"They're so cute." Trent whispered, nudging David as they gazed down at the two boys sharing Wes's bed. "Look they're snuggling!"
"Quit it out Nixon." David replied, his words lacking any real bite to them. "Let's just drop the coffee and leave."
"Did someone say coffee?" Came the slurred reply from the bed, and Blaine shifted slightly, his eyes peeking out from where he'd buried his head in his roommate's collarbone.
"They sure did." Trent said happily, bouncing over and dropping down onto the edge of the bed, waking Wes up in the process. "We brought coffee and cronuts for breakfast." The older of the two boys groaned into his pillow before turning to scowl at their two intruders.
"You have some explaining to do Thompson." Wes muttered angrily, sitting up and accepting a cup from Trent. "Nixon in a morning I can handle, but what the fuck are you doing here at this ungodly hour?"
"We were watching the pair of you get all snuggly." Trent replied with a laugh, passing the other, larger cup to Blaine, who still looked half asleep as he pushed himself up into a sitting position. "You were cuddling." The two boys blushed and Blaine shot a look at Wes before deciding to take the wrap for them both.
"I had a nightmare." He lied easily. "I didn't want to sleep alone."
"No need to explain." David said, holding a hand up and sitting on the bottom of the bed. "We get it Blaine. It's okay. I'm only here because Trent dragged me out of bed." Trent nodded with a grin, before lifting a paper bag from the floor and shoving it into Blaine's chest.
"You both need to eat, and then, in true Sunday style, we're going out for the day. David and I are in charge, and Niff and Thad are meeting us by the cars in half an hour, so get up, get dressed and let's hit the road."
"Where are we going?" Blaine asked sleepily, rubbing his eyes and leaning his head against Wes's shoulder.
"Columbus." David replied with a smirk, refusing to give any more information than that. "Dress comfortable, but bring something fancy along to change into later." With that rather cryptic parting comment; the other two boys left, presumably to wake up the others.
"Are you okay?" Blaine asked quietly, not even bothering to lift his head from his roommate's shoulder.
"I could have done with an extra hour's sleep. But, yeah. I'm okay Dev."
"I think I should talk to your dad." Wes lifted his shoulder to get the younger boy to sit up and he fought to make eye contact with him before he deigned that with a response.
"Tell me what you need Devon." He said softly.
"I think I need help, for next year." Blaine whispered. "And, you guys have exams coming up, you can't be worrying about me at the same time."
"Your parents…"
"Don't want me in therapy unless they're planning to medicate the shit out of me, or convert me to being straight." There was bitterness in his words, but he didn't look worried or scared. Wes was realising that this was probably the most honest conversation they'd had in weeks.
"You don't need to be on pills Dev." He whispered softly. "You just need someone to talk to."
"Yeah well, we've spoken about it. If they're putting me in therapy then they're going to expect me to go on the pills. Apparently, I'm much easier to deal with when medicated."
"We'll work this out." Wes whispered, wrapping his arm around the younger boy and pulling him into his side. "I promise you that we'll work it out." Blaine nodded but chose to keep silent on the matter. It didn't matter what Wes promised, he was still a minor, and no one would be able to stop his parents if they wanted to fill him with a cocktail of drugs.
They had threatened it the previous summer, when he had met the six seniors for a day out at six flags, and they had decided to spontaneously stop for a movie before they all went home. Wes had dropped him off at a little after half nine, and he'd walked into the house, straight into an 'intervention'. They had decided that due to his genuine giddiness after the day's outing, and the fact that he'd blatantly disrespected them by staying out so late, that he needed something to 'calm him down' and to'handle these kinds of outbursts'. He'd spent the rest of the summer in his bedroom, working on songs and trying to stay out of their way, only for them to turn around during the last week and told him that he was too 'depressed', and that they ought to start thinking about getting him something to pick him back up.
He'd escaped the house without a doctor's appointment, and had been avoiding his parents for the most of the school year. The problem was, that the tics he'd developed after the surgery; the hair pulling, the nervous tapping, wiggling his toes or fingers, pretending to play scales to calm himself down… well, there was a whole list of them. And, they were tics he couldn't always help. Which meant, that the little time he had spent with his parents had been full of derogatory comments about 'controlling himself'.
"We should get up." He said after a minute or two of silence. "Or Trent will more than likely drag us out of bed."
"I feel sorry for Beat, having to room with him." Wes replied with a snort.
"Well its better than being with 'Niff' next door."
"You caught that too, did you?"
"Hard to miss it really. It's creative, I'll give Trent that." Blaine downed half his cup of coffee, wincing at it burning down the back of his throat before kicking off the covers and climbing over his roommate to grab a fresh towel from his drawers. "I'm going to take a quick shower and then the bathroom is all yours." Wes watched him disappear into their bathroom and took another sip of his latte. He had no idea what time he'd actually managed to get to sleep, but he did know that it was too late. He felt like crap if he was honest, and he hoped that whatever the other two boys had planned was not going to be anything too strenuous.
"If you don't tell me where the fuck we're going, I swear I will end you Nixon." That growled from the back seat of Trent's car. David was ferrying Nick and Jeff into town, leaving Trent to deal with Wes, Blaine and a very sleepy and irate Thad. "I can't believe you dragged me out of bed at eight o'clock on a fucking Sunday."
"Oh, hush you." Trent replied. "Stop being so dramatic. We're going into Columbus for a day out. That is all you need to know."
"Then please explain to me why I needed a suit bag?"
"Because, as much as I am enjoying the view of your rear end in that denim, I'm not sure that the theatre will agree this evening." Trent quipped with a cheeky smile. The boys were dressed mainly in jeans and hoodies but there were seven suit bags split between the two cars in their party. When you told a Dalton boy to pack fancy, that usually meant formal evening dress. Still, it was a surprise to all of them that Blaine hadn't attempted to stick a hatbox in the back of the car, and that his hair was mercifully gel-free.
"We're going to the theatre?" Blaine exclaimed happily, his eyes going huge.
"Yes, and if any of you tell David I told; I swear to all that is holy, I will make your lives a living hell for the rest of the year."
"You mean more than you already do?" Wes snorted, relaxing slightly as relief overtook him. He was still tired, despite the second coffee Trent had brought him and he was glad to hear that they didn't have plans to storm six flags today.
"You love me really." Trent said cheekily, throwing a wink at Blaine who was riding shotgun. The younger boy burst into delighted laughter at that, and as Trent turned on the stereo; blasting Katy Perry into the car, the fatigue lifted off of the shoulders of the two seniors in the back seats. Listening to Blaine belt out California Girls was always guaranteed to put a smile onto any of their faces.
The mood in David's car couldn't be more of a polar opposite, as he, Jeff and Nick were in a deep and serious discussion about a certain Dalton junior. Wes had confided in both David and Nick, that Saturday night had gone well between Blaine and Kurt, and now they were left with a decision about the countertenor.
"We can't just let him in back that after what he did." Jeff growled at his boyfriend. Nick lifted his shoulder into a shrug and looked at his fellow council member.
"Blaine hasn't even approached us yet." He said, studying David, who seemed determined not to weigh in on the matter.
"You have any doubt that he will?" Jeff asked.
"No. But, I agree with what was said on Friday night. He'll certainly be easier to keep tabs on if we know where he is half of the week. Between them, Wes and Trent have the majority of Blaine's time tied up with study sessions, the Warblers take another good chunk of his weekday evenings, so in reality we'll be looking at maybe a night a week where Blaine isn't being distracted with other stuff. After what happened this week, I doubt he's going to be back in the gym anytime soon, so he's going to need a different outlet. I think I can live with him getting coffee with Hummel once a week."
"And what about you?" Jeff asked David.
"I hate to say it, but I agree with Nick." David said evenly. "Actually, scratch that, it's Trent I'm agreeing with. He has his head screwed on straight when it comes to what Blaine needs from us all. We all let our emotions get in the way sometimes, Nixon seems to retain the ability to see a situation for what it is. Besides, what is the old adage? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. I have no doubt that Hummel is bad news, and I would be a lot happier if I knew for certain where he was for most of the week."
The car fell silent after that, the three seniors mulling over their limited options. Although the council was officially made up of Nick, David and Wes; the six senior boys had all gotten close after helping Blaine, and there wasn't a decision that passed through them, that wasn't at least okayed by all. So, with the three of them deep in their own individual thoughts, and nothing much else to say on the matter they had lapsed into one of those awkward silences that no one wanted to break.
"So, what is the plan for today then?" Blaine asked, when they finally pulled down a street in Downtown Columbus. "You have been rather cryptic so far."
"Well, we thought that we'd stop off at Stantons to pick up some new sheets for Nationals inspiration, then we're taking our resident bookworm to his favourite shop out in the German Village, we'll go from there to an early lunch at Tony's before hitting the park for the afternoon. We have a table booked at The Woodbury for six and we have to be at the theatre for half seven. If there's anywhere else anyone wants to go then we can come back in town this afternoon."
"How the hell did you get a table at The Woodbury?" Wes asked in disbelief.
"David may have mentioned who we were." Trent said with a blush. "Once they realised that they were basically accepting a booking for the sons of lawyers, doctors, and the headmaster of the private school they are all alumni of well… they basically fell over themselves to clear us a table."
"You are both terrible." Blaine said with a grin. "I can't believe you did that."
"I didn't." Trent replied. "That was all David."
"And, just who booked the theatre tickets Nixon?" Wes asked, an eyebrow quirking in amusement.
"Plausible deniability." Was the returned quip, and they all fell about in laughter once more, meaning it was a very excitable foursome that met David, Nick and Jeff in the car park of Stantons.
"You're all in good spirits." David remarked as they piled out of their respective cars. "Anything you want to share?"
"Nope." Was Thad's reply. "Its not our fault that we got the fun car whilst you were stuck with them two."
"How long did they spend eating each other's faces?" Blaine asked with huge, innocent eyes.
"Yeah you're fooling no one with those." David snorted. "And there was no face eating involved. Instead they argued for over two minutes about who was riding shotgun." They all laughed as they entered the store, sweeping through it like a tidal wave of energy. They spent half an hour riffling through the shelves before approaching the counter, all seven of them with their arms full of sheets.
"Who's paying?" Nick asked, leaning against the counter with a grin.
"Well seeing as you're going to treat your boyfriend in the Book Loft, I think this one's on me." Wes said with a grin, pulling out his wallet.
"You just want to get away with not buying lunch." Blaine said with a snort.
"You wound me Devon."
"You're not funny."
"Neither of you are funny." Thad butted in before the two roommates could build up steam. "Now let us please get out of here before Duval here decides we forgot something." Nick childishly stuck his tongue out at the taller boy and looped an arm around his boyfriend, who had little sympathy for him and therefore had no qualms about poking his side, prompting a squeak from the dark-haired boy. The rest of the group burst out into laughter and they were still chuckling when they reached the cars. "I'm riding with David and Niff." Thad deadpanned as he leant against David's chevy.
"Traitor." The youngest of the boys responded, receiving two fingers for his cheek. "And to think you were starting to grow on me."
"Screw you Anderson."
"You wish Harwood."