Chapter Text

“Kurt! Are you even listening to me?”

Jumping slightly, Kurt looked around with wide eyes, meeting Nate’s laughing glance. Shrugging, he tapped on his phone. “Sorry, Nate. Just finding it hard to focus today.”

Pushing aside the scheduling report, Nate turned to face Kurt fully, looking him over thoroughly. He broke into a wide grin of delight. "Oh, I know that look. You are thinking about your man. You have it bad."

Chuckling, Kurt typed. "Sheesh. Is it that obvious?" He hadn't been sleeping very well lately, ever since seeing Blaine in that park. Going for lunch and to the play opening had just made it worse. Had Blaine always been that funny and interesting? Had his eyes always changed color depending on his mood? And seeing Blaine dressed up in a suit for that play opening had been a bit of a shock. Kurt had a hard time keeping from staring all night.

"I think it's called being moonstruck. When you are almost dazed by the feelings, and can hardly think of anything else. You just want to be with them constantly." Nate's hands were gesturing as he tried to put the feeling into words.

Kurt nodded. Yeah, that was pretty much how he felt. "But I've totally screwed it up, Nate."

All the way back to Blaine’s from the theatre, Kurt had wanted to take Blaine’s hand in his, or slip a hand around his waist as they walked. Just to step closer, and been able to inhale his incredible cologne. Wanting to press his lips to Blaine’s neck, right below his ear, in that spot where his skin was smooth and sensitive. Sitting on that sofa together, alone in Blaine’s apartment, his warnings to himself just flew out the window.

"Screwed it up? How? I know he likes you." Nate said calmly.

Kurt's shoulders dropped as he typed, feeling a little embarrassed. "I rushed things. I couldn’t resist kissing him the other night, jumping on him like a teenage virgin or something, and he pulled away, said it wasn't a good idea. Said he just wants to be friends. I've scared him off."

Nate chuckled softly, clapping a hand on Kurt's shoulder. Tilting his head slightly, Nate looked at Kurt consideringly. "Hmmm... Haven't you ever had to chase after someone? Woo them?"

Kurt's eyebrows shot up. He thought back on his previous relationships, and realized they had all approached him. Pursued him. He shook his head.

Nate grinned and sat up straighter. "Oh, this will be good. You have been spoiled, always being the star, the one everyone was coveting. You’ll get to see it from the other side. I will teach you, and it will be so much more rewarding when you finally lure him to you."

Kurt sat forward, his eyes intent on Nate's. At this point, he'd do anything to get back into Blaine's good graces. Not to mention his pants.

---

Back in his office later, Kurt laid down on his new sofa, thinking about everything Nate had told him. Could he really do this? It was scary, putting it all out there like that, especially when Blaine had said he only wanted to be friends. He would have to go slow, oh so slow. Just try to spend time together as much as possible, show how much he cared about Blaine through little actions. Hope that Blaine wouldn’t push him away again.

Picking up his tablet, Kurt googled that word Nate had mentioned. Moonstruck. Silly, foolish, or crazy especially because you are in love. Love. Was he in love with Blaine? He was certainly attracted to him, liked him as a friend, and there was definite chemistry between them. But was this something that could be more?

The warm glow of hope warred with the fear that it was too late. He already had a chance with Blaine in the summer, and had treated him so bad. Could he win Blaine over enough to give him another chance? To see if their feelings could grow into more, into something real and lasting?

----

Blaine waved at a few of the cast he recognized as he headed up the back stairs to Kurt's office. During the last month he'd been living at Kurt's, he'd stopped occasionally by to make sure Kurt had some real food to eat. It was fun to hang out in the organized chaos of a Broadway show backstage.

Knocking on Kurt's door, he entered. It had been a few months, and Kurt had settled in now. The office looked more his style, with a framed picture of Carole with a bunch of her kids on the wall near a big poster of Audrey Hepburn. The old rickety sofa had been replaced with a newer, plush red one.

"Hey Blaine. Come sit down." Kurt smiled as he sat down on the sofa. He was wearing black skinny jeans, and a long striped sweater, and looked far too good. He took a bottle of wine and expertly opened it, pouring a couple glasses.

Sitting down, Blaine took a sip of the wine, enjoying the light crisp taste. Kurt was pulling things out of an insulated bag, settling them on the coffee table.

"I thought a Thai chicken salad with those thin noodles you like would make a good lunch for us. Is it OK?" Kurt was shaking a jar of homemade dressing.

Blaine looked over the spread of food. It all looked delicious, and a lot of work. "It looks great, Kurt. But you didn't have to go to all this trouble. I just thought we would be ordering some food in."

"No trouble at all." Kurt mixed up the ingredients in a big bowl and transferred some to smaller bowls for each of them.

Blaine took a few bites and then dug in hungrily. "Mmmm...I'd forgotten what a good cook you are."

Kurt looked pleased as he delicately ate his salad. He flicked a bit on his phone and classical music started playing quietly.

Almost done his bowl of noodles, Blaine looked around. The homemade lunch, the wine, Kurt dressed so nicely, the music. This looked like a date. All that was missing was some candles.

"Um...it seems awfully quiet around here today. Aren't there usually people running in and out of here, needing their questions answered?" Blaine looked over at the closed down, willing someone to walk through it. It suddenly felt too quiet, too private. Exactly what Cooper had warned him to avoid.

Kurt tilted his head considering. "Oh, that was back before the play opened. So many last minute things to work on and decide. But it's been running for months now. Hardly any problems."

Swallowing the last of his food, Blaine took his wine glass and got off the sofa. He wandered around, trying to seem natural. But inside he was screaming. Get out! Now!

"I have some news for you Blaine." Kurt was done eating, and sipping his wine.

Blaine looked him over, reclining back in that red sofa, and wanted so bad to crawl on top of him. Kiss him until he was pulling Blaine closer, hot and needy.

"News?" Blaine barely remembered what Kurt had said to answer.

Kurt got off the sofa, practically moving like a cat with his natural grace. He moved closer to Blaine, and then sat on the edge of his desk. "Did you know they are working on making Fight Club into a musical?"

Blaine’s eyes were on Kurt’s mouth, and it took a second for his words to sink in. “Fight Club? Ah, what?” His gaze met Kurt’s, and lowered his brows at seeing the twinkle in Kurt’s eyes.

“So you haven’t heard about this then? Well, guess who is developing it?” Kurt asked, clearly enjoying Blaine’s distracted state.

Blaine shrugged. “You? Nate?” He wasn’t thinking straight. Kurt was just a little too close. And they should really open the office door or something. Let in some air.

Getting off the desk, Kurt walked a few steps away to refill his wine glass, and then turned back towards Blaine, pausing dramatically before hitting the key to speak on his phone. “David Fincher.”

Having Kurt a little further away was making it a bit easier to think. He was catching up with the conversation now. “David Fincher is making a Fight Club musical? That's incredible. He did such a good job directing the movie."

Kurt nodded, sipping his wine slowly. “And the other people linked to the project are Trent Reznor and Julie Taymor.” He sunk to the edge of the sofa, crossed one long leg over the other and swaying his booted foot.

Blaine’s eyes grew huge. “Are you fucking kidding me? That is like a dream team for a project like that!” He walked over, dropping onto the sofa near Kurt. “Reznor and Fincher already worked together on some films, and Taymor has been a legend in theatre since Lion King.”

“That’s right. Reznor won an Oscar for his score for The Social Network.” Kurt smiled down at Blaine.

Shrugging, Blaine filled his wineglass again, feeling a bit more relaxed. “I wonder how long it will be until it’s in production.” He sat back, sipping the wine.

Kurt shifted to sit beside Blaine, facing towards him. “It’s still being developed, so I would say a year or two, at least.”

Blaine took a sip of his wine, not really sure what to say next. Usually, conversation between them was never a problem. It just flowed. But sometimes, there were these little gaps, and Blaine became more aware of Kurt, just aware that he was so close again. Within touching distance.

“Blaine, would you be interested in getting involved with it?” Kurt’s voice drew Blaine back out of his distraction. Interested in getting involved? What? He looked over at Kurt, for a second, until the words sunk in.

“Involved? You mean in the musical?” Blaine said, giving Kurt a doubting look.

Kurt smiled and nodded before typing again on his phone. “Between Nate, Melissa and my connections, I’m sure we could find you a way in. Get you a meeting with a decision maker. If you get involved now, as it’s all beginning, you could really have a chance at being a real part of it.”

Blaine scoffed, just shaking his head. “Kurt! You haven’t even heard me play. And I’ve never worked in theatre. What kind of role could I have?”

“From what I’ve heard, it’s a rock musical. You are familiar with Nine Inch Nails and know Fight Club inside out. You have a music degree and played with a variety of bands for years, touring all over the place.” Kurt shrugged. “I think you have a lot to offer, and big Broadway musicals need a lot of musicians.”

Blaine put his empty wine glass down on the coffee table. “Well, it intriguing, but I have the business now and everything.” He looked over to Kurt, and kind of lost his train of thought.

Kurt was leaning down from his seated position, looking for something in the insulated bag. The long line of his back was stretched out, and as Blaine’s eyes skimmed over him, he noticed that the sweater was pulled snugly against his body. His shoulders and arms seemed to have more muscle definition, and Blaine wondered what Kurt looked like now. It was over two months since he had seen him naked. So long. And Blaine was sure Kurt was keeping up with the yoga and probably adding back other exercises. And it was showing.

Straightening back up, Kurt gave him a little smile as he set a container down on the coffee table. “I made Skor trifle for dessert.” He dished out a little of the dessert into two small bowls and they sat back on the sofa to slowly eat it.

“Mmmmm, this is so good, Kurt.” Blaine said after the first bite. The dessert was chunks of chocolate cake, layered with chocolate pudding and whip cream, and topped with broken up Skor chocolate toffee bar.

Kurt gave him a little pleased smile. “Well, I know you have the business and you are very good at it. But I can sense that you really still care about music and miss it. If you are at all interested in exploring this option, just let me know.”

And before he knew it, the dessert was done and Kurt was packing all the dishes away. “Thanks for joining me for lunch. It’s nice to be able to hang out with a friend instead of being on my own.”

Oh right, friends. Blaine nodded, and tried to push down his feeling of disappointment as Kurt got off the sofa. It felt like they had hardly any time together at all.

“I better head down to the stage and make sure everything’s ready for the matinee.” Kurt gave Blaine a small smile. “Are we still on for seeing ‘Dawn of the Dead’ at midnight on Friday?”

Standing up, Blaine managed to give Kurt an awkward smile in return. “Oh, yeah. Should I just come here to pick you up?”

Kurt nodded. “Perfect. See you then.”

And he slipped out of the office before Blaine could step closer and what? Give him a hug? A goodbye kiss? Just a friendly goodbye kiss?

He had the feeling he’d be texting Cooper again about this soon. Because being around Kurt like this, just as his friend, was making it far to easy to forget that Kurt was attached. Off limits.

...

A/N: Thanks to everyone for reading this rewrite and being so supportive. Most of the big changes are done, so you could go back to the original story and just read the last couple chapters if you are feeling impatient with the boys.  There’s 25 chapters in both versions.
The guys are still attracted to each other, but there are some barriers and confusion in the way. Please be patient with them while they figure things out.

-If you are leaving any comments, please don’t do any spoilers if you have read the original. Some people are reading the story for the first time.

-Fight Club Musical: The author of Fight Club, Chuck Palahnuik, confirmed in July 2015 that the musical was being developed by David Fincher and Trent Reznor, and Julie Taymor is associated with it. Trent Reznor is the lead singer of ‘Nine Inch Nails’, an ‘Industrial rock’ band out of Cleveland who were big in the 1990’s, and lately he has done the musical score in some movies.  Julie Taymor won Tonys for directing and costume design of the Broadway version of The Lion King.
-Jan 2018: I just checked, and there’s no new news about this. Hopefully the musical is still being developed