Blaine ducked out of the room, heading for the quiet of the empty hallways when his moms voice answered him. "Blaine, I think we need to talk."

He closed his eyes, sliding down the wall. He didn't know whether to cherish or hate his moms voice, but he figured he might as well go along with whatever it was she wanted for now. "We could talk any time you wanted if you didn't kick me out of the house and basically disown me," Blaine said, his tone airy and heavy all at once. He looked up to see Rachel slipping out of the choir room, shutting the door silently behind her as she walked towards him, a worried expression coloring her face.

"Blaine, now, let's be reasonable-" his mom stated on the other line, his attention diverted back to the matter at hand as Rachel sat next to him, silently taking his hand in her own and letting him talk.

"Reasonable? Mom, you said you'd rather you didn't have a son, how is that reasonable?" he shot back without thinking, all his normal behavior towards adults leaving when he thought about all they had put him through. Respect was something she had lost the second she let Blaine drive away.

"I was upset, honey, and your father had had enough of this silly phase and we wanted to see if you'd learn your lesson by now. We didn't think you'd really stay gone," she said, as if that explained everything. He felt Rachel's hand squeeze his own, clearly overhearing his mother's words, as he tried to process them on his own. It seemed impossible that this was the same woman who raised him, who taught him piano when he was a kid, who made him his favorite meal every year on his birthday.

"Silly phase?" he said quietly, because really, this was it right here for him. If the only way they would love him was if he was in a straight relationship, if the only way he could get their approval was by being 100% heterosexual, than no-he didn't want them. Mike's question was a lot more answerable than he had thought.

"Well, yes, we know that sometimes people get a little crazy and experiment, and while this is normally a college activity, you were always ahead of the times." She let out a trill laugh, and it made Blaine's stomach churn, sure he was going to be sick.

"It's not a phase," he said quietly, trying to remember how to breathe, Rachel's arm wrapping around him comfortingly, "Mom, I'm gay, which means I'm going to date boys for the rest of my life. And if you and dad can't love that-"

"Are you saying it's impossible for you to fall in love with a girl and lead a normal life Blaine?" His mother interrupted. "All we ever wanted was for you to be happy, and normal, and get married and settle down and have kids of your own one day."

"But only if it's with a girl," Blaine stated, ignoring that he was in love with a girl, because that was irrelevant at this point.

"Well, yes," his mother answered.

"What was the point of this phone call mother?" he asked after a moment, trying to calm himself down. Rachel's hand was still rubbing his back gently, keeping him steady, her gaze holding steady on his face as he talked.

"I want you to come home Blaine, it's time for you to come back now. It's been nearly a month, can't you see that you need to come back?"

"You only want me if I'm straight," he hissed, "and guess what mom? I'm not. I'm never going to be. I'm gay, and that's not going to change because you and dad don't acknowledge me anymore."

"I know you came home one afternoon and took more of your stuff."

"I wasn't going to make the people I'm staying with buy me everything," Blaine said warily.

"Who are you staying with? Your boyfriend?"

"No, actually, we broke up. Because of you." It wasn't entirely the truth, but it wasn't entirely false either. If his parents had never kicked him out, none of the rest of this would have happened-or at least, not in the way that it unfolded. His feelings for Rachel would have come out eventually, probably, but it felt nice to lay blame on his mom now. "All I ever wanted was for you and dad to accept me, for who I am, regardless of who I fall in love with and who I am attracted to. You're supposed to love your kid no matter what, and you just turned the other way when dad threw me out, you didn't fight for me, you don't care. This is because everyone's starting to judge you now, isn't it? People have figured out I didn't go back to Dalton? Well fuck you mom, you deserve whatever you have coming to you for treating your only son like he doesn't even exist," Blaine snapped, letting all his anger out in one long winded rant before hanging up the phone and taking a few deep breaths.

"Blaine-" Rachel said quietly, but he just smiled at her, feeling weirdly at peace as he slid the phone back into his pocket.

"Ready to go back to practice?" he said, standing up and grabbing her hand, pulling her up with him.

"Blaine, we should talk about all this," she said, but he just shook his head, kissing her forehead.

"No, I'm good, let's go. God knows they need our talent in there," he added with a wink, heading back for the choir room, leaving Rachel and her disapproving glare behind.


Rachel tried to corner him for the rest of the afternoon, but Blaine threw himself into rehearsal. She kept glaring at him, but he let Mike get between them when they had breaks, conversing as if nothing had happened.

It wasn't that he was avoiding the phone call, so much as he just needed space, and while he was glad Rachel had been there-he didn't know how he would have gotten through that if she wasn't there, he wasn't sure how he'd get through anything without her there-he needed time to sort out where this left him.

When Mr. Schuester finally let them all out, everyone grumbling about the dance routine and all the homework they had ahead of them that night, Blaine slipped out the door before Rachel could catch up with him, getting in his car and heading towards his old neighborhood once more. He wasn't going to go in, just kind of drive by and see his house one last time. He knew there was no going back, that much had been finalized when he told his mother to fuck off, but he needed to solidify it in his head.

He parked across the street, sure that if someone was home they could have seen him, but the driveway was empty and the house was dark. He stared at the house, at the window that used to lead into his bedroom. He wondered what they'd do with it, if he ever found out how bad it would hurt. He wondered if they'd bother putting up Christmas decorations next year, his father always complained that they were gaudy, his mom always saying she only put them up because Blaine loved them so. He wouldn't know, wasn't going to ever get to know. It wasn't his home anymore, they weren't his parents. They might have given him life, and they might have raised him, but they didn't love him the way a parent was supposed to. They didn't love him unconditionally, regardless of any faults or 'inadequacies' they might have seen in him.

He frowned, imagining taking Rachel there, letting her meet his parents. He could picture how his mom would dote on her, telling her how lovely her dress was while her father listened to her talk about Broadway dreams. Of course he'd scoff later, saying that dreams like that were impractical, but he'd like her well enough because she was a girl. They had only met Kurt once, barely at that. They didn't care to, didn't want to know him. But they would have invited Rachel over for dinner, insisted she come with the family when they went to events together. They would have clung to her like saran wrap, hoping she never left Blaine's side lest he 'turn gay' again in her absence.

His phone rang in his car, and he reached for it quickly, smiling a little when he saw Rachel's name pop up. "I was just thinking about you," he said casually when he answered, leaning against his car and continuing to stare up at his old house.

"Was it about how you're scaring the hell out of me Blaine Anderson? Where the hell are you?" His small smile grew when he realized she was worried about him, and with one last glance he headed around for the drivers side door, getting in quickly.

"I just had to do something real quick," he promised. "I'm on my way home right now."


authors note: okay, so, quick thing: yes, this story is coming to a close soon. i suspect one, maybe two more chapters total. second of all; i probably won't be updating as much soon because NaNoWriMo, but as soon as i finish that i'm sure i'll be back updating constantly. who knows, maybe i'll update during nanowrimo. i just wanted to say don't forget about me if i disappear for a little while.