𝐤𝐮𝐫𝐭.

"i do," daniel confessed softly. what did he have to lose, really? his fake boyfriend? as if sebastian wouldn't be happy to get kurt out of blaine's way to rekindle whatever flames he had with blaine a few years ago. daniel could lose everything and still have kurt and be completely okay. and kurt tugging on his hair was / always / a weakness. it was insane how much of an effect it had on him. "i would. i only ever want you." 

( @RlSlNGS )
            
            “why? do / you / want to touch me?” kurt’s voice was gentle, inquisitive, but the flash of his cerulean eyes gave him away. maybe nostalgia was getting the better of him, but he / wanted / daniel, in a sharp and painful way. kurt eyed the dark curl twisted around his finger, such a contrast to his pale skin. he gave another tug, sharper this time, almost like a warning. “would you?” he asked quietly. “i didn’t get that impression.” 

"it's not fair," daniel frowned. he hated that blaine was free to touch kurt whenever he wanted. / this / was as close as he and kurt would ever be able to get. he was a bit grateful for it. if they were able to be closer, daniel would have probably ruined their engagement already. he bit his lip gently. "you know i'd prefer if they were all you." 

( @RlSlNGS )
            
            “no one said anything about expert,” kurt blurted, suddenly nervous. his stomach flipped from the way daniel was looking at him. he blinked slowly, gaze lowering — just briefly — to daniel’s lips. he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t thought about it before. it would count. a real kiss, unlike brittany. “well, we are . . . artists. you can practice on me. think of it as — method acting.”

daniel's lips twitched slightly, the red from his cheeks slowly making their way to his ears. he peered up at him through his eyelashes, biting his lower lip. "i thought you were the expert kisser here," he teased lightly. "i just want to . . . learn how to kiss realistically, y'know? it's hard to do that when you've never kissed anyone before." 

@RlSlNGS ;
            
            something about the innocence of first love on broadway . . . kurt blushed, a bright shade of pink, before pulling back. they’d been close before — sleepovers and shoulders bumping and guitar lessons and watching movies on the couch, but this was something different. kurt bit his lip, hesitating, before tilting daniel’s chin up with his pointer finger. he didn’t pull back, nervous gaze darting over the other boy’s features. “i mean, you haven’t exactly specified what you wanted from these lessons. i’m improvising.” stalling, for his own sake. 

( @RlSlNGS )
            
            kurt liked blaine. he had, for sure, at some point, and that affection lingered. but there was something tightening around his chest whenever he saw daniel or even thought of him — like longing but so much worse. it was clouding his thoughts, making him distant from blaine, keeping him up at night. he’d tried to play ‘being alive’ on piano this week and it had faded into ‘in my life,’ as if on instinct. “well, at least we’ll both be there,” he said, lifting his head. his face was closer to daniel’s than expected, and his cheeks darkened. “it’s not like i’ll be able to ignore you.” 

he didn't know yearning could be this hard and hurtful. daniel had always assumed the things he read in books and watched in movies were exaggerations, but nothing else could explain the way his heart felt like it was breaking everytime he saw kurt and blaine together. nothing could explain the way daniel felt like sobbing his eyes out at even the mere mention of their relationship. "everything is less boring without you, too," he whispered. "i wish we could go together." 

( @RlSlNGS ) 
            
            kurt could lie as much as he wanted, but he knew there was nothing platonic about the way his heart kept stuttering and twisting around daniel. he saw through the smile and hesitated, bright blue gaze flitting across daniel’s face. he felt the other boy’s pain like his own, in a way that went deeper than friendship. they were bound together, no matter how they felt about it. he smiled, slightly feeble, and nudged daniel back. he hesitated, before just leaning into the other boy, nose pressed into his shoulder. “everything is less boring with you,” he said quietly. 

( @RlSlNGS )
            
            kurt swallowed, teeth sinking into his bottom lip as he stared at daniel. his heart was fluttering, quick and sharp and helpless. what would he have given to heard daniel say that the year before? during valentine’s? after rachel’s party? it was no less important now, even after they’d dated. kurt’s breaths caught too quick, like that afternoon in the classroom so long ago. “i wanted you to say that,” he admitted quietly. “it was wrong, going after blaine back then. i’d wanted it to be you.”

his heart fluttered at kurt's soft blush. he was so beautiful, / too / beautiful, like a work of art. daniel couldn't believe that someone so beautiful could be real. maybe that was part of why daniel was so afraid. kurt could just be someone he made up in his head. he had to pinch himself. he couldn't believe he could be so in love with someone. it was painful. "it's you," he confessed anyway. "it's always been you." 

( @RlSlNGS )
            
            kurt’s lips twitched, pink tinting his own cheeks. making daniel flush always made his heart flip over in his chest, cliche and true. “you could if you wanted to,” kurt said. there was flirtatiousness in his voice, blue eyes blinking innocently as he stared at daniel, unwavering. “but i think i can read between the lines.” he missed daniel with a slow, terrible ache. he wanted badly for the other boy to come home. to come back to him.

"i know," blaine had heard it a thousand times before. just in the way kurt would speak. trying to get over daniel, not being able to get over him -- he knew. blaine knew it all. he desperately tried to not come to these realizations on his own, but tina always had something to say. and if it wasn't tina, it was santana. everyone knew blaine was just someone kurt was using as a placeholder. 

@candIlez ;
            
            "no, i understand," kurt says quietly. this much was the truth. with a deep sigh, he leans back against the seat, same as before, though this time there's a pounding in his temples. he thinks of daniel, in his dalton blazer, untouchable and detached and utterly unaffected by kurt being around. he thinks of sebastian, with his smug smile and knowing all of kurt's ticks without knowing him as a person. he thinks of blaine, and the guilt might drown him if he isn't fast enough. "it shouldn't be . . . affecting us. i'm sorry. i am trying / desperately / not to care."

blaine, always the observer, notices the hesitation. he bites his lip and just nods. he doesn't want to fight -- even if they already were. he doesn't want to feel bitter over daniel, like he had been for the past few weeks. ever since daniel and sebastian started dating, it was the only thing on kurt's mind. it was one of the only things they ever talked about. sebastian, daniel, nyada -- never about them as a couple. "i know," he whispers. "i just . . . " he shakes his head. "sorry. i don't want to underestimate your friendship, or your relationship, or anything like that." 

( @quarterbackz )
            
            "as long as you don't think it'll ruin your life long-term," kurt concedes. he understood going with the simpler option a lot better than he wanted to admit. as much as he / did / find blaine endearing, it was also much safer than the alternative if it went amiss. at least then, it wouldn't ruin his life. if something ever happened with daniel, he doubted he could recover from that. "although i'm not sure how / compatible / you and quinn are. she seems like a girl kisser."

finn shrugged. was it awful to say that quinn looked a little like alicia ? maybe . it was definitely the blonde hair . he didn't have a particular type , obviously . he'd dated rachel , and slept with santana that one time . but blondes . . . alicia was blonde . "i dunno. it just seems easier than having to deal with jesse ruining my life. even if he already is. and maybe i want that part of me back. y'know, from last year. it was easier, even if quinn looked like she wanted to murder me." 

( @quarterbackz )
            
            "at least then i'll officially be carole's favorite son." at the last part, kurt arches an eyebrow. from what he'd heard from alicia, finn was hopelessly devoted to quinn. but that meant nothing. alicia was notoriously an unreliable narrator. "it / is / too soon, but you get a pass, just this once. why are you / bothering / with quinn, then? aren't you running out of time now that jesse's a college dropout?"

alicia is a lot better at lying though ! daniel is a bad liar . an awful one , even . if you ask him about sebastian , he never refers to him as / boyfriend / . 

( @SOURlNGS )
            
            . . . god , you’re right . that’s / exactly / something the smirky little meerkat would do . * his eyes narrow . * i can’t believe / daniel / would lie to me . he’s turning into alicia .

it's definitely / fake / . honestly , maybe sebastian just needed a roommate and they were like , ' you hate kurt , i / love / kurt , let's mess with his brain and we can help each other pay the rent ! ' 

( @RlSlNGS )
            
            * he pauses , lips twitching . he leans closer , just enough to whisper against daniel’s lips — * i’ll see you at the potluck . * he lingers just a second longer before stepping back , slipping back into the party and shutting the door behind himself . *

* he lets out another breathy moan at the touch, resting his forehead against kurt's . their noses brush for a slight moment as he bites his lip . * is it too forward or soon to ask you to kiss me right now ? 

( @RlSlNGS )
            
            * kurt’s lips twitch, his hand briefly locking around daniel’s neck . it’s a fleeting touch , but the implication is clear before his hands drift down to daniel’s waist . * you’re always as nice as i want you to be . you have a way of just . . . telling what i need . 

yeah . you've said that before . . . 

@quarterbackz ;   . . . girls , right ? they’re up . they’re down . girls .

* his eyes widen . damn you , jesse . * i can't believe she wouldn't tell / me / . 

i'm looking forward to it . we can play uno while you discuss your . . . adultery . 

@otherasians ;   * he groans / loudly / , tossing his head back . all for the sake of dramatics . * / fine / . tonight . i suppose i can reschedule moulin rouge .

i'm not telling you . we need to have the sleepover first .