"I'm so not the outdoorsy type," Kurt muttered to himself as he loaded up the cooler with hot dogs on Saturday morning. Not only was he not a fan of sleeping outside at the best of times, but the cloudy skies and light drizzle were not making him feel optimistic about this trip.
When Blaine arrived, though, he put his sarcastic thoughts aside. It was hard to be negative when your gorgeous boyfriend was grinning at you with a headful of unruly dark curls, looking as excited as a little kid. Blaine practically bounced over to Kurt and gave him a quick kiss. "So when do we leave?" he asked.
"Just as soon as Rachel gets here and we finish loading everything in the Navigator. Is all your stuff still in your car?"
"No, I left it with Finn. He was already trying to fit everything in."
Their plan was to leave by 9:00 and hopefully meet everyone else at the lake sometime after lunch. By the time Rachel arrived, though, and they repacked the Navigator to accommodate her stuff as well, it was already 9:30.
Then, Burt wanted to go over everything again. "Kurt, here's a map of where you're going."
"I have a map, Dad. I printed one out last week."
"Well, this one has the locations of all the hospitals between here and there, as well as potentially useful emergency numbers. Now, I don't know if your cell phones will work out there, but I have the phone number for the camp office if I need to reach you, and I'm sure you'll be able to use their phone if you have an emergency. Now, about the alcohol situation..."
"Dad, I don't think you need to worry there. Puck's not going. Lauren apparently refused to go camping, so he decided not to go either. No one else is going to try to bring anything, and since we're all underage, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't let us in the campground with it anyway."
It was 10:00 by the time they finally made their escape. By 10:30, Kurt was beginning to regret having driven with Finn and Rachel at all. Not only was Rachel extremely opinionated when it came to which songs they should listen to, she also sang so loudly, that Kurt couldn't even hear Blaine's beautiful voice. Eventually, though, Kurt managed to subtly turn down the music, and gave a relieved sigh as she and Finn finally started their own conversation in the back seat. Blaine gave him another big smile.
"What?" Kurt asked.
"Just looking forward to spending the whole weekend with you," Blaine answered.
"Me too. I still can't believe my Dad let me go, even with the long list of rules and emergency numbers."
"What, you think driving directions to fifteen hospitals was going overboard?" They both laughed. "It's nice that he cares about you that much."
"I know it is. I'm really lucky to have him. Blaine, I know things aren't great with you and your parents, but it seems weird that even after we've been together for a couple of months, that I still don't know anything about them. I mean, I've never met them. You never talk about them. I don't even know what their names are.
Blaine sighed. "I know I don't talk about them much. My situation at home is kind of awkward, and I'd rather not even think about it. And I really wish I could take you home and introduce you, and I'm sure my Mom would love you, but trust me, nothing good would happen if I took you to my house."
"So why did they let you come here with me?"
"Because they don't have a clue what I'm really doing. They actually prefer not to know. I just said "Mom, I'm going camping with some friends for the weekend," and she said "That's nice, sweetie," and that was it. It's not that she doesn't care, it's just that she hates lying to my Dad, and he would definitely not approve of me going camping with my boyfriend, or of my even having a boyfriend in the first place." Now that Blaine had started talking, things just seemed to flow. "See, back when I went to that Sadie Hawkins dance, I told my Mom that I was going with another guy, but we lied to my Dad about it. I think she told him I was going over to a friend's house, or something, and when he found out the truth, he was absolutely livid. He was furious with me for going to a dance with another guy, and for getting beat up, which he thought was my fault, but he was furious with her too, for lying to him. He can be really intimidating."
"Did he hit you guys?"
"No, I don't think he hit her. He's never hurt me; he's only threatened to, but I think he really scared her. She's never really been the same since then. She doesn't ask for any details anymore, and he really doesn't care what I do as long as it's not something he would disapprove of. It's a lot easier when I'm at Dalton and we don't see each other much, but summer's tough. She's got to know something's up. I mean, I spend every spare minute with you, but she just can't bring herself to ask me about it."
"I don't think I could have made it through the last year without my family supporting me. I don't know how you did it on your own."
"I didn't make it, Kurt. I ran away, remember. You stood up for yourself, and I went and hid at Dalton. But now I have you, and Dalton really is great, and everything's okay, better than okay. Actually, it feels really good to finally tell you everything."
Kurt gave Blaine's hand a squeeze. Blaine was pretty quiet after that and Kurt was almost relieved when Rachel finally stopped talking to Finn long enough to realize that the music had been turned down, and demanded that they start singing again. The rest of the trip passed fairly quickly as they took turns choosing songs.
Around 2:00, they finally saw the sign for the turn-off to the campground. Kurt started to make the left turn, but stopped dead at the entrance to the driveway.
"We can't go that way," he said.
"Dude, what do you mean? This is the way to the campground. We have to go this way!" exclaimed Finn.
"It's gravel," said Kurt, horrified. "My baby has never been on gravel."
"Your what?" asked Finn.
"My baby – my car. It'll get dusty if we go down that road."
"Wait, I thought you called Blaine baby. That's what you're always moaning in your sleep, anyway."
"Finn! I do not."
"Look, Kurt," Blaine jumped in as another car pulled in behind them, "I think you're going to have to drive on the gravel. Just go slowly and I promise I'll help you wash your car when we get home. I'm sure we'll be able to get all the dust off."
"Allright," Kurt sighed, "I guess we've got no choice."
"Thank you," Finn mouthed to Blaine as Kurt started driving forward very slowly.
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Eventually, they arrived at the campground to find Mike, Tina, Brittany and Santana already there. The manager, smartly, had decided to put the unsupervised teenagers off on their own, in a large field that was a group camping area, rather than in the smaller sites among the visiting families. The drizzle had stopped, but the skies were still overcast and it was definitely not beach weather. They set-up their tents, Kurt failing miserably in his attempt to convince Blaine that he really was outdoorsy. Luckily, Blaine had gone camping as a kid, and knew what he was doing. The two of them set-up their two tents, while Finn helped Rachel with hers.
After Mercedes, Sam and Artie arrived and set-up their tents, they spent the afternoon getting firewood, exploring the area and playing Frisbee. As it started getting later, the guys decided to have a contest to see who could get a fire going first. As it turned out, though, none of them won. As they were all still struggling to get any of the wood to catch, Mercedes, the former girl scout, already had a roaring fire going. They all decided to use her fire for cooking. Soon enough, they were roasting hot dogs, and Kurt was pretending to enjoy eating them. Once it began to get darker, they switched to marshmallows and smores.
As Finn went off to get more chocolate from the car, Kurt decided it was time to start scheming again. He took Finn's spot next to Rachel, who was concentrating, trying to make a perfectly even golden brown marshmallow.
"Finn asked me to talk to you," he said. "He really wants to spend the night with you, but he's afraid to ask you because he doesn't want you to think he's trying to have sex with you. He said he just wanted to hold you all night and wake up next to you in the morning."
"That's so romantic. I didn't know he felt that way. It's a good thing I brought my purple nightgown, the one with the high neck. You know, sexy, but not too suggestive. Unless maybe..."
"So you want me to tell him to come to your tent then?" he asked, cutting her off.
"Yes, I think that would be best, then maybe we could go for a moonlit walk by the lake and..."
"That's great, Rachel. Finn will be very happy."
Kurt stopped Finn on his way back from the car. "Rachel asked me to talk to you. She really wants to spend the night with you, but she's afraid you'll want to have sex, and she's not ready. She's really hoping for a romantic night where she can fall asleep in your arms."
"Wow, I didn't think she'd want to be alone with me at night. Thanks, bro. I definitely owe you one."
No, I owe you one, Kurt thought. Out loud, he said "No problem, I'm happy to help. She said to come to her tent tonight."
As Kurt came back to sit next to Blaine, the rest of the group, led by Rachel, of course, was already singing songs. The first part of his plan had been easy, but he wasn't sure how to approach the final part. Every time he opened his mouth to ask Blaine, he got nervous and closed it again. As the others started to head off to bed, he was running out of time. He walked his boyfriend to his tent, his heart starting to pound. He had to ask him now. "Finn's going to visit Rachel tonight. Do you...do you want to come to my tent later?"
Blaine looked surprised, but not unhappy. "Sure, I'd love to."
"Wait until Finn leaves, then come over. I'll see you later," Kurt said, kissing Blaine quickly.
________________________________________
Back in his tent, Kurt couldn't figure out what to do with all his nervous energy. If he'd been at home, he would have been pacing, but that just wasn't an option in a tent. What had he gotten himself into? How was he going to handle being alone with Blaine all night? What if things started to get more intense than he was ready for? Kurt was afraid Finn would know something was up, between his nervousness, and his extensive tooth-brushing and mouthwash routine, but Finn was pre-occupied thinking about Rachel and didn't realize that anything was different with Kurt.
Blaine, however, was also a nervous wreck. In his case though, he had no idea what Kurt had in mind for tonight and he was always afraid of going too far and scaring him. Every time they were alone together, he was always terrified that his body would ignore his brain and get carried away, and then Kurt would break-up with him. But what if he did nothing and then Kurt thought he wasn't attracted to him? What was he supposed to do? A few minutes later, he heard someone go by. It was so dark, with the overcast skies, that he couldn't see anything, but by the sounds of the footsteps, it was someone big and somewhat clumsy, and that could only be Finn. Blaine quietly slipped out of his tent and crept towards Kurt's. Maybe it was silly to worry about what he was wearing in total darkness, but he hoped he was dressed alright in simple plaid pajama pants and a grey T-shirt.
"Kurt," he whispered outside the tent, "it's me." The door was unzipped slowly, and Kurt's hand reached out to help him in. He crawled in to lie on top of the air mattress. He reached out, trying to figure out where his boyfriend was, finding his arm. He couldn't see what Kurt was wearing, but from the feel of the sleeve under his hand, it was something silky. Suddenly feeling very overwhelmed, he decided he had to be honest. "I'm nervous," he said. "I'm not sure what you're expecting tonight."
"I'm nervous, too," Kurt confided, "and I really just want to be with you all night, to just fall asleep in your arms. I'm not sure if I'm ready for more than that yet. Is that okay?"
"Sounds perfect to me," Blaine said, pulling him close. Kurt put his head on Blaine's shoulder, his hand resting lightly on his chest. He could hear Blaine's heart beating quietly under his ear and feel Blaine's strong arms locked tightly around him.
In Kurt's fantasies, Blaine would hold him like this as he drifted off into a peaceful sleep, waking the next morning, still in his boyfriend's arms. The reality, it turned out, was quite different. First of all, using Blaine's shoulder as a pillow was comfortable for a few minutes, but there was no way he could stay like that all night. Next, how was he supposed to sleep with Blaine's heart beating away loudly under his ear? Sure, it was comforting at first, but it really didn't make him want to fall asleep. He shifted onto his side and Blaine cuddled up behind him, slipping an arm protectively around his waist. This was more comfortable, but Kurt still couldn't get his brain to shut off and relax. He just kept thinking about how he was spending the night with Blaine, and how good it felt to have him so close, and how he should really get some sleep. But no matter what he did, he was still wide awake. He tried rolling over and facing Blaine's back, slipping an arm around his waist. This also felt great, but he wasn't any sleepier. At least it didn't feel awkward to be lying silently next to Blaine for hours. It just felt comfortable.
Towards morning, Kurt drifted off for an hour or two. He wasn't sure if Blaine got any sleep at all. Certainly every time Kurt shifted positions, Blaine seemed to be awake too, shifting his position as well so they were always cuddled-up tightly together.
It was almost a relief when morning came, just so they wouldn't have to keep trying to sleep. "Morning," Kurt said. "Did you sleep at all? I hope I didn't keep you up all night."
"A little bit, maybe, but don't worry. It was a great night anyway."
Blaine slipped quietly back to his own tent so Finn and the rest of their friends wouldn't know they'd spent the night together. When Finn returned to the tent a little while later, Kurt was already dressed and ready to start getting breakfast. For minimal sleep, he felt pretty good. Apparently it was true what he'd heard, that you needed less sleep when you were falling in love. He was looking forward to another night alone with Blaine, and if the bright sun pouring into the tent was any indication, to a hot beach day, and maybe his first glimpse of a shirtless Blaine.