Chapter 6: Past (Part I)

Kurt woke up the next morning, confused of his surroundings. It wasn't until he rolled over, almost on top of Blaine, that he remembered yesterday's events. With a tired sigh he pushed himself out of bed, rubbing the last remains of sleep out of his eyes.

He turned around and stared at Blaine who was buried under a mound of blankets and pillows, his face barely visibly. Even in his sleep a frown was etched on Blaine's face, his eyes clenched tight, as if fighting tears within his dream.

Kurt ran a hand through his hair, lost in this situation. Blaine was the support system and Kurt was the weak one, that's how it had been throughout their entire relationship. He was at a major loss as to what he was supposed to do.

Leaving Blaine, Kurt pushed himself into the bathroom, staring at himself in the mirror and groaning. He hadn't done his moisturizer routine last night, having forgotten with all the more important tragedies of yesterday.

His skin was dry, his hair was askew, and even baby face Kurt had stubble that needed to go. He reached in the dopp kit he had packed within his duffle bag and rummaged through it frantically, trying to find his razor. After a minute of desperate search Kurt stopped, realizing that he had indeed forgotten it.

Kurt groaned loudly, rubbing the stubble that was barely visible but there. There was no way Blaine could see him like this. Looking around the bathroom Kurt's eyes rested on a medicine cabinet, and in a desperate attempt to find a razor, he pulled it open.

His eyes scanned the shelves for a disposable razor, thankfully finding one on the bottom shelf. Kurt reached up and grabbed it, and made to close the cabinet, before his eyes rested on a bottle of pills.

Prozac.

Days of eighth grade health class discussion on depression rushed into Kurt's brain at once and he hurriedly shut the cabinet so he couldn't see the pill bottle anymore.

It made sense for Blaine to be depressed now, perfect and total sense; Kurt had been exactly where Blaine was. But that bottle wasn't new.

In a daze Kurt quickly shaved the patches of stubble off and ran his moisturizer cream over his face, the hour-long process taking under five minutes.

Thoughts of Blaine continued to run through his mind as Kurt dressed into a casual pair of jeans and a blue long sleeve shirt, not taking more than a minute to inspect his appearance in the mirror before rushing out of the bathroom.

He couldn't even look at Blaine as he tiptoed through Blaine's room, his mind still racing. So many questions were running through his head, it was causing a headache. He stumbled down the stairs and stopped in his tracks when he reached the living room.

Wes and David were lounging on chairs, sipping coffee and skimming through the Boston paper. Wes noticed Kurt first and nodded in acknowledgment motioning for him to join them.

Kurt stumbled into his seat, mind still racing.

"Dude, you alright? You look like you just saw a ghost. Want us to get your brother-"

"Step-brother," Kurt said hurriedly, the words pouring out without thought, "And no, thank you. I'm quite alright."

Wes and David exchanged a long look, eyebrows raised in disbelief. Wes set down his drink and leaned forward, staring at Kurt.

"Really?"

Kurt nodded casually, his legs cross tightly, but the longer Wes stared, the more his head hurt and the more questions he had.

"No!" Kurt finally exclaimed, uncrossing his legs and leaning forward as well, his voice dropping into a whisperer, "What is wrong with Blaine?"

Wes looked both appalled and confused, "What the hell Kurt, his mother just died!"

"No!" Kurt interrupted, his hands held up in defense, "No, not that. I know that. I mean, look, all I'm asking is if Blaine has had some personal issues before this."

David put his coffee down as well and leaned forward too, "What did he tell you?"

Kurt sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "He didn't tell me anything. We never talk about him. It's just, I saw something in his medical cabinet when I was looking for a razor."

"You shave? You're like twelve," David joked before Kurt's glare silenced him.

"This is serious," Kurt, whispered, crossing his arms, "What do you two know?"

Wes groaned, "It's really not our place to tell-"

"But Blaine never will," David interrupted knowingly, glancing at Wes, "So we might as well."

Wes turned to glare at David, "Dave-"

"But he doesn't get to know we told you," David directed at Kurt who nodded solemnly, eyes wide in anticipation.

"Alright," David started with a sigh, taking a long sip of his coffee, "Well it really all started my sophomore year when he came…

The weird thing was that he came alone. Usually, especially for the younger boys, parents come with them, to say goodbye, but not Blaine.

I was in the Headmaster's office that day; it's a long story. I had accidently burned down a chemistry table. Regardless, I was this dorky sophomore, who thought he was the shit sitting outside the Headmaster's door, waiting for him to give me the standard lecture and detention.

And that's when he came in.

Blaine grew like, three inches his junior year, so he was short as hell when I first saw him. Short and scrawny with this mess of black curls that covered his eyes.

He came in and sat down stiffly in the chair next to mine, and I could tell he was new. I mean, he was wearing street clothes, some Indie Band shirt that covered a red long sleeve shirt and a pair of jeans, you've only really seen him in uniform, but he has a shit-load of these Band T-shirts that someone just needs to burn.

Not me though, I'm over the whole 'pyro' thing.

So here I am, sitting next to this five foot tall, sophomore who looks like he's late to his own funeral. I've never seen anyone looking that lost and dejected at the same time.

"Hey," I said, thrusting out my hand, "David Lee, sophomore, pyromaniac and rebel."

He stared at my hand for a few seconds and then jumped in his seat, like he realized what he was supposed to do and grasped it in a handshake.

"Blaine," the kid whispered, his eyes focusing on anything in the room that wasn't me.

"You got a last name Blaine?" I said casually, looking at the boy puzzled. He was majorly sketching out.

The Headmaster interrupted me as he opened the door and glared at me before turning in surprise to Blaine who was staring at the ground.

"Mr. Anderson?" The Headmaster asked and Blaine's eyes slowly traveled up to meet the Headmaster's. "We weren't expecting you for another couple of hours."

"Oh," Blaine whispered, his eyes wide, "I'm sorry sir. I can come back."

"Of course not Mr. Anderson, it's not an issue. Why don't you come in," He motioned inside his office and Blaine stood quietly, faintly smiling at me before he disappeared into the office.

"I'm afraid you'll have to wait a bit longer Mr. Lee," The headmaster said dismissively and I shot him a mock salute before he too entered his office, slamming the door shut behind him.

I don't know how often you've actually had to go to the Headmaster's office, but freshman and sophomore year it was more or less my 'Home Away From Home', and I knew every trick of that office.

Including the mail slot to the left of the door. Now, I wasn't one for eavesdropping, necessarily, but well you know Blaine. You meet him and he draws you in. Right? So I propped the flap over the slot up and stuck my ear inside.

"You came alone?" The Headmaster questioned and Blaine whispered a confirmation. "Alright, you know we rarely allow mid-semester transfers."

"Yes sir," Blaine whispered and the Headmaster continued.

"But under these circumstances I feel it's a wise choice. You don't have to worry about anything here Mr. Anderson. We're all on your side."

"Thank you sir," Blaine replied and the Headmaster rummaged through papers.

"We've arranged for your transcript to be shipped over, I believe you'll do quite well academically at Dalton, Mr. Anderson, and it says here you participated in you High Schools Glee Club?'

Blaine didn't answer, but the Headmaster continued on.

"Well I'm sure that with an audition you will be a great addition to our group, the Warblers. As for boarding arrangements, because of your mid-term admittance, you will be rooming by yourself for the time being. I'd take advantage of that Mr. Anderson, it's rare any of our boys get a dormitory to themselves. We've assigned you to the Marshall House, our house system is meant to be your home away from home. There are fifteen other boys in your House, from freshman to junior year. One of them, is outside this very instant-"

Of course after being referenced, even indirectly, I hurried back to my recently vacated chair and whistled innocently as the Headmaster opened the doors again and eyed me suspiciously.

"Mr. Lee, I'm ready for you," he said and I stood up and followed him into the office where Blaine was sitting swallowed by the large armchair.

"Mr. Lee I'd like to introduce you to-"

"We've met," I assured him, smiling at Blaine who continued to stare at his hands.

"Oh!" The Headmaster said, "Well that works out well then, doesn't it? Mr. Lee, as a disciplinary action towards your behavior in chemistry-"

"Accident," I threw in but the Headmaster continued with only a quick glare.

"As a disciplinary action I am putting you in charge of our new student, Mr. Anderson here. His dormitory is the one right next to you and Mr. Smith's. I'm sure you will make Blaine feel welcomed here."

"Of course," I said as I stood up and clasped Blaine's shoulder, my hand recoiling as the kid nearly jumped out of his socks. It was weird. "Come on Blaine, I'll give you the grand tour."

Blaine quietly stood up and followed a pace behind me as we walked the halls of Dalton.

"Really, you'll only come to the main building for class. We have four classes a day, on alternating days, which seems chill but less classes means longer classes. Trust me, you'll hate it," I joked but the kid's face remained passive, his eyes still trained on the ground.

I took him outside, through the courtyard and into the large white bricked building, Marshall House. Upon entering I knew, just from the past five minutes with Blaine, that'd it be a shock to his system.

The Salter twins, they graduated last year, were chasing each other around the common room, their marshmallow guns shooting marshmallows throughout the room.

Five other boys were in the midst of a Guitar Hero showdown, which had escalated into standing on top of tipped over furniture while strumming plastic guitars.

Six boys were yelling from upstairs for everyone to 'shut the hell up' because they were studying. And then there was Wes who in the midst of it all was tied up and gagged with a nerds rope.

"Alright, I'll introduce you to everyone later," I said slowly, looking down at Blaine who was staring wide eyed, wincing at the yells from upstairs.

"Everyone shut the hell up!" I yelled and the House turned to look at me, their eyes quickly focusing on Blaine who was cringing from my yell. "Sorry," I whispered to him, pushing him forward by the shoulder, stopping after he winced even more and tensed up. "Sorry, " I apologized again. "Follow me."

I led him up the stairs, passing by Wes who was screaming at me incoherently through the rope.

"Just eat the rope Wes, it's candy," I said with a roll of my eyes, "I'll be back, I'm helping the new kid right now."

We left him begging for help downstairs as I took Blaine to his room.

"You're right across from Wes and mine's room. Wes is the kid downstairs who's gagged with the Nerds Rope," I rambled on as I opened his door, revealing the large empty room that already had two small boxes sitting in it.

Blaine walked over to one of the boxes on the ground and crouched down, removing a picture frame and staring at it.

I stood awkwardly at the door, fidgeting with my hands as I waited for him to do something.

"You're other stuff is probably on the way," I said but Blaine shook his head as he put the silver picture frame on the bedside table.

"No, that's it," He mumbled, turning to look me in the eye for the first time. "Thanks, for helping me."

"Yeah," I said staring at the kid, "No problem."

The room fell into an awkward silence, and I left to go free Wes. That was Blaine's first day."

"You just left him?" Kurt asked, eyes wide and David shrugged noncommittally, as he took a long sip of his latté.

"You got to understand man, I didn't know this kid. I thought he was just a rich prick who was moody because his parents had shipped him off. I didn't know," David insisted, his voice rising at the end of his sentence.

"It wasn't until Wes," David turned to Wes who looked up from the crossword puzzle he'd been doodling on through the conversation, "That we figured anything out. Two months after Blaine started school."

Kurt turned to Wes, and Wes opened his mouth to continue the story, until they saw Blaine enter the room.

He was still wearing his pajama bottoms and a long black sleeve shirt. His hair was ruffled from sleep, and the circles under his eyes were still prominent but Kurt saw a small, miniscule glimmer of hope in his eyes.

That was something to hold on to.

"Morning, what are you guys talking about?" Blaine asked through a yawn as he disappeared into the connecting kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee.

Kurt locked eyes with David and Wes who shook their heads and mouthed 'later'

"Nothing," Kurt replied, eyes still locked on Wes's, "Nothing at all."

AN: My AVPM autographed poster finally came today, after a month of waiting. Can I just say that Joey Richter and Joe Walker's signatures are some of the coolest I've ever seen. Of course Darren's isn't that bad either. Reviews are even cooler than this new poster!