Hey guys! I am so so so so sorry for ditching this story. Life just got complicated and busy. But I received a review about all the unanswered questions still lingering and I felt really bad that I left. I am going to finish this. I promise. I'm going to work on it as much as possible until it's finished. It's only eleven chapters. I think I should be able to handle that. It's been so long, i'm sure there's aren't many readers left, but i'll Finish it for you lovely people who stuck around, waiting for me to pull my act together.
On that note, here's a new chapter. Because the last few were lighter, I decided to start you off with some drama to get back into it.
Blaine entered the apartment after work the following Monday to find Kurt sitting on the couch. He was staring at an envelope on the coffee table. He didn't look up when Blaine entered the room.
What's going on?" Blaine asked.
"Apparently everything is hitting the fan at once," Kurt said, not taking his eyes off the envelope.
"Have you opened it? What is it?" Blaine asked.
As Blaine sat next to him, Kurt handed him the envelope and closed his eyes. "There's a date for Tim's trial," Kurt told him.
Heart beating against his rib cage, Blaine pulled the letter out of the envelope and read the news for himself. "Well, we've got time. It's in a few weeks."
"i knew this day would be coming. I just wasn't prepared to deal with it so soon. I don't know how Belle is going to deal with it," Kurt ran a hand over his face, letting out a sigh. "But she has to go."
"Of course she has to go," Blaine said. He placed his hand on Kurt's thigh and said, "It'll be fine. Of course he's going to be punished for what he did."
"What about Jill? Should she be punished for what she did?" Kurt asked. "Because you know she's going to get brought into all of this."
Blaine hesitated, "i - I really don't know. We were all in distress that day. Is that really her fault? She had just discovered a side to her father she had never seen before. But it was her father, so of course she was going to defend him."
"She could have killed you," Kurt said quietly.
"I know," Blaine replied. "But she didn't."
"But she could have, Blaine. She could have done it in front of Belle."
"Why are you so upset about what could have happened? It didn't happen," Blaine said. He didn't know why he wasn't getting so upset about Jill. He had been just as angry with Jill. Blaine would never fully get over what she had done, but in the face of Tim's trial, accusing his cousin of such a terrible thing seemed harder to do.
"Please don't start another fight. You're making my head spin," Kurt buried his face in his hands.
Taking a deep breath, Blaine calmly said, "Look, we don't know what Jill's motives were. I don't think she was trying to kill me. I think she was just angry. Tim blames me for my dad's death. He kidnapped Belle because he's angry with me. I think, in the chaos of things, it was just her way of dealing with everything. You don't know how overwhelming it was to be in that house."
"I don't," Kurt whispered. "I clearly don't understand anything that happened. You made that clear after the fireworks display last week. I just thought you'd be more sympathetic toward Belle after what we went through at the park."
"Kurt."
Shaking his head, Kurt stood up. Without looking at Blaine, he said, "You saw the way Belle reached to those fireworks. That happened because of Jill."
"i know."
His icy blue eyes stared into Blaine's. A look of anger crossed over his face. "I think Jill should be punished for what she did."
"Kurt, you and I have to be on the same side of this," Blaine said
"I don't think we are," Kurt replied, walking out of the room.
"Can we please just talk about this?" Blaine stood up.
Stepping back into the hallway, Kurt said, "I've already told you what I had to say. But your mom called. She's flying in. Maybe you can talk about it to someone who will listen." He slammed the bedroom door shut.
The ticking of a clock was all that could be heard. Pam Anderson sat across from Kurt and Blaine with a stern look on her face.
"I don't understand why you're doing this," Blaine said.
"Because it's in his Will," Pam pushed the box across the kitchen table.
"What's in it?" Blaine asked.
"Open it," Pam said.
"I'm not opening that," Blaine pushed the box away from him. "If he wanted me to have anything, he should have thought about that before he died."
"It's in his Will," Pam replied harshly.
"Which he probably wrote before he disowned me," Blaine shouted. "I don't want that damn thing l. I don't want any part of him."
"Blaine, don't," Pam said quietly.
"Don't what, Mom? Don't get mad because the man couldn't accept me for who I was? Don't get mad because he never gave a damn about Cooper or me? Don't get upset that going to Westerville to do the responsible thing left his brother to kidnap my daughter? I'm not doing this," Blaine stood up from the table.
"He made mistakes, I know. But he's gone now, Blaine. Respect his wishes," Pam said.
"Like he respected mine when he was alive?" Blaine crossed his arms over his chest.
"Blaine," Kurt said quietly. "Maybe you should just see what he left you."
"Why are you agreeing to this?" Blaine snapped at Kurt. They had barely spoken in two days and Kurt was clearly only agreeing with Pam to get under Blaine's skin. "Nothing good can come of this."
"Take the damn box, Blaine," Pam stood up and walked it over to him. "I don't care what you do with it but it's yours. I'm so glad I came all this way for nothing," she flung the front door open and added, "I don't suppose you're too heartless to tell Annabelle I said hello." With that, she slammed the door shut behind her.
An awkward silence fell across the apartment. Kurt stepped forward and said, "Blaine?"
Hands trembling, Blaine grabbed the box and stormed out the door behind her..
He didn't know where he was going, until he found himself standing on the boat docks near the Hudson River. A slight breeze blew through Blaine's hair. The box his mother had given him sat clutched in his trembling hands. He stared at the box, willing himself not to open it. He didn't need to know what was inside. He didn't want to know.
What did any of it matter anymore? His father wad dead. Tim was going to trial. Belle was in their possession. What did it matter what Tim thought of him? What did it matter what Michael had thought of him?
What did any of it matter anymore?
Fingers trembling, Blaine slowly opened the box. Something told him that it did matter.
"Look, here son," Michael's voice rang through his mind. "My grandfather gave my father this watch when he was getting married. My father gave it to me when I told him that I was joining the Navy. I was going to give it to Coop, but I think I'm going to hold on to it. This watch is made for real men, not actors. I'm going to save it for the day that I feel most proud to call you my son. On that day, when you receive the watch, you'll know that I'm proud of you."
Blaine pulled the watch from the box and stared at the old face. He hadn't received the watch because his father was proud of him. He had received the watch because it was Willed to him. Surely, Michael had put the watch in his Will long before Blaine began to disappoint him. He didn't really mean to give it to Blaine.
Pam had known it. That's why it took her so long to give it to Blaine.
He didn't want it. He wanted no part of his family. If a long line of Andersons relied on him to be a man, than Blaine was only going to disappoint them. He wasn't a man. He was a coward. He was a mess.
Blaine didn't even know how to talk to his husband anymore. Almost every conversation led to a fight. He didn't know how to take care of his daughter, because he was so afraid of losing her. He didn't know how he would be a good father to his son, when he had lost Belle twice already., and his family was still suffering because of it. He didn't know how to handle the news of Tim's trial, because he was afraid to be around the grief that surrounded their history.
"You're not proud of me! You hate me! Tim hates me, and I don't even know what I did to him! And that's okay, because I think I hate me too!" Blaine shouted into the wind. He tossed the watch into the Hudson River and began running down the docks and toward the street, to find the nearest cab.
"Blaine, what are you doing here?" Sam asked, opening the front door.
"Can I borrow your car?" Blaine asked.
"Sure, is everything okay?" Sam handed over the keys.
"Fantastic," he said sarcastically, heading to the car. He drove out of the city, not sure where he was headed. Hours passed and Blaine didn't stop. He could feel anger boiling in his veins. His mind was racing. It was all he could do not to press on the gas faster, harder... not wanting to stop for anything.
Traffic in Boston slowed down, and Blaine was forced to ease up on the gas pedal. Five o'clock traffic was nearly standing still.
Blaine pulled off the highway half an hour later and drove down a familiar road. He pulled through iron gates and slowly drove through the cemetery.
Heart beating against his chest, he parked the car and stepped on to the soft grass. Winding in between tombstones, he stopped in front of a small one and knelt before it. He read:
Savannah Thompson
Dear daughter, loved sister
April 13, 2011 - October 3, 2022
"I miss you so much," Blaine whispered, running his fingertips against her name. "I can't believe you've been gone for almost two years."
He sat down in the grass and buried his face in his hands. "I just don't get it, Savannah. Why can't we ever catch a break? I feel like every time I turn around there's a new problem. We were finally making progress... For what? For something to come along and mess it up? And then I finally get my dad out of my head and my mom does this."
Birds were chirping in the background. Blaine glanced up and found the nearest one, resting on a headstone nearby. "And I feel so wrong for complaining because I know our problems aren't that huge. I mean, they feel huge but then I remember what you went through... We're lucky. We have Belle and that should be enough. But I feel so lost, Savannah and I don't know how to feel differently. I don't know how to get out of my head and move on. Every time she seems happy, I feel slightly better, until she's not fine.
"And I don't think Kurt understands. He's so strong. He tells me to lean on him, but I can't put that kind of pressure on him. I don't think he realizes that I'm falling apart," Blaine touched the headstone again. "I just wish you were here. It didn't matter what I was dealing with, you always knew how to make me feel better. And I know Kurt and Belle should do that for me, but I just feel so empty."
Blaine sat in the quiet for a long time, with nothing but the sounds of his own breathing and the birds nearby. Eventually, he stood up and took a step backward. "I don't really know why I came here. I just needed to get out. I needed to see you, to tell you how much I love you and miss you."
A gentle breeze hit his face, brushing the curls off his forehead. Blaine closed his eyes and stood there another moment.
When he went back to his car, he felt lighter than he had before, but he still felt like he couldn't face going home.
