( mssg » quinn | sent ) Ijust thinkg you should knwo that you are one of the firneds I am the most proud of. Quinn you are the real deall. ( mssg » quinn | sent ) Beautiful,, smart and determiend to get what you want. YToure so strong. I wish i Was as strong as you are. I want to let you knwo that Iw’ll always be rooting for you no matter waht.
Joining the others in New York before Thanksgiving had even rolled round had been something of a last minute decision. The costume party and karaoke night they had hosted the other night had been, admittedly, WILD, a word that Quinn would never usually use when it came to describing her old classmates. So much alcohol, her head had been positively BANGING when she woke up the next morning, but she supposed that was a part of the fun. Everybody at Yale had been so serious lately, forgetting the fact that he was the start of the holiday season. Some part of her can’t quite comprehend it, but it probably has something to do with their dreaded mid-terms. It’s been a killer for the past two years or so.
❝ What movies do you have?? ❞ Brow quirks, hazel eyes flickering towards the shelf full of DVDs beside their television set. If he suggests a musical, she might just throw herself off the balcony, but she smiles politely, shuffles a couple of inches closer to him and TUCKS herself beneath her corner of the blanket. ❝ Because if I have to sit through another round of ‘ One Day More ‘ I don’t know how I would be able to survive. ❞
One arm casually wrapped itself in a loose hold around Quinn’s shoulders to let her scoot as comfortably close as she wanted to. Honestly–and it might be silly for him to feel this way–but feeling her inch nearer and be comfortable enough to do that with him made him feel good inside. Quinn was always someone he looked up to. Even admired for the strength she had to get through everything life threw at her and still come out shining. They were friends. Definitely friends. But she was always someone he handled carefully. Respecting her distance was important to him because so often others–good intentions aside–never seemed to realize when not to. Her sometimes quiet and her sometimes not so quiet was okay with him. He UNDERSTOOD more than she might know.
Now that they were under a blanket on the couch and she was close, though? Blaine couldn’t wipe the light smile off his lips. Leaning over–he grabbed the remote from the table and offered it over instead of taking over menu surfing. “How about we play it safer and let you pick? That’s the polite thing to do anyway. I mean–you might get stuck with superheros or something way too black and white and old if I’m in charge? The DVD rack isn’t going to help. Those are mostly Rachel’s and Kurt’s and we both know what that means.”
“Okay, okay! No Creepy Pastas. They make it impossible to get a decent night’s sleep anyway,” Blaine mumbled as he leaned over the couch and poured Quinn and himself refills on their tea. Taking a few steps around the sofa–a potholder was tossed onto the coffee table and he sat the kettle down on top of it. Limbs gave out in a rather ungraceful collapse beside her. Grinning like a happy idiot–and he was considering that Quinn staying here made him endlessly happy to get the chance to spend time with her–Blaine grabbed the crocheted blanket from where it was draped over the couch arm next to him and motioned her in. “How about we find something less blood bath and more spooky but both of us can still sleep to watch then? Cause I think we got our last Trick-Or-Treater a half an hour ago.”
And finally, he was rewarded with a tight sound releasing from her lips. A laugh? Was it mocking? Quinn couldn’t tell anymore. Everything she did now had some form of disparagement in it, and often it made it difficult to tell whether she was joking or not. CONSEQUENCES were no longer at the top of her list of concerns, not to say that they had been at the top in the first place. They came sixth after becoming prom royalty, her reputation, the cheerios, whatever was left of her family, and now the skanks. Formerly holding the fifth place title had been the New Directions.
❝ While there might not be anything here yet, if you stick around, Sheila’s going to have a HELL of a good time trying to see if hair gel makes fires light up faster,
❞ she smirked, eye-balling Blaine’s hair and the copious amount of hair product that covered his head. He had GUTS, she had to commend him for that. Even though the gang had disappeared off-campus for an hour or two ( probably all day, who were they kidding? ), Quinn couldn’t think of one person who would actively choose to come up to her when she was in this…state, and ask her to grab something to eat with them?
❝ Come on, hair gel. Let’s not loiter.
❞
“Remind me to have you point out exactly who Sheila is? So I know who to avoid. I sort of like my hair on my head. Not used as kindling,” a broad, entertained grin tugged at the edges of his lips as he watched her eyeball his hair. She was clicking away on what to judge him by and he’d let her if that’s what made her comfortable. But he wasn’t going anywhere. Or giving up. He knew that Kurt had no clue what to say to her at this point and he wasn’t alone in that department. Not many of the New Directions kids did as far as Blaine could tell. Could be that he didn’t either but giving her time away from a bunch of rebels without a clue? No harm could come of that, yeah? So? He’d try whatever he could think of by the seat of his pants and if it worked and they connected? Great. If not? She had lunch that wasn’t just cigarettes.
Jerking into motion with a quick nod–Blaine nodded and started in the direction of the student parking lot. “We can take my car there. Faster and we can be back sooner. Unless you’d rather walk? I’m fine with either one. As long as there’s coffee at the end of the road? I’m good.” First they’d get on the way and then they could talk.
A scoff. A roll of her eyes. It wasn’t as if Quinn had never spoken to Blaine. She had. In BURSTS. Conversations with him didn’t come very often, and now with her current circumstance, they barely came at all. Besides, it wasn’t glaring. It was CONTEMPT, in the form of a long, hard stare and a silent, growing victory. ❝ What the hell do you need from me that’s going to take forty-five minutes? Because whatever it is, I’m probably not going to be very bothered about it. I have other things to do around here.
❞
Blaine patiently stood through the scoff, the roll of eyes and her ‘not glare’. He knew what it was like to be in that headspace. It wasn’t like she was the first person to go through a rebellion broadcasted towards everyone else when–in fact–it was herself she was putting through the ringer. Every individual had their own ways of dealing with their personal hells. Some let it go easy, some cringed from the world, some ran to escape. Others dyed their hair pink, grabbed a pack of cigarettes and turned into a gutter punk. Doesn’t last forever. The issues are still there. Waiting. Depending on how you were out of the gate only determined what you’ll sift through when they catch up. “Coffee and company,” he shrugged and looked past her like he was trying to find whatever those ‘other things’ were. “I don’t see anything that can’t wait. Do you? Unless your next arson attempt can’t be rescheduled. I mean–there’s still the piano in the choir room left to torch.”
❝ Gee, news sure does travel around FAST. It only took you guys a month and a half before coming to seek me out. So much for you guys and your constant preaching about how important everybody is.
❞
“Okay. Woah. Slow down. I just got here? From what I know–which isn’t much–you’ve been practically broadcasting for everyone to leave you alone. I get that you were hoping for the opposite but you can’t expect everyone to and not take you literally. Look. How about we go get lunch–more than your nicotine diet–and just talk? You’re free to leave whenever. If you still want to go back to glaring at everyone from the sidelines–that’s your choice. But give me forty-five minutes of your time?”
( mssg » blainey | sent ) Are you and Kurt back together? ( mssg » blainey | sent ) I heard some stuff from the wedding party the other night and I thought I’d ask!
( mssg » quinn | sent ) Word travels fast. Let me guess? Tina? Mercedes? Rachel?
( mssg » quinn | sent ) It was Tina.
( mssg » quinn | sent ) Honestly? I don’t know. Things happened but we really need to talk about it. Why so curious, Miss Fabray?
Quinn knew that Blaine didn’t mention her new boyfriend in an attempt to make her feel bad or guilty for being with him. He wasn’t that type of person. They were friends and it was completely okay for him to tell her his opinion on Chip and how he didn’t like him. She didn’t expect anybody to like him – what mattered though is that she liked him. But she completely understood where all her other friends were coming from even if some of them didn’t know how to go about it the right way. Looking over at Blaine, she saw how sad he looked and how he apologized for saying something that in his mind he knew was wrong. “You know that I didn’t mean it like that, Blaine. I would rather take your relationship advice more than anyone else. At least I knew you would have good intentions. But people like Puck just want me to break up with him because he realized that he wants to be with me now. Or people like Santana who can’t stand to see me happy for once while she’s miserable because SHE chose to break up with someone who actually cared about her. You’re my friend and I appreciate you looking out for me.” She listened to him now talk about what was going on between Kurt and himself and knowing that her two best friends, the two who were so in love with each other had something come between them, it pulled at her heart strings. “It’s not good for you to keep that to yourselves. If you’re not okay, you should say it. Let your friends be here for you through this. Because we are all here for you. For both you and Kurt.” She simply nodded her head when he asked if Kurt was okay and of course he wasn’t. How could Kurt be okay when his boyfriend or ex boyfriend and his best friend and him weren’t okay? “Of course he’s not, Blaine. Kurt tries really hard to hide that sadness and hurt but you can see right through it. He loves you. He loves you so much that it’s killing him inside and I know it’s hurting you just as much.” She offered him a sweet smile and rubbed his back gently as a gesture of comfort. “You will be okay. We’re all going to be okay. But just know that that we’re all here for you and you don’t have to do this alone, okay? No. We all have a Glee Club to save. This is our family. We’re all a family here and family sticks together no matter what.”
Kurt in the conversation caused Blaine to shift around in his seat until both legs were up on the chair crossed over one another. Gaze averted to the lace of a tan boat shoe that seemed to never be tied quite right. No matter how many times he messed around with it, he kept pulling it loose and redoing the bow. “Quinn? Thank you for the advice but I don’t know where to start. I know he loves me. I love him too. I love him so much. I’m just not sure if we can fix it this time. How?” The touch to his back was just enough human contact to make his shoulders hitch and his eyes tear to the brim. Blaine covered it up with a smile as expected and nodded. His weight settled against Quinn’s side as he leaned towards her. Soon, his head followed resting on the curve of her shoulder. “Everyone will be okay eventually. One way or another? We’ll get there. You’re not alone either. Remember that. Chip works out? Great. If not? You know you have us. I’m always going to be here. I might not be that great at fixing my own problems but I’d like to think I’m pretty good at helping others work their own out.” Rolling his lips between his teeth, he reached for her hand and covered it with both of his. One on top of her palm. One underneath. Looking out into the empty space without lifting his head he couldn’t stop wondering when things got so difficult for so many of the people who used to do nothing but laugh, sing and have their high school drama play out that was mostly laughable in comparison to what they all were going through so soon after leaving McKinley “for good”. How did a couple of years change so much? She was right. They’d all get through it. He couldn’t predict how things would turn out. Everything was crystal clear not that long ago. What the end result of “working things out” was a mystery. Where would they all be when they made it through? That part bothered him most. The not-knowing. One thing would never change. They were a family. He’d do whatever it took to save these kids and try to help save the people working so hard for the same goal because they were who he was here most for. Dalton was his lifeblood but McKinley was the veins that it pumped through. He just couldn’t imagine living in a world where one or the other didn’t exist. Whether he was on the opposing side or not. He’d help. He had to. “What do you say we get out of here? Avoid the worried or judgey eyes we’re going to get if we show up at Breadstix tonight? You and me. I know just the place. My treat.”
Of course the first thing they were going to talk about was Quinn’s new boyfriend and the fact that not one of her friends approved of him. They had until he started to act like a real ass in front of her and Puck and things just went downhill from there. Quinn really liked the guy but after talking to Puck, she realized that old feelings were starting to come back and she didn’t want that. Puck was apart of her past and she wasn’t proud of that. They had a baby together but that was as far as it went. Chip was apart of her future and as much as she hated the way he treated her, she wanted it to stay that way. She just didn’t expect Blaine to call her out on it so quickly, especially since it seemed like the other boy had other things going on his mind than to be interested in who the blonde had seemed to involve herself with. She didn’t even know he knew she had a boyfriend but good news travels fast and she was pretty sure the entire Lima knew. She wasn’t sure how long she was going to be dating him but that was for her to decide, not anyone else. She was tired of people constantly judging her and putting their nose where they didn’t belong but she didn’t want to be rude towards Blaine. He was always such a cool person and she didn’t want to change her opinion on him because of this new boyfriend of hers. She appreciated his concern though and she knew he was probably just looking out for her but she didn’t need it. Quinn was a smart independent women and she was capable of making her own decisions and choices. “Apparently not.” She said, shrugging her shoulders. “But that’s nobody’s business except mine. He isn’t perfect but I like him and if it wasn’t for Puck getting into something that he shouldn’t have, he wouldn’t have acted like that. He had no business to talk about my past. Chip just got upset and he lashed out. It happens.” She was making excuses for her boyfriend but she didn’t care because she honestly didn’t come to the room to talk about him. “Anyway, we were talking about you and why you look like you just got your heart crushed. Is everything okay between you and Kurt? I’ve seen him and he doesn’t look good himself. I’d assume it’s because you two aren’t on the best of terms right now.”
Blaine noticed he unintentionally hit a sore spot with Quinn. It was an accident he made in an err of judgement to turn the conversation off how miserable he looked and onto something else. He jumped to a subject that he shouldn’t have in his eagerness to avoid keeping her attention on him ‘not looking so good’. Mainly the fact that everyone hated this Chip guy with a burning passion. Blaine left out using that phrase exactly. He didn’t have to. Everyone else made it abundantly clear that they hated the guy judging by more than a dozen text messages that flooded his phone. Eventually he’d bring it up to her if he felt like he needed to. No intention of doing that tonight turned into one when she seemed concerned with the state she found him in. Quinn meant well. He knew that. She always did when it came to him. To reward her for her care? She had to sit through one more person broaching the subject of the fact that this guy seemed like a douchebag that wasn’t worth her time solely based on the opinions of others. “Sorry for bringing it up. Trust me,” he smiled tiredly and gestured around the room, “I’m the last person you want relationship advice from. Not that you were asking for it. I’ll try to keep my mouth shut.” Unless he had a reason not to. Then it was fair game. He didn’t need to say that. She knew. If she was making excuses now, and it sounded like she was, she’d be out of them by the time he got to her. They’d deal with that bump if when it happened. Dropping the subject of Chip turned the tables back on him. “We were talking about that. I-ahh-,” Blaine shifted uncomfortably in his chair hooking his pointer into the knot of his bowtie and loosening it up until it hung loose around his neck so he could breathe. “No. Things aren’t okay. We’re acting like they are but we both know they’re not. Never thought I’d say this but we’ve gotten good at that over the years.” A strained smile showed the frustration he was barely keeping in check. Quinn received a worried look when she mentioned Kurt wasn’t okay. “He’s not? I knew it,” he mumbled, “Aren’t on the best of terms is a gentle way of putting it, Quinn.” What were they? A mess? A wreck? Broken. “We’re both—having a hard time.” Could he downplay that more? Probably not. Hard habit to break. “We’re both gonna be okay though,” he held onto his neck and smiled at her, “So don’t worry about us. You all have a Glee Club to save.”
pianokeysandbowties 