A/N: I am so unbelievably apologetic for the wait, dear readers. Your kind reviews have made my heart swell to sizes that should be illegal. School has started for me and it has been a hectic nightmare of sorts, so writing time is scarce nowadays. Also, I won't lie, I've been pre-occupied with writing my other story, Embers. It's a Klaine fairytale-esque sort of story, and I am kind of obsessed with it at the moment. I think I may love you forever if you gave it a chance.
check it out here: .net/s/7311916/1/Embers
This part's a little shorter, but believe me, I had enough trouble getting it to this length. I hope you'll all bear with me and this story, it's not over yet!
Depending on how your high school experience goes, you will either come out of your shell, or have one built for you and be shoved forcefully inside it. Or you might be indifferent to it all and remain the same, you never know.
There's a reason why Kurt isn't as open as he used to be.
There's a reason why Kurt expected Blaine to walk away, or ignore him, or even lash out in ridicule.
Somewhere along all the bullying and singling out and running, Kurt had stopped believing in the good in people. He became jaded and started building walls instead of bridges. Sadly, everything is justified.
He stopped believing in everyone else. He saw little good in the world and therefore tried his hardest not to let them in. It was a security measure.
What he does believe in is his family. He believes in Burt, the father who is still learning but is still so eager to. Willing. Loving. He believes in Carole, who is the closest thing he will ever have to a real mother. She was so accepting and understanding of a boy that had only been in her life for several years.
As much as he hates to admit it, he also believes in Finn. The boy who he'd had a rocky start with, but grew to love as a brother and a friend. Naive, simple-minded, honest Finn. He knows he meant it when he told him he had his back.
Ultimately, Kurt is beginning to believe in himself again. And when he does, he tells himself, that's when he'll probably begin to understand Blaine. A man who had spent a portion of his life working as a volunteer to believe in other people's lives when they themselves wouldn't.
The first night Kurt and Blaine had gone for drinks had ended on a high note. Granted, they almost killed themselves entrusting a barely sober Kurt with the driver's wheel, but they had given themselves (at the very least) some buffer time before they left to get some of the drunkenness out of their system.
Kurt had never been more grateful that he had opted for an automatic and not a manual car, because though he had sobered up enough to be aware of his surroundings, he found his limbs were still feeling a bit detached but overall, satisfactorily functioning.
When Blaine turned in the passenger's seat to hug him goodbye, Kurt had that similar uncomfortable feeling he'd had earlier when Blaine bought him his drink. Insecure would have been an understatement- he was bracing himself for another possible final goodbye. When Blaine's arms wrapped around him in an awkward but warm hug, he can't help but breathe in the sharp scent of rum on his breath and the soothing smell of Blaine's musky cologne. His slightly wild ringlet curls tickled Kurt's cheek, soft as down. Everything about Blaine is comfort.
When he pulls away, unable to formulate a suitably momentous goodbye, Blaine cuts in by fumbling clumsily around his pants and patting everywhere until he finds his phone (with a matching sound of triumph.) He then typed out "Mike" on his iPhone and handed him the empty contact page with a grin.
And that is the story of how Kurt Hummel, currently dubbed Mike Chang, became Blaine Anderson's regular ride home every friday night.
Tonight, he's sitting alone at the same table he'd sat at with Blaine when they first had drinks. The difference is that there is no vodka in his soda, and that he is actually waiting for a friend to occupy the seat opposite him.
As if on cue, his bubbly friend slowly totters over after finishing up his set with that now familiar cheery smile on his face.
"Where's your other crutch?" Kurt inquires, pointing at the absence of one of the sticks.
"Physio told me I could start trying to walk with just one," he grins. "it's gotten a little better."
"Blaine, that's so great." Kurt says, in earnest.
He's about to call the waitress over to get Blaine's drink when he notices Blaine hadn't sat down.
"Hey, listen. Do you mind if we get out of here?" Blaine asks, tentatively.
Kurt doesn't know why, but his heart lurches.
"I skipped lunch today and I'm about to drop dead from starvation."
Kurt laughs nervously at the wording and brushes off that drop in his stomach.
"Yeah. Yeah, of course."
It isn't until they've sat down in a booth at Breadstix that he realises how much this resembles a date.
Not a date, Kurt, he admonishes. Dinner. Dinner with a friend.
Dinner with a friend in ambient lighting and jazz music in the most notorious couple joint in town- from high school sweethearts to dating colleagues to married couples. Breadstix just happens to have a very relaxing vibe to it, and it draws a lot of customers in. It's also a fairly popular hang out spot in general for most high school kids.
Blaine sits across from him, the dim overhead lamp casting faint shadows under his pretty lashes. He sort of wishes that he really was on a date with him.
He pushes the thought away when he looks up at Blaine who is looking at the menu with such intensity that is most definitely laughable. He makes this known to him, earning him a joking scowl.
"If looks could kill, Blaine."
"Shut up, Mike."
The nickname has become sort of second nature at this point. Kurt has started to respond to it, for starters. He'd always get a slightly strange look from Blaine when he's been calling his name for ages and he hasn't batted an eyelash. It's also become easier to ignore the uncomfortable lump in his throat every time he calls him that. He can feel the ominous build, but Kurt (as you may have noticed by now) has an awful habit of trying to run away. He isn't quite ready to face the music just yet.
"Alright, you keep poring over your food choices, I'll just slip to the bathroom."
"Go for it, man."
What Kurt doesn't see after he's slipped through the bathroom door is a bunch of letterman jackets rising from the corner booth of the restaurant and following suit.
Blaine's been sitting at the booth by himself for a while now, give or take fifteen minutes. He's beginning to wonder what on earth Mike is doing in the bathroom and is becoming a little more paranoid as each second ticks by.
He'd thought little of asking Mike to dinner that night; after all, they were only friends and casual ones at that. Sure, he knows Breadstix has a romantic vibe and it seems a little inappropriate to take a friend there, but the food is really good and they're legally unable to stop bringing him breadsticks and…
Alright, he might be a little attracted to Mike.
Very, very mildly attracted to Mike.
He's a little odd at times, almost forgetting who he is and can be pretty ditzy. But for all of his quirks, there is his adorable charm and innate wit to counter it threefold. It kind of bewilders him how strangely they met, but it's certainly unlike anything else he'd ever experienced.
He's a full two years younger than Blaine himself, and even then, he barely looks his age. There's something so innocent about his face- the big, doe-like eyes in particular make him look so young and vulnerable. He's kind of really cute.
Blaine shakes his head as the thought passes.
You can't be thinking like that. You haven't even known him for a month.
It's true, they barely know each other. When it comes down to it, Mike is simply a nice, friendly college kid that gave Blaine a ride out of the pure goodness of his heart. They've found a couple things in common and have become friends. He doesn't know much about Mike's history, his family, his friends, or even that much about himself. There are still a lot of question marks around him; Blaine can almost feel them. There's a whole world behind this kid and it worries Blaine how intrigued he's become in just a matter of weeks. Friday used to be a night to unravel himself in music- now it's a night to have a couple drinks with Mike. His friends had started traveling again the week before he and Mike met, but Mike isn't just some last resort. He's really sweet and Blaine looks forward to fridays more than ever now because of him.
He checks his watch again. It's been twenty minutes now, and he's really worried.
He wouldn't have freaked out and run out of the restaurant, would he? Did he think it was a date? Shit, had Blaine come off too strong and scared him off?
He pulls the napkin from his lap and places it on the table and stands without the help of his crutch. His foot has really been improving thanks to rigorous therapy, so he's able to make his way to the bathrooms at a rushed pace.
Kurt had just entered the bathroom when the doors swung open behind him.
"I thought we made it clear for you, Hummel."
Kurt's heart palpitates and falls somewhere around his ankles. His throat tightens as he realises who it is.
This isn't happening.
"There ain't any room for queers like you in Lima."
"I have no intention of staying, Karofsky."
His voice wavers only slightly, but he still gathers the nerve to turn around and meet the hulking boy in the eye. Behind him stand several football jock goons, an unsettlingly sinister grin on each of their acne-ridden faces.
"But then you go around flaunting that little boyfriend of yours, and it makes us think that you still haven't learnt your lesson."
They advance on him, and Kurt knows he's clearly outnumbered. There are five of them and only one of him. He stops backing up when he feels the cold porcelain sink digging into his back.
He's got nowhere to go.
"What do you say, boys?" Karofsky asks, mockingly. "One for old time's sake?"
