Another Cinder Story

Blaine walked through the narrow corridor under the stage. He could hear the chants from the crowd already. “Blaine! Blaine! Blaine!” came the cries from a faceless audience. He smiled gratefully – he always got this buzz from performing and the fans meant the world to him. “Ready Mr Anderson?” a stagehand asked him, passing him his guitar with a smile on her face.

“Have fun babe” a voice came from the shadows behind Blaine; he only had time to blow a kiss to said figure.

 “I’m always ready” he replied happily. He pointed his hand upwards as the platform he was stood on moved upwards so he was on stage finally. “How’s everyone doing tonight?” he shouted into the microphone. A giant roar erupted from the crowd as Blaine appeared. He smiled as he began to speak once more “My name is….”

“BLAINE!” came a shriek. Blaine woke with a start, he yawned slightly rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. “BLAINE!” the shrill voice rattled the entire house again.

“I’m coming!” he cried. He tried to shake off how real the dream felt, like it could actually happen to him one day. Stop it Blaine, it’s just a dream, he thought fiercely to himself. He pulled an old hoodie over his head and pulled a face at his mirror, looking at his unruly black curls. He picked up the pot of hair gel on his desk when the voice came again. “BLAINE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” He threw the hair gel pot on his bed in frustration before running downstairs.

“I’m here! I’m here!” he shouted at his step-mother.

“Finally, breakfast, get it ready now” she barked at him. Annette Anderson was a past model, tall and skinny with a face well past its prime, her dyed black hair often showed signs of grey, her blue eyes were cold and Blaine was pretty sure he had never seen her smile. Not once. He saluted her sarcastically, pulling a face the second he turned away from her. Grabbing a grapefruit from the bowl on the kitchen counter, and juicing it rather aggressively, he passed her a glass of the pink liquid and then proceeded to fetch her yoghurt and weird health food.

“Morning Blainey” came two similar sneaky voices from behind him. Without bothering to turn round, he replied dryly “Morning girls”. Blaine’s stepsisters Molly and Tilly were identical twins, they could only be told apart by a small mole on Molly’s neck. They both had thick brown hair and blue eyes, like their mother, they were cold and emotionless, however Blaine had seen them smile – A  smile that looks slightly like that of an alligator before it pounces.

“Blainey, you need to get us our breakfast too you know. You cannot expect us to wait around while you mess around” Molly said, a leer in her voice.

“How many times? Don’t call me Blainey. Here” he shoved two plates of food – whether it could be classed as food he didn’t know – towards them. He also knew full well that when they got to school, both twins would be heading straight for the vending machine, going completely against their mother’s strict diet.

He sat in cold stone silence while they ate, waiting for them to finish. After 10 minutes, a pile of plates were dumped in front of them and began to wash them. It wasn’t that he wanted to do this, he had no choice. It was routine now. “Bye Mom!” the twins called as they ran outside and drove off quickly. Typical Blaine thought. They were meant to wait for him and give him a ride but they seldom did. “Remember Blaine, I need you to clean the pool and well. You saw the list I left for you.” She said wickedly.

He finished washing up with plates and shoved them away. He glanced at the clock on the wall. “Shit” he ran upstairs and grabbed his cell-phone. He shot off a quick text to Wes “They left me again. Can I get a ride?” within in seconds the reply came, “Sure man, anytime”. As unsatisfactory his home life was, Blaine had some pretty amazing friends. Wes had been a good friend of Blaine’s ever since he was young…before everything changed.

Blaine checked he had all his books for the day before stopping shortly in front of the picture that hung on the wall by the door. His parents and him when he was a baby, they were smiling and hugging him happily; Blaine’s parents had owned a beauty store for a number of years – Blaine’s mother made the products, his father did the accounts, they were a great team and the store thrived. But when Blaine was three, his mother died in a car accident, he couldn’t really remember her but he knew she was a good, good woman. His father had brought him up mostly – he was a nice, caring man who loved his son deeply but he was distant after his mother’s death. His father re-married Annette when Blaine was seven years old. Blaine had never liked her and deep down, he knows his father only re-married so he wasn’t lonely anymore. So now Blaine had a new mother and two incredibly annoying siblings.

Then disaster struck again. Blaine was twelve years old when his father died of a premature heart attack. Blaine thought he had died of a broken heart. Blaine was put under the care of his stepmother and he had basically been forced to be her servant ever since. He couldn’t stand it but there was nothing else he could do. He would have nowhere to go.  Sure, Wes had said he was welcome round at his house any day but Blaine couldn’t bring himself to take charity. His father had brought him up like that.

He sighed softly at the picture as he heard the honk of Wes’s car from outside. He ran downstairs quickly, scowling at how his hair looked in the mirror once more before meeting Wes in the car.

“Hey Wes, thanks for taking me….Again” he added after a small pause.

“No worries dude. You gotta stop letting them push you around like that though. You’re 16 now. You can’t keep living like this.”

Blaine just shrugged.

Blaine was standing by his locker at school when he walked past. Kurt Hummel. Smart, gorgeous, talented and popular. Also, Blaine had a rather huge crush on him. Kurt was a year older than Blaine; he was a ‘Cheerio’ – a part of the school’s cheerleading team, people liked him and although he was in the ‘popular’ crowd, he was nice. Like, really nice. He was also in Glee Club – Blaine had always wanted to join, he loved singing and could play the guitar and even if he did say so himself, his voice was actually pretty good.

Kurt always smiled at other people and sometimes, people gave him crap for being gay but as his step-brother was on the football team… the hate never went without someone being beaten up.

Blaine wished someone would do that for him. Sure, ever since Kurt became increasingly popular, homophobia at the school had reduced rapidly but every now and again, certain Neanderthals shoved him the corridor or dropped his books on the floor.

Just like now.

“Morning, homo!” came the cry as Blaine’s books came crashing to the floor. He rolled his eyes and set to work picking them up when he saw a pale hand pick up one of his books. “Oh you didn’t have to…” his voice trailed off as he looked up into Kurt’s eyes. Kurt’s beautiful blue eyes.

“It used to happen to me, I know how it feels. No worries. “Kurt answered, with a quick smile.

Blaine returned the smile. “Thank you”

Kurt opened his mouth to say something else when a voice called from the other end of the corridor. “Kurt! Over here!” Blaine glanced to the right to see Mercedes Jones and Rachel Berry standing, looking at the pair with suspicious eyes.

“Coming” Kurt shouted back. Kurt tapped Blaine’s hand lightly before standing up and leaving.

Blaine stayed frozen to the spot when his friend Nick found him “What are you doing Blaine?”

“Um, nothing” he said quietly, staring after Kurt as he walked away.

“Who was that?” Mercedes asked Kurt as she linked her arm in his as Rachel took Kurt’s other arm. “Blaine, I think his name is” Kurt answered, trying not to think about quite how pretty Blaine’s eyes were.

“Do I sense a budding romance?” Rachel said, nudging Kurt teasingly. He shot her a quick dagger look.

“No, I’ve never spoken to the boy before today” Kurt said, swallowing anxiously. He hadn’t told them but he had noticed Blaine before. He had seen the boy with curly black hair and his bowties and how cute he was.

“Well, just so you know, he hasn’t stop staring at you ever since you walked away” Rachel said, a smile breaking on her face as she looked at the expression on Kurt’s face.

That night, Blaine returned home and almost the minute, he stepped into the house he was met with “Ah, Blaine, finally. Why are you always so late?” – His eyes narrowed slightly, his step-sisters weren’t even home yet! – “Anyway, I have to go to Yoga tonight so I expect you to have my dinner ready for when I return at 7. Also, the pool needs cleaning, the dog needs walking, make sure the cat is properly fed and the kitchen needs to be spotless. And I mean spotless.” She stopped directly in front of him, her eyes locking with his. “Okay?” she questioned.

“Of course Annette” Blaine answered sarcastically. “Nothing would give me greater joy” She merely sniffed and walked out of the house, her designer sports bag dangling off her arm. He pulled a face at the floor, before greeting the dog that had come bounding towards him.

“Hello Max. Are you gonna come help me clean the pool?” he bent down to stroke the dog and ruffle his fur. Max the dog was meant to be a present for Blaine’s stepsisters after they begged their mother for but once they had gotten over the cute, fluffy puppy stage, they wanted nothing more to do with the Labrador, so Blaine had become surrogate father to the dog. Max was the only being in the house that liked Blaine and the feeling was mutual.

Pandora, the Persian cat, walked swiftly under Blaine’s nose, her white fluffy tail flicking in his face as if to say ‘Feed Me Now’. The cat belonged to Annette, a pure pedigree; Pandora was almost as snobby as Annette. “Alright, I’m coming, you spoilt thing” Blaine prepared a dish of salmon and then he shoved it in front of the cat, who began to munch on it haughtily – Blaine didn’t actually think that possible but apparently it was very much so.

“Come on Max” Blaine whistled as he walked outside to clean the pool. He grabbed the net from the shed and began to fish out the leaves and other rubbish that ended up being blown into the pool.  The weather was surprisingly hot for Ohio so soon enough, he checked there was no around and pulled off his t-shirt.  After, four years of having to do most of the work around the house, he managed to build up some definition in his muscles, his arms were strong and his stomach was flat and muscly.

“Well, hello there” Blaine heard a smirk from behind him. Whirling round, he attempted not to fall in the pool with fright. He saw Rachel Berry peering at him from her own back garden – their houses backed onto each other. Blaine hadn’t really spoken to the girl as she was a senior and he was a junior but he had gathered that as the star of the glee club, she was very talented and a diva but she meant well and had a good- heart. He also knew she was friends with Kurt Hummel.

“Sorry, I know you don’t play for my team but still, can’t blame a girl for looking” she said, with a wink.

“Umm, it’s fine” Blaine murmured in response, feeling suddenly self-conscious.

“So, I saw you talking to Kurt earlier. Didn’t know you two knew each other”

“I didn’t know it was any of your business” Blaine said, putting up a defensive but immediately feeling bad. He closed his eyes and then said “Sorry, I don’t mean to snap. I don’t know him really, he just stopped to help me” Blaine shrugged.

“Well if you ask me, it looked like there was a little more. Kurt’s nice, go for it” she smiled, before walking back towards her house.

Blaine stood still for a while then he shook off what Rachel had just said – of course, Kurt didn’t like him, why would he? Blaine was a junior, a loser and nobody really thought much of him.  He carried on with cleaning the pool.

After, every leaf had been removed, he went to check the filter and found a little lizard poking around the little pool of water and leaves gathered there. “Hey buddy” Blaine said, Max hovering near his shoulder, looking warily at the little green reptile. “Come here” Blaine lifted the lizard out of the filter and put it on the grass, watching it scuttle away for a while.

“What are you doing?” came Tilly’s voice from behind him.

“I’m laying an egg, what’s it look like? Cleaning the pool, you moron” Without Annette around, Blaine was a little more relaxed with what he said to his step-sisters.

“It looks like you are being lazy. Get on with it. Or do you want me to tell Mom?” she said, her voice becoming mildly threatening. He grimaced as he stood up and pushed past her, going back into the house, Max following him, growling miserably at the girl.

Blaine set to work, finishing the tasks his step-mother had set him. He left her dinner out of on the side. Then he ran upstairs, and sat on his bed, strumming his guitar lazily.

He had been writing some songs recently and he had covered some other well-known songs for fun. He liked singing, he felt happy when he had a guitar in his hands and was singing.

So far, this was his favourite one – it was a reflection of his life he felt.

 “I feel like a loser, I feel like I'm lost

I feel like I'm not sure if I feel anything at all
But believe me, I'm not helpless I just need someone to love

So my situation's rough

That just makes me a dumb human, like you
I feel like a short stop

Along third base

I may just help you but I still don't like your face
But believe me, I'm not hostile I just want to hear you laugh

When I'm sarcastic like that,

That just makes me a dumb human, like you
why do I have this incredible need to stand up and say "Please pay attention"

It's the last thing that I need to make myself see

Well, that ain't my intention
I feel like an artist who's lost his touch

He likes himself in his art, but not his art too much
but believe me, I got something; I just don't know how to say

That I'm just fine with the way, the way that I'm movin'

But that just makes me a dumb human that just makes me

That makes me a human, like you”

He sighed and laid the guitar down on the bed, before picking the picture of his parents off the back of his door and he slowly began to let the tears run down his face.

 “Blaine, are you doing to the dance on Friday?” Nick asked him the next day.

“The Halloween Dance? Isn’t it a bit over-the-top? You know cheesy decorations and it being the one night where girls can dress up as sluts and get away with it?” Blaine said, reasonably.

 “Did you just quote mean girls?” Wes said, poking Blaine in the shoulder.

 “Yes, I did, now shush. I don’t know whether I’m coming or not. My bitch of a step-mother will probably keep me in, doing some pointless task” Blaine shuddered slightly. “I’ll be fine, it’s not like I have a date or anything. You guys can have fun without me”

 “But Blaine, it won’t be the same without you dude!” Wes said, his normally happy features falling.  Blaine shrugged sadly and punched his friend lightly on the forearm.

 “Sorry, you know what it’s like”

*********************************************

It was Friday. Blaine had gotten in from school and immediately Annette was on his back.

“So Blaine, I’m aware that there is a school dance tonight”

 Blaine, for a fleeting moment thought that she may let him go but then she said “But you can’t go. You have far too much to do here”

 Blaine sighed in defeat, he couldn’t be bothered to fight his case, and he wasn’t all that sure he would have enjoyed himself at the dance anyway.

 “What do you need me to do?”

 “Clean the girl’s rooms” Annette answered with a wicked smile. Blaine’s eyes widened.

 “All in one night?” he practically shouted.

“Of course all in one night, it’s the perfect opportunity. They are both out and that leaves you to really get to work. Now, I have to go out tonight – you know how in demand I am, to teach and nurture the new breed of models in this world. I won’t be back until twelve thirty. I expect the rooms to be so clean, I can see my face in the tiles, got it?”

 “Got it” Blaine answered miserably as he dragged his tired body upstairs.

 He changed into sweatpants and put on his thick-rimmed black glasses – if he had to do this, he may as well be comfy.

 Gingerly, he pushed open the door to the huge room that Molly and Tilly shared. It was practically an entire floor, split into two, and each twin had one side of it. He groaned as soon as he saw it.

 There were clothes everywhere, plates of food left on the floor that had been there...god knows how long. There was clutter of various pizza boxes and the large bohemian mirrors they owned were covered in scratches and make-up smears.

 Luckily, the twins were getting ready for the dance at a friend’s house so he didn’t have to deal with them either.

 He set to work reluctantly. He started to pick up bits of rubbish and clutter on the floor and place them in a large rubbish bin. After an hour of doing that, he could finally see the white tile flooring.

 “This is gross” he muttered to himself, as he scowled at a mouldy piece of cold toast on the ground. “I thought girls were meant to be clean creatures, not pigs”

 After a while, Max came and sat outside the room – even he didn’t want to enter the girl’s bedroom. Blaine enjoyed his companionship; at least the dog looked attentive half the time.

 Blaine began to scrub at the make-up marks on the mirror with great vigour. He suddenly heard some scrabbling at the back door from downstairs. Shit, Blaine thought to himself. Grabbing the broom, he had been cleaning the floor with, he moved slowly down the stairs, keeping his eyes open and alert.

 He turned the corner to face the back door, holding out the broom as if it could actually injure someone to face…

 “WES. YOU GAVE ME A FUCKING HEART ATTACK. DON’T DO THAT” Blaine shouted at his best friend, his hand resting on his chest.

 “I’m sorry! I just knew you kept the spare key near the pool shed”

 “What are you doing here anyway? Shouldn’t you be at the dance?” Blaine said, gesturing to Wes’s outfit, he was dressed as a pirate, complete with plush toy parrot attached to his shoulder.

“I couldn’t enjoy it without you there man. Let me guess, she made you clean?” Wes replied, raising his eyebrows.

 “Yeah of course she did, I have to get it done before half 12, when she gets back otherwise I’m in deep trouble. Wes, go to the dance, enjoy yourself”

 “And I can’t when I know you’re here, which is why I got my brother’s girlfriend’s cousin to come give you a hand cleaning”

Blaine looked at his friend, frowning when three men and two women walked into his house.

 “Hello” they all said at the same time.

 “Um, hi” Blaine answered, “Wes, who are these people?”

 “This” –pointing to the tallest of the men- “is John. He owns this company. A cleaning company. They are going to be you for the night” Wes said with a grin on his face.

 “I can’t ask you to do that!” Blaine cried, becoming all flustered.

 “It’s our job” one of the girls piped up. “Its fine, Wes told us about your stepmother, go have fun”

 Blaine smiled gratefully. “Thank you so much. I’ll be back by 12:15 I promise, thank you again”

 The five people moved themselves upstairs and Blaine pulled Wes into a quick hug. “You are the best friend ever okay?” he whispered.

 “I know I am. And as your best friend, you cannot go to the dance like that”

 “Well, what can I wear? I don’t have anything”

 “I have an idea” Wes said, holding up a suit bag.

******************************************

 It was ten ‘o’ clock when the two guys turned up at the dance. One was looking suave in a pirate costume and the other looked…well….hot. His normally gelled hair was let loose in curls, his hazel eyes were the only thing visible as the rest of his face was covered by a black mask, his legs were in tight grey jeans and he was wearing a black shirt, a makeshift cape hung loosely around his shoulders and to top it all off, he had a single red bowtie around the rim of his shirt.

 “Wes, I look ridiculous” Blaine whispered furiously to his friend, “The Dapper Highwayman, really?”

 “Blaine, look around, everyone is looking at you, not because you look stupid, because you look good. Okay. Now have fun for god’s sake!” Wes pushed Blaine forward towards the drinks table, straight into Kurt Hummel.

 “Whoa, hello there” Kurt said, with a smile, he was dressed as Harry Potter of all people.

 Blaine eyed the costume, attempting not to break into a laugh. Kurt noticed this and said “Yes, yes, Kurt Hummel is a Harry Potter Nerd, shoot me” he shrugged playfully and giggled.

 “No, no, same here” Blaine laughed, strange how it easy it was to talk to Kurt all of a sudden.

 “Pardon me for being really rude but who are you? No offence but you don’t exactly look like a senior”

 Blaine faltered for a second, if Kurt knew who he was, and then it surely he wouldn’t carry on this conversation. “I’m, er, just a stranger. For now” Blaine said, mentally cringing inside at how badly he was flirting.

 Kurt frowned for a moment but he shrugged it off – he was used to weirder from his stepbrother. There was something about those eyes though, whose were they?

 The pair had been chatting for a while, and Blaine was surprised at how easily he was getting along with Kurt, it wasn’t awkward as it normally was when he attempted to talk to his crushes.

“Not dancing then?” Kurt said, smiling.

 “It’s not really my scene if I’m honest. Get me a couple of drinks and sure, I’ll be dancing wildly but tonight, no” Blaine said, chuckling with a undertone of embarrassment.

 “Same here really” Kurt said, smiling.

 “Want to go for a walk or something? It’s a bit loud in here” Blaine said, wondering internally what on earth he was doing.

 The pair made their way outside to the school’s field where they walked in companionable silence for a while. There was a small area where there was an iPod dock and a sheltered area for people to listen to their own music. Blaine grinned at Kurt before pulling his iPod out of his jean pocket and placing it in the music player  - Kurt laughed as he heard the song beginning to play ‘Time of My Life’ from Dirty Dancing

 “I know I said I don’t dance but I think I can make an exception for you” Blaine said flirt mode on full, holding out his hand.

 Kurt hesitated for a moment. “You know I’m gay right?” he said quietly.

 “Same here” Blaine said, a small encouraging smile appearing on his face. Kurt bit his lip but he took hold of the hand Blaine was holding out. They danced together, further apart at first but Blaine made to spin Kurt round and it brought their bodies closer and closer together.

 By the closing notes of the song, Blaine dipped Kurt with a cheeky grin but something shifted between the two of them. Kurt’s eyes glazed over as they stared deep into Blaine’s. Blaine began to lean down, slowly to give Kurt time to move away but he didn’t. Their lips were about a centimetre away when Blaine’s phone buzzed.

 “Sorry” Blaine sighed, closing his eyes briefly. He pulled Kurt fully to his feet and brought his phone out of his pocket.

 One New Message from Wes: DUDE, WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?! Received 00:02

 Blaine noted the time he got the message then at his watch which now read 00:04.

“SHIT” Blaine shouted, and he tried to run back down the path, but Kurt kept hold of him. “What? What’s happened?”

“I have to go. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry” Blaine cried apologetically.  He twisted out of Kurt’s grip and ran, trying his very best not to turn back when he heard Kurt yell “But I still don’t know who you are!”

Kurt stared after the running boy, tears in his eyes. He brought himself together and exhaled keeping calm. Then he noticed on the floor, a single red bowtie.  Picking it up, he swore to himself I will find him again.

****************************************

 Blaine jumped into Wes’s car, his hands shaking. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I lost track of time. Drive!”

 “Where were you? I barely saw you all night”

 “I was, um, with someone” Blaine said, quietly.

 “Who?” Wes said, glancing at Blaine.

  “Someone special” Blaine answered, smiling to himself.

 “No way, Kurt?”

 “How did you guess him from that?” Blaine laughed.

 “Please, every time you see him or even hear someone say his name, you get the ridiculous smile on your face”

 “I nearly kissed him” Blaine whispered, more to himself than to Wes.

 “Oh. I would try and say something sympathetic but if we aren’t back at yours, in 10 minutes, you have a lot of explaining to do”

*****************************************

 At 00:17am the car pulled up outside the house and Blaine leapt out. “I owe you Wes, thank you so much”

“Don’t sweat it, go!” Wes smiled at his friend before driving off himself.

 Blaine ran full pelt upstairs and found that the cleaners were just finishing up. And the room had been transformed. The mirror was clean, the floor was spotless, the clutter was non-existent and the clothes were all folded into piles.

 “You are miracle workers, seriously thank you!” He smiled gratefully at the cleaners who all nodded in return.

 Then Blaine heard the key in the lock downstairs. “BLAINE!” shrieked the voice.

 “Crap, she’s home, you guys have to get outta here, go through the back door and run. Thank you again!” he said, ushering the cleaners out the room.

 “I’m here Annette” he called back, desperately pulling the cape from around his neck and taking off the eye mask, shoving them under the bed he was sat on.

Annette stumbled into the room, clearly drunk. “Huh, you did clean it. Good job” she suddenly looked at the boy, who was smiling nervously. “Why are you wearing that?” gesturing to his black jeans and shirt.

 “Um, Black wouldn’t get as dirty when I’m cleaning” he answered, making up whatever came to his head, hoping his drunken step-mother would be okay with whatever word vomit he came out with.

 “Okay. Night” she practically waltzed back to her room.

 Blaine fell back on the bed with relief.

**********************************************

 Blaine got to school the next morning and he noticed a yellow poster out of the corner of his eye. He carried on walking until he realised what it said.

 He stopped short and ran back the few steps and ripped the poster off the locker.

“Lost Bowtie, handsome owner, dressed like a highwayman at the dance. If anyone knows, contact Kurt Hummel” Blaine read out loud to himself. “WHAT?” he was internally screaming.  

 Kurt was actually looking for him?! I mean, sure, the time the pair had spent together at the dance had meant a lot to Blaine…but Kurt was cool. Why would he look for Blaine? Then it dawned on him. He had never told Kurt who he was.

 To Kurt, Blaine was just a nameless stranger.

 Blaine stared in shock at the poster – this was a lot of effort just to give someone their bowtie back. Did Kurt like him?

 He couldn’t tell him. He couldn’t – the minute Kurt realised who his ‘dapper highwayman’ was, he wouldn’t be bothered with Blaine anymore. Blaine was just plain old Blaine. Nothing special.

 “Dude” Blaine felt a hand on his shoulder and Wes’s soothing voice from behind him. “Are you okay?”

 “I can’t tell him. You can’t tell him Wes” Blaine whispered back almost immediately.

 “If you sure that’s what you want?” The hand on his shoulder squeezed in comfort.

 Blaine turned round to face his friend, Wes’s face contorting as he noticed the tears in Blaine’s eyes. “Of course it’s not what I want, I like the guy, maybe even love him” he paused slightly after those words but carried on “But he won’t like me back. I’m boring Blaine”

 “Look if the guy has gone to this much trouble, something tells me he wouldn’t care who you are Blaine”

 “I don’t care. We can’t tell him”

 Wes sighed. Blaine didn’t know just how special he was, he hated how much he loathed himself, it wasn’t Blaine’s fault his life wasn’t ideal. Blaine was an amazing person; he just never saw it within him.

 “Okay, I won’t tell him. Come here” Wes held his arms out for Blaine to hug him.

 Blaine smiled weakly at his friend and gave him a brief hug back.

 “Come on, let’s go get you a coffee or something” Wes said, pushing Blaine in the direction of the cafeteria.

******************************************

 “Kurt, are you sure this is a good idea? We don’t even know if this guy goes to our school!” Rachel said, following her friend round as he stuck up yet more posters.

 “Rach, I assure he wasn’t some kind of creeper. He was nice. Sweet. Handsome, gorgeous eyes”

 “Whoa, okay, snap out of it Kurt!” Rachel said, holding back her giggle.

 “Look, okay, I just want to know who it was. If it goes any further, than great, but I nearly kissed the guy” his voice dropped to a whisper as he held her arm and pulled her closer. “He was nice to me Rach, really nice”

“I know, just don’t get your hopes up okay Kurt, he may not answer”

*******************************************

It had been a week. Blaine had stayed out of Kurt’s way, if there was any chance of them even seeing each other; Blaine ducked his head or hid behind Wes.

Kurt was upset that his mystery man hadn’t answered yet. He was sure this guy was different. Kurt was beginning to wonder whether he had just dreamt him up. Until he got home every night, and saw the red bowtie resting on his desk, waiting to be collected by its owner.

Blaine was sat in abandoned classroom after school had finished. He didn’t want to go home just yet, he had some time to kill – nothing better to do then play the guitar and sing his songs. This one funnily enough was about Kurt.

“Say, wasn't that a funny day?

Gee, you had a funny way--a way about you.

A kind of glow of something new,

Sure--I'll admit that I'm the same.

 Another sucker for a game kids like to play,

And the rules they like to use.

Don't you want the way I feel?

Don't you want the way I feel?

Don't you want the way I feel for you?

The sun: telling me the night is done.

Well I refuse to let it stop our fun.

Close your eyes--we'll make it dark again

And kiss; there's a thought, so how 'bout this?

Let's pretend that both our lips are made of candy.

After all, we need sweets every now and then.

Don't you want the way I feel?

Don't you want the way I feel?

Don't you want the way I feel for you?”

Blaine didn’t notice the door to the classroom open nor did he notice the figure standing in the doorway watching him play.

“Here we are: two strangers in a very different place.

Who knows what could happen to us next?

Here we are with nothing but this little spark.

It's too cold outside to lay this fire to rest.

Go? How so very apropos: A goodbye just as soon as I said 'Hello."

Well alright, I'll see you later.

It's true: it's just a fantasy for two.

But what's the difference if it all could have been true? I guess this is better.

But don't you want the way I feel? Don't you want the way I feel? Don't you want the way I feel for you?
Oh, don't you want the way I feel? Don't you want the way I feel? Don't you want the way I feel for you?
Don't you want the way that I feel for you?”

“Well, where have you been hiding this talent Anderson?” Kurt said, clapping his hands together in applause, making Blaine jump.

“Kurt, hi” he said, nervously.

“You wrote that song?” 

Blaine nodded, not taking his eyes off Kurt for even a second.

“Cat got your tongue?” Kurt smiled, perching on the desk opposite Blaine, who still hadn’t said anything.

Kurt eyed the boy and his smile faltered. “Was I not meant to hear that? I’m sorry. I forgot my French textbook so I came back to get it and I heard music so I stopped to listen and well. It was amazing”

Blaine cleared his throat and finally smiled at Kurt. “No, no, it’s fine, it was just a, er, silly song I wrote, thank you though”

“It wasn’t silly, seriously, you have a gorgeous voice and I never knew you could play! You should come and join Glee club”

“I’ll think about it” Blaine said before adding warily “so how’s the hunt for your mystery bowtie man?”

The corner of Kurt’s mouth tweaked up slightly “Rubbish, seems my man was a man of the night. Never mind, maybe it just wasn’t meant to be”

“Maybe he doesn’t want to come forward because he’s afraid you won’t like him when you know who he really is” Blaine murmured quietly, looking down at his guitar.

“He shouldn’t. I liked him then, I just want to know who this dashing stranger was” Kurt shrugged and jumped gracefully off the table.

“I better be going, but thank you for singing, it really was beautiful” Kurt placed his hand on Blaine’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze, Blaine’s hand automatically reached up to mirror the action on Kurt’s hand. Kurt looked a little taken aback but he smiled all the same.

“Um, thank you for listening Kurt. It meant a lot, what you said” Blaine said, finally looking at Kurt. Kurt’s eyes flickered briefly with recognition, he’d never noticed how pretty Blaine’s eyes were before; they were hazel and golden at the same time.

Blaine snapped out of their look first and turned back to his guitar.

“Bye Blaine”

“Bye”

He waited until Kurt was out of the room before he let his head drop onto the desk and slammed his forehead on it a couple of times.

******************************************

Blaine was sat on his bed, his eyes closed, his phone pressed to his ear.

“Hello?”

“Wes, am I an idiot?”

“Yes, you are Blaine. Did you call me just to inform me of this?”

“I talked to Kurt earlier”

“No way, did you tell him?” Wes’ voice suddenly buzzed with excitement.

“Of course I didn’t. This is me we are talking about here, Wes. Should I tell him?”

“Blaine, I’m going to be honest with you, that night, you were the happiest I’ve seen you in a long time. It was almost back to when your parents were alive; I’ve known you that long remember? You smiled a smile I haven’t seen on your face in forever. Kurt made you that happy. Something tells me he wouldn’t care who you were but if you tell him, he’s getting you. In that case he’s a very very lucky guy”

Blaine was about to say something when his stepmother called “Blaine, what the hell are you doing up there? Dinner, cook it now!”

He rolled his eyes in frustration. “Wes, the wicked witch of Ohio is calling, thank you for what you just said, I’m gonna need your help tomorrow though!”

“Wait Blaine, with wha-“Wes’s voice was cut off as Blaine hung up and ran downstairs.

“Oh there you are, come on, get on with it”

Blaine begrudgingly set to work, cooking up some form of vegan food. He’d just order himself a pizza later.

“You know, Blaine, it’s your senior year next year” Annette said, suddenly.

“Yeah, what about it?”

“Well, you do realise, once you’ve finished school, you can’t live here anymore, you’ll legally be an adult, you can fend for yourself”

Blaine turned to face his stepmother in shock. “You can’t do that, you’re my legal guardian!”

“Not when you’re 18 I’m not, which means, although you have been a rather useful monkey to have round the house, I don’t have to look after you anymore”

Blaine slammed his hand down on the kitchen counter. “You know what, make your own fucking dinner Annette, seeing as you are kicking me out!”

“Hey, I’m not kicking you out; I’m simply saying you don’t need to live here anymore”

“This is my father’s house, not yours. You never even loved him did you? You married a rich man and got his beautiful house but you didn’t expect him to die did you? So you got stuck with his son. Forget it; all you have done is make my life a living hell since I was 12 years old! I’ll be glad to get out of here!”

He stormed upstairs and began to punch a pillow, picturing his step-mother’s face there. He screamed in frustration and threw the pillow across the room as it hit his chest of drawers. He sighed and sat down on the edge of his bed and rested his face in his hands.

What he didn’t notice was the chest of drawers shift slightly, revealing the corner of a small white envelope.

Blaine lifted his head and looked at the picture of his parents stuck to the back of his door. “They’d tell you to have courage Blaine. You can do this”

*********************************************

The next day arrived. Kurt was sat in his history class, his head resting on his arm, practically falling asleep when the speaker system screeched feedback.

“Hello McKinley, Wes Montgomery here. I have a message for one Mr Kurt Hummel”

Kurt lifted his head from his arm to look at the speaker in the corner of the room, also aware that all the eyes in the room were on him.

“I have a message from your mystery man. He says to meet him where you danced, 7 ‘o’ clock tonight, bring the bowtie”

There was a brief pause and Kurt began to smile – He could finally meet his Prince Charming.

“Also can I say thank you to Principal Figgins for allowing me to use the tannoy system. Bye!”

***********************************************

7 ‘o’ clock could not have come around any slower for Kurt. He was stood in the little sheltered area where he and his man had almost kissed and danced, the bowtie was held in his hand loosely. He was surprisingly calm; he thought he would have been nervous.

He looked round for any sign of human activity but it was dark and he couldn’t see anyone.

Then he heard some gentle guitar strumming and one single lyric – “Don’t you want the way I feel for you?”

Kurt whirled round towards the noise and he saw Blaine standing there, his guitar slung over his shoulder, a smile on his face.

“Hello” Kurt breathed.

“Hi, I’m not who you were expecting huh?” Blaine said, running a hand through his curly black hair.

“I hoped so much for it to be you” Kurt said, chuckling a little, his head bowed to the floor.

“Really?” Blaine took a few steps forwards so their faces were in close proximity.

“Of course, you are the perfect gentlemen, voice of an angel, you’re Blaine, to tell you the truth, I have had a bit of a crush on you for a rather long while now” Kurt blushed as he said these last words.

“To tell you the truth, likewise” Blaine smiled as he whispered. The boys shared a sweet smile meant only for each other.

“I think this belongs to you” Kurt said, lifting the bowtie around Blaine’s neck and tying it, when he tried to remove his hands from around his neck, Blaine moved his own hands to stop them.

“Well, this is nice” Kurt said, staring deep into those beautiful hazel eyes, glad his suspicions about this guy were right.

“This is nicer” Blaine inhaled, internally chanted courage to himself and then leant forward to press his lips firmly to Kurt’s. Kurt responded immediately, kissing Blaine back with as much passion he could muster.

They pulled back mutually and Blaine rested his forehead on Kurt’s.

“Hmm, you were right, that was way nicer” Kurt said. They looked at each other and immediately burst out laughing.

********************************************

Kurt and Blaine had been dating for two weeks now.  Wes couldn’t have been more than pleased for them – he had never seen Blaine so happy. Rachel and Mercedes were equally as happy. Kurt deserved someone special.

The tension in the Anderson household was reaching boiling point. Blaine had barely spoken to Annette and when he did, it was only to shout at her because she still expected him to clean and cook for her.

Kurt was sitting on Blaine’s bed, looking through pictures of Blaine when he was a baby, smiling every now and again and commenting on how adorable he was.

Blaine was sat at his desk, meant to be studying but really, he was just sneaking secret looks at his boyfriend.

“Blaine, what’s that?”

“Huh?”

“That” Kurt was pointing over Blaine’s chest of drawers.

“That, my dear, is some drawers” Blaine chuckled.

Kurt rolled his eyes and hopped off the bed to stand behind Blaine. He placed his hands on Blaine’s head and moved it in the direction of the drawers.

“I know that you idiot, I meant that” He leant down to rest his chin on Blaine’s shoulder and pointed to the corner of the envelope.

Blaine frowned. He stood up and went to pull it out from underneath the heavy furniture. The envelope was dusty but the writing on the front was still legible so it wasn’t that old. It was also in Blaine’s father’s handwriting, addressed to Mr B Anderson.

“I take it that’s me?” Blaine pondered, showing the front of the envelope to Kurt.

“Open it” Kurt settled himself in the desk chair that Blaine had just vacated.

Blaine opened the envelope and pulled out the letter inside it. He began to smile as he read it and after a minute or two, his hand flew to his mouth in shock.

“Blaine, honey, what is it?” Kurt asked quietly, noting the tears welling up in his boyfriend’s eyes.

“My dad” he whispered.

“Care to read it aloud?” Kurt said softly.

Blaine nodded, wiped his eyes and began to read.

“Dear Blaine,

I guess by the time you will have found this, you will be older, 17 or 18?

Well, if you are reading this, I’m probably gone; I’m so so sorry for leaving you bud. You were the only thing that kept me sane a lot of the time.

You were right, I don’t love Annette, she was just there, mainly just to convince me I was still capable of love but after your mother, there was no-one else. Nobody compared.

Anyway, I’m writing this to tell you, that I haven’t gone long left, I’ve been ill for a while but I couldn’t hurt you anymore that you already have been. I’m just going to tell you now – it’s my heart, it has a blood clot. Or rather had.

I’m sorry for not telling you Blainey. (I know you hate that nickname but still)

But I suppose the real reason I’m writing this is to tell you of your inheritance.

When you’re 18, you need to call this man – H.B Smithson. He’s the family lawyer and he will sort everything out. You are my sole heir – to everything, any remaining money the business makes, the house, everything. Feel free to kick Annette and your sisters out, if you need to.

At the moment your current inheritance stands at about $3,000,000 - yeah I know, your old man is rich!

Blaine, go live your life how you want to son, have fun, live your dreams, do everything you have ever wanted to do. Make me proud. Actually, scratch that, you’ve already made me proud – so proud, you are an amazing boy Blaine and I’m sure you’re going to be an even more amazing man.

Oh and by the way, I know. I’m figuring you will have realised it by now – I hope you have some young man who is treating you well!

To finish off, I love you Blaine. 

I will always be watching over you.

From Jonathan Anderson”

“Oh Blaine, that was beautiful and not to mention, this place, it’s yours, it’s yours, you can lose Annette and your sisters. I wish I could have met your father” Kurt said, placing an arm around Blaine’s waist in comfort.

“Huh, I can can’t I?” Blaine said, laughing.

“Come here, I’m proud of you too” Kurt said, kissing Blaine quickly on the lips.

Blaine smiled. Finally, things were going right for him.

*********************************************

Blaine Anderson was now 22. He was one of America’s up and coming stars.  On his 18th Birthday, he said goodbye to his stepmother and step-sisters and he hadn’t seen them since. He had inherited his house. He had inherited just over $4 million dollars in the end. But he never let the money go to his head.

He played his music in coffee shops, just for the love of music. Then by chance, while visiting New York, a music producer heard him and signed him instantly. Now, just look where he was.

Blaine walked through the narrow corridor under the stage. He could hear the chants from the crowd already. “Blaine! Blaine! Blaine!” came the cries from a faceless audience. He smiled gratefully – he always got this buzz from performing. “Ready Mr Anderson?” a stagehand asked him, passing him his guitar with a smile on her face.

“Have fun babe” a voice came from the shadows behind Blaine; Blaine turned round to face the voice. Kurt Hummel, his boyfriend, soon-to-be-fiancée, had never once left his side, sure he had found his Prince Charming in the end. Blaine smiled at the man whose smile was bursting with love and pride. He kissed the man deeply, holding him in his arms and dipping him slightly, his hand pressing against the small of Kurt’s back. “Love you” he whispered when he pulled away. “Love you too” Kurt called as Blaine moved to stand on the platform.

He turned back towards the stagehand “I’m always ready” he replied to the stagehand happily. He pointed his hand upwards as the platform he was stood on moved upwards so he was on stage finally. “How’s everyone doing tonight?” he shouted into the microphone. A giant roar erupted from the crowd as Blaine appeared. He smiled as he began to speak once more “My name is Blaine Anderson!”

Turns out some fairy tales can come true.