November 2012
Blaine could barely sit still. Excitement was thrumming through his veins, and it had absolutely nothing to do with the discussion of "Of Mice and Men" going on in his English class. Just two more hours, and it would be time for Glee club rehearsal. New Directions hadn't been the same this year with so many of the founding members gone, but it was still normally the highlight of Blaine's day. With Rachel and Kurt at college, he was one of the unspoken leaders of the club, and he found himself pouring a lot of the time and energy that used to be spent with Kurt into glee.
But leadership duties didn't explain his excitement today. It also wasn't because he had a particularly good song to sing. Today, Blaine felt an overwhelming need to dance on the furniture for an entirely different reason.
Kurt was coming to visit.
It was his first time seeing Kurt since he left for college. Kurt said that he was going to be getting back into Lima just in time for rehearsal, so he thought he'd come sit in on glee and then take Blaine out for coffee after. All of the newbies had heard so many stories from the few remaining members that they had put together an impromptu "impress Kurt Hummel show." Blaine grinned into his book as he imagined Kurt's reactions.
"Blaine Anderson?" The disproval in his teacher's voice called Blaine back to the present.
"I'm sorry, yes?" Blaine schooled his face into what he hoped was a properly contrite expression.
"I was wondering if you would like to share just what you find so humorous about the treatment of women in this novel?" Blaine winced.
The next two hours couldn't go by fast enough.
...
Blaine eagerly swung into the chair next to Tina; puppy dog eyes alight with anticipation. Tina gave him an amused smile.
"What's got you so excited?"
"I'm just enjoying the thought of how Kurt is going to react to Richard tripping over his feet. Oh god, and his inevitable comments on Olivia's fashion sense. The new members of the club aren't going to know what hit them." The look Tina gave him was an equal measurement of amusement and pity.
"You mean Kurt didn't tell you?" Blaine felt his face fall in anticipation of her next words. "He texted me this morning. Some last minute costume drama for the show he's in. He's not going to make it back to Lima until tomorrow."
Blaine stared down at his phone hoping that an unseen missed call or text would magically materialize. But he already knew that there would be nothing to see.
...
October 2013
"Shit!" Blaine stumbled across the galley style kitchen to take the pot off the heat as boiling hot water spilled over the sides and dripped down onto the floor. Rather than fixing the situation, all he managed to do was slosh a decent amount of that water onto his foot. Biting his cheek to keep from crying out, he turned off the burner and awkwardly hopped up onto the counter while simultaneously stripping off his ruined sock.
Two minutes later as a sleep rumpled Kurt staggered out from his bedroom he was met with the unlikely sight of his roommate hunched awkwardly on the counter with his foot in the sink. Blaine's eyes were screwed shut as the most colorful litany of swear words spilled out of his clenched teeth.
"Monkey-tits?" Kurt asked sardonically. "That's a new one."
Blaine's eyes flew open as he straightened up in surprise, subsequently cracking the back of his head on the edge of the wall cabinets. Kurt winced sympathetically.
"This really isn't your day is it?"
"This isn't my week is more like it," Blaine muttered as he ruefully rubbed the back of his head. Kurt offered him a sympathetic smile as he squeezed by him with a kitchen towel to mop up the mess on the stovetop and floor.
"What were you trying to make anyway?" Kurt asked, peeking into the burned mess at the bottom of the pot.
"Mac and cheese," Blaine grunted. "I was studying for my poli-sci exam but my grumbling stomach was louder than my notes."
"Aren't your notes handwritten? How are they expected to make any noise at all?" Blaine glared.
"Are you really planning on making this worse for me, Kurt?" Kurt smiled softly in response.
"No, I'm sorry. Come on, take your foot out of the sink. I need to get this pot soaking if we have any hope of rescuing it." Blaine looked like someone had just told him his favorite designer was going out of business.
"Kurt, no way. The cold water is the only thing that's keeping me together right now. I feel like someone went after my foot with a blow torch." Kurt tsked at him.
"Cold water only stops burns for the first few minutes, Blaine. At this point it's really not going to do you any good." Kurt paused to arch an eyebrow at him. "For this pot that you so carelessly ruined, however, that sink is the only thing standing between a long healthy life and a decent burial. So foot out. Now."
Blaine complied, whining piteously. Kurt worked quickly, running the tap until the water turned steaming hot and adding a decent quantity of dish soap.
"Stop complaining, Blaine. If you'll just give me three seconds, I'll take care of you." Leaving the pot soaking in the sink, Kurt moved to the freezer and pulled out an ice pack. Snagging a clean dishtowel, he hopped up onto the counter across from Blaine and stretched his legs out so that his toes nestled against Blaine's left thigh.
"Come on," Kurt encouraged, "swing your legs over here." Blaine did so, giving him an unreadable look, and Kurt gently and efficiently wrapped both the icepack and the dishtowel around Blaine's foot, binding it all together. Kurt lightly rested a hand on his friend's ankle and looked at him expectantly.
"So tell me. What was wrong with your week?"
"Don't you have somewhere else you need to be?" The words spilled out with far more bitterness than Blaine intended. Kurt narrowed his eyes but his voice remained soft and comforting.
"No. Why would you say that?" Blaine bit his lip and glanced down at his lap briefly before responding.
"You just haven't been around much lately. Or at all, really." Kurt looked at Blaine in confusion.
"Blaine. Do you not like it here?" It had never been a question that had occurred to Kurt to ask. Oberlin had been a dream come true for him. He had never imagined that there could be a place in Ohio that was so unconditionally accepting of him and his sexuality. Not to mention a place that constantly challenged and stimulated him both academically and musically, while allowing him a chance to really develop his own identity. It never occurred to him that Blaine wouldn't feel the same way. He never thought to ask his friend if he liked college. Kurt loved it, so why shouldn't Blaine?
"No, Kurt, it isn't that." Blaine could tell that Kurt was less than convinced. "It's a great school. It's just ... hard." Blaine finished lamely. Kurt just kept looking at him with those confused eyes.
"You mean the classes are hard?" Kurt was trying to understand.
"No. Not the classes." Blaine spoke so softly that Kurt could barely hear him. Kurt shook his head in exasperation, he was trying to be there for Blaine, but he wasn't exactly making it easy for him.
"I'm not a mind reader, Blaine. If there's something you want to talk to me about, just say it." Blaine's eyes flashed with anger, or hurt, or ... something at these words.
"How am I supposed to talk to you about anything if you're never here?"
"I'm here now Blaine, so stop whining and just tell me whatever the hell it is that's so important that ..." Blaine's raised voice cut him off.
"I miss you, you fucking idiot!" Kurt's breath stilled. That was not the cry of a hurt friend. That was something more.
"Blaine ..." Kurt spoke softly, and then fell silent, unsure of how to continue. It felt like they were both standing at the edge of a cliff, unsure as to whether warm balmy waters or bone crunching rocks waited below. There was that look in Blaine's eyes again, only to be replaced with something closed off and hard.
"Forget it, Kurt. It's fine." Blaine moved as if to pull his legs back and off the counter. Kurt gripped his calf, stilling his movement. He looked at Blaine intensely.
"No, Blaine, it's not fine. We're not fine. And I'm sorry I didn't see that sooner." Kurt took a deep breath before continuing. How far did he want this conversation to go? "I know last year was hard on us, and I know a big part of that was my fault. When I got here, I forgot what it was like to be in McKinley. I forgot what it was like to feel like "gay" was stamped on your forehead every time you walked down the halls. And I didn't stop to think how much you maybe needed me to be there for you."
Kurt paused and smiled, a little sadly.
"You were always the strong one, Blaine. I got so used to you being there for me, holding my hand through all the tough times in my life, that it didn't occur to me that maybe when I needed you to hold my hand, you needed me to hold yours." Blaine returned the smile, if at first a little strained.
"You give me too much credit, Kurt. I wasn't really that strong. Just oblivious." Kurt laughed.
"My point is just that I see now how much of our friendship has to go both ways. And I haven't been the kind of friend you deserve." Kurt briefly squeezed Blaine's leg. "And I just want you to know that I'm going to make it up to you. Starting now. You're stuck with me, Blaine. I'm prepared to be in your life for the long haul, whether you want me to be or not."
Blaine's smile deepened into a much more genuine one. He mirrored Kurt's gesture, laying his hand on Kurt's calf.
"I can't tell you how happy I am to hear you say that, Kurt." His eyes began to sparkle a little mischievously. "Now that I know you're here for the long haul, as you put it, I can stop pretending to learn how to cook."
"I'm sure our remaining pots will be relieved to hear that." Kurt laughed and felt a surge of warmth deep in his belly that he didn't even realize he had been missing. It wasn't much, but it was a start.
...
Blaine opened his front door in surprise.
"Kurt. What are you doing here? It's late." Kurt smiled at him, cheeks flushed and chapped from the cold air.
"I know, but I felt bad about missing our coffee date yesterday. I'm only home for a few days, so I have a limited amount of time to make it up to you. I brought "An American in Paris." Kurt finished brightly before breezing by Blaine and heading into the living room to start up the movie, never noticing how his friend's eyes had lit up at the word "date."