A/N Okay, we're back with another chapter! We will be returning to our original plan of trying to post a chapter every Saturday with this story. We've already written a couple of chapters in advance, so hopefully there won't be any more interruptions in posting.
Also, if you would like to be a part of the stories, we are looking for screen names to use in the social media portions, so if you are interested, please either let us know in the reviews, or send me a PM, thank you!
Reviews are always welcome!
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Chapter Eleven
In an exclusive interview with Albuquerque Post's Jamison Quill, World Famous Magician, Blaine Blackwell talks about life on the road, the pressures of performing nearly every night, and the rumors that have been flying around about his love life.
"It must be rough, living out of a bus, and constantly being on the move. What's it like waking up somewhere new every day?"
"Well, you see, that's a misconception. Most nights we stay in hotels, and in most cases, we're in one location for two or three days in a row, sometimes more. And yeah, there are times we only stay in a location for one night, but for the most part we travel during the day.
"We do sleep on the buses on travel days, usually because we're up late the night before breaking down the sets and making sure things are properly stowed. Most of the crew will head out as soon as things are packed so they can get to the next location before us and start getting things set up, but the rest of us usually get three or four hours of sleep before getting on the bus. That's definitely not enough sleep for most of us, so we get a few more hours on the buses. They are actually pretty comfortable to sleep in."
"What about your family? Do you miss being with them when you travel?"
Blaine laughed before responding. "I'm twenty four years old, so it's not like I would still be living with my parents anyway. And it's not like I never see them. My mom came to the show in Dallas the other night. Besides, I consider my cast and crew to be family, so it makes it easier to be on the road with them."
"A lot of people want to know where you come up with the ideas for your illusions, and how do you know what will and won't work?"
Blaine shrugged. "A lot of it is inspired by my heroes when I was growing up; Houdini, Copperfield, Criss Angel. Some of it starts out with a what if… As for knowing what will and won't work, well, the only way to know for sure is to try it. We've been working on a new illusion for about a year now, and at first it didn't work at all, so we had to think about it from a different angle. We've almost perfected it."
"Any hints as to what this new illusion will be?"
Blaine laughed again. "A magician never gives away his secrets. Let's just say we're hoping to have it ready before the end of the tour, perhaps when we're in Vegas."
"It must be stressful putting on a show every night, sometimes two shows. How do you keep from burning yourself out?"
"I try to eat a healthy diet, for one. Keep the body healthy, you know? I workout, and I box when I can, to help relieve stress. As for keeping my mental health in order, I try to just go with the flow, not let things get to me. Being in the public eye can make it difficult just to be myself, but it's what I love, so I take the good and the bad with a grain of salt."
"Recently there has been a lot of speculation about you and some of your assistants. Tina Cohen-Chang announced your engagement the other day, but rumor has it that isn't the case. Can you tell us what is really going on behind the scenes?"
Blaine sighed and lowered his head. "Tina misspoke the other day. She was upset over some things that were said behind the scenes by a few of the crew and the other assistants, things that were meant to be kept private, and she lashed out in the only way she could think of. She immediately regretted her actions, and agreed to take a few days off to consider why the things that were said had upset her."
"So the two of you aren't getting married?"
"No, we aren't getting married. Tina and I have been friends for too long to complicate things by trying to have a relationship in the public eye."
"So, is there someone special in your life?"
Blaine smiled. "There is, but we really want to keep that private, just between us, at least for now. When the time is right, we will go public, but in the middle of a tour is not the right time, and I ask that people please give us the time and privacy to just enjoy what we have."
Blackwell is scheduled to perform two shows in Albuquerque, tonight and Monday, before moving on to Tucson, AZ.
…
By the time they'd reached Albuquerque, Kurt was less cranky, though he still was not entirely happy, mostly because the things that had been going on were always at the back of his mind. While they'd made it a point that no one would post on social media from their professional accounts for a while, he was still trolling the twitter feed on Raja's account.
"Hey," Blaine said gently as he came backstage that night while the crew was setting up for the start of the show. Kurt jumped, startled, although Blaine had tried hard not to scare him. "Sorry," he said quietly. He put a hand on Kurt's shoulder. "Are you alright?"
Kurt sighed. "I'm fine. That stuff is still getting to me. I'm trying my best to ignore it, especially with what the fans are saying, but…"
Blaine cut him off. "What are the fans saying, Kurt?" he asked, eyes narrowed.
"Relax," he said in a reassuring tone. " DisillusionBlackwell666 was reported by one of our fans and they're all threatening anyone who threatens me, even those who seem to think I'm in the way of your true love."
The magician rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"Which reminds me," Kurt went on. "There are going to be a lot of disappointed fans when they learn the truth about you and Tina."
It was Blaine's turn to sigh. "Maybe so, but what Tina did crossed a line and I was not going to just sit back and let the public believe her fantasy."
Kurt snorted. "That's rich coming from a man who practices a craft that's rooted in believing fantasy."
Blaine playfully shoved him, causing the taller man to laugh. "Go get ready. We've got a show to do," he said. "Let's just try and have as much fun as we can, because if I'm being honest, I'm worried about Tina's return tomorrow."
"How she's going to react to that interview, or how she's going to take dividing her routines up evenly between her and Rachel?"
"Both," Blaine said. He glanced around before giving Kurt a quick peck on the lips and walked off.
…
"Now, one of my favorite parts of the show, as one of my idols, David Copperfield would say, time to go on a kid hunt," Blaine said. A beat picked up and he started clapping to it as he made his way down the steps into the audience. "Everybody come on!" he said and people started clapping along with him.
Blaine made his way down the center aisle until he spotted a young boy, about nine or ten years old sitting on the aisle. "Come along with me, young man," he said, taking the boy by the hand and leading him back to the stage. "And what is your name?"
"Max," the boy said shyly.
"Hello, Max," Blaine greeted with a smile. "Big round of applause for Max, everybody!" The audience clapped and applauded. "Max, do you like baseball cards?"
"Yes, I collect them."
"Oh good!" Blaine said, reaching into his shirt pocket and pulling out a foil packet. "Because I happen to have a brand new pack right here. Here's what I want you to do. I want you to open this packet of baseball cards and select one of them. You can show the audience, but whatever you do, don't show me, okay?"
Max nodded and took the package. He had a little trouble opening it, but once he did, he sorted through them, and smiled as he picked one out and showed it to the audience. It was his favorite player.
"You got one?" Blaine asked.
"Yes," Max said, happily.
"Awesome. Hold that card tightly to your chest for a moment, okay?" Blaine reached back into his pocket and pulled out a couple more packs and a stick of gum. "Now, I haven't actually collected in years, or rather my brother collected them, so I don't know if this is still true, but packages of baseball cards used to come with one of these." He held up the gum. "I actually stole this piece from my assistant. Don't tell him that though." The audience laughed. "Do you like gum, Max?"
"Only bubble gum," he replied. "I don't like the other flavors."
"That's okay, because I'll be the one chewing the gum in this case. First things first," Blaine said, ripping open the other packets of baseball cards and giving them all a shuffle. "Max, I want you to slide your card face down anywhere in the middle of the pack that you like." He fanned the cards out to him.
The boy studied the cards for a second, before slipping his in near the middle.
"Good job!" Blaine told him. He squared up the cards, the screen on the stage showing the close up with the camera. "Now watch carefully." Blaine rolled up his sleeves and slid his hands over the squared deck of baseball cards. "One, two, three," he said and presented his hands, which were now empty.
Max blinked. "Where'd they go?"
"Actually," the magician said, reaching his hand back into his pocket. "They all jumped back up here. Or, almost all of them. Max, I think one may have jumped somewhere else. Do me a favor. Tell me if you see your card still with the team." He fanned them out slowly for him.
Max studied each card carefully, but didn't see the Anthony Rizzo card he'd chosen anywhere.
"Do you see it?"
"No."
"Hm," Blaine said thoughtfully. "I got an idea." With the music picking up a bit louder, he unwrapped the stick of gum and popped it into his mouth. After a few moments of chewing, he started to blow a bubble, bigger, and bigger, until you could clearly tell something was inside the bubble. Blaine pinched the bubble off with his fingers and took it out of his mouth. "Do you see something in there, Max?"
"Uh huh."
Blaine held the bubble up so the camera could get a closeup for the audience. "I think one player ran a bit too far into the outfield," he said. The audience laughed and the magician looked back at Max. "You know what needs to be done now, don't you?"
"Pop the bubble?" Max asked, uncertainly.
"That is exactly right," he replied, smiling at him. "I just happen to have a pin, right here in this same pocket." He pulled out the pin. "You want to count to three for me?"
"One...two...three!" Max said.
Blaine poked the bubble with the pin and the gum popped, leaving the card covered in the stickiness of it. "Guess I better clean it up. One second." He cupped the card in his hands and slowly slid one hand away and the card became completely clean, lying face down in his hand. "Max, for the first time, who was your player?"
"Anthony Rizzo! He's my favorite player of all time!"
The magician grinned and flipped the card over. "Ladies and gentleman, Anthony Rizzo!"
Max clapped and cheered along with the audience.
"There you go, Max. That's for you to keep. As a matter of fact, you can keep all these cards. Give him another big round of applause!" Max grinned happily, as Quinn brought him a gift bag and escorted him off the stage.
Blaine brought his hands together as another rhythmic beat picked up and got the audience clapping.
"Everybody clap, come on!" The audience started clapping along as Quinn rejoined Blaine on stage and Elliott came out pushing one tall box onto the stage. A stagehand pushed out a second box, identical to the one Elliott pushed out. The only difference was that one box had the figure of a man on the front, and the other had the figure of a woman.
Blaine popped his collar and took both assistants by the hand as they spun into him and then spun out again. The audience continued to clap and Blaine sashayed to each of the boxes and opened their latched doors. Quinn and Elliott danced on the stage while the magician prepared. He turned each box slowly in a circle.
Quinn danced back up to Blaine first, and he held her hand as she spun around him before stepping into the female labeled box. Blaine latched the door shut and tapped the side of the box.
Elliott danced into him now and took a moment to dance with Blaine, a little shimmy to the beat before he stepped into the male labeled box and the magician latched the door shut.
Blaine took a beat to clap his hands a couple of times and moved up to the female box. He reached up and pulled the figure's right arm off the box. He spun the arm and set it down on the table that had been brought out between the two boxes. And then he moved over to the male box and removed the male figure's right arm as well.
The magician danced around the table, still holding the male arm in his hands, and then he looked at the audience with a wiggle of his eyebrows as though struck by a mischievous idea. Turning, he danced up to the female box and placed the male arm where the female arm had been.
He returned to the table and picked up the female arm, dancing over to the male box and placing it in the empty space. He then unlatched the box and opened the door to reveal Elliott now had Quinn's right arm. The audience gasped. Blaine relatched the door and spun over to the other box, unlatching it and pulling open the door. Quinn now had Elliott's right arm. The audience gasped again as he relatched the door.
Blaine proceeded, now removing the left leg from both boxes and swapping it to the other box. This time he spun and unlatched both doors at the same time. Elliott now had Quinn's left leg and she had his left leg.
The magician stood back and admired his work for a moment, before he shook his head and relatched the boxes. This time, he removed the heads and spun around the table holding both of them before placing them on the other box.
Blaine paused and turned to the audience. "You don't really want to see them now, do you?" he asked.
"Yes!" several voices screamed, and the audience clapped and cheered.
He laughed. This was honestly one of his favorite parts of doing this illusion and he hadn't been able to do it in so long because neither Tina or Rachel was trained in it and Quinn was out of commission while her hip healed.
"Alright, if you say so!" He moved and unlatched both doors, revealing Quinn's body with Elliott's left leg, right arm, and now head in one box, and Elliott's body with Quinn's left leg, right arm, and head in the other box.
There were excited screams and laughter from the audience.
Quinn and Elliott both looked down at themselves in shock, mouths agape as Blaine studied them. "You know, I think I kind of like you guys better this way," he said, laughing. Both of them glared at him and Blaine only laughed and shook his head turning back to the audience. "Guess I better fix it. Let's do it!" Spinning around once again, he latched both boxes and danced a bit around before pulling the rest of the figures off each and sticking them to the other box.
Blaine took his time to spin each box around once before he unlatched the box that had formerly been Elliott's, revealing Quinn fully intact. He offered her a hand as she stepped out of the box and danced across the stage. Then he moved to the other box and unlatched the door and out spun a fully intact Elliott.
The magician and his assistants danced to the climax of the beat and came to a stop with Blaine in the center and Quinn and Elliott leaning against one side of him. The audience erupted into applause.
After another beat, both assistants danced out, pulling the boxes back offstage with them.
…
klainetkm: Has Anyone heard from IShipBlina since that article came out this morning? I'm a little worried about her!
lucy8675309: I haven't, but now I really want to know who his significant other is! Is it someone in the cast or crew? Who? Who? Who?
holdontoglee: I don't know who, but I'm not going to pressure him for details. He asked us to give them some privacy until they are ready to make it public, and that is what I am going to do. I'm glad you are happy, BBlackwell.
BlaineKurtElliott: I'm happy for my boy, he deserves to have someone to love. I'm crossing my fingers that it is either Kurt or Elliott, but I won't pry. I can wait patiently until the end of the tour, if I have to.
KingRaja: Mrew, mrew, ngu mrew (Translation; We're all happy for Blaine.)
IStanKlaine: I told you he wasn't in love with Tina. That girl is too clingy and desperate.
backslashdelta: Based on the recent leaked pictures, can we assume Kurt is Blaine's true love?
blaineys-boogie-shoes: Let's not jump to conclusions. Isn't that how we ended up in this situation to begin with?
blueandhazellove: I've been saying it the whole time, you all were just too blind to see the truth.
IShipBlina: Goodbye, Cruel World! I've been betrayed! I'll never be able to look at Blaine again with any ounce of respect! How could he do that to Tina?
…
Kurt tossed his cell phone on the table and shook his head. He and Blaine were having dinner with Quinn and Elliott back in their hotel room after the show, and he'd just been trolling the feed again, under Raja's account of course.
"What's wrong?" Elliott asked, looking up from his chicken Parmesan. Kurt sighed and ran a hand over his face.
"That IShipBlina is losing it. She says she doesn't think she'll be able to look at Blaine with any respect. I think she thinks you deliberately broke Tina's heart."
Blaine went still for a moment, his fork halfway to his mouth. "I was never with Tina in the first place! Are the four of us and Wes the only ones who know I was never leading her on?" He dropped his fork and pushed his plate away. "I've lost my appetite."
Kurt placed a hand on Blaine's shoulder and squeezed. Elliott and Quinn glanced at each other.
"I hate to say this, because I know you tried to be respectful about what actually happened," Quinn said. "But I think Tina needs to come clean and admit she believed something that wasn't even really there in the first place."
"Good luck convincing her to do that," Kurt mumbled. "After the fallout that had her suspended, I'm willing to bet that she's smug that people think this is Blaine's fault and not hers."
Elliott gave his head a shake. "We'll just have to get Wes to talk to her. Regardless of the fact that she's been with Blaine since day one, she is under contract. A contract that states in the event of a parting of ways on bad terms, she will not retaliate by attempting to tarnish Blaine's reputation."
"But there hasn't been a parting of ways," Blaine said.
"The point is that she's not allowed to act back out of poor judgment and anger for steps that have been taken," Elliott emphasized. "Which means that if the backlash becomes a problem and she sits there and says nothing, you can sue her for it."
Kurt and Blaine exchanged a look. They didn't want it to come down to that, but if worst came to worst, they had to be prepared for it.
Blaine sighed and leaned back in his chair. "I don't get it. Tina tells a lie and the fans are all throwing celebratory parties. I tell the actual truth and I get body slammed for it. Makes me wonder who's really the star here."
"You are going to have to put your foot down," Kurt said. "Tell her she needs to make a statement on SM, exonerating you from any responsibility for her actions, or she will be let go at the end of the tour."
"Besides," Quinn put in. "It's not that she's the star, it's that she got to the press first. Unfortunately, that means you going back on what she said, makes you look less than desirable."
Blaine pushed back his chair and went to look out the window. He was so not looking forward to the next day.