Nov. 23, 2012, 7:27 p.m.
Breakeven: Chapter 4
T - Words: 3,118 - Last Updated: Nov 23, 2012 Story: Closed - Chapters: 5/? - Created: Jul 10, 2012 - Updated: Nov 23, 2012 526 0 1 0 0
Monday morning Kurt woke to a text letting him know Blaine wouldn't be able to meet him to walk to breakfast like usual. He immediately stopped regretting how late he'd stayed up on the phone with Quinn Fabray, the only person he could think of who could help him with both his Algebra II and Economics homework. Instead of rushing to meet Blaine on time, Kurt took an extra half hour getting ready, and grabbed an apple from the cafeteria rather than a full breakfast before going to class.
There was no Blaine in sight for the first half of the day, which Kurt had to keep reminding himself was fine. He didn't need Blaine to walk him around to his second week of classes. The empty feelings were ridiculous and unwarranted.
When he sat down with the Warblers at their table for lunch, the reason for Blaine's absence finally became clear. Trent had leaned over to say something but paused. Kurt, following his eyes, turned to see Blaine walk in to the lunch room, but not alone.
His arm was linked with Morgan's and he was talking softly to him. He grabbed a tray from the stack and pointed Morgan toward the Warbler's table, saying something else with a small smile, fixing his brother's tie, and sending him toward them.
Morgan looked awful. His hair was a curlier mess than it had been for the soccer match, his shirt was untucked in several places and his eyes were puffy with dark bags underneath. He gave a small smile when a few of the Warblers waved at him, and he waved back with a few fingers. Greeting everyone with less than half his normal enthusiasm, he took the chair beside Kurt, sat down heavily, wrapped his arms around Kurt's shoulders and leaned his head against him.
Kurt stiffened, then shot a look around the table to express his confusion, but all he received in return were a bunch of shrugs and shaking heads. He wrapped an arm around Morgan and patted his back comfortingly. Jeff mouthed, "What's wrong?" and Kurt shrugged with his free shoulder. He'd been initially willing to guess that this was just part of Morgan's array of character flaws-that he had up weeks and down weeks regularly-but from the reactions of the Warblers, that was clearly not the case.
Everyone very quietly went back to what they were doing and Kurt began to plan out how to eat with one arm around Morgan when Blaine sat down on Morgan's other side. Immediately looks were thrown and gestures were made in Blaine's direction, but before he could answer them, Morgan let go of Kurt and leaned his head against Blaine's shoulder. Kurt hadn't realized how uncomfortable the position had been, but the relief was amazing. He looked over at Blaine and his heart flipped. It had only been a day, but every nerve in his body was screaming "I missed you!" Despite Morgan's disheveled appearance, Blaine looked flawless as ever, if not a bit more tired. Kurt tried to focus on looking concerned for Morgan's wellbeing.
Blaine unwrapped a stick of cheese and offered it to Morgan, who took it and chewed on it, staring blankly at the tray. Blaine leaned his head against his brothers and looked around the table at the curious faces. His eyes lingered on Kurt's and he gave a sad half-smile. "Morgan got dumped," he said softly.
"Oh my god..." Trent murmured.
"I'm sorry, Morgan," David said, reaching across the table. Morgan reached out and squeezed his fingers, then pulled his hand back into his lap and shrugged at the other comments of concern and apology floating around. Kurt hesitated for a moment, the reached over and squeezed Morgan's lower arm.
Morgan glanced back at him, gave a very slight smile, then stared down at the tray.
Lunch was a bit of a somber occasion after that. Having Morgan with them for lunch seemed unusual enough, but he was hardly there mentally and barely eating. He took whatever Blaine handed him and chewed on it slowly like he was deep in thought, then he'd nuzzle into Blaine's shoulder and close his eyes till he was handed something else.
The Warbler's briefly discussed Sectionals, which were coming up that weekend. Rehearsal schedules were doubling.
"Are you going to come watch us, Morgan?" Wes asked.
Morgan looked up, "Of course." He tried to smile a little, then laid his head back on Blaine's shoulder. Blaine smiled, wrapped his arm around Morgan's waist and hugged him.
"Good. We need our cheerleader," Wes said, brightly. Morgan closed his eyes.
Kurt picked at his food, glancing over at Blaine occasionally. After a few minutes Blaine peered over Morgan's head at him and said, "Sorry for not meeting up with you this morning."
Kurt shook his head. "No, I completely understand."
"I just needed to make sure Morgan got to class alright."
"Of course."
Blaine opened his mouth again, but closed it when Morgan reached out for the apple off the tray. Blaine shifted, picked it up for him and handed it to him. "I'll still be able to practice with you after school. If you want to."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, of course!" Blaine said quickly.
Morgan rolled his head to glance over at Kurt, "I won't hog him all day." Kurt's heart skipped slightly and he could feel himself blush.
After lunch Kurt stood with Blaine and Morgan in the hall after the rest of the group had dispersed to their classes.
"I'm going to walk Morgan to class," Blaine said.
Kurt smiled. "I'll see you later."
Morgan was holding onto Blaine's arm, but with his free hand he reached out, took Kurt's hand in his and squeezed. "Sorry I'm stealing him away," he mumbled.
Kurt could feel the flush fly up his neck and it almost blurred his vision. "Don't be. You need your brother... that's what they're there for."
Morgan looked up at him. His eyes were reddish, but seemed clearer. He let go of Blaine, stepped forward and hugged Kurt tightly. Over Morgan's shoulder Kurt saw Blaine smiling and he smiled back. When he was released, he took a deep breath. Blaine took hold of his brother's arm again and they both waved goodbye as they turned to walk the other way down the hall.
He sighed deeply and wondered for a moment if Angela already regretted breaking up with Morgan.
After school Kurt waited down in the practice room he and Blaine had decided upon. Warbler practice was later in the evening this week and the idea was to have his parts down before the group got together. He was fairly confident, but since Blaine had offered and reiterated the offer today, he wasn't going to turn down time spent alone together.
He ran through the piece alone for fifteen minutes before Blaine finally showed up. "Sorry I'm late. I put Morgan down for a nap..."
Kurt paused, smiled faltering. "...You put him down for a nap?"
Blaine shrugged and raised his eyebrows like, "Yeah, that's what I just said."
Kurt raised his eyebrows as well. "Are you... babysitting him now?"
Blaine realized what he'd just said, rolled his eyes, then considered it a moment and shrugged. "Maybe..."
Kurt tried to stifle a laugh.
Blaine narrowed his eyes. "So! We're working on the first song today, right?"
"Second one," Kurt corrected, shuffling sheet music. "The break-up must have been pretty bad. I mean, Morgan looks awful."
"Not... worse than normal," Blaine replied as he sat down. "There's an expression we use with Morgan-his nerves reach out three inches from his skin."
Kurt inclined his head. "Frightening."
Blaine played a few chords. "No, it just means he feels more than most people. He invests emotionally before there's really anything to invest in. Anyway, we should start."
They sang through the song once together to the piano. Kurt found singing a cappella to be both hard and hardly challenging. His parts were boring and allowed for no stand-out room, but he kept being reminded that that was the point here at Dalton. It was a different singing style and he was determined to at least be good at it. After Blaine ran him through the choreography twice to make sure he had it down he asked, "When did it happen?"
"What?"
"When did she break up with him?"
Blaine's lips drew thin. "Saturday morning. Um... that's why I wasn't there when you..."
Kurt's eyes flew wide open. "Oh."
"He texted me so I..."
"I'm so sorry..."
Blaine shrugged. He was looking down at the ground. Kurt's heart was pounding and he was wondering if it was appropriate to reach out and stroke Blaine's arm, or hold his hand.
"He deserves better."
Kurt thought he saw something twitch in Blaine's cheek. When he looked up at Kurt his eyes were shifting uncomfortably. "I guess he does," he said, lips hardly moving.
Kurt waited for him to say something else, but when he didn't, he picked up the sheet music and rearranged it. "So, the first song? We still have time." Blaine came over and sat down on the piano bench beside him and Kurt leaned into him, pushing Blaine's shoulder with his arm. "Sing Soul Sister to me," he said in as low and seductive a voice as he could muster.
Blaine struggled for a second then burst out laughing. He pushed Kurt back, fingered the first few chords of the song, let out an awful first note, then started giggling all over again.
It was an infectious, happy sound and Kurt couldn't help but giggle back while he tried to say seriously, "I'm never going to learn it if you start off like that!"
Four hours later they'd finished practicing, helped each other with a few pages of homework, made it through Warbler rehearsal without too much eye contact, and Kurt was following Blaine back to his room to wake up Morgan so they could all go to dinner together.
They slipped into the twins' room and Blaine turned on the lights. Immediately next to the door was Morgan's bed. He was curled up with his back to them, lying entirely on top of the sheets.
"Still sleeping," Blaine said fondly, stepping out of the way to let Kurt in.
The twins' room was nice, slightly larger than Kurt's with beds on either side of the door, two desks cattycorner to each other on the far side of the room by the window. They had a built-in closet rather than a wardrobe. Kurt stopped to look at a poster of two men fencing in tight uniforms and the next thing he knew his hand was grabbed sharply and he was stumbling backwards, losing his balance, and falling onto Morgan's bed.
He let out a yell. Incredibly strong arms circled his waist, pulled him entirely onto the bed and Morgan's body cuddled up to him, pinning him against the wall. He froze stiffly with Morgan's face against his arm and his leg thrown over Kurt's to better pin him there. Never before in his life had Kurt been in such an intimate position with another man, not even on accident.
"Help?" Kurt hissed frantically, but Blaine had turned away, covering his mouth to hide a laugh.
"Welcome to my nap," Morgan's voice was groggy and muffled against his arm. The boy wiggled and stretched up against him, pulling Kurt in closer by the waist.
Kurt wasn't sure if he should be struggling to get away, shoving Morgan off, or just enjoying the full-body contact. It felt good-it was hot. He was in bed with a boy. He begged himself not to think about it like that.
Blaine was sitting on his own bed now, giggles renewing themselves every time he made eye contact with Kurt. "We're going to go to dinner," he announced after a few awkward moments in which he composed himself.
Morgan sighed deeply and opened his eyes. He looked up at Kurt who was trying his best not to look back down at him, especially when he readjusted his snuggle again. "You smell nice," Morgan said with a grin, then he pulled his limbs back from around Kurt and rolled straight off the bed, landing heavily so he was sitting on the floor facing Blaine.
Kurt just lay there for a minute willing his heartbeat to slow back down.
Morgan rubbed his eyes, then stretched and looked back over his shoulder at Kurt. "Sorry for breaking you," he said, then stood up and headed for their attached bathroom.
Kurt very slowly sat up. Blaine was staring at him with his lips parted, but looked immediately away when Kurt glanced over. He cleared his throat.
"Sorry. I should have warned you about that too."
"Never a dull moment," Kurt breathed, running his fingers across his hair to assess the damage. Once he was satisfied with his hair and that his uniform was on straight with all the proper buttons done, Kurt shook his head. "I think I'm getting used to him."
Morgan spit in the sink, gargled, then popped his head back out. He smiled at Kurt, walked over and wrapped his arms gently around Kurt's shoulder. "Someday I'm gonna learn how to quit you," he said, then laughed and took a deep breath. "Okay, I'm ready."
Blaine stood up as well and grabbed his keys from where he'd set them on the bed.
"Wait!" Kurt said, stopping them from heading toward the door. "You're planning to go out like that?"
He got off Morgan's bed finally and appraised both boys. Morgan really was taller. Not by much, but enough that it made Blaine look tiny and adorable. Morgan also had a slightly more slender waist, which Kurt assume was from being an athlete, broader shoulders, and what appeared to be a very, very faint dusting of freckles. Morgan's skin was darker by about a shade all around, and his hair was lighter. Kurt chalked it up to more sun exposure. He wondered if Blaine would look the same if he got outside more often. Morgan's eyes were also lighter-more green and gold where Blaine's were a soft brown. But looking between them was like a before-and-after picture.
Morgan was a rumpled mess. He had taken off his blazer and tie before going to sleep, and done nothing with his hair. Kurt refused to let them leave until both twins looked presentable, so Blaine brushed his jacket and fussed over his own hair while Kurt instructed Morgan to put on a clean shirt, which he did immediately, stripping in the middle of the room and laughing when Kurt's face turned red and he whirled around to avoid looking. Trent had been right about the abs. Kurt could feel his knees go weak. He'd just been laying in bed with that body...boy.
Once Morgan was in a clean shirt and it had been buttoned and tucked in to Kurt's approval, he threw his tie around his neck. Kurt stopped Morgan halfway through a half-Winsor knot and retied the tie with a full. Kurt checked their hair supplies and Morgan sat so he could take a comb and product to the disheveled mess. When it came to fixing Morgan's hair he was careful to make it distinctly different from Blaine's because he liked seeing a contrast between the two, but he wanted them to both look nice. He'd always thought it was a waste for gorgeous people to go out looking like they'd just rolled out of bed and was determined not to let it happen on his watch.
Morgan sat very calmly through the whole process, watching Kurt's movements. It occurred to Kurt that Morgan probably enjoyed being taken care of. He wondered if Blaine often straightened Morgan's ties or if he ever needed help getting dressed when he wasn't sad.
Once Kurt had finished making him presentable and Morgan was shrugging on his blazer, he announced they were ready to go.
Morgan stole a very long, meaningful look at Blaine, who shrugged and averted his eyes. Twin telepathy was definitely something Kurt had read about when he'd done his research on them, but he didn't believe that was what this was. He'd had conversations with Mercedes in similar ways on occasion. He tried not to think about what they could have been communicating as Blaine held the door open for them.
The next day was the one week anniversary of the first day Kurt had met Morgan-and the kiss. Morgan had insisted they should walk together after lunch, which was convenient for Blaine since his class was in the other direction, but it was hard not to stare longingly after Blaine even after Morgan had taken his hand and linked their fingers in a way that made Kurt stiffen slightly.
Morgan glanced up at him. "Holding hands is a no-go?"
Kurt readjusted their hold so their fingers weren't linked. Morgan bit his lower lip, nodded, and swung their hands slightly before he began to lead the way.
Dinner the night before had been a distinctly more upbeat affair than lunch had been. It seemed like slowly Morgan was pulling out of his funk, but his energy levels were still about half what Kurt had seen the previous week.
When they reached Kurt's classroom, Morgan stopped and tugged Kurt toward him. "Sorry for kissing you spontaneously."
Kurt's breath caught. It wasn't a sexual thing for once, but rather a surprise that Morgan was still concerned about it. He sighed.
They were still holding hands. It was weird that that didn't make him feel self-conscious. He wasn't terrified that his hands might be clammy or that someone would think they were together or take offense. It felt as comfortable as it did when he held Mercedes' hand, nothing like how it felt the one time he'd tried to grab Finn's hand surreptitiously last year, or the wave of giddy delight he felt every time Blaine's body brushed against his. And it was nothing like the raw sexual energy Morgan had been emitting after the soccer match. It just felt like holding hands. "It's not that I didn't..." he searched for a better word but none presented itself, "Like it. It was just..."
"I know. I get it. I'm just a..." Morgan hummed and cupped his hand behind Kurt's head and leaned forward like he was going for a kiss again. As his eyes drifted closed it struck Kurt again how much resemblance there was between him and Blaine. Their lips didn't land. Instead Morgan pressed their foreheads together so that their noses just brushed and he held there for a long moment. When he peeled away and said goodbye, Kurt was left with a sweeping dizziness like when you sit up too fast after lying down. His whole body felt relaxed and pliant as he waved to Morgan and then stumbled backwards into his classroom.