I don't have my beta available right now so this might be unbearable to read since I am terrible with checking for typos and grammar mistakes. (I don't like re-reading my own stuff.) If I can contact my beta again I will ask them to read through it until then this is what I have.
Prompt-"Slow dance (Mike choosing Blaine because Blaine'd have no one to dance with?)"
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There was something mesmerizing about the colors swishing around behind the glass and Blaine couldn't help but lean closer to it, his nose touching the cold and humming surface of the washing machine as he watched the mixture of colors swirl around in the foam. He watched with intense attention as the wet bundle of plaids and bright blues and yellows meshed together and switched around with each turn of the machine.
He did this mainly to distract himself from the racing thoughts developing and dying in his mind. It was a childish and unimportant matter that kept replying but he was still upset about the fact that in a few hours he would be arriving at the McKinley High gymnasium (dedicated to one Sue Slyvester) without a date to the dance that was going to occur there.
He didn't want to go and he wouldn't have even considered it if it hadn't have been for his best friend, who had insisted that he go to watch him perform the song for the king and queen dance. Kurt had been personally asked by the Homecoming Committee to sing for them as an apology for the prom disaster the year before. Kurt was more than happy to take the offer, seeing it as an opportunity to show the entire school how unaffected he was. It was also a chance for him to publically serenade his boyfriend, Sam Evans.
And so Blaine was left dateless and wishing that he would have stayed at Dalton. No guy at his school would ever consider going to a dance with him. It was not because there wasn't enough homosexual boys to go around, it was simply because two of them were dating and Karofsky seemed to hate any guy that Kurt had kissed, excluding the option of Blaine asking him completely. Blaine was not interested in any of those boys anyway, and he did have his mind set on a particular person but he wouldn't even allow so much as a whisper escape about the idea of asking that certain boy to a dance. Not because he feared rejection but because he knew that Michael Chang didn't have it in him to say no and, to Blaine, having a pity date was worse than having no date at all.
"The longer you stare at my clothes will not affect the speed in wish they get clean. Common science," A voice whispered in Blaine's ear as he stared blankly at the mesh of soap and color. He recognized the voice immediately but did not turn his head to look at his new company.
"I was just thinking about you, Michael," he replied, raising an eyebrow and finally looking over at Mike, who was now taking a seat on the bench behind him. "I think all the bright colors and excess of plaid and slacks made me do that." He quipped as he joined Michael on the small bench.
Mike responded with a loud and appreciative laugh, it rang throughout the empty laundry mat and made a small smile tug at the corner of Blaine's lips as he turned fully in his seat to have a better sight of his friend. Mike was oddly dressed, wearing a black wife-beater and bright green gym shorts, accompanied by a small white towel around his neck. Much to Blaine's displeasure, he still looked really good, the tightness of his top accentuating his lean muscles and the bareness of his arms showing off the strength that only a well skilled dancer could have.
After a moment of concentration on the anatomy of Mike Chang, Blaine jerked his eyes to look at his face while he spoke. "Careful, you are starting to sound like Kurt."
Blaine smile grew and he rolled his eyes with feigned annoyance. "I can be sassy too!"
"I don't know," Mike flipped one leg around the bench and faced Blaine head on, giving Blaine the full frontal view of him. Blaine quickly took the opportunity to give Mike another scan with his curious and greedy eyes while Mike looked up at the ceiling, carelessly stretching his arms out as he spoke. "You seem more like the trying-to-be-sassy-but-is-dorky-instead kind of guy."
He looked away quickly as Mike lowered his head down to make eye contact, a clear and amused smile on his face. "I'm not a dork." Blaine said loudly, raising his hands up and widening his eyes wide to show his surprised at being called such a thing.
"Aw, you make it sound like an insult," Blaine glared as Mike's amused smile widened. "What are you doing here anyway?"
"I'm waiting for my suit if you must know," Blaine replied with a stiff and bitter tone.
Mike opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by the loud buzzing of the washing machine in front of them.
"So," Mike grunted as he pushed himself up from the bench. "Are you going to the dance then?"
Blaine couldn't avoid looking at Mike's amazing legs as he crouched down and leaned into the machine to retrieve his clothing. The muscles in his calves flexing a little as he leaned up on his feet a little bit more to get to the very back, causing Blaine to swallow and blush as he looked away and faced the empty spot in front of him, where Mike was originally sitting.
"Um…yeah."
"Who is your date?" Mike's voice was muffled and yet echoed by the hallow machine around him. He soon pulled out with his arms full of wet clothes and a pair striped boxers on the top of his head.
"Uh…"
"It's a secret then?" Mike asked, pulling his boxers down off his head and placing them on top of the other wet clothes. Blaine chuckled and kicked at Mike, trying to get back at him for teasing. Mike dodged his foot and threw his clothing in the drying machine next to him.
"You could say that, why are you here?" Blaine asked quickly, wanting to avoid the subject of his soon to be dateless night.
"I thought that was obvious," Mike smirked as he picked up a wet sock from the ground.
"I mean shouldn't you be getting ready for the dance too?"
Mike shook his head vigorously and then sat down in front of Blaine again, straddling the bench. "Nah, I hate school dances. I only go when I am asked or," Mike shrugged as whipped the towel off from around his neck, placing it to the side and revealing his broad shoulders. "When I am dating someone."
"Tina made you go last year then?" He remembered seeing Mike in his deep plum purple suit with his dark hair slicked back expertly, as if he were born to look dapper.
"Yeah, luckily this year she won't have to worry about me complaining. Artie will take good care of her," Mike laughed cheerily and leaned back a little on the bench and then he had the audacity to lean all the way back so his shirt rode up on his stomach, his body laying flat, but the length of his legs kept his hips propped up. "Forgive me I just had a tap class and I am so tired."
"Tap?" Blaine said, his voice high and squeaky. He could only picture himself climbing on top of those strong hips to feel them move beneath him. He shook his head and looked up at the ceiling of the laundry mat.
"Yeah, Tap dancing. It's hard work. You really work up a sweat. Have you ever tried?"
"Tried what?"
"Tap dancing."
"No, I'm more of a shuffle, step-from-side-to-side, and spin around kind of guy," Blaine scratched the back of his neck nervously and looked back at the now empty washing machine, the water from its previous rinse cycle still dripping inside.
"I noticed," Mike replied, humor and teasing in his tone. He sat up and then pushed himself off his seat once more. He stood before Blaine and held out his hand, offering to help him up. Blaine answered this gesture with furrowed brows of confusion. "Give it a try?"
"Give what a try?"
"Tap."
Blaine rolled his eyes again and smacked Mike's hand away. "Yeah right. My feet won't even tap," he held up one of his feet and signaled to his tennis shoe. Mike only shrugged and grabbed Blaine's arm, pulling him off his seat without any hesitation.
"You can use tacks," Mike was already halfway to the counter as he spoke and Blaine followed behind him, intrigued. Blaine stopped, however, when Mike jumped over the counter.
"You're not supposed to be back there!" Blaine said in a panicked whisper, leaning over the counter and watching as Mike shifted through the drawers. It was Mike's turn to roll his eyes.
"Blaine," Mike poked his head up from over the counter and gave Blaine a look of amused annoyance, making Blaine blush and step back a bit. "Calm down. This is my parent's laundry mat. That's why I am doing laundry here," he grinned and knelt back down to rummage through some more drawers. "I would think that you would have noticed that this place is named Chang's Laundry Mat. Of course it's only a side business."
"Right," Blaine felt his face color even more and he bowed his head down. "That was stupid."
"It's okay," Mike replied happily and jumped back over the counter. He held a closed hand toward Blaine, his smile relaxing to a calm and sweet one. "Take them."
Blaine extended his hand under Mike's and tried not to pay too much attention to the way that Mike's finger nails scraped slowly along his palm as he opened his hand and let the small pieces of metal fall, they poked Blaine's skin slightly and he looked down to see four thumb tacks. He looked up at Mike, his eyebrows raised in question.
"When I was in elementary school the girls used to put tacks on the bottom of their sneakers," Mike grabbed his free hand and pulled him to a nearby bench, gesturing for him to sit. Blaine obeyed him and stared as Mike lifted up his foot and pushed the first thumb tack into the top of Blaine's shoe. "And they would walk and make little tap tap noises."
"I used to do that," Blaine admitted, feeling slightly pathetic but flustered from the tight grip that Mike had around his ankle.
"That is adorable."
"Thank you?"
"I used to chase those girls around and asked them how they made their feet made music like that," He said with a nostalgic smile and dropped Blaine's foot so it landed on the tiled floor with a clack. Blaine felt a rush of giddiness as he looked down at Mike, kneeling at his feet. Of course Mike was a very friendly guy once he knew someone enough to climb out of his shell of shyness so Blaine tried not to read too much into the look that Mike was now giving him, his eyes glinting and the corners of his mouth perked up a tiny bit. It was the same nostalgic and thoughtful look that Michael had before but Blaine could feel the eyes staring at him, not past him.
"Good to know that I would have been safe from your chasing games."
"No one was safe," Mike winked and put a hand on Blaine's leg to pull himself up. He stared as Mike made his way back to the counter, reached over and turned on the laundry mat radio station. The ghost of warmth on his leg from Mike's hand was tugging at Blaine's attention he didn't notice that Mike was in the process of taking off his shirt until Mike called out. "Sorry, I just can't be in that gross shirt anymore."
"I…uh, it's okay," Blaine glared down at his feet while he the temperature in his face rose. He was determined not to look at Mike, not wanting to see the fine curves of Mike's muscles or the smile that was in Mike's voice as he continued to speak.
"Oh come on Blaine, it's not like you have never seen other boys without their shirts on."
Blaine looked up to see that Mike was now wearing a white t-shirt, it was still a little tight around his chest. He didn't respond to Mike's teasing. Instead he jumped and faced Mike with an unsure and nervous grin, his feet making the same tapping noises he remembered from his childhood. "Are you going to teach me how to tap dance?"
After they had finished filling the laundry mat with the sound of tacks hitting the ground in bad and unsteady beats, Blaine sat down on the floor, giving up entirely.
"I'm done," Blaine gasped as he wiped his brow and looked up at Mike. He always thought that Tap dancing would be easy and effortless. The was that it was portrayed in movies and by Mike himself, it seemed easy and light but was actually very demanding and required perfect rhythm and timing. "Never again."
"Don't you want to impress your date?" Mike looked down at him, his hands resting on his stomach and his chest moving up and down. He looked slightly out of breath but not as drained as Blaine felt.
He shook his head in reply and closed his eyes, bringing his hands up to rubbed at them. "Oh you know I don't have a date. I won't have anyone to dance with so there is no point."
Blaine kept his eyes close but eventually opened his eyes to see Mike's hand inches away from his face. He looked up to see that Mike was staring down at him with a happy and sincere smile. "Dance with me?"
He didn't know how to respond. In fact he didn't know how to do anything as his eyes searched the dark one's staring down at him. He felt as if he was suddenly dunked into the fog and fizz of a dream. Of course this had happened many times in his dreams but the settings were normally public with everyone else smiling with approval. With the hard wall against his back and the tile floor under his legs he had a difficult time leaping up and giving Mike a kiss like he usually did in his dream. Fear was stronger in this dream.
"We," Blaine looked down at his knees and shook his head. "We did dance."
"One of the main reasons I dislike public dances is because there isn't enough room to tap or any real quality dancing there so maybe you should practice, unless that will make you uncomfortable."
"I don't need your pity."
"If I had pity on you, I wouldn't ask you to dance."
Blaine finally looked at Mike again, narrowing his eyes. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"If anyone felt bad for you they wouldn't want to make you look bad either," Mike laughed and looked down at his own hand again, urging Blaine to take it. Blaine smacked it away and pushed himself up so he was standing up, his shoes tapping and making his stance less threatening. He folded his arms and continued to glare, though it was ineffective to breaking Mike's grin. Their eyes remained locked in a staring battle, Blaine waiting for Mike to break and laugh and confess that he was joking, making this dream a nightmare and Mike continuing to hold his hand out for Blaine to take.
Blaine thought he had won when Mike finally looked away and down, but his chance at victory was lost when his mental enemy took a step forward and grabbed at one of Blaine's hands and pulled it from his folded arms. He let his remaining arm go limp but Mike caught it before he could let it fall to his side. He swallowed as Mike guided his hands into their appropriate positions.
To Blaine's surprise one hand was placed on Mike's waist while the other hand laced fingers with Mike's.
"I'll let you guide," Blaine recognized Mike's facial expression as timidity, Mike looked like this whenever he had to sing by himself in front of the class or whenever people complemented his dancing.
"Oh, you are letting me? How nice. I didn't say that I would dance with you," Blaine mumbled as Mike pulled him closer and rested a warm hand on his shoulder.
"Then say you'll dance with me."
"And if I don't?"
"You're the one in charge aren't you?"
Blaine rolled his eyes and was about to respond but Mike pulled him even closer so he had to push his hand further back on Mike's back. This was different for him. For one, he wasn't used to dancing with another guy (sure there was that time that he danced with Kurt but that was awkward and goofy for both of them) another thing that caused his stomach to be a flurry of nerves was that he could feel the heat of Mike's body so close to him.
The smell of tea, fresh clean clothing, and very faint cologne invaded Blaine's senses. He subconsciously stepped closer to inhale more of Mike's scent and they finally started to move. With Blaine leading it was a simple sway and circle and he didn't dare to look up at his partner as his feet clicked with each step he took. He watched their shoes move together and felt his face get warmer.
"Can you lead now?" He whispered, unable to move properly as he was still in a daze. Mike complied and dropped his hand to Blaine's waist while Blaine moved his hand up to Mike's shoulder. He squeaked a little as Mike tugged him closer so their chests were touching and let out a gasp as Mike pushed him back and spun him around.
"Whoa."
"You asked me to lead," Mike said with a laugh as he spun Blaine around again and pulled him in close. "You should have seen it coming," as if to prove his point he lowered his hand to the edge of Blaine's pants.
"I don't see a lot of things coming," Blaine murmured as he gave in and rested his head on Mike's chest which was amazingly comfortable. The scent of Mike completely overtaking him and soft cotton of Mike's shirt tickling his cheek and the reality of all the textures, the smell, and the quiet tapping of his shoes giving him a sort of assurance that he wasn't dreaming
"Poor oblivious Blaine," Mike chuckled, his chest moving with his laugh. Blaine snuggled closer, taking this as a sort of welcome to do so. He could have used this opportunity to ask Mike to go to the dance with him, but the naturally pestering voice that always nagged him in the back of his mind stopped him from bolding posing the question.
He finally allowed himself to hope that perhaps Mike did have some feelings for him and that was the most he could do as Mike grabbed pulled their hands back and draped Blaine's other hand over his shoulder and then trailed his hand down to the other side of Blaine's waist. They were back to moving slowly even though the music playing throughout the laundry mat was loud and the beat was fast.
After another minute of this slow and intense dance in a laundry mat Blaine slowly pulled away and looked down at his shoes again, licking his lips in nervousness. "Uh…thanks." Ask him! Ask him? Should I ask him? "I should go now, I have to get ready for the dance." He wiped his hands on his pants and looked up at Mike with the best winning smile he could muster. "You wouldn't happen to know if my-"
"-suit. Your suit is done," Mike turned on his heal and walked to the counter and Blaine dared to hope that Mike seemed a little disappointed.
When Mike came back with his suit he had his words ready, he had the whole conversation planned out, he even planned on getting on his knee to show how badly he wanted to dance with Michael for the rest of the night.
"Thank you," he said dumbly. "I'll see you on Monday then?"
"Yeah, okay," Mike definitely did not seem happy, but Blaine could make himself do anything about it, he was too confused and unsure. He hated feeling unsure.
"Thanks again…bye"
Blaine found an empty folding chair near the back of the streamer and balloon filled gymnasium and took his seat, his mind still reeling from the moments he shared with Michael hours before. He spotted Kurt and Sam dancing off to the side with each other, Sam treating Kurt like he was the only boy in the room and Kurt lapping it up like it was much needed oxygen. Blaine looked away for something else to distract him. Watching a happy couple was not his idea of a good time.
He spotted Dave sitting on the other side of the auditorium and glaring with jealously at the couple and not even being afraid that someone would spot him. Maybe watching how interaction between the three of them would go would give him some kind of entertainment and distraction. He focused back on Kurt and Sam to see if Sam would catch Dave glaring, their rivalry was stuff of legends at McKinley high ever since Kurt and Sam started dating.
He rolled his eyes in annoyance when someone stepped in front of him right when Sam notice Dave and started walking over to him.
"Am I in your way?"
"Kind of but-Michael?" Blaine looked and saw Mike Chang standing before him with his dark hair slicked back and wearing a fine black button up shirt with slacks.
"I figured Homecoming isn't as formal as Prom so I could wear something a little more casual, if you are okay with that?"
"Michael?" Blaine stared at him as he sat down on the folding chair next to him, his leg unashamedly grazing against Blaine's as he sat back into the seat and smiled.
"Blaine?"
"What are you doing here?"
"I thought you could use some company. You seemed pretty upset that you were going by yourself and even though I don't like dances very much I figured it would be better if I hung out with you and we could be bored together," Mike shrugged and looked down at his hands, his face was clearly getting red as he spoke and Blaine felt his breath quicken as he watched Mike speak, his eyes flicking from Michael's mouth to his eyes, waiting for more than a verbal response.
When Mike finally looked up to meet his gaze he felt as if he were choking on his own pounding heart, there was meaning in those eyes, expression that Blaine had never seen before. Before he could react to what he saw Mike was leaning forward and pressing his lips to Blaine's in a soft kiss, his hand reaching up behind Blaine's neck so he could pull him closer. The kiss caused everything in Blaine to react. His hands were shaking while he brought them up to Mike's chest to rest and keep Mike from leaning to close to him, out of fear that it would go too far if he did so. He gathered up as much of Mike's shirt that he could, pulling him even closer so they were both sitting on the edge of their folding chairs.
It was over too fast for Blaine. He raised a hand to his lips and felt them, making sure they were still able to feel and respond. "What-"
"And I wanted to do that," Mike looked down shyly.
A low whistle stopped Blaine from going back to kissing Mike. They looked over at a smug Kurt and Sam standing a few feet away from them.
"Ignore them," Mike chuckled and stood up in front of Blaine, extending his hand. "Do you want to dance?"
"Aren't we-shouldn't we…talk about this?"
Mike smiled in response and pulled Blaine up for a second time that day. "Can we talk about this and dance?"
"I can try," Blaine said with an exaggerated moan as Mike pulled him onto the dance floor.
