Aug. 19, 2012, 11:53 p.m.
Work In Progress
Work In Progress: Chapter 2
K - Words: 2,420 - Last Updated: Aug 19, 2012 Story: Closed - Chapters: 3/? - Created: Aug 19, 2012 - Updated: Aug 19, 2012 382 0 0 0 0
It was unnecessary to say that Kurt didn't get much done that night. He ran around the apartment singing multiple famous musical songs and danced a bit with the broom while he cleaned up the mess Rachel had made while trying to cook them dinner. Apparently vegan food was 'a lot harder to make than regular food'. As they did the dishes Rachel could no longer keep her mouth shut and she simply had to ask Kurt the thing that had bugged her since he had gotten home and had been in an incredible mood.
"So?" she asked as she gave him a wink.
Kurt smiled. "So what?"
Rachel bumped her hip against his. "Oh come on, something's clearly going on. Who's the lucky guy?"
Kurt blushed to his roots and quickly busied himself with putting the service back in the drawer. "I-I have no idea what you are talking about".
"Oh for crying out loud Kurt, you've been dancing on a pink cotton cloud Katy Perry style since you got home and you're such a bad liar! Especially for someone who wants to make a living from acting."
"I.... Really there's not a guy".
"Aha." Rachel said skeptically as she put the glass she was washing down on the disk. "So you're totally not blushing because you've met a sweet guy?"
Kurt blushed furiously. "I.... Well okay but not in the way that you think! It's not like he asked me out on a date or something. He just.... You know he was nice and.... good-looking but that's not the point! The point is that nothing happened and nothing probably will happen so there's really nothing to discuss to be frank".
Rachel's smile grew wider as Kurt told her about Hot-Stuff-With-The-Incredibly-Tan-Stomach-And-Amazing-Smile aka Blaine and he could feel his cheeks grow warmer and warmer as he rambled on and on about how sweet he had been and how his smile lit up the entire room and that stomach! Damn, Kurt could feel his stomach twist just at the memory for not to mention the way his pants got just a bit tighter.
"Oh my gosh!" Rachel squeaked and clapped her hands a bit. "You totally have to go after him".
Kurt sighed as he closed the drawer and hung the towel on the doorknob. "Rachel, I don't even know if he's gay. He probably has some supermodel blond girlfriend at home and a bowl of goldfish and a nice car and the girlfriend's probably pregnant and maybe she's not just his girlfriend but his fiancée and they're probably getting married in May in some fancy church on Manhattan and then they'll move to the countryside and live in a little suburban house with their two future daughters, Rose and Emily. Oh my I shouldn't be thinking these kinds of thoughts about a guy I've just met for heaven's sake! But really Rachel, he's most likely straight and in a relationship so there's really no point in me getting all worked up about him".
"No, you don't know if he's gay but you don't know if he's straight either. So before you go all 'oh my life is so hard, I'll just sit in this corner and feel sorry for myself' I'll tell you to try to talk to him again. Give it a shot. What's there to lose?"
"My dignity?"
Rachel ignored him. "Now, you're going to read the book he recommended and then you're going back down there and tell him what you thought of it. That wont seem suspicious since you're just telling him your thoughts on one of his favourite books and you get to talk a bit to him and get to know him and I'm sure he'll appreciate the gesture, gay or not."
Kurt had to agree that it was a good idea even if it made him all nervous. Wouldn't he seem like a bit of a stalker? Get your shit together Hummel, it's not like you can ruin a relationship that doesn't exist. True enough.
~~~~~~~~~
When Kurt got home Friday afternoon he instantly grabbed his book and started reading. He barely ate as he was focusing on finishing the book. Kurt had never been a big reader and had always found it a bit boring and a waste of time but the pages turned themselves and Saturday morning he turned the last page and found himself starring at the few empty pages that was at the back of it. That was the quickest he had ever finished a book and he was very surprised to find that he'd actually liked it which wasn't something that happened very often. But after he finished it he just grew more restless and paced the apartment several times an hour trying to make Monday come faster since the bookstore was closed on Sundays and it closed early on Saturdays which gave him no time to get down there. He's probably not even working today.
He spent the rest of Saturday and all Sunday doing his assignment for Monday not only because he had to but also to distract himself. When Monday finally came he practically jumped out of bed and skipped around the apartment. Rachel stared in amazement at the scene in front of her and she couldn't help but giggle when Kurt danced into the kitchen disk.
Kurt couldn't focus during any of his classes that day as he was too nervous about getting all worked up about seeing Blaine that afternoon. Calm down Hummel, you don't even know if he works on Mondays. But that only made him more nervous.
He hurried to the bookstore after school but as he reached the street he hesitated. He knew what to say because he'd been practicing a little speech all weekend so that he was sure he wasn't going to say anything stupid. And he would casually mention some of the gay characters in the book and then hope that he would be able to lure some kind of information out of Blaine that way. He straightened his jacket and combed his hair with his fingers before he went down the steps and pushed the door open.
He didn't know what he'd expected but for some reason he was surprised to see that the bookstore looked exactly the same way as when he left it. There were more people today but the number of people in the store could still be counted on two hands. He tried to walk gracefully to the counter but stumbled and a steady pair of hands caught him and made sure that he didn't fall flat on his face.
"Oh gosh sorry I'm so clumsy" he mumbled as he got to his feet. He looked up and straight into the face of a guy with slicked back dark curls and big dark eyes that shone in the light of the fluorescent lamps above them. A smile spread across the beautiful face.
"Hi again!" Blaine said as he retreated his hand from Kurt's arm. Kurt could still feel the warmth from the touch and he felt slightly disappointed that Blaine wasn't touching him anymore, especially since Blaine's hands had been even softer than he'd imagined it. Or at least it had seemed that way through his thick jacket.
"Hi".
"So are you looking for more books to give as birthday presents?" Blaine asked and winked at him. Who knew that winking could look this adorable?
"Uhm no, actually" Kurt bit his bottom lip. "I came to tell you that I quite liked the book. You know, The Perks Of Being A Wallflower?"
Blaine's eyes lit up and the smile on his face grew into a grin. "Oh yeah! You've already read it?"
Kurt nodded.
"I told you you wouldn't regret it." Blaine took a step forward to let one of the customers pass by and as he did so he stepped a step closer to Kurt and was only inches from him. Kurt flushed and bit down on his lip even harder. Blaine smelled like vanilla and jasmine. Then the customer had passed by, Blaine stepped back again and the moment had passed.
Kurt did his best to hide his disappointment. "I guess you did. It was really interesting. Now I've never done drugs so I didn't exactly know how they felt half the time but I really liked the Rocky Horror bit. I performed The Rocky Horror Picture Show in high school".
Why did I just say that? Stick to the speech, stick to the speech.
Blaine looked surprised, a look that really fitted him according to Kurt.
"No way."
"Way."
Blaine openly starred at Kurt with a startled expression on his face. "Oh my God".
"I played Riff Raff if you want to know".
"Are you kidding me?"
"Nope. At first I was asked to play Dr. Frank-N-Furter but I refused to so I ended up with Riff Raff."
"Oh my God you're serious."
"Dead serious."
Blaine laughed loudly and an old woman at the other end of the store turned to stare at them with a look of bewilderment.
"Please tell my you did 'Damn It, Janet'?"
"Of course! In full costume and everything."
This only made Blaine laugh even more and Kurt could feel his emotions going crazy at the beautiful sound.
"I wish I had seen that."
"I was brilliant."
"I don't doubt that."
Was that a little flirting Kurt could sense? Should he act on it and flirt back? Because if it wasn't then it would be extremely awkward if he started flirting.
"So, do you read a lot?" Blaine asked.
Kurt shook his head. "No not really. I think that was the first book I've read that wasn't school work in over 5 years."
"Wow" Blaine said and crossed his arms as he leaned against one of the bookcases. "Then I'm even more impressed that you finished it so fast. And that you bought it in the first place."
"Well, you said it was good."
Blaine pointed at Kurt. "And I was right."
Kurt lifted his hands in defeat and Blaine laughed again. Kurt had never felt so relaxed talking to a complete stranger before but then again, he had never let a complete stranger talk him into buying a book before.
"You know what?" Blaine turned to face a bookcase and after scanning the rows a bit he pulled a book out. "Do you like fantasy books?"
Kurt pulled his shoulders. "I've never really read any fantasy books besides Harry Potter."
Blaine handed Kurt the book. "Then it's about time you do. I love fantasy books and as you know, I have an excellent taste in books." He flashed a grin at him as Kurt took the book. "It's really funny and the story is very original. And you gotta love the characters because they're very complex but in a good way so you never get bored."
Artemis Fowl it said in the cover. "Isn't that a children's book?"
Blaine acted offended. "A children's book? It's for young adults."
"Aha, so teenagers?"
".... Depends on how you define young adults."
Kurt couldn't help but laugh at that. Blaine tried to be serious but couldn't hold the mask and ended up laughing along.
When Kurt finally stopped laughing he pulled out his wallet. "How much is it then?"
Blaine shook his head. "It's on me."
Kurt quickly objected but Blaine refused to take his money.
"No, I talked you into it so you're not paying. Look at it as my way of getting you to read more books."
Kurt couldn't do anything but stare at him. Had Blaine just given him a book? Was that a good sign? Had he given it to him because he liked Kurt or because he liked liked Kurt?
"I-I don't know what to say." Kurt turned the book over a few times in his hands. "Th-thank you".
"No problem. As long as you come back and tell me what you thought of it." Blaine raised his eyebrows in a questioning manner.
"Of course." Kurt assured him and nodded rapidly.
Blaine giggled at the sight. "Let's make a deal: I give you books if you come back here and tell me what you thought of every single one of them. You can drop by once or twice a week. Sounds good?"
"What?" Kurt was shocked and his hands trembled a bit at the offer that wouldn't only give him free books but would also make sure that he got to spend more time with Blaine. "I-I can't let you do that!"
Blaine grabbed his shoulders and Kurt's heart pounded a bit faster. "Oh come on. Could you do that for me? Please?"
"But why?" Oh gosh that came out wrong. "I mean, don't get me wrong but why would you do that for me? You don't even know me."
Blaine shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know it just feels... right, you know? And my friends thinks it's annoying that I always talk about books that they've never read - and still refuses to read - so this will be an opportunity to get a book-friend. And I like talking to you and you're the only one I've met that has been stupid enough to let me recommend you books." Kurt laughed and Blaine gave him a look that said 'you-got-yourself-into-this'.
"I don't know how to thank you."
"Just tell me what you thought when you're done, okay?"
"Okay" Kurt bit his lip again and smiled fondly. Blaine liked talking to him. Could this day possibly get any better? "I'll be back Friday then and I'll tell you what I thought."
Blaine smiled. "Excellent. Then I'll find a new book for you by then."
Kurt held the book to his chest and he could feel how the butterflies inside of him held a little party that involved small explosions of happiness and joy.
Blaine looked over at the counter were a customer was ready to pay.
"Work's calling so I gotta go." He gave an apologetic look as he straightened his shirt and tugged at his butterfly - which was a light blue, exactly the same colour that Kurt imagined the butterflies in his stomach were. How odd.
"Oh yes sure." He tugged his bag off of his shoulder, zipped it open and put the book in there. "A man's gotta work."
Blaine started back towards the counter as Kurt started off towards the door. He had only taken a few steps when he heard Blaine's voice call after him.
"See you Friday then."
Kurt turned around at the door and starred back at Blaine who had just reached the counter and was apologizing to the customer for letting her wait.
"See you" Kurt called and he saw how Blaine lifted his head a bit to look at him, a smile on his face, before Kurt left through the door. When he got out of the store he pulled his phone out of his pocket a texted Rachel.
Monday 26th October (16:47)
I think I just fell hard.