A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and favourites so far. You're the awesomest :)
"VIVA LA VIE BOHEME!" the cast shouted with their hands in the air as the last note of the guitar faded behind them. Breathless, with huge pasted on smiles, they waited to hear how they had done that time. They had been rehearsing the scene for the better part of an hour and Will didn't think they were getting anywhere. All of their voices sounded brilliant together and they were all amazing actors, but something about their performances seemed stiff and unnatural. They weren't completely in character. Will, not sure of what else to tell them about the performance, told them all to take five. He looked over to Emma who was looking at him with her eyebrows raised.
"What am I doing wrong, Emma?" Will sighed, sitting down next to her. "Something's not right with the performance, but I just can't put my finger on it."
"I think they're still a little unsure about their primary partners," she said with a small smile. "They have amazing chemistry, but they're not comfortable with each other. They can't interact properly if they're not comfortable."
"That's it," said Will with an excited grin, giving Emma a quick kiss on the cheek."How do you always see what I can't?" 'Cos that wasn't cheesy at all, he thought to himself, annoyed with his stupid statement.
"Guidance counsellor," she said shrugging, her cheeks flushed. Will gave her a smile and went to gather the cast together again.
"Okay, guys, this is important," he said when they were all sitting along the front of the stage. "You all seem to get along pretty well and that's great, but to make this a great work of theatre you have to become your characters. In order to do that, you have to be comfortable with each other. Your characters are best friends and lovers and because of that you need to be completely physically comfortable with each other. So what I want you to do is spend time getting to know each other better. Many of you are good friends, so it shouldn't be too hard, but make sure that you're comfortable enough with each other to be convincing on stage."
The cast looked anxiously at one another. Some pairings seemed perfectly okay with their assignment. Rachel's primary partners were Finn and Mercedes, which suited her perfectly and Santana and Puck were once together, so they were physically comfortable enough with each other. Santana, however, also had to become used to Artie, which was going to be super awkward as she had spent most of the year so far, hating the guy for stealing the girl of her dreams. He wasn't too fond of her either. Finn and Mercedes almost never talked to each other, so that would also have to change, especially because their main scene together involved a complicated tango.
The most awkward pairing (and despite their own awkward pairings, everyone could concede that this was the case) was Kurt and Dave. Though everyone was a lot more chilled with Dave now that they had gotten to know him better as just himself, no one could deny that it would be super strange for Dave and Kurt to spend time together after all that had happened.
Will looked at the anxious faces of the cast with a feeling of nervousness at the pit of his stomach. If something went wrong at this stage, the rest of the musical was in jeopardy. He hoped that they would be able to sort out their differences and pull together to make it epic. Figuring there was no use in continuing the rehearsal if they hadn't made any progress in their physical performances, he dismissed them and hoped to God that this would work.
"Mind if I walk you to your car?" Kurt asked Dave after they had been dismissed. Dave, who had not been expecting anything like that, choked slightly, but he regained his composure quickly and disguised the embarrassing noise as a cough.
"Sure," he replied and they made their way out of the auditorium and into the parking lot.
"Okay, so we're playing lovers," said Kurt. Dave nodded, wishing that he wasn't having this conversation at all. "Well, I know that things haven't exactly been a hundred percent between us, but I really want to rock this role." Dave smiled at the smaller boy's lame pun. "What Mr Schue said was right. In order for this to be great, we have to be the characters. So, simply put, we need to spend more time together."
Dave didn't quite know what to say to that, so he nodded, fumbling with his car keys. Kurt smiled, gave him a quick hug that Dave awkwardly reciprocated and head off to where Finn and Rachel were waiting for him. It was only after he had driven around the corner that Dave let himself grin like an idiot. He would be spending more time with Kurt and Kurt had just hugged him. He knew it was just a small goodbye one, but to Dave it was the breaking down of a wall. Kurt had definitely forgiven him and Dave had never felt so relieved.
xxx
"So now you have to hang out with him alone?" said Blaine, with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes but it's nothing to worry about. It's just to get over the awkwardness."
It was hard for him not to be worried about this. He knew that Karofsky had probably changed for the better and that it would be completely innocent, but the thought of Kurt and him practicing stage-kissing, knowing what Karofsky had done to him, gave Blaine a feeling of molten dread at the pit of his stomach.
One of the things he hated the most about himself was the fact that he couldn't let stuff go. He could still remember every horrible word thrown his way and the pain of every single bruise he had been given just for being himself. It still hurt when he thought about it. He found that outside of Dalton, he never really let himself trust anyone. Now that he had Kurt, he was only starting to learn about proper forgiveness and he was finding more and more that he wasn't good at it -especially when it came to Karofsky.
Kurt could see that Blaine was worried. He didn't know how he could make him see that Dave wasn't the person he used to be. He considered using the example of 'Beauty and the Beast', but Blaine was serious and Kurt didn't think he would particularly appreciate a cartoon-movie anecdote, Disney or not.
He had thought it was sweet at first when Blaine had told him how much he hated Dave for what he had done to him. He finally had a guy (that wasn't his dad) that would stand by him when things were tough. So when he finally forgave Dave, he expected Blaine to do the same, but he still hadn't been able to bring himself to forgive him.
Kurt didn't really know what to do anymore. He knew that Blaine wasn't comfortable with him spending time with Dave, but at the same time he knew that he had to spend that time with Dave in order to make the musical a success.
"It's going to be fine Blaine. I can handle it," Kurt said, lifting the shorter brunette's chin so that he was looking him in the eyes. "I love you."
"I love you too," said Blaine. Kurt placed a soft kiss on his lips before he got up. He had to be at the ice rink in twenty minutes.
"I'll be back," said Kurt, in a terrible Terminator impersonation.
"Yeah, yeah," said Blaine, rolling his eyes and laughing despite feeling like his stomach no longer existed. He knew that he probably had nothing to worry about, but as Kurt left to hang out with Karofsky, he couldn't shake the bad feeling he had about this.
xxx
Dave was nervous. He knew it wasn't a date, but it was hanging with a guy he really liked. As he watched couples whizzing around the rink holding hands – holding each other – he couldn't help but hope that he would be able to do the same thing one day. Now that he had come to terms with himself and who he was, he realised that what he wanted more than anything was someone who was more than a friend.
And the only guy tat ever came to mind when thinking these thoughts was Kurt.
Dave was trying not to stare at the door in anticipation. He figured this would make him look weird. Instead, he sat nonchalantly on the benches around the rink glancing inconspicuously at the door every now and then. His heart almost stopped when he saw Kurt walk through the door on one of his glances. Spotting him, Kurt waved with a grin and made his way over to where Dave sat.
"You ready for this?" asked Dave. He was on McKinley's ice-hockey team, so he was at home on the ice, but something on Kurt's face told him that he wasn't as comfortable about it.
"Not really," said Kurt honestly.
"Don't worry, I'll help you out," said Dave with a nervous smile. They went to get skates after which Kurt nervously stood up in them.
"I feel like I'm about to snap both of my ankles," said Kurt, wide-eyed. Dave laughed.
"Says he who wore crazy high-heels last year," he said and Kurt shrugged as if to say he had a point there. "Anyway, it's better when you're on the ice."
"Better? With all friction gone?" said Kurt with a sceptical look.
"Well, when you get used to the ice it is," said Dave with a slightly guilty smile. Kurt swallowed nervously following Dave over the slightly raised portion of ground and onto the ice. Making sure he had a tight grip on the smaller boy's arm, Dave watched as Kurt stood on the ice next to him.
"Well, that's step one," said Dave with a smirk. He couldn't help but find the situation funny. He had been on the ice pretty much since he could walk – to see a first-timer taking it on was hilarious.
"And now?" said Kurt, his eyes wider than usual. He placed one hand on the rink's wall and Dave knew that he could now balance on his own, but he didn't really want to let go of him.
"Well, now we move," he said with a smile. "You ever roller-bladed?"
"Yeah, like when I was ten," said Kurt, with a slight trace of panic in his voice.
"Well, it's something you don't forget – like riding a bike. Ice-skating is a lot like roller-blading. You just have to move one foot after the other and try not to fall."
"It's kind of the falling I'm worrying about."
"Well, hopefully you won't," said Dave, "but if you do, just make sure you ball up your hands immediately."
"Why?" asked Kurt with an alarmed expression.
"Skates are sharp," said Dave shrugging. Kurt swallowed nervously again. "Seriously, don't sweat it. I'll keep hold of you for the first few laps until you get used to the feel of them."
Kurt nodded and Dave took that as his cue to begin moving. Kurt was shaky at first, but after one revolution he seemed to have got the gist of it. Dave held onto him for another two revolutions, partly to make sure he was steady and mostly because he was enjoying supporting him. After the third lap, Kurt asked if he could try on his own.
"Sure," Dave said. Making sure that Kurt had a firm grip on the wall, he let go of his arm. Kurt nervously made his way around a quarter of the rink holding onto the wall before gathering the courage to let go and skate unsupported. Dave secretly couldn't help be reminded of a baby deer taking its first few steps – awkward and ungraceful. Kurt managed a few feet before falling spectacularly. Dave couldn't but help notice the obedient fists he had formed as he fell.
"Are you okay?" he asked as he offered Kurt a hand, which he took. As he gingerly made it back on his feet, he smiled embarrassedly.
"I'm fine. I think I might have bruised my arm and I definitely bruised my ego."
"Well I don't know about the arm, but we can help the ego by trying again and being awesome at it?" said Dave.
"Okay..." said Kurt, "but I don't think I'm quite ready for a solo flight yet."
Dave offered him his hand again and Kurt took it. "This way if you go down, we both go down."
"Comforting," said Kurt with a small grin which Dave returned. They began to move slowly forwards and after a while they were going at a pretty decent speed – not fast, but quick enough to make Kurt feel like they were achieving something.
"Can you imagine being a figure skater?" said Kurt with a huge grin. "Having to worry about not falling and having to concentrate on jumping on ice?"
"I wanted to be a figure skater," said Dave.
"Really?" said Kurt, with a surprised expression on his face.
"Yeah, I used to watch the championships with my mom and I always wished it could be me up there one day. My dad said it was a fruity dream and made me do hockey instead."
Kurt gave him a quick sympathetic look, feeling that he hardly knew anything about his former bully. Things seemed to be piecing together though.
Suddenly Kurt was brought out of his thoughts when he learned that a momentary lapse in concentration was rewarded with a face-full of ice. This time, however, Dave landed next to him. They looked at each other from their position on the ice and burst out laughing. Despite his throbbing cheekbone, Kurt found that this was the most fun he had had in a long time.
They got up quickly after that and Dave led Kurt to the middle of the rink, so that they didn't get hit by people trying to go as fast as they could. However, now that he had led him there, he had no idea what to do or what to talk about. Desperately grasping for ideas, he finally settled for the reason that they were there together in the first place.
"So, uh, Kurt, we play lovers?" said Dave with an eyebrow raised.
"I'm pretty sure. I've seen the movie about a hundred times," said Kurt with a slight smirk.
"Well, I was just wondering, when Mr Schuester says we have to be physically comfortable with each other – are we going to have to kiss?"
Kurt thought about it for a moment and then said, "Knowing Mr Schue, he'll keep the kiss, but he'll make sure we know how to stage-kiss so that it's not so awkward." Dave fought hard not to show how these words hurt. He knew that it probably would be awkward for Kurt to kiss him, but it was all Dave wanted to do. Then... now...
Shaking his head slightly he said, "Oh, well that's cool. Less awkward. And I think we made a good start on the physical comfort thing today."
Kurt nodded in agreement. "Totally. Good idea, taking a novice ice-skating. You kind of have to physically support them at some stage, so you have to get over your personal space issues."
"Yeah," said Dave, not knowing what else to say. They stood in silence for a moment or two before Kurt spoke up.
"So you can teach me to skate and I'll teach you to dance," he said.
"I can dance," said Dave.
"Ballroom and Latin?" said Kurt, arching an eyebrow.
"Point taken," said Dave, who had never been allowed anywhere near those words. "Sounds fair enough."
"Maybe we can combine the two eventually?" said Kurt. "Do our own version of figure skating and insult everyone who ever trained from childhood?"
Dave laughed. "Yeah that sounds great."
Just then the siren signalling the end of the session rang out. It was time for the figure skaters or hockey players to practice. Dave took Kurt's hand again and led him off the rink. Kurt didn't like to admit it, but he felt a slight tingle when Dave let go of his hand and it had nothing to do with the temperature of the rink. Now both aware of their awkward feelings, they went to hand in their skates in silence. Afterwards, Kurt stood in front of Dave.
"So, next week Saturday, the dance room at school. I'll ask Mr Schue if he can open up for us."
"Sounds great," said Dave, honestly willing to go along with anything if it meant that he could spend more time with Kurt. They stood there in uncomfortable silence for a moment or two after which they gave each other a much more friendly hug than they had the last time they had hugged. Kurt pulled away fairly quickly to clutch his left cheek. Now that Dave looked at it, there was a nasty bruise beginning to form.
"Oh God, Kurt, I'm sorry," said Dave.
"It's okay. It was my fault." The conversation lapsed again and they stood there awkwardly. "I had fun anyway. Thank you."
When Dave tried but couldn't answer, Kurt just gave him a small smile and left the rink.
"You're welcome," he said after he was out of sight, before heading out of the opposite door.
xxx
Kurt tiptoed into Blaine's room where he was watching My Fair Lady for what Kurt was sure was the millionth time. Quiet though he tried to be, there was no getting past Blaine.
"Hey you," said Blaine, his face lighting up when he saw Kurt. "I'm only halfway through the mov- damn Kurt, is that a bruise?" His whole tone changed and he jumped off the bed in alarm.
"It wasn't Dave," said Kurt, throwing his hands up in defence, though he had no idea why he was so quick about it. "I fell face-first onto the ice. You picked the least graceful man in the whole world to be your boyfriend."
Blaine laughed with a tiny hint of scepticism hidden behind it. He didn't find it hard to imagine Dave hitting Kurt (probably because it had actually happened before), but at the same time, he knew Kurt would be in a far worse emotional state if that was the case. So instead of interrogating Kurt about how the "date" had gone, he sat down on the bed with his boyfriend and pressed play on the movie.
Kurt had his head rested contentedly on Blaine's shoulder and was watching Audrey Hepburn being her usual flawless self, when he felt Blaine's fingers lace through his. For some reason the sensation felt strange to him, despite it being almost second nature to the two of them now. And he found when he closed his eyes it was Dave's face that was the first thing he saw.
Blaine felt Kurt tense up when he took his hand – something that had never happened before. He knew that Kurt wasn't cheating on him because he was too bad of a liar to keep something like that a secret, but he couldn't shake the feeling that Kurt was slipping through his fingers.
And he hated it.
A/N: Sorry for the lack of other characters in this chapter. I promise more Samcedes and Wemma in the next chapters. :)
As always, thank you for reading and feel free to review :) x
