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It’s a cold, relentless early March morning. Blaine’s standing in the middle of the sidewalk, bouncing on his toes, and blowing air into his gloved hands to keep warm. Around him are dozens of people all busily moving crates, boxes, and everything else Kurt’s company needs for the tour from the theater onto the buses. Mostly they don’t even notice he’s there.
He’s been standing there, wanting to help, for about twenty minutes, without being sure what to do, since he doesn’t know anyone here aside from Kurt and Elliott. Kurt is busy, clipboard in his hands, pencil behind his ear, yelling directions and pointing at where he wants everything to go. He hasn’t said much after a quick hello, but he does throw guilty looks at Blaine every now and then. At one point they almost get a chance to talk but the lead actress is in dire need because she’s afraid she’s left her cell phone at home, and Kurt’s attention is once again turned back to his work.
Blaine let’s out a sigh. He isn’t sure why he had expected anything more. He knew how busy Kurt would be—he’s used to Kurt being in work mode, his mind being focused only the matter hand. Still, Kurt had asked him. And Kurt wouldn’t have asked if he hadn’t meant it. It’s a goodbye, Blaine thinks, trying hard not to miss him even though he’s still right there, but only a goodbye for now. Maybe four months would be longer than he thought.
Elliott takes pity on him, and asks Blaine to help carry out a rather large trunk, which turns out to be light enough that Elliott could have done it himself. It’s a bunch of wigs, he explains. There aren’t many wigs in the show, but still Kurt wants to be prepared for anything that might happen. And Blaine’s endeared by the thought because Kurt would. He watches Kurt fondly, and at one point Kurt turns to him and smiles. Kurt is happy in his busyness, even when he’s shouting, he’s still the person Blaine remembers him as, and Blaine is happy for him.
Elliott comes to stand next to him after the box is on the bottom of the bus. He watches both Blaine and Kurt carefully, then remarks to Blaine, aside, that he looks different; looser hair, pants that don’t seem suffocating to wear, an adult. But then comments that Blaine really hasn’t changed much, has he. Blaine’s taken aback, not sure how to respond to the observation, but Elliott continues before he can really say anything. It’s okay, as much as he thinks he has, he hasn’t changed either, he says, and nods at Kurt.
Elliott goes back into the theater to get the last of the things, and after a few more minutes, Kurt finally comes to join him. They talk about the tour for a moment, Blaine says he wishes he could have been more help. Kurt says they really do have it under control, but he’s still glad Blaine is there. He wishes Blaine was going with them—Blaine reminds him that while he’d love to, he can’t give up his career as a teacher. And Kurt knows —there’s a heaviness in the air in that moment, because what Kurt really wants to say is that he just wants Blaine around more—not to be parted. But he doesn’t say anything. Blaine can feel it though. He knows.
Blaine sticks his hands in his pockets. He’ll be tempted to reach out and touch Kurt if he doesn’t, and that would be a bad thing. It’s only been a month and a half, but their friendship is firmly back on track. It’s been good–great actually. He doesn’t want to mess that up. Touching runs the risk of doing that. But god, Kurt looks so beautiful, and he can’t help but stare. It would be so easy to give in, to close the gap between them that his entire body aches to do so. But he refrains.
Silence stretches between them for a moment until Kurt shakily admits that he’s nervous about the tour. Blaine tells him he knows they’ll be great. Kurt says that he’s going to miss him. Blaine says he knows—he will, too. Neither is sure what else to say, but they’re interrupted again by the lead actress demanding Kurt’s attention. Kurt says he should go, and Blaine understands. Kurt says he’ll call when they get to the first destination. Blaine wishes him luck again and inevitably, they part.
Blaine turns away, and heads down the sidewalk. He doesn’t let himself look back. It’s going to be a long four months.
–
They text everyday, but usually about mundane things. Kurt finding unique things in the small town shops they stop at, or pictures of old theaters they perform in. Blaine talks about the students in his class—of the one kid that totally reminds Blaine of Kurt, down to the scarves he insists on wearing, and of the different restaurants he tries out that open near his apartment.
They get heavier now and then. Blaine asks for Kurt’s help when Rachel is going through a nasty break up, and wants someone (Blaine) 24/7 to be with her. Blaine assures Kurt that he didn’t actually break Sam and Mercedes kid, when they see one of his shows in the Midwest, and Kurt dropped a prop on the kid’s foot.
Later, when their schedules align that they both have some free time—they have longer conversations. Kurt admits that he’s worried about the show some days, and vents to Blaine that it might fall apart at any second, because the sound guys don’t know what they’re doing, and some of the costumes ripped, and sometimes Kurt feels like a failure. But Blaine always encourages him. Likewise, Kurt is there for Blaine when he talks about school, and the students, and how hard he’s trying but they don’t seem to want to learn anything. And sometimes he feels helpless.
Blaine sends out flowers to arrive on Kurt’s opening nights in the bigger cities. Kurt sends a care basket of homemade items after Blaine’s kids place at Regionals.
They send cards and small gifts for each other’s birthdays.
In the middle of the tour, Blaine learns that his parents are getting a divorce. He isn’t sure whether or not he’s happy about it, even if his brother is freaking out. And Kurt spends nearly that whole week talking him to him about it—making sure he’s alright.
Three quarters of the way in, they don’t talk for almost a week. Blaine learns that Kurt got super drunk one night, and went to a bar with Elliot—they were hit on by some guys, and Kurt even got the number of one, but ultimately, a one-night stand wasn’t what he wanted. It should lead to a heavier conversation between them, how they’re hanging in the in-between of being in a relationship and not, but neither speaks of it. It only lingers in the air.
After that, they begin talking on the phone more instead of texting. Even a thousand miles apart, they slide into being a part of each other’s orbits again, and neither realizes it.
–
When the tour bus finally gets back to New York, Kurt’s anxious, and happy for the success of the tour, and exhausted. And glad to be back in New York. He missed his home, and lovingly watches the tall buildings go by. He texts his dad, letting him know that they’ve returned, and he’ll call him when he gets back to his apartment. Texts Rachel—short and sweet. She wants coffee tomorrow morning and all the gossip.
He stops at Blaine’s number, and smiles as he reads some of the correspondence they’ve had over the past few months. God, he missed Blaine so much. He first thinks he should call, they could see each other tonight, they could… but he stops his thoughts because he’s so tired, and they’ll have to unpack the buses tonight, real world and adult stuff and responsibility comes first, and Blaine can wait. They can have tomorrow night. All of tomorrow night, that would be nice. He’s anxious again though, and he doesn’t really want to wait. He texts Blaine to let him know they’re back in the city. He waits a moment for a reply that doesn’t come, and tries not to feel too disappointed by the lack of response. Blaine has school tomorrow—he might already be headed for bed. He closes his eyes and tries to relax for the rest of the bus ride.
They get back to the theater, and he gets up, discovers his leg has fallen asleep, and stretches it out. Elliott gives him a wild smile, they made it, there and back again. It takes a few minutes to adjust. They’re all waiting for him to say something, and if he wasn’t so tired, he might have given them a more profound speech—about journeys and endings and how these experiences mean something. Instead he just thanks them. And reminds them that they’ll get an email in the next day or two about closing meetings.
Everyone’s off the bus as fast as they can be—the ride had been long. Kurt’s one of the last, taking his time, knowing that as much as it was a pain in the ass—he’ll miss the bus among other things. It was a great ride. When he leaves the bus, the June air is warm and comforting compared to the cold stillness of the bus’s air conditioning.
He’s at the steps of the theater when he sees someone standing against the wall. It’s Blaine, casual and smiling, waiting for him to notice. Kurt darts over there in a second, keeping himself from lunging at Blaine, but he can hardly help it, he’s so excited. Instead, he approaches slowly. Blaine has a twinkle in his eye—he knows that look. It makes him anxious, but also excited. He doesn’t know what to say.
“Hi,” Blaine says with a grin.
“Hey, stranger,” Kurt says, grinning back just as wide.
“I was just in the neighborhood,” Blaine says, “thought if I hung around the theater, I might catch someone famous.”
“Stalker,” Kurt says, teasingly.
And Blaine moves forward in an instant, wrapping Kurt up in a kiss. And Kurt relaxes into it, the kiss bringing such welcomed relief. It feels good, Blaine feels good, feels right, and Kurt melts into him, drawing his arms around Blaine’s neck as the kiss deepens.
Kurt’s not so completely gone that he fails to notice a chuckle. And for a second, he opens one eye to take a peek at Elliott, who’s smirking at him as he carries a trunk up the stairs. He gives Elliott the eye, and a scowl, but that only lasts a second, because Blaine’s tongue is in his mouth, and he just falls into it.
This is what coming home feels like. Blaine is home, and he doesn’t want to let go.
Eventually they break apart, breathing heavy, heads rested against each other.
“Welcome back,” Blaine says, almost bashfully.
There are so many things to say, to think about, to do, but all he can do is smile and let Blaine hold him, and kiss back, because that’s a nice thing. And if it weren’t for the dozen or so people needing his attention, he’d stay in that spot forever.
“Come home with me,” Kurt says, because he doesn’t want to let go. Not yet. He can see that Blaine’s unsure, and he is too, where do they go from here? It’s as scary as it is thrilling. But he knows that he wants it, that they both want it, too. Blaine nods slowly and whispers, okay.