A/N: IMPORTANT! I'm sorry, but I changed my mind about Britt being single. She is NOT single; she is still dating Artie. I kind of had doubts about it since I wrote it the first time, so I decided to take that a different way. I am pretty convinced I don't have to change any of the information in previous chapters, I just wanted to let you guys know. I am so sorry for the chapter being later than it normally would. I kind of chose the best/worst time to start writing these. Oh well, I'll still strive to keep the gaps less than a week. I also had a bit of writer's block, on top of a migraine so this really hasn't been a great week. Aha, again, sorry, I hope this was worth the wait! See you on the other side :)
Kurt's POV
Kurt walked in the door that evening exhausted, more mentally than anything else. He was immediately greeted with the sight of a smirking Santana and a scowling Finn and Burt, both of whom had their arms crossed, but Kurt had a feeling it was for different reasons…
"Why are you back so late kiddo?" Burt queried,
"Oh, sorry Dad, tutoring ran overtime. A cheerleader from the group wanted a bit of extra help from me after it finished." He lied,
Finn scowled for a split second, 'What is his deal?',
"Oh, sorry Burt, he texted me that, I forgot to mention it." Finn apologised to Burt,
'I didn't text him… Why is he covering for me?' Kurt thought, but smiled,
"Yeah, I thought Finn would have mentioned it, oh well. I'm here now!"
Burt sighed and uncrossed his arms, "Right, just text me as well next time Kurt, save the middleman."
"Will do," Kurt smiled,
Burt walked off towards the living room leaving Kurt with Santana and Finn,
"Thanks for covering for me Finn, I owe you." Kurt thanked his step-brother,
Finn opened his mouth to say something, but seemed to think twice about it and closed it again, he just smiled goofily, and nodded, walking towards Kurt, "Just, tell me where you are next time okay? So I know to cover for you…" he says pointedly, slapping Kurt on the shoulder,
"Will do," Kurt muttered back, confused, 'He's acting weird,' he thought to himself as Finn walked off, great, now it's time to deal with Satan.
He looked at her, and she just nodded and they walked downstairs into their bedroom. He was about to tell her what had happened, but something in her eyes stopped him,
"Why do I have the feeling I don't need to talk to you?" he asked cautiously, 'Where does this girl get her information from?'
"Oh, you still have to tell me, mister, no matter what I may or may not know, you've got some explaining to do." She responded pointedly,
Kurt sighed and sat down on his bed, gesturing for Tana to do the same, which she did,
"Blaine kissed me." He stated bluntly,
"And…?" she prompted,
"Well obviously I kissed him back, but then he got scared and ran off." He said, still confused about why he did that,
"He just kissed his student in the middle of a hallway in the school he and said student attend/work, he had a right to be startled," She responded logically,
'Wait, hallway?' Kurt thought,
"I never said he kissed me in the hallway…" he quipped,
"I assumed." She shrugged,
'Liar' he thought, 'Oh well. What did it matter?'
"So I followed him home," to which Santana nodded, 'This girl is like some super spy.' He shook his head, 'Then I kissed him, and sang him a song. Second Hand Serenade-Hate this Song."
"You're turning into a gay Rachel Berry; you spend way too much time with her," Santana muttered, shaking her head,
Kurt laughed, "Yeah, I thought that too. But in my defence, Rachel is a lot less irritating recently, and singing is a good way to tell someone your emotions. And it's so wonderfully dramatic."
Santana just shook her head fondly, "You're lucky I like you Lady-Lips."
"I told him, after I finished singing, that he had until Sunday to sort his shit out and make a decision,"
Santana just nodded approvingly, so he continued,
"But what do I want him to choose? I mean, this 'relationship'" he said making air quotes, "Would be risky. He could get fired or arrested. It would have to be a secret. Apart from you of course."
Santana laughed, but Kurt didn't realise why,
"Look, that's a conversation you're going to have to have with Blaine. Just give him space for the rest of the week, let him come to you. Whatever he decides, you should talk about it with him." She explained,
"You're right." He said, giving Santana a hug, "Thanks, Tana."
She just hugged him back.
"Tana," he said he said, "Are you a spy?" he asked, completely deadpan,
She laughed, but said seriously, "You'll never find out."
He hit her lightly on the arm, "No, seriously, how do you find out everything before I have a chance to explain?"
She looked him straight in the eye, "I have my sources, for me to know, and you to never find out." She smirked,
Kurt just shook his head in absolute disbelief, 'Sources?! This girl is unbelievable!' he thought,
"As long as no-one else finds out, we'll be okay." He said,
Santana looked away, "Yeah," She agreed.
The next day, in Glee practice, was the day where some of the Glee Club was going to perform some of their songs for the 'Emotion' assignment. On the list for the day, Santana, Kurt, Rachel and Tina.
"Alright everybody!" Blaine announced, clapping his hands together as he walked into the room. What was it with Glee teachers and being 'fashionably late'?
"Today we are going to start getting through the Emotion assignment, so, who wants to go first? Remember, as we discussed the last session, you can do up to two performances."
Tina raised her hand and Blaine handed it over to her,
"As you all know, Mike and I are really happy together, and I wouldn't change that. But I wish we got together in different circumstances, because the way I did it, hurt one of my friends. So, you know who you are, no point in me saying it, this is for you."
She sang the song 'Back to December' by Taylor Swift, and she did it beautifully. It was obviously for Artie, which made sense. The entire glee club knew, that no matter how much she loved Mike, she still felt bad for cheating on Artie like she did. They burst into enthusiastic applause when she finished, and Artie just nodded his head at her, apology accepted. One rift down, only about fifty or sixty to go. Great. Although it was an emotions assignment, it was already pretty clear that a lot of the club would be using to get rid of the negative emotions that were currently preventing their club from working together cohesively.
"Excellent Tina, okay, who's next?" Blaine asked, looking around the room,
Rachel put her hand up, 'This is gonna be interesting' Kurt thought,
"I'd like to apologise to someone who I indirectly hurt through my actions towards one person. I feel just terrible that I ended up hurting you the way I did, and I hope you can try to accept my sincerest apology."
She sang 'Apologize' by Timbaland, Featuring One Republic, an unusual choice, with Artie as her back-up but somehow it did convey the fact that she was sorry, and that though she was sorry, she felt it was too late, and that there was no turning back. Quinn just got up and hugged her, Rachel hugged back gratefully. This assignment was definitely a good thing for the New Directions.
"Mr A? I'd like to go next if that's ok?"
"Yeah, go ahead Santana." He replied,
"Look, I went through a really tough time at the start of the year, with my parents kicking me out of the house and whatnot, and Kurt, you were there for me, right from the start, even though I had been awful to you in the past. I cannot convey, how important you are to me, and how grateful I am to you, even Finn and Burt and Carole. You're not just a friend, or a best friend to me anymore. You are more like my amazing brother. So, this is for you,"
Kurt's eyes were watering before she even started the song. It was rare for Santana to show her emotions, and doing it in front of the rest of the glee club made it an extra special moment.
'Oh uh-huh
If you ever find yourself stuck in the middle of the sea
I'll sail the world to find you
If you ever find yourself lost in the dark and you can't see
I'll be the light to guide you
We find out what we're made of
When we are called to help our friends in need'
Santana looked at him, obviously talking about that first night at his house, so he just smiled and nodded at her, encouraging her to carry on.
'You can count on me like 1, 2, 3
I'll be there
And I know when I need it
I can count on you like 4, 3, 2
You'll be there
'Cause that's what friends are supposed to do, oh yeah
Oh, oh yeah, yeah'
'If you're tossin' and you're turnin'
And you just can't fall asleep
I'll sing a song beside you
And if you ever forget how much you really mean to me
Every day I will remind you, Oh
We find out what we're made of
When we are called to help our friends in need'
'You can count on me like 1, 2, 3
I'll be there
And I know when I need it
I can count on you like 4, 3, 2
You'll be there
'Cause that's what friends are supposed to do, oh yeah
Oh, oh yeah, yeah'
Kurt's voice joined her for the bridge, as he meant the words just as much as she did.
'You'll always have my shoulder when you cry
I'll never let go, never say goodbye
You know...'
'You can count on me like 1, 2, 3
I'll be there
And I know when I need it
I can count on you like 4, 3, 2
You'll be there
'Cause that's what friends are supposed to do, oh yeah
Oh, oh'
The whole glee club joined in on the last chorus, singing softly with Santana, still letting her voice be the strongest.
'You can count on me cause I can count on you'
Kurt just jumped up and gathered Santana in his arms. "Thank you, Tana." He whispered in her ear,
She just nodded and pulled away wiping the tears away from under her eyes,
"Okay, I'm still not done with all the sappy crap. I have a song that I want to sing to someone else in the room." She announced,
'Somebody said you got a new friend
But does he love you better than I can?
And there's a big black sky over my town
I know where you're at, I bet he's around'
'And yeah I know it's stupid
But I just gotta see it for myself'
'I'm in the corner watching you kiss him
Oh, oh, oh
And I'm right over here. Why can't you see me?
Oh, oh, oh
And I'm giving it my all
But I'm not the girl you're taking home
Oh
I keep dancing on my own'
'Stilettos and broken bottles
I'm spinning around in circles'
'So far away, but still so near
The lights come on, the music dies
But you don't see me standing here, I just came to say goodbye'
'I'm in the corner watching you kiss her
Oh, oh, oh
And I'm giving it my all, but I'm not the guy you're taking home
Oh, I keep dancing on my own
And oh, no'
'So far away
But still so near
The lights come on
The music dies
But you don't see me standing here'
There was a large round of applause, and Santana just nodded at the group, before walking out. Her relationship with Britt was a soft spot for her, and she really didn't like talking about it.
Kurt stared after her, deciding that if she wanted him to follow, she would text him, so he just sat back in his seat.
"Kurt? Looks like you're next." Mr A announced, carefully avoiding Kurt's eye, which Kurt understood, this was going to be kind of awkward for a while, at least until Sunday.
"Well I was going to sing a song for Santana, but she's not here so…" He said awkwardly,
"How about you perform something for someone that's not in this room then?"
He decided to sing the song he had prepared for Santana anyway,
'When you try your best, but you don't succeed
When you get what you want, but not what you need
When you feel so tired, but you can't sleep
Stuck in reverse
And the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can't replace
When you love someone, but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?'
The room was silent. Rachel was dramatically fanning away tears and the other girls were tearing up slightly, after all, it was an incredibly moving song.
'Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you'
'And high up above or down below
When you're too in love to let it go
But if you never try you'll never know
Just what you're worth'
There was a short instrumental break before the rest of the glee club joined him for the last chorus.
Tears stream, down your face
When you lose something you cannot replace
Tears stream, down your face and I
Tears stream, down your face
I promise you I will learn from my mistakes
Tears stream down your face and I
Someone appeared at his side and grabbed his hand, he turned to see Tana next to him waiting to join in with him for the last verse.
Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you
The applause was deafening,
"Excellent work, Kurt, well done." Blaine congratulated him, still avoiding eye contact in favour of looking around the room.
Kurt swelled with pride, he really did like that song, something in the lyrics just, moved him. He was kind of annoyed that Blaine was acting so awkward around him, but he knew he had to give him some space, it was a tricky situation for both of them.
Tana just hugged him, "You're amazing Kurt, seriously, that song kicked ass." She smirked,
'Aaaahh, there's the Satan I know,' Kurt thought, Santana had so many drastically different personalities that on occasion Kurt had briefly wondered if she had DID or something. But alas, she's just very good at showing the emotions she wants you to see.
The next few days were boringly uneventful. Lots of the drama in glee club had settled down after everybody had sung their 'Emotion' song. Kurt just couldn't help it! He lived for the Glee club, and even more for the drama that came with it.
Luckily, the bullying had almost completely ceased to exist. It was now just the odd homophobic remark thrown around, but Kurt could take that. Remarks didn't destroy his Alexander McQueen. Strangely enough, there also seemed to be people looking out for him wherever he went in the school. Sometimes it was Coach Sue, just walking past and nodding in acknowledgement towards Kurt, other times it was Blaine, or some of his less horrific teachers just, keeping an eye out for him. The guys from Glee also seemed to be no more than 10 feet away from him at all times, they didn't walk around him like a protection detail or anything, but they were just, present. Kurt figured that Santana must have talked to them so brushed it off without a second thought.
Sunday came around in no time and Kurt was dreadfully nervous. Damn Second-Hand Serenade for only giving them five days. Kurt did want an answer, but at the same time, he was scared of what it would be. Blaine had come to mean a lot to him, and he often found himself staring at him in Glee or math, before someone elbowed him that was. If they did ever date, Kurt was going to have to improve his spy skills. He sat by his phone all day, Tana by his side painting her nails. So, when his phone buzzed at 3:00 in the afternoon, Kurt squeaked,
"Is that him?" Tana quizzed,
"I don't know! You check it!" he threw the phone towards her, not looking at it,
"Umm, hello?" Santana said, waving her hands at him, 'Right, nails' Kurt thought,
"Okay, I'll do it. It can't be that bad." He grabbed the phone and clicked the home screen on,
'My Place, one hour. –Blaine' –Unknown Caller ID
Wait a second.
"I forgot to give him my number! How on earth did he get it?"
"Mr Schue has our numbers for competitions and stuff, remember?"
"Oh, right. I've got one hour to get ready! Oh Gaga what am I going to wear?!" he panicked,
"Chill, lady-lips. I'll pick out something for you while you go and talk to Papa Burt about the fact you're going to miss dinner."
'Crap!' Kurt totally forgot about that,
"Okay, wish me luck!"
He went up the stairs, trying to think of an excuse, maybe Santana could go out with him? As an alibi? 'Or maybe…"
"Hey, kid. What's on your mind?" A gruff voice interrupted his thoughts,
"Oh, umm, I'm not going to be home tonight… For dinner…" Kurt explained feebly,
"Oh, and why is that?" Burt asked pointedly,
Before he could answer, another voice entered the conversation,
"Rachel wanted him to come out with us tonight." Finn explained,
'No! That's not good! I have to go to Blaine's!' He thought, panicked,
"Right, Kurt?" Finn asked him pointedly,
"Yeah, I'm… uh… going to give Rachel another makeover! More than two months without one and she turns back to her old animal sweaters. I swear to Gaga, that girl has a problem."
Burt just looked between the two of them, clearly unsure of whether to believe the lie, but he did trust both his sons, so he just nodded, "Okay, well, it's a school night so back by 11 o'clock. Alright?"
Both siblings nodded and Burt turned and walked out of the room, leaving Finn and Kurt alone.
"Thanks Finn, I appreciate you covering for me." Kurt thanked, turning to go back downstairs,
"Kurt," Finn started, "Don't you think you owe me an explanation for me covering for you? Like where you are going? Who with?"
"Santana knows." Kurt replied stiffly,
"Look, Kurt, I want to hear it from you. Not someone else, not the grapevine at school, I want you to tell me."
Kurt looked at him curiously, "Tell you what?" he asked,
"Kurt, I know where you are going, okay?" Kurt froze, "I was going to wait for you to come to me, but I don't think you were planning on doing that, were you?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Cut the shit Kurt. You and Mr A. I had football practice. I went by my locker and I saw him kiss you." Finn explained,
"Finn, it was fine. He didn't force me to do anything. You can't say anything you know? Blaine could get fired." He begged,
Finn just continued as if he were never interrupted,
"So I followed your car, to see where you were going. You stopped on this quiet little street, and I'm like, 'Maybe one of his friends lives here'. So I went up and waited for you to come out of the apartment. After you did, Blaine and I had a little heart-to-heart."
"You didn't scare him off did you?" Kurt asked cautiously, thinking that Finn was the reason Blaine had kept his distance all week,
"Nah, I threatened him a bit at first, but he swore that he didn't force you and explained about the song, yada, yada. I just gave him the big brother talk, and warned him that if he hurt you, there would be hell to pay."
"Fiiinnnnn," Kurt groaned, "I'm older than you remember?"
"Yeah but I'm bigger."
"Look, little bro," Kurt couldn't even be bothered to interject this time, "I talked to him, he said for me to wait for you to come to me. Which, by the way, I'm a little bit offended that you didn't."
"For what it's worth, I'm sorry Finn, but you know this situation is very unusual. You can't tell anyone, or say anything to Burt and Carole, let me tell them, ok? Please?" He begged,
"Look, dude," Kurt glared, "Look, Kurt," Finn corrected, "I'm not going to tell anyone you don't want me to tell, I get that dating and stuff can be harder for you."
"Yeah, you don't know, but I went on a date with Blaine in the holidays. It turned out pretty badly but something happened, you know? He helped me with the bullying and stuff… I don't know, I really like him ok? That's why I gave him the deadline, and if we don't finish up this conversation soon, I'm going to miss it." He explained impatiently,
"I don't want to keep a secret from Rachel. She can keep secrets, she's not like Mercedes. She won't tell anyone. And she could help cover for you seeing as Santana and I both live in the same house as you, which doesn't help you much." Finn countered,
"Fine, but if she tells anyone…" Kurt left the threat hanging,
Finn just nodded so Kurt turned around and went downstairs into his bedroom.
20 minutes later, he emerged from his bedroom fully dressed. Santana's fashion sense had definitely improved since she moved in with Kurt. He was fashionably dressed in a turtleneck jumper, dark navy blazer and a pair of dark, distressed jeans.
He gave the address to Santana, not because he thought Blaine would hurt him or anything, but whenever either of them went somewhere without Burt and Carole knowing, they gave the other the address as a just in case. He left with Finn, who had kindly offered to drive him to Blaine's, then he got to Blaine's house half an hour later, absolutely terrified. He farewelled Finn and started towards the apartment building. Of course, the elevator wasn't working, so it looked like it was the stairs once more.
As he climbed the stairs, he took the time to evaluate the situation. Starting relationships as secret ones was not the ideal way to begin a new relationship, but they would only have to keep it a secret until the end of the school year. There was a bit of an age difference, but only 8 years, so not the worst. This was all if Blaine even wanted to date him. That was another possibility of course, that Blaine didn't really feel the same way, or that he didn't want to commit to a relationship that ultimately, had to be kept under wraps for the next six-eight months.
'How many stairs are there in this place?' he thought to himself dramatically. Ok, so maybe he was taking his time to climb the stairs. But could you blame him? He really liked this guy, and he didn't want to get to his apartment just to get rejected, that would hurt. He approached the door, took a deep breath to steel himself, raised his hand to the door, and knocked firmly, three times.
Blaine's POV
Blaine was pacing in his apartment. He had sent a text to Kurt 50 minutes ago. He already kind of knew his answer, but was it the right thing to do? His last relationship was a disaster. It might not have all been his fault, but what if he was just bad at relationships? What if Kurt had changed his mind? That would kill him. He used to hate Kurt, but as they spent more time together he realised that the side of Kurt that he hated wasn't really Kurt. It was just a façade, or a mask. He realised that, not only was Kurt remarkably gorgeous, but he had an amazing sense of humour, he had a 'can do' attitude, was strong, brave. He had so many qualities that Blaine wished he had.
But a relationship with a student? Well, Blaine didn't really see Kurt as his student anymore, more like a friend. Oh god, not the friend zone. That was one place he could quite happily avoid. What if people found out? No, they could be careful. How hard could it be? It could be like a modern day Romeo and Juliet romance, if Juliet was also a guy, and there was an eight-year age difference between her and Romeo, and if Romeo could get arrested for doing anything to her. Exactly, modern day Romeo and Juliet. Would Kurt want to tell his parents? Would he want to tell his own parents?
There was a knock at the door. 'Crap!' Blaine thought, 'Must be him!'
"Coming!" Blaine called out, cringing slightly as he heard the completely unintentional double meaning,
He paced a couple more times, running his hands through his hair, a nervous habit he had picked up during his relationship with Matt. He took a deep breath in and out, and ran over to answer the door,
"Hi…" Kurt greeted awkwardly,
"Come in, Kurt." Blaine replied,
Kurt walked in and Blaine just motioned for him to follow him into the lounge and sit down.
"Since when did you have a piano?" Kurt asked with a smile,
"You asked me to meet this deadline in song, which was excellent by the way," Kurt blushed at that, "So it seems only fair to give you your answer in song,"
He sat down at the piano and started to play, singing softly alongside the melody,
'You've been on my mind, I grow fonder every day,
Lose myself in time, just thinking of your face
God only knows, why it's taken me so long
To let my doubts, go, you're the only one that I want'
Kurt smiled sweetly at him, he already knew the answer,
'I don't know why I'm scared, I've been here before
Every feeling, every word, I've imagined it all,
You never know if you never try, to forgive your past and simply be mine'
'I dare you to let me be your, your one and only
Promise I'm worthy to hold in your arms
So come on and give me the chance
To prove that I'm the one who can
Walk that mile until the end starts'
'If I've been on your mind
You hang on every word I say
Lose yourself in time at the mention of my name
Will I ever know how it feels to hold you close?
And have you tell me whichever road I choose you'll go'
Kurt's voice joined him for the last chorus,
'I dare you to let me be your, your one and only
I promise I'm worthy to hold in your arms
So come on and give me the chance
To prove that I'm the one who can
Walk that mile until the end starts'
Kurt stood up and walked towards Blaine, who had gotten up from his seat at the piano,
"Are you sure?" Kurt asked timidly,
Blaine just kissed him softly, and pulled back,
"Pretty damn sure." He responded,
Kurt threw his arms around Blaine and hugged him tight.
They could figure out the details later.
A/N: Hoped you liked it, I apologise once more for the longer break in between chapters. But this ended up being pretty long, so it would have been a huge chapter if I posted with chapter 10. If you spot anything that needs changed or just want to give me your feedback, please review. I try to get back to anybody that reviews from an account, and I might start responding to some Anonymous reviews in the start A/N. See you next chapter xx