Rating: Soon to be NC-17.
But obvi it's not gonna be that in the first chapter.
Pairing: Klaine
Summary: Cruise Ship!au. Daily Update. Kurt and Blaine have never met before, but they're seated at the same table with their families at dinner aboard a cruise ship. Multi-chap. Based off of "Mexico" by the Staves, and the fact that I just got off of a cruise and I was having a lot of feelings. Translations from Italian will be in bold so that you don't have to go on Google translate. [you're welcome] First chapter is short, but I promise tomorrow's will be longer. I'm sleepy right now because I was in a car for 12 hours.
Kurt never saw the point in family vacation. He didn't want to be out of town, he didn't want to be in places that he was unfamiliar with. He especially didn't want to be out in a completely different foreign country, on a ship that he could not stop. He didn't want to be completely disconnected from the world for two weeks.
But, alas. It was what Burt and Carole wanted to do for his graduation. So there he was, in line for security check, about to board 220,000 tons of iron steel.
"Are you sure this is necessary?" Kurt asked the security clerk as they made him strip of all his metal wear. "I mean, for christ's sake, it's not like I'm gonna blow up a cruise ship."
"Did you say you were gonna bomb the cruise ship?" The Indian clerk asked, peering her head up with shocked eyes.
Kurt grabbed his things and rolled his eyes. "Oh, please. It was a joke." He replied, and the foreigner just nodded sweetly.
"Oh, look! They're gonna take a picture of us! Photo opp!" Carole squealed as she saw the photographer leading them to a backdrop.
The photographer placed Kurt and Finn facing each other, Burt and Carole standing behind them.
"Smile big," The photographer said, and they all smiled brightly.
"This is going to be a great week." Finn cheered. Except for Kurt, it was already the worst week.
Kurt had waited for 6 hours for his luggage, and it still hadn't came.
"Go down to baggage check and see if the tags fell off, Finn!" He yelled over the phone to the boy in the cabin next door to him. "I'm not gonna have any clothes for two weeks if I don't get this bag, and I'm sure as hell not wearing the same outfit over and over again! That's disgusting!"
"Look, I never said you were gonna have to go nekkie. Just relax." Finn tried to reassure him.
"Finn, my clothes are missing! If yours were missing, you'd just go around shirtless. But you are not me." Kurt sighed.
"Well, we've gotta go to dinner. Everyone else is wearing what they wore to board the ship. Just wear the same thing! No one will care! Half the people on a cruise ship go around with just their bathing suits on anyways. It's okay." Finn said, and Kurt could hear the eyeroll through the phone.
"Okay, Finn. Whatever."
In the dining room, Kurt, Finn, Burt, and Carole were all sat down at a large, round table with napkins folded and four other empty seats aside from theirs.
"Dad, I thought we asked for private dining." Kurt's eyes bulged out as he whispered harshly.
"I thought we did, too, bud," Burt shrugged. "But I mean, hey. Whadda ya gonna do?" The Hummel family took their seats at the table and were greeted by a waiter with an Italian accent.
"Ciao everyone, my name is Giorgi and I'm from Venice, Italy. I'll be your server for this week in the fabulous dining room. Every night at 6pm, we'll be having the best foods from all of our chefs all around the world. The best part about it is this — you can order all you want, with no extra charge."
"Sweet!" Finn yelled loudly, and everyone chuckled. "Eh, yeah? Someone's excited, I see!" Giorgi laughed. "I'll go ahead and get you guys some water, and then I'll take your order when the remaining four arrive. Sound good?"
"Definitely." Burt replied.
"Excellent. I'll be back." Not a millisecond later, a small mexican man in a uniform was filling up their glasses with water mixed with perfectly cubed ice cubes. Kurt looked up at the dining room entrance and wished that he were back home. He was going to be miserable this entire trip, and he knew it. That is, until the olive-skinned boy with the polo tucked into his skinny jeans walked in.
Holy shit, Kurt thought, he's gorgeous. He's absolutely flawless. Wait— why…. what— why is he— is he coming over— he's coming this way— is that his family— oh, god, there are four of them— okay, yeah— he's at our table— and okay, yeah, he's sitting down across from me— holy shit— okay— keep your cool, Kurt— you're a hot bitch who don't need a man— you're fine. Ya know, he's not even really that cute. He's not even your type. Besides—cruise relationships are ridiculous. Don't even think about it. He even looks straight. He's obviously not worth it.
"Ah! The other family has arrived!" Giorgi cheered, telling them the entire spill about where he was from and the ordering on the menu.
Finally, the dark-skinned boy spoke up. "Voi siete di venezia? Amo Venezia! Parlo italiano, me stesso. Il mio nome è Blaine." You are from venice? I love Venice! I speak Italian, myself. My name is Blaine. The boy said, and Kurt was even more pissed off. How were they supposed to communicate with these people if they don't even speak English? He did hear the boy say "Blaine" though. So he assumed that it was his name.
"Ah, Blaine! Molto buono. Tu vieni da Italia?" Ah, Blaine! Very good. You come from Italy? Giorgi replied, and Blaine shook his head.
"No, my friend. I just adore the language." Blaine said, in English, and Kurt felt like an asshole for thinking he was foreign and getting so pissed off.
"Very well then." Giorgi smiled, turning away from the table and then returning with menus. The ordering process was rushed, and Kurt didn't even really understand what he ordered. He read something with lasagna, and just panicked and pointed to that when Giorgi got to him.
"So what are all of your names?" Carole asked, and the family introduced themselves one by one.
"I'm Michael Anderson." A tall, broad man with shiny plastered down hair and a broad smile said.
"My name is Petulia Anderson." A short woman with squinty eyes beamed.
"The name's Cooper, but you can call me Coop if you want." The taller son said.
"And I'm Blaine. Blaine Anderson." The dark-skinned boy said, flicking his eyes up to meet with Kurt's.
"And your names?" Petulia asked.
"Burt."
"I'm Carole."
"My name's Finn."
"My name is Kurt." Kurt smiled, and Blaine smiled.
"What brings you guys here aboard this lovely ship?" Michael asked.
"We're actually celebrating Kurt and Finn's graduations! We're very proud of them." Burt answered, and everyone smiled.
"Oh, congratulations! From what school?" Petulia asked.
"William McKinley High School in Lima, Ohio." Burt answered.
"You're from Lima? We're from Westerville!" Michael added in.
"Yes, Blaine attends Dalton Academy." Petulia said, and Kurt snickered.
"Oh, so you're one of those guys." Finn commented in Blaine's direction.
"Blaine is also a main lead in the school's show choir program, the Warblers!" Michael said proudly.
"So you really are one of those guys." Kurt said.
"Yeah, I am. What's wrong with that?" Blaine asked.
"Oh, it's nothing. It's just that all the guys that I've met from Dalton are pretentious assholes." Kurt said, and Burt coughed loudly.
"Kurt Elizabeth Hummel!" He said harshly.
"What? Dad, it's true. Dalton Warblers aren't very nice."
"You know what else isn't very nice? Swearing at the dinner table." Carole commented.
"But it's true. Dalton Academy is full of rich pricks who are just sent to a school full of other rich pricks that way they can be rich pricks together, and they sing little songs acapella to show how rich and pricky they are." Kurt said, and Blaine was cackling so loud that he had tears coming out of his eyes.
"No, that's completely true!" He laughed.
Kurt smiled to himself, and he didn't say another word for the entirety of dinner.
11:29.
11:29.
11:29.
The clock on Kurt's nightstand felt like it was taunting him. After dinner, he went to the ice cream bar, got an ice cream, then went back to his cabin to sit alone in his room. He was bored beyond belief, but there was nothing for him to do. The pool and slides were closed, so he couldn't swim. He wasn't athletic, so mini golf and basketball were out of the question. He wasn't old enough to gamble, so he couldn't go to the casino. He had absolutely nothing to do. Well, there was a LGBT Welcome Aboard party on the Lido deck, but he wasn't about to go to that.
11:29.
11:29.
11:29.
11:30.
Fuck it, he thought, I'm going to the party.
Kurt boarded the elevator to head to the Lido deck with excitement and adrenaline pumping through his veins. Meeting new people was always an enjoyment for him. Especially if they were guaranteed to not be judgmental. If they were different like him. The elevator stopped two floors above his.
A boy with platinum blonde hair and blue streaks in the spikes of his bangs boarded the elevator. His ears were weighed down by gauges, and his ass cheeks were about to fall out of his shorts. Underneath his loose neon yellow tank top, Kurt saw pierced nipples.
"Going to the party on the Lido Deck? The special one?" The boy asked, and Kurt nodded. After the boy turned around away from him, Kurt furrowed his brow. What the hell was special supposed to mean? The boy could've just asked if he were gay or not, even that would've been less subtle.
As the elevator reached the tenth floor, the booming from the music shook the floors.
"Sounds like a party!" The boy commented, and Kurt once again only nodded. The boy must've been bored with Kurt and how little he spoke, because he sprinted out the doors as soon as they were opened.
Kurt moved to the center of the lido deck, surrounded by drunk boys who were exact carbon copies of the boy from the elevator. The smell of vodka was very prominent, and he was feeling sweaty bodies grinding all around him. He immediately regretted this decision.
Just as he was about to turn around and walk to the elevator, he felt an arm on his shoulder. He whipped around to see Blaine, bright eyed and eager, standing before him.
"Kurt!" Blaine cheered.
"Blaine!" Kurt replied, attempting to sound happy to see him as well.
"What are you doing here?" Blaine asked.
"Just thought I'd come hang out. What are you doing here? You do know that this is a LGBT party, right?" Kurt raised his eyebrows, and Blaine laughed.
"What? What's so funny? Did you not know that?" Kurt asked again.
"No, no, I did know that. I'm gay," Blaine continued to laugh. "It's just so funny because you thought that all these gay people would scare me away, when I myself am gay."
"Oh. Well, you just don't look the part." Kurt commented.
"How stereotypical of you." Blaine laughed.
"Sorry."
"Ah, no problem. Have you had a drink?" Blaine asked.
"Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no. Absolutely not. I despise alcohol." Kurt replied.
"Oh. Well, do you wanna go get some coffee? It's kinda loud out here."
"No thanks. I'm gonna go back to my cabin." Kurt turned around and walked away. He barely heard Blaine yell 'See you at dinner tomorrow!' above the booming noise of the bass.
The next day, Kurt didn't want to get up out of bed. He didn't see the point in just being bored out on the ship. Everything on the ship was the same. But, despising the thought of being cramped up in his room for the entirety of the cruise, he got on his swim trunks and headed to the pool to sunbathe.
Kurt arrived at the Lido Deck and found a pool chair. He laid down, sunglasses covering his eyes. He felt at peace. That is, until a familiar voice completely disturbed him.
"Kurt! Hey, Kurt!" The voice called out. Kurt sat up and looked around, but saw no one. He laid back down, relaxing once again.
"Kuuuuurt! Kurt! Over here! Hey!" The voice called yet again. Kurt sat up once more, lifted his sunglasses off of his face, and searched the perimeter. He saw no one. Huffing, he took one more look. In the pool, there was a pair of tan arms flailing about. It was Blaine. Blaine hopped out of the pool quickly and rushed over to Kurt.
"Wanna go get coffee now?" Blaine asked eagerly.
Kurt sat there for a minute. He could, but that would completely blow off the purpose of putting his swim trunks on.
"Sure." Kurt's mind spoke for him, and Blaine's face lit up at the response. He shook the water droplets off of him like a dog, then smiled at Kurt, who was now very wet.
"I'm dry now." He said bashfully, and Kurt nodded.
As they were drinking their coffee in an awkward silence, Blaine suggested they play an icebreaker game.
"This is like middle school." Kurt laughed, and Blaine rolled his eyes.
"Okay. So. This game is called speed questions." Blaine said excitedly.
"Did you just make it up?" Kurt asked.
"Maybe. But that's beside the point. The way you play this game is that I'm going to set my phone on a timer for one minute, and I'm going to ask you as many yes or no questions in one minute as I possibly can. Okay?"
"Okay." Kurt smiled.
Blaine dawdled with his phone for a second before looking up at Kurt with a big smile.
"Ready?" He asked, and Kurt nodded. "Go."
"Do you like peanuts?"
"Yes."
"Are you allergic to anything?"
"No."
"Do you like sodas?"
"No."
"Do you like Nickelback?"
"NO."
"Do you think you're brother is cool?"
"Yes."
"Do you have a good relationship with your father?"
"Yes."
"Are you enjoying yourself on this vacation?"
"No."
"Do you think I'm cute?"
"Yes."
"What?"
"What?"
"What?"
"What did you ask?"
"I asked if you thought I was cute."
"What did I say?"
"You said yes."
"No I didn't."
"Yeah, you did."
"Well I didn't mean it."
"Is that a blush I see, creeping up on your cheeks? Are you getting embarrassed, Kurt?"
"NO! It's just hot outside and I burn easily!"
"That's weird, because you didn't seem to be burned whenever we first walked in here."
"I didn't say I thought you were cute!"
"True. But you said yes when I asked you—so it's basically the same thing."
"I didn't say yes!"
"Yeah, you did."
"No I did not!"
"So you think I'm ugly?"
"No! You're not ugly. You're cute, it's just—"
"Whoa, whoa! Twice in five minutes? I'm blushing, Kurt. Oh, wait, nope—that's still you."
"You're unbelievable!"
"But I'm cute."
"Yes. Wait, no!"
"You are just head over heels for me, Kurt, aren't you?"
"I'm ten thousand percent done!"
"Oh, really?"
"Yes! I'm leaving!"
"See you at dinner, Kurt. Don't be late!"
"Carole, I cannot attend dinner tonight." Kurt told Carole, who was staying five cabins over, on the phone a few hours later.
"Um, yes you can." Carole replied.
"No, I unfortunately can't. My condolences."
"Kurt Elizabeth Hummel, you are going to dinner. We all agreed to attend every night as a family. Besides—it's mine and your father's anniversary. We're celebrating."
"Carole, I really can't."
"And why do you think that?"
"It's really complicated." Kurt sighed. He wasn't about to tell Carole about his crush. (That's what he had decided to mentally call it.)
"Kurt, you're going to dinner. That's final."
With that, Carole hung up, and Kurt huffed loudly to his empty cabin.
Kurt was exactly eight minutes late to dinner, attempting to procrastinate as much as he could. Unfortunately, he knew that he had to go.
When he arrived at the dining room, he walked slowly to his table. He arrived to find Burt sitting next to Michael, Carole sitting next to Petulia, Finn sitting next to Cooper, and only one empty seat left for him, next to Blaine.
Blaine's face lit up as he saw Kurt. Kurt took his seat, and Blaine grinned, wide and toothy.
"Hi, Kurt." Blaine said, and something in Kurt broke. His stomach felt like it was going to fly right out of his chest. There he was, plain and simple, and Blaine, with a voice as sweet as freshly baked cookies and eyes like honey. Kurt swallowed hard as he smiled back at Blaine.
"H-hi, Blaine." Kurt squeaked out.
"You look nice." Blaine whispered, as if it were their own little secret. Kurt had forgotten what it felt like to be complimented. He was almost positive that he was just going to melt into his seat.
"So do you." He replied, trying to seem as calm as possible, though the heat he felt rising to his cheeks told otherwise.
Giorgi was in a chipper mood, as usual, as he took their orders.
Dinner was filled with stolen glances and shy smiles exchanged by Kurt and Blaine as the rest of the family had small talk.
As everyone's food arrived, Kurt's sirloin proved to be tougher to cut than what his knife and hands were allowing. He huffed and slumped down in his seat. Blaine laughed and scooted Kurt's plate to his reach, where he cut Kurt's meat into small, bite-sized pieces.
"There you go." Blaine smiled, and Kurt's blush only increased.
As they finished eating, Finn called Giorgi over to his side of the table. He attempted to tell Giorgi that it was Burt and Carole's anniversary by blindly pointing to Burt, who was seated right next to Kurt.
"Oh! Okay!" Giorgi cheered, and returned a few moments later with a piece of cheesecake with two candles lit in the top of it.
"Anniversary! Anniversary!" He yelled, calling out to the rest of the dining room. But, instead of placing the cheesecake in front of Burt, he placed it right in between Kurt and Blaine.
"Everyone, these two love birds have an anniversary today!" He called out, pointing to Kurt and Blaine.
"Oh, Giorgi, no, this is not our—" Kurt tried to explain, but Giorgi interrupted him.
"No need to be shy about it! You two are in love!" Giorgi cheered, and the entire dining room applauded.
"Okay, so this is how it's gonna go—we're gonna sing an anniversary song for you, and you two will kiss until we're done. Okay? Happy anniversary to you…" Giorgi sang.
Kurt and Blaine just looked at each other, smiling and laughing. They planned to just sit and embrace the awkward, enjoying the cheesecake together after they were done singing. They didn't plan on kissing. That is, until Giorgi physically made them kiss.
Kurt had turned around to make a comment to his dad about how he was sorry that they were getting the attention when it was for him originally. He was laughing, smiling. When he turned back around, all he felt was Giorgi's hand on the back of his head, then soft lips on his. It was awkward and forced; their mouths were physically crashed together unwillingly. It was unexpected for everyone, and very awkward.
Yes, it was awkward. But Kurt inhaled deeply and just felt how soft Blaine's lips were, and in that moment, Kurt wished time would've stood still. Time, however, only lasts for so long. He and Blaine both pulled back at the same time, once Giorgi had finished the song and there was a loud applause.
Blaine looked at Kurt like a deer in headlights, and Kurt swallowed deeply before hearing Finn's obnoxious voice.
"Well that was awkward."
Kurt stood up from the table quickly, placing his napkin on the table.
"I'm finished eating." He said as he stood.
Kurt practically ran out of the dining room, straight to the elevator. He heard Blaine calling after him, but he had to get to the top level of the ship. He had to have fresh air. He felt like he was going to pass out.
As he reached the sports deck, he ran out and grabbed hold of the rail on the side of the ship to anchor himself down. Kurt felt like he was going to float away. He felt two tears slide down his cheeks.
He didn't even hear Blaine walk up, but then there was a hand on his shoulder, spinning him quickly around. Blaine's eyes were kind and searching, deep and needy.
"Kurt?" Blaine said, and Kurt continued to look down as tears dropped to the hardwood beneath them.
"Kurt, please look at me." Blaine said, placing his hand on Kurt's neck, guiding his head upwards in his direction.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
"Yeah." Kurt said, quickly lifting his hand to swat the tears that had freshly fallen.
"No you're not. Why are you crying?" Blaine asked.
"I'm sorry." Kurt apologized quickly.
"You have nothing to be sorry for." Blaine responded.
"Yes, I do." Kurt said.
"Oh yeah, what?"
"For letting that happen in there."
"What? The kiss?" Blaine asked.
"Yeah." Kurt replied.
"You're sorry about that?" Blaine asked, and Kurt nodded.
"Kurt, I don't normally do this, but I'm breaking the rules really quick, okay?" Blaine said slowly, and Kurt furrowed his eyebrow.
"Wha—" Kurt began, but he was interrupted by Blaine's lips on his.
Blaine's lips were warm and inviting, and sweet like honey. Blaine's grip on Kurt's neck moved to his hair as he continued kissing him. Kurt moved his hands to Blaine's upper back to steady himself because he was definitely going to float away.
Blaine pulled away too soon, too quickly, and Kurt found himself reaching out for more.
"Are you sorry about that?" Blaine asked, and Kurt shook his head as he grabbed Blaine by the hair and pulled him in for more.
Blaine obliged, smiling into the kiss, peppering Kurt's lips with small pecks. Kurt turned his head and deepened the kiss, licking across Blaine's bottom lip for permission.
Blaine opened eagerly, and their tongues fought for dominance as Blaine's hands moved to Kurt's waist. As things began getting hot and heavy, Kurt pulled away.
"I'm not sorry." Kurt said quickly.
"Then why'd you stop?" Blaine asked, and Kurt smiled.
"We need to stop. It's late." Kurt replied, and Blaine rolled his eyes.
"I'll see you tomorrow?" Blaine asked.
"You'll see me tomorrow." Kurt replied with a smile, granting Blaine one last chaste kiss.
"Okay." Blaine replied.
"Okay."
"One more?" Blaine asked, his bottom lip poking out.
"One more." Kurt laughed, and Blaine poked in to steal one more kiss.
"Get outta here." Kurt smacked Blaine playfully as he pushed him off.
"See you tomorrow, Kurt."
"See you tomorrow."
Blaine began walking away, and Kurt had one last thing to say.
"Hey, Blaine?" He called out.
"Yeah?" Blaine replied.
"I do think that you're cute, you know." Kurt said.
"I think you're cute, too, Kurt." Blaine smiled brightly.
"Goodnight, Blaine." Kurt said.
"Night, Kurt." Blaine's smile could've outshined the sun.
As Blaine walked away and exited the sports deck, the heat in Kurt's face was more prominent than it had ever been.