Glee Fic: Concidence or, perhaps, Fate? (1/1)
Title: Coincidence or, perhaps, Fate
Summary: Blaine goes to Candleford to find a job and in the process, finds something - or someone - special.
Fandom: Glee/Lark Rise to Candleford
Characters: Kurt, Blaine, Burt, mentions of others; pre-Kurt/Blaine
Rating: PG
Spoilers: None
Category: AU
Prompt: ‘Small town/Village’ for au_bingo card
Word count: approx. 1,315
Notes: I do have intentions of writing more in this ‘verse but each part will be a one-shot just in case I don’t write as much as I think!
I love the show ‘Lark Rise to Candleford’ and this prompt seemed to fit perfectly. It was just a question as to which fandom I would use for it!!
Blaine Anderson walked into the small town of Candleford in the early light of the morning, a pouch with his belongings slung over his shoulder. He had walked the five miles from his hamlet of Lark Rise, ready to start looking for work. He didn’t care what type of work it was, so long as he earned a wage and could support his siblings while his father was off in the big city and his mother drowned her sorrows in the tavern.
People were only just starting to stir out of their houses as he walked down the dusty main street. Blaine put aside his shame at the simple clothes he was wearing and focused his attention on the buildings. Who would want to hire him?
Not the dress shop, that was for certain. Maybe the grocers or the post office, or even the blacksmith. He wasn’t afraid of hard work; after all, he had been working at odd jobs since he was ten.
Blaine drew level at the blacksmith’s and looked inside. The smithy was already there getting his equipment ready. And with him was the most beautiful boy that Blaine had ever seen.
An elfin face framed by short, perfectly-placed dark hair held Blaine transfixed for several long minutes before he managed to look at the rest of the boy. The clothes were finely cut, and tailored perfectly to fit the boy’s slender body. Because of that, Blaine fell a little bit in love.
Yes, he was different to most boys. Blaine knew he wasn’t easily going to find a girl to marry because he preferred to look at boys instead. Not that there were many of them in Lark Rise: Puck, who was always in trouble; and Finn, a tall boy who wasn’t overly bright but was a hard worker. Blaine had briefly felt stirrings of attraction for both, which is what made him realise that he wasn’t exactly into girls, but he had never wanted to act on those feelings. With this boy, however…
Blaine held his head high and straightened his back. He hoped that the blacksmith needed an assistant because that was likely the only way he would ever get to find out who the boy was.
**********
Kurt Hummel helped his father get things ready for the day, being very careful not to get his outfit dirty. He had recently finished his schooling in London and had planned a career there but his father’s health was more important. Burt had recently had trouble with his heart and had been told by the doctors to take things easy; Kurt was there to make sure that he did. However, he couldn’t be there all hours of the day as he was due to start working in the Post Office that morning. It wasn’t what he wanted to do - that was either performing or tailoring - but it was the best he could do in this small torn, especially since there were no vacancies for a tailor right now. The old man who currently made suits for the local men wasn’t hiring; the demand for his services wasn’t enough to keep two people busy. So Kurt would make do and not complain.
But he could complain about other things. “Seriously, Dad,” he used the informal term, “you need to hire someone to help you. The doctor said not to work too hard.”
“You’ll be right next door,” Burt pointed out. Sweat was already starting to bead on his bald head as he stoked the fire. He loved his son, even though he knew Kurt wasn’t like other boys - men. Kurt was eighteen; Burt had to remember that his little boy was an adult now.
“That doesn’t mean I’ll be able to see you very much,” Kurt countered, standing well away from the fire. “Seriously, Dad, you need an assistant.”
“Excuse me?”
The Hummel men turned as one to see a young man in respectable but poor clothes standing there. “Yes?” Burt asked.
“I’m looking for work. Are you hiring?”
“No, I’m--” Burt started to say but Kurt interrupted him.
“Yes, he is.” Kurt’s eyes swept over the young man, who didn’t seem any older than him. He was cute, Kurt had to admit, even though he was obviously poor and probably illiterate. “What qualifications do you have?”
Hazel eyes lit up from the lack of a refusal. “None as a blacksmith but I’ve done things like carpentry before, and I’m willing to work hard,” came the eager reply.
Kurt nodded approvingly. “What is your name and where do you live?”
“Blaine Anderson, and I live in Lark Rise, five miles that way,” he said, pointing in the right direction. He figured the two were new in town and might not know the way.
“Burt Hummel,” the older man stated. “And my son is Kurt.” The unusual name was his late wife’s idea as she had been of German descent.
What an exotic name for such a beautiful boy. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Blaine said truthfully, forcing himself not to stare at Kurt.
Surveying the eager young man before him, Burt continued, “You’ll need to start early in the mornings. How will you get here from Lark Rise?”
“I can just sleep on the floor if there’s room, or a stable out back,” Blaine replied. He didn’t mind sleeping rough if it meant a job.
Kurt and Burt shared a room above the Post Office so they couldn’t offer Blaine anything better. “A one week trial,” Burt agreed, “conditional upon Miss Lane and I finding you satisfactory.”
Blaine nodded; he knew Dorcas Lane, the post mistress, and had little doubt she would agree.
Kurt made a mental note to see if he could find Blaine some better clothing and ignored the fact that he kind of liked the boy dressed even as he was. “And make sure that my father doesn’t overwork himself,” he instructed Blaine.
“I promise,” Blaine agreed. He would have to do it carefully though as Burt didn’t seem too pleased about the order.
“Well, I’ll leave you both to it then,” Kurt said, somewhat reluctant to leave. It had nothing to do with the handsome stranger, he told himself; he was just reluctant to leave supervision of his father to someone he didn’t know.
“You go and have a good day,” Burt told his son. “We’ll be fine.”
With one more glance at Blaine, Kurt left the smithy to go next door for his first day at the Post Office.
**********
Kurt’s first day was uneventful. He went with Thomas Brown to deliver the mail, served some customers, and studied up on postal regulations. And whenever he could, he went next door to see how his father was going. Surreptitiously, of course; he didn’t want to be accused of hovering.
However Burt was aware of his son’s visits but he didn’t say anything. He was lucky that he had his son back with him; he knew the lights of London were tempting. But he and Kurt were all each other had so they needed to stick together.
He wasn’t blind when it came to Blaine either. He had seen how the young man had looked at Kurt and knew what it meant. But had to admit that he had originally struggled with the knowledge that his son preferred men but it had never stopped him from loving Kurt. It seemed quite a coincidence that the only young man around to share that interest was now working for him.
Watching Blaine, Burt decided that if the two young men got along, he wouldn’t get in the way of any romance that may developed - unless, of course, Kurt was going to get hurt. Kurt deserved someone to love him without the dangers of London. So - time to work out if Blaine was suitable…