What I Already Knew - Part Two
Title: What I Already Knew
Fandom: Glee
Pairing: Klaine (with tiny mentions of Finchel)
Spoilers: none
Warnings: AU
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 25,570
Betas: the lovely Adi and Brittany who are pretty much the reason I a) entered the reverse bang in the first place and b) the fic actually got written at all
Summary: Prince Kurt Hummel and Princess Rachel Berry have been promised to each other since they were very, very young - the problem is, neither is really happy with this. And then Blaine, the Berry's’ stable boy, comes along and throws everything they’ve resigned themselves to into utter chaos.
Art: here! It’s absolutely stunning, I fell in love with it the instant I saw it and was lucky enough to be able to write for it :)
*
Blaine looks at Rachel as she climbs back onto Sparkles, and once he’s sure she’s in control of her emotions well enough to stay steady, he climbs up onto Sarah, his own mare. He strokes absently at her neck. She’s his most cherished companion - as silly as it may sound to others, she feels more like his friend than his horse. He’s still reeling from his brief introduction to the prince he’s heard so much about. The Porcelain Prince, as his mother and her royalty-obsessed friends call him. Blaine had heard all about Prince Kurt Hummel, and indeed his impending marriage to Princess Rachel Berry, long before he ever knew he was King Hiram’s son.
None of their gossip had prepared him for the reality. Quite simply, Kurt is the most beautiful person he’s ever seen. He carries himself with such grace, and he seems to shine. Blaine isn’t sure how, but in that moment he swears he does.
Blaine might be a little awestruck.
He spends the ride home silent, smiling slightly. Of course, Rachel notices. He can see her sneaking glances at him from beside alongside him, clearly trying to be subtle. Subtlety is not one of Rachel’s strong points.
“Alright, what is it?” she asks as they slow the horses to a walk to approach the stables.
“Nothing,” he says.
She studies him carefully, appraisingly. “Come on, out with it. You’ve been dazed and distracted the entire ride home and it’s not like you to ignore Sarah.”
Blaine bites his lip and ducks his head under the scrutiny. Why does she have to choose this moment to be observant?
“I’m just- I mean- I just met the Crown Prince,” he stumbles over the words, and he feels like rolling his eyes at himself. He’s usually more put together than this. And oh, he can feel his face heating up. Great.
He hears, rather than sees, Rachel’s sharp intake of breath.
“You like him! Kurt!” she exclaims, far too gleefully. “Aw, you’re blushing…” she coos. Blaine determinedly looks anywhere but at her.
“He’s gorgeous, yeah,” Blaine mumbles. He knows he’s being ridiculous, and that Kurt and Rachel are getting married and absolutely nothing is going to get in the way of that, but he’s still completely stunned by how beautiful Kurt is. He’d never look twice at Blaine, anyway.
“He is,” she agrees readily. “I mean, he’s not my type but he is beautiful. No one ever expected any less, not with a mother like Ellie. Do you know their royal colors were based on her eyes? Which is pretty amazing, considering she was the Queen by marriage. Burt loved her with his whole heart. Burt tells me the story of how they met every time I visit them. But yes, he’s amazing. Oh! I should take you with me the next time I go to stay, I bet Kurt would love you, actually.”
She actually bounces a little, and Sparkles tosses her head as if to say “stop that.” Blaine can’t help the laugh that bubbles up; Rachel really is something. He has no idea why she’s so enthusiastic about this idea, but he’s certainly not going to refuse.
“I- I’d like that,” he says.
“Of course you would! I’ll have to see how long I can talk my Dads into letting us go, but it shouldn’t be too hard. They’ve said that I’m grown-up now that I’m 16 and can do anything as long as it ‘befits my status as Princess.’”
At that, Blaine’s smile drops, just a little. He wishes that he could tell her that he’s her brother, that they share blood, but he can’t. He has his instructions, and they must be followed. It’s for his own protection, he knows, but it still hurts. He never felt like he belonged with his family, and he wants desperately to belong to this one. Belatedly, he realizes that Rachel is still talking.
“- we can spend time in their gardens, they’re so pretty, and we can go on picnics and things, and it will be just wonderful.”
“That does sound like fun…”
“It will be, just you wait. We are all going to have the best time, Blaine.”
She chatters away as they reach the stables, and Blaine tries not to get too hopeful. He sends her back up to her room, and sets about readying Sparkles and Sarah to return to their stalls.
All he can think about is Kurt.
*
Rachel’s mind has been buzzing since she left Blaine at the stables that night. It’s been two days, and she’s already asked her dads if she can go visit Kurt for a few weeks - they’d agreed, as she knew they would. They were also very happy that she’d chosen to take Blaine as her escort, which she was definitely going to find out more about later. They’d never had any particular affinity for which member of staff she’d taken before. Anyway, Rachel is nothing if not proactive. They’ll go in two weeks, enough time for her to work out how best to introduce Blaine to Kurt properly.
She knows this seems overly enthusiastic, but she really wants to see Kurt happy. They are best friends, and while she tries, she knows he’s not. Well, neither is she if she’s being honest. Now, more than ever, their impending marriage is hanging over their heads - and everyone seems intent on reminding them of it at any chance they get. She sighs. Knowing that they both feel the same about it is only a slight comfort. She’s marrying her best friend, and she knows that that’s better than what a lot of people end up with, but at least Kurt’s the right gender. When she found out that even that was wrong for Kurt, her heart just shattered. They were both 14, and were only just realizing how big a deal being promised to each other was. They’d been chatting carelessly about Rachel’s crush on Finn, and how silly she felt about it considering that she was to be married to his brother, when Rachel asked Kurt if he was interested in anyone. He’d just frozen, just for a second, and just like that the whole conversation shifted.
“Are you okay, Kurt?” she’d asked, worried. He let his gaze drop to the floor, and shuffled closer to her where they had been sitting on the floor.
“I think I need to tell you something.”
“You can tell me anything, Kurt, you know that. Anything at all,” she said, trying her best to be reassuring.
“I know you won’t- I mean, I should have told you when I figured it out- “ he cut himself off to take a deep breath. “Rachel, I’m- I’m gay.”
“Oh, Kurt,” she remembers saying, wrapping him up in a hug. He apologized, over and over, as if somehow it was his fault. As if any of it was his fault. It was that, more than anything, that broke her heart.
“Kurt, you listen to me. We had our marriage decided for us in the first place. Honestly? This doesn't actually change anything.” Her determined smile had dropped. “Not even if we wanted it to.”
It was in the weeks after that afternoon, in fact, that they decided to see if kissing would spark anything. He was the one to suggest it, and Rachel wasn’t sure about it at first - but as he rightfully explained, they would have to do a whole lot more when they got married. The first one was just a peck, both of them blushing bright red. They stared at each other in silence for a whole minute before Kurt broke it.
“We are so screwed.”
Ever since, Rachel has known that Kurt’s lonely. She sees it, no matter how hard he tries to hide it from her. It hurts, sometimes, that she’s not enough - but she knows how it feels, too, not to have anyone that she chooses. It’s why she loves Blaine so much; he doesn’t treat her like Crown Princess Rachel, he just treats her like Rachel. It’s easy. Plus, he managed to teach her how to ride, and that was no easy task. She’s well aware of her lack of talent in that area, thank you. He’s very easy to like, and she just has this feeling that he’ll be good for Kurt. Even if it’s via Blaine’s blatant admiration. This next visit is going to be such fun.
*
Kurt is pleased when he receives Rachel’s letter - in the few days since the party he’s been feeling a little out of it. It’s funny, he thinks, most people would be relishing any time away from the person they are unwillingly betrothed to. Not Kurt, no, Rachel is his best friend. As loud and as spoiled as she is, he loves spending time with her. Finn’s been trying to keep his spirits up, but it’s just not the same. The thought of a few uninterrupted weeks to escape the pressures of palace life seem like bliss to him right now.
Her letter seems to focus a lot on the boy she’d ridden with, that night. Blaine, his name is, he remembers. He shrugs. If he didn’t know it would be futile, he’d think she’s trying to set them up. That girl does some strange things, he thinks.
He goes to see his dad, just to double check that they can accommodate both of them at that point, and when he gets the expected, gruff, “yes” he sets about writing her a reply. He finishes it reasonably quickly, and sends it off with one of the official messengers.
*
The weeks before Rachel arrives drag by so, so slowly. In Kurt’s opinion, anyway. She’d sent him another longer letter, and despite his suspicions about her sudden obsession with Blaine, he’s looking forward to meeting him. Well, meeting him without being completely and utterly distracted by his own situation, at least. Finally, the morning they are due to arrive dawns, and Kurt rises with the sun. Everything is ready for their arrival, so Kurt tries to find something to entertain himself with. He’s too distracted for any of the work his tutor had set him, and so he decides to go for a walk. Of course, he’s restricted to the grounds unless he wants to draw attention to himself. He walks around aimlessly for a while, letting his mind wander. Soon, he’s interrupted by Finn.
“Kurt! Kurt! They’re here,” he calls, loudly.
Kurt walks towards the sound. He’s confused; Rachel said they’d arrive after lunchtime and it’s still morning. Relatively early morning, in fact.
“Kurt, there you are. They’ve arrived, Burt’s greeting them as we speak.”
“They’re really early,” Kurt comments.
“Yeah, Rachel said she hopes that’s not an inconvenience. She couldn’t sleep so they left early,” Finn says with a shrug. They both start walking back towards the front gates. Kurt thinks it’s a good thing he hadn’t wandered too far away, after all.
By the time they reach their destination, both Rachel and Blaine have dismounted and their horses have been led away. As soon as she spots Kurt, Rachel launches herself at him - he steps backwards with the force of impact. She’s surprisingly strong for her tiny frame. Particularly when she decides that all convention regarding royal meetings simply must be thrown out the window.
Kurt chuckles to himself as she lets go and hurriedly curtsies to Finn, seemingly remembering her manners, and patiently waits for him to kiss her cheek. He does, and she bites her lip to contain her smile. Her crush on Finn has never quite disappeared, and the fact that the feelings are mutual makes Kurt a little sad.
“Oh, Kurt! This is Blaine,” she says brightly. “I’m sorry I didn’t introduce him properly the other night.” She’s bouncing slightly on her toes now, and Kurt rolls his eyes. He has no idea what has gotten into her today.
“Hi, Blaine,” he says, offering him a small smile. Someone has to keep up appearances, after all. He watches as Blaine goes to step forward and offer his hand but then aborts the motion and stands still.
“Hi, Your Highness,” he says, very softly. Kurt eyes him curiously; Blaine ducks his head.
“Please call me Kurt,” he says warmly, “you can leave the ‘Your Highness’ stuff for my dad.”
Blaine grins instantly, before tamping it down. He offers his hand again in greeting, and Kurt takes it.
“Nice to meet you, Blaine. Well, properly,” he says. “I apologize for my less than seemly behavior the first time we met.”
“Apology accepted, of course, Your-” he cuts himself off. “Kurt.”
Finn moves forward to shake Blaine’s hand, and they all make their way back to the castle itself so that Rachel and Blaine can change out of their riding clothes.
*
They spend the remainder of the morning showing Blaine the castle and its grounds - while listening to Rachel’s running commentary. Only she could take over a tour of someone else’s home without a second thought. Kurt doesn’t mind, and neither does Finn judging by the way he’s staring at her, transfixed. Blaine is still quiet, but he looks captivated by the castle itself. He doesn’t open up until they go outside, and Rachel comments about going to the stables. Apparently, Blaine is as obsessed and as talented with horses as Kurt is opposed to anything to do with them. His entire being lights up; his face breaks into a huge grin. It’s infectious - Kurt can’t help smiling back at him.
“There are quite a few horses here, that’s true,” Kurt says. It’s a massive understatement, of course - the stables here are extensive. Each member of the royal family has their own horse, and then there are all the horses for messengers, for visitors, and the few that are kept by his dad as extras. Kurt can’t help his smile that accompanies his words; he has a feeling watching Blaine walk into the stables will be watching a child confronted with a table of sweets. Or Finn shown said table, really.
He’s struck with the need to keep that smile on Blaine’s face. He’s only been here a couple of hours, but that’s the first real smile he’s seen - they could all use some of that sheer joy, really.
Kurt isn’t disappointed. Blaine practically bounces out of his skin as they walk into the stables and he sees the two long rows of stalls. He’s especially taken by Kurt’s horse, Eva. Her dark mane is impeccably cared for, of course, and Blaine doesn’t even ask before he’s stroking it. She lowers her head, and Kurt can’t help but be a little jealous of this near-stranger being able to pet her so calmly. It had taken him a long time to put aside his fear of horses long enough to learn how to ride, let alone how long it had taken him to get her to be comfortable with him.
“She is gorgeous, for a horse, I guess,” Kurt says. Blaine looks up, the question evident in his eyes before he speaks it.
“She’s yours?”
Kurt nods.
“She’s beautiful, Kurt,” Blaine says. There is so much pure reverence in his voice that Kurt wonders at.
“You should ride her sometime. Goodness knows she’d appreciate someone who does more than just cling on for dear life…” Kurt trails off. He has no idea why he even said that - he’s never offered that to anyone else. It just slips out.
“I’d- I’d really like that,” Blaine says. They both smile at each other, just for a second - and of course that’s when Finn and Rachel reappear. Kurt hadn’t noticed that they’d vanished.
“Er, it’s time for lunch guys,” Finn says awkwardly.
“Yes, lunch - right,” Kurt says.
“Coming, Blaine?”
Blaine hurries up behind him, more animated than he’s been since he arrived. He chatters on about the horses some more, and Kurt gets caught up in the flow of their conversation. He finds himself interested in the topic at hand, for once. He chances a look back at Rachel, and nearly laughs outright at her expression. She has her hands on her hips, and her eyebrows raised as far as they can go, as if to say “do you like my present for you, or what?”
He smothers the laugh that threatens, and turns back to Blaine.
He’s much more interesting.
*
Lunch is a casual affair - well, casual by Hummel castle standards, anyway. From the way Blaine’s eyes are bugging out of his head at all of the food, Kurt supposes it’s not all that casual.
Rachel is babbling away as per usual - Finn is focused on her, clearly trying to follow her (no doubt convoluted) train of thought. Kurt looks over at his dad to see that he’s deep in conversation with Carole, and catches his eye briefly. Burt gestures gently with his head, tilting it to the side and indicating Kurt should look to his left. Kurt has no idea what he’s getting at, but does as silently asked - he looks towards Blaine, who is seated immediately to his left. Oh. Blaine is staring into space and looking somewhat intimidated.
“Hey,” Kurt says quietly, hoping not to startle him. “You still with us?”
“Oh- oh, yeah - I’m fine,” Blaine says.
Kurt smiles. “You can eat, you know,” he says, glancing pointedly at Blaine’s untouched plate. “The sandwiches are great, but my personal favorite is the rice salad. You should probably have some before Finn gets to it,” Kurt continues with a wink.
Blaine helps himself, a small smile appearing on his face.
That’s better, Kurt thinks.
“You think I’m joking, but I’m really not. He’d eat that entire bowl if you let him…”
Blaine’s smile broadens. “Well, we couldn’t have that,” he says. They fall into silence again as they eat, but it’s comfortable now. He tunes into Rachel’s chatter just in time to hear her ask Finn for another riding lesson. He can’t help the wry chuckle that escapes him at that. He looks sharply towards Blaine when he hears the matching laugh come from beside him.
Kurt bites his lip as Blaine leans over to whisper in his ear. “She just wants to show off what I’ve taught her…”
They both keep laughing quietly.
“If they’ll keep themselves occupied with Sparkles,” Kurt says, shaking his head at the name like he always does, “how about I show you some of my favorite places around the grounds? We had the Rachel Berry tour, but I think mine might be a little less intense.”
Blaine nods. “I’d like that.”
*
Blaine doesn’t know what’s happening. He doesn’t get tongue-tied and silly. Or rather, he never has before. Apparently Kurt has this effect on him. He hopes he’s not making a grand fool of himself.
Kurt is… he’s really something. Right now, he’s dragging Blaine by hand down the corridor to his own room. He’s talking about how Blaine just has to try on one of his tunics but Blaine himself is pretty focused on how smooth Kurt’s skin is and how their fingers fit together. Before he knows it they’ve reached their destination and his eye is caught by the glass case set in the corner of the room - or rather, he is drawn to the jewelry within the case itself.
“Are these all yours, Kurt?” he asks.
Kurt nods.
“Well, the tiara was my mother’s, of course,” he says.
“They’re beautiful,” Blaine says. “All of them.”
“They are.”
They’re silent for a few moments, until Blaine works up the courage to ask the question that’s been on the tip of his tongue all morning. “What’s it like?”
Kurt looks sidelong at him. “What’s what like?” he says.
“This.” Blaine waves his free hand over the case. “Being a prince. Everyone knowing who you are, having to wear these-”
“Oh,” Kurt says, cutting Blaine off. “It’s- it’s not really all it’s reputed to be. Don’t get me wrong, I love the fashion, and I love living here - it’s gorgeous - but it’s a lot harder than people think. I’m always on duty as prince, and it gets exhausting.”
He stops suddenly, and claps a hand to his mouth. “Um. I didn’t tell you that, okay.”
Blaine just smiles. “For the record you don’t have to be ‘on’ with me. I won’t tell anyone,” he says, winking. “How about you show me these clothes I’ve already heard so much about?”
Kurt smiles back at him. “Sure,” he says as they walk over towards his closet.
They’re still holding hands.
The rest of the day passes in a blur for Kurt. He can’t remember enjoying just spending time with someone since - well, since he and Rachel started getting along. He and Blaine seem to just fit. Truth be told, he hasn’t been this relaxed in weeks. Maybe even months. After they finally return to their rooms for the evening, Rachel sneaks into his. Like clockwork, he thinks. She doesn’t even say hello.
“So…” she says, biting her lip in a transparent display of innocence. Kurt sighs.
“Okay, okay, we - we might get along, Rachel.”
“I knew it!”
“Oh, shut up,” Kurt says. She’s far too smug and he wants to wipe that grin off her face right this instant. The problem is, his is matching hers right now. He buries his face in his hands.
“Rachel, what are we doing?” he asks.
“We’re not doing anything. I’ve merely introduced you to a friend of mine, who happens to be very friendly and very attractive, if I may say so…” She winks at him. Actually winks.
“Rachel!” Kurt says, scandalized. “I am not - we are - I just met him today!”
“Oh, you’re cute when you’re trying not to admit you like someone, Kurt.”
“I don’t - I mean of course I like him, he’s lovely, but-”
“What was that, Kurt? I didn’t quite catch that middle part…” She says. “Run that by me one more time?”
He doesn’t respond, choosing instead to bat at her shoulder. Ineffectively, of course.
“Come on, admit it, Kurt - you have a crush already.”
“Princess Rachel Berry! You stop that train of thought right there or I’ll- I’ll-”
“You’ll what, marry me?” she counters, and that’s it. They both burst into helpless giggles until they’re gasping for air and clutching their stomachs.
“Shh, shh. Someone will hear us if we’re any louder.” Kurt admonishes, trying to stifle his own laughter.
Rachel bites her lip. “We’re ridiculous.”
Kurt raises one eyebrow at her.
“Glad you got the message.”
*
Part Three
Masterpost