Author's Note: This chapter was the most exciting one to write. I hope you enjoy reading it too!
Chapter 9: To the Rescue
"His misfortunes!" repeated Darcy contemptuously; "yes, his misfortunes have been great indeed."
"And of your infliction," cried Elizabeth with energy. "You have reduced him to his present state of poverty-comparative poverty. You have withheld the advantages which you must know to have been designed for him. You have deprived the best years of his life of that independence which was no less his due than his desert. You have done all this! and yet you can treat the mention of his misfortune with contempt and ridicule."
(An excerpt from Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
The day of Sam and Mercedes' wedding, Blaine was woken up at a quarter to four in the morning by the PI, who informed him that Chandler had gone to the restaurant at night, broken in and started a fire. It had all gone too fast for the PI to prevent it or put the fire out without too much damage. "Must have used gasoline or something, the fucker!"
However, the PI did have all the proof needed to convict Chandler for arson, so that was a plus.
"He's gone somewhere else now. Jack's following him. I have to stay here until the firefighters arrive."
"Keep me posted."
"Will do."
Not even ten minutes later, the phone rang again, this time around to tell Blaine that Chandler had wreaked havoc at the church. Again, the PI had failed to prevent the damage. He did have proof of Chandler's misdeeds, though.
That rat! That fucking bastard! Who the hell does things like that! He'll pay for this! But first, I need to fix it. I won't give him the satisfaction of having ruined the wedding. No, sir.
"Enough!" Blaine hissed. "Tell me where he's heading now!"
"I think he's going to the bakery. Mulberry Drive 224."
"The both of you, go there as fast as you can and grab Chandler BEFORE he ruins the wedding cake. I'll call the police and then I'll be on my way to Lima, too."
Before he left his parents' house, he shook Cooper awake and told him what was happening.
Coop, once he was awake enough to pay attention, swore under his breath, and then took a wad of cash and his credit card out of his wallet and handed all of it to Blaine. "Go and fix this, Blaine. I don't care how much it will cost. You need to save this wedding. Oh, this is all my fault, I should have used my influence to put Chandler behind bars for what he did to Kurt. The guy's crazy!"
Blaine shook his head. "This is not your fault. If anything, it's mine! I should have contacted our PI long before now, and I should have put two and two together."
"No use arguing now," Coop said. "Go! I'll make your excuses to Mom and Dad, and I'll come to the church as fast as I can so I can help out, too."
Shortly after seven in the morning,, Blaine was surveying the damage at the church. The minister and his wife were with him, sad and subdued.
"And to think we were worried about ever raising enough money to repair the roof," the wife whispered, and started crying, her hand over her mouth.
The minister took her in his arms to comfort her, and said, "This looks worse than it is, Doris. Nothing some cleaning and scrubbing and painting won't fix."
Blaine took his chance. "Reverend, I'll pay for everything, also the roof and any other repairs the church might need, if you can help me save the wedding today."
The minister patted his arm. "No need to bribe us. We love Sam and Mercedes, and of course we'll do our utmost to get this mess cleaned up in time. I'll contact everyone I know, and I'm sure they'll all chip in."
Blaine grimaced. "It's not just the church."
He explained about the restaurant burning down, and saw the minister frown, deep in thought.
Then Doris suggested, "We could use our garden, right, Jim? And the ladies of our congregation could help out with the food. It won't be much, and it won't be fancy, but at least it'll be something. Maybe we could have a barbecue? We can use our grill, and Mr. Rogers will lend us his, too, I'm sure."
The minister nodded, a slow smile stealing over his face as he squeezed his wife's hand.
"That sounds wonderful," Blaine said. "I'll arrange for meat and fruit and vegetables and so on to be delivered to your house then, ma'am. Also the wedding cake, which is thankfully unharmed. Could you please make me a list of everything you ladies will need?"
He followed the minister to his house, inspected the garden, which was certainly big enough and then some, and helped Doris compile a list of food for the barbecue.
"We'll also need decorations," she said hesitantly. "For the church, and for here in the garden. And lights. Crockery and silverware. Tables and chairs too. I could ask the parishioners, but I don't know…"
"On it," Blaine promised. "Here's my cell phone number. If anything else comes to mind, you text or call me, okay? Or if there is any problem, just holler and I'll fix it for you. All right? That's kind of my job, problem-solving, and I've got all sorts of handy connections."
She nodded and smiled at him. "Sam and Mercedes must be very good friends of yours for you to go to all this trouble."
Blaine smiled back. "Sam's a great guy. And he deserves a perfect wedding."
From then on, the rest of the morning was a blur of activity. Blaine tackled the decoration issue first, knowing they'd need all the time they could get. Remembering how the loft and terrace had looked at that first wedding Kurt had organized, he searched for a beautiful gauzy fabric to hide any imperfections with, and bought the shop's entire supply of it. He also stocked up on string lights, table cloths and runners, centerpieces, napkins, china, silverware and glasses, and bought a mountain of food, dozens of champagne and wine bottles and fizzy drinks for the children, as well as cooler boxes and refrigerators to store everything in, and sent it all over to the minister's along with the wedding cake.
While handing the delivery boy a tip, he got a phone call from Sam, and knew that he had to trust the ladies of the church to organize and carry out the rest of the tasks there, because he couldn't go back to the church and help. Sam's predicament sent him in another direction.
Sam was usually so relaxed and zen that Blaine hadn't immediately recognized the voice on the phone, panicked as it sounded. The gist of the matter was that Sam's best man had disappeared. He'd been staying with his parents for the weekend, but according to them, he hadn't returned from the rehearsal dinner they'd had the previous evening. His bed hadn't been slept in. He also hadn't called or texted, and his phone went straight to voicemail. His suit was hanging on the wardrobe next to his bed, but the wedding rings were nowhere to be found.
"What am I gonna do?"
"You don't need to do a thing, Sam," Blaine assured him. "I'll handle this. All I need is for you to send me a recent picture of the guy that's missing. I'll also need to know his full name and his birth date and what he was wearing last night. Oh, and his telephone number. Maybe we can track his cell phone to find him."
Blaine hurried to his car, and rummaged in the glove compartment for a pen and a piece of paper so that he could jot everything down.
Sam was silent for a minute. "Wow. You always know what to do, don't you? All right, it's Michael Robert Chang Jr., born on the 28th of April 1982. I can't look up his number on my phone while I'm calling you, so I'll text you his number later. What was he wearing yesterday? I really can't remember. I'll call his mom and get back to you, okay?"
"Just give me her number, that's faster," Blaine told him. "Text me both Michael's number and his mother's. And a picture, please."
"Kay. And what do I do about the rings?"
"Easy. Tell me what jeweler the rings are from, and I'll get you new ones. And I'll gladly stand in as your best man, unless you'd rather ask someone else."
"You will?"
"Absolutely."
"Thanks, man. You're a lifesaver!"
Blaine jotted down the jeweler's name and address and rang off. After a short call to Mrs. Chang, he compiled an e-mail with all the information plus the photograph, and sent it to his PI, asking him to track down the missing best man.
He was already buckling in and starting the engine to head to the jeweler's when his phone rang again.
"Ugh, what now?!" he grumbled, but he accepted the call.
It was the minister, who told Blaine there were protesters in front of the church.
"Protesters?" Blaine asked. "What are they protesting against?"
The minister let out a long sigh. "Mixed marriage."
"Seriously? In the twenty-first century?"
"Yes, I'm afraid so. I told them to leave, but they wouldn't budge."
"Okay. I'll sort it out, Reverend, I promise. In the meantime, tell your people to stay away from those nutcases, in case they become aggressive."
"I will. Thank you so much."
Blaine tapped with his fingers on his dashboard and groaned in frustration. Chandler, while being led away by the police that morning, had laughed and shouted at him, "Good luck fixing this mess! I've got some more surprises in store for you!"
Well, he certainly hoped that this was the last unpleasant surprise.
He called his friend Wes, who worked for his father, the mayor of Westerville, and explained the situation.
"You're in luck. It's outside of my dad's constituency, but our riot control team has a training exercise near Lima today, so I'll brief them about this situation and send them over, and it can be comped as extra training."
"I'll pay for everything. I want this wedding to go off without a hitch."
"Are you the best man or something?"
"Yes, I am. Thanks, Wes, I knew I could count on you!"
At the jeweler's, they explained to him that they couldn't provide him with two replacement rings on such short notice. When Blaine told them that he only needed the order form for the original rings and could head to any other jeweler with that information, they backed down quickly. "Well, we can't offer you the exact same rings, but we can show you a selection of very similar ones."
Blaine looked at what they had. For Sam, there would be no problem. His ring was a simple band of white gold, which they had in stock. All that lacked was the inscription. Mercedes' ring was more intricate, but the rings on offer did resemble the picture on the order form.
Blaine chose the one that looked most like the original, though in platinum and with more diamonds, and whipped out Cooper's credit card to pay for both rings.
The jeweler looked over the moon, until Blaine insisted on both rings being engraved straight away. "The original inscription, please."
"But… but… That takes hours!"
"You have until a quarter to three," Blaine informed him, settling down on the plush sofa in the jeweler's waiting room. "I'll wait."
While he was at the jeweler's, he checked in with everyone.
He briefed Cooper about Chandler's misdeeds, and urged him to go to the church asap to see if anything else needed to be arranged. "Already there, bro! I'll handle things at the church, don't you worry."
He asked his PI for updates, and just after noon, he got word that Michael Chang Jr. had been found in Faurot park. Drugged, unresponsive and suffering from hypothermia, but otherwise okay.
Blaine asked for Michael to be brought to the nearest hospital, and called Mrs. Chang to tell her the news.
Then he contacted the minister again to tell him a riot control team was on the way, and to know how the clean-up and decorating was going. The minister sounded a lot happier than last time he heard him. The riot team had already come and taken the protesters away, and everyone from the neighbourhood was helping out. Both the garden and the church were starting to look festive.
"Do you have everything you need?"
"I think we do, yes. Thank you!"
After twiddling his thumbs for a while, it occurred to Blaine that Mercedes and Sam would need music, too, for their first dance and the ensuing party, so he called Thad, who'd started a band after he graduated and was always looking for gigs. Thad and his band mates weren't yet booked for that day, and agreed to play at the wedding.
"Sure, dude. We'll be there! What's the song for the first dance?"
"I'll give you the groom's phone number, you can talk through the setlist with him. Best stick to a cappella singing or bring your own power supply, 'cause the party is in someone's garden, and we wouldn't want to cause a blackout."
"Right."
"I'll pay you guys tonight, when you arrive, okay? See you then!"
Finally, the rings were done, and Blaine paid for the engraving and gave the jeweler a hefty tip for doing it so quickly.
The smell of grilling meat hit his nose when he stepped outside, and his stomach growled. He'd forgotten to eat breakfast that morning, and in the meantime it was – he checked his watch – half past two. Also, he still had to shower, shave and do his hair and put on the suit he'd brought for the occasion. Which was at his parents' house in Westerville. There was no way he'd be able to drive there and get back to Lima on time. But he couldn't show up unkempt and unshaven either.
Think, Anderson.
But his energy was depleted, and instead of hurrying to sort this out, too, he sagged against his car and passed a hand over his eyes.
His phone rang, and he grabbed it sluggishly. It was Cooper.
"Hey squirt! If I know you, you're still out there somewhere in your sweats and with your bedhead, right? Well, seeing as you're cutting it close, I've brought your suit here, and I've asked the minister if you could use his bathroom to get ready. Oh, and I've ordered pizza. You probably haven't eaten a bite yet all day."
Blaine let out a shaky laugh. "Thanks, Coop."
"No problem. Get here pronto, and there still might be a meat lovers pizza for you."
Blaine felt much better once he was all spruced up and had some food in his belly. He followed Sam into the church, noting that the protesters were gone and that any trace of the vandalism had been wiped out or camouflaged.
As the bride came down the aisle, everyone sitting in the pews was smiling, so he hoped with all his heart that all the hiccups had been dealt with now, and that the wedding would be smooth sailing.
Wait, did he say everyone? Kurt was looking straight at him, and seemed put out about something.
Blaine inclined his head and smiled hesitantly at his crush, who responded with a fierce glare.
What was that about? Oh… Had Blaine missed a best man cue? He pulled his attention back to the ceremony, but no, the minister was still talking, and all he had to do at the moment was stand there and listen.
He liked the minister's sermon. He spoke of love not being a feeling but a commitment, something to work on every day. It was no-nonsense and poignant, and the sentiments expressed struck a chord with him.
He couldn't help stealing a glance at Kurt every now and then. Kurt was wearing a light grey tuxedo, and looking so much like Blaine's daydreams about them getting married that it made Blaine want to go and kiss him.
The exchanging of the vows and the rings came and went, and Mercedes didn't seem to have noticed her ring was slightly different from the one she'd chosen.
Still, Blaine didn't breathe easy until the ceremony was over and everyone was in the minister's garden, laughing and talking and queuing at the buffet.
There had been no more alt-righters outside the church when they all filed out, the garden looked like a dream and the food smelled amazing, even after that large pizza Blaine had gobbled up earlier. Now he hoped that Thad and his band mates would arrive on time, and then there would be nothing more to worry about.
Thad did turn up, and Blaine bopped his head happily to the music as he worked up the courage to ask Kurt to dance, moving closer to him where he was chatting with the bride.
When he got within hearing distance, he was dismayed to hear that Kurt disapproved of him as the replacement best man. Kurt's assessment of him stung, but Blaine had to admit that he had a point. Blaine had lost his temper around Kurt on several occasions, and yes, he had been rude.
Determined to make up for past mistakes, Blaine pasted on his most charming smile as he endeavoured to catch Kurt's attention and then asked him to dance.
Kurt blushed, actually blushed, when he saw Blaine, and his mouth fell open when Blaine held out his hand for him to take.
After Kurt's diatribe, he'd expected to be turned down flat, but miraculously, Kurt said yes, and moments later, Blaine was in seventh heaven with Kurt in his arms.
He didn't feel much like talking, wanting to soak up every aspect of this dance so he'd be able to relive it a million times in daydreams. However, he made an effort to be sociable by praising first the ceremony, then the wedding dress, and then Kurt's prowess, when it turned out Kurt had made the dress himself. Wow, was there anything he couldn't do?
Kurt let out the cutest giggle at the compliment, and it made Blaine giddy. He was making progress here, wasn't he? Real progress!
Yet there had been that glare earlier, and Kurt darkly referring to horrible things Blaine had done.
Before he knew it, Blaine had asked what that had been all about, and then wished he'd held his tongue,, because Kurt looked spitting mad again, and brought up the incident at the wedding where they met, and… What? The way Blaine had treated Chandler? Shouldn't that be the other way round? Chandler was by no means the victim here!
But when Blaine said so, Kurt's retort made it seem like he thought Blaine and Chandler had been dating at one time. What kind of lies had Chandler been telling him?
Must not lose my temper… Must not lose my temper…
Blaine kept his reply short and to the point, and as soon as he'd set Kurt straight, he strode out of the garden before he could blow up entirely.
Ugh, that little weasel! What on earth did he tell Kurt? And is there no end to his manipulation and sabotage?
By the time he reached his parents' house, he was a little bit calmer, and had decided to send Kurt an e-mail with the cold hard facts and the evidence. Heaven knew there was enough of it by now. And then Kurt could decide whom he wanted to believe.
It rankled how Kurt was so ready to believe the worst of Blaine and the best of Chandler. But at least on that count, Blaine had the truth on his side. The rant at the wedding, however, had been entirely Blaine's fault, and he'd apologise for that once more. And he would strive to conquer his temper. He would.
An hour and a half later, he re-read what he'd written, checked the attachments, and then logged into Cooper's work mail account to find Kurt's e-mail address. It wasn't stalking, okay? It wasn't. Blaine didn't plan on writing to Kurt ever again, but he deserved to know the truth. And Blaine deserved… closure.
After this, he'd stay away from Kurt. He was determined not to seek him out again. He'd leave the initiative up to Kurt.
Yeah, tell that to someone who'll believe you…