Hello! Your author here. If you're reading this, you're already doing me a favour. I really loved the prompt idea for this fic, and I wanted to give it a try as a multi-chapter thing, so I hope it turns out okay. Please let me know what you think!
The idea for this fic came from a prompt on tumblr from colfette . tumblr . com.
"At the touch of love, everyone becomes a poet."- Plato
Kurt was straightening his tie when he heard Rachel's loud, melodic voice downstairs, conversing with his father. He was determined not to be nervous, but still felt a creeping anxiety somewhere in his chest. Generally, Kurt Hummel was a people pleaser. Quarterback of the football team, star of the Glee club, and boyfriend of the most talented girl at McKinley, Rachel Anderberry. He adjusted his tie one last time, winked at himself in the mirror and dashed out the door, running upstairs towards his living room, where his father was trying to make conversation with Rachel and his stepbrother, Finn, was hovering in the background with his usual awkward demeanour.
Rachel smiled at him as he walked into the room, kissing her on the cheek and wrapping a strong arm around her waist. He pretended to hide his annoyance when she scolded him for being late, because Rachel really was an awesome girl even if they didn't see eye to eye sometimes. She was beautiful and passionate and she really did have a nice voice, plus she was the only girl who didn't think it was weird that he had an obsession with Barbra Streisand (hell, she thought it was normal!) It had taken them a while to begin dating, but they got on well- they had sat next to each other in the first Glee club rehearsal and she had given him a rather extensive lecture about her strategy that she thought would help them win sectionals.
On the drive to Rachel's, it didn't take long for the usually composed and confident Kurt Hummel to become nervous. He'd met Rachel's dads once or twice at Parents' Night and at a few performances, but this seemed to be different some- more formal, more like a test to see if he was a good enough boyfriend than just a social occasion. Rachel had told him not to worry, of course, but he did anyway. She chatted constantly on the way, and Kurt had to admit that (just as with most of what Rachel said) he wasn't extremely interested. She had a way of going off on a tangent which resulted in her lecturing him about something and him completely switching off. Rachel, of course, didn't notice this at all.
The Anderberry household was warm and welcoming, and there was a tinkling piano melody coming from inside when Rachel's dad's opened the door. Kurt greeted them politely, shaking their hands and putting on his best Paul Smith model smile, making as much conversation as he could in their rather suffocating presence. As he shrugged off his coat and walked into their lounge, he noticed a curly head behind the grand-piano, which belonged to whoever was the source comforting melody it was omitting. It him Kurt a few seconds to remember that, of course, Rachel had a brother. He'd thought nothing of it when she'd first told him. She had a little brother, who didn't go to McKinley- he went to a private school instead because he had a problem with bullies. Kurt had wanted to ask questions at the time, but he'd known it'd been rude and had chosen to shrug it off. It was only now that the conversation came back to him and his curiosity was aroused once more.
The melody stopped when they settled into the room, and a small boy stood up from the piano stool and smiled. Kurt looked him up and down and his eyebrows rose. Rachel's brother was really cute. Not in a homo way or anything- there was just something about him that made your eyes want to carry on looking, like an interesting work of art in a gallery that stands out from all the others. His smile was contagious, and Kurt found himself grinning as they shook hands and the boy introduced himself as Blaine, a name which Kurt vaguely remembered from the conversation with Rachel. He muttered something along the lines of "Nice to meet you," and moved away as quickly as he could to put an arm around Rachel. Blaine's hand was warm and, while welcoming, made something inside Kurt itch, making him feel as though moving away was the best possible option, before something happened that made him stay.
To be honest, Kurt felt a little out of place as he tried his best to converse with Rachel's dads over dinner. His cheeks began to ache from the forced smile and the constant chattering which he used to occupy the dining room and hopefully fulfil the expectations. Thankfully, it went faster than he thought it would, and it wasn't long before they were settled on the couch in front of the TV, and the adults were yawning, and telling Kurt that they were going to bed, wishing him a safe journey home and thanking him for coming over. He nodded politely and shook their hands once again. Rachel took the opportunity to announce that she was going to begin her nightly facial routine, but requested that Kurt wait for her to finish before driving home. He was about to protest, he really needed to go home and check his dad was okay (he had been paranoid ever seen his father's arrhythmia) and get some sleep before football practice the next day. But Rachel had her insistent, slightly threatening face on that made Kurt nod and smile and tell her he'd wait. Before he knew it, he and Blaine were alone on the couch together with some reality TV show playing on mute in front of them.
The silence went on for around 5 minutes before it started to become awkward and Kurt began to shift in his seat. The smaller boy was wriggling, wringing his hands together as though something was making him nervous. Kurt turned back his attention to America's Next Top Model and, as Rachel wasn't in the room to scold him for it, began a deeply critical analysis (if he'd been a girl it'd be termed 'bitchy') of one of the contestants. He was struck by how contagious Blaine's laugh was. When Rachel laughed at his jokes it seemed forced, as though she were waiting for him to finish so she could finish telling him about her next idea for a solo, but with Blaine it was entirely different. He seemed to generally think Kurt hilarious, and joined in with his commentary, giggling until Rachel came down again- placing herself down next to Kurt and putting a possessive arm around his shoulders. Kurt felt awkward as he looked at Blaine (not Rachel) in the eye and announced that he should be going. Blaine's disappointed face made his heart sink, and so he asked Rachel to pass on his number to her brother. She looked rather put out, but plastered a smile on her face.
"Definitely, it's really nice that you two are friends. I'll give Blaine your number tonight. Bye sweetie." She planted a sloppy kiss on his cheek and he smiled meekly before walking out the door.
"Man," he thought to himself as he started up the car. "Thank heavens that's over."
It was the morning after his visit to the Anderberry's that Kurt received a text from an unknown number:
Hey, it's Blaine, R's bro. This is Kurt, right?
Kurt smiled to himself as he typed in a reply, his head still resting on his pillow and his mind slightly hazy with sleep.
The one and only...
He hesitated before typing another text. Something about him was intrigued by the boy he'd first seen behind the piano, the one who he'd felt so at ease talking to, despite the fact that they appeared to be polar opposites. Blaine seemed reserved, nervous- a big contrast to Kurt's confident demeanour which he put on in social situations. Maybe it was because of the bullies. He remembered Rachel telling her that he was gay, like her fathers, and he assumed that this was why he'd had to go to a school so far from his home. Kurt felt bad for him, he'd heard the way the rest of the football team had spoken about gay guys in the changing room. He laughed it off every time, but something told him that it was unfair. It wasn't like they'd done anything wrong. Kurt didn't have a problem with it, not like that, but he felt slightly unsure. He'd never had a friend who was gay before, and he wondered if you were supposed to do anything differently. Now that he thought about that, though, he felt guilty. He sounded ignorant, like the douchebag homophobes in the changing room. He was adamant that he wasn't like that, so he sent a second text to Blaine.
Wanna hang out sometime tomorrow? Need to discuss Amanda's bad dye job in more detail. Let me know if you're free.
Blaine had been up for a while when he received Kurt's second text, and a smile spread across his face as he shoved pancakes into his mouth and washed it down with coffee. He shook his head when his dad asked him what he was smiling at.
"It's nothing, it's just Rachel's boyfriend. Says he wants to hang out with me tomorrow, sans Rachel this time, I assume," he said, thankful that his sister was still upstairs. His dad gave him a proud look and kissed his forehead
"I'm glad." The statement had a lot of unspoken meaning in it, and Blaine could tell. His parents had been desperate for him to make friends ever since he had moved schools. He knew they didn't blame him, there was no way anyone could see other people's ignorance as his fault, but he knew they worried about him a lot. Ever since the incident at the Sadie Hawkins dance his old school had organised for the sophomores, the one that still made him shiver whenever he thought of it, there'd been a change in Blaine. He laughed less, he smiled less, and he rarely left the house except for school. His family had chosen not to say anything- he was fragile, he needed time to adjust, recover. But it was halfway through junior year and he was at a new school where he was accepted. But something still felt wrong, and his dads could sense it from a mile off.
Today, though, he had a rare smile on his face. Rachel's boyfriend seemed really nice. He wouldn't admit it, but he was jealous. The boy seemed compassionate, smart and exceptionally good looking. There was something down to earth about him, and he wasn't obnoxious like a lot of the boys he'd met at his old school. The brief conversation they'd the night before had stuck in his mind. For the first time in months, he hadn't felt ashamed or scared. He felt open, he felt free. He was having fun. Blaine looked back down at his phone.
Free whenever- brunch at Breadstix?
The reply came quicker than he'd anticipated.
Sure thing, see you there at 2pm- I need my beauty sleep. Best not to tell Rachel.
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