Chapter 10

Kurt's POV

David left shortly after he woke up a few hours later, muttering something about needing to finish his paper and about how he had a deadline for his class – I didn't care about anything he was saying, all I heard was that he was leaving and that made me feel at peace. No round two was going to be initiated and I was absolutely over the moon about that thought. Of course he tried to say that maybe he could stay, but I just told him that he had to write a paper and I had to sleep and that us being together was way too distracting, and I gave him the best fake giggle I could muster as I absent heartedly stroked his arm. Giving me a look of absolute lust, he agreed, gave me one last kiss and was out the door. After locking the top lock, I slid down the door in utter relief at him leaving.

I only had one thing on my mind, and that was Blaine. All I wanted to do was throw on a movie and discuss how our days had been. That's all I had wanted since I had arrived home from school, that's all I'd wanted since David knocked on the door – all I wanted was Blaine.

Walking down the hallway to his room I could hear his guitar. I smiled at how simple the chords probably were but he made them sound so beautiful and enchanting. I knocked on the door and opened it without a second thought. He was in his usual position, facing the wall with guitar in hand.

"Hey you." I smiled at his back. "I was thinking we could make popcorn and watch an awful movie on Netflix and add our own commentary. I know it's late but we could just have a little sleepover on the couch and I'll set my phone to wake us up at-"

"Not interested." I stopped short. His voice was harsh and spiteful.

It took me a few minutes to process his answer. "I-Is this about David? Because if you don't want people over anymore without your permission anymore, I will totally understand."

He turned around and faced me this time. His face, for the first time since meeting him, was guarded and unreadable. "No, I'm not interested in being your replacement boyfriend when David isn't here. You can't be alone for one goddamn minute and I can't deal with a five year old who needs to have their hand held all the damn time."

Now I was mad. "Well I don't recall being the one who had to sleep next to his roommate because they were so terrified of being alone."

He let his guard slip for a few moments and I saw I had really hit the wrong nerve with that comment. He stood up, letting his guitar crash to the ground, and put the guard back up. "This isn't about me! You let David into my apartment without even asking, and you know for a fact that, that would hurt me! You have to know that I-" He stopped himself. What was he hiding? Why couldn't he just talk to me like he always has, with respect and care?

My rage dropped. "You what?" I took a step back. His face was now clouded with rage, I had never seen him like this. Not even when he was drunk and throwing his memories into the flames.

"Forget it." He sat back down. "I'm just done dealing with your 'being alone' issues. You know the way back to your room, right? Or is that too much for you to handle as well?" He picked the guitar up, faced the wall and started playing it again. Going on as if nothing happened, pretending I had already left.

I left and headed to my room. I slammed the door behind me and started to cry, it was louder than I intended. I had to hold my mouth with my hand to strangle the loud cry that was ripping through my body. With the last amount of my strength, I crawled into my bed and cried more. After what seemed like forever, I finally stopped. I was about to finally give into sleep when I heard a small cry coming from the living room. It was Blaine.

Blaine's POV

We didn't talk for a long time. Two weeks. That seemed like an eternity to me. I wanted to beg for forgiveness the moment he left my room that night but I couldn't explain myself without telling him the truth about my feelings for him and I couldn't risk that.

For two weeks we worked around each other, avoiding each other however way we could. When we were at home together we would both be our rooms, not leaving unless we knew the other person wasn't outside in the kitchen or in the living room. Kurt didn't try to talk to me about the fight or any of the awful, unbelievable things I had said to him. He just let it be. In a way, I wanted that because it made it hurt less, made the fact that I had to look at him and know I couldn't have him as bearable as it possibly could be. But in the two weeks that we avoided each other, I'd learned I couldn't cut off this weird connection that we had. But I also couldn't apologize without having to tell him everything, and I do mean everything.

Christmas passed, he spent it with Rachel and her family. At least that's what I gathered through my bedroom door when she came to pick him up the morning of. I spent Christmas with Quinn and her cat at her house as we watched bad movies on Netflix and talked about everything except Kurt.

Tonight was New Years Eve and I knew Rachel was unavailable to Kurt because she was spending this with her boyfriend in Puerto Rico – again, this is what I gathered from listening through the door. I would have let him just sit around and do nothing while I went to ring in the New Years with Quinn and a bunch of friends that we had made together, but I couldn't do that.

Kurt was sitting on the couch watching TV when I walked in. "Get up. We're going to a party." He didn't even look back at me. "Kurt? Hello?" That's when his head snapped around and his eyes met mine. I had missed those beautiful blue eyes.

"W-what?" He stood up and kept his eyes locked on mine.

"Quinn is throwing a party at this total dive bar but she has it every year and it's fun, I guess. Get dressed because we're expected there in ten minutes."

At first, Kurt didn't move. He just kind of stared at me like I was joking and at any minute I was going to laugh in his face and walk out the door, and when I didn't he walked to his room to get ready. After about five minutes, he stepped out wearing some pants that should definitely be illegal for him to wear (because no ass that fantastic should be allowed to just be on display like that, fully capable of distracting usually focused – ok, sometimes focused men) and a simple black button down shirt. Even though I knew this was casual for him it made me feel like I should change into something that made me stand out as much as he did. But let's be honest I could try on a hundred outfits and I would never be able to be as breathless as he always is.

"Ready?" I tried to smile, but it was difficult when I could feel the awkward tension between us.

"Lead the way." Judging the strained tone of his voice, I knew that he could feel it too.

We walked down the stairs, hailed a cab and drove there in complete silence, other than the chaotic noises of New York City traffic. I noticed that neither of us were being quiet on purpose, or to spite the other; it just happened to be that way. And that wasn't too surprising after the last two weeks. Where could we start?

"So she has this party every year, huh?" I jumped at the sound Kurt's voice, high and clear, cutting through the silence.

"Uh h-huh." I stammered. Get it together, Anderson. "Y-yeah, she thinks it's a great excuse to get drunk and force friends to witness it. Around ten she starts dancing and pushing people together and telling them that they will make 'such a great couple'." I laughed at the thought of this and Kurt smiled.

"Well now I'm really looking forward to this. Maybe we can sing some drunken karaoke." Kurt laughed.

"I might let you help me onstage." Oh, that had just slipped out. I shouldn't have said it, but there wasn't much I could say to take it back.

"Excuse me?" No turning back now I guess.

"Oh yeah." I looked at my lap and rubbed the back of my neck. "Quinn always wants me to be the entertainment for this event. She thinks I'm amazing." Crap, now I sounded like I was bragging.

"Are you?"

I stopped and looked at him for a few moments. "I mean... Who really knows?" I smiled.

He grimaced. It went silent again for a block or so before he brought up the subject I had been dreading. "You know we have to talk about the fight."

I let out a huge sigh and rubbed the back of my neck. "I'm aware." I patted his hand and looked at him. "Just... Not tonight, okay? At least not right now."

He smiled at me. "I can live with that." I gave his hand a squeeze and let go.

"Alright boys, we're here." The driver parked, and let us out. "Eight seventy-five." I paid him, not even giving Kurt a chance to offer – it was the least I could do after these past couple weeks – and we walked right in.

The place was little crowded with people from Quinn's work, to her school, to almost everyone in the apartment. Some of her family was even there too, but they usually arrived early and left early, not wanting to deal with an intoxicated Quinn. There was background music coming from the radio but most of the noise was coming from the people's conversations.

Quinn walked over to us smiling and screaming our names. "Kurty and Blaine! My two favorite gays!"

Kurt looked at me and smiled wryly. "She's started early."

I shook my head in amusement. "Nah, she hasn't had anything yet. This is just Quinn."

She beamed, not the least bit insulted. "Okay! So, booze is at the bar, your guitar and all that jazz is set up on the stage. You know the protocol, just play till 11:30pm and then we start setting up to watch the ball drop on the big screen." We nodded. She clapped her hands together in excitement and then raced off to mingle with other people who were just arriving.

"So um... I gotta go set up. Will you be okay?" I didn't want to treat Kurt like a little kid, but I wanted to make sure he could swim before I threw him into the deep end.

"I don't need you to hold my hand. I can take care of myself." Part of it was a joke, but part of it was a bitch slap to the face.

I smiled awkwardly. "Yeah. Um... I'm gonna go set up now." As I turned around to walk to the stage, I heard Kurt call out behind me.

"Break a leg!" I turned around and smiled at him and he returned the gesture. Whether I wanted to admit it our not, the small show of affection left me grinning like an idiot.

After about thirty minutes of me messing with amps and microphones and swearing- on accident- into the, apparently, working microphone, I was finally ready. I started to strum and that caught just about everyone's attention. I searched the crowd and landed on Kurt sitting at the bar, beer in hand and talking to Quinn and her friends.

"Hey guys." I said as I strummed. A few of the people let out drunken compliments, some just yelled and the rest called out 'hi Blaine!' in unison. My eyes kept Kurt's gaze though, who was watching intently. "Alright, for those of you who don't know I'm Blaine and for those of you who do know, I just have one question: Why the hell do you guys keep coming back?" The crowd laughed, I loosened up a bit.

I'm not the type of guy who wants to tell you about my personal life or anything that has to do with me in general, but performing was a whole different ball of wax. Performing on stage with a guitar in my hand was the only place I would probably ever feel really at home. I had never found something that had given me this much of a thrill and yet put me so at ease.

I noticed Quinn running through the crowd to the front of the stage. "Ah, our host." The crowd clapped and she blushed as she kept moving. When she got to the front of the stage she handed me a full beer. I took it and laughed. "Tradition, ladies and gentlefolk." I took a swig of the liquid and put it on the stool next to my microphone. "Alright, let's get this party going. Shall we?"

As the crowd clapped and cheered, I averted my attention back to Kurt to see him being dragged to the front of the stage by Quinn and her friends. I laughed mentally at how he struggled very little but then finally gave in. I started to play.

The set consisted of Disney songs and Elton John. Lots of drunken sing alongs ensued with almost every number. But when it came to my last song, I wanted it to be special.

"Okay, this is the last one." The crowd booed and I smiled. "Don't worry, there's always next year." I mimicked a drum when I made the bad joke. Some people got it and others just thought I was being smart. "For this last song, I would like to dedicate it to my roommate." I looked at Kurt and he just stared at me.

I started to play and sing. Thank God I was a little buzzed and that everyone else was beyond that point or I would not have been able to sing what I was singing while I stared directly at him. Maybe it was the second beer talking, but as I was coming to the end of the song, I swore I saw Kurt tear up a little bit. But he wiped it away so fast that I couldn't tell.

I finished up and the crowd roared with excitement. "Thanks guys." I took my guitar offstage and was greeted by a drunken Quinn.

"Oh Blainey-boo! That was so sweet what you did for Kurty-kins! You two are gonna be super cute together!" She practically squealed at the words 'super cute.' "Now, will you pwease help me set up the screen and the monitor so that we can start the countdown? Pwease?" She then continued to put on the sloppiest puppy dog eyes I had ever seen. But I obliged anyways.

After about twenty minutes of taking the microphones and amps off the stage and replacing it with the big white screen and setting up the monitor, we were ten minutes from the New Year and Quinn was already almost falling asleep. I didn't care though, all I wanted was Kurt.

I weaved my way through the crowd until I found him sitting at the bar again with another beer in his hand. "How many is that?"

"Third. But it's okay, I'm only a little buzzed. I'm not drunk... yet." He gave me a wolfish grin and winked at me.

I sat down beside him. "How'd I do?"

"Honestly, I was hoping what Quinn had been telling me was all hype, but then you got up and there and boy, was I pissed."

"Why's that?" I put up a finger for one beer and the bartender kindly obliged.

"You're too perfect. It's just nowhere near fair." Kurt blushed a little and then took a swig of his beer.

I laughed and then looked at the big screen. Five more minutes. "I'm only that good when more than half the people I'm playing for are intoxicated, then I don't have to worry if I'm good or not."

"But you are good, that's the problem. You can be proud of your talent, you know that right? You don't have to be the bashful, humble guy all the time. Own up to what you're good at."

It took me awhile to find a response to that. "Sometimes being this 'amazing guy' that everyone wants me to be or thinks I am is a lot more work and sometimes," I took a breath. "I just want to be goofy Blaine."

Kurt smiled and looked at the big screen. "Oh! Only two minutes left!" He grabbed my hand and practically pulled me off my chair. I laughed and stumbled my way after him.

We weaved our way to Quinn who was laughing at something that one of her friends had just said. When she saw Kurt she ran for him. "Kurty-boo!" She leapt into his and he gladly welcomed her. "And Blainers!" She scrambled out from Kurt's grip and ran for me, managing to slip and fall on the ground in the process. I picked her up and steadied her.

"Woah there." She giggled. "Less than a minute boys! I gotta go find a man to lay my lips on! You two are lucky to have each other." With that, she stumbled her way off into the crowd.

Kurt snorted in amusement. "She is a piece of work." I couldn't help but laugh at how adorable his laugh was. "I love her, she really is just so great."

Twenty-three seconds. "So will you?" I looked at Kurt and smiled meekly.

"Will I what?" He looked at me and laughed.

Nineteen. "Be my New Years kiss?" I scooted a little closer to him.

"U-umm." His face filled with color. Fifteen. "Do you want me to be?"

I smiled. "I asked, didn't I?" Ten. People started counting down. I stepped closer to him and put my hands on his face. "If it's okay with you." Six.

"Y-yes. It's fine." He smiled and put his hands on my waist.

I whispered for only us to hear. "Four, three, two..."

"One." He finished.

I closed my and leaned forward and found his lips. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he tightened his grip on his waist. I smiled through the kiss, the sounds of the New Year melted away. The cheering, the shouting, the countdown, everything. The only thing I could think of was that Kurt felt so familiar as I wrapped him tighter into the kiss. He felt like… home.