Chapter 19

Kurt was glad Finn agreed to drive their car to San Francisco. It gave him the opportunity to snuggle up to Blaine as much as their seat belts allowed, and watch the glimmer of the ocean. They chose the longer way to stay close to the water and enjoy the views. For once Rachel wasn’t talking, only humming something under her breath, making the ride peaceful and pleasant.

The novelty of being this way with Blaine was starting to wear off, but it didn’t stop Kurt from marvelling at it still. Getting to be woken up by a gentle brush of lips on his forehead, to be holding hands with someone at all possible times, to steal sweet soft kisses when nobody was paying much attention, and to be kissed goodnight at lights out every single night was everything Kurt had ever wanted. And no one else could have known this, but Blaine.

He only wished they had more privacy, instead of being locked with Finn and Rachel in the speeding car.

‘Where in San Francisco are we even going?,’ Finn asked finally when they were passing the Santa Cruz Mountains on their right.

‘The Castro, of course,’ Rachel replied like she was telling him the sky is blue.

‘Yeah, I know, but you know- is that like- what exactly?’

Kurt rolled his eyes, but resisted the urge to straighten up and smack his brother on the back of his head. That would require him leaving the comfortable place where he was wrapped in Blaine’s arm.

‘Only the first and most renown of America’s gay districts,’ he said. ‘We watched Milk together, Finn. Don’t you remember anything?’

‘Oh, that movie about that gay politician guy, I remember.’ Finn nodded energetically. ‘I kinda fell asleep at some point, so I could miss something.’

Blaine chuckled at the response, earning a glare from his boyfriend.

‘Well, if there’s one person who can doze off while watching an Academy-awarded movie, it is definitely you, my dear brother,’ Kurt said.

‘I was sleepy!,’ Finn exclaimed defensively, glancing back at Kurt.

‘Eyes on the road, please!,’ Rachel cut in.

Finn sighed heavily. ‘So where are we going?’

‘Golden Gate Bridge first,’ his brother answered, grinning widely.

***

‘This is just-‘

‘Incredible,’ Blaine finished for Kurt, their eyes peering outside, into the dazzling brightness of the sunshine reflected by the water on both sides of the bridge.

Kurt nodded in agreement. Going there first had initially felt a little cheesy, but driving through the bridge that seemed never-ending and seeing the beauty surrounding them, proved it was a good decision. They’d get to see other sights tomorrow.

They stopped by one of the roads in the recreation area by the other end of the bridge. The view of the bay was breathtaking, and while everyone else was stretching their legs by the cars, Kurt walked to a short wall circling the coast, soaking up the wonders. His lips formed an unconscious little smile; the world was such a perfect place in this moment. And even though he was startled at first when warm arms wrapped him in a tight embrace, the feeling went away as quickly as it came, as he realised it was just Blaine. That only made everything complete.

‘You like it?,’ Blaine whispered, careful not to destroy the magic of the moment.

‘Very much so. You?’

‘Yeah, I do too. But it wouldn’t be half as amazing if you weren’t here with me.’

Kurt’s smile widened, as he turned his head to glance at Blaine. The hazel eyes were still capable of stunning him with their depth and surprise him with the intensity of their gaze. He liked to imagine they were hiding all the love Blaine had for him, but there was no way he could love him that deeply. It didn’t fail to warm up Kurt’s insides to think that, anyway.

Sometimes when Blaine looked into Kurt’s eyes, he felt like he was drowning, but somehow it wasn’t a bad feeling. It was more like he was falling through some sort of a liquid substance that wouldn’t let him go, while making him feel safer than he’d ever felt in his life. The fact that the ocean was the exact same colour as Kurt’s irises didn’t help.

‘Hey! Snap out of that gooey romanticism, unless you wanna be out of the group photos!,’ Santana called to them.

They sighed in unison, but turned back to their friends, grinning. There was nothing better to be scolded for than being ridiculously, childishly in love.

***

‘Excuse me, if I may,’ the receptionist in the motel asked, her eyes skipping from one to the next person in the group, ‘but which three of you are going to be sharing a room? We’re a family establishment, after all.

She sent them an abashed, apologizing smile. Kurt frowned, glancing behind him, where he could swear he say a plaque calling the motel gay friendly.

‘That will be me and these two,’ Rachel answered as sweetly as she could, pointing to Finn and Puck.

‘Oh.’ The receptionist dazzled them with another flash of teeth. ‘I’m sorry, then. It’s kinda hard to be a third wheel, huh?,’ she added in a hushed voice to Rachel.

‘I’m the third wheel here,’ Puck cut in.

‘I’m sorry,’ the receptionist repeated, her cheeks growing red by the second. ‘I suppose I should just give you your keys.’

Kurt’s eyes dropped to the name tag on the girl’s uniform. It said Claudia, and below the name was a smaller caption I’m still learning!. As he reached for the keycard she handed them, he smiled at her kindly.

‘Don’t worry, nobody got offended,’ he assured her.

‘I hope so, I don’t want to screw things up at the start...’

‘You didn’t,’ Blaine cut in. ‘Thanks.’

‘If you need anything, just call the reception,’ Claudia added, clearly relieved.

‘It’s good that didn’t happen two years ago, because old Puck wouldn’t have taken it this good,’ Kurt said, as they were walking away towards their room, everybody else well ahead of them.

Blaine couldn’t hold back a chuckle, but it died as soon as it appeared.

‘You’re probably right. People change, and everything we’ve been through, everything that happened- It would be impossible to stay the same after all that.’

Kurt nodded solemnly, his mind drifting back to the events of the last year.

‘Yeah... Though it’s tragic change rarely sets in on its own.’

***

Their lights were already out, but neither really wanted to go to sleep. The sounds of the city hummed somewhere outside, slipping past their notice. They had their attention tuned in to absorb one another and nothing else.

They could barely see anything in the glow from the window; it didn’t matter, though. Their bodies were pressed against one another in the most innocent of ways, longing for nothing more than closeness. It seemed impossible they could ever get enough of that. Not even a week passed since their confessions had been made, but they already knew how serious it was, how committed they were. If Kurt only knew Blaine’s thoughts, he’d be going down on his knee within another week.

‘If I wasn’t going to move to New York, I’d move here,’ Kurt said after a moment of companionable silence.

‘Yeah? But there’s no Broadway here.’

‘True,’ Kurt agreed. ‘And I’d have few opportunities to show off my fabulous collection of scarves, but there are other things.’

Blaine’s hand began to wander down Kurt’s chest, sending shivers through him.

‘Other things?’

‘Other things,’ Kurt repeated. ‘Like- There aren’t many cities in America that have a huge flag pole in the town centre with the gay pride flag on it, right?’

‘This might just be the only one,’ Blaine acquiesced.

‘And if I- if we lived here,’ Kurt said cautiously. There was no protest at the plural pronoun, so he went on, ‘nobody would pick on us. We’d be just another couple in love, as we should be.’

Blaine smiled, unsure his boyfriend could even see his expression.

‘So this is what we are? Just another couple in love?’

‘When you say it like that, it sounds awfully ordinary,’ Kurt said, faking discontent.

‘We don’t want ordinary, do we?,’ Blaine asked playfully.

‘No, we do not want ordinary,’ Kurt confirmed, grinning back. ‘Because, mister, you and I are not ordinary. We. Are. Awesome.’

Joy bubbled in the both of them, and they laughed.

‘Yes, we are. Totally awesome.’