Kurt and I stayed in bed for the rest of the day, watching various Audrey Hepburn movies and setting pill dosage alarms. I’d made Kurt several cups of tea and filled hot water bottles to warm his icy cold feet. It got to 4:45pm when I realised that I would eventually have to go back to Dalton to avoid suspension for not abiding by exam block boarder curfew.
“Hey baby,” I said softly, not wanting to worry Kurt or disturb him in any way, “I’m going to have to leave by seven to make it back to Dalton before curfew.”
“That’s okay... You weren’t supposed to spend more than an hour here anyway, you naughty boy.”
“You loved it,” I teased, stroking his hair.
“But you know, I think I should call your dad, or someone. You need someone to look after you, Kurt.”
“I’ll be fine,” Kurt said, shortly before he erupted into yet another coughing fit.
“...see? You need someone to make you cups of tea and to bring you your pills and to adjust the room temperature for you...”
“I just want you here. You’re perfect.”
“I can’t stay, Dalton will kill me... I really want to, but...”
“So stay. Can’t one of the guys cover for you?”
“I’m sure Jeff could try, but...”
“And you have your laptop, you can study here with me...”
I thought about it. Jeff probably could cover for me if absolutely necessary. I’d owe him, but it’d be worth it to make sure Kurt was healthy as soon as possible.
“Okay... let me go call Jeff, alright?”
Kurt squeezed my hand and let me go. “Sure. Come back soon though, you’re really warm.”
I chuckled as I moved towards the door, digging into my blazer pocket to find my phone. I dialled Jeff’s number and held my breath, waiting for the wave of abuse that was surely about to hit.
“Hey, DITCHER! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN, YOU IDIOT!?” he greeted me.
“I’ve been here in Lima, looking after Kurt. And hey to you too,” I chuckled.
Jeff’s tone suddenly turned serious. “What do you mean, ‘looking after Kurt’? Is he okay?”
“Yeah, he’s just some virus or bug or something. But no one’s home to look after him, he’s literally been alone through it all without any medicine or anything.”
“So you came to his rescue. Kudos, Anderson.”
“Sure. Hey, can you do me a massive favour?”
“Depends on what it is...”
“Can you cover for me tonight? With the curfew check?”
“Man, I don’t know... That’s gonna be tough, they’re not that lenient during exams.”
“I know but... Kurt’s alone. What if he started coughing through the night without anyone there just in case? Like.... he could seriously hurt himself...”
“...Yeah. Okay. Uhm. I think I’ve got a CD of you singing somewhere. Maybe I’ll put that in the bathroom and turn one of the showers on and just say that you’re showering. You always sing in the shower. Maybe that’ll work.”
“Thank you so much, Jeff, you have no idea.”
“I think I do. You owe me, man.”
“I know. Thankyou so much. You know I wouldn’t ask unless it was really important.”
“Yeah. I know. It’s Kurt.”
“Yeah. It is.”
“Okay. Well I’ll email you all the info for exams and shit, okay? So you’ve got it all there and you can bust yo’ ass to get organised.”
“Thanks, Jeff. You’re so incredibly awesome, it hurts.”
“I know. Look, I’ve gotta go if I’m gonna cover for you.”
“Sure. Thank you so much!”
“It’s all right. Talk to you later.”
“See ya, man.”
“Bye, LoverBoy.”
Jeff hung up before I could even respond to his new nickname for me. Jesus Christ, I thought, Now he’s gonna call me ‘LoverBoy’ in front of everyone?
I re-entered Kurt’s room and moved towards his bed, shoving my phone back into my blazer pocket and picking up my laptop from the floor on the way.
“How’d it go?”
“It’s all good,” I said, jumping back onto the bed, moving closer to Kurt to wrap my arm around him, “Jeff’s gonna try and cover for me, and he said he emailed me all the info I need. Can I get onto your wireless?”
“Yeah, it’s unprotected.”
“Wow. That’s safe.”
“I know, right? Meh. Just go for it.”
“Thank you,” I said, kissing the top of his head gently.
“Blaine, stop giving me butterflies, you’ll make me cough and that won’t be good.”
“Terribly sorry. It’s just hard to resist my beautiful, wonderful boyfriend.”
“Baby, I find it hard to resist you too.”
I smiled at Kurt’s use of the word ‘baby’. I’d called him that for a while now, but it seemed as though Kurt didn’t really have a ‘pet name’ for me.
“What?” He asked, seeing the amused expression on my face.
“Nothing... just... you called me ‘baby’.”
“That I did... You call me baby all the time and it makes me feel so... I don’t know. Special, I guess, to have you use a term of endearment when talking to me. I feel special, and I think you deserve to feel the same way.”
“You’re too sweet,” I said, before leaning in and giving him a gentle, soft, chaste kiss on the lips.
“You’re so gonna get sick,” he said, grinning as we broke apart.
“I don’t really give a tiny rat’s ass.”
“Language, mister!”
“Hey! I can swear if I want to!”
“Eh. Go ahead... It’s kind of sexy anyways.”
Until then, I’d been fiddling around with my laptop, logging on and waiting for the internet browser to load. I slowly turned my head to face Kurt.
“Uhm. Say what?”
“...it’s kind of sexy when you curse... Sorry, was that a bit... weird? I shouldn’t have said that... I’m sorry...” Kurt buried his head in his hands looking really embarrassed.
“No, baby, it’s okay. I just didn’t expect you to say that. It’s totally fine to say it, you can tell me anything.”
“But since we’re dating and all, that’s gonna seem really forward of me. As if all I’m trying to do is get in your pants.”
“Hey, hey, hey... Look at me... Kurt, look at me...” I took the laptop off of my lap, placing it next to me so that I could shift my whole body to face Kurt’s and take his hands in mine.
“It’s okay to say things like that. It’s okay to flirt with me. Hell, I’d be more than happy if you flirted with me. I’d be doing some serious flirting too.”
“But... you don’t think that’s a step we’re not ready to take?”
“It’s just talking, baby. Nothing ever has to happen if you don’t want it to.”
“...You mean... you’re ready to do... things?”
“Well, maybe not right now considering you’re not feeling 100%. But I’m ready when you are... I just want you to know that you never, ever have to feel pressured. I’m not going to hurt you. And you can say or do whatever you like. It won’t change how I feel about you.”
Kurt just sat there, shedding some silent tears before nodding his head so softly I would’ve missed it if I hadn’t of been staring.
“I love you, Kurt. We’ve only been dating for... God, not even a month yet. Nothing has to happen until you want it to.”
He leant over to kiss me softly, and I returned the kiss with a smile knowing that everything was going to be okay. After we broke apart, I wrapped one arm around Kurt’s back and squeezed him around the waist while picking up my laptop with my other arm and logging into my Dalton email account.
I found two emails in my inbox: one from Jeff and one from Wes. I opened Jeff’s email first, with Kurt reading over my shoulder (just like a real couple would) and read through all my exam info. Next, I opened the email from Wes.
Email from: wesley.warbler@dalton.edu
Subject: Warblers Set List
Message:
Hey Blaine. Or LoverBoy, as Jeff is now calling you.
Here’s the link to the Warbler set list. Jeff put it together in a youtube video for you to watch and get the gist of it.
Best wishes to Kurt, look after him well.
Kind Regards,
Wesley
I chuckled at Wes’ sign off – he’d obviously set it to look good for teachers or Warblers or something. It just seemed pretentious, but that’s what you get when you give a man a gavel.
Oh, that sounded dirty. Stupid innuendos.
I clicked on the video link, which took us to the Youtube video page. The video was titled “Warbler Set List – Blaine Anderson.” It was a little weird: I was wondering why my name was included in the title if everyone would be getting it. I soon found out why.
No sooner had I seen the title had music come blaring out my speakers with some cheesy special effects on screen and a massive pan of Jeff’s face. Oh shit, I thought, it’s gonna be-
“IT’S KURTIEBEAR CUDDLE TIME
BECAUSE THAT BOY IS MIGHTY FINE
ALL BLAINE CAN THINK IS “HE’S ALL MINE”
IT’S KURTIEBEAR CUDDLE TIME!

PORCELAIN SKIN AND EYES SO BLUE
HE’S GOT A PRETTY RAD WARDROBE TOO
BLAINE THINKS HE’S SO BEAUTIFUL
WITH PORCELAIN SKIN AND EYES SO BLUE

IT’S KURTIEBEAR CUDDLE TIME
BECAUSE THAT BOY IS MIGHTY FINE
ALL BLAINE CAN THINK IS “HE’S ALL MINE”
IT’S KURTIEBEAR CUDDLE TIME!

BLAINE’S IN LOVE, HE’LL SERENADE
HIS LOVE, KURT, EVERYDAY
WARBLER HISTORY WILL BE MADE
WITH THE BLAINE & KURT LOVE PARADE!”

I was frozen in shock. I couldn’t believe what I’d just witnessed. Thank God he didn’t include his rap verse in there, I thought, otherwise Kurt would be just... shit! Kurt!
“Uhm,” I tried to speak, embarrassed and worrying about how Kurt would react.
Before I could say anything else though, I found Kurt in a fit of laughter that surely set him off on yet another coughing fit. I rubbed his back to ease him through the coughs, slightly amused by the hilarious expression on his face but also really wanting to find Jeff and punch him through to the next month.
“That. Was. Freaking. Hilarious!” Kurt stuttered in between laughs and coughs.
“You actually liked it?” I asked in bewilderment.
“How could I not? It’s clear they only did it to mess with you... Nice lyrics. Jeff’s creation, I’m assuming?”
“Yeah, he’s been singing it since... well, since before I even asked you out.”
“How on earth did he finish the song if he didn’t know the outcome?”
“Well, it began as a one-liner, and progressed to what you just saw. Though he’s added a rap verse to the end, I must say.”
“A rap verse?! That’s freaking hilarious! I wanna hear it!”
“So... you’re not mad?”
“Why would I be? Between Jeff’s weird songwriting abilities and your bizarre fascination with chimps, this is the best relationship to be in! I’m glad someone wrote a song about it!”
I laughed it off nervously, not really wanting to carry the conversation on any further. Especially when I realised that I had a certain.... problem.
“Uhm, Blaine?”
“Yeah?” I replied, pushing my laptop closer to my chest so that it would cover... you know.
“You have a problem, don’t you?”
“...maybe.”
“...you should go take care of it. Go have a shower or something.”
“No! I mean, no, it’s okay. I’ll stay here and just look after you,” I said, avoiding his gaze because I was sure that the minute I’d look at Kurt I’d imagine various inappropriate scenarios that would probably result in my death and/or sexual frustration.
“Baby,” Kurt turned on his sexy voice, a voice of which I’d never heard before, “Do you need some... help?”