GLEE: (Day Seven) of Seven (part B)
title: (Day Seven) of Seven (part B)
author: infraredphaeton
summary: The final final showdown. New Directions and The Warblers go out to lunch. Kurt has a Bond marathon with his team mates. Eric goes home to Dalton. Kurt goes home to Lima.
warnings: lots of youtube. some language. Eric. Lots of OCs. Implied bullying. lack of boykissing.
rating: PG-13
Part A Here
The lights dimmed in the auditorium, and Kurt felt more than saw David leaning away from him and putting his head on Wes’ shoulder. Blaine reached over the arm rest between Kurt and him and took his hand, lacing their fingers together. It was nice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahuKT8jMYTc
It was strange, watching a McKinley performance from the outside, thought Kurt, as he watched Santana devour her solo, half skipping around the stage and dancing with whoever she came near. The rest of the club had teamed boy and girl, allowing Santana to move through and around them dramatically. On the chorus and repeats, the couples separated and leaned towards their small audience, singing brightly, before pairing up again- Mike and Tina danced a cute swing dance, and Brittany pulled some more gymnastic moves with Eric, whose constant climbing and running had built some serious muscles, while Finn and Rachel attempted a far less demanding dance, Santana constantly stealing the male partners of each group and moving on when she got bored.
Kurt could practically see the hole in the choreography and chorus he was supposed to fit into, where Mercedes expected a slighter and smaller partner than Sam or Finn, and where Rachel fought against non existent competition for a high note. Blaine squeezed his hand again.
“Your friends are great,” he whispered into Kurt’s ear, and Kurt shushed him immediately.
Then he leaned over and replied, “Of course they are. They’re my friends, aren’t they?”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePEm0K501xk&NR=1
Just like the Daltoners had, the McKinley club had decided to show off their newly acquired counter tenor in their second song, but nobody broke ranks to announce Eric. He pouted a little as he stepped forward, but when Liam whistled loudly, his show smile quickly reappeared, and when Rachel stepped forward to join him in their duet, that smile turned incandescent.
It was fantastic, technically brilliant, and Eric was fiercely involved in the music, singing with determination and a strange bite to his words, while Rachel was her usual pitch perfect, if slightly over involved self. It was also highly entertaining to see somebody chasing Rachel across the stage, rather than Rachel chasing Finn. They even pulled the walk towards each other, wrap an arm around each others waist and turn in a circle before separating move.
Kurt had been beginning to think that Finn and Rachel had banned all others from ever doing that on stage.
Eric looked like he was about to explode with happiness when Rachel looked into his eyes and they sung the chorus together, and Liam ‘aww’ed from his seat next to Wes.
“Don’t encourage him,” Wes hissed at him, and Liam rolled his eyes, and clapped even more loudly than he’d planned to when they finished.
“Thank you for ensuring that my life will be even harder next week, as Eric will now believe that not only is he perfect, but that he may in fact be the reincarnation of Deborah Harry.” Harry said dryly, as the lights went down again.
“Deborah Harry isn’t dead,” Pratik said mildly.
“I know that!” Harry replied scathingly, brushing a hand over the ‘Blondie’ pin on his jacket lapel.
Kurt shushed him violently. Liam shrugged and stuck his tongue out at Harry.
Pratik just laughed silently.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9olwPQG3baU
“I thought you said that Rachel always took the solos?” Blaine whispered in Kurt’s ear, and Kurt just smiled as Tina, Artie and Mercedes took the leads.
“She does, usually,” he said, “and, also, shush.”
“Oooh, told.” David commented, and he and Wes bumped fists.
They too were shushed, and fell silent sulkily.
Mercedes drew out her notes, long and perfectly formed as always, while Artie’s slightly deeper tones stayed true to the slightly harsh tone of the original vocalist, and Tina’s usual sweet voice added an interesting twist as she sung in harmony with Artie.
It was a New Directions classic- three quarters of the choir pulling easier a cappella moves while the leads had fun out the front. Mercedes and Tina were grinning wildly, dancing and hopping around on stage, while Artie grinned widely, pulling some slightly more complex wheelchair dancing moves. Quinn and Sam were being sickeningly couple-y, dancing and ‘oh oh’ing at each other, while Rachel tried to avoid Eric and dance with Finn.
To be fair, that last part wasn’t exactly ‘classic’, but Kurt was enjoying it so much that he was thinking about petitioning for it’s inclusion in every performance from now on.
At the end of the performance, Kurt and Liam clapped enthusiastically, and the rest of the Warblers gave the kind of polite applause that was trained into school children at a young age. Mr. Matthews crooked his finger in some kind of symbol, and the Warblers’ applause died off.
“That was fantastic.” Kurt gushed, “Mercedes, you were flawless.”
“Actually she was slightly pitchy in several areas,” Eric said helpfully.
Liam hid his face in his hand, and Pratik smiled.
“What, she was!”
“Take your boy back, before he comes back in pieces,” Mercedes told Liam, who came up on stage and ushered Eric back down to the Warblers.
“It’s good to have you back, Eric.” said the Indian boy quietly, and patted Eric on the shoulder.
Eric beamed at him.
“Don’t think you’re getting Double Oh back yet,” Wes threatened, slinging an arm over Kurt’s shoulders.
“That’s right. He’s still ours till the end of the day.”
“That gives us, like, six hours or something.”
“I wonder if we can convince you to transfer before those six hours elapse?” David asked dreamily.
“Doubtful.” Kurt rolled his eyes.
“It’s worth a shot. Ooh, I know. Blaine, come pout at Kurt.”
“Tell him you’ll be sad unless he transfers.” Wes said helpfully.
“We know it’s the truth.” David agreed.
Blaine rolled his eyes, and pushed David and Wes off Kurt. David immediately took advantage of his upraised arms to go for Blaine’s ribs.
Wes grinned, but didn’t push or fight back, instead poking Blaine on the forehead while he began to thrash at David’s tickling. Blaine batted at his hands with the effectiveness of a pre-teen girl in a slap fight, and David grinned, tickling him harder.
For some reason, Kurt felt charmed by their idiocy.
“Boys! No rough housing!” Mr. Matthews called, turning away from his conversation with Mr. Schue.
“Yes sir!” chorused Blaine, Wes and David in eerily practiced innocence.
David pouted, but stopped tickling, stepping under Wes’ arm so he was tucked up against the other boy’s shoulder. Blaine rolled his eyes, still gasping for air, and wrapped an arm around Kurt’s waist.
“Are you quite happy?”
“I definitely feel chivalrous, having protected you from David and Wes,” Blaine admitted, trying to catch his breath.
“Do you think that makes up for being unable to carry my bag for me?”
“I was hoping so.” Blaine smiled charmingly.
Kurt blushed, but happily wrapped his arm around Blaine’s waist too.
“Guys, how do you feel about going to lunch with the Warblers?” Mr. Schue asked the New Directions, and received a chorus of ‘whatevers’, ‘ooh, yes’, and one ‘will Eric be there?’.
“I’ll take that as a yes!” Schue said optimistically.
“Boys, Mr. Schuester has kindly offered to take us to a local restaurant so we can hang out with their Glee club. It’ll be another hour out of your day, bear in mind. Is that alright? Keep your homework in mind! I’ll be the one in trouble if you all fail World Geography.”
“Damn World Geography,” Wes muttered.
“That’s why I took History,” David said smugly.
“You’re failing History.”
“...Good point.” David admitted, pouting slightly.
There was a lot of hurried discussion, where Pratik quietly admitted that he needed another extra hour on his English essay. Harry offered to give him a hand, and nobody else had anything too pressing, so they sent Blaine up to tell Mr. Matthews that they’d be willing to stay on.
Mr. Matthews clapped Blaine on the shoulder and came over to the group. He asked Pratik if he was sure about his essay, and received a nod, and checked with each of the boys- that Jim had finished his referencing for his History Internal Assessment, that David has finished his ITGS portfolio, and Melvin’s girlfriend wouldn’t be disappointed at missing their scheduled skype date. Once he was sure that everyone’s school life would survive another hour in Lima, he returned to Mr. Schue and happily accepted his offer.
“Breadsticks?” Mr. Schue suggested.
“Hells yes!” Santana grinned, and Brittany clapped happily.
The group of two glee clubs was too large for even the longest of the Breadsticks tables, so the staff and a few of the more athletic guys- Liam and a few other Warblers, Puck, Sam, Finn, and Mike- helped push the tables together. Eric immediately sat next to Liam, crouching on top of his chair like a gargoyle, while Wes, David and Blaine claimed the seats nearest to the New Directions kids, Kurt happily jammed between Mercedes and Blaine. Pratik, who had been humming Take Me Out since Mr. Matthews had announced their lunch out, sat between Liam and Harry. He absently drummed on the table with his fingers until Harry reached out and stopped him by grabbing his hands.
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“You weren’t listening,” Harry smiled, and squeezed his hands gently before letting them go. Pratik obediently stopped drumming and looked at the menu.
“What’s good here?” he asked Harry softly.
“I don’t know,” Harry shrugged, and turned to Artie, who was his neighbor on his other side, “What’s good here?”
“The spaghetti Bolognese is good.” Artie suggested, “or the lasagna.”
“I want the one with bacon in it,” Brittany said, closing her menu. “Spaghetti Carboxylic.”
David frowned in confusion. Wes patted him on the head.
“Just...don’t.”
David nodded and went back to the menu.
“The lasagna really is very good,” Kurt agreed, from the other side of the table, “but I’m having a Mona Lisa salad.”
“Their chicken linguini is excellent,” Blaine said, closing his menu.
“You come here a lot, do you?” David teased.
“At least once a week,” Blaine smiled back.
“Wes! Wes, Blaine didn’t get worked up about me talking about him dating Kurt.” David slapped Wes’ shoulder in panic.
“Oh god. Check the sky for horsemen!” Wes cried dramatically. He turned to David and held his hands, “David, my friend.”
“Yes, Wes?”
“Eat. Drink. And be merry. Because soon, the world ends.”
“I’ll miss you when we’re dead, Wes-ster.” David said tearily.
“And I you, Davey. And I you.” Wes said solemnly, “I’m going to have a hawaiian pizza. You want to get a vegetarian one, and we’ll share?”
“I think that sounds like a plan.” David agreed.
“Do I have to eat?” asked Eric, “I had breakfast.”
“...Yes. We’ve talked about this.” Liam said, crossing his arms. Eric was a very active person who didn’t like being interrupted, and therefore was practically impossible to pin down long enough to feed.
“It had eggs and stuff. It was a really big meal.”
“Dude sounds like a lady,” Puck snorted, and Pratik smiled.
“Aerosmith. Nice.”
“What?” Puck frowned, “I don’t listen to that. Finn’s your man for eighties rock.”
Pratik looked kind of confused.
“Not everybody listens to everything, man,” Harry said.
Pratik looked kind of confused.
“I don’t care.” Liam said, “Just eat a salad or something.”
“How can you not know Aerosmith? It’s not great, but it’s a cultural icon.” Pratik whispered to Harry.
“Some people just...don’t.”
“I don’t get it.”
“That’s okay.” Harry patted him on the shoulder.
“I’m not hungry.” Eric complained.
“You’re never hungry,” Liam sighed, “just eat something, please, Eric?”
“But if I eat, my stomach gets full and I get all sleepy,” Eric complained.
“Eat something, Eric.” Harry agreed, as soon as he heard Eric say ‘sleepy’. Pratik rolled his eyes and whistled Master Plan.
Liam looked at Eric.
Eric scowled.
“For me?”
“...I’ll have a calzone.”
“This is...nice.” Mr. Schue said, smiling.
“It is. I don’t spend a lot of time with teachers who aren’t at Dalton,” Mr. Matthews said, straightening his knife and fork.
“Oh yeah, me too.” Mr Schue agreed, “And leading the Glee Club doesn’t get a whole lot of respect from the rest of the staff.”
“I’m actually a music teacher,” Mr. Matthews explained, “so it fits with the rest of my job. And the Warblers are very popular.”
“Well, New Directions is working towards that,” Mr. Schue said abruptly.
“That’s nice.”
“It really is.”
An uncomfortable silence filled the teachers’ end of the table.
“You should try the Arista. It’s fantastic,” Mr. Schue suggested.
“I’m... um... I’m muslim. I don’t eat pork,” replied Mr. Matthews, “but thank you for the suggestion.”
“Ah.”
Again, uncomfortable silence.
“Weather’s nice?” Mr. Matthews suggested.
“It really is.” Mr. Schue agreed fervently, “Although I heard there was rain predicted for this Tuesday.”
“What a shame!”
“How dare you! Christopher Eccleston is a genius!” Harry jumped to his feet and pointed at Finn, “Say that again!”
“What?” FInn frowned, “I didn’t like that guy who was in G.I. Joe? Who’s Christopher Eccleston?”
“Only my idol!” Harry hissed, “And you can’t judge him for that! Everyone has to eat!”
“Sit down,” Pratik said calmly, putting a hand on Harry’s arm, “He’s probably never even seen Doctor Who.”
Harry sat down huffily, crossing his arms.
“Kurt, tell your step brother that I am never talking to him again.”
“You really don’t get on well with people from Dalton, do you?” Kurt asked Finn, with an amused twist to his smile. Under the table, Blaine’s fingers drew abstract patterns on the soft skin of his inner wrist, skating across light skin ticklishly.
“What did I say?” Finn asked, still confused.
“Just eat your lunch, Finn.” Rachel said, trying to ignore Eric’s plaintive stare at her and Finn’s linked hands on the table.
“Thanks for waiting while I took my stuff home,” Kurt smiled at the Warblers as they filed into the bus.
“It gave us time to get some ice cream,” Wes said, “so we really don’t mind.”
“That was some damn good ice cream,” David said dreamily, “I think I might move here. For that ice cream, I could put up with public school.”
“I’m sure your parents will feel the same way,” Blaine said dryly, sitting next to Kurt.
“I’ll take them to that ice cream shop. They’ll agree.” David said, falling into his seat next to Wes.
“Did you get changed again, Double oh?” Wes asked, and Kurt nodded.
“You look nice,” Blaine smiled charmingly, once again taking Kurt’s hand.
“Thank you, Blaine.” Kurt smiled back.
He was in tight white jeans now, with a zig zag collared, egg shell coloured shirt and a midnight black tail coat, a sparkly brooch pinned to his lapel. A s he spoke to Blaine, he smoothed his lapels and crossed his legs.
“I’m disappointed that it’s not a tuxedo, Bond.” David said.
“I’m afraid my tux is at the dry cleaners, David.” Kurt said.
“So, where are we starting with, Bond-wise?” Liam asked, turning around in his seat to talk to the four boys in the back.
“Brosnan, of course.” David said.
“The Bond of our childhood.” Wes agreed.
“Then we work forward, and if we run out of movies, we go to selected Connery.”
“Very selected.” Wes said, “They can be kind of boring.”
“True dat.” David agreed, “Or we might do Bourne.”
“Ooh, let’s do Bourne.” Wes nodded.
“Why can’t we watch the old Bond?” Eric asked sleepily, from his position curled up in the luggage rack above Liam’s seat.
“Because old Bond is boring unless you grew up with it.” David said plainly.
“You suck.” Eric replied, already dozing off again.
“We need to feed Eric more,” Harry said, “he’s far less objectionable when he’s asleep.”
“So are you.” David crowed loudly.
Pratik, who was asleep on Harry’s shoulder with his headphones on, grumbled inaudibly and snuggled closer.
“He was up all night working on World Lit One. Wake him and die,” Harry said peacefully.
“You’re scarier then you let on.” David said, and settled down to sharing Wes’ iPod.
“I try.” Harry said, looking down at Pratik and smiling. He then put on his mp3 player and listed to Revolver all the way back to Westerville.
“We’re starting it!” David called, “Shut up and sit down!”
The Warblers of all four houses, plus the rest of Keiran, were scattered across the Keiran common room, lounging on cushions and couches as the last stragglers put away their homework.
Harry closed Pratik’s maths book. “That’s as much as you can get done today.”
Pratik, whose guitar was back in his arms, played a riff from You Keep Me Hanging On.
“We’ll finish it later, Pratik. There’s only so long you can concentrate on work.”
Harry put away the book and took a seat on one of the squishier couches.
Eric, who was balanced on the back of the love seat Liam was lying down on, rolled his eyes.
“Can we hurry this up? I have plans of seduction to finalize, and a lead singer to seduce.”
“Run, Blaine!” Wes called from the beanbag he was sharing with David.
“You are hilarious,” Blaine said, comfortable and just a little bit turned on from Kurt leaning against him.
“You know I practice for hours to achieve this level of wit.” Wes said lazily, snuggling up against David as he fiddled with the remote.
“And here I thought you were running kata.”
“Kata of wit.”
“And Krav Maga,” David added. “Also capoeira.”
“I’m an overachiever.” Wes shrugged, and Gary turned off the over head lights, throwing the room into a pleasant half darkness relieved by the TV’s glow.
“Is everybody sitting comfortably?” David asked.
“Everyone got popcorn?” Wes checked.
“Enough drinks? Are there enough people to hold onto during the scary bits?”
“David, it’s Bond, not a horror movie.”
“...I know that.”
A resounding chorus of yeses answered them, and David hit play.
“Then shut up and watch the movies.”
Golden Eye opened in a flash of naked women and guns.
“This is honestly what you associate me with?” Kurt asked doubtfully.
He was shushed quickly.
At the end of Casino Royale, pretty much everybody was asleep. Eric had fallen off the edge of the couch, and was snoring blissfully on top of an equally asleep Liam. Gary was hugging a pillow, one hand still dipped in a bowl of now-cold popcorn, while Jim and Lee were leaned against each other, Lee looking far more innocent than anyone who said mother fucker on a bi-sentence basis should be able to. His hair was filled with popcorn thrown by David during the boring, non explosion filled parts. David, in return, was lying in the middle of a puddle of Lee’s popcorn, tipped over his head in retaliation while David was distracted by the snowmobile chase. Wes and David had chosen to ignore the popcorn, and were now cuddled up together on their beanbag.
“You still awake?” Blaine asked Kurt muzzily.
“I think so?” Kurt blinked heavily, and propped himself up on his elbows to look at Blaine properly, “It’s entirely possible I’m sleeptalking.”
“I think you’re awake,” Blaine replied, nodding seriously.
“‘kay. What did you want to ask?”
“I wanted to tell you.” Blaine said, and he pushed a strand of hair- it had been over five hours since Kurt had broken out his hair spray- off Kurt’s forehead.
“Yeah?”
“I really liked having you here.” he said seriously, “It’s the best thing that’s happened to me in months.”
“Oh.” Kurt smiled back, and wriggled out from under Harry’s arm- Blaine, Pratik, Harry, Melvin, and a few other Warblers had all ended up in a pile on some cushions halfway through Tomorrow Never Dies. “I liked being here, Blaine.”
“I want you to know, we like having you here. I like having you here,” Blaine smiled charmingly and tugged on another strand of hair, gently, “You’re awesome.”
“Thanks. I think you’re pretty awesome too.”
They lay back down, and Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt, pulling him up until he was laying on Blaine’s chest, tucked against his shoulder.
“You’re fantastic, Kurt. I like you...a lot. Be my boyfriend?”
“Of course.” Kurt grinned, waking up properly.
Blaine hugged him more closely, murmuring something indistinct but victorious and happy.
They were quiet like that for a little while, until Kurt decided to break the silence.
“This is the moment where you kiss me, Blaine,” Kurt said fondly.
No response.
Kurt propped himself back up, and rolled his eyes at his boyfriend.
“Or you could fall asleep again. That’s cool too.” Kurt shook his head, and got comfortable again.
Blaine knocked on Mr. Matthews’ office door.
“Come in, Blaine,” his teacher said, fiddling with some editing software.
Blaine entered, and waited politely while Mr. Matthews saved his work.
“How can I help, Blaine?” he smiled brightly, before frowning: “...Bearing in mind that I won’t change my mind about performing One Of The Boys.”
“I want to do a student placement at McKinley High School.” Blaine said firmly, putting his hands in his pockets.
A not particularly polite pair of coughs came from the doorway.
Blaine rolled his eyes.
“And so do Wes and David.”
New Directions setlist for those who don't youtube:
(Santana)Goody Two Shoes- Adam Ant
(Rachel and Eric)Union City Blues- Blondie
(Artie, Tina, Mercedes) Neon Trees- Animal
So, this took FOREVER. But I was rather motivated by penelopemuse's fantastic Pratik/Harry fic, which everyone should check out and comment.
Also because I performed Baby It's Cold Outside tonight with a friend, and that just leads to Klaine-y thoughts.
um. This is the first chaptered fic I've ever finished. And I couldn't have done it without your lovely comments. So thank you very much.
author: infraredphaeton
summary: The final final showdown. New Directions and The Warblers go out to lunch. Kurt has a Bond marathon with his team mates. Eric goes home to Dalton. Kurt goes home to Lima.
warnings: lots of youtube. some language. Eric. Lots of OCs. Implied bullying. lack of boykissing.
rating: PG-13
Part A Here
The lights dimmed in the auditorium, and Kurt felt more than saw David leaning away from him and putting his head on Wes’ shoulder. Blaine reached over the arm rest between Kurt and him and took his hand, lacing their fingers together. It was nice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahuKT8jMYTc
It was strange, watching a McKinley performance from the outside, thought Kurt, as he watched Santana devour her solo, half skipping around the stage and dancing with whoever she came near. The rest of the club had teamed boy and girl, allowing Santana to move through and around them dramatically. On the chorus and repeats, the couples separated and leaned towards their small audience, singing brightly, before pairing up again- Mike and Tina danced a cute swing dance, and Brittany pulled some more gymnastic moves with Eric, whose constant climbing and running had built some serious muscles, while Finn and Rachel attempted a far less demanding dance, Santana constantly stealing the male partners of each group and moving on when she got bored.
Kurt could practically see the hole in the choreography and chorus he was supposed to fit into, where Mercedes expected a slighter and smaller partner than Sam or Finn, and where Rachel fought against non existent competition for a high note. Blaine squeezed his hand again.
“Your friends are great,” he whispered into Kurt’s ear, and Kurt shushed him immediately.
Then he leaned over and replied, “Of course they are. They’re my friends, aren’t they?”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePEm0K501xk&NR=1
Just like the Daltoners had, the McKinley club had decided to show off their newly acquired counter tenor in their second song, but nobody broke ranks to announce Eric. He pouted a little as he stepped forward, but when Liam whistled loudly, his show smile quickly reappeared, and when Rachel stepped forward to join him in their duet, that smile turned incandescent.
It was fantastic, technically brilliant, and Eric was fiercely involved in the music, singing with determination and a strange bite to his words, while Rachel was her usual pitch perfect, if slightly over involved self. It was also highly entertaining to see somebody chasing Rachel across the stage, rather than Rachel chasing Finn. They even pulled the walk towards each other, wrap an arm around each others waist and turn in a circle before separating move.
Kurt had been beginning to think that Finn and Rachel had banned all others from ever doing that on stage.
Eric looked like he was about to explode with happiness when Rachel looked into his eyes and they sung the chorus together, and Liam ‘aww’ed from his seat next to Wes.
“Don’t encourage him,” Wes hissed at him, and Liam rolled his eyes, and clapped even more loudly than he’d planned to when they finished.
“Thank you for ensuring that my life will be even harder next week, as Eric will now believe that not only is he perfect, but that he may in fact be the reincarnation of Deborah Harry.” Harry said dryly, as the lights went down again.
“Deborah Harry isn’t dead,” Pratik said mildly.
“I know that!” Harry replied scathingly, brushing a hand over the ‘Blondie’ pin on his jacket lapel.
Kurt shushed him violently. Liam shrugged and stuck his tongue out at Harry.
Pratik just laughed silently.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9olwPQG3baU
“I thought you said that Rachel always took the solos?” Blaine whispered in Kurt’s ear, and Kurt just smiled as Tina, Artie and Mercedes took the leads.
“She does, usually,” he said, “and, also, shush.”
“Oooh, told.” David commented, and he and Wes bumped fists.
They too were shushed, and fell silent sulkily.
Mercedes drew out her notes, long and perfectly formed as always, while Artie’s slightly deeper tones stayed true to the slightly harsh tone of the original vocalist, and Tina’s usual sweet voice added an interesting twist as she sung in harmony with Artie.
It was a New Directions classic- three quarters of the choir pulling easier a cappella moves while the leads had fun out the front. Mercedes and Tina were grinning wildly, dancing and hopping around on stage, while Artie grinned widely, pulling some slightly more complex wheelchair dancing moves. Quinn and Sam were being sickeningly couple-y, dancing and ‘oh oh’ing at each other, while Rachel tried to avoid Eric and dance with Finn.
To be fair, that last part wasn’t exactly ‘classic’, but Kurt was enjoying it so much that he was thinking about petitioning for it’s inclusion in every performance from now on.
At the end of the performance, Kurt and Liam clapped enthusiastically, and the rest of the Warblers gave the kind of polite applause that was trained into school children at a young age. Mr. Matthews crooked his finger in some kind of symbol, and the Warblers’ applause died off.
“That was fantastic.” Kurt gushed, “Mercedes, you were flawless.”
“Actually she was slightly pitchy in several areas,” Eric said helpfully.
Liam hid his face in his hand, and Pratik smiled.
“What, she was!”
“Take your boy back, before he comes back in pieces,” Mercedes told Liam, who came up on stage and ushered Eric back down to the Warblers.
“It’s good to have you back, Eric.” said the Indian boy quietly, and patted Eric on the shoulder.
Eric beamed at him.
“Don’t think you’re getting Double Oh back yet,” Wes threatened, slinging an arm over Kurt’s shoulders.
“That’s right. He’s still ours till the end of the day.”
“That gives us, like, six hours or something.”
“I wonder if we can convince you to transfer before those six hours elapse?” David asked dreamily.
“Doubtful.” Kurt rolled his eyes.
“It’s worth a shot. Ooh, I know. Blaine, come pout at Kurt.”
“Tell him you’ll be sad unless he transfers.” Wes said helpfully.
“We know it’s the truth.” David agreed.
Blaine rolled his eyes, and pushed David and Wes off Kurt. David immediately took advantage of his upraised arms to go for Blaine’s ribs.
Wes grinned, but didn’t push or fight back, instead poking Blaine on the forehead while he began to thrash at David’s tickling. Blaine batted at his hands with the effectiveness of a pre-teen girl in a slap fight, and David grinned, tickling him harder.
For some reason, Kurt felt charmed by their idiocy.
“Boys! No rough housing!” Mr. Matthews called, turning away from his conversation with Mr. Schue.
“Yes sir!” chorused Blaine, Wes and David in eerily practiced innocence.
David pouted, but stopped tickling, stepping under Wes’ arm so he was tucked up against the other boy’s shoulder. Blaine rolled his eyes, still gasping for air, and wrapped an arm around Kurt’s waist.
“Are you quite happy?”
“I definitely feel chivalrous, having protected you from David and Wes,” Blaine admitted, trying to catch his breath.
“Do you think that makes up for being unable to carry my bag for me?”
“I was hoping so.” Blaine smiled charmingly.
Kurt blushed, but happily wrapped his arm around Blaine’s waist too.
“Guys, how do you feel about going to lunch with the Warblers?” Mr. Schue asked the New Directions, and received a chorus of ‘whatevers’, ‘ooh, yes’, and one ‘will Eric be there?’.
“I’ll take that as a yes!” Schue said optimistically.
“Boys, Mr. Schuester has kindly offered to take us to a local restaurant so we can hang out with their Glee club. It’ll be another hour out of your day, bear in mind. Is that alright? Keep your homework in mind! I’ll be the one in trouble if you all fail World Geography.”
“Damn World Geography,” Wes muttered.
“That’s why I took History,” David said smugly.
“You’re failing History.”
“...Good point.” David admitted, pouting slightly.
There was a lot of hurried discussion, where Pratik quietly admitted that he needed another extra hour on his English essay. Harry offered to give him a hand, and nobody else had anything too pressing, so they sent Blaine up to tell Mr. Matthews that they’d be willing to stay on.
Mr. Matthews clapped Blaine on the shoulder and came over to the group. He asked Pratik if he was sure about his essay, and received a nod, and checked with each of the boys- that Jim had finished his referencing for his History Internal Assessment, that David has finished his ITGS portfolio, and Melvin’s girlfriend wouldn’t be disappointed at missing their scheduled skype date. Once he was sure that everyone’s school life would survive another hour in Lima, he returned to Mr. Schue and happily accepted his offer.
“Breadsticks?” Mr. Schue suggested.
“Hells yes!” Santana grinned, and Brittany clapped happily.
The group of two glee clubs was too large for even the longest of the Breadsticks tables, so the staff and a few of the more athletic guys- Liam and a few other Warblers, Puck, Sam, Finn, and Mike- helped push the tables together. Eric immediately sat next to Liam, crouching on top of his chair like a gargoyle, while Wes, David and Blaine claimed the seats nearest to the New Directions kids, Kurt happily jammed between Mercedes and Blaine. Pratik, who had been humming Take Me Out since Mr. Matthews had announced their lunch out, sat between Liam and Harry. He absently drummed on the table with his fingers until Harry reached out and stopped him by grabbing his hands.
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“You weren’t listening,” Harry smiled, and squeezed his hands gently before letting them go. Pratik obediently stopped drumming and looked at the menu.
“What’s good here?” he asked Harry softly.
“I don’t know,” Harry shrugged, and turned to Artie, who was his neighbor on his other side, “What’s good here?”
“The spaghetti Bolognese is good.” Artie suggested, “or the lasagna.”
“I want the one with bacon in it,” Brittany said, closing her menu. “Spaghetti Carboxylic.”
David frowned in confusion. Wes patted him on the head.
“Just...don’t.”
David nodded and went back to the menu.
“The lasagna really is very good,” Kurt agreed, from the other side of the table, “but I’m having a Mona Lisa salad.”
“Their chicken linguini is excellent,” Blaine said, closing his menu.
“You come here a lot, do you?” David teased.
“At least once a week,” Blaine smiled back.
“Wes! Wes, Blaine didn’t get worked up about me talking about him dating Kurt.” David slapped Wes’ shoulder in panic.
“Oh god. Check the sky for horsemen!” Wes cried dramatically. He turned to David and held his hands, “David, my friend.”
“Yes, Wes?”
“Eat. Drink. And be merry. Because soon, the world ends.”
“I’ll miss you when we’re dead, Wes-ster.” David said tearily.
“And I you, Davey. And I you.” Wes said solemnly, “I’m going to have a hawaiian pizza. You want to get a vegetarian one, and we’ll share?”
“I think that sounds like a plan.” David agreed.
“Do I have to eat?” asked Eric, “I had breakfast.”
“...Yes. We’ve talked about this.” Liam said, crossing his arms. Eric was a very active person who didn’t like being interrupted, and therefore was practically impossible to pin down long enough to feed.
“It had eggs and stuff. It was a really big meal.”
“Dude sounds like a lady,” Puck snorted, and Pratik smiled.
“Aerosmith. Nice.”
“What?” Puck frowned, “I don’t listen to that. Finn’s your man for eighties rock.”
Pratik looked kind of confused.
“Not everybody listens to everything, man,” Harry said.
Pratik looked kind of confused.
“I don’t care.” Liam said, “Just eat a salad or something.”
“How can you not know Aerosmith? It’s not great, but it’s a cultural icon.” Pratik whispered to Harry.
“Some people just...don’t.”
“I don’t get it.”
“That’s okay.” Harry patted him on the shoulder.
“I’m not hungry.” Eric complained.
“You’re never hungry,” Liam sighed, “just eat something, please, Eric?”
“But if I eat, my stomach gets full and I get all sleepy,” Eric complained.
“Eat something, Eric.” Harry agreed, as soon as he heard Eric say ‘sleepy’. Pratik rolled his eyes and whistled Master Plan.
Liam looked at Eric.
Eric scowled.
“For me?”
“...I’ll have a calzone.”
“This is...nice.” Mr. Schue said, smiling.
“It is. I don’t spend a lot of time with teachers who aren’t at Dalton,” Mr. Matthews said, straightening his knife and fork.
“Oh yeah, me too.” Mr Schue agreed, “And leading the Glee Club doesn’t get a whole lot of respect from the rest of the staff.”
“I’m actually a music teacher,” Mr. Matthews explained, “so it fits with the rest of my job. And the Warblers are very popular.”
“Well, New Directions is working towards that,” Mr. Schue said abruptly.
“That’s nice.”
“It really is.”
An uncomfortable silence filled the teachers’ end of the table.
“You should try the Arista. It’s fantastic,” Mr. Schue suggested.
“I’m... um... I’m muslim. I don’t eat pork,” replied Mr. Matthews, “but thank you for the suggestion.”
“Ah.”
Again, uncomfortable silence.
“Weather’s nice?” Mr. Matthews suggested.
“It really is.” Mr. Schue agreed fervently, “Although I heard there was rain predicted for this Tuesday.”
“What a shame!”
“How dare you! Christopher Eccleston is a genius!” Harry jumped to his feet and pointed at Finn, “Say that again!”
“What?” FInn frowned, “I didn’t like that guy who was in G.I. Joe? Who’s Christopher Eccleston?”
“Only my idol!” Harry hissed, “And you can’t judge him for that! Everyone has to eat!”
“Sit down,” Pratik said calmly, putting a hand on Harry’s arm, “He’s probably never even seen Doctor Who.”
Harry sat down huffily, crossing his arms.
“Kurt, tell your step brother that I am never talking to him again.”
“You really don’t get on well with people from Dalton, do you?” Kurt asked Finn, with an amused twist to his smile. Under the table, Blaine’s fingers drew abstract patterns on the soft skin of his inner wrist, skating across light skin ticklishly.
“What did I say?” Finn asked, still confused.
“Just eat your lunch, Finn.” Rachel said, trying to ignore Eric’s plaintive stare at her and Finn’s linked hands on the table.
“Thanks for waiting while I took my stuff home,” Kurt smiled at the Warblers as they filed into the bus.
“It gave us time to get some ice cream,” Wes said, “so we really don’t mind.”
“That was some damn good ice cream,” David said dreamily, “I think I might move here. For that ice cream, I could put up with public school.”
“I’m sure your parents will feel the same way,” Blaine said dryly, sitting next to Kurt.
“I’ll take them to that ice cream shop. They’ll agree.” David said, falling into his seat next to Wes.
“Did you get changed again, Double oh?” Wes asked, and Kurt nodded.
“You look nice,” Blaine smiled charmingly, once again taking Kurt’s hand.
“Thank you, Blaine.” Kurt smiled back.
He was in tight white jeans now, with a zig zag collared, egg shell coloured shirt and a midnight black tail coat, a sparkly brooch pinned to his lapel. A s he spoke to Blaine, he smoothed his lapels and crossed his legs.
“I’m disappointed that it’s not a tuxedo, Bond.” David said.
“I’m afraid my tux is at the dry cleaners, David.” Kurt said.
“So, where are we starting with, Bond-wise?” Liam asked, turning around in his seat to talk to the four boys in the back.
“Brosnan, of course.” David said.
“The Bond of our childhood.” Wes agreed.
“Then we work forward, and if we run out of movies, we go to selected Connery.”
“Very selected.” Wes said, “They can be kind of boring.”
“True dat.” David agreed, “Or we might do Bourne.”
“Ooh, let’s do Bourne.” Wes nodded.
“Why can’t we watch the old Bond?” Eric asked sleepily, from his position curled up in the luggage rack above Liam’s seat.
“Because old Bond is boring unless you grew up with it.” David said plainly.
“You suck.” Eric replied, already dozing off again.
“We need to feed Eric more,” Harry said, “he’s far less objectionable when he’s asleep.”
“So are you.” David crowed loudly.
Pratik, who was asleep on Harry’s shoulder with his headphones on, grumbled inaudibly and snuggled closer.
“He was up all night working on World Lit One. Wake him and die,” Harry said peacefully.
“You’re scarier then you let on.” David said, and settled down to sharing Wes’ iPod.
“I try.” Harry said, looking down at Pratik and smiling. He then put on his mp3 player and listed to Revolver all the way back to Westerville.
“We’re starting it!” David called, “Shut up and sit down!”
The Warblers of all four houses, plus the rest of Keiran, were scattered across the Keiran common room, lounging on cushions and couches as the last stragglers put away their homework.
Harry closed Pratik’s maths book. “That’s as much as you can get done today.”
Pratik, whose guitar was back in his arms, played a riff from You Keep Me Hanging On.
“We’ll finish it later, Pratik. There’s only so long you can concentrate on work.”
Harry put away the book and took a seat on one of the squishier couches.
Eric, who was balanced on the back of the love seat Liam was lying down on, rolled his eyes.
“Can we hurry this up? I have plans of seduction to finalize, and a lead singer to seduce.”
“Run, Blaine!” Wes called from the beanbag he was sharing with David.
“You are hilarious,” Blaine said, comfortable and just a little bit turned on from Kurt leaning against him.
“You know I practice for hours to achieve this level of wit.” Wes said lazily, snuggling up against David as he fiddled with the remote.
“And here I thought you were running kata.”
“Kata of wit.”
“And Krav Maga,” David added. “Also capoeira.”
“I’m an overachiever.” Wes shrugged, and Gary turned off the over head lights, throwing the room into a pleasant half darkness relieved by the TV’s glow.
“Is everybody sitting comfortably?” David asked.
“Everyone got popcorn?” Wes checked.
“Enough drinks? Are there enough people to hold onto during the scary bits?”
“David, it’s Bond, not a horror movie.”
“...I know that.”
A resounding chorus of yeses answered them, and David hit play.
“Then shut up and watch the movies.”
Golden Eye opened in a flash of naked women and guns.
“This is honestly what you associate me with?” Kurt asked doubtfully.
He was shushed quickly.
At the end of Casino Royale, pretty much everybody was asleep. Eric had fallen off the edge of the couch, and was snoring blissfully on top of an equally asleep Liam. Gary was hugging a pillow, one hand still dipped in a bowl of now-cold popcorn, while Jim and Lee were leaned against each other, Lee looking far more innocent than anyone who said mother fucker on a bi-sentence basis should be able to. His hair was filled with popcorn thrown by David during the boring, non explosion filled parts. David, in return, was lying in the middle of a puddle of Lee’s popcorn, tipped over his head in retaliation while David was distracted by the snowmobile chase. Wes and David had chosen to ignore the popcorn, and were now cuddled up together on their beanbag.
“You still awake?” Blaine asked Kurt muzzily.
“I think so?” Kurt blinked heavily, and propped himself up on his elbows to look at Blaine properly, “It’s entirely possible I’m sleeptalking.”
“I think you’re awake,” Blaine replied, nodding seriously.
“‘kay. What did you want to ask?”
“I wanted to tell you.” Blaine said, and he pushed a strand of hair- it had been over five hours since Kurt had broken out his hair spray- off Kurt’s forehead.
“Yeah?”
“I really liked having you here.” he said seriously, “It’s the best thing that’s happened to me in months.”
“Oh.” Kurt smiled back, and wriggled out from under Harry’s arm- Blaine, Pratik, Harry, Melvin, and a few other Warblers had all ended up in a pile on some cushions halfway through Tomorrow Never Dies. “I liked being here, Blaine.”
“I want you to know, we like having you here. I like having you here,” Blaine smiled charmingly and tugged on another strand of hair, gently, “You’re awesome.”
“Thanks. I think you’re pretty awesome too.”
They lay back down, and Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt, pulling him up until he was laying on Blaine’s chest, tucked against his shoulder.
“You’re fantastic, Kurt. I like you...a lot. Be my boyfriend?”
“Of course.” Kurt grinned, waking up properly.
Blaine hugged him more closely, murmuring something indistinct but victorious and happy.
They were quiet like that for a little while, until Kurt decided to break the silence.
“This is the moment where you kiss me, Blaine,” Kurt said fondly.
No response.
Kurt propped himself back up, and rolled his eyes at his boyfriend.
“Or you could fall asleep again. That’s cool too.” Kurt shook his head, and got comfortable again.
Blaine knocked on Mr. Matthews’ office door.
“Come in, Blaine,” his teacher said, fiddling with some editing software.
Blaine entered, and waited politely while Mr. Matthews saved his work.
“How can I help, Blaine?” he smiled brightly, before frowning: “...Bearing in mind that I won’t change my mind about performing One Of The Boys.”
“I want to do a student placement at McKinley High School.” Blaine said firmly, putting his hands in his pockets.
A not particularly polite pair of coughs came from the doorway.
Blaine rolled his eyes.
“And so do Wes and David.”
New Directions setlist for those who don't youtube:
(Santana)Goody Two Shoes- Adam Ant
(Rachel and Eric)Union City Blues- Blondie
(Artie, Tina, Mercedes) Neon Trees- Animal
So, this took FOREVER. But I was rather motivated by penelopemuse's fantastic Pratik/Harry fic, which everyone should check out and comment.
Also because I performed Baby It's Cold Outside tonight with a friend, and that just leads to Klaine-y thoughts.
um. This is the first chaptered fic I've ever finished. And I couldn't have done it without your lovely comments. So thank you very much.