Glee Shorts

When Blaine Met Ava (Blaine + OC)

When Blaine Met Ava

Warning: contains an OC! Ava Dunn. Meet her in my main multi chapter story Our Love Song! :)

It was just another Sunday morning in mid-July, and everything at the Anderson household seemed to be running smoothly.

Blaine was around eight years old at the time, and he was thrilled to be finally entering the third grade in the fall. His older brother was over some friend's house and both of his parents were away at work, so Blaine was home alone. He was contently snuggled up on the couch with a bag of cheese doodles watching his favorite movie (The Little Mermaid, of course) for the third time that day. He was relaxed and happy and so incredibly comfortable.

Blaine was enjoying his day alone. He was enjoying the absence of his brother who would have stolen all of his cheese doodles and demanded that they watched something less "girly". He was enjoying the lack of his mother, who would have been limiting his food consumption and probably make him do chores most of the day. And most of all, he enjoyed being away from his father. His father who was never quite happy with Blaine no matter what he did and never didn't have a reason to be furious at him.

Speaking of which... Blaine's father should have been home by now.

Blaine sat up remembering this. He glanced at the digital clock below the TV that flashed the numbers 12:35 repeatedly.

"Daddy?" he called, kind of hopelessly, because he knew that had his father been home, the house wouldn't have been as quiet as it was. So he shrugged it off, coming to the conclusion that he had probably stopped to get something to drink after work again. He said he did that whenever work was too hard. Blaine continued watching his movie, ignoring the absence of his father.

~~~

The door slammed loudly and Blaine jumped up, terrified. He had been half-asleep, having dozed off barely ten minutes into the fifth round of The Little Mermaid.

"Daddy?" Blaine called into the darkness. There was several sound of heavy boots clattering against the hardwood floor until the dark and burly form of name Anderson stood in the doorway, glaring at little Blaine.

"What the hell are you doing, kid?"

"Just- just watching a movie," Blaine stammered, as Ariel began singing to "Part of Your World". It was Blaine's favorite song. He resisted the urge to sing along when his father paced to the television and unplugged the whole set violently.

"You're watching a girl movie!" Blaine's dad ripped the tape out of the machine, and tossed it across the room. It crashed into a lamp, causing it to crash and shatter. Blaine sobbed.

"It's not a girl movie, daddy!"

"Yes it is! It's a damn mermaid, for God's sake!"

"But Daddy, I love this movie!" Blaine's father approached Blaine now, towering above him, his drunken breath making Blaine dizzy.

"You are not going to be a goddamned fag, Blaine!"

"Wh- what?" Blaine stuttered.

"Get out of my goddamned house." he demanded. Blaine's eyes widened in horror.

"What? Where do you want me to go daddy? This is my home!"

"Not if you are going to be a damn homo, it isn't!" Blaine's father slammed his fist down on the nearest table.

"Daddy, I don't know what you're talking about! You are drunk, you don't know what you're saying!" Blaine sobbed.

"Just get out!" he yelled, the whole house seemingly rumbling with his rage.

Blaine was incredibly confused. He didn't know what his father meant. Why he yelled like that just because Blaine was watching his favorite movie. He'd done it before. Plenty of times. Just his father had never been drunk. Or even home, most of the time. But Blaine certainly didn't see the problem with it. The Little Mermaid was an amazing movie. And Blaine would know. Blaine had a lot of time to see a lot of movies.

His dad began to look even more angry. He stepped closer to Blaine and raised his hand, preparing to strike. So Blaine let out a sob and ran. Ran out the door and down the street, faster than he had ever ran before. He ran a couple blocks. The roads began looking unfamiliar, and Blaine was scared. Terrified. He kept on running, though. Kept running until a huge parking lot filled with cars sparked his interest. He read the brightly colored sign that hovered above a crowded entrance.

Dunn Family Zoo.

A zoo. Blaine had never been to a real zoo before. He had seen them plenty of times on TV. But his mother had never taken him to one, despite his occasional mention of wanting to go. So Blaine made his way to the line with a skip. He waited his turn like the well-mannered boy he was, before peeking his nose over the counter and looking at the man behind it, expectantly. The man gave Blaine an odd look, examining Blaine before speaking.

"Do you got money for a ticket, kid?" Oh, right. Money. Blaine probably needed that to get in. Woops.

"Uh... no. I don't."

"Where are your parents?"

"They're not here," Blaine said simply. The man behind the counter looked distressed, and looked backwards over his shoulder to call at a young, teenage girl who was listening to music from her CD player in the back of the front office.

"Hm... Hey Ava? There's a line. Can you take care of this kid for me?" the girl looked up, started. She hit a button on her CD player and looked right at Blaine. She smiled lightly, taking off her headphones and throwing the CD player into a drawer.

"Yeah, sure! Gimme a sec," she said, heading out of the door towards the back and looping around to greet Blaine. "Hey, kid. You got a ticket?"

Blaine, terrified with wide eyes, shook his head lightly. The girl just smiled.

"Aw, well that's okay. I'll let you in anyway. You look adorable and lonely. And I need some help feeding the giraffes. Would you like to help me?" Blaine nodded, smiling. "Awesome."

She stuck out her hand, and Blaine clutched it hesitantly. They entered the zoo together. "So what's your name, kid?"

"B-Blaine," he muttered softly. The girl grinned brightly at Blaine.

"Hi, Blaine. I'm Ava. I work here. I'm eighteen. My dad owns this zoo, which is why I have such a good job here. You seem like a good kid. I don't think you're trying to sneak in. Looks like you're just a bit lost and lonely. You're like... Gavroche or something. Living on the streets, but still wicked smart and clever, I bet. Sorry, you probably have no idea who that is. I can't wait to show you around, Blaine. I'll introduce you to our new otters. They're wicked nice. You will love them."

"Les Miserables."

"What?" Ava was taken aback. She stopped walking, and Blaine turned to face her.

"Gavroche. He's from Les Miserables," Blaine said, calmly.

"Woah, kid. He is. How did you know that? You're pretty smart. Not many people would know that, you know. Hmm, I think I like you. Do you know a lot of musicals? I know pretty much every single one. I'm a bit obsessed. It kind of sucks because I'm the only one who really knows a lot. I've been trying to find new friends who do, but they all think musicals are for losers or something. But you seem to know them, kid. How's that?"

"I love musicals," Blaine said, grinning.

"Well then, Blaine. I think you and I are going to get along just grand," Ava laughed, and continued walking, swinging their hands together as they went to see the giraffes. Blaine laughed too. He found a new best friend. His first ever best friend. His best friend that would help him get through every rough patch he would face he would ever have to face in the future. And Ava found a new friend that would help her accept herself, and be comfortable in her own skin. Their friendship would be legendary. And this was just the start.