It was a normal Saturday, for me anyway; I was about to leave my New York apartment to head out to my night job at a restaurant down the street, but I ended up being late. Why was I late, you might ask? Just as I opened the door to step into the hallway, a boy, probably a high school or college student, just about ran into my door as he sped by. He had black curly hair with a large amount of product in it, and he was wearing a blue sweater with matching blue bow-tie Almost immediately, his demeanor struck me as unusual. He was obviously completely distraught over something, and was wringing his hands together in worry. I wanted to stop him and ask if I could do anything, but he was moving too fast, and I didn't get a chance.
However, he stopped at the door only a few feet from mine, down the hallway. Now, I can't say what I did next was completely honorable, but I was way too curious, so I stayed and watched with my door only partially open so he wouldn't see me. I thought he was going to go inside, but he didn't, and he didn't knock at first either. He seemed to be mentally reassuring himself, or trying to. I got the strangest feeling that I was about to witness either the breaking of terrible news, or a dramatic reunion and apology to a lover. It was the second one.
After way too much preparation—though it was only a few minutes, and only felt like longer since I should have been getting to work—the boy knocked. Only twice, but with the most effort I've ever seen anything done with. He took a step back, and waited. About thirty seconds later, the door opened, and closed again within seconds. Ouch. I knew the boy and girl who lived there; not well, but we had a conversation when they moved in and I've passed them in the hallway a few times. From my position in the room next door, I couldn't tell which one of them opened the door, but I didn't have to wait long to find out.
"Kurt.." The boy outside breathed, begging Kurt to open the door again, but he was denied. At this point I definitely considered going up to him, but that would involve me admitting I was creeping on them. And anyway, this is when it got good. Instead of walking away or knocking again, the boy stepped forward and rested his forehead against the door. He breathed in deeply, let it out, and then spoke. His voice was quiet, but loud enough that anyone standing just inside the door could hear, and so could I. "Kurt, I know you're probably standing right inside the door so you can hear me, and I know because I'd be doing the same thing… I know that everything I could say will just sound shallow and dumb, and I hate myself for even trying to say this, but I have to. I couldn't go another day without trying to fix things with you. Even if you can't forgive me, I needed to try. I love you, Kurt." Poor guy was almost crying. Actually, he was crying, but was doing a damn good job at getting words out. "And I can't imagine my life with anyone else."
So I figured he was being a little dramatic, but with his tone, I couldn't help but believe him. I was so sure Kurt would open the door, jump into the boy's arms, and make everything okay, but he didn't. The boy pressed his hand against the door, and clenched his jaw. It was weird; I could actually feel my heart breaking for him, and I had completely forgotten about getting to work at this point. The concern that he would turn to leave and see me passed my mind, so I closed my door even more, but it didn't matter. He didn't leave.
He started singing.
At first it was so quiet that I could barely make it out, but I knew that Kurt would be able to, especially if he was still standing next to the door.
And this—again, not one of my most admirable acts—was when I took out my phone and began recording. You never know when this kind of footage can come in handy, even if it is just to prove to my friends that I actually witnessed something like this.
Never knew, I could feel like this
Like I've never seen the sky before
I live in New York City, of course I recognized the song. Moulin Rouge. Though I do have to admit that I've never seen it used in a context like this. I stood there, shamelessly holding my camera phone and getting a bit misty eyed, watching this stranger poor his heart out while singing to a door. I was living in a musical, or at least witnessing one around me. 3D at it's prime.
Listen to my heart, can you hear it sings
Telling me to give you everything
Seasons may change winter to spring
But I love you until the end of time
Though I didn't remember all of the words, I knew that at some point in the song, the girl sang too. And in this case, that would be Kurt. So I was assuming that meant that he would either join in, or leave the boy in his silence, forced to walk away in shame and hurt, probably to find me recording his failure on my cell phone. Pretty much, I really, really wanted him to sing. And the boy did too. He moved backwards, leaving room for the door to open, but once again, it didn't.
I actually saw his face crumple, saw the hope leave his expression and tears roll down his face, and I don't know if it's an image I could ever remove from my memory. He turned, and I quickly jumped back inside my apartment and closed the door, fearing notice. I listened for his footsteps to pass, but after about 30 seconds with nothing, I dared looking out again. They boy was back against the door, and within a minute his face had changed from heartbroken to the happiest expression I've ever seen on a person. He looked, well… he looked like someone had just forgiven him for something horrible he'd done, and that the love of his life loved him back again.
And then I heard it.
Suddenly my life doesn't seem such a waste
It all revolves around you
Kurt joined in! It was probably unhealthy how happy that made me. Actually, it wasn't unhealthy, it was perfectly normal human empathy, but it did cause my triumphant "yes!" to he heard on the phone recording.
The door was still closed, but they were singing too each other, and it was probably one of the best things I've seen in my life.
And there's no mountain too high no river too wide
Sing out this song and I'll be there by your side
Storm clouds may gather and stars may collide
But I love you until the end of time
The boy had both of his hands pressed against the door now, and he was still crying, but the mood had completely changed. I now had no regrets filming this; in my head I was planning an extravagant plot to show up at their wedding, claiming that they had to watch this video. They would watch it, cry from the memory, and then laugh at how dramatic they had been. And then they would invite me to the reception for cake.
Come what may, come what may
I will love you until my dying day
Then—finally—before they could even finish holding out the last note, the door opened. The singing stopped, and they stared at each other for a while, or at least that's what it looked like from my angle. And then they both moved forward at the same time, grabbing each other—Kurt's arms around the boy's waist, and the latter's on Kurt's cheeks. They kissed, and it was something so passionate and meaningful that I have to admit to feeling a pang of jealousy, but it was mostly overrun by other emotions.
Kurt pulled back just enough to speak. "Blaine…" he began, but even I understood that he didn't need to say anything else. The song said it all. They kissed again, remaining in the doorway. I stopped recording in case things got a little embarrassing, but I kept watching. They broke apart again, grinning madly, and Kurt grabbed Blaine's hand in his own and led him inside, closing the door on the way. I then proceeded to close my own door, and lean against it, smiling. It might sound cheesy—actually it definitely will sound cheesy—but it's times like these that remind me that there is good in the world. And there's love.
And then I remembered I needed to get to work.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, the video did play at their wedding reception, though not exactly like I planned. About two days after I took the video, it began to weigh on me as an invasion of privacy, since they didn't even know it existed. So I transferred it to a disk and placed it in an envelope in Kurt's mailbox, without a note because for the life of me I couldn't figure out what to say.
Unsurprisingly, they figured out it was me, most likely since it was very obviously taken from my apartment doorway, and later that day both of them came and knocked on my door. Seeing Blaine still with Kurt made me happier than I'd like to admit. I invited them in for tea and possibly some explaining, but they didn't want any. Explaining, that is; they took the tea. And they told me they were surprised, but pleasantly so, that I took the video, and that they would make sure to credit me whenever they showed their friends. I figured that last part was in sarcastic reference to the fact that I totally creeped on them, but I was just happy they didn't call the cops. And I was happy they gave me cake at the wedding reception.
