Not Broken, but Taken
Ian sighed as yet another person boarded the train. He had already been seated for 10 minutes. He needed to be in New York by 6 - what could be taking so long? His irritation with the passenger lessened slightly when he saw the young girls face. She looked like she had had her heart not broken, but taken from her – he knew that look far too well. The young lady took a seat opposite him (how old was she anyway? Far too young to be going to New York by herself,) and began to cry in earnest, placing a hand on the window, and was she- she appeared to be singing quietly.
The train started to move (finally) but this only seemed to make her singing/sobbing more frantic as her eyes gazed longingly out of the window, and as the train left the station she dropped back in her seat, defeated. Ian averted his gaze to the other passengers on the train, most of them wearing headphones or reading, the girls anguish gone unnoticed.
Just then, her phone went off, and 'Papa Can You Hear Me' went off in the next to silent compartment. Glancing at it, she picked it up, and using much more force than was needed, rejected the call. She then rejected it again. The sixth time the same ringtone started playing the woman who had previously been "subtly" picking her nose cleared her throat loudly, shooting a glare at the back of the brunette's head. With obvious reluctance, she answered her phone- "Daddy. I'd really appreciate it if you didn't- yes, I am... NO it's not a good thing! How could you- no, Dad i don't think you understand! Today was supposed to be my..." she stopped talking and gazed down at her left hand. Sitting on her index finger was a small diamond solitaire. She mumbled a broken "Goodbye, Dads, see you there," before disconnecting the call and dropping her head in her hands, her phone falling to the floor with a thud.
The phone slid across the floor and nudged against Ian's foot, but went unnoticed, for he was still trying to process the situation- "Dads?" suddenly Ian felt nothing but empathy for this girl, having to live with what he assumed to be two gay fathers in a place like Lima, Ohio. He knew far too well how cruel people from this area could be- his own son... Wait. Why was she wearing a ring? Surely this woman, barely anything other than a child had not been engaged? He assumed she wasn't any longer, judging by what he had heard from the call- but why? Ian no longer believed in the stability of a marriage, his own had been wrenched apart by the prejudice his wife had inherited from her family here in Lima, Ohio.
Just then the forgotten mobile started to vibrate, and 'Tonight' from West Side Story began to play obnoxiously loud, given the intensity of the situation, and Ian bent down, fully intending to either end the call or awkwardly pass it to the still sobbing girl. Until he saw who it was calling - Blaine Anderson. No. It couldn't be. Ian stared at the phone for another 5 seconds, until it was wrenched out of his hands by a certain very indignant train passenger , who then proceeded to whisper a hurried "Do you mind!" before walking back to her seat whilst answering the call.
"Blaine. No, no I'm not mad at you." She sighed "No I'm not mad at him either. If anything, I thought he'd be mad at me. Why didn't he come? No, I suppose not. I miss him... I'll be- well no not okay, but I'll survive... Tell him to call me... I need some advice from my best gay! Mmhmmm." She pulled the ring off her finger and placed it on the table. "Do you think he'll want it back? No... I know... Well if he does he'll have to come and find me and get it ba- no." She slumped down in her seat. "Where is he now? Of course. Just- make sure he doesn't do anything stupid ok? Make sure Kurt keeps an eye on him. Is he there? Oh? OH! Well in that case, I'm going to hang up this instant, Blaine War- Anderson, and leave you two alone to take full advantage of the empty house! Cheer him up for me. One of us should be getting some today..." she chuckled wryly, "Bye Blaine... I'll try... You too." She ended the call, a faint smile grazing her face, before her eyes took in Ian's expression.
Clearing her throat she took the three short steps it took to reach Ian's seat, and sat down opposite him. Ian was still staring at the hand which had previously been holding the girl's phone. "Are you ok?" the small brunette stuck out a hand "Rachel Berry. Future Broadway star, and McKinley High's most recent prom queen." Ian's eyes snapped up to meet hers and a ghost of a smile flitted through his cool green eyes, the same as his sons, as he took her offered hand. "Ian Coleman." Rachel offered him a weak smile in return. She opened her mouth to speak some more, but Ian beat her to it. "That boy you were talking to before, Blaine, describe him to me." Rachel looked at him, obviously affronted. "Please." She gave him another suspicious look before fiddling with her phone, placing it on the table and turning it so Ian could see. The screen showed a photo of four people, obviously two couples, and on the right end of the picture, was- Ian realised, Blaine. He was laughing, arms wrapped around a slightly taller fair skinned boy's waist. The boy had his lips on Blaine's cheek, and he had an also laughing Rachel curled into his other side, a grinning giant of a boy to her left, his hand on her right hip.
"Full name Blaine-"Rachel began, but Ian cut her off (dangerous mistake, judging by the death glare,) "- Everett Anderson, I know, I mean, how is he? Who is that?" he gestured toward the pale skinned boy in the picture. Rachel widened her eyes but then they narrowed. "If you have a problem with homosexuality, both of my best friends and dads are gay, and-"he cut her off yet again (three times in a row) "what! No, no, my son's gay, of course I don't have a problem with it! I just- how is he? We used to, well him and my son, I mean, used to be friends, and..," This time, it was Rachel who interrupted him, "Wait... you said you're name was Coleman... Coleman." Her eyes widened, and she met Ian's with a look of dawning comprehension. "Your son's Matt Coleman isn't he? He took Blaine to the Sadie Hawkins dance?" Ian nodded, and said "Me and Matt moved away soon after. I wanted to keep in touch, make sure he was ok, given his parents and all, but I had to look after my son, and he just couldn't-" he faltered, and Rachel gave him a sad smile, gesturing to the boy wrapped around Blaine on the screen. "That's Kurt Hummel, he and Blaine have been dating for just over a year. He and Blaine are my best friends. Blaine transferred to McKinley from Dalton Academy this year, he wanted to be closer to Kurt, and get closure from his public school trauma you know?" again, Ian nodded. "Anyway, he mostly stays at either mine or Kurt's over the weekends- his home life isn't that great..." here she paused peeking up at Ian through her eyelashes, and as he grimaced in understanding , she continued- "he's in the school glee club the New Directions- we won nationals last week- " at this Ian gave a surprised "huh" he knew Blaine loved to sing but hadn't known he was into show choir, "and hopefully he will help lead my – I mean, their club to victory again next year." Ian, who had been listening intently, stopped her there. "No, he won't" Rachel looked at him, confused. "No he won't what?" Ian glanced at her the frown still on his face, "Lead the glee club next year- he's 18, so he'll have graduated right?" Rachel looked at him, eyebrows furrowed, before she realised what he meant- "Oh, you don't know... Blaine was either in hospital or bed ridden most of his sophomore year... so he had to repeat it when he joined Dalton." Ian froze momentarily and Rachel began to spin her ring between her fingers, eyeing him warily. Ian feeling her gaze, snapped out of it, and murmured a gruff, "Sorry to hear it."
Rachel nodded. "So was I. Me and Kurt are the only ones who he'll willingly talk to about it." Her face brightened considerably as she continued, "He's gotten loads better confidence wise though. He and Kurt went to both junior and senior prom together." She paused to flick through photos on her phone to show Ian one obviously taken a while ago- the three people in the image – Blaine, Rachel, and - Kurt- was it? Had their faces pressed together, a crown perched atop the fairer boy's head. "This was taken last year." Ian allowed himself to smile for a brief moment, before glancing questionably up at Rachel and commenting- "Bit risky isn't it? Wearing a crown, considering the fact that they'd of been walking targets anyway- not that I'm judging'!" he hastily added, remembering her reaction earlier. Rachel smiled, "I didn't think you were. Blaine has talked about you before you know," here her smile left her face, as she continued- "And he's wearing the crown because Kurt got nominated prom queen" her eyes flashed angrily, "Secret ballot. McKinley high's favourite prom tradition." Ian suddenly felt a rush of affection for this boy, who had been able to help Blaine when he no longer could. He and Rachel seemed to be thinking along the same wavelength because she then said "They've really helped each other, as well as others. That night, Blaine danced with Kurt in front of everyone, even though you could tell he was scared." She flashed another blinding smile in Ian's direction and said, "They've really helped me as well. I'm not- well I'm not very good at making friends and people tend to look down on me because of my Dads and because they are intimidated by my talent- at least that's what I tell myself." Here her face fell, and she glanced at the ring sitting in her palm. "But Kurt and Blaine are my friends no matter what." She finished, grinning. Ian took a minute to absorb the information. "You're... talent?" he finally asked, deciding to talk about that first. This girl obviously needed some help, and Ian was determined to give her some guidance. It was, after all, his job.
Rachel's head snapped up from where she had been staring at her phone, it had locked and now showed a picture of her and the tall boy from the first picture slow dancing at what looked to be prom, with crowns atop their heads. "What?" she looked at him confused for a second, before she realised what he was talking about. "Oh! My talent! I can sing." She explained, before continuing, "I'm going to follow my idol, Barbara Streisand to fame, and become a staron Broadway! There's nothing that can keep me from my dreams and I will not let anyone stand in my way..." she trailed off, looking at the ring, before bursting into tears.
After managing to subdue a hysterical Rachel Berry, (ignoring the dirty looks he was getting from other train passengers,) and getting her a coffee – black with two sugars, he let her just talk, telling him the story of her and her ex-fiancé – Finn Hudson, starting sophomore year. "And then- he told me that if I loved him, I would surrender, and follow my dream!" 72 minutes later, and the diva was reaching the climax of her story. "But he doesn't know! If he did, then he'd get that my dreams are different now!" Rachel looked at Ian expectantly. Ian looked at her confused (that seemed to be happening with her a lot, he noted.) "I'm sorry Rachel... what doesn't he know?" Rachel looked at him for a moment, obviously sizing him up, and then leant forward, whispering (although there was no need- the trains other occupants had lost- if ever having any- all interest in the girls hysterics some time ago.) "If I tell you something, you must promise on my talent that you will not tell another soul." Despite being reminded profusely of pre-school, Ian agreed. "Remember how I told you that I – that I messed up my first NYADA audition?" Ian nodded. "Well... I messed it up on purpose." Ian looked at her, waiting for her to continue. After a moment, she did. "Kurt was nervous. And he was going to take a risk, to make himself stand out, you know? And he was good, he has an amazing voice." Here she paused, looking slightly sheepish. "But, he's so controversial; it might make it harder for him to get parts, like it did for west side story." Ian winced, for the story that Rachel had to go along with that play had held too much detail. "And everything about me screams Broadway. It would be easy for me to get accepted into NYADA. And as I watched him audition, I realised that, for the first time in my life, I cared more about another person's happiness than my own. So I choked." She finished, taking a sip of coffee before continuing, eyes filled with guilt. "But… as I was doing it, I realised what I was giving up… my dream. My destiny. Singing is the only thing I'm any good at, compared to others. So, I begged Carmen to watch my performance at Nationals, and she did. And I got in… and Kurt didn't." Rachel looked down and stared intently at her feet. "I let my selfish dreams get in the way of the nicest thing I've ever done." She whispered, her ring left on the table, forgotten.