Chapter 4
Saturday arrived quickly. Santana, Quinn and Brittany had been in Kurt's room for the last two hours, getting ready to arrive fashionably late at Pucks party. Even Kurt was dressed to perfection, with his hair coiffed up even higher than usual. They were now lounging casually in Kurt's room, waiting for seven-thirty to roll by, flicking through Kurt's various fashion magazines.
"Do you think people will actually show up?" Kurt asked doubtfully, lying on his comforter with a magazine above his head.
"Well if not, at least Quinn can get her mack on with Mohawk," Santana remarked, her head in Brittany's lap as she swiped through last month's vogue.
"Excuse me?!" Quinn demanded.
"Oh don't play dumb," Santana rolled her eyes, sitting up, "We've all seen you give him the eyes. Him and The-Big-Friendly-Giant. I mean come on Quinn, when was the last time you even kissed a guy? And don't answer that, because we all know it was in last years production of 'Fame' with Joe Hart backstage in the handicapped bathroom."
"You guys dated for like, a month," Brittany agreed.
"I don't need a guy to feel good about myself," Quinn shrugged, "And trust me, Puckerman is the last on my list."
"So it's Finn Hudson then?" Kurt asked, rolling over to face Quinn, "I can see how he's kind of cute with the dorky friendly giant appeal, but I think we can all recognise that you can do better than him."
"It's neither of them," Quinn protested, pausing before adding, "But yes, Finn is cute."
Quinn laughed as she dodged a pillow flying towards her face. She hit it out of the way, effectively hitting Kurt. And of course, that set off a rowdy pillow fight between the four best friends.
"We're so going to be late!" Brittany laughed, dodging a pillow as she threw one back to Quinn.
At precisely eight-thirty, the quartet pulled up in front of the Puckermans house in Kurt's navigator, having just re-applied their makeup and re-adjusted their hair. Kurt parked his car in the driveway, as instructed by Puck, as Brittany still found feathers in her hair and bra ("Does this mean I'm a chicken now?").
"It looks pretty quiet," Kurt noticed as they all stepped out of the car, "Are we early?"
"We're an hour and a half late," Quinn pointed out.
"Oh who cares," Santana rolled her eyes, the four now walking to the front door, "Even if this place is dead we can just grab the free booze and ditch."
Kurt ignored her, straightening out his collar in the glass doors' reflection before ringing the doorbell. They waited a few moments before the sound of thudding footsteps could be faintly heard from inside the house, and before they knew it, the door was swung open by a rather tipsy Noah Puckerman.
"Hey dudes," Puck greeted with a smile, the faint sound of music coming from somewhere in the house, "Come on in, we've just started. Everyone's in the den."
"Thanks Puckerman," Santana smirked, following Puck through his living room and down a set of narrow stairs to his so-called 'den'.
"Nice house," Quinn commented, eyeing the family pictures lining the stairway.
Puck didn't reply, instead he simply opened the door.
Puck's 'den' was precisely what Kurt had expected it to be. The walls of the large basement were covered in multi-coloured graffiti, the spray paint reading both swearwords and random words such as 'gabelle' and 'xertz'. The walls that weren't covered with graffiti were disguised by large bookshelves, holding supplies such as paints and sketchbooks. Speakers were balanced on the top of the bookshelves, blasting out whatever old rocksong Puck had put on.
A pool table was tucked into a little wide alcove on the side of the room, where Finn and Sam were challenging each other to down beers, Artie cheering him on. A circle of beanbags and old couches took the centre of the room, with Tina and Mike on one of the couches, looking oddly cosy. Mercedes and Rachel were dancing drunkenly in the middle of that circle, laughing to each other every time one of them tripped up. Kurt scanned the room, but he couldn't spot Blaine anywhere.
Until his eyes landed on the mini fridge propped up against the far left wall, where Blaine was getting another can of beer from. Thankfully, Kurt and his girls had brought their own drinks, because there was no way in hell that Kurt Hummel was drinking beer. However, as he watched Blaine crack the can open and take a swig, his mind was suddenly changed.
"Come on ladies," Santana winked, pulling her bottle of cheap wine out of her jacket, "Lets dance."
And so, that's how Kurt's night started, surrounded by his three friends as they all chugged from their bottles of wine. They mingled with the others a little when Finn and Sam came to join them, and Kurt even had a decent conversation with Artie. However, that all changed when Puck ordered everyone to sit in the circle in the middle of the room.
Kurt had squeezed himself between the edge of the sofa and Quinn, while Brittany and Santana shared the beanbag to his right. Everyone else piled into the circle, Blaine landing directly across from Kurt on the sofa opposite, where Rachel, Mike and Tina were also sat. Puck and Sam had taken the rest of Kurt and Quinn's sofa, the others sat on various beanbags, or in Artie's case, sat next to one of the couches.
"I call to order our first game of never have I ever," Puck announced, raising his can to the air, "The rules are simple; if you've done something, drink."
"We're not twelve Puckerman," Santana informed him boredly, turning to the rest of the people in the room, "You guys better make this juicy."
"I'll start," Finn offered with a goofy smile, "Never have I ever… Ditched class."
Santana snorted at the question while Sam, Puck, Artie and Mercedes swigged their drinks, snickers echoing in the group.
"My go," Rachel squeaked, obviously intoxicated, "Never have I ever been arrested."
Puck and Santana took a swig, whoops and cheers following as Puck proceeded to down his drink. He stood up to grab another one from the mini fridge as Santana put her hand up.
"Never have I ever had sex," Santana smirked, and Kurt froze.
'Maybe if I just sip it quickly, no one will notice,' Kurt thought as he watched Brittany, Mike, Santana, Puck and Sam all take swigs of their drinks. Kurt quickly sipped his drink, shielded by the even louder cheers that filled the room, and for a moment he thought he'd gotten away with it, that he'd-
"HOLD UP!" Santana yelled over the cheers, sharply turning to Kurt, "Lady Hummel got deflowered and I wasn't invited to the afterparty?!"
Kurt could feel himself blush, averting his eyes to the floor. He should've just not drunk, because now he could feel everyones eyes on him.
"Just leave it, Satan," Quinn dismissed Santana, who leant back into Brittany and folded her arms. Kurt shot Quinn a thankful yet knowing look, before Quinn continued the game, "Never have I ever been in a fight."
Kurt composed himself long enough to watch Puck, Santana and, very surprisingly, Blaine, all take a drink. Blaine's eyes stayed to the floor for the rest of the game, only meeting Rachel's when she tried to make him laugh. The game carried on normally, with Kurt only drinking a few more times. Eventually, Puck declared he was bored, and ordered everyone to start dancing one more.
Boyfriend.
Of course Kurt had a boyfriend.
Maybe Blaine had been silly to think that he actually had a shot with Kurt, because of course he had a boyfriend (or girlfriend, he seemed quite cosy with Quinn), but could you blame him? Kurt was beautiful.
Blaine couldn't stop thinking about it, and when everyone started dancing once more, he decided to take a seat on the mini fridge, away from everyones drunken dancing. Instead of writing and dancing, he nursed his beer and watched Rachel aimlessly flirt with Finn.
"She's a little tragic, isn't she?"
Blaine was surprised to spin his head around and find Kurt next to him, leaning against the wall as he drank from a red solo cup, watching Rachel and Finn also.
"She means well," Blaine replied, trying to stop his heart from beating out of his chest, "Most of the time."
"He seems like he's into her," Kurt commented, his eyes flickering to Quinn, who had been dancing with Puck since they'd finished the game, "What about you?"
"Rachel?" Blaine asked, realisation dawning on him, "Oh no! No, um, she's just a friend."
Kurt didn't know if it was the alcohol talking, but he couldn't stop himself from replying with "I'm glad."
Silence fell between them, Blaine's heart pounding more than it had all night. Had Kurt really said that? He took advantage of the silence by watching Kurt for the first time, really taking him in. He looked so much better in his own clothes, rather than the garish red Prima jackets and uniforms. He was wearing a grey patterned button-down long sleeved shirt with black suspenders and tightly-fitting black jeans, paired with black lace-up boots going halfway up his calves. His hair was, well, perfect, and Blaine couldn't quite tell if he hated or loved him for it.
"Quinn and Puck seem cosy," Blaine remarked, nodding over to the pair who were making their way upstairs, "I'm glad he had this party."
"How come?"
"In my old Glee Club, we'd do stuff like this all the time," Blaine explained, not missing the fact that Kurt wouldn't meet his eyes, "It's nice to see everyone bond, you know?"
Kurt snorted, "The Warblers have crazy traditions…"
Blaine quirked his eyebrow, "And how do you know that?"
Kurt froze. Shit.
Before he could make up some sort of excuse, Brittany waltzed up to him, topless and very intoxicated.
"Come dance with me and Santana," she slurred, dragging Kurt with her in a fit of giggles.
Blaine watched Kurt be dragged off, pulling his phone out of his pocket. He scrolled through his contacts, clicking on his best friends name.
To: Gavel Man
Did we ever have a Kurt in Dalton?
"Mike! Come join us!" Brittany called to Mike as Blaine patiently waited for a reply from Wes. Mike waved Brittany off as he continued his conversation with Tina.
From: Gavel Man
Hi Blaine, my best friend, ex-Warbler and probably the reason we won't win Nationals this year; how are you? Haven't heard from you in a while. Oh, I'm great, thank you for asking by the way.
Blaine rolled his eyes, quickly replying.
To: Gavel Man
Okay okay fine, you're right. Sorry. How are The Warblers?
"Hey, has anyone seen Puck?!"
From: Gavel Man
The Warblers are fine, thank you. Sebastian, Jeff and Nick are going head-to-head for the Sectionals solo spot.
And to answer your question, no. To my knowledge (and according to online school records), we haven't had a Kurt since 1995.
'That's weird,' Blaine thought, 'Only Dalton students know about Warbler traditions.'
Blaine didn't reply to Wes. Instead, he watched as Puck and Quinn descended from the staircase, Quinn with a lot less lipstick on than when she came in. Puck had a new beer in his hand, grabbing Finn and Sam and knocking his beers with them, effectively saving Finn from the wrath of Rachel Berry. He watched as Quinn slyly waved at Kurt, catching his attention before gesturing for him to follow her upstairs. Without hesitation, Kurt pushed his drink into Brittany's hand, following the pretty blonde upstairs.
"Shots?!" Puck yelled, distracting Blaine from Kurt. Everyone cheered, and in that moment, Blaine decided to forgo moping over his lost chances with Kurt, and instead enjoy his first McKinley party.
Kurt waited until the basement door was closed behind them, turning sharply to Quinn once he'd pushed it shut, "What do you want, Fabray?"
"You need to talk about it," Quinn stated simply, folding her arms, "And since you refuse to tell anyone else, here's your chance. Spill."
"There's nothing to talk about," Kurt denied, "I had a summer fling. That's it."
"Do I need to remind you that I found you crying in a pot of high-fat frozen yoghurt in the middle of the night on my porch?" Quinn deadpanned, "Come on Kurt, you can't even bring yourself to say his name-"
"Because he's insignificant to me now," Kurt sighed, leaning back against the wall, "Look, I had a few weeks of weakness, but I'm back on track now. Nothing can distract me."
"Not even the mysterious dark-haired singer downstairs?"
Kurt glared at Quinn, "No. And speaking of distractions; what exactly were you doing with Puck of all people?"
Quinn rolled her eyes, an unmissable rosy blush flooding her cheeks, "It's none of your business, but he was showing me some of his art."
Kurt raised his eyebrow, "Is that what the kids are calling it now?"
"I just wanted to make sure you knew you had someone to talk to," Quinn interrupted, diverting the conversation back onto Kurt, "And to keep you on track. I don't want you throwing yourself onto some other guy just because some stupid prep boy broke your heart this summer. You're one of our best dancers-"
"-I'm aware-"
"-And I'm not going to let anything distract you from getting into Juilliard," Quinn finished, walking towards the basement door, "Now come on, I want to be there when Rachel gets monumentally rejected by Finn. Maybe we can video it."
A/N: I'm blown away by the amount of support this story has gained over the last few days. Thank you to everyone who has favourited/followed/reviewed this story. I never would have imagined this story to gain a following so soon. Thank you!