Chapter 3
By NotYourDaydream
Tuesday, February 14th, 2012
Kurt woke up on Valentine's Day to a heart-shaped box of chocolates laid out on his desk, courtesy of Carole. The day was arguably her favorite out of the year, second to Finn's birthday, and her affection made him smile. She loved love. He mostly appreciated a holiday with a set color scheme. He loved his dad, Finn, his friends, and family. He and Alex hadn't been together for long enough to really feel like he loved him. He wasn't sure he even knew what love was when it came to a boyfriend. That was what made his situation with Blaine so difficult. He didn't know how to separate the emotions he already felt from the ones he was supposed to.
He was halfway through checking out his outfit (a maroon turtleneck with a black vest over it, checkered pants, and loafers) when his brain reminded him that Karofsky would be at McKinley, too.
For the first time since sophomore year, Kurt was hyper-aware of his entire self: his personality, his clothing, the way he walked. Dave wasn't like that anymore, he had to keep reminding himself. Dave was his friend. So, why did he still feel queasy at the thought of seeing him?
He, at least, had Blaine, but even that sent his nerves into a frenzy. This was their first school day as official fake boyfriends since they hadn't had school on Monday (due to teacher inservices). Playing pretend had been Kurt's favorite game as a child. It was one of the reasons he wanted so badly to be an actor, to metaphorically walk in someone else's shoes, even if it was only for a few hours. It was different now with real feelings involved.
This wasn't how he'd imagined it to go. If life could go his way, he would feel excited that he and Blaine were going to school as boyfriends. In his perfect world, they already were. They could spend Valentine's Day trading kisses and rolling their eyes when their friends cooed at them, not walking on eggshells and lying to everyone.
Finn's car was already in its parking spot when Kurt pulled into the McKinley parking lot, most likely to surprise Rachel with a Valentine's Day gift. He had been worrying himself sick over what to get her for the past two weeks. With good reason, Kurt thought. She was notoriously picky.
He stepped out of the car and pulled his coat closer to his body. Would people think it was weird he didn't pick Blaine up? It makes no sense , he thought. He would have to go out of his way to do it. He and Alex never did things like that. But he never felt like he had to until now.
On his way to the building, he spotted Dave, standing off from the entrance and rubbing his hands together. His body was rigid, and whenever somebody popular passed by, he turned around to the brick walls.
Kurt tapped on his shoulder and nodded towards the front doors. "You ready to get in there?"
Dave's eyebrows shot up, and his shoulders lowered from his ears. His hair was tousled and his plain t-shirt wrinkled. "Kurt… To be honest, I'm terrified. Everyone here probably hates me, and if they don't, they will when they hear I'm out."
Kurt's heart broke for him. "Well, you have Blaine and me and the rest of the New Directions! Things have changed here. Nobody's really throwing around slushies or tossing people in trash cans."
"That's because I was the one doing most of the slushie throwing." Dave looked down at him with a small frown.
Kurt felt his face flood with embarrassment. "Yeah. Well…" He trailed off and laughed, and Dave's low laugh followed. Maybe everything wouldn't be so bad.
"Will you walk in with me? Please?" Dave grabbed both of Kurt's hands and squeezed.
Kurt blinked slowly, acutely aware of the other students passing them to get inside. It was time for him to start playing pretend. He pulled his hands away from Dave's and stuffed them into his pockets. "Um, I'm sorry, Dave. It's just that…I have to meet Blaine before first period, and it just won't be a good look if you and I walk in together," Kurt tried to explain. "People talk, y'know?"
When Dave's shoulders sagged, Kurt rushed to think of some sort of middle ground. He wanted Dave to feel welcome, but then spending too much time alone would make people question. "But maybe we could sit together at lunch? With the rest of the Glee kids, I mean."
"That'd be nice, but Ms. Pillsbury wants to see me during lunch so I can readjust to McKinley." He shrugged. "At least for the first week." His sigh materialized in the prickly winter air, and Kurt turned and walked away with nothing else to say.
"Oh, wait! I nearly forgot," Dave exclaimed, stopping Kurt in his tracks. He dug in his backpack, pulling out a giant box of chocolates in the shape of a heart. "Happy Valentine's Day."
Kurt blushed. "Oh! Wow. Thanks, Dave." He turned the box over in his hands and chuckled. "Now, I feel bad. I didn't get you anything."
"That's okay. Just keep being a great friend."
Kurt nodded and turned on his heels, walking the rest of the distance to the front doors and trying his best to calm his queasy stomach. It felt awful, lying to Dave. Maybe , he thought, I could just tell him the truth and face the humiliation. He could go to prom with Dave, choke down his feelings for one night to please him.
All of that flew out of the window when he saw Blaine.
Kurt appreciated Blaine's attractiveness when he was up close, but it was somehow easier to spot further away: a tiny waist and broad shoulders, red jeans so snug they should be illegal, the way he messed with his bowtie and subtly checked himself out in the mirror he put in his locker, and that gorgeous grin that spread across his face when they made eye contact. He was the brightest thing in McKinley's dull halls.
"Hey." His bowtie had tiny red hearts on it.
Blaine closed his locker and shuffled something in his arms behind his back. His face was flushed, and after a few awkward seconds, he choked out, "Happy Valentine's Day!" and pushed a bouquet of roses into Kurt's arms.
It took a second for the gesture to register, but when it did, Kurt absolutely melted. "Oh, my god, Blaine!" He pulled him into a tight hug, relishing in the smell of his hair gel and teakwood shampoo. "These are amazing!"
Blaine beamed. "Yeah?" He adjusted the straps of his backpack and muttered into Kurt's ear, his warm breath tickling his skin, "I thought it'd be a good gift to kinda show off our relationship."
Kurt nodded, even if his heart sank a bit. Maybe he was being stupid, but he wanted the roses to be for him , not the fake version. But of course, Blaine was acting after all. It was time for him to start, too.
He shuffled the roses into the crook of his arm and slid his other arm so it was interlocked with Blaine's. This is just practice for my Tony Award-winning Broadway performance, he thought. And dammit if he wasn't going to perform. With a voice much more animated and cheery than his own, he cooed to Blaine, "Walk me to class?"
It took Blaine a second to catch on. "But I always… Oh." His hand went warm, and he plastered a mile-wide smile on his face. "Of course." He offered out his hand, and Kurt accepted it gladly.
They walked the albeit short distance to the foreign language department quickly, but it felt like an eternity. Nobody seemed to spare them an extra glance. The bell was about to ring. Maybe he wasn't as important at school as he had built up in his head.
"I'll see you at lunch, okay?" Kurt said.
At the last minute, he kissed Blaine's cheek, entering the classroom before he could see Blaine's shocked face.
—*—
"Guess what I saw in French today," Tina said to Artie on her way to their AP calculus class. "Blaine walking Kurt to class."
Artie glanced up at her briefly. "Okay? We're doing that right now. So?"
"They're obviously dating, that's what!" Tina exclaimed. How could he be so blind? "Plus, he was holding a bouquet of roses all of first period with this silly grin on his face. Where else would he get those? They're finally together!" Finally, she thought to herself. She and Sugar had been so close to locking them into the bathroom of Breadstix tonight until they came out holding hands.
"I don't know if I believe you. They always act like that." Artie stopped pushing himself just outside of the calculus classroom and pushed up his glasses. "I mean, it would be great if they were, instead of dancing around each other as they have been. Do you have any proof?" When she opened her mouth to respond, he added, "Roses don't count. Those could be from anybody."
Tina rolled her eyes and whipped out her phone. "Fine," she groaned. "I'll ask Finn. He has to know something."
And so it began.
—*—
Kurt miraculously avoided all of the New Directions until lunch. Well, all of them but Sugar, who giggled at him all through their American History class, but that was how she usually acted. When the class ended, she pushed her heart-shaped sunglasses over her eyes and blew him a kiss before practically prancing out of the room. He didn't think much of it then, but he questioned her actions well into his next period.
By the time he sat down next to Blaine at lunch, the rest of his friends could barely keep their cool.
"When did you guys finally start dating?" Tina's voice burst from the others. There was a glint in her eye, and the rest of the New Directions quieted down for their response.
"Um…" Shit, Kurt thought. They hadn't talked about this part yet. His first big test at being a good boyfriend and he was already failing.
"Well, I was the one who asked him," Blaine interrupted. "So, I'll tell the story. It isn't that romantic or anything. We were at his dad's shop after it closed because my car had been acting funny for a while, and this one didn't want me driving back to Westerville in a messed up car. I had been trying to work up the nerve to ask him out for a while. So, I just blurted it out. And Kurt sat up so fast that he banged his head on the front bumper. I was freaking out, but he just laughed and told me that he'd love to go out with me." Blaine finished with the smallest of shrugs—a shrug!—and looked over at Kurt. He could only nod along as a confirmation.
That seemed to be enough for the group. Tina had to melt into Mike's arm to prevent herself from squealing too loud, and Rachel beamed in their direction. It even made Santana crack a smile.
"Damn, Lady Lips. I didn't even see the bruise on your forehead. How'd you cover it up so well?" she asked.
"Lots of concealer," he laughed shakily. He was reeling with Blaine's lie. It was so well constructed, right off of the top of his head, too. That was what acting was all about; Blaine was a natural.
"Oh, by the way, guys! Don't forget about the party of the century at Breadstix!" Sugar cheered, and Kurt and Blaine's moment in the sun passed. He exhaled while his friends focused on their plans for later that day.
—*—
Since they didn't have any formal classes together in the first half of the day, Kurt and Mercedes always walked to Glee together. Fake boyfriend or not, that wasn't going to change. They exchanged the latest gossip and plights of their classes. It was a tradition Kurt would be upset to lose when they graduated in the next few months.
"...And now I have to sing with him tonight, and I don't mind because it's for Santana and Brit, but it's just so… Earth to Kurt! You listening?" Mercedes waved a hand in his face, and when Kurt looked at her, she smirked.
"I'm so sorry, Cedes," Kurt sighed, closing his locker. "I've been so wrapped up with my own mess, I haven't been able to help you through yours."
Mercedes looked like she had more on her mind, but after a few seconds, she shook her head. "It's okay. This whole Karofsky situation is crazy!" she exclaimed. "I saw him talking to Blaine after fourth period today."
"What?" Kurt squeaked. "Did you hear what it was about?"
"No. It seemed relatively calm," she said, looping her arm through his as they walked to the choir room. "I would ask him about it, though. You never know with Karofsky."
"He's not like that anymore; he's different," Kurt argued.
"You keep saying that, Kurt, and I'm trying to see it." Mercedes brushed her hair away from her face. "But it's hard to forget everything he's done."
Kurt thought of Karofsky in sophomore year, how afraid he was of the tall football player. He was terrified to be caught in the halls with him because it didn't matter if they were empty or full of people. No matter what he did, nobody would help him. And now, he saw Dave for what he really was: a scared kid with no one to turn to, a few degrees away from what Kurt had been a few short years ago. He was aware that he had all of the power in their new friendship, and he was determined to use it for good.
The choir room was loud with chatter. Finn had Rachel in his lap, showing her how to use the drum set. Santana was laughing with Artie and Brittany, and Mercedes broke off to join them. Blaine looked up from his probably very nerdy conversation with Sam, eyes gleaming, and waved him over.
"Hey." He slid into his seat next to Blaine near the top of the risers. "Are you okay? Mercedes told me Dave was talking to you today."
Blaine shrugged. "I'm fine."
"Blaine…" He knew how he had a tendency to keep things in, especially if they were bad. If their whole fake dating scenario was going to work, Kurt knew they had to tell each other the truth.
"It was nothing. I promise!" Blaine turned and grinned, but Kurt saw uneasiness in the way his back hunched. He'd have to talk to Dave when he got the chance.
They were nestled together like an old married couple, their friends would frequently say, when Mr. Schue strolled in and clapped his hands.
"Hey, guys! How's Valentine's Day going for you all?"
Most of the couples nodded or cuddled close together in response. Kurt turned when he felt a head on his shoulder, but when the familiar scent of raspberry hair gel filled his nose, he relaxed at the touch. He noticed Mercedes and Sam glance at each other before turning away, both looking solemn. Jesus… He really had missed a lot. Hopefully, he could talk to her before the party that night, he thought. It would be nice to worry about something other than his own problems for a bit.
"Thanks again to Sugar—" Mr. Schue gestured to her, who blew kisses at the rest of them as she picked through a bag of candy hearts, "—for renting out Breadstix for the night."
"So, as you all know, Valentine's Day is about love. And the majority of songs are love songs! Now, I asked you all earlier this week to come up with a love song to sing. To your partner, your friends, anyone. Would anyone like to go first?"
There were a few murmurs in the risers. Kurt had his prepared. He had arranged an acoustic version of The Temptations' song "My Girl" as a tribute to his mom and all of the other girls in his life who meant something to him. But that was before the whole being-asked-out-by-Dave thing. Now that he and Blaine were an item, the whole thing didn't read well. And he couldn't sing "My Girl" to a guy.
Tentatively, next to him, Blaine raised his hand. Mr. Schue grinned and took a seat in the audience as Blaine situated himself on the piano bench. Kurt stared at him with his eyebrows knitted together. He had never mentioned what he was singing.
"Hmm, I've got a crush on someone," Blaine crooned. "Guess who." Except nobody needed to guess. He tossed a wink to Kurt before focusing his entire attention on the piano.
"I've got a crush on you, sweetie pie, all the day and night time…"
It was like all of the air had been sucked out of the room. As Blaine continued singing, heads turned every so often to glance or—in Mercedes' case—wink at Kurt. He felt his face flush.
He had never heard a man sing the song before. Now, he couldn't imagine it any other way. Even though it was suited more for upbeat Top 40, Blaine's voice floated through the sultry jazz song. His low notes made Kurt's head swim. The fact he was singing to him , a love song at that? It was like his dream coming true.
But it wasn't, he remembered. Despite his best wishes, all of it was fake.
Kurt tried his best to smile, but it was wobbly. He decided on just putting his head in his hands, giving off the image of an embarrassed boyfriend instead of a very conflicted friend.
"Alright, Blaine! That was amazing!" Mr. Schue cheered. "Who's next?"
Finn hopped up shortly after and, with the help of Puck, performed a weepy version of "Hey There Delilah" for Rachel. Kurt was sure it was incredibly sweet, but he couldn't hear anything but the rush of blood in his ears, couldn't feel anything except for Blaine's body heat radiating off of him.
—*—
The rest of the day moved by fast after that. Kurt didn't run into Dave at all, but it wasn't like he knew what to say in the first place. He waited in his car at the end of the day, relishing in the heat and pop music that floated in the air.
"My mom said thanks again for taking me home. She didn't expect to be so busy," Blaine said as he pulled himself into the passenger seat. "Long day, huh?"
"The longest," Kurt frowned. "You never mentioned you were singing Ella Fitzgerald today."
"I'm sorry. I must have forgotten," Blaine said nonchalantly.
Kurt nodded. He did push the whole fake dating scheme pretty hard. He would have forgotten, too, if the roles were reversed.
Kurt backed out of his parking spot and made it onto the highway. Usually when he drove Blaine home, they listened to Broadway music or the pop songs on the radio the entire way to Westerville. The music stayed low today. A lot on both of their minds, if he had to guess.
They passed the "Welcome to Westerville!" sign, and not too long after that, they pulled into Blaine's expensive neighborhood. It never failed to amaze Kurt how large some of the houses in Westerville were, how meticulously the yards were cut and the gardens kept. It was never something he or Blaine brought up, money. And Blaine never made him feel bad about his family having less of it. None of that mattered to them.
Kurt pulled up beside the Anderson house and stopped.
"Thanks for the drive," Blaine said like he always did. He hopped out of the car, leaned against the open window, and grinned. "I'll see you tonight, boyfriend."
Kurt's stomach flip flopped. How was he just allowed to say that? "I'll see you," he returned. Blaine smiled as a response before disappearing into his house. Kurt drove home in silence.
—*—
"Hey, Dad! How was your day?" Kurt called as he stepped into his house and set his backpack on the floor. Knowing his dad, he was probably sitting in front of the TV.
"It was good. Not that many customers, so I let everyone go home early," he replied.
Kurt nodded. He knew there was something else on his dad's mind.
"So, you and Blaine, huh?" He continued to turn through the pages flippantly, but Kurt knew this was a conversation he had been wanting to have since Blaine came over to pick him up for dinner.
He rolled his eyes. He really didn't need another lecture on sex and waiting for the right time or something equally as embarrassing. "Dad…"
"Just let me finish, okay, kid?" His dad took a deep breath before speaking again. "I'm just so damn happy you found someone who completes you like Blaine does. And I can see plain as day that you care a lot about him. I know the past few years haven't been easy, but hopefully, one day, you'll realize it was all worth it. Besides, I never liked that Alex guy all too much." His wink is followed by a hard sniffle, and Kurt wrapped his arms around his dad, not even caring about the possible stains on his clothes.
No matter how hard he tried to forget about it, a huge knot was building in his stomach, and now it threatened to unravel. Lying to his friends was hard enough, and lying to himself about his feelings for Blaine was difficult, too. But lying to his dad? That was the nail in the coffin.
He swallowed the lump in his throat before it dissolved into tears. "Thanks, Dad."
Note from GleefulDarrenCrissFan: The next chapter will be posted Wednesday morning. This fabulous chapter was written by NotYourDayDream, who has written quite a few other Klaine stories. Check them out on AO3. Thanks to Teddyshoney for editing each chapter. Please leave a review. we'd love to hear your thoughts.
