PRINCES, PRINCESSES AND THE PAJAMA-WEARING OGRE
A STORY BY TIMMY ANDERSON

Leo leans against the bedroom door and watches Blaine as he packs.
The suitcase on the bed is the big one he came with, and it's already half full. The rest of his stuff has been placed in a tidy square right next to it. To Leo, it looks like there are too many clothes for just a week end, but he can't say it for sure. When Leo still traveled, he would pack just a couple of t-shirts and a pair of pants wherever he went, but Blaine likes to be ready for anything when he travels. That would explain the suits and the dressing shirts.

Blaine looks up and smiles at him. “You woke up,” he says, happily. Since Leo started taking his medications, he tends to sleep through half the day, so Leo can see why Blaine seems so surprised, and he can also understand the undertone of suspicion in his words. Dr. Williams said that that horrible side effect will pass in time, but Blaine doesn't know if it's reasonably that moment already.

“I took them,” he says, defensively. There's no need to specify what. He wraps himself tighter in his sweater and crosses his arms against his chest. He's always cold, lately. Another side effect of the medications, but also of the fact that he still doesn't eat properly. Everything makes him a little nauseous. Dr. Williams said that that too will pass soon. His life has turned into an infinite game of waiting.

Blaine sighs. “I know you did,” he says, patiently. “I'm just happy that you feel well enough to be up. Did you have breakfast?”

Leo nods vaguely. He's not sure the slice of bread with a thin veil of jam he managed to swallow would count as breakfast for Blaine. “How long are you staying away again?” He asks, instead. Blaine told him already a thousand times really, but he feels the need to ask once more. There's a tiny part of him Leo won't acknowledge that's hoping Blaine will miraculously change his mind.

“Only a couple of days,” Blaine explains patiently for the umpteenth time. “I'm leaving in a couple of hours and I'll be back Sunday afternoon.”

This is the first time Blaine leaves since he came back to Lima to take care of him. When he showed up six months ago and forced him to live with him, Leo wanted nothing more than him gone forever again. He was sure Blaine was going to give up and abandon him again, so he didn't see the point of him even trying to pretend he cared. Leo didn't want to get used to his presence again, to start believing Blaine wanted to be with him to see him leave forever again. He wasn't going to survive that. And yet the man stuck around this time. He uprooted his only child to move to Lima. He reorganized his whole life to make this work, whatever this is. And things are so much better now that the idea of him leaving the house makes Leo nervous.

“You weren't supposed to leave,” Leo murmurs, hesitantly. Blaine had promised him not to leave him alone in the first months of his recovery. Leo feels too vulnerable and he's not trusting himself. He doesn't even want to go out, unless someone comes with him. The only time he allows himself to go alone is when he has to go to Dr. Williams once a week. That he considers part of the therapy.

“I know, and you know I tried to avoid it,” Blaine says. “But Dottie said the producer wants to talk to me in person and won't accept it any other way. We need this job.”

This mellows Leo a little bit, the fact that Blaine is including him in the picture. “I know,” he grumbles, still. The fact that Blaine couldn't do otherwise doesn't make him less nervous at the prospect of being in the house without him.

Blaine sighs and gets closer to him. He grabs Leo's head and pulls him to his chest, leaving a kiss on his head. “You're not going to be alone,” he reminds him. “Annie is staying over until I come back. She's going to be here any minute now.”

Of course Leo knows that, Blaine talked to him about it before he even asked Annie, and Leo agreed because he knew this trip was important, but it's still a new situation and he doesn't deal very well with those, lately. He doesn't want to freak out while Blaine is not there to contain him. “She's on her way,” he confirms him. “Actually, she wrote we're on our way, so I think Adam is coming too.”

Blaine lets the news sink in for both of them. Annie had talked to him about the possibility to bring Adam along, and Blaine was okay with that, but he knows that things between him and Leo are not exactly okay, yet. They made peace – or better, Adam forgave Leo – but he's still wary of him. He didn't open up with him yet, he's still a bit cold, which is understandable, but doesn't help the tension.

“Annie comes here to help you out with everything,” Blaine reminds him. “But she knows you need your space sometimes, so she's ready to do everything, if you feel that something is too overwhelming and you want to stay in your room. Nobody's going to be mad at you for that.”

“I know,” Leo nods, breathing in and out slowly.

“But it would be nice if you hung out with them,” Blaine keeps going, sweetly. “You've been a lot better in the past few weeks. And you know where everything is and how we do things in the house. I'm sure Annie would appreciate your guidance.”

Leo chuckles a little. Sometimes Blaine goes a little over the line trying to make him feel important, but he likes it anyway. “Right,” he smiles, turning into Blaine's arms to hug him better. “I'll try my best.”

“Besides, Timmy is very excited to spend this week end with you and your friends,” Blaine informs him. “Yesterday he told me that you can cook and he can show the guests around, because he knows how to do that.”

“He seems under the impression that we're having guests over and not two appointed guardians while you're away,” Leo says.

“Why don't you try and see it the same way he does?” Blaine suggests.

“Because I'm not four,” Leo answers, but he smiles. Besides, he knows why he needs guardians, and the fact that he actually wants them means to him that he's getting better, so the thought doesn't make him mad at all.

The doorbell rings, breaking the spell. As Blaine slowly lets him go, they see a tiny ball of blond excitement run past the door. “Annie is here! Annie is here!” Timmy screams, throwing himself down the stairs.

“Come on, go get the door with him,” Blaine sighs, gently pushing Leo towards the hall, “while I finish packing. I'll be downstairs in a minute.”

Leo finds Timmy jumping up and down at the end of the stairs. “Come on, Leo! Annie is here!” He repeats, waiting for him to come down. He's literally dying to open the door, but he's not allowed to do it alone, so he needs Leo to be there. “Faster!”

In response, Leo starts moving slower. He holds on to the bannister with both his arms, almost melting over it and letting himself slide down. “I don't think I can,” he whines, joking. “Please, help me.”

Timmy snorts and trots back up the stairs and starts pushing him from behind. “Come on! Come on! I know you're lying!” He says, as Leo moves as slow as a sloth. “You're faster than me!”

“No! No! I'm so weak!” Leo says, dramatically.

“Leo!” Timmy whines, still pushing uselessly. “Annie's going to go away if we don't open the door!”
“All right! All right!” Leo chuckles and picks him up, running down the last steps, while Timmy laughs happily at his newly found speed. “Annie, we're coming!”

“That'd be nice,” Annie's playful voice come from the other side of the door. “It's freezing out here.”

Leo puts Timmy down and opens the front door for him, since the handle is still too high. Timmy throws himself out and in Annie's arms the moment the door is open enough for him to pass. Annie picks him up and makes him swirl in the air. “Annie! Annie!”

She laughs and kisses him on his cheek, knowing that he will instantly make a face and then clean his face with the back of his hand. “Ugh, kisses.”

Leo chuckles and kisses Annie on her cheek too. “Welcome,” he says. His eyes can't help but move to the silent figure behind Annie. Adam is just standing there, holding their bags for the week end and looking awkwardly away. “Hi, Adam.”

Adam lips hint a smile – not the bright, brotherly smile Leo remembers, but a tense grimace – and nods. “Hi.”

Leo already knew Adam wasn't going to be very warm with him, so his cold reaction doesn't bring him down. In fact, he takes his presence here and that little hint of a smile as a good sign. He smiles back shyly and steps aside. “Come in. Blaine is packing. He's gonna be downstairs in a minute.”

“Dad is going to New York for two days,” Timmy informs them, showing two little fingers to Annie's face. “It's going to take two sleeps for him to come back.”

“That's right,” Annie confirms. “And I'm going to stay with you all the time. Are you happy?”

“Yes!” Timmy says excitedly, and then he rests his elbows on Annie's shoulder and his head on one of his tiny hands as he's being transported back into the house. He looks at Adam pensively. “And who are you?”

Adam seems caught by surprise. Leo doesn't know if he thought Timmy wasn't going to notice him, too fascinated by his favorite red-haired princess, Annie. But if that was what he was really thinking, then Adam was delusional. There's nothing Timmy doesn't notice. Ever. Even if he pretends not to half the time. And there was no way he wasn't going to notice the blonde, tall and handsome presence behind Annie.

“I'm Adam,” Adam says, hesitantly.

“He's Annie's boyfriend,” Leo offers, knowing that Timmy likes through explanations. He would like to say he's his friend too, but this is not the right moment.

“And are you a prince?” Timmy asks, interested. It seems logical that to be Annie's boyfriend, he must be a prince.

“He's better than a prince,” Blaine answers, coming downstairs with his suitcase. “He's a painter. He can draw you everything you want.”

If Adam is wary of Leo, he's even warier of Blaine. He never really liked him when things were fine between Blaine and Leo, and he likes the fact that he came back even less. As far as Adam is concerned, Blaine broke Leo from the very beginning, and the state Leo reduced himself to – that brought Adam to fight with him for good – was just a long-term consequence of Blaine's presence in his life. So he really can't see how this man can fix anything.

But Adam is here for Annie, so he won't make a mess. He and Blaine nod to each other, and that's the only greeting they allow each other – an improvement, considering that the last time they met, Adam almost broke Blaine's nose.

“Hi, Blaine,” Annie smiles at him.

“Hi, princess,” Blaine says, possibly fueling Timmy's imagination. He kisses her on the forehead, and then his kid on the top of his head. “Did you have any problems coming here?”

“Nope. Lima's empty this time of the year,” she answers. “I love driving when I don't have to scream at every single other car I meet on the road.”

“She's the devil,” Adam confirms. Annie hits him in the shoulder, but it's true that she's got no patience with slow drivers, and she's very vocal in expressing her hate.

Blaine chuckles. He can totally see Annie being an aggressive driver. She's the most beautiful, sweetest girl he has ever met, but she's also the fiercest. A girl who survived Leo and Adam's symbiotic friendship by being completely independent, a girl who has always lived her life exactly as she wanted to and defied any gender stereotype by becoming a freaking astronaut, of course she can't be bothered with people getting in her car's way.

“So, everything is ready. We went grocery shopping, yesterday. The fridge is full, and you can help yourselves with anything you want. Leo knows all my numbers, but should the need arise, there's a list pinned on the fridge. Timmy's bedtime on week ends is nine-thirty. Don't let him tell you otherwise. I'll be back on Sunday afternoon. Any questions?”

Annie doesn't have any. Everything that had to be said – including what to do in the event of one of Leo's crisis – was said days before, when Blaine went all the way over to Annie's to discuss details. “Don't worry about anything,” Annie says, smiling. “We'll take care of everything.”

“I'm sure you will, honey. Now, come here, powder puff.” Blaine reaches out for his son, who throws his arms around his neck and hugs him tight. Timmy hides his face in Blaine's neck and, for a moment, he doesn't seem so convinced at the idea of his father leaving the house. But Blaine whispers something in his ear and he laughs, happily.

“Yes,” he answers to whatever Blaine told him.

“Annie, your and Adam's room is downstairs,” Blaine says, kissing his son one more time and putting him down. “Timmy's task is to show you where everything is.”

“Come, Annie. Come! I'll show you,” the kid says, grabbing her hand.

“Leo, would you mind helping me with the luggage?” Blaine asks, smiling. Leo can translate those words into Let's take a moment for us and nods. While Timmy drags Adam and Annie towards their room, blabbering about this thing or that along the way like a skilled tourist guide, Blaine grabs his suitcase and walks outside. Leo follows him to the car parked in the driveway.

Leo watches Blaine as he puts the big suitcase in the trunk and closes it. This is the first time in six months that Blaine leaves the house for more than a couple of hours. Leo remembers the feeling of him leaving years ago, and it's not helping. If anything, it makes him more nervous. Blaine's leaving for work has always been connected to the fear of him not coming back in his mind. And, even if he knows this is not the case (Blaine left Timmy behind, so he's surely coming back), Leo can't help being upset.

“I know you'd want me to stay,” Blaine sighs, turning to look at him. “And I'd like to stay too, but you understand that this is important, right?”

Leo nods. No matter how wary he still is about the situation between him and Blaine – Dr. Williams says that he should make up his mind, either he trusts the man or he doesn't, but it's not that easy – he knows very well that Blaine left everything behind just to take care of him, that he hasn't took a single job in the past six months and yet he's paying for everything: the house, the food, his medical bills. He's rich, but not that rich. So, as long as Leo can't take care of himself or help with the expenses – two things he's far away from doing – Blaine has to go back to work, maybe not fully, but certainly soon. The other option would be asking Leo's parents for help, but both Blaine and Leo would kill themselves before doing that, even though for different reasons.

“I know you can do this,” Blaine continues, smiling. “You've been fine, so you have no reason to worry. As a matter of fact, I don't. You have your routines, you have your meds, and I'm just one phone call away. You can call me whenever you want, I don't mind. If I don't answer, it's just because I'm in a meeting and I will call you back as soon as I can. If it's important, you have Dottie's number, and she has the power to extract me from whatever job meeting I'm in. All right?”

Leo nods again. “I can do this.”

“Come here.” Blaine pulls him into his arms and hugs him tight, longer than Leo expected, and it's so pleasant. He leaves a kiss on top of his head, that's all Leo allows for now, and takes a step back. “Now, go inside and go supervise Timmy's tour of the house. You know it's never good when he gets too excited.”

Leo gives him a hint of a smile and goes back inside. Blaine waits for him to close the door before turning the engine on and leaving, so Leo doesn't actually see him go.

*

The first few hours are the worst. Except for Timmy who's super excited to have two new people in the house and clearly to be the center of attention, nobody else knows exactly what to do.

Leo usually spends the day asleep in his room. If he's awake enough to do something, he watches cartoons on TV with Timmy. But he promised to hang out with Annie and Adam, so he's sitting in the living room with them, watching as Timmy shows his drawings to the guests. It's an incredible amount of pieces of paper with stick figures on it – mostly stick Blaine and stick Timmy doing things – and it seems important that he describes them one by one. Adam looks awkward, not with Timmy, to whom he asks very purposeful questions about his works, but with the whole situation. Leo thinks he's here because Annie asked him to, not because he wanted to be, and that makes him a little sad, even if he doesn't blame him. He doesn't fully want to be here either, after all. Annie, on the other hand, is very goofy with Timmy but she tries her best, and he loves her, so things seem to work for her.

“This, Leo helped me color,” Timmy explains, showing her the drawing of a house with three stick figures next to it. Two big, one small. He points at them. “This is me, and these are Daddy and Leo. Leo is wearing his pajamas.”

“That's beautiful,” Annie comments. “You and Leo always color together?”

“When he feels fine enough,” Timmy nods. “He knows how to color inside the lines, not like daddy. And he told me that when I'm older he's gonna teach me how to color action figures. Right, Leo?”

Annie smiles at Leo, who smiles back. Last time they spoke about this, Leo wasn't getting along with Timmy so well, but that was before he really committed to Dr. Williams' therapy. “Yes,” Leo confirms.

“Now I'm too little,” Timmy explains, and he sounds like he's convincing himself more than anything else. “We also watch TV and he's teaching me to play video games.”

Hours go by with Timmy progressively showing them more and more of the things he likes to do. The scene is all his and he takes advantage of it. Everybody is grateful for that. A very big portion of the morning is completely dedicated to Mr. T-Rex – his toy dinosaur – and to his adventures. They even build a house for him and his boyfriend/girlfriend, things are still unclear in that area, with Lego blocks.

When it's time, the grown ups decide to have fast food for lunch, which helps them to gain Timmy's endless love and gives Adam the opportunity to leave the house for a little while. He also takes Timmy with him, and the kid can barely stand still while Leo helps him wear his coat. Timmy doesn't know Adam very well – and he's everything but a kid who trusts strangers – but Adam is Annie's boyfriend, so he must be good, he looks like Prince Charming and he said he loves his drawings. Plus, he's going to drive him to McDonald and let him choose whatever he wants.

Annie and Leo stay at home, chatting and chilling. Annie asks him how it's going and Leo updates her on everything. Leo tells her that he calmed down and he's not trying to destroy himself or Blaine anymore, that everything is less difficult – not easier – than before and that he doesn't know what's going on between him and Blaine, that is complicated and he doesn't want to talk about that right now. She lets it go.

By the time Adam and Timmy come back with more food than any of them can eat, the air is more relaxed, and even Adam seems less awkward. He and Timmy definitely came back as best buddies. A trip to the closest burger joint can do that when a four year old is involved. The rest of the day is spent building even more dinosaur's houses, playing board games Timmy can't possibly understand but enjoy anyway by teaming up alternatively with each one of them. He manages to win twice with Leo and once with Annie, and lose all three times with Adam. The two tough men decide to console themselves with apple juice.

“You seem to be doing fine,” Annie says to Leo, as they put the board games away. She looks at him with affection and warmth, but her voice sounds hesitant.

Leo sighs. “I know what time it is, you can say it,” he murmurs, looking down. “But just so you know, I have an alarm on my phone.”

She blushes a little, but not too much. “I'm sorry, I'm not very good at being subtle, you know that.”

“You don't say?” Leo jokes.

She punches him in the shoulder. “I have to make sure...”

“That I'm taking my crazy pills, I know.”

Annie makes a face. “Don't call them that,” she says, and she sounds exactly like Blaine. But Leo needs to call them that. He needs to joke about them, to play them down. It makes them less scary.

Leo shrugs. “They are what they are. Anyway, they're going to knock me out for at least a few hours.”

Annie nods. “Blaine told me. Why don't you go take a nap and I'll call you when it's time to make dinner? I need your help with that. I promise Blaine to make Timmy eat healthy and I already broke that promise today, I can't burn his dinner too.”

Leo chuckles and nods.

*

Annie wakes him up around six and it turns out that she doesn't need him to help her cook. She needs him to cook, period. After growing up surrounded by servants – real, apron-wearer, called with a bell, Downton Abbey style maidens and butlers –, a long training period at NASA and two missions in space with only dehydrated food, she doesn't know the first thing about making a meal. So, Leo steps in the kitchen and make his assistants out of her and Timmy while Adam is the perfect picture of the straight man, watching football on TV.

Under Leo's instructions, Annie learns how to perfectly steam vegetables, while Timmy does his best to bread escalopes without covering himself in flour. Leo seems to feel pretty comfortable in the kitchen, organizing the three courses he's planning to serve helps him focus and for a good two hours he almost looks like his old self. In fact, when Adam shows up, asking news about the food that has been promised to him by his girlfriend, he's quite surprise to find Leo singing some old hit by Lady Gaga using a carrot as a microphone, while Timmy and Annie dances like madmen around him. For a moment, it looks like a normal Tuesday in their apartment back in college, except that there was no Timmy back then.

Dinner goes by smoothly. They all laugh a lot, and Adam even tells a joke that Timmy really likes because it involves poop and a very silly pig. He makes Leo promise he won't tell it to Blaine, because he wants to do it, and Leo solemnly swear on his chocolate ice cream, which is the most sacred promise of all.

After that, they are just in time to catch the last cartoons on TV and it's soon nine-thirty. Annie is very sweet, but also very firm, telling Timmy that it's time for him to go to bed. The kid whines a little bit and he turns to Leo, hoping for help. Surprisingly enough for Annie and Adam – but not for Timmy who has been living with him for months – Leo seems adamant on enforcing Blaine's rules, and so Timmy gives up. To cheer him up, Annie offers Timmy to read him something, but she seems quite puzzled when she finds out that Timmy's current obsession literature-wise is The Story of the Little Mole Who Knew It Was None of His Business. Leo laughs at her shocked face, as she goes upstairs with Timmy, who's briefing her about what she's about to read, the story of a mole with a poo on his head.

Leo stops laughing a few moments later, when he realizes that it's only him and Adam in the room now, and that's the first time since forever. Even when they met a few weeks ago, after almost two years without a word, Annie was with them, a soft wall through which they were able to reconnect. They had spent their entire life together, joined at the hip, almost two halves of the same boy. It had seemed impossible that they could fight so hard and end being apart.

Of course, Leo hadn't wanted that. He had never consciously tried to make Adam mad enough to cast him out. But he was out of his mind at that point. When he had sex in Adam's studio, on his paintings, he was not himself. He was already one of the worst version of himself he could possibly be. It was the bad ending of a journey that had seen him getting worse and worse, until he was completely out of control. And that hadn't even been the bottom of it. But Adam had had enough. Adam didn't cast him out just because Leo did one bad thing. Adam cast him out because he was tired to put up with him, because Leo was lost and he didn't know how to get him back. He had tried everything and nothing had worked. That night had been the last straw. Adam was done with him way before Leo ruined his works.

When it happened, when Adam told him he didn't want to see his face anymore, something broke inside both of them. There was pain on both sides, but they instantly became numb to it, because that's what impossible things do when they happen, they make you insensitive to them. Leo and Adam refused to deal with the fact that their friendship, something that was bound to last forever, built to resist everything, had ended. Their brain didn't compute the information, because your brain can't do that when what happens is impossible. Leo knew it was his fault – or better he realized that when he started thinking clearly again – and Adam was blaming him for having broken them, and himself for not being strong enough to put them back together one more time. He couldn't do anything else, and yet he was angry.

They have made peace, but the wound is deep. Leo knows he should mend it, but he doesn't know how. And Adam is willing to let him, but he's not really ready to trust him completely. They watch one another from two sides of a crack in the ground, one waiting to jump, the other doubting he ever will. And the more they wait, the larger the crack becomes.

Leo feels it, and it's the kind of pressure that prevents him from breathing. He stands up suddenly, almost catching his breath. Adam looks up, startled. “What?” He asks, puzzled.

“I'm... gonna tidy up the kitchen.” Leo says the first thing that passes through his mind. He can't be in the same room with Adam right now. He needs to calm down and find his way back to him. He knows by the way Adam moves that he wants to say something, but he doesn't and Leo disappears in the kitchen.

Adam gives him ten minutes alone, before showing up. He doesn't take one step inside the room, he just leans against the door frame. “You're way better than what I expected to find you,” he says, straightforwardly. But again, he's never been subtle either.

Leo swallows. “I've been way worse than what you saw me,” he admits. “But I'm fine, now. I mean, I'm working on it.”

Adam stays quiet for a very long time as Leo pretends to tidy up things that are already perfectly fine. “Is it him?” Adam asks, eventually. There's no judgment in his voice, he just really wants to know. “Is it because he came back, that's why you're better?”

Leo tenses, his hands close into fists. He doesn't like to talk about this – mostly because he hasn't figure it out yet – but he thinks he owes Adam something. “It's not just that. It's not... it's not that simple. I mean, he made me okay, yes. But that's all he did.”

Adam's expression doesn't change. His eyes are severe, distant perhaps, but not angry. “Do you want more from him?”

Leo looks away. “Adam, please, can we not talk about that?”

“I just want to know, Leo.” Adam straightens up and takes a few steps inside. “If we're doing this again, I need to know what to expect. I don't want to see you again in the same state you were that night. I just can't see you like that again.”

Leo fumbles nervously with the hem of his shirt. He knows what Adam means, because it's his worst nightmare too. He can't think of going back to being what he was two years ago or even six months ago. He can't go back to that after having what he has now, whatever it is. He feels somewhat safe now, at peace. He can't bear the thought of losing everything again. And yet, he's not sure this is going to last. He doesn't have anything to say that could reassure Adam. He can only tell him the truth. “I want him to stay,” he admits, eventually. “But other than that, I'm still confused, Adam. I don't know. I'm scared.”

Adam nods, understanding. “Do you trust him?”

Leo forces himself to look at him, to stay put, not to run upstairs and lock himself in his room. “I'd like to,” he says. “Hopefully, I will.”

Adam seems to frown. “Leo—“

“Do you trust me, Adam?” Leo asks him that, because he already knows the answer. Adam's eyes doesn't give it away, just confirm it. He would like to, hopefully he will. “It's the same thing. There are things I desperately want, and yet I'm scared that once I get them, I'm gonna lose them again. I still can't just believe everything is going to be okay this time. Right now, that's how it is.”

“I see...”

“But I was happy when you accepted to talk to me again,” Leo continues. “And I hope that, even knowing what's going on with me right now, you want to keep talking to me. I know I have a long way to go with you, and believe me, I'm going to try, but please...”

Adam doesn't let him finish. He takes the few steps that separate them and pulls him into a hug. Leo instantly closes his arms around him, burying his face in his neck. Suddenly the world is not upside down anymore, in Adam's hug, in the feel of him, everything's back the way it was. “I'm sorry for what I did that night,” Leo murmurs against his sweater. “And for everything I did before.”

“I know, dumbass. You already told me and I accepted your apology.”

“But I need to say it again, because I don't know if I said it right the first time,” Leo hiccups, and he doesn't care. Adam saw him crying more times than he can count. In fact, he hugs him tighter.

“You did, I heard you,” Adam smiles, kissing his temple. “That part is over. Now we need to take the next step.”

“Which is?”

“Trust, I guess.”

Adam, Blaine, himself, it's a long road, but all it takes it's the first step.