Title: A Fixed Star
Author: pukaroxliza
Rating: PG
Characters/Pairing: Jan/Liz and Kurt/Blaine
Chapter: 1/1
Word Count: 1650
Spoilers: Season finale!
Warnings: None.
Summary: Jan ignores the naysayers and decides to go ahead with proposing to her ex-girlfriend, Liz. At the jewelry store she meets Blaine Anderson, an man with more in common than her than she thinks.
Authors Note: Just playing around with the new characters a bit. Hope you enjoy! Title comes from a quote of Stephen King's Carrie.
Disclaimer: I do not own Glee
The rings in the display practically glittered, each looking more perfect than the next. Jan leaned in closer, smiling as she imagined Liz wearing one of them, the look of surprise on her face when Jan got down on one knee. She chewed on her bottom lip as she glanced over the multitude of engagement rings on display. Yes, she could imagine Liz wearing all of them, but which one would she like best? That was the real question.
"Well, if you were proposing to me," she rolled her eyes as Tom pressed his face against the glass of the display, "I would want that one back there. It's not too showy, but it's still showy enough to say 'my fiancee wants me to have the best of the best even though she's a cheap shit'."
"I'm not sure if Liz will appreciate that," she replied, whacking Tom on the shoulder, "Remember Liz? The girl I'm actually proposing to?"
Tom rubbed at his arm, "I'm just saying. You asked me here for help, didn't you? At least I'm better than Sue. Where is she again?"
"Tom. Knock it off. Besides, I asked you here to help me find a ring for Liz, not for you."
Tom scoffed and went back to looking at the rings, "What about that one? The one right in the middle?"
Jan frowned, "I don't think so," she whispered, "Liz has thin fingers. The stone can't be too big or it'll look tacky."
She heard an affectionate sigh from beside her and turned to look at Tom who still had his nose pressed against the glass, "She's so lucky, you know?" he glanced up at her, a small smile on his face, "To have someone like you. She'll be crazy not to take you back after this."
A small smile appeared on her own face and she looped her arm around Tom's, squeezing it gently, "Thank you," she mouthed, "Now, seriously, I need to pick out which one I want because Liz and I are supposed to meet up at Breadstix later and I'm thinking of asking here there."
Tom rolled his eyes, although he was still smiling, "Right, because nothing is more romantic than Breadstix. Come on, Jan."
"It's where we had our first date!"
"It's where everyone in Lima had their first date. It's where I had my first date with Jenna, with Camille, with-"
"Those are engagement rings," came a voice from behind them, fragile and old but still strong. They turned to see a man who looked to be in his late fifties walking towards them, pointing a finger at the display. Jan pursed her lips to stop from smiling as she saw the way he was dressed. She was pretty sure that she'd never seen a more stereotypical grandfather in her life.
"That's good," she said happily when he stepped behind the display, "Because I'm looking to get engaged."
The man glanced between her and Tom and then shook his head, "I'm always telling my niece to use condoms. Do you mind if I take your picture to show her?"
Tom snorted as the man started to pull out the first version of the iPhone. Jan whacked him again, "I'm not pregnant," she said, smiling a bit when she noticed the sparkle in the old man's eyes, "I'm looking for a ring for my girlfriend." Tom cleared his throat, smirking, and she rolled her eyes, "Well, ex-girlfriend, but I'm working on that."
The man smiled softly at her, leaning forward on his elbows, hazel eyes shining from behind thick rimmed glasses, "Why don't you tell me about your lady friend."
"I'm out," Tom said, throwing his hands in the air and walking over to another display. Jan scowled at him but then turned back to the man, "Really?" she asked quietly. She'd expected that the person who'd help her would either laugh or be a homophobe. The fact that this man, this older man was being so open minded...
"Is she your soul mate?" he asked, his voice wavering slightly on the last word. She smiled at the thought.
"Yes," she replied happily. The older man pursed his lips and nodded, pulling out a pair of keys from his back pocket and fumbling with them for a second before he opened the display and pulled the rings out and placed them on top for Jan to get a better look. She gaped at him, "You don't think that I'm... crazy? Too young? Jumping the gun seeing as it's not even legal in Ohio yet?"
The man grinned mischievously, "I met Kurt when I was sixteen," he said quietly, "He'd just transferred to my school and he asked me for directions to his first class," he sighed in contentment, "It was love at first sight. We've been together ever since."
"Oh my God," Jan leaned on her elbows as well, eyes going down to the rings, running her fingers lightly over the first row, "That's amazing. I can't... My friends have been giving me so much crap for this."
The man clucked his tongue, "They just don't understand what you're feeling. Trust me, none of my friends in high school felt for their girlfriends or boyfriends what I felt for Kurt. I obviously couldn't talk about it to them back then," he picked up a slim ring with a small stone in the middle, "But I knew that we were different than them. It doesn't matter how young or old you are," he held the ring out for her and then put it back when she shook her head slowly, "Especially now that we're so close to actually getting the opportunity to be crazy and impulsive with our love."
Jan grinned as he showed her another ring, this with a thicker band and a slightly bigger diamond. She pursed her lips as she lookd at it, trying to imagine how it would look on Liz.
The door to the shop opened, a quiet jingling sound filling the room and a loud, booming voice shouted, "You!". Jan groaned and turned to face her best friend who was pointing angrily at her.
"Don't try and stop me, Sue. I'm doing this and there's nothing you can do that'll change my mind."
"Oh there are plenty of things I could do to change your mind," Sue replied, stalking towards her with a purpose, "However I've been thinking and even though I think you are making a colloasal mistake the likes of which have not been seen since Abraham Lincoln created a reserve for African-American and native people which allowed them to breed creating the strangest looking children the world has ever seen," Jan huffed, glancing at the man whose jaw had dropped at what her friend had just said, "I'm still your best friend and I figure that if you're going to throw your life away the least I can do is... help you pick out the ring."
The man cleared his throat, "Is this her?"
Jan and Sue both laughed a bit at that, "Oh, no," Jan assured.
"No, she wishes," Sue said, waving a hand in the air, "No, we're just best friends. Sue Sylvester," she held her hand out to the man who frowned but took her hand nevertheless.
"Blaine Anderson. Would you excuse us for a moment?" he waved Jan over to a more secluded corner of the store, holding the case with the rings in his hands. Jan waited for a second and then hit Sue on the shoulder gently.
"Don't," she whispered. Sue raised her hands in the air and shrugged in nonchalance as if she didn't understand what she'd done wrong before turning and walking over to Tom who was talking to another employee about God knew what. Jan shook her head at her friends and then walked over to where Blaine was standing.
"I'm sorry about her," she said as soon as she was close enough to whisper, "She doesn't know the meaning of offensive."
"Or historical truth," Blaine replied, smiling a bit, "Look, this might seem a bit forward but do you and your girl have anybody to... talk to you, advise you about this?"
Jan raised an eyebrow, "You mean someone... gay?"
Blaine chuckled, "Well, yeah," the way his eyes sparkled behind his glasses just made Jan want to smile. She shrugged.
"No, not really," she glanced over at Sue and Tom who were arguing a bout something while the saleswoman stared in shock, "I mean, I love my friends but none of them really get what it's like."
"Let me take you and your girl out for dinner," Blaine said, placing the rings on a nearby display case, "I'll bring Kurt along and we'll talk about... well, everything. What being in a long term relationship really means, how to overcome the adversity that obviously comes with being in a long term gay relationship. Everything."
Jan grinned, hugging her arms around herself, "That would be amazing, thank you."
Blaine smiled at her and then shook his head, "Oh my, where is my head, I don't even know your name and I'm inviting you out to dinner. I'm Blaine," he stretched a hand out to shake. She laughed.
"I know, you told Sue. I'm Jan."
"Well, the pleasure is all mine, Jan," he replied, giving her hand a firm shake. She giggled at how serious he looked, chewed on her bottom lip and then nodded to the rings with a soft smile on her face.
"I think I know which one I want."