Since Breadstix, Kurt had realised that a couple of 'date's and a talent show were not enough to really get to know someone enough to want to go out with them. Sure, both Jake and Blaine were extremely good looking, nice, funny and completely different, but he still didn't know enough about them, and wasn't sure if they had much chemistry together. Sue probably didn't understand this, having married herself and all, but ordinary people needed to spend more time together if they were to have a relationship. Right now he really had no idea about who to pick, as at the moment the two boys were nothing more than friends. At least, that's how it felt. Although he was affected by both of them, and was attracted to different qualities about them, he just wasn't quite there yet.
That was when Kurt decided that Sue didn't have to arrange everything. He wanted a chance to see more of the remaining contenders for his heart, and so realised that they needed to go out again. This time however, he and Blaine would be alone, with no 'Wevid' as the boy sometimes referred to them. Jake was busy tonight so that was a no go, but Blaine didn't have any plans and so would be arriving very soon to pick Kurt up. He still wasn't sure exactly where they were going to go or what they were going to do, but Kurt just wanted more time to spend with him and see if that feeling he always experienced when they made eye contact was no fluke.
Kurt had always been careful with his heart, and his emotions, although it may not always seem like that. As much as he liked being forward and making his attentions known, as with Finn, Kurt was absolutely terrified of getting his heart broken, and kept himself on guard at all times. His father had recently decided to give him 'The Talk', but the Brokeback Mountain version, although frankly it was more of a moral thing, with a few pamphlets slid over the table, thank God. The last thing Kurt wanted was for Burt to try and explain the mechanics of 'The Bees and the Bees' to him. Before then, he'd never really thought about trying to learn about stuff like that. The idea of being with someone in that way was frankly terrifying to Kurt. Not to mention it sounded disgusting.
The doorbell rang, pulling Kurt out of his musings, and he hurried downstairs to answer it before his father could get up. Burt hadn't said much after that dinner, and Kurt got the feeling that he hadn't liked them, or at least, one of them. He denied it whenever Kurt tried to bring it up however, so he wasn't so sure. He quickly smoothed down his grey wool sweater and checked his hair in the mirror before opening the door to admit Blaine. The boy seemed to have reduced the use of hair gel, using just enough to let his dark curls hang loose, but at the same time controlled. The look suited him immensely well, and Kurt decided not to tell the boy that he could have just stepped out of Men's Vogue.
"Hey," Blaine greeted him cheerfully, sounding slightly out of breath. "ready to go?"
Kurt peered over the boy's shoulder, and squinted towards the car. Blaine noticed and chuckled softly. "No, they're not here this time, but that's only because they didn't know I was going out. They'll figure it out eventually, but it'll be too late to catch up by then." The way he described them as if escaping from prison guards made Kurt laugh, before stopping abruptly and looking behind him to see his father standing there, watching them intently. Kurt could sense the protective father vibes coming from Burt, and rolled his eyes.
"We'll see you later Dad." Burt just grunted something nondescript before going back into the living room, although Kurt wouldn't put it past his father to watch them through the curtains. Blaine cleared his throat slightly and he turned back to face him.
"So, you just texted and asked me to come over. What did you want to do?" He asked, trying to sound calm and confident, and failing to succeed.
"I was thinking we could maybe go for a walk or something. I feel like if I'm going to have to choose soon I should probably know as much as I can before I make that choice." Blaine nodded in agreement, and stepped back to allow Kurt to leave the house. They set off down the near-empty suburban street, walking in silence for a few moments, each buried deep in their own thoughts.
"So, tell me about yourself." Kurt finally said, causing Blaine to laugh at the stereotypical question.
"There's not that much to tell really. I've been singing for about five years now but really prefer acting. I love all of the Star Wars movies, as dorky as that might sound. I have an older brother, Gareth, and my parents divorced when I was seven. I also like playing the guitar, football, and obsessively play Solitaire whenever I get the chance. I love reading, especially fantasy novels, although romance works for me too. So, yeah, that's all I can really say off the top of my head. And you?"
Kurt was silent for a moment, considering. "Well, I've sung since I could really talk. I was always a screamer, so it didn't come as a shock to anyone. I used to love watching all the typical princess movies, Disney, DreamWorks, and so on. I love working with fashion and music, and it's my dream to one day work with one of the major brands like Alexander McQueen, or even start my own line. It sounds hard but it's harder to get a career on Broadway I think, especially when you're a guy with a voice like mine."
Blaine shook his head. "I'm sure you could easily get a part. You have a fantastic voice." Kurt looked at him in confusion, and Blaine had to explain. "You forget that Wes, David and I have seen those videos on YouTube. You can find almost anything on the internet these days, you know. You never know, new musicals are being written all the time. There is always a part for everyone." Kurt pondered this little speech for a moment, and shrugged.
"Maybe so, but the fact remains that a director will always choose the Rachel Berrys of the world before they choose the Kurt Hummel. But that's fine. I can see myself working with fashion anyway. It's what I love doing, and I know I'd be great at it." At the end of his sentence Kurt put on his campest voice and did a little strut, doing his best impression of Marc St James. Blaine snorted as he did this, and tried to focus anywhere but Kurt's legs. The boy seemed to have an obsession with wearing either skinny jeans or leggings which really wasn't helpful to Blaine.
"So what do you want to do?" Kurt asked as they walked past his dad's garage.
Blaine was silent as he formed a reply. "Well, I'm not so sure really. I mean, I'd love to be a professional musician or actor, sure, but like you said that is a really difficult profession. It's so competitive and hard to make a living from. I'll probably end up doing something like law or teaching. I could cope with working behind a desk, but that's not really something I would particularly like to do. My parents are incredibly supportive of whatever I do, but I can tell they really want me to do something sensible and stable."
"Well, you still have time to make a decision. It's not like what you study in college is going to rule your life forever, is it?"
"Yeah, I guess." Blaine didn't look as animated as he had before, which Kurt was taking the blame for, but it wasn't long before the boy perked up again as Kurt tried to introduce new topics to the conversation. He found RENT worked marvellously, and they had a long discussion about whether Maureen and Joanne really had been right for each other, and about how much they'd each cried during the reprise of 'I'll Cover You'. As far as Kurt knew, only one other person he knew had seen RENT, and that person was Rachel, so it was refreshing to be able to talk about it with someone who didn't spend most of the conversation saying how she 'would make a really good Maureen,' or how that song was definitely better suited to her own voice than to Rosario Dawson's. Which it definitely wasn't, Kurt still argued.
They discussed several other musicals, movies, music, and school in the next twenty or so minutes of their walk. Blaine briefly mentioned how he had been bullied before at his last school for being gay, and how he'd transferred to Dalton to get away from it all. Kurt thought that the academy sounded like something out of a fantasy, although Blaine was quick to assure him that it was something more akin to a nightmare when you had Wes and David for friends.
"The place is like Wonderland. Only worse." Blaine had described it at one point after recounting the tale of 'The Freshman and the Basket of Hamsters' to Kurt, who was still clutching his stomach from laughing so much. He got to hear many fascinating stories that afternoon, each one stranger than the last, and most of them involving some interference from Wes and David. The boys had been at the school since freshmen year and had caused more chaos put together than every other student that had attended the school in the last twenty years.
In return Kurt told Blaine of the New Directions. Of their crazy song choices, impromptu performances, constant fights, their vest obsessed director, and of the numerous relationships that kept chopping and changing and swapping. When hearing it all being told like this, even by himself, Kurt had to admit that this sounded even stranger than the tales he'd heard of Dalton. Blaine's mouth seemed to drop down to the floor several times during his narrative. Strangely, once he'd got over the original shock of it all, Blaine had started to understand more and more. Dalton must have prepared his mind for them at least.
They eventually returned to the house, still laughing and chatting animatedly, until reaching the front door. The two quickly fell silent as the awkwardness and uncertainty of the situation penetrated into their brains. After a brief pause, in which both boys had just stood still, looking at each other, Kurt decided once again to take matter into his own hands. Tentatively, he leaned down slightly and kissed the other boy. For a moment Blaine froze, before responding slowly, one hand reaching up to cup Kurt's cheek. It wasn't passionate or heated, but at the same time Kurt felt like he had pins and needles all over his entire body. He wanted to be closer to Blaine, to keep kissing him, but that dream was demolished as the door flew open to reveal a stony faced Burt Hummel.
The two boys flew apart immediately, and Blaine's eyes flickered from father to son, before saying a polite 'Hello,' to Burt, and quickly excusing himself. Kurt wasn't sure exactly what to say once the door had closed and his father was watching him, but was spared by Carole, who entered the hallway at that moment to drag him away to help her make dinner. All the while he was chopping up vegetables, Kurt couldn't get the feeling of Blaine's lips on his out of his head, and a small smile began to play itself out on his features, as his emotions tried to sort themselves out.
Wow, it's 23:41 right now and I've just finished writing this. I've lived up to my promise of two chapters in one day (at least, if you're in the UK that is), and I hope I did not disappoint. You asked for more Klaine development, and I hope that has answered your prayers! I didn't want things to move too fast, but I felt like Kurt wanted to be able to judge fairly, so he had to kiss both of them. There will be some Kake in the next chapter (I think that is a fairly awesome pairing name, don't you?), so I hope I have pacified some readers with some Klaineliness. Thank you all once again for all of your support and alerts and for reading this story. I have no idea if this is near the end, or just the beginning.