AN- This chapter came out so well. I was supa happy with it and I am also supa excited to post this. Saw Rumors last night (no shock at all that Kurt wasn't cheating) and I am SO OMG PUMPED for Prom next week.
Please enjoy!
So, here's the thing about competition: it's hard to care when you've basically got it in the bag.
For example, Kurt thinks, when Mr. Schue tells them their competition for Sectionals, it's hard to want to do a lot of work when they're two groups that sound like a cakewalk to defeat.
Like today. Honestly? Kurt doesn't care enough to practice. He's sitting down and browsing youtube videos on his phone.
It's a grape-stomping one. It's amusing. He laughs and Mr. Schue shoots him a look. Blaine, who happens to be sitting next to him, leans over and tries to look at it over Kurt's shoulder.
It's Kurt's turn to shoot a look.
Blaine hastily sits back.
So, apparently, they didn't do a good job at pretending to be interested.
Blaine realizes this when Mr. Schue begins the lesson by hanging up pictures and talking about how they're all in competition.
But, honestly, how is lightning in competition with an above ground swimming pool?
(and he wants to laugh when Kurt asks that very question like a second later)
So, Mr. Schue's genius idea is to break them up into teams of girls vs. boys and do a mash-up. Blaine huddles together with Finn and Puck, happy to have the team together for this.
Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Kurt walk over to the girl's side and he actually wonders if Mr. Schue will let him get away with it.
"Kurt. Boy's side."
Guess not. Kurt looks absolutely disgusted with all of them as he slips into their group.
Artie makes some comment about the 'hand of God' (which Kurt mocks mercilessly later).
Blaine is actually kind of excited for this.
So, Kurt hates boys.
That's an oxymoron; a gay boy who hates boys.
But seriously. He hates these boys.
He knows he's brilliant. He has amazing ideas. And they do not seem to understand that.
"So, I was thinking," he announces the next day at their first meeting, "We could do a mash-up of singing in the rain and Rhianna's umbrella. It would be really clever."
Puck snorts. "Yeah, let's sing songs that are either a million years old or by a chick. We'll totally win."
Kurt frowns. "We'd get points for cleverness."
"Why don't we do something more rocking?" Artie suggests. "Like…It's my Life?"
"We should do something by Usher," Mike says. "Because, he's like, the manliest man singer out there."
"Confessions would probably mix well."
"I'll do outfits!" Kurt perks up. "I already have something in mind-"
"Is there, like, lace and shit?" Puck asks.
"No," Kurt rolls his eyes. "That is so last year. I was thinking different varieties of exotic bird feathers. We could each rock a different color."
"That sounds awesome!" Puck says.
"Really?"
"No. Why don't you just go sit down and do your nails. Right Finn?"
There's silence.
"Finn?"
Kurt and Puck both glance over. Finn is fast asleep. They wake him up, Puck sends him to the nurse's office (and Kurt judges him hardcore) and Finn stumbles out of the room in a daze.
"Why don't we bail?" Puck recommends. "We can't work on the number unless Finn's here."
"We should wait for him to come back," Blaine speaks up for the first time all day. "Just in case."
Puck complains until Mike suggests finding food. They walk out together with Artie rolling out behind them. It leaves Blaine alone with Kurt.
He takes a deep breath. "I liked your idea. About the mash-up."
"And why should I care what you think?" Kurt snarks. Then, he pauses. "Did you really think so?"
"Yeah. It was clever, doing two songs that have nothing in common except you think of rain when you hear them."
"And the bird feathers?" Kurt asks, trying to look disinterested.
"Ok, yeah, those would have been awkward."
"Only if you didn't wear them right."
"There's a right way?"
"Oh, Blaine," Kurt kind of shakes his head. "You poor thing. You have so much to learn."
Blaine laughs. "You wanna go grab food too?"
Kurt studies him for a moment, like he's actually considering it. "Sure. We can stop by my locker on the way and I can show you my sketches."
Blaine smiles as he follows Kurt out of the room.
So, Finn comes back and he's kind of like…high or something. Some kind of vitamin, he says.
"Vitamin C?" Kurt asks. "Vogue magazine says it boots energy levels and brightens the complexion."
"Yeah!" Blaine speaks up. "I read that."
Everyone stares at him.
"At the doctor's office. It was the only thing to read…"
Puck is still staring.
"There was an almost naked chick on the cover. I was curious."
Puck finally nods in acceptance. As they all get up to do the number, Blaine notices Kurt is looking at him. When their eyes meet, Kurt smirks, like he knows something Blaine doesn't.
Blaine realizes he needs to be more careful.
So, they need costumes.
Kurt doesn't really care because they've already turned down all his other ideas. He could make them look fabulous if they weren't too scared to go out there and be different.
So, imagine his surprise when Puck catches up to him as they're all leaving.
"Look, we need to look like rock stars up there. Go to the mall or wherever you shop, get some ideas and report back tomorrow. Okay?"
"Okay."
Blaine is forced to go along.
Like, literally, Puck shoves him out the door after Kurt (but not before muttering something in his ear about "no fucking bird feathers")
He almost runs Kurt over in the hallway but manages to save face by grinning broadly.
"I guess I'm going with you?"
Kurt scoffs but doesn't disagree.
They do go to the mall.
Kurt drives (a giant ass navigator) and the second they enter, leads Blaine into Macy's. They take the escalator to the second floor where men's wear is.
"So, if we're doing a 'rock' number, we're going to need to look 'rock'" Kurt explains as he powerwalks through the store.
"Do you do this a lot?" Blaine huffs as he tries to keep up.
"Every Saturday. I'm thinking leather jackets. Agree or disagree?"
"Leather jackets sound fine."
They find a clothes rock with nothing but leather jackets and Blaine picks one at random and looks at the price.
"Uh, Kurt?"
"Hmm?"
"These are over 400 dollars."
"So?"
"I-I don't think the guys are going to spend that much on something they'll need to wear."
"Once?"
"Ever."
Kurt sighs. "Fine. I guess we could go to like, Target or something."
And he shudders, like it's such a horrifying prospect.
(as they leave empty handed, Blaine swears one of the cashiers looks like he's going to cry.)
Target is much more reasonable.
Kurt still looks like he might be sick at the prospect of touching cheap clothing, but Blaine fixes that.
"You know, you could buy like a demo outfit and let the guys see it. Then send them off to do it their own way. That way, you could get your Macy's jacket or whatever."
Kurt nods. "That sounds acceptable. You'll have to buy your stuff today, so we have something to model."
"Okay. How about this one?"
Blaine holds up a jacket by random and Kurt shakes his head.
"Did you even check the size?"
"Er.." Blaine looks at the tag. Large. "No."
Kurt picks up one labeled small, then holds it out. "Let's try it on."
Blaine turns around and Kurt helps him into his jacket. As soon as it's on, Kurt is smoothing out the shoulders and this feels really, really intimate but Kurt doesn't even seen to notice.
"This could work," he muses, walking around Blaine. He's not really seeing him though, Blaine realizes, he's seeing what could be. "Maybe dark jeans and black converse. And, obviously, a white t-shirt."
Blaine nods. "Sound good. Very rocking."
They buy the rest of Kurt's plan and as they're leaving, Blaine notices they have a Starbucks in the café area.
"I love the smell of coffee," he says, inhaling deeply.
"Same."
"Want a cup? My treat."
Kurt blinks, before a small smile forms on his lips.
"Sure."
They get in line and Blaine glances at Kurt as they're asked for their order.
"Grande non-fat mocha."
"Okay, let me get one of those and a medium drip please," Blaine says as he pulls out his wallet.
They don't have to wait long before they're seated across from one another and the silence is really awkward.
"So…" Blaine begins.
"So?" Kurt repeats with a raised eyebrow.
"How about them Buckeyes?"
"What is that, like a sports team? Basketball?"
"It's football. I like football. Well, obviously, what with me being on the team and all," he laughs. "What about you?"
Kurt takes a sip of his coffee. "I like scarves."
There's a pause in the conversation.
"You also like Vogue magazine?"
Blaine nearly spits out his coffee. "What?"
"You remembered the issue. With vitamin-C."
"I was bored. There-"
"Was nothing else to read? Right, like you couldn't find a Sports Illustrated or even a Highlights?"
Blaine groans. "You are sworn to absolute secrecy."
Kurt mimics locking his mouth up.
"I like Vogue, okay? I've been stealing my sister's copies since I was, like, fourteen."
Kurt laughs at that.
"How was shopping?"
Blaine shrugs but realizes Puck can't see him over the phone.
"Fine. We got an outfit. One you'll approve of, I promise."
Puck snorts. "I bet. You probably had a ton of fun."
Blaine thinks back to the coffee, sitting across from Kurt and talking about magazines, which somehow drifted into talk about cars (something Kurt is actually knowledgeable about) and finally ended with their favorite Disney movies.
He surprises both of them with his answer. "I did."
So they do their number and it rocks the house. The girls are all in awe and even Mr. Schuester is impressed.
Blaine and Kurt are the last to leave. They're all still high off their Vitamin D, that's what Blaine tells himself later, to justify what he did next.
As they walk, Blaine throws an arm around Kurt's shoulder and pulls him closer into a hug.
"We were so good!"
Kurt is chuckling. "We were. Even if you guys wouldn't let me put your hair in cornrows."
"That would have looked silly, Kurt."
"I don't know," Kurt teases, pulling at a curl on Blaine's head. "Yours probably would have been the easiest."
They both laugh until Blaine realizes they're standing pretty close and they're practically tangled up in one another. He gently moves away.
"Right. Should go change. And stuff."
Kurt blushes, like he just realized it too. "Right."
Rachel always talks fast. It's kind of her thing.
But this? This is like record-breaking one hundred words per second fast. And the last time Blaine heard someone talk this fast was…
Hey.
As the girls start singing, he glances over at Kurt. They haven't interacted much since their 'moment' after their own performance, and Blaine was worried things had gotten awkward again.
Until Kurt slipped into the seat next to him and flashed him a grin.
Kurt notices him looking (and Blaine thinks he looks kind of…foxy in his sunglasses) and mouths 'what?'
Blaine raises his eyebrows and nods toward Rachel.
Kurt shrugs, like he doesn't get it.
But Blaine totally sees him smirking when he looks away.
Cheater.
"You so told them."
Kurt digs deeper into his locker. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Right. You told the girls about our vitamin-D help. They totally scored some too."
Kurt closes his locker with a flourish and turns to face Blaine. "My allegiance will always be with the girls. Sorry."
But he definitely didn't sound it.
"Yeah, yeah," Blaine says, but he's grinning.
So, in the end, they all come clean. Mainly because Terri Schuester got busted giving them all drugs but Kurt likes to think they would have come clean anyway.
Of course, they realize, they probably should have come clean sooner. Or, you know, not taken the drugs at all.
Because they get punished. Of course they do. And it's not even something bad like no singing for a week or no budget to buy a new costume for Sectionals.
No. It's worse. It's another person.
"A co-instructor," Mr. Schue tells them.
And as they all wonder who, Sue Sylvester walks in.
Oh. Shit.
AN- Are Kurt and Blaine actually becoming friends? :-O