Two minutes after they'd left the house Kurt got a frantic call from Rachel asking him to pick up some orange juice because, apparently, her dads loved it and she hadn't realized it was all gone. "You can't have a screwdriver without the screw!" she yelled into his ear through the phone. Kurt didn't argue.
Instead he merely poked at Finn until the older boy pulled into the parking lot of the nearest grocery store. "I have to go now, Rachel, I'm going in to buy it now."
"Okay, tell me when you've got it!" Her voice was shriller than usual, Kurt wondered if she'd already started drinking.
"I'll text you, I promise." Kurt rolled his eyes at Blaine and hung up with Rachel. Once he'd, mercifully, taken the phone from his ear he took a calming breath. "I need to go get some orange juice for her, I'll be right back."
"Do you want company?" Blaine asked, turned around in the passenger's seat, a hand shooting out and stopping short before the middle console. "I want some gum anyway."
"What do you need gum for, dude? Planning on kissing someone at midnight?" Finn elbowed Blaine playfully from the driver's seat. Kurt's heart leapt.
"Nah." Blaine's lips curled up in a playful smile pulling up the corners of his lips. "I just feel like I have garlic breath." Kurt's heart dropped. How stupid, he needed to stop being hopeful like that when Blaine said those nodded. "Yeah I know, pasta was kinda strong tonight, I loved it." Finn wriggled in his seat a little. "I'll just stay in the car though, keep it warm."
"Sounds good," Kurt said, eager to just get it over with. "Let's go, Blaine." He hopped out of the car. Blaine was following after him quickly
They made their way into the store quickly and quietly, Blaine trailing after Kurt's power-walk to the refrigerated section. He just needed to get the orange juice and then they could go. Oh, and pick up Blaine's stupid gum. They could do that at the counter though.
"Kurt," Blaine called and Kurt finally looked back to see Blaine literally jogging to catch up. "Kurt, slow down. What's the rush?"
A blush raced up Kurt's face and he stopped in his tracks. "Oh, um… sorry, I didn't know I was walking too fast." It was a lie; he'd sort of hoped he could leave Blaine in the dust.
"Well, slow down, Tiger." Blaine caught up to him and smiled the smile Kurt LOVED to kiss off him.
"Tiger?" Kurt quirked an eyebrow.
Blaine shrugged. "Trying it out. How'd it fair?" Kurt opened his mouth to answer but instead of words a squeak escaped him as Blaine gently took his hand and threaded their fingers together. "Kurt?" That STUPID, sexy smile lit the older boy's face.
Kurt sucked in a breath. "Terrible." But his face was hot and Blaine smiled triumphantly. Honestly Kurt didn't know how he felt about a nickname, but he was less concerned with what Blaine called him and more concerned with the way their hands were wrapped around each other.
"Well then, Tiger, we've got orange juice to buy."
"And gum," Kurt added automatically. Blaine rolled his eyes but nodded anyway. He tugged on Kurt's hand through their connection and suddenly they were moving again.
Blaine didn't let go of his hand all the way to the refrigerate section and back towards checkout. Actually Kurt was pretty sure Blaine wouldn't have let go until Kurt had to pull his wallet out to pay if a sickeningly familiar voice hadn't called out to him.
"Out with your new butt buddy, Lady Boy?" Azimio's voice was like a bucket of cold water; Kurt yanked his hand away from Blaine's as if the appendage suddenly stung. He whirled around to see Azimio and Karofsky in the self-checkout line holding two bottles of soda each.
Kurt took a step back involuntarily. Unluckily Azimio caught the movement and it made him laugh.
"Scared, Fairy?" The large Neanderthal smirked."Kurt?" Blaine questioned from his side.
"Of course not, what would I have to be afraid of? Between the two of you you can't even string together an original insult." Kurt sneered, another, protective, instinct kicking in.
Azimio's eyes flashed and his nose flared, but Karofsky had a more interesting reaction. The large boy scowled and shifted the soda bottles in his hands. "Fucking fag." But something in his expression was different. Instead of the stunted anger Azimio always got when Kurt was somewhere he couldn't actively bully him, Karofsky looked almost scared. And something else, something - dark and strange but somehow familiar, it made Kurt's stomach curl unpleasantly.
"See, ORIGINAL." Kurt rolled his eyes and straightened his spine. "C'mon, Blaine." He wanted to tug Blaine's sleeve, but he didn't want to touch Blaine in front of these boys.
"Kurt, they're harassing you, you can't just take it," Blaine said to him fiercely, fixing the boys with a glare Kurt had never seen before.
"They're not going to do anything here." Kurt risked it and tugged Blaine's sleeve quickly. "Let's GO," he said more urgently. He just wanted out of here, even more than he had before. He didn't want to let his bullies ruin his first New Year's Eve party.
The house they went into was clean and well lit, beautiful in a sort of cold, yet still lived in way. It looked a bit like Blaine's house in that regard, but the feeling was different. There was a closeness in the picturesque rooms that Blaine's house just couldn't manage. His family loved from a distance.
A small brunette girl Blaine could only assume was Rachel met them at the door and pulled Kurt into a hug the younger boy was obviously slightly uncomfortable with and then practically threw him aside to stare up at Finn with the most intense expression Blaine had ever seen on a human being in person. She spared him a cursory glance and a polite smile before taking Finn's large hand and dragging him down the hall.
Blaine blinked after her. "She's…"
"Rachel Berry," Kurt supplied for him. "Really it's best to just describe her with her name, there are no other words." Kurt nodded sagely and then adjusted his hold on the gallon of orange juice Rachel hadn't even thought to notice. "I'll just go put this in the fridge downstairs. C'mon, the party awaits."
Blaine followed Kurt down a flight of steps and into the most interesting basement he'd ever been in. It was virtually a theatre, complete with a stage two steps off the ground and speakers. "Kurt." Blaine gulped. "This is more of her being Rachel Berry isn't it?"
Kurt took his last step down and looked up to where Blaine was caught still as he stared at the room. "Of course it is." Kurt held out his hand and Blaine's heart hammered suddenly.
He took Kurt's hand despite the little voice in his head telling him he shouldn't. He'd already ignored that voice in the grocery store, unable to fight the impulse to just TOUCH Kurt. *Don't fuck with his head, Blaine!* His mental chastising voice wasn't loud enough though, it was drowned out by the voice of Blaine's Want telling him to hold Kurt and never let go.
"So, where is everybody?" Blaine asked. The room was empty except for them, Finn, and Rachel.
"I got us here early so I could make sure Rachel's decorations weren't terrible." Kurt shrugged. "Everybody should start showing up soon, maybe twenty-thirty minutes?" Kurt looked at his watch and then nodded.
"Oh." Blaine pulled his hand from Kurt's reluctantly as the boy went to put the juice away. Finn was occupied with Rachel, but Blaine didn't know how long that would last. Damn, he wanted to be touching Kurt closed his eyes and shook his head briefly. He needed to stop being so clingy. It wasn't fair to Kurt. He couldn't change the rules now, so close to the end.
Kurt closed the fridge door, orange juice safely inside and leaving both hands free for Blaine to touch and grab and clenched his fists so he wouldn't reach out again to the boy.
AN: You guys have no idea how much I love you. To give you a hint, this is being uploaded from my phone. That's an experience and a half if you've ever had one.
Read and Review, please! :D