Librarians and Pools
By: RavenHeart101
Summary: Puck never should have taken that summer job out in Westerville. Making out with your best friend's stepbrother's ex-boyfriend was never a good thing. But damn did he always have a thing for librarians...
A: N –Thank you so much the following people who reviewed: Seeolenmina (It smells too), madilee (Trust me... I'm only updating this story so fast), elmo5767 (That's a terrifying thought. There can only be one me), Rigmor Rikke Reisz (I can't bash Kurt. I love him too much), Mika-chan (I am so happy you decided to read this story and then leave longish reviews. It makes me happy), 1trulove (Feel free to keep telling me that you love it), and Aledda (Your reviews never fail to make me happy -hugs back-).
On the subject of my inspiration for this chapter: Politics suck. They really do. And a lot the time politicians tend to hide things from the public eye. In small town Ohio it's not all that far fetched for someone as high up on the politic board as Mrs. Anderson to hide that her son is gay. It's also not all that far fetched for her to have to choose between her son and her career. Her son who is bordering on a serious problem (but we'll get into that later).
His father was sort of just something that happened. I didn't plan that.
The song that means most for this chapter is "He Won't Go" by Adele.
On the subject of story plans: Now, originally, I hadn't planned for this story to take this route. It was supposed to, simply, be a romance story. But it has suddenly turned into a mystery and a drama and a bit of a thriller. Don't ask me how it did, but it did.
Warnings: Slash. Slight bashing of certain characters. Probably OOC. Almost sex scene, if I can ever bring myself to write one there will be one. Swearing. Plenty of other things I'm sure.
Disclaimer: I own NOTHING. Probably not even the plot.
The moment Blaine had seen the pictures he had made sure that Nick deleted them. There were just some parts of his life that he wanted to keep secret. Moreover, Blaine was friends with everyone in New Directions and, even if he was okay with letting everyone know about his "relationship" with Puck, he was pretty sure Puck wouldn't be okay with it. He didn't know about the repercussions of being gay.
But that was a day ago and now Blaine had something a bit more serious to deal with. Not that pictures of him and the straight guy he was apparently in a relationship with being on Facebook weren't serious, but he was pretty sure the compromising position the newspaper was brandishing was a bit more serious than something his friend had put up to alert the world that Blaine Anderson was TAKEN. Again.
He woke up to Rosa waving a newspaper in his face, rambling on in Spanish so fast that he couldn't understand much more than 'pool boy' and 'parent's anger'. He swallowed, willing his hands to stop shaking as his eyes fell onto the picture before him. His heart picked up speed and his stomach dropped. No way in hell. No fucking way in hell was this happening. "Blaine Michael Anderson get down here right now!" His father's voice boomed up the staircase. Blaine flinched back, staring at Rosa with wide, terrified eyes. She crossed herself before scrambling up the stairs and hiding in some room or another planning to 'clean'. Or, in all honesty, listen in on what was happening from a safe distance away.
His father had only gotten angry with him once and that was when Blaine had snapped at him about a year after he had come out. They had been building a car together for 'male bonding time' and Blaine had lost it, yelling at his father and screaming that there was no way in hell he was going to be straight simply because his father wanted him to. He had gotten a wrench thrown at him for that.
Now his father sounded angrier than Blaine had ever heard him and, if he were to be honest, it scared him more than Garth Bentley ever could. It took all the willpower left in him to push down the stairs, stopping at the bottom step and coming face to face, toe to toe, with his tall, military like father. "Dad-"
"What do you think this is?" Another copy of the newspaper was shoved under his nose. Blaine tried very hard not to stare at the picture it depicted. It would do nothing more than piss his father off more than he already was. "Do you have any idea what this shit is doing to your mother's career?"
"It's not-"
"It's not what it looks like?" His father stepped closer and Blaine fumbled for the railing, pulling himself up a step. "Then tell me, Blaine. What is it? Because it looks to me like your opening your legs wide for another guy!" He took another step, Blaine following suit up the stairs, nearly stumbling with each step.
"We never did anythin-"
"Don't lie to me!" His father grabbed out, pulling him closer by where he gripped his shirt. "Don't you fucking lie to me you disgrace for a human being!" He shoved Blaine up the stairs, ignoring the yelp that came from his son's mouth as his head connected with the stairs beneath him.
His father's face was red with anger. Scratch that, it was beyond red, turning into a comical shade of purple. His eyes were close to bulging out of his head and Blaine was pretty sure that, if this were a movie, this would be where the loud, dramatic music would pump in to push the terrifying effect. "We were just fooling around-!"
Which was totally the wrong thing to say. Fuck his fucking mouth. His father yanked him to his feet, turning around and pulling Blaine up the stairs after him. His ankle connected painfully with one of the stairs, turning in a direction it should not have gone before his father threw him into his room. He stormed in after his child, unplugging his laptop and throwing it against the wall with a loud resounding bang. Blaine yelped, ducking to cover his head from the flying debris. "No computer." He walked forward, pulling Blaine's phone out of his shaking grip. "No phone." He tucked the phone into his pocket and Blaine felt some relief that he wasn't throwing that against the wall like he had his computer. "You aren't leaving this house until you make up your mind."
"What?" Blaine breathed out. This wasn't right. None of this was right. This shouldn't have been happening. It was just a picture. Just an article-! "Dad-!"
But his father ignored him, walking out of the room and slamming the door with a satisfactory bang. "You can't do this!" He flung his bedroom door open and raced after his father down the stairs, ignoring the uneasy sensation that was pounding against his skull. "You can't do this!" But his father merely ignored him, his mother finally exiting her office to see what the commotion was. Or maybe she was exiting her office since his father's back was her signal to come do her part of the punishing. The latter was more likely.
"Let him go, darling." Her hand held onto his arm, keeping him from chasing after his father as the man left the house.
"Mom..." His eyes bore into hers because no way was this happening. No way was she letting this happen.
She smiled a sad smile at him, her hand reaching out to pet his hair. "It's up to you, Blaine." He was confused, surely she knew that. What was up to him? "Dalton or this Noah Puckerman?"
No fucking way.
When he was younger he used to get stressed out whenever he had things to decide. It could be over something simple, such as what shoes to wear to school or which way to part his hair. Point was that Blaine Anderson, even at a young age, liked to have control over his life. He used to go through times where he would lock himself in his room and refuse to leave until he had made up his mind. His parents had gotten used to it over the years, just like they had gotten used to his migraines and tendency to overstress over simple things. Therefore, if he used to freak out and hyperventilate over something so simple as where he placed his books on his shelf imagine what was going on now that he had to choose between his safe haven and the person that made him happier than he had ever felt and was quite possibly falling for.
Blaine had spent quite a long time sitting on his bed and staring at the remains of his broken laptop. His hand sat in his lap, drops of blood falling from the palm from where he had tried to pick up the mess his father had made and had sliced his hand on a piece of plastic. His whole life was on that computer. Songs, music, homework, diary entries... Things that Blaine would never be able to get back. He had pictures of him and Kurt, of him and the Warblers. He had half written songs, tracks that he had recorded and was editing and trying to decide whether or not to send them anywhere.
His head stung from where it had slammed against the stairs and he felt the beginnings of a migraine. His teeth gnawed at the skin around his finger nails. Tears welled into his eyes. Because this whole thing was so screwed up.
The difference between now and when Blaine was a kid was that he knew that it was wrong to lock your child in their room or in their house until they decided on something like their school or their, dare he say it, boyfriend. It was wrong and it was cruel and it just plain hurt because his mother's job and reputation were obviously more important to his family than he was. Than he could ever dream of being.
And fuck it all because Blaine knew that when he was faced with something like his safety and his happiness he'd take the cowardly way out and choose his safety. Dalton was his home. Dalton had his friends and the Warblers and everything that he loved. Dalton had a zero tolerance no bullying policy and rules and order and control and that was something Blaine craved. But Blaine also craved happiness. And he felt oddly happy whenever he was with Noah Puckerman.
A few tears leaked out of his eyes.
If his mother's job was ruined because of this he would be ruined. If Blaine chose Puck over Dalton he would be sent back to Westerville High. He would be disowned, probably. He would no longer be Blaine Michael Anderson. And then where would he be? Who would he be? If it wasn't as though he was pathetic enough...
But enough of that. Because Blaine needed to make a decision.
His mother's car roared to life from the driveway and Blaine managed to pull himself up from his bed to stare at the car as it zoomed down the street. His father's car wasn't anywhere that he could see it so he guessed that meant he was alone. With Rosa. He didn't bother telling her anything as he grabbed his keys out of his bedside table and ran out of the house and into his car. He didn't bother thinking about where he was going either, because Blaine was willing to go anywhere. He just needed to get the hell away from his jail cell.
Blaine wasn't aware of where he was driving, simply that he was driving. And, if it was six on a Friday night when he pulled up to the Hummel-Hudson household Blaine wasn't aware. He wasn't aware of where he was. He wasn't aware of much more besides the words his mother had told him. "Dalton or this Noah Puckerman." Dalton or Noah Puckerman? Dalton or Noah Puckerman.
Oh God what the hell was he supposed to do? "Blaine...?" A high voice asked cautiously and damn him because his heart clenched painfully at the sound. Go figure that his subconscious took him to the one person who he both wanted to see and wanted to hide from. Damn Kurt Elijah Hummel. Damn him and his kindness and his offer of friendship after they broke up.
His pale hand touched Blaine's arm and when the hell did his car door open? "I don't know what to do." He said miserably from where his head rested against the steering wheel.
Kurt's blue-gray eyes stared at him for a moment in sympathy. "Okay." He nodded securely, squaring his shoulders. Blaine knew Kurt's body language inside and out and this meant that he was mentally telling himself to have courage. He was putting himself into the comforter mode. Blaine hated when he did that. "We'll figure it out." And that was something that Blaine loved about him.
It was never 'I'll figure it out'. Not when he was talking with Blaine. It was always 'we'll figure it out'. He made Blaine's opinion matter, yet not outweigh his own. It was a nice change of pace. "Would it be out of bounds to hug you right now?"
"You look like you need it so no." And that was all Blaine needed to hear before he threw himself into the slighter boy's arms and held on tightly. "Courage Blaine. You're going to need it." Throwing caution to the wind he let himself cry himself raw. Something he had never done with Kurt ever before. He noted how Dave Karofsky took to kneeling besides Kurt and Blaine and placing his hand on his back. He never thought the previous bully would be so... kind.
He winced when Kurt pulled him to his feet by use of his injured hand. "What the fuck did you do?" Dave Karofsky said with... was that worry Blaine was hearing? He didn't want to read too far into it.
"Go home, Dave." Kurt ordered him, this time taking control like he used to do and pushing Blaine up the steps. Dave Karofsky seemed to recognize the severity of the situation faster than Blaine would have given him credit for and kissed Kurt gently on the lips before doing just that. With one tiny pat on Blaine's back that made him stumble. And why the hell was the world tilting? "Easy, cowboy." Kurt steadied him with an arm around his waist. It didn't feel right there. Not anymore. Kurt sent him a small smile, trying to reassure him before opening the door.
His father was home and he greeting them with a raised eyebrow but Blaine didn't want to tell him what happened. The last time he had seen Burt Hummel he had warned him against hurting his only son. Kurt shook his head at him before leading Blaine over to the living room and fetching two towels, one to wrap against his bleeding hand and the other to wipe off his disgusting tear and snot covered face. Damn sobbing. That was twice this year that Blaine had lost his cool. "What happened?" Kurt asked softly, sitting down next to him and forcing Blaine to look him in the eye.
"You saw the paper." He muttered miserably, taking the box of tissues Burt Hummel offered him along with a comforting shoulder squeeze. He gave his son the same shoulder squeeze before leaving the tow of them alone.
"And the news. And the internet." Kurt said nonchalantly. He rubbed the back of his neck. A nervous tick of his that barely showed up. Kurt rubbed his neck to stop himself from messing up his hair. "You mom must have been angry."
"She gave me a choice." He spilled, hating how his voice cracked on the last softly spoken word. "Dalton or Noah."
Kurt's eyes hardened into something that wasn't just sympathy now. Anger maybe. Protectiveness possibly. But Blaine was too confused and stressed and worried and scared to care. He thrust his eyes back onto Kurt when his hand closed over his own. The same quickening of his heart was there, but it didn't mean as much as it used to. "What's more important?"
Blaine stared at him, trying to figure out what he meant. "I don't know." He admitted slowly.
Kurt shook his head at him, sighing a bit before he squeezed the hand that he had in his own gently. "You do know." He smiled a bit. "Blaine what's more important?"
"Kurt... I don't know."
"I will stand by whatever decision you make." He assured him and, suddenly a bit of the worry that Blaine had on his shoulders was gone. "You just have to make one."
"Why can't I have both?"
Kurt shrugged. "That's not the way the world works, unfortunately."
Blaine forced out a laugh. "Why don't I do neither..." He muttered to himself.
"And do what?" Kurt's voice had a steel edge to it. "Now you listen here Blaine Anderson. You are not doing what you're thinking. You are not giving up. You are not taking a blade or a gun and killing yourself. No way are you taking that route out of here." He slapped Blaine on the arm, not bothering to apologize when he winced. "Use your brain. I know you have one somewhere in there."
"What do I do though, Kurt?" Blaine snapped at him. "What else do I do? What else can I do? I either choose the guy who makes all the pain go away or I choose the school where I'm safe! What do I do?"
"What feels right?" Kurt snapped back at him, his eyes shinning with a fire that Blaine was used to. Kurt was passionate. He was very passionate. "What's your heart telling you to do?"
"What are you telling me to do?"
"To go with your heart. To think things through. Because either way you take, Blaine... either way you take isn't going to be easy. None of this is going to be easy."
"My mom..."
"If she really cared about you she wouldn't have kept your sexuality a secret in the first place. And your father never would have done whatever he did to you."
Blaine let out a chocked sob, his hands flying up to cover his face from view. "Why is this so hard? What did I ever do to deserve this?"
A: N - Expect more Klaine friendship in the future. Next chapter Puck and Blaine meet back up so... don't worry. Their steamy romance hasn't been forgotten.
