Kurt turned his SUV on the drive way and turned off the motor, but didn't immediately get out of the car. The image of Burt in the hospital, surrounded by tubes and monitors, wouldn't leave his head.
Every day after school he had gone to visit his dad, every day hoping to see him sitting up, smiling back at him when he entered the room. And every day he went home disappointed. But as hard as it was to see his dad like that, he couldn't not go. He felt he owed it to Burt to visit him, to tell him about his day, about the Andersons, about Glee club so that, when he would wake up, maybe he would remember, and he wouldn't feel as if he missed so much of his son's life.
Kurt let his head rest on the steering wheel as he let out a sigh, not feeling like going inside, but not knowing where else to go either, when he heard something ticking against the window. He looked up to find Blaine standing outside his car, car keys in hand, looking positively dapper in his school uniform. He opened the door.
"Hi Blaine."
"Hi Kurt." The other boy looked at him inquiringly. "Are you alright?"
Kurt tried to force a smile, knowing it looked as fake as it was.
"Yeah... no... I just... I just got back from the hospital and... "
He didn't finish his sentence. He didn't know how.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Kurt slowly shook his head.
Truth was, he wanted nothing more than to talk about it, but he was pretty sure it would end in a lot of tears and sobbing on his part and he really didn't know Blaine well enough to unload all that on him.
Blaine seemed to sense Kurt's discomfort and dropped the subject, but he kept looking at him, as if he was contemplating something.
"Come on," he said finally, apparently having come to a decision, "let's go to my room, watch a movie or something."
Kurt hesitated. He hadn't seen Blaine's room yet. In fact, he hadn't seen much of any of the Andersons at all, preferring to spend his evenings in his room, or hanging with Mercedes or the other glee kids. He knew Mrs. Anderson would gladly welcome him if he were to stay downstairs and watch tv with them after dinner, but it just felt weird. Fortunately, both Mrs. Anderson and Blaine (he was yet to meet Mr. Anderson) seemed to sense his need to be alone -whether from previous experience with foster kids or through simple insight in human nature he didn't know- and hadn't tried to force him into socializing. He was eternally grateful for it. But however much he appreciated his privacy, he really didn't feel like being alone tonight. And to be honest, he was curious to see what Blaine's room looked like. Well, that, and he kinda wanted to get to know Blaine better. And thus he took his bag from the back seat, and followed Blaine inside.
-o0o-
To Kurt's surprise, Blaine's room wasn't all that big. He had expected Blaine to live in quarters similar to his own, with a separate living room and a study, but it was just an ordinary teenage room: 4 walls containing a desk, a bed, a tv, and some cupboards. And an en-suite bathroom. It was still the Anderson's house, after all...
Blaine dropped his bag next to the bed and turned around to face Kurt.
"Make yourself at home," he said, "do you mind if I go put on something more comfortable first?"
Kurt shook his head in silence, and Blaine disappeared to the bathroom. Kurt made his way to the unmade bed in the center of the room and sat down carefully on the edge, looking around the room in wonder. There was chaos everywhere. From the desk filled with papers over the cupboards overflowing with books and magazines to the walls which were completely covered with posters, pictures, and Wolverine scarfs, the room seemed to be too small for all the things it was supposed to contain. One of the cupboard shelves was cramped with trophies and medals Blaine seemed to have won somewhere, and on a stand in the corner stood a dusty guitar. But what drew Kurt's attention was the dvd-rack that, like everything else in the room, was not nearly big enough for Blaine's impressive collection. Piles of dvd's were stacked on top and on the floor next to it and Kurt went over to check out the titles as Blaine walked back into the room. He had gotten rid of his stiff uniform and changed into a loose-fitting t-shirt and...
sweatpants.
Kurt winced, but he really didn't want to give Blaine a reason to kick him out, and so he remained silent, calling on all his self control not to remark on Blaine's choice of clothing and instead pointing at the dvd's.
"You have The Sound of Music here?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Are you kidding me? Who hasn't! It's a classic." Blaine walked over to his bed. "You don't like it?"
Kurt turned around. "Of course, I don't like it - I LOVE it! This is The Sound of Music we're talking about, right?"
He smiled and started singing quietly to himself as he continued to look at the rest of the dvd's.
I am sixteen going on seventeenr32;I know that I'm naiver32;Fellows I meet may tell me I'm sweetr32;And willingly I believe
To his surprise, he heard Blaine chime in.
You need someone older and wiserr32;Telling you what to dor32;I am seventeen going on eighteenr32;I'll take care of you
"You're messing up the order," Kurt smiled, looking back over his shoulder.
"Yes, well, I wasn't going to risk singing the girl's part and ruin the song," Blaine replied. "You got quite the voice there, by the way."
Kurt took the compliment with a nod of his head. "I do indeed. Though you're not a bad singer yourself."
Blaine laughed.
"Oh, I love singing! We got this glee club at school, The Warblers, we do like a cappella versions of pop songs, it's really cool."
"Wait," Kurt turned around, "you sing at glee club?"
"Yeah! Don't they have one at your school? You should audition, really, I'm sure they would love someone with your voice! And it's just so much fun."
Kurt hesitated. "Actually, I am at glee club. We... we're called New Directions."
"You are? Oh that's so cool! Right? Right?" Blaine repeated his question hesitantly, Kurt's lack of enthusiasm painfully obvious.
"It's... fun," Kurt replied, "but I wouldn't exactly call it... cool..."
Blaine looked confused. "Why are you saying it like that? It's not as if you should be ashamed for being part of a glee club."
Kurt sighed. He didn't want to sit down next to Blaine on the bed, so he walked over to the desk and sat down on the chair instead.
"I should," he said, "I mean, we are. Kind of. Ashamed to be in glee club, that is."
Blaine clearly had no clue what he was talking about.
"At McKinley... my school... being in glee club is... not cool." Kurt explained. "It's like... the opposite of cool. We get made fun of, all of us. Well... some more than others... but..."
"Kurt?" Blaine suddenly sat up, a worrying look in his eyes. "Are you being bullied?"
Kurt paused a minute before he replied, pondering about what to say. He had never really talked about this with anyone, and Blaine was still very much a stranger to him.
"Not bullied... per se... I just get... teased. A lot. Not just about glee club. About... being gay. And all that."
Kurt's eyes were fixed on the ground, and thus he didn't see the painful expression that, for a moment, darkened Blaine's face.
"Yeah, I get that... ," Blaine said, pensively, "kids in high school can be incredibly mean. At my previous school I used to get shoved into lockers all the time too. People calling me names, avoiding me in class. I had to quit the football team because nobody wanted to shower while I was in the locker room. Not that I was that good at the game but still... I really liked playing, you know?"
For a moment, Kurt was speechless. "You're... you're gay?"
Blaine burst out laughing, utterly amused at the incredulous look on Kurt's face.
"Well, yes. How many straight guys have The Sound of Music in their dvd collection, you think?"
But Kurt still couldn't get over the fact that that boy, that sweatpants-loving boy, was supposedly gay.
"But... but... you love football!"
"And you love scarfs," Blaine cocked his head slightly, "your point being?"
"You wear sweatpants!" Kurt exasperated, completely ignoring Blaine's last remark.
"They're comfy!" Blaine looked genuinely hurt and slightly embarrassed, pulling the sheets over his legs so that his pants were hidden.
The silence that followed wasn't uneasy, but it wasn't exactly comfortable either. It was Kurt who spoke first.
"So you were bullied too?"
Blaine nodded, his face serious again.
"Every day. It got really bad, and after some time I... I just couldn't take it anymore. I transferred to Dalton. They have a no bullying policy, and I finally felt safe there. I will always regret not standing up to those bullies but... I guess I just wasn't strong enough. Not like you."
"I'm not strong."
"Yes, you are." There was an urgency in Blaine's voice that made Kurt look up. "When your dad became ill, you didn't crumble, you stood up, you dealt with the garage customers, you didn't let it get you down. You got placed in foster care, you had to leave your house and your stuff, and you took it all with grace. You get bullied every day, but you're still standing tall, you still manage to smile, to find humor in little things. Don't underestimate yourself, Kurt, you're stronger than you think."
But Kurt slowly shook his head.
"I don't know, Blaine. Sometimes I wish I could just disappear forever, you know? Just... run away and never look back."
"That's not a solution, Kurt, you know that. But how about the other glee kids? Don't they back you up?"
Kurt made a face. "They barely notice. And even if they do, I don't think they realize how bad it gets, sometimes. They're all too wrapped up in their personal drama to see what's going on around them. Even Mr. Shuester - that's our choir director - I mean, he's nice, he even lets us do Rocky Horror this week, but everybody knows he's really just doing it to impress Ms. Pilsb-"
"You're doing the Rocky Horror Picture Show?" Blaine all but shouted. "Wow, that is so... so WOW!"
Kurt smiled at the obvious enthusiasm of the other boy and nodded, welcoming the change of subject.
"I guess it is... 'wow'. Kinda."
"So who do you get to be? Frank-N-Furter?"
It earned Blaine an indignant look.
"What is it about me that makes everyone want to cast me as a transvestite in high heels and fish nets? For your information, I will be playing Riff Raff."
Much to Kurt's surprise, Blaine nodded approvingly.
"Cool! So is it going to be an open performance?"
Kurt hesitated. "I guess... I mean, we were planning to use the proceeds of admission to pay for transportation to nationals. Why?"
"Cause we'd come and watch, obviously! I'm sure my mum would love it. She's always so excited when I get to perform with the Warblers, she'll go crazy when she hears you perform too."
"But," Kurt stuttered, suddenly shy, "but she doesn't even know me! You don't even know me!"
But Blaine brushed off his words easily. "Nonsense, you're part of the family now, right? You know what?" He got up and walked to the dvd-rack. "Let's watch the original Rocky Horror! You have to prepare for your role, right? I'm sure I got some toilet paper around here..."
He slid the dvd in the player, taking the remote with him as he returned to his bed. Making himself comfortable, he suddenly looked at Kurt, realizing the boy hadn't moved at all.
"Kurt? You ok? Come sit here on the bed with me," he patted on the space next to him. "It's much more comfortable than that chair, I can assure you, and besides, you can't really see the tv from there. I promise I don't bite."
The last sentence was accompanied by a mischievous wink, although Kurt doubted whether Blaine was aware exactly how mischievous it looked. Slowly, he got up and positioned himself next to Blaine on the bed. Unlike Kurt's queen size bed, Blaine's was a single bed, so that both boys had to sit fairly close together in order to fit. Blaine seemed either not to notice or not to care, but Kurt was painfully aware of the other boy's shoulder pressing gently against his, their hips mere centimeters apart. He was pretty sure he had never been this close to another boy, let alone a gay boy, and he found it strangely unsettling and exciting at the same time. He cast a sideways look to Blaine, who was now navigating through the menu to start the movie. For such a relatively young guy, Blaine already had a very strong jaw line, and Kurt could see small stubbles on his cheeks where his beard was starting to grow back. He couldn't help but wonder how it would feel to trail his finger over them, or how it wou-
"Gah, this is gonna be so much fun," Blaine interrupted his train of thoughts, bouncing up and down the bed with excitement. "I love this movie!"
Kurt couldn't help but smile. "More than The Sound of Music?"
"Oh no!" Blaine pretended to be shocked at the idea. "Nothing beats The Sound of Music. But Rocky Horror is a close second, wouldn't you agree?"
He gave Kurt another of his mischievous winks, and pressed play.
"Come on, let's watch a movie."
-o0o-
"Kurt? Kurt?"
The voice was vaguely familiar, and Kurt turned around sleepily to see who it was coming from when he felt himself fall. He screamed, suddenly wide awake- and then felt a strong arm grab him around his waist, pulling him back up and on the bed. Blaine sat looking at him, grinning.
"Hello there, sleeping beauty. I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't hurt yourself falling off beds, my mum would never forgive me."
Kurt rubbed his eyes.
"Did I ... did I fall asleep?" He looked down to find his shirt and trousers full of wrinkles, and he cursed himself silently - those were going to take ages to straighten out.
"Somewhere between Over at the Frankenstein Place and The Time Warp, yes. I really would have thought you'd at least have stayed awake until Tim Curry came along, though, I know you're a sucker for men in fishnets."
"Oh please, what is it with people connecting me to fishn-," Kurt started indignantly before he caught sight of the enormous grin on Blaine's face and he realized the boy had been joking. He felt his cheeks flush.
"Oh."
"I didn't want to wake you up, you seemed like you really needed the rest, but the movie's over and I'd like to go to sleep myself. My bed isn't all that large for us to share..."
Blaine looked almost apologetically, and Kurt quickly sat up, suddenly embarrassed.
"No, no, of course, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have... sorry."
He jumped off the bed, trying to locate his bag and picking it up on his way to the door.
"I'm really sorry," he said as he turned around, "I didn't want to-"
"Kurt. It's ok. Don't worry." Blaine looked at him, smiling reassuringly. "Really. Just... go to bed."
"O-ok." Kurt felt like he needed to say something, but he wasn't quite sure what. Blaine finally decided for him.
"Goodnight, Kurt."
"Goodnight, Blaine."
-o0o-
Kurt stopped for a moment outside Blaine's room, trying to orient himself. He was sure he was imagining things, but he could've sworn he still felt the imprint of Blaine's arm around his waist. Whether it was this feeling distracting him or that the Anderson's house was just difficult to navigate he didn't know, but it took him 2 wrong turns before he finally found himself in his own room. He took off his clothes and simply dropped them on the floor - they were ruined anyway, he would deal with them tomorrow.
He was just getting into his bed when he remembered something, and went back to his bag to take his phone out, before he finally crept under the sheets. There was a small smile playing around his lips as he wrote the message, and then sent it.
-o0o-
Ting.
The girl pondered for a moment about what it was that had woken her up before she turned around and blindly reached out for her phone on the night stand, vaguely wondering who was sending her a text at this hour of the night. The screen light blinded her, and she squinted her eyes, trying to read the message.
From: Kurtr32;Sent: October 29 2010 23:45:16r32;He's on my team. Really got to get him to drop the sweatpants though.
Mercedes smiled, pretty sure that Kurt was completely oblivious to the double meaning of his last sentence. She'd have to explain him, she thought absent-mindedly. Tomorrow. It was the last thought in her mind before she drifted back to sleep.