Glitch in the System
Based on this glee angst meme prompt.
The only excuse I have for the last line is that "Goodbye" finally made me see what those Faberry shippers have been seeing since day one, and I really wanted to pay an homage to that. The argument Kurt and Blaine have is based on a gif set I saw on tumblr.
Also, I was pissed, okay? I was pissed that there was no Blurt kiss, I was pissed that Kurt got rejected even though he clearly had the superior audition, and I was pissed that Finn's two-episode dream was treated with as much weight as the dream Kurt and Rachel had ALL SEASON! I liked the episode up until after Chris' solo. Then I was just wincing.
Okay, enough rambling.
It was kind of embarrassing, to be honest. The usual head of admissions was on maternity leave, and the woman who took over for her was tired. Luckily, the mistake was limited to the area around northwest Ohio.
Well, it was lucky for anyone who wasn’t the replacement head of admissions, anyway. She was currently looking at the faces of a crestfallen gay couple who had come in inquiring about rooms for their daughter from Lima.
*****
The first sign Rachel had that something was wrong was an unwillingness to leave Finn. She felt like a string connected her to him, to this place, and that she was meant to stay a year. As the train took her further and further, the string was pulled tighter and tighter until she was sure her stomach would never relax again.
The second sign she had were the expressions on her fathers’ faces. “Is everything okay?” she ran forward. “Oh my gosh, you guys didn’t get mugged, did you? Ugh, I knew New York is a dangerous place. I should’ve prepared you better.”
“No, honey, that’s the problem,” Leroy began, patting Rachel’s face.
“It’s NYADA,” Hiram said apologetically. “They mixed up the letters, Ray-Ray.”
And Rachel felt a string snap inside her. Her face crumpled, she dropped her trunk, and sobbed into her father’s chest as her dad rubbed her shoulder soothingly.
*****
“Blaine,” Kurt could hardly talk for his excitement. “Blaine, you won’t believe it!”
“What’s going on?” Blaine asked on the other end of the phone. “Is there a sale at Macy’s again?”
“It’s better than that!”
“Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s?” Blaine teased.
“Blaine!” Kurt laughed. “I got into NYADA. There was a mix-up.”
“Really?” Blaine, despite being friends with Rachel, was ecstatic.
“Yes, but hold on, Rachel came over to cry with Finn, and it sounds like they’re going to their room, so pretend there really is a sale at Macy’s.”
*****
It wasn’t like she hadn’t expected this. Her fathers had even sat Shiva for her. She had already mourned her dreams. She had a connection to this place more than she had with New York. Wasn’t that what she had tried so hard to ignore on the train ride?
So why did she feel like somebody had just stabbed her in the heart?
*****
Unfortunately, Kurt couldn’t call Blaine after Rachel left because Rachel had scheduled a friends’ night out, and Kurt felt it would be best if he stayed home.
“Come on, Kurt, don’t make me spend more time without you,” Blaine pleaded.
“Well, you’re going to have to get used to this now, aren’t you? Because next year, I’m going to be living eight hours away, and you won’t get to see me every day.”
“Exactly!” Blaine exploded. “How are we supposed to have a relationship if we don’t take advantage of the time we have?”
Kurt let out an unattractive snort. Was Blaine being an oblivious pain in the ass again? Did his ears have some sort of glitch where he was unable to listen to sense? “Do you even understand what I’m saying? We need to spend some time apart.”
“‘Time apart?’” Blaine parroted. “Kurt, are you breaking up with me?”
Kurt tried to control his breathing before he did anything rash, but the words, “So what if I am?” slipped out before he could stop himself.
The sound of Blaine hanging up was his answer.
*****
“Rachel,” Finn leaned down and whispered in her ear. “I think you should let Blaine talk to his boyfriend.”
“Kurt has everything I’ve ever wanted,” Rachel replied. “Why does he get to have Blaine now, too?”
“Remember when you wanted to marry me even though you didn’t think you were going to New York for another year?” Finn asked. “Well, imagine you didn’t have that year.”
Rachel was silent for a second. Finn thought she was going to agree, but she simply buried her face in his chest again. “What am I going to do now?”
*****
“Blaine, get out of my suitcase,” Kurt said without even turning.
“But I fit,” Blaine’s breath hitched like he wasn’t even trying to hide it, and Kurt forced himself to believe that Blaine was intentionally exaggerating.
“Blaine, seriously!”
“Take me with you!” Blaine reached for Kurt, who turned around and saw the pathetic sight of his crying boyfriend.
“Goddammit,” Kurt cursed, knowing he was no match for those puppy-dog eyes.
“Please,” Blaine said quietly. “I don’t want to fight.”
“That’s what we do! We fight!” Kurt shrieked. “You tell me when I’m being an arrogant son of a bitch and I tell you when you’re being a pain in the ass. Which you are, 99% of the time! I’m not afraid to hurt your feelings. They have, like, a two-second rebound rate, and then you’re back doing the next pain-in-the-ass thing. So it’s not going to be easy; it’s going to be really hard!”
“But you’re going to work at this every day,” Rachel said from the doorway. “And you want to do that,” she walked up to Kurt, embraced him, and added in a whisper, “because you want each other.” She let go and turned to see Blaine staring at Kurt, who was staring back.
“I want all of you, forever,” Blaine said, climbing out of the suitcase and offering Kurt a shaky hand.
“You and me, every day,” Kurt agreed, taking it.
“I brought you a new webcam,” Rachel said, holding it up. “It comes with a recording device so you can play back skype sessions to each other.”
“Oh, Rachel!” Kurt glomped Rachel. “You make me want to be Quinn Fabray.”
The only excuse I have for the last line is that "Goodbye" finally made me see what those Faberry shippers have been seeing since day one, and I really wanted to pay an homage to that. The argument Kurt and Blaine have is based on a gif set I saw on tumblr.
Also, I was pissed, okay? I was pissed that there was no Blurt kiss, I was pissed that Kurt got rejected even though he clearly had the superior audition, and I was pissed that Finn's two-episode dream was treated with as much weight as the dream Kurt and Rachel had ALL SEASON! I liked the episode up until after Chris' solo. Then I was just wincing.
Okay, enough rambling.
It was kind of embarrassing, to be honest. The usual head of admissions was on maternity leave, and the woman who took over for her was tired. Luckily, the mistake was limited to the area around northwest Ohio.
Well, it was lucky for anyone who wasn’t the replacement head of admissions, anyway. She was currently looking at the faces of a crestfallen gay couple who had come in inquiring about rooms for their daughter from Lima.
*****
The first sign Rachel had that something was wrong was an unwillingness to leave Finn. She felt like a string connected her to him, to this place, and that she was meant to stay a year. As the train took her further and further, the string was pulled tighter and tighter until she was sure her stomach would never relax again.
The second sign she had were the expressions on her fathers’ faces. “Is everything okay?” she ran forward. “Oh my gosh, you guys didn’t get mugged, did you? Ugh, I knew New York is a dangerous place. I should’ve prepared you better.”
“No, honey, that’s the problem,” Leroy began, patting Rachel’s face.
“It’s NYADA,” Hiram said apologetically. “They mixed up the letters, Ray-Ray.”
And Rachel felt a string snap inside her. Her face crumpled, she dropped her trunk, and sobbed into her father’s chest as her dad rubbed her shoulder soothingly.
*****
“Blaine,” Kurt could hardly talk for his excitement. “Blaine, you won’t believe it!”
“What’s going on?” Blaine asked on the other end of the phone. “Is there a sale at Macy’s again?”
“It’s better than that!”
“Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s?” Blaine teased.
“Blaine!” Kurt laughed. “I got into NYADA. There was a mix-up.”
“Really?” Blaine, despite being friends with Rachel, was ecstatic.
“Yes, but hold on, Rachel came over to cry with Finn, and it sounds like they’re going to their room, so pretend there really is a sale at Macy’s.”
*****
It wasn’t like she hadn’t expected this. Her fathers had even sat Shiva for her. She had already mourned her dreams. She had a connection to this place more than she had with New York. Wasn’t that what she had tried so hard to ignore on the train ride?
So why did she feel like somebody had just stabbed her in the heart?
*****
Unfortunately, Kurt couldn’t call Blaine after Rachel left because Rachel had scheduled a friends’ night out, and Kurt felt it would be best if he stayed home.
“Come on, Kurt, don’t make me spend more time without you,” Blaine pleaded.
“Well, you’re going to have to get used to this now, aren’t you? Because next year, I’m going to be living eight hours away, and you won’t get to see me every day.”
“Exactly!” Blaine exploded. “How are we supposed to have a relationship if we don’t take advantage of the time we have?”
Kurt let out an unattractive snort. Was Blaine being an oblivious pain in the ass again? Did his ears have some sort of glitch where he was unable to listen to sense? “Do you even understand what I’m saying? We need to spend some time apart.”
“‘Time apart?’” Blaine parroted. “Kurt, are you breaking up with me?”
Kurt tried to control his breathing before he did anything rash, but the words, “So what if I am?” slipped out before he could stop himself.
The sound of Blaine hanging up was his answer.
*****
“Rachel,” Finn leaned down and whispered in her ear. “I think you should let Blaine talk to his boyfriend.”
“Kurt has everything I’ve ever wanted,” Rachel replied. “Why does he get to have Blaine now, too?”
“Remember when you wanted to marry me even though you didn’t think you were going to New York for another year?” Finn asked. “Well, imagine you didn’t have that year.”
Rachel was silent for a second. Finn thought she was going to agree, but she simply buried her face in his chest again. “What am I going to do now?”
*****
“Blaine, get out of my suitcase,” Kurt said without even turning.
“But I fit,” Blaine’s breath hitched like he wasn’t even trying to hide it, and Kurt forced himself to believe that Blaine was intentionally exaggerating.
“Blaine, seriously!”
“Take me with you!” Blaine reached for Kurt, who turned around and saw the pathetic sight of his crying boyfriend.
“Goddammit,” Kurt cursed, knowing he was no match for those puppy-dog eyes.
“Please,” Blaine said quietly. “I don’t want to fight.”
“That’s what we do! We fight!” Kurt shrieked. “You tell me when I’m being an arrogant son of a bitch and I tell you when you’re being a pain in the ass. Which you are, 99% of the time! I’m not afraid to hurt your feelings. They have, like, a two-second rebound rate, and then you’re back doing the next pain-in-the-ass thing. So it’s not going to be easy; it’s going to be really hard!”
“But you’re going to work at this every day,” Rachel said from the doorway. “And you want to do that,” she walked up to Kurt, embraced him, and added in a whisper, “because you want each other.” She let go and turned to see Blaine staring at Kurt, who was staring back.
“I want all of you, forever,” Blaine said, climbing out of the suitcase and offering Kurt a shaky hand.
“You and me, every day,” Kurt agreed, taking it.
“I brought you a new webcam,” Rachel said, holding it up. “It comes with a recording device so you can play back skype sessions to each other.”
“Oh, Rachel!” Kurt glomped Rachel. “You make me want to be Quinn Fabray.”