FIC: SEASON OF LOVE chapter 5 (pts 2 & 3)
DISCLAIMER: DON'T OWN GLEE. DON'T OWN DISNEY EITHER!! STORY OF MY LIFE :(
WARNING(S): none
PAIRING(S): Kurt/Sam, Sam/OMC, and the rest is canon
SUMMARY: Kurt wants the new kid. But how far will he be willing to go to get what he wants?
AN: the rest of the 5th installment...
Not Beta-d... so there are plenty of mistakes.
RATING: K+ for now
SEASON OF LOVE
CHAPTER FIVE part 2
'The newbies look more comfortable now,' Matt Rutherford observed.
The caught-with-our-pants-down look was gone, the fidgeting was over and they were even asking questions about how they had managed to bag Sectionals last year. They were taking an active interest and that was definitely progress.
So, finally, after discussing the events of babygate in vivid detail, Mr. Schue announced that it was their turned to spill their guts.
Matt was looking forward to this too, that girl Kaye seemed like a really classy lady. He couldn't wait to pick her brains about what her hobbies were. How he hoped one of them was Science/Fiction novels.
But he was going to have to wait a little longer it seemed.
First up was Tammy Kuhn.
And her first words were, "Don't ever call me Tammy Kuhn, it sounds like Tammy-Kun… as in, K-U-N!
And I'm only Tammy-Kun to my parents and my onii-chan!"
'Oh boy,' Matt thought 'We got another crazy.'
She went on to describe how her mom was German and her dad Japanese and how her favorite food was, strangely enough, Enchiladas ("The vegetarian kind, cuz, you know I don't eat meat").
She apparently never wore socks with less than 3 colors because she liked to bring color into peoples' lives'.
Also, she had been a huge Nelly Furtado fan back in her Whoa, Nelly! days and had lost faith in her during the Loose era. Now she just stuck to her random playlists. Whatever she liked to listen to whenever she felt like it.
"Isn't she the talker?" Mike leaned over and whispered in Matt's ear.
Matt smirked distractedly. He had tuned Tammy Kuhn out a long time ago, busy staring at Kaye as he was.
Kaye Fairchild had noticed his staring too.
At first she was not sure if she was just imagining it, but then she had used her hand mirror to very subtly prove her theory.
The guy on the top step was definitely checking her out.
Her smile faltered for a second before she turned to look him straight in the eye.
The boy, however was not checking her out from the looks of it.
He had a smile so serene on his face that it reached his eyes and made him look like an excitable infant playing peek-a-boo with it's mother.
Matt didn't notice her looking at him until it was too late. She was just so radiant.
His face flushed almost immediately and he tried to duck his head, looking around for something to feign interest in.
Mike, good friend that he was, sniggered at his obvious embarrassment.
And Kaye watched as the baby-boy (Matt was his name, she recalled) looked for a rock to crawl under and the Asian boy next to him (Mike?) started sniggering and looked up to wave at her.
'Poor thing,' Kaye thought as she waved back 'I've embarrassed him.'
She made a mental note to apologize to him the moment she got her chance.
After Tammy had been allowed to go on forever about rainbows and friendship and her obsession with snails and Isaiah had been given a chance to explain his love for jazz and old school rap, it was Kaye's turn to put herself in words.
She wasn't nervous. At all.
She was actually pretty mellow like that.
She chose not to make mountains out of mole-hills; even if said moles formed a random flash-mob and started making a mole-pyramid.
If she made some new friends, good; if she didn't, well… at least she could say she'd tried.
Her Gram had taught her to smile before she passed on.
So she did, and said "I'm Kaye."
She paused for effect, and gave the room a once-over with her incandescent smile.
"I'm English by birth and I have lived in Devon my entire life. First in Modbury, with my parents; and then in Dartmouth, with my Gram, since my parents' passed when I was nine."
There was a collective sigh that would have made any lesser girl flinch.
Kaye Fairchild had other ways of expressing her emotions.
She just nodded, as if she were feeling bad for someone else's loss; before smiling once again and saying "Dartmouth is a very small town, everybody knew my name. So, when Gram passed earlier this year, I wanted to… try something new and applied for the student exchange program here.
I can't tell you how long I'll be staying," she looked around. "But I can tell you that I'd like a reason to stay."
'The smile never leaves her face,' Puck thought.
'How can she have lost her parents and then her grandma and still look so… collected?'
"Anyway," Kaye continued, when it seemed obvious that she wasn't off the hook yet. "I love singing, and I'm very happy that Mr. Schuester let me be a part of the club."
She brought her hands in front of her.
"I also enjoy weaving baskets but people find that very hard to believe when you're a six foot tall giantess."
A nervous titter ran through the choir room.
"My favorite performers are Nat Shilkret, because Gram grew up listening to him and so did I, Billie Holiday, Cliff Richard, The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Marlene Dietrich, Liane Carroll, and Ohio's own Tracy Chapman."
She looked around. "I can't remember anyone else right now, but there are others who fit into that list as well."
'Her accent is so pretty,' Matt mused.
'Matt is so smitten,' thought Mike.
'Her speaking voice is so husky,' Matt thought. 'It's sexy.'
'I really hope these people don't think I'm weird because I only said the names of dead singers,' Kaye pondered. 'Well, mostly dead.'
"So," she shook herself out of here reverie. "That's me in a nutshell. I also like to read… but my favorite hobby is sleeping."
Her giggle caught on fast. Before they could ask why, the entire class started sniggering.
Kaye sighed in relief.
That had gone rather well. Gram would have been proud.
As she moved to take her seat, the blonde girl from the front row came up to take her spot.
"Claire Hannigan," she started without preamble.
"I can sing, I can dance… and I look damn good under a spotlight! That's really all you need to know about me," she proclaimed haughtily, her nose turned up.
She was about to walk back when Schue cleared his throat.
She turned to glare at the teacher briefly before addressing the crowd.
"Get used to this face, it's going to rule your school pretty soon."
Without another word she took her seat.
Even Puck gulped. Although he'd never admit it if you asked him.
CHAPTER FIVE part 3
Oh God!
It was his turn.
He hadn't realized it till Claire had taken a seat and the entire room had started staring at him.
That meant he'd have to get up there!
Under their collective calculating gaze and talk.
Explain himself.
How the hell was he going to do that?
He screwed his eyes shut and lowered his head.
Maybe if he didn't look at them, they'd forget he was there.
Mr. Schuester cleared his throat.
No such luck.
He took a deep breath. His hands had already started shaking and by now there was enough sweat on his forehead to catch on his eyelashes.
He didn't know what to say. He didn't know what to do. His throat was closing up and he could feel the tears coming.
His breathing erratic, he wished vehemently that he didn't have to do this.
Mr. Schuester just cleared his throat again.
And now the entire room was abuzz.
Concerned faces were all aimed at him and he was just about to make a dash for it when his field of vision was taken over entirely by Sam's worried face.
He'd crouched down on one knee and was combing Andy's bangs back very gently; right hand firmly grasping one of Andy's shaking fists.
"Hey," he said.
Andy just kept his eyes shut.
"Hey," Sam prompted. "It's okay. Look at me. You gotta breathe okay? And you don't have to do this!"
Andy slowly met his best friend's concerned gaze.
"It's okay," Sam continued, gently as ever. "I'm here!"
"Mr. Schuester will understand. You don't have to do this here."
Andy nodded gratefully.
Sam ran soothing circles over Andy's back while kicking himself mentally for not having anticipated this scenario.
Will Schuester had walked up to them and was just about to crouch next to Sam Evans when he noticed Andy Banerjee's very noticeable flinch and thought better of it.
Looking up, he realized that half of the female population of Glee was about to creep in on the two and try to help.
But he had a feeling that wouldn't be a very good idea.
So, he held up a hand to all of them and pointedly mimed at them to stay where they were.
Mercedes looked unsure but she hesitantly took her seat. As did the other girls.
The boys were looking concerned but they looked like they had realized what he'd realized and were holding back.
Except Finn. Who, while he looked unsure about what to do next, had risen to his feet.
Rachel had the good sense to pull him back with a whispered word.
Will looked back at the two boys in front of him.
Something was obviously wrong, because Andy was still shaking.
He tried desperately to figure out what could possibly have put the boy on edge.
Was it something he'd said?
Claire's speech?
What in the world could have triggered this panic attack? The poor kid was still having trouble breathing.
And before he knew it, Sam had an inhaler out and was helping Andy take light puffs of the thing.
His body relaxed and Sam almost immediately swept him up in a fierce hug.
Andy looked so small pressed against Sam's broad chest.
Sam rocked them both and whispered words of comfort into Andy's ear that Will didn't really try to hear. It felt like he was somehow intruding on something that he was clearly not meant to witness.
He felt bad for breaching their privacy.
It was obvious that these two were more than just best friends by the way Andy clung to Sam like he was the only thing keeping Andy alive.
It was obvious by the way Sam pressed a loving kiss on Andy's forehead that Sam cared more about Andy than he probably did about his own mother.
It was obvious by the way their need to hold each other reminded him of falling in love with Terri and later seeing her walk down the aisle with a big smile on her face.
Or kissing Emma in the empty hall last year.
Will sighed and took Sam's vacated seat next to Andy, who seemed to have calmed down by now in Sam's embrace.
He looked at Sam who was staring at him while still rocking the poor boy in his arms.
"Is he going to be okay?" he asked.
Sam looked down to meet Andy's large eyes and re-directed the question "Are you going to be okay?"
Andy nodded slowly and murmured an apology about getting Sam's T-shirt wet.
"It's no big deal," Sam countered. "You know you're more important to me than some stupid GAP shirt."
He gave Andy a warm smile and another peck on the forehead.
"You know I'm always here for you right?" Sam asked. "And I won't let anyone get to you, ever!"
Andy, finally, gave him a weak smile and nodded.
"I'm sorry I broke down like that," Andy whispered.
Then repeated the same to Will.
Will didn't really know what to say so he just nodded.
"What set you off, son?" he ventured.
Andy looked mortified, so Sam chose to answer for him.
"It's best if we not discuss this in public Mr. Schue," Sam informed him, his voice low and meaningful. "Could I have a private word with you regarding this later, in your classroom maybe?"
Will was starting to get worried now.
"Uh, sure," he answered.
"And, would it be okay if," Sam glanced at Andy briefly. "If Andy didn't have to talk about himself in front of an audience?"
"Well, okay," again, Will was unsure.
How would this kid sing on a stage in front of three hundred people if he couldn't talk about himself in front of an audience?
But he was not going to bring that up right now. Not with Andy in this state.
It'd just have to wait.
He sighed.
Sam wasn't going to give him anything else it seemed, so he vacated the boy's seat and stood up so Sam could take it back.
But Sam didn't.
Instead, he asked if he could take Andy to the nurse for a bit.
Will had reluctantly agreed.
Because what else could he do in a situation like this?
He pinched the bridge of his nose and addressed the group.
"Okay gang," he said. "I'm not exactly sure what happened back there but I don't want any of you to gang up on Andy and demand an explanation or anything. He still looks pretty vulnerable."
"Of course not," Kurt piped up. "We're intelligent enough to know when to lie low and let a flood run its course Mr. Schue. It was obvious from his demeanor onstage during his audition that Andy has a lot of emotional baggage that needs to be sorted out. And if the only way we can help is by backing off and giving him space and moral support, then that's what we're here for!"
"But," Rachel cut in "How can he have any hope of competing if he lacks the charisma required for self-glorification and extempore?"
"I can imagine how this may come as a shock to you Rachel," Kurt bit out. "But there are more important things than show choir competitions and personal glorification. It's hardly charisma that he's lacking. It's self-confidence. I expect due to a wound from his past. And if he's in Glee club, then that means we need to be there for him. Help him build it back. I just hope that we can do it before he hurts himself."
Rachel was ready with a retort but the sincerity in Kurt's voice made her reconsider voicing it.
Will was amazed at how strongly Kurt had defended Andy. Beneath that snarky exterior lay a deeply compassionate soul that never failed to shock Will every time it made an appearance.
"I think we should move on," Will said. "We've still got some time left and since we've all agreed to not confront Andy about his personal life or what happened in Glee today; we should listen to whatever Rachel and the others have prepared for us."
"Really?" Finn asked. "Are you sure we should still sing after that Mr. Schue?"
"Yes I do," Will replied. "Because I really think we need something to lighten the mood. And since we know Andy's going to be fine…"
Rachel beamed before jumping off the risers with her remaining sheet-music.
Their big "Welcome to New Directions" number turned out to be a mash-up of The Turtles' "Happy Together" and "Be Our Guest" from the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack.
Will wished Andy and Sam could have stayed to hear it.