"Why do I keep letting you drag me to these stupid things?" Kurt muttered, wrapping his afghan tighter around his shoulders as he tried to fight off the chill of the crisp autumn night. The hard plastic stadium seats were already making him uncomfortable, and the game hadn't even started yet.
"Because I love football and you love me," Blaine grinned, bumping Kurt's shoulder with his own. He reached down between his legs into the bag under his chair and pulled out a thermos and two mugs, pouring each of them some hot cocoa. "This should warm you up," he said, handing one of the mugs to Kurt.
"I can think of a much better way we could be warming up," Kurt drawled, before putting his lips to the edge of the mug, blowing on the steaming muddy liquid and crossing his right leg over his knee. There were in fact several much more fun options running through Kurt's mind at that moment, most of which required considerably less clothing. The thoughts brought a smile to his lips, but his fantasies were soon interrupted.
"Kurt," Rachel yelled, leaning over Blaine and nearly spilling his drink, "I need to talk to you about a number I want to do for glee. It's a duet, but neither Finn nor Blaine can hit the high notes so I think we—"
"Rachel," the tiny brunette glared at Kurt for interrupting, but she stopped talking regardless. "As honoured as I am at your request, now is certainly not the time to discuss it considering you nearly scalded my boyfriend's package, and I rather prefer him intact, thank you very much."
Rachel blushed and mumbled half an apology before turning back to Finn.
"Such a gallant knight, protecting my manhood," Blaine teased, ducking his head to press his forehead—very briefly—against Kurt's temple. It was always quick little moments like that in public. A brief touch of fingers, a bump of the shoulders, a pat on the back. Even a hug was pushing things a little when they were among a crowd; Blaine was always so careful when it came to PDA. Kurt really did understand, he didn't have any desire to be called names or sneered at by the multitude of homophobes that seemed to populate the state of Ohio either; he just wished that it didn't have to be like that.
"Well, I should if I intend to get any use out of it, which I do," Kurt teased back, running the toe of his boot up Blaine's leg.
Blaine laughed and brought his eyes down to his hands, his go-to response when things threatened to get too intimate in a public venue.
Soon after that the game started, and the four teens spent the next forty minutes cheering on the Buckeyes with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Occasionally, with a particularly great pass or a touchdown, Blaine would reach over and squeeze Kurt's thigh while beside them Finn kissed Rachel eagerly. It was times like that that made Kurt wish he and Blaine could be just as unreserved with their affection as everyone else. It didn't seem fair—it wasn't fair—that they always had to restrain themselves for fear of repercussions. He wasn't even asking to be able to stick his tongue down his boyfriend's throat or grope him like the intoxicated girl two rows down from them was; just a simple kiss or holding hands without having to worry about certain three letter slurs being thrown at them would be nice.
"What are you thinking about?" Blaine asked as the teams headed off the field for halftime. He reached over to squeeze Kurt's fingers briefly before bringing his hand back into his own lap. "You're frowning."
"Sorry," Kurt shrugged, "just jealous." He nodded towards Rachel and Finn, and Blaine glanced over, rolling his eyes to see them making out, again. He didn't need Kurt to clarify what he meant; he knew. Turning to wink at Kurt, Blaine casually adjusted his legs, putting his shoe on top of Rachel's for half a second.
"Oops…"
"Blaine!" Rachel shrieked, whirling to face him. "These are brand new shoes, and you're getting them dirty!"
"Sorry," Blaine said, wide eyed and innocent, as Kurt tried to stifle his laughter.
"It's not funny, Kurt." Rachel glared at him, and Kurt couldn't hold back the soft snort that came out.
Just then, cheesy romantic music started playing from the loudspeakers, and there was a loud outburst of cheers from the audience as the Kiss Cam came up on the Jumbotron. Kurt watched the screen and laughed and cheered along with the rest of the crowd at the various couples caught unawares and compelled to kiss, while Blaine continued to get reprimanded by Rachel. When the camera faded out from an elderly couple that shared a kiss on the cheek, Kurt jolted when he realized the camera was now focused on his boyfriend and Rachel. He shook with laughter as he elbowed Blaine and pointed up at the screen, and the entire stadium saw Blaine's look of shock as his head whipped back and forth between the girl he was featured with and the boy on the other side of him. Only Kurt saw Blaine's decision solidify in his eyes a half a second before Blaine's hands were on his face, pulling him in to press their lips together firmly. At first laughter rang out around them, the audience thinking it was some sort of joke or prank, until Blaine's lips moved against his, deepening the kiss, and Kurt responded in kind. After a brief hush the stadium went wild, and Kurt heard both cheers and boos until he blocked everything out in favour of focusing all his attention on the feeling of Blaine's lips on his. Neither of them noticed when the camera moved on, they just pulled away when they were ready, shy smiles and blushing.
"Sorry," Blaine said, looking slightly nervous.
"Hey, don't ever apologize for kissing me," Kurt chastised gently, placing a quick peck on the corner of Blaine's mouth.
Blaine smiled and brushed his thumb across Kurt's cheek. "I'm tired of hiding. I don't care what people think, I want everyone to know how much I love you."
oOo
On the way out of the stadium Kurt and Blaine were walking hand in hand, excitement still tingling through their veins, chatting excitedly with Finn and Rachel beside them. Just as they were about to walk out the doors, a large hand landed on Blaine's shoulder and he spun around, with Kurt, Finn and Rachel copying the movement.
"Hey!" Finn shouted with a scowl on his face, taking a step towards the burly man who stopped Blaine.
"Daniel, you're scaring the crap out of these poor children," a smaller man tsked, placing his hand on the other man's arm.
"Oh, sorry Brian, I didn't even think…" The large man looked rather embarrassed, removing his hand quickly from Blaine's shoulder.
"What do you want?" Finn growled, scowl still prominent on his face. Nobody was going to harass his brother and his boyfriend for that kiss, not while Finn was around.
"I apologize for Daniel's behaviour; we truly didn't mean to scare you boys. We simply wanted to talk to you." Kurt had a pretty good idea what they wanted when Brian slipped his hand into his companion's hand. "We just wanted to tell you two how inspiring you are."
"It takes a lot of courage to do what you boys did; displaying your love like that in front of so many people, knowing full well what the consequences might be," Daniel added.
The two singers shared a secret smile at the word 'courage', and Blaine leaned over to kiss Kurt's temple.
"You kids give us so much hope for the future," Brian continued, smiling up at Daniel with such obvious love and affection. "If we tried that when we were your age, we wouldn't have made it out of our seats. In fact, we are still so careful in public, some twenty-odd years later."
"This one was like that until, well, today," Kurt said, bumping Blaine's hip with his own and then kissing his cheek. Out of all of the emotions Kurt was feeling—the exhilaration, the affection, the slight edge of trepidation—from that kiss, the one that stood out the most was pride. That he could call this wonderful human being his boyfriend was perhaps the greatest feeling in the world.
"It certainly looks like you boys have something special," Daniel said, taking his hand from Brian's and sliding it around his waist.
"We do." Blaine brought Kurt's fingers to his lips as he looked lovingly in his eyes.
The two older men shared a knowing smile. "Good," Brian said. "Stay strong and don't let anyone take that away from you. You boys remind me of us when we were younger; it's a tough world, but you two obviously have what it takes to make it through."
"Thanks," Kurt said sincerely, for the kind words and the positive thoughts. The two men just smiled and nodded before taking each other's hand and turning away.
"Whaddya know," Finn said, as he watched the older couple walk away, "I think we just met future Klaine."
Blaine slid his arm around Kurt's waist, squeezing his side and kissing his smiling lips chastely. "I hope so."