Like A Firework

Chapter 2

Blaine Anderson's Near-Run-In With the Law

Rockstar Anderson Bisexual?

Anderson's Ex Tells All

Singer Blaine Anderson Kicked Out of LA Bar

Allegations Against Rocker Anderson Dropped

Kurt groaned and rubbed his eyes, closing the tabs on his browser and shutting the lid of the laptop carefully so as not to disturb a still-sleeping Mercedes.

Leaving the party last night, Kurt had told himself he would forget all about his evening with someone who he had thought was an amazing guy, but had turned out to be none other than the Blaine Anderson. When Mercedes had asked where he had been all night, he brushed her off with a shrug and some vague explanation of his whereabouts. Once they arrived back at Kurt's place, of course, they both passed out.

But ever since they had parted, Kurt could not get Blaine out of his head. Aside from the heavy makeout session (which had been nothing short of phenomenal), Kurt had really enjoyed connecting with Blaine and chatting with him about their interests. Before knowing who he was, Kurt probably would have been agonizing over not exchanging phone numbers before they went their separate ways. Now, though, he was sure he wanted nothing to do with him.

Kurt had shut down the entertainment world a year ago when he had finally had enough of its criticisms and rejections. He could not date someone who was such a big part of it. As if bigshot Blaine would even want to see him again, anyway.

Still, Kurt spent the morning doing the worst thing he could possibly do: googling Blaine.

While he had not been arrested, as far as Kurt could tell, many articles reported altercations or other instances where Blaine had flirted with disaster. At one point, a fellow musician had even accused him of sexual harassment, but the charges were dropped. Blaine was photographed at high-profile events with both male and female dates, fueling the rumors that he was bisexual, though his only known ex was a man Kurt vaguely recognized as a model in many advertisements. His Wikipedia page reported that Blaine was a twenty-eight year old from a small town in Ohio whose older brother was also in the business as an actor, and whose parents were famous singers as well. Every interview Kurt could find on YouTube showed the pompous, self-centered Blaine who had walked in the room last night. There was no evidence of the sweet, giggly Blaine Anderson Kurt had gotten to know over the course of their conversation.

"You're going to strain yourself thinking that hard." Mercedes' gravelly morning hangover voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

He laughed at himself. It was ridiculous to be spending so much time thinking about Blaine when it was over. He set his laptop down and jumped up.

"Sorry, you know how I get. Let me make us some breakfast. By the way, there is Advil and water on the end table for you."

It was Mercedes' last day in New York, and Kurt was determined to make the most of it, hungover or not.

They ate, chatting about her performance the night before and the people she networked with, Kurt nodding supportively.

Her phone rang as they were cleaning up their dishes, and she stepped into the next room to answer it. The next thing he knew, her shrill voice was shouting at him.

"Kurt Elizabeth Hummel! How in the world did you fail to mention that you made out with Blaine Anderson last night?!"

"Shit," he muttered under his breath, dropping a soapy sponge back into the dishwater he'd been using.

"So it's true?" She rounded on him, arms crossing over her chest. "I thought maybe he had gotten the name wrong, but you look guilty as hell right now."

"I'm doing my best to forget about it." He resumed washing the dishes so he didn't have to see the hopeful look that lay under her glare.

"Why? That man is tasty."

"And he's everything I don't need in my life. Plus, I'm pretty sure he doesn't want anything to do with me. Why would he?"

"Then why did he call me just now looking for you?"

Kurt froze.

"That's right. He tracked down my number because he remembered you said we were friends and he called me to find out how to reach you. If that's someone who isn't interested, then I don't know a damn thing."

"What does he want?" Kurt asked cautiously.

"What do you think he wants, boy? To discuss the stock market? No. He wants in those tight pants of yours."

Kurt laughed at his friend, but then sobered. "That's what I'm afraid of. Whatever. It's not like you gave him my number anyway."

Mercedes didn't respond.

"Because you'd never do that without my permission."

She hid her face behind her cup of coffee.

"Mercedes…What did you do?"

His phone vibrated on the table between them, the screen lighting up with the caller ID. No number was displayed, only the word "Unknown."

Kurt looked up slowly, eyes narrowing dangerously. "Oh, you are in so much trouble."

"You know what? I'm going to go take a shower and let you answer that."

"Not so fast. And I'm not going to answer it."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm not interested in being just another person he sleeps with and throws aside."

"Who said he's going to do that?"

Kurt mumbled sheepishly into his coffee. "The internet."

"Don't trust everything you read. You know what they said about me last month and how untrue that was."

Kurt's phone vibrated again, alerting him to a voicemail.

"Well, let's hear it."

He put it on speaker and played the message.

"Hi. This is Blaine. Anderson. From last night. You know, we, uh… Anyway, I'd really like to see you again. I have a show tomorrow night in town and thought maybe you could come. I'll set aside two VIP tickets for you just in case you're free, and then we can meet up backstage afterward. Is that presumptuous of me to do that when you didn't even answer my call? Hmm. Well, Kurt, I really hope to see you tomorrow. 'Kay. Bye."

Mercedes' eyes were wide as saucers. "I have never heard him like that before. That boy is smitten, Kurt! Please say you're going to his show."

Kurt shook his head sadly. "I just can't."

"Give it some thought at least."

Damn Mercedes and her way of getting him to do things he didn't want to do.

"Fine. I'll think about it."


Blaine was more nervous for his show than he had been since he first started performing, even when music bigwigs would come watch him sing in small coffee shops before his big break. Those shows were nothing compared to tonight, the night when Kurt could might watch him.

It was inexplicable, really, the feeling he had about Kurt, but Blaine had learned in his dating career to trust his instincts, so he refused to question it. The night they had shared at his party was so simple, yet one of the best Blaine could remember having in years. He had missed having someone he could talk to without having to be Blaine Anderson, Rockstar, someone who had no set expectations of how he should act or what he should say. As he gained more traction in the music world and more popularity in the outside world, he had actually thought he might never find someone like that again, but then...there Kurt was. Snarky, witty, kind Kurt who had no idea who Blaine was, and that...that was everything.

It was everything after Tyler, who had used him to try to get his music heard. It was everything after Jon, who had slept with him and then broadcasted the news and never called Blaine back. It was everything after Brandt, who dated him for a month only to try to get close to one of his musician friends. After Sean, who had Blaine buy him endless things, and then disappeared. After Trey, who wanted a position in his band. After Alex, Drake, Robbie…

Blaine had yet to meet someone genuine since his rise to fame began, but he was naive enough to listen to his foolish heart every damn time, and his heart had been broken too many times to count.

It was easier to put off a devil may care attitude and flirt with anyone and everyone. His image slowly shifted from an average, unremarkable musician to a promiscuous, dangerous rockstar with a string of ex-lovers of all genders and a penchant for trouble.

Of course, Blaine hated one night stands and he was quite sure of his sexuality (solidly gay, thank you very much), but it was so simple to just accept what people were saying and play into it. Especially since Cooper, his manager and older brother, loved every second of the overdramatized goings-on of Blaine's public life.

So it was clear why Blaine was so drawn to Kurt, though he realized he would have been anyway, even if Kurt had known who he was. Blaine had needed to bite his tongue quite hard to hide the disappointment on his face when they were interrupted and his idiot friend had given away his secret.

Seeing Kurt again could be everything he dreamed. Or it could be an awful disaster. Now that Kurt knew who he was, how would things change between them? Would the nonjudgmental banter still exist? Would Kurt still give him those eyes that made him feel wanted for who he actually was? Would Blaine still be able to be open and honest with him?

He pictured Kurt's smile and imagined his laugh and felt the residual traces of his touch and held onto that instead of worrying.

Out on stage that night, Blaine sang his heart out, eager to show Kurt that under the image, he was the guy Kurt had bonded with last night, if there was any doubt. But it was all in vain, for Kurt never came to the show.


Kurt had moved on. That was what he told himself, at least. He had forgotten about the night he had spent getting to know at least one version of Blaine Anderson, about the news stories about the other version, about the phone call, and about the hour he had spent standing in his doorway, dressed to kill, warring with himself over whether or not he should show up to the concert.

Making the decision to stay home was the first step toward leaving that day in the past once and for all. He'd been avoiding Mercedes' calls, even, but he knew he couldn't do that forever.

It was in the last place he would suspect that he was forced to come face to face with what he had tried so hard to forget.

Saturday mornings, he and his friend Perry had a tradition of traveling across town to the indoor farmers market. The two of them had met when they were paired as roommates in the dorms their freshman year, and had been great friends since. Perry was the kind of friend who Kurt could always count on, and could always make him laugh. He had just returned from a semester abroad, and they were eager to resume their Saturday morning ritual of going to the market and eating too many baked goods without an ounce of regret.

"Oh my gosh, Kurt, you have to try this," Perry raved, tearing off a piece of the pastry he'd just bought and holding it up to Kurt's lips as they walked among the market stalls. Most of it landed in his mouth, but some of the icing ended up on his cheek, so Perry reached over and wiped it clean with his finger and licked it off. That was when they literally stumbled into Blaine.

He wore a hat and sunglasses in an attempt to blend in with the crowd, but Kurt would have recognized him anywhere.

Perry caught Kurt as he rebounded off Blaine, and kept his hand on Kurt's arm.

"Oh my god, that's Blaine Anderson," he whispered.

Blaine, mouth slightly agape, slid off his sunglasses to look properly at Kurt, and all of the feelings Kurt had been introduced to on New Year's Eve came flooding back to him in a visceral reaction. Suddenly, Blaine wasn't the promiscuous bad boy of the entertainment magazines anymore. He wasn't even rockstar Blaine Anderson. He was just the guy Kurt had really enjoyed connecting with and whose kisses made him feel complete. He was the guy Kurt wanted to connect with and kiss again. And again. And again.

"Hi," Kurt said, sounding breathless.

"Hi. I missed you at my show last week, but I see now that you were probably busy."

Confusion kept him from forming a reasonable response, but when Perry dropped his arm and took a step away from him, Kurt realized what it must have looked like between the two of them from Blaine's perspective.

"Blaine…" Kurt began, but he was already backing away with a sad wave.

With Blaine's back to Kurt, neither would see the regretful and despairing look on the other's face.

Perry's voice pulled Kurt back to reality.

"I think you have some serious explaining to do. But first...go."

Without another second's hesitation, Kurt ran after Blaine before he could become the one that got away.