AN: Hey, guys! It's been a while since I've posted a story. I've been really busy with work and stuff. I hope you like this oneshot I made for you :) Reviews are appreciated. Thank you!
Love, Geri
Grandpa Anderson
He stood in front of the floor length mirror, eyeing every inch of his outfit and fumbling with his orange and silver striped bowtie for the hundredth time. His eyes examined himself from his gelled down curls, to the grey cardigan he was wearing over a sweater vest, to the dark blue jeans that was folded from the bottom hem to reveal just the right amount of ankle. Although it wasn't noticeable at the first glance, he took a good look at the folds and realized that one was shorter than the other by at least half an inch, so he knelt down to redo both of the pant legs.
"Oh, for crying out loud!" a high pitched tone of voice complained in frustration. The man looked over his shoulder and found his boyfriend sitting with his legs crossed on the queen sized bed of his bedroom. He was obviously upset.
"Come on, Kurt. I already told you that this man is very, very hard to impress." the man said, standing up and facing the mirror once more to examine himself. He knew Kurt rolled his eyes even without turning around. He was so busy pulling off a lose thread from his shirt that he gasped in shock when Kurt's hands rested on his shoulder, "And Blaine, I have also already told you that you look absolutely gorgeous in that outfit."
Blaine looked up and saw Kurt's head resting on his right shoulder. He couldn't help but blush and smile at what he heard, "Y-you think so?"
"Yes. Of course. I chose the outfit, remember?" Kurt said, rubbing the shorter man's shoulders and then moving his arms down to wrap them around his waist. "Now, stop messing around with your clothes and walk me out to my car before he arrives." Blaine laughed when he saw the ridiculous kicked puppy face Kurt made reflected on the mirror.
Blaine spun around to face Kurt and nuzzled his nose against his. "I'm sorry," he apologized, "I-just, he's not mean or anything—maybe intimidating-but, he always seems to favour Cooper over everything and—I just want to impress him at least once—" Kurt silenced him by pressing his finger gently on his lips.
"I get it, Blaine. I experienced the same with Dad couple of years ago when he was hanging out with Finn a lot…I even asked Brittany to pretend to be my girlfriend—"
"Y-you what?" Blaine raised his eyebrows quizzically.
"That," Kurt stepped back, grabbed Blaine's hand, and led them out the room, "Is a story for another time."
"Oh, no. You're gonna tell me the story later, after dinner." Blaine protested as he walked Kurt out of the house to their visitors' parking space.
"Fine." Kurt said, before giving Blaine a sweet kiss goodbye. Kurt pulled away, but Blaine captured his lips again, "No, no, no…not yet."
Kurt kissed him back more passionately but then ducked his head to catch his breath, putting their foreheads together. "Anderson, let me remind you that your grandfather, who you describe to be incredibly hard to please, could arrive any second now, and walking in on his grandson making out with his boyfriend against the side of a car would be a really great first impression to make."
Blaine whined and cupped his boyfriend's chin, "Sometimes you're too sarcastic for your own good. He won't arrive in at least ten minutes…and he's not homophobic."
Kurt rolled his eyes and debated with himself for a split second then he said, "Fine." And Blaine immediately pressed another kiss on his lips.
Suddenly, at the corner of his eye, Kurt spotted a black shiny Audi pull over about fifteen feet away from his Navigator. The driver went out and opened the backseat for an old man to climb out. He was wearing a black suit and carrying a long silver cane. His face was a very pale white. Although his hair was obviously dyed raven, he did not have any facial hair. He did wear glasses though, and Kurt also realized that the man's gaze was directed towards them with an expressionless face.
"Uhm, Blaine, I think your grandfather has arrived." Kurt whispered, slightly pushing his boyfriend away from his personal space.
"What?" Blaine's eyes shot open in nervousness and he spun around to see where Kurt was looking at. And Kurt was right. There was his grandfather, standing alone in the driveway with his silver cane, slowly approaching them. Blaine put both of his hands on his waist and looked down, "Ah, fuck." He cursed under his breath just loud enough for Kurt to hear.
"Ten minutes? Sure." Kurt remarked sarcastically and stood up straight. For some reason, he was more amused in seeing Blaine this shaken than embarrassed at what his grandfather had seen them doing just a few seconds ago.
"Blaine," the old man spoke as he was now an arm's reach from his grandson.
"Sir," Blaine's voice almost cracked. He looked up and shook the hand of his grandfather. He gave him a shy smile which was reciprocated, only his grandfather's looked more intimidating than heart-warming. "It's nice to see you, boy."
"It's nice to see you too." Blaine replied, feeling a little bit more at ease.
The man looked at Kurt who was standing behind Blaine, "You must be Kurt." He said, reaching out his hand.
Kurt took it without hesitation and shook it firmly, "Yes, I am." He smiled genuinely.
"It's nice to meet you, Kurt. Cooper has told me so many stories about you and Blaine."
Kurt smiled politely, while Blaine tried his best to not cringe at the mention of his older brother's name.
"Will you be joining us for dinner?" Mr Anderson asked,
"Oh, no. I have to go and help my Dad at work." Kurt reasoned. He felt the tense silence between the grandfather and grandson and took it as a sign to leave. "I-I should go," he said motioning to his car. Mr Anderson nodded, while Blaine opened the door for Kurt to enter. "Drive safe," he said to his boyfriend.
"I will. Thanks for the time." Kurt said, strapping on his seatbelt.
I'll call you. Blaine mouthed to him, and Kurt nodded before shutting the door and driving off. He was watching the Navigator turn the corner when his grandfather broke the silence.
"He seems to be a good young man."
"He is." Blaine replied. "Shall we go inside?"
"I thought you'd never ask." His grandfather replied with that unnerving smile.
"Where are your parents, boy?" Mr Anderson asked as he settled on the seat across Blaine's on the dining table.
"They're at France for a business trip."
"I see." Mr Anderson took his glass and swirled the red wine inside before taking a sip. "You're a junior in high school now, am I right?"
"Yes, Sir." Blaine said, as the meal was served. Their plates were beautifully decorated with a slice of smoked salmon and a couple of grilled scallops. Blaine gulped nervously when his grandfather stared at the food that was placed in front of him. "Is there anything wrong?" he asked.
"No, nothing is wrong," Mr Anderson replied with a smile. He placed his napkin on his lap and took his fork. "This just reminded me of the time when I visited Cooper, your brother, in Los Angeles. He actually prepared the dinner himself! He is a fantastic chef, you know. Have you tried his cooking, Blaine?"
"Yes. Yes, I have. He really is good." Blaine nodded and put on a fake smile. He unconsciously stabbed one of his scallops, causing some of the garnish to scatter on his plate. Once again, Cooper was mentioned. It's not that he didn't like Cooper. In fact, he loved his brother very much. But having to hear praises about him every single time he and his grandfather met was sickening.
Cooked dinner for him. Blaine thought. Of course, he would cook for him. He likes showing off his skills! Why else is he an "actor"? And it's not my fault that the only thing I know to do in the kitchen is how to operate the microwave. And it's also not my fault that I almost set the house on fire when Kurt was trying to teach me how to cook. Okay, maybe it was kind of my fault that I left the stove on high when I was supposedly just melting butter but—
"Blaine, did you hear anything I said?" his Grandfather's voice broke his chain of thoughts. Blaine shot hit head up and blinked in confusion. "I'm sorry," he quickly apologized. "It's just...it's this salmon. Delicious, isn't it?" Blaine nodded his head dramatically, not quite convincing himself, let alone his grandfather. Then he looked at his plate and realized he hadn't even touched the fish. Damn it, Blaine. You're head isn't screwed on properly.
"Yes," Mr Anderson chose to ignore his grandson's stumble and dabbed his mouth with the napkin. "The fish was beautifully prepared."
Blaine released a sigh of relief and shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
"Anyway, I was just asking about how things are at Dalton Academy. Your father told me that you are the lead singer of the Warblers."
Blaine's fork clattered onto his plate. Of course, his father would supply the wrong information. He was hardly even home to realize that his son had moved schools. A year ago. "Oh, I was the lead singer. I don't go to Dalton anymore. I moved to McKinley."
"McKinley?" his grandfather's expression turned into a questioning one.
"Yes. William McKinley High School in Lima." Blaine expounded. "Is there something wrong?"
"Nothing, really." Mr Anderson replied. "I just thought you would want to finish high school in Dalton. Cooper was in the Warbler council before he graduated."
"Yeah, I know." Blaine snapped back. He couldn't help it. But he managed to regain his self-control and calm himself down. "But I'm still in the Glee club of McKinley."
"Ah, that's good. At least you're still doing something you love." Mr Anderson took another swig of red wine. "Is Kurt also a member of the club?"
Blaine tilted his head to the side when he heard his boyfriend's name. "Uh…yeah. He's in the club, too."
After Blaine's response, something entirely unexpected happened. Mr Anderson put his wine glass down and laughed. Not in a mocking way, but in a rather amused way. Blaine's eyes grew wide like lollipops. This was the first time he has seen and heard his grandfather laugh in front of him. "Have I said something wrong?" he asked with caution.
"Oh, don't be ridiculous, boy!" Mr Anderson rested his elbows on the table and leaned in. "Tell me about him."
"What?" Blaine couldn't believe what he was hearing so he had to ask to be sure.
"What?" Mr Anderson looked at his grandson like he just requested for something outrageous. "He's my grandson's boyfriend. I might as well know a few things about him. I only ever hear stories about the two of you from Cooper."
Blaine's jaw slightly sagged at his grandfather's words. The sudden change in character was both unnerving and amusing for him. His grandfather sounded so genuine that he couldn't even bear to refuse the request. Blaine cleared his throat before speaking, "Kurt is a senior…" he began awkwardly.
"Oh, really?" Mr Anderson sat up in curiosity. "Does he already have plans for college?"
"Yes. Yes, in fact he just got accepted into NYADA. New York—"
"Academy of the Dramatic Arts." Mr Anderson finished. "Impressive."
Blaine smiled with pride at his grandfather's response. "I'm really proud of him…and I want to follow him there, too. When I graduate, I mean."
"Yes, I can understand that. You two seem inseparable…" Mr Anderson gave a sly grin at his grandson before adding, "I know you are, considering what I saw when I arrived..."
"Grandpa!" Blaine whined and covered his face with his hands because of embarrassment. He could hear Mr Anderson laughing hard at him as heat was rising up his cheeks.
After the laughter had died down, Blaine removed his hands from his face and set them down on his lap. He still couldn't look at his grandfather straight in the eye, though. "He was also a Warbler, you know."
"Really?" Mr Anderson's curiosity increased once more.
"Yeah. He moved to Dalton. Briefly. Because of—because of the same reason I did." Blaine gestured at the air and shook his head. Mr Anderson understood what his grandson did not expound on further.
"I'm glad you found each other. It must have been hard out there for the both of you." Mr Anderson said, and smiled warmly. The tense air lifted and Blaine was able to reciprocate the smile.
"Yeah. Me too. I love him so much…" Blaine trailed away and began to trace the linen flowers on the table cloth.
"I know. The way you looked at him earlier was the same way I looked at your grandmother. The way Cooper looked at Leslie…" For the first time, Blaine didn't mind hearing his big brother's name while having a conversation with his grandfather.
After that, there wasn't that much talking about Kurt. They did a lot of catching up, though. When they finished their dessert, Blaine walked him out of the house. The driver of the Audi was just about to open the door of the backseat when Mr Anderson halted him. He turned around to look at Blaine.
"Listen to me, boy." He began. Blaine nodded intently. "You've grown to be a very good young man. Maybe a little better than how your brother was, to be completely honest"—Blaine couldn't help but grin in pride upon hearing this—"You've done well. I'm proud of you." Mr Anderson closed the distance between them with a warm hug. Blaine did not hesitate in returning it. In fact, he was so touched that he felt his heart swell in his chest three times its normal size.
When he was about to pull away, his grandfather whispered something into his ear. "By the way, I deposited some money into your account this morning. Why don't you go and take Kurt on a nice date, hmm? Maybe a visit to New York, since he's going to be studying there soon?"
Blaine stood speechless for a minute before the fog finally lifted in his brain and he regained the ability to speak. "Thank you so much. H-he'll love it. Thank you, Grandpa. You're the best."
"You're welcome, boy." Mr Anderson patted him at the back, before stepping into the backseat of his car. He looked at Blaine once more, "I like the bowtie. Although the folds of your pants aren't the same length. You also might want to lessen the hair gel." Mr Anderson winked before reaching out to shut the door.
Blaine unconsciously fumbled with the orange and silver accessory on his neck, and looked down at his pants. He smiled, waved, and watched the shiny black Audi drive away. Once it turned a corner, he immediately bolted inside to grab his iPhone and make a phone call. After a few rings, he heard a familiar voice.
"Hey, babe! How was dinner?" Kurt asked from the other line.
"I-it was better than I expected. Much, much better, actually." Blaine replied, taking a seat at the couch of the living room. "He told me he was proud of me."
"Really?" Kurt squealed? "That's great! No, seriously, I am happy for you."
"I love you." Blaine said out of the blue.
"I love you too, honey." Kurt replied instantly.
"Are we doing anything next weekend?" Blaine asked.
It took a moment for Kurt to reply, "Not that I know of…why?"
Blaine grinned and crossed his legs before answering, "How'd you like to visit New York?"
