Disclaimer- don't own anything here
Lots of Blangst in this chapter, so I'd recommend watching the box scene around half way down this chapter to lift your spirits up a little bit, as it is the most adorable thing I've ever seen
Thanks for reading :D
6 year old Blaine was outside in Wraybloom Park on the squeaky swing watching his brother Cooper play football with his dad. This was one of the happiest memories Blaine had of his childhood, because despite his parents favouring Cooper over him because he was their "golden boy", he actually felt like part of the family. That change very drastically when he was older.
"Hey Blaine, do you want me to show you how to kick the football?" his Dad asked with a big smile on his face
Blaine nodded with a wide grin on his face and jumped off the swing. Blaine hardly got to spend any time with his dad as he was a very busy lawyer for one of the world's leading oil companies, but when they were together it was so much fun.
"Ok, so what you do is place the ball on the ground and give it one huge powerful kick on the side of it. Can you do that for me Blainey?"
Blaine nodded nervously; he really wanted to impress his father. Mr Anderson could sense his son's anxiety and put his hand on Blaine's shoulder
"Hey, son, look at me. There's no reason to be nervous. Remember- There is no obstacle in life you can't get over if you have courage"
Blaine smiled, it was rare for his dad to encourage him like this. Taking a deep breath, he kicked the ball as hard as he could, sending it shooting upwards in the air.
"That's my boy!" yelled Mr Anderson beaming at his son
Cooper rolled his eyes, since when did Blaine get all the attention? "You think that's cool, dad? Well let me show you what I can do!" Cooper grinned shooting Blaine a quick threatening glance
And despite it was back to Cooper getting all the attention from his parents, Blaine didn't care, because for that split second his father was proud of him.
7 years later...
"Hey Blaine, wait up!" his best friend Aaron caught up with him on the way to the school bus. Blaine grinned; he hadn't seen Aaron all day, and truth be told Blaine had a huge crush on him which was pretty awkward because Aaron had no clue. But he couldn't help how he felt towards him.
"Hey Aaron" Blaine blushed
"So, a little birdie told me that Lilly totally has the hots for you!" Aaron grinned, ruffling Blaine's hair.
Blaine didn't really know when he realised he was gay, he guessed in the back of his mind he always knew it because he'd never fancied a girl and he was 14. The reason he hadn't come out yet wasn't that he thought his family wouldn't accept him, he knew they would because they were just such supportive people. It was because if he did, he was worried Aaron might realise how he truly felt about him. And he didn't want to lose the first guy he'd ever had deeper feelings for, plus they'd been best friends for 6 years.
"Oh cool" Blaine winced discreetly. Lilly was the most popular girl in the year, but he couldn't go out with her. It would just feel too weird.
Aaron frowned "Why aren't you excited? She's like the hottest cheerleader ever, you seriously have no idea how jealous I am"
Blaine shrugged nervously "Eerr, she just isn't my type"
"What? She's everyone's type: hot, funny and smart. What are you a fag or something?" Aaron laughed as though it was some kind of joke
Blaine stood still and suddenly went very pale.
"So what if I was" Blaine scowled annoyed at the word Aaron had used "it doesn't change who I am"
Aaron stopped laughing very quickly
"Are you being serious?"
Blaine remembered his father's words, There is no obstacle in life you can't get over if you have courage.
"Of course I am" he said bravely "Look Aaron, it's no big deal"
"No big deal?" Aaron shouted across the bus stop "What, so it's not a big deal that you've been pretending to be my best friend for 6 years only for me to find out you're a bent piece of shit. You're dead, Anderson." Aaron shoved Blaine into the lamppost and stormed onto the bus.
Blaine bit his lip trying not to cry, he felt so stupid for thinking that Aaron would understand. This was Ohio. No-one was going to understand.
It was surprising to Blaine how quickly the school turned on him. By the next day, Aaron had managed to tell everyone. He pretty much outed Blaine on facebook. Blaine hadn't even told his parents yet, the thought of them finding out was terrifying. If his best friend in the entire world had acted this badly, how were they going to react?
That day Blaine got hexed randomly down the hallway, the football team smashed his head against the wall with their hands while laughing and people threw gum at him, but no one seemed to care. Not even the teachers. When he walked down the corridor everyone would stare at him, like he was some kind of a disease they were trying to desperately get away from.
Overwhelmed by all this, Blaine rushed into the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face, he felt sick. How could everyone betray him like this? The football team were his friends and not one of them looked sympathetic about what they were doing to him. On the contrary, they looked more like they were about to kill him. Suddenly he heard the door slam. He turned around to see Aaron and a few members of the football team
"Hey faggot" Aaron snarled taubting Blaine "We have a present for you, since we're besties! I'd luke you to meet my fist"
"Please, Aaron. Don't do this; I thought you were my best friend. How could you betray me like this?" Blaine retorted in distress
"Hey! It's not my fault you decided to be gay. I'm the victim here; you're the one who's been prowling around me for the last 6 years. Alas you must be punished" Aaron spat fiercely "Boys, hold him down"
Blaine yelled in terror as the school biggest bullies held him up against the sink. Aaron smiled viciously, like a lion about to slay its meat. Then without hesitation, he punched Blaine in the face so fiercely the mirror broke, making the shattered glass cut into one side of Blaine's face. Blaine felt blood oozing down his face as he turned to face the glass that was still intact. He was hardly recognisable, his eye was bruised and swollen and there were deep gashes on his foreheaed and down his chin. His eyes were stinging with tears, but he had to stay strong. He couldn't let them get to him.
He felt someone's hand pat his back, Blaine snapped around expecting to see Aaron and his gang rearing for another go at him. But it wasn't, they had made a run for it. Instead it was Ryan, the only other gay guy in the school.
"Are you ok?" smiled Ryan kindly "Ooh, that looks nasty"
Blaine sniffed "Why are you being so nice to me? I've always ignored you"
Ryan sighed "Because I know what it's like to come out of the closet, you need someone to be your friend. Come on, let's get you cleared up."
Blaine smiled as Ryan wet a piece of loo roll and washed the blood off his face, at least someone understood. At least someone cared.
That evening, Blaine rushed into the house and put a hoodie on. Even though his parents only returned home late in the evening, they always ate dinner together and Blaine didn't want them to realise anything was wrong. He was trying to focus on his homework, but it was impossible. It had been the worst 24 hours of his life, how was he meant to concentrate? Eventually he heard his mother come into the house.
"Blaine!" his mother shouted "Get down here, teas ready"
Blaine ran down the stairs, not wanting to be late. His mother could get very irritable sometimes, especially when she was tired.
His mother shoved a takeaway into his hands
"Put these onto plates would you? Your father will be home any second. And take off that hoody, you wouldn't want your father to think you're in some kind of street gang. Especially after how successful you're brothers become, you have expectations to meet up to"
Blaine sighed; this was typical mom, shoving Cooper's achievements in his face.
"I can wear what I want, mom" Blaine said simply
On cue Mr Anderson came storming into the house, exhausted from working so hard at his job.
"Hi honey" he smiled to Blaine's mom who put the dinner on the table, while ignoring Blaine. They all sat down on the table and started eating in silence, Blaine ate as quickly as he could to avoid the awkwardness of the situation.
In the middle of his tea, Blaine's mother huffed "Blaine, I told you to take your hood off". She pulled it off and gasped.
"Blaine, what the hell happened?" she said concerned
"I fell over in the street and landed on some glass. No biggie" Blaine shrugged, he hated lying to his parents but what else could he do?
"No biggie!" snapped Mr Anderson "Why are you lying to me and your mother? That's a black eye and you know it! I knew you were up to something dodgy, always hanging out with Aaron. Are you two part of a street gang or something?"
Blaine froze "Dad, please can we just not talk about this, I'm not ready" he said calmly
"Well tough, squirt, we're talking about this right now" he said hotly
"Look, some guys in the football team were just giving me a tough time, alright?" Blaine bit his lip, trying to sound as unfazed as possible
"Wait, I'm confused. Aren't those guys your friends" frowned his mother
"No" Blaine whispered trying to hold back tears
"Why not? What have you done now!" snapped Mr Anderson
Blaine stood up angry, tears flowing freely down his face "I haven't done anything! Why do you always jump to the conclusion that everything bad that happens is my fault! You never did that with Cooper."
"Sit down, shut up and stop being such a cry baby" snarled Mr Anderson. "Now stop avoiding the subject and tell us what happened!"
"Look, mom, dad" Blaine said coolly trying to control himself "The truth is, I'm gay"
Blaine's mom looked at him in shock and went chalk white "No, Blaine you don't mean that you're just confused! You can't be gay! Ben, do something!"
Mr Anderson was looking at Blaine with an unreadable expression and then signalled for Blaine to come over to him. For a split second Blaine though his dad was going to give him a hug, he knew his family would be supportive of him being gay. He gave his dad a huge smile. But then his father's hand turned into a fist and hit Blaine square in the jaw. Blaine felt a rush of pain spasm throughout his body. He couldn't believe what had just happened; his own father had just hit him! Blaine wiped blood from his mouth and avoided his father's glare
"Look at me like a man, you fag!" shouted Mr Anderson. Blaine winced at the name and reluctantly looked at his father, courage he told himself. "I will not have a bent queer as a son; I always knew there was something wrong with you. Never normal like Cooper, you're worthless to me. From this moment on, you are dead to me, you hear me?"
Blaine looked at his mom for support, but she just stood there looking at the floor. She wasn't gonna stand up for him, no one was. He tried to be brave enough to stand up for himself, but he couldn't. Maybe they were right Blaine thought, maybe I am worthless...
"Now get out!" his father roared, and Blaine ran up the stairs, tripping up most of them. He did not want to be on the other end of his father's bad temper.
Blaine slammed the door behind him and punched the wall in frustration. He hated his life, how could everything have gone so wrong in just a few days, it was madness. Just because he was born a little different, he deserved to be beaten up, insulted and hated by everyone he loved. No-one cared about him anymore, apart from Ryan. And Cooper- Blaine knew he wouldn't care he was gay; he was around gay guys all the time at the performing arts college in LA. He turned on his phone and dialled Cooper's number in hope; he really needed his brother right now. But of course, Cooper never picked up the phone.
The next few weeks were very rough. Blaine was no longer on speaking terms with his parents, the bullying at school was becoming more and more frequent and Cooper still hadn't replied Blaine's calls, he only sent him a text to say he was really busy. But at least Blaine had Ryan, he was the only thing that was stopping Blaine from having a break down.
"Hey Blaine" grinned Ryan popping up behind one of the bookcases in the library. It was always empty in there so it was safe to chat
Blaine smiled "Hey, you alright?"
"Yeah, well the usual. Aaron and his lot ambushed me in the parking lot, got a few bruises but ahh well" Ryan shrugged
"I'm so sick of those guys picking on us" Blaine lashed out clearly annoyed "I just don't understand their problem, we're gay, they need to get over it!"
Ryan sighed and sat down next to Blaine "I know, it's not fair and it takes some getting used to. I'm so sorry Blaine"
Blaine frowned "What for? It's not your fault. I just don't know how you could have survived this treatment for so long without retaliating"
Ryan shrugged "What would be the point? They've already made their mind about me, and I don't want to make it any worse. Plus it was so much worse when I was going through all of it alone, at least I now have you"
Blaine grinned despite feeling incredibly miserable "I cannot tell you how grateful I am. I don't think I could have got through these last few weeks without you. Especially with my family and stuff.."
"I know" nodded Ryan understandingly "at least my family are supportive, you're a lot worse off than me"
Blaine put his hand on Ryan's shoulder and smiled "I think we both got a bit of a raw deal"
A couple of months later...
Blaine and Ryan were walking down the corridor while Ryan was talking about how he was really looking forward to going to his holiday house that summer, when a scurry of excited and giggly girls rushed past.
"What was all that about?" frowned Blaine "I haven't seen the cheerleaders like that since Beth Forman got pregnant"
"Oh, just a silly school dance that's happening next week" sighed Ryan "It's like the prom for our year. It's meant to be quite fun"
"Oh, well why don't we go?" Blaine asked "I could do with practicing my dancing, plus you could really do with learning how to dance"
Ryan raised his eyebrows "Are you crazy? We can't go, that would be like committing suicide"
Come on" pleaded Blaine "I'll do anything"
Ryan laughed sarcastically "Well now you put it that way, I'll go with you as long as you bring protective headgear, a baseball bat and knee pads"
"I'll do your homework for a week!" begged Blaine
Ryan shook his head "Not nearly good enough"
"Ok, what about, I'll buy you 20 chocolate bars"
said Blaine
Ryan pondered for a moment. On one hand he didn't want to go because of the bullies, but on the other hand it would be great to spend some quality time with Blaine. Plus he really did like chocolate.
"You have got yourself a done deal my friend" grinned Ryan
Blaine grinned excitedly "This is so exciting! I've never been to a school dance before"
"Same" smiled Ryan "I just hope it won't end in tears"
Both of them sat down on the sofa in the library and talked about the outfits they were going to wear. Ryan decided to go with a classic top hat and a bright blue suit while Blaine decided that his yellow bowtie with a black suit was the way to go. Despite Ryan protesting he was going to look like a bumblebee.
The night of the Sadie Hawkins dance...
Blaine and Ryan stumbled out of the sports hall laughing and grabbing onto each other to steady themselves
"That was hilarious" gasped Blaine "I don't think I've ever laughed so much in my life"
"I know!" squealed Ryan "I think we've both pretty much publicly embarrassed ourselves in front of the whole school with our dancing. And our ridiculous outfits."
"Ahh well" grinned Blaine "We don't care what they think of us. It's not like they can get any meaner!"
Ryan smiled and reached out to hug Blaine "I had a really good time tonight, Blaine. You really showed me how to be out and proud"
Blaine smiled "Thank you for coming with me. This was just the perfect night, especially seeing as no-one bothered us"
They stood there hugging for a bit in the alleyway when they heard someone kicking a glass bottle into their direction
"Oh look who it is, it's the fucking faggy parade" shouted Aaron with his two friends Dylan and Cameron
Blaine and Ryan broke apart immediately. This was not going to be good. The two henchmen behind Aaron were cracking their knuckles with fuming expressions on their face and were cornering them into a dark alleyway.
"Leave us alone Aaron" gulped Blaine with a shaky voice standing in front of Ryan to protect him.
Aaron laughed cruelly "Do you really think you're in a position to make demands? You queers are unbelievable. It's one thing coming into my school and spread you're fairy dust everywhere, but coming to our sacred school dance is another thing. I think it's time we taught you guys a lesson, a lesson which will make what happens to you at school seem like a warm up exercise"
Blaine went as pale as a sheet and looked at Ryan in panic. Ryan stared at Blaine in horror and mouthed run. But it was too late, Aaron's gang had already wrestled them to the floor. Blaine felt intense pain spasm through his ribs and heard a huge crack as Dylan kicked him repeatedly in the stomach. He could feel Aaron punching his face into the cold hard pavement and blood dribbling down his chin as he split his lip open against his teeth. It hurt, so much. He started to sob uncontrollably, much to Aaron's enjoyment. He couldn't believe this jerk used to be his best friend, the guy who he could tell everything to, the guy who always insisted on paying for his candyfloss. Blaine struggled against both of them to see how Ryan was doing and much to his panic he wasn't moving.
"Stop hurting him" spluttered Blaine spitting blood out of his mouth "He's unconscious, you're gonna kill him!"
"Well at least them we would have done the world a favour, one less fag in the world! Seems like a pretty good achievement to me" laughed Aaron as Cameron moved off Ryan and picked up an empty glass bottle on the side of the alley way and smashed it into Blaine's stomach. Blaine shrieked in pain and start bleeding profusely. This was it, thought Blaine; this was how he was going to die. He started to feel incredibly dizzy and sick to his stomach, and swore he could hear a car engine pull up. He was probably just hallucinating, that's what happens when people have brain injuries. He opened one of his eyes to see Aaron and his gang leg it over a fence and then finally blacked out.
3 weeks later
Blaine sat up wearily in his bed as his mother arrived to his hospital bed. His dad absolutely refused to talk to him still, even after all of this but at least his mom was being nice again. And he had Cooper, who was really apologetic towards him for not being there. But after getting concussion, two broken ribs, a broken wrist, a split lip, shards of glass thrust into the side of his stomach and bruises everywhere, he would have been a pretty appalling brother if he hadn't come to see him.
"Hey Blainey" smiled his mom "How are you doing?"
Blaine shrugged; in all honesty he wasn't doing too well. He'd only woken up yesterday and no-one would tell him what had happened, they said he needed to recover first and not put his heart under any stress.
"So I and your father were discussing other school options for you. He was pretty ok with sending you back to that nasty school but I'm not sure that's such a good idea" his mother said kindly
Blaine sighed in relief, he'd sooner run away from home if he was forced to go back there
"So we're sending you to a boarding school in England. It has a zero bullying tolerance policy and it means you can get some...distance from your father" his mom smiled weakly
Blaine sighed, it was no secret that his father didn't want him around anymore. But he had more pressing concerns on his mind.
"Mom, why will no-one tell me how Ryan's doing?" frowned Blaine "I know you and dad aren't that supportive of me hanging out with someone else who is gay but that doesn't mean you have any right to withhold information about where he is"
Blaine's mom stood up quickly and grimaced as though he had said something dreadful "Look Blaine, maybe later. I've got lots of work to do, we're sending you to a new school so there's lots of paperwork to get through.
Before Blaine could say anything his mom rushed out of the room. He couldn't believe his parents were sending him away... did they really hate him that much? Wincing he got out of his bed and walked over to the window, and watched the rain droplets trickle down the glass. He'd once read somewhere that we often feel the most sadness in life in occurrences we have no control over. Now he finally realised what it meant.
Snape snapped back into reality after being in Blaine's head and looked at him in astonishment. This was baffling, Blaine definitely never gave off the vibe of an abused child, he just couldn't understand how Blaine acted so normal after what he'd been through. What the hell had he done, he just completely invaded on what was likely to be Blaine's worst memories. If Dumbledore found out he was not going to be happy.
Blaine started to swerve from side to side trying desperately to focus, he felt dizzy and had a splitting headache, he didn't even know where he was. The last thing he could remember was talking to Wes about Kurt. Giving into his legs, he finally plummeted into the nearby desks and chairs. Snape rushed forward and pulled Blaine upright.
Blaine's blurry vision cleared up to see Snape staring at him in concern. I must be dreaming thought Blaine, he doubted whether Snape would look at him in concern even if he was going through a food blender. Then it all came back to him, the rush of bad memories invading his thoughts and feelings. The bullying, the dance, Ryan. He felt sick, Snape had seen them all. In one swift movement Blaine shoved Snape off him as forcefully as he could and stood up towering over him
"How dare you look at my memories, you had no right! This is insane, you are just insane, you bastard" shouted Blaine tears streaming down his face
Snape was stunned, it was like Blaine was having a break down. He opened up his mouth to speak but Blaine was having none of it
"Are you happy now that you've seen my life outside Hogwarts is a misery? My family, my 'friends'. Does it make you feel content?" Blaine snapped sarcastically "Do you know what, it doesn't matter. I'd rather fail potions than have to put up with a psychotic git for the rest of the year, I'm done with you"
Blaine shoved the desks out of the way violently and opened the door
"Wait" Snape said without any harshness in his voice "What happened to Ryan?"
Blaine looked at Snape with an incredibly vulnerable and pained expression on his facewhich even scared Snape a little bit
"He died" Blaine bit his lip tears rolling down his cheeks "And it was all my fault"
Blaine ran out of the room, leaving an incredibly stunned and guilt ridden professor in the middle of the potions classroom