Chapter Text
Kurt had just gotten out of his Dalton Academy uniform for the day when he got a call from Mercedes.
“Are you going to the Rachel Berry House Party Trainwreck Extravaganza tomorrow?” She asks, sounding very excited.
“Mercedes, what on earth are you talking about?” Kurt sighs, pressing the back of his hand to his forehead. Anything manned by Rachel Berry is either going to be a blast, or as Mercedes eloquently put it, a trainwreck extravaganza.
“Rachel is feeling like a protected little princess, so she wants to throw a ‘real rager’ at her house to feel like she’s alive or something, I don’t know. All I know is, it’s not gonna be a New Directions party if you’re not there.”
“I don’t know Mercedes...I haven’t talked to some of those guys in a few weeks and I don’t want anything to be awkward. I don’t even know if I’m invited! I mean, neither Rachel or Finn have told me about this.” Kurt says, feeling slightly deflated. He’s glad Mercedes wants him there, he really has missed being around her since he transferred schools. But he’s right, if nobody had told him about this, it kind of seemed like he wasn’t invited. And Kurt knows when he isn’t wanted.
“Don’t be silly! You know we all miss you like crazy. It all just kind of happened today, Puck brought it up to Rachel because her dads are out of town this weekend. He wants to bring a lot of booze, so...worst case scenario, Rachel lets everyone get in one shot before she gets paranoid about Finn tripping and breaking something. Best case scenario, we get turnt, and get a well deserved weekend of fun! Aren’t I inviting you right now?” Kurt can hear Mercedes’s smile over the phone.
“I suppose I can make a brief appearance. Oh shoot, but Blaine and I were supposed to hang out tomorrow.” He frowns. Kurt feels a slight pang of guilt at his words, remembering the very beginning of his friendship with Blaine and how he accidentally kept blowing off friend dates with Mercedes. He doesn’t want her, or any of the New Directions really, to feel unimportant to him, but Kurt really likes hanging out with Blaine. He hasn’t made many friends at Dalton yet, so he wants to hold onto the ones he does have. He also knows how paranoid Rachel is, especially after the whole Jesse St. James debacle, and he doesn’t want anyone to think they’re spying on them. They’re competitors now!
“Bring him with!” Mercedes says, like it’s the simplest thing. “Unless y’all had some other plans.”
Kurt pauses for a moment. “That wouldn’t make any of you guys uncomfortable?”
Mercedes laughs. “Kurt. We all know you’re both gay.”
He has to smile at that. She always knows how to lighten Kurt’s anxieties. “I mean, wouldn’t Rachel be hesitant to allow her mortal show choir enemies into her home?”
“She can deal with her competitiveness on her own. You deserve a night out with your friends. ALL of them! It won’t be the same without you, Kurt.” Mercedes adds the last sentence quietly, and it makes Kurt smile. Sometimes he forgets just how much these Lima Losers mean to him.
Kurt takes a deep breath before telling Mercedes: “I’ll talk to Finn about it, and I’ll text Blaine. I’ll let you know when I know, okay?”
Mercedes lets out an excited squeal. “Yay! Okay okay, I’ll let you go now. Just text me and let me know if you guys need a ride!”
Kurt smiles and says a quick thank you before hanging up and flopping down on his bed. Sometimes it really is nice to feel like his old friends haven’t forgotten him. He knows he should reach out more, but life has been really busy. Maybe Mercedes is right, and this will be a good chance to catch up with everyone. He really hopes Blaine will want to come with. Kurt knows that while Blaine has met everyone both individually and as a group, he also knows that the New Directions can be a little...much at times. He hopes that he’s just making this all up in his head and that Blaine is a secret party animal as he opens up his texts. “Hey, potential change of plans for tomorrow. Do you want to go to a McKinley party?” He hits send, and then quickly sends “We don’t have to go if you don’t want to! We can find something else to do if you’re not interested.” Just in case.
Kurt watches his phone for a few minutes, and after no response from Blaine, he decides to knock on Finn’s door. “Hey Finn? Do you have a minute?”
“Hang on, I’m in the middle of a game! Door’s open though.” Finn calls from inside his bedroom.
Kurt tentatively opens the door, surprised to see how clean it is considering it’s the end of the week. “It’s nothing urgent, I just wanted to talk to you about Rachel’s party tomorrow night.”
Finn is hunched over on the futon in the center of the room, controller in hand as he stares at the big screen attached to the wall. Kurt isn’t sure what game he’s playing, but there’s a lot of button mashing and gunfire involved. Finn moves his headset so only one of his ears is being covered. “How do you even know about that?” His eyes are still focused on the game, but it’s obvious he’s also paying attention to his step-brother now. “I mean like...what about it?”
“Well, I just got off the phone with Mercedes.” Kurt begins. He’s not entirely sure what he’s asking, but he still tries to be careful around Finn. Sometimes things are really cool between them, and they almost feel like blood brothers. But other times, Finn tries to keep his distance and it’s almost like when Burt and Carole first started dating. Kurt never wants to push Finn until he starts yelling and knocking things over again.
“Again, what about it?” Finn says, jumping off of the futon with a fist pump when VICTORY in big gold letters appears on the TV.
“Well, Mercedes said that if me and Blaine wanted to go...that she was inviting us. I just wanted to get your opinion, I guess. Figure out rides and whatnot.” Kurt says, sitting down next to Finn.
Finn raises an eyebrow and shrugs. “I’m not your handler, dude. Do what you want. Especially because if I say no, I have a feeling that you’ll show up with Mercedes anyway, and then have lots of time to tell everyone about what you saw on my browser when you were trying to order a pizza last week…” Finn shudders, trying not to think about it, but Kurt laughs. “But seriously, the group isn’t the same without you man. Rachel might be a little apprehensive about letting ‘the enemy go behind our front lines’ or whatever, but if Blaine wants to come too, I don’t see a problem with it. It’s a glee club party, I feel like it’s gonna be small and karaoke-heavy. Maybe it’ll be a sign of good faith, especially with regionals coming up soon.”
Kurt smiles. “Yeah, that was kind of my thought too. I just can never keep up with McKinley drama, I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to be crashing.”
“I mean, you kind of are, but I don’t think anyone will care. You were part of the original glee club, if Rachel turns you away at the door, I think we’ll have bigger problems.” Finn picks up his controller again, ready for round two. “Don’t even worry about it man, just start planning your outfits or whatever.” He puts his headset back on, and Kurt takes that as his cue to leave.
Closing the door behind him, he hears his phone buzz with a text from Blaine. “What time is the party? I’d love to go :)”
Before texting Blaine back, Kurt sends Mercedes a message first. “What time is this extravaganza? Count me and Blaine in!”
Mercedes texts back instantly. “I knew you would. ;) Party starts at 7:30, and we can always leave to catch a movie if it turns out to be LAME. Love you, see you lovebirds tomorrow night!”
Kurt is smiling ear to ear as he tells Mercedes that he loves her too, and then texts Blaine the plan. He figures they’ll drive with Finn, that way the three of them only need one designated driver. Kurt plans on that being him, he doesn’t want to be trashed around Blaine quite yet, he’s still trying to make a good impression. He figures that getting slammed and throwing up on Blaine’s shoes wouldn’t be a good omen for the rest of their friendship. He’s lucky that Ms. Pillsbury has forgiven him for a similar incident.
Pushing thoughts of Ms. Pillsbury’s soiled shoes aside, Kurt takes Finn’s advice and starts planning for the weekend. The glee club doesn’t throw too many parties, and Kurt actually wants this to go well. He misses his friends like crazy, and any excuse to hang out with Blaine, Kurt will happily take. He ruffles through his wardrobe, trying to decide what to wear. He wants to make sure that if he needs to wash or press anything, he can do so tonight and not have to crunch for time tomorrow.
He is halfway through his second drawer of pants when he hears a knock at his bedroom door. “Come in!” Kurt yells, not looking behind him as he re-folds a pair of bright red jeans.
His stepmother cracks open the door, resting her head against the doorframe. “Hey, it’s getting to be about that time. Mind giving me a hand with dinner? I want to make sure it’s still hot by the time your dad gets home.”
Kurt looks at his alarm clock and realizes it’s already 5:30. “Oh, yeah. I guess it is getting late, huh?” He chuckles as he closes up his dresser. “Let me wash my hands, I’ll be downstairs in a moment.”
“Thank you sweetie.” Carole says, closing the door behind her.
***
After dinner is made and everyone is seated around the table, Kurt smiles at his family. It’s been a few months since the wedding, so it’s not necessarily strange to have everyone seated for dinner, but Kurt still thinks it’s sweet how much Carole and Finn have so easily fit into Kurt and his dad’s life. He misses his mom, but having Carole around is nice. They made roasted lemon chicken breasts and rice for dinner, and Kurt pulled together a mini-salad bar. It’s nothing too fancy, but it’s fresh enough to be good for Burt’s heart, and also remind everyone that spring is just around the corner.
“Hey dad? Finn and I are going to go over to Rachel’s tomorrow, if that’s alright.” Kurt begins carefully. He doesn’t like lying to his dad, but he also is well aware of how overprotective he can be. When Kurt starts talking about Rachel’s party, he decides to leave out Puck bringing any kind of alcohol, especially because he doesn’t know if Rachel will even let them drink that much. And Kurt isn’t planning on having any booze anyway, so why bring it up?
Burt nods as Kurt is talking, and after swallowing a mouthful of chicken, simply shrugs. “Yeah, sounds good kiddo. You deserve a night out with your friends. As long as it’s just the glee kids, you know I don’t care. Just call and let me know if you two need anything okay?” He says, pointing his fork to Kurt and Finn a couple of times.
Kurt chuckles, and gives a simple ‘will do’ in response.