Chapter 9

“So, Kurt, how do you know Blaine?” Charlie leaned across the middle seat of the taxi cab, fixing Kurt with a curious gaze. “He never mentioned having another friend in the city!”

Kurt gave his friendliest smile. “Oh, Blaine tells the story so much better than I do. Don’t you, Blaine?” he prompted, when Blaine continued to stare out the window, a glazed look taking over his handsome face.

Blaine looked up. “Um, what? Sorry. I mean, we were good friends in high school.”

Kurt nodded with faux enthusiasm. “He was my best friend at McKinley,” he added helpfully.

Charlie looked confused. “I thought you went to Dalton Academy, Blaine!”

“I did,” Blaine shot Kurt a frantic look, an obvious plea for help.

“I transferred to Dalton,” Kurt covered smoothly. “But then I transferred back to McKinley later, for personal reasons. I just meant that Blaine was my best friend, even when I was at McKinley and he was at Dalton.”

This was quickly becoming one of the most confusing conversations Kurt had ever taken part in, which was saying something considering how many times he had talked to Brittany. He had absolutely no idea what Blaine had and hadn’t told Charlie about his past, nor did he have any idea why he had left out what had been left out. Did Charlie not know about Blaine’s preferences? Apparently not, since she was his “ex.” What in the world was going on?

            “That’s nice,” Charlie smiled serenely. “It’s really cool that you kept in touch after high school. Not a lot of friends can say that.”

            “Yeah,” Kurt nodded dubiously. “Really nice.”

            Thankfully, the taxi pulled up to the curb in front of Blaine’s apartment at that moment, sparing him from continuing this incredibly awkward situation. The only thing he knew for certain at the moment was that he and Blaine were going to have a serious talk as soon as they could find some privacy away from little Miss Ex-Girlfriend.

            “Do you want the taxi to drop you off at NYADA?” Blaine turned to Kurt as he held open the back door of the cab for him and Charlie.

            Kurt shot him a brief look that clearly stated, you owe me an explanation and you’re not getting rid of me that easily. “No, that’s okay,” he smiled sweetly. “I’d love to help Charlie get settled in and hear the story of how you two met at Columbia!”

            Blaine’s cheeks flushed with frustration- or maybe embarrassment- but he didn’t push the matter, instead walking around to the trunk and grabbed Charlie’s suitcase, and setting it down on the pavement. Kurt grabbed it helpfully as Blaine shoved a twenty at the cab driver, who sped off into the distance. The three of them headed into the building, walking into a waiting elevator. Blaine pressed the button for the third floor before turning to Kurt.

“It really wouldn’t have been a problem to drop you at NYADA,” he said pointedly.

“And miss out on hearing all about you and Charlie?” Kurt grinned back at him. No way was he going to miss this.

“NYADA?” Charlie wondered aloud.

“New York Academy for the Dramatic Arts,” Kurt explained patiently. For such a prestigious school, precious few people actually knew about the college.

“Oh,” Charlie nodded understandingly. “And how long have you been gay for?”

Kurt nearly dropped the suitcase he was carrying.

“Excuse me?” he asked, wondering if he had misheard the question.

“I mean, you are gay, right? Going to a theatre school and everything. And wearing that much designer.”

Holy shit. Was this girl for real? “Yes, a very astute observation,” Kurt muttered dryly. Blaine shot him a warning look.

“I mean, I was just wondering when you were officially gay,” Charlie elaborated as they stepped out of the elevator and began the walk down the hall to Blaine’s apartment.

“I came out in high school, if that’s what you’re asking,” Kurt informed her, using all of his self-control to avoid adding a snarky comment to the end of his response.

“Oh, that’s so cute!” Charlie practically shouted, sounding excited. “I’ve always wanted a gay best friend! It’s so cool how you’re super comfortable with yourself and everything! I mean, I totally support gay rights and stuff and it’s just really cool how you’re so open and-”

“Thanks,” Kurt cut her off, desperate to end this conversation. So Charlie was one of those people, the kind who were so desperate to seem accepting that they went completely overboard. Now he was beginning to get an inkling of why Blaine had shut himself back in the closet at Columbia. Not that it was acceptable by any count.

“Here we are!” Blaine announced quickly, before Charlie could embarrass herself further.

“Oh, it’s cute!” Charlie squealed, rushing into the living room and spinning around like a little girl.

“Yes, yes, it’s lovely. Blaine, can I talk to you for a minute?” Kurt asked, grabbing the other boy’s arm and yanking him into the bedroom before he could object. “This will only take a second,” he called out to Charlie, who was currently browsing the selection of DVDs by the flatscreen television.

Once they were safely shut in Blaine’s bedroom, Kurt crossed his arms, fixing the boy with an accusatory glare.

“Before you say anything,” Blaine began quietly.

“Oh, I think I’ve more than earned the right to say whatever I want to say,” Kurt whispered heatedly. “What the fuck, Blaine? You dated her?”

“It wasn’t really my choice!” Blaine cried as loudly as he dared without alerting Charlie to the argument taking place just a room away from her. “My dad asked me to- he was the reason I even got into Columbia, especially on such short notice, I couldn’t say no! And besides, you saw what she was like! Half of the people on my floor were less accepting than she was! It was easier to just-”

“Hide? Lie? Pretend?” Kurt supplied angrily. “I can’t believe that after everything you went through, after everything we went through in high school, you would slide right back to square one and date a girl, for crying out loud!”

“I couldn’t say no to my dad, Kurt! I’m lucky he didn’t make me go to therapy or something! And in case you forgot, we weren’t exactly on speaking terms when I was at Columbia, so you had nothing to do with it.”

Kurt looked as though Blaine had slapped him across the face.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”

Kurt sighed heavily, sitting down on the bed. “No, you’re right. I’m sorry. I have no right to judge you for what you did at Columbia. It didn’t have anything to do with me. I just can’t believe it. Are you gonna tell her? Or do we have to keep pretending that you like girls until she leaves in who knows how many weeks?

“It’s easier to just pretend, for now. Please.”

“And what about the future, Blaine? What if you become famous?”

 “She’s going to find out eventually. One way or another.”

“Please, just do this for me. I promise I’ll tell her before she leaves. But for now, please. You don’t believe in outing, right? Please just wait until I’m ready.”

“Fine,” Kurt agreed tiredly. “What does this mean for us?”

“I don’t know,” Blaine admitted. “She called before we could talk this morning. I don’t even know if we’re together, or…” he trailed off, face reddening when he realized what he had just said. “I mean, I don’t want to push you.”

“I want to get back together. Or at least consider it.”

“You do?”

“Yes. But not like this. Not when we have to pretend to be platonic in front of your little houseguest for who knows how long. I can’t deal with all the secrecy.”

“Is that an ultimatum?” Blaine wondered.

“Yes. No. Not really. It’s just a fact. I want to be with you, really, but I can’t deal with pretending all the time. I’m finally comfortable with myself, and I can’t do myself a disservice by lying like that.”

“No, you can’t,” Blaine agreed. “It’s not fair of me to ask that.”

Kurt shrugged. “I understand,” he muttered, suddenly finding the ground extremely interesting.

“So, friends for now?”

“Friends for now,” Kurt agreed, standing up so that he and Blaine were facing one another, almost touching. “But this isn’t over, Blaine Anderson,” he added, hot breath grazing over Blaine’s mouth. “You’re not getting rid of me so easily this time.”

Kurt leaned in just a bit, placing the tiniest of kisses on Blaine’s lips. Then he pulled back, a wide, adorably toothy grin spreading over his face as he announced, “Now, let’s go listen to the tale of Blaine and his girlfriend!”

Blaine groaned.

***

Kurt collapsed on his bed at NYADA and let out a loud moan of pent-up frustration. Lunch at Blaine’s house had almost unbelievable; if Kurt hadn’t known the little bit of backstory the other boy gave him, he wouldn’t have believed that Blaine Anderson would ever sneak out of his dorm after hours to “kiss me under the stars” or “go skinny-dipping by the lake,” or any of the other ridiculous things Charlie claimed, Blaine’s face going redder with every story. Eventually, Kurt had faked a phonecall and hailed a taxi cab, desperate to put as much distance between himself and Blaine’s straight alter-ego as possible.

Kurt’s iPhone vibrated with a text message.

Blaine: Sorry about all of that.

Kurt: Yeah, well. Me too.

Blaine: To be fair, you asked her.

Kurt: I didn’t think she’d go into so much detail.

Blaine: Sorry.

Kurt tossed his iPhone across the room, watching it bounce off the little couch in the corner of the dorm, before settling on the plush carpeted floor. Good. Maybe it was broken, and he wouldn’t have to answer Blaine’s texts until he could get it fixed.

“Rough night?” A voice sounded from the doorway.

Kurt looked up at Jake, who was watching him with concern. “Yeah, a little,” he allowed.

“And here I thought you’d be elated when you came back,” he chuckled to himself.

“Sorry?”

“I just meant that you left my party early to go home with your ex-boyfriend, and you didn’t come back until 2 pm the next day. Doesn’t take a genius to figure out what went down.”

“Oh, crap, I’m sorry Jake! I didn’t think you’d notice. You looked kinda drunk.”

“No, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

“Nothing happened, anyways,” Kurt added.

“Yeah, I kinda figured when I saw you throwing your precious phone across the room.”

“It’s a long story,” Kurt said wearily.

***

The next few days passed in a whirlwind of classes and tests for Kurt. By Wednesday, he had all but forgotten Blaine Anderson (except when he thought of the boy between classes, last thing before bed and first thing in the morning, whenever he daydreamed in class, and- though he would never admit it aloud- in the shower). But other than that, he was doing fine, he told himself. They would wait out Charlie’s stay and then they would pick up where they had left off. No sense in torturing himself until then.

Which was why he was so surprised when a certain someone texted him Wednesday evening, just before dinner, with the words: Meet me outside your building in ten. We have dinner reservations. J

            Kurt gasped and all but threw his backpack aside, sprinting to his closet in search of something to wear. He quickly yanked on a pair of skinny gray jeans and an Alexander McQueen sweater, then fired off a text to Candi, explaining why he wouldn’t be meeting up with them for dinner. A quick spray of hairspray revived his perfectly coiffed hair, and he sprinted down the stairs (no time to wait for the semi reliable elevator), taking them two at a time and arriving in the lobby a full three minutes ahead of schedule.

When Kurt pushed open the door of his building and stepped out into the cool day, Blaine was waiting. He turned, a wide smile spreading across his face at the sight.

“Kurt. I’ve missed you,” he said, looking practically blissful.

Damn. Why was he always so attractive?

“I’ve missed you too,” Kurt allowed. “How’s Charlie?”

“She’s alright. Turns out, she was kicked out of Columbia- something about getting caught out after hours too many times. She hasn’t even told her dad yet.”

“What a pity,” Kurt mustered up all the sincerity he could, trying to be supportive. “Where are we going for dinner tonight?”

“I thought we could go to the little café again, the one where I took you the first time we reconnected?”

“Sounds good,” Kurt agreed. “Wait. You can’t get dinner reservations to a walk-in café!” he suddenly realized.

Blaine held up his hands. “You got me. I thought that if I asked, you might say no. And I really wanted to see you again. Who knows when Charlie’ll be shopping with a friend in the city again?”

Kurt smiled in spite of himself. “Fine, you win. Lead the way, Anderson.”

***

The two men began making their way down the sidewalk, keeping a slightly awkward distance. Blaine didn’t really know where they stood in terms of their relationship: all he knew was that he would give his entire career as a Broadway leading man to hold Kurt’s hand as they walked to the café. Tentatively, Blaine reached over and attempted to link his pinky finger with Kurt’s, but the other boy yanked it away.

“I can’t, Blaine. No physical contact right now. Not until we figure things out.”

“Sorry,” Blaine muttered, speeding up. They couldn’t get to the café soon enough.

Thankfully, it only took about fifteen minutes of awkward “How’s school? Fine, how’s work?” to make it to their designated dinner spot. Blaine placed their orders while Kurt selected their usual table, and they both sat down to eat.

Kurt cleared his throat uncomfortably. “So what have you and Charlie been up to?” he queried.

“You don’t have to pretend like you’re okay with her,” Blaine said.

“Just trying to make conversation,” Kurt sounded a bit affronted.

“It’s fine, Kurt. I understand why you don’t like her. I wouldn’t either if I were you. But I can’t turn my back on her now, when her father’s going to kill her for being kicked out of college.”

“Yeah, I know,” he responded flatly.

“Let’s just change the subject.”

“Agreed.”

Blaine foraged around in his mind for something better to talk about. “How’s your friend? The one whose party I went to?”

“Jake? He’s alright. Studying by day, partying by night, the usual.”

“And NYADA? Is it everything you ever dreamed of?”

Kurt sighed. “I love it, but it’s a lot more work than I expected,” he admitted. “I’m not the most talented person in my school anymore, by any stretch. Going to an entire school full of Rachel Berry’s is tiring. Don’t get me wrong, I love it. But I didn’t expect to have to work this hard to keep up with my classes.”

Blaine nodded, just as his phone lit up and began vibrating.

“Charlie?” Kurt asked knowingly.

“Yeah. Sorry, I- do you mind if I take this?”

Kurt waved his hands as if to say, go for it.

“Hello?”

“Blainey!” Blaine cringed at the pet name, which he hadn’t heard in months.

“Hey, Charlie.”

“I left my key to your apartment… well, in the apartment. Do you think you can come down and let me in?”

“Um,” Blaine glanced worriedly Kurt, who was pretending to be interested in his tea as he listened to the conversation. “I’m kinda in the middle of something, Charlie.”

“What’re you doing?”

“I’m busy.”

“Are you on a date?”

“No,” he answered quickly. “Not a date. Just, dinner with a friend.”

“Who?”

“Kurt.”

“Oh, well,” she replied dismissively. “Kurt will understand. Bring him here! He seemed really nice, we can all watch a movie or something!”

Blaine sighed. He wasn’t going to win this. “Fine, I’ll be right over. See you in a few.” He hung up the phone and turned back to Kurt. “I’m so sorry. Charlie locked herself out of my apartment, she needs me to let her back in, I’m seriously so sorry Kurt I mean we never seem to get any time together without being interrupted and-”

“It’s fine,” Kurt said shortly.

“I’m really sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. Your ex-girlfriend takes precedence, I get it.”

“No, that’s not it at all. But I can’t just leave her in the hall for another hour. I mean. She said you could come too, if you want. Watch a movie or something. I just don’t want to force you into something uncomfortable.”

Kurt shrugged. “Fine. That was- actually, that was nice of her, I suppose. Sure. We’ll go watch a movie at your place.”

“Great!” Blaine clapped his hands together. At least Kurt was happy. On the other hand, a movie-viewing party with Blaine, his ex-girlfriend, and his ex-boyfriend was going to be a night to remember.

***

By the time Blaine got to his apartment, holding the cab door and the lobby door open for Kurt in an effort to ease some of the tension, and enduring one very awkward elevator ride to the third floor, he knew the night was going to be one of the most uncomfortable ones he had experienced in a long time. His suspicions were further confirmed when Charlie sprinted down the hall toward him, nearly knocking him over with the force of the hug she gave him, while Kurt quietly tutted his disapproval next to Blaine. Blaine quickly let all three of them into his apartment, where Kurt set about making popcorn while Blaine set up the TV and Charlie picked the movie. The three of them then settled on the couch, with Blaine holding the popcorn bowl between the other two. Sitting between his two exes wasn’t exactly ideal, but Blaine figured it was a better option than allowing Kurt anywhere near Charlie, given her tendency to babble during movies.

Predictably, Blaine felt Kurt grow tenser and tenser as Charlie kept up a running stream of commentary about this actor and that actor and how the score of the movie was chosen and how her father’s sister’s cousin’s uncle’s daughter’s babysitter knew the director and promised her premiere tickets to his next hit.

Blaine heard a loud crunch next to him and noticed that Kurt was grinding a handful of popcorn in his fist, jaw clenched tightly and looking as though he might snap at any moment. Stealing a glance at Charlie to make sure she was focused on the movie, Blaine leaned over just slightly and pressed a hand against Kurt’s, doing his best to relax the other boy. It seemed to help, because Kurt noticed what he was doing with the popcorn and quickly released it back in the bowl, thankfully sparing Blaine’s couch from the worst of the crumbs.

The next half-hour of the movie was relatively peaceful, until a particularly boring scene. Unfortunately, at that point Charlie seemed to decide that there were far better things she could be doing than watching. Her fingers found Blaine’s in the popcorn bowl, and when he attempted to jerk his hand away he ended up upsetting the entire bowl and spilling buttery popcorn all over the floor.

“Shit!” he jumped up, righting the bowl and attempting to scoop up the remainder of the snack food into it. “Fuck. There goes my carpet.”  

Kurt peered down at the stain. “Do you have any seltzer water?”

Blaine nodded. “Top shelf in the fridge. Do you really think that’s gonna do anything”

He nodded encouragingly. “Trust me, Blaine, I’ve gotten out way worse stains than a bit of butter using that stuff.” His face reddened slightly. “I mean… I mean food stains.” Mumbling something about tomato sauce, he quickly turned on his heel and made a mad dash for the kitchen, returning shortly with a bottle of club soda and some paper towels. Kurt upended the bottle, pressing a folded paper towel to the opening and spilling some fizzy water onto the material. He then bent over and began to dab expertly at the butter staining the snowy carpet.

Blaine couldn’t help but stare. Kurt’s ass was sticking up in the air, covered in the tightest gray denim he had ever seen. Shit… he shifted uncomfortably on the couch. Charlie’s sitting next to you, your ex-girlfriend, this is no time to be staring at another guy’s ass, he reminded himself. Shitshitshitshitshit.

“All done!” Kurt straightened up, smiling proudly. “Told you I’d get it out!” he said happily.

Blaine nodded numbly. “Thanks,” he said hoarsely.

Kurt shot him a curious glance. “I’ll just go put this back in the fridge, then… Are you feeling alright, Blaine?”

“What? Oh. Yeah. I’m fine. I guess something didn’t sit right at dinner,” he added, following Kurt into the kitchen, door swinging shut behind him.

“Do you want me to find you something for your stomach?” Kurt asked, putting the bottle of club soda back in the fridge and turning around. “You must have some kind of medicine in here.”

Before he knew what he was doing, Blaine had grabbed Kurt’s shoulders roughly and was smashing their lips together, letting out a choked-up moan into the other boy’s mouth. Kurt’s clear blue eyes were wide with shock, blinking rapidly as his hands laced through Blaine’s curls.

“Fuck, Kurt, you can’t just shove your ass in my face in those jeans and expect me to ignore it, shit, you’re so hot, dammit,” Blaine whispered a stream of obscenities at Kurt, who looked completely shell-shocked. Blaine’s hands linked behind Kurt’s neck and he pressed their mouths together again, shoving his tongue into Kurt’s mouth as the other boy’s hips shot forward, pressing against him.

“Do you want me to pause the movie?” Charlie called in from the other room. Kurt jumped back like he was on fire, banging into the cabinets and letting out a yelp of pain.

“Shit!”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Ow. I always seem to get hurt around you, don’t I?”

Blaine buried his face in his hands. “I’m sorry,” he muttered ashamedly. “That was- I mean, you said you didn’t want to get together, I just- it was-”

“Hot,” Kurt finished weakly. “That was really hot.”

“Yeah,” Blaine agreed reluctantly. “It was still wrong of me. I’m sorry.”

“I don’t know if I can keep doing this,” Kurt mumbled, more to himself than to Blaine.

“What?”

“This. This whole thing where we pretend to be friends, and pretend like we’re not both incredibly attracted to one another so that we don’t make your ex-girlfriend uncomfortable, but we both secretly just want to do whatever that was all day, and we end up sneaking into your kitchen and making out under the pretense of getting medicine or whatever. It’s really hard for me,” he finished abruptly.

“Me too. I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologizing.”

“But I am sorry. It’s my fault. I brought her here, I didn’t have the guts to say no to my father in the first place, this is all my fault,” he hung his head.

“It’s not your fault. I mean, I guess it is, but I don’t really blame you. I just can’t keep doing this.”

“Are you- breaking up with me?”

“Were we ever really together in the first place?” Kurt pointed out.

“I don’t know. No. Not really.”

“Then no, I’m not breaking up with you. I’m just saying that I can’t be around you if I’m not allowed to kiss you or acknowledge that we were together. So we’re going to go back into the living room and we’re going to pretend that none of this ever happened, and that you’re Blaine Anderson, straightest of the straight men. Deal?”

Blaine nodded unhappily. “I’m really sorry.”

“Stop.”

“Sorry.”

Kurt pushed the kitchen door open and headed back into the living room, where Charlie was sitting cross-legged on the couch and looking concerned. “Is everything all right?”

“We just had a hard time finding Blaine some medicine for his stomach, that’s all,” Kurt commented.

They watched the rest of the movie in silence.

***