Cadenza

By: RavenHeart101

Summary: Summer camp is something that Puck always dreaded. When he accidentally signs up for a football and music camp he's stuck sharing a room with the one person everyone else seems to hate. The gay kid from Marion Middle School.

Disclaimer: I am gladly NOT Ryan Murphy. I am not 'N Sync or Spice Girls either.

Warnings: Slash (male/male), swears, homophobia, mature themes, gay bashing/bullying, parental issues, sexual situations, sex, substance abuse on minors, smoking with minors, ect.

A thanks to everyone that reviewed.

A:N –College is too much work.

This Chapter: Select members of the New Directions decide to stay at the camp to prepare for the next year, Puck tries out his first attempt at wooing Blaine, and a visit from Mister Anderson spurs more than just tears. The custody case is about to begin and it seems Marissa Hughes is bringing her A game and revealing some rather hidden family secrets.

His shoes clinked against the floor, his arms swinging at a small pace beside his body. He was dressed impeccably as usual, his suit showing just how distinguished of a business man he was. He had a brief case in his right hand, signaling to all that this man had either come from business or come to do business. Really, it was a matter of both that he was there.

But he was determined. Was he ever determined.

And if there was one thing you never survived doing, it was getting in Nathan Anderson's way when he was determined.

He paused in the doorway of the auditorium, not opening his mouth or making any noise to alert those on the inside that he was there.

Nathan loved his sons. It was just that… well Nathan hadn't exactly been raised with the most loving parents, and after his wife left, Nathan found himself not only the only flow of income, but the only flow of comfort. And Blaine… gosh did Blaine look so much like his mother. He had the same smile, the same gentle air about him. But that air could turn dark and angry and cold so easily. And Nathan knew he was a being a terrible father, of course he knew that, he knew that he wasn't helping his son, but was hurting him instead. He knew he was pushing his children away. But Nathan didn't know what else to do.

Nathan had never been comfortable with hugging his children – had never been comfortable with hugging anyone, or any sort of physical affection. With Greyson that was fine, Grey didn't beg for attention like Blaine did. Blaine thrived off affection, he lived off it. And without that affection his little boy was no longer a little boy that had a nightmare and needed his father to hold him and tell him that everything was going to be okay.

But, Nathan knew how to do one thing. And that was look out for his sons.

And no way in hell would Nathan allow someone like Marissa Hughes to come barging back into their lives and rip their family apart even more than she already had.

Nathan took a steady step into the auditorium, still silent from the looks of it.

There was a group of children, boys, girls, young and old, sitting on the stage clapping to a steady beat that his son had just started. Nathan stopped, staring at the stage with something a kin to tenderness on his face.

A brown haired boy on Blaine's left – one Nathan recognized from Dalton, Nick was it? – started the song. "We were born the same day, we even think the same way. It couldn't be more right. We are what they call a perfect match; it's something that you can't touch. Down to the last bone you're my baby."

A dark skinned boy picked up next – another one that Nathan recognized from Dalton. David this time. "But to be honest there's just one thing. A part that is missing. You don't seem to care at all."

It seemed as though that was the cue for all the males to start singing in earnest, or at least all the male counselors to sing. "Tell me, tell me baby. How come you don't wanna love me? Don't you know that I can't breathe without you?"

Lily and Danielle – those two girls Nathan had known his whole life – seemed all too happy to take over the next part, coaxing the rest of the girls to sing along. "If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends. Make it last forever, friendship never ends."

"Tell me, tell me just how? What am I supposed to do, right now? Why can't you love me?"

"If you wanna be my lover, you have got to give. Taking is too easy, but that's the way it is."

"Why? Tell me my baby."

They all seemed so happy that Nathan couldn't help feeling as though he was intruding on the moment. Nathan slowly lowered himself down into one of the chairs in the back, making sure to keep as quiet as he could.

"What do you think about that, now you know how I feel?" The girls continued on their own song, steadily the female members of the club starting to smile and really enjoy themselves, the boys singing their own part expertly.

Nathan knew who had arranged the piece. He knew his son was talented. He knew it by that smile on his face when Blaine realized that what he had arranged was powerful and wonderful and practically magic.

It was the closest to pure joy that Nathan had seen on his sons face in over a year.

The song finished with a flourish and Nathan was tempted to do the cliché clap from the back to alert them that they had an audience, but Nathan wasn't one for cliché's. Instead he let his son finish up what he was doing, bid goodbye to the kids, accept a few hugs from those that remained and stay behind with Lily to clean up and organize the papers. Lily had gotten so old and beautiful as the years continued.

Nathan sighed and stood up, allowing them to hear his footfalls and turn to face him. Lily quickly looked over at Blaine to gage is reaction but Blaine was a good actor. He knew how to hide what he was really feeling. Not that Nathan believed he could truly hide it from him, but Blaine didn't have to know that Nathan saw the spark of apprehension in his eyes. "Lily." Nathan nodded at the girl, a smile on her face, even though Nathan knew it was one that was lacked the warmth he used to receive.

"Hi, Nathan." She waved in greeting, jumping off the stage and giving Blaine a quick peck on the cheek before leaving the two of them alone. "Yell if you need me."

Blaine smiled softly at her, nodding slightly and staring after her as she pranced down the isle of the auditorium to slide her arm through David's at the doorway. Nathan pretended not to be surprised. "Blaine."

"Dad." Blaine nodded in his direction, stuffing the papers in his notebook.

Nathan felt a pain at how distant his son had become. "Have a seat." Nathan also hated how formal he was by nature. Whenever something got uncomfortable. It was as though it was his default emotion.

Blaine stared at him for a moment, his gaze calculating before he nodded shortly and jumped up onto the stage, his legs swinging off the edge as he looked at his father. Nathan came to stand in front of him, placing his brief case beside Blaine on the stage and taking the moment to observe his son. Blaine had grown up so much. Nathan couldn't decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing. "I suppose your brother has told you what your mother is planning."

"Yes." Blaine muttered, looking down at his hands instead of at his father.

"The lawyers told me to keep you out of the dealings of the procedure until you needed to get involved."

Blaine nodded mutely and Nathan had to think carefully over what he was going to say next.

It wasn't every day that he made himself this visually vulnerable. But it seemed as though that was the only way he was going to get any reaction out of Blaine besides practiced indifference.

"I told them that was crap."

Blaine's eyes snapped up to his face, wide in shock and maybe a bit of proud amazement. Nathan stepped closer, closing his hand around Blaine's knee and squeezing it in affection. "I don't believe any of this should be kept from you. So I'm going to tell you what's going on." Nathan reached over into his brief case, pulling out a copy of the files his lawyers had faxed to him. With steady hands he handed them over to Blaine. "You can read them all yourself, however, if you'd rather."

Blaine stared down at them for a moment, before looking back up at his father, shaking his head and putting the files aside. "I'd rather you told me."

Nathan allowed a smile to come over his face. "Okay." He pushed his brief case to the side, jumping up so that he was next to Blaine on the stage, wincing a bit as he went along. Blaine raised an eyebrow at him, a small smile playing on his lips. "I'm not as agile as I used to be. Old age." Nathan nudged his shoulder with his son's, overjoyed by the small laugh that he received in response. "Okay." Nathan settled in beside him, his hand a heavy weight over the files as he turned to look at Blaine face on. "Your mother is planning on challenging my rights to have you completely in my custody."

"I got that much."

"The judge is probably not going to give her full custody rights since she walked out on us when you came out." Blaine nodded seriously and Nathan looked away for a moment, his eyes far away before they found him again. The next part… it was the next few parts that Nathan wasn't sure how to bring up. "Your mother… she's digging deep and she's digging rough."

"Meaning what?" Blaine spoke quietly, as though he was afraid of the answer and Nathan couldn't say he was surprised. He was rather scared of it himself.

"Do you remember that story that I told you about that accident I had when I was twenty? Just before your brother was born?" Blaine nodded slowly, his head cocked to the side and the way he used to always do when he was curious or unsure of something. Gosh, his son was a puppy. "Well I was drunk."

"Dad…" Blaine trailed off, his voice soft and comforting.

And that was his son. Always the one to want to comfort people. "I was drunk and I killed a mother and her child in that accident. And I will never forgive myself for that. And I vowed never to tell you or your brother about it."

"So why are you?" Blaine's hand enveloped his own, his touch warm and gentle.

"Your mother is bringing that up in this case. She is also bringing up your incident at your school's dance two years ago."

Blaine's face seemed to lose all color, his hand dropping from Nathan's and his body physically retracting. Nathan was quick to halt his son on closing in on himself, grabbing him and holding him by his shoulders tightly, grounding him to the reality of the here and now. "Why?" Blaine croaked out, stunned almost beyond words. Hurt too. Nathan could see just how hurt he was.

"She wants to prove that you are unsafe in my care. That I don't make good decisions and that my decisions ultimately harm you."

"But that's not true!" Blaine yelled desperately, his eyes welling up in tears.

"I know it's true." And Nathan did know that it was true. But that didn't mean that he thought Blaine would be better off with his mother.

"It's not, dad!" Blaine insisted, his arms quickly clamping around Nathan's waist and holding onto him tight. "Please don't let her take me, dad."

Nathan wasn't one for hugging, he wasn't one for crying, and he wasn't one to confront his emotions head on. Nathan wasn't his sons. Not in any way possible.

But Nathan Anderson was determined.

And if there was one thing that you never do, it's get in the way of a determined man like Nathan Anderson.

"Never." He spoke with conviction, holding his son tighter, his hazel eyes hardening as he looked down at the case files.

Marissa Hughes had plenty of secrets herself that she wouldn't like dragged up into the open.

The rest of the day was emotionally draining for Blaine. After his father left to go into the office Blaine was stuck with a hovering Lily. He was stuck with Wes and David that kept asking him for new arrangements. He was stuck with Kurt that kept commenting on other people's wardrobes. He was stuck with Rachel who's voice was entirely too piercing and annoying. He was stuck with Quinn looking shyly away from him every time they made eye contact. He was stuck with a leering Santana and an overly quiet Puck and, honestly, Blaine was about ready to lose it.

He had a headache to rival all headaches and he had this odd urge to either start crying or shove a fork into someone's hand.

Instead of doing either, Blaine decided to just skip the rest of dinner altogether.

He kicked at the dirt under his feet, glancing up at the night sky and this twinkling stars, his hands shoved deep in his pockets. He heard some distant laughter coming from the dining hall, but nothing too outrageous. Blaine just felt so out of it today.

He felt so out of it lately, actually. Maybe it was the custody battle, or the sudden reappearance of Puck that was setting him off kilter but Blaine just didn't feel right. Didn't feel centered.

Blaine wasn't the sort of person that fell into his father's arms and cried and begged him not to let his mother take him away. That wasn't him. Not usually anyway. Yet, apparently, it was him today.

It just didn't make sense.

Blaine shook his head, coming to a stop outside the cabin he shared with Nick and Jeff and sticking the key in the whole.

Something crunched under his feet and Blaine took a quick step back, looking down at the bouquet of flowers that looked up at him. White in the moonlight. White roses.

Blaine was shocked. Who had the guts to leave Nick or Jeff white roses? Which girl thought of doing that for them? That was so sweet.

A tiny smile curved at his mouth and Blaine leaned down to pick them up, looking curiously at the note that was attached to the middle of the bouquet. It was a familiar handwriting, a too familiar handwriting.

Blaine's heart picked up speed as he read his name across the paper. He laughed a bit to himself for the betrayal of his heart against his head. His heart that so wanted to go fling himself into his bed and kick out his feet like a little girl. Blaine, the messy handwriting read, red roses are corny and cheap, white's where it's at. Plus they look gorgeous with your shirt tonight. –Noah

Blaine didn't know whether to drop the flowers on the ground or bring them into his cabin and put them in water. In the end he decided on the latter, purely because they were pretty and they did look amazing with his shirt tonight. He pushed open the door to the cabin, removing his key and tossing it onto the end table before stopping in his tracks.

He nearly dropped the bouquet, his hand flying up to cover his mouth at the sight that beheld him.

There, sitting on his bed and calling to attention, was a black teddy bear, his nose a dark brown, a white ribbon tied like a bow around his neck. There were other roses resting against the pillow, next to a single letter.

He picked up the letter with shaking hands, sitting on the bed with a small sigh. He ignored the traitorous tears that tickled at the back of his throat.

Blaine,

I know I screwed up. I screwed up bad. And I know you don't want anything to do with me, not after what I did.

But I want to make this up to you. A week of make-ups. A week of attempts.

A week of the cheesiest romantic crap you've ever seen.

You're gonna swoon, seriously.

Blaine let out a choked laugh, wiping at his eyes and shaking his head at the letter that he held in his hands. Why was he so emotional today? It was almost as though he was a pregnant teenager.

But, honestly, if you don't want anything to do with me at the end of this week I get it. I'll back off. I'll leave you alone and I'll never bother you again. Even if that might be the hardest thing that I'll ever have to do. I promise. For your happiness I'd do it.

So, today, have the flowers, and have the stuffed bear.

And tomorrow… Well you'll just have to see.

-Noah

Blaine placed the letter on the table, looking at the teddy beat with wet eyes. The flowers rested on the bedside table and Blaine kicked off his shoes, taking the bear into his hands and staring at it.

A small smile pulled at his lips, a frown inevitably fighting to pull it down. Blaine fell sideways onto the bed, snuggling into the bear's soft fur and letting the tears come, hugging it as though it was his life line.

Danielle hated how suspicious Santana Lopez was. She hated it with a passion.

And yet there was something entirely enticing about it, so Danielle did the only thing she could think of and stalked after her after dinner, her heels clacking on the pavement where Santana walked, following the sound of her boots. Santana's jeans clung to her legs tightly, revealing all her curves and Danielle wasn't ashamed to admit that the other girl was rather attractive.

That didn't mean she was going to act on that thought. No. Danielle wasn't going to act on that at all.

"Why are you following me, you loco bitch?" Santana asked sharply, turning around to face her and catching Danielle by surprise.

"Who are you calling a bitch?" Danielle was quick to snap back, straightening herself in an attempt to shake off the initial surprise.

"You." Santana shot back. "I don't have to call myself a bitch; I make my living off being one."

"You're freaking suspicious."

"Said the girl following me around?" Santana stepped closer to her. "Tell me why I shouldn't go all Lima Heights on you."

"Because there are too many witnesses." Danielle took a step closer herself. "Or I would have cut you myself."

Santana took a step back, her eyes actually holding a look that seemed almost impressed. "No one's actually around out here." She noted after glancing around herself, raising an eyebrow in challenge.

Danielle believed whole heartedly in that challenge. "So what are you waiting for? Come at me, chica."

Santana stepped closer to her. "You don't want to push me, scraggly."

"Try me, Mario."

"That's the best you've got?"

"I don't want to hurt your feelings."

They were standing almost nose to nose now. And then Danielle made the mistake of glancing down at Santana's lips.

Then they were kissing. Santana was completely dominating the kiss and it was almost as though it was a kiss in battle. Heat pooled at the bottom of Danielle's belly as she was pushed against the back of a cabin, too loud for the people inside to have not heard, so she steered Santana away from the cabin, kissing her with such force until they were inside the office building.

Her hands tugged relentlessly on the buttons on Santana's shirt, Santana's hands already up and under her skirt. Santana reached under her thighs, picking her up to place her on the empty desk and spreading her legs wide.

The rest was simply bliss.

"What are you doing?" Noah jumped at the sound of Blaine's voice, glancing up at him as the other boy settled into the seat beside him, his tray falling next to his on the lunch table.

"What do you mean?" Noah asked even though he knew exactly what Blaine meant.

"It's not going to work, Noah." Blaine said with a frown.

Noah's heart jumped at the sound of his name coming from Blaine's lips. Was this what being in love felt like to everyone? Noah grabbed his empty tray and his apple, standing up and smiling down at Blaine's confused frown. "It's already working."

He threw his tray with the rest to be washed, walking out of the cafeteria and taking a bite out of his apple, his mind already thinking up a way to execute phase two. He passed by a close looking Santana and Danielle and he spared them a moment of trying to figure out when that had happened before shaking his head and continuing on his way.

He didn't glance back until it was too late.

But if he had glanced back even a second earlier he would have seen Blaine with a wide smile on his face and a blush on his cheeks.

A: N – Annnd that's this chapter! IT'S A WRAP.

Next Chapter: Lily comes down with a weird sickness that Quinn thinks she knows all too well, Puck moves in for phase two and three, and the custody case heats up when Marissa starts to dig into not only Blaine's past with his father, but to his past with his friends. Specifically his past with one boy with a mohawk.