Chapter 18

I had never seen Alexander Hale in person—or the other Hale, as I’d been referring to him in my mind.

Blaine was standing up beside the bed, holding out his hand for me to get up. Meanwhile, I couldn’t stop my stomach from tying into knots and my heart from pounding erratically in my chest. The day that I’d been supposed to meet him, Blaine’s step-sister had caused that scene that made me run off.

Now Alexander Hale was waiting in the living room. It wasn’t a big deal. Wrong. It shouldn’t have been a big deal. But it was. Alexander was the heir to half of the Hale Empire. He was Blaine’s only brother and someone he really looked up to.

Even though their father was still alive, it was a little obvious that Alexander was the man of the house in the family. Not that Blaine was a weakling that didn’t make his own decisions—that was far from the case. I still knew that Alexander’s approval of me would be extremely important to Blaine, and that was what scared me.

So far I had met one person from the family—Justine. It had gone far from well. I was scared of a repeat.

“It’ll be fine. Alex will love you,” Blaine said, helping me up from the bed. It was mainly because I was reluctant to get up.

“What if you go and talk to him. I’m kind of tired,” I told him, yawning for extra show.

Blaine cocked an eyebrow, and shook his head. “Come on. I’ll introduce you and then you can come back to bed.”

“Blaine…”

“Madeline…” Blaine said, using my same tone. It earned him an eye roll.

“We can do something after Alex leaves—watch a movie or go out to dinner.”

“I’m pretty sure we could do those things even if I don’t leave the room.”

“I’m willing to compromise,” he finally said, trying to convince me.

“Compromise?” I giggled.

“If you come out, you can stay here for the rest of the week,” he said.

This made me laugh hard. “Sure, Blaine, you’ll let me.”

“So it’s settled then,” he said, as if I hadn’t been talking sarcastically.

“No, nothing is settled. I don’t want to leave the room. Why don’t you go talk to him, see what he wants, and then we can do something,” I suggested.

“You don’t want to meet my family?” Blaine asked, raising an eyebrow.

“You know it’s not that. Your brother… he’s just…”

“What?”

“I’m not even dressed up,” I told him, looking down at what I was wearing. I hadn’t really thought about how I was dressed until the words had slipped out of my mouth, but now I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

“You look fine,” Blaine said, giving me a flat look.

“Just fine…?”  I didn’t mean to sound so disappointed. Blaine was smiling, though.

He leaned down to whisper in my ear. “Madeline,” he said in a low voice, placing a kiss just below my earlobe.

“Huh?” I asked. His proximity and his breath tickling my neck was enough to make a shiver run down my body.

“You would look perfect in rags. You look perfect now, okay?” He placed his hands on either side of my neck, and pulled away enough to look down at me, his grayish, blue eyes soft as he stared at me.

There were a lot of things that I loved about Blaine—too many. Despite my sarcasm, which was like second nature to me, it was easy for me to feel insecure. Blaine—even through his commitment issues, even though he hadn’t said ‘I love you’ back—he was good at reassuring me.

I sighed. The way his eyes were staring deeply into mine, making my face warm up, I couldn’t help it when I nodded.

“Okay,” I quietly said, feeling shy all of a sudden.

“You look in pain,” Blaine commented, chuckling huskily.

“I am nervous, is all,” I admitted, snuggling against chest.

I felt his breathing when he nestled his head over my neck, and it made me press closer against him. Blaine placed a few gentle kisses on my shirt covered shoulder, before pulling away.

“Come on, we’ve already made him wait long enough,” he said, interlacing his hand with mine, and making his way to the door.

Alexander Hale was standing right there. He was looking away from us, his phone pressed to his ear. Blaine and I had silently entered the living room with our hands intertwined, and he hadn’t noticed us yet.

Once Blaine cleared his throat, we had Alexander’s attention.

Although he turned to face both of us, his eyes only took seconds to drift off towards me. He gazed at me for a long while—to a point where I started feeling uncomfortable—before taking his phone from his ear and disconnecting the call. He didn’t even say goodbye, or acknowledge the other person. Thanks to Blaine, Justine, and now Alexander, I was sure that ‘rude’ ran in the family.

I pressed myself closer to Blaine’s side. To be honest, I was feeling scrutinized.

“Alexander,” Blaine said, making his brother snap out of it. When I turned to look at Blaine, who had sounded upset, I found that he was, indeed, looking pissed off.

“You took your time,” Alexander told Blaine, finally turning away from me.

Alexander and Blaine were about the same height, a little over six feet tall. They both had an intimidating, confident air to them that was borderline cocky. Both of the brothers were attractive as sin. But in appearances, that was where the similarities ended.

While Blaine’s hair was dark, Alexander’s was light brown, and had a softer look to it. Blaine’s skin was pale, while Alexander’s had a light tan to it that complemented his hair. Unlike Blaine’s icy, grayish blue eyes, Alexander’s orbs were between hazel and green. They were beautiful.

I had already seen plenty of pictures of Alexander all over the place, along with all the ones I’d seen of Blaine. I had always just thought that they resembled each other. But seeing them in person—seeing Alexander for the first time—I realized that he and Blaine looked nothing alike.

When I snapped out of staring at Blaine’s brother, I realized that they were both looking at me—Blaine was mad, and Alexander seemed amused. I didn’t know him at all, so it was only a guess.

“This is my brother, Alex. Alex, this is my girlfriend, Madeline,” Blaine said, while wrapping his arm around my waist. I didn’t miss that his grip on me was tight. I placed my hand over his, and I could feel how tense he was beside me.

“You are all Blaine talks about these days,” Alexander said to me, his voice smooth. He was giving me a friendly smile, and I still had Blaine looking not too happy.

“Madeline and I were going out. Did you need anything?” Blaine asked. He sounded rude. Alexander didn’t even look moved by Blaine’s tone. He kept looking between Blaine and me. He seemed… curious. I wasn’t sure why. He wasn’t as serious as I expected him to be. There was something soft, almost kind about his eyes.

Blaine wasn’t like that at all. He hardly ever looked vulnerable, or as open as Alexander appeared.

“Eleanor has been calling you,” Alexander said, nodding at Blaine.

“I have been busy. I don’t have time for Eleanor’s tantrums,” Blaine replied, sounding detached.

“You haven’t stopped by either. Dad wants to see you,” Alex said, and he almost sounded like he was scolding Blaine.

“I will check up on him tomorrow. Is that all? Madeline and I have to go.”

Blaine had spoken of his brother. I knew they got along. It was the first time I saw them together, but if I hadn’t known they were related, I would’ve never guessed. They kept a distance between each other, and the tone they used wasn’t exactly friendly, especially Blaine’s.

“Justine’s dinner is this weekend.”

The mention of Justine’s name brought a bitter taste to my mouth, and I shivered unintentionally. Blaine caught on to it, though, and his grip on my waist loosened up. He looked down at me, and I was surprised when he lowered himself enough to kiss my cheek.

“I’m not coming. I have plans,” Blaine replied.

When I turned towards Alexander, I once again found him looking amused. There was a small smile on his lips, barely noticeable. I’d seen Blaine with that same expression plenty of times before.

“You should come. Bring Madeline. I’m sure you’ve kept her to yourself long enough. Dad will want to meet her,” Alexander added. The way he made it sound—like if the occasion wasn’t about Justine—I wasn’t sure if to be offended or flattered.

“We’ll see. Is that it?” Blaine asked. He really just sounded like he wanted to get rid of his brother. “Madeline and I are busy,” he said.

Without waiting for Alexander to reply, Blaine started walking out of the room. His arm was securely wrapped around my waist, making me walk along with him. Alexander followed, not that he had any other choice.

“You can’t miss the dinner. Dad will expect you to be there,” Alexander said with serious eyes. He then turned to me, and nodded. “It was nice to finally meet you, Madeline.”

He was gone a minute later. Once the door shut closed, I was left feeling slightly underwhelmed and confused at how meeting Alexander had turned out to be.

He wasn’t what I expected, and his relationship with Blaine was definitely not all what I’d assumed, at least from those few minutes they were in the same room.

“Why were you staring at him?” Blaine asked, looking at me angrily.

“What?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.

“You were staring at him for a long time before snapping out of it—why?” he asked in a demanding tone.

“He’s your brother, Blaine.”

“I know my brother.”

“You say that like if at one point you hadn’t been a womanizer,” I told him.

“I already told you not to believe everything trashy magazines print out.”

“If you tell me that you got jealous because I was noticing how different you and your brother look, I will seriously slap your right now.”

Blaine looked at me with guarded eyes. He just stared without saying anything for long seconds, before nodding.

“I thought you two got along,” I said, in a questioning tone.

“We do.”

“You were kind of mean with him right there. You practically kicked him out.”

“I didn’t like the way he was looking at you,” Blaine said, before turning to leave.

I had to chase after him. He was headed towards the kitchen. I wasn’t sure if he wanted me to follow him, but I still did.

“Seriously? You can’t just say something like that and walk off. Blaine! Listen to me,” I said, because he still hadn’t even turned to look back at me.

“Alex and I get along just fine. I still didn’t like the way he was looking at you.”

“Because you’re jealous of him?” I asked. Maybe I should’ve been a little more offended, but the pout on his lips that I didn’t think he’d even noticed, was making him look so young and cute.

“Yes. We get along. That does not mean there isn’t competition between us. I told you, what’s mine is mine. The only thing Alex and I share is Hale Industries, and that is more than enough.”

“Eww… really,” I told him, exaggerating my face of disgust. “You’re almost implying like you two will share me.”

“That is the exact reason why I think Justine and Eleanor—” I was waiting for him to finish, but he just made a face of disgust.

“Why Justine and Eleanor what…”

“I feel stressed right now with work, and I am not happy with your behavior today,” he said, his serious voice returning.

“So you’re not going to try to explain what you just meant?”

“I didn’t mean anything,” he replied, taking out a platter from the fridge filled with all kinds of good stuff.

“Tell me.” I crossed my arms over my chest, while Blaine brought the platter over to the kitchen island.

“What do you want to drink?” he asked, ignoring me.

“Dr. Pepper,” I told him, smiling.

I knew he didn’t have any in his fridge. He thought Dr. Pepper was disgusting, and he’d even made a face the first time I asked him for one. Surprisingly, not a minute later he was taking one out from the fridge and placing it in front of me. I should’ve seen it, what with his fridge door being clear and all, but I hadn’t.

“I stocked up. I know you like it,” he said, pouring orange juice in a cup for himself.

“Right, okay. So, where were we? What’s up with the step-sister?”

“You’re not going to drop the subject?” he asked, taking a grape and popping it into his mouth.

“Nope,” I said, copying him and taking a grape for myself.

“I told you that you had nothing to worry about where Justine is concerned.”

“I disagree. Now explain,” I told him, grabbing a few cubes of cheese. The platter looked amazing. I wondered if Blaine just kept one in his fridge at all times.

“She thought that Alex and I could share her, and keep the wealth in the family,” Blaine finally answered, his voice low, and his eyes concentrated on the platter sitting between us.

“Share her…” I repeated, stupidly.

Blaine nodded, still looking away. “Alex and I don’t talk about it. It’s…”

“Weird and sounds incestuous? Yes, it is and it does. Geez, what is wrong with her?”

“I told you that you wouldn’t want to know. It’s not something I really want to talk about, so we can change the subject.”

He was looking serious, and I’d barely noticed that there was a light blush on his cheeks. It was cute. I assumed the conversation really did embarrass him.

“So this dinner?”

“I’m not going,” Blaine replied without a second thought.

“Your brother wants you there, and it seems like your father does too.”

“My father knows about you. Alexander has told him enough, and I have talked to him about you. I will take you to meet him once this is over,” Blaine replied, finally looking up at me.

“Well, it’s up to you,” I shrugged, reaching out to hold his hand. He squeezed my hand in his, before pulling on it and bringing me closer to his face. He brushed his lips against mine, biting my lower lip softly, before pulling away.

“If you want to go, we can,” he offered.

“I don’t really care. I’m only asking you because of your family—your brother and your father mainly.”

Blaine nodded, and we continued snacking. Blaine was quiet and thoughtful for the rest of the night. It was late. He’d proposed we watch a movie, which he let me choose. He wasn’t big on watching TV, and he hardly knew about movies.

We settled in his room. He was sitting up against the headboard of the bed, while I cuddled against his side. His hand was stroking up and down my waist most of the time. He would take a break once in a while, and softly drew circles with his fingers against my waist and back. It was slightly ticklish, but more than anything, it felt comforting. Being in Blaine’s arms felt like home.

I woke up the next morning to an empty bed. I’d drifted off in my jeans and t-shirt the previous night while we’d been watching the movie. I was in Blaine’s huge bed, tangled up in the silky gray sheets.

“Blaine?” I called out, my voice croaky from sleep. I ran my hands through my hair, trying to fix it. Even without looking at myself in the mirror, I knew it must’ve been a bird’s nest.

“I have to go to work in half an hour,” Blaine said, coming out of the bathroom. He made his way towards me, sitting by my side. He was already showered and in a suit, looking sharp as always.

“Right,” I told him, getting on my knees to kiss him. He looked so attractive—I could hardly believe I had the privilege of touching or kissing him whenever I felt like it.

Blaine grinned against my lips, slipping his tongue into my mouth to deepen the kiss. It wasn’t long before his arms wrapped around my waist, and he was pulling me into his lap.

“You have to go to work….” I whispered, pulling away from him, and placing a kiss on his jaw.

“Do you want to come?” he asked, his voice husky.

“With you to work?”

Blaine nodded, pulling me in for another kiss. I smiled, but had to pull away from him. “I have to go home. I’m not even supposed to be here right now.”

“Why not?” Blaine asked, frowning.

“I told you that I can’t just spend the night over all the time.”

“Why not?” he asked again. “It’s convenient.”

“For you,” I told him, shaking my head.

“You don’t want to spend time with me?”

Even though his question made me feel guilty, I narrowed my eyes at him. He had done the same thing the day before—phrasing his question in a way that made me sound like a bad person. Like when he’d asked me if I didn’t want to meet his family.

“I’m here, aren’t I? I came even though you were being rude,” I told him, getting up from his lap and crossing my arms.

Blaine sighed, and he closed his eyes for a moment, intertwining his hands over his lap. “Stay the week, and I’ll drop you off next Monday,” he said, like if it was that easy.

“No way, my mom won’t agree to that,” I told him.

“I’ll talk to her,” Blaine said, suddenly looking like he’d had a great idea.

“Blaine,” I said, giving him a flat look. “You know she’s not going to say no to you.”

“So what’s the problem then? Unless you simply don’t want to sleepover…”

I did, I really did. But I couldn’t explain it to him. I wasn’t sure if our relationship was going too fast or too slow. Blaine himself had said that he needed time to adjust—when I’d been asking him to define our relationship. He wasn’t ready to say ‘I love you’ back. And I understood. It hurt a bit, but I still understood.

What I didn’t understand was how he struggled with those things, but he wanted me to give up everything and spend all of my time with him. I felt like if it was easy for him to want me near, it should’ve been easy for him to decide what he felt for me.

“I want to stay here,” I told him, quietly.

“But,” Blaine said, looking at me with guarded eyes.

“I’ll go home, and come see you in the weekend. It’s not a long drive. If you want to see me, you’ll be able to make it,” I finished, not able to look up at him.

I didn’t know if he nodded, or shook his head. I only felt when he got up from the bed, and walked away. “Trevor will drive you home. I have to go,” I heard him say, before leaving the room and closing the door after him.

He didn’t approach me, and he didn’t even say goodbye. It royally sucked. I felt like I’d done something horrible, when all I was asking was for a little independence. I didn’t want to turn into that girl—where all my life revolved around Blaine. Then when Blaine got tired of me, he’d just dump me and I’d have no life because it was all centered on what he wanted.

I showered and changed into a different pair of clothes. I’d had enough of my things at his place—most which he’d bought so that it would be easier for me to sleep over.

Trevor was waiting for me out in the hall, just outside the room. “Breakfast is set up in the dining room,” he said.

“I’m not hungry. We can go,” I told him, picking up my messenger bag from Blaine’s bed.

“You should eat, Miss,” he insisted.

“I don’t want to, and you can call me Madeline. It feels weird to hear you call me ‘Miss’,” I said, walking past him.

The drive back home was quiet. It was only Trevor in the passenger seat, some other guy driving, and I was sitting in the back. I wasn’t sure if there were more guards following or up ahead, but I didn’t really care.

My mood wasn’t at all helped by the dark skies. About halfway home, it started raining. At first it was just a light mist, but minutes later it started pouring.

It didn’t feel like a good day.

I walked into the apartment calling out to my mom, while dumping my umbrella unceremoniously in the ground. The jacket Trevor lent me was a bit wet, so it went down to the ground as well.

I expected my mom to be home, either hanging out or sleeping, what with the rain. It was quiet though, the only sound in the place was the rain, which was coming down really hard.

I decided that my home definitely was not a safe haven to keep intruders out when my eyes landed on the person standing by the window in the living room, looking out.

“Vitaly,” I whispered.

He must’ve already heard me when I walked in. I’d made plenty of noise and I had called my mom, but he’d stayed quiet.

“It’s a nice day out,” Vitaly commented, finally turning to face me.

I was always a little stunned after looking at him, even though I’d seen him just the day before. I felt guilty because even though Blaine and I were together, I still found myself attracted to Vitaly.

“It’s raining,” I replied, not moving from where I was standing.

Yurik wasn’t in the room, but I had no doubt he was around. Vitaly had balls going into my apartment, and I kept wondering where my mom was.

“I was worried about you. I only came to make sure you were fine,” he said.

“I’m fine.”

“You didn’t sleep here last night,” he continued.

I blushed at the way he was looking at me, and finally took a few steps towards him, if only to ease some of the tension in the room.

“I was with Blaine. I didn’t know you were checking up on me.”

Vitaly nodded. “Blaine is doing all he can to have me arrested. He’s being careful not to mention the kidnapping. I had to move from the place I was staying in.”

His words made me frown. While I knew that Blaine wasn’t just going to sit back and let the kidnapping go, he hadn’t really talked to me about his plans against Vitaly. Other than fighting about my feelings towards Vitaly, Blaine hadn’t really said much about him.

“Why are you still here, then?” I asked.

“You want me to go?” I was, again, feeling trapped. His question reminded me a lot about the questions Blaine asked to make me feel guilty, except there should not have been a reason for me to feel bad about not wanting to see Vitaly. I myself didn’t fully understand why I cared so much. I wanted him to be well.

“I don’t want you in jail, that’s for sure,” I retorted in a snappy tone.

Vitaly smiled at me his beautiful smile—it left me a little breathless. He was really handsome, and he knew it. And that just made me go back to the question of why he was even interested in me.

“I’ll be careful. Blaine happens to have more reach around these areas,” he said.

Since he was speaking in a low, smooth voice, not at all upset—his accent was hardly noticeable. If anything, his voice was almost magnetizing. Unlike Blaine, whose voice was usually more dominant and demanding, Vitaly was usually firm but relaxed.

“You shouldn’t be here,” I told him. “Blaine has his guys all over the place. I don’t want another confrontation between you two,” I pleaded.

“I wanted to see you. Now that I have, I will go. I only have a favor to ask,” he said, closing the distance between us.

I took a few steps back. He’d gotten too close. My movement only made him chuckle. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

“I know,” I replied. I knew he wasn’t going to hurt me, but I didn’t want to create a moment between us. It already felt wrong that I was standing with him there knowing Blaine would really hate it.

“I need your phone number, or a way to reach you. I don’t know my schedule for now. Things could change, and I need to have a way to get in contact with you.”

I gazed at him for a long while, and Vitaly kept his brown eyes on me, staring back. It wasn’t intimidating—more like he was letting me know that he wasn’t going to leave until I gave him my number.

“It is either that, or I drop in when I need to see you. Your choice,” he said, cocking an eyebrow.

I glared at him, not because I wasn’t going to give him my number, but because I’d hated the way he’d practically threatened me.

“You think it’ll be that easy?” I asked, glaring at him. He knew he had me, though. Vitaly probably knew that I wasn’t going to be telling Blaine, since the last thing I wanted was for them to be fighting

“Yes, I actually do.”

After another staring match, where he was grinning in triumph the entire time, I grumbled under my breath and started walking towards my room.

He followed me. Just like Blaine had done, Vitaly began inspecting all of my things.

“It isn’t fair that you just come here and demand that I keep in contact with you. What if I don’t want to?” I asked, although my words didn’t exactly carry any weight since I was already scribbling down my number on a little post it note.

I turned back from my desk to find Vitaly looking at my wall of pictures with dark eyes. It was now mostly covered with pictures of Blaine and me. His frown, and the way he was now appraising me, it was sort of intimidating.

“Here,” I mumbled, approaching him shyly, and handing him the small piece of paper without looking at him.

I shouldn’t have cared. He shouldn’t have been judging me. Heck, Vitaly had thought Blaine and I were together since Russia, so he shouldn’t have been surprised by that wall. But I still felt bad, like if I’d done something wrong.

When I was standing a few feet away from him, Vitaly reached out and took me in his arms. I was surprised by the force he used. It didn’t hurt, but his grip was tight and sturdy. I couldn’t pull away.

“I want one of us,” he said, turning away from the wall.

“Umm…” I muttered, looking at him weirdly. His arm was tightly snaked around my waist, and I was pressed against his side, too close for comfort. He smelled good and he felt warm—those were the first two things that I noticed. He was looking at me, and I barely registered that he’d taken his phone out.

And that was how I ended up taking a selfie with Vitaly. Yes, it happened.

I was surprised that he left without much fanfare after that. He placed a lingering kiss on my cheek, closer to my lips than necessary, before pulling away. I’d had my hands on his chest, while his arms were around my waist. The entire scene was too personal.

It was around midday when Vitaly left. As soon as he was gone, I received a text message from an unknown number—it was him. He sent me the picture that he’d just taken. I had to admit, it was a great picture, mainly because of him. I ended up storing his number and adding the picture for his contact. Right after that he texted to say that he would call me once he knew where he was staying.

It felt a tad bit wrong that I had Vitaly’s number in a phone that Blaine had paid for. That guilt was what made me send Blaine a text.

‘Still mad? :(’

Blaine texted an hour later with:

‘Busy’

I knew for a fact that he always had his phone with him, and he never ignored my calls or texts. A minute or two was how long he usually took to reply. Even though I hadn’t called him the day before—when I’d dropped the ‘L’ word, I felt like if I’d called him, he would’ve answered. Now I had him replying back ages later with an ‘I’m busy’.

I didn’t want him to be mad, but I also didn’t want to give in on spending all my time in his apartment. I was scared of what came after he got tired of me if I depended too much on him. I was terrified and paranoid. I knew that. That didn’t keep my insecurity away.

When I didn’t reply to him right away, he sent me another text.

‘Did you need anything?’

It was unfair of me. I wanted to see what he would tell me. I wanted to see if he would say anything, or if he’d shut me out again. I texted back:

‘I love you…’

Blaine didn’t even take a minute to answer back. I held the phone in my hand, too scared to open the text message. A part of me hoping he’d say it back, but the smart part of me knowing he wouldn’t. I hadn’t even expected him to say anything, especially not so fast. The fact that he answered too fast made me think that maybe he was going to say something that would break my heart.

When I finally opened the text, after trying and chickening out several times, I laughed at his reply.

‘But you still refuse to stay the week?’

I answered a little while later. It was definitely not what he wanted to hear.

‘You can visit me too. If you make the effort this week, I’ll stay next week.’

It wasn’t too much to ask. I knew it was a two hour drive to and from the city, but if he really wanted to, he could make it.

We were already halfway through the week. Maybe it was selfish on my part, but I wanted him to also make sacrifices. It was easy for him to simply decide that I was sleeping over. I was happy that he wanted me there, but I wasn’t too content with the lack of input I had in the decision. Blaine simply stated what he wanted, and expected me to agree.

Blaine took a while to reply, and it was a simple:

                ‘I have to go.’

I was more than surprised when two and a half hours later—Blaine was standing on my doorstep, his dark hair disheveled and his suit wet from the rain. Little droplets of water were rolling down his forehead and cheek, somehow making him look even more gorgeous.

“I stay here for the rest of the week, and I can have you next week?” Blaine asked.

“Uh…”

“That is what your text message said,” he said, holding up his phone to show me the message I’d sent him.

I had not expected him to come running to me, although I definitely liked that he was there.

“I thought you had a busy week?” I asked, stepping away from the door so that he could walk in. He had not been carrying an umbrella, which fully explained why he was soaking wet.

It was definitely a good look for him.

“A week here and I can have you next week?” Blaine asked, repeating his question, his eyes looking at me intently.

“Yes,” I nodded.

“Alright, I’m here now. I can do the rest of my work through my laptop,” he said.

“Which you don’t have…” I commented.

Just as I finished speaking, there was a knock on the door. Trevor was holding an umbrella, while carrying a suitcase and Blaine’s laptop backpack.

“I do,” Blaine said, taking the things from Trevor before dismissing him. “Is your mother here?” He was looking around my apartment, as if my mom had been hiding behind the couch or something and was suddenly going to pop up.

“She’s out, somewhere. She wasn’t here when I got home, but I’m going to call her to tell her about you sleeping over.”

“You don’t have to call her,” Blaine said, taking my phone in his hand. “I got an apartment.”

“You what?” I asked, not understanding what he meant.

“I got an apartment down the hall,” he replied, casually.

“You… got an apartment down the hall,” I nodded, stupidly, wondering if I’d heard him right.

“It makes sense,” he shrugged. “I don’t want to make your mother feel uncomfortable.”

“Blaine…” I didn’t know what to say—whether to be angry or happy. I was still feeling shocked.

“You didn’t answer my question. The rest of the week we spend it here, and you’ll sleepover next week with me in the city?”

I sighed, and rolled my eyes at him. “You don’t even want to discuss you getting an apartment? When did this happen?”

“It happened a few days ago.”

“Why did you get an apartment?”

“I needed to be near you. It feels strange to sleep here with your mother a few feet away.”

“But…”

“You insist on staying here. I am simply being practical.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about it?”

“I haven’t had time,” he said, like if it wasn’t a big deal.

I closed my eyes at him, and started walking towards the kitchen. I hadn’t eaten anything all morning, and it was already late. I’d been too distracted before, but now I felt a headache coming on, and my stomach was growling.

I had expected Blaine to follow after me. When I turned around, I found out why. He was holding my phone in his hand. It was vibrating, and the picture Vitaly and I had just taken was flashing on the screen.

Blaine looked up at me with furious eyes, his jaw clenched.

“This was taken today,” he stated through gritted teeth.

Comment and vote! Cheers!