DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee, nor am I associated with it or Ryan Murphy. I am just an out-of-college daydreamer who sometimes gets into these writing funks and ends up tossing out a story after letting the idea sit in my brain for a few days! I also don't own Wal*Mart, even though part of me thinks I should.
Sometimes You Need More Than Courage
By: xSlythStratasfaction (formerly known as LadyStrata821)
Pairing: Kurt x Blaine (friendship only)
A/N: I decided to write this after having nothing but Klaine stuck in my mind for a week. I tried to go back and rewatch a lot of the scenes the two of them had together and then I started wondering about the mysterious Blaine and his past. That's when I thought of perhaps writing something about him (I'm pretty sure many others have done this as well; I haven't gotten around to reading many Klaine fics, so if this idea has been overdone, I apologize!). Anyways, Blaine's story will be a mix of stuff that I've seen a few of my own gay/lesbian friends go through. This story is dedicated to those friends. I hardly see or hear from any of them very much anymore, but I still think of them! This takes place between the episodes of SEXY and ORIGINAL SONG!
WARNING: There's some language in here that may be offensive! ALSO, this chapter finally has some FLUFF! YAY!
The silence in the room was deafening.
Kurt could hear every single thing that went on around him. He heard the person in the room next door to Blaine singing along to the radio. He could hear people cheering down the hall as they watched a basketball game. And he could hear the soft, uneven breathing of the boy laying on the bed next to him.
They had been sitting in silence for several minutes now.
Originally, Kurt was afraid that Blaine had nodded off, but then he noticed the boy's hand stretch out and brush up against the cream colored wall. It seemed as if he was trying to feel for something, feel for anything. Kurt was unsure what exactly his crush was doing, but he was mesmerized by him. Finally, after another several minutes of not talking, Blaine cleared his throat and rolled over onto his stomach. Interlocking his fingers, he placed his hands underneath his chin and gazed up at the slender boy who was sitting next to him.
"You okay, Kurt?"
"Shouldn't I be asking you that question?" A perfectly shaped brow shot upwards as Kurt's glassy blue eyes stared down at him.
Blaine sighed, focusing his eyes on Kurt's socked feet instead. "I'm fine. Just a little tired, that's all."
"I'm not keeping you awake, am I?"
He looked back up at Kurt and noticed the concern looming in his friend's eyes. He laughed, "Pssh, no! If anything, I'm keeping you awake with all my jibber-jabbering."
Kurt snorted softly (oh man, did I just snort?), "This is not jibber-jabbering, Blaine. I don't see how you can find such a serious conversation to be just jibber-jabbering. And anyways, you are not keeping me awake. I wouldn't fall asleep even if you sedated me. I like talking to you, finding out more about you."
Blaine smiled and laid his head down so that his cheek rested on his hands, "So it is then. I apologize in advance if I happen to doze off during my boring storytelling."
"Why do you make jokes like that?"
The older boy chuckled, "Just trying to lighten the mood is all."
"You were just crying on my lap, Blaine Anderson. I don't find your attempts to lighten the mood to be very helpful OR amusing."
"Well geez, if you put it that way," Blaine huffed a bit and closed his eyes. "I'm sorry for trying to make this moment a little bit more bearable for the two of us."
"It was bearable enough for me," Kurt quipped, his gaze narrowing. "The question is: is it bearable enough for you?" He unlocked his legs from his arms and stretched them out, "I'm not pushing you too far, am I?"
"No, I thought I mentioned that earlier."
Kurt sighed, "I was just making sure, especially since you are trying to joke your way out of expressing your real feelings about all this."
"I wasn't trying to joke my way out of this. I was trying to lighten up the mood! God, Kurt! How many times to I have to say that?" Blaine's voice tensed up as he spoke.
Rolling his eyes, the younger teen leaned forward and placed a hand on Blaine's muscular forearm. The muscles underneath his hands moved in response to his touch and Kurt repressed the grin that tried to form on his face. "Calm down, please? I don't want to fight. I just want to sit here and talk… and to just listen."
Blaine offered no response and laid there with his eyes closed.
"Fine then, don't talk."
Once again, for the umpteenth time that night, both of the boys sat in silence. The cheers from down the hall got louder (obviously someone's team was winning) and the boy who was singing next door went from belting out notes to just randomly singing random parts of songs. The quiet was becoming horribly annoying.
Groaning, Kurt removed his hand from Blaine's arm and shrugged himself off of the bed. "I'm going to the bathroom," he muttered as his feet padded across the room. "Let me know if you want to continue talking when I come back."
He had only been in the bathroom for a few minutes, but after he had washed up and exited the room, he noticed something was up.
Blaine was standing over by his mini-fridge, busying himself with something on top of the fridge. Kurt snuck up behind him, curious as to what the other boy was doing. Then he smelled it, the familiar smell of crack. Well, not crack, but their (Kurt and Blaine's) form of crack: coffee.
"I thought you might want a cup of joe," Blaine whispered quietly as the coffee pot sputtered away. "I have different flavored coffee creamers in my fridge if you'd like anything to put in it. I also have cinnamon and sugar in the bin." He gestured towards a cabinet next to the fridge.
"Do you have any mocha flavored creamer?"
"Yep, I don't usually drink mocha flavored stuff, but I knew you liked it, so I picked up some just in case you ever stopped by during a break or something."
Blaine's honest admission made Kurt's heart skip a couple of beats. He watched as the shorter boy leaned down into his mini-fridge and pulled out a container of mocha flavored liquid creamer.
"You are so thoughtful, Mister Anderson. I don't know what I'd do without you." Kurt swooned in his best Southern belle accent as he grabbed up the coffee creamer and a foam cup.
"I don't know what I'd do with you either, Mister Hummel." Blaine's tone stayed exactly the same when he commented back and once again, Kurt's heart went a flutter. If his heart didn't stop beating so fast, he was sure it was going to just burst right out of his chest and fly out of the window.
"Coffee's done!" Blaine's chipper voice burst through Kurt's clouded mind and he turned around with the steaming pot of liquid energy. "For you," he offered as he poured a gracious amount into Kurt's cup. Then he poured a generous amount into his own cup and started to sprinkle a large amount of cinnamon into the cup.
"You really do need some sort of rehab for the amount of cinnamon stuff you consume."
"Same for you and your mocha," Blaine grinned as he poured a tiny bit of sugar into his drink. "And I don't use a lot of cinnamon!"
Kurt laughed as he poured a little bit of creamer into his coffee. He took a small taste test of the drink and then poured some more creamer into the mix. "You are nuts! I swear you are always munching on something with cinnamon in it! You only chew cinnamon gum… or cinnamon and mint gum. You eat cinnamon and sugar on your buttered toast. You love cinnamon rolls and cinnamon bagels! And need I remind you of that time I baked snicker doodles and you poured MORE cinnamon onto the top of them before you ate them!"
Blaine rolled his eyes and stuck out his tongue as he crossed the room to sit down on the couch. "I'm offended that you think I'm addicted to cinnamon."
Kurt offered no response. He just stood there, his body frozen in its place as his brain was too preoccupied replaying the image of Blaine's tongue sticking out of his mouth. It was perfect, pink, and sexy. Instantly, Kurt's mind went to what it would be like to have that very tongue in his mouth, brushing up against his teeth, against his own tongue. He almost shuddered until he heard Blaine's voice.
"You gonna be okay there, Kurt?"
The taller boy shook his head to clear his thoughts, "I'm just fine. Just had a bit of a black out or something. I dunno."
"A black out?" Blaine stood up from his seat at his desk and waltzed over to his friend. "Come here." He reached out a hand and placed it onto Kurt's forehead. "Well, you don't have a fever."
"Oh no, I'm not sick! I just-"
Blaine stared up at him, the few inch difference between the two of them painfully obvious as Kurt glanced down at him. The older boy offered a smile as he stepped back.
"Well, I don't know what made you black out, but I hope it was worth it."
Fuck, it was like he was flirting with him or something.
Kurt rolled his eyes and climbed back onto Blaine's bed, careful not to spill any of his coffee. He watched as Blaine sat back down at his computer desk; the boy slowly took a sip of his cinnamon coffee and offered a satisfied sigh.
"How's your coffee? Oh, I'm sorry! I mean your cinnamon with a hint of coffee!"
Blaine laughed and threw a pencil at Kurt, causing the other boy to squeal as he ducked away from the pointed flying weapon. As he jerked his body away, some of the coffee that was in his cup sloshed out. "OH MY GOD!"
The hot drink splashed onto Kurt's chest, drenching the front of his shirt. The boy hissed in pain as the hot coffee burnt his chest and he jumped up off of the bed. Upon seeing the coffee spill, Blaine jumped up as well, setting his coffee down at his desk.
"OH MY GOD, KURT! I'M SO, SO SORRY!"
Kurt turned around quickly, his eyes inspecting Blaine's bed for something. "Oh thank goodness, I thought I spilled coffee on your bed!"
Blaine ran up behind the other boy and turned him back around, surveying the coffee stain on the white shirt. "Are you okay? Are you burnt? Let me see!"
The taller boy shrugged out of Blaine's grasp and set his coffee down on the nightstand next to the bed. "I'm fine, Blaine. I've spilt coffee on myself before. It'll probably burn for a couple of minutes, but then I should be good."
"But you made a noise when the coffee hit you and-" He was shushed as one of Kurt's long, slender fingers pressed themselves to his lips.
"I'm fine, Blaine." The lighter haired teen tugged at the wet shirt he was wearing, "I think I ruined your shirt though. I'm really sorry about that. I should've been more careful with that coffee. I almost spilled it on your bed and-"
"I should've been more careful with you. I shouldn't have thrown that pencil. I could've hit you and hurt you and oh my God, I did hurt you. You're burnt and-"
"Blaine!" Kurt's voice came out as a whine as he stared annoyingly at the fretting boy across from him. "I'm fine! Your shirt is not!"
Blaine rolled his eyes, "Fine. I'll get you another shirt. Don't worry about that one. I got it in a three pack at Wal*Mart." Kurt stared at him with a shocked expression that said You shop at Wal*Mart? But Blaine ignored it and shuffled over to his dresser, pulling out a black t-shirt instead.
"Here put this on."
Kurt did as he was told, quickly stripping himself of the coffee stained shirt he was wearing. Stupidly enough, he didn't think of going into the bathroom to change, instead he just took off his shirt right in front of Blaine.
"Oh my God, your chest is red."
OMG, he's looking at my chest! Why didn't I change in the bathroom?
Kurt's face turned red enough to match his chest when he noticed Blaine's hazel eyes gazing down at his smooth torso. Sure enough, the usually porcelain china white skin had angry red splotches on it. Kurt waved his hands at Blaine's face, "Stop staring! First off, it's rude and secondly, I'm fine!"
"But your chest is-"
"A little bit burnt. But it's not that bad, Blaine, so stop freaking out. And stop staring! You're making me feel self-conscious!"
Blaine stepped back, giving Kurt the space he desired. He glanced over towards his bathroom as a thought instantly entered his mind, "I have some burn cream. Would you like to put some on, just in case?"
Kurt frowned, "I'm fine, Blaine."
"Just in case," The shorter boy repeated and he gave Kurt his best puppy dog eyes. "Please just put some of it on. I'd feel horrible if you left your burn alone and then it got infected or something."
"It's not that bad!"
"Please?"
Kurt threw his hands up in the air. Blaine's damn puppy dog eyes won him over. "Fine, let me use some of it."
The other boy disappeared into the bathroom and returned a short while later with a white tube of cream. He handed Kurt the ointment and stared at him worriedly.
"How many times do I have to mention that you staring at me makes me self-conscious?"
Blaine sighed, a blush creeping across his cheeks. "I'm sorry. I just feel bad."
"Well don't. I'm just as much as fault as you are." Kurt squirted some of the thick, white cream onto his fingers and spread a thin layer over the red spots on his chest. He hissed a little as the cream burned into his skin.
"God, I'm so sorry."
"Blaine! You're really driving me up the wall with your apologies."
"Sorry."
"OH MY GOD!"
The countertenor stormed off into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. He continued to rub the burn cream into each of the reddened, raised spots on his chest. Finally, after making sure that each burn had been tended to, he stared at himself in the mirror.
"It's not that bad," he whispered to himself as he poked each angry spot with his fingers. "I don't know why Blaine's fretting so much."
Perhaps he cares? He did throw the pencil that caused you to duck out of the way. Plus, he did spend a lot of time hovering over your naked chest, being a creeper and staring a lot. He sure didn't look away! The voice that entered his head sure sounded a lot like Wes. Kurt sneered at his reflection and turned away, wanting to tug on the shirt that Blaine had given him. Damnit, I left it in the room with Blaine!
Grumbling, Kurt threw open the door to the bathroom and stepped out into the bedroom. He caught Blaine's mischievous eye when he noticed the hazel eyed boy holding the offending black t-shirt in his grasp.
"You forgot this."
"Obviously," Kurt snatched up the shirt and pulled it over his thin form. "Thanks for bringing it to me."
"You seemed mad."
"I'm not, honestly. Just a little annoyed."
Blaine frowned, "Was I being too smothering?" Kurt shook his head no as he stared at the curls that seemed to stick up on Blaine's head.
"No, I'm just annoyed still that I ruined your shirt."
"Oh Kurt, it's just a shirt." And then, "Oh, that rhymed!"
Kurt grinned, "You, my friend, are very observant!"
"I try."
The two boys finally got themselves situated enough to sit back down and enjoy their coffee. Blaine retook his seat at his desk and Kurt climbed back onto Blaine's bed, pulling his now cooled coffee to his lips. Luckily it had only cooled down a little bit so that it was at the just right temperature for drinking.
"I guess the coffee really woke us both up, didn't it?"
Kurt smiled from behind his cup as he gulped down another sip of his mocha. "Well I don't know about you, but spilling hot coffee on my chest sure woke me up!"
"I'm sor-"
"Blaine."
"Sor-"
"You're hopeless."
"I know," Blaine sent Kurt a sad smile and leaned back into his desk chair. "But I'm still sorry."
Kurt rolled his eyes and took another sip of coffee. "If I accept your apology, will you stop?"
"Yeah, I guess so."
"Then I accept your apology, Blaine. Don't let it happen again."
Blaine's face brightened, "Never again. I promise!"
"Good."
Silence befell the boys again as they both sat and sipped their coffees. Kurt allowed his eyes to roam upwards from his cup; they fell onto Blaine, whom Kurt noticed was staring back at him. Hazel eyes met blue and the two of them smiled. Blaine pulled his coffee mug away from his lips and smiled genuinely at Kurt.
"I know this may be too forward to ask, but what kind of workouts do you do?"
Kurt lurched in his drink. He choked and coughed, sputtering some of his coffee back into his cup. "Wh-what?"
"Shit, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to freak you out or anything!"
"No no no! It's okay! I just-" Kurt stared wide-eyed at his crush, confused as to why the other boy was interested in his workout schedule. Was it because I was just running around shirtless?
"I was just wondering. You've got… uh, quite an upper body… uh, if you don't mind me saying."
Kurt's entire face turned beet red. He knew he was blushing; he could feel everything grow hot. Gulping, he sat his coffee back down on the nightstand. "Umm, thanks?" He looked around the room, at anywhere that wasn't Blaine. Finally, he settled on looking at the wall clock Blaine had hanging near the bathroom. The time was 3:24 AM.
"I uhhhh… I lift weights sometimes with Finn. That's all. I don't really do the workout thing. Sometimes I'll play one of those exercise games with Carole, but I really don't care to sweat if I don't have to."
Blaine nodded and took another sip of his coffee, "Sorry if that was too forward. I was just curious. I need to bulk up a little more."
"Why? I think your body's just fine."
OH FUCK! How in the world did he let THAT slip out?
Kurt threw his head into his hands, knowing damn well that Blaine was now staring at him. Slowly, he pulled a few of his fingers apart to look at the boy sitting across the room from him. As he guessed, the other boy was staring at him with wide eyes.
As if he didn't already know that Kurt had the hots for him anyways, seriously.
Blaine smiled sincerely at the blushing boy across from him, "Thanks for the compliment. I appreciate it."
Then the silence came back. And it stayed that way for another several minutes.
Kurt felt like climbing under a rock and staying there.
He wondered if Blaine felt the same but then came to the conclusion that Blaine didn't because Blaine was an idiot who was so oblivious to everything that happened around him, especially when it came to Kurt and his feelings.
Goodness, so much stuff had happened within the last few hours. Kurt felt like his brain was just going to shrivel up and die in his skull from all the information overload he was taking in. First, he had a nightmare on the bus. Then Blaine offered to allow him to stay over. Then the two of them got to talking about his past. Then Burt called. Then Blaine talked more about his past. Then the two of them flirted like mad men and Kurt spilled coffee on himself and Blaine saw him shirtless. Then Blaine commented on Kurt's body and Kurt commented on Blaine's. There were a lot of 'thens'…
And now they were sitting there, not speaking. It was all too much!
Kurt had to break the ice. He just had to before he went nuts.
"Blaine?"
"…hmm?"
"Were you still up to talking?"
He was.
A/N: Okay so there's my attempt at Klaine fluff. I was trying to make this chapter as dark as the other ones, but it just wouldn't come out, so I imagine the next one will dip back into the angst that the other ones have dealt with. Blaine will go back into his past again within the next chapter; for this one, they just needed a break. Anyways, thanks to all my reviewers. I still love you forever and ever! Thanks for reading and please review! I love reviews and they help me get the motivation to write (I know everyone says that, but it's true mannnnnn!)