Summer 2004

The summer when they were ten, Kurt and Blaine spent six weeks together at Ride ‘Em Cowboy Ranch Camp.  Kurt had been surprised at how easily his father had agreed to the longer stay.  Part of him wondered whether his dad felt guilty about how little attention he'd been giving Kurt since his mother died, and part of him worried that maybe his dad just wanted him out of the way, but mostly Kurt was thankful to have six whole weeks with Blaine.

Their first night back at camp, Kurt showed Blaine a book he'd received for his birthday the month before.  “It's so magical, and at the same time it seems so real,” he enthused.  “You have to read it!”

“I don't want to spend my summer reading,” Blaine said.  “I want to spend my summer with you.” 

“Well, what if we read it together?  We could take turns reading out loud to each other before bed.”

“Okay,” Blaine agreed, “but you have to read first.”

“Deal,” said Kurt, sitting up at the head of his bunk and leaning his back against the wall.  Blaine lay down and put his head in Kurt's lap as Kurt opened Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and began to read.

That was the beginning of a nightly ritual for the two boys.  Every evening, after they returned from the campfire, Kurt and Blaine would volunteer to be the first ones in their cabin to shower and change into their pajamas.  While the other campers always seemed to want to put off getting ready for bed as long as possible, Kurt and Blaine were happy to get clean, comfy, and cuddled up together with a good book.

After the first night, when they kept being interrupted by the other boys, Kurt and Blaine devised a way to block out distractions.  They'd unzip Blaine's sleeping bag and hang it from his top bunk, creating their own private little space in Kurt's bottom bunk.  Then, with the help of the “itty-bitty book light” Kurt's father had given him, they would take turns reading to each other until their counselor called for lights-out.

Halfway through their first week, Kurt did the math and realized that they needed to slow down if they wanted to make their book last through the summer.  After that, they began rationing themselves to six or seven pages a night, depending on where they could find a good stopping place.  Then they'd spend the rest of the time until lights-out discussing the story.

Kurt liked to create back-story for the characters.  He could spend hours wondering why Snape was so mean, or what Ron's and Hermione's lives had been like before they came to Hogwarts.  Blaine, on the other hand, never having read the book before, tended to speculate about what might happen next.  No matter how much he pleaded, however, Kurt would never spoil the story by giving him any hints.

On evenings when it was Kurt's turn to read, after he put the book aside, he would unconsciously begin running his fingers through Blaine's soft curls as Blaine lay with his head in Kurt's lap.  Sometimes Blaine would close his eyes, and Kurt would almost wonder whether he had fallen asleep, until he'd hear Blaine's hum of acknowledgement for one of his theories.

 When it was Blaine's turn to read, he would hold the book in one hand (quite a feat, considering that it was a 300 page hardback) and pet through Kurt's hair as he read.  Then, when he'd finished reading, he would scoot down on the bed to lie next to Kurt, draping one arm casually around Kurt's waist or across his chest as they talked.

Those evenings were Kurt's favorites.  Though Kurt could never bring himself to be bold enough to snuggle down beside Blaine on the bed after his own turn to read, he loved how uninhibited Blaine was with physical affection.  

With Blaine pressed up against him in the dark (the itty-bitty book light having been switched off to save the battery, and Blaine's sleeping bag effectively blocking the light from the room) Kurt found it difficult to concentrate on their conversation.  Instead, he made non-committal noises while he focused on the rise and fall of Blaine's breath, wondering whether Blaine could hear his heart beating in his chest.

It was with a mixture of relief and disappointment that Kurt would hear their counselor's warning of  “Five minutes ‘til lights-out.”  That would be their signal to sit up and move away from each other on the bed, knowing that Blaine's sleeping bag was about to be pulled down and unceremoniously tossed back onto his top bunk.  Blaine would clamber up after it, reaching down to give Kurt's hand one final squeeze.

When the lights went out, Kurt would find himself alone in his bunk, missing the warmth of Blaine beside him.  He was glad for the physical exhaustion that came from days spent riding and working with the horses.  He suspected that if he hadn't been so dead-tired at the end of each day, he would have spent his nights lying awake, thinking about the confusing feelings he was having for his best friend.