Happy birthday week, JayhawkWrites!


Kurt Hummel

Senior English Journal

5th Period

October 8

Today's prompt: Write about something that makes your heart beat faster than normal.

It's funny that I've been going to this school for three years, and the one person who makes my heart beat faster than any other is the one person I can't have. Do I have to spell out his name on my chest in order for him to see how desperately in love with him I am? I mean, I scribble his initials inside of a huge red heart in all the margins of my notebooks. Is it truly possible that he hasn't noticed? I wonder if he thinks about me like this, too… I wish I knew.

Tonight is the big fall dance. Our sister school, Crawford Country Day is supposed to attend. They've organized it, a Sadie Hawkins Dance they're calling, Hark! Here Comes Love! I think it's supposed to be amusing, but I really don't get it. Anyway, Blaine and I are singing with the Warbler's tonight. We've even got a feature song with a couple of the Crawford girls: Love Shack. I hope I can keep my heart in check. Maybe he will hear it beating out of my chest while we sing together tonight, and the agony of him not knowing will finally be over. I can only hope.

"Hey," Blaine greeted as they walked out of English class. "We should probably stay a few extra minutes after Warbler practice today to practice our song. The Crawford girls are coming for the end of practice for that big group number, too." He wrapped an arm around Kurt's shoulder. "Sound okay to you?"

"Sure," Kurt agreed, glancing over at Blaine. "It's probably good to go over it one last time."

"Right. Also, I was thinking we could ride together to Breadstix tonight? I can pick you up. Say, 7:30? That gives us a half an hour before the dance starts."

"Okay," Kurt replied. "Did you get asked to the dance? I know that Tina girl was going to ask you, and… I mean, did she ever?"

Blaine shook his head. "No. She never did. I guess I'm going stag."

"Or… We could, um, go together maybe? As friends, of course."

His eyes lighting up, Blaine stopped just before their government classroom. "Really? You'd want to go together?"

"Sure. Why wouldn't I? Going to the dance with my best friend seems like a great time."

"Do you think we could coordinate our outfits?" Blaine asked, rising up on his toes and bouncing just a little. "I mean, like matching ties or pocket squares or something? I-I could get you one of Coop's ties, and we could—"

"Sure," Kurt answered again. "I'd love to. You can bring it when you come to pick me up, and I just won't pick out one of my own." He gave Blaine a big smile, one that came from his soul. "Thanks for suggesting it."

"This will be so fun!" Blaine enthused, walking the few steps to their government classroom. "I wasn't really excited for tonight before, but hanging out with my best friend will make it pretty great." He paused, his delighted grin sinking into a confused frown. "Wait. No one asked you to the dance? I thought that girl you knew in preschool, Brittany, was going to ask you."

Kurt shook his head. "No. I'm pretty sure she's going with her girlfriend. Not technically, of course, because Crawford is so behind the times, but I think that was their plan."

Blaine nodded, the smile coming back to his face. "Makes sense. Oh, well. Her loss is my gain."

"Are you boys planning to join us?" the government teacher asked, giving them an amused smile. "I know it's Friday and the last period of the day, but you could at least come in and sit down instead of yapping in my doorway."

"Oh. Yeah. Sorry," they muttered, walking in and taking a couple of seats at the back.

The teacher turned back to them, beginning to teach. Kurt did his best to pay attention, trying to take notes on the information she was giving them. However, he quickly found himself doodling hearts in the margins again, perfectly pierced cupid hearts with little red arrows peeking through on either side, their initials traced and retraced in the middle of the heart.

Suddenly, there was a folded piece of paper on his desk. He looked at it, his brow furrowing, then glancing up and catching Blaine's eye.

"From me," Blaine mouthed, nodding slightly toward the note.

Slowly, Kurt opened it, trying to be as quiet as he could so as not to alert the teacher that he wasn't paying attention. When he got it open, he read what Blaine had written: "What do you think about pink bow ties?"

He shook his head, writing back, "Too bright."

"What about black?" came the next note.

"That's better. But might be too formal."

"I'll see what else we have," Blaine wrote back. "I know we have something perfect."

Kurt glanced over at his friend, giving him a slight smile before ducking his head again, his cheeks blushing. Blaine wore the most charming, sunshiney smile Kurt had ever seen. His heart was definitely pounding out of his chest once again, sitting right next to Blaine.

That evening, at 7:30 exactly, there was a knock on the Hummel's door. Kurt rushed down the stairs to answer it, calling over his shoulder to his dad, "I'm leaving for the dance, Dad. I'll be home around midnight!"

"Be safe, kid, and have fun!" Burt hollered after him as Kurt shut the door behind himself, meeting a slightly surprised Blaine on the porch.

"You didn't want me to come in?" Blaine asked. "I thought I could go in, and you could—"

"Trust me. I'm saving you," Kurt said. "He would be asking you all kinds of questions about football and everything else you could think of. We'd never get to leave." He grinned. "You bring a tie?"

"I did," Blaine answered. He held up a black tie with little red hearts on it then lifted his chin, revealing his own tie, holding his dark bowler hat on his head. "Mine's a bow tie. Same pattern."

"It's perfect," Kurt said, reaching out to trace one of the loops of Blaine's tie. "I love bow ties on you."

Blaine's cheeks blushed pink. "Thanks," he whispered.

"Here. Just let me get this on, and we can go." Kurt slung the tie around his neck, getting it tied up quickly and slipped into the space just below his Adam's apple.

Swallowing hard, Blaine traced the line of the knot of the tie with his eyes. "Y-you ready?"

"Mhm! Let's have the best Sadie Hawkins dance ever!" Kurt followed Blaine to his car, a bounce in his step. He was delighted to be on the closest thing to a date he'd ever been on with his crush, and they had adorable matching ties to boot. Maybe someone will think we are an item anyway.

"I made a playlist," Blaine announced as he started the car. "Just a few things to get us in the mood for dancing and performing."

"Sounds awesome!"

Blaine swiped open his phone, swiping a few times before putting it in the cup holder and throwing the car in drive. The sounds of Come What May from Moulin Rouge floated through the car speakers.

"Oooh! Moulin Rouge!" Kurt exclaimed with an excited little shoulder shimmy. When he opened his mouth to sing, Blaine beat him to the punch, the most beautiful sounds Kurt thought he'd ever heard coming out of his mouth. He shut his mouth, swinging his head to look at Blaine in awe.

The other boy winked, sending Kurt's heart pouring even harder. He no longer had the breath to sing. All he could do was listen.

About an hour after the dance started, Kurt, Blaine, and a few of the girls from Crawford were set to take the stage. They were doing a big production, so Kurt took a seat at the front edge of the audience to wait for his moment to come in. The three girls—Mercedes, Marley, and Quinn—lined up behind the microphones on the stage. Blaine stood in the aisle, waiting for all but the stage lights to go off before he began, dancing up the aisle to the stage.

Blaine:

"If you see a faded sign at the side of the road that says

Fifteen miles to the"

Mercedes:

"Love shack', love shack, yeah, yeah

I'm headin' down the Atlanta highway

Lookin' for the love getaway, headed for the love getaway"

Kurt looked around them, happy to see that a lot of the students were already starting to jam out. He smiled a bit, looking back at the stage, his breath catching in his throat at the sight of Blaine, looking as dashing as ever under the stage lights in his form-fitting suit and adorable bow tie. Deciding to make their ties a little more obvious, Kurt shrugged out of his jacket, draping it over the back of the chair.

Blaine:

"Got me a car, it's as big as a whale

And we're headin' on down to the love shack

I got me a Chrysler, it seats about twenty

So hurry up and bring your jukebox money"

As the girls sang, Blaine began to dance across the stage in Kurt's direction, his body bent back in a limbo stance, his hips shaking, only accentuating the one part of him that could make Kurt's brain short circuit as he couldn't rip his eyes away from his best friend's form.

Girls:

"The love shack is a little old place

Where we can get together

Love shack, baby"

When Blaine reached Kurt, he pretended to offer him his microphone. As his part was written, at first, Kurt declined. Then, at the last moment, he leaned in to sing into the microphone.

Kurt:

"(A love shack, baby)"

Then, Blaine grabbed him by the tie, pulling him up onto the stage, something that was not part of their plan. He was just supposed to turn so Kurt could follow, and the unexpected grab made Kurt gasp, his mouth turning into an "O" of surprise. He quickly schooled his features, though, making to his mic stand just as the girls finished singing, in time to sing his next lines.

Girls:

"Love shack, baby, love shack

Love shack, baby, love shack"

Kurt:

"Hop in my Chrysler, it's as big as a whale

And it's about to set sail

I got me a car, it seats about twenty

So come on and bring your jukebox money"

Girls:

"The love shack is a little old place (little old place)

Where we can get together

Love shack, baby"

It was then that Blaine began a dance train, jumping off the stage to encourage a few of the nearby girls to join him. They went around and between the tables, hips grooving, Blaine prancing as he sang.

Kurt thought he had never seen Blaine look so wonderful and sexy, and he began to wonder, Have I been smitten with him for so long that everything he does now seems sexy? Am I in it deeper than I've ever been now? Why is this man the only thing I want in my life, and why is he the one person that seems not to notice how much I want him?

[...]

The sound of Blaine shouting out the line right before Kurt's stirred him from his thoughts.

Blaine:

"You're WHAT?"

Kurt:

"Tin roof, rusted"

Girls:

"Love shack!

Love shack, baby, love shack (yeah)

Love shack, baby, love shack (Love shack)

(Love baby that's where it's at, yeah)

(Love baby that's where it's at)

Love shack, baby, love shack (Love shack)

(Huggin' and a kissin')

Love shack, baby, love shack (Baby, love shack)

(Dancin' and a lovin' at the love shack)"

As the entire room giggled and cheered, Blaine came bounding back up on the stage. He wrapped an arm around Kurt's shoulders and gave him a quick smile before pulling him into a quick bow. Then, he leaned over and whispered in his ear, "You were freaking fantastic, Kurt! Let's get some soda and cupcakes and rest for a song or two. Then, I want to dance!"

Kurt just nodded, once again finding himself breathless and unable to speak.

On the drive home that night, Blaine played his playlist again, but neither of them sang along. They were both exhausted, having danced and sang and shouted things to each other all night. They kept the volume low, the songs a nice background to their thoughts as they relived their favorite moments of the evening in their heads.

Just a few miles from Kurt's house, his cell phone began to ring. Glancing at the ID on his phone, Kurt reached over and turned the volume dial all the way to zero. When Blaine gave him a funny look, he answered, "Call," before swiping to answer it. "Hi, Britt! Where were you and Tana tonight? I didn't see you at the dance. I was hoping to—" He stopped when he heard his friend sniffle. "Hey… What's wrong?"

"Kurt, I called to-to tell you that I-I-I'm pregnant. It's yours."