AN- Just a note. I'm in exams/start of new term for the next few days. This probably won't be much longer and I might be able to get it done in the next little while. They still might be up pretty quick, but I'm giving the warning just in case they're not :)
"Seriously, white boy? You watch too many soap oprahs."
Blaine did his best to look sheepish as he looked up at Mercedes. Actually, that was a lie. He was pretty sure that he was grinning like the Cheshire Cat. But it sounded a little better if he said he tried to look bashful. And the attempt at the adorable "curses, foiled again" look was much better than the look of annoyance he wanted to give. Not that he had anything against Mercedes. But he was probably just on the verge of getting somewhere with Kurt. Not, like, a base or anything! But maybe in a position where bases were an option.
Kurt's best friend (Well, other best friend) gave him a stern look that didn't look very stern before looking at Kurt, whom Blaine thought would have made an excellent fire truck, and looked about ready to bury his face in his hands. Geez, since when was Kurt so shy? It was just random a side comment about how awesome they would be together. Duh.
"Hey Kurt," she said, coming up and patting Kurt's (good) arm. "How're you feeling?"
"Sore," he replied, shifting his arm so that he was grasping her fingers. "Amused. Confused. A little embarrassed—"
"Honey, you could pass for a stop sign."
"—Okay, a lot embarrassed. Puck and Finn tend to have that ability when they're together." Blaine noted that he left out the part about after Puck and Finn left. "Did you see them when you came in? Finn said he would bring me something other then this plastic food."
"Actually," Blaine corrected. "Finn told you to text him for food. And the food here, however unappetizing, is not in fact made of plastic."
At Kurt's glower, he just responded with a cheeky grin.
"Oh shut up and grab my phone," the countertenor snapped. Good naturally, of course. Besides, every time he tried to snap the thing with his throat made his voice crack. Which was absolutely adorable, if he might add. "Finn stuck it in my shoe when I got in. Hence why I had to call you from his phone."
Blaine graciously got up to retrieve it as Mercedes answered Kurt's prior question.
"I didn't see them. But I did see two very fine guys in blazers sitting in the lobby. I put a few things together and guessed you called Blaine and that they came with him. I asked them about what happened. Sledding, huh?"
Kurt just shook his head and took the phone offered to him, muttering under his breath about the idiocy of teenaged boys. Which Blaine thought was kind of funny, since Kurt was a teenaged boy himself. But Kurt was also one-of-a-kind, he reasoned, and therefore in a whole different category. Kurt's first attempt at one-handed texting didn't turn out too well, so he instead decided to call his step-brother.
"Are you even allowed to use a phone in the hospital?" Blaine wondered as Kurt placed a rather intricate order ("Yes, Finn, mangoes and papaya can go in a salad… A star fruit is green and looks like a star!… No, I do not want you to 'just run into McDonalds'!"). Mercedes shrugged.
"Might as well do it until someone says no. Then you play they 'I'm sorry, sir, I didn't know' card and it's all good."
Blaine blinked. "Your innocent voice is uncanny."
Mercedes laughed and shook her head, offering a small curtsy. Hopefully the little jokes were putting him on her good side. He knew that their evening with Kurt didn't go quite comfortably for her which probably didn't put them on great terms. He was hoping to change that. After all, it would be stupid to make an enemy of a potential boyfriend's best friend. And Mercedes seemed pretty cool.
Kurt huffed and tossed his phone on the bed.
"Seriously, sometimes I wonder how that boy gets by," he muttered mostly to himself. Personally, Blaine didn't really understand Kurt's vendetta against unhealthy food. Yeah, it was bad to eat all the time, but there are just those times when your body just craved a burger that wasn't made with real meat. Or just a tin of Pringles. And, yeah, he got that being a little anal about it was understandable with this dad's recent heart attack an all, but that's why they were called treats, right?
But he wasn't going to push the subject. Even though he wanted to, the want to avoid an angry tirade about health and staying in shape was even greater.
"What took you so long to get here?" Kurt asked Mercedes. "I called you just after Blaine, and, even though Dalton's a good two hours away, he's been here for a while."
Mercedes groaned as she shuffled to the other side of the bed before dropping in the chair next to Blaine.
"That doesn't sound good," Blaine said quietly with a grin, prompting Mercedes to give him a mock glare.
"My little sister got gum in her hair," She replied dryly. "My mama's out of town for the weekend and my dad had no idea how to handle it. So I had to try and get it out, which didn't work. So now dad's taking her to the hair dresser to get it cut out. If this was serious then I would've dropped her faster than you when you slipped on that buttered floor and would've been here before you could say "Marc Jacobs". But since you said you'd be absolutely fine I decided to solve the immediate crisis."
Kurt hissed in sympathy. "Totally understand, 'Cedes. I would've done the same thing. Except I don't think Finn would take to kindly to the idea of shaving his head…"
They shared a laugh before Kurt tried to slide off the bed.
"Woah there," Blaine said, putting a hand to Kurt's shoulder. The countertenor scowled.
"You do know that I'm functioning properly right?" Kurt said scathingly. "Which means that both my legs and excretory systems are working normally."
It took Blaine a minute to realize what the hell Kurt was talking about before blushing slightly and murmuring "Oh, right." He released Kurt, who hopped off and headed to the bathroom. Kurt had barely shut the door before Mercedes whirled around to face him.
"Look, white boy," she growled quietly, obviously not wanting Kurt to overhear. "I hear so much as one sniffle from him followed by your name and you'd better learn to sleep with your eyes open. That boy has been through too much to have his heart broken by the some hot, mop-headed guy who also happens to be the first gay guy he meets that's his own age." This made Blaine blink. Not from the speech itself, but from the whole fact that she thought that he was the first gay guy his age Kurt knew. Clearly he hadn't told her about Karofsky yet...
"And if I find out you pressured him into something, I will cutabitch."
Blaine gave her an exasperated look, running his hands through his hair. He cried, "Seriously! Do I give off this… erotic vibe, or something? First Wes and David, then Puck, now you! Now, I know I sang him 'Teenaged Dream' when we first met, but—"
"You what now?" Mercedes questioned with a quirked brow.
"Well, it ended up being a very well timed coincidence, but that's besides the point. The point is that I have no intentions of forcing him to do anything. Not even to eat a pudding cup. Besides, we aren't even dating!"
Yet.
Mercedes gave him a 'sizing up' look that kind of reminded him of the one Puck was giving him earlier before grabbing Kurt's phone and flicking through something on it. Once she found it, she opened her own phone and inputted whatever it was into her own phone before tossing the iPhone back onto the bed. Then she proceeded to text. Blaine thought about asking what she had been doing with Kurt's phone, but he held his tongue. Something told him that it was none of his business, and that the wrath of Mercedes would be just as bad, if not worse than the wrath of Puck.
Kurt took this moment to emerge from the washroom. "'Cedes, when you go can you please grab some soap that doesn't make my hands feel like I've just pulled them out of a vat of saliva?"
Mercedes' face changed from dead serious to light and playful in half a second flat. Which kind of freaked Blaine out.
"No problem, Kurt," she chuckled, checking a message on her phone then tapping a few words into it before hitting send. "My dad's going to drop it off when he comes to pick me up."
And so Blaine vocally stepped back and let Mercedes and Kurt talk. He had her pretty much give a play-by-play of all of the Glee drama's he had missed. And, while listening in, Blaine was shocked at how much went on at McKinley. He'd heard a few stories from Kurt, like Quinn's pregnancy and the vitamin D fiasco. But seriously? Someone trashed their Christmas display and stole the presents? And there was something about Finn and Rachel, but he didn't quite understand because there was obviously information he was missing. But the word 'cheating' was mentioned multiple times. It was no wonder Kurt thought that Dalton life was dull and mundane.
After about a half hour (within which Kurt complained about Finn's inability to do anything quickly) Mercedes' dad called to tell her to come down. She gave Kurt an awkward hug (since the whole cast thing) and then, strangely enough went to give Blaine one too. A little weirded out, he returned the action.
"You're welcome," she whispered in his ear as she pulled away and left, leaving Blaine to stare blankly at the now closed door.
"What'd she say?" Kurt wondered, having heard her say something. Blaine shook his head.
"I have absolutely no idea," he said honestly. Sure, he had known what she said, he just didn't know what it meant. Why was he thanking her? Then he realized that he and Kurt were alone. Again. Finally.
But still, he couldn't just pick up where he left off. He had to build. Because it was one thing to not be subtle. It was another to be abrupt. And abrubtness got confusing and would probably not lead to the reaction he wanted (which was not complete and utter shock at the randomness).
Just as he was formulating a way to get back on track, Kurt's phone buzzed. The countertenor groaned and grumbled, "I really hope it's Finn saying he's here with my food. I swear I could gnaw the cast off my arm."
"I don't recommend that," Blaine smirked and sat down again. His grin faltered a little when he saw the look Kurt was giving his phone. His cheekbones were red again, and he was doing that little head tilt he does when he's confused (it doesn't happen often, mind you), and his eyebrows were drawn together.
"Kurt," Blaine asked slowly. "Are you alright?"
The injured boy just looked up from his phone, mouth slightly agape.
"I have the weirdest friends," he said quietly. Now, this made Blaine curious. Normally he would have let Kurt's business stay Kurt's business. But this had piqued his interest. What was it that he read that made him feel so awkward? And claim that his friends were strange?
"Caaaan I see?" He drawled. Kurt shook his head and drew his phone away, which then prompted Blaine to reach over to try and grab it from him. Kurt squawked in protest, shifting as far from Blaine as possible and straining his phone as far away as he could while using his casted arm as a shield to try and keep Blaine away. It wasn't working too well, and Blaine was practically lying across Kurt's chest as he groped for the phone. Not that Blaine was going to complain. After all, this could end up being a great transition. Just as he could feel the smooth edges of the phone brush against his fingertips he heard the door bang open again. Both boys froze and looked up at the trespasser.
"Kurt!" a female voice squeaked.