Looking for a Happy Ending - Part 5C
Title: Looking for a Happy Ending
Author: firefly_ca
Pairing,Character(s): Kurt/Blaine, with eventual appearances from pretty much everyone
Rating: NC-17 for disturbing themes, scenes, etc.
Word Count: Part 5 is just under 18K
Spoilers: All of S2
Summary: AU. Blaine Anderson hasn't been Blaine Anderson for 8 years. He doesn't remember much about his old family and his life before he moved in with the man he calls his father. Together they move from town to town, always drifting before Blaine can get too familiar with his surroundings. Then one day they end up in Lima, Ohio, and Blaine finds himself questioning everything he thought he knew.
A/N: Apologies to anyone from Morgantown who reads this and laughs at all the facts I messed up about your hometown and hospitals. All I did when I was picking a location for this part was type Lima into Google Maps and look for a place with a decent population that was far away but still in driving distance, and close enough that hopping onto a plane to get there would be more hassle than it's worth after you factor in departure times. I literally know nothing about Morgantown and anything you read that doesn't make sense is a reflection of that.
Also, I honestly don't know how it happened but for some reason Detective Warren would only come across one way, no matter how many times I tried to revamp her character. So if you want to know who you should be picturing when you read her parts, the lovely Stana Katic as Castle's Detective Beckett is literally identical to her in everything but name.
Blaine pockets the key right away, but they don't have a chance to do anything with it until later that night. Tom comes home early and in a mood, and all Blaine is worried about is keeping Stevie out of his way. Whatever's happened to upset Tom, it hasn't left him in the mood to take it out on them, though, or do anything with them at all. He just looks at them with a put upon expression before marching them back into the bedroom and locking them inside.
Blaine can hear him getting up and stumbling to the fridge to get more beer multiple times over the next several hours. He wonders how he's supposed to know if Tom's sober enough to recognise the sounds of an escape when he hears one, because Blaine knows that if he has to spend one more night in this house waiting for something to happen, he is going to lose his mind. They have to go tonight.
In the end he waits until nightfall before he does anything. When he hasn't heard anything from the rest of the house for at least two hours and even though he knows this could go very, very wrong, and it would be wiser just to wait until Tom's out of the house, he shakes Stevie awake and tells him to get dressed.
The window is dusty and dirty, but the bars spring open relatively easily. They make a horrible groaning noise when they do and Blaine's heart stops while he waits to hear if Tom has woken up. When nothing happens for a few minutes, he turns his attention on the window. It's stiff and old and it's obvious it hasn't been opened for years. The tracks are rusted and it refuses to budge an inch. Blaine takes it with both hands and hauls on it as hard as he can, almost hanging off it he's pulling so hard. It finally moves after almost five minutes of struggling, by about three inches.
Blaine almost cries because he doesn't think he can keep this up but then he sees an old brass candlestick on the dresser and manages to wedge in enough to lever the window open wide enough to pop out the screen and squeeze through. He pulls himself out first and Stevie scrambles after him after he's made sure he's not going to land in a pile of broken glass or anything like that.
Blaine's hand, which had been starting to feel like it might be getting better, hurts so badly it crowds all the other thoughts out of his brain, and his ribs aren't doing that much better. The last thing he wants to do is get up and move, but then there's a noise from inside the house. Blaine isn't sure what it is. It could be a pile of dishes falling over in the sink for all he knows but it could also be Tom waking up and wondering what all the racket outside is. He grabs Stevie's hand and stumbles towards the street as quickly as he can.
This is the part Blaine hasn't thought through very well. He's been so concerned with getting out of the house and away from Tom that he's never thought about what he should do after he's made it this far. He briefly considers going to the first house that they see, but his courage fails him as soon as one comes into view.
He has no idea who these people are, and he's not sure if they know Tom, or if Tom has made up a lie to cover his ass if they get away, like he does with all the schools Blaine goes to. If Blaine is a problem kid and a liar to these people, there's no stopping them from just calling Tom and having him take them back to the house, and there's no way they'd get out again after that.
They keep walking, and Blaine hopes like hell they're going in the right direction. He needs to be able to call someone he can trust, he realizes, and he doesn't know anyone here. He could find a phone and call the police, and he probably will if that's what it comes to. There's no way there aren't hundreds of people on the lookout for Stevie by now, so at least they'll be able to get him back home to Ohio. He just doesn't know what will happen to him if they take him in, too.
Blaine wants to know what happened to his parents, but he thinks he wants to do it on his own terms. He wants the chance to run away if it looks like seeing them again will be too hard, or if he's going to be a disappointment to them or if maybe Tom was telling the truth all along and they just decided they didn't want him anymore.
Blaine thinks he can handle any of those things happening, but he doesn't want to have to handle that kind of rejection with anyone else watching. What he needs is someone who can come and get them and take them back to Ohio, or at least take Stevie to the authorities without getting him involved, and he needs a place where they can stay hidden until that happens. Blaine needs to get Kurt's phone number again.
***
Eventually the streets they're walking down start to get a little busier. Blaine can't decide if this is because they're closer to the centre of town or closer to the highway, but they seem to be getting somewhere which is better than nothing at this point. Before too long an SUV slows down to a stop beside them and the window rolls down.
"Are you kids lost?" A man asks a little suspiciously, looking at Stevie closely. "It's kind of late for a kid that small to be out by himself."
"He's with me," Blaine says. "We're trying to get downtown. Are we going in the right direction?"
"You are," the man says. "You've got a long way to go though, and to be honest you don't look like you're doing so good, kid. Do you need a ride?"
Blaine hesitates. Getting into that car would be an incredibly stupid thing for him to do right now, but he's tired and he's so sore he's having trouble standing, and Stevie's been dragging his heels for the last forty minutes, so he's obviously having trouble, too.
He can't be any worse than what we came from, Blaine finally reasons, so he says, "Thank you" and helps Stevie climb into the back before getting into the passenger seat.
"What are you two doing out so late?" the man asks as soon as they're moving again.
Blaine doesn't have a good answer for that, so he just shrugs and looks out the window. After a minute the man tries again.
"It's a little strange to see a couple of kids your age wandering around in the middle of the night. It's dangerous."
"We're okay," Blaine says. He doesn't want to be too rude, but he doesn't know what else to try to get the man to stop asking questions.
"Are you sure?" The man asks. "You look like you're a little banged up. Do you want to tell me what's going on?"
"I just need to make a phone call," Blaine mutters, and then he has an idea. "What kind of a phone do you have?"
"Why?" the man asks, suspiciously.
"I need to get a phone number," Blaine says. "I know who I need to call, but I don't have their number. Does your phone have the internet?"
The man is looking decidedly uncomfortable now.
"I don't know," he says. "I want to help you, I do. But this is really weird. I stopped because I was worried about you guys, but I don't want to get involved in anything. Should I be calling the cops right now?"
Blaine feels a sinking sensation in his stomach, he's getting a little desperate.
"Look," he says. "I'm not lying. You don't need the cops, just give me the phone. I need that number. Once I get it everything will turn out alright. You won't get into trouble, I swear."
The man still doesn't look convinced and Blaine doesn't know what to do to change things around.
"Look," he says. "I'll do anything you want. Seriously anything. If you can't help me or if you're not interested just pull over and we'll find someone who is."
"Interested in what?" the guy asks, a little incredulously.
"Whatever you want," Blaine says, not even really sure what he's saying. He knows the world doesn't work like this beyond Tom, but who knows? It was what the security guard wanted, so maybe it's something that's inside of everyone and they just don't know it until they're given an opportunity. "I'll do whatever you want and I won't tell anyone, I promise. "
He pauses for a minute before adding,
"Just me though, okay? Nothing with the kid. You can do anything so long as you leave him out of it."
The SUV swerves a little as the man turns to gape at him.
"Jesus Christ," he says. "Who the hell do you think I am? I'm not trying to fucking coerce sex out of you. God."
He swears like he's not used to it, the profanities sitting on his tongue a little longer than everything else.
"Christ," he says again. "What the hell is going on? Did someone put you up to this? Is someone making you do this, is that's what's going on?"
"No," says Blaine. "I'm just trying to get him back home again, that's all."
"You know, I thought you two looked familiar," The man says, pulling over. "I swear to god that kid in the backseat was on the news a couple days ago. I'm calling the police and they can sort out what to do with you."
Blaine has opened the door and is prepared to make a run for it when he feels the man grab onto his shoulder.
"I don't want to get you into any trouble," he says. "But I've got a kid at home close to your age and it looks like you need help right now. Nothing on the news said you were in trouble, I promise. Just that they were looking for help finding you. I'll make you a deal. You let me call the police and let them know that I've got you, and then the second I get off the phone, I will give it to you and you can make your phone call. Whoever it is you have to talk to can meet us at the station, alright?"
Blaine hesitates, not sure if he wants to take the risk, but then he glances into the backseat and Stevie is sitting there watching the whole thing and Blaine realizes how scared the poor kid looks. He could take off, or at least try, but he'd never forgive himself for abandoning Stevie when he looks so terrified.
"Fine," he says sitting back down. "Whatever. Just...get it over with."
The man calls the police and tells whoever is on the other line that he has "those two lost kids from TV" and Blaine wonders why the news would be talking about both of them and not just Stevie, but he doesn't have time to think about it, because the man is looking at him and is saying,
"The older one looks like he's been through a pretty big fight not too long ago. They both look really tired."
He speaks for a few more minutes and when he hangs up he looks at them and says,
"Slight change of plan. They want me to take you to the Children's hospital at WVU. They'll meet us there."
He pulls off the shoulder of the road and starts to drive again as he hands the phone to Blaine.
"You may want to tell whoever it is that you're calling."
Blaine pulls up the white pages and types in Hummel for the Lima, Ohio area. A Hummel, B. comes up in the results page. He has no idea if the number is going to be the right one, if they took their old number with them when they moved, but he really doesn't know what else to do.
The phone rings and rings. Blaine looks at the clock on the dash and realizes that he may not get an answer. It's almost 4 o'clock in the morning, Kurt will probably sleep through a phone call. The phone goes to voicemail. Blaine hangs up and calls again. This time the phone is answered on the first ring.
"Hello?" It sounds like Kurt's dad has picked up. He sounds sleepy but relieved, like he was hoping whoever he missed would call back.
"Hi," Blaine says. "Sorry for calling so late. Is Kurt there? I lost his cell number."
"Kurt's at school," Burt says and God, of course Kurt would be at school. Blaine had completely forgotten about it, like he's forgotten what normal people do during the week. "Is this Blaine?"
"Sorry," Blaine says again. "I'll, uh, I'll call again later maybe?"
"No wait!" Burt says quickly. "Do not hang up the phone. We've been looking for you for weeks. Where are you? Are you alright?"
"I'm in a car with a guy," Blaine says, then winces a little because that is the least helpful thing he could have said right now. "He says he's taking us to a hospital?"
He looks at the man who clarifies,
"The Children's Hospital on the West Virginia Campus."
"Did you get that?" Blaine asks. "It's in Morgantown. I'm sorry. I probably shouldn't have called. It's far from you. I just don't know anyone here."
"Stop apologising," Burt says. "I'm getting into my car right now and I'll meet you there in a few hours."
"Would you let Kurt know I'm okay?" Blaine asks, because that's sort of important to him right now.
"Of course," Burt says. "He's been worried sick about you. Have the police been contacted? There have been a lot of people looking for you."
"The guy wouldn't let me call you until he let them know he had us," Blaine said, and that's the second time someone's talked about turning him in to the police now. He's really uneasy about where all of this is going. "Mr. Hummel? Are they going to arrest me?"
"Why would they do that?" Burt asks.
"Steven Evans," Blaine says. "I have him with me. I promise I didn't want to take him, but you're all talking about us being on the news together, and I don't even know why I'm on the news at all unless they think I did it, but I swear I didn't. None of it was my idea and I'm sorry for - "
"Blaine calm down," Burt says firmly and Blaine snaps his mouth shut. "No one's going to arrest you, okay? They want to talk to you, that's all. We reported your disappearance to the cops as soon as you didn't check in with us and the first thing we heard back was that there was no record of Tom Brenner ever even having a son, let alone one named Blaine. Then a week after you two took off the Evans boy went missing. The cops sort of just drew their own conclusions from that, but we told them everything you told us and no one suspected you of anything. We were all just scared you were hurt."
There's a pause and Burt says hesitantly,
"Are you okay? Is Evans okay? You said you were going to the hospital."
Blaine doesn't know what to say to that. He's pretty sure he could be better, but he doesn't really want to admit it to Burt. He settles on,
"Stevie hurt his hands and he's scared pretty bad, but I think everything looks worse than it is. Mr. Hummel? Could you call his parents, too? I don't know how quickly the police will get a hold of them, and I think they probably want to see him right away."
"I'll call them," Burt reassures, then adds. "I don't know really know the best way to ask, but if this guy isn't your dad - Blaine, do you have anyone I should be calling to let them know you're alright? Do you have any way for me to contact your real parents?"
"You don't have to do that," Blaine says, quickly. "Besides, I don't even know their number."
"If you give me their names I can have Carole look it up," Burt suggests. "It wouldn't be a problem."
"I'm sorry Mr. Hummel, I should probably go," Blaine says. "This man is letting me use his phone to talk to you, but it's long distance. I don't want him to have to keep paying for us to talk. Just make sure Mr. and Mrs. Evans know, okay?"
Burt promises again and when Blaine hangs up a few minutes later and glances back at Stevie, he looks intensely relieved.
"They're coming for me?" he says, like he needs to hear Blaine say it.
"They're on their way," Blaine says. It's only then that he notices Stevie is carrying something with him from the house. He doesn't know how he missed it before, but suddenly he's being handed Horton, looking even more beat up and worse for wear than he had been six hours ago.
"We needed to save him, too," Stevie says, simply.
"Thanks," says Blaine, staring at the elephant.
***
The police are already there waiting for them when they walk into the emergency room. Blaine sort of wishes he could turn around and walk right back out but Stevie has a death grip on his hand and he obviously has no plans to ease up any time soon. The man who drove them catches the officer's attention and they come over, leading the group to an area somewhat cut off from the rest of the reception, creating a false illusion of privacy. One officer, a woman with long brown hair and surprisingly soft brown eyes in a face full of severe features and no-nonsense angles, takes the lead.
"Hello," she says, speaking directly to Blaine. "My name is Detective Warren. I understand we have some things to discuss with you two gentlemen?"
Blaine gently pushes Stevie forward from where he's been trying to surreptitiously hide behind Blaine in an effort not to be noticed.
"This is Steven Evans. I think his family is looking for him?"
"I see," says Detective Warren. Her voice isn't mean, exactly. There's a note of friendliness in her tone, but like her face, it's hidden away inside an unbreachable wall of professionalism. She talks to Stevie like she's addressing an extremely short adult. "It's good to meet you, Mr. Evans. We've been worried about you. This is my colleague Detective Carter."
The second officer, a smiling woman with a round face and amiable expression, bends down and tries to look Stevie in the eye as she speaks, without much success.
"Hi Steven," she says. "I was wondering if you'd mind if I took you into a quieter room so we can have a doctor make sure you're not hurt, and maybe you can talk to me a little about what's been happening the last week and a half."
Stevie just shakes his head and moves back behind Blaine.
"You can stay with your friend a little while longer if you're uncomfortable, until you get to know Detective Carter a little better," Detective Warren suggests. "We have time."
Blaine notices that there are other officers in the room, men, now talking to the man who drove them in a distance away from them. They seem to be showing no interest in coming any closer. Detective Warren follows his eye line.
"We thought you might be a little more comfortable talking to women," she says, smiling a little tightly. "If you'd rather speak with one of them, we can arrange that, too."
"This is fine," Blaine says, quickly. Talking to an officer about what's been happening since Stevie's been taken is bad enough. The last thing he wants is to start doing something stupid like having a trauma flashback while he talks to a strange policeman about it. Detective Warren is looking at him suspiciously now.
"Your name's Blaine, is that right?" she asks, and Blaine nods warily. "You're the one who found Steven?"
Blaine shrugs.
"I didn't really find him," he says. "He was with me the whole time."
"And where was that?" she asks.
"My dad took him," Blaine says.
"And by your dad you mean Tom Brenner?"
Blaine nods again and offers,
"I think I remember the street we were staying on if you want to talk to him or arrest him or whatever. I don`t know the house number, but it's an old rundown house with trees all around it. You can barely see it from the sidewalk. He was passed out when we left, so maybe he's still there."
Detective Warren calls her partner over to relay the directions and has Blaine repeat the street number a couple times.
"Have someone send over a couple squad cars," she tells her partner. "I'd like to be able to get this guy off the streets as soon as possible."
Once he's left she turns her attention back to Blaine.
"I'd like you to help me with something, Blaine. You've told me that Brenner is your father, but based on the information that's been found, legally Tom Brenner has no son. I've seen some of the registration records from a few of the schools you've attended and there's no doubt that he's put a lot of effort into forging your birth certificate and any other necessary documents, but I think it's safe to say your last name isn't really Brenner."
Blaine doesn't say anything to that so she prompts,
"What's your real name?"
"My real name is Blaine," Blaine insists.
"And your last name?"
When he stays silent Detective Warren sighs.
"Look Blaine," She says. "One way or another we are going to sort out who you really are. If we have to we can do that the hard way, but since that will involve wasting time and money as we construct a timeline of your entire life as Francis Brenner until we figure out when the records stop, I'd rather you just tell me. There are no less than 15 missing kids we need to eliminate before we confirm your identity. Please just give us a break?"
Blaine isn't about to kid himself. He knows that if says anything right now it will just be an excuse or a lie. He's not about to buy into the idea of some stupid fairy tale ending where his parents take him home and they all live happily ever after. But before he has a chance to say anything, he shifts a little too quickly to look back at Stevie and his sides start to scream out in protest. Wincing he sinks down into the nearest chair.
Detective Warren's instantly shifts from mild impatience to concern as she calls for a nurse to come over with a wheelchair, which is just so many different kinds of embarrassing Blaine doesn't even want to think about it.
"What's wrong?" she asks, crouching down next to him.
"I think I'm just dizzy," Blaine mumbles.
"He hurt his hand," Stevie pipes up. "And he breathes funny when he has to move around a lot."
Blaine rolls his eyes. Of course now is when Stevie suddenly regains the powers of speech.
"We'll have someone check you out. Run a few tests," says Detective Warren. There's something guarded in her voice that makes Blaine look at her sharply.
"Tests?" he repeats.
She looks a little uncomfortable as she says,
"Just standard procedure in these kinds of cases, Blaine."
"What if I don't want to know what he gave me?" Blaine asks quietly, desperately hoping she's the only one who can hear him. "I'm 16. That's old enough to refuse medical treatment, right?"
She smiles at him a little sadly.
"You can refuse treatment if you can legally prove your age," she says. "Your birth certificate's a forgery, Blaine."
Blaine laughs a little.
"I don't even know when my birthday is," he admits, as she steps back to let a nurse help settle him into the chair which is every bit as humiliating as he thought it would be.
Detective Warren looks at him strangely.
"Just how long have you been missing?" she asks.
"I don't even know if I am missing," Blaine says as he's finally taken into an exam room, Stevie trailing along behind.
***
Warren gives Blaine some space while he's being examined but Detective Carter sticks around, striking up a semi-successful rapport with Stevie. Blaine thinks it would work better if Stevie wasn't practically sleeping with his eyes open, but he does seem to finally be calming down a little bit.
Carter is the one who ends up taking the pictures of their injuries for evidence, because when they sent in the police photographer Stevie freaked out and wouldn't let anyone come near him. Secretly Blaine is kind of thankful, because he knows it's important that people take records of what Tom did, but there are so many new people coming and going, and he's just as tired as Stevie is, so the idea of some strange guy coming in while Blaine pulls off his clothes and poses for fucking pictures is enough to make him start throwing tantrums like Stevie if there's a chance it'll get them to back off.
They take pictures of Blaine's wrist and bruised hands, which are looking especially bad again after his fight with the window. He has to take of his shirt and pants so they can document the deep purple and sickly green and yellow bruises decorating his torso. Then they photograph Stevie's hands, which are nothing near as bad as they were a little over a week ago, but are still pretty sore-looking, especially on the fingers where he managed to pull off some or all of his nail. They take pictures of some hand-shaped bruises on his arms too, that Blaine didn't know about. He tries not to think too hard about how they got there.
Eventually Detective Carter manages to lure Stevie off to a room of his own so they can actually start looking after some of Blaine's injuries, which require shipping him off to different units for x-rays of his wrist and rib cage. Before he leaves, Carter has to get Mrs. Evans on a phone to talk to Stevie and promise him that it's okay to trust the people at the hospital, and that she will see him soon. He still cries again when he has to hang up and say goodbye, and he doesn't look any happier about leaving Blaine, but after Blaine promises him he can "see the pictures of Blaine's bones after the doctors look at them," he's mollified enough to do as he's told.
"You're very good with him," the nurse comments once they're alone and she's working on adding some pain medication to the IV they've already gotten set up.
"Yeah," Blaine says. "Think of all the babysitting money I've been missing out on over the years. I could have just saved up enough money to leave before Tom managed to break my wrist."
They're both quiet for a minute before Blaine says,
"Stevie really doesn't like anyone touching him in the places the doctors are going to be checking. It scares him. He shouldn't be alone when they do it."
The nurse smiles sympathetically.
"I'm pretty sure they're just going to make sure his hands are cleaned up properly and infection-free for right now. They're mostly interested in letting him get some sleep before his parents get here, and then they can stay with him for anything else that happens."
Blaine thinks sleeping sounds like a fantastic idea, and once he's been told his ribs are just bruised but the wrist is definitely going to need a cast, he drifts off himself. The pain meds are definitely better than a couple regular strength Tylenol, or else Blaine's just that tired, because he doesn't even wake up properly when they tape up his side and set his arm in a cast.
***
"Blaine?"
It takes Blaine a minute to remember where he is and how he got there when he opens his eyes, but when he sees Detective Warren sitting next to his bed it starts to come back to him.
"Where's Stevie?" He asks. At some point he's been moved to an actual hospital room, but he doesn't remember when. He's the only one in it.
"Next door and out like a light," says Warren. "It's 7:30 in the morning and the Evanses just called to say they're about half an hour away. Hopefully when he wakes up it will be to his family."
Blaine notices she's holding a few files in her hand.
"What are those?" he asks.
She gently sets them next to him on the bed as he tries to sit up. She helps him find the right button and it slowly moves his body into the right position. He wonders if she's actively trying to make him feel pathetic or if that's just how hospitals make you feel when you're in stuck in one.
"I did a little more research while you were asleep," she says. "I tossed out all of the newer missing children reports we were looking at and I had a few of the older ones brought out as well. I'm pretty sure I've got your identity narrowed down to one of three kids with Blaine as a part of their names, but I was hoping you could give me a little more to work with. A last name maybe? I do not want to call two families and get their hopes raised for nothing."
"There are three missing kids my age named Blaine?" Blaine says. "Really?"
Detective Warren shrugs.
"There must have been a lot of John Hughes fans having babies in the 90s," she deadpans before getting very serious as she leans forward and says,
"What you said earlier about not being missing was bothering me, so I made a few calls. I ended up talking to Burt Hummel, the man you reported your disappearance in Lima, Ohio. He was already on his way here, so I'm guessing you called him?"
Blaine nods.
"He told me that you told his son you thought your parents hated you. I wondered if you meant Brenner, but Mr. Hummel said it was his understanding that you very specifically were talking about your parents. Plural."
She looks at Blaine intently as she sets her index finger on the files.
"The parents of each one of these boys were destroyed when their sons were taken from them. These kids were loved and there's nothing these parents wouldn't do to get them back."
Blaine looks down and picks at the new cast on his wrist for a moment before blurting out,
"Did Mr. Hummel tell you I was gay?"
Warren's brow wrinkles in confusion.
"He didn't mention," she says, but stays silent and waits for him to explain instead of trying to guess at what on earth he's getting at.
"I'm gay," Blaine says. "Mr. Hummel's son? I kind of think I'm almost in love with him already and I'm definitely too far gone to make anyone believe I like girls."
She's smiling a little now but Blaine keeps going.
"There are people who automatically hate a person who's gay, just on principle. Most days, I can't even remember my mom's voice. How am I supposed to know if she's super religious or open-minded or if she even cares at all? And even if she's okay with that, what if there's something else that's wrong with me?"
He looks at Detective Warren helplessly.
"What happens to me if they meet me only to find out that they hate who I am? What happens then?"
"Oh Blaine," Detective Warren's face is still composed and sharp, but her voice sounds almost choked as she talks. "There are kids all over the world who have to come out to parents who aren't ready to accept their sexual orientation, but so often the only thing those parents need to come around is to realize how much they're missing by pushing their children out of their lives. Your mom and dad already know what that feels like - they've been missing you for years. Do you think they're going to turn you away because you grew up while you were gone? I think you need to give them a chance. Let them show you how a good parent acts."
Blaine is quiet again, for a long, long time. He feels like he's back at the edge of the same pit he was standing on when he told Kurt to leave McKinley, only this time he's not letting go of a handhold and trying to find a new way to keep his balance. This time he's going to walk right over the side.
He doesn't know if he's brave enough to tell her what she wants to know, but then he lets himself think about camping trips with his dad, and how his mom would always insist on giving him a hug whenever he was leaving the house.
He takes a deep breath.
"Anderson. It's Blaine Anderson."
And he jumps.
To Masterpost
Author: firefly_ca
Pairing,Character(s): Kurt/Blaine, with eventual appearances from pretty much everyone
Rating: NC-17 for disturbing themes, scenes, etc.
Word Count: Part 5 is just under 18K
Spoilers: All of S2
Summary: AU. Blaine Anderson hasn't been Blaine Anderson for 8 years. He doesn't remember much about his old family and his life before he moved in with the man he calls his father. Together they move from town to town, always drifting before Blaine can get too familiar with his surroundings. Then one day they end up in Lima, Ohio, and Blaine finds himself questioning everything he thought he knew.
A/N: Apologies to anyone from Morgantown who reads this and laughs at all the facts I messed up about your hometown and hospitals. All I did when I was picking a location for this part was type Lima into Google Maps and look for a place with a decent population that was far away but still in driving distance, and close enough that hopping onto a plane to get there would be more hassle than it's worth after you factor in departure times. I literally know nothing about Morgantown and anything you read that doesn't make sense is a reflection of that.
Also, I honestly don't know how it happened but for some reason Detective Warren would only come across one way, no matter how many times I tried to revamp her character. So if you want to know who you should be picturing when you read her parts, the lovely Stana Katic as Castle's Detective Beckett is literally identical to her in everything but name.
Blaine pockets the key right away, but they don't have a chance to do anything with it until later that night. Tom comes home early and in a mood, and all Blaine is worried about is keeping Stevie out of his way. Whatever's happened to upset Tom, it hasn't left him in the mood to take it out on them, though, or do anything with them at all. He just looks at them with a put upon expression before marching them back into the bedroom and locking them inside.
Blaine can hear him getting up and stumbling to the fridge to get more beer multiple times over the next several hours. He wonders how he's supposed to know if Tom's sober enough to recognise the sounds of an escape when he hears one, because Blaine knows that if he has to spend one more night in this house waiting for something to happen, he is going to lose his mind. They have to go tonight.
In the end he waits until nightfall before he does anything. When he hasn't heard anything from the rest of the house for at least two hours and even though he knows this could go very, very wrong, and it would be wiser just to wait until Tom's out of the house, he shakes Stevie awake and tells him to get dressed.
The window is dusty and dirty, but the bars spring open relatively easily. They make a horrible groaning noise when they do and Blaine's heart stops while he waits to hear if Tom has woken up. When nothing happens for a few minutes, he turns his attention on the window. It's stiff and old and it's obvious it hasn't been opened for years. The tracks are rusted and it refuses to budge an inch. Blaine takes it with both hands and hauls on it as hard as he can, almost hanging off it he's pulling so hard. It finally moves after almost five minutes of struggling, by about three inches.
Blaine almost cries because he doesn't think he can keep this up but then he sees an old brass candlestick on the dresser and manages to wedge in enough to lever the window open wide enough to pop out the screen and squeeze through. He pulls himself out first and Stevie scrambles after him after he's made sure he's not going to land in a pile of broken glass or anything like that.
Blaine's hand, which had been starting to feel like it might be getting better, hurts so badly it crowds all the other thoughts out of his brain, and his ribs aren't doing that much better. The last thing he wants to do is get up and move, but then there's a noise from inside the house. Blaine isn't sure what it is. It could be a pile of dishes falling over in the sink for all he knows but it could also be Tom waking up and wondering what all the racket outside is. He grabs Stevie's hand and stumbles towards the street as quickly as he can.
This is the part Blaine hasn't thought through very well. He's been so concerned with getting out of the house and away from Tom that he's never thought about what he should do after he's made it this far. He briefly considers going to the first house that they see, but his courage fails him as soon as one comes into view.
He has no idea who these people are, and he's not sure if they know Tom, or if Tom has made up a lie to cover his ass if they get away, like he does with all the schools Blaine goes to. If Blaine is a problem kid and a liar to these people, there's no stopping them from just calling Tom and having him take them back to the house, and there's no way they'd get out again after that.
They keep walking, and Blaine hopes like hell they're going in the right direction. He needs to be able to call someone he can trust, he realizes, and he doesn't know anyone here. He could find a phone and call the police, and he probably will if that's what it comes to. There's no way there aren't hundreds of people on the lookout for Stevie by now, so at least they'll be able to get him back home to Ohio. He just doesn't know what will happen to him if they take him in, too.
Blaine wants to know what happened to his parents, but he thinks he wants to do it on his own terms. He wants the chance to run away if it looks like seeing them again will be too hard, or if he's going to be a disappointment to them or if maybe Tom was telling the truth all along and they just decided they didn't want him anymore.
Blaine thinks he can handle any of those things happening, but he doesn't want to have to handle that kind of rejection with anyone else watching. What he needs is someone who can come and get them and take them back to Ohio, or at least take Stevie to the authorities without getting him involved, and he needs a place where they can stay hidden until that happens. Blaine needs to get Kurt's phone number again.
***
Eventually the streets they're walking down start to get a little busier. Blaine can't decide if this is because they're closer to the centre of town or closer to the highway, but they seem to be getting somewhere which is better than nothing at this point. Before too long an SUV slows down to a stop beside them and the window rolls down.
"Are you kids lost?" A man asks a little suspiciously, looking at Stevie closely. "It's kind of late for a kid that small to be out by himself."
"He's with me," Blaine says. "We're trying to get downtown. Are we going in the right direction?"
"You are," the man says. "You've got a long way to go though, and to be honest you don't look like you're doing so good, kid. Do you need a ride?"
Blaine hesitates. Getting into that car would be an incredibly stupid thing for him to do right now, but he's tired and he's so sore he's having trouble standing, and Stevie's been dragging his heels for the last forty minutes, so he's obviously having trouble, too.
He can't be any worse than what we came from, Blaine finally reasons, so he says, "Thank you" and helps Stevie climb into the back before getting into the passenger seat.
"What are you two doing out so late?" the man asks as soon as they're moving again.
Blaine doesn't have a good answer for that, so he just shrugs and looks out the window. After a minute the man tries again.
"It's a little strange to see a couple of kids your age wandering around in the middle of the night. It's dangerous."
"We're okay," Blaine says. He doesn't want to be too rude, but he doesn't know what else to try to get the man to stop asking questions.
"Are you sure?" The man asks. "You look like you're a little banged up. Do you want to tell me what's going on?"
"I just need to make a phone call," Blaine mutters, and then he has an idea. "What kind of a phone do you have?"
"Why?" the man asks, suspiciously.
"I need to get a phone number," Blaine says. "I know who I need to call, but I don't have their number. Does your phone have the internet?"
The man is looking decidedly uncomfortable now.
"I don't know," he says. "I want to help you, I do. But this is really weird. I stopped because I was worried about you guys, but I don't want to get involved in anything. Should I be calling the cops right now?"
Blaine feels a sinking sensation in his stomach, he's getting a little desperate.
"Look," he says. "I'm not lying. You don't need the cops, just give me the phone. I need that number. Once I get it everything will turn out alright. You won't get into trouble, I swear."
The man still doesn't look convinced and Blaine doesn't know what to do to change things around.
"Look," he says. "I'll do anything you want. Seriously anything. If you can't help me or if you're not interested just pull over and we'll find someone who is."
"Interested in what?" the guy asks, a little incredulously.
"Whatever you want," Blaine says, not even really sure what he's saying. He knows the world doesn't work like this beyond Tom, but who knows? It was what the security guard wanted, so maybe it's something that's inside of everyone and they just don't know it until they're given an opportunity. "I'll do whatever you want and I won't tell anyone, I promise. "
He pauses for a minute before adding,
"Just me though, okay? Nothing with the kid. You can do anything so long as you leave him out of it."
The SUV swerves a little as the man turns to gape at him.
"Jesus Christ," he says. "Who the hell do you think I am? I'm not trying to fucking coerce sex out of you. God."
He swears like he's not used to it, the profanities sitting on his tongue a little longer than everything else.
"Christ," he says again. "What the hell is going on? Did someone put you up to this? Is someone making you do this, is that's what's going on?"
"No," says Blaine. "I'm just trying to get him back home again, that's all."
"You know, I thought you two looked familiar," The man says, pulling over. "I swear to god that kid in the backseat was on the news a couple days ago. I'm calling the police and they can sort out what to do with you."
Blaine has opened the door and is prepared to make a run for it when he feels the man grab onto his shoulder.
"I don't want to get you into any trouble," he says. "But I've got a kid at home close to your age and it looks like you need help right now. Nothing on the news said you were in trouble, I promise. Just that they were looking for help finding you. I'll make you a deal. You let me call the police and let them know that I've got you, and then the second I get off the phone, I will give it to you and you can make your phone call. Whoever it is you have to talk to can meet us at the station, alright?"
Blaine hesitates, not sure if he wants to take the risk, but then he glances into the backseat and Stevie is sitting there watching the whole thing and Blaine realizes how scared the poor kid looks. He could take off, or at least try, but he'd never forgive himself for abandoning Stevie when he looks so terrified.
"Fine," he says sitting back down. "Whatever. Just...get it over with."
The man calls the police and tells whoever is on the other line that he has "those two lost kids from TV" and Blaine wonders why the news would be talking about both of them and not just Stevie, but he doesn't have time to think about it, because the man is looking at him and is saying,
"The older one looks like he's been through a pretty big fight not too long ago. They both look really tired."
He speaks for a few more minutes and when he hangs up he looks at them and says,
"Slight change of plan. They want me to take you to the Children's hospital at WVU. They'll meet us there."
He pulls off the shoulder of the road and starts to drive again as he hands the phone to Blaine.
"You may want to tell whoever it is that you're calling."
Blaine pulls up the white pages and types in Hummel for the Lima, Ohio area. A Hummel, B. comes up in the results page. He has no idea if the number is going to be the right one, if they took their old number with them when they moved, but he really doesn't know what else to do.
The phone rings and rings. Blaine looks at the clock on the dash and realizes that he may not get an answer. It's almost 4 o'clock in the morning, Kurt will probably sleep through a phone call. The phone goes to voicemail. Blaine hangs up and calls again. This time the phone is answered on the first ring.
"Hello?" It sounds like Kurt's dad has picked up. He sounds sleepy but relieved, like he was hoping whoever he missed would call back.
"Hi," Blaine says. "Sorry for calling so late. Is Kurt there? I lost his cell number."
"Kurt's at school," Burt says and God, of course Kurt would be at school. Blaine had completely forgotten about it, like he's forgotten what normal people do during the week. "Is this Blaine?"
"Sorry," Blaine says again. "I'll, uh, I'll call again later maybe?"
"No wait!" Burt says quickly. "Do not hang up the phone. We've been looking for you for weeks. Where are you? Are you alright?"
"I'm in a car with a guy," Blaine says, then winces a little because that is the least helpful thing he could have said right now. "He says he's taking us to a hospital?"
He looks at the man who clarifies,
"The Children's Hospital on the West Virginia Campus."
"Did you get that?" Blaine asks. "It's in Morgantown. I'm sorry. I probably shouldn't have called. It's far from you. I just don't know anyone here."
"Stop apologising," Burt says. "I'm getting into my car right now and I'll meet you there in a few hours."
"Would you let Kurt know I'm okay?" Blaine asks, because that's sort of important to him right now.
"Of course," Burt says. "He's been worried sick about you. Have the police been contacted? There have been a lot of people looking for you."
"The guy wouldn't let me call you until he let them know he had us," Blaine said, and that's the second time someone's talked about turning him in to the police now. He's really uneasy about where all of this is going. "Mr. Hummel? Are they going to arrest me?"
"Why would they do that?" Burt asks.
"Steven Evans," Blaine says. "I have him with me. I promise I didn't want to take him, but you're all talking about us being on the news together, and I don't even know why I'm on the news at all unless they think I did it, but I swear I didn't. None of it was my idea and I'm sorry for - "
"Blaine calm down," Burt says firmly and Blaine snaps his mouth shut. "No one's going to arrest you, okay? They want to talk to you, that's all. We reported your disappearance to the cops as soon as you didn't check in with us and the first thing we heard back was that there was no record of Tom Brenner ever even having a son, let alone one named Blaine. Then a week after you two took off the Evans boy went missing. The cops sort of just drew their own conclusions from that, but we told them everything you told us and no one suspected you of anything. We were all just scared you were hurt."
There's a pause and Burt says hesitantly,
"Are you okay? Is Evans okay? You said you were going to the hospital."
Blaine doesn't know what to say to that. He's pretty sure he could be better, but he doesn't really want to admit it to Burt. He settles on,
"Stevie hurt his hands and he's scared pretty bad, but I think everything looks worse than it is. Mr. Hummel? Could you call his parents, too? I don't know how quickly the police will get a hold of them, and I think they probably want to see him right away."
"I'll call them," Burt reassures, then adds. "I don't know really know the best way to ask, but if this guy isn't your dad - Blaine, do you have anyone I should be calling to let them know you're alright? Do you have any way for me to contact your real parents?"
"You don't have to do that," Blaine says, quickly. "Besides, I don't even know their number."
"If you give me their names I can have Carole look it up," Burt suggests. "It wouldn't be a problem."
"I'm sorry Mr. Hummel, I should probably go," Blaine says. "This man is letting me use his phone to talk to you, but it's long distance. I don't want him to have to keep paying for us to talk. Just make sure Mr. and Mrs. Evans know, okay?"
Burt promises again and when Blaine hangs up a few minutes later and glances back at Stevie, he looks intensely relieved.
"They're coming for me?" he says, like he needs to hear Blaine say it.
"They're on their way," Blaine says. It's only then that he notices Stevie is carrying something with him from the house. He doesn't know how he missed it before, but suddenly he's being handed Horton, looking even more beat up and worse for wear than he had been six hours ago.
"We needed to save him, too," Stevie says, simply.
"Thanks," says Blaine, staring at the elephant.
***
The police are already there waiting for them when they walk into the emergency room. Blaine sort of wishes he could turn around and walk right back out but Stevie has a death grip on his hand and he obviously has no plans to ease up any time soon. The man who drove them catches the officer's attention and they come over, leading the group to an area somewhat cut off from the rest of the reception, creating a false illusion of privacy. One officer, a woman with long brown hair and surprisingly soft brown eyes in a face full of severe features and no-nonsense angles, takes the lead.
"Hello," she says, speaking directly to Blaine. "My name is Detective Warren. I understand we have some things to discuss with you two gentlemen?"
Blaine gently pushes Stevie forward from where he's been trying to surreptitiously hide behind Blaine in an effort not to be noticed.
"This is Steven Evans. I think his family is looking for him?"
"I see," says Detective Warren. Her voice isn't mean, exactly. There's a note of friendliness in her tone, but like her face, it's hidden away inside an unbreachable wall of professionalism. She talks to Stevie like she's addressing an extremely short adult. "It's good to meet you, Mr. Evans. We've been worried about you. This is my colleague Detective Carter."
The second officer, a smiling woman with a round face and amiable expression, bends down and tries to look Stevie in the eye as she speaks, without much success.
"Hi Steven," she says. "I was wondering if you'd mind if I took you into a quieter room so we can have a doctor make sure you're not hurt, and maybe you can talk to me a little about what's been happening the last week and a half."
Stevie just shakes his head and moves back behind Blaine.
"You can stay with your friend a little while longer if you're uncomfortable, until you get to know Detective Carter a little better," Detective Warren suggests. "We have time."
Blaine notices that there are other officers in the room, men, now talking to the man who drove them in a distance away from them. They seem to be showing no interest in coming any closer. Detective Warren follows his eye line.
"We thought you might be a little more comfortable talking to women," she says, smiling a little tightly. "If you'd rather speak with one of them, we can arrange that, too."
"This is fine," Blaine says, quickly. Talking to an officer about what's been happening since Stevie's been taken is bad enough. The last thing he wants is to start doing something stupid like having a trauma flashback while he talks to a strange policeman about it. Detective Warren is looking at him suspiciously now.
"Your name's Blaine, is that right?" she asks, and Blaine nods warily. "You're the one who found Steven?"
Blaine shrugs.
"I didn't really find him," he says. "He was with me the whole time."
"And where was that?" she asks.
"My dad took him," Blaine says.
"And by your dad you mean Tom Brenner?"
Blaine nods again and offers,
"I think I remember the street we were staying on if you want to talk to him or arrest him or whatever. I don`t know the house number, but it's an old rundown house with trees all around it. You can barely see it from the sidewalk. He was passed out when we left, so maybe he's still there."
Detective Warren calls her partner over to relay the directions and has Blaine repeat the street number a couple times.
"Have someone send over a couple squad cars," she tells her partner. "I'd like to be able to get this guy off the streets as soon as possible."
Once he's left she turns her attention back to Blaine.
"I'd like you to help me with something, Blaine. You've told me that Brenner is your father, but based on the information that's been found, legally Tom Brenner has no son. I've seen some of the registration records from a few of the schools you've attended and there's no doubt that he's put a lot of effort into forging your birth certificate and any other necessary documents, but I think it's safe to say your last name isn't really Brenner."
Blaine doesn't say anything to that so she prompts,
"What's your real name?"
"My real name is Blaine," Blaine insists.
"And your last name?"
When he stays silent Detective Warren sighs.
"Look Blaine," She says. "One way or another we are going to sort out who you really are. If we have to we can do that the hard way, but since that will involve wasting time and money as we construct a timeline of your entire life as Francis Brenner until we figure out when the records stop, I'd rather you just tell me. There are no less than 15 missing kids we need to eliminate before we confirm your identity. Please just give us a break?"
Blaine isn't about to kid himself. He knows that if says anything right now it will just be an excuse or a lie. He's not about to buy into the idea of some stupid fairy tale ending where his parents take him home and they all live happily ever after. But before he has a chance to say anything, he shifts a little too quickly to look back at Stevie and his sides start to scream out in protest. Wincing he sinks down into the nearest chair.
Detective Warren's instantly shifts from mild impatience to concern as she calls for a nurse to come over with a wheelchair, which is just so many different kinds of embarrassing Blaine doesn't even want to think about it.
"What's wrong?" she asks, crouching down next to him.
"I think I'm just dizzy," Blaine mumbles.
"He hurt his hand," Stevie pipes up. "And he breathes funny when he has to move around a lot."
Blaine rolls his eyes. Of course now is when Stevie suddenly regains the powers of speech.
"We'll have someone check you out. Run a few tests," says Detective Warren. There's something guarded in her voice that makes Blaine look at her sharply.
"Tests?" he repeats.
She looks a little uncomfortable as she says,
"Just standard procedure in these kinds of cases, Blaine."
"What if I don't want to know what he gave me?" Blaine asks quietly, desperately hoping she's the only one who can hear him. "I'm 16. That's old enough to refuse medical treatment, right?"
She smiles at him a little sadly.
"You can refuse treatment if you can legally prove your age," she says. "Your birth certificate's a forgery, Blaine."
Blaine laughs a little.
"I don't even know when my birthday is," he admits, as she steps back to let a nurse help settle him into the chair which is every bit as humiliating as he thought it would be.
Detective Warren looks at him strangely.
"Just how long have you been missing?" she asks.
"I don't even know if I am missing," Blaine says as he's finally taken into an exam room, Stevie trailing along behind.
***
Warren gives Blaine some space while he's being examined but Detective Carter sticks around, striking up a semi-successful rapport with Stevie. Blaine thinks it would work better if Stevie wasn't practically sleeping with his eyes open, but he does seem to finally be calming down a little bit.
Carter is the one who ends up taking the pictures of their injuries for evidence, because when they sent in the police photographer Stevie freaked out and wouldn't let anyone come near him. Secretly Blaine is kind of thankful, because he knows it's important that people take records of what Tom did, but there are so many new people coming and going, and he's just as tired as Stevie is, so the idea of some strange guy coming in while Blaine pulls off his clothes and poses for fucking pictures is enough to make him start throwing tantrums like Stevie if there's a chance it'll get them to back off.
They take pictures of Blaine's wrist and bruised hands, which are looking especially bad again after his fight with the window. He has to take of his shirt and pants so they can document the deep purple and sickly green and yellow bruises decorating his torso. Then they photograph Stevie's hands, which are nothing near as bad as they were a little over a week ago, but are still pretty sore-looking, especially on the fingers where he managed to pull off some or all of his nail. They take pictures of some hand-shaped bruises on his arms too, that Blaine didn't know about. He tries not to think too hard about how they got there.
Eventually Detective Carter manages to lure Stevie off to a room of his own so they can actually start looking after some of Blaine's injuries, which require shipping him off to different units for x-rays of his wrist and rib cage. Before he leaves, Carter has to get Mrs. Evans on a phone to talk to Stevie and promise him that it's okay to trust the people at the hospital, and that she will see him soon. He still cries again when he has to hang up and say goodbye, and he doesn't look any happier about leaving Blaine, but after Blaine promises him he can "see the pictures of Blaine's bones after the doctors look at them," he's mollified enough to do as he's told.
"You're very good with him," the nurse comments once they're alone and she's working on adding some pain medication to the IV they've already gotten set up.
"Yeah," Blaine says. "Think of all the babysitting money I've been missing out on over the years. I could have just saved up enough money to leave before Tom managed to break my wrist."
They're both quiet for a minute before Blaine says,
"Stevie really doesn't like anyone touching him in the places the doctors are going to be checking. It scares him. He shouldn't be alone when they do it."
The nurse smiles sympathetically.
"I'm pretty sure they're just going to make sure his hands are cleaned up properly and infection-free for right now. They're mostly interested in letting him get some sleep before his parents get here, and then they can stay with him for anything else that happens."
Blaine thinks sleeping sounds like a fantastic idea, and once he's been told his ribs are just bruised but the wrist is definitely going to need a cast, he drifts off himself. The pain meds are definitely better than a couple regular strength Tylenol, or else Blaine's just that tired, because he doesn't even wake up properly when they tape up his side and set his arm in a cast.
***
"Blaine?"
It takes Blaine a minute to remember where he is and how he got there when he opens his eyes, but when he sees Detective Warren sitting next to his bed it starts to come back to him.
"Where's Stevie?" He asks. At some point he's been moved to an actual hospital room, but he doesn't remember when. He's the only one in it.
"Next door and out like a light," says Warren. "It's 7:30 in the morning and the Evanses just called to say they're about half an hour away. Hopefully when he wakes up it will be to his family."
Blaine notices she's holding a few files in her hand.
"What are those?" he asks.
She gently sets them next to him on the bed as he tries to sit up. She helps him find the right button and it slowly moves his body into the right position. He wonders if she's actively trying to make him feel pathetic or if that's just how hospitals make you feel when you're in stuck in one.
"I did a little more research while you were asleep," she says. "I tossed out all of the newer missing children reports we were looking at and I had a few of the older ones brought out as well. I'm pretty sure I've got your identity narrowed down to one of three kids with Blaine as a part of their names, but I was hoping you could give me a little more to work with. A last name maybe? I do not want to call two families and get their hopes raised for nothing."
"There are three missing kids my age named Blaine?" Blaine says. "Really?"
Detective Warren shrugs.
"There must have been a lot of John Hughes fans having babies in the 90s," she deadpans before getting very serious as she leans forward and says,
"What you said earlier about not being missing was bothering me, so I made a few calls. I ended up talking to Burt Hummel, the man you reported your disappearance in Lima, Ohio. He was already on his way here, so I'm guessing you called him?"
Blaine nods.
"He told me that you told his son you thought your parents hated you. I wondered if you meant Brenner, but Mr. Hummel said it was his understanding that you very specifically were talking about your parents. Plural."
She looks at Blaine intently as she sets her index finger on the files.
"The parents of each one of these boys were destroyed when their sons were taken from them. These kids were loved and there's nothing these parents wouldn't do to get them back."
Blaine looks down and picks at the new cast on his wrist for a moment before blurting out,
"Did Mr. Hummel tell you I was gay?"
Warren's brow wrinkles in confusion.
"He didn't mention," she says, but stays silent and waits for him to explain instead of trying to guess at what on earth he's getting at.
"I'm gay," Blaine says. "Mr. Hummel's son? I kind of think I'm almost in love with him already and I'm definitely too far gone to make anyone believe I like girls."
She's smiling a little now but Blaine keeps going.
"There are people who automatically hate a person who's gay, just on principle. Most days, I can't even remember my mom's voice. How am I supposed to know if she's super religious or open-minded or if she even cares at all? And even if she's okay with that, what if there's something else that's wrong with me?"
He looks at Detective Warren helplessly.
"What happens to me if they meet me only to find out that they hate who I am? What happens then?"
"Oh Blaine," Detective Warren's face is still composed and sharp, but her voice sounds almost choked as she talks. "There are kids all over the world who have to come out to parents who aren't ready to accept their sexual orientation, but so often the only thing those parents need to come around is to realize how much they're missing by pushing their children out of their lives. Your mom and dad already know what that feels like - they've been missing you for years. Do you think they're going to turn you away because you grew up while you were gone? I think you need to give them a chance. Let them show you how a good parent acts."
Blaine is quiet again, for a long, long time. He feels like he's back at the edge of the same pit he was standing on when he told Kurt to leave McKinley, only this time he's not letting go of a handhold and trying to find a new way to keep his balance. This time he's going to walk right over the side.
He doesn't know if he's brave enough to tell her what she wants to know, but then he lets himself think about camping trips with his dad, and how his mom would always insist on giving him a hug whenever he was leaving the house.
He takes a deep breath.
"Anderson. It's Blaine Anderson."
And he jumps.
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