Blaine watched with huge eyes and a face-splitting grin as the Columbus Symphony blew all of their expectations out of the water. He had loved all genres of music, even as a kid; but there was nothing quite like watching a fifty-piece orchestra in action. The day had been nothing short of amazing, and they were definitely ending it on a high note with this.
"Look at him." Wes whispered to Trent, who was as transfixed on the stage as Blaine was. "Look how happy he is right now." Trent glanced at the youngest member of their group, who had sandwiched himself between Thad and David and positively beamed at the wonder on his face. Between them, they had done well, the baby-faced senior thought, giving himself a mental pat on the back. Blaine looked as though he was in his own little world; completely enraptured with the orchestra and oblivious to everything else around him.
"We did good." He whispered back to Wes with a smile.
"Yeah, you did." Was the melancholy reply. Trent reached over and gave Wes's hand a squeeze in silent support. He knew that the other boy was feeling inadequate as of late, and he knew that it was a situation that it would be up to him to solve. For now, though; they turned their attentions back to the stage and vowed to make the most of the rest of the evening.
Nick had heard the exchange between the two boys, from his seat between Trent and his boyfriend. He reached out to Jeff and grabbed his hand, holding on for dear life as he vowed to do better, to be better. They had all made the promise to each other that they would do whatever it took to keep Blaine happy, and as stress free as possible. They had made the promise that they would ensure his remaining high-school career was filled with laughter, and friends and safety. They had all made the promise out of foolish naivety; failing to understand just what it meant when they all graduated.
"Are you okay?" Jeff whispered to him, keeping his voice low as to not alert any of the others to their conversation. Nick nodded and swallowed down his frustration and self-pity. It would not help any of them if he caved now.
He had to be better.
The last number was by far the most spectacular and had Blaine smiling the widest. A Space Odyssey was one of Wes's favourite films of all time, and Strauss's composition was instantly recognisable to the boy who had been forced to watch that movie far too many times in their dorm. He glanced over to his roommate who was also sporting a wide smile as he watched the stage and counted the day as a success in his own mind.
They had skipped the park, and instead had spent the afternoon wandering around the city, with little to no idea what they were doing, and just generally having a good time of it. They had been forced to drag Jeff away from the German Village, after the blonde had insisted on going back to the Book Loft, and he'd been forced out of Music Haus after he'd fallen a little too into a conversation about building his own electric guitar.
All in all; the weekend had been a huge spirit lifter, and he felt ready to launch himself back into his lessons, and The Warblers first thing in the morning. He planned on taking a trip to Wes's dad over lunch, and he was fully prepared to begin cramming for the end of year exams.
The concert came to a close, and he almost didn't want to move from his seat. He felt Thad's hand on his wrist and he gave the older boy a nod to let him know that he was okay. He just felt overwhelmed by the day's events, and as wonderful as it had been, he was ready to admit to himself that he was in need of his bed.
The boys had split themselves between two cars again, although this time, Wes was riding shotgun with Trent and throwing worried glances at the back seat; where Blaine was sprawled out on his back, arms akimbo and his mouth slightly open as he breathed softly. They had been worried that the day was going to be too much for the younger boy, but he'd held up spectacularly, being dragged along with the wave of positive energy the other boys had exuded. He'd started to flag around dinner time, but as soon as they'd stepped foot into the theatre, his eyes had been wide open in an innocent wonder that had all of the boys shooting him fond smiles.
Blaine was strong. Stronger than they often gave him credit for. And his confidence (with the exception of the last couple of weeks); had soared through the roof of Dalton Academy. It had been that no so quiet confidence that had drawn in the sharks, and they had all taken their eye off the ball when Hummel had come along, captivated by those huge brown eyes and Blaine's easy smile. Wes was still kicking himself for not staying for that first coffee meet between Blaine and Kurt. He'd known exactly what his roommate would do when confronted by a bleeding heart, and still, he'd let that happen.
"You're thinking too much." Trent whispered, taking care not to disturb their oh so precious cargo. "I don't like it."
"I feel like I've let him down." Wes replied. "You and David have taken a day to do what I've been trying to for weeks. We all saw what he was like tonight. He was the same boy we had before this mess with the gelfling. He was the same boy I last saw, running down a corridor, dragging that asshole along like he was the most brilliant thing in the world and all it took was a day out."
"It's taken a lot more than that, and you know it." Trent rebuked softly. "Tonight was merely a distraction. That's all David and I have done Wes, distracted him. You have been there for him from the very start. He is what he is because of you. You have not failed him in any conceivable way I can think of. Hell, Wes you're his hero."
"But that's just the point. He's put me on a pedestal that I can't live up to. I hurt him so bad this week. I crashed and burned spectacularly, and even though all the signs were pointing to him going full-scale meltdown; he has not had a smile off of his face all day. You've done this Trent. You've given him back something tonight that I never thought possible."
"You need to shut up." Blaine mumbled from the back seat, clearly not as asleep as they'd thought. "I made it pretty clear to you earlier this week that you are the reason I'm still alive." He sat up and buckled himself in behind Trent, just so that he was in the perfect position to give Wes the stink eye. "You understand what that means right?" He asked, quirking his eyebrow before failing to stifle a huge yawn that totally spoilt the image.
"You should try and sleep more." Wes said softly, choosing to ignore the question and instead focus on the fact that the younger boy looked done in. "You are exhausted."
"I'm fine." Was the mumbled reply as Blaine rubbed his eyes; sleepily. "I need you to hear this, in front of a witness, so that you can finally try and get it through that hard head of yours."
"We don't have to do this now though Devon." Wes argued back.
"Yes, we do. Now is as good a time as any, and quite frankly, I'm getting tired of your self-deprecation. I know that is totally hypocritical of me, but in your case, you really have nothing to beat yourself up over." He made eye contact with the older boy and took a deep breath to steady himself for what came next. "You saved my life Wes." He said softly. "I told you this the other morning at breakfast, and you didn't believe me. Well its true. You saved my life in every way possible. Without you, without any of you, I would have been dead within four months. I was a mess, I couldn't sleep, I was barely eating, I was terrified of everyone and everything, and I would have gone back home to a hostile environment, only to be sent to a clinic for conversion therapy. You gave me the confidence to stand up for myself, you helped me not be afraid anymore. You have taught me more about being a man than anyone else has. You took me in, when you had no reason to. You are the reason I'm still alive." All three boys were tearing up at this point, and Wes shot an apologetic look at Trent as he unclipped his seat belt and climbed over the centre console into the back.
"I am so proud of you." He whispered as he wrapped Blaine into a tight hug. "I know that I'm not perfect, and it will be a while before I forgive myself for what I said Friday night. But I'm so proud that you have come so far as to have avoided what we all thought was going to be inevitable. I crossed the line, way into what was considered acceptable; and I'm so sorry for calling you that. You are a lot of things Devon, but stupid has never been one of them. I'm so sorry." The two boys clung to each other on the back seat for the rest of the drive back to Dalton, and once they had pulled into the car park, Trent's situation became clear to him immediately.
He didn't want to wake either of his friends, but he didn't think he would be able to pick Wes up, never mind carry him up three flights of stairs. Blaine was pocket-sized and underweight so was an easy solution, the other boy however, presented him with quite the dilemma. In the end he made the decision and gently shook Wes's shoulder; waking him in the gentlest of ways possible.
"Hey Wes." He said with a smile when the other boy woke. "I need you to let go of him so I can get him up the stairs. Everything is quiet in the school so I was going to carry him up this time." Wes nodded and untangled himself from his roommate.
"Thank you for today Trent." He said seriously. "I mean that."
"I know you do, and you are welcome. Let's just make sure it ends okay, and get both of you inside quickly and safely. You'll both be much more comfortable in a bed than on the back seat of my car."
Trent closed the door softly behind him, wincing as the click of the lock echoed down the corridor. The school was in darkness. It was usual for Sundays to be quiet and after eight in the evening it was all about deserted, as most boys made the decision to have an early night before Monday's lessons but, it was now nearing ten, and the lights were off, and the only sounds to be heard were the ones of muffled snores coming from behind the dorm's doors.
He tiptoed down the corridor; back to his own room, slipping in and closing the door as to not wake his Junior roommate. Beat was one of the candidates he would choose to pass on Blaine's case to for the next year. The boy was gentle, soft spoken and flew under the radar whilst still maintaining a perfect grade. He was very much what Tent had seen himself as two years ago, and he knew that he could trust Beat to be discreet about Blaine's situation.
He looked over to see his roommate starfished on his bed; arms and legs at all angles and with the covers wrapped around his body. His strawberry blonde curls (not ginger thank you very much) were messy and half mushed into his pillow as the younger boy snoozed, oblivious to his senior roommate's entrance. Trent smiled fondly and dug his nightwear out, padding into the bathroom to get changed.
He thought about the two boys he'd left; both now dead to the world and snuggled together in Wes's bed. He'd not been able to help himself after helping Wes get a completely exhausted Blaine into some comfortable clothes. The younger boy had practically collapsed into his arms once he'd got a t-shirt over his head and he had thrown a huge, cheeky smirk at the other senior before depositing Blaine into his bed. Wes had simply rolled his eyes, gotten changed and climbed under the covers at the side of him, wrapping him in his arms as if scared he'd fall apart if he let go. Trent figured that it was one of the only ways Wes knew how to prevent nightmares and had simply left them to it, departing with the promise of coffee the next morning.
His thoughts turned to everything that had so far happened that year, from Blaine returning in the summer, subdued and with bruises, but alive and ready for the school year, to their two ties both at Sectionals and Regionals. He thought over the Kurt situation, and wondered how much further he could push Blaine academically, before the end of the year. He thought over it all before he finally went to bed an hour later, hoping beyond hope that he'd done enough.
Wes woke at the soft sound of a sob next to him, and his eyes shot open and his brain flooded his body with adrenaline. He scrambled up into a sitting position and rolled Blaine onto his back so as to be able to get a read on the situation. The younger boy's eyes were still closed, but his eyebrows were bunched together and his jaw was clenched, along with his hands.
A headache.
And a bad one if Wes wasn't mistaken. He carefully climbed over his roommate and slipped into the bathroom; filling a glass with water and taking out two Tylenol and two Advil. He also ran a soft cloth under the cold tap and dug out a bottle of lavender oil from his emergency pack.
"Take these for me and drink the water and then I'll give you a massage to try and help relieve some of the pain." He whispered as quietly as he could. "Do you feel sick?" He caught an almost imperceivable shake of the head and blew out a sigh of relief. "Good. Take these for me Dev and then I can try and help." Blaine let out a groan of pain as he slowly pushed himself into a sitting position and he accepted the four pills form his roommate.
"This is starting to get old real fast." He groaned as he rested his back and head against the wall. "I'm so tired."
"I know you are Dev. Just try and drink the rest of the water for me though." Wes poured a few drops of the Lavender oil onto the damp cloth and pressed it against Blaine's head, hoping that the coolness would relieve some of the pain whilst the Lavender helped with the tension. The younger boy blew out steady breaths as they both sat there in the darkness, Wes turning the cloth over every so often and coaxing him to drink.
The painkillers finally kicked in after a while and he folded his body into Wes's waiting arms, and they were both soon back sleeping more-or-less soundly.