Blaine awoke to a pounding on his chest and heavy breathing in his face.
"Blainey. Blainey. BLAINEY. WAKE UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUP!"
"Hayley get off me! I don't like you anymore."
Blaine's six year old sister sat on the edge of Blaine's bed, legs crossed and puppy dog eyes in full bloom. Her dark brown hair fell in ringlets over her shoulders and her frog pyjamas seemed to mock Blaine with their brightness at this hour in the morning. He could see the beginnings of tears in her eyes.
"Really?" she asked in a small, sad voice.
Hayley, like most younger siblings, absolutely adored Blaine to pieces. She looked up to him for everything and copied his every move, much to the annoyance of Blaine. If Blaine told her to jump off a cliff, she would probably do it, which was why she should definitely NEVER wake him up early ever again.
Blaine sighed, "No, of course I love you. 'M just tired, ya knucklehead."
He pulled the covers back over his head and groaned, settling deeper into the warm, toasty mattress.
"But Blainey-"
"Go away."
"Blaine-"
"Hayley, I said get out of my room."
"ButBlaineyit'syourbirthday!"
Hang on. What? It's… but… oh right it's been another whole year. Doesn't feel like it. But that means I'm eight! Oh wow. Okay. I guess I should… uh…
"Blaine?" Hayley prodded the unmoving lump of sheets in front of her.
Blaine was jarred out of his thought processes with a sharp poke in the eye, before he leaped out of bed, grabbed Hayley's hand and took off down the stairs.
"Mom! Dad! It's my birthday! Isn't it?" he reached the kitchen counter where his parents were sat, drinking coffee and reading the news on their respective laptops.
They looked tired, but both turned and smiled warmly at Blaine and Hayley as they bounced excitedly on the balls of their feet before them.
"Of course it is sweetie! Happy birthday, my little Blainey boy," Blaine's mother got down from her bar stool and wrapped Blaine in a hug.
"Happy birthday, son," Blaine's dad said, somewhat gruffly, ruffling his hair.
"So where are my presents?" Blaine looked around excitedly, forgetting his impeccable manners for a few seconds.
Elle and Hugh led their children over to the living room, where they sat them on the couch and handed Hayley a blindfold.
"Put this on your brother," Blaine's mom said, before disappearing upstairs.
Blaine wriggled impatiently as Hayley's cold little hands did the blindfold up around the back of his head, then stood stock still as Hayley gasped and something was placed in his lap. Something moving.
"You can take it off now Blainey," she said.
When Blaine took the blindfold off he saw the most adorable thing he had ever seen in his entire life. And that was saying something because Blaine thought just about everything was adorable.
A little chocolate coloured, curly haired puppy sat neatly on Blaine's lap, staring up at him with shining eyes and a wagging tail. Blaine immediately enveloped the small creature in a hug, but not too tight, he didn't want to hurt it.
"He's a Maltese/Toy Poodle cross," Elle said, gently petting the dog on the head, "isn't he just the cutest thing?"
"Whatcha gonna name him, Blainey?" Hayley enquired, staring up at her brother similarly to the puppy.
"Olive," Blaine said, "His name is Olive. Gah, he's just so cuuuuuuuuuute!"
Blaine played with his new puppy all morning, petting him and brushing him and continually asking his mom when it was time to give him a bath. He didn't know why, but he'd always been obsessed with the idea of giving a dog a bath.
After lunch, Hugh took Blaine away from a very worn out Olive, whom Hayley readily pounced upon, declaring "When I'm through with you, you're gonna be the prettiest puppy in all of Ohio!"
"Blaine, I want you to know that I'm real proud of you," Blaine's father began, smiling the biggest smile Blaine had ever seen, "you've been a great kid this past year, a good brother to Hayley and a good student too. I know it must've been hard fitting in at a brand new school, and I'm sorry we didn't send you sooner. I also know that I didn't let you have a birthday party this year, because your mom and I have been so busy with work, but I decided to call a few friends of yours to come over later, I just hope I called the ones you wanted… anyway, what I'm trying to say is, I love you Blaine, and I want you to have this, just from me, today."
Blaine was so shocked at how understanding his dad was being, that he almost didn't notice the football with the bright red ribbon on it being handed to him.
"I know you like the game, 'cause we watch it together, and you always comment on how fun it looks, chasing the ball around all the time," he chuckled, "you know kid, sometimes I think YOU'RE the puppy in this family."
Blaine giggled and took the football graciously. He didn't have the heart to tell his father that the only reason he liked watching football was because he got to spend more time with him. In fact, it was the only time he could spend with his dad.
"So… what time are my friends coming?" Blaine had to ask.
"2 o' clock, so go get ready sport."
Blaine raced as fast as he could back upstairs to get changed, dragging a bewildered, nail polished Olive with him.
By 2:30 that afternoon, Blaine was sitting in a circle comprised of himself, Kurt, Mike, Matt, Mercedes, Tina, Santana Lopez, Brittany Pierce, Finn Hudson and Rachel Berry.
Kurt had been his absolute best friend ever since the day they met. They had faced up to bullies together, had play-dates every afternoon and a sleepover every weekend (when they were allowed) and shared all their secrets. Blaine remembers their first fight too, like it was yesterday.
"Kurt! You're not wearing your blue bow tie."
Blaine had been flabbergasted when on Monday, the second week of school; Kurt had shown up in a dark green bow tie, rather than his usual pale blue.
"Yes Blaine, I wear a new one every week. You didn't think I would just wear it forever, did you silly?"
Blaine was very sad that whole day. He didn't speak to Kurt at all after that, or sit with him in class or at lunch, and by the time the bell rang and Kurt met him at their usual park bench after school, he had tears streaming down his face.
"Blainers? What's wrong?" Kurt scooted closer to him and put his arm around Blaine's shoulders.
"You didn't wear the bow tie I like. And I didn't talk to you all day. I can't go without you for a whole day Kurt, you're my best friend, you're not 'spose to do that… and you called me silly."
Kurt pulled Blaine into a tight hug and let him cry all over his new jacket.
"I'm sorry. I won't do that again. But I don't wanna wear that bow tie all over again. Tell you what, because that's my 'special' bow tie now, I'll wear it for every special day I ever have. Ever. Okay?"
Kurt nudged Blaine's chin to look him in the eye, Blaine's hazel ones all shiny and wet.
"Okay," he said with a half-smile.
Kurt giggled at Blaine's 'kicked puppy' expression and hugged him again, because Blaine was his best friend, it was true, plus he was soft.
By the time Tuesday came around, they were even closer.
Blaine was excited to see that Kurt had worn his blue bow tie today, classing his birthday as a special day. He had told Kurt that when he hugged him hello at the front door. Kurt had just laughed and said "Of course. Every birthday is a very special day, especially Blainers'."
Mike, Matt, Mercedes and Tina were all good friends of Blaine's too, the girls probably more so. Santana and Brittany were the other pair of best friends in the class besides him and Kurt, and Brittany was nice and made Blaine laugh with all the funny things she said, but Santana scared Blaine a little. But then, she liked Brittany a whole lot, and Brittany liked Tana too, so she must be okay.
Finn was a really tall kid, even taller than Mike, and much taller than Kurt, even though Kurt had just had his growth spurt and was getting tall. Too tall, Blaine feared. He played soccer and Little League football with Mike and Matt, and he was actually really nice. He helped Blaine out a lot, especially when he couldn't reach stuff that was up high.
Rachel was the last person Blaine's dad had invited, and Blaine didn't really know why, since he didn't talk about her that much. She was very shy and quiet, and usually just sat at the back of the class reading books for big kids that looked really hard and humming.
"So let's play truth or dare then," Santana said, "Kurt you first."
"Okay… uh… Blaine! Truth or Dare?"
"Truth." Blaine had heard about the dares people were made to do in this game, and he didn't want to get in trouble.
"Okay, what is the craziest thing you've ever done. Like, most embarrassing."
Blaine detailed a time when he had thrown up after Space Mountain at Disneyland when he was five, then there were a few more dares and truths, including a dare where Brittany had to kiss Mercedes on the cheek and one where Rachel and Kurt had to hold hands for the rest of the round.
They had cake and other party food, until one by one Blaine's guests began to trickle out the front door, wishing him a happy birthday and telling him how much fun they'd had. Finn hugged a blushing Rachel goodbye, they had become quite good friends over the course of the afternoon, and Brittany and Santana left together shortly after Mike, Matt and Mercedes, pinkies intertwined.
Tina, Rachel and Kurt were the only ones left, and Kurt had gotten permission to sleep over. They decided to open Blaine's presents, which included a hairbrush from Brittany, chopsticks from Mike and a pale pink bow tie from Kurt.
"If I have a special bow tie, it's only fair that I make you one too. It's like a special kind of friendship bracelet, just for us," he had said.
Pink was Blaine's favourite colour, and even if the other kids said it was too girly or weird, Kurt thought it suited him.
Tina left after the present opening, and Rachel, Kurt and Blaine went outside to play spotlight. They ended up on their backs in the grass, staring up at the stars and giggling, a little out of breath from their previous game of chasey.
"I really like you guys," Rachel told the boys, lying in the middle with one hand from each boy in her tight little ones.
"You're not mean to me, and you said my dress was pretty. I like this dress. But not as much as I like you guys. Let's be friends forever, okay? Hey! Let's sing."
So the three of them sang and sang until Rachel's dad came to pick her up, waving as hard as their wrists could handle.
That night, Blaine lay in his single bed with Kurt pressed up against his side, mattress on the floor forgotten. He was scared of what might have been under Blaine's bed from down there, besides, Blaine's bed was much warmer and safer and it was easier to talk.
"Did you know Rachel has two dads?" Kurt asked suddenly, stretching his neck up to look at Blaine, "I didn't know that could even happen."
"Really? Like, they're married and everything? But doesn't she need a mom…" Blaine knew where babies came from, he wasn't a silly toddler anymore.
"I guess so. So I guess that means that two dads can be in love, and two moms and a mom and a dad, like with us. What do you think?"
"Well if they love each other, they love each other, right? I don't think it really matters."
"Hm."
The boys lay in silence, contemplating this new piece of information, before drifting off into a blissful sleep, warm and safe together.