A fab story. Ax

i love it bravo *clapping* lol X)

I adore your description of "selfish and scared" together like this for the bullies, it so makes sense to me:
They've dealt with selfish, scared bullies like you their entire lives, and they are both compassionate people who take the high road. I protect them because I choose to – and I don't always share their scruples.

Because I am too lazy to log in -
Just finished this second part. a) I LOVE YOU TOO. b) I love your writing so much. This is so much more realistic than what actually happened, and a million times more fair (I've always really disliked the complete lack of Warbler supports, and also the fact that Blaine didn't get a decision re: dealing with Sebastian.)
c) I am a terrible friend because I keep starting to reply to your emails and then somewhere around the 1000 word mark get distracted by something shiny, trip over my dog, put out the clothes and then take them in because it's raining, and end up late to uni.
d) off to read everything else you've written that I haven't read yet.

Well, I have finally gotten around to reading the second part of this. And I must say that I am disappointed that I haven't read and reviewed it sooner because this was lovely.

One of my favorite things about this part was how you tied multiple episodes together. Even though Glee has to handle various storylines and so we are restricted to limited views of the characters' lives, stories like these remind both readers and watchers that underneath all the drama, ordinary life continues. Blaine would not have simply forgotten everything that happened to him in the course of a single episode, and neither would Kurt. There would have been harsh feelings on all sides (see Santana's defensiveness of Blaine and Kurt's earlier hostility), but eventually, there are only two conclusions that can be drawn from what we saw in later episodes. Either the Warblers and Blaine permanently broke friendly connections with each other and reverted to only polite indifference, or they made amends somewhere in the middle and are tentatively in the right again.

The former seems more plausible at first until we see how supportive Blaine is of them at the regionals' competition, going so far as to support Sebastian himself. Thus, I like that you've chosen to resolve your story this way. It seems to fit smoothly into canon-verse where we never received any sort of explanation or recompense from the Warblers. It also gives us a deeper look into Blaine's and Kurt's perspective on the incident.

I would like to think that Blaine is forgiving of the Warblers. I'm especially glad that you showed that here. Kurt's involvement in the entire story was interesting, too, for it highlighted how instrumental he is in Blaine's life without overshadowing Blaine's opinion.

I also thought your incorporation of 'Cough Syrup' was interesting, just because it did come so out-of-the-blue canonically. There was no real backstory given to support it, so we as readers and watchers were left to wonder why Blaine- upbeat and happy-go-lucky for the most part-would choose a song that was so different from his usual reportoire. I love that you explained that here, and how it did tie into the slushying incident as well as past experiences.

Overall, this was lovely. I'm pleased that the Warblers and Blaine did come to peaceful terms again, and overall this was enjoyable to read. Well done!

Whoa. The emotions just pour off the page in this. Both from the characters, AND from the author. That sort of emotional investment really draws a reader in. Bravo.

OMG! Thank you so much for writing this. It was great! I loved how Blaine didn't forgive the Warblers right away. Super realistic. Thanks again!

Awesome! Nice addition! :D

Amazing. You tied these stories together so well...the cough syrup song didn't make much sense on the show -here it is the only logical conclusion. Thanks for clearing that up! ;-)

Yay, it's so nice to see this published. I've said it before, but I'll say it again: you do a wonderful job here in expressing the various emotions of our boys. And I love the Warblers' apology - very genuine and extremely heartfelt :)

This story is fantastic! I love your insight into the Warblers and their part in what happened. I've been thinking about how out of character it seemed for them to walk away from Blaine in that situation for the past few weeks. I finally completed a story about the same episode yesterday - called Be There - mine focuses more on Blaine and Santana, though. I really loved this!

Glad you wrote this! I hate to think the warblers would partake in such an act!

Aww. Kurt. Honey.

It's always hard to read when he's suppressing his emotions, especially because he knows that he has to be strong for someone else. There's just this total shift of priorities that takes place for him: suddenly, he isn't emotional or even teary-eyed, but holding it all in until it nearly kills him. The way you described his as 'shaking' at the beginning of this one-shot seems exactly how he would react to this situation. The mixture of rage and horror and shock all comes together nicely here, and while my heart aches for him, at least things work out well in the end. Not to mention the sheer physical exhaustion from having to deal with all the trauma surrounding the incident. While Glee may have chosen to cut off the scene when Blaine was lying on the floor screaming, there was obviously a middle period of getting Blaine to a hospital and bandaging his eyes that took place that Kurt was undoubtedly wrapped up in before they reached the point in the bedroom canonically. Reading about his reactions to it here was smooth: it fit with what we know and it flowed nicely.

And then we see Kurt calling Wes, and the real story behind this one-shot begins.

I like the idea that Wes is this 'big brother' like figure that Kurt feels confident confiding in when he doesn't know what to do anymore. Obviously he's still upset about the incident as a whole and just needs someone to reassure him that the world hasn't fallen completely off its axis. Having someone like Wes-sober but also righteously enraged about the fact that his best friend has been seriously injured-enter the scene was perfect. He brings order and stability back to the situation because he's this third party that can gather all the facts (Kurt's and the Warblers' perspectives) without necessarily being as biased (i.e. Kurt's obviously more biased towards Blaine than the Warblers, whereas Wes has very strong loyalties to both). It just balances everything out evenly and finally gives the Warblers a fair chance to explain themselves. I like that because, in spite of their actions, they need a chance to explain why they did what they did if they have a prayer of making amends.

And reading their dialogue (Wes, David, Nick, Jeff, and Trent) really filled in a lot of those gaps that the episode didn't address. I'm very pleased with how you handled it. (As a sign of how pleased I was, I actually re-read this three times before reviewing now.) I just love how Wes comes in to mediate without immediately forgiving the Warblers or, conversely, refusing to see their side of the story. He listens to them and it's just a very important bonding experience for them all. It shows that, in spite of the difficulties they are facing now, the Warblers can still come together to resolve this issues, however badly they may appear to be at first. I also thought it was interesting that you included the part with Jeff and Nick being harassed by Sebastian. It just comes to show that Sebastian's not just trying to upset Kurt's and Blaine's lives, but he's also trying to destabilize the Warblers as a whole. Very conniving and self-centered, and definitely in-character after what we've seen.

I did like that Wes was able to help resolve the problems, in the end, even though Blaine and Kurt didn't decide to pursue Sebastian's punishment more strongly. I was rather surprised with their passivity in the episode, but I suppose the emotional trauma of the incident would take precedence to the need to see justice for Sebastian. They both just want things to return to normal, whereas Wes wants to see them resolved in a way that is actually just. I'm pleased to see that: someone needs to do it, even if Kurt and Blaine aren't the ones to do so.

All in all, a wonderful read. As I mentioned above, I've already re-read this several times because I enjoy it so much. Your writing is as enjoyable as ever and this piece definitely filled in some gaps from the episode. Bravo! :)

~truffles

Thank you. Thank you x infinity for writing this. I NEEDED to see something explaining things. I'm still very upset over the whole thing, but this... This helped immensely. The story was wonderful, Wes was AMAZING, as were the others. Kurt and Blaine, and everything. You tied it up into a much more believable setting and I am so thankful you did. Wonderful story!

Another great story! I especially loved Kurt's last line!

I feel a bit rude askig this in a review of a different story, but I was wondering when you are planning to update "The Substance of Things Hoped For"?