Title: The Sun is a Flower (That Blooms for Just One Hour)
Rating: G
Pairings: Klaine
Spoilers: None
Warnings (if any): None other than it's un-betad.
Word Count: 1400
Summary: The people of Venus had waited seven years for this day. For these two hours. And for two of those people, these two hours were crucial.
Author's Note: This is based off of 'All Summer in a Day' by Ray Bradbury. I remember reading this story in elementary school, and it's always stuck with me. Just one of those stories, I guess. Let me know what you think! And follow me on tumblr!
The Sun is a Flower (That Blooms for Just one Hour)
"Is it really happening today?"
"When?"
"Is it happening now?"
"No, soon, soon."
"Should we even believe the scientists?"
"Santana! Look!"
The students of William McKinley High School pressed their faces against the windows, faces upturned, looking at the familiar gloomy, grey skies of Venus.
It was always raining. It rained yesterday. It was raining today. It was going to rain tomorrow. Every day for seven years, the inhabitants of Venus listened to or tuned out the steady drum of rain against their roofs. Today was no different.
Except it was.
"Holy crap, it's stopping!"
"Shit!"
Two students stood away from their friends. Two students who often stood away from their friends. But always close to one another.
Kurt Hummel and Blaine Anderson were the only two students in their whole school could remember the sun. The only two who had lived on Earth before their families moved to Venus. They could remember the warm yellow light. They could remember it streaming through their windows in the morning. They remembered the scorching orange glow as it set at night. They talked about it sometimes, about their time on Earth. Their time in Ohio.
Kurt often wore bright yellow on days he was feeling particularly gloomy. On days where he needed a reminder that the sun really did exist. Blaine almost lived for those days where Kurt wore yellow. Because now without the sun to warm him on the outside, he needed Kurt to warm him on the inside.
As they watched their friends contemplate the falling rain and how it appeared to be slowing, they couldn't imagine never knowing the sun. The last time the sun came out, their friends had been one or two years old. Barely old enough to remember, but just the right age to forget.
The day before, Mr. Schuester had them sing songs about the sun. Rachel's song was ridiculous, consisting of brushing her hair in the sunshine. Which when Kurt and Blaine thought about it, they agreed that it was more about her hairbrush than the sun.
Kurt and Blaine, however, they had been missing the sun since they left Earth.
Everyone else also sang upbeat, happy songs. Some songs didn't even have anything to do with the sun itself, just mentioned the word in the lyrics.
Kurt and Blaine, however, always felt as if they'd never see the sun again. Even if they knew it appeared every seven years. It still felt as if it were gone forever, especially with all the rain.
And as the two boys sang their song, the rest of the club realized it wasn't upbeat or happy. It was so melancholy and so defeated; it brought them down.
"Maybe soon the storm will be
Tired of blowin'.
Maybe soon it all will be over, amen.
How do you go on, if there's no way
Of knowin'?
Will the sun ever shine?
Wish I could say.
Send me a sign-
One little ray.
Lord, if you're listenin', how long
Until then?
Will the sun ever shine again?"
"Wow, guys, that was great," Mr. Schuester said with a nod when they finished.
"That was way too depressing for such a joyous, spectacular event," Rachel said with a frown, arms crossed over her chest.
"I feel sad now," Brittany said, her shoulders slumping. "Is the sun not coming?"
"Look what you did!" Santana snarled, wrapping her arms around the blond.
Blaine and Kurt just took their seats in the back row, fingers interlaced, and ankles locked.
But today was different. Today the rain was starting to slow. And they were out of the relative safety the choir room provided them. Today they were crowded in the gym, it had huge windows and the whole student body could fit comfortably. The teachers were doing their best to keep everyone in their seats, but not one student could take their eyes off the slowing rain.
Except, of course, Kurt and Blaine.
Most students stayed away from them. They were both thin and despite their brightly colored clothes, often looked so pale and maybe even grey. Like the rain had washed all color from them. Kurt's eyes had been a vivid blue back on Earth, but now they'd washed out to a dull slate. Blaine's own eyes used to be the color of warm honey, but now they just looked like driftwood that had all the color beaten out if by unforgiving waves. Blaine used to have warm, sun kissed skin. It had faded into a somewhat sickly yellow shade while Kurt's skin was completely void of all color. He looked like a ghost sometimes, wandering the halls, hoping to catch just one glimpse of sunshine.
"What are you fags staring at?"
Kurt startled and looked, his stomach dropping when he noticed it was David Karofsky and Azimio Adams.
"Nothing," Kurt said, his tone not matching is stature.
"You checkin' us out or somethin'" Azmio asked, his lip curled in disgust.
"No," Blaine said, looking equally disgusted at the thought.
"You two freaks think you're gonna see the sun, huh?"
They said nothing. They were always goaded about the fact that they were from Earth. Always asked what the sun looked like. What it felt like. And then they were called liars. Shoved into lockers, laughed at, taunted, and generally discredited.
Kurt's father was thinking of moving the family back to Earth, back into the sunshine. Burt couldn't stand to see his son wilting and drowning in the rain. Blaine had also heard his parents murmuring late into the night. The move to Venus had been expensive and the move back would be equally so, but to have sunshine again would make every penny worth it.
Finn had let that one slip, and so he, Blaine, and Kurt were harassed for that as well.
"Hey, you know what, Azimio?" Karofsky asked, his face donning a malicious grin.
"What?"
"Since these two queers are goin' back to Earth, they won't mind waiting a bit longer, huh?"
"That's right," Azimio agreed, taking a step forward.
Before the two could move away, call for help, do anything. The two jocks grabbed them, and at that moment, the teachers opened the doors. The rain had stopped. Quickly, Karofsky and Azimio charged into the locker rooms and shoved the boy into the storage closet. They shoved the rack of weights against the door and tore out into the gym and into the sunshine.
While the rest of the student body ran, threw footballs, laughed, and all around had a good time, Kurt and Blaine sat in the dark.
They huddled together, knowing that the sun was out. Knowing they were missing it. They wilted a bit more.
The girls did cheerleading routines, some laid out, hoping to get a real tan, not one from a tanning bed.
No one noticed the absence of the two boys who needed the sun's rays the most.
"Oh no!"
Everyone stopped and looked, startled by the pure despair of the voice. Brittany stood, stock still, her arm outstretched, palm up. In her palm was a single drop of water.
"San, is it really going to be seven more years?"
"Yeah, Britt."
And then it started to rain. Lightly at first, but growing in intensity. The faculty was quick to hurry everyone back inside and seal the doors once again.
"Where's Kurt and Blaine?" Finn asked with a wide grin.
Everyone in Glee club looked around, not seeing their friends everywhere.
"I didn't see them outside," Tina said slowly.
At that moment the jocks walked past, laughing and high fiving. And then Sam heard the words 'fags', 'locker room', and 'missed it!' fall from their lips.
"Oh, God," he muttered and took off. The rest of the club followed, not sure where he was going, but they knew they had to follow. When Sam entered the locker room and looked around, his heart pounded. He wasn't quite sure what he was looking for.
"There!" Finn exclaimed, pointing towards the weight rack against the closet door.
"Kurt? Blaine?" Sam called, his voice wavering slightly
They were met with chilling silence.
Carefully, the boys moved the rack out of the way and slowly opened the door. Their hearts in their stomachs, knowing that these two hours did more damage than the last seven years.