"Guys, the train leaves in five minutes and you haven't even boarded-" Burt Hummel said to nobody in particular. The whole gang had been at the train station for the past hour, and nobody had made the slightest inclination to actually want to leave.
It had been a summer that nobody would forget. Blaine and Kurt hadn't spent more than a few hours at a time apart from each other all summer. Burt and Carole had turned a blind eye and even allowed Blaine to sleep at their house and Kurt to sleep at Blaine's. They trusted the boys enough to know that no shenanigans would be occuring while they were in the house. They allowed Finn and Rachel the same leeway, although Burt had sat Finn down before he got too far and gave him the lowdown on how a girl actually got pregnant. Kurt and Blaine had laughed for days at the horrified look on Finn's face as he left the den an hour later.
About a week into the summer, Kurt's cousin Sophie had come to stay with the Hudson-Hummel family. She was his father's brother's daughter, and her parents had gone to Australia on a research project for the environmental protection firm they both worked for. His aunt Karen and uncle Brad had no idea when they would be back and Burt had no problem taking her in. Carole actually enjoyed having a female around the house. Sophie would be joining Blaine and Sam at McKinley that fall, and it eased Kurt's mind that Blaine wouldn't be totally alone with him gone.
They had realized that every-weekend trips from NYADA to Lima weren't possible when it came down to the fact that Blaine would be burdened with rigorous AP-level coursework and Kurt's classes and theater auditions. It had taken hours of talking to transportation officials and quite a few tears, but eventually both Kurt and Blaine possessed year-round passes for the Amtrak statuon and agreed that every three weeks, either Blaine would come to NYC or Kurt would come home to Lima. It simply wasn't an option, neither could function for longer than that without their other half.
"Seriously, people. I've been dreading this moment all summer just like the rest of you, but you need to get on the train." Burt said, once again trying to cajole the three teenagers into heading toward their destinies.
"I love you so much, Blaine Anderson." Kurt said. He gazed deep into his boyfriend's eyes, which with every passing moment would swtch between chocolatey brown to dark green to the color of molten gold. Kurt didn't know exactly how he was going to survive three straight weeks of not being able to physically touch his boyfriend. So he did what they did best (besides harmonize beautifully).
He leaned down just a bit and pulled Blaine flush against him and kissed him for all he was worth.
"I love you too, Kurt Hummel. Now get on that train before I decide that I can't possibly live without you for another year." Blaine said, pressing his face into the plam of Kurt's hand before pushing him away and onto the train steps.
The consummate rebel, Kurt turned back toward his family one more time to see the smiling but teary faces of Burt, Carole, Sam, Sophie and Blaine staring back at he, Finn and Rachel. He stepped off the platform just as Sophie ran up to him and engulfed him in an impressively strong hug for someone of so short a stature. Seriously, the girl was shorter than Rachel and Kurt didn't think that was possible.
"Take care of him for me, Soph." Kurt would never voice his worries about Blaine's welfare to anybody but Sophie. Sam would try his hardest to make sure Blaine wasn't wallowing in depression all year, but he had his own family to worry about. Sophie was too much like Kurt to ever let Blaine feel sad for too long.
"I will, Kurt. I promise." He looked down into the face of his cousin. Mercedes had cracked a joke that she looked exactly like the female genetic mix of Kurt and Blaine, with Kurt's same blue-green whirlpool eyes and light brown, very curly hair. Her eyebrows even did the weird triangular thing that Blaine's did, although that was an inherited trait from Sophie's father.
If Kurt couldn't be there for Blaine, he would damn well make sure Blaine could have the next best thing.
000
Nobody questioned it when Blaine spent the night at the Hummel-Hudson-Evans household that night, or when Sophie and Blaine wound up sleeping in Kurt's room.
Carole knew that the two would miss Kurt the most; Sam had spent the majority of the summer with Puck, helping the mohawked teenager with his pool business as a way to earn extra cash without having to strip. Blaine and Kurt and Sophie had become nigh inseparable over the summer. She hadn't argued in the slightest when the three had sleepovers. It's not like Kurt and Blaine would try anything with Sophie in the room and she knew that Blaine's parents, while supportive in their own way, weren't 100% comfortable with having a gay son. Besides, it had just been her and Finn in that tiny house for so long. She loved the noise and bustle and company in her household now.
When she walked into Kurt's room later that night, she found a sight that made her heart break: Sophie and Blaine, both in articles of Kurt's clothing, cuddling in his bed. Carole could instantly tell from the way they were positioned-Blaine's head resting on Sophie's chest, her arms curled around the tops of his shoulders and his vice-like around her waist-that Blaine had more likely than not cried himself to sleep and Sophie had comforted him until she fell asleep as well.
Carole crossed the room and straightened the blankets around the sleeping duo. She remembered the comment that Kurt's friend Mercedes had made shortly after Sophie's arrival, about the girl looking like a mixture of Kurt and Blaine. Just then, with their heads tilted close together and their similarly shaped eyebrows and unruly curly hair, Carole could see it.
She leaned over and pressed gentle kisses to the two teens' foreheads. She wished that the year they both had ahead of them wouldn't be as hard as she knew it was going to be, but unfortunately Carole Hudson had no control over that aspect of Sophie and Blaine's lives.
000
"Blainey, wake up."
Blaine tried his very hardest to ignore the voice interrupting his wonderful Kurt-centered dream, but it was just about impossible. Sophie Hummel was just as determined as Kurt to get what she wanted.
"No."
"Blaine."
"Sophie."
"Get up."
"Five more minutes."
"Not a chance. Now we can either do this the easy way or the difficult way. You can get up now and I can make you some banana pancakes, just the way you like them, or you can continue to lie in bed like a lazy bum and I will rub self-tanner into very conspicuous places on your body."
Blaine cracked one eye open and tried his best imitation of Kurt's bitch glare. "You wouldn't dare."
"Oh, please. I'm a Hummel. Do you really think that you can beat me? Just give up now, and come downstairs and let me make you some pancakes. We need to make a quick run to your house anyway." Sophie said, gently pulling Blaine up into a sitting position.
"My house? Why?"
"I'm making banana pancakes, Blaine. You know how Cooper likes anything banana-related. Plus you need clothes. While I am well aware that you and Kurt swap clothes, it's my turn to wear the mustard pants and you can't live in his clothes forever."
Blaine sighed. Like a true Hummel, she was right. Plus, banana pancakes actually sounded really good.
000
"Coop! Banana-flavored objects!" Sophie called as soon as they entered Blaine's house a little under an hour later.
Similar to a small child or a puppy, Cooper Anderson bounded across the house and came to a stop in front of Sophie, eagerly looking at the Tupperware container that held the pancakes.
"Are those it? Are those for me?" Cooper asked, eyes lighting up humorously. Sophie and Blaine couldn't help but laugh.
"Yeah, Coop. These are for you. Blaine and I and everyone else have already eaten, so go crazy. We'll be upstairs because Blainey here needs clothes." Sophie said with a laugh, handing Cooper the container and watching him run into the kitchen excitedly.
Sophie followed Blaine to his bedroom and was deeply surprised by what was presented to her there. There was the typical vast amounts of sheet music everywhere (which wasn't shocking to say the least until she got a good look and saw that most of it was from either pop stars like Katy Perry or from Disney movies), a guitar, a few copies of Vogue lying on Blaine's desk that were obviously Kurt's, a large collection of DVDs, and mass amounts of pictures both from McKinley and from Dalton. Sophie recognized Wes, David, Nick, Jeff, Thad and a few other Warblers on sight, because they had come over to a few of the get-togethers Kurt had thrown over the summer. Apparently there was another, more infamous Warbler that was spending his summer in France with some family-Sebastian, Sophie thought they said his name was-but nobody showed her any pictures and she never bothered looking up any of the Warblers' recent performances on Youtube to see what he looked like.
"This okay?" In her thoroughness of looking through Blaine's room, Sophie had completely forgotten that they were there so Blaine could shower and change clothes before school. He emerged from his closet still with a towel wrapped around his waist, holding a polo and a sweater along with a pair of khakis that Sophie knew belonged to Kurt back when Kurt and Blaine were still around the same height.
"Yeah, you're fine. And since I know that you're only going to walk back in your closet and find a bow tie to wear with that, make sure it matches at least a little bit. Don't doubt that Kurt can't sense these things even all the way in New York."
Blaine smiled. Sophie and Kurt were just so similar it was astounding. "Fine. Give me five minutes and I'll be ready. Can you go downstairs and make sure Coop isn't dying from pancake inhalation?"
"Is that your subtle way of telling me to get out so you can change? Because, you know, it's just nudity. Over the summer, I'm pretty sure I saw Finn, Sam and Puck naked at least once and then there was that time when you and Kurt forgot to lock the door and I came home earlier than everyone else-"
"Yeah yeah yeah I got it. It was a nudefest all summer. Don't remind me, the sight of Puck's scarred left nipple still weirds me out. No, I'm actually concerned about Coop. He tends to go overboard with anything related to bananas."
"Okay. But I'm telling you, Anderson, if you're not ready in ten minutes I'm leaving without you, legal driver's license or not. It's not right to be late on your first day at a new school." Sophie heard Blaine's laugh behind her as she closed the door and went down to the kitchen to make sure Cooper hadn't died from banana overload.
000
"Damn, girl. I didn't believe it when Cedes said it over the summer but you do look like Blaine and Kurt's illegitimate love child." Artie said to Sophie at lunch later that day.
"She really does. Rachel started calling her-" Blaine started to say but was interrupted by Sophie's hand clamped firmly over his mouth. He tried to retaliate but then he got a whiff of the lotion she used.
The same lotion that Kurt rubbed on his hands every morning. It smelled faintly of sweet pea.
God, he missed Kurt.
He took long enough in his distracted thoughts about Kurt that Sophie removed her hand from his mouth. "-Baby Klaine." The table burst into laughter. Not mean, jeering laughter, because Sophie had been at McKinley for less than a day and she already had the school eating out of her hand. Their friends at the table-Brittany, Artie, Rory, Sugar, Sam, and Tina-were genuinely laughing at the comment.
"You're going to die, Blaine. Learn to sleep with one eye open."
"Rachel was right though. You do look like Kurt and Blaine. Speaking of Kurt, Blaine, how is he?" Tina said, finally reining in her laughter.
"He's doing great. The classes at NYADA don't start until Thursday, but he and Rachel are doing their freshman orientation and trying to get settled into their apartment. He had a meeting with Carmen Thibodeau this morning and apparently she's one of his advisors for the year."
Nobody missed the forlorn look Blaine got in his eyes at the mention of Kurt. They all knew how hard this was on him-Brittany and Tina especially, with their graduated significant others also hundreds of miles away.
"Stay strong, Blaine. How much longer until you see him again?" asked Tina.
"Three weeks. We're not sure yet if he's coming down here or if I'm going up there to him, but come hell or high water I'm going to see him."
People sitting at the other tables in the cafeteria didn't quite understand why there was a mass group hug in the center of the room, but they knew better than to openly question it. Everyone knew that they were the kids in the Glee club and while nobody hated them anymore, that didn't mean that they wanted to be subjected to a High School Musical-esque song and dance routine in the middle of their lunch hour.
000
"Alright, everyone. I know we've suffered a huge loss with Quinn, Puck, Mercedes, Mike, Rachel, Finn, Santana and Kurt being gone, but that can't stop us. We need to recruit new members." Mr. Schuester opened the year's first New Directions meeting.
"Uh, Mr. Schue? We did a little recruiting over the summer. Not much, because we were trying to spend as much time with the people who graduated as possible before they left, but a little. This is Sophie Hummel. She's Kurt's cousin." Blaine said, gesturing to Sophie who waved to their New Directions advisor.
"Hey there."
"Hi, Sophie. Can you sing at all?"
"Yeah, it's pretty much a Hummel thing. Kurt can sing, I can sing, even Uncle Burt can sing, although his voice is a lot deeper and he keeps limiting his vocal range to his favorite Mellencamp songs and the occasional Barry Manilow tune."
"That's great! Care to demonstrate?"
Sophie bit her lip and looked at Blaine. "Demonstrate?"
"Soph, come on. It's just us." Blaine whispered soothingly, grabbing one of Sophie's hands and rubbing his knuckle along it just like Kurt did for him.
"Okay...but only if you come up with me."
"What?"
"You heard me. You're asking me to go through my vocal repertoire and find a song to sing at the drop of a hat to a room full of people that have never heard me sing before, and you don't want to help?"
It was times like these when Blaine hated Kurt.
Don't get him wrong, he loved Kurt more than life itself. But Kurt had this habit of doing this sad, tortured puppy dog face that made his already beautiful eyes seem like drops of heaven. It killed Blaine, and Kurt knew it. Whenever Kurt needed Blaine to do something for him and had any trouble convincing Blaine to do it, he just turned that expression on poor, defenseless Blaine and he just dissolved into mush.
Apparently, Kurt had taught Sophie the nifty little trick because she was pulling the same thing on him now, glasz eyes played to the hilt and lower lip pouting out.
It was really disconcerting to find out exactly what Kurt would have been like if he were a girl.
"Fine."
"Good. Mr. Schuester, is there any way Blainers can borrow one of those guitars?"
Blaine could feel everyone's eyes on him. He had been very good at hiding the fact that he could easily play several instruments and speak several languages; only Kurt knew that he was fluent in French, Spanish, Italian, and German and that was because he saw Blaine in action through Dalton's many language courses. He had only let Kurt and Sophie discover his affinity for musical instruments this summer, a choice he had almost immediately regretted. While it wasn't unusual to have Kurt look at him like he wanted to pin Blaine to the mattress and take him right then and there (a look first given to Blaine the first time Kurt had heard him speak French and last given to him the night before his departure); it was odd to see a similar look appear on Sophie's face. It was precisely the reason why he had kept his abilities a secret from the rest of the Glee club.
Well, the cat was certainly out of the bag now.
He and Sophie dragged two stools to the center of the room. Blaine hoped that she wouldn't go down the sfae route and sing something that wouldn't fully showcase her voice. That was an excellent way to get shoved in the background like a swaying puppet. Sure, solos would definitely be easier to get now that Rachel and Finn were gone, but Schue still had an uncanny knack for putting talented people in the back lines.
"So, Sophie. What are you going to sing for us?" Schue asked, plopping down in one of the choir rooms' red chairs and looking at her expectantly. She turned to Blaine and bit her lip, a universal Hummel sign of uncertainty.
"Go for Impossible."
"Blaine, I'm no Cedes."
"You don't have to be Cedes. Nobody can be Cedes. You just have to be you, and I heard you singing that while you were in the shower a few weeks back. Nice break from all the Queen."
"Don't you dare say a word against Queen. Freddie Mercury, rest his fabulous soul, was the best musician the universe has ever seen."
"I know. Just trust me on this, okay?" Blaine put the guitar back on the rack where it belonged and sat at the piano, tapping out the first few notes to Shontelle's 'Impossible' while Sophie stayed on the stool and opened her mouth to sing.
"I remember years ago, someone told me I should take caution when it comes to love
I did, I did
And you were strong and I was not
My illusion, my mistake
I was careless, I forgot
I did
And now when all is done there is nothing to say
You have gone and so effortlessly
You have won, you can go ahead tell them, tell them all I know now
Shout it from the roof tops, write it on the sky line
All we had is gone now
Tell them I was happy, and my heart is broken, all my scars are open
Tell them what I hoped would be impossible, impossible impossible, impossible
Falling out of love is hard, falling for betrayal is worst
Broken trust and broken hearts
I know, I know
Thinking all you need is there
Building faith on love and words
Empty promises will wear
I know, I know
And now when all is gone, there is nothing to say
And if you're done with embarrassing me
On your own you can go ahead tell them
Tell them all I know now, shout it from the roof tops,
Write it on the sky line, all we had is gone now
Tell them I was happy, and my heart is broken, all my scars are open
Tell them what I hoped would be impossible, impossible, impossible, impossible, impossible, impossible, impossible, impossible, ooh impossible
I remember years ago, someone told me I should take caution when it comes to love
I did
Tell them all I know now, shout it from the roof tops
Write it on the sky line, all we had is gone now
Tell them I was happy, and my heart is broken, all my scars are open
Tell them what I hoped would be, impossible, impossible, impossible, impossible, impossible, impossible, impossible, impossible
I remember years ago, someone told me I should take caution when it comes to love
I did."
Sophie ended on a poignant alto note well withing her admittedly impressive eight-octave range that Kurt had spent half the summer coaching her through. Blaine wasn't completely surprised to find half the girls in the room in tears; he was also unsurprised to see that a few rogue tears had made their way down his face as well.
Kurt had done his job well.
Speaking of Kurt...
To Kurt: Sophie just sung.
To Blaine: Aw, really! How did she do? What did she sing? Is anybody crying? Tina's probably crying...is Schue crying? Did she manage to sing that high E we were working on?
To Kurt: Calm down, Kurt :) She sang Impossible, she was great, of course Tina's in tears along with Sugar. No, Schue isn't crying. And the range of the song doesn't hit a high E although I can work on that with her later if you want me to.
To Blaine: Please do, she still has no idea the potential she has. And please tell me somebody caught it on camera. Rachel's still seething with jealousy over the fact that Sophie outsung her in Seasons of Love.
To Kurt: Still? That was back in June.
To Blaine: Still.
To Kurt: Well Tina and Britt both got it on video. Britt's closer though, I'll get her to send it to you.
To Blaine: Thanks.
To Kurt: So how's orientation?
To Blaine: Did you know that Carmen told people about my audition? About ALL of my audition? I literally had one of my professors read my name off the attendance roster, look at me, and ask me if I was the kid who ripped his clothes off in front of my audition overseer.
To Kurt: Ouch. Sorry :'(
To Blaine: I'll get over it. It helps people remember who I am, even if it is in some messed up Harry Potter-esque way: The Boy Who Ripped His Suit Off.
To Kurt: You know what it does to me when you reference Harry Potter, Kurt.
To Blaine: But that's exactly why I do it, Blaine.
To Kurt: Will Rachel and Finn be gone long enough tonight that we can Skype in privacy?
To Blaine: Yes. Rachel insists that the living room is the wrong color so she's dragging Finn around for paint swatches and samples which, knowing her, will take hours.
To Kurt: Good. God, I miss you.
To Blaine: I miss you too, more than life itself.
To Kurt: Three weeks.
To Blaine: Three weeks. I love you.
To Kurt: I love you too. Forever.
To Kurt: Hey Kurt, not to interrupt this sickeningly adorable lovefest, but Schue is giving us all the stink eye because me and the rest of the females in Glee are reading you and Blaine's messages over Blaine's shoulder (not like that's hard to do-Kurtie, I love you, but Blaine is a hobbit) and we're all squealing at the gooey adorableness and it's distracting Schue's attempts to get us to listen.
To Blaine: Hello, Sophie.
An hour later, after Blaine convinced Sophie to take his phone out of her bra and give it back to him, they were sitting in the living room of the Anderson home, attempting to work on their homework.
Attempting being the operative word.
About fifteen minutes in, Blaine had finished his Calculus homework and taken out his guitar. Mindless strumming turned into a few Disney songs which turned into Blaine playing 'Teenage Dream' and trying not to cry about the fact that he and Kurt were a thousand miles apart and he had to go three weeks without seeing his boyfriend's face. Although the fact that they were rarely out of each other's company for more than a few hours over the course of the summer had probably hindered the impending separation more than it helped, he wouldn't trade that golden summer with Kurt for anything.
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Also, let me now if I should continue this. I want to, but this is my first ever Klaine fic and I don't know if I got it right or not.