This episode is kinda silly, but I'm actually glad that they made it not-so-serious... there is NO way they could come close to matching the perfection of 'Prom Queen' last season!
And thank you, jetsonastro24, for reminding me that Kurt HAS sung a Broadway song that is traditionally performed by a man! His audition for New Directions was Mr. Cellophane from 'Chicago'! :)
(I do not own Glee or any of the characters, dialogue, or songs from the show. It's all just for fun!)
BLAINE
As Brittany announced that the theme for the senior prom would be dinosaurs, Blaine was surprised (dinosaurs?), but he felt neutral about the idea. He already had an outfit picked out, so it didn't really matter.
"And, last but not least," Brittany said, glancing briefly at Blaine, "all hair gel has been banned from the prom."
Blaine burst out laughing.
"Right," he laughed.
"I'm actually not joking," Brittany said seriously. "Hair gel was not invented until almost thirty million years after the Upper Paleolithic Stone Age."
The room was silent.
"And, frankly," Brittany continued, "I don't like the way you look."
Blaine offered her an indignant glare. Why was she singling him out?
"Therefore, anyone who shows up to prom wearing hair gel will be turned away at the door," Brittany decided. "I hereby decree this to be the best prom ever!"
Kurt turned to look at Blaine, and Blaine started to raise his hand to protest but thought better of it before Mr. Schu noticed.
"Okay," Mr. Schu said, sounding almost as confused as Blaine felt. "Let's start thinking of... dinosaur songs."
That was their cue to break up into groups or pairs to brainstorm. Kurt turned immediately to Blaine.
"What is her problem?" Blaine huffed.
"I don't know," Kurt admitted.
"I think you look very handsome, Blaine," Rachel offered.
Blaine offered a grateful nod, but his mind was whirling. No hair gel at prom? It didn't make any sense.
Kurt and Rachel switched topics to dinosaur songs ("If We Hold On Together from The Land Before Time!" Rachel said enthusiastically. "I don't care if it's Diana Ross," Kurt replied, "we are not singing that song at our senior prom."), but Blaine couldn't concentrate.
He was incredibly self-conscious about his hair in its natural state. It was curly and unruly, and Blaine didn't like it at all.
And now Brittany had forbidden him to style his hair at prom.
"But she'll probably have plenty of hairspray in her hair," he mumbled unhappily.
"What?" Kurt asked.
"Nothing," Blaine said quickly.
"She'll probably forget that rule, anyway," Rachel offered. She had heard him. "I mean, it's Brittany."
"And her reasoning doesn't even make sense," Kurt said skeptically. "You know what else wasn't around in the time of dinosaurs? Human beings."
KURT
Kurt and Blaine met Rachel in the auditorium during lunch the next day to rehearse a song they had decided to make into a trio after hearing it on Rachel's iPod over the weekend.
"And I'm gonna miss you like a child misses their blanket, but I've gotta get a move on with my life. It's time to be a big girl now. And big girls don't cry."
"Is that what we're gonna sing for prom?" Blaine asked as the song ended. "Because I love that song. But it's sort of a downer, don't you think?"
"It's just how I'm feeling right now, okay?" Rachel explained, getting up from her stool to pace across the stage. "I don't want to watch Finn and Quinn get prom king and queen at my prom. And I don't want to watch him dance with her!"
Kurt reached up to scratch the back of his neck. He had seen the posters of Finn and Quinn together. He could guess why Finn had done it – both Finn and Rachel still harbored some guilt about Quinn getting into her accident on the way to their wedding – but he had a feeling Finn hadn't thought very hard about how it might bother Rachel to see her fiancé running for prom queen with his ex-girlfriend.
"I know that she can't really dance anymore," Rachel added, "but –"
She caught herself and shook her head.
"I'm sorry," she said. "You know– you know what I mean."
"She's right," Kurt agreed. "Prom sucks. I don't want to go either."
"Well you have to go," Blaine reminded him. "You're the reigning prom queen. You have to crown the next one."
Rachel pointed at him teasingly as she paced by.
"As much as I love a good coronation," Kurt replied, "I can't risk it. With this school's strong and insane tradition of write-in ballots, I could get elected prom queen again, alright? And I know I put on a brave face last year, but it was humiliating."
In the year since he had been crowned McKinley's junior prom queen, Kurt's memory of the night had evolved a bit. At first, the humiliation had been the dominant memory any time he thought about that night. But, with time, he was starting to think more of Blaine and how he had risked his own emotional well-being to make sure that Kurt felt wanted and loved. Dancing with Blaine at junior prom was one of Kurt's happiest memories. A beacon of light in an otherwise dark memory.
The humiliation was not something he wanted to experience again, though.
"And had I known, I would have worn a full kilt," Kurt added as an afterthought. "So..."
"Well, how do you think I feel with Brittany's insane ban on hair gel?" Blaine joined the pity-party. "It's prom. There's gonna be balloons all over the place, not to mention the taffeta and the silk blends. The sheer amount of static electricity in that room is gonna be terrifying!"
"It's crazy," Kurt teased.
"You've never seen my hair without gel," Blaine argued. "It's baby hair fine."
Rachel couldn't hold back her giggles, and Kurt reached up to scratch his face in an attempt to hide the smile he could feel stretching across his face. Blaine was obsessed about the ban on hair gel. And he was exaggerating, anyway... they had seen him without hair gel before. At Rachel's party the year before, and earlier in the school year during their mash up competition against the Troubletones.
Maybe, Kurt thought, Blaine's hair hadn't been completely free of gel on those occasions. But still. He thought Blaine's curly hair was cute.
"No, it– I'm gonna look like Medusa!" Blaine pouted. "It's not funny. I don't wanna go."
Kurt had to change the subject or risk laughing and hurting Blaine's feelings.
"Well," Kurt suggested, "if we're all gonna be so miserable about it... who says we have to go?"
"You're right, Kurt," Rachel said immediately. "But I have a better idea."
BLAINE
"You watch the door," Rachel said to Blaine as most of the students in New Directions arrived for glee rehearsal that afternoon. "We can't have Mr. Schu overhearing us and shutting us down."
Blaine stood in the doorway and urged the students to hurry up and take their seats so he, Kurt, and Rachel could explain their idea before their teacher arrived.
"Kurt and Blaine and I are throwing an anti-prom party!" Rachel announced to the group as soon as everyone was in the choir room.
"What's an anti-prom party?" Mercedes wondered.
"It's a party for those of us who maybe feel a little, you know, disenfranchised by the actual prom," Rachel explained. "And I got us a hotel room at Lima's best hotel – the Red Rooster Express suite – and everyone's invited!"
"You're supporting this?" Quinn asked Finn, who was standing behind the piano with Kurt.
"I'm supporting her," Finn explained. "And I'll be there as soon as I'm done fulfilling my... obligations."
"The mood will be celebratory," Kurt elaborated on the anti-prom idea, "the food will be catered, the libations will be plentiful, and the dress code will be creative black tie!"
Blaine smiled. Kurt was excited to plan his outfit now that there would be no threat of being humiliated in front of all of his classmates. But, unlike last year, Kurt was keeping his outfit a complete secret from Blaine.
"Optional," Rachel amended. "Optional. Optional! And keeping up with the anti-prom theme, everyone is welcome."
Satisfied that Mr. Schu wasn't going to suddenly walk in on them and hear their plan, Blaine abandoned the doorway and walked over to stand by Kurt. He reached out to nudge Kurt's shoulder as he walked up to him, and Kurt flashed him a huge smile.
"And, unlike the actual prom, which ends at 11pm," Rachel continued, "ours goes into the wee hours of the night. It's where the fun's at, you guys!"
"Okay, how is everyone welcome when this is clearly just a party for you and the two gay Winkelvii twins?" Santana retorted.
Blaine resisted the urge to roll his eyes at her.
"Actually, Santana," Rachel corrected, "we've invited most of McKinley's underclassmen."
"I'm in," Puck said suddenly, getting up from his chair.
"But what about your tradition of trying to spike Coach Sylvester's punch bowl?" Artie asked. "I almost lost my teeth for it last time."
"It's impossible," Puck said as he walked toward the door to the hallway. "Plus, it's a bummer always failing. At everything."
"Can we just talk about what this really is?" Santana asked as Puck walked out of the room. "Rachel Berry isn't getting her way, so she's punishing the rest of us."
"Santana, that's not the case at all," Rachel argued lightly.
"Stop acting like you're fine and start dealing with your crap!" Santana scolded.
Blaine's eyebrows shot up in surprise and displeasure at Santana's superior tone of voice.
"Look, you choked at your big audition. I get it," Santana continued. "I'm sorry. But it happens. And I understand that you're pissed off at the universe, but imploding on one of the last nights that we have to spend together because basically you're just not in the mood to dance is maybe the pettiest thing you have ever done. So, have fun at your 'I'm a victim' party acting like you're not some selfish, self-centered, lame ass wannabe diva from hell. Because me? I'm gonna go to my senior prom with my girlfriend and my friends."
Santana turned to walk away.
"Hey," Blaine reached out with his voice to stop Santana before she walked out the door, "wait."
Santana turned in his direction.
"Are you talking to me, gel boy?" she challenged.
"Give it a rest, Santana," Kurt snapped.
"I'm not going to let you speak to her like that," Brittany piped up. "It's –"
"Bullying?" Blaine interrupted, stepping forward. He felt Kurt's hand on his arm, and he reminded himself to remain calm.
Blaine turned his attention back to Santana.
"That wasn't nice, what you just said to Rachel," he said sternly. "This isn't just Rachel's idea, and nobody's forcing you to skip prom and come with us. There was no reason to say those things to Rachel except to be hateful."
"Oh, come on," Santana rolled her eyes. She folded her arms across her chest. "Look, Blaine, you're sweet. But you know what? You're too sweet. Sometimes people need to hear the harsh reality of what's really going on."
"You're a bully," Blaine said immediately.
"Excuse me?" Santana said, unfolding her arms and taking a few steps in his direction.
"You heard me," Blaine replied. "You and Brittany talk all day long about people 'bullying' you, but what you really mean is 'don't disagree with me'."
Santana opened her mouth, but Blaine didn't let her interrupt.
"And what's disappointing is that I know that's not who you are deep down inside," Blaine said. "You're a nice person, Santana."
"Awesome," Santana said sarcastically.
"But you don't get to say whatever you want, wherever you want, with no consequences," Blaine finished.
"Oh yeah?" Santana said, stepping forward again until she was directly in front of Blaine. "And what are you going to do about it?"
Blaine didn't shrink away from her. He knew she wouldn't physically attack him. And he knew that he could restrain her if she did. He gently pulled his arm out of Kurt's grip, just in case.
"I'm not going to do anything," Blaine replied. "But what I'm not going to do is stand by and let you say mean things to our friends without calling you out."
Santana scoffed and spun around to leave.
"You're just bent out of shape because you can't wear your precious hair gel to prom," she said coldly as she reached the doorway and disappeared in to the hall. Brittany followed her out.
Blaine rolled his eyes and turned away from the door.
Directly into a hug from Rachel.
"Thank you," she kissed his cheek as she pulled away.
Mr. Schu chose that particular moment to walk through the door, whistling a happy song.
"Alright, guys!" he said cheerfully. "Who's got a song for prom to show us?"
BLAINE
When Blaine arrived at Kurt's house to pick him up for prom – they hadn't told Burt or Carole about their anti-prom, so it was important to keep up the pretense that they were heading to McKinley – he felt a flurry of nervous energy in his stomach.
He and Kurt had been in love the previous year. Very much so. But things were so different now. They knew each other so much better. They had experienced so much together. Their relationship was stronger than ever.
Burt answered the door.
"Hey, Blaine," he greeted. He reached out and offered his hand for a handshake. But, when Blaine grasped his hand, Burt yanked him forward. Burt laughed as Blaine stumbled forward into the hug, and Blaine had to laugh too.
"Sorry, kiddo," Burt said as he released Blaine. "Couldn't resist."
Blaine could hear Kurt's voice from the next room, and he felt his heart rate accelerating. He couldn't wait to see what Kurt was wearing this year. He had a feeling it wouldn't be a kilt like the year before – Kurt wouldn't want to look the same – but he knew it would be something different.
"Hey, uh," Burt stopped Blaine as he took a step in the direction of the other room.
Blaine stopped and turned back to face Kurt's father.
"I'm sorry, I've just gotta... do the father thing," Burt said, only a little awkward.
Blaine nodded.
"Not that father thing," Burt amended. "Although, you know, be safe and all that."
Blaine nodded again.
"I just want you to know how grateful Carole and I are for you," Burt said.
Blaine felt a rush of warmth spreading to his face. What?
"Kurt's special," Burt continued. "And I know, I'm his father, so of course I think he's perfect. But he's... he's different. He's so different than I ever imagined 'my son' would be."
Burt clasped a hand on Blaine's shoulder.
"I guess, uh, thanks for 'getting' him," Burt said, his voice suddenly full of emotion. "I know he can be a handful, especially when he's got his sights set on something. Maybe he gets that from me. And sometimes, in the past, it was hard for me to imagine that someone would ever..."
Burt trailed off, unsure of how to explain himself.
"He's everything I ever wanted," Blaine said, hoping that he understood what Burt was trying to say. It was easy to imagine a small-town dad worrying that his gay son might not ever find someone who would love him for everything that he was. Without conditions.
Burt pulled him into another hug, this time much gentler.
"Dad?" Kurt's voice called from the next room. "Where'd you go?"
Burt pulled back from the hug, and Blaine could see all the words he wanted to say in his eyes.
"Your boyfriend's here!" Burt shouted back.
There was a flurry of activity from the other room, and Kurt appeared around the corner.
Blaine felt as if his face might split open from smiling too broadly as he looked at Kurt in his prom outfit. It was casual and fancy all at once. Creative black tie.
"I'll just, uh –" Burt retreated, leaving the two of them alone in the hallway.
Blaine held up the tiny box he was carrying. A boutonnière.
"Oh!" Kurt remembered. "And hold on... I'm missing..."
He disappeared into the other room for a moment, and returned with a small box.
And a top hat.
Blaine laughed as Kurt put the top hat on and moved down the hallway to where Blaine was standing.
"That definitely makes the whole outfit," Blaine complimented.
"I agree," Kurt grinned, and Blaine's knees felt a little weak. Kurt looked so good. And, at the same time, he looked like Kurt.
Blaine couldn't think of words to explain how he was feeling, so he closed the small gap remaining between them to kiss the other boy. Kurt kissed him back, reaching up with his free hand to cup the side of Blaine's face as they kissed. It was such a familiar, warm feeling, and Blaine didn't even realize he had sighed in content until Kurt giggled against his lips and pulled away.
"I think you shrunk a little since last year," Kurt teased as he pulled a boutonnière out of the small box in his hand. It was nearly the same as the ones they had worn the year before, but the flower was white instead of pink.
"I think the top hat is giving you delusions of grandeur," Blaine retorted happily.
"Dad and Carole are going to want to watch us pinning these on," Kurt realized as he looked at the little flower in his hand.
"Wait," Blaine said, reaching out to take the flower and the box out of Kurt's hand in order to replace them with the box Blaine had brought along. "Open this first."
"Is this a boutonnière?" Kurt wondered as he looked at the box. It was too small to hold the kind of flower Kurt had gotten for Blaine.
"Open it, Kurt," Blaine smiled.
Kurt opened the box and reached in to pull out his boutonnière.
"You made this," Kurt breathed. It wasn't a question.
"Yeah," Blaine admitted.
It was made of thick paper. Folded into the shape of a flower.
"I thought, since you kept the one from last year," Blaine explained, "that this would be easier to preserve. And your theme was 'creative black tie', so..."
"I love it," Kurt said, finally taking his eyes off of the flower to look at Blaine. "Thank you."
They wandered into the next room and appeased Burt and Carole with what felt like hundreds of photographs. Pinning the boutonnières on. Together. Individually. With Burt and Carole.
"Okay," Kurt finally put a stop to the photo shoot when they returned from taking "just a few" outside. "We've got to go."
KURT
"I've got the beer," Puck announced as he approached Kurt, Blaine, and Rachel in the hotel parking lot with a box of alcohol in his arms and Becky by his side. He had volunteered to pick up their friend and bring her along.
Rachel looked around briefly, as if she expected the police to swoop in and arrest them all right there for being in the vicinity of alcoholic beverages, and Kurt turned to Blaine.
"Ready?" he smiled.
"Ready," Blaine nodded.
They made their way into the hotel and to the door of their room, and Kurt was excited. This could be fun. And there was no pressure. No fear. Just friends and a safe place where they could enjoy each other's company.
"It's a really good room, so..." Rachel said as she opened the door and switched on the light.
They all admired the room as they walked in. It wasn't anything too fancy, but it was decent. It looked clean, anyway.
"Alright, let the very first annual McKinley anti-prom begin!" Rachel exclaimed.
They all just stood by the door for a moment, unsure of what to do.
"Oh, look!" Kurt broke the awkward silence. "There's chocolates on the pillows!"
He rushed over to the bed.
"We've got room service," Blaine added, picking up the small menu off the table near the door.
"Mini bar!" Becky shouted, heading straight for the little bottles and snacks. "Whoo, nice!"
Kurt sat down on the edge of the bed and bounced up and down a little. The bed wasn't particularly comfortable, but they wouldn't really be using it, anyway.
"So, uh, what should we do now?" Puck asked.
"Duh," Becky replied. "Play strip poker."
She lowered her voice to a whisper. "I brought condoms."
"Becky, Blaine and I are gay, remember?" Kurt reminded her.
"Never stopped me before!" Becky retorted.
"Well, I mean, no matter what, it'll be better than prom," Rachel said.
"Yeah, who wants to be in that smelly old gym, anyway?" Kurt agreed, bouncing on the bed again.
"Prom's a sucker's paradise," Puck added.
"Prom sucks! Let's get wasted!" Becky said loudly before starting up a cheer of excitement.
"Becky!" Rachel addressed the other girl, "Becky, we appreciate your enthusiasm, but will you just keep it down with the shouting?"
"Keep your big honkin' nose out of it, Berry," Becky replied. "Oh, snap!" she taunted, snapping her fingers at Rachel.
Rachel just walked away.
"So," Blaine said, walking over to the bedside table to look at the card with the television channels on it, "I wouldn't mind watching a little TV... um, maybe some Bravo?"
"Dude," Puck disagreed, hurrying over to look over Blaine's shoulder at the list, "it's a hotel. It's gotta be Skinemax."
"We could... put on a fashion show!" Rachel suggested.
"Yeah, let's go all Sound of Music and make some old-timely couture out of the drapes and sheets!" Kurt agreed, jumping off the bed to rush over and grab the curtains to feel what they were made of.
"Too gay," Becky argued.
"I second that," Puck agreed.
Kurt and Blaine exchanged a frustrated glance, and Kurt hated himself as he wondered what the actual prom was like this year.
"Well I– I'd love to show you guys my prom dress," Rachel said hopefully, and Kurt wondered if she had read his mind. "You know, I wouldn't want it to go to a complete waste. It's in my car, I can go get it."
Becky didn't like that idea. "Worst anti-prom ever!" she whined.
"I think that's a great idea, Rachel," Blaine said encouragingly.
Rachel smiled and nodded rapidly. "Okay... okay, I'll go get it..."
She hurried out of the room.
"I need a beer," Puck said, pulling a bottle out of the box he brought along.
"Anyone else?" he offered.
"No, thank you," Blaine declined.
Kurt shook his head no.
"I've got all the alcohol I need right here," Becky said, starting to sift through the mini bar.
"You two really should have dressed up," Kurt scolded Puck and Becky as he returned to his seat on the end of the bed. "When else can you wear a black tie outfit with pizzazz?"
"Hopefully never," Puck said.
Becky just ignored him.
"Alright!" Rachel exclaimed, returning to the room with a large garment bag. "Let me just get ready... and our fashion show can begin!"
She disappeared into the bathroom, and Blaine moved to sit down beside Kurt.
Nobody said anything for a few minutes. Just as the awkwardness was getting unbearable, Rachel's voice floated through the closed bathroom door.
"Kurt?" she called. "Can you come help zip me up?"
Kurt jumped up, happy for something to do.
"Be right back," he said brightly as he hurried past Blaine and slipped into the small bathroom where Rachel was getting dressed.
He helped her fit into her dress, and was opening his mouth to offer to help her fix her hair when she turned and shooed him from the room.
"I want the final result to be a surprise," she teased. She shoved him gently out the door and closed it behind her.
Kurt climbed onto the bed to lean against the headboard. Blaine had turned on the television.
"No funny business, boys," Becky scolded as Blaine started to climb across the bed to sit beside Kurt. "Unless we get to watch."
Kurt and Blaine exchanged a brief glance, and Blaine made the decision to sit on the end of the bed instead of beside Kurt.
Puck stood up and walked over to the mini bar where Becky was organizing everything.
"Touch those Peanut M&Ms and I will end you," Becky threatened, snatching the candy out of Puck's hand as he plucked it out of the basket.
"This is a repeat," Blaine remembered as the show they were watching transitioned into a new episode. "It's the one with the passive-aggressive lesbian and the doggy care."
"I wish Tabitha would take over this anti-prom," Kurt admitted. "Gosh, this sucks."
"Yeah, well..." Blaine said softly.
Kurt looked at Blaine's back and his perfectly gelled hair and felt a rush of regret. He wanted to go to prom with his boyfriend. To show the school that he was proud of who he was. Of who they were together. This was running away.
"If you wanted to go to the prom, I would've gone with you," Kurt admitted.
"I am not going to give in to Brittany's insane ban on hair gel!" Blaine whined, turning off the television as he fell over backward onto the bed. He propped himself up on one arm as he twisted around to look at Kurt. "Freedom to use hair care products? It's is in the Bill of Rights."
"Didn't the Founding Fathers all wear wigs?" Kurt teased gently.
"You haven't seen me without an enormous amount of hair gel in my hair," Blaine said. "It's... it's really bad."
Kurt smiled at him, ready to tell him that he didn't care what Blaine's hair looked like, but they were distracted by a knock at the door.
Becky hurried over to answer the door, assuming that it was the room service she had ordered.
It wasn't room service. It was Finn.
"Hey, Becky," he greeted as he stepped into the room. He had a golden box in his hands. "Where's Rachel?"
"She's been in the bathroom for forty-five minutes," Becky said. "I'm guessing the runs."
It was an exaggeration, but Kurt decided not to correct her. It felt like it had been forty-five minutes.
Blaine sat up, waving unenthusiastically at Finn. Kurt secretly hoped that Finn was here to whisk Rachel off to prom so they would all have an excuse to go. The boredom was getting intolerable.
"Alright!" Rachel suddenly spoke up through the closed bathroom door. "Let's let the anti-prom fashion extravaganza begin!"
She opened the bathroom door, and they got their first look at her all dressed up for prom. Kurt and Blaine exchanged a pleased glance. She looked gorgeous.
"Hi," Finn greeted her.
"W– what are you doing here?" Rachel asked.
"Well," Finn said, "I'll keep it simple. I love you. You're beautiful. Prom sucks without you."
He handed her the gold box – a corsage, Kurt guessed – and they kissed.
"Prom sucks without all you guys," Finn said to the rest of them. "This is the last time we're gonna get to be together like this. I wanna dance with my fiancée. I wanna dance with my friends."
Kurt and Blaine climbed off the bed. It was time to go to prom.
"Well, I'll just pretend to be an ice sculpture if Brittany sees me," Blaine decided as he and Kurt walked out the door and into the hallway, "and then she'll just pass me by."
Kurt didn't realize that Rachel and Finn weren't behind them until he had already pressed the button to call the elevator. He looked to Blaine to see if the other boy knew why Finn and Rachel hadn't followed them out, but Blaine shrugged.
"We'll wait for them by the car," Kurt decided as the bell rang and they stepped into the empty elevator.
Blaine reached out and grabbed the chain around Kurt's neck as soon as the doors slid closed, pulling him in for an enthusiastic kiss. Kurt smiled and kissed him back, happy to be out of the hotel room and on their way to prom.
Blaine released Kurt just in time for the elevator doors to open on the ground floor, and they walked across the lobby and out into the parking lot.
"You're sure you want to do this?" Blaine asked, reaching out to grab one of Kurt's hands as they reached his car. "I understand if you don't want to."
"I want to," Kurt reassured him, squeezing his hand.
"Me too," Blaine agreed.
Kurt and Blaine didn't talk much during the short drive to McKinley. When they arrived at the prom, the parking lot was packed full of cars. They had to park at the very back of the lot and walk to the gymnasium.
Kurt made sure to hold Blaine's hand as they walked between the rows of cars. He wanted to remind Blaine that he was there. This wasn't the Sadie Hawkins dance.
He could tell that Blaine was thinking about it, because Blaine flinched when someone slammed a car door nearby.
"Thanks for coming," Kurt said quietly.
"I'm okay," Blaine replied, answering the underlying question.
"Alright, guys!" Rachel said excitedly as they approached the door. "Here we go... prom time!"
They walked in together, and Kurt was happy to see that their friends seemed glad to see them.
As Brittany approached, Blaine stopped moving, and Kurt realized he was hoping that Brittany wouldn't notice him.
"No, sorry Blaine!" Brittany said. "I said no hair gel, remember? I can totally smell it."
Before Blaine could argue, Santana rushed over and grabbed Brittany to drag her away to the dance floor. Blaine looked devastated.
"You can do this!" Kurt said, reaching over to place a reassuring hand on Blaine's shoulder.
Blaine turned to look at him, and Kurt offered an encouraging smile. Without another word, Blaine turned and left the gymnasium.
BLAINE
Blaine shoved the door to the locker room open with a huff of air. He was grateful that Kurt hadn't followed him; he wanted to be able to at least attempt to get his hair under control before Kurt saw him. Sometimes, if he washed and dried it just right, it looked okay in its natural state. But he had a feeling this wouldn't be one of those times. He didn't even have decent shampoo. Just whatever cheap stuff he had in his locker.
He wished he had thought to wear a hat like Kurt. That would've made everything easier.
Blaine undressed, knowing that a quick shower would be better than attempting to wash his hair in the sink. He'd get water all over his suit.
He hummed along to the music blaring from the gymnasium as he washed all of the gel out of his hair, trying not to think about anything but the task at hand.
When he finished his shower, he tried to dry off his hair without rubbing it very much with the towel. He wasn't particularly successful, so he wrapped the towel around his waist so he could let his hair dry completely before getting back into his suit. He stayed away from the mirrors on the other side of the room.
KURT
"Hey, lookin' good!" Mercedes had to shout at Kurt as he appeared beside her at the front of the crowd near the stage. He tipped his hat at her, and he saw her glance around.
"Where's Blaine?" she asked over the music.
Kurt made a "washing his hair" motion over his head, and Mercedes' eyes widened in understanding.
"You look gorgeous," Kurt complimented.
"Yeah, well," she leaned closer and grabbed his arm, "you're not the only one with someone to impress!" She cast her eyes toward the stage where Sam was singing with the other boys.
Kurt shook his head in amusement. "It's about time!" he shouted in her ear.
She released his arm, and they fell into a comfortable silence, which wasn't really silent at all as they danced along to the music together. When the song ended, Kurt's mind turned to Blaine. He pulled out his phone.
BLAINE
Blaine heard the music in the gymnasium end, and he flopped down onto a bench. He ran his hands nervously through his hair. It was mostly dry.
"I hate Brittany," he mumbled to the empty room.
He stood back up and wandered over to his gym locker to grab some deodorant, rolling his eyes when he had to reach over his bottle of hair gel. Part of him wanted to just leave, but he knew that he needed to be in there when they announced prom queen. For Kurt.
Blaine's phone vibrated in the pocket of his folded pants, and he leaned over to retrieve it and read a text message from Kurt.
Want some help? Or just some company?
Blaine never wanted to see Kurt again in this state. Or, he mentally corrected himself, for Kurt to see him.
NO.
Blaine sent the message and tossed his phone on top of his jacket as he grabbed his pants. Before he had even finished buttoning them, his phone vibrated again.
I can hear you pouting through that one word. Hurry up and get back in here. I want to dance with you.
Blaine smiled a little. He was being ridiculous. He would get dressed and go back in there and dance with Kurt. Nobody but his friends would probably even notice him, anyway. He hadn't been able to think of a song that he wanted to sing – he hadn't thought about it much before they had decided to hold the anti-prom – so he wasn't performing this year.
He quickly finished re-dressing and snatched his phone off the bench to stuff it back into his pocket.
But he made the mistake of glancing at his reflection in one of the mirrors over the sinks just before he made it out of the room.
Blaine stopped abruptly, letting out a groan of frustration. He looked so different. He hated it.
He had been teased about it all through middle school and at his first high school. His hair had been like this the night he had been beaten up at his first dance with another boy.
Fear wormed its way in beside the self-consciousness in Blaine's chest, and he leaned on the sink and stared at himself in the mirror.
"Get a grip," he said to himself.
He released the sink to ruffle his hair, trying to make it look satisfactory. He only succeeded in frustrating himself further when nothing he did made it look any better in his eyes.
Suddenly, the door a few feet away flew open, slamming against the wall, and Blaine was so startled that he tripped and fell backward in his haste to get away from the door. He didn't even feel himself fall into a sitting position on the ground; every ounce of his attention was focused on what was going to come through the door.
Two students nearly fell through the doorway, entangled in each other's arms, lips locked together. Blaine's arms failed him in relief, and he fell all the way over onto his back on the floor.
Somehow, one of the students noticed him lying there. "Hey," she pushed her partner away briefly to speak to Blaine, "are you okay?"
Blaine waved a hand at her as he climbed to his feet, and she dragged the other student away to the back of the locker room. Blaine hopped up onto one of the benches so he could see the entire back of his outfit in the mirror. When he was satisfied that he hadn't ruined his suit, he jumped back to the ground and took a deep breath. It was either stay in the locker room and listen to the two students doing whatever it was that they planned on doing or go back to the prom.
With one more distraught look in the mirror to make sure that his bow tie, at least, looked perfect, Blaine stormed out the door into the hallway. He didn't pause at the door to the gymnasium; he knew that if he lost his momentum he would never walk through the door.
He could see Kurt as soon as the door closed behind him. The top hat stuck out from the crowd, and Blaine thought that maybe the nervousness that he was feeling was also enhancing his senses a little bit. As he made his way through the crowd, he could feel everyone nearby looking at him. He tried to pretend it wasn't happening, but with every step he felt more and more anxious as he realized he had no idea how Kurt was going to react.
Kurt was so into fashion, and was generally brutally honest when it came to issues of style. The rational part of Blaine's mind knew that Kurt wasn't going to suddenly hate him because his hair was all over the place, but the emotional part of his brain was feeding him an almost paralyzing amount of fear that Kurt was going to react negatively.
Blaine's brain was paying just enough attention to allow him to glare at Mike – who looked shocked at the state of Blaine's hair – as he walked by, and suddenly he was standing in front of Kurt.
KURT
Kurt looked at his phone. Blaine had been gone for nearly fifteen minutes. Kurt turned to look toward the door that Blaine had used to exit the gym.
"Give him a minute, man," Mike said as he passed by, "Blaine takes his hair care very seriously."
"He's going to look adorable," Tina said. "I mean, we've seen his curly hair before. What's the big deal?"
Kurt shrugged. "He says it'll be different without any product."
Mike rolled his eyes and the two of them departed as Mercedes hurried over.
"Here he comes!" Mercedes squealed excitedly. Kurt shushed her with his hands and shoved her away, knowing that Blaine wasn't going to want an audience of friends right away. As Mercedes rushed off, Kurt hoped she wasn't going to find a group of their friends to bring back to gawk at Blaine.
He glanced around, trying to find Blaine in the crowd, but he didn't notice the other boy until he was standing right in front of him.
"Oh my dear god," Kurt blurted out before he could stop himself.
Blaine's hair in its natural state was big and curly. He looked different. Younger.
Blaine tried to look optimistic, but his face quickly succumbed to his nervousness. Kurt was so shocked that he didn't know what to say.
"Don't make fun of the new kid with the bad 'fro," Brittany was suddenly at his side. "That's hair bullying."
"That's not a new kid, that's Blaine without hair gel," Kurt managed.
"Is it really that bad?" Blaine said miserably.
"Yeah, you're mister broccoli head," Brittany said gravely.
"It's not that bad," Kurt corrected. He knew that part of their surprise was the result of the contrast to Blaine's usual look. He just looked different. Not worse.
"Yeah, it is. It's really bad," Brittany said. Blaine reached up, extremely uncomfortable, to touch his hair.
"And you made your point," Brittany said. "I abused my power as president. But, to help save the prom, and to keep people from turning to stone when they look at you, I'll give you special permission to wear hair gel immediately."
The relief was clear on Blaine's face, and Kurt felt his first moment of real guilt about how much he had dismissed Blaine's worries about his hair. It seemed so trivial to Kurt and the rest of their friends, but for Blaine this was a big deal.
Suddenly, Principal Figgins' voice filled the room. "Quiet please, children."
Kurt turned to glance at the stage, and when he turned back to ask Blaine to stay close to him, Blaine was panicking.
"I'll be right back," Blaine managed, already moving toward the door.
"Don't you dare," Kurt rushed forward to stop Blaine before he could get away.
He put his arms on Blaine's biceps to make sure he was paying attention. "I love finally getting to see the real you," he explained. "The man without the product."
Kurt shook Blaine a little bit. "And I want everyone here to know just how proud I am of my brave, handsome, bushy-haired boyfriend."
He knew as soon as he finished that the words had really reached Blaine. The gratitude and affection on Blaine's face told him more than any words could have.
BLAINE
Blaine felt overwhelmed with relief. Brave, handsome, bushy-haired boyfriend. Kurt wasn't disappointed or unhappy with his crazy hair. He suddenly felt much more confident. Kurt grinned at him.
"Come on, Borat," Kurt let one of his hands drop from Blaine's arm to grab his hand, and Blaine couldn't hold back a grin as Kurt dragged him toward the front of the room where things were being prepared for the coronation of prom king and queen.
As Figgins made an announcement and the prom court candidates were called to the stage, Blaine nudged Kurt's shoulder.
"You okay?" Blaine asked.
"To be determined," Kurt admitted.
"I would like to invite last year's queen – sassy male student Kurt Hummel – to crown this year's winners." Principal Figgins motioned in Kurt's direction.
Kurt gently pulled his hand out of Blaine's, and Blaine could see that he was steeling himself for possible humiliation.
"Go for it," Blaine said, clasping his hands around Kurt's shoulders momentarily as Kurt started the walk to the stage.
KURT
Kurt tried not to let his mind get carried away as he walked up to the stage. This wasn't last year. A spotlight fell on him as he moved to stand behind the Principal Figgins, and he blinked at the sudden bright light.
Principal Figgins didn't waste any time. "And this year's prom king is..."
Kurt wasn't particularly nervous about this part. He wouldn't be voted prom king.
As Finn's name was called, Kurt was pleasantly surprised. At least now, if he was voted prom queen again, he would just dance with Finn. He could handle that.
After he stepped forward to place the crown on Finn's head, Kurt patted his step-brother's back encouragingly before backing away to wait for the prom queen announcement. He was happy for Finn. His step-brother had struggled with his place in the school hierarchy every since Kurt had known him. And, even though he might not always admit it, Kurt knew that Finn wanted to be liked. It gave him confidence.
Kurt looked for Blaine in the crowd, and when he found the other boy among all the other students he was not surprised to find that Blaine was looking straight back at him. Kurt made a mental note to tell Blaine later how much it helped to have him there for support. Finn would dance with him without a fuss, but Blaine would want to dance with him afterward. As he looked at Blaine's unruly hair, Kurt thought back to the tidy young man asking him to dance at prom the year before. Something about being wanted, no matter what everyone else in the room thought, made everything seem so much more manageable.
"And the winner for prom queen is..."
Kurt looked at Blaine's face, full of encouragement, and he felt ready for anything.
"Students," Principal Figgins announced, "for the second year in a row we have prom anarchy."
All of Kurt's rationality and confidence disappeared so fast he couldn't even remember what it had felt like. He had to look away from Blaine to look at Figgins, unable to believe what was happening.
Things had been better this year. Maybe it was the exit of his main tormentor, maybe it was the extra confidence Kurt had gained as he matured, or maybe it was just that the students had gotten bored of shoving him around. But things had been less intense for him so far this year. He and Blaine, still nervous about possible incidents, were careful not to be too affectionate at school. But, other than some lewd or otherwise hateful comments or looks, there hadn't been many incidents this year.
Kurt wanted to tear all his hair out as he remembered that the same thing had happened the year before. The lead up to junior prom had been some of the calmest weeks of his high school life. Because the student body had been planning their cruel joke.
"Receiving the majority of write-in votes," Principal Figgins continued, and Kurt felt like he was having an out-of-body experience, "I would like to welcome on the stage... Miss Rachel Berry."
An avalanche of surprise and relief washed over Kurt.
It wasn't him. He was safe.
It was Rachel.
He was grateful that Figgins had called his friend's name. It gave him something to focus on instead of how intensely his knees were shaking. Rachel looked shocked, but also pleased, as she moved through the crowd to the front of the room. As she climbed the stairs to the stage and Kurt approached with her tiara, they locked eyes for a moment. Kurt saw the uncertainty in her eyes. "Just smile and breathe," he instructed as he put the tiara on her head. She reached up to adjust it, and Kurt thought there was probably only a fifty percent chance that she had heard him at all.
Kurt stepped back to his place behind Finn, and smiled as he thought about how this prom could now be an entirely happy memory. Finn and Rachel were prom king and queen – something that was sure to give both of them a confidence boost after all the drama they had been through in the past few months – and Blaine was here. And there was no practical joke. No hateful message. For once, the student body had actually done something nice. Kurt wasn't sure what to make of their write-in campaign for Rachel, but he didn't really care why they had done it.
As Figgins announced the first dance of the prom king and queen, Kurt stepped quickly forward to take Finn and Rachel's scepters. He smiled briefly at his step-brother before hurrying over to hop off the side of the stage to return to the crowd and find Blaine. He slipped the scepters under one of the tables; he would return for them later. Or tell Finn and Rachel where he had hidden them.
He snuck up behind Blaine, who was watching Finn and Rachel dance, and couldn't resist ruffling Blaine's hair from behind as a greeting. Blaine jumped, but smiled as Kurt shoved his way in beside him to watch Finn and Rachel.
"Hey," Kurt said, nudging Blaine's arm with his elbow.
"Hey," Blaine echoed happily.
"That was scary," Kurt admitted.
Blaine turned his head to look at him. "Well, if you can't have another crown, I guess that top hat will do."
Kurt giggled, happy that now they could just enjoy the prom together. They both turned their attention back to Finn and Rachel for a moment.
"Do you think people voted for her as a joke?" Blaine asked quietly.
Kurt frowned. "I doubt it. Or they would've voted her prom king or something. But I can't say I understand why this bunch of popularity-obsessed students voted for her enough for her to actually win."
"Well," Blaine said, and Kurt turned to see Blaine happily watching Finn and Rachel, "I'm glad she didn't have to watch Finn dance with Quinn."
"Hmmm," Kurt agreed.
Quinn, on the stage singing with Santana, caught Kurt's eye, and to his – and everyone else's – surprise, he watched as she pulled herself to her feet. Santana quickly stepped over to make sure she was steady, and the room burst into applause.
He turned to look at Blaine, and Blaine leaned in to give him an eskimo kiss.
After everyone paused to watch Quinn for a moment, a few couples started to move into the open space to dance together.
BLAINE
Kurt cleared his throat loudly and made a show of standing up as straight as he could as he extended his hand so Blaine could see it.
"May I have this dance?"
Blaine felt so many emotions at once that he couldn't even laugh. He was pretty sure that he was smiling like an idiot, though, which he hoped would make the same point. He reached out and grasped Kurt's hand, and Kurt yanked him into his arms.
They danced for so many songs that Blaine lost count. Then they separated so they could each dance with their friends for a little while – Blaine danced with Quinn. Kurt danced with Mercedes. They both danced with Tina and Rachel. Finally, they went over to have their photograph taken on the mechanical dinosaur ride that Brittany had rented for the evening.
It was the fun, carefree evening that both Blaine and Kurt had dreamed of but had never imagined would actually happen.
As they walked across the parking lot to Blaine's car at the end of the event, Blaine turned to look at Kurt just as Kurt turned to look at him. They both laughed.
"Want to go back to the hotel?" Blaine suggested casually.
"No," Kurt disagreed as they reached the car. "Rachel and Finn both have keys to that room."
He reached into a pocked on the inside of his vest and pulled out a hotel key card.
"Let's go to this room instead," he said, his eyes twinkling with amusement as Blaine's mouth fell open in surprise.
"Okay," Blaine agreed.
The room was at the same hotel as where they had held the anti-prom ("just in case, for some unforeseeable reason, my dad decides to come looking for us," Kurt explained), but the room was a floor below the suite Rachel had booked.
As soon as they were alone in their hotel room, Blaine tugged on the key around Kurt's neck to pull him over to the bed.
"What is this?" he asked.
"It's a key," Kurt teased.
They both burst into laughter. Which quickly transitioned into attempting to simultaneously kiss and tug each other's clothes off without ripping anything.
"Can I put my hands in your hair?" Kurt asked breathlessly.
Blaine pulled back just enough to raise an eyebrow at the other boy.
"Please," Kurt whined.
Blaine nodded his consent, and Kurt tangled both of his hands into Blaine's hair and crushed their lips together again. It was a strange sensation to have Kurt tugging on his hair, but Kurt's grip was loose enough that it didn't hurt. Blaine hummed his approval, which just seemed to excite Kurt even more because suddenly he was pulling too hard.
"Ouch," Blaine mumbled against Kurt's lips.
"Oh!" Kurt gasped, embarrassed, as he quickly let go.
Blaine pushed Kurt back a little so he could look at him.
"Just... gently," he suggested.
Kurt blushed. "Sorry," he mouthed silently.
Blaine just laughed and reached out to tug playfully on Kurt's hair until Kurt gave in and returned to kissing him.
Prom again! Thank goodness it was a happier affair for Kurt this time around! And how adorable was Blaine with his crazy hair, right? :)
Up next... 'Props'!