Hey so this is a companion fic to: "Fall Into My Arms" by Phantom of a Rose. AMAZING Fanfic Author! Love love love her work! Go check some of it out and if you haven't read her piece that inspired this one, I suggest you go read that first. It's amazing! Just search the title "Fall Into My Arms" minuse the quotes.
The reason, in my mind, why the leaves seem to make Blaine so happy and care-free in "Fall Into My Arms."
Disclaimer: I do not own glee or any of the characters, nor do I own the inspiration for this story. Thank you.
Read and Enjoy!
Blaine peeked around the edge of his door. There was a light on down the hall and he knew it was his parent's room. He was supposed to be asleep, tucked in bed, but he'd heard his Dad come home downstairs and he wanted to see him before he went to sleep.
He knew if his Mom caught him up he'd be in trouble so he waited impatiently for his dad to come up the stairs.
As he heard the stairs creak he edged his door open a little more, slowly so it wouldn't squeak. He was about to tiptoe out when he saw his Mom walking swiftly from her room to the stairs with blankets and a pillow in hand.
Blaine drew back into his room quickly and quietly. He waited as he heard his mother descend the stairs and then he crept back to his door again. He heard voices downstairs but couldn't understand what they were saying, so he opened his door slowly, and softly walked over to the stairs.
His parent's were in the living room off the foyer and they were mumbling in rushed tones. They didn't sound happy.
Blaine sat down on the top step and pushed his curls off his forehead.
Blaine could hear the voices a little clearer now and they floated up the stairs to him.
"...home so late?" His mom was asking.
"This is a big case we're working on now, we had to-"
"We? Don't tell me that little secretary of yours was there with you?"
"She's my assistant, not my secretary and yes she was, she's helping me with this case. The judge is being especially hard on my client this time."
"Well, you'll be sleeping down here tonight. Blaine was heartbroken when you missed his choir performance. He's only in first grade and if you keep missing things like this it will make a big impact on his life." She said, her voice furious and cold.
Blaine shivered. There was an edge there that he'd never heard in his mother's voice before, not even when she scolded him or was stressed.
He heard faint thump as the pillows and blankets were thrown down onto the couch.
There was silence, ominously hanging over the house. For a moment, no one moved, nothing stirred.
Then Blaine heard his father sigh. "I'm going to sleep down here then?" He asked.
"Yes." His mother answered, venom in her voice.
"What about the alarm clock? I need to get up on time tomorrow, I have court at 8:00 and I still am not as prepared as I'd like to be."
His mother sighed. "I'll wake you up around 6:00 so you have time to get there and prepare your case with your assistant."
There was silence again and Blaine saw his mother's shadow in the doorway that meant she was coming back towards the stairs.
Blaine hurriedly scurried back to his room and hopped quickly into his bed, burying his head under the covers and grabbing a teddy bear.
He felt a few tears escape his eyes. Why did his parent's have to fight? Why did his dad miss his performance? Why did he have to work so late? Blaine almost never saw him anymore.
He fell asleep, exhausted from thinking about these things and listening to his mom sob softly from down the hall. He would have gone to her, but fear of being scolded and sent back to bed kept him where he was.
The next morning Blaine woke up and hurried down the stairs, hoping his Dad hadn't left yet, but as he hurried into the living room, he knew he had.
The blankets and pillows were folded neatly on the couch and Blaine's mom was in the kitchen humming faintly.
Blaine always loved to hear his mom hum while she worked around the house, and today the tune matched his mood. It was a melancholy sound, full of sadness, but that was how Blaine felt and he knew that was how his mom felt too.
Blaine walked down the hall and into the kitchen.
His mother was at the stove, wearing an apron.
Blaine walked over to see what she was making and saw pancakes on the griddle.
Blaine felt a smile tug at his mouth but stopped himself. This was not a day to smile.
His mom looked down at her son and noticed his faltering smile. She frowned and rubbed his curls back off his forehead. Then she put the pancakes on a plate and took them over the table.
Blaine sat down and his mother dished up his plate for him. Their breakfast was a quiet one and luckily it was Saturday. They didn't have anywhere to be or anything to do, which may have been a bad thing considering they had nothing to distract themselves with.
Blaine watched as his mom stared out the window at the leaves falling from the trees, and the sunshine streaming down.
Then she smiled slightly and looked at Blaine.
"You want to help me with some yard work today?" She asked him and Blaine nodded slowly, wondering at the change that had come over his mother with that one question. She seemed calmer and more content now.
They hurried through breakfast and cleared up the dishes before putting on their jackets and walking out into the crisp air of Ohio's autumn.
They walked around the house and Blaine's mom punched in the code to open the garage.
She hurried to pull her straight black hair into a ponytail before the door was open all the way. Blaine got his color from his mom, but his curls from his dad. His mother had often joked she had once mistaken his father for Colin Firth, whoever that was.
His mom grabbed two rakes and handed the one with the shorter handle to Blaine then she walked over to the lawn and started raking leaves.
Blaine hurried after her to do that same and soon they had both lost themselves in the physical work.
They unconsciously gathered all the leaves into one big pile in the center of their yard, and then stood back to survey their work.
The pile looked huge to Blaine, he'd never seen so many leaves piled so high.
Then Blaine looked up at his mom and the serene smile on her face. He didn't understand why she was so happy, but he slowly reached his hand up to hers and held on to it softly.
His mother looked down as she felt the small hand in her own, and smiled at her son. He always knew what she needed.
She knelt down next to her six year old and grabbed both of their rakes, laying them down on the ground. Then her smile turned mischievous and she hoisted her son into her arms.
Then she ran over to the pile of leaves and dropped him into it before plopping down onto the pile next to him.
She started laughing and tossing the leaves high into the air only to have them rain down on them seconds later.
Blaine was a little confused, they'd just worked so hard to rake those leaves up. What was she doing? Why was she wrecking all their hard work?
Then he got a handful of leaves tossed right at him and sat there shocked for a minute as his mother laughed hysterically.
He smiled mischievously and scooped up an armful of leaves. He scurried up and waded through the leaves, dropping his armful on top of his mom. He started to giggle as the leaves got caught in her hair and then, brushing his curls out of his eyes, he realized he had leaves in his hair too.
He plopped back down into the leaves next to his mom and started making angels likehe did in the snow, and swimming around in the leaves.
His mom smiled and ran inside quickly to get a camera. When she came back outside she sat back down on the now smaller pile of leaves and felt satisfied at the crunch they made. They spent the rest of the morning snapping pictures and playing in the leaves. They raked all the leaves back up again and smiled as they jumped in time after time, hearing the leaves'satisfying crunch.
When it came time to put the leaves in bags, Blaine was a little disappointed their fun had to end. He looked through all the leaves as his mom went to get the garbage bags, and found the biggest leaf he could find. He hurried inside the house and up to his room, then set the leaf on his dresser and ran back outside to help his mom.
Later that night as Blaine's mom tucked him in bed, Blaine asked about the fight.
"Oh Honey, did you hear that? I'm sorry we woke you. Is that why you were upset this morning?"
Blaine nodded, eyes wide.
"Darling, you don't need to worry about that. Your Daddy and I will work it out, it's just boring grown up stuff." She told him, hugging him snuggly and kissing his curls. Then she let him go and tucked him in to bed.
"You should not be worrying about me and daddy, alright. We're adults, we can work things out easier if we know you're not worrying about us. Ok?"
Blaine nodded again and closed his eyes as his mother got up and walked towards the door. She paused before walking out and found the leaf on his dresser which was next to his door.
She grabbed the leaf and glanced back at Blaine before walking out and closing the door, leaving it cracked slightly, behind her.
She went downstairs and grabbed a picture frame that was in a closet near the kitchen. She also grabbed her camera and went into her husbands study where the computer was located.
Then she stayed up late in to the night, uploading pictures and printing some of them out.
The next morning Blaine woke up and went downstairs to find the blankets and pillows on the couch still, and this time mussed from sleep.
He walked dejectedly into the kitchen and sat down in his chair at the table, not even caring what his mom was busy making today.
As he looked up he noticed something sitting in front of him. He sat up a little higher and looked at the frame on the table. It was one of those frames that could hold several pictures and the frame itself was black.
In the top left corner was a picture of him in the leaves from yesterday, in the right was one of his mother that he'd taken with her instruction. The bottom two corners had him and his mom together, hugging each other and smiling, with leaves in their hair.
He smiled and then his eyes moved to the center of the frame and widened. It was his leaf. The one that had been on his dresser. He was sure of it. He felt a slow smile creep over his lips and he set the frame down before going over to give his mom a big hug.
"Can we hang it up in my room?" He asked.
She smiled and knelt down by him to give him a hug. Then she nodded and said, "yes, of course."
Blaine smiled as he felt his heart warm from his mother's love.
I was just inspired to write this as a companion piece to "Fall Into My Arms" by A Phantom Rose, who is amazing! As is her fanfic. If you haven't read any of her stuff, it's brilliant, and she has quite a few Glee fics :D
Anyways, Blaine seemed so serene and happy and calm in her fic, and there seemed to be more to that particular part of the story...at least to me. So I asked if I could write a companion to it and was told I could.
I hope you enjoyed it. What did you think? Let me know, cuz I can never get enough of reading REVIEWS!
Thankies,
OSK