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From his spot in the center of the room, Blaine looks around, eyes seeking out Kurt’s. He’s been standing off to the side all night, aloof and completely too good for a silly high school party. Hell, Kurt’s too good for a silly high school boyfriend. He’s always a bit insecure around Kurt, but tonight is different. Ever since Kurt showed up wearing those skin tight black jeans and that blue silky button down that’s rolled up at the sleeves, Blaine’s had butterflies in his stomach. Tonight, he looks so much older and more mature than usual, making it seem like there was more than just a year between the two of them.
Kurt looks good. He looks like every teacher/student fantasy Blaine’s ever had come true and it’s pushing all of his buttons. Blaine’s positive that tonight is going to be the night that Kurt realizes he belongs with somebody his own age — with somebody hearing. Kurt’s been working his ass off to learn more sign so that they can communicate easier, but he’s sure it’s only so long before Kurt realizes it would be easier to find somebody less needy. Somebody more convenient.
So he’s burying his nerves in alcohol, drinking harder than usual, figuring with enough shots Kurt won’t notice how young he is. College kids drink all the time, right?
Blaine locks eyes with Kurt and his breath catches in his throat, much like the first time they’d met. Screw his plan to play it cool and not act clingy, he’s pulling Kurt onto the dance floor before somebody else can beat him to it. Kurt’s too hot to be left unattended.
He’s about to excuse himself from where he’s dancing with a few friends when David grabs his hand and demands they take a shot together immediately.
It is David’s birthday after all. He figures that Kurt will be fine for a few minutes…
****
I HATE FIGHTING WITH YOU, YOU’RE LIKE MY BROTHER, Jeff drunken signs as he leans into Nick to stop from falling over. The three of them are in the bathroom having a drunken heart to heart while Jeff teeters between throwing up and sobbing hysterically about how Blaine will never forgive him.
Jeff’s always the first one at a party to get sick. He’s also notorious for drunkenly crying.
I JUST WANT YOU TO BE HAPPY, I DON’T WANT YOU TO SETTLE, Jeff signs.
I’M NOT SETTLING, KURT’S SETTLING, Blaine confesses, knowing that his secret won’t leave the room. His friends might be a lot of things — assholes, lately — but they aren’t gossips and they won’t share anything he says in confidence.
DON’T SAY THAT, Nick signs.
I JUST WONDER SOMETIMES, Blaine signs. WHAT IF EVERYONE IS RIGHT? WHAT IF, BECAUSE I’M DEAF, I CAN’T… he trails off, he can’t finish that sentence. He knows they’ll kill him for even suggesting that his deafness is something to be embarrassed about.
It’s not that he isn’t proud of being Deaf. It’s not that he doesn’t love his language and his culture and community. The Deaf community has a long history of being strong and resilient and he’s incredibly proud of that. He just doesn’t know if Kurt will ever see that. If he’ll ever be proud of where Blaine comes from, or if Blaine’s deafness will always just be an obstacle to overcome in order to be together.
HEY HEY, Jeff stands up, suddenly sober, and walks over to where Blaine’s sitting on the countertop. YOU REALLY LIKE KURT?
YES, Blaine signs adamantly and he doesn’t realize he’s crying until Nick hands him some tissues.
THEN STOP, Jeff signs. YOU ARE THE BEST PERSON I KNOW. YOU ARE TALENTED AND STRONG AND KIND. SHOW HIM THAT.
WHAT IF IT’S NOT ENOUGH, Blaine asks.
YOU ARE ENOUGH, Nick signs.
I LOVE YOU GUYS, he signs as Jeff stumbles into a hug, sending them both backwards until his head smacks the mirror.
He’s definitely drunker than he’d planned on being tonight.
YOU TWO CRY-BABIES READY TO GO BACK OUT THERE? Nick asks.
Blaine hops down off the counter and gives himself a minute for the room to stop spinning. He checks himself over in the mirror to make sure that it’s not obvious that he’s been crying before nodding at Nick that he’s ready.
MR. DEAF PRIDE, WORRIED NOBODY WILL LOVE HIM. AS IF THE WORLD DOESN’T FALL AT YOUR FEET ALREADY, Jeff teases him as they all head out together.
SHUT UP, he waves him off. NOW THAT YOU’RE NOT BEING AN ASSHOLE, YOU OWE ME A DANCE.
Now that he’s made up with Jeff, a weight’s been lifted off of his shoulders.
He has no reason to be insecure.
****
WHERE’S KURT? Blaine asks once he’s out of breath and the shots he’s taken start catching up with him. He’s reached that point where he’s tripping over his own feet every time he tries to dance. It’s time to slow down and go sit for awhile.
That doesn’t mean he can’t grab his sexy boyfriend and sit with him for awhile. He’s pretty sure a hot make out session is just what the doctor ordered.
Kurt has the best lips, never chapped or unyielding… he could kiss him for hours and never grow tired of it. Kurt’s got magic lips…
YOU’RE DRUNK, David tells him.
He’s one to talk.
WHERE’S KURT? he asks again, smacking Jeff until he pays attention to him and answers his question.
OUTSIDE, he signs, then he and Nick start signing really crude things that make him blush.
And maybe they give him some ideas, too… He certainly wouldn’t mind getting on his knees for Kurt. Especially when he’s wearing those pants…
What was he doing again?
Right, Kurt. He’s finding his boyfriend.
It takes longer to reach the back door than Blaine would like. There are people that keep running into him and the carpet is uneven, making him trip. He’s pretty sure that the table moved because he doesn’t remember David having a table in front of the door. Had that been there the whole night?
He needs to remember to talk to David about not hosting parties at his house anymore until the floor is fixed. How is anybody supposed to walk when the ground is so unstable?
He struggles with the door for what feels like hours before somebody finally takes pity on him and opens it for him. Once he steps outside, his vision immediately zeros in on Kurt, who looks even more heavenly standing in the moonlight. Actually, he looks like one of the elves from a Tolkien novel.
Blaine had the hugest crush on Legolas growing up. Kurt looks like he could have been in one of those scenes with Galadriel. Yeah… only, Kurt looks better. He’s somehow more beautiful than that, which is saying something because those elves had the fancy movie star makeup on and the magic Hollywood lighting that makes everyone looks good.
Kurt looks good all on his own.
Kurt’s beautiful.
HEY BABY, he signs, cursing his drunken state for not coming up with something more enticing to say.
MISS YOU, DANCE WITH ME.
Okay, that wasn’t much better and Kurt’s not talking back to him so clearly Blaine’s not saying the right thing. He leans into him, hoping a hug will make Kurt smile, but he gets distracted by the cool silk of Kurt’s shirt against his overheated cheek. It feels good.
YOU’RE GRUMPY, he pulls back to pout at him.
I DON’T FEEL GOOD, Kurt signs, but he’s pretty sure it’s a lie. Kurt looks fine, if not a little upset. Maybe he was bored and wanted to leave to hang out with his own friends.
I THINK I SHOULD GO HOME.
NO, NO, NO, he signs, angrily. Kurt couldn’t leave. He pauses, realizing how childish he must look, completely defeating his entire plan for the night to look more mature. He immediately bursts into giggles.
I WANT YOU TO SPEND THE NIGHT, he adds when Kurt hasn’t said anything. He hasn’t cleared it with David, but he’s sure that there’s a guest room with Blaine and Kurt’s name on it, all he has to do is ask.
YOU ARE DRUNK, Kurt signs.
AND YOU ARE CUTE, he smiles, running his finger up and down Kurt’s chest like he always sees people doing in movies right before their boyfriend kisses them. Kurt can’t possibly turn him down if he’s being seductive, right?
Kurt’s not answering him, though and it’s making Blaine worried.
Jeff told him to show Kurt how awesome he is, but how can he if Kurt’s already so bored with him that he won’t even talk to him.
DON’T YOU WANT ME? Blaine asks.
DO YOU WANT ME TO TAKE YOU HOME, OR ARE YOU STAYING? Kurt signs and he looks so much more fluent that usual. His signs blend together naturally and it’s beautiful to watch. It’s not perfect, not by a long shot, but it’s impressive progress for such a short time. Kurt is going to be an amazing signer one day if he keeps it up.
YOUR SIGNING IS REALLY PRETTY. YOU’RE REALLY PRETTY, Blaine leans in and nuzzles into Kurt’s neck. ONE MORE DANCE?
YOU’RE DRUNK, Kurt pulls away from him. YOU NEED TO GO HOME.
Blaine groans. He doesn’t want to go home. He wants to stay here with Kurt; it’s nice outside in the fresh air. He feels like he can breathe now that he’s not squeezed into that overcrowded living room with everyone.
Blaine takes a step back, intending on heading out into the yard to sit on the old swing set, but he trips over a bottle and ends up flat on his ass.
ARE YOU OKAY? Kurt asks, checking him over for injuries.
NOTHING A KISS WOULDN’T FIX.
Kurt leans over and kisses him, gently at first, but when Blaine’s hands grab hungrily at his shirt, he quickly opens his mouth to let Blaine’s tongue explore. It’s amazing, but it’s not enough. Not with the way his stomach’s been coiled into knots all night because of that ridiculously sexy outfit Kurt’s wearing. He grabs onto Kurt’s hips and pulls them down to meet his own, but as soon as their hips meet, Kurt pulls away and rolls off of him.
YOU’RE DRUNK, he signs with shaky hands. YOU NEED TO GO HOME.
Normally, Kurt’s insistence that he go home would be offensive. He doesn’t need a babysitter. When he glances down, though, he can see Kurt’s arousal through those tight pants that don’t leave anything to the imagination. He knows that Kurt wants him just as much as he wants Kurt. He just needs to let Kurt know that he’s ready.
CAN’T, DORM RULES. IF I GO BACK DRUNK, I’LL BE EXPELLED, Blaine signs, doing his best to look sexy, but he’s never had to try like to be alluring before. The only boys he’s ever made out with hadn’t taken much effort before.
I DON’T WANT TO STAY HERE, Kurt signs and he looks hurt, but Blaine doesn’t really understand why. PLEASE LET’S GO?
****
Blaine crashes into Kurt’s bed as soon as he can reach it. It was a long walk up the stairs and Kurt kept telling him that he was being too loud, which Blaine found hilarious because he couldn’t hear if Kurt was right or not.
I’M DEAF, Blaine had reminded him, laughing hysterically, as Kurt’s hand covered his mouth. WE’RE ALWAYS LOUD.
NO, NO, YOU’RE NOT SLEEPING LIKE THAT, Kurt signs at him, pulling at his feet until he shifts enough in the bed to make room for Kurt to join him. Except Kurt doesn’t join him, instead he begins unlacing Blaine’s shoes, which is even better.
I DON’T HAVE PROTECTION, he signs, trying to sit up. If he continues to lay down, he’ll fall asleep which is not how he wants his first time to go. He figures the first time is probably one that he wants to be awake for.
I’M NOT HAVING SEX WITH YOU, Kurt gaps at him, his entire face turning red.
YOU COULD, he signs. I WOULDN’T STOP YOU.
Kurt’s hands fly to his face, clearly embarrassed, but Blaine passes out before he can see his response.
****
The bed dips in the middle of the night and the world spins. Before he knows what’s going on, he’s gagging and there’s a garbage can under his chin. Kurt rubs his back while he throws up and assures him that he’s alright. Blaine’s not so sure. His mouth tastes disgusting and he feels like he might die, his stomach hurts so bad. He apologizes a million times and cries a bit. The entire thing will be mortifying later, he’s sure, but right now he’s just glad Kurt’s there to rub his back.
When he’s done being sick, Kurt helps him get to the bathroom to brush his teeth. He’s still drunk, but Kurt promises him he’ll feel better in the morning, he just needs to rest.
****
Blaine feels warm and content under the covers. The bed feels especially soft today and he doesn’t ever want to move. In the back of his mind, he’s vaguely aware that it’s Saturday, which means he doesn’t have to get up for classes, so he allows himself to snuggle in deeper. There’s an arm pulling him closer, and that should be weird, but it’s comfortable and so he ignores it in favor of drifting back into the amazing dream he’d been having that Kurt had taken him back to his house after the party…
****
The sun is beaming into the room, bright and annoying, and he’d love to go back to sleep but he can’t. He cracks one eye open to see if his roommate is in the room, wondering how much he’ll have to bribe him to go get breakfast. He could use a nice omelet or a stack of pancakes to help curb his hangover.
His roommate’s not there. His bed isn’t even there.
Blaine rolls over to see Kurt laying next to him and he’s a bit surprised, not in a bad way, but in a ‘how the hell did I get here’ way. He doesn’t remember much about last night, but he’s pretty sure he’d remember anything that involved waking up in bed with his boyfriend.
WHERE ARE WE? he asks.
MY HOUSE, Kurt answers with that adorable giggle of his, the one that makes his dimples show.
OH, he signs, for lack of anything better to say. He honestly isn’t sure how he’d ended up here. Had he been awake or had Kurt had to carry him up the stairs? Had he forgotten something really important? What if the two of them slept together and Blaine didn’t remember it?
Oh God, what if they’d actually slept together? Blaine wasn’t sure he was even ready to have sex yet and he’d gone and just given it away on a drunken night.
DID WE… he starts to ask before stopping himself, not wanting Kurt to feel bad if they did and Blaine didn’t remember.
WE ONLY SLEPT, Kurt reassures him.
GOOD, GOOD, he signs, before realizes how offensive that might come across. NOT THAT I WOULDN’T WANT TO… IT’S JUST… I LIKE YOU, BUT I’M NOT READY.
THERE’S NO RUSH, Kurt signs and Blaine can tell that he means it, not like guys sometimes say “it’s no big deal” only to find out later that it actually is a big deal.
I’M NOT READY EITHER, Kurt adds.
He’s relieved that they are both on the same page. Content with the knowledge that he couldn’t have done anything too stupid last night if Kurt’s still talking to him and he didn’t give his virginity up, he wraps his arm around Kurt and cuddles in close.
WHERE ARE MY CLOTHES, he asks, realizing he’s only in a tank top and a pair of yoga pants that are way too long for his short legs.
YOU KEPT WAKING UP AND UNDRESSING YOURSELF, Kurt signs.
WHAT? He’s mortified. Why in the world would he just start stripping in Kurt’s bed?
YOU SAID IT WAS TOO HOT, YOU WERE DRUNK, Kurt explains. I LENT YOU SOMETHING MORE COMFORTABLE TO WEAR.
OH GOD. IM SORRY, he apologizes, closing his eyes so that he doesn’t have to look at Kurt’s face. He’s clearly a slutty drunk, he doesn’t know why none of his friends have mentioned it before.
He can feel the bed shaking and he knows Kurt must be laughing at him, which makes it even worse, but soon enough Kurt’s tracing words onto his chest and laying his ear over Blaine’s heart. He can’t be that upset with Blaine if he’s not pushing him out of bed and calling him a whore, so he figures it’s alright.
I LIKE WAKING UP WITH YOU, Blaine says. Kurt smiles then it drops. WHAT’S WRONG?
IT’S NOTHING, Kurt shrugs, but he can’t just ignore it when there’s obviously something up.
WHAT’S WRONG? he repeats.
It takes Kurt a minute or two to respond, but he’s willing to give him all the time in the world to work up to whatever it is that’s upsetting him, so long as he tells him so Blaine can fix it. He doesn’t like to think of Kurt being sad for any reason.
I DIDN’T KNOW YOU DATED SEBASTIAN.
It’s not what Blaine expects and he’s completely confused about where this is coming from.
I DIDN’T, he signs, perplexed.
RIGHT. I MEAN, I DIDN’T KNOW THE TWO OF YOU WERE TOGETHER BEFORE, Kurt signs, and Blaine’s heart sinks. He’s pretty sure he knows where this is coming from — knows exactly who this is coming from — and it kills him.
WE WEREN’T, he explains carefully. WHO SAID WE WERE?
He just needs Kurt to say it. He needs him to confirm what Blaine’s already thinking. Hell, he’s praying Kurt will say that nobody said anything to him, that he’d come to the conclusion all on his own. It would mean that one of his best friends didn’t talk to his boyfriend behind his back.
Kurt blushes, staring down at the comforter, picking up imaginary lent. The longer it takes Kurt to respond, the angrier Blaine gets. He’s going to murder Sebastian for this. It is one thing to give Blaine a hard time for dating a hearing person. Blaine is prepared for it. To talk to Kurt though? That is low. That is too far, as far as Blaine is concerned and he will handle it the second he gets home.
WHAT HAPPENED? he prods, but Kurt has shut down and won’t say anything more.
Blaine honestly can’t remember much from last night, he doesn’t remember seeing Sebastian and Kurt talking to one another, so there’s no telling how much time Sebastian had to fill Kurt’s head up with all sorts of ideas. As if Kurt needs anymore reasons not to like Blaine, he’s sure Kurt has enough already.
I NEVER DATED SEBASTIAN, Blaine signs slowly and clearly, leaving no room for Kurt to misunderstand.
OK, is his only response.
It’s clearly far from okay if the look on Kurt’s face is any indication.
YOU’RE WORRIED ABOUT SEBASTIAN? he asks, wondering what exactly Sebastian said to him. Did he really imply that they’d been a serious couple? He isn’t naive, he knows that Sebastian still has a crush on him, but they’d been over this. They’re only ever going to be friends and Sebastian had promised that he was okay with that.
Kurt doesn’t respond, so he takes that as a yes.
SEBASTIAN ASKED ME OUT LAST YEAR, Blaine explains, hoping that if he can just tell Kurt the truth, this will all blow over. He can’t believe, of all the problems that could come up in a Deaf/hearing relationship, their first problem will be over another guy. It’s so stupid and cliche that Blaine feels like he’s in a bad TV show.
YOU SAID YES, Kurt answers for him.
I SAID YES, he signs, there’s no point in hiding it. BUT BEFORE OUR FIRST DATE, I CAUGHT HIM HOOKING UP WITH SOMEBODY ELSE. I’VE NEVER LOOKED AT HIM THAT WAY SINCE. WE NEVER EVEN KISSED. YOU HAVE NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT.
I’M NOT WORRIED ABOUT THAT, Kurt signs with a roll of his eyes.
THEN WHAT? he asks. His head is pounding and he just wants some coffee and something greasy to settle his stomach. He’s too hungover for this conversation.
YOUR FRIENDS THINK THAT YOU CAN ONLY DATE DEAF PEOPLE, Kurt signs.
Oh, is that all they’d said to Kurt? That doesn’t seem too bad, I mean, of course they think he should date other Deaf people. That’s what’s expected of you. If you’re truly capital “D” Deaf, you go to Deaf schools, have Deaf friends, find a Deaf partner and hopefully you have Deaf babies together. Of course, his friends are thrown off by his decision to start dating Kurt. He doesn’t like how unsupportive they are being, but he isn’t surprised by it and Kurt shouldn’t be either.
THAT’S A CULTURE THING, YOU CAN’T LET THAT GET TO YOU, he explains.
I CAN’T? Kurt signs, looking offended.
YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND, he signs, which is clearly the last think Kurt wants to hear, so he hurries to clarify. THERE’S AN EXPECTATION THAT COMES WITH BEING DEAF AND SOME OF THAT IS TAKING PRIDE IN WHO I AM AND DATE WITHIN THE DEAF COMMUNITY.
THAT’S AWFUL, Kurt signs, looking horrified. THAT’S LIKE SAYING BLACK PEOPLE CAN’T DATE WHITE PEOPLE. IT’S LIKE SAYING BOYS CAN’T DATE BOYS. YOU OF ALL PEOPLE SHOULD SEE HOW HORRIBLE THAT SOUNDS.
DON’T LECTURE ME ON OPPRESSION AND ABLEISM, I’VE GROWN UP AROUND IT MY WHOLE LIFE, Blaine starts signing quickly, not stopping to think if Kurt is actually able to keep up or not. He’s too upset. Kurt has no right to lecture him. There is no such thing as reverse ableism, just like reverse racism isn’t real. It isn’t possible for the oppressed to be oppressive, that’s not how it works. Kurt doesn’t get to play the victim here, not when he has no idea where his friends are coming from.
IT’S NOT WRONG FOR US TO WANT TO KEEP OUR CULTURE OUR OWN. THE SECOND HEARING PEOPLE GET INVOLVED, THEY START APPROPRIATING EVERYTHING. WE DON’T NEED OUTSIDERS GETTING INVOLVED AND STRIPPING AWAY EVERYTHING WE’VE WORKED FOR.
YOU’RE SIGNING TOO FAST! He’s frustrated. BUT I GET IT. YOU DON’T WANT HEARING PEOPLE IN YOUR LIFE. WHY DO YOU HAVE A HEARING BOYFRIEND THEN?
I DIDN’T MEAN YOU, he explains, he thinks that should be obvious. Clearly, he can’t have meant Kurt. He never would have agreed to date him if Kurt was just another ignorant hearing person…
Of course, the fact that Kurt is getting so upset means that he might have been wrong about him. Kurt doesn’t understand as much as Blaine assumed he did.
Blaine’s not defending his friends. He knows they are completely out of line for being rude to Kurt and for calling Blaine a traitor, and Blaine will be dealing with that when he gets home. However, they are perfectly within their rights to not want to be around hearing people. They’ve been ridiculed, misunderstood, and mocked. They’ve been repeatedly told that they were nothing — that they were broken — time and time again by hearing people. There is nothing wrong with wanting a sanctuary from that.
I’M HEARING! THOSE PEOPEL YOU HATE, THEY ARE MY PEOPLE!
YOU NEED TO TRY AND SEE THINGS FROM THEIR PERSPECTIVE, Blaine signs, trying to get Kurt to calm down and stop yelling at him for something he didn’t even do. His friends are the ones that don’t want Kurt around, not him. THEY ARE JUST WORRIED ABOUT ME.
BECAUSE I’M RUINING YOUR LIFE, he scoffs.
KURT. Blaine doesn’t know what to say.
He wants to fix this entire broken mess, but he can’t throw his friends under the bus to do so, even if they have pissed him off recently. He likes Kurt and he wants him around, but it worries him that Kurt might not ever understand Deaf culture. It worries him that Kurt might not even try. He’s been prepared to go to battle for Kurt, but he always assumed he’d have Kurt there fighting with him, not against him.
SEBASTIAN WAS RIGHT.
ABOUT WHAT? Blaine asks, trying to understand exactly what was said to start this whole argument in the first place.
“He said ————————————-“
Kurt rants. He rants and rants and rants without signing a single word. He rambles and his lips move too fast for Blaine to catch any of it. He is yelling and angry and Blaine can’t understand a single thing because
Kurt’s
Not
Signing.
I CAN’T HEAR YOU! I’M DEAF! he signs harshly, willing himself not to cry over it. It isn’t be the first time somebody’s talked at him, expecting him to understand. Hell, his own father doesn’t even sign. But when it's Kurt’s that forgets to sign — especially when they've just had this conversation two weeks ago — it hurts. It cuts deeper than he’ll ever admit.
God, isn’t this his friends’ entire point? Isn’t this what they’ve warned him would happen?
Kurt, to his credit, blushes and quickly begins signing again so that Blaine can keep up.
HE SAID WE SHOULDN’T BE TOGETHER AND THAT YOU D-E-S-E-R-V-E BETTER.
The little shit. Blaine is fuming. He could actually wring Sebastian’s neck. Of all people, Sebastian doesn’t get to decide what Blaine deserves. If Sebastian had his way, the two of them would be dating and Sebastian would be cheating on him every other week. He has no room to talk about who makes an appropriate boyfriend and who doesn’t.
THAT’S NOT HIS DECISION, Blaine signs.
I KNOW! HE’S SUCH AN ASSHOLE.
Sebastian is an asshole. However, hearing Kurt say it bothers him. Blaine can call him an asshole because he knows that, at the end of the day, Sebastian is still one of his best friends and would take a bullet for him. Kurt saying he’s as asshole, is him saying, “I don’t understand how you’re friends with this guy.”
Those Dalton boys are Blaine’s family. He is allowed to be angry at them. He is allowed to curse them out and fight with them all he wants, because they will always be his family. That’s not going to change. He’s allowed to say whatever he wants about his friends, but for Kurt to say it…
Of course Blaine’s going to stay something them.
HE’S JUST CONCERNED.
WHY ARE YOU DEFENDING HIM?
YOU DIDN’T GROW UP DEAF. YOU DIDN’T GROW UP HAVING TO DEAL WITH STUPID PEOPLE, YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND DEAF PRIDE. I KNEW WHAT I WAS SIGNING UP FOR WHEN I AGREED TO DATE YOU, he explains slowly.
WHEN YOU AGREED… I DIDN’T REALIZE I WAS YOUR PITY PROJECT. I’M SORRY ME ASKING YOU OUT WAS SUCH A BURDEN.
Blaine breathes. He's pissed at Sebastian. More pissed than he's ever been for putting doubts in Kurt's head. However, he can’t keep explaining this to Kurt. He needs to understand what a big deal it is for for Blaine and him to be together.
Blaine goes to Dalton Academy. Perhaps other Deaf schools are more liberal and have more dating between hearing and Deafies, he honestly doesn’t know. But he goes to Dalton, the picture of Deaf pride. If you looked up Deaf pride in the dictionary, there would be a boy in a Dalton uniform giving the middle finger to the hearing world. It’s a beacon for the elitist of the Deaf community. The students at Dalton grow up on a diet of anti-implant, pro-signing, propaganda. Hell, before Blaine met Kurt, he’d been convinced that the root of all evil was hearing people.
Kurt needs to understand that it's natural for Deaf people to want to stick to each other and fear outsiders.
Just because his friends have a problem with it doesn't mean Blaine is going to break up with him.
If he wants to be with Blaine, he needs to understand that his friends aren't personally against Kurt. They’re just worried about losing Blaine to the hearing world. They are convinced that if Blaine dates Kurt, that sooner or later he’s going to start wanting to start speech therapy again. Then he’ll stop coming to Deaf events. Then, slowly but surely, he’ll stop signing all together.
It’s not going to happen, but his friends just need some time to understand that. Kurt needs to develop a tougher skin and a dose of compassion if he’s going to stay with Blaine. His friends — no matter how out of control they are — deserve some compassion after all they’ve been through in their lives. At the end of the day, they are just trying to look out for Blaine. They’ll see that Kurt is what’s best for Blaine eventually, but not if Kurt runs at the first sign of trouble.
I WANT TO BE WITH YOU. I WOULDN’T BE HERE IF I DIDNT. FORGET WHATEVER THEY TELL YOU, IM STILL HERE, ARENT I? JUST TRY TO UNDERSTAND. THOSE GUYS ARE MY FAMILY.
HE’S NOT YOUR FAMILY IF HE ACTS LIKE THIS
EVERYONE AT THAT SCHOOL IS MY FANILY, I SEE THEM MORE THAN MY PARENTS AND THEY UNDERSTAND ME IN A WAY NOBODY ELSE EVER WILL. DON’T MAKE ME CHOSE BETWEEN YOU AND THEM.
BECAUSE YOU WON’T CHOSE ME? Kurt asks, his held held high in defiance.
BECAUSE I REALLY LIKE YOU AND I DONT WANT MY FRIENDS TO BE RIGHT. I DON’T WANT TO RESENT YOU.
****
The fight takes several days to blow over. Blaine spends most of that time yelling at Sebastian and blaming him for the entire thing, until finally Sebastian agrees to stay out of it, for Blaine’s sake.
Sebastian will never like Kurt, he tells Blaine, but he’ll keep his comments to himself.
It takes so long to hear from Kurt, that Blaine’s convinced their relationship is over before they’d even had a chance to go anywhere. Then, on the fifth day, he get’s a text.
You’re the best boyfriend that I’ve ever had. Can we not fight anymore?
That’s right. Kurt tells him that Blaine is the best boyfriend he’s ever had. It surprises him, but helps relieve a lot of the insecurities he’s been carrying around about not being good enough for Kurt.
Kurt drives up to Dalton and they have coffee together, where they both agree that letting Blaine’s friends come between them is stupid. Blaine’s promises himself that he’s going to stay out of it. Kurt’s a big boy and he promises Blaine that he can handle whatever comes their way. Kurt tells Blaine that he doesn’t expect him to ruin his friendships for the sake of their relationship.
After that, the two of them are inseparable. Anytime they’re not in class, they are together. Blaine spends his afternoons doing homework at the coffee shop, just so he can look up and smile at Kurt behind the counter. Kurt comes to Dalton for breakfast every Tuesday and Thursday because he doesn’t have morning classes. They are in the honeymoon phases of their relationship and Blaine hopes that never stops.
Every day, Kurt’s signing gets better and things between them get easier. Blaine almost never has to slow down his signs for Kurt anymore, and Kurt rarely ever has to ask Blaine to repeat himself. Kurt’s confessed that he signed up for interpreting classes at a community college in the Fall. He’ll still be going to NYADA, but he thinks having an interpreter license will be a nice side job to pay the bills and wants to learn all he can about communicating better with Blaine.
All of this makes it easier for Blaine to ignore all the glares he gets whenever he’s on campus with Kurt.
Until he can’t.
David is the unlucky recipient of his rage, but by the end of the day, he knows that everyone at Dalton understands the message was for all of them and not just David.
YOU INSULT KURT AND YOU’RE INSULTING ME. SO YOU CAN ALL EITHER BE SUPPORTIVE OR GET OUT OF MY LIFE.
It’s funny. Nobody suddenly starts loving the idea of Kurt and him together, but it’s the last time anything is said to either of their faces again, and Blaine’s perfectly fine with that.