Here you go lovely readers :) Another installment of the thing that has literally been keeping me from dying. School is so draining and writing just makes everything better :) Though it often takes over my entire life -.- But whatever it's fun and I like pleasing people :) And whoever was able to guess who was at the door last chapters, well, gets absolutely nothing because I can't offer you anything more virtual hugs and high fives. So sorry :) Anyways I hope you like this :) I had a lot of fun writing this part for some reason :P Some guy in my class stole my notebook while I was writing this part and quickly gave it back, cheeks flooded a bright red I didn't know was possible. He just doesn't understand the beauty of Klaine as much as I do :3
Anyways! I'll let you read now :)
I do not own Glee or the characters. I'm pretty sure I don't even own the characters I created and put into this story(Amelia, Joey, and Ron) And yes the twins are inspired by Joey Richter and Ronald Weasley. I love them both and had to put them in there somehow. Not quite sure if you're going to see a lot of them in this story though. If you want more twins though, just ask and it shall be yours :)
"Mr. Hummel." My wife said to the man at the door. She extended her hand and he took it in his own gingerly. "I'm Amelia Anderson. We live across the street. This is my husband, Blaine." She gestured to me. "And our boys, Joey and Ron." Her hand left his and settled on the backs of the twins. "I just wanted to be the first to welcome you to the neighborhood." Her smile was almost blinding.
The elderly man frowned at me, his eyebrows rose in suspicious. I smiled and offered my hand. He took it and shook it firmly. "Call me Burt." He stepped aside to let us through the door. "Come in and get comfortable."
The four of us, followed by Burt, walked in cautiously and took in the chaos of the newly settled home. Cardboard boxes and bubble wrap littered the floor. There was no furniture to be seen. Burt settled himself on a sturdy box and gestured for us to do the same. The boys took a section of the floor and picked at the shag rug. Amelia and I took cardboard boxes and slid them side by side. The boxes caved slightly under our weight, causing our knees to rise under our chins. I stifled a laugh seeing the difficulty Amelia was having trying to get comfortable.
"Sorry for the lack of things. We would of had everything set up by now but our sons are a little late. Our youngest was here earlier but left to pick up his brother at the airport." Burt said.
I choked at the statement, though thankfully it went unnoticed. Sons. Kurt and Finn. They were suppose to be here. They could be here any minute. If that happened, I don't know if I had the strength to take control of the situation that would without a doubt take place. My breathing became heavy and my palms got incredibly sweaty. My legs started to shake, which caused my head to bounce uncontrollably.
Burt interrupted my panic attack. "Blaine you look awfully familiar. Have we met before?" He squinted and studied my eyes for the answer I wasn't prepared to give. Now I had only met the Hummels once when me and Kurt were together, so I wasn't extremely worried about Burt recognizing me. But if what he said was true and Kurt and Finn were expected to show up any time now, then I was - in words put as appropriate as possible - fucked.
Again Burt interrupted my thoughts. "Carole, come here. The neighbors are here." Carole was a slightly different story. Supposedly she had a knack for remembering faces. Kurt had said that she could run into an old elementary school mate and the names would just roll off her tongue as if she had seen them everyday of her life, when in actuality years would've passed. Unfortunately for me, the minute I was introduced to Carole she had stated, "I'm definitely going to remember that mop." And since I had been neglecting my hair recently, it was much like it was when i lived in Lima.
Carole came in and shocked me by how much she hadn't changed. Compared to Burt she seemed almost immortal, with the expectation of a few grey hairs, a little weight loss, and a couple of wrinkles. She smiled at us and shook each of our hands.
"Carole, these are the Andersons. Amelia, Joey, Ron, and Blaine." He said my name with familiarity that I was sure he was going to out me any minute now.
When Carole grabbed my hand, she looked straight into my eyes and squinted the same way Burt had. She gave me a once over. Taking in my signature red pants, yellow shoes, black shirt, bow tie, and of course gelled hair. Why in the world would I choose an outfit so... Blaine?
I saw her lips silently mouth the words, "that hair" , and her eyes sparked with the connection that Burt had probably yet to figure out. I'm sure by now she was greatly confused by my presence in her house, with a wife, and basically three kids. Especially since her and Burt were the only people, besides the glee club, to know about my relationship with Kurt.
Her gaze shifted to Amelia, then back at me, then to Amelia again, but his time looking at her stomach. "It's nice to meet you all." She said in an all to friendly tone. She beamed at Amelia in all her pregnant glory. "Is it a boy or a girl?" She asked, crouching down in front of her to be eye to eye.
Amelia smiled brightly and placed her hand on her stomach. "It's a girl. She's due in December." She reached over and grabbed my hand. "We've always wanted a girl." I never understood why women gave useless information to people they hardly knew.
Carole beamed even brighter, if that was even possible. "Do you have a name yet?"
Amelia nodded and looked over at me. All I did was nod which got me a stern look from her. I slunk deeper into the box. Amelia sighed. "Dani. Blaine chose the name. We both like names that could fit easily with both genders. And Dani was my sisters name." I hoped Amelia was going to go personal on the Hummels already and give more information they obviously didn't need.
"That's lovely." Was all Carole said as she rose from her place on the floor. She crossed over to Burt and flung her arms around his neck. "Well you have come just in time. I've just finished icing a cake for Burt. Tomorrow is his birthday but we decided to have a small celebration before the chaos I have planned for tomorrow."
Amelia looked uncertain. "Well we don't want to impose." She said kindly.
The boys turned their hazel eyes on me, pleading to have me put my opinion in. When I didn't, they did the typical Anderson thing and turned to Carole with the same puppy dog eyes.
Joey, the kinder of the two, sweetly asked Carole what flavor the cake was. When she replied chocolate with a German coconut icing, Joey's face lit up and without even asking the question Carole nodded.
"It's no trouble at all Amelia." She ruffled the boys heads and told them to follow her into the kitchen. Amelia, Burt, and myself followed suit. I was surprised to see that the kitchen was already fully furnished. There was a small island in the center of the room, with three chairs on each side. Aside from bags and more cardboard boxes all over the counter, it seemed quite neat. Amelia and I sat across from each other on the island chairs, the boys sitting on my side, and Burt sitting next to Amelia. Carole served us each a piece of cake then sat down and laced her fingers in Burt's, planting a small yet passionate kiss on his cheek. He smiled foolishly as he took a bite of cake, then looked at us to do the same.
For twenty minutes, Amelia, Burt, and Carole held idle chit chat and the boys were discussing things they had learned in school. I was the only one silent, looking down at my plate trying to figure out what to do if Kurt and Finn happened to arrive while we were still there. I spaced out while studying the way the coconut frosting swirled over the large piece of cake Carole had served me. It was almost hypnotizing, and by the time I was spoken too I was so far in my mind I didn't here anything. It wasn't until Amelia loudly cleared her throat that I was pulled from my thoughts.
I looked up with a puzzled look on my face. Carole smiled while Amelia gave me yet again another stern look. I knew that she would be bringing up my behavior the moment we got back home.
"Carole was just saying that she's from Lima, Ohio." Amelia informed me. I raised an eyebrow and stared at Carole.
"Have you heard of it?" Carole asked me. Great, I had gone a total of twenty minutes without saying a word and now Carole's snooping was going to ruin everything. I was trying to have Amelia take care of all the talking considering my voice hadn't changed much from when I was in high school. But it was no use now, I was trapped.
I coughed nervously and swallowed the lump in my throat. "I've heard of it." I said in a voice way deeper than I had intended.
I felt all eyes on me. All holding confusion and a little bit of frustration. Feeling foolish I cleared my throat and tried again. "I actually lived in Lima for my sophomore year of high school." I figured there was no need to lie anymore considering how cocky Carole was becoming.
Speaking of Carole, she smiled with victory nearly erupting off of her. I could almsot smell her confidence. "Lima's pretty small. I'm assuming you knew most of the people there." She pressed, probably hoping to break me soon.
I shrugged, though in my head I was thinking, "shut up Carole."
"My son, Kurt, was very, how do I put this? Well he was very - well known. I'm sure you knew him?" I wanted to wipe that smirk off her face.
Looking up, I pretending to be in deep thought. "The name certainly does ring a bell. Though it's been a long time so I'm not sure." I was frantically praying to God that Amelia did not recognize the name from our earlier conversation.
Carole nodded and threw me a skeptical look. For now I had won, but in her eyes I saw her thinking of more ways to get me to crack.
"Well we better get going." Amelia cut in. God I loved how she knew me so well. Though the tone of her voice said she'd be questioning me later about the subject.
"Of course." Carole said pleasantly. Burt sighed and gave her a look that I took as "I'm on to you."
"But before you leave." Carole piped up, despite Burt's glares. She raised an eyebrow and continued, "I would just like to invite you to our housewarming party slash Burt's' birthday party."
"Oh we would be delighted." Amelia said cheerfully. It amazed me how friendly women were towards each other even if they didn't know the other very well.
"Barbeque starts up at two." Burt blurted out. "You like barbeque, Blaine?"
"Oh yeah, of course." I said, trying to sound like I was greatly interested in the subject of grilled meat.
Carole smiled again. "And Amelia I hate to bother you like this, but my friend who offered to help set up for the party has unfortunately bailed on me." She gave her an innocent look that pretty much summed up the rest of the request. She was going to do anything to literally out me.
"Carole, I would be more than happy to help. Shall we say, noon?" Amelia asked. I slowly started to herd the boys to the door.
"Sounds perfect." Carole said looking at me. "And I suggest you bring him along. We'll need some extra arms." She winked at me as if this was some long running inside joke the two of us shared. "Oh and Blaine." She said when Amelia had already exited the door and had walked a couple of feet down the walk way.
I turned nervously. Why wasn't there a window wiper for faces. "Yeah Carole?"
"It was nice seeing you again. I'm sure Kurt will be delighted when he finds out you're our new neighbor. I'll be sure to tell him you say hi." She winked at me again, but this time it sent chills down my spine. Whatever was going to happen tomorrow was not going to be good. It would possibly crumple the life I had worked seven long years on. I cursed under my breath as I waved to her. It took all of my strength not to flip her off. Finally she closed the door. Finally putting some some distance between us. Maybe this would be it. Maybe I was over. Maybe my marriage would end. I would possibly lose my job. Because honestly who wants a gay teacher teaching English at a public school? No, I could move. I could get through this somehow.
Or you could just tell everyone. You could stop lying.
I pushed that thought aside and continued with my contemplation on how much money it would take for us to move to California and pose as some famous reality TV family.
That would take a lot of bribing. A lot of - ahem - dick sucking. Metaphorically, of course.
Oh my God I was a monster.
I don't even know how I managed to walk across the street. Or how I managed to end up curled up on the couch, staring outside the window. I don't even remember warding Amelia off after she went off on me for acting so bizarre. All I know is I didn't move from the couch all day. Burt said they were coming. So I waited. I waited to see him. I waited for that moment when his leg would stick out of the car. The moment when my heart would beat out of my chest and explode all at the same time. That moment when my legs would become weak, even if I were sitting down. My lips would dry, thirsty for Kurt's. My head would spin, wanting Kurt's fingers tangled in my hair. My hands would ache, waiting for Kurt's to grab them and slip his perfectly fitted fingers into my own. I whined with anticipation. My body shook with anxiety. I was a wreck.
Once in a while Amelia would come sit next to me. Try to comfort me. Unintentionally I would end up pushing her away. Rather it be with a small gesture of a shoulder turning the other way. Or a simple word uttered almost so no one could hear it but me. But yet I still pushed her away. And yet she came back trying harder and harder to get closer to me. Her last attempt was defeated not by me, but by the tall figure I had spotted earlier that morning. Finn. He awkwardly rose from the tiny car, bustling to the other side to open the door for someone. And that's when I saw him. I saw him in all his glory. Everything was slowed down as he exited the car. He looked like a movie star. Tall, lean, and more important than anyone in the entire world.
And there it was. The beating heart, the wobbly legs, the dry lips, the dizziness, the ache that made my entire body feel dead. I needed him. I needed him at that moment more than I needed to breath. I needed to tell him that right now. I needed to tell him that leaving him was the hardest thing I had ever had to do and that it had taken all my strength not to go crawling back to him after all those years. I wanted to crawl to him then. I needed to crawl to him right now. I needed him to tell me that he wanted me as much as I wanted him. I wanted to rekindle our love. I wanted his lips against mine. I wanted his hand in my hand. His body against mine. Us turning into one...
I wanted him.
I needed him.
I quickly ran to the bedroom. Sleep would solve everything. I would wake up in the morning and everything would turn out to be a dream. I would find out that the Hummels didn't really move across the street. I would find out that Kurt was not at this very moment a few yards away from me. I would find out that I wasn't married. I had no kids. I wasn't a day over fifteen. And I wasn't gay. I wanted to start over.
No, I wanted to sleep. But first I had to reassure myself that I hadn't just wished away everything. I took a peek out the window and there he was. Right in front of my fucking house. With Burt. They were talking and Burt was inconspicuously pointing in my direction. That's when our eyes met. Or that's when I thought our eyes had met. He glanced in my direction and I felt my heart flutter. For the longest time I watched him and Burt talk.
They must be talking about me.
It was dark. It was so dark. I didn't know I had spent that much time on the couch. I glanced at the clock.
8:52
Damn. I looked back at Kurt and his father as they turned around and walked more slowly back towards their house. Our eyes met again. This time I swore our eyes met. It was like a magnetic connection. Our eyes found each other. It was like our eyes needed each other more than we did. Unintentionally my hand flew up. I was reaching out to him. I wanted him to reach out to me too. I wanted more then our eyes to connect.
But then he ran.