Elevator

A moment of stunned silence hung in the air before either boy reacted, neither of them really sure what to make of the heart-shaped picnic basket that had rolled into the room. The boys were brought back to reality when the aroma of the meal inside the basket hit them and a stomach growled.

"Do you think it's safe?" Kurt asked, eyeing the food carefully. Even when he was on the Cheerios, Kurt hadn't trusted Coach Sylvester. That definitely wasn't going to change now that she had him trapped inside a fake elevator with his ex-boyfriend.

Blaine's stomach let out a growl again, a reminder that he hadn't eaten anything that day, and shrugged, "If Sue is really trying to get us back together, I don't think she'd put anything in it, do you?"

Kurt contemplated the answer to that, not putting it past his former teacher to drug them both. He didn't think about it too long however, as his own stomach began to let out noises of protest. They needed to find a way out of the tiny elevator that didn't involve giving in to Sue's outrageous demand, but who knew how long it would be before they figured out a way to escape. Really, it'd be easier to think on a full stomach anyway.

It didn't take Kurt and Blaine long to spread the picnic blanket across the floor and dish out the food, both of them still working around each other with a familiar ease they'd had for years. At some point, Blaine had discarded his cardigan and bowtie, Kurt shed the vest he was wearing, and both boys opted to unbutton their top layers in an attempt to make themselves a little more comfortable in the stuffy elevator.

"Well," Blaine said once everything had been set up and dished out, "Here's to hoping we can get out of here soon."

Kurt nodded in agreement as they both began eating their respective meals.

A silence fell between the two that was anything but comfortable. Sue's demand was still fresh in their minds and neither was sure what to do about it. Kurt wanted to kiss Blaine more than anything; he had wanted to since they broke up. The problem was Blaine. Blaine was already seeing someone else and seemed happy about that fact; Kurt didn't want to ruin that for Blaine. Blaine deserved to be happy after Kurt had hurt him so badly. No, if anything was going to happen between them in that elevator, it would have to be Blaine's call.

Blaine's head hurt. All thoughts of the show choir competition had been completely obliterated and replaced with nothing but thoughts of Kurt. Of course he still loved Kurt, there was no denying that fact, but Kurt had really hurt him and Blaine wasn't sure if he was ready to trust Kurt again. Blaine wasn't sure if he would ever be able to completely trust Kurt again. Then there was Dave. Blaine was happy with Dave; honestly, he was. It certainly wasn't what he had with Kurt, Blaine was certain that none of his future relationship would ever be like the one he had with Kurt, but he and Dave cared about each other. He couldn't cheat on Dave. He'd been down that road once and had spent all of his time since then hating himself. No matter how much he loved Kurt, kissing him again for the first time in months was not worth the self-hatred he knew would follow. No, they would have to figure out how to get out of here some other way.

"This is really good, do you think Sue made this?" Blaine asked, wanting to break the suffocating silence however possible.

"No, it's Breadstix. The to-go Breadstix." Kurt replied having recognized the meals as the same ones he and Blaine had eaten on one of their many Breadstix outings. Kurt didn't want to know how Sue had gotten that information.

"Right. Well, we're definitely not going to kiss later because I just had like, a ton of garlic." Blaine said.

"Yeah." A part of Kurt was slightly disappointed, but he reminded himself of the situation. Yes, he'd love to kiss Blaine again and have him be his boyfriend again, but this was not the way he wanted that reunion to happen.

He couldn't help but think back to their first weekends in the loft together, when everyone else had moved out and it was just the two of them. They'd wake up in bed together and share lazy kisses until they found the motivation to get out of bed and start the day. Kurt had always feigned disgust at Blaine's morning breath, and vice versa, but they were so ridiculously, hopelessly, madly in love that neither of them actually cared. At one point they had wanted to spend every moment of their lives together; then Kurt got scared.

"How long do you think we've been in here?" Blaine asked, cutting through Kurt's thoughts. With both of their phones dead they had lost their only means of telling the time and it was starting to get to Blaine. How late was it? Had anyone even noticed they were gone? Did anyone care? His mind was racing; he needed out of there. Now.

"Few hours at least," Kurt replied, noticing Blaine's discomfort. "We missed the Warblers performance."

"Oh."

"For what it's worth, I'm sure they were amazing."

"Thanks. Hopefully we'll be out of here in time to see your team perform tomorrow." Blaine said.

The possibility that they would still be trapped went unspoken, but nagging voices in the back of both of their minds reminded them that Sue was very willing to leave them in there. It was this thought that accompanied the boys as they packed up their dishes, clearing the space as much as they could so it didn't feel so tiny.

"Do you think there's a way for us to get out of here?" Kurt asked once everything was put back in the picnic basket, "I mean one that doesn't involve us… kissing."

"We've already tried the door, and we can't get that puppet's entrance to re-open from in here… Maybe through the bathroom? Maybe there's a window in there we can climb out of?" Blaine offered.

The two quickly moved to the washroom, but the little bit of hope they had found was crushed as they realized it was McKinley's smallest bathroom. Only two stalls and a sink were contained in its walls, and of course there were no windows to be found. Sue had thought this through in great detail. If the boys were scared before, now they were terrified. They didn't understand how a former teacher, one who had spent time trying to protect them while they were students, could do something like this.

They re-entered the elevator, desperation beginning to set in. They needed to find a way out that didn't involve them ruining their newly rekindled friendship. Neither of them could sit still in the state they were in and they began pacing around the tiny room.

"Think we could get out that way?" Blaine pointed at the ceiling of the elevator where a small hatch was located.

"Maybe, but how do you suppose we get up there?" Kurt asked, the exhaustion and frustration starting to get the better of him.

"Give me a boost?"

Kurt was willing to try anything, so he clasped his hands to make a foothold for Blaine.

"Okay; on three. Like one, two, three, go."

"Yes, I know what on three means."

A few unsuccessful attempts had both boys sinking to the floor in defeat. It was becoming clear that there really was only one way out of the elevator but neither boy wanted to suggest it first.

"I'm so tired." Kurt mumbled, failing to stifle a yawn.

"You can sleep if you want," Blaine offered, "I'll wake you up if I think of a way out of here."

Kurt, ever so stubborn, tried to resist but he quickly succumbed to his exhaustion and curled up on the floor.

The elevator was silent save for Kurt's light breathing, and Blaine found himself oddly at peace. Watching Kurt sleep, it was like nothing had ever gone wrong. The world outside the elevator didn't exist any more; it was just Kurt and Blaine and no one else.

He missed watching Kurt sleep, he had always found the calm steadiness of Kurt's breathing soothing; he missed being near Kurt and just existing together. Blaine had always been a lot calmer and had always slept better when he was around Kurt. He missed it. But everything had changed between them, and Blaine wasn't sure they would ever be able have that existence together again.

So for the time being, Blaine was going to block out all acknowledgement of the real world and he would enjoy just existing near Kurt again, because he wasn't sure if they were going to get out of this elevator with their friendship still in tact.

Eventually, exhaustion got the better of Blaine and he found himself lying on the floor and falling asleep. It was the most peaceful sleep he had had in months.

When Kurt woke up several hours later, he wasn't quite sure where he was. Slightly panicked, he quickly pulled himself into a sitting position and tried to get his bearings. When he saw Blaine next to him, still fast asleep, it hit him like a bullet. Sue, the puppet, trapped, attempting to escape, Sue's demand, their picnic… Kurt quickly found himself overwhelmed.

He and Blaine had been trapped in that stupid fake elevator overnight with no sign of being set free any time soon, and with his phone dead he had no clue whether or not anyone had tried to contact him. He imagined Rachel was freaking out but handling their students just fine, but his Dad… Oh god, his Dad was probably working himself towards another heart attack having not seen or heard from Kurt in well over half a day.

Kurt picked up a stray napkin that had been left on the floor the night before and began folding it. Two times in one direction, two times in the other, unfold, and repeat. Kurt knew it wasn't in any way productive, but doing something with his hands helped him calm down.

He glanced over at Blaine and smiled softly at how peaceful Blaine looked. He missed him. Oh god did Kurt miss him. Kurt didn't think he'd ever forgive himself for what he did to their relationship; what he did to Blaine.

Two times one direction, two times the other, unfold, and repeat.

Blaine woke up slowly, realization of where he was making him want to roll over and go back to sleep. He wasn't in the mood to deal with psychotic teachers.

He turned a little and saw Kurt, who had yet to notice he was awake, with a tattered napkin in his hands. Blaine immediately realized what was happening.

Kurt had always had these little rituals in times of stress. He'd count and stack sugar packets, or alphabetize their office space, or colour code their cupboards in an attempt at self-comfort. They would always start off harmless, calming Kurt down when he was too stressed to think, but if he was left to his own devices for too long, he would end up working himself into a bigger panic.

"Kurt?" he said softly, not wanting to startle him, but hoping it would be enough to break Kurt out of his ritual.

Kurt's eyes immediately met his, "Morning," he greeted quietly, continuing to fold and unfold the napkin.

Blaine sat up, "Hey," he gently grabbed Kurt's hands and took the napkin from them, "What's going on?"

Kurt sighed; Blaine knew him too well.

"I'm just frustrated. And upset. And scared, I guess. I just really want out of here, but I don't want to give in to Sue's insane demands when we only just started talking to each other again." Kurt admitted. "Why is she doing this, Blaine?"

Kurt was beginning to break down and Blaine felt his own anger begin to flare at the thought of Kurt so upset.

"Sue is crazy." Blaine said, "We're going to get out of here, I promise."

"How, Blaine? We've tried everything."

"I don't know yet, but we'll think of something. Right now we need a distraction. Shall we play a game?"

The boys had turned the rest of the napkins into a makeshift game of 'Heads Up' and, for a while, it served its purpose of entertaining and distracting them so they could clear their heads. During Kurt's turn however, Blaine mentioned Dave's name during one of his clues. Kurt knew he had no real right to feel upset, this was all his fault after all, but Kurt felt a stab in his heart at the reminder that his best friend and first love was taken. All interest in their game was suddenly lost.

"It's so hot in here I think I'm going to be sick." Kurt said, sitting up and pulling his knees to his chest.

Before Blaine could say anything, the puppet door opened again and the terrifying doll returned. Blaine scrambled away, trying to put as much distance between himself and that thing as he could.

The puppet began to speak and they boys listened in horror as it told them of the consequences of their refusal. The tiny room began to fill with a gas that, according to the puppet, would make them aroused enough to lose some of their control. They really couldn't believe it; Sue had actually gone as far as drugging them to get what she wanted.

Kurt and Blaine looked at each other as they listened to the puppet's demands, communicating silently in the way they always had, neither really sure what to do now that they were quickly losing any actual choice in the matter. It was Blaine that finally spoke up.

"I want to get out of here," Blaine said softly to Kurt, "It's just so hot-"

"Yes!" the puppet drawled.

"Not sexually hot!" Blaine snapped at the puppet before he turned back to Kurt and continued to speak, "It's just actually hot and I want to go home and I want to get out of here."

"Yes," the puppet spoke to Kurt, "Listen to Blaine."

"We just need to decide beforehand that this doesn't have to mean anything," Blaine said, resigned to his fate.

"We make a promise right now that it means nothing." Kurt said.

Both boys knew full well that this was a lie. With their complicated history, there was no way this was going to mean nothing. They hated that there was no choice in the matter, that they were being forced to confront their past at a rate far faster than either of them was really comfortable with.

"Let's just do what we have to do."

"So we're in agreement."

"Yeah, this doesn't mean anything. The only reason we're doing this is because it's the only way Sue is going to let us out."

"Because Sue is forcing us."

"Forcing us."

"On the count of three."

"One." The puppet began, harshly reminding them that their former coach was watching. This was all so wrong.

"Two."

Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong.

"Three."

And for a moment everything was right again.

As their lips met, nothing else in the world mattered; nothing else existed. Just Kurt. And Blaine. And home. With their old familiarity, and the love that was coursing through both of them, it felt as though they were breathing again for the first time in months. Neither of them ever wanted this to end. Everything was okay; the world made sense again.

As they pulled away, both boys were once again brought harshly back to reality. Kurt felt exactly the way he knew this was going to make him feel. Distraught. Angry. And overwhelmingly in love with Blaine Anderson.

But Blaine was destroyed. He had worked so hard to get over Kurt. He had convinced himself that he and Kurt were better off as friends. He had gone to therapy sessions and worked through his depression and anger towards their breakup and had worked to rebuild his relationship with Kurt to where they were comfortable as friends. But all of that work, all of those long days he had put in to trying to make himself okay, had collapsed underneath him. He was still in love with Kurt; he had never fallen out of it. And that killed him. Because now he had to go back to their friends, and back home to Dave, and pretend like nothing had changed; that he and Kurt weren't soul mates.

Blaine wasn't sure he was that good of an actor.