Crawling Back to You

The Problem with Link

"Hey Andy!" a tall, sandy haired boy in a navy and red uniform approached a shorter man in black slacks, a navy polo, and bright red bow tie.
Blaine Anderson held up a finger for another student to wait. "Yeah, Hale?"
The boy, Hale motioned to the door, a fear-stricken look on his narrow face. "Link's missing. I- don't know where he is, I thought I-"
Blaine frowned, every possible nerve in his body ran a marathon as he absorbed this news. "What do you mean you can't find Link?!"
Hale shrugged. "I...I thought he'd be in the bathroom or... or in one of the spare dressing rooms... or with his girlfriend... or..." he threw up his hands. "I dunno."
Blaine shook his head. "Okay well Hale? Mikal? I'm gonna go look. You need to get the boys together back stage and think of a plan B. We're on in fifteen minutes."
At this Blaine pivoted on his heels and sprinted out the door. This was bad. Very bad. Lincoln was their soloist. Their lead guy. Their main man. He couldn't be missing.
He rounded a corner and smacked! into a narrow figure in a black dress suit, white shirt, and crimson tie. Hands held him firmly on both sides. "Maybe I'll just kick your butt now Blaine Warbler."
Blaine glanced up just slightly and connected with the pure blue eyes of Kurt Hummel. "Hey..." he breathed.
Kurt raised an eyebrow. "Or not... what's up? Your sweating and throbbing!"
"Our... lead singer... is missing." He panted.
Kurt's other eyebrow rose to the same level as the first. His expression changing from curiosity to utmost concern. "What?... Why?"
Blaine shrugged. "I dunno. But we're on in fifteen minutes. I need to find him."
Kurt tugged Blaine's bicep an they walked down the hall quickly. "Did you check the bathrooms?"
"Hale did."
"Extra dressi-"
"Check."
"With a girl-"
"Check."
They reached a dead end in a hallway and hastily turned around. "Where else would he be then?"
Blaine thought really hard. Lincoln Johns was a sophomore. He was soft spoken, but fairly popular. He was a foster child and was fortunate enough to have Blaine's mom and dad as his foster parents. They had immediately enrolled him in Dalton Academy. However, Link had a little sister who he was separated from. That took a big toll on him, especially since she had never been separated from him before and had always relied on him for support over the past ten years.
"Wait... stop." Kurt held out his arm to prevent Blaine from taking a step further. "Listen."
Blaine stopped and let his ears investigate. On their right an occasional crash and a small shout came from a nearby room.
"I think that's him." Blaine said, relieved to have found him, but nervous of what he'd find. "Okay. I'm goin' in."
Kurt turned to him. "Do you want me to help?"
Blaine shook his head. "No. No. It's fine. I can handle it. After all, he is my foster brother."
Kurt reached over to tuck one of Blaine's curls behind his ear. "You sure?"
Blaine nodded, but didn't think his words and actions really followed his heart. "Yeah. I can do it."
"Okay." Kurt looked at his watch. "You have ten minutes."
Blaine turned to walk toward the noise, but Kurt stopped him again. "I love you. You know that right?" his gaze locked with Blaine's.
"Yeah. I know." Blaine whispered. "I love you too."
With that he opened the classroom. Empty besides one troubled soul.
•_•
"I never wanted to come here! You took me away from her! And now... and now she can't come see her own brother's performance because they are so ignorant and... and unsympathetic douchebags!"
"Link."
The short, fair skinned kid yanked at his hair and paced the cold, vacant classroom, his feet occasionally kicking at chairs, tables, books, anything in his path. Streams of tears ran down his reddened cheeks. "Why?! God, why?" he bit his lip and braced himself as his foot went in for another blow to a desk leg. As pain shot up his leg he winced and staggered back. "Damn it!"
"Lincoln!"
The kid's rant went on, as if he were the only living thing on the Earth. A frustrated living thing.
Blaine ran over and blocked Link's descending fist that was headed for a window. "Lincoln Ray Johns!!" he shouted.
The dull blonde sophomore shut his eyes so tight his eyelids bunched up. Slowly he opened them, glancing at Blaine and then quickly averting his eyes. He took three long breaths before saying, "I just. Wanted. Kenzie to be here. Just this time." he looked out the window at the forlorn football field. "I talked with your parents about it and they were up for figuring out how to get Kenzie here."
Blaine listened patiently and eagerly. Why didn't Link and/or his parents tell him what was going on?
Link continued, "So we contacted the agency and they were wary, but considered making an arrangement." he twisted his wrist that was still captured in Blaine's hold. He let go. "So they spoke with the people Kenzie's staying with." he frantically swiped tears away. "And they declined."
Blaine pulled Link close and ran his hand along his student's back. "Oh, Link. I didn't know about this. I would have done anything to get her here since I know how much she means to you and-"
Link pulled back. "Thanks, Andy, but no. You don't understand... You don't realize how hard it has been to be five hours away from her." he stepped back and turned towards the window he had almost smashed. "You don't realize it because I have learned to cover up my feelings. I have learned to pull a cover over my face and seem happy all the time." he sighed. "But I'm not."
Blaine tried to give him his best reassuring smile. "Its okay to come talk to someone about your feelings. And Link?" Blaine squeezed the kid's shoulder. "I'm always a great person to come to. I'm your teacher, your brother, and your friend."
Link nodded an smiled. "Okay. We probably have to go soon then?"
Blaine looked at the clock that hung on the wall. They had five minutes. "Yeah. We gotta go. I'm gonna get your sister here."
Link frowned quizzically. "What?"
Blaine took out his phone. "Don't forget we live in the generation where we have the world at the palm of our hands. I'll FaceTime her."
Link embraced Blaine. "Thank you! Thank you!"
Blaine let the hug last a mere ten seconds before he pulled away. "Alright. You gotta go. We're on in almost two minutes."
Link started speed walking towards the door. "Shoot. Shoot. Shoot." he muttered.
"Don't panic!" Blaine called after him. "Do your best. For you. For your school. For Kenzie."
•_•
"Are you ready?!" the pixilated image of 12 year-old Kenzie shouted from her room.
"Ohhhh!" the Warblers put their hands into the center of their circle and brought them up, chanting and whooping.
As they walked on to the stage Link paused to give his sister thumbs up. She giggled and waved at him.
Blaine held up his phone and stood backstage as his students assembled their places.
The Warblers formed a pyramid on the stairs, Link as the vertex. He pivoted to the front and began:
"I don't know where you're going
But do you got room for one more troubled soul?
I don't know where I'm going
But I don't think I'm coming home and I said
I'll check in tomorrow if I don't wake up dead
This is the road to ruin
And we're starting at the end"
The other Warblers turned on their right shoulder and joined in with the chorus, half of them echoing with shouts of "yeah!":
"Say yeah (yeah!)
Let's be alone together (yeah)
We could stay young forever (yeah)
Scream it from the top of your lungs, lungs, lungs
Say yeah (yeah!)
Let's be alone together (yeah)
We could stay young forever (yeah)
We'll stay young, young, young, young, young."
"You impress me Mr. Anderson." Kurt commented as he stood quietly next to Blaine, curiously eyeing the outward facing phone. "They're still as top notch as ever."
Blaine smiled and wrapped an arm around Kurt. "When will they ever not be top notch?" he teased. "The Warblers never fail to exceed expectations."
They watched in mesmerized silence as the Warblers continued. Their choreography was spot on and had a sort of intensity to it that matched the energy of the song.
Blaine admired Link's poise and dedication as he sang the song with such an unspoken passion. His voice fit perfect for the song. He was able to sound like a rocker, but still carry a perfect tune. His muscles strained and relaxed at the right moments and his backward handspring looked effortless and graceful.
They finished by stepping out one at a time until they formed a near perfect D, in the scrawly font that was on their uniforms.
Link was at the bottom left corner of the D as he sang the last part:
"I don't know where you're going
But do you got room for one more troubled soul?
I don't know where I'm going
But I don't think I'm coming home and I said
I'll check in tomorrow if I don't wake up dead
This is the road to ruin
And we're starting at the end"
In unison their legs stepped out and their heads looked down. Silence.
And then, like an incoming wave, the sound of applause grew louder and louder. Whistles rang out as well as whoops and hollers. Blaine heard Kenzie from his phone cheering and clapping.
Then Kurt pushed Blaine lightly on the shoulder. "Go!"
"Wai-What?"
Kurt pointed to where Link was motioning to him. "Go absorb the praise!"
Blaine sprinted out and his students clapped, joining the ever growing noise emanating from the crowd. Link took Blaine's phone and waved at his sister before showing her the audience.
Blaine squinted out into the crowd. It was a huge audience and it seemed every one, rival or not, was on their feet.
He only recognized maybe twenty people, one of which was Dave Karofsky.
Blaine's beaming smile tilted a little. Why was he here? He felt excited and nervous at this discovery. His heart began to sink when he saw Karofsky's arm draped over the shoulders of another man, wearing nerd glasses and a whole lotta hair gel. But then his heart resurfaced when he reminded himself that he got his Kurt back. Nothing could be better than that.
As they jogged off the stage, their hearts all unfurling victorious wings, Link approached him, the phone still in his hands. "Hey Andy." he called.
Blaine stopped and beamed at his lead singer. "Yeah?"
Link's eyes brimmed with tears, of joy this time. "Thank you. Thanks for being a great brother to me and teacher. Thank you for having faith in me and for finding me in that classroom." he glanced at his phone where his sister sat on her bed patiently waiting. "I don't think I would have come out of there, and think, or don't think, where that would have left us. We wouldn't be celebrating if it wasn't for you."
A hand tousled Blaine's curls. "And me, dingdong." Hale Matthews chimed in. "I was the one who told Andy you were missing in action."
"Thanks, Hale." Link said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
Blaine left Link to continue with his sister and congratulated his boys before walking to the other end of the backstage where the New Directions were preparing to go on.
A light tan-skinned woman in a tight black dress and high heels gingerly made her way to Blaine. "Oh Blaine!" she cried as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "You were spectacular out there! The Warblers never fail to exceed expectations."
"That sounds familiar." Kurt remarked as he joined them. He winked at Blaine. "But wait till you see what we have in store."
"Miss Berry!" a girl called. Her hair was piled up on her head and the back of her dress was unzipped, exposing her bare back. "Can you help me zip up?"
"Coming Madison!" Rachel called as she dashed off.
Another girl was calmly talking to a more burly built glee member.
A boy with the same facial features as Madison was warming up with another boy. "Twins?" Blaine assumed.
"Yeah." Kurt said. "Madison and Mason. They're cheerleaders."
"Ahh..." Blaine sighed.
A minute later the New Directions were on stage. Their performance was spot on and Blaine knew it would be a tough decision between the two rival schools (it always was).
•_•
In the end The Warblers earned a second place trophy. The boys were down on themselves until Blaine gave them a pep talk on how its about enjoying being entertainers not winning or losing.
On their way out to board the buses, Kurt pulled Blaine aside and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Congrats Andy on a great performance." he said in nearly a whisper.
Blaine laughed when Kurt used the nickname the boys had given him. "I guess you did kick our butts, but it was more of a friendly kick. We'll get you back."
"Sure..." Kurt drawled out. "We'll see about that."
They stood there with each other, breathing in sync. Then Blaine started shaking as he asked, "Kurt?"
Kurt ran a hand down Blaine's neck. "Mmmmhmmm?"
"Can you... will you meet me next Saturday at five o' clock at the Lima Bean?"
Kurt have him a curious glance, but smiled eagerly. "Most certainly Blaine Warbler."
They kissed once more before Blaine set out into the chilly fall evening, his face hot with anticipation.
••_••
I do not own any rights to the song Alone Together by Fall Out Boy.