I cant have you close so I become a ghost and I watch you, I watch you.  Oh, how long 'till your surrender to me?

Your Surrender – Neon Trees

                She is unfair to her husband.  His recent promotion is causing him a lot of stress.  His organisation is badly understaffed for the amount of work and he is split between two offices.  He usually spends hours each evening doing overtime to try and catch up.  Fighting fires with paperwork.  He's run himself ragged.  She knows he has.  He has been so supportive of her while she has been ill.  She knows that it is not his responsibility to make her feel good about herself.  That is hers and hers alone.  She struggles.

She's having a clearer day today although most things are not going in her favour.  Her father is running her into work while she waits for delivery of her new car so she is unable to balk out of going in.  The code she is attempting to finish before her SPR is due is also not working.  These things should put her in a bad place.  But today they do not.

She thinks that it is because her husband made time for her last night – they cuddled together on the sofa with no laptops and she felt loved.  That definitely helped.

                Time has jumped for Blaine.  He's moved to New York, has his own place – a 2 bed apartment he's sharing with a friend of Cooper's, Darien.  Darien is closer in age to Blaine than Cooper, likes to be known as ‘Dare' and, though they had never met previously, they get on surprisingly well.  Dare has been living in New York for a couple of years and has really helped Blaine figure things out – something he could not do whilst surrounded by people he knew in Ohio.  Dare, like Blaine, is gay and so knows which clubs to go to, which to avoid, where to eat out, where to shop, etc. etc.  He's also a musician and was thrilled to find the Blaine could play guitar and piano, so now the pair of them play all Dare's usual gigs in bars and coffee shops as a duo.  Which has so far turned into a nice little earner, meaning Blaine can supplement his own living expenses doing something he actually enjoys rather than resorting to working any hours he can get serving in a bar, coffee shop, or restaurant - which is what he'd expected he'd have to do.

Blaine feels at home in himself again.  He's back in his element and has started to accrue a close circle of friends.  He knows who he is, what he wants and where he's going.  He has focus and a purpose again.  He is actually looking forward to starting College; however, he's not sure how he will react…  Blaine has not seen him - has not even told him that he is in New York.  He wanted some time to adjust by himself which is why he moved less than a week after his Graduation when Cooper had introduced him to Dare. 

It just feels so good to have come to New York to start the next phase of his life as Blaine.  Not as Kurt's Blaine.  Had the original plans actually gone to fruition as they'd planned – Blaine would have moved in with Kurt and Rachel (and Santana, he muses) and Blaine would have met Kurt's friends and gone to the coffee shop Kurt had discovered, and visited the places Kurt had found and had been dying to introduce him to…  Not now.  This way when they meet again Blaine will be Blaine.  Independent.  His own man.  When they meet again they will be on equal footing.  Blaine knows Kurt will be mad at him for not letting him know that he was in New York.  But he'll cross that bridge when he comes to it.  He's actually happy for the first time in his life and ready to see where life takes him.

Blaine genuinely smiles as he steps onto the stage with Dare – guitars in hand, to take their positions.  He knows hardly anyone from before would recognise him anymore – in the few months he's been living in NY he's grown his hair out a little and, thanks to a bet he had epically and utterly lost to Dare -

‘I bet it is nowhere near as bad as you think it is, B.  Come on – you're always going on about how you want to free up – to live a little.  You're going out tonight with me and the lads and no gel.  I bet you… all your drinks tonight! that you get hit on within 5 minutes or walking into the club.'

Blaine laughed.  ‘You know what?  You're on.  I bet everyone laughs – and pity attention does not count!'

‘Put your hand out, B.  Shake on it.'

- he had pretty much completely stopped using gel.  Gone also were the bow-ties (mostly, however, an occasional one still made it into his ensemble) and the Geek-Chic look he had sported back in Ohio when he had left behind the Dalton blazer to join McKinley.  Dare had taken one look at his wardrobe, taken the day off from his day job at one of the fringe theatres where he was an usher - ‘It's an emergency, B.!' – and dragged him out for the day.  Waistcoats, shirts, hats, boots, braces, and jeans had infiltrated his wardrobe.  Tonight he's kept it simple - fitted black jeans, black leather belt, black leather biker boots, and a black v-neck t-shirt.  For the rockier evening gigs, like this one, he even wears guyliner. 

Looking over the rims of his pink Wayfarers at the crowd below him he plugged his guitar in and stepped up to the mic.  A quick nod from Dare confirms he's also ready.

                ‘Good evening!  I'm B. and he's Dare and we are Free Beer! ­– yes the name sucks, suggestions would be welcome.'  A laugh ripples over the crowd.  ‘See Dare – they agree with me.'  A louder laugh provides punctuation.  The crowd is friendly and up for a good time.  He's playing to them and they're responding.  Encouraged and with energy high he carries on.  ‘For those who are new to us we do requests during our second set so leave them with Jim behind the bar.'  A quick nod towards Jim and he continues checking the tuning and level of his guitar as he talks.  ‘Oh yeah, try to make them legible Jim!  We don't want a repeat of what happened last time!'  The laughter bubbles.  They launch into a stripped down ‘Sins of My Youth' by Neon Trees that Blaine has rearranged for two guitars, with Blaine providing lead vocals.  The crowd erupts and Blaine feeds off their energy.   

                Between hopeful fan girls and Jim the pints keep coming for Dare throughout the set.  Blaine has stopped trying to explain he's underage and instead nurses one pint throughout the set favouring the bottle of water he's brought with him instead.  If anyone notices they don't seem to care.  They bring the set to a close with Blaine's arrangement of ‘Time to Dance' by Panic! At the Disco, then place the guitars in stands and step down towards the bar.  As usual both are accosted – a couple are regulars – fans! – some of whom Blaine is starting to recognise, a couple are actually friends - mostly from Dare's time in college or from his work, and a couple of guys Blaine has met through excursions with Dare clubbing in Greenwich Village. 

An arm drapes around Blaine's shoulder – thankfully it belongs to Dare and not a presumptuous or overenthusiastic drunk this time.  They have started pretending they're a couple some nights to put off the fan girls a little.  However, Dare's single at the moment and so he's looking to score.  Blaine raises an eyebrow at him and Dare grins giving him a peck on the cheek.  Blaine removes Dare's sweaty arm and heads to the restrooms to freshen up.  He feels sticky from the heat of the lights on the stage, there are too many people tonight, too many bodies and he finds he cannot breathe.

Removing his sunglasses and hanging them from the belt loop of his jeans he bends to splash water on his face – thankful for waterproof eyeliner.  He grips the edge of the basin and locks eyes with his reflection in the mirror.  He takes a couple of deep breaths.  This is the only alone time he will get until the gig is over.  His ears are ringing from the noise but he still feels pretty buzzed.  Refreshed he heads back out, locates Dare across the bustling room and makes his way over. 

Dare's in the process of getting some guy's number.  The guy is actually kind of cute – short spiky black hair, deep blue eyes, dimples.  Blaine smiles at him.  The guy says something that is instantly swallowed by the DJ's filler music.  Dare leans in close and says something to the guy then grabs Blaine's shoulder and gestures to the stage.  They make their way back over to find Jim's provided them with fresh pints and a notepad which will contain the requests.  Blaine knows without looking that most of them will be Top 40 hits, and the rest will be old school, with a couple of drunken attempts at jokes thrown in for good measure.  He picks up his guitar and the notebook then looks up – the crowd have quietened in anticipation.  He smiles.

                ‘Well hello again!'

He is rewarded with a barrage of noise from the group – a large percentage are well on their way to nasty Saturday morning hangovers by now. 

                ‘I promised you some requests so let's see what we have…'  He opens the notebook and scan-reads the first page.  ‘I'm going to try to do them in order…  OK.  Jen and…  I think that says Victoria?...'  A woman's ‘woo!' pierces the bustle – probably Jen or Victoria.  He continues ‘…have requested ‘Mr. Brightside' by The Killers.  Then we've got ‘Summer of 69' by Bryan Adams for Nina and Kerri.'  A wolf whistle comes from his left.  ‘Your wish, ladies, is our command…'  He grins as he starts playing the opening of The Killers song and the crowd roars.

Most of the second set goes like that – as the evening wears on the number of hecklers increases and Blaine has it covered.  He's gotten used to playing gigs and Dare prefers to let Blaine take the lead.  He's mostly in it for the money anyway.  Dare realised very quickly how talented Blaine was at being able to play pretty much anything off the cuff and had suggested they make the second set ‘requests only' as a kind of gimmick – something that would make people talk.  Dare's usually able to kind-of keep up with the better known stuff – filling in the rhythm guitar sections and some backing vocals.  If something he knows well comes up he tends to step up and take the lead to give Blaine a break.  But Blaine wouldn't do it if he didn't enjoy it.  And he really does enjoy the challenge.  The thrill of not knowing what will be requested next.  There have been a couple of occasions where he's not known the song, but generally he knows them.  The really well known stuff that gets a little boring he's started to make up his own versions of and they tend to be well received - to the point where some of their regulars are requesting his versions of the songs specifically.  But tonight he's not really in the mood so he's only planning on doing two more requests before calling it a night.  Most of the songs that are requested are so standard now that he doesn't need to think while performing.  It's easy to get lost in thought.  He's getting tired.  Yes - two more then he'll sign off.  Dare will leave him to pack up while he gets another quick drink in then they'll head back to Dare's.  Blaine will shower and fall asleep while Dare has another couple from the fridge whilst watching reruns of 90s comedies on the TV.  The thought is almost comforting in its mundane normality.  How quickly this has become his life….

A heckler brings him back from his thoughts.  He squints into the crowd against the glare from the stage lights and spots the culprit.  Sean – one of Dare's on-again-off-again partners.  Sean's a nice guy and Blaine likes him but he'd tried to get too touchy with Blaine a couple of times and he can be a nasty drunk so Blaine has started to avoid any alone time or too much contact with Sean.

                ‘…OK, ok.  I think you've had enough, Sean!  Right… now we've got a special request… it doesn't say who for…‘Teenage Dream'…'  The ground falls away from his feet, a bus hits him, all the air is knocked from his lungs.  He was not prepared for this.  Dare is looking at him.  He forces himself to get it together – no one but Dare seems to have noticed his lapse.  He clears his throat.  ‘'Teenage Dream' by Katy Perry.'

He hasn't sung this song since The Break-Up.  As he plays, he knows it so well it is automatic; he makes eyes to the faceless girls and guys who have crowded to the front as if it was just another song.  He can feel Dare's eye burning into the side of his head while he sings.  He knows there will be questions later but for now he ignores Dare, ignores the words he's singing and ignores everything they once meant.  He draws the song to a close.

                ‘I'm afraid that's it from us.  We've been Free Beer!'

                ‘And you've been fabulous!'  Dare finishes for him.  Routine.

Blaine turns to pack away his guitar donning his Wayfarers again – he doesn't want to make eye contact right now with anyone.   He just wants to go home and think.  He steps off the stage and almost right into Him.

                ‘Hello, you.'