When Blaine pulled the car into the fairgrounds, the location of the new horse barn wasn't hard to discern. There was a large group of workmen—and a few women, too—in various states of dress, standing around in a circle, laughing while they ate and took long drinks from water bottles and jugs. There were a few others working on the actual location of the building; it looked like they were preparing to lay some stone or brick, likely in order to match the surrounding fair buildings.
Blaine parked next to one of the trucks that was parked in the grass near the building and turned to Kurt. "Are you ready?" he asked, smiling.
"Yeah," Kurt answered, reaching into the backseat to retrieve his camera. He noticed Blaine's pen and notepad with the folded sheet of questions on the seat as well and grabbed it, handing them to him. "Here. You'll need these."
"Thanks."
"No problem." Then, Kurt popped open his door and got out, striding toward the construction site. As he got closer, the chatter of the workers ceased. They all watched him walk toward the building, raising his camera and starting to take shots.
He didn't mean to be rude. He knew he should smile and greet them, asking them how they were doing and explain himself before he started taking shots. He was uncomfortable, though; his train of thought on the car ride over had left him feeling uneasy around Blaine, and he needed to get away from him for a few moments to breathe and relax.
"Well, I guess we're not doing this interview together," Blaine mumbled as he watched Kurt walk away, his long legs covering a lot of ground. "Nice ass," he said to himself, enjoying that part of watching his new co-worker walk away. When Kurt started snapping photos, Blaine took a deep breath, centered himself, and headed in the direction of the crowd of workers who were all watching Kurt intently.
Blaine felt a pang of jealousy shoot through him. No one should be ogling him like that, he thought, immediately snorting at the hypocrite in him. Still, he didn't like the idea of them staring at the man he'd wished to be with many times since eighth grade. So, he made a grand entrance into the group, clearing his throat loudly and asking, "And which one of you would be Mr. Elliot Gilbert?"
"Uh, that would be me," said someone from behind him, and Blaine whirled around, coming face to chest with a tall man with dark, shaggily chopped hair. He was wearing ripped jeans, dark black boots, a black cut-off t-shirt that showed off his many tattoos, and a plaid shirt tied tightly around his waist. There were gauges in his ears, and his gaze was piercing, stabbing into Blaine with those bright blues.
They're startlingly like Kurt's, Blaine mused. Kurt's are hiding something, though. This guy has nothing to hide.
"Who are you?" Elliot asked him, taking a long swig from the jug of water in his hand.
"I'm Blaine Anderson. I'm a reporter at The Lima News, and we're here," he gestured toward Kurt who was getting a few close-ups of the already set stones, "to do a story on the new horse barn."
"So, that's what passes for news in this small town now, huh?" Elliot asked.
"I guess so."
"Well, what do you need to know?"
"Okay. Um, first question…" Blaine said slowly, looking at his page of pre-written questions. "Did you grow up around here?" he asked, deciding that was as good a place as any to start.
"Yep. Well, kinda. Westerville which is, like, 20-something miles from here."
"Where did you go to college? Did you major in construction?"
"Yeah. I wouldn't be here if I didn't get a degree. This is some pretty technical shit. My degree? That came from Ohio Northern."
"Oh." Blaine was surprised to hear that. "So, you never left Ohio then?"
"Nope," Elliot answered, popping the "P" at the end of the word. "Maybe a dumb decision for a good-looking gay boy, but I kinda loved being out here. And I've made a name for myself by having the best construction company for miles around. We're always busy, and sometimes, we have to turn work away."
"You're gay?" Kurt asked, coming up next to Blaine. "I didn't know that. Me, too." Why did you say that? He doesn't care! He paused as his face flushed. "Sorry. I'm Kurt Hummel. You probably don't remember me from high school. You played Danny in our senior production of Grease."
"Yeah…" Elliot said slowly. "And you played… Teen Angel, right? Your performance brought the house down."
"Oh… Well, thank you." Shouldn't have brought that up, I guess. That will probably fuel Blaine's fire. "Do you mind if I get a photo of you for the paper? The boss asked for one specifically."
"Well, shoot me from my right side. That's my good side," Elliot joked, turning to look over his shoulder at Kurt, his head tossed back gently as he smiled wide, waiting for Kurt to take the photo.
"Got it. Thanks."
"Yeah. No problem. Any other questions for me, Blaine? My lunch break is nearly over."
"A few," Blaine answered, side-eyeing Kurt, watching him as he looked Elliot up and down. Well, these rugged boys are clearly his type. I'll have to remember that… "Um, why did you decide to take on this job pro-bono if you guys are always so busy?"
"Lima's special to me," Elliot replied. "You know I told you I grew up in Westerville? Well, I went to a high school there until my senior year. Then, I transferred to get away from the bullying there. Nobody knew what to do with a gay guy who actually liked guy shit. Lima became my home, and I was accepted here like I'd never been accepted at school before. And the fair? Well, that was where I met my boyfriend, Cass. He's a horse boy, always has been. So, when they put out that the city wanted bids for doing this new horse barn, I knew I had to do it as a way to give back to the community."
"That's sweet," Blaine said, not missing the little "Aww" that escaped Kurt's lips. "Does Cass work for you, too?"
"No. He owns and operates a therapeutic riding center at our house. Kids with disabilities come and ride horses around the ring as part of their therapy. They also get to pet them and feed them. Those that can walk can lead them around. It's a really great thing he does," Elliot said, a tiny, fond smile sliding onto his face. "I'm really proud of what he's done."
"That's wonderful. Really, really great. Uh, last question, I think. How does this job compare to typical jobs that you've done?"
"Compare how?"
"Size-wise. Difficulty."
"Oh… Well, it's a little bit unique in that we have to do stonework. Very few builds these days require stonework. That's one of my favorite aspects of the job, though, so I'm excited to have a building I can use some more specialized skills on. That alone makes the building feel more difficult and like it's more work, but really, size-wise, it's on par with a lot of the horse barns we build." He shrugged. "No big deal."
"Well, that's great," Blaine said, jotting down his last notes. "That's all the questions I've got for you. Thanks for taking the time to answer them." He reached out a hand to shake Elliot's, unsurprised at the very firm grip that encased his hand. "Kurt, did you get all the shots you needed?" he asked, turning to look at his new workmate. He could see that Kurt had a picture of Elliot pulled up on his camera, and he was looking at it with the slightest grin on his face. First time I've seen him smile all day.
"Looks like it," Kurt said, quickly shutting the camera off. "Thanks again, Elliot."
"No problem. Good luck with your story."
Blaine saluted him and headed back toward his car, Kurt following along behind him. He climbed into the driver's seat, leaning behind him to stash his notebook and pen in the backseat once again.
Kurt opened the back door to lay his camera gently back on the seat before sliding into the passenger seat. "Elliot was nice," he commented. "And his boyfriend sounds like a really good guy."
"I agree," Blaine said softly, starting the car. They were just leaving the fairgrounds when he said, "You know, I'm gay, too."
"Really?"
"Yeah." There was more silence between them. "Iif you'd like, we could go grab some coffee this evening and chat. It seems like we're going to be working together a lot, and it might be nice to get to know each other."
"I can't. I've got to get back to the house and make my dad some supper. Then, I have to run some errands."
"Oh. Okay. Where are you headed tonight?"
"Hardware store."
"Oh. You know, I'm pretty handy with projects. I do a lot of DIY. Anything I could help with?"
"I don't think so. I'm not really sure what I need to get yet. I need to make a list."
"A good idea. Let me know if you change your mind, though." He saw Kurt's quick nod from the corner of his eye, and his heart soared, though he was disappointed that they weren't going to get to spend any more time together that evening. I could use a few things at the hardware store, Blaine thought. Should I tell him that? No. Probably not. Sounds like he wants to be alone tonight. Keep it to yourself.
They rode the last few blocks to the newspaper in silence, and Blaine parked along the curb once again.
"Thanks for driving," Kurt said, looking him in the eyes for the first time since their meeting in Joel's office. "I can drive to our assignments tomorrow."
"That sounds fine," Blaine replied. "Thanks."
"No problem. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah. Tomorrow. Bye." He watched him walk over to his car, his camera in hand, wishing with all his might that they could spend some more time together. He already liked Kurt, had liked him for years. There were so many things he didn't know about him, so much mystery lurking in his eyes. He wanted to find out everything. He needed to find a way to get to know him better, get him to give him his number so they could chat. Maybe I'll make a trip to the hardware store tonight after all. He can't stop us from casually running into each other.