The Unpredictable And The Orderly

VII

Before they knew it, Friday had come and it was time for Sectionals.

Some people in the New Directions were freaking out.

There had been a minor incident where Cheerleading Nationals had been on the same day, and Coach Sue forced them to chose, but Kurt had pointed out that she would lose him and she quickly fixed the problem.

Nobody knew it was Kurt, though. Sue was keeping him a bit of a surprise, their 'secret weapon' as she called it.

"Oh my gosh, can you imagine if Sue didn't fix the problem with the whole cheerios vs glee club thing?" Santana asked Quinn on the bus.

"I know, right? I'm dying to know who it was, so I can thank them. I felt like I could kiss them when she announced it!" Quinn exclaimed.

"Please don't." Kurt said on instinct. He was quiet, but they heard him.

"It was you?" Santana asked, surprised.

"I- um- I mean..." He trailed off, not knowing what to say.

"You're Sue's secret weapon, aren't you? She's been having someone come in and do someone else's part, saying that they were her secret weapon!" Quinn said, pointing at him. Just about the entire bus was listening now.

"Who's Sue's secret weapon?" Puck asked.

"Kurt!" Brittany piped up.

"Is that why you left after track tryouts? You followed Coach, I was wondering what you were doing."

"You're on track?" Finn was extremely confused. "And a Cheerio?"

Before anyone could ask anything else, Kurt spoke up. "Okay, yes, I'm a Cheerio, and yes, I joined the track team. Coach Sylvester saw me running and said something about impeccable form or whatever and told me I was joining. I sounded kinda fun, so I didn't object."

"He's not on the track team, he is the track team. He's the captain." Puck said. The bus stopped before anyone could say anything else.

They got to the changing rooms and Kurt doubled back, getting his water bottle from the bus.

When he got back, it was empty, which he was glad of. He didn't want anyone to see his fat.

He changed, dropping his shirt at one point and bending down to pick it up.

When he didn't see, Sam opened the changing room door. He had been going to get his chapstick, because his lips were dry, but he saw that the room wasn't empty.

He was a bit confused by how far Kurt's spine was sticking out of his back, but he figured it was normal since he was bending over.

It wasn't, however, normal for someone's spine to stick out as much as Kurt's did when he stood back up. Sam quickly backed out of the room, completely forgetting about his lips.

When Kurt walked out of the room, Sam couldn't help but notice how the shirt was rather large on Kurt's small figure.

They did a show circle, performing and winning like always. They've never lost a Sectionals.

When they got on the bus, Sam and Kurt somehow ended up sitting next to each other.

"So, you're on track and a cheerio, huh?" Sam asked, trying to start a conversation.

"Yep."

"Doesn't that overwork you a bit?"

"Nah. I was actually thinking about that when I joined. I feel like I've been a bit underworked."

Sam had to disagree. Based on how thin Kurt was, he was definitely being overworked. "You keep your strength up, right? Plenty of food and sleep?"

Kurt paused for a minute before answering. "Yeah. I also drink plenty of water." This was a lie, Kurt hardly got enough sleep and hadn't eaten for about a week. Yet he couldn't manage to lose weight.

"That's good." Sam said, wondering if Kurt was just born skinny then.

"Why all the questions?"

Sam shrugged. "Just want to make sure you're staying healthy. It's a lot of work."

"Thank you for your concern, but there's nothing to worry about."

Kurt leaned his head on the window, ignoring the occasional bumps, and promptly fell asleep.

Sam looked over at him, worrying about waking him. He seemed to be sleeping deeply though.

Sam tried to look out the window, even though it was dark, until Kurt flinched.

He looked at the boy, worried. Kurt continued to flinch in his sleep, as if he was being punched. He winced, and suddenly went still, clenching his jaw.

After a moment Kurt sat bolt upright, startling Sam. He looked panicked, afraid of something, before looking around and relaxing again, sighing.

"Are you okay? You looked like you were in pain, but I didn't want to wake you." Sam said.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Just a nightmare."

"You were hardly asleep." Sam pointed out, confused.

"Doesn't take them long to come." Kurt muttered darkly.

"How do you sleep at night then, if they come that fast?"

Kurt's eyes widened, realizing what he said, and Sam got a clear look at the bags under Kurt's eyes. He usually put concealer on them, but it was washed off with his stage makeup.

"Kurt, how long do you sleep at night?" Sam asked cautiously.

"None of your business, just leave me alone! We hardly even know each other, you have no right to question my eating and sleeping habits." Kurt snapped, turning his head pointedly out the window.

They ignored each other for the rest of the ride.