Woo, new chapter! Thank you for the reviews! Don't stop, otherwise I won't know what you guys want! The last chapter was a bit of a filler, so I hope this one gets into the proper story a little deeper.
The small pizza parlour they pulled into appeared to be a popular location for the local youth, so not only did Wes have to dart between bodies and throw himself into a booth before another group of people beat him there, they had to try and speak over the rest of the patrons and the sound system as well. Once they'd ordered, David all but yelled,
"Anywhere in particular you want to go Kurt? We've got the whole summer and an entire country at our fingertips!"
He shrugged, trying not to focus on Blaine's shoulder pressing him against the window, "Wherever the light touches?"
Darien rolled his eyes, "You so did not just attempt to quote The Lion King. Be careful, Blaine might lick your cheek or something."
"Hey, that's our super secret best friend greeting!" Blaine feigned offense and lightly punched Darien's shoulder. Kurt turned to him, amused, and was met with Blaine's nose pressed against his. He quickly turned and pushed Blaine away,
"Can you get up? I need to go to the bathroom."
He wrapped his arms across his chest, dodging customers and waitresses with loaded trays until he reached the silence of the bathroom. Music played quietly through the room, which helped calm Kurt down a little. He locked himself in a cubicle and rested his head in his hands. Just when he had gained the confidence to reveal his feelings, Blaine had gone and pulled the best friend card.
ooo
Once Kurt had regained his composure, he returned to the booth and ate in relative silence. No one questioned him, which he was glad for, and he didn't even look up when two guys sauntered over to the table and began to talk to the others.
"Hey, I'm Nathaniel. Never seen you guys here before. You on vacation?" The one closest to David asked.
Darien answered through a mouth full of food, "Yeah, road trip."
The other guy was beside Blaine, but he'd pulled a spare chair up and was deep in conversation, "You're going to Woodland Beach? It's lovely there this time of year. You should definitely be up for the sunrise, it's very romantic."
What Kurt hadn't realised was that Blaine's arm had been slung over the back of the bench seat and he was now pulling it back,
"Oh, no, we're not... I mean, we're gay, just not seeing each other."
Kurt would have liked to have thought he was being surreptitious, but he could feel his jaw drop slightly at the sight of their company. The first guy, Nathaniel, was quite attractive. He was blonde and lightly tanned, with a "jock" air hanging about him. Though what really surprised Kurt was that he was sliding a napkin over to Darien, who looked down at it and chuckled,
"Don't mean to burst your bubble, but I'm quite straight. It's Kurt and Blaine you gotta talk to."
He winked at Kurt, then frowned when he noticed the other guy's hand below the table and a sly smirk across his face. Kurt shook his head calmly, confirming that he simply had his hand on Blaine's knee, but was internally screaming. Blaine was laughing at something their new acquaintance had said and was slowly moving closer to him, which ignited a fire within Kurt. He cleared his throat noisily,
"So, ah, what was your name?"
"Alexander. I was just discussing your road trip with Blaine and thought that maybe Nate and I could bring a couple of friends along to Woodland Beach to liven up the party a little." He pushed his glasses up and ran a hand through his short hair, but no matter how drop dead gorgeous he was, Kurt couldn't stop himself from frowning,
"Look, I don't want to be rude, but we have to go. And no, we don't want you and your friends ruining our trip." Kurt stood, forcing Blaine to walk out of the booth and towards the door.
As soon as they were outside, Blaine turned and glared at Kurt,
"What was that about? Those guys were being genuinely nice to us!"
Darien, Wes and David exited the parlour as Kurt raised his voice and waved his hands around expressively,
"He was chatting you up! Not to mention he was practically groping you!"
Blaine turned around without saying a word and walked across the street to the vans. He looked back briefly before climbing into the driver's seat. Wes, David and Darien stood back as Kurt stormed over to Blaine and opened the door,
"No way, nuh-uh. Don't you even think about running away this time. I did not agree to spend my summer watching you get laid so if that's what you're going to do, I would appreciate it if you took me home first."
The two boys stared at each other for a long moment before Blaine sighed,
"Kurt, I wasn't trying to get laid. Sure he was cute, and was flirting with me, but I'm not into one night stands." He started up the van and bit his lip, "You should know that."
ooo
Darien groaned as he flopped down onto the back seat of the mint green van. He knew Kurt and Blaine needed their privacy, but all he wanted to do was yell at them. Neither of them seemed to realise how absolutely infatuated the other was, so they continued on the same ridiculous loop. One would flirt, the other would close up like a startled clam; one would flirt with someone else, the other would get jealous and possessive; one would spend a week at his house trying to figure out some sort of game-plan while the other thought he'd been abandoned.
"If we just told them to quit the drama and run into each other's arms, that would make life a hell of a lot easier." Wes muttered, his forehead resting against the steering wheel.
David, who was in the passenger seat, patted his friend's shoulder,
"They'll sort themselves out. Kurt's probably going to yell at Blaine the whole way to the beach... Hopefully that knocks some sense into him."
Wearily, Darien exhaled, "It won't. They're starting their stupid cycle again. If I was a gambler I'd put money on one of them eventually asking to swap vans with one of us. There's no way they'll survive the whole summer together. Give them a head start so they'll be cooled down by the time we get there."
Meanwhile, the silence was thick in the pink (fine, watermelon) van. Kurt leaned his elbow on the door and stared out into the night. He tried with all his might to stay mad at Blaine, but with him humming along with the radio sadly, Kurt couldn't help but feel like he was kicking a puppy.
"If he had come up to you when you were alone, would you have gone off with him?"
Blaine stopped humming, "I'm sorry?"
"If Alexander had walked up to you while you were alone, would you–"
"No! Kurt, how many times do I have to tell you that I am not so horny that I have to screw around with try-hards?" Blaine's grip tightened on the steering wheel, and his mouth set in a grimace.
Kurt sat up straighter, his mood improving, "You thought he was a try-hard?"
Blaine nodded and turned the radio up, effectively ending their conversation. He kept his eyes focused on the road ahead, so Kurt wasn't afraid to let a tiny victory smile cross his lips.
As Kurt settled back against the window, unashamedly watching the light from passing cars headlights illuminate Blaine's profile, a crackling sound filled the van. He glanced around nervously, fearing they were about to break down, but Blaine pointed to the glove box. Kurt dug past multiple bags of candy and the star shaped sunglasses Darien had gifted to Blaine to find a walkie talkie chatting away beneath.
"Hello? Kurt? Blaine? You don't think they've killed each other?" David's voice sputtered through the speaker, "Guys? Come on!"
Blaine took the walkie talkie from Kurt and laughed, "Calm down guys, we're almost at the beach. You far behind?"
"About five minutes. Thought you two could do with a nice long chat."
Kurt snatched the radio from Blaine, "You three will never stop meddling will you? Well, we're here now so hurry up, unless you want us to eat all the candy."
"We solemnly swear we are up to no good!" was the joint reply before the line went silent.
It wasn't long after sunset, so when Kurt stepped out of the van the visibility was still quite good. He stretched his arms behind his head and wandered down a set of worn wooden steps onto the sand. In the distance it appeared that there was a group of people gathered around a bonfire. As long as they didn't venture down this end of the beach Kurt wouldn't have to blow a gasket.
Blaine slid a pair of beach chairs from under the back seat of the van and carried them down to Kurt. He unfolded them and reclined with a yawn,
"The other three can start a fire; I'll probably burn the whole town to the ground."
He folded his hands behind his head and closed his eyes, giving Kurt the perfect opportunity to slip back to the van. He found the walkie-talkie and crawled into the back seat,
"Darien, you there?"
Almost instantly a fuzzy reply came through, "Sure am. What's the news?"
"Blaine's relaxing on the beach and I'm hiding in the back of the van like a gossipy little girl. There's a party of some sort down the other end of the beach too. They don't seem to be trouble makers though." Kurt said whilst he reached over the front seat gracelessly and pulled a bag of gummy bears from the glove box.
"Give us a few minutes and we'll be there. Over and out."
With his mind set on making up with Blaine, Kurt marched back down to the beach and sat on the edge of Blaine's chair. The other boy didn't open his eyes as Kurt shook the bag of gummy bears, but simply opened his mouth.
"You look like a hungry bird."
Blaine chewed on the candy Kurt had dropped into his mouth, "That's not going to help you make up for yelling at me. You could start by polishing the van." He opened one eye and grinned at Kurt, who was shooting daggers, "Kidding. You're forgiven. Now feed me."
They sat and threw gummy bears into each other's mouth for a few minutes, Blaine finally loosening up and flipping Kurt onto the sand. If it had been anyone else, Kurt would have thrown punches, but what was a little sand in his hair when Blaine was lying on top of him?
"Whoa, hey, what's going on here? Keep your clothes on!" Darien called as he stood at the top of the stairs and covered his eyes. Wes stepped around him and dropped a chair into the sand, "It's nice to see we're all friends again."
Smoothly, Blaine rolled off of Kurt and helped him up. They dusted themselves off and Kurt hurried over to Darien, who was still pretending to throw up,
"I really appreciate your help. Because embarrassing Blaine is going to make him like me..."
"Kurt, I promised that I wouldn't meddle, but we both know he's been crushing on you forever. If you don't know how to tell the dork that you're head over heels for him, why don't you sing? Or just grow some balls and kiss him. It'll shut him up for a few minutes at least." Darien handed Kurt a flashlight and headed along the edge of the parking lot. When Kurt didn't follow him he turned around, "Come on, we need firewood!"
ooo
"Darien, I swear I will club you over the head if you don't shut up." Kurt lagged behind as Darien sang,
Blaine can be your hero baby.
He can kiss away your pain.
He will stand by you forever.
That dork will take your breath away.
They arrived back at the vans, but there was no sign of Wes, David or Blaine. Kurt squinted down the beach and muttered angrily, "We're gone for a damn hour and I get a handful of splinters, then they ditch us?"
He threw the bundle of wood he was carrying onto the sand and made Darien do the same, "Come on, let's go! It's time to mingle."
It was a fairly long walk to the other end of the beach but Kurt was determined. His shoes were filled with sand and he was sure his hair looked terrible after being battered by the wind; still there was no stopping him. When he and Darien made it to the group of people milling about outside the main, noisy group, he cleared his throat. A few girls turned around and welcomed them,
"Hey guys! The drinks are up near the dunes, help yourself!"
Darien shook his head, "Oh, we're just looking for a few friends of ours... Three guys: Asian, black and a dork."
One of the less intoxicated members of the group pointed past the fire, "I saw those cuties! They were with Nate. Well, the adorable, dorky one wasn't... he had a few beers and went off with Alex." She winked, "I wouldn't disturb them if I were you."
Kurt pushed his hair back, his eyes narrowing menacingly, "Darien, find Wes and David. I'm going to tear that Alex a new one."
Songs featured in this chapter: Sixes & Sevens – As Tall As Lions (this is the song that Blaine was humming along to in the car)
Hero – Enrique Iglesias