A/N: Thank you so much for the follows and the reviews! Sorry it's been a while, I've actually been finishing my degree - but I'm free now so updates should be more regular!
Jsyk, I'll be mostly using British spelling - as I'm a Londoner myself - but it always seems weird to me when people write American characters speaking with British words - "Mum!" instead of "Mom!" is a prime example for me. So there will be a smattering of American spellings in here too.
Disclaimer: Glee doesn't belong to me.
Enjoy!
It was official: British weather was annoying. Kurt was glad of the taxi from Heathrow to his hotel, not least because of his very heavy suitcase. The weather was humid but overcast and slightly breezy, meaning that he'd either boil if he put his coat on or freeze is he carried it through the Tube system. But in a nice, air-conditioned taxi he could relax and admire the sights going past his window as he sped through the suburbs of London towards the city centre and his hotel.
As predicted, the friend of the girl next to him did take a picture of him on the plane and post it online, though the picture was somewhat blurry thanks to a fortunately-timed spot of turbulence, so half of the tweets tagging him were people responding to the girl doubting that it was really him. Against his better judgement, he made a mental note to tweet her later on saying something along the lines of "You should have just asked me for a picture, I don't bite! :)"
Obviously it's not the best idea to encourage the more crazed portion of his fanbase, but this girl seemed genuinely nice compared to those responding to her, and Kurt wanted his fans to feel like he was accessible. After all, he's very much a fanboy himself in terms of some celebrities - he recently got to appear on The Ellen Degeneres Show and was very much in shock when his agent told him of the booking. He had to make a concentrated effort not to babble during his interview, but he could not stop grinning from ear to ear.
He was grinning again nostalgically when the driver pulled up to the side of the road and Kurt realised he was at his hotel. Giving the driver the right money and, to the driver's pleasant surprise, a generous tip, he exited the taxi and quickly made his way into the hotel. The short, tanned man behind reception widened his eyes when he saw Kurt, but a split second later was the epitome of professionalism - the staff were obviously used to celebrities staying at the hotel. He collected his key and made his way up to his room, dumping his case on the floor and collapsing on the bed.
Travelling was exhausting.
He then realised he hadn't tweeted yet, so he found the access code to the wifi, typed out a quick reply to the girl from the plane, and then a general one to his followers:
KurtHummel: Landed and in the hotel. Tired doesn't begin to describe me right now. Tweet you later Kurtsies! xoxo
Firing off a quick message to his Dad assuring him that yes, the plane didn't fall out of the sky, he turned off his notifications and went into the bathroom to get ready for bed.
Exactly 3.8 miles due east, Blaine was in bed himself, unable to sleep and going through Twitter, when he saw Kurt's tweet. Smiling, he favourited the tweet and shut off his phone.
The show was hilarious. Blaine had not seen any British comedy live before, but boy was he going to check it out on YouTube now! Graham was hilarious, bantering with his guests and the audience. Some of the jokes went over Blaine's head, and from the reaction they elicited in Nicole, he guessed they were very topical in Britain. Kurt was somewhat reserved when he first came out, but after about 15 minutes he seemed a lot more relaxed, cracking jokes with the Graham and the other guests.
After the show, Blaine, Nicole and a few others gathered behind a fence outside the stage door, waiting for Kurt to come outside. A woman with dark brown hair kept sticking her head outside as if looking for someone, much to the great annoyance of the crowd gathered, as each time the door opened they expected either Kurt or one of the other guests. Nicole was seemingly oblivious to it all, focused only on talking Blaine's ear off about how gorgeous Kurt looked in real life.
"Seriously, Blaine, I swear his hair does things that defy gravity, there's no way it's being kept up by product alone! And that suit he was wearing, it was heavenly! I wonder where he got it from? I'm so gonna make Tom buy one of them, I do like a man in a suit!"
"Me too…" Blaine said wistfully, "but remember, although they seem rather difficult to get off, you won't believe how quickly a man can put one back on when he doesn't want to stick around in the morning."
Nicole patted his arm sympathetically. He was referencing a particularly frustrating date that Blaine had been on about 5 months previously. The guy, a handsome junior office worker in the business district, had taken him to a nice bar where they had had cocktails and sat very close, before walking down to the Thames and along the Embankment, kissing in the shadow of Big Ben just as it struck midnight. Then, not wanting the evening to end, Blaine invited the guy back to his halls. They then had a night of passionate sex and Blaine fell asleep content, only to be woken the next morning by the sound of the guy dressing himself before mumbling a quick "See you soon!" and disappearing through his door.
Since then Blaine had abandoned hope of finding someone in the near future. No, his life was too unstable for something like a relationship.
Inside, the dark-haired woman walked up to Kurt, who was finishing the glass of wine he had been nursing onstage whilst talking to another one of the guests, a female British comedian with a very strong accent. Seeing the woman approach, he politely excused himself and walked towards her.
"How many, Beverly?" he asked
"About thirty in total, so probably about 10-15 for you. Nothing too strenuous." she added with a tired smile.
Beverly Muller was a publicist for the sitcom, and she happened to be holidaying in London with her family when the call came through about Kurt's bookings in the UK, so rather than fly someone else over to London with Kurt, Beverly was asked if she could take a couple of days out of her holiday to be on-site for Kurt's interviews - for extra money, of course. Kurt liked Beverly. She was dedicated to her job, but knew when to take it easy, nice, but tough as nails when her clients or her family needed it, and, as Kurt found out a few months previously when some of the cast and crew went out to celebrate his 21st birthday, she had the most wickedly hilarious sense of humour after a couple of glasses of wine.
"Let's do this, then," said Kurt, "and then we can go and sample the local produce."
Beverly looked at him, confusedly.
"Alcohol, Bev, alcohol!" he said exasperatedly and she nodded in comprehension and enthusiasm.
Chuckling to himself, he followed her out through the stage door.
The door opened again and Blaine cursed internally as yet again the woman came out, but his annoyance turned to excitement as he saw who was behind her - Kurt freakin' Hummel!
He smiled at the girls in front of Blaine and started signing their books, or hats, or pictures of him - which in retrospect seemed a little odd, as there weren't pictures given out at the show, everyone had printed them off at home - but Blaine wasn't fussed, as long as he got an autograph.
He watched as Kurt talked to the girls, asking them if they'd come far, thanking them for coming and smiling at their compliments. They turned and left, squealing to themselves in excitement and leaving a gap where they had been. Blaine moved to fill it but he was roughly knocked aside by a tall man pushing past him into the space.
"Hey, excuse me mate, he was there first!" said Nicole indignantly, as Kurt looked between the two of them, confused. If the man heard her, he didn't give any sign, he just thrust a picture in Kurt's direction.
"Here, Kurt was it?" he said gruffly, "my daughter's over there but didn't 'ave the balls to come over 'ere an' ask y'herself. So if y'could make it out to Stacey please, mate, I can get home t' the footy."
Nicole was shooting daggers at the man behind his back as Kurt silently fulfilled the man's request and handed it back to him with a somewhat forced smile.
"Cheers!" the man said and barged his way back through the crowd to his wife and daughter. Blaine was still stunned from the obnoxious behaviour of the man, until a voice brought him back to his senses.
"...did you want that signed, or are you holding onto it for safekeeping?"
Turning round, his insides went to ice as he realised that not only was he next in line, but that Kurt Hummel was speaking directly to him. Kurt's smile seemed to intensify at Blaine's surprised reaction, and he held his hand out for the picture that Blaine was trying not to crumple.
"Oh, yeah, sorry…" Blaine mumbled, handing the picture over.
"Who shall I make it out to?" asked Kurt.
"Blaine," came the reply, "Blaine Anderson"
Kurt's eyes flicked up briefly at him and then back to the paper he was currently writing on.
"I can tell by your accent that you've definitely come a long way to see me! Where are you from?" he asked.
"California," Blaine replied, "but I'm here for two semesters studying."
"With me!" Nicole piped up, "we came to see you together!"
Blaine cursed internally. Nicole was making it sound like they were a couple!
"Well I'm flattered you took time out of your hectic schedule to come see me," said Kurt, smiling, as he gave Blaine back his picture and took Nicole's.
"He wouldn't have done if it wasn't for me," Nicole added, "he's hopeless at organising himself!"
Oh God, please kill me now, Blaine thought.
"That's why I'm glad I've been so lucky - if you're bad at organising things you can have other people do it for you!" joked Kurt.
"I'm hoping to be an actor myself," Blaine replied, and Nicole dug him in the ribs with her elbow, "We both are."
"Well I wish you all the best, guys, and thanks again for coming!" Kurt said as he gave Nicole her picture back.
They thanked him and left, waiting until they got around the corner before freaking out.
"Oh my god ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod!" said Nicole, jumping up and down in the spot.
"I know!" Blaine replied, doing the same before stopping and hitting her lightly on the arm, "Wait, excuse me, I'm mad at you!"
"What'd I do?"
"You made it look like we were a couple?"
"Did I?"
"Yes!"
"I'll make it up to you?"
"Ben & Jerrys?"
Nicole considered it and then huffed.
"If I must! Come on, then!" she said, pulling him in the direction of the tube station.
That night in his hotel, Kurt was lying in bed, reflecting on the day he'd had, and for some reason he kept grinning every time he thought of the cute fan he met with the gorgeous hazel eyes and the excitable friend.
A/N: Okay this was long! Hope you liked! Reviews are very VERY welcome! :D
The next chapter will be something a bit different! :)
