Once More, With Feeling
“Blaine?” Kurt asked curiously as he saw his ex boyfriend standing outside of the baggage claim area. “Why. . .? What are you doing here?”
“Hey” Blaine responded cheerily as he walked quickly towards Kurt. He opened his arms ands pulled Kurt into a big hug. “How are you?” He tried to sound nonchalant, but in actuality his heart was beating a mile a minute.
“I’m good, good. But . . . .” He looked at Blaine with a combination of awe and wonder. It had been right after Christmas that he had seen Blaine last and although they were working through things, Kurt still wasn’t ready to forgive and forget. He had spoken to Blaine a couple of weeks ago when he had called to see if Kurt was up to doing a song at the reception. They had finally agreed on a song after much debate and they had left things that they would see each other prior to the wedding, you know, to work on the song. Just friends for now and the foreseeable future, this is what Kurt kept stressing to Blaine. He wasn’t sure Blaine was hearing it though. “I’m just surprised to see you is all. Happy surprised.” He gave Blaine a quick squeeze.
“Well, Finn got caught up doing some wedding stuff with Mr. Shue so he asked if I wouldn’t mind coming to get you. And I didn‘t really want to go to French today anyway.” He hoped he sounded casual because in reality he had orchestrated the whole thing. Finn was cool about it, he was still secretly hoping the two of them would get their acts together. “And besides, I thought we could use a little time to work on the song.” He shrugged as he took the garment bag from Kurt. “Let me get that.” He said before Kurt had a chance to react. “You ready?”
“Oh, okay.” Kurt murmured as he followed Blaine out of the airport. They said little as they walked to the car. When Blaine stopped in front of a Prius, Kurt was a little dismayed, to say the least. “Where’s the family truckster?” Kurt asked, referring to Blaine’s usual set of wheels, the Volvo station wagon.
“My mom needed it to pick up some things so . . .” He opened the back door and hung Kurt’s suit from the hook. “Besides, isn’t this so much cooler?” He gave Kurt one of his megawatt smiles, a smile which caused a small flutter in the pit of Kurt’s stomach. Kurt continued to eye him curiously as they got into the car. “Do you want me to take you straight home, are you hungry? We could go grab a bite at Breadstix’s. For old time’s sake, my treat.” He hoped he didn’t sound too eager.
At the mention of food, Kurt’s stomach began rumbling. He had left Newark at 8 that morning, and it was now nearing 1. Yeah, some food would be nice, he thought. “That sounds good. I never thought I would say this but I kind of miss their food, and that’s weird because I can get some of the best Italian food in the world in New York.” Blaine gave a slight chuckle.
As they drove back to Lima, the extent of their conversation was small talk. Blaine did his best filling in Kurt of all the events in the last few weeks, the Warblers disqualification and the New Directions back in regionals. While they were headed to Breadstiks, Blaine’s phone kept pinging. “Can you check those messages for me?” Blaine asked as he drove. “Might be from my mom.” Kurt took the phone from the middle console and eyed it curiously.
“They’re all from Tina.” Kurt said as he looked at the messages. “She wants to know where you are, why you aren’t in French, if you’re going to be available tonight to work on some songs.” Kurt shook his head. “Jeeze, when did you two get so close.” Blaine merely shook his head and rolled his eyes.
“In the last couple of months I guess. We joined the Cheerios together. And since, we’re both single . . .” His voice trailed off. “Anyway, we’ve just been hanging out. She’s been a really great friend.” Kurt nodded, this sounded a little too familiar to him.
“That’s good. But don’t you worry, that maybe . . ..” He shrugged noncommittally.
“Maybe what?” Blaine glanced over quickly. “What?”
“I don’t know, that maybe she’s got the wrong idea about the two of you.”
“Um, I don’t think so.” Blaine thought back and tried to recall an instance where Tina hadn’t been anything but decent to him.
“You sure? Because it sure seems to me that she might think there’s something more.” Kurt scrolled through all the numerous texts from Tina on Blaine’s phone. “You text each other a lot. Correction, she texts you an awful lot.” He shot a curious glance over at Blaine.
“No I am certain she is just being a good friend. She knows about me, about us. “ He shook his head, there was no way that Tina could think that he would like her, in that way.
“Just be careful.” Kurt said quietly, he knew that Blaine probably wouldn’t realize Tina’s feelings, he was so trusting and a little naïve.
“Don’t worry, it’s fine.” Blaine responded with a laugh. He just knew that there was no way in the world that Tina would be interested in him, she knew about his feelings for Sam, and Kurt. Everyone knew he was gay, that wasn’t likely to be changing anytime soon. And as soon as that thought popped into his head, another message from Tina popped up on his phone. Kurt merely arched an eyebrow and said nothing as he showed Blaine the message. Blaine began thinking that maybe Kurt was onto something, it would explain the weird behavior after the Sadie Hawkins dance.
“Do you want me to write something back, let her know you’re busy.” Kurt asked as he fiddled with the phone. ‘And that you like dick’ he said under his breath. He scrolled through the pictures, noting the large number of pics that featured Sam.
“No, leave it. I’ll text her back when we get to the restaurant.” His eyes remained fixed on the road as he drove, his mind’s eye now seeing things about Tina he hadn’t noticed. The remainder of the trip, little was said, both men lost in their own thoughts. A short while later they pulled into the parking lot. Blaine looked over and gave Kurt a nervous smile. “It’s really good to see you again Kurt. I’ve missed you.” he admitted quietly. He looked down at the dash, not wanting to meet Kurt’s cool gaze.
“Me too.” Kurt replied as he reached over and gave Blaine’s hand a squeeze. “And I don’t know about you, but I’m famished.” That’s was about all he wanted to have of this conversation right now.
An hour and half later, Blaine pulled the car into the drive of the Hummel house.
“Um, do you have time now to practice or do you want to meet up later? You’re probably tired.” Blaine asked quickly as he put the car in park. Kurt sank back against the seat.
“I, um, yeah we probably should.” Kurt finally answered. In actuality he was kind of afraid of being in such close proximity to Blaine for too much longer. Lunch had been nice and they had talked like the friends they had once been. It had been casual and easy, both men genuinely enjoying each other’s company, just like it had been all those years ago back in the Dalton days.
“Cool” Blaine responded quickly. He wasn’t quite ready for the afternoon to end. “I brought the music, just in case.” He reached in the seat behind Kurt and grabbed the sheet music and cd. His arm brushed Kurt’s body and Kurt shuddered just a bit. Blaine noticed.
They wandered into the house, which was strangely quiet. “Finn must still be out,” Kurt murmured as he hung his suit up in the hall closet.
“Where’s your folks?” Blaine asked as he slipped his coat off and tossed in onto the bench.. “Aren’t they coming to the wedding?”
Kurt gulped as he looked over at Blaine, he was wearing that striped sweater, the one he was wearing the first time they had . . . well, THE first time. Kurt had to give it to Blaine, he knew how to play dirty. He had wondered at lunch why Blaine hadn’t taken his coat off, now he knew. ‘Well played Anderson’ he thought silently to himself.
“They, um . . .” he tried to sound casual. “They were going to come but the storm hit DC and they can’t make it now. They really are disappointed. My dad thinks the world of Mr. Schuster.” Kurt ushered Blaine into the living room. “Can I get you anything?” Kurt asked, always the perfect host.
“No, I’m good.” Blaine replied with a smirk. He was glad to see that his plan to totally throw Kurt off kilter was working. He walked over to the stereo and put in the cd. The music began to play. “So you want to start ?”
“Start?” Kurt asked with an arched eyebrow.
“The song, silly.” His eyes shined mischievously. “What else?”
“Oh, yeah. Of course. Well, you should probably go first. You know the words right?” He sat on the couch and watched Blaine who was clearly enjoying himself.
“Ok, well now that we’ve got that figured out, should we plan out any choreography? Or you think that’s too much?” Kurt thought it over for a minute.
“Well maybe a little choreography might be nice.” He thought that maybe he could show Blaine a few of the new moves he had learned in his contemporary dance class. Blaine offered his hand and pulled Kurt up onto his feet. He eyed Kurt expectantly.
“Got any ideas?”
“Ok well maybe at the chorus we could do this” He showed Blaine an exaggerated turn and dance move. Blaine shrugged . “And then maybe when we do the verse about walking down the street, we could go like this.” Blaine nodded as he watched Kurt with a studied eye. He had to admit that he was quite liking this new confidence Kurt seemed to be possessing.
“Yeah that might work. And then how about we do this . . .” he leaned heavily onto Kurt’s back. Kurt was so surprised by the unplanned physical contact with Blaine, that he stumbled backwards and landed on the couch, Blaine landing in a heap, right on top of him. They both broke out in nervous laughter which turned strangely serious as Blaine turned to face Kurt. Kurt had his hands pressed against Blaine’s firm chest. He could feel his heart beating fast under his fingertips. Kurt’s eyes were transfixed on Blaine’s mouth as he watched him lick his lips.
“I.um . . .” was all Blaine could get out before Kurt’s mouth latched hungrily onto his. They moved in a frenzy, both wanting to touch skin, to feel everything they had been missing for all these months.
“Missed you so much.” Kurt murmured as his mouth trailed down Blaine’s neck.
“Me too.” Blaine said as he moved his hands down Kurt’s chest, edging ever closer to his waist. Kurt caught Blaine’s hand as it ghosted over his crotch.
“We shouldn’t do this. Weren’t we just going to try being friends? I told you that I‘ve been seeing someone.” His voice caught as Blaine nuzzled his ear.
“You said it wasn’t serious.” he reminded Kurt. “And I am perfectly fine with being friends, friends with benefits.” Blaine whispered hungrily in his ear before nibbling on the lobe. Kurt considered this for about a half a second before nodding vigorously. Another half second later, their mouths were once again locked onto each others, shirts now being removed and zippers unzipped.
“Kurt! Blaine! You guys here?” Finn called out loudly from the foyer. He wanted to give them fair warning he was home, just in case. Blaine and Kurt pulled apart quickly, relieved that they hadn’t reached the point of no return before Finn showed up. Clothes were hurriedly thrown back on.
“Finn. Hey.” Kurt cried out, his voice cracking a bit. “We’re just in the living room, practicing.” Finn smiled to himself. He just bet they had been practicing something and he was darn sure it wasn’t singing.
Both men were able to just get their clothes back into some semblance of order when Finn walked into the room. He noticed the weird expressions on both of their faces, the ‘we just got caught doing something’ look.
“Blaine, thanks again for agreeing to pick up Kurt.” He gave Blaine a knowing wink. “Hope it wasn’t too much trouble.”
Blaine giggled. Kurt looked at him strangely. He couldn’t believe that Blaine actually giggled. “No, no problem at all. Happy to do it. Plus we got some rehearsing of the song done.” Kurt snorted softly, he didn’t think the two whole minutes they had put in would really qualify as rehearsing.
“Cool, I owe you one man. So what are you two singing by the way? Rachel picked out some duet that I hadn’t heard before. Nothing new there. I don‘t know where she finds these songs.” He shrugged as he flopped down on the couch next to the others.
“We’re doing ‘Just can’t get enough’ by Depeche Mode. Kurt’s idea.” Blaine said as he picked at his nails.
“Well it was that or some Katy Perry song.” Kurt teased. Blaine snorted softly.
“I probably should get going.” Blaine said quietly as he got up. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” He walked out of the room and was putting on his coat when Kurt caught up with him.
“Hey.” Kurt called out. “You don’t have to rush off.”
“Yeah I probably do.” He wrapped the scarf around his neck before buttoning his coat. And before he left, he grabbed Kurt and pulled him against him, planting one long passionate kiss on him. He broke away roughly. “I’d just want to keep doing more of that. See you later, FRIEND.” He winked at Kurt as he closed the door behind him. Kurt took a deep breath and tried to regain his composure. A few minutes later he walked back into the living room where Finn gave him a knowing smile.
“So are you two back together or what?”
“No, we’re just friends that’s all.” Kurt replied as he turned down the stereo.
“Friends that give each other hickeys?” Kurt turned bright red as he reached up to cover his neck. “Might want to fix your shirt too, little bro.” Kurt looked down at his wrongly buttoned shirt and quickly hustled out of the room. He could hear Finn’s laughter as he sprinted up the stairs.
The wedding was scheduled to start at 6 and it was nearing 3 when Kurt finally decided it was time to get ready. Blaine had sent him a couple of flirty texts during the day and he was still conflicted about what to do. He didn’t want to lead him on, he really wasn’t ready to get back together, he didn’t know when he would be. The problem was, he cared deeply, hell, who was he kidding, he loved Blaine deeply, that hadn’t changed. So maybe the problem was that he couldn’t let go of the pain that Blaine had caused him and he was afraid of that. Or maybe he could, he considered as he thought back to their escapades in the living room the previous afternoon. His thoughts were disrupted by the ringing of his phone, Carrie Underwood singing ‘Before he Cheats’, the ringtone he had given Blaine (in retrospect, he considered that he probably should change that, just in case).
“Hey you.” Kurt answered cheerily. “What’s up?”
“I’m just leaving school. I gotta get home and shower and change. Thought I’d check and see if you needed me to come pick you up?”
“Well I thought I would go with Finn but I haven’t talked to him all day. I don’t know if he’s even coming back home but my dad’s truck is here so I could probably take that.” He could hear Blaine laughing.
“What’s so funny?”
“You’re seriously going to drive your dad’s truck? Aren’t you afraid you’ll get axel grease or something on your tux? The prius is small but it’s clean.” Kurt mulled over his comment, he did have a point there. Grease on his new second hand Tom Ford tux would send him into orbit.
“Okay, okay. You’re right. What time?”
“Let’s see, I gotta pick up Tina at 5, could be at your place at either 4:45 or 5:15.”
“You’re picking up Tina too?” Kurt sighed, he was hearing way too much about Tina these days.
“I kind of asked her to be my date.” He admitted. He thought he could hear Kurt’s eyebrows being raised in surprise. “I asked her a couple of weeks ago, she took really good care of me when I was kind of sickly so I owed her one. So what time?”
“I guess stop by here first. That way I get shotgun.” Might as well start shaking things up with Tina.
“Ok, hey Tina is on the other line, I’ll see you in a little while.” Kurt hung up and shook his head slowly, he wasn’t sure but he thought he might be getting a little jealous of Tina Cohen Chang.
A little over an hour later, Kurt heard Blaine pull the car into the drive. He watched from the upstairs window as Blaine checked himself in the mirror before exiting the car. Kurt’s heart skipped a beat when he saw Blaine fully, he looked amazing in his suit. He heard the doorbell ring and waited a few minutes before answering. Blaine gave a low wolf whistle when Kurt opened the door. He eyed Kurt from head to toe, looking at him in such of way that it caused Kurt to blush. He pulled Kurt into a quick hug and gave him a quick peck on the lips.
“You look amazing.” He said as he pulled away, his hand lingering on the small of Kurt’s back.
“You too. New suit?” He signaled for Blaine to make a turn for him, which he promptly did.
“Yeah, early graduation present from Cooper. He said every well dressed young man needs a tailored suit.”
Kurt smiled appreciatively as he watched Blaine model the suit. He would have to remember to thank Cooper next time he saw him. “You ready?”
“Yeah, let me grab my coat.” Kurt reached into the closet and grabbed it. “All set.” He announced as he closed the door behind him.
A few minutes later they pulled into Tina’s driveway. Blaine gave a quick honk and Tina came springing out of the house. The smile on her face melted as soon as she saw Kurt sitting in the front seat. Blaine had gotten out of the car and was ushering Tina towards to it.
“You didn’t tell me Kurt was coming with us.” Kurt heard Tina hiss at Blaine as they stood outside the car. She sounded pissed.
“He needed a ride.” Blaine explained in a soothing tone. Somehow Tina doubted that but she wasn’t going to stand out in cold and belabor the point with Blaine about it. She knew exactly what Kurt was up to.
“Hi Tina.” Kurt chirped as Tina got into the backseat. “How’s tricks?” Like he didn’t know.
“Oh hey Kurt.” Tina replied in a tone that Kurt could only describe as icy. He could feel her eyes shooting daggers into the back of his head. “Blaine didn’t tell me you were joining us.”
“Well it was kind of a last minute thing, Finn’s with Mr. Shue and I didn’t really want to drive my dad’s pickup. And Blaine was gracious enough to offer.” He shot an adoring glance towards Blaine. He heard a soft snort from the back.
“Everybody buckled in and ready?” Blaine said loudly as he got back into the car, desperate to break the tension. “Wedding here we come.”
No one said much on the way to the church, Tina was so mad that Kurt was there, she didn’t even think she could be civil to him. She certainly thought that he had a lot of nerve and audacity showing up and being so buddy buddy with Blaine, considering how poorly he had been treating him as of late. He didn’t deserve someone as wonderful as Blaine.
Kurt kept stealing glances over at Blaine, he couldn’t believe how handsome he looked in that suit. Maybe he could wear that when they got . . . Kurt shook his head, he didn’t know if he and Blaine would ever be able to be true friends again, let alone allow himself to think about them getting married some day.
“Tina, I need to talk to Kurt for a second.” Blaine announced when they got to the chapel. “Would you mind going inside and getting seats for us.” Kurt looked over at Blaine, raised an eyebrow but said nothing. He was wondering what Blaine needed to talk to him about exactly. He heard Tina give a huff but she got out of the car, slamming the door behind her. Blaine just shook his head and rolled his eyes. “And I thought I was a drama queen.”
“What’s up?” Kurt asked. Blaine stared at the dash. He really didn’t need to talk to Kurt about anything per se, he just wanted to spend a bit more time in close proximity to him.
“I can’t stop thinking about yesterday afternoon.” He finally admitted. He glanced over and looked at Kurt shyly. “ I missed you so much and it was so great to be with you again, like it used to be.” Kurt gulped hard. “And I know, we’re still trying to get this all figured out, but I just wanted you to know.” Kurt reached over and took hold of his hand. “And by the way, I love the bowtie.” He trailed a fingertip over the black fabric.
“Yeah” Kurt murmured as he ran his finger across Blaine’s knuckles. “I . . .” the chirping of Blaine’s phone stopped him cold. He eyed Blaine expectantly as Blaine took the phone from his pocket. “Tina?” Kurt inquired. Blaine nodded.
“She wants to know when we’re coming in. And apparently, Mercedes is now looking for us as well.” He sighed heavily and sank back against the seat. “If I didn’t know better, I would say that the world is conspiring against us.” He gave Kurt’s hand a squeeze before getting out of the car. Kurt sat there for a minute, conflicted about what he should do next. Blaine came around the car and opened the door, waiting for him.
“You coming?” Kurt glanced up at him, looked into those hazel eyes and all he could think was ‘fuck it.’
He got up quickly and before Blaine knew what hit him, had him laid out in the back of the car, his mouth latched tightly onto his. Blaine didn’t complain, or resist.
The next few minutes were filled with frantic fumbling, each man making assurances to the other that this didn’t really mean anything. Blaine’s phone kept pinging and if Kurt could have gotten his hands on it, it would have been out the window, buried somewhere in the snow. Everything was so hurried and tawdry and neither man cared. They were just happy to be so close to one another again. But when Mercedes came knocking, there was no way that they could stay secreted away in the car. And so with their coats covering their wilting erections, they guiltily escorted Mercedes into the church.
The wedding, or the lack thereof, had been interesting to say the least. Kurt and Blaine had spent the whole time in the church stealing glances over at each other, breaking into wide and guilty smiles. Blaine felt Tina’s elbow in his gut on more than one occasion. Rachel just kept looking at Kurt like he was an escaped mental patient.
When it was decided that the reception would go on as planned, Tina, Blaine and Kurt all trudged back to the Prius, this time, Tina made sure she got the front seat next to Blaine. She smiled smugly at Kurt as he got into the car. Blaine and Tina chatted the whole drive to the hotel, Tina making a concerted effort to keep Kurt out of the conversation. Blaine would look back in the rear view mirror from time to time and lock eyes with Kurt, and Blaine would get a little quiver in the pit of his stomach. And when Kurt mouthed, ‘I am so going to fuck you later,’ Blaine nearly drove off the road.
The reception turned out to be a pretty good party, all things considered. Sure, everyone felt badly for Mr. Shue, but maybe it was better that this happen now rather than later. The duet that Blaine and Kurt performed together was one of the few highlights of the evening. And, much to Kurt’s chagrin, he discovered just how right he was about Tina and her infatuation with Blaine. It was worse than he had thought, bordering on downright creepy. He would need to have a discussion with Blaine later about this and wondered if Blaine would even believe him.
Unbeknownst to Blaine, Kurt had managed to get a room at the hotel, the honeymoon suite no less. Mr. Schuster and Miss Plllsbury wouldn’t be needing it so . . .someone might as well get some use out of it. He had decided that after their aborted fumblings in the car, he was going to have some serious interrupted time with Blaine. Yes, he kept telling himself, it means nothing, it’s just sex, and sex with Blaine had always been fantastic, there was no denying that. And he was a gay man, a gay man with needs, as was Blaine, so why shouldn’t they help each other out. Bros helping bros, wasn’t that what Blaine had said? Sounded good to Kurt, but then again anything involving sex sounded good to him, it had been months after all.
When Kurt had told Blaine to follow him upstairs, Blaine had been a bit taken back, but still utterly delighted nonetheless. He couldn’t wipe the grin on his face as he followed Kurt down the hall after nearly devouring him in the elevator. Neither man expressed any hesitancy or reticence once they were finally alone. The sex was as good as it had ever been possibly even better, both of them knowing each other’s body so well. It felt like coming home. If it had been up to Blaine, they would have stayed locked in that hotel room for the rest of their lives, just the two of them, feasting only on each other.
Kurt, on the other hand, as much as he enjoyed losing himself in the moment (and inside of Blaine), knew that he had to go in order to try and keep things casual between them. When Blaine had asked him if this meant that they were back together, Kurt really had to fight his better judgment and leave that room, when every part of him longed to stay there. But he knew that he still had a lot more to see and experience before he was ready to let Blaine back fully into his life. Maybe not now, maybe not tomorrow, but he knew in his heart of hearts that one day they would be together. Blaine was his first love, his soul mate, that would never change and there was no way he could imagine the rest of his life without him.
They met up again downstairs a short while later and shared another slow dance before Blaine needed to leave. Tomorrow was still a school day for him and he couldn’t stay out too late. Kurt had been relieved to find that Tina had left with Sam and Brittany so that was one person he didn’t have to deal with again tonight. Silently they walked hand in hand back to the car.
The ride back to Kurt’s was quiet, neither of them sure what to say. The house was still dark when Blaine pulled into the drive. “Guess Finn hasn’t made it back yet.” Blaine commented, his mind going to what he could do to Kurt in an empty house.
“Oh I don’t expect him back tonight. He disappeared with Rachel after their duet. I don’t think I saw them again after that.” He waggled his eyebrows at Blaine. “Guess we weren’t the only ones.” Blaine chuckled softly as he took Kurt’s hand into his.
“About tonight, sorry about what I said in the room. I don‘t want you to feel that I am pressuring you , I just . . . “ He kept staring at Kurt’s hand. “Just want things back like they were, before I fucked up everything between us, when you loved me.” Kurt was silent, he didn’t know what to say. What Blaine said was true, he had fucked it up, there was no denying that.
“Yeah,” Kurt finally murmured. “Look Blaine, you’ve just got to give me some time and space. I don’t know if we’ll ever be back together like that again, but I love being with you and spending time with you and I don’t want it to be weird between us. And I will always love you, no matter what.” Blaine looked up at him, his eyes glazed over with tears and nodded slowly.
“So can two friends go to the movies tomorrow night.” He wiped his eyes on the sleeve of his coat. “They’re doing a double feature of All About Eve and Showgirls.” Kurt started laughing.
“Seriously?” He looked at Blaine incredulously. Blaine just nodded. Kurt shook his head and shrugged. “Yeah I think that would be okay.” He leaned over and gave Blaine a quick kiss on the cheek. “Thanks for a great evening.” He whispered. “I’ll see you tomorrow, friend. Sweet dreams.”
As Blaine drove home, for the first time in a long time, he knew there was hope.
“Hey” Blaine responded cheerily as he walked quickly towards Kurt. He opened his arms ands pulled Kurt into a big hug. “How are you?” He tried to sound nonchalant, but in actuality his heart was beating a mile a minute.
“I’m good, good. But . . . .” He looked at Blaine with a combination of awe and wonder. It had been right after Christmas that he had seen Blaine last and although they were working through things, Kurt still wasn’t ready to forgive and forget. He had spoken to Blaine a couple of weeks ago when he had called to see if Kurt was up to doing a song at the reception. They had finally agreed on a song after much debate and they had left things that they would see each other prior to the wedding, you know, to work on the song. Just friends for now and the foreseeable future, this is what Kurt kept stressing to Blaine. He wasn’t sure Blaine was hearing it though. “I’m just surprised to see you is all. Happy surprised.” He gave Blaine a quick squeeze.
“Well, Finn got caught up doing some wedding stuff with Mr. Shue so he asked if I wouldn’t mind coming to get you. And I didn‘t really want to go to French today anyway.” He hoped he sounded casual because in reality he had orchestrated the whole thing. Finn was cool about it, he was still secretly hoping the two of them would get their acts together. “And besides, I thought we could use a little time to work on the song.” He shrugged as he took the garment bag from Kurt. “Let me get that.” He said before Kurt had a chance to react. “You ready?”
“Oh, okay.” Kurt murmured as he followed Blaine out of the airport. They said little as they walked to the car. When Blaine stopped in front of a Prius, Kurt was a little dismayed, to say the least. “Where’s the family truckster?” Kurt asked, referring to Blaine’s usual set of wheels, the Volvo station wagon.
“My mom needed it to pick up some things so . . .” He opened the back door and hung Kurt’s suit from the hook. “Besides, isn’t this so much cooler?” He gave Kurt one of his megawatt smiles, a smile which caused a small flutter in the pit of Kurt’s stomach. Kurt continued to eye him curiously as they got into the car. “Do you want me to take you straight home, are you hungry? We could go grab a bite at Breadstix’s. For old time’s sake, my treat.” He hoped he didn’t sound too eager.
At the mention of food, Kurt’s stomach began rumbling. He had left Newark at 8 that morning, and it was now nearing 1. Yeah, some food would be nice, he thought. “That sounds good. I never thought I would say this but I kind of miss their food, and that’s weird because I can get some of the best Italian food in the world in New York.” Blaine gave a slight chuckle.
As they drove back to Lima, the extent of their conversation was small talk. Blaine did his best filling in Kurt of all the events in the last few weeks, the Warblers disqualification and the New Directions back in regionals. While they were headed to Breadstiks, Blaine’s phone kept pinging. “Can you check those messages for me?” Blaine asked as he drove. “Might be from my mom.” Kurt took the phone from the middle console and eyed it curiously.
“They’re all from Tina.” Kurt said as he looked at the messages. “She wants to know where you are, why you aren’t in French, if you’re going to be available tonight to work on some songs.” Kurt shook his head. “Jeeze, when did you two get so close.” Blaine merely shook his head and rolled his eyes.
“In the last couple of months I guess. We joined the Cheerios together. And since, we’re both single . . .” His voice trailed off. “Anyway, we’ve just been hanging out. She’s been a really great friend.” Kurt nodded, this sounded a little too familiar to him.
“That’s good. But don’t you worry, that maybe . . ..” He shrugged noncommittally.
“Maybe what?” Blaine glanced over quickly. “What?”
“I don’t know, that maybe she’s got the wrong idea about the two of you.”
“Um, I don’t think so.” Blaine thought back and tried to recall an instance where Tina hadn’t been anything but decent to him.
“You sure? Because it sure seems to me that she might think there’s something more.” Kurt scrolled through all the numerous texts from Tina on Blaine’s phone. “You text each other a lot. Correction, she texts you an awful lot.” He shot a curious glance over at Blaine.
“No I am certain she is just being a good friend. She knows about me, about us. “ He shook his head, there was no way that Tina could think that he would like her, in that way.
“Just be careful.” Kurt said quietly, he knew that Blaine probably wouldn’t realize Tina’s feelings, he was so trusting and a little naïve.
“Don’t worry, it’s fine.” Blaine responded with a laugh. He just knew that there was no way in the world that Tina would be interested in him, she knew about his feelings for Sam, and Kurt. Everyone knew he was gay, that wasn’t likely to be changing anytime soon. And as soon as that thought popped into his head, another message from Tina popped up on his phone. Kurt merely arched an eyebrow and said nothing as he showed Blaine the message. Blaine began thinking that maybe Kurt was onto something, it would explain the weird behavior after the Sadie Hawkins dance.
“Do you want me to write something back, let her know you’re busy.” Kurt asked as he fiddled with the phone. ‘And that you like dick’ he said under his breath. He scrolled through the pictures, noting the large number of pics that featured Sam.
“No, leave it. I’ll text her back when we get to the restaurant.” His eyes remained fixed on the road as he drove, his mind’s eye now seeing things about Tina he hadn’t noticed. The remainder of the trip, little was said, both men lost in their own thoughts. A short while later they pulled into the parking lot. Blaine looked over and gave Kurt a nervous smile. “It’s really good to see you again Kurt. I’ve missed you.” he admitted quietly. He looked down at the dash, not wanting to meet Kurt’s cool gaze.
“Me too.” Kurt replied as he reached over and gave Blaine’s hand a squeeze. “And I don’t know about you, but I’m famished.” That’s was about all he wanted to have of this conversation right now.
An hour and half later, Blaine pulled the car into the drive of the Hummel house.
“Um, do you have time now to practice or do you want to meet up later? You’re probably tired.” Blaine asked quickly as he put the car in park. Kurt sank back against the seat.
“I, um, yeah we probably should.” Kurt finally answered. In actuality he was kind of afraid of being in such close proximity to Blaine for too much longer. Lunch had been nice and they had talked like the friends they had once been. It had been casual and easy, both men genuinely enjoying each other’s company, just like it had been all those years ago back in the Dalton days.
“Cool” Blaine responded quickly. He wasn’t quite ready for the afternoon to end. “I brought the music, just in case.” He reached in the seat behind Kurt and grabbed the sheet music and cd. His arm brushed Kurt’s body and Kurt shuddered just a bit. Blaine noticed.
They wandered into the house, which was strangely quiet. “Finn must still be out,” Kurt murmured as he hung his suit up in the hall closet.
“Where’s your folks?” Blaine asked as he slipped his coat off and tossed in onto the bench.. “Aren’t they coming to the wedding?”
Kurt gulped as he looked over at Blaine, he was wearing that striped sweater, the one he was wearing the first time they had . . . well, THE first time. Kurt had to give it to Blaine, he knew how to play dirty. He had wondered at lunch why Blaine hadn’t taken his coat off, now he knew. ‘Well played Anderson’ he thought silently to himself.
“They, um . . .” he tried to sound casual. “They were going to come but the storm hit DC and they can’t make it now. They really are disappointed. My dad thinks the world of Mr. Schuster.” Kurt ushered Blaine into the living room. “Can I get you anything?” Kurt asked, always the perfect host.
“No, I’m good.” Blaine replied with a smirk. He was glad to see that his plan to totally throw Kurt off kilter was working. He walked over to the stereo and put in the cd. The music began to play. “So you want to start ?”
“Start?” Kurt asked with an arched eyebrow.
“The song, silly.” His eyes shined mischievously. “What else?”
“Oh, yeah. Of course. Well, you should probably go first. You know the words right?” He sat on the couch and watched Blaine who was clearly enjoying himself.
“Ok, well now that we’ve got that figured out, should we plan out any choreography? Or you think that’s too much?” Kurt thought it over for a minute.
“Well maybe a little choreography might be nice.” He thought that maybe he could show Blaine a few of the new moves he had learned in his contemporary dance class. Blaine offered his hand and pulled Kurt up onto his feet. He eyed Kurt expectantly.
“Got any ideas?”
“Ok well maybe at the chorus we could do this” He showed Blaine an exaggerated turn and dance move. Blaine shrugged . “And then maybe when we do the verse about walking down the street, we could go like this.” Blaine nodded as he watched Kurt with a studied eye. He had to admit that he was quite liking this new confidence Kurt seemed to be possessing.
“Yeah that might work. And then how about we do this . . .” he leaned heavily onto Kurt’s back. Kurt was so surprised by the unplanned physical contact with Blaine, that he stumbled backwards and landed on the couch, Blaine landing in a heap, right on top of him. They both broke out in nervous laughter which turned strangely serious as Blaine turned to face Kurt. Kurt had his hands pressed against Blaine’s firm chest. He could feel his heart beating fast under his fingertips. Kurt’s eyes were transfixed on Blaine’s mouth as he watched him lick his lips.
“I.um . . .” was all Blaine could get out before Kurt’s mouth latched hungrily onto his. They moved in a frenzy, both wanting to touch skin, to feel everything they had been missing for all these months.
“Missed you so much.” Kurt murmured as his mouth trailed down Blaine’s neck.
“Me too.” Blaine said as he moved his hands down Kurt’s chest, edging ever closer to his waist. Kurt caught Blaine’s hand as it ghosted over his crotch.
“We shouldn’t do this. Weren’t we just going to try being friends? I told you that I‘ve been seeing someone.” His voice caught as Blaine nuzzled his ear.
“You said it wasn’t serious.” he reminded Kurt. “And I am perfectly fine with being friends, friends with benefits.” Blaine whispered hungrily in his ear before nibbling on the lobe. Kurt considered this for about a half a second before nodding vigorously. Another half second later, their mouths were once again locked onto each others, shirts now being removed and zippers unzipped.
“Kurt! Blaine! You guys here?” Finn called out loudly from the foyer. He wanted to give them fair warning he was home, just in case. Blaine and Kurt pulled apart quickly, relieved that they hadn’t reached the point of no return before Finn showed up. Clothes were hurriedly thrown back on.
“Finn. Hey.” Kurt cried out, his voice cracking a bit. “We’re just in the living room, practicing.” Finn smiled to himself. He just bet they had been practicing something and he was darn sure it wasn’t singing.
Both men were able to just get their clothes back into some semblance of order when Finn walked into the room. He noticed the weird expressions on both of their faces, the ‘we just got caught doing something’ look.
“Blaine, thanks again for agreeing to pick up Kurt.” He gave Blaine a knowing wink. “Hope it wasn’t too much trouble.”
Blaine giggled. Kurt looked at him strangely. He couldn’t believe that Blaine actually giggled. “No, no problem at all. Happy to do it. Plus we got some rehearsing of the song done.” Kurt snorted softly, he didn’t think the two whole minutes they had put in would really qualify as rehearsing.
“Cool, I owe you one man. So what are you two singing by the way? Rachel picked out some duet that I hadn’t heard before. Nothing new there. I don‘t know where she finds these songs.” He shrugged as he flopped down on the couch next to the others.
“We’re doing ‘Just can’t get enough’ by Depeche Mode. Kurt’s idea.” Blaine said as he picked at his nails.
“Well it was that or some Katy Perry song.” Kurt teased. Blaine snorted softly.
“I probably should get going.” Blaine said quietly as he got up. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” He walked out of the room and was putting on his coat when Kurt caught up with him.
“Hey.” Kurt called out. “You don’t have to rush off.”
“Yeah I probably do.” He wrapped the scarf around his neck before buttoning his coat. And before he left, he grabbed Kurt and pulled him against him, planting one long passionate kiss on him. He broke away roughly. “I’d just want to keep doing more of that. See you later, FRIEND.” He winked at Kurt as he closed the door behind him. Kurt took a deep breath and tried to regain his composure. A few minutes later he walked back into the living room where Finn gave him a knowing smile.
“So are you two back together or what?”
“No, we’re just friends that’s all.” Kurt replied as he turned down the stereo.
“Friends that give each other hickeys?” Kurt turned bright red as he reached up to cover his neck. “Might want to fix your shirt too, little bro.” Kurt looked down at his wrongly buttoned shirt and quickly hustled out of the room. He could hear Finn’s laughter as he sprinted up the stairs.
The wedding was scheduled to start at 6 and it was nearing 3 when Kurt finally decided it was time to get ready. Blaine had sent him a couple of flirty texts during the day and he was still conflicted about what to do. He didn’t want to lead him on, he really wasn’t ready to get back together, he didn’t know when he would be. The problem was, he cared deeply, hell, who was he kidding, he loved Blaine deeply, that hadn’t changed. So maybe the problem was that he couldn’t let go of the pain that Blaine had caused him and he was afraid of that. Or maybe he could, he considered as he thought back to their escapades in the living room the previous afternoon. His thoughts were disrupted by the ringing of his phone, Carrie Underwood singing ‘Before he Cheats’, the ringtone he had given Blaine (in retrospect, he considered that he probably should change that, just in case).
“Hey you.” Kurt answered cheerily. “What’s up?”
“I’m just leaving school. I gotta get home and shower and change. Thought I’d check and see if you needed me to come pick you up?”
“Well I thought I would go with Finn but I haven’t talked to him all day. I don’t know if he’s even coming back home but my dad’s truck is here so I could probably take that.” He could hear Blaine laughing.
“What’s so funny?”
“You’re seriously going to drive your dad’s truck? Aren’t you afraid you’ll get axel grease or something on your tux? The prius is small but it’s clean.” Kurt mulled over his comment, he did have a point there. Grease on his new second hand Tom Ford tux would send him into orbit.
“Okay, okay. You’re right. What time?”
“Let’s see, I gotta pick up Tina at 5, could be at your place at either 4:45 or 5:15.”
“You’re picking up Tina too?” Kurt sighed, he was hearing way too much about Tina these days.
“I kind of asked her to be my date.” He admitted. He thought he could hear Kurt’s eyebrows being raised in surprise. “I asked her a couple of weeks ago, she took really good care of me when I was kind of sickly so I owed her one. So what time?”
“I guess stop by here first. That way I get shotgun.” Might as well start shaking things up with Tina.
“Ok, hey Tina is on the other line, I’ll see you in a little while.” Kurt hung up and shook his head slowly, he wasn’t sure but he thought he might be getting a little jealous of Tina Cohen Chang.
A little over an hour later, Kurt heard Blaine pull the car into the drive. He watched from the upstairs window as Blaine checked himself in the mirror before exiting the car. Kurt’s heart skipped a beat when he saw Blaine fully, he looked amazing in his suit. He heard the doorbell ring and waited a few minutes before answering. Blaine gave a low wolf whistle when Kurt opened the door. He eyed Kurt from head to toe, looking at him in such of way that it caused Kurt to blush. He pulled Kurt into a quick hug and gave him a quick peck on the lips.
“You look amazing.” He said as he pulled away, his hand lingering on the small of Kurt’s back.
“You too. New suit?” He signaled for Blaine to make a turn for him, which he promptly did.
“Yeah, early graduation present from Cooper. He said every well dressed young man needs a tailored suit.”
Kurt smiled appreciatively as he watched Blaine model the suit. He would have to remember to thank Cooper next time he saw him. “You ready?”
“Yeah, let me grab my coat.” Kurt reached into the closet and grabbed it. “All set.” He announced as he closed the door behind him.
A few minutes later they pulled into Tina’s driveway. Blaine gave a quick honk and Tina came springing out of the house. The smile on her face melted as soon as she saw Kurt sitting in the front seat. Blaine had gotten out of the car and was ushering Tina towards to it.
“You didn’t tell me Kurt was coming with us.” Kurt heard Tina hiss at Blaine as they stood outside the car. She sounded pissed.
“He needed a ride.” Blaine explained in a soothing tone. Somehow Tina doubted that but she wasn’t going to stand out in cold and belabor the point with Blaine about it. She knew exactly what Kurt was up to.
“Hi Tina.” Kurt chirped as Tina got into the backseat. “How’s tricks?” Like he didn’t know.
“Oh hey Kurt.” Tina replied in a tone that Kurt could only describe as icy. He could feel her eyes shooting daggers into the back of his head. “Blaine didn’t tell me you were joining us.”
“Well it was kind of a last minute thing, Finn’s with Mr. Shue and I didn’t really want to drive my dad’s pickup. And Blaine was gracious enough to offer.” He shot an adoring glance towards Blaine. He heard a soft snort from the back.
“Everybody buckled in and ready?” Blaine said loudly as he got back into the car, desperate to break the tension. “Wedding here we come.”
No one said much on the way to the church, Tina was so mad that Kurt was there, she didn’t even think she could be civil to him. She certainly thought that he had a lot of nerve and audacity showing up and being so buddy buddy with Blaine, considering how poorly he had been treating him as of late. He didn’t deserve someone as wonderful as Blaine.
Kurt kept stealing glances over at Blaine, he couldn’t believe how handsome he looked in that suit. Maybe he could wear that when they got . . . Kurt shook his head, he didn’t know if he and Blaine would ever be able to be true friends again, let alone allow himself to think about them getting married some day.
“Tina, I need to talk to Kurt for a second.” Blaine announced when they got to the chapel. “Would you mind going inside and getting seats for us.” Kurt looked over at Blaine, raised an eyebrow but said nothing. He was wondering what Blaine needed to talk to him about exactly. He heard Tina give a huff but she got out of the car, slamming the door behind her. Blaine just shook his head and rolled his eyes. “And I thought I was a drama queen.”
“What’s up?” Kurt asked. Blaine stared at the dash. He really didn’t need to talk to Kurt about anything per se, he just wanted to spend a bit more time in close proximity to him.
“I can’t stop thinking about yesterday afternoon.” He finally admitted. He glanced over and looked at Kurt shyly. “ I missed you so much and it was so great to be with you again, like it used to be.” Kurt gulped hard. “And I know, we’re still trying to get this all figured out, but I just wanted you to know.” Kurt reached over and took hold of his hand. “And by the way, I love the bowtie.” He trailed a fingertip over the black fabric.
“Yeah” Kurt murmured as he ran his finger across Blaine’s knuckles. “I . . .” the chirping of Blaine’s phone stopped him cold. He eyed Blaine expectantly as Blaine took the phone from his pocket. “Tina?” Kurt inquired. Blaine nodded.
“She wants to know when we’re coming in. And apparently, Mercedes is now looking for us as well.” He sighed heavily and sank back against the seat. “If I didn’t know better, I would say that the world is conspiring against us.” He gave Kurt’s hand a squeeze before getting out of the car. Kurt sat there for a minute, conflicted about what he should do next. Blaine came around the car and opened the door, waiting for him.
“You coming?” Kurt glanced up at him, looked into those hazel eyes and all he could think was ‘fuck it.’
He got up quickly and before Blaine knew what hit him, had him laid out in the back of the car, his mouth latched tightly onto his. Blaine didn’t complain, or resist.
The next few minutes were filled with frantic fumbling, each man making assurances to the other that this didn’t really mean anything. Blaine’s phone kept pinging and if Kurt could have gotten his hands on it, it would have been out the window, buried somewhere in the snow. Everything was so hurried and tawdry and neither man cared. They were just happy to be so close to one another again. But when Mercedes came knocking, there was no way that they could stay secreted away in the car. And so with their coats covering their wilting erections, they guiltily escorted Mercedes into the church.
The wedding, or the lack thereof, had been interesting to say the least. Kurt and Blaine had spent the whole time in the church stealing glances over at each other, breaking into wide and guilty smiles. Blaine felt Tina’s elbow in his gut on more than one occasion. Rachel just kept looking at Kurt like he was an escaped mental patient.
When it was decided that the reception would go on as planned, Tina, Blaine and Kurt all trudged back to the Prius, this time, Tina made sure she got the front seat next to Blaine. She smiled smugly at Kurt as he got into the car. Blaine and Tina chatted the whole drive to the hotel, Tina making a concerted effort to keep Kurt out of the conversation. Blaine would look back in the rear view mirror from time to time and lock eyes with Kurt, and Blaine would get a little quiver in the pit of his stomach. And when Kurt mouthed, ‘I am so going to fuck you later,’ Blaine nearly drove off the road.
The reception turned out to be a pretty good party, all things considered. Sure, everyone felt badly for Mr. Shue, but maybe it was better that this happen now rather than later. The duet that Blaine and Kurt performed together was one of the few highlights of the evening. And, much to Kurt’s chagrin, he discovered just how right he was about Tina and her infatuation with Blaine. It was worse than he had thought, bordering on downright creepy. He would need to have a discussion with Blaine later about this and wondered if Blaine would even believe him.
Unbeknownst to Blaine, Kurt had managed to get a room at the hotel, the honeymoon suite no less. Mr. Schuster and Miss Plllsbury wouldn’t be needing it so . . .someone might as well get some use out of it. He had decided that after their aborted fumblings in the car, he was going to have some serious interrupted time with Blaine. Yes, he kept telling himself, it means nothing, it’s just sex, and sex with Blaine had always been fantastic, there was no denying that. And he was a gay man, a gay man with needs, as was Blaine, so why shouldn’t they help each other out. Bros helping bros, wasn’t that what Blaine had said? Sounded good to Kurt, but then again anything involving sex sounded good to him, it had been months after all.
When Kurt had told Blaine to follow him upstairs, Blaine had been a bit taken back, but still utterly delighted nonetheless. He couldn’t wipe the grin on his face as he followed Kurt down the hall after nearly devouring him in the elevator. Neither man expressed any hesitancy or reticence once they were finally alone. The sex was as good as it had ever been possibly even better, both of them knowing each other’s body so well. It felt like coming home. If it had been up to Blaine, they would have stayed locked in that hotel room for the rest of their lives, just the two of them, feasting only on each other.
Kurt, on the other hand, as much as he enjoyed losing himself in the moment (and inside of Blaine), knew that he had to go in order to try and keep things casual between them. When Blaine had asked him if this meant that they were back together, Kurt really had to fight his better judgment and leave that room, when every part of him longed to stay there. But he knew that he still had a lot more to see and experience before he was ready to let Blaine back fully into his life. Maybe not now, maybe not tomorrow, but he knew in his heart of hearts that one day they would be together. Blaine was his first love, his soul mate, that would never change and there was no way he could imagine the rest of his life without him.
They met up again downstairs a short while later and shared another slow dance before Blaine needed to leave. Tomorrow was still a school day for him and he couldn’t stay out too late. Kurt had been relieved to find that Tina had left with Sam and Brittany so that was one person he didn’t have to deal with again tonight. Silently they walked hand in hand back to the car.
The ride back to Kurt’s was quiet, neither of them sure what to say. The house was still dark when Blaine pulled into the drive. “Guess Finn hasn’t made it back yet.” Blaine commented, his mind going to what he could do to Kurt in an empty house.
“Oh I don’t expect him back tonight. He disappeared with Rachel after their duet. I don’t think I saw them again after that.” He waggled his eyebrows at Blaine. “Guess we weren’t the only ones.” Blaine chuckled softly as he took Kurt’s hand into his.
“About tonight, sorry about what I said in the room. I don‘t want you to feel that I am pressuring you , I just . . . “ He kept staring at Kurt’s hand. “Just want things back like they were, before I fucked up everything between us, when you loved me.” Kurt was silent, he didn’t know what to say. What Blaine said was true, he had fucked it up, there was no denying that.
“Yeah,” Kurt finally murmured. “Look Blaine, you’ve just got to give me some time and space. I don’t know if we’ll ever be back together like that again, but I love being with you and spending time with you and I don’t want it to be weird between us. And I will always love you, no matter what.” Blaine looked up at him, his eyes glazed over with tears and nodded slowly.
“So can two friends go to the movies tomorrow night.” He wiped his eyes on the sleeve of his coat. “They’re doing a double feature of All About Eve and Showgirls.” Kurt started laughing.
“Seriously?” He looked at Blaine incredulously. Blaine just nodded. Kurt shook his head and shrugged. “Yeah I think that would be okay.” He leaned over and gave Blaine a quick kiss on the cheek. “Thanks for a great evening.” He whispered. “I’ll see you tomorrow, friend. Sweet dreams.”
As Blaine drove home, for the first time in a long time, he knew there was hope.