Work Text:
“There is no way that thing is real,” Kurt says, looking at the large pile of metal in front of him with eyes wide in disbelief.
Blaine nods in agreement, but then he takes a couple steps forward and Kurt has to grab his arm to pull him back.
“Don’t go near it! It looks like it’s going to explode!” Kurt turns to Brittany, who is standing next to it with a huge accomplished grin on her face. “Britt, sweetie, you know I love you, but if that thing blows, I can’t be held responsible for my actions.”
Brittany arrived not more than fifteen minutes ago, wheeling a large cart into the loft behind her. Kurt has no idea how she got it up the stairs, but it’s Brittany, so magic can’t be ruled out. When the large tarp covering the cart was removed, it revealed a machine of some sort, made out of a tandem bicycle and what looked like vacuum cleaner hoses, with Christmas lights flashing to the rhythm of Jingle Bells.
Attached to the handlebars was a large box covered with some buttons, an old computer keyboard, and a PDA that Kurt recognized from back when he was a kid, and the whole contraption had Control Pannel written in Sharpie across the top.
“Don’t worry, it’s totes legit,” Santana says, slipping her arm around Brittany’s waist and smiling at her proudly. It’s actually kind of sweet, Kurt thinks, but then Santana smirks at him. “Britt and I took it for a spin earlier.”
“We watched ourselves make sweet lady love.”
“Super hot, especially since we were in our old Cheerios uniforms.”
“Okay, no. Don’t wanna know,” Kurt says, and Blaine starts walking toward the machine again, like a fly to one of those blue lights that zap them dead as soon as they touch it. “Blaine, no!”
“It really works?” Blaine asks, and Kurt can’t believe that Blaine is buying it. Well, actually, he can, because Blaine is trusting to a fault, and now he’s touching the damn thing and Kurt can feel his head starting to throb.
“Why don’t you take it for a ride and find out?” Santana smiles wickedly at Kurt even though she’s answering Blaine, and Brittany is nodding enthusiastically.
“Absolutely not,” Kurt says, crossing his arms across his chest.
“It couldn’t hurt, right?” Blaine is giving Kurt that look, the one where his eyes get all big and he flutters his stupid pretty lashes and pouts his plump little mouth, and Kurt’s resolve starts to crumble.
“Is it safe?”
“We’re still alive, aren’t we? Now come on, Eyebrows McGelmet is going to pee himself if you don’t get on the bike soon.”
Kurt looks over at Blaine and sure enough, he’s bouncing on the balls of his feet. Kurt shakes his head in defeat. Worst case scenario, they’ll pedal on the bike for a minute, and then they can go on with the rest of their night.
“How does it work?” Kurt asks, sighing as Blaine lunges at him, hugging him tightly.
Brittany shows them which buttons to press to start it up, and then it’s time to figure out the date and time they want to put in, as well as where they want to go.
“November 9th, 2010, 1:20pm, at Dalton,” Blaine declares, and it takes Kurt a second to figure out why that date and place, but when he does, he starts grinning like an idiot in spite of himself. Luckily, neither Brittany nor Santana question it.
“Okay, all set,” Brittany says after hitting some buttons and tinkering with the keyboard. “Just type in today’s info when you want to come back.”
“Keep it short and sweet, boys,” Santana adds. “And don’t do anything that could change the course of the universe.”
Kurt and Blaine get on the bike and Blaine starts to pedal right away, which makes Kurt’s pedals hit the back of his ankles painfully before he catches up.
Nothing happens at first, but then the loft actually starts to get fuzzy. Kurt can hear Brittany cheering them on and keeps pedaling as the world around them starts to spin. Suddenly, there is a bright flash of light, and Kurt has to close his eyes to keep his retinas intact.
When he blinks them open, he hears Blaine gasp behind him.
“Kurt! Oh my god, it worked!”
As Kurt’s eyes refocused, he saw wood paneling and marble floors, and the distinctive smell of new books and pine. It’s been a couple years, but Kurt immediately recognized it.
They were at Dalton.
Brittany actually built a time machine.
Kurt almost wanted to look out the window to see if pigs were flying, but then Blaine was tugging him out of the room.
“Wait, what about the machine?”
“This room will be empty for the rest of the day, don’t worry,” Blaine reassures him. “Come on, we’ll miss it!”
Classes are in session, so the halls are blessedly empty. They’re about to turn the corner to the foyer when a voice booms from behind them.
“Warbler Blaine!”
Blaine turns ghost white and Kurt feels his stomach drop to the floor, and then he is being shoved into a classroom and ducking behind the door as fast as possible. He peeks through the sliver of space between the door and the wall and holds his breath as Wes marches up to Blaine, sporting the same stern expression Kurt remembers from his time at Dalton.
“Wes! Hey! It’s great to see you!” Blaine says, and Kurt’s hand twitches as he barely stops himself from slapping his forehead.
“We have a surprise performance in ten minutes! Why are you out of uniform?”
“Oh, um, I’m going to get changed right now. I had to, uh,” Blaine opens and closes his mouth like a fish, his eyebrows rising and falling rapidly like they do when he’s thinking really hard. “Dentist. I went to the dentist. But I’m back now, and I’m going to put on my uniform. Right now.”
Kurt holds his breath until Wes says, “Very well, but you’re cutting it close. See to it that you’re prepared on time.”
Wes nods curtly and walks away, and Kurt thinks he might be sick. That was a close call, and they need to be more careful if they’re going to pull this off.
“Kurt?” Blaine sticks his head into the classroom, where Kurt is still plastered to the wall, trying to re-establish a normal breathing pattern. “Coast is clear. It’s safe to come out now.”
Blaine holds out his hand and Kurt takes it, allowing Blaine to lead him down the hallway. They both keep their heads down until they reach a small alcove near the staircase.
“Classes let out in about a minute,” Blaine says, checking his watch.
“I’m probably walking into the school about now.” Kurt was both excited and terrified that day, and yes, he was a terrible spy, but his visit to Dalton was about much more than getting the Warblers’ set list. He’d done his research before he went, and while Dalton’s website boasted a safe environment for all students, it seemed too good to be true.
The shrill bell rings and boys start filing out into the halls, hurrying in the direction of what Kurt now knows is the common room, where many of the Warblers’ spontaneous performances took place. He and Blaine huddle together, crouched down behind an old marble statue.
“Hey, look,” Blaine whispers, pointing to the top of the stairs. “There you are.”
Kurt watches his seventeen year old self as he approaches the stairs slowly. It’s completely bizarre.
Then, Younger Kurt takes off his sunglasses, and while the commotion makes it hard to hear, Kurt can see him stopping someone to ask a question.
“We look so young,” Blaine whispers.
Younger Kurt is smiling as Younger Blaine shakes his hand, and Kurt reaches down and clasps Blaine’s hand, thinking about how things could have gone so much differently.
He could have stopped anyone. He could’ve gotten caught by a teacher before he even made it to the stairs. Blaine could have taken another route to the common room. Puck could’ve not suggested he go to spy in the first place.
Yet somehow, everything still worked out perfectly, and if Kurt was honest, he was pretty sure he would have met Blaine eventually, even if it wasn’t on a fancy staircase at an expensive school.
Young Blaine takes Young Kurt’s hand and they take off, and Kurt feels his eyes well up a little. He’d been so lost back then, and really, so was Blaine, but they’d found each other in all of the mess, and through friendship and love, they’d made it.
Kurt sniffles as the last of the students disappear and he and Blaine come out of their hiding spot.
“Why did we run so slow?” Kurt asks, gripping Blaine’s hand tightly. They walk down the hallway in the opposite direction of their younger selves, back toward the room where the time machine was waiting for them.
“They buffed and waxed the floor that morning. I didn’t want us to slip and fall.”
“Ah.” Kurt nods, and then he pulls Blaine closer to him. “To be fair, I’m pretty sure I fell anyway.”
Blaine bumped his shoulder against Kurt’s and dropped his head, laughing lightly. “I think I did, too. I just didn’t know it yet.”
Kurt can’t help himself. He maneuvers Blaine so he’s standing in front of him and kisses him soundly. Blaine makes a pleased noise and wraps his arms around Kurt’s waist, and Kurt feels like he’s traveling back in time again to when they first did this. It’s kind of thrilling, just like it was back then, except now he and Blaine are much more experienced in the kissing department, and Kurt isn’t blushing profusely because Blaine’s mouth is touching his.
“What was that for?” Blaine asks, dazed and smiling.
“You’re just cute is all.” Kurt winks and they keep moving, stopping a couple more times to briefly make out in their old hiding spots, and by the time they reach the machine, they’re both out of breath and giggling.
“Ready to go home?” Blaine asks, and at Kurt’s nod he pushes a few buttons and the machine comes to life. They hop back on the bike and begin to pedal, and Kurt is still smiling as the world begins to spin again.
“Told you so.” Santana says as the loft begins to come back into focus.
“Okay, fine. You were right.” Kurt puts his hands up in surrender as he gets off the bike, stumbling a bit as he regains his footing. “Brittany, I’m confounded and impressed.”
“I think there’s a cream for that,” Brittany says. Kurt opens his mouth to argue but then thinks better of it. She is a genius, after all.
“That was amazing!” Blaine hops off the bike, still grinning. “Can we go again?”
“Nope,” Kurt says immediately. “I think it’s time these ladies to head out actually.”
“But, Kurt – “
“Blaine, remember? We have that thing we have to do?” Kurt looks at Blaine pointedly, hoping that he gets the hint. All that time travel kind of turned him on and he would like to have some alone time with his fiancé sooner rather than later.
“What thi – oh! Right! The thing! Yeah, sorry ladies. Maybe another time?”
Santana rolls her eyes, but she picks up the tarp anyway and helps Brittany cover the machine back up. “You could just say that you want to rub your vanilla sticks together. We’re all adults here.”
Blaine lends a hand in getting the machine back on the cart, and as soon as the loft door shuts behind Santana and Brittany, Kurt pins Blaine against it, crowding into his space with a thigh pressing between his legs.
Seeing their past again was great and all, but Kurt is much more excited about the immediate future, especially since there are some fantastic orgasms to be had.