Bullies, a Bow Tie, and the Search for a Four-Leaf Clover
Baby!Klaine bonus for St. Patrick's Day
Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. If I did, there wouldn't be a hiatus right now.
The child's cry rang out across the playground. "Stop!" the little boy cried, running from the half dozen bigger kids who were chasing him.
"It's St. Patrick's day! You have to wear green, or else you get pinched! That's the rule!" one of the biggest kids exclaimed. "Hey, let's see if his underwear is green!" Two of the boys picked up the squirming child, tears streaming out of his big hazel eyes, his curly hair flying everywhere as he cried out and shook his head.
The biggest boy tugged down the tiny child's pants, accidentally taking his underwear, which weren't green, with them. With a laugh and a dozen more pinches to the face and arms, the boys dropped their target, half-naked, into the sand, where he laid there and cried.
"Are you okay?" came a timid voice, as another little boy crawled out from under the slide. He looked around him for the bullies, and slowly crept over to the devastated little dark-haired boy. He held out a hand.
"Are you going to pinch me, too?"
"No." The would-be rescuer shook his head. "Let me help you up, and we'll go get a tissue from my mommy." He tugged on the tiny hand, helping the smaller boy to his feet.
The curly haired boy tugged up his pants in embarrassment. "I didn't know I was supposed to wear green today," he said dejectedly.
"It's a stupid rule. My name is Kurt,"
"I'm Blaine." Still sniffling, little Blaine wiped his nose and eyes with the back of his hand.
"Come on, my mommy's just over there," Kurt interlaced his fingers with Blaine's and led him over to the woman who was sitting on a bench, reading a book.
"Oh, sweetheart, what's happened?" Elizabeth Hummel asked, taking in the sniffling little boy. She hadn't heard her own child's cry, and Blaine's had gotten lost in the cacophony of the busy Saturday playground.
"The bigger boys were pinching him cause he isn't wearing green. Mommy, this is Blaine, my new friend."
"It's very nice to meet you, Blaine." Elizabeth opened up the satchel at her side. "Can I wipe your face?" she asked, pulling out a wet wipe.
Blaine nodded. "Thank you, Kurt's mommy," he said.
"You can call me Miss Liz," Elizabeth said. "If you want to, that is. Otherwise, I kind of like Kurt's Mommy as a title." She very gently wiped the face and hands of the little boy. Then she started looking through the bag again. "Hmm, well, I can't very well send you out there to play without any green on if those boys are going to be so mean. What do you think we should do, Kurt?"
Kurt climbed up onto the bench and whispered something into his mother's ear.
"Are you sure, sweetheart? It's a very important part of your outfit. You picked it out yourself."
"I know, but Mommy…" he looked at Blaine. "I want to play with him, but we're scared."
"Alright." Elizabeth smiled at Blaine. "Kurt has an answer," she said. She took Kurt's sparkling green bow tie off his neck, and turned to Blaine.
"I want you to wear my bow tie so that the boys won't pinch you," Kurt said. His shirt was green, complementary to the bowtie, so he wasn't worried about himself. "You can keep it if you want."
Elizabeth blinked back the proud mama tears as she wrapped the bow tie around Blaine's neck, tucking it neatly beneath the collar of the white shirt he wore. "My, how handsome you look, Blaine. See, Kurt? It even matches."
Kurt nodded. "Let's go look for four-leaf clovers!" he crowed. "They're good luck!" He kissed his mom's cheek, hopped off the bench, and held out his hand for Blaine's.
"Thank you, Miss Liz," Blaine said, touching the bow tie in awe. Then he took Kurt's hand, and the two ran off into the grass to find a patch of clover.
"Excuse me," a softly accented voice said, sitting down on the bench next to Elizabeth. "I just came back from getting Blaine's snack out of the car. What happened?"
"Are you Blaine's mother?" Elizabeth asked. At the affirming nod, she continued. "He was bullied by the bigger kids because he wasn't wearing green," she explained. "My little boy gave him his own green bow tie so they could play together without risking getting pinched. I'm Elizabeth Hummel."
"Maria Anderson. I brought Blaine to the park today because we're getting ready to move, and he was underfoot. I had no idea that the dreadful pinching custom was still followed, or else I would have tried harder to find something suitable for him to wear. Our house is covered in boxes."
"Where are you moving to?" Elizabeth asked, keeping a watchful eye over the boys.
"Westerville. My husband just got a new job. We're leaving tomorrow."
"That's too bad," Elizabeth said. "And just when I thought Kurt was actually going to make a friend. So few of the children want to play with him. He's different."
"He seems like such a sweet child."
"Yes, but a little too sweet, though I love it about him. Some of the boys call him a girl, and the girls think he has cooties, so they won't play with him, either. I spend a lot of time with him, between tea parties and Power Rangers, we do it all."
"I don't have much time to play with Blaine, but he's always made friends quickly, so I seldom worry. I feel bad that we have to move right before he starts Kindergarten, when all his pre-school friends will be going to the same school, but at least it's not any later. He'll have plenty of time to form strong friendships."
Elizabeth nodded. "Hopefully, they both will," she said softly. She watched as Kurt deftly wove a clover chain, making a bracelet he then put around Blaine's wrist. "Hopefully, they both will."
The two boys passed the afternoon without a single thought for the next day, for the next year. For the next ten years after that.
It wasn't until Kurt was flipping through a photo album in Blaine's room one day that either of them remembered their first meeting. "I used to have a bow tie just like this one," Kurt said, pointing at a picture of Blaine. "I gave it to a little boy on the playground…" his voice trailed off. "A little boy named Blaine who was being bullied on St. Patrick's Day."
Blaine paled. He walked on unsteady legs over to his closet, pulling a shoebox down. He opened it, and pulled out the now faded bow tie. "A little boy named Kurt insisted that his mother put this on me so I wouldn't get pinched anymore," he said quietly. He lifted out a Ziploc bag, holding it delicately. "He also made me a chain of green clovers for my wrist. We never did find a four-leaf clover, though."
"We didn't, did we," Kurt said softly. "You know what this means?"
"Besides the fact that we've been friends since we were five?"
"You did get to meet my mom. You got a hug from her, and she dried your tears. And she liked you. She liked you then, and I know she'd like you now." Kurt closed the album. "Your mom was there that day. Let's go tell her."
They had one joyous reunion as Maria remembered the story, remembered her conversation with Elizabeth, and hugged both boys to her, tears streaming down her olive skinned cheeks. They had a second joyous reunion when Kurt explained the story to his father, who had shown up at the park that afternoon to walk his wife and son home.
"See?" Kurt asked, later, as they lay on Blaine's bed, the bow tie dangling from his finger. "I always said it was fate."
"You did…" Blaine smiled. He leaned in and kissed Kurt gently. "You always did."
Please Read and Review! This isn't part of the Klaine week celebration, but it was definitely inspired by all the amazing Klaine fic that has come out this week. Wishing you all four-leaf clovers. :)