blaine was a strange case, that much hunter could tell. he wasn’t like any of the rest of the kids at mckinley. the people he’d grown to see as semi-friends with more pawn like personality traits. he was somehow more seemingly compliant & worthy of respect. this could really go two ways. he had such a sad song kind of look. as if he could hit the emotional key that triggered your tears with his expression alone. it was both impressive &pathetic. “ well not to call you biased or insinuate that my opinion should be your new truth, but dalton just doesn’t seem to be worth all the bells & whistles. coming from money myself i’d also considered the school. only my parents thought a well rounded school would suit a man better. understand ? it’s just, a little too clean cut for my taste. with my military background i don’t much care for keeping up fake appearances. i care about the work. frankly i don’t think dalton, or more specifically the warblers once you left have EARNED their status. maybe if i’d met a few less pretentious students or saw more real initiative & drive in anyone other than their once golden star who now attends mckinley, i’d have a different opinion. that’s all i meant by the obvious. & i hope there’s no hard feelings. ”
Blaine was busy trying to figure Hunter out as he listened to the other drive another dig into the guts of his beloved former school. Generally speaking, Blaine wasn’t one to stick around to listen to or tolerate conversational digs at the place that saved him when he needed to belong somewhere more than he ever had. Much to his new teammates insinuations of questionable loyalties and whether once a Warbler, always a Warbler rang true or not, Dalton was a place he cherished. Everything from the four walls that surrounded the place to the students, his brothers, he left behind to come here. Curiosity and politeness kept him in place, not wanting to shun their conversation to tatters because he knew what transferring to schools mid-term felt like. And how lonely it could be until you found out where you belonged. “Hard feelings,” hazel eyes glistened and his smile was wide in spite of what was said, “No. No, of course not. But? The Warblers earned every bit of status they have. They were who they are before me. I didn’t make them better. They made me better and I guess it just showed in ways that might come off as otherwise.” Olive skin began to become tinted pinkish around his cheeks and the bridge of his nose. “Thank you for saying so but, I promise, you got the wrong idea. I’m sorry you did. But! At least you’re here. Which is a pretty good place to be, too. What do you think so far?”
“ dalton academy ? is that right ? ” it didn’t take an expert to see the hint of distaste in hunter’s tone. & coated with disrespect, the message is clear as day. i don’t approve. & for what reason ? there were many. only they were all too personal to share with some prep school down-grader. the way he sees it, it’s as if hunter & his brother had a long lost middle ground they’d never heard of. living in both worlds. sounded like a nightmare. “ mind if i ask why you’d leave a place like that ? other than the obvious. ” snobby rich kids, stricter rules, boring lifestyle, you could take your pick of what he meant.
Confusion crept across Blaine’s features. Lips formed around a few unspoken words as he swallowed his initial questions. First, why was he curious? Second, why did he not seem to care for the place? It was easy to tell Hunter had some sort of distaste for Dalton as soon as he said the word. Blaine was more than curious. He only had to figure out how to ask without sounding like he was judging the guy for it. Hunter, in the few short days that Blaine has known him, doesn’t seem like the type of person to handle being judged well. Or Blaine could be off. Hunter just screamed it in how he carried himself. That’s all. Another blink of surprise and he smiled warmly. “You can ask me anything you want. About Dalton. Or why I left. There’s someone here that makes my days better. I didn’t want to waste the time we have before he graduates in Westerville.” He didn’t notice that he broke eye contact to answer. Or how his voice quited. It was all right again a second later. “Can I ask what you mean by the obvious? Dalton’s amazing. I’d still be there if it weren’t–if things were different.”
Even if there had been a part of Barry that would have wanted to ditch movie-night, any intentions of leaving would have immediately evaporated the second he saw himself caught in Blaine’s grip. Unsurprisingly, like everything else about him, his touch transmitted a warm sense of comfort that nobody, no matter how heartless, would ever bring themselves up to abandoning. In fact, such was the amenity and smugness that the speedster was actually drawn closer to him, setting his own glass of wine aside so he could shift more easily, significantly shortening the gap of space left between them. “Well, what if… I told you how much I’ve humiliatingly missed you too?” The amusement in his features had diminished significantly, because every joke was set aside when it came to communicating how he felt. He had spent most of his life being scared of his own feelings and it had gotten him nowhere, just like he had been warned by virtually everyone close to him. He was determined to give connecting with them a shot instead, and now that he was getting to know someone as special as Blaine was, the timing seemed perfect.
“And walking out any other time, that would be acceptable to you?” the forensic scientist teased, reaching over for the remote so he could select the title they had implicitly agreed on, if only to silently indicate that he would only leave when Blaine so requested. He wanted to believe that the only way in which how his arm nudged forward so it would end up properly cradling the other’s head would have been more subtle was if it had actually been an unintentional consequence of his leaning forward to reach for his glass of wine. Nevertheless, he thought it sensible to mask the gesture in an unrelated action, grant Blaine the chance to move his head without feeling like he was directly rejecting an advance. Of course he would have been perfectly entitled to do that as well, but at least this way Barry would know for sure he at least wouldn’t be guilting Blaine into keeping that position.
Hearing he was missed just as humiliatingly bad made Blaine pause any sort of teasing he might’ve been using to cover up trying to get his feelings on the table without making things awkward should the depth be embarrassingly one-sided. His nose scrunched like he was waiting for some sort of punchline to follow. A laugh. Anything to cheese up the moment but it didn’t happen. Barry looked serious. Blaine looked like he was caught between did that just happen and say that one more time. Sure he had his hopes, even his suspicions, but he’d been trying to do this best to play things on the cautious side of whatever kind of turn out this..er..whatever they were doing here might end up being. That same spark of hope brought a glint of light in his eyes that the taunting didn’t quite ignite. His expression read ‘really?’ before he curled his fingertips against Barry’s leg and gave it a gentle squeeze to say thanks and me too. Wait! They were talking. Right, right. Wow! Okay. Things got a little dizzily lightheaded there for a second. Something about Singing In The Rain and remotes and–Blaine’s eyebrows crinkled towards one another and his smile was lopsided, still struck moments later by humiliatingly missed you too to recover completely. The stupefied grin said it was in the best sort of way possible.
Ah! Good! Back to teasing. Before he ended up tongue-tied and saying something silly. Gasping as he reached his free arm up and poked the tip of Barry’s nose, Blaine smirked and rolled his eyes. “No. Don’t even think about leaving. Period.” He moved easily with the nudge, letting Barry situate the both of them as he saw fit. Cause he’d be hard pressed to complain about any sort of cuddling action. Since when, ever, has he shied away from that? Never. Not in a million years. Looking up at him from his angle brought another dumb smile across his lips. “I don’t think I could ever get sick of this. So..,” hazel eyes squinted measuringly, “Would you stay the night if I asked?” His tongue caught the swell of his bottom lip and dragged it between his teeth. Yeah, he went there. Oh boy. He went there.
Christmas wasn’t that special to Michael, certainly not enough to do something like that just because he had spirit. He did enjoy the atmosphere of the holiday season though, and wasn’t about to put someone else down about it. One of the best parts of winter was how many people loved it; how many were genuinely brought closer together because of their holidays. Michael simply chuckles a little instead.
“Ah, don’t worry.” He replies, glancing down at Apple when she starts licking his hand. “I get nosy too.” Truthfully Michael likes hearing about other people. He liked it when he could feel useful in making someone feel better or even if he was just focusing on someone other than himself. On the other end of the spectrum he was also used to small talk, answering basic questions about himself be it for either form of work he did or because whoever he was passing time talking to wanted to make things fair and ask about him.
”It is.” Michael agrees, glancing up in time to catch Blaine’s wince. “You’re fine, Blaine. I don’t mind questions.. and no. I was still in Illinois for a year or so before I finally decided to leave the state altogether. This just ended up feeling like the best place.” He explains, finding himself smiling a little more just a second later as he gets Blaine’s own tale, and Michael has to say that it was entirely fitting based on what he’s seen of the other so far. He was never particularly into musical theater or the like himself, but he most definitely appreciated the work that went into it. “Sounds like you’re already on your way to yours then. Congrats. What’s the show about?”
As long as Michael didn’t think he was honing in on him and getting too personal, Blaine was simply curious about his story. One of the best parts of the city he loved so much was that you could meet people with such interesting tales to tell if you gave the world a minute and sat down to listen. A stranger could open up a whole new world in a matter of a subway, or in this case dog friendly coffee shop, conversation. People had no clue what they were missing out on if they only rushed from Point A to Point B and never stopped to listen.
“Thank you. I’m glad I’m not the only one.” He smiled appreciatively at Michael putting his mind to ease and paused to rattle off his order. A tea with some honey and lemon and a blueberry scone. Then waited as the red haired waitress turned her attention to Michael and jotted down his choices before promptly excusing herself (after a small fuss about Apple cause who could resist that face).
“New York City is the best place, in my opinion. But I’ve been here so long I might be a tad biased,” he grinned lightly toying with the dog eared corner of his paper napkin. “What’s your favorite part of living here so far? I’d have to say mine is the culture. Living in a place like Westerville, Ohio for eighteen years really makes you appreciate a place that’s about as opposite from it as you can get. Not that life there was horrible. It had it’s good parts.
“I’m glad I get to call here home.” A brow quirked up and he felt his cheeks and nose warm up. “Yeah. I think I might be. It’s taking a lot of work to get there but it’s worth every minute. The show? It’s a rebirth of an old musical. How well do you know your theater,” he grinned not wanting to sound pretentious but assuming rattling off the name of a musical and expecting someone to know what the hell he was talking about was even worse in his book. “I know it’s not everyone’s thing so I thought I’d ask first.”
okay so since i’ve became activeish again on this blog, j has been so sweet and welcoming and has really made me feel like people want to write with me, her especially, and it’s honestly such a great feeling and i just love her. j, thank you for being so kind and for always wanting to come up with new plots/things that blaine and puck can do bc honestly ? it’s one of my favorite dynamics, since they’re my 2 fave boys. i can’t wait to write more stuff with you honestly.
also i just want to say that your interpretation of blaine is so on point, and wonderful, and every time i read anything you write it’s like the actual b. anderson is speaking in my head. he is amazing as are you and i hope you know that. never ever change because you’re literally one of the nicest people i’ve ever met okay. @pianokeysandbowties
Why is it that Blaine could make him into… this? A speechless mess. So unlike what he puts out into the world everyday. What he allowed others to see and witness. This wasn’t it. For Blaine Anderson? Sebastian was so soft. A simple stare and he was getting LOST in hazel eyes. It had been difficultly frustrating to try and accept what he felt, because it added confusion into the mix. Confusion on why every little text message had him running to check his phone. Confusion on why he had so many DREAMS about what they could never be. Even daydreams in mid-conversation like the ones that had just happened. It came down to EVERYTHING that Blaine was. Everything he DID. Sebastian was a fool for it. Shame on him. The boy who seems like he’s in control of everything is so very SKITTISH to the mere thought of Blaine noticing that he had more than just eyes for his physical self.
He didn’t want the world to see him. But sometimes– just sometimes– Blaine managed to see what most couldn’t. Over time it hadn’t come to always seem like such a bad thought. Thankful that the subject is changed, eyes fill with sudden EXCITEMENT for the idea of hanging out and his grin goes from stupid and loose to his usual sharp and witty self. ❝Busy? Oh, please. You know I’m never too busy for you, killer.❞ he insists lightly with a brow raise, coffee in the grip of his left hand. ❝We could hit up Scandals tonight. Come over to my place first? Father’s out all night.. And if you need a place to crash AFTERWARDS I have a bed that fits the both of us – or you can pick from about four meaningless guest rooms that never come into use.❞
When the quiet lingered in those few seconds before Sebastian’s entire posture shifted back into the boy who he broadcasted for the world to see, Blaine was–finally–able to take in a real breath. Even then, his mouth was too dry to swallow and, thank God, his coffee was there to help. Sebastian had more of an effect on him than he realized (or did he and was only kind enough not to bring it up..?) and this time, it was no different. It’s that stare. That stare hones in on him and brings an intensity that makes him feel like every thought he has is under a microscope. That Sebastian sees him for everything that he is and all the good, bad and uneven parts that he out of habit locks away should they turn in the direction of the person Blaine tries to be..can’t be hidden or put under lock and key.
Sebastian sees him. And, yet, he stays. Blaine knows Sebastian is in his orbit. Willingly pulled in and lacking any want to break free. Sometimes Blaine doesn’t understand why or how but that doesn’t change the fact that he is. Though, he figures that Sebastian has no idea that he is in his. Especially when he steals all his gravity with the weight of that knowing look that says ‘I’ve read every page of who you are..and the chapters you’ve cut out, crumpled up and thrown away are the ones that pull me back. Cover to cover. Every time.’. It’s terrifying and comforting to have someone who wants him for himself. Someone that makes deciding to go out to a shady bar and polishes it off with a not so vague innuendo of sharing a bed together at the end of the night a stop and stare think moment. Passing his blush off with a lopsided grin that makes his bottom lip touch the hole in the plastic mouthpiece of his cup, Blaine takes one more sip and lowers it down with a smirk firmly in place. “Then maybe tonight..one of them won’t be so useless. I’d hate to impose. Weren’t you just telling me the other day that sleeping anything other than naked is a crime against humanity? I don’t want you to compromise your beliefs just for the sake of not sleeping alone..” Another grin that dissolves into a huff of a laugh and Blaine palms his face trying to get the heat to calm down since the coffee wasn’t helping much.
It’s the nightmares that wake him again, this time he can’t sit still. The urge to run was overwhelming. And so he does. He slips out from under the covers, briefly he looks over at Blaine to make sure the other didn’t wake up. Satisfied to see that he was still asleep, the speedster ran, he wasn’t sure for how long. Could be seconds, or minutes, he would have done it for hours if he could. It was this restless energy, racing away from the thoughts that danced around in his head. Yet regardless of how fast he ran, it didn’t change the nightmares, it didn’t stop them from happening. Eventually they will calm down, they weren’t as frequent as before. He just– he didn’t like talking about them, even though he probably should. Some would say he allows his emotions to rule him, it’s easy to read what he’s feeling. See, the thing was Barry was the fact that when he truly wanted to keep something bottled up he was very good at it.
Eventually he returned back to their place, phasing through the door to keep quiet. What time was it? It was still dark, but close to early in the morning, great, he’s going to be tired tomorrow. Or rather later today, good things he has the day off, right? He settled on the couch, rubbing his temples with a frustrated, almost distressed look on his face. Then he hears footsteps; Blaine must have woken up. Had he not been as quiet as he thought? “Blaine–” green eyes look up to met those hazel- honey colored ones. “I… sorry, did I wake you up?”
Barry’s spot on the bed was ice cold when Blaine’s hand reached for him in the middle of the night. A contrast of chilly air and no one next to him that his body wasn’t ready for waited for him where a person should be. The empty air in place of his boyfriend stirred him out of sleep. Tired eyes opened to a pillow with the indent of Barry’s head on it instead of a face. It was dark out which meant it was way too early for Barry to be gone. Had to be around somewhere. “Barry,” his voice was still scratchy with sleep as he called out and received nothing back. Or maybe he wasn’t? “Honey?” Not even a stir in the bathroom or kitchen. Okay. Now he was wide awake. Barry was gone and (after shoving bedheaded curls out of his eyes so he could check his phone and seeing no text to tell him something happened at work and he had to rush out) he had no idea why and that wasn’t a common thing between them.
Something had to be wrong.
Worry replaced confusion and he was out of bed with his pajama pants pulled on in seconds. Snatching his phone off the nightstand, Blaine walked down the hall and stopped in his tracks when he came to the living room. Barry was on the couch..but dressed? “Hey,” his voice was laden with concern as he took a seat tossing a glance to his now unneeded phone before setting it aside and putting his full attention on the man beside him. “Um. No. I don’t think you did. I just noticed you weren’t there. You didn’t answer me. You okay?” He had no idea Barry was gone at all, but he could see the heaviness in his eyes and knew the answer already. Wanting nothing more than to make him feel better, Blaine wrapped his arm around Barry’s shoulders and tugged him close enough to press a kiss to his temple. “Wanna talk about it?”
“Nah, you weren’t making a fool of yourself! And yeah, that’s true.” When Blaine had kissed Rachel, everyone couldn’t stop talking about it. Puck had just assumed Blaine was gay and then that had happened. He nodded his head. “Yeah, that’s probably true. It’s burned in all of our minds even if we all were totally wasted at the time. It’s funny…We’ve both kissed Rachel Berry and now each other.” He frowned when something dawned on him. “God, we really are like the most incestuous group of friends to ever exist.” He was joking, sort of. It was hard to keep track of everyone’s relationships. He’d realized that the rumor about performing arts kids being horny all of the time was true.
“Incestuous? Really? I’ve hit that level already?” Blaine’s nose scrunched as he spoke–it was hard not to agree with Puck with the stories that Kurt told him about who was with who and who hated who. The New Directions seemed to have changes of heart every other week on who they were in love with. But–hey! He didn’t count, did he? A drunken game of spin the bottle wasn’t supposed to mean anything. And kissing Puck? That was a mistake. Right? If the other would have him believe anything else–it was starting to become overly evident that it was the ONLY way Puck would want to think about their hallway encounter–then maybe this one didn’t either. Or Puck was dead on and he was starting to fall into that trap. “Maybe staying sober the next go round might be a good idea. At least for me,” he laughed helplessly as a splash of red warmed the bridge of his nose and his cheeks. “I should keep my name out of the pool of who’s with who before I end up in a three solo cup refill vodka and cranberry juice nose drive into the deep end?”
Puck nodded his head. “Yeah, he’s fine. Luckily for all of us he didn’t hit his head and get a concussion. I’m way too drunk to drive to the hospital right now.” He chuckled. “Agreed. We’re gonna have to monitor how much he drinks for the rest of our lives!” Shit. He was hoping Blaine had forgotten about that. He had to think of something quick. Something that didn’t sound stupid. He wasn’t the best at thinking on his feet. “Um…I liked the way you were dancing at the party. Ya got some sweet moves, dude!” He hoped Blaine wouldn’t be able to tell that he had just lied his ass off. Maybe someday he’d tell the younger male the truth. He was just too scared of saying the words out loud. It’d mean that he was sorta coming to terms with his sexuality, something that scared him. He knew how the kids at his high school treated anyone they perceived to be different. Besides, he’d worked so hard on making sure everyone knew he was a womanizing badass. Liking dudes just didn’t fit into that lifestyle.
Blaine didn’t realize how he’d squinted until his bright eyes became two hazel slits pinched at their edges giving Puck a measuring glance back and forth across his darker stare. Whether he believed Puck or was letting his answer pass was a mystery hidden with an easy smile and a bob of his head that followed it. “Aw, Puck. Thanks! That’s really sweet,” he blushed a notches warmer across his cheeks. “I thought I was making a fool out of myself but you know? I really didn’t care. I was having too much fun and everyone else was about as gone as I was. Least I didn’t kiss Rachel this time around. So there’s that?” His lips remained to himself the entire time. Go figure that they wouldn’t when he was alone with the straightest guy of the McKinley bunch, right? Blaine took another sip of his water and sat it on the coffee table so he could reached one hand down to toy with the hem of his pant’s cuff. His chin rested on one bent knee effectively becoming a ball of Warbler at the other end of the couch. “I don’t think I’ll ever live that moment down between Kurt and the rest of you guys. I think it was brought up like three times tonight.”
pianokeysandbowties 