A/N Just a quick note to my lovely guest reviewer Bri, although a really interesting guess as to who the Lima Bean man is, I'm afraid that he is not Adam. Sorry! Good try though.
Thanks to all the favourites, follows and reviews. I love them all.
I don't own Glee or the characters.
Chapter Twenty Eight
Blaine and Kurt had had a wonderful summer. They had spent nearly all of it by each others side. Blaine had whisked them off to Paris, Kurt was astounded that his father had let them go. It had been wonderful so see the sights of a place he had dreamed of going almost all his life. The Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, all the amazing fashion shops. Their trip had been perfect to Kurt. Blaine was perfect. Kurt had had such a wonderful time just being with his lover that he hadn't wanted school to start up again. But unfortunately, the time to reign back their fun time together had come as the first day of Kurt's senior year had started.
Over the holidays Blaine had discussed what Kurt would want to do after graduating. He knew that he wanted to go to New York, maybe go to Juilliard, but that was as far as he had really got. Blaine, however stepped in and made his dream seem somewhat more of a reality to him. Juilliard did not do musical theatre as a major, and so that was out, but their was a prestigious place that he could try and Blaine had told him that he could get in if that was what he really wanted. It was. Singing on Broadway was his dream. So he was going to attempt to get into NYADA. Blaine had suggested taking more extra curricular activities this year to boost his application and try out for senior class president. So, on the first day of school, he was going to sign up for a number of clubs and student council. He had made Blaine promise to sign up for a few too so that they could be together more and Blaine had readily agreed. Kurt was relieved to find Blaine seeming happy and exuberant, as after they had won nationals Blaine had been a little troubled for a few days, which had troubled Kurt, but as soon as it appeared, it seemed to vanish just as suddenly. Kurt had not known what had been troubling the boy and why but whatever it was obviously wasn't troubling him any longer.
Blaine had spent a lot of time over the summer making decisions about his future. He knew what he was going to do, but he needed some advice to see if it would be possible. Although the Lima Bean man had told him to marry Kurt to try and solve everything and put it right, Blaine was not so sure that that was the right path to take. The two boys were still young. In retrospect, he probably should never have proposed to Kurt the first time around. They were not mature enough or ready enough to commit to something that important at this point in their lives. He knew he would propose to Kurt at some point in the future, but it was not right to do it right now. He felt that it was time however to have a serious talk with the Lima Bean man. He needed to know why he had even done what he had in the first place, sending him back from the future. He needed to know what could possibly go wrong in the first place. He had spent an amazing summer ignoring his inner mind telling him to meet up with this man, but now he knew that he needed to buck his ideas up and finally find out the truth about everything and why it was so important that he and Kurt had to stay together. Not that he didn't appreciate that he had been given this chance. It was possibly the best thing that had ever happened to him.
Blaine had rummaged around his room the day before for the guys phone number that he had given to him a long while ago now. He was now standing in front of his locker before school started, holding the piece of paper in his hands, willing himself to phone it. Come on Blaine, don't be a wuss. Just do it. Taking a large breath in he dialled the number on the piece of paper and waited with baited breath.
"Hello?" A voice barked down the other end of the line.
"It's me. I need to talk to you. About everything." Blaine wanted to keep this conversation short. He didn't want Kurt seeing him talking to this man.
"Alright. Come to my place then. I'll give you my address through a text."
"Ok. I'll see you once I've finished everything at school." Blaine replied.
"See you later." The Lima Bean man disconnected and Blaine got the text through a minute later telling him where to go. Well, that's that then. Can't back out now.
At glee after school the first day, after having Kurt drag Blaine to sign up for clubs, Blaine sat in a back row seat in the choir room feeling like a part of him was missing. Sam had moved over the summer, telling Blaine that he was going to Kentucky as his father had gotten a job there and his family had no other choice. Blaine knew this was coming of course but at the time Blaine was still a little shocked and it had come as quite a blow. Having Sam in his life grounded him somewhat and knowing that the boy would not be there for a while really took its toll on Blaine's emotional state. He could not think of a way to keep his best friend in Ohio and so had had to sorrowfully bid farewell to his friend. Before Sam had parted, Blaine made him promise that if he was in any trouble then he could call Blaine at any time. Blaine had not heard anything from him since and was starting to get concerned about how silent Sam had been with Blaine. It wasn't like the boy to be so silent with Blaine, which made the dark haired boy think the worst. Blaine hoped he wasn't stripping, but had the uneasy feeling that he was.
So when Mr Shue came in looking really enthusiastic and had three purple pianos dragged into the choir room, Blaine just couldn't make himself feel enthusiastic about the pianos that Mr Shue had painted for their assignment for the week. Kurt, he could see was really into the assignment as he ran down to look at the pianos more closely and have a play around with them. Kurt's enthusiasm made Blaine smile and his heart sing a little. This was what he needed, Kurt's happiness to seep into him a little. He watched the man he loved look so passionate about music and song. He was going to try and get Kurt into NYADA this year if it killed him because that was where he belonged and, if Blaine's plan worked out, he may not be too much further behind.
Blaine was standing outside the door to the Lima Bean man's apartment in a slightly run down looking part of Lima. Knocking on the white door with its paint peeling rather tentatively so as not to completely destroy his front door, Blaine crossed his arms in a more defensive position. Why did I decide that I wanted to do this again? I really don't like seeing this man. He freaks me out a little... Blaine nervously bit his bottom lip, tasting a little tang of blood as he bit too deep.
The Lima Bean man opened the door, and, seeing that it was Blaine, stepped aside to let him enter.
"So you wanted to talk to me. What do you want to talk about." He led the younger boy into his small living room and the dark green couch that looked like it might fall apart if sat on.
"I need to know everything. I need to know why you came back to do this. Why is it imperative that Kurt and I stay together?" Blaine looked at the older man, determination in his eyes. He was going to get the whole story out whether the old man liked it or not.
"Well that's a lot. Are you sure you want to hear this story Blaine. It's not a pretty one."
"Yes I really do."
"Then I guess I will have to start at the beginning for it to make sense."
"Yeah, I think that's a good idea." The man offered Blaine a drink and Blaine said he would like some water, so after fetching Blaine some water and getting a glass for himself, they sat in his small living room and Blaine watched as the man sucked both his lips inside his mouth to chew on them, his hands fiddling nervously, shaking a little. Blaine could see he was as anxious as Blaine was himself. Why should that surprise me? I mean I know him better than anyone after all.
"Well after the proposal went horribly wrong, Kurt went back to New York and everything fell apart from there. To get away from m... you..., I guess I would have to say you, God this is complicated."
"Tell me about it." Blaine dryly replied, making the man smirk a little before seriousness came back over his features. Whatever had happened to him, it was not pleasant.
"Anyway, Kurt decided to go to France to get away from everything. Make a new start. He just packed his things and left. He never looked back. He found work in a French fashion magazine company and apparently was loving it. He had even got himself a new boyfriend. Seven months later, he was found murdered in his apartment in Paris. He was shot in the head three times."
"What?" Blaine spat out, his eyes wide, mouth open. Murdered? What the...?
"You can't let him go to France. Whatever you do, just don't... It was one of the things I regret the most. I should have fought harder with him to stay in this country." The man looked down at the ground, sorrow completely filling his face. He had had many years to grieve and yet the wounds were still fresh for him.
"But..." Blaine didn't really know what to say in response. How do you respond to someone telling you that the love of your life was shot dead far away from you.
"You, attempt to kill yourself... You slit your wrists. Sam finds you in time, but you spend over a year in a psychiatric ward, trying to come to terms with Kurt's death." Blaine was aghast. How could he have let this happen? How could he have just let Kurt go to France? Why didn't he fight back?
"Whilst you were in the psychiatric ward, Burt suffered a major heart attack. He never fully recovered from it, or Kurt being killed, and he died less than three years later."
"Ok, stop. I don't want to hear any more." Blaine put his hand up to stop the man from saying anything more.
"You were the one who wanted to hear this." He stated back calmly. His face gave nothing away. It was as if he had closed his heart to everything. Blaine looked carefully at the man's face and saw how these events had aged him. The lines on his forehead and around his eyes made him look as if he were in his forties. Blaine had never asked how old he actually was and decided he needed to know how badly these events had affected this man.
"How old are you exactly?" he questioned the man, curiosity lacing his voice.
"Why, do I look ancient? I'm thirty two." Blaine eyebrows shot up at that and the man chuckled. "I turned to drink to try and ease my pain. I'm an alcoholic, that's probably why I look older to you."
"And you've never tried to stop? To give it up?" Blaine spat out angry at him. He knew it was a bed idea trying to talk to this man. He could feel the anger bubbling to the surface. This man's neglect had been a cause of all of this.
"What's the point. I've lost everything dear to me." He shrugged at Blaine, looking as if he hadn't a care in the world.
"So why and how did you manage to get back to me?" Blaine asked, changing the subject before he hit the man.
"I came back to you specifically because you had been through enough to know how bad things between the two of you had gotten, but there was still time for you. Kurt hadn't gone off to France yet. It was obviously too late for me. I couldn't do it myself, he would have thought I was a crazy old man."
"I see your point about that, but how did you even get back to me?"
"Well, lets just say Brittany really is a genius. She invented a way for me to come back through time, but it would only be able to send me back in time, not forward again. She told me if you changed the past though that I wouldn't exist any more as my future would never have existed." Blaine could not believe his ears. Brittany really was a genuine genius. Everyone had just thought she was eccentric, and a little dim.
"Brittany? Seriously, I thought that the MIT thing was a fluke and that the professors had gone a little crazy or something. She really invented a time machine?"
The man laughed loudly at that. "Yeah, she did."
"I'm not marrying him you know."
"Ok, well do you have anything else in mind?" He asked Blaine, his eyebrow raised as if to say 'give me a better idea then boy'.
"I do, but I need to check it out first to see if its possible."
"Fair enough. I'll trust that you know what you are doing." Blaine nodded to the man affirming that he understood that the Lima Bean man was going to place his trust in Blaine for a little longer at least. Blaine then stood, indicating to him that he was ready to leave.
"I'm gonna go now. It's too weird to be in the same room with you for too long."
"I completely understand that." Blaine walked out the door, running towards his car. He had the sudden need to be very close to Kurt.
Kurt had known something was wrong when Blaine had come to see him last night. He had looked very worried and been over attentive. He had gone so far as to ask the boy what was wrong as he hugged Kurt tightly in his arms, but Blaine had fobbed him off, saying that he was fine.
The two boys were sitting in English class the morning after, waiting for the teacher so they could start the lesson. Blaine, looking morose and doodling in his book. It was driving Kurt to distraction. He needed to know what was going on.
"Blaine, seriously, what is going on in your head?"
"I'm sorry, Kurt. It's family stuff. Really, very boring, you don't need to know the details."
"You know that I'm there for you, whatever it is." Kurt placed his hand on top of Blaine's and squeezed it, giving him a sincere smile.
"I just had some really bad news yesterday and it freaked me out a little is all. Really, please don't worry about me." I wish I could tell you Kurt, but I can't.
"I'm sorry, Blainey." Kurt gave his boy a hug. He would wait till Blaine was ready to talk about it, he wouldn't push. He just wanted to make sure that Blaine knew he was there if he needed him.
Blaine hugged him very tightly back. I can't live without him. I won't. He can't die. "I love you so much Kurt."
Blaine needed support right now and he couldn't use Kurt, but his best friend was not here either. He needed Sam. During his study period he went to the computer suite and started his search to try and find Sam. He knew he was in Kentucky but the boy had taken down his Facebook page for the moment and didn't seem to be responding to his phone. So Blaine was trying to find places in Kentucky that had a dairy queen close by, as he remembered that he had pretended to his parents that he worked in a dairy queen, when he was stripping. Unfortunately there were a lot of dairy queens in Kentucky. Seriously how many Dairy Queens do they need? Blaine sighed audibly. Well that was a bust.
Blaine was going to have a hard time trying to find out where the boy was, when he didn't want to be found and his study period was almost over. He would have to try again at a later date. He logged off the computer and, downcast, slowly walked to his next lesson of the day.
Blaine hadn't really been paying much attention to the glee assignment of the week, but after the group had sung the Go-Go's 'We Got The Beat' and he saw Sugar walk through the door, he quickly grabbed Kurt's arm.
"What's wrong?" Kurt whispered to the boy, his arm slightly hurting due to the ferocious grip Blaine had it in.
"Whatever you think of this girl, we need to let her into the club. Trust me on this."
"O-k..." Kurt gave him a weird look as if he had gone crazy and turned to look at the little girl who was about to audition for them. He hadn't listened to what she had said to Mr Shue, but he was sure this audition, which had been the only interest they had had so far, was going to be intriguing. Especially after what Blaine had said.
Kurt cringed at the high pitched squealing and screeching that came out of this little girls mouth. It was awful, why the hell would Blaine want her in the group? Blaine was clearly not in his right mind at the moment. Whatever it was that was upsetting him, was making him not think clearly at all. Kurt patted his boyfriends hand sympathetically, but she was never going to get in. Period. No way would anyone else want her in. There was not even any point in Kurt trying to defend her. Kurt, however was getting really apprehensive about Blaine. He was all over the place. Happy one minute, sad the next. He just wished the boy would talk to him and tell him what was on his mind. He had been getting more and more distant throughout the week and it was starting to hurt that Blaine did not trust Kurt enough to tell him what was wrong in his life.
Tuning himself back to the conversation taking place in front of him, instead of looking at his boyfriend, he heard Rachel state that she was not getting on the team. Blaine looked pitifully at Kurt as if to ask him to help support this Sugar girl. Kurt sighed.
"Maybe we should give her a chance. I mean, we could try a train her voice." Kurt suggested for his boyfriends sake and he felt the ghost of Blaine's lips as he kissed his cheek to say thank you.
"I don't think so. You did hear her right? I mean she's tone deaf." Rachel pointedly told Kurt.
"I'm sorry Kurt, but I have to agree with Rachel on this. We need talent, not people who are a little deluded." Mercedes sided with Rachel. That made Kurt bristle a little. He had only asked them to give her a chance. What was wrong with that? Blaine was trying to do the right thing and show kindness to the, yes, slightly weird girl, but still. Kurt thought that they were being a little rude and a little arrogant. He turned and looked sympathetically at his boyfriend.
"Sorry Blaine, I tried, but there is no way she is going to be on this team honey." Kurt whispered back to the boy.
"You don't understand Kurt. She needs to be on this team. I know she can't sing but its really important." Blaine hissed back a little angrily. He was fed up. Everything that had once seemed perfect was crashing down around him.
"Why Blaine? Why is it that important?" Kurt asked innocently. He wanted to know why Blaine felt they needed that girl on the team. Does he know her from somewhere? Her name did sound familiar...
"Because... just because." Kurt was starting to get very worried about his boyfriend now. He was acting very irrationally, making strange decisions and his mood was changing more rapidly than his outfits.
"You know what, never mind. No one is gonna listen to me anyway." Blaine shrugged it off and shouldered his satchel, leaving the room without one more word spoken. A lone tear falling down his face. What am I gonna do? How am I supposed to act around Kurt when I know what might happen to him? How can I change everything? I just wish someone out there could help me...
