Title: Catfish (01/?)
Pairing: Kurtbastian; Mike/Quinn; Tina/OC; Rachel/Finn (past Klaine; Kadam)
Rating: By chapter (so-far PG)
Summary: Catfish AU. At the age of 25, Kurt Hummel finds himself living in Boston, working in a job he's not sure of, and living the life he'd never imagine himself to be in. The only solace he takes comfort in is his mysterious chat mate, whom he'd met at a Group Chatroom, and now has been his best friend and confidante for almost 3 years. No Facebook profile. No photos. No webcam.
And now Kurt wants to meet him.
A/N: Idek man.
Kurt scraped the scraps of food off each plate to his own used plate and placed the other plates on top of each other. He proceeded to transfer the dinner leftovers into tupperwares and microwaveable containers to be heated for tomorrow night's meal. After a painful moment of restraining, his head reflexively jerked to the direction of the wall clock but his eyes refused to glance at the clock itself. He averted it instead to the piece of peeled paint next to it.
'Damn it', he thought. 'I have better self control than this.'
"Kurt", a feeling of being stared at pierced through him, "are you okay man?"
The guy in question finally turned to look at his caller. Taking in his furrowed brows, and his slightly quizzical expression, Kurt sighed and continued clearing the table.
"I'm fine, Mike. Just a bit...impatient, I guess."
"Ah", Mike nodded in understanding. "We've all been there."
Tensing at the heavily implied statement, Kurt glanced back at him curiously. What did he mean by that? Did Mike know how he was feeling right now? Has he ever felt the slowly itching sensation that would creep under his skin as he watched time pass by? Has he secretly hoped that he could fast forward to the end of the day, the time his hands would grow sweaty in anticipation of what would happen?
Mike shrugged. Even in shrugging, he managed to do it gracefully. Kurt was slightly annoyed by this fact. How did he do that? Did all dance instructors possess that graceful gene that would make their actions seem so fluid and natural?
"You've been impatient all throughout dinner, kept glancing over the clock, drumming your fingers on the table, dazing off into space. I'm surprised you didn't burn the food while cooking it", Mike listed his observations. "Don't think I haven't heard your giggling and squealing each night."
Heat crept into his cheeks. Kurt had no idea how thin the walls were.
Mike raised his hands in surrender. "Wait, wait. No dude, it's totally fine with me okay? I'm just saying I've been there. When Tina and I used to date, I was a mess waiting for our nightly phone calls. I mean, you've been there too right? With Blaine." He grabbed the neatly stacked plates and loaded them unto the sink.
"It's my turn to do the dishes right?" Grabbing the yellow latex gloves, he turned the faucet on. "I'll also throw the garbage out tonight—"
"No, no. It's okay. I'll do it", Kurt amended. Mike was right. He had been watching the clock all the time that he had forgotten to do his half of the workload. "I need a breather anyway."
"Sure you won't be missing your mysterious night visitor?"
"Not until 09 anyway."
"Ooh lala", Mike teased. "It's totally like the adult slot in night time shows." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Are you sure you don't want me to leave-"
"Oh my god Mike! Stop it!" Kurt hit him on the shoulder. "We're not doing anything okay! We just...talk."
"On the phone?"
"Skype."
"How modern of you", Mike snorted. "Webcam?"
"Not that stage yet", Kurt admitted shyly. Tightly securing the garbage bag, he internally convinced himself to take the garbage out, and then he could finally check the time. "Taking the garbage out now."
Mike was already rinsing the plates. "Bring your key with you or you gonna buzz in?"
"Depends. You gonna sleep in early?"
"No. Catching up with an episode of Catfish tonight with the guys." Mike sounded amused. "Apparently, Sam wanted to watch the whole series again because he had an online love interest."
Kurt shrugged into his jacket as he chuckled. "What about his girlfriend...uuh—"
"Ramona—"
"Yeah, Ramona? I thought they were..." Kurt was at a loss with words. Really, what was wrong with him? "...something. Or at least, according to him, a potential for something."
"Recently broke up because she got mad jealous of said online love interest", Mike answered, earning a pitying sound from Kurt. "It kind of seems to be a trend nowadays. This whole meeting people online business thing."
Kurt snorted. "It's 2019, Mike Chang. We could already go on virtual dates. It's just making a comeback. Soon you'll have people sporting the John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John look again." Finally tying the laces of his boots, he grabbed the garbage bag and headed out.
"Buzzing in, okay."
"No earphones. Got it."
Out of all the places in the world, Kurt Hummel never thought he would find himself living in Boston.
After all, Kurt thought he would live and die in New York as a true blooded New Yorker he thought himself to be.
Which in reality, it would be one of the biggest incorrect assumptions about himself.
During his second year in NYADA, he found himself stuck in a plateau. He suddenly found himself not appreciating learning about the different angles of expressive emotion of Theater Acting, or how to easily shift from C scale to G scale without missing a beat, or even how to twirl a perfect pirouette and land in a split perfectly.
In short, he found himself stuck in a routine.
It was a routine that bore him, surprisingly.
This epiphany, after years of self-belief that New York was what he called as 'home', greatly depressed him. He refused to sing, to go out, or even to dress up other than his lounge clothes and his sweatpants, and constantly ate cheesecake and watched When Harry Met Sally repeatedly.
The last strike was when Kurt found himself ending a perfect and healthy relationship with Adam Crawford who had been nothing but nice and genial to him on his first day in NYADA.
Kurt ended up even more depressed. And after talking it all out with his dad, homesickness started seeping in.
Apparently, Santana was the first one to snap when she found Kurt curled up on the sofa, crying to John Mellencamp.
"Oh my god Hummel", she lashed out irritably. "Get the hell out of New York then. Drop out of NYADA. Move to another place. Visit Burt back in Lima or something. Just get the hell up and stop moping okay. Your tears aren't gonna get you anywhere. In fact, it'll just produce more wrinkles and you'll end up wasting a truckload worth of beauty products in that gay face of yours."
Rachel gladly intervened that it wasn't wise of Kurt to suddenly move out since he wasn't in a good condition to do so. But she gladly supported him of changing career paths, and considered it wise to find something you truly want to do before resigning yourself to a passionless life.
A week later, Kurt found himself enrolled in New York University in a Social Science course. To be more specific, he chose Behavioral Science. After completing his undergraduate studies, he continued to graduate school and took a Master's Degree in Industrial-Organization Psychology and a side job at where Isabelle gladly welcomed him with open arms.
A total of five years and three months later, he found himself on a trip to Boston, carrying nothing but his luggage and his aspiration to find himself before he ends up wasting his life. He didn't know why he chose Boston though. It could have been San Francisco, or Seattle, or Philadelphia, or even Denver, but there was something about Boston, both big and little at once, that attracted him.
He got in contact with Blaine, during one of their late night conversations which led him telling about everything in the first place, that Mike was also in Boston who was also looking for a good apartment in a decent neighborhood with a roommate, preferably, one that he knew.
Kurt swallowed his fears and stubbornly ignored the anxiousness in his stomach. He bravely met up with Mike, who aside from sporting a handsome haircut, hadn't changed at all. The pair agreed that the neighborhoods to check out were only limited between Brighton and Jamaica Plains.
Even though they were already in Boston, momentarily staying at Mike's friend's place, Kurt Hummel still wasn't sure why he chose Boston, of all places.
Not to mention, why was it that they chose one of the hipster types of neighborhoods? Quite diverse with its Latin, African, and Asian community (hence the reason why Mike instantly chose it), LGBT friendly, lots of hole in the walls shops and cafes, and the tasteful graffiti, and scattered pieces of street art found on the streets were the highlights of the cozy yet affordable Jamaican Plains neighborhood. There were a lot of bus terminals and trains easily routing to downtown which made it accessible to work and of course, shopping centers.
They didn't need to check out Brighton anymore.
Because finding a decent 2-bedroom apartment in a cozy neighborhood, and starting an unsure but exciting new life here in Boston with an old friend sounds a perfect beginning to a new chapter to him.
Well, Kurt Hummel had a feeling why he chose Boston.
It was a place where he would find himself.
Kurt mentally sighed as he properly threw the garbage down the chute. Honestly, it didn't take five seconds in doing the actual deed. The walking down the flight of stairs from the third floor was the one that took up the time. Instinctively, his hand dug into his pocket for his phone.
"What—where's my...?" After a moment of double checking in all his clothes pockets (there were a lot), Kurt remembered that he had placed it inside the computer desk drawer in the foyer to prevent himself from glancing at the time too much. "Oh my god you are a dork Kurt Hummel. Get your act together", he sighed exasperatedly as he buried his face in his hands.
The man was head over heels in love.
Shaking his head, Kurt patted his cheeks to will the blush away. He didn't want his roommate enough ammunition to prove that he was doing unspeakable things on his computer with another person each night.
Pressing the button shortly, he waited for a few seconds before hearing a loud footsteps rush towards the door.
"What? What? How—wait wait wait, dude I can't understand you", Mike shouted into his phone as he threw the door open. Without turning back, he rushed back to the living room.
Kurt shrugged off his coat and carefully laid it unto the armrest. "What's going on?" He asked as his eyes scanned the room, taking note of the laid out laptop running one of the Catfish episodes. He sat down at the edge of the sofa and began to unlace his boots.
"Major update with Ramona: Sam thinks she personally discovered his mysterious online love mate!" Mike grinned excitedly, chinky eyes sparkling with mirth. "Oh man, this is like a Catfish episode itself!"
'Not cool man!' Sam's booming voice filled the background.
'Totally with Sam on this one, Mike you're not cool', a familiar voice chimed in the conversation.
"Blaine?" Kurt mouthed at Mike. The other nodded absentmindedly before focusing his attention back to the series. He placed his phone down by the coffee table.
"You're on loudspeak dudes. Also, Kurt's here."
"Hi guys!" Kurt waved towards the direction of the phone before remembering that there was no way they could see him. It was a good thing Mike's attention was completely absorbed that he missed the slip up.
'Hey Kurt!' Kurt could hear the grin in Sam's voice.
'Kurt! Hey! I thought you were working late tonight?' Blaine's voice still filled him with warmth, despite the fact that their relationship ended four years ago.
"Oh um, they let me take home the files instead", Kurt gestured towards the stack of folders piled up on his desk in the foyer. "I'll start working on them tonight."
Mike snorted. "More like because Kurt wouldn't want to miss his internet date."
A pause. And then—
'Wait what? What internet date?' Blaine's high-pitched voice shouted. 'Why aren't you telling me anything? I thought I was your number one go-to with the guys!'
'You never tell me anything Kurt—wait Blaine's number one? What about me? What about those times we shared together when we used to live in the same roof? Kurt, didn't any of those mean anything to you? Kurt dammit answer me!'
Ignoring the scandalous yet loud voices coming from the phone, Kurt sent Mike a warning look which had him raising his hands in defense and bowing his head in apology.
"Okay guys-guys, shut up. Kurt's going to kill me. Are we watching or are we watching? Wait. Nope. Stop. Thought so. Okay, what episode are we watching tonight?"
'The one with the model.'
'Can we watch American Horror Story: Asylum after?'
And with that, Kurt picked up his coat and his boots and proceeded to his room.
Originally, the 2-bedroom apartment might be decent in size, with a plus of a foyer which had been converted to Kurt's office. But the sizes of the bedrooms were not proportionally distributed. The main bedroom had a small walk-in closet, which was larger in size. And the second bedroom, or the guest bedroom, was smaller in comparison since it was originally the extension of the main bedroom but was altered at the last minute due to some design changes. Mike, ever the gentleman, knew how important the concept of space (not to mention the walk-in closet) was to Kurt. So instead, he got the smaller room.
And now three years later, Kurt was proud of the original color palette theme he chose for his room. Every small knick knack and eclectic furniture was patiently and painstakingly acquired in flea markets and end-of-the-year sales.
Neatly, he hung up his coat and put away his boots. Slightly massaging the stiffness of his neck, he considered on his next action. Should he start on the files right away? There were a lot of applications that were to be reviewed in this year's batch than the previous ones. Or instead of delving into the world of stress and paperwork, should he take a long relaxing bath, change into his lounge clothes, and start on his skin regime early?
Kurt sighed.
The paper works were far more too important. But so was his health.
So, compromise.
He decided to scan through as much paperwork as possible. And then, after an hour or two, he'd take his full on-break pampering himself and just unwinding from this day's stress.
Happy with his decisions, he changed into something more comfortable before heading out.
"I'll be making tea. Want anything?" Kurt peered through the corner of the living room.
His roommate was seriously focused on the show, jotting down notes and then comparing it with the other two.
'I'll have a PB & J sandwich. I miss your PB&J sandwich', Sam sadly commented.
'I have popcorn already, thanks though', Blaine responded.
Kurt rolled his eyes.
"Popcorn?" Mike said hopefully.
Pouting, Kurt shook his head. "We're on our last stash."
Letting out an agonized sound of defeat, Mike childishly planked down the floor. "Kuuuuurt", he called out, but it was muffled by the orange carpet that it came out as 'Muuuuuuurt' instead.
"Fine, I'll just stop by the grocery tomorrow after work or something", Kurt sighed as he walked towards the kitchen, which was across their main door in the apartment.
"Yay! Kurt you're the best! Don't worry, I won't team with the guys to ask Artie to find out who's this dude you're chatting with", Mike promised as he turned his attention back to the series, which was now Doctor Who, apparently.
After serving Mike his freshly microwaved cheese flavored popcorn, Kurt cradled his warm cup against his chest as he walked across the room and into the foyer.
"Mike, kindly lower the volume please?"
"Oh sure, dude."
He placed the mug down his desk carefully, making sure that the folders were on the other side of the desk. Opening the first drawer, he got out his glasses and perched them on his nose. He heard his phone chime and he got that out too.
'3 missed calls. 8 messages.'
After skimming his call logs (two were from Rachel, one from Adam), and reading the contents of his messages (five were from Rachel, three were work related), finally, finally, he allowed himself to look at the time.
07: 23 PM.
Kurt smiled as he stretched his arms over his head.
"Okay, just less than two hours left. We can do this."
A/N: Sebastian next! :3 Any ideas for a chatname?
Kurt and Mike's apartment: post/48694062659