Day 13: Maximum/Lonely
A/N: Set in canon during Kurt's Christmas at Dalton.
The crackle of the fireplace was the only sound in the large, tastefully decorated Dalton study aside from the occasional turning page. Kurt had settled here to catch up on his history reading. Most of the Warblers chose to gather in one of the larger common rooms to study en masse, but Kurt had made his excuses and retreated. They were all friendly enough, it was true, but Kurt found himself having trouble acclimating to his new surroundings. Despite the warm welcome he received, he couldn't help but feel a tad lonely. He dismissed it as homesickness, but the phrase "alone in a crowd" made a lot more sense to him now than it used to.
With a sigh and a shake of his head, he tried to clear his mind of gloomy thoughts and focus once again on Charlemagne. It wasn't easy.
A sudden thump made Kurt look up with a start.
"Hey," Blaine greeted, still gripping the handle of the boom box he'd set down loudly upon a table.
"You scared me," Kurt returned, smiling nervously. Blaine always made Kurt nervous, but in the best way possible.
The dapper Warbler went on to tease Kurt lightly for studying and to ask him to practice singing "Baby It's Cold Outside" for a performance Blaine was scheduled to do over the holiday. Any interest Kurt had in learning about Charlemagne (which was not much) disappeared completely.
The two sang and danced around one another, playing up the amusing and flirtatious tone of the song to the maximum. Kurt was nothing if not a consummate performer, just like his duet partner.
By the end of the song, they were side by side on the plush leather couch, smiling broadly for a moment before looking away bashfully. It took Kurt a second to realize that Blaine seemed just as affected as he was. The thought gave him more hope than he dared to acknowledge.
"I think you're ready," Kurt broke the silence between them first, trying to cover his giddiness with a veneer of cool confidence.
"Well, for the record," Blaine declared, rising from the couch, "you are much better than that girl's gonna be."
Kurt craned his neck to follow as Blaine walked out of the room. A tiny bubble of cautious optimism bloomed within him. While he may not feel a sense of belonging with the Warblers just yet, he realized that he had managed to forge at least one very special friendship here. Perhaps he wasn't so lonely at Dalton, after all.