Work Text:
The Bully
By PattRose
Summary: Blair asks Jim a simple question and is surprised by the answer.
Jim was reading the paper while Blair was grading some tests from that day. Jim had been busy all day and this was the first time he'd really time to relax. He would have preferred relaxing with Blair next to him, but he knew that Blair needed to grade those essays and fast.
Jim couldn't believe the news for the day. It was downright boring. What are you complaining about? Makes your days quieter.
He continued reading until he got to the good part. That's right, the sports page. Some idiot was talking about what a poor game the Jags played the night before and Jim wished he was there when the guy said it. Poor game my ass.
Finally he finished reading all the paper and folded it nicely and turned the tv on for the evening. He had it down really low, so it wouldn't disturb Blair.
Jim had his head back and was almost asleep watching Stargate SG-1 when Blair came walking in and almost shouted, "Wait till I tell you what someone wrote their paper about today."
Jim tried to pretend he hadn't almost fallen asleep and looked interested, even if he wasn't. "Are you sure you want to share that with me? That seems like it would be a conflict of interest."
"You're right, of course. I hate you sometimes. I know you just don't want to listen, but you're still right. I'm just pissed off."
"Come sit by me and I'll cheer you up," Jim said, smiling evilly.
"Not everything can be taken care of with sex, Jim."
"Of course not. But I can try," Jim said teasingly, but still somewhat serious.
"I have a question to ask you and I want an honest answer."
"Hit me, Chief."
"Don't tempt me," Blair joked and then added, "Have you ever bullied anyone? Whether it be while you were young or now?"
"I can honestly state that I've never bullied anyone besides you. You always tell me I'm bullying you when I'm bossing you around. But other than that, I never hurt anyone in my life that didn't deserve it."
"Wow, that's good to hear, man. So you've never even been friends with bullies?"
"You didn't ask that, Blair."
Blair looked at him in shock and asked, "You were friends with bullies?"
"I think it's fair to say that everyone during their life is friends with a bully now and again. It's not as if I was doing it, Chief."
"You were doing it, Jim. How old were you when this took place?"
"It was the first year of Junior High. Why are you making such a big deal about it?" Jim really wanted to know the answer.
"Because. Now tell me the story of this bully and let me hear what you did and said."
"He took lunch money away from the nerds. There must have been about twelve of them. He took the money and then treated all his friends to special things in the lunch room. See, it wasn't that big a deal."
Blair had moved far away from Jim and couldn't keep from letting his mouth drop open over and over again. The fact that Jim didn't see a problem with that was horrible. Blair was so disappointed in Jim at that moment.
"What was this bully's name?"
"Jason Smith, why?"
"I just wondered if you stayed friends with him the entire school year or you got away from him. Hell, I need to know if you're friends with him now."
"I didn't like what he was doing. I thought it was mean, so I pulled away from him. I stayed clear of him for the rest of the year. He never bothered to ask me why we weren't friends anymore. And I was glad to be rid of him."
Jim figured that Blair would be happy with this answer, but he was dead wrong.
"You never fucking stuck up for one of those people he abused did you?"
"Chief, when you're that age, you don't make waves."
"I did," Blair shouted.
"And you probably got the shit beat out of you daily. Right?"
"It was worth it. People saw what losers they were. I helped open up a lot of eyes. You on the other hand, kept your eyes closed and never helped anyone. I'm so disappointed in you right now, I could just scream."
"I was in 6th grade, Blair. Give me a break. When I got to high school, I stuck up for people all the time. Why are you focusing on the 6th grade?"
"Because all of those 6th graders were afraid of that bully and you let them think that was okay. Leaving the team doesn't mean you objected. It just means you didn't stick up for anyone. Not even yourself."
"Oh for crying out loud, Blair, you're blowing this out of proportion. Drop it. I'm tired of fighting about it. I take it one of your students is a bully and you're telling me off because of him?"
"One of my students is being bullied right now. And he is close to committing suicide. Or at least that's what I got from his paper. And what's even worse is that I can't talk to him about it because I'm his teacher, not his counselor. He feels like he's all alone and this is a good sized kid. Not some scrawny geek as you put it."
"I said nerd, I was in 6th grade, Blair."
"Did you ever wonder if any of those kids killed themselves?"
Jim got up from the sofa and started pacing. "What a horrible thing to say. I never thought about it, but I guess I will now. Thank you so much."
"What changed you in high school, man? What was your turning point?" Blair asked.
"A bunch of the jocks were going after some special needs kids and I didn't like it. They couldn't defend themselves, so I did. And they left those kids alone from that day on."
"What about all the nerds that got picked on? Did you defend them?" Blair asked.
"Honestly, Blair, I didn't notice anything like that happening…"
Blair sighed, got up and walked into the kitchen. He was torn between drinking a beer and brewing some tea. At that moment, the beer was sounding better and better. He finally grabbed one out of the fridge and then walked into his office, shutting the door behind him.
Jim knew he had disappointed Blair, but there was nothing he could do about it now. That was the past. Jim tried to live in the present. At least he tried anyhow. At midnight, Blair still hadn't come out. Jim was getting worried that this might be the end of them. Jim wanted to kick himself for answering the damn question. He should have just not answered. God, Jim hated when Blair was mad at him.
Jim knocked softly on the door and Blair opened it. "What?"
"Speaking of bullies, you're being one right now. You've been bossing me around and telling me off all night just because I didn't do something you didn't like. You're no better than I am, Blair Sandburg."
Blair thought about what Jim said and had to agree with Jim. He was being mean to Jim, knowing damn well that Jim would take everything to heart. And knowing Jim like he did, he had probably worried about them breaking up over this. And yet, Blair had still done it. You are no better than he was.
"I have a compromise, Jim."
"Come and sit down with me and talk to me about it," Jim suggested. Both men walked in and sat on the sofa.
"First of all, I'm sorry for being so hard on you. I hate bullies and that whole mentality. And this just set me off."
"I'm sorry that I didn't act better as a child. I wish I could have a do-over, but you know we can't. What do you suggest we do about all this?"
"I would like to give a lecture/seminar that is required for my college class and have the subject be bullies. I can't do it, Jim. I'm too close to the student that had this happen to him. Would you be willing to do it for me? You would have to tell them about you when you were young. You could ask questions and listen to their answers. What do you think about this idea?"
"Sign me up. And let's not fight any more about things like this. We can have a discussion without you hating me for my opinion, right?" Jim asked.
"Yes, I can. You were right, I was being a bully. I'm sorry."
"Blair, I bully you all the time. I'm going to try and watch that from now on."
"Good, we'll both be watching out and try not to do it to the other one. And you giving this lecture/seminar will be wonderful. Keep in mind there are going to be kids that fight you and kids that try and bully you."
"I know. I think I can handle it, Blair."
"I hope so. I don't want you to suffer because of it, either. The bully tactic has to end somewhere, right?" Blair asked.
Jim smiled at Blair for the first time since Blair's beer. "We'll work on the lecture and questions together, okay?"
"Perfect. I can help with that, I just can't do the actual deed. This is going to be great. I'll give them all an A for the class that day that you're teaching The Bully 101."
"We'll start work on it tonight. And in the meantime, I'd like to help with your student. I don't want him to feel like he's all alone."
"I'll ask him to come to our home and talk with us. If he wants to, he can, if he doesn't want to, he can pass. I really like him and would hate to think about the world without him in it."
"Let's get busy on this lecture and questions. Figure out what day would be best and we'll make plans. I love you, Blair."
"And I love you, Jim. Now and then you have to remind me, okay?"
"I can do that, babe."
