Wow, you guys are amazing, seriously. It's such a nice confidence boost when people like your writing!
I'm going to try to update this rather frequently, but life is life, ya know? Anyway, enjoy! :)
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Also, I totally forgot to put one on the first chapter and I'm super paranoid and I don't want to get sued so I'm going to go fix that now.
Kurt was going crazy. Not hypothetically or theoretically, but literally. He was literally losing his mind. He had three hours until he had to go meet Dave for lunch. It had been four days since the strange club meeting and yesterday Dave had asked him to get lunch so they could "catch up." Lunch was just so, so unfortunately misleading. Lunch wasn't necessarily a date or a meeting or casual or anything like that and Dave hadn't specified and it was driving Kurt nuts. He didn't know how he was supposed to feel about it either. Whatever it was. He sighed and flung himself down on his bed.
Dave had seemed so desperate that night. It was like he was pleading at Kurt to understand him. And Kurt did, whether he wanted to or not. He desperately wanted to be mad, to hold what had happened between them against Dave and never let him forget it. Not because he felt any resentment toward him, he hadn't been lying when he said he understood, but because he felt like he should and he didn't know why. Maybe, Kurt bit his lower lip, maybe it was because Dave had been so… okay. At peace with himself.
They were both so different. Kurt was successful now and knew who he was way more than he had back then. And Dave wasn't the same insecure bully Kurt had once known, either. Kurt didn't know how to handle this Dave. This Dave was new territory, unfamiliar and intriguing. It scared Kurt so much more than the Dave he'd known before. Back then he knew what to expect from the bully. Now, he didn't know what was going to happen.
Kurt sighed and sat up. He had two and a half hours now. He reached for his phone, pressing a name and calling the one person he trusted for advice. It rang twice before a click indicated that someone was on the other line. "Hello?" A male voice answered cheerfully.
"Hey, Blaine." Kurt smiled. He and Blaine Anderson had been great friends for forever. They'd tried to have a relationship in high school while Kurt was at Dalton Academy but it got awkward after they'd discovered that neither of them wanted to take the initiative and be the "man" in the relationship, figuratively of course, after all they were both very much men. "I was wondering if you could give me some of that dapper advice I find so handy."
"Sure," Blaine laughed, "What's going on? The move not as smooth as you thought?" Kurt had moved back to Lima three weeks ago to help his father after he took ill. Kurt hated the realization but the man was in his fifties and it scared Kurt to think that something might happen to him while he was off somewhere else. Carole, Kurt's step-mother, was trying to support them with her manager position at the grocery store and Finn had taken over the physical labor at Burt's car shop while his dad did the paper work, but with Finn and Carole being busy, Kurt wanted to make sure Burt was well taken care of and ensure that he knew that his son was there for him.
"Oh no, that's fine, the apartment is just darling and Finn's been taking me out, getting used to places around here, it's just…" Kurt sighed. "I saw Dave the other night."
"Did he try something? Are you okay? Who do I need to beat up?" Blaine sounded concerned but Kurt laughed a little at the last question, Dave was a big guy and while Blaine may mean well, that would definitely not work out in his favor.
"No, no, nothing like that. It was civil. We went out for coffee and had a sort of heart-to-heart." He swallowed. "He, uh, he apologized and then had to go to work. He wants to meet me today for lunch. I just… wanted to know what you think. I'm rather confused." Kurt continued to tell Blaine all the things he'd been wondering about before he'd called and told him more about his encounter with Dave.
There was silence on the other end of the phone after Kurt finished. He started tugging on his hair as he waited for a reply. After what seemed like forever Blaine quietly mumbled, "Kurt, do you like him? You seem confused… conflicted, whatever. I mean if you do, and I'm not assuming anything, just saying, if you do, don't make a big deal about all of this. Take it in stride and see what happens. Sounds like you two still have quite a bit to talk about after all."
Kurt let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. "You're absolutely right, Blaine," he smiled gratefully, hoping his tone conveyed the expression Blaine couldn't see. Kurt always over-thought things and Blaine was really good at pulling him back from whatever wild thoughts he was having. "Thank you so much. I knew you'd be the perfect person to ask."
Blaine laughed. "No problem, Kurt, what are friends for?"
Kurt grinned, "Yeah, and you should totally come over and see my apartment, it's absolutely great."
"Kurt." Blaine's voice was suspicious, "This doesn't have anything to do with the fact that you haven't unpacked everything yet and you've been failing to rope me into helping you, does it?"
Kurt snickered into his hand before he answered, "Maybe a little, but in my defense I recall helping you unpack when you moved back into the house your mom left you." Kurt winced. He hadn't meant to bring up Blaine's mom. She had died from lung cancer the previous year, Blaine had been a mess.
"Yeah, Kurt, sure, I'll help you. Maybe I'll come visit this weekend." Blaine's voice sounded slightly strained. "Hey… I have to go," he said suddenly. "Good luck with Karofsky. Bye bye."
"Yeah, okay. Bye, Blaine. Thanks again for the advice." Kurt sighed when he heard the beep signaling that the call was ended. "That was stupid of me," he mumbled to himself. Glancing at the screen he noticed that he'd been on the phone for a half hour. He started to rifle through some boxes to pass the time.
One hour and fifty-five minutes later, Kurt pulled into the parking lot outside the restaurant where Dave had told him they should meet. He took a deep breath and turned the key in the ignition, silencing the engine. Walking up the short pathway to the restaurant he turned toward the parking lot and spotted Dave stepping toward him. He grinned to himself at their almost perfect timing. It was like clockwork.
He waved and called to the other man, who walked briskly toward him. "Shall we?" Dave opened the door for Kurt to step through before following him inside.
"Table for two, please," Dave politely told the hostess.
"Certainly, right this way, gentlemen."
Their table was against a wall, private enough for a conversation but public enough that it wasn't incredibly awkward. They ordered drinks after they sat down, the waiter scurrying away to give them some privacy.
"Uh, how are you doing?" Kurt began, awkwardly.
"Fine, shift ended early today, which was nice. Got to take a small nap. Sometimes it's difficult to work such odd hours but, hey, what can ya do?" He chuckled.
"What do you do?… If you don't mind me asking."
"Ah, I'm a cop. For almost a year and a half now. It's… different. Mostly quiet because, well it's Lima. But sometimes interesting things happen."
"So should I expect you to order a doughnut for lunch?" Kurt teased.
Dave snorted, "Silly stereotype. We don't really have coffee and doughnut breaks." He paused for a beat before he continued with a wink, "After all then when would we take our breaks for tea and crumpets?"
"To be perfectly honest I'm a little astonished that you know what a crumpet is, let alone that it goes with tea." Kurt had a fleeting thought that he might have offended the larger man but Dave gave a low laugh and Kurt grinned in relief.
"So, Kurt, what do you do? Broadway? Television?… Fashion?" He looked genuinely interested. "You've always been rather ambitious."
Kurt waved his hand, "Oh nothing like that." The waiter brought their drinks and Kurt took a sip before he continued. "I actually recently discovered my love for accessorizing rooms rather than people. They don't talk back, which means they automatically lo-ove whatever I do." Dave chuckled.
"That actually fits you. So why did you come back to Lima?"
"I moved back a couple weeks ago. I got a job offer for a furniture enterprise to be a consultant. People tell me their price range and measure the room they're doing and I put something together with an estimate. It's fun, like playing dress up games for a living." Kurt was very enthusiastic about his job.
The waiter came back and the two men ordered. Dave scoffed teasingly at Kurt's caesar salad and Kurt chided him about how that greasy burger is bad for his health. It was weird and familiar but it worked, them being friendly like that. Dave was pleased.
There was an awkward silence after the waiter left with their menus and orders. Dave began glancing around the restaurant, in search of something interesting to talk about when Kurt broke the quiet. "Dave, can I ask you something?" Dave nodded so Kurt continued, "Is this a date? Because while that wouldn't really be a problem, I'm not sure how I feel about it right now."
"It doesn't have to be anything you don't want it to, Kurt. But as long as we're being honest there's something I'd like to come clean about. I still like you, a lot, and after all these years I'm still attracted to you. That being said, if you'd ever be willing, in the future, to give this a shot, whatever it is between us because I'm sure there's something, I'd be happy to give us a shot, too." Dave looked so earnest that all Kurt could do was nod, and before he could reply further their waiter came back with their food.
They ate in mostly silence, both lost in thought, it was a lot for Kurt to take in. He had felt it, the it Dave had mentioned. They definitely had chemistry, or something like it. Kurt couldn't help but think about what a cliché storyline this was. Boy bullies girl (boy), boy ends up having deep dark secret, boy and girl (boy) lose touch, boy and girl (boy) reconnect later and fall in love… or whatever they were doing right now. Kurt smiled to himself.
"What're you smiling about?" Dave had noticed.
"Oh nothing at all." Kurt waved it off, "You just have ketchup on your chin." It wasn't a lie, Dave did have ketchup on his chin, it just wasn't the complete truth behind his expression.
"It happens." Dave gave an exasperated sigh.
"Here, I'll help." Kurt leaned over and wiped off the condiment with the pad of his thumb. Dave locked eyes with him. "There," Kurt said, wiping his thumb on his napkin, he had yet to pull away. "All better," he whispered. The atmosphere changed suddenly, getting more personal. Kurt leaned in a little closer-
"-Everything alright here?" The waiter smiled warmly, unintentionally ruining the moment. "Can I get you anything?"
Kurt mentally shook himself, "No, thank you, I think we're almost done here." Kurt attempted a smile, but it wound up looking more like a grimace.
"Great, I'll go grab the check." He smiled and disappeared.
Dave cleared his throat and took a sip of his drink, averting his eyes. He discretely wiped off his mouth with the napkin, "Thanks," he mumbled.
The waiter returned, placing the check in the middle. They both reached for the check, startled at the sudden movement of the other table occupant.
"It's on me, I invited you out." Dave insisted.
"At least let me pay for half," Kurt protested, adding "please?" to the end.
Dave shook his head. "Nah, you can get the next one." Kurt nodded. Neither of them questioned whether there would be a next time to pay for.
They stood as Dave placed some bills on the table and headed toward the entrance of the restaurant.
"This was nice, Kurt." Dave said once they approached the spot where they would need to part. "I learned a lot."
"Yeah, me too. Thanks for having lunch with me, Dave." Kurt smiled warmly at him. "We have to go out again soon, after all, you promised me the bill." Dave chuckled.
"I'll see you soon then, Kurt?" Dave placed his hand on Kurt's shoulder as the smaller boy nodded. "Great," Dave continued, "drive safely." He removed his hand and strolled toward his car.
Kurt strode to his car and sat heavily in the driver's seat. He smiled to himself and took out his phone.
Dinner, Friday. Pick me up at Eight. - Kurt
Kurt put the phone down and pulled out of the parking lot. Friday was in two days. It seemed reasonable. He hoped Dave thought so, too, and made a mental note to text him with his address the next day.
His phone buzzed as he pulled into the parking spot he'd been assigned to at his apartment complex. He silently cheered at the words on the screen.
I can hardly wait.
That certainly seemed longer... :D
Also, I think I'm a teensy weensy obsessed with those line break things, they look neat. Hahahaha.
Reviews/Comments/Critiques welcome!
