Title: Time Well Spent
Author: WishesintheNightSky
Summary: The New Directions have gone to Los Angeles for Nationals, and Kurt and Blaine have a small fight about their post-graduation plans. A gift-fic for KittyKat0085.
Prompt: Klaine S3 future-fic/argument or what-not (perhaps about their post-graduation plans?), but that they work it out and it ends fluff-ily (I know that's not a word, but I'm such a sucker for angst-y stuff that results in fluffiness lately).
A/N: Why yes, the title is from Tom Felton's song. Thank you for asking.
Chirp. Chirp.
Kurt giggled quietly at the birds that were pecking at the crumbs that had spilled onto the pavement from his veggie sandwich. Admiring the flock that had gathered around the tiny bits of food, he tore off a piece of crust away from his lunch, setting the sandwich down on the glass table with the white and yellow-striped umbrella while he shred the bread until it became morsels little enough for the birds, spreading it on the ground.
Blaine watched this with a fond, affectionate smile on his face. It was small moments like these that Blaine loved, just because it was when Kurt had his guard down, and let himself be happy.
As much as the fashionista loved to keep up his Ice Bitch™ facade as an automatic defense mechanism, Blaine knew that there was a boy with a kindness not everyone had, and it was shown in the almost insignificant things he did. Like skipping class just to take of Blaine when he was sick, or comfort both Finn and Rachel (as much as he resented her) during their breaks from their relationship.
Not many people took any notice to Kurt's real personality, but Blaine did. And it was just another reason why he loved the glasz-eyed boy.
Taking a sip of his strawberry smoothie (the taste reminded him of the way Kurt smelled, as creepy as it sounded), Blaine snapped out of his Kurt-induced trance, looking instead towards the sunset that was a blend of warm colors.
Kurt, who had just finished his sandwich as the birds were starting to fly away, turned his head to see what Blaine was staring at. A hint of a smile flitted across his lips.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" he remarked, sipping his glass of cold herbal tea. "The sunset," he clarified at Blaine's questioning glance.
Hazel orbs looked back to the sun that had reached halfway through the horizon, almost appearing to melt into the ocean water. Blaine sighed wistfully at the sight of it.
"Yeah…it's one of the reasons why I am definitely planning on moving here after graduation. Well, if I get an acceptance letter back from UCLA, I mean," he told Kurt, staring longingly at the wide expanse.
There was a moment of silence, and Blaine's gaze shifted toward the porcelain-skinned boy to see what had kept him so quiet.
Blaine's eyebrows furrowed with a mixture of surprise and concern. Kurt had an expression of something close to horror on his face, mouth parted into an 'O' shape. And his grip on his drink seemed to tighten, tendons whitening.
"Kurt? What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost or something," Blaine asked worriedly. He rested his hand on Kurt's arm, trying to get the boy's attention.
It worked, and Kurt audibly gulped before moving his head vaguely into Blaine's direction. Those glasz eyes looked on blankly, clouding over every few seconds.
"You…want to move to California when we graduate?" Kurt asked in a monotone, feeling a sense of dread creeping within him.
Blaine blinked at the deadness in Kurt's voice, leaning forward absentmindedly as his worry grew.
"Yeah...what's wrong with that?" he asked, confusion lacing his words. Kurt suddenly shook his head rapidly, putting his drink back onto the table as he stood up abruptly.
"Um...no, there's nothing wrong with that," Kurt said stiffly, with a fake smile that Blaine could see right through. The boy was avoiding his eyes, fists clenched at his sides.
"Uh...I gotta go...go...do something," Kurt told him in way that made Blaine easily tell that he was lying, before running off, sandwich wrapper and glass of tea left forgotten.
Blaine stared after him silently for a long moment, before quickly regaining use of his brain, and jumping up from his seat. Hurriedly taking his wallet from the back pocket of his worn-out jeans, he smacked down a forty dollar bill onto the table, mumbling an almost unintelligible 'keep the change' to the waitress that had made her way to the table after seeing Kurt rush away.
The girl's eyebrows rose up to her hairline, watching as the curly-haired boy chased after a very fashionably dressed teenager. She glanced down at the money that had been left behind, crossing her arms.
"Alrighty then...one-hundred and fifty percent tip," she muttered to herself, picking up the cash. Her lips curved into a slight grin. "I can make do with that," she said airily, pocketing the bill.
xoxox
Blaine ended up having to follow Kurt all the way back to their hotel room. He was sure that all of the other New Directions members were still out, exploring Los Angeles. Puck, Lauren, and Santana had probably found a way to drag everyone else into some gambling, knowing them.
The former Warbler still didn't really understand why the Glee Club wasn't spending any time preparing for Nationals when the competition was only days away, but he wasn't about to speak out, in fear of upsetting whatever balance they had going on.
The suite door slammed behind Kurt as he locked Blaine out, the shorter boy only a second too late. Blaine pounded the sides of his fists against the door, though it was to no avail.
He heard Kurt's hiccups as the male cried, for reasons that Blaine was still unaware of.
Sliding down onto the carpeted floor, still facing the room, Blaine sighed, still out of breath from his chase.
"Come on, Kurt...I don't know what I did wrong! Was it something that I said...?" he spoke, lips pressed against the white-painted wood.
Silence.
Blaine huffed, starting to get annoyed. His boyfriend had shut him out with no explanation, after all. The only thing that Blaine had said to him before he left was that he'd wanted to go to UCLA so that he could live in Californ...
Oh. Oh.
"Kurt, is this about me wanting to move here after graduation?" he whispered, unsure if Kurt could even hear him through the door.
1 second passed...2...3...creeeakk...
Blaine's head moved back as the door opened slowly, narrowly avoiding a faceplant onto the carpet. He tilted his eyes upward, taking in the sight of a disheveled Kurt, who had bloodshot eyes, and streaks of tears running down his face. Even though Blaine was sure it wasn't the appropriate thing to think about, considering the current situation, he couldn't help but think that Kurt looked absolutely beautiful, adorable, a whole bunch of other words that trailed through his mind when the boy was crying.
"Blaine...?" Kurt's croaky voice took him out of his thoughts, and he scrambled back onto his feet.
Thinking back to what had made Kurt open the door, Blaine felt a bubbling of anger rise in him. Forgetting about the boy's tear-stained face, he spoke with an undertone of a growl.
"Why are you so upset at the thought of me moving here? Do you want me to stay in Ohio, just slaving away my days working at theme parks over the summer?" he ranted, throwing his arms up in frustration. "You want me to just keep on singing covers in front of little kids, embarrassing myself to death? Huh? It that it?"
"No!" Kurt cut in, sounding both heartbroken and scandalized at the same time. Blaine wasn't able to register the first emotion, though, keeping on with his long string of words.
"So, what is it? You don't want me to go to college? You want to just be so successful as a rising star, while I just follow along like some puppy," he spat that word out like it was dirt. "making people think that I'm some kind of fan-boy stalker?"
"That's not it!" Kurt screamed back at him. "How could you even think that?" He sounded hurt, as if the thought of that happening wasn't even possible.
This time, Blaine's brain registered the wounded look on the boy's face, making him lower his voice, though there was still a trace of anger and frustration in his question.
"So then, what is it, Kurt? I don't know what's so wrong about me wanting to make a life for myself here."
"I'm scared, okay?" Kurt yelled, arms wrapped around himself. He looked like a child afraid of the dark, with his hair messy and out of its hairspray hold, tears making their way down his cheeks, eyes red, hugging himself protectively. Blaine felt his scrunched-up face soften a bit at the comparison.
"I want to go to New York and make myself work at degrees in design and theatre once high school is over and done with, and you want to go to UCLA, in California, which is all the way across the country, Blaine."
Blaine could feel the realization dawning upon his face, and his cheeks flushed in shame for shouting at Kurt when all he'd done was be afraid of their future.
"How exactly are we supposed to have a relationship when we're more than a couple of thousand miles apart from each other?" There was exasperation in his tone, mixed with a resignation that alarmed Blaine.
Pulling Kurt against him, he spoke into the countertenor's neck.
"Look, I don't know where the two of us are going to end up after we're finished with McKinley, and I'm not going to make any false promises, either," he started, knowing that Kurt didn't want to be told anything that wasn't for sure.
"All I know is that right now, I love you, and I want to be with you. And even if we're not going to spend the rest of our lives together, which, I really hope we do," he added, reassuring Kurt of his affections. "I'm going to keep loving you, and keep wanting to be with you, until the moment that we both know we can't anymore."
As he kissed Kurt's forehead to soothe his worries, he felt the boy bury his head into Blaine's chest, smiling against his shirt.
"You are so cheesy, you know that?" Blaine laughed loudly as the muffled words were said, hugging the boy tighter.
"But you love it," Blaine teased playfully. The only answer he got was a soft giggle that melted Blaine's heart.
Maybe they weren't going to last, but Blaine was going to make sure that every moment with Kurt was worth it until that happened.
Ohmygod...I just wrote fluff, then humor, then angst (not as much as I would've used to...I'm losing my touch), then fluff again (CORNY fluff, but still fluff...). =/ WTH is wrong with me? I've officially gone insane...
Anyways, KittyKat0085, I hope you liked it. (: It's my shortest one-shot so far...x3