Um... K... I guess this is gonna be angsty, with some hurt/comfort in it. I really have no clue what else to put in for warnings. For this chapter anyway. Um... Well, here it is, I guess. And no Glee doesn't belong to me. At all...
A soft sob sounded close to where Blaine was walking down the main street of Lima with his best friends, Wesley and David. Looking at his friends, he realised they hadn't heard the sound. He looked more closely at the people around him.
There was a woman walking past, with an armful of bags, and a small girl clinging to her hand. There were a couple of men as well, laughing uproariously about something one of them had just said. And there was another man, younger, about his own age.
The young man was turned away from him, but from the set of his shoulders, and the tilt of his head, Blaine knew that this was the source of the sob he had heard.
"Blaine, man, you coming?" David looked at him carefully, sharing a glance of concern with Wes.
"Yeah, um… Give me a minute, guys, I'll catch up with you." Blaine's eyes never left the young mans' shaking shoulders and back. As he walked up behind him, Blaine noticed that the boy's clothes were torn, dirty. He had positioned himself as close to the building that he was standing by as possible, to avoid getting shoved by the people walking by.
"Hey," Blaine murmured softly, torn between grasping the boy's arm and spinning him around, and just allowing him to turn of his own accord. When the boy jumped nearly a foot in the air, and gasped while spinning around, Blaine was glad he hadn't grabbed him if the boy was this jumpy already.
"Hey," Blaine murmured again. "Are you all right?" The young man's eyes were bloodshot and red-rimmed from crying, but he lifted his chin in defiance, almost daring Blaine to make a big deal out of it.
"I'm fine, thank you." Blaine was truly surprised at the clipped tone that emanated from the boy's mouth. He sounded so… hurt. Blaine's mouth went dry, as he took in the vision of this young man before him. Although he was dirty, he held himself with what Blaine took as arrogance. As though he was better than this, than what he had become.
The boy's eyes widened slightly as he watched Blaine staring at him. Then, with a touch of a scowl to his mouth, he turned away from Blaine, wandering slowly down the sidewalk. Blaine kept pace with the boy, stepping a touch behind the boy. He noticed that the young man walked with a slight limp pn his left side.
"Why are you following me?" The boy asked exasperatedly. "I don't have anything for you." Keeping his head down, the boy refused to meet eye contact with anyone on the street with him.
"Look, I don't know what's wrong, but I'd like to help…" Blaine stopped in shock, as the boy spun around angrily.
"You can't help me!" The boy shouted, as fresh tears welled up, threatening to slip down his filthy cheeks. "No one can…"
The boy began to run clumsily, turning a corner. Blaine sighed softly, and walked quickly after him. He knew that in the young man's state, he would never be able to get far before collapsing. As Blaine rounded the corner he scanned the alley for signs of the young man.
"Hello?" He called nervously. Because, hello, was he actually following some strange guy down a dark, deserted alleyway just to help him?
A soft sniffle came from a pile of garbage, halfway down the alley. As there was no one else in sight, Blaine made his way carefully down the alley, stopping when he rounded the garbage bags and staring down at the pitiful sight in front of him.
The boy was sitting, his back against the garbage bags, his legs pulled up to his chest, his forehead pressed against his knees. He was shivering slightly, and Blaine slowly placed his hand softly on the boy's shoulder. Surprisingly, it wasn't shrugged off.
"What do you want from me?" He heard, muffled through the fabric of the boy's jeans.
"I really just want to help you, if you'll let me." Blaine answered quietly. Kneeling down, he wrapped his arm around the young man, pulling him into a close hug. That was it for the boy. He began sobbing into Blaine's chest, his cries soft but definitely there, as though he was trying desperately to control them.
Blaine waited until the worst of the sobbing had passed, then pulled away slightly to look into the boy's eyes. His clear, albeit slightly damp, amazingly beautiful eyes. Blaine inhaled sharply, as he realised that he had seen these eyes before.
"Okay. We're going to go back to my place. Relax," Blaine commanded sharply, as the young man began to struggle and cry again. "I'm not going to hurt you, I promise. But I have to make sure you're all right, and we're going to get you cleaned up and warm, okay?" He finished softly, sending the boy what he hoped were reassuring glances with his eyes.
The young man looked at him, really looked, and Blaine could see the moment when he decided to trust him.
"Okay," The boy murmured softly, and Blaine helped him up off the ground. Blaine took his cell phone out of his coat pocket, and sent off a quick text to Wes.
Something came up, I'll see you guys back at Dalton. He typed quickly.
Do you need us to come help? This text was from David, who had always been faster at texting than Wes.
No, I'm okay. Just have to help somebody. I'll see you guys later. With that, he placed the cell back in his pocket, and turned to the boy in front of him.
"Come on, my car is only a couple of blocks away, and then I'll take you to see where I live." Taking the boy by the hand, Blaine led him out of the alley, down the two blocks and to his car. The boy stopped a few feet away, his sharp breath alerting Blaine to the fact that he had stopped.
Blaine stopped and turned to the young man, a question forming on his lips, although he didn't voice it.
"My… my father works with cars..." The boy commented softly. "I happen to know that car is ridiculously expensive…" He took his eyes off the car for a moment to stare in wonder at Blaine. "Wh… who are you?" He asked quietly.
Blaine chuckled. "I happen to be the guy trying to help you, so if you would can you please stop staring at the car and get in?" He opened the passenger side door for the boy, waiting patiently for him to gather the courage to get in.
"I… I couldn't…" The boy whispered. "I'm filthy. I'd ruin the seats if I got in there!"
Blaine let out a full sized belly laugh. "Just get in, silly! I'll take care of the cleaning later." His eyes went from amused to serious in seconds. "You need to trust me, okay?" He hoped his eyes were conveying the desire, no, the need to help this boy.
He stared softly at Blaine, his eyes taking in the other boy holding the door for him, being serious, and he gave a tremulous smile.
"I do. I have no idea why, but I do trust you. All right," He laughed softly to himself, and he walked forward and slid into the front seat.
Blaine bounded to the driver's side, got in and started the car. As they pulled out into the early afternoon traffic, Blaine was blinded by the force of the smile from the young man sitting beside him. Smiling back, he settled himself more comfortably in the seat, preparing himself for the long trip back to Dalton.