His Perfect Partner (25/?)
Title: His Perfect Partner (25/?)
Rating: NC-17 overall (PG-13 this chapter)
Pairings: Kurt/Blaine, with appearances by Burt/Carole, Tina/Mike, Mercedes/Sam, Brittany/Santana, Rachel/Finn
Spoilers: None, but assume that anything through Season Three is fair game for inspiration.
Word Count: 2095
Summary: After five disappointing seasons on the show, professional dancer Kurt Hummel finally has his chance at ballroom glory. With actress and fan favorite Kim Schrodinger as his partner, Kurt vows to channel all his focus into winning that mirrorball trophy - distractions, including men, be damned. Enter Blaine Anderson, a gorgeous, confusing pop star who may turn out to be the biggest distraction of them all.
In This Chapter: Some unexpected publicity prompts a serious talk between Kurt and Blaine.
Author's Note: This is a Dancing with the Stars/Glee crossover AU, in which Kurt grew up dancing and became a professional on the show in his mid-twenties, and Blaine is a pop star with a very private private life. Other familiar Glee faces, some actual DWTS pros, and a couple of OCs appear to round out the cast of characters. I'll be posting twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays (though this week and next, I'm just posting on Thursdays). I have a master glee post here, or follow my bff's tumblr for updates and some fun multi-media extras that will go along with many chapters. Thanks to
samzgurl,
wintercreek, and
gypsyangel25 for the beta as well as for general cheer-leading and fun times.
Kurt’s phone rang the next morning while they were washing the breakfast dishes. Despite a slight hangover, Blaine had insisted on fulfilling his end of the bet and had put together bagel sandwiches for them both. Kurt dried his hands and grabbed his phone.
“Morning, Cedes!” Kurt said.
“Blaine’s still at your place, right K?” she asked.
“Yeah. We just finished breakfast. We’re planning to go in around noon.”
“Well, I know you hate it, but you might want to check TMZ first. That Jacob guy wrote a story about Blaine last night. Be sure to read the comments too.”
“What kind of story?” Kurt asked. His tone made Blaine look up in concern.
“Just read it, ok? I’m sure it’ll be fine, but it’s always better to be prepared,” Cedes insisted. “Listen, I have to go. Sam’s on his way to take me out for brunch. See you in a couple hours.”
“Ok,” Kurt said, bewildered. “Love you.”
“Love you too, K,” she said, and then she was gone.
Kurt hurried into the living room to open his laptop, and when Blaine came in a couple of minutes later, Kurt turned it toward him so they could both see the headline: “Dancing Pop Star Finds Love on the Dance Floor!” Below the headline was a picture of Blaine, his arm around Bitsy, grinning as they left the club the night before. Another photo showed them at the studio, their heads bent together as they talked. The story went on to proclaim that Blaine and Bitsy were having a romantic affair which had started the moment they became dance partners.
“Seriously?” Blaine asked, laughing. “That’s ridiculous. I don’t give them anything to go on, so they trot out the oldest cliché in the book.”
“It’s not that far off the mark, if you think about it. I mean, I’m on the show too; I’m just not your partner,” Kurt mused. “Doesn’t it bother you, though?”
“Why? It’s not true. I know that and you know that. What else matters?”
“I guess,” Kurt said. The combination of false speculation and Blaine’s lack of reaction to it bugged him. “It’s a lie, though. It’s blatantly untrue.”
“I don’t know that I’d call it a lie. Just idle speculation that doesn’t jibe with reality. And it’s none of their business either way. It’s my business, and yours. Other than that, they can say what they want. I just try to ignore it.”
“At least it’s not something nasty, I suppose. I’ve been down that publicity road far too many times,” Kurt said, thinking back to some of the hateful comments he’d gotten when he first started on the show. Speaking of… “Cedes said we should read the comments too.”
They scrolled down, through what looked like hundreds of ‘OMG how cute!!!!!’ and ‘I KNEW it!!!!’ comments until Kurt spotted a section with his name. There wasn’t anything definitive, just a bunch of oblique references to the amount of time the two of them seemed to spend together outside the studio and how Blaine never, ever confirmed that he had a girlfriend.
“Well, there’s that,” Kurt said, sitting back. He wasn’t sure if he should be impressed with the random commenters’ powers of deduction or offended that they were speculating or what. He’d never dated someone well-known before. Though he’d dealt with plenty of insane press about his career, he’d been able to deal with his personal and professional lives separately.
“There’s a first time for everything, I suppose,” Blaine said, attempting humor.
“Yeah,” Kurt said slowly, frowning. “How is it that you’ve managed to fly under the radar for so long?”
“I’m not totally sure. I mean, there’s the fact that people don’t look at me and assume…” Blaine trailed off, lifting his hands as though to say ‘what can you do?’.
“Must be nice. I wish I knew what that felt like,” Kurt said, watching as Blaine sat down on the couch and ran a hand through his hair.
“Sometimes - a lot of the time - I wish I didn’t know how it feels as well as I do.” Blaine sighed.
“Trust me, being treated as the living embodiment of people’s stereotypes is not exactly a party,” Kurt said dryly. He expected Blaine to get that.
“Like having people assume I’m straight is?” Blaine said, the pitch and volume of his voice rising slightly. “Even you assumed it, when we first met.”
“Because that’s the default in the culture. You know that as well as I do,” Kurt snapped, hating himself for saying so, but knowing it was true.
“Yeah, but that doesn’t make it right. And it definitely doesn’t make it easy.”
“Are you trying to convince me that I somehow have it easier than you do? I’m not about to buy that,” Kurt said, his arms crossing over his chest.
“But see, in some ways, you do,” Blaine said. Kurt stared stonily at him until he continued. “I mean, at least their assumptions are right. You don’t have to spend every day, every interaction, deciding how much you’re going to say or not say, how you’re going to play the pronoun game, how much you’re going to lie about yourself and your life just so you don’t rock the boat. You don’t have the gay people you’re out to implying that you shouldn’t be such a wimp, that you should ‘do your duty’ to the queer community and come out already.”
“Really? That’s where you’re choosing to go with this?” Kurt asked, wrapping both arms tight around his middle. Blaine’s last comment stung more than Kurt had been prepared for.
“What? You know that every gay person I’m out to is thinking it, that even you think it. ‘What’s Blaine’s problem? Why can’t he just suck it up and find the guts to come out like the rest of us?’”
“I don’t…that’s not…” Kurt trailed off, flustered and frustrated.
“Do you know what it feels like when even the community that’s supposed to support you thinks you’re not good enough, that you’re doing it wrong?” Blaine asked, staring right at him.
“Well maybe not, but I do have to deal with being judged, every minute, based on who most people perceive me to be.”
“But that’s what I’m saying. I do too! Except in my case, they’re almost always wrong, and their assumptions paint me into this corner that I can’t seem to find my way out of.” Blaine stood up again and began pacing around the living room. He kept pacing until his phone beeped, and he stopped to scroll through the message, snorting derisively. “See? This is what I mean. That was my agent. He forwarded me the link to that article with a note saying this was finally gossip he could do something with and did I want him to release some sort of statement to keep people’s interest.”
“Well, he’s your agent. And kind of a jackass. That’s to be expected, I suppose.” Kurt still wasn’t convinced that it was somehow harder to be Blaine.
“Ten bucks says the next message is from my parents, asking if what they’re reading is true. Every time I bring Annie home with me, my mother looks so stupidly hopeful.”
“Well they don’t get it yet, clearly,” Kurt said, remembering how Finn had been when their parents had met.
“So everyone who judges you is a homophobic asshole, but the same’s not true for me? Is everyone who encourages me to stay in the closet or assumes that I must like girls or wishes me straight just being dumb? Just because they’re a little more pleasant about it doesn’t mean it’s any different,” Blaine shot back.
“So come out, join the rest of us in the wide world of judgment and prejudice! Then you can see for yourself how bad it is.” Kurt pressed his hands to either side of his head, trying to contain the frustration and emotion he could feel rising inside. Sure it was hard, dealing with family and friends who still needed some education, but dealing with the whole world could be a nightmare.
“I’m there, Kurt. I’ve been there since I was thirteen years old. Prejudice and ignorance begins at home, after all.” Blaine sighed. “Do you even know how lucky you are, with your dad? I’ve talked to him once, for a few minutes, and I could hear it in his voice, how proud he is of you. With my family, I’ve just had to accept that I’ll never be good enough.”
“So screw them. Being who you really are, in public, isn’t going to change how they are.” His coming out hadn’t changed how much his dad loved him, after all. Kurt felt his frustration beginning to subside into regret. He’d been incredibly fortunate to have his family; Blaine hadn’t.
“So, what? I should send out a press release right now? Maybe hire a skywriter to clear things up once and for all? I could do it. I could do it tomorrow, or later today, and I’d never have to hide again. And at least then I’d know who really liked me.” Blaine said sourly, his shoulders slumping.
“Are you sure you want to do that? Right now, I mean,” Kurt said, surprising himself. He’d surprised Blaine too, judging by his expression.
“Are you or are you not the same man who just told me - twice - to come out?”
“Well, yes, but…”
“But what? You’d obviously prefer I was out; I know that. What’s changed your mind?”
“Timing, mostly. You shouldn’t do it rashly. And right in the middle of a competition isn’t a great time,” Kurt said. Before Blaine could start up again, Kurt continued, his voice softer. “Plus, this - between us - is still new. Are you sure you want to walk into a PR storm right now?”
“Are you saying you don’t want to be there with me?” Blaine asked, taking a step back.
“What? No.” Kurt got up and closed the distance between them, reaching out for one of Blaine’s hands. “That’s not what I’m saying. I’ll be right beside you through it all, if that’s what you want. But this affects me too, now. And we really have enough going on without adding sensationalized media coverage to the mix.”
“You just don’t want anything to detract from your prodigy of a dance partner,” Blaine said. His smile was small, but it was there.
“If I’m totally honest, there’s a part of me that feels that way,” Kurt admitted. “A selfish part that wants to enjoy this season, enjoy my partner - enjoy having you - without being in the middle of a circus. Dancing is my life; it’s my heart. And now you’re here too. Is it terrible that I want you to myself for a little bit longer?”
Blaine shook his head slightly, and Kurt pressed the hand he held between both of his.
“Will you think about it?” Kurt asked.
“I guess I don’t have to decide anything right now,” Blaine offered. Kurt took it as the olive branch it was.
“Let’s just get through today. We can talk about it more later - talk it to death, if you want to.”
“Ok,” Blaine said, but he still looked troubled.
“Ok.” Kurt leaned into him for a hug, pressing his temple against Blaine’s hair. They stood there for a few minutes, wrapped loosely in one another’s arms, until things seemed to settle between them a little.
They went about their day then, getting ready and heading to the studio to prepare for the evening’s show. Blaine was uncharacteristically quiet, and Kurt felt raw, as though all the easy bliss of the past few weeks had been scraped away. He knew reality had to set in eventually, but he hadn’t expected it to crash down on them quite so hard.
They had a subdued lunch in Kurt’s trailer, not sure what to say, but equally unsure of how to be apart. Before they left for their separate rehearsals, Blaine turned to Kurt, catching his hands and holding them, and then drew him into a hug, Blaine’s face tucked into Kurt’s neck. They breathed together, much like Kurt and Kim did before their performances, and Kurt marveled at the ability of the person who was causing his unease to be the same person who could make everything better. It wasn’t better yet, not all the way, but being together helped. They would talk more, Kurt promised himself, but first they had to make it through to next week.
Rating: NC-17 overall (PG-13 this chapter)
Pairings: Kurt/Blaine, with appearances by Burt/Carole, Tina/Mike, Mercedes/Sam, Brittany/Santana, Rachel/Finn
Spoilers: None, but assume that anything through Season Three is fair game for inspiration.
Word Count: 2095
Summary: After five disappointing seasons on the show, professional dancer Kurt Hummel finally has his chance at ballroom glory. With actress and fan favorite Kim Schrodinger as his partner, Kurt vows to channel all his focus into winning that mirrorball trophy - distractions, including men, be damned. Enter Blaine Anderson, a gorgeous, confusing pop star who may turn out to be the biggest distraction of them all.
In This Chapter: Some unexpected publicity prompts a serious talk between Kurt and Blaine.
Author's Note: This is a Dancing with the Stars/Glee crossover AU, in which Kurt grew up dancing and became a professional on the show in his mid-twenties, and Blaine is a pop star with a very private private life. Other familiar Glee faces, some actual DWTS pros, and a couple of OCs appear to round out the cast of characters. I'll be posting twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays (though this week and next, I'm just posting on Thursdays). I have a master glee post here, or follow my bff's tumblr for updates and some fun multi-media extras that will go along with many chapters. Thanks to
samzgurl,
wintercreek, and
gypsyangel25 for the beta as well as for general cheer-leading and fun times.
Kurt’s phone rang the next morning while they were washing the breakfast dishes. Despite a slight hangover, Blaine had insisted on fulfilling his end of the bet and had put together bagel sandwiches for them both. Kurt dried his hands and grabbed his phone.
“Morning, Cedes!” Kurt said.
“Blaine’s still at your place, right K?” she asked.
“Yeah. We just finished breakfast. We’re planning to go in around noon.”
“Well, I know you hate it, but you might want to check TMZ first. That Jacob guy wrote a story about Blaine last night. Be sure to read the comments too.”
“What kind of story?” Kurt asked. His tone made Blaine look up in concern.
“Just read it, ok? I’m sure it’ll be fine, but it’s always better to be prepared,” Cedes insisted. “Listen, I have to go. Sam’s on his way to take me out for brunch. See you in a couple hours.”
“Ok,” Kurt said, bewildered. “Love you.”
“Love you too, K,” she said, and then she was gone.
Kurt hurried into the living room to open his laptop, and when Blaine came in a couple of minutes later, Kurt turned it toward him so they could both see the headline: “Dancing Pop Star Finds Love on the Dance Floor!” Below the headline was a picture of Blaine, his arm around Bitsy, grinning as they left the club the night before. Another photo showed them at the studio, their heads bent together as they talked. The story went on to proclaim that Blaine and Bitsy were having a romantic affair which had started the moment they became dance partners.
“Seriously?” Blaine asked, laughing. “That’s ridiculous. I don’t give them anything to go on, so they trot out the oldest cliché in the book.”
“It’s not that far off the mark, if you think about it. I mean, I’m on the show too; I’m just not your partner,” Kurt mused. “Doesn’t it bother you, though?”
“Why? It’s not true. I know that and you know that. What else matters?”
“I guess,” Kurt said. The combination of false speculation and Blaine’s lack of reaction to it bugged him. “It’s a lie, though. It’s blatantly untrue.”
“I don’t know that I’d call it a lie. Just idle speculation that doesn’t jibe with reality. And it’s none of their business either way. It’s my business, and yours. Other than that, they can say what they want. I just try to ignore it.”
“At least it’s not something nasty, I suppose. I’ve been down that publicity road far too many times,” Kurt said, thinking back to some of the hateful comments he’d gotten when he first started on the show. Speaking of… “Cedes said we should read the comments too.”
They scrolled down, through what looked like hundreds of ‘OMG how cute!!!!!’ and ‘I KNEW it!!!!’ comments until Kurt spotted a section with his name. There wasn’t anything definitive, just a bunch of oblique references to the amount of time the two of them seemed to spend together outside the studio and how Blaine never, ever confirmed that he had a girlfriend.
“Well, there’s that,” Kurt said, sitting back. He wasn’t sure if he should be impressed with the random commenters’ powers of deduction or offended that they were speculating or what. He’d never dated someone well-known before. Though he’d dealt with plenty of insane press about his career, he’d been able to deal with his personal and professional lives separately.
“There’s a first time for everything, I suppose,” Blaine said, attempting humor.
“Yeah,” Kurt said slowly, frowning. “How is it that you’ve managed to fly under the radar for so long?”
“I’m not totally sure. I mean, there’s the fact that people don’t look at me and assume…” Blaine trailed off, lifting his hands as though to say ‘what can you do?’.
“Must be nice. I wish I knew what that felt like,” Kurt said, watching as Blaine sat down on the couch and ran a hand through his hair.
“Sometimes - a lot of the time - I wish I didn’t know how it feels as well as I do.” Blaine sighed.
“Trust me, being treated as the living embodiment of people’s stereotypes is not exactly a party,” Kurt said dryly. He expected Blaine to get that.
“Like having people assume I’m straight is?” Blaine said, the pitch and volume of his voice rising slightly. “Even you assumed it, when we first met.”
“Because that’s the default in the culture. You know that as well as I do,” Kurt snapped, hating himself for saying so, but knowing it was true.
“Yeah, but that doesn’t make it right. And it definitely doesn’t make it easy.”
“Are you trying to convince me that I somehow have it easier than you do? I’m not about to buy that,” Kurt said, his arms crossing over his chest.
“But see, in some ways, you do,” Blaine said. Kurt stared stonily at him until he continued. “I mean, at least their assumptions are right. You don’t have to spend every day, every interaction, deciding how much you’re going to say or not say, how you’re going to play the pronoun game, how much you’re going to lie about yourself and your life just so you don’t rock the boat. You don’t have the gay people you’re out to implying that you shouldn’t be such a wimp, that you should ‘do your duty’ to the queer community and come out already.”
“Really? That’s where you’re choosing to go with this?” Kurt asked, wrapping both arms tight around his middle. Blaine’s last comment stung more than Kurt had been prepared for.
“What? You know that every gay person I’m out to is thinking it, that even you think it. ‘What’s Blaine’s problem? Why can’t he just suck it up and find the guts to come out like the rest of us?’”
“I don’t…that’s not…” Kurt trailed off, flustered and frustrated.
“Do you know what it feels like when even the community that’s supposed to support you thinks you’re not good enough, that you’re doing it wrong?” Blaine asked, staring right at him.
“Well maybe not, but I do have to deal with being judged, every minute, based on who most people perceive me to be.”
“But that’s what I’m saying. I do too! Except in my case, they’re almost always wrong, and their assumptions paint me into this corner that I can’t seem to find my way out of.” Blaine stood up again and began pacing around the living room. He kept pacing until his phone beeped, and he stopped to scroll through the message, snorting derisively. “See? This is what I mean. That was my agent. He forwarded me the link to that article with a note saying this was finally gossip he could do something with and did I want him to release some sort of statement to keep people’s interest.”
“Well, he’s your agent. And kind of a jackass. That’s to be expected, I suppose.” Kurt still wasn’t convinced that it was somehow harder to be Blaine.
“Ten bucks says the next message is from my parents, asking if what they’re reading is true. Every time I bring Annie home with me, my mother looks so stupidly hopeful.”
“Well they don’t get it yet, clearly,” Kurt said, remembering how Finn had been when their parents had met.
“So everyone who judges you is a homophobic asshole, but the same’s not true for me? Is everyone who encourages me to stay in the closet or assumes that I must like girls or wishes me straight just being dumb? Just because they’re a little more pleasant about it doesn’t mean it’s any different,” Blaine shot back.
“So come out, join the rest of us in the wide world of judgment and prejudice! Then you can see for yourself how bad it is.” Kurt pressed his hands to either side of his head, trying to contain the frustration and emotion he could feel rising inside. Sure it was hard, dealing with family and friends who still needed some education, but dealing with the whole world could be a nightmare.
“I’m there, Kurt. I’ve been there since I was thirteen years old. Prejudice and ignorance begins at home, after all.” Blaine sighed. “Do you even know how lucky you are, with your dad? I’ve talked to him once, for a few minutes, and I could hear it in his voice, how proud he is of you. With my family, I’ve just had to accept that I’ll never be good enough.”
“So screw them. Being who you really are, in public, isn’t going to change how they are.” His coming out hadn’t changed how much his dad loved him, after all. Kurt felt his frustration beginning to subside into regret. He’d been incredibly fortunate to have his family; Blaine hadn’t.
“So, what? I should send out a press release right now? Maybe hire a skywriter to clear things up once and for all? I could do it. I could do it tomorrow, or later today, and I’d never have to hide again. And at least then I’d know who really liked me.” Blaine said sourly, his shoulders slumping.
“Are you sure you want to do that? Right now, I mean,” Kurt said, surprising himself. He’d surprised Blaine too, judging by his expression.
“Are you or are you not the same man who just told me - twice - to come out?”
“Well, yes, but…”
“But what? You’d obviously prefer I was out; I know that. What’s changed your mind?”
“Timing, mostly. You shouldn’t do it rashly. And right in the middle of a competition isn’t a great time,” Kurt said. Before Blaine could start up again, Kurt continued, his voice softer. “Plus, this - between us - is still new. Are you sure you want to walk into a PR storm right now?”
“Are you saying you don’t want to be there with me?” Blaine asked, taking a step back.
“What? No.” Kurt got up and closed the distance between them, reaching out for one of Blaine’s hands. “That’s not what I’m saying. I’ll be right beside you through it all, if that’s what you want. But this affects me too, now. And we really have enough going on without adding sensationalized media coverage to the mix.”
“You just don’t want anything to detract from your prodigy of a dance partner,” Blaine said. His smile was small, but it was there.
“If I’m totally honest, there’s a part of me that feels that way,” Kurt admitted. “A selfish part that wants to enjoy this season, enjoy my partner - enjoy having you - without being in the middle of a circus. Dancing is my life; it’s my heart. And now you’re here too. Is it terrible that I want you to myself for a little bit longer?”
Blaine shook his head slightly, and Kurt pressed the hand he held between both of his.
“Will you think about it?” Kurt asked.
“I guess I don’t have to decide anything right now,” Blaine offered. Kurt took it as the olive branch it was.
“Let’s just get through today. We can talk about it more later - talk it to death, if you want to.”
“Ok,” Blaine said, but he still looked troubled.
“Ok.” Kurt leaned into him for a hug, pressing his temple against Blaine’s hair. They stood there for a few minutes, wrapped loosely in one another’s arms, until things seemed to settle between them a little.
They went about their day then, getting ready and heading to the studio to prepare for the evening’s show. Blaine was uncharacteristically quiet, and Kurt felt raw, as though all the easy bliss of the past few weeks had been scraped away. He knew reality had to set in eventually, but he hadn’t expected it to crash down on them quite so hard.
They had a subdued lunch in Kurt’s trailer, not sure what to say, but equally unsure of how to be apart. Before they left for their separate rehearsals, Blaine turned to Kurt, catching his hands and holding them, and then drew him into a hug, Blaine’s face tucked into Kurt’s neck. They breathed together, much like Kurt and Kim did before their performances, and Kurt marveled at the ability of the person who was causing his unease to be the same person who could make everything better. It wasn’t better yet, not all the way, but being together helped. They would talk more, Kurt promised himself, but first they had to make it through to next week.