Chapter 3.

Blaine had gone straight to his room when he arrived home. He actually still had boxes left to unpack, though none of which held pressuring matters: books, and some more of his clothes, but nothing he really needed any time soon. He sighed and let himself fall down on his new bed. It was a nice bed. It bounced a little and the mattress seemed to form to his body, the pillows were soft and his bed linen still smelled of ‘home’.

He cursed himself, knowing that he shouldn’t think of his old house as ‘home’ but should get used to calling the new house like that instead. He looked around his new room. It sure was bigger, the walls could do with a new colour but overall he couldn’t complain. His bed faced a big window which was west oriented, he’d spent his first night admiring the sunset. He had a big wardrobe in the corner of the room, his desk was on the other side accompanied by the few boxes that still needed to be unpacked. None of it was bad but neither did any of it change his mood.

He wasn’t even sure why he was so disappointed that Kurt couldn’t join him for coffee. Maybe because he’d really thought there’d be no problem, maybe because he really liked talking to Kurt and would love to be his friend or maybe - and he sighed, knowing that it wasn’t ‘maybe’ but definitely - because for the first time since Blaine had come out to his parents, Kurt made him feel something he’d never felt before.

When Kurt had arrived home, he was feeling awful. His mind had been occupied on Blaine and the hurt in his eyes. When he’d gone to pick Santana up, he still felt horrible. If he was being honest, he’d much rather spend time with Blaine.
“What took you so long?” She hissed as she got in. He let Santana kiss him, knowing it was for Mrs. Lopez, who was watching them through the window, and started the car again as they drove off. Truth was that he’d been thinking of calling off Santana and still going with Blaine, but he didn’t have his number.

When they walked into the building they slid their hands together. Kurt noticed how Santana’s face flinched a bit as they entangled their fingers. He knew she felt exactly the same as him about it all. After all this time, they could pretend as much as they wanted, but it would never feel right. It just felt weird and uncomfortable. He’d held hands with Santana more than he could count and his hands would always get clammy, as if they were protesting against it. Whereas when he thought about Blaine, all he wanted to do was to hold hands. Adding that the few times their hands had touched it had spread warmth through his body, unlike the shiver he felt now. They got themselves snacks and drinks and went into the theatre, and both let their eyes move across the badly lit room as people entered and sat down. Both were praying there’d be no one they knew.

Turned out there were only a few people and none who mattered to them. Kurt could feel how the tension in Santana’s body had disappeared, just like relief had spread through his own. Without other people around they could just be themselves: two friends watching a movie, whereas otherwise Santana would cling onto him or rest her head on his chest or shoulder. It wasn’t like he disliked Santana, he knew she was much nicer to him than she was to most people. And he knew more about her than most people too, he liked her as a friend just like he knew she liked him in her own way.

“I’ll have to drop you off at home,” Kurt mumbled as they got in the car, usually they’d get a drink afterwards, “I promised Dad that I’d come straight home as it’s a week day.”
“That’s fine. I don’t really feel like doing something anyway.” She sighed. He glanced over seeing a frown crease her forehead. Her eyes dim, her lips a tight line and she was staring at her hands in her lap.
“San, you okay?”
“I don’t know.” She sighed, playing with her fingers, “Kurt. Am I fooling myself with hoping she likes me in the same way?” It took Kurt a moment to realize she was talking about Brittany.
“San, I don’t know. Maybe-“
“I saw her earlier today, she was with this guy and I...” she shrugged it off. He grabbed her hand in a caring way, his voice soft as he spoke next, “San, if you want to call off this whole thing.” But she shook her head, “I can’t. I’m not ready, not yet.”
“I understand.” He nodded, “for what it’s worth, she’s missing out.” Kurt told her as he planted a soft kiss on her cheek.

**

As Kurt stepped out of the house he felt nervous. And it wasn’t for anything else but knowing he’d see Blaine today. After the situation on Monday, they’d barely talked again. They didn’t share many classes and after school he’d either had met up with Santana, who seemed to be doing better after the whole Brittany event, or had to help out his dad at work.
His dad had a car shop and ever since one of his employees had quit, Kurt had to jump in and help around every once and a while. It mainly consisted of doing the paperwork, as he didn’t know anything about cars.

Unlike the previous week, it was a much nicer day outside, a small sun brightened up the sky and the leaves on the trees provided a lovely colour range. He swallowed roughly before entering the coffee shop, feeling even more nervous. He waved at Sandra who was taking someone’s order at one of the tables and walked to the counter, seeing Blaine beaming at him. He smiled, “The usual?”.
“Yes please.” Kurt answered already counting out the money from his wallet. He watched how Blaine worked the machines, “you’re getting good at it.” He said as he tried to make a conversation.
“It’s easy once you get the hang of it.”
Silence.
Kurt bit his lip, wishing he knew a new reason to start a conversation. But Blaine beat him to it, “Kurt...I was wondering if I could have your number.”, he asked without looking up from his work. Kurt thought he could see a soft pink tinge on Blaine’s cheeks. The following silence was interpreted by Blaine as bad and he quickly added, “I don’t mean to sound blunt or anything. It’s just that you’re still one of the few people I know better and it’d be nice to have someone to go to if I have questions about classes or glee club and stuff.”
Kurt stood there perplex but quickly recovered and smiled. He was screaming with excitement on the inside and hope his voice would sound normal when he spoke, “Sure, course I don’t mind. Let me get a-“
“Blaine!” Sandra warned, making him aware of the short queue that had formed behind Kurt and shot Kurt a glance as to say, Stop distracting my staff. Kurt mouthed an apology to Sandra, put the money on the counter and looked to Blaine whose cheeks were a perfect shade of pink now. Blaine sounded all business like when he said, “I’ll bring the order to your table.”

Kurt bit his lip, feeling guilty as he walked to his usual spot. It didn’t take long for Blaine to bring him his coffee. “I’m so sorry.” Kurt whispered, “I’ll give you my number later.” He said as Blaine put the cup down on his table. Blaine nodded and dashed off again, an instant feeling of horror filled Kurt’s stomach. Had he ruined it? He reached for his coffee, trying to ignore the tight feeling in his chest and paused mid-air.