The meeting ended with excited rumblings of what songs the Warblers would be covering this year. The new kids were all busy babbling about the thrill of having seen their first performance and hoping to be a part of the next one.
Blaine surveyed the room, keeping track of Kurt. He wanted to catch him before he got a chance to leave the meeting. Blaine wanted to personally gauge Kurt's reaction to his little performance.
Wes was heading toward Blaine, jaw set and a less than pleased look on his face. Blaine knew if he didn't go talk to Kurt now, Wes would end up monopolizing his time for the next hour and he would lose his chance.
Blaine made his way across the room to Kurt, where he stood a few feet behind Michael waiting for his boyfriend to finish socializing.
"Kurt," Blaine started. He raised an eyebrow and cocked his head toward the door. If he was going to talk to Kurt, it had to be in private.
Kurt folded his arms and pursed his lips, not moving an inch.
"No, Blaine." Kurt's easy directness gave Blaine an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.
Blaine looked around to see that no one was watching their interaction. Wes had moved on, talking animatedly to David. Michael was still in a conversation with another new student, but he had noticed Blaine approach Kurt and stood just out of earshot trying to make it look like he wasn't watching them too intently.
Blaine clenched and unclenched his fists. He itched to reach out and grab Kurt by the waist and drag him to his bed like he'd done so many times last year. To have something he wanted within his reach and yet unattainable was maddening.
He put on his most sickeningly sweet voice and tried again, "Kurt, I think it would be great to catch up." Blaine reached out to rub his thumb along Kurt's forearm, noting some movement in the corner of his eye. "Let's go grab some coffee downstairs."
"We'd love to." Blaine tensed at the unwelcome voice and closed his eyes. Kurt could not be dating someone dense enough to think that was an open invitation.
Blaine opened his eye to see Michael cozied up next to Kurt, arm slung around his shoulders. Kurt had shifted into the taller boy's side so there was no space between the tight press of their bodies. Kurt dropped his arms, no longer in a defensive stance and with a slight smirk playing at the edges of his mouth.
Blaine studied Kurt's gaze for a moment. He was wearing the same expression he wore at his most confident, that moment after he won a debate or thought he'd backed his opponent into a corner. He honestly thought Blaine felt threatened by Michael.
Blaine shifted his attention to Michael. This was the first time he'd taken the opportunity to study the boy up close. Blaine couldn't tell if Michael felt threatened by Blaine being close to Kurt or if he genuinely thought Blaine was offering the perfect chance to 'make new friends. Michael's face looked so genuine, and that only bothered Blaine more.
Blaine quickly weighed his options. Talking in front of Michael guaranteed a less crowded audience with Kurt and, at this point, was probably as close to private as Blaine was going to get. It was probably worth it to let Michael come. If Kurt thought he felt threatened, he would just have to remind Kurt just how much better he was than Michael. Blaine welcomed the comparison.
Blaine took a step forward and looked Michael up and down, locked his eyes on Kurt and with a falsely sweet tone responded, "That would be great."
Kurt's eyes were wide and his jaw visibly tightened. Blaine raised an eyebrow at Kurt; he should have known Blaine wouldn't back off from a challenge.
"Great! I was a little worried about meeting people, this is such an exclusive group. First day and I'm already having coffee with the leader." Michael squeezed Kurt's shoulder and said, "See, Kurt, I'll do fine here."
Blaine had a full smile on now, glancing between Michael's blissful ignorance and Kurt's frustrated expression. This kid was clueless.
Michael moved to lead the way toward the door, sliding his hand into Kurt's and Blaine swallowed thickly at the casual display of affection.
Filteredwas the swanky coffee shop across the street from Dalton. It tried for, and missed, all of the charm of a local shop like The Lima Bean, but it still made a decent cup of coffee for the days Blaine didn't have time for a trip to Lima.
Two steps in, Kurt turned and stopped Blaine and Michael by raising his hands.
"You two go get us a table, I'll get the drinks."
Blaine looked at Kurt for a minute. He didn't want to be sitting at a table alone with Michael, but he was almost positive Kurt didn't want that either. He had no idea what Kurt was playing at.
"Blaine," Kurt said, pulling Blaine from his thoughts. "What do you usually drink?"
Blaine blinked in surprise. Kurt knew what he drank. Kurt insisted on learning Blaine's coffee order his first day in Boston because he believed it made them a 'real couple.'
Kurt merely raised an eyebrow and feigned a look of genuine curiosity.
At least he knew what Kurt was playing at now. Kurt was going to put up a wall for the entire coffee date if Blaine didn't start playing along.
"Medium drip," he said.
Kurt studied Blaine for a moment as if he couldn't believe Blaine was giving in so easily.
Kurt's eyes met his for what felt like the first real look since this summer. Blaine took a deep breath; he hadn't realized how good it felt to have Kurt look at him, to have that spark and connection between them again. Having Kurt's attention back on him felt even better than it had before.
Kurt was the one to end their eye contact. He spun on his heel, the moment broken as easily as it had begun, and walked up to the counter with his haughty attitude back in full force. Blaine was forced to go with Michael to find an open table near the back of the shop.
Michael chatted animatedly as if nothing had happened. In reality, the whole exchange was so short that maybe nothing had. Maybe Blaine was imagining the electricity he felt when Kurt looked at him. He ignored Michael completely, watching Kurt instead as he placed their orders and glanced over at their table. Kurt was mindlessly drumming his fingers on the counter until Blaine caught his attention, then he froze before glancing away. It wasn't much, but it was all Blaine needed to confirm: they weren't over.
Blaine looked up at Michael. The boy was still rambling, completely oblivious to the fact that Blaine couldn't focus on a word he was saying. Blaine could see that in a few years the boy would be attractive. He had lighter hair than Kurt and was tall, but hadn't quite grown into his own limbs yet. He certainly didn't know how to use them.
Michael was a good placeholder for Blaine, but he could never offer Kurt the same type of satisfaction in a relationship. As soon as Kurt remembered how captivatingBlaine was he'd never choose someone else, even despite his unwillingness to make their relationship public. Blaine just had to refresh Kurt's memory.
Kurt made his way to their table balancing the three cups. Each little sway of Kurt's hips made Blaine's hands itch to touch him.
I need to get laid.
Kurt handed him his coffee without comment, merely watching as Blaine took a sip of his coffee. The familiar taste brought a smile to his lips.
Blaine cocked his head to the side and asked, "Wow, Kurt. How did you know I like a dash of cinnamon in my coffee?"
Kurt's eyes narrowed at Blaine accompanied by his signature bitch glare. It was one of Blaine's favorite things about Kurt: he wasn't going to take crap from anyone. Kurt was a strong independent man who people often underestimated and Blaine loved that.
Kurt took a small sip of his coffee and lowered the cup slowly, his eyes never leaving Blaine's face, as if locked on a target.
"Lucky guess," Kurt said with a slight pause between words.
Blaine looked from Kurt to Michael. Michael didn't seem to notice any of the discomfort at the
table. He smiled between the two, waiting for Kurt to focus on him. The moment Kurt looked Michael's way, Michael grabbed his hand and brought it to his lips, "Thanks, baby," he muttered.
To Blaine's mild disgust, Kurt smiled and practically glowed at the attention.
Blaine took another sip and cleared his throat, willing any appropriate topic of conversation to come to mind.
"So, how do you two even know each other?"
"I live in Lima. I stopped in to Kurt's dad's garage one day. He was so gorgeous I never thought he'd give me the time of day, but I got lucky. Turns out some moron didn't know what he had when he was with Kurt, so he had lower standards when he met me," Michael said with a wink, obviously thinking his joke would be well received.
Kurt laughed nervously and curled into Michael's side. "My dad actually put in a good word for him. The rest, as they say, is history," Kurt finished.
Blaine felt a pang of guilt in his chest. He knew Kurt and his father were close, but Blaine had never liked the idea of Kurt telling his dad about them. The man was a Congressman. What if he let it slip that he was fighting for marriage equality for his son and his boyfriend? Aside from being a Congressman, all Blaine knew about the guy was that he was a big football fan, and Michael didn't look like he knew the difference between a touchdown and a first down. Somehow, he'd still won the approval of Mr. Hummel, and Blaine knew his opinion met more to Kurt than anyone else's.
"Kurt's mentioned his dad a few times," Blaine said. "You don't seem like you'd have a whole lot in common."
Michael started to respond, but was quickly cut off by Kurt. "Michael knows cars, Blaine. Michael is willing to try to get along with my father and my brother despite not having much in common with them. Michael is actually quite willing to try anything for me to prove he's committed to this relationship."
Kurt curled impossibly closer into Michael's side and hugged on to the boy's arm. He raised an eyebrow at Blaine.
Blaine looked at the pair across from him. If he was being honest with himself, he wished he could get along with Kurt's dad and provide that kind of relationship for Kurt, but Blaine was a senior in high school. There was no need for him to change his entire life to appease Kurt for one year. Kurt should have understood that everything would be different for them after graduation. He should have waited.
Kurt and Michael had wrapped themselves up in a conversation that was only meant for the two of them, and Blaine figured he had learned everything he was going to about their relationship that was of benefit to him. He still knew he and Kurt were meant to be. He still knew there were certain ways that he would always better satisfy Kurt, all the ways that mattered. Michael may be someone Kurt was willing to settle with for now, but Blaine could still feel the sexual tension between them any time they were close, and he knew Kurt felt it too from the blush high on his cheeks. Blaine just had to remind Kurt that he didn't have to settle.
"I have to go," Blaine said in way of interrupting their conversation. "I've got to get back for some homework."
Blaine stood up and walked around the table, rested his hand on Kurt's shoulder.
"I'm glad you remembered the cinnamon," Blaine said with a little wink. As he walked away from the table, he was already coming up with ways to make Kurt remember who could treat him better behind closed doors.
