AN- So, in NoN, Kurt says to Blaine "And, of course, you know the choir room" when he's showing him around. And Lauren and I always wondered why. I sort of touched on this idea in my NoN fic but then I decided to really expand on it and this was born.
"You don't have to do this, you know," Kurt says quietly.
Blaine looks up from his wallet and smiles at the taller boy. He ignores the looks he's getting from the students around them (because not only is he dressed in a tie and blazer but he's also hanging out with the resident gay) and leans in towards him.
"I know. But, I want to."
Kurt forces a smile, hugging himself tightly and Blaine hates it. He hates the look in Kurt's eyes, darting around the cafeteria as if looking for Karofsky, waiting for him to do worse, hates the way Kurt is terrified in his own school. He remembers the smile on Kurt's face, when they performed Teenage Dream, and realizes he would give anything to see it appear once more.
Slow down, he tells himself. Because, yeah, he thought Kurt was cute, when he turned around on the stairs. And, yes, he hardcore flirted through that Katy Perry number. But the second Kurt let loose about everything going on at his school, Blaine took a step back.
Because Kurt needs a friend, a mentor, someone who gets it, far more than he needs a boyfriend.
They scamper through the lunch line quickly, Blaine piling on whatever foods get a nod of approval from Kurt (and a few that don't). Blaine pays ("I said I'll buy you lunch, Kurt") and then he starts scanning the tables in the lunchroom, hoping to find a free, inconspicuous one.
A light hand on his shoulder; he glances over at Kurt.
"I don't want to eat in here," he whispers.
He starts walking and Blaine furrows his brow in confusion but follows. They exit the noisy cafeteria, take a few turns, and slip through a coupe hallways before they're finally outside a door. Kurt hesitates, pokes his head in, then nods.
"Come on in."
Blaine suspects this is where the glee club practices. There's a grand piano and he can see those black, metal tables where sheet music is laid. Kurt moves towards the chairs, set up like a stadium, and gracefully sinks down into one of them. He pats the seat next to him.
Blaine sits, pulling a chair that's next to him until it's in front of them and resting their tray of food on it. Kurt grabs a sandwich and Blaine starts munching on a slice of pizza. Kurt wrinkles his nose.
"Do you know how much fat and grease is in that?"
"I prefer to be oblivious. Makes life happier," Blaine grins.
Kurt's lips curl up slightly and Blaine makes it his mission right there to get a full-blown smile out of Kurt before lunch is over.
"So, is this where your glee club meets?"
Kurt nods. "Every day."
"Should I be in here? I mean, I am the competition. I might send you to get more food, then snoop around for a set list," he teases.
"First of all, since you insist on being such a gentleman, you'd go get the food," Kurt says and, yeah, he has Blaine there. "Second of all, Mr. Schue doesn't keep anything incriminating in here. He's too paranoid Coach Sylvester will find it and use it against us."
"What?"
"Our cheerleading coach has it out for us," Kurt deadpans. "It's a long story."
"I want to hear it someday."
Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Kurt's head tilt to the side, as if replaying the words in his head. Then, a small smile creeps its way onto his face because, yes, Blaine just hinted that there will be a future.
"I promise to share it," Kurt says quietly.
Then they look at each other. The panic seems to have faded from Kurt's eyes- a gorgeous blue right now- and he's holding his lower lip captive. Blaine only notices because his own eyes have flickered from Kurt's glasz ones to his full lips.
It hits him, suddenly, that they're alone together. No teachers, no students. That he is alone with an extremely attractive boy that he hasn't been able to stop thinking about since "Excuse me, I'm new here." Alone with a boy that he doesn't want to rush things with. Because leaning forward and capturing Kurt's lips with his own? Not the best idea.
So he clears his throat and stands up, brushing off his standard Dalton slacks and pretending that something across the room has suddenly caught his eye.
(he doesn't see the look on Kurt's face- a mixture between disappointment and relief- gone by the time he looks back).
Thankfully, as he walks, something does catch his eye. What looks like a yearbook is laying on the piano's surface. He steps closer and realizes it's open to the page with the glee photo on it.
"What's this?"
Just as he reaches the book, rapid footsteps behind him, then Kurt is there, slamming it closed and hiding it behind his back.
"What is what?"
"Kurt," Blaine grins. "Let me see."
"No."
Kurt takes a step back as Blaine takes a step forward. The Dalton boy's grin widens. Especially as a blush forms on Kurt's face.
"What's so bad about a picture?"
"I look terrible…"
"I doubt that," Blaine scoffs.
Kurt's blush deepens and a light dusting of pink spreads on Blaine's face as he realizes what he's said. He shifts on his feet a little, then takes another step.
"I want to see."
"No."
Blaine tilts his head to the side, his lower lip protruding into a pout. "Pwease?"
Kurt raises one elegant eyebrow. "When did you turn five?"
But Blaine keeps pouting and finally, with a huff and an eye roll, Kurt relents. He hands over the yearbook and Blaine eagerly flips through it until he comes across the picture. His eyes immediately seek out Kurt.
"Huh," Is all he says before he closes the book and hands it back to Kurt.
He walks back to their seats and grabs a bag of chips from the lunch tray, opening them carefully so it doesn't pop. Kurt just stares at him, finally placing the book back on the piano and walking over to his seat. Where he continues to stare.
"What?" Blaine asks.
"What was your 'huh' all about?" Kurt demands.
"Oh," Blaine grins. "I was right. You didn't look terrible at all."
Kurt smiles, wider than before and Blaine feels accomplished because he's almost all the way to a full-blown smile and they still have at least twenty minutes.
"If you want to see bad," he continues, "You should see my picture. I look terrible."
"Now that's something I can doubt," Kurt teases. "Unless you're wearing that dreadful uniform."
"Guilty."
"I'll still have to see it to judge, of course."
"Of course. I can send it to you tonight or something. Or, do you have a facebook? I can-"
"No! I mean," he amends as Blaine's eyes widen, "I have one but it wouldn't be the best idea to become friends just yet."
"Am I coming off to strong?"
"No. You're the competition. And Rachel would freak on me if she saw we were friends. She had a thing with Jesse St. James last year-"
"The Vocal Adrenaline guy?"
"Yes. He used Rachel to get an edge over us and then they beat us at Regionals last year."
"He seemed like a jerk," Blaine muses. "But, if anyone had the right to freak, it would be Wes. After all, you came to spy on us."
"Don't worry, I wasn't that impressed," Kurt teases.
Blaine's mouth drops. "Excuse me? I saw you getting your Katy on in the audience. Don't even lie."
And that's when his mission is a success; Kurt smiles wide, and he even laughs a little. Blaine laughs with him because he did it. He got Kurt to smile again.
"Thank you," Kurt suddenly says.
"For what?"
"For everything. For taking me to lunch to get my mind off this. For driving two hours to help me confront Karofsky," he whispers. "For listening to me break down on the phone last night. For noticing- actually noticing- when not even my friends did…"
He trails off, glancing up and meeting Blaine's eyes.
"Thank you, Blaine."
Blaine hesitates, then reaches out and takes Kurt's hand. He squeezes gently, then smiles.
"You're welcome, Kurt."
The tension in the room is getting heavy and Blaine needs to break it because he hates the heavy stuff. Always has, taking everything with a grain of salt and not harping on the details.
"Besides, I got to miss a stupid quiz and spent a full lunch hour in your company. I think it's a day well spent."
Kurt laughs once more, ducking his head bashfully. And Blaine thinks, yeah, he could definitely get used to this.
They exchange emails and Blaine promises not to hunt him down on facebook. They text for the rest of the afternoon and Blaine dodges questioning glances from his Warblers over his whereabouts.
That night, he scours his bookshelf until he finds his own yearbook. He scans the picture and sends it to Kurt with a little message (See? Totally worse).
He gets a reply not even an hour later (Liar. You look fine) and they argue over email for a while over whose picture is worse before it gets late and they agree to pick this up again next weekend at the Lima Bean.
For the first time in a long time, Blaine goes to sleep that night with a smile on his face.
Two hours away, Kurt fishes out the special printer paper he saves for only special occasions. He prints out Blaine's photo and stares at it, a familiar tug on his heart that he hasn't felt in a while.
Then he goes through all his old Vogue magazines (the ones he doesn't like too much) and cuts out seven letters, each a different font or color or style.
The next day, he sets up a shrine in his locker; Blaine's photo in a cheap frame and the word 'courage' spelled out underneath.
For the first time in a long time, Kurt feels things might be looking up.
AN- I also wanted to explain how the hell Kurt got that picture...