Chapter 10: Surprise

Saying goodbye had never seemed to be such a hard and time-consuming thing until then. They were standing at the apartment door for twenty minutes, unable to let go of each other’s hands and kiss one last time before Kurt had to finally leave.

‘Can we meet tomorrow?,’ Kurt asked wistfully, resting his head on the door frame and pouting.

‘I have a gig tomorrow night,’ Blaine sighed, for the first time ever regretting he was working. He loved his job; it was the only thing that made him believe he was something more than a crazy person.

‘So you don’t want me to come?’ As much as he hated not to be there for Blaine, Kurt understood unwillingness to expose oneself very well.

Blaine squeezed Kurt’s hand a little more tightly, giving him an apologetic smile.

‘You know it’s not that,’ he said. ‘I kinda wish you came, but then- I just don’t want anything to go wrong.’

‘I know.’ Kurt cupped Blaine’s face to give him a kiss. ‘I’ll call you, okay?’

‘Okay,’ Blaine breathed against his boyfriend’s lips, still incredulous it was all real.

‘Good luck tomorrow. I’m going to miss you.’

Blaine’s heart skipped a beat at the words.

‘I’m going to miss you, too,’ he choked out, before kissing Kurt once more.

Their fingers were locked for as long as they could.

Kurt wasn’t even halfway to the subway station, when he pulled his phone out, blessing his last night’s idea to get Sebastian’s number. He typed as quickly as he could without stopping.

If you’re in the same room with Blaine, go somewhere else.

Sebastian answered within a half minute, Why? I’m sensing mischief and I’m liking that. Wouldn’t expect it from you, though.

With a roll of his eyes, Kurt tapped his phone lightly to respond. You’re hilarious. So are you in the same room as Blaine or not?

No. Whatever it is, you can call me.

Almost as soon as the phone buzzed with Seb’s reply, Kurt dialed his number.

‘I just need to know one thing,’ he said, not caring to greet the other guy.

‘I know you were at our place for like twenty four hours, but a “hello” wouldn’t hurt,’ Sebastian answered. ‘What do you need?’

***

The bar was a little more crowded than Blaine thought it would be. People were sipping their drinks, engaged in chit chat with their friends, barely paying any attention to the single guy that was plugging in his guitar on the small stage in the corner. It was nothing out of the ordinary; he wasn’t a hot-shot to expect the audience to actually give a fuck about him, but he also was pretty confident they wouldn’t complain he was there. Nobody ever did.

Wes and Sebastian were somewhere, stuck with probably the worst possible table in a dingy corner of the establishment, and Blaine couldn’t see them from where he was. He never insisted on their coming to his gigs, but they did whenever they could. It was a rare occurrence for neither to show up, and even though neither ever admitted the reason why they did it, Blaine knew they were looking out for him, just in case something triggered him and someone had to take care of him. His employers were aware of Blaine’s disorder, but they were also deprived of any actual experience with any of the alters, so the boys preferred having the chance to step in, if they were ever needed. So far they had never been needed.

As much as Kurt wasn’t a fan of small closed spaces filled with people to the brim, he blessed the crowd he discovered in the bar. It helped him make a bee line between the tables and patrons carrying their drinks to their seats, without Blaine noticing him, and find Wes and Sebastian in the back.

‘Hey, guys,’ he greeted them, slipping onto the only free high stool at their table. ‘Please, tell me he’s not going to come out here before he starts.’

‘He’s not,’ Wes answered. ‘He never does.’

Kurt scanned the room nervously. He was barely able to see the stage, but that was the point. Blaine couldn’t know he was there, at least not until the gig was over.

‘You didn’t tell him, did you?,’ he asked one more time.

‘We didn’t.’ Sebastian smirked. ‘You know, I think I figured out why you two make such an oddly well-matched couple.’ Kurt quirked his eyebrows in question. ‘’Cause you’re both so uptight and shit.’

Kurt’s cheeks began to burn a little, and he was about to retort to Seb’s statement, but Wes interrupted him.

‘He meant that you’re both nice guys.’

‘Oh.’ Kurt could hardly stop himself from beaming. ‘So you think me and Blaine- that we make a good couple?’

Wes smiled warmly at him; Sebastian only gave a short chuckle.

‘Yeah, we do. And you do,’ the former said. ‘You’re probably everything we’ve ever hoped for him to find in a guy.’

This time Seb’s laughter was much louder.

‘You make us seem like two gay fathers talking to a potential son-in-law, you realize that?,’ he asked his roommate.

‘That’s sorta accurate, though, don’t you think?,’ Wes said. ‘Only I’m not gay, and even if I was, I would never have a kid with a pain in the ass like you.’

The music that had been seeping from the speakers died, and the boys fell silent. Blaine walked out onto the stage with his guitar in his hand and settled on a stool in front of the audience who acknowledged his presence for the first time this evening.

‘Good evening, everyone, my name’s Blaine Anderson and I will be entertaining you with live music tonight,’ he introduced himself. ‘At least unless you boo me off the stage. But let’s hope this won’t happen.’

Kurt watched him with amazement; the Blaine on stage had all the confidence that the everyday life Blaine severely lacked. As if having a microphone and a couple of instruments made him feel he was worth something after all. As if it made him forget everything else in his shitty life.

‘I can’t believe our Blainers is joking,’ Sebastian muttered.

‘He doesn’t do that normally?,’ Kurt asked confused.

‘Oh, he does,’ Wes said, ‘but hardly ever at the beginning of the set, when he doesn’t know the audience.’

Blaine started playing and Kurt dismissed Wes’ remark for the time being. It was intriguing that Blaine should act differently on this specific night, but Kurt tried to be not as bold as to think he had anything to do with it.

The set was a combination of covers of old rock classics, songs from Disney movies and newer hits. It lasted for good two hours, but for Kurt it felt like one tenth of the time. Blaine’s voice was smooth and beautiful, somehow fitting perfectly to whatever he was singing. Kurt was listening mesmerized, absolutely stunned by the sounds that graced his ears. He’d expected Blaine to be good, but that exceeded all his expectations. How could Blaine ever think Kurt would find him anything short of excellent?

Neither Wes or Sebastian were as hypnotized by the music, but they were used to Blaine performing, and had the chance to overhear him whenever he was practicing in the apartment. Wes kept on eyeing Kurt with a smug smile; he couldn’t have imagined a better boyfriend for his roommate, even if he tried. Kurt was everything Blaine ever needed, the kind of sweet, caring, yet immensely strong person that would be able to handle all the aspects of being close to Blaine. Obviously, it wasn’t really Blaine that was the problem. The DID was and most people weren’t tough enough to accept it, not to mention embrace it. Usually, it scared them, and hell, Wes was terrified, too, when he first found out about it. Even Sebastian didn’t hide being completely freaked out at the beginning, and he was not one to show weaknesses often.

And whatever it was that drew Kurt to Blaine, it must have been much, much stronger than any fear could be.

The last song ended, Blaine thanked his audience, his voice half-drowning in the applause, a wide smile stretching his lips. God, it felt good. He only wished that one day he would be normal enough to be able to look down from the stage and see Kurt giving him a standing ovation.

He was just about to get off the stage, when something in the crowd caught his eye. A familiar coiffed head that looked so much like… But no, he was seeing things. Kurt didn’t even know where the gig was. He wasn’t supposed to show up.

Blaine peered into the semi-darkness anyway. With each second he was growing inanely sure it really was his boyfriend tearing through the crowd in his direction. No matter how impossible it was, he could swear it was him. For a half minute Blaine thought he was going even crazier than he already was.

Until Kurt reached the bottom of the stage and looked up straight into Blaine’s eyes, beaming at him in wonder.

‘Blaine!,’ he yelled over the buzz of the bar.

‘Kurt? What are you doing here?,’ Blaine mumbled, still unconvinced it was really happening. He wasn’t even sure it upset him.

‘I know I wasn’t supposed to come, but you can blame Seb for giving me the details,’ Kurt said. ‘But don’t get angry, please. You were amazing!’

For a moment Blaine froze, torn between jumping up and down with joy, and suspicion that Kurt was only trying to stop him from flipping out. But then – why would he even come up to him and let the cat out of the bag, if he didn’t like the performance?

‘Really?,’ Blaine asked timidly at last.

‘Absolutely, you were perfect,’ Kurt confirmed, reaching his hand out to Blaine to help him step down from the platform.