Silence [Discontinued]

XXIV

"Thad. Thad, I need to— Thad!" David caught him by the hand, not letting go, making him unable to keep walking away.

Thad sighed, leaning against the wall resignedly. "I know what you're going to say."

"I love you."

He blinked, turning to David, who continued, "You know that, right? I love you, and nothing you could tell me would change that. You're one of my best friends. Blaine finally came to his senses about being an asshole, and he told us he blackmailed Kurt and it freaked you out which he knew was totally justified and just wanted to somehow assure you he would never do that.

"He didn't tell us what he blackmailed Kurt with, and he didn't tell us what he knows about you that's got you all freaked out. Thad, I— I know you have trouble understanding it, but we care about you. Me, Wes, Nick, Jeff— we're all here for you.

"And I know, I have no idea what's going on in your home life, or what happened to you before we met, but I do know that right now you're here with us and we love you. So please, stop pushing us away."

By the end of his outburst, tears were falling from his eyes.

Thad hadn't ever seen David cry before.

His own eyes filling up with tears, Thad hugged him, burying his face in his shoulder. David hugged him back.

That was something he'd always noticed about David: he wasn't uncomfortable with physical affection. So many times he'd had a bad day and just wanted to hug him, but he hadn't, not wanting to bother him. Jeff would hug him too, of course, but he'd want to know what was wrong.

"Can I... Hug you? Not just right now, but like..." he trailed off.

"Thad, you can hug me anytime," David said softly. "No questions asked."

"Thank you. I..." He took a deep breath, pulling away from the hug, looking at David. "You aren't mad? That I was... Well, just as bad as Blaine?"

"The opposite, actually. Blaine chose to be that way. He's the popular kid, he was loved by everyone— accepted. Of course he was a role model. It's not your fault he wasn't a good one."

"You could tell? That I was so desperate to be liked by someone that I just blindly followed him?"

"Yeah. Thad..." David sighed, taking Thad's hand in both of his. "You, Wes, and I are the council. Nick and Jeff aren't. They aren't lead singers either. We hang out because we're friends. Because we like each other. Wes and I, it's not because we're both on the council. It's because we're friends, and yes, after a while, boyfriends. You know that, right?"

"Yeah?" he said, confused.

"Then why do you think we hang out with you just because you're on the council? Thad, we have always liked you. From the moment I got to know you, way before Blaine got all popular, I liked you, all the way to now."

His own questions echoed in his head.

'When you wake up on a Saturday morning, what do you do?'

Head to breakfast. Jeff's there, bright and early. Nick was dragged down with him, hair all messy. Wes is still asleep because he only sleeps in on weekend. David is there, humoring Jeff's cheesy penguin jokes.

'When you have dinner, who's there?'

Jeff, already changed out of his uniform, getting sleepy. Nick, fully awake, the night owl he is. David's blazer is gone and his tie is loose around the neck of his white buttoned shirt. Wes, getting distracted by David 2-5 times throughout the meal. David knows, he does it on purpose. Nick is rolling his eyes at them fondly.

"If you were to wake up in a hospital, what's the first thing you see?"

I don't know. But I don't think I'm going to find out anymore.

He hugged David again, nodding. "I have people," he half-whispered, voice breaking.

David hugged him back. "You have people. And we love you, and you can tell us anything."