I must have been super-motivated this week… Anyway, here's the next chapter, with a slight time skip. Also, please note that Francey Anderson is not my character. She belongs to the wonderful Keitorin Asthore right here on this site (please go check out her works; they're great). Also, I don't know what constitutes as a trigger warning, so I'm just going to put a general warning: domestic abuse in this chapter… I'm also making it so Cooper is Blaine's half-brother, and I made them matrilineally related. I'm also going to use the names Lila and Daniel for the parents' names so I don't have to keep saying either "Mr. Anderson" and "Mrs. Anderson" or "Blaine's mom" and "Blaine's dad". Anywho, hope you enjoy.
This school day was one of the hardest Blaine had ever experienced. Even transferring to Dalton in the middle of his freshman year, and then having to repeat that entire year over again, hadn't been as bad as this. Principal Sue had told the entire student body, and a bunch of people had been coming up to random members of the Glee Club to offer their condolences or ask questions about how it had happened.
After leaving AP English, Blaine went to his locker one last time to pick up the textbooks he'd need for homework that weekend, if he even had time to do it. That morning he had woken up snuggled next to Kurt, who had felt a little cooler than the night before; he had come down for breakfast and left Kurt where he was. Breakfast had been a silent affair, and then Blaine had headed back upstairs to borrow something from Kurt's wardrobe to wear to school that day. Kurt had woken up in time to say goodbye to Blaine, and then he had come to school.
Soon after everyone had arrived at school, Sue had made the announcement that all extracurricular activities, including glee club, had been canceled for the day out of respect, but most of the Glee Club members were staying behind anyway. Blaine just didn't think he could handle it, so he was just going to go straight home, regardless of the shitstorm that was destined to take place given that he hadn't checked in with his parents in over twenty-four hours.
Blaine sighed, grabbed his backpack without even bothering to put any books in it, and headed to his car. He made the 45-minute drive back home easily enough, but he was surprised to see not only his mother's car, but two more in the driveway as well, neither of which were his father's. He killed the engine and took the keys out of the ignition before heading into the house, where he was immediately attacked by a huge hug.
Looking into his sister's bright, teary hazel eyes, he said, "Hi, Francey. Um, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you still be at school?"
Cooper walked into the room behind his younger half-sister at a slower pace. "The better question is, where have you been?"
"Coop? I thought you were shooting that big commercial, in LA." Blaine was even more confused. Sure, he hadn't checked in with his parents, but surely it wasn't such a big concern that they had called in his older sister and their half-brother home from California…
Lila followed Cooper into the room. "We were worried sick about you, Blainey." She hugged her youngest son close. "When you didn't come home last night, I called all your friends that I could think of from Dalton. I even tried calling Kurt, but he never answered… Finally I tried your friend Sam, and he told me what had happened to your friend. Wasn't he Kurt's stepbrother?"
Blaine nodded, sniffling slightly. "Yeah, Kurt's dad married Finn's mom right before Kurt transferred to Dalton…"
Francey, always pretty good at reading her baby brother's emotional state, put an arm around his shoulders and kissed his cheek. "I'm sorry, duckie. Poor Kurt… And wasn't Finn dating that annoyingly perky brunette that's always getting solos at competitions?"
Blaine frowned. "Her name is Rachel… But yes, they are … were together, I think, at the time of his death. She seemed pretty broken up about it." He looked earnestly at his mother. "Mama, can I please just go up to my room for a bit?"
Lila was clearly about to say yes when there was a slam of another car door. She looked frightened for a moment before ushering all three of her children upstairs. Each of the Anderson children knew this routine; Daniel Anderson had probably gotten drunk again and would be taking it out on whoever happened to be in sight. The last time he had gotten this drunk had actually been right after Blaine's eye surgery, when Blaine had still been in the hospital. That time, Lila had come to visit Blaine the next day, alone, with bruises up and down her arms. That had been far from the first time Daniel had done something like this, but it had been definitely the worst. They just hoped that this time wouldn't be any worse.
Blaine kept quiet in his room; if he pretended he didn't exist, then maybe his father wouldn't come looking for him. Daniel Anderson also hadn't approved of his son being gay; Blaine had come out to both his parents his first freshman year, and things had not been pretty. Daniel had come home drunk every night for almost two weeks straight, destroying everything in sight and occasionally hitting either Blaine or whoever was "foolish" enough to try to protect him. He never hit hard enough to leave more than bruises, but it still hurt for a few days afterwards. That was one of the reasons Blaine had joined "fight club" upon entering Dalton, so he could learn to protect himself and his mother from his father.
Blaine knew rationally that it wasn't entirely his fault, but he couldn't help but notice that his father had never done anything like this until after he, Blaine, had come out. He supposed that, since Cooper was bigger and stronger, he could have helped, too, but Cooper was more concerned about keeping his face looking pretty for the cameras than what was going on at home; Cooper was rarely home for more than a few days a year, and so rarely had to put up with this sort of thing.
Blaine lay back on the bed, waiting for the sounds of his father's footsteps coming up the stairs. Daniel must have found out about the proposal, and gotten pissed drunk. Blaine knew what was coming. He just had to be ready for it.
So that's the end of that chapter. I know, super emotionally charged, as well as lots and lots of backstory. I promise this will be further explored at a later point. Hope you enjoyed! Also, I know, nasty author, leaving on a cliffhanger like that. Promise to update soon (but probably not as soon as this update.)
