Glee does not belong to me.
"Well, how was I to know that
What we carved in stone would be so temporary?
How was I to know that my first crack at love would not be the last?
It's in the air now, bitter tears and broken hearts.
We're teenagers, we count the years, we think we're smart.
But we're not, we don't know anything."
- "Teenagers", Hayley Williams
"Be safe, kids," Bianca Anderson-Berry said as she let Blaine and Rachel brush past her on their way to the front door.
She wasn't too happy about them going out and her concerns were especially turned towards her son who looked charming and neat in a pair of beige slacks, a black short-sleeved shirt and butterscotch bowtie. She knew he could be a little too optimistic at times, and those were risky times.
"Why, just this past summer that gay bar in New Orleans was torched!" Bianca remembered, clasping at the pink crystal necklace hanging about her neck as she watched from the window Blaine and Rachel get into Blaine's car. After they drove away, Bianca turned away from the window, thinking resolutely, "Well, Blaine isn't going to a gay bar. He's going to a movie with his sister. Stop overreacting!"
Blaine followed Rachel into the Montrose Theater with shoulders slightly slumped, but his pulse picked up when he raised his head and saw a familiar figure in light blue jeans and a button down plaid aqua shirt.
Rachel rolled her eyes good-naturedly as she caught sight of the smile on her stepbrother's face. "Go on, then, cowboy," she said, giving Blaine a light shove towards the bench in the lobby where Eli was sitting. "I'll get the popcorn and drinks."
"Get me a box of Andes? Thanks!" Blaine pecked Rachel on the cheek before moving towards Eli.
"Hey babe," Eli whispered, giving Blaine a loose sideways hug.
Blaine wished with everything inside him that it wouldn't be considered weird if he folded his arms around Eli and held him tightly, especially seeing as Eli's shoulders looked so broad in that shirt and Blaine was feeling himself getting hard.
"It's been a long time!" he thought as he casually brushed a hand against Eli's forearm and mumbled a greeting.
"You look adorable," Eli said in a low voice as they waited for Rachel to return from the concession stand.
"I'm sorry about this," Blaine replied quietly. "I wanted to be alone with you, I swear."
Eli shrugged. "We can still be alone."
"What, in the restrooms?" Blaine demanded suddenly in a harsh whisper. It surprised him how terse he sounded. "Behind the dumpster in the alley? I'm sick of that, Eli. It's not how I want to do this."
He gave Eli a pointed look but the other boy didn't respond for a couple of seconds. Finally he said, "Rachel's coming. Can you hold on till after the movie? Maybe we can go park somewhere."
Blaine rolled his eyes but stood as they caught sight of Rachel approaching.
She looked flustered as she shoved two soda cups and a box of chocolate mints at Blaine and a bag of popcorn at Eli.
"That little weasel Kurt is here with Finn," she hissed, jerking her head towards the line at the concession stand where Blaine caught sight of Finn Hudson looming over the other people waiting and Kurt leaning over the counter, speaking to an attendant.
His stomach fell as he thought about the outrageous scene his sister might make in front of these two and how embarrassed he'd be because of it.
But to his surprise, Rachel made it a point to ignore Kurt the entire time they were in line to hand in their tickets to the usher. She never once glanced in the their classmate's direction but Blaine offer Kurt a nod during the brief moment that their eyes met. Kurt returned it stiffly, quickly casting his icy blue gaze towards the framed pictures on the walls.
Kurt was wore a pair of really tight jeans and laced up ankle boots, making Blaine wonder how he hadn't gotten taunted yet by the other teenagers standing in line behind him. The crowd consisted of mostly jock types and their girlfriends, among which Quinn Fabray, the head cheerleader at McKinley lingered, her hand poised on Finn's arm.
"Maybe it's because he's with his stepbrother so he's not getting picked on," Blaine mused as he moved farther up towards the usher behind Eli and Rachel.
He didn't know why Kurt seemed to have so little regard for his safety when wearing such eye-popping clothes in public. But in a way, Blaine thought it brave, if not slightly arrogant and stupid. "I mean, doesn't he know that he can get beat up at any time and nobody would care?"
The movie Rachel picked for them to see was the same one Kurt, Finn and Quinn were watching too and Blaine couldn't help but feel even more unnerved by the whole situation. He and Eli sat side by side with Rachel on one of the highest rows looking over their high school classmates and Blaine noticed Rachel's eyes trailing towards the back of Finn's head every so often. He suppressed a groan.
"That's just what I need," he thought. "For Rachel to be crushing on the quarterback when he already has a girlfriend. Why does she always have to make everything so complicated?"
Blaine's inner grumblings were interrupted, however, when his boyfriend grasped his hand between the two seats and he jerked his head to the side, catching Eli's timidly flirtatious stare.
In that tender second, Blaine almost gave in, and stood up with the intention of escaping to the restroom where Eli would follow, but then he caught sight of a young woman in the row right below them glancing over her shoulder at them and he lost the nerve.
"And besides," he decided, squeezing Eli's hand once before dropping it. "I'm sick of doing it in restrooms.."
Eli gave him a cheeky grin and leaned closer. "We could stop by Willow Park on Sunday, get our cuddle on there," he whispered with a slightly mocking tone in his voice.
Blaine ignored it and asked, "What time?"
"Early like at eight because that's when I go for my run and parents won't suspect any different."
Blaine sighed lowly. "Alright. I'll meet you there at eight."
So quick, Blaine barely felt it, Eli placed a kiss on his cheek. But he wasn't complaining; it even alleviated some of the irritation of not being able to do that night.
Blaine could wait. Hell, he would because he was in love.
On their way out of the theater, Blaine noticed again how his stepsister's eyes flicked towards Finn and his pretty blond yet arrogant girlfriend, and
he caught her attention by asking Rachel what she'd thought of the film, of which Blaine had seen little himself. Rachel hurriedly pulled her gaze away from the pair in matching McKinley red jackets and launched into a babble of criticisms centered on the actors' performance and the director's poor knowledge of ballet and jazz.
Kurt barely glanced in Blaine's direction but that didn't bother Blaine as he was trying to ignore him, as well. Eli briefly brushed his hand over the small of Blaine's back in the parking lot in front of the movie theater and the other teen's and attention was quickly turned elsewhere.
At home, Blaine felt exhausted but also jumpy with adrenaline from the kiss Eli had given him in the car before he and Rachel and dropped him off.
It had been quick yet deep, and Blaine had gripped Eli's forearm as Eli slipped his warm tongue inside Blaine's mouth. They'd only pulled apart when Rachel cleared her throat loudly in the backseat.
"I'll see you on Sunday, cutie," Eli had whispered before slipping out of the car.
Now Blaine was heading across the upstairs hallway to his room with dragging feet and a lazy grin at the idea of seeing Eli again and sharing another, maybe even hotter kiss.
He passed by Rachel's room and paused in the open doorway.
She was unbraiding her chocolate-tinted hair and gazing at her reflection in the vanity mirror near her bed with a serious look.
"Hey," Blaine said hesitantly. "Is everything okay? I thought you said the movie was 'reasonably entertaining for a first time dance flick'."
Rachel glanced over her shoulder at Blaine and offered him a small grin. "It was, but.."
She stopped fiddling with her hair and plopped down on her lavender bedspread.
Blaine hated entering Rachel's room for many reasons; it smelled sickeningly of sugary older women's perfume and the fact that there was always too much pink being two of them, yet he did so now because he could see a hint of actual sadness in his sister's eyes.
Even though she was annoying as hell most of the time, Blaine cared about this girl and their mutual love of music and performing made their partnership easy, even when they weren't in school.
"What is it?" Blaine wondered, sitting next to her.
Rachel twisted her hands in her lap, hesitating for a moment. When she spoke, her voice sounded small and insecure. "Quinn is lovely, isn't she?"
Blaine bit his bottom lip and tried not to sigh. He knew he'd have to let Rachel know he'd picked on her crush on Finn Hudson and he would really rather not go there. "I wouldn't use the word 'lovely', exactly. I mean, she's pretty, but she isn't exactly bubbly or even friendly."
Rachel shrugged. "When has that mattered? All people care about are your looks."
Blaine tucked his feet underneath him as he scooted closer to Rachel on the mattress. "I know it seems that way-"
"Because it is," she countered, raising an eyebrow, tauntingly.
But Blaine ignored the challenge in her eyes and just swept a hand down her back gently. "You're pretty, Rachel, maybe not in a cliché blond cheerleader sort of way, but you are."
Rachel shook her head. "You're just saying that because you're my stepbrother."
"No, I could be a mean stepbrother. You just hit the jackpot." Blaine smiled teasingly.
"Fine," Rachel sighed. "Then you're too dapper to insult a girl."
"Not true," Blaine said immediately. "Besides being a unique and beautiful brunette, you are also a control freak, Rachel," he added, making Rachel give off a small laugh and shove him down playfully.
"You're annoying as hell!"
"Right back atcha!" Blaine gasped as Rachel tried to tickle him.
He rolled from underneath her but before he could stand up, she threw a miniature stuffed bear at his head.
"Oops, it might stick to your gel," Rachel giggled, watching as Blaine grabbed the offending bear and peered at it critically.
"Funny," he muttered, tossing it back and turning for the door. "What are you, eight?"
He paused before walking out and turned back to see Rachel cradling the stuffed animal and sitting cross-legged, the look of sadness back on her face.
"You know," Blaine began. "I think Finn is an idiot for not noticing you."
Rachel lifted her head. "Huh?"
Blaine shrugged at her confused expression. "Well, if he's too dumb or arrogant to see how special you are, then I don't think he's worth your time."
"Finn isn't arrogant, Blaine," Rachel argued calmly. "He's a little dense but he's really nice deep down."
"Deep down? You don't even know him that well."
"Yes, I do!" Rachel's voice was louder this time and she glanced back down. "It's Quinn, she tries to make Finn feel like being popular is the only thing he's good at and sometimes he even believes her."
Blaine thought for a moment. "But still, Rachel, don't get involved with someone who's already taken. It's not right and like it or not, Quinn does have a lot of influence at school. She can make your life terrible and you don't deserve that."
Rachel nodded slowly and Blaine wondered if she had disregarded everything he'd just said.
"Good night," Blaine mumbled, heading out into the hallway.
"Good night," came the quiet response.
He went into his room and stripped off his bowtie and shirt, dropping them unceremoniously in a hamper by the closet, and proceeded towards the drawer to get a pair of pajama bottoms.
It had been awhile since he had dug through the third drawer of his dresser, but he paused when he came upon something hidden between a pair of acrylic socks and plaid pajama short.
Under piles of silk and wool was a beaded bracelet. Blaine's fingers idled over the worn string for a moment before pulling it out.
He remembered the day Kurt had presented it to him in the fourth grade and the first time he had ever seen the boy who was once his best pal.
"There's this boy in my class, his name is Kurt," Blaine recalled telling his mother on the drive home from school one afternoon in September seven years ago. "He has really pretty eyes. They're blue and green mixed together!"
Blaine's mother had turned her head and peered at him curiously. "You think he's.. pretty?" she'd asked hesitantly, clearly confused by his choice of words.
Blaine had shrugged. "He's nice, too. He let me use his ruler because I forgot mine. We're going to have lunch by the tree tomorrow. It's our favorite spot because it's cooler and the other kids don't go there because there's an anthill but if you sit on the stump, they don't bother you.."
Blaine was unaware as he prattled on, that his mother's thoughts were miles away and later she would tell him that that was the day she had begun to wonder about his sexual orientation, because it was the day he'd told her he liked Kurt.
Dropping the bracelet back in the drawer, Blaine closed the dresser and turned away.
"Maybe Rachel was right," he thought, moving towards his bed. "People change. They don't stay friends forever."