A/N: After featuring every possible character last chapter, this time I wanted to pull things back. I also introduced my version of the Evans. I hope you enjoy. Thanks so much for reading!
"Oh my god, we're here." Blaine took a calming breath as he parked the car and surveyed the house they'd just pulled up in front of. The charming two-story boasted a wrap-around porch set up with several rocking chairs and a bright green front door. Vivacious gerbera daisies sprayed out of terracotta pots set alongside the steps.
Sure, it wasn't as grand as the house he grew up in. Nevertheless, Blaine was positive it was the picture of perfection in his mind. Everything about it exuded an easy grace and happiness. Even still, he couldn't fight off a case of nerves as he prepared for the weekend ahead.
It felt like mere hours ago that he and Sam had officially finished their sophomore year of college. Partly because it literally was only hours ago. Immediately after Blaine's last exam, the duo raced to the train station and caught a ride back to Ohio.
They spent a night with Blaine's parents then hopped into his car and drove down to Kentucky to visit Sam's family. That's where Blaine's anxiety came in… And of course, his boyfriend would pick up it. Ever since Halloween, Sam missed nothing.
"No way. Is the legendary Blaine Anderson – he of the perfect manners and breathtaking charm – nervous?" Sam gasped in dramatized shock as his boyfriend's grip on the worn steering wheel tightened.
It was all the confirmation he needed that he was freaking out, even if Sam couldn't figure out why. "Blaine, you know my family, and we've all been together a thousand times. They love you. Sometimes I think Stacey even likes you more than me…"
That was besides the point. Blaine forced himself to breathe as he unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the door. He stretched and fought off a yawn (it had been a long ride, after all) as they continued the conversation in whispered tones.
"Of course, she does. We talk about boys and eat late-night ice cream on Skype. What do you have to offer aside from being her older brother? Obviously I'm superior in the mind of a 14-year-old," Blaine snorted. Even he could hear a mounting sense of hysteria in his voice, but there was no reining it in at this point.
"It's your parents I'm worried about. I've never stayed at their house before, Sammy. Especially not as the boyfriend of their son. Obviously they know we're dating, but I want them to like me. And can they really like me if they think I spend all my free time defiling you?!"
Sam rolled his eyes. He adored Blaine but personally thought the other boy was blowing things a little out of proportion.
"You're too cute, B. As if anyone thinks you're the one defiling me. I'm obviously the bad boy here. That's beside the point because I'm sure you remember as well as I do that our parents know we share a bed. Seriously, my mom and dad adore you. Even before we dated, they told me that I needed to be more like you."
He could tell Blaine was still anxious, and it was starting to confuse him. In an effort to fully calm him down, he decided to make a joke. "Frankly, B… I think my mom was relieved when we got together because it meant there was no chance I'd get back with Santana. Pretty sure she's the only person we know who could actually defile me. Now there's that laugh I love. It's going to be fun this weekend, and we are sharing a bed. I insist."
Momentarily quelled but refusing to let his defenses down, Blaine reached into the backseat to grab his overnight bag. He also picked up a neatly wrapped parcel. As much as Sam assured him that his parents did not expect anything, years of training taught him to always bring a gift for a host.
Sam pulled him in for a light kiss as they walked up to the front door. Blaine breathed in the familiar, earthy smell of his boyfriend's cologne. No matter how worked up he got, the scent inevitably calmed him down. It reminded him of home, whether they were in New York, Ohio or, apparently, Kentucky.
"Here goes nothing," Sam teased as he turned the handle and dramatically threw the door open. "Mom, Dad, Stacey, Stevie! We're here." The boys were caught up in a wave of hugs before they made it over the threshold.
Mary Evans, casually dressed in an oversized sweater and with her blonde hair back in a loose ponytail, was the first to disengage. She stepped back and smiled warmly at the sight of her family all together under one roof. Yes, in her mind that included the single dark head of hair in the sea of blondes. And this weekend it was her goal to make sure Blaine realized how seriously she meant that.
"Mrs. Evans," Blaine walked up to her. "Thank you again for having me. Your home is lovely."
"Blaine Anderson, how many times do I have to tell you it's Mary. None of that Mr. and Mrs. Evans crap. And you are always welcome." Mary put her hands on her hips in a mock show of frustration as she directed her eyes to the package in his hands. "I know you didn't bring me a gift."
At least he boy had the good grace to look chagrined as he handed it over. Her son on the other hand rolled his eyes. Mary felt a thrill of joy go through her body as Sam threw his arm around Blaine's shoulder and gently shook him.
"Don't worry, I told him not to, mom." Sam grinned toothily. "But Blaine insisted it was the right thing to do. I'm trying really hard to teach him to lose the manners, but he's slow on the uptake. Hey, dad! You know I'm kidding."
Mary snorted as Dwight snuck up behind their son and smacked him upside the head. Satisfied that her husband had the situation in hand, she turned her attention back to the package. It was almost too perfect to ruin by opening it, but she knew that wasn't the point of a gift. Ripping the rose gold paper aside, she opened a box and gasped as she unveiled a crystal vase.
"This is both unnecessary and gorgeous. Thank you so much, Blaine. I hope that as well as reminding my son of the manners I taught him you're also imparting some style lessons," she teased. "Now I'm going to go pick some flowers out back so we can put this on display. You two go on up to Sammy's room and make yourself comfortable. We'll catch up in a bit."
Stevie and Stacey followed as they ambled upstairs and peppered the boys with questions. Blaine could hardly believe how grown up they seemed. In his mind he still pictured them as the adorable children he'd first met five years ago when he was dating Kurt. That was hardly the case.
At 16, Stevie looked like a perfect clone of his brother in high school. He kept his soft blonde hair shaggy, and a wave of bangs flopped over one of his bright green eyes. Stacey meanwhile shared her brothers' features, but they were softer. Blaine knew from many phone calls that she could be a heartbreaker if she wasn't a hopeless romantic just like he'd already been at her age.
Blaine's heart softened as they walked into Sam's bedroom. Although he'd only spent a couple weekends at the house since his family moved in, the blonde had clearly made it his own. The walls were painted a friendly shade of blue and papered with posters and photographs. There was a queen-sized bed against one wall that was set up with soft gray sheets. A framed photo of Blaine and Sam from one of their competitions rested on the bedside table.
"Ok, as great as it is to see you both – and I promise we're going to spend so much time together this weekend that you'll be excited to see us leave – can I have a second with Blaine, squirts?" Blaine looked up in surprise as Sam shepherded the kids out of his bedroom and closed the door with a snap. "And no listening at the door," he shouted and waited until he heard Stevie and Stacey's footsteps on the stairs.
The blonde redirected his attention toward Blaine.
Anyone (especially Blaine at this point) would see the determined look on his face. "Now that we dealt with those two little nerds, we can keep talking. Why were you so freaked out about making a good impression here? And don't tell me it's just because we're sharing a bed. I was thinking about it on the way up, and I remembered that you never had any problems with that at your parents'."
In fact, Blaine had been downright defiant when they'd spent the week at the Anderson's for spring break last year. He glared his mother down for even suggesting that there was a spare room available for Sam. The blonde shuddered a little remembering the sound of Blaine slamming his bedroom door with them both on one side and his parents downstairs in the spacious living room after a stilted argument.
"It's just different, Sam." Blaine hoped his simple explanation would cut it. But one look at his boyfriend made it clear that he'd have to elaborate. "Trust me; it really is. I love my parents and Cooper. We all support each other and care about what is going on in our lives. We're family. But you guys are different. You're not just family, you are a family. You're a unit. When one of you moves, the others adjust so you all stay in sync. I know my parents are proud of me, but I don't think it's the same. There's more expectations that come with their love."
Now that he was talking, there was no stopping the words as they spilled out of his mouth. It felt good to speak so frankly. He and Sam promised to hold nothing back, and he was keeping his side of the promise. "That's nothing like your family. You've given everything to take care of them. And I know they've done the same for you, even when it meant letting you go back to Lima. They made that sacrifice because they knew it made you happy. I just want to fit in here. I don't want to do anything to disrupt what you have because it is special."
"Hey... Blaine we've never talked about your family like that before. We will be talking about it more at some point because I can see it hurts you, but let's focus on this weekend first. I promise that my family loves you. I wasn't kidding earlier. They love you simply for being you. But guess what? Based on your logic just now, they also love you because I love you. They see how happy I am. I guess that means you're probably one of their favorite people on the planet." Sam walked up to Blaine and gently pushed his head up so they could make eye contact.
He noted the dark-haired boy's sweet expression. "So let's go back downstairs, and you stop worrying. It's not worth the wrinkles it'll give your currently ageless skin. And if you plan on staying with me forever, you're going to need to preserve that. You know I'll settle for nothing but a trophy husband." Sam tickled Blaine's stomach and relaxed as he genuinely laughed.
"For that alone I'm going to have three slices of dessert tonight. But thank you, Sammy. I don't know how, but you always know what to say." The duo walked downstairs and saw the rest of the Evans sprawled across the living room.
Sam grabbed Blaine by the hand and led him over to sit next to his mom on a tasteful leather sectional. She smiled as Sam cozied up next to her.
"So what have you boys been up to?" Dwight asked from where he sat in his recliner. "How'd your semester finish up, Blaine?"
Blaine got comfortable before replying. "I think it went really well, Dwight. I switched my concentration at NYADA from the Broadway track to composition and have been working on my own music. I've put some stuff up on YouTube, and the feedback has been pretty good so far."
He looked over in surprise as Sam snorted. "He's totally being modest, dad. Blaine's been killing it for months now. The last song he put on YouTube has, like, 200,000 hits. It's fu… freaking incredible."
The blonde purposefully tried to correct his language before his mom noticed, but of course she picked up on where he was headed. He winced as she held out a hand and waited patiently until Sam pulled out his wallet and produced a dollar bill.
"We have a swear jar in this house, and since I see Sam here so rarely I count the intent of his words sometimes," Mary said by way of explanation. There was a devilish grin on her face as she leaned over her son and stage-whispered. "Don't worry, Blaine. We cycle the money back into a college fund for them. But it's just so fun to watch them sweat."
Blaine laughed effortlessly. He finally realized that maybe his boyfriend was being truthful about his family accepting him as one of their own. And he loved sitting in the midst of their bantering. There was no pressure to make anyone proud with impressive feats. The pride was there from the get-go. He knew that made the kids' achievements so much easier in a way.
After his initial hesitations, Blaine found that the weekend flew by in a blur. On the first night, he assisted Mary with dinner in the kitchen while Sam and Stacey set up shop with Dwight by the grill. Stevie set the table and helped with cleanup. After genuinely eating three slices of peach pie to tease his boyfriend, he spent the rest of the evening lying in Sam's arms complaining about an upset stomach and insisting that it was worth it.
There were countless laughs over the next two days. So many that Blaine was upset to find himself with his leather bag thrown over his shoulder again on Sunday evening. They'd extended their stay for one more dinner but had to get on the road because Sam was helping Coach Beiste the next morning. He had no qualms as he wrapped his arms around Mary for another hug. The woman already made them promise to come back as much as they could over the summer, and he hoped to take her up on the offer.
"Thanks again, Mrs… Mary. I loved spending time with your family and can't wait until we can all get together again."
"Oh, and Blaine?" Mary smirked at the eternally polite young man as he looked her way. She noted that he'd taken the note about her name. As much as it obviously pained him to drop the manners, she appreciated the effort. And she was about to make it easier for him.
"Enough of this Mary shit; I think you should just call me Mom now. And yes, I'll drop a dollar into the swear jar, Samuel Christopher Evans. Don't think I don't see you rolling your eyes over there. But you have to admit it was worth it to see this adorable boy's reaction, and I'm serious. Blaine is clearly part of your family, which means he's part of ours, too."
Blaine reached into his own wallet.
"I'm going to give this to you preemptively," he said before fishing out a dollar. "That sounds like a damn good plan to me, Mom."
Sam was still laughing about the exchange an hour into their ride back to Lima.
