“Hey,” Blaine smiled back, “What’s up?”

Rachel fell into the chair beside him, “Well, you see, Kurt couldn’t make it. He told me to tell you he really, really, sorry and he promises to make it up to you. But for now you get me, so I’d say that’s a pretty fair trade. Anyways, you’ve been promising me a coffee date, you know. You haven’t been avoiding me, have you Blaine Anderson?”

--

Several times he’d composed a text message to Blaine, explaining the circumstances, but no matter how he phrased it, it seemed like his explanation would only further upset Blaine.

Would Blaine think he’d been abandoned for another guy? Not like Blaine or Kurt were together, yet somehow Kurt felt dirty about it anyway. Would Blaine think he’d gotten bullied? Technically, Adam said nothing- did nothing- to Kurt. It didn’t mean that Kurt wasn’t afraid of the golden-haired boy. And Kurt didn’t need Blaine standing up to the one person he was trying so hard to appease.

By the time Kurt had decided to just call Blaine, it was almost five anyway. So, he called Rachel instead. As much as Kurt hated himself for it, he was much more terrified of the glare that flashed in Adam’s eyes than of leaving Blaine to Rachel. Though that too seemed cruel and unusual.

--

“So. How are you. Tell me everything.”

Rachel sat at attention, waiting for Blaine to spill all the gossip since they’d last talked. Of course after Rachel found out that Blaine was going to NYADA, they’d texted, but it had been about a year since they had a real heart-to-heart. So, Blaine shared what he’d been doing, how he liked his classes, what he was planning on taking the following quarter.

“Oh! What are you plans over winter break? I’m going home to see my dads of course, I miss everyone back home so much. I was thinking we’d have a party! Yes, a party would be so much fun, wouldn’t it? You’d have to come-”

“Actually, I don’t know if I’m going home this year…” Blaine admitted, picking lint off his sweater.

Rachel paused, “Oh, you’re working?”

“Yeah, maybe.”

“I see, well that’s good too. Christmas in New York is so much fun!”

Hazel eyes smiled as Blaine bobbed his head in agreement, hoping to move on to another topic, “So, this party…?”

“Yes! This party, everyone’s going to be there, I’m not sure where we’ll have it yet. Maybe at Breadstix, for old-time’s sake,” Rachel nodded in contemplation, “Or maybe- wait. The dorms are closed, aren’t they? Over break. Where are you staying?”

Blaine cringed. He wanted to lie, to tell her that he was staying with a coworker, even though he’d rejected that offer out of politeness.

“I, um, don’t really know yet.”

Silence fell as Rachel’s mind was turning.

“Why aren’t you coming home?”

Blaine’s stomach dropped, he really should have lied. But he wasn’t very good at lying, he was more the type to blurt the opposite of what his gut told him to say- that had gotten him into trouble with Kurt almost a year ago, and he was hoping he’d speak more eloquently now.

“My dad kicked me out.”

Well, one can hope. A gasp escaped Rachel’s lips, “What? Oh, Blaine, what happened?”

No. He did not need that sympathetic tone. He did not need someone to push themselves into his personal life. But if there was one person who would, without fail, do just that, it was Rachel. He did not need someone to care. But if there was one person who would do that, well, it’d be Rachel too. Even if she had to force it on him.

--

Blaine ripped open the letter the second it was in his hands, ignoring the burning eyes of his father. His face lit up at once, like a child on Christmas morning when they’ve gotten just what they’d asked Santa for all year.

His father did not seem nearly as pleased, but the tall man with slicked back hair and strong green eyes remained still, quiet.

Without looking up, Blaine shattered the delicate silence, “I’m going.”

The tall man kept his composure, but his voice was low, dangerous.

“There’s something wrong in that faggot head of yours if you think I’m paying for that. You’ll accept Princeton.”

Blaine clenched his fist around the letter in his hand at his father’s choice of words, but he had learned to let it pass, for his own sake.

“You will not ruin what this family has given to you. I let you switch out of Dalton so you could get that out of your system. You’re an adult now, grow up.”

More than hearing his father yell, Blaine feared the chilling way in which his father controlled his voice. Still, Blaine met his gaze and remained unmoved.

“Get out.”

He could see it slipping. The control.

“Get! OUT!”

The man’s voice lingered in the hall as regained his composure, “Get out.”

Blaine knew what his father meant. Get out. Not for now, forever. Leave.

“You’re dead to this family. You filthy boy. Get out.”

This time, Blaine rushed up to his room, willing his tears back into his eyes. He would not break, not for that man. He was an adult now, he didn’t have to stay. Grabbing his wallet, his favorite ties, and a few other necessities, he stood at his bedroom door.

This is what he wanted. He wanted to follow Kurt. He wanted to follow his dreams. He didn’t need to stay where he wasn’t welcome, where his own father barely spoke to him, where his mother refused to make eye contact with him anymore. He didn’t need it.

As he took in his room one last time, he heard the crashing of what he assumed was some fancy porcelain vase downstairs. When he made it to the bottom of the stairwell, his father was gone and his mother stood by the door with the same rehearsed smile she’d given him so many times before. And as he walked through the door one final time, he searched his mother’s golden eyes, which only darted away from his own and examined the photographs hung along the entryway.

And that was it. He never imagined it would be so civil. The door closed, and that was it.

--

A trembling hand met his shoulder, “It’s okay Blaine.”

Blaine hadn’t realized he was still talking to Rachel, he’d been so absorbed in his own story. It was the first time he’d told anyone what happened- even Coop, although his brother had surely heard the news from his parents, as Blaine received bowties and spending money each week in his dorm. The brothers had gone through their own falling out once, but with the help of the glee club they’d found an old friendship and had kept it this time. Coop hadn’t brought it up in conversation, and Blaine was thankful for that.

They sat quietly as Blaine collected himself. He’d expected he would have to talk about it one day, he was just hoping that day wouldn’t be this soon. Or in a public venue. But in the back of that little café, he felt sheltered. A few customers went in and out, letting in cold drafts of air to meet the warm scent of coffee and baked goods. No one paid much attention to anyone else, in a very New York fashion, but it was slower than the streets outside, safer.

“Come stay with me!” Rachel suddenly blurted out. If it had been anyone else, Blaine would’ve been startled, but he softly laughed, because Rachel looked as though she’d just cured cancer. “You can stay with me and my dads! Oh, they’d love to have you, really!”

Blaine thought to decline, but he did miss Lima, as little and closed-minded as it was. More than that, he missed Sam, Nick, David, Wes, all of the guys, really. So instead, he nodded silently as Rachel squealed and squeezed him, not letting go for a painful amount of time. Literally, painful. But Blaine didn’t mind, he’d missed Rachel a whole lot too.

--

1:31am

Hey you. Rachel seemed happy

1:39am

hey. yeah.

1:58am

I’m really sorry

2:00am

so i hear.

2:01am

Are you mad?

2:09am

goodnight kurt.

2:10am

Goodnight Blaine