(A/N: Hi, thanks for all the support, meaning reviews, favorites, alerts or just reads. The site does say that you can add up to three (or four?) characters now for the summary thing/story info, but I'm not sure if that realy shows up, just know that the characters for this fic are Blaine, Sebastian and Kurt, in case any of them did not show up-not sure if that's even important, but oh well. thank you again for support, I hope you enjoy the chapter!)
"No! Stay away! Please!" Blaine was curled into himself, huddled in the corner of a dark room with endless space, a dark figuring slowly creeping towards him, his own voice sounded childishly young to his ears. The warped and twisted fingers of the black figure wrapped around his thin arms as the faceless man pounced on him. Blaine screamed.
"Shh…Blaine, it's alright. It's me, Blaine, I'm here."
Blaine's eyes searched wildly for the soft, comforting voice as the cold hands of the black figure began tying his wrists and covering his mouth.
"Blaine, calm down, pet." the voice cooed again and now Blaine could hear the voice echoing from his left. He snapped his head to the side, desperately seeking out the owner of the voice. He was instantly met with two cool, ice blue eyes.
"I'm here now, Blaine." the eyes softened as Blaine felt new, warmer hands replacing the cold ones of the black, faceless figure.
"N-Neil?" Blaine asked as the hand covering his mouth disappeared. The ice blue eyes crinkled at the corners as the man smiled.
"I've got you."
Blaine's eyes snapped open, his mind clearing instantly of blue eyes, cold hands and darkness. He should have been used to this dream by now, but it never failed to send him spiraling, waking up in a cold sweat, his heart jumping painfully in his chest. Blaine stared at the cracking ceiling above, trying desperately to take in the gasps of breath he was suddenly short of. But as the arms around his waist tightened slightly, Blaine found that the air just wouldn't come to him. He had to get out, he had to find air and space and…Sebastian.
As quietly as he could, Blaine gently moved the arm that had been wrapped around him and crept out of the bed he and Neil had been sharing. Cold air bit his bare chest as he crept on shaky legs towards the door of the bedroom, turning the knob a centimeter at a time.
Sebastian lay on the broken couch, staring up at the ceiling. The apartment barely ever had any heating, and it was cool summer nights like this that the chill was most noticeable. It was at least midnight by now and the soft, sleeping breaths of the boys around him was not the soothing sound that could usually lull Sebastian to sleep, because tonight Sebastian could only count four boys snuggled in sleeping bags on the floor, the fifth sleeping back left empty.
The other boys didn't understand why sometimes, Blaine slept in Neil's room, or why sometimes Neil took Blaine out for "special" outings, like the museum or zoo, or why sometimes Neil bought Blaine gifts or helped him shower. When Sebastian was younger, he hadn't understood it either. In fact, sometimes he had been jealous of how much special treatment Blaine got. He saw the youngest boys, Simon and Dexter, looking so jealous of Blaine sometimes, jealous of the soft smiles Neil only reserved for Blaine or the warm hugs. But they didn't understand and most of the time, Sebastian didn't even think Blaine understood.
Wrapped in blankets on the couch, Sebastian stayed wide awake, knowing Blaine would need him soon.
His eyes slipped from the cracked ceiling to Blaine's empty sleeping bag, before slowly gazing towards the white door directly opposite him from his sideways position on the couch. Minutes ticked by and as Sebastian continued gazing at the ceiling, he finally felt himself begin to drift to the soft, even breaths around him. But a soft gasp, so soft that only Sebastian's attuned, trained ears could hear, snapped Sebastian awake. He listened as he heard Blaine, struggling for breath as he woke up from another nightmare. He listened as an incredibly quiet, cat-like steps padded towards the door in the apartment's only other room. And as the door clicked open, he heard Blaine as he quietly took one step out.
"Sebastian?" he whispered and Sebastian closed his eyes momentarily, taking a deep breath. He heard Blaine take another step, "A-are you awake?"
"Yeah, of course." Sebastian finally said, counting the soft footsteps until Blaine's face appeared next to his, two hazel eyes flickering in the dull night light from the city outside. Blaine was kneeling in front of the couch, his arms wrapped around himself as soft shivers wracked his body.
"I-" he began, eyes searching Sebastian's for answers Sebastian could never give him, "I—I don't think—I don't think I can b-breathe, Sebastian." he finally said, his arms tightening around himself. Sebastian quickly sat up, pulling Blaine up onto the couch with him, letting Blaine lay down against his chest. He wrapped the smaller boy in one of the blankets, covering his bare torso tightly.
"Shh…Blaine, you can breathe." Sebastian whispered quietly into the dark room, "You can breathe. I'm here, breathing with you. We're both fine and we're both breathing. It was just a dream, just a dream." Blaine's hitched breathing slowly evened out, but the trembling continued and Sebastian tightened his arms around the younger boy. It took longer than it usually did for the trembling to pass.
"Was it the same dream?" Sebastian asked ten minutes later.
"Yeah." Blaine's voice was muffled against his chest, "I don't know why it scares me so much…I mean, Neil always saves me, right before I wake up." Sebastian and Blaine are quiet again; And as Blaine's words play over and over in Sebastian head, he feels the tears stinging at his eyes, because Blaine has no idea. He puts so much trust in Neil, cares about him. Sebastian doesn't know much about how Blaine came to be. Where he was born, where he used to live…how he fell into Neil's hands. But he does know that Blaine's life hadn't started this way, that he'd once been a very different boy, taken from a very different life; from something better—and if Sebastian only knew how, he'd give everything to take him back.
"Speaking of Neil, you should probably go back in there. You don't want him to be mad that you snuck out again." Sebastian said, voice thick as his throat constrained, like his body knew just how much he hated sending Blaine back there. He felt rather than saw Blaine nod his head.
"Thanks for…you know, calming me down." Blaine said quietly as he slowly got up, shivering as he unwrapped himself from the blanket.
"Yeah, don't expect me to be so nice every time." Sebastian said at the last minute as Blaine began walking back towards Neil's room, "I was asleep you know." he added, rolling his eyes for good measure. He blearily saw Blaine grin through the darkness. They both knew he was lying—on both accounts.
"Yeah, of course, Seb." Blaine whispered, "Sorry."
Sebastian grumbled in response, making Blaine laugh quietly before slipping back into Neil's room, the door closing behind him with a quiet click that made Sebastian's stomach churn. He sighed deeply as he listened to the telltale sounds of the four even breaths around him and the two in the room opposite him. He slowly pulled out a paper from his pocket, gazing at the picture printed on the paper. The paper had to be at least eight years old, worn thin, nearly falling apart in his hands, but it was all he had of what he didn't know. It gave the type of answer that asked a thousand questions, but it was proof that his life, Blaine's life, all of their lives really, weren't always meant to be like this.
"Did you get any sleep last night?"
"Yeah, I slept."
"Hey, don't lie to me Blaine, I can tell you know."
"Sorry, Neil. But I did sleep a little."
"Just a little?"
Simon was quiet as he listened to the soft voices drifting towards him from the kitchen of the apartment. Nick and Jeff were both still asleep, Dexter flipping rapidly through the few television channels the battered TV set managed to receive and Sebastian was taking a shower in the bathroom. Simon quietly peered behind the back of the couch, watching as Neil and Blaine talked, catching the end of Neil's sentence.
"…aren't you sleeping?"
"I—I don't know. Sometimes, I just can't." Blaine's reply seemed even softer than before and Simon had to strain his ears to hear. .
"Why don't you go take a nap, see if you can get more sleep, I'll be there in a minute." That was Neil.
"C-can I sleep in my sleeping bag?" Blaine asked and Simon couldn't place the odd look that flashed through Neil's eyes.
"What's wrong with the bed?"
"N-nothing!" Blaine seemed to notice the same look that Simon had, and he stumbled back instinctively, the small of his back hitting the kitchen counter behind him.
"Jesus Blaine, sometimes you're just so difficult." Neil muttered, "You can't sleep, you get sick, you can't earn the money I ask you to, you get panic attacks, the list goes on."
"I-I'm sorry." Blaine's voice fell quietly as he hung his head.
"Go to my room, take a nap." Neil finally said after a moment, "I'll bring you some NyQuil."
"Can I just watch TV with the others?"
"No," Neil said, his voice leaving no room for argument.
"Ok." Blaine said quietly and Simon quickly turned back around to face the TV as Blaine passed him on his way to Neil's room. A few minutes later, he heard Neil close the refrigerator door, muttering something before heading towards the bedroom. Simon looked over his shoulder, seeing Blaine, sitting rigidly on the edge of the bed, before the door slipped close.
Not a minute later, he heard the shower turn off, Sebastian exited the bathroom soon after, a towel wrapped around his waist. He seemed to survey the room by habit before looking at Simon.
"Where's Blaine?" he asked.
"He and Neil are taking a nap."
"Wake up Nick and Jeff and make some lunch, ok? Get Dexter to help, I think there's frozen pizza in the freezer."
"Sure." Simon said, watching as Sebastian grabbed a bundle of clothes near the bathroom door before slipping inside, glancing shortly at the closed, white door across the living room where Neil and Blaine had disappeared.
"I want to know what's wrong with Blaine."
Sebastian paused as he was slipping the third quarter into the Laundromat washing machine. Blaine was still asleep when Neil had told Sebastian to go take everyone's laundry out and so Simon had asked to join him.
"What do you mean?"
"Why does he get to sleep in Neil's room sometimes?"
"I don't know." Sebastian muttered, keeping his eyes trained steadily on the now spinning clothes.
"Yes you do." Simon insisted. Sebastian sighed wearily, his fingers pinched the bridge of his nose.
"That's just where he sleeps, alright? You sleep on the floor, I sleep on the couch, Blaine sleeps in Neil's room. That's just where he sleeps. Stop asking questions." Sebastian snapped. They were both quiet for a moment, watching the clothes spin and tumble in the machine as they sat in the uncomfortable bright red plastic chairs of the Laundromat.
"Dexter says that he thinks Blaine might be his real son, but I don't think Neil looks old enough. Neil isn't Blaine's father is he?" Simon finally broke the silence, his head filled with burning questions.
"No."
"Well then what is he?"
"What is he to you?"
"That's different. He treats Blaine like he's special. Three weeks ago he bought Blaine brand new clothes. He's never bought any of us clothes!"
"Are you jealous?" Sebastian finally turned to look at Simon, his eyes suddenly piercing, his words strangely bitter. Simon jumped slightly at the sudden anger burning in Sebastian's eyes. He stared at Sebastian as the older boy glared right back. A moment later, he looked away, the fire in his eyes fading as he gazed once again at the spinning clothes in the washing machine. Simon watched the blue clock above the machine, tapping his finger for each time he saw the second hand tick. 120 ticks later he asked his next question.
"Is there a reason I shouldn't be?" he cautiously chanced a look up at Sebastian, who's jaw tightened at the question.
"About a thousand."
Sebastian's head suddenly dropped into his hands and before his eyes slipped shut, Simon could see the anguish shining in the green depths. He leaned back in his chair, deciding that he shouldn't ask Sebastian any more questions for the day—just the few seemed to have shaken the older teen enough.
(A/N: thanks for reading! I apologize for typos/errors. I think next chapter Kurt will be introduced!)