"Errgh. Too fricking early," he groaned as they made their way to the beach.

Next to him Kurt snorted, raising an eyebrow at him. "Just how late did you guys stay up, anyway?"

"...Everything began to blur around three a.m," he admitted, rubbing at his eyes with a wince. Kurt had left the room around ten, spouting off some nonsense about beauty sleep with quite possibly the gayest hand gesture Wes had ever had the honor of witnessing.

Needless to say, they'd all been surprised, as they'd just gotten into the Disney movies and were but a few seconds away from starting into Bambi.

"Nice," Kurt rolled his eyes, "and you didn't think for one moment that this might affect your output today?"

Wes yawned loudly, placing a hand over his mouth as he shifted the chair slung over his shoulder, readjusting the straps. "Please. Like you wouldn't have been able to resist Tangled."

There was a slight silence as they both contemplated what they'd just said.

"...Oh God. When the hell did we switch roles?" Kurt asked in a horrified voice. Wes shuddered.

"We figure it's merely a case of gavel deprivation," Jeff, who had been walking nearest to them, chimed in. "Wes should be back to his normal self once we get back."

"For now, though,"

"-just don't think about it too much and you'll be fine," Nick finished.

"We're finally here!" Kurt grinned, sliding on his sunglasses.

"...Wonderful," Wes muttered, pulling his shirt off and lying back properly on his chair, automatically closing his eyes. The sun was already making him even more drowsy, the sounds of the rest of the Warblers chatting around them fading into a dull roar.

"No need to be so sarcastic, Wes. And really, Wes, sleeping? Really?" Kurt stated above him, voice oddly distorted in Wes' ears.

The warmth was surrounding him, tumbling his thoughts together as if in a blender, leaving him mumbling a barely coherent reply to Kurt that he couldn't think about, couldn't remember, only the heat that was quickly lulling him into deep slumber.

"'s better th'n you nagg'n at me," he slurred, light filling him until there was nothing but light, light and dark, and everything was going black...

He didn't hear Kurt's indignant gasp, nor his angry mutterings or the slight rustling of the bag they'd brought as he searched for something...

Unfortunately for him, he didn't here Thad's suggestion, nor the evil laughter of one boy who wasn't afraid to bring out the big guns to defend his pride.

"Oh, fuck..." he murmured, automatically squinting into the sun as he regained consciousness. Once his eyes were adjusted, he dared a look around him.

"Shit." They'd left him there, alone to walk home by himself. He swung his legs out to the side of the chair, forcefully sitting up. Judging from the position of the sun, it was late afternoon, maybe two or three p.m.

"Shite, shite, oh fucking hell that hurts!" he hissed, wincing as he studied his own reddened skin. He poked his shoulder, watching as the spot turned white for a moment before slowly tinging bright red again.

He'd fallen asleep at the beach. With no fucking sunscreen.

God, there were times when his own stupidity amazed him.

Of course, the Warblers would be getting an earful when he got back, for not only leaving him alone, defenseless, and without bothering to wake him up and force him to apply sunscreen, but for not even bothering to write him a single fricking note.

...It would seem he swore a lot when he was injured.

Wincing in pain, he slowly stood up, gasping out curses as forced his stiff muscles to moves, shakily walking towards the water, hoping it might offer some relief. He submerged himself to his shoulders, making a point of not looking at himself to see just how badly he was burned. There were some things he could go without knowing for the time being.

Hellooo, skin cancer.

Forcing his way awkwardly back through the water, he clenched his teeth every time he took a step, the feel of his muscles flexing setting his skin on fire.

It was only once he got back to his chair that he realized the others had stolen his shirt.

Someone is going to fucking pay today, I'll tell you that.

He (carefully!) slung his folded chair over his arm, slipping on his sandals, which were still, thankfully, there.

And it's not going to be me.

He strolled his way to the boardwalk, hoping to get his walk back home over as quickly as possible.

Perhaps even worse than the tightening in his skin, though, was the way people were staring. They were gawking, whispering openly to each other as he walked past. He tried to ignore them, eyes straight ahead but began to find it increasingly difficult.

It's a fricking beach, people. this cannot be this first time you've seen some tourist get sunburned.

He certainly hadn't expected some people, however, to have to guts to walk right up to him and begin speaking with him. Thus, he was very much startles as two teenage girls approached, openly giggling. They were just the sort of girls Leah would laugh at:wearing jean shorts with a bikini top, they had large, painfully obviously enhanced breasts, with lips that looked like they'd had at least ten coats of gloss applied and long, dyed blond hair that reached the middle of their backs.

The taller of the two, stepping forward boldly, gave him what was clearly supposed to be a flirty look as she said in a smooth voice, "You know, I'm totally, like, Team Edward." The girl next to her bobbed her head in agreement, giving him a near exact smile as the one in front of him.

Umm, what? I'm sorry, how is that in any way a conceivably good pick-up line? What the hell was-

He was cut off by a pair of lips on his. The lips on the girl in front of him, in fact. He merely stood there for a moment, brain freezing over as she licked his fucking lips before wrapping her arms around his neck.

Bad idea. While attempting to mentally repair his childhood, which had just seconds ago been lost by the fact that he was currently kissing the very definition of a blonde bimbo, he'd entirely forgotten about his sunburned skin. He yelped, leaping backwards as his neck burned in protest.

The girl merely gave him a sultry look, breezing by him with a light call of, "See you later, Mr. Vampire." She tapped his stomach, oddly enough, before walking off with her friend, who gave him a slightly disappointed look.

His eyes were drawn to where her manicured finger had poked him, realizing only fucking now that there were words on his belly. Words that, he knew now, someone had very lightly written out on him with sunscreen, leaving them the only pale area on his body, making them instantly pop out at whoever looked at him.

He'd done the very exact thing to his cousin, many years ago at their lake house.

And now he was officially going to fucking kill the rest of the Warblers.

But first, the words.

Peering down awkwardly at his stomach, he was able to make out four damning words:

Kiss me, I SPARKLE.

As if to emphasize this point, several stars surrounded the phrase, only adding to the effect.

And Wes' brain officially broke.

From the pieces rose but one thought: Must. Fucking. Kill. Kurt.

And with that thought in mind, he set out.

Panting, he slammed the door behind, eyes crazed.

The Warblers, draped lazily across the living room, took one look at him and burst out laughing.

"You," he growled, pointing at Kurt and stalking over. "You." Kurt bit one his lip furiously, struggling to hide his laughter.

"Oh, damn, I didn't think it'd work that well!" Nick said somewhere in the background.

Wes grabbed Kurt by the collar of his shirt, yanking him up to eye level. Kurt's eyes widened for a moment, a slight sliver of fear worming its way into his mind at the crazed look Wes sported.

"I am going to fucking kill you," he hissed into Kurt's face. "I am going to steal ALL of your diet cokes, drain them into the grass, and then fucking BURN the containers in front of you," he panted.

"It was Thad's idea," Kurt said immediately.

"Hey, check it out, Wes, you're famous!" Jacob called. Wes tore his gaze away from Kurt's face to glare over. "What?" He snapped.

"Look, you're on the news!"

"...What?" At this point their conversation had gained the attention of all of the Warblers, and they fought for view of the TV screen.

"-and today, we have a young 'Twifan', roaming the beach this morning with a certain catchy phrase written across his stomach. Here's a video:"

The room was silent as they watched an obviously hand-held video run, showing Wes walk down the beach, scowling darkly about him.

"Wes, it's you!" Someone stated.

"Shut up!" Several people snarled at once.

"Well, that's certainly what I call fan dedication! Next up on the NC news broadcast-"

The quiet was almost scary after Jacob turned off the TV. Of course, Wes' face was infinitely scarier.

"...Wes?" David tentatively asked. Wes stormed out of the room, not saying a word, shutting the door to his and Kurt's room with a bang.

"...We're screwed."

"Wes?" Kurt knocked on the door, waiting for a response a few hours later.

"C'mon, Wes, I have aloe?" Still no response. Sighing, he knocked harder.

"Alright, Wes, you have to be finished sulking by now."

Finally, the door slowly creaked open, revealing one very red and already peeling Wes, glowering at him. He'd tossed on a new shirt, covering up all of the burns except those on his face and neck.

Kurt couldn't help the slight twinge of guilt that went through him at the the look of Wes' face. If the rest of him was like this... He stepped in quietly, gently touching his shoulder. Noticing his flinch of pain he moved it away, gesturing wordlessly at the bathroom.

Wes followed sullenly behind him, chin tucked low in petulant pout. Kurt stopped, motioning for him to stand in front of Kurt, facing the mirror.

"Shirt off," Kurt ordered calmly, rubbing some of the aloe into his hands.

Wes gave him a disbelieving look over his shoulder, eying the aloe warily.

"This will help," he assured him, "now, shirt off. Now." Wes reluctantly tugged the shirt off, revealing a lobster red front. He'd been sleeping on his back the entire time, so he could at least sleep, thank GaGa, but the tops of the shoulders and the neck hurt like a bitch when burned, Kurt knew from experience.

These were also some of the hardest places to reach on your own. This was where he came in.

He carefully set his slick hands on Wes' shoulders, slowly beginning to massage the aloe into his skin. He heard Wes give a faint sigh, relaxing into his hands. He slowly moved his way up his neck, finally rubbing his thumb lightly along the tips and outer shells of his ears before removing his hands.

"I'm assuming you can handle the rest," he spoke. Wes nodded. Kurt could see from the mirror that his eyes were closed, expression indecipherable.

Kurt exhaled, stepping next to him. "If I could give you a hug right now, I would."

Wes gave him a look. "Please don't."

Kurt laughed, an unexpectedly loud sound in the small room. "Even I have the sense to know not to."

Wes' eyes slipped shut again. "But apparently not enough sense to wake me." Kurt frowned; that stung.

"I'm sorry?" he offered. When no answer came he merely straightened up, fully prepared to walk away before something caught his eye.

"Are you...wearing lip gloss?" Leaning forward, he rubbed his fingers against Wes' lips, studying the shiny residue left over as confirmation. Noticing the way Wes' cheeks seemed to grow even brighter, if possible, he suddenly grinned, the pieces connecting in his mind. "Don't tell me someone took you up on your offer?"

"It wasn't exactly my offer, now, was it!" Wes exclaimed defensively, crossing his arms over his chest. Kurt cracked up laughing, doubled over at the thought.

Finally gaining control over himself, Kurt merely shook his head in amusement, padding out the door. "Good thing, too, or I might have to actually hurt the girl."

He left Wes staring after him with wide eyes, suddenly very concerned with the bimbo's safety.

Okay!

Before I say ANYTHING allow me to apologize to ALL of you. I never had ANY intention whatsoever of going this long without an update and I am so sorry you just have no idea. I just...fell out of writing, and Glee at the same time. Combined with a lack of time to write, I just had no motivation.

Excuses aside, I'm giving just one big apology to all of my readers, especially those who have been with me since the very beginning. I truly appreciate each and every one of you, even if my updates don't show it.

Future updates: I'm definitely not going to be as good as before(i. e. post every day), but I'm HOPING I can get at least one chapter out per week, possibly more. I'm very busy nowadays, what with school, and won't have nearly as much time to type. I can promise that you shouldn't have nearly as long a gap again without me posting SOMETHING.

This chapter: I truly love the idea of this. I have no idea where it came from. If you've ever had a sunburn(which you probably have), you can probably relate to Wes here. I especially can't STAND having my shoulders burned.

Once again, apologies to all my readers, and here's to faster updates!

-Mel