Hi *sheepish smile* So, erm... I've been away from this story for a while. More than a while: 2 months and 12 days. If you read True Colours or follow my drabbles, you'll know that this break has in no way been intentional. Year twelve has been a lot more... hectic and full of coursework than I expected it to be, and I've found that writing has become more of a luxurious habit done rarely rather than the near-obssession it was for me when I started these stories. I have been trying to finish this story for at least a month, but I had some exams that didn't go well in January and ever since then my teachers have been pushing me pretty hard ready for the ones I have in... ooh, five weeks? *insert scared whimpers here*
But alas! I have been graced with two weeks off, and I've been writing my little tushie off to make sure I update at least once during these two weeks. I've already updated True Colours, and now I'm finally getting to update my baby! I think I might be updating True Colours again before I go back to school, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to update Something's Coming again as well (I really hope I do, though!)
And I haven't said this in a while, so thank you to all of you who read this and any of my other stories. Whether you've been following this story from the start or you started reading only recently, it really means a lot me. 196 of you beautiful people have alerted this story, and I honestly never thought I'd see those numbers climb so high! I've felt so guilty about not updating this story sooner, but now that I have I hope you can all forgive me? *Blaine's puppy eyes (because who can resist them?!)*
And, because it's been so long, I'm gonna add a little 'Recently' section...
Recently...
Blaine and Kurt are very much in love and living together, the whole situation with Thad now sorted out. Thad has revealed he's leaving West Side Story due to another opportunity and, although he'll still be living in New York, Blaine know he's going to miss his best friend like crazy. Kurt has discovered that Jonathan, the actor who teaches the acting side of his course, is leaving and so now a replacement will have to be found.
Blaine got up at the same as Kurt did for the next week rather than sleeping in a little longer. He made sure to be showered and breakfasted by the time Kurt left for work, and not soon after he made his own exit from the apartment. He'd agreed to meet up with Thad every day, the two of them joining other members of the cast for different things each day or just sitting talking together over coffee. Blaine had been worried that he and Thad would run out of things to do after the first two days or so and after that their days together would feel forced, but he was wrong. Thad was always pleased to see him and was always enthusiastic about anything they did, and it didn't take Blaine long to realise that it was because Thad was going to miss him, too.
When Kurt walked into work Monday morning, Shelby called him straight into her office. Kurt followed her down the halls, listening to the click-click of her heels against the floor. He already knew what she was going to tell him but he still got the feeling of being a child who had been sent to the headmaster's office, butterflies even started to flutter in his stomach as they neared the door.
"Go on in," Shelby smiled as she held the door open and stepped aside. Her smile helped to settle his nerves, and soon the butterflies simply flew away. In some way, Shelby reminded Kurt of his mother. They looked nothing alike, but they were both exceedingly caring and Kurt felt comfortable and safe in Shelby's presence, just like he had with his mother.
Walking into Shelby's office, Kurt saw Jonathan already sat in one of the chairs opposite her desk and greeted him with a smile, which Jonathan returned. "Sit down, Kurt," Shelby advised as she sat herself behind her desk. "Now, I'm guessing you already know why you're here, boys," She began as Kurt sat down. Both men nodded. "Obviously we are very proud of Jonathan, but we need to sort out what's going to happen when he does go." Kurt looked to his colleague and they smiled sadly at each other; now that they were going to be parting ways, Kurt suddenly wished he'd tried harder to get to know the actor. "Kurt, there will obviously be a replacement for the practical classes, but I'm not sure how long that's going to take, so until then you will have to plan your own lessons and the practical lessons will be taken by actors if and when they come to us. There may be some lessons that cannot be covered, so I suggest you plan some extra theory classes just in case." Kurt nodded as ideas started to whir in his brain, trying to come up with lessons that wouldn't affect the rest of the course but would still be relevant. "Jonathan will be leaving at the end of the week, so we have until then to find at least one replacement for his lessons. Most of the Broadway shows at the moment are in rehearsal, so we can't really be pulling out any actors from there," Shelby clicked her mouse a few times and Kurt watched as her eyes scanned the different screens. "So it looks like it might have to be one of the longer running shows, considering we want some decent actors in here teaching our kids."
"I know some decent actors!" Kurt blurted out. He covered his mouth with his hand, surprised at himself for calling out. Jonathan and Shelby looked a little surprised, too, but soon both of them were wearing amused little grins. Shelby turned her attention wholly to him, folding her hands on the table and smiling at him.
"Really? Do tell, Kurt," Kurt glanced between his boss and his soon-to-be-ex-co-worker, both of whom were now listening to him intently.
"I-I know the West Side Story cast," Kurt began. Immediately Shelby's eyes widened in amazement, while Jonathan's widened and then narrowed in surprise turned suspicious jealously.
"Kurt, why didn't you say so?" Shelby cooed from behind her desk, her grin widening each second until Kurt was scared her face was going to split in two.
"It never really came up in conversation…" Kurt stuttered shrinking back in his chair slightly away from the two pairs of eyes staring him down. "Not until now, of course."
"How?" Jonathan suddenly asked to Kurt's left. He was watching Kurt with a sceptical gaze, and Kurt couldn't help feeling a little smug at the idea that Jonathan could be jealous of his connections.
"My boyfriend is part of- he's the- he's Tony." Kurt didn't know why he'd found it so hard to say that his boyfriend was the lead in one of the longest running Broadway shows. Maybe it was because of the intense gaze he was under, doubled by the fact it was two people staring at him, or maybe it was because until he'd seen Shelby's reaction to who he knew he'd never really considered his association with the cast to be that big a deal. He wasn't incredibly close to them, in fact he'd only met them a few times when he had dropped in to see Blaine between shows on the odd Saturday when he wasn't busy marking work or planning lessons, but he did know them. And that seemed to be enough.
"Do you remember… that time we managed to get through a whole school day just by saying movie quotes?" Thad asked as he gazed out across Madison Square Park with a reminiscent smile. Blaine, who was sat beside him, let out a shout of laughter at the memory; the two of them had done pretty well up until lunch break, by which point they started quoting random movies even if they had nothing to do with their situation.
"Sir, yes sir!" Blaine chuckled and raised his hand in salute, Thad laughing at the gesture.
"Full Metal Jacket," He stated.
"You know it," Blaine grinned back. After meeting up at Thad's apartment in Kips Bay that morning, the ex-Dalton boys had spent the morning wandering around as they recalled back memories from their school days, teasing each other over embarrassing anecdotes and laughing through the streets, ignoring the odd looks they got from passers-by. By the time they'd reached Madison Square Park they'd decided to take their weight off their feet, and they'd been sat on the same bench for nearly an hour.
"I can't believe Wes made us watch that," Thad grinned with a shake of his head. "What was it he said to us? 'You'll love it, boys! It's full of soldiers! You guys like soldiers, right?' Such a stereotype," he shook his head again, laughing at the memory of Wes suggesting films for them once he'd found out they were both gay.
"It was even worse when he suggested Brokeback Mountain in twelfth grade," Blaine reminded him with a chuckle. Thad agreed that it had been rather embarrassing; the film had only just come out and so Wes had thought he was in with a winner. That was until Blaine and Thad had informed him they'd both already seen it.
"God, can you imagine if either of us had to deal with him on our own?" Thad asked.
"Doesn't even bear thinking about," Blaine retorted quickly, trying not to imagine having to deal with the full extent of Wes' teasing by himself, and Thad chuckled in agreement. A comfortable silence settled between them as they both smiled at memories from their school years; the blue blazers, the pranks, and the birthplace of their friendship.
"Shelby, I don't think I can just ask the whole cast to come down here and teach-"
"Of course you can!" Shelby exclaimed brightly, hopping out of her desk chair and moving over to Kurt excitedly. "It's not like we're asking them to quit the show or anything," she smiled sweetly as she explained, "We'd just be… offering them an opportunity." She took his hands in hers as she knelt next to his chair, her smile never faltering. "Kurt, just imagine it; you and Blaine working together! Wouldn't that be fantastic?" Kurt considered it for a few seconds; he knew Blaine wanted to teach – he'd said so himself – but he really didn't know the rest of the cast that well yet and he wasn't quite sure how any of them would take it. He was genuinely concerned when the idea of Richard or Wes teaching a class of college students entered his mind, knowing from stories Blaine had told him that the duo were renowned for their pranks around the theatre. Sunshine and Quinn seemed sane enough from the brief encounters he'd had with them and by the sounds of it this Nick Duval kid was pretty nice, too. And as much as he hated to admit it, Kurt was sure that Santana's sass could be useful to whip a few of his students into shape.
"I…" Kurt glanced back at his boss, her hazel eyes shining with enthusiasm, before glancing over her shoulder to Jonathan who simply shrugged with a smile at Kurt's silent pleas for his intervention. "I'll think about it…" he told Shelby warily, wincing when she let out an excited squeal right next to his ear. She jumped up, dropping Kurt's hands as she did so, and might as well have skipped back to her desk she was bouncing so much.
"Okay, so, Kurt why don't you go and get ready for your class and call that amazing boyfriend of yours while Jonathan and I finish up in here?" Kurt looked to Jonathan, who gave a resigned smile, before slowly standing from his chair and leaving the room.
Blaine glanced around the park, smiling at the children with their parents and the tourists admiring the statue of Admiral David Farragut that stood across the park from where they sat. The scene was all too familiar, and not just because Blaine had been here a few times. The last time Blaine had been here had been the morning Kurt had told Thad their relationship had reached its end. "I was here, y'know," Blaine spoke before he'd even considered saying anything, surprising both himself and Thad. They looked at each other, Thad with a questioning glance. Blaine sighed and sat up straighter. "That morning, when Kurt… y'know," Thad's frown cleared and he turned to gaze out across the park again. Blaine fell silent again, cursing himself for even bringing up the subject.
"I don't blame you, Blaine," Thad's voice was calm as he kept his gaze out across the park, "For what happened. I know it wasn't your fault; Kurt and I just weren't meant to be. And let's face it," he looked to his friend, who was gazing up at him and hanging onto his every word, "You and Kurt are meant to be together." Blaine smirked up at his friend; Thad had always been more of a hopeless romantic than he let on.
"Really?"
"Of course you are!" Thad laughed, finding it unbelievable that Blaine didn't see what he saw. "You were childhood friends, and after all these years-"
"Sixteen years," Blaine interjected, his chest fluttering as he remembered Kurt doing the same thing to him.
"After all these sixteen years," Thad corrected, "You've found each other again. If that isn't a sign you two belong together, I don't know what is." He smiled warmly at Blaine, who by now was doing everything he could to keep his cheeks dry.
"Thanks, Thad," he whispered, not trusting his voice not to tremble if he spoke any louder, and Thad put an arm around his shoulder to pull him in for a sideways hug.
"Don't mention it," Thad smiled as he pulled his arm away. "And I should really thank you,"
"What?" Blaine blinked blankly at him, confused. "Why?"
"Because, if things between me and Kurt hadn't… gone the way they had, I might not have met Joshua," A smile grew on Thad's lips as he looked down to the floor, a small blush creeping onto his cheeks. Blaine gaped at him, a grin slowly growing on his face.
"Joshua, eh?" he nudged Thad with his shoulder, making his friend laugh.
"Yeah," Thad blushed a little deeper, "I met him when I was up at Jen's place; how ironic is it that my sister's homophobic husband's boss is gay?" he smirked, waggling his eyebrows slightly. They spent the next few minutes talking about Joshua, with Thad telling Blaine all about how they met at the supermarket and the sweet, delicious moment that had been realising who Joshua was to his homophobic brother-in-law. "I know it's cheesy, but… Moulin Rouge was so right."
"What do you mean?"
"Oh, you know the quote, Blaine!" Thad grinned. "You love that film," Thad gave him a meaningful look and Blaine's cheeks coloured slightly. "C'mon, I'll start you off," Thad offered, "'The greatest thing you'll ever learn…'" Thad prompted and gestured with his hand for Blaine to carry on, which he did with a grin.
"'Is just to love, and be loved in return'," Blaine finished with a grin, "You're right, I do love that film," they grinned at each other before settling back into a comfortable silence. Blaine glanced at his watch; he and Thad had been walking and talking for over two hours, and Blaine had a feeling they wouldn't be stopping any time soon. "Fancy a coffee?"
Thad looked up from where he'd been gazing at the floor and shrugged nonchalantly. "Sure," Together, the two friends rose from their bench and started towards an exit of the park. "You know…" Thad began after they had been walking for a few seconds, "I see dead people." Blaine couldn't help the snort of laughter that followed.
"Sixth Sense," he muttered with a sidelong glance and a grin in Thad's direction.
I love the bits with Thad and Blaine in this chapter. I'm going to try and keep the movie quoatations thing going for the next few conversations between them, so if you have any ideas for ones they could use (or if you think it will get annoying) please let me know :) Also, as you can see this chapter doesn't have a title, nor did the last one or chapter 28, so if anyone has any ideas let me know :)
I know this chapter was a little shorter than others in this story, but hopefully I'll be able to make it up to you all with another chapter in the near(-ish) future!
I hope we'll be seeing each other again soon! Much love to every single one of you!
Amy xxxxxxxxxxxxx
