Despite his awful mood, even Blaine had to admit a trip out to the Fabray's estate wasn't too bad. Though smaller than the Anderson's, their place was still a beautiful plot of land, making up a large proportion of Lima. Many parts of their land were open to the residents of Lima for public events or activities that would take place. Many of the rich men's children would go to learn to ride horses on the back fields, or learn archery with their fathers in the woods. Blaine had spent a lot of time at the Fabray's estate as a child, although it was on the other side of town to his own home.

It became obvious to him as he got older that his and Quinn's parents were planning on arranging a marriage between the two children. It seemed like the most practical idea to them. Both families were good Christians, both from high social statuses and a long line of wealth and success ran in both families.

Plus Blaine overheard his mother and Quinn's discussing how beautiful their grandchildren would be if Blaine and Quinn got married. That was a slight give away to their plan.

Last year his parents had suddenly gone off the idea of Blaine having much to do with Quinn but Blaine went to see her anyway- she was a friend after all, and the fact she had gotten pregnant would not change that.

Over a year had passed since the birth of Quinn's daughter, and now Quinn was thin again, and the child was no where within sight, his parents were more than happy with forgetting the whole mess and letting him marry her. Bitter about their attitude towards Quinn, he had politely as he could have told them he had no interest in the girl, no matter how lovely she was.

"They think you're seeing that Jewish girl," his sister pointed out one day as they idly walked around the grounds of their estate the previous summer. "They're none too happy about it, I'm afraid."

"Rachel?" Blaine said disbelievingly. "She's a fine girl, but she's like a sister. As is Quinn."

"Are there any girls you are interested in?" his sister asked, inquisitively.

"I'm not interested in anyone in this town," Blaine replied. "Nothing will keep me tied here, not even the estate. I'll get out of here one day. Soon I'll be off fighting in the war. Then after that..." Blaine trailed off, and picked up his pace, leaving his sister lost in thought behind him.

So, despite looking forward to seeing Quinn, he was less approving of his mother's behavior; fixing his clothes, brushing them with her hands, leaning over to fix his bowtie as they waited for the car to come round to the front of the house to pick them up. He didn't like how his father kept looking over at him and repeating, "It'll be lovely to see Quinn again, won't it?" He didn't appreciate his sister's husband winking at him every few moments. He had returned earlier than most, having been sent home in July, and America's fight against Japan was done before he had to go back out. Sarah kept shooting him glances, as if to tell him sorry, for the way the family was acting.

It was obvious the whole "baby problem" was forgotten.

It was even more obvious his parents wanted a marriage between him and Quinn.

It was the most obvious thing to Blaine that this could never possibly happen.

The car ride was only a total of 15 minutes, but had been the worst 15 minutes of Blaine's summer so far. The pruning from his mother had only stopped because she couldn't reach him from her seat, but that just meant she had more time to talk about their trip to the Fabray estate, and everyone else still kept giving Blaine looks.

Blaine was starting to believe his father's urgent talk with Mr. Fabray was less about business and more about Quinn and Blaine's impending marriage.

Blaine hoped he was wrong.

They arrived at the Fabray manor at 10 o' clock, and the woman Blaine assumed to be a maid approached them. Blaine had recognized her, as she came closer, as Finn Hudson's mother. She had worked for the Fabray's for as long as he could remember, and had been at the risk of losing her job during the times it was assumed Finn was the father of Quinn's child. However, Quinn had begged her father to let Carole Hudson keep her job; otherwise she would continue to venture out into town when she was heavily pregnant. Russell Fabray did not like the idea of his daughter running the Fabray name through the mud anymore than she already had, and had agreed to keep the woman on, and once Quinn admitted Finn was not the father, and had never actually had sex with Quinn, Finn was allowed to remain and continue to do jobs around the estate.

Blaine assumed it must be awkward for Finn to see Quinn so often, but then realized, perhaps the grounds were so large he didn't have to see her too much. Blaine knew, like the Anderson's, the Fabray's lodged their servants in homes on the estate. So there was a good chance that they would cross paths if Quinn decided to stroll across the grounds.

"Good morning," Carole smiled to them. "If you would like to come round this way, Mr. and Mrs. Fabray and their daughters are waiting for you." She led them through the house, to the back garden, which was specifically Fabray only, and down a winding path, until they reached a small summer house, where the Fabrays were sat at a table on the small porch, drinking tea.

Quinn's face lit up as she saw the Anderson's approach them, and she stood up and made her way quickly to Blaine. She stopped in front of him, and he came to a halt, the rest of his family carrying on to the summer house.

"Blaine," she gushed. "Oh Blaine, it's wonderful to see you! It's been a while... since June I think."

Blaine grinned. "It's been too long. How are you keeping? Well, I hope?" It was far too formal. Clinical. The way they had always acted in front of the families. Speaking of whom, were laughing (albeit falsely) over at the porch.

"I'm glorious, thank you," she said, before turning her head to look at the others, who waved at them. Quinn gave a half hearted wave back. When she turned back around to face Blaine, the look on her face was considerably darker.

"You know, I assume you know why your family came today?" she said, in a more hushed voice than before. Quinn had always been a smart girl, too smart for her parents to manipulate her as they had done with her older sister.
Blaine nodded. "I have my suspicions. They never quit do they?" Quinn laughed heartily, her eyes crinkling and her face lightening.

"No, they never do. Say, let's ditch them," she suggested. "Let them arrange whatever they want without being caught up in the middle of it." Blaine nodded again. Quinn spun on the spot, and hurried back to her parents.

"Mother, Father, I was hoping to show Blaine around the grounds outside the garden," she began. "He hasn't seen the new stables and he so terribly wants to see the horses." Blaine watched as Quinn's father and mother exchanged a glance, and then one with his own parent's.

"Of course," he announced, his voice carrying easily over towards Blaine. "Someone will need to escort you, however." Blaine cursed silently. It had always been like this. Though he knew himself he would never want to be with Quinn that way, they had always had a chaperone during their times together.

"I'll go with them," his sister announced. Blaine smiled in relief. His sister would keep her distance, probably go off on her own for a while and allow Blaine and Quinn to gossip and talk alone. She had always allowed them that whenever she had chaperoned before.

Once their parents had accepted this proposal, and Sarah had managed to convince her husband he needn't tag along ("Jonathan, dear, I'm capable of handling these two on my own, trust me.") the three of them made their way out the garden into the extended grounds of the Fabray estate. It was still well kept; just less so than the private garden. The woods which lined the path they were making their way down was overgrowing, and the grass was longer and thicker than back in the garden.

Sarah remained close to them for a little while and the three walked down the path in comfortable silence. Once far enough from the garden, Sarah began to distance herself from the pair, slowing down immensely before
stopping to "fix my skirt, you two gone on without me. I'll catch up." After which she winked and dusted off the skirt twice and then looking around idly. Soon she was a rather large distance behind them, dawdling mindlessly.

"I always loved it when your sister chaperoned," Quinn laughed.

"Yes, she does seem to understand how we need boundaries more than our parents," Blaine commented.

"Or my own sister," Quinn added, a slight bitter tone to her voice. "Your sister seems to be the only one who lets us be and is happy enough we are just friends." Blaine sighed, and kicked at the ground as he walked.

"Our parents just want the best for us I suppose. But," Blaine paused and looked at Quinn, who looked at him back, "You know as much I like you, Quinn, I could never marry you. Or love you like that." Something softened in Quinn's features and a small smile crept up on her lips.

"I know," she said, in a much quieter voice. "The same goes for my feelings for you Blaine. I love you but you are more like a..." she paused looking for the right word.
"A brother?" Blaine suggested, and Quinn nodded.

"Yes, the best brother I never had," she laughed, and then linked her arm in his. They walked in silence for a moment, before Blaine realized he had no idea where Quinn was leading him.

"Quinn, did you say you were taking me to the new stables?" Blaine wondered aloud.

"Oh, yes," Quinn said excitedly. "They are down here," she gestured down the path they were walking. "There are so many and they are quite large, Blaine. Bright and shiny and new, a celebration of the war being over, my father said. They'll fit so many horses in!" Quinn's eyes were wide and bright. Blaine knew how Quinn loved her horses, having spent a lot of the time at the stables with her when they were younger, he had watched her coo over the animals, and ride them, and help clean up stables too, going against her mother and father's wishes.

"The old stables are still there, somewhere," she gestured mindlessly behind them. "But they are more for the public and horse riding lessons for the children. These new ones are more private. For only the family's horses." Blaine wasn't completely listening. He wondered how far away these stables must be, as they had been walking for a good 15 minutes now and had still not come across anything. Quinn seemed to be able to read his mind.

"They are quite far away. But oh, they are so worth it, Blaine! Kurt was moaning to me yesterday about the distance he has to walk everyday to get to those stables from his quarters, but I know he doesn't mind it really. He's outstanding with the horses."

Blaine was having trouble keeping up with Quinn. She seemed to talk at a hundred miles an hour, never stopping for breath. Her face looked brighter than it had all day, a dreamy expression coming over her beautiful features. Blaine couldn't remember the last time he had seen Quinn look so excited, and happy. Certainly not since the baby had been born and her breakup up with Noah Puckerman.

"Kurt? Who's Kurt?" Blaine was lost, having never heard that name before. Quinn came out of her daze and beamed a Blaine.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot to tell you!" she laughed. "Kurt is one of our new servants, part of a new family we hired. He's the new stable hand." She looked behind us to check Sarah wasn't within hearing distance, before turning back to me. "His family has quite a story, I hear."
"You hear?" Blaine asked, completely interested now. New gossip, that was, always interested him.

"I overheard my parents talking about them and then Mrs. Hudson and the cook were too," she said. "This family we've hired, well I say family, it's just father and son; they've had their fair share of drama." Blaine raised his eyebrows, and Quinn did a quick look around her shoulder again.

"They lived just out of town. Kurt went to my elementary school, I remember him slightly but when he was eight he left. No explanation." Blaine nodded, having not gone to the same Elementary school as Quinn, there was little chance he would have met this boy before. "Him and his dad left town, went down to Westerville where his dad got a new job, so my father says. Anyway, I found out from Kurt he left Lima Elementary because his father wanted to move away, after his mother died."

"His mother died?" Blaine asked shocked. Quinn nodded solemnly. "That's awful." Blaine couldn't imagine losing his mother. No matter how annoying she could be sometimes, she always wanted what was best for him. And she had gone through so much the past few years, with the American prejudice against Asians at an unnatural high, and he had done his best to help keep her safe. There had been times people had gotten too close to her, almost hurting her, and the thought that his own mother might not be here if it weren't for the safety their estate and her husband brought her broke Blaine down every time he thought about it. His heart went out to the boy and his father.

"It is awful," Quinn agreed, as they turned a corner, and finally the grand stables came to view. And they were grand. Although still a fair distance away (possibly another ten minute walk) they were still well within view. Blaine's mouth formed into an "O" shape, and looked at it in wonder. Quinn grinned. They made up a large portion of the land in front of them, fenced off for the horses to have outside grazing space.

"Pretty good, right?" She laughed as Blaine nodded mutely. "Well, they were only finished a couple of weeks ago. It took three months to build them all." Blaine raised his eyebrows, questioningly at Quinn.

"I thought you said it was an end of war celebration?" Quinn scoffed at the question. An audible gasp sounded from behind them and Blaine guessed his sister must have turned the corner and seen the stables.

"Do you think this was built in two weeks? Daddy has been planning this because he wanted it, not because war was coming to an end, despite his reasoning for getting it." Quinn paused before deciding to change the subject. "Now, do you really want to talk about stables or hear more gossip?" Blaine grinned and Quinn took the hint.

"As I was saying, Kurt and his father moved away. Apparently when America joined the war, his father went off fighting, leaving Kurt alone."

"Kurt lived by himself?" Blaine asked shocked. Quinn rolled her eyes.

"Of course not, Blaine," Quinn said exasperatedly. "Kurt is our age, only just 17. He was 12 in 1940. He couldn't live by himself. Although, I wouldn't be surprised if he could have. He seems very self sufficient." Quinn looked to Blaine and added, "He went to Dalton Junior High and then to the High school." Blaine could feel his jaw drop almost comically.

"Dalton? The private school? That school costs a fortune... how can he afford it if he's only working as a servant?" Blaine asked. Blaine's own parents had discussed sending Blaine to Dalton. He had gone to a private elementary after all, and Dalton was a highly prestigious school. But then war broke and his mother was adamant that no one would be going off to Boarding school at times like these. The family was to stick together. The silent "because, who knows how long we have together" always hung in the air.

"I think maybe he won a scholarship," Quinn said, shrugging. "He's certainly bright enough to have got one. I've talked to him a few times and he seems to know his stuff." A soft expression came across her face again.

"He's rather good with the horses. Brilliant in fact."
"Why did they come back to Lima?" Blaine pondered, only accidentally out loud, not thinking Quinn would know.

"I think they need a lot of work, and his father wasn't getting any back in Westerville. I heard my father saying the older man's heart isn't all too healthy. The war put a lot of stress on it, perhaps. My father is willing to pay for his medication, because the man is one fantastic mechanic. And my father loves his cars. And we needed a good stable hand for the main stable. Kurt is more than capable."

They were coming up close to the stables now, and Blaine took his time to take it all in. It wasn't that they were extremely large. But their magnificence seemed to make them grow. There were a few, perhaps four, smaller stables, surrounded by fences where four or five horses were grazing. The main stable, located in the middle was much larger, and could possibly hold nine horses, Blaine reckoned. Each stable was painted a dark red, the door borders white. It most definitely looked like something out of a picture book. The Fabray's old stables certainly hadn't looked like this.

They made their way down the path that led to the stables, which then forked to lead to the entrance of each individual stable, and Quinn led them down the path which led to the main stable. They crossed the entrance of the stable, walking across the hay covered floor, and looking around in awe.

"Kurt?" Quinn's small voice echoed around the stable, sounding slightly giddy. She's getting excited over these horses again, Blaine thought sweetly, admiring how passionate she was getting. A few pens in this stable were empty, four had horses in. The stable could house eleven horses in all. Impressive.

A moment later, Blaine heard footsteps and a voice call, "Quinn, is that you?" The voice was high and had a soft ring to it, but was inherently masculine at the same time. A boy appeared from around the corner of one of the pens, leading a magnificent brown horse out, and walked towards Blaine and Quinn.

Quinn grinned as the boy made his way towards them. He smiled at Quinn. And Blaine thought his heart couldn't possibly beat faster than it did then, because if it did, it was sure to crack his ribs. The boy was slender, dressed in workman's clothes. His face was covered in bits of dirt, his hair slightly mussed and there was definitely some hay in there. The boy didn't seem to mind, the smile on his face brightening his muddy face, and his eyes dancing with excitement. His eyes.

He turned to look at Blaine, and Blaine realized in an instant he was wrong. His heart could be faster. It was literally ramming into his chest ready to burst out any second. Because the moment the boy turned his brilliant blue eyes onto Blaine, he knew he was in trouble. The euphoria which set every fiber of his skin and the clenching in his stomach was warning him of one thing.

There was definitely someone in Lima he most certainly was interested in.