Will had been watching them take in the result. Of course, just after the result, he had been comforting them. But now, while they were comforting each other and he stood nearby, leaning against the wall. He was trying to take it all in. He hadn’t even called Emma yet. What would he say?
He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard Blaine. He looked at his student in front of him. “In the past, I would have hope.” Will told him. “But now…I really can’t see her changing her mind. You know what she is like.” Will said. This year hadn’t been going well at all.
“You can’t give up hope now either.” Blaine’s attention kept splitting itself between Will and Sam. Every so soften, his gaze would drift past Will’s shoulder to the boy who looked so broken that Blaine swore there was a hole in the pit of his stomach with how bad it hurt to see him like that.
Reaching over, he gently squeezed Will’s arm and looked directly into his eyes to show how serious he felt about what he was going to say. “I know what she’s like but we need to figure out something for them. This is bigger than grudges or bias or games. This is us we’re talking about here and we need this,” his hurt and frustration was nearly impossible to hide and it was easy to tell he was struggling to keep it in check. “Don’t tell me you’re going to give up?”
No. No. She clearly hadn´t expected him to come by. Ever since moving to her own apartment things had gotten a little…lonely. She might not have been over Finn´s death quite yet, and Rachel wasn´t sure if she ever would be, but moving and starting a new chapter of her life had seemed like a good idea.
The place wasn´t far from their old apartment, which was where Kurt still lived and most of the time they still hung out. Rachel made sure to keep herself busy though, because while living by herself was liberating in a way it was also pretty scary sometimes.
Today she had been home early from work and ordered herself some food from her favorite vegan place. Thinking she still had some time, however, Rachel had gone to take a shower and when she had heard the door bell she had panicked. Which was also why she was standing in front of Blaine, towel wrapped tightly around her body and hair dripping wet.
“Blaine?” She managed, almost a little out of breath. “Sorry. I thought you were my food.” Her lips curved into a smile. “Wait. Were we supposed to meet up today?”
After making a pitstop at his and Kurt’s favorite flower stand, Blaine took a leisurely walk the several blocks to Rachel’s apartment completely planning on surprising her with an impromptu train ride to Broadway. No questions asked. He missed Rachel Berry so bad. Their schedules were misaligned in every possible way lately and it didn’t allow them a lot of time to just enjoy one another’s company like they used to.
Today, though? Was a rare day where he had nothing to do and he was banking on the fact that it might be the case with her. If so? They were going to have lunch, do some shopping, and stroll past every theater they could find and toss daydreams back and forth to one another’s reflections inside marquee glass like they used to. Something they hadn’t done in forever.
“Hey! Oh..” Rachel Berry standing in the doorway in nothing but a towel and sopping wet hair was not what he expected. The stunned look on his face was quickly blinked away and he smiled, a little flushed but happy she was here (regardless of almost being naked). “No. Not your food. Just me. Sorry if I interrupted your shower?”
Swinging the roses from where he had hid them behind his back and holding them up to his nose, he inhaled their faint scent one more time and his brows shot up in a playful half apologetic, half pleading his case for accidentally making her run through the house soaked was well worth it cause pretty flowers and he was being sweet? “I brought flowers? But..uhm. I’ll hold onto them until. You know? Clothes.”
hunter certainly didn’t expect his evening to turn out the way it did, not by a long shot. hunter wasn’t the most empathetic person in the world. he wouldn’t say he’s good at advice, even though he does try when it’s the right person in need, but one thing he is good at is listening. he just didn’t think that he would be listening to BLAINE ANDERSON and his problems, not that he minded. it was just… blaine seemed to perfectly put together. hunter knew more than most though, that looks could be deceiving.
hunter saw a raw, honest, vulnerable side to blaine that made him seem so much more human. he didn’t know blaine very well at all, and this was the first time they had spent one on one time together. hunter was viewing blaine’s situation as an outsider, and from what he could see, blaine was being far too hard on himself. he had a made a mistake. a serious mistake, which he didn’t condone but he didn’t think it was fair that blaine was being so tough on himself for it. hunter didn’t say much during their talk, but one thing he did say was, “ you need to stop punishing yourself for this. what’s done is done, you can’t change that now. stop trying. ”
now, what hunter found most surprising about the whole situation was the physical contact that he found himself engaged in. he most certainly WAS NOT a hugger, but blaine needed someone, so he hugged back. he hugged back hard, holding blaine as if he were trying to put all the broken pieces back together again. the kisses caught him off guard… so much so that his body acted before his brain could and he found himself pressing his lips back against blaine’s ever so gently. his eyes fluttered closed, and he lost himself for those few seconds. a part of him knew that blaine didn’t necessarily want this, but he needed it. he needed something to help him move on. “ i… it’s okay. if you’re sorry, i suppose i should be too. ”
Blaine could feel a warmth edged with a tingling spark pool in his stomach before it felt like it exploded into every nerve, vein and bone inside before it spread over his skin causing a ripple of goosebumps wherever it touched in it’s wake. He was stuck. Lingering here where they were so intimately close that he felt the warm press of Hunter’s breath with every word the other said after he’d apologized. Ones Blaine found himself hinging on, waiting because they controlled every moment that would spiral into place after what just happened.
Hunter could hate him. Tell him to leave. Worse? Try to kick him out of the only good thing he had. But, he wouldn’t. Would he?
Hunter, in spite of every gut instinct fear Blaine could hear screaming inside his head in his own voice, had kissed him back. However small. However barely there. It’s okay? Thick, black lashes slowly opened. Unsure, his left hand lifted and he traced the tiers of Hunter’s upper lip with the tip of his finger before pressing it against the center of both. “Shh…” Blaine pulled his bottom lip between his front teeth and raked them over the flesh before he whispered. “I don’t..want you to be sorry.” The Warbler Captain was probably right. Mostly. Blaine knew he was punishing himself over and over. He knew he couldn’t change what he did. But lacked any ability to escape his thoughts. Unless he was singing or with The Warblers.
Quite frankly, he was exhausted. From trying and failing and scraping himself back up to repeat the process. He was lonely, too. Worse than the first month without Kurt. Worse than the empty house he was often left in. And he needed to make the loneliness stop. Only for a minute if that was all he could have. Maybe that’s why he hadn’t pulled away and instead docked his nose along Hunter’s, eyes closed and lips dangerously near as foreheads touched. His finger finally dipped down until it rested on the very edge of Hunter’s lower lip. “Sorry’s the last thing I need you to be, Hunter.” Even if he could barely swallow when the memory of Hunter’s lips came in a flashback that made his breath hitch.
The lift in his tone was it’s own brand of plea for something he was too afraid to do again. Please?
♪♬ INDEPENDENT BLAINE ANDERSON FROM FOX’S GLEE. AS LOVED BY J. ♬♪
“Sparring then?” he asked with a crooked grin on his face. He gently cleaned the wound, humming lightly as he did so. When Jasons hand finally lifted the blood was mostly cleaned from the wound. His fingers traced the others knuckles lightly for a moment before he looked up at him. Blaine. “Does that hurt? I need to know if we’re in for a trip to the hospital tonight.” Jason, for all his flirtatious personality quirks, really was nervous for Blaine’s hand. He could see the callouses on his fingers. He worked with his hands often and an injury could be bad for him.
“Sort of. Got asked for a couple rounds. Turns out? He was one of the types who don’t like losing to a gay guy. So they resort to a cheap shot or two under the guise of a mistake.” The gym, thankfully, wasn’t full of them which is what drew him here. Even though it was a train ride away from the one closest? It was worth the trip to avoid the meatheads. One or two still occasionally managed to slip by. Today, it was his luck that he didn’t sense it before agreeing to spar with one. The guy wouldn’t shut up about how they should go try their luck on some ‘hot piece of ass’ working out in cardio with her friend.
Blaine shut him down with a mumble of how that really wasn’t his thing. The idiot’s question of ‘Look at her though! Dude, what are you? Gay?’ was met with one of his off the cuff scowls that was an answer in and of itself.
Round Three landed him a sock to the diaphragm hard enough to knock his wind out while simultaneously pushing his wrong timing and now I’ve got a point to prove button. The rest, they say, is history. Though his knuckles didn’t get in the shape they were in on their own. Who came out worse for wear? Well. Depends on how you look at it. His brows shoved together at the soft touch running across his knuckles. It hurt but not a hospital worthy hurt. Probably. “Yeah but.. I think it’ll be okay. Just needs some ice. At least I hope so,” he quipped at the end before sighing in frustration at the situation. His fingers twitched against Jason’s palm when the other’s finger grazed over his pinky knuckle. “I can always see how they look tomorrow.. Thank you. For everything.”
cooper.
❝ do you think it’s a little much? ❞ there was genuine curiosity in his voice as he stood admiring the new frame hanging on the wall of the penthouse – hands on hips and eyes narrowing as if he was some form of art critic.
“Honestly? I wasn’t sure what you were going to hang up when you told me you found a piece of art that’d tie the place together but..,” Blaine pressed his lips together and curled his fingers around his chin, elbow resting against the arm wrapped around himself just below his chest. “I think I actually like it.” Color him pleasantly surprised!
Will stood there watching the New Directions chatting after they came off stage after the results had been announced. He knew what this loss meant. He hadn’t heard anyone come over to him until he heard a voice from beside him. Looking over, he noticed Blaine. “There is always a chance we could lose. I just had so much hope.” He told him. Will tried to seem positive, but deep down, he was heartbroken.
“I’ll be right back,” he murmured to his best friends. Blaine gently patted Sam’s shoulder he’d been holding onto and gave the blond a pensive smile. Tina took over, her arm fit around Sam’s back and she hugged him close. From the corners of his eyes, he’d caught sight of someone else who was as devastated as they were. Only. He was bearing the weight of their loss alone.
There were times when Blaine questioned everything about William Schuester. But now wasn’t the time. Instead, he approached him and said the only thing that came to mind. “We all had a lot of hope riding on this but..I mean. We’ll find a way. Right?” Hazel eyes drifted over every saddened face gathered around. “We have to. It can’t be over.”
THE WESTERVILLE HOUSE HADN’T FELT LIKE HOME FOR YEARS.the sunshine of los angeles had called cooper away as soon as he could. he never once regretted abandoning his father’s hopes that he would go to college. he never once regretted leaving ohio behind and never looking back. not until he’d had his mother crying down the phone telling him that his little brother had fallen victim to some disgusting attack. as strained as his relationship with blaine was – mostly completely oblivious on cooper’s side, admittedly – he never wanted to hear that his pesky little brother was hurt in any way. it was how he found himself home after filming a new cut away for his credit rating commercial – he would be lying if he didn’t use the emotion from his home situation as excellent fuel to channel someone with a truly awful credit score. his relationship with his family wasn’t excellent but it also wasn’t horrific. he loved his mother dearly and blaine had become less of an annoying wobbling and infuriating shadow that followed him around. but their father was an utter enigma to cooper. one moment, the man was happy and proud of him – but who wouldn’t be given his commercial success across the entire country? – and the next he was as cold hearted and disappointed as ever.
typically, cooper would have never overstepped his boundaries, but considering he was making his own money and relied on his father for nothing? he’d given him quite the piece of his mind for even thinking about leaving while blaine had gone through something so traumatic. his blood had been boiling at how the man could just shrug off his youngest son like he meant very little, that him being hurt and attacked by pathetic individuals was somehow blaine’s fault. as he left the study, having gotten nowhere with the stubborn old man, he was still fuming. only upon seeing blaine’s face over the back of the couch did his expression soften to something more akin to fondness while he took a deep breath to let go of his frustration. pocketing that extreme anger for a later audition would come in handy and using it all up now on a fruitless mission was a ridiculous notion.
❝ me? i’m fine, squirt. i was playing bad cop in there, ❞ he joked, hopping over the arm of the couch to perch at blaine’s feet while fixing a warm smile on his face. ❝ gave the old man a piece of my mind about how his son is way more important than sitting in a bar and having business meetings. if he can’t see that, then he’s the one you should feel sorry for. ❞ reaching over, cooper lightly ruffled blaine’s hair – always cautious of the injuries his brother had sustained. ❝ i didn’t think you’d be awake. those painkillers? i heard they sell them as sleeping pills on the hollywood black market. ❞ changing the subject for cooper had never been a difficult task. he was a master of improvisation and making anything seem believable, especially after spending a few months twirling a quiznos sign like it read ‘entrance to heaven’ on it at the beginning of his los angeles stint. ❝ did mom go lay down? ❞ cooper asked after a moment of silence. he hadn’t thought of dear pam anderson when he’d went to town arguing with their old man. it probably did nothing for her nerves and cooper really did feel rather bad if she’d had to hear it. ❝ i guess that means we can bust out the old wii. see if you’re still terrible at mario kart, hm? ❞
Worried eyes (one still shadowed by lovely shades of black, purple and green in a crescent shape underneath) watched as Cooper approached the couch. Through the fog of the medicine running through his veins, he hadn’t missed catching a glimpse of anger etched on his brother’s face. Cooper’s eyes were too expressive for that. Too blue and too bright not to miss when they were darker and angrier. Since they were rarely like that. As far as Blaine knew Cooper rarely got mad. Unless he followed him around too much or refused to leave his things alone when they were younger. Other than that? Catching a tiny glimpse of Cooper infuriated? Blaine couldn’t help but feel sorry for anyone on the receiving end of that stare. His expression faltered from curious to a thoughtful pout hidden by the back of the sofa. Then like magic, Cooper was smiling and Blaine made himself comfortable in the position he’d flopped in. Just in time for his brother to land at his feet.
A drugged laugh made his cheek hurt but he couldn’t help it. For some reason, Cooper airborne then knelt in front of him was enough comedic material to make him smile at least. More importantly? More agreeable not to argue that he didn’t look okay like a sober Blaine might have. Instead, he nodded then pulled his shoulders up in a lazy shrug at the news of their father deciding he’d put off his clients long enough. “Probably better he’s not here, Coop. I got you and mom and that’s enough. I stopped disappointed a long time ago,” that last part was a lie. An obvious one at that. Blaine’s smile fading to barely visible, the shift of his posture, and change in the tone of his voice were all dead giveaways.
“They do? M’good for now. I think. I’ve been sleeping way too much.” Tugging the pillow he’d been hugging earlier back onto his lap, Blaine wrapped both arms around it and hugged it gently. The feathery soft weight against the sorest spots offered support and relief until it got too bothersome and he tossed it aside. Cracking another sheepish, cheeky grin as his curls were ruffled–Blaine reached out and rested his palm against his brother’s cheek studying him for a beat like he was the most fascinating thing on the planet (also thanking him with the gesture because words weren’t enough to show Cooper how much staying meant to him and how badly he needed him to just be here) before pulling his hand away and nodding. “Yeah, she did.” The heaviness felt like it was sucked out of the air by a massive vacuum with two words: Mario Kart. “Terrible! I’m only terrible cause you cheat,” huge eyes blazed with sudden accusation. “I’m gonna show you. Also,” insert a breakneck change of direction yet again, “If it isn’t too much trouble? Can you get more orange juice? My mouth feels like a desert most of the time.”
pianokeysandbowties 