Chapter 10

They found Kurt and Rachel by the rollercoaster, watching the people in it scream and laugh in turns.

‘Blaine!,’ Kurt called and waved at the brothers. ‘Are you coming with me? Rachel’s a chicken.’

Before Blaine got a chance to answer, Cooper leant towards him.

‘You could hold hands without suspicion,’ he whispered into Blaine’s ear, making him roll his eyes.

‘Sure.’

Kurt’s face lit up and he dragged his friend to the line. Cooper made his way to Rachel, who was standing with her elbow propped on one of the barriers circling the rollercoaster.

‘You’re not really a chicken, are you?,’ he asked, eyeing her.

‘Nope. Kurt was totally lying to get to hold hands with Blaine.’ Rachel shot him her number five smile.

Cooper couldn’t help but laugh. It seemed that everyone saw through those two, except from themselves. He couldn’t decide whether it made Kurt and Blaine dumb or adorable.

‘Good to know my baby bro’s not gonna suffer from unrequited love,’ he said, a half-smile still tugging at a corner of his lips.

Raising an eyebrow, Rachel turned to study his face.

‘Meaning that-? You mean he loves Kurt back?’

‘I thought he was quite obvious,’ he chuckled.

‘I had my suspicions, I admit,’ Rachel said. ‘But you know, Blaine’s not big on spilling his guts out. Except to Kurt.’

Cooper nodded; he’d figured his brother was close with Kurt, possibly closer than he’d ever been with anyone else.

‘But he hasn’t told him yet, has he?,’ Cooper asked.

‘Nah, I guess they’re both too scared to make a move. At least when they’re sober.’ Rachel rolled her eyes.

‘Are you telling me my underage brother drinks alcohol?,’ Cooper feigned shock. ‘What exactly happened?’

Rachel shrugged, her gaze following the slowly shrinking line for the ride. Kurt and Blaine had almost made it to the gate.

‘All I could get out of Kurt is that they made out, I didn’t have a chance to talk to Blaine.’ She hesitated for a second. ‘Kurt also mentioned that it had happened before, he made it seem like it was a long ago.’

‘What are you thinking? That they were in love all this time and didn’t know?’ Cooper grimaced. ‘That’s like some cheesy high school comedy, no offence.’

She glared at him.

‘No, I’m not saying they’ve been in love since the beginning, only that it could have been going on for a while. I’m pretty sure it’s been months.

‘Let’s just hope it won’t be months more.’

***

‘Scared?,’ Kurt asked, watching Blaine struggle with his straps.

‘Yeah, a little,’ Blaine admitted. ‘Does it show?’

‘Does to me.’ Kurt smiled, but Blaine’s heart dropped.

If Kurt could see the tinge of fear, had he figured out his feelings? Especially after the events of the previous night? Blaine’s pulse began to race even faster and he swallowed hard.

He didn’t manage to answer or move, and if hadn’t already been motionless, he’d freeze when Kurt leant towards him to check his straps.

‘You’re all set, so you’re safe,’ he said. ‘But if that would make you feel better, you can hold my hand.’

‘I can?,’ Blaine mumbled, glad he didn’t have to ask, but suddenly he noticed how clammy his hands were and rubbed them against his pants.

‘Sure you can, dummy.’

Kurt reached out to grab Blaine’s hand just as the rollercoaster began to move.

‘Ready?’

‘Yup,’ Blaine said, clutching onto the hand Kurt had offered him.

How likely was it for them to do it ever again? Intertwine their fingers as if they were holding on for dear life? It felt so strangely natural, their hands fitting into each other like they were made for exactly that.

The rollercoaster went up and down, sped up and slowed down, circled and wound, but everything passed Kurt and Blaine unnoticed. There were just the two of them, just the two joined hands that they wished would never have to separate again.

Their ride ended all too soon. Reluctantly, Blaine untangled his fingers from Kurt’s. It felt like the toughest thing he’d ever done in his life.

Somehow, Kurt could feel a sting in his heart and a tingling in the hand Blaine had just let go of. It seemed to be yet another piece of evidence that Blaine didn’t want him. Not the way he wanted Blaine.

But that was no place or time to feel sorry for himself. Blaine had returned from his talk with Cooper in a relatively good mood and there was no way Kurt would screw that up for him.

‘See, it wasn’t bad,’ he told Blaine as they made their way away from the rollercoaster. None of the others were anywhere in sight.

All Kurt could remember from the ride was Blaine’s skin on his own, but he was quite sure nothing important skipped his notice.

‘Yeah, I guess.’ Blaine shrugged, digging his hands into his pockets. That way he hoped he’d stop aching to snag Kurt’s hand back into his own.

‘How about we get cotton candy to split?,’ Kurt suggested. ‘Why go to an amusement park, if you don’t get cotton candy?’

Blaine smiled gratefully. He’d do anything to have Kurt as close as possible. Sharing a treat sounded good enough.

‘That’d be great.’

They found the nearest cotton candy stall and got a huge pink sticky sugary cloud.

‘We are going to get so messy,’ Kurt sighed, pinching a bit off and putting it in his mouth.

‘That’s the fun in eating cotton candy, Kurt,’ said Blaine, sending his friend a little grin. For a moment he could imagine the two of them being a couple and it made him feel much better.

Kurt stuffed his mouth with the sugary treat, licking his fingers in the most inappropriate way. Blaine had to look away to control himself. There was nowhere to hide if he let himself get turned on. And Kurt licking his fingers right in front of him was such a turn on for him.

When Blaine’s eyes returned to Kurt and the pink cotton candy in his hand, he couldn’t help but giggle. There was a bright pink spot on the tip of Kurt’s cute nose, which made him look even sweeter and more adorable than usually.

‘What?,’ Kurt asked indignantly.

‘Nothing, there’s just- You’ve got some candy on your nose.

Kurt jerked his hand up to his face, trying to rub the spot off, but missing the place.

‘Is it still there?’

‘Yeah,’ Blaine chuckled. ‘Come on, let me...’

He froze for a second, unsure whether he really could do it. They were not a couple and that felt an awful lot like something one would do on a date.

A similar thought crossed Kurt’s mind, but instead of recoiling, he leant towards Blaine, who eventually forced his hand up and wiped the tip of Kurt’s nose with his thumb, before sticking the finger in his mouth to lick the candy off. For some reason, it tasted much better than the rest of it.

‘Thanks,’ Kurt choked out, his heart speeding frantically.

What was that?

‘I- I guess we should- we should find the others,’ Blaine stammered, taken aback by his own behaviour.

Kurt nodded sharply and they began walking to the exit from Pacific Park. They stayed as close as they could without their shoulders brushing against one another.

***

When everyone had had enough of the amusement park and the pier, Cooper took them to a nearby diner for an early dinner, insisting to pay for all of them.

‘Coop, you really don’t have to,’ Blaine tried negotiating.

‘Come on, squirt, the commercials pay well, it’s nothing,’ the older brother said, wrapping his arm around Blaine’s shoulders.

‘Can you stop calling me that?’

Cooper made a surprised face. ‘Call you what?’

‘You know what. Squirt. Please. At least not in public,’ Blaine said quietly.

‘Okay, fine, Blainey.’ Cooper raised his eyes to the sky. He was really trying to be affectionate.

Kurt was watching the exchange with a small unconscious smile. In a way, the Andersons reminded him of his own relationship with Finn. No matter how rarely they talked or how much they bickered, it was clear they loved each other, profoundly and unconditionally. Kurt was happy to discover that at least Blaine’s brother was more supportive of him than their parents.

The diner Cooper took them to was small and quite unimpressive visually. The smell that oozed out of it, though, was wonderful and made everybody’s mouths water, and the menu was vast enough to satisfy Puck as well as Kurt, as the least and the most picky eaters of the group.

‘So you wanna make it big on Broadway?,’ Cooper asked Rachel, when they were waiting for their orders.

‘Yes. I’m quite certain I’m going to play Maria in West Side Story, Eponine in Les Mis, Elphaba in Wicked, maybe Velma in Chicago...,’ she began to enumerate, but Cooper lifted his hand to silence her.

‘I’m gonna stop you right there,’ he said. ‘Don’t dream of Broadway, Broadway’s dead.’

Rachel’s expression fell, and for once she had nothing to say.

‘That’s a little dramatic, though, don’t you think?,’ Kurt asked.

‘Oh my god, you too?,’ Cooper said. ‘Blainey, please tell me you’re not deluding yourself with Broadway.’

Blaine felt torn between irritation and amusement.

‘I’m considering it,’ he said diplomatically. ‘But don’t you think that maybe Broadway simply needs a little CPR? I mean, Rachel’s incredibly talented, she could really pull off any of those characters, and Kurt’s just- amazing. He could totally land a role in Company for instance.’

Rachel mouthed ‘thank you’ to him, bowing her head almost to the top of the table, while Kurt could do nothing but stare in shock. Blaine really believed he could be something more than a chorus member or an extra on Broadway? He’d never even considered how highly his friend valued his talents.

Cooper took a moment to let Blaine’s words sink in, and eventually felt forced to admit his little brother could have a point.

‘Well, if you’re really this good, then maybe there’s still hope for good old Broadway,’ he said.

Blaine grinned at him. Sometimes family wasn’t that bad.