Okay, so I'm not a massive shipper – but I DO love Klaine so that's what I'm going with. Don't like? Then leave.
Don't own anything (wouldn't want to; I live off the suspense!)
Most of the OC's are CP COULTER's but I might add a couple of my own later.
Oh, and I'm English. This means that I spell "Color" as "Colour" and "Pants" are "Trousers".
You Get the Picture. Reviews are like Sugar Coated Sour Gummy bears – freaky yet insanely delicious and addictive.
Blaine sighed. Windsor was silent spare the sound of his feet crushing the snow as he sat on the iced-over bench. The birds knocked flakes from the walls and the wind would occasionally disturb the trees. The air was harsh against his face but tasted refreshing and crisp as he breathed it in.
Moments like these came so rarely that Blaine found it near impossible not to appreciate them. He didn't return home in the holidays. It meant that he could make sure everything was in order and as it should be at Dalton. It also meant that he could steal moments like this.
The feeling had left Blaine's feet and he felt it a sensible decision to return to the dormitory and finish preparing in anticipation of the arrival of Windsor's less tranquil occupants. In the calm of the afternoon, Hanover and Windsor were almost indistinguishable from one another; but Stuart somehow still had an air of tension, even without its residents.
From his parents' car, pulling to the front of Dalton's main entrance, Charlie could see Blaine making his was across the snow. He held back a smile as the comfort of the Dalton atmosphere surrounded him once again and he felt settled.
'Charlie, I thought that only the prefects were to arrive early. Who is that boy heading towards Windsor?' Charlie's mother had spotted Blaine making his way up one of the paths towards the back doors of Windsor.
'That's just Blaine. He doesn't go home for the holidays.' Ever. Not since Charlie had known him, anyway. Not that he knew of anything that would prevent Blaine from returning home over the break. Actually, now that he thought about it; he knew very little about the petite boy he considered a close friend.
'Why not?' This time it was his mother's voice that filled the car as his father pulled into a parking space close to the office building. Charlie considered the question carefully; then peered across at where Blaine was disappearing behind Windsor. He saw a small smile drawn across the boy's face before he walked out of view.
'I don't know. I think he just likes it here. Dalton is his home, I guess.' Not a lie, really. Blaine did like Dalton. A lot. Despite this, Charlie couldn't imagine that anyone would choose to spend the Christmas holidays alone at their school; no matter how much they might like the place.
'Hey Blaine!' Charlie burst through the doors of Windsor and greeted the smaller boy with a suffocating bear-hug.
'I… Um… Chaz… Umph… Let… go…' Charlie mouthed an 'oh', as he mentally reprimanded himself for almost killing Blaine not five seconds after greeting him.
'Sorry Blaine. I missed you I guess.' Blaine smiled at the unnaturally tall, yet lean, character that he had sorely missed. Charlie's image made him chuckle slightly as he watched the older boy smooth the non-existent creases out of his jumper.
'I missed you too. Guess now it's back to mayhem, huh?' Charlie faked mock offence at this and played role of a small child being accused of their crimes but denying to the grave.
'Are you trying to say that I am the cause of the trouble at Windsor? I don't know whether I should feel proud or insulted.' A playful slap to the arm diminished the incredulous tone used and there was a slight awkward silence between the two comrades.
'Blaine, I was wondering something. Why don't you go home for the holidays?' Charlie was too busy staring at the thread in the carpet, which had become amazingly interesting somehow, to notice the sadness crossing Blaine's face as he fought the urge to throw up.
'Me? Off-duty? Then who would look after this old place?' He joked shakily. Unbelievably. Another awkward silence filled the air with tension as Blaine's fake laugh lingered.
'No, seriously Blaine. Is everything okay?' It was ridiculous that Charlie be feeling this way over asking such a trivial question. He was the prefect. It was his job to make sure everybody was okay, but this was different. Blaine was his friend; if something was wrong then he would be torn between his loyalty to Blaine as a confidante and his duty to protect Blaine and betray his trust to the Dean.
'I like it here. That's why I stay. Chill out, Chaz. Everything's fine.' Blaine's reply was perfectly rehearsed and his face showed his discomfort despite his words but Charlie let it drop. He didn't want to push Blaine, but was disheartened that Blaine couldn't trust him enough to speak his mind.
'Okay, but just know that you can trust me. Anyway, it's our last hour of freedom before our prisoners return and our duties resume.' Blaine chuckled and any tension that had remained dissolved instantly.
'I think everything's as ready as it can be right now. No doubt I've missed something but I honestly don't have it in me to do anything else.' Blaine let Charlie to the common room before collapsing onto the couch. He could help but admire how cushions conformed to his shape to provide maximum comfort.
'No matter what you do, nothing can protect Windsor from the wrath of the Tweedle Twins!' Both boys smiled fondly at the memory of the two destructive brothers whom would be in their midst in little time.
'I missed Windsor over the holidays. I mean, I was here, but the people… it wasn't the same. I'm just dreading the workload returning.' Blaine sighed and ran his hand through his unkempt curls.
'Forget the workload; I'm more worried about the residents!' Brutally honest and truthful as always, Charlie never failed to bring light humour to any situation; often to his own peril. Blaine smiled up at the prefect.
'I see the leg has had time to heal.' Charlie shuddered in response, remembering the incident which had led to the breaking of his femur and his long absence from Dalton the previous term.
From behind the doors of the common room, a smash rang throughout the halls and a curse word slipped easily through Reed's lips as his hands dropped in an attempt to break his fall.
Yep. Charlie thought. Windsor is back in business.
It was just ten minutes from when students were due to arrive, and the three present boys had bets on who would return to the dormitory first.
Charlie had assisted Blaine in dressing Reed's wounds after clearing the glass of the broken vase and throwing out the dead flowers.
'Tweedle's will be first. Tweedle's are always first.' Reed stated, packing away the first aid kit that he had produced from his backpack. Packing the kit was a necessity in case of events like the aforementioned that were customary in his daily life.
'I don't know, David likes to be one of the first; and this year he's aiming to board bigger.' Blaine commented with a smirk as he helped Charlie set out a table and three chairs for each of the boys to sit in.
'Seriously? His room was massive last year!' Reed objected, himself preferring the smaller rooms at Dalton. Not for taste but to safe proof a large room had, in the past, proved both trying and hazardous.
'I reckon that the new kids will be first. There's two this year; Seth Reynolds and Liam Reilly.' Charlie commented, scanning down his check list for any other new arrivals. Seeming satisfied that there were no more; he set down the clipboard on the desk as the doors of Windsor opened to reveal a panting, red-faced David. Blaine positively gleamed at the sight of his friend and turned to a sulky-faced Charlie.
'Hate to say it but…'
'Blaine, I'm swear if you say it I'll…'
'David was the first…'
'Do NOT say it.'
'I TOLD YOU SO!' Blaine yelled, pointing at Charlie as the prefect smacked his head on the desk and the younger boys ran to shower David in hugs.
The second he had walked through the door all he could hear was Blaine yelling 'I told you so' at Charlie in a childish manner. Before he could begin to fathom a reasonable explanation he was assaulted with hugs and distracted by Blaine and Reed simultaneously trying to fit a month's worth of catching up into one breathe. Not that he really minded; finding a reasonable explanation for anything in Windsor was like trying to find a non-existent needle in a haystack.
'Tweedle's reporting for duty!' Evan bounded in to greet the other boys whilst Ethan yelled for his brother to help with their cases. Evan pretended not to hear his brothers' plea for help and turned to Charlie.
'I'm frankly disappointed that we were not here first. David, Blain and even Reed arrived ahead of us! How is that possible?' David rolled his eyes as Blaine chuckled. Reed didn't take offence; he was usually one of the later students to arrive due to inconvenient mishaps that occurred when travelling to and from Dalton. He chose the slight pause in conversation to comfort the small boy.
'I set off an hour early because I didn't want to be late again. I had to check in with the Dean last year – not fun; he looked like he was going to explode at me! Chaz is a prefect so he has to be here early and Blaine's always first. So really it's just David you should be ashamed of being beat by.'
Ethan had finally made it through the doors with both his and Evan's suitcases. He discarded both to dive on Blaine in a tackle hug that sent them both crashing to the ground.
A faint 'ow' could be heard from the pile of bodies where Blaine and Evan had been joined by Ethan.
Charlie smiled and then grimaced to himself; this year was sure to be another interesting one, and he was in charge of Windsor.