Relighting Candles { Klaine } // Currently Editing

Chapter 2: Big White Room

"Oh my! Kurt? Are you okay, Kurt?" Mercedes rushed forwards immediately upon seeing I was hurting. She was my best friend and I was glad that she was there; it seemed that she wasn't so disgusted by me.

Mercedes pulled my head upwards so that I was looking directly into her eyes instead, "Please don't think like that, Kurtie, I can see it in your eyes. Okay, focus on me, yeah?" She smiled gently, tucking my arms back underneath the bed sheets so that I couldn't see them, "You're happy now though, right?"

My gaze remained firmly in my lap once she'd let go of my face. I wasn't trying to see my arms anymore, just evading the question.

"Kurt?" My best friend looked at me with hurt flashing across her eyes. "And where the hell were you Finn? Look at him! I refuse to believe you didn't catch on!"

"Hey! You're his best friend, Mercedes! You see him more than I do!" Finn fought back quickly, "At least I found him when Karofsky was beating him up!"

"Well, I doubt it was the first time." Mercedes grumbled, taking the seat right beside my bed.

I fiddled with my thumbs beneath the sheets, watching Rachel from across the room, still looking horrified.

"Oh, is it too many people for you, Kurt? I should have known. Finn, Rachel, Sam. Out." Mercedes instructed, shooing them as they begrudgingly trundled into the hallway outside.

"Hey, Kurt, how are you feeling?" Artie smiled softly as he brought his wheelchair closer, reaching out to lay a hand on my arm comfortingly.

"I'm okay." I smiled, nodding along with it. I'd been saying this for months now when asked. Even before Karofsky started bullying me, I'd been sad before that. Just not so full of self doubt and mainly self hatred.

"No, Kurt, you're not. I'm not stupid." Artie shook his head quickly, gesturing to how my arms were bandaged and still hidden from sight. If I saw them, I'd probably start clawing at them to get the bandages off.

Automatically, my smile fell, and I did allow myself a short scratch at my wrists when my character was dropped.
No one had seen the 'Real Kurt' in a very long time, so this sudden slump shocked them immensely. That wasn't even the half of it.

"This is how you feel Kurt?" Quinn spoke gently, as if worried that her words would set me off.

"On a good day." For some reason, I trusted these three more than the others.

Mercedes was my best friend.

Artie knew what it was like to be different.

Quinn, she'd just been through it all.

"Kurt, don't worry. Karofsky's been expelled for when you come back." Mercedes smiled reassuringly.

Apparently they didn't know.

"Puck said my Dad's enrolled me in Dalton instead . . ." I spoke quietly, mumbling as I was worried they'd hit me for transferring schools.

"What! Karofsky scared my boy out of high school? I can't believe it!" Mercedes exclaimed, throwing her arms up near my head in exasperation. Though all she succeeded in doing was making me flinch away dramatically, terrified she'd strike out.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to scare you." She lowered her voice incredibly so as not to scare me again.

"It's fine." I nodded, my lips attempting to flicker into a small smile.

"It's not fine. I thought we'd be graduating together! I can't believe that in the end, Karofsky's basically won."

"Come on Mercedes, Karofsky hasn't won at all. Kurt is still sitting here, he hasn't been pushed far enough to try to end it." Quinn replied in her sugar drop sweet voice. Honestly, that girl would fit in with a flock of angels.