Imagination is the key to a person's ability to move beyond reality. The young child who sees his dog as a dragon, the boxes made into a fort or a home, the books that come alive and draw readers into the yellowed pages of yet another adventure. These and more are a safeguard, an escape, and a way to express one's desire to do the unimaginable, to create a new world that one can alter at any given moment. A secret world that can be shaped and molded into one far more enticing than the real world; beautiful, exotic, and completely one's own. Blaine Anderson was ripped from that world at a very young age, instead bombarded with text books containing facts and numbers. As his intelligence level developed, his imagination was held captive and at the age of twenty one, he no longer looked at the world as an opportunity, but as a responsibility. Sense of adventure left behind, Blaine plowed through school books, keeping his grades pristine to please his parents and now, in his junior year of college, was moving toward a career that was never his choice, but instead an obligation. Blaine Anderson was stuck, and he had no idea how much longer he could take the monotony of his daily life before he eventually was broken beyond repair.
The light streaming from his laptop was giving him a headache, and as he rubbed his strained eyes for what felt like the hundredth time today, he glanced at the clock on his bedside table: 3:00 am, EST. Blaine groaned, flopping backwards onto his bed and cursing himself for putting off this paper until the last minute. He still cannot believe he had let himself be talked into taking seven classes this semester. The workload was beginning to suffocate him, but at least after today he would finally have a free weekend to catch up on all of the sleep he had lost over the last two weeks. He rounded off his latest essay ("What are YOUR beliefs and values of the three major paradigms of Conservative, Liberal and Radical? At least 5 pages and cite your sources") for his Economics class, and quickly e-mailed it to his teacher before shutting his laptop and stretching. He glanced across the room at his snoring roommate before moving to stare out the window at the city he had always dreamed of living in one day, under very different circumstances. He respected lawyers, having grown up with a family full of nothing but. However, he had always hoped he would be living in New York to study music, teaching, something that involved benefitting others while also helping himself. As he got undressed for bed, he pondered over what his life would have been like if he had been more of a rebel like his older brother, who currently lived in L.A. and was trying to make a name for himself. Cooper's name was forbidden in the Anderson household nowadays, but Blaine tried to keep up a steady communication with his brother, despite the fact that he had left Blaine to deal with their parent's crumbling marriage, masked by a façade of fake smiles and forced laughter. No one in Westerville, Ohio went through a divorce without fear of being stripped of his or her "status". Blaine supposed his parents must have been happy at one point in time, but Blaine could not remember it. They continued to be a model of a perfect family, but behind closed doors they were strangers. As Blaine settled against the pillows, covers drawn tight around his body, he tried to imagine what it would be like to have a bit of fun for a change. He found he had no idea what the word "fun" meant at this point.
Blaine entered his dorm the next day after his last final and deposited his book bag on the floor next to his desk. He had the weekend to himself before he headed home for spring break. Blaine was not thrilled about the idea of spending the upcoming week with his parents, but he supposed it would be better than spending the week here surrounded by insane partygoers. He had just lain down on his bed, hoping to catch a quick nap before his roommate returned from class, when there were several knocks on the door.
"It's unlocked!" Blaine called. The door opened to reveal Quinn Fabray and Mike Chang, two of Blaine's closest friends at NYU.
"Anderson, how was your day?" Mike Chang asked.
"Eh, midterms are over, so that's always a plus."
"Exactly, which is why-" Quinn began.
"No, I'm not going to any parties with you two, not after last time." Blaine responded firmly.
Blaine was surprised he could even remember last time. He had been so drunk Mike had had to carry him back to his dorm, where Blaine spent half the night puking. Blaine had grown up in a very small, rich neighborhood, meaning everyone knew everyone and, consequently, their business as well. Blaine's father had used his alcoholic uncle and a belt to scare Blaine away from participating in any "illegal activities", and once Blaine had gotten to college he had had no idea what his limits were. Even so, he hardly had the time to attend parties, and even if he had time, he turned down nearly every invitation sent his way. Blaine kept to himself, mostly, and he preferred it that way.
"Blaine, come on-"
"It's spring break-"
"There's no way you can spend it shut in your room-"
"You didn't even let us take you out for your twenty first birthday!"
Blaine shook his head, the ghost of a smile on his lips, "Guys, I appreciate the invitation, but I'm not going."
Quinn and Mike looked at each other sadly.
"What are you going to do?" Quinn asked softly.
"Catch up on sleep? I haven't had more than three hours a night in the last two weeks. Plus, I need to pack for Ohio anyway. My plane leaves at 6am on Monday."
Mike scowled at Blaine, folding his arms across his chest before saying "Anderson, I've had enough of this. You have kicked ass at this school for three years now, and you hardly ever give yourself a break. It's a Friday night, the end of midterms, and, most importantly, spring break. You are coming to this party tonight even if I have to drag you there."
"We're not taking no for an answer this time, Blaine." Quinn added.
Blaine groaned, knowing any and all refusals henceforth were futile. "Fine, but at least give me a few hours to sleep?"
"We'll be back here around 10pm. Remember Blaine: I am not afraid to resort to bodily harm."
After the two had left, Blaine lay down against his pillows and stared at the ceiling. What harm could one party do? Blaine would have a few beers, mingle, and then excuse himself early.
"Nothing is going to happen tonight." He told himself firmly.
Oh, how very wrong he was indeed.
The party was in full swing when Blaine arrived with Mike and Quinn. Blaine immediately regretted his decision, but knew there was no way out of it now that he was here. He should have just faked sick when he had the chance, but Mike and Quinn would have seen right through that as well. He sighed, accepting the beer that was handed to him by a very drunk blonde girl who had lipstick smeared across her face and hickeys dotting her neck.
"Hi, my name is Brittany." She slurred.
"I'm Blaine, and this is Mike and Quinn." Blaine said, gesturing to his friends.
"Blaine, do you paint your hair on before you go out?"
"W-what?" Blaine spluttered as Mike and Quinn laughed, moving away to go join in the festivities.
Brittany reached up, stroking Blaine's gelled hair and laughing. "It feels all sticky and wet, kind of like-"
"Brit, there you are! I've been looking for you everywhere!" A Hispanic girl with long, dark brown hair appeared behind Brittany, taking her hand and eyeing Blaine as though she was sizing him up.
"And who are you?"
"Santana, this is my new friend Blaine. His hair is sticky and wet." Brittany said with a giggle.
"Listen, hobbit, Brit is my girlfriend and she's very friendly when she's drunk, so don't even think of trying anything or your balls will find a new home in your esophagus."
"Uh, you don't have to worry about me, I'm like you guys. Gay, I mean." Blaine stammered, inching away from Santana and Brittany.
"Oh, good, then go find some fairy to stick your dick in and stay away from Brit." Santana spat, leading Brittany away.
Blaine sighed, taking a long drink from his beer before moving through the party, trying to locate his friends. He hadn't gotten very far before a tall boy with gelled, dark brown hair and bright green eyes cornered him.
"I don't think we've met. I'm Sebastian Smythe." He said, his voice saturated with arrogance.
"Blaine," Blaine responded, extending a hand. The two men shook, Blaine noticing that Sebastian held on for longer than necessary. He gave Blaine a once over, a smirk playing across his face.
"You look like you could use another drink, Blaine. Follow me." Sebastian said, not even waiting for a response before dragging Blaine toward the kitchen.
The rest of the night was a blur to Blaine. Somehow Sebastian managed to talk him into playing beer pong, and after his tenth beer Blaine lost count. It was almost one in the morning by the time Blaine and Sebastian, who made a surprisingly good beer pong team, finally met their match and decided to head outside for some air.
"So, Blaine, what are did you say you were majoring in?" Sebastian asked, taking a seat on the porch steps and patting the spot next to him for Blaine to sit down.
"I didn't. I-I'm majoring in communications right now b-but I'm going to law school once I'm f-finished with these c-classes." Blaine said in between hiccups, stumbling and almost falling down the porch steps but catching himself on the railing at the last second.
"Well, at least you'll look hot in those suits." Sebastian responded with a smirk before adding, "Hey, this party is getting lame. Lets go back to my place and get to know each other a little more, if you know what I mean."
Blaine, who was too drunk to know his left from his right, completely missed the underlying meaning of that statement and agreed, trying to stand up quickly and instead falling backwards. Sebastian caught him with a chuckle, leading him down the porch steps and across the yard toward the senior dorms. They had hardly made it ten feet before they heard a voice yell "Smythe, where the hell do you think you're taking him?"
Both men turned to find another, who had to be at least nineteen, standing at the edge of the grass with his arms folded across his chest and a scowl on his face. His light brown hair must have been styled at the beginning of the night, but was now matted with sweat and beginning to fall down across his forehead.
"I'm escorting Blaine here to a more, ah, private setting. Not that it's any of your business, Hummel. By the way, isn't it past your bedtime?" Sebastian sneered.
"You've always had a knack for fucking boys who are too drunk to remember their own name." As if to prove a point, Blaine suddenly removed himself from Sebastian's grasp and began to vomit profusely into the grass.
Sebastian made a face while the other man hurried over and squatted down next to Blaine, rubbing circles on his back and whispering "It's okay, get it all out, hon." Once Blaine could do no more than gag, he fell back into the boy, head resting on his shoulder and drenched in cold sweat.
"Ugh, there's nothing worse than a sloppy twink. He's all yours, Hummel." Sebastian said before turning on his heel and stalking off.
"I can't wait until you get an STD, Smythe. That will be the day I believe in God!" Hummel called after Sebastian.
Blaine moaned suddenly, turning to face his savior and muttering "thanks".
"No problem. Sebastian will get into bed with anything with a penis, I'm just glad I caught you two before it was two late. I'm Kurt, by the way."
"Blaine." Blaine muttered.
"Come on, Blaine, let's get you out of here. My dorm is right around the block, you can crash there."
Ten minutes and one brief moment, in which Blaine almost fell down a flight of stairs, later Kurt unlocked his bedroom door and led Blaine inside.
"My roommate is spending the night at his girlfriend's apartment, so you're welcome to sleep in his bed just as long as you don't throw up in it." Kurt said warmly, dragging the covers back and gesturing for Blaine to lie down. He moved the garbage can over to the side of the bed and pushed a water bottle into Blaine's hands.
"Drink this, it will help ease some of the pain of the hangover you're undoubtedly going to wake up with in the morning."
Blaine unscrewed the cap and chugged the bottle of water before leaning against the pillows and turning so that his body was facing Kurt, who was getting undressed for bed.
"You don't seem drunk at all." Blaine mused.
"That's because I don't drink." Kurt said with a smile.
"Thanks for everything, Kurt, really."
"Hey, it was no problem at all. I saw the way Sebastian was manhandling you all night during your epic beer pong tournament," Kurt replied with a roll of his eyes "and when you two suddenly disappeared I had a hunch that something you would regret tomorrow was about to happen."
There was silence while Kurt got settled into his own bed, adjusting himself and then propping himself up on his elbow to look at Blaine.
"How old are you anyway?" Blaine asked.
"I will be twenty in May. How about you?"
"I just turned twenty one in October."
"Well happy belated birthday to you. Twenty one and still doesn't know his limits." Kurt replied with a smirk.
"Hey! I hardly ever drink, it's not my fault!"
"No, you're right. It's the fault of whoever brought you to that party and then left you alone."
"That would be Mike Chang and Quinn Fabray. Do you know them?"
Kurt's eyes widened and then darkened before he scoffed and said, "Know them? I went to high school with them. It figures that they would leave you alone like that. What jackasses! I thought they had changed since we graduated."
"They're not that bad, I don't think they realized I would get quite that drunk." Blaine replied defensively.
"Yeah, they're really great friends." Kurt spat.
"What's your deal, Kurt?"
"Nothing, nothing. I'm tired, and you should be, too. Let's just go to sleep, okay?" Kurt said quickly before turning off the lamp on his bedside table and rolling over without another word.
It only took Blaine a few minutes to fall asleep, but not before he realized how badly he wanted to get up and cradle Kurt, and kiss away whatever made him hurt. He mentally slapped himself. After all, Kurt was a total stranger. A total stranger who brought you home and let you sleep in his roommate's bed, no strings attached, he thought before he drifted off to sleep.
