Title: When Real Life Meets A Fairy Tale, Post Script to the Epilogue
Genre: Romance, a little angst.
Warning: Severe universe bending,
Spoilers: Up to 2x06.
Disclaimer: This story is entirely fictional. I do not claim to know anything at all about Chris's private life other than what he has stated in interviews. Kurt (much as I might wish otherwise) is not mine.
Word Count: ~5 850
Author Notes: You see, people – begging works. Yes, I know I said this fic was finished… but the idea of more Chris/Kurt interaction was too delicious to ignore. And after seeing Chris and Lea together after the most recent batch of nominations, I just had to include her somehow. I am going to say it again – this fic is now finished. I think.
Chris slumped down on his couch, blue t-shirt and jeans crumpling as he did so. He was exhausted. Max had been sweetness itself during filming that day, but being bullied was never fun, even if it was only pretend. And having to re-enact it over and over – the horror, the shock, the violated feeling of someone forcing a kiss on you… it had been a tough day.
He dredged up the energy to stumble over to the refrigerator and grab a can of Diet Coke. The caffeine should get him through making dinner, at least.
He finished his second can as the microwave pinged. Okay, so maybe "making dinner" was a bit of a stretch, but Chris felt he was entitled to veg out every once in a while. Especially after a day like today.
He had just settled himself back down on the couch, microwave meal in hand, when he heard a strange flumpy sort of noise. Strange, but familiar. It took several seconds for the memory to permeate his exhausted mind. Kurt!
Meal laid quickly aside, he hastened through to his bedroom and opened the bathroom door. Sure enough, there was Kurt. He was sitting on the floor, shaking his head as though to clear it. His blonde head.
Chris blinked several times to be sure. Blonde? Realisation hit him; Kurt was wearing his Riff Raff costume. Chris had been so caught up in the last couple of days he'd almost forgotten the sheer fun of the Rocky Horror episode the week before.
He smiled a weary smile down at the boy on his bathroom floor, and held out a hand to help him up. "Hey Kurt. How've you been?"
Kurt also smiled as he got up, his gloved hand in Chris's. "Good. Rocky Horror was fabulous! And I know it means I have to wear this truly hideous wig, but Riff Raff's so much fun to play. How about you?"
Oh shit, Chris thought, mind in a whirl. I can't tell him… I just can't. There's no way he could prepare for that. But I can't just let him go to his doom like that. It's too cruel. What can I tell him?
"Chris." Kurt laid a hand on his arm, his expression growing serious at the mild panic on Chris's face. "What's up?"
Chris plastered his smile back on. "Nothing, Kurt, honestly. I just had a tiring day is all."
It was a testament to Chris's acting ability that Kurt believed him, though the doubtful expression remained on the teen's face.
"So you're doing okay?" Chris asked Kurt, trying to take attention away from himself.
"Yeah. Things are going better at the moment. Mr Schue actually wanted to give me a lead in something! I know it was offensively stereotypical to cast the only gay guy as Frankenfurter," (this was accompanied with an eye roll and a turn of the hand) "But it was nice that he actually thought of me for once."
"That's great." A genuinely happy smile spread across Chris's face. He gestured in the direction of the kitchen. "Would you like something to eat, or drink? I'm halfway through dinner right now, but you're welcome to join me."
"Do you have any diet Coke?" Kurt enquired. "The regular kind is so fattening."
Chris grinned. In some ways they were so similar, in others, so different. "Sure. Come on through."
Kurt followed him to the kitchen, removing his wig as he did so. "I know it's an inherent part of the character, but this thing really is vile." He deposited it on the coffee table as they walked past.
"You're not wrong," Chris laughed as he got out two glasses and poured out the diet Coke. "I spent two hours a day in makeup getting the stupid thing put on." He handed one glass to Kurt and waved in the direction of the couch. "Shall we?"
The two sat next to each other, maybe a foot of space between them. They both sipped from their glasses. The silence was beginning to grow slightly awkward, so Chris asked Kurt, "Do you know how you get here yet?"
Kurt shook his head, "No idea. Just every now and again I doze off and wake up here." He looked around the apartment, taking in the simple décor and neat furniture. "Where is 'here', anyway?"
"My apartment. LA, California."
"Hollywood?" Kurt's eyes lit up in excitement.
Chris smiled at his delight. "Yeah. I moved here when I first got the job on Glee."
"Wow…" Kurt made his way to the window and look out over the city. "Moved from where?"
The lights of Los Angeles glittered in the darkness.
"Clovis, California. It's this little town near Fresno."
"I've never heard of it," Kurt stated simply, still gazing in awe at the bright lights of the city below.
Chris grinned wryly as he said, "It's a town where nobody has a sense of humour and everyone drives a truck." The number of times he'd told that story to interviewers… he moved to stand behind Kurt, peering over his shoulder. "It's amazing, isn't it?" he said, as he leaned around Kurt to point with his right hand to the far left of the view. "Look over there."
The Hollywood sign blazed brightly in the night's sky. Kurt gaped at the view. "I never thought I'd actually get here…" He leaned back against Chris, who almost jumped with surprise, but managed to restrain himself. Instead, he slipped his arms around Kurt's waist and rested his chin on Kurt's shoulder, Kurt's head resting back against Chris's own shoulder. The two continued to stare out of the window at the hustle and bustle below.
"I've missed you," Kurt whispered, almost inaudibly. "I've missed having someone who cares." He sounded nervous to confess it, as though afraid that Chris would dismiss him, say that he didn't really care at all.
Chris just held him tighter and nuzzled into his neck. "I've missed you. I can be more honest with you than I can with anyone else. I wouldn't change all this, not for the world, but sometimes I just feel like my life isn't my own any more. I go where Fox tell me, I do what the media expect… it's like I'm finally free to do what I want but I'm trapped all the same. I'm writing a film script and I can't tell anyone about it because Fox might not like it, or my publicist doesn't think it's right, or… well… so many reasons. Sometimes I just want to talk to someone about my life, you know?"
"Yeah…" Kurt mused. "Hold on… you're writing a film script?" he sounded impressed, and he turned around in Chris's arms to face him.
"Yeah. An indie comedy. Coming-of-age sort of thing."
Kurt smiled at him. "I'm glad I'm being played by someone so talented." He reached forward and placed a quick kiss on Chris's lips. Chris remained stationary, surprised by the sudden action.
Kurt made to step back. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't've-"
Chris grasped his waist firmly and looked steadily into his eyes. "Don't apologise, Kurt. Not to me. I know better than anyone what it's like to be you." His expression softened. "I need someone like you just as much as you need someone like me." His tone was frank and open as he continued. "I was just surprised… I'm not used to people just…" he trailed off.
"Just what?" Kurt was curious.
"Just…" Chris softly placed his left hand on Kurt's cheek, almost caressing him. "Being so close to me." He wanted to explain further – being so intimate physically, romantically, like a lover, but he couldn't find the words.
Kurt could see that Chris was too reserved to make any further move, so he leaned forward again and pressed his lips to Chris's. Chris responded in kind. He bent his head to the right, his hand on Kurt's waist tightening its grip. Kurt's hands found their way to Chris's shoulders. Kurt opened his mouth to take in Chris's bottom lip, and Chris's tongue slipped gently into Kurt's mouth. They explored each other, taking their time as they stood, entwined together, by the large apartment window.
Inevitably, though, they had to pull back for oxygen. They stood, breathing deeply, foreheads resting together, arms tangled around shoulders, necks and waists.
"Thank you, Kurt," Chris spoke in a low tone. "I needed…" He took a preparatory breath. There was only one word that was right, but it sounded so odd to say it. "I needed… tenderness today."
"Anytime," Kurt whispered back, gazing into the eyes barely two inches from his own.
An odd look crossed over Chris's face as he spoke again. "This is so strange. This shouldn't be right." But he could not bring himself to drag his face away from Kurt's.
"I don't care. It is. Somehow, it just is," Kurt replied, bringing his hand up to Chris's face. He rested his palm against Chris's cheek. He looked back into the bright pools of colour that were Chris's eyes. "Our eyes… they're just the same."
"That's hardly a surprise." Chris said in an amused tone, then he blinked several times. He had never been able to figure out what colour his eyes really were – they weren't blue, or green, or grey, but a curious mix of the three.
"Glasz," Kurt whispered.
"What?" Chris pulled back slightly, just enough to separate their faces. He was still close enough to feel Kurt's breath on his face, just the soft motion of air against his skin.
"Our eyes. They're glasz. Artists first used it describe the Breton sea. It's a greeny-bluey-grey."
Chris smiled. "You would know that." There was a small amount of teasing in his voice. "Some designer use it?"
Kurt nodded and smiled in response.
Suddenly, the mood was broken somewhat as a loud beeping started to emanate from the direction of the kitchen. The pair both jumped, though Chris laughed almost immediately. "I set the timer to go off in case I fell asleep eating dinner," he explained, making his way over to the noisy object and turning it off.
Kurt resumed his original seat on the couch as Chris returned. Chris joined him, this time sitting close enough that their thighs just touched as they shuffled into a comfortable position. "You want to watch a movie, or something?" Chris offered.
Kurt looked uncharacteristically nervous as he responded, "There's something I kinda wanted to ask you… I don't know what you'll think…"
Chris answered with a quizzical, and yet still somehow amused, expression, "The first time we met you propositioned me. I don't think there's much you could suggest that would shock me."
Kurt coloured at the memory. "Well, yes, I, um, well-"
Chris cut him off with a finger over his lips. "Don't worry, I enjoyed it. Very much," he added with a grin. "What was it you wanted to ask?"
"Would you sing with me?" Kurt's question surprised him; he'd been expecting something far more shocking. Before he could respond, however, Kurt started to explain, "You're the only person with a voice that matches mine, that's as good as mine. And I know that you probably want to preserve your voice for the show or something like that, but I thought I'd ask. Just in case." Kurt had an appealing look on his face as he finished speaking.
Chris honestly thought that both Lea's and Amber's voices were better than his, and probably some of the other cast members as well, but he was not about to burst Kurt's bubble like that. "Of course I'll sing with you. I break into song all hours of the day and night, just ask Amber." He laughed to himself at Amber's comments about his singing Broadway classics at six in the morning.
Kurt did his usual I-find-this-mildly-amusing-but-not-really-getting-it-so-I'll-laugh-and-you'll-be-satisfied-and-we'll-just-move-on-from-the awkward-moment laugh.
"Amber plays Mer-… you know what, never mind." Some things were too long-winded to explain in detail. "You got any songs in mind?"
"Do you know 'I Know Him So Well'? From Chess?" Kurt suggested.
Chris nodded. "Very well – Idina sang it with the British Elphaba in London a few years back; I've seen the clips on Youtube."
Kurt blinked. "Who?"
"Idina Menzel. She was the first Broadway Elphaba. She was in this universe, at least." Okay, so maybe sometimes he did go into detail unnecessarily, but this is Wicked we're talking about. "But she also played Shelby on Glee, so I met her then." Chris was a little worried that the space-time continuum might implode if they went into too much depth here – at the very least, the pair of them would get major brain-ache. He'd often wondered why Kurt and Rachel hadn't recognised Shelby and April. When it was just a TV show, it was easy enough to explain away, but with an actual person from that universe? Too confusing for the end of a tiring day.
"Shelby Corcoran? Rachel's mother? She was Broadway's Elphaba?" Kurt brought him out of his internal musings. Each of Kurt's questions was louder than the last, and higher pitched as well.
Chris nodded, biting his lip nervously as he did so, hoping that Kurt was not about to pitch a fit that he had worked with Idina.
Kurt sat back in his chair with a sulky expression. "That is so not fair," he muttered, irritated.
"Cheer up," Chris rubbed his shoulder bracingly. "We might be getting Mary Poppins to play your grandmother!"
The smile crept back onto Kurt's face. "Well, I suppose that's quite good too," he acknowledged.
"You wanted to sing 'I Know Him So Well'," Chris reminded Kurt.
"Yes," Kurt beamed back at him.
"Which part did you want? I don't mind." Chris was happy with either part – after all, their voices were the same. They were both equally good for both parts.
"Can I sing the second part? I just love the lead harmony part later on!" Kurt's eyes sparkled as he discussed the song.
"Sure." Chris smiled at Kurt's joy. He sat up, cleared his throat, and began to sing.
"Nothing is so good it lasts eternally,
Perfect situations must go wrong.
But this has never yet prevented me
Wanting far too much for far too long.
Looking back I could have played it differently:
Won a few more moments, who can tell?
But it took time to understand the man
Now at least I know I know him well.
"Wasn't it good?" Chris held the note as Kurt came in for the harmony part.
Kurt's voice was pure and clear as he joined Chris, "Oh so good."
"Wasn't he fine?" Chris continued.
"Oh so fine," Kurt echoed.
"Isn't it madness," Chris sang.
The two came together in perfect harmony for the joint line, "He can't be mine?"
Chris sang on:
"But in the end he needs
A little bit more than me -
More security."
"He needs his fantasy
And freedom," Kurt managed to put all the heartbreak and passion of someone letting the love of their life go into just two lines.
"I know him so well." Chris's voice just swelled out into the room. As Kurt started the verse, they both pondered how strangely apt they were in the situation.
"No one in your life is with you constantly
No one is completely on your side
And though I move my world to be with him
Still the gap between us is too wide."
Now Kurt took the lead for the central section:
"Looking back I could
Have played it
Differently.
Chris fell in just behind with his lines:
"Looking back I could
Have played things
Some other way."
These lines again were strangely appropriate for Kurt, Chris thought – though for his relationship with Finn, this time.
"Learned about the man
Before I fell," Kurt sang.
Chris sang over the last held note of 'fell':
"I was just a little
Careless maybe."
Kurt took the lead again with:
"But I was
Ever so much
Younger then"
Chris echoed him:
"I was so much younger then…"
The two joined together for the forceful lines, "Now at least, I know I know him well," Chris taking the top part, Kurt the melody.
The two boys, identical in looks, but so different in personality, sang their hearts out. Their voices swooped and soared through the melodies and harmonies, effortlessly switching between them. Their eyes remained locked upon each other the whole time, rapturous expressions on both their faces as they revelled in how easy this was.
They came together one last time for the tender final line, "I know him so well". They both had people about whom they had been singing – past loves, former crushes – but this moment was about them and them alone. They synchronised perfectly for the final diminuendo.
Kurt had tears in his eyes as they ended the note, but still he smiled. After a moment's silence in which they regained their breath, Kurt spoke.
"That was wonderful… thank you."
Chris grinned. "Brings a whole new meaning to the phrase 'vocal masturbation'."
Kurt laughed that awkward, half-amused laugh that Chris had spent so long perfecting. "True… really though, thank you. It was just… perfect, singing with you." He leaned forward to peck Chris on the lips. Chris hesitated for just a fraction of a second before he reciprocated.
Kurt pulled back, a slightly hurt, slightly irritated look on his face.
"Chris… why do I always have to be the one to make the first move? Don't you like me?"
Chris sighed internally. He didn't want to have to explain why he was so unwilling to take risks kissing Kurt.
"I like you, Kurt, I really do. I just… I feel like a predator, Kurt, if I make the first move. You're only sixteen."
"I was seventeen in August!" the boy said indignantly.
"Still, Kurt… I'm that much older than you, and… I don't want you to feel pressured. I never want to be the one to do that to you."
Kurt looked puzzled at Chris's phrasing. "What do you… who…?"
Chris hastily tried to cover his slip, "I just mean that, I don't want you to feel forced."
"I've been throwing myself at you since we met, Chris. Trust me, I'm not being forced."
Chris responded in a quiet voice, "It's still so strange… you look just like me… and I know you so well… but you're another person." He wasn't trying to make a point – he was simply voicing his thoughts aloud. "I don't want to take advantage."
"You won't. You don't need to worry about taking advantage – I'm perfectly sober, I know what I'm doing." Kurt lowered his voice to a silky tone. "And what I want to do…" He emphasised the final word, stroking his fingertips down Chris's arm. Kurt leaned forward to whisper into the twenty-year-old's ear, "… is you."
This time when their eyes met, Chris's were hazy with lust. He could resist no longer. He almost seemed to pounce, bringing his lips to Kurt's and grasping his waist. They kissed in a passionate embrace. The momentum from Chris's movement brought the two of them to a horizontal position, however, Kurt lying back on the couch with his legs stretched in front of him. Chris was straddling Kurt, his knees either side of Kurt's hips. He was kneeling low, bent over, his chest barely an inch from Kurt's.
Even then, Chris hesitated, just for a moment, pulling up to ask, "You're sure?"
Kurt almost groaned with the irritation of pent up lust. "For fuck's sake, yes."
A smile that was almost a smirk slipped onto Chris's face as he leaned back down, placing heated kisses against Kurt's neck. His hands moved to Kurt's shoulders and slipped the Riff Raff jacket off as far as he could with Kurt's back pressed into the couch as it was.
Kurt took hold of Chris's face in his hands and pulled him in once more in a fierce kiss. Lips met, tongues tangled, and hands tousled through hair. Kurt sat back up as they kissed, pulling Chris up with him as his tongue explored the inside of Chris's mouth.
The shift in position meant that Chris was now sitting almost on top of the growing hardness in Kurt's pants. It also meant that Chris was bending down to kiss Kurt, head tilted to the side to give the best access to Kurt's mouth, which was a source of unmitigated pleasure at that particular moment in time.
One arm at a time, Kurt slipped off his jacket completely. A stray limb (most likely one of Chris's legs) knocked it to the floor.
Chris rocked his hips forward and down, causing wonderful friction inside Kurt's skinny jeans. He ground his groin against Kurt's abs, and Kurt squirmed against him happily as his hands found their way to the base of Chris's top. His fingertips grasped the soft cotton fabric.
"Do it," Chris whispered hastily, in a break oxygen break before they resumed the jumbled mess of tongue and lips and teeth.
Kurt slid the shirt up over the graceful planes of Chris's pale chest, parting their lips for a moment so that the shirt could be completely removed and flung away.
Chris moved to unbutton Kurt's shirt, but Kurt had other ideas. He sat right up and placed his hands on either side of Chris's bare chest, pushing him down gently but firmly (lips still thoroughly entangled all the while) so that he was lying beneath him. Chris winced slightly as his shoulder hit the armrest; he still had some rather nasty bruises from Max shoulder-checking him into lockers.
Kurt noticed the fleeting expression of pain. He sat up quickly (he had been wriggling down between Chris's legs with the intention of placing a line of kisses from throat to waistband). "Did I hurt you?"
"Just a bruise." Chris brushed his concern aside, and moved to wrap his legs around Kurt's, trying to distract him. He slipped his hands down to Kurt's ass. They'd not been there before, and were rather enjoying the experience.
Kurt would not be put off, however, and leaned to the side to peer at Chris's back.
"How did you do this?" he asked curiously, looking at the large and colourful bruise across Chris's shoulder blade.
"Tripped over a chair on set. Fell backwards onto the piano." Chris's sentences were short and stilted as he lied, pressing kisses to Kurt's throat. Kurt was happy to let it go at that, and his hands returned to Chris's torso. He ran his hands over Chris's pecs, his abs – revelling in the feel of another's body beneath his fingertips.
Chris's hands felt Kurt's ass through the tight fitting skinny jeans. He grasped, squeezed, kneaded and massaged the younger boy, and Kurt squirmed back into his touch. Chris revelled in being able to touch, being able to feel another person, another boy. A boy who wanted him. Not because he was famous, or he thought he was 'kinda cute', but because they felt right together.
For Kurt's part, he couldn't have been happier. Yes, it was bizarre. In some respects it was like making out with an extremely flexible mirror. But Chris was far more than that – he was someone who cared for him, seemingly unconditionally. And his hands were doing rather wonderful things to his behind…
Things were beginning to get heated as Kurt's shirt was thrown aside and Chris mouthed his way across his chest to one of his nipples.
They were, however unfortunately, interrupted by a sharp knock at the door. The two separated rapidly, exchanging rabbit-in-the-headlights looks.
"Chris?" It was a girl's voice, and she sounded worried.
"Lea!" Chris exclaimed quietly.
Simultaneously, Kurt cried, "Rachel!" He had a petrified expression. She was a boner-killer if he'd ever seen one.
"No, no, it's not, it's Lea, she plays her. But she can't see you… you've got to hide. Bedroom!" Chris said, in a state of mild panic, as he fumbled for his t-shirt and yanked it back over his head.
Kurt nodded and dashed to through the doorway to the bedroom, grabbing his shirt and jacket on the way. Somehow, he had managed to retain the fingerless gloves, which still covered his palms. They would definitely have been the next thing to go. He pushed the door just to behind himso he could hear what was going on.
Lea's voice still came from the other hallway. "Chris? Are you okay? I know you had a rough day today because of the whole k-"
Chris rushed to the door and flung it open hurriedly. He was immediately engulfed in the arms of the tiny brunette.
"Lea!" He hugged her.
"Hey Chris!" She hugged him back enthusiastically. She looked at him enquiringly. "What took you so long to get the door?"
"I was just..." Chris glanced wildly around the room. "I was just sorting my DVDs."
"Okaaay." Lea clearly did not believe him. "Are you sure you're alright? That was a hell of a scene you did today, especially since-"
"I'm fine, Lea, honestly." Chris cut her off loudly. "Look, it's really sweet of you to come over and check on me, but I-"
He stopped as Lea scooped up Kurt's Riff Raff wig from the coffee table. She looked at him with a puzzled expression. She had been looking around the room for evidence of a crying jag or a sudden craving for ice cream, and was somewhat surprised to see the costume piece.
"Chris, what-" She broke off as she spotted the remnants of Chris and Kurt's 'date'.
"Chris, do you have a guy in here?" Lea asked, an excited grin spreading over her face. She mimed towards the front door as she stage whispered, "I can just go." Her face was alight at the idea that Chris might be hiding a boyfriend. This was news!
Chris did his best not to lie, "Lea, I can honestly tell you that no guy other than myself has entered my apartment since I got back."
Kurt rolled his eyes from his vantage point in the bedroom. That was skirting the truth if he'd ever seen it.
"Really?" Lea asked suspiciously, the grin turning to a knowing smirk as she did so. "Then why is your hair all mussed, and why are there two glasses out? And why is the throw rug on your couch so crumpled?" The smile changed again to an almost motherly expression as Chris fumbled for an explanation. "You don't have to lie to me, Chris. But you do have to let me know how it goes!"
She bounced up onto her tiptoes to give him a peck on the cheek, and let herself out.
Chris took a deep breath. He would have some explaining to do tomorrow. He turned to the bedroom door and called, "Hey, Kurt. She's gone."
Kurt stepped out with a bemused expression. "She's like Rachel, only less so. It's like someone's taken out all the worst bits of her personality and thrown them away."
"Yeah, Lea's lovely. She's really sweet."
A thought had occurred to Kurt, and his expression had turned serious while Chris was talking. He folded his arms across his chest protectively as he asked, "What happens to me?"
"What?" Chris was a little muddled by the non-sequitur.
"What happens to me? That you were filming today? That was so stressful for you?" Kurt looked scared. Lea has been so concerned about how Chris was doing… "Because if it was that hard for you to act it, just think how bad it's going to be for it to actually happen to me."
Chris couldn't do it. He just couldn't. Telling Kurt that he was going to be sexually assaulted by a jock so closeted he was practically having tea with Mr Tumnus? It was too cruel. Perhaps it was kinder to let him have these last few days in ignorant bliss. He would have to put him off somehow.
Chris made a noise halfway between a groan and sigh. "I can't tell you Kurt. It's in your future, there's like, time laws and things."
Kurt's voice had a frustrated tone as he responded. "Chris, I'm supposedly a fictional character who's fallen through some wormhole into the real universe. Normal rules don't apply and I want to know what shitty thing's going to happen to me next!"
Chris groaned into his hands and shook his head violently. He tried to remember how he had felt when he had read the script – the nervous anticipation, the worry, the dread. Now multiply that by a thousand. That's what Kurt would feel if he told him.
Kurt exclaimed, "This isn't fair! Why should you get to live my life a week ahead of me? Why should I always be the last to know what's happening?"
Chris spoke through his hands, "Alright, fine." He sounded bitter as he said, "Your bullying gets worse, is all."
"That's it? 'Your bullying gets worse'," Kurt imitated. "That's all you can tell me? Do I get hurt?"
Chris looked up at him, the look on his face almost anguished, "Not… physically… so much," he mumbled.
"That bruise on your shoulder… that was from filming, wasn't it?"
"Yeah… short sharp meeting with a locker," Chris explained, unwillingly.
"Or ten!" Kurt exclaimed. "You're black and blue!"
"It's not… it's not as bad as it looks. I just had to kinda throw myself, so it's probably worse for me than you."
Kurt looked at him scornfully, not taken in. "If you got that bruised doing it to yourself, how bad do think it'll be when someone is actually trying to hurt me?"
He sighed and slumped down on the couch. "Why is it that whenever anything good happens, something comes along just to make everything suck again?"
"It won't be like that forever." Chris walked over and laid a hand on Kurt's shoulder. "I know how much things suck right now. Believe me, I really have been there. But there's a whole world out there of people who'll love you just the way you are. You've just got to get out there and find them."
"You were bullied?" Kurt picked up on the first part of Chris's little speech.
"Every day. Even now I flinch if a big guy gets near me without warning. But you've got to believe me, Kurt – it does get better." He spoke with such honest sincerity that Kurt wanted to believe him, he really did.
He nodded, his face still utterly woebegone and miserable. The Riff Raff makeup only accentuated his weary expression. Chris couldn't help it – he sat down on his left and side and engulfed the boy in a bear hug. Kurt curled into him, resting his head on the actor's shoulder. He tucked his legs up and over Chris's, and in so doing, moved his head to rest on Chris's chest. He was almost sitting his lap, but neither minded the position. It felt safe, somehow.
After a long moment in which Chris just held him close, as though he would never let him go, Kurt asked, in a small voice, "Is it Finn?"
"Is what Finn?" Chris asked, confused.
"Who pushes me into the locker."
"No!" Chris held Kurt away from him slightly so that he could look into his eyes. "Why would you ask that?" he asked, his voice filled with worry.
"He doesn't like me. He never has, not really." Kurt explained his reasoning. "And he gets violent when he loses his temper. And after the whole thing with Sam and the duet… if he loses it… if I push him too far…"
"No!" Chris repeated firmly. "Finn doesn't…" He tried to explain Finn's thoughts – he and Cory had had several in depth discussions about their characters' behaviour to each other. "He doesn't understand you, or why you act like you do. He can't understand your situation. But he doesn't dislike you, far from it. He admires that you don't care about what people think, and I think he might even be a bit jealous of you for that. But he can't help himself worrying about what people think, and it kind of overrides everything else."
"Oh… okay." Kurt took a breath, and asked, looking down. "Puck, then? Does he get back from juvie all full of steroids and-"
"No, Kurt." Chris interrupted his violently imaginative stream of thought. "It's none of the Glee club. They are all your friends."
Kurt looked at him in disbelief.
Chris went on, "Really, Puck actually kinda likes you now. You were there the whole way through the baby fiasco - you didn't take anyone's side against him. That's more than most of McKinley did. Heck, it's more than most of the club did."
Kurt nodded, looking less melancholy.
"Just remember, Kurt, whatever happens, you do have friends at McKinley. Friends who will stand up for you, even if you don't ask them to. And you've got me, even if you can't always get here."
Kurt nodded again, then curled back into Chris's chest. He was in too much of an emotional whirl to do anything else. Chris wrapped his arms back around him, and the two stayed like that until they fell asleep, dozing off together into much needed, restful slumber.
When Chris awoke the next morning, Kurt had vanished. His wig alone remained to indicate that the events of the previous night had not been the product of exhaustion, over-imagination and too much diet Coke.
Chris didn't know why he cared so much. The fact that Lea had also seen the wig proved that that at least of what was happening was real, but for all he knew, he had imagined her as well. Perhaps his original supposition that he had completely lost his mind was correct after all.
All he knew was that he wanted to be there for the boy. He knew better than anyone else what a hellish existence Kurt had, but perhaps, just by being a listening ear and warm body to curl up against, he might do the kid some good. He certainly hoped so. And just maybe, Kurt would be good for him as well.
If only they could figure out how this whole crazy thing was happening, then they might have had a chance. As it was, they just had to cling on to whatever opportunities they were granted in this messed up world, and be happy with whatever time together they could get. At the end of the day, that was all anyone could do in a relationship. Chris and Kurt's just depended a whole lot more on the whimsy of some unknown higher power.
Still, Chris thought as he got dressed for the day ahead, it could be worse. It could've been Sue who fell through the gap in the universe.
With that amusing thought still in his head, he made his way to work, images of Sue Sylvester taking over full charge of dance rehearsals playing through his mind.
There you have it, folks! Yes, I realise that this was longer than the previous two parts combined. Shh.
To find the clip of "I Know Him So Well" that Chris mentioned, go to Youtube, search "I Know Him So Well Kerry Ellis", and pick the one by marcelofacamargo (that's the highest quality one) – Chris sings Idina's part, Kurt sing Kerry's.
Random thing for your amusement (Cracked fans amongst you will recognise this) – I recently watched a webcomic where something very similar to this fic actually happened. It was described thus: "You slept with your exact duplicate! The clone bone! Sixty sixing! Doppel gang bang! Mirrorbation! The big autoerotic enchilada! Twins with benefits!" – it made me laugh so I thought I'd share.
What did you think of this installment? Opinions, loves, hates, concrit – I'm all ears. This is by far the most bizarre thing I've ever written (and that includes that fic with the tutu), so I'd love to get feedback on how I could improve it.