Chapter 9: You've Got a Friend in Me
Chapter 9- You've got a friend in Me
Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or any of the characters.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Thomas Hendrix, Hendrix Residence
"Mom," I called out. "Mom! She must not be home yet. Then I saw the note on the counter.
Son won't be home til late. I've got a date with Roger. Call me if you need me. There's leftover casserole in the fridge.
Love,
Mom
"My mom's on a date. I wanted you to meet her. Are you hungry? There's a casserole in the fridge."
"What kind of casserole?" Blaine asked inquisitively.
"Um, not sure. My mom's not really the best cook."
Blaine chuckled. "It's ok. I'm not really hungry now. I want to look at your sketches and the model."
"The model is in the basement. And then, we can go to my room and look at my sketchbook."
I showed him the model, and his mouth dropped open.
"Thomas, you did this!"
"Well, actually, my mom and I did. She's really good."
"So are you! I'm impressed. If the whole set looks like this, the play will be awesome. It was a backdrop for the yellow brick road, and it was stunning. The bricks even had the appearance that they were gleaming in the sunlight. "I want to see the rest of your plans." He grabbed my hand. "Lead the way."
We walked into my bedroom, and I reluctantly handed him my sketchbook. I never really showed it to anyone before, except my mom.
"So, what do you think, B?" I asked as he was looking over my sketch book. We were sitting on my bed, a few inches apart. "Do you think they will work for the play?"
"This really is amazing!" Blaine patted my back. "But is six weeks enough time. I mean this is really detailed, and you are one person. I'd help, but I draw like you sing, apparently."
"Actually, the Art Club and Building Trades class are coming together to help build the sets. My mom is also helping me with some of the other props, like the tornado. I'm just the lead designer. You know, what you were talking about this morning, like feeling like you're home on stage, that's how I feel when I am on set looking at something that I designed, that I created. It's like no feeling in the world. It's my happy place, and no one can take that away from me."
"T, I'm so glad that we became friends." Blaine touched my arm. "You've really helped me find myself. I was the guy everyone else wanted me to be. I was surrounded by people all the time, but I felt so alone. Then, everything happened, and there you were. My friends were all gone, well except Jenny, and I was so scared. I knew that I should just be myself, but I didn't know how to do it. And then, you decided to talk to me."
"Actually, B, you reached out to me. You didn't really know anything about me, but you walked up to me on your own initiative and took a chance that I would talk to you. You said you needed courage, but it took courage to walk over to me that day. I'm glad you did it, but I guess I wonder what made you do it."
"It's because I admired you." His honey colored eyes were focused attentively at me. "You really seem like don't care what anyone thinks of you. I never really realized how much I envied you. You were so free, so spirited, so unafraid and confident. And I was in the closet, not just about being gay, but about everything. I was tired of it. I guess I just wanted you to teach me that. You helped me become more free."
"Blaine, you are finding all of that now. I'm so proud of you, but I don't know how much I had to do with it. I mean, you said yourself that performing is what makes you happy. That's what brought your new found confidence out, not me. And if I'm not mistaken, you decided to sign up for Glee club and the musical on your own. I didn't tell you to do it. Blaine, you already had it there. You didn't need me."
Blaine put his hand on my knee. "But, I did. I wouldn't have followed through with the audition. Mom and Coop both encouraged me to be strong, but you noticed I had signed up and you encouraged me, and knowing that you might work on the musical, I figured I might have a friend with me. I know we weren't really friends yet, but you immediately just befriended me, no questions asked. You showed up after my audition. You were there for me. It was so nice to have your support. I guess I am just was saying thanks." His hand was still on my knee, and his eyes were transfixed on mine.
"Blaine," I said hesitantly. "I envied you too! I've been an outcast. Being an independent person has its price. I may have seemed confident, but I was lonely too. I was there after your audition, to be supportive. Yes, but I also was being a little selfish. I spent a lot of time by myself, and you were willing to go shopping and get coffee with me. Nobody has done anything like that for me, made me feel like I was worth something. I guess I felt like the guy in Desert Places….
"They cannot scare me with their empty spaces
Between stars - on stars where no human race is.
I have it in me so much nearer home
To scare myself with my own desert places."
"Blaine, I didn't worry about what others thought, because my own opinion of myself was probably lower than theirs. I'm not sure that's confidence."
"Thomas, did you just quote Robert Frost to me? I know what it's like to doubt your worth, and I want to tell you, neither one of us will ever let each other do it again. I don't want you to ever feel like that again." Blaine put his arm around me and gave me a hug.
I leaned in and wrapped my arms around him too, but I quickly released him. This had to stay platonic. It had too. "Hey, care for a movie?"
"What were you thinking?" he smiled.
I turned around I grabbed the blue case. "Toy story, anybody."
"Really, T! How did you know that's one of my favorite movies."
"I heard you humming You've got a friend in me at the coffee shop."
And then raised his eyebrows and started in singing:
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
When the road looks rough ahead
And you're miles and miles
From your nice warm bed
You just remember what your old pal said
Boy, you've got a friend in me
Yeah, you've got a friend in me
Blaine really had become my best friend. Even in this short time, I just really enjoyed spending time with him. He was so optimistically happy, and being around him just cheered me up. He was also incredibly sappy. But, that was kind of endearing.
Blaine came next to me, and draped his hand over my shoulder. Come on T! Sing it with me."
"Uh, trust me buddy, this would work better as a solo."
Blaine took my hands and we danced around the room.
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
You've got troubles, and I've got 'em too
There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you
We stick together and can see it through
'Cause you've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
He smiled at me, and his eyes lit up. I put my head down, because I knew I was blushing again. But being any more than friends would cause him all kinds of trouble. He got pushed around and teased a little last week, but he has mostly been left alone, given the cold shoulder by some of the other students. But if we started dating, he would get all kinds of crap from the guys on the track team or worse. Plus, he said it earlier. What he needed was a friend. And I was determined to do that for him.
I let go of his hands and grabbed the DVD and put it in the DVD player. I went and sat down on the bed. He continued to dance around the room.
Some other folks might be
A little bit smarter than I am
Bigger and stronger too, maybe
But none of them will ever love you
The way I do, it's me and you, boy
And as the years go by
Our friendship will never die
You're gonna see it's our destiny
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
Blaine plopped down backwards on my bed and scooted up toward the headboard. He motioned for me to scoot next to him.
"Popcorn. I'm going to go make some popcorn and some coffee. Go ahead and start watching the movie. I'll be back in a few minutes."
When I got back into the room, Blaine had gotten under the covers, taken his shoes off and removed his sweater.
"Wow, I didn't even have to tell you to get comfortable, did I," I giggled.
"Sorry, I didn't want to lay in bed with my shoes on. I'm not making you uncomfortable, am I?"
"No, no, not at all!" I lied. Blaine was in my bed wrapped in the covers, and I realized that I had a flow blown crush on him.
"Then, get over here with me and share that popcorn."
I scooted up next to him on the bed. The next thing I know, he close the gap and scooted right next to me.
"I'm sorry, mom says I'm a cuddler. Is that ok?"
"Yeah, it's ok, Blaine.
He laid his head on my shoulder. My heart was racing, but I was determined to keep it all to myself.
I heard Blaine chuckle when Woody told "Mr. Lightbeer" to prove he could fly. And I snuggled close to him. He wrapped an arm around me.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Blaine, Hendrix Residence
I woke up. The tv screen was frozen on the Toy story menu. I felt an arm draped over me. An ankle brushed up against my leg. Thomas was cuddled next to me, and he was adorable. His blonde hair hanging in his face, his thin frame cuddled against me. I brushed his hair out of his face. He felt so warm. I checked my pocket watch.
"Crap, Thomas" It's 9:30. I have to get home. My parents are probably freaking out. My curfew is nine.
"Huh! Thomas jerked up! I'm sorry B! I guess we both fell asleep." He rubbed his eyes groggily. "Come on. I'll get you home."
I grabbed my sweater, and put my shoes back on. I grabbed my cell phone. I had 5 missed calls. The last one was from dad. I also had a voicemail from his number. I dreaded hearing what it had to say, but I reluctantly pushed play.
"Son, this is dad. It's getting late, and it's a school night. "You need to get home, now!"
I texted mom, and let her know I was on my way.
"Blaine, I'm sorry!" Thomas said as he grabbed his keys. He locked his front door and we sprinted to his car.
"Hey, it's ok." I put my arm around his shoulder. Then, I fastened my seatbelt. "Let's just get me home as soon as we can. Maybe I won't get grounded. I'm going to have to give them an excuse. I can't tell them I feel asleep in your bed, especially dad!"
"Just tell him we were running lines for the play."
"I haven't told him about the play yet, I said as my head dropped. Dad's not cool with that. He knows I'm in Glee club, but he isn't really cool with it yet. He isn't really cool with me having a gay friend either. He warned me not to get romantically involved with you."
"B, calm down. Like, I said, you aren't really my type. I mean, I'm going to have to go home and wash my pillow, now that mine is saturated with hair gel," he giggled.
"You like the gel, and you know it," I said as I gently pushed his shoulder.
"Look, I'll come in and tell him that we went to get something to eat, because my mom wasn't home, and we had to wait longer than we thought."
"No, I think I'm just going to tell dad about the play, and that we were running lines. He may not like it, but I'm sick of hiding things from him. He'll either accept it, or ground me."
"Yeah, but if you get grounded, I'm back to solitary coffee dates."
"Oh, and I thought you were just worried about me getting into trouble."
"I am, actually. I don't want to lose you as a friend."
"Hey, we discussed this earlier. I'm not going anywhere. We stick together. Didn't you listen to the song," he chuckled as he nudged my shoulder.
He pulled into my driveway. I waved bye, but Thomas got out of the car.
"Hey, you might need to just go!"
"No, I need to come in there and apologize. I need them to know I'm not some strange boy out to corrupt their son."
"If you really want to," I said as I brushed his arm with my hand. "But you really don't have to."
"I know," he said and smiled at me lightly. "But I'm your friend, I we stick together."
Author's Note: Please read and review. Thanks.
Stephanie