A week after the birthday party, Isabel was driving to Dalton with Leslie and Beth. Since Isabel was now dating a Dalton boy, they decided to have a movie night with them. Isabel parked her car and they all went inside. Isabel was carrying a shopping bag with candy in her hands. They went to the large lounge where they were going to watch the movie. Kurt, Blaine, Wes, David, Trent, Shane, Mercedes, and Valerie were already there. Blaine was sitting on the couch next to the armrest with Kurt on his lap leaning on Blaine’s chest with their hands intertwined. Wes and Valerie were sitting on the love seat holding hands. David and Mercedes were sitting on the other love seat, talking. Shane was sitting on the floor his back against the table. Beth came up to him and sat on his lap, leaning against his chest. He smiled and wrapped his hands around her waist, pulling her closer. Trent was sitting on the other end of the couch and Leslie went and sat next to him. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer. She rested her head onto his shoulder and snuggled into him. Isabel went over to the table and pulled out various bags of candy from the shopping bag. She pulled out a package of Red Vines and threw them to Blaine. Jeff went over to the table and grabbed a bag of M&M’s. Then he pulled Isabel to the armchair and sat down with her on top of him. She then leaned against him.
“So what are we watching?” Kurt asked.
“It’s a secret,” Wes said.
“It’s Transformers again isn’t it?” Isabel asked.
“No,” Wes said unconvincingly. He then grabbed the remote and pressed play.
It was Transformers, since it was Wes’s turn to pick the movie this week. It was the third time Wes had picked Transformers. Isabel wasn’t necessarily a fan but she watches it anyway.
“How many times are you going to make us watch this movie?” Isabel asked.
“Until you’ve memorized it,” Wes said.
“But some of us don’t want to memorize it,” David said.
“Well tough luck, you will,” Wes answered.
“Valerie distract him while Shane changes the DVD!” Blaine said.
“Uh-uh! You’re not doing that again,” Wes said, sliding away from the love seat, onto the ground. “You won’t be able to change it.”
Isabel rolled her eyes, “Ugh, fine.”
Everyone fell silent to watch the movie.
…
In the middle of the movie, Isabel’s phone went off. She got up and looked at her phone.
“Who is it?” Jeff asked.
“I don’t know. I’ll be right back,” she said as she left the room.
Isabel was confused. Who on earth was calling her? Probably a sales person but she should answer it anyways.
“Hello?” she said
“Is this Isabel?” a male’s voice that sounded strangely familiar said on the other end.
“Yes, who is this?”
“It’s Thomas.”
Isabel froze. Thomas? Why was he calling her? How did he get her number? What gave him the right to call her?
“How did you get my number?”
She had changed her cell phone number a year ago after she got too many taunting phone calls from her old classmates.
“I went over to your house and your mom gave it to me.”
“What were you doing at my house?”
“I wanted to see Blaine.”
He said it so normally. He wanted to see Blaine? What gave him the right? Had he no idea of what he caused?
“Can I speak to him?” he asked.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Why? Why?!” she was getting angry, “After all that you did, you ask why?!”
“I didn’t mean it!”
“It doesn’t matter! You can take it back!”
“Isabel?”
Isabel turned as saw that Blaine had walked out of the lounge.
“I heard you shouting. Who are you talking to?” he asked.
“Is that Blaine?” Thomas asked breathlessly.
“It’s Thomas,” Isabel told Blaine, ignoring Thomas.
She saw Blaine tense up. It had been two years and it still affected him.
“Thomas? What does he want?”
“He wants to talk to you.”
“I don’t want to talk to him,” Blaine said coldly.
Isabel froze. The old Blaine was coming back. The cold one, the one who flinched away from her touch. The heartbroken one.
“Did you hear that Thomas? He doesn’t want to talk to you.”
“I just want to explain-”
“Explain what? You can’t justify your actions.”
“Please-”
“No.”
She hung up on Thomas. She looked at Blaine. He was standing there, looking so…cold.
“Blaine?” she asked, placing her hand on his shoulder.
He looked up at her and smiled. “Shall we go back?” he asked as he turned and walked back in.
Isabel followed Blaine. She sat back down at her spot.
“Everything okay?” Jeff asked her.
She smiled, “Yeah.”
Actually, she was so angry at Thomas. What gave him the right to think it was okay after all he had done? Why now? Why? She looked at Blaine and saw that he was whispering in Kurt’s ear, making him smile. Kurt snuggled up to Blaine even more and Blaine wrapped his arms around him. Blaine was so happy right now and Thomas could bring back bad memories.
FLASHBACK: AUGUST TWO YEARS AGO
Isabel answered the door and saw Thomas. He was standing there with his blonde hair cut short showing off his green eyes. He was wearing a dark green shirt and a pair of jeans that showed off his tall frame and broad shoulders. He looked…different. It was obvious why so many girls had crushes on him, well except for Isabel. She never understood why so many girls found him attractive, well he was but she liked him as a friend. Besides, it was Blaine who had a crush on him anyways.
“Thomas. What are you doing here?” she asked him. She didn’t remember inviting him over and Blaine didn’t tell her that he did.
“Is Blaine at home?”
Ah, so Blaine hadn’t invited him over. So what was he doing here and what did he want with Blaine?
“Yeah, he’s in his room.”
She stood aside to let him in. He passed by her and walked up the stairs. He looked confused and scared at the same time.
Blaine heard a knock on his door.
“Come in,” he yelled, with his back to the door.
He heard the door open and close. He turned around and saw Thomas. His stomach did that familiar flip and his heart started to beat faster.
“Thomas. What are you doing here?” he asked, fighting to keep his voice even.
“I need to talk to you.”
Blaine’s stomach dropped. That didn’t sound too good. Did he know about Blaine’s crush on him? Thomas stepped closer.
“What about?”
Thomas didn’t answer. He just started at Blaine and them pulled him closed and placed his lips on Blaine’s.
Blaine gasped a little at this. He couldn’t think except He’s kissing me! He’s kissing me! He’s kissing me! He felt Thomas begin to pull away and realized he hadn’t responded. He wrapped his arms around Thomas’s neck, making him stay. He started to kiss him back. Then Thomas pulled away. He looked Blaine in the eyes. Blaine felt like he was melting.
“I love you,” Thomas said.
Blaine looked at Thomas. Did he just say I love you? Did he really love him back? “I love you too.”
Blaine thought that Thomas would at least smile instead of looking like he had just told him the world was ending.
“That’s not what I needed to talk to you about.”
Blaine stepped out of Thomas’s grasp. “What do you need to talk to me about?”
“I’m joining the football team.”
“Okay.”
“And I have- I can’t- I-”
Blaine couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Are you saying you can’t be with me?”
“Not in public.”
“Why? Because I’m gay?”
“Yes.”
“Well so are you.”
“But I haven’t come out.”
“You mean you won’t.”
“Blaine please understand-”
“Understand what? That you’re too scared to come out? That you just want to fit in so much you’d drop me?”
“Blaine we can still be together. It’s just I-”
“You can’t be seen with me?”
“Blaine-”
“No! I will not be your secret boyfriend. Get out!” he yelled the last two words.
He understood his father’s reluctance to accept his coming out but Thomas? He never thought that Thomas would do something like that.
Thomas looked hurt. But Blaine didn’t care. Thomas then turned and walked out of the room. Blaine sat onto his bed and put his head in his hands. He would not cry.
“Blaine are you okay?”
Blaine looked up and saw that Isabel had come in.
“Hey, what happened?”
She came to him and put her arm around him. Ever since he came out, they’d become closer and she knew how he felt about Thomas.
“Thomas kissed me.”
“And?”
“And then he told me he loved me.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
“No, he’s not coming out.”
“Oh, is that why he left so abruptly?”
“I told him I wouldn’t be his secret boyfriend.”
“I’m sorry Blaine. I know how much you loved him.”
“Well he obviously doesn’t care about me as much.”
Isabel didn’t know what else to say. She could tell that Blaine was hurting but she didn’t want to press him so she let him be.
…
PRESENT TIME
Isabel was walking with Blaine to her car. Trent was taking Leslie home and Shane was taking Beth home. Normally Jeff would walk her out but she needed to talk to Blaine. They got to her car and she turned to Blaine.
“Blaine, are you okay?”
“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”
“You loved Thomas and he broke your heart.”
“Yes, but I’m over it. I found Kurt.”
“I know. But I also see he brought back old feelings.”
“No Isabel. I don’t care anymore. Thomas hurt me but I’m better now. I’m happy. I’m happy with Kurt and Thomas can’t stop that.”
‘Blaine –”
“Isabel, stop okay? I’m fine. It doesn’t hurt anymore.
“I never thought I’d see you like this again. The cold, heartbroken Blaine who flinched away from me. The Blaine that avoided everyone and withdrew into himself.”
Blaine could see that Isabel was about to cry.
“Isabel I’m not going back to that.”
“Yes, you are Blaine. You’re blocking me out. You won’t tell me anything.”
“Maybe because there’s nothing to tell. God you’re making it seem like it’s been going on for days. It hasn’t even been an hour.”
“It can take less than an hour for you to turn into old Blaine! I saw it remember. It only took two seconds.”
Blaine froze. Not because he was remembering that time but because he knew that something had cracked in Isabel. It wasn’t because of the argument they’re having. It was something else.
“Isabel, what is it? What aren’t you telling me?”
Isabel didn’t answer him, she just walked to get car door and opened it. He walked to it and stopped her.
“Isabel, I thought we promised to tell each other everything.”
“You weren’t the only one Thomas hurt Blaine.”
And with that, she got in her car and left, leaving Blaine in shock.
…
Blaine walked back to his dorm room thinking about what Isabel said. But they weren’t that close back when all the drama with Thomas happened. Maybe she didn’t mean herself. But who else could she mean? Did she mean Thomas did something to her? But she never mentioned anything. Maybe she didn’t want to after what happened with Jonathan. But they promised to tell each other everything. So what did she mean?
“Blaine!” Kurt said, snapping Blaine out of his thoughts.
“What? Sorry I was thinking.”
“Yeah, I could tell. Is everything okay?”
“Not really.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Isabel and I got into an argument.”
“Over what?”
“It’s a long story.”
“I’ve got time.”
Blaine opened the door to his room and let Kurt in. They both sat on the bed with Kurt facing Blaine.
“This guy from my old school called Isabel. I use to like him and he liked me back. But he was in the football team and didn’t want to come out. I wouldn’t have minded except he didn’t even want to be seen with me.”
“Oh, Blaine, I’m sorry.”
“That’s not the worst of it.”
FLASHBACK: SEPTEMBER TWO YEARS AGO
Blaine was at his locker putting in his things. He was now known as the gay guy at this school. He was shoved and insulted everyday. But he stayed strong because it didn’t matter to him.
Blaine closed his locker and was about to walk away when he got shoved into his locker. He looked at the shover and saw it was Thomas. He had just shoved Blaine into the locker.
“What fag?” Thomas asked before walking away.
Blaine could feel his heart breaking into a million pieces. He felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and saw Isabel.
“Come on,” was all she said as she led him away.
He didn’t say anything until they were far away from the school. Then he could feel his wall crumbling down. He started sobbing. Isabel turned to him and pulled him to her. He didn’t want to but once he started he couldn’t stop. Isabel didn’t say anything, she just held him and let him cry on her. She knew how Blaine felt about Thomas and she couldn’t believe Thomas would do something like that.
They skipped school that day. They went home since their parents weren’t home. They spent that day doing meaningless things.
PRESENT TIME
Blaine stopped talking. He hadn’t really talked to anyone about Thomas. Isabel was right, it did bring back old feelings, bad feelings.
“Did he continue to bully you?”
“Everyday.”
‘I’m sorry, Blaine.”
Kurt grabbed his hand. Blaine just smiled and squeezed his hand. “It’s okay. I’ve got you.”
Kurt blushed and Blaine leaned over and kissed Kurt.
“I’m glad I found you,” Blaine said when they broke apart.
“Me, too,” Kurt answered.
…
Kurt was a bit shocked when he drove up to Blaine’s house. It was a big-two story house with a large garden and a long driveway. He got out of his car and walked up the driveway to the front door. He rang the doorbell and heard a large thump from inside. Then a few seconds later another thump and then Blaine opened the door. He was wearing black sweatpants and a red T-shirt. He was out of breathe and his hair was ungelled.
“Sorry, Isabel was trying to stop me from answering the door,” Blaine said, letting Kurt in.
“It could’ve been a robber!” Isabel shouted.
“Yeah since Kurt texted me when he came up the driveway!” Blaine shouted back.
“Well sorry for trying to be safe!”
Blaine rolled his eyes, “Sorry about that.”
“I see you two have made up.”
“Yep, that we have done.”

Kurt didn’t say anything. He just looked around. To his left was a dining room connected to a huge kitchen. To the right of the kitchen was a large living room with white couches and a big screen TV. In front of the living room was the staircase.
“Would you like to go upstairs?” Blaine asked.
“Yeah, sure.”
Blaine led Kurt up the stairs. When they reached the landing, he pointed to the room closest to the stairs and said, “That’s Isabel’s room.”
The door was open and Blaine went inside. Kurt followed him in.
“Ah, welcome to the Izcave,” Isabel, who was lying on the bed reading, said to Kurt.
Kurt looked around the room. He had never seen a room that looked so strange. The left wall, where the closet was, was painted like a rainy street. The wall across from it, where the window was, was painted like a cloudy sky. The bed was pushed against the wall painted like a forest. The wall in front of the bed was painted like an ocean. Her desk was propped up in the corner of the sky and ocean. Her dresser was against the sky. She had a TV on the ocean wall. Her nightstand had a lamp that looked like a tree. Her bedding was black.
“Like it?”
“The walls are certainly unique.”
“They took about a month each to paint, especially the forest.”
“Cause you had to put so much detail adding in a unicorn and fairies,” Blaine said. “I like the ceiling.”
Kurt looked up and saw that it looked like a clear night sky.
“That’s really cool,” he said.
“Thanks,” Isabel replied.
“Alright let’s leave Isabel alone now,” Blaine said.
They walked out of her room and to Blaine’s room.
“Welcome to my room,” Blaine said.
Blaine’s room was the opposite of Isabel’s. The walls were a light green. He had a canopy bed against one wall with a TV and dresser facing it. The desk was in the corner and there was a white loveseat tilted facing the TV. It was really clean.
“It’s very clean,” Kurt said.
“That’s cause ever since I transferred to Dalton I haven’t been home much.”
“Oh. Okay.”
“You want to watch a movie?”
“Sure what do you have?”
“My DVD collection’s over here. You can pick what you want.”
He showed Kurt his DVD collection in his desk. Kurt looked over the collection. There were a lot of Disney and Harry Potter movies. There were a few musicals. Kurt looked over the DVDs trying to choose.
“What about The Mummy?” Kurt asked.
“Sure,” Blaine said, pulling it out.
Blaine then went to the TV, turned it on, and put the DVD in the DVD player. He grabbed the remote and went to the bed. He laid down and patted the space next to him.
“Come on. Do you want to watch the movie?” he asked Kurt.
Kurt didn’t move.
“Don’t worry. I won’t do anything.”
Kurt looked at him. “You promise?”
“I promise.”
“You swear?”
“Yes, I swear.”
“Okay, I believe you.”
Kurt went over and laid down next to Blaine, who started the movie. By the time Evy had accidentally raised Imotep, Kurt was on Blaine’s lap, leaning against his chest and Blaine had his arms around Kurt stroking Kurt’s arms.
“Blaine?” Kurt said.
“Yeah.”
“I know it’s not related to the move but I was wondering.”
“Wondering what?”
“Who was the first person you came out to? Mine was Mercedes.”
“Oh. My sister.”
“Isabel?”
“No my other sister,” Blaine said sarcastically.
“Oh shut up,” Kurt lightly smacked Blaine on the arm.
“What was her reaction?” Kurt asked.
“Her reaction?”
“Yeah, what did she say when you told her?”
“I know.”
“You know what?”
“That was what she said when I told her.”
“Really? ‘I know’?”
“Yeah.”
FLASHBACK: JULY TWO YEARS AGO
Blaine took a deep breathe before knocking on Isabel’s door. He didn’t know why he was so nervous. It was probably because he was unsure of how she would react. They weren’t very close, in fact, they barely spoke to each other. So of course, he was unsure of how she would react.
“Come in!” Isabel said from inside.
He came in and saw that she was painting one wall of her room. She had painted the window was blue, the closet wall a dark blue, and the bed wall a dark green. She was painting the wall opposite the bed a dark blue.
“Oh hey Blaine. What’s up?” she said.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m painting my walls.”
“I can see that but why are they different colors. It looks weird.”
“That’s because I’m not done yet. There’s a method to my madness.”
“I hope so.”
“So what’s up? I highly doubt you came in here to criticize my walls.”
“I need to tell you something.”
Isabel looked at him and put down her paint brush. She wiped her hands on her painting overalls. “What is it?”
“I don’t know how to-ugh- I- I’m gay.”
“I know.”
“You know?”
“Well I kinda guessed. I mean you’ve never tried to ask my friends out, you’ve never flirted with any girls and you’ve never tried to sneak into my sleepovers. At first I thought you were just shy but then I saw how you are with Thomas. Then I remembered when we were seven and you liked the boy two houses down. You made him that heart-shaped card with all that glitter and the heart-shaped cookie that he threw to the ground and stepped on it. I remember how crushed you were.”
“So it doesn’t matter to you?”
“Not really. I don’t care if you’re bi, straight, gay, metrosexual, pansexual, doorsexual, piesexual, or whatever. Cause you’ll always be my brother. Nothing’s ever gonna change that. I love you Blaine and no one can ever stop that okay?”
“Okay.”
Blaine felt better about coming out to her. Maybe he could come out to his parents.
But looking back, he realized this was the last time she ever said “I love you” to him.