Author's Note: Hello everyone! Sorry this chapter took a while to post… it's on the longer side with lots of action, so I wanted to make it good. My one worry is that it might seem too condensed or crammed… let me know what you think?
This should be an entertaining chapter for those of you who have been wondering what really happened to "badboy" Blaine. There's also a little more detail on his life before Kurt, which I hope you like.
And yes, I did manage to fit that cliffhanger in at the end, because I'm a tease like that when it comes to suspense. ;)
Lastly: next week's episode. It sounds like it will be perfect, and I am having far too many feelings. I swear I will be forever thankful to Grilled Cheesus if this is handled correctly. But then, I'm feeling pretty confident that it will be. :)
Disclaimer: I do NOT own the show Glee.
~Chapter 12: Encounters~
"Kurt? Hey, bud, wake up."
Blinking one eye open, Kurt stared up at his father, and then at the digital clock on his nightstand. Seven in the morning. Ugh. Kurt grumbled sleepily and rolled over in bed, away from Burt, and almost fell asleep again in an instant.
"Kurt, the police just called. I thought you'd wanna know right away."
The police? Oh… Blaine… the police, right. Kurt lifted his head, blinking in an attempt to adjust his eyes to the sunlight streaming in through the window. "Did they get him?" he asked, voice thick with sleep.
Burt frowned. "No… they didn't. He's gone missing."
Kurt felt himself abruptly thrown back into full consciousness. He pushed himself to sit upright. Missing? "What do you mean?"
"Gone," Burt stated simply. "The cops went to his house last night… no car, no lights on inside… nothing. They said it looked like he just packed up and abandoned the place. Went on vacation. It looked exactly the same when they went back about an hour ago."
Kurt's mind whirred. Blaine's father needed to be locked up in a jail cell, not gallivanting around on some spontaneous getaway trip. "I don't understand."
Burt sighed. "They think he's lying low until he can find Blaine."
No. Nononono. This could not be happening. The police were supposed to find Blaine's father before Blaine's father found him, before anyone found a chance to hurt Blaine. Didn't they have the means to search out just one man in a little town like Lima? After all, Mr. Anderson was no Most Wanted mastermind criminal… he was just a person with a harsh temper, strong opinions, and a secret to hide from his wife. And a son who happened to know the truth behind that secret. A son that Mr. Anderson was not particularly fond of to begin with.
But if Blaine's father had suspected that the police would come after him, and if he was truly determined not to be found…
Kurt gulped audibly. It was a good thing that Mr. Anderson had no clue who he was. In Kurt's house, they were perfectly safe… weren't they?
x.x.x
Blaine sat on the couch, his knees curled to his chest and his gaze fixed blindly on the TV screen as he thought of two billion other things besides the movie playing in front of him.
He was so afraid.
Blaine hated fear. It was crippling, distracting, humiliating. He wanted to be strong, strong enough to at least not be a burden on Kurt and his family. And yet, all he could think to do was to keep hiding, maintaining the hopes that his father wouldn't find him, that his mother was safe, that Kurt would remain unknown to Richard Anderson for as long as humanly possible...
Hope was paralyzing, really, under these circumstances.
Blaine could do better than to hope. Turning to Kurt suddenly, he spoke up. "I want to go to Dalton today," he declared.
Kurt straightened in his seat beside Blaine. "What?" he asked in confusion. "Why? I thought you said all the teachers would be on the lookout for you."
"I'll avoid the teachers… they won't even know I'm there. I just need to get some things from my room… some clothes, money. I'm tired of having to put you all through the trouble of taking care of me, and I really don't know how long this will last. I need to at least know that I have something of my own. I don't want to be helpless."
Kurt blinked in surprise. "Oh…" he said softly. He'd had no idea that Blaine felt that way. "Blaine, it's really no trouble-"
"I just have to do this," he interjected solemnly. "I can't hide forever, can I? If I can get in and out of there without any trouble, at least I'll know that my father hasn't taken over my entire life."
Biting his lip, Kurt searched Blaine's eyes. He was determined. "I'm coming with you," Kurt stated.
Blaine started to protest. "No, Kurt, you can't. If they see you they might tell my dad what you look like and-"
"I can't hide forever, either, Blaine," Kurt pointed-out.
Blaine frowned. Leave it to his boyfriend to use his own argument against him.
His boyfriend. Well, that was one phrase Blaine certainly did not want to take for granted. The thought of it alone sent his heart soaring in an instant. It also just so happened to make him realize how much he needed to keep Kurt safe. This was not going to be easy.
"Besides," Kurt added with a smug little grin. "I'm the one with the car."
x.x.x
"This is idiotic, Blaine."
"Hush. No one ever comes down this corridor, and it's the shortest way to get to my dorm room. We'll be out of here in two seconds."
"I don't like this, Blaine. I feel like-"
Both boys stopped in their tracks at the sound of a door opening nearby. Kurt swallowed hard before glancing over his shoulder to see a tall, heavyset man with a mustache drooping to match his frown lines. The man's eyes were stern, disapproving, making Kurt shrink back a little under his stare. Blaine cursed under his breath.
"Ah, Mr. Anderson, so nice of you to return to school," the man said, his gruff voice sharpened by irony. Kurt read the small nameplate pinned to his shirt: Mr. Strudwick. "Having a nice little vacation?"
"Fantastic, actually."
Kurt started at the strangely confident tone of Blaine's voice and turned to him with wide eyes. He looked… different. But familiar. It was as if Blaine suddenly stood a little taller, held his chin a little higher, glared with eyes a little less forgiving. It took a moment for Kurt to realize the truth behind the transformation: this was reform school Blaine. This was the Blaine whom Kurt had come to know initially, the Blaine that he would still be were it not for the opportunity he'd been given to let down his guard. To be honest, Kurt had been almost sure he would never see that side of Blaine again.
"We've been told to keep a sharp eye out for you," Strudwick continued, taking a small step forward. "The headmaster is not especially pleased with the calls he's been getting from your father."
"Blaine…" Kurt breathed nervously, inching a little closer to his boyfriend's side and tugging on his arm lightly. They couldn't stand here much longer. Things didn't look good, and Kurt could feel Strudwick's glaring eyes chewing over his every feature, committing his appearance to memory.
"Well, my father and I aren't exactly on speaking terms at the moment, sir," Blaine replied, already backing his way slowly down the hall. "Sorry I can't stay and chat." In an instant, he had grabbed for Kurt's wrist, turning to him with an order in his eyes: run. As they bolted down the hall together, Blaine tossed a glance over his shoulder at Strudwick. "Just running a few errands," he called with a defiant smirk. "I won't be back." Kurt got the feeling that Blaine had been waiting to speak to his teachers at Dalton like this for ages. And even if it wasn't doing them any good and had already sent Kurt's heart leaping into his throat, he knew that Blaine deserved the freedom. He would have wanted it, too.
Flying down a winding staircase and around a corner, Kurt nearly knocked into Blaine as his sprint suddenly came to a halt. Blaine stood before a door, fumbling with the handle. "Locked," he spat out in annoyance. "Great."
Kurt's eyes widened hugely. "Blaine!"
Blaine glanced frantically around the hall before turning to run back around the corner. Exasperated, Kurt let out a groan and took a fast step forward as if to start hurrying away again. Blaine, however, returned quickly, with what seemed to be an abandoned math worksheet in his hand. He folded it in half three times.
"What are you doing?" Kurt asked in confusion, just as Blaine slid the paper through the door's automated lock and ushered them both inside.
"Reform school," he answered simply, already gathering things from around the room. "Learning the art of lock-picking is practically a rite of passage around here."
Kurt just stared. He knew he really should have been focused on helping to get them both out of Dalton as quickly as possible. Still, he couldn't drag his eyes away from the utter emptiness of Blaine's room. The place in which he now stood, after all, had been Blaine's only home for years. Yet it held no signs of happiness or originality or sentimentality: no family photos on the walls or the desk, no random trinkets or displayed posters of favorite bands… just drawers full of clothes and a desk scattered with ordinary school supplies. Other items were neatly packed away, out of sight in storage bins and boxes, as if to hide anything even remotely personal. It was as though no one had ever lived here, and it pained Kurt's sinking heart to think that this had truly been a part of Blaine's everyday existence.
"Let's get out of here," Blaine said suddenly, breaking Kurt from his trance. He looked up to find Blaine standing in the doorway with a haphazardly packed bag under one arm. Following quickly, Kurt kept close on Blaine's heels as they ran their way back to the parking lot, thankfully without being seen this time.
Finally arriving at the car, Kurt threw himself into the driver's seat and breathed a huge sigh. "Blaine, what did we just do?" he groaned.
Blaine just climbed in beside him and shook his head. "I told you it was a bad idea for you to come. What if Strudwick and the headmaster pass on what you look like to my dad?"
Kurt bristled. "So now this is my fault?" he shot back. Things were messed up enough already; he didn't need his boyfriend to start pointing out his little moment of naivety.
Blaine frowned. "I didn't say that," he protested. He paused for a moment, and then sighed. "I just… I want you to be safe, Kurt. Dragging you into all of this in the first place was a big risk. The idea of letting anyone hurt you- especially him… I just can't-"
"Blaine." Kurt started the car and pulled out into the lot, heading for the exit onto the street. "You didn't drag me into anything. Now would you please just forget it? You got your stuff. Let's just pretend this never happened, okay?"
"Can we go to the mall?"
"Blaine!"
Blaine smiled a little. "I'm serious," he replied. "You said you wanted to forget about it, and I know for a fact that you love to shop. Unless you're too angry to pick out an outfit for me?"
Kurt huffed in annoyance. It was so not fair for Blaine to know his weaknesses. "This doesn't mean I forgive you for blaming this on me," he replied indignantly, flicking on his turn signal in the direction of the nearest shopping mall. "It was your dumb idea in the first place."
"I know you're trying to keep up the argument, Kurt, but I'd just rather take your original suggestion and let it go," Blaine declared calmly.
Kurt bristled. How was it that Blaine could read him so well? It was as though he saw right through him, right down to his stubbornness and his inability to let others prove him wrong. Blaine even seemed to see that, underneath it all, Kurt really just wanted him to be safe, and hated the fact that it may have all just been changed for the worst. "I'm sorry," Kurt admitted softly. "I'm sorry for the way this happened. I'm sorry about how you had to live at Dalton. I'm just… Blaine, I'm sorry."
Blaine's eyes softened and a frown creased his face. "You don't have to apologize," he replied, reaching out to touch Kurt's cheek. "It's not your fault. You've made things so much better for me and I'm so thankful… please don't forget that."
Kurt sighed. Was staying angry with Blaine even possible?
x.x.x
Blaine opened the fitting room door, standing before Kurt in one of the outfits he had been instructed to try on. He wasn't used to wearing anything so precisely put-together or high in fashion, but he figured Kurt's expertise was not to be questioned. Besides, the dark jeans and fitted vest felt like an outfit he could pull off easily enough.
Kurt's lips quirked into a smile as his eyes unabashedly trailed up and down the length of Blaine's body. Blaine shifted his weight unsurely; it was hard to tell if Kurt was impressed or amused.
Finally, Kurt let out a thoughtful little "hmm" and stepped forward, pushing the sleeves of Blaine's white shirt to his elbows and adjusting the collar. "There," he said, looking satisfied. "That suits you much better."
Blaine stepped back into the fitting room, glancing into the full-length mirror in surprise. He had never thought too much about his own appearance; usually, it was just a matter of dressing the part. Quiet and conservative at home, intimidating and fearless at Dalton... but now who was he? Who was the real Blaine Anderson?
Kurt appeared behind Blaine in the mirror, his arms coming to wrap around his waist and his chin dropping to rest on Blaine's shoulder. "You're gorgeous," Kurt whispered simply, staring into their reflection.
Blaine turned his head, setting their faces just inches apart. He smiled. "Or you just really know what you're doing."
Chuckling softly, Kurt nodded. "Very true," he answered. "But that's not the only factor involved, you know."
Blaine swallowed, turning back to the mirror, back to the surreal image that had somehow become his reality. He had a boyfriend. He had freedom. He had a chance at becoming anything he wanted to be, and it was all because of Kurt.
"You're beautiful," Blaine told him softly, pressing his lips to the top of his boyfriend's head.
Kurt just sighed contentedly, squeezing his arms around Blaine's waist like a promise to never let go.
x.x.x
Walking through the mall's bustling halls with shopping bags in hand, Kurt and Blaine made their way to the food court near the entrance.
"I'm buying you coffee," Blaine declared with a little smirk.
Kurt shook his head, gaze lingering for a moment on a kiosk selling hats. "No, you're not," he replied unquestioningly. "You already bought me that scarf. I will not allow you spoil me."
Blaine burst out in a laugh. "Yeah," he began. "I'm sure you'd just…"
Blaine's words trailed off, his eyes focusing in on something not too far ahead of them. Kurt followed his gaze into what appeared to be nothing more than a mass of people. "What is it?" he asked, turning back to Blaine unsurely.
But Blaine just shook his head, his eyes distant and shocked. He'd seen something… something important, unsettling, something he couldn't drag his eyes away from.
Kurt felt his own skin pale in an instant as a sudden realization hit him like a slap in the face.
Blaine had noticed someone in that crowd… and there were definitely people in Blaine's life that neither one of them wanted to see.