Nothing was going to bring Blaine's mood down. His whole week was going perfectly, and he had a feeling it was only going to get better.
It started on Monday, when his English teacher passed back their first paper of the year. Blaine loved to read for fun, but Dalton teachers managed to suck all the fun out of it. Nevertheless, Blaine had aced his essay on The Great Gatsby, earning a 97, the highest grade in the class.
Next had been the Warblers. Blaine was only a sophomore, but the senior council had allowed Blaine a solo for the first school performance of the year for the school's welcome back event. The attendance was a record high for the school, and it gave the group a good morale as Sectionals creeped closer and closer.
Even better was Blaine's birthday. On Saturday he was turning sixteen, and the following Monday morning he was scheduled to take his driving test with his new silver Prius that sat in the garage, begging to be driven. His dad had found it for a steal from some tire shop in Lima, and Blaine had never been more excited.
It had been a great week. Blaine went straight home after class on Friday, happily handing his mom his essay, even though he knew it would wind up on the fridge all weekend. The Anderson parents loved to brag on their kids.
"Pick what you want to do this weekend," his mom said, bringing him a bowl of strawberries on the couch while searching the house for dirty laundry. "Anything you choose. Sydney's at a sleepover tonight anyways."
Blaine missed his kid sister, being away at Dalton now. She was six years younger, and Blaine remembered being little and hating the idea of a baby sister, but Sydney wasn't so bad.
"We can just hang out," Blaine suggested. The family always went out to eat for birthdays, but Blaine knew his dad was usually tired after long weeks at work. He wasn't planning on having a major sweet sixteen party anyways, since all Blaine wanted was the freedom of a driver's license.
His mom came back in the room, having finally started laundry and stopped running around the house. "You're going to be sixteen, honey, let's make the most of it. Once your dad gets home we can talk about it more."
Blaine nodded his agreement and changed out of his uniform before he spilled anything on the expensive dress shirt. He was never good at coming up with things he wanted, since he wanted to just make everyone else happy. In reality, he would have loved to go to Breadstix for his birthday, but he knew Sydney couldn't stand Italian food, so he kept it to himself.
Otherwise, the weekend was great. Blaine got to spend time with his dad and sister, and they wound up going to Breadstix on his birthday without a single complaint from Sydney, who was more interested in catching Blaine up on the latest drama from fourth grade.
The day drew to an end with Blaine's mom bringing a cake with candles out from the kitchen, and the four of them settled on the couch for dessert and one of the Harry Potter movies that had come on. Cooper had even given Blaine a call earlier in the day, which made up for him being unable to leave New York.
It dawned on Blaine after a few bites of cake that he really didn't want any dessert. His stomach didn't hurt, but he just didn't feel like it.
He grew more and more tired, slumping on the couch, absentmindedly going through his phone and replying to the birthday messages, mainly from members of the Warblers. Everything after that was a blur, moments that Blaine wasn't able to recall for the life of him.
His eyes opened slowly, but he felt too dizzy to look around. Blaine grabbed his head; the pressure made it feel like his skull was splitting in two. Why was he on the living room floor?
"Blaine? Don't move, honey. You're okay." His mother's voice made it sound like Blaine was underwater. He could barely focus his vision on her without feeling like he was going to throw up. Oh. He already had.
He closed his eyes again, unable to keep himself awake any longer.
When Blaine opened his eyes next, the first thing he noticed was that his headache was still there. Better, but not gone.
At least he was no longer on the floor. He was on his back, in a small, thin, bed. Blaine recognized the gown he was wearing all too well.
"H-h-hospital?" he mumbled. It felt like his brain had lost connection to his mouth.
His parents, still fuzzy in Blaine's vision, came closer and became easier to see. "You're alright, just relax" his mom said, taking his hand. Blaine's eyes widened when he saw the IV coming out of his arm.
"You remember having a few seizures as a little kid?" his dad asked, handing Blaine a paper cup filled with tap water.
Blaine nodded, still feeling hazy. Did they give him drugs, or was he just groggy? His mom squeezed his hand.
"You haven't had a seizure since you were eight," his mom said. It looked like she had been crying. Blaine's dad put his arm around her reassuringly. "You had one last night, honey. We thought you grew out of them… the doctor said kids with epilepsy may not get them as teenagers or adults."
Last night? How long had he been asleep? Blaine tried to put the pieces together in his mind: birthday… cake… watching a movie in the living room… but no solid memory formed.
"You slept for a few hours," his dad added. "We should be able to go home in the morning. It lasted for six minutes, so an ambulance brought you here. You remember any of that?"
Blaine shook his head, trying to take everything in. It frustrated him that he couldn't remember. He wanted to go home, not spend the rest of the night in some hospital.
"Frank, he's getting overwhelmed," Blaine heard his mom say. "You can sleep, Blaine. The doctor said that's the best thing for you to do right now."
With that, he closed his eyes again, not wanting to hear any more bad news.
Sure enough, the morning came, and Blaine's parents took him home. He felt generally better: less sleepy and more like himself, but trying to focus on anything like his phone or laptop screen brought the nasty headache back.
However, he was determined to feel well enough to take his driving test in the morning. Blaine napped on Sunday, but by the evening, when he was ready to head back to Dalton, his parents stopped him.
"Sleep here tonight, honey," his mom said. "I'll drive you back tomorrow and you can go to class on Tuesday. I already called the pharmacy by the school, and they'll be able to get you your new prescriptions. The doctor is hoping that it was just a one-time random seizure, but we can't be too careful, so he changed your medication."
Blaine was getting frustrated. He didn't want his parents treating him like he was sick and dying. He didn't want to take more daily pills. He knew the seizures were bad, but it had been almost eight years. Blaine didn't bother telling anyone he had epilepsy, since it had always been a non-issue.
"I have to be back tomorrow morning," Blaine reminded them. "The DMV opens at eight. For my driving test."
His mom frowned, and his parents exchanged a look. Never a good sign.
"Come here, honey." Blaine sat down at the kitchen bar, where his mom was making his sister's lunch for the next day, and his dad unloaded the dishwasher. His heart beat a little faster, and he knew whatever they had to say couldn't be good.
His father began. "Blaine, when someone has a seizure, or epilepsy, it can be dangerous if the seizures come out of the blue. The law is that you can't drive for six months after you have one. Now, if what the doctor said was true, that it's just a random one, then we'll take you to get your license first thing-"
No way. Blaine couldn't believe what he was hearing. He was being punished for something he couldn't control. Something that hadn't happened in eight years. Since the day his parents brought home the Prius, Blaine dreamed of driving it the minute he turned sixteen. Now, because of something so stupid, that was all gone.
His mom tried to hug him. Blaine wanted to push her away, but he knew it was something none of them had control over. He let her hold him, and he even felt tears drip off his cheeks onto her sweater.
"I'm so sorry, honey," she said, kissing his head. "We're just glad you're okay. We never imagined your birthday would turn out this way, believe me. It's going to be okay."
It wasn't okay. At least not at first. Blaine wanted so badly to be able to drive his friends around, to at least take the Prius out of the neighborhood. Since he was one of the oldest in his grade, Blaine had to watch all of his friends drive around their shiny new cars, knowing he couldn't even get behind the wheel.
It took a lot of convincing from his parents (and a little extra spending money for his birthday) but Blaine managed to stick out the six month wait, even though it was the majority of the school year. He felt like he was on the edge of his seat the whole time, wondering if another awful seizure was going to take it away from him, but thankfully the updated medication kept them at bay.
Blaine got his license six months later, in March, and didn't have another seizure for several more years. He chose to confide in Kurt about his epilepsy early on in their relationship since he trusted him so much. Despite that, he knew his boyfriend would never love him any less.
Author's Notes:
Okay I tried my best to get this medically accurate so please don't hate me if it wasn't perfect (I'm a huge perfectionist). I have never had a seizure nor been around someone who's had one so this chapter was built on a lot of research and trial and error.
Anyways, I loved writing Blaine before he meets Kurt. I wanted to give him a solid, supportive family that have made some appearances in a few other chapters. The way I see it, he really falls in love with Dalton and is able to develop his musical talent while still being at the top of his class. I'm glad we see a lot of Blaine's depth on the show but we don't know much about his life prior to the show!
I digress. I'm working on a few different things that I'll try to finish and get up soon. Thank you all for your kind reviews on my last two chapters! A few have asked for a third part which I wasn't planning on doing, but I'll start and see where it takes me. I just wish this show hadn't ended four years ago, since I'm starting to feel a bit silly writing about characters we haven't seen in almost half a decade. But, I'll stick around as long as I'm wanted, and as long as it's fun.
You'll have to excuse me now, I'm re-reading Harry Potter and I just started book five which is the best of the series, don't try to tell me otherwise.