Wednesday, noon

Mairead sighed, putting the side of her face into her left hand. Ever since the fracture in her wrist started healing as fast as water sculpts stone and her left shoulder wasn't able to support much weight, she hadn't been allowed to play her viola at all; which meant boring spans of time during each school day when she was supposed to be sitting in the section warming up with the other three violas in her chamber orchestra. She picked at the brace keeping her wrist stiff and unbending as her iPhone vibrated in her back pocket. Unlocking her screen, Kurt's name popped up.

Like my shirt?

Kurt had attached an image of him wearing a white t-shirt proclaiming in big black, bold letters, LIKES BOYS in the center of the shirt. Mari could make out the red and black plaid jacket just on the borders of the picture.

She smiled widely and texted him back. Fierce and sexy! Have you shown B? Putting down the phone on the table, she got back to labeling the slim white sheet music boxes in the office of her orchestra teacher as the sounds of strings warming up drifted quite loudly through the open doorway. Tapping her foot along the beat to Dvorak's New World Symphony, she nearly missed the screen lighting up to a new text.

Yup. Apparently, he can't wait to get his hands on this shirt.

Mari thought for a bit before replying. Hold onto that thought, I have a good idea for his shirt. Just keep your shirt for right now. She got back to putting Holst's Mars piece of the Planets series into a box while she thought of an idea to give Blaine a bit of a surprise. Tapping her foot along with the rapid beat of the beginning and then jumping when the trumpets announced their arrival, she got the idea. Where did you get the shirt printed? Can they do another shirt?

She didn't hear back from him for awhile so she put the rest of the music she was filing back on the shelves in the orchestra office and quietly headed out a few minutes before the bell rang signaling the end of third hour. Sometimes being injured had its perks; being able to go to the next class without the monstrous crowds was one of them.

It didn't help to have students staring at her like she was some kind of criminal, watching as she walked past them in the sparsely populated hallways. Mari quickly walked to her next classroom, pressing her back to the wall when she got there because the bell hadn't rung yet. Her wrist and the stiff brace was starting get heavier for her to hold up so she let her backpack fall off her right shoulder and onto the ground before sliding down the wall so she sat on the tiled linoleum floor. Unzipping one of the smaller front pockets, she pulled out the black shoulder sling and set it in her lap before zipping the pocket up again.

Sliding her right forearm into the long pocket of the sling, Mairead pulled the strap over her head to rest on the muscle between her shoulder and neck. Part of her t-shirt slid off her left shoulder revealing the dark circular mark of the gunshot when she was adjusting it. It was just her luck as soon as the shirt slid off, the door to the classroom across from her opened and a mass of students walked out and saw the scar. Quickly pulling it back up, she ducked her head and tried not to listen to the students' chatter and also tried not to feel their stares boring into her.

"Did you see that?"

"That scar, it looked gross."

"She's probably faking the wrist injury. I had a broken thumb and in healed in two weeks. She's had what, four weeks with that sling?"

"That's the first time I've seen her. I thought she dropped out."

Tears prickled at Mairead's eyes as she struggled to pull her backpack over her right arm but her left shoulder protested in pain. She waited embarrassingly for someone who was in her fourth hour English class to come near the door before asking them to bring in her backpack. Luckily, her English teacher came out relatively quickly after his third hour class was completely out. He brought in her bag and to her assigned seat with a small smile as she limped in, her leg aching deep to the bone. Considering the classroom was empty at the moment, Mairead slipped her hand into one of the side mesh pockets of her backpack and pulled out a small bottle of Tylenol and her water bottle from the other side. Just turning the lid open, her mother had put in a few pills in a non-childproof jar, thank god, she shook out two of the ovular pills and set them on her desk before lifting the nozzle of her bright orange Camelbak water bottle clumsily with her left hand. She sipped the water before drinking one of the pills; when she was about to swallow the other pill, the door opened with a loud sound and she choked on the pill halfway down her throat. It went down with a hard swallow, but left her coughing for a minute as she tried to calm down. As usual, the stares started up again as the classroom filled up with students. As the teacher started his lecture, she pulled out her voice recorder and tried to write down some notes, but it ended up looking like scribbles considering she was writing with her left hand and she was more dominant with her right.

With a small sigh, Mairead gave up, dropping her pen down with a small thwump onto the lined white paper. She pulled out her phone and set it in front of her, turning it on.

Hey Mom, I took two tylenol half an hour ago. My wrist and leg really hurt. :/ She typed on the touch screen. It only took a minute or two later when the screen lit up silently, announcing a new message.

Do you want Nick to come with the wheelchair? Sarah had texted back.

Mairead rolled her eyes and silently groaned. You know how much I hate that thing. And add to the fact I nearly had to kick my backpack into my last class.

I'll tell him.

She didn't dread the wheelchair, per say, but more bracing herself for the stares when her brother came with it.

The class finally ended and she took her time putting her notebook and voice recorder away after the bell had rung, still sitting at her desk while her classmates had congregated at the door waiting to be let go. "Need me to help you out, Mairead?" Her English teacher asked as he put his files in his bag.

Shaking her head, she gave him a small smile. "No, my brother is coming in a little bit. Is it okay if I stay in here until then?"

"Sure, do you want me to prop the door open?"

"NO!" Mairead half shouted, her eyes going wide. "I mean, no, you can leave it closed; he knows where this classroom is." She said quietly. Casting her eyes downward in embarrassment, she busied herself with trying to get her Kindle out of one the pockets.

The teacher left without another word, the door slamming behind him unintentionally. She got her hands up to her ears in time before the resulting bang sounded.

Nick came half an hour later with the folded up blue and black wheelchair in front of him. The door opening alerted her to his presence. He smiled as he came in. "Somebody call?"

"Shut up."

He expanded the chair so the seat lay flat and slung her bag over his shoulder. Mairead carefully maneuvered herself into the chair, using two desks as leverage and sitting heavily into the black seat. She leaned her head against one of his arms holding the chair still while she got in it; tired from the school day and in pain. "Thanks for doing this, Nick. Really." Mari murmured as soon as they started moving.

Nick kissed his sister on the top of her head. "Anything. I'll take you out the back ways were no one goes to after school. Save you the damn stares. You can keep leaning against my arm if you want to; take a nap." A few minutes later and two elevator rides down found them in the parking lot near Nick's CR-V. The Asian girl had passed out, leaning against his arm the whole ride down. He gently shook her awake for a few moments so her head didn't fall awkwardly to the side when he had to open the passenger side door. Instead of having her get in herself, Nick scooped her up in his arms and set her gently in the reclined seat before buckling the seat belt across her. She fell straight back to sleep as soon as the door closed and the motion of the car moving sent her into the comfortable blackness.

The next Friday, half past two in the afternoon

Blaine was packing a few clothes into his duffle bag for the weekend when he heard a knock at the door. "Come in." He called out without turning around.

"Going home for the weekend, Blaine?" Jeff popped into his peripheral vision as he was putting a shirt in the bag.

"Mhm. Mairead made me promise last week that I would go back to Ashland, back to her house, for the weekend for some fun. Or what her definition of fun is, anyway." Blaine said as he zipped up the medium sized duffle. "She said that my mom's gravestone's coming this weekend, too. I need to be there with Joey, too." He said in a quieter tone.

Jeff's eyebrows knitted up. "Need me to come with?"

"No." Blaine shook his head. "I think it's something me and Joey need to deal with on our own; but thanks, though." He sat down on the bed, the mattress bouncing slightly with how heavily he fell on the cushioned surface. Blaine dropped his head into his hands. All the emotions since his mother's death Blaine had been suppressing since he returned to Dalton were bubbling its way to the surface again. "It's just hard, knowing everyday that my mom's… passed on. And not of natural causes, either."

Jeff sat down next to him on the edge of the bed. "They're going to catch him. You know it, Blaine. And besides, if you're going home, there's bound to be something good to happen." He ended with an upbeat tone in his voice.

Blaine smiled sadly. "I guess. Which reminds me…" He smiled slyly. "Are you planning on asking Mari out soon?"

Jeff's face blanched. "I h-have n-no idea what you mean." He stuttered, his eyes widening comically.

Blaine snorted. "Oh c'mon," he rolled his eyes, "all of us know you two have a thing going on. I mean, every time she's with me and you're there, you two are always talking. Oh, and the texting? I swear you've been texting her all the time with what's going on around here. How did she know about Flint's cooking when I got food poisoning a few weeks ago? Or how about the time when - "

"Alright!" Jeff cut in before Blaine could get another word in.

Blaine smirked in victory and raised an eyebrow for him to continue.

"She's nice and all, but I don't know how she'll react if I ask her out for a date or something." Jeff said exasperatingly. "You know her better than I do; how do you think she'll react?"

Thinking for a moment, Blaine replied "Well, considering that her last relationship didn't go that well, she'll be a bit guarded. But it is your job to get to know her and ask questions. Her last relationship was a bit… backwards. Her ex told her she was too clingy so Mari might be a little scared to ask questions about you." He felt his phone vibrate in the pocket of his jeans. "Don't get me wrong, she'll bite back hard if you say something that irks her so watch what you're saying if you value your life." Blaine warned with a smile. "I'll see you Sunday night? Jason's here to pick me up." Jeff nodded and hugged the smaller boy.

Hi. Um… it's been a year, I know. I've… been having some really, really, rough times and still am. I know this chapter is short, and I'm sorry about that. I'm going to try and get a few chapters in a month after May ends, so hopefully that'll happen. Just a question for you all who are still reading; would you mind if I used some recent songs in the next chapters? I know this takes place during the tail end of season 2, but recently when I've been writing bits and pieces of the future chapters, some more recent songs have snuck in.

Again, I'm so sorry it's taken me a year and I hope you'll forgive me. I love you all from the bottom of my heart, to those who have stuck with me since the beginning and the new readers. Thank you.

-AF.