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AN: So... I can't do it but how amazing would it be for Kurt to sing Confident from & Juliet (which I now realize is Demi Lavato's song, whoops, I just liked their version better) with Blaine as the male part with the Warblers in the background in sectionals instead of Candles (a good song but not worthy of the hype unfortunately in this scene). There's an extra song in the Warblers' performance, I hope you don't get mad at me for adding it. I did say we're doing this differently than the show. :D
AN2: Santana's 3 protected classes: 1. Female 2. Latina 3. Lesbian.
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Chapter 6
Will you hold me tight and not let go?
Symphony
Like a love song on the radio
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Sectionals was a lot of fun. Kurt and Blaine nailed their duet of Candles not wanting to do all top hits, and do something a little unknown but good, and they'd gotten a standing ovation with cheers from the New Directions. Blaine's solo was fun and sassy and a female artist and Kurt's solo was timeless and powerful and brought tears to people's eyes. He'd decided to go with a song he once sang for his old school's glee club and usually he wouldn't repeat songs but his dad was in the audience and this was still so fresh and recent and something he was still dealing with and so he sang the song he'd dedicated to his dad while he was in the hospital. I Wanna Hold Your Hand by the Beatles.
The crowd had been so silent afterward that he had feared that he blew it and then everyone was on their feet again and the crowd was deafening and he looked over to his dad and he was crying and then over to Blaine who was nodding back, tears also streaming down his face. Kurt could really knock Beatles songs out of the park and they were already so classic and emotional and fun and so well done, but he just brought yet another layer to them.
Kurt was right, New Directions meanwhile brought all new original songs that they'd written and Kurt loved their Loser Like Me song. Rachel's original song, well... she sang it prettily, he supposed? He already completely forgot what she sang about, it was very... forgettable. He knew it was supposed to be an anthem and the songs are supposed to represent the groups performing them and it definitely spoke about her and even New Directions but he'd already forgotten about it.
Kurt winced as he heard some of the other groups talk about the performances. They agreed with him, the Loser Like Me song was a lot more of an anthem for them, especially when they stole his story to put it in there about being pushed up against lockers and being black and blue and he'd told that to Puck and Finn years ago – they'd be working for him some day. They did have their own trials and tribulations they put in there and it was very fitting. He just wished he could have been part of that song too, but his story was being told, it was the song of New Directions and he'd been part of that journey. The groups liked Candles, thought it was a new original take on it and liked the way the voices meshed but weren't a fan of Raise Your Glass, they thought it was cheesy and over played and was one of the worst they'd seen from the Warblers since it was so different from the other two and they'd done fun cheese before but they'd done it better, more together and Kurt sighed, he couldn't fault them for thinking that but it was still really cute and got people up and moving. Nobody talked about his solo, his duet sure, but his ears were open for some kind of comment, anything. Yet nothing came, he wondered if they didn't say anything because he was in ear shot?
"Kurt! Kurt!" The voice sounded furious and then Rachel was stalking after him in the back of the auditorium while the judges deliberated and she was furious and kept coming even though she was within his 6 foot bubble and he thought she'd bulldoze him over if he didn't get out of the way. He stumbled back and she kept coming and he kept moving away from her, back, he didn't know why she was so angry. But then he had nowhere else to go and this girl who was much shorter than him had him pinned up against the wall with just her anger and she was pointing at him and waving her finger around in his general direction and he thought she might accidentally poke his eye out with that thing.
Finn was bounding up the stairs from the audience area looking for her and then found her and Kurt, it probably looked hilarious to anyone else but Kurt was flinching away from Rachel. Then she was throwing her arms around Kurt and hugging him tightly but then she pulled back. "I'm still mad at you!"
"Rachel, I have no idea what the hell is going on right now." Kurt didn't like his current position but he disliked being in the dark about her anger more.
"It was such a cruel thing to do to me. I slayed away at writing a perfect song for us and yet you just pull out a song from your back pocket and kill with it! It's not fair!" Rachel was pouting. "If you guys win, it'll because you were an amazing addition that they stole from us."
"Uh, correction-" Blaine slid in and placed two fingers on the center of Rachel's sternum making sure there were no false feelings about where his hand was and carefully pushed her away from Kurt. "We took him knowing what greatness you guys just let go idiotically."
Kurt looked at Blaine, he hadn't needed rescuing from Rachel, she was a terror in flats but she was his terror in flats; but he was flattered all the same. Blaine just lifted both brows because he couldn't just lift one like Kurt could and gave him a smart-Alec face back knowing what Kurt was thinking but he wanted to do it.
"We didn't want him to go." Rachel argued. "We've been trying to get him back ever since."
"Because you realized what you were missing." Kurt nodded. "I know, I know, but I'll only come back if I get solos in competitions." He looked up and off to the side in pure dramatic form and Blaine laughed and buried his face in Kurt's now exposed neck and kept laughing. He dropped back to a normal stance to look at Rachel and Blaine turned his head but rested his on Kurt's shoulder. "Honestly Rachel, what is your problem?"
"I thought that you were amazing up there. You sang both so beautifully and they were so different from each other. I'm just mad because you went mega-emotional and in different ways."
Blaine groaned. "I've been hearing that all around the venue, they loved your songs but found Raise Your Glass incredibly cheesy and with a few good moments but otherwise poorly executed."
"We should have done Bills, Bills, Bills." Nick said as he tossed an arm around Rachel's shoulders and Finn reached out and lifted it off of her. "We would have totally nailed it and the simple choreo would have wowed because we would be pristine." Nick continued. "I called it."
Kurt rolled his eyes. He had told them time and again that while Blaine did fantastic job singing, his stage face was just... too over exaggerated and that was coming from Kurt. They'd all had ideas that weren't listened to and too many ideas were put in together for that.
Rachel nodded. "You guys are at your best when you're just a wall of sound."
"We'll try to remember that for when we're winning nationals." Jeff came over and was only sort of joking. Wes and Dave joined as well.
Slowly more New Directions came up on the stage and they all hugged Kurt hello and chatted with him for a bit. They all had positive things to say about his solo and Puck picked him and Blaine up at the same time in a big hug. "That Candles song – amazing!"
Will Schuester came up to them and clasped Kurt on the shoulder. "If and when you come back, you'll have a solo. I'm sorry I didn't recognize your skill before. I always knew you were good, I just hadn't realized how powerful and emotional you could be."
"He can belt out songs too." Blaine said leaning back against the wall by Kurt with his arm now snagged around his hips and Kurt was surprised by how dry he was while talking to Mr. Schue. What? Blaine asked with his eyes, he should have always recognized your talent.
Kurt tilted back so he was right next to Blaine and gave him a peck on his cheek in thanks for saying it without words, he had needed to hear it. "Thanks Mr. Schue, but that's not looking like it's going to be any time soon."
"Hopefully sooner than any of us know." Mr. Schue was hopeful and Kurt was glad that he was but he wasn't holding his breath. "I guess I was just looking at things through what the judges might like and didn't remember that it was about putting the best people forward. Mercedes, you'll also get a solo." Mr. Schue announced suddenly and Rachel started protesting adamantly.
"You're good Rachel, you are, but so are others in the group. We probably have some of the most talented, diverse and greatest voices here and I haven't been using them accurately. Santana, you too, pick out a song you'd like to sing."
"Oh, uh, thanks Mr. Schue." Santana shared a conversation with Kurt through a few looks like who knew? Not me, what's up with him? No clue. And a lot of shoulder action and hands but they'd both take it when it came down to it.
"Why mess with a winning set up?" Rachel was asking and Mr. Schue couldn't help but give a shrug before walking off with Rachel following him. If nothing else, Kurt was reassured that Rachel wasn't as terrible as he feared, she was growing and getting better.
"Do you think she'll change his mind?" Mercedes asked woefully.
Santana shrugged. "Probably, but we can still do our solos."
Blaine leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. "Hey, what's up?" It was Kurt's turn to check on him and he put his shoulder lightly into Blaine's side.
"I was just thinking about how if you did go back, it'd be really hard to go back to my life without you at Dalton."
"I won't be leaving you, even if I do go back to McKinley, you're much more to me than just my Dalton savior or playtime thing." Kurt insisted and brushed noses with Blaine. "You're the love of my life."
"Oh, you don't have to say that- I know I'm the first guy and so it seems right-"
"No, Blaine, seriously. When I say things like that, I'm serious." Kurt held his gaze and then a slow smile spread across Blaine's lips.
"Sure?"
"Yes." Blaine could hurt him so badly but Kurt put his trust in him.
"Good." Blaine's words were cut off when Kurt winced at that one term. "What-?"
"I don't like that word."
"It's a really common word..." Blaine died off. "Something happened with that word, didn't it?"
Kurt shook his shoulders. "Whatever, I have to get over it," and then he nodded sharply as if just saying it would make it true.
Blaine rubbed his forehead. "I'm always learning new things about you."
"Isn't that a good thing?" Kurt asked carefully. "I won't bore you then."
"As if." Blaine laughed and moved his body closer to Kurt. "What I was going to say was I'm glad you feel that way about me because you're the love of my life too and wherever you go, I'll be sure to join you." Kurt's eyes sparkled up at him and they were in a really heady moment and were about to kiss. They'd already told each other they loved each other but now it was more than that, they were in love with each other and were making promises without even saying anything specific.
Blaine's hand slid across Kurt's cheek and they were off to the side but still far too public for what they were doing and they hadn't done anything but touch innocently and stand incredibly close to each other but the vibes they were radiating was enough. People were uncomfortable with any couple in the corner like that and they hadn't even kissed, they were just wrapped up in each other, as if they were their own little world and that warm bubble was just for them.
Burt stopped short, he could see the intensity in both boys' eyes and their body language and was just reconfirmed to what he had known since he met the other boy. Yet they were fast approaching a territory he didn't want to see his little boy enter. He wanted to continue looking at his son as if he were the young and innocent child that he'd been just 2 seconds ago. Burt had been incredibly moved by the song. Kurt hadn't been able to express his dedication but Finn and Rachel had been whispering about it while Kurt performed it and Finn had leaned over and told him that Kurt had sang it for him while he was in the hospital.
It had taken Burt a long time to stop blubbering otherwise he'd have been at Kurt's side the second he could to wrap him up in his arms and thank him for such an amazing outpouring of feelings and that he loved Kurt so much. "Hey kid." He was trying to break through that dense bubble that his son was in with a boy. The thought wasn't about them being gay but he would have felt that way too had Kurt been with a girl or had been a girl and was developing such a strong connection with a boy. It was only about the emotional connection and the fact that every day Burt lost his son just a little more into that relationship.
Kurt looked over at him for a second before he realized who he was looking at and he scrambled to move over to his dad. "Hi!" He greeted in happiness of seeing his dad and a little bit guilty at being caught with Blaine even though they hadn't been doing anything. In fact Kurt had been doing a lot more with Blaine with the doors wide open just last week or on the couch while the others were watching a movie (but not overly so). Kurt took Burt's hands in his. "What did you think?" Burt hadn't gone to many of the performances in the past, not out of a lack of desire but because they couldn't afford to have him away from the shop that long and so far away (regionals, sectionals, nationals were all in different cities/states).
"I thought you were brilliant." Burt said instantly. "If I wasn't your dad I would feel odd about how much I wanted to buy your CD and listen to it on repeat."
"Nobody has CDs anymore, dad." Kurt's cheeks were pink in pleasure at the compliment, even though he'd told his audience that he'd send the CDs to them of his play if he got to Broadway (they did but that was the only exception).
"Then I'd attend every show." Burt watched as the rosiness grew. Ok, so his son was still a complete innocent and super sweet, would probably always be the latter. He could see from his periphery Blaine just dying a little as he watched Kurt. That kid had it bad, Burt realized and was glad that it wasn't just one sided nor coming from a place not so innocent nor good. Blaine was in deep and so was his son. He would have to try and slow that relationship down though, and he wasn't talking about the intimate acts but that too, they were so young to be so completely submerged by the relationship like they could easily do if not careful.
"Thanks dad." Kurt's eyes sparkled in pleasure, he was so happy that his dad had liked it and he was feeling more confident and proud of himself.
"You've always been an amazing singer and performer." Burt just layered it on, pleased that he could bolster Kurt so much. He didn't realize how easy it would be to make Kurt happy, he'd always tried to find a way to be part of his interests but now he was seeing that he hadn't told Kurt often enough how proud he was of him or how much he enjoyed hearing him sing and wanted to keep hearing it. He felt a little bad that he'd starved his son of his attention and praise so any little thing he said was like watching a wilted hard brittle sponge puff up and become full and stronger. He would compliment Kurt daily from now on. He hadn't really grown up with that and hadn't known to do so but he'd always talked about Kurt's achievements to others; just like his dad had done with him. There was still some time to remind Kurt that his dad really adored and loved him for all the different parts of himself. Not that he really needed to, Kurt knew that, but it was still nice to hear directly.
"I'm so glad that you could come today."
"I wouldn't have missed it for the world and I wish I had known you were going to sing that song, I would have filmed it and watched it on repeat or whenever I was missing you while you were at a friend's house or need a pick-me-up."
"I'm sure the competition has it filmed." Blaine added and they had both forgotten about him until then but now he was a lot closer. It wouldn't have been the same, Burt would have focused solely on Kurt for that one but he would look into it and said as much (about finding a copy).
"My dads always film these competitions, they're televised." Rachel said, re-entering the conversation and Burt was losing his opportunity to say what he needed to Kurt. "I'm sure I could get a copy for you."
Burt firmed his hold on Kurt's hands when he was going to pull away and held his gaze. "Thank you so much for the song. I love you so much. I've always known how much you loved me even without that song but I'm so touched still. I wish I could show you just how much I love you but I'm not a singer."
Kurt swallowed hard and had to look away from his dad's eyes to stop himself from crying. "You show me every day how much you love me."
"Not nearly enough." Burt tugged Kurt forward and hugged him tightly and Kurt's face buried in his shoulder and he felt moisture develop on the spot Kurt's face was but he actually liked it because he would have done the same thing and he rested his cheek against the top of his son's head. "I'll always be here for you, whatever you need, just let me know." In fact, Kurt had always been taking care of him since Elizabeth had died and he was determined that it wouldn't be that way anymore. He just didn't know how he could prove it to Kurt without him thinking he was doing it now that he had a new wife in his life.
Kurt nodded into his shoulder. "I know, I've always known." Burt didn't feel quite the failure then as a father.
Finn cleared his throat uncomfortably and Rachel made an awkward comment about something totally unrelated, having returned, and the two Hummels laughed and parted and Kurt moved back and reached for Blaine's hand and Burt felt like that was a metaphor for their relationships. "I wonder what's keeping the judges." Rachel said again, just in case they hadn't heard her the first time, which nobody really had.
It seemed like the judges had disagreed or were coming up with a very difficult answer and Kurt laid his head on Blaine's shoulder as they sat in the auditorium seats, his hand firmly in Blaine's or was it the other way around? Either way, they were incredibly comfortable.
The crowd was getting antsy while the contestants didn't know why they were made to feel so anxious about this after they poured their heart and souls out for the judges and audience. All too soon despite taking the longest they'd ever seen judges take, they were all standing up on the stage again. "In an unprecedented turn of events, the same two teams tied for the second time in a season!" Kurt thought for sure, since the judges were cruel and liked to do this kind of thing, that they would announce the third team had actually won and the tiers were dead last. "Dalton Academy and William McKinley High, you're both going to Nationals!"
Everyone was in shock and Rachel squealed – whether in surprise, protest or excitement that her favorite boys were coming along with her to New York, oh and the New Directions were going too.
Kurt was going to lean towards her being annoyed that there wasn't a clear winner, which in her mind should have been her, but Kurt had the range she didn't and the range she did have. He was personally glad that he could be with both groups of friends on this journey. He also wanted to win but winning the National Championship would be better than winning any of the other competitions so far.
Nobody actually said anything though while they were there at the event, knowing that a false move and the judges might change their minds. "Breadstix?" Finn asked
Everyone agreed but Kurt looked over to Burt. "Is it ok?"
With a heavy sigh and a nod, Burt gave his permission. "But straight home after that -"
"But I'm having a celebratory party and I would love to have Kurt there!" Rachel protested and the Warblers looked excited about the prospect and Burt looked at everyone's hopeful face – only Kurt appeared disinterested and he sighed. His son would never give anything away that he didn't want someone else to know, even if he said otherwise, his expressionate face could be shuttered into place when he wanted it to be.
"Ok, fine." They all cheered and splintered off to talk about the plans and then they were shouting the plans across to the other little groups, none were purely New Directions or Warblers or made any kind of sense. Kurt was with Tina, Blaine and Mercedes talking. Finn was with Rachel and Mike and Artie. "Finn." He beckoned over and when Finn was close, Burt spoke under his breath. "Watch Kurt."
"Already ahead of you." Finn put a hand on Burt's shoulder. "Nobody is going to post our locations, have any interest in inviting anyone outside our group nor will we split up. Kurt will never be away from one of us and will be in the center from now on, no one will have access to him."
Burt nodded, glad that Finn had already strategized about what they were going to do. "This time if you're going to stay at Rachel's, let me know." Burt looked him in the eye and Finn blushed.
"Nothing happened. Rachel and Blaine slept together on the couch, we didn't want him driving or distracting his driver on the way back to your house, so I stayed to make sure he didn't do anything reckless." It sounded worse than it was but Burt shook his head, that's not what he meant.
"Just make sure Kurt doesn't go anywhere on his own. If you stay over, Kurt stays too. You should drive together." Finn understood now and so he nodded his agreement.
Burt expected that neither he nor Kurt would drink, Kurt never did anyway but Finn had cracked a few beers open with Puck, but Burt didn't have the stuff in the house and Carole only drank when they went out to eat or she spent some time with her friends. So he wasn't worried about either of them driving home from Rachel's. Blaine meanwhile didn't exactly monitor his liquor intake in the past but that had also been only 1 party.
The Warblers got lit that night and Blaine was right there with them and Finn wondered about Blaine's inhibitions when it came to alcohol but Kurt reassured him he didn't always partake but he hadn't seen Blaine with just one or two drinks either, yet. Rachel and Puck were smashed too and they were discussing something religious in the corner. He wasn't Jewish and after everything with Sam, Burt, Kurt and a grilled cheese sandwich, he wasn't exactly religious at all anymore. Most of the people in the house were completely wasted, they were celebrating their joint win and creating a new record without even trying.
Blaine was dancing with Kurt and spinning him around the room and Finn was glad those two were having fun even though Kurt was starting to look annoyed when he went for some water and Blaine just kept spinning him and keeping him on the dance floor. "I'm just going to get something to drink." Kurt was amused by Blaine at first and even now he put his hands lightly on the front Blaine's shoulders but didn't let his fingers curl into his boyfriend's chest, it was more of a pat/subtle push away. Blaine shook his chest and rubbed against Kurt who then was getting less amused and more annoyed. "Blaine, stop, let me go."
"Have some of this instead." Blaine took a gulp before brandishing his glass towards Kurt.
"No. I just want water." Kurt patted Blaine a little more firmly. "Let go." His arms were around Kurt's waist.
He let go of Kurt's waist but took his hand again and pulled him to him and started dancing and moving them around the room in the dance space. "You'll like it."
"Blaine." Kurt's voice was a warning now. "Stop."
"Lighten up, would you?" Blaine pouted and tried to spin Kurt using his right hand while Kurt tired to turn the other direction to break their hold but neither knew what the other was intending and Kurt's pained hiss was enough to sober Blaine up. "Kurt?" He reached out for Kurt after he had instantly let Kurt go and Kurt pulled his arm to his chest instinctively and backed away from Blaine's hand. "Kurt-"
"No Blaine, just stay there. Drink some more." Then Kurt was leaving the dance floor and heading quickly through the crowd and then upstairs and Blaine tried to follow after him but the group had danced into his way and he took another sip of the drink in his hand without even remembering what it was and winced as he realized he'd drank more.
He handed the drink to Sam who didn't even realize he had been drinking out of it, he was just happy to drink it. Blaine pushed his way through the crowd to look for Kurt and apologize again. He hadn't been thinking, had been buzzed and was excited and energetic and hadn't been thinking!
Blaine was devastated that he had inadvertently hurt Kurt and he should have been paying more attention to what Kurt was saying both with his words and his body language. Blaine was pale as he looked for Kurt, where was he?
Finn missed the drama quickly unfolding on the dance floor as he had his own to worry about. Rachel pushed her hair back over her shoulder and Puck touched it and was saying something that had her offended and she was telling him off for whatever he said when he suddenly closed the gap between them and was kissing her.
Finn was across the room in an instant and pulling the male who kept claiming to be his best friend and yet kept moving in on his girlfriends. "Hey! Quit it!" He was not expecting to see Rachel responding to the kiss but she definitely was as her fingers curled into Puck's mohawk.
Puck pulled away with a guilty look on his face. "Sorry- I can't help it, I'm a horndog."
Finn was less concerned with Puck's behavior, what was it with females and not being able to deny him? Or was it just his own girlfriends who chose Puck over Finn? Finn was furious and turned to a bemused Rachel. "We're done!"
"What?" Rachel sobered up and jumped to her feet as Finn turned away from her and she latched onto his arm. "No! Finn, it didn't mean anything – I've been drinking. I am not interested in Puck at all."
"At least Quinn had the sense to try and hide it from me!"
"No, Finn, you'll regret this tomorrow when you've had time to calm down and realize -"
"No." Finn shook Rachel off and ignored Puck. "You keep doing this to me, when will you stop? Kurt!" Finn shouted and everyone in the basement heard him over the party and fun mood and became wise of the drama. "We're leaving!" He looked around and tried to find the willowy boy but couldn't. "Kurt?"
He took the stairs two at a time and skidded to a halt when he got upstairs. He was probably overreacting, Kurt was probably off in a room making out with Blaine or maybe more and he didn't want to walk in on that. However he found Blaine also searching the house for Kurt as he debated whether or not to risk walking in on them or just bellow the house down. He wasn't sure if the party would continue on downstairs after his outburst but nobody was heading upstairs, so they probably would, it was still early.
Blaine froze when he saw Finn, he'd been hoping to find Kurt there instead. "Oh, hi. You haven't seen Kurt have you? I thought maybe he went back downstairs while I looked for him up here."
Finn sighed and looked at the swaying but otherwise newly sober Blaine. "What the hell did you do?"
"Got a little over-enthusiastic?" That was a good word for it; but he'd also been very insensitive too and he felt instantly bad about it. He knew Kurt wasn't like him but he was pushing too hard to get Kurt to relax and have fun. He was an idiot, Kurt was good at doing that all on his own; he just did it differently and at his own pace and style.
"That's it, I'm leaving with my brother, this night should have ended after Breadstix." Kurt would have preferred that, he was excited to go to the restaurant but had been apprehensive about the after party the second Rachel had mentioned it. The last one had been ok but not his favorite way to spend time with anyone in that room and it had barely managed to be tolerable and some positives came out of it that may have taken longer to get there otherwise. But it was not destined to be the same way twice when people were drinking, things couldn't be the same as last time and he hadn't wanted them to be either. "KURT!" He bellowed and it took a moment but Kurt appeared, his eyes were red and puffy and he kept trying to hide his face from the other two and his right arm was wrapped carefully around his waist.
"Are you ok?" Blaine asked, trying to come forward and talk to Kurt.
Finn pushed Blaine back. "You've done enough for one night."
Blaine bristled but didn't fight back, he just looked at Kurt with soft and caring eyes. "Kurt?"
Kurt sighed and ran his good hand through his hair. "I'm fine Blaine, I'm not mad at you, it was an accident." He was annoyed that Blaine had succumbed to the drink so much to the point where he couldn't even hear Kurt anymore, but it had been a truly true accident, not just something people told themselves. He hadn't held on tight or painfully or had any intention except to have fun with Kurt and maybe to entice him to have more fun by getting into the dancing more. Kurt had been guilty of the same in the past when he got carried away to some extent especially when it looked like someone else wasn't having fun or felt awkward and alone and they were just trying to entice them to have a better time. He had calmed down after leaving Blaine, cried a little and got over it.
Finn looked between them. "What was an accident?"
"Nothing." Kurt waved away his concern. "Blaine just stepped on my toes." That was actually true in a way that wasn't actually physical.
"You sure?" Finn asked skeptically and Kurt nodded. "Ok." He held Kurt's gaze. "Is Blaine coming home with us tonight?"
"Are you already ready to leave?" Kurt asked in confusion. He was going to come back to party once he got his appearance back under control.
"Yeah, Rachel- Rachel and I just broke up." Finn didn't want to talk about it either quite yet.
"Oh." Kurt was shocked. "I'm sorry."
"Me too." Finn had loved being with Rachel, she was a lot of fun and sass and annoyance and while she didn't always do it the right way, she got him to be better. "Blaine?" He asked Kurt again.
Kurt glanced slyly at Blaine as if thinking about it and seriously considering saying no and he looked offended and hurt and unsure, guilty and apologetic all at once. "Yeah, of course." He reached out with his left hand and Blaine was instantly by his side and when Blaine came in to kiss him on the cheek his shook his head as he backed up, he wasn't ready for that yet. Blaine understood and accepted it and nodded back and let Kurt have his space. He didn't let go of his hand though and Kurt was glad, secretly.
Finn drove back, he was livid and brimming with anger at Rachel, Puck and now Blaine but Kurt couldn't drive with his re-injured arm – which Kurt thought he was doing a good job hiding- and Blaine was only pretending at being sober.
Once they got home, Finn took off for upstairs and thought Kurt would be coming up as well, on his own while Blaine headed downstairs, had hoped for it. Instead Kurt went with Blaine to the basement and they sat on the bed, suddenly awkward and unsure with the other one. "Can I see the arm?" Blaine asked carefully and Kurt detached it from his side to let Blaine slid his hand over the muscles with the lightest of touches in apology and Kurt loved the touch but hated the look of self-loathing on his face.
"You didn't mean it, I know that. You didn't mean any of it, not like it came across at any rate."
"How is the arm doing?" Blaine didn't respond to that all too accurate interpretation but instead focused on the arm in front of him. It still looked normal, no increased inflammation or discoloration.
"It's actually feeling much better." Kurt's voice was husky and Blaine's eyes slid up his body to his mouth. "I don't think we did any damage, just the muscles were sore or weak from lack of using it."
"I'm so glad to hear that." Blaine just wanted to feast his eyes on Kurt's face, even bruised, puffy and eyes red-rimmed, he looked gorgeous. He lifted Kurt's arm up to his mouth and laid kisses all over the forearm and spent a longer period on Kurt's pulse point on his wrist. "I'm sorry I made you cry."
"Oh, Blaine, you didn't make me cry. You only managed to annoy me and make me mad." Kurt laughed at Blaine's crestfallen face. "I don't really do group dancing, haven't you noticed?"
"What are you talking about?" Blaine laughed. "You're always dancing and singing."
"Not freestyle." Kurt responded and as Blaine thought about it, sure enough, Kurt shied away from anything that wasn't scripted. Except at his dad's wedding.
"You're so damn sexy when you dance." Blaine said his mouth on Kurt's inner elbow and he moaned and tipped his head back at the sensations of Blaine's mouth on his arm, the crook of his elbow allowing some more base elements into his movement. Kurt moaned and whatever they were talking about took a backseat as Kurt pushed Blaine back onto the bed and rested on his elbows above Blaine and his mouth came down and covered Blaine's, his tongue instantly in his mouth.
Blaine spasmsed and grasped Kurt's hips and thrust up against him and Kurt's body was just as hard as his. "Fuck Kurt, you're so sexy, you undo me with just a look, a touch."
"You know exactly how I feel then." Kurt's mouth was moving across his face and down his jaw and then down the column of his neck and pulling at the buttons on Blaine's shirt and Blaine wanted it, wanted it bad as Kurt's mouth marked a hot trail across his chest.
Yet he still held Kurt back. "Are we really ok?"
"Yeah, I just needed space to breathe but I got over it. I'm fine." Kurt's face was a picture of honesty and he came forward to kiss Blaine again but Blaine still hesitated.
"How far are you going to go?" Blaine needed to know, needed to know what both of them were willing to do, so he didn't overstep again, and Kurt paused with his mouth trailing kisses down Blaine's sternum.
"How far?" Kurt repeated as if it was a foreign concept and continued kissing Blaine's chest before answering. "I guess skin stuff south of the neck, north of the belt-line?"
Blaine nodded, oh god was he ready for this and let Kurt do his exploring, let him make him so absolutely insane and tense and hold himself back with every last vistage he could muster. Kurt didn't know how strongly Blaine just wanted to flip them around and thrust into the taller but smaller guy. It was a first for both of them and Blaine just soaked in Kurt's exploration with a tight hold on himself and he arched as Kurt found a particularly sensitive spot on his chest. "Oh god, Kurt."
"Bad?" He asked, pausing for a second and Blaine shook his head.
"Oh so good." He let Kurt take control of how far and fast they went most of the time but he really wanted to show Kurt a whole new world that he hadn't been to yet but had seen how it was done, how much they could enjoy it. His legs wrapped around Kurt's hips and pulled him down and into him and Kurt jerked upward in surprise and he looked at Blaine with an apology but Blaine only let him have a bit of space before pulling him back in again and Blaine's eyes rolled back into his head as he felt them brush against each other and Kurt's mouth on his chest. It was doing torture with his psyche. His legs rubbed over the loose fitting pants of their school uniform, neither had changed out of them between the competition and Breadstix or Rachel's house. "Ugh, Kurt, we're both still wearing our uniforms. We have to stop before this goes too far." Dark jeans they could cover up and wash and be fine but the uniform was a medium gray pant and needed to be dry-cleaned and carefully attended to to keep it in good shape and fit.
Kurt rolled over and away from Blaine's legs and was breathing hard. "Shit, you're right." He was tenting his pants though and Blaine knew his own were the same. Kurt was so sexy with his white shirt partly unbuttoned and his gray slacks that were totally not his style. Blaine wanted to do so much more but only slid his arm underneath Kurt's shoulders. "We could always switch into our pajamas or just strip down to our under clothes and continue."
Kurt glanced up at him with a sarcastic look in his eyes and he didn't even need to say anything. Blaine laughed and kissed Kurt on the mouth and shimmies down to lay his head on Kurt's chest with his ear over his favorite organ.
"Ok, ok, sorry." He turned his head to press his lips to the bared skin and then went back to his former position and Kurt wrapped his arms around Blaine's shoulders and Blaine raised a hand to run fingers across Kurt's ribs on the side he wasn't snuggling against. "And Kurt, as for the dancing, you don't have to be comfortable with it. I will respect you if you want to leave the dance floor again and not try to get you to stay, but I hope in the future you'll remember that you can pretend it's just the two of us on the floor and no one else exists; because that's what I already do."
Kurt stiffened under him and he looked up at Kurt questioning and the taller boy was looking at him with wonder. "Really? I always thought you were comfortable out there."
"I like to dance, no matter where I am or how I'm doing it but when you're around I forget everyone else exists and can only see you."
"Even if all I can do is shimmy and hip thrusts?" Kurt asked cautiously, still not sure.
"It's my favorite move." Blaine reassured resting his chin on Kurt's chest now so they could continue looking at each other. "I always wish we could be doing it in the bedroom than in public, but that's just a personal preference."
Kurt started laughing trying to imagine that. "I think I'd hurt both of us." Blaine laughed too, his imagination going along with Kurt's.
Finn's heavy footsteps were on the stairs down to the basement and he was down before either could muster the energy to pull away from each other. He was in sweat pants now and a long sleeved shirt. He looked furious. "What the hell are you two doing down here?" He looked at their position and scowled. "I don't know how you two can make up like that." He snapped his fingers.
"Couples argue and get mad at each other. We just work it out and work it through. Never go to bed angry at each other and all that." Kurt shrugged and Blaine felt it under his head as he went back to resting on Kurt's chest and watching Finn struggle to look at them and not look at them at the same time. He liked that expression and he would remember to tell Kurt that and remind him of that the next time they fought if it came down to it.
"He hurt you!" Finn was mad about that more than anything else.
"It was an accident." Kurt waved it off and Blaine watched his hand flutter in his periphery and he smiled at the motion, it was such a Kurt action. "I probably ended up hurting myself more than Blaine had to do with it. I was just annoyed at him is all."
"You were crying!" Finn accused and looked at Blaine. "You've only cried when-"
"I was hurt." Kurt struggled to get it through to Finn, not wanting him to be that concerned about it at this time and definitely didn't want him telling Burt. "I am not strong like you or Puck."
Finn's lips twisted, Kurt had been hurt for months without a single tear, the crying had started later. He looked at the snuggling figures on the bed and they seemed happy enough and he let out a huff. He was probably more annoyed than he should have been because of what happened with him and Rachel but the reminder of Puck had him mad. "Get upstairs to bed Kurt or I will tell Burt that you come down here and visit Blaine in the middle of the night and aren't as innocent as he'd like to believe. It will put a stop to these sleepovers."
Kurt eyes flashed suddenly annoyed again but this time at Finn. "I'll get upstairs and to bed as soon as I'm ready."
"Then I'm not leaving this spot until you do and don't think I won't catch you sneaking back down here or Blaine upstairs to your bedroom." He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms, waiting and Kurt sighed and knew Finn wasn't going to budge. He was so stubborn sometimes and this was not a fight that Kurt needed to have or wanted to spend energy on.
Blaine shifted and sat up so Kurt could get up and Kurt reached out to push himself up but Blaine caught him before he did and slid an arm behind Kurt's back and pulled him up towards him and pretended it was to kiss him, which he did, but it was mostly because Kurt forgot he couldn't put that weight on his arm yet, even though he probably didn't have 10 pounds to put on it with how slight he was, it would have been the pressure and stress he placed on it with the move.
Kurt mouthed his thanks against Blaine's lips, he didn't need Finn acting even more big brother on him if he winced or cried out when he forgot. Then he was just kissing Blaine back and Finn cleared his throat pointedly and uncomfortably.
Kurt's eyes were hooded as he looked at Blaine. He didn't want to end the kiss where it was.
"Later." Blaine mouthed against Kurt's lips and he smiled into the kiss, knowing that it was definitely something Kurt would take him up on.
Since they'd driven together to the competition, Blaine stayed at the Hudson-Hummel house until Monday and ignored Finn's constant annoyed looks sent his way.
On Sunday when brunch was over, he and Kurt went for a walk and they stopped in a park and picked up where they left off and fulfilling his promise.
On Monday, Blaine drove Kurt's SUV back to Dalton with Kurt in the passenger seat, putting the final touches on his look. He didn't hide the bruise though. And he kept his own promise to Wes about returning to his true self with his hairstyle and more than that, he put the other touches that he'd kept back from the private school. He couldn't adjust the uniform but he could put more effort into his looks again. Wes had silently applauded him when they walked into the lunchroom. Then they chatted about the fallout on Saturday and how the Warblers had gone home an hour or so later.
Blaine and Kurt reassured everyone that it had just been an argument that quickly resolved, nothing to worry about. Nick sent Kurt a curious look though and when Kurt looked back, Nick shook his head, he didn't want to say what he was thinking. Then soon they were all forgetting about it and just having fun together again and trying to figure out the right songs for Nationals. They vowed they'd listen to Kurt more this time.