!(3) French Fries and Milkshakes
Blaine climbed out of his car and walked through the parking lot to the Lima Bean, using the magazine he had as cover from the rain.
He walked in and took a seat next to Kurt, who greeted him with a very kind "What the hell took you so long?"
"I'm sorry if I can't exactly control the weather, your royal highness."
Kurt scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Whatever,"
"Why did we meet here anyways? Instead of going straight to your house?" questioned Blaine.
"Because I'm a paranoid schizophrenic and I don't want you following me to my house, which is our eventual destination..." he replied trenchantly. "Obviously..."
"Geez, no need to be sarcastic, Mr. Snarky Pants." said Blaine as he rolled his eyes. "Seriously, though. Why the hell are we here?"
"No particular reason," he said entirely truthfully. "I just need coffee; helps me think better."
"And exactly why did you need me to come with you?"
Kurt froze. Why did he ask Blaine to come meet him here? He could have just as easily set up a time and gave Blaine directions to his house. It would have even made the situation so that they spent less time together.
So why was this the first thing that came to his mind?
"Whatever," breathed Blaine, rolling his eyes. "While I'm here I might as well order something too." he got up and quickly ordered his usual medium drip.
They sat in silence, waiting for their orders to come. It was kind of nice not insulting each other every second. But kind of awkward, too. Kurt thought he might break the ice a little, only because the silence was getting uncomfortable. "So..." he began, playing with the sugar packets. "Have you thought of any songs yet?"
Blaine sighed. "Not even a day into the project and you're already putting the weight on my shoulders. Can't say I didn't see this coming." He mumbled.
Kurt raised his eyebrows. "Excuse me?" he asked.
"Forget it, I'm used to having to do all the work anyways. It's the curse of actually giving a crap about my grades."
"All I did was ask you a simple question! You're the one who went an immediately antagonized me! I'm trying to be civil!"
Blaine sat there, mouth hanging slightly open in shock. He definitely did not expect that to be the next thing out of Kurt's mouth. He looked down guiltily. "You're right..." he said. "I'm sorry, that was really rude of me..."
Ironically, that wasn't the next thing Kurt expected to hear coming out of Blaine's mouth, either. Kurt almost reached out to grab Blaine's hand and comfort him, but he quickly pushed the thought out of his mind as their orders came.
"One grande nonfat mocha?" said the barista.
"Huh? oh! That would be me..." said Kurt.
"Here you go," she placed the cup down in front of him.
"And I have a medium drip for you, sir?"
Blaine nodded politely. "That's my order thank you."
She left, and the uncomfortable silence reclaimed its place around the table. "Do you want to take these to go?" Asked Blaine, anything to lift this really awkward silence.
"Sure thing," replied Kurt.
They grabbed their cups, and headed out the door.
XXX
"You can just put your bags on that footrest." Said Kurt, motioning to the furniture at the entrance of his room.
Blaine did so, and his eyes widened slightly at the sight of a Casio. He pointed to it. "You play?"
Kurt nodded. "A little..."
Blaine smiled. "Me too."
Kurt made his way to his dresser where a big white binder sat. "I have quite a bit of a selection if sheet music, alphabetized by title. You're free to look through it..."
Blaine did so, making his way over to the dresser and flipping through the binder. "Wow, you have great taste in music. Animal, Being Alive, Baby It's Cold Outside, Candles, Defying Gravity. It's really diverse."
Kurt shrugged. God dammit, he thought. Why don't I have a witty and snarky remark? Why do I need one? Before he could let his mind wander too far, he snapped back to reality. "Will you hurry up and pick a song?"
Blaine widened his eyes in a sarcastic manner. "Jesus, ok..." He quickly flipped a few more pages. "Ah... I kind of like this one—I'll Cover You—if its ok with you?"
Kurt rolled his eyes, "it's my book of course any song is fine. Also, I'm taking the higher part."
Blaine furrowed his eyebrows. He didn't know what voice part Kurt even was (he'd just always assumed tenor). Come to think of it, he'd never even heard Kurt sing before. "What if I can sing higher?" He challenged.
Kurt's eyebrows shot up. "I can hit a high F." He turned to his rack of CDs to look for the music.
"Bullshit."
Kurt slowly turned around and eyed Blaine disbelievingly. "Are you calling me a liar?"
Blaine shrugged coyly.
Kurt scoffed. He knew what Blaine was trying to do, and he wasn't going to fall for it. "You know what? I don't have to prove anything for you." He walked towards him and jabbed a finger at his chest.
"Well then neither do I!" Retorted Blaine, leaning forward challengingly.
"Good."
"Good."
"Ok."
"Ok."
"Fine." Gritted out Kurt. He suddenly seemed to be aware of the fact that their noses were almost touching. He cleared his throat and moved back, shoving the disc in the player and pressing play.
Kurt came in first.
Live in my house,
I'll be your shelter,
Just pay me back
WIth one thousand kisses
Be my lover
and I'll cover you
Blaine was so caught up in how, well, beautiful Kurt sounded that he missed the first line of his verse. He clumsily stumbled into the second line, resulting in an eye roll from Kurt.
I'll be your tenant
Don't got much baggage to lay at your feet
Kurt realized he'd never heard Blaine sing either. But he was glad he could now because, damn, could he sing.
But sweet kisses I've got to spare
I'll be there and I'll cover you
They both came in for the chorus.
I think they meant it when they said you can't buy love
Now I know you can rent it
A new lease you are my love, on life
Be my life
Neither of them expected to enjoy the song as much as they did, but it was the unexpectedness of it all that actually made it bearable—even fun.
Kurt felt his heart beating just a little faster, breath just a little shorter.
Blaine's eyes kept darting to Kurt, his mind filled with curiosity, because everything he knew told him that people like Kurt just didn't care about this stuff—didn't care about anything other than who's dating who, and who wore what yesterday. But here he was, staring at Kurt, who was not only obviously trying his best, but was really talented. No matter how hard he tried to hide it.
Oh, lover,
I'll cover you,
Yeah,
Oh, lover,
I'll cover you...
"You have an amazing voice," Blaine blurted out as soon as the song finished.
Kurt sat there, a little stunned. "I-I," he stuttered. "You, too..." He quietly muttered.
They sat there in silence, neither knowing what to do.
Eventually, Blaine checked his watch. 6:00. "Well," he sighed. "I um, better get going on home." He grabbed his things and headed towards the door, pausing when he reached it, and turning around to look at Kurt.. "I..." His mouth hung open for a bit. "I had fun today, Kurt. I look forward to our next practice." Then, he did the craziest thing. He gave Kurt a smile.
Kurt smiled back almost involuntarily.
"Me, too." He sighed. "See you tomorrow?"
Blaine nodded. "See you tomorrow."
