An Unlikely Alliance

Kurt stepped in the living room, properly dressed now in jeans and a casual shirt, looking, with a raised eyebrow at Ashley’s stunned expression. He could hear arguing all the way down the hall in his bedroom, though, even with the loudness, the speed and anger of the words made it impossible to tell exactly what was being said. He recognised the voices as that of Ashley Woodsen and her best friend, Victoria Walker, although moments ago they sounded like the furthest thing from ‘best friends’. He looked around, not seeing Victoria in the living room anymore as Ashley glanced at him, chewing her bottom lip.

“What was that about?” Kurt asked, curious but trying to remain casual, and careful not to upset the petite blonde any further.

“I just asked her about what was going on between you and her, and she blew up at me,” Ashley explained, her face and voice denoting her utter bewilderment. “I’ve never know her to be like that. Not with me.”

“I haven’t known Victoria as long as the rest of you, but even I can tell something has changed. But if it happened at the apartment, she’s sticking to her story that nothing happened,” Kurt replied with a frown. “I can assure you though that I’m not taking advantage of her. I haven’t done anything without her express go-ahead, which I have to say, has been quite direct at times. It’s almost like she’s trying to entice me.”

“She probably is. She said herself that she liked you because you weren’t like Dustin and Gavin. I think she’s attaching herself to you specifically because you were there for her when they weren’t,” Ashley admitted, sitting down on the arm of the couch and running a hand through her blonde hair. “I’m sorry. This isn’t really about you. I just think you’re a symptom of something much deeper that’s going on.”

“No offense taken. I know what you mean. She hasn’t opened up to me either, but being close to her, I have seen some things,” Kurt said, as he sat on the edge of the coffee table opposite Ashley. “Like how twice now she’d had me cum on her face and both times she took pictures on her phone.”

Ashley cringed, staring at the young, blonde teen, hoping that this was just some gross, boyish joke, but Kurt’s face was deadly serious. “Ok, first of all, ew. Secondly, more information than I needed. And finally, what the hell? Did you ask her why?”

“I did, this morning,” Kurt revealed, nodding. “She claimed that she was just comparing them, and that she’d never done if before but realised that she liked it. I’m not sure I completely believe her, though it’s plausible, I think, but as you say, it feels like there’s something more going on, just outside the frame.”

“Right…only, I may have ruined things by even mentioning it to her at all,” Ashley rubbed her forehead with her palm, momentarily closing her eyes. “Heather was right, I should have waited for her to come to me with the problem.”

“It’s understandable though that if you see your best friend heading south, you’d want to intervene. It’s not really your fault that Victoria isn’t in a place where she can listen to you,” Kurt consoled her, and then with a bright smile. “But, I think I’ll probably have better luck at a time like this.”

Ashley looked at him suspiciously. “What have you got planned?”

“Nothing really. I’m just going to use my position to get her to reveal herself to me. If he wants me close, then that’s where I’ll be. If this is an act or something is wrong, she can’t keep up the charade twenty-four-seven,” Kurt replied confidently, watching as Ashley considered his ‘plan’. “I did contemplate looking through her phone but if there’s nothing on there, the risk of getting caught and no longer being trustworthy in her eyes would be far more dangerous, I think, don’t you?”

“No, I agree. Stay on her good side,” Ashley insisted, nodding thoughtfully. “My only worry is what she might get up to in the meantime.”

“Well, it’s not like she’s done anything that terrible yet, has she?” Kurt asked sincerely, rubbing his chin. “Dressing hot, being a bit bolder sexually with one guy, and taking some pictures? I agree it seems unlike her, from what I know of her, but it’s not like she’s murdering puppies or anything.”

“I know, I know, Victoria said practically the same thing,” Ashley said, burying her face in her hands. “It’s not like I haven’t done worse myself. Ugh, every time I’m sure something happened last night, I start to second guess myself. Maybe she is just acting out because all her other boyfriends have treated her terribly.”

“Listen, Ashley, I have no idea what’s going on, but Shawn kidnapped me and strapped me to a chair. I don’t care if he told Victoria that it was Dustin’s plan, I don’t believe for a second that if he went into that room with her that he just let her leave,” Kurt assured the small, blonde teen, leaning forward and grabbing her shoulders so roughly that Ashley’s face was shaken out of her hands and she looked up into his determined face. “I can’t reconcile that with the happy, carefree girl that I found on the sidewalk, but I know something happened, and I know that she isn’t telling you the whole truth. For one, Shawn made me listen to Dustin’s date with Victoria and the reason she had to change her bottoms wasn’t because she spilled soda on them. They went to the cinema but the movie they saw wound up being an erotic thriller. Victoria got wet and Dustin fingered her throughout the film. After it was finished, Victoria agreed to go back with him to the apartment.”

“What? Are you serious?” Ashley’s jaw dropped, and she shook her head in disbelief. “That doesn’t prove anything though. I can see why she might be too embarrassed to announce that to the group.”

“It proves that she lied, and that you were right,” Kurt reminded her. “They did go back to the apartment to have sex. Which means there’s no way she’d have showered and changed before Shawn showed up. And that begs the question, why did she do it afterwards?”

Ashley pursed her lips, going over everything Kurt had revealed in her mind. She got fingered in a movie theatre and went back to Dustin’s place. At some point Shawn showed up and told her that Dustin had tricked her into the date. Though whether that was all Dustin had ever planned was left to interpretation. Then there was a big black spot over what happened after Shawn arrived, but later, Victoria was found, happy and seemingly unaffected by whatever had happened by Kurt. A man she proceeded to fuck, right in front of her ex-boyfriend, and took pictures of herself covered in cum. The catalyst was obviously whatever had happened in that apartment, but without knowing the whereabouts of Shawn or Dustin, the only one who could tell them that Victoria.

“Alright, Kurt, I’m going to trust you,” Ashley said, her face becoming stony. “I have to go into town now, so I can’t be here for Vicky. I’m not sure she’d want my help right now anyway, so I’m leaving this in your hands. Vicky is my best friend and I hate the idea that something happened to her that she doesn’t feel comfortable telling me. So, I’m entrusting her to you, Kurt. I need you to stay close to her and figure this out.”

“Of course,” Kurt agreed with similar focus and determination. “That’s the plan. And I won’t let you down.”

“Good,” Ashley said, standing and holding out a small hand.

Kurt smirked, almost laughing, as he stood and shook her head, his strong, large hand grasping hers tightly in a short, firm shake. At that moment, Heather walked in, flicking her dark hair behind her shoulder as she looked between the pair, raising her eyebrows at the impromptu handshake.

“Oh? Have you two formed some sort of pact?” Heather teased.

“It’s more of an agreement,” Kurt remarked as he looked over her professional attire, of a blouse, tight, short skirt and black heels. “Looks like you’re off to make a deal of your own.”

“Yep. We’re heading into the office,” Heather quipped back, turning then to Ashley. “Oh, and I just got a call from Chloe. We need to pick her up on the way back. You ready?”

“Yeah. I don’t think there’s anything else I can do here,” Ashley admitted, glancing at Kurt. “Right?”

“Right. Leave it to me,” Kurt assured her, walking over to the main cabin door to the outside and holding it open for the girls. “I hope you have a productive day.”

“I hope so too,” Heather agreed, as she talked through the doorway, an ambitious gleam in her eye.

“You too,” Ashley added as she followed the dark-haired teen out the door and down the steps.

Kurt watched the pair get into Heather’s car and offered a brief wave as the vehicle turned in the yard and sped off down the lane to the road. As he closed the door, he turned his mind back to the task at hand, wondering where Victoria might have gone after her fight with Ashley.