‘THE PARTY’

“A lright, spill,” Mercedes demanded after they had sat down on the patio of their favorite West Hollywood bar. She’d sent her boyfriend Sam, an underwear model and voice actor, to the bar to get their drinks and was now starring at Kurt intently. Mercedes had been his friend since his freshman year of high school. They’d sat next to each other in homeroom and had soon discovered their mutual admiration of Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. It hadn’t taken them long to become BFFs after and Mercedes had been the only person he’d come out to apart from his dad before he’d been outed. She had big goals herself, dreaming of winning a grammy before she was twenty - five. Kurt thought she had a fantastical voice but his friend had already unsuccessfully auditioned for American Idol twice, where she’d been told that she didn’t have the looks of a pop star and had been advised to lose weight before she tried again. Kurt thought they were crazy to reject her, because Mercedes was amazing just the way she was.

“So, I’m seeing someone and he’s kinda famous,” he confessed. The understatement of the century.

“No way!” Mercedes gasped. “Who is it? Is it someone I know?”

Kurt nodded and leaned closer to his best friend. “Pinky swear that you won’t tell anyone? He’s not really out yet.” When Mercedes nodded eagerly, Kurt made sure that no one was listening to their conversation and that Sam was still busy at the bar. “It’s Blaine Anderson.”

“No way!” Mercedes repeated loudly, causing the couple at the table next to theirs to turn around and stare at her. Kurt shushed her. ‘Sorry, sorry,” Mercedes apologized. “But you’re not messing with me?” Kurt shook his head. “Blaine Anderson is gay and you are dating him?” Kurt nodded, telling himself that her disbelief didn’t mean she thought he wasn’t good enough for someone like Blaine. He would have reacted the same way, had she told him she was dating a famous musician. “How the hell did you even meet him?”

This must really have come as a shock to her, because Mercedes rarely cursed.

“Funny story, we met in Ohio during break,” Kurt told her the story he and Blaine had agreed on. “His car broke down and I was the one to look at it.”

Mercedes stared at him in disbelief. “Hell to the no, Kurt Hummel. You did not seriously meet a celebrity over Christmas and are telling me about this in March.”

Kurt winced. Yep, he’d known she’d be mad. “I sort of forgot. I mean, I never thought he’d actually call me when I gave him my number and then I kinda wanted to see how it went first. You know I’ve never really dated anyone before.”

Mercedes’ expression softened. “I get it. I didn’t tell anyone about Sam either when we started dating because I didn’t want to jinx it. I mean look at me, why would a guy like him, like a girl like me?”

“Because you are fabulous,” Sam joined them. “What did I miss?” the blond asked and took the chair on Mercedes’ other side after putting their drinks in front of them. “What’s Kurt’s big news?”

Kurt eyed Sam. A lot of people thought he wasn’t very smart and only interested in his looks, but after knowing him for nearly two years, Kurt knew Mercedes’ boyfriend was trustworthy. Also, just because he was lying to everyone, didn’t mean that he should force Mercedes to do the same.

“I have a new boyfriend. Mercedes was just freaking out because he’s on TV,” he explained, trying to play it cool.

“Hey, I’m on TV  and you don’t freak out about that,” Sam protested.

“You voice a crab on a TV show for toddlers, honey. It’s not the same,” Mercedes told him and Sam pouted.

“My junk was on a bus once,” he added.

“Kurt’s guy is on billboards,” Mercedes waved him off. “Doesn’t make me love you any less,” she placated Sam and drop a kiss on his lips. Kurt made gaging noises to show her what he thought of their cutsey behavior.

“So, who is it?” Sam turned to Kurt.

“Blaine Anderson,” Kurt said.

“No way!” Sam echoed Mercedes. “He’s totally awesome. I saw him in that Star Wars musical at the Hollywood Bowl last summer. He was such a cool Luke Skywalker. When can I meet him?”

“I think Sam has a bigger crush on the guy than you had,” Mercedes said dryly.

“I don’t have a crush,” Sam corrected her. “I just appreciate his awesomeness. Didn’t you see that interview where he admitted that he wrote Harry Potter fan fiction in high school.”

Kurt acted surprised because not even Mercedes needed to know that he’d read all interviews Blaine had given so far and had tried to figure out which Harry/Draco stories could have been written by the actor. The teasing would be endless, especially now that he was ‘dating’ his crush.

“I don’t know,” he returned to Sam’s question. “ He’s introducing me to a couple of work friends this weekend at a party, but I’ll see if he’s open to a double date any time soon.” Blaine would understand that if Kurt had to lie to his friends, they had to act like an actual couple.

“Awesome,” Sam fist bumped the air, causing the couple to turn toward them again.

“And don’t forget to tell me everything about the party,” Mercedes added before she picked up her glass of white wine and bumped it against Kurt’s. “To your new beau,” she toasted him. Kurt joined in, because, well, it would have looked weird if he hadn’t.

=======

All of a sudden, it was Saturday. At least, that’s what it felt like to Blaine. Kurt would arrive at seven, while the first guests should get to his place around eight. That left him and his friends six hours to get the house ready for the party. He’d already sent Jeff and Nick out to get booze and snacks, but it was such a nice day in mid March, that he decided it was time to fire up the grill again. At least, it would keep his hands busy, which hadn’t stopped shaking all day.

“Dude, stop freaking out. I’m sure they’re going to like the guy. Though I’m still pissed you didn’t introduce me before. I’m your brother. How did I not know you’ve been banging the same guy for three months?” Cooper looked up from where he was lying on a lounge chair next to the pool.

They had decided not to tell Cooper about the deal. The fewer people who knew about it, the better had been the consensus between him and Ari. Wes, David, Nick and Jeff worked with him daily and they wouldn’t have believed him, had he told them he’d been a relationship for the past three months, but Cooper, well, his brother wasn't the most observant.

“Sorry Coop, bad timing so far I guess. He was just over a couple of days ago because he works for Ari Gold.”

Blaine decided that the best cure for his nerves would be a dive into the pool. Even though the air was pleasant, the water in the pool still hadn’t warmed and he shivered slightly when his head broke the surface. He shook his head, making sure the water in his hair sprayed his brother. Cooper retaliated by jumping in after him and dunking his head under the water.

“That’s for not telling me you’ve become lame and settled down,” Cooper informed him. Blaine shook his head.

“This isn’t anything bad for me, Coop. I’ve wanted a relationship for the longest time, so this isn’t a set back.” Too bad it wasn’t a real relationship. Blaine banished the thought quickly. “There will still be parties and Nick and Jeff are going to make sure there are plenty of girls around for you guys, okay,” he changed the subject.

“As long as you don’t become boring,” Cooper conceded. “Because, I’ve seen what relationships have done to my friends. Suddenly, they don’t have time to meet up anymore because they have to do couple-y things with other couples and they often look down on you or pity you for being single. As if being in a relationship is the most important thing in the world.”

Blaine heard what Cooper wasn’t saying. ‘Don’t abandon me, like my friends have, even if I’d deserve it after how I treated you when you were still in school in Ohio’.

“I promise, I will still spend time with you guys. I’ve been with Kurt for a couple of weeks and you didn’t notice, so why should things change now?” Blaine winced when he saw the hurt look on his brother’s face. He really should stop rubbing it into Cooper’s face that he was super oblivious to the things happening around him.

“You’re going public with him,” Cooper reminded him. “You’re going to spend more time together because you don’t want to hide him anymore. Tell yourself whatever you want, but everything is going to change. I just really hope it will change for the better.”

“Thanks, Coop,” Blaine groaned. “I’m already terrified of tonight’s party. Do you have to make it worse?”

Cooper waved him off. “I’m not talking about your coming out. Who cares what those people think. You’ve told the people who matter the most years ago, and here we are, still loving and supporting you. I’m talking about this Kurt guy. You must be really sure of your relationship if you’re willing to go public with him. Because, if you get into a fight or break up, all eyes will be on you and everyone will have an opinion about it. And he’ll never be anonymous again. He’ll always be the guy Blaine Anderson came out for - whether that’s true or not is irrelevant. So, I guess you must really think it’s going to work out with him, if you’re willing to put him through all that."

Blaine hadn’t thought of any of this and was surprised his brother of all people had. He was so used to people trying to befriend him these days because he was a celebrity and they wanted to be part of his lifestyle, that he sometimes forgot about the downsides. About the lack of privacy, about people who thought they were entitled to know every little thing about him, about photographers who thought it was their god given right to snap pictures of him as soon as he left his house and about fans who thought he was a stuck up asshole when he wouldn’t let them touch him. He wondered if Kurt had thought about these things before he had agreed to the deal. Blaine hoped that he had. Hoped that Kurt had made an informed decision and wouldn’t regret agreeing to this ‘relationship’ once people started talking about it. He also realized that he probably should have asked Kurt what Ari Gold’s leverage had been. Because it really had come as a huge surprise when the agent had called to say that Kurt was in.

“We talked about it and Kurt’s ready,” he assured his brother. He had to trust that Kurt was because otherwise this whole thing really would end in a disaster.

========

At seven on the dot, Blaine buzzed Kurt’s cab in. From the window next to the door, he watched as his ‘boyfriend’ paid the cabbie and as soon as the car started to drive away, he opened the door with a smile on his face.

“Do you need any help with that?” he asked, pointing at the bags next to Kurt’s feet. When he had texted Kurt asking what he thought about a BBQ, Kurt had promised to go to the farmer’s market and buy a couple of steaks.

“The black bag’s the meat,” Kurt replied, as he hoisted a sport’s bag over his shoulder. “And the brown paper bag is corn, zucchini and tomatoes.”

Blaine took the grocery bags and motioned Kurt to follow him into the house. He lead him through the living room into the large kitchen, where Nick and Jeff were filling popcorn, potato chips and tacos into large plastic bowls.

“We put some mini fridges out on the terrace and my brother Cooper is trying to get a fire started,” he explained as he unpacked the bags Kurt had brought along. After he unwrapped the steaks, he turned to Kurt in surprise. “They’re already marinated.”

Kurt shrugged. “I didn’t know whether you cooked a lot and had spices.”

“Actually, Jeff’s a fantastic cook, but thank you. Means we have time to give you a tour of the house before everyone else gets here.”

Kurt nodded and shifted his overnight bag from one shoulder to the other.

“We should probably start with the guest room so you can put away your things,” Blaine realized.

He led Kurt back into the foyer and up a grand staircase. It wasn’t as pompous as the staircases at Dalton, but it reminded him of his former private school. “On this floor, Wes, David, Nick and Jeff have their bedrooms. All the bathrooms are en suites, so in case people are asking you for the bathroom, send them to the ones downstairs. I’ll show you,” he explained, before leading Kurt up to the third floor of the house. “Up here, there’s Wes and David’s office, Cooper’s bedroom, a gym, my bedroom and a guest bedroom, usually for when my mom visits. You can stay there.”

They had agreed that Kurt should stay the night, because it would look strange if his boyfriend of a couple of weeks didn’t sleep over, but left with the other party goers.

“So which one’s your bedroom?” Kurt asked, his eyes looking up and down the hallway to memorize the layout. Blaine’s house was huge and he sincerely hoped that none of Blaine’s friends who’d been here before would ask him anything about it.

The actor opened the second door on the right, and gestured for Kurt to walk through. The curtains were pushed aside, allowing Kurt a view of the balcony and the city below. “Wow,” he gushed. “This is amazing.”

He made sure not to look at Blaine’s bed. According to Santana, Blaine’s former publicist had had a lot of work with him, because the actor slept around a lot. Even though they weren’t really dating, he didn’t want to know how many guys had been in Blaine’s bed.

“I know. A lot of mornings I can’t believe that I actually get to live here. It seems so surreal. I mean, a couple of years ago, I was just this dorky guy from Ohio who loved Harry Potter and Disney songs and here I am now, living in this gorgeous house and getting paid to do what I love. I’ve been so fucking lucky.”

Kurt didn’t disagree. He tried to imagine himself in Blaine’s shoes, but he couldn’t. Once upon a time, he had wanted to be on Broadway, had even found a voice coach, who had nicely but quite assuredly told him, that there was just no market for people with voices like his. Not unless Kurt wanted to train to be an opera singer. He’d been devastated, but then, fortunately, he’d discovered writing. He still loved to sing and from time to time, when he got to watch a live musical, he did feel kind of sad about having given up before he even gave it a try, but in the end, he was happy where he was today. He’d made the right decision, majoring in writing instead of fruitlessly trying to get into a performing arts school. He would have gotten a solo in his glee club or a role in the countless school musicals he auditioned for, had he really had any talent.

Next, Blaine led him next door to the guest room. Inside was a large king size bed with navy blue comforter and a mountain of pillows. There was no balcony, but the room had nearly the same view as Blaine’s bedroom. When he compared it to his view of the frat houses, he understood why people wanted to be famous and live like Blaine.

“You have your own bathroom,” Blaine pointed to a door on the left, “and I’m pretty sure, Juanita, our housekeeper left you some towels. If not let me know.”

Kurt didn’t tell him that he brought his own, because he wasn’t familiar with the etiquette of sleeping over at someone’s place. His only experience was sleepovers with two female friends in high school and he had always showered at home the next day. Now, Kurt had to be the last one to leave Blaine’s house and no one knew when the last of the regular guests would leave. At a party like this, Blaine had told him, a few people always passed out and didn’t go home until some time the next day.

“Thanks,” Kurt told him and dropped his sports bag on a chair by the window. He was already dressed for the party; tight, distressed blue jeans, silver belt, dark grey, short sleeve button down with the top buttons undone and his favorite pair of black Doc Martin’s finishing the outfit. Next to Blaine, in his burgundy shorts, black Star Wars T-shirt and colorful flip flops, he felt quite overdressed, but when he’d asked Blaine about the dress code, the actor had told him to just wear something he felt comfortable in and that there wasn’t a dress code.

They went back downstairs and Blaine showed him the rest of the first floor; the dining room, the music room with a baby grand piano, a set of drums, two violins and a couple of guitars, the home theater with seats for ten people and the two bathrooms. Blaine also took him to the garage, where Kurt snapped a couple of pictures for his dad, before they walked out onto the terrace. Kurt’s jaw dropped when he saw Blaine’s backyard. Next to a large pool was a hot tub for six people and the pool itself was surrounded by comfortable looking lounge chairs. The grill was on the terrace and a guy wearing only a pair of speedos, was trying to get a fire started. Next to him were the familiar faces of Nick and Jeff, who were blowing on the coals in an attempt to help the guy. All they had achieved so far however, was that their faces were dirtied by ash. To the left of the grill, a table had been set up, holding bowls of different salads, the snacks from he kitchen, and the vegetables and meat Kurt had bought at the market. In the two chairs closest to the grill, Wes and David were nursing a beer, both still in their suits. They were the first to notice Kurt’s arrival.

“Hey Kurt, how you doing?” David greeted him like he’d known Kurt for months.

The man in front of the grill, turned around when he heard Kurt’s name, and Kurt barely stifled a gasp. Because even at thirty-five, Cooper Anderson was still fucking hot. Blaine, unfortunately, noticed his gawking.

“Coop, go and put on a shirt. You’re making me look bad at my own party.”

Cooper’s eyes glinted mischievously. “Ah, I see. That’s why you haven’t introduced me before. You’re afraid he’ll realize I’m the hotter brother,” he teased his brother, who scoffed.

“You’re straight Coop. It doesn’t matter if he finds you hot or not.”

Kurt could tell that this was a sore spot for Blaine, so he was quick to assure him that he didn’t like Cooper better.

“Honey,” he moved closer to Blaine. “You know he’s way too old for me. No offense,” he faced Cooper again and held out his hand. “I’m Kurt, nice to meet you.”

Cooper pouted for a moment before he broke into a smile. “I like him, Squirt. Sounds like a keeper.”

A large weight fell from his shoulders. Because if they could fool Blaine’s brother, his former coworkers shouldn’t be a problem.

“I hope so,” Kurt kept playing his part and held out his hand for the lighter Cooper was holding. “Let me give it a try. After my dad had a heart attack, I had to take over the grill at home to make sure he wasn’t sneaking any red meat.”

“Be my guest,” Cooper stepped aside. “I should get a shirt any way.”

A couple of minutes later, they had a nice fire going and Kurt closed the lid of the grill.

“You definitely have to be here for all our future BBQs,” Nick exclaimed. “It usually takes us like an hour to get a fire started.”

“If I knew you better, I’d make a joke about pampered private school preppies,” Kurt winked at Nick who laughed, before tossing him a beer from the fridge. Kurt tossed it back. “I’ll stick to water for now. I don’t want to be drunk by the time Blaine’s friends show up.”

“So responsible.” Jeff clutched his heart. “Are you sure that you are younger than us?” Kurt decided to ignore him and looked around the backyard once more. “Is there anything else I can help you with?” Jeff shook his head. “Just man the grill until Cooper’s back.”

Blaine, who had followed his brother inside, returned and handed Kurt a bottle of water. Kurt noticed that his hands were shaking lightly.

“Nervous?” he asked the actor quietly. Blaine nodded. “Me too,” Kurt admitted. “What if your friends hate me? What if they think I’m not good enough for you?” He checked that Cooper wasn’t back yet before he added, “Which is ridiculous, because we aren’t even dating for real.”

“Doesn’t matter. We all want to be liked,” Blaine said. Before he could add something else, the intercom buzzed.

“I’ll get it,” Jeff called out and rushed inside.

“My friends like you,” Kurt told Blaine quickly. “They can’t wait to meet you.”

Blaine face broke into a smile. “Really?” Kurt nodded. Blaine started to say something but they were interrupted by a woman in her late thirties.

“Melinda,” Blaine greeted her warmly. “Kurt this is Melinda, she was my make up artist for the past five year. Melinda,” Blaine seemed to steel himself and Kurt slipped his hand into Blaine’s, because it seemed like the right thing to do in this situation. “This is my boyfriend, Kurt.”

If Melinda was surprised, she masked it well. “Nice to meet you, Kurt,” she smiled at him. Blaine visibly relaxed, only to freeze up again when a voice spoke up from behind them. Kurt recognized her immediately. Rebecca Quinn. She sounded just as obnoxious as her character.

“Why are you holding hands with a guy, Blaine? And why the hell did you tell TMZ we only went on a date to mess with the paparazzi?” Blaine turned slowly, his grip on Kurt’s hand tight. Kurt followed him until they came face to face with Blaine’s former co-star and on screen girlfriend. She was taller than Blaine, nearly as tall as Kurt, with long blond hair, green eyes and a mouth that was currently pulled into a pout. The V of her azure blue cocktail dress was so deep, Kurt could see all the way to her belly button. She was just as good looking as she was on TV, and Kurt wouldn’t be surprised if Blaine was the first guy who had ever told her no.

“Becca,” Blaine greeted her with a fake smile on his face. “I’d like you to meet my boyfriend, Kurt.” He watched in satisfaction as her jaw dropped. They’d never really gotten along in all the years they’d worked together, but it would have been rude not to invite her to the party. And in the end, Blaine really wanted her to hear his revelation. She’d come on to him at every party they attended together, and this, telling her about Kurt, would hopefully finally convince her that he really wasn’t interested.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Rebecca drawled. “If you didn’t want to date me, you should have just told me. No need to embarrass me in front of your friends by pretending to be gay.”

Blaine realized that Rebecca had arrived with a large group of people, who were all following the exchange. He felt Kurt squeeze his hand in support.  “I’m not sure what you mean, Becca,” he smiled at her. “I’m not pretending to be anything. I am gay.” Gosh, it felt good to finally say it out loud, Blaine thought.

“I knew it,” Kyle, one of the ACs exclaimed. “I knew I saw you in Boyztown last fall.”

“Guilty,” Blaine admitted with a lopsided smile on his face. Suddenly, everything was much easier. His hands no longer shook, and it felt like a bolder had been removed from his chest. The only thing that was missing, was a real boyfriend, someone who actually cared, but he was still grateful that Kurt was doing this for him, was putting himself in the line of fire for Blaine.

“We need to talk,” Rebecca hissed and grabbed his other hand, pulling him away from Kurt. When David tried to step in, Blaine shook his head. She wasn’t really a threat to him.

“Alright, I’m listening,” he told her when they were in his music room.

“You had your fun, but now you’re gonna go back out there and tell everyone that you were joking,” she ordered him.

Blaine frowned. “Why would I do that?”

“I’ve never made a secret out of the fact that I want you. I’ve always gotten any guy I’ve set my sights on. And you know I wasn't the only one who profited from the fans’ speculations about our real life relationship status. They shipped us just as bad as our characters.”

“Get to the point, Rebecca,” Blaine interrupted her. “What’s all that got to do with me?”

Rebecca smiled at him, dangerously. “Let’s just say, if you go ahead with this little charade while Loser is still on the air, and everyone still remembers my cryptic answers to questions about our relationship status, I will ruin your reputation. I will tell people that we’ve been dating on and off during the show and you dumped me for a guy because I’m saving myself for marriage. I will tell everyone what a dirty pervert your brother is and I’m pretty sure that Terrance won’t have any qualms about publishing all the pictures he buried over the last couple of years. Every shitty little thing you’ve ever done, I’ll make sure the press and your fans find out about it. And when I’m through with you, no parent will ever let their kids buy something associated with you again.”

Blaine looked at Rebecca in disbelief. “You do realize that if people lose interest in LLM because of me, you’re losing out as well, right?”

Rebecca shrugged. “Plenty of people have benefited from their co-stars’ scandals in the past.”

“You’re crazy,” Blaine told his former co-star. That was his only explanation.

“Maybe,” Rebecca shrugged. “But if you don’t want to find out how crazy I can be, you stop this charade right now and go public with me.”

Blaine shook his head and walked out of the music room. Outside, he ran into Wes.

“Everything okay?” Wes asked and Blaine shook his head.

“No, but this is a party, and I won’t let her ruin it. But we need to talk. All of us, before Kurt leaves tomorrow.”

He walked back out onto the terrace where Cooper was cooking the first couple of steaks while Kurt was talking to Melinda.

“You okay?” Kurt repeated Wes’ question when he joined him.

Blaine nodded. “Come on, there’s a couple of people I wanna introduce you to.”

Thankfully, the rest of the cast and crew of Loser Like Me were incredibly supportive. It was surprising, however, how many people had been suspicious of Blaine’s sexuality. It turned out, that he had run into a bunch of his co workers in the city’s gay bars without noticing them. They had noticed him however, but assuming that he was in the closet, had never said anything. Kurt was well liked as well. Everyone wanted to know how they had met and how long they’d been dating and Blaine was glad they had come up with a backstory together.

“Why do I always run into the douche bags from high school when I go back home to Kansas,” Marley Rose, one of Blaine’s younger co-stars sighed dramatically, “instead of, I don’t know, some famous hottie who lives out here as well.”

“I’m also from Ohio and I’ve never met either of you,” a bubbly blonde joined their conversation.

“Brittany, you’ve been my dance instructor for three years,” Blaine laughed, while Kurt looked at the girl in confusion. “You wouldn’t be at my party if we hadn’t met before.”

“I know that,” Brittany pouted. “I meant that I never met you in Ohio.”

“Brittany is our assistant choreographer,” Blaine introduced the newcomer to Kurt. “When she does a move, it looks good, but when I do…” Blaine trailed off.

“Now you’re just fishing for compliments in front of your beau,” Tina Cohen - Chang, another of Blaine’s co-stars teased the actor.

At this point, Kurt had met nearly all of the stars of Loser Like Me and though he was definitely star struck, he thought he’d hidden it well so far. At least, he hadn’t asked for selfies with Jean Baptiste and Jesse St. James yet who played Matthew and Eric, his favorite couple on the show. In a way, Jesse reminded him of Rachel Berry, the girl who’d gotten all the solos in their glee club and was currently touring the country with the tour cast of ‘Wicked’ according to her Facebook feed. He wasn’t sure though whether they’d get along or hate each other because of their similarities.

“I’ve actually been asked to do a couple of Broadway shows,” the actor bragged. “Limited runs, so the fans will pay crazy amounts of money to see me. I’ll probably say yes to that revival of ‘Hairspray’. I think I’d make a pretty amazing Link Larkin.”

With every word he uttered, Kurt liked Jesse St. James less and less, but he had to agree that the actor had an amazing voice and would probably do well on Broadway. Just like Blaine, but Kurt didn’t know if he’d gotten any offers as well. He didn’t ask, because as ‘the boyfriend’, he should be aware of Blaine’s future plans. Thankfully, Jesse asked the question for him.

“What about you? Any offers yet? I’ve heard you’re doing the Hollywood Bowl again.”

Blaine nodded. “I’ve auditioned for Bare but they haven’t made any decision yet.”

Kurt decided it was time to play the supportive boyfriend again.

“I’m sure you’ll get it,” he told Blaine and squeezed the hand he’d been holding for the past hour. “Your audition was phenomenal.”

It was hard to tell in the lights coming only from the moon and the pool lamps, but it looked to Kurt, like Blaine’s cheeks turned red.

“See you don’t have to fish for compliments. He’ll do it on his own accord,” Tina laughed.

Suddenly they were splashed by cold pool water. Nick and Jeff, chased by a group of girls, had dived in, spraying anyone sitting close to the pool. Before Kurt knew what was happening, Blaine had pulled him to his feet and dragged him into the pool.

“Revenge!” Kurt heard him call out, before his head was submerged under the cold water. After coughing out the water he’d swallowed, Kurt turned to glare at Blaine, but his ‘boyfriend’ was already chasing Nick and Jeff around the pool with an inflatable light saber. Poolside, the girls were taking off their dresses and jumped in as well. Kurt’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets when he noticed that a bunch of them weren’t wearing a bra. Soon, everyone was in the water, and so Kurt decided to join in for now and be mad at Blaine later for pulling him into the pool fully dressed. His phone, together with his wallet, fortunately, was up in the guest room. He’d left his cell there, so he wouldn’t be tempted to ask Blaine’s celebrity friends for pictures. After a while, Kurt got cold however and he pulled himself out of the pool.

“Where are you going?” Blaine called out, his curly hair flying in all directions.

“To get a change of clothes,” Kurt replied, earning him a wolf whistle from Kyle. When Kurt raised an eyebrow in question, the AC added. “You’re either going to wear Blaine’s clothes or you already have clothes at his place.”

Kurt had never dated anyone long enough to even visit another guy’s place so he wasn’t sure if changing into a new outfit warranted a wolf whistle. “Okay,” he replied trying not to show his confusion. “Do you want something?” he remembered to ask Blaine before walking into the house.

Blaine shook his head. “I’ll be up in a minute.”

Upstairs in his room, Kurt took a few minutes to compose himself. So far he hadn’t embarrassed himself in front of Blaine’s friends even though they been drinking steadily since dinner. And everyone seemed to believe that he and Blaine were an actual couple. Maybe he should have given acting a try after all, Kurt mused, when there was a knock on the door.

“You okay, Kurt? Do you need anything?” Blaine asked.

Kurt considered his options. He could wear the t-shirt he’d planned to sleep in, but it was a faded McKinley P.E shirt, not meant to be shown in public. Or he could change into his outfit for the next day but then he wouldn't have a change of clothes tomorrow.

“Could you maybe lend me a shirt?” he decided. The jeans he could reuse, but his shirts, they weren’t meant to be worn more than once without ironing them.

“Sure, be right back,” Blaine replied. While he waited, Kurt tried to fix his wet hair. Most of it hung limp over his forehead, but he decided not to make a fuss about it. Because in the end, there was no one he needed to impress and everyone had jumped into the pool. When Blaine knocked again, Kurt opened the door quickly. His jaw nearly hit the floor, because there he was in front of him; Blaine Anderson, completely shirtless. Sure, Kurt had seen shirtless pictures of the actor before and Blaine had also taken his shirt off a couple of times this season on LLM, but that still hadn’t prepared Kurt for what was suddenly right in front of him. Namely Blaine’s abs. He quickly grabbed the proffered t-shirt and stammered out a ‘thanks’ before pretty much slamming the door in Blaine’s face. The last thing he needed was getting excited in front of his fake boyfriend. He was only human. And it was his choice not to screw around, it wasn’t because he had no interest in sex. He eyed the t-shirt Blaine had handed him. It was a black v neck and written on it in white was, ‘Actor problems: My garage only fits ten cars. Where will I park the Maserati?’. Kurt snorted. He usually wan’t a fan of novelty t-shirts, but he loved Blaine’s sense of humor.

After quickly changing his outfit, replying to a text from Santana asking about the party and hanging his wet clothes over the bathtub he rejoined the party. Most of the guests had shed their wet clothes as well and were sitting poolside wrapped in fluffy towels someone must have organized for them while Kurt and Blaine had gone upstairs. The table next to the grill had been cleaned of all perishables and now it was used as a bar where to Kurt’s surprise, David was mixing cocktails.

“They are fantastic,” Blaine whispered into his ear, nearly making him jump. Kurt let Blaine retake his hand and pull him over to the makeshift bar. Cocktails in hand - Cosmopolitan for Kurt and Caipirinha for Blaine - they sat back down next to Blaine’s friends.

The rest of the night passed in a blur. It was well after five in the morning when Blaine and Kurt went upstairs together, Jeff and Nick taking care of whoever was still awake in the living room.

“Thanks for tonight,” Blaine told Kurt as they reached the third floor.

“I had fun,” Kurt admitted. “I didn’t think I would, because I was so nervous, but those are some nice people you worked with.”

“They are,” Blaine agreed. “I’m gonna miss them now that the show is over. And then there are some, I’m so happy I don’t have to see again.”

“Like Rebecca Quinn?” Kurt giggled. They both were quite drunk.

Blaine groaned. “That reminds me, we gotta talk before you leave tomorrow, okay?”

Kurt’s expression sobered. “Sounds serious.”

Blaine shrugged. “Could be. Maybe. I don’t know. Let’s talk tomorrow.”

“Alright,” Kurt agreed. “Good night, Blaine.”

“Good night, Kurt.”