Thank you, once again to each and every one of you that reads this! It means so much to me that you take the time to read what I've written.
As always, a special thanks to my two friends Taye and Trisha, who own a wonderful Klaine role play. You're both amazing and *cough cough* you need to get back to a certain part of it! *cough* Trisha *cough* ;)
To those of you that don't know, bête noire has lots of different meanings. But in this case means nightmare. You'll understand why when you read the chapter.
I just thought I would share that some of the ideas that I get for this are from a lot of things that go on where I live. One of them being that not many people here realize all the discrimination and bullying that goes on, they think that we all just get along fine. But I've listened to people call a good friend of mine 'fag boy' or 'that gay kid'. I'm not sure how often he hears it, but I hate that they say things like that, and I hate that it goes unnoticed.
That has somewhat come into play already in previous chapters but more so as this one goes on. Of course it never goes quite as far where I live as it does in this.
Once again, I'm sorry for my rambling. And thank you for reading! Enjoy!
(I do NOT own Glee! If I did, it would only involve Klaine and the Warblers...) :)
Together We Are
Chapter 7
Bête Noir
"Blaine! Come on! Let's go!" Jeff shouted up the stairs.
"No." Blaine groaned and rolled over in his bed.
"Hey." Jeff said, coming into his room. "You alright?"
"No, I'm tired. Normal humans don't get up this early on vacation." Blaine said, turning away from him.
Jeff laughed. "But it's so pretty, come on Blaine, when was the last time you saw a sunrise this beautiful?"
"Yesterday. Remember? You dragged me out of bed to see that one too." Blaine answered.
"Jeff, have you seen the sunrise?" Asked Nick, walking up behind him.
"Yeah I did." Jeff answered. And then he turned to Blaine. "See, someone that understands."
"Mmm. Pancakes sound good, yeah." Blaine mumbled.
Nick and Jeff stared at him.
"What?" Nick asked.
"He's asleep again." Jeff whispered. "Let's let him be."
Nick nodded and followed him back downstairs and to the porch.
They had been in Florida for three weeks. It had been the best three weeks of Blaine's life, but he was exhausted. Most mornings, he and Jeff had gone running, then made breakfast, and then headed to the beach for the rest of the day.
This was the first morning that he decided to sleep in, but in a house full of boys, he should have known that it wouldn't work out too well.
He kept hearing running on the floors above him and doors opening and closing downstairs. And even though he had his door and windows closed, he could still hear all the talking and yelling going on in, and outside the house.
None of it really bothered him though, he had slept through worse. But the thing that got him up was an explosion that he heard from the kitchen downstairs. It sounded like the time that Wes blew up the microwave in Simul, but he still wanted to make sure everyone was okay.
"What the hell was that?" Blaine asked, walking into the kitchen, running his fingers through his curly, un-gelled hair.
"Oh nothing." Wes said, trying to sound casual.
"Nothing, my ass." Said Brian, who was still putting out flames where the microwave used to be.
"Really Wes? The microwave? Again?" Blaine asked.
"Yeah, I don't have the best luck with those things." Wes answered quietly.
Blaine shook his head slowly and walked out to the porch.
"Hey." Blaine said, walking up behind Nick who was sitting in a rocking chair.
"Hey." He answered, looking up at him and then turning back to where he was looking at the beach.
"What's wrong? You look sorta sad." Blaine asked softly.
Nick hesitated. "This house, it's just not the same anymore."
"Why's that?" Blaine asked, but realized what the answer would be as soon as he asked.
"Michael." Nick replied quietly. "He was always the one that wanted to do everything, and Jeff's been acting like that. It's just not the same."
Blaine looked at him sympathetically and put a hand on his shoulder.
A few minutes later, Jeff came running up the sidewalk to the porch.
"Hey guys, you ready for the beach?" He asked.
"I'm good for now, I may go down in an hour or so though." Blaine said.
"I am." Said Nick, walking outside and taking his boyfriend's hand.
"Have fun!" Blaine called after them, and then walked back into the kitchen to find some food.
He found that Wes and Brian had successfully fixed breakfast without the microwave, and there were plates with eggs, bacon, and toast set out.
When he finished eating, he went upstairs, got his stuff, and then headed down to the beach.
There were only a few of the boys down there, but the beach was packed.
He set his towel on the ground and laid down on it and picked up the book he had brought with him.
"Hey. You finally made it." Jeff said, running out of the water.
Blaine nodded up at him and smiled.
"Hey! That's not fair!" Nick yelled, still trying to get out of the water.
Jeff laughed and ran back to him, pushing him into the water and then laughing even harder.
He smiled and then went back to reading for a while until a girl sat down next to him.
"Hi." She said.
He looked up from his book at her.
"Hi." She said again.
"Hi." He said slowly.
"You looked lonely, and I wanted to see if I could change that." She said smiling.
"No, I'm good." He replied, trying to get her to leave him alone.
"You have a girlfriend don't you. That's what it is right, because she doesn't have to know."
"Not exactly."
"Well then, what is it?" She asked.
"Um." He hesitated. "I'm gay."
Her eyes got wide and she smiled. "Oh, sorry, carry on."
He rolled his eyes and looked back at his book. A few seconds later he heard her yell, "He's gay." And he couldn't help but laugh.
A little bit later, he felt someone else sit down next to him.
"Look, I just told that girl over there that-" He stopped when he recognized the girl sitting next to him, and he smiled at her.
"Having issues?" She asked.
"Yeah, this girl just walked up to me and said I looked lonely, and that she wanted to fix that." He answered.
"Yeah, girls on beaches tend to be like that."
He raised his eyebrows. "Even you?"
"Considering I have my eyes on a girl, no. Well, sometimes, just for fun." She said, smiling.
"What do you mean you have your eyes on her? I thought you were together." Blaine said confused.
"Well, we were together, sorta, but um." She hesitated.
"You don't have to tell me." Blaine said softly.
"No. I-I want to. I've never been able to tell anyone this." She said. "She's kinda, uh, dating this guy in glee club. And she knows how I feel about her. I just don't understand."
"Maybe she's not sure how she feels about you." Blaine offered.
"Yeah, maybe. So how are things with your boyfriend?" She asked, smiling.
Blaine stopped cold, looking down.
She watched his reaction. "Oh, I'm sorry."
Blaine bit his lip and nodded, still not looking at her. "It-it's alright."
"Santana?" She smiled as she recognized the voice calling her.
"That's Brittany, I have to go. Are you gonna be alright?"
Blaine smiled at her. "Yeah, I'll be fine."
She smiled back. "Well, it was great to see you again Blaine."
"Yeah, you too Santana." He then watched her run down the beach to meet the girl she loved.
The rest of the week passed too fast for Blaine's liking. He wanted to enjoy his vacation, but in a house full of boys, it wasn't the easiest thing to do.
At the end of that week, Jeff announced that their 'annual surprise trip' would be to Universal Studios. All of the boys were so excited, and Blaine found that it was even harder to live with them then.
"So, when are we leaving?" Blaine asked Jeff one night.
"Tonight. Are you excited?"
"Definitely. I've never been to a theme park before. I'm beyond excited." Blaine said, smiling.
"Hey Jeff?" Nick asked, slowly walking up behind the two boys with his phone in his hand.
Jeff turned around, the smile vanishing when he saw Nick's face. "What is it? What's wrong?"
"It's John. He just called me crying and he said he wanted to talk to you."
Jeff held his hand out and Nick placed the phone in it. "Hey buddy. Whats wrong?" He asked, walking into another room.
The smile had vanished from Blaine's face too. "What happened?" He asked Nick.
"I don't know. He just called me, crying and said he wanted his brother." Nick said quietly, sounding worried.
"I'm sure he's gonna be okay." Blaine said, trying to make Nick feel better.
"Yeah." Nick said, looking at the floor.
They stood in silence until Jeff walked back in, he looked like he was about to cry, but he was holding it in.
"Hey, what happened?" Blaine asked the moment Jeff walked through the door.
Jeff took a deep breath before answering. "Some kid called him a fag because of me."
"Hey." Nick whispered, walking over to him and taking his hand.
Jeff let a tear spill over. "I hate that it's my fault, that he's being tortured because of me."
Blaine's heart broke when he heard the way Jeff said that.
"Jeff, it's not your fault." Nick said.
"Yes it is." Jeff whispered back.
"Does he blame you?" Nick asked.
Jeff stopped for a moment. "No." He said softly.
"Then you don't need to blame you." Nick said, watching for his reaction. "He's going to be alright, I promise."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Jeff said slowly.
Nick smiled at him. "Come on, let's go pack."
Jeff smiled back and followed him up the stairs.
"You should probably go pack too if you're planning on going." Said a voice from behind Blaine.
Blaine turned around to find Brian standing behind him. He looked at him a little confused. "Are you not going?"
"No. My parents want me to come home for a couple weeks, so I'm flying there tonight." He answered sadly.
Blaine looked at him intently for a moment. "You don't want to go home?" He asked.
Brian shook his head. "No, I don't. They're not the happiest people. Or the nicest."
"Yeah, I know how that feels." Blaine said thoughtfully.
"Well you better go get ready." Brian said.
"Yeah, I hope you have an okay time at home at least."
"Thanks. I hope you have fun, well, I know you all will." Brian said, laughing softly.
Blaine smiled at him and then disappeared up the steps.
He finished packing and then walked to Nick and Jeff's room.
"Hey guys." He said, peeking in.
"Hey Blaine." Nick said happily. "You ready?"
"Yeah."
"Good, we'll be down in a few, tell the guys to start packing the van up." Nick said, going back to what he was doing.
Blaine nodded and walked back down stairs with his stuff. He then walked outside to find Cameron, David, Trent, and some other boys already packing the van and he took his bags over to them.
"Hey Blaine, you excited?" David asked when he saw him.
"Yeah." Blaine answered, smiling.
A few minutes later, the rest of the boys came out of the house with their bags.
Blaine realized that about half of the boys were getting in to a separate van, Brian included.
"Are they all going home?" Blaine asked Nick.
"Yeah." Nick said sadly. "Their parents all want them home, though most of them don't want to go."
Blaine frowned and watched them putting their bags in the van.
"Is everybody ready?" Jeff asked once all the boys were in the van.
They all smiled up at him eagerly.
"Alright, let's go have some fun."
Four hours later, they arrived at the hotel and were settling into their rooms.
Blaine was rooming with Cameron, who was already zonked out. He couldn't sleep, so he decided he would go for a walk. He walked around the building first and then decided to walk outside.
There was a courtyard with a bar and a lounge area, surrounding the pool. There were a few people in the pool, so he decided to just sit down and put his feet in.
He started looking around and spotted Jeff sitting in the lounge area. He got up and walked across the courtyard and sat down next to him.
"Hey." Blaine said quietly.
"Hey." Jeff replied.
Blaine watched him intently as he stared into the pool.
"Are you alright?" Blaine asked.
Jeff looked up and smiled faintly. "Yeah."
Blaine stared at him for a moment. "Don't lie to me Jeff. What's wrong?"
Jeff looked back at the water. "I'm just worried about John."
"It's just a word that someone called him Jeff. He's old enough to handle it himself." Blaine said.
Jeff hesitated.
"Is there more to it than that?" Blaine asked softly.
He nodded. "The kid that called him that, also-" He stopped, wiping a tear from his face.
Blaine didn't say anything, he just placed a hand on his shoulder and waited quietly.
"He beat the shit out of him." He finally said.
Blaine bit his lip and squeezed Jeff's shoulder. "Is he alright?"
"Yeah, he's just really shaken up." He said, still looking at the water. When he spoke again, he looked up at Blaine. "I-I just don't get it. I don't get why people are so cruel. I wish this didn't happen. And damn it, I wish I could be there for him right now!"
The few people that were sitting out there turned to look at them, but Blaine ignored them.
"Jeff." Blaine started. "I wish I understood it too. But I've accepted that I never will. John is going to be alright, he just has to learn the same things that I learned. That people judge you, for many reasons, your family in his case. But he has to know that there are people out there that are going to treat him like shit for different reasons. And I know you want to protect him from that, but it's just something that he has to learn at some point, and it might as well be now."
Jeff was crying now. "He's my little brother Blaine, I can't just accept that. Of course I want to protect him, and I'm going to do everything I can to do just that. No matter what it takes." He stood up, and started running towards the gate that led to the road.
Blaine watched him go, and when he couldn't see him anymore he got up and walked back inside.
When he got back to the room Cam was still asleep, so he got ready for bed as quietly as he could.
When he finally fell asleep, he had the same dream that he did his first night at Dalton. He was sitting with Coop, until his dad tried to hit him with the baseball bat.
He woke up to Cam sitting on his bed, staring down at him.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
Blaine nodded slowly, realizing that it was just a dream.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I am now." Blaine replied quietly.
Cam looked at him one last time and then walked back over to his bed.
Blaine rolled over and looked at the clock. It was was 7:45 and they had planned to leave at nine. So he got up and told Cam he was going to Nick and Jeff's room, and then left.
Blaine knocked on the door quietly, and Jeff was the one to open it. He had dark circles under his eyes and he looked like he had been crying all night.
"Look, Jeff, I'm sorry I-" Blaine started to say.
"No, I'm sorry I freaked out on you. You were right. I wish someone had been there to tell me that, and that things don't always work out. It would've been much easier." Jeff said.
Blaine wasn't sure what to say to him anymore.
Jeff laughed a little at his expression. "You should go get ready. We want to get there early."
"Yeah." Blaine said, turning and walking down the hall.
"Hey." Jeff called after him.
Blaine turned around, a questioning look on his face.
"Thank you." Jeff said, smiling.
Blaine smiled back and nodded, and then headed to his room.
"You alright?" Nick asked from behind him.
Jeff didn't respond.
Nick walked up to him and wrapped his arms around Jeff's waist.
Jeff hugged him back and closed his eyes, smiling. "I am now." He whispered.
Nick released him, but took his hand. "It's gonna be okay, I promise."
Jeff nodded. "Let's get ready."
"Alright." Nick replied, and then leaned up and kissed him gently.
An hour later, the eight boys were walking on City Walk in Universal.
"This is so cool." Blaine said to Cam, who was walking beside him.
Cam didn't respond, he was too busy staring at everything around him.
Jeff walked over to a sidewalk and then stopped abruptly. "Okay, so today we're just going to Universal Studios, tomorrow we'll do Islands of Adventure. And I'm sure we all don't want to get on the same things, so we'll split up and meet back at the gate later. Text me if you need anything. Now let's go have some fun."
A few hours later, all the boys had somehow managed to eat lunch at the same place, at the same time.
"I'm exhausted." Blaine said, sitting down next to Trent.
Jeff laughed. "Yeah, this place does that to you."
"I'm in love though, can I just live here?"
All of them laughed at that.
"So, I have a question for you all." Jeff said.
All the boys looked at him, expectantly.
"How would you all like to perform here?"
"Are you serious?" Blaine asked.
Jeff nodded.
"Um, of course!" Blaine said, and then looked to the other boys.
"Is everybody else in?" Jeff asked, smiling.
The boys all nodded at him.
"Great."
"Wait. How can we just perform?" Blaine asked.
"Oh, we'll my uncle works here and he told me that if we want to, we can perform since they have an opening in one of the stage areas." Jeff said.
"Cool, so what song are we singing?" David asked.
"I have an idea that I think you're all gonna like." Jeff said, getting excited.
"Oh my god." Trent said. "There's like, a ton of people out there."
"You'll be fine Trent. It'll be fun." Blaine said encouragingly.
Trent smiled, but didn't look too reassured.
"Are we ready?" Asked a man, walking towards one of the stage entrances.
"Yes sir, I think we are." Jeff answered.
The man nodded and then walked out onto the stage.
"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. It's my honor to introduce to you all, a few very talented members of a high school glee club, all the way from Ohio. Please put your hands together for the DaltonAcademy Warblers!" The man shouted, running off stage.
The curtains opened and the music started.
Nick walked out in front, taking lead first.
Woke up in London yesterday,
Found myself in a city near Piccadilly,
Don't really know how I got here,
I got some pictures on my phone,
New names and numbers that I don't know,
Address' to places like Abbey Road,
Day turns to night, night turns to whatever we want,
We're young enough to say
The audience was on their feet, singing along with the boys. Blaine stepped forward then, taking lead next.
Oh, this has gotta be the good life,
This has gotta be the good life,
This could really be a good life, good life,
I say, oh got this feeling that you can't fight
Like this city is on fire tonight,
This could really be a good life, a good good life.
When the song ended, Nick and Blaine stepped forward, bowing to the audience.
David then stepped forward for the next song, smiling and excited to be singing lead in front of a crowd this big.
Manage me, I'm a mess
Turn a page, I'm a book half unread
I wanna be laughed at, laughed with, just because
I wanna feel weightless and that should be enough
Well I'm stuck in this fucking rut
Waiting on a second-hand pick-me-up
And I'm over getting older
If I could just find the time
Then I would never let another day go by
I'm over getting older.
The crowd was excited as they recognized this song too. Then Blaine stepped forward.
Maybe it's not my weekend but it's gonna be my year
And I'm so sick of watching while the minutes pass as I go nowhere
And this is my reaction to everything I fear
'Cause I've been going crazy, I don't wanna waste another minute here
Blaine was laughing and smiling as they cheered for him. Then he held out his hand towards the rest of the group and the crowd cheered louder.
"Give it up one more time for the Dalton Academy Warblers! They'll be back tomorrow, we hope, in Islands of Adventure. Thank you all for coming out! Enjoy your day!" Shouted the man again.
"They want us to perform again?" Blaine asked, still really excited.
Jeff smiled. "Yep."
"Well, are we?"
"Of course!" Jeff said.
Later that night, they were all piling back into the van, and they were all exhausted. And back at the hotel, they all headed straight to their rooms and crashed, including Blaine.
The next day was the same. They had the morning to themselves, and then right after lunch they performed.
Jeff took the lead first this time.
You're insecure, don't know what for
You're turning heads when you walk through the door
Don't need make-up to cover up
Being the way that you are is enough
Everyone else in the room can see it
Everyone else but you
Then Nick stepped forward, taking the chorus.
Baby you light up my world like nobody else
The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed
But when you smile at the ground, it ain't hard to tell
You don't know Oh oh
You don't know you're beautiful!
If only you saw what I could see
You'll understand why I want you so desperatley
Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe
You don't know Oh oh
You don't know you're beautiful! Oh oh
That's what makes you beautiful!
The crowd was cheering once again as the song finished, though much louder than the day before.
Just like the night before, the boys piled into the van, and went back to the hotel and crashed, once again exhausted.
The day after, no one got up until after ten, and that was only because Jeff made them all get up and and pack.
"Come on guys. I know you can hear me." Jeff said outside of Trent and David's door.
Blaine opened his door, yawning. "What's up with all the noise Jeff?"
"Everybody needs to get up, we need to get back to the house." Jeff answered.
"Oh, well, could you do that a little quieter?" Blaine asked, sleepily.
"You can all sleep in the car. Let's go Trent! David! Get up!"
Blaine walked back into the room to get his stuff.
"Cam. Get up." Blaine said.
"What? Why?" Cam asked, still half asleep.
"We're leaving."
"Kay." Cam said, slowly rolling over and putting his face in the pillow.
"I'm serious Cam! Unless you want Jeff to come in here and wake you up."
Cameron sat straight up. "I'm up!"
Blaine just laughed.
An hour later, Jeff had gotten them all up and into the van, and they were heading back to Miami.
Since they had all slept the whole trip, none of them were tired anymore, and it was still light outside, they all headed down to the beach.
Blaine laid down in his usual spot on his towel, but instead of reading, he just closed his eyes.
"Hi." Said a voice beside him quietly.
Blaine opened his eyes and looked up to find a boy with light brown hair staring back at him. "Hi."
"My friend over there," He gestured to the girl that had approached him last week. "She told me that you're gay. I was just wondering if that was true?"
Blaine didn't know what to say. He wasn't the kind of person that would talk to a complete stranger, but the boy was giving him a very reassuring smile.
"Um, y-yeah, it is." Blaine answered slowly.
The boy's smile got bigger. "Well, we're having this party tonight, at the house down there, the one with the dock out on front." He said, pointing to a house a little way down the beach. "Be there?"
Blaine smiled. "Yeah."
"Good." The boy smiled one last time and walked off.
"Hey!" Blaine yelled after him.
"Yes?" He asked, still smiling.
"What's your name?" Blaine asked.
His smile got even bigger. "Louis."
"See you tonight Louis." Blaine said, still smiling.
Blaine watched as he walked away, not knowing that he had just gotten himself in way over his head.
That night, after everyone had gone to bed, he walked slowly down the stairs and out to the beach.
He found the house and walked up the stairs and found Louis siting on a chair outside on the deck.
"Hi Blaine." He said.
"Hey."
"You ready to have some fun?" Louis asked smiling.
Blaine nodded, trying not to seem too excited.
Louis took his hand and walked in the house.
It was a much bigger house than the one they were staying in. All of the furniture had been pushed into corners to create a dance floor. And there had to be at least thirty people on that dance floor, trying to dance and failing miserably since the majority were drunk.
"You thirsty?" Louis asked, walking up to a table and offering Blaine a drink.
Blaine took it and took a sip of it, not caring that he had no idea what it was that he was drinking, though he could tell it was alcohol.
"So where are you from?" Louis asked, leading Blaine over to a couch in one of the corners.
"Ohio. You?"
"LA. I come down here every summer with some friends."
"You're from LA? I lived there up until a few months ago." Blaine said sadly.
"Why's that?"
"My, uh, dad kicked me out because he found out that I'm gay."
Louis put a hand on his shoulder. "Well, how about we take that off your mind for the night. Come on." He took Blaine's hand and led him out to the center of the floor to dance.
After Blaine's third glass of whatever it was Louis had given him, he couldn't stand up any longer.
"Hey, are you alright?" Louis asked.
"Um, yeah, I mean, I don't know." Blaine said, putting a hand to his forehead.
"Do you want to go lay down upstairs?"
"Yeah, sure." Blaine said slowly.
Louis took his hand again and helped him up the stairs. He took him to a room at the end of the hall and sat him on the bed, sitting down next to him.
"Do you feel any better?" Louis asked.
Blaine shook his head, and then closed his eyes.
Louis put his hand on the side of Blaine's face and pulled him closer.
Blaine relaxed, and leaned into him, not aware of how close the other boy was getting.
Louis placed his hand on the back of Blaine's neck and pulled him even closer. He leaned all the way in, their lips barely meeting.
"No, Louis, please." Blaine said quietly, trying to pull away.
Louis pulled him closer, and kissed him hungrily, his hands sliding down Blaine's sides.
"Louis. Stop." Blaine said more firmly this time.
"Come on Blaine. You know you want it." Louis said, before kissing him again.
"No. I don't." Blaine said, still trying to pull away.
Louis pushed Blaine down on the bed, pulling his shirt off and crawling on top of him. His hands continued down his sides, his fingers sliding over to the button of Blaine's shorts, undoing them and trying to pull them off.
Blaine gathered up all of the strength he had and shoved Louis off of him. "Stop Louis!" He pushed himself of the bed and ran to the door, re-buttoning his shorts at the same time.
He ran to the stairs and tripped on his way down.
"Woah, hey." Said a familiar voice.
Blaine looked up to see Sebastian's face looking back at him. He tried to crawl back up the stairs away from him, but he couldn't move fast enough.
Sebastian walked to him and pulled him up off the floor and then down the stairs.
The living room was basically empty now, minus a few people that he assumed were friends of Sebastian. He gasped when he recognized two of them. One was the girl that he had met on the beach, and the other was Douglas.
"Douglas?" Blaine said.
"What? Did you think that Jeff was lying when he said I was his friend?" Douglas asked, laughing.
The other people in the room laughed too, and laughed harder as Blaine tripped and Sebastian threw him down onto one of the couches.
Louis then came down the stairs. "Oh good, I thought he got away."
"What the hell happened?" Sebastian asked.
"He's really strong. He almost broke my arm." Louis said.
Sebastian shook his head and then looked to Blaine.
"You keep getting in my way Blaine." Sebastian said.
"What?" Blaine asked, barely getting the one word out.
"You chased Blue away. He ruined my life and my reputation. I tried to get rid of him, but you got in the way Blaine. It didn't make me happy." Sebastian said, his tone becoming serious.
"But what do you want with me now? Blue's gone, I'm not standing in your way anymore." Blaine said.
Sebastian laughed. "But you pissed me off Blaine, and you should pay for that."
Sebastian walked towards him, pulling out the same knife that he had that night in the drain, and he slashed his cheek. "That one is because you slapped him." He said thrusting a finger towards Douglas. "This is because you pissed me off." He said, slashing his bare chest.
Blaine yelped and tried to get away again, but Louis shoved him back, just as Sebastian slashed him again, harder this time, the knife going in deeper.
But Blaine, still having a little strength left, kicked Sebastian and ran towards the door.
Douglas tripped him before he got out, pulling out a knife of his own and cutting his arm. Blaine got up and kept crawling to the door, and this time he got out.
He pushed himself off the ground and towards the stairs, but he once again tripped down them and landed in the sand on the beach.
He got up again, and started running back towards the house. When he was about halfway there, he heard a voice down the beach.
"Blaine?" Someone yelled.
"Jeff!" Blaine shouted, recognizing the voice and then tripping again, not having the strength to get up this time.
"Over there! He's over there!" Jeff shouted again.
Blaine felt someone kneel down next to him, and he opened his eyes to see Jeff.
"Oh my god Blaine." Jeff whispered, looking down at the blood dripping out of the cuts on his chest.
Blaine was barely holding his eyes open, but he could see that Jeff was crying.
Jeff pulled him into his arms, trying not to hurt him. "You're okay. You're safe."
Just then, the rest of the boys came running up behind Jeff.
"We should get him back to the house Jeff." Nick said.
Jeff pulled Blaine up, putting one of his arms around his neck, supporting almost all of his weight. David then pulled his other arm around his neck, and he and Jeff pulled him the rest of the way to the house.
When they got back, they gently laid him down on the couch.
"Nick, go get him some water. And a towel to stop this bleeding." Jeff said quietly.
"What happened Blaine?" David asked.
Blaine was shaking and he had tears streaming down his face and whatever it was that was in his drink still hadn't worn off.
"David, we should probably let him sleep for now. He can tell us later." Jeff said, when he saw that he was barely holding his eyes open.
David nodded, seeing the same thing Jeff had.
A few minutes later Nick came back with a bottle of water and a towel. Jeff took the towel and gently placed it where Sebastian had sliced his chest.
Blaine jumped when he tried to put pressure on it.
"Shh. Blaine, it's alright, I'm trying to stop this bleeding." Jeff whispered.
Blaine relaxed a little when he opened his eyes, remembering that it was Jeff sitting next to him and not Sebastian or Louis.
Blaine started to drift off, not bothered any longer by the pain he was in.
He completely fell asleep a few minutes later, and he slept very peacefully.
When he woke up, he was still on the couch and it was light outside. His chest and arm were bandaged, but he still didn't have a shirt on.
He heard low voices coming from the kitchen and he thought about getting up, but when he sat up, his head started pounding, and he fell back into the pillows behind him.
"Hey." Jeff said, walking in from the kitchen with Cameron following behind him. "How are you feeling?"
"I've been better." Blaine said, surprised at how bad his voice sounded.
"What the hell happened Blaine?" Cameron asked.
He told them the whole story, starting from when he met Louis on the beach. He thought about not telling them what he tried to do to him, but decided to anyway. He told them about Douglas and the girl that he had met on the beach a few weeks ago.
"I shouldn't have gone." Blaine said when he finished the story.
"Blaine there was no way you could've known." Jeff said. "And if you had told me, I-I probably would have told you you should go."
They sat in silence for a moment, not knowing what to say.
"You should probably get up and move around." Cameron said, breaking the silence.
Blaine nodded and sat up again, but slower this time. He took a deep breath and stood up, putting a hand to his head.
"You alright?" Jeff asked, watching him intently.
"Yeah, I think so." Blaine said slowly. "What time is it?"
"Around six I think." Cameron answered.
"Really?" Blaine asked, shocked.
"Yeah, you've been out for a while. Come on, let's get you some food." Jeff said.
Blaine followed the two boys into the kitchen.
"Where's everybody else?" Blaine asked.
"Um, I think they're all down at the beach." Jeff answered. "Hey Cam, will you go tell them that dinner will be ready in fifteen if they're hungry."
"Yeah, sure." Cameron said, walking out of the room.
"Here." Jeff said, handing Blaine a jacket, seeing that he was shaking.
"Thanks."
Jeff watched him for a moment, noticing that he could barely zip up the jacket because he was shaking so bad. "Are you sure you're okay?"
Blaine hesitated. "No." He finally said.
Jeff put a hand on his back gently and walked him over to the table to sit down.
The tears spilled out of Blaine's eyes right as he sat down.
Jeff just sat next to him quietly, rubbing his back, trying to calm him down.
"Jeff." Blaine said. "I was so scared. When I realized what Louis was doing, and that I might not be able to stop him. And when Sebastian pulled out that knife, I didn't know what he was going to do with it. And then he started chasing me and I didn't think I was going to get away. I thought he was going to ki-"
"Shh." Jeff said. "You're safe now. Don't even think about that."
Blaine closed his eyes, trying to forget it all.
A few minutes later, the back door opened and the guys walked in.
"Hey Blaine." Nick said, sitting down on the other side of him.
"I'm gonna go get the food ready. I'll be in the kitchen if you need me." Jeff said, standing up. When he walked past Nick, he kissed the top of his head and then walked to the kitchen.
The rest of the boys then sat down at the table too, talking about the girls they talked to on the beach, or the cool tricks they did off the dock.
Blaine wasn't really listening. He was still really tired, and he was concentrating on not passing out.
"The food's ready guys." Jeff called from the kitchen a little while later.
He had just fixed a bunch of sandwiches, which the boys happily devoured after being on the beach all day.
When they had finished eating, they all went back down to the beach.
Jeff and Nick stayed behind with Blaine, and the three of them cleaned up.
"Should we report him?" Blaine asked quietly while drying a plate.
Nick let out a laugh. "So his daddy can bail him out of trouble again?"
"What are you talking about?" Blaine asked.
"We've reported him for doing stuff like this before, and it's never done anything. His dad has friends in like every police jurisdiction and always gets him off the hook." Jeff answered.
"But we can if you want to." Nick said. "Do you?"
Blaine thought for a moment, and then nodded.
"Then we will." Jeff said, walking over to the phone and dialing the police departments number.
An hour later, the police had come and gone. They had talked to Blaine and told him that they would do everything they could to find Sebastian and his friends.
"They've said that before." Cameron said later that night.
"Yeah, but these are different people. Maybe something will happen this time." Jeff said hopefully.
But Jeff was wrong. A week later they got a phone call from the police department.
"What do you mean there's nothing you can do?" Jeff shouted.
He paused, listening to the officer on the other end of the phone.
"So, you're telling me that because you found no evidence in the house, you can't arrest him for anything?" Jeff asked, bewildered. "Great, thanks for all your help." He said, hanging up the phone.
"It's okay Jeff." Blaine said.
"No, it's not. I hate that they allow this to happen." Jeff said, sounding upset.
"Look, Jeff, don't worry about it." Blaine said, trying to calm him down.
Jeff took a deep breath, and let it go for now.
The following weeks were just like the first few. They all went down to the beach, came back for lunch and dinner and then went to bed.
Blaine started going down to the beach again a few weeks after the incident. But he didn't sit on the beach, he sat out on the dock, where he was always near one of the guys.
Two weeks before they were going back to Ohio, a few of the boys that had gone home, came back. Bringing their number up to twelve, making it even harder to have peace and quiet at any point in the day.
Even after Blaine's physical wounds had mostly healed, he was still jumpy. The slightest noise scared him, and Jeff noticed that he always seemed to be looking over his shoulder.
"Hey, are you alright?" He asked Blaine one afternoon after finding him sitting in a corner of the living room.
Blaine looked up from his phone at Jeff. "Yeah, I'm fine." He said, turning the phone over in his lap.
Jeff sat down next to him, watching him carefully. "Blaine, what's wrong?"
Blaine looked down and closed his eyes. "I'm fine Jeff. Really."
"No you're not." Jeff said, still watching him. "I can see it. The way you've been acting. You jump every time a door closes or when someone walks up to you. It's starting to worry me."
Blaine looked up at Jeff. "I'll be okay Jeff." He said quietly, turning his phone over in his hands.
Jeff nodded slowly, seeing that he didn't want to talk about it. "You know that if there ever is anything wrong, I'm here."
"I know." Blaine whispered, getting up and dropping his phone.
Jeff leaned over to pick it up, and saw that there was a picture of a younger Blaine, and a boy that he assumed was his brother. He bit his lip and handed the phone back to Blaine. There was a tear streaming down his face.
Blaine took his phone from Jeff and turned and ran out of the house down to the beach.
He didn't know where he was going, but he kept running until he was too tired to go any farther. He sat down on the sand and pulled his knees to his chest and started sobbing, looking up at the sky. He just needed to be alone, if only for a while.
He missed his brother. He missed the way things used to be. The way he had someone there that he could always depend on and knew him better than anyone. He just wanted his family back, his real family.
He had no idea how long he had been there, or what time it was when he decided to go back to the house.
It took him an hour to get back, and he found Nick and Jeff sitting together on the porch.
Jeff looked up and saw him coming in. He gave Blaine a soft smile.
Blaine smiled back, and then walked towards the stairs.
"Is he alright?" Nick asked once he was out of earshot.
"Yeah, he just misses his brother. He needed to be alone for a little while." Jeff said.
Nick thought for a moment. "I remember when you were like that."
Jeff looked away, not wanted Nick to see the tears forming in his eyes.
Nick squeezed his hand. "Do you remember what always made you feel better though?"
Jeff turned back to him slowly, a questioning look on his face.
Nick smiled and kissed him gently. When he pulled back, Jeff was smiling again.
"I love you Nick." Jeff whispered.
Nick wrapped his arms around his boyfriends neck and leaned towards him, their lips barely touching. "I love you too." He whispered back.
Jeff sighed contently, and kissed him once again.
"You glad to be going back?" Cameron asked, walking into Blaine's room.
"I'm not really happy to be going back, but I'm happy to be leaving here." Blaine said, zipping his last bag.
Cam nodded and looked at him sympathetically. "Is that it?" He asked.
"Yep, this is it." Blaine answered, gesturing to his two bags and suitcase.
Cameron picked up the suitcase and followed Blaine downstairs.
"Good morning guys." Jeff said, walking up behind Blaine and Cameron, followed by a yawning Nick.
Blaine and Cameron both smiled at Jeff.
"Didn't get much sleep last night Nick?" Cam asked, laughing at the way he looked like he was sleep walking.
Nick smirked at him. "Well, getting up before the sun is out, tends to do that to me."
"You can sleep on the plane." Jeff said, wrapping his arm around Nick's waist.
After both the vans were loaded, along with the boys, Jeff noticed that Blaine was standing on the path that led down to the beach.
"Hey, you ready?" Jeff asked, walking up behind him.
"Huh? Oh, yeah." Blaine said, jumping a little.
"What's wrong?" Jeff asked, seeing his expression.
"Just," He hesitated. "Thinking."
"Thinking about what?"
Blaine stared at him, knowing that he understood.
Jeff nodded. "We won't let him get to you again Blaine, I swear."
Blaine stared at him and nodded.
"Let's get out of here." Jeff said, pulling Blaine towards the van.
Blaine followed behind and got into the van.
"Dalton here we come." Jeff said, pulling out of the driveway and heading towards the airport.