Thanks so much for everyone who's alerted this story it means a lot to me that people are actually liking what I write :)
One of my favourite characters is starting out his role this chapter *excited squeal* I always have a soft spot for him in other fanfics and really wanted to make him a part of my story so here he is I hope I do him justice!
Enjoy and please review, favourite and alert if you haven't already! :D
"What the hell Rachel, now my ears are numb!" Kurt grumbled as the short brunet stomped across the car park (with Mercedes in tow) and approached them. The fire in her eyes forewarned a famous Rachel Berry scolding.
"What took you so long? You were meant to be here five minutes ago!" Rachel's accusing gaze travelled around the group until it landed on Kurt which he thought was unfair; Rachel never blamed Santana for anything since she was too scared of the Latina attacking her and only a monster would yell at Brittany. Therefore, in situations like this, the majority of the blame fell on Kurt's shoulders regardless of whether or not it was actually his fault. However someone replied to Rachel before he could make a heated comeback.
"I drove into a field of cows!" Brittany declared happily. Their expressions bemused Mercedes and Rachel stared at the girl, both worried for her sanity.
"Right..." Rachel said slowly. "Well now that you're finally here we'd better get checked in" And without further ado she strode off, her handbag swinging from side to side as her speed increased.
"We should follow before the queen bites our heads off" Mercedes stage-whispered. Kurt smiled for the first time since his and Santana's argument, glad that he had his best friend there to cheer him up. The rest of the group shouldered their handbags, (Santana) rucksacks (Mercedes and Brittany) and satchel (Kurt) and pursued the direction Rachel was walking in; Kurt and Mercedes at the front talking avidly about her date with Sam, Brittany walking behind them skipping and Santana bringing up the rear scowling at the back of Kurt's head.
Getting their luggage weighed and put through to be packed onto the plane didn't cause many difficulties (although there were a few questionable items found in Santana's suitcase) so the girls and Kurt made it to the Departure Lounge within the hour, much to Rachel's delight. The only problem was that since their plane wasn't boarding until half an hour before takeoff they now had an hour's wait until they were called, a time-span which Santana was needless to say less than impressed with. Cursing Rachel and her enthusiasm for being early for everything she hadn't hesitated to pull Brittany off to go shopping while the rest of them sat around idly for an hour.
The rest of the group had set up their little camp around three chairs near the Boarding Area and as they waited they all did different things to pass the time; Rachel sang to herself (not bothering to do so quietly), Mercedes texted Sam and Kurt observed the other occupants of the area.
No one in his family had ever travelled abroad before and his friends who had hadn't been interested enough in the airports to share details of them with him so he was especially intrigued to see the diversity of people there were around.
Despite the early hour there were dozens of other people milling about; some wore business suits and always seemed to have coffee cups in their hands and Bluetooths in their ears; others were foreigners who looked around at the American shops in wonder, but mostly the Departure Lounge was made up of Ohio holiday-goers all looking excited but apprehensive. Kurt was glad to see no one from school but he wasn't too surprised; no one their age who wasn't bullied into doing so by Rachel Berry would wake up so early for a flight just after dawn.
Kurt was pulled out of his thoughts by a gtug on his jacket's sleeve. He turned to see Mercedes was no longer on her phone but staring at him as if he were mad.
"What?" He asked.
"I said do you wanna go get some food?" Mercedes said slowly. "You okay Boo?"
"I'm just nervous about going on a plane for the first time I guess" Kurt replied. "But to answer your question 'Cedes, yes; so long as it's fat-free" Mercedes rolled her eyes at his obsession with his weight but was too used to it to protest so got up and stood in front of Rachel who was still singing to herself.
"Don't tell me not to live just sit in the putter-"
"Rachel Barbara Berry!" Mercedes said loudly, causing said girl to jump and almost fall off of her chair. Kurt snickered behind his hand, his questionable-coloured eyes sparkling amusedly.
"You almost caused me permanent injury Miss Jones!" Rachel said indignantly as she brushed imaginary dirt off of herself, her back now straightened in a dignified manner. "What's your reason for interrupting my singing practice?"
"We're in an airport Rachel" Kurt pointed out.
"All the more reason; wherever there's people there's a chance to dazzle them with my talent!"
"Not in an airport" Kurt and Mercedes said at the same time. Breathing heavily through her nose Rachel crossed her arms and sulked.
"I was just gonna say me and Kurt are getting something to eat do you wanna come with us?"
"No thank you, I need to text my dads to let them know we got here on time, all thanks to me; not that any of you give even the slightest bit of thanks-" Kurt and Mercedes exchanged a look and by an unspoken agreement they left Rachel to ramble angrily to herself and walked off in the direction of the Star Bucks which was situated next-door to Boots.
"You gonna get a Grande non-fat mocha like you always do?" Mercedes asked.
"Of course; but I'm curious, how do you remember my coffee order?" No one else Kurt knew ever ordered the combination which was part of the reason why he always got it; it was unique to him and was another of the many things that made him stand out from the rest.
"Well I am your best friend-" Mercedes was cut off mid-speech by a loud exclamation from inside Boots.
"For god's sake Blaine you have enough hair gel!" A young, male voice yelled out. By the sound of it the boy had tackled someone (probably whoever Blaine was) and was trying to wrestle something out of his grasp.
"Jeff get off of me, this is not how a dapper young man should act! Nooo let go of the hair gel it's mine!" Another male (Blaine) screeched in reply.
Mercedes and Kurt shared a look before bursting into a silent fit of giggles.
"It's for your own good Blainers!"
"Nick get your boyfriend off of me!" Kurt immediately stopped laughing and, seeing his stunned expression, Mercedes stopped too.
"No can do Blainers; you should know by now that it's basically the law of couples that I side with Jeff" Kurt and Mercedes stared at each other with wide eyes and open mouths; there was a young gay couple in Ohio (most likely Lima since it was the closest to the airport). Kurt had never met any other person his age that was gay and now there were at least two of them on the other side of the wall. The very thought that he wasn't as alone as he'd always thought made his heart feel warm and his eyes sting with happy tears.
"Blaine Anderson you may have paid for this hair gel but you will not have ownership of it!" As the voice Kurt recognised as Jeff's said this a tall teenage boy with blonde hair ran out of the shop clutching a tub of- oh. That was Jeff Kurt realised, as said boy looked around wildly for an escape route but froze when he noticed Kurt and Mercedes gawping at him.
"Why hello!" Jeff said cheerfully as he walked over to them. "Did you hear that?" He nodded in the direction of Boots. Kurt nodded an affirmative while Mercedes just continued staring. Although he may have appeared more composed than her on the outside all that was registering in Kurt's brain was: he's gay. There is a boy around my age standing a metre away from me who has a boyfriend! That's two people! And maybe that Blaine-
"Are you okay?" Jeff asked, concerned. From his reaction it became apparent that Kurt had gone back to staring as his brain imploded with shock and joy. From inside the shop he could hear Blaine being told off by a member of staff. His mind still in shock, Kurt blurted out the only thing he'd been capable of thinking for the last minute.
"You're gay?"
Mercedes nudged him in the ribs, whispering "way to be subtle Boo!" But Jeff just raised his eyebrows, his lips quirking into a smile.
"Yes, yes I am as is my boyfriend-for-over-a-year-now Nick. How about you?" He sounded quite amused now. Kurt blushed and averted his gaze to the floor.
"Oh he's as gay as the day is long" Mercedes cut in grinning. Smiling back, Jeff glanced over his shoulder into the shop.
"Jeff the manager wants to talk to you!" Blaine called out from inside.
"I'll be there in a minute!" Jeff yelled back before turning back around to face Kurt and Mercedes.
"I regret to say this exchange is being cut short" he informed them sadly. "But before I go and get shouted at what are your names and what school do you go to?"
"I'm Mercedes, my boy here is Kurt and we go to McKinley" Jeff whistled when she said their school's name.
"That must-"
"Jeff!" Blaine yelled out again louder than before. Pulling a face, Jeff started backing away back towards Boots.
"Well it was nice meeting you guys, I'll see you around!" With a wave he disappeared inside the shop. Both friends stared at where he'd been standing a moment ago before remembering they were meant to be going to Star Bucks and heading into the cafe next-door.
It wasn't until they left the cafe minutes later with their coffees and (fat-free in Kurt's case) muffins in hand that he spoke.
"That was very-"
"-Weird" Mercedes finished for him, smiling. Feeling slightly dazed they started the journey back to their seats, but after a few seconds Kurt felt as if if he didn't say something he would explode.
"I'm not the only one" He whispered. Her eyes softening, Mercedes pulled the tall boy into a hug.
"I always knew you weren't Boo but at least now you have proof; shame he's taken though" She teased. Kurt pulled away from the hug, looking at his friend indignantly. By now they'd reached Rachel who was looking up at them, bemused by their conversation.
"Oh shut up Mercedes Jeff's not my type"
"You two took your time! And who's Jeff?" Rachel asked, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. After a silent exchange of glances Kurt and Mercedes silently agreed: they weren't going to tell Rachel about Jeff; at least not unless they met him again which seemed very unlikely. They loved Rachel but even them, her best friends, had to admit that she was a gossip and if it was one thing Kurt didn't want it was Santana spending the whole of the holiday teasing him about his first "butt-buddy" even though it wasn't remotely true.
"No one" Kurt and Mercedes chorused.
When Rachel settled back down in her seat to read a book they looked at each other one last time and smiled as Kurt's words properly started to sink in.
I'm not the only one.
Did you like the ending? I do :) Thanks for reading, please leave a review on what you think!