10th March 2011
Kurt huddled over the small box, concentrating on his tube of glue and the tiny sequins, some of which were sticking more to him than the box he was trying to decorate. He tended to prefer things to be in an organised mess and had spread all of his beads and sequins out across the table, in hopes that they would be easier to access. The theory of this was much truer than the practice, however. Thankfully he had a lot of experience in this sort of thing and wasn't letting it fluster him.
The door to the old room had already been left open and so Kurt, concentrating heavily on his decorating, didn't realise the handsome young boy that had walked into the room and was watching him, warmly, until he spoke.
"What's that?" Blaine enquired as he watched Kurt fiddling with more sequins. Kurt glanced up for a second to see who was talking to him before answering.
"I'm decorating Pavarotti's casket," Kurt answered, a hint of sadness in his voice as he remembered the poor bird's death.
"Well, finish up," Blaine said smiling, walking a little closer to Kurt. "I have the perfect song for our number and we should practice."
"Do tell," Kurt smiled, assuming it would be another Katy Perry or Pink song that Blaine desperately wanted to sing. Blaine paused before speaking.
"Candles by Hey Monday." Kurt raised his eyebrows, surprised at Blaine's choice, as he placed his tube of glue back on the table.
"I'm impressed." He smiled, "You're usually so top 40."
"Well," Blaine smiled, almost apologetically, as he sat down beside Kurt, "I just… wanted something a bit more emotional." Kurt considered this for a second before asking the question he'd been dying to ask since Blaine had suggested they duet at their upcoming Regionals performance in the last meeting with the Warblers.
"Why did you pick me to sing that song with?" He said directly. For a brief while, Blaine's head almost exploded with how quickly Kurt came out with it and how he'd also now need to answer him. This was the moment, he told himself, the moment when he would tell Kurt everything. He took a deep breath, moving in his seat slightly before answering.
"Kurt… there is a moment when you say to yourself, 'Oh! There you are! I've been looking for you forever'…" Blaine glanced into Kurt's eyes for a second, feeling his mouth go slightly dry with nerves. He was hoping this would be easier but, then, when are the best things in life ever easy? Each second seemed to be lasting an eternity and, as nervous as he was, Kurt looked almost terrified. Did he already know what Blaine was going to say? Maybe Blaine had completely misjudged the situation and Kurt wasn't interested anymore? All Blaine wanted to do was to wrap Kurt up in his arms and keep him safe forever. He shifted in his seat again before reaching out and placing his hand over Kurt's so that he could just get out what he wanted to say quickly before he changed his mind.
"Watching you do "Blackbird" this week… that was…"
"Blaine!" Blaine turned and quickly, almost guiltily, removed his hand from Kurt's as Wes rushed into the room, his eyes wide and panicked. "Thank God I've found you! Hi Kurt." Wes nodded towards Kurt, who smiled back.
"Wes? What are you doing here?" Blaine's tone showed that he was more than annoyed at his friend for interrupting the moment; he might not feel brave enough to do this again.
"Some of the Warblers are arguing over your best solo again!" He said exasperated, waving his arms around. "I've tried splitting them up but they're really going at it, can you come and tell them to stop, please?"
"Can it wait?" Blaine asked, hoping that Wes had suddenly gained the ability to read his mind and would understand that now was not the time. "I'm trying to have a conversation with Kurt…"
"Not really, I'm worried they might actually hurt each other this time!" Blaine sighed and dropped his head, knowing that Wes just wouldn't leave them alone until he went and helped him sort out the situation. He turned back to Kurt, apologetically.
"Can we talk later, maybe?" He asked, raising his eyebrows. Kurt nodded and told him that was fine before picking up the glue and going back to working on Pavarotti's casket. Blaine watched him for a few more seconds before leaving quietly, hoping that he'd still have the courage to talk to him later.
Once Kurt had finished the casket, he packed up his beads and sequins, picked up the casket and grabbed the handle of the plastic box also. He carried it all carefully up to his dorm room so that he could place Pavarotti in the decorated box. He backed into the door to try and open it with his elbow, as his hands were full but didn't go anywhere as he couldn't get the door open. Thankfully, Blaine was just passing to go to his dorm room and offered to help, opening the door for Kurt before gesturing him in. Kurt thanked him and hurried into the room, placing down the casket before it could get damaged.
"How did it go with the fight?" Kurt asked, turning around, amused because he knew that Wes over-reacted to any kind of conflict and that it probably wasn't that bad.
"It was nothing really. They were a little bit louder than normal." Blaine smirked and rolled his eyes. He placed his hands in his pockets and looked to the ground as the room went silent, shuffling his feet slightly as he suddenly felt very nervous again.
"So," Kurt cleared his throat, "what was it you were going to say earlier?"
"Hmm?" Blaine looked up, pretending that he didn't have a clue what Kurt was talking about.
"I asked you why you chose me to sing that song with you and you started saying something about me singing Blackbird but then… Wes." Kurt smiled; he'd purposefully chosen to leave out the part where Blaine had put his hand over Kurt's. Even though Kurt could still feel the tingling warmth of his touch, he'd already made the mistake of telling Blaine he liked him before only to be knocked back, he wasn't about to do it again. Except, he didn't realise that the fact that he purposefully missed out that small detail sent Blaine's mind into a spin. Was that because he didn't want to draw attention to it? Was he hoping that Blaine wouldn't mention it again because he wasn't interested? Was he annoyed at Blaine for doing it and chose to ignore it to maintain their friendship?
"Oh, that!" Blaine said, trying to sound relaxed but speaking with a slightly higher tone than normal, "It was just… I thought… that…" He gave up, "… you sounded so good on Blackbird that your voice would suit this song perfectly." He smiled, trying to hide how ashamed of himself he was for not saying what he really thought.
"That's the only reason?" Kurt asked, slightly disappointed.
"Yup," Blaine smiled a little too brightly, "I think it could help us win…" He cleared his throat before smiling widely once more. "Could you excuse me for a moment?" He asked before quickly rushing out of the room, unable to hide his emotions. He decided to not go back and see Kurt again that evening, instead choosing to spend the night in his room, alone, trying to let go of the niggling feeling he had in the pit of his stomach that he shouldn't have been such a coward.
