1 fanmix (25) + 10 medium graphics (30) + 5 ficlets (25) + 10 icons (20) = 100 points!
The town of Mallowcliff is run by two opposing families, the Andersons and the Hummels. Each family has a large staff, members who have been part of it since they were born. Once you are born into one of the families or their staff, you are not permitted to switch sides. There are strict rules enforced saying that the families and their staff cannot become friendly with anyone from the opposite side. But what happens when the youngest sons from each family fall in love with each other?
"I want to have a word with you, Hummel!" James Anderson yells, pounding on the door of the Hummel household. He's fuming, his face red, and if it were possible, he knows there would be steam coming out of his ears. It doesn't help when Burt opens the door casually, wearing a baseball cap and a small smirk.
"Whadda ya want, Anderson?" His face is stern but almost teasing, as if he's amused by James's anger. "Thought you weren't gonna come bother me on my own property anymore?"
"This is different," James barks, pressing his finger to Burt's chest. "Have you heard the rumors in town? I won't have my family's name dragged through the mud because of your son!" Burt flinches backward, his calm demeanor ruined now and he gives James a look that is downright murderous.
"Don't you dare talk about my son like that," Burt says, his voice cool but dripping with anger. "I don't know what you're talking about, but whatever it is--"
"There's talk in town that he's involved with my son!" James shouts in his face, his rage showing. Looking around nervously, he lowers his voice, speaking quieter but no less angry. "I thought it would've been bad if he had gotten involved with any of the females on your son's staff, but this... this is unthinkable."
"Being gay isn't a crime anymore, James," Burt says, his eyes narrowing. "If you've come to throw that in my face, then I'm gonna have to ask you to leave." He stands a little taller, staring James right into the eye without backing down. "My son is gay and proud, and I'm proud of him for being able to be himself. You should grant your son the same right."
"I-- how dare you!" James sputters. "Blaine is not gay. The rumors are just that. He knows better than that, than to--" He draws in a slow breath, trying not to lose his temper even more. After all, he is known for being a level headed ruler, and he doesn't want to do anything to tarnish his image. The family image is already being tarnished by Blaine's indiscretion. Which can't possibly be true. "I clearly came to the wrong person with this," he finally says, holding his head higher. "Tell that little brat of yours to stay far away from my son."
"No, you listen to me, James," Burt says, grabbing the front of James's shirt, staring him down. "No one pushes the Hummels around. You might be the infamous James Anderson, but that doesn't change anything. You have absolutely no right to come over and threaten me in my own household. And if you insult my son one more time, you can bet I'll have people on your ass so fast that your head'll spin." His eyes are dark with rage, and for the first time, James can truly understand what's intimidating about the other man. "Do you hear me? I don't wanna hear you saying any of that garbage again, got it?"
James wrestles his way out of Burt's grip, shooting him a nasty look before turning on his heel.
"It's awfully hard keeping secrets sometimes," Santana says slyly as she looks at Rachel from the corner of her eye, running a hand over her hair. "I mean, sometimes I just want to blurt everything out and tell the world. You ever get that feeling?"
"Always," Rachel breathes, and it's like she's letting out a sigh of relief as she says it, like no one's ever expressed the same feelings as her. "Sometimes it's so hard keeping Kurt's secrets and I just want to tell everyone about him and Bl--" She cuts herself off with a gasp, slapping a hand over her mouth and staring at Santana with wide eyes.
Santana gives her a devilish grin, having hoped this was the kind of information she'd dig up. "Kurt and what?" she asks innocently, batting her eyelashes. Rachel shakes her head furiously, her hair swaying from side to side, and then she's practically running away.
"You are not getting that information out of me, Santana Lopez!" Santana can practically hear the tears in her voice, and she runs after her, hearing Rachel whispering under her breath, "Oh god, Kurt, please forgive me, didn't know Santana was going to find out, now the whole town will..."
"Hey," Santana grabs her shoulder, halting her in her tracks. "Shut up for a second, Berry." Rachel's big eyes are full of tears and Santana has the urge to smack her across the face. Against her better judgment, she looks around before leaning in, whispering, "You don't have to worry, okay? I know." Rachel stares at her in awe, almost disbelieving, and she huffs out a frustrated breath. "You really think Anderson could keep something from me? Something like that? I could smell it on him the first time he came back from one of their secret meetings." Rachel makes a disgusted face at that, turning away and walking quickly.
"What the hell!" Santana growls in frustration, running after her again. "Didn't you hear me? You don't have to have a meltdown, Berry. We can be like, allies now or something." Rachel raises an eyebrow.
"Me? You're Blaine Anderson's assistant and you want to be allies with me?" Rachel shakes her head in disbelief. "Do you even know how many rules you're breaking with the thought of that, Santana?" Santana laughs hard.
"Who cares about the rules? No one has to know but us." She leans in, lowering her voice again. "This way, we don't have to keep the secrets to ourselves. We can, you know, gossip about them." Rachel looks horrified and Santana scoffs again. "You are such a stick in the mud."
"I am not!" Rachel says indignantly. "Fine. Fine. I'll be your ally." She allows a little smirk to play across her face, grinning wider before she lowers her own voice. "Kurt told me... well, he told me that Blaine is an excellent kisser." Santana gives her a blank stare, raising an eyebrow.
"Really? You call that gossip?" She lets out a bored sigh before leaning in, whispering, "Did Kurt tell you that his boyfriend is a massive bottom and can't keep himself from bending over for him all the time?" It's worth it to spill Blaine's biggest secret to see the look on Rachel's face.
"Wow, that guy is really good looking," Finn announces to Kurt, pointing at a poster of a guy. "What about him?" Kurt gives Finn a blank stare, shaking his head slowly.
"Finn, do you even know who that is?" Kurt asks, his voice taking on the tone that it might if he was speaking to a five year old. Finn studies the face for a second, tilting his head before shaking it no. Kurt glances at Rachel, who is on the other side of Finn, and gives her a withering look. She giggles, pressing a finger to her lips, telling him to keep quiet.
"I mean, he's a good looking guy! You could totally go out with him," Finn announces, and Kurt nearly wants to smack himself in the face at his stepbrother's stupidity.
"First of all, that is Cooper Anderson," Kurt says, and Finn's face doesn't change. "James Anderson's older son?" Comprehension dawns on him, and he nods quickly, seeming embarrassed. "Second of all, he isn't even gay. What would make you think he was gay?"
"Well, he has really nice hair," Finn mumbles, and Kurt pinches the bridge of his nose to keep from screaming. Rachel, sensing the tension, squeezes Finn's hand tighter.
"Honey, you have really nice hair and you aren't gay," she says diplomatically, and Kurt scrutinizes his hair with a sigh. Finn's hair isn't exactly what he would call "really nice hair", but he assumes it's better to just let Rachel talk Finn out of whatever tangent he's on.
"How did you not know Cooper Anderson anyway?" Kurt can't help but blurting out and Finn laughs sheepishly.
"I, uh, I didn't recognize him," he says, looking down at the ground. "I don't look at the Andersons all the time or anything." For a second, Kurt's breath catches in his throat, and he's scared that Finn knows his secret. He shoots a glare at Rachel, who gives him wide eyes, shaking her head imperceptibly.
"Me either," Kurt says scathingly. "Who would ever want to look at the Andersons?"
"Oh, come on," a deep voice says from behind them, and Kurt whips around. "We might have a classic family feud on our hands, but you can't deny that I'm gorgeous." Cooper Anderson is standing behind them, grinning his brightest smile, and okay, Kurt might be secretly taken by Blaine, but he really can't deny that Cooper is gorgeous. His teeth sparkle in the sunlight, and god, how is that possible? Why are the Andersons so good looking? Why does it have to be against the rules to date them?
"I never said that!" Finn blurts out, his cheeks red. "I mean, I... I definitely didn't say you were a really good looking guy or anything!"
"Sure you didn't," Cooper says, pointing at Finn with a wink. Kurt wants to laugh, wants to take Cooper's side over Finn's, but he keeps his face neutral, though he sees Cooper slip him a secret wink of his own, which makes his insides twist a little. Hey, he might be taken, but he isn't dead.
"You're Kurt's friend, aren't you?" Sam asks, smiling as he walks up alongside Mercedes, who shoots him a suspicious look.
"Honey, I know you don't look like the brightest crayon in the box, but I'm pretty sure everyone knows who I am," she says, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "Just like everyone knows who you are, Trouty Mouth. Are you coming to spy on me? I don't spill Hummel family secrets."
"No!" Sam says immediately, holding up his hands in surrender. "No, no, I promise I'm not spying. Are you kidding me? I'm not that dumb." It seems to dwell on him that she called him stupid looking, and he raises his eyebrows, squawking out an offended, "Hey, wait a minute!" She laughs, patting his shoulder softly with a roll of her eyes.
"Listen, did you have something to say to me? I really should be--" She points toward the stage where she's set to perform for the Hummel gala and Sam swallows hard, immediately regretting trying to talk to her. Talking to girls has never really been his strong suit since he's been around so many guys for his whole life -- Blaine, Cooper, Mr. Anderson, and well, Santana is a girl, but she's always kind of freaked him out.
He genuinely means to say something intelligent. But what comes out is, "Well, pilgrim, I was just looking for the company of a lovely lady." John Wayne. Not even his best impression. He is so dumb. Mercedes is staring at him like he has five heads, and he kind of wants to sink through the ground.
"Oh my god, what was that?" She laughs hard, shaking her head. "Was that supposed to make me forget that you're part of the Anderson staff and go after you or something? Because spoiler alert: it didn't work." She smiles at him sadly, turning to walk toward the stage. It's against the rules, he knows it, but he's kind of always had a crush on Mercedes. After hearing her sing, who wouldn't? He guesses that's why they're typically not allowed to hear each other sing, the fear almost like the fear of a siren's song, but he'd heard Mercedes years ago entirely on accident and has been trying to gather the courage to talk to her forever.
"Wait, Mercedes!" He runs after her, grabbing her hand. "Will you give me a chance?"
"I'm not about to break the rules for you," she hisses, snatching her hand back. "Who do you think I am?"
"I know, I know," he mutters. "I've just... forget it, okay?"
"You've just what?" Mercedes looks like she doesn't mean to ask it, but Sam looks up with a smile, taking advantage of the chance he's been given.
"It's against the rules, but I've had a crush on you for years," he says with a laugh. "But I know it's totally ridiculous. Can you even imagine what would happen if we dated?"
"No, quite frankly, I cannot," Mercedes says, though she's smiling. "Listen, I really have to go. But you'll be at my show, right, Trouty?" He nods quickly, and she grins wider. "Maybe I'll see you there then."
So maybe it's not what he might've wanted, but it's a start.
"I'm so glad to see you," Blaine murmurs into Kurt's neck, kissing the skin softly, not wanting to let him go. "It's been too long. I hate being away from you."
"I know," Kurt whispers back, running his fingers through Blaine's thick curls, curls that he only lets down around Kurt. "I hate that we can't just be together in public." Blaine's cheeks flush and he nuzzles even closer, swallowing hard.
"My dad... he heard a rumor about us," he mumbles, and he can feel Kurt's body stiffen. His own heart starts beating faster in panic, not wanting to freak Kurt out too much. "He, um. He went and talked to your dad about it."
"Blaine," Kurt hisses. "Why didn't you tell me sooner? Oh my god, what happened?" Blaine shrugs helplessly, not knowing what happened. His father wouldn't tell him, only that Burt Hummel was "a hopeless idiot" and a lot of other things that he thought Blaine hadn't heard, though really he had. "Is... does he believe it?"
"I don't know," Blaine whispers, his heart sinking. "I think he's even more upset about the fact that I'm gay, rather than the fact that... well, you know." He feels strong fingers lifting his face up and he stares up into Kurt's gorgeous eyes, breathing heavily.
"I don't care what he thinks," he whispers. "I love you, Blaine. I'm not going to let some stupid feud between our families keep us apart." Shaking his head, he leans down to kiss Blaine. "I swear, our families are bigger babies than we are. The rules are... god, they're barbaric. I don't know why we even have to put up with them."
"Once we rule, we'll get rid of them," Blaine says with a smile, running his fingertips down Kurt's chest. "We'll have to, so that we can be together in public." He sees Kurt's face light up, his eyes sparkling, and his breath is taken away. How can this beautiful boy, this boy who isn't allowed to love him, still love him so much?
"You really want to be together with me long enough for us to rule together?" Kurt whispers, like it's something he didn't know. Blaine has never entertained any thoughts of being with anyone else but Kurt, not wanting to think about his life without him, and he nods vigorously.
"Kurt, yes," he breathes. "You're it for me. I'd never love anyone else." He feels soft, warm lips against his again, and Kurt is pressing him to the ground, straddling him to kiss him deeper. Blaine feels a stirring in his stomach, hungry for Kurt and everything he wants to give him. His hands cup Kurt's face as he lets out a low whimper, his heart pounding wildly.
"Want you so badly," Kurt mumbles into the kiss. "Do you want me, Blaine?" He has to choke back a loud moan at that, nodding frantically. Kurt kisses down his neck, and he runs his fingers through his hair, letting out tiny noises of pleasure. Breaking the rules has never felt better.
1.
Enchantment Passing Through (Reprise) - Aida2.
Papa Don't Preach - Kelly Osbourne3.
Someone To Watch Over Me - Allison Iraheta4.
Saving All My Love for You - Tatiana Del Toro5.
Not Gonna Get Us - Tatu6.
Secret Rendezvous - Divas7.
Anywhere - Evanescence8.
Right Kind of Wrong - Leann Rimes9.
Baby It's Fact - hellogoodbye10.
Love Story - Taylor Swift