So this is the last of the pre-written chapters. I think I have about 3 paragraphs of the next chapter finished - maybe. I'm also running dry on inspiration right now, so if there is someone willing to be a sort of sounding board that I could just talk to (kinda like a beta, but more someone who would want to help me plan), I would love you forever. Just PM me!
Regardless, updates will take longer from now on. School is picking up, and then I'm planning to do NaNo in November, so I probably won't feel like writing anything other than the novel.
As always, reviews are appreciated. I'd love to hear ideas from you guys!
Christmas turned out to be an incredibly awkward day.
That was something Kurt hadn't thought about when he'd invited Wes and Blaine to come home for the holiday break. But then he remembered just how much of a family affair Christmas was supposed to be - especially with his newly formed family. How would Wes and Blaine fit into the picture?
Carole, it turned out, had thought of that already. Because Christmas morning found two small boxes under the tree, one with Wes' name, and another with Blaine's.
After Kurt and Finn had opened most of their gifts, Carole pulled the two for the guests and handed them over. Wes began thanking her profusely, while Blaine's eyes just grew wide and he almost started shaking. When he realised that everyone was watching him closely, he blushed and tried to school his face into a neutral expression.
"Is something wrong, Blaine?" Carole asked.
"This - is this for me?" he whispered.
"Of course it is, honey," Carole replied.
Blaine weighed the box in his hands, almost trembling with emotion. He could barely remember the last Christmas he'd actually been able to celebrate. It was when he was four years old, not too long before the car crash that took his parents' lives and ended his life as a free person. He couldn't remember what his parents or even his brother looked like, but he did remember getting a teddy bear and a disney movie that year.
He looked up again, just to make sure that he was actually allowed to open the gift, before gently pulling back the wrapping paper. Inside was a book - Harry Potter and the - he couldn't figure out that word - Sorcerus? What was a sorcerus? - Stone. It was big. And the print inside was incredibly small. He'd never be able to read it.
"That's how I taught Kurt to read," Burt explained after a few more moments of silence. "Once he mastered smaller books, we bought him this. Every night, for thirty minutes before bed, we'd read it - I'd read one page, and he'd read the next."
Kurt grinned at the memory. "I can read it with you if you want," he offered. "I mean, I guess once you've built up to books this complex. It's been ages since I last read any Harry Potter books."
Blaine smiled and nodded shyly.
After cleaning up the mess under the tree, Wes left to go to visit his father. Finn had invited Puck over for video games since Puck didn't celebrate christmas, so Kurt decided to see what Blaine wanted to do.
"Ordinarily, I go shopping with the girls when Finn insists on playing video games, but all the stores are closed for Christmas. Do you want to join them? I'm sure they'd be okay with it."
Since the dinner at Breadstix, Blaine hadn't interacted with any of Kurt's friends.
"I know Puck looks kinda intimidating, but he's really a big softie once you get to know him."
"Will - will you be there too?" Blaine asked nervously.
"If you want me."
"Please."
And that's how Kurt and Blaine ended up squished in the living room with Puck, Finn, and way more junk food than any of them could possibly ever eat.
"So, dude, you're like a slave, right?" Puck asked, casually breaching the topic while brutally shooting computer generated characters on the TV screen.
"Um, yeah," Blaine replied softly. Both he and Kurt had died quickly, so now only Finn and Puck were left to complete the mission.
"So Kurt could like totally order you around, right?"
"No!" Kurt responded indignantly. "First off, Blaine's my friend, not my slave. Secondly, I'm not his owner, so even if I wanted to order him around, he wouldn't have to listen."
"I would, though," Blaine whispered. "If you needed help, I would do what you said."
"Blaine," Kurt said, turning towards his friend, "if I ever needed your help, I'd ask you, not order you."
"Whatever," Puck said, obviously bored by the moment that the two boys had shared. "What's it like, dude? I mean, doesn't it suck that you have to do whatever people tell you?"
"I'm used to it," Blaine said, shrugging his shoulders. Kurt had been surprised by how open Blaine had been with Puck and Finn at first, but now he realised that it was because the boys were so casual with Blaine. They didn't try to ignore his enslavement, but they didn't make a big deal out of it either.
"But, like, how was it when you first started? Or were you born a slave?"
"Puck!" Kurt protested. "Blaine doesn't have to tell you his entire life story."
"Sorry, I'm just curious," Puck said defensively.
"It's fine, Kurt," Blaine said. "My brother and I were sold when I was four and he was 14. And I started out as more of a live-in playmate than an actual slave, so I was kinda eased into it, I guess."
"That blows. What happened to your brother?"
"I - I don't know. I haven't seen him since the day of the first auction."
"You know, Blaine," Kurt said, an idea forming already, "we could always try to find him. It's amazing the sort of things you can find on the internet these days."
"It's alright, Kurt. I wouldn't even know him anymore."
Finn and Puck let out loud cheers as they defeated the level, so Kurt shifted his attention. "Great, now can we please switch to Super Smash Bros?"
"Come on, Kurt, Mass Effect is fun. Plus, you always kick our asses in Smash."
"Yeah, well you always kick my ass in everything else. So it's only fair!"
Puck, obviously trying to steer the conversation away from him getting his ass kicked in Smash, went back to his previous line of questioning for Blaine. "So, if I told you to make me a sandwich right now, you'd have to do it?"
Kurt was about to protest, but stopped when he saw the small smile on Blaine's face. "Wes told me I wasn't to follow orders from any of Kurt's friends." A suddenly terrified look crossed his face. "I'm sorry - !"
"Dude, I was just messing with you," Puck said, brushing Blaine's apologies off. "Now, I don't know about the rest of you but I could kill for some of Mrs. H's leftover casserole. There's still some in the fridge, right, Kurt?" The pale boy nodded in confirmation, so Puck stood up and stretched his muscles. "Anyone else want something? Blaine, Finn?"
When Wes returned later that evening, he was shocked to find Blaine was laughing with the three other boys. In a way, he understood. None of these boys posed any sort of threat to Blaine's well-being. Their families weren't nearly rich enough to own slaves. They were the closest to equals that Blaine could find in Lima. But he still felt a pang of jealousy as he realised that he might never be able to connect with Blaine as deeply as these boys had in just a few hours.
"Wes!" Blaine exclaimed, seeing him over the heads of the others. "How was your father?"
"He's great, Blaine. He said he'd like to meet you at some time, if you're up for it."
"That - that sounds nice, Wes."
Wes winced as his name was once again pronounced like it was a title. "Anyway, I have something else for you. I called my mom this morning to say hi, and I ended up talking to Ab. She said she'd love to talk to you if you're up to it."
"Really?" Blaine's eyes lit up as he thought of the kind older slave who had helped him as much as possible in the short time he'd stayed with Wes' mother and step-father. "I'd like that very much, Wes."
"Great, let me just call the house. I'll have to make up some bullshit for mom to pass the phone on, but it shouldn't be too hard - Oh! Hi mom!" Wes paused and listened for a moment. "No, mom, there is absolutely no chance I'm going home when he insists on treating Ab and Barry like that!" Another pause. "No, mom. I'm actually at my friend's house right now. His family was kind enough to invite both Blaine and I in as guests and I wanted to do something nice for them, so can you get me Ab?" More muffled talking from the other end of the line. "I just want her recipe for the pumpkin spice pie so I can thank Kurt's family for letting us stay and treating us both so well."
The whole time, Wes never let an opportunity to rub the Hummel-Hudson family's kindness into his mother's face. Those listening in to the conversation shifted uncomfortably at having to overhear an awkward and potentially private moment, but they didn't acknowledge the situation.
Finally, a smile broke out on Wes' face. "Hello again, Ab! Yeah, I've got Blaine right here, so I'll just pass him the phone."
Wes handed over the phone and whispered to Blaine, "You can take it into another room if you want to talk in private."
Blaine nodded, took the phone, and walked away.
"That's so nice of you to do that for him, Wes," Kurt said once Blaine was out of earshot.
"I just feel bad that I had to leave Ab there," Wes said, sinking down on the couch.
"Yeah, but I'm sure she understands why you did what you did."
"Sure, but I'd only talked to Blaine for all of ten seconds when I took him. I've know Ab all my life."
"Wes, I highly doubt that she would harbor any resentment. From what I understand she isn't treated too horribly there, whereas Blaine … well, you made it sound like he wouldn't survive the weekend," Kurt pointed out, trying to comfort his friend. It was strange seeing this weakness in Wes. He was usually so strong for Blaine. But, Kurt guessed, he had to let his emotions out sometime.
"Yeah," Wes said, "you're right." But he didn't sound totally convinced.
New Years Eve found many of the New Directions crowded into the Hummel-Hudson basement. Kurt, Blaine, Wes, and Quinn had decided to take refuge upstairs where it was quieter and not as stuffy. At first, Kurt had been surprised that Quinn had chosen to leave her friends, but then he remembered the warm hand in his at Breadstix and that Quinn was the only of his friends at McKinley who actually had any experience with slaves.
Wes and Quinn ended up in one corner of the room, talking in hushed voices. Although Kurt was sure they had plenty to talk about between the two of them, he was sure the conversation centered around slavery.
Meanwhile, Kurt and Blaine were seated on the couch, mindlessly watching the New Years broadcast. For the past few minutes, Blaine's face had been scrunching into a very concentrated look until he finally turned and looked at Kurt.
"Can I ask you something?" he said tentatively, and quietly enough that there was no chance anyone else would hear.
"Blaine, you know you don't need permission to ask me -"
"No, I mean, something - personal, I guess?"
"Oh," Kurt said, pleasantly surprised. "Of course, Blaine. I really do want to get to know you better, and talking is the easiest way for that to happen."
Blaine looked down at his hands which he was wringing in his lap. "It's just - the people at Dalton are all like Wes. They're very rich. And, I'm not saying your house isn't nice because it is, but it's not really the kind of house that I'd expect someone who could afford a slave or Dalton to live in. And you even said that you're not from the same world as the other boys at Dalton."
Kurt nodded along with Blaine's statement. When the slave paused, Kurt spoke softly. "I didn't hear a question in there, Blaine."
Blaine blushed. "Your - your father - he told me that you were bullied because you're gay. Just - can you - can you tell me about that?"
"Well," Kurt said slowly, trying to figure out what to tell Blaine. The boy still hadn't asked much of a question, but Kurt was pretty sure that he knew what Blaine wanted to know. "You're right about that - my family definitely isn't part of the upper-class. But Dalton isn't just a fancy prep school - it's also a very welcoming community that rallies around their own. A few months back, I went to spy on Dalton's glee club. Wes and David figured me out pretty quick, but they just talked to me. They didn't get mad that I was spying or anything like that. Then they told me that Dalton has a no-bullying policy. I looked it up online and talked to them a few more times before applying to the school. Once I showed them my grades from McKinley, a few writing samples, and wrote an amazing application, if I do say so myself, I was accepted and given a full scholarship."
"But - did you really transfer because they were hurting you at your old school?" Blaine asked, a bit of fear in his eyes.
"Blaine, I'm going to tell you something right now, and it might sound like I'm trying to trivialize your situation, but I promise that I'm not. Basically, it doesn't matter if you're a slave or free; if you're different, people will hate you. Obviously, your 'difference' is very different than mine, and because of your position, people could do a lot worse, but -"
"It's not," Blaine whispered, and then looked shocked that the words had even fallen from his lips.
"Sorry?"
"I just - I mean - can you please continue? I can't right now."
"Of course," Kurt said, laying a comforting hand on the slave's knee. "Anyway, I was the only out gay kid at McKinley, and on top of that, my voice sounds like a girl's, I dress incredibly flamboyantly, and I was a member of the most hated organisation there, the glee club. So I was a really easy target. I could barely get through one day without slurs being thrown at my face, or being slammed into lockers or thrown into dumpsters. It was awful. And when one of my tormentors turned out to be a closeted homophobe who forced himself on me, I knew I couldn't safely stay there any longer."
"He - what?" Blaine gasped.
"You know, I've never told anyone that before," Kurt admitted. "It just - it made me feel too powerless. But then I saw you. You had everything taken away from you, and yet you were still so strong and trying so hard. And I knew that I wanted to help you just as much as Wes and Dalton helped me. Because I saw that spark in your eyes the first day we met, and I knew that you might have been beaten, like me, but neither of us was going to break."
Both boys sat in stunned silence for a long time.
"That's exactly how it used to be," Wes said, after listening to Quinn talk about her family's house slave. "Before my dad got arrested, Ab was just like another member of the family. I mean, sure, she did most of the chores, but mom would help her out. And now, it's just all - shit."
Quinn smiled sadly and took one of Wes' hands in hers. "You do know that nine out of ten - no, 19 out of 20 - slave owners are like my parents and you and your dad, and not like your step-father, though, right?"
Wes nodded.
"I know it's awful, and I can't imagine how much it hurts to watch her go through all that," Quinn said, "but it's not as bleak as you make it seem. There has been so much advancement in slave rights in the past 20 years alone. I mean, Kurt was even saying that the slaves at Dalton are tutored. That's huge!"
Wes cracked a grin. "Yeah," he said softly, gaze drifting over to where Kurt and Blaine were seated on the couch. Over the past hour, they'd shifted closer and closer together, until now they were practically on top of each other.
Quinn followed the boy's gaze and let out a soft chuckle. "Oh, Kurt's got it bad," she said, grinning.
"What?"
"Come on, don't tell me you don't see it," Quinn said, gesturing to the two boys again. "I don't know about Blaine, but that is 100% Kurt's 'I'm in love with you' face."
Wes' eyes widened comically as he did a double-take.
"Don't worry," Quinn consoled. "He's not going to do anything to make Blaine uncomfortable. He learned that the hard way last year. Plus, this seems a lot deeper than some schoolboy crush."
Midnight came, and with it, several kisses. Wes and Quinn ended up sharing a soft, chaste kiss before turning away with bright blushes blooming.
Kurt leaned over the relaxed features of the boy that was currently snoozing in his lap. "Sweet dreams, Blaine," he whispered, before lightly kissing the boy's temple.