Blaine could hardly wait for the first day of school. The only thing that kept him going when he couldn't see Kurt, was knowing that he'd soon be back at Dalton and then everything would be okay again. He'd thought that maybe he and Jessica could work something out where they would pretend to see each other, while really seeing their respective boyfriends. Unfortunately, before they could organize their "first date," Jessica's parents had caught her in bed with her boyfriend, and she was grounded indefinitely.
The Sunday night before school started, Blaine was happily unpacking in his dorm room. He was getting a new roommate this year, since his previous roommate had graduated the year before. He was pleasantly surprised to find out it was Eric, whom he'd met occasionally at some of his father's work functions. He couldn't remember exactly what Eric's parents did, but he was pretty sure his Mom worked in the same building as Blaine's Dad. Blaine had been afraid he'd be rooming with a new freshman, so he was happy to be paired with the senior who'd transferred from another school. He and Eric had nearly identical class schedules and Eric said he was also interested in joining the Warblers, so Blaine was hoping they would get along well. Really, though, Blaine could get along with just about anyone, so he wasn't too worried.
He could hardly wait to get his computer set-up so he could Skype with Kurt. Then tomorrow afternoon, they would finally see each other in person again. After all, it was hard to have any kind of really personal conversation over the internet, with your new roommate in the room.
The next day seemed to go on forever, even though it was only the first day. Most of the students were enjoying catching-up with their friends and talking about their summers, but Blaine had only one thought on his mind – he would be seeing his boyfriend later that day. His last class was finally over and he was on his way to the first Warbler meeting of the year, luckily a short one. Today, they just had to vote on the new council for this year, and then he would finally be free to see Kurt.
To his surprise, his phone rang with his father's work number showing-up on the call display. "Hi, Dad," he said.
His Dad sounded furious, "So, you're planning on seeing that boy today, are you? You think that just because you're back at school, the rules don't apply? Well let me tell you this, Blaine, if you see or speak to that boy one more time, you'll be out of that school and onto the street so fast you won't know what hit you." He hung-up without giving Blaine any time to respond.
Blaine made it to the Warbler practice early and frantically asked Nick if he could use his phone. Nick looked confused (Blaine hadn't had a chance to explain his situation to any of them), but handed it over anyway. "Kurt, it's me. He knows I was planning to meet you today. He threatened to kick me out again if I see you."
"How could he know, Blaine?"
Blaine glanced-up to see Eric arrive, wave brightly at him, and sit down nearby. "I have to go," he said hurriedly. "I won't be able to make it today. I'm so sorry."
As he went back to his room after the meeting, he hardly registered the fact that he, Nick and Jeff were now the new Warbler Council. He was trying to figure-out how his father had found out. It had to be Eric. He hadn't had a chance to tell any of his friends what was going on, so none of them would have known he was planning to go to Lima today. He asked Eric if he'd spoken to his parents about him, but Eric was adamant that other than telling his parents that Blaine was his new roommate, he hadn't said anything else.
As the week went on, though, it seemed like Eric was everywhere. He was in almost all of Blaine's classes. He always seemed to walk with him to Warbler practices. He never seemed to leave their dorm room unless Blaine was going somewhere, too. Blaine had to resort to sneaking off to the library at lunch to email Kurt and it wasn't long before Eric seemed to discover this and was spending his lunches in the library as well. His request to change roommates had been met with a firm "No" from the dorm supervisor, especially since he couldn't give any better reason than "I think my roommate is spying on me."
Things certainly didn't improve when he had to go home that weekend. His Dad was suspicious every time Blaine wanted to leave the house. Even his Mom insisted on driving him when he wanted to go over to Nick's house to discuss their plans for the Warblers. He was pretty sure she wasn't trying to make his life miserable on purpose, but she seemed afraid he would get himself kicked-out again and was trying to make sure he wasn't sneaking off to see Kurt.
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As the first half of September passed, Blaine was hardly recognizable as the Warbler's star performer and the straight-A student he had been last year. He gave-up any of the upbeat solos, insisting that others could do a better job. Instead, he now seemed to prefer slow, depressing songs about being alone. His grades started to drop. He found it difficult to concentrate in class and tended to fall asleep in the evenings, when he should have been doing homework. His emails to Kurt had gotten shorter and shorter, partly because Eric kept hanging around him, but partly because he found he had nothing to say.
He was at home for the weekend now. It was Saturday morning and he had a large pile of neglected homework sitting on his desk, but he just couldn't get motivated to start it. He was too tired. Maybe if he had a nap he would feel better and would get something done this afternoon. He crawled back under the covers. Luckily, he hadn't bothered to change out of his pajamas. He fell asleep immediately, even though it was only 11:00 am.
A little while later, his mother, not having gotten any response when she called him for lunch, came upstairs with a sandwich for him. Finding him asleep, she left the plate on his desk, and went worriedly back downstairs.
Blaine woke-up after a few hours, when his phone started ringing. He saw that it was Jeff calling and decided to ignore it. He didn't have the energy to deal with any Warbler emergencies right now. He was just starting to fall asleep again, when his mother knocked on the door. "Come in," he said.
"Honey, Jeff is on the phone for you," she said, holding the cordless phone. "There's apparently an emergency Warbler meeting that they need you to go back for."
"Thanks, Mom," he said, taking the phone from her.
He tried to talk Jeff out of having a meeting, tried to insist that whatever it was could wait until Monday, but Jeff was adamant that they needed to meet today and that Blaine needed to be present. Nick couldn't come back to school until after supper with his family, so Blaine eventually agreed to meet in Nick and Jeff's room at 8:00 that night.
He was fully awake now, but still not motivated enough to do homework. He put a DVD in his laptop and mindlessly watched the movie instead.
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Jeff had called Kurt that afternoon as well. The first thing Kurt said was "How's Blaine? I'm so worried about him. He hardly even answers my emails anymore."
Jeff had replied, "He's a total mess. Half the Warblers are threatening to quit if he makes them sing "In my room" one more time. Nick and I are trying to keep things together, but it's not going well. If things keep going like this, we won't have enough members to even compete at Sectionals. Can you come out to Dalton tonight and help us figure out what to do about Blaine? You can stay with Nick and I tonight so you won't have to drive back late."
"I'll have to check with my Dad. What time?"
"Be there at 7:30 tonight. Just call me when you arrive and I'll come let you in."
"Okay, if my Dad objects, I'll call you back and let you know. Otherwise, I'll see you then."
Burt didn't have any objections to Kurt spending the night with Nick and Jeff. He knew Kurt was really worried about Blaine and maybe talking to Blaine's friends would help. He also thought it would be good for Kurt to get out of the house. He'd been staying home a lot since he couldn't see Blaine, and it was starting to remind Burt of how Kurt had turned into a bit of a recluse when Karofsky was bullying him.
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Back at Dalton, Jeff said to Nick "I hope this works."
"Me, too," Nick agreed, "because I don't want to have to be the one to kick Blaine Anderson off the council if it doesn't."