Nailed Shut

Chapter 2

Blaine wakes up with a mild headache the day after the big Dalton Halloween-party. He remembers what happened with the window and looks over to see that it's closed, four orange leaves on the floor below it. So it did happen… Blaine brushes his teeth in his bathroom and skips putting gel in his hair. He changes out of his pajamas and into a pair of sweatpants and a navy turtleneck sweater, before grabbing his pea coat and rushing out from his room.

It's a beautiful Sunday morning, autumn leaves glowing like fire in the sun as Blaine drives down a winding gravel road toward a small house on the edge of Westerville. He parks his car next to an old truck and gets out of the car. A woman with curly gray hair – in a bun on the back of her head – is standing on the front porch, hands clasped in front of her.

"Blaine, honey. I've been expecting you." the woman says as Blaine walks up the steps to bend and hug her unbelievably short frame.

"Hi grandma." Blaine says and smiles at her before she turns and leads him into the house.

"Do you want some tea?" she asks and turns her back to him, heading for the kitchen as he sits down on one of the two facing couches.

"Yes, please." Blaine removes his coat and drapes it over the armrest.

He hasn't visited his grandmother in a long time. Not since he was about ten years old. They talk fairly often on the phone, and she usually visits for Christmases and such. Blaine looks around the living room, his eyes roaming over the wallpaper with the insane pattern and all the bottles filled with odd liquids on shelves along the walls. His eyes fall on a huge framed picture of his grandfather on the side of the staircase. Blaine never met grandpa Rolf since he died twenty-five years ago, but grandma Lily has shown him lots of pictures of him. She has also told him stories about how his grandfather was a sailor, a Viking, before they met and settled down in this house to have Blaine's mother. Rolf had been barely sixty when he died, so he is still fairly young in all the pictures his grandmother has shown him. At least if he compares him to how she looks now, at eighty-five. His hair, beard and mustache are a reddish orange color and his eyes a deep green. He was a really handsome man, but Blaine's mother had only gotten her father's jaw-shape, and nothing else to indicate that they were related. Grandma Lily returns to the room with a small silver tray with two big tea mugs on it.

"Let me help you with that." Blaine stands and takes the tray from his grandmother, placing it on the table between the two couches. "You said you have been expecting me. How come?" Blaine takes a mug and leans back in the couch, pressing both hands against the mug to warm them up a bit.

"Rolf told me this morning that you would come talk to me about ghosts today." Lily says, sits down and grabs the other mug of tea.

Blaine nods. He is absolutely certain that his grandmother is not insane in any way, she is a perfectly healthy old woman. And still she sees ghosts. Or the ghost of his grandfather Rolf to be more specific. For twenty-five years she has seen and talked to him. So it isn't something that has come with her old age. "And how did he know?"

"Well, I told him about a suspicion of mine a few months ago and since then he has been visiting you once in a while. And I heard that the annual Halloween-party at Dalton Academy was yesterday. I told him about it, so he thought he'd go see you."

"What suspicion?" Blaine's heart is beating fast and his hands are grabbing the tea mug tightly.

"Calm down, dear. Try the tea. It's delicious." Grandma Lily smiles at him.

Blaine takes a deep breath and tastes the tea. "It is delicious."

"Told you. Now, Blaine. This might be a really frightening conversation for you, but I'll answer all of your questions to the best of my abilities."

"Okay. So, what suspicion was it?"

"That you have the gift, or the curse, depending on how you see it."

"The one you have?"

"The very same. I have suspected that you might have it since you were a wee child, that you are sensitive to spirits. You started showing signs before you could even walk or talk."

"What signs?"

"You would never sleep in your parent's bedroom. Ever. Your mother told me when they bought the house that they got it cheap, because the woman who owned it before them hung herself in that room. So I think you felt that woman somehow."

"So that is why grandpa Rolf visited me. Because he thought he might be able to reach me?"

His grandmother nods, so Blaine continues. "So how did he know that I was coming here today?"

"He went to see you last night and saw another one following you-"

"Another ghost?" Blaine interrupts her, almost spilling the tea on his lap.

"Yes. Another ghost, or spirit. So he hung back and saw that the other one tried to contact you. He seemed to get some reactions from you, didn't he?"

"It's a man?"

"A boy." Blaine just gapes at her so she continues. "Tell me about all the things you experienced last night."

Blaine takes a big gulp of tea before telling his grandmother about everything. The light, the book, the touch, the whisper, the cold spot, the window and the blue flashes. She nods through his story and smiles at the end.

"Those blue flashes you saw-" she begins, smiling even wider at Blaine "were most likely his eyes. And he has probably been trying to get your attention by touching you, talking to you and moving things."

"But why? What does he want?"

"Only he can know. But he might not either."

Blaine is quiet for a while, thinking. His grandmother waits patiently for him to continue.

"Grandma... Has grandpa told you anything about the afterlife? Why and how someone becomes a ghost? What happens if they aren't?"

"I don't know. And he doesn't know. All we know is that he came to me after he died, and I saw him. So he has done nothing to try to go anywhere. He tells me everything, and I do the same. So it doesn't seem like you become a ghost to tell someone something."

"So if I have the gift-" Blaine continues and Lily smiles at his use of the word "gift". "How come I can't see him?"

"Well…" Lily puts her empty mug back on the silver tray. "Since you haven't known, you haven't been very open. Knowing might be the only thing you needed. It's like if you are playing football. If a football is thrown at you, it's thrown at you. If you don't know it's coming you might run sideways to tackle someone and miss it. But if you know it's coming you can catch it."

"Okay, grandma. You know I'm not into sports much, but I think I get what you mean."

They smile at each other. "And if I still can't see him when I get back to Dalton?" Blaine asks.

"You can come back here and I will do my best to help you."

When Kurt wakes up Blaine is once again missing from his room. Kurt wonders where he went and thinks of a bunch of different possibilities. He looks over at Blaine's desk and sees that Blaine has left his notebook and pencil out. Kurt walks over and picks up the pen, without much difficulty. When he starts to think about what to write however, the pencil goes right through his fingers and falls to the floor. So, I have to concentrate or this won't work. Kurt picks it up and focuses both his eyes and his mind on writing down the words he came up with. He figures Blaine might me gone for a while so he wanders out into the hallways to try to get in contact with someone else.

Blaine returns to his room and hangs his coat on the hook on the back of the door. When he turns around he steps on something. He looks down to find his pencil under his foot. He picks it up and moves to lay it back on top of his notebook on the desk, but there is something there. "I exist. I'm not here however. Trying Wes and Davi-" is written in a pretty handwriting. The last word isn't finished and since the pencil was on the floor Blaine figures the boy must have dropped it and not bothered to finish. It looks as if the boy might have been very cold, hand shaking, as the letters are kind of wobbly and not written with much pressure.

Blaine needs to find this boy. Or, this boy's ghost. So he heads out to find Wes and David, thinking that they might have noticed something strange today. He finds them in the library and sits down in one of the armchairs next to them.

"Well, hello Blaine." Wes mutters without looking up from his book.

"Are you feeling better today?" David asks, lowering his book and smiling faintly at Blaine.

"I'm fantastic." he exclaims and then focuses his eyes on Wes. "I need you two to tell me if you have noticed anything strange today. Seriously."

"No. What is with you, Blaine?" Wes lowers his book now and Blaine is surprised to see that he looks more concerned than angry.

"I thought I heard something about half an hour ago." David mumbles.

"What? You did? What was it? Where?"

"Right here. I thought I heard someone crying, but I didn't think much about it. It's windy outside…" David says and glances at Wes who is looking at him with a puzzled expression.

"Okay. Thanks, David. I have to go." Blaine rushes out into the hallway, stops and looks wildly in both directions.

Maybe the boy got upset when he couldn't reach Wes and David so he started crying and left. But where did he go? Blaine searches the halls and the common rooms, without really knowing what he is looking for. When darkness falls he has looked everywhere he can think of, even the kitchen and the laundry rooms. So he heads back toward his own dorm room.

"… Oh please say to me, you'll let me be your man. And please say to me, you'll let me hold your hand. …"

The voice is faint, but it's coming from the dorm rooms. Blaine rushes closer.

"… And when I touch you I feel happy, inside. It's such a feeling that my love, I can't hide. I can't hide, I can't hide. …"

The voice fades off as Blaine stops outside his room. He knocks on it and feels silly, since it is his own room after all. He hears a tiny gasp and opens the door. Blaine stands in the doorway, staring. A boy is sitting in his armchair. A gorgeous boy. The most gorgeous boy Blaine has ever seen. That is not what Blaine had expected. When his grandmother said "boy" Blaine had imagined a child, but this isn't a boy. Blaine would say he's a guy. But to an eighty-five years old woman they are both boys.

The boy looks up at Blaine and he is even more stunned than before. Those blue flashes Blaine saw, they were his eyes. His eyes are a gorgeous blue color, with shades of green and gray. His hair is a beautiful shade of brown, but Blaine thinks "brown" is too bland a word. He finds "chestnut" to be more accurate.

"Hi." Blaine whispers, taking a step into the room and closing the door behind him.

The boy sniffles. "You can see me?"

Blaine nods and the boy lets out a shuddering breath. They are silent for a while, just looking at each other before Blaine asks "What's your name?".

"Kurt Hummel." the boy answers and smiles a little. "And you are Blaine."

"Anderson. Yes." Blaine has heard Kurt's name somewhere before, but can't place it. "Why are you here?"

"I don't know. I just… woke up here, I guess, one day and I noticed no one could see me."

"My grandmother says that you are a ghost."

Kurt makes a humming sound. "That's odd." he says and narrows his eyes at Blaine. "Why didn't you see me before?"

"My grandmother told me that I have the gift, that I can see ghosts, or spirits as she likes to call them. I hadn't thought about it. But after what I saw last night I realized something was going on, so I went to see her this morning and she sees ghost too. Or my grandfather's ghost, to be more specific. So I guess I accepted that ghosts are real and I'm more open now. So I can see you."

"That makes sense." Kurt says and turns his head to look at the wall opposite to him.

Blaine almost vomits. The back of Kurt's head is smashed in. His hair is bloody, and so is the collar of his sky-blue shirt. Blaine can see something mushy and pink, and pieces of white on the back of Kurt's head. He looks away and gags.

"What's wrong?" Kurt asks, looking back at him.

"Why is your head bleeding?"

Kurt furrows his brows and touches the back of his head. They both wince. Kurt looks at his hand and smears the blood between his fingers.

A bone chilling scream. A loud crack. Deafening silence.

"I was attacked. I guess I died." Kurt says calmly, thoughtfully.

Something stirs in the back of Blaine's mind. "Did you hear about the guy in Lima?" "No? Tell me." "This guy, Kurt Hummel. He was gay bashed, and he died!" "How are you calm about that?"

"I don't know. I guess there isn't much I can do if I'm already dead. Also, my feelings seem to be kind of muffled. And I feel like I can't remember things, but I remember that I should remember. You know?"

"Um… I guess." Blaine moves to sit on his bed. "Why do you think you ended up here, and not with your family?"

"I have no idea. I have never been here before."

"So how long have you been here?"

"About a week, I think."

"They must be devastated. Do you want me to take you to them?"

"I don't remember where they are…" Kurt looks sad so Blaine gets off the bed and sits on the floor in front of Kurt's feet.

"There can't be very many Hummel's in Lima, Ohio." Blaine says and reaches out to touch one of Kurt's hands that he has in his lap, on reflex.

Blaine's hand falls through Kurt's hand, his leg and onto the cushion of the armchair. Blaine gasps and pulls his hand back, holding it to his chest. "I'm- I'm so, SO sorry." he squeaks.

"Hold out your hand." Kurt commands.

Blaine reaches it out toward Kurt carefully. Kurt looks at it and reaches his hand out as well. Kurt's eyebrows draw together slightly and he touches Blaine's palm with his fingertips. He drags his fingers across his palm and over his fingers until they slide off his fingertips. Kurt looks at Blaine's eyes and smiles. "Did you feel that?"

"Yeah." Blaine breathes.

"I have to concentrate when I touch things, it seems. Like the book, your pen and your hand."

"So you dropped the book in the library when I was there?"

"Yes. I slept in this chair the night before and when you were gone when I woke up I thought you might be mad at me for creeping in your room. I found you in there to apologize but you were studying, so I decided to read while I waited for you to finish."

"That was very thoughtful of you." Blaine cuts in before Kurt continues.

"I tried to grab the book and failed at first. Then I concentrated and grabbed it, but when I looked back at you I dropped it because I stopped focusing."

Blaine nods. "What was that song?" he thinks to ask suddenly.

"I- I don't remember…" Kurt says.

Kurt is standing in front of a room of strangers, singing his heart out. Tears stream down his face as he remembers holding hands with his father during his mother's funeral.

"I think-" Kurt begins and Blaine can see a shudder go through his body. "It makes me think of my father. He held my hand at my mother's funeral."

"How old were you?" Blaine asks cautiously.

"Eight."

"You remember?" Blaine asks, a small smile gracing his lips. "You remember your parents now?"

"I guess I do." Kurt says and smiles back a bit.

"So, should we go find your dad?"

"Yeah…" Kurt says and they both rise, walking out the door toward Blaine's car.

While Blaine drives his car toward Lima he keeps looking over to the passenger seat to make sure Kurt is still there, that he is real and that this is really happening.

"Blaine?" Kurt says and looks at him.

"Yeah?" Blaine breathes, unwillingly tearing his eyes away from Kurt's and back to the road.

"Put your seatbelt on, please."

Blaine glances over quickly again, chuckling lightly. "Sure. You too, though." Blaine slows the car down on the empty road and uses his left hand to put his seatbelt on while still maneuvering the car with his right.

"I'm dead, Blaine." Kurt says and lets out a huff of laughter. "I think I'll be fine."

Blaine looks sad suddenly, his smile gone and his thick eyebrows drawing together. "I'm sorry." Kurt says, not really understanding what about his own words made Blaine look that sad, but wanting to correct his mistake and make Blaine smile his gorgeous smile again. Blaine doesn't, he just looks at the road. They are silent for a long while.

"What do you want to do when we get there?" Blaine asks, taking a left.

"What do you mean?"

"Should I talk to your family and try to…" Blaine furrows his eyebrows further. "Explain this? Or do you just want to go in alone and see them?"

"I don't- I don't think they'll see me. Dad… I don't know. When my mother died he used to say that he could still feel her sometimes. But I don't know if he believes in ghosts." Blaine just nods so Kurt continues. "If you could try to explain to him, that would be very nice of you. But you really don't have to."

Blaine looks away from the road again and back at Kurt, starting to smile again. Kurt's heart flutters for some reason. "Of course I will, if that's what you want."

"But you'll have to tell him something nobody but him and me knows, so he will believe that I am actually with you."

"Like what?"

Kurt doesn't respond to Blaine's question, so he assumes that Kurt is trying to think of something. Blaine sees a small coffeshop, with the oh-so-creative name "The Lima Bean". He turns into the parking lot and turns off his car. Kurt doesn't react, clearly still trying to think of something that will convince his dad. Blaine takes out his phone and searches for "Hummel" in Lima. Two things come up in the search-engine; "Hummel's Tires and Lube" and "Burt Hummel", the latter one with an address. Blaine fills the address into his GPS and starts the car. When he is about two blocks away from the Hummel house Kurt lets out a satisfied "aha!" and smiles brightly at Blaine.