A/N: There's a large focus on romantic relationships in Glee and I kind of think that friendship gets a bit neglected sometimes. So this is just a random, kind of pointless scene featuring the New Directions girls and Kurt just hanging out together and having fun. It was inspired by the 'Kurt and Mercedes have a sleepover' spoiler. There are hints of Klaine (my OTP) and Brittana (my sub-OTP). I hope you enjoy it, and I hope that I've managed to keep everyone fairly in-character. This is my first attempt at fanfic ever, and any feedback would be greatly, greatly appreciated.
I do not own Glee (more's the pity) or any other franchise that I've mentioned in this fic.
Mercedes was the first to arrive, carrying a large overnight bag and holding her pillow under her arm. She hugged Kurt in greeting and they walked downstairs to his room, talking all the while.
"Wow, Kurt, it looks great!" she exclaimed as they entered the room. Kurt had lined up six mattresses on the floor, each one with a fluffy white towel, soap, moisturising cream and nail kit set up neatly beside it, not unlike the sets that you might see in a posh hotel room. There was an extra set for him perched on the table, as he would of course be sleeping in his own bed.
"This is gonna be so much fun," said Mercedes enthusiastically, bagsing a mattress next to Kurt's bed. "What have you got planned for us?"
"Well, I was thinking we could do facials first," Kurt began, "you know: cleansing, face masks, toning and moisturising. Then we can move on to hand and foot scrubs and massages followed by manicures and pedicures. After that it will probably be dinnertime, and after that... I dunno. Just hang out and watch movies, I guess. And I'd like to spend some time working on Rachel's eyebrows if I can."
"Sounds awesome," said Mercedes, before sighing a little. "Gosh, Kurt, I've really missed you, you know. I've missed our little shopping trips and movie nights and just seeing you every day."
"Aww, I've missed you too, Mercy. As much fun as it is to be surrounded by gorgeous boys all day long, I miss hanging out with you and doing girly things. As gay as that sounds," he added with a chuckle.
Fortunately, Tina and Quinn arrived at that point to prevent them from getting overly sentimental.
They greeted Kurt with enthusiastic hugs and smiles before claiming their mattresses.
"Rachel arrived with us," Tina informed him. "She's still upstairs saying hello to Finn."
"I thought they weren't dating anymore," said Kurt cautiously.
"They aren't," said Tina. "I think Rachel still wants him though."
"Boys," said Quinn, winking at Kurt. "They're nothing but trouble."
"I take offence at that. When have I ever caused you the slightest bit of trouble, romantic or otherwise?"
"Oh, you know I didn't mean you," she said, pushing him playfully on the shoulder and making him laugh. "You've never been anything but a godsend, what with your makeover tips and stretch mark advice." They all laughed, but stopped quickly when a grey cloud in the shape of Rachel appeared at the foot of the stairs.
"Aww, Rachel," said Quinn in a mock-baby voice, catching sight of the lead singer's tear-stained face and miserable expression, "did the nasty boy say something mean and hurt your feelings?"
Rachel ignored her and turned to Kurt.
"Now come on Rachel, forget about him," said Kurt, giving her a hug. "Be happy. That's what this sleepover is all about. Forgetting our troubles and having fun and pampering ourselves."
"Thanks Kurt," said Rachel, offering up a tentative smile. "I've missed you a lot, you know. Even I need a little healthy competition to perform at my best, and without you I am the undisputed best singer in the club. I don't know how I can push myself to improve without you there to challenge me."
Quinn rolled her eyes at this, and she and Tina left the conversation to greet Santana and Brittany, who had just arrived carrying what looked like the entirety of Brittany's teddy bear collection.
"I miss you too," said Kurt, "We sounded amazing together, especially when we did Happy Days, d'you remember?"
"How could I forget? Our voices together in that song were beautiful. We should sing something now, for old times' sake."
"Well, not right now, I think it's time we got started. We have rather a tight schedule. Would you mind picking the music, Miss Berry? Something nice and soothing and relaxing for our day spa. My iPod's just over there."
"Of course," said Rachel, as Kurt went over to welcome Santana and Brittany.
Around half an hour later, everyone was lying on their mattresses in their pyjamas: Rachel and Tina in full-length flannel affairs (Tina's was black with skulls and Rachel's looked to Kurt like some sort of pastel nightmare), Quinn in a sky-blue nightie, Brittany in a Tweety Bird top and shorts set, Santana in something red and lacy that would have looked at home in a Victoria's Secret catalogue, and Kurt himself in his prized silk D&G pyjama set. They were all wearing avocado mud mask gunk over their faces and cucumber slices over their eyes, chatting lazily. The current subject of choice was boys and relationships. Rachel was telling Tina and Quinn about the contributing factors to her break-up with Finn in excruciating detail while they tried to look interested and offered up half-hearted 'aww's and 'poor you's. Santana and Brittany were weighing up the pros and cons of another double date with Puck and Artie ("We get an excuse to make out with each other, and we get to eat as many breadsticks as we want!", "It'll probably be a bit boring though... too much listening to Puck talk about waffles and not enough action"), and Kurt and Mercedes were discussing Mercedes' ongoing singleness.
"The thing is, Mercy," Kurt was saying, "You are strong, and sassy, and- and empowered, and gorgeous to boot. Guys are probably going to find that a bit intimidating. You just need to keep going, do not even think about changing yourself, and wait for them to come to you. They will, I'm sure of it, once they see what they're missing out on."
"I hope so," sighed Mercedes. "I know it's not important, but I just feel so alone sometimes, what with almost everyone in glee paired up."
At that point they were interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Come in," called Kurt, and Blaine poked his head around the door before entering the room.
"Hi Kurt, hi girls," he said, looking surprised to see them all there, wearing PJs and mud masks no less.
"Blaine!" said Kurt, clearly not expecting to hear his voice. He sat up so quickly that his cucumber slices tumbled off his eyes and landed in his lap. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, I was just passing and I thought I'd pop round," said Blaine, blushing a little and clearly trying to sound casual. "I brought you these." He was holding up a paper bag from the local bakery, full of hot, buttery scones. Kurt wasn't fooled. He knew that Blaine had been spending this weekend at Dalton and that he had no legitimate reason to drive all the way to Lima other than to see Kurt.
"Hi Blaine," said Mercedes, her words chorused by the others as they took off their own cucumber slices to peer up at him. "What up?"
"Nothing much," smiled Blaine. "Good to see you, Mercedes."
"And you," said Mercedes.
"Care to join us?" Kurt asked.
"No thanks," said Blaine. "You guys look like you're having too much fun, and I don't want to intrude on your catch-up. Plus I don't think I can have a serious conversation with you with that stuff all over your face," he finished, laughing. Kurt rolled his eyes, but overlooked the slight on his choice of beauty procedures.
"Come on, Blaine! You drove all the way here; you're not leaving after five minutes!"
"Alright, fine. What exactly are you guys up to anyway?"
"Pampering session, followed by movies and a sleepover," answered Rachel. "And by the way, I don't believe we've been introduced. I'm Rachel Berry, lead singer and team captain of New Directions" – here she leapt up to shake Blaine's hand –"and a good friend of Kurt's. You probably remember me from Sectionals. That was a lovely performance, but your choir lacked the creative choreography and varied vocal range of New Directions."
"Nice to finally meet you, Rachel," said Blaine, shaking her hand and trying his best not to laugh at the contrast between her enthusiastic, overconfident speech and the face mask and pastel pyjamas that made her look like a fifth-grader at a slumber party. The others introduced themselves one by one, and Blaine responded to each in his usual charming manner.
"I'm Quinn. My boyfriend used to go to your school. Sam Evans?"
"Hey Quinn. Yeah, I know Sam, we used to be buddies. Is he still into his football?"
"Yeah, he's the quarterback."
"Tina," – shaking his hand – "Nice to finally meet you. Kurt's told us a lot about you."
"Has he now?" he said, with a look in Kurt's direction that could almost be considered suggestive.
"It's Brittany... bitch."
"Um, okay."
"Santana, and are you gay, prep boy? 'Cause you're smokin' and I could totally do you."
"Er...yes. I'm gay."
"Pity. Well, if you change your mind..." she let her sentence trail off suggestively.
"Ladies, time to wash off the masks," said Kurt. There was a scurry for the bathroom and the two boys were left alone.
"Sorry about Santana," Kurt groaned. "She's always like that. And Brittany didn't mean to be rude or anything, she's just a bit spaced out."
"No worries. It was cool to finally meet your friends," said Blaine, settling himself into a chair. He didn't seem to be able to look at Kurt for more than a few seconds without smirking at the sight of his green face.
"Oh! Speaking of meeting friends," said Kurt, ignoring this and dropping his voice, "I was going to ask you a favour. Mercedes has been feeling kind of lonely, and I was thinking we could take her with us to Dan's party next Saturday. Surrounding her with hot boys would surely cheer her up, at least for a while. Plus, don't you think she and David would make the most adorable couple?"
"Kurt Hummel, I'm surprised at you. I had no idea you were so into matchmaking. Besides, David has a girlfriend."
"I know, I know. But maybe there'll be a spark between them. You never know. It'll be some fun for her, anyway."
"Alright, then, let's bring her along. Dan said we could bring guests, and it's not like any of the guys will mind having another girl there, especially not one who is single and gorgeous. Most of the girls there will probably be the girlfriends of the Dalton guys."
Kurt had been using this conversation as an excuse to stare at Blaine wistfully, assuming that the face mask would hide his sappy expression. He jumped and tore his eyes away from Blaine's enchanting brown ones as the girls flooded back into the room before quickly excusing himself to wash off his own mask.
"So, what's next in the beauty regime?" asked Blaine, passing round the bag of scones.
"Moisturising to finish off the facials," answered Quinn as she took one, "followed by manicures and pedicures."
"My cat is a pedicure," said Brittany, who was cuddling her favourite teddy bear which had cucumber slices over its eyes. "That's probably why she reads my diary."
There was an awkward silence as everyone tried not to look at each other.
"She means 'pedigree'" Santana informed them, being the only one who was fluent in Brittany.
"Uh-huh. And, if you don't mind me asking, what were you guys talking about before I arrived?"
"Oh, you know – boy dramas," laughed Tina. "The usual. We've all got them at the moment."
"Even Kurt," said Santana, winking at Blaine.
"Even me what?" said Kurt absently, coming back into the room.
"Nothing," said Mercedes, as Blaine blushed at almost being caught out, even though he hadn't technically said anything.
"I should go," he said, standing up. "It's a long drive back to Westerville."
Kurt was torn. On the one hand, he wanted Blaine to stick around, but on the other he just wanted a chance to catch up with his old friends without having to worry about impressing him or trying not to look like a moron. Plus, he had been hoping to use this sleepover to pick the brains of Mercedes and the others for what to do about the Blaine situation.
"Okay," he said finally, his heart sinking in spite of himself. "I... I guess I'll see you back at the cage then."
'The cage' was their affectionate-but-accurate nickname for Dalton. Once, back when Kurt had still been settling into the school, he had complained to Blaine that the strict regularity of Dalton made him feel as though he were trapped as he was unable to express himself through fashion or music. Blaine had been turning this over in his mind, thinking of a way to make Kurt feel better, when he noticed that the twisting metal structure of the dome in the seniors' wing looked like a cage. He had made some off-hand remark to Kurt, and the name had stuck with them before spreading through to the Warblers and the rest of the school.
"Yeah, I'll see you on Monday. Enjoy the rest of your sleepover. Bye, girls. Later, Kurt," he said with one last lingering glance at other boy. There was a chorus of 'bye's from the girls, who were busy starting off the manicures and chomping on their scones. Blaine waved at them, nodded at Kurt and trooped up the stairs. Kurt waved back with a quiet reply before turning back to the others, his face feeling distinctly hot. Blaine had barely closed the door behind him before everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to face Kurt, staring avidly.
"What?" asked Kurt defensively, staring back at them.
"Don't 'what' us," said Mercedes, with her usual degree of sass. "Don't act like you don't know what's going on, Kurt. Have you even noticed how he looked at you?"
"Um, I... well..." Kurt was flustered now, blushing to the roots of his perfectly coiffed hair. "I thought- I thought he was looking at me funny. But I didn't want to get my hopes up. I mean, what are the chances of the first adorable, openly gay boy that I meet liking me in that way? I just... I don't want to get my heart broken again," he finished dejectedly.
"Trust me, Kurt, he likes you in that way," said Tina. "It was so obvious, the way you two kept looking at each other." The others nodded earnestly in agreement.
"Was it? Do you really think so?" asked Kurt anxiously, almost afraid to feel hopeful.
"Definitely," answered Rachel.
The rest of the evening passed enjoyably with the finishing of all beauty procedures, pizza, the girlish chatter that Kurt had missed and a selection of musicals. They took turns choosing them, beginning with Quinn who chose Grease. They allocated roles to each other and it was Tina who suggested that they try and stay in character throughout the duration of the movie. Rachel wanted to be Sandy, but it was decided that Brittany should take the role as she looked the most like the character and had the ability to appear either innocent or sexy as the movie required. Santana wanted to be Rizzo, the 'bad girl' of the group, but Kurt suggested that she be Danny for the purposes of chemistry between the leads. Tina became Rizzo, Kurt was Kenicke and Rachel put up with the more minor role of Frenchy. Quinn and Mercedes took on all of the other roles that were required in the songs. Rachel hijacked 'Hopelessly Devoted' from 'Sandy' and dedicated it to Finn (everyone rolled their eyes at this, having heard quite enough about Rachel's love life that evening), Santana and Brittany sang 'You're the One That I Want' together (complete with rather promiscuous dance moves), and everyone jumped up together to sing 'Summer Nights' and 'Greased Lightening' in an exaggerated and hilarious fashion. They were so loud that Finn was sent down by his mother to tell them to quieten down (upon seeing his head poke around the door Rachel hurriedly picked up a nearby Vogue and held it, upside down, in front of her face).
This was followed by The Sound of Music (Kurt had chosen it to many groans of 'not again!'), in which they also allocated roles. Kurt was Maria, of course, and he sang every song with vim and vigour as well as quoting chunks of dialogue throughout. Rachel was Leisel, Mercedes was Captain Von Trapp, Quinn was the Mother Abbess and the others alternated between the other children, the nuns, the baroness and Rolf.
Mercedes picked Dreamgirls next, and she, Santana and Rachel improvised as the famous girl group. It was very late by the time they started the movie, and by about halfway everyone was curled up on their mattresses, commenting to each other about the costumes, characters and performances. Finally the movie finished and the noise in the room was reduced to quiet chatter.
"No hanky-panky, you two," said Kurt warningly to Santana and Brittany, who despite his plans to have them on opposite sides of the room had ended up lying together with their mattresses pushed up against each other.
"Of course not," said Santana, sounding completely unconvincing.
Everyone said goodnight to each other and the room was silent... for about a second.
"Goodnight, Teddy," said Brittany. "Goodnight, mattress; goodnight staircase; goodnight lampshade; goodnight–"
"Alright, Britt, that's enough," mumbled Quinn.