Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or any of these characters… if I did, Karofsky wouldn't exist anymore, Jesse wouldn't have been such an asshole (albeit one I believe legitimately fell for Rachel), and there would be a LOT more Blaine.
A/n: So I'm sorry for the delay. But I've had two new ideas come up since I've ended all of my other stories, and I've been addicted to writing one of them (the other is still in the planning stages in my head). I'm going to start trying to wind this down soon, though, so hopefully there will only be a couple more updates here before I get it finished.
Going back to school wasn't exactly the easiest thing for Blaine to do on Monday morning. Carole and Burt were convinced that he could handle keeping up with everything while he was at school, but Blaine was still a little nervous. He knew that a lot of his classmates were giving him strange looks again, although this time around it seemed to be mostly looks of concern rather than pity.
"I hate it when they stare," Blaine muttered, walking towards the Warblers hall between Kurt and Wes. "You would think I'm about to drop dead or something."
"You do have to admit, your life has been feeding the gossip mill around here for a while… it's going to take the next big scandal for them to stop giving you those looks," Wes replied.
"I thought the gossip thing wouldn't be as bad at an all-boys school… but it only seems to spread faster around here than it ever did at McKinley," Kurt added. Blaine smiled slightly as Kurt put an arm around his shoulders, even though that only highlighted the fact that Blaine was the shorter of the pair.
"At least people around here check their facts before they start saying stuff. Or have a good reason to think that what they're saying is true…"
"I need to run by the bathroom before rehearsal… I feel kind of shaky, and Jeff's terrified of blood. I'm not sure how much it takes to freak him out…"
"Just try not to be late, okay? We need to get some stuff settled for next year. Like new council members…" Blaine nodded, breaking away from the other two and ducking into the closest bathroom as he pulled the little black case out of his backpack.
Blaine didn't realize that he wasn't alone at first; it wasn't exactly quiet in Dalton's halls after the last bell rang – the day students were always in a hurry to get home and the boarders were rushing around to get changed for after school activities or to just get out of the uniform for a little while – and Blaine wasn't really expecting anyone to be in the room.
The sound of one of the stall doors opening made Blaine turn around. "Hey, Nick… how are you doing?" Blaine didn't actually watch Nick as the other boy walked over to the sink to wash his hands.
"Okay… just trying not to be late for rehearsal. How are you?" Nick didn't sound like himself, which made Blaine look back up from what he was doing and watch.
"Shit… you're bleeding," Blaine commented, seeing the pink tinge of the water as it went down the drain. He grabbed a handful of paper towels, moving to press them against Nick's arm.
"It's fine… just leave it alone…" Blaine stepped back as Nick took the paper towels from his hand and started pressing on his arm. He hadn't seen where the blood was coming from, but Blaine had a sneaking suspicion that he knew what was going on. He walked into the stall Nick had just exited from, sighing when he saw the drips of blood and the razor blade in the trash can. "Please… don't say anything, Blaine…"
Blaine didn't comment on what he found. Instead, he walked over to the other boy and put his arms around him, giving Nick a tight hug. He didn't want to let go, but Blaine knew that he couldn't stand there with Nick forever. "Talk to me." Blaine backed away slightly, watching his friend.
"I'm just having a hard time right now… my grandmother was diagnosed with leukemia last week. I just need an escape…" Nick began. Blaine was shocked when the boy attached himself to Blaine again. "Why does everyone have to leave me? Why can't anyone stay?" Blaine shook his head, sighing.
"I can't answer that… I wish I knew why things had to be like this. But I don't. No one does." Blaine did his best to comfort his friend, but it wasn't easy considering the fact that he was still trying to figure out what he needed to say to the other boy. "This isn't the answer, Nick."
"I know. I know that I'm fucking up everything I've worked for… but I don't know how to hold it together anymore…"
"You should skip rehearsal… I can cover for you with the council. Go get some rest, or go see your therapist, or something. But get some help, please… don't go down this path again."
"You're right… I should go. I'll see if I can get an appointment," Nick began. Blaine smiled at the boy as he let go, but grabbed Nick's shoulder as the boy started to go back towards the stall he'd just come out of.
"Leave the blade. Get out of here… go get yourself some help. And come talk to me tonight when you get back… I just want to know that you're okay." Blaine watched as Nick nodded and walked out of the room. Blaine finally glanced at the screen on the little black machine, sighing as he saw that the number was significantly lower than what it should have been. With classes and everything, he'd clearly screwed up his dosage again and taken too much insulin. Which meant that he had to find something to eat pretty quickly – before rehearsal – if he was going to make it through the next hour. He pulled out his phone to send a quick text message to Kurt.
Tell them I'm coming… ran into some issues on the way. Nick's not going to be there, though.
Blaine hurried down to the little café that was set up for students to use when the cafeteria wasn't open, grabbing a muffin before he made his way down to the Warblers common room and snuck in the door, silently making his way to the empty seat next to Kurt as the members of the Council explained what would be going on during the meeting.
"We need to choose three rising seniors for next year's council. Would all the juniors please raise their hands." Blaine's hand went up in the air along with those of a few other members.
"Nick's name should be on that list as well," Jeff commented.
"Thanks, Jeff. Right, so most of you know how this works but we'll explain for any new members. Every junior is automatically nominated to be on the council. Everyone but the current council is allowed to vote, and we keep track of how many votes each junior receives in the minutes. If you are elected, you have the right to refuse the position and it will be given to the next person on the list. The members of the new council aren't announced until a week after the election, so that those elected are given a chance to decline the position. Any questions?"
"What if a council member ends up not returning to Dalton?" Blaine glanced at Kurt, raising an eyebrow. Kurt just shrugged in response.
"It's never come up before, but I would assume that it would follow the same process as if that member were to refuse his position," David replied.
"You aren't thinking about leaving, are you Kurt?" Wes asked.
"It's a money issue… if I can stay I will. But nothing's guaranteed. Not until the money's paid, anyway." Blaine squeezed Kurt's shoulder, putting an arm around his boyfriend.
"Things will work out like they're supposed to," he whispered.
"Alright, gentlemen, let's get started with the voting process. Everyone write down three names on a piece of paper."
Blaine stared at his paper for a moment, before he carefully wrote down three names that he knew would do a good job leading the council – Trent, Ian, and Kurt. It was a tough decision; anyone in the Warblers would have done a good job because they all really cared about the group. But Ian was probably the most organized member of the group, Trent was excellent at arranging music, and Kurt had some great ideas. Not to mention that all three were leaders, in their own way. They would make a good team.
Waiting for the results to come in wasn't exactly fun; several of the juniors were antsy because they really wanted that particular honor, and most of the underclassmen were bored because they didn't really have much of a stake in who won the positions this year. The room was full of conversation as they all waited to see what was coming. Blaine just focused on eating his muffin as he listened to Kurt's nervous chatter about what was going to happen next.
"Alright, settle down!" Everyone jumped slightly at the sound of Wes's gavel pounding against the desktop. "We have our new council. Congratulations to Ian McKibbon, Kurt Hummel, and Blaine Anderson." Blaine looked up, surprised to hear his name called among the new council's members. He hardly even noticed the fact that Kurt nearly jumped on top of him with a hug.
"You really didn't expect to get your spot on the council? You, the lead soloist?" Kurt seemed to be in shock at Blaine's admission.
"With everything that's happened this school year, I didn't think that I was still the lead soloist – I sort of let everyone down at Regionals by not being able to compete. There are people that deserve this so much more than I do this year," Blaine replied.
"But everyone understands that you've had a lot happen this year… and before all of that, you were just as much of a leader in the group as any of the council members. They deferred to you about a lot of things… those three were pretty much grooming you to take one of their places."
"I still don't think it's fair." Blaine looked up from the chemistry homework he was supposed to be doing as he heard a knock on the door. "I've got it… that's probably Nick."
Blaine opened the door and slid out, smiling at his friend. "I'm sorry I didn't come earlier… Dr. Hoult had another client…"
"Don't worry about it, Nick… how are you?"
"Okay. I still want to cut, but I think I can handle it now," Nick replied. Blaine nodded, putting a hand on the other boy's shoulder and gently squeezing it.
"I'm here for you, okay? Come get me any time you need to talk… I want you to be okay."
"I'm not going to wake you up in the middle of the night…"
"I don't care if I'm in class, Nick… any time. You helped me… just let me help you, okay?" Blaine watched as Nick nodded, sighing.
"I'm going to go take a shower, get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay. Take care of yourself."
"How's Nick?" Kurt asked as soon as Blaine walked back in the door. Blaine sighed, shaking his head.
"He says he's okay. I'm not sure how truthful that is, but I didn't want to push him. Don't be surprised if he shows up in the middle of the night or something, though. I told him he could come talk to me any time…" Blaine smiled as Kurt walked over to him, leaning in to press a soft kiss on his lips. "What did I do to deserve that?"
"It's an advance apology for cursing you out when Nick actually takes you up on that offer," Kurt replied with a smirk.
"Yeah… I wasn't exactly thinking about that…"
"It'll be okay. I just won't be happy with you for a couple of hours because of the sleep I'll lose worrying about Nick now…" Blaine smiled, leaning in for another kiss that was significantly more passionate than the first.
"Thank you for understanding," Blaine whispered, closing his eyes as they stood there, Kurt leaning down slightly so that their foreheads touched. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I love you even more now… I didn't even think that was possible."
"I wouldn't be nearly as okay with all of this if I wasn't head over heels for you already." Blaine smiled as Kurt kissed him again.
"As much as I love this, I have homework to finish…" Blaine began.
"Me too… maybe once we're done we can have some time to ourselves to have a little fun." Blaine kissed Kurt softly, keeping it short.
"I like that idea. A lot."
Blaine couldn't believe his luck as he lay on the grass next to Kurt, staring up at the clouds. Considering everything that had happened, it seemed as though Blaine's life was as close to perfect as it could be.
"I can't believe this school year is almost over…" Blaine smiled as Kurt spoke.
"I can't believe I actually finished all of that make-up work in time to finish the semester with everyone else." Blaine squeezed Kurt's hand. "Even with everything that's happened, I actually feel kind of lucky… I lost my mom, but I gained a new family." He raised an eyebrow as Kurt groaned.
"That sort of makes this sound… I dunno, sordid I guess."
"What? I live with your family, and I'm pretty sure that we've gotten to the point where I'm going to start getting chores."
"But you are still my boyfriend… so even though my parents do care about you, it's still weird for you to consider them your family. At least until we're married or something…" Blaine turned over and raised an eyebrow as he looked at Kurt. "What?"
"You mentioned marriage… and we've only been together a couple of months." Blaine did his best to avoid putting any kind of emphasis on the words that might give them a meaning other than simply stating a fact.
"I'm not freaking you out with that, am I? I mean, I only said it…"
"Kurt, shut up. Right now, I'm not thinking about marriage because I'm too young. We're too young. But if I were thinking about it… you wouldn't be my first choice." Blaine noticed the way Kurt's face dropped. He had known that he would get that kind of response, which was precisely why Blaine had chosen his next words carefully. "You would be my only choice." Blaine leaned in and pressed a kiss against Kurt's lips. "I love you. I've had crushes before, but it was nothing like this. This is the real deal… I just don't want to screw things up between us by letting things go too fast."
"You didn't feel that way a couple of months ago…"
"A couple of months ago I wasn't thinking clearly yet. I needed some time to get my head on straight, and you gave me that. I didn't like it at the time, but I get it now. You wanted to protect me from getting my heart broken."
"I've loved you for a long time… I wasn't sure how you felt, and I wanted to make sure that you weren't falling for me for all the wrong reasons," Kurt replied. Blaine smiled as the boy reached up and started playing with his curls. "You have no idea how happy I was when I realized that you really were in love with me… that you weren't making a mistake by thinking you returned my feelings."
"It wouldn't have ever been a mistake…" Blaine began. He started to kiss Kurt again, until he heard a throat clearing behind him. Blaine looked up, sighing as he recognized his father standing there.
"I guess this means that what my son told me is true…" Blaine sat up, turning around so that he could face his father, legs crossed.
"If you're trying to ask if I'm gay, the answer is yes. And Kurt and I are dating. If you have a problem with that, it's your problem. Not mine." Blaine didn't even really look at his father as he gave the man a moment to process what he'd just said.
"I wish you had told me."
"Would it really have mattered? It wouldn't have changed anything."
"It would have been nice to get more than five minutes to process the fact that I have not one but two gay sons," Blaine's father replied. Blaine glanced up at the man, whose arms were crossed. "I'm assuming Burt and Carole know about all of this?" Blaine nodded.
"And you don't have to worry about the whole sex talk thing… Burt covered everything pretty well when we told them."
"That's not exactly what I'm here for, Blaine."
"Then what are you doing here? Because I really don't have time for more excuses about why you can't be my father right now." He felt Kurt gently squeeze his shoulder and reached up to put a hand on top of Kurt's.
"There's an election coming up next year. My wife thinks the time is right to come clean about everything. Including the fact that you're my son."
"She wants to use me to get votes?"
"She doesn't want to lie anymore." Blaine shook his head.
"I'm not going to just move in with you all of a sudden, change everything about my life… I can't handle that right now."
"I'm not asking you to move in with us or anything like that…"
"What are you going to tell Jacob? Or the others? Are they going to find out that I knew about all of this before I even met them, and that the only reason I didn't say anything is because you said that they couldn't know?"
"That's up to you."
"I don't want to lie to them," Blaine replied. He looked down at the ground again. "You should know that they asked. About my family. And I told them the truth – I just left out the fact that we shared a father."
"I wish you hadn't done that…"
"You asked me not to tell them that I was their brother. You didn't say anything about me not telling them why I didn't have a father I could live with instead of staying with the Hummels." Blaine paused for a moment, sighing. "Does she know?"
"Jacob told both of us what was going on."
"I don't want to be a pawn in this political game. I don't want to be used for the votes that your wife will get for being seen as accepting because she doesn't mind letting your gay, bastard son be part of the family."
"Blaine, you have to realize that my wife is never going to accept you as part of the family otherwise… if you want to be part of my life, this is the only way…" Blaine stood up, shaking his head.
"I don't want you in my life if this is all it's going to be. If you're going to be my father, I need you all the time… not just when it's convenient for you. Do you have any idea how much you could fuck up my life right now?"
"What do you want me to do, Blaine?"
"I want you to be a man!" Blaine couldn't help but yell; he was upset, and it was difficult to control his emotions whenever the older man was around. "I've gone seventeen years without a father. I don't exactly need one now."
"One dinner, Blaine. Just come meet your siblings… all of them. Then decide how much you want to be involved in all of this. We can change the way we approach things, but you need to give all of this a chance."
"Blaine…" He turned towards Kurt, who was squeezing his shoulder again. "Give it a chance… you said that you wanted to get to know them. At least have dinner with them." Blaine sighed, knowing that his boyfriend was right. The one thing he wanted more than anything was to have a relationship with his siblings, and his father was opening that door.
"I'll go on one condition. I'm not coming unless Kurt's invited, too. If you want to know me, you have to get to know Kurt. He's too important to my life…"
"Okay. Friday night… I'll e-mail you directions to the house. Dinner's at seven-thirty." Blaine nodded at his father's words, crossing his arms again.
"We'll be there." Blaine and Kurt both watched as Mr. Anderson walked away, back towards the parking lot.
"Friday night is family dinner, Blaine. And you'll miss out on your group session…"
"I know. But this is the only way I can get what I want. You don't have to come with me, Kurt, but I wish you would," Blaine replied, turning around to face his boyfriend. "Do you think your dad would be that upset if you went with me?"
"I think he would be okay with it, if he knows that I'm going to be there to support you. But I am going to tell him everything…" Blaine sighed.
"I wouldn't want you to keep any of it from your dad. Not even the part about how they want to basically use me to win over the voters."
"Blaine…"
"I need to start studying for finals. We can talk about this later."
Kurt wasn't really expecting the GPS in Blaine's car to lead them to the McMansion they were currently sitting in front of, but apparently the older boy's biological father lacked taste or originality when it came to architecture. "I can't believe they live here… it's like something out of a commercial or a TV show." Kurt smiled slightly at Blaine's comment.
"I hate neighborhoods like this… the houses all look the same," Kurt replied.
"Promise me that we'll never live somewhere like this… I don't want a house that looks exactly like every other one on the street."
"Deal. It's almost 7:30… we should probably go inside."
"I think they're going to hate me for not telling them. Especially Jacob. He trusted me…"
"We won't know what's going to happen until we go in there… and I think at this point it's going to be worse if we're late." Blaine nodded, sighing as he got out of the car. The two started approaching the front door, holding hands. Blaine started to ring the doorbell, but he stopped an inch or so away from the bell.
"I don't know if I can do this…"
"The sooner you push that button, the sooner we know what's going to happen. No more worrying about how they're going to react," Kurt pointed out. Blaine nodded, pushing the little button and sticking his free hand into the pocket of his slacks as he waited.
Blaine was sort of glad to see the petite blonde girl from his father's photo opening the door. He wasn't sure how the three of his siblings he'd already met would react to seeing him standing there. "Alright… which one of you is the mysterious brother we're supposed to be meeting?"
"That would be me," Blaine replied. He watched as the girl looked him over before she stepped out of the way to let them into the house.
"I was expecting another blond… we're all blond here." Blaine couldn't help but smirk at the Alice in Wonderland reference in her comment.
"My mother was Hispanic…"
"It shows." Blaine wasn't sure how to respond to that, especially given the fact that he didn't even know his sister's name yet.
"Danielle, it would probably have been wise to actually introduce yourself." Blaine looked up, taking a deep breath as he saw Mrs. Anderson coming down the stairs. "I see you brought… your boyfriend, is it?"
"Yes… this is Kurt Hummel." Blaine glanced at Kurt, shooting him a smile. Kurt was the only thing he had to hold onto at that moment, and he wasn't about to let go of the boy. He watched as she gave Kurt an appraising look as well, before nodding.
"Well, you have good taste going for you if nothing else. The dining room's this way." Blaine felt Kurt squeeze his hand gently as they followed the woman into the other room, where Danielle and Dylan were already seated at the ridiculously long dining table. "Edward couldn't make it home from school this weekend because of finals… his start Monday morning and he needed the extra time to study. I believe you already met Dylan, and Samuel and Jacob should be down in a few minutes."
"Hey Dylan… it's nice to see you again."
"You're our half-brother? Seriously?" Blaine nodded in response to Dylan's question. "Great. I have not one but two gay brothers… I'm never going to live this down at school."
"You don't have to tell them… I'm still not sure I even want to be involved in all of this," Blaine admitted as he and Kurt sat down across the table from the two siblings that were already there.
"We'll discuss all of that after dinner. Which should start in a few minutes, if the others will come down to the table any time soon," Mrs. Anderson replied.
"So the two of you are together… how far have you gone?" Blaine felt as though his eyes were going to pop out of his head at Danielle's question.
"Young lady, that is really none of your business. You should apologize for asking such a personal question of someone you barely know."
"He's my half-brother… shouldn't that cancel out the fact that I barely know him?"
"Danielle, Blaine and Kurt are guests in our house. You need to treat them as such, no matter what your relationship with them might be." Blaine glanced up as he heard his father's voice coming from the doorway. "Samuel is finishing up some video he's supposed to watch for his history class, and Jacob got back from practice late so he's still changing. They'll be down in a minute."
The silence was uncomfortable as they waited for the last two members of the family to join them at the table. Blaine really wasn't sure how Jacob would react to seeing him there – especially with Kurt in tow – but he knew that it was only a matter of time before he would find out.
"Sorry… I couldn't get this stupid tie to work." Blaine didn't turn around as he heard Jacob's voice, wondering how the younger boy was going to react. "Blaine? What are you doing here?"
"Blaine is here to meet the family. Something that should have happened a long time ago." Blaine glanced at his father as the man spoke. "Sit down, boys… we'll discuss everything while we eat."
A tense silence filled the room as everyone waited for dinner to be served, and Blaine couldn't help but fidget a bit in his seat as he waited for someone else to start the conversation that he knew was coming.
"So… how long has Blaine known about us?" The question that came from Danielle's mouth wasn't exactly how Blaine expected all of this to start.
"Two months or so. It wasn't until after my mom died that I even saw our father for the first time," Blaine explained.
"So you knew when we met?" Jacob asked. Blaine nodded.
"It was still new to me… I was asked to keep my distance, and that's what I did. And I tried to get out of meeting you so I could do that without having to keep it all a secret."
"You didn't want to meet us."
"I didn't want to lie or keep secrets about anything. What I told you was the truth… I just never mentioned names or details. I didn't want to screw things up, because I wanted to get to know all of you… and the only way I knew I could get what I wanted was to do what he asked of me," Blaine replied, looking at his father as he spoke. He felt Kurt squeezing his hand under the table again and squeezed back.
"So why are you here now?" Dylan asked.
"Ask your parents. They're the ones who wanted me to come tonight… this is happening the way they want it to. I'm just doing what I'm asked. If I'd had my way, I would have been here as soon as I knew anything about having siblings or a family other than my mom."
"We were just trying to protect the family…" Mrs. Anderson began.
"You were just trying to protect your political career, you mean." Blaine looked up as he heard Samuel's voice. "So what, now you're trying to use the sympathy card to gain votes in the election coming up? Make some kind of big deal about how you're so understanding and accepting because you're okay with having two gay sons – one of which is actually the child of your husband's former mistress?"
"Samuel…"
"No… don't try and give me some fake explanation about what's going on here, Mom… I know you. You're trying to use Blaine. You're using the fact that he wants to have a family to blackmail him into giving you exactly what you want. And that's not okay."
"It's not blackmail," Mrs. Anderson replied.
"It doesn't matter! You're still using him!" Blaine shook his head, pushing back from the table and sighing.
"This was a bad idea. Kurt, we should just go…"
"Blaine… you need to eat something," Kurt whispered, trying to keep his voice down because he wasn't sure whether or not Blaine wanted his father's family to know that he wasn't perfectly healthy.
"It can wait until we find somewhere to stop on the way back to Lima… I don't need to stay here for this."
"Blaine… please just wait a minute. Samuel doesn't understand…"
"I think that Samuel understands everything just as well as I do in this situation… so if you asked me to come tonight for some reason other than what he just said, please tell me what it is. Because right now I can't think of any reason why you would want me here unless there was something in it for you. I'm the other woman's son – the black mark on your perfect family. I know that you want nothing to do with me, so please don't pretend that you want me to be here for any reason other than your own personal gain."
"You shouldn't talk to her that way…" Blaine's father began. Blaine shook his head, biting down on his bottom lip for a moment.
"Why shouldn't I tell her the truth? I don't want to be used. I want to know my siblings, but I'd rather be an orphan than deal with this kind of crap…"
"I'm sorry, Blaine. I wish that there was some way you could have a different impression of me. You don't have to be involved in anything you're uncomfortable with, including any publicity surrounding my campaign. But I hope that you'll at least consider being part of our family outside of all that. And I also hope that you'll at least stay long enough to eat. I don't want to be responsible for you making yourself ill by not eating to avoid me." Blaine nodded as Mrs. Anderson folded her hands, sighing.
"I don't know that it would be a good idea for me to stay tonight. I think it would be better if we all had some time to calm down," Blaine replied. "And I need some time to think about what I want to do. I have a lot on my plate right now… there's just too much going on, and I don't want to screw this up by jumping into anything that I might regret later. Not when I have so much to lose…"
"I can promise you that you won't lose anything, Blaine." He shook his head, sighing.
"I can't believe that. Not yet, anyway. I have no reason to trust anything that either of you say right now… and I'm not going to risk everything I've worked so hard to get. Not now, when things are finally starting to get back to something resembling normal."