Back To Our Roots, Book One

VII. He Speaks!

When Thad went down to breakfast the next morning, there was a boy at the table he didn't recognize.

He sat down, a bit confused. Nick glanced over, seeing him sit down. "Oh, Kurt, this is Thad, he's a transfer student. Thad, this is Kurt."

Thad half-waved, not sure what to expect.

Jeff cocked his head to the side. "You know, you two actually remind me of each other," he gestured to Thad and Kurt with his fork. "Like, the current Thad is the old Kurt."

Kurt blushed. "Can you let me live that down?"

Jeff wasn't done. "I remember, a long time ago, an boy showed up as Blaine and Hunter's roommate-"

"Please stop," Kurt mumbled.

"-and we didn't know his name for a week, since he never said anything. The first words he ever said in front of us-"

Kurt cut him off. "Were 'shut your fucking mouth' when Sebastian was teasing Blaine's hair, yes, I remember," he said embarrassedly.

Jeff laughed. "How to get a boyfriend, Kurt Hummel style."

"Can I please live that down?" Kurt pleaded.

"Never," Nick said, chuckling. "Speaking of Blaine, where is he?"

"Still asleep, last I checked. And Hunter's sulking, apparently he and Sebastian broke up."

Jeff grimaced. "And viciously so. We were in our dorm with the door shut and we could still hear Hunter yelling at him."

"What was he saying?"

"Not good things."

Before he could elaborate, there was a shocked, feminine-sounding, "Shit."

They looked over, seeing Thad staring at something. Nick looked from Thad to the others twice, before pointing to Thad. "Did he just say that? Was that him?"

Thad was debating running. He knew the name had sounded familiar, but didn't know where it was from.

He'd transferred schools twice. Before he moved to the all-girls boarding school, he had gone through school with the same group of people. It was after a scare at a school dance that he had transferred for the first time.

He remembered it vividly.

Walking out of the school, Elise saw a dark lump in the parking lot. It was too dark out to see what it was, so she approached it cautiously, lifting her dress slightly so she wouldn't trip over it.

She gasped when she saw what it was. A boy, battered and broken, lying on the concrete. She hurried over, not caring that her dress would get dirty. She never liked it anyway.

"Hello? Are- are you conscious?" she asked worriedly, kneeling next to the boy.

She put her hand on the side of his face, wiping off a drop of blood. "Hello?"

His eyes fluttered open, and she breathed a sigh of relief. He moved back, looking afraid.

"Hey, hey. I'm not going to hurt you. What happened?" she asked gently.

He looked down, looking abashed. "You don't want to talk to me. Everybody hates me." He wiped blood off his split lip with his sleeve.

"That's clearly not true. I don't hate you. And if I did, why would I be here?"

"You don't want to talk to me," he repeated. "They've all said it best. I- I'm a fag."

She wrinkled her nose. "I've always hated that word. Let's go with 'gay,' hm?" She set her hand on his back and helped him up.

He looked at her, shocked. "You don't care?"

"Why should I?" She looked over his face, knowing he'd have a black eye the next day. "What's your name?"

"Blaine. Blaine Anderson."

"Thad. Thad." Blinking out of the flashback, he noticed Jeff snapping in his face. "You zoned out."

Thad shook his head slightly, pulling himself back into the present.

Blaine sat down at the table, next to Kurt, and Thad knew it was too late to run.

"Hey, Kurt," Blaine said, giving him a quick kiss.

As absolutely terrified as he was, Thad couldn't help but be happy with how far Blaine had come. It gave him a warm feeling in his chest to see.

He knew Blaine would figure it out, so he figured there was no point in avoiding it.

"Hi, Blaine."

"El-" Blaine looked over, looking happy, surprised, and confused. He cut himself off when he realized he probably shouldn't say 'Elise.'

Thad glanced down at the tabletop. "It's Thad, now." The 'now' was so soft that only Blaine caught it.

"Oh, my god." Blaine stood up, sitting next to Thad and hugging him. Thad hugged back, slightly confused.

When they broke apart, Blaine looked absolutely joyful. "What happened to you? You absolutely dropped off the grid."

Thad chuckled. "My parents made me transfer. Then I transferred again, and surprise, we're at the same school again."

"You two know each other?" Kurt asked.

"I would be dead without Thad," Blaine said. His tone was in no way joking.

"I think 'dead' is a bit of an exaggeration," Thad pointed out.

"Nope. Not an exaggeration at all. I can actually list three different ways I could have died if you didn't show up."

Thad tried to think back to the harmful things that were in Blaine's life at that point. The injuries, his father...

Thad gasped softly. "Oh."

Suicide.

He never knew he was important enough to stop someone from killing themself. Especially someone that he had only really talked to in his life, besides now.

Guess he had a bigger impact on the world than he thought.

"And your family?" Thad asked.

If possible, Blaine's smile widened. "Happily divorced. Well," he chuckled, "my mom and I are happy."

Thad grinned. "This seems like the weirdest thing to say, but I'm so happy for you."

Blaine laughed. "And you! You're going to have to tell me exactly how you ended up here."

"It's a long story, be warned."

"I'll make popcorn."