Written for the Klaine Advent 2017 prompts "nose" and "orgy", and inspired by a post I can't find anymore xD Dedicated to sunshineoptimismandangels because I am soooo behind on the story I'm writing for her xD
Received: I'm here for you.
Kurt looks at the message on his screen and smiles. It's such a simple sentiment, but it lifts his spirits up so much, especially considering the day he's had.
Having, he reminds himself.
It's not over yet.
But he doesn't have much hope for the last half considering the first.
It's been a banner day.
A truly suck- tastic day.
He's had some awful days in his life, but then this day showed up, determined to kick some ass.
And that's exactly what it did.
Sent: Thank you! You don't know how much I needed to hear that.
Received: You're welcome :)
Sent: You know, today had started out to be such a good day, too. And then it went all to shit!
Kurt types and presses send without thinking. When he re-reads his message, he cringes. He doesn't want to unload on one of his friends when they're just reaching out to give him support. But he hasn't had a chance to talk to anyone yet, and he really needs to vent.
Received: What happened?
Kurt looks at the reply and shrugs. Well, he thinks, they did ask …
Sent: I found out this morning that my dad's cancer is in remission. And then, I got a text from my boss telling me I got a promotion at work.
Received: Congratulations!
Sent: Thank you! Everything was going so well!
Received: Then what happened?
Sent: I left my apartment.
He gets a 'XD' in response and finds himself laughing for the first time that day.
Promising, he thinks.
He continues.
Sent: I missed my train this morning, which isn't actually that big a deal, but some jerk on the subway spilled coffee down the front of my pants!
Received: What a douche!
Sent: I know, right? He didn't even have the decency to apologize, or offer to pay for my dry cleaning. Those were $173 twill trousers he ruined!
Received: Then what happened?
Sent: When I got to work, I found out my boss is out for the month with mono! Which was why she texted me about my promotion this morning - so I wouldn't complain when I found out how much work she left me to do.
Received: Ouch!
Sent: Yup. If I didn't love her so much, I'd spike her shampoo bottle with Nair. Extra strength.
A new row of 'XD' makes Kurt laugh out loud.
Received: If you don't mind my saying, if that's all that happened to you, you got off light.
Sent: And I'd agree with you, but it's not …
Received: Uh-oh …
Sent: Uh-oh's right. I found out, after I moved into my new office …
Kurt sniffles, wipes a tear from his cheek.
… that my boyfriend has been cheating on me with someone at work. A photographer.
Received: Oh-no.
Sent: Yeah.
Received: How did you find out?
Kurt grabs a tissue from a nearby box and blows his nose. He's been trying not to think about this part for most of the afternoon, but the truth is, he hasn't been succeeding.
Sent: The photographer's office is next to my new one … and they were in there together … loudly together.
Received: Oh God! What a shitty way to find out! I'm so sorry!
Sent: Thank you. Turns out, he's been sneaking upstairs and giving the guy a blow under his desk for the last six months … and most of the office knew about it. I'm the only one who didn't.
Kurt sends that message, then types out and sends another one quickly before he can receive another apology text. It's the only apology he's received today. It's from the wrong person, and that stings a little too much.
Sent: I left work early to deal with it, pack up his stuff and get him out of my apartment ASAP, but I broke down in the subway. I ran to the bathroom, locked myself in a stall, took out my phone to send a text, and immediately dropped it in the toilet. I ruined a brand new McQueen shirt fishing it out, too. It was in there for all of five seconds, and the stupid thing was dead. A $700 phone just gone.
Received: Plus, what I'm guessing was, a designer outfit.
Kurt reads that and bursts into tears. He'd completely forgotten about that. His shirt and trousers lay on his bed, waiting to be taken to the cleaners, but he has no hope for them.
Sent: And I can't even order a pizza and properly mourn because I have to go back to work this evening and finish some asinine project for my boss's boss.
Received: That sucks. I'm sorry.
Sent: At least I'm treating myself to an Uber. No way am I taking the subway at this time of night.
Received: Yeah. Uber's great.
Sent: I have to admit, it's my own damn fault. I mean, in retrospect, there was an orgy of evidence that he was cheating on me – phone calls he'd run into the other room to take, text messages he would erase the second I walked into the room, bruises he wouldn't explain that looked suspiciously like hickeys. He used to cover them up with makeup but, towards the end, he didn't even try to hide them at all. It was actually, like, nose on my face obvious. I just didn't let myself see it. I don't know why I was so blind. I feel so stupid.
Received: I don't think you're stupid. I think we tend to overlook things when we know the truth is going to hurt, pray they'll sort themselves out so we don't have to deal with them. It's just a part of being human.
Sent: Part of being a dumb human.
Received: Not even. It seems like you had a lot on your plate with your father being sick and up for a promotion at work. You probably didn't need one more thing to worry about, so you were hoping that there was nothing to worry about.
Sent: I guess. To be fair, the more time I spend sulking over it, the more I realize I miss my phone most of all.
Received: There you go XD
Sent: Well, at least I have you right? You're here for me.
Received: That's right. ;)
The winky face makes Kurt chuckle, but then he realizes – he has no clue who he's talking to right now. Who's the last person who texted him a winky face emoji? Rachel? Mercedes?
Sent: By the way, not to be rude or anything, but this is a new phone and I don't have any of my contacts. Who is this?
Received: My name's Blaine.
…
Received: I'm your Uber driver. I'm here to pick you up.
Kurt reads those words, and from the back of his throat, a choked gurgle comes out.
Sent: Oh.
He slams his palm into his forehead half a dozen times before he comes up with a better response.
Sent: You're early. I wasn't expecting you for another half hour.
Received: Sorry about that. Traffic was light.
Sent: Lucky me, I guess.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" he moans, ready to sink into the couch, become one with the cushions and disappear. He can still live this one down, he reassures himself. He can just tell this poor guy Thank you anyway! and catch a cab. Or why does he have to go back to work tonight at all? He can put it off till tomorrow. If he goes to bed now, gets up at four, heads in at five, and gets an early start, he may be done by eight tomorrow evening.
Yup. That's it. That's the ticket.
He starts composing a text to that affect when his phone chirps.
Received: Look, it's probably too soon, and I don't want to make you uncomfortable, but since we have a little time, maybe I could take you out for coffee? We can talk a little more about this asshole ex-boyfriend of yours, if you want.
Kurt stares at Blaine's message, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. He could go through the predictable rigamaroo of talking himself out of this – What does he actually know about this guy? What if he's a serial killer? What if he's luring him into a false sense of security? Yadda-yadda. But he'd had every intention of getting into this guy's car and having him drive him to an empty office building anyway. How is coffee any different? And besides, a brightly lit and busy Starbucks would be way safer, wouldn't it?
Received: We can plot your revenge. I can help. I have a getaway car. Whaddya say?
Kurt giggles. Blaine seems like a sweet guy. He's a good listener. He's kind. He has a sense of humor.
What the heck could be wrong with him?
Maybe Kurt should find out for himself.
Sent: How about you take me out for coffee and we talk about anything but my ex?
…
Received: Sounds perfect ;)