DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee, nor am I associated with it or Ryan Murphy. I am just an out-of-college daydreamer who sometimes gets into these writing funks and ends up tossing out a story after letting the idea sit in my brain for a few days! I also do not own Michael Jackson, even though I wish I did because if I had owned him years ago, we would've been married (and that's all I have to say about that).
Sometimes You Need More Than Courage
By: xSlythStratasfaction (formerly known as LadyStrata821)
Pairing: Kurt x Blaine (friendship only)
A/N: I decided to write this after having nothing but Klaine stuck in my mind for a week. I tried to go back and rewatch a lot of the scenes the two of them had together and then I started wondering about the mysterious Blaine and his past. That's when I thought of perhaps writing something about him (I'm pretty sure many others have done this as well; I haven't gotten around to reading many Klaine fics, so if this idea has been overdone, I apologize!). Anyways, Blaine's story will be a mix of stuff that I've seen a few of my own gay/lesbian friends go through. This story is dedicated to those friends. I hardly see or hear from any of them very much anymore, but I still think of them! This takes place between the episodes of SEXY and ORIGINAL SONG!
WARNING: There's some language in here that may be offensive!
"Let me guess! You went home, bulked up, and went back to the school and kicked Joshua's ass?"
Kurt's eyes flashed as he stared at the dark haired boy sitting across the room from him. To be honest, Kurt was actually hoping that Blaine at least did some damage to the asshole who had betrayed him and practically made his entire freshman year a living hell. However, his thoughts immediately dampened when he remembered that he and Blaine were both sitting in a dorm room at Dalton Academy, the school with a zero tolerance bullying policy. Thus, something else must've happened to make Blaine come here.
Kurt shut his trap then, instantly feeling foolish.
"I guess you realized what you said, hmm?" Blaine asked, a curious glint in his eye. "It's alright. Don't worry about it."
The younger boy flushed, looking down into his empty coffee cup, "I should've kept my mouth shut. I'm sorry."
"Nah, I said it's alright. I would've hoped the same thing too if you were telling me something like this." Blaine stood up from his desk and walked into his bathroom, setting his dirtied coffee cup into the sink. "You were right about one thing though… I did go back and bulk up."
"Really?" Kurt's blue eyes sparkled as he stared as his best friend in awe.
"Well, I tried to. I don't get buff easily."
Kurt huffed, "You seem pretty buff to me. Not too buff like a 'roid raged athlete or anything, but still muscular where it counts." Shit, he had said too much.
Blaine's face turned beet red as he shuffled back into the bedroom, "Umm, thank you?" He sat down on the air mattress and crossed his legs under him, still not making eye contact with the boy sitting on his bed.
"I'm sorry about that. I must be the king of awkward responses tonight or something," the countertenor mused as he gnawed on his lower lip nervously. "I think I'll keep my mouth shut for the rest of the night."
"Don't do that," hazel eyes looked up and met blue, "I'd go crazy if I just sat here all night long and talked to only myself." He offered Kurt a cheesy smile, which the boy accepted and returned easily.
"Fine, but if I say anything else dumb, will you let me know?"
"Of course."
Blaine rolled over and looked at his alarm clock. The red, glowing numbers read 4:56 AM. Grumbling, the boy pulled his comforter over his head and snuggled down deep into his mattress, wishing that sleep would reclaim him soon. Instead, he tossed and turned for another half an hour before he finally rolled out of bed and left his room. Quietly, he tip-toed down the staircase and down the hall until he reached the kitchen.
"Hmm, what to eat, what to eat, what to eat…?"
He padded around the room, opening up cabinet after cabinet, looking for something to have for breakfast. After finding nothing there, he threw open the fridge doors and grinned when he noticed a package of sausage patties and a new carton of eggs sitting on the shelf.
"Eggs and sausage it is!"
He whipped out a frying pan and sprayed it with a little bit of cooking oil, then cracked a couple of eggs into a cup and scrambled them. As he cooked, he started to hum, reaching over and turning on the kitchen radio (which had been installed under one of the cabinets). As ironic as it was, Michael Jackson's Beat It was playing. Just the song and the fact that he was currently scrambling some eggs in a cup made Blaine grin like an idiot and he started to dance around the room, belting out the chorus at the top of his lungs.
His fun was short lived, however, when he heard some loud coughing behind him.
"Blaine Christopher Anderson, what in the hell do you think you're doing? It's 5:30 in the morning and you're down here screeching like a banshee and trying to burn my house down!" His father stood in the doorway to the kitchen, his hazel eyes dark with annoyance. "Turn that radio off right now and go back to bed!"
"I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd make myself some breakfast," Blaine countered. He reached over and turned the radio down until the song was just a faint whisper in the air. "I thought I'd go running today… help get my mind off of things."
He didn't miss it when his father rolled his eyes at him. William Anderson really hadn't been the greatest of supporters when Blaine had arrived home just days earlier. While Maria had fawned over her tiny son, William had just stood in the background with his arms crossed and eyes narrowed. He had hardly spoken a word to Blaine in the last few days and what he had just said to the boy was the most he had said to him in quite some time.
Blaine smirked as his dad left the room and went to retreat back to bed. He definitely wasn't going to be taking crap from his parents anytime soon, especially when his mood had lifted so much. He knew that if he allowed his parents to make him feel like crap again, he'd fall right back into that dismal abyss that had filled his life just weeks prior.
Blaine needed to change, he needed the change, he needed to get away from it all.
Running was just the release he needed.
Blaine jogged up the steps to his front porch and stretched his limbs out, feeling his bones crack and his muscles pull as he leaned his body from side to side. Once he felt everything was well worked, he stepped into his house and took off his shoes, leaving them on the mat beside the door.
A voice startled him, "Oh baby, there you are!"
He turned around and saw his mother exciting the kitchen, her hands full with a tray of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. The smile on her face made Blaine cringe and he took a step backward. Anytime she had a look like that on her face, that meant that she wanted to talk and usually, it wasn't about something good.
He could still remember her coming to him years ago when she told him about how his cat Whiskers had been hit by a car. She had that same sad, creepy smile spread across her face. He also remembered the time she came into his room with a glass of lemonade, same sad smile, and told him about his grandfather's terminal cancer.
It was always something bad when she came to him like that.
Instantly, he wanted to run away, to put his shoes back on, and take off out the door and down the street. He almost turned on his heel and ran upstairs, but stopped when he felt her hand on his arm. She was gripping his wrist rather tightly and she held the tray of cookies out towards him.
"Come to the living room, Blaine. Please?"
He raised his eyebrows at her, his stomach churning as he let her lead him to the living room. She walked slowly in front of him and then stopped, pulling his wrist forward and slightly pushing him into the living room.
He could see why she was so hesitant with him earlier.
Sitting on the couch, sipping on a glass of milk, was none other than Josh.
"You've GOT to be kidding me!" Kurt sputtered, his eyes wide as he stared down at Blaine. The older boy shrugged and nodded.
"I wasn't expecting to see him either."
Kurt's blue eyes narrowed as he set his empty cup down on the desk next to him, "That boy must've had a LOT of nerve to come creeping back into your house after what he did to you! I know you practically denied it earlier and that this is probably a ridiculous statement, but did you kick his ass then? Please tell me you did."
"I wish I did…"
"But you didn't-" Kurt didn't say anymore. He knew he didn't have to. Joshua was Blaine's first love and deep down, Kurt knew that Blaine had never lost his feelings towards the asshole, even though that piece of crap had practically ruined his life.
"Every time I tried to kill my feelings for Josh, something always came back and brought me back to liking him again. It wasn't like I liked him a lot, like I used to. I just felt that familiar pang of want every time I saw him. I wanted him to be my friend again. I wanted him to love me like I loved him. I wanted him to apologize."
"Did he apologize?"
Blaine was quiet.
"What the fuck are YOU doing here?"
His blood was boiling as he stood in the doorway to the living room, staring at the cocky blue-eyed boy sitting on his couch. Josh set his glass of milk down on the coffee table and stared back at Blaine with the strangest look on his face. He looked somewhat sad. That or he was trying to fool the hell out of Blaine to make him think that he was actually feeling guilt over what he had done.
"Blaine, darling, please hear him out." His mother's voice was tiny and quiet. She stepped past him and set the tray of cookies down next to Josh's milk glass and gave the seated boy a slight smile. When Blaine saw her flash his ex-friend a grin, he felt his insides explode in betrayal.
"Don't smile at him, mother! He's made my life a LIVING HELL! How can you smile at him?"
Maria Anderson stood up straight as she glanced back at her angry son. She walked across the room quickly and pulled the short boy into a hug. Her lips pressed against his cheek before getting close to his ear. She whispered, "Just give him a minute, please darling. There are some things he'd like to say to you and I really think you should hear what he's got to say."
"I don't care what he has to say. Fuck him."
"Blaine." Her voice lowered, as did her glare. "Watch your language and just do what I say, alright?"
He didn't bother to listen to her. The curly haired boy turned on his heel, rushing up the stairs towards his bedroom. His heart pounded so loudly that the only thing he could hear was it bursting in his ears. His entire body trembled in fear when he remembered that Josh had been to visit him at the hospital with Leonard and Julia. Were they there now? Were they hiding in his house somewhere, ready to kill him? Had they held his mother hostage and were they using her as a diversion so that they could kill him instead?
Why did this have to happen now? He was doing so well! No distractions! Nothing!
Blaine threw himself onto his bed and curled himself into a ball. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't think. He couldn't move. Josh was still downstairs, probably charming the pants off of his mother and there was nothing he could do.
His parents adored Joshua, even after the boy had practically destroyed their own son. There wasn't anything Blaine could do to keep Josh out of his life. Nothing.
With a stifled sob, Blaine grabbed a pillow and pulled it over his head, covering his now tear streaked face.
"Oh God, why? WHY?"
He prayed that it was all a dream. That he'd wake up and Josh would be gone. That he'd fall asleep and get up the next day and find out that this incident was just a nightmare he had conjured up after he came home from running. He would have given anything at the moment to just be somewhere else. Anywhere else. Anywhere but in his own home with his deceptive parents and his second worst enemy.
His mind continued to run rampant with prayers and thoughts; he was sobbing so loudly now into his pillow that he couldn't hear anything else inside or outside the room.
He definitely hadn't noticed the door to his bedroom creak open and a tall, muscular brunette enter his room. He didn't notice the boy hovering over his bed, dead eyes gazing down at the curled up form in the middle of the mattress.
He did notice the weight that caused his mattress to tilt though. And he definitely felt the strong hand that pressed itself onto his shoulder.
"…Blaine?"
A/N: Oh no, not another cliffhanger! Sorry guys, but I've gotta stop there. Don't worry though, I hope to have another update up very soon! Also, if you guys haven't noticed, I have two new stories up in the Klaine fandom. So, if you are bored or anything and want to read something, they're on my profile! OH, and thanks to all those who left reviews last chapter! I'm halfway near my goal of 100+ reviews! I think this story has the most reviews I've ever gotten on a story, lol. Anyways, thanks again! Also, if you want to watch an awesome Klaine video, go to Youtube and type in 'When Kurt Met Blaine'. It's hands down one of the best Klaine vids out there (and whoever made it gets kudos from me because I love it!) :D