Another Angle – Blame it on the Alcohol

            Kurt had spent the whole week complaining about having to share a computer with Finn. His laptop was taking longer than expected to be fixed and Finn had the horrible habit of leaving the last site he visited opened. Kurt had seen some things he would rather have erased from his memory. Today, however, Kurt’s curiosity seemed to take the lead when he read an e-mail from Puck:

“I’m going to make sure there’s enough booze around Rachel’s party Saturday. Can I count on you to help me distract the Little-Miss-Perfect?”

So there was going to be a party at Rachel’s and Puck was taking lead to make sure anything could happen? That was the perfect opportunity for Kurt to impress Blaine. He could invite his friend for a place where they could let their hairs down but without sounding like a date. Kurt would be more at ease around his friends and Blaine probably wouldn’t be in his Warbler persona. He could barely contain his excitement as he searched for his phone and speed-dialed Blaine.

“Hello?”

            “Hi Blaine; it’s Kurt. Listen, what are you doing this Saturday?”

            “I have nothing yet planned; why?”

            “Well, you took me to a get-together with your friends and now I’d like to return the favor. There will be a New Directions’ party at Rachel’s this Saturday. Do you want to come?”

            “Great; I really like your friends. But are you sure there will be no problem if I go too?”

            “Not if you go as Blaine, not as a Warbler. Just don’t wear the jacket…”

            “Fine. I’ll be just Blaine; Kurt’s friend. Say, do I get to your house around 7 and we go together?”

            “Perfect! See you then.”

            Sharing a computer with Finn ended up having its benefits. Kurt was a little mad at Rachel for not inviting him; but as it seemed like it was Puck’s idea, he could understand the omission. He now just had to blackmail Finn to take him there. Well, that wouldn’t be that hard task to do as a brother who shared a computer with someone as bumbling as Finn.

*

            Blaine didn’t care to admit, but he was scared of what could happen at the New Directions’ party. He was afraid they would see him as a spy; they had such a great dynamic between them that Blaine often felt like an intruder. On the other hand; they were very friendly and all of them seemed very happy for Kurt being in a safe environment, and they thought Blaine was part of Kurt’s happiness.

            He surely was part of that; as Kurt was a big part of his own happiness. They had a friendship and an understanding of each other that was quite rare. Since the first moment they met; they knew they could share everything. There were certain things he would only tell Kurt as he knew Kurt had things that only Blaine could understand. “Best friends” was not enough to define what they meant for each other; that was why Blaine couldn’t afford to lose Kurt.

            They still had the “feelings” thing between them; but things were pretty normal by now and they were back to being the dynamic duo of Kurt and Blaine. However, the New Directions had some relationship and jealousy issues that were practically non-existent at the Warblers. He had even seen Kurt and Finn yelling at each other before leaving the house in different cars. Surely he and Cooper, his big brother, had some epic rows; but something about Kurt and Finn not being real brothers and Kurt having had a crush on Finn just didn’t sounded right for Blaine. Siting on the car with Kurt felt natural; but crashing the party with him made Blaine somehow awkward.

*

            “Come on Finn; help me carry him upstairs.”

            “Why don’t we leave him on the couch?”

            “Would you rather hold him sleeping while I make a bed on the couch? Nonsense; I have a big double bed where both of us fit perfectly fine.”

            “Whatever dude. But I was the designated driver, not the designated carrier of my brother’s boyfriend!”

            “He’s not my boyfriend; that’s why we can have a sleepover just like you have with Puck. Besides, I wasn’t the designated driver and took a lot of people in my car around the town. Now, if you could just help me and not make a noise to wake up my dad…”

            “Fine!”

            Kurt and Finn managed to carry Blaine upstairs and lay him on Kurt’s bed. Finn just looked at how the drunken boy hadn’t wakened up during the whole process and now was starting to drool on Kurt’s pillow:

            “Dude, you don’t expect me to change him or anything, do you?”

            Kurt paid attention to his brother for the first time since entering the room:

            “No Finn; it would be just too embarrassing. He agreed in staying over and not driving home but I don’t know how conscious he was. Anyway, we are not that close…”

            “But you love him, don’t you?”

            Kurt was caught by surprise; his brother wasn’t usually so observant. But the found smile on Finn’s face made him sigh and confess:

            “Yes, I am. He’s the one not interested.”

            “It’s pity. He looked like he was having one hell of a good time with you and your friends. I like him and I bet you love him a whole damn lot for letting him drool on your pillow like that and don’t get mad.”

            Kurt looked amazed at Finn:

            “How come you became such a good brother in such a short time?”

            Finn just shrugged and left to his room. Kurt went to his night-time skin ritual with Finn’s words playing rounds around his head. He wasn’t fooling anyone anymore; he loved Blaine and it was a lie to say that it didn’t hurt when Blaine didn’t reciprocate it.

            He lay down next to his best friend with the scene of Blaine and Rachel’s kiss torturing him and keeping him from sleeping. Maybe it was time to get over Blaine; but what was he supposed to do? He knew he *did* want to keep his friendship; but was it healthy to keep being friends with the guy you are head-over-hills about?

            Suddenly, something shook the thoughts out of Kurt: Blaine had turned in his sleep and was now hugging Kurt and pulling him closer. Kurt tried to get away, but Blaine’s grip was strong. Eventually, he decided to let go and enjoy being hold. One night wouldn’t hurt, not that there was something Kurt could do to get rid of Blaine; the only thing was to not let his hopes high. Right; like that could happen.

*

            Blaine was approaching the revival theater to meet Rachel for their date. He was overly excited to make this date work so he could prove Kurt that he had a point. He was allowed to experiment if he felt confused and nor Kurt nor anybody had the right to judge him. This had been an awkward week with Kurt: he had woken up in Kurt’s bed with no memory of how he had gotten there in the first place and then they had fought over his date with Rachel. Kurt thought his was the boss of him or something? No sir; not with Blaine Anderson.

            He spotted Rachel and she was looking lovely dressed as Jennifer Cavalleri. She was a good girl; maybe things could work out with her. They shared so much interests in common and she was pleasant to talk to; most of the times anyway. Blaine wasn’t denying he was attracted to boys; but maybe not knowing he was also attracted to girls was what kept him from having a relationship with someone.

            She looked at him and grinned:

            “Hi Blaine! So good you also adore “Love Story”. This could be the perfect first date; you see, most of the boys wouldn’t…”

            He couldn’t find a break to say hi to her because she was speaking non-stop. Oh Lord; she could be chatty! This he would give Kurt; gay guys were easier to talk to. He wasn’t paying attention to her anymore and, before he knew, he was with a handbag in hand as Rachel walked towards the bathroom saying:

            “Thank you, I’ll be back in a minute.”

            During the film, Blaine took Rachel’s hand to caught her attention and mouth the lines from the movie. She quickly joined him knowing the girl’s part by heart; however, she didn’t let go of his hand. To Blaine’s surprise, it felt good but still made him unease.

            They left the theater with Rachel wrapped around Blaine’s arm as they walked to a dinner nearby. Blaine could see the people looking at them and finding it completely natural. That was definitively something he could get used to: not having to hide, people accepting him and being able to have a relation with his father again. That feeling was something Kurt could never understand; Kurt was loved for what he was.

*

            Kurt was fuming. He was tapping his fingers on the wheel of his darkened car parked hidden on an ally near Rachel’s house. He had put his Ipod to play the list with his favorite songs, but even though he couldn’t get rid of his rage.

            How could Rachel do that to him? She knew he had feelings for Blaine, but still she called him out on a date. How could she have stabbed Kurt in the back like that? He had never told “I’m in love with Blaine” to her; but she knew it. How could she not? And to think he now considered her one of his best friends…

            Never to worry; his anger was well placed and he had plenty left for Blaine as well. How could he have accepted going on a date with Rachel? How could he think he wasn’t gay? And if it was just for experimentation; why would Blaine go out with Kurt’s best friend?

            Kurt stood in the car remembering the row he had with Blaine at the coffee shop. He knew Blaine was angry and probably said things without thinking them twice; but did he really think that Kurt was behaving like Karofsky? Kurt would never bully anyone. Was that the image Blaine had of him? If that was true, he could see why Blaine didn’t want him.

            The first chords of “I’m not that girl” from Wicked started playing on the radio and Kurt could feel his eyes getting moist. He turned the volume up and started singing along. He could only sing for two lines before his voice cracked with crying and he let his head fall back, sighing in exasperation. This crush over Blaine was getting way out of hand: look at him; stalking outside Rachel’s place to know how their date had gone.

            At that moment, he saw Rachel’s car turning the corner. Just her car and she appeared to be alone. Maybe that was a sign that the date didn’t go that well; Blaine was a perfect gentleman and would have made sure she got home safe. Kurt’s curiosity was killing him and he did what he thought he shouldn’t. He wiped away his tears, grabbed his phone and dialed:

            “Rachel? It’s Kurt. Are you home?”

*

            Blaine hadn’t talked to Kurt since their row. He also hadn’t answered Kurt’s messages and phone calls that now, Blaine had perceived, were less frequent. It was the day they usually met at the Lima Bean and their usual hour and Blaine was walking there not sure of what to expect.

            He also hadn’t called Rachel since their date. It had been nice but something was missing. He had even gone out of his usual self and sent Rachel home alone. She was clearly expecting him to kiss her when they got near her car and it distracted Blaine. He was confused and just said goodbye giving her the excuse he was half-way home.

            Now he was opening the Lima Bean’s door and hoping he would find Kurt there. Inside Blaine, he could feel a little light of hope lightening up and waiting that Kurt would have forgotten all about their fight and everything would go back to normal. He also wished that Kurt and Rachel haven’t talk and that neither of them was hurt because of him. To short things up, Blaine was feeling hopeful and confused, still not knowing exactly who he was or what he wanted.

*

            Kurt had to watch Rachel and Blaine’s second kiss, but somehow it had been worth it. It had even been worth being cornered by his dad about Blaine sleeping over. Kurt was saving Blaine’s spot at the line and hearing in his head his best friend’s voice repeating over and over: “I’m 100% gay.” It was no declaration of love or anything; but still Kurt’s crush was gay, 100% gay; and that definitively gave Kurt a huge advantage.

            Blaine got back from the bathroom and looked puzzled at Kurt:

            “Where did Rachel go?”

            Kurt couldn’t contain a small smile:

            “She said something about having songs to write and rushed out of here before I could say anything. Women, huh?”

            Blaine chuckled:

            “I guess we’ll never understand them…”

            “Actually, I have some good inside views of the woman universe. Some things about them really fascinate me, but I’m still not interested.”

            Blaine laughed and shook his head. His face went serious as he looked straight into Kurt’s eyes:

            “Kurt, I’d like to…”

            Kurt stopped him and turned to the barista:

            “Hello, can I please have one Medium Drip and a Non-Fat Mocha? Also, could you give me one of those chocolate cookies? I think I can persuade my friend into sharing one.”

            He then turned to Blaine with a smirk:

            “Put that wallet away, silly; today’s my treat.”

            Blaine smiled amazed:

            “You still remember my coffee order?”

            “Of course I do!”