He didn't leave the house for a week after that. He was between shows again and he was still making money from a few songs he had written for a good friend's debut album that had managed to chart on national radio.
Then, Brody called him and told him he needed to get the hell out of his apartment, and get out in the sunshine. It was still cold, but thankfully the frigid temps were not accompanied by wind. He met Brody, Rachel, and Puck for a comedy show and Rachel brought it up.
She told him that they were worried about him. They all loved him and wanted him to be happy, but moping around in his apartment, pining for someone was unhealthy. She told him that she simply wanted him to find peace and love and even if it meant it wasn't with David, she would be happy for him. He argued with them about how hard it was to find time to actually date, because he was busy writing a new play, writing songs, and wallowing in self pity. He didn't add the last part, but that was what he spent most of his time doing now.
Rachel told him that one of their students mentioned a new dating fad in the city. It was called Blind Speed Dating. He would go and fill out a personality questionnaire. Then, similar to the voice, he would sit in a chair, and different men would come in and answer Kurt's questions. He couldn't see them, but he would simply write down the numbers of the men he was interested in meeting to and talking to in the future. He could choose up to three men and the company would give each of the men, the user names and they would chat. They'd have a week to make a connection and if they mutually felt they wanted to meet, they would meet for a real date, paid for by the company. Rachel had taken it upon herself to grab one of the packets. She shoved it toward Kurt who picked it up. It was actually very in depth. He could tell that it would take at least an hour of answering questions, just to get to the first stage of the blind date rounds.
He told them he would only do it, if it meant they stopped having interventions for him. He didn't need all the worry about his love life, considering he worried about it enough for all of them combined. He took it home and started working on it. He tried to stop himself from answering questions based on his relationship with Dave, but by the twelfth one he just stopped trying.
He was pretty sure this wouldn't work anyway, so he would just pacify his friends and get it over and done with.
The night of the event came and he entered a large Italian restaurant on the upper east side. It was beautiful. They served a meal to each of the participants. Kurt surveyed the crowd looking to see potential candidates. There were several very attractive men that Kurt could see himself with. Just as they were about to start the actual rounds, he swore he saw David at the back of the restaurant but when he blinked it was someone else. He swore under his breath and told himself to calm down. There was no way Dave would be at a place like this.
He was given the ninth spot out of close to three hundred participants and sat in his chair. He had his card and as he asked questions and listened to replies he picked his top three men. The first was an architect who loved animals and was really into reading. The second was a nanny for an affluent family just outside the city and his passions were bicycling and romantic comedy movies. The third was an attorney, loved going to concerts, and was really passionate about donating free service hours to abused women in the city. The third one just jumped out at him. On paper, he was David. He of course was not David, because he sounded nothing like him. He saw the user name on his desk every time he walked past his computer and finally sat down.
With shaking fingers he typed in, poundthepuck. He couldn't get the image of fucking Puck out of his mind. He certainly had had those types of fantasies in high school, but it had been years since he thought of him in that way. He clicked on Initiate Chat, and was taken to a pop up window. He asked the man why he had chosen poundthepuck and the man replied that he had played high school hockey and a bit in college and loved it. Kurt's heart flipped at that. Dave had played high school and college hockey. Kurt was beginning to think that this was mistake. He chatted with the man for about twenty minutes, but Kurt didn't feel excitement or anything as he chatted with him.
He ended the chat and looked on the site. He saw a place for general chatting and for forums. He clicked over to it and saw a chat room. Most of the conversations were around the event, but he saw two men engaging in a debate over who was the more hipster between The Decemberists and Death Cab for Cutie. He saw his former chat partner in the room, poundthepuck, was one of the participants. The other's user name was, elithebarrowboy. Kurt recognized the name as a song title from one of his favorite The Decemberists album. He watched as the two men argued back and forth. Kurt watched the chat in amusement as they each got more and more defensive. He started calling them Eli and Puck. Some of the other chatters got annoyed with the fighting and told the two to get a room, chat or real, and either continue the argument there or fuck it out. Some were taking sides and some were just egging on the argument by posting stupid side commentary. Kurt decided to take Eli's side. He loved Death Cab for Cutie, but The Decemberists would always have a special place in his heart, because of his experience sharing them with David, Rachel, and Brody.
He typed in the chat about how neither band should be called hipster, because they both predate the hipster movement, but if he would have to label one more hipster, he'd go with Death Cab for Cutie, with some of their songs being overly pretentious and pompous, whereas most of The Decemberists songs were ballads and tales, that told stories that were easy to follow.
"Puck" got angry at that and took offense at Kurt defending someone else, when they had just had a "date". He told Kurt that his opinion was laughable and told him that his definition of pretentious and pomposity were ludicrous, considering he was so boring and awkward in their date and came across as a stiff, boring old man. He told Kurt that he could do better and not to contact him again. He quickly signed off.
Kurt would have been upset, but he had felt the same way about the date. The rest of the chatters told Kurt that he was their new hero. He had chosen the user name defyinggravity, because Wicked was still his favorite Broadway show, but also because of what had happened after he sang that song. He also believe his destiny had always been to be someone who flew high, no matter what was going on in his life.
A few seconds after the altercation was over, he received a ping from the chat. Elithebarrowbay had sent him a private message. He told him that Puck was a jerk and did this on regular occasion in the chat and to just ignore him. He also thanked him for standing up for The Decemberists.
Kurt sent him back a reply saying that it was not a big deal. He actually found Puck's rage quit to be hilarious and relayed the information of the terrible first "date" to Eli. Eli responded back with a LOL and informed him that he too had ended up with Puck as one of his matches and had the same experience.
They began to talk about the actual experience of the event. Kurt told him that he felt so vulnerable when he had his back to the men who came in and answered his questions. He also felt like some of the guys weren't there to find love, but just to find someone to have sex with them. Eli told him that a lot of the men on the site and who participate don't expect to find someone to fall in love with, but that it was nice to have a place to flirt and take a chance every now and then on something that could have potential.
Kurt was a little surprised to find that out. He believed in true love. He believe in soul mates and "the one" and twin flames. He believed that one day he would find that man who made his world and life complete and that they would be together forever. He also believed that David was that man for him, but he couldn't dwell on David or their broken relationship anymore.
Kurt asked Eli if he was one of those people. Eli didn't respond. In fact, it was going on ten minutes and Kurt thought he must have signed off. He was going to close the window, when he finally saw Eli typing in the box.
Eli told him that he did believe he would find someone to love, but he wasn't sure that he would find it on a dating site. He told Kurt about how his friends signed him up for the event, because he was sad and lonely. He also said that he had been in some complicated and confusing relationships over the past few years, and he needed a break. He wasn't sure that he even wanted long term.
Kurt shared with Eli that his friends too had set him up with this, but only because they were tired of his moaning. He explained how he had messed up majorly with someone he was in love with and how he needed to move on.
They went on to compare friends. Eli's were always pushing him to open up more and take more risks with dating. They hated that he stuck to only one type and had since high school. He admitted though that he preferred twinks or guys who looked like twinks over almost any other type. He couldn't help it, but his friends think it's unhealthy and his obsession over one type is what pushes people away who might be interested in something long term.
Kurt explained how his friends were always pushing him to be a better person and friend. They let him know when he was being a stubborn asshole and when he was hurting people around him. He said his friends were pretty much the opposite with him. They told him that he was meant to be with the guy he messed up with and he needed to fix it.
After an hour of private messaging, Kurt realized, that he had had more fun in that one hour just talking about life in general with Eli, than with Puck, his supposed highest match. He looked at the clock and realized how late it was and told his chatting partner he was going to sign off for the evening.
Eli replied back with a "sweet dreams" and quickly ended the chat.
As soon as he saw the window disappear, Kurt felt suddenly empty. It had felt very good to have someone to talk to and vent to. He decided that he would contact the other matches he had on his list. He couldn't help but be slightly disappointed that elithebarrowboy wasn't on his list of user names.