"Hello?"
"Hello, is this Ellen?"
"Yes, it is?"
"Oh, good. My name is Burt Hummel. I have an adoptive son named Blaine who you wrote a letter to."
"Oh... Blaine..."
"Yes, he asked me to call you and let you know that he's doing fine."
"Oh..." Ellen went silent for a while. Burt let her take the time she needed.
"Wait... Adoptive son?"
"Yes, we, my wife Carole and I, adopted him this summer."
"Why? What happened?"
Burt looked up at Blaine who nodded and by that gave him permission to explain.
"Well, let's just say that Blaine's father didn't do the best job, so I was given the chance instead."
"I knew it..." Ellen sighed and when she spoke again emotion and tears were evident in her voice. "Please tell me what happened?"
"It isn't a pretty story."
"I don't care, I just need to know."
"Okay... Well, Ellen, one night Blaine fell asleep on our couch and we couldn't wake him up. We helped him change into pajamas and noticed bruises covering his body. The next morning we took him to the ER and they reported it to the police. We were given custody immediately since they couldn't find anyone else."
"But you knew him by then?" Ellen asked.
Burt one again glanced at Blaine to get his permission to keep on. Blaine nodded yet again and Burt kept on going.
"Oh, yes, Blaine's dating my son."
Ellen chuckled on the other side.
"I knew he was gay since he was two. Good for him. But, okay. Was this the first time Blaine had been hit by Dave?"
"Ellen, I just want to warn you again, this isn't a pretty story. Blaine has given me permission to tell you, but..."
"Look, Burt, I've worried about this kid every day of my life. I just need to know."
"Okay... No, this wasn't the first time. He wasn't beaten this time, he was kicked down stairs in their home, he broke some ribs and a foot, had a bad concussion and a bleeding liver. But his father is the worst father you could ever imagine. Blaine hasn't been treated right once during his upbringing. He had been forced to deal with so many beatings and violent outrages and hate during his years at home."
Burt had watched Blaine when he told Ellen. Blaine had shrunk in the seat and had flinched at every word about what his father had done. They both heard Ellen let out a sob on the other end.
"But, you know, Ellen, he's in therapy now and he's doing so well. We are so proud to have him in our family. We love him like our own son."
"Is he physically healed?" Ellen whispered.
"Umm... Well, he was, and then he got a bad case of pneumonia with a really high fever during thanksgiving. The fever made him drowsy and he fell down some stairs and broke his wrist. But, other than that, physically, he's doing fine."
"Is he in school?"
"He is, but not full time."
"I need... I think I have to..." Ellen tried to find words.
"Look, why don't I call you again tomorrow? So you can process this. But know that he's doing fine. He's an extraordinary guy and I'm so proud to know him."
"Can I talk to him?"
"No, he isn't ready for that. Your letter stirred up a lot of abandonment issues that he needs to deal with first." Burt said without asking Blaine first.
"Oh, that wasn't my intention."
"We know that, he knows that as well."
"Okay... So, you'll call me tomorrow?"
"I will."
"Okay... Burt?"
"Thank you for giving him a home."
"I'd do it ten more times for Blaine." Burt smiled to Blaine.
"Talk to you tomorrow then." Ellen said.
Burt ended the conversation and looked at Blaine. Blaine looked back but didn't say anything. They sat in silence for a while before Burt leaned forward and put his hand on Blaine's healthy one.
"I love you kid."
"Thank you." Blaine whispered. "I'm gonna go upstairs for a while."
Burt nodded, he knew that Blaine asking him to call Ellen was a huge step but he also knew that it would take a lot more for Blaine to trust him like he trusted Kurt and Carole. They might never be that close, but Burt would do everything for Blaine. He watched Blaine walk out of the kitchen before he got up and went into the living room. He shook Kurt lightly.
"Kiddo, Blaine needs you."
"Blaine?"
"Yes, he's in your room."
Kurt nodded and got up and went upstairs. He found Blaine under the duvet. He could hear him screaming into the pillow. Kurt slipped down under the duvet and pulled Blaine close. Blaine stopped screaming, but Kurt could see the anxiety building up inside of him.
"You can keep on screaming, I'll hold you."
Blaine nodded and took a deep breath. He screamed and kicked the pillow and the bed. He screamed until he was hoarse and exhausted. Then he came closer to Kurt and starting crying instead. Kurt held him and stroked his sweaty hair. Blaine's entire body shook as the emotion came over him. He calmed down after a short while and looked at Kurt.
"She just left me."
"I know, but she didn't want to take a son away from his mother."
"But she was afraid for my safety. If she had taken me with her, I would've been safe. Why did she leave me? You know, I could have had Christmases filled with love. I could have grown up with proper food and wouldn't be so small. I could have..."
"Blaine, stop it. This won't lead to anything good. Yes, you could have had a lot of things. But you didn't. Instead you grew up with shitty parents who shouldn't have been allowed to be parents in the first place."
"Why did she leave me? Why?" Blaine's tears increased and his body once again shook with sobs.
Kurt held him until Blaine's energy had been completely drained and he fell asleep. Kurt glanced at the clock. 11pm. Blaine had been crying for hours. Kurt tried to untangle himself from Blaine to get ready for bed, but Blaine didn't let him go. Kurt sighed and stayed where he was. Not long after, there was a quiet knock on the door. Kurt watched as Carole entered.
"He's okay?"
Kurt shook his head. No, Blaine wasn't okay. He would be at some point, but tonight he wasn't. Carole nodded, she knew what Kurt meant.
"Can I do anything?"
"Yes, I need to go to the bathroom but he won't let me leave."
"Oh, I know that feeling!" Carole smiled and climbed on the bed.
She rolled Blaine away from Kurt and let him cling to her instead. Kurt smiled at her and got up and went into the bathroom. Carole stayed and looked down at Blaine. His hair was sweaty and his face was swollen from crying. He was wearing a hoodie and sweats. She removed the hoodie but waited for Kurt to remove the rest.
"Oh, Blaine, we love you so much. We'll never leave you honey. You're stuck with us for the rest of your life." She whispered and placed a kiss on his forehead.
When Kurt came out dressed in his pajamas, they managed, with a combined effort, to remove his sweats and put on pajama pants instead. Carole went downstairs and got his medicine and Kurt managed to wake him enough to take it. Carole kissed them both on their forehead before she went to bed.
Blaine was haunted that night, memories of his father coming for him, coming to beat him up, forcing him to stay out in the rain all night were mixed with images of Kurt being hurt by Blaine's father. He screamed and thrashed in bed all through the night, and Kurt woke him up more times than he would remember the next morning. Around two, Carole switched with him, and Kurt fell into a deep sleep next to his father.
Due to his heavy sleeping medicine and sedatives, Blaine never woke up properly. He did wake up and slurred some words at Carole, but his mind was still in sleeping mood. This made him fall back into nightmares. Carole's heart broke for him. They finally fell into a deep sleep around 5 am when Carole had been humming to Blaine for twenty minutes.
Burt made pancakes for breakfast the following morning. Puck was the first one to join him in the kitchen.
"Good morning, kiddo, sleep well?" Burt asked him and gave him a morning-hug.
"Well, you know..." Puck shrugged.
"It kept you up as well?"
"Yeah... But don't say anything to Blaine about it. I think I fell asleep around 3."
"Okay."
"Did you get any sleep?" Puck asked him.
"Yes, some." Burt shrugged as well. He had fallen asleep around 4.
Finn came into the kitchen and took his place at the table.
"Pancakes? Awesome! Where's mom?"
"She's still sleeping. Did you sleep well, Finn?" Burt asked.
"Yup!"
"Man, you can sleep through anything!" Puck said and shook his head at his friend.
"What? Why? What happened?"
"Just, you know that letter Blaine got after thanksgiving? I'm guessing it hit him during the night." Puck explained.
"Well, I haven't heard a thing."
"That's good, when is Bonnie coming here?" Burt asked.
Finn groaned.
"Don't remind me! She's coming at 1 pm. What's the time now?"
"It's ten." Kurt answered as he entered the kitchen still in his pajamas.
"Did Carole's presence do the trick?" He asked his dad.
"No, but you slept so hard it didn't disturb you."
"You should've woken me."
"Why? It isn't necessary for you to be awake if you don't have to. It wasn't like Blaine was all alone."
"Yeah... You're right... When did they fall asleep?"
"Don't know, I fell asleep around four, and then they were still dealing with the nightmares."
"Poor Blaine." Puck said.
After breakfast, Kurt took a shower in his parent's bathroom. He snuck into his room to take his history books. Carole and Blaine were still sound asleep. Blaine had thrown pillows around the room and Kurt picked them up and placed them next to the bed. The cover had been kicked off and he placed it back on the bed and on top of Carole and Blaine. Neither of them noticed it. Kurt took his books and went to the kitchen.
Silence settled over the house. Burt had fallen asleep in one of the armchairs after doing the dishes, and the three waken teens were all studying. It kept on like that until 1 pm when the doorbell rang. It didn't ring just once; it rang five times one after another. Burt was quickly woken and stumbled to the door. Outside, stood a blonde girl with a huge smile.
"Mr. Hudson, I presume? I'm Bonnie! I'm here to do an assignment with Finn."
"Right, I'm Burt Hummel, come in!" He opened the door to her.
Finn came downstairs and greeted Bonnie.
"I'm gonna make some coffee and sandwiches, would you like some before you start the movie?" Burt asked them.
"Yes, food!" Finn said and grinned.
"Yes, please." Bonnie said and followed Finn and Burt into the kitchen where Kurt was studying.
"Hi, you're in my math class. I'm Bonnie."
"Right, hi, I'm Kurt."
"My name isn't really Bonnie, its Karen. But I suspect that I'm a witch, and then I wanna be as cool as Bonnie in Vampire diaries! Have you seen it? You should, you're gonna love it! It's awesome!" She kept on talking and Kurt just stared at her.
Bonnie's intensive ringing on the door had woken Blaine and Carole. Carole took a shower, but since Blaine needed help for it, he wandered downstairs. He entered the kitchen where Puck also had joined them when the smell of coffee had reached him. Blaine stood for a while in the doorway and looked at his family. Then Bonnie saw him.
"Are you like a vampire that needs to be invited in to this room to be able to go inside?" She asked him with curiosity.
"What?" Blaine asked. He went inside and took a cup from the cupboard and poured himself some coffee before he sat down at the table. Bonnie was explaining her theory once again.
"I'm not a vampire."
"Oh, that's kinda disappointing."
"I'm Blaine, I guess you're Bonnie?"
"Yup! That's me! You're Finn's brother?"
"Mmhmm." Blaine nodded while sipping on his coffee.
"Are you hungry?" Burt asked him.
"Yes, I am. Can you help me make a sandwich?" Blaine asked him while holding up the casted hand.
"I'll do it!" Puck offered.
"Good morning to you all!" Carole said and entered the kitchen. She went around the table and hugged her boys until she came to Bonnie.
"Hi, I'm Carole! Welcome to our house!"
"Wow, you're a mom and you sleep until 1 am? That's so cool."
"Well, sometimes you have to." Carole smiled.
"Sorry, mom." Blaine mumbled.
"Hush you." She smiled at him.
"So, have you decided on what movie to watch?" She changed subject and looked at Finn and Bonnie.
"Yes, we choose Beautiful mind. It's filled with crazy people to analyze!" Bonnie said.
Kurt choked on his coffee and started coughing.
"You okay?" Bonnie asked him, completely unaware of why he had reacted.
"Crazy isn't a word we use in this house to describe people." Finn told her.
"Oh, I didn't mean anything bad about it."
"It's just... It's one of those words you shouldn't use at all." Finn said.
"But..." Bonnie started talking but was interrupted by Puck.
"So, I'm going over to Sam."
"Okay." Burt said. "You'll be home for dinner?"
"No, I don't think so. I might sleep there."
"Okay, let us know." Carole smiled at him.
"Who's Sam? Your boyfriend?" Bonnie said in a mocking tone and laughed.
"Oh my... Why don't we just watch the movie?" Finn said and got up.
"Would you mind if I watched with you?" Blaine asked them.
"No problem, bro." Finn said.
"Thanks, everyone is studying so..." Blaine shrugged.
Finn and Bonnie went into the living room. Blaine took his cup to the sink and took his medicine there.
"My wrist is really sore today."
"You were using it all night, so it isn't weird." Kurt said who had gone after him to get a hug.
They hugged and kissed.
"Hi."
"Good morning. Sorry I kept you awake."
"Like Carole said; hush! Go watch the movie about the crazy people and your boyfriend will stay here." Kurt said imitating Bonnie's mocking tone.
"She's quite intense..." Blaine said.
He went in to the living room where Finn and Bonnie were discussing how to tackle the assignment. He sat down on one of the couches and moved around a bit to find a comfortable position. He sighed and got up.
"Carole, can I have some painkillers?" He asked as he went into the kitchen again.
"Sure, but remember they make you sleepy."
"I know."
Blaine swallowed it down and went back to the living room. Finn sat on the floor while Bonnie sat on the couch. Blaine sat down on the other.
"You can sit down next to me, you know." Bonnie said to him.
"He'll be asleep soon anyway." Finn answered without thinking.
Blaine chuckled.
"Maybe not, what if I stay awake the entire movie, Finn?"
"You wanna bet on it?" Finn smiled to him.
"No..." Blaine said but smiled back.
"Ha!" Finn said. "Are we ready then?"
"Yes, press play!" Bonnie said.