9: What a Wonderful World (Louis Armstrong)
It was much later, when Kurt sat on his bed and reflected his not-a-date-that-could-quite-possibly-have-been-a-date with Ryan that he realised how nice it had been to be pressed to the taller boy's chest. The butterflies in his stomach had started to behave themselves by the end of their impromptu rehearsal, and he had been able to ask Ryan his opinion on the song that Kurt was working on. Ryan had said it was nice, but suggested some tweaks to make it less of a cliché love story song, and Kurt figured he could work some of the changes in. He stared at his messy sheet music, his pencil tip tapping distractedly on the lap-desk he was working off of.
Mercedes would have given him some good advice right about now. Kurt missed her so much it made his head ache; what does one do when their best friend is six hundred miles away? Could he even attempt not to mope?
He sighed angrily and stood, putting his unfinished work on his desk before flopping down again. Oh, how his life was confusing! One minute he was convinced he still hadn't gotten over Finn, his first crush from years ago, and the next he's falling for some guy he just met (and he had no one to talk about it with). Kurt didn't know which one was worse— though pining for a straight guy wasn't exactly going to help him any, so he supposed falling for Ryan couldn't hurt. Well, it could hurt, but Ryan didn't seem to be that kind of guy. He was actually rather sweet, and extremely talented and fashionable. He and Kurt had tons in common that he and Finn never had. Maybe that was why this time, it could work.
He ended up scrubbing his face much harder than usual in an attempt to clear his head, but it didn't work. All the skin-care products in the universe couldn't distract him from the lovely face that now seemed to appear every time he closed his eyes; Ryan's face, complete with a saucy grin on it and a white fedora covering his hair. Kurt wondered vaguely what was with all of the hats, as he seemed to be wearing a different one every time they saw each other; then again, fedoras in particular were in this season, so perhaps he was just keeping up with the trends.
The buzzing sound brought his attention back to the real world, and he snatched up his phone, which lie vibrating on his nightstand. He barely glanced at the text before tossing the phone back down and going over to his desk, settling down in his chair and opening his laptop, a grin covering his once dreary expression.
Kurt was amused at how the moment he signed on to MSN he got a request from ChocolateGodess89 for webcam access. He laughed to himself slightly, then accepted, and a small window with Mercedes's face appeared on the screen.
"Kurt!" she greeted, a content smile on her features. "How've you been doing, boy? Is Juilliard treating you well?" As much as they'd been texting each other, it was different to talk in person. Kurt was glad for the distraction; he had far too much to think about, anyway.
"It is absolutely fabulous! Juilliard is the most wonderful school there is, Mercedes. Honestly, I don't know how I even survived before New York. Oh, right, that would be your doing." Mercedes took the compliment to heart, and began fanning herself with her hand in her most Diva-like manor.
"Why, thank you. I'm amazing, right?"
"Positively wonderful," Kurt said, not letting the sarcasm touch his voice. It did, however, reach his eyes, and Mercedes laughed; over the speaker, her laugh was not nearly as quaint as it was in real life. Kurt found himself missing her even more than he had before their conversation had begun. "How is, well, everything?" Mercedes had been keeping the details of her life under wraps all month, and it was beginning to drive Kurt crazy. "Spill, girl."
Mercedes heaved a huge sigh, glaring daggers through the webcam at him. The sigh sounded more like static than anything else, and Kurt made a mental note to get her a better microphone for Christmas, as the once she was using was obviously of horrible quality. He couldn't even imagine trying to record his own singing voice using that thing; it would probably make him sound like Rachel, or some other horrible creature. Ick.
"Well," Mercedes started, drawing out the word like it had several syllables more than it actually did. "I sort of... met this guy." Kurt was suddenly more than interested, his eyes light up like a child's on Christmas morning.
"You met a guy? Is he cute? I want details, like, now!"
Kurt neglected to tell her that in fact that he, too, had met a guy.
"His name is Alex, and he's the most gorgeous guy I've ever met. And he has fairly good fashion instincts. Though not as refined as our taste, it's workable. And he's smart— a history major, if you can believe it. Can't keep a tune for more than ten seconds, but I'm attempting to train him."
"You fell for a history major?" Kurt asked numbly, almost giving himself a face-palm at the irony. "You failed history. Twice." Mercedes grinned.
"I know, we're complete opposites— but we just work together, you know? I guess opposites really do attract." She paused, looking at him carefully. He had suddenly dived for, and now had his nose buried in, his cell phone, texting like a madman. "Hellooo, Earth to Kurt! You still with me?"
He made an affirmative, "Mm," sound, not looking up from his phone until he had finished typing his message. When he had finished entering what must have been an extremely long message, he looked at her with a goofy smile on his face. "Sorry, what was that? Opposites attract?"
She looked at him blankly before placing her hand on her hip and giving him The Look. It was a look that he always received when he had either 1) done something wrong, or 2) was hiding important gossip from her. He supposed this time it was the latter of the two options.
"Who was that?" she asked accusingly.
"Who was what?" Kurt asked innocently, pretending he didn't know what she was talking about. Ryan's text of "R U busy later?" had sent his head spinning. But it was a pleasant kind of spinning, he decided.
"Whoever just texted you," Mercedes said, her tone still accusing but her eyes fond and curious. As if on cue, the phone buzzed again with Ryan's reply and Kurt jumped for it, practically singing with glee at the message. "Seriously, who is that that's gotten you so hot and bothered?"
"Well, I guess I have a shopping date tomorrow," he said matter-of-factly. It was more to himself than to his best friend, who sat waiting at her computer with a bemused expression on her face. Kurt looked at her and frowned.
"Well," he began, dragging out the word just as she had earlier, deciding to play-mock her in his explanation. "I kind of..." he paused, letting her fluster. "Met a guy?"
Mercedes's squeal of delight was both shrill and annoying, and Kurt had to resist the urge to put his hands over his ears. After she had come down from her momentary high, she grinned at him excitedly. "Oh, finally!" she exclaimed. After a second more, she calmed down just enough to demand details (well, 'deets,' but that's just her way of talking), just as he had upon hearing her news.
"His name is Ryan," Kurt said, as if that told her everything. She looked at him expectantly, wanting more to go off us. "He's... well, a bit of everything, I think. I mean, he's studying dance and majoring in choreography—"
"So he must be well-built," Mercedes concluded.
"—but he's also a singer, and apparently an acting 'God,' but I haven't seen him act yet, so I don't know if he was exaggerating." (He put the word 'God' in finger quotes for emphasis.)
"And talented," she noted, looking at him for more.
"He's... um..." Kurt had no idea how to describe Ryan. The word gorgeous just didn't seem good enough. "Is there a word that's better than gorgeous?" Mercedes shook her head.
"Good-looking," she agreed, adding it to the mental list.
"And he has good taste— like custom fedoras and Guess bags, good taste." Kurt paused for a second. "And he loves musicals like us. Show tunes are his specialty."
Mercedes clapped enthusiastically. "Sounds like you've found yourself a stud! When do I get to meet him?"
"We aren't official or anything," Kurt added quickly, shooting his best friend The Glare of Death. "We technically haven't even been on a real date, yet. I just sort of... like him. And he's gay, don't worry, I checked."
Her laugh once again sounded like it had gone through a paper shredder, and Kurt found himself looking at her like he'd never see her again. And maybe, he wouldn't. That thought was seriously depressing. Rachel was closer to him (geographically) than Mercedes was now, since she'd gotten a part on Broadway. Ohio seemed like a billion miles away.
"Hey, um... whatever happens, we're still going to be BFFs, right? Even if..." He paused. "Even if I never went back to Lima?"
Her smile faded a little, but her eyes were still gleaming with happiness at his news. "Even if you never, ever, step a toe over the Ohio state line again, I will never, ever, stop being your best friend," she said slowly. For a moment, Kurt was taken aback. Since when did Mercedes go all serious on him?
She laughed again at his sobered expression, putting up two fingers in a mock-solute. "Scouts honour," she pledged, and he grinned. That was more like his best friend for life.
"You've never been a Girl Scout," he accused, which just sent her into hysterics.
"You're right, I haven't. So, anyway, Alex— he's ogle worthy, seriously, you'd stare. I've got to say, I never thought I'd fall for a studier, but man, can Alex study like the world's ending if he doesn't memorise a date in his textbook..."
She went on to tell him all about Alex, and Kurt listened, nodding at the parts he could and putting a word in when she let him. It was almost like they were their tag-team once more, the unstoppable duo they had once been. Almost. But he still missed her. He was, however, extremely grateful that now that Ryan was around, he had a shopping buddy— or else, what would he have done come sale season?!
