Tuesday: You Can Hold Your Head
Thad's hands deftly folded up Kurt's clothes. Correctly, the first time, every time. He was the only one who was allowed to touch the clothes. Everyone else had been banned. Including Blaine. Especially Blaine. Thad had been on the ban list when they'd first descended on Kurt's domicile, and Blaine had not been, but after the fourth attempt to properly fold up a simple shirt Thad had gotten fed up on Kurt's behalf and fixed it. They'd made fast friends after that.
"I have never seen this many clothes," Wes moaned. "This would go a lot faster if we could just-"
"No," Kurt chastised before he could even finish.
"But it's just clothes! And you're just going to unpack them in an hour anyway!" Thad latched onto him to pull him to safety, past the glare that was emanating from their new friend.
"Never tell a fashionista that it's just clothes," he warned. "It's never just clothes. Did you see his sewing machine? He probably made most of these himself."
"People do that?"
"More often than you think. Especially fashionistas."
"...Thad, do you-"
"No. I like clothes but not that much. My mom sews though. She likes to make costumes for the theater downtown."
"Why did I never know that about you…."
"You guys never come over to my place. Its your own fault for missing out!"
"Hey Kurt, are you doing ok?" Trent asked as he sat down next to the Junior. "You've been really quiet since Thad took over."
"He's doing a really good job," Kurt confessed. "And I just have so much wedding planning to get done. If I have everything plotted out then all Blaine and I have to do tomorrow is put the pieces together. Then Thursday the girls and I will get to go down to the church and decorate."
"That actually sounds really nice. The last wedding I went to was my uncle's and everything smelled like a nursing home. But we were in a hotel. I'm pretty sure it was a hotel at least…" The two laughed a little as Kurt flipped through the pages of his magazine again.
"I still have to find time to take everyone shopping for their bridesmaid dresses."
"What about tomorrow?"
"Mm maybe." Kurt looked up - he'd been doing that since they arrived, periodically, but always whenever Blaine was about. Especially when Blaine was doing any kind of heavy lifting to move things upstairs. Trent's bets were for after Thanksgiving. Considering how shy they were, and yet how they both looked at each other when they thought the other wasn't looking. He believed everyone who said 'not before sectionals' and he also believed that they would play around with the idea for a little while after that. Which meant they'd kiss in that sweet space between Thanksgiving and Christmas Concert Season. Because there was no way they could possibly wait longer than that. They were liable to burst now.
"Is something up?" the lead singer said as he came over and sat himself down on the foot of the bed.
"How would you like to meet the rest of the girls tomorrow?"
"I'd love to but I have to warn you - I am not very useful at dress shopping."
"Hm. Well actually I was thinking, we're going to have to hit up the mall, remember? To get enough matching dresses that fast. We'll be right next to the craft store."
"You want me to pick up the decorations while you're dress shopping with the girls?"
"I have to pick out tuxes too. Or at least make sure everything matches. Solid black and white. Very simple." He tapped his pen on the notebook where his full list of necessities was marked up.
"Doves? Kurt. Indoors?"
"I know. A man can dream." The tip of the pen trailed down along the red line on the left side of the paper. Then, a slow exhale. "I need a cake topper. I don't even know where to get those in Lima."
"What happened to the one from your Dad's first wedding?"
"...Couldn't find it."
"But you were up all night looking for it. I remember. You were still looking when we hung up."
"Mm and that is my cue to get out of here," Trent said as he hopped himself up.
"Wait! What?"
"You two were on the phone all night."
"Not all night."
"I have on good authority that you didn't even start getting ready for bed until two."
"...That isn't all night."
As they argued, Kurt pulled himself up and meandered over to his inspiration board to shift things around a little. The two watched as he pulled down the picture of his Mom and Dad's wedding. It had been fueling his energy, Blaine knew it had. When they'd mapped out the size of his new bedroom the night before, that was all Kurt could talk about.
He hadn't been there, of course, but he remembered how his mom had sat him down with the photo album and showed him every moment of that very special day. They still had her wedding dress. Kept up all nice. Apparently Carole was completely ok with that. Seeing as she still had a lot of Finn's dad's stuff.
There were some cut outs of inspiration that Kurt claimed were tied to that too, but he had only his memory to work on since he couldn't just say 'hey Finn I'm going to go through your basement' and he didn't really have time to hunt for inspiration pieces anyway. So he worked off his memory. It was biased towards his Dad's side but that was what happened when the Hummel side was put in charge of making the wedding happen. All those cut outs stayed up on the inspiration board. But his parents' wedding picture came down. He looked like he was in pain over the action.
Trent realized that was probably because of those back problems he was having. Blaine hadn't exactly been clear but it sounded bad. His muscles were torn or something from a bad accident during practice, or something like that. It had been hard to keep up. The Warblers had never heard Blaine talk that fast. It was almost like he didn't want them to understand.
Kurt's melancholy wasn't lost on any of the Warblers.
So, like true friends, the started trying to solve all his problems.
"Why don't you lay down for a bit?" Wes offered. "We've got this under control here."
"I can get you some ice for your back," David said. "Er, if you tell me where your baggies are."
"We can split up and try to find that topper!" Trent blurted. "I mean, you and your dad are packing everything, right? So it's bound to turn up. When he gets home we can ask him if it's ok if we help and that way he won't know you're planning on using it and we'll be able to keep our eyes open for you-"
"No," Kurt murmured. "I mean, the guys are coming over in a couple of hours, and you guys have to be gone by then because they don't know I invited you over. Actually they don't know that I talk to you at all. Finn didn't tell them. And...he thinks I'm just hanging out with Blaine."
"So we're your dirty little secret," Thad laughed. "That's fine, don't you worry we'll have all of your things packed and moved to your new room well before dinner. Though we are planning on taking you out. Blaine was telling us about this place called Breadstix-" He was cut off by a pillow. Hitting Blaine.
"What! It's good!" the shortest Warbler defended himself.
"If I'm seen beside one Warbler let alone in a sea of them I'd be in so much trouble!" Kurt chastised.
"They deliver. I saw it, on their to-go menu. I was thinking we could just have them deliver to your new house while we're unpacking everything."
"...Ok that we can do. But we have to be out of here before...Five thirty. That's when everyone is out of football practice and dad'll be off work, and all the guys are supposed to be helping with moving the furniture that we're taking with us, and I think there's a guy coming over in thirty minutes to check out some of the furniture we're selling…"
"Been here and gone again," a voice called from the top of the stairs. Then the man himself descended. "Well, looks like you aren't going to need my help. Hi." The bald man waved to the uniformed prep school boys. They all politely waved back, smiled, and Thad stepped forward to take charge.
"Congratulations on your upcoming wedding, Mr. Hummel," he said.
"Why thank you. You're...the kid with the car problems?"
"Yes, sir. Thank you for helping us fix it."
"Thank Kurt. He did all the work."
"I have. Actually that's...part of why we're here? I mean. We're all friends but I definitely owe him. My parents are sick of that car falling apart but they won't get me a new one. He's a life saver."
"Uh-huh. Well." Mr. Hummel tucked his thumbs into his pockets and looked over everything. Kurt had yanked a blanket from his bed and tossed it over all the wedding plans that were spread out on the floor. "You know it's just supposed to be the bride I'm not allowed to see before the wedding."
"It can't very well be a surprise if you see everything!" Kurt called back. "What are you doing home so early?"
"Everything was taken care of up at the shop, so I decided to come home and get some rest before everyone else showed up to help us pack up that truck Finn's picking up for us. I saw them loading up your car though. I take it that means you're not helping us with the furniture?"
"Well. You have a good half of the football team coming over for that. I'll be pretty much useless. So I figured I go start unpacking at the new house to make things easier when the furniture gets over there. We already mapped out where to put the furniture."
"Oh you did? I haven't been over there today."
"Mmhm. Just look for the blue duct tape X's. I put maps on the walls so you know what to put where." With a laugh, Burt waved the lot of them off.
"Alright, alright." His eyes trailed over the boys. "No offense but I'm never going to be able to tell your new friends apart. In those jackets they all look the same to me. What's your name?"
"Thad."
"Thad. Hm. Take it easy on these guys Kurt."
"Yes Dad."
As the man headed back up the stairs, Blaine became eerily aware of how many people were staring at him. Not Kurt. Him. His own father's departure from his parents' marriage after last Christmas wasn't not on his mind. But he also, honestly, wasn't terribly bothered by it. He'd dealt with the strained relationship since he'd told his parents in seventh grade. By now it was just a fact of life. Though his past experiences did make this all the more beautiful. He vowed to make absolute sure that this wedding was perfect. Not just for Mr and future Mrs. Hummel, but for Kurt. Because every kid deserved to have a beautiful family. And the Hummel family was already so perfect, this would just take it to the next level.
Ok. Maybe, just maybe, he was a little bit jealous. A part of him really didn't mind the thought of also joining the Hummel crew. Blaine felt his heart fluttering at the thought.
...
"Kurt will you just sit down? You're making my back hurt," David laughed as he held up Kurt's box of pasta. He'd put two breadsticks on top in the hopes of tempting the boy to settle down. But the public school kid was as restless as someone who was nesting.
"I have to just get this last thing hung up-"
"You said that thirty minutes ago," Wes reminded him.
"I think we're being insensitive," Thad said - around a mouthful of fettuccini. He was hungry. He had to have his fetti. "These clothes are masterpieces, and every artist does like to make sure their work is taken care of. Isn't that right Timothy?" One of the Junior Warblers let out a grumble. The story of how he'd absolutely blown up his Freshman year because someone had spilled soda on his painting was well known throughout the Warblers. No one dared spill any substance on his anything now.
"They'll still be just as cared for ten minutes from now."
"You guys haven't eaten with Kurt yet have you?" Blaine mumbled around his breadstick. "It takes an hour." The entire room watched as Kurt turned - for the first time - from his work. And it was to look at Blaine.
"Not that there's anything wrong with that," Trent called out.
"Why would anything be wrong with that?"
"Mm. Some people like to eat fast."
"I really don't care...wait do you guys-"
"No," echoed around the room. How so many boys had managed to fit into the space was kind of a wonder of nature. Kurt's old bedroom was an entire basement. This was an actual room. It was like moving from a personal very well decked out personal suite to a common community college dorm.
It was more fascinating, however, how Kurt managed to get around all of them to keep hanging up his clothes.
As the 'one last one' fell into place in the closet, one of the boys pushed the door shut on him. "Come on, get something to eat. We'll help you put everything away in a minute. Just eat for us, please."
With a huff, the teen settled himself right in between Blaine and Thad without even the smallest of hesitations. It was, of course, the only spot left in the circle. The Warblers constantly made absolute certain that they would end up sitting together. It was a really easy way to gauge how they were doing. Like today - Kurt was sitting close enough that his shoulder brushed against their short and dappar superstar. Blaine helped him get whatever he wanted into his plastic to-go bowl. They were completely in sync. Two unexpected halves that made a brand new whole.
Then disaster struck.
The it started with one boy, but it spread to all of them very quickly. Mostly due to the breadsticks. "Did anyone get anything for us to drink?"
"Is there anything for us to drink out of here?"
"We haven't moved over the kitchen...anythings yet. Carole was going to go through everything and figure out what we had two of. Though they aren't allowed to throw anything out because the kitchen is my domain...Uhm, I mean-"
"It's ok Kurt, half the guys here bake as a hobby. It really comes in handy for us. Means pretty much every day we have some fresh baked something to munch on."
"You guys really aren't going to make any jokes?"
"Not at all. But we will complain about a lack of pop."
"Soda."
"Oooh Blaine he's like you. He likes the word soda more than pop."
"You know oddly that doesn't solve the drink shortage problem," Blaine sighed. Wes jingled his keys as he hopped up, motioning around to see who would join him.
"Come on guys, I need someone to help me find everything, you know I'm useless in a store," he jested.
"You're not useless!" Blaine chastised.
"Come with me anyway?"
"Ugh fine. The rest of you, don't eat Kurt while I'm out."
"Gee thanks I feel so much safer," Kurt laughed. Though his giggles were cut short as Blaine's hand brushed over his shoulder. They shared a smile, then Blaine and Wes were gone. Which meant that, against Blaine's best efforts, it was time for the Warblers to pull Kurt apart and find out what made him tick. And, more importantly, how soon would he and Blaine be sucking face.
The public school boy seemed oblivious to their plotting as he munched away ever so innocently on that breadstick of his. That or he just didn't care. Given his wardrobe - and they were all quite familiar with it now - they guessed he was probably used to people staring at him. He did seem to like to draw attention to himself. While Blaine had insisted the baby blue suit with the spiked shoulder pads were part of a costume the fact remained that this kid had at some point worn that. With the baby blue bedazzled heel shoes. And the wig. There was a wig involved. Clearly Kurt did not mind attention.
When the bright-eyed future husband of Blaine's did look up at them, they tried to turn away as though they hadn't been watching him at all.
"Is something wrong?" he asked despite their efforts.
"Did you ask him out or did he ask you out?" one of them blurted. And suddenly Kurt shrunk. He sputtered for words so badly that he sounded like a 1910 Ford.
"Jeremy!" Thad scolded.
"What! Everyone's thinking it."
"You can't just blurt things out like that."
"We aren't dating," Kurt squeaked.
"Why not!" Jeremy gasped.
"Because we're part of rival show choirs?"
"...If you weren't would you be dating right now?"
"Wait does this mean you two are going to make it official after sectionals?" another questioned as he reached for Thad's sleeve to give it a tug, but the senior just shrugged him away. There was no changing the bets now. They'd put them all on an official - password protected - computer document.
"We're not dating!" Kurt reiterated. "And we're not going to!"
"Woah! Why not?" David called out.
"Because...because he doesn't like me like that."
There was an awkward silence over the room. Was it even possible that Kurt didn't realize how bad Blaine's crush was? Well, they didn't know how Blaine acted when he was alone with Kurt. From what they'd seen, he was cool. Suave even. Completely unlike the mess that blushed and jittered about whenever they discussed his love life at school.
"Look, we're just really good friends. Two gay guys can be just friends, just like a straight guy and a straight girl can be just friends. Just because we could date and actually like it doesn't mean we have to."
This wasn't possible. Was it?
Could Kurt...not be in love with Blaine?
Well this wouldn't do.
"Kurt, Kurt," Thad said as he pushed the basket of breadsticks his way. The smaller teen squirmed a little. "You can talk to us. I know, it's so shocking that guys can care about feelings and talk, well, boys. Sometimes. But we definitely aren't like other guys."
"I've noticed. Thank you, really, but there isn't much to say."
"But there is something?" Everyone leaned in as he took in a deep breath.
"Even...even if there was, I don't think...I could, you know?"
"Could date Blaine?" Trent asked, a bit of panic seeping into his voice. He wasn't entirely sure he'd be able to pay up if the bet went to the default they'd set if no one got it right. And if there wasn't something blossoming between Klaine...Kurt and Blaine. Wow he'd already given in to the couple name. That wasn't good. But if something wasn't blossoming and they never became 'Klaine' then that would mean no one got it right. Not even close.
"Oh, I…" The teen got up and leaned out of his new bedroom's door to listen for a moment. "This stays between us."
"Of course," the crowd murmured, putting their hands to their hearts to seal the promise.
"I...I could date him, ok? But I can't."
"I don't understand," Jeremy whispered.
"Ugh. How do I put this. I've...I've never talked about this kind of thing with people who didn't also like boys, ok? Its weird."
"It's ok," Thad reassured. "Honestly Blaine was ten times worse than you last year."
"...really?"
"Yeah. He was painfully shy, but I can't really blame him."
"Blaine's going to kill us if he finds out we were talking about him," David warned them lightly.
"Right. This stays between us."
"Of course," Kurt promised. "It's not that I'm shy though. It's just...It's not what I'm used to."
"He was shy because this wasn't what he was used to either. But after a while you will get used to it and it'll all be normal for you. And it helps, I've noticed. Being able to just be yourself, and talk freely, and not be judged. It can really help you figure yourself out."
"Ok." The teen took in another deep breath as he sat down in the doorway. Right where he could hear when Wes and Blaine got back, Thad realized. "He's...he's gorgeous, ok? He's really, really...really attractive." They got a sharp glare when a few of them laughed at his statement. But it was true. No one was going to pretend they weren't the most attractive bunch of boys outside of LA (since that was where all the movie stars supposedly lived). Plus they had uniforms that just dialed up their hotness quotient to 100. Blaine was no exception. In fact, for Kurt, it probably only made that 100 turn into a 1,000. "And he's a really great friend too. I just...I couldn't just casually date someone like him."
"...So don't casually date him. Date him for real," David sighed. He sounded completely exasperated. Thad remembered that apparently Blaine had said the same thing, from what he'd been told. Kurt wasn't 'fling' material. He so badly wanted to say that, but that would be cheating. They weren't allowed to intervene. And besides if they butted in and Kurt and Blaine got together prematurely it could end badly. Especially for his bet.
Though he wasn't so wrapped up in his game that he'd cause these two harm. That wasn't the Dalton way. He'd expel himself if he let Blaine get hurt.
"I'm not sure I'm ready to date someone 'for real.' I mean, it's great to think about it. Being serious. Do you even realize how much that entails? My dad is getting married this weekend. To someone that he's been dating for real for a while. We're making a new family. And it is not easy. It's taking a lot of work. Sure you guys get to see all of us moving in together, and getting everything ready for the wedding, but...we didn't get here overnight. We had to work through a lot of things to be able to comfortably do this. Finn and I especially. To reach the point where we can call ourselves brothers."
"...uhm, no offense, but...no one expects you two to get married tomorrow," one of the other Warblers said. "That's way too much to take on."
"I'm not talking about marrying Blaine either! ...Though I do see where you got that. No, no. I mean...A real relationship, it's not going to be easy. I'm not ready to work for something right now. I want something easy. And if I have an 'easy' relationship with Blaine then...what if we fall apart? What if we fight, and it gets so bad that...that just one day he doesn't call anymore! I don't want to not have him in my life because I wasn't ready to fight to have some deep romantic relationship with him."
Honestly, Kurt sounded more ready to have a real relationship than anyone else in the room. "Ok," Thad decided to interrupt. "You know, that's actually really romantic of you."
"Not dating someone is romantic?"
"Yeah. You're right, rushing into things isn't very smart. And true romance, I think, is a couple that looks back twenty years later with their kids heading off to high school and still loving each other just as much as the day they first said I love you. Its what I want at least." Half the room groaned at his sentiment. But for the most part they agreed.
"...Do I have to remind you that I'm not talking about marriage."
"But you are talking about keeping him in your life long term."
"Yeah. He's a great friend. I really don't want to think of a day when I can't call him. But maybe that's just the part of me that's tired of being the only out gay kid I know besides him. Maybe I'm just using him."
"Well that's easy," David said. "Answer this question honestly: Are you using him?"
"No!"
"There's your answer. You're not just using him. You actually like him."
"As a friend!"
"Of course. As a friend."
"Speaking of romantic," Jeremy dropped. "Blaine is hopeless about that kind of thing, so don't go stringing him along and letting him get the wrong idea. Or you might wind up with a giant Valentine's bouquet next February. And chocolates. And, well, do I even have to mention the well choreographed love song that definitely will happen? He'll drag you down to Dalton and sit you down in one of those big soft chairs and make all of us perform for you while he professes his undying love forever more."
"He'd probably do that too," David laughed.
"...You're not joking?" Kurt whispered.
"Not in the least. Blaine loves romance. Well, he loves performing it. Showing people how he feels, that sort of thing. You've probably noticed that by now though. He's so very intense."
"I've definitely noticed."
"You have to be careful with him," Jeremy warned. "Once he decides that you are the object of his affections, all this 'I'm not ready' business won't matter."
"Give him some credit!" Thad called out. "Don't scare Kurt. Kurt, Blaine would never do something if he thought it would upset you. And he knows that a relationship probably isn't the best thing right now. He's more focused on helping you with this bully thing you're dealing with. You don't have to worry about unexpected declarations of love. I promise."
That was probably too much meddling. But no one wanted them to get scared and never get together. The way they'd been all day - sitting close, laughing at little jokes no one else understood, the secrets that apparently Blaine shared with Kurt but not them? It was a fairytale kind of love. With a heavy dose of reality brought in by two teens who had been forced to grow up way too soon in a society that treated them like freakshows.
Everyone fell quiet when the front door shut. It was no surprise who was coming up though - Wes and Blaine were laughing so hard that they'd probably been heard all the way back at Kurt's old house.
"Ok so we couldn't decide, so we got five different kinds of soda," Blaine declared as he stopped just outside the room. Wes had no qualms with stepping over Kurt but Blaine? Well he extended his hand to help his friend move back in where everyone else was. "Please tell me they behaved while we were gone."
"You don't trust us?" Jeremy crooned out.
"No."
"They behaved," Kurt said, accepting the hand and using Blaine to stand up and get out of their way. Perhaps it was the Warblers' collective imagination running wild, but it looked almost as though Kurt held onto his hand longer than he had to. No - he was definitely trying to hold onto Blaine's hand.
Those two were most definitely in love.
