Life had started out fairly plainly for Blaine Anderson. He was the son of Marie, a bakery assistant, and Jeffrey, an accountant. The middle child of three siblings, he found himself constantly overlooked when vying for his parents’ attention, being neither the eldest who needed to be kept on a tight leash, or the youngest who could regularly get away with murder. He soon got used to this however, and any break from the norm would have probably scared him half to death in any case.

As in his home life, Blaine was also a fairly mediocre student, only excelling in the subject of art, where he felt free to let his inhibitions go and simply create whatever took his fancy. There was nothing he enjoyed more than donning some overalls, setting up an easel and letting the creative juices flow out of him onto a canvas. It was his only real way of expressing himself, and he loved it.

Blaine’s one and only friend was Becky, a girl he’d met in the park one Sunday while trying to avoid the screams of his then baby brother. Edward had been a very needy child from day one, and no matter what Blaine tried to do to help, it never seemed to be the right thing, so he figured that making himself scarce was the next best option. The park was just around the corner from their house too, and Blaine was mature enough, even from a young age, that his parents trusted him to go there on his own whenever the mood arose, if only to see him get a bit a fresh air.

Becky was the complete polar-opposite of Blaine – loud, brash and boisterous, but lacking enough money or good looks to be popular with her peers. This didn’t seem to bother her in the slightest, but on the day they met, Becky had fallen from a tree, missing Blaine by only a couple of inches, and he had found it impossible not to lend a hand in brushing down the somewhat dishevelled tree-dweller in his midst. They soon found that they shared enough common interests in order to become friends, and a few short years later started attending the same school. Having Blaine around was an absolute god-send for Becky, as much for having someone to talk with as to help fight her battles when she was being picked on. Blaine also became the calming influence whenever Becky went through a particularly rebellious period, and they both knew that this was a bond they were unlikely to want to break in a hurry.

~~~

As they entered their teenage years, the kids' friendship went from strength to strength. Blaine confided in Becky before anyone else that he was fairly sure that he was interested in boys rather than girls, and she had simply hugged him tightly and told him he was going to make some gorgeous guy very happy one day. They retained an ‘us against the world’ attitude which helped them both to overcome the obstacles they faced, particularly in their home-lives. Blaine’s parents had both been made redundant from their jobs and had struggled to keep the family afloat for a while, but luckily his Uncle Lou had offered some financial support at a critical time, and a new shopping mall had opened up in the next town, providing work for both his father and older brother, Cooper. Even Blaine had taken on a Saturday job to help out, restocking fruit and vegetables at the local supermarket, and what little money he kept aside from his wages was spent on art supplies to fuel his passion. Becky was having a somewhat tougher time, trying to cope with a mother struggling with depression and anxiety issues, as well as a serious drinking problem. She even tended to reach for the bottle herself from time to time, but with Blaine’s help she managed to convince herself that going down the same path as her mother would get her nowhere fast, and she quickly cleaned up her act. Blaine hated to see his friend having to deal with such stressful, emotional issues at a young age, but he believed in Becky and knew that she’d be OK as long as she kept her chin up and retained her dry wit. He also asked her to pose for his artwork on several occasions, and this gave Becky something to take her mind off her troubles – she became a completely different person in those situations, and Blaine encouraged her to join the school’s weekend drama group in an effort to channel Becky’s creative energy even further. This proved to be the lifeline that Becky needed, and she thrived on the buzz that acting gave her. Soon she was treading the boards in the ensemble cast of several of the school’s productions, with Blaine helping out whenever his job would allow it with set design.

~~~

When they were fifteen years old, the carnival came to town. This only happened once in a blue moon, and although neither friend was particularly interested in thrill rides and nauseating fast food, Blaine had promised to take Edward and his friends there for the evening, and he knew that he’d go completely insane without Becky there for company. Within seconds of entering the park gates Edward and his posse were off like a shot, barely acknowledging Blaine’s pleas to stay close and not spend all of their money in one go. The pair wandered through the throngs of wide-eyed people and shared horror stories of the various tales they’d heard about fairground rides over the years. It kept them amused for a while at least, along with some cotton candy and a seriously un-spooky but very funny ride on the ghost train. The last thing they encountered before they had to drag four very reluctant young boys home was a rather lonely old tent advertising the ‘wondrous fortune-telling powers of Madame Dionne’. Seeing several people leaving the tent almost doubled up with laughter, Becky and Blaine knew that they had to give this one a try for comedy value alone, and they were asked to enter one-by-one after paying their fee.

Becky went first, and exited minutes later looking somewhat disgruntled. She said that Madame Dionne had quashed her ideas of becoming a famous actress, stating that all she could see in her crystal ball was unhappy faces and a deep red rose. Blaine reminded her that fortune-telling was nothing but a bunch of mumbo-jumbo and squeezed her around the shoulders before making his way inside the tent. As expected, it was a dark and shabby place, with a plump lady plastered in so much make-up and gaudy jewellery that Blaine was amazed she could hold her head up unaided. The woman beckoned Blaine to sit at the tiny wooden table in the middle of the floor, and reached for his right hand, screwing her eyes tightly shut and waving her own right hand over an old crystal ball perched between them. She made several grunting noises, as well as one high-pitched cackle which almost had Blaine running for the exit, before making one simple statement:

“You will live a long and happy life.”

Blaine waited patiently for the rest of the statement, but it never came. He raised a thick, expressive eyebrow and gave a polite cough in the hopes of encouraging Madame Dionne along somewhat, but still nothing followed. The fortune-teller then released Blaine’s hand, smiled and gestured to the doorway. Somewhat bewildered, he rose and left, feeling slightly embarrassed by the fact that he felt cheated out of his elaborate fortune.

“So?!” Said Becky expectantly.

“So, nothing. Something about a long life. Oh, also - happiness.” Blaine shrugged and rolled his eyes.

“Geez. Looks like we were both conned.” Becky replied, and they both laughed, linking arms and strolling away from the tiny tent.

~~~

The following summer marked a turning point in the pair's relationship, as a new starter at Blaine’s workplace took a shine to Becky and whisked her into a whirlwind romance. Blaine was insanely jealous, and equally upset at having his time with Becky regularly cut short because she ‘needed to be with Zach’, but he knew that interfering would only cause a rift in their relationship, and he left Becky to get on with her new double-life, savouring the precious moments when she actually found the time for them to get together. Blaine’s own love-life was a complete non-starter, but as his mother was always telling his, the right person was out there somewhere, and when he found them, he’d know. She glossed over the fact that Blaine always interrupted her to make it very clear that it was a boyfriend he was looking for. He just wished his raging hormones would take the hint with her advice every now and then. Luckily, Becky seemed to be having enough fun for the both of them, and felt completely at ease regaling Blaine with tales of her and Zach’s sordid shenanigans.


Blaine threw himself into his work, both at the supermarket and in the makeshift art studio his dad had set up for him in their garage. He even managed to sell a couple of his paintings to the odd curious neighbour – well, quite frankly, if they were going to loiter whenever he had to open the garage door to let the paint fumes out, he felt it only right to gauge their interest and barter for their hard-earned cash if they showed even the slightest interest in his work. He surprised even himself the few times that this had happened, but there was something very satisfying about making money out of his life-long passion.

~~~

One chilly October day, while Blaine was busy putting the finishing touches to his latest still life, his mother sought him out with as serious a face as Blaine had ever seen on her. He knew that something must be terribly wrong, as even during the toughest periods for the family that he could remember, his mother’s warm smile was the one thing he could always count on seeing. Marie asked him to take a seat, and explained that she’d just received a phone call from Becky’s stepfather. Becky and Zach had been involved in a serious road traffic accident the previous night while riding on Zach’s motorbike. Zach was in hospital with several broken bones, but sadly Becky had not been so lucky, and was killed outright at the scene. Blaine felt numb, and wept uncontrollably in his mother’s arms, wishing that he could turn back the clock and beg his friend not to go out with her boyfriend that night.

The weeks that followed were a blur of memorial services, both at school and at the cemetery, and of bitterness and heartbreak for Blaine. He felt totally lost without his best friend in his life, and found it desperately hard to concentrate on his studies, his work or his home-life. He took to spending hours at a time sitting beside Becky’s newly dug grave in the cemetery, reading poems from her favourite anthology, or singing kooky songs that he could recall them both making up together on particularly long and boring summer days. None of this made him feel any better, but he couldn’t seem to tear himself away from Becky’s graveside for long.

One day, while reading a somewhat poignant poem about the gates of Heaven, Blaine realised that he was being watched by another visitor to the graveyard. A young guy, tall, slim and immaculately dressed, with red-gold hair and bright blue eyes, was listening intently to the poem from beside a neighbouring grave. He smiled bashfully when he realised that Blaine had noticed him, and gestured for him to go on, but Blaine felt too embarrassed and closed up his book.

“I’m so sorry,” The stranger said in a gentle voice. “I didn’t mean to interrupt you.”

“That’s OK.” Blaine replied. “I’m getting a little bored with that one anyway.”

“Yeah. It’s tough speaking about the wonders of God, when he deals us so much crap and takes our loved ones away from us without a second thought. Still, you read very beautifully.”

Blaine didn’t quite know how to respond to such a remark, but chose to take it as a compliment. “Did you lose someone close to you?” he offered.

He nodded. “My mom ... almost eleven years ago.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry. That must’ve been awful.”

The stranger let out a long sigh and nodded some more. Blaine sensed that he found this difficult to talk about, and wondered if changing the subject would help. But what to talk about now?

“Who was Rebecca Willis?”

Blaine was snapped back to reality. Hearing other people say Becky’s name was something he missed more than he had realised.

“My best friend, Becky.” he said. “She was killed in an accident a couple of months ago.”

“Oh, god. You must really miss her.”

Now it was Blaine’s turn to nod in silence, fighting back the tears he hadn’t shed for a good few weeks.

“I’m Kurt, by the way. Kurt Hummel.” He gestured towards Blaine, stretching out his hand.

“Blaine Anderson.” He replied, feeling a tingle from the warm grip of Kurt’s hand and blushing uncontrollably. Kurt smiled again, seeming equally flustered by the situation they were in, but finding it hard to let go of this sweet boy’s hand.

The pair moved to a nearby bench and chatted for well over an hour about themselves, their lives and what had brought them to the graveyard. There was an unmistakeable bond between them, but when Kurt had plucked up the courage to ask Blaine out for a coffee, he politely declined. Something just didn’t feel right about accepting a date in these circumstances, and he left his new acquaintance on the bench a short time later. He almost instantly regretted the decision though, and spent several days and nights kicking himself for not agreeing to see Kurt again. He visited Becky’s grave every day, feeling horribly guilty that he was hoping to see Kurt there as much as to grieve the loss of his friend. And then one day, he appeared.

He was holding a single red rose, and when he saw him approaching, Kurt almost fell over himself to get to Blaine.

“For me?” Blaine flushed again, taking the rose and smelling its sweet, musky perfume. “You shouldn’t have. Unless you didn’t and this was actually taken from some poor, unassuming dead person!” He chuckled, then cringed with embarrassment at making such a bad-taste remark. Luckily Kurt let out a hearty laugh which told his that they shared a similar sense of humour, and he felt a little more at ease. He could just imagine Becky looking down on them and rolling her eyes in mock disgust.

And so the romance began. Kurt and Blaine barely spent a day apart after that, and Blaine quietly thanked his dearly departed friend every day for bringing them together. They married, had children - and grandchildren, and to Blaine’s amazement that laughable fortune he had once received from Madame Dionne really did come true ... he led a long and truly happy life.