Chapter 10

The following Saturday Kurt and Rachel set out to West Point to visit Finn – who was starting to finally get better now, as the personnel were keeping a close eye on him to take his medication. His psychiatrist managed to get him to open up, and his physical therapy started for real after the cast was removed from his leg.

Burt and Carole had went to Lima for the weekend, leaving Kurt and Rachel with the obligatory Saturday drive to Keller alone.

In the car, Kurt was unusually chipper, humming along to the Chicago soundtrack he'd plugged into the rental's stereo system. Rachel kept on eyeing him nervously from the passenger seat without saying a word. From time to time he would urge her to join him and sing along, and she even budged, so their voices, combined with those of Renee Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones, filled the car, when they belted out Nowadays.

When they reached the hospital and parked the car in the far end of the lot, Kurt noticed a familiar figure walking down the driveway.

'Oh, look, that's Sean!' He patted Rachel on the shoulder and motioned with his head in Sean's direction. 'We should say hi.'

Rachel raised her eyebrows, looking straight at Sean, from whom Kurt was now facing away.

'Um- I don't think it's such a good idea,' she stammered out.

With one snap movement, Kurt swirled around, and his jaw dropped in a mixture of shock and utter disappointment.

At the precise moment when Kurt's eyes fell back on Sean, the nurse approached a gleaming elegant sedan, and an even more elegant handsome man standing next to the car. And a second later, the lips of the two men met for a moment.

And then they got in the car, with radiant smiles on their faces, and Kurt standing bewildered in the middle of the parking lot with his best friend wrapping her arm around his shoulders.

***

'Did he ever mention he wanted to ask you out? Did he ever imply it?,' Rachel kept on asking, when they entered the apartment late in the afternoon.

'God, no, Rachel, he didn't.'

Kurt sighed, slumping into the armchair in the living room. He never really thought seriously about dating Sean, but knowing that a cute guy like that was taken made it seem impossible that there could be any cute guy available for him to scoop.

'Come on, Kurt, there are other fish in the sea. There are thousands of eligible gay men all around New York.'

'Right,' Kurt scoffed in response. 'Would you mind ordering dinner tonight? I want to hit the shower before Blaine shows up.'

'Sure. Pizza?'

Kurt grimaced. He gave in to the guilty pleasure of eating pizza rarely enough not to hate himself too much for it.

'Whatever.' And he dragged his feet heading for the bathroom.

***

Forty five minutes later the doorbell rang, and Kurt rushed to open the door before Blaine, who glanced at him with surprise.

'Did I ring at the wrong door? The guy who lives here doesn't wear jeans and t-shirts.'

Kurt rolled his eyes, taking Blaine's hand to drag him inside.

'He does, when both the jeans and the t-shirt have a decent label, and when his hair's dripping wet,' he replied. 'And also when he's too lazy to cook. I hope you're not allergic to pizza?'

Blaine chuckled.

'No, definitely not.'

'Kurt is also a tiny bit depressed, 'cause his crush turned out to be taken,' cut in Rachel with a smug grin directed at Blaine.

'Rachel! He's not my crush.' Kurt's cheeks turned scarlet.

'Oh, sorry, it seemed to me that he was.'

Kurt was too busy being mad at Rachel to notice the cheerful smile that appeared on Blaine's face for a split second.

Soon enough the food arrived, and the three spent a lazy hour around the living room table, flicking channels on the TV, and stuffing their mouths with pizza.

And when they were thoroughly bored, Rachel sneaked out to her room, leaving the boys contentedly silent. Until Kurt suggested they look for something to sing at the show at Keller, getting up and leading Blaine into his room for the first time.

It had intrigued Blaine for a while what Kurt's room looked like, but he'd never managed to get a better look at it, only an occasional peek at the fraction visible through the door left ajar. But when he entered the room at last, he felt like he'd already been there a hundred times; it felt familiar because it was so Kurt. It was elegant and moderate, with an air of mystery, but simultaneously gentle and cosy. And it smelt like Kurt, with the same refreshing scent that rolled off his skin every time he moved. Blaine could never pinpoint what exactly the smell reminded him of; it was simply Kurt. Nothing smelt the same as him.

The search for the perfect song for the show soon ended, and the two started enthusing over songs entirely inappropriate for the undertaking. Their tastes seemed mostly to overlap, and within a little over an hour they found themselves singing in a surprisingly well-tuned duet.

Blaine struck up the beginning lines of Animal, jumping around the room happily, and Kurt soon joined in, both the singing and the improvised dance.

Say goodbye to my heart tonight, they finished, and fell backwards to the bed, panting and laughing, even though they were barely able to breathe.

And their eyes met in a long gaze, their laughter and smiles gradually fading, until their breaths were even again. Unlike their heartbeats.

Kurt was the first one to shake out of the oddly comfortable silent conversation.

'What would you say to hot chocolate?,' he asked, trying to keep his tone casual.

'Hell, yes.'

'Then I'll go get us some.' He sent Blaine a tentative smile, and hurried to the kitchen, all the while attempting to wrap his mind around what had just happened between them.

But when he returned to the room fifteen minutes later – he dragged the process of making their chocolate as much as he could without raising Blaine's suspicion – slightly dreading what Blaine could have assumed about that strange eye contact thing, he found his friend soundly asleep, sprawled on the bed with his mouth open.

He decided to let Blaine be, and sipped his chocolate, studying his friend's face carefully.

Kurt had never truly paid much attention to Blaine's face, because normally he would stare into those strikingly golden-hazel eyes, and fail to notice anything that surrounded them. Now, when his eyes were closed, Kurt could finally focus on his other features; the ridiculous triangle-shaped eyebrows, the dark eyelashes that usually were no more than a frame, the lips… The few locks of hair that escaped from the carefully gelled mass and fell onto his forehead…

Taking the last sip from his cup, Kurt decided it was a very nice face. Not just handsome, but pleasant, even in sleep radiating kindness.

And without waking Blaine up, he lay down next to him.

The last thing Kurt saw before he fell asleep, was Blaine's face.

***

At first Blaine couldn't recall where he was. His eyes flickered open to see a room basked only in the light of streetlamps streaming in through the window. And then he looked to his right, and remembered everything.

Kurt was lying next to him, curled up with his hands tucked under his cheek, peacefully asleep. His skin seemed even more pallid in the scanty light, but to Blaine he'd never looked more beautiful, still in the same gray t-shirt and purposefully faded jeans, with no product in his hair.

Blaine shifted, watching Kurt with a small unconscious smile. In this moment it didn't matter to him what would happen when the morning came and they woke up. For this moment of quiet bliss he could put up with the whole awkwardness that can arise from accidentally falling asleep in your crush's bed.

And he drifted back to sleep, never averting his eyes from Kurt's face.

***

The sudden silence in the other room made Rachel wonder. She certainly didn't hear the front door close. There was singing, and muffled talking, then shuffling footsteps in the living room, Kurt's door closing… No, she was positive no one left Kurt's room since then. But she also didn't hear voices anymore.

She decided to wait a while in case the boys didn't want to be disturbed.

No new sounds came in the next hour, and Rachel figured she should check on them. So she tiptoed out of her room and to Kurt's door, trying to move as noiselessly as possible.

She pushed the door open, and stuck her head in. The picture she came upon wasn't exactly what she expected.

The boys were lying across Kurt's enormous bed, in a deep undisturbed slumber, with their faces inches apart, their knees practically touching, and their arms almost intertwined. As if their bodies were gravitating towards one another when their consciousnesses had no way of interfering.

When Rachel shut the door behind her, Kurt's hand twitched, unknowingly landing in Blaine's palm.

***

Kurt realized a light was shining straight onto his closed eyelids; he wasn't used to that. He blinked, and his vision was flooded with early morning sun. It took his eyes a few seconds to adjust to the light and see a face just a couple of inches away from his own. Another moment passed with Kurt taking in the definitely not unpleasant sight of a sleeping Blaine.

And then Kurt remembered what was going on. And what Blaine could assume if he woke up to see him so close.

So Kurt snapped up, holding his breath, and trying to slip off the bed without disturbing Blaine. He needed to back off, so that Blaine wouldn't take it into his mind that they were anything more than friends; he didn't want to lose his friendship.

It was barely seven on a Sunday morning, so Rachel was still asleep, and Kurt headed to the bathroom to perform his skin care routine he abandoned the previous night.

But his skin wasn't the only thing he wanted to set in order; his thoughts were in a mess.

He was sure of one thing: he sincerely cared about Blaine. There had never been a doubt about it. Just like there had never been any doubt about the connection they seemed to have from the second they met.

Kurt's thoughts were swirling in his head, switching randomly from those of their friendship to the image of Blaine's eyes that appeared to be carved in the back of his skull, and reminded him of its existence every other second. He covered his eyes with his hands, trying desperately to concentrate.

But what if that wouldn't be a big deal for Blaine? They were hanging out, they fell asleep, they shared a bed, in the most innocent way possible.

Rachel wouldn't imagine anything if that happened with her, would she? No, she wouldn't, he was positive.

Then why would Blaine?

They were friends, just like him and Rachel, why would he think anything different?

Oh, unless… But no, wouldn't he have said something by now if he wanted to…?

Kurt shook his head at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. No way.

***

It was very early for Rachel to wake up on a Sunday. But the tiniest bustle coming from somewhere in the apartment made it impossible for her to go back to sleep. She slipped out from under her sheets, and went out into the living room.

The bathroom door was closed, which told her Kurt had already got up. The door to his room stood open, and a dark-haired boy was still lying sprawled on the bed. But he wasn't asleep.

Blaine rubbed his eyes, and lifted his head, propping himself on his elbows.

'Why am I here?,' he asked, still drowsy.

'Well, don't ask me. I wasn't there.'

The same moment, the bathroom door opened, and Kurt emerged with an uncertain expression on his face.

'Um- good morning,' he stammered.

'So, Kurt maybe you could enlighten Blaine about what happened last night?' She raised her eyebrows, trying to hold back a smug smile.

'Nothing happened.' He paused. 'I mean, Blaine just fell asleep, and I didn't want to wake him.'

Rachel nodded with understanding.

'And, um- where did you sleep then? Because Blaine definitely slept here, he couldn't have moved from anywhere, he's still basically blacked out.'

Kurt's cheeks started to burn intensively.

'Um- On the bed,' he mumbled.

'You mean with Blaine?' Rachel faked a shocked tone.

'It's a big bed.'

Blaine was regaining his mental agility.

'Oh, yeah, and sooo comfortable. If I were you, I wouldn't leave it, ever, Kurt.'

For some reason, his words made Kurt's thoughts go to a dirty place, and his cheeks were now definitely on fire.

After that embarrassing moment came to a close with Rachel heading to the bathroom, Kurt excused himself and went to the kitchen to make them coffee, and the rest of the morning was spent in an unusually normal atmosphere. Blaine was fed and given coffee, before finally setting out for his dorm.

'I- um- I'm sorry I fell asleep on your bed,' he said already standing in the doorway, grimacing a little. 'I really didn't mean to.'

'I know.' Kurt smiled at him nervously, feeling relief flooding his insides; apparently Blaine didn't read anything into this whole situation.

'See you.'

'Bye.'

***

Blaine had barely managed to exit the building, when his cell phone buzzed in his pocket. He fished it out, and to his astonishment, saw an unread text from Rachel.

Don't give up just yet.

His eyes bulged, his jaw dropped, and he quickly looked up, in the direction of the Hummel-Berry kitchen window on the third storey. He was quite sure that he saw a beaming Rachel giving him two thumbs up behind the glass.

I have no idea what you meant by that, he typed hastily, and hit the send button.

A few seconds later his phone buzzed again.

Right ;)