( mssg » blaine | sent ) Trust me, a do-over’s not always as good as it sounds. ( mssg » blaine | sent ) But you’re welcome! ( mssg » blaine | sent ) Merry Christmas, Blaine. I’m pretty looking forward it it too.
( mssg » barry | sent ) Sounds almost like you’re speaking from personal experience. ( mssg » barry | sent ) I don’t see you as the guy who makes enough mistakes to need that many do-over’s. You’re pretty great as far as I can tell. Putting up with me at this hour only solidifies the idea. 🙂 ( mssg » barry | sent ) Got the cookies ready and I look a lot less like it’s 2am and I haven’t slept yet! I’m on my way. See you in twenty?
Barry would be there in seconds flat, so he stalled. And then stalling turned into checking over what he was wearing and that turned into ten minutes of changing clothes over and over, during which Axel came to sit on his bed and give opinions that turned into conversation- and twenty minutes at least have gone by before Barry makes it to the door. He has no idea how long it takes Blaine to get where he was going but he suspects his own timing was either perfect or horrible, as always.
When he gets there he’s still a bit jittery, but he’s not too bad at hiding that. Really he should be better at it by now; he hid his secret identity as a criminal and as the Flash but his nerves were on his sleeve almost every last time. He can’t help but think that was something he missed about Sebastian. The mask wasn’t good for him to keep, but god it was easier in public to never embarrass himself like he does now. Regardless. Once he’s spotted Blaine. Barry tries to shake it all off, making his way over with a bit of a smile on his face. “Hey.”
Halfway into his drink–Blaine’s heels begin to bob against the rungs of his stool nervously. What–exactly–did Sebastian have to tell him that was such a struggle that their conversation was ended so abruptly? In such a cryptic manner, too. If this was a rehash of mistakes made? He wasn’t going to let Sebastian focus on the poor choices he made during high school. As far as he was concerned? They moved past that long before they graduated.
Bringing it up now was just picking at scars that were already faded. Not even close to old wounds. Not when there wasn’t even a wood to be considered. Regardless of his silent questioning–the answer came soon. Hearing Sebastian’s voice–hazel eyes were drawn up and a smile greeted his friend. No matter what Sebastian had to say–it felt good to lay eyes on him and have his company after going so long without. “Hey.” Fingertips moved from the side of his glass and motioned to the seat next to him. “First rounds on me. You know I’m going to ask you what that was about, don’t you? I think that was the first time you ever hung up on me.”
“I am sure they will be on board with it. Between you and me, I feel as if they constantly are trying to prove that they are just as good as I am.” Skylar had always felt as if the other two councilmen were trying a little too hard, he had never asked for all the solos, or the head Warbler position. He was voted those things, and somehow they still saw it as a competition.
“I want nothing more than for us to move past this and focus on the real end goal. A team divided like this cannot succeed. We need to be united.” Skylar hated the fact that even a simple idea can cause such chaos in the group. The change hadn’t even happened and they were already at each other’s throats, more so the council member who continually stole his gavel to bring up insane protests. Bringing his focus back to his coach, Skylar nodded in response to the question. “Of course we do. I speak on behalf of all the Warblers, you have done nothing but support us and let us learn for ourselves, while also guiding us in the correct direction.”
Blaine squinted thoughtfully. He understood the pressure that Skylar was under first hand. But when he was in that spot? Either he was oblivious to the fact that might be happening. Or they were all just in a different mindframe. Whatever it took to win was the name of the game. To perform their best, they put out their best. Just being the so-called embodiment of what the rest of them thought the best was? He loved being what and who he was to the Warblers back then. But it didn’t do much help for restful nights weeks leading up to competitions when the pressure stacked up and all eyes were on you.
Still. They were always there to support him. Lift him up and make him feel good about himself. It was concerning to hear that it might not be the case. Seeing it was one thing. Hearing it from the person in question? That was worrisome. Yet, it should be easy to fix. A matter of distract and focus elsewhere. Like on the current pressing matter of WINNING.
Relief flooded in with Skylar’s reassurance. If he was doing his job correctly so far (in spite of his brain being a muddled mess), then he’d keep pressing forward. “Good. I’m glad. It’s just,” he caught himself and waved off his thoughts. “Not important. What’s important is we get into that room and present the event to the Council. Should we call a meeting now? If you’re comfortable, I’m so on board. First? A coffee break though. Come with me and we’ll iron this out. My treat?”
Lift your head up high. And scream out to the world! I know I am someone! And let the truth unfurl. No one can hurt you now. Because you know what’s true.
Jeff had finally settled back into his dorm room after spending the last few days away from campus with his family. He had really enjoyed seeing everyone, but had been looking forward to the solitude that was Dalton and it’s parent and relative free zone. He always felt weird being around his parents when they were home for the holidays, also because it was an election year and his mother had won her seat yet again which means celebrating usually ran from November, thru thanksgiving and into December with her constantly reminding everyone of her platforms and her victory and how her gay son had helped her win the vote. Remembering this fact had him rolling his eyes as he walked through the shared dorm room and into the small bathroom. He had been grateful to come back to an empty room he didn’t need to see Blaine right away and unload his life on the curly haired man. He just needed to shower the Sterling Family Love Fest off of him and put on Dalton Jeff and hide the insanity back in it’s neat little place back in Columbus where it belonged.
Once he’d stripped himself of the sweater, button up, undershirt, belt, Jeans, loafers, boxer briefs and socks he’d stepped into the water that he’d already set a moment earlier. Thankful for the schools heating system he let the hot water spray over him as he adjusted the new shower speaker he’d gotten from his Aunt on his fathers side and let the familiar playlist start to belt out. Using his love for glitter and Ke$ha to cleanse himself of the weekend he’d had.
Blaine debated spending the entirety of his Christmas break at Dalton. There were students who were staying through the vacation that he thought could use the company. Being around friends was far more appealing. Judging from examples from recent years–Christmas could go several (but mostly one of two) ways. At another of his parents associate Christmas parties. Which meant reassuring his mother that things were perfect over and over and her never agreeing to the last minute. Then his father would fly in two days beforehand. There would be an awkward silence between them that made the house feel like it never could heat up enough where it was once warm and comfortable. That’d only lead to him focusing on how wrong it was to feel that cold around someone who was supposed to be the opposite. But there was always his brother to look forward to.
Or, it could be like last year. When Cooper was ‘contracted’ to film a social experiment inside local Los Angeles malls, the dinner was held at another location and he opted to stay home and not tell Cooper his parents were gone.
In the end–he left Thursday and was back that Tuesday when Cooper flew home and dropped Blaine off to ring in the New Year with his Dalton classmates. He’d just excused himself to dash up to his room and grab some music when he walked into the sound of water running through the pipes and the hum of Jeff’s singing filling the room. Jeff was back! A broad smile lit up his features as he leaned on the wall beside the door and spoke loud enough for his roommate to hear. “Hey. Just letting you know I’m here. Welcome back. How was your Christmas? Nice song choice, by the way. I’d give you an A plus.”
( mssg » blaine | sent ) In that case, cookies sound great. Cookies, ice cream and eggnog; I’m pretty sure if you asked a doctor what they’d recommend for a sleepless Christmas night, that’d be exactly it. ( mssg » blaine | sent ) Oh! No, yeah, hey! I totally know what you meant. ‘Cause we’re both up and it’s late and we’re gonna stay up, so yeah! ( mssg » blaine | sent ) No, don’t worry about it. The last thing you ever come off as is creepy. ( mssg » blaine | sent ) So I’ll see you in a bit?
( mssg » barry | sent ) I think you’re right. It does sound pretty perfect. ( mssg » barry | sent ) Thank you for the pass you gave me on that. I was borderline considering rebooting my phone in hopes that it might reboot the last five minutes of my life and I’d get a do-over. ( mssg » barry | sent ) Great! Creepy is the last thing I want to be! ( mssg » barry | sent ) I’ll see you soon. Merry Christmas, by the way. And thanks for the soon-to-be-company. I’m really looking forward to it.
pianokeysandbowties back up 