Thanks to my lovely beta reader probablyquantum!
Unable to figure out where the shatter of glass came from, Blaine called out Kurt's name again.
He didn't get an answer; instead he heard more glass shatter. This time it was softer than the first crash he'd heard, which had been so loud that it had made Noodles jump out of his grip.
Blaine cautiously followed the noise and turned around the corner of the house – first just his face to see if he'd be in danger, then his whole body followed when he saw what was going on.
Kurt stood by a window, only a few feet away from Blaine, one of his shoes in his hand. He didn't look at Blaine, even though Kurt had noticed his presence. Instead he used his shoe to get the remaining glass from the window pane out of there.
"Kurt, what are you doing?"
"You wanted a couch to sleep on tonight." Kurt shrugged, opening the window from the inside. It was large enough for them to climb through, though not as big as the shop window, Kurt reminded himself, but still big enough for them to get in without a scratch.
"Come here, I'll give you a hand," Kurt waved him over.
"But someone could be in there!" Blaine was alarmed, walking through the yard towards Kurt.
"Then we'll apologize and ask for a couch to stay on," Kurt said, breezy as ever, like he hadn't done anything wrong.
Blaine opened his mouth to protest, but Kurt didn't let him. "Or a bed… whatever, I don't really mind." Kurt smirked.
Blaine's eyes were big with worry as he looked at the window, then back at the road they had walked on for miles. The sun had already set and it was getting darker by the minute. He knew chances of other people passing this house were small – he was almost sure they would get away with breaking into this house, but that didn't mean he wasn't scared, or worried.
Blaine looked back at the window and leaned a little towards it.
"Hello?!" he yelled. "Is anybody home?"
They waited for an answer, but when they didn't get one, Kurt took Blaine's shoulders and positioned him in the perfect spot to be lifted into the house.
"Careful for the glass inside, you might step on it and slip." Kurt reminded the both of them of how they had met. It made Blaine snigger, instantly lightening his mood.
Kurt counted to three and let Blaine step on his bent knees so he could safely get in. Blaine almost lost his balance, one foot on Kurt's leg and the other half way through the window. Kurt grabbed his hips. Or actually, his hip and his ass. Perfectly cupping one of Blaine's butt cheeks, Kurt's face flushed.
Blaine was inside, and making sure that Blaine didn't see Kurt's rosy cheeks, Kurt turned his back and ran over to get all the bags and Noodles. Let's just pretend that didn't happen, Kurt agreed with himself.
When they were all inside the house, Kurt immediately went on a scavenger hunt to find food.
"There's no way you're hungrier than I am, but I take it you could eat," Kurt called out as he wandered off to find the kitchen.
Blaine didn't feel as comfortable being in a house they had just broken into as Kurt felt. He warily walked around, slowly, making sure he didn't make too much noise with his footsteps and took in his surroundings. He wanted to know what kind of a place he was in, and be sure that there really was no one to catch them when they thought they were safe.
Every room Blaine had been in, had stuffed animals scattered around to serve as decoration. Some of them looked quite impressive, Blaine thought. Almost all the furniture was made of wood, even walls and the ceiling had wooden panels and beams that were left unpainted.
"Hello?" Blaine called out again, making Kurt laugh from the kitchen.
"No one's here, Blaine! Go and see if there are some beds we can sleep in."
Blaine looked around the living room once more before taking a deep breath and accepting that they were doing this. They were here for the night and using this abandoned house to sleep in. Just for tonight. He convinced himself that if the owners of the house would show up, it was easy enough to explain why they were there. Times were desperate; people did weird and crazy things. They would understand.
Blaine found three bedrooms. One of them was big, with a double bed. The other two were much smaller. From the decoration on the walls, the toys and the bed linen, Blaine was sure the two smaller rooms belonged to children.
As Blaine walked back to the living room to get his bags, he heard pots and pans in the kitchen as Kurt was cooking. His stomach rumbled and he realized how hungry he really was. He quickly got all his stuff, dropped it in one of the bedrooms and joined Kurt in the kitchen.
"This smells really good," Blaine commented as he walked in.
"I hope you like spaghetti because that's all I could find." Kurt said and opened one of the kitchen cabinets for proof of being empty. Blaine raised his eyebrows at the sight.
"Do you need any help?" Blaine asked, suddenly overcome with a homely feeling. He wanted to help Kurt cook, and set the table, and turn on the radio or the TV, and snuggle with Noodles and pretend to be a family… with Kurt. Blaine sneaked a peek at Kurt, for a moment scared he could read his mind.
"What?" Kurt had noticed Blaine eyeing him.
"I, erm. . ." Blaine shifted uncomfortably, feeling like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "I asked if you needed any help? Cooking, I mean." Blaine straightened his composure.
"Yes, and then I said you can go and feed Noodles if you want to," Kurt said, again. He squinted his eyes at Blaine. Those dreamy eyes haven't been listening to me at all, Kurt thought.
"Oh, sure! Of course!" Blaine said, quickly leaving the kitchen, calling out for Noodles.
Kurt turned back to the stove, silently chuckling to himself. Blaine's adorable, Kurt thought.
Blaine was nervous and fidgety as he was setting the table. Kurt just caught him red-handed fantasizing about him. And not even in a dirty way, but still fantasizing. He hadn't even heard what Kurt said to him! Luckily Kurt had asked him to do lots of things: feed Noodles, set the table, bring their bags to their bedrooms— lots of things to keep him busy until dinner time. The food smelled great and Blaine tried to think back to his last proper meal but he couldn't remember. The last warm food he'd had must have been baked beans in tomato sauce. Not his favourite, but when he lived in the supermarket's storage room it was the only thing he could heat up. You know, besides the spaghetti he used to fake a gun to threaten people with.
Kurt and Blaine both sat down at the dinner table. Blaine found an old radio that seemed to work a little and had turned it on, simply to have a little background noise. He hated awkward silences, and even though their silences hadn't been awkward before, suddenly everything was different. They were in a house together, having dinner together. . . like couples do. Blaine didn't know if Kurt was thinking it over like he was, but it had made him nervous. So a little music was not only just nice, it was also a necessity.
"Who do you think lived in this house?" Kurt asked, making conversation as they were eating.
"I don't know… farmers, or hunters maybe." Blaine said, looking around the room they were in. "A family with two children."
"So, the dad's a hunter," Kurt spoke, imagining the family. "What do you think the mom did?"
Blaine thought for a second. "Stay-at-home-mom. Taking care of the children, doing laundry, cooking dinner, you know, that sort of thing."
"With a secret singing talent." Kurt added, making Blaine tilt his head a little. "She would sing throughout the day, and the children pretended to hate it, but secretly really enjoyed the sound of her voice. They could hear it in their rooms as their mom would be cooking dinner."
Blaine looked at Kurt, amazed with what he just said.
"Does your mother have a secret singing talent?" Blaine asked, guessing that that would be the reason for Kurt to come up with such a thing.
Kurt stopped chewing his food and took a few seconds to swallow, just staring at his plate. He seemed sad. The whole vibe between Kurt and Blaine shifted. The mood had changed, and Blaine felt uncomfortable having obviously said the wrong thing.
"I'm sorry." Blaine blurted out, not even sure what he was saying sorry for.
Kurt's eyes shot up and looked straight into Blaine's. "Don't be, it's not your fault." Kurt said. It was something he'd said so many times, it almost sounded robotic.
"I shouldn't have turned this into a personal conversation, I have no right to go there and you shouldn't have to answer, I'm so sorry—" Blaine panicked a little, making Kurt feel bad for his initial reaction.
"It's okay!" Kurt interrupted Blaine. "My mother. . . she died, when I was 8. . . and she did have quite a good singing voice, which I haven't been able to listen to since, so. . . yea, she did have a secret singing talent." Kurt explained, feeling he owed Blaine the story. He looked so petrified.
"I'm sorry." Blaine didn't know what else to say.
Kurt smiled through sad eyes. "It's alright, don't worry about it. I've got an amazing stepmother now, and my dad is literally the best dad in the world so I can't really ask for more."
Blaine looked down at his plate, suddenly not hungry at all. But the food looked good still, so he forced himself to take another bite.
"And with my stepmother, I also got a new stepbrother, who I accidently had a crush on before he became my brother, which my parents still don't know and hopefully never will know." Kurt laughed to himself. "Jesus, this all feels like absolute ages ago."
A silence fell. Blaine had been listening to Kurt talk about his family, but his thoughts had started to race after Kurt said he used to have a crush on someone. Someone who was male. Kurt used to have a crush on a guy. Was Kurt gay? Was he really? Or at least bisexual? Blaine had hoped he would be, but he hadn't been sure. He hadn't want to stereotype. . . but now Kurt had said it himself.
"What about your family?" Kurt asked, completely oblivious to Blaine's thoughts.
"Oh, ehm. . ." Blaine thought of a second, frowning slightly, then he shrugged. "I'm not really close with my family."
"I know, you've mentioned that. You said you wouldn't even go and visit your parents in Westerville, so I kind of figured you weren't on amazing terms with them." Kurt stated.
"It's not that I have a terrible relationship with them. . . we're just not close, not like you are with your parents." Blaine shrugged and was visibly uncomfortable with the topic of conversation. But Kurt wanted to know.
"Is it rude of me to think that's weird?" Kurt asked.
Blaine shrugged again. "As long as I'm out of jail and not on crack, they kind of just don't care. They have my brother to fulfill all of their happy family fantasies."
"But that's terrible!" Kurt shrieked. He couldn't imagine how horrible it must be not to have someone like Burt or Carol to fall back on. Who did Blaine call in an emotional crisis if he couldn't even call his parents?
"Is it? It's not as if they're neglecting me completely. . . they just feel that I'm an adult and I can live my own life without them. And they're right."
Kurt knew they weren't right. Kurt also knew that Blaine thought they weren't right, but apparently this was something nestled way deeper than Kurt had initially thought. He had hoped he'd swoop in and convince him to see his parents and he'd maybe even get to witness a teary, but happy, family reunion. He could've been a hero for Blaine, but Blaine wasn't letting him.
"It mustn't always have been that way. . ." Kurt tried. He hoped there would at least be some happy memories for Blaine.
"Oh no," Blaine shook his head vigorously. "No, we used to be like one of those happy families you see in TV commercials. My brother and I used to play football with my dad in the backyard after school almost every day until my mother would call us in for dinner and then we'd talk about our day. . . you know, a very Leave-It-To-Beaver-family." Blaine shifted on his chair. Kurt didn't say anything, he just listened. "But then my brother moved away to LA to become an actor which left me alone with just my parents, and everything was still fine for a long time, until. . ." Blaine lingered his sentence and looked up at Kurt, not sure to tell him the truth or come up with a silly lie.
Kurt's kind eyes wished for him to continue his story.
"Until, I came out and found the courage to tell my parents that I am gay." Blaine decided to tell the truth.
He had expected Kurt to accept it, seeing as Kurt had just sort of told Blaine that he liked men, Blaine had the confidence to tell him he liked men also. But Kurt looked like he was in shock. He gasped loudly, almost angrily, which scared Blaine.
Had Blaine misread the entire situation? Weren't they telling each other deep truths about themselves? Weren't they being, dared Blaine even think it, flirtatious with each other?
Kurt was angry. Shocked. He wasn't shocked to hear Blaine was gay. He was shocked to hear that his parents didn't accept that Blaine was gay. Kurt remembered what it was like, coming out to his father. He had been so scared, and so nervous, and so lucky that his dad had been accepting. It hadn't been easy at all for Kurt's father, but he had accepted Kurt. To even think about what would've happened if Kurt's dad hasn't accepted Kurt for who he was, sickened Kurt.
"I'm sorry, I thought you said—" Blaine started, his voice small.
"Those idiots!" Kurt cut him off, his voice loud and angry.
Blaine realized what was happening, and relaxed. Kurt was swearing at Blaine's parents – not at Blaine.
"I know." Blaine chimed in, agreeing. His parents were idiots! "I moved away from home to get away from the constant bad vibes. My parents disapproved of all of my choices, even though I don't think you choose to be gay, but they just didn't accept it."
The spaghetti Kurt had cooked quickly cooled down as the pair chatted about their coming out stories, both a lot more relaxed than they had been before. Blaine explained how the only thing about his family that he missed was the family dog. Kurt asked about the car that Blaine told him belonged to his father. That doesn't sound like something a father would give his son if he doesn't appear to like him a whole lot. Blaine then explained that the car was a gift. He could drive the car as his birthday present, but Blaine knew it was because the car was meant to make Blaine look rich. Like his father couldn't stand people to think of his son not coming from a rich family. His father had only hoped it would attract girls to Blaine. That Blaine would be seduced by gold-digging girls that would make him 'see the light'. He had heard his parents talk about it when they thought Blaine was already upstairs in his room, yet he'd been sat on the stairs to listen to them talk.
After a while they both realized their dinner had cooled down completely, but neither of them was hungry anymore. Collecting Blaine's plate and cutlery, Kurt slightly chuckled to himself and for a moment he froze and stared into space.
"Isn't life completely crazy?" Kurt asked, now looking at Blaine.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, here we are. . . humanity is about to be completely washed out by whatever people are predicting is going to ruin the planet; meteor showers, the poles switching, aliens invading— God knows which prediction will turn out to be the truth, and we're having dinner in a house that's not ours. . ." Kurt took a look around the room.
"I mean, I barely even know you, I met you like, two days ago? Yet have somehow accepted you into my life as my new best friend and we turn out to have a lot more in common than we initially thought."
Blaine just stared at Kurt, not sure if what he said even needed a response from him.
"It's so crazy," Kurt smiled, answering his own question and taking another moment to think it over before shrugging it off completely. He picked up the dirty dishes and walked out of the room, leaving Blaine stunned.
Blaine might have been denying it before, but now he knew for sure. There was no hiding it now. Blaine had feelings for Kurt.
to be continued