A Spontaneous Adventure
This is my 2016 Fic Exchange contribution, and this one’s for @lilyvandersteen! The ao3 post is here, where you can take a look at the prompts I used for inspiration. Thanks to my beta, Megan, and @todaydreambelievers for helping to make this happen! I hope you like it even though it’s shorter than I originally wanted.
summary: Kurt wakes up the morning after the Tony Awards, but it turns out he had a much more eventful night than he remembers.
Kurt’s head is pounding. The painful rhythm drags him awake against his best efforts to stay asleep and put off the world of reality and sobriety, with blurry vision he slowly blinks away. His first instinct is to reach for his phone, which sits on the nightstand next to him, filled with unread messages and missed calls.
From: Rachel I can’t believe I missed the ceremony this year! I hope you had a good time, and remember: there’s always the next nomination, which I know you’ll get because you’re the most talented performer I’ve ever met besides me. Love from London xoxo
From: Dad Me and Carole watched last night, we’re real proud of you bud. Think you got robbed, but I guess this kind of thing happens sometimes. Heard about those afterparties too, so Carole says to stay safe and I say to stay sharp, I don’t like the look of some of those characters on stage
From: Santana hey Hummel, thanks for the butt-dial. sounds like you’re having a hell of a night so call me when you’re back to reality so I can make fun of you even more
Kurt frowns at Santana’s text upon realizing that he has no idea what she’s talking about. In fact, he has little memory of anything that happened last night; the last thing he remembers with perfect clarity is running into someone while getting drinks at a Tonys afterparty. Not just anyone, though -- Blaine Anderson, the charming young actor who was nominated along with Kurt in the same category for the third time. He slowly lowers his phone and finally looks up at the room.
He’s not at his apartment. It doesn’t look like anyone’s home at all; it looks like a hotel room. Or, more accurately, a motel room, slightly dilapidated. Kurt drags himself up to sit on the edge of the bed, contemplating his situation. He’s in a strange motel room with a hangover and not much knowledge of how he got here. So much for staying sharp.
Someone groans and it’s certainly not Kurt, who quickly stands and turns around to look at the other side of the bed, his headache loudly protesting the sudden movement. Sure enough, he’s not alone.
“I- Blaine?” Kurt says, clearing his throat when it comes out hoarse. The other person rolls over and Kurt’s suspicions are instantly confirmed: he’d just been in bed in a motel, hungover, with his biggest Broadway rival according to all the fan sites (and himself).
Blaine rubs his eyes as he slowly sits up. “Huh? Who’re you?”
“Kurt Hummel.”
“Oh. Oh, god, what happened?”
“I don’t know, but I sure hope you remember more than I do,” Kurt says, scanning the rest of the room for clues. He’s still wearing an undershirt and boxer briefs, which is good. He’s not quite sure where the rest of his clothes are, which is bad. He at least sort of remembers what he’d been wearing last night and it wasn’t cheap.
“I just remember... talking to you.” Blaine opens his eyes and cringes; Kurt feels some sympathy, but it’s taking everything in him not to panic. “Dancing, too.”
“Right, that happened,” Kurt says, nodding. “And--”
“Look, I know this is weird and everything, but I really think we might be able to figure this out better if we do something about the hangover we both have.”
“How do you know I’m hungover? You haven’t even looked at me.”
“That’s because you’re standing in front of a window. It’s bright. I’m just guessing that if you weren’t as messed up as I am, we wouldn’t be in this situation right now.”
Kurt sighs. “Touché.”
They proceed to gather their things in relative silence. Kurt finds his clothes near the bathroom and puts them on, then sends messages to people who might worry about him if he doesn’t respond soon. He doesn’t mention anything specific; if his dad knew what he just got himself into, he’d get a call instantly. He does ask Santana what she heard, mostly because he’d rather know which part of the puzzle she has than worry about what she might say - no matter what, she’s always said something worse.
“So, um.” Kurt looks up at Blaine, fully dressed and extremely disheveled. “Can we agree to keep getting along until we part ways?”
“Sure, if you can agree to--” Kurt pauses. It’s not really the time to be confrontational. “Yes, we can.”
“Okay. Then I have good news and bad news.”
“Great. Bring it on.”
“I looked out the window and I saw a place where we can get something to eat. A diner sort of place.”
“What’s the bad news?”
“Uh.” Blaine rubs the back of his neck, avoids eye contact. “I don’t know where we are.”
“Neither do I, that’s nothing new.”
“No, I mean, we’re not... in Manhattan. There’s no sign of the city anywhere.”
Kurt’s phone vibrates. He looks at it to avoid the need to instantly process Blaine’s news and sees a new message.
From: Santana oh, nothing much, Mr. “I can’t believe we just did that” Anderson-Hummel. let me know when you’re in the market for a nice ring--I know a girl. she’ll cover you for either kind of ring you might be interested in.
Kurt takes a deep, steadying breath. “Let’s eat. Then I have bad news too.”
--|--
“So we’re in upstate New York with no car--” Blaine nods. “--and we drunkenly got married at some point--” Blaine nods again, staring at the burger in his hands. “--and now we’re here when we both have shows to be in by tomorrow night.”
“That sounds accurate. But the food’s good, at least.”
“Right.” Kurt scoffs as he reaches for more fries. “That’s our priority.”
“Come on, I’m just trying to look for something good in all this. I don’t want to be here just as much as you don’t to be here, but we made some mistakes and now we have to deal with it.” Blaine takes a bite of his burger and shrugs. “It sucks but there are worse people to be stuck with.”
“Worse than the guy who’s been kind of rude to you ever since you won a Tony after your first nomination?” Kurt avoids Blaine’s gaze. He’s not sure why he’s admitting to knowing how he has acted, but all he knows is he’s going to be spending some time with this guy today so he might as well put all his cards on the table.
“Well, yeah. Can you imagine being stuck out here with Jesse St. James?” Blaine shakes his head. “He’d drive either of us insane.”
“Ugh, you’re right. He seems like a better person than he was back in high school, but he’s still as obnoxious as ever.”
“Oh, you knew him?”
Kurt looks at Blaine, who seems genuinely interested. Then again, he seems genuinely interested in just about everything. “It’s a long story.”
“We have time.”
Kurt can’t come up with an argument against that so he launches into the story, complete with commentary and perhaps slightly exaggerated for effect. As expected, Blaine gets hooked on the details and asks questions; before either of them know it, it’s early afternoon and they’ve spent two hours at the diner.
“Told you it could be worse,” Blaine says as he signs the receipt for his meal.
“What do you mean?”
“I figured you being rude to me wasn’t really... you, you know?”
“Oh.” Kurt sips at the last of his iced tea. “I guess. I haven’t really been that invested in it for a couple of years, it’s just...”
“Talk?”
“Yeah. Ever since that one interview, our little feud became such a thing for everyone that it’s easy to think of it as something more.”
“Ah. I remember that. You said I was handed the Tony just because I’m likable and conventionally handsome.”
Kurt nods. “Sorry, by the way.”
Blaine waves his hand, dismissing the apology. “Don’t worry about it. I appreciated the underlying compliment. I’ve gotten caught up in the act before, too.”
“It’s fun, isn’t it?” Kurt says, raising an eyebrow.
Blaine smiles. “It is, but I’m kind of tired of it. That’s why I approached you last night.”
“Oh?”
“I just wanted to talk away from interviewers and stuff. Get to know you a little better. I think that plan would have worked out more if we hadn’t had so much to drink at the same time.”
“Well, you’re getting to know me now, right?”
“It’s a good opportunity for it,” Blaine agrees. “It’s good to get to know your husband, I guess.”
Kurt leans back in the booth. “We need to fix that. The ‘married’ thing.”
“We’ll get there. First...” Blaine trails off and waves to the waitress, getting her attention. Kurt watches, confused, as she comes over and he asks where the nearest car rental is.
“We’re renting a car?” Kurt asks when Blaine consults his phone after the waitress gives him the name of a place to go.
“Do you have a better idea?”
“...No.”
“This one’s just outside this town. Good thing it’s not raining.”
“You really latch on to the good things, huh?” Kurt says, getting up from the booth. He feels better than he did earlier, but he’ll feel more comfortable once he’s in his own bed and sleeping off the events of the past twenty-four hours.
“It’s better than latching on to the bad things.”
“Huh.” Kurt opens the door for Blaine, who goes through but then turns back and gives him a questioning look.
“What?”
“It’s nothing. I’m just jealous of the way you’re dealing with this. I’m still kind of panicking on the inside.”
“Why’s that?”
“I just haven’t had an incident like this before, and I kind of pride myself on making good decisions. I never thought I’d end up in upstate New York without specifically planning to come here.”
“Maybe if you think of it as a spontaneous adventure you’ll feel better about it?”
Kurt laughs. “Maybe. I’ll let you know later, but somehow I don’t think getting incredibly drunk counts as having a spontaneous adventure.”
“There are people who’d disagree with you.”
“Like you?”
“Well... no. The drinking part isn’t the adventure for me. This part, walking in the fresh air with a grounded actor that I admire, that’s kind of like an adventure.”
“You admire me?”
Blaine looks at him, eyes wide. “Uh, yeah. I do. You’re an amazing performer.”
Kurt feels his face warm; he’s not used to receiving compliments like that in person from someone who isn’t a friend or family member and actually means it. “Thank you, but you’re just as talented. When I’m not thinking about how much I fake-hate you, I admire you too.”
“Fake-hate?”
“Too much? Fake-dislike, then.”
“No, no, it’s fine. I just think it’s kind of funny that a feud that didn’t really exist beyond the first month is what kept us from properly meeting all this time.”
“We’re stage actors, we naturally put on acts and do it dramatically.” It’s Blaine’s turn to laugh, and Kurt smiles at the thought that he made that happen. “Come on, let’s go in and get a car. I call shotgun for the first hour.”
--|--
“A cassette player? How old is this thing?” Kurt says as Blaine pulls the car out of the parking lot and follows the GPS instructions on his phone.
“Try the radio.”
Kurt turns on the radio and shuffles through the stations, avoiding conservative talk radio as much as possible. “I haven’t listened to an actual car radio in forever. I’ve been dedicated to my iTunes collection for years at this point.”
“Same here. Hey, this sounds nice,” Blaine says.
“Classical?”
“It’s easy to talk over.”
“You just want to get more stories out of me. I see what game you’re playing.”
“I can’t help it, it sounds like you had an interesting high school career.”
Kurt looks out the window, thinking back. “How about the time Rachel Berry and I had a Defying Gravity diva-off the same week we all had to get around in wheelchairs?”
“Oh, absolutely tell me about that.”
With enthusiasm, Kurt tells Blaine about the competition and the fundraiser, then continues on to talk about how his relationship with Rachel developed over the years when Blaine asks how exactly they managed to become friends after all of that.
Outside, the landscape slowly changes as they approach different parts of the state, but it would feel slower if not for Blaine’s company. Kurt finds himself not regretting what happened last night as much as he maybe should, purely because he’s enjoying the time spent with Blaine. And not just in a “making the most of a bad situation” kind of way. In a “wait a minute, I like this guy” kind of way.
“Do you want me to take over? We’re only half an hour out.”
“Oh, you don’t need to, I’m remembering how much I liked driving before I moved to the city. You can put your address in my phone, I’ll just drop you off at your place.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Kurt says, “that’ll just make your trip even longer.”
“I want to.”
“If you say so.” Kurt types his address in and looks out the window at the city ahead. “It’ll be good to be home.”
“Agreed. As much as I’ve liked spending time with you, I wish it happened under different circumstances. The fact that drinking too much led to this ruins some of the appeal.”
“Maybe we can do it again. Under better circumstances, I mean,” Kurt clarifies, staring straight ahead. He knows what he means, but he’s not sure if Blaine will get the hint. Or if he’ll believe it, given their history.
“Like when one of us actually won a Tony the night before, maybe.”
Maybe he didn’t get the hint, after all. Kurt sighs, says, “I’m not sure that qualifies as ‘better’ for the one who doesn’t win it.”
“The quality might average out to be better overall. I think there’s something scientific about it in there somewhere.”
“Blaine, I didn’t become an actor to think about math.”
“Fair enough. Hey, do you think it’s easier to take a right here or just follow the GPS?”
Kurt directs Blaine to his apartment, slightly let down but determined not to let it bother him. Blaine’s just one of many men in New York, and Kurt hardly knows him anyway. Still, when Blaine pulls up in front of his building, part of Kurt doesn’t want to get out. He does, though, and stretches his legs. “Thank you for dropping me off here.”
“It was nothing. I’m sorry we got married last night, I’m pretty sure it was my drunk idea. We should probably meet soon to talk about getting that off our backs. Here, take my number.” Blaine reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small white card with a phone number on it. Kurt raises an eyebrow.
“You have a card?”
“Just a number card...” Blaine says, a little embarrassed. “Um. It was a silly idea a friend had, just have my number on cards to give to guys I like. Not that it means it’s a date! I just had them, so I thought--”
“It could be a date,” Kurt says, cutting him off before he loses his nerve.
“I, oh.” Blaine looks taken aback, but then he smiles. “A date, then. Yeah.”
“Good. You better go get some rest now, but one more thing.”
“What’s that?”
Kurt grins. “Thank you for turning a potential nightmare into a spontaneous adventure.”
Blaine laughs, says, “It was my pleasure, Kurt. See you soon.”
“See you.” Kurt backs up to let Blaine drive off, turning the card over in his hand before heading into his building. A little more spontaneity just might do him some good yet.