Meet The Anderson's
Hey guys. It's been a long time and for that I am incredibly sorry. Between my laptop having a meltdown again (clearly teaching me to back everything up like I should've always been doing), the end of uni and the latter half 2014 being truly horrendous writing/touching any chapters that had been written up became out of the question. Hopefully there are some of you that are still interested in this story and I am aiming to have it finished not too long after glee itself finishes with a bit of luck. For those of you reading 'Mini Anderson's' as well, I have two of them ready to go and should be starting to upload them from tomorrow.
A warning for this chapter in that it is a rewrite of the season 4 'Shooting Star' episode so there are gunshots and the talk of people with guns inside of the school, a long with the fear and panic attacks that can come with that (the chapters do get decidedly more cheerful again after this one though). Anyway, as ever, I hope that you enjoy this chapter and let me know what you think of it.
Shooting Star
"Hey Blaine!" Bentley called shouldering his backpack and sprinting up the corridor to catch up to his waiting brother.
"Yes Benny?" The younger asked, smiling apologetically at a freshman as Bentley almost crashed into her and her friend. Rolling his eyes at the scoff he received in return, he turned his attention back to his twin, heading for the choir room once more.
"This is probably going to sound bad." Bentley chewed his bottom lip, carefully thinking of how to phrase his question before figuring that simply coming out with it would be the best option, "Is Brittany crazy? I mean I genuinely enjoy spending time with her and she's awesome and all don't get me wrong, she just seems a tad insane."
Blaine chuckled softly, "She's not crazy or insane. Brittany's just…Brittany. She's one of a kind."
Levelling his brother with a look and quirking his own eyebrow, Bentley rested one hand on his hip, "The entire glee club just sang a love song to her cat because she thought an asteroid was heading to the earth to kill us all Blaine. That's not exactly normal behaviour."
Shrugging Blaine grinned, "Like I said, she's one of a kind and damn amazing for it. Besides, you're not exactly normal either Benny." Blaine smirked as Bentley opened his mouth to retaliate only to snap it shut moments later throwing a dirty look Blaine's way instead.
"Mary-Kate, Ashley!" A voice yelled from further up the corridor, Blaine cringing and turning to look at Sue even as Bentley's mouth dropped open.
"Is she… is she talking to us?"
Blaine sighed deeply, rolling his amber eyes as Sue tapped her watch and headed back into her office. "Sadly yes she is. Come on, we can't put of the inevitable."
"This school is literally filled with crazy people. I've actually woken up in a dream world, possibly a nightmare world," Bentley muttered to himself with a shake of his head. "Not one ounce of this place is normal."
Following Blaine into the office at the end of the corridor, Bentley let out a low whistle at the sight of the numerous trophies in varying sizes (mostly floor to ceiling and therefore taller than the twins themselves) that aligned the long wall of the office. His eyes scanned the pictures of numerous cheerleading teams littering the walls, shooting Blaine a smirk when he encountered Kurt's young smiling face on a previous teams picture. Snickering at the red hue flooding his brother's face, Bentley threw his bag onto the floor and collapsed into the seat beside his younger twin raising an eyebrow at the Principal.
Eyeing them both closely and shuddering, Sue stood up, hands clasped behind her back as she paced back and forth behind her desk. "I've been told by various sources that twins are in fact not the creepy little clones that I've always assumed them to be," Pausing to eye up the incredulous boys, she shuddered again. "And not that I see it at all personally but apparently twins are hot." She stated, Bentley almost falling off of his seat as Blaine's jaw dropped.
"Principal Sylv-"
"Shh Thing 2, I'm getting to my point." The intimidating woman cut Blaine off with a raise of her hand, Bentley shooting Blaine a disbelieving look even as the younger of the duo shrugged in confusion. "The Cheerio's need a boost this year. We lost many of our stars last year and we're relying on Brittany, Becky and Thing 2 here to co-captain this sinking ship back to the top. Therefore I have decided to help Coach Washington by demanding that you join up too Thing 1 and therefore we can use you as a stunt double or something for Thing 2."
Bentley spluttered in shock, opening his mouth to protest before thinking better of it at the look on Blaine's face and the tiny shake of a head, which all but promised him that any protests would go unheard.
"Even better, we can use this freaky thing of you being side by side to perfect mirror image choreography." Sitting back at her desk she picked up a uniform and threw it at Bentley. "You start Monday Thing 1." Looking back to the papers on her desk, she gave no more attention to the two stunned teenagers sat opposite her, the duo dismissing themselves a few minutes later.
"Blaine, what the hell?" Bentley hissed, cramming the uniform into his bag.
Blaine snickered slightly, "Sorry Benny, what Sue says goes. She's impossible to argue with most of the time."
"But…but I don't want to be a cheerleader," Bentley whined, jumping when a weight landed on his back, "What the hell?"
"What'd Sue want?" Kitty questioned, pulling a lollipop from her mouth, Sam and Marley jogging to catch up with the trio on their way to glee club.
"I'm a Cheerio now," Bentley pouted, turning his neck so that he could see Kitty properly.
"Wait, seriously?" She sniggered, sniggers giving way to full force laughter when Blaine nodded and Bentley pouted further. "Oh my god, that's hilarious, Benny you're not flexible at all."
Frowning, Bentley wrapped his arms around the small girl to ensure she didn't fall from his back. "Hey! I can dance, just because I can't do the stupid splits." Smirking when Kitty only laughed louder, Bentley wrapped his arms tighter, taking off up the corridor at full speed as she screamed, twirling every so often for full effect.
"Does that friendship scare anyone else?" Marley asked quietly, walking slowly between Sam and Blaine as the three took advantage of the path that Hurricane Bentley had created through the corridor.
"Every single day," Blaine sighed, Sam nodding his head vigorously.
Bentley and Kitty crashed into the choir room moments later, giggling as the others followed slowly behind, shaking their heads as Mr Schuester herded them towards the chairs, eager to start the lesson. Grinning when Coach Beiste appeared in the doorway, he waved a hand towards the almost full room, his grin widening further.
"Join us for our first ever thank god the world isn't ending glee practice," He beamed, rolling his eyes fondly as the teenagers slowly filtered past him.
"It's where I get to throw junior mints at Marley without feeling guilty again," Kitty smirked, reaching up to slip her bag down from her back, dodging Mr Schuester's hand with a dirty look as he tried to get her to hurry up and sit down.
"Not cool Kitty," Bentley shook his head, rocking back on the back two legs of his chair.
The blonde cheerleader quirked an eyebrow at him and dropped into the seat beside him with a huff. "Can it curls."
"Love you too Jelly Bean," Bentley smirked, instantly dodging Kitty's hands as she started to hit him, shrieking and laughing.
"You are never coming anywhere near my house again Bentley Anderson!"
"Never going to happen. Your Mom loves me too much."
"I'm not even going to ask," Blaine muttered taking the seat beside his snickering brother as Kitty retreated to the seats behind them, grumbling under her breath and sending Bentley occasional scowls.
Finally gaining control of the club Will shot Coach Beiste a quick smile before turning back to the club. "All right, let's get started," Clapping his hands together, the entire room jumped and froze as the sound echoed throughout the room and hallway, a scream quickly following. Moments later, a second shot rang out, the room quickly mobilising as scared teenagers looked to their choir director for guidance. "Everybody spread out and hide, quickly." He set about pushing the glee club members into corners and behind equipment while Coach Beiste closed and locked the door, debating whether or not to press something up against it. Spying the blonde teenager dithering out of the corner of his eye, he swiftly pushed her towards Jake and Marley. "Kitty, go over there"
The girl panicked momentarily, "No wait." She glanced over to Bentley and Artie, then round to Unique and Ryder, before heeding the teacher's advice and crouching with Jake and Marley.
Blaine and Bentley quickly and quietly lowered Artie to the floor before attempting to push the piano over, wincing simultaneously when the metronome dropped to the floor, the tick tocking seeming exceedingly loud in the silent room. Bentley hastily grabbed Blaine's hand, pulling the younger boy down next to Artie and clutching him close, feeling his brothers heart hammering wildly in his chest, their breath out of synch as each tried to calm down as much as possible.
The hallways outside of the choir room had erupted into chaos. Crashes of running feet slapping against the ground, terrified voices and slamming doors all echoed throughout the large room, the only noises coming from inside the darkened choir room that of the stuttered breathing of the members of the glee club and their teachers. Multiple pairs of wide, scared eyes flittered around the room in an attempt to find something to focus on.
Blaine raised his head slightly, gulping twice to get his racing thoughts under control, "Are we even sure those were gunshots?" He whispered. Bentley slapped his hand over Blaine's mouth, sending him a terrified, wide eyed look even as another gun shot rang out through the school, a far off sounding cackling following to confirm their worst fears.
Mr Schue moved quickly through his students, checking that they were all alright, despite their obvious terror. "Shhhh guys. Start texting, tweeting, let everyone know what's going on but don't say where we are. Remember shooters have smart phones too." He winced as a haunting rendition of a woman singing 'Rock a Bye Baby' drifted up the corridor, Marley whimpering and burying her face in Jake's shoulder. "Guys, we're all just going to stay here, together. We've got nowhere to be and we don't know what's out there." The sound of more footsteps running startled them all. "Shhh, Shhh. I love you guys. We're going to be all right. Everything will be all right."
"Please, please, you have to let us in!" Tina sobbed hysterically, Brittany's hand clasped tightly in hers as they stood at the barricade desperately trying to plead with the police officers guarding it. "Our family is in there. Please!"
Tina continued to sob as the officers once more rebuked them, protesting only slightly as the blonde girl tugged her away from the barriers through the throngs of terrified and bewildered students, school staff and parents who were already on the scene. Clinging tightly to each other, the anxious pair continued to look for those that they new, those that had hopefully managed to get out of the school before all this had begun. Spotting a frantic man standing head and shoulders above everyone else, the two launched themselves at Finn, the tall boy catching them just in time, blinking in confusion before wrapping his arms tightly around the shaking girls.
"Britt, Tina? Where are the others?" He managed to gasp out when he pushed the two off of him, Brittany clinging to his arm and shaking her head, tears still falling from her eyes.
Tina shuffled, stemming her own tears with the sleeve of her cardigan. "We don't know Finn. We were supposed to be starting Glee practice but we came outside to try and get some sun during our free right before everything started up. As near as we can figure they're all in there somewhere."
Finn let out a strangled noise, pulling the blonde and the brunette closer once more when their sobs started back up. "They'll be okay. Mr Schue will have them all together in the choir room and they'll be fine. They will be fine." Holding the girls close, Finn glared at the birds chirping happily on the grass beside them before turning his worried stare back to the now silent school, no longer a scene of hoards of students frantically trying to leave the building.
"Artie what are you doing?" Bentley hissed, glaring at Artie's camera and the red flashing light now aimed at himself and his brother.
"If we don't get out of here people need to see this. They need to know."
Blaine whimpered weakly, burrowing closer to Bentley. The elder continued to glare at Artie, shoving the camera away from the two of them when he pushed it slightly closer to them. "Artie so help me god if you don't get that thing out of our faces I will throw it across the room and that will attract unwanted attention of the worst kind," He growled lowly, a spark a fear and anger flashing through his darkening hazel eyes.
"Erm, does anyone else have anything they need to say?" Artie murmured, eyes flickering around the tight knit group squashed alongside the piano.
Sam nodded quickly, scooting away from the twins and towards Artie even as Bentley glared and Blaine watched him with intrigue, his head rested on Bentley's shoulder. "Erm, Mom, Dad, Stacey, Stevie, I love you guys so much and I'm sorry that this happened like this with you guys across the country if anything does happen. Please just remember I love you all. Burt, Carole, thank you so much for everything that you've done for me, you're the second parents I never thought I would have. Erm there is a cat in my locker. Please feed her and look after her for me?"
"Sam what the hell?" Bentley whispered, alarm and amusement flittering across both his and Blaine's faces as they pulled away from each other slightly.
"Dudes has anyone told you guys that you have the same facial expressions because it's like mega freaky right now." Sam shivered, shuffling back over to Blaine's side once more. The twins rolled their eyes simultaneously, Sam shuddering once more as they watched him intensely. "Cut it out that's creepy."
Artie turned away from the three, allowing them to have a silent conversation as he continued to film along the line of those waiting to have their say. Eventually he turned the camera on himself and detailed his love for the family he had found in this room, smiling sadly at the camera before turning it off, plunging the room into near silence once more, the only noise the tick-tocking of the metronome.
A locker slamming somewhere in the school had them all jumping. They clung tightly to each other once more as their breathing sped up, listening for the terrifying sounds of something happening deep within the corridors of the school, no sound following the slam.
"I have to go," Kitty cried out, shuffling away from Marley and Jake, each of who tried to hold her back. "No, let me…I have to."
"Shhh," Mr Schuester muttered from by the door, oblivious to the turmoil going on behind the amps as both Bentley and Blaine reached out to try and cling onto the trembling girl.
"Kitty, wait," Blaine gasped, losing his grip on her as the girl managed to pull herself free from the foursome trying to hold her back, sobbing as she army crawled out of their grasp before flinging herself across the room.
Bentley breathed out a sigh of relief when she threw herself at Unique and Ryder, sharing a look with the younger boy to watch out for her now she was no longer in his grasp. Receiving an almost unnoticeable nod in retaliation, Bentley turned back to the group he was sat with, Sam suddenly up and moving from Blaine's side even as the gelled haired boy tried to wrap an arm around his ankles.
"I need to go. I need to find Brittany. Please. I have no idea where she is or if she's in or out of the school, but I have to find her. She could be all alone and she'll be terrified. I don't know where she is and please, I can't leave her alone. I can't," He rambled, pushing himself closer and closer to the choir room door.
"No Sam. You cannot go out there," Mr Schuester murmured, trying to grab hold of the teenager now violently shaking his head.
"No. I don't care. I don't care. I have to get to her."
"Sam no!" He growled managing to wrap his arms around the blonde at the same time that Coach Beiste did, the two of them hauling him away from the door and shoving him further into the room, Sam fighting them every step of the way, kicking his legs out and trying to manoeuvre his arms out from under theirs.
"Let go of me! I have to…I have to get to her…I have to…"
Mr Schuester managed to shove a hand over the teenagers mouth, his muffled shouts of 'let go of me' and 'I don't care' the only noises in the room as the others tried to stifle their cries, tears streaming down most of their faces once more as they tried to stay silent.
"Sam stop, you have to stop," Coach Beiste pleaded, arms still wrapped around the boy. "You are putting everybody's life in danger. Look at them," She muttered, Sam beginning to calm down as sobs overtook him once more when he looked around his terrified classmates. "Sam, it's okay. It's okay. Go sit with Artie and the twins." Carefully the teachers' lowered him to sit beside the trio, glancing to each other before taking up residence by the door.
"Tina isn't here either," Blaine whispered, sending Sam a faint smile, "Hopefully they're together and got out safely." Sam nodded, taking one of Blaine's hands and squeezing tightly when it was offered.
"I am in agreement about one thing though, we need to get out of here. This is taking forever," Bentley muttered, shifting round and spreading his legs out momentarily. "I just want to know what the hell is going on." The others around him nodded their agreement, Blaine suddenly turning pale as he tugged insistently on Bentley's arm, the elder brother turning to look at him with a raised eyebrow and red eyes.
"Oh god, what if they can't tell us apart?" Blaine whimpered, knuckles whitening where he grasped Bentley's hand tightly in his own, hazel eyes gazing into the identical fiery set staring back at him.
Wincing slightly, the older twin pried Blaine's hand a little looser, wrapping his other arm around his brother for good measure. "Your hair is cemented to your head and you have a microphone print bow tie on Blaine. Worst case scenario happens - which is not going to happen we are getting out of here - I don't think that they'll have any trouble telling us apart." Bentley shot him a weak smile, clutching Blaine's hand tighter again and closing his eyes in fear as another chorus of 'Rock a Bye Baby' drifted up the corridor.
A watery chuckle left Blaine's lips almost silently as he shuffled as close as possible to his brother and buried his face in his shoulder.
"I love you Bentley."
"I love you too Blaine."
Burt Hummel had only ever felt his heart thundering against his chest in the constricting terror that it was currently in three times before in his life. The first was when he found out that there was nothing more that could be done for his Lizzie, her disease was going to take her away from himself and their young son whether he liked it or not. The second was a panicky phone call from Kurt's school when he was eleven and fell from the climbing frame hitting his head on the solid ground below and breaking his arm quite severely. The third had been when his son had admitted that someone had threatened his life. This time though, he could feel the panic creeping higher and higher. There were at least three of his sons' stuck inside of the school building and to be more helpful, his mind couldn't quite remember whether Finn was in college or helping out at the high school today. Three or four of his children were in a life threatening situation and there was nothing he could do to help them except get to McKinley high school as quickly as his car would carry him. His heart picked up speed once more as his foot hit the floor, the car flying through the streets of Lima at more than double the legal limit.
Carole closed her eyes tightly, ignoring the speed at which her husband was barrelling through the almost silent Lima streets. Clasping her hands tightly in her lap, she bowed her head and prayed for the first time in what felt like a long time, at least since Finn had been a small boy. Images of her boys' kept assaulting her mind, Sam's victory dance around the bowling alley two nights previously that had onlookers watching them as though they were crazy. Bentley jumping around the living room furniture last weekend screeching 'Livin' La Vida Loca' at the top of his lungs while Finn filmed him, both boys just about crying from laughter. And Blaine curled into Burt's side just the night before, educating the older man on the Marvel movie marathon playing on the TV, Burt just shaking his head and attempting to take in all the information Blaine was throwing his way. Squeezing her eyes tighter as the car pulled to a stop, Carole finished her prayer and swung open her door following her husbands fast pace towards the barrier.
"My sons are in there!" He was yelling at a haggard looking police officer as she reached his side, placing a calming hand on his arm.
"I'm sorry sir, truly I am but many peoples' children are in there, at this point in time there is nothing we can do but wait. SWAT are preparing to storm and they do have eyes on the perpetrator."
Burt practically growled as he backed away from the officer, glaring steadily at the unwavering man who had had more threats from parents than he cared to think about over the last hour or so.
"Mom! Burt!" Both of their heads snapped up as Finn ambled towards them, Tina and Brittany following closely behind with their weary parents.
"Oh Finn thank god," Carole murmured, wrapping her arms tightly around her son, "I thought you had college today?"
"I did, I was never in there. But they're my brothers', I had to come over as soon as I heard what was going on."
"They're definitely inside then?" Burt groaned, running a hand over the cap on his head as Finn, Brittany and Tina nodded solemnly, the girls' parents pulling them away ten minutes or so later as the Hudson-Hummel's settled in to wait for more news.
"All clear!" The voice rung out through the halls, the occupants of the choir room all eyeing each other up. "All clear!"
Will took a deep breath, glancing once at his students in their various huddles before moving to the door, unlocking it slowly only to come face to face with a member of the SWAT team. "All clear Sir, get your students out of here, their parents are probably out front looking for them." Will nodded silently, the man shooting him a small smile before moving along to the next locked door.
"It's over guys," He breathed stepping back inside of the choir room, "It's all over." Watching them all stand up on shaky legs, clutching each other in tight hugs, the educator smiled at his friend and drew Coach Beiste into a tight hug, leading his students from the choir room into the bright sunlight.
"Sam, Blaine, Bentley!" A voice yelled and moments later the trio found themselves wrapped up in the arms of Burt Hummel, Carole and Finn following moments behind him and joining the family hug. "Thank god you three are okay," The father murmured, holding his boys' tightly and closing his eyes as he felt them tremble in his arms.
"Lets get you boys' home," Carole said soothingly, her arms still wrapped tightly around Bentley as Finn slung an arm around Blaine's shoulders and Burt kept hold of Sam.
"Wait! We still don't know what happened to Brittany or Tina," Blaine cried, twisting out of Finn's hold and scanning the crowds of crying students and their families.
Burt let go of an ashen faced Sam and stepped towards Blaine, clasping a hand on his shoulder, recoiling slightly when the teenager flinched violently. "They're fine Kiddo. They were outside when everything happened so they were never involved and their parents forced them to go home when they got here. Finn will text them though and let them know that everyone's fine."
Blaine nodded weakly and allowed himself to be corralled towards the car as Finn pulled out his phone.
"The second we get home Sam you need to phone your parents and boys' you need to phone Cooper so that they all know what's gone on today. It's been kept as hushed up as possible. As far as I know no one outside of Ohio has currently caught on to what's happened," Carole sighed, rubbing a hand up and done Sam's shaking arm.
"How'd they manage that?" Bentley questioned in confusion, leaning on Finn.
"No idea Kid. It'll inevitably be national news by tonight or tomorrow morning," Burt sighed, pushing the boys' towards the waiting car.
The sharp screaming had Bentley bolting upright in his bed, eyes quickly adjusting to the dark room. "Shit," He muttered, vaulting to the floor from the top bunk and climbing straight into Blaine's bed with him, pulling his still screaming brother close. "Blaine, Blainey calm down. You're safe we're safe. I promise. I promise you that we're safe Blaine. It's over." The trembling boy burst into a fresh round of sobs even as Bentley drew him closer, pressing a tender kiss to the top of his loose curls.
A light flickered on in the hallway and moments later the door burst open to worried looking group of family members. Spotting the quivering boy in the bed and Bentley doing his best to console him, Carole was across the room and sat beside them in an instant, drawing Blaine into her own embrace.
"Oh sweetheart," She murmured softly, rocking him gently as he continued to sob, his eyes wide with fright and flickering throughout the room, a lost look flittering over his face.
Bentley slipped carefully out of the bed from beside his brother, wincing when Blaine's hand unexpectedly grabbed his wrist in a vice like grip. "I'll be back in a minute Blaine, I'm just going to get you some water and sleeping pills." Sighing when Blaine shook his head vehemently, Bentley used his free hand to pry Blaine's from his wrist, stroking his brother's curls off of his forehead. "No sleeping pills then, but I'm still going to get your water."
The older twin quickly and cautiously slipped out of the room, his eyes meeting Burt's and inclining his head towards the kitchen, the Father following him moments later with Finn and Sam hot on his heels.
"What the hell was that?" Finn questioned as soon as they reached the kitchen, Bentley standing over the kitchen sink breathing heavily.
Burt sent him a look before stepping up behind Bentley and placing a tender hand on his back. "Are you okay kiddo?"
Bentley shook his head silently, turning into Burt's embrace. "Blaine's been haunted by old ghosts for a long time. Sadie Hawkins. Our parents. And school in general was never kind to him, even having me and a few of the others around in elementary school did nothing to deter the bastards." Bentley smiled ruefully at the sight of both Sam and Finn clenching their fists in mutual anger, attempting to imagine a world where Blaine had always had friends like those he'd found at Dalton and McKinley. "All it did was get us all in trouble for fighting more frequently. But Blaine has a form of PTSD and I think the stress from today has triggered that again. He's not going to calm down for a while and I honestly have no clue on what to do with him when he gets into this state. It's like he gets tunnel vision and all he can see or hear are the god-awful memories that he has, like everything good in the world disappears. I don't know what to do." Blinking tears out of his own eyes, Bentley gratefully sunk further into the man he was proud to now call his Father.
"I know kid, I know," Burt mumbled soothingly running a hand up and down Bentley's back. "Blaine's always going to have his demons unfortunately that's a given by this point. What I asked though was if you were okay," Smiling sadly at Bentley's look of shock when he pulled back Burt raised an eyebrow at the teenage. "The two of you aren't a package Bentley. You are two entirely different people with entirely different thoughts and feelings, and it can't be easy having just seen your brother lose it like that."
The boy nodded, wrapping his arms around himself tightly, "I'm…okay. I'm just scared, it's been a while since I've seen Blaine that freaked and there was always one of the others around before. I don't know what I'm doing."
"Wait!" Finn cried, a memory forming in his head. "I've seen Blaine like this before. After the whole slushie thing," Bentley bristled, growling slightly as both Finn and Sam shuddered, "Rachel and I went with Kurt to see him. He fell asleep after a while but then he started screaming. I don't really remember what Kurt did but I do remember that he calmed him down."
Sam's eyes flickered up to the clock hanging above the kitchen door, "It's like two in the morning we can't call Kurt now."
"It's Blaine." Finn deadpanned with a raised eyebrow.
"Touché," Sam said, a small smile dancing across his face and disappearing almost as quickly as it had appeared.
Bentley sighed softly, tugging his phone from his sweatpants pocket, proving how exhausted he had been when he fell asleep with it still in there, and turning it over and over in his hands. "Quick question though, did anyone tell Kurt what happened today?" Seeing the looks that Finn, Sam and Burt shot each other Bentley shook his head slightly, taking a deep breath. "I'm going to die at the hands of a blue eyed ex-cheerleader."
Sam and Finn nodded solemnly, Burt shooting three of his sons a withering look. "Not funny guys."
"Eurgh Bentley it's two in the morning why the hell are you calling me?" Kurt whined, voice gravelly with sleep.
"Kurt," A voice whimpered quietly, Kurt sitting upright immediately and diverting his full attention to the phone in his hand, flicking the bedside light beside him on, bathing the loft in its soft amber glow.
"Benny, what's wrong? Is it my Dad? Is Blaine okay?" Kurt could feel his heart pick up in pace as the boy on the other end remained silent. "Bentley I swear to god…"
"Hummel, are you kidding me?! Some of us are trying to sleep," Santana hissed tearing back the curtain surrounding his area, a sleep rumpled Rachel appearing at her side moments later. Seeing the boy in clear distress all anger left the two girls' and they climbed into bed either side of him, watching Kurt's face carefully as silence echoed from the phone.
"You don't believe in god," Bentley mumbled eventually, Kurt gritting his teeth in the effort to quell the need to strangle the second youngest Anderson.
"Bentley I will reiterate that it is two am, as in five hours before I have to get out of bed for the dance class from hell."
"Kurt there was an incident. Erm…there was a shooting at school today," Kurt's heart hammered in his chest, face paling as Bentley continued in a soft tone, lamenting the day's events to the older boy. "No one was injured, everyone's just shaken up. The police don't think that she ever intended to actually shoot anyone, just create scare tactics. Apparently her life went down the crapper and she blamed her time at McKinley for it."
Blaine chose that opportune moment to start screaming again. The girls each pulled away from Kurt with a terrified look as the screams filled the loft through the cell phones tinny speakers. Bentley winced heavily at the thought of Kurt listening to the screams from hours away. "He's not hurt Kurt I swear, just petrified. I don't know what to do."
Bentley's quiet omission shocked Kurt back in action, face setting in a grim stance as Santana reached for his laptop. "Bentley we're booking flights home now we'll be there by morning. For now I need you to give your phone to Blaine for me."
"Kurt, I don't think that he'll listen he's so far gone right now…" Bentley murmured, already pushing past Sam and Finn and running up the stairs to the twins room, feeling tears burn at the back of his eyes at the sight of Carole huddling Blaine to her chest, whispering gently in his ears.
"Just give him the phone Benny, please," Kurt muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose and flinching as Blaine's screams filled his head. Pushing Rachel off of himself, he started throwing things into a duffle bag, not caring about the inevitable wrinkles in his clothes.
"We'll be in Columbus just before six, the next flight out's at four," Santana mumbled, placing Kurt's laptop back on his bed and pulling Rachel back through the open curtain at the incline of Kurt's head symbolising his acknowledgement of her words.
The screams now the only sound he could hear, Kurt collapsed against the end of his bed, pulling his knees up to his chest and squeezing his eyes tightly shut before taking a steadying breath. "Mon Petite Trésor. Calm down for me, Sweetheart, please calm down. You need to remember to breathe Blaine. In and out, listen to me and try and copy please Blaine, I know that you can hear me, just listen to my breathing." Kurt started to take exaggeratedly loud breaths, making sure that Blaine could hear him loud and clear as the screams gave way to gasping sobs and whimpers.
"K…Kurt," Blaine sobbed and Kurt closed his eyes tighter at the fear in his voice.
"Yeah Petite Trésor, I'm here, breathe for me okay?"
"I'll try."
Kurt chuckled softly, "Please do more than try. It's quite an important task B."
He breathed a sigh of relief as Blaine's breathing began to even out, a watery, squeaky laugh filling his ears. "I promise I will. I love you."
"I love you too B and I'll see you in a few hours, the only time I won't be able to answer is between four and six, other than that ring me anytime you need me and I'll pick up."
"Kurt no, you can't come home just because I'm being stupid. You've got classes and work and it's just not worth it."
A grim look flickered over Kurt's face and he sat bolt upright. "I am coming home Blaine, that is non-negotiable end of. I need to see that you're going to be okay with my own eyes. You've terrified me tonight."
"Sorry."
"Nothing for you to be sorry for. Can you put Benny back on for me? I need to make sure that he has a few details, but I'm here whenever you need to call and I'll see you in a few short hours Petite Trésor."
"Okay Mio Bello."
"I love you Blaine."
"Love you too," He mumbled before there was a soft murmuring and Bentley's voice in his ear again.
"How the hell did you do that?"
"Just remind him to keep breathing Benny and it'll be fine," Kurt sighed, standing back up and pulling out a change of clothes. "My phone's going to be on whenever I can have it on so just ring if you need me. Santana's Mom's going to pick us up from the airport so I should be home just before eight give or take, keep him calm until then, yeah?"
"Carole's shooed me into Sam's room, she's going to stay up with Blaine for the rest of the night but she's insisting Sam and I sleep."
"Good, you guys must need it by now."
"Yeah," Bentley sighed softly. "Hey Kurt? I thought your home was New York now?"
"My home is wherever Blaine is," Kurt responded, cringing even as the words left his mouth, Bentley's delighted laughter filling up the line.
"That is by far the corniest thing I've ever heard you say."
"Doesn't stop it being true, sleep delirium just means I lose my brain to mouth filter," Kurt said, rolling his eyes when Bentley's laughter only increased further. "Oh shut up little brother and go to sleep." Kurt laughed, hanging up the phone to Bentley's exhausted giggles filling the room.
At precisely twenty to eight the door to the Hudson-Hummel house burst opening, startling Blaine and Carole where they were sat with hot chocolate 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire' playing quietly in the background. Blaine's head lifted slowly from Carole's shoulder as Rachel flew through the front room, shooting the pair a fleeting smile before taking the stairs to Finn's room two at a time.
Kurt followed moments later, slamming the door and throwing himself into Blaine's waiting arms as Carole moved out of the way with a sad smile. Blaine sunk into Kurt's embrace, shaking and burying his head in Kurt's neck as his tears started again.
"Have you been back to sleep yet?" Kurt mumbled, gentled stroking one hand up and down Blaine's back in an attempt to soothe the tears.
Blaine shook his head, still not releasing the death grip he had around his boyfriend. "N..no, I'm t..too scared of wh…what I might see if I c…cl…close my eyes."
Carole motioned going upstairs to Kurt who smiled sorrowfully back at her, watching her ascending back momentarily before pulling away from the boy in his arms slightly, placing his hands either side of his face. "Honey… you need to sleep. This isn't healthy. You'll be perfectly safe Blaine."
Shaking his head forcefully, Blaine pulled away from Kurt. "No I can't, I can't, please don't make me."
"Oh Blaine," Kurt sighed woefully, pulling the struggling boy back into his embrace. "Listen to me Honey, you need to sleep you're exhausted. I'll stay with you the whole time and I'll be there if you have any nightmares at all."
Studying his boyfriend closely, Blaine shook his head again, "No."
Pressing his lips to Blaine's temple, Kurt stood up and pulled Blaine to his feet, steadying him when he swayed off balance. "We're at least heading upstairs to bed then, we can put a movie on or something if you're so against sleep."
The hazel eyed boy allowed Kurt to pull him upstairs and straight into Kurt's own room, climbing up onto the queen sized bed and instantly crawling over the scarlet comforter to Kurt's arms, falling into an automatic position with his head resting over Kurt's heart. Feeling the tender little peck to his chest, Kurt grinned at the way his heart fluttered in reaction, pulling Blaine closer and sighing contentedly.
"I'm sorry my reaction was so over exaggerated," Blaine mumbled in embarrassment. "Everyone else went through the same damn thing and none of them reacted as much like a baby as I have."
"You look at me Blaine Anderson," Kurt said sharply, Blaine's eyes snapping up to meet his momentarily, Kurt's eyes drifting away as his speech became more and more impassioned and he started gesturing around the room out of habit. "You are not weak, you are not a baby and your reaction was sure as hell not over exaggerated Sweetheart. Yes everyone else went through the same thing, but nobody else has been through what you've previously been through. They haven't been beaten into a coma, or had the bones in one of their hands shattered by idiots who then didn't even get punished for it. Blaine you're one of the strongest people I know."
Looking down at his boyfriend, Kurt laughed faintly at the boy now sleeping soundly on his chest, one arm flung across Kurt's hips and a leg wrapped over the blue eyed boys. Silently, Blaine's lips smacked together and he mumbled something inaudible, burrowing closer to Kurt, his face squashing into Kurt's chest. Kurt gently ran one hand through Blaine's loose curls, letting the other drift down to clutch Blaine's where it rested on his hip. Studying the boy closely, Kurt played gently with his fingers, "I love you so much, more than you know. I don't know what I'd do without you anymore Blaine." Carefully extracting his hand from Blaine's he quickly swiped at the tears on his cheeks before replacing his hand in Blaine's seeking fingers, pressing a kiss to the top of Blaine's curls, content to simply spend the day holding his boy close while he slept.
The door creeping open seconds later had Kurt's head snapping round, a glare flitting over his features as he stayed perfectly still so as not to dislodge the sleeping boy. His gaze softened as Bentley and Sam stuck their heads around the door, edging slowly into the room.
"How is he?" Sam murmured eyes fixated on Blaine's small figure.
"He'll be fine," Kurt smiled, running one hand through Blaine's curls once more. "He just needs to be reminded that he's not in the place that he was in three and a half years ago. He's safe and nothing's going to change that as far as I'm concerned."
Bentley grinned, nodding slightly. "Thank god you knew what to do. You're staying for the day right?"
"Of course I am," The older boy scoffed slightly, "He would have been fine if I hadn't come back too though you know? I'm mostly here for my own selfish reasons, that and once Rachel and Santana found out about yesterday there was no stopping them coming back here either. Tana says Brittany's not in a great way either."
Both boys' winced heavily when Kurt shot them a look, Sam looking down at his shuffling feet when he mentioned that Santana was with Brittany. "We're sorry that we didn't phone or text yesterday Kurt. There was just so much going on that we didn't even think about it to be honest."
"I can see that. I'm actually not mad; it was just terrifying finding out at two in the morning and hearing Blaine screaming the way he was. But I said it before and I'll say it again, he would have been fine even without me."
"But he got better faster with you around," Sam acknowledged with a gentle smile and small shrug, hitching his backpack higher up his shoulder.
Spying the school bags that the two were clutching to their bodies, Kurt raised an eyebrow, "You two are going in today?"
"Most of the school are as far as I know. No one was hurt and they caught the person who did it so there's no reason for the school to stay closed," Sam sighed, "We just want to get going in over and done with rather than avoid it forever. Brittany and Marley aren't coming in until glee later though. Mr Schue wants to hold it in the auditorium."
"None of us are ready to head back into the practice room yet," Bentley said.
Kurt nodded, "You'll both be fine. I'll try and coax him in for glee too, but no promises and if he's still sleeping I'm not waking him up." Both boys' nodded their agreement and Kurt smiled again rolling his eyes momentarily, "Chances are he's going to want to do that of his own choice anyway though, he's Blaine lets face it he's a martyr."
The boys' stood in the doorway both let out quiet laughs, shaking their heads at the stubbornness of their brother and best friend. "Yeah, he'll be there," Bentley grinned, "Do you want anything before we go Kurt? You're kind of stuck."
"No kidding," Kurt laughed, shuffling Blaine carefully, "Could you hand me whatever book he's been reading from his satchel? I need to read past where he's at."
"That's just cruel," Bentley shook his head, leaving the room briefly only to return and hand Kurt Blaine's copy of 'The Scorpion Trials'.
Taking the book Kurt sighed heavily, "I knew that he'd read ahead."
"You're actually reading a book series together?" Bentley questioned, rolling his eyes at their absurdness.
"Of course we are, but we're only supposed to be on the fifty second chapter of 'The Maze Runner'. Four chapters a night, that's our agreement."
"Uh-huh, and how far through the book you're holding are you?"
Kurt looked up at Bentley and grinned, "About two chapters ahead of where he already is."
Laughing, the curly haired boy turned to follow Sam out of the room, "Carole said to let you know just to holler if you need anything she's going to be in all day, switched her shift or something like that."
Kurt nodded absentmindedly as the door swept shut behind them, pulling Blaine closer again and pressing another kiss to his head before pulling the book open to get further ahead than his boyfriend, knowing full well the race to finish the series first would commence almost as soon as Blaine woke up.