This used to be it's own story, but I decided that it fit better here with all my other lovely Kliss stories (mostly because it's a one-shot centered around Klaine that has a Kliss) So... yeah
So I don't know why, but ever since it was confirmed that Blaine was going to McKinley, I've had this idea in my head that Blaine and Rachel would have a duet at either Sectionals or Regionals, much to the dismay of Finn and Kurt. Also, it has been said that Kurt and Blaine are going to have problems, as most couples do, and I figure that this could be the root of it all.
So… yeah.
I do not own Glee or the song "Remind Me" by Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood.
PS: Italics means Blaine, Italics and bold means Rachel, and just bold means both. Just so you know :)
Here's Chapter Thirty-Seven: Remind Me
"All right," Mr. Schuester said, coming into the room. Everybody sat up a little straighter because today was the day he was going to announce who got the solos at Regionals. Kurt was almost positive that Blaine was going to get at least one, which meant that he was going to get one, too, right? Wasn't that the way Mr. Schuester did it – always pairing them up according to couples?
Besides, no one's voice sounded better with Blaine's than Kurt's. (What? It's true.)
"So I know you're probably all anxious to hear who's getting the solos." The room was so silent you could probably hear a pin drop. Kurt himself was barely breathing and he knew he wasn't the only one. Looking to his left, he saw that Rachel was about five seconds away from wetting herself. "Well, we're going to do a duet first and then a group number. Now, for the group number," he started passing out sheet music, "we're going to do "We Weren't Born to Follow" by Bon Jovi because I think it's pretty perfect for you guys."
"What about the duet, Mr. Schue?" Mercedes asked, speaking for everyone. It would be nice to have a solo in the group song because a solo was a solo, but everyone in the room knew that the real stars of the show were the people who got to do the opening number. Usually, it would automatically go to Finn and Rachel, but ever since Blaine transferred, the order of things in New Directions had shifted. For once, Finn Hudson had to fight for solos instead of being handed them. Granted, he'd gotten the lead at Sectionals, but only because he'd gotten more votes than Blaine (Kurt still believed it was rigged).
"Drum roll, Finn," Mr. Schue said, as he always did before big news. "I was thinking that the leads could be Rachel," all the girls and Kurt groaned. Of course Rachel would get the solo. What else is new? And that probably meant that Finn would… "And Blaine."
"What?" Kurt and Finn burst out. Both were – well, at least Kurt was – remembering what had happened the last time Blaine and Rachel sang a duet together. Granted, they'd been drunk out of their minds that time, but still – Kurt wasn't going to risk it.
Besides, Rachel didn't sound nearly as good with Blaine as Kurt did.
"Mr. Schue," Finn pleaded. "We won Sectionals with me and Rachel singing lead. Why mess up a good thing?"
"Because, Finn, it's nice to let other people have a chance to shine, too," Mr. Schue replied, clearly not understanding Finn's real objection to Rachel singing with Blaine. Kurt was glad that Finn was saying what he was thinking, because Kurt was pretty sure that if he opened his mouth, nothing would come out – except maybe a weird, strangled noise. "Plus, Blaine's a really good performer and we need to pull out all the stops if we want to make it to Nationals again."
Finn sighed and flopped back in his chair. "Fine." Kurt groaned. If there was one thing Finn Hudson loved more than his girlfriend, it was winning. He was such a boy that way.
"What's the song, Mr. Schue?" Rachel asked, and Kurt could practically see the songs running in front of her eyes.
"I was thinking that new one by Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood. I think it's called 'Remind Me'."
"No," Kurt said sharply. "No way."
"Kurt…" Mr. Schue said. "What's wrong?"
"Mr. Schue. Do you know how romantic that song is?"
"We need a ballad and most ballads are romantic," Mr. Schue explained logically. But Kurt was way past logical because there was no freaking way his boyfriend was singing that song with Rachel Berry. "And like I told Finn, we need to pull out all the stops if we want to get to Nationals again."
"I am not okay with this." Finn may be fine with Mr. Schue's "We need to win Nationals" explanation, but Kurt wasn't backing down that easily. Normally, he wasn't the kind to be possessive, but Blaine and Rachel had a history and…
Okay, so maybe he just really wanted the solo.
But that was beside the point.
"Kurt," Mr. Schue said sternly. "It's a done deal. Blaine and Rachel are singing the song and that's that." He handed the sheet music to the pair and said, "All right, guys. Let's start rehearsing. It needs to be letter perfect for Regionals."
Kurt slumped in his chair, defeated and unhappy about it. Blaine squeezed his leg and kissed his cheek before going to sing a song about being in love with someone who wasn't Kurt.
Kurt Hummel was not a happy camper.
Which, of course, meant everyone else was going to be miserable, too.
"So you want to go to the Lima Bean after school?" Kurt asked Blaine a week later during Chem class. The teacher shot them a look and Kurt lowered his voice. "I feel like I never get to see you anymore. Outside of school, I mean."
"I know and I feel really bad about that…"
"But." There was always a 'but'. Well, recently, anyway.
"Please don't kill me. But I have to rehearse with Rachel." Kurt sighed and slumped backwards in his chair. "What's your problem?"
"You're always rehearsing with Rachel. You're my boyfriend, Blaine, not hers."
Blaine opened his mouth to retort, but the teacher interrupted. "Kurt… Blaine? Is there something you'd like to share with the rest of the class?"
"Nope," Kurt said curtly, avoiding Blaine's gaze. The teacher looked at them strangely and then said:
"All right. Well, just keep it down, okay?"
"No problem," Kurt replied in the same sour tone.
He spent the rest of the period staring intently at his notebook, hard at work on drawing tight, dark spirals in the margins of his notes. When the bell rang, he shoved his stuff in his bag and bolted out of his room, intent on getting to his locker and then to French class before…
"Kurt!"
Before that happened.
"What?" he groaned, for once unhappy to see Blaine Anderson.
"What's going on with you? Why are you so mad at me all of a sudden?"
"Because you're spending all of your time with Rachel freaking Berry!" Kurt said loudly, causing people to stare. Not that it mattered much – people were always staring at them. Might as well give them something to watch. "I mean, I get that you guys have to practice for Regionals and all of that. But you don't have to practice that much."
"You and I practice twice as much last year as Rachel and I are," Blaine countered.
Kurt stepped closer to Blaine and lowered his voice so only Blaine could hear. "Well, you and I weren't exactly practicing, now were we?"
"It was just a different kind of practicing," Blaine said with a slight smile.
"Now is not the time for jokes, Blaine."
"Who said I was joking?"
Kurt sighed, his already short fuse starting to burn out. "I just… want to spend more time with you." It wasn't enough for him to see Blaine during class and glee club.
"I know, baby," Blaine said, taking Kurt's hand. Kurt instinctively held back. No matter how mad he was, he could never resist Blaine for long. "And we will… after Regionals."
And there it was.
Kurt pulled his hand away. "Whatever. Just go hang out with your new best friend. See if I care." Then he turned and walked away, ignoring Blaine calling after him. He held his head high until he got to French, where he collapsed into his chair. Putting his head down on his desk, he closed his eyes, more tired than he'd ever felt in his life.
Fighting with the love of your life was harder than Kurt thought.
It was the day of Regionals and Kurt hadn't spoken a word to Blaine since their fight in the hallway. It's not that he didn't want to – he'd realized how stupid he'd been – but his pride was at stake. Kurt Hummel wasn't one to admit he was wrong, and if he did, it was only because someone had dragged it out of him. It was killing him inside not to talk to Blaine, so he was going to do something he'd never do for anyone but Blaine.
He was going to apologize.
But he would wait until after the competition because he didn't want to throw Blaine off his game. Kurt really wanted to win, okay?
"Hey," Finn said as Blaine and Rachel took their places on the wings of the stage. "What's going on with you and Blaine? You haven't talked in weeks."
"I um… got really jealous that he was spending so much time with Rachel," Kurt admitted shyly. "And we had this huge fight in the hallway and… here we are." Even as he was saying it, Kurt realized how incredibly stupid it sounded.
"Oh. Well… why were you jealous? Last time I checked, Blaine was gay."
"Yeah, well, the last time Blaine spent extended periods of time with Rachel, he thought he was straight." He shrugged. "Guess I was just paranoid."
Finn clapped him on the shoulder. "Happens to the best of us. Means you're really in love, dude." That was probably one of the smartest things Finn had ever said. "Now, ssh. It's starting." The brothers turned their attention to the stage, where Blaine stood alone, facing where Rachel would eventually come out.
We didn't care if people stared
We'd make out in a crowd somewhere
Somebody'd tell us to get a room
It's hard to believe that was me and you
Now we keep saying that we're okay
But I don't want to settle for good not great
I miss the way it felt back then
I wanna feel that way again
Kurt had started to cry because he realized how well this song related to him and Blaine. Yes, he was definitely going to have to apologize to him after the show. He couldn't go another day without Blaine in his life.
Been so long that you'd forget
The way I used to kiss your neck
No. he definitely didn't forget that.
Remind me
Remind me
Okay, so Kurt had to admit that this Blaine and Rachel duet idea might not have been totally horrible.
So on fire, so in love
Way back when we couldn't get enough
Remind me
Remind me
Remember the airport dropping me off
We were kissing goodbye and we couldn't stop
That sounded like when Kurt had been leaving for New York last spring. The memory alone made him smile.
I felt bad 'cause you missed your flight
But that meant we had one more night
Do you remember how it used to be
We'd turn out the lights and we didn't just sleep
Remind me
Baby, remind me
Kurt swore Blaine glanced at him over Rachel's shoulder and the thought made his stomach do somersaults – in a good way, of course.
Oh so on fire, so in love
That look in your eyes that I miss so much
Kurt really did miss that look of absolute love and adoration in Blaine's eyes. That look always made him feel safe. Loved. Accepted. Special.
Remind me
Baby, remind me
I wanna feel that way
Yeah, I wanna hold you close
Oh, if you still love me
Don't just assume I know
Do you remember the way it felt?
You mean back when we couldn't control ourselves
Remind me
Yeah, remind me
All those things that you used to do
That made me fall in love with you
Remind me
Oh, baby, remind me
Yeah you'd wake up in my old t-shirt
All those mornings I was late for work
Remind me
Oh, baby, remind me
They finished the song to thunderous applause and Blaine smiled and held Rachel's hand as they took it all in. "Ladies and gentleman," he said into his mic. "The New Directions."
"Come on, dude. We're up," Finn said, almost literally pushing Kurt forward onto the stage.
As Kurt took his place on stage next to his brother, Blaine turned around and caught his eye. They didn't say anything, but there would be plenty of time for that later. Right now, they had a competition to win.
As Puck started the Bon Jovi song, Kurt had a huge smile on his face. And not the fake show smile he usually used during competition. It was probably the realest smile that had ever graced Kurt's face.
"The New Directions!" Rod Remington announced. "Congratulations, you're going to Nationals in LA!"
Kurt literally stopped breathing for a few seconds. First, he got to go to New York last year and now he was going in the opposite direction to LA.
And this time… they weren't going to lose.
When he finally recovered, he started cheering, crying, and hugging everyone around him. He got so caught up in the celebration that he didn't realize he was hugging Blaine until it was too late. "Umm…" he said, pulling away awkwardly, which made him sad. Things with Blaine weren't supposed to be awkward. Things with Blaine were supposed to be easy and natural.
"We need to talk." Kurt nodded and the two of them quietly slipped backstage, leaving the rest of their team to celebrate.
"I'm sorry," they said at the same time. "Why are you sorry?" Still in unison. "I was the one who…" By now, they were laughing, slipping back into their old selves.
Then, alone, Kurt said, "I'm so sorry, Blaine. I shouldn't have been so… so jealous." The word came out easier than Kurt expected it to, yet it was still extremely hard. "I should have just let you practice with Rachel, knowing that nothing would happen between you two."
"No, I'm sorry," Blaine replied. "I shouldn't have blown you off like that."
"No, I completely understand. Regionals was important. And, hey, it must have paid off – we're going to Nationals."
"Yeah, yeah. That's great and all, but it wasn't worth pushing you off to the side." He cupped Kurt's face and stroked his cheek with his thumb. It was the first time they'd touched (unintentional hug aside) in weeks and it made Kurt realize just how much he truly missed being close to Blaine in that way. "Nothing is more important to me than you and I promise I will never do anything like that again." Kurt opened his mouth to apologize again and Blaine said, "I know you overreacted, but I'm sure I would have done the same thing. The thought of you being with someone else drives me insane. Sorry I made you feel like that."
Kurt's apology died on his lips. How could he concentrate on things such as words when Blaine was standing in front of him being all adorable like that? "I missed you," was all he could manage.
"I missed you more."
"Nu-uh."
"Uh-uh."
"Are we seriously starting this again?" Kurt laughed, thinking about all the times they'd wasted close to half an hour on the phone arguing over who loved whom more. Kurt would always win, of course.
"I love you."
"I love you more."
"Oh, no. You're not sucking me into this." Kurt put a hand on the back of Blaine's neck. "How about you just kiss me and we call it a draw?"
"Deal." Kurt covered Blaine's mouth with his own and melted into the kiss. Things started to get a bit more heated than they usually did, but neither boy seemed inclined to stop. That was until…
"Well, that's one way to celebrate." They separated and turned to look at Santana. "Seriously, though, boys. If I was straight, that would be totally hot. Don't let me interrupt you." She walked away to go celebrate with a couple other members of the glee club.
"So…"
"You know," Kurt said. "We haven't talked to each other in a few weeks. I'm sure there's a lot we need to catch up on." He hoped that Blaine understood the double meaning of his words.
"I like the way you think, Mr. Hummel." Then, without a word to anyone, they quietly slipped out to Blaine's car to "catch up".
So, yeah. That's that.
Also, we're going to pretend that the glee club didn't have the money for the handicapped (I refuse to say handicappable – I think it's an insult, as I am handicapped) bus, so Mr. Schue made all the kids drive themselves (also, Kurt rode with Finn).
So… yeah.
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