Quinn knew that Blaine didn’t mention her new boyfriend in an attempt to make her feel bad or guilty for being with him. He wasn’t that type of person. They were friends and it was completely okay for him to tell her his opinion on Chip and how he didn’t like him. She didn’t expect anybody to like him – what mattered though is that she liked him. But she completely understood where all her other friends were coming from even if some of them didn’t know how to go about it the right way. Looking over at Blaine, she saw how sad he looked and how he apologized for saying something that in his mind he knew was wrong. “You know that I didn’t mean it like that, Blaine. I would rather take your relationship advice more than anyone else. At least I knew you would have good intentions. But people like Puck just want me to break up with him because he realized that he wants to be with me now. Or people like Santana who can’t stand to see me happy for once while she’s miserable because SHE chose to break up with someone who actually cared about her. You’re my friend and I appreciate you looking out for me.” She listened to him now talk about what was going on between Kurt and himself and knowing that her two best friends, the two who were so in love with each other had something come between them, it pulled at her heart strings. “It’s not good for you to keep that to yourselves. If you’re not okay, you should say it. Let your friends be here for you through this. Because we are all here for you. For both you and Kurt.” She simply nodded her head when he asked if Kurt was okay and of course he wasn’t. How could Kurt be okay when his boyfriend or ex boyfriend and his best friend and him weren’t okay? “Of course he’s not, Blaine. Kurt tries really hard to hide that sadness and hurt but you can see right through it. He loves you. He loves you so much that it’s killing him inside and I know it’s hurting you just as much.” She offered him a sweet smile and rubbed his back gently as a gesture of comfort. “You will be okay. We’re all going to be okay. But just know that that we’re all here for you and you don’t have to do this alone, okay? No. We all have a Glee Club to save. This is our family. We’re all a family here and family sticks together no matter what.”
Kurt in the conversation caused Blaine to shift around in his seat until both legs were up on the chair crossed over one another. Gaze averted to the lace of a tan boat shoe that seemed to never be tied quite right. No matter how many times he messed around with it, he kept pulling it loose and redoing the bow. “Quinn? Thank you for the advice but I don’t know where to start. I know he loves me. I love him too. I love him so much. I’m just not sure if we can fix it this time. How?” The touch to his back was just enough human contact to make his shoulders hitch and his eyes tear to the brim. Blaine covered it up with a smile as expected and nodded. His weight settled against Quinn’s side as he leaned towards her. Soon, his head followed resting on the curve of her shoulder. “Everyone will be okay eventually. One way or another? We’ll get there. You’re not alone either. Remember that. Chip works out? Great. If not? You know you have us. I’m always going to be here. I might not be that great at fixing my own problems but I’d like to think I’m pretty good at helping others work their own out.” Rolling his lips between his teeth, he reached for her hand and covered it with both of his. One on top of her palm. One underneath. Looking out into the empty space without lifting his head he couldn’t stop wondering when things got so difficult for so many of the people who used to do nothing but laugh, sing and have their high school drama play out that was mostly laughable in comparison to what they all were going through so soon after leaving McKinley “for good”. How did a couple of years change so much? She was right. They’d all get through it. He couldn’t predict how things would turn out. Everything was crystal clear not that long ago. What the end result of “working things out” was a mystery. Where would they all be when they made it through? That part bothered him most. The not-knowing. One thing would never change. They were a family. He’d do whatever it took to save these kids and try to help save the people working so hard for the same goal because they were who he was here most for. Dalton was his lifeblood but McKinley was the veins that it pumped through. He just couldn’t imagine living in a world where one or the other didn’t exist. Whether he was on the opposing side or not. He’d help. He had to. “What do you say we get out of here? Avoid the worried or judgey eyes we’re going to get if we show up at Breadstix tonight? You and me. I know just the place. My treat.”
Of course the first thing they were going to talk about was Quinn’s new boyfriend and the fact that not one of her friends approved of him. They had until he started to act like a real ass in front of her and Puck and things just went downhill from there. Quinn really liked the guy but after talking to Puck, she realized that old feelings were starting to come back and she didn’t want that. Puck was apart of her past and she wasn’t proud of that. They had a baby together but that was as far as it went. Chip was apart of her future and as much as she hated the way he treated her, she wanted it to stay that way. She just didn’t expect Blaine to call her out on it so quickly, especially since it seemed like the other boy had other things going on his mind than to be interested in who the blonde had seemed to involve herself with. She didn’t even know he knew she had a boyfriend but good news travels fast and she was pretty sure the entire Lima knew. She wasn’t sure how long she was going to be dating him but that was for her to decide, not anyone else. She was tired of people constantly judging her and putting their nose where they didn’t belong but she didn’t want to be rude towards Blaine. He was always such a cool person and she didn’t want to change her opinion on him because of this new boyfriend of hers. She appreciated his concern though and she knew he was probably just looking out for her but she didn’t need it. Quinn was a smart independent women and she was capable of making her own decisions and choices. “Apparently not.” She said, shrugging her shoulders. “But that’s nobody’s business except mine. He isn’t perfect but I like him and if it wasn’t for Puck getting into something that he shouldn’t have, he wouldn’t have acted like that. He had no business to talk about my past. Chip just got upset and he lashed out. It happens.” She was making excuses for her boyfriend but she didn’t care because she honestly didn’t come to the room to talk about him. “Anyway, we were talking about you and why you look like you just got your heart crushed. Is everything okay between you and Kurt? I’ve seen him and he doesn’t look good himself. I’d assume it’s because you two aren’t on the best of terms right now.”
Blaine noticed he unintentionally hit a sore spot with Quinn. It was an accident he made in an err of judgement to turn the conversation off how miserable he looked and onto something else. He jumped to a subject that he shouldn’t have in his eagerness to avoid keeping her attention on him ‘not looking so good’. Mainly the fact that everyone hated this Chip guy with a burning passion. Blaine left out using that phrase exactly. He didn’t have to. Everyone else made it abundantly clear that they hated the guy judging by more than a dozen text messages that flooded his phone. Eventually he’d bring it up to her if he felt like he needed to. No intention of doing that tonight turned into one when she seemed concerned with the state she found him in. Quinn meant well. He knew that. She always did when it came to him. To reward her for her care? She had to sit through one more person broaching the subject of the fact that this guy seemed like a douchebag that wasn’t worth her time solely based on the opinions of others. “Sorry for bringing it up. Trust me,” he smiled tiredly and gestured around the room, “I’m the last person you want relationship advice from. Not that you were asking for it. I’ll try to keep my mouth shut.” Unless he had a reason not to. Then it was fair game. He didn’t need to say that. She knew. If she was making excuses now, and it sounded like she was, she’d be out of them by the time he got to her. They’d deal with that bump if when it happened. Dropping the subject of Chip turned the tables back on him. “We were talking about that. I-ahh-,” Blaine shifted uncomfortably in his chair hooking his pointer into the knot of his bowtie and loosening it up until it hung loose around his neck so he could breathe. “No. Things aren’t okay. We’re acting like they are but we both know they’re not. Never thought I’d say this but we’ve gotten good at that over the years.” A strained smile showed the frustration he was barely keeping in check. Quinn received a worried look when she mentioned Kurt wasn’t okay. “He’s not? I knew it,” he mumbled, “Aren’t on the best of terms is a gentle way of putting it, Quinn.” What were they? A mess? A wreck? Broken. “We’re both—having a hard time.” Could he downplay that more? Probably not. Hard habit to break. “We’re both gonna be okay though,” he held onto his neck and smiled at her, “So don’t worry about us. You all have a Glee Club to save.”
Blaine sat the bar with his drink in one hand. The other tapped his fake I.D. against the countertop. He knew conversations with bartenders could end up with loose lips saying way more than the person doing the brain dumping should dish out to the poor guy behind the bar only doing his job. He’d like to think that he was above being one of the wine-o’s that his few trips here had him listening to from the sidelines. Nope. Today he was one of them. Emmett was just forced to take the brunt of it. They’d talked before but not like this. Tonight, Emmett was seeing a side of him after half a dozen phone calls went straight to Kurt’s voicemail. He shouldn’t be drinking. That was only going to make it worse. The drink he had was a bad idea. Common sense didn’t matter apparently.
“I don’t know what the truth is. You’re asking me if I’m still in love with someone I never imagined being out of love with. Yes. I know he hates me. I don’t blame him. I just wish there was something I could do but I’m starting to think there isn’t. I guess that’s your answer.”
pianokeysandbowties back up 