Repair - 9
The first month in their new apartment was filled with Kurt preparing for the applicant showcase and recording his vocals for the prospectus album and Blaine working in the campus library and turning in his composition pieces for his song writing class. Everything was going great - chores were being split evenly without thought and it had become habit for the one home first to prepare dinner with weekends spent lounging with pizza or takeout and exploring their new neighbourhood.
It was a Thursday when Blaine rushed through the door with a quick hello to Kurt before he dashed into his bedroom. Twenty minutes later a freshly washed Blaine emerged in a red polo and black jeans, his hair lightly styled.
"You didn't have to dress for dinner!" Kurt joked, serving the pasta into two bowls.
"Didn't you get my text? I'm, uh, going out." Blaine checked his pocket for his phone and wallet before grabbing his jacket.
"Oh, no my phone is charging in my room."
"Sorry, I should have called."
"No, don't be silly. It's fine. I skipped lunch anyway so I probably would have eyeballed your bowl anyway!" Kurt smiled. "Friends from school?"
"Huh? Oh, sort of. Um, Max asked me out so I figured why not." Blaine shrugged, looking everywhere except at Kurt.
"Like a date?" Kurt stated at Blaine owlishly.
"Um, I guess? We never really said and I never….huh…maybe. Is…is that okay?"
"Yeah! Yeah of course, it's wonderful!" Kurt forced the cheer in his voice as he put the pan back on the stove. "I'll make sure not to chain the door."
"Okay, thanks. I'll see you later?" Blaine watched Kurt's back waiting for his friend to turn around.
"Yeah, have a good time!" Kurt stayed leaning against the cooker as he heard a rustle of fabric and the door close softly. He waited until he was sure the elevator had gone before he dropped to the floor, clutching his chest as his tear flowed down his cheeks.
… … … … … … … … … … … …
"So, this is me." Blaine pointed to the entrance of the building and stood awkwardly as Max stepped a little closer. "I should head up, I don't want to be too late and wake my room-mate up."
"Of course, I had a great time tonight Blaine. Maybe we could do it again sometime?" The hopeful look in Max's face was more than Blaine could bear but he smiled politely.
"Um, yeah, maybe. I'll check my schedule, composition class is kinda heavy just now."
"Yeah, sure! Shouldn't be too much extra work for you though right? Talk on campus says you're the "one to watch" this year." Max squeezed Blaine's arm and moved a little closer, leaning in as Blaine turned his head to receive the kiss on his cheek.
"Thanks for walking me home Max, I really should go inside. I'll text you?" Blaine moved towards the door, extricating himself from Max's grip.
Blaine waved politely at the concierge, suddenly grateful for his presence and made his way towards the elevators. He leant back against the wall as the elevator made its way to the 8th floor and thought about the evening. The meal had been nice and the restaurant had had a pleasant atmosphere but he just hadn't felt any spark with Max. Sure he could probably be a good friend but Blaine just couldn't see him as anything else. The doors pinged and opened and Blaine stood outside the apartment door, took two deep breaths and straightened his shoulders before opening the door.
… … … … … … … … … … … …
Kurt was sitting out on the balcony in his pyjamas, wrapped up in his duvet and nursing a bottle of gin wiping at his watery, red eyes. Honestly he'd have preferred vodka but gin was all he had left in the kitchen cupboards.
"Stupid Max and his stupid dinner and his stupid date and his stupid…just stupid." Kurt took another swig, pulling his duvet tighter around him. He forgot he'd left all the doors open until he heard a familiar voice call out to him.
"Hey you!" Blaine dropped into the seat next to him. "How was your night? Did you get much work done?"
Kurt mumbled into his duvet before taking another drink.
"Why are you drinking on a weeknight?"
"What are you, my dad?" Kurt spat out harshly. "I can drink if I wanna." and he took a long swig to prove his point.
"Oh, I just…never mind. I'm gonna go to bed so I'll lock up." Blaine stood watching his friend hide hide face from him and turn his body away. "Are you ok?"
"I'm fine, why wouldn't I be fine?" Kurt slurred, the gin he'd been drinking for 2 hours clearly making its effects known. "I got a nice apartment and a comfy bed and I got gin. I'm just peachy."
"Kurt…." Blaine started to move towards Kurt but when the older man's head snapped around he gasped as the red eyes, puffy tear-stained cheeks and the look of loss etched into that beautiful porcelain skin. "Did something happen? You're clearly upset!"
"I'm not uspet…utsep-…that." Kurt stood and wobbled on his feet briefly. Blaine's hands darted out to help stabilise him big Kurt jerked his own body away as if he'd been burned. "I don' need your help. I can do it by my own." Kurt spun on his heels, slipped and banged face first into the sliding glass door of his room, the force knocking him off his feet making him land on his butt. "Ow"
"Oh Kurt, c'mon. Let's get you into bed." Blaine scooped his drunken room-mate up in his arms and carried him bridal style through the open glass door and straight into his bedroom. Placing him gently on the bed, he extracted the nearly empty gin bottle from Kurt's hand and fetched the duvet from the balcony and covered the pale man's body. Kneeling on the floor beside the bed, Blaine carefully brushed a strand of hair away from Kurt's forehead before leaning in and placing a soft kiss on the red mark left by the impact with the door.
"Don' do that, is confussin'." Kurt's speech was still slurred but was joined by a pout.
"What's confusing Kurt?"
"You kissy me and datin' Massss."
"I'm not dating Max, Kurt. We just had dinner."
"A dinner date."
"Maybe at first but it didn't end like a date would. Besides, the whole time I was thinking about you." Blaine gently bopped the tip of Kurt's nose.
"See, you all confussin' again."
"Maybe I am confused, but why does that make you drink nearly a full bottle of gin by yourself?"
"Cos you had a date and I didn't."
"You could have a date if you wanted to."
"No Bain…juss…jusss forget it. You don't know and you don't care and you don't know so juss forget."
Blaine frowned a little, feeling as though they were fighting but not really sure why. As Kurt's eyelids got heavier he tucked the covers around him and sat back on his heels. He hadn't done anything wrong, it wasn't his fault Kurt hadn't checked his texts and prepared dinner for them both and he wasn't stopping Kurt from going on a date with anyone so why was he so bent out of shape over this? Blaine stood and made his way through to his own room, quickly washing and stripping down to his boxers. Crawling into bed, Blaine thought back to his date.
Throughout the meal he'd kept thinking about how Kurt would have appreciated the decorative pattern on the wine glasses, the peppercorn sauce wasn't as nice as the one Kurt made, he'd have to bring Kurt here to let him taste the mango sorbet. Even on the short walk home from the subway station, he'd noticed a flyer in the window for an open air concert the following weekend that Kurt would enjoy. Sure, the conversation with Max had been okay but it felt more like he was listening to Max answer his own questions rather than being able to provide any information about himself. Kurt never did that, Kurt always listened.
Blaine rolled onto his side and looked out his windows at the night sky. He loved watching the stars as he settled in to sleep. It had been just over a week since he'd shared a bed with Kurt, both of them agreeing rest was important to their current hectic schedules, but it still felt strange to sleep alone despite having done so for the last 18 months. Maybe Kurt had had a rough day at school but hadn't wanted to say anything before Blaine headed out for his non-date. Maybe there were problems at work? Blaine made a mental note to speak to his friend in the morning and hopefully find out what was bothering him.
… … … … … … … … … … … …
The next morning Blaine woke first and decided to surprise Kurt with breakfast. He whipped up his lemon pancake batter and grabbed the blueberries from the fridge. He place three pancakes to the plate, poured a glass of orange juice and added them all to the little tray with cutlery and syrup and carried it through to Kurt's room. Blaine knocked on the door softly and pushed it open to find an empty and perfectly made bed.
"Kurt?" Blaine placed the tray on the bed and headed over to Kurt's bathroom again knocking on the door. "Kurt, I made breakfast. Lemon & blueberry pancakes. Are you okay in there?" Blaine tried the handle and again found any empty space.
He wandered back into the bedroom and checked the balcony, through to his own bedroom and bathroom then onto the living room. Blaine was getting worried when he walked past the dining table and noticed a handwritten note propped against the fruit bowl.
Blaine,
Gone to school for early class. Back late.
Kurt x
Blaine dropped down into one of the dining chairs relieved that Kurt hadn't been abducted or fallen over the balcony but the note bothered him. It looked hastily written and didn't really explain much. Kurt knew that Blaine knew his schedule and Kurt had no early classes - at least none before 7:30am! Blaine used his phone to send him a quick text.
From Blaine:Hey you, got your note - wish I'd seen it before I tried to surprise you with breakfast in bed! Lol! Hope your head is okay after last night. I was thinking of making Chinese tonight - I'll leave you a portion in the microwave if you'd like? Bx
From Kurt: ok
Blaine frowned at the two letter response. Was Kurt mad at him? What had he done? He'd kept up with all his chores, made sure he transferred money to Kurt's account for the apartment bills, hadn't played his guitar too loud or too late at night, tried not to make too much mess. What on Earth had he done wrong? And why had it made Kurt so mad at him? Maybe he was just busy? Yeah that must be it - Kurt wasn't mad at him he was just busy so didn't have time for anything but acknowledging the message. Blaine nodded to himself and ate the breakfast he'd made for Kurt before getting himself ready and heading off another full day of composition classes.
Blaine managed to get through the day without too much drama. Max had tried to talk to him and invite him out for dinner again but once he'd confirmed to Blaine than yesterday he did want to date him, Blaine had turned him down as politely as possible. As cute as Max was, he didn't want to date anyone - he hadn't even thought of their dinner last night as a date until Kurt had mentioned it. Max went back to his seat looking a little dejected after accusing Blaine of leading him on, which of course Blaine denied - he'd just wanted a friend. He felt a little uneasy when Max glared at him across the room but he flashed him a kind smile and carried on with his work.
When he got home just before 6pm, Blaine was met with a quiet apartment. Kurt hadn't said in his note what time "back late" meant but he was secretly glad he still had time to surprise Kurt with dinner. By the time he was plating up 40 minutes later there was still no sign of Kurt.
From Blaine (6:50pm):Hey you, I've left your dinner in the microwave. I'll have my headphones on practising for comp class in case I don't hear you when you get home. I'll prob be out on balcony Bx
From Blaine (7:33pm): Hey you, hope you're okay, you're not usually this quiet-did your phone die again? We should think about getting you a power bank! Bx
From Blaine (7:51pm): Hey you, can you let me know if you're okay? I'm getting worried about you. Bx
From Blaine (8:58pm): Hey, Im not sure if you're getting my messages but can you text me back to let me know you're ok? Bx
From Blaine (9:44pm): I'm going to bed, the door is locked but not chained.
Blaine lay in his bed staring blankly out the window. He finally managed to drift off to sleep around 11:15pm when he heard a thump and then the front door open and bounce off the wall.
"Ssshhhhhh!" Blaine froze, was he being robbed? "Stupid door!" Blaine sighed and rolled onto his back. He wasn't being robbed, Kurt was home and sounded drunk.
Blaine debated with himself whether to go and help his friend or leave him and pretend he was sleeping. His bedroom door was shut but he could hear Kurt banging into the kitchen counter and tripping over a rug. Everything he crashed into was told to "shush" as Kurt stumbled towards his own room, clearly drunk and not as quiet as he seemed to think he was. Blaine wondered whether he should check on Kurt but then again, Kurt hadn't come home until he though Blaine was in bed and sleeping so he clearly didn't want to see him just now. He settled himself back in to try and get back to sleep, that was until he heard the shower in Kurt's bathroom turn on and Kurt start singing "Teenage Dream" loudly under the spray.
Any other time, Blaine would have laughed and joined in through the wall but tonight he was just annoyed. Kurt knew Blaine had a heavy week at school this week but still came home late, drunk and making more noise than a herd of bulls running through a china shop. Just then Blaine heard a squeaky sound followed by a thud and an "ow" - Kurt had fallen over in the shower. Blaine threw back his covers and was just about to go check on his friend when he heard the water stop. He wondered whether he should still go and make sure Kurt was alright but he could hear quiet muttering through the walls as Kurt left his bathroom. He could hear the soft sound of drawers being opened in the otherwise silent apartment and could hear Kurt talking to himself but his voice was too quiet to make out any specific words. Eventually, the gentle creak of Kurt's bed frame indicated that the chestnut haired man had safely made it into his own bed and Blaine allowed himself to relax and lay back down.
A/N - uh oh, trouble in Klainetown! Will the boys talk to each other and get back on track or will things get worse before they get better?! Tune in on Wednesday to find out!
Huge thanks to everyone who continues to read Repair and for the reviews!
