Pray for the Rain to Fall
The coffee shop was almost empty, with a few customers scattered around the various tables. The only sound was the hushed voices mixing in with the occasional whir of the coffee grinder.
"Enough about me though. How was your day?" Kurt smiled up at Blaine as he finished his sentence, and found him already looking at him. Blaine drank from his cup before speaking. He spoke fondly of every little detail, pausing every now and then to make sure Kurt was still listening. He always was. Blaine would simply smile and start talking again and the life seemed great. Funny thing about life though. It never goes according to plan.
In the far right corner of the Lima Bean, three burly teens made their way towards the checkout counter. One of them was wearing a wide rimmed baseball cap and a plaid shirt. His sleeves are rolled up. They revealed strong, muscular arms and a huge scar on his left bicep. His eyes are grey and have a bloodshot look. Like he's always enraged. His hands were curled into fists as he shuffled slowly towards the bar, knocking over a young boy, of only about six or seven, but instead of crying, he calmly got up. Dusting himself off, he looked up at the burly teen and simply sighed. He began running around his table again when he stopped right in front of the second, much larger teen. This boy, no older than seventeen, looked in his mid twenties. His face sagged around his ever-present frown as his striking green eyes shone against his pale yellow skin. He looked dead, but his eyes were so lively. Alive, filled rage. He looked different than his friend, taller and more put together. But his face betrayed him. Showed his hostile nature. No amount of fun graphic tees could change the harsh look he wore as he joined the other teen.
He walked slowly as well. But his steps weren't dragged across the floor. They were much more rhythmic, like a march. The hollow stomp of his feet against the tiled floor seemed to be the only sound that rang out, other than a few whispered conversations here and there. His deep breaths seemed to catch in his chest as he coughed a few times. Loud, rough coughs that racked his throat and made his eyes water a little. People shot him sympathetic looks, only to be greeted with more bitterness. The third was much smaller than the other two, and seemed almost scared of them. He was stick thin, supporting some sort of panicked stare. He kept checking his surroundings, anticipating danger. A mop of black hair covered his eyes, but the fear was present. He stood stock still, glancing over to the two boys who were waiting for him. The tallest one signaled for him to join them, grunting out his name when he didn't move. Benjamin. His name sounded so violent when it was said with such hatred. He slowly walked over to the others and settled in between them. Keeping his eyes locked onto the floor, he ignored their conversations. He would stand with them and back them up, but only because he was afraid. He would not, however, engage in their conversations. He felt too proud about his opinions to have them tossed aside.
Blaine was sipping from his cup again when his eyes fell onto the three teens. He sharply inhaled before going very pale. His eyes were fixated on the three massive bodies turned away from him, and his mouth was gaping open. His brain shut down. He slowly lowered his coffee cup, putting it down a little harder than anticipated. A few drops of coffee sprang out and landed on his hand. They burned as they came in contact with cool skin. Blaine should've winced. He should have reacted. But he kept staring. Didn't even blink. Didn't register the pain or his surroundings. He was vaguely aware of Kurt's futile attempts to catch his attention. Poor Kurt was dumbfound. His forehead was crinkled as his eyes shone with worry. Calling out Blaine's name obviously wasn't working. He leaned close to Blaine and grabbed his hands, stroking his knuckles with one hand as he cupped his face with the other. A tear had begun to stream down Blaine's soft cheeks and Kurt brushed it off. As soon as that happened he heard a low grunt coming from behind him.
"Ugh, damn faggots." Kurt stiffened as Blaine fell back against his chair and closed his eyes.
The last few drops fell from the bright golden red leaves as Blaine hurried along. His hands were methodically placed above his head as he tried to shield his hair from the water. This gel wasn't waterproof. It had taken him enough time to realize that brushing through the gel was bad, and water certainly wouldn't help anything. He sped up his pace as the fresh spring breeze nipped at his side and he extended a hand out to Louis, his charming date, shivering beside him,
"C'mon, let's go,"
"Relax," Louis coaxed, taking Blaine's palm in his own "It's not like we're gonna miss anything, dance's just begun". They walked in silence for a couple minutes before something caught their eyes. There were colorful lights illuminating the side of a building that the boys presumed was the dance.
"Over there!" Blaine pointed with his free hand,
"Should we run?" Louis suggested,
"No," Blaine smiled, "I'm enjoying myself." Louis beamed, happier than he had been in as long as he could remember.
"I am too," he leaned towards Blaine, "walking with you." They continued walking wordlessly, happy in each other's presence. The wind picked up as the leaves rustled through the streets, their sound resounding as the nearly bare branches tried to rid the last of their leaves. The colorful foliage littering the sidewalks and edges of the streets whirled, mixing and mingling with each other. It was a beautifully clear night, the air crisp, the moon almost fully visible and the stars just beginning to peak their way through the darkening sky. It was one of those nights where nothing seemed to be able to go wrong; even entering a dark, empty parking lot seemed somehow peaceful with each other by their sides. Blaine began to hum as the music of the dance approached and was vaguely distinguishable,
"How'd you know that?" Louis asked, surprised
"I love this song." Blaine said matter of factly
"That doesn't answer my question." Louis deadpanned
"When you love something...or hate it, it's one of the two, you know? Either…" Blaine pondered, "It's always the strongest feelings towards something that you realize and recognize first."
"So you recognized this song..." Louis raised an eyebrow
"Right." Blaine smiled as he lead Louis towards the building. As they continued through the parking lot the smile vanished from his face.
"Why do I have a feeling that you recognize something you hate?" Louis teased, but the toothy grin fell as he felt Blaine take a slightly more protective grip on his hand .
"I'm sure it's nothing, let's go." he muttered and the boys made the rest of the way to the dance.
To both boys' surprise, the dance was a great success, and too soon the pair was walking back out, hand in hand. Both Blaine and Louis were humming along to whatever song was still buzzing through their heads.
The moon shone bright against the still empty parking lot, but right as Blaine closed his eyes to breath in the crisp fall air, he heard a distant crackling.
"Did you hear that?" Blaine whispered. The dark shadows from the far side of the empty parking lot slowly approached as a couple of rackety boys seemed to be making their way through a mound of clinking metal. They took their time coming over to Blaine and Louis as the two boys held onto each other tighter and paced themselves, trying to make it as quickly as possible to the other side. Their hearts racing faster and faster each passing second, the shadows seemed to approach with a threateningly high speed. Somewhere within the group of people a heart wrenching shout echoed through the empty lot,
"HEY LOOK, IT'S FAGGOT ANDERSON! HEY FAGGOT ANDERSON!" one of the voices called
"IS THAT YOUR NEW FAGFRIEND?" another resounding yell tore through the air
"Don't listen to them." Blaine hissed through his teeth, slowly tucking their hands behind his back as he began speed walking towards the edge of the street, dragging Louis close beside him,
"HEY WAIT UP! WE'RE NOT DONE WITH YOU." the same voice ripped through the cold air. Clenching onto Louis with all his strength, they began making a run for it but as soon as they thought they might be safe the others were in front of them,
"What's the matter, huh?" one of the boys sneered "queer too scared?" the others gathered around them, encircling them in a jumbled mess of three poorly dressed, smelly teenage boys. As threatening remark after threatening remark was thrown at them, the disgruntled boys began discussing all the terrible things they wanted to do to Blaine and Louis. Clutching to each other the two boys stood paralyzed with fear, millions of thoughts racing through their brains turned to nothing. The washed out whiteness of their insides turned to ice as their bodies seemed to shut down and everything turned black. The blackened world was numbing as they felt invisible in the mask of fear.
The darkness suddenly hit him as Blaine flew backwards on his wrists and Louis was shoved against some sort of brick wall. Staggering up, Blaine got himself back on his feet and began running towards Louis, but not even making it halfway a sudden pair of arms wrapped around his own and shoved him towards a empty lot; he belly flopped into the asphalt as his lungs deflated and all the oxygen inside him was heaved out in one big huff.
"BLAINE!" an aggravated voice cried out,
"YES," Blaine stumbled to grab the edge of a cement block to pull himself up, "I'M RIGHT HERE, I'M COMING LOUIS, I PROMISE" painfully watching Louis get torn up on the other side of the lot;
"YOU DON'T HAVE TO PROMISE THAT," the heartbreaking voice called out behind an untidy heap of angry arms, "JUST PROMISE ME ONE THI-" the voice was silenced by a fist and with a sudden adrenaline rush Blaine ran over to the other side,
"LOUIS!" He screamed, gathering up as much oxygen as he could to make noise with his still not fully oxygenated lungs, "LOUIS ANSWER ME." He gasped, the other boy motionless, still getting rammed against the wall, "LOUIS CAN YOU HEA-" and he was thrown down, onto the cement block, ribs first. The pain tore through his core as the boy kicked him over on his side, stepping on the edge of his chest. The pain was unbearable and at this point there was no way he could get any air into his lungs; his ribs seemed crushed inwards. Lifting his head slightly, he saw his chest pushed in where a rib was sticking out. A shiver of disgust ripped through him, as he felt his lunch come up from his stomach and past an excessively small space where his rib had been forced down. Immediately remembering Louis, he grabbed the side of the bloody cement block and stood up on impulse,
"LOUI-"
Blaine suddenly jolted upwards and hit his knees against the low cafe table. Kurt flinched before cupping Blaine's face again. Blaine leaned into the touch but refused to look Kurt in the eyes.
"Blaine? What's wrong? You haven't moved in at least five minutes." Kurt's voice sounded so hurt. He couldn't bear to see Blaine in any kind of pain. Blaine remained silent, grabbed Kurt's hands resting on his cheeks, and got up. He pushed in his chair before pulling Kurt towards the door and away from the three menacing figures.
"t's nothing. I just- I need some fresh air. Let's go to the park or something..." he turned around and flashed Kurt a lopsided smile that did not convince Kurt at all that this was just 'nothing'. Still, he followed Blaine quietly, reaching for the door when he felt like they were being followed. They both walked out of the Lima Bean and Kurt thought everything would be okay now. Blaine was more relaxed and the fresh air had helped return the natural pink to his cheeks. Suddenly he heard the door slam as a spine chilling voice spoke up.
"WELL WOULD YOU LOOKAT THAT. IT'S FAGGOT ANDERSON!" The three boys laughed and closed in on Kurt and Blaine. Kurt began to feel fear clinging to his insides, so he gripped Blaine hand a little tighter. Blaine's face was unmoving, but his jaw was tightly clenched. He pulled Kurt gently towards his car further down the parking lot. He cursed under his breath as he heard three pair of feet echoing his footsteps.
"Hey! Where you goin fag? We ain't done talking to you, are we Stevie?" Benjamin said while taking a step forward. Stevie nodded before adding his voice to the mix.
"You never learn, do you Anderson? If you won't stay, WE'LL COME GET YOU."