"Please, Blaine? I don't want to come here all by myself…"
Trent pouted, and Blaine felt himself waver. It wasn't like he WANTED to go to a theatre camp organised by what seemed like the most pretentious git he'd ever met. He'd much rather perform at Six Flags again, at least then he'd be earning some money.
But Trent had been his rock and his shoulder to cry on so many times, and Blaine knew it was about time he helped out his friend for a change.
"It looks great, honey bee!" Pam beamed at Blaine, and Trent's mom nodded enthusiastically.
Of course they'd say that… Anything to get them out of the house for two weeks.
But Blaine resigned himself to his fate. "Okay."
"You'll come?" Trent asked, his voice high and jubilant.
"Yep."
"You're the best friend ever!" Trent squealed, hugging Blaine, and then whispering into his ear, "My mom said it was either this or football camp, so thank you for saving me from that!"
K&B
A week later, Trent and Blaine arrived at the OSU campus with their luggage and were shown to their dorm room. They'd be sharing it with two other boys, one of which had already arrived. His name was Chandler, and neither he nor his mom seemed to have an OFF switch, both of them jabbering non-stop.
Blaine felt a headache coming on, and escaped the room for a minute to go check out the shower facilities and the kitchen.
Turning the corner, he bumped into a new arrival, a ridiculously tall guy carrying two large suitcases.
"Sorry!" they said in unison, and then they laughed.
"Hey, where's room 206?" asked Tall Guy. "That's where my brother will be sleeping."
He pointed behind him, and Blaine's mouth went dry when he saw the absolute vision now gracing his view. The guy was a super model, he was pretty sure.
"I'm in 206 too," said Blaine. "My name's Blaine. Come with me, I'll show you the way."
"I'm Finn," Tall Guy volunteered, "and that's Kurt."
Kurt didn't acknowledge Blaine. He just followed Finn and Blaine to room 206, his eyes firmly on the ground and his mouth a thin line.
Another guy who really doesn't want to be here?
When they came into the room, Blaine announced, "Guys, this is our fourth roommate, Kurt. Kurt, this is Chandler and this is Trent."
Blaine saw Kurt's eyes skitter over the people in the room for a fraction of a second. Then he looked down again without saying anything.
"So which bed is Kurt's?" Finn asked.
Chandler bounded up to Finn and Kurt, and with a bright smile, he announced, "He'll be bunking with me. I chose the top bunk, I hope that's okay? If it's not, I can switch, it's no big deal."
Kurt had taken two steps backwards and hidden behind Finn when Chandler came towards him. Was he scared? It seemed kind of silly to be scared of Chandler, of all people. But Blaine, remembering his freshman year in a public high school, recognised the signs. He, too, had once been bullied to the point where even the sweet cashier in the supermarket made him jump in fright when she spoke to him or made a sudden movement.
Blaine's heart went out to Kurt, and he wanted to take his hand and assure him that everyone here in this room was safe to be around. He didn't really know Chandler yet, but he was pretty sure the boy was harmless.
But it seemed like Blaine's explanation would have to wait. Chandler had clearly spooked Kurt to the point that he needed to leave the room. He was now tugging Finn after him and mentioning something about visiting a girl called Rachel in her dorm room.
Blaine resolved to talk to Kurt when he came back. Only, Kurt didn't return until everyone was in bed, and Chandler and Trent were already fast asleep.
Kurt came into the room silent like a ghost, took his sleep things and his sponge-bag and headed to the showers. When he came back, his eyes scanned the room, relief on his face when he found Chandler sleeping.
He's going to scream in fright when he sees I'm awake, isn't he? I had better talk to him tomorrow. In broad daylight. That's less scary.
So Blaine closed his eyes and pretended to sleep, and within a minute he'd fallen asleep for real.
When he woke up the next day, Kurt had already left the room, though it was only eight o'clock. Blaine took a quick shower, threw on a tank top and shorts, and went to the cafeteria for breakfast. He internally fist-pumped when he saw Kurt sitting there alone, reading and picking at a half-eaten muffin. Blaine ordered a medium drip and a chocolate croissant and headed in Kurt's direction. Just before he reached the right table, though, a girl plunked down on the chair opposite Kurt and started chattering at a volume and speed that made Blaine wince.
Okay, some other time, then…
The auditions for the play were that day, and Blaine sang "Something's Coming", giving the performance his all.
He saw the director nod, scribbling something on his clipboard. "You'll do. Best I've seen so far. Next?"
The next person proved to be Kurt, and Blaine hung back so that he could hear him sing. He wasn't disappointed. From the very first note, Kurt had him entranced, and he stood there gaping in awe listening to the crystal clear voice reaching notes so high that it seemed impossible, and weaving a spell over him that made him want to be close to this angel always.
The director, though, did not seem moved. With a curt "Next", he waved Kurt off the stage, and when he pinned the cast list onto the cork board the next day, Kurt wasn't even on it.
Blaine, whose heart had leapt with joy when he saw he'd be playing the male lead, went through the list twice more to check. How was it possible that Kurt hadn't gotten a part when he was so talented?
"I can't believe it!"
Blaine looked up, ready to agree to the sentiment, but the sight of a furious Kurt left him speechless. Kurt chewed Jesse out for his arbitrary casting, accusing him of choosing actors that didn't have half of Kurt's talent. Jesse didn't give in, though, merely handing him over to the main stage hand to learn all about the backstage work.
Kurt took one look at the handsome blond and shut up straightaway.
Blaine wanted to scream, "He's straight! I saw him kissing his girlfriend this morning! Don't crush on him, pick me!"
But then he remembered that he'd gotten the lead role, and that Kurt must surely resent him for it, so he swallowed the words and went to find and meet the Rachel Berry that would star opposite him.
The next week and a half, he tried everything he could to catch Kurt's eye, but he might as well have been invisible.
He got up early in the hopes of having breakfast with Kurt, but Rachel always beat him to it, and he didn't dare get up before Kurt had left the room in the morning, wary of scaring him.
Blaine tried bringing Kurt coffee during his breaks, only to have the director swoop in and take the mocha with a "Oh, I needed that", and gulping it down without so much as a thank you.
He helped out with the painting of the backdrops after the day's rehearsals were over, but Kurt was concentrating so hard on his work that he didn't even hear Blaine's timid tries to start a conversation.
When Lisa, who played Rachel's mother, had no other option than to bring her daughter with her to rehearsals one day, Kurt entertained the little girl by telling her stories and drawing pictures for her to colour in, and then singing to her when she became whiny because she was tired. Blaine went to his dorm room for his guitar and provided the instrumentals and harmonies, but he didn't think Kurt even noticed, focused as he was on the girl.
Blaine dressed in his tightest pants and T-shirts, and made sure to smile at Kurt with all the Anderson charm as often as he could, but Kurt never had eyes for anyone but Stagehand Sam, who was tall and blond and ripped.
Even Blaine wiggling his tush at Kurt on purpose during his costume fitting, wearing his skimpiest briefs, had no effect. Kurt's face remained impassive. It didn't stop Blaine from smiling at him sunnily before leaving, but his mind was whirring with plans to make his interest in Kurt clearer.
He'd try joining his crush for breakfast once more, and if that didn't work, he'd have to step it up. With a serenade, maybe. Or flowers?
The next morning, more determined than ever before, Blaine used the time Kurt spent in the shower to get dressed, and then jumped back into bed when he heard him come back into the room. His eyes widened when he saw that Kurt was wearing nothing but a tiny towel around his waist, which barely covered his ass, and he couldn't keep a groan from escaping when Kurt bent over and his ass cheeks were clearly visible.
The noise he made startled Kurt, who looked around him in a panic. Blaine shut his eyes and did not move until Kurt had left the room. Then he quickly went to the campus café, catching his crush just as he paid for his purchases.
Perfect!
Blaine asked if he could join Kurt for breakfast, but he was turned down flat, and Kurt was gone in a second. That was… disappointing, to say the least.
Okay. I need to step it up. Flowers it is.
Blaine went to the nearest florist and looked at their offerings, finally buying a bouquet of red and yellow roses. Those colours would certainly pop, and maybe that would get Blaine Kurt's attention?
Blaine planned on giving the roses to Kurt after the dress rehearsal, and then, hopefully, they could have a coffee date before opening night.
What he hadn't counted on, though, was the rehearsal going wrong. Badly wrong. Chandler stumbled into the tower, and the last thing Blaine remembered was running towards Rachel when the tower came down with her in it, holding out his arms to catch her. She fell on him and then everything went black.
When he came to, Kurt wordlessly handed him an ice pack and then went into problem-solving mode to get the tower back up and Rachel in the tower though her ankle was sprained.
Blaine got out of the way, but froze when he saw the bouquet for Kurt, which he'd been hiding behind one of the bigger props. It had been hit by the debris of the tower, and most of the stems and flower heads were crushed.
Blaine took the broken flowers and went backstage, mourning another ruined plan, until he noticed one flower had survived. It wasn't the biggest, and it wasn't in full bloom yet, but it would have to do. He laid it where only Kurt would look: right next to the sewing machine.
As disastrous as the dress rehearsal had been, so smoothly flowed the real performance, and the audience was really into it, giving them a standing ovation and clapping for ages.
Blaine beamed as he slipped backstage to change out of his costume. Then, he went to check if Kurt had found the flower yet. And yes, he was at the sewing machine, and holding the flower. He seemed convinced it belonged to Rachel, though.
Time to come clean…
So Blaine stepped closer and told Kurt the flower was for him.
Kurt's first reaction was fear again, and then astonishment, even when Blaine bared his heart to him. He did accept the rose, though, when Blaine offered it to him again, and the blush and smile that stole over his face were beautiful.
So Blaine worked up the courage to ask him out, only for Kurt to tell him he didn't even know Blaine's name.
Ouch.
Before Blaine had recovered from that blow, Kurt had linked arms with him and was tugging him out of the auditorium, talking about a diner he wanted to go to, if that was okay.
As soon as Blaine caught up with the programme, he agreed to whatever Kurt wanted to do, and before he knew it, they were sitting in a diner booth, sharing a milkshake and fries and talking and laughing. And it was… everything.
Blaine had to pinch himself to check if he wasn't dreaming, and more than once, he zoned out just looking at Kurt, who was at his most beautiful when talking freely about his family and his interests.
"Hey! Are you even listening to me? Are you falling asleep?"
Blaine shook his head. "You're… distracting. You're so gorgeous I can't help staring."
Kurt covered his mouth with his hand, but there was no hiding his wide smile and reddening cheeks.
"We should probably head back to our room, though," Blaine sighed. "It's getting late, and we have another performance tomorrow."
"Our room?"
Blaine rolled his eyes. "Yes, rub it in that you never noticed me before, why don't you?"
Kurt giggled, and Blaine wanted to bottle that sound and label it as pure happiness.
"I'm one of your roommates," Blaine explained. "The others are Trent and Chandler. They're nice guys, I promise."
Kurt bit his lip and nodded.
Blaine paid the diner bill, and they walked back to campus, Kurt winding his arm through Blaine's again.
When they arrived at their dorm room, Kurt stopped Blaine from going in with a hand on his arm.
"This was really nice," said Kurt. "Thank you."
"Anytime," Blaine beamed.
"I'm sorry I didn't notice you before," said Kurt, looking down.
Blaine lifted Kurt's chin until he could look into those gorgeous eyes again and smiled softly. "You have now."
Kurt's eyes flitted down to Blaine's lips, and Blaine's heart rate accelerated.
"Can I…?" Kurt asked.
Nodding, Blaine puckered his lips and met Kurt halfway.
Kurt's lips were soft, and so was his hand when he cupped Blaine's face with it halfway through the kiss. Blaine closed his eyes and savoured the moment.
Far too soon, the kiss ended, and they stood there grinning inanely.
"Was that… okay?" Kurt asked. "I've never really… I mean, there was this girl in my sophomore year…"
"That was more than okay," Blaine assured him. "I want to do that again and again and again, and then some more."
Kurt's grin grew wider still, and then he pecked Blaine on the lips again, grabbed his hand and led him into the room. "Tomorrow then. Now it's time to sleep. But tomorrow. Definitely."
Blaine resisted the urge to fist-pump. "Breakfast tomorrow?"
Kurt smiled at him. "It's a date."
