Aug. 1, 2015, 7 p.m.
The Switch : Chapter 17
T - Words: 2,962 - Last Updated: Aug 01, 2015 Story: Complete - Chapters: 18/? - Created: Apr 16, 2015 - Updated: Apr 16, 2015 243 0 0 0 0
Blaine found out the hard way just how hardcore Kurt and his family were about holidays. He had absolutely no idea what time Kurt, quite literally, rolled out of bed the next morning. He still wasnt completely caught up with the time difference, so he had decided to give his groggy, disoriented self a few extra hours of sleep while Kurt did god knows what downstairs. When he finally did get up, he felt more energized than he did that morning and actually had the energy to get himself dressed properly. He pulled on the outfit he had picked out after Kurt invited him to come to Ohio, and at himself in the mirror. It made him incredibly happy to know that Kurt and his closets friends were getting along well. He knew how insane they could get, even if high school was already years behind them, so it was a relief that Kurt wasnt running for the hills yet. It probably helped that there were no utterly random explosions that went off when they were on school grounds, which was progress for Drew and Satoru, who always seemed to be destroying SOMETHING in Windsor House. Along with the night at Dalton, there were those three words that the two had exchanged sleepily as they were about to crash. Blaine wasnt sure if Kurt remembered any of it, seeing as though Kurts brain seemed to forget things after being up at a certain time of the night. Blaine was hoping that wasnt the case because even though Kurt might be thinking of everything else BUT that, it was the only thing Blaine could think about. For now though, he decided to see how Kurt acted around him and hope for the best.
After finally pulling himself from the mirror, he headed downstairs where music was playing from the kitchen. When he rounded the end of the hall, he peaked around the corner to see a fully decorated red, white, and blue kitchen and living room. Someone was clearly going all-out for the Fourth of July party. Kurt, who was clad in white skinny jeans, a flag print dress shirt, and red high tops, was standing with his back facing Blaine, and singing along to the song that just came up on his phone.
Do you ever feel like a plastic bag
Drifting through the wind, wanting to start again?
Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin
Like a house of cards, one blow from caving in?
He danced around to the oven where he checked something that was cooking.
Do you ever feel already buried deep six feet under?
Screams but no one seems to hear a thing
Do you know that theres still a chance for you
Cause theres a spark in you
Blaine couldnt help himself from jumping in.
You just gotta ignite the light and let it shine
The new voice that suddenly blended with his and Katy Perrys seemed to catch Kurt off guard, making him stop momentarily to hear his boyfriend sing the next line of the song.
Just own the night, like the 4th of July
Kurt mentally kicked himself as he joined in to sing the chorus.
Cause, baby, youre a firework
Come on, show em what youre worth
Make em go, "Aah, aah, aah"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y
At this point, Blaine was sitting on top of the countertop in the middle of the kitchen, singing loudly and making excessive hand movements at Kurt, who was already beginning to laugh through his singing.
Baby, youre a firework
Come on, let your colours burst
Make em go, "Aah, aah, aah"
Youre gonna leave em all in awe, awe, awe
Kurt walked closer to Blaine, reaching behind him to grab a remote from off the counter. He pressed the volume button which turned the music down low enough for them to talk normally. He set the remote back down on the counter as he looked at Blaine, who was smiling down at him for once in his life. Kurt quirked an eyebrow, letting his lip fall into a slight pout as he reached up onto his tippy toes. "I dont like this."
"Why, you dont like that youve lost your height advantage against me?"
"Yes," Kurt answered, watching as Blaine projected a fake frown.
"Let the short guy have the advantage for once."
"Fine, but just this once," Kurt said, reaching up a little higher to let his lips meet with Blaines. He hummed in happiness as they pulled away, just staring at each other thoughtfully.
"Good morning."
"I think we got a little late for good morning when you slept past noon. Its already getting close to five, and people are coming over soon," Kurt said as the buzzer went off for whatever he was cooking. He backed away from Blaine, spinning around to face the oven before slowly opening it, revealing a huge covered dish. He grabbed the oven mitt from the countertop in front of him and slowly pulled it off the oven rack. He then proceeded to set it down on the counter in front of him.
"What did you make?" Blaine asked as he attempted to peak around Kurt to get a look at it from where he was sitting.
"My own recipe for mac n cheese," Kurt answered, pushing it off to the side where it would be kept away from any reaching hands. "I was never a fan of the easy way."
"Yeah, but the easy way is EASY. It doesnt require a lot of effort, and its actually got a normal serving size. This could easily feed two football teams."
"Well, you have CLEARLY never met my brother."
Blaine raised an eyebrow in response. He knew quite a lot about Finn from what Kurt had told him, and with the stories he told, he realized it shouldnt have surprised him at all. Almost exactly on cue, the tall football player came stumbling into the kitchen. "HEY KURT, RACH AND I- oh..." he stopped as he his eyes came into contact with Blaines. "Hi, Blaine, when did you get in?"
"Uh yesterday afternoon. You must be Finn," Blaine said, holding out his hand.
"... Uh, yeah, Im Finn," he replied, awkwardly taking Blaines hand and shaking it.
The doorbell rang from down the hall. "Ill get it!" he said excitedly, scampering down the hall and hitting his foot against the kitchen doorway in the process. Blaine snorted out a laugh, watching him hold his foot for a second before going to get the door. "He would be such good friends with Reed. They both seem to be accident prone."
Kurt hummed in agreement as he pulled Blaine off the top of the island, getting a good look at him. "You know, I didnt get a chance to comment on your outfit, Im impressed." Blaine glanced down at his light blue dress shirt, red fitted pants, and his black converse. Kurt straightened out his blue and white starred bowtie. "You look hot," He kissed him briefly before the two were interrupted.
"Ah Kurt, Blaine, there are visitors at the door for you!" Finn yelled, and the two pulled away from each other to see about their guests. When they joined Finn at the door, Wes, David, Logan, Shane, Reed, and the twins were standing there with smiles.
"Hello Alice! Hello Rabbit!" The twins exclaimed. Finn just stared at them wordlessly.
"They called me Bandersnatch when I opened the door…"
"Guys, what are you doing here?" Blaine exclaimed happily.
"Kurt texted us to say that you guys were having a party and asked if we wanted to come," Shane answered.
"How did you even-" Blaine asked turning to Kurt.
"I stole your phone when I got up and texted them," Kurt replied with a smirk. "It helped that I know your password. Come on in guys!"
The seven boys piled into the front hallway, filtering into the kitchen. "Do I smell Mac N Cheese?!" Wes asked excitedly as he looked around the kitchen for the source of the smell.
"Yes- Tweedles, dont touch it! Kurt just took it out of the oven!" Blaine said to the boys as they reached for the covered dish. They backed away from it with sad looks on their faces.
Blaine turned back to Kurt who just appeared by his side again. "You did this for me?"
"Of course I did, theyll be my friends one day too," Kurt said, reaching for his hand and intertwining their fingers together. "And they werent the only people I invited."
Blaine raised an eyebrow before turning toward the hall where he heard footsteps.
"Coop!" Blaine said as he rushed over to hug his brother. The older brother laughed as he embraced his younger sibling. "Youre here!"
"Of course I am! I wanted to spend some time with my two favorite Ander-brothers," Cooper replied. His smile grew when Shane came over and joined to make it a group hug.
"God, it feels like its been FOREVER since Ive seen you!" Shane said.
"Six months almost," Cooper replied as he released them from the death grip he had been holding them in. His attention turned to Kurt who was shadowing behind Kurt. "So, you must be him."
"Yeah, my names Kurt," he said as he held out his hand, only to be pulled into a hug. He was surprised but recovered quickly and hugged the older Anderson back. By now, he was used to all of the hugging that went around. It seemed that that was just how most of the Andersons were. When he was released, he noticed Sabrina was at his side, smiling.
"Thanks for the call," she said, hugging him briefly. "I see you patched things up with Uncle B."
"Yes, we have," Kurt said, once again lacing his fingers with Blaines.
"Well, it better stay that way, or Ill be after you Hummel," she said with a serious face but a mocking tone. She laughed as she walked over to talk to the others.
Kurt left Blaine to talk to Cooper and moved to talk to Logan. "Wheres Julian?"
"He had to fly back to Georgia to film some scenes. I dont leave until tomorrow since my call time is tomorrow afternoon," Logan replied as he took a sip of something from a red solo cup.
"Oh, thats too bad," Kurt said as he filled himself a glass of something he had picked up from the store earlier.
"Thanks for the invite, youve got quite the setup here," Logan said, glancing around the room and outside to where tables of food were set up.
"Youre welcome, its nice for Blaine to spend time with his old friends. Ive heard the stories and he seemed to love you guys a lot."
"Not as much as he loves you," Logan said casually.
Kurt blushed as the brief moment from last night flooded his memory. "He still loves you guys just as much."
The two were interrupted when Burt appeared by the open sliding glass door with a stained apron and a spatula in hand. "Whos hungry?!"
He earned a round of cheers and all conversations were forgotten as the boys swarmed outside to get some food.
The following hour brought Kurts friends to the house. So far Blaine had talked to Tina, who he had met up with in New York, her boyfriend Mike, Sam, Quinn, Puck, who had shaved his mohawk down after joining the military, and Artie. He was about to eat his hotdog when a blond girl came over to him.
"Are you Kurts dolphin?"
"What?" Blaine mumbled through a mouthful of kosher meat.
"Kurts dolphin."
"Im his boyfriend, if thats what you mean," he finally said after swallowing his food.
"Im just so happy that my unicorn found another dolphin to love."
"Uh, thank you?" Blaine said, confused as she wandered over to the twins and said something about finding the end of the rainbow someday.
"So I see youve met Brittany."
Blaine turned to see Burt standing next to him, smiling ever so slightly. "Shes quite the character."
"Thats a bit of an understatement," Burt replied.
Blaine turned his gaze back towards the party goers, catching Kurts festive outfit from the corner of the yard. He smiled as he watched Kurt laugh and playfully punch Pucks arm. Kurt flicked a look toward Blaine and smiled at him reassuringly when he noticed his father standing beside him. "You know, he cares a lot about you."
Blaine turned his attention back towards Burt who was also watching Kurt from the distance. "I mean, when I had first found out that he was dating a celebrity, I couldnt help but think this was going to end badly. That he was being played that he was going to get dumped because the guy lost interest in him. I heard the way he talked about you, saw the way his eyes lit up when he brought up your name in a conversation. I knew then that he had really fallen for you. I mean, you guys couldnt be any father apart, but you always seem to make the distance feel like absolutely nothing."
"When you really love someone, those things dont really seem to matter."
Burt just looked at him for a moment. "Can I ask you something?"
"Anything."
"Do you love my son?"
Blaine paused for a moment, his mouth open but no words coming out. "I…. Burt. I.. love your son more then anything in the world. And I know that its only been a handful of months since we met, but, I love him. I really do, and I need you to know I would never do anything to hurt him again."
He paused for a beat. "I believe you."
"I think he honestly may be it for me," Blaine said quietly, his head dropping down to hide his faint blush.
"I have a feeling youll be around for a while, kiddo," Burt said, clasping his shoulder with a strong hand. "And Im okay with that."
Blaine smiled at Burt. "Me too."
~
When night fell, everyone gathered around a rather large campfire and roasted marshmallows as they watched the orange flame crackle. Kurt watched from the under the large oak tree listening to Sabrina and Jake, who had just showed up a few minutes ago with a rather happy looking Mercedes ("Im SO going to kill you and Anderson later for not telling me!") sing around the campfire. It started with the two of them just singing Sabrinas new song, but minutes later the veteran Warblers and New Directions joined in singing cheesy campfire songs. With all the activity happening, Blaine and Kurt barely had a minute to themselves. The group sang songs for a good hour or two and by the time they had stopped, Kurt was in need of an escape. He left the campfire, heading inside to pour him and Blaine a drink. When he emerged from the house with two rum and cokes in hand, he scanned the area in search of Blaine, and it wasnt long before he spotted his boyfriend standing in the corner of the yard. Kurt was about to go over to talk to him, but then Blaine suddenly laughed at something, and Kurt realized that he had been talking to Logan. Logan playfully smacked Blaine on the shoulder and laughed along with him. Kurt continued to watch the two engage in a conversation, smiling and playing around.
"They have a history you know."
Kurt turned to see Shane standing next to him, looking in the same direction he was. "The two were pretty close in high school. Went strong for a good year or two."
"What happened?"
"Well, a lot of things," Shane said, "But I mean, in the end, he wasnt meant to be with him."
"Did he love him?" Kurt asked, surprising himself in the process.
"Doesnt matter."
"Why not?" Kurt questioned, looking over at Shane who took a sip of whatever was in his cup.
"Because he has you. And believe me, he loves you more then you know."
Kurt just watched as Shane looked at him, smiled, then walked away to talk to Wes and David. Kurt turned back to see that Blaine was now laying on a hammock alone. He took the opportunity to walk over to him and catch him by surprise. He set the drinks down on the grass by a tree and all but toppled into Blaine who grunted at the surprise attack.
"Gosh, Kurt! Give a guy a warning before you do that!" he said as Kurt laughed from on top of his stomach. Kurt rolled over to his side slightly, getting off of Blaines chest so he could breathe.
"We finally get some alone time and you kill the mood," Blaine teased.
"Well, I mean, the mood isnt completely killed, right?" Kurt said with a pout before kissing his lips softly and sighing happily when Blaine began to kiss back. The two of them laid there for a while, exchanging kisses and thoughtful looks. Finally, Kurt pulled back and looked at Blaine who had his eyes still closed and a soft smile on his face.
"Blaine?"
"Hm?"
"Did you really mean what you said to me last night?"
Blaine opened his eyes, turning in the hammock slightly to get a better look at him. "What do you mean?"
"When you told me you loved me last night, did you mean it?"
Blaine softly smiled at him, pulling him back on top of his chest so that Kurt was looking directly down at him. He leaned up to kiss Kurt sweetly on the lips, hoping it would say everything that needed to be said. "I meant it more than anything Ive ever said to you."
Kurt smiled, still only inches from his lips. "Say it again?" he whispered.
Blaine waited a moment, just watching him. "I love you."
"I love you too."
And almost as if it was the perfect ending to a disney movie, fireworks exploded in bright, vibrant colors across the night sky and made the two smile as they got out of the hammock and laid on their backs to watch. Blaine wrapped an arm around Kurts shoulder and Kurt rested his head on Blaines.
"And dont you ever forget it," he whispered in his ear