The first day of school usually meant avoiding slushies and hurrying to new classes with your eyes on the floor, never people parting the hall like the red sea when he walked down it.
It's not like Kurt was complaining.
He had managed another day wearing his gloves without question, and strangely had he seen Blaine all day. Rachel, however, had scurried up to him right at the beginning that morning, announcing that there will be Glee club tryouts after school and he absolutely certainly must attend. Which is where he was planning on heading now, after he would successfully shove these new textbooks in his bag.
"Hi, Kurt!"
He jumped, the perky voice unrecognizable. A girl had popped up next to him with the biggest smile he'd ever seen; it pretty much filled her whole face. She was petite, with black, flowing hair all styled and curled and wearing a tight-fitting pink top which complimented nicely with her dark skin.
"Um...can I help you?" he asked, a little creeped out she hadn't stopped smiling since she arrived.
She scoffed playfully, like he was being silly. "C'mon, it's me!"
He stared back blankly.
"Rebecca Porter!"
Still not ringing any bells.
"You met me and my boyfriend at Rachel's party?"
Oh, yes. The two were making out like their life depended on it in front of the refrigerator. Kurt remembered now. He nodded, awkwardly turning back to his textbooks.
"Anyway," she smiled hugely again, "I was hoping you would tell me if my song choice for tryouts was alright?"
"You're trying out?" It honestly surprised him. Rebecca never struck him as a Glee member. Her role in this school was dating beefy jocks while being pretty and popular.
"Of course! Everyone is!"
He glanced down the hall, where the auditorium doors were. A hoard of people were there waiting at the entrance, mingling and clutching songbooks.
Oh, no.
"Anyway, I'm singing 'Rolling in the Deep' and-hey, where are you going?"
Kurt had grabbed his bag and slammed his locker shut, striding past Rebecca and down the hall. He didn't stop until he was in the auditorium, marching down the aisles until he reached where Rachel was standing, explaining something to a bewildered Mr. Schue.
"Rachel!"
"Oh, Kurt! Good, you're here." She shoved a clip board at him stacked with yellow paper, the top line reading 'Glee Club Tryouts!' and all the other lines completely filled with names. As was the next paper, and the next. "Read this. Look how many people have signed up!"
"I know, I saw outside…" He stared dumbfounded at the sheets, knowing just last year these pages were empty. "But why?"
"Because Glee club is popular now!" She put her fists on her hips, smiling at him like Rebecca had, like he was being silly. "The entire school wants to be in it!"
"But...this is ridiculous. You're going to go through all these tryouts?"
Mr. Schue let out a sigh from behind her, like he wasn't looking forward to it. But Rachel was bubbling with excitement. "I'll know a keeper when I see one! Maybe we'll be as big as Vocal Adrenaline!" She grabbed his hand, leading him to a row of seats where other members were sitting and called out, "Sam! Open the doors! It's showtime!"
It was actually pure hell.
For starters, Rachel wasn't kidding when she said the entire school wanted to try out. The first half-hour included at least three different solos of 'Let it Go' from Cheerios trying too hard, a hockey jock singing the unclean version of 'Talk Dirty to Me,' and a fidgety girl off the student council mumbling 'Party in the USA' at her shoes. Every time either Rachel or Mr. Schue cut them short, Mr. Schue at least being polite and thanking them for showing up while Rachel angrily crossed their name off the list.
Kurt massaged his temple, considering whether he should commit homicide or suicide first, when his phone vibrated, startling him. A lanky boy from the football team was beginning his song ('Have You Ever Seen the Rain?') in a croaky voice as Kurt glanced to his left hand side at Rachel, who was clicking her tongue at the list and then to his right side, where Mercedes was glaring daggers at this performer-probably praying for him to stop. Carefully, he pulled out his phone from his pocket and read the text.
"How can one suck so bad at singing?"
Kurt bit back a grin at Blaine's message. He craned his head around, over the mob of McKinley students waiting for their turn in the seats and spotted him, just lounging by the auditorium entrance. Blaine caught Kurt's gaze and waved.
"Yes, thank you for auditioning," Mr. Schue said to the croaky boy just as Rachel scribbled out his name.
"I'll be right back," Kurt said, getting up just at the boy exited the stage and a bouncing, freckled-girl arrived on.
"Where you going?" Mercedes asked.
"Yeah! We've still got like, eighty more tryouts!" Rachel protested.
"More like five hundred," muttered Artie.
"Um, bathroom," Kurt quickly said as he shuffled out of the row, hurrying down the hall and looking back over his shoulder, seeing his friends give him an odd look before turning back to the 'You Belong With Me' soloist.
The auditorium door was in a shadowed area, fortunate for Kurt. He arrived up to Blaine, smiling brightly. "Which one sucked at singing so bad?" he whispered.
Blaine shrugged, his arms crossed and his back against the wall. He looked like how he normally was at school, dark and with his leather jacket and slight stubble across his jaw. It was almost bizarre to Kurt, since over the summer he had come accustomed to Blaine dressing different, more relaxed. More himself.
"All of them, basically. Especially that red-headed Cheerio who sang that overplayed Disney song. God, that was awful."
Kurt snorted, ducking his head and glancing back at the filled auditorium. No one was paying attention to them, for the freckled-girl was making a scene about getting cut off. "What are you doing here?" he asked Blaine, still hushed.
"I missed you," Blaine replied, putting on his crooked, coy smile as he reached for Kurt's waist. Given their environment, Kurt backed up, giving Blaine a face that said, "Not here."
So he re-crossed his arms. "And I heard the Glee auditions were today, so I figured that was where you'd be."
"Are you gonna try out?" Kurt asked, genuinely curious. He didn't even know if Blaine could sing, and if so, would Rachel be desperate enough to allow him in their club?
Blaine barked out a laugh, shaking his head. "Are you kidding? Hell no!"
"Are you scared to sing in front of a few Glee kids, Mr. Anderson?" Kurt teased, swaying near his boyfriend, nudging his sneaker.
"Oh, yes. You guys are very intimidating." Blaine nodded in mock-seriousness.
Kurt chuckled, checking again to see if anyone was eavesdropping. Thankfully, they were all mesmerized by Rebecca Porter belting out an off-key note.
"You wanna bail?" Blaine asked, his voice going back to his usual, flirty tone.
"I can't, actually. I'm busy helping decide who's worthy of being in Glee club, remember?"
"Oh, sweetheart," Blaine drawled out the endearment, pushing off the wall and stepping near him. "C'mon, be rebellious, just once."
"I am rebellious," Kurt retorted smugly. "I'm talking to you in public."
"Ha ha ha." Blaine scrunched his nose in his sarcastic smile. "You're so hilarious. I'm so glad you're my soulmate. So glad, in fact, that I guess I won't let you ride with me over to a date."
"Wait, date?" Kurt perked up, grabbing Blaine's hand. "What date? Say more about this 'date.'"
Blaine chuckled, lacing his fingers between Kurt's. "Well, if you're interested, it involves me and you eating ice cream over at this river near Westerville." The corners of his mouth lifted sheepishly. "If that's not too lame."
"Will this also involve a certain amount of kissing?" Kurt asked, quirking an eyebrow.
"Oh, absolutely."
Giggling, Kurt and Blaine snuck out of the auditorium and hurried down the empty hallway, still hand-in-hand until they reached Blaine's motorcycle.
Jacob Ben Israel snickered to himself, plopping back down in his auditorium seat. He blended perfectly in this crowd, since every species of McKinley student was here, audition for Glee club. They paid him no mind when he pulled out his camera phone, snapping away at the doorway.
At this angle, he caught everything. The lighting was crap, but that didn't matter, because Kurt Hummel had taken a hold of Blaine Anderson's hand and smiled lovey-dovey at him. Then they ran out the door together.
And it was all on his camera.
With some photoshop lighting, he could post these in no time. He just had to wait for the perfect timing.
School was almost worth coming to now.
Sure, Blaine had skipped most of the first day, like how he always skipped last day of school and every useless day in between. But now that he was there, he figured he was in some of Kurt's classes. Like Calculus, which he had a good view of Kurt's back. Or in Biology, where Kurt was partners with Quinn Fabray and across the room Blaine was alone as per usual.
The only perk to this was he would sometimes catch Kurt's eye and give him a wink. Kurt would flush and fix his gaze down at his desk, making sure not to look up again. And then Blaine would remember it was different now. Summer was over, their social statuses were back in tact.
He didn't mind, since he would spend time with Kurt after school. Either at their abandoned park or Kurt's house if it was luckily empty. It was then Kurt was back to his regular self, all bright eyes and dimpled smiles.
"You wear glasses?" Blaine asked during their first 'study date' at Kurt's house, slack-jawed and holding up the pair of framed spectacles, like it was unbelievable they existed.
Kurt shut his Calc textbook and reached for them, only to have Blaine hold them out farther away. "Give them back, they're my reading glasses!"
Blaine smirked and shifted on top of Kurt's bed to sit on his knees, slipping the glasses over his nose and ears and striking a pose. "Look at me!"
The glasses made his vision blur, but he could see Kurt's amused smile. "Yes, you're very cute."
Blaine gasped dramatically, dropping his hands on either side of Kurt's crossed legs, his face inches from his boyfriend's. "You really think I'm cute?"
Kurt laughed, throwing his head back. "How are you the same boy who smokes and rides a Harley?"
"Hey, I'm trying to quit," Blaine said, allowing Kurt to slide the glasses off and then going in to nuzzle his neck, hearing Kurt squeal as his stubble scratched against the sensitive skin.
Their hangouts became rarer as the first month of school dragged on, given Kurt became distracted with Glee rehearsals and having to teach the new kids about practically everything. Not to mention Blaine getting detentions left and right, mostly for smart mouthing teachers or getting into almost-fights with a group of jocks. Weirdly, it had been the longest streak Blaine had gone during school without vandalizing or wrecking property.
October third was when he didn't show up to school. He couldn't answer Kurt's concerned texts. He couldn't see him when he had free time. He eventually did, however, pack up enough strength to dial up Kurt's number. The clock read 11:39.
The line rang and rang. Blaine had his knees curled up to his chest and he sat up against the headboard of his bed, not even realizing he was rocking back-and-forth.
"Please, please, please, please pick up," he whispered to the phone, begging into it where it was pressed against his ear. "Please pick up. Kurt, please pick up."
"Hi! You've reached Kurt Hummel. If you could leave a message I'll-"
Blaine hung up and dialed the number again.
A door slammed violently from down stairs. He winced, holding his knees to his chest tighter. He hated this. He hated this. He hated this. He needed Kurt.
"Please pick up," he pleaded to the hollow ringing.
His jaw had been sore before, now it was burning. He forced himself to ignore it, desperately hanging on to the phone.
"Hi! You've reached Kurt Hum-"
Blaine hung up, throwing his phone at the wall. It didn't shatter, but the battery fell out. He didn't care. He allowed himself to bury his face in his knees, away from everything else.
Kurt's phone flashed silently again. 2 Missed Calls From Blaine, it read. He didn't see it, for he was too busy squeezing Mercedes' left hand.
"Oh my god, I can't breathe," she squealed, staring at her right hand, which was up in the air, her fingers wide.
"Shh!" Kurt laughed, practically bouncing on her bed. It had been an emergency, Mercedes calling him hysterically, saying that an S had formed on her hand. Kurt had immediately rushed over to her house without another thought.
On Mercedes' seventeenth birthday, no Mark arrived on her hand. She was devastated, but her mom said their family was full of late bloomers. Mrs. Jones reassured her that she herself hadn't received Mr. Jones' name until three weeks after her own birthday.
It had been almost four months, but now, slowly and steadily, a name was etching on her hand. Kurt was shaking from excitement. You could only make out two S's and a J, and now he and Mercedes held their breath as an E made its way to join the name.
"This is amazing," she said, smiling at her hand. "I mean, I know Sam said he would still be with me even if I didn't get his name, but now-"
"Now you're getting his name!"
"Were you like this?" Mercedes asked. "All heart-pounding and barely-breathing?"
It took Kurt a moment to realize Mercedes was serious. He remembered the day he got Blaine's name like it was yesterday. "Of course. It's exhilarating."
She nodded, still watching as a V formed next to the E. "Sorry, it was a dumb question. Of course you'd be excited. Who wouldn't be?"
Would Blaine? Kurt thought, his thrilled grin fading. He couldn't picture Blaine hopping on his bed, waiting for his Mark to arrive. But given their time together, their small get-togethers. The dates. The 'sweethearts.' Those god damn glasses. Kurt was proven wrong. Blaine wasn't what he was put out to be.
They waited without any other words until Mercedes' soulmate name was fully finished. Samuel Jessica Evans. Kurt snorted at the middle name.
"Well, I guess I'm not the only one with a girly middle name," he remarked.
Mercedes stared fondly at the name, her face glowing. "It's after his mom. Like you." She sniffed, and Kurt noticed tears were forming in her eyes.
"Oh, honey." Kurt wrapped in her a hug, letting her lean into him. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing!" she laughed, still sniffling. "I'm just...god, I'm so happy." She smiled into his shirt. "Who knew a name could make someone so happy?"
Kurt caught his own Mark, where it was resting on the bare hand over her shoulder. Blaine's name stood out in black letters. Of course he remembered getting the name and feeling like his heart had plummeted. Now that name was his whole heart.
He nodded once into Mercedes' dark hair, grinning to himself. "I know what you mean."
A/N: Really short filler chapter, sorry guys! Don't worry, the next one has more plot going on, so I'll see you then! :P