Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, and of it's characters, they belong to some company, who's name I really should remember… I don't even own the title, which was lovingly stolen from the completely unrelated novel of the same name by Jasper Fforde.
Note: This is an ALTERNATE HISTORY. It is set right before graduation, and is set as if any episodes after The Sue Sylvester Shuffle did not occur,
WARNING: This piece of fiction contains homosexual men. That means they like their own gender (and probably each other). You have been warned! (Or perhaps lured…)
First Among Sequels
It was only a little more than a month until the day which Kurt referred to in his head as D-Day, being the person who aims for theatricality that he is. D was for doom, but also departure. After departure Kurt and Blaine would, as the word implied, depart from Dalton, going their separate ways like so many other seniors. Blaine was planning on going to some prestigious school so selective Kurt had never heard of it previously, which was closely linked to Dalton and its alumnus, with a half-scholarship to boot. Kurt on the other hand, was going to Julliard, sadly sans scholarship- he was dreading the beating his wardrobe would take in the future in order to pay for food and other trivial drains on his limited funds. Contrary to popular belief, he wasn't aiming for Broadway, which he had decided after sadly coming to terms with the fact that almost all of his dream roles were played by women and very few companies did the role reversal thing. So Kurt had set his sights higher. He was going to be the next Madonna, only male and less eighties music-y. But equally fabulous. He was going to Julliard because as he was a touch too old for the teen sensation angle to last very long, he'd have to settle for good old-fashioned talent, and blow everyone's minds. Hence Julliard.
As amazing as he found this plan of attack to be- aside from him likely having to get a horrible job in a chain-store if only to buy new clothing in the near future- he still didn't like the part where he and Blaine parted ways and weren't likely to see each other again any time soon. He knew that, despite the fact that social or any other class were generally ignored at Dalton, it wasn't so in the real world. While Kurt certainly wasn't a pauper (his dad did perfectly well with his auto shop, thank you very much) nor was Blaine a prince by any stretch of imagination, there was a big enough gap that Kurt very much doubted that they would be rubbing elbows outside of Dalton.
Not that he expected Blaine to drop him like a hot potato once they left school, Blaine wasn't that kind of guy, but a combination of distance, time, and society in general would do the work for him.
But, being the type of person he was, he couldn't just leave things the way they were between himself and Blaine… That would be running away, and how would he be able to tell anyone else his feelings for them, if he couldn't do it for some one he trusted completely?
Besides, Kurt felt like he was lugging the secret around like a ten pound weight on his back everyday, and the new start he was aiming for couldn't be weighed down like that.
He didn't expect Blaine to reciprocate, there was a chance, he would admit, but he'd mentioned having a crush on a guy who worked in a Gap, of all places, so Kurt could see more than a slight difference between himself and minimum-wage guy. Shoving his tongue in Blaine's mouth wasn't the aim of his confession, it was only to clear the air between them and help the clean break from Lima to New York Kurt knew wouldn't happen otherwise.
That didn't stop him from being scared witless at the thought of actually saying what he felt. What if he stammered? What if Blaine didn't get it at first and Kurt (embarrassingly) had to explain what he was saying? What if Blaine spontaneously turned straight after Kurt's confession? What if, what if… what if he just laughed?
That was the worst though of all. Not Blaine telling him he only liked him as a friend, not Blaine being embarrassed by his crush, not Blaine suddenly enjoying girly parts in the face of Kurt's, well, emotions… just laughter.
No one could truthfully say that Kurt was a coward, he was damn well going to do it, even if it killed him (whether from anxiety or chagrin).
Or so he told himself every day he failed to stammer out the words he'd carefully chosen 'I like you a lot, Blaine'. ('Love' just seemed to large a word to spring on a guy unexpectedly) Time was passing quickly too, in the manner time does when one has very little left.
Every night Kurt would stare at the ceiling before going to sleep and tell himself 'today wasn't the right day, I'll tell him tomorrow', and every morning he'd inform himself 'I'll do it today, I am going to tell him and it will be amazing'. Neither of these statements ever felt true nor likely to happen.
Finally though, he did it (after a three hour pep-talk from Rachel and Mercedes the night before).
"I like you a lot, Blaine," Kurt said suddenly, without warning while they are walking from History to Chemistry. The words had been burning on his tongue all throughout History, they needed to be said before it was too late.
Blaine didn't break stride, just kept walking while replying calmly "I like you to, Kurt, you're a really good friend."
One of Kurt's nightmares about this was already coming true. Kurt really kind of wants to smack Blaine into a wall for putting him through this. It is, after all, completely his fault for being so supportive, and nice, and thoughtful and… Honestly how could Kurt stand up to such a guy? He was only human.
He stops walking and stares hard at Blaine's head, waiting for him to turn around and ask Kurt what was wrong. Boys stream past him on either side, some giving him irritated looks for coming to a stand still in the middle of a busy hallway. Kurt ignores them. This is much more important than the slight irritation he might be causing them.
Blaine pauses and glances over his shoulder too look at Kurt. "Is any thing wrong Kurt?"
Kurt's heart abruptly decided that right then was the perfect time to start going at triple-time. His palms started to sweat. (disgusting, he thought in some far off corner of his mind) He can remember a movie that when a little like this, a girl trying to tell a guy she liked him more than a friend, and had had a beautiful, emotional, speech to tell him.
Kurt didn't, which he supposed, only highlighted even more how different fiction was from reality.
"I like you Blaine. A lot," He repeated, head held high, stomach performing flips more spectacular than the ones he'd done while on the cheerios.
Blaine looked slightly confused, and a little worried. "You just said that a second ago. Kurt are you sure you-"
Kurt leveled him with a flat look that he hoped conveyed his message that 'I mean more than a friend, you adorable, clueless, goof'.
"Oh," Blaine said faintly. He swallowed uncomfortably.
Here it comes, Kurt couldn't help but think, this is the part where he says 'it isn't you, it's me' and then we awkwardly avoid each other for a week or two, and then make up and be friends again if there's time before graduation
Blaine walked closer, smiling. It was clearly a 'sorry about this' smile.
God, Kurt thought, why did I have to fall for a guy gentleman enough to be nice about rejecting you?
"Me to."
Kurt's eyes snapped to Blaine's. Blaine nodded. Neither of them said anything, nor did they need to.
"We're going to be late for algebra," Kurt murmured eventually, breaking eye contact to look at a clock to note that they had exactly one minute.
"Let's get going then," Blaine grinned, grabbing Kurt's hand and dashing off down the hall with him.
!
Their first date was technically a coffee run for all of the harassed Warblers, who had unanimously voted for Kurt and Blaine to be the ones to fetch caffeine because 'it was their fault the sappiness levels of the room were high enough to give a person diabetes'. But Blaine buys Kurt coffee, and they're holding hands, and Kurt pecks him on the cheek outside, so he counts it anyways.
Dating Blaine was fun, they were so in sync Mercedes claimed they must share a brain, and best of all, he knew that when they had to break it off in a few weeks that it wouldn't be messy, because Blaine understood the temporariness of their relationship. By Kurt's estimate they would have time for at least three dates before exams turned them all into zombies for a week, and then they would have to break up because Blaine would be leaving for the other side of the country so he could get settled in with his relatives he'd be living with. And Kurt would try to find a job to start paying for Julliard.
Their second date was more official, they had dinner together at Breadstix, only to be interrupted by a nosy Rachel and a sheepish Finn halfway through. Kurt had fun and made out with Blaine outside the front door before going inside, so he doesn't yell at Finn too much afterward for crashing on his date. There will only probably be time for two more dates, which made Kurt rather low-spirited, before he reminded himself that he wasn't half way done, and that he needed to cherish the time he had left.
The third date occurred on a Saturday afternoon while Kurt was helping out at the garage, and Blaine kidnapped him (it turned out later that it had been pre-arranged between Burt and Blaine- which explained why his dad had set him to work with the accounting, not the cars). They went to feed ducks in a park, sang loudly to the stereo in Blaine's borrowed car, and Kurt met Blaine's parents. That had terrified him, and he had scowled at Blaine the whole drive there for not telling him before hand so he could have dressed accordingly. Blaine had rolled his eyes and told him he looked gorgeous whatever he wore. Kurt most certainly did not blush the rest of the way there, it had simply been a delayed sun-burn from the park. When he got home Kurt realized that that had been the final date, and nearly cried. He told himself that breaking up was inevitable, and that it was for the best, and would prevent more pain later on. He cried anyways.
Then the dreaded exams descended. Academically, Kurt knew he wasn't stupid. At McKinney, that was. At Dalton, however, it was a whole other ball field. And so he studied. And studied some more. And had nightmares about failing, and then studied even more. Blaine surprised Kurt one Wednesday by dragging him out of the library to go sit outside for lunch together.
"But I need to study!" He protested as Blaine pulled him out into the sunlight to a blanket spread on the grass.
"You'll do fine, you worry too much," Blaine replied easily "and you're getting pasty from being inside so much," he added with a small smirk. Kurt smacked him lightly and informed him that he was so not pasty, he was pale.
"There's a difference?" Blaine teased back. This resulted in a tickle fight of epic proportion, leaving both of them disheveled, and gasping for breath.
Kurt felt a lump form in his throat every time he remembered that they were going to break up soon.
But they didn't. Kurt had expected Blaine to be the one to bring it up, being the one to be going away the farthest. Days past and no mention was made, until Kurt realized that he, once again, was going to have to be the one to start that conversation.
"We need to break up," Kurt said calmly after a final frantic algebra class, his stomach one big knot of anxiety.
Blaine didn't look to surprised, and asked "Why? Did I do something wrong? I was only joking when I called you pasty."
"You know why," Kurt muttered, unwilling to have to be the one to point out the obvious expiration date on their relationship.
"Actually," Blaine replied, "I don't All I know is that you've been counting the days down until you thought we needed to break up since this whole thing started," his jaw clenched, eyes hurt, and accusing, "Why, Kurt? Why bother if you were only going to break up with me? Did you think 'oh poor guy, he's got a crush on me, I should go out with him out of pity' only then you decided that you can't do it? Were you faking the whole time?"
"No!" Kurt snapped, louder than he meant, drawing far more attention than he wanted. He ignored it. "I do like you! How could you even think that?"
"I don't know? Maybe because you've been keeping me at arms reach since May, and have been just waiting to break up with me from the second you told me you liked me?" Blaine yelled back. Their voices were getting louder, and louder. They were probably disturbing people doing practice exams. Kurt couldn't bring himself to care.
"It's not like that!" Kurt practically snarled. Then it dawned on him, Blaine actually didn't realize they needed to break up now before they separated.
"It damn well is, and you know it, Kurt!" Blaine retorted. Hearing Blaine swear at him, Blaine who never said anything more harsh than 'gosh darn it' to him, startled Kurt. He literally took a step back, feeling like he'd be sucker punched in the stomach.
"We have to break up," He repeated when Blaine didn't continue, "Because we're both leaving Ohio. It's better like this, so that we don't drag it out before this thing we have slowly fades away."
Blaine frowned at him, crossing his arms. "So what you're saying is that we have to break up because you don't think I can have a relationship with you without being together."
"Yes," Kurt sighed, feeling a hundred years old. Finally, Blaine understood. The worst was over, no more fighting, he felt peace descending all around him.
"No," Blaine said bluntly.
"What?" Kurt demanded, the feeling of peace shattering.
"No," He repeated "I refuse to break up with you because of something stupid like that. I'll break up with you if you don't like me, or if you find some one else, or if you aren't happy for any reason that I can't fix, but not for something so stupid as that. It isn't happening."
Kurt frowned at him, "It isn't stupid, it's a legitimate reason to break up. To prevent later pain, quick like with a Band-Aid. You can't possibly be foolish enough to think we can make a long-distance relationship work."
"It isn't stupid! What's stupid is you not believing in me!"
"Yes it is! You're such a dreamer Blaine, this won't work apart!"
"Well it won't with you planning ahead to when you assume that I'm going to leave you- which I'm not- or wouldn't!" Blaine snapped, apparently long past the end of his astonishingly long patience.
"Yes you will- would!" Kurt corrected irritably "It's inevitable! Long-distance relationships never last. You're an amazing guy, Blaine, but you aren't perfect. You'll be half-way across the country and meet some guy and you won't be able to help it! It wouldn't be your fault! It would-"
Blaine abruptly cut Kurt off by kissing him.
When they parted Blaine gave Kurt a flat look, almost a glare, that left no room for argument. "I love you. I have for ages. That isn't going to change because a few miles-"
"Few hundred miles-"
"-Because of a few hundred miles. I most certainly will not ditch you for some guy I meet, and that's that." He paused thoughtfully and added "This isn't some teenage fling Kurt. This is important to me, you're important to me. I swear to you Kurt, eighty years from now we will be celebrating anniversaries. So stop trying to push me away because it won't work."
Kurt pondered this for a moment then said quietly "I'm scared."
Blaine's expression didn't change, he didn't move to smother Kurt in comfort- something Kurt was stupidly thankful for- and instead calmly asked, "Of what?"
Kurt swallowed and hesitantly, in a voice that lacked all polish he displayed in all of his everyday conversations, "That I might not be any good at this," he added quickly "being your boyfriend that is."
"You've been amazing so far- apart from the whole holding me at arms-length thing, why would that change?"
"There's a difference between going out for fun, and doing an actual long-distance relationship thing," Kurt replied, looking embarrassed and slightly panicked "This has been so easy so far. What if I screw up? What if I-"
"Stop," Blaine said gently, but firmly. "No more what ifs. Nothing's going to change between us Kurt, aside from out relative proximity. This is will be the first among sequels."
Kurt looked slightly confused, "What is?"
"Our one-month anniversary," Blaine replied, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Which Kurt supposed, if you were a sentimental goof like Blaine, it really was.
"Happy anniversary," Kurt said meekly.
Blaine laughed loudly, "Lovely gift you gave me; our first fight."
"It's better than the horrible tacky sweater Rachel gave Finn for theirs," Kurt replied, unable to keep from grinning.
"Next time stick to the sweater."
!
A month and a half later, Kurt was boarding a plane that will take him to New York. He felt the familiar sensation of his stomach performing Sue Sylvester choreography. His palms are sweating again (which is still completely disgusting).
His phone buzzed in his pocket.
Courage, it said.
Smiling, Kurt stepped onto the plane.
FIN
Notes: I was aiming to write a multi-chaptered fic. This happened instead. I guess the internet can always use more sappy Klaine fics?
Hope everyone enjoyed it!