Fic: The Space Between the Things You Know is Blurry Nonetheless (2/5)
Title:The Space Between the Things You Know is Blurry Nonetheless (Part 2/5)
Rating: PG-13 (Lots o' cussing)
Summary: Blaine thought he had some semblance of order in his life, until his girlfriend Quinn breaks up with him and suddenly her lewd brother Kurt is breaking down his facade and confessing things about his and Blaine's relationship to them, and Blaine's realizing things about it that he never expected, either. To top it off, all of this is just in time for plans for college and the future.
Word Count: All together it will be~12,300 words (I've already finished writing it, so there's no way this could be abandoned.) This part: ~2,000 words
A/N: I hope you guys like this part! This is where the idea of there being a "Kurt and Blaine" starts developing in Blaine's head. Also, Rachel becomes a bit more relevant. Thank you for reading!
When Kurt walked into his house, he was greeted by a tinkling, breathy laugh. Quinn sat on the couch, the quiet din of the TV behind them, and a smiling face dangerously close and getting dangerously closer to the quarterback of the football team, Finn Hudson. He walked right past as their faces connected, the air teeming with weighted silence, and repressed an urge to catcall at them. Walking up to Quinn’s room, he scanned his eyes around it. Her phone was perched on her bed, almost falling off. He bit his lip, looking over his shoulder for a few small seconds, and then swiped it off the edge.
His thumb stayed suspended over the little black name on her phone, quivering with effort. Not with strain, no; it was quivering as Kurt tried to force himself to put the phone down and walk out of her room, even though he was so close to just letting it fall on the name, calling, hearing a voice… It was like earlier in the hallway. His muscles were guiding him through doing something before his brain could catch up, something he wouldn’t normally do.
In an instant his finger fell. Dial tones filled Quinn’s room; there was more soft laughter downstairs.
“Quinn?” Blaine asked tentatively. His voice sounded scratchy.
“No. Anderson, it’s Kurt.”
“Kurt!” his voice rose, but he quickly lowered it and sounded like he shifted, if the rustle of his sheets were any indication. “Kurt, what are you doing?”
Kurt turned his back to the door and huddled into a corner of the room. “Listen, I just wanted to warn you before you walk into school tomorrow and see Quinn on Finn’s arm and have a mental breakdown in public.”
There was a sharp intake of breath over the phone. “What?”
“She reboun- she’s seeing Finn again. Sorry.”
“I… I actually don’t understand… I don’t… what?”
Kurt laughed sharply. “Normally I would enjoy your confusion, but I feel pity for you, so I’m going to help you out.” He winked, and then realized that Blaine could not actually see him and flushed, bright red.
He heard him sigh over the phone. “Alright. I’m just not… I can’t believe I told her that… and she has every right to...”
“What did she say to you this morning?”
“She said that she loved me,” Blaine said, smiling too as Kurt reckoned.
“And you said?”
There was a brief pause. “I told her I loved her back.”
His mind froze for a second, almost subconsciously, before he could respond. “You’re lying.”
“Hm?”
“I saw you guys talking in the hallway. Besides, Quinn is not downstairs macking on Finn for nothing.”
“What?” he asked with a sad puppy dog lilt in his voice. Damn you Blaine, you’re adorable and heartbreaking at the same time.
“Nothing. What did you really say?”
A couple of seconds of breathing passed between them. “No, I really mean it when I say I love her. Still. I still do, and I told her that. But, I didn’t… I couldn’t… I couldn’t jump back into it like that, especially because of the way she broke up with me, seemingly out of the blue. That actually hurt, and it was my first breakup so I took it extra hard.”
He should’ve been angry. He knew it the minute he heard Blaine start his spiel. Yet, he wasn’t feeling any ire. He just felt… sad.
“Kurt? You still there?”
“Yeah. I’m sorry.”
“But I don’t understand, why are you feeling sorry for me?” Blaine sounded a little desperate. “Why are you even talking to me like this? Why is your guard down? I’m the one who broke your sister’s heart, why are you not raging at me over the phone?”
“First of all, stop with the questions. All your questions will be answered soon enough.” Blaine laughed.
“Second, if I’m being truthful-“
“-the one time it happens.” Blaine cut in, with a remark that should be spiteful, but his voice was soft and glowy as he said it.
Kurt laughed softly. “You’ve pegged me well. But as I was saying, if I’m being truthful-“
“What? What would you say if you’re being truthful, Kurt?” Quinn’s shrill voice rang through the silence.
Shit. He had forgotten all about Quinn’s presence downstairs as he had talked to Blaine. He had also forgotten, as he was reminded of by Quinn clutching his hand in hers, of Finn’s presence downstairs and now right here. Frankly, he looked like the last place he wanted to be right now was there.
“You were talking to Blaine just then, weren’t you?” she continued.
“Sorry dude, Quinn wanted to come up to see if she had some movie in her room that we could watch, cuz’ TV is being boring.”
“When did you even come in? What do you think you are doing?” Quinn demanded.
“Sorry, dude,” Finn began again, “I don’t know what’s going on between you two right now, but sorry.” He shifted uncomfortably.
“Shut up, Finn.” She turned back to Kurt. “Kurt, answer me.”
Kurt threw her her phone. “Here’s your phone back.”
“Blaine?” Quinn asked.
“Yeah, it’s me.” His voice came through muffled and tinny compared to the rising voices in the room already.
“Kurt! I can’t believe you’d do this! You’re the one who told me to tell him, and look what happened! He broke my heart!”
“Whoa, what’s happening?” Finn queried, but no one was listening to him.
“I seem to recall you broke his heart first,” Kurt retorted, drawling.
“What? Is this about Blaine? Is he still on the phone?” Finn took the phone from where it had fallen and cradled it to his ear.
“Blaine? Dude, Blaine, do you have any idea what’s going on right now?”
“I. Was. Confused.” Quinn punctuated.
“Oh yeah? And how much more confused do you think Blaine was?”
“Why are you defending him? I’m your sister!”
“Yeah well, it seems like you just broke his heart for no reason in the first place, anyways.”
“Hey, Blaine, I’m getting scared,” Finn, who had now retreated to a corner of the room, whispered into the phone.
“No, I didn’t! I told you why I said that; I explained everything to you! I am a mess. I don’t know what I’m doing. Didn’t you understand that?”
“Yeah I did, but I also understood that he kinda is too!”
“And how would you know that?” she asked shortly.
“I see things, Quinn! Things I actually don’t know if you saw! I learned more about him, while pretending not to, I might add, in those moments while he was waiting for you than I think you did!”
The room fell silent. Kurt hesitated, breathing loudly, but pressed on.
“I don’t actually know much about your relationship, I admit. I also admit that I was a little angry that you had him, that anyone had him, and that you, Miss Gorgeous, could get straight Blaine in the blink of an eye but I did not have a chance in hell.”
“I’m also aware that he hates me, and that I’m definitely not his type, not with all my overtly sexual behavior and his sweet Mr. Fucking Perfect demeanor.”
Quinn opened her mouth, but Kurt silenced her by raising a finger.
“I am also, painfully I might add, aware of how perfect you guys really are together. Your personalities kind of go together like bees and honey. But, that didn’t stop me from wanting. What stopped me from getting, aside from you and Blaine being in a happy relationship, was that I wasn’t willing to… willing to… let my guard down.” Kurt exhaled loudly, dropping his head.
“So Blaine,” he raised his voice, “if you’re still on the line over there… yes. I am talking to you because I’m finally attempting to get you to know me and, God forbid, like me for me. But I’ve always known that wasn’t really going to happen… even if you’re single and available and so fuckable-“
“Kurt!” Blaine exclaimed from the phone.
Quinn and Finn were just there with their mouths open.
“-but you are most definitely straight, and although Quinn has moved on with lovely Finn here-“
Finn looked around them, perturbed.
“-you’re everyone else’s but mine. So, good day Blaine, Quinn, and Finn. Blaine, you can continue with your normal life and Quinn and Finn, you can continue with your date like I never screwed it up. I think I’m going to head out to… somewhere. Goodbye.”
He walked out of the room, grabbing his car keys off the table in the hallway and left.
~~
“Quinn! Quinn, hey!” Finn exclaimed, trying to get her attention as she angrily paced the room. “I don’t know all the details of what just happened, but why in the hell didn’t you tell me you still loved him?”
“Yeah, that’s a great date conversation starter,” she muttered under her breath.
“It’s important.”
“And you know what else is important? That you are cheating on your girlfriend.”
Finn had thrown the phone on Quinn’s bed without hanging up.
~~
While Blaine had been talking to Kurt, Rachel had arrived home. Blaine had heard her practicing scales as she made herself a cup of tea, for her vocal chords, as she would say.
After making herself the cup, she said hello to her dad (who had given her a hearty hello in return and then asked about Finn), then made her way up to Blaine’s room to greet her little brother. She had arrived to find him engrossed in a conversation with some other boy on the other end of the line.
“Blaine, what are you doing?” she asked in an urgent whisper.
He just shook his head and shooed her off, but Rachel wasn’t about to miss out on whoever her brother was talking to so dreamily.
“You’ve got such a school boy crush, Blaine,” she whispered to him as he continued talking.
That statement stopped him dead in his tracks. A crush… on Kurt? Quinn’s brother Kurt? On another boy… Kurt. Kurt?
He had been too stunned to react as the fight broke out on the other side of the phone.
Voices escalated and rang through Blaine’s silent room, Blaine still sitting there and listening stoically as Rachel took the phone and cradled it closer to her ear.
Kurt was speaking to Blaine now, wasn’t he? Through his haze he heard his name, it sounded strangely melodic. He was sure this wasn’t real… he didn’t have a crush on Kurt… on his former girlfriend’s brother… Kurt was definitely speaking to him now. His voice sounded really high, too high, too cherub like to be real. This definitely wasn’t real, because now Kurt was confessing that he was trying to get to know Blaine better. Blaine… getting to know Blaine… like anyone wanted to get to know Blaine… Kurt… Kurt and Blaine… but Blaine and Quinn… but then again, the possibility of Blaine and Kurt…
Suddenly, beside him, Rachel dropped the phone, like it was scalding to the touch. She stared with her mouth open, like the cold metal suddenly had a soul and was living and breathing without a heart. Blaine didn’t know what was going on, but something was gravely wrong now, because Rachel’s eyes were starting to tear up… Wait, hadn’t Finn been saying something as the argument went on? Finn’s voice… I’m scared… Dude, Blaine, do you have idea what’s happening right now?... Quinn said something about Finn... And you know what else is important? That you are cheating on your girlfriend!
That you are cheating on your girlfriend.
Oh.