Title: Late For Tea
Author: Silverkitsune
Warnings: None
Rating: G
Summary: There are rules to going to a movie with/without Cooper, but when Cooper doesn't hold up his end of the bargain 8-year-old Blaine figures they no longer apply.
Author's note: Thank you so wonderful tumblr user amongsoulsandshadows for betaing this for me!
I own neither Glee nor any of its characters.
Comments and critique are welcome.
At the movie theater Cooper's friend Estella bought Blaine a bucket of popcorn. It was the smallest one since he was "just a little guy," and Blaine was trying to make it last by carefully eating only one kernel at a time. If he was really patient, and ate it really slow, he maybe could make the treat last for months like Charlie from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory who only nibbled at the corner his birthday Wonka bar and made it last for months.
"You want a sip?" Estella asked, motioning to the soda in her hand.
Blaine shook his head, and daintily plucked another piece of popcorn out of his bucket.
Estella was nice, one of Cooper's only nice friends, and Blaine thought she was cool because she had bleached lines in her long black hair that were so blonde they looked white. Blaine had told her they made her look as cool and pretty as Rogue from the X-Men. Estella had hugged him very tightly, and said he was a "Sweet kid for trying to make her feel better." Whenever she knelt down to say hello Blaine always wanted to reach out and touch the white tips, but he never did. He didn't like it when people touched his hair, and mama said it was rude anyway.
Cooper jogged over from the booth, and as soon as he was close enough he slid his arms around Estella's waist. He handed Blaine a movie ticket and Blaine clutched it tightly.
"Hey baby," Cooper murmured into her ear.
"Cooper," Estella said. "He can't see this movie." She waved her ticket under Cooper's nose. "Lorelai Gilmore does Santa in the back of a car. It'll melt his brain or something."
Cooper snorted.
"I'm seeing, Elf," Blaine said, proudly. "I'm eight and can be trusted to see a movie alone."
Cooper grinned. It was the same smile he always gave their dad on allowance day.
"Exactly, squirt," Cooper said.
"He's eight?" Estella said in disbelief.
Blaine pushed his chest out and tried to stand a little taller. He wondered if standing on this tip toes would help.
"We do this all the time, Stella," Cooper said. "I see the movie I want, he sees the movie he wants, and we go right home after. Right, Blainey?"
Blaine nodded. They'd never done this any other way, and Blaine hoped that if he was really good Cooper would trust him enough to do other things like play with his stuff. Cooper never trusted him with anything. Not his guitar, or his room, or his CDs, or his Lego castle even though he never even played with his Lego castle anymore.
Estella bit her lip. "I don't know-"
"We drove all the way to the good mall to see this movie," Cooper said, pouting. "Everyone at school is already talking about how funny it is. You really want to see Elf instead? He's fine."
"I'm fine!" Blaine echoed.
A mixture of popcorn butter and sweat was making the movie ticket in Blaine's closed hand grow damp, and he slid the ticket into his pocket.
"Okay," Estalla said, though her frown didn't go away. "If you've done it before then I guess it's okay."
Cooper kissed her on the cheek, and more than a little of her uncertainty melted away.
The rules that came with seeing a movie with/without Cooper were pretty simple. Cooper dropped him off in front of whatever theater Blaine's movie was playing in, and Blaine was to go inside and not leave it. Not for anything. Not even to go to the bathroom or if the fire alarm went off. If anyone asked why Blaine was alone he was to say that his brother was at the snack stand and would be right back. He was to wait in the theater until Cooper came to get him. Most importantly, he wasn't ever supposed to tell his mom or their dad that he'd been by himself. Since Blaine was so good at this Cooper always got him candy, and Blaine was allowed to sit wherever he wanted.
They usually weren't hard rules to follow (Except the bathroom one, but Blaine always made sure to go before Cooper dropped him off), but that was usually because Blaine was always excited for the movie. When he'd seen Finding Nemo he'd even begged Cooper to go see another movie and let Blaine see it again. (He hadn't). Blaine really wanted to see Elf, but after the theater had grown dark and quite and the movie started Blaine felt his stomach drop. This wasn't Elf.
Blaine took a whole handful of the popcorn and shoved it into his mouth. He tried to watch the movie, because he'd told Cooper he wouldn't leave, but the other movie was boring. It had the Cat in the Hat in it. Blaine hated the Cat in the Hat. He never explained anything. Blaine wiggled, and let himself slide down until his butt was almost off the seat.
Cooper was so stupid. And Blaine was even stupider for not checking the ticket before Cooper dropped him off. He should have reminded Cooper, because Cooper never remembered anything! If he'd just been smarter he'd be watching the right movie I instead of this.
Blaine sighed, and kicked his feet out, accidentally striking the seat in front of him a few times. He froze when the seat's occupant stood up. A man, huge and looming in the dark of the theater turned to glare at him. Blaine froze.
"Don't. Do that. Again," the man warned. He pointed at him, like Cooper had recently started doing for some reason, and Blaine felt his stomach twist.
"Sorry," Blaine whispered. Wiling the man to sit back down and go away. "Sorry."
The shadow ducked away, and Blaine sat back up. His hands were wet again, and he nervously wiped them against his pants. When he was sure the man wasn't going to turn around again he wound his scarf around his neck, made sure his mittens were still in the pockets of his jacket, and headed for the door.
The rules, he figured, only really applied when Cooper made sure to buy the right ticket for the right movie; the one that had Santa and singing and adults who didn't yell at him.
The quiet of the lobby was startling after the blasting music and manic giggles from the Cat in the Hat, and Blaine wandered away occasionally glancing over his shoulder as though someone would appear to drag him back. He kept walking until he was out of the theater and back in the mall.
There were Christmas decorations everywhere, and Blaine rocked back and forth on his heels uncertainly. The mall was filled with people, and their voices echoed and jumbled together along with the Christmas music in a loud cacophony of sound. The Santa's Village had been set up across the way, and for a minute he considered getting in line with all the other children, but both his father and Cooper had told him that Santa was for babies, and more importantly not real. He'd still get presents if he was good, but those presents would come from his mother and father not a giant man in a red suit. The only other places Blaine knew of in the mall were the food court, and the book store.
The food court was on the other side of the mall and up an escalator so Blaine crossed it off the list immediately, but he could do lots of things at the bookstore. He and his mom were almost finished with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory so even if he couldn't buy a book he could get an idea of what they should read next.
Decision made Blaine checked behind him one last time, and then started walking.
The bookstore was huge. It took up almost an entire wing of the mall making it just as important as the JCPennys or the Sears. Blaine wandered through the shelves and past the customer service desk, heading for the children's section. He was so intent on finding the right book shelves filled with all the right books that he almost walked right past the picnic.
There were blankets spread out across the floor all around a microphone that had been set up in the very back. On the blankets sat little girls in pretty dresses with older women who might have been their mothers or sisters. Most of them were holding dolls and a few were flipping through books.
There were plates full of finger-sandwiches and cookies being passed around, and Blaine was surprised to see that each of the girls was sipping tea out of real teacups.
A woman who looked a little bit like his mom, a comparison that was immediately gone the moment she smiled at him because Blaine's mom rarely smiled, caught his eye. There were two little girls sitting with her. The woman said something, stood up and walked away. One of the girls motioned Blaine over and he hesitantly joined her.
She was wearing a green, black and red dress with gold ribbons braided into her black hair. Long black gloves went up her arms and bunched at her elbows. She nodded in greeting when Blaine reached the edge of the blanket. The girl sitting next to her had a huge blue velvet hat perched on top of her head, and the lacy black veil hung off the front completely hiding her face. Long dark blue gloves went up to her elbows and matched the blue silk of her dress. She'd kicked her shoes off, and her bare toes wiggled at Blaine.
The girl with the ribbons spoke first.
"Hello," she said.
"Hello," Blaine said.
"Do you want my tea?" she asked.
"What?"
The girl held out her tea cup. "I like this tea party a lot. Everything except the tea, but mom says I can't waste it. Do you want it?"
Blaine glanced around and saw that a woman with a large bucket was letting the girls dump their full tea cups. The amber liquid sloshed against the sides, and the woman moved carefully around the room with the rapidly filling bucket.
"It's still warm," the girl said. "Sit down. If you drink my tea I'll also give you my sandwich and one of my cookies."
Blaine considered the deal for a moment. His dad liked tea. He was always reminding his mother of how much better it was than coffee, especially in the mornings while she drank her morning cup. Stretching his arms out he accepted the cup, and carefully held the delicate china. He took a sip and then wrinkled his nose.
"I'm Agatha," said the girl. "Like the saint."
"I'm Blaine, like," Blaine paused. "Um, I don't know like what."
"This is Tina Cohen-Chang," Agatha said proudly, as though she'd been practicing it for weeks. "She's my best friend."
Tina didn't lift the veil, and the tea cup disappeared under the web of black mesh.
"Do you like the tea?" Blaine asked, politely.
Tina shrugged.
"I don't mind the drink, but I thought the party would be more like the one in Alice," Tina said. Reaching into the folds of her skirts she produced a small unopened jar. "I brought jam and everything."
"Don't be stupid," Agatha huffed. "That tea party was fake. You can't copy a fake tea party."
Tina didn't say anything, but Blaine saw her quietly steal one of Agatha's cookies. He took another sip of his tea. He didn't like it, but it was nice to drink and hold something warm against his skin. Agatha handed him the promised food, and he dunked a vanilla cookie into the drink.
"What's all this for?" Blaine asked as the cookie went soggy.
"We're being American Girls," Agatha said. "Like our dolls."
She held her doll out for Blaine's inspection. It was almost as large as a real baby with brown skin and dark brown eyes. Her black hair had been braided, the ends held together with gold silk ribbons, and minus the gloves her party dress was an exact replica of the one Agatha wore.
"I have Addy with me," she said. "And I have Molly at home. They're my favorites."
"Do you have a doll?" Blaine asked Tina.
"No, they don't have an Asian one yet," Tina said. "Besides, I only really want the books."
"Tina," Agatha sighed. "I told you, you can make your own doll that can be Asian! Didn't you look in the back of the catalog I showed you?"
Tina shrugged. "I don't want one without a story."
Agatha rolled her eyes, and then took a long look at Blaine. "If you want to stay at the tea party I think you need to be dressed appropriately."
She pulled the gloves off of her hands, and then gestured for Blaine's own.
"I like these, but Addy doesn't have them so it's okay for me to give them to you for a while," she said.
Tina nodded enthusiastically.
"Take your coat off!" Agatha ordered.
Blaine obliged. His shirt was short sleeved, and his whale pants were on so he was dressed pretty well. "You should never go out looking less than your best" his mother always said as she gelled his hair down every morning.
"Wow, you look pretty dressed up already," Agatha said as she tugged the silky gloves over his hands.
Blaine smiled.
The chatter around them suddenly grew softer and then died completely as the woman that Blaine had thought looked like his mom (And she was only his mom. Never Cooper's mom as Cooper was fond of saying, very loudly, all the time.) walked to the microphone.
"That's my mom!" Agatha whispered excitedly. "She's going to read to us! And she's going to read Addy because I asked her to!"
Blaine sat up a little straighter, and put the half empty tea cup into his lap. The gloves made his grip slippery and he didn't want to drop the cup and make a mess on the blanket. He liked being read to. The only time his mom ever smiled was during their reading time. Right after she'd finish the chapter she'd always touch his face before she put the bookmark in and turned the light out.
"Here."
Blaine started as a hat was placed atop his head, and the black mesh covered his face.
Confused, Blaine looked to Tina.
"You can't just wear the gloves," she said, softly. "You'll look silly."
"Shhhh," Agatha broke in. "Quiet!"
Blaine worried for a moment that the book would be boring, like the movie he'd abandoned, but as Agatha's mother spoke her strong smooth voice pulled Blaine into the life of a girl not very much older than himself who was escaping from slavery with her mother.
It was nice to hide behind Tina's veil with the slowly cooling tea cup cradled in his hands. He was happy to lose himself in the woman's voice, so different from his own mother's in volume, but not in strength. When the chapter was over and the book closed, Blaine cried aloud at having the story taken away even as he made sure to clap politely.
He felt empty, and desperately hungry for the rest of the book, but the people around him were standing and gathering up plates and blankets. Blaine wildly considered stealing the book. Hiding it underneath his jacket so that he could run back to the movie theater and make Cooper read the rest to him before they got home. He was worried and sick over what was happening to Addy.
"Blaine?" Tina asked softly. "I need my hat back."
Blaine pulled the hat off from his head, immediately missing the dark private cave it had constructed where only he and the story had lived. He pulled one glove off, and began to run his hands over the silky material that covered his arm.
"You can keep those if you want," Agatha said. "I really don't like them. They make my hands all sweaty."
Blaine thanked her, and then headed back to the movie theater before Agatha's mom could come back to the blanket to ask where his mom or dad or (stupid, stupid, stupid) Cooper were.
He found Cooper and Estella in the lobby of the theater standing nose-to-nose and giggling with one another.
"Oh, good!" Cooper said when he noticed him. "You found your own way out! That shows good initiative Blaine. Trusting your instincts is essential to the acting process."
He patted him on the head, and Blaine followed Cooper back as if in a dream, still too wrapped up in the unfinished story to be annoyed that Cooper's rules held so little weight when tested.
They finished Charlie and the Chocolate Factory that night, and while Blaine liked Charlie quite a bit he could barely concentrate on his final adventures in the factory with his grandfather and crazy Willy Wonka (Who was too close a cousin to the Cat in the Hat for Blaine to like or trust). He was still thinking too much about Addy.
"Mom," Blaine asked when his mother had closed the book for good, no need for a bookmark tonight. "What are we reading next?"
"We have Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator." She crouched next to his bed to flip on his nightlight.
Blaine squirmed under the covers. "What if I wanted to read a book with a girl on the cover?"
His mother straightened, and tucked a lock of her long hair behind her ear. "Like what?"
Blaine told her and she thought it over looking off to the side the way she usually did when she was puzzling out a response. She did that with a lot of Blaine's questions.
"Where did you hear about this book?"
'Um," Blaine's mind went blank. "Estella was talking about it. Because her sister is reading it."
"Estella?" His mother's thick eyebrows furrowed, and then her whole face opened up as her brain made the correct connection. "Ah, yes. Her poor hair."
"She looks just like Rogue!" Blaine said. "It's awesome!"
The corner of his mom's mouth twitched and her eyes grew soft. She leaned over to give Blaine a hug.
"Yes, that book will be fine, but if you father sees it tell him it's for school." She paused. "Tell Cooper the same thing if he asks. He's always so... loud about things."
She straightened his blanket, and then touched the top of his head gently. "I'll go to the library tomorrow."
Blaine smiled wide even while a part of him howled to have the ending in his hands right this minute. "Night."
"Good-night."
Blaine turned over in his bed, and curled into a ball. He needed to finish the story. It wasn't just excitement and anticipation that were clawing through his stomach like a cat. He felt hollowed out and raw by some of the things that had happened to the girl in the book, and he needed to make sure she was okay before he could okay.
He wondered if that was strange, but before he could worry about it too much slipped off into sleep.