Chapter 20

The month of April came and left. Blaine filmed the pilot for the show with Zooey Deschanel; filmed a commercial; and did some interviews, but for once he had a lot of free time and he spent it at Kurt’s. Kurt, on the other hand, was busy, what with school nearing an end, so Blaine spent a lot of time at his place, providing coffee and kisses as Kurt sewed his life away.

Because of Blaine spending so much time at Kurt’s place, the paparazzi eventually found their apartment. Early April, US Weekly had pictures of both Blaine and Rachel entering Kurt and Rachel’s apartment’s building just a few minutes away. Another one showed Kurt, Blaine and Rachel arriving together to Blaine’s place. Luckily they hadn’t seen Rachel leaving alone only twenty minutes later. On the first days of May, a website posted pictures of Jenny entering the building of her friend’s apartment, followed by Blaine later the same night. People from E!News had figured out that the girls went to NYADA together and they had started to toy with the idea of Blaine dating Jenny instead. They were having a blast trying to guess which one of the girls Blaine was dating. Kurt and Blaine hadn’t been in public together without the girls but he was in some of the pictures, so the media had an eye on him too, having figured out he was close to them.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kurt was anxious and clearly drifting off from the conversation going on around him. The door bell rang and he almost jumped out of his seat, quickly excusing himself to answer it. His hands shook with nerves as he opened the door, preparing himself for the worst, hoping for the better.

He knew instantly by the huge grin on Blaine’s face, and threw himself in his boyfriend’s arms immediately. Blaine hugged him tightly and laughed into his neck. “I haven’t even told you what happened yet, babe.” Blaine said, sounding amused.

“If you’re smiling like that because it didn’t get picked up, our problem is bigger than a potential of nearly three thousand miles.” Kurt played along, still holding him tight.

 “Was I really that obvious?” Asked Blaine, pulling away and facing Kurt, arms still around each other.

“Mm-hm” Kurt hummed, suppressing a laugh.

Blaine just leaned forward to capture his lips in a kiss. Kurt pulled away before the kiss could deepen, fixing his clothes and lightly touching his hair expertly to check its state. He smoothed Blaine’s shirt as his boyfriend pouted adorably.

“Ready?” Kurt asked.

Blaine looked at him confused. “What for?”

Oh my God, Kurt thought. He doesn’t remember. He thought he should probably remind him, but the situation had the potential of being hilarious. It could have seemed cruel not to do so, but he knew Blaine had nothing to worry about. He just guided Blaine to his living room.

As soon as he entered the room, Blaine sucked in a breath. Kurt could see the fear in his eyes for a second but Blaine quickly hid it. Carole was already on her feet by then. She walked to Blaine with a big smile.

“Hi, dear.” She said. “Nice to meet you.”

The boy went to shake her hand, but she pulled him to a hug. “Nice to meet you, too.” He finally answered.

Burt extended his hand, saying “Hello” in a strong voice, showing authority. Kurt knew his dad was putting on a show, but he also knew it was working.

“Good evening, sir. It’s a pleasure.” Said Blaine formally.

Kurt locked eyes with his dad and gave him a look that clearly said “Drop it”, his dad compelled. “It´s Burt, kid.” He said putting a hand on Blaine’s shoulder, even smiling a tiny bit. He found his son’s eyes with a playful look as a sign of truce.

Finn stood up awkwardly; when he was close to Blaine he did a double-take. “Dude, you really are short.” He said looking down at Blaine.

Carole and Kurt glared at him. She did it in a reprimanding way; Kurt promising him a slow, painful death. Burt was trying really hard not to laugh.

Blaine looked around and took the situation on his own hands, addressing Finn as he calmly said “I think you’re just too tall and it messes up your perspective”.

Visibly relaxing, Kurt took Blaine’s cue to lighten the mood. “Sweetie, you are short.” He said playfully, discretely placing a hand on Blaine’s waist. It took Blaine a few seconds to relax to the touch.

“You know, it would come in handy when Elijah Wood doesn´t sign for a remake of The Lord of the Rings.” He said smiling at Kurt.

Everyone laughed and for the rest of the evening it was as if Blaine was one of them.

As soon as Kurt closed the door behind his family (who were leaving to go to their hotel), Blaine threw himself on the couch, snorting. Kurt laughed, entering the living room.

“I still can’t believe I forgot they were coming.” Blaine said, looking up at his boyfriend.

“Me neither, especially after you managed to exhaust Rachel with your nerves yesterday. You wore Rachel out.” Kurt sat on the couch and pulled Blaine close.

“I guess I got caught up on the bliss of the show being picked. That was half the reason I was a mess last night.” He said smiling playfully and laying his head on Kurt’s lap. “By the way, where is she?” He asked as Kurt tried to free a curl from his helmet of gel.

“Avoiding Finn.” Kurt answered, tracing Blaine’s jaw with his finger after giving up on his hair full of product - a downside of Blaine coming from a public event.

“Oh. Ooh. Tomorrow is going to be awkward, isn’t it?”

Kurt pictured them stealing glances at each other. “You’re pretty safe, I’m sure they’re going to keep it passive aggressive.” He joked but didn’t sound convinced.

Blaine apparently sensed it; he took one of Kurt’s hands to his lips and kissed his knuckles lovingly. “You think it is really it for them?”

“You never know with this two.” Kurt said thoughtfully.

Blaine pulled him close and kissed him softly.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was Kurt’s graduation the next day. His family, Blaine, Rachel and Jenny were there. His friend Eli, also graduating, sat right next to him. Looking at them from the stage when his name was called, Kurt couldn’t help a smile. He had some really great people in his life.

His family went back to Ohio a couple of days later. By then, Kurt was thrilled at how well they had all bonded with Blaine. Carole loved his stories about the actors and actresses from the shows she watched. He had won both Burt and Finn’s heart when confessing to be a Buckeyes fan and later also, when delivering a couple of comments spot on during a game.

Just a week and a half later, they were both attending another graduation. This time, Rachel and Jenny’s. With Jenny having already been signed for a supporting role on a Broadway show and Blaine’s attendance being expected, the entrance was full of paparazzi. Kurt and Blaine stayed together with Rachel’s dads, but not too close to each other.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The morning after Rachel’s graduation, Kurt woke up in his own bed, Blaine’s arms tightly wrapped around him. He tried to gently pull away from Blaine’s arms to get up but Blaine’s eyelashes fluttered and opened.

“Where are you going?” Blaine mumbled into his shoulder.

“To make breakfast.” Answered Kurt smiling.

“Later.” Blaine said closing his sleepy eyes again.

Kurt laughed and untangled himself from Blaine’s grip. “Come on, love. Up.” He pulled at Blaine’s hand. Blaine hugged Kurt’s pillow and complained incoherently with his face buried in it as Kurt got dressed. He found a pair of jeans that belonged to Blaine and threw them to his boyfriend. “Come ooon, I’ll make you pancakes.”

That did it. Blaine pouted, but got up and got dressed; he hugged Kurt from behind, laying his head on his shoulder, as Kurt walked them to the kitchen.

When they got to the kitchen, Rachel was already there, coffee in hand, reading an article on her computer. “Reading gossip about yourself again?” Kurt teased.

She jumped at the sound of his voice and minimized the window way too quickly for it not to be suspicious.

“What’s going on, Rach?” Kurt asked, more serious this time. Blaine’s head propped up from his shoulder when he caught up on the tone in Kurt’s voice.

She sighed and, not looking up at them, turned her computer for the boys to see. Kurt sat on a chair next to her as Blaine leant over his shoulder to read. It was an article, similar to several they had previously read, speculating over which of the two girls Blaine was actually dating. This time there were pictures of Blaine at the girl’s graduation, Kurt standing next to him. The last paragraph, though, read:

“So, what do you think? Is Blaine dating this Rachel girl? Or is he actually dating the upcoming Broadway star and they are using her friend as a cover? Well, at this rate, I’m starting to think he is dating the boy...”

Kurt froze as he read the last line and he felt Blaine tense behind him, too. He knew they hadn’t got caught, but instead he had been made into a joke.

“It’s just a joke, Kurt.” Blaine said but he sounded off.

“Oh, I know, because the idea of me dating you is so absurd. It’s hilarious, right?” He answered bitterly.

“That’s just because I’m supposed to be straight.” Blaine tried to sound reassuring as he placed a hand carefully on Kurt’s shoulder. Kurt tried to relax to the touch, but he was too angry for that. “They don’t know anything about me. It’s just stupid gossip”, Blaine added, with anger in his voice.

“I know” Kurt said, but he wasn’t really convinced at the moment. “Just... I need to be mad at it for a while.” He wanted to be allowed to be unreasonable for once, a little break from always being the one to compromise because it was for the best.

“Whatever you need.” Blaine said understandingly as he wrapped his arms tightly around Kurt. “You know I love you, right?” He said softly in his ear and kissed his cheek.

“Yeah” Kurt replied absently, as he leant back into the embrace.