River Flows In You

Chapter 6 – Shopping

”KURT!” Finn shouts.

Kurt gets in the front seat. ”I thought I heard-” He closes his door and Blaine watches them when they drive onto the road and toward Kurt’s school.

Blaine rips his phone out of his pocket and checks the message.

From: Kurt
Thank you for the flowers! That was really sweet of you. Though I was so surprised I dropped my glass of juice onto the floor, shattering it into a thousand tiny pieces. Finn and I will probably be late for school, but it was worth it.

That’s what that sound was! Silly Kurt, he is adorable. I hope he isn’t late for school. Blaine writes a reply, still sitting in the depths of the bush.

From: Blaine
You are welcome. I hope you won’t be late. You are worth it, you are worth everything.

HOW IS HE EVEN REAL?! I think I’m already in love with him… No, I’m sure. What an amazing person. It takes a few minutes before Blaine gets another message. He must be at school now…

From: Kurt
You’re making me blush. Those flowers were gorgeous. I hadn’t ever seen some of them before!

From: Blaine
*kisses you* Not as gorgeous as you! I was up all night searching through the forest for the most beautiful flowers. Good luck at school today! Meet you outside your house at four.

From: Kurt
Wow, Blaine. You should get some sleep! You are amazing, you know that? I’m so glad I found you.

From: Blaine
I’m glad you found me, too.

Blaine puts his phone back in his pocket and walks back home.

“Where have you been?” Blair is sitting on the floor eating a pear when Blaine enters the house.

“I sneaked out last night after you fell asleep and searched the forest all night, to make a bouquet of flowers for Kurt. Then I went to his house and I met his dad and he put the flowers in water for me. Then I hid in a bush to see Kurt’s reaction.”

“How did it go?”

“His dad was scary at first, then really nice. Kurt was smiling and then he texted me when he got to school, and he liked the flowers!”

“Of course he did. He probably would have loved a single piece of grass too, as long as it was from you.”

“You really think so?”

“HELLO?! Have you met him? He is totally in love with you!”

Blaine blushes.

“Now go to bed! I’ll wake you up at three so I can bind your tail before you go. Goodnight.”

“But-“

“Goodnight, Blaine.”

Blaine sighs and falls asleep barely a minute after his head hits the mattress.

“Blaine! Wake up, honey.” Blair ruffles Blaine’s curls. “You don’t want to be late for shopping with Kurt, do you?”

Blaine sits up and rubs his eyes with his fists. “Whassetime?” he mumbles.

“Three seventeen. So get up!”

Blaine stands up and sways on his feet.

“I need to bind your tail. So strip!” Blair says and helps him pull off his shirt.

She binds his tail a bit tighter this time.

“OW! Not so hard! I won’t be able to breathe!”

“Oh, you’ll breathe just fine. Stand still!” Blair secures the bandages. “It has to be tight if you are going to try on clothes all afternoon.”

“What?”

“You are shopping for clothes, right? Which means you are going to change in and out of a bunch of different shirts and pants before you buy them. And seeing how Kurt dresses, I’m betting he is going to make you try on hundreds of different things!”

Blaine groans.

“Now get dressed! You have to hurry.”

Blaine changes out of his shorts and into the boxers and jeans. He stands by his stack of shirts for a few minutes before deciding on a pink and white-striped one.

“Kurt is going to love that shirt!” Blair says when Blaine’s pulls it over his head. “Now hurry! Good luck! And text me if you need anything.”

“You have a phone?” When did she get a phone? And from where?

“I too have a half-human best friend, Blaine. I’ve had a phone for years. Though it’s not fancy like yours. No camera or that kind of stuff, it’s just for calling and texting. And I’ve had a watch and calendar for a really long time too, so I knew when to meet Linda and her boyfriend. That doesn’t matter now, though. Just go!”

“But I need your number, then!”

Blair gives him the number and he saves it before getting pushed out the door. “Good luck!”

Blaine runs as fast as he can to Kurt’s house and only has time to catch his breath before Kurt and Finn pull up to the house. Finn gets out of the car first.

“Hi Blaine. What’re you doin’ here?”

“Hi Finn. Kurt is taking me shopping for clothes.”

“Oh. Well, good luck man. Shopping with Kurt can be a pain.”

“A what?” Kurt says, getting out of the car.

“Nothing! Have fun. Bye Blaine. See ya tomorrow for bowling, I’ll totally beat you.”

Finn turns around and walks into the house, missing Blaine’s chocked expression. Beat me? Why?

“He means that he will win over you. Don’t worry.” Kurt smiles and hugs Blaine tightly. “Thank you again for the flowers.”

“You are very welcome.” Blaine says as Kurt lets go.

“Wow! That is a very nice shirt! I’m guessing Sean got it for you?”

“He did. He has given me pretty much all the clothes I have.”

“Let’s go get you some of your very own then. Wait, did you walk here in just a t-shirt?”

“Yes?...”

“It’s the end of September, Blaine! Aren’t you cold?”

“I am fine.”

“I guess we’ll have to buy you a jacket too.” Kurt says and they get into Kurt’s car.

Kurt parks outside the biggest building Blaine has ever seen. This place is HUGE! We’ll never find any clothes in there. This mall is so big! We are going to find so many nice clothes in here! Blaine tries to grab Kurt’s hand but he pulls away.

“Blaine?” Kurt whispers to him as they walk though one of those see-through door-things. “You can’t hold my hand in here.”

“Why?” Blaine whispers back.

“Because people in Ohio are not very open to guys like us. Some can even be really mean.”

“Oh, okay…”

They walk into a room with a sign above it. “Kurt. What are these different rooms for?”

“They are stores. Different stores have different kinds of things in them. OH LOOK! Dior!” Kurt squeals and runs over to a row full of clothes.

He pulls a black coat of some sort out from between a bunch of similar ones. “This one is perfect. A Dior trench coat! But let’s look at some other stuff before you try it on.” he says and drapes the jacket over his arm.

They walk up and down the rows of clothes and Kurt drapes a bunch over his arm, both shirts and pants in all kinds of colors. Kurt lets out the occasional “Oh!” and “Wow!”.

“I think we’ll try these now.” Kurt says and they walk over to an area full of small doors.

“What is this place?” Blaine asks and looks suspiciously at people getting in or out from the doors.

“These are dressing rooms. You get inside one and try something on, then come back out and show me!” Kurt smiles wide. “Here. Take these and try on the coat first!”

Kurt hands Blaine the clothes and he walks in through one of the doors. The door closes behind him and Blaine realizes how tiny the room is. There is a tall mirror in there and a metal bar sticking out of the wall. “Kurt?”

“Yes?”

“It’s very tiny in here.”

“Yes, I know. But it’s okay, I’m right here. You can hang the clothes on that metal bar while you change.”

Blaine hangs the clothes on the bar and takes the coat of the hanger. He puts in on, on top of his striped shirt.

“Button the buttons. It’ll look better that way, and we’ll know if it fits.” Kurt says through the door.

Blaine does so and opens the door, stepping outside a bit so Kurt can see him properly. Kurt just stares - with his mouth open slightly - when he sees him.

“Is it really ugly?” Blaine asks and puts his hands in the pockets.

Kurt gestures for him to do a spin and Blaine does.

“That is perfect Blaine! It fits perfectly. You look… Wow…” Sexy! Hot. Perfect…

Blaine smiles and looks at himself in the mirror inside the dressing room. This looks pretty good. Though I won’t need it, I’m always warm.

“Take it off and give it to me. You are buying that.” Kurt says, eyes glistening.

“You like it?” Blaine does a spin in the mirror.

“I love it.”

Blaine shrugs the coat off and hands it to Kurt who drapes it over his arm again. Blaine sees Kurt stroking the coat with his other hand, before he closes the door behind him.

Back inside he removes his t-shirt and stares at himself in the mirror for a moment. I hope Kurt never sees me like this. I look injured. He tries on a gray shirt with a black abstract print on it and steps out to show Kurt.

They end up buying the coat, three pairs of jeans, seven t-shirts, two other pairs of pants, four cardigans and a piece of knitted fabric that Kurt called “a scarf”. They go to a few different stores and buy a few more different pieces of clothing before they return to Kurt’s car.

“That was fun!” Blaine says as he puts on his seatbelt.

“It was. And all clothes fit you so well. I’m jealous.”

“Why? Your body is perfect.”

“I have hips like a pear!”

Blaine burst out laughing. “That is the silliest thing I have ever heard! Pears don’t have hips. And even if they did, you look nothing like a pear.”

 Kurt laughs too and they start the drive back to Kurt’s house.

They get back at eight thirty after stopping to get some salad at the restaurant (that Kurt told Blaine is called Dalton’s).

“I have an early class tomorrow so I have to get to bed soon. I’m sorry you can’t stay.” Kurt says as he hands Blaine the bags full of clothes when they get out of the car.

“We’ll see each other tomorrow.”

“I know. But I’ll miss you.”

“I know. I will miss you too. Thank you for taking me shopping.” Blaine brushes his thumb over Kurt’s cheek with his free hand.

“Thank you for not whining the whole time, like dad and Finn do.”

Blaine chuckles. “I had really fun.”

They kiss and Blaine watches Kurt walk into the house and wave.

He walks hurriedly home through the forest, his tail starting to ache from being bound so hard for so long. When he enters the house Blair is lying in her sleeping-place with her eyes closed so he tiptoes over to his bed and puts the bags of clothes on the floor, as quiet as he can manage.

“How did it go?”

Blaine jumps and turns around to find Blair standing behind him. “You scared me! What did I tell you about sneaking up on people?!”

“You told me not to. But you are hardly “people”, Blaine. You are trillough, you should have a better sense of danger.”

“Blair, we never have to deal with danger just because we ARE trillough.”

“Show me what you bought! I want a fashion show!”

“A what?”

“Humans have something called fashion shows where models show new clothes for people.”

“Okay, fine. Just unbind my tail first, please. It is starting to hurt.”

Blaine removes his shirt and Blair unrolls the bandages slowly. When they are off Blaine stretches his tail and massages it a bit with his hands, smoothing out the tassel of black hair at the end.

“Your back is all red.” Blair whispers. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, Blair.”

“No, it’s not.” she says and touches his back gingerly. “I’ll get a flower.”

Blair hurries out of the door and Blaine sits down on the bed. Blair returns a couple of minutes later with a yellow flower. “Does it hurt?”

Blaine doesn’t answer.

“Lie down.”

Blaine lies down on his stomach across the foot of the bed. Blair picks a few petals from the flower and crushes them in her hands, creating a yellow fluid. “I’m SO sorry, Blaine.” She massages the fluid onto Blaine’s back in big circles, and rubs it onto his shoulders. The liquid seeps into Blaine’s skin which is already returning to its usual color.

“You were only trying to help, Blair.”

“Turn over.”

Blaine does so and Blair takes a few more flower petals, crushes them and rubs it onto Blaine’s sides and clavicles.

“Aaww, don’t cry!” Blaine exclaims and sits up.

“I’m not crying.”

“Blirette.” Blaine stands up and brushes Blair’s tears away with his thumbs.

“I’m sorry.”

“I know. Don’t worry about it. See!” he turns around. “It’s not red anymore, and it doesn’t hurt at all now.”

“I won’t bind you so hard tomorrow.” She sniffles. “You don’t have to show me the clothes.”

“I’ll show them to you without trying them on, okay?”

Blair nods. Blaine gets the bags of clothes and pulls every item out and holds them up to show Blair.

“What is that?” she asks when he holds up the black jacket.

“It’s a trench coat. Kurt says I have to wear it since it is starting to get cold outside.”

“But you don’t need it. We’re always warm.”

“I know. But the looks in his eyes when I tried it on… I had to buy it. And I don’t sweat like humans do so I can wear it to make him happy.”

“Oh, you!” Blair exclaims and swats her tail at Blaine’s arm.

“It’s late, we should sleep. Don’t want to miss meeting Kurt’s family tomorrow, do you?”

Blair practically throws herself onto her sleeping-place. “Goodnight Blaine.”

“Goodnight Blair.”

The next morning Blaine awakes to a huge breakfast - a lot bigger than usual - with all his favorite fruits, berries and vegetables. Both of them know why but they say nothing about it. They wash themselves at the waterfall and Blaine spends more than an hour to choose what clothes to wear. He decides on a new pair of blue boxers, a pair of dark jeans, the gray shirt with the black abstract print and of course the black trench coat. Blair is finished before him. She is dressed in a pair of red jeans and a white tunic with small red flowers on it. They leave the house about half an hour before they are meeting Kurt’s family.

They walk out to the road that leads to Kurt’s house a few houses down the street, so Kurt and his family won’t see them arriving straight from the forest.

When they arrive to Kurt’s house he and his family are standing outside waiting for them.

“Hi Blaine!” chorus the family.

“Hi everyone. This is my sister Blair.” Blaine says and gestures to her with both hands.

Blair walks up to the family and shakes the hands of Kurt’s parents and brother. Blaine gets a peck on the cheek from Kurt who blushes, so Blaine has to use all his willpower not to kiss Kurt in front of his parents.

“Pleasure to meet you dear.” Carole says politely. “Are you older or younger than Blaine?”

“I’m older, but not by much.” Blair answers just as politely.

“Freaky…” Finn whispers.

Blaine tenses. What did he see?

“What’s freaky, Finn?” Kurt asks and squints his eyes at his brother.

“Their names are pretty much the same. And they look just like each other!” Finn exclaims, throwing his hands in the air.

“Siblings usually do, kiddo.” Burt says and pats Finn’s shoulder.

“Blair, is it okay if you go in the car with my parents and Finn?” Kurt looks hopeful.

“Of course! That way we can get to know each other a little better!” Blair chips and claps her hands together.

And I get to spend some time alone with Blaine. And I get to spend some time alone with Kurt.

“Just remember to behave, Blair!” Blaine says to his sister, who sticks her tongue out in response.

Kurt and Blaine get into Kurt’s black car and the rest get in Burt’s truck and they drive off toward the bowling alley.

“You look really nice today.” Kurt says when his house is no longer visible to Blaine in the rearview mirror.

“Thank you. I thought I should wear some of the clothes that we bought yesterday.”

“Yeah, since that was kind of the point of the whole shopping-adventure.” Kurt chuckles.

“Is Finn good at bowling?”

“I don’t know, really. But he is kind of clumsy, so I’m guessing he isn’t very good. And I’m absolutely certain NOONE in my family, or in this town even, is as good as you are. My dad will be impressed.”

“Did you tell your family about what happened when we bowled last time?”

“No. I thought we could surprise them.”

“Oh, you are sneaky.” Blaine pokes Kurt playfully in the ribs.

Kurt squeaks. “Stop it! I’ll crash the car if you do that!”

Blaine rips his hands away from Kurt in a split second. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry. Just don’t tickle me when I am driving. I’m very ticklish.”

“Oh, are you now?” Blaine smirks and whistles when Kurt looks at him.

“Don’t you dare tickle me, even when I’m not driving! If you do I will-“

“Relax. I won’t do something you don’t want me to do. I promise.”

“Thank you.”

Kurt pulls in next to his father’s truck. The boys share a quite long kiss before exiting the car and walking in the front doors.

“Kurt! Blaine! There you are.” Burt says when they get inside.

He, Carole, Finn and Blair are standing there waiting by the front desk. Finn is blushing quite furiously and Blair is giggling.

“Did you behave?” Blaine asks his sister as he walks past her toward the man behind the counter.

“I did.” she replies and giggles some more.

“Hello Rydell. We are 6 people who want to play. So, I guess 2 lanes. Next to each other, if that is possible.”

“Anything for you, Blaine!” Rydell answers and swipes Blaine’s gift card. “I’ll tell Leo to get your ball.”

“Thank you. Wait, who is Leo?” Blaine asks as he gets his card back.

“Leo Barnes, my brother. The guy with the sideburns who took your picture last time.”

The sideburns-guy - Leo - walks up beside Rydell. “Hello there perfect-game-Blaine!” He smiles wide.

“Leo, go get his ball.”

Leo disappears and returns after a minute with Blaine’s golden ball. He hands it to Blaine who turns around to find Burt, Carole and Finn with chocked expressions on their faces.  

“Perfect-game-Blaine?” Burt asks.