ELLIOTT

When Elliott got Kurt's text, he immediately volunteered his flat, despite the chaos there (and in his mind). Even though he had only seen Kurt the evening before, he was already longing to see him again - something he would have found normal if it hadn't been for Dani and Santana's suggestions that there might be something more to that.

He wished they had never mentioned it. Now, he couldn't stop thinking about the possibility of actually becoming more than a friend to Kurt, and it was making him police and analyze every single interaction he had with him. Elliott wasn't sure if they'd had some sort of 'moment' in the changing booth, but he knew he had suddenly felt awkward and self-conscious where he normally wouldn't have. It had also made him wish he still had the funds for yoga class. Maybe, after he had sold some of his storage stuff. Until then, there were plenty of exercises he could do in his living room without going to a studio. Or maybe he should finally check out the NYU gym. He was already paying for it with his university fees anyway. Elliott used to feel quite satisfied with his body, but after seeing those pictures of the Spanish teacher...

Kurt arrived just after he had cleared away the dishes.

"Something smells good in here," Kurt said, inhaling deeply as he shrugged out of his jacket.

"It's just curry," Elliott said dismissively, but he felt pleased. Rachel always complained about the smell in his flat. "I have some left-over if you're hungry? Dani just texted that she'll be here in about thirty minutes."

"God, yes. Feed me. I feel like I've been camped out in that Round Room for days," Kurt replied gratefully.

Elliott smiled and grabbed a bowl from his cupboard. As he started filling it with rice and spicy coconut sauce, he looked over his shoulder at Kurt. "So, how did it go?"

"Good, I think," Kurt replied, walking through to the living room. "Blaine didn't like it, obviously, but I think Madame- hey, what happened in here?"

Elliott looked up from the bag of cashews he was sprinkling over Kurt's bowl, and saw he was looking at the boxes and the mess in the corner.

"Oh. Well, I told you I was closing my storage box, didn't I? This is the stuff I still need to sell."

"Wow." Kurt walked up to a crate of books. "May I?"

"Help yourself," Elliott said. He finished Kurt's bowl with some parsley and walked over to join him in the living room. "Most of it's my dad's," he commented. "At the time, I think I just kept everything because he spent so long collecting it all, you know? It seemed wrong to throw it away. But I can't keep it all here. Maybe I can find someone to give them a new home."

Kurt was looking at him with his head tilted sideways and a pensive look in his eyes. "Were you close?"

Elliott smiled. "He was my number one fan. He came to every single performance I ever did, well, you know, until he couldn't anymore. And he always encouraged me to learn new things, whether it was piano, or singing, or guitar- That reminds me…" He handed Kurt the bowl of food and reached behind a stack of boxes. He took out a sturdy canvas guitar case.

"This is for you," he announced.

Kurt stared at him with a spoon halfway to his mouth.

"It's my practise guitar. It's old, but in good shape. I put new strings on it. You said you wanted to learn, right? And we never got round to buying you a new one. I figured you could start on this, and see if you like it, and then you can always buy your own once you know what you need."

"Are you serious?" Kurt asked.

Elliott shrugged. "Yeah. It was just sitting in storage, I mean, I got my 12-string and the Fender… I'd much rather give it to you than to some snotty kid on ebay who'll get tired of it two weeks after christmas."

"Can I open it?" Kurt asked, putting his bowl down and wiping his hands on his jeans.

"Of course." Elliott handed him the case and they sat down next to each other on the couch.

"Ah, I used to have a sticker on it, right there," Elliott remarked as Kurt lifted the guitar from the bag, and he pointed at the lower bout. "It didn't come off cleanly, but I was afraid solvents would damage the finish. It doesn't stick." He ran his fingers over it and shrugged awkwardly. Giving Kurt his old guitar had seemed like a good idea at first, but somehow, as Kurt held it, Elliott suddenly felt it looked old and dingy. "It's cool if you don't want it," he added.

"Are you crazy? I love it!" Kurt exclaimed. "It has character." He pulled it into his lap and placed his fingers on the strings. Biting his lip, he strummed it carefully. Not much sound came out.

Elliott chuckled. "You need to press harder here-" he pressed down Kurt's fingers on the neck of his guitar. And then-" He strummed the strings with his own hand so sound reverberated through the room.

Kurt scrunched up his nose and slipped his hand from under Elliott's to look at the small indentations on his fingers. "I forgot how much that hurt."

"Only at first," Elliott said.

Kurt put his fingers back and tried again, changing his hand to go through the few grips and positions he knew. Elliott watched him quietly for a moment, then rose to pick up his own guitar. Already, he felt less awkward. Having a guitar in his lap always calmed him down and brought him back to earth.

"Your food - is gonna get - coooold," he sang, playing a riff.

Kurt grinned, and carefully put his guitar down to pick up the bowl again. "Play me some dinner music," he commanded. "And slowly, so I can watch how you do it."

Elliott deliberated for a moment, and finally chose a slow instrumental folk song. As he fingerpicked his way through it, he was very aware of Kurt's eyes on him. But behind his guitar and the music, Elliott felt okay. This was his forte, after all. The more he played, the more relaxed he became, until it felt less like an audition for a rockstar boyfriend and more like a regular jam session with a friend. By the time Dani arrived, Kurt had finished his food and had picked up his guitar as well, tentatively trying to follow Elliott's fingers on the chords. He was a quick study and an excellent mimic, and they managed to play a few slow-paced songs together, with Dani joining them on Elliott's keyboard.

"This was exactly what I needed today," Kurt said happily, putting the guitar down after it had gotten too late to continue. Elliott had very strict neighbours. Kurt carefully put the guitar back in the bag. "Are you really sure about this?" he asked Elliott once more. "I could also leave it here and just practise at your place."

Elliott shook his head. "Nah, just take it."

Dani gave him a scheming look.

"Uh," Elliott added quickly, "I mean, you're more than welcome here any time-"

Dani nodded encouragingly.

"-but the whole idea was to unclutter this place, so…"

Dani rolled her eyes.

"Thanks again," Kurt said, seemingly oblivious to the looks exchanged between his band. "I'll take good care of it." He hitched the bag onto his shoulder and hugged them both goodnight.

As soon as he was out of the door, Elliott turned to Dani.

"Can you just… not do that?" he asked.

"What? I'm only trying to help." Dani shrugged.

"Yeah, well, don't," Elliott snapped. "Either it will happen naturally or it won't. I don't need you girls judging my every move every time I hang out with him."

He immediately felt sorry for his tone and sighed. "I'm sorry. I just… want it to be right, you know? I want him to want me for me - not because he's lonely or because he feels he doesn't have a choice in the matter."

Dani frowned. "That, right there," she gestured at the couch she had been sitting on, "was me reminding you that he has a choice. A myriad of choices, like, more than half of NYADA probably."

Elliott shook his head. "I know that, but he doesn't. His ex spent years conditioning him to the thought that he was the only one who'd ever be interested in him. It takes more than a few weeks to come down from that. I don't want him to choose me because he's afraid Blaine was right. He has been pressured into relationships enough as it is."

"So… you're saying you want him to realize the world's his oyster before you ask him out?" Dani asked.

"Sort of, I guess," Elliott said hesitatingly. "But I also don't want him to get hurt on the rebound." He sighed. "It'd be so much easier if he wasn't my best friend."

Dani gave him a sympathetic look. "You'll figure it out. I'll stop pestering you about it, then. I'll tell Santana to cut it out, too, but I can't make any promises."

"Oh, I know. But it'll help to have you on my side."

Dani gave him the thumbs up and held up her empty curry bowl for a refill.