Gray Skies Ahead (Skies Series #1)

XXV

Skylar was still convincing the guys how bad Kurt was, and they were distancing themselves from him more and more.

Kurt had never felt so alone. He had called the suicide hotline number countless times, and though they could talk him out of ending his life they couldn't talk him out of cutting.

It was all he had left, really.

The constant torment of Skylar and his blades.

He could never sleep, through the pain and presence of Skylar.

He never fought anything he did to him anymore. He just let it happen, and he did whatever was asked of him.

Honestly, just getting ready in the morning was a struggle for him. He usually wore a hat, too tired to fix his hair.

He was getting ready one morning during the weekend when a knock sounded on his door. Skylar, who had been reading on his bed, got up to answer the door.

Kurt assumed it was for Skylar, anyway, and continued to fix his tie until he heard a voice.

"Hello. I'm Rachel Berry, I was told this was Kurt's dorm?"

Skylar smiled charmingly at her. "Skylar. Charmed to meet you." He bent over a pressed a kiss to the back of her hand, and Kurt came out to a blushing Rachel.

"Rachel?" He asked, his voice slightly rough from not being used.

"Kurt!" She squealed, rushing forwards and hugging him. He tensed up slightly at her hug but quickly returned it, not wanting to raise suspicions.

"What are you doing here?" He asked when she let go of him.

She frowned. "What's up with your voice?"

"Oh, um, just a bit of a sore throat. I'll be fine."

She brightened at this. "Okay. Anyway, I'm here visiting! I figured you could use a visit from the one and only Ms. Berry." She said jokingly.

Kurt gave her a knowing look. "And you'd never pass up the opportunity to be in a school full of guys. I'm warning you right now, just about everyone here is gay until proven otherwise."

"What about those captain people? Wes and David, I think?"

Kurt chuckled slightly, for the first time in seemingly forever. "They both recently came out, they're dating now."

"Really? Well, anyway, the only guy I came here to see is you!" She said, covering up her disappointment. "Now, I had to get up early and I didn't have breakfast, so..."

Kurt laughed and shook his head. "Come on, let's go get you some food."

"Yay!" She followed him to the hall. "Does that mean your roommate is gay? He seemed charming."

"Dating Sebastian." Kurt confirmed.

When they got to the dining hall, everyone looked over at them. "Why are they staring?" Rachel whispered to Kurt.

"You're a girl, Rachel. Prepare to be hit on, possibly sung 'Uptown Girl' by the Warblers."

"Really?" She asked in disbelief.

He nodded. "They did it for the new health teacher."

She laughed, and Kurt realized how much he missed being around girls. They were just fantastic in all ways.

He suddenly hugged her, and he hugged him back, confused. "What was that for?"

"I missed you so much, Rach. It's terribly boring being around all these dapper guys all the time, and I honestly just missed you and the rest of the girls." He said, causing her to blush.

"Oh, we missed you too."

They sat down at a table, and Rachel looked confused. "Why don't you sit with the rest of the Warblers?"

"I wanted to talk to you! And I sorta quit the Warblers..." He mumbled the second part, but she heard him anyway.

"Kurt Hummel, are you crazy?!" She exclaimed. "Okay, tell me all the drama."

"Nick and Jeff going strong... Wes and David recently dating... Sebastian and Skylar are sort of a thing, but I don't think they've even kissed-"

"Wait, how are they a thing then?" Rachel asked.

"Um, let's just say during movie night, I had to wake everyone up as I was the only one awake, and Skylar's hand was... not on the outside of Sebastian's clothes." Kurt said, causing Rachel to laugh.

"Oh god, that must have been awkward for him."

"Not really, Sebastian actually moaned at lunch once when Skylar sat on his lap. They were flirting and making so many innuendos, even Jeff lost his appetite."

Rachel giggled. "Like, full-out moaned?" She whispered.

"He was saying words, but you couldn't really tell what he was saying."

Rachel giggled even more at this.

"Anyway, I also quit the Warblers... I got a new roommate..." Kurt took a deep breath and rushed out the next words. "Blaine-and-I-sorta-kinda-broke-up-because-he-thinks-I-cheated-on-him-and-I-quit-the-Warblers-because-of-the-awkwardness."

Rachel, being an expert on talking fast, understood every word. "YOU WHAT?!" She yelled, causing everyone to look at her.

"Sorry. You what?" She asked in a normal voice. It was no use, everyone was listening now.

"Rach, it's not a big deal, we just broke up." Kurt said, fully aware that Blaine could hear him.

"Why would he think you cheated on him?" Rachel asked, infuriated.

Kurt glanced over at the Warbler's table, which proved to be the wrong move. Skylar was dragging a finger across his neck, showing that his death threats were not jokes.

Kurt buried his head in his hands. "I did." He mumbled, so quiet that only Rachel could hear him. "I'm a terrible person, I'm awful, I should have stopped it..."

Rachel moved over to sit next to him instead of across from him, wrapping her arms around him. "Stopped it? What do you mean?" She whispered.

He just shook his head.

He felt a tingling sensation on his arm and realized that his cuts must be bleeding. "Rachel, I'm going to be right back, okay?"

Without waiting for an answer, he rushed to the bathroom with his bag. He couldn't make it all the way to his dorm in time.

He quickly rolled up his sleeve before he got blood on his clothes and took off the bandage that was no longer white, rinsing the blood off his skin. He let the cold water run over it.

"Kurt?" He heard a horrified voice ask. He turned quickly, flinging red-tinted water over the white tile of the bathroom, seeing Rachel standing in the doorway.

"I, uh, um..." He didn't know what to say. He was vaguely aware that there was blood running down his arm and put it back under the water.

He dried his arm off and bandaged it, not looking over to Rachel the entire time.

He cleaned the red-tinted water out of the sink and chanced a glance over to the doorway, only to find that she was gone.