Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. Blaine and Kurt belong to Glee, while the rest of the characters belong to the amazingness of CP Coulter.
Author's note: A HUGE THANKYOU TO REDBUTTERFLY96 WHO SUBMITTED THE 100th REVIEW! AND A HUGE THANKS TO EVERYONE ELSE, I COULDN'T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT YOU.
Okay so I know, I'm terrible at keeping promises. Stuff gets in the way; essays, work, sickness, events, etc. All I can do is ask for your patience, and I will try my best to upload the next chapter quicker.
"I'll just have a salad, thanks," Kurt smiled as the waiter nodded and took down his order.
Blaine had his arm around Kurt's waist, and they were enjoying a nice lunch at their old favourite restaurant, Breadstix, with the New Directions group.
Tina sighed, "We do miss you at McKinley, Kurt."
"It's true," Rachel chimed in, "I have no competition for the lead rolls now!"
Mercedes glared at her, before turning and beaming at Kurt, "You ever coming back, Boo?"
Kurt sighed. They had discussed this before, and no matter how many times they talked about it, Kurt felt hurt every time. It was like there was some invisible blow to his heart, and he wanted to run out of the room crying. That's how much he missed McKinley. He really wanted to go back, and would give anything to return, but Karofsky…
"I'm all for it," Blaine interrupted his thoughts, "I mean, if it weren't for Karofsky and all, I would take him back to McKinley myself."
Santana sighed, "well good luck with that, cos Karofsky ain't going nowhere. I was talking to him the other day."
Finn raised an eyebrow, "since when do you and Karofsky talk?"
"Since I need somewhere to release my sexual frustration. Hey, don't you dare judge. I gots to get my mack on somehow and all of you guys are taken. Except for wheels, but I just can't be bothered to reach that low." She glanced at Artie, "no offence."
"None taken."
"Guys," Kurt said, "I miss you. A lot. But I can't go back, you know that. Dalton is hard, but let's face it, it's safer, and everyone's nicer."
The rest of the group didn't take the discussion any further, but Kurt still couldn't help but feel a little unhappy.
Blaine held the door open for Kurt as he walked out from the restaurant, arm in arm with Mercedes. Everyone went back over to get in the car, but a tug on his arm from Mercedes told him that she wanted a private word.
He let her drag him over to the footpath beside the restaurant; he turned around to find Mercedes looking him straight in the eye, this odd, almost pained expression on her face.
Before he could ask, he noticed there were a few tears welling up in the corners of her eyes.
"Cedes?" he used her old nickname, "what's wrong?"
"I'm sorry," she blubbered, "It's just… it's so weird without you there, boo. I miss you so much, and us Glee kids feel slightly more exposed, for some reason. I mean, we've gotten slushied a little less since you transferred, but you were setting an example for us, and we all felt proud when you were around."
"Oh, darling" Kurt pulled her into a tight hug, and was surprised to see that he was now quite a lot taller than she was. Huh, maybe he was hitting another growth spurt. He could feel the pools in his eyes as he looked into her huge, sparkling brown ones. "I wish I could, but you know I can't. It's… not safe."
Mercedes sniffed, "if Karofsky left, would you come back?" She looked up at him through those huge glassy eyes.
He glanced over at Blaine, "… I don't think so." Mercedes looked torn, which broke Kurt's heart a little. He tried to explain, but found himself tongue-tied, "I… I just… well…"
"I get it," Mercedes said knowingly, cutting him off, "you're in love."
Kurt bit his lip, "thank you," he whispered.
"It's fine, baby." She laughed, "It's easy to see that you're in love. He looks at you like he is ready to do anything to protect you. You look at him with so much smitten in your eyes that Brittany has started calling you a kitten instead of a dolphin. You guys are connected, it's easy to see. It's like there's some sort of invisible string between you two, and you always have to move around together to stay attached."
Kurt smiled, "I love you, 'Ced. You know that."
She grinned and bundled him up into a big warm hug. "I love you too, boo. Never forget it."
Linking arms, the two best friends walked back to the car together.
On the drive back home, Blaine nudged at Kurt's neck with his nose.
"You're adorable," Kurt said, giggling.
"Not as adorable as you," Blaine said, lunging over to poke Kurt in the ribs. Kurt squealed in delight and squirmed around in his seat.
"No… fair!" Kurt exclaimed, gasping for air, "you know I'm ticklish!"
Blaine smiled with an 'i-told-you-so' expression on his face, "adorable," he repeated simply.
"Dudes, could you keep it down back there?" Finn said from the driver's seat.
Puck was sitting next to him on the passenger's side, "yeah, no sex while we're in the car," he turned around and grinned wickedly, before turning back around and occupying Finn with a "which girl's hotter" game.
Blaine was expecting Kurt to comeback with some witty sarcastic comment, but instead he sighed heavily, which made Blaine instantly worried. "I know that sigh. What's wrong?"
Kurt leaned his head against the window, "I don't know. It's just hard… Mercedes was telling me how much she missed me back at McKinley, and…"
"You miss them." Blaine said.
"Well, yeah." He blinked away a few tears.
"Then go back."
Kurt looked over at Blaine in shock, "what?"
"You heard what I said, you should go back. The guys would find some way to protect you, even if it means forming a barricade around you like Puckerman suggested."
Kurt grabbed Blaine's hand to stop him talking, "I know. And I do trust them, but there are actually lots of reasons why I can't go back. While I do miss my friends, I have made so many new friends at Dalton. I couldn't leave Reed on his own; I don't think he'd last a day without breaking something. And what would the twins do when they no longer have someone who gets pissed off easily enough to yell at them every day? The work is harder, but I like the challenge… And it wasn't just Karofsky. I was openly gay, which means I had a lot of enemies, ones I may not even know of," Blaine squeezed his hand understandingly, "I couldn't walk round a corner without being scared of who might throw a Slushie in my face. I would jump every single time a locker closed, for fear of another football played coming to beat me up. I'm not just safe at Dalton, I feel safe at Dalton. And…"
"And what?" Blaine urged.
"And I don't think I'd be able to last a whole day without you." Kurt leaned into kiss Blaine with enthusiasm.
Blaine began to kiss back, equalling his level of enthusiasm. He moved against Kurt, and held the back of his neck with both hands. Kurt strained against the seatbelt to get closer to Blaine as their tongues slided together, and began to run his hands through Blaine's dark curls—
"Hey!" Puck was grinning, "What did I say about not having sex while we're in the car?"
Again, that was really short. But I'm just trying to get it updated quickly, even if that means only a short chapter. I'll try my best to upload again soon. Thank you for the reviews, love you all.