I'm Walking On Sunshine
Main characters: Kurt Hummel, Blaine Anderson, Wes Montgomery, David Thompson
Pairings: Klaine
Fandom: Glee
Author: Myrne
Rated: T
Summary: Blaine Anderson has loved hiking ever since he was a little boy. Walking the Four Days Marches in the Netherlands is his next big marching event. His whole world is turned upside down when he meets Kurt, a volunteer, working at the Four Days Marches. Blaine is in for the best week of his life! Strong on Blaine being great friends with Wevid.
Important: I don't own Glee and their characters!
Hello!
The cover image of this story is actually my father and I finishing my very first Four Days Marches (2014). I was obviously VERY happy and my feet were full of blisters… It's not all sunshine and rainbows, but I'll describe the struggles Blaine and Wes will come across while walking the Four Days Marches.
Thank you for the reviews on this story, I'm very happy people are curious.
This story is Blaine's P.O.V., because I don't know shit about the logistics of the volunteers at the Four Days Marches. After I'm done writing IWOS, I'll publish some one shots in this verse, P.O.V. Kurt.
I made the friendship between Blaine, Wes and David really strong in this fic, because I just really love those guys! Maybe it's not canon, because in 'Glee', they didn't seem that close, but hey. A girl can dream right?
Enjoy the next chapter! And forgive my mistakes, English is not my mother tongue.
#2: Airplanes and nerves
"Wes, David, please, get a move on!" Blaine was pulling his roller case and on his back rested a very big, very flashy backpack. He felt like a tourist alright, with his sunglasses barely balancing on his nose.
His best friends were behind him, cursing loudly. Somehow, they only had 5 minutes before the check in would close, and they left home with enough time to spare, or so they thought. Ohio traffic at the start of summer holidays was crazy and they pulled into one of the many parking lots of Dayton International Airport with 15 minutes to spare.
They reached the check in counter, breathing heavily and leaning on the desk. Quickly they checked in and they saw their luggage leave on the belt. Now, they actually had an hour and a half before the airplane to Houston would leave. From Houston, they had a non stop plane to Amsterdam and from Amsterdam it was an hour and a half by train to Nijmegen. They would be in the city in 24 hours.
Blaine was nervous, to say the least. Training had gone well, and Wes and he were excited that the Marches would start next week. They had been looking forward to it for a very long time. David was excited as well, to party in the Netherlands. The three of them were ready packing days before their trip would start.
They all graduated Dalton Academy with straight A's. Wes would leave for Harvard to study Law, David would come to New York with Blaine to study at NYU, Management Communication. Blaine was accepted into the Music departement, not really sure yet what his major was going to be.
But first they were going to have so much fun in Europe, before devoting their lives to college. They had been cutting back on the fun in the school year, to focus on getting those straight A's. So now they allowed themselves to go a little crazy, except for the Marching week; Wes and Blaine needed to be focused to finish.
The trio went through security with especially David holding them up. He had all his chargers in his hand luggage, and they all got tangled together(*). Wes and Blaine sighed rather loudly when David got held up, the security wanting to check his back pack. David flashed them a doubting smile, and shrugged his shoulders, and then his friends laughed. They couldn't stay mad at him for very long.
After the incident with the chargers, they got to their gate with still an hour to spare. Blaine's stomach growled loudly. He needed food fast, or he would become crappy. His friends knew him; they knew him ever since they met in kinder garten.
Yes, Blaine, David and Wes were inseparable from the moment in kinder garten. Wes was there for a few months when David and Blaine got in on the same day. David had dropped his apple and Blaine watched with big eyes as Wes picked it up and gave it to David with a shy smile. The interaction between the guys was what caused Blaine to run up to them and introduce himself, very politely, just as his parents taught him. And that was that. That day, he found his best friends in the entire world.
In the years to follow, they would attend the same schools (they made sure their parents kept them together) and after Blaine was attacked at their high school, the three of them transfered to Dalton Academy. After that accident, Wes' parents and David's parents knew they couldn't keep their sons at the same high school their best friend was almost beaten to death, just because he was gay.
To make a long story short, the three guys were sure this friendship would be for ever. And their parents knew too, and that was why this trip was so easy to arrange. They were together, and they would look out for each other. And the parents knew.
"Okay, guys. I just really need food. You don't want a crappy Blaine in the plane." And with those words Blaine jumped up and almost ran to the nearest food court, wasting no time before he stood in line, watching the menu with big eyes.
Wes and David shook their heads at their best friend, but joined him in line, being rather hungry themselves too. They each got a big sandwich and some freshly squeezed oranje juice and munched on it, thinking about the 7 weeks to come.
xXx
Being in an airplane wasn't Blaine's favourite activity, but he knew that it had to be done to get to Europe. He kept himself busy with reading the website of the Four Days Marches from A to Z, making a list with the most helpful tips. Also, he was meeting up with a Four Days Marches veteran in Nijmegen. He was from the USA aswell, and he had finished twenty times already. Blaine was sure he had some tips for him aswell.
They arrived in Houston with, surprisingly, no delay and their change to another plane went without a hitch. They could now really relax for the 11 hour flight to Amsterdam.
"Okay, question time!" David held a piece of paper in front of him, shielding the questions and answers from Wes and Blaine. "How is the first day of the Four Days Marches called?"
"The day of Elst!" Blaine and Wes chanted in union, laughing at their eagerness. They had been studying stupid facts of the Marches for months (years for Blaine) now and David could ask every question and Blaine and Wes would get it right. The names in Dutch were hard though, so their pronunciation was probably way off.
"True or false: The Four Days Marches was officially a march for military people when it started more than 100 years ago."
"True!"
"I'll stop, you know all the answers already. You're officially Four Days Marches nerds and your preparations are complete." David put the piece of paper away in a dramatic way, and relaxed back in his seat, closing his eyes. "Now, shut up. I need my beauty sleep. The women in Nijmegen are going to fall at my feet."
Blaine and Wes snickered, but listened to David's wish, each closing their eyes too. They would need their rest, hard. If they wanted to fight the jet lag they were going to have, they needed to sleep on the plane, or the first two days of being in Nijmegen would be wasted by sleeping at day light and being awake at night.
Blaine turned on a playlist on Spotify named 'sleeping music' and fell asleep, the buzzing of the people in the plane and the piano music in the background.
"Ladies and gentlemen, in a short while we will be landing in Amsterdam. The weather is great, 77 degrees fahrenheit, which is equal to 25 degrees celsius. On behalf of American Airlines, I wish you a great stay in the Netherlands."
Blaine awoke tot his voice of the flight attendant and rubbed his eyes. He had been sleeping for almost the whole flight, which wasn't bad at all. He felt rested and he poked David in the side, who was still sleeping.
Blaine didn't know how, but David needed a fire alarm to wake up. It was often Blaine had to storm into David's dorm room, because he still had 5 minutes before breakfast at Dalton.
David awoke with a jolt, and rubbed his eyes in the same way Blaine just did a few seconds ago. Wes was awake for a while already, and turned off the movie he was watching.
The trio was glad they could leave the plane. Sitting for eleven straight hours was never good for someone. Blaine was skipping to the baggage claim, chanting "we're in the Netherlands, we're in the Netherlands" under his breath. His friends followed, laughing at his silliness.
Soon, they were waiting at platform 5 on the train to Nijmegen. They saw a few people on the platform aswell, who looked like they were going to walk the Four Days Marches too. One of them had a blue backpack which said "100ste vierdaagse"(**). A year back, it was the 100th edition of the Four Days Marches, and everyone got a blue hiking backpack with the logo of the Four Days Marches.
Blaine had desperately wished he could have walked that edition, but he was still too young in his parents' eyes. But now here he was! In the Netherlands, an hour and a half away from the city of the Four Days Marches.
He was nervous, excited and scared all in one. But he would have the greatest week of his life!
Okay, another filler chapter. And still no Kurt, SORRY. But I promise, next chapter he'll be there.
(*) = This happened to me last year. I was traveling to Iceland with my parents, sister, sisters boyfriend and my own boyfriend when I got stopped by security, because I had all my chargers in my hand luggage, tangled together. Not my brightest moment.
(**) = 'Vierdaagse' is the Dutch name of the Four Days Marches. It literally means 'Four Days'.