The Sadie Hawkins dance wasn't a big deal to the upperclassmen, but Blaine, as a freshman, was excited for it. It was his first real high school dance. He was going to get to go buy a suit and tie and everything. Well, he had to find a date first. That was going to be the only tricky part.
He knew Allison White had a crush on him. Blaine was out of the closet at his school, but there were still a couple of girls who thought that he was cute. He didn't mind, and he thought they were nice, and they didn't try too hard to try to get him to like them, because, well, he couldn't.
Thankfully Allison didn't ask him. Blaine wouldn't have minded going with her, but he wanted an actual date, not just a girl who liked him. But he knew if he wanted it to be "real", then he only had one option.
Brad Fitzgerald was a sophomore, but already one of the best on the varsity football team. He was cute (in Blaine's opinion), smart, tall, muscular, and seemed like he would've been the most popular kid in his class. But he was gay, too. After Brad came out of the closet to the school he went from the top of the high school food chain to the bottom in less than a week.
But Blaine wanted a date. He didn't care if Brad was popular or not. He decided to ask him. Cooper warned him about getting teased for it, but Blaine didn't care. It was his first real high school dance, and he was going for it.
He didn't do anything elaborate to ask him. As much as Blaine tried not to care, he didn't want to get bullied for asking a out another guy to the dance. Blaine found him in the parking lot while he was waiting for Cooper to drive him home. They were friends… sort of. Blaine had just come out, so Brad had really helped him out a lot, especially during the first few weeks. Blaine just spit it out before he could talk himself out of it.
"Would you go to Sadie Hawkins with me?" he blurted out. Brad looked confused, and Blaine could feel his heart thumping in his chest. He felt his face grow hot, and he looked down at the ground. He's gonna say no, Blaine thought to himself. I made a fool out of myself. Everyone will find out and make fun of me.
He finally looked up so he could walk away, but he saw Brad smiling. Blaine was confused.
"I'd love to go with you, Blaine," he said finally. Blaine sighed in relief, and he smiled, too. "We'll have a good time no matter what." They awkwardly hugged, which they'd never done before, and Blaine saw Cooper come out of the school.
"Um, my brother's here," he stammered. "I'll see you tomorrow." Brad nodded and smiled again.
"I'll text you later," Brad told him. Blaine nodded and went to catch up with Cooper.
"What was that about?" his brother asked him as he unlocked his car. "Did you ask him?"
"Yes I did," Blaine said proudly. "And he said yes. I thought he was going to say no though. But he said he would text me, so we'll probably talk about it later." Blaine got in the passenger seat and waited impatiently for Cooper to turn on the car so he could have some air conditioning. If he was in the heat for too long his hair wouldn't be gelled anymore, and that would be a disaster.
"I'm proud of you, little brother," Cooper told him. "The Sadie Hawkins dance is fun. Just don't let it bother you if you get teased, because we've never had a gay couple go to a dance before. Okay? Just play it cool." Blaine nodded, not entirely sure what that meant. But he was willing to do it if he got to go with Brad.
The dance was three weeks away, and they passed quickly. Cooper took Blaine to get a suit, even though he took forever to pick one out. Brad was a sophomore but couldn't drive yet, so his dad agreed to take them. Apparently he hadn't told anyone about going with Blaine, because no one at school had given him any trouble.
The night of the dance, Blaine was more nervous than he had been when he was asking Brad. He took twice as long as Cooper had to get ready. He wanted everything to be perfect. He was excited for the dance itself, but nervous about showing up with a guy. What would people think? Would they say anything to them?
Cooper's girlfriend was picking him up, and so were Brad and his dad, so Blaine's mom made him and Cooper take pictures. Blaine smiled, but he was freaking out on the inside. His mom didn't seem to notice, but Cooper pulled him aside once she was done fussing over them.
"You're gonna have a good time," he promised, and bent down to adjust his bow tie. "Brad's a nice guy. You know that. Just don't try too hard. Have a good time. Don't eat too much at dinner, or you won't want to dance when you get there. The seniors are having an after party, so I'll be home really late. Stay awake and you can tell me all about it."
Blaine nodded at all of his instructions. Cooper's girlfriend showed up, so he left. Blaine waited for Brad, and apparently it was cold outside since the sun had gone down, so his mom forced him to put on a coat.
When Brad showed up, Blaine sat with him in the back of the car. He looked great. He normally didn't do much with his hair, but it was gelled and spiky. He had always been taller than Blaine, but the height difference didn't seem so bad. He was tan and had on khaki pants with a navy blue blazer.
They went to a quiet little diner to have dinner. It was just two blocks away from the high school, and there was no one else there that they knew. Brad was approaching things just as carefully as Blaine was. They didn't want to make a big show of being two guys going to a dance together.
But despite everything, they had a good time. They got to talk a lot over dinner, and soon Blaine was able to relax and focus on having fun.
"So this is your first dance?" Brad asked him, clearing his throat before taking a drink of water.
"Yeah," Blaine said. "My brother told me the middle school dances were dumb. And I could never find a date, anyway."
"I had a girlfriend last year," Brad said. "We went to Sadie Hawkins and winter formal together. I was never really attracted to her. She asked me out." Blaine nodded understandingly. He knew how he felt because of Allison's crush on him.
Dinner went fine. Blaine was actually having a good time. They got to the school half an hour after the dance started. Brad had explained to him how no one ever came on time, so they got there right when everyone else did.
Blaine felt his heart beating fast again, and he was panicking. Brad calmed him down, and they went to go dance. Blaine was tense and looking around at everyone else. Luckily no one really seemed to be paying them any attention, except for some of the football players. They were talking loudly and pointing at them.
"Don't worry about them," Brad told him. "They're idiots. They think it's fun to hide my clothes in the locker room. They think they're cool just because they're seniors."
"Are-are you sure we're okay?" Blaine asked. He didn't want to take any chances. He was already so uncomfortable." Brad smiled at him and pulled him closer for the slow song that was beginning to play.
"Of course I'm sure," he promised. "Just relax. I promise nothing is going to happen."
Blaine tried to obey, and he managed to loosen up enough to enjoy himself a little. He spotted Cooper with his girlfriend, but he didn't go up to them. He didn't want to be annoying.
The dance was three hours long, from eight o'clock until eleven, but by 10:15 both Blaine and Brad were ready to go. The football jocks had disappeared, so Blaine was enjoying himself a lot more. He was actually having fun, but he was tired. He wanted to go home and take off his suit and get in his bed.
Brad called his dad, and he agreed to come pick them up. It was pretty stuffy in the school gym, so they decided to go outside in the front to wait for him.
"Did you have a good time?" Blaine asked. Technically, since he was the one who asked Brad, the pressure was on him to make sure he had enjoyed himself.
"Yeah, I had fun," he told him. The two sat down on the curb in front of the main entrance to the school. "The Sadie Hawkins dance is always the most fun." Blaine crossed his ankles and looked up at the moon. It was so quiet, other than the beat of the music coming from inside the school.
"Hey, guys." Blaine turned around and saw the three jocks from the dance standing behind him and Brad. They no longer wore their blazers and ties, and their shirts were untucked.
"Hi, Scott," Brad sighed. "What do you want?" Blaine was scared. He wasn't just uncomfortable, he was scared. He felt himself getting worked up, and he tried to calm down, but it was hard when Scott and his friends were closing in on them. Scott grabbed Brad by his shirt collar and pulled him up. The other two guys each grabbed one of Blaine's arms.
"Stop!" he yelled, and tried to twist away. It was no use. He wasn't as strong as them.
"Quit fighting, homo," one of them said into his ear. Blaine tried to kick him in the groin, he tried everything, but he couldn't break free from their grip on him.
"Brad!" he cried. It was so dark, the only light was coming from the moon and the faint glow of the dance. He could no longer see Brad, and Blaine was panicking.
"Shut up!" one of the guys screamed at Blaine, and punched him. It was right in the middle of his nose, and Blaine felt blood start to trickle out of it. He would've fallen to the ground if the two of them weren't holding him.
"Don't touch him!" he heard Brad shout, but his protests were cut off. Blaine wasn't sure what had happened to him. He was seeing stars, and almost felt sick.
"Let me go," he begged weakly, and tried to pull away again. It was useless. Blaine's fingers were numb from how tight they were holding his arms. He took a blow to the stomach, and then threw up on himself.
That was when he started to cry. He cried out for Brad, and even Cooper. No one came. The two bigger boys set Blaine on his feet, but before he could run, they pushed him to the ground.
It took Blaine several seconds to catch his breath, and he curled up in a ball as he was kicked in the chest and side. It hurt so badly. Every kick spread pain throughout his body. Blaine threw up a second time. He remembered Cooper telling him not to eat a lot at dinner, and he wished he had listened to him.
Despite how much pain he was in, Blaine tried to fight them. He pushed them away as best as he could, and he managed to knee one of them between his legs. While he was down, Blaine tried to scramble up onto his feet, but it hurt too much. He stumbled without even taking one step, and he twisted his ankle badly before he fell onto his face.
"Don't even think about touching him, pansy," the other guy snarled. Blaine's vision was already a little funny from the hit to his nose, and he couldn't even make out his face anymore. He felt himself being grabbed by his hair, and he tried to reach his arms up to protect his head, because he knew what was coming, but he couldn't. He screamed when he tried to move his left arm. Something was wrong, but he didn't have time to think about it because his head was smashed into the sidewalk.
Cooper Anderson was enjoying himself. As a senior, it was his last Sadie Hawkins dance, but it was by far the best. Everything had been going right all night. Until the word got around. Everyone was rushing outside, because apparently some people had gotten beaten up.
Cooper left his date. If anyone was going to be harassed at the dance, it was going to be Blaine and Brad. He pushed past the large clumps of people until he found out what they were staring at.
It was definitely Brad, lying on the steps leading into the gymnasium. Some sophomore girls stood over him, but everyone mostly just stared. About fifteen feet away from Brad was another body lying on the ground, and only a few people were gathered around him.
Blaine's friend Elliot was kneeling besides him. Cooper brushed past him and took his place. He had no clue what had gone down, but it was bad. His baby brother was barely conscious, and there was blood spilling out of his nose, and when he coughed some more came up.
Cooper tried to act, but he didn't know what to do. Had someone called 911? Who hurt them? How badly was Blaine hurt? Cooper opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say. He started to pull out his phone to call for an ambulance, but Elliot stopped him.
"Someone already called. Coach K is taking care of it." Coach K couldn't take care of anything. Coach K couldn't put Blaine back together. Cooper remembered very clearly his mother telling him to look out for Blaine before he left that evening. He couldn't even watch over him for three little hours.
"Coop-" Blaine said, reaching out his hand. Cooper snapped back to reality and took his hand.
"Hey, little brother," he said. "You're gonna be okay. Where does it hurt?"
"Everywhere," Blaine gasped. "It hurts, Coop." Cooper smoothed back his curly hair from his forehead for him, and his heart dropped into his stomach when he realized it was sticky with blood.
"It's okay," Cooper assured him. He wasn't very convincing. Blaine began to cry, which stressed him out. Blaine had cried about three times in his life before. "Hey, bro, you're okay. Hold my hand, people are coming to help you. Just hold my hand. There's no need to cry."
Actually, there was. Blaine was hurt physically, and there was no telling the emotional trauma he would have. Cooper tried to check him over from head to toe. He had a nosebleed and a little puddle of blood under his head, his left arm seemed swollen, through the rips and button holes of his white dress shirt Cooper could see extensive bruising, and his right ankle was bent in a way an ankle should never bend. No wonder he was crying.
"D-don't leave," Blaine choked out. "I-I'm scared." Cooper squeezed his hand and brushed his tears away.
"I won't leave you," he promised. "I'll call Mom once we get you taken care of. You want to see Mom and Dad and Sydney?"
"Yeah…" Blaine trailed off, his grip on Cooper's hand weakening.
"Eyes open," he reminded him. "You're doing good. Just stay awake, that's all you have to do." Cooper continued to stroke his hair despite the blood, because it was the only thing that would truly calm him down. He talked to him to distract him from what was going on, and Cooper breathed a sigh of relief when two ambulances showed up in the parking lot.
They didn't take Blaine from him right away. They let Cooper hold his hand while they cut away his shirt and got an IV started. He couldn't see how bad he looked until they were under the bright lights of the ambulance.
"Stay, Cooper," Blaine pleaded. "Stay." Cooper sat up by Blaine's head and kept his hand on his hair. He tried to hold his hand, but his left arm had to be broken or something, because Blaine started to cry all over again.
The paramedics tucked him up with blankets because Blaine was shaking uncontrollably, even though it wasn't very cold. His lips looked blue, and his nose had already started to bruise.
"Take a deep breath," Cooper told him. The last thing he needed was to have a panic attack.
"Son, are you allergic to any medications?" a paramedic asked Blaine.
"No, he's not," Cooper spoke up. "He's not taking anything right now, either. He's never even been in the hospital before. He had his tonsils out a long time ago, but that's it."
Cooper wanted to help. He really did. He just felt so useless. It was his job to take care of Blaine, and he had failed. He was a freshman in high school, so of course he could take care of himself, but Cooper knew what his mom had meant when she told him to look out for him. He was a horrible brother, and even if Blaine ever forgave him, Cooper knew he wouldn't be able to let it go.
"Cooper," Blaine whined. His skin was so pale that he was starting to resemble a corpse.
"It's okay," Cooper told him. "What do you need?"
Blaine reached up and grabbed at his throat. He was obviously having a hard time breathing, so one of the paramedics put a mask over his face. Cooper held it in place and made sure he kept breathing.
The rest of the ambulance ride was mostly silent. Blaine stopped talking, but thankfully he remained conscious. Some paramedics pressed around on his stomach, and Blaine howled and wouldn't stop crying. Whatever was wrong had to be serious for him to act like that. Cooper didn't want to talk to his parents with Blaine around so that he wouldn't scare him, so he had to wait until they got to the hospital.
Even then, Blaine didn't want him to leave, so Cooper had to let the nurse call their mom. He stayed with Blaine while two nurses and a doctor worked on him. They hooked him up to a monitor, which kept track of his pulse and blood pressure. His pulse was high, but his blood pressure was dropping. Nothing could relax him, so the nurses ended up giving him a mild sedative.
It started to work quickly, and Blaine became quiet and calm. The nurses told Cooper that his parents were on their way, and that helped Blaine to know that they were coming.
Cooper waited out in the waiting room while they took Blaine in for x-rays of his arm and ankle, and an MRI of his head. He was too groggy to notice that he was being separated from his brother, which Cooper considered a good thing. He hated seeing him so worked up.
Blaine was only fourteen. Even though he was mature for his age and already knew he was gay and stuff, he was still a kid. Cooper knew it was Scott and his idiot friends. He'd been picking on Blaine and teasing him ever since he came out. It wasn't right. He and Blaine could be a lot closer, but he still cared about him and loved him. If only they wouldn't have gone outside. Cooper still didn't know exactly what happened, but Scott wouldn't have laid a finger on them with so many people around in the gym.
When his parents got to the hospital, Cooper felt relieved. He could let them be the adults of the situation. Being strong for Blaine in the ambulance when he was so weak and in so much pain was the hardest thing he'd had to do.
His mom asked a million questions while his dad tried to get back to find Blaine. Ever since he'd come out Cooper noticed his dad being distant towards Blaine, but he wasn't hurting him or anything.
Scott had taken care of that.
Cooper held his younger sister on his lap while his parents fussed. Being nine years older than her, Cooper and Sydney weren't very close. But it didn't matter.
"Is Blaine dead?" she asked innocently.
"No," he told her flatly. "He'll be fine. He got hurt at the dance. The doctors are taking good care of him."
Sydney leaned her head back on his shoulder, and eventually their dad returned to them.
"Apparently his spleen is ruptured, so they took him in for surgery. Other than that he should be fine. We just have to wait a few hours."
'A few hours' turned out to be three. It was 2:30 in the morning, and they were all exhausted. Cooper just wanted to see him. He had no clue he was hurt as bad as he was. No matter how hard Cooper scrubbed his hands, he couldn't wash away Blaine's blood from his knuckles.
Finally, a doctor came to them in the waiting room. Cooper stood up along with his parents, even though he was holding his sleeping sister.
"How is he?" his mom asked, panicked.
"You can come see him," the doctor said. They all followed him silently. "He didn't suffer severe injuries, other than his spleen," he told them in a monotonous tone as they navigated the hallways of the hospital.
"His right tibia was dislocated, but we managed to get everything back in place without surgery. He won't be able to walk for a few weeks, though. His left wrist is sprained pretty badly, but nothing is broken. We've wrapped it and put ice on it to take the swelling down. And it looks like he took a blow to the nose, but it's not broken. Just bruised."
"Is he awake?" Cooper saw his mom ask, her voice even more desperate than before.
"He's starting to wake up, it should take about an hour for him to be fully awake. He has a moderate concussion, and we had to give him some stitches. Other than that, he just has some fractured ribs. Those will heal on their own in a few weeks," the doctor went on.
"Can we see him now?" Cooper spoke up. He's never wanted to see Blaine so badly before. He had to see for himself that he was okay.
"He's right in there." The doctor gestured to the door to his left, and then walked away from them.
"It might stress him out if we all go in at once," his mom said. "Cooper, you go first. I'm staying with him all night so I'll go in after you."
Cooper nodded before she could change her mind. He handed his sister over to his dad, and quietly twisted the doorknob and stepped inside his brother's room.
Blaine didn't realize he was awake. He thought everything was a dream, and was caught in a daze until he heard the door opening.
"Hi," Blaine said when he saw his brother. His voice was hoarse, and he suddenly felt so exhausted. Talking had never been so hard. Cooper walked over to him slowly, then reached out and took his hand. Blaine closed his eyes and relaxed a little.
"Hey," his brother told him. "How are you feeling?" Blaine was so tired he wasn't feeling much of anything. He vaguely remembered crying as they messed with his ankle, and he had a strange ache in his left side. But they had him on an IV of something that made him feel good.
"I'm just tired," Blaine said. "Is Brad okay? I never got to see him again." Blaine felt his heart beating faster, and his monitor began to beep.
"I haven't heard anything about him," Cooper said. "I can go ask. Do you want me to ask?" Blaine didn't want to be alone.
"Don't leave me," he said, squeezing his hand. "I hate it here."
"Mom's right outside," Cooper said. Blaine didn't know his mom was there. He managed to smile, and Cooper grinned back at him before getting up. "Mom and Dad and Sydney can sit with you. I'll go see about Brad. Okay?"
Blaine managed to nod a tiny bit. The sharp pains in his head had subsided, leaving him with a dull headache. His brother left him, and next thing he knew the rest of his family came in.
His mom kissed him and smoothed his hair back. Blaine held her hand and didn't say anything as she fussed over him. His little sister came and tried to hug him. Blaine was on so many painkillers that he was able to slowly lift his right arm to hug her back.
"I'm glad you're not dead," she whispered to him. "How did you get hurt?" Blaine didn't know what to tell her. He'd explained to the nine year old that he was different than most people, and that he liked the boys the way he was supposed to like girls. Sydney didn't really understand it completely yet.
"I got in a fight," Blaine told her. It wasn't completely a lie. He had tried to fight Scott.
"Is that true, son?" his dad asked. Blaine looked up at him and shrugged his good shoulder.
"You can tell us what happened later," his mom said softly. "You just need to get some rest for right now. I'll stay with you overnight. Would you like that?" Blaine smiled, but he didn't really mean it. He was too tired to care about anything anymore. He wanted an update on Brad, and he wanted to sleep.
Cooper finally returned, but Blaine dozed off so he didn't know how long he was gone.
"Brad?" he asked sleepily.
"He'll be okay," Cooper told him. "He broke his arm and tore something in his knee. I didn't get to see him, but he's okay." Blaine sighed and squeezed his mom's hand as his chest ached.
"Honey, how did Brad get hurt, too?" she asked. Blaine remembered Scott hurting him, and he shuddered.
"Mom, I'm gay," he snapped, his voice cracking. "We were the only gay couple there. You don't think people were just looking for an opportunity to go after us? We were so stupid, going outside alone."
"Blaine, honey, calm down," his mom told him. "Listen. Don't get upset, now. I think it's time for everyone to go. You can see your father and Cooper and Sydney in the morning, okay?" Blaine didn't answer her question. He hugged Cooper, Sydney, and even his dad before they all left. His mom turned down the lights and stroked his hair as he tried to go to sleep. He was exhausted, but being in the hospital freaked him out. He wanted to see Brad.
His mom noticed he wasn't sleeping. "Honey, tell me what happened. If someone hurt you we need to talk to the police." Blaine didn't want to think about it anymore. He wanted to sleep, but he knew he probably wouldn't sleep well if he didn't get it off his chest.
"I was leaving with Brad," he began. He tried not to cry. That would just make his head hurt. He'd had enough pain for one night, with his surgery and concussion and ankle. "We were waiting for his dad outside, alone. Scott, that senior, the one on the football team, he and his friends came up to me and Brad." Blaine's voice caught in his throat. A tear fell down his cheek, and his mom wiped it away and squeezed his hand.
"Scott took Brad, and his friends grabbed me," he went on. "They kicked me and pushed me down and s-slammed my head into the ground. I don't know if I passed out or not. But I remember Cooper sitting next to me and b-being in the ambulance."
Blaine started to cry harder, even though it hurt. His mother cradled his head and shushed him. He held onto her and just let himself cry. He felt so bad. Nothing like this would ever have to happen if he wasn't gay. It was his fault.
"I'm s-sorry," he choked out. "He did it 'cause I'm gay. They hate me 'cause I'm g-gay." His mom kissed his cheek, but Blaine pulled away from her. He just wanted to forget about it.
"Blaine, take a deep breath," she told him. "You have nothing to be sorry about. You did nothing wrong. You went to your first Sadie Hawkins dance with the guy you asked. It doesn't matter if you were the only gay couple. Tomorrow your father will take care of things. He can make sure Scott and those two boys don't return to school. What they did was serious, Blaine, and they won't get away with it. People just like to tear down anyone who isn't just like them, and that's not okay. Look, you're tired, honey. Just go to sleep, and we'll get things straightened out tomorrow. I love you."
"Love you," Blaine said quietly, relaxing as his mother covered him up. She kissed his forehead and turned off his little bedside lamp, which made the room completely dark. Blaine dried his tears, and as he drifted off into a deep, drug induced sleep, he made a promise to himself to have courage, for himself, Brad, and his mom. For the first time all night, he believed he would be okay.
Author's Notes:
Hi hello there!
Well, I'm supposed to be taking a break from writing, but then this happened. So this is kind of like my personal writing, but I didn't write a 5,000 word fic for nothing! And I asked on Tumblr if anyone would want to read this, and I got a lot of messages telling me they would, so that was all the motivation I needed!
But yeah. I decided just to write this as a oneshot so I could be done with it. Because I seem to be very bad about regularly updating my other stories.
I hope you guys liked Cooper in this story! It was interesting to write his point of view. I think in the show they portray him as way older than Blaine, but in my headcanon he's just three years older, so he's a senior when Blaine is a freshman. I feel like since he and Blaine don't have too much in common that Cooper's really awkward, kind of like Finn and Kurt. But they're adorable!
And it's weird writing little Blaine. I mean, he's a freshman, so I guess this would've taken place in season one, but I think Blaine would go through a lot of changes from freshman to sophomore year. That's just my thoughts.
But anyways, here you have it! I'm extremely OCD so this story was like 4,988 words long. I had to edit it to add in extra words here and there to make it exactly 5,000. I'm so weird, you guys. This author's note is going to mess up all of my numbers.
So, I'm still on my writing "break", just to recharge and actually have a life outside of fanfiction writing, but I haven't disappeared forever. I'll post some stuff here and there on my Tumblr, and eventually I'll come back full swing to my other stories on here! If you want to leave a prompt just leave it in my Tumblr askbox! I'm busy tomorrow but I'll hopefully get some done in the next week.