Author's Note: The next chapter starts in a second. I just want to take a second to thank you again and to ask you guys a question.
The thing is, I have, as I said, a ton of ideas for this and the story is very important to me, but as it's so important it will take a little longer for everything to unfold, I'd say it could maybe get into the 20-something chapter area. The question is whether or not you'd be willing to stick around for so long.
I'd be eternally grateful if you would sound off about this should you be so awesome to review.
Also I'd like to remind you of "http: / everything-on-it . tumblr . com", the blog going along with this story. Happy reading and a big hug to all of you.
Chapter Seven
Texting Rachel was the first thing Blaine did, before the plane was even off the runway. He'd deliberated texting her from the air, sometime after a three hour nap when he believed his head must've blown up from still not being home. He had dreamed of her. Of her hair and lips and the way she felt in his arms and the four hours after that, until New York came in sight, had been excruciating. He'd seen other people whip out their phones but as soon as he attempted to text a flight attendant was on his back, asking him to kindly turn it off. He'd wanted to complain and rat out the others but he wasn't five so he hadn't.
Long story short, before the plane arrived at the gate he'd sent the text, trying hard not glance at the phone for an answer every two seconds.
He didn't know what he was expecting. They'd been together for half a night, yet it felt like they had some sort of a commitment, or at least a promise to try and have one. At least that's what he'd had in mind when he promised her to stay in touch. He had really meant it. He wanted to keep talking to her, day and night if that was possible.
It would suck not being able to touch her but at least she wouldn't be completely out of his life, that likely possibility would've been unbearable.
As he eventually made his way out of the plane and through the passport control over to the baggage claim of La Guardia he shook his head at himself. He'd wanted a fun souvenir from his trip to Europe, a tiny Eiffel tour, a Berlin miniature bear, a tattoo for all he cared but what did he do instead?
Instead of bringing home some funny little token, he'd left one there. His funny little, stupid jumpy heart. What use was it? He never fell in love, why now? He'd dated so many girls...really, so many girls and none of them stuck. But some buttercup sweetheart English girl with a pair of killer hips and an apple bottomed ass comes around and knocks him right off his feet. How was that fair?
The challenge of getting his two suitcases of the baggage band was a task that temporarily cleared his mind off the short brunette because it took a great deal of force and coordination to haul them both off the rotating band before one or the other would take another spin.
He let out a long breath as he sat them both down in front of himself and made his way to the arrival gate. People pushed past him a lot faster but after eight hours cramped into a tiny economy seat – that was still tiny eventhough he wasn't the tallest guy – he couldn't really walk anymore and he was tired and sad and though he really didn't want to be, he couldn't help it.
Mike, Quinn and his little Beth would be picking him up, probably already waiting for him to emerge just around the corner. They'd want him to be really excited and so he swallowed his glum thoughts about Rachel and focused on his great luck to be coming home to friends that were like family and that had missed him maybe half as much as he'd missed them.
Looking at it this way, his steps fastened and he forced himself to smile. He breathed the air conditioned buzzing airport air, noting that even in the filtered whiff there was still a trace of flowers and fresh grass mixed in somewhere and he was glad spring had followed him across the ocean.
Just a few more steps and he'd step into the arrival area, nothing spectacular and not to be compared to JFK with its multiple terminals and everything bright and shiny. La Guardia was kind of a seventies relict in more than one place. They were working to make it prettier but it didn't really catch on and Blaine also didn't really care, he just wanted to make out his friends in the sea of people waving welcoming signs.
And there, far in the back he saw one, bright green and only held at half the height of the others, a crayon-massacre externalized on neon cardboard with streaks that were very surely supposed to mean "Welcome Home Blaine".
He grinned from ear to ear, sincerely for the first time in hours and just then, Beth's ocean blue eyes found him in the crowd. She was the first one he saw, before grinning brightly at Quinn holding her daughter by the shoulders and Mike, who stood casually beside them, leaning on a luggage trolley he'd gotten for Blaine.
Quinn nudged Beth forward and the little girl threw down her sign to start a clumsy spurt towards Blaine, prompting him to let his suitcases drop, squatting down to the perfect height for her to crush her tiny body into.
Her blond pigtails hit the sides of his face at the impact and she wrapped her skinny arms around his neck, squeezing him very tightly. She smelled like strawberry shampoo and her Moms detergent. A wave of homeliness hit Blaine, like a burden was lifted off of him, or better like a big chunk of his heart was being shoved into place again. He couldn't ignore the part of it missing, waiting somewhere in London but at least he had Beth back.
He almost just realized then how much he'd missed the little angel and he got all choked up again, this time mostly with happiness for a change.
"Hi princess", he nudged her face gently and scratched her back a little before letting her go, shifting his weight so he could sit comfortably at her level and examine her. She was grinning with those huge pearl blue eyes. She had stretched upwards slightly since the last time he'd seen her, her frame leaner and cheeks a little less chubby. She looked a lot more like Quinn too. Or maybe that was just the lighting of the hall. If anything, she'd grown a solid inch or even two. It made him a little sorry for the time he'd missed with her.
"You got so tall, look at you", he cooed and gave her a playful hook to the chin, "Such a big girl, I missed you"
"I missed you too Laine", she croaked and darted into his arms again.
Blaine reacted in reflex, lifting her up like he had so many times and twirled her around a bit – which was getting a harder than it used to be with her getting so big – and then put his arms under her butt and leg so she could sit on his hip.
"The lost son has returned", said Quinn, her honey-colored hair chopped a little shorter again so it hit just below her jaw and she, too was smiling brightly as she stepped up to them, giving Blaine as tight as a hug as you can manage when one of the hugging is holding a kid.
"Aww, I missed you Fabray", Blaine smirked and pecked her on the cheek, "You both look so good, is that the spring or have you dressed up for me?"
"Laine, I got a new dress", Beth piped in response and Blaine chuckled as the little girl ripped the apple green fabric off her leggings clad-knees to wiggle it for him to see.
Mike had waited a few paces behind, giving the three room mates a little space but now he joined them too, hugging Blaine with one arm and ruffling his hair when he pulled away.
"Dude, you need a haircut", he joked.
"Them Europeans dig the curl, my friend", Blaine said expert-like, chin high.
"So I've heard", Mike muttered jokingly, "Now, let's get out of the way here, it's almost five thirty and we don't want to get stuck in rush hour"
Blaine shuddered thinking of rush hour. He looked around to find Quinn and Mike both taking one suitcase on and he was mighty glad, he really rather held on to Beth.
"Did you go to Kindergarten today?", he asked the little girl in his arms as they made their way across the street to the parking garage where Mike's old Ford waited for them.
Beth nodded, "Dut Mommy got me defore nappy time"
"Oh, so you could come along to pick me up from the airport?", Blaine cooed, exaggerating – but not by much since he was honestly touched – his appreciation.
"See my dress?", she asked again, apparently sidetracked from their conversation by the little flowers and butterflies on it.
"It's very pretty, perfect for spring, right?"
"Ah-huh", she nodded, "Found it out all 'lone"
"Yeah, we went to Macy's last week, didn't we?", Quinn chimed in from a few paces behind, "She went shopping like a big girl"
"But I hope you still have room in your closet", Blaine said, turning back to Beth, "Because I got you a little something too from the KDW"
"What's the Katy Doddlyou?", Beth asked with big eyes as they reached the Ford, looking at him curiously while Mike began to prop the suitcases up into the trunk.
"It's a big big mall, huge, you can ride the escalator all the way up to the ceiling and ride down in a see-through elevator. It's in Berlin, in Germany", Blaine told her.
"Germany", she repeated, toying with the word as if she'd heard it for the first time. He remembered telling her about where he was going, naming all the cities and countries but that had been a month and a half ago, she'd probably already forgotten.
"How's your family there?", Quinn asked, standing by, waiting with them for Mike to drive the car out of the tiny parking space so they could get in more comfortably.
"They're all fine, Frankfurt looks like New York from afar, makes them less homesick", Blaine joked and watched Mike pull out skillfully.
"I'm so glad you're back", Quinn sighed and hit his shoulder with a huff, "I really need a second hand in this household, Beth's been running a little wild. Right, monger? You've been going a little crazy without your uncle Blaine there to watch you when Mommy's busy"
"I'm glad I'm back too", Blaine said but he couldn't quite manage to feel like it all the way.
Being back was truly great, especially having Beth sitting happily on his hip, playing with his hair, that was awesome but Rachel was still far behind, so many miles away and that kept creeping up on him.
Of course they didn't miss rush hour. It was nearly an hour later that they finally pulled into the less busy side streets of Greenwich Village and Blaine welcomed the positive welling up of his stomach, happy and excited to be back in his neighborhood. It was quite posh and popular, the Village, most of these townhouses were impossible to pay for and he knew how fortunate he was, being able to afford to be living here.
It hadn't always been this way, sure his parents were wealthy by general standards, sending him to private school and paying for his education at NYU to the extend that the job he'd taken during college (working a Barnes and Nobles as a clerk) had been voluntarily. More to pass the time and have some money spare to go out than to pay the bills. He had insurance, his students loan had been repayed a while ago and he lived comfortably.
But there had been a time, when he started building his blog when he invested so much money into it, with no one giving a damn about it yet – no readers and no sponsors, let alone advertisers – that he had to go on instant mashed potatoes for more than one night at a time.
This time had passed, he had earned a following and a great deal of respect and now he could live off the ad sales of his blog alone basically and the Times money payed for two thirds of the rent for the 160 m² of his and Quinn's apartment.
The blonde, who now sat in the backseat with her daughter, was adamant on evening out, she could pay half now with her lawyers salary, being taken on by a big agency straight out of law school because she was tough as a nut, smart and ballsy, but Blaine refused.
He'd rather have the money spent on a proper education, health and nutrition for Beth than wasted on living space, the costs of which he would've maybe even been able to pay on his own.
The red brick building he called his home finally came into view to his right and Mike whistled joyfully when a parking spot got unoccupied just as they pulled over.
"Like we payed them to save it for us", he laughed with the joy only a New Yorker can feel about something silly as a free parking space.
"Home sweet home", Blaine mused, opening the passenger side door and looked out for cars before opening Beth's, scooting her up into his arms again. He'd probably missed her the most.
Her eyes were wide, more for him than her surroundings as they walked inside the building. Blaine wondered how long one and a half months must've felt for her. For him, everything but the last night had flown by in a heartbeat but for her it must've felt like ages. Time goes by slower when you're little.
"I made pumpkin soup", Quinn announced with a grin as she fell into step with Blaine and Mike, Blaine's two friends taking on his suitcases again.
"That's my favorite", Blaine yelped excitedly.
"That's why I made it", Quinn laughed, rolling the suitcase into the elevator Mike had called for them, "But it's kind of hard finding decent pumpkins in spring"
"I'm forever in your dept", Blaine smiled and was just about to turn to Mike to catch up when he felt his jeans pocket buzz.
Just like that, his heart was fluttering again, expectant like he'd been maybe at thirteen for a girl to smile back at him, only it felt so much more intense now. He literally prayed it was an answer from Rachel. And he wasn't even religious.
He'd been wondering all the way back why she hadn't replied sooner but he figured she'd probably been busy, her life didn't end just because he wasn't with her anymore.
6:12 PM, Rachel
I miss you too. Sorry for the late reply but I didn't want to bother you coming home and all. When can we talk?
Blaine composed an answer, finding his way out of the elevator blindly, staggering behind Quinn and Mike into their flat on the fourth floor.
He barely had the head to acknowledge the long missed place, revel in the familiar smell mixed in with traces of soup because he was getting cold and hot flashes, just thinking of Rachel, somewhere in London, in her bedroom maybe wanting so dearly to speak to him as he wanted to speak to her.
6:14 PM, sending to: Rachel
Bother me any time :) I guess I need a little time to settle in and catch up on my blog and get into office to get my new assignments and all that nasty stuff but what about Wednesday night for you? Nine-ish your time?
Wednesday was three days away and Blaine wished he didn't have to drag out seeing her again this long (even if it was through a crappy webcam) but he was afraid he wouldn't make it out of his apartment if he talked to her immediately.
He'd just camp out in front of his laptop, waiting for her to come on and while he couldn't think of anything he wanted to do more, work sadly had to be his priority now. He'd taken six weeks of leave after all and his inbox had been brimming with possible assignments his boss wanted him to look through and take on stat after his return.
"Blaine?", Quinn questioned him and he looked up, "Beth's getting bug eyes, you know what we said about screens in her sight"
"Sure, sorry", Blaine smirked and tugged the phone back into his pocket.
Beth was exceptionally fond of any kind of screen, television, computer, smartphone, even as a toddler all her attention would flee from whatever activity you were trying to involve her in as soon as a screen was turned on somewhere near. She would literally squirm out of people's arms to get a glimpse at the moving, colorful pictures.
Quinn didn't like it much, that's why the flat screen TV sitting on a media wall kind of cabinet which also served as a waist high partition to the kitchen area, remained turned off until after Beth went to bed. The three year old was allowed three hours of television in the working week and two on the weekends but even that seemed too much for Quinn.
Blaine tried to soften her a bit, telling her that before long Beth would have to learn to deal with mass media and they would have to take her by the hand and guide her through the mess of commercials and crude jokes and inappropriate stuff that they wouldn't be able to shut her away from forever.
"Who are you texting anyway?", Mike asked, returning from putting Blaine's suitcases in his room.
"No one", Blaine said quickly. Too quickly. Both his friends were raising an eyebrow while Beth tried to wiggle free of him, her little arm stretched out to his jeans pocket, wanting the funny screen back.
"Blaine Anderson have you been having a hot holiday affair?", Quinn asked, hungry for gossip as she rarely was, she only ever seemed interested about stories that Blaine wasn't willing to share right away.
"No, it's Cooper", Blaine said and he wasn't sure why he was lying.
Probably because he was embarrassed. His friends knew him as this dating around, never-settle-for-anything kind of guy that never got too attached and for him to meet someone on travels that would wind him up this way was constricting with his image.
"Mike, grab the baby", Quinn ordered and quicker than Blaine had anticipated, Mike had yanked the little girl out of his hands and Quinn chased him through the living room slash kitchen slash dining room slash workspace.
His last refuge was the couch but Quinn didn't care about ruffling her usual business outfit, made up by a high waisted black pencil skirt, rosy red ruffled blouse and a matching black blazer. She just crashed right on top of him and pried the phone out of Blaine's protecting grip.
He could hear Beth chime with joyful laughter from the kitchen, undoubtedly enjoying seeing her Mom playful when she usually didn't have much time for goofing around, much to her own distaste.
"So, who's Rachel?", Quinn said finally, falling back onto the couch with his phone in her hands.
Blaine feigned defeat and buried his head in the cushions.
"No one", he muttered again, if possible even less convincing then before. He probably really wanted to talk about it or he would do a better job of hiding it.
Who was he kidding, he needed to talk about it, talk about Rachel, all day long, about her hair, her eyes, her sense of humor, how smart she was, how she felt under his fingers, soft and pearly and how far away she was and that she hadn't texted back yet. He was ridiculous.
"So you miss Rachel and she misses you and you say nine-ish her time so she's in a different time zone, so you met her in Europe, tell me Mr. Anderson, tell me all about it", Quinn babbled in rapid succession.
He was used to it though, his friend lived feverishly through his love life because she didn't have time and patience for her own.
Plus, she claimed, guys these days weren't too keen on dating women who already had children. Something Blaine disputed every time and knew he was right the way guys lurked after her in the open.
You'd think they wouldn't because you'd think people thought him, Quinn and Beth were a family when they went strolling in the park but the men gawking after her didn't seem to care in the least.
"Aren't you a detective", he murmured and finally sat up. He scanned the room, finding Mike listening intendedly, leaning on the kitchen counter and Beth engrossed in one of the stuffed animals she'd found lying around.
"Come on man, tell us about the mystery lady", Mike joked and Blaine faltered.
"Fine", he caved, "Her name is Rachel Berry, I met her...god, I met her just yesterday night in London and we went out and kinda...spent the night together and now I can't stop, uh, I can't stop thinking about her"
There was a pregnant silence in the room at Blaine's confession of deeper feelings toward a girl and he could see Quinn think up a thousand questions but then Mike spoke and saved him. By the bell, so to speak.
"Why do I always have to leave when it's getting good?", his friend blurted out with sincere regret and sighed deeply, moving towards the door to collect his jacket.
"Where are you going?", Blaine asked, dumbfounded for just a second.
"Well, we don't all have the luxury of six weeks paid leave, now do we? I'm already running late for make-up and Cassie is gonna give me a beating as it is", Mike pouted and nodded to the clock in the kitchen, "I was supposed to be there to pick up my new tap shoes half an hour ago"
"Right, I remember, kitty time", Blaine recollected, it was Sundayand almost show time at that.
Mike was part of the ensemble for the revival of Cats on Broadway and Blaine's friend took that job very seriously. It wasn't a given to be employed as a Musical Theater performer and Mike was very keen on staying that way.
"I'll meet you after the show", Mike grinned, "I'm not taking my baby to the streets now, you can take it to drive to the theater later"
With that he was gone.
"Wait, what?", Blaine asked Quinn who smirked.
"Beth wants to see the cats dance again tonight", she informed him and Blaine let out a huff, it wasn't like he hadn't seen Cats for about three million times since Mike had started working there the year before.
"Only if you deal with her when Macavity happens", he insisted, leaving Quinn laughing amusedly.
"She's gotten a lot better with that, she almost doesn't even jump anymore. Don't be such a baby", she ordered resolutely and went on with her business, "I'm gonna fix dinner now and you tell me all about that Rachel girl"
Blaine spent the next fifteen minutes playing with Beth in one corner of the room while Quinn heated up the soup in the other and set the bigger dinner table for them. He told her the whole story of meeting Rachel, safe for the Holiday Inn part because that wasn't meant for Beth's little ears.
Quinn listened patiently to him gush about every last detail he recalled, trying hard not to forget anything and she was kind enough not to ridicule him about the whole falling in love thing. She probably knew it was unsettling him enough as it was.
"So, the bottom line is you got yourself in a pretty fudged up funk, huh?", Quinn resumed as she brought over the last bit of soup for them. Telling the story had lasted Blaine over dinner.
"Pretty much", he said and wanted to elaborate even further on his misfortune when his phone buzzed again.
6:58 PM, Rachel
I fell asleep by accident, I'm still a little derailed from yesterday. Wednesday at 9 it is, can't wait to see you. Xoxo
"What does she-", Quinn started but his phone buzzed again.
6:59 PM, Rachel
Sorry, me again, I just wanted to say that you could always text me if you felt like it. In the meantime, I mean. That is all, I'm gonna sleep now.
Instead of answering, Blaine showed Quinn the screen, Beth leaning yearningly towards it from her high chair that was getting decidedly too small for her.
"We have to get her a new chair", Blaine said but Quinn was paying no attention, eyes fixed on Rachel's texts.
"I think she likes you", she assessed.
"Really, you think?", Blaine said sarcastically.
"Oh come on, you and I both know that you've gotten -", and she paused to lean over to Beth at her side and cover her ears for the next part, "- girls into bed before that hated your guts"
"Most of the time it was more a case of mutual indifference to the other's deeper layers of character", Blaine corrected.
"Well, at least you never brought these 'cases' home with you", Quinn said, eyebrow raised, "Maybe now with Rachel happening you can start keeping it in your pants and stop sleeping around Manhattan"
"Mommy, what's sleeping 'round?", Beth asked and Quinn looked like she wished she hadn't had let go off her ears.
"It's a game grown ups play, like sleepovers", she answered, "Your uncle Blaine loves sleepovers"
"You have a sleep'ver with Rachel?", Beth asked Blaine with huge eyes and he nearly spit out his soup, this little girl was too smart for her own good, startlingly like her mother in that aspect – also he was a little hurt that she could flawlessly say Rachel's name while he was still Laine and she hadn't even met her.
"Um", he cleared his throat and nodded slowly, "Yes, I had a sleepover with Rachel. We, um, we played some funny games"
"Oh, that I believe", Quinn mocked.
"Shh, eat your soup", he bickered back, "I shouldn't leave her alone with you for so long, I can't deal with two of you in this house"
Blaine took care of the empty bowls when they were done, stuffing everything into the dishwasher as Quinn took Beth to her bedroom to get her dressed.
"Wait a second, Quinn", he called when he remembered his gifts, "Before you put her in another dress she needs to unpack my gift"
"Well bring it in here", she called back, "We're not going anywhere"
"I forgot how much I missed your demanding attitude", Blaine yelled, setting the last spoon into the washer and passed Beth's room where the two of them sat on the floor, walking through the door out of the living room, past the big bathroom to his room at the far end.
It was the first time in six weeks he was back in his realm and it was a comforting sight that nothing had changed at all while his life had turned completely upside down over night, somewhat reassuring. Some things always stayed the same.
He took a deep breath and silently greeted his things back, his Abbey Road Crossing Beatles poster over his desk, his solid wooden bed that would most likely not see any more action for even longer – well, safe for single action. Blaine could almost see his sorry self lying there, clutching his dick thinking frantically of Rachel. Thank god for Quinn's 8 to 5 and Beth's 7 to 4 Kindergarten days.
Right, Beth and Quinn, he meant to get their gifts. He shook the mental image of Rachel naked on his bed that had irrevocably formed in his twisted brain and went to rummage through the bigger of his suitcases, roaming with little care for a mess to find the desired gift bags.
Two doors down he found Beth in her underwear, playing with an array of dolls, Quinn sitting by and waiting for him. He paraded into the room, waving an oblong package, wrapped in shiny pink for Beth and a big, square black paper bag for Quinn, passing each of his girls their souvenirs.
Quinn neglected hers in favor of helping the child struggling with the thick wrapping paper, afraid that Beth would get a paper cut although her little fingers weren't anything near the edges, she just helplessly clutched the top, trying to rip the paper with her tiny fingernails.
"Here, let me help you", Quinn offered and quickly unpacked the gift, revealing a white, posh carton and took the top of gingerly.
On top of more wrapping paper sat a miniature fiery red, typical two story London bus that Beth immediately grabbed and rolled a couple of times on her peachy carpet, imitating driving noises so enthusiastically that she drooled a little.
Blaine laughed, happy that she liked it and wiped her mouth with the back of his hand.
"These are driving all over London", he said to her, "One day I will take you, if you drive on top it's really cool"
He disregarded that the same buses took tourists through New York too but that was because sightseeing wasn't the same. These buses were typical for getting around in London and they should be ridden only in London, he thought, just for principle. Besides, Beth already knew New York.
"Beth, look what else Blaine got you", Quinn chimed and had her daughters attention back as soon as she produced Blaine's second gift, a pretty white dress with a flower print going all around the bottom hem, "Isn't it pretty?"
Beth grabbed the dress too and attempted to put it over her head. Blaine helped her to stand up and she willingly lifted her arms, knowing the drill. The dress fit her perfectly and the colorful flower print looked nicely with her red cheeks and blonde hair. Blaine wanted to pat his own shoulder for picking out exactly the right thing.
"She's not gonna take that off any time soon", Quinn mused, "You really shouldn't have, I bet this was impossibly expensive"
"Not too much, just 80 bucks", he shrugged.
"Blaine", Quinn scolded and punched him in the shoulder, thinking it was too much.
"It's a really cute dress and it's good quality", he argued, "Plus, if Santana and Brittany manage to get married before she'll outgrow it, she can wear it for the wedding, so we don't have to buy a new dress for her then"
Quinn deliberated this for a while, chewing her lips but then her eyes slipped to her own gift and he knew she wasn't too mad.
He'd gotten her a patterned scarf, the kind she hoarded in masses so he could never pick a wrong one really, along with that a tiny little metal Eiffel Tower (she loved Paris very much) and an LP of Joni Mittchell's "Song To A Seagull"-Vinyl that he'd picked up on an Italian flea market.
He didn't care too much about that kind of music but Quinn loved it so he was sure he could endure it, should she play it for dinner in the future (which she undoubtedly would).
"Thank you, Blaine", she said sincerely and gave him a weird hug, weird because they were both sitting with Beth playing with her dress in the middle, "You should go away more often, so I would get more gifts"
"Not gonna happen", he said as they broke apart and he glanced down at Beth, "Remember, I have to make sure you don't mess this little one up"
"You say that now but in two weeks you're gonna hurry back to your Lady London", Quinn quipped and Blaine laughed sadly because he kinda wished that that was a real possibility and not just a jab.
Quinn seemed to sense the change in the air, the shift in his face and patted his arm sympathetically, "I'm sorry, I didn't meant to rub it in"
"It's fine, I'll see her again on Wednesday and if it has to be on a fudging ol' computer screen so be it", he sighed, "It's better than nothing"
The next chapter will be up tomorrow, anytime after 10 reviews for this one.
Who's up for a little skype romance?