I'm Not A Girl, I Swear [Discontinued]

XLV

By the time the weekend had come, Nick was exhausted. He had thrown himself into his schoolwork, finishing all of it the day it was assigned even if he stayed up late, just to avoid his whole gender dilemma.

Saturday morning, he was too tired to put on his blazer and frankly wanted to wear something comfortable. All his normal shirts were so stiff and odd compared to the ones in his bottom drawer.

So he threw on jeans and a short sleeved v-neck shirt. It was that one light aqua color, the one he had noticed only women's clothes come in. There was nothing particularly girly about it; besides, it was lightweight and soft, which he wanted.

Nick left his dorm, knowing he'd fall back asleep if he didn't, seeing that the others were already awake. He plopped next to Jeff on the couch, yawning. "I'm exhausted," he declared.

Jeff chuckled. "You've been overworking yourself all week, that's no surprise." He played with the hem of Nick's shirt. "You look cute, by the way."

"Is it bags under my eyes from lack of sleep or the tangled hair?" he asked dryly.

Jeff laughed, kissing him. "It's just you."

"Wes, what's wrong?" David asked, looking at the boy. Wes looked mildly confused, something unreadable in his expression.

"I- I'm sorry, just- Is that a girl's shirt?" Wes asked Nick. There was nothing mocking about his tone; he seemed simply curious.

Nick shrugged. "Unisex, actually."

Sebastian yawned. "Sounds I heard from that abandoned classroom, David's got that covered," he mumbled. "Maybe unisex."

Thad laughed. "Amazing. Half-asleep and still making innuendos."

"Blaine, did Kurt leave for the weekend or something?" Jeff asked. "I've been meaning to ask, he, like, disappeared on Friday."

Blaine shrugged, hands in his pockets. "He left early. Some sort of family emergency, I think. He didn't explain much."

David chuckled. "Years later, you're still a terrible liar."

He sighed. "Okay. I'm not lying when I say it's an emergency and he left early. But it's Kurt's choice to tell you why he's gone, not me."

"My money's on anorexia, he asked me about it and the boy is skinny as fuck," Sebastian muttered under his breath, eyes not even open. He was hardly awake.

After a minute of silence, a quiet, purr-like snore came from him, signaling that he had fallen asleep.

"Okay, a, that's worrying, b, is he purring?" Jeff asked quietly.

Hunter and Nick both chuckled, having heard his snore before. "Pretty much," Hunter joked. "But yeah, that is worrying."

"He looks absolutely exhausted, how early did he wake up?" Blaine asked, hoping to change the subject.

Hunter shook his head. "Around one o'clock yesterday."

"You mean today?" Jeff asked.

"Nope. Woke up at one yesterday, hasn't been able to sleep since. Well, except now."

"What? Why couldn't he sleep?" Thad asked.

Hunter shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. Something is clearly bothering him but he won't tell me what."

Before Blaine could say anything, his phone buzzed. He checked it, heart sinking.

Kurt 💕
Asshole.

"What is it?" Jeff asked, seeing his change in mood.

He shook his head. "He's mad at me."

"Who is?"

"Kurt," he answered miserably. "I just got a one-word text from him."

"What'd it say?" David asked.

Blaine turned his phone around, showing them the screen. They all fell silent.

"Um, Blaine?" Wes started delicately. "He texted you again. It's two words."

He turned his phone back around, feeling numb as he read the words.

We're done.

"I knew he might," he said quietly. "I just couldn't sit back and watch. I'd rather have him alive and hate me than... Not."

"Blaine, what do you mean?" Nick asked cautiously.

"Sebastian wasn't wrong," he said in a whisper. "He wanted to fix it on his own, but we couldn't. He needed medical attention. We both knew- he was just in denial."