Mike exits Principal Figgins' alongside his father, completely mortified. He didn't think his father would go as far as to think Mike would do drugs. Seriously? And he doesn't get how his father could've possibly known about glee club. Mike has been very careful not to divulge that piece of information at home, never even told his siblings. Dancing has always been his little secret, well locked in the confinement of his bedroom. He can't even make out the words his father is telling him as they walk on their way out, much less pay attention to where he's going so naturally, he bumps into someone.
"Sorry," he mumbles, looking up apologetically at the person he bumped into.
"Hey Michael," it's Blaine, all smiles and elegance. "Hello Mr. Chang."
"Blaine," Mike's father acknowledges the shorter boy with a nod and turns to Mike, adding "We'll talk about it some more tonight."
Mike watches his father walk away, heart clenched in agony, the red ink still lingering on his retinas. He's never felt that disappointed with himself. You don't cope well with failures when you've never experienced it before, it's perfectly natural. He's mad at himself for not doing better, and not just because of his father. Mike may not like the pressure his father is putting on him, but the truth is, after years and years of being the best at school, he kind of got used to it. He would be lying if he said he didn't like having perfect grades. His ego has been exponentially growing since his earliest days of school as he kept getting A's after A's, getting praises from his teachers and yearning for more. Deprived from his father's approval and growing expectations, Mike has sought approval from his teachers. It's kind of sad, really, but that's how Mike's been working pretty much all his life.
"Michael? Hey, Michael, you all right?" Blaine's voice snaps him out of his thoughts, the other boy looking at him worriedly. He forgot Blaine was even there to begin with.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Mike replies, resuming his walk to get to football practice. A little exercise should help him clearing his head.
"Mike," Blaine stops him with a hand on his arm, prompting him to face Blaine again. "You don't look fine. Do you want to tell me what's bothering you?"
"Really, I..." Mike trails off, feeling overwhelmed. He doesn't have it in him to lie any longer. He doesn't feel like talking at all as a matter of fact. "I need to be alone for a while, I'm sorry, Blaine."
Mike turns around, leaving Blaine behind and hopes he hasn't been too rude. But he's really in no mood to interact with anyone; he just doesn't have it in him to put up appearances. He feels bad for blowing Blaine off like this when their friendship has but grown for the past few weeks they've known each other. He pushes that thought aside for now, deciding to focus on football practice and homework.
Michael gets out of practice last, having stayed behind in the showers, lost in thoughts under the hot water streaming down on him. He's checking his text messages, reading through all three from Tina:
Mike, r u all right? I didnt c u all day.
Its ok, u know, u'll do better next time.
Do u want 2 come over after practice?
Mike cringes internally as he reads them and ignores them entirely. He's always hated SMS language, can hardly stand it and it's even more conspicuous now that he has Blaine as one of his regular texting buddies, who—unlike all the others—texts in impeccable English.
"Michael, wait up!"
Speak of the devil. He's on his way to his car when he catches Blaine's voice and turns around to see the shorter boy jogging after towards him. Great. He's just finished with practice and just wants to go home and wallow in bed. He would rather not be anywhere near his dad, actually, but where could he go? It would only make his father angrier if he wasted his time hanging out instead of studying. Blaine eventually catches up with him in the parking lot and stops in front of him, taking a few seconds to catch his breath.
"What are you still doing here, Blaine? Shouldn't you be home?"
"What's going on, Michael? Why were you and your dad doing in the principal's office? Is something wrong?" Blaine deflects his question, going straight to the point, as per usual. The disappointment and pain are still very fresh, even after the workout he got from football practice he hoped would help him clear his head a little, and he doesn't want to add salt to injury by talking about it. But Blaine's pleading him with those puppy eyes that Mike cannot resist and that Blaine seems to enjoy using so much on him. It's not faire how adorable Blaine can be sometimes, Mike isn't even sure Tina can get him to do anything she wants with just a simple glance.
"I…I got an A minus in chemistry and my father wanted me to get drug tested," Mike admits, looking down at his feet and swallowing back a sob.
"Are you serious?" Blaine sounds incredulous and Mike just nods, still avoiding Blaine's gaze. Tina understood how bad it is for him to get such a grade, he's not so sure about Blaine. "You got an Asian F? You?"
Mike looks up at that remark, surprised that it came from Blaine but he doesn't comment because, really, what could he say? He's too ashamed and upset to say anything. Suddenly there are arms around his back and soft hair caressing his cheek. Blaine is hugging him and it takes Mike a couple seconds to hug the shorter boy back. Mike's not shy when it comes to physical contact, he just usually gets it from Tina or his mom; rarely from guys.
"I'm sorry," Blaine murmurs softly to his ear and before he knows it, Mike's nuzzling up against Blaine's soft hair, realizing Blaine hasn't put on any hair gel today. It brings him back to a conversation a while ago when he suggested to Blaine to leave his hair untamed. He wonders if it has anything to do with him. Mike has found that hugging Blaine is comforting beyond words; it feels like hugging a giant teddy bear even if it's totally different, the result is the same. He loses himself in Blaine's arms and they stand there for like feels like hours. "I'm sure this Asian F was a slipup, it most assuredly won't happen again."
"Thank you," Mike whispers as he pulls away; having realized with embarrassment that he probably shouldn't have hugged Blaine for so long. But that one simple hug has done a lot more good than he thought possible. "You shouldn't have gone to so much trouble just for me. How long have you been waiting?"
"It's nothing, silly," Blaine punches him in the arm playfully, smiling softly at him. "I did all my homework while I waited for you, just to make you proud."
Mike chuckles at that and for a second he forgets all his problems. It's more than he could hope for, considering he's an anxious person by nature and can never let go of the tiniest of issues he encounters in his life—most of which having to deal with dance moves that he can't master perfectly. It's not unusual for Mike to work over and over on a particular technique, locked in his bedroom, until he's satisfied with the results. It's something he can't help, being a perfectionist; he just doesn't like things not going his way. He wishes he could be more like Blaine, more easy going, not caring so much about futile things. "Didn't you have plans with Kurt?"
"Nah, don't worry about him," Blaine brushes it off like Kurt's not important and Mike wonders how Blaine can do that without sounding like a bad boyfriend. Tina probably wouldn't take Mike speaking of her like this too well. "What about you? Do you want to hang out?"
"I uh…" Mike's first instinct is to say no, to go home and study. He works best when he's upset, fueled with rage and the need to prove to everyone he is and will always be the best even if it's not really necessary at this point. But instead he ends up saying, "Sure, what the hell."
Blaine beams up at him and walks alongside Mike towards his car. Blaine being Blaine, he doesn't have any way to go home by himself it turns out, as though he knew for certain that he'd catch Mike and get a ride from him. It makes him feel better somehow to be with Blaine, his sole presence a heartwarming comfort that Mike doesn't think he's ever gotten from anyone else before. Blaine is so kind to him sometimes that Mike wonders what he's done to deserve it. He's seen Blaine interact with people and even if it may seem like Blaine is generally a nice person, Mike knows it's more politeness than anything.
"What shall we do, my friend?" Blaine asks as they get in the car with a cheerful tone.
"I don't know, I had planned on going home, curl up in bed and cry my eyes out," Mike jokes even though part of what he said is true. He probably wouldn't cry over a bad grade, but he really could've used a good thirty minutes wallowing in his own misery in his bed while listening to music. And then he would've gotten up and given in to the beat, dancing his sadness away.
"We could still do that," Blaine mutters so low that Mike almost doesn't make out the words Blaine says.
"What?" He frowns at Blaine, unsure of what the latter just meant but Blaine looks down right panicked when he seems to realize what he just blurted out.
"What? Nothing," Blaine's eyes are fleeing, leaving Mike confused. Did Blaine just propose to…cuddle in bed? The idea never even crossed his mind, but now that Blaine mentioned it, Mike's weirdly tempted to do just that, as awkward and inappropriate as it is. He decides to shrugs it off, thinking that it's for the best to forget it.
"We could go back to my place and watch some TV? I have Bones on my DVR," Blaine suggests as a more than welcome topic change.
"Awesome."
A/N: Hope you enjoyed that chapter, let me know what you think! Comments are love