Chapter 13

Kurt stood outside of Blaine’s door for the second time that day. He was holding take-out from a Thai place down the street. Where did he stand with Blaine? What kind of greeting was to be expected? A hug? A kiss? Maybe just a handshake? Where were they? He lifted his hand and knocked softly on the door before he could dwell on the thoughts too much.

Blaine opened the door a few moments later, with a huge smile on his face, and Kurt couldn’t help the one that spread across his own face.

“Hi,” Blaine said.

“Hi.”

Blaine scanned the other man briefly before inviting him in. Both men stood awkwardly in the front hall, wondering what they should do, what would be appropriate at this point to do.

Kurt pointed at the food in his hand. “Want to eat?”

Blaine brightened immediately, glad to have something to do or say. “Yeah! Um, let’s go to the dining area, or we could eat on the couch and watch a movie or something if you want.”

“Sure, the couch.” Kurt felt so out of place, not in a necessarily bad way, just different. He never let himself feel awkward about relationships. That meant there was a kind of emotional attachment. As they walked to the living area, Kurt thought about how much he honestly liked the boy in front of him. With that came the thought of how dangerous it was.

They sat on the couch and Kurt brought out the food, taking in the scent of the Thai spices. “I hope you like Thai food.” He smiled at Blaine as he handed him a container of food.

“I like just about anything,” he returned the smile and received the carton allowing his fingers to brush Kurt’s. They shared a glance and Blaine blushed slightly, then he had to ask, “So what are we celebrating exactly?”

Kurt’s face broke into a large grin, “Well…I got a one night show for Phantom! The director was really impressed and he’s giving me a shot.”

Blaine had already stuffed some vegetables in his mouth but he managed to show his excitement around the food. “Ohmmygod…Kur….thasgreat!”

Kurt patted Blaine’s knee, “Swallow the food. Then tell me.”

Blaine swallowed prematurely and almost choked. “That’s amazing, Kurt! I knew you could do it!” He reached over to wrap Kurt in a hug, the other boy relaxed into the embrace.

“I know. I was so excited. I honestly didn’t think it would happen. Apparently they’re giving me the chance to kick the other guy out. To prove I’m better than him.” Kurt nuzzled into Blaine’s neck. He realized how relaxed he felt with Blaine. It scared him and didn’t take him long to pull away from the comforting warmth.

“You can do it. I have faith in you.” Blaine locked his hazel gaze with blue, smiling all the while.

They continued eating and Kurt brought up Blaine’s new job. Blaine didn’t talk about his father or how he had gotten fired. He didn’t want to ruin the light mood. The conversation flowed smoothly. They discussed Rachel’s craziness, Kurt emphasized how it had never changed.  After the initial awkwardness, the boys understood again why they had done what they did that morning.

When they were done eating, Blaine suggested they watch a movie. They ended up watching RENT which both boys agreed was a great rendition of the musical. At the beginning of the film, they simply sat next to each other, Kurt’s legs folded beneath him, Blaine only a few inches away.

At some point, Blaine reached his hand over and intertwined his fingers with Kurt’s. Neither boy broke their eyes from the screen as it happened, but both grinned to themselves.

They wound up pressed against eachother, neither really knew how it had actually happened. All they knew was that Blaine had one arm around Kurt’s waist and Kurt was tucked into a ball at his side, head on Blaine’s shoulder.

Blaine realized Kurt had fallen asleep and was careful not to move as the credits started rolling. He watched the other boy sleeping. He was so peaceful, so serene. His chest rising and falling silently, like nothing in the world could interrupt his slumber.

He wasn’t sure how long he sat there, simply watching Kurt sleep, but eventually the other boy woke up.

Groggily, Kurt lifted his head, he saw that he was almost in Blaine’s lap, but he didn’t jump. He didn’t shy away. He only yawned. He lifted his eyes to Blaine’s and smiled warmly at him. “Hi.”

Blaine smiled back, but didn’t respond.

Kurt looked at the clock and saw how late it was. “I guess I’d better go.”

Blaine nodded and helped Kurt to his feet. He led him to the door and stood awkwardly for a moment. They faced eachother in the front hall, tentatively. After a moment, Kurt leaned over and kissed Blaine firmly, but cautiously on the lips.

Blaine kissed him back with the same force. He let himself drown in the softness of Kurt’s lips for the second time that day. He felt drunk from the sensation.

It wasn’t long before Kurt was pulling away. “I really do need to go.”

“Mmmkay.”

Blaine watched as Kurt squeezed his hand and walked to the door with a small smile on his face. He opened the door and was gone.

Kurt’s introductions with the cast of Phantom went smoothly. Everyone was very kind, although many of them didn’t understand how he had gotten the debut so easily. He had trouble keeping the names straight in his head. He had to focus on not only putting names with faces but also with parts and it was all very confusing.

The director, Paul Gendry, had him sing for the cast, so they could become familiar with his voice.  Kurt was nervous at first, but when he saw the positive reaction his audience gave, he became more confident.

The primary de Chagny, who Kurt learned was named Damon, hadn’t shown to the rehearsal.

Since most of the cast knew their parts backwards and forwards, they ran through the scenes Kurt would perform. The process took a few hours and Kurt was utterly exhausted by the time they took their first break.

He was sitting in the audience chairs, drinking a long-deserved bottle of water, when the girl who played Christine came over to sit next to him. She was a perfect Christine, with gorgeous dark red curls and porcelain skin. She was tall, but didn’t overcome Kurt’s height. Kurt appreciated her beauty, but at the same time, didn’t find himself attracted to the girl in the least.

She extended a hand to him, saying, “I know Paul made general introductions earlier, but my name is Julianna. Everyone calls me Julie, though.”

He smiled and took the hand, swallowing the water in his mouth. “Kurt Hummel. Of course, I guess you know that already.”

She pulled her hand away, sitting it in her lap, a small smile playing at her lips. “I suppose we all do.”

They both sat in silence for a minute, Kurt wondering exactly what she wanted before she spoke up again, “You’re good, new kid. Really good.”

He wasn’t sure how to respond, but decided gratitude would be best. “Um, thanks. I try.”

“I can tell. So I was wondering if you’d want to come over to my place later and run lines or something? It’s kind of my tradition to get to know any new cast members.” What she was saying was innocent enough, but Kurt knew that look. He’d seen it a million times. The raised eyebrows, enticing hidden meanings in her eyes. She didn’t just want to run lines that night.

He was about to politely decline when the director called that break was over.  Julianna patted his knee and said, “It’s okay, you can have some time to think about it. Just let me know after rehearsal.” Then she winked. If there had been any doubt in Kurt’s mind, that cleared it up.

They didn’t get through many more scenes that day, probably due to the fact that Kurt was so distracted from that point on. He knew he couldn’t afford distraction if he wanted to do well, but he couldn’t help wondering.

He and Blaine had never set up an actual relationship. There wasn’t any kind of commitment yet. It would be so easy to just tell Julianna yes, have a one night thing and go back to his old self. Plus, he would be saving Blaine the inevitable torture that he himself was so afraid of. Why make anyone go through that kind of torture if they didn’t have to?

At the same time though, Kurt couldn’t brush the feeling he would be blowing off his only opportunity to do something he actually really wanted. To have someone that could mean something to him. That’s why when rehearsal was over, Kurt made his way to Julianna who was having a conversation with another cast member and declined her offer. Although there was insecurity and indecision in his voice when he said it, he knew he’d done the right thing.

The girl just smiled at him though, “That’s okay, Hummel, I’m not the type to just give up after one try.” She winked again and turned back to her conversation.

A little unsettled by the exchange, Kurt slowly walked back to his apartment.

Blaine was sitting on his couch watching football when Wes came into the apartment. He’d been gone for a few days, but Blaine hadn’t thought much of it. They typically didn’t bother eachother with doting questions or concerns.

“Hey, man. Where have you been?”

 “I had a bunch of work to do. I had to go to New Jersey for a few days. Sorry, I didn’t really let you know. I told Santana to relay the message, but I guess she didn’t.”

“No. Well, she did, but she mentioned it would only be one day.”

Wes shrugged and grabbed a beer from their fridge before taking a seat next to his friend. “Speaking of the devil, where is she?”

“She left…Well, I kicked her out.” He didn’t take his eyes off the screen, but anticipated Wes’s reaction.

“Woah! Seriously? That’s amazing, Blaine. Why, though?”

Blaine sighed, “Long story, short: We slept together then I realized I didn’t want her like that anymore and kicked her out.” He turned his head to look at his friend.

Wes lifted his hand for a high five and Blaine gave it to him. “Good job, Blaine. I didn’t know you had it in you.”

They both went back to watching the television before Wes asked, “So, anything else new?”

Blaine gave the impression of thinking, then he said, “Well, I think I might be gay.”

His friend just nodded and said, “That would explain some things. Good to know.”

“Yep.”

“Glad we could talk about it.”

“Mmm, me too.”

They continued watching TV in silence. No awkwardness, or anything unspoken. Just two friends enjoying a football game.