“Kidding, Blaine. Kidding,” he nodded. Leaning in to peck him on the lips he shook his head whilst laughing. Sebastian looked down and nodded. This was one of the very few times that anyone had expressed any compassion to him. Of course his parents had but moments with them were few and far in between. They worked a lot and he was quite the lone wolf. “Yes, that was extremely corny but I loved it,” he smiled.
Looking over to the wall and back at Blaine he raised an eyebrow. “How ‘bout we get a few pillows and lay down and talk by the fireplace? I’m a bit cold and well, my neck hurts like a motherfucker sooooo…” he chuckled. The thought of the heat on his back was almost paradisal.
Blaine felt his cheeks explode with heat at the peck. It was such a small gesture that lasted a millisecond but held so much affection inside it that he had to look down between them before he could properly catch a breath. Only after he was sure he was breathing right did Blaine look up and meet Sebastian’s green eyes that always pinched together in the sweetest way when he smiled like that. Did the other boy have any idea how innocent he could look when he was stripped bare of all the snark and cannon fodder sarcasm or perverted comments? No.
Thing was? Blaine didn’t dare tell him because he knew that if he ever did? He might not ever get to see that Sebastian again. Blaine laughed and shrugged in a small streak of embarrassment that faded into a hum. “I’m glad you did. I can be pretty corny if you haven’t noticed,” his nose scrunched. Taking in a slow breath as he looked at the fireplace–Blaine hesitated for only a moment before he brushed his palms against his knees and stood. “Sure. Let me go get pillows and blankets from my room. You can start the fire if you want. Everything’s right there.” Off he went after a backwards step or two and a pivot on bare feet.
He breaths deep, sighing heavily with his exhale. “Yeah.” he shakes his head a little and presses the heels of his hands into his eyes. He’s embarrassed, honestly, on top of coming down from the dream. He shouldn’t be having nightmares at all. It was ridiculous. Some men go off to war and don’t have PTSD but Kurt? He was jumped and his paranoia is invading his sleep. In his defense, he was being watched whenever he went out. It justified some of it but not all, he thinks. Ridiculous.
He props himself up with his hands behind himself and turns his gaze to the ceiling. “I’m so tired of this.” He whispers softly. “So goddamn tired… They follow me. When I go out at night. They’re part of the same bullshit crowd as me, and just stare for a while.” He drinks more lately so he can still enjoy himself.
Blaine pushes himself back so he’s sitting upright and using his headboard as something to lean against. Concern fills his gaze as he watches Kurt struggling so hard. His heart goes out to him and even though they’ve only really known each other for a short amount of time? What he has seen of Kurt and got to know about him? Made Blaine want to make everything okay for him though he had no idea how or where to even start. Opening up his house to him whenever he needed was at least something he could do. But he wanted to do more.
Especially seeing how exhausted Kurt was and how much this was eating at him. “Kurt? You know you’re safe here, right? I know it’s hard to let it go but you can do that while you’re here if you can. You deserve some rest. I get it if you can’t.” His concern turned into confusion when Kurt admitted his attackers were following him. “They are,” he asked lowly and frowned. “What do you mean they’re part of the same crowd as you? Were they once friends of yours?”
“I came to apologize on behalf of us.” Nick began, when he entered Blaine’s hospital room. He didn’t expect a peep out of Blaine, but he still wanted to make things right even if the others didn’t exactly agree with him. They had just left McKinley after the confrontation with the other New Directions. Nick informed the other Warblers that he would return before curfew, Sebastian of course put his foot down but honestly he didn’t care, Blaine was his friend. And he had to make things right, there was hopefully a chance. “I had no idea he put rock salt in that slushie. We all had no idea.” He told him as a tear fell down his cheek. Things should not be like this. He was a mess, everybody was a mess but Nick was the only one who cared enough to take the initiative. He was happy that there was nobody in the room for this, he didn’t exactly want an audience.
Blaine could barely talk Kurt into leaving when his father came to pick him up. Only after reassuring his boyfriend repeatedly while high as a kite–a feat that deserved some sort of credit that he was able to make a solid case while feeling like he was floating on cloud..er..twenty–did Kurt agree to go get some sleep. A out of it as Blaine was? He couldn’t make himself do the same unless he couldn’t fight the fog floating through his brain. Now that he was alone? His mind was too busy with thoughts about the Warblers to drift off. –What happened to them?– Thinking that he never knew Sebastian was hitting home hard. Wondering how he could have been so blind to someone who he once thought so much about as a friend was one thing. But the others? Blaine ended up sitting in the bed with his fingers laced together, biting his lip and trying not to cry because it hurt too much as he tried to figure out the answer. –None of them even tried to help.– Hearing someone coming into the room–Blaine turned his head so he could see who. “Nick?” There was no hiding his surprise. Giving no pause–Nick tried his best to explain. Confirming Blaine’s suspicions about who did it didn’t make him feel better. Only worse. Blaine’s heart sank even further at the sight of him crying. “Nick,” he repeated himself in a slow whisper. “It’s–Please. Don’t cry. Come here. Sit down. Let’s talk. Are you okay?”
For the time being, ruling the Warblers was Hunters only taste of reality. Sure, he was the cruel && ruthless villain to most people once he put on that blazer — but that didn’t make him love it any less. An aggressive personality didn’t always have to mean he wasn’t happy. Only now with Blaine back, where would that leave him? Once upon a time he would of considered the team player role, but now? No, he’d lost too much now to let go of this too. He would be willing to set aside his differences, in hopes that they could at least get along. Just as long as Blaine doesn’t try to take over. His classic smirk took up half his face as he tried to remain calm, && confident. “Great.” The word was drawn out, lingering as his feet took him towards the Lima Bean, staying at a pace just a step or two ahead of Blaine. Just how he always liked it. “So you’re back now. Permanently?” No reason to waste time beating around the bush.
Stuck in place for a beat or two as he tried to find the willpower to have this conversation he knew would eventually have to happen but didn’t expect it to be today–Blaine watched Hunter’s retreat and rubbed his neck. Best to get it over with. Because he already had a gut instinct how this was going to pan out. Hunter might’ve wanted him here and been a key player in nudging Sebastian to convince him to return. He had no idea that it worked–Sebastian was sworn to secrecy about Blaine’s decision in case he changed his mind. From what Blaine observed about him so far and through sidelong glances during their meeting? Blaine was expecting him to want to get a few things out in the clear. –And he could only imagine what ‘those things’ were. Trying to be optimistic–he hurried to catch up to him side by side and nodded as they fell into step with one another. “Yes. I’m back. Permanently. I guess I should thank you for your help in that decision.” Blaine could play nice. Hunter did deserve some credit and they could be friends if Hunter didn’t try to do anymore James Bond villain tactics against Blaine’s other friends.. Could be being the key words. “I’m really happy to be here.”
“That’s a strange mix of compliment and insult for one person,” he grinned. A small laugh left him while his head rested on the back of the couch. Looking at Blaine he reached out to take his hands. “I am now, yeah. This is one of the first few moments where I haven’t felt so shitty on the inside. Thank you, Blaine,” his words were soft spoken. His heart was slowly opening up to someone else. It was a scary sensation but he was tired of fighting it. Something good was coming into his life, and he wouldn’t let go.
“How about you though? Are you doing okay?” he asked. Looking at Blaine was like seeing him for the first time. Sebastian scooted slightly closer to him. Breathing slowly, he began to run his fingers over Blaine’s hand. It was incessant and he didn’t quite realize what he was doing. There was a subtle look of happiness.
“Sorry. I meant the compliment part but not the backhanded insult that came with it,” Blaine spoke just as softly as Sebastian. After weeks of feeling strung out and having his mind race at the worst times? Steady and quiet was too nice to ruin. Letting his hands be gathered up–he inched closer on instinct like Sebastian’s gravity was pulling him in. Oh, one touch shouldn’t feel that good but it did and he didn’t want to let go. “Me, too.” Careful. He’d be careful. So neither one of them got hurt again. But turning this small amount of peace away was just something he couldn’t do.
“Me? I’m much better now.
I’ve been wracking my brain trying to figure out how I could let that happen and almost lose you. I know you and me are–that–this is new but I meant what I said in my texts. You are too important to let go. Even if you don’t believe that. You are.” Their closeness and the soothing feeling of fingers against the back of his hand lulled his eyes closed for a moment. “Now that we’re okay? I’m okay,” he smiled embarrassedly, “Did that sound as corny as I think it did?”
So far it seemed like the two of them were both stumbling over their words, and given their situation it wasn’t all that surprising. Granted, the speedster had also agreed to doing this– although it still didn’t stop him from feeling nervous about it nevertheless. When he had finally spotted Blaine, and settled next to him. His first thought was that this guy was rather cute, and the bowtie thing just added to it in a way. While alcohol might not have any affect on him, that didn’t mean Barry wouldn’t mind a taste. “Sure, a drink sounds good,” he replied with a grin. Although if the other ended up getting drunk, there’s no way Barry would go further than talking though. He’s not an ass. “I could start out asking if you come here often, but that sounds corny, and a pretty bad pick up line,” he lightly joked. Barry ordered a drink for himself, getting it a few moments later, and took a sip. His eyes looking Blaine over, he had tried to do is discreetly, although he got the feeling that the other might have taken notice of it. “I… have to admit I was kind of worried coming here,” he supplied as he chuckled lightly. “This is my first time doing something like this,and you can probably tell.” Barry uttered, rubbing the back of his head a little, and messing with his own hair. The speedster continued to smile, although a little more subtle. “But— kind of glad I came here actually.”
“Great. Great. A drink would be,” he repeated the word again but catching himself using great a third time midway through made the less than a second it took to finish it feel like a small eternity wrapped up in the ‘t’ sound of–, “great!” Oh boy. Blaine palmed over his mouth quickly jerked a kid-caught-with-his-hand-in-the-cookie-jar smile in place after Barry managed to save himself from his own blunder by easing into a joke. Why couldn’t he have done that?! –You’ve got to be kidding me. Am I that bad at this? Don’t answer. And stop talking to yourself!– “Bad pick up lines are the best. You have to admit the cheesier they are? The better. Especially those ‘fell from heaven’ ones? Golden,” he grinned curiously as the other seemed to watch him more closely. Barry might be thinking he noticed–and he did–but not in the way most people would connect two and two together. Give him a check out? He’s suddenly sitting there wondering if he was going to–or did–blow this even harder than he thought. Then–suddenly–he notices the nervous way Barry’s rubbing his neck and messing with his hair. Holy crap? Barry was as nervous as he was? Was it horrible that he felt relieved and even began to talk easier? “It’s my first time, too,” he admitted lowly. “I think I only had the nerve to do it because I was genuinely curious if you knew it was there. And–and I,” he changed the route of what he was about to say and jumped to–. “I’m glad you did, too.” His drink was mostly ice but tasted he drank it anyway. “What do you do, Barry? You know–other than aspiring bathroom graffiti artist?” Oh! A joke! See? Maybe be could do this!
“You haven’t kissed many guys? I’m surprised ‘cause you seemed…experienced,” Puck quickly admitted, clearing his throat and looking away for a moment. He’d been with a lot of girls and knew the difference between experienced and inexperienced chicks. He was glad that Blaine understood his situation. He was one of the most popular guys at McKinley. If anyone found out about his drunken make-out session with Blaine, his reputation would be ruined. There had been some rumors about Finn and him being a couple but ever since Finn had started dating Rachel, the rumors had died down. “Yeah, you guys aren’t that bad. Compared to Vocal Adrenaline, The Warblers are saints. I’ve never worried that you were trying to sabotage us. You just don’t seem like that kind of dude.”
Blaine gave Puck a puzzled look that was broken up by an embarrassed laugh. “Yeah–no. I haven’t. Thanks though,” the last two words lifted in pitch to the point where they nearly sounded like a question. He stopped himself from adding in some embarrassedly nervous joke like he must be a natural because it–technically–wasn’t only one of their first kisses with a guy. Who wants to admit that their first kiss might’ve just been by planting one on a straight guy while drunk? Absolutely nobody. That’s who. Definitely–not him. The entire situation was awkward enough. Why mix that into it? Some might say Blaine wasted it. Blaine couldn’t bring himself to feel about it that way. Regretting it down to his bones now or not? He wanted to kiss Puck. Even if the end result was a huge oopsie that sober Blaine was–no doubt–going to want to smack himself upside the head for. Back to the conversation! Blinking out of his haze–Blaine shrugged and snuggled deeper into his corner of the couch until he was a ball. Knees to his chest and arms around his shins. “Wouldn’t say we’re saints but in comparison to Vocal Adrenaline? Most people are. Thank you for not seeing me as a threat. You have no idea how huge of a relief that is.” –In more ways than one, I guess.–
Shit. This wasn’t how the evening was supposed to go. Kurt looked up at Blaine from where he was sat on the floor and felt an embarrassed blush rise on his cheeks. This didn’t look bizarre at all… “Um..” His eyes flickered between his roommate and the still burning feather between his fingers- Kurt blew out that flame first, followed by the candle.
Thank god he wasn’t doing anything actually important…
“I’m- it’s nothing! Really just something to um…” Nope, no excuses come to mind. An odd smelling candle sure, but using it to burn things, the straw sitting beside him waiting to be added to the flame, the little white notebook open with instructions, not so much. “I got nothing.” His shoulders dropped and he sighed. Kurt started to pick up his supplies, nerves just concealed while he pulls out the drawer under his bed, moves the folded blanket sitting on top to reveal the rest of his various herbs and candles and rocks, and puts away what can be used later.
Obviously he walked in at the wrong time. Granted, when you live in a dorm full of boys walking in at the wrong time usually meant a much more embarrassing situation. Not that it ever happened to him. –It didn’t.– But this wasn’t so much as an ‘embarrassing’ situation than it was a hellishly awkward one. Blaine was curious to say the absolute least. He couldn’t stop glancing from Kurt to the various items. Or smelling the strange scent in the air.
All this time Blaine thought Kurt was into weird incense. Or was trying to make his own oils to wear. Nothing that ever stood out enough to hold his attention. By now, he was used to the faint scent lingering now and then. It wasn’t unpleasant. He liked it. Just never would have connected the dots in the way that he was now.
Kurt’s reaction made Blaine’s heart sink. The last thing he wanted was for Kurt to be embarrassed of who he was. Or what he found interesting. Lifting a hand–he motioned for him to stop. “You don’t have to quit. I can go. I–What were-? Sorry–. None of my business.”
“Blaine! Do you really think this is a good idea?” Jane hissed to the older Warbler as the two of them walked down the corridor in Dalton Academy. She was genuinely worried right now because this was after curfew and all the rooms were locked. There were tons of other chances to actually sing together and Jane didn’t actually want to push it.
Her hand touched the boy’s arm trying to get him to stop picking the lock. “Blaine! You do realize that they’ll be thinking of any opportunity to kick me off the Warblers and if we get caught this is sure reason. I’d be putting a bad name for sneaking around Dalton late at night.”
“No, Jane, I don’t think this is a good idea. I think this is a great idea. Huge difference there,” he grinned as he finished leading Jane down the dark hallway with only the moonlight shining in through large floor to ceiling stained glass windows and sconces shining amber in their little crannies to light the way. Not that Blaine needed them. He could find his way to where they were going in pitch black dark if he needed to. The mischievous glint in his eye said he meant every word he giddily whispered back.
“Listen,” he kept working on the lock not mentioning the fact that he had a key. Why? Blaine was just in the right mood to see if he ‘still had it’. His tongue stuck between his lips and a determined flinch of his jaw in concentration later? When the lock gave with a feather light click–he grinned the grin of a person on the receiving end of a one sided joke. “If we get caught–I’ll take the blame and say it was my idea. Deal?” The door opened with a whine of metal against metal. “If they’re going to make it difficult for you–then I’m going to give you all the advantage that I can. Sure it might be cheating but—in this case? Cheating is a relative term that I am choosing to ignore,” his hand gestured into the dark room, “Ladies first.”
Mason stared at Blaine, who was slightly blurry- which was weird. Mason had never needed glasses. Man, that was going to suck if suddenly he needed them. He reached out to the other male and clung to the man’s arm cautiously- a bit now nervous at this. First time clubbing was now suddenly going to become last time clubbing, or that was how Mason was vowing in his head now.
“I just said I didn’t feel good Blaine. Like, I want to go back to my apartment.”
There was a pause from the taller male as he looked around. Where the hell did he even live from here? Looking around the club- Mason dug his nails into Blaine, feeling even more terrified now.
“Blaine, wh– what is going on?”
Unable to hear Mason trying to get his attention the first time over the volume of the music–Blaine gave him a curious look and didn’t really like what he saw when he studied him close. He couldn’t help the ‘are you okay’ that followed. Honestly–Mason didn’t look all that great. When a hand clutched his arm–Blaine’s concern only worsened and he quickly curled his fingers around a slender wrist. Was he going to get sick?
“Okay. Sure. Let’s get out of here..,” Blaine stopped when Mason paused and instinctively followed the other man’s glance around the club wondering what he was looking for. There wasn’t anything to find–probably for Mason–not even his bearings.
A sharp breath cut through his lips when fingernails bit into his skin but he didn’t do anything to remove them as Mason when from lost to obviously afraid. Did someone put something in his drink? Blaine’s concern tripled at the thought. “Hey? Just breathe for me okay? Let me get you out of here. I’ll page an Uber and we’ll get you back to my place faster than yours.”
“Come on. Let’s go. Mason? What were you drinking?”
pianokeysandbowties 