I wish I had posted this sooner, like two weeks ago, when it was pretty much ready, instead of now, when I'm an emotional wreck from all the spoilers we're getting.
I also started part three (the closure), and it should be ready before Thursday, when I'll be too busy paddling on my boat across the sea of "millions of teen tears", including my own.
Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. It belongs to Ryan Murphy, Ian Brennan, Brad Falchuk, their writers, and FOX.
Author's note: See part one.
Happy accidents
by HappyValentina
Part two
Thursday afternoon, Mr. Schue started talking about choreographies and week assignments in Glee club, and Blaine couldn't help tuning out. He'd had a really long week, and he just wanted to get home and stare into the bleak void of his life.
He twirled his phone in his hands, itching to check it again. He suddenly felt someone staring at him.
Artie and Tina looked away when he caught their eye for a nanosecond. They exchanged a quick murmur, before turning forward in their seats.
Jake and Joe got up to do a song, and Mr. Schue sat on the front row to watch. Blaine could check his phone without Mr. Schue noticing. He tapped carefully on the screen.
"What are you doing?"
Blaine flinched his hand away. Sam was casually looking over Blaine's shoulder at his phone.
"Nothing," Blaine said, glaring briefly at his friend before putting his phone away. Out of the corner of his eye, however, he saw Sam pull out his own phone and tap away at the screen rapidly.
Tina and Artie simultaneously reached for their phones and, after reading something on their screens, looked at each other. Blaine rolled his eyes. He knew where this was going.
As soon as the final bell rang, Blaine slung his bag over his shoulder and sprinted toward the exit, but Artie was suddenly there, blocking his path. Blaine stopped dead in his tracks.
"Hey, sorry, buddy. I didn't mean to get in your way. Hey, before you go, could we have a word with you?" Artie said in a fake casual tone. Blaine pretended to check his watch.
"Sorry, I've got stuff to do. Maybe some other time?" he said, trying to keep the exasperation out of his voice, and quickly followed Marley and Wade out of the room.
"Blaine, wait!"
Tina and Sam caught up pretty quickly. Artie trailed them by a bit.
"Blaine, come on. We just want to talk," Sam said, as he and the other tried to keep up with Blaine.
"Well, I don't."
"Have you been checking Tom Farrell's tweets all this week?" Artie asked.
Blaine shook his head. "No, I don't even follow him."
"That doesn't mean you can't still see what he posts," Artie pointed out.
"And Sam says he just saw you checking it," Tina added.
Blaine stopped and turned around, looking at them angrily.
"Fine, I do. I know, it's pathetic. But this is all your fault."
"Our fault?!" his three friends asked indignantly.
"You showed me his tweets. You let me know what was going on. I was going to ignore everything in relation to Kurt until I felt like I was finally over him. But you guys kind of ruined it. And now all I can think about all day long is what this guy might be tweeting about my ex-boyfriend. And I kind of hate myself for turning into some sort of stalker."
"In my defense, I was against showing you," Artie said.
"Wait, if you're the one who broke up with Kurt, shouldn't he be the one acting stalker-ish?" Sam asked. Tina smacked him on the arm. Blaine, however, didn't even have the energy to glare at him.
"You know, I don't really feel like talking or anything. I just want to go home," he said, and walked off, hoping they would leave him alone. He heard one pair of heels clacking after him.
"It's not pathetic, by the way. It's almost normal," Tina said, following him to his locker. "You're having a rough time coping with this, and you still care about him. But this isn't good for you."
Blaine spun the combination of his locker, while Tina stood beside him, leaning against the metal wall, watching him intently.
"I- I just want to know how he's doing," he said with a sigh. "I can't suddenly stop caring about him completely. Obviously this guy's twitter-happy, so maybe he'll post more stuff about him. Especially if they've got something going on already."
Tina shook her head. "Kurt's not like that. He wouldn't just start going out with someone else so soon."
"It's been more than two weeks. And judging from his tweets, this guy's ready to make a move."
"Well, Kurt wouldn't go for it. Not this soon."
"Yeah... okay."
"Blaine," Tina stood squarely beside him so he'd finally look at her, "are you having second thoughts about the breakup?"
"Are you having second thoughts about your breakup?" Blaine asked.
She let out a long stream of air out her lips. "All the time."
"Yeah, me too," Blaine replied, pulling out his chemistry book. When he did, he accidentally pulled out a picture of him and Kurt as well. He still kept it in his locker, just not tacked to the door anymore. He couldn't just get rid of it, though. He shoved it to the back of the locker.
"Clearly Kurt isn't. And it's good that he's moving on. I'll just have to do the same, somehow. Of course, it's probably going to be easier for him, considering he's already got a guy for it."
"Blaine, don't-"
"Just forget it, Tina. If I made a mistake, I'm just gonna have to live with it," he said, giving her a pained look before shutting his locker. Tina shook her head again.
"I have a feeling that you're wrong. And I wish I could convince you to do something about it."
Blaine watched her walk off, while he himself headed for the exit. He pulled out his phone one last time before he reached the door.
(a)TomWFarrell
Pizza, cheesecake and movies with (a)KurtHummel tonight. Ideal. :) #movienight
20s ago
Blaine glared at his phone. He stared very long at Tom Farrell's twitter icon, and really wished he could punch the face on it. He also really wished that this guy were at least a little ugly.
"Fuck my life..." Blaine said quietly, as he pushed through the doors to the courtyard.
"Hey, so... we're still up for tonight?"
Kurt swiveled around in his seat to look at Tom, who was perched on the edge of his desk.
"Yeah, sure. Don't forget the movies."
Tom smiled his usual, genuinely sweet smile. "Okay. See you later. Bye, Kelly!"
Kelly barely glanced up from her work, offering a mere wave. Tom pulled out his phone and made his way out the glass doors and toward the elevators without looking up from the tiny screen and whatever he was tapping on there.
Kurt only had a couple of things he needed to get done, before he could call it a day and head home.
"You're hooking up already?"
Kurt turned around to look at the only other person left in the office. "Excuse me?"
Kelly didn't look up from what she was doing, as she meticulously arranged some pictures into two separate folders and attached post-its to each one. "You and the new guy."
Kurt cocked an eyebrow. "I have no idea what you're talking about, to be honest."
"The dumb act doesn't fit you, Kurt, you're better than that."
Before Kurt could protest, she continued. "Like it's not embarrassingly obvious the way he looks at you. He blushes like a schoolgirl when you talk to him, and every time he says your name, his whole face lights up. I feel like I'm stuck in a Disney popstar's song."
"Are you talking about Tom? Because I think you're exaggerating."
"Oh, really? So he talks like that on Twitter about just anyone."
Kurt narrowed his eyes curiously. "I didn't know you followed him."
"It's part of my job, silly. Keeping tabs on the staff, you know. Pretty soon he's gonna have to cut that out, lest he wants to get fired over something so silly."
"Are they so drastic here about online accounts?" Kurt asked, suddenly nervous.
"It's not that he's posting anything inappropriate, but it would be better if he expressed himself less... publicly." Kelly finally put down the folders and looked up at him. "This is the workplace, and like many other places, interpersonal romantic relationships are either forbidden or frowned upon."
"We're just-"
"Now that's not to say it doesn't happen, like, all the time, but the key here is discretion. If you wanna keep this up, I suggest you determine some boundaries."
Kurt started shaking his head. "We're not-"
"You might not think so, but you are," Kelly gave him a knowing look. "Which leads me to another reason why this is a bad idea. It's really my opinion, but I hope you'll take it into consideration."
Kurt swallowed hard, because he knew exactly what she was going to say. Kelly tilted her head every so slightly, as if it was the most sympathetic gesture she could offer.
"You just got out of a relationship. You haven't given it any time. Just last week, you were like a little gray cloud floating around the office with puffy eyes and threatening to rain all over everyone's parade. Don't you think you should give yourself time to recover, before trying to date again?"
Kurt was about to say something, but Kelly held her hand up. "I'm not saying it's a terrible idea. But right now it kinda is. New guy is a sweet guy; he might be worth it. And if you do this now, there's a pretty big chance that you'll just wind up turning each other into little gray clouds. Because you're not prepared to move on just yet."
Kurt cleared his throat, seeing as she seemed to be done.
"I appreciate your concern, but Tom and I are really just friends. It's nice having a friend right now."
Kelly shrugged. "Suit yourself. I'm just looking out for you."
"Thanks, but I'll be okay," he said with what he hoped was a convincingly light chuckle, and went back to his work. He glanced back after a pause. "You know, I actually had the feeling that you hated me."
Kelly stopped and grinned. "Oh no, sweetie. What you mistake for hatred is just a defense mechanism. I try not to get attached to anyone who might bolt on the first week, which let's face it, most people do. They're not built for this like you and I. Now that I know you're here to stay, I can start liking you."
"Great," he said amusedly, as he tried to focus again on his work. It was proving to be a bit difficult, because every once in a while he'd started thinking about what Kelly had said. A lot.
Some time around 6:30 p.m., a sweaty and pumped-up Rachel returned from her now routine afternoon run around the block, and sprinted up the stairs to her apartment, to the rhythm of a song on her iPod. She walked in, unzipped her jersey, and hummed as she went to the kitchen to get a drink of water.
"OH MY GOD!"
She ripped the earbuds out of her ears and leapt back so far that she nearly toppled over a stool. In the kitchen, a tall boy with dirty blonde hair jumped so high, too, that he spilled some of the Diet Coke he had been pouring into a glass. He held up his hands in defense.
"It's okay! It's okay! I'm-"
"Rachel?" Kurt poked his head out of the bathroom.
"Kurt?" Rachel looked around and sighed in relief when she saw him.
"Hi, Rachel."
"Ouch, hi, Kurt," she said, rubbing her calf where she had bumped against the stool.
"Are you okay?" the boy asked.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," she replied, glancing from her friend to the newcomer. Kurt cleared his throat.
"Uh, this is Tom. I told you about him. He's new at Vogue. Tom, this is my roommate, Rachel."
"Very nice to meet you," Tom said, extending a hand toward her. She quickly wiped hers on her pants before taking his.
"Likewise. Kurt, I wish you had told me we were having company over. I wouldn't have made a fool out of myself like I just did. Also, I look a mess."
"Nonsense, you look fine," Tom said charmingly. Kurt smiled.
"We were just going to hang out, watch some movies. You're welcome to join us."
"I brought Breakfast at Tiffany's. It sort of made me fall in love with New York, it might help now that I'm feeling kind of homesick."
"Oh hey, Tom's from Ohio as well!"
"Oh really?" Rachel said as pleasantly as she could. She wondered what her face looked like. She felt a little silly, glancing from one to the other, back and forth, like watching a live tennis match.
"Yeah, I'm from Marion. It was so nice to realize that Kurt came from a small town as well. It makes me feel better about feeling so lost in this big city."
"That's nice," Rachel said. Was she nodding too vigorously?
"We brought pizza."
"And cheesecake."
"Lovely. Kurt, can I speak to you for a moment?"
She probably sounded a bit too shrill, and looked a little crazy, what with her heart still beating too fast, and her ponytail coming undone. She might have looked a bit too stiff as she walked toward the door, judging from the look Tom and Kurt exchanged before Kurt followed her outside.
"Are you okay?" Kurt asked uncertainly, once Rachel had shut the door. He winced when she gripped him hard by the wrist and tugged him quickly toward the other end of the hallway.
She spun on her heel and fixed him with a look. "What exactly are you doing?" she hissed.
Kurt looked confused. "What am I... doing...?"
"A guy? Already?"
"We're just friends."
"I'm sorry, is this Tom who ran you over with his bike?"
"Yes."
"Tom who has been tweeting about you since last week?"
Kurt rolled his eyes. "Yes."
"Tom who invited you for coffee every day?"
"Not every day."
"So this is Tom who is totally into you."
She crossed her arms expectantly.
"He's not- I mean, we've just met."
"Oh so those cartoon hearts in his eyes are completely platonic."
"Don't go there, Rachel. He's just a friend. I could use a friend."
Rachel gasped indignantly. "I'm your friend."
"What, I can't make a new one? We work together. We're just work-buddies."
There was a silence, while Rachel kind of stared at him like he was an idiot. He huffed.
"It's nothing, Rachel."
"So you're saying he's not after anything?"
"I'm saying that I'm not after anything. I'm just... I don't know," he shrugged, exhaling hard with frustration. "I don't know what I'm doing. I just know that I can't spend another second feeling like crap. I need to get him out of my head."
Rachel suddenly felt bad. It was obvious what Kurt was trying to do. But she couldn't help feeling protective toward him. She knew what he'd been through these past couple of weeks, and even though she knew it was practically impossible, she wished there was a way to stop something like this from happening to him again.
"I'm just saying, it's not fair to you, because you're still... hurting," she had been about to say "hung up on Blaine", but thought it best not to mention that name. "And it's not fair to him, either. You're leading him on." Kurt sighed again.
"I know, I know, I already had a lengthy conversation about this with Isabella's assistant. It's fine. Look, I'm not stupid. I'm not going to jump into anything right now."
"What about him? What if he tries something?"
"He's not like that. But you're welcome to stay and chaperone, if that makes you feel better."
Rachel laughed. "Believe me, I think I should, but I'm meeting with a friend later, so I'm going to take a shower and get dressed and go. I trust that I can leave you alone for a couple of hours and this won't turn into a total disaster." She ran a hand through her messy hair. "Look, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to come across like a control freak. I'm... really just concerned for you, Kurt, and I hope you're careful."
She turned to go back to the apartment. Kurt made a noise, like a snort.
"Thanks, Rache. By the way, say hi to your "friend" Brody for me," he said, making quotations with his fingers.
Rachel blushed. "Shut up," she called over her shoulder as she opened the door.
Kurt would still get a little emotional over the ending of Breakfast at Tiffany's. It was one of his favorite films, and that final reencounter under the rain always got him.
He was doing pretty okay, even though all he could think about was how he had watched this film numerous times with Blaine. And all he could hear in his head were the little comments that they shared while cuddling in the couch watching the film for the tenth time together, practically able to recite the dialogue by heart, or just tease each other because they both would still tear up at the end.
"And the poor cat, I'm so relieved that she went back for the cat. I don't think I would've survived if she had never found it again. What if she hadn't found it? Every time we watch it, I get really nervous, like I think this time she's not gonna find it," Blaine had said, but he hadn't really been joking. Kurt had merely patted him on the head, and pecked him on the forehead, making Blaine smile again.
Stop it, Kurt mentally kicked himself.
He was relieved when the credits started rolling. Since it was still kind of early, they agreed to watch another one, so Kurt went to make more popcorn, leaving Tom to pick what they would watch next.
He almost dropped the bowl of popcorn when he heard the music from the opening credits of When Harry Met Sally. His heart sank into his stomach.
"I'm sure you've watched this one before, but I thought maybe we should just re-watch a classic, in case either one of us falls asleep, so we won't miss anything," Tom called.
Kurt stood in the kitchen, wondering what to do, what to say, to make it stop. Instead he just listened.
"...with my friend, Arthur Kornblum, in a restaurant, it was a Horn and Hardart cafeteria. And this beautiful girl walked in, and I turned to Arthur, and said "Arthur, you see that girl? I'm going to marry her". And two weeks later we were married. And it's over fifty years later and we are still married..."
"Do you need help?" Tom called. Kurt put his hand over his face.
"I'm fine," he said as clearly as he could. However, Tom's voice was coming closer.
"I was going to get some more ice, anyway, do you- oh my god, are you okay?"
Kurt waved a hand dismissively and wiped one of his cheeks. But he couldn't stop crying, he just couldn't. His chest suddenly hurt, like he was being punched repeatedly, and he was almost hunching over. And he couldn't talk. He couldn't utter a word, and Tom just stood there, worriedly, watching him. He must have looked like a crazy person.
Tom snatched up a couple of napkins and grabbed Kurt by the elbow. He led him to the couch and sat him down, sitting next to him. He looked at Kurt earnestly, like a puppy begging for attention, rubbing his back and offering him a napkin.
"Hey, come on, sit here. Take a deep breath. What's wrong?"
Again, Kurt couldn't say anything. Taking a deep breath was impossible; it hurt like a bitch.
"Do you want me to leave? Or can I get you something? Should I call Rachel? I can-"
Tom was interrupted by Kurt's lips on his. Slightly taken aback, Tom's eyes grew wide, but they involuntarily fluttered closed when Kurt didn't stop kissing him. Kurt's hand hooked behind his neck, pulling him closer, and Tom's own hands instinctively circled around Kurt's waist slowly, tentatively.
Kurt paused suddenly, staring at Tom, their faces still inches from each other, both breathing heavier.
Kurt came to when a loud honk startled him. On the screen, big-haired Meg Ryan had slammed down on the horn to get Billy Crystal to stop kissing the girl with the even bigger hair and get in the car.
Snapping back to reality, and shocked at his own actions, Kurt backed away immediately, like he had just burned himself. He buried his face in his hands and just breathed hard.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm not... I'm..."
Tom didn't say anything; he looked a little awestruck. The silence between them was full of Harry's and Sally's rapid-fire conversation.
"Hey, Tom?"
Tom reached quickly for the space bar on the keyboard of his laptop, freezing the characters' banter. "Yeah?" he said a little breathlessly.
"I've been meaning to tell you."
"What?"
Kurt took a deep breath. "I... just got out of a... relationship."
Tom's face fell ever so slightly. "Oh..."
"That's why I've been acting weird. Not that you'd know. We just met, after all."
"I- I know. Kelly... kinda told me," Tom admitted sheepishly. Kurt would've been more outraged if he hadn't been so mortified by the current situation.
"She wasn't gossiping, if that's what you're worried about," Tom said hurriedly. "I just asked her, and she didn't go into details."
"You asked her?"
"I was concerned. Isabella mentioned that you hadn't been eating properly."
"She did?"
"Yeah, she said, 'well, since you're going to lunch with him, make sure he eats something'."
Kurt sniffed and shook his head. "I should've told you. I'm sorry."
"No, no, it's okay. I- I understand," Tom replied quickly.
"It's been hard, and I just..." he trailed off, unable to look Tom in the eye. Tom understood, though.
"You... can't be more than friends with anyone right now."
Kurt nodded. "That's it."
"I understand."
"I just don't want you to think that I was taking advantage of you or leading you on, on purpose."
Tom waved a hand dismissively. "That was my fault. I think I got too excited about meeting someone within days of getting to New York. It's clear that I've been watching too many romcoms," he smiled, but he couldn't quite hide the pain in his eyes, and it made Kurt feel even worse.
There was another long silence. Tom got up to get more napkins for him. Kurt wanted to shout at him to stop being so nice to him, because he didn't deserve it. Instead he gave a feeble 'thanks' before taking a napkin and wiping his nose.
"I know it's none of my business, but... why did you break up with your boyfriend?"
Kurt gave a mirthless chuckle. "Actually, he broke up with me."
Tom's eyebrows shot up for a split second, before Kurt continued.
"He's still back in Lima, and it was hard for him, I know it was. I know that I was wrong to ignore him, even just a little bit. I just thought that, after pushing me so much to come here, and being so supportive, and saying that the year would breeze past and then we'd be together here, I was hoping he'd be more patient. Ever since I got here, I have never felt more inadequate. I've never second-guessed myself so much. Most of the time I'm just trying to keep it together, trying to fit in. I'm just really afraid of failing right now. I was afraid of disappointing him."
"I see," Tom nodded.
"He visited two weeks ago, and said that he had been thinking a lot about it, that it wasn't fair to either one of us, and that it was better this way, that maybe we should stop trying to force the long-distance relationship. That I was experiencing so many new things, and he didn't want to be the one holding me back. And no amount of argument could convince him otherwise," Kurt's voice caught in his throat.
"I'm so sorry, Kurt."
More tears spilled from Kurt's eyes, before he could stop them.
"And I just want to hate him," he said bitterly, "but I can't, because I still love him. I love that idiot... so much. And I kinda hate myself because I don't know how to stop, or if I'm even really trying to stop loving him."
It took him a minute to stop crying again. He breathed deeply and looked embarrassed at Tom.
"I'm sorry that I'm still venting my romantic frustrations on you. You obviously don't need it. You're new here too. And I just kind of took advantage of you."
Tom shook his head and smiled. "Hey, I'm just hoping that we could not let this get awkward between us or anything, and that we can still be friends."
"I'd like that," Kurt smiled sadly.
"Great."
Tom bit his lip and looked down at his hands, like he was trying to figure out what to do next. Finally, he turned to Kurt and sighed.
"Listen, I'm gonna go home. I think you need some time to think, and so do I." He placed a hand on Kurt's shoulder. "But call me if you need someone to talk to. I mean it."
Kurt chuckled. "You really are a nice guy, aren't you?"
"Well, I can't help it," Tom shrugged comically, eliciting another laugh from Kurt.
Tom picked up his laptop and put on his coat, and headed for the door.
"Hey," he turned with his hand on the door-handle, "I know it's still none of my business but... if your ex-boyfriend knows what's good for him, he'll realize his mistake and fix this."
Kurt smiled at him gratefully before Tom waved goodbye and left.
The next day, Tina and Sam walked into the choir room on third period, to find Blaine sitting there, making small talk with Marley. He looked suspiciously cheerful.
"What's with him now?" Sam asked, frowning in confusion.
"I don't know," Artie answered, rolling up just behind them. "But in History class he told a joke and everything. It was really weird."
Tina thought about it for a moment and pulled out her phone, logging into Twitter quickly. Pretty soon she had the answer to the conundrum.
(a)TomWFarrell
Sometimes a heart can take being just friends. After all, it's better than nothing.
8h ago
Tina narrowed her eyes judgmentally as she sat down next to Blaine.
"I'm guessing you already saw his latest tweet."
Blaine didn't reply, or even look at her. But the way that he pressed his lips together, like he was trying to keep from smiling, was quite tell-tale. Tina shook her head, but she couldn't help smile slightly too.
"Tina?"
"Yes?"
"I have to go to New York."
In front of them, Artie and Sam gasped excitedly and did ridiculous little dances in celebration and some very random high fives, and Tina had to fight back a laugh. She cleared her throat and looked at Blaine seriously.
"Yes, you do."
There you go. That's me, I just have to steer it toward a happy klaine-ding (that's a happy ending, but with Klaine). So part three should be up in the next couple of days, otherwise it will be lost at the bottom of the ocean of my tears, come thursday.
I'm sorry if you're exhausted with my Breakfast at Tiffany's references, but I can't help it, I love that movie so much.
Also I'm forever grateful to those assholes, Ryan Murphy & Co., for one of the greatest romantic bits ever.
"So it'll be just like 'When Harry Met Sally'. But I get to be Meg Ryan."
"Deal... don't they get together in the end?"
You know it. The rest is history.
Hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading!
-Vale