The third one-shot written for the First Klaine Kit. Enjoy!
Kurt couldn't describe how nervous he was. He had known this day was coming for months, had been planning for it all summer, but now that it was actually here, he wasn't sure he was ready.
After all, this wasn't high school anymore. If he had a bad day at school, he couldn't go home and hide himself away from the rest of the world. Kurt was going off to college and he would no longer have any space to call his own. Instead, he would be sharing a tiny room with a person he had never met before. He only had a name and the information he had gotten from stalking the boy's Facebook profile. Blaine Anderson, formerly of Westerville, Ohio, graduate of Dalton Academy.
"We're here," Burt announced as they pulled into an open space in the parking lot closest to his dorm. Kurt's breath hitched slightly as he stared at the large building. He shakily got out of the car and grabbed his messenger bag that had his computer and some of his school textbooks packed into it.
Check-in went quicker than Kurt expected. Before he knew it, an R.A. was shoving a packet of paper in his arms and a key into his clammy hands.
"Should we go check the room out first before we start moving in?" Carole asked. The whole family had tagged along. Even Finn was going to help Kurt move in.
Kurt nodded and the family of four headed for the elevator. The doors were about to close when Kurt heard a voice calling,
"Wait!"
Out of reflex, Kurt hit the open door button on the elevator panel. The doors slid open again and two boys entered the elevator. Kurt recognized one instantly and it took all his self-restraint to not freak out. Unfortunately, Finn had no such restraint.
"You're Cooper Anderson!" he blurted out, eyes wide. The older of the two boys grinned widely at being recognized and the smaller of the two just rolled his eyes. Kurt eyed the younger one. He looked related to Cooper with the dark looks and hair but he was much shorter than Cooper and had better fashion sense than Kurt's idol. Kurt approved of the dress choice but wanted to do something desperately about the amount of gel in his hair. He was easy to look at but all that gel made his hair look like it was painted on.
"That I am," Cooper Anderson admitted.
"What floor?" Burt cut in as the doors began to close again.
"Five," the unnamed boy replied before Cooper could say anything. Kurt gave him a hesitant smile. The other boy looked just as nervous as Kurt felt.
"That's our floor, too," Finn announced happily.
The elevator ride up was awkward for both of the families and it was made even more awkward by the fact that Finn was practically fawning over Cooper Anderson. Of course, Kurt could understand. It was the Cooper Anderson after all. He would have been reacting just like Finn if it weren't for the fact that he didn't want to embarrass himself in front of a potential classmate.
Upon reaching the fifth floor, the group piled out of the elevator. Kurt glanced down at his room number before leading the way. He didn't notice Cooper and his younger brother following them. Cooper gave his younger brother a slight nudge and the boy glared at him.
Finally, Kurt stopped in front of room 517. The Anderson brothers stared at the room number in surprise.
"You're Kurt?" The youngest Anderson blurted out. Kurt glanced back at him and his eyes widened.
"Oh my gosh, you're Blaine," he said, startled. How could he have been so clueless? The name Anderson should have been a tip. Kurt flushed a deep red. This was embarrassing.
The two boys looked at each other awkwardly for a few minutes before Burt cleared his throat.
"So are you going to let us in to see your room?" he asked the pair. Kurt glanced away and fumbled with his key as he attempted to unlock the door. It took longer than he wished, owing to the fact that he was so flustered. Kurt breathed a sigh of relief when the lock unlatched. He swung the door open to reveal the room he and Blaine would be living in.
The room was smaller than Kurt's room at home, something that would need getting used to and the closet wasn't nearly as large as Kurt needed but he would be forced to make do. Maybe he could convince Blaine to loan him some closet space. Kurt glanced over at his roommate and immediately threw that idea out of his head. He wouldn't be surprised if Blaine had just as many clothes as he did.
Burt did a quick inspection of his room before nodding to himself.
"All right," he said. "Finn, Carole and I will grab the boxes from the truck. You and Blaine should probably figure out who has which desk and closet."
Kurt couldn't argue with that plan of action. It was the simplest.
"I'll go grab your stuff, Blainey," Cooper turned to his younger brother. Blaine glared at Cooper for the use of that particular nickname.
"Fine," he replied, trying to keep the snippiness out of his voice.
After the family members had left, Kurt and Blaine stared at each other awkwardly.
"Err….I didn't formally introduce myself," Blaine attempted to begin a conversation. He held out his hand. "I'm Blaine."
"I'm Kurt." Kurt took Blaine's hand and shook it firmly. He tried to ignore the heat creeping up his neck. The two boys held on to the other's hand a few seconds longer than could be considered socially appropriate. Finally Blaine realized what was happening and pulled his hand away, a faint blush appearing on his cheeks.
"So where are you from?" Blaine asked after an awkward silence.
"Lima, Ohio," Kurt responded. Blaine raised his eyebrows.
"That's cool," he said. "I'm from—"
"Westerville, Ohio," Kurt finished and then looked away, mortified. That didn't sound creepy at all.
"Yeah," Blaine said, giving Kurt a curious look.
"I—err—I kind of stalked your Facebook profile," Kurt admitted. Blaine chuckled at that.
"I'm glad I'm not the only one that did that," he confessed. "It felt so weird at the time but I wanted to know who I was going to be rooming with. You know, just to make sure you weren't a serial killer."
Kurt laughed.
"Definitely not a serial killer," he assured Blaine.
"Oh, I don't know," Blaine countered. "Some of those outfits you were wearing in your pictures made it look like you dress to kill."
That comment startled another laugh out of Kurt. It seemed almost…flirty. No, that wasn't possible. Blaine couldn't be flirting with him.
"I always dress to kill," Kurt replied. "I have impeccable fashion sense after all, though you don't seem to do so badly yourself."
Blaine chuckled.
"People always seem surprised by that. They assume that just because I wore a uniform in high school that I don't know how to dress myself."
Kurt looked Blaine over once.
"Well, I would beg to differ," he commented.
After that first conversation, things began to flow easier. By the time their relatives arrived with boxes to begin unpacking, the two were involved in a very enthusiastic conversation about the latest issue of Vogue. Burt seemed surprised but Carole just gave Kurt a knowing smile before she handed over the boxes she was carrying. They were the first of many boxes Kurt had packed his clothes into. As Kurt turned away to unpack the boxes he had been handed, Cooper nudged Blaine and winked. Blaine in return scowled at his brother and began unloading his boxes as well.
Moving in took shorter than Kurt had expected. He had remembered moving his stuff around in the basement when Finn and Carole first moved in, a process that had taken a couple of days. This time around, with the help of his family, it only took a few short hours. Once Kurt had finished, he and the rest of the Hudson-Hummel family offered to help Blaine and Cooper, who were only two-thirds of the way unpacked. As they helped, Kurt noticed some things about Cooper that amused him. At times, he had to resist the urge to laugh when the older Anderson said something completely ridiculous. For example, Cooper's reply to Burt when his father had asked him where he had gone to college.
"Oh, I never went to college. I think it's a waste of time, but I'll support Blaine in whatever it is he wants to do."
Burt looked so surprised that Kurt struggled to keep a straight face, especially when he saw Blaine rolling his eyes and pretending to gag.
Finally, the big moment came. Both boys were done unpacking and there was no reason for either of their families to stick around.
"Take care," Carole murmured, giving Kurt a tight hug. "We'll see you in a few weeks."
Kurt nodded and Finn stepped up. He muttered something unintelligible as he hugged Kurt but Kurt didn't get the opportunity to ask what he said as Burt wrapped Kurt up in a tight hug as soon as Finn moved out of the way.
"Take care, kiddo," Burt murmured. "Don't forget about those of us stuck back in Lima."
Kurt pretended he couldn't hear his dad's voice breaking and pretended that he couldn't feel the tears welling up in his eyes. He clung to his dad longer than he normally would have and felt strange when he had to pull away.
"Kurt, don't be a stranger. Follow me on Twitter," Cooper said once he and Blaine were done saying good-bye. Kurt rolled his eyes, smiling, but nodded anyway. Blaine just shook his head.
"So," Kurt said once the others had left.
"So," Blaine responded with a smile, looking around at the now complete room. It held personal touches of both Blaine and Kurt. The wall above Blaine's desk was covered in photos while Kurt had design sketches posted above his bed.
"Your brother sure does point a lot," Kurt mentioned. Blaine groaned and grimaced.
"Yeah," he agreed. "He's under the impression that pointing is the most important thing a person can do. Although, that's nothing compared to some of the things he's come up with in the past."
"Oh?" Kurt asked, turning towards Blaine. That sounded like an interesting story. Blaine smirked.
"When he thinks things need to be intense, he starts screaming everything he says. It's a bit annoying really."
Kurt had to laugh.
"What about you? Any similar quirks?"
Blaine pointed at one of his drawers.
"Did you not see the collection of bowties?" he asked. Kurt, in return, pointed to one of his shelving units.
"Did you not see the collection of hats and scarves?"
The pair broke into giggles. Once they recovered, Blaine shrugged.
"I like to sing in the shower," he admitted. "I also sing to express my feelings. Side effect of being in a glee club."
Kurt gave Blaine a large smile.
"I like to sing about my feelings, too," he said. Blaine grinned upon hearing that.
"We should do a duet sometime then," he mentioned.
"Oh, definitely," Kurt approved.
And so it began. By some chance, rooming with Blaine was the best thing that happened to Kurt in college. Sure, the two squabbled sometimes but the number of those disagreements was outnumbered by the amount of late night conversations and afternoon duets. The pair ended up rooming together all four years of college and even after that time in their life had passed. Both were positive that they couldn't handle living with anyone else. They were the perfect pair.
