Here is the next chapter for you all! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 14
"Uncle Peter…" Blaine began to say, but immediately got cut off by Peter.
"Sit," Peter demanded, pointing at the empty chair right next to him.
Blaine hesitated for a moment, fighting the impulse to run. He walked slowly over to the chair and delicately sat down, avoiding eye contact with everyone else in the room. He felt anxious about what Peter was going to do, and also betrayed by Kurt ratting him out to his Uncle. Kurt didn't understand the details of the situation, so therefore shouldn't have gone running to his Uncle. It was the ultimate betrayal.
"So before I absolutely lose it on you two, explain to me why I shouldn't send the two of you to juvie," Peter said softly.
Blaine realized that it wasn't when Peter was yelling at him that he had to fear, it was when he went soft like that. Blaine gulped, fidgeted in his seat, and tried to figure out how to answer him. It was a true testament of how mad his Uncle was that he was threatening to send him to juvie.
"It's my fault," Hunter said before Blaine could really even begin to brainstorm. "I convinced Blaine that it would be better to not tell you."
"It doesn't matter which one of you made the decision to not say anything," Mr. Fulton said in reply. "What matters is why the two of you have these burner phones. You went behind our backs, clearly planning on continuing to pull cons."
"We didn't have a choice!" Blaine finally cried out. "Mr. Clarington blackmailed us!"
"With what?" Peter asked, turning all of his attention toward Blaine and causing him to fidget in his seat again.
Blaine and Hunter made eye contact with each other, silently conversing as to whether or not they should give the full details.
"Boys!" Peter barked out.
"My dad said that if we didn't comply with his demands then he would give incriminating evidence on us to the F.B.I. of crimes you may or may not know that we've committed," Hunter muttered out, picking at his fingernails.
"It's very unlikely there is a crime you've committed we don't know about," Peter said, leaning back in the chair and folding his arms over his chest. "Even so, you know that I will work my ass off to keep the two of you out of juvie. There is a reason that I don't like sending kids there. We worked it out so that the only reason you can be sent to juvie is if you commit a new crime while under this deal or if I decide at any point that this deal isn't working."
"How were we supposed to know that?" Hunter cried out. "You can't blame us for not knowing that, when you didn't tell us."
"No matter what we did and didn't tell you," Mr. Fulton began. "You should have still come to us rather than go through with this plan."
Blaine and Hunter sighed, knowing that even though Peter knew the truth now they were still in a shit ton of trouble. Blaine regretted going along with Hunter and not telling Peter. He knew if he went back in time he would probably do the same thing though, he usually went along with what Hunter asked of him. The two were brothers, and he would never go against his brother. He just didn't like it when he had to face consequences because of it.
Everyone at the table sat in silence for a few moments, all lost in their own thoughts. Kurt was at war with himself as to whether or not to feel guilty. Overall he didn't regret telling Peter, it was something that the man needed to know. He just wished that Blaine would have had the sense to tell Peter in the first place. It wasn't what Kurt thought it was—the boys were being blackmailed, so Blaine hadn't gone back to his old life the way that Kurt had accused. Burt was just thankful that he wasn't the one that would have to deal with this situation. He would of course give Peter some advice, but he was very happy that it wasn't his own son that was sitting at the table in a situation like this. Mr. Fulton was trying to figure out what his next step as a guardian was to be. Ultimately it was Peter's choice as to if Hunter went to juvie, and he couldn't see the man deciding to go that way, but he had to have some adequate response to show the teen that this was a serious situation. Hunter was worried about what Blaine was thinking. He felt that it was his fault that they were in this situation. It was his dad that was blackmailing them and it was he who decided they shouldn't tell Peter. Blaine was facing consequences for that choice. Peter was trying to keep his cool. He didn't think he had ever been as upset as he was when Kurt handed him that burner phone. He thought Blaine had been doing so well, and he was now questioning his choice to keep Hunter so close. The two of them were clearly bad influences on each other. Blaine was just praying that his Uncle would keep his word and keep him out of juvie. He wasn't too worried, the man clearly hated sending people there. He supposed he should be more worried about what his Uncle's alternative punishments were.
"Well I think that our next plan of action is to follow through with what Mr. Clarington is asking," Peter said, breaking the silence. "He doesn't know that the FBI is now aware of what he asked of you two. When we go for the delivery we can arrest him."
"He's not stupid," Hunter stated. "He's going to spot Feds from a mile away. He also won't let anyone else do the exchange but me."
"Your father is clearly desperate at the moment," Peter replied. "He wouldn't have come to you two if he wasn't. He clearly knows he is risking getting arrested because of how closely the two of you are monitored. There has to be some reason that he thinks getting arrested is preferable to not completing this job."
Hunter thought about what Peter said for a few moments before nodding. It wasn't usual for his father to have pulled a move like cornering them in a Costco parking lot. Peter could have very possibly been waiting in the car in the parking lot and have spotted him.
"My team is going to see what we can dig up as to why he would be so desperate for this piece or the money that he can get from this piece," Peter explained. "When we have more information we will bring the two of you into the office to discuss this further."
Blaine and Hunter nodded. Blaine attempted to keep his poker face, but his insides were squirming. It was clear that this part of the conversation was wrapping up, and they were moving into the hard stuff.
"Now what to do with the two of you in the meantime," Peter said with a sigh, running his hands down his face in exhaustion.
"Why don't you two sleep on it and decide in the morning," Burt suggested, looking at his watch. "It's already past 2 in the morning and I don't think any hard decisions should be made this late at night."
Both Peter and Mr. Fulton immediately nodded their agreement to this. They were both exhausted and really didn't want to deal with their two wayward charges at the moment.
"Blaine, go to your room and I don't want to see you out of that bedroom other than to use the bathroom until I fetch you in the morning," Peter said, pointing upstairs in the direction of Blaine's room.
"Yes, sir," Blaine said softly, getting up from his chair to follow his Uncle's orders.
As Blaine headed to go upstairs he caught Kurt's eyes. Kurt looked at him pleading, begging Blaine to forgive him for some of the harsh things that he had said earlier. Blaine just turned his head away and headed upstairs as if he didn't see anything. He wasn't quite ready to fully forgive Kurt yet. Some of those things that he had said had really hurt, not to mention the fact that he went to Peter. It was going to take a little bit of time to get over with.
"Come on Hunter," Mr. Fulton said, gesturing for the boy to stand up as well. "We best head home and you can head straight to your room as well. Like Peter said, I will come get you in the morning and I best find that you have stayed in your room all night. Understood?"
"Yes, sir," Hunter muttered in reply, the word still feeling weird on his lips. He could probably count on one hand how many times he used the word 'sir' growing up. He had lost count since living with Mr. Fulton, though.
As soon as Mr. Fulton and Hunter were out the door, Burt moved to stand as well. Kurt didn't follow suit just yet.
"Do you think he will forgive me?" Kurt asked Peter.
"I think it may take some time, but he will eventually realize that you did the right thing by coming to me," Peter replied softly, feeling bad that Kurt was caught in the middle of this. He really wished that Blaine had been more mature and just come to him, because in that case he could have saved them from this whole situation.
"I was just so terrified that he was throwing away all of the progress that he made," Kurt admitted. "I didn't want to lose him because he made some mistake and ended up in jail because of it."
"I promise you, you did the right thing," Peter replied, moving around the table to sit next to Kurt. "I also promise you that Blaine hasn't thrown away all the progress he made, he just made a mistake. I still think he sees that what he did was wrong, but some habits are hard to break. Hunter and Blaine have formed a brotherly bond between the two of them and would do anything for each other. Unfortunately for them, it often leads them astray."
Kurt nodded his understanding. He couldn't help but feel a little jealous of the bond between Blaine and Hunter. He knew that it wasn't in a romantic way like it was between himself and Blaine, but he understood that there were parts of his life that he would only ever share with Hunter. The two were seriously like brothers in that way, and try as he might Kurt would never understand the 'con' part of Blaine's life. Hunter and Blaine had been through so much together and the only ones who could understand it were each other.
"Good night, Peter," Kurt said standing up and pushing the kitchen chair in. "Thank you for letting us have the party here tonight even if things did turn out this way."
Peter nodded. "Good night, Kurt. Don't worry things will get better."
Peter headed up to bed, hoping that Elizabeth would get home soon. Elizabeth had left to take Carole home after Kurt came in with the burner phone. He knew that the two ladies would probably chat until Burt and Kurt got home and then Elizabeth would finally leave. Peter got ready for bed trying to figure out what to do about the situation. It was then that he realized that he still had an important phone call to make.
"Hey, Uncle Peter. What's up?" Cooper answered after the third ring.
"I hope I didn't wake you," Peter said. "I just knew that this phone call couldn't wait until the morning."
Cooper sighed. "What did Blaine do now?"
Peter briefly explained the events of the evening, Elizabeth coming home part way through the explanation. She sat next to Peter on the bed, putting her arms around him in support.
"You are thinking about taking some pretty drastic measures in response to this, aren't you?" Cooper asked once Peter finished his explanation.
"I have to," Peter replied, his voice sounding tired.
"Not that it makes a difference, but no matter what you do you have my support," Cooper replied. "He needs to learn that his serious actions have serious consequences. I just want my little brother back. He has so much potential and it would be such a shame to waste it sitting in a prison cell."
"Your support does matter, Cooper," Peter replied. "I think I know what I have to do."
Cooper promised that he would be there bright and early the next morning for when they talked with Hunter and Blaine. He agreed with what Peter wanted to do, thinking that it was the best response to the situation at hand. Elizabeth also gave her support to the idea. The only thing left was to pitch the idea to Mr. Fulton and then tell the boys. That was going to be the hard part—they were bound to be very unhappy.
Blaine woke up bright and early the next morning. Rolling over in his bed he looked at the alarm clock and saw that it was 7:30. Despite having so little sleep, Blaine found that he could not go back to bed. He was too worried about what was going to happen. Blaine eventually got out of bed and grabbed his guitar, strumming it as quietly as possible so that he wouldn't wake his Aunt or Uncle. It did the trick, playing music always calmed him down. It was really his ticket to another world. Hunter often used drugs and alcohol to get to his happy place, but all Blaine needed was a guitar. Painting helped him clear his head, but not in the same way that music did. Plus he always had to have music blasting when he painted, and not your typical soothing classical music. Blaine painted from everything from AC/DC to Blink-182 and Green Day.
Within the hour Blaine found that he had written a song on the guitar. He had only written a few songs over the years and had never really been that happy with them. This was the first song that he actually felt proud of.
Even when the sky is falling down,
Even when the earth is crumbling round my feet,
Even when we try to say goodbye,
You could cut the tension with a knife in here,
'Cause I know what'll happen,
If we get through this
"Did you write that?"
Blaine's head snapped up, he hadn't even heard anyone walk into the room. Blaine put the guitar down, shifting awkwardly on the bed.
"Yeah, I did," Blaine replied. "I guess I don't need to ask what you're doing here."
"For once I wish you did, little brother," Cooper said, sitting down on the bed next to Blaine and picking up the guitar he put down. "I wish I knew how to play this. I don't have the attention span to learn, though."
Blaine didn't reply. He didn't know what to say.
"You really fucked up this time, Blaine," Cooper said, finally putting the guitar back down after horribly failing at his attempt to play it.
"I know," Blaine whispered in reply. "Do you know what Uncle Peter is planning?"
"I do," Cooper replied. "I agree with it."
Blaine sighed, knowing that he would have to wait to hear what it was. Cooper would never tell him.
"Hunter should be over in about an hour and then Uncle Peter is going to come get you," Cooper said, standing up from the bed. "I just wanted to come see you first."
Without another word Cooper turned and walked out of the room. Blaine sat there for a few moments before deciding to go use the bathroom and take a shower. For all he knew he could be heading to juvie, so this might be the last shower he truly enjoyed for quite a while.
Right on schedule Peter came up to get him an hour later. He didn't say anything other than that Blaine was to come downstairs. When he arrived he found Hunter, Mr. Fulton, Elizabeth and Cooper all sitting at the kitchen table. It felt like a terrible sense of déjà vu. Blaine went and sat down in the same chair that he had occupied the night before.
"Every one of us has discussed this and have come to a unanimous decision," Peter began, walking over to the counter and picking up two items from it. He placed one in front of Hunter and one in front of Blaine.
Blaine hesitated for a moment before finally looking down. It was a brochure and it had Elton Walker School for Boys in big bold letters on the front cover.
"You're sending us to reform school?" Hunter cried out before Blaine could even process it.
"It's not a reform school exactly," Mr. Fulton replied.
"Then what is it?" Blaine asked incredulous.
He hadn't opened the brochure yet, not sure that he wanted to know more.
"It's an all-boys boarding school that specializes in troubled teens," Peter explained. "One of my closest friends is the Headmaster there."
"It's gated," Hunter cried out, clearly not having the same reserve as Blaine. He was flipping through the pamphlet trying to figure out as much information as possible.
"You are not allowed to leave the property other than for spring and Easter break when either Mr. Fulton or myself will pick you up," Peter said. "Your day will run like any other school day. You will get up and eat breakfast with your house and you will have classes from 7:55 to 2:15. After that you are required to join a sports team. You will have practice right after classes. After practice there will be a mandatory study hall with your Head of House, followed by dinner. After dinner you have free time until bed. Lights out is at 10."
"Head of House?" Blaine asked, raising an eyebrow. "Is this Hogwarts?"
"You will be separated into different houses when you get there," Mr. Fulton explained. "Fair warning, Peter and I have already contacted the school and told them to not put the two of you in the same house. We think that a little time apart will do you two some good. You do a lot of activities with your house like mandatory community service projects on the weekends and such. Your sports teams are the six different houses playing against each other."
Blaine began flipping through the brochure, trying to process all of this information. That was when Blaine realized something and flipped back to the front cover. He didn't know how he missed it before. Under the name of the school, in a little smaller of font were the words: Littleton, Colorado.
"The school is in Colorado?!" Blaine cried out, actually standing up in his shock.
"Yes," Peter replied, gesturing for Blaine to sit back down.
Blaine reluctantly did as Peter asked and sat down.
"We all feel that the two of you will benefit from getting out of New York," Mr. Fulton explained.
"So does that mean the anklet comes off?" Blaine asked hopeful, he didn't want to have to go to another new school with the annoying accessory.
"No," Peter replied. "Both of you are going to keep the anklets. The radius is going to be the school grounds, and the teachers already know how to work it so that you can go on community service trips off campus. Trust me, you guys aren't the only ones on campus with either SCRAM or tracking anklets. There are no violent offenders, but you will meet a lot of petty theft, truancy, and even grand theft auto."
"When do we leave?" Hunter asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
Mr. Fulton and Peter both replied at the same time.
"Tomorrow."
All Blaine could think about was what that was going to mean for him and Kurt.
The song included in this chapter is not actually an original song by Blaine Anderson-shocking, I know. It's called Gotta Get Out by 5 Seconds of Summer, you should check it out. I have a link in my profile to the song.