Sideways

Chapter 32

"Would you be horribly offended if I got slightly intoxicated tonight?"

Kurt's piercing blue eyes were on him in a flash, one eyebrow cocked, his mouth set in a thin line. "Define 'slightly intoxicated'," Kurt challenged.

Blaine sat back against the cool leather of the rented limo and shrugged. "Drunk enough that it will make me forget the horrible tragedy that is my life," he began. "Yet sober enough that I will still be capable of telling you how good you look."

"Flattery will get you—um, every where," Kurt smiled a bit. "But you can't hide behind the alcohol forever, you know."

Blaine sighed. "'Guess I can't," he said. "My living arrangements make it very tempting, however."

"Where are you staying now?"

"Hotel."

Kurt looked at him, quizzically. "Really?"

"Really," Blaine clarified. "And not just any hotel, a five star hotel. I am going to continue to use my father's money until it runs out, at which point I will go to him and tell him it has run out and he will be forced to give me more, because I have the power to tell the whole high class scene that Anderson has a gay son. I guess being a disgrace to your family has its perks."

Blaine felt Kurt's fingers entwining with his own and he took comfort in the small gesture. "Have you spoken to either of them yet?" Kurt enquired. "Your parents, I mean?"

"No," Blaine told him. "But let's not talk about that, okay?"

"Whatever you want," Kurt nodded. "I'm totally cool with you drinking, by the way. Just as long as I don't have to carry you back to your five star hotel."

"I," Blaine smirked. "Would not be opposed to that."

Kurt could feel the burning glares as he walked through the doors of the school assembly hall. He was beginning to regret having worn the kilt, because while he was proud of it, of himself and who he was, he still didn't like the feeling that the open mouths and the judgmental stares gave him.

Puck was standing a little away from the door and when he saw Kurt's outfit, his eyes widened and his mouth opened as if he was about to speak, but he closed it again, lost for words.

"Quit ogling my date, Puckerman," Blaine said, walking up next to Kurt.

"I wasn't—"

"You were staring," Blaine pointed out.

"Only because he—well. He looks like—I mean—"

"He can't help it that he's pretty," Blaine gave Puck a wink, then steered Kurt away from him.

"I could have handled that," Kurt told him, once they were a little further away. "I can take care of myself, you know."

"I am well aware of that," Blaine smiled. "But that was an opportunity I could not miss. You're more than pretty, by the way."

"And there you go with the flattery again," Kurt chuckled.

"I mean it, though," Blaine said and he looked as if he meant it. The strobe lights were reflected in his bright, golden eyes and his smile reached them, making Kurt's heart skip a beat. "I look at you and I think that the world must be playing a joke on me, because I had you and lost you and I'm losing you for good and God knows that no one else could ever come close. It's like having an ocean and then having that taken away from you and it being replaced with a puddle. It could never come close and it's like some sort of joke, like the world is laughing at you." Kurt's smile dissipated as Blaine continued to speak. "It's as if the world is rolling on the ground in hysterics, because it's taking away my ocean and everything after that will be less than a puddle. I wish I could just climb closer to you and let you drown me, because I would rather drown in an ocean than slip into a puddle and come up wet and miserable. At least when you drown it's just over. Besides, don't they say you hear music when you drown?"