Skin On Skin

Chapter 6

Five months later...

Blaine staggered and swayed. The music vibrated around him, inside of him and away from him. It was confusing. He didn't know if he was listening to the music or whether he was the music. The sounds of joyful laughter and chatter reverberated around his ears as well, sometimes sounding close by, and then, in the next second, miles away, too far away to reach him, and it scared Blaine because it made him feel so alone as if he was stranded on a deserted beach with no one to see him or hear him.

In truth, he wasn't standing and he wasn't even alone. In fact, there were people all around him on the long wide sofa, in another of the endless mindless hotel rooms, somewhere in the middle of Las Vegas. He had a man sitting on his left who was in the process of lazily dropping his arm around his shoulder having shown more interest than anyone else dared. Blaine didn't care, he had no idea who he was but the human contact was nice. It was the touch he loved, the feel of somebody with him.

The man moved closer still, reaching out to reaffirm the initial hint of interest. Blaine welcomed him and shuddered against the man's next touch. It had been a soft graze on the arm, but it felt like every single cell in Blaine's body had just been touched. He turned jerkily, the touch too much, but he wanted more, he had to have more. Blaine blinked once, then twice and then a third time in confusion. He couldn't remember which hotel he was in, or scarily how he had even ended up there, let alone who the beautiful man beside him was. Ever since he and Hunter had performed their song on stage his life had been a blur. Their partying had been relentless, every night, at all hours without stopping.

And then all of a sudden, the presence beside him was gone and it took Blaine a moment to realize that the man with the bright red hair was now standing in front of him, holding out his hand for Blaine to take.

"Come on," he encouraged. "It looks like you could do with some time away from everyone."

Blaine stared up at him for a moment, but realizing that he didn't want to be around these people any longer, he took the man's hand, let him pull him up to his feet and allowed him to lead him away from the small intimate group and into one of the bedrooms.

Blaine had thought the balcony door had been closer, but with each and every step he took, it only moved further and further away from him. He just wanted fresh air, cool breezy fresh air to wash over his face, cool off his body, and tingle and tantalize the sense receptors on his skin. The curtains were billowing towards him, so the wind must have been blowing quite hard, but he still just couldn't feel it.

He was holding his phone in his hands as he desperately tried to find that one thought that had attached into the mere essence of his soul, but was buried so deep he didn't know if he would be able to make it resurface. What had it been? He couldn't quite remember. It teased him like the salty air from a sea that couldn't yet be seen. It had been an important thought, he knew that much. And then, all of a sudden, the thought was there.

Kurt.

He wanted to call Kurt. He wanted to hear his voice. He wanted to touch him again. And most of all, he wanted to get to know him. Five months was such a long time and Blaine was so scared that he had left it too long, he was sure that Kurt would never want to speak to him again.

Blaine startled. He didn't know how long he had been standing there with the phone in his hand, or even how long he had been standing in the room, but he was suddenly aware that there was someone sitting on the bed a short distance away, watching him. Blaine tried to focus in on the man, but the room was too dark and he couldn't make out his face. Blaine frowned and looked about him. Who had turned the lights off? The darkness was frightening and he staggered to the man for comfort. He didn't want to be alone. Who knew what demons were hiding in the shadows?