A/N: Warning: Severe Blangst ahead, read at your own risk.
Chp. 2
The morning sun streams through the windows of Blaine's small bedroom. His long eyelashes flutter open and he rubs the sleep from his eyes as he rolls over onto his back. Staring at the ceiling, a chilling ice starts to cover his stomach at the thought of what today holds.
Blaine's father had to relocate because of his job so he dragged his wife, son, and daughter with him. Blaine was about to enter his last year at Dalton Academy with all of his friends. He was supposed to undergo the Choosing Ceremony with them. He was supposed to be with them back in Chicago. Instead, he's in Lima, Ohio about to attend a brand new school.
Blaine shakes the selfish thoughts from his head. He's not supposed to think about himself – only about others. He should think about how this is such a great opportunity for his dad and how this is a perfect opportunity for himself to grow as a person.
He rolls off the bed and heads to his closet. Blaine sighs heavily. Sliding back the door, he reveals the multiple grey robes his Faction must wear in order to blend into the crowd and not draw attention to themselves.
This frame of mind has never been easy for Blaine. He's had to learn how to hide behind the mask of selflessness. It's not that's he's selfish by any means; he just wants to be able to be himself and to carry himself with pride.
He consistently feels like he isn't in the right Faction. He likes the way his sleep shirt clings to his chest and really defines his muscles. He wants to be able to wear something other than the hideous potato sack he dons every day. He wants to be able to grow out his hair to see what his outrageous curls do when they have the freedom to do so.
But then he looks at his family. They are so preoccupied with others they barely notice themselves. How much his dad cares about his co-workers and how much his mother cares about the neighbors and gives everything for their family. What really breaks his heart is when he looks at his younger sister, Alie.
She is the epitome of Abnegation morals. She truly loves others more than herself and it is in her nature to think of them before her. Blaine once watched her help an elderly Amity woman across the street at the age of six.
Blaine's fifteen now and Alie's nine. He believes he's still growing, but he's been stuck at the same height for a while now and he's losing hope.
Opening the closet door further, he pulls out one of the grey robes. Tossing it on the bed, he sheds all his layers. Blaine once again remembers he doesn't have a mirror – he isn't allowed to look at himself.
Abnegation doesn't allow its members a mirror because that would tempt them to selfishness and pull their focus away from others. But Blaine yearns to see himself entirely.
Running his fingers through his unruly curls, he sighs. Just like every other day, today he is going to live the life of Blaine Anderson of Abnegation. He slips the robe on over his shoulders and ties it closed with a thin rope. Grabbing his book bag, he pads out of his room and down the hall to the kitchen.
The smell of bacon and eggs wafts through the air and he sees his mother working over the hot stove and his dad at the kitchen table hidden behind a newspaper. The typical Anderson morning.
"Morning, honey!" His mother beams up at him from the eggs and he knows his automatic action is to set the table before she's done.
Setting his bag down by his chair next to his father, he maneuvers around the kitchen fetching plates, forks, and knives. Placing them carefully around the table, his dad folds up his paper.
"Morning, son. Sleep well?" Truth is, Blaine slept awfully. He couldn't help thinking how kids here were going to treat him considering he went to an all-Abnegation school in Chicago. He had heard gruesome stories about bullying against Abnegation kids in regular schools and his subconscious had taken the liberty of making it worse for him. But he didn't admit any of that.
Blaine responded without a hitch, "Quite well actually. And how was your sleep, Dad?"
His voice lowers a few octaves and he pretends to rub his back, "Well, son, as you get older it becomes harder to get any sort of sleep at all. Especially with such loud children running around all the time…"
Blaine lets out a short chuckle and exclaims, "Dad…" which overlaps perfectly when the voice behind him says, "Oh really?"
Alie runs into the room and throws her arms over dad's shoulders, smothering him in a hug. Dad's bellowing laughter mixes with her tinkling giggles perfectly in the small kitchen. Blaine looks over at his mom and she smiles affectionately at the two of them.
"Mornin' Pumpkin!" he laughs into her hair.
"Good Morning, Dad!", she squirms under his tickling fingers and races around the kitchen to where mom is standing at the stove and hugs her around the waist. "Morning, Mom! Can I help serve breakfast?"
Mom laughs, "Of course you can, sweetie." She hands her the plate of eggs while she takes the bacon and orange juice to the table. Blaine realizes that he's still standing next to the table and he hasn't helped nearly as much as he could have. He can feel the short gaze from his father, but he doesn't receive any lecture this time.
Breakfast goes as usual. Mom and Dad make polite conversation, always asking about each other and whether Alie or Blaine is excited for their new school. Blaine tries to keep his Abnegation mask up and alert for selflessness, but his growing anxiety about his first day keeps him mostly quiet.
When they all help clean up the dishes, the Anderson's head to the front door to say their goodbyes for the day. Before Blaine turns to walk out the front door with Alie, his dad grabs him by the shoulder.
"Blaine." His voice is soft, but his eyes are hard. "I know this is going to be hard for you. I understand that. This isn't going to be easy, but I want you to stay strong."
Blaine blinks a few times and then nods slowly. His father has never said anything of that nature to him before. And he's not so sure he's only talking about his new school. And it scares him more than he could ever imagine.
They walk amongst people from Abnegation towards the nearest cross-Faction school, a few random Faction children can be seen heading the same way they are, but its mostly Abnegation. The walk to school is not too long, but it gives him some time to talk to Alie and get her ready for what she's about to face.
"Alie – " Blaine begins but his younger sister interrupts him.
"Blaine, I know." Blaine snaps his jaw shut and looks hard at her. Her usual smile is gone and has been replaced with the expressionless face that Abnegation wear in public. "I know we're going to be treated differently. People are going to look at us and say mean things."
"Yes, but Alie that's not everything. They are going to treat us like dirt. It's not like in Chicago where we had fellow Abnegation around us all the time. Not only are we going to be the minority, but we're not going to have others like us here. We –" Blaine stops. He was about to say we have to take care of ourselves, but he knew that would come out the wrong way.
Her blues eyes searched his and she whispered, "I know." Blaine's heart squeezes inside his chest and he feels her take his hand. He bites his lip and stares straight ahead at the somber-looking building that awaits them. He won't be able to protect Alie from what he knows will happen to her, she will be on the lower floor for younger Faction members.
Hand in hand, they merge with the other colored Factions into the small door at the base of the building. He immediately picks out the Dauntless, dressed in all black with various piercings and colored hair. Leaning up against the wall next to the doors where everyone files in, they see him too and he quickly looks away. Blaine tugs Alie through the hallway on the first floor to a stairwell. Thankfully, no one is there. He leans up against a wall and hadn't even realized he was breathing hard until his breath is the only thing to be heard.
"Blaine? Are you okay?" he peers down at Alie. She looks nervous. "You're holding my hand really tight." He slowly releases her hand at these words and takes a deep breath.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Let's just get you to your first class, okay?" he leads the way up the first flight of stairs and then out into the hallway. For once, Blaine is the tallest person in the area.
"Don't get too excited, Blaine." Alie says catching his faint smile. Checking lists posted on the nearest wall, Blaine determines that Alie's first class is just around the corner.
"Oh, Faction History is my favorite!" Alie exclaims next to him as they approach the classroom. Blaine laughs but cringes on the inside because he really does hate that class.
"Alright, well you have fun, okay? Here's your classroom." Before Blaine could so much as wave, Alie catches him around the middle and hugs him. Not surprised, Blaine kisses her hair and squeezes her once before prying her off of him. He gives her a smile and she smiles back before walking into her classroom to take a seat.
Turning, Blaine makes his way to the stairwell again to head up to the top floor where his class should be. However, he wasn't expecting to come face-to-face with a Dauntless boy almost two feet taller than him immediately after he opened the stairwell door.
Not only is the boy taller, but he has shockingly blue hair covering his head in one strip from forehead to neck. Trying to keep his cool, Blaine extends an arm in greeting.
"Hi, how are you? My name is Blaine." A fake smile appears on Blaine's face despite the frozen state of the rest of his body. The boy steps closer and stares down at him. His arm reaches out and grabs Blaine's extended arm roughly, jerking him forward so they are nose-to-nose.
"Puck." He pushes Blaine back and lets go of his arm so that he hits the wall behind them. Puck shoves his hands in his pockets and looks him up and down. "How old are you?" Blaine straightens up, feeling the inevitable bruise begin to form on his back, and tries not to frown at the boy questioning him. He should be the one asking questions. And why wasn't he beaten to a bloody pulp right now?
"Uh, fifteen." Blaine chokes out and then regains his Abnegation demeanor, "And how old are you?" Puck nods at the number and ignores his question.
"You're new right?" Blaine wanted to know if it was that obvious, but he didn't ask since Puck didn't seem to be too keen on answering his questions. Blaine gave him a short nod.
Puck doesn't say anything in return, he just simply turns around and heads up the stairs. Baffled by this Dauntless boy, Blaine has no choice but to follow him upstairs.
Staying a good few feet behind him and saying nothing, Puck and Blaine develop a good rhythm. Blaine has to go a bit quicker to keep up because of his shorter legs, but he's just glad nothing worse has happened yet.
Once they reach the top floor, Blaine nearly runs into Puck again because he's stopped at the top of the stairs. Crossing his arms, he says, "Look. I may be Dauntless, but I'm not an asshole. I'm going to warn you now, new kid. I can't protect you from my Faction up here. It would make me look bad. But I can at least give you a heads up."
Blaine nods. He understands the need to fit into your Faction.
"I'm going to head into the hall. Wait a few minutes and then you can follow. I'll try to get them away from the door, but truthfully they're going to be looking for new meat." Puck turns and grabs the door handle.
"Thanks, Puck." Blaine says. The barest hint of a smile plays on his lips before he wrenches the door open and disappears.
Blaine's head begins to spin. He couldn't believe he just survived an encounter with a Dauntless boy and lived. And he was nice if anything. But he reminds himself that not every Dauntless is like that. Many of them want to bash their brains in for some reason.
Blaine paces for a few minutes. He hears footsteps on the stairs below him a few times but none of them reach the top floor. He rubs his clammy hands on his robe and tries to slow his rapidly beating heart.
Readying himself, Blaine takes a deep breath. He slowly opens the door to the hallway and steps in. The hallway is really crowded with members of all Factions looking to be about his age. There is no sign of Puck or Dauntless members. He sees the blue of Erudite and the yellow and red of Amity and even the black and white of Candor. If he can make it to class without bumping into any Dauntless, he should be okay for now. He makes his way through the mass of people to the nearest wall that has a class list on it. Finding his name and corresponding class (Faction History, blah), Blaine heads off down the hallway.
Having successfully escaped all Dauntless members so far, Blaine lets out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. Eager to get to class and a safe environment, he rounds a corner sharply and bumps right into the sweetest smelling being he has ever been graced to come close to. Flowery but sweet like a fruit.
He takes in the perfectly coiffed hair, fair skin, and immaculate suit of Candor on the boy in front of him. Looking up into this boy's baby blue eyes, Blaine immediately apologizes for his blunders and asks if he's okay. For once, this wasn't part of his Abnegation mask, he truly cared about the well-being of this boy –
"Kurt." Blaine doesn't remember introducing himself or extending his arm but now they're touching and – Kurt. Kurt. Kurt. Kurt. His voice is higher than most other boys, but it warms Blaine up inside and makes him smile, shedding his blank Abnegation mask.
"Well, it's very nice to meet you, Kurt." Blaine was able to coherently put together. He was starting to get lost in those blue blue eyes, but he suddenly realized he wasn't the only one staring. A soft, pink blush crept up Kurt's neck and Blaine could feel the heat rising on his face. They both let go and chuckle softly to each other. Kurt opens his perfect, red mouth and Blaine is captivated – a pair of hands come out of nowhere and slams Blaine up against a locker. Pain erupts as the bone in his shoulder collides with the wall and he loses his balance and falls to the floor.
Without looking, he knows it has to be a Dauntless member. Doing as he was told to do by his Abnegation peers, he picks himself up and looks at no one. But he can't help it. He needs to look at Kurt. Needs to know that he isn't laughing too.
But what he sees is worse. Pity. But his blue eyes are clouded with another emotion Blaine can't place. Blaine means to tell him that it's okay, that it happens all the time. He wants to tell Kurt, "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." But he can't. Instead, he hears that beautiful, countertenor voice pierce the sound of the hallway.
"Maybe if you didn't have so much metal in your head, you'd be able to see straight, Dauntless."
Blaine had to hold back the laughter that bubbled up in his throat and bite his cheek to keep from smiling. Kurt had quite the mouth on him. But why was he helping Blaine? He was putting himself in as bad of a position as Abnegation by siding with one.
The Dauntless boy stops in his tracks. Blaine's heart is racing and he doesn't know what to do. He has no idea how to fight and he doesn't want to start one either. He doesn't want to leave Kurt here with the Dauntless boy, but he certainly doesn't want to get in trouble or beaten up. Uncertain, Blaine stays where he is and takes on the Abnegation way of trying to blend in.
The boy looks like he has blood on his mind when he turns around and snaps, "Care to repeat that, Candor?" The boy doesn't seem to notice Blaine anymore, but unfortunately he's targeting Kurt now.
Blaine scans the crowd that has formed in the hallway around them. He knows he's looking for Puck even though he already told Blaine he wouldn't stop the other Dauntless from tormenting him. But he does a double take on another figure - another grey robe of Abnegation. A tall, thin, dark haired boy catches his eye. The boy raises his eyebrows at Blaine and Blaine moves his shoulders slightly in response. No one has ever stood up for Abnegation before and the boy was just as perplexed as Blaine.
Blaine tunes back in to the conversation to hear Kurt say, "… not with all the signals you must be picking up." He has never heard of Candor going after Dauntless like this before, much less for the sake of Abnegation. In Blaine's mind, this makes Kurt all the more attractive – but all the more in danger of provoking the boy too.
Before Blaine can warn Kurt, the Dauntless boy moves lightning fast and punches the beautiful face that Blaine has regrettably only known for a short time. It was if his heart had been punched instead. His body automatically moves forward and kneels next to the pale form lying on the floor now.
"Kurt? Kurt, please talk to me. Say something. Anything." His hands come to rest on the boy's shoulder and chest, gently shaking him. It's as if Blaine had shocked him into consciousness, Kurt immediately opens his eyes and gasps loudly. "Oh good," Blaine exclaims.
The Dauntless boy is gone, probably running from the scene because violence is frowned upon in school even if it's not in the Dauntless Faction.
The Abnegation boy he had seen in the crowd earlier approaches and echoes Blaine, he had come up to make sure Kurt was okay too. "Hey Mike." Kurt says and smiles weakly at him as he unconsciously takes Blaine's outstretched hand to get up. "This is Blaine." Kurt gestures to him, only letting go of his hand after a few seconds, Blaine notices. Blaine and Mike grip arms in greeting.
"A nurse should definitely take a look at your eye." Mike says, sucking in a breath at the sight of the shiner forming around Kurt's right eye.
"I'll take you to the nurse, Kurt." Blaine says, hoping not to sound too eager. This boy just took a punch for him and he was not about to let him out of his sight anytime soon.
The smile Kurt gives him lights up his world and Blaine isn't able to say anything, thankfully Mike does. "Well, if you both go, you're going to miss your first class."
"That's okay, I have Faction History. I won't miss that." Kurt answers truthfully and Blaine suddenly remembers –
"Really? I have Faction History too. And I really don't like that class." Right after it leaves his mouth, he realizes that was way too truthful and a bit selfish seeing as he would enjoy not being in the class. He quickly makes up for it, "But your eye is more important, Kurt. I really think we should get you to the nurse right away."
Mike catches the change, but he sees that it doesn't even phase Kurt. "Okay, okay. You Abnegation are more worried about my health than I am."
"Alright, I'll see you guys later!" Mike says and gives Blaine a last knowing look before he blends into the crowd moving towards their classes. Blaine turns back to Kurt only to catch him staring at him. That familiar blush creeps up his pale neck again.
Blaine bashfully responds, "Um, I have no idea where the nurse is. Sorry, I'm not a very good escort."
Kurt's laugh brings a huge grin to his face and he can't help but laugh too. "It's okay," Kurt says offering his arm, "I'll escort you."
