AN: So I'm upping the rating to T for innuendo and possible situations coming up in the next few chapters.
Chapter 2
The next morning Kurt woke up at 7am to his alarm blaring. He groaned and turned it off as he hauled himself out of bed. He and Blaine had watched Thumbelina the night before and then had proceeded to watch Peter Pan before Blaine left around midnight. Kurt let the hot water run over him for a minute before finishing his fast shower. After wrapping the towel securely around his waist his proceeded to blow dry his hair. He pulled on the outfit he had selected on Friday and moved into the kitchen to make a lunch. His phone rang as he was sticking a knife into the mayonnaise. "Hi dad" Kurt said holding the phone between his shoulder and ear. "Hey bud, I'm surprised you're awake." "Why did you call then if you thought I was going to be asleep?" I was going to leave you a message." "Well what did you want to tell me? I'm making myself a lunch. I have to be at my first rehearsal in half an hour" Kurt said. "Oh well, I wanted to tell you to be on the look out for a package Carole is sending. She just dropped it off at the post office. It should reach you by Thursday but you can't open it until Friday." "How big is it and why?" Kurt asked. "It's pretty decent sized and you're going to love it, it's a little heavy but not too much. And duh kid it's your birthday on Friday" Burt said.
"Oh, yeah" Kurt said assembling his sandwich and putting it in a Tupperware container. "What do you mean 'Oh, yeah'?" "I don't know, birthday's just haven't been the same. No holiday has really. Don't get me wrong, they've gotten better but…" "But you miss your mom. She always made your birthday a special day for you, I know. She's proud of you Kurt. I know she is and she's watching over you." "I know she is, I love you dad" Kurt said. "I love you too kid. I'll talk to you tomorrow." Kurt hung up and pulled a small paper bag close putting his sandwich container, an apple, a small bag of chips and a water bottle in. He folded the top over, put it in his bag and grabbed another water bottle tossing it in before closing it. He pulled his coat on and slung his bag over his shoulder before leaving his apartment and hurrying out of the building. With a glance at his phone he saw he only had 25 minutes to get to the theatre. He picked up his pace and reached the theatre in only 10 minutes when it normally would take 15-20. He entered the lobby and found a few other people there as well. "Kurt, you're right on time! You can give your coat to Linda and then fill out these papers" David said. Kurt removed his coat and handed it over to the woman named Linda who took it with a bright smile on her face. Kurt accepted the papers from David. "What are these?" Kurt asked.
"We need your bank information so that we can direct deposit your pay check every Friday and the other paper is a fun questionnaire" David said. "Okay" Kurt said. He pulled a pen from his bag and began filling out the papers. He wrote quickly, never having to think to hard on one particular question and handed them both to David. "Excellent, you can head into the theatre now" David said. Kurt picked up his bag and walked into the theatre. "Come join us Kurt" Wes called from the stage. Kurt pulled his binder out of his bag, and left his bag in the front row near another bag before heading up on stage where Wes, Mike, Brittany and Blaine were sitting. "Put the binder down, we won't begin our read through until after lunch" Wes said. Kurt sat in the chair next to Blaine and put the binder under it. "Did you fill out the questionnaire?" Wes asked. "Yes, I'm kind of confused though" Kurt said. "It's something Wes has been doing with his casts for years. It's a get to know you exercise. Everyone's answers will be put on cards and we have to try and guess who gave what answer" Blaine said. "Sounds fun" Kurt said. "It is, and after that we're taking publicity photo's" Wes said.
"Glad I dressed well today then" Kurt said. "I was tempted to come in sweats and a t-shirt but I know Wes would have killed me" Blaine said. "Damn right I would have. Where the hell is my gavel when I need it?" "You still carry that damn thing? You have got to be kidding me" Blaine said. "Gavel?" Kurt asked. "Our Glee club had a council of 3 senior students instead of a director. Wes, David and Thad who you met at auditions I think, were the council when I was a Sophmore, anyway, Wes was in charge of the gavel, meaning he opened and closed Warblers rehearsals and all decisions were finalized with a pounding of his gavel. He practically slept with it. Even named the damn thing." "Damn right I did. Lucinda was better to me than any of you were" Wes said. "Are you moaning about your gavel again? Get over it man" Thad said. "I will not get over it, but now isn't the time to get into this. Where's the rest of the cast?" Wes asked. "In the lobby filling out your questionnaire" Thad said. "So Kurt" Brittany said sitting on his lap and surprising him. "Yes Britt?" he asked. "How are you?" "I'm good" Kurt said. "You should be better than good" Britney said.
"Why exactly? Besides the fact that I have a gorgeous woman sitting on me." "Because it's someone's special day soon." "Britney please, not here, not now. We'll talk later okay" Kurt said. "Okay, but I don't like it when my dolphin is sad." "I'm not sad, I'm just not all that happy okay honey" Kurt said. "Okay" Britney said and she got off him. As the minutes ticked by people began trickling into the theatre and finding a seat in the circle Wes had created out of chairs. Once all of the chairs were filled Wes stood up with David, Thad, Mike and Britney at his sides. "Hello everyone and welcome to our first rehearsal for White Christmas. First I'd just like to say how excited I am for this show. I'm looking forward to working with all you and watching this show come together. We have a lot of great talent. I'm going to begin the introductions and then we'll go around the circle. My name is Wes Montgomery, I'm your director." "I'm David Thompson, I'm your Producer." "I'm Thad Harwood, I'm your Music Director." "I'm Mike Chang, I'm one of your choreographers. "I'm Britney S. Pierce and I'm also a choreographer." "There are several more of our production crew that aren't here right now but they'll be here after lunch. Let's continue with Blaine" Wes said and looked to his right at Blaine. "I'm Blaine Anderson, I'll be playing Bob Wallace" Blaine said.
"Um, I'm Kurt Hummel and I'll be playing Phil Davis." They continued around the circle until everyone had introduced them selves. Linda came on stage with a large stack of note cards and handed them to David who passed a small stack to each of the production crew. "Alright, now the real fun begins. Some of you already know, as we've worked together and some of you don't. This is a game I put together when I first started directing. On these cards are the answers from the questionnaire's you filled out. Each of us will take turn reading out the question and answer and you all have to guess who gave the answer. "If you guess correctly the person who gave the answer has to reveal one embarrassing thing about themselves." "So glad I answered cryptically now" Blaine whispered to Kurt. "Alright first question and answer. What is your Middle name? Answer is Elizabeth." Kurt held his smile in keeping his face as normal as possible. "Jane" a guy said. "No I'm sorry, we'll accept three more answers" Wes said. "Megan" another person guessed. "Nope" Wes said. "Kendell" Megan guessed. "All no, and our winner is, Mr. Kurt Elizabeth Hummel" Wes said.
Blaine looked at him surprised. "It was my mothers name" Kurt whispered and Blaine smiled. "I forgot to mention, if no one guesses correctly the winner gets one ticket to the show for every win" Wes said. "Awesome" Kurt said. "Next question" David said "Where were you born? We've got two possibilities for this one. Answer is Columbus, Ohio." "Blaine" a girl piped up instantly. "Strike one Blainers" Thad said. Blaine stood up "I'm a Disney whore and I still watch Disney channel" this caused several laughs and he sat down again. "Seven more chances to guess number two." Jack, Paul, Megan, Jane, Sarah, Kendell and Ryan were all guessed. "And our winner is Mr. Kurt Hummel again" David said marking something on his paper. "So that's two" Kurt whispered to Blaine. "Actually it's 6. We each get 4 tickets to give to whomever we want so now you have 6 tickets" Blaine whispered back. "Awesome, that's my dad, mom, brother, sister, Mercedes and my friend Santana" Kurt said. "What about Tina?" Blaine asked. "You honestly think that Mike hasn't already claimed her for himself?" Kurt asked. "Good point" Blaine smiled. "Okay, question 3, How many kids do you have/want? We've got another tie for this one. Answer is 5" Thad said. Kurt knew that this was him again but he was curious to see who the other person was. 8 names were tossed out but none of them were right. "And our winners are, Kurt and Blaine. Imagine that" Thad said.
"Why 5?" Megan asked from across the circle. "I always wanted to adopt" they answered together and looked at each other surprised. "Like that's a shock" Wes whispered to David who snickered. The game continued, every time Kurt guessed someone's answer he turned out to be right and several people had to reveal embarrassing things about themselves. "Okay, we're on our last one. Finish this sentence, 'When life gives you lemons…' Answer is 'throw them back and demand chocolate' damn that's funny. We've got two possibilities" Wes laughed. "Blaine" "Kurt" Blaine and Kurt practically shouted at the same time. "Both correct, finally we get to hear something embarrassing about Kurt" Wes said. "Blaine goes first" Kurt said. "Fine, I like to dance on furniture a little too much." "That's not exactly a secret but none the less it is embarrassing" Wes laughed. "I'm afraid of thunder storms" Kurt mumbled. No one laughed, it was embarrassing to be afraid of thunder storms in your 20's but everyone could remember going through that. "Alright, it's time to start with publicity photos. We're going to start with our chorus members first so all of you head out into the lobby" Wes said. 10 people stood up and followed Linda out. "Blaine, do something with your hair" Wes said. "You said nice, it's nice" Blaine said. Kurt poked his hair suddenly.
"Are you trying to form a helmet? How much gel do you use? Holy cow" Kurt said. "If I don't use this much it sticks out all over the place" Blaine said. "Don't worry Wes, I'll take care of this. Come on" Kurt grabbed Blaine's hand and dragged him off stage to the bathroom inside green room one. "Bend over" Kurt said. "Excuse me?" Blaine asked. "Bend over and stick your head in the sink" Kurt said. "Why?" "I'm going to wash the gel out of your hair and fix it" Kurt said turning the sink on to warm water. Reluctantly Blaine held onto the edge of the sink and stuck his head in. He was a little surprised when Kurt began moving water over his head and then running his fingers through his hair. He had to hold back a moan as Kurt's fingers ran along his scalp and basically massaged his head. "There, I think I got it all" Kurt said. He turned off the water, grabbed a towel and placed it over Blaine's head carefully rubbing his head and removing the excess water. He pulled the towel off his head and Blaine immediately tried to cover his hair. "Would you stop" Kurt pulled his hands down. "Don't, it looks terrible" Blaine said. "You are such a baby, it looks fine. I like your curls" Kurt said.
"You do?" Blaine asked. "Call me a sap but I'm a sucker for curls" Kurt laughed "Do you have any hair gel on you?" "You just washed all of the gel out of my hair and now you want to put gel in it?" he asked. "Just a little, I'm going to show you how to do it correctly" Kurt laughed. "Yeah, I've got some in our dressing room" Blaine said. "Our dressing room?" Kurt asked. "You don't mind sharing do you? We're a little short on rooms with the size of our cast and all of the chorus girls are in one room and chorus guys in another as it is" Blaine said. "No, I don't mind sharing. At NYADA there were only two rooms, one for girls and one for guys" Kurt said. Blaine led him out of the bathroom and out of the green room and down the hall. There were two gold stars on the door which was the first of several all with smaller gold stars on them. "This is unreal" Kurt said seeing his name on one of the stars and Blaine's on the other. Blaine opened the door and flipped the lights on. It was a fairly large room with it's own bathroom just inside the door. There was a couch and a coffee table, two clothing racks for costumes, and two hair and make up set ups across from each other.
"Here" Blaine said picking up a bottle of hair gel from one side. He handed it to Kurt. "Sit" he said and Blaine sat in the chair in front of the mirrors. Kurt flipped the bottle upside down and squeezed a drop the size of a quarter into his hand. "This is all you need do you understand? Otherwise you'll kill your hair. I'm surprised it isn't dead already" Kurt said. "That is never going to work" Blaine said. "Be quiet and watch" Kurt said and rubbed the gel onto both of his hands before starting at the front of Blaine's hair and raking his fingers through. It only took a minute for Kurt to finish and when he was done Blaine's curls were a little bit more controlled and one of them was falling over his forehead. "Now that is a sexy look. Everyone is going to go crazy over you. Well, crazier" he said. "Knock, knock" Wes said knocking on the open door "Damn Blaine, if I wasn't straight as an arrow I'd jump you right now" Wes said. "You know that saying things like that typically means you're not as straight as you think" Blaine smirked. "Shut up, nicely done Kurt. I'm assuming it was you since Blaine is incapable of controlling himself when it comes to hair gel." "Yes, it was all me and I will gladly take the credit when all of his fans start drooling uncontrollably" Kurt laughed.
"You know what'll really get them drooling? Publicity photos of you both. Come on, you're up." "They'll be drooling over Blaine's photos you mean" Kurt said as they followed him out of the dressing room. "No, they'll be drooling over the both of you." "What do you mean?" Kurt asked. "You can't be serious" Blaine said. "What?" "You're pretty hot Kurt, this coming from a straight guy" Wes said. "No I'm not. I might be pretty decent looking but…" Kurt said. "Someone shoot me. Kurt, you're more than decent looking. How can you not know how hot you actually look? Surely you're boyfriend tells you" Blaine said. "I've never had a boyfriend" Kurt mumbled. "Never?" Wes said stopping. "What? There were not that many gay guys in Ohio and even fewer of them were out." "You've lived in New York for like 6 years" Blaine said. "I was busy with school and work" Kurt said. "I can't believe what I'm hearing. Are you telling me no one's ever asked you out?" Wes asked. "Oh yeah, Mercedes and Tina ask me out all the time" Kurt said. "I feel like I'm talking to a 5 year old. I meant guys Kurt. Tina and Mercedes don't count." "Oh, well no then" Kurt said. "Is everyone in New York deaf AND blind? Jeese" Blaine said. "I'm a little to flaming homosexual for most guys I guess. They can't handle me" Kurt grinned and Blaine felt like he was melting, he could look at Kurt smile every day.
"Wes, come on man, we're waiting" David's voice said. "Let's get these pictures done" Wes said and they walked down a hallway Kurt had not been in and came out in the lobby. "By tomorrow we'll have your key card for you" Wes said to Kurt. "Key card?" Kurt asked. "Only cast and crew are allowed beyond this point and some people get a little crazy so the door is protected with a key card entry." "Damn Blaine, you look good. Better than I've ever seen you" David said. "Thanks so much" Blaine said sarcastically. "Everyone is going to love you two, now get over there" David said ushering them over to where a photographer and his assistants were. "Mr. Anderson, Mr. Hummel, have a seat" he said. Blaine and Kurt sat on the stools and instantly 2 women were practically on top of them brushing powder onto their faces. They took a few straight on photos before Kurt got bored and decided to turn sideways leaning back against Blaine and crossing his left leg over his right. "That's perfect" the photographer was so enthusiastic about Kurt's new position that Blaine did the same thing to. Wes watched on as they changed it up every few shots, with Kurt initiating it most of the time.
"Let's bring in Miss. Kayne and Miss. Fhast" the photographer said. The women that were playing Betty and Judy were brought into the picture to stand behind Kurt and Blaine. After a few shots Kurt pulled the woman playing Judy into his lap surprising her and landing a shot that had the photographer gushing. After a few shots Blaine copied him shocking the woman playing Betty who had not been expecting it. Blaine slung his arm around Kurt's shoulders and Kurt did the same. "I just need a few individual shots now" the photographer said. Kurt and the women stepped out of the frame and allowed the photographer to take a shot of Blaine. Just as he was about to take another shot Kurt jumped behind him. "Did you just photo bomb me?" Blaine asked. "Why would I do that?" Kurt asked feigning innocence and walked away. "I love you man, no one has ever photo bombed Blaine so awesomely" David laughed. "I try" Kurt shrugged with a smile. After a few more shots it was Kurt's turn. He stood tall and after a few shots he caught Blaine out of the corner of his eye. To Blaine's surprise Kurt grabbed his arm and pulled him into his picture at the last second. "You just ruined my own photo bombing attempt" Blaine sulked. "You'll have to be better than that" Kurt smirked.
"Alright, I think I have everything I need. I'll get started on these and have everything ready by next week" the photographer said. "Thanks" Wes said and shook his hand. "Alright you two, back into the theatre" Wes said. Blaine and Kurt hurried back into the theatre and joined everyone on stage. "It's 11am. You get an hour for lunch, I want everyone back here by no later 12" Wes said. Kurt got off the stage and sat down where he had placed his things. He pulled his lunch out of his bag and stood up, his iPhone in hand. He hurried back up on stage and then proceeded off into the wings before entering the hallway moving down to his and Blaine's dressing room. He dropped his lunch onto the coffee table and instantly dialed his phone. "Hey white boy, shouldn't you be rehearsing right now?" Mercedes asked. "We're on lunch. You'll never guess where I am right now." "Some posh restaurant getting the star treatment as you should be?" she asked. "Nope, even better. I'm in my very own dressing room. I mean, I share it with Blaine but still. This is crazy, I almost can't believe it" Kurt said. "Take pictures, I want to see" Mercedes said. "Hang on" Kurt took a few quick pictures and sent them to her. "You should be getting them any second" Kurt said.
"I got them, hang on" Kurt could hear her exclamations at the pictures he had taken. "That is so awesome Kurt, I hate to say it but I have to go. I'm expecting a customer any minute" Mercedes said. "Sure, I'll see you in a few hours. I have to work at 4" Kurt said. "Alright, bye." Kurt hung up his phone and opened his lunch bag. "Hey, what are you doing in here?" Blaine asked opening the door. "I was talking to Mercedes and now I'm eating my lunch. What are you doing in here?" Kurt asked with a smile. "Had the same idea to eat my lunch. I don't know why but something told me to bring a lunch today" Blaine said and sat down on the couch with him.
They ate lunch together for the rest of the week. Each day bringing in a lunch. Rehearsals were going well. Kurt was already off book for most of the songs and he had learned two of the dances. He and Blaine spent almost every minute of rehearsal together. They were growing closer each day and that only served to make Kurt feel guilty when he rushed off as soon as they were dismissed from rehearsal. On Friday Kurt disappeared even faster than before leaving Blaine, who had wanted to ask him to coffee confused. "Blaine, I need to talk to you" Wes said seeing Blaine walk down the aisle in the theatre. "Yeah?" Blaine asked. "Have you and Kurt been dating behind my back?" "What? No! Why would you think that?" Blaine asked and blushed. He had given the idea quite a lot of thought and had finally worked up the courage to ask Kurt out only to have Kurt rush off before he could ask. "I wouldn't care if you were by the way. Kurt's a great guy and I can tell you like him a lot. You guys are perfect for each other" Wes said. "We're not Wes, I promise. But I am thinking about asking him out. Why do you ask?" "I'm sure you've noticed but he seems tired now. He had so much energy on Monday, even on Tuesday but now…I'm worried about him, and not just because he's an important part of the show. He gets here 15 minutes early and puts forth as much effort as anyone I've ever seen even though I can tell he's exhausted. There are bags under his eyes, even though he's tried to hide them and today I could have sworn there were dark circles there too. If you're not spending all night ravishing each other why is he so tired? I don't work you guys that hard" Wes said.
"I honestly don't know Wes" Blaine blushed a bit just imagining spending the night with Kurt even though it wasn't the first time he had done so "I'm worried about him too." "Try to find out what's up with him alright. I don't care if you have to stalk him. Make sure he gets some rest this weekend, even if you have to kidnap him" Wes said. "Will do" Blaine smiled. He picked up his things and left the theatre to head back to the hotel. He picked up a newspaper upon entering the lobby and was greeted by several employee's as he walked toward the elevator. He opened the paper to the apartment listings and began his inspection. He had been staying in the hotel for just over a week and was already bored with it. He figured if he was going to be in New York for at least the next two months he should find an apartment, it would be cheaper than the hotel and while money was no object to him he felt it was a waste. He sighed as nothing jumped out at him and resigned himself to having to call a real estate agent. Making a mental note to do so as he pushed the call button for the elevator he was struck with a sudden thought. Kurt's friends worked there at the hotel. Maybe they would know why Kurt was so tired. Ignoring the opening elevator doors Blaine hurried away from them and down a hall. He turned the corner and came to room 111. He knocked on the open door and Tina looked up.
"Mr. Anderson" she said standing up quickly. "Please Tina, call me Blaine. I'd like to think we're friends now" Blaine smiled. "Blaine, can I help you with anything?" she asked. "I'm here to talk to you about Kurt actually" Blaine said. "He's right there" Tina said and pointed to where Kurt was indeed kneeling on the ground with pins in his mouth and working on pinning some pants. "Kurt! What are you doing here?" Blaine asked. "I work here" Kurt said pulling the last pin from his mouth. "I guess I assumed you were going to quit what with the show and everything" Blaine said. "I've only got 9 more days of hell. I turned my two week notice in last Saturday" Kurt said. "Oh, so can I assume this is why you're so tired?" Blaine asked. "You could tell I was tired? Oh gaga. Wes is mad isn't he? I'm fired aren't I? I knew I should have put more effort in" Kurt said. "Jees Kurt. Calm down. Wes isn't mad, he's just worried about you. You're putting in more effort than some of the chorus members and Wes is really perceptive. He can tell you're tired but you're still giving it 115%." "I'll try harder" Kurt said threading a needle. "There's nothing to try harder at Kurt. Listen to what I'm telling you" Blaine laughed lightly "Wes just wants to make sure you're okay. We're all friends now and Wes cares a great deal about his friends. He asked me to make sure you get some rest this weekend, even if I have to kidnap you." "Got it, rest. I can do that" Kurt said pulling iPhone out of his pocket.
"What are you doing?" Blaine asked. "Scheduling rest into my Sunday after I finish grocery shopping" Kurt said. Blaine pulled Kurt's phone out of his hand despite his protest and looked at the calendar there. "Oh my god Kurt. I'm surprised you're even still awake" Blaine said. According to his calendar Kurt had been going to rehearsals from 8am-3pm every day. On Monday he had also worked at the Hilton from 4pm-11pm. Tuesday and Wednesday his Hilton schedule had been from 3:30pm-11pm and Thursday had been 3:30pm-11:30pm. That would explain why Kurt had been so extremely tired today. Blaine clicked on Friday and saw that Kurt would be getting off work at 10pm. Feeling a little satisfied that Kurt would be able to get a decent nights sleep he clicked on Saturday holding the phone away from Kurt who was trying to get it back. Blaine almost dropping the phone and Kurt took it back quickly. "Kurt, you're working from 6am- midnight tomorrow. Why?" "It's what I was scheduled. I turned in my two week notice so I'm almost done" Kurt said. "Why don't you just outright quit?" Blaine asked. "I can't do that! How would that look on my future job applications?" Kurt asked.
"Trust me, I don't think the Theatre cares that you outright quit a job that forced you to work like an animal" Blaine said. "It's only until next Saturday. I'll be fine" Kurt assured. "No you won't Kurt" Tina piped up "I've seen you try and do this before and I agree with Blaine. You need to rest. It's not good for you." "Thank-you so much Tina" Kurt said through clenched teeth "But I'm fine. It's nothing I can't handle." "Kurt, you know I love you, and I support you no matter what but I can't support you in this. You can't do this job anymore. I won't let you. It's holding you back. I'd quit with you but I don't have anything to fall back on right now and I know Mercedes is the same" Tina said. Blaine's phone rang at that moment and Blaine muttered a curse before looking at the text. 'Emergency! Where are you?' It was from Wes. Blaine typed out his reply and a new message came through a second later. Wes came bursting into the room out of breath a minute after that. "Kurt? What are you doing here?" "I work here" Kurt muttered lamely having already been through this conversation. "What? I thought you would have quit. Is this why you're so tired?" "I already had this conversation with Blaine. Can we just drop it please?" "What's the emergency Wes?" Blaine asked.
"We just lost our costume designer and her team." "What? Why? I thought she was flying in tomorrow!" "She was supposed to be but she got a better offer apparently. Something about some movie I've never heard of. What am I supposed to do?" "You're supposed to calm down. You're the director. And I have an idea" Blaine said and looked at Tina with a smile. "Oh no. I can tell what you're thinking. I'm no designer. I only know how to sew and make patterns" Tina said "And the same goes for Mercedes." "We could still use your sewing abilities" Blaine said. "There's still almost a month before the show opens. Isn't that enough time to find someone more qualified?" Tina asked. "I like hiring friends. People I can work with. Please Tina. It pays $1400 a week" Wes said. "$1400 a week? That's $200 a day" Tina said. "$280 actually. You get weekends off" Wes said. "I'm in" Tina said. "In what? What's going on in here?" Mercedes asked. "Mercedes, just the woman I wanted to see. I want you to quit and come work for me. I need a new costume designing crew. It pays $1400 a week" Wes said. "Psh, $1400 a week. What am I still doing here?' Mercedes asked "But I don't design, I just sew." "That's fine" Wes assured "Now all I need is a designer." Kurt was busy pulling his needle through the hem of the pants that he didn't notice Tina picking up a sketch pad and handing it to Wes. "Wow!" Wes said. "Who did these?"
"A man who dabbles in fashion design. His names Kurt Hummel. Heard of him?" Tina asked. Kurt looked up at the sound of his name and paled seeing his sketch pad in Wes's hands. Blaine was looking at them too. "Kurt, you're hired man. These are fabulous. I don't expect you to devote as much time to designing and creating as you do rehearsals, as such I can't pay you as much but there's definitely a good sum of extra in it for you if you agree to design the costumes" Wes said. "I'm sorry Wes but I don't have time. I can't do three jobs at once" Kurt said. "So quit with us" Mercedes said. "What would that look like for my…" "Future job applications" Blaine and Tina said. "I don't say this often but shut up Kurt" Tina said. "I was going to wait a few more weeks before mentioning this to you Kurt but I'm looking to put together my own theatre troop and I'd be honored if you'd be part of it. It's a two year contract and you're guaranteed a base pay that is pretty generous, if I do say so myself." Mercedes and Tina, having known Kurt longer could see him give in. "Let's go tell the dragon" Mercedes said. "Let me at least finish the other pant leg first. It won't take more than five minutes" Kurt said and he set to work.
After hanging the pants neatly in their proper place he gathered his belongings, packing up everything in the room that belonged to him which included the sewing machine and just about everything else. All of the various sewing tools went into Kurt's bag as Tina packed up her own things taking almost everything with her as well. "Alright, let's do this" Mercedes said arriving back at the room with her own bag. Kurt slung his bag over his shoulder and extended the handle on the case with his sewing machine as did Tina and Mercedes. They walked down the hall and stopped outside of the dragons office. "Shall I come in with you?" Wes asked. "I think we've got this" Mercedes winked and opened the door. "What are you three doing in here? Get back to work" Mrs. Levits barked. "Mrs. Levits, we quit" Kurt said. With that the three of them turned and left the office with Tina slamming the door behind her. "Wow, I don't think I've ever felt freer" Kurt smiled as they left the hall. "I've called the car around. We'll drop all of your things off at your apartments and then we'll go out and celebrate" Wes said. They left the lobby chatting happily and a limo pulled up in front of them. "Real subtle Wes" Blaine laughed. "What? I figured it would be better than the sedan. At least this way we'll all fit with out lap sharing" Wes said. The driver loaded their things into the trunk as the valet opened the car door for them. Tina got in first with Mercedes right behind her and then Kurt followed by Blaine and Wes.
"This is nice. Better than the limo we had for prom that's for sure" Mercedes said. "Who'd you go to prom with Kurt?" Blaine asked. He saw Kurt wince a little and his right hand moved to just above his hip. "I tried to go stag, didn't quite make it" he said. "Why not? Isn't prom supposed to be the greatest night of your high school life? I didn't go to mine so I wouldn't know" Wes said. "Supposed to be… unless you're jumped by the guy that had been torturing you endlessly for years." "I think that was probably the worst night of our high school lives. For all of us" Mercedes said looking at Kurt. "What happened? If you don't mind my asking" Blaine said. "I had just gotten to the school. The prom committee didn't have a lot of money so it was being held in the gym. Anyway, before I could even go inside this guy, Karofsky and a few of his buddies jumped me. They threw a few punches and I defended myself pretty decently I like to think. The police told me that Karofsky had a black eye and a dislocated jaw and his buddies fared about the same. I don't remember much except getting jumped but one of them had a bat or something and Karofsky pulled a knife on me. Next thing I know I'm waking up in the hospital 8 hours later" Kurt said.
"Kurt had sent me a text saying he was on his way in and when he didn't show up after a few minutes I went looking for him. I got there in time to see Karofsky pull the knife and stab him and his buddy whacked him on the head. I called 911 and alerted the chaperone's at the dance all in the span of about 20 seconds" Mercedes said. "Whatever happened to them? The guys?" Blaine asked. "Jail. Karofsky is serving 15 years and his buddies 10" Kurt said. "Where…where did he stab you?" Blaine asked. "Here" Kurt said. He untucked his shirt and maneuvered around pulling the corner of his pants down just far enough to show Blaine and Wes a small 2 inch scar. "Wow" Blaine whispered looking at it. "I barely notice it anymore. It's in my past, where it belongs" Kurt said adjusting his pants and shirt. "I just thought of something. How does the driver know where to go?" Tina asked as they turned a corner. "Wes has magical powers. He knows all and he tells all" Blaine smirked. "Not all" Wes muttered "I have my methods." "Mr. Montgomery, we've arrived at our first stop." A few seconds later the door was open and everyone climbed out. Mercedes and Tina's bags were unloaded from the trunk and they took them from the driver before hurrying into their apartment building. 15 minutes later and they were back wearing their normal clothes instead of their work uniform. They headed off to Kurt's apartment next.
"You should all come up. I'll probably take awhile" Kurt said when they arrived. Everyone helped him carry his things up the stairs and Kurt stopped before he reached his door. "Why'd you stop?" Blaine asked from right behind him. "There's a box in front of my door. Hang on" Kurt reached into his pocket for his keys, leaned over the box and unlocked the door before bending down and pushing the box inside his apartment. He kept pushing it until it was against the far wall and everyone was in. Wes was last and closed the door behind him. "Just put everything down wherever and I'll deal with it later" Kurt said setting some things on the couch. "What's in the box Kurt?" Mercedes asked. "I don't know. I was expecting it yesterday. My dad called on Monday and said Carole was shipping it. Said I couldn't open it until today if I got it yesterday." "Why not?" Tina asked. "Oh no" Mercedes said looking up at him quickly. "Don't worry about it Mercedes" Kurt said quickly and hurried into his room. He closed the door so that he could change. "I can't believe we forgot. What kinds of friends are we?" Mercedes asked Tina. "Terrible ones apparently. He never forgets ours" Tina said. "Forgot what?" Blaine asked.
"It's his birthday today. I feel terrible" Mercedes said. "Why didn't he say anything?" Wes asked. "Kurt doesn't like his birthday. He hasn't ever since his mom died. They had the same birthday" Tina explained quietly. "How old is he?" Wes asked pulling out his cell phone. "24" Mercedes said and Wes raised his phone to his ear. "You girls contact his friends, tell them to be at FBG in half an hour" Wes said. Mercedes and Tina whipped out their cell phones without question and began firing off rapid text messages. Blaine, knowing exactly what Wes was now planning pulled out his own cell phone and made a few calls himself. "Alright, the restaurant is setting a corner aside for us and a cake is being prepared as we speak. It should get there in 45 minutes so we'll have to stall a little. How are you girls doing?" Wes asked. "All of our friends will be there" Mercedes said. "I got a hold of David and Thad and they'll be there too" Blaine said. "Great, so how do we stall him?" Wes asked. "He'll probably be another 15 minutes and after that all you have to do is release him in a store" Mercedes said. "And tell him you're broke or he'll redo your entire wardrobe" Tina said.
"I don't think that'll fly. I've got too much money" Blaine said. "Same here, that's okay, as long as it keep him occupied for a bit" Wes said. "I'll be right out, sorry I'm taking so long" Kurt yelled. "It's cool white boy" Mercedes yelled back. "Why do you call him that?" Wes asked. "Cause he is. It just kind of started back in high school. It's a term of endearment now. Usually cheers him up when he's sad too." Tina's phone beeped and she looked at it. "It's from Brittany. She said that's she's picking up a present for Kurt" Tina said. "Did she say what?" Mercedes asked. "No, but knowing her it's going to be a stuffed unicorn or a dolphin" Tina said. "Brittany sure is unique but she's an amazing dancer" Wes said. "Alright, so where are we going?" Kurt asked leaving his room. "I've got to run an errand so I'm going to have to meet you guys at dinner" Blaine said. "Where do you have to go?" Wes asked. "I forgot my wallet at the hotel" Blaine said opening his eyes a little wider at Wes. "Oh, okay man. We'll see you then" Wes said and Blaine left the apartment. "Okay, so where are we going?" Kurt asked again. "I was thinking FBG. I've got a hankering for a burger but before we go I could use your help with something" Wes said. "Okay" Kurt said slowly. "I'm trying to figure out what to wear to opening night. There will be all kinds of press there and I have to look my best" Wes said. "Oh, sure…you mean like now?" "Why not? There are some stores not too far away from FBG with stuff I like" Wes said. "Sure, let's go" Kurt said.
Half an hour later and what Mercedes and Tina had promised had come semi true. While Wes didn't have an entirely new wardrobe he had Kurt approved outfits for all three nights of previews and opening night. His bags were stowed safely in the car as they walked the two blocks to FBG. They shed their coats at the door and Wes approached the host. "Montgomery" he said. "Right this way sir" he said. Wes allowed Kurt in front of him followed by Tina and Mercedes. When they reached the corner of the restaurant over a dozen people popped out from behind chairs yelling "Surprise!" Kurt took a step back into Tina in shock. "You guys" Kurt turned toward Tina and Mercedes. "Happy Birthday" they said cheerily. "Happy Birthday Kurt" Wes said with a smile. "Thanks guys" Kurt said quietly. Everyone swarmed him and hugged him. "Only a few more people and the gang will be all back together again" Kurt laughed. "Happy Birthday bro" Puck said. "Thanks Noah" Kurt said. "Alright ya'll food will be out in 10 minutes" Puck told everyone. "Here Kurt" Brittany held out a bag. "What's this?" Kurt asked. "It's a present silly, so open it." Kurt pulled the tissue paper out and lifted two stuffed animals out.
"Dolphins, what did I tell you?" Tina whispered to Mercedes. "Thank-you Brittany, I love them" Kurt smiled and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I got you something too" Blaine said stepping forward. "You didn't even know it was my birthday. Wait just a hot second…" "No Kurt. Don't ask questions just enjoy it. It's your day" Mercedes said. Kurt accepted the box Blaine handed him and opened it. "Oh wow" Kurt said lifted a scarf and matching gloves out of the box. "I hoped you might like it" Blaine said. "This is gorgeous. It's also Alexander McQueen and expensive" Kurt said. "I noticed that you either don't own gloves or you just don't wear them and we can't have your hands getting cold now can we? Do you like them?" "I love them, thank-you" Kurt smiled. "Alright everyone, chow time. Emily, come join us" Puck called. Kurt looked over to where Emily was setting some drinks down on a table with a smile. He hadn't been back to FBG since he and Blaine had been there. "I'm working Noah" Emily said as she passed him. "Take your dinner break and eat with us" Puck said. "Noah" she sighed. "Come on Emily, it's my birthday" Kurt said. "Let me go punch out. My boss is kind of an ass sometimes" she said and walked away.
"Alright Kurt, which of your new friends are single?" Puck asked. "Excuse me?" Kurt asked. "Your new friends. Who's single?" "Why?" "Because Emily desperately needs a good man and you only make friends with good men" Puck said. "Noah! Shut up before I beat you" Emily said from behind him. She had removed her black apron and was now just wearing black pants and a white button down shirt. "Come on Em…" "No, just leave it alone alright." Kurt watched as Noah placed a hand on her shoulder. He saw her flinch a little and Puck saw too. "You have got to be kidding me." "Noah don't" Emily said quickly and moved out of his reach. "Just leave it for now alright" she begged. "We're talking about this after we eat. I promise you that" Puck said. Emily found an empty seat between Wes and Blaine. "I'm Blaine" Blaine said. "I remember you. I served you last week." "That's right. How are you?" "As well as can be expected. Do me a favor and give me an excuse to get out of eating." "Why?" "Just…please. Noah wants to talk to me after I'm done eating and I don't want to talk to him." "Um…" "Don't even think about it Emily. I'm not stupid, you won't pull a fast one on me again." "Damn" Emily muttered.
"Hi Emily. I'm Wes Montgomery" Wes said from her other side. "Emily Oliver, it's nice to meet you" she said as nicely as she could. She was happy for the interruption of the food arriving and she ate as fast as she could. As soon as she was done she stood up. "Well it was nice meeting you all. Kurt, happy birthday. Hope to see you around" she said quickly and hurried into the kitchen. "I'll be right back" Puck said and excused himself quickly after her. "What's up with her?" Kurt wondered aloud as a waitress refilled is water glass. "Chef Puck and Emily are really close. They met when he moved to New York and she got him a job here cooking. Before you know it he was the head chef and the owner. Emily has been having some problems in her personal life though and he doesn't like it" the waitress said "Don't tell either of them I told you." "What kind of problems?" Wes asked. He had only gotten to talk to Emily a little but she had seemed really sweet. "Well she's pretty accident prone I guess. I mean, I've never seen her drop a thing while she's working and she's never so much as tripped over the carpet but she comes in sometimes with a black eye or a bruise on her cheek. She falls down the stairs a lot" and the waitress walked away.
"That doesn't sound right to me" Kurt said. "Because it's not" Lauren said quietly. "What's going on Lauren? Surely you know." "Of course I do but it's not my place to say anything and Emily is stubborn. She's the sweetest little thing I've ever met. I'll say this she deserves a lot better than what she has" and Lauren excused herself. "Alright, I'm getting to the bottom of this" Kurt said and got up too. He followed Lauren into the kitchen. "Oh my gaga" he said seeing Emily sitting on a counter in the corner with Puck gently smearing some kind of cream on a very large bruise covering her entire shoulder. "Kurt" Emily said quickly and tried to pull up her shirt but Puck stopped her. "What happened?" "I fell down the stairs" was Emily's automatic response. "No you didn't Emily" Puck said. "Shut up Noah. It's no one's business but my own" she said forced his hand away, pulled her shirt up and re-buttoned it. She grabbed her apron and walked away tying it as she went. "We'll talk later Kurt. We should get back to your party."
They didn't end up talking later and Kurt didn't see Puck or most of his friends again for another week. If we wasn't at the theatre for rehearsal he was there designing costumes and making them with Tina and Mercedes. Blaine had started accompanying them on their Sunday shopping trips and helping Kurt deliver the goods to the shelter. They also ate lunch together everyday and almost every night Blaine would bring him dinner at the theatre where he was busy sewing and or designing.
"Alright Kurt, I've had just about enough of this" Mercedes said as she spread some fabric out. "Enough with what?" Kurt asking looking up from where he was pinning one of Blaine's costume jackets. "Were you planning on telling us that you and Blaine were dating?" she asked. "We're what? No we're not" Kurt said. "You kind of are Kurt" Tina said looking up from the sewing machine she was working. "I think I'd know if we were dating" Kurt said. "Let me get this straight then. You eat lunch together during rehearsals, he brings you dinner whenever you're here late and let's face it that's pretty much every day. You guys go to Central Park or the Zoo or a museum on Saturdays and on Sunday he comes shopping with us and helps you deliver all of the stuff you buy to the shelter. Am I missing anything?" Mercedes asked. "I think you forgot the late night texting sessions" Tina said. "Thank-you Tina! You're in a relationship with a gorgeous guy and you didn't even know it" Mercedes said.
"We're not dating and we're not in a relationship. We're just friends alright. Really good friends" Kurt said feeling frustrated. As Mercedes had listed everything he and Blaine had been doing together for the past two weeks his face had flushed. He left the green room they were working in and hurried down the hall to his dressing room. It was almost 6 o'clock and he just knew that Blaine was going to be there soon. He had texted him only minutes before everything with Mercedes. As soon as he was in the dressing room he sat on the couch and buried his face in his hands. He'd be lying if he said he didn't like Blaine. He liked him a lot and when he thought about everything it was like they were dating in a weird twisted way. Blaine had never actually asked him on a date per say but he asked him to dinner and coffee and lunch all the time. They weren't dates though. They were just too co-stars getting to know each other. Friends, best friends maybe, nothing more…right? "Kurt, you in here?" Blaine asked knocking on the door and opening it a little. "Yeah" Kurt said quietly. "What's going on? Mercedes said you ran out of the green room like a bat out of hell. Are you okay?" he asked setting a paper bag down on the coffee table.
"I'm fine I guess." "You guess? Don't you know?" he asked pulling his coat off and sitting next to him on the couch. "Not really. I'm really confused right now and I shouldn't be but Mercedes said something to me." "About?" Blaine asked as he opened the bag and began taking Chinese food containers out. "Are we…dating?" Kurt asked quietly. Blaine stopped what he was doing. "Kurt…" "No, don't say it. Just listen ok. We eat lunch together everyday. You bring me dinner when I'm here late which has so far been every day. We do all kinds of things on Saturday and you come shopping with me and go to the shelter with me on Sunday. We text fairly late into the night, and we kind of flirt and…I'm just so confused" Kurt was pacing now. "Can I talk now?" Blaine asked. Kurt waved his hand over his shoulder as he continued to pace. "Would you stop pacing and sit next to me?" he asked. Tentatively Kurt sat down and Blaine took his hand almost immediately. "I like you Kurt. I like you a lot. You're like no one I've ever met and you're right. We do spend a lot of time together. I think I've seen you more in the past two weeks than I did this guy I dated a few years ago and we were together for 3 months."
"Oh god, I really do not want to hear this" Kurt said and tried to stand up but Blaine stopped him. "I want you to hear this. I really like you Kurt and Mercedes is right. We have kind of been dating. So here goes nothing, Kurt Hummel would you kindly eat dinner with me tonight? As our first official date?" Blaine asked. "Chinese for a first date?" Kurt asked and looked at the table before back at Blaine "Sounds good" he laughed. "I, I want to kiss you Kurt" Blaine practically whispered. "What's stopping you?" Kurt asked. At that moment nothing was because the next second Blaine's lips were on Kurt's. Kurt's arms almost instantly went around his neck as neither wanted to pull away and they each took deep breaths through their noses. When they finally broke apart Kurt took a deep breath. "I think I need a minute for my eyes to adjust. I'm seeing stars" Kurt said and Blaine laughed. "I'm guessing that's a good thing. Means I must be a good kisser" Blaine laughed again. "You most definitely are and I don't want to know where you learned that" Kurt grinned stupidly. "Would you believe me if I told you it was natural?" "Probably not" Kurt laughed. "Well I have no choice but to tell you that you are a naturally good kisser unless there's someone I don't know about." "No, just that one completely horrid first kiss my junior year. Well, except for Brittany but you already knew about her." "Yeah, and she was right. Your kisses are magical" he said pecking him on the lips quickly before turning back to dinner.
"So you think they're together yet?" Mercedes asked Tina. "We could spy on them but that would be wrong." "So we won't spy. We'll check up on them and make sure they're not choking on each others tongues" Mercedes grinned and they snuck out of the room. When they came to Kurt and Blaine's dressing room they peaked in through the door which was only open a few inches. Blaine and Kurt were locked in an incredibly passionate kiss. "Get some white boy" Mercedes said quietly so they couldn't hear her and she and Tina backed away from the door returning to their work. "There you ladies are. We brought dinner" David said when they entered the green room. "Hi honey" Tina said and gave Mike a kiss as Mercedes did the same with David. They had started dating at the beginning of the week. "Where's Kurt? We brought enough for everyone" Mike said.
"I think Blaine's got him taken care of" Mercedes grinned. "Something I should know?" David asked. "Just that your stars are so freaking adorable I may need to beg you to up the dental insurance because I'm bound to get a few cavities" Mercedes said. "Great, another sugar couple. Oh man, Wes is gonna flip." "Why?" Tina asked. "The last time Blaine got involved with a co-star it didn't end well." "Define end well" Mercedes said. "He completely wigged out. They went on a few dates and then he started stalking him. Blaine had to get a restraining order." "Kurt's not like that though. You know Kurt" Tina said. "Yeah, I do and Wes will be as happy for them as he is exasperated and mad because he's crazy" David said and left it at that.
So apparently my threat to keep Amedasani from posting more was completely ignored as several of you added the story to story alerts/favorites etc but no one replied. Maybe I should starve her of oxygen since you people are starving her of love. REPLY please