It was one of those cold raw New York winter nights that chills you to the bone. The beer was flowing freely at the frat party at NYU. Adam had just sat down on the couch next to his friends Jonathan and Megan. Jon was Adam's roommate at NYADA, and Meg was Jon's girlfriend. She was an NYU student and she lived in the fraternity.
Adam had seen those American movies about fraternities, but he hadn't realized that sometimes they were coed. But this damp, smelly basement full of loud, drunk college students seemed to otherwise fit the stereotype.
Then he saw him.
Kurt Hummel.
The gorgeous freshman who Adam had just recently started dating. Sort of. Maybe.
Adam felt the familiar clench in his heart that always happened when he saw Kurt. He took a deep breath and sipped from the bottle of Guinness Meg had slipped him from her private stash in her room.
Ah, the good stuff. Better than whatever swill everyone else was guzzling from those red plastic cups.
Jack White was singing from the sound system.
A storm rocks a ship on a sea
The wind shakes the leaves on a tree
And I'm a nervous wreck and I'm all shook up
And that's what you're doing to me right now
And I'm jumping
That's right, you got me shaking
Kurt was laughing and whispering in the ear of a big, burly guy and Adam's heart ached at the sight. He knew this wasn't the ex-boyfriend Kurt had talked about. (He'd seen all the pictures on Facebook of Kurt snuggled up with a short raven-haired boy named Blaine with a strange penchant for bow ties.)
Suddenly Adam felt very possessive.
Woah there Crawford, he thought to himself.
Watch yourself. Kurt Hummel belongs to no one. Kurt Hummel is strong and independent and passionate and belongs only to himself. You better check yourself or you're going to get hurt again.
"ADAM!" yelled Kurt.
He had been spotted.
Suddenly his lap was full of boy. Legs-for-days, hair-up-to-the sky, eyes-like-galaxies, perfect-milky-skinned, fantastic boy.
Kurt was wasted.
"What are you doing here?" Kurt screamed in his ear. Adam flinched.
"My roommates's girlfriend goes to NYU and she invited us," said Adam., circling an arm around Kurt's tiny waist.
"That is so cool! My friend Dave goes here too. We went to high school together.
He used to shove me into lockers," Kurt whispered a little too loudly.
"I still have scars from it. Wanna see?" Kurt started to lift the back of his sweater to show Adam.
"No, Kurt, stop. Don't do that," said a horrified Adam, as he pulled Kurt's sweater back down to cover his back again. His beautiful back. His pale, slim, beautifully muscled….
"It's okay though. He's nice now," said Kurt, interrupting Adam's reverie.
"He apologized and everything. He plays hockey. Hockey, Adam. Did you see his arms?"
"DAVE!" yelled Kurt. "Get over here and SHOW ADAM YOUR ARMS!"
The big guy walked over.
This was awkward.
"Nice to meet you," Dave said as he politely shook Adam's hand.
"This is Dave Karosofsky. Karafossy. Karo.. Karo…Coffee."
Kurt gave up.
"Karofsky," said David, shaking his head and smiling.
"And this is my boyfriend, Michael," said Dave, turning to introduce the tall handsome guy walking up behind him. Michael was African American, with dark brown eyes and skin and a killer smile.
"Nice to meet you both," said Adam. "Adam Crawford."
"This is Adam!" said Kurt. "AdamAdamAdamAdam. He sang me a song about BUTTS. So I had to ask him out. Because of the BUTTS."
Kurt laughed as if it was the funniest thing he had ever heard in his life.
Adam tried not to react to Kurt bouncing in his lap as he laughed. Adam was fine. Really. Perfectly fine.
Kurt stilled and leaned his cheek against Adam's. He caressed Adam's other cheek with his long graceful fingers. "I am so glad to see you," Kurt cooed in the same tone he might use if Adam were a tiny kitten. And then he giggled.
Adam melted. My God he's adorable.
"Good to see you too, Kurt. Your hands are freezing!" Adam said, lifting Kurt's slim hand off his face. Adam took both of Kurt's hands and held them between his larger hands to warm them up.
Kurt beamed at him.
"I need another drink!" said Kurt. He pulled away from Adam and stood up, and promptly fell on the floor next to the couch.
"I don't think that's such a good idea, Fancy," said Dave.
"Do. Not. Call. Me. Fancy," said Kurt sharply as Adam helped him back up onto the couch next to him.
"I think Dave is right, Kurt." said Adam.
Kurt let out a sigh.
"I know," sighed Kurt sadly. "I was just trying to forget. I…."
Kurt was crying now.
"It's okay Kurt," said Dave, sitting on Kurt's other side and running a soothing hand up and down his back.
That's strange, thought Adam. This bloke was obviously protective of Kurt. But Kurt said he had once bullied him. Hmm.
"What do you want to do, Kurt?" asked Dave. "Do you want to crash here with me and Michael? Or do you need to go home?"
"I want to go home," Kurt sobbed.
"Shh. It's okay. Come on, let's go."
Dave turned to his boyfriend. "Michael, I'm really sorry but I'm gonna go and make sure Kurt gets back home safely. How about brunch tomorrow?"
Michael's face fell for a microsecond, but then he nodded knowingly. "You got it," he said, giving Dave a quick goodbye kiss. "See you tomorrow."
Dave looked curiously at Adam. "Do you want to come too, and help me make sure Kurt gets home okay?"
"Sure. Yeah. Of course," said Adam. He sent a text to his roommate, who had already quietly slipped away to his girlfriend's room. Adam knew Jon and Meg would be perfectly happy to lose the third wheel.
"Let me go get your coat," said Dave to Kurt.
As Dave and Adam put on their own jackets and then helped Kurt into his long wool coat, Kurt sniffled a little.
"I try to forget him but he's always there, you know?"
"Who is, sweetheart?" said Adam..
"Blaine. Fucking Blaine."
Karofsky's jaw tightened.
"He cheated on me. The bastard couldn't wait two fucking weeks. And then he said it was my fault because I wouldn't take his calls at work. Can you believe that?"
"He's a dick," said Dave.
"You would never do that to me, would you Adam?" asked Kurt.
"Never."
"See Dave? There are good guys out there."
"There sure are," said Dave, with an adoring gaze at Kurt that had Adam feeling possessive again.
Adam and Dave shared a look.
"Alright Kurt, here we go," said Adam.
Adam took one side and Dave took the other, and they headed out into the cold night, holding their friend up between them.
Kurt tossed an arm around each of them, and giggled.. "Blaine is like the sun."
"Hey Adam."
"Yes?"
"Adam! Do you know why Blaine is like the sun, and I'm like the earth?"
"Why, Kurt?" asked Adam patiently, his heart sinking.
"Because I need him to stay 93 billion miles away from me!"
"Good one," snorted Dave.
Adam chuckled.
"So, Dave," said Kurt as they continued to walk down the sidewalk together. "Tell us about your Michael. 'Cause he is hot."
"You think so?" Dave smirked.
"Oh my God Dave."
"I met him in my physics class. He's Pre-Med. He got a perfect score on the math portion of his SAT's. Good looking and smart too," said Dave with a grin.
"He's smart too," echoed Kurt with a happy sigh. "Good for you, David."
"Thanks, buddy."
Kurt continued to chatter all the way to the subway station as Dave and Adam held him up.
"Hey Dave! Are you drunk? Cause I'm reeeeally reeeeally drunk.""
"Yeah, I am Kurt. A little. But not as drunk as you."
"How about you Adam?" asked Kurt.
"I have a nice little buzz," said Adam. "But I'm not quite drunk."
"Oh my God!" Kurt suddenly gasped. "We're like that SONG! You're CARRYING ME HOME TONIGHT!"
Kurt started to sing the Fun song, loudly, with surprising skill for a drunk man.
"You're such an awesome singer," said Dave.
"Thanks Dave! I loooove to sing!"
"Well you're very good at it."
"Did I ever tell you that Adam sang me a song about BUTTS?!"
"Yeah, you did." Dave laughed.
Kurt was leaning heavily on his friends and the weight was starting to get to Dave.
"Jesus Hummel, are you still growing? You're a lot bigger than you were last year."
"I'm a big boy, Dave," Kurt said in a flirty tone.
Dave laughed again.
"You have a dirty mind." said Kurt.
"Adam is big too. He has really big…"
"KURT!" Adam interrupted.
"Hands! Adam has really big hands!" Kurt declared.
Kurt's expression turned thoughtful.
"I feel so safe when Adam holds my hand," Kurt said. "Like…." He paused to gather his thoughts. "Like no one is ever going to hurt me again."
"Not if I can help it," murmured Adam, dropping a kiss to Kurt's temple.
"God damn it Hummel, now you're going to make me cry," said Dave, wiping away a tear with his free hand.
"You and Adam both have really nice arms," said Kurt, smiling adoringly at Dave.
Dave rolled his eyes.
"Okay, Kurt, here's the subway station. We need to go down these stairs," Dave told him.
Together Dave and Adam helped Kurt navigate the stairs. Adam paid for their tickets, and then they helped Kurt through the turnstyle.
"We have to be quiet on the train," Dave whispered as they eased Kurt through the automatic sliding doors.
"Psssh. I can be quiet," Kurt scoffed.
Finally they were sitting on the train to Bushwick. By some miracle the only other passengers were a pair of elderly couples coming home from some fancy event, dressed to the nines and talking animatedly to each other. They were at the far end of the subway car and completely ignored the boys.
Kurt snuggled his head into Adam's chest and Adam put his arms around him.
Dave sat in front of them, sideways, so he could keep talking to them.
"Dave?"
"Yes Kurt?"
"Will you sing to me?"
"Sure buddy. Just give me your phone first so I can text Berry. I want to get directions, and I don't want her to have a heart attack when she sees me walking in."
"She never did appreciate you," Kurt cooed, smiling at Dave from his spot on Adam's chest.
Adam didn't know yet that over the past year or so, Kurt and Dave had often called each other to sing each other to sleep. Many times last year, it was Dave who wanted the comfort of a song after he got home from the hospital.
But during the recent fall and winter, after his breakup with Blaine, it had been Kurt who often needed a song to help him sleep. Kurt was so grateful that Dave never made him feel like his heartache was any less painful than Dave's had been.
"What do you want me to sing?" asked Dave.
"Where or When."
"Ooh, I like that one," said Dave.
He cleared his throat and began to sing.
It seems we've stood and talked like this before
We looked at each other in the same way then
But I can't remember where or when…
"You have a beautiful voice, Dave!" said Adam when Dave was done with the song.
"Thanks." Dave smiled.
"You're a real old-fashioned crooner," said Adam.
"They don't write 'em like that anymore," said Dave.
Just then, the four elderly people from the back of the car came down the aisle to get off the train.
The last of the four, one of the women, paused at Dave's seat.
"That was lovely, young man," she told him. She had snowy white hair, deep lines in her pale weathered face, and sparkling blue eyes.
"Thank you very much, Ma'am," Dave said with a shy smile.
"My mother took me to see Babes in Arms on Broadway when I was just a tiny little thing. I'll never forget that song. Thank you for the memory."
The woman glanced at Kurt, red cheeked, fast asleep in Adam's arms with his mouth open. She looked at Adam and smiled. And then she winked. "I hope he feels better soon," she said.
Turning to follow her companions, she was humming Where or When when she left.
And then a text came in from Rachel.
Karofsky swore as he read it.
"We have to get him up four flights of stairs."
When Kurt woke up the next morning, his stomach was churning. His head was pounding. His mouth tasted like something had died in it.
He heard laughter as he stumbled out of his curtained-off bedroom.
Male laughter.
When he walked out into the living room, Kurt was shocked to see Adam and Dave sitting on his couch, talking like old friends.
Rachel and Kurt's spare blankets were folded in a pile nearby.
"Sleep well?" Dave asked with grin.
"I'm in hell," groaned Kurt. "Just kill me now. Please."
"Never," said Adam with a smile.
"Hey guys," said Kurt. "Um. Last night is a little blurry. All I remember is that I was talking a lot. I really hope I didn't say anything too embarrassing."
"No, of course not," said Dave.
"Absolutely not," agreed Adam.
Kurt staggered into the kitchen to find that the boys in the living room had already made coffee and breakfast.
"Kurt! What HAPPENED to you last night!?" Rachel shrieked.
It was going to be a long day.
Songs:
I'm Shakin' by Jack White
Tonight We Are Young by Fun
Where or When by Lorenz Hart and Richard Rodgers (from the 1930's Broadway musical Babes in Arms)