These were Blaine’s deep, wine charged thoughts as he stood in front of the window in his room at home, peering into the darkness outside. He was always standing in front of windows or on balconies, come to think of it. He was always looking outside. Even when he was outside, he was looking outside. Always looking, watching, but never acting. Seeing, but never being part of the world outside of his house.

Sure, Blaine had gone to school like everyone else. He had even convinced his parents to let him try public school (the amount of wine bottles his parents had gone through that week was still imprinted in his mind, but he had gotten what he wanted in the end). When public school had failed, he had gone to a private, all- boys academy. He had found it to be too stifling though, and the only thing he was able to do to break free from the mould a bit was sing. Which he had done, and quite well at that if he did say so himself. He had led the school’s choir to a few victories back in the day.

Blaine groaned, leaning forward to rest his warm forehead against the cool glass of the window. Hear him thinking about things being ‘back in the day’. He was twenty- five. It was way too soon to start sounding like his grandfather. He looked around his room a bit, still keeping his head pressed to the glass. He took in his surroundings and sighed. He’d be the first to admit he was spoiled. He was an Anderson, and that still meant something in certain circles. And his father made sure to never let him forget that.

He was spoiled, suffocated, stifled. Trapped. All his life he had been told what to do, like some mindless drone just awaiting orders from its owner. Don’t be late, Blaine. Stand up straight, Blaine. Dress smart, Blaine. Go to every single charity event you’re invited to. Stand here, smile there. Remember you’re an Anderson. Protect your privacy. Never do anything to harm the family name. Don’t go into politics, Blaine. Could you try to date a girl, Blaine? Marry the right partner. Marry now, Blaine.

He looked out over the gardens again. Marriage? Why? Because it would send the right message to his parents’ circle of friends, of course. Love had nothing to do with it. But Blaine was a romantic, and he had told himself when he started dating Sebastian three years ago that it was because he genuinely liked him, not because his father needed him to be seen as a serious young man, willing to settle down and start a family instead of just being ‘the Anderson’s strange gay son, what will ever become of him?”. He was really starting to see that was exactly what he had done, though.

He wasn’t marrying Sebastian because he wanted to, or because he loved him so much he wanted to spend the rest of his life with him. He was marrying Sebastian because he wanted to make his parents happy and proud for once. Because, hey, objectively speaking Sebastian was quite a catch. He was handsome (at least, most people thought so, Cooper had once commented on him looking a bit like a meerkat and that’s all Blaine has been able to see since), he was rich, he had connections in high places, and he really, really wanted Blaine.

Once you got to know Sebastian, though, he came across just a bit differently. He was boring, for one. Every conversation Blaine had had with him in the past few months had been about his work (his work, Blaine didn’t have a job at the moment. More like, hadn’t had one since he finished college) or about how he wanted to go back to Paris to live there after they were married. Also, and Blaine couldn’t be a hundred per cent sure but he wasn’t exactly blind to the signs either, he cheated. His eyes weren’t the only things that wandered away from Blaine, Blaine was sure.

So why was he still with him? Why was he going through with the marriage when he didn’t really love his fianc� and really didn’t want to spend the rest of eternity with him? Blaine turned away from the window and walked towards his large closet. Why was he even still here when he felt stifled, not only at home but in his relationship? What had happened to the seventeen year old singer who had dreamed of making it big in the music industry?

That boy is still in here, Blaine thought while shifting through his closet for the large duffel bags he had kept there ever since he moved back home from college. He started picking out clothes and books to pack, not really realising what he was doing yet. It wasn’t till he was busy packing toiletries that he realised what he was doing. He was leaving. He was about to walk out the door (no, can’t go out the door, aunt Caresse will still be awake. Best make it the window) and walk away from the future he had been groomed to have. He was about to be free.

Blaine stopped in his tracks. He was going to be free. He was going to make something of his life. He was going to leave Westerville behind and head for greater, bigger things. He wasn’t going to marry Sebastian. He spared a second to think about how his mother would react to the news, but decided to put his own happiness first for once. A giddy smile spread across his face. He was going to live his life for himself, and not for his father, his mother, or Sebastian. Blaine Anderson would just be Blaine. But where to go?

Placing the two fully packed duffel bags on his bed, Blaine glanced around the room a final time. His eyes fell on a picture frame on his bedside table. In the picture were his friends from college and himself, celebrating on their graduation day. Behind them was the front of their school; Columbia. Blaine grinned. He knew exactly where he was going to go.

----------------------------------------------------

“Yes, Mrs Peterson. I promise you we’ll return Mr Snugglepuss to you. He’ll be home before you know it,” Kurt said into the phone he held at his ear, determinedly ignoring the snort Puck let out at the name of the missing cat. He exchanged a few more reassuring words with her before hanging up.

“Mr Snugglepuss?” Puck asked disbelievingly.

“Sadly,” Kurt answered. “I swear people just name their cats stupid names like this to make their friends look ridiculous when playing with them.”

Puck snorted again, nodding his head. “Wait, didn’t you solve a missing cat case for Mrs Peterson already?”

“Three, actually,” Kurt answered, scribbling a note to put in the folder he was working on. “This makes four. To be fair, though, I’ve seen the inside of her house. I’d run away too.”

His partner laughed, before throwing his feet up on his desk. Kurt looked on disapprovingly.

“So, how was your night with the Andersons last night?” Puck inquired, smirking mischievously.

Kurt frowned at him. “That was the last time I took on one of your jobs. I’ve got bruises on my shins.”

“Ah, little Emily,” Puck nodded. “And how was the rest of the family?”

Kurt shrugged. “I liked the oldest Anderson son. He actually deigned to talk to me without being prompted.”

“Coop’s a good guy,” Puck agreed. “So, nothing unusual?”

“Nope,” Kurt answered. “You can just file it under ‘completed’, subdivision ‘guarding’.”

“You and your ordering system,” Puck grumbled, before standing up to do just that. He wasn’t even two feet away from his desk when his phone rang. He walked back to pick up the receiver.

“Lima Private Eyes. You lose ‘em, we find ‘em,” he said cheekily, causing Kurt to roll his eyes. “Uhu. Yeah, sure, can do. Kurt, dude, it’s for you.”

Kurt raised an eyebrow, but took the phone from Puck anyway. “Lima PI, Kurt Hummel speaking. How may I help you?”

He gestured to himself and the phone, as if telling Puck that that what the correct way to answer a phone call before listening to whatever the person on the other side of the line had to say. Puck just waved his hand at him, already walking towards the filing cabinet again.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can, ma’am. We will find him for you.” Kurt spoke into the receiver before hanging up.

“Another lost cat?” Puck flippantly asked. When Kurt didn’t answer he turned around to find his lithe partner staring at the phone he had just set down. “Kurt?”

“Hmm?” Kurt asked, shaking himself out of his thoughts. “Oh, no. No lost cat. That was Mirabelle Anderson. Blaine Anderson is missing.”