River Flows In You

Chapter 4 - Bowling

“I’m sorry about those guys, Blaine.” Kurt says quietly and looks at the dashboard.

“It certainly is not your fault, Kurt.” Blaine says and holds his hand out toward him.

“I should have just ignored them and walked you out of there before they upset you.”

“Kurt. Look at me.”

Kurt raises his gaze to meet Blaine’s hazel eyes.

“Let’s forget about this for now and have a really fun time tomorrow, with Blair.” Blaine continues and puts a hand on Kurt’s cheek.

Kurt nods.

“I’m sorry for scaring you. I have… a bad temper sometimes. You don’t mess with-“ Creatures like me… Creatures with the powers that I possess. “The people I care about.”

 “You care about me?” Kurt says and looks hopeful.

“Duh! As you Americans would say.” Blaine smiles. “Oh! Before I forget!” Blaine pulls his new phone out of his pocket. “Sean got me this!”

“What? Sean bought you an iPhone?” Kurt looks chocked.

“Yeah. He said I will need it so I can talk to you. He is my best friend back home. He bought me a bed for my birthday last year.”

“Wow. That is one good straight-totally-not-in-love-with-you-at-all-friend.” Kurt quirks an eyebrow.

“What?” Blaine looks away from his phone, where he was preparing to add Kurt’s number.

“Nothing.” Kurt smiles. “So you  want my number now?”

“Yes, please.” Blaine smiles.

Kurt tells Blaine the number and he fills in some other information too.

“Can I take your picture too?” Blaine asks shyly.

“Sure! Let me just check my hair.” Kurt says and looks at himself in the rearview mirror. “Now.”

Blaine holds up the phone and Kurt smiles happily at it. Blaine’s phone makes the noise and flashes. Blaine shows Kurt the picture before he saves it to the contact information.

“Let’s take one of the both of us!” Kurt says and grabs the phone, jumping out of the car.

Blaine follows him to a tree next to the house. A lamp on the side of the house lights up as they get close.

“Here! Nice background and good lighting.” Kurt states and holds his arm out.

Blaine walks over to stand next to him, Kurt wrapping his arm around Blaine’s shoulders. Blaine wraps his arm around Kurt and gets a hold of his hipbone. Kurt blushes, but Blaine doesn’t see that.

“Okay. Smile!” Kurt says and they both flash giant grins at the camera.

They look at the picture, still holding onto each other.

“That’s a great picture! Let me take one with my phone too! Here.” Kurt says and hands Blaine his phone.

Blaine puts his phone in the pocket of his pants as Kurt pulls his own one out of his pocket. They smile again and Kurt’s phone makes the same sound as Blaine’s did.

“I have to get inside now, it’s pretty late. But I’ll see you and Blair tomorrow for bowling, right?” Kurt asks as he puts his phone back in his pocket.

“Yes. We’ll meet you here. What time?”

“At one, maybe? We’ll eat lunch separately before we meet up. Then eat dinner together afterward.”

“That sounds great. See you tomorrow.” Blaine kisses Kurt and Kurt blushes.

Blaine kisses him again. “You and your adorable blush! I told you, I will kiss you every time.”

Kurt giggles and walks back into the house.

“See you tomorrow.” He waves and closes the front door behind him.

Blaine runs back home as fast as he can, not even bothering to let his tail out from under his shirt. He stops outside his front door and breathes for a while before walking in.

“Evening Blaine.” Blair says. She is sitting on the floor looking at Blaine’s calendar.

“What are you doing awake? Sunset was hours ago.” Blaine says and sits down next to her.

“I wanted to ask you about your day with Kairik.”

“Kurt. It was amazing! First we ate at a restaurant. I got to choose exactly what I wanted in my salad and then we watched a comedy at the cinema. And then…” Blaine rambles but stops abruptly.

“Then, what?” Blair looks at him seriously.

“We met two males who have been mean to Kurt at school.”

“And you tore their limbs off?” Blair asks, a smile ghosting on her lips.

“I wanted to. I tried to, but Kurt stopped me.”

“Wow. He must be one strong human. To hold back a Trillough.”

“Blirette.” Blaine says his sisters name in Fouri. “Let’s not talk about it. It makes me really angry. So, anyway… Then we went to his house in his car and-“

“You were in a car?!” Blair asks, eyes wide.

“Yes. Three times. It was really scary. But I trust that Kurt knows what he is doing.”

“Trust, okay. Go on.”

“When we came to his house I saved his number and a picture of him. Then we both took pictures together.”

“That is really cute. Wait! Can I see the pictures?” Blair asks eagerly.

Blaine pulls his phone out of his pocket. As he touches the screen and goes into the photo album Blair gasps slightly and Blaine chuckles.

“This is Kurt.” Blaine says and shows her the picture he took of Kurt in the car. “And this is the both of us.”

“Wow! He is SO cute!” Blair shrieks and grabs Blaine’s phone to switch back and forth between the two pictures. “You are adorable together!”

“Thank you.”

“You’re blushing, Blaine! You never blush. He is really special, isn’t he?”

“Yes. Let’s just go to bed now, okay? We have to eat before we meet him at one tomorrow.”

“And I have to bind our tails. Goodnight Blaine.” Blair says and hands him back his phone.

She walks over to where she usually sleeps and lies down. Blaine crawls up in his own bed and falls asleep quickly.

Blaine wakes up when someone starts to jump on his bed.

“Blaine! Get up! We have to eat, wash up and get dressed!” Blair says.

“Okay, okay! Just get off my bed.” Blaine says and swings his legs over the edge of it.

They eat and then leave the house and head to a small waterfall on the edge of their little town. Three other creatures are standing in the spray of the waterfall, washing themselves. Blaine and Blair get into the small pool of water below it, the water reaching up to their navels. They wade over to the other creatures and the water hits Blaine’s head, soaking his dark curls. He drags his hand through them a couple of times and then starts to wash his body. Blair is standing next to him, doing the same thing. Her long hair is flowing down her back and over her breasts. One of the two males that were there before them is looking at her with his mouth hanging open slightly. Blair however is looking at the female that is standing next to the two males. The female is looking back at her with a shy smile. Her light brown hair is straight and stops above her shoulders. Blaine doesn’t see the appeal.

The finish cleaning themselves off and get out of the water.

“Blaine. You go get dressed. I’ll be right behind you.” Blair says and winks at him.

Blaine sighs and walks back to their home. Before he opens the door he glances back and can see Blair talking with the female, stroking her arm gently. I can’t believe my sister! Flirting by the washing-fall. Oh, well. I wonder what I should wear to impress Kurt… Blaine walks inside and looks through his clothes. Nothing seems good enough. He walks over to Sean’s house and knocks on the door.

“Blaine! Welcome. How can I help you?” Sean answers the door.

“Sean… I am meeting Kurt today and I don’t have any clothes that are good enough to wear.”

“Oh, I see. You want to borrow some of mine?”

“If you have something good.” Maybe Kurt can help me get new clothes later. He dresses so nicely!

They walk up to Sean’s room, passing his big sister on the stairs.

“Blourin.”

“Lindrye.”

Sean opens his wardrobe and starts to pull out clothes. “Blaine, I know your wardrobe and the only clothes you own are shorts and t-shirts. You need jeans and a cardigan! Blair is wrapping your tails up, right?”

“Yes. What are jeans and what is cardigan?” Blaine looks confused as Sean throws clothes into his arms.

“These-” Sean holds up a pair of long pants made out of blue fabric. “Are jeans! And this-“ He holds up a dark green, long-sleeved shirt with two rows of black buttons. “Is a cardigan.”

“Wow! Kurt is going to love those! So I can borrow them until tomorrow?”

“Keep them.” Sean smiles and pats Blaine’s arm with his tail.

“Thank you, Sean.”

“No problem.” Sean grabs the clothes that Blaine is not borrowing and thrusts them back into the closet. “Also, you are going to need these.”

Blaine looks at the black pair of tiny shorts that Sean is holding. “What is that?”

“Boxers. You would be very uncomfortable in the jeans without them. You wear them underneath the jeans. Also, I almost forgot! You have to wear shoes when you are around humans!” Sean says and picks out a pair of black shoes from his closet. “These are Converse. Try them, I think we have the same size.”

Blaine tries the shoes and they fit. “These are perfect.”

“Great! Now go home and get changed! I’ll be waiting outside your house to see how you look before you leave. See you later!” Sean says, gives the boxers to Blaine and once again urges him out of the house.

Blaine walks back to his house and opens the door to find Blair already binding her tail.

“How did it go with the female?” Blaine asks and walks over to hold up her hair so it won’t get stuck in the bandages.

“Good. We are going to go chasing butterflies after sunrise.” Blair says and secures the bandage at her waist. “Where did you go, by the way?”

“To Sean. I was going to borrow this from him.” Blaine holds the clothes out toward Blair. “It’s jeans, and a cardigan. But he let me keep them instead.”

“Nice color. Now turn around so I can do your tail.” Blair says and whirls Blaine around on his feet.

“Please don’t hurt me!” Blaine says and throws the clothes onto his bed.

“I would never hurt you, Blaine.” Blair says gently and grabs his tail. “Now be still!”

“Ow!” Blaine teases as Blair starts to wrap his tail onto his back.

Blair rolls her eyes and continues. She wraps Blaine’s tail so it is laying flat against his back, up to his shoulder blades and rolls it up there. The bandage is rolled around his body, from his hipbones up to his armpits and then up around his shoulders and back down again. Blair secures it at the bottom and pats him on the shoulder when she is done. “Now get dressed!”

“Thank you, Blair.” Blaine walks over to his bed and carefully steps into the boxers. “This is weird.” he says as he tugs them on.

Blaine struggles with getting his legs into the jeans (especially since he is still wearing the Converse) but succeeds after about three minutes. He pulls the zipper up and buttons the button. Sean was right, this would have been very uncomfortable without the… boxers. Blaine picks up the cardigan and puts it on. Wow! I can’t wait for Kurt to see me in this!

“Hey! That looks really nice!” Blair says and walks over to him, wearing a pink silk dress with flowers on it. “Can you help me with the zipper?” she says and holds her hair up.

Blaine helps her to zip the dress while thinking about where he has seen a similar dress. Oh, right! I saw it in one of Sean’s movies. The one about the geisha!  “You look beautiful.”

“Thank you, Blaine. Now I have to fix your hair!” Blair says and picks up a flower bud from beside her sleeping-place.

She presses it and the blue content seeps into her hand. The bud falls to the floor and Blair rubs her hands together then puts them into Blaine’s hair. She pulls her fingers through his curls for a while. “Done! Perfect. Kurt is going to love you!”

“You really think so?” Blaine asks quietly.

“You are blushing again! Of course he will love you! Now, what should I do with my hair?”

“Do a bun like you did the other day. It will go well with the dress.”

“You are the one who would know that kind of thing.”

Blaine smiles.

When they walk out of the house Sean is standing there, leaning against the wall.

“Wow! You two look like real humans. Blaine, those clothes are perfect for you!”

“Thank you, Sean.”

“You’re welcome. Now, be on your way.” Sean says and waves them off with his hands. “Good luck!”

They arrive at Kurt’s house thirty minutes before they are supposed to. Still, Blaine had made Blair run almost the whole way in her long dress because he thought they were going to be late.

“Now what do we do?” Blair asks, apparently a tad irritated.

“We wait until he-“

“Blaine! Hi.” Kurt walks down the front steps. “And you must be Blair! Nice to meet you.”

Blair throws her arms around Kurt when he has gotten closer to them. “Hello Kurt. You are even cuter in person!”

Blaine smacks his forehead with his hand. “Kurt, this is my sister Blair.”

“I LOVE your dress!” Kurt exclaims as Blair lets him go.

Hello! I exist. I have to make sure that Blaine knows that I like his sister.

“You look great, Blaine. That cardigan really brings out the color in your eyes.” Kurt says and kisses Blaine.

“Thank you Kurt. You look amazing. I’m sorry that we got here so early.”

“It’s okay. I was done already. Nerves.” Kurt states and pulls at the sleeve of his purple and black-striped cardigan.

That looks almost like mine. But he seems to be wearing something underneath. Kurt is wearing a pair of jeans too, but his ones are black.

“So, should we just go right away?” Blair asks.

“Sure.” Kurt says and unlocks his car. “Blair, have you ever been in a car before?”

“No, I haven’t.” Blair says and gets inside the backseat.

“Are you going to be okay?”

“Yes. Blaine is the scared one.” Blair chuckles.

Blaine rolls his eyes as he puts on his seatbelt.

“Blaine, that reminds me. I’ve been meaning to ask you… How did you move to Lima without using a car?”

Blair is completely silent in the backseat, staring at Blaine.

MOSS! I should have thought about that! Come on Blaine, THINK! “We walked.” he blurts out before he can stop himself, though even if he could have he wouldn’t have been able to come up with something better.

“From Wyoming?” Kurt asks, raising his eyebrow at Blaine once again.

“Yes. Tribe thing. It’s kind of a…” he starts.

“It’s a ritual. Has to do with leaving stuff behind you.” Blair says from the back. Wow, she is really a fast thinker!

“Oh.” Kurt says and starts the car. “That must have been exhausting.”

“It was.” Blaine and Blair say in unison.

Blair chats actively with Kurt for most of the ride. When they pass a big sign with a black ball and a white blob Kurt laughs at something Blair says.

“Wow. Blair, how come your English is so great?” Kurt asks.

Oh, I hope Blaine doesn’t take that as his English being bad. I hope he doesn’t think my English is really bad.

“My best friend has a boyfriend who is h-“

“American. The three of them hang out a lot, so Blair has gotten some practice.” Blaine interrupts her before she uses the word “human”.

“I see.” Kurt says and stops the car. “We’re here!”

I don’t think he noticed that. Why does he do that?

The three of them gets out of the car and walks into a big one-floored building. They are greeted by a man in a red and white-striped shirt and a green hat of some sort.

“Welcome! One lane?” the man asks.

“Yes, please.” Kurt says and continues to talk to the man and pay for their lane. Whatever that is…

When Kurt is done they walk into a room with a wall full of shoes.

“What size do you need?” Kurt asks Blaine as he takes a pair down from the wall.

“I don’t know. I seldom wear shoes. These are Sean’s.” Blaine says and points to his feet.

“Again with the straight-totally-not-in-love-with-you-at-all-friend.” Kurt huffs.

“He wanted me to look good for you.” Blaine says, barely audible.

“Try these on, Blaine!” Blair chirps and hands him a pair of half-blue and half-red shoes.

“These look ridiculous.” Blaine states but tries them on.

Kurt is already standing with his shoes on, ready to bowl. “These really are a fashion-crime. But they glide well.”

“Do they fit?” Blair asks Blaine.

“Yeah. I think so.” Blaine wiggles his toes.

“Great. Am I not the best sister ever?” Blair says and walks up to Kurt, shoes already on her feet.

Blaine rolls his eyes and follows them into a huge room with lots of people throwing balls around. What is this place? What are they doing?”

“So. This is our lane. I assume none of you have played before?” Kurt halts in front of a screen and a long stretch of floor with arrows on it.

“No.” Blaine says.

“Will you teach us?” Blair asks and smiles wide at Kurt.

“Sure. We take turns to throw one of these balls down the lane. The goal is to hit as many pins as possible. The easiest way is to try to hit the middle one, but not straight on. I’ll take care of the scores.”

“So, who goes first?” Blair picks up a bright pink ball and puts her fingers in some holes in it.

“I say we go by alphabetical order.” Kurt starts to touch the screen. “Blaine first, then Blair and then me last.”

“Blaine, you can start. Just wait until the thing that goes across the pins goes away.” Kurt instructs.

“How do I hold it?” Blaine holds a big black ball to his chest.

“Like this.” Kurt says and walks over to him.

He takes the ball from Blaine and puts his fingers in the holes, just like Blair did. “Then you throw it like this.” Kurt gestures with his hand, but doesn’t let go of the ball.

Kurt gives the ball back to Blaine who takes it and holds it like Kurt just did. He walks up to the lane and-

“Don’t cross that line there!” Kurt calls out.

“Why?” Blaine looks back at Kurt.

“Just don’t. Now bowl!” Kurt smiles.

This should be easy. It’s just simple physics! Blaine gets a strike and smiles smugly.

“OH GAGA! YOU HIT A STRIKE! On your first try!” Kurt shrieks and throws his arms around Blaine’s neck in a tight hug.

“I guess I did.” Blaine says and hugs Kurt back.

“My turn! Move.” Blair says and pushes past them.

Blaine and Kurt sit down on a few chairs next to the screen while Blair rolls the pink ball down the lane. She manages to hit one pin.

“Yes! I got one.” she exclaims and walks back to the boys. “Now what?”

“You do it again. When you get a strike you only get to do it one time, but when you don’t you have to go again and try to get a spare, which is when you hit all the pins down.”

“Isn’t that a strike?” Blair asks and raises her eyebrows.

“No. When you hit all ten on the first try, it’s a strike. When you hit all ten after the second try, it’s a spare.”

“Okay. Well watch me get a spare, then!” Blair says and whips around, grabbing her pink ball from a big machine that spits out balls in all kinds of colors.

Blair misses all the pins. “Moss!”

“Don’t swear, Blair!” Blaine says and giggles.

Kurt gets up and chooses a sky-blue ball and walks over to the lane. Wow! This is so easy! I’m going to- Kurt bends over slightly as he releases his ball. WOW! His butt is amazing! Kurt hits six pins first and then two more.

“Pretty good. I haven’t played in a while.” Kurt states and sits down in Blaine’s seat as he gets up.

“You did a lot better than me!” Blair pouts.

“You’ll get better.” Kurt promises her.

Blaine gets another strike. Haha! Easy! How did Blair not get a strike?

“HOW DID YOU DO THAT?! Amazing! Some beginner’s luck.” Kurt laughs as Blaine walks back to him.

Blaine bends to kiss him but Kurt stands up abruptly. What did I do? I was just going to kiss him! Doesn’t he want to kiss me anymore? Wow, clueless Blaine. Not here! This place is full of people. Even more than at the theater yesterday, but that was a spur of the moment thing. We have to be careful… Kurt stands awkwardly by the screen while Blair manages to miss all the pins this time.

“What is this? I think this ball hates me!” Blair exclaims and flops down in the chair next to Blaine.

“Try another one next time.” Kurt says and manages to get a strike this time. “Yes!”

“Good job Kurt!” Blaine says and beams a smile at him.

“Thank you.” Kurt says and sits down in Blaine’s chair when he stands up.

Blaine gets yet another strike.

“WHAT EVEN? Blaine, are you sure you have never played before?” Kurt asks suspiciously.

“Never!” Blaine defends. “Maybe the ball just likes me!”

Blair huffs and waits for Blaine’s ball to come out of the machine. “I’ll play with this and see if it is just the ball.”

Blair knocks down two pins first and then misses all of them again. “It’s definitely not the ball.” she states and switches places with Kurt. 

“I’ll use your pink one next time.” Blaine grins at his sister.

Kurt knocks down nine pins first and then misses the last one. “NO! No, no, no! I was SO close.” he whines.

Blaine touches Kurt’s arm gingerly as he gets out of the chair. Then he picks up the bright pink ball that Blair has been using and uses it to get yet another strike.

“Stupid ball!” Blair shrieks. “You are supposed to be on my team!”

Blaine and Kurt both laugh. “Well, it seems that you are just a natural.” Kurt says and giggles again.

Both Blaine and Blair become quiet. Kurt stops giggling and looks between the two of them. “I’m sorry. Did I say something to offend you?”

“No, not at all.” Blair laughs nervously. “My turn!”

The game continues. Kurt manages to miss only a couple of pins every time and sometimes gets a spare or even a strike. Blair continues to hit a maximum of three pins on each turn and Blaine continues to get strikes every time.

After Blaine’s seventh strike in a row Kurt sighs. “Should I even be surprised anymore?” He rolls his eyes but smiles at Blaine.

Kurt is the last one to play and he gets a spare. “Yes! Well, that gives me second place.”

“I lost! Mossy game!” Blair whines.

As Blaine is about to say something a red light starts to shine above their lane and the sound of an ear-splitting siren fills the bowling alley.