***
The sun beat down on Blaine's back and cast long shadows on the ground as soon as he stepped out onto the sidewalk. Deciding to walk the short distance to Dalton by taking his oft-travelled route as a teenager; one that took advantage of tree lined streets and wooded shortcuts, Blaine was able to avoid much of the heat thanks to the thick canopy of branches above that threw dappled shade over him as he trudged through the gravel beneath its dense canopy. His old school lay beyond Alum creek, around 3km away and nestled amongst willow orchards and black Alder trees.
He felt a sudden and very dissonant sense of deja vu. It was as if he were fifteen again, dressed in new pressed white shirts, foregoing the school cafe to visit his mother for dinner or skipping history class to go to the mall. He hopped over a small turnstile and grinned at Jeff and Wes who were still yammering at him over FaceTime.
"There." Jeff was saying excitedly.
"Behind you, look!"
Blaine saw what Jeff was so excited about immediately.
"That's where our new member lives."
The house was in the middle of nowhere. It was... how to put it, like an ancient old fort that had been renovated by someone ridiculously wealthy. Someone who thought they wanted to live their best, medieval life out in the woods, but do so in 5 star comfort. It even had a turret with a flag flying from its spire. And on top of everything, such a building had certainly not been visible on this route before. Someone must have cleared the trees. It was so extra that Blaine stared a bit and guiltily thought about whether the owners would mind him taking a photograph of the place. It was very picturesque-like something out of a fairytale.
Blaine saw the owner of such a place as a quirky old tycoon. And his son must be, well... equally idiosyncratic. He suddenly felt less enthused about seeing the newly shuffled glee club. They had had members before who hadn't played well in a team environment before. Blaine knew that the warblers had to be seamless and, well the richest newbies were always problematic.
Blaine raised his eyebrows towards the camera on his phone and Jeff guffawed at him.
"Didn't know that Guy of Gisbourne was joining the Warblers" Blaine smirked.
"Oh hush, I think you'll like him."
Blaine somehow doubted it.
"Don't give me that look. He's... got confidence." Wes murmured
Blaine pursed his lips together thoughtfully. He did like a frontman who had good stage presence for sure that's what he strived to achieve. That is if this new guy in question was even the lead. Wait. Blaine paused and the sound of crunching gravel halted with him. Could he be? Blaine was suddenly even more apprehensive to oversee today's warbler practice. He'd left the warblers, but assumed perhaps one of Nick or Jeff could finally fulfil the role they had dreamed of... they had auditioned constantly... or even Thad had a wonderful voice. It seemed that the new guy had strong armed his way in... he must be really good then. Well, he could afford to be good that's for sure.
Blaine rolled his eyes at Wes.
"I like confidence." Blaine said, now breathless from the hike. He ducked his head towards his phone, conceding the point.
"Yeah... he's also our new team captain."
"Wait... What?"
Wes nodded emphatically
Blaine gave it a long thought. The term "captain" was definitely vernacular used to describe the school lacrosse team captain or the football team captain. "Captain of the Warblers" sounded like not only a reshuffle, but a mixing-in of sports terminology, and that was probably only the tip of the iceberg. It hadn't been long since he'd transferred, and there were already so many changes.
"So new kid is the main vocal?"
"Yes..." Jeff stared at him from the screen as if this was obvious.
"And... He's on the council too?"
"Pretty much, he's on the warbler council, but usually Thad is out, and i'm only acting as treasurer this year." Wes spoke offhandedly, but there was something else more unfathomable creeping into his words.
Blaine, who was attempting to both wrestle his way up a ravine and avoid getting his feet wet, gave a sigh of frustration and gave Wes a look.
"hold on."
Blaine tucked his phone into his back pocket; its rectangular form like a flat hot-stone against his behind- like the ones used in the spa retreats that cooper and his mom used to drag him to, Blaine thought grinning ... it was probably getting very warm from his prolonged use too; he knew the feeling. he was feeling an overall sense of discomfort ; both because of the weather and the effort of traversing the wooded route.
Jeff's voice emanated from his pocket.
"Did you just put us in your pocket?"
"Pipe down back there." Blaine chuckled, and hoisted himself up and over the riverbed.
"How is he as lead?" Blaine asked, his voice only betraying a smidgeon of worry.
"who?" Wes asked
"New kid. You're stalling Wes?"
"You mean in comparison to you?" Wes asked, eyes shrewd.
"Well yes. Sure... not that it matters." Blaine sniffed. it did matter a bit.
Wes laughed at him and then paused looking thoughtful.
"he sounds... very musical theatrey. i don't think his stage presence is quite as effervescent as yours. however-"
Wes continued on as Blaine quirked an eyebrow, listening intently.
"i would say he makes up for that in other ways."
it seemed that was all he was getting out of Wes for now, so Blaine dropped the subject.
"Er... guys I may have forgotten exactly how this route goes..."
It had been a while, after all.
***
