Sept. 7, 2013, 2:04 a.m.
The Real Life: Chapter 17
E - Words: 2,701 - Last Updated: Sep 07, 2013 Story: Complete - Chapters: 24/24 - Created: Apr 03, 2013 - Updated: Sep 07, 2013 123 0 0 0 0
"So in the spirit of telling each other more about our past, don't you think you should tell me more about Adam?" Blaine said as they ate dinner. He had said it quietly, trying to barely break the silence with his words. Kurt looked at him for a moment and smiled.
"You're jealous?"
"What? No, I mean you're allowed to have ex-boyfriends, it's just...."
"Blaine," Kurt said, effectively silencing him, "It's fine, I'm only teasing. What do you want to know?"
"How long were you together?"
"A year."
"Ok, did you live together?" Once Blaine's questions were answered there was no stopping him.
"No, not really."
"Meaning?"
"Well not officially but we rarely slept apart, always at either apartment together."
"Ok," Blaine said nodding, taking in the new information, "And reason for breaking up?"
Kurt thought about it for a while, glancing at the camera worried that Adam would be watching and that it might be too personal.
"We spent so much time together, I guess it got to the point where we should have officially moved in together, should have made more of an effort to have 'dates' but we just sort of got into a pattern of seeing each other at home, watching bad television and cooking dinners. We were already an old married couple before we were even married."
Blaine nodded his head, trying not to appear too grateful that Adam had lost his chance and he still had his.
"I realised that I didn't want anything to change, I was comfortable with Adam but it was nothing exciting or earth shattering. I guess I missed a little drama."
"Drama?"
Kurt looked at Blaine and thought of the drama of the house and whether he had been wrong in wanting that. He thought of Sebastian and the problems he had caused, he thought of the tasks, the jealousies, the simmering need between Blaine and himself. Was it what he had expected coming into the house? Wasn't the comfortable love he shared with Adam a lot easier?
"It seems silly, I know," Kurt said.
"No, I just don't want drama even though that's all that seems to happen in the house," Blaine said, "I like the calm and the domestic. I love the idea of coming home to one guy for the rest of my life, the knowledge that I'll see that guy grow old with me, that he'll always be there and I will be his. A soppy romantic I know," Blaine said, chuckling at himself. Kurt stared at Blaine, his eyes shining.
"No, I think that sounds wonderful," Kurt said, smiling, "I think I want that too, just as long as there's some drama every so often," he winked and Blaine laughed.
They were broken out of their thoughts and musings by the television screen coming to life again and the voice could be heard loud and clear.
"Kurt and Blaine," he said, "There will be a meteor shower tonight and you are invited to watch the spectacle up on the roof of the apartment. This will be your final treat as occupants of the apartment before you return to the rest of the house tomorrow afternoon."
Kurt and Blaine looked at each other in excitement. Neither had seen a meteor shower before and were finally instructed to bring a blanket and walk up the narrow winding staircase to the roof. They lay there, on the tartan blanket for a while in silence just looking at the stars in expectation. In the silence Blaine became a little restless and walked to the edge of the roof, looking down while Kurt sat up and watched his back. It started off so quietly that Kurt wasn't sure what Blaine was saying, then he noticed a tune hung in the air.
Walking on the rooftops
Talking of times
With our eyes a glowing
Like the city lights
She stands on the ledge,
She says, 'it looks so high'
You know it's a...
Long way down
Feels like a long way down
Feels like a long way down
Like a long way down
So honey don't leave, don't leave,
Please don't leave me now
Cuz I can feel the rivers
Winding through the lands
Two lines, and a poet
Like a kind old rye
You know we could talk in that language
Only we understand
But you know..
It's a long way down
You know it's a long way down
Feels like a long way down
Love it feels like a long way down
So honey don't leave, don't leave,
Please don't leave me now
Kurt let him sing, Blaine's back still facing him, watching the sky and occasionally looking down to nothing below. He sounded so sad and wistful, Kurt didn't want to interrupt but eventually the song ended and Blaine turned slowly, the only thing that Kurt could see were the glistening eyes of honey staring back at him.
"That was beautiful," Kurt whispered and he came forward gripping Blaine by the waist as if he feared that one step back might ruin them both. Blaine blinked and smiled and saw Kurt for the first time. Kurt kissed him, slow and gentle, barely a whisper of lips together and as Kurt took a step back, to Blaine there was no one else, no cameras just them.
Blaine led them both back to the blanket and they lay down on their backs, waiting for the magic to happen above them. As if on cue it appeared to start, the lines of stars appearing faintly, looking like rain and washing everything away. As soon as it started it seemed to finish and Kurt smiled.
"That was much better than I thought it would be," he said, leaning on his elbow to look at Blaine beneath him on the blanket. His eyelashes were spread out around his eyes, the stars almost shining in them. Just a simple thought whizzed through his mind, almost as quickly as the meteors: for all the drama, for all the mayhem living in the house caused, life was in the simple moments where loved blossomed.
"Do you want to tell me anything about you?" Kurt said after a while, "I won't tell anyone," Kurt said winking, well aware that the cameras were bound to be capturing these moments too. Blaine laughed.
"I could tell you everything," Blaine said looking up at Kurt with wonder in his eyes. Kurt looked so beautiful against the lights of the stars above and he briefly wondered if Kurt could bewitch him to tell him every single secret.
"Just start with last night," Kurt said and he dropped his elbow so he was facing Blaine, their lips only millimetres apart, whispers only. "Why were you upset?"
"It seems silly," Blaine said, his face squished in embarrassment.
Kurt let him squirm for a moment then enquired again with just a raise of an eyebrow. Blaine sighed.
"Ok," he finally said, "It reminded me of a darker time I guess, that film. I used to obsessively watch Disney when I was sad or bullied at school. I used to sing Ariel's song 'Part of Your World' and wish that I could be part of the popular kids' world, that I could do what they did, be accepted like they were. I'd forgotten what it was all like. College can make you forget."
"Because it's easier?" Kurt asked.
"Yeah," Blaine said, "We're accepted because we're all there for the same goal. I love to sing and perform just like everyone else there. There's bitchiness and competition but it just makes you fight harder. There's understanding though and a sense of belonging. They all know that being part of something special makes you special."
Kurt nodded in understanding.
"But being with the Warblers made it easier?"
"Oh yeah, I don't really want to think about what might have happened to me if I hadn't left that school and joined the Warblers at Dalton. They gave me a place to belong and show the world what I could do. I loved being the leader and making music come alive in a new way."
"Music heals quite a lot," Kurt said and Blaine sat up quickly and beamed.
"Exactly!" he said, almost shouting, "I love that you get that."
"When my dad was in the hospital after his heart attack I sang a song for him that really reminded me of how he had been there through everything. He really was everything I had in the world and he knew me the best and put up with all my little tea parties and all the gay taunting. When my mum died and it was just us, I was worried that I wouldn't know what to say to him, would have nothing in common with him but we seemed to work through it together and now he's my best friend."
Blaine smiled. It was nice to hear all about the most important people in Kurt's life. They forgot the cameras ticking along, recording their precious moments but it didn't matter. People watching at home were just now more determined than ever to keep both Blaine and Kurt in the house together.
Soon it got colder and the meteor shower definitely over, they wandered back downstairs to the apartment below.
It seemed silly for them to return to their own single beds after such a talk so they joined them together and this time there were no tears or staying awake – only stroking of hair, sighing and sweet kisses as they drifted asleep.
They watched movies together the following day and eventually it became time to return to the house to await their fate. Kurt had packed his little belongings and was about to open the door back into the house when Blaine stopped him.
"Kurt," he said, "Whatever happens tonight, whoever leaves, I want you to know, I need you to know...." He rambled, his words incoherent in his desperation to be understood and Kurt stilled his voice with his hand on his hand.
"Blaine, I know," he said, "We'll be fine, I promise but if you need convincing, have this."
Kurt kissed him, long but gentle and Blaine's eyes fluttered closed and he smiled as Kurt parted from him.
Kurt opened the door dramatically and everyone beamed when they saw them enter; Faye running up to Kurt and hugging him.
"We've missed you," she said eagerly as she let Kurt breathe again.
"I missed you too," Kurt said and he looked around at the mess of a room and laughed. They probably had missed his cleanliness and impeccable order too. Nicola was looking at Kurt from her place in the kitchen and they exchanged smiles that meant so much more to Kurt than to anyone that was watching. Bradley hit them both on the back in his gruff way of saying he too had missed them. They all asked what it had been like in the apartment and they shared stories of meteor showers and video messages. Nothing had really happened in the house, except they too had been allowed to watch the meteor shower from the garden and had been given alcohol once they completed a general knowledge quiz. Sebastian didn't say much and both Kurt and Blaine ignored him.
It was soon time to assemble on the sofas again, the young female presenter eager and bouncing on her feet, preparing to share the results of the vote.
"As you know housemates, Blaine, Kurt, Anisa and Sebastian have been up for eviction this week and the votes have now been counted and verified. The public have decided who they wish to evict. The fifth person to be evicted from the house is....." Dramatic pause in which Nicola rolled her eyes. "..... Sebastian."
Nicola unashamedly cheered at the news and Kurt laughed slightly at how obvious she had been. Sebastian smiled to himself.
"I suppose I had it coming," he said as the voice continued her instructions that she would collect him in one hour for his interview. "You really are liked on the outside then," he said walking over to Blaine and Kurt who sat next to each other on the sofa. "Everyone's obviously rooting for you on the outside. Play your cards right and you'll end up the final two and the most famous people in here."
"We're not after that," Kurt said not hiding the annoyance in his voice.
"Right," Sebastian sneered, "You came into the house to remain the nameless nobody you were before. All I mean is you need to be careful it doesn't all come crashing down."
"What do you mean?" Blaine asked, a tremor to his voice hinting that he was worried.
"I mean, Blaine," Sebastian said coming a little lower to look Blaine in the eye, "That as soon as you get out it'll all disappear, your relationship nothing but a whiff of television smoke and drama. You'll be a magazine shoot, maybe a few television interviews but eventually your relationship will crash and burn just with your fame."
He left to pack his belongings, smirking to himself as he watched Kurt and Blaine think over what he had said.
The interview with Sebastian after he had been evicted was eagerly anticipated by the public who had ruthlessly voted him out. He had received over 70% of the public vote and the interviewer took great delight in telling him. She asked the question that everyone had wanted to know the answer to.
"Why were you so keen to break Blaine and Kurt up? They're the sweetest couple," she gushed and she was greeted with a loud cheer from the waiting audience in the studio.
"Well they might seem the nicest couple but really it was just sickening," he said, "I mean how could anyone like watching those puppy dog eyes and those dopey expressions?" There were boos and Sebastian laughed.
"Well I guess all of you do," he said.
"Did you really like Blaine?" she said, "Is that why you wanted to get rid of Kurt?"
"Well he's easy on the eyes," he said smirking, "But I'm not looking for a relationship and I'm obviously not his type."
"Everyone likes a bad guy until they do something unforgiveable," she said, "Here are your highlights in the house, Sebastian."
She showed moments that he had forgotten, Sebastian singing 'Gimme More' causing a loud cheer and his sneaky looks that Sebastian had thought were subtle.
"Did you enjoy your time in the house?" she asked as her final question.
"Yes I did," he said finally, "It was just as I hoped it to be and I probably will get exactly what I need from it. Thanks for the experience."
It was nice to be back in the house, the familiar faces, the bedroom, the living area, the bigger kitchen. Kurt and Blaine went to bed early, slipping into their old routine of sharing the biggest bed together, now set apart from the other beds that were used. Cuddles were nice, protective arms and kisses on hair. It was only in the dark that the cameras could be forgotten, their microphones still pressed against their pyjama tops.
"Were you worried about what Sebastian said?" Kurt asked as a whisper against Blaine's chest.
"No not really," Blaine said, "I mean he was clearly trying to worry us, make us doubt but we know the truth, don't we?"
"Yeah we know the truth," Kurt said. He hoped then that what Sebastian said wouldn't come true that a relationship formed on the inside would still be able to survive on the outside. He clutched Blaine a little tighter anyway, despite his words of confidence and was determined not to let Sebastian win.