14. Correspondence
Tina dropped her phone on the piano as Blaine packed up his stuff after the Glee rehearsal. The auditorium was empty. She pointed at a url for the boy to open it. He pressed his index finger on the screen and perked one of his triangle eyebrows at the content of the image, but didn't say a word. Just kept packing up.
"And like that one there are already three out."
What Tina was referring to was the letters signed by Carmen Tibideaux herself that accepted the receiver into NYADA.
"Three that we know of. They're doing it fast this year. A couple months passed since Kurt's audition till the letter," Blaine replied as he slung his satchel across his shoulder and headed out.
Tina locked her phone, took her bag and followed her… friend? Where they even friends? Anyway, we'll see how the events develop later. "Sixteen more to go in the best case scenario." Yes, maybe they were friends, or at least kind of/soon-to-be, because that's the only reason for Lady Chang to waste an opportunity of reminding Blaine of Rachel and how unfair the world was due to the diva's V.I.P. spot in the Academy. "You doing alright?" she asked as they walked down the hallways.
Blaine sighed. "Nationals are this Saturday. I'm not doing my best…"
"Already know and hell already know to that second one too." Okay, that one was too good to just let it go.
He rolled his eyes and chuckled. "And I have things that require my complete attention more than… Rachel."
"A stage in Los Angeles, for example."
"A stage in Los Angeles," Blaine repeated as he nodded.
"Glad you stopped sobbing all day long." Tina held Blaine's hand as they walked. "On behalf of all of us: thank you very much."
They laughed together, both at Blaine's life of irrelevant despair and Tina's… Tina in general. Until a sweet voice called them from the other end of the hallway. The applicants turned around and let the door close at their backs before even crossing it as Brittany hopped her way to them.
"I've made up my mind, don't need to think it over if I'm wrong I am right, don't need to look no further this ain't…"
Tina raised her hand and pressed three fingers against the blonde's lips to shut her up. "You can do anything to Britney and Kesha. In fact, they kind of deserve you as their…"
"Musical representative in this high school and the whole show choir and cheerleading community?" Brittany finished the sentence after she licked Tina's hand away with her whole flat tongue.
"I'd say official put-to-shame-renditioner, but you can think whatever you want of yourself. Delusion is fine for your people."
"You're still not better than Rachel. Never were, never will, though you think you are. Welcome to 'my people,' biatch," Brittany replied with a sassy finger and a hair flip.
Blaine burst into laughter.
"What are you laughing at?! Shouldn't you be weeping your tiny ass off over Berry?!" Tina enquired as she blushed to a record-shade.
"Leave Blaine Warbler alone. He's just another victim of this Ponzi scheme called 'love'. And that's what I'm here for," Brittany resumed her speech as the other two losers frowned. "You and I are gonna go together to prom this Wednesday."
The alluded and his friend chuckled. "Brittany, are you asking me out?"
Tina pulled her phone out of her pocket again and started videocalling Santana. "I wanna see that face. I really need to see that face." She couldn't hold down her excitement until Blaine took the device from her hands to let Brittany finish her… thing to say.
"As I've said, I've made up my mind. And this year's theme is… no thanks to your help… drum roll please…"
The three of them stood there, in silence. One was waiting for an actual drum roll, the other two just freaking out as usual. "Where's Finn? Wasn't he supposed to be in charge of this stuff?"
"He graduated one year ago, Brittany," Blaine answered tenderly. Sweet sweet Blainers.
The blonde girl frowned. "And who's been doing the drum rolling since then?" She thought for a second along with her friends. "Oh, God, there hasn't been any. We really need something to be thrilled for."
"So… a prom theme like…" Tina gestured, hurrying the girl.
"Nonsense."
The other two pairs of eyebrows were raised. "Okay. What kind of theme is that?" Tina asked roughly.
"The one that I've been having in front of my eyes these five years and the one that's gonna win me that 20 feet tall statue in the courtyard. It's the best prom theme ever. Everything is forbidden, nothing is allowed."
"Everything is allowed, nothing's forbidden," Blaine corrected her.
She shook her golden head. "Nope, I've said it alright."
The boy smiled and nodded in acceptance. "Okay, this might be even good."
"Nice. I'll buy you a red corsage. Pick a nice dress and find me one of those duets where Finn just moved his mouth doing weird sounds while Rachel got all the glory." Brittany turned around and walked away. "And shave your legs. Anarchy doesn't entitle you to look gross in a dress."
Tina was the one to burst into laughter that time. Hell, if only Rachel could hear that even a year after her graduation her musical legacy keeps being a constant reference… Orgasmic, girl. Orgasmic.
In the living room, Jesse and Finn shut up when they heard Santana getting heated over Rachel's silence. The two of them were seated next to each other on the couch, drinking their second beer of the morning. They did talk. Finn complained about the situation with Rachel, Jesse rolled his eyes and replied with some sort of pun on how much that was Finn's fault for not giving her what a true star deserves because he was the true star there and brag brag brag brag. Until the clumsy one got tired of talking about his painful beloved one and moved to the other relevant order of business in their social circle. "So… it's been 48 hours since I haven't heard anything about Blaine…" Finn started off.
"Yeah. One of the perks of the vote of silence of the only person who's concerned about him." He poured down what was left of the present beer can and moved to the kitchen for another one.
"I mean… you don't know anything? Haven't you two spoken since he left?" Finn had to raise his voice for the other boy to listen to him from the kitchen.
Jesse came back with the third and fourth beers. "Why would I talk to him if you are the one who was his friend? I just outsang him once and had to hang out with him a couple times while you wanted to 'take Rachel somewhere nice' every time he came to the city." Okay, that needs some sidenoting:
When Finn wanted to take Rachel somewhere nice, he just had the sudden idea of having dinner in a not-roach-infested place nearby. I say "sudden idea" because it definitely had nothing to do with the fact that he always thought of these tasteful plans while Blaine was 24/7 adhered to his girl and he was jealous as fuck. Nothing to do with that. No. Not at all. Pinky swear.
So Finn shrugged. "Oh, I thought you were into him or something."
"Of course I am. You ask me to bang him and we get married." Jesse chuckled at his own sarcasm. "God, you're so dumb."
"I didn't ask you to bang him."
"Hey, dude, I need you to do me a favor," Jesse started quoting/impersonating, but he stopped for a brief parenthesis, "bad start. It looks like you wanted to bang me. Anyway, as I was saying…" He went back to Finn mode, "could you take Blaine to your place and distract him from Rachel? Things are… complicated and I don't want…"
The parodied guy interrupted the so-called-by-himself actor of the year. "Distract from calling her or… sleeping here with us… Not bang him! I didn't even know you were gay, man!"
"My gaydar is infallible and you are simply stupid," Santana added as she walked out of Finn and Rachel's room.
He didn't reply to the totally gratuitous attack. "Nothing?" He just focused on what he cared about.
The Lima Heights Adjacent girl shook her head and sat on the only free spot of the couch. "Honestly? I don't know what else to do. She's like… dead."
"Maybe we should let her hibernate. Give her time to…" Jesse stated, but got interrupted by Santana.
"Your only purpose in this group is to keep your mouth shut between one douchebag piece of crap you say and the next one. Stupid ideas are not what we adopted you for."
"Call Blaine."
The air froze in the room. Not because the little Warbler had gone from Frodo to Voldemort, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, but because Finn Hudson was the one who said the boy's name after the verb 'to call'.
"Firstly: I'm not calling that tiny bastard to set off another mayhem in here, and even less if we're giving him the power to do it from the distance, like those red buttons for dropping bombs while you're having tea with your lieutenant." Santana stopped bitching once she realized Finn wasn't in the mood for hurtful jokes and military-apocalyptic metaphors.
"We've tried it all and nothing worked out. He's her best friend. No matter what. Whether I like it or not," the tall one finally sentenced.
"You maybe have a point, but we haven't tried it all yet," Jesse mentioned. "As SLo says, it could be even worse. And… not joking, man, but you would be giving up by asking Blaine to do something you've failed at."
"A.k.a. he is able to take better care of Berry than you. My new favorite gay is right." Santana waved her hand at her co-lead. "Besides, does he really want to talk to her? The last time I saw him he wanted me to kick her out before his audition."
"He'll do it. I don't care if I have to go to Lima myself and beg on my knees." Finn couldn't take it any longer. He was decided to go all the way down and face an ultimate Blainchel rendezvous/full disclosure/that moment where the two short people started talking their feelings out just for the torture of saying out loud how deep into Rachel Blaine is and how incapable Rachel feels when it comes to romantic triangles. "This is make it or break it, guys. And I'm ready whatever may happen."
"Always a surprise to see you," Kurt said as he wrapped his white pashmina around his equally white neck and smiled at the girl that joined him on his way back home right after he had finished his classes for the day.
"My pleasure," Quinn replied once Kurt walked down the stairs of the entrance of NYADA.
"Girl, you know I love you, your perseverance, your hair and your everything, but I really don't think that we should be talking right now."
"Coffee with an old friend? We barely talked the other day," she replied with a devilish grin.
Hummel didn't actually know what to do. He never had any problem against Q. Actually, he had always enjoyed the refined style of the former head Cheerio, but his loyalty lied with his friends/family. "You know…"
The girl pulled a piece of paper after she wrapped her arm around Kurt's without his complete consent. "Yes, yes, I know you are friends with Rachel and you live together in that little cult built around the fear and hate you profess to me." She handed the paper to the boy. "I am not a monster, and you know that." She went on and on as Kurt read. "I am not an enemy. I'm just a girl looking for her place in the world." Her smile couldn't be any more rehearsed nor creepy.
"So you got in?" Kurt asked, even paler than usual, as he gave the NYADA letter back to Quinn.
The rest of the day passed very slowly in the apartments of the former losers. Kurt brought the news and the air became thick and cold. As if Fabray herself had been the bearer of the announcement.
Finn had tried to make Rachel speak/move/do anything. Santana too. And her bestest gay was not any less. The three of them agreed to turn to the last resort: the Skype event.
Kurt took his laptop to Finn and Rachel's living room. He sat on the couch between Finn and Santana and made those three clicks that some time ago brought the joy back to his nights in the form of night ritual with his boyfriend. The bowtie avatar became a webcam window and finally a gelled up boy appeared on screen, perking an eyebrow as he saw who the callers were.
"Thanks for answering," Kurt said with a smile. He placed the computer on his lap in a way that the three of them could see Blaine and vice versa. "You know we wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't an emergency." Like he hadn't been dying to call the little Warbler every single day since he moved to New York.
Santana rolled her eyes at all the arse-licking while Finn bit his tongue, fully aware that he needed Blaine's help, which wasn't a thing that provoked any pleasure in his body. "Frodo, not-gay to the point, the way you like it." The Lima Heights diva turned to her roommate and held his forearm. "Sorry, lady. I am the first one that curses the dreadful day this one found his straightness."
"I am busy, Santana, what do you want?" Don't know if Lil Blaine was busy, but definitely he was not in the mood.
"As I was saying, straight to the point," she resumed. "Berry's dying."
Finn intervened the second he saw how Blaine's face turned into a two-seconds-to-be teary messy gross wreck. "She's not dying." Hell he knew how it felt when you were given broken news you couldn't handle. "It's the Quinn thing and…"
"And your thing," Santana pointed out, stressing the 'this is your fault' implicit message.
"And your thing," Finn said with a slight sigh. "It's all too much and we think that maybe you could talk to her or…" The boy remained polite. He knew he was asking for a favor to someone that didn't owe him anything at all.
"Does she want to talk to me?" Once the shock wore off, Blaine went back to his high-and-dryness.
As no one answered, he swallowed and got ready to say his goodbyes. But Kurt was deft enough to make his final move. "Quinn got in. And we all know you're in too."
Santana fake-coughed. "Not so sure."
In return, Kurt elbowed her in the ribs. "Next time I'll pin you a boob."
Finally Blaine and Finn shared something (besides Rachel. Pun totally intended): the biggest of the eyebrow-raisings ever at Kurt's defense of Blaine.
"You are in," Kurt turned to look into the webcam once again. "There's no doubt. And I can't believe you are not going to be there for Rachel now she's so torn. I just can't believe that. So, please, don't go when I take you to the bedroom."
After these words and a very discreet nod from Blaine, Kurt stood up from the couch, laptop in one hand, leaving the other one free to open the bedroom door.
"We'll make it through," Santana said as she squeezed Finn's thigh supportively. Obviously, the sloppy boy frowned the shit out at such unexpected (and unbelievable) sign of affection. And she noticed what an ineffable picture they were in. "Lady Hummel's pheromones when he talks to Frodo. It's like crying when chopping onion to me. Failed teenage gay love brings the sucker out of me." She pierced Finn's eyes. "Say something to anyone about this and I'll break you this exact leg," she threatened while increasing the strength of the grip.
Kurt half-closed the door after him with his foot. "There's someone who wants to see you," he told Rachel with a kind voice tone.
The girl was lying there. Quiet. The sheets were covering her up to her nose so she could stare into the gloom of her stance. Her hair was a total mess, her eyes were swollen and her look was lost and empty. As it was becoming usual, she didn't reply to Kurt.
Hummel left the laptop on Finn's pillow and got out of the room, leaving the two friends alone.
At first, Rachel didn't even turn her head to see who was on screen, so the boy in Lima had to be the one to start off once he heard the door being closed. "Hey. You look like crap." Blaine chuckled, doing his best to put his feelings and urges to run away aside to help Rachel.
There was no response in her body but a slight squirm. Her eyes lit up a little.
"Rumor has it that you only stop talking and let other people talk once a year, so I won't waste this precious time." He was smiling every trace of sadness and grudge away. She needed him to. "You and I will get it all right," he spoke slowly. "But you have to fight. You can't just hide in your bed. Firstly because you can't let anyone or anything take your life away and secondly because this world cannot afford to lose you."
Blaine was making it. A weak smile was drawing on Rachel's face as a tear ran across her face when she finally shifted to lie on her side and look directly at the screen.
"And… I'll always be there for you, even though I might get lost and do stupid things and run away and stop talking to you and… fuck everything up again." His voice broke as he dragged those words out of his chest. "This is difficult for all of us. But it won't be any easier if we do it on our own."
He moved out of the range of the webcam for a moment and came back with his guitar strapped around his shoulders. "Remember the song we sang back then when everything seemed to be the end and that there was no solution and it all would stay broken forever? When you came back to the McKinley in September."
"'Wide Awake'," Rachel finally spoke. Finally.
"And after that we kissed and we thought that we… had done it wrong and everything would be so complicated and weird and…"
"And why the hell am I doing it with my gay friend?" She chuckled.
"But we survived. And it brought us together. And here we are."
[Part of me (Acoustic) – Katy Perry]
Blaine:
Days like this I want to drive away.
Pack my bags and watch your shadow fade.
You chewed me up and spit me out
like I was poison in your mouth.
You took my light, you drained me down.
That was then and this is now.
Now look at me.
This is the part of me
that you're never gonna ever take away from me.
No.
This is the part of me
that you're never gonna ever take away from me.
No.
Throw your sticks and stones.
Throw your bombs and your blows.
But you're not gonna break my soul.
This is the part of me
that you're never gonna ever take away from me.
No.
Rachel:
I just wanna throw my phone away.
Find out who is really there for me.
You ripped me off, your love was cheap.
Rachel with Blaine:
Was always tearing at the seams.
Rachel:
I fell deep, you let me drown.
But that was then and this is now.
Now look at me.
Blaine and Rachel:
This is the part of me
that you're never gonna ever take away from me.
No.
This is the part of me
that you're never gonna ever take away from me.
No.
Rachel:
Throw your sticks and stones.
Blaine:
Throw your bombs and your blows.
Rachel:
But you're not gonna break my
Blaine and Rachel:
soul.
This is the part of me
that you're never gonna ever take away from me.
No.
Blaine:
Now look at me, I'm sparkling.
Blaine and Rachel:
A firework, a dancing flame.
Rachel:
You will never put me out again.
Blaine and Rachel:
I'm glowing, oh.
Rachel:
You can keep the diamond ring.
Rachel with Blaine:
I never liked them anyways.
Rachel:
In fact you can keep everything.
Yeah, yeah.
Except for me.
Blaine:
This is the part of me
that you're never gonna ever take away from me.
No.
This is the part of me
that you're never gonna ever take away from me. (Rachel: Away from me)
No.
Blaine and Rachel:
Throw your sticks and stones.
Throw your bombs and your blows.
But you're not gonna break my soul.
This is the part of me
that you're never gonna ever take away from me.
No.
And Rachel Berry found herself sat up, with her arms wrapped around her legs and taking a deep breath ready to face everything anyone threw at her.