New York, You're Perfect

Chapter Nineish

                   Three weeks later and they were walking hand-in-hand through the crowded Ohio airport. Kurt’s face was pale, and he’d grown steadily quieter as their plane neared it’s landing, until the pair had lapsed into complete silence for the final half an hour. Blaine tugged Kurt towards the Starbucks café, needing some kind of caffeine to keep his eyes open, considering they hadn’t yet been to bed. The café was beside a newsagents, and it made Blaine grin to see Kurt’s beautiful face on the front cover of People magazine, traced with tear tracks, but with a smile so glorious it glowed even through the paper. The night before had been his and Tessa’s final show of Grease and, although it was entirely unorthodox within theatre, they’d performed a twenty-five minute encore after the show, to a standing ovation. Blaine had been hidden in the wings, watching proudly as his boyfriend proved to the World that he was a star. He’d actually been dragged onstage by a couple of the cast at one stage and had sung and danced with them (considering he’d been to almost every rehearsal in the past three months, he knew the choreography pretty much perfectly) and he had to admit it was inarguably the best night of his life, especially when Kurt made his way around the cast, dancing with each of them in turn. It was completely unprofessional, completely unconventional and completely perfect. Afterwards they’d foolishly gone out for drinks with the cast, and had ended up having to go directly from the pub to the airport still relatively drunk and without so much as showering. Needless to say, they were struggling a little bit by now. Steering them in the direction of the news stand, Blaine purchased a couple of copies of the magazine while Kurt simply rolled his eyes, knowing his boyfriend was not to be deterred.

          Finally they’d plucked up enough courage to get in a cab and head towards the high school, and consumed enough caffeine to prevent them falling asleep on their feet; presumably both Carole and Burt would still be working, so they planned going to see them tomorrow, when all parties actually had the time.

“Kurt, are you sure you’re alright to do this?” Blaine eventually asked once Kurt’s grip on his hand was so tight he couldn’t feel his fingers. They were just pulling into the McKinley car park, where they could see Jesse’s car, alongside a few others.

“If I don’t do this now, I never will.” He responded, and Blaine couldn’t help but notice he didn’t really answer the question, but thought it best not to mention that fact. Kurt was a lot stronger than Blaine sometimes gave him credit for; he’d get through this without a problem.

“Together.” Blaine smiled. In all fairness, he was almost a nervous as Kurt. Since moving to New York he’d barely spoken to any of the New Directions; he was still in vague contact with his old Warbler friends, but the McKinley graduates had been Kurt’s people, and without Kurt they found they had very little to talk about anymore. He’d eventually given up, and hadn’t contacted any of them in at least three years. It was safe to say they probably wouldn’t be the most popular people in the room today. Kurt quickly sent a text message to Rachel, informing them they were here, and she responded saying she was coming to meet them out front with Santana and Jesse. Both boys shared a nervous smile and made their way towards the doors, from which the short brunette was just emerging.

“And here we go.” They clasped hands, Kurt pressing a kiss to Blaine’s cheek before they went inside. 

            They could hear the general chatter as they approached the choir room, and Kurt felt like he was going to throw up. In that room were the people who had protected him, loved him when very few other people would and supported him through some of the most vulnerable times of his life. And he’d repaid them by skipping town with no explanation or goodbye. They stepped in through the doorway, the St. James’s and Santana first, followed by the two men, and for a moment the noise level remained the same, but then they were noticed. It was a quick glance from one of the girls first, and then a double take, and soon the whole room was staring at them in tense silence. There were multiple unfamiliar faces, looking confused at the shock on their partner’s faces, but no-one noticed. Was that really Kurt? Finn’s knees buckled and he collapsed backwards, being caught by Puck who didn’t take his eyes off the men still standing in the doorway.