Rachel was still in her bedroom, getting ready to leave. She had every thing: her bag, her mobile phone, her sheet music, and her magical vocal cords. She got into his dads' car and they hit the road. Meanwhile Kurt's voice was getting perfectly warmed up. He had put some music on and now he was dancing around his room and tidying it up at the same time. Beyoncé was rocking the house. "All the single ladies.. if you liked than you should have put.. oh." The doorbell rang. Kurt could hear Carol's voice downstairs greeting Rachel.
"Hello, sweetie! How are you?"
"I'm fine, thanks, Carol" she replied, embarrassed.
"Are you here for Finn?" asked the woman. Before Rachel could say anything, Kurt appeared in the hall and said: "Yes, she is. Unluckily, Finn isn't here yet. How about you wait for him with me, Rach? We could practice for that Glee Club number.."
Rachel hid all her fuss behind a huge smile and she nodded. "Of course, Kurt. Thanks, Carol"
"You're welcome, sweetie. If you need anything, I'm here" added the kind woman.
As they entered Kurt's room, Rachel said: "What a lovely lady she is." She looked at Kurt smiling, sure he would get the joke, but instead he nodded and replied:
"True. Can you even believe that Finn is her son? It took me quite a long time to deal with that."
Rachel's smile faded, and she whispered in a very cold way: "Finn is ok."
Kurt rolled his eyes and sit down on his bed. Rachel took off her coat, threw it right next to him and said: "Stop rolling your eyes, please. I'm not dumb, I can see you. And Finn really is ok, Kurt. Just because we are fighting it doesn't mean I have to say nasty lies about him.."
"No one said it was a lie" uttered Kurt. Rachel frowned and insisted: "Isn't it true? Isn't he a nice person? I'm being mature and ignoring the fact that being in his house with his mother is killing me inside, but you.."
"Oh please" hissed Kurt. "It's 'killing you inside'.. really? Don't be so dramatic.."
"I'm being honest!" Rachel was indignant. "You just won't admit what a nice guy he is because you liked him and he didn't reciprocate your feelings!"
"Rubbish. That happened like 3 centuries ago"
"It was last year!"
"Well, he was a complete jerk to you only two days ago and you have completely forgotten!" yelled Kurt, red with anger. Rachel couldn't find any word to reply, so she sat down on a chair in front of the bed, and crossed her arms. Kurt huffed and then he whispered: "Shouldn't we practice?"
She nodded, her frown still very evident, and she took the sheet music out of her bag. Kurt walked to the stereo, put in the CD, and went back to his bed. But this time he didn't sit down; he stood in front of Rachel, grabbed her hands and raised her up. A tiny, timid smile appeared on his face as he began to sing:
"Your heart is broken to your surprise,
you're sick of crying for blue eyes.
So tired of living, misunderstood."
Then it was Rachel's turn:
"When my brown eyes walked away,
when my brown eyes couldn't stay,
with your blue eyes, just watch me go.
Then turn the record on and wonder what went wrong.."
"Think hard, girl.. I think you should."
Kurt was letting go of her hands, but she held onto them even tighter and they sang together:
"If everything was everything, but everything is over,
everything could be everything, if only we were older.
Guess it's just a silly song about you
and how I lost you and your.. beautiful eyes.
I'm talking about brown eyes, blue eyes.
What's the matter, matter?
Blue eyes, brown eyes,
so blind, so blind..
what's the matter with you?"
Rachel's rage was completely gone away. Now all she could do beside singing was smiling at Kurt. And Kurt smiled back. He liked this mash up, he thought she had done a good job, but he had to agree with Finn on something: his voice wouldn't have rocked this song as much as Kurt's.
"Your heart got broken on the underground,
go find your spirit in the lost and found" sang Rachel.
"I've been watching how you behave,
not much like a lover, more like a slave" sang Kurt.
And together again: "Everything was everything, but baby, it's the last show.
Everything could be everything, but it's time to say goodbye.
It's no surprise that I got lost.."
"In your blue eyes.." sang Rachel with wet eyes.
"In your brown eyes.." sang Kurt with the biggest smile.
"In your beautiful eyes" their voices stopped at exact same moment. Their hands were still joint.
After a moment extremely long, Rachel let go Kurt's to sit down on the bed, and he sat next to her.
"Wow" she whispered. "I am really good. This is the best mash up ever."
"It is" agreed Kurt, still keeping in hands in front of him, like if she was still holding them.
"But Finn's right.."
"He really was.." said Kurt, much to his dismay. "He would have been very inappropriate for this, and he wouldn't have fit neither the Mika part nor the Gaga's.."
"And he doesn't even have blue eyes" added Rachel, as if this settled the matter. Kurt found her tenderly funny. She could feel his stare upon her, so she turned around.
"What?" she asked.
"Nothing" he replied. "You simply remind me of Barbra Streisand in Funny girl"
Rachel couldn't have been anymore pleased. "Do I?"
"Yes" Kurt nodded. "You're extremely talented but life isn't always easy for you.. and there's this jerk who won't let you shine and always tears you down.."
"Jerk being Finn?"
"Jerk being Mr. Keeny" answered Kurt with a twisted smile. "But don't you worry, Fanny. You'll become a star, and you'll also meet the guy of your dreams, your prince charming.."
"And that would be..?" asked Rachel, raising an eyebrow. Maybe she didn't care much because she had just finished singing and she was still moved, but she did feel her heart beat faster, in that very moment.
"That would be Nick Arnstein" answered Kurt with a shrug.
Rachel laughed and pushed him away. Kurt watched her while she recomposed herself, and then said: "Ok, Funny girl, you wrote a great song, I'll give you that. But I think there are some things we need to discuss if we're doing this audition together" his face was unreadable. He could have been joking or speaking in the most serious tone. Rachel looked at him with a curious expression.
"If I'm doing Mika" explained Kurt, "I'll simply have to wear colored tight pants, a v neck shirt and a hat. I have them already pictured in my mind. But you can't rock the Gaga look in those stockings.."
"I'm not wearing a beef dress, if that's what you have in mind" replied Rachel, crossing her arms.
"Of course not" said Kurt, flapping his hand. "But Lady Gaga is a fashion icon, she creates her own costumes, she manages to look both provocative and lofty, she's sexy, she.."
"Kurt, you're gay!" irrupted Rachel, shocked but also kind of amused.
"So what? I still reckon when a girl's worth a double-check" he said, definitely double-checking her.
Rachel huffed; she didn't know why suddenly Lady Gaga wasn't such a great idea now..
"Anyway" continued Kurt, "we need you to look sexy, but not too much, or Sue will freak out.."
"You do realize you just affirmed I'm not sexy, don't you?" asked Rachel with a frown.
Kurt blushed and then stuttered: "W-well, I didn't mean to.. I was just saying that you don't really care for your look.. I mean, you dress like you lived in North Pole. How are people supposed to see how stunning your body is, if it's always covered by, let me say this, 60-years-old-lady clothes?"
Now, knowing how Rachel loved compliments, how much could have meant to her all the things Kurt had said about her old-Alaskan-lady look, once he had said that her body was stunning?
"You think my body's stunning?" she asked in amazement.
Kurt hesitated, somehow managing not to blush, and then nodded. "Maybe I'm not the right person to judge your body.. but I think it's ok. I mean, you're not any fatter than Santana or Brittany, yes, you're nose isn't straight as Quinn's, but it's fine, and I think short girls are pretty, so that their boyfriend can hold them more easily, like this.." he added, putting his arm around her. Rachel smiled and Kurt wrinkled his nose, quickly pulling his arm down. "Well, Finn's so tall, I wouldn't worry if I were him.. he'll never find a girl taller than him" he added in a flat voice.
Rachel nodded, and then asked: "Why didn't you tell Carol I was here for you?"
Kurt sighed and answered: "He hasn't told her you two are fighting yet. I didn't want to mess it up"
"Why should he tell her?" said Rachel with a shrill laugh. "We're not breaking up, it's just a stupid fight! I wouldn't tell my parents about such a lame thing, so why would he?"
Kurt shrugged. "I don't know, Rach. Maybe he usually tells her everything.."
"So it's a good thing that he didn't tell her, right?" she insisted.
"I don't know" repeated Kurt, huffing. "But I think you should leave before Finn comes back home."
"You're right" agreed Rachel. "He usually gets home for dinner, right?"
Kurt nodded. She stood up and said: "Shall we sing again?"
"Absolutely" he agreed, jumping off his bed.
They practiced for over two hours, and every time their voices sounded better. When Rachel left, her brown eyes were joy-wet, and Kurt's blue eyes followed her dads' car leaving the service alley.
When Finn got home, Carol scolded him for being late and missing his girlfriend.
"Rachel was here?" Finn asked in surprise.
"Yes, and Kurt had to stay with her all day, so the poor girl wouldn't have to wait alone!"
"It's ok, Carol" said Kurt with a smile, "I didn't mind. And Finn will see Rachel tomorrow, at school"
"That's not the point" she replied impatiently. "Finn was totally rude inviting his girlfriend over and not even showing up! Rachel is such a lovely girl.. what a waste"
"Shut up, you don't know anything!" yelled Finn.
"I know that you should have been home for dinner, and you were late!" said Carol, angrily putting her hands on her hips. "We had to wait for you and now the chicken is cold!"
"Put it in the microwaves oven" replied Finn shrugging.
"It's not the point, again!" cried Carol. She took a deep breath, and then she added calmly:
"You are grounded. At least Rachel will have a good reason not to see her own boyfriend."
Kurt moved his head from Carol to Finn so quickly that his neck hurt. He massaged it with his hand, while he watched Finn frowning.
"Fine" he said, approaching to the staircase. "I'm going to my room"
"No, we're having dinner now" replied Carol. "Burt is hungry, we've all been waiting long enough."
"I'm not hungry" said Finn, going upstairs.
Carol huffed and then she walk towards Kurt, who was still roughly rubbing his neck, and said:
"Let me help you, honey" and she started massaging it with her soft hands.
"Thanks" whispered Kurt closing his eyes, relaxed. It felt good. For some reason, it reminded him of his mother, and how she would cuddle him every night, in bed. Kurt really missed his mom.
"He'll get down at some point" irrupted Carol, looking at the ceiling. "There's no way Finn skips a meal. I know him, if he doesn't eat with us, he'll get some remnant from the fridge during the night.
Finn was so upset that he actually skipped dinner.
On the other hand, Kurt was in a oddly good mood, for no reason.. actually, there was a reason. He had spent a lovely afternoon with a lovely lady with lovely brown eyes, singing a lovely mash up, and the lovely mother of his not-so-lovely stepbrother agreed with him on something: Rachel Berry deserved a much better boyfriend than Finn.
And why couldn't it be lovely Kurt Hummel?
Fantasizing about Rachel and their masterpiece-mash up, Kurt got ready for the night.
He wore his pajamas and spread cream on his face, humming the original version of Lady Gaga's Brown Eyes. About to get in bed, he heard a noise come from the room next to his, which belonged to Finn, and he silently approached the door. He looked out and saw Finn getting downstairs. Kurt idiotically smiled to himself, as less than five minutes later he saw Finn getting upstairs again, holding a plate of chicken. Once that Finn had closed the door of his bedroom, Kurt turned off the light and got in bed, imagining Rachel with a chicken wings-dress on and a raccoon fur hat on her head. He laughed a little bit.
Despite his peaceful happiness, it only took him a few minutes to fall asleep, since he was very tired after all the practice. His last thought before embracing the night was:
"Thanks mom, for giving me blue eyes."