Father-Son Time:

Chapter 4 of 6

Rating: T for homophobic language and violence

"My Dad and I rebuilt a '59 Chevy in our driveway two summers ago. One of his many attempts at bonding." - Blaine, "Sexy"

Summary: Five times Mr. Anderson tried to bond with Blaine, and the first time Burt succeeded.

A/N: Trigger warning for homophobic language.

Chapter 4: Sadie Hawkins

"At my old school, there was a Sadie Hawkins dance, and I had just come out. So I asked a friend of mine, the only other gay guy in the school. While we were waiting for his dad to pick us up, these three guys, um… beat the living crap out of us." – Blaine, "Prom Queen"

Late October 2008

On Monday after the dance, Blaine was surprised to find that nothing had changed at school. Apparently, the girl he had told, had either forgotten or blown it off. Still, he knew that the clock was ticking, and he really wanted to just be himself. Finally, he approached the other gay guy. His name was Jonathon, and he was a sophomore. Once Blaine assured Jonathon that he was serious, they became friends.

Early November 2008

As the school started advertising for the Sadie Hawkins dance in mid-November, Blaine knew it was time.

"Hey Blaine, you think a girl will ask you to go to the Sadie Hawkins dance?" asked one of his friends.

"Actually, I hope they don't. I would have to turn them down. I was thinking of asking Jonathon."

"Wait, that fag?" something in Blaine's expression must have told him that was the wrong word to use. "Wait… you want to go to the dance with HIM?"

Blaine looked to the side, then rubbed the back of his neck, then crossed his arms. "Yes. I'm going to see if he wants to go to the dance with me."

Blaine's – former – friend backed away, and Blaine sighed.

Blaine did ask Jonathon to go, as friends, and Jonathon agreed. When Blaine told his parents about the dance, they hit the roof. "We are not paying for you to go to a dance with that… that boy! We are not driving you."

"Fine. I'll pay for the tickets myself. Jonathon's dad will drive."

And so it was. The Sadie Hawkins wasn't a formal dance like Prom or Homecoming, so tickets didn't cost a lot.

November 15, 2008:

The dance was fun, even if they only danced to fast songs. This dance, the girls who came had dates, and nobody tried to slow dance with Blaine.

It was after, when they went to the parking lot to wait for Jonathon's dad. Sudden pain, from behind. Blaine hadn't been paying attention to what was around him, excited and tired from the dance. He took a quick look around now, to see three guys surrounding himself and Jonathon.

Blaine fought back, using what he had learned from boxing. But boxing in the ring is one-on-one, and he didn't know how to handle being outnumbered. Jonathon? He tried, too, but he had no training whatsoever.

Then Blaine went down, and he couldn't get back up.

"Oh my God!" he heard, "Somebody call the ambulance!"

Blackness.

Sometime:

"Is he going to be all right?"

"If he wakes up soon, he should make a full recovery."

Fuzzy, tired… he drifted back to sleep.

Another time:

"He brought this on himself, choosing this path." His father's voice.

"Some things, he just needs to learn for himself. This phase will pass." His mother's.

Blaine's head hurt, his chest hurt, his whole body hurt. Someone came in, something with his hand… Blaine was out again.

November 27, 2008:

Blaine's parents brought a basket of food for Thanksgiving, and they spent the day in his hospital room. As long as they avoided talking about the dance, or Jonathon… they couldn't play games, because thinking made Blaine's head hurt too much. Mostly, they watched television. Blaine's father made one concession to Blaine's condition – they watched football. Blaine slept a lot.

December 2008:

Blaine went home in early December, although he still needed to rest. He had a few Physical Therapy exercises he could do, but most had to wait until his bones healed, around Christmas-time. After he had been home a few days, his father brought him homework to do.

"Here. Work on this while you can, you don't want to get too far behind in school. The doctors think you can go back in January."

"You're sending me back there?" Blaine asked flatly.

"Blaine, you need an education if you want to get anywhere in life." Blaine's father repeated his catch-phrase.

"I understand that. But what about the other boys?"

His father looked at him, and sat beside his bed. "Your attackers are spending time in Juvenile Detention."

"Jonathon?"

His father sighed. "Jonathon won't be back at school this year. He'll repeat his sophomore year at a different school next fall."

Blaine tried to school his expressions, really he did. But his father saw the question on his face, and answered it. "I don't want you to be held back, Blaine. The principle says if you can catch up on your old work, and finish the year with reasonable grades, you won't have to repeat your freshman year."

Blaine hung his head, then nodded. The sooner he was through with high school, the better… he thought.

"Besides, this is the real world, Blaine. You're just going to have to learn how to deal with it."

A/N: What do you think?