Silence [Discontinued]

XXIII

"Oh, Sebastian and Kurt are here," Jeff noticed. Then he immediately winced, realizing he shouldn't have said that. Nick gave him a 'Blaine's right there shut up??' look.

But Blaine... Didn't do anything.

"Right, I hate to ruin this, but Blaine, are you feeling alright?" Wes asked.

Blaine looked up from his breakfast. "Yeah, why?"

"You heard Jeff, right?"

"Yeah, Kurt and Sebastian are here," he repeated. Noticing their looks, he asked, "What?"

"This is the first time either of their names have been said without you making a comment, or a rant, or even a scoff," Jeff told him, stunned. "You're sure you're alright?"

Blaine groaned, putting his face in his hands. "I was really that bad, huh? Guys, I'm sorry you've had to deal with me being an asshole for so long. I—"

"It's before New Year's! Pay up, bitches!" Nick exclaimed, holding out his hands.

"How?" David asked, stunned.

"Guys. Not the time," Wes said sharply.

Blaine looked up and stared at his friends. "Were you betting on me?"

"I wasn't. I was keeping track of their bets. But yes," Wes responded. "They started bets on when you'd finally come to your senses and apologize for being an asshole. It kinda made you being an absolute dick to a guy with social anxiety more bearable."

"You knew about his anxiety?"

"Yes, and we all tried to stop you," Jeff defended. "You wouldn't listen and eventually Thad was fueling your fire so we just stopped giving it the time of day."

"Mm, speaking of Thad," David spoke up, pointing his fork at Blaine, "what did you do? Because he's avoiding all of us. If I try to talk to him when we're meeting as the council, he ignores me unless it's Warbler-related. I don't know what to say to get him to talk to me, and I know it's something you did, because you turned him into your shadow."

He sighed, eyes prickling with tears. "I fucked up, is what I did. I'm not even going to try to censor it. I blackmailed someone— with information that's actually public now— and told him and he rightfully flipped out because the person I blackmailed was Kurt and he said if my crush wasn't safe from blackmail then he wasn't either and just left and I don't blame him but I somehow want to assure him that I'd never tell anyone the private stuff he's trusted me with."

David nodded. "Yeah, you definitely screwed up. Now I know what to say, so if you'll excuse me, I'm going to try to find him."

"Let me guess, you blackmailed him with the fact Sebastian can sing?" Wes said as David left. Blaine nodded, not meeting anyone's eyes. "You found out, he asked you not to tell, you asked what was in it for you, and knowing how you feel about him, you probably said a kiss because a date would be too awkward if he didn't want to be there?"

He didn't respond, but went red, which was answer enough.

Wes sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "At least you've come to your senses, I guess. I'm not going to chew you out or yell at you because you seem to already know what you did wrong so I'm not wasting energy on that. I'm just really disappointed in you."

That hurt worse than Wes berating him for being an idiot. Then again, he was used to being yelled at when he did something wrong. Honestly, he was disappointed in himself.

Between his father and the people who had harassed him at his old school, Blaine had taken his fair share of harsh comments and dirty looks. When he rose to the top and became the 'popular kid' at Dalton, in that position of power, he just turned around and became exactly like them. Completely forgotten what it was like to be the victim.

No. I'm not exactly like them, because I know I'm wrong and I'm going to fix my behavior. I'm going to apologize, I'm going to right these wrongs, and I'm going to consciously be a good person again until it comes naturally to me. If I ever say anything about someone when they're not there, it's only going to be positive.

I'm going to put as much good energy as I can out into the world, and even though I can never fix what I've done, I can prevent it from happening ever again. And I'm going to.

He looked up, at Jeff. Positive, loved-by-everyone Jeff. "Can I ask for your help?"

"With what?" Jeff asked cautiously.

"Fixing how I've been acting. Being a good person. Being the best person I can."

Jeff brightened. "Yes! That I can help you with!" He jumped up, grabbing Blaine's hand. "Let's get started now, no time to lose."

Blaine chuckled a little, hurrying to keep up with him so his arm wasn't pulled off. "You seem awfully excited," he said once they'd made it out of the dining hall.

"I am. Because I knew it, I knew you'd come to your senses! I knew we hadn't lost you forever, you— you were just lost for a while, but I knew you'd come back. I know I put too much faith in people, but you I knew I wasn't wrong about."

That brought tears to Blaine's eyes. But he felt hopeful.

Because if Jeff believed he could do it, then goddamnit, he was going to do it.