Another Angle – Prom Queen:

            Kurt couldn’t complain about his life right now: he was back at the school his friends were and where all the other students seemed now to ignore the fact that his was gay and just let him be. And, more importantly, he had a wonderful boyfriend with who he have found the perfect balance so they could see each other a lot and still keep up with studies and Glee-Clubs. Everything was just going fine and Kurt was letting his mind wonder if he should ask Blaine to go to the Prom with him.

            Not that he thought Blaine was ashamed of him or anything; after all, he was the one who asked to keep PDAs to a minimum. But something about appearing at his bully-full school as a couple at Prom made him think Blaine could not be totally comfortable about. Kurt always dreamed that when he found a boyfriend he’d be able to walk hand-in-hand with him and slow-dance at his Prom. Blaine grabbed his hand at whatever opportunity he got; however, slow-dancing at Prom might not be his cup of tea…

            Well, if he believed he and Blaine had a solid relationship; why wouldn’t he invite his boyfriend for Prom? Besides, if he never asked the answer would always be no, right? But Kurt wanted to do that face to face; he wanted to measure Blaine’s reaction to be sure he wasn’t forcing his boyfriend to do something he wasn’t comfortable about. He decided to ask Blaine out for dinner and prop the question there. He searched for his phone and typed the message:

            “Are you in for dinner with me tonight at BreadStix? My treat! XXXX”

            It didn’t take a full minute before Blaine’s answer was flashing on his screen:

            “A date with you? I’m always in! But we’ll discuss the ‘your treat’ part. XXXX”

            Kurt couldn’t help but smile. At least one thing was for sure: he was in a solid relationship with the most amazing man in the universe.

*

            Blaine sighed and let himself fall on one of Dalton’s comfortable chairs. Dalton’s furniture was one of the great aspects of the school. The other was that it was an all-boy school; if they ever decided to throw some sort of ball in here no one would care if the boy’s dates were other boys. Most people seemed to like the fact that he and Kurt were a couple. While at McKinley…

            He was lost in his worries when he saw Wes crossing him by absent-mindedly. For the first time in years, Blaine was the one surprising Wes:

            “Is that long face because Lydia is not putting out for you, my dearest Wes?”

            Wes’ face while he jumped scared was priceless and it got Blaine instantly into a fit of laughter. However, Wes’ wit was quit to come up with an appropriate reply:

            “Are you the one to talk? I bet you anything as you and your boyfriend are still virgins…”

            Blaine coughed and looked aside; Wes had a triumphant smirk on his face:

            “Well, well grasshopper; you’ve still got a lot to learn from the master. But you must be seeking for my advice since you called me out of my day-dreams.”

            “As a matter of fact, I am. Can we go someplace quiet so we can talk?”

            Wes nodded sympathetically and followed Blaine to an empty classroom. He sat down with a flourish and looked at his worried friend:

            “I sense some disturbance in paradise. Tell me all that’s in your heart and the Great Wes will solve your problems.”

            Blaine let out a little chuckle before going back to his serious state and beginning to share his thoughts with his friend:

            “Kurt asked me to go to Prom with him.”

            “Did you tell him about the Sadie Hawking’s incident?”

            Blaine just nodded and Wes went on, a little concerned now:

            “And he insisted anyway?”

            “No! Of course not! He said he’d understand if I didn’t want to go and that it would be alright. But I saw in his eyes how much he wanted to go and I couldn’t deny him it.”

            “Oh, Puppy-love! My friend, I’d say that you are whipped and there’s nothing you can do about it but enjoy. As for the Prom; we can only hope for the best. Kurt is having no trouble with bullying there, right? Anyway, he’ll be there for you. I firmly believe that it will bring you guys even closer. Go on and parade with your man for one night. Try to have a good time, Blaine-boy.”

            Blaine gave him a half-smile. He liked Wes’ capacity of always seeing the good side of situations.

*

            Kurt could hear the knockings on his door:

            “Kurt, please! Open the door so we can talk. Come on; I hate to think you’re mad at me.”

            The hurt in Blaine’s voice was it for him; he ran to unlock the door and take his boyfriend in his arms:

            “I’m not mad at you. I’m never mad at you. I’m just… confused? It’s all that’s going on at McKinley…”

            He caught Blaine wiping away a tear even though he was trying to hide it. Blaine’s voice, however, showed no trace that it was breaking:

            “We’ve got each other, Kurt. No matter what’s going on at McKinley, at Dalton, at… ehrm, well, anywhere else.”

            One of the perks of dating your best friend was catching what he left unsaid. Kurt was starting to see how wounded Blaine was because of the bullying he suffered in the past. He guided his boyfriend to sit with him at his bed and stroked the boy’s hair. After a few seconds of a comfortable intimate silence; Kurt gathered the courage to say:

            “Honey? Do you want to talk about your bullying?”

            Blaine sighed and lay on the bed. Kurt hesitantly lay by his side and was relieved when Blaine reached for his hand:

            “I’ll tell you everything about it but not today. Your Prom is about you and, as you said, it’s about redemption. I don’t want to be scared of the ghosts of my past. I want that night to be about us and about how happy we are together.”

            Blaine kissed his knuckles and Kurt happily snuggled closer resting a hand on his boyfriend’s shoulder. Blaine grinned and closed his eyes. Kurt tried in a feeble voice, since his boyfriend seemed to be deep in thinking:

            “Blaine, I’m scared.”

            Blaine’s eyes opened and focused on him with great interest:

            “Of what?”

            “Karofsky. I mean… I don’t think he’ll try to attack me in any kind of violent way; but this whole situation with him and Santana just smells suspicious to me.”

            Kurt hid his face on Blaine’s shoulder to avoid letting his tears drop. He could only hear a sigh and feel Blaine’s lips giving him a kiss on the forehead.

*

            Blaine shut the car down and pattered his fingers on the wheel. They were at the parking lot of McKinley and Prom was more real and scarier in his head. Kurt made a move to open the door but he stopped him:

            “Could we… talk? Just a minute…”

            Kurt opened his most irresistible smile and Blaine was calmer to reach for the box in the back seat:

            “I wanted to give you this first.”

            Kurt opened the box and his eyes started to glow as he saw the two identical lapel corsages. Blaine was nervously babbling:

            “I probably should have given you these when I picked you up at your house but I wanted you to feel absolutely comfortable to not wear them. The whole thing with your outfit and your father the other day… I don’t know the proper etiquette to two boys going together to a ball, but I founded them cute. I totally understand if it clashes with your outfit or if it’s too old-fashioned. I just thought it would be nice if people somehow knew we are together.”

            Kurt’s smile grew wider as he leaned in to hug him.

            “I love them Blaine. I can’t begin to tell how thankful I am that you are here with me today. I know what it means to you and I’ll feel immensely glad if tonight we can get you hid of all your ghosts.”

            Blaine smiled embarrassed and ducked his head. He kept staring at the wheel as he spoke:

            “There’s kind of something I needed to ask of you…”

            Kurt encouragingly put a hand on his shoulder:

            “Anything you want, honey.”

            Blaine turned to him with moist eyes:

            “Can we not slow dance? It was… while we were… I mean, me and my friend at the Sadie Hawking’s… I slow danced with my friend in the ball and that was what inflamed the bullies.”

            Kurt captured him in his arms again:

            “No problem. We’ll just have a good time and be together tonight, okay? Also, you’ll totally rock at the stage and I’ll be proud to tell everybody that you are my boyfriend.”

            Blaine chuckled and turned in Kurt’s embrace so he could give him a chase kiss.

*

            Humiliation. Pure humiliation. Kurt didn’t know if the worse was to see the mocking face of those who had turned him into a walking joke or the concerned/hurt face of Blaine trying to comfort him. Either way, he decided minutes ago that the only way out of this was up: he was going to reenter that gymnasium with his head up high and he’d get his rightful crow.

            Blaine hadn’t tried to dissuade him; but Kurt knew his boyfriend wasn’t in love with the idea. And great part of what he was doing was for Blaine too. He was decided to show him that they could go above the bullies.

            Kurt could tell Blaine was somewhere around near him; but all his focus was now on opening those doors and entering glamorously at that gym. They had made him a Prom Queen? They would get the best Prom Queen McKinley had ever seen.

*

            It all happened in a couple of seconds but in Blaine’s perception it had occurred during eternal hours. He had seen Kurt’s resolution as he walked towards the stage to get crowed. Inside Blaine’s head was a mix of horror movie and a sense of very close danger coming to catch him, as flashes of the Sadie Hawking’s flooded his mind and the hateful eyes of strangers were gazing on him.

            It was as if he was seeing through a mist as he watched Kurt and Karofsky getting down the stage together. Suddenly, all the images had changed and all he could remember was the first time he kissed Kurt. A specific scene of that day; the exact moment when Kurt got back from his shock and placed a hand on Blaine’s face and began to kiss him back. The touch of Kurt’s hand that day had told him all he wanted to know: it was the symbol of the reassurance Kurt always had given him and would continue to give in a different way. He remembered how had melted into the kiss as the feeling took over him.

            That was it: all he wanted Kurt to feel was the same he had felt that day. He’d do anything to make sure his boyfriend got the reassurance he needed from him. The first word he had texted Kurt had been ‘courage’; tonight he was taking the word back to ask his boyfriend on a slow dance in front of a huge audience.

*

            All the way from the school to his house, Kurt hasn’t found the right words to thank Blaine for the night. They were in a much lighter mood after having danced several songs together. Blaine was humming along with the radio and Kurt got so distracted listening to him that he didn’t noticed they had already arrived.

            Blaine turned to him smiling:

            “I brought you safe and sound to your castle, Your Highness.”

            Kurt chuckled because Blaine’s fingers were tickling his neck and the gaze he held on him was so intense that made him blush:

            “Thank you.”

            Blaine just smiled. Kurt held his wrist and pulled his hand so he could kiss it:

            “I mean it. Thank you for tonight. I felt so protected by the way you took care of me. You gave me courage to carry on.”

            “I need to thank you too, Kurt. I’m glad you insisted with me on going with you; it sure chased some ghosts away.”

            Kurt smiled and kissed Blaine fondly. When their mouths parted; their foreheads were still touching and Kurt whispered:

            “You don’t know how much it means to me to have someone I can count on in this world. Ever since my mom passed away; dad was the only person for me. Now I know I have you too and that feels wonderful. I wish you could have known mom; I’m sure she’d approve you like dad does.”

            Only after speaking, Kurt became aware he might have touched in a painful subject for Blaine. Blaine’s voice was sure breaking but his reaction was good:

            “I also wished I’d known her; I’m sure she was a fantastic person. I can see some traits of her in her son.”

            Blaine leaned in for a kiss and Kurt tried to put all his feelings into the way his lips were moving along with Blaine’s.

*

            Blaine was driving away from Kurt’s house and he could swear he saw Burt smiling from the window for a brief second before going back in and turning off the light. It was good to know that Kurt’s father liked him. And now Kurt’s words were echoing in his head: “I wish you could have known mom”. Blaine wished that too; he wanted to know everything about the boy who had changed his life so much. He wanted to be sure that Mrs. Hummel would also like him and approve the choice her son had made. In that second, Blaine thought he saw a star twinkling in the sky. He wasn’t the most superstitious of persons; but he’d take that as a good sign.