"Uh, yeah -- sorry,” (he doesn’t sound like it; maybe a close cousin to condescending) “but no dogs allowed.”
Ignoring the aggressively red vest that proclaims WORKING SERVICE DOG - DO NOT PET/DO NOT DISTRACT and various other instructions of a nature he a) does not care for and b) does not care for so badly he used it as two examples. Fuck the FDA.
(It’s the ADA, Jack’s voice floats through, producing the words in bold black-and-white lettering behind his eyeballs so his brain takes note.
who ➛ Atticus & Blaine
when ➛ Around 12:30am.
where ➛ The Foster house.
what ➛ Blaine and Tic are foster kids. And they’re not exactly in the most loving of places.
Blaine
Blaine hated this house. He had never lived somewhere that felt less like home. A place that provided four walls and a roof was never meant to be so uninviting and cold and cruel. A place he was legally supposed to reside in wasn’t supposed to send his stomach flipping at the mere thought of stepping through the doors. There had been countless broken promises from the foster program and Blaine had long since given up almost entirely with hoping anything better was going to happen. All he could use to keep him going was the fact that, one day, he’d be eighteen. And then the world was his oyster.
With a soft sigh, Blaine pushed open the front door. It was habit to pause as soon as the door was locked behind him, no matter the time of day, to check if anyone was around. It always guided him forwards; if he could grab something from the kitchen on the way to his room, or if he was going to have to avoid the fifth step to go unnoticed. Luckily, at this time the house was fairly quiet other than the soft murmur of the TV behind the closed lounge door. It was one of the reasons he loved taking the later shift at Breadstix; he managed to avoid most of the crap that he would have walked into earlier.
Carefully, Blaine ascended the stairs, stepping very carefully so he didn’t end up alerting anyone to his return. It was madness, having to tread so carefully in his own home. Then again, none of them had really been welcome here. It was just a bed and facilities. They were a means of getting more money from the government, nothing else. When he’d first entered the foster program, Blaine had been pretty convinced he would find some fairytale permanent family. Between fairly distant families that didn’t give much effort and ending up in this one? He definitely wasn’t expecting miracles any time soon. After all, he only had a little while longer, and most people didn’t want to foster the older kids. He was getting by. All he had to do was continue that.
After pausing again on the landing, Blaine made his way past the other doors and pressed his palm up against the door. Quickly, he tapped each of his fingers against the door - quiet but still a little warning that it was him and not to be alarmed or defensive - before slipping inside with a tired smile. Instantly, he kicked off his shoes, placing them under the frame of his bed and out of plane sight and dropped his school bag on his bed before looking over at Atticus to guage whether the other was still awake. Of course he already knew the answer considering they never slept until the other was back and safe and okay, but it was just a tradition or formality that Blaine had fallen into.
“Hey... Sorry I’m late. I didn’t expect you to still be up,” he murmured, making sure his voice was low as he moved around the room and quickly got changed into his pajamas before pulling the small bundle of money out of the toe of his shoe. After counting it quickly, Blaine shifted to pull up the corner of the mattress where the small box was hiding and lay the notes on top of the others. “You must be exhausted, I heard you up early this morning...” he continued, settling everything back into place and covering it all back up before sitting on the edge of his mattress and stretching his legs out with a stifled yawn.
who ➛ Atticus & Blaine
when ➛ After prom.
where ➛ Outside of their houses.
what ➛ After Atticus asked Blaine to prom, they had an incredible night dressed to the nines and Blaine is a happy little puppy.
Blaine
The night had been beyond perfect. The gym was decorated absolutely beautifully, everyone looked stunning and Blaine hadn’t been there alone like he’d expected. Of course he was lacking a boyfriend to have the typical romantic prom with like all of the teen movies he’d drowned his life in. However, what he did have was his absolute best friend as his date for the entire evening. It had put a lot less pressure on everything, made it fun and exciting and far more relaxed than worrying about eating something that would make his breath bad or dancing a little too wildly and putting his date off. Of course, they’d done everything textbook to how Blaine had been describing for years. Atticus had definitely known just how much prom had meant to Blaine and really had come through to make it all the more special for him. Blaine would never be able to make up for it in a million years, but he’d sure as hell try to show his appreciation. Right from Atticus asking him, Blaine had been thanking him continuously, offering to get him lunch - anything - to show how grateful he truly was for the whole thing.
Even after hours of dancing and catching up with his friends and posing for photos, Blaine was still practically vibrating with the excitement and energy of the evening. Hell, he was half surprised that Atticus hadn’t mentioned how much Blaine was shaking the car with his inability to keep his legs from bouncing while Tic drove them home. He was just so incredibly happy, as sad as it sounded. But he was. Prom had been a lot more of a success than he’d ever dreamed of and that was definitely attributing to his happiness, but mostly it was just the sheer validation that his claims for the past decade that he had the world’s greatest best friend in the entire world that really made him beam.
Blaine let out a soft sigh as the car slowed, a small blip of sadness at the prospect of the evening being over entering his mind. He quickly shook it off, however, when he glanced over to his best friend and squeezed his thigh affectionately with a beaming smile. “Thank you so much, again,” he practically breathed with appreciation, “tonight has been beyond incredible. I mean, I’ll never be able to scrub my brain of Mr. Schue’s questionable dancemoves, but what’s a highschool prom without a little trauma?” Blaine gave a soft laugh, unbuckling his belt before hopping out of the car while singing softly under his breath.
“At least I get to go and eat whatever leftovers my mom put in the fridge and curl up in my pjs. Maybe watch some movie or something now and not be dragged to some questionable motel,” he pointed out with a soft laugh, draping his jacket over his arm to save wrinkling it too badly until he could hang it up inside. “And, hey, you weren’t that bad of a dancer, I’m pretty sure I still have all my toes. So you have no excuse next time, by the way.”
who ➛ Atticus & Blaine
when ➛ Friday night.
where ➛ Atticus’ apartment.
what ➛ Lorelai woke up needing her father. Atticus doesn’t know what’s wrong. Blaine to the rescue. Or something like that.
Blaine
When Blaine first took this job, he hadn’t expected it to be anything other than a mere tutoring sort of thing. Of course, he was well aware that it came with a potential room and it was a definite commitment, but he had expected it to purely be a job. However, it had taken him a mere matter of days to grow affectionate for Atticus and his daughter. She reminded him so much of himself when he was young and his parents had found out that he was deaf. He couldn’t communicate with anyone outside of his immediate family, and even then it was tedious and often resulted in mere pointing and attempting to speak. As he grew up, this simply resulted in a lot of laughter at his expense as he tried to speak, to learn to lip-read and continue on like any able-child would. The difference in Lorelai’s case was just how much Atticus cared. After all, he was willing to pay for another person to be there purely for the sole purpose of aiding the communication between them; and if that wasn’t the most incredible thing that Blaine had ever known anyone to do for their daughter, he didn’t know what was.
Now, the extra involvement felt almost like second nature. So when Blaine was awoken by the familiar press of tiny hands against his arm, he wasn’t even remotely shocked anymore. Instead, he quickly turned on his bedside lamp despite the protest from his eyes and the dizziness from still being half asleep. The first thing was to see if there was anything visibly wrong, which would make this all a lot easier. While Lorelai was definitely improving leaps and bounds with learning ASL, there was still a small struggle with communicating less common means - just like with any child learning to speak, he supposed.
Carefully, he sat up and gave her a comforting smile to ease the teary look on her face. This definitely wasn’t uncommon, Blaine knew that Lorelai had struggled to settle in for a long time and still wasn’t entirely there despite everything that Atticus had done. And it wasn’t his fault at all, this was just a big change for her which he understood entirely.
Quickly, he signed asking if she was okay, mouthing the words to aid her in further learning - even though this was an emergency, it didn’t mean that they had to stop with any opportunity to learn. After a few more basic questions, Blaine couldn’t help but cradle her head in one of his hands affectionately before dropping it to take one of her hands and lead her down the hallway to her father. It was a strange dynamic, sure, but it worked. This way Atticus was able to communicate with his daughter and she was able to communicate back, it merely just took a small effort from Blaine to help out.
Once they were inside of Atticus’ room, Blaine carefully pressed at Atticus’ shoulder a few times to wake him before crouching down to Lorelai’s level ready to help translation between the two of them and aid as much as humanly possible. “Atticus, Lorelai needs you...” Blaine tried to get his attention, biting his lip after a moment while watching the shadowy vision of Atticus stirring in bed. He reached out after a few moments of giving Tic time to come around from sleep before turning on the light and instantly soothing Lorelai’s worries with a gentle and encouraging hand to her shoulder, coupled with a warm smile.
who ➛ Atticus & Blaine
when ➛ Tuesday night
where ➛ A frat party
what ➛ Being a very good and responsible big brother, Cooper takes his little brother to a frat party to meet all of his friends; including Atticus.
Blaine
When his parents had suggested visiting Cooper at college Blaine had been pretty reluctant. While his relationship with his brother had drastically improved over the past to years, and even more when Cooper had moved out to go to college, they still weren’t so close that they couldn’t wait until school breaks to see each other. However, after talking to Cooper and seeing the pros to the whole experience, he slowly came around to the idea or spending a few days in Dayton rather than being home. Plus, it was only a few hours drive, so if things really weren’t working, then he was more than capable of escaping. And it meant he got to experience college before actually getting to experience it for himself. Besides, he had, in a more uncharacteristic way than anything else, missed his brother. They texted, occasionally Skyped - although Blaine could count on one hand the number of times those had been successful and uninterrupted by some girl - so their relationship wasn’t strained in any way. And everyone said that absence made the heart grow fonder, right? Or maybe it was just the lack of constant narcissism irritating him that made Blaine more likely to tolerate Cooper.
What Blaine hadn’t expected from this trip, however, had been Cooper being entirely reluctant to actually give up his social life and fit Blaine into it. And so, Blaine was dragged to lunches with various people, sat and watched sports practices and now he was stood in the middle of a fraternity house with a cup in his hand, music blaring and people everywhere. Thankfully at least part of Cooper had gained some traditional big brother protectiveness and so he hadn’t strayed too far. Then again, Blaine hadn’t moved too far from him out of how sheerly overwhelmed he felt. He was luckily pretty good in social situations, and so he wasn’t just standing around. He’d met a few interesting people - interesting being the more appropriate and correct choice there - and really, he was just happy that Cooper was fitting in and seemed to be enjoying himself. Maybe enjoying himself a little too much, but who was he to judge? While the frat scene wasn’t really his thing, and he’d definitely decided that now, he could definitely appreciate the fact that Cooper had found himself a nice family here. Although he made a mental note to remind Cooper that, while the experience was definitely a big thing, he was paying for the education after all so attending classes was probably something he should take on.
As Cooper moved onto a more rowdy group of guys, Blaine stepped back a little to escape the potential stampede and get a little breathing room. The beer that had been in his cup for the past god knows how long had warmed from being held in his hands too long and he couldn’t help put pull a face after taking a sip. It hadn’t been good to begin with, but now? Definitely not. Finding a surface to place the cup on, Blaine took the moment to look around the house a little closer. While it was definitely trashed from the party, he could appreciate the fine details and the history behind whatever frat house they were in - Blaine had lost track with Cooper’s excitable little habit of monologuing, which quickly lost Blaine’s attention. As his eyes swept over the room, they fixed on a guy across the room before looking away quickly and busying himself with trying to use the advantage of being smaller to get back through the crowd to his brother. Once he was back under the drunken wing, Blaine chanced a second glance over to the same guy from a different angle, although he was torn from his curiosity by a hand clasping his shoulder in an obnoxious and loud introduction.
who ➛ Atticus & Blaine
when ➛ Sunday Evening
where ➛ Ray’s Bar & Nightclub
what ➛ The last place Blaine expected to met his soul mate was in a bar after being technically homeless for the few weeks.
Blaine
The past few weeks had been the worst in Blaine’s life. As a bright eyed, bushy tailed eighteen year old, he’d moved to the city. He was full of enthusiasm, full of charm, full of hope. He’d gone through his college experience with a grin on his face, a dashingly high GPA and come out with a masters in music composition. Of course, through out all of it, Blaine had never really thought of the future. He’d been like every other student with the idea that a degree automatically meant a job. And so when he was still jobless save for a job at the deli he lived above nearly a year later, he was admittedly quite shocked. At that point, Blaine had increased his range when job hunting, applying for nearly anything under the sun. Eventually, he’d landed a simple telecommunication job - which wasn’t at all what he’d come to the city for, but it was a job at the end of the day. Not many were hiring composers, and his compositions hadn’t exactly been picked up by the next Broadway show producer like in his dreams. Through out all of that, however, Blaine had been surprisingly optimistic. After all, he was in his early twenties with a good group of friends, he had his own place, he had a nine ‘til five job... He couldn’t really complain. He still had disposable income to go out every now and then, he enjoyed his time out of work and he wasn’t as brain dulled as everyone made out an office job to make people. Hell, he even had a list of ex-dates. It was a small list, out of his own choice to not get too committed or attached with anyone who wasn’t his soul mate, but he’d still had a lot of fun.
It all started to go down hill a few months ago when he lost his job. A lot of people in the office had been made redundant - the typical last in, first out approach applied unfortunately. At the time, Blaine had been convinced he would find another one. After all, he now had a decent reference. He hadn’t been fired. He had experience in a corporate environment. If anything he was more employable now and he should, therefore, have found a job with ease. And so, he invested in a nice suit with his redundancy pay out. He had his résumé looked over before handing it out all over the city. He’d been convinced that he could at least get a little café job just to tie himself over before finding something a little more permanent just like before. Hell, he’d even tried to find a roommate to take the pressure off his back for rent - which went well for a while. The first one decided she didn’t like the city and moved home. The second had been a really quiet guy who hadn’t bothered him much. Hell, Blaine quite enjoyed his company and everything was going well between them until he came back to find his roommate had robbed him of pretty much everything.
From then, he’d been living minimalistically while still looking for a job. He kept his suit pretty much pristine, giving it careful hand washes whenever something happened to it. Hell, his optimism had only waned a little after the robbery, but it steadily climbed again alongside his confidence - or at least his faked confidence. That hadn’t lasted too long, however. After using the rest of his savings to pay his next rent and no job, he had nothing for the next month. And then he’d ended up ignoring the calls, the letters, anyone who knocked on his door. That worked for a while. And he told himself that he’d get a job and the next payment he got would be sent straight to his landlord with an apology for the two missed months, maybe a bottle of wine and the promise that he would be back on track. But, then he returned one day after being out job hunting and the locks to his apartment had been changed. Now, he’d never been that guy. Blaine had always been careful with his money, he was a good employee, he was a responsible guy and had been living on his own for the past five years with absolutely no trouble. In fact, his landlord had never had a problem with him, but apparently being nearly two months behind with rent and not explaining himself hadn’t gone down well at all.
And Blaine was far too proud to call home. In fact, he had very little to do with home now. He hadn’t heard from his brother since his first year in college. And his father had disappeared off the face of the Earth after his parents divorced. The only one he was still in contact with was his mother, and he hated to worry her. So he just didn’t call. Or when he did, he simply lied. It was the same conversation on just a different day: Yes, work is fine. Yes, still healthy. Yes, still eating well. No, still no soul mate. And that kept her happy, which made Blaine feel a little more relieved. Even when he’d managed to get a suitcase full of his things back and taken up residence on his friend Tina’s couch for just a little. By this point, however, Blaine’s optimism was barely lit inside of him. His enthusiasm had pretty much gone. He still had no job and he was couch surfing between his friends to stop them from pitying him too much - but he only knew so many people. He did odd jobs here and there: playing piano in some cafes; busking on the streets; helping kids out with their homework at local libraries; picking up an odd shift or two at the diner he’d worked at previously,although they were struggling financially as well and couldn’t really afford to re-employ him.
Eventually, it had taken its toll. After an entire day trying his damn hardest to get just an interview, Blaine was still back to just square one. No home, no job, nothing. He really didn’t know what he was doing wrong, but instead of his previous tactic on blaming it on the current economic climate, he’d started blaming himself. And that’s how he’d ended up in the first bar that he’d set his sights on. Blaine had never been much of a drinker unless it was in social situations, but here he was sat at the bar in his slightly worn looking suit counting out notes and coins in his pocket to see what he could afford to get multiple of tonight. He needed something. Hell, this was probably why the homeless often had drinking or drug problems. It seemed to numb it to an extent, or make the hard days a little less hard. Or maybe it was just a nice way to kid themselves that tomorrow would be different. Of course, he hadn’t reached that point. Hell, Blaine couldn’t remember the last time he’d actually drank anything alcoholic come to think of it.
After catching one of the bar tender’s eyes, he ordered a Captain Morgan and coke. As he drank, far too quickly, he let his eyes wander around the place itself with mild curiosity. It was a strange mix, but then again it was a strange time. Most bars were closed, closing, or emptying at this time making way for the clubs to open, but this seemed to cater for both. The dance floor wasn’t exactly packed, but if anyone had asked Blaine what time it was based on the number of people inside, he would have definitely guessed later than it was. Turning back, he placed the drink back on the bar with a slight hum, the spin of the turn hitting him and making him a little dizzy. He’d always been a lightweight, but having not drank in a while had made him far lighter. The buzz, however, was definitely welcome and he didn’t hesitate on ordering another and drinking it just as quickly as he continued his people watching. Two drinks in and Blaine was pretty sure that he’d be up there dancing in a little while. His tie was loosened around his neck, the jacket was draped messily over his knee and he was starting to feel the tension leave his body. And for that he was entirely grateful. One thing he’d never really understood about these places were just how free people were. And he really wondered if people would disclose these actions and nights to their soul mate when they met them. But then again, not everyone believed in them quite like Blaine did. With a soft laugh, Blaine turned as he felt a presence behind him at the bar again before placing his empty glass down blindly, still a little distracted by a couple on the dance floor.
who ➛ Atticus & Blaine
when ➛ After Kurt and Blaine’s wedding.
where ➛ Kurt and Blaine’s wedding reception.
what ➛ Blaine is on cloud nine after marrying the love of his life. Atticus just watched the love of his life marry his brother.
Husband.
The word kept running around his head as he watched Kurt laughing and smiling with their friends and family - talking about the little details of the wedding with such passion that Blaine felt like his heart was about to burst. In fact, he felt so full of everything that he was about to burst. His cheeks ached from smiling to much, his throat felt hoarse from all the speeches and having to hold back his happy tears and emotions for the past few, god knows how many, hours. He was just so happy. Elated even. Although, right now, he had to admit that he was entirely thankful that he had a few moments to himself to just collect his thoughts. He’d had non-stop conversations with everyone, it seemed, over the past few hours and he was ready to just be able to step back and take stock of everything.
Honestly, he couldn’t believe that he was married. After everything over the past few months, Blaine had been almost positive that this wouldn’t happen. But he’d always hoped it would. Kurt was, and would always be, his first and only love; the absolute love of his life. And even though the last few months had been rough, to say the least, he was eternally grateful that his had actually happened and that he could start the first day of the rest of his life with the absolute love of his life.
As his eyes scanned across the room, he noted that there was one person that was missing from the usual crowd around his husband. Atticus was definitely an important part of both of their lives, and Blaine couldn’t remember seeing him since the actual ceremony. With a few quiet interruptions, and maybe a glass or two of champagne that was still floating around, Blaine continued around the room to see if he could find the other Hummel. After all, he’d danced with everyone else in the family, and he’d always enjoyed Atticus’ company. While the two of them hadn’t been too close in the beginning, Blaine really did owe him, especially over the last few months. And he had to admit that he had a serious soft spot for his husband’s twin because of it.
He could feel the champagne hitting him eventually, the flush rising up his collar and his palms started to get a little sweaty. And so, he abandoned his search for now and made his way towards the exit just for a little fresh air. With a soft kiss to Kurt’s cheek and a quiet mention that he’d be right back, Blaine was outside the hustle and bustle of the reception and he let himself lean back against the wall with a soft laugh. He still really couldn’t believe his luck at all. After a few moments he glanced around, before frowning as he noticed the one person he’d been looking for previously. “What are you doing out here?” He asked a little too abruptly - thanks to the champagne and the never ending family members and guests keeping him from actually eating any of the food.
