Chapter 1: Mismatched

The club was packed full of extravagantly dressed young men, the dance floor was teeming with pairs, their arms wrapped around each other, faces almost glued together in unabashed kisses, tongues deep in other people’s throats. The obnoxiously loud and unmelodious music pounded in Kurt’s chest unpleasantly.

If he had been asking himself why he never went to these places, now he knew exactly why. In his smart Alexander McQueen pants, Yves Saint Laurent shirt and Prada tie, he stood out like a sore thumb. He kept on sipping his horrible semi-dry red wine, as he scanned the large room with disgruntlement. The look the bartender gave him as he asked for a glass of Bordeaux was already a telling sign it wasn’t exactly Kurt’s scene. Apparently, it didn’t seem that a house full of men that liked men necessarily made a gay guy feel comfortable.

Kurt was just scanning the dance floor in a futile attempt to find someone as uneasy as himself – hey, he couldn’t be the only one first timer here – as someone stopped next to him at the bar, his elbows propped carelessly on the counter.

‘Not having fun?,’ the guy yelled over the noise.

Kurt decided no one else was standing close enough to hear that, so he turned his head to see the man who addressed him. His breath hitched for a moment, as his eyes fell on probably the most beautiful creature that ever graced this place with his presence. A head of short dark curls, eyes – hazel? Maybe brown? – shaded by long eyelashes, from under which the guy peeked at Kurt. Almost seducing him with his gaze alone. The man’s lips curved in a mischievous little smile.

‘No, not really,’ Kurt choked out as soon as he found his voice. The other guy seemed to be perfectly aware of the effect he had on Kurt.

‘I’m Liam.’ A hand reached out to Kurt, so he grabbed it hastily, almost spilling the reminder of his wine on his designer clothes.

‘Kurt.’

‘So, Kurt, I take it you’re not a frequent visitor here,’ Liam said, shifting to face the same way as Kurt, and he leaned his back on the counter. Kurt glanced at him furtively, taking in the shape of Liam’s muscles clearly visible under the tank he was wearing. He had a button-down thrown carelessly over his shoulders, perfectly showing off his defined biceps, and his low-cut jeans let just the tiniest strip of skin and underwear peek out from above his belt.

‘Um, no, it’s actually my first time,’ Kurt said finally. ‘First time here, I mean, not first… You know what I mean.’

He could feel his cheeks burning, and hoped for the semi-darkness to hide his blush. Liam’s chuckle seemed to indicate his hope was void.

‘God, you’re such a prude.’ Liam turned back around and yelled to the bartender, ‘Tequila shots, please!’

Before Kurt could stop it, a line of shot glasses filled with tequila was placed before the two of them.

‘Come on, you gotta loosen up,’ Liam said, pushing a glass in Kurt’s direction.

Kurt accepted the drink with a sigh. Nothing could taste worse than that wine. He swung the glass, the liquid burning in his throat.

‘Don’t think that’s gonna work!,’ Kurt shouted at Liam, wincing. ‘I guess I’d better go, I don’t really think I fit in.’

Liam laughed again; Kurt didn’t know whether he should feel offended or not. Next thing he knew, his new friend reached out to his tie and pulled it loose, then took to unfastening the first couple of buttons on his shirt. When Kurt thought the impromptu makeover was finished, Liam ruffled his painstakingly coiffed hair with his hand.

‘Now you fit it.’ Liam’s eyes sparkled, as he lifted two glasses, pushing one into Kurt’s hand and gulping down the contents of the other.

‘Alright.’ Maybe staying a while longer wouldn’t hurt. ‘So, Liam, what do you do?’

‘Better ask me who I do,’ Liam yelled back, causing Kurt’s face to feel like it was on the verge of melting.

‘God, can’t you have a regular conversation in here?,’ he asked frustrated, grabbing another shot glass.

‘Okay, I’m a freelancer. In advertisement. You?’

‘Fashion journalist,’ Kurt said, forcing himself to look away and try to keep his mind clear. With that body around, it was a particularly tough task.

Tequila was richly poured and swallowed in quick gulps, making Kurt’s head increasingly giddy. It also made talking to Liam slightly less intimidating, the booze lowering Kurt’s inhibitions almost into non-existence.

After what seemed like the hundredth round, Kurt felt like he was going to really throw reason out the window and gravitated dangerously close to Liam’s face. The pretty hazel eyes glinted as he looked up at Kurt, as if he was inviting his lips to touch his own. But that was so totally not what Kurt was like. Making out with a random guy at a gay bar?

‘Bathroom,’ Kurt muttered to excuse himself and he hurried in the direction where he suspected the toilets were.

Once inside, he had to try very hard not to notice the feet and knees visible under stall doors and the moans of pleasure coming from within. Kurt jumped to the nearest sink and splashed his face with water to cool off and diminish the effects of alcohol at least a little bit. He wiped the moisture away from his eyes and blinked.

For a second he thought it was just a side-effect of the booze. Seeing things. But when he twirled around, catching the sink behind him to steady himself, there he was, sure enough real and tangible. And sexy as ever.

Only when Liam was standing right in front of him, barely any space left between them, Kurt noticed that the other man was slightly shorter, and his eyes were definitely a golden shade of hazel, the sparkles in them mesmerizing. It took Kurt a moment to realize he was staring at him with his mouth open. He closed it hastily, turning his eyes away.

Then Liam’s finger was pushing Kurt’s chin up, a crooked smile dancing in his lips, his other hand tracing down Kurt’s left side right to the hip. Next thing Kurt knew, the hand was making its way unmistakably to his crotch.

He yelped, Liam’s hand searching for Kurt’s zipper, and they both could feel Kurt was already half-hard.

One more playful look of hazel and Liam was beginning to lower himself down onto his knees, there in the middle of the restroom.

Hazy thoughts were rushing through Kurt’s head, as concern of being undignified and reduced to becoming the cliché of the guy who gets sucked off in the gay bar bathroom were fighting with how good it would feel to let go and just give in. After all, it wasn’t every night that an absolute cutie wanted to blow him.

‘Stop,’ Kurt managed to choke out, as Liam’s hand began to wander down his pants.

‘What?’

‘Stop. Please, just stop.’ He could feels his cheeks burning again. God, he was going to regret this.

‘Don’t you want me to…?’

‘I do, god, I really do, but… It’s just not me. I’m so sorry.’

Kurt was feeling more and more stupid with every word he uttered, especially as the alcohol slurred his speech embarrassingly.

‘That’s too bad,’ Liam said, getting up with a little difficulty. At least, Kurt wasn’t the only one who wasn’t sober.

‘I’m really sorry,’ Kurt mumbled one more time.

Liam chuckled, as he wobbled, his legs bucking a little under his weight.

‘It’s your loss, really.’ He frowned a little, thinking. ‘Give me your phone.’

‘What?,’ Kurt spattered, confused.

‘Christ, I’m not gonna rob you. I’m just gonna give you my number.’

Kurt handed Liam his iPhone reluctantly, eyeing the guy carefully. He might have not been in the best condition to run, but he wanted to make sure he’d still have his cell when he left the bar.

‘There. If you change your mind, call me.’

And with a wink, Liam turned around, his feet still unstable, and left Kurt in the middle of the bathroom with his zipper half-undone, his cell phone in his hand and unconsciously holding his breath.