"Would you mind reading up for the part of Tony?"
"Uh…" Blaine stutters. He's taken aback and finds himself torn between saying yes and no. If he says no, he'll end up hurting Kurt even more. It's just a high school production, it's nothing. This isn't a role that's going to change his life; he doesn't want to go to NYADA as badly as Kurt does. Any good college is fine by Blaine, most colleges have clubs dedicated to the arts, he can always find a glee club or something of the likes. He doesn't necessarily wants to make singing his career. Like most people, he doesn't know what he wants to do and he's counting on college to figure it out. Bottom line: his future doesn't depend on this musical. On the other hand, he can't help wanting this role. They want him to be Tony. The pull is hard and he realizes it's more difficult than he thought, no matter how much rationalizing he's gone through. He's standing here on stage, debating in his head what to say to them for God knows how long.
"Do it."
A hand on his arm snaps him out of his thoughts and he turns to see Kurt right next to him, looking at him with tear-jerked eyes.
"Kurt…?"
"Blaine, I'm not going to lie and say this doesn't kill me—trust me, it does—but I have to face the facts," Kurt says, taking a deep breath. "You make a perfect Tony and I don't. If not me, I wouldn't want anyone else but you to play the role."
Blaine's words are trapped somewhere in his throat and all he can think of doing is taking his boyfriend in his arms. He's shaking a little—or maybe Kurt is. Or maybe they both are.
"So? Are you reading for Tony's part?" Artie's voice comes through the speakers.
"Yes, he is," Kurt says, pulling away and wiping his tear-stained cheeks. Blaine grabs his face and kisses him, thankful for Kurt's maturity and understanding. Blaine is pretty sure he wouldn't have been able to make a choice had Kurt not showed up. Kurt breaks off the kiss abruptly and leaves the stage.
"Kurt, wait!"
Blaine chases after him, catching him up in the deserted hallways.
"Blaine, I…I need to be alone right now," Kurt looks at him straight in the eye, his blue eyes now surrounded by red.
"I'm sorry," Blaine offers, not knowing what to say and trying to catch his breath after his performance.
"It's not your fault," Kurt replies and lets out a humorless laugh. "It's not your fault and it's not my fault either but still…no, you know what? Forget it."
"Still, what?" Blaine dares to ask, heart pounding even faster than it already was.
"I…I can't help but hate you for this. I hate you for being a better singer, a better dancer, for being better looking and for being a better person altogether; and ironically, these are the very same reasons that made me fall in love with you."
Kurt's words hit him hard; knock the breath out of him. He stands stock still, feet planted to the ground, mouth gaped open, as he watches his boyfriend run out of the school. His heart pounding in his chest, Kurt out of sight, he feels like a dam breaks and all the water it was containing comes pouring out of him. What does this mean for their relationship? Is it over? Are they still together? Kurt could not have sent a more ambiguous message and Blaine is lost.
Blaine gathers his stuff, resolved to go home, the heartache too strong and constricting for him to even speak now, much less sing. He excuses himself at the auditorium and leaves the school as promptly as he can. Only when his feet hit the ground outside does he realize Kurt was the one to drive him this morning. He has no ride home. At this point he doesn't even care anymore, so he walks—or rather, shuffles—feeling too numb because of the pain. Lost in his thoughts, his doubts about his relationship with Kurt. In a way, he resents Kurt's jealousy and selfishness. Blaine did leave the Warblers behind for him, transferred to a school that's mediocre at best, when he was at Dalton Academy, one of the best private schools in the area. He even auditioned for a supporting role to let Kurt get the lead. Blaine has nothing to reproach himself; he has done absolutely nothing wrong—if anyone, Kurt is to blame. Kurt's last words are unfair, completely undeserved. And yet, rationality still fails him, his feelings winning once again over reason, making Blaine feel even worse. He's angry at himself for letting Kurt take so much power from him; he feels like he just fell from the top, rolled over by Kurt.
Blaine doesn't know how long he wanders the streets, doesn't even know if he's going in the right direction. It takes a honk to snap him out of his haze and look for the origin of the sound.
"Need a ride?"
It's Mike. A friendly face. He can see Mike's eyes growing worried as they meet his through the pulled down passenger window.
"Uh…" Blaine's at a loss for words, he wipes his face inelegantly, embarrassed by his poor state, letting out a shaky breath.
"Come on, I'll drive you," Mike insists, unlocking the car door with a click and Blaine doesn't think, he just gets in, not wanting to piss off the drivers behind.
"Thanks," he mumbles, settling his shoulder bag on his lap, buckling his seatbelt before settling his gaze on the scenery out the window.
"Now, you want to tell me what's wrong?"
"It's nothing," Blaine replies, a sob betraying his lie as he thinks back on what happened. Mike sends glances at him every now and then but doesn't speak up anymore. Blaine appreciates the soothing silence in the car, it gives him the chance to calm down and breathe more easily, a few hiccups popping up every now and then because of his sobs earlier. Somewhere along the ride, Blaine gives in the afterglow of his cry and dozes off, waking up when the car comes to a stop.
"Where are we?" he asks, rubbing his eyes slowly as his brain switches back to consciousness.
"I'm sorry, I just need to do some groceries for my mom and since I don't know where you live, I figured I could do them first and then—"
"Hey, it's no problem, really," Blaine assures Mike and feels even worse. He should be the one to apologize. The poor guy was kind enough to drive him when Blaine has been acting anything but appropriate. Mike must feel pretty ill-at-ease because of him and his nervous breakdown. God, Blaine's a mess, he's most likely about to lose the one and only friend he's made since his transfer to McKinley High.
"I won't be long, you can stay here and get some more rest if you want," Mike smiles softly at him. It brings him a little comfort somehow and the pain is almost gone now after his little nap.
"I'll just come with you," Blaine gets out of the car, leaving his bag inside. He could use some distraction and spending some time with a friend is exactly what he needs right now. Mike nods, and together they enter the supermarket, an awkward silence now falling upon them. And Blaine hates nothing more than silence when he's with someone; he always ends up talking about whatever he can come up with, to fill the void.
"I'm sorry, for imposing like this on you, and for making you uncomfortable with…you know, me crying and being weird and—"
"Blaine, calm down," Mike cuts him off and Blaine's shoulders slump down from their tense state as they walk past the bread section of the store, Mike's hands on his arms a comforting warmth that make him feel he can finally breathe at full capacity. "You've done nothing wrong, you seemed pretty upset and no offense, but you looked pretty lost. What kind of person lets their friend out in the street like that?"
Blaine manages to smile despite how shitty he's feeling. He's lucky he ran into Mike though, even luckier to count him as a friend. "Thank you."
"Sure," Mike returns his smile and pats him in the arm. "Come on, let's get this done quickly and we'll go grab something to eat, sounds good?"
"Yeah," Blaine replies, feeling lighter already. He could eat, he realizes now that he's actually hungry. He hasn't eaten much at lunch, his stomach tied in knots because of the audition. Blaine doesn't do well with stress, he's always been a very anxious type of person; it may not seem like it, but that's only because he puts up a good front. If he could live a worry-free life, he would, but he knows that kind of life wouldn't get him very far. He has to face Kurt tomorrow—he doesn't have it in him to talk to his boyfriend until then, he's too drained out emotionally for that—and he really doesn't look forward to it. But he can deal with Kurt later, for now, he needs to recover and have some good time with no pressure or worries.
"I just need to get some vegetables and eggs and we're out," Mike says, walking through the aisles and Blaine just follows him idly. They indeed get out of the store pretty quickly and drive back to Mike's place. He gets a call from his dad on their way there and has to take a deep breath before answering—talking with his dad isn't exactly something he enjoys.
"Yes, dad?"
"Where are you, son? Are you with that Kurt kid?" his father grunts, hardly hiding his spite for Kurt. His dad wasn't all that happy when he learned that his son was dating another boy, especially considering that Kurt isn't exactly the manly kind of guy that his father wants his own son to be like. Blaine has but ignored his father's disapproval, at least glad to have his mother's support—overenthusiastic support even, he might add.
"No, dad, I'm hanging out with a friend," Blaine replies drily. "I won't be coming home for supper, Mike and I will probably get pizza or something and before you ask, he's just a friend, ok?"
"No need to take that tone with me, young man," his father shoots back and sighs, continuing with a surprisingly gentler tone. "Have fun, son. Don't get home too late, alright?"
"Yeah, ok," Blaine says before hanging up, somewhat feeling bad for snapping at his father—but he blames it on this long and overall shitty day at school—and heaves a long sigh, leaning his head back against the headrest. Mike doesn't comment, just offers him an understanding smile and nod. They get to Mike's place soon after, a nice and typical suburban house in a quiet neighborhood.
"All right, it's still a little early for dinner, what do you say we hang out for a while?" Mike says as he pulls over in the driveway.
"I'd like that," Blaine finds himself saying giddily and gets out of the car, offering his help with the groceries bag but Mike refuses, claiming that his parents would kill him for letting a guest do such a menial task.
"I'm home," Mike calls out and a middle-aged Asian woman appears in the doorway facing the main entrance. She says something in what Blaine assumes is Chinese to Mike, peering inside the bags while Mike answers her. She takes the bags from him and looks up, her face lighting up as she finally takes notice of Blaine.
"Oh hello!" she says warmly and tosses the bags back at her son before coming up to Blaine and kissing him on the cheeks. She's exactly Blaine's height and she looks at him straight in the eye, a soft smile on her still very young-looking face. Her long hair is pitch black and her eyes are kind, just like Mike's.
"Hi, Mrs Chang," Blaine says, a little taken aback by Mike's mother's way of greeting but very glad to be welcome so well.
"Oh sweetie, call me Marie," she says with a perfect American accent. Blaine assumes she was born in the US then. She turns to look at her son and admonishes him. "Why didn't you say we had a guest over?"
"Ma, this is Blaine, he just transferred to McKinley High," Mike says, ignoring his mom's question and he walks away with the groceries.
"Well, Blaine, are you staying for dinner? My husband's cooking tonight, and trust me, he's a true cordon bleu!" Mrs. Chang—because Blaine can't call her by her first name, he's not comfortable with that—says enthusiastically.
"That's true!" Mike shouts from the kitchen.
"Um, I don't want to impose…"
"Nonsense! It's decided, you're staying for dinner!" Mrs. Chang literally beams at him and drags him along to a spacious living room, gesturing at him to sit on one of the plush couches. "It's so nice to have a fresh face here, to be honest, I'm getting tired of Mike's girlfriend," she adds with a whisper.
"I heard that, Ma," Mike appears behind her and she jumps, letting out a little yelp.
"I swear to Buddha, you're going to be the death of me," she says, turning to look at her son. "What? It's true, Tina is so faux-cul when she's around me, don't you think I can tell?"
"Okay, first of all, I have no idea what 'foe queue' means, and second, I told you that I hate it when you try to speak in French!" Mike retorts with more animation than Blaine's ever seen him express. "Just because Dad speaks it fluently doesn't mean you do too."
"That remark just cost fifty points to Ravenclaw, young man," she says and Mike rolls his eyes; Blaine's own eyes widen as he tries to grasp what she just said. "Blaine, honey, just make yourself at home, we'll call you boys when dinner's ready."
"Come on, Blaine let's go to my room," Mike says and Blaine obediently follows after him, the question on his tongue dying to be let out.
"Did she just say—"
"Yep," Mike answers as they climb up the stairs to second floor. "I know it may sound stupid to you, but my siblings and I are each in one house, and every month, the house that has the most points would get twice as much allowance money as the others, it's a system my parents came up with years ago but since one of my sisters is in college now, we don't really use it anymore."
"No, that's awesome! I love Harry Potter," Blaine says, now grinning uncontrollably, the fan boy in him coming out from too many years of confinement.
"You do? Man, I feel like everyone around me thinks it's lame—well, you know, except my family."
"I know, right?" Blaine adds as they walk down a narrow hallway with doors on each side. "How many siblings do you have?"
"Exactly three, one older sister, one younger sister and a younger brother," Mike replies and opens a plain white door with only a poster of Step Up 3 on it. "My older sister, Sarah, was a Slytherin, my younger sister Helen, Gryffindor and my brother Hufflepuff."
"So, you're a Ravenclaw?"
"Yep, it's always been my favorite house," Mike says as they enter his room. Blaine doesn't know what he was expecting but Mike's room is very sober, just a queen size bed, a desk with a laptop, a closet and a tall bookshelf. The walls are a naked gray, no posters whatsoever. Blaine likes the room, it's appeasing.
"I've always been torn between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw," Blaine says, standing in the middle of the room. "But if I really had to choose, I'd probably take Gryffindor."
"You do seem more like a Gryffindor," Mike grins at him and slumps on his bed, patting the free space beside him for Blaine to sit. "So, what do you want to do? I'm sorry to tell you this, but there's not much to do in my room."
"I don't know—" Mike suddenly bursts out laughing, interrupting Blaine.
"I'm sorry, what I just said sounded way dirtier than I intended," Mike explains, causing Blaine to chuckle himself. As he looks at his friend, Blaine starts to believe things might turn out okay and that this day might not be so bad after all.
tbc-
Just so you know, I'm not a big fan of Kurt's attitude on the show and I've never written Klaine before. I'm not fooling myself, I know Kurt won't react like I made him in this chapter after last episode's cliffhanger. I just wish he'd grow up a little and be supportive of Blaine. That said, I want to thank you for reading this story, I hope you enjoy it. Let me know what you think!