Author's Note:

Hi all. My last story, Loser Like Me, was a real roller coaster at some points. Some people pointed out that it had some fairytale moments. Well even fairytales have monsters and even some fairies can have a dark side.

If you haven't read Loser Like Me first, I'd suggest that you go back and do so in order to meet the original characters.

Well, enough from me ... on with Rise Above! Enjoy!

Don't know anything, don't know anyone, and certainly don't own anything. (I wish though!) Please feel free to review with constructive criticism, etc.

01 - Lost


Summer vacation had just started and everyone had made their own plans, but they all promised to make sure and hang out, after all, Blaine, Dave, Kurt and Sam were now the four musketeers.

Blaine had applied for a role in one of the productions at King's Island and was waiting for his call back. Dave and Sam both applied at a local strip mall, Dave to work in a bookstore and Sam for the Italian place where he had worked before school was out. Sam had been their delivery driver, but since financial trouble forced him to sell his jeep; he was going to be a server this time. Kurt on the other hand would be spending the summer writing his play "Pip, Pip Hooray!"

When they discovered their friend Derrick, the brother of one of their teachers, was in town they all jumped at the chance to go hang out with him. He was in town with his fiancé, Bryce, to tell his parents of their engagement. Once he had completed that happy task he invited them all to a club in Dayton. That particular club was of great significance because it was where he had met Dave for the first time. This time, however, he made sure that they were open for an 'all ages' party so Dave and the others wouldn't need fake IDs...

"Derrick!" Dave yelled jogging up to him. They hugged as Sam approached Bryce.

"Hey man, how's it going?" Bryce said as Sam reached him.

"Can't complain," Sam said hugging him before the two had a seat at their table.

"Hey, I want one too," Blaine said with a mock pout. "I feel left out."

Derrick laughed as Dave sat down. "Of course you get one too!" Derrick said hugging him. Derrick turned to Kurt. "You want one too?"

"Nah," Kurt said. "I'm still holding out for Zac." He flashed him an evil grin while Derrick gave him a threatening glare.

Once they sat down, Dave asked, "So, how'd it go with your folks?"

"Great!" Derrick said. "They loved him!"

"Aye, they loved me," Bryce said with a grin.

"Where's Mr. D?" Blaine asked.

"Oh, he's still at the folks' house," Derrick said. "He stayed to help Aunt Ronnie get her new computer up and running."

"You have an Aunt Ronnie?" Sam asked.

"Well her name is actually Rhonda," Derrick explained, "but you only call her that at your own risk."

"Ah, gotcha!" Sam said smiling.

"So have you guys set a date yet?" Kurt asked.

"Not an exact one," Bryce said. "We've got the phone tree going to let everyone know it's coming, but everyone is still going to need to arrange time off and transportation. It should be sometime in late August or early September, though."

"Did you decide where?" Dave asked.

"Yeah, I think Bryce was right," Derrick said. "Most of my family live close enough to drive to my parent's house and most of his will be flying in anyway, so we'll probably do it here in Ohio."

"Cool!" they all said.

"Are we..." Kurt started.

"Yes, you're all invited," Derrick said smiling.

"So how long are you guys in town for?" Dave asked.

"Just a couple more days," Bryce said.

"I figured I'd show him around some of the old haunts," Derrick said. "You guys busy the next couple of days?"

"I have to work tomorrow, but I'm off the day after," Dave said.

Sam frowned. "I'm working both days."

"My call back isn't until early next week," Blaine said. "So I'm open, and my dearest can work on his play as we drag him along."

"Where are you guys staying?" Dave asked.

"Danny's place, he's such a sweetheart," Bryce said. "He even offered us his bed."

"Yeah some sweetheart," Derrick said. "He forbade us to have sex in it."

"His bed, we're guests," Bryce said, "his right."

"Yeah, well, I consider it a challenge."

"And if I know your brother he'll have already taken the door off its hinges or something," Bryce said.

"I don't know," Derrick said, "exhibitionism can be fun on occasion."

Bryce shook his head as the boys laughed. "Hey, you guys up for some dancing?"

They agreed and all headed for the dance floor.


Two days later the five of them met at the Kewpee Hamburger joint for lunch.

"Excellent call on the location there Blaine," Derrick said as they sat down at a table with their food.

"Well I've only been here the one time," Blaine said, "but you're the one that said you should have come here the last time you were home."

"That's right," Derrick said. "Good memory there."

"I try," Blaine said.

"So, Bryce, what color is your kilt?" Kurt asked as he squirted ketchup beside his fries.

"Uh, which one?" Bryce said smiling at over at him.

"I thought you had like one for your family or something," Dave said.

"You're kind of talking two different things," Bryce said. "A kilt is an article of clothing, so that's like asking what color are your pants ... and I have a bunch."

"Yeah, Danny thought I was a clothes hog!" Derrick said grinning.

"Shut it you!" Bryce said swatting him. "The tartan or the plaid is specific to my family, but we actually have a couple."

"I didn't realize it was that complicated," Dave said.

"It's not really," Bryce said. "The one I wear the most is a blue and green one with a splash of white and black. That's the one I like the most. We have a couple more though, one that's mostly white that has the same blue and green in it and one for outdoors that's a bit drabber with the same colors only muted out.

"It's basically where you would wear them," Bryce said. "The blue and green one is for everyday, the brighter, whiter one is for special occasions when you want to be flashy and the drabber more muted one is for when you're outside hunting or something and want to blend in and not scare off the animals and such."

"Cool!" Blaine said. "That's just wicked, I always just looked at it as plaid I never really thought about it meaning anything or being for anything."

"What do you do if your family ones clash with your complexion or something?" Kurt said.

"Marry into another clan?" Bryce said shrugging and they all laughed. "Here," Bryce said grabbing his phone. He flipped through a few pictures. "Here's a picture off me Grand-Da an' me Uncle Fergus."

Blaine grinned as he heard Bryce's brogue kick in.

"That one's the basic everyday one that we wear the most," Bryce told them.

"I can't wait until the wedding!" Kurt said. "Do you think a lot of your relatives will wear their kilts to the wedding?"

Bryce laughed; he found it cute that Kurt was so hooked on a facet of his family's culture. "Probably most of the elders and several of the younger set, it all depends on where they grew up. It's kind of like you guys and whether you decide to wear a suit or a tux or whatever."

"Hey, I had a question," Dave said.

"Sure, shoot," Derrick said.

"Well, I thought you lived in LA," Dave said. "But I seem to remember you guys saying that you need to pack up some stuff from your apartment in New York."

"Ah," Derrick said. "Yeah, I have an apartment in LA, but when I met Bryce, he was based in New York, so he has one there."

"We sort of share," Bryce said smiling. "When he's in New York, he stays with me and I stay with him when I'm in LA."

"Ah, okay, I get it now," Dave said.

"So are you gonna keep it that way?" Blaine asked grinning.

They looked at each other. "I don't know," Bryce said. "Probably, at least for a while. I mean we travel so much we're going to both places all the time, so why not have some where to call home both places."

Derrick nodded.

They talked for quite a while longer; the boys were even able to 'pry' an embarrassing story or two about their teacher from his brother. When it came time for them to say goodbye Dave went and ordered a burger to take to Sam.

"Doesn't he work at a restaurant?" Kurt asked.

"Yeah, but who wants spaghetti or pizza every day?" Dave said laughing.

"You have a point there," Blaine said laughing.

"Oh hey, do you have that new biography on the Middleton family in at the bookstore?" Kurt asked Dave.

"I'm not sure," Dave said, "but I can check when I get to work tomorrow and give you a call and let you know."

"Yes, please," Kurt said. "I need a little more background material for my play."

The boys said their goodbyes to Derrick and Bryce and went their separate ways.


"Is that you Blaine?" Mr. Anderson asked as he heard the door close.

"Yes, Dad," Blaine said walking in to the room. He removed his satchel from his shoulder and placed it by the couch.

"Would you care to explain this?" Mr. Anderson said, tossing the paper onto the table in front of him.

Blaine picked up the tabloid and looked at the pictures on the page turned to the top. The one on the right was a picture from the club in Dayton that they had all gone to two nights before. The one on the left had been taken at a club in New York during their Nationals trip; both were of him and Derrick. He read the caption, "Local man lands male model?"

The article read, "It appears a local man, Blaine Anderson, was seen living it up with model Derrick Vance at a local night club. The two were seen with friends and sharing drinks on more than one occasion, both here in Dayton and in New York City. Model Vance, who is openly gay, is rumored to be engaged but no announcement has been made as yet to the identity of his fiancé. Could this be a case of local boy makes good? We'll see."

"Uh, it's definitely a misunderstanding," Blaine said half laughing.

"I am so sick and tired of your gallivanting and cavorting with those people!" Anderson said. "I've tried to give you chance after chance, but still you persist. Have you made it your life's work to embarrass me and your mother?"

"N...no, sir!" Blaine said. "I ... I told you it's just a misunderstanding."

"Was it a misunderstanding that you went to that club, did you not know that it catered to those of people. What about in New York, was that club full of them too?"

"No..."

"You just can't stop can you? It's bad enough that the people at your school know..."

"Dad, please!"

"No you please! This was given to me by someone at work. Will you not stop until every one of my friends and coworkers know that you're a faggot?"

Blaine winced. He opened his mouth to speak but no words would form, so he closed it again. He could feel the tears, they we right at the cusp, but he willed them back and clenched his jaw.

"I have had enough," Anderson said. "I was hoping you would eventually work through this, but I guess I was wrong."

"I guess we both were," Blaine said, looking at his father's shoulder. "Should I leave?"

"That is entirely up to you," Anderson said. "But I will not tolerate this type of behavior in my home any longer."

"Yes, sir," Blaine said. His face was blank, emotionless. His practiced smile even failed him. "May I get some of my things?"

"Of course, take whatever you want," he said. "Just don't expect me to fund your debauchery any further."

"Yes, sir."

Blaine silently turned around and picked up his satchel and walked to his room. He stood there for a moment and looked around, then grabbed his old book bag and a sports bag from his closet. He searched his clothes for anything that Kurt had given him or that he had bought himself and quickly but carefully folded and placed them in the bags.

He grabbed the charger for his MP3 player and several CDs, then the external storage drive he'd bought last year at Christmas after doing that winter musical. He looked at his desk and grabbed a few of his favorite books, before looking at the photo of his parents beside his lamp. He stared at it for the longest time, wondering if it might start moving like the one Harry Potter had of his parents. He hoped not, because he knew that his father would just start yelling at him again. He picked it up and flipped it over, removing the picture. Blaine then took the ruler from his desk drawer and held it over his father's face. Pulling on the opposite side of the picture, he ripped it right down the middle. He placed the side with his mother into one of the books and closed it carefully, then raked the rest of the picture and the frame into the waste basket.

He had one last look around, before he settled on the gray garment bag in the closet. He walked over and unzipped it, checking to be sure that he had replaced his lucky tie and re-zipped it. He paused a moment and took out his phone. Flipping it open, he composed a text then hit send, then composed one more and did the same. Once it had signaled that the texts had been sent, he flipped it over and removed the battery. Removing the SIM card and removable memory chip and placing them in an interior pocket of his satchel, he placed the phone on the laptop on his desk then hefted the bags onto his shoulders. Tossing the garment bag over his shoulder as well, he headed downstairs.

Down in the foyer he was met by his father. "You can always reconsider your ways, son," Anderson said.

"They're not 'my ways', sir," Blaine said. "It's who I am ... and that's obviously not the son that you want."

"You think you can manage to get all that stuff on a bus?"

"It'll all fit fine in my car," Blaine said.

"Your car?"

"My car. You signed the title over to me, so it's mine," Blaine said plainly. "Your laptop, your phone, your furniture, your clothes ... possibly even your imaginary son are up stairs." He turned and opened the door then pulled the bags back onto his shoulders and walked out, gently closing the door behind him.


Several days later Kurt was pacing in his living room with his phone to his ear. "Blaine, it's me again," he said. "When you get this please call me. You're worrying me."

"Still nothing," Finn asked a worried look on his face.

"No, and it's been days since his last text." Kurt looked on the verge of tears.

"Well do you have his home number?" Finn asked.

"No ... he never gave it to me, and I've looked but it must be unlisted," Kurt said. "He's never not had his cell."

Finn could only stand and shrug, clearly at a loss. "Maybe it's time to tell Mom and Burt."

Kurt's face dropped into his hands. He felt Finn wrap his long lanky arms around him.

"I don't know what to do..." Kurt said. They stood like that for several minutes before Kurt's head suddenly popped up. He looked at his phone and checked the calendar. "It was today," he said.

"What was today?" Finn asked.

"His audition, his call back," Kurt said. He ran to the computer to look up the number for King's Island. Once he'd finally found it he grabbed his phone and dialed. "Hello, yes, I was supposed to have an audition today for the 'Summer Spectacular Song and Dance Review' and I've lost my contact number, could you please give it to me or ... good, yes please connect me. Thank you."

He looked over at Finn, the worry still in his eyes, as he paced. "Hello, yes ... my ... brother was supposed to have an audition with you today, and I wasn't sure if I was to pick him up or my father was ... could you tell me if he's already been through? Yes, his name is Blaine Anderson."

The lady on the other end of the line put him on hold and had one of her assistants check. She came back a couple of times and said that she was getting someone to verify her information.

"He hasn't... You haven't... And you had them check again? ... It was what?" His eyes grew wide. "Thank you very much," he said, his voice shaking as he closed his phone. His hand went up to his mouth as he flipped his phone back open and dialed.

"We're sorry, the number you have dialed has been disconnected or is no longer in service. Please check the number and dial again."

"Oh my God!" Kurt said, dropping his phone as he sank into the chair.

Finn rushed over and picked up the phone and listened to the recording. He closed it and grabbed his phone and dialed. "Mom, I ... I think we need you," Finn said. "I'm not sure what's going on, but we need some help. ... Yeah, please. I'm sorry ... but, yeah, please."