Blaine, I think you need to go online and check WBNS-10TV.
Blaine, who was at his internship, looked up at Bob who was looking down at a contract he'd been working on for three days—it may or may not have been under the radar and it may or may not have also been Alex's inheritance, Blaine's original inheritance and its documents, as well as Blaine's 'corrected' inheritance documents.
Blaine never used his phone at the internship but he figured it would be okay once.
Alex texted him again.
Like, now.
Blaine opened Facebook, going to the Westerville local news page.
There was live footage and it was the outside of his father's pediatric office. There were also at least five police cars and a black jeep.
The son of senator Miranda Anderson, who died of cancer less than a year ago, was arrested here not more than half an hour ago. Documents uncovered at this medical office behind me prove that he and the Senator colluded to steal money from both Brandon Anderson's son's inheritances as well as money from the city and state. Records found go back as far as 1990.
"Are… Uhm…" Blaine looked up. "Did you…"
Bob looked up. "Are you okay?"
"My dad was just arrested at work. Did you…?"
"I have a buddy who works in the FBI and was called to Westerville about two weeks ago. An undercover cop was onto a doctor whose last name matched yours… and then you brought these in. I put two and two together." Bob looked him in the eyes. "I took care of it for you."
Blaine opened his mouth but nothing came out.
"I apologize if you didn't want me to get that involved but this asshat isn't going to take what is rightfully yours. Not while I'm here." Bob continued. "We don't have to talk about it. Once I found out one of the kids was you, though, I couldn't help myself."
"Thank you." Blaine's voice was very quiet.
"You're very welcome. Let's not talk about it here, though. Some in the office might see it as a conflict of interest if they found out."
Blaine opened his mouth again.
"You're welcome, Blaine. Now get back to work." Bob pointed at Blaine's desk where several of his class notes were laid out.
Blaine took a deep breath and looked at his notes before looking back up. "Can I… Do I need to…"
"You're working on your homework. If you want to leave, go for it." Bob said. "I'll clock you out at 5:00 still."
"Are you sure?" Blaine asked.
"Get out of here, Anderson. I don't want to see you here until after your morning class tomorrow." Bob pointed at the door.
"Okay, thanks." Blaine grabbed his bag. "Do we need to… do I need to pay you?"
"Pay me back by working your ass off in school and being a great lawyer here. You're an investment in this office, Blaine. Don't ever think otherwise." Bob looked him in the eyes. "I would appreciate if you turned down other options for jobs after graduation. I'll match whatever price they will."
"I haven't even applied. You already offered me a job after school so I don't need to." Blaine put his bag over his shoulder.
"You're good enough that they will come to you." Bob said. "People are talking about you and Adrian. You're both much better than all your classmates. You two will go far. I hope you go far here."
"I'm not going anywhere." Blaine promised.
"Good." Bob gave him a rare smile. "I'll see you tomorrow morning."
"Thank you." Blaine said.
"You're welcome. Get out of here." Bob looked back down at his paperwork.
…
"I can't believe this!" Kurt said, coming into Blaine's bedroom.
"Oh, hey!" Blaine looked up from his bed where he was doing some reading. "You didn't say you were coming!"
"I know. I wasn't going to, but I want to make sure you're okay. I can't believe your boss did that for you and said all of that. Oh my God." Kurt said on the bed across from him, moving a couple of papers over. "Oh my God, Blaine."
"I know! I don't even know what to think. I asked if he could look over the inheritance paperwork—I got nervous because I never met Alex's lawyer, you know? Bob was going to contact Alex's lawyer last I heard and then Alex is texting me to look at the news and I started to ask Bob if he knew anything and he said he 'took care of it' for me before I could get the full question out. But he can't even tell anyone because it could be a conflict of interest. Everyone thinks he's this grumpy and overworked lawyer but he did that for me. I'm just an intern." Blaine took a deep breath. "Nobody even knows he's this great person except for me—and you, I guess."
"He must really like you." Kurt looked into his eyes.
"I asked if I could pay him something for it and he asked me to repay him by working for him after graduation. Permanently, not as a starting job. He said offers are going to start coming in and that he'd match anything anyone offered. He said I was an investment at CMJ." Blaine continued.
"You are. You work your ass of every single day for school and for the internship. You talk to prospective undergraduates that want to come here after they graduate undergrad for two hours twice a week because you want to help other people. You do all these things that take a lot of time and half of them you don't have to do. You get it all done, and you still manage to be a great friend, a wonderful partner, and an overall good person. You are an investment and you are probably the hardest working intern he's ever had." Kurt said, grabbing his hands. "I wish you saw in yourself what everybody else sees."
"I appreciate that." Blaine made eye contact with him. "And you."
"I appreciate you as well." Kurt smiled.
"I know you do." Blaine grabbed his hands and squeezed them both with his own.
"But how are you doing with… the whole your family thing?"
"I've been okay. When I'm not thinking about it, it's fine. But since hearing his voice again I keep thinking about the… well, the worst times." Blaine looked down uncomfortably. "I don't know."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I don't want to worry you. I'm fine, I promise." Blaine smiled a bit.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"Not really. I'm mainly thinking about when I was so upset I had to stay in a room for three hours with David's dad so I wouldn't do something stupid." Blaine briefly made eye contact before looking away. "It's hard not to think about when everything bad goes back to him."
"Hey, look at me." Kurt reached over and shook his leg.
Blaine looked up.
"That's over. Think about it one more time, tell yourself you made it through it, and don't think about it again." Kurt maintained eye contact and put his hand on Blaine's cheek. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that, Blaine."
"Thanks." Blaine didn't look away.
"I'm so glad you're here now with me. I know it may be hard for a couple of days to not think about everything but it will pass. Keep being you and don't let anything change you, okay? You've got a lot of people that love you just the way you are, Blaine. One of them is downstairs right now painting his girlfriend's—"
"Fiancé. He'll correct you." Blaine smiled a bit.
"Fiancé's toenails." Kurt finished.
"Thanks." Blaine's smile grew.
"You're killing it, Blaine. You really are. I know you're going to think about it sometimes and stuff will come up to remind you but look at Alex. Every time you've seen him apart from two or three times, he hasn't mentioned your parents once. He's had a lot longer to heal but one day you'll see your dad's name or face and it won't bring up all of this stuff." Kurt squeezed his hands.
"You're right." Blaine nodded a bit, scooting over
"You had a really good day today, though. Your inheritance stuff is settled, your dad is locked up at least for the foreseeable future, and your boss not only has your back but he sees how awesome of a lawyer you're going to be and you haven't even graduated. You're amaze me every day and I'm glad I'm not the only one who sees you that way. You really are the best." Kurt said.
Blaine leaned against him, head on his shoulder, and sniffled a bit. "I'm so glad I have you, Kurt."
"I'm so glad I have you." Kurt wrapped an arm around his waist. "We're each other's biggest cheerleaders, you know?"
"I think Burt might be our biggest cheerleader." Blaine laughed a bit.
"You may be right." Kurt laughed too.
"Can you stay the night?" Blaine shifted so he was looking up at Kurt.
"Of course. I'll probably be gone before you wake up in the morning, though. I have a class at 10AM." Kurt bent his head to kiss Blaine. "And don't say 'never mind' because I want to. I planned to."
"Are you sure? That's so early." Blaine looked hesitant.
"I am positive. Come on. We're going to go and talk more about your awesome boss and how awesome this job is going to be." Kurt hopped up.
"Aren't you… kind of sad? That I'll work here… for good?" Blaine asked. "And you'll be working in New York City?"
"We will figure that out. I'm just so happy for you. I want every single one of your dreams to come true even if it means a longer drive to work."
"I know that it was never in the picture to live halfway between our jobs." Blaine stood.
"It will all work out how it's supposed to." Kurt reassured him. "Do you want to get apple cider somewhere? It's feeling very fall-ish today."
"Can it have alcohol in it?" Blaine asked, looping his arm through Kurt's.
"That sounds like an excellent idea right now." Kurt nodded.
Long Time Coming
"You got home super late! I need to ask you something!" Adrian came up to Blaine, who is in Bob's office and going over some paperwork.
"Sorry, Kurt surprised me yesterday." Blaine said, looking much happier than he had yesterday.
"You and Kurt are adorable." Adrian sighed. "Sometimes Matt brings me cookies from the place that we actually met, you know, after he pulled me over…"
"That's sweet." Blaine smiled.
"Anyway, do you know Brandon Anderson? His dead mother was a senator and apparently she and her son were corrupt."
"Why would I?" Blaine asked, caught off guard. "Where did you hear this? Who told you I know him?"
"Nobody told me you knew him." Adrian said quickly. "I saw the story on Fark and I remembered you saying you were from Westerville and I was curious."
"I don't know him." Blaine shook his head and then added, "Thankfully. That sounds like a big mess"
Adrian waved his hand. "I figured you didn't but I thought I'd ask."
"No, sorry." Blaine smiled.
"Okay well I'm supposed to be grabbing something for Ryan but I saw you were here and…" Adrian trailed off. "That was it."
"Bye, then. See you at home."
"You mean you two aren't dating?" Bob, who had come in unnoticed when they were talking, asked. "You have another partner?"
Blaine looked up, surprised. "Oh, uhm… I have another partner. And he does too. We are, in fact, not dating."
Bob stared at him, unblinking. "But he moved in with you."
"Me and two other people." Blaine looked confused. "How do you know he lives with me?"
"Interns talk. We usually know more about your guys' drama than you do." Bob sighed. "Shit. I'm never wrong about interns dating." Bob sighed again. "Okay, well, as long as you're happy that's all that matters, I guess. Even if I lost $3,000."
"$3,000?" Blaine coughed.
"The bets run high around here. Don't participate in any because once you do it once, they don't let you out." Bob said. "Can I ask you why you said you didn't know your father?"
"I'd really rather not talk about it here." Blaine licked his lips.
"Fine." Bob stood. "Let's go for a walk or lunch or something because we need to talk."
Blaine looked down at his paperwork.
"It will be there when we get back and I won't keep you too long." Bob gestured for him to follow him out the door.
Blaine put on his jacket, more confused than ever.
"Are you hungry?" Bob asked once they had walked a good block from the office.
"Not really." Blaine said. "What's going on?"
"Some stuff is probably going to come up." Bob sighed before sitting on a bench.
"What do you mean?"
"Someone came forward from the… camp you went to for a few summers ago. I assume they are trying to take the heat off of your father by coming out about his horrible gay son."
All the color drained from Blaine's face.
"It went to a Cincinnati news station… My friend in the FBI told me." Bob looked at Blaine. "They're trying to keep this under wraps since you were a minor at the time. Your grandmother was a senator, though which means that people are interested."
Blaine opened his mouth but nothing came out.
"I was trying to help and I'm afraid I made it worse, Blaine. I'm so sorry."
"No." Blaine looked down. "I've known it would eventually happen. I just… shit."
"I'm so sorry."
"No, it's not your fault. It was going to happen anyway." Blaine the palms of his hands over his eyes and took several deep breaths.
"No, well for that too. I'm talking about going to a place like that… for four summers. I can't even imagine." Bob put his hand on Blaine's shoulder.
"You don't want to." Blaine choked out before covering his mouth.
"They're trying to keep this from getting publicized because you were a minor but my friend wanted you to know so you're not blind sighted when it comes up,"
"It was going to happen anyway. She was a senator. This was probably the first of many things to come out." Blaine sat up from, his face red. "It's fine."
"It's not fine." Bob said. "Don't let them tell your story."
"What do you mean?"
"Beat them to it, Blaine. Don't do this on their terms. Tell them like you're writing an essay."
"I can't do that." Blaine's eyes widened.
"It sounds like they've already taken enough for you." Bob looked him in the eyes. "Don't let them take another ounce."
"What, am I supposed to write a letter or what? I mean, what do I say?" Blaine choked out.
"What you want them to know and understand." Bob said. "Do it however you want but make sure it gets there first."
Blaine covered his face again, letting out a sob.
"You are going to move past this." Bob leaned over. "And you're going to be a better man for it. You will help other people… I know you never wanted to have to do this but… don't let them out you or shame you for who you are because you have nothing to be ashamed of. Do you hear me?"
Blaine nodded.
"I'm so sorry, Blaine. I never… would have guessed that your father was like… that. I am so sorry I played a part in him get arrested and this coming out."
"It's okay." Blaine sat up and wiped his face. "Can I go home?"
"Yes. I'll make sure your bag is locked up with my stuff tonight, okay?" Bob stood. "Look, I want to give you my personal cell phone number. Use it. I'm out of court all day."
"Thank you." Blaine stood too, taking his business card with his cell phone scribbled on the back.
…
"Oh my God, Blaine." Wes said an hour later, sitting on Blaine's bed. "I'm sorry. I just got home. Oh my God."
"I-It's okay." Blaine sniffled.
"Is Kurt on his way?"
"N-No. He has a presentation that's 50% of his midterm grade but he's going to come after." Blaine shook his head. "David is on his way now, though. He left work early."
"Okay." Wes put his hand on Blaine's back and rubbed. "I'm so sorry, Blaine."
"It sucks because Bob didn't know this was going to h-happen and he feels awful." Blaine choked out.
"When will David be here?"
"Soon I think. I've been home a while." Blaine stood. "I need to calm down but I can't stop crying. It's like a faucet."
Wes stood, arm going around Blaine's shoulders. "Shhh. Just take a minute and breathe."
"I called Kurt's dad." Blaine choked out. "I didn't want him to hear it from… from, I don't know. So now Carole probably knows and your mom never knew so she will know and my professors will know."
"The story hasn't broken yet." Wes moved his hand up and down Blaine's arm.
"I don't know when it will." Blaine took a deep breath.
"Good, another one."
Blaine did so as David came in.
"Shit, Blaine."
"I know." Blaine sniffled as David hugged him. "I have to do something. I have to say something before the news."
"What do we want to do?" David asked. "What do we want to say?"
"I don't know." Blaine wiped his eyes. "I think I want to write something and… and read it. Then send it in to the news place that wants to break the story. I don't wantto do any of this, but I can't have them thinking whatever the other side wants them to think. I'm about to start a career in law and if they think I'm dishonest or that I'm like my family I will never get clients. I really hate my family right now."
David hugged him again, not letting go for several minutes.
"What are we writing?" Wes asked again.
It was always 'we' with the three of them. One person never faced anything alone.
Blaine took another deep breath. "That I don't want to be in this position but in lieu of recent events, I have to. The he tried to hide me away because of who I am and they sent me to a conversion camp to try to get the gay away. That it was a horrible experience that was traumatic but through everything it has also made me closer with the people dearest to me. That those camps should be shut down and then ask them to please leave me alone."
"We love you, Blainers."
"I love you guys too."
"Can someone tell Adrian before I do it? I lied and told him I didn't know my dad but he's obviously going to find out now." Blaine's lip trembled. "Oh my god."
"I will." Wes said gently, leaving the room.
"We can do this." David hugged him again. "You are brave and you can do this."
Blaine took a deep breath and nodded. "Thank you for leaving work."
"I wouldn't have not been here." David whispered in his ear. "You know that."
"Going to classes tomorrow is going to be horrible."
"No," David said gently. "It won't. You go in with your head held high and it'll be fine."
"Everyone is going to think all of these things or feel sorry for me. I don't need everyone looking at me like I'm a freak."
"No. They won't—not the people that matter, anyway." David rubbed his back with one hand. "So, let's get all of this crying out and then you need to take a shower and we'll tape this thing and then we'll move forward from all of this bullshit."
"I don't think I can do this, David."
"You may not think you can, but you can to do it. After it's over we will move on like nothing happened and we'll get on with the rest of our lives." David said, looking back up when Wes came in.
"He knows." Wes sighed. "I also let him know what's going on seeing as… I'm sure it's going to get out."
"How did he react?" Blaine asked.
"He's sad for you. He's not upset. I think he understands." Wes responded, squeezing his shoulder.
"I don't even know why I lied. He asked and I think I panicked." Blaine rubbed his face. "Shit."
"It's okay. Nobody can blame you." Wes reassured him.
"I guess." Blaine wiped his eyes one last time and then dropped his cell phone on his bed. "I guess I'm going to go take a shower.
"We'll be here waiting." David promised, sitting on the edge of Blaine's bed.
"We got you, Blaine." Wes added.
"Thanks." Blaine murmured before going into the bathroom.
…
Good afternoon. My name is Blaine Wyatt Anderson and I am the youngest son of Brandon and Kayla Anderson. I am also the youngest grandson of former Senator Anderson who was elected four years ago and focused heavily on that status quo in relation to political issues – siding with the Republican Party. She also made several attempts to forbid gay marriage within the state as well as legal unions even though much of the country has become more open to this.
I am mentioning this because I am gay and came out at the age of twelve. My father, Brandon Anderson, thought he could eradicate this several ways, one of which was sending me to the Sunshine Project—which is ironic because this was a conversation camp which is defined as a pseudoscientific practice of trying to change an individual's orientation using psychological and/or spiritual interventions. There is nothing uplifting or bright.
The Sunshine Project was a terrible place that is mostly hidden from the public eye like many other conversion camps are. This place tortures young gay kids in physical, mental, and emotional ways—all with parental consent. I am not saying this to make people feel sorry for me because I am out of this situation and it is over for me. I was taken in by two very gracious families at the age of sixteen, both being the families of my two best friends. It isn't over for a lot of people, though. There are approximately 150 teenagers enrolled in the camp I attended for this coming summer. 72 of them are returning. Many of them are probably 12 like I was the first time.
I am saying this today because The Sunshine Project has threatened to leak that I am a homosexual, that my family could not control me—at twelve years old— and that they sent me to this 'camp' because they had 'no other option' to discredit what most people know me as. The group is likely saying this at the request of my father, who donated a lot of money to this group every year I attended. He was arrested yesterday for reasons you already know. I had no hand in any of the crimes that my grandmother—Senator Anderson—and my father committed. I have not had contact with my parents in almost eight years and have barely talked to him since I was quote disowned unquote.
Instead of using what I have said today to take another hit at my dead grandmother and my father, take it as a chance to provide additional help to young LGBTQ teenagers. Many of them are in similar situations and have no support system or mentors. Also take this as a chance to inform yourself of how these camps really are because I can assure you there is at least one in every state. If anyone started an investigation at any of these camps around the country, they would see how unethical they are. Also, with a little bit of research you would see they do nothing but make the kids that attend more scared than they already are.
As a resource for any child or teenage or even adult who needs help, the LGBT National Hotline is 888-843-4564. There are also groups in your city that can help you and they can be found online or by calling the hotline number provided. They can help and it will get better.
Thank you.
Long Time Coming
Kurt was sitting with Blaine the morning after the video aired—mostly in Ohio, but some LGBT groups were quick to air it as well. Supposedly officials had arrested several of the people that worked at the Sunshine Project early that morning and more arrests were to come as well. But who knew if that was real or talk?
"I really don't feel like going to school today." Blaine slouched down, his head now on Kurt's chest.
"Can you just… take a personal day?" Kurt asked, playing with one of Blaine's curls.
"No." He laughed a bit—it sounded less forced than they had last night, at least.
"When is your class?" Kurt moved his hand down, rubbing Blaine's back.
"Two hours." Blaine sighed.
"Is it a class you have with Adrian?"
"Yeah. We usually ride together but I can't bring myself to even say anything to him. Four hours before I wrote that thing I lied and told him I had no idea who my dad was." Blaine sat up straight. "I can't even bring myself to leave my room right now. I only want human interaction from you, David, or Wes."
Kurt smiled a bit. "Unfortunately, it's the middle of the week in the middle of the school year."
Blaine nodded but didn't speak.
"I'm staying the night again tonight." Kurt rubbed his thigh.
"Thank you." Blaine leaned against him.
"You're welcome." Kurt kissed his cheek. "Did you get sleep last night?"
"I fell asleep around three after I shut off my phone." He admitted. "My Facebook is like blowing up. I think I'm going to delete it or purge it. I kind of regret making it visible again."
"People care about you."
Blaine smiled at that. "Yeah."
"Dad's worried and thinks he should come up here. He told me you called him and told him everything before you sent the video off. That was really brave, Blaine."
"I didn't want him to hear from the news. I— wanted to tell him myself." Blaine met his eyes. "He shouldn't worry. I'm fine."
"I know. I told him you'd feel better tomorrow." Kurt smiled. "But I have a feeling Dad and Carole will be coming this way before long."
Blaine took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "What did he say?"
"That he knew you would be okay but you needed the people that love you most around you right now."
Blaine nodded. It was the truth. Burt had become like a father to Blaine—checking in with Blaine just as often as he did Kurt.
Three of the people that cared for him the most were here with him, though. David had even taken off a few days at the hospital—Eric's doing, of course. Apparently, Eric was covering the shifts on top of his own, meaning he would be on 72 hours in a row.
"Are you going to the internship today?" Kurt asked, pulling him from his thoughts.
"I don't know. One of the founding guys called—it was Ryan, though, and not Bob. He told me I didn't have to come. I hope it's not because of… this mess."
"No, he probably wanted to give you time if you need it. You should go." Kurt sat up straight and looked him in the eyes.
"Yeah. I know." Blaine took a deep breath. "It's hard. I feel like they'll be looking at me and judging me."
"No." Kurt said gently. "Anybody who has ever met you would never judge you because of lies some random camp is trying to spread about you. Everyone knows you, Blaine. It's not like they've never met you. They've all known you were gay. It's not like some huge secret came out."
"I keep saying I know and I don't know. I don't know what else to say right now." Blaine stood. "I didn't get my reading done and I'll be too distracted at the internship to do actually do anything."
"I think you have a little bit of leeway here. People will understand." Kurt maintained eye contact.
"I'm going to take a shower." Blaine leaned over, kissed Kurt's cheek, and then went into the adjoining bathroom.
Kurt sighed a bit and left Blaine's bedroom, going into the kitchen.
"Hey, Kurt." Adrian, who was at the table, looked up from him textbook and smiled.
"Hi." Kurt smiled back, sitting at the table.
"Is he okay?"
"Yeah. He'll be fine. I think he needs to decompress, you know?" Kurt pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked it. It was mostly mutual friends from McKinley and Dalton checking on Blaine. "I know him. He'll be more like himself by the end of the night."
"Is there anything I can do? Or get for him? I… feel so bad."
"What he need right now is normalcy. Don't bring it up... but he sees you as a close friend. I'm sure he'll talk to you soon." Kurt sighed.
"I see him as a close friend too." Adrian admitted. "I wish I could do something."
"Acting like nothing happened until he brings it up would be doing a lot for him." Kurt scratched at his wrist distractedly. "He will talk to you about it, though. He wanted you to know before it aired and that says a lot."
"Good." Adrian nodded, looking relieved. "I guess he's not going to classes and the internship today?" Adrian asked.
"He's going to classes. I'm pretty sure he'll go to the internship too. He doesn't really do personal days." Kurt put his phone back in his pocket.
Adrian nodded, smiling when Blaine came in with wet curly hair. "Hey, Blaine."
"Hey." Blaine went straight for the fridge, grabbed a Dr. Pepper, and opened it.
"Don't you want food?" Kurt asked.
"No. He doesn't 'do breakfast' anymore." Adrian answered for Blaine, who was taking a big gulp of his drink.
AJ came into the room, went behind Blaine, and hugged him—slightly bigger baby bump and all. "I love you, Blaine. I'll buy you some ice cream next time."
Blaine twisted the lid onto his bottle and then patted her arms with his free hand. "Nah, I got you."
Kurt raised his eyebrow.
"He told me he'd buy me ice cream once a week for a year if I moved in… and he hasn't stopped yet." AJ said.
"You put up with Wes. It's the least I can do." Blaine joked, laughing a bit.
"I love you, Blaine. I just wanted you to know that." She looked him in the eyes.
"Thanks, I love you too." He gave her a one-armed hug.
"I'm going to take my peanut butter and watch Gilmore Girls before Wes gets home." She said before hugging Kurt. "I don't know you very well but I love you too. I love all of the people."
"Thanks." Kurt smiled as she walked out, peanut butter jar in hand.
"Are you sure you want to stay the night? I probably won't be home until six and I have an early class." Blaine asked, going up to him.
"I am leaving tomorrow afternoon. I told them I had a family emergency and they were more than willing to give me an extension." Kurt said firmly. "I'm staying."
"Okay." Blaine gave a small smile. "Adrian, are you ready to go?"
"As ready as I can be." Adrian groaned and stood up. "See you later, Kurt."
"Bye." Kurt waved as Blaine bent down to kiss him. "Stay positive. You've got so many people rooting for you."
"I'll try." Blaine grabbed his bookbag from where it was hanging and opened the door. When they made it to the car he said, "I didn't read anything I was supposed to."
"That's okay." Adrian got in the driver seat. "I wouldn't worry about it. Travis has stopped calling on us for answers since we always know them. It's not as fun for her."
"That's true." Blaine relaxed against the seat. His phone vibrated and when he looked down it was a message from Kurt.
Courage. -K
Blaine felt tears fill his eyes and he wiped them away quickly, typing out an I love you. Thank you.
"Are you okay?" Adrian asked, alarmed.
"Yeah." Blaine sniffed once and wiped his eyes. "Kurt always knows what to say to make me feel better. I miss him so much when we're apart."
"I can tell how much you both care for each other. You both watch the other walk out of a room. He comes over anytime you need him and you do the same." Adrian turned the car off. "You all are so lucky to have each other. I'm sure his support gets you through a lot and I'm sure you return the favor."
Blaine wiped his eyes again. "If we keep talking about Kurt I'm never going to stop crying."
Adrian nodded.
"I'm really nervous." Blaine admitted.
"Nobody is going to think any differently about you than they did yesterday morning." Adrian reassured him. "Just like I don't, AJ doesn't. The people who do think differently are assholes."
Blaine laughed and took a deep breath. "Do I look like I've been crying?"
"No." Adrian promised. "Let's do this thing."
…
Bob wasn't in his office when Blaine arrived, so he grabbed half of papers off the top of Bob's stack and carried them to his desk. Like normal when Bob wasn't there, he would sort through them and put them in order by urgency, date, and then appointment date.
He had read some pretty ridiculous things doing this task for Bob over the past two years. Luckily the craziest ones didn't usually make it to trial. Although Blaine would have really loved to see how that would go down in a court room.
Two hours and the rest of the stack later, Bob came in with someone following close behind.
"I don't know. Go ask Mallory." He told the girl—probably a new first year intern since Blaine had never seen her before.
"She told me to come to you, sir." The girl protested.
"Tell her that because she is older does not mean I have to take care of her stuff." Bob sighed. "I brought her on, not the other way around. And tell her if she sends you again that I will come and tell her myself."
"That's not a very nice way to treat your sister, sir."
Bob looked at her, surprised.
Blaine sat up straight. Mallory was his sister? What?
"I'm not doing it. She can ask Ryan to do it or somebody else but it won't be me." Bob regained his composure. "If you come in again with that I will close and lock my door."
"I will tell her that, sir." The girl walked out.
"I really dislike new first year interns." Bob told Blaine when he was sure she wouldn't hear. "This is my least favorite part of the year. They mess up more than they help… and they are annoying."
Blaine didn't say anything but did tilt his head a bit. It wasn't that long ago that he was a first year intern.
"You were fine, though. Adrian was alright too but I didn't have enough work for two of you." Bob added.
Blaine nodded.
"You got through all of this mess? I think it's a month's worth of crap." Bob looked surprised as he sat at his desk.
"The stupid ones are at the bottom… and it was two and a half months' worth of crap."
"I really don't know what I'll do when you start your own job. I'll never find someone as good as you." Bob sighed and then looked Blaine in the eye. "How are you?"
"I'm okay." Blaine responded.
"Good. Now how are you really doing?" Bob looked at him.
"Honestly? I'm feeling really anxious about what people are saying and thinking about me… especially here." Blaine admitted. "I'm also emotionally drained and can't focus on much. That's why I did the papers. It doesn't take too much thought."
"For the record, I am very proud of you. I think you have handled this very well. Making that video, telling the facts, and then turning it into an almost positive thing by reminding people that the youth needs support." Bob said. "Nobody's thoughts matter, Blaine. Also, for the record, we all had a meeting this morning about the situation and you. The consensus is that you're very brave and we are all still very excited to have you on this team. We will support you in any way we can."
Blaine took a deep breath. Work really was the biggest thing he was worried about, after all. He could handle the rest if he still had his job offer.
"I'm sorry for my part in causing any of this pain but I'm… very proud. I think the same thing goes for every lawyer, administrative assistant, and the clerk in this firm."
"Thank you." Blaine felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. That really did make him feel better. "But it would have eventually happened, so please don't feel bad."
"Do you have a support system? You're not alone, are you?" Bob made eye contact.
"I have a lot of people that have gotten me through a lot of stuff… and I've met more amazing people here at school." Blaine looked at him and smiled a bit. "They're working a little bit of overtime right now, though."
Bob looked relieved. "And your partner?"
"Kurt is my biggest support system." Blaine admitted. "He lives in New York City but he came down last night and he's staying until tomorrow afternoon. He has been great during this… and anything with my family, actually."
"I am glad to hear that. I'm sure his family loves you." Bob gave him a rare smile. "New York City, huh?"
"They like me, yeah." Blaine laughed. "They're like family at this point. Kurt and I have been together since we were seventeen and eighteen. He's up there in graduate school now."
"Oh, wow. Are there any engagement plans any time soon?"
"Yeah, we're working on that one still." Blaine laughed again, somewhat awkwardly. "We're hoping everything will be a bit easier when we can live halfway between our jobs because right now we don't see each other enough to even discuss it."
"I am glad that you have a support system." Bob said seriously. "I feel horrible that I brought this on."
"Stuff is coming out about my dad. It was going to come out anyway." Blaine looked thoughtful. "Thank you for encouraging me to beat them to the punch. It was kind of cathartic."
"Good." Bob nodded. "That's great."
Blaine nodded. "Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Do you have any schoolwork that needs done tonight?" Bob asked. "I assume you've not done a lot since yesterday."
"I'm good. What is it?"
"I am probably going to steal Adrian for this too. I've got a lot of stuff here on a new case I'm working for. The other lawyer dropped out and gave me all of this crap but I don't know if any of it checks out or not. It doesn't have to all be finished today, either. We have some time to play with." Bob told him, pulling out a very messy and nearly busted folder.
"Fact check it?" Blaine asked.
"Exactly. Any inconsistencies and you let me know, okay?" Bob handed him the folder. "You can take it to the large conference room. I already had a first year get the books you all will need if you can't find any information you need digitally."
"That sounds good." Blaine said, heading towards the door. Bob was behind him
"Don't stay late, Blaine." Bob called after him before turning and walking the opposite direction, presumably to steal Adrian.
Long Time Coming
"I wish you didn't have to leave today." Blaine said the following morning. His back was pressed to Kurt's chest and Kurt was stroking his side.
"Me too." Kurt sighed. "I wish I could stay here with you."
"On the bright side tomorrow is Friday and then I'm going to come and see you." Blaine nuzzled his pillow and sighed. "I don't want to be alone."
"I'm sorry." Kurt frowned.
Blaine rolled over and scooted back so he could see Kurt. "You have the most beautiful face."
"You do too." Kurt smiled and touched Blaine's cheek. "Are you sure you're okay if I leave?"
"I feel a lot better, I think."
"You think?" Kurt asked.
"I mean I do. It's nice having you here even if the crisis has mostly dwindled."
"Dwindled? Three of those camps have been raided and closed since yesterday. There is going to be more advertisement in schools and public places with numbers to local GSA's and counseling in Ohio." Kurt looked surprised. "What you did is probably going to make a big difference for a lot of kids."
"I hope so… but it'll die down probably. Stuff like this always does." Blaine pushed himself into a sitting position. "I hope it does help, though. Maybe something good can out of this mess."
"Can you call Carole and Dad sometime this week?" Kurt sat up as well. "They're worried."
"I'll call them after the internship today. I don't want them to be worried."
"I'm sure hearing your voice will calm their nerves a bit." Kurt gave a small smile "Also, you may want to call Alex. He texted me this morning… I think he didn't want to upset you more by calling you."
"I almost called him yesterday but going to classes and work was exhausting. Nobody acted different but it felt weird, you know?" Blaine scrunched up his nose adorably.
"It'll pass." Kurt played with one of his curls.
"It feels weird that Alex knows about the camp now… I was never going to tell him." Blaine admitted after a few minutes of silence. "I never wanted him to feel worse about leaving… He's apologized the last two times I've seen him. I think it's bothering him but it shouldn't."
"He cares for you." Kurt smiled. "You've got a protective big brother now, Blaine."
Blaine smiled a bit too. "He'll have to fight Wes and Blaine for that title."
Kurt ruffled his hair, laughing. "I'm riding back with David. Flying down got me here quicker."
"How's that going? Still good?"
"Yeah." Kurt nodded. "I still think there is something going on with that nurse, though."
"Oh?" Blaine looked interested.
"Yeah, I saw a text when he was in the bathroom. It was a motivational text after a hard day, but… I mean, they've got each other's numbers." Kurt shrugged.
"Was she pretty?"
"Really pretty. She's one of the ER nurses." Kurt nodded. "He told me that much but he's very tight lipped."
"Definitely when it comes to girls." Blaine nodded in agreement as the door opened. "Heyyyy, David."
"Oh God. What?" David sighed.
"Are you getting some and not telling anyone?"
David sent Kurt and look and then said, "Actually, no, but I could if I wanted to. You three meddle too much."
Kurt laughed.
"Can I see a picture?" Blaine asked. "So I know what my future sister in law will look like?"
"No." David said and looked at Kurt. "Is it okay if we leave soon? Someone called in so they need me there a couple of hours earlier."
"That is so rude." Blaine sighed, looking sad.
"Cheer up, Buttercup. Wes is here." David grinned.
"As soon as AJ is back from her interview, I'm sure he will be running off to buy nachos." Blaine fake pouted.
"Well Adrian and his boyfriend are downstairs with AJ but you have to go to class soon anyway." David snorted.
"It's fine." Kurt told David after he had finished. "I can get to school early and hang out with Alec."
"Great. I really appreciate it, Kurt." David gave a thankful smile before leaving them alone.
"Everyone's always leaving me." Blaine fake sighed.
Kurt ruffled his hair and kissed his cheek. "I need to get ready to go and you need to get ready for class."
"I know. I drawled out staying in bed as long as I could, though." Blaine made himself get up. "I don't do that a lot."
"It's been an eventful few days." Kurt got up and opened his messenger bag—he'd barely packed enough clothes because he had been in such a rush to get to Cambridge. "Can I borrow a sweatshirt?"
"You are always trying to get mine even thought I've given you two others of mine." Blaine smiled, pulling one out of his closet for Kurt.
"The smell doesn't last forever." Kurt admitted. "But I actually need it today because I am out of shirts."
Blaine handed the sweater to Kurt and kissed his cheek. "Thank you for dropping everything and coming to me… again."
Kurt touched his cheek and smiled. "You've had an eventful last year for sure."
"I'm hoping it's over now. I honestly can't think of anything else that could go wrong at this point." Blaine gave a small sigh.
"No. It's going to be great from here." Kurt promised. "We're almost done with school. You're staying with me next weekend and Eric keeps asking about you, so maybe we could get dinner with them? David too!"
"That sounds nice." Blaine nodded. "Their wedding was beautiful, wasn't it?"
"Yeah." Kurt nodded, smiling again. "I'm happy for them. I feel like they were engaged forever… Alec said they've both been too busy."
"I hope they have their pictures back by then. I've been dying to see them because the weather was perfect." Blaine let out a happy little sigh. "But I have to take a shower or I'll be late."
"I have a feeling David is wanting to leave now so I love you so much and I'm always a call away. I'll leave class if you need me too."
"I appreciate it but I think I'm okay… Thank you so much again, though. Everything is… so much easier to handle when you're here. David and Wes too, of course, but…"
"I know what you mean." Kurt kissed him. "Friday night?"
"Yeah. I'll leave as soon as I'm out of class. Bob's got something going on with one of his kids anyway so he'll bet out before I even get there." Blaine leaned in and kissed Kurt again. "I really have to get in the shower but I love you so much, okay?"
"Go on." Kurt smiled. "I'll see you soon."
"Drive safe. Tell David I said bye!"
Long Time Coming
"I thought Bob didn't even want me to come in. I already started packing for tomorrow." Blaine sighed.
"I wasn't supposed to either, but Ryan said it was important. I'm supposed to be having sex in an hour but I guess that's not happening." Adrian grabbed his shoes from by the couch. "Was that too much information? Have we made it to that point in our friendship?"
"We are there." Blaine laughed, grabbing his messenger bag. "Do you think they're going to take back our job requests?"
"My mother would be devastated. It's all she talks about when we talk." Adrian laughed too.
"Have you gotten any other offers?"
"No. Have you?"
Blaine shook his head. "Bob said they'd be coming to us."
"Well I hope not because I haven't updated my address at school or CMJ." Adrian snorted. "I've been busy. Although not as busy as Wes and AJ apparently."
"Yesterday was kind of weird, though." Blaine grabbed his messenger bag as Adrian headed towards the door. "Bob gave me paperwork and then disappeared into a conference room with the door closed. "Ryan and and Jeff too."
"The C, M, and the J. That's either something really good or really bad." Adrian looked intrigued as they got into his car. "I've never met Jeff. I've seen him but I've never met him."
"He asked me how to make copies on the big printer upstairs once last year. It was great conversation." Blaine sat his bag in the floor by his feet. "I don't really know Ryan that well either."
"He's very easily stressed out… and Bob stresses him out." Adrian said. "Like, I've never seen any other lawyer in the office get that flustered from a two minute conversation with Bob."
Three minutes later they walked into CMJ.
"You two sit in the break room for a minute." Ryan poked his head out of the big conference room.
Adrian nodded and looked at Blaine when they closed the door. "What the hell?"
Blaine shrugged and walked to the break room. "I hope that new intern I'm supervising didn't do something stupid. He goes rogue all the time."
"Why me then?"
"I don't know. Maybe my intern and your intern got caught going at it?"
Adrian looked horrified, sitting at the table. "That's disgusting. In public?"
"Well sometimes people do… inappropriate things in public." Blaine shrugged.
"Wait… have you and Kurt had sex in public?" Adrian's jaw dropped.
"I mean… yeah."
"You're joking." Adrian shook his head.
"We were twenty. There's no way he would go for that now… Actually, last Christmas we did in Carole's car…"
"You don't even look embarrassed either." Adrian stared at him in shock.
"I've done worse things than doing that in a Gap fitting room." Blaine said as a lawyer came in talking on her cell phone.
"You could have been arrested." Adrian whispered.
"Well, I've been that too." Blaine did look embarrassed about that one. "Shit. I just said that out loud."
"Shut up." Adrian repeated. "Why?"
"I can't talk about it because it's been expunged and I didn't write it down when I applied here."
Adrian's mouth was a perfect O.
"Don't look at me like that! Haven't you been fourteen through seventeen and attempting to sabotage your life?"
"Text me why. I need to know now. I can't wait until we get home." Adrian pushed Blaine's phone closer to him.
"Fine but you can't say anything about it to anyone ever." Blaine sighed and typed out three words before hitting the send button. "Not even Kurt."
Within seconds there was a ping on Adrian's phone.
Grand theft auto.
"Oh my God! You?"
His phone buzzed again.
I was drunk.
"I don't believe it. You're lying." Adrian said as Bob came in.
"It's true. I did." Blaine said, taking a drink from his water bottle—the one Kurt had surprised him with a couple of weeks ago.
"Adrian, why do you look like you watched someone die?" Bob asked.
"Metaphorically I think I did."
Blaine had to try really hard not to spit water out at that.
Bob looked at Blaine and then Adrian carefully. "As long as it's legal, I don't even care. Do you two have a couple minutes to come to Ryan's office for a meeting?" Bob asked, looking suspicious.
"That's why we're here, isn't it?" Blaine hopped up, pocketing his phone and standing up.
"See you soon." Bob gave them both a look and then left.
"Why did it… you know… have to be mowed? You can't leave me hanging. Also, did you see that look he gave me? I told you he hates me." Adrian whispered.
"Have to be mowed?" Blaine raised his eyebrow.
"It's code. You know. Vroom vroom." Adrian moved his phone in the air like it was driving.
"I can't here. I'll tell you when we leave." Blaine hissed.
Adrian sighed as they made it to Ryan's office.
"How did you beat Bob here?" Ryan, who was Adrian's boss, asked.
"Because Bob had to use the restroom." Bob came in behind them.
Blaine looked at Adrian, who gave a 'I have no idea' shrug.
"Is Jeff coming?" Ryan asked Bob.
"You know better than me that he doesn't listen to me." Bob retorted, pulling a chair up by the desk. "Grab some chairs, boys."
"Can you really call them boys?" Ryan asked Bob.
"If I'm more than twenty years older than them, they are boys."
"God, they are twenty years younger... Well, then you." Ryan shook his head. "Is everybody comfortable? Can we start without Jeff? I'm going to start without Jeff. My son has called three times about take out."
"Go on." Bob laughed, checking his watch.
"I extended a job after graduation to Adrian and I know Bob extended one to you, Blaine. Of course, the assumption was that would be here." Ryan began.
"And until yesterday it was." Bob added.
"Well maybe until a few weeks ago. You just weren't on board yesterday." Ryan countered and then continued. "But as Adrian probably knows more than Blaine, we both have been getting a lot of inquires out of state in the surrounding areas."
Don't make me move… Don't make me move. I can't move farther away from Kurt. I already promised Bob I wouldn't take another job.
"We've been traveling a lot as well as another lawyer." Bob took over. "It has been my decision—with support from Todd and Jo— that we are going to open another office. We want to take you with us. I want to take you both with me."
"We know you've still got the Bar to pass so you can't do everything, obviously." Ryan said. "Which will give you some free time to study while getting paid. If you two agree, you'll move up pretty quickly once you're done with the Bar."
"Because there won't be anyone else?" Blaine asked.
Bob had to stop himself from laughing. "No, not that. We'll be getting a few qualified lawyers hired on as we get more clients."
"I will be coming as well until you both pass the bar." Ryan added.
"So don't fail." Bob joked.
"I have a question." Adrian asked.
"Yes?" Bob asked.
"Where exactly do you want us to move to?"
"New York City."
Blaine covered his mouth and his eyes got teary.
"Are you alright, Blaine?" Ryan looked worried.
"No, sorry. I'm good." Blaine let out a deep breath.
"I told you Blaine was going to be in. His partner lives in New York City." Bob told Ryan.
"Well you didn't tell me that." Ryan laughed. "Adrian?"
"Definitely." Adrian nodded eagerly.
"I will be giving you both money to assist with the move and two months' rent. New York City is pretty expensive and we want to make sure you're taken care of."
"I will not be giving you money because my last name does not start with C, M, or J." Ryan added. "But I will approve paid time off while we are doing the transition. We want you to have time to be able to pack and really look for a good place to stay."
Blaine nodded.
"We're planning to have the office habitable by September." Bob said, standing and holding out two envelopes. "Once you both have graduated, you will make some more money. The amount in there is what you will both start out at after graduation. You will also both make the same amount of money until you take your own cases but we can get into that nitty gritty after May… You must graduate this year to get that starting salary. Until then, though, you'll get the same pay."
Adrian opened the envelope and literally gasped as Jeff walked in.
"You guys started without me?" He asked, seeing the envelopes already in Adrian and Blaine's hand. "Well, congratulations. You're a great asset to the firm and we are glad to have you."
Blaine saw both Bob and Ryan share a look. He knew that look very well—the same look he and David made when did something stupid.
"Thank you, sir." Adrian shook his hand but made eye contact with Ryan.
"Yes, really. This is... so amazing. Thank you." Blaine said. "And appreciated."
"We appreciate the both of you. Keep doing what you two are doing and you'll both be just fine." Ryan said. "We were going to wait and do this in a month or two but, given the way this week is gone, we thought Blaine would like some good news."
Bob nodded as Adrian shook his hand.
"You guys are free to go… Wait, I think Bob wanted to talk to Blaine, actually." Ryan said.
"It won't take long." Bob reassured Adrian before going into the hallway with Blaine.
"Are you only taking me because Kurt—." Blaine asked before the door had even closed.
"No." Bob cut him off. "It is because I found out he lives there that I am telling you early. I remember how horrible my last year at Harvard was because my wife was five hours away in school. It was agonizing not knowing what was going to happen."
"It's has been rough."
"Now if you want to stay in this office, by all means, you can." Bob held his hand up. "But I would love to have you in New York. I'm really excited to see where your career takes you."
"No. I don't want to stay here." Blaine shook his head. "New York is perfect. I can't even thank you enough."
"You get home and tell Kurt the good news, Blaine. I'll see you in the morning." Bob patted his shoulder and then walked into the conference room where Ryan and Adrian were. "He's all yours, Adrian.
"Great. I've got homework to do." Adrian hopped up. "Also, we're getting nachos on the way home."
"I expected no less. AJ eats them at least once a day." Blaine followed Adrian out of the conference room. "Oh my God."
"I kept hearing something about New York but had no idea they were planning on office down there. It's going to be awesome to live there. Kurt will be so happy!" Adrian exclaimed.
"Yeah. I can't wait to tell him tomorrow when I make it to his place." Blaine grinned, getting into Adrian's car.
"Are you going to tell me about the grand theft auto?" Adrian asked when both car doors were closed. "I need to hear this story."
"Well…"