Aug. 1, 2015, 7 p.m.
The Switch : Chapter 9
T - Words: 3,263 - Last Updated: Aug 01, 2015 Story: Complete - Chapters: 18/? - Created: Apr 16, 2015 - Updated: Apr 16, 2015 227 0 0 0 0
There had only been a handful of truly memorable moments in Kurts life, some of them being his glee club winning Nationals, his acceptance into NYADA, and moving to New York. Then there were the memorable moments that he would rather not remember, like when his mom died, when his dad had a heart attack, when the glee club disbanded.
This moment topped the metaphoric cake.
When he walked by Blaines room earlier that day, he hadnt meant to eavesdrop. He respected that phone calls were private, but he couldnt stop himself when he heard what Blaine was saying. It wasnt everyday you had the rug pulled from under you and heard that the person you considered a great friend was deliberately lying to you about a big part of their identity. The thing he didnt understand though, was that Blaine knew that two of his best friends are famous, so why did he feel the need to lie him being a celebrity? He had hoped that once the call was finished, Blaine would come and find him to tell him what was going on. But then an hour, two hours passed, and Blaine still hadnt shown any sign of saying anything. Kurt was growing more and more upset. Why wasnt he saying anything?
So by the time the little blond girl with the pure blue eyes pleaded with Kurt to get Blaine to sign her cd, he had reached his boiling point. To make it worse, it was like a punch in the gut to walk backstage to find Blaine talking about about the situation to Mercedes of people. By then he wasnt sure what upset him most, the fact that Blaine tried so hard to keep his celebrity status a secret, or the fact that his best friend from high school knew the truth and kept it from him.
After confronting Blaine, he felt that he needed to get out of there, to get away from everything that he felt was collapsing around him. He managed to find the car service that brought them to the concert and asked the driver drop him back at the house. He left without a word, not even to Santana, who Kurt figured probably knew too. Only when the sound of the tires spinning on the gravel road had been going for a few minutes and the concert venue had become a small dot on the dark horizon did he finally allow the tears spill. He felt like he had no control of his feelings, and at this point he wasnt even sure what exactly it was he was crying about. He didnt think he could be this blind, this stupid not to realize what was going on.
He had spent MONTHS talking to Blaine, having endless conversations about everything and nothing at all. There were so many times he felt truly connected to Blaine, like Blaine was the only one in the world who really understood him, and like he was the only one Kurt ever understood. Blaine had had all the opportunities in the world to casually let it slip that he was a celebrity, but he kept it a secret. What did that say about him?
Maybe he really didnt feel as strongly for Kurt as Kurt did for him.
The sleek black car stopped in front of the house he had become so familiar with during the past three days, and he thanked the driver and asked for him to wait for a moment. He stepped out of the car and headed straight for the front door, searching his pockets for the spare key Jake had given him in case he was ever at the house alone. Unlocking the door, he entered the house and let the door slam behind him. He neglected to lock it as he proceeded to walk straight towards his guest room and began to pack. He didnt even bother to fold his clothes as he shoved them into his suitcase since he knew he only had so much time before everyone would be home, and he decided that he didnt want to be there when they did. After gathering all of his clothes, he went into the bathroom and grabbed his toiletries, making sure not to leave anything behind. With the reassuring sound of the suitcase zipper slicing through the silence of the house, he picked the suitcase up off the bed and set it down on the ground.
He glanced around the room one last time before he left, making sure he hadnt forgotten anything. Something caught his eye from the far side of the room, and he went over to look at it. The long mirror standing over the desk had a picture taped to it. He pulled it off the mirror to get a better look at it. It was from their date, the time they had taken pictures with the Hollywood sign in the distance. Blaine had insisted that they do it, hed said he wanted to have memories of their first time out in the crazy streets of LA. The picture of their smiling faces made Kurt wonder if those smiles would ever return. He let out a sigh and opened the top drawer of the dresser, pulling out a pen and a piece of paper. He began to write out a message, and when he was finished, he folded it, wrote out the names of everyone who would be coming back from the concert later, and taped it to the mirror where the picture had been. He glanced down at the photo in his hand, debating about what to do with it. After a moment, he tucked it into the front pocket of his suitcase.
Pulling out his phone, he began looking for a flight to New York set to leave in a few hours. It wasnt hard to find one, but before he pushed the "book flight" button, his fingers hovered in hesitation. At the last second, he changed the destination of his flight and booked it. And with that, he walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him and exiting the house.
~
"Thank you LA! Enjoy the rest of your night!" Blaine yelled into the mic as he waved to he crowd before heading backstage. He hated himself for preforming after what happened, but he didnt have much of a choice. His job was on the line and he hoped Kurt could understood that. He glanced around the backstage area, searching to see if Kurt was anywhere to be found. Instead he was greeted by the sight of Santana walking towards him.
"Have you seen Kurt?" Blaine asked, looking around her in case he missed Kurt walking in.
"He left."
He refocused on her. "What do you mean he left?"
"I saw him getting into a car after you went out on stage."
"Did he say anything to you before he left?" Blaine pushed.
"No, but he was walking pretty quickly in those skinny jeans, so he must have been in a hurry," she replied as she pulled out her phone. "Do you know why he wouldve gone?"
“He found out the truth, but not directly from me.”
"Nice going Hobbit!" She said smacking him on the arm, "Cmon grab your stuff, he couldnt have gone far."
"What about Mercedes? Jake is about to go on."
"Well call them on the way, now lets go!" she snapped as she grabbed his arm and dragged him out toward the cars. They waited for another car to pick them up, seeing as Kurt took the car that brought them here. After waiting a good half hour, another car pulled up and they got inside, telling the driver to step on it. They were back at the house not more then 20 minutes later, thanking the driver and rushing inside the house.
"Kurt!" Blaine called out, Santana echoing his calls. "Go check his room, Ill go walk around the house.
She nodded leaving him to head upstairs. He searched the numerous rooms, all to find them empty and exactly how he had left them. He was about to head into another room when he heard Santanas voice ringing out from downstairs. "Blaine, you might want to see this."
He rushed down the stairs and into Kurts room where Santana was standing. She gestured to the piece of notebook paper taped to the mirror with his name and Mercedes. He pulled it off the glass and unfolded it.
Dont worry about me, I just needed to get away. Dont try to come and find me, Im safe and when Im ready, Ill come back and find you. -Kurt
He took a look around the room, realizing that all of Kurts belongings were missing, and it only made Blaine feel worse about the situation. He wasnt sure what he was supposed to do now. It sounded like Kurt didnt want to be bothered and quite frankly, Blaine didnt want to push him away more then he already had.
"What did it say?" Santana asked. Blaine handed her the letter. He watched her read it and looked on as her expression changed to one empathy for him.
"Hes gone," he said sadly. "Its all my fault."
It was all his fault. The lie pushed Kurt away after he had worked so hard to get him here. He only had one question:
Where was he now?
~
It was the early hours of the morning by the time the plane landed at its destination. The sun was rising, and the sky was painted a beautiful orange-red that streamed through the window of the plane. Kurt, who had been resting his head against the window, was awoken by the sound of the flight attendants voice saying that they would be landing soon and mentioning some other details about their destination. He rubbed his eyes lightly, in an attempt to wake himself up from the quick nap he had taken. The flight had been delayed, making the wait longer than it shouldve been, and by the time he boarded the flight, he had no idea what time it really was. Now that he was on the east coast again, the time zones were screwing with his senses.
When the plane finally landed and people were leaving the plane, he turned on his phone to check the time. It was almost 6am which put him at 3am like it was in LA. No wonder he was so tired. He rolled his suitcase through the airport, stopping at a Starbucks to get some coffee in an attempt to wake up a little more. The girl who took his order looked at him a beat longer than usual before telling him the price of his drink. She probably didnt think he noticed, but it had been painfully noticeable. Then he realized that other people, mostly teenage girls, were throwing glances at him too, and it took him a minute to understand why. They recognized him. After all, he was dating Blaine Anderson.
Or at least he had been.
With that realization, he wanted nothing more than to get out of the airport as quickly as possible. He went to baggage claim and retrieved his bags quickly before heading out the doors and walking outside to where cabs were awaiting for people to get in. He made his way over one of the unusual orange looking cabs (making him miss New Yorks classic yellow ones) and got inside. He rattled off an address and waited for the cab to pull out of the airport. Thankfully, the driver easily complied with his location and began making his way to the destination. Kurt glanced out the window as the airport disappeared into the distance and was replaced by highway scenery as they got closer to the sleepy town.
After a good twenty minutes, the familiar streets he had gotten so used to seeing every day growing up became visible and brought back memories of his childhood. He passed the old dance studio his mother used to take him to every Sunday, the coffee shop he used to go to after glee club with his friends, and even his old high school. A quick glimpse revealed that the parking lot was empty and quiet, and it almost set him on edge. Finally, the man turned into his old neighborhood and he watched as the driver pulled into the driveway of a light blue house on the corner of the street. He thanked the man, giving him a tip for driving him so far, and got out the cab with his suitcase in hand.
He stood in the driveway for a moment, just staring at the house before walking up to the front door and knocking loudly making sure that he was heard. He stood there in silence for a moment, knowing it would take a while for someone to come downstairs. Finally, after a second round of knocking, the door swung open.
"Can I come in?" He asked.
Finn stood in the doorway, looking disheveled and clearly half asleep. He scratched his neck in confusion at the sight before him before moving to one side, allowing Kurt to enter. The house was still dark, Kurt assumed that everyone was still asleep. His suspicions were confirmed when Finn quietly shut the front door with a click.
"What are you doing here?"
"I needed to get away," Kurt replied. "Im sorry I didnt call, Ive just had an insane couple of days."
"Is everything okay?"
"No... not really."
"Do you want to talk about it?" Finn asked, leading him into the kitchen. The small kitchen hadnt changed the slightest since the last time he had come down for christmas. A small round table still stood in the corner of the kitchen away from the appliances that were pushed against the wall. He noticed a pot of coffee was brewing in the corner of the kitchen, the smell of the dark roast filling his nose and reminding him of his early mornings during his time in Lima. Finn gestured for him to sit down at the table as he walked over to the coffee maker and reached for two coffee mugs from the cupboard above him. Kurt made himself comfortable, letting his head fall on top of the table as he watched Finn pour the hot liquid into the mugs. When he was done, he came over to the table and set a mug in front of Kurt before sitting down in the seat across from him.
“What time do you have to be at the shop?”
“An hour or so, but it doesn't matter. I can get someone to fill in for me. Now, dont change the subject and tell me what the hell made you fly all the way from New York without a phone call. And don't tell me it's nothing because I know you. If you really just wanted to talk you would have just called me.”
Kurt flashed him a small smile, and took a sip of his coffee, enjoying the way it went down his throat smoothly and warmed his stomach. Finn was right, and Kurt hated that he was right. The only thing that had been running though his mind for the past eight hours was the look on Blaine's face all week as he laughed and smiled through everything, even though he had something to hide. “It's not nothing, it's just…. complicated, to say the least.”
“Well, I don't know about you, but I have time,” Finn said, taking a sip of his coffee and making eye contact in a way that showed Kurt he had Finns undivided attention.
Kurt sighed, glancing down at the contents of his coffee mug. “How did you know that you were really in love with Rachel?”
The question caught Finn by surprise, leaving a curious look on his face. “I don't know to be completely honest... Wait- yeah, I do know. It's kind of hard to explain, but the first time I met her, I thought she was completely insane. But she felt different, she wasn't like Quinn or any other girl that I knew. She wasn't bitchy or demanding... Well, maybe a little demanding, but that's beside the point. The point is, from that moment, she stayed stuck to my mind. No matter how many times I tried to convince myself that I was in love with Quinn, and I was supposed to be with her and only her, I still had that feeling that maybe, maybe that wasnt the case. At some point, I had to face that I felt something for Rachel. I knew that it was risky, and I didn't know if it was going to work out or if I was going to loose everything I had with both of them, friendship or more than friendship. But I told myself that risk was worth it, and I went for it. It was the best decision I ever made.”
Kurt was quiet as he averted his eyes from Finns gaze. “I've been feeling the same way about someone. We had been talking for months and he was so sweet and funny and down to earth... He even took me on the best date ever, with goofy pictures and a fancy dinner and everything... But then he kept something from me, something really big, but at the same time really small... He made a promise to never lie to me, but then he did, and now...” He broke off for a moment to compile his thoughts. “… Now I just don't know what to do.”
“Did he lie for a good reason?”
“I mean, maybe? I can kind of see why he did it. He wanted me to see him for who he really was,” Kurt said, finally looking up from his mug to look at Finn.
“Look, this is up to you. You don't have to take my advice, but apparently this was serious enough to make you to fly in all the way from the big city. If he felt the need to lie to you, he probably felt really strongly about his reason. It sounds to me like he went through a lot of trouble to make sure things went absolutely perfect with you. And if someone puts out that much effort, they're worth fighting for.”
Kurt didn't say anything, he simply glanced back down at the coffee that was beginning to grow cold in his hands. “He is really special to me.”
“Just give Blaine a chance to fix things. Don't let this one little thing destroy the your chance at happiness.”
Kurts head shot up to look at Finn in shock. “How did you know his name was Blaine…?”
“C'mon, it's all over Twitter,” Finn said as Kurt raised an eyebrow in question. “And Rachel is pretty invested in your love life. She knows everything.”
Kurt rolled his eyes at the comment. Finn reached over the table to pat his arm. “Whatever you decide to do, just really think it through, kay?”
“I will.”
Finn got up from the table, grabbing his now empty coffee mug and taking it over to the sink. “How long are you staying for? You are staying, right? Seeing as it looks like youve packed for a year.”
“I don't know,” Kurt answered truthfully.
“Well, you're welcome here. Make sure to tell Burt and Carol you're going to be here before you go and venture off though,” Finn said as he got up and began heading down the hallway. “I've gotta get ready for work. Youll be okay here?”
“Yeah, I'll be fine. Go on, I'll explain myself to them when they wake up,” Kurt replied.
Finn nodded as he disappeared down the hall and up the stairs. Kurt was left alone downstairs to think. And boy did he have things to think about.