Greenway had never felt more like a prison.
Blaine sighed as he got out of the car and trudged up the familiar walk. After a quick discussion with Mrs. Hanson, he walked up the stairs to the familiar bedroom where he had been living on and off for as long as he could remember. There were a few other boys and girls scattered around the house. Blaine recognized some of them. Most were much younger. He ignored everyone, and curled up in bed. It wasn't even 9 pm.
Blaine spent the next two days reading every book Greenway had to offer. Most he had already read a few times. He was halfway through The Giver when he heard Mrs. Hanson's voice.
"Blaine?"
The boy looked up. "Yeah?"
"You have some visitors."
Blaine was confused. Never in his 16 years had anyone ever come to see him, except his social worker. He got up and followed the woman to the visiting room. There was a crowd of people inside the room, but all Blaine saw was Kurt. As soon as he saw the chestnut haired boy, he launched himself at him.
"You don't know how glad I am to see you," Blaine whispered. "I was afraid it was going to be like last time."
"Never," Kurt whispered, kissing him.
Blaine became aware of the other people in the room soon after. He pulled away from Kurt and looked around. Stuffed into Greenway's tiny visiting room were Finn, Rachel, Mercedes, Puck, Quinn, Sam, Artie, Tina, Mike, Brittany, and Santana.
"What are you guys doing here?" he asked.
"Kurt told us that you got sent back," Mercedes said. "We wanted to make sure you're okay."
"Why?"
"Dude, you're our friend. We're not just going to abandon you," Finn said.
The words made Blaine's heart swell. They left the room in favor of continuing the visit outside. Kids were running around the yard, and Kurt looked around wistfully.
"It's like falling back into one of my dreams," he said. "I barely remembered this place, but it's still so familiar."
Blaine awkwardly rubbed his neck. He didn't know how to interact with his friends here. He was a different person at Greenway.
A small boy with blonde hair ran up to Blaine. "Blaine, can you help me get my ball out of the tree?" he asked shyly.
Blaine looked over to his friends self-consciously. "Sure, Jamie. Which tree?" Blaine followed the small boy over to the tree, leaving the New Directions behind.
"So you used to live here?" Finn asked Kurt.
Kurt nodded. "It's like it froze in time. Nothing seems different. But I was only here for a year. Blaine's been here … forever."
Blaine jogged back over from helping Jamie with his ball. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and scuffed his feet on the ground.
"So, are you allowed to get out of here?" Puck asked.
Blaine's face looked a little pained. "I'm supposed to put in a request early. But I'm not allowed out now since I was openly defying rules by living alone. I'm old enough to understand that it's wrong, so they put me on probation." He didn't meet anyone's eyes.
"That's fine," Kurt said warmly, threading his hand through Blaine's. "Want to give us the grand tour of the place?"
Blaine shrugged. "Sure. It's not all that exciting, though."
He led them through the first floor, showing them the playroom, the dining room, the kitchen, and the closed offices. There were pictures on the wall in the kitchen, dating back twenty years. They saw the evolution of Blaine, from the infant when he first arrived, to last year. They even found Kurt, standing next to Blaine, from his year at Greenway. The girls cooed over the young Blaine, but Blaine barely looked.
He led them upstairs next, to the four dormitories. There were two for each age group – girls and boys 0-7 and 8-18. Blaine opened the door of his dorm and led them in. There were a few kids of varying ages scattered through the room. They all looked up in surprise as Blaine and the New Directions walked in. Blaine's bed was neatly made; it didn't even look like someone had slept in it. The only sign of life was Blaine's bag stuffed underneath.
"This is it," he said quietly.
"It's … nice," Tina said quietly.
"I know it's not much," Blaine said. "You don't have to pretend."
Kurt looked around the room. "Does anything here ever change?"
"Other than the people?" Blaine asked. "No."
"So, what do you do during the day?" Puck asked.
"Read, mostly. I help the younger kids when I can."
"Don't you get bored?"
"God, yes," Blaine said with a laugh.
"When are you off probation?" Kurt asked.
"I don't even know. Mrs. Hanson seemed pretty pissed, but she always cools off after a couple of days."
"Maybe I can talk your time down," Kurt mused.
Blaine scoffed. "Be my guest. But I don't know what Mrs. Hanson you're remembering if you think that she can be talked out of this."
Kurt just smiled. Blaine led the group out of the dormitory and back outside while Kurt went to the office to "catch up" with Mrs. Hanson. Thirty minutes later, after Blaine had been coerced into a quick game of tag with some of the younger kids while the New Directions watched, Kurt came back with a triumphant smile. Blaine jogged over to him.
"So?" he asked.
"You can go out on Friday," Kurt said smugly.
Blaine's jaw dropped. He never knew anyone who had been able to play Mrs. Hanson like that – but maybe it was because she knew all their tricks.
"Seriously?" Blaine asked. "Are you sure she meant this Friday? Like four days from now?"
"Yes, Blaine, she meant this Friday. Her only stipulation was that you still have to follow Greenway rules when leaving, which means an adult needs to be present."
"Oh," Blaine said.
"Which is why it's lucky that Puck just turned 18," Kurt continued with a glint in his eye.
Puck suddenly found himself at the center of the conversation. "Wait, what am I doing now?"
Kurt sighed. "Nothing, Noah. All you have to do is show Mrs. Hanson your ID on Friday to prove that you're an adult. The real ID, not the one that says you're 35."
"You are amazing," Blaine said to Kurt with a smile.
The McKinley kids left after a little while longer. Blaine was immediately recruited by the younger kids as soon as he was unoccupied, so he didn't have to think about how lonely he felt until he went up to his dorm for bed at 10. He was pulling his pajamas and toothbrush out of his duffel bag when a few of the other boys his age came into the room. Blaine ignored them. Although he'd lived with them on and off for years, he never became friends with them. In the brief times that he'd gone to school with them, they had actually joined with the bullies in taunting Blaine rather than stick by their fellow orphan.
"What that faggot your boyfriend, Blaine?" John, the tallest of the boys, taunted. Blaine tensed up, but said nothing.
"All those kids coming to see little Blainey, making him feel special. What, are you better than us now, Blaine?" Louis, the ringleader, said. "They'll all forget about you soon enough."
Blaine tried to ignore them and walk to the bathroom, but they blocked his way.
"Move," he muttered, not making eye contact.
"I don't really want to," Louis said. "Why don't you make me?"
"Come on, guys, can we not do this?" Blaine sighed.
"What's wrong, homo? Are you too much of a girl to face up to us? Maybe you should be sleeping in the other dorm."
Blaine's anger was rising. "Just get out of my way," he growled.
"No."
Blaine stood there, waiting for something to happen. The room was almost empty; the other occupants were pointedly not paying attention.
"Faggot."
Blaine's patience finally broke and he lunged at Louis. They each managed to hit each other before Mrs. Hanson came barreling into the room.
"Boys!" she shouted. "BOYS! Stop this immediately!"
Blaine and Louis broke apart quickly and bowed their heads as they stood before Mrs. Hanson.
"Care to explain what just happened?"
"Blaine attacked me, ma'am," Louis said in his sweetest voice possible. Blaine shot him a dirty look.
"Is this true, Blaine?" Mrs. Hanson asked.
"Well, yes, but he provoked me, Mrs. Hanson!"
"You both have been here long enough to know that I do not tolerate this kind of behavior at Greenway. And you, Blaine. I am extremely disappointed in you. You only just returned and I kindly shortened your probation. And you repay me by getting into a fight? Both of you have a month's probation. Blaine, that's in addition to the rest of this week."
Neither boy could remember Mrs. Hanson ever handing out so harsh a punishment before.
"Really, I expected more of you two. You are the oldest ones here. You're supposed to be role models for the younger kids."
Blaine and Louis muttered, "Yes, Mrs. Hanson," to the ground and watched her retreat.
As soon as she was gone, Louis rounded on Blaine. "You little shit! She only gave us so much probation because you're already on it!" he shoved Blaine roughly and Blaine stumbled a few feet back.
"It's not like this was my plan. I was supposed to go out on Friday," Blaine shot back.
"Like those freak friends of yours will even remember to show." Blaine ignored him and continued to the bathroom.
He knew Louis' words were false, but there was too much hurt within him to discount it. By the time he crawled into his bed, he was almost convinced that Louis was right.
Blaine had a spectacular black eye the next day, as well as a slightly bruised cheekbone and a few bruises along his arms and chest. He groaned as he looked at his face in the mirror.
Blaine spent most of the day indoors, helping Mrs. Hanson and the other adults with the chores. Mrs. Hanson turned to him with her strongest glare.
"Don't think that this is going to make me shave any time off your probation, Anderson. You've still got five weeks."
But Blaine was sure he saw her smile when she turned around. Blaine wasn't helping out to get time off; he was trying to avoid Louis, John, and their friend Greg. It worked, too. They wouldn't mess with him while the adults were around, and Blaine made sure to get to bed early every day that week. He was so preoccupied that he forgot to call Kurt.
So he was in the kitchen and joking with Matilda, an older woman who volunteered at the house three days a week, when Mrs. Hanson called his name.
"Blaine!"
"Yeah?"
"Visitors!" Blaine was confused for a moment before he remembered.
"Shit!" he muttered. Matilda pretended not to hear. "Sorry, M, but I've got to leave you to this," Blaine said, tossing down his towel. "I'll help out later when I'm done."
Blaine slowly walked down the hall to the visitor's room. He passed Mrs. Hanson in the hallway.
"Probation," she reminded him sternly.
"Yes, Mrs. H," he said.
He opened the door with trepidation and was met with a sudden hush and shocked stares. He had forgotten about his black eye. The other bruises had faded, but it was still shining proudly on his face. Right now he was thoroughly embarrassed.
"What happened to your face?" Finn asked.
"Really, Finn? You couldn't be any more tactful?" Rachel chided.
"It's okay," Blaine said, sinking into a chair. "I got in a fight."
"What?" "Why?" "With who?" "How does the other guy look?" were the shocked responses of the New Directions.
"Monday night, with another one of the guys here," Blaine said. Smiling, he added, "And, Puck, he's got a black eye, too. And his nose is still swollen."
"Nice," Puck said, and he fist-bumped Blaine.
"Why?" Kurt asked again.
Blaine looked away. "It was stupid, nothing really. It just happened."
"Of course. Because you have a habit of getting in fights for no apparent reason," Kurt said sarcastically.
"Can you just leave it, Kurt?" Blaine pleaded.
Kurt really did not want to forget it, but he decided to bring it up at another time when he was alone with Blaine. "Fine," he conceded.
"Anyway, shall we get this party started and get out of here?" Puck suggested, standing up from his chair. "I've only been here a couple minutes and I'm getting stir-crazy. I can't imagine how Anderson feels right now."
Blaine's stomach dropped. He forgot to call them. "About that ..." he said. "I can't go."
"Of course you can, Kurt cleared it with the lady on Monday," Rachel reminded him.
"That was before this," Blaine said, gesturing vaguely to his face. "I'm back on probation for another month."
"A month?" Finn asked, like he had never heard of such a thing.
"Isn't that a little … harsh?" Tina asked.
"I guess," Blaine said, "but I was already on probation when it happened, and I've been here forever so I couldn't claim to not know the rules. Plus, the older kids are supposed to be role models, so Mrs. H has to be harsh with us to set an example. I think she just wanted to ensure that I was around so she would get a bit more of a break from the little kids," Blaine added to try to lighten the room.
"So you aren't allowed to leave here for another month?" Kurt asked. Blaine nodded. "But we'll be back in school by then!"
"Sorry."
Kurt sighed. "So what are we supposed to do today?"
"You guys don't have to stick around," Blaine said. "I know I'm seriously messing everything up. And it's not like we'll be seeing each other once I'm off probation. You don't have to feel bad." He was met with a roomful of confused looks. "Well, I'm not going back to McKinley, am I," he reasoned. "I'll either go to Colgate with the other kids here or I'll be shipped off to another foster home."
They were all silent. No one had really thought about the possibility of Blaine not returning. Suddenly, the reality of Blaine's precarious life seemed to crash down upon them all.
"It's fine, I've done this plenty of times before," he assured them.
"Well, what if someone adopted you?" Rachel asked.
Blaine laughed at that, not even realizing that Rachel was being serious. "You're not joking?" he asked. When she shook her head, he explained. "When people adopt, they're looking for a kid. They want someone they can mold into their own child. They don't want a teenager with a sketchy record and expensive doctor bills." He was met with quizzical looks, but he pushed on.
"Foster care is for the kids who know they're never going to be adopted. Sure, some kids get lucky and their foster parents are awesome and they adopt them, but it's usually just the parents trying to squeeze a little extra money out of the state rather than trying to be good people. I doubt I've ever been with a family who has actually used all of the money the state pays them for me to buy me food or clothes."
Quinn looked visibly upset, and the rest of the New Directions looked uncomfortable. "I already told you guys that you don't feel like you're obligated to hang around," Blaine finished
"We want to, Blaine," Kurt said. "We want to help you. We believe in you."
Blaine rolled his eyes, but he could feel the emotions surfacing. He wished he could convince them how wrong they were without being too harsh.
"Whatever," he finally said. "Let's just get out of here, alright?"
As they were walking down the hall, they passed Louis who smirked when he saw Blaine holding Kurt's hand.
"Nice face, Louis," Blaine growled, and the boy's grin was wiped off of his face immediately.
The New Directions stayed for a while and talked with Blaine, but they all left fairly early.
Soon, Kurt, Finn, and Quinn were the only ones left. Blaine and Kurt said private good byes and walked back over to the others. Kurt shot Quinn a questioning look, but she just shook her head.
"Blaine, can I talk to you?" she asked.
Blaine was surprised. He had never talked much with Quinn. "Sure, I guess," he said.
Kurt and Finn shrugged and walked away.
Blaine led Quinn to the back of the house where it was quieter and there were fewer kids playing around. They sat on a bench and were silent for a moment.
"Do you ever wish your mother hadn't put you up for adoption?" Quinn asked quietly.
Suddenly, everything made sense. Kurt must have told Quinn the little he knew about Blaine's biological family. Quinn had had a baby last year, which she gave up for adoption.
"All the time," Blaine whispered.
Quinn looked to him with tears in her eyes. "Am I a horrible person for giving up my baby girl?"
"No," Blaine stated adamantly. "No, Quinn, you did the right thing. And I think my mom thought she was doing what was best for me, too. Your baby was healthy and she went to a loving mother like you had arranged. My mother assumed the state would take care of everything. And they did, but no one wanted to adopt a baby who might not make it through the night."
Quinn looked startled, so Blaine sighed and told his story from the beginning. "When I was born, the right side of my hear was undeveloped. I had to have a surgery right away to take care of it. I had another surgery when I was six months old, and again when I was three. I still have to take medication for it. When parents adopt infants, they expect healthy children that aren't going to rack up expensive medical bills. So, everyone passed on me.
"But, your daughter is healthy and you know her mother loves her. I said I wished my mother didn't give me up, but that's only because of my heart. If I had been healthy and gone to a family, I would be thanking her every day that she gave me up. Think how much harder life would have been for both of us."
Quinn smiled, but she had tears running down her cheeks. "Thanks, Blaine," she said quietly. "And I'm so sorry that this all had to happen to you."
They hugged tightly. Once Quinn was cleaned up, she left for Lima. Suddenly, Blaine was alone again.