misqueue: grey titmouse(?) sitting amongst blossoms (Default)
misqueue ([personal profile] misqueue) wrote2012-10-09 08:40 am

[Fic] So Strange Are the Ways

I was trying to work on the epilogue for ITWOS last night. I wrote this instead.

So Strange Are the Ways
(title from the lyrics to "Heaven Coming Down" by The Tea Party)

Summary: Blaine returns to Ohio.
Wordcount: ~1300
Pairing: Kurt/Blaine
Rating: T
Genre: Drama
Warnings: undiagnosed mood disorder; spoilers for 4x04
Notes: This is not really a proper fic by my internal definition, just a prosey speculative sketch/outline of Blaine post 4x04. I wanted to try writing something a bit more emotionally restrained (and cautiously optimistic) given the emotional catastrophe of the episode. It tentatively exists within my ITWOS head canon (until it's jossed after the hiatus, then I will revise).


The landing gear touches down with a terminal double thud that reverberates in the freshly carved empty space within Blaine's chest. He's back in Ohio, and it's done. Blaine texts Kurt shortly after the plane lands, as soon as the flight attendant tells them they may use their cell phones. The distance yawns deep and pulls taught between here and New York, where he left his heart. It may be still attached to him, but barely. It's up to Kurt to sever whatever strand of affection may yet bind them; Blaine has done enough damage. He isn't hopeful that Kurt won't. Kurt does not reply to his text. But then Blaine didn't expect him to. Silence is better than some other things; Blaine tries to convince himself.

His bag feels like it's twenty pounds heavier when he hauls it out of the overhead compartment. He nearly clocks himself in the head.

His mother meets him. Blaine didn't expect her to, thought he would be getting a cab home.

As she greets him, her smile is as it always is, familiar and a little forced, as if she's still not sure she is meant to smile at him. He's never understood it, but he's grateful to see her. She is his mother.

"Hi, Mom," Blaine says.

She cocks her head, her smile turning to a moue of concern. She fusses uselessly with the collar of his cardigan. "This gray doesn't suit you. It makes you look tired, dear."

"I am tired," Blaine says with a sigh. She doesn't respond to that as she turns toward the direction of the escalator. He's almost grateful even as a bitterness spreads on the back of his tongue.

"How's Kurt?" she asks, brightly now, walking a step ahead of him and glancing back over her shoulder.

"He's enjoying working at Vogue dot com," Blaine replies. "His boss thinks he has a promising future there."

"That's wonderful to hear," his mother says. "I'm sure you're proud of him."

"Of course," Blaine says.

-

In the car, Blaine sends Kurt another text: "I wanted to tell you something but I didn't get the chance. I'm so proud of you." His fingers twitch wanting to add another 'I'm sorry' or 'please call me', but he leaves it at that.

-

When Blaine goes upstairs after dinner, he tries calling Kurt. He still doesn't know what he wants to say, just that he needs to say something. It goes to voicemail. The message he leaves is simple, "It's me again, Kurt. I... hope you're okay even though I know you're probably not. I am, still, so sorry. Please call me whenever you can." He doesn't say, 'I love you' or 'I miss you' or 'Please forgive me' or 'I hate the way I left things between us' or 'I hate what I did' or...

Blaine changes into his pajamas and climbs into bed. His sheets are clean, changed today. He's grateful for it, a small thing. It's not even nine o'clock, but he is done with being conscious today.

-

He wakes up again around two AM and can't get back to sleep. His mind is a theater playing a montage of personal failure. To distract himself--or to vainly seek some small sign of possible absolution--Blaine checks his phone for new messages. But there's nothing from Kurt, and he doesn't care about the others. He types a new text to Kurt, sends it before he can censor himself. "I understand if you hate me now. It's okay if you do. You should."

-

The next day, Finn is in the choir room after school, and Blaine is genuinely glad to see him. It brings back a small portion of last year when the choir room felt safe. Blaine tries to talk to him, because Finn doesn't seem to hate him. Just asks him questions Blaine can't--or doesn't want to--answer. Then everyone else comes in.

-

If Blaine thought the silence from Kurt was suffocating him before; it's strangling him now. There are moments when he sits on the edge of the bed, his unresponsive phone clenched in his hand, feeling like his skin is about to tear open, his brain will collapse, and his heart will simply shudder to a halt. He throws the phone across the room and discovers gorilla glass really is that strong.

-

Eli texts him, polite and not pushy. He's not a bad guy, and Blaine didn't treat him well either. It's hard not to hate him though. Blaine blocks his number, blocks him on Facebook, too. Goes to the bathroom and gargles Listerine until there are tears running down his face and the inside of his cheeks have gone numb.

Then he goes to the basement and punches the heavy bag until his arms and hands rage in agony. The next day he has to use his shoulder to push the doors open at school. No one notices. He doesn't feel better, but at least it's a pain that he's used to. It's distracting.

He misses Kurt. He eats lunch with Brittany who talks about how she misses Santana, but it's completely different for him, and he doesn't know how to explain that to her, so he doesn't try.

-

Blaine texts Kurt everyday: morning, midday, and twice in the evenings. He calls every night before he goes to bed. Weeks pass and he doesn't get a reply. Finn tells him Kurt says he's hanging in there. Busy with work. Grateful for work. He isn't ready to talk to Blaine yet.

Blaine holds on to the 'yet'.

-

Miss Pillsbury stops him in the hall one afternoon. Invites him to come talk to her anytime he wants. She hands him a pamphlet and smiles at him. He expects it to be either the 'So You're a Two-timing Ho?' one or the 'So You Look Like Crap?' one, but it's neither. It's titled 'So Your Boyfriend Left You Behind and You're a Ticking Time Bomb?' Blaine laughs humorlessly. Does she not know he's already exploded?

"I mean it, Blaine," Emma says firmly, so sincere and sweet it tugs at whatever crumbling cinder passes for Blaine's heart. "If you need someone to talk to--and I believe that you do--I'm here for you."

"Thank you," Blaine says. She's written her cell phone number on the back of it in fastidious handwriting with a note: 'Call me anytime you need to. You're not alone with this.' "Thank you," he repeats. She nods at him with a sympathetic smile. Blaine blinks back the burn of tears--he hasn't properly cried for a while now--and stammers a good bye. He keeps the pamphlet.

By the time he gets home, Blaine is feeling, not better, but ever so slightly lighter. When his mother says hello to him from the kitchen where she's going through the day's mail, he smiles at her. She offers to make him a snack. Today he doesn't decline it.

-

Two days later he goes to see Miss Pillsbury. He's not sure if it will help; they don't talk about very much that first day; he finds he doesn't know how, like there's a weak muscle he needs to strengthen before he can find or form the words. But it's something, and she listens.

-

Three days later, Kurt replies to one of his texts. "I can't talk to you about this yet, but I'm writing you a letter." Blaine is staring at it in disbelief when he gets another. "You should know that I don't hate you, Blaine. I thought I might, but it's still very much the opposite." And several minutes later, he gets a third. "I miss you too."

That night Blaine lets himself cry.


.

[identity profile] whitesheepcbd.livejournal.com 2012-10-08 08:01 pm (UTC)(link)
Wow....this is beautifully written. And I can see it happening something like this, that Kurt wouldn't be able to talk to him for quite a while and Blaine is on a downward spiral for weeks. I like this look into his head you gave us.

[identity profile] misqueue.livejournal.com 2012-10-08 08:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you! I really do hope someone sees that he's struggling, and I hope that Kurt can be his friend again.

[identity profile] pyro-semi.livejournal.com 2012-10-08 10:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Three days later, Kurt replies to one of his texts. "I can't talk to you about this yet, but I'm writing you a letter." Blaine is staring at it in disbelief when he gets another. "You should know that I don't hate you, Blaine. I thought I might, but it's still very much the opposite." And several minutes later, he gets a third. "I miss you too."

That night Blaine lets himself cry.


;_______________; Very moving.

I'm sure that Kurt needs his space but that he's still plenty in love with Blaine :) I know those two will be able to work things out. It'll be silly of them not to.

[identity profile] misqueue.livejournal.com 2012-10-09 10:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you! Yes, I think Kurt needs a lot of space to get to a place where he can be comfortable addressing stuff with Blaine, but I think he meant it when he said he was never saying goodbye, so he's successfully resisted a terrible knee jerk response, and that gives me hope! Blaine, obviously, has a lot of work to do, both within himself and in his relationship with Kurt. I think they will have to rebuild their relationship from its foundations. I have faith they can do it. I expect they'll return to being friends for a while first.

[identity profile] ultrageekery.livejournal.com 2012-10-09 12:54 am (UTC)(link)
This is just gorgeous. Thank you for writing it. <3

[identity profile] misqueue.livejournal.com 2012-10-09 10:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you very much for reading! :)

[identity profile] gleekdanielle.livejournal.com 2012-10-09 01:19 am (UTC)(link)
I love the pacing of this story. Each small section is a story in itself, yet they all flow together. This might be one of my new head-canons (so many great writers, so many head-canons :); I really wish this is what would happen in the tv series, but given how clumsy they were with the breakup I fear that's too much to ask, sigh...
Edited 2012-10-09 01:19 (UTC)

[identity profile] misqueue.livejournal.com 2012-10-09 10:13 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you! I would like to flesh out each of those moments into something more, but at the same time, I don't want to delve too deeply until we know how things will go. I'm glad you found this possible version compelling. I hope it goes something like this in the series, but with such a big cast, Kurt & Blaine may not get the screen time I'd like for this arc.

[identity profile] wowbright.livejournal.com 2012-10-10 01:47 am (UTC)(link)
I love the subtle, non-angsty way on which you portray Blaine's depression. I was also touched that he recognized that Eli is kind of collateral damage in this situation, even if Blaine's not at a point where he can apologize or come clean about that.
Edited 2012-10-10 01:49 (UTC)

[identity profile] misqueue.livejournal.com 2012-10-10 02:35 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you! I know a lot of folks are riffing on this theme, but I did want to add a variation of my own. Depression can manifest in diverse ways, and--at least in my experience--it can be extremely insidious in its subtlety at times, especially if you haven't identified it yet.

I don't know if we'll ever learn much about Eli. On one hand, he doesn't matter (not in the Burt sense, in the narrative sense) because we're more concerned about what brought Blaine to that place and how he (& Kurt) may or may not recover. At the same time, I'd like him to be acknowledged as more than a literally faceless device.

[identity profile] wowbright.livejournal.com 2012-10-11 12:31 am (UTC)(link)
Exactly. I have all the love for this ficlet and your comments. xoxoxox

[identity profile] crush on you (from livejournal.com) 2012-10-12 12:08 am (UTC)(link)
*sobs*

That feeling like he's like a soda bottle, shaken and unopened? That was too close to home.

[identity profile] misqueue.livejournal.com 2012-10-12 08:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Ah, that's a good simile & I am really glad to hear it, that that internal tension was palpable in this way. Emma is helping him unscrew the cap gently (and I really hope she will in canon, but I don't dare to hope yet). *hugs* & tissues for you. (I'm sorry for the sadness.<3 )

Thank you for reading & commenting! <3
Edited 2012-10-12 20:22 (UTC)

[identity profile] rainbowstevie.livejournal.com 2012-11-03 07:45 am (UTC)(link)
I was trying to figure out why this one stood out, and I then I realized it's so much more external than most of what I've read -- less introspection and more interaction with people around him. It's easy to think about 4x04 in a vacuum, but I love that you've acknowledged what he's actually surrounded by on a daily basis. But as far as introspection goes, I quite like the attention drawn to the contrast between "silence from Kurt before" and "silence from Kurt after."

[identity profile] misqueue.livejournal.com 2012-11-03 10:07 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you! I like how you describe the story as being more external. I was trying to do something a bit more delicate (in a sense) than a lot of the other stories I'd read post-episode. Not so much delicate with the subject matter (although I did want to address his mental state with a lighter touch rather than wallow), but with how Blaine is processing things. He's somewhat dissociated from what's happened, not in denial exactly, but not letting himself really go there yet. Also, mood disorders can be subtle, and I think Blaine is fairly practiced at ignoring the hard internal stuff by turning his attention outward rather than inward when inward isn't looking so rosy.

I'm also pleased that contrast with missing Kurt before and after landed. :)

I'm glad you liked the fic. I really appreciate your reading and taking the time to comment!

[identity profile] gleek69.livejournal.com 2013-01-01 10:08 pm (UTC)(link)
I just found this now, and I know it's many months later, but I just wanted you to know I loved it. :)

[identity profile] misqueue.livejournal.com 2013-01-04 04:33 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you! <3 (Sorry to be late with my reply to you). Feedback is always most welcome, regardless of timing. :) I'm glad you found this and enjoyed it!