Chapter 4

                When they arrived at Kurt’s apartment, the first thing Blaine noticed was how pristine it was.  Everything was clean and put away nicely, so much unlike his and Wes’s disorderly apartment.  He also noticed that it seemed like Kurt lived alone.  There was only one bedroom for one, and also the apartment didn’t seem to hold the same two-of-everything feeling that Blaine’s did.  That by itself was strange. Who lived by themselves in an apartment in New York City?

“Maybe you should just stay here for tonight,” he heard from the kitchen.

“Wha- Why?”

Kurt scanned his eyes over Blaine’s drunken form and decided he would, for the second time that week, be a nice person. “Because you are as drunk as a redneck on Super Bowl Day.  And I don’t think you’re fit for walking home in New York.  We need to do something about your drinking problem.”

“No, I’m not!” Blaine shouted, but then realized that everything around him was kind of swimming.  And it was hard to walk in a straight line. “Okay, maybe a little.”

“Yeah. Okay, I’m going to get you some sheets and you can set yourself up on the couch. Oh, I’ll get you some pants and a t-shirt too. No one wants to sleep in wet jeans and a button-down.” He gave a small smile and headed back to his bedroom. 

He went over to his dresser and looked for comfortable pants. Why don’t I have any sweatpants? He asked himself. Oh, right I swore those off. Kurt usually either slept naked or in his underwear anyways.  He continued to rifle through his pant options before finally finding a pair of old pajama pants his dad bought for him a while back.  The next part was easy, Kurt had plenty of white t-shirts laying around.  He grabbed a set of sheets next and headed back out.

When he reached the living room, Blaine was over at his stereo, scrolling through the songs on his iPod.  “See something you like?” he asked.

Blaine jumped slightly at the appearance of the other boy, and put the iPod down. “You have a lot of Katy Perry.”

“She’s one of my favorites,” Kurt smiled and Blaine cracked a grin as well.

“No way! Me too. I sing along to her songs all the time!”

Kurt laughed and walked over to the kitchen. He started to make a pot of coffee, as Blaine realized the clothing was sitting on the couch. 

Without thinking, Blaine tugged his shirt off and unfolded the white one on the couch.

Kurt glanced up momentarily to see a shirtless Blaine.  Wow, he thought.  Blaine was so toned, and muscular.  Kurt could mainly see his back, and he couldn’t help but be amazed.   Everything about him seemed…perfect. He just couldn’t stop staring…

Oh, shit, Kurt thought. Stop it. No. Look away. STOP.

Blaine realized a little too late that it was probably awkward just to pull off his shirt like that. “Crap,” he stuttered, “Um.” He looked over at Kurt who was staring at him, dumbfounded.  “I’ll just go to the…uh, bathroom.”

Kurt lifted a finger, pointing to a door on the far wall.  As soon as Blaine disappeared behind the door, Kurt ran to the kitchen sink. He turned on the faucet and splashed cold water in his face, cursing all the while.

When he was done, he did what he always did anytime he got… those feelings.  He thought about girls. Sex with girls. That was what he wanted. That was what he needed. Nothing else.  Normally, though, it happened easily.  He pushed the feeling away without a second thought, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t push the image of Blaine’s naked torso from his mind.  Instead of girls, he decided to put every ounce of conscious thought into making coffee. And it worked.

Until Blaine walked out of the bathroom in pajama pants and a t-shirt. The other man had successfully washed the gel out of his hair. Kurt had been right when he thought it must’ve looked better that way.   The curls were so dark and looked soft to the touch.  So relaxed, so casual, so…attractive.

Blaine gave a shy smile, and sat down on the couch. He was sort of stumbling, because of the alcohol, but he made it there. 

Kurt decided to end the awkward silence. “Coffee?”

“I’d love some, actually.”

Kurt silently made the coffee, which was now done brewing. A cup for each of them. “Cream? Sugar?”

Blaine laughed, “A lot of it.”

Kurt, who typically just drank it black, managed to find the half-and-half and sugar.  He made Blaine’s and headed over to the couch.

They both sat there, a good two feet between them, and drank their coffee.  The whole thing was just… uncomfortable.

Blaine finally spoke up, laughing, “Not many people see me without the gel, except for maybe my friend Wes.”

“I don’t know why you don’t wear it like that all the time,” Kurt said.

“It’s kind of a long story.”

“I’ve got time,” Kurt smiled.

Blaine seemed to think for a minute, then decided, “Another time maybe. You said you wanted to discuss things with me?”

“Oh, right,” Perfect, Kurt thought, this will get my mind off of that. “Okay, a little bit of critique. Well to start off you should have introduced yourself to her right away, instead of standing there listening to me talk to them for ten minutes, you wasted too much time…”

Blaine listened as Kurt explained everything he did wrong. He slowly realized it was more than just “a little bit.” Some of it was harsh, but he could take the criticism. And unlike with the girl at the bar, he actually listened to what Kurt had to say. He enjoyed listening to Kurt talk. He was so fluent with his words most of the time.  He felt like Kurt enjoyed being listened too as well. 

Wrapping up his monologue Kurt said, “Overall, I think you got extremely lucky, she was drunk and obviously easy.”

Blaine had to admit he was right, he basically hadn’t done anything and the girl had still attempted to make out with him.  So he nodded.

“In addition to my observations, though, we have to take in her criticisms,” Kurt smiled and looked like he was holding back a laugh.

Blaine was confused, but then remembered the girl’s parting words. “Oh.”

Kurt laughed and stood up. “So what to do, what to do. Um okay, would you be opposed to making out with a piece of fruit? Or maybe I could get a friend of mine to handle this one.”

Blaine’s eyes looked like they were going to pop out. “Wait, you actually want to give me kissing lessons? That’s crazy!”

“Well, yeah, of course I do.  That’s what this is. I am helping you get girls, and apparently you suck at kissing. Kissing is a huge part of that. If you can’t kiss we have no chance in this.”

“Ew. Okay. Um well yes I am opposed to making out with a fruit. That’s just weird,” Blaine sighed and laid his head on the back of the couch in exasperation.

“Okay. Yeah that would be kind of strange. What about my friend? I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.” As soon as he said it though, Kurt realized that was a bad idea.  He’d seen Rachel kiss guys before. And he definitely would not consider her an expert in the matter.  “No, no that wouldn’t work.” He paced back and forth in front of the couch where Blaine still sat.  You know who is an expert in kissing though, the thought crept up in his mind, You. He tried to push it away and think of other options. But it kept popping up. Not a good idea.

Blaine spoke up, “Well? Any ideas.”

Kurt gave a nervous laugh, “Yeah, I have one. We won’t go there though.”

“What is it?”

Kurt sighed, “I could always teach you myself.”

Blaine didn’t understand, but then Kurt’s words sunk in. Teach him himself…oh. “Oh. How would that work?”

“It wouldn’t be any different than kissing a girl. You could just use your imagination,” Kurt looked away quickly, sort of ashamed by his idea.

“It’s not a bad idea,” Blaine assured him. “We could just pretend, I guess.”

“Yeah. We could do that,” Kurt was surprised that he agreed so easily, but then again the other man was still sort of drunk.  Probably not thinking clearly. Kurt cleared his throat and walked to the couch. He sat down beside Blaine, a little closer this time.

“Right now?” he looked surprised. 

“I don’t see a better time, do you?” He couldn’t think about anything besides the lesson he reminded himself.  Blaine nodded, so he decided to go for it. “Close your eyes, and just imagine that I’m some pretty girl. Santana or someone.”

He watched Blaine close his eyes.  Blaine conjured up an image of Santana in his mind. He could do this. It wouldn’t be hard.

Kurt took a deep breath and leaned in. He heard Blaine gasp when their lips met.  Kurt closed his eyes as well, and focused on the feeling. They just kissed shallowly at first, nothing special, but then Kurt decided it was time to move on.  He pulled his mouth back for a second and breathed out, “Just focus on what I’m doing, mimic me if you want.”

He pressed his lips to Blaine’s again, but this time he pressed his tongue to Blaine’s bottom lip. Blaine opened his mouth and let him in. Their tongues tangled together, the kiss becoming heated.  Blaine attempted to think about Santana the whole time, but all he could think about were blue eyes. Kurt’s eyes. He opened his own to look at Kurt. Kurt’s eyes were closed and he looked peaceful, serene.  He closed his eyes again and focused on what Kurt was doing. Kurt was really good at this.

Kurt had to admit, Blaine was definitely not a bad kisser. He could taste the alcohol on his breath, but couldn’t bring himself to care. It felt so good, kissing Blaine.  He realized Blaine’s hand had found its way to the back of his neck, and he snapped back to reality. Kurt pulled away, and got up.

“Not bad. I’ll um give you pointers tomorrow. Gotta get to bed though, for work tomorrow.” He walked briskly to his bedroom before turning around. “You never gave me that audition, by the way.  I expect that before you get any more lessons.”

He practically slammed the door, before sliding down to the floor and covering his face with his hands.

Not again.