I'm trying to make these authors notes shorter – I really am. Anyway, thanks for the reviews of the last chapter – I'm glad we could all make our way through the angst of the chapter and onto the fluff/smut fest that will be Summer 2016. I am pleased to announce that BM22OwenstinaKlaine4evah and Mardie 186 are the winners of the prompt contest – though I will wait to elaborate how their prompts will be utilized though I will not incorporate them until chapter 9 as they will take place in D.C.
EleanorThePen – I love your dinner party idea! Like, A LOT. I will make that happen, I'm just not sure when. So I suppose you win the prompt contest too, but just not immediately. I do *love* the idea though. Thank you as well for your comment about how I portray Kurt, that's huge for me.
Thank you for the reviews, favorites, alerts, follows on tumblr ([blurtitoutalready][.][tumblr][.][com]) and last but certainly not least, for reading. Thanks as well to darling beta and all of the hard work she puts into beta-ing this fic.
Ok – onto Klaine.
May 8th, 2016
Detroit Harrison: It's official. Z pulled out of the show, and he's on a 'leave of absence' from Marque Designs.
Kurt: Really?
Detroit Harrison: Yeah. After all of his models quit he didn't really have a choice. I heard he's gonna go spend a couple months in Budapest b4 trying to make his big comeback and shit but whatever.
Kurt: That's crazy. Who knew 4 amateurs/students could effectively ruin one of fashion's biggest people? I still can't believe you, Gil and Amber did all this for me.
Detroit Harrison: Amateur or not – fashion people get shit done yo'! N you're Tina's boy, and she's my boo, so I got ur back.
Detroit Harrison: + the power of Twitter.
Kurt: I know. Amber's tweets were hilarious. As awesome as everything you guys have done is - I'll be glad when B and I get to D.C. and I don't have to think about Zeb Marque ever again.
Detroit Harrison: I feel you – dude was a dirt bag. I gtg, I'm omw to get a shape up before the show next week. Hey can you txt Gil and give her my # so I can talk to her about those silver arm band things she's making?
Kurt: No problem. Ttyl.
With a contented sigh, Kurt forwarded Detroit's request and his number to Gil before locking his phone and stowing it in his pocket. The last three months had flown by – FIT had officially rescinded Zeb's status as an internship location/supervisor; Amber had spearheaded a very effective blog and Twitter campaign asking for people to boycott his work and clothing (Kurt did feel rather bad for Zeb's other employees, but now that Zeb had stepped down the boycott would end); Gil and Detroit had used their connections to the fashion industry to help promote the campaign: all in all, it would appear that Zeb had indeed been figuratively 'nailed to the wall.'
Without the frustration and pressure of Zeb Marque in his mind 24/7, Kurt had been able to focus on making the last couple of months of his undergraduate career both productive and enjoyable. That wasn't to say it was exactly stress free – Blaine was buried under piles of reading and research the majority of the time, Kurt's classes remained as challenging as ever, and a lot of the logistics had still to be worked out before the two young men were ready to relocate to D.C. for the summer. That being said, Kurt and Blaine had made a point to spend lots of time with both their friends and each other, savoring their last few months in New York for a while together.
Kurt looked up from his spot on their couch as he heard Blaine's keys jingling in the front door lock.
"Hey!" Blaine greeted him brightly, slipping through the door and closing it after him.
"Hi! How'd everything go with the landlord and Kevin?" asked Kurt as he stood up to give his boyfriend a hello kiss. Blaine returned the kiss several times before answering.
"It went fine. We're out of here on the 28th and Quinn and Kevin are moving in on the 30th. I got the mail forwarding thing all sorted out, and Kev's just going to give me money on the first of the month for the rent, water, electricity, internet and stuff, which is fine because it's already taken out of my account through direct deposit anyway."
"It looks like we've got everything covered then. Thank you." Blaine snaked his arm around the younger man and pulled him in close, kissing him again softly.
"You're welcome," he whispered between kisses. "I am, after all, at your service," he continued, his voice low and seductive.
"Is that so?" teased Kurt. He kissed Blaine again, his tongue sliding briefly into the other mans mouth. "I'll definitely want to keep that in mind for later, but right now we've gotta go." Blaine pouted as Kurt pulled away.
"Go? Where? Why?" he whined. Kurt rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"New Directions is competing at Nationals today, remember? Mr. Schue sent us the tickets weeks ago." Blaine let out a playfully overdramatic sigh before smiling again.
"I know. I didn't forget: I was just kidding because I could spend all day here just kissing you."
"I'm glad we don't have a roommate," observed Kurt as he took Blaine's hand to lead him out the door, "because if we did they'd probably fall over and die from cuteness overload."
"I'm glad we don't have a roommate," countered Blaine, "because if we did then we probably couldn't have had sex on the kitchen table like that last night."
"Excellent point. Which reminds me: I need to bleach practically every surface in our house before my parents get here next week, and then probably again before Quinn and Kevin move in."
The elevator took them down from the ninth floor of their building out onto the street, and the two made the short walk over to the nearest subway, hopping on and heading to the theater where the Show Choir National Championships would be taking place.
"So has Finn got everything figured out for when he moves here in…three weeks?" Blaine asked as they rode along.
"No. Tina has a friend who works for a magazine that has connections to people interested in sports publications, but Finn's being a bonehead about contacting her about it. He's still going on about wanting to figure everything out by himself because he's a 'leader'…" Blaine frowned. Finn's desires to be a good leader all the time were endearing, but sometimes he ended up alienating himself from everyone in the process.
"Maybe he and Tina can talk when he's here for graduation?" Kurt sighed.
"I hope so. He'll have to figure somethingout. Rachel is spending her summer working at that camp again and going on auditions, but they'll need extra money to attempt to fill the bottomless pit that is Finn's appetite." Kurt paused for a long moment. "It's so weird. Finn's finally going to be in New York permanently, and we're leaving." Blaine caught the subtle sadness in Kurt's tone.
"I know you miss him, he's your brother after all. Are you sure you're good with us going to D.C?" Kurt gave Blaine's hand, which he was still holding, a squeeze.
"Yes. Absolutely – and Finn will still be here when we get back, as long as he and Rachel don't kill each other, right?"
"Right." The display board indicated they were only one stop away from their destination. "I'm amazed this is our first time going to see Nationals, since Glee Club was so important to both of us in High School."
"I know; it's funny how life gets in the way. I'm so excited though," squealed Kurt as he clapped his hands in his joy. "New Directions already made it through to the top ten, so we'll just see the top 10 groups and then they'll decide who wins. I really hope they win! I mean it's great that they placed, but it would be so amazing to watch them win."
"That would be pretty awesome. It was incredible to watch you guys win up there your senior year. It's too bad we only really know one of the kids in New Directions though."
"Blaine it might be a little creepy if we knew a bunch of the high school kidsin New Directions now that neither you nor I live in Lima anymore." Blaine pouted at him.
"You're always so worried about being creepy," he teased, wrapping an arm around Kurt's waist as they exited the subway. "I'm just saying, I'm excited too. Especially to see Kei perform – and get to perform as Kei rather than under her birth name."
"I know. Gil and I were so thrilled when we got her email a couple months back about coming out to her parents and Emma. It took her parents a little while to wrap their heads around it, but once they met with Emma and got all those resources Gil had sent to her they agreed to take Kei to see that gender specialist in Columbus and – well, it's just like my dad was I guess. They're a little unsure, but they have their hearts in the right place." Kurt paused to give Blaine's hand a squeeze.
"I remember when you got that email, what a relief that was," recalled Blaine as he thought about how much his parents still struggled with accepting him – he couldn't even imagine if he had needed to come out as trans to them.
"And Emma made sure that Will and Figgins were educated and prepared for everything so that if - and when – Kei wanted to start dressing differently, or changing pronouns or whatever at school they could protect her," Kurt continued. "Now that the school year is almost over and she's about to graduate, she thought now would be a good time. From what she's told me school has been…difficult, but most of the glee club has been really supportive and on board with everything."
"Good." Blaine handed in their tickets at the ticket booth and received two programs in return. "Gil's joining us right?"
"Yeah, she should be here any minute now. Rachel texted me when we were on our way in saying they're running a minute late but she'll be right here." Kurt answered, flipping open his program. New Directions had placed 6th in the first round but the field was wide open now that there were only 10 competitors left – the trophy could reasonably go to anyone.
"Man, I didn't expect show choir competitions to be quite this epic…" mused Gil as she walked towards them in the crowded lobby of the theater.
"I tried to tell her – this stuff is serious as surgery; almost as serious as my upcoming audition!" Rachel added as she scurried behind Gil's wide stride.
"Yes, yes, we know Rachel – you're auditioning for Les Mis in June. We're very excited for you," recited Kurt exaggeratedly, using the same calm 'talking to a small child' tone he was now accustomed to, as he had repeated that very phrase at least 30 times since Rachel had informed them of her upcoming audition two weeks ago. Kurt found that if he varied from his response in the slightest Rachel would retell the entire story of her audition process up until this very moment, and after the first dozen or so times it was rather trying.
"How're you doing Gil?" Blaine asked politely.
"I'm good. Glad we finally got rid of buzzkill Marque and – graduation next week!" she replied happily, handing her ticket in and also receiving a program. "When do these, what are they called again? New Inspirations?"
"New Directions," corrected Blaine.
"Right. When do they go on?"
"They're fourth. We should probably go in – it's going to start soon," answered Kurt, leading the way inside. "Will!" he called excitedly once he spotted his former teacher sitting near the front of the theater. All of the show choirs had already been instructed to wait back stage and in dressing rooms.
"Kurt! Rachel! Blaine!" called Will fondly as the four made their way towards him. Will exchanged hugs with everyone and greeted Gil politely when Kurt introduced her.
"How are you Will? How are Emma and Tabitha and little Jack?"
"Everyone is great. Little Jack isn't so little anymore though – he'll be walking any day now, and Tabitha is already dancing around the living room," he told them proudly, pulling out his wallet to show a picture of a little girl with curly red hair and an infant boy with wisps of blonde hair and very chubby cheeks.
"Adorable," commented Blaine, stealing a glance at Kurt, as a brief image of Kurt holding their future children (who were very fuzzily outlined but definitely child-shaped) flashed into his mind. He took a breath to steady himself as Kurt caught his eye and smiled warmly at him while holding the photo.
The lights flashed indicating the show was about to start, so the four said goodbye to Mr. Schuester and found their own seats. An older woman in a lavender pants suit came out on to the stage, thanked them for coming and began announcing the competing choirs. The first three acts were really good, the third act, Teenage Scream, was definitely going to give everyone a run for their money. Finally the announcer reappeared on stage and introduced the show choir from Lima, Ohio – the New Directions.
Kurt, Rachel, Gil and Blaine all clapped enthusiastically as the back of the stage was illuminated and the fourteen New Directions members slowly turned around and began singing a group song. Kurt couldn't place the song so he guessed that this was another original. Thankfully, the song was really, really good. The beat, which was fast and catchy, allowed the group to show off their best dancers (though Kurt didn't think anyone would ever top Brittany and Mike, despite being ever so slightly biased) as well as showcase many diverse voices. It took him a moment to spot Kei, who looked rather different now than when Kurt had first seen her almost a year before, but he found her singing along with a wide grin on her face as she danced in perfect time with the other members of the group. Kurt thought she looked beautiful up on stage, with her long black hair pulled into a side ponytail, dressed in the same shimmery black dress and silver leggings as the other girls in the group.
He hoped the judges would be open-minded, just in case she didn't pass with them. Regardless, the audience seemed to be thrilled with the performance, and the crowd roared in thunderous applause as the song finished. The four stood up to give the show choir a standing ovation as they bowed briefly before making their way off stage.
"They were incredible!" shrieked Rachel, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. Gil, Kurt and Blaine also whooped their approval, as the performance had been truly memorable.
After the fifth group performed, there was a brief intermission before everyone regrouped for the last five show choirs to show what they had to offer. The second to last group was so terrible that Kurt sat in his chair trading winces with Rachel as the all-girl group stumbled through a very off-key version of Patsy Cline's Walkin' After Midnight. The final group – a co-ed group from Las Vegas – was the exact opposite, delivering an astoundingly well put together performance of You Can't Stop the Beat from the musical Hairspray. In Kurt's mind it was clear: the winner would be Teenage Scream, the New Directions, or the Las Vegas group, Viva Las Musica.
After what seemed like hours, the announcer reentered the stage area and announced the final three – they were just as Kurt had surmised. The three show choirs crowded back onto the stage (Mr. Schuester joining New Directions at this point) to await the final announcement.
Kurt's hold on Blaine's hand was almost painful as they held their breath through the excruciating final seconds, and Blaine tore his eyes away from the announcer to look at his boyfriend for a moment and smile at his gleeful expression. Kurt's eyes were as wide as they could be and his mouth hung open in an excited smile where his teeth completely disappeared from view. The younger man squirmed in his seat, and Blaine only managed to tear his gaze away when he heard the announcer clear her throat.
"And now, the moment you've all been waiting for…" began the announcer. "The winner of the 2016 National Show Choir Competition is…." She paused for dramatic effect, causing Kurt to groan aloud with frustration. "…From Lima, Ohio – the New Dirrrections!" the MC declared with a yell.
The four friends were out of their seats and clapping furiously before Mr. Schue and the kids even knew what had happened.
"They won! They won!" Kurt turned to Blaine and pulled him into a fierce kiss, the adrenaline of the moment as well as his nostalgia about being in this very room four years previously with Blaine cheering him on from the audience quite overwhelming. Blaine kissed back eagerly, wrapping a hand behind Kurt's neck for a moment to stroke at the sensitive skin of his hairline before pulling back to resume clapping for the new champions.
Eventually the ruckus of a thousand people clapping died down, and the New Directions accepted their trophy and exited the stage. Slowly the sound of a thousand scraping chairs and twice that many feet began to fill the theater as the audience poured out through the four available exits. Kurt and the others hung back and waited for the crowd to disperse before heading off in search of the New Directions.
The fourteen teens and Mr. Schuester were currently in the main lobby of the theater, laughing, shrieking and generally flailing as they exchanged hugs and lifted their new trophy high into the air. Will eventually managed to stop screaming himself long enough to catch the four standing a few feet away from the group – looking like they too might burst from excitement and pride.
"Kurt! Blaine! Rachel! Gil! I can't believe it! These guys worked so hard!" he called far too quickly and loudly, but no one minded.
At the mention of Kurt and Gil's name Kei's head snapped around and she tore herself away from the others, grinning widely as she skipped over to where Will and the four friends are standing. Her excited skipping stopped about a foot away from them and her expression turned to nervous excitement as she paused to work out which of the two girls was Gil. It wasn't difficult as Gil's face immediately lit up into an even bigger grin.
"Oh my goodness – hello, dear!"
"Hi! Hi! I can't believe you're here! You're here, and we won, and – oh my God!" exclaimed Kei breathlessly. Kurt smiled at the two, knowing that a few dozen emails had been exchanged between them (Kurt sometimes included, sometimes not) over the course of the past 11 months. After openly staring at Gil for a long moment, it finally dawned on Kei that Kurt and Blaine were there too and she turned to them to squeal excitedly as Kurt pulled her into a brief hug.
"It's so nice to see you again Kei," he greeted her warmly.
"We're really glad to see you so happy," seconded Blaine, "and congratulations on your win."
"Thank you! Thank you! I'm so shocked to be here, right now. I just…I never thought I would be able to do anything like this…" Kei confessed, her voice cracking slightly. Kurt and Blaine missed the slight inflection of her voice as she said "I" but it was clear that Gil understood the deeper meaning as she exchanged a knowing look with the teenager.
"And yet, here you are. You and the other people on your team – you guys were amazing."
"Oh my goodness Gil I-" Kei started but broke off suddenly, glancing at Kurt and Blaine awkwardly. Blaine was oblivious as usual, but Kurt got the hint.
"Blaine, honey, why don't we go talk to Will again?"
"Huh? But Kei was about to-" Blaine protested, before being quieted by a pointed look from his boyfriend. Kurt linked arms with Blaine before patting Kei on the shoulder.
"We'll let you two girls talk alone. Congratulations Kei, on everything."
"Thank you," gushed Kei, before turning her attention back to Gil.
Kurt and Blaine strode the short distance over to where Will and Rachel were talking animatedly about Rachel's upcoming audition for Les Misérables. The four chatted happily for several minutes, filling each other in about the various goings-on in their lives before Will needed to excuse himself to round up the choir so that they could go out for pizza to celebrate their win (he also needed to find two singers who had wandered off from the group in search of a more secluded location to make out). They said their goodbyes, Rachel most reluctantly, as she had gladly fed off Wills enthusiasm for her upcoming audition, just as Gil and Kei returned to the group and gave Kurt one last hug goodbye with another whispered 'thank you.'
The four headed out of the theater, Kurt and Blaine in one direction towards the subway that would take them home, and Rachel and Gil in another towards a separate subway as they lived in the same neighborhood in SoHo.
"I feel all tingly now," commented Kurt as they reentered their apartment. "I think I'm nearly as thrilled for them as I was for my own team four years ago."
"I'm really glad we got to go," agreed Blaine. Kurt shook his head as he tried unsuccessfully to wipe the grin off his face.
"Eee!" he squealed, unable to contain his left over excitement as he bounced on the balls of his feet.
"You're adorable," observed Blaine lovingly, shuffling a foot closer to Kurt so he could kiss his cheek lightly.
"I can't help it," babbled Kurt. "I'm just so happy for them and Will and Kei and they won and it's just the best thing ever and – for Gaga's sake Blaine, just kiss me already or I'm never going to be able to stop talki-" Blaine chuckled and pressed his lips to Kurt's, cutting off the end of his sentence. He kept their lips glued together as he took his hand and tugged him in the direction of their bedroom, only breaking the kiss when he desperately needed more air.
"Thanks," muttered Kurt, blushing slightly.
"Any time," quipped Blaine, pulling Kurt in for another kiss. Kurt responded eagerly, pushing his tongue into Blaine's mouth and massaging Blaine's with his own. He moved to wrap his arms around Blaine but pulled back abruptly.
"Can we have sex now?" he asked hopefully. "Or are you hungry? Do you want to wait until after dinner or-?" Blaine cut him off again with another quick kiss.
"I am hungry," he growled, "but more for you than dinner at the moment."
"Just checking," giggled Kurt as he crashed his lips into his boyfriends again. The sky outside, which had been bright and sunny all afternoon, quickly clouded over, and a random, loud, summer storm began; the sharp patter of rain audible inside the small bedroom.
Breathless, Kurt broke the kiss in favor of kissing along Blaine's jaw as his fingers unbuttoned the buttons of his light blue dress shirt. He loosened Blaine's tie, but left it on the slightly shorter man as he peeled the cotton shirt off his boyfriend's shoulders and threw it into their hamper. He took a moment to admire the contours of Blaine's chest – the dark dusting of chest hair, Blaine's tan skin (the coloring of which was a mixture of his pan-Asian heritage and time spent outside basking in the early summer sun), and the long lean lines of his boyfriends strong arms. Kurt knelt slightly to deliver kisses to all of the aforementioned areas, Blaine sighing happily above him. He worked his way down from Blaine's shoulder blades to his nipples, tugging each one into his mouth and grazing them lightly with his teeth; to his abdomen, swirling his tongue into Blaine's belly button, which earned him a gasped 'oh fuck' from his boyfriend. The fingertips of Kurt's elegant hands had just popped open Blaine's belt buckle when Blaine reached down and lightly tugged on Kurt's own tie, causing Kurt to look up and into his lust-blown eyes. Blaine moved his lips a fraction forward and Kurt smiled, pulling himself up into a standing position and pressing his lips once again against Blaine's, tugging his dark-haired lover's lower lip into his mouth and nipping on it lightly.
"Urmph," groaned Blaine incoherently, settling one hand on Kurt's waist while the other expertly popped the buttons on Kurt's thin red cardigan. The garment soon joined Blaine's button-down amongst their other laundry, followed quickly by his black tie and white undershirt. It only then dawned upon them that they should probably take their shoes off before continuing, so between giggles Blaine unlaced his dress shoes and removed his black socks while Kurt knelt to quickly untie his black lace-up boots and ease them off along with his socks.
Kurt took advantage of the fact that Blaine had turned around to take off his shoes and wrapped his hands around his lover as he stood back up, his hands sprawling out in exploration against Blaine's chest while he held himself flush against Blaine's back, planting wet kisses along the back of his neck and his upper shoulders.
"I love you," he whispered against the shell of Blaine's ear.
"Love you too," affirmed Blaine softly as he pushed his hips back against Kurt's, Kurt's arousal now pressing insistently against his ass. Kurt kept one arm tightly wrapped around Blaine as he returned the gesture, rocking into this boyfriend, while the other found its way up to Blaine's scalp and tangled into Blaine's curls.
"Mphmf, please," Blaine whined when Kurt's hand settled itself unmoving in his hair, as Kurt continued rocking against him, shifting slightly to steady his stance while holding Blaine in place.
"Please, what?" Kurt teased, licking the back of Blaine's ear.
"Ku, Kuurrt," groaned Blaine, grinding his ass harder into Kurt's hips.
"Please, what Blaine?" Kurt repeated insistently.
"Pull –" pleaded Blaine, "– pull my hair," he gasped out as the hand that had been holding his chest inched downward to palm him through his fitted dress pants.
Kurt smiled as his fingers found a thick lock of Blaine's hair and gave a light tug – not too hard, just the way Blaine liked it. Kurt couldn't believe that after all this time Blaine was still slightly hesitant to ask for this. It was a well known fact in their relationship Blaine loved to have his hair pulled – as well a known fact as Kurt liking to be spanked occasionally. Then again, Kurt still flushed a deep crimson nearly every time he outright asked Blaine to do that, so he supposed it was understandable.
"More," Blaine begged, and Kurt tugged again as his other hand easily unbuttoned his dress pants and jerked the zipper down. The pants slid off Blaine's hips and Blaine shuffled to remove them without detaching himself from Kurt's grasp. A delicate hand ghosted over his erection through his boxers, before Kurt thrust his hand behind himself to ease down the back zipper of his Marc Jacobs black skinny jeans.
"Bed," choked out Kurt as he freed himself from the confining jeans. Blaine nodded eagerly and climbed onto the bed, smiling and batting his long eye lashes at Kurt.
"You are such a dork," teased Kurt good-naturedly, his tone turning gravelly as he joined the other man on the bed. "Good thing you're such a sexy dork." He kissed Blaine once again, a rough, quick kiss that left both men's lips red and puffy. Blaine pulled him close and Kurt reached forward once again to stroke Blaine through his underwear. After a few strokes he inched his hand backwards and pressed his thumb against Blaine's entrance through the thin silky fabric, he hesitated for a moment to make sure that this was what Blaine wanted as well. The two were usually very much in sync about what kind of sex they wanted, but it never hurt to double check.
"Yes, yes, oh fuck please," begged Blaine, closing his eyes and throwing his head back. Kurt slid his hand forward to cup Blaine's balls for a moment while his tongue traced a vein on the skin of Blaine's exposed neck before he reached over Blaine and pulled out a condom and their lube from the nightstand.
During the moment of his absence Blaine had rolled fully onto his abdomen, his face flushed and beads of sweat starting to pool at the crevices of his neck and the inside of his elbows. Kurt didn't think there was anything more gorgeous than his boyfriend mid-sex, and his cock jerked in anticipation of what was about to happen.
Kurt grasped Blaine's boxers with his thumb and forefinger and yanked them down and off of his boyfriend's hips to get lost somewhere in the mess of blankets and sheets pooled at the bottom of the bed. He removed his briefs as well and eased Blaine's legs forward and apart so his ass was higher than his head as his knees bent, allowing Kurt a better angle. Once settled between Blaine's legs, he picked up the lube and coated a hand with it, reaching under Blaine to pump his cock as Blaine thrust into his fisted hand.
"Blaine, fuck," mumbled Kurt as he watched Blaine writhe underneath him, bucking forward and into his hand, the muscles of his legs clenching and unclenching in desperation and want.
"Inside, n-now," Blaine gasped and Kurt stopped jerking him off in order to recoat his hand in lube and press a finger gently inside his boyfriend. After a moment Blaine had relaxed enough for Kurt to slide the finger all the way in and slip it out before adding a second. He pushed both fingers in to Blaine, scissoring them as Blaine pushed his hips backward against Kurt's hand.
Kurt decided that neither he nor Blaine could take another second of not being connected so he withdrew his hand and rolled on the condom, applying a healthy amount of lube to his shaft as he went.
He unceremoniously wiped his hand on a sheet (they were due to wash the sheets soon anyway) and lined himself up with Blaine before pushing inside. He was immediately sheathed in the heat and pressure of his boyfriend and moaned at the delicious sensation.
"So good, so good," he praised, raising a hand to shove his sweat-dampened hair out of his eyes. He dragged his fingernails along Blaine's back as he slowly pulled out, before rocking back into Blaine, and after leaving three light scratches all along his back Kurt let one hand grab Blaine's hip while the other found the soft curls of Blaine's head and resumed pulling Blaine's hair.
"Guh, Kurt, Kurt," moaned Blaine as he thrust backward and directed Kurt deeper into him, the movement causing Kurt's cock to rub against Blaine's prostate.
Kurt slid his hips forward slightly to keep the angle steady and thrust harder and faster into Blaine, making repeated contact with his prostate. His tugging on Blaine's hair became erratic and unsteady as he felt the familiar sensation in his abdomen building, but he remained coherent enough to reach around Blaine's right hip and resume pumping his hand along Blaine's length.
"Come for me, baby," he groaned as he rubbed his thumb roughly over the slit of Blaine's cock, the leftover lube making the movements fluid and easy.
Blaine didn't need telling twice, and within a minute he was contracting around Kurt and coming over Kurt's hand. Just as his orgasm started to fade Kurt fell over the edge too, and he bucked erratically into Blaine as he came, calling his lover's name loudly along the way.
After a minute he grew too sensitive so he eased himself out of Blaine and removed the condom, tossing it into the nearby bin. Blaine wrapped his arms and legs around Kurt simultaneously, pulling him into a cuddle.
"I love you," he said and then paused to kiss Kurt's forehead.
"I love you too."
Blaine's eyes fluttered closed and Kurt clicked his tongue disapprovingly.
"Hey, don't fall asleep – we still need to make dinner."
"Nuh-uh," whined Blaine without opening his eyes. He tightened his grip on Kurt, sliding his hand down Kurt's waist to wrap around his ass. "Not hungry: sleep now. Eat later." It was at that inopportune moment that his stomach betrayed him by grumbling loudly.
"Right," admonished Kurt sarcastically. "Come on Blaine, up! You're grouchy when you're hungry." Blaine pouted dramatically before hesitantly opening an eye.
"Argh," he grumbled. Kurt rolled his eyes.
"Fine. I will make dinner, but then you have to get up and eat it." Blaine grinned widely, thoroughly pleased with this turn of events.
"My hero."
The next seven days flew by, as the semester pulled to a final close and Kurt's graduation from FIT drew closer and closer. Everyone Kurt and Blaine knew were also running around like headless chickens, since Mercedes, Tina, Quinn, Amber and Gil were also graduating. Back in Ohio arrangements were being made for Finn's graduation from OSU (alongside Puck, Dave and Angela) and his upcoming move to New York City. Kurt's parents and Finn had flown down from Ohio on Friday afternoon and, after a repeat of last year's furniture shuffle and the easily made decision to have Finn stay with Rachel for the duration (after all, the two were moving in together in a matter of weeks), everyone had settled in nicely.
For their part, Blaine's parents had balked in surprise when Blaine had half-heartedly mentioned the possibility of them coming in for Kurt's graduation (as Kurt's parents had done for him the previous year) and had quickly rebuffed the idea while citing various 'work obligations' as reasons for not being able to attend. Kurt had assured Blaine that he really didn't mind – and that really, what with packing for D.C., entertaining Kurt's parents and stepbrother, getting their apartment ready for Quinn and Kevin to move in temporarily, and figuring out the last of the logistics of their new home in D.C, he had more than enough on his plate.
With the arrival of Kurt's graduation on Sunday morning, their apartment became a hive of activity; the four bumping into one another in various stages of dress while a harassed-looking Kurt shouted threats increasingly dire in nature if they were late for his ceremony. Finally everyone was ready and assembled to leave at the front door, Kurt having finally found his silver lapel pin of a sewing needle to adhere to his gown and Carole having successfully removed a small coffee stain from Burt's tie.
"Alright let's go, the cab is waiting," directed Blaine as he took a suddenly nervous Kurt by the hand and led the way to the elevator and out of their apartment building.
Burt and Carole beamed with pride as the cab pulled up to the ceremony location and deposited the family into the throng of several hundred equally harried-looking individuals. Kurt was the first, and so far only, person in either the Hudson or Hummel families (until of course you were to go to very distant relatives, but who counts those?) who would be graduating with a four year degree. He wouldn't keep the 'only' title for long as Finn was due to graduate in a week – but the magnitude of the occasion was not lost upon the two parents.
After flinging his arms around his parents and giving Blaine one last peck Kurt was off, dashing towards the line-up location with the other graduates. They waited outside for a few minutes until Blaine received a text from Mercedes to confirm that she, Rachel, Finn, Tina, Quinn and Kevin were inside and looking for Burt and Carole.
"Mercedes and the others are apparently in Section 4G about midway down – they've saved three seats," Blaine explained to Burt and Carole. "You guys go on ahead and meet them: I'll catch up in a minute." Burt's brow furrowed.
"Where are you going?" he asked, a slightly tense tone to his voice, as he glanced at his watch. Blaine pointed across the street to a small flower shop.
"I didn't want Kurt to see, but I have an order there I need to pick up. There's almost an hour still 'til graduation, I'll be right there." Carole's eyes lit up at Blaine's explanation.
"You're such a sweetheart!" she gushed happily, linking arms with her husband. "Come on; lets go find Mercedes and the rest of those kids."
"Why didn't you tell us before?" Burt asked, his tone softening.
"I couldn't tell anyone,"Blaine reasoned. "Kurt always figures out when I'm going to surprise him – or try to surprise him, at least."
"Don't I know it," chuckled Burt. "When he was little I had to buy his Christmas presents ridiculously early and hide them at my buddy Enzo's store or else he'd know everything before we even put up the tree," he recalled. "Though that was better than this one time, when he was six, when he wrote a wish list for Santa but wouldn't show it to anyone before it got mailed out and refused to say what was on it until bedtime on Christmas Eve. Do you know how difficult it is to find a kid-sized tea set that you can actually use to make real tea at 9 o'clock at night on freakin' Christmas Eve?" Burt shook his head at the memory and offered Blaine a warm smile as well before allowing himself to be led into the crowd by his wife.
Blaine jogged across the street and was relieved to note a "pre-ordered pickup" line that was separate from the "new order placement line," which stretched out the door of the small shop. After a few minutes of waiting he told the cashier his name and order number before the exhausted man handed him a medium sized bouquet of Columbia blue larkspurs and white gardenias: FIT colors. Feeling quite pleased with himself about not blabbing (Ok, so flowers at graduation weren't exactly the surprise of the century but getting something around Kurt was practically impossible) Blaine texted Mercedes and made his way to where they were sitting in the commencement hall.
After lining up, the graduates had been directed into cold metal chairs on the floor of the commencement arena. Kurt had found Gil in the hubbub and the two were shuffled into their 12 row seats rather brusquely by an attendant.
"I can't believe we're finally here!" exclaimed Gil. Kurt nodded his agreement.
"I know, it's so weird. I feel like I just graduated from high school in Lima yesterday. I've had the last song my old Glee club sang together stuck in my head all morning," he confessed as he unzipped the front of his gown and reached into his pocket.
"What was it?" asked Gil.
"We Will Not Grow Old, by Lenka," answered Kurt.
"How does it go?"
You and me will be lying side by side
Forever, forever
Underneath this adolescent sky
Together, together
And you will hold my heart inside your hand
And You'll be the one, the one to tell me
Oh, we've got a long, long way to go
To get there
We'll get there
But oh, if there's one thing that we know
It's that we will not grow old
Kurt sang a few bars of the song quietly, smiling faintly at the memory of the last day in the choir room with all of his friends; his New Directions family.
"That's really nice," commented Gil.
"Yeah," agreed Kurt. He opened his wallet and pulled out a small faded photo of a four year old Kurt and his mother as they lay curled up on the couch fast asleep after a movie. Kurt pressed a thumb to the corner of the picture. I miss you, I wish you were here mom, he thought to himself. He turned to show the photo to Gil but thought better of it. Gil, as one of his best college friends, knew all about Kurt's mom – her life and her death – but unlike Kurt, Gil did not have a dad and stepmother cheering her on from the stands. Rather, her sister Hilary and her husband had attended the ceremony, as her parents didn't involve themselves in her life at all, and hadn't since she'd come out to them six years previous. Sensing a mutual bittersweetness, the two friends instinctively reached out and clasped hands momentarily before music began to play, signaling the beginning of the ceremony.
The ceremony was long – nearly three hours, Blaine feared that Kurt's flowers might wilt as the seventh – yes, seventh – speaker of the day addressed the increasingly restless crowd. Finally the names of the graduates were called, and the Kurt Hummel Cheering Section exploded with pride as his name was called out and he proudly strutted across the stage, offering a short flash of his signature pageant wave towards his family. The contingent also cheered for Gil as her name was read, of course. Unfortunately, after Kurt and Gil sat, came about 300 more students who were of significantly less interest to Blaine and company as they waited for the graduates to be dismissed.
"Cheesus," groaned Finn. "I can't believe we are actually still here. I'm sorry you all get to do this again next week for me," he said sympathetically.
"I'm not going to my graduation," commented Tina. "They don't even give you your real diploma then. There's no point to it."
"Your parents are cool with that Tina?" asked Burt with a raised eyebrow.
"Uh…we'll see," she admitted with a cringe, considering she hadn't actually informed them of this decision yet.
"Well I'm glad we're here!" piped up Carole cheerfully as she lowered the camera from her gaze for the first time since the ceremony had begun.
"Me too," said Burt sincerely, though he was also getting slightly antsy from the drawn out pace of the ceremony. "I just wish Elizabeth was here to see this," he added quietly. Carole gave his hand a squeeze of understanding, sure she'd feel the same way about Christopher the following week as she watched her little Finn graduate from OSU.
"I'm proud of Kurt too, but my butt is getting welded to these stupid seats," complained Finn yet again.
Finally the dean of the school returned to the podium and asked all the graduates to stand, congratulated them once more, and instructed them all to change the position of their tassels to signify their new status as graduates. The audience erupted once more into a powerful roar of approval and Carole clicked away happily at her camera as Kurt and Gil jumped up and down in their caps and gowns.
After the ceremony came a marathon of picture taking, a marathon that only ended when the batteries in both Rachel and Carole's cameras finally died. Kurt loved the flowers Blaine had ordered for him and after receiving them only reluctantly detangled himself from Blaine upon a pointed cough from Finn and Burt. Kurt hugged Gil goodbye as she made her way back over to her sister and brother-in-law, and the group of ten headed off to dinner at Le Bistro Moderne – a French-American bistro that happened to be one of Kurt's favorite places to dine on the rare occasion that he and Blaine were able to splurge. Burt, who happened to be as good at saving money as Kurt when he had his eye on a particular designer item, insisted on paying for everybody.
"We're really proud of you Kurt," Burt announced, raising his glass from the table once they had all settled in, and Kurt's flowers had graciously been placed into a vase brought out by their waiter to preserve them. "You've overcome all the challenges life threw at you, and really made something of yourself. I'm proud of you son." Carole seconded this and reached across the table to briefly embrace her stepson.
"I love all of you guys too," declared Kurt, a slight hitch in his voice as he looked around the expansive table at his friends and family, his gaze lingering the longest on his father and Blaine. The group collectively clinked their glasses together in honor of Kurt, before returning to their meals. Side conversations broke out quickly, as Rachel and Finn gabbed with Mercedes about their upcoming 'moving in with the significant other' situations (and, of course, Rachel's upcoming audition for Les Mis, as well as Mercedes' audition for another commercial), Quinn – with an almost equally excited Kevin – interrogated Carole and Burt about their wedding, as the two betrothed lovers would be getting married in only 6 more months, and Tina happily turned to talk to Kurt and Blaine. The conversation quickly turned to Kurt and Blaine's summer plans.
"So what are you going to do in D.C. while Blaine's working?" she asked curiously.
"Remember the scarves I created for my independent study?" he asked, smiling when Tina nodded. "Well, I showed the finished product to Gil, who showed them to a buyer she knows, and the buyer bought them! It's the first time anything I've designed was actually purchased by anyone. They liked them so much that they asked to see my other work, and when they saw how fabulous it was, they offered me a commission to design some pieces over the summer. It's just some freelancing work but it'll keep me busy and connected to the fashion world until we get back to the city."
"That's awesome."
"Yeah. After the whole Zeb thing, I wasn't sure I'd be able to find any work at all in the industry – hello, $20,000 in student loans for nothing – but thankfully, it appears that's not going to be the case."
"Can't keep a Hummel down," interjected Burt proudly.
"Never," agreed Blaine, pressing a kiss to Kurt's cheek as Kurt grinned happily. This moment was truly one to remember.
And there you have it – I hope Kurt's graduation didn't seem too…rushed. I didn't want it to be a rehashing of Blaine's from chapter 2.
The next few (not sure if 2 or 3 or 4 tops) chapters will take place during Klaine's summer in D.C. I personally LOVE D.C. and am *so* excited to write about Klaine there (I'm pretty sure I haven't read any KlaineInDC fanfics before so maybe there aren't any?) and as promised I have a fluffy and smutty summer planned for our boys + I'll be incorporating the prompt winners prompts soon so that's exciting as well.
I'm getting used to my new tumblr – and my ask box allows for anonymous asks so you don't need a tumblr to post to it – so if you're interested in extra ITT info you can follow me there at [blurtitoutalready][.][tumblr][.][com]. Just remove the brackets.
I'm Truly Clueless - no I don't/didn't go to fashion college, but thank you! My field is actually mental health but I've been doing a bunch of research (that and 8000+ chapters are why updates aren't as speedy as I'd like) about FIT/NYULaw and other locations/systems. It is my goal to make this fic relatively realistic.
Reviews are my crack, and really the only way I know ya'll want me to keep going, so if you're inclined, review button is below.
