From The Start [6/?]
Title: From The Start 06
Genre: Drama/romance/LGBT study
Ratings/Warnings: T
Fandom: Glee
Characters/Pairings: Kurt-centric; ensemble / Kurtofsky (main), Brittanna, Davetana friendship, etc.
Summary: Relationships are messy and teenagers are confusing. Kurt tries to make sense of all of this, but maybe it's better if it doesn't make sense. (Vague summary subject to change as I get more planned.)
Other:
-Spoilers up to “Original Song,” and some of what has been confirmed/rumored about future episodes.
“Ooh there ain’t no other way, baby I was born this way-” Kurt turned and pointed at the group behind him.
They all shouted together: “Baby I was born this way!”
Kurt was trying to drag out the fleeting moment of happiness. He knew there would be a run-in with a slushie waterfall in the near future, but that wasn’t going to stop him from celebrating a performance well done.
He had almost forgotten about the impending doom when he walked backwards right into Azimio and got the first slushie facial before being pushed with more force than usual into the nearest wall. He thought he heard someone cry out his name, but couldn’t be sure - he hit his head pretty hard.
He watched in a half-daze as a rainbow of sugary frozen drinks drenched his friends. The team walked away, unrepentant and unhindered as always.
“Well,” Rachel began, shivering and pulling chunks of orange ice out of her hair, “at least they themed this one for the occasion.”
Sam had already pulled off his shirt and was wringing it out over the floor. “Yeah, a gay tie-dye instead of the usual monochrome.”
Finn let out a mostly-dry hand to Kurt and pulled him up, then supported him with an arm around his waist when Kurt started to sway.
“You okay?”
“Fine.” Kurt turned around halfway, still holding Finn’s arm for support. “Dave?”
Dave was wiping blue ice out of his eyes. “They always get me right in the face…” Kurt moved toward him, pulling Finn along, and put a hand on Dave’s arm.
“It gets easier.”
Dave let out a disbelieving half-laugh. “Really? It got harder for you.”
“No.” Kurt smiled. “It’s easier now. Now don’t cry.”
“I’m not crying! It’s the damn dye-”
“Only the green ones sting, and your eyes are red.”
000
They went back to the choir room for their wrap-up, still covered in slushie, wearing the soupy, sugary mess like medals. Mr. Schue shut the doors for once.
“Your shirts all mean something to you. Some of yours are more obvious, and some… well, we have no idea what they mean. This week was about facing what you’re afraid of, what you’ve been made fun of for, and what you’re hiding, and being proud of it. But it was also meant to build some trust between all of you, which I think some of you have been lacking. So, I’d like you to explain what your shirts say about you, and why you picked those messages. You can take as long as you want, or you can be brief. Just let us know how you’re feeling.”
Rachel went first - no surprise.
“A lot of people think I like bossing people around and butting into their lives. They’re wrong. I wish I didn’t have to do it, but I do it without really noticing. I’ve gotten so used to people hating me that I’m very paranoid about people who do like me. I want to have control over my life, so I control the people in it, too.”
Tina went next.
“I was born with green eyes. I have pictures of myself as a baby, and my eyes were bright green. All my medical forms say my eyes were green at birth. I have no idea where they came from. Even my grandpa on my dad’s side had brown eyes, and, well, he’s where I got the ‘Cohen’ part of ‘Cohen-Chang’ from. My eyes turned dark brown by the time I was a year old. I always felt like I missed out on something special; being an Asian with green eyes. And I guess ‘brown eyes’ just sort of became what I called how I felt when I didn’t feel special.”
Mike and Finn stood up at the same time, looked at each other’s shirts and went up together.
“I always feel like I’m missing out by not being able to sing like you guys can. I mean, I love dancing, but you’re all singers and I’m just… not.”
“I feel like I’m dragging you guys down by being so uncoordinated. You’re always ‘Finn-proofing’ the dancing and I feel really bad about it.”
Lauren went up with her hands in her pockets. “People make fun of me for being overweight. I can’t help it that my badassery is too huge to fit into a skinny body.” She shrugged and sat down nudging Quinn to go up next.
“Well, you all know I had a baby last year. I put her up for adoption because I didn’t want that burden. I wasn’t ready. I didn’t think I could handle taking care of her, and I was right. I can barely handle people calling me a slut all the time. I made one mistake and now I’m paying for it every day.”
Mercedes hugged her when she sat down, then stood up.
“I’m the only person in my family who’s got a weave. The rest of them just have their natural hair. They give me crap for it all the time. One time, one of my cousins tried to pull it out, and I got in trouble for pushing her off. My hair’s about the only thing my family holds against me. They say I’m fake because of it, but I’m about as real as it gets besides.”
Sam followed her, still shaking dark purple juice out of his hair. “I’m really sensitive about how I look. This is nothing against you, Santana - I just picked this ‘cause the song really kind of hurt. I know my mouth is weird, and everyone knows I dye my hair. I guess I care about my looks so much ‘cause my personality is so nerdy. I don’t even really like football that much.” He shrugged. “I really just started playing it ‘cause I’m good at it and I want to be popular. I don’t really care about that anymore, so I don’t really know why I’m still playing, but…” He shrugged again and sat down. Artie put a hand on his shoulder before wheeling himself in front of the group.
“Without my glasses I’m almost legally blind. It wasn’t quite this bad when I was younger, but people would always take my glasses and break them and I wouldn’t be able to see anything clearly. I’ve always been the nerdy kid with glasses, so it made me an easy target. No one felt bad making fun of me after the accident because making fun of me was nothing new.”
Brittany went next. “The only thing that anyone ever makes fun of me for is that I’m kind of stupid. I know a lot about some things, but, like, school stuff… that’s hard.”
Puck went up and sat on the piano. “Mine’s pretty simple… I’m always the cause of people’s relationship problems. I’m trying to change that, but my dick just won’t let me.”
“Language!” Mr. Schue shouted.
“Penis,” Puck responded casually, and hopped off the piano. He pointed at Kurt and gestured for him to go next.
“I don’t really know what to say… I mean, obviously I’ve been bullied for being gay, but I’m proud of it; both that I’m gay and that I’ve survived the bullying. I picked this for my shirt because it’s something that other people are ashamed of. They don’t want me to like boys and that’s their problem, but they make it my problem because they want me to be ashamed of it. I’m not. I embrace it. I always have. All that’s left is for me to help other people do the same.”
Kurt sat down in front of Dave and Santana. They looked at each other, then down at their feet.
“Do you wanna-?” Santana began.
“No, no, you can-” Dave insisted.
“But do you want me to tell them?”
“Sure, sure.” He didn’t look so ‘sure’.
“What’s going on?” Sam asked.
“We’re… not really dating,” Santana responded.
“What’s your point?” Puck asked.
Santana smoothed out her shirt, and Dave leaned back slightly, out of his previous slouched position.
Quinn, who was sitting on Santana’s other side, seemed to pick up on it first, her mouth falling into an O shape. Slowly, it dawned on the rest of the Gleeks, until only Brittany was left still looking confused. Artie leaned over and whispered into her ear.
Brittany looked back at him, just as confused as before. “But I already knew that.”
“About both of them?”
Brittany nodded.
“No one’s telling anyone, right?” Santana glared at Rachel specifically.
“Why would I tell anyone? My dads have raised me much better than that.”
“Oh, right. I forgot you’re a gayby.”
“Gayby?”
“Gay baby. Anyone raised by gay parents. Just ‘cause I’m fresh out of Narnia doesn’t mean I don’t know the language.”