Blaine was meeting Kurt in the Lima shopping centre with plans to purchase Carole's birthday present. But he had arrived too early. He received a text from Kurt informing him that he was on the way; Rachel had an existential crisis and he was needed to clean up the mess. In the end, Blaine was 15 minutes early. He stopped to get a sugared pretzel and planned to window shop to pass time. He was in the plaza, walking idly and checking his phone once in a while and humming a Katy Perry single when he felt a tug on his wool cardigan.
"Excuse me, sir. Is it okay if you look after Scruffles for 2 minutes? I need to go to the loo." A young boy asked, he was pointing at a white and green cage on a bench in the middle of the plaza.
"Sure!" Blaine agreed readily.
He ambled over to the bench and plopped down next to the cage, staring at the pet with twinkling eyes. Scruffles was running diligently in his hamster wheel.
"Hiya buddy! My name's Blaine."
Childlike curiosity flashed in his features as he poke a finger in between one of the vertical white bars and wriggled his finger, causing the hamster to pause his exercise to examine the foreign finger. He quickly removed it when he realised the hamster had begun to nibble his finger. His brows furrowed, fearing he might expose the critter to infections.
He hears a loud thump before he looked up to find an elderly lady bending to pick up a pile of books just 5 feet away from him. He shot up immediately and helped the lady out, using one of his knees to support his weight as he picked the scattered books on the ground and stacked them on his hands.
"Thank you, young man," Blaine hands over the stack of books to the woman, who placed it back into her trolley of groceries.
"That's a lovely collection of books you have, Miss." Blaine complimented, earning a giggle from the woman. She gave Blaine a tender smile before strolling off in the opposite direction.
Blaine turned around just in time to see a paunchy man sitting himself on the bench, and to Blaine's bewilderment, right on top of something that gave out with a crack.
He blinked owlishly, his jaw was slacked as understanding dawned on him. Horrified, Blaine ran back to the bench.
"Sir, can you please stand up, you're sitting on a hamster's cage." Blaine requested calmly, although his voice cracking at the edge.
The man stood up to reveal a cage, crushed beyond repair. Blaine cannot imagine what Scruffles had become, broken and beyond repair. A sound choked out of his throat and panic flared. He haunches over the cage and quickly examined it. he tried to pry the squashed cage open but it would not bulge.
"Oh Scruffles no," Blaine sobbed.
"Sorry dude," the voice said above him, the man hovered nearby, standing stiffly. Blaine realised he was wearing tinted sunglasses and was holding a cane.
"No, it's not your fault. You didn't see a cage there." Blaine quickly reassured, swiping off a stray tear.
If Blaine wasn't too torn up about Scruffles, he would catch the blind man being taken aback by his answer. But nevertheless, he walked away hastily.
With his head in his hands, Blaine tried to think of a reasonable explanation for the poor boy. He imagined what would be like if someone killed his pet, and it wasn't a good picture.
"Hello, I'm back!" the boy announced as he bounced toward Blaine, a dopey grin etched on his features. He stops short to glance at the crushed cage next to Blaine.
"Where's Scruffles?" the boy questioned gravely, staring at the broken cage. Blaine raised his head, his eyes swimming with tears and his lips wobbled.
"I'm so sorry! I wasn't paying attention to Scruffles, he was such a cute critter and it was my fault that he died so young," Blaine spluttered.
He swiped his nose again and trained his eyes to the floor, his head bowed with his hands scrunched up. He whispered, "Scruffles is in a better place now, judging by the amount he exercised, I'm sure there will be a lot of sunflower seeds waiting for him in Hamster Heaven."
The boy was taken aback by Blaine's outburst, his dopey grin returning again. He tugged his arm and pointed to the line of indoor potted plant next to a store across the plaza.
"Sir, I'm sorry to say this but you're on Just for Laughs." The boy directed his gaze at a hidden camera, stationed beside two identical potted plants; there was a guy with a headphones and sunglasses waving at him.
"I-is Scruffles alive?" The boy nodded his response. Blaine exhaled a breath he didn't realise he was holding when the boy announce he was being pranked. He felt his cheek flush as he laughed off his embarrassment. The crew manning the camera patted his shoulder and applauded him for being a good sport. Blaine was still rooted to the ground when someone tapped his shoulder.
"You know, I've been doing this prank to a lot of people today and you're the only one that didn't blame me for what I did." It was the very same man that sat on the – thankfully empty – cage. He removed his tinted sunglasses to reveal perfectly capable eyes.
"Why could it be your fault? You're blind, I mean not really, but you know when you're being in character."
"I have a cousin who's born blind, and believe me when I say this, but a lot of people can blame him for stuff that wasn't clearly his fault." The man stated, albeit sadly. Blaine nods in sympathy, giving the guy a sad smile.
"You don't mind if we use this on television, would you?" the guy behind the camera interrupted.
Three weeks later, Kurt and Blaine were lodging at the Hummel-Hudson household, watching a rerun of Grey's Anatomy when Blaine took a glance at his watch and scrabbled forward to change the channel. He was looking at his watch quite frequently ever since he stepped into Kurt's house. Before Kurt could protest, the indent for Just for Laughs flashed across the screen.
"If you hated Dr. Jackson Avery that much, you could have just told me." Kurt says, crossing his arms and pouted.
"Trust me on this, Kurt." Blaine leaned closer to his fiancé and gave him a pleading look; Kurt rolled his eyes but relented anyways.
Blaine snuggled closer into Kurt as the first act was being played: an alien popping out of the bush and chased the nearby passerbys. Blaine laughed as he saw the mollified expressions of unsuspecting subjects, and although Kurt finds Just for Laughs ridiculous and unamusing, he can't help but crack a smile at his fiancé.
Blaine watched as a flash of recognition from Kurt's face as he appeared on screen. Smiling at the boy as he, as Kurt claimed later during the break, flounced to the bench and chatted happily to the critter. Pure concern shone over his face as he rushed over to help the old lady out. The scene changes to show things that Blaine didn't notice while he was helping out the lady, a pair of stocky men lifting a block of wood passed Scruffle's cage. A lady hiding behind the block speedily swaps Scruffles' cage to a crushed empty one, before turning to the camera and winked cheekily.
Blaine shifted his gaze to at Kurt as he gauges his reactions. Kurt was in awe, his mouth parted slightly and his eye transfixed to the television, when it was revealed it was a prank, he watched as a small smile grew on Kurt's face.
"That guy is such a sensitive soul," Kurt commented after on-screen Blaine disappeared.
"Honestly, I think that guy is a little melodramatic," Blaine
"But he is cute so that kind of evens out the deal, I wonder if he's taken though." Kurt pursed his lips and tapped his chin playfully.
"Even if he almost killed a hamster?'
"Even if he almost killed a hamster." Kurt reaffirmed, bowing his head to kiss Blaine on his lips.