interrupted. "The number isn't important right now." Jeff gasped in shock at such a blasphemous statement, but Wes ignored him, sitting up sharply with a new determined look in his eye. "We need to figure this out."
Nick sat on the love seat next to David, Jeff stopped spinning in the chair, and they all faced Wes faces full of determination. "Okay," the Asian boy said clapping his hands.
"What are our objectives?"
"Find Blaine," Nick said.
"Find Cooper," David said.
"Get them to talk," Jeff added.
"And make sure it goes well," Wes finished. "What else?"
"Get Blaine to Kurt," Jeff said.
"Or the other way round…" Nick said, and he smiled, the wheels in his head churning. "I think I have an idea."
.o...0...o.
Rachel barged in without knocking, but she was Rachel, she didn't need to knock. What she walked in on though surprised her. Wes, David, Nick, and Jeff were conjugated in the middle of Blaine's floor with copious amounts of cell-phones, paper, pens, and blueprints around them, and there was no Blaine in sight.
Wes looked up at first and blushed slightly at Rachel's stunned face. He was quickly reminded of the scene he had just witnessed and he suddenly felt like he had intruded on something deeply personal to Rachel, like she had just walked in naked or something.
"Okay," she said putting her hands on her hips. "What is going on here?"
Jeff looked up and smiled. "Rachel!" he said excitedly. "Just the filly we need."
"Did you just call me a filly?"
Jeff stood quickly and strode over to the short girl who gave him a weird look. He circled her once, twice, looked her up and down before stepping back and holding out his hand. "I need your cell phone," he said.
"Excuse me?"
"I didn't stutter," Jeff replied, folding his fingers twice signalling her to hurry up. "Cell phone. Out. I need it."
Rachel took a breath and smoothed out her dress before turning back to Jeff. "Let me try this again. Wes!" she called pushing past the blonde boy and walking over to the boys still clustered together. "What are you guys doing?"
"Let me handle this," Nick said to the head warbler with a small smile. He stood and held out a hand. Rachel raised an eyebrow and Nick rolled his eyes shaking his hand softly. "You take it."
"No," Rachel said almost instantly. "I have a boyfriend."
"So do I," Nick said inclining his head towards Jeff who was watching them curiously out of the corner of the eye. Rachel's eyes widened for a second before she smiled and took Nick's hand wondering what she had just gotten herself into. She knew these guys' reputation, and while she knew they wanted to help, she wasn't sure if they really knew what they were doing. They had already failed in getting Blaine to Kurt's and now Blaine was gone and they were doing…something.
Nick lead her to the love seat and sat her down softly, before sitting down next to her, resting one knee on the cushion so that he was facing her.
"So…" she started.
"Do you want to see Blaine happy?" Nick asked locking eyes with Rachel. His dark brown eyes stared intensely into hers and she nodded roughly.
"Of course I do," she said nodding her head vigorously. "Despite our…rough patches he is my brother and he deserves to be happy considering all he's been through."
"Exactly," Nick said not breaking eye contact. "He deserves to be happy, but happiness is a long and arduous road."
"Okay…"
"And it's going to take a lot to get him to the end of it."
"Okay…?"
"Look Rachel, we're going to need your help but we need to make sure you're one hundred percent on board with this. It's going to suck, and if things don't go one hundred percent according to plan, Blaine might hate us forever."
Rachel searched Nick's face trying to understand what it was he was saying. "I'm sorry," she said. "But I don't fully understand."
Nick sighed, massaging his forehead before looking at Rachel again. "You know Blaine," he started. "You know how he pens up his emotions and keeps everything lidded until he's ready to burst." Rachel nodded. "Well he's almost at his bursting point," Nick continued, slowing down not one hundred percent sure how to say this without sounding like a complete and total douche. "But he's stopping himself like he does." He stopped and searched Rachel's face hoping to see some comprehension there, but she only looked determined if not wholly confused. Nick sighed again before continuing. "Basically we're going need your help pushing him over the limit."
"You're going to make him burst?" Rachel asked understanding slowly flowing across her face.
"Like a balloon," Jeff decided to pipe in with a criminal smile on his face.
"But," Nick said to calm Rachel's slightly horrified expression. We're going to make sure Kurt is there to catch him."
"I...How…wh..." Rachel spluttered. She stopped talking and closed her eyes, briefly running through her options. She had few. Opening her eyes again, she smiled and held out her hand.
"What do you need me to do?"
Nick smiled softly and held out his hand. "We're going to need your phone."