OK, so this chapter is kind of uneventful, but I promise that the next 2-3 chapters have a lot of action, so just stick with it.
It is still rated T for language and some adult situations. Again, it will probably get bumped to an M at some point.
I first want to thank you all for actually taking the time to read my writing. It really means a lot to me that so many of you are enjoying it, so please continue to read, review, and share! All reviews are helpful, even negative ones. So if you have an opinion on it, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE comment. It doesn't have to be long. Even if you only put 3 words down, such as 'I liked it' or 'I loved it' or even 'I hated it', that still helps.
Enjoy!
(I do not own Glee.)
Navigating the Unknown
Chapter 2: Breaking Down
"Are you sure that you're OK? Cause you don't seem OK." Kurt asked for the third time on the car ride home.
Blaine, who had decided not to tell Kurt about the letter, sighed as he said "Yeah, I'm fine. It's nothing."
Kurt continued to drive towards Blaine's house as the silence between them lengthened. Blaine sat in the passenger's seat of Kurt's navigator, his head leaning on the window as he starred at the passing scenery, while his mind was still stuck on the letter that he had found in his locker only a short time ago. Kurt could tell that something was bothering his boyfriend, but he didn't want to push him into talking. He knew that Blaine would say what was on his mind when he was ready.
Kurt parked the car along the curb in front of Blaine's house. He turned to Blaine and sighed before saying, "Hey…listen…you do know you can tell me anything, right?"
Blaine turned to look at the beautiful boy he loved, picking his head up off the window as he did so. He saw a look of obvious concern masking Kurt's face, and realized that he needed to pull himself together for Kurt's sake. Blaine pulled Kurt into a hug, squeezing him tightly before leaning back just enough so that he was face-to-face with Kurt. He gave Kurt a small smile before saying, "Yeah, I know. And you know that I love you, right?" his smile getting bigger as he said those three little words.
Kurt smiled back at this. "Yeah, I know. And I love you too." They kissed once before releasing each other, and Blaine picked up his backpack and stepped out of the car. Kurt waited until Blaine was safely inside his house before leaving to head home himself.
Once inside, Blaine went immediately to his bedroom, shut the door, and locked it. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself before he bent down and got the letter out of his backpack. He didn't even bother to take his shoes off as he walked over to his bed. He laid down on his back with one arm behind his head and the other one out holding the letter.
He reread it over and over again, trying to think of why anyone would ever send him something like this. Every time he read it, he kept picturing a faceless person carefully taking the time to make it, laughing evilly as they did so.
You need to learn to control
your little BITCH of a boyfriend,
or else he might just get hurt.
Of course, you could always
avoid this by making him an
EX.
Blaine knew that there were people out there who didn't like Kurt or himself. He had always known that. They were both openly gay, which, basically meant having half the world against them to begin with. But Blaine had a feeling that this wasn't just from some homophobe out there; had it been, the letter would have threatened himself as well as Kurt, rather than just Kurt.
Blaine sighed as he sat up in bed and put both of his hands in his lap, turning his head now to stare out his window. Maybe it was just some bully who was trying to scare me, he thought to himself. For all I know, Kurt could have gotten the same thing in his locker and just not have found it yet. Taking another deep breath to help control his fears, Blaine stood up, put the letter away in a place where his parents wouldn't find it, and started to get ready for an early night to bed.
The following morning, Blaine felt groggy. He had tossed and turned the entire night, his worry for Kurt's safety overwhelming, and his fear of whoever had sent the letter acting like a spark to the lighter fluid that was his overactive and over-imaginative brain.
His lack of sleep was evident in the bags under his eyes, and Kurt took notice almost immediately. "Oh my God what happened? You look like you pulled an all-nighter or something!" Kurt exclaimed as Blaine got into his car.
"Nothing… It's just… I couldn't sleep. That's all," Blaine said as he could barely keep his eyes opened.
Kurt frowned at this, seeing that Blaine's attitude had not changed at all from what it had been on the car ride home the day before. He drove in silence to the school as Blaine dozed off in the passenger seat next to him.
The rest of the day crept by slowly, and remained uneventful. Blaine almost got in trouble for falling asleep during a movie in Mr. Murphy's class, but Kurt was able to wake him up before the strict teacher had noticed.
When the bell rang at 2:30, Kurt picked up his bag and stood up. As he placed his hand on Blaine's shoulder, he said, "I'm going to go ahead and head out to the car. Are you going to be alright?"
"Yeah…" Blaine replied sleepily as he stifled a yawn.
"OK…" Kurt rubbed his shoulder and gave it a pat before he walked out of the classroom and headed to his car, leaving Blaine to gather his things.
Blaine, who was still half asleep, slowly gathered his book bag and headed to his locker. After reaching the final number, the lock clicked and he pulled down to release it, rotating it slightly as he did so to remove it.
He opened the door to the tan locker, and again, something fell out. Blaine's heart began to race almost immediately, and he bent down quickly to retrieve the item before the other kids in the hallway noticed. He looked around quickly as he stood up, trying to see if anybody had seen him, or if anybody in particular was watching him. He saw students walking the halls, laughing and talking aimlessly. He saw couples flirting and making out. He saw students at their own lockers, there for the same reason that he was at his. Nobody was paying any particular attention to him, so he sighed and turned his attention back to what was now in his hand.
It was another envelope. It was white, just like the other one had been, but this one was smaller, more like it was meant for a Thank-You note. It was flat, too. He turned it over in his hand, again looking for some sign of who it was from, but there was none.
Looking around him again, Blaine realized that this was not the place to open it. He continued to hold the envelope as he switched out his books. Before putting his math book away in his backpack, he opened the front cover and placed the letter inside for safe keeping. Once that was safely in his backpack, he shut his locker door, returned the lock, and headed towards the parking lot where Kurt was waiting.
Once home, Blaine practically collapsed onto his bed. Having gotten no sleep the night before, his body was finally ready to give in, his brain ready to shut off. He drifted off into a dreamless slumber almost immediately.
Blaine awoke to the sound of someone shutting a door. It was already dark outside. He looked over at the clock on his nightstand, which told him that it was just past 6 o'clock; he had slept for just over 3 hours. He sighed as climbed out of bed, rubbing his eyes and face as he did so.
He walked out of his room and down the hallway, still trying to wake up from his nap. The hallway dead-ended into the living room, and Blaine could see his mom over the kitchen bar as she put away groceries. "Hey sweetie. How was school?"
Blaine, still half asleep, took a deep breath before he answered the same question that he, and just about every other kid on the planet, got asked on school days. "It was OK, I guess. I was really tired because I couldn't sleep last night, though." He walked into the kitchen and started helping his mother with the groceries.
"Oh…and why was that honey?" she asked in a concerned voice.
"I don't know..." he said, not wanting to give too much away. "I guess I was just nervous about a test that I had today."
"Well how do you think you did on it? Were you able to focus even though you didn't get much sleep?" his mother asked as she put away the last of the groceries and started working on dinner.
"Yeah it was pretty easy. I won't find out how I did on it until tomorrow though." He sighed as he leaned back on the counter and crossed his arms. He looked over at the fridge and saw a picture of him and Kurt, laughing. The picture had been taken last year when they were both still at Dalton. He smiled mentally to himself at the memory. They both looked so happy and carefree in that picture. Blaine tried to remember what they had been laughing at, but all he could remember was that it was something funny that the twins had just done …
"Are you OK, Blaine? You seem kind of…distant today."
His mom's question pulled him from his thoughts of the past, and he turned to look at her as he replied. "Yeah, I'm fine…I'm just tired. I think I'm going to go work on my homework now before I fall asleep again."
"OK…I'll call you when dinner is ready."
At this, Blaine walked back to his room and sat down at his desk. He decided to work on his English paper first, so he bent down and turned his computer on.
While waiting for his computer to load, he gazed at the bulletin board hanging on the wall behind his desk, which held some of his favorite memories. He smiled at some of the pictures up there, the happy memories soothing to him in light of recent events. When he got to the lower right corner, he noticed an empty spot of cork showing through in an area that was normally occupied by a picture of him and Kurt.
His brow furrowed at this, trying to think of where the missing picture could have gone. "Hey mom…" he called toward his open door. When he heard her reply, he continued. "Have you taken anything off of my corkboard recently?"
He could hear her coming down the hallway, and she stopped in front of the entrance to his room. "No I haven't. Why do you ask?"
"One of the pictures of Kurt and I is missing. I was just wondering if you had taken it or if you knew where it could have gone."
"I'm sorry, but I don't. Maybe Kurt took it the last time he was here."
"Yeah…maybe…" he trailed off, but Blaine knew that Kurt would not have taken that photograph. Kurt had his own copy of the exact same photo hanging in his own room, and thus would have no reason to have taken his. Blaine heart started pounding in his chest, and as his mom stepped away, he shut his door.
He ran over to his backpack, fumbling with the zipper as he tried to unzip it. He finally succeeded, pulling out his math book as soon as the opening was wide enough. He flipped open the cover to reveal the unopened letter, the one that he had forgotten about until now; the one that was the perfect size to hold his missing picture.
Author's note: OK, so I know that I am totally leaving everyone hanging with this ending, but that is just how it worked out. If I didn't, this chapter would have been twice as long and would have taken twice as long to post. Don't worry, though, because chapter 3 is almost done and should be up within the next few days!
OH! I also just wanted to say (before anyone accuses me of it) that my writing DOES NOT reflect my opinion of any of the characters on GLEE. I happen to love both Kurt and Blaine, and I would be completely horrified and devastated if any of this actually happened to one or both of them on the show.
