He climbed up to the front door and gave it a couple of hearty knocks. Blaine could feel Rachel and Cooper’s presence behind him, and it made him feel more at ease.

The door opened a few moments later to reveal a small woman with short black hair and bright green eyes. Her mouth twisted up into a smile at the sight of Blaine. “Blaine, sweetie, how are you?” she asked as she pulled him into a hug. Blaine melted under her touch and he couldn’t remember why he’d been so anxious in the first place.

“’M fine,” Blaine mumbled into her shoulder. “And you?” She pulled back and patted his cheek gently.

“I’m great. What brings you down here? I heard you moved back to Lima?”

“Yeah,” Blaine said simply and didn’t offer an explanation. The woman before him seemed to get the hint though, and thankfully she didn’t press him for answers. “Oh, Mrs. Henderson, this is my sister Rachel.” Rachel held out her hand and Mrs. Henderson gave it a generous shake.

“Nice to meet you, dear. Oh, where are my manners? Come on in. You don’t need to stand out on the door mat all day.” She stepped aside and held the door open wider so the three of them could file in. Once inside she closed the door softly. “Can I get you anything to drink? I just made some lemonade.” Mrs. Henderson suggested and began walking to the kitchen. After exchanging a look- Cooper’s was very excited- they followed her.

“Mrs. H, have I ever told you that I love your lemonade? Seriously, it was the only thing that got me through the summer of ’08.” Blaine rolled his eyes at Cooper when Mrs. Henderson had her back turned. She grabbed a few glasses and set them on the kitchen island before turning toward the fridge and grabbing the pitcher of lemonade.

“Oh, Cooper, always the charmer,” she said with a small smile as she poured into the first glass. She handed the first glass to Rachel who took it graciously. “And how many times do I have to tell you Anderson boys? Call me Linda.” She handed the next glass to Blaine, who took an over exaggerated gulp as Cooper watched in agony. “That goes for you too, honey,” she sad to Rachel as she handed the last glass to Cooper. He acted nonchalant as he took the glass and immediately began sipping the cold liquid. Blaine could practically hear him moaning in ecstasy.

“Linda,” Blaine began and she looked at him with gentle eyes. He had always loved that about this woman. She was always so nice and caring. “Is Justin here?”

“Oh, yes, he’s in his room. Shall I tell him you’re here?” She made a move to the hall way but Blaine stopped her.

“No, no, that’s fine. We would like to pay him a visit though.”

“Oh, he’d love that. He doesn’t get much company these days.” Linda’s head was down slightly, and it was one of the only times Blaine had seen her look anything but cheerful. It kind of broke his heart. She cleared her throat and smiled up at him sadly. “Go on up. Just knock first.” Blaine nodded his head and set his drink down on the counter before walking toward the stairs, not waiting to see if he was being followed.

His heart clenched at the sight of the chair lift that was stationed at the top of the stairs. He side stepped it and walked over to the door closest to the landing and put his hand on the knob before remembering that he should knock. He knew it was mostly a formality, but he still felt obligated. He softly rapped at the door until he heard a voice inside give the all-clear.

He slowly opened the door and when he poked his head around, he saw a familiar face lying in bed reading a comic book. “Blaine,” he said cheerfully. His smile made him look more handsome; it revealed perfect teeth that shone brightly against his tan skin and made the green eyes beneath untidy black hair glow brightly. Blaine smiled at the boy and bounded to the edge of the bed where he sat down and gave him a hug. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to visit you, man.” Justin patted Blaine’s back and when Blaine pulled away he saw him looking over at Cooper and Rachel.

“Coop’s here too? It must be my lucky day. But who is that beautiful lady and why is she standing so far away?” Blaine let out a short laugh.

“Justin, this is Rachel.” Justin nodded and kept his eyes trained on her.

“I figured. You two look a lot alike.” He stared at her for a moment longer until Blaine nudged him with his elbow. Justin smiled sheepishly at Blaine. “Sorry.” Blaine shook his head softly and bit his lip to hide his own smile.

“What are you reading?” He looked in Justin’s lap to see an issue of Batgirl. Blaine grimaced. “Who the hell reads DC?” Justin immediately closed the book and slapped Blaine’s arm with it.

“Oh please, Anderson. I seem to remember a certain curly haired dork that had a whole stack of Superman and Batman comics.”

“Superman is classic!” Blaine retorted loudly. “Way better than this Batgirl shit. Seriously, have I taught you nothing?” Blaine heard a noise coming from near the door and looked up to find a half amused, half horrified look on Rachel’s face. “Rachel, who’s your favorite-”

“Blaine, you know I don’t care about Superheroes.” Justin scoffed besides Blaine. Blaine nodded his head.

“See what I have to deal with?” he mumbled and Justin let out a soft laugh. Blaine had to admit, it felt nice. It had been a long time since Justin and he were able to hang out as friends. Blaine was shocked at how sad the thought made him, and he realized just how much he really missed the other boy’s friendship. Not that he blamed Justin for what happened; he didn’t blame anyone. Except maybe the jocks at Justin’s old school.

Blaine had met Justin at a coffee shop one afternoon and they hit it off immediately. Within an hour, they discovered that they shared a lot of common interests and decided to swap numbers. Within a week, they had gone from strangers to best friends.

Blaine was elated that he had found someone so alike himself and he found himself spending every hour outside of school and Warblers practice with Justin. Cooper even let him spend the night some times on weekends despite the fact that Justin was also gay. Blaine suspected that Cooper thought they were dating, but Blaine really just enjoyed the fact that he had a close friend. Sure, he had lots of friends at Dalton, but none that he could share himself with so readily and fully.

Through the months, Blaine had become aware of the fact that Justin was getting picked on at school because he didn’t hide his relationship with one of the other out gay kids. Justin had reluctantly told Blaine about being bullied when Blaine came over after school to find a large bruise around the taller boy’s right eye. “It’s nothing,” he’d said, but Blaine was persistent. Eventually Blaine learned that a couple of jocks had ‘roughed him up’ after seeing him holding hands with his boyfriend in the hallway between classes. Justin told Blaine that he’d done nothing to defend himself, so Blaine told him to fight back.

A few days passed and Blaine hadn’t heard from him. Blaine had called Justin numerous times, but the boy never answered or returned his calls. Finally, Friday rolled around and Blaine rad rushed through his house, grabbing his things so he could go to Justin’s house, but when he opened the door he found the boy standing there with his head bowed and his arm raised to knock on the door. Blaine had begun to question Justin, but when the boy stood there motionless for countless moments that seemed to drag on, he pulled the boy inside and led him to his bedroom.

Once safely inside the confines of Blaine’s room, the boy melted into Blaine’s embrace and let out a choked sob. Blaine had comforted him until he fell asleep and when Justin woke up an hour later, he told Blaine that his boyfriend broke up with him. He said that he couldn’t take the judgmental stares anymore and despite the fact that he still had feelings for Justin, he broke off their relationship. Justin had tried to convince the boy otherwise, but a day later he found out from a classmate that he’d moved in with his aunt in Virginia. Justin was heartbroken.

The next day he’d been so wrapped up in his emotions that he was going through his routine in a sort of daze. That is, until he got forcefully shoved into a locker. That’s when he apparently remembered Blaine’s incredible advice to stand up to the bullies. To this day, Blaine still regrets ever letting those words slip from his lips. Justin had gone straight up to the biggest of the jocks and began to taunt him. Of course, the other boy wasn’t afraid of Justin in the slightest. You see, Justin had always been on the thinner side. He was muscular, but he was a bit lanky. So when he challenged a boy that was at least sixty pounds heavier than him, it ended very, very badly. He ended up staying home from school for the rest of the week.

After that day, Blaine spent even more time with Justin, if that was even possible.

Soon enough it was Christmas break and Blaine was going to be going back to Lima for a few days. He had told Rachel all about Justin, and even admitted to having a crush on the boy. He enjoyed spending time with his sister, but couldn’t wait to get back to Westerville.

Once school started back up, Justin mentioned to Blaine that his school was buzzing over the upcoming Winter Formal, and when asked who he was going with, Justin said he wasn’t going at all. That’s when Blaine had another brilliant idea. “Why don’t I take you?” He had been shy about asking, but Justin agreed and he was feeling pretty excited about the date. Yes, they were considering it a first date. They never acted like a couple, never held hands or kissed, because they wanted the dance to be special.

So, they both got tuxes and Cooper drove them to the dance in his convertible. God, they had felt so cool. Once they arrived, they went straight onto the dance floor and had a fun time with each other. It wasn’t until after a slow song that they felt over heated and needed a drink. Blaine had taken Justin’s hand and led him to the punch bowl but Justin said he had to go to the restroom. Blaine let him go, but not after stealing a kiss. Blushing profusely, Justin backed away and dashed to the bathroom, promising not to take long, but Blaine ended up waiting at a table for about twenty minutes.

Getting nervous, Blaine got up and went into the men’s room. He had called out for Justin, but after glancing at the gaps underneath the stalls, he had deduced that the bathroom was empty. Blaine had brushed off the worry that tugged in his chest and made his way back onto the gym floor, thinking that maybe they’d just missed each other. That’s when he heard the gym doors open and a few burly men walked inside. That’s when Blaine’s heart fell to his stomach.

He quickly ran through the door and cried Justin’s name repeatedly as he ran throughout the campus. Finally, he found lying on the concrete floor in front of some stairs. There had been a tiny pool of blood around his crown and Blaine felt himself freeze in fear before he began shaking the other boy, trying to get any reaction from him.

With numb fingers, Blaine dialed 911 and crouched over Justin’s limp body protectively until the paramedics came. Once they carried Justin away on a stretcher, Blaine went back to the gym, but the only people there were janitors cleaning away the streamers and balloons and confetti. He had been so pissed though, so angry at those boys for what they’d done and so mad at himself for not doing anything that when he heard a soft chuckle in the distance, he raced after it.

Once he caught up with the noise, he found the three jocks sitting in the amphitheater near the back of the school lot taking swigs out of a communal bottle. White with rage, Blaine had gone up to them and begun throwing curses at them. That’s when punches started flying. Blaine didn’t know when it happened or how it happened, but a few hours later he found himself staring at the ceiling in his bedroom with Cooper lying asleep next to him.

That morning Blaine explained to Cooper what happened as best he could, but he still couldn’t figure out what he’d done. Cooper said that when he arrived at the school to pick him and Justin up, Blaine was sitting on the curb alone in front of the school with a busted lip and bloody knuckles. Cooper had questioned him, but Blaine was unresponsive. When they got home, Cooper led Blaine to his room and had changed him out of his tuxedo before slipping into bed with his brother for the night.

Later they went by the hospital where Justin was staying, but the nurse at the front desk told him he wasn’t able to see Justin yet. So, he and Cooper waited in the waiting room for what seemed like days. Eventually, Blaine saw a familiar face and when she came near, Blaine latched himself onto Linda. They shared silent tears together until she told him the news. Justin’s spine had been fractured when it collided with one of the stone steps, but they weren’t sure how severe it was yet.

A few hours and a couple tests later told them that Justin had an incomplete spinal cord injury, which meant that his movement below the fracture would be limited, but fortunately he wasn’t paralyzed. Blaine had begun to blame himself since he’d been the one to suggest going to the dance in the first place and then he’d left Justin alone. One of the doctors told him that injuries of this stature were still medical injuries, and since he’d been found not too long after the damage was caused, it actually helped Justin’s chances at reducing the long term effects. Somehow, that didn’t relieve Blaine’s guilt in the slightest.

The next day, Justin was awake and Blaine felt sort of ashamed to show his face in the other boy’s room. Justin reassured Blaine excessively that he didn’t blame Blaine, and that he actually enjoyed their time together at the dance before everything, to quote him, “turned to shit.” Although Justin said they were fine, he suggested to Blaine that he stay home for the remainder of the time that he’d be in the hospital.

Unable to deal with himself and his suddenly too open schedule, Blaine took up boxing at Dalton and spent all his free time in the gym, swearing that he wouldn’t let something like this happen ever again. Blaine enjoyed himself there, but he couldn’t help thinking that he was like some lame super hero trying to prepare himself for retribution.

Eventually, Justin was released from the hospital and came to visit Blaine at Cooper’s house; he felt a new wave of guilt rush over him at the sight on the tired looking boy sitting at his door step in a wheel chair. He and Blaine had a long talk that afternoon, and it ended in Justin telling Blaine that he’d need some space for a while. God, as if Blaine didn’t feel shitty enough already. Plus, he was already going insane in his own head and he didn’t think he could handle being alone much longer. But he forced his own thoughts out of his mind and agreed to give Justin his space.

Blaine began to delve himself into his school work and boxing and soon he became closer to a few of his fellow Warblers. Things began to run on their own after that and Blaine found himself beginning a new normal. That is, until he found out that Cooper was working extra shifts at work and taking up a couple of small jobs so he could continue to send Blaine to Dalton. It had been with great reluctance that Blaine moved out of Cooper’s home and back into his parents’ in Lima. It had been the first time Blaine had ever seen Cooper shed a tear, but the older boy promised that he’d leave his room the same for whenever he needed it.

Only recently had Blaine and Justin begun talking again through emails, and Blaine knew he had to come down some time and see his old friend, no matter how hard it would be. He needed to see Justin again, to know he was okay and still there and still…Justin.

Justin sighed presently and Blaine glanced from Rachel to him. “I’m sorry, Rachel, this just isn’t going to work out. I can’t date a girl who doesn’t care about Superheroes. I will not stoop that low.” Blaine rolled his eyes at the other boy.

“How you holding up in here?” Blaine asked as he glanced around the room. It was exactly the way he remembered it. The walls were painted a steel blue and he had a desk the was pushed up against the wall in front of his bed and next to it was a book shelf filled with comics, books, and Star Wars figurines.

“Good,” Justin replied cheerfully. “I gots my books, getting a T.V. set up next weekend, mom brings me whatever the hell I want whenever the hell I want. I’m telling you, this is the life.” Blaine looked down at the boy sadly. He knew Justin was trying to make light out of the situation- compensate with humor, but even though the boy was smiling widely, it didn’t reach his eyes. Those green eyes that used to shine so bright were like dimmed bulbs, and it crushed Blaine to know that he had something to do with it. “God, Blaine, lighten up. This isn’t a fucking funeral, alright?” Blaine was slightly taken aback by the sudden harshness in the boy’s voice, but quickly regained his composure and pushed Justin’s shoulder playfully.

Just then, Blaine’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He slid it out and glanced at the screen. New Message From My Precious. Blaine forced himself to put his phone away. “Did I tell you I’m going to Dalton now?” Justin asked and Blaine nodded.

“Yeah, that’s great. How are you liking it?”

“It’s honestly the best decision I’ve ever made. I can see why you were always so animated when you talked about it. It’s like a safe haven. The only bad part is that hypnotized everyone there.”

“What?”

“Dude, you’re all anyone talks about there. Seriously, it had to have been mind control. I mean you’re cool, but you’re not that great.” Blaine dropped his jaw.

“I’m sorry, I seem to remember you thinking that I was pretty amazing.”

“Oh, please, you blinded me with vintage issues of Captain America and Yoda figurines.” Blaine opened his mouth to respond when he phone vibrated again. He pulled it out and looked at the screen again. 2 Messages From My Precious. “Who’s that?” Justin asked and leaned forward to read the screen before letting out a snort. “Really, Blaine, ‘My Precious?’ Grade A work.” Blaine scowled at him before reluctantly putting his phone away. “You can answer it, Blaine.” Blaine’s hand froze halfway in his pocket before drawing out again and sliding it open to look at the txts from Kurt. The first one just said, Blaine, help! Blaine felt his stomach churn. He quickly looked at the second one. Oh my god, Blaine. I have gone to the point of no return. Well what the hell did that mean? Blaine felt his skin crawl as different scenarios played through his mind. He quickly sent him a message back.

Kurt! Are you okay? He stared at the screen for a second, but there wasn’t a reply. Kurt? Still nothing. KUUUUURT!!!?!? Blaine switched out of his messages and went to dial Kurt’s number just as the phone buzzed in his hand.

Calm down! I’m fine!! Well then why the hell would you send a fucking message like that?

DON’T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN! I *AM* CALM.

“So who is this ‘Precious?’” Justin asked and Blaine looked up, forgetting that he wasn’t alone. He bit his lip.

“His name’s Kurt.”

“Kurt, huh? And I take you two are…” Justin trailed off and Blaine nodded. “What’s he like?” Blaine looked at Justin for a moment and was pleased to find that he seemed genuinely interested.

“Well, he’s- gosh where do I begin? He’s a junior, and he’s tall, well to me he’s tall. He’s about an inch or two shorter than you.”

“Blaine, I’m about up to your shoulders now,” Justin joked. “If he’s shorter than me-”

“That’d still be tall to Blaine,” Blaine heard Cooper say from the desk chair and soon the whole room was laughing at him.

“That’s fine. I don’t have feelings or anything,” Blaine mumbled. His phone buzzed and he looked in his hand.

Clearly. I’m fine Blaine. I just wanted to talk to you. Blaine couldn’t help but smile at his screen. God, this boy did things to him.

So you made me think you were getting attacked by Orcs for nothing?!

Seriously, Blaine, you gave got to stop watching Lord of the Rings. And don’t worry, I’m nice and safe in the Shire. Blaine actually let out a short laugh at that one. He began to txt back when he phone was grabbed out of his hands. Justin glanced at the message before tossing the phone back at Blaine who caught it and hugged it to himself protectively.

“God, you found someone just as nerdy as you are.” Blaine opened his mouth to protest, but Rachel beat him to it.

“Please, Kurt isn’t nerdy in the slightest.” Blaine nodded his head at Rachel before turning his gaze back to Justin.

“Seriously. He’s an amazing singer, he can fix a carburetor, he was on the cheerleading team-”

“B, you definitely left that part out. How the hell did you land that? Not that you’re not amazing, B, but you don’t have the best game when it comes to guys.” Blaine simply smiled smugly at the room.

“It must be my impeccable hypnosis,” he said, his voice not void of sass, before responding to Kurt’s txt message. :) I’m glad. But don’t scare me like that! I was about to call the police. He felt a hand rest on his shoulder and looked up to see Justin staring at him.

“I’m happy for you.” All Blaine could do was smile back. After a moment Justin redirected his attention to Rachel and Blaine ducked his head back to his phone.

Really? The police?

Yes the police! But only because I lost Tony Stark’s number. God, now Blaine wished he really did have Tony’s number. He then began to wonder what it’s be like if Superheroes existed.

What’s Iron Man going to do? Blaine’s mouth dropped and he stared at the message, rereading it to make sure he hadn’t messed it up in his head. Nope. Kurt really just asked that. Okay.

IRON MAN CAN DO ANYTHING KURT! DON’T YOU DOUBT HIS ABILITIES! HE IS A GOD AMONGST HUMAN BEINGS! Blaine sighed and shook his head. How could Kurt be so passive about Tony Stark? It was simply unacceptable. He’d have to watch Iron Man with Kurt sometime.

Blaine, sweetie, I think you need to take a deep breath. Besides, Iron Man isn’t a God, Thor is. God why was Blaine so far away from Kurt? All he wanted to do was grab the boy’s face and kiss him till his head spun.

BUT ROBERT DOWNEY JR.

Yes? Blaine sighed. They were definitely watching Iron Man together.

I don’t need to explain, Kurt. It’s Robert Downey Jr.

Blaine refocused on the conversation in the room and heard Cooper say he was getting hungry and that they should head home. Blaine and Rachel agreed and Blaine leaned over to hug Justin. They agreed that they’d meet up again soon and the three of them made their way back down the stairs. They bade farewell to Mrs. Henderson and strode out to the car. Once they were inside and driving back toward Cooper’s house, Blaine felt his phone buzz.

Fair enough. How’s visiting Cooper?

“Alright, kiddos. We’re here,” Cooper said and Blaine looked up find the car parked at a diner. He sighed and quickly txted back Kurt.

It’s going good. It’s nice to see him. I’ve missed him a lot. It’s been…interesting though. I’ll tell you more when I get back. I’ve got to go right now though, we’re about to have dinner and then I’m driving home. Blaine followed Coop and Rachel into the diner and sat down in the booth next to Rachel and across from Cooper. He felt his phone buzz and snuck a glance at it before Cooper scolded him for using his phone at the table.

Okay. I’ll talk to you later. Drive carefully! And I’m glad you’re having a good time. Cooper seems like a great guy from what I’ve heard from Rachel. Blaine smiled and began to talk to Cooper about school and life and Rachel told him all about her on again off again relationship with the star quarterback, Finn Hudson.

After almost an hour, they made their way out of the diner and back too Cooper’s car. During the car ride back to Cooper’s the three of them sung along to the radio, bringing back memories of when they were young and Cooper still lived with them in Lima.

Once they were back at the house, it was getting late, so Blaine and Rachel began saying goodbye to Cooper and made him promise to visit them soon.

The drive home to Lima was quiet. Both Blaine and Rachel were exhausted and too wrapped up in their own thoughts to speak to each other. Blaine didn’t mind, though he wished his mind wouldn’t keep reeling back to the night of the dance. He took a deep breath and forced the thought from his mind and soon enough, he was thinking about Kurt. He couldn’t wait to see Kurt in the morning, even if it meant going to school. He just wanted to wrap his arms around his boyfriend and hold on to him for the rest of eternity. He actually had to force himself not to turn off the freeway early and drive up to the Hummel-Hudson house.

Once they got home, Blaine and Rachel trudged through the front door and mumbled ‘hellos’ and ‘goodnights’ to their parents before slumping up the stairs to their bedrooms. Blaine paused at his doorway and turned back to see Rachel about to walk into her own room. “Hey, Rach,” Blaine called softly and she turned around with tired eyes. “Thanks for coming with me.” Rachel sighed and walked over to her brother before placing a soft kiss to his cheek.

“Anytime, little bro,” she said and ruffled his hair. He grumbled and shook his head away from her.

“Six minutes.” Rachel waved her hand dismissively over her shoulder as she walked back to her room and Blaine smiled slightly. Once inside his room he peeled off his shirt and pants before flopping down on his bed. He grabbed his phone and sent a message to Kurt.

Just got home. Hope you had a nice day. Goodnight, Kurt :) Blaine pulled the blankets up over his shoulders and passed out immediately when his cheek touched his pillow.