It was BLAINE, and whatever Blaine looked like – curly hair all around his face or sweaty or wearing some of those HORRIBLE colour combinations he seemed so very fond if – Elliott thought it was cute. Elliott just…couldn’t see him as anything that wasn’t a synonym for ‘CUTE’, ‘SEXY’ or ‘WONDERFUL’.
Elliott’s tattooed hand moved up to tap the tip of Blaine’s nose as it was scrunched, finding great joy in such an ADORABLE little expression like that.
“Wash it out? For me?” He wouldn’t BEG, but…well, he’d ask. A lot. He wanted to see it dry and curled, that was something Blaine never let him see, and he wanted to.
He wanted to see him like that, so VULNERABLE.
The tap against his nose made him chuckle and scrunch it up even worse to shake away the weird feeling it left behind. Fingers twitched against the wall they’d plastered themselves against before swinging up and NEARLY landing a tap of his own..
Except Elliott’s request made him pause, a bewildered expression replaced his smile. “You want me to..? I..” Drawing in a breath, he felt a splash of heat as it colored the bridge of his nose and cheeks. “It needs cut. It’s a literal mop that hangs in my eyes..but.. If you really want me to? Just be prepared for the image to be burned in your mind forever.”
How could he say no to such a simple request?
Even if he wouldn’t, he wanted to warn Elliott that he might never be the same again after witnessing the mess of curls that were semi-contained even at night.
“Give me a few minutes and I’ll be right out, okay?” Humming as he leaned up and pressed a kiss to Elliott’s cheek, Blaine lowered himself back down after a second peck and glanced past Elliott towards the sink. Oh boy..
“The NIGHTSTAND.” Elliott spoke it in a tone meant to reference – something eerily like the infamous ‘LIVING ROOM ROUTINE’ From Perks of being a wallflower; not that he EXPECTED Blaine to understand it of course, but it was something enough to cause him great entertainment.
Elliott’s grin never left his face as they kissed, the hand not occupied with rubbing gentle circles on Blaine’s hip moving to his face, cupping his jaw with the same fondess he’d held upon walking into the bathroom moments before.
Blaine just…did something to him. Elliott was fairly easy to entertain, someone to smile as babies and kittens and finding a pen, neat notes and good songs on the radio. But when it was Blaine, it went beyond finding joy in little things. It was finding joy simply in something – SOMEONE – existing, and that was…a lot to adjust to, in all the right ways.
“No no no, wait -” He didn’t let Blaine take another step towards the bedroom, crowding him back against the bathroom wall a little – and resisting the urge to do something RISQUE like shoving his hand places he found pretty darn tempting.
“I wish you didn’t gel your hair back before bed babe – it’s so POINTLESS. Besides, the curls are CUTE.”
Elliott’s hand on his hip shifted his center of gravity in one spinning, fell swoop that Blaine would be hard pressed to describe it as anything but delightful. The sensation made his skin erupt in goosebumps hidden by the elastic waistband of his grey and blue plaid pajama bottoms and the white cotton undershirt he’d tugged over his head moments before Elliott called out his name. Even the slightest touch from Elliott could elicit that reaction.
Blaine rushed to gain control over his pounding pulse and the images that popped into his head. A task easier said than done when a kiss like that one was tossed into the mix. Way easier said than done, actually.
His suggestion to go search in the bedroom abruptly ended as Elliott cornered him against the wall. Blaine let himself relax back against the coolness of the tile. A welcome contrast across his shoulders and the back of his neck to how his skin was heating up. “Okay..,” he whispered not moving an inch just yet.
Lips parted to steal in a breath then pressed together with an embarrassed smile. “I only put in a little bit.. Otherwise? You’re going to wake up with me looking like..well. It’s a tangled mess of hair, okay? Nowhere close to cute,” he scrunched up his nose, “Not even a little bit.”
“Blaine?“ Elliott raised his voice a little so it could carry across the flat, a pillow clutched in a tattoo heavy hand as he searched around somewhat AIMLESSLY. Dropping it back on the sofa none too CEREMONIOUSLY, Elliott gave up his searching for the moment, instead seeking Blaine out; a task much EASIER than the first.
“Have you seen my glasses? I can’t find them ANYWHERE.” And he had a script to study, so his options rested between finding and having to wear the DAMN things or risking a SPLITTING headache that would no doubt ruin his evening.
On finding Blaine in the bathroom, a bright smile BLOSSOMED across Elliott’s face, a hand instantly going to his hip so he could press a kiss to cherry lips.
“Yes, Elliott??” Blaine had just finished up his shower and pulled on something to sleep in when he heard Elliott wandering through the apartment. Either he was lost in his own home or was looking for something. Judging by the amount of things being moved around and sat down Blaine could hear? He could be moving the furniture too. Though, at this hour, that was the most unlikely of all the assumptions Blaine could make.
Ah! His glasses! He started to hurry up his routine so he could go help. Hair combed back off his face with just a little bit of something to keep them mostly tame overnight and his feet now warm inside his slippers…and he was set to spend the rest of the night in.
Only Elliott beat him and joined him in the bathroom instead. Blaine smiled seeing Elliott smile. “I think I saw them in the bedroom on the nightstand last. I’d be willing to bet there still there,” he hummed happily when their lips met. Okay, that was nice. Glasses could wait. Cause he lifted up to gently return the peck against the corner of Elliott’s lips, his smile returning to his own. “Come on. Let’s go look.”
send in a ❣ for a random kiss. (roll, 2: a forehead kiss)
Blaine walked barefoot out of the bedroom having changed into a loose fitting pair of pajama bottoms and a t-shirt and hair already twisting into loose curls from his shower to find Elliott in the living room on the sofa. “Hey, Happy Valentine’s Night,” he hummed over to him with a smile pausing by the mantle to light the vanilla and amber candles he’d picked up from the market earlier that week and saved them until today. “What do you want to watch? You pick while I make us some popcorn.”
Dark eyebrows jerked up. “Deal?”
Setting down the long stemmed candle lighter–he turned enough to give his boyfriend a content smile before walking to stand beside the couch. “Today was great, by the way. Thank you. I can’t wait to do that again next year. Only I’m spoiling you much worse. Better be prepared.” Hesitating for just a moment, Blane bent down and pressed a kiss to Elliott’s forehead. Gentle and light. Perhaps a little too careful for such a small gesture.
Then again? For the past couple weeks since what happened in the bathroom? Blaine was cautious as to not cross any boundaries out of the respect and the feelings he had for the man he smiled down at before softly squeezing his shoulder and righting himself. “If only Valentine’s lasted longer. It goes too fast.” His thumb made a circle against Elliott’s shoulder before he retracted his hand and thumbed towards the kitchen. “I’ll be right back.”
Elliott rather felt like he was waiting for an answer for something far more serious, like his University responses – not a yeah or no from a guy in a bathtub playing with bubbles.
Yet it felt like it meant to the world to get an answer, unfamiliar anxiety bubbling in his chest and making him wish Blaine would just TALK already. And when he finally did, it was the answer Elliott wanted to hear. NEEDED to hear, and shirt be damned, he rose up again to lean over to Blaine, lips finding lips.
The kiss wasn’t meant to lead on to other things, but it wasn’t just a gentle peck – it was something Elliott put a lot of his feelings into, the love and affection and perhaps too much ADORATION all balled together into one action.
And then there was assurance, pulling back and cupping Blaine’s face with both hands, wanting him to understand just how serious Elliott as being.
“Everyone makes mistakes Blaine, even me. I mean did you SEE the haircut I had in high school?” An attempt at humour, paired with a slight laugh escaping Elliott, lightening the mood that little bit more. “I know you can’t help it, but you don’t need to worry so much. I UNDERSTAND.” And with that he dipped his hand into the water, flinging a handful of bubbles at Blaine’s face with a playful sort of giggle, rocking back out of the way to try and avoid getting any thrown BACK at him.
There. He’d said it. Now, there was no taking it back. All he could do was hope that Elliott was satisfied with the answer and that he said what the other was wanting to hear. Lingering in the state of limbo where he bit his bottom lip and carefully watched for any hint of what might come next made seconds feel like hours. Was that too much? Did he promise just enough?
Suddenly, Elliott (in complete disregard for his clothing) was leaning in and their lips found one another’s and he found the reaction he was hoping for. And them some. His breath left him in one long sigh through his nose and reassurance flooded in. All from a simple peck.
Wet fingers curled around both of Elliott’s wrists as he held his face. The touch soothed his nerves, kept his attention focused on the pair of eyes he was looking into and his thoughts remained grounded. Even when his eyelids dropped down to cover his eyes as a rush of tension left him in a puff of air and a moment of stillness flooding in, he nodded. “Thank you..”
“I know. It doesn’t mean I like making them. Trust me. I’ve been pretty good at making some rather big ones in the last few years. It’s hard not to stop this feeling of dread that it’s going to happen–HEY!”
Interrupted by bubbles (thank goodness), a laugh broke free. Rays of sunshine parted the clouds that darkened his eyes and brightened up his features to a broad smile and the sparkle, not only in shades of hazel, the kind that seemed to orbit around him no matter where he went (whether self-created or not) that’d drained returned. Swatting tickling puffs of white off his nose, he cracked up laughing as he splashed a mixture of water and suds back at the jerk who decided to make this into a bubble war and was already trying to retreat! Oh! It was on!
What did he get himself into?
“I’m not sure about this. I mean. I know I agreed to an Elliott make-over before we went out tonight. You won the bet fair and square,” Blaine palmed over his mouth staring down at the vanity inside their bathroom. Clad in black and grey from head-to-toe (unless you were counting the delicate embellishments of silver added into the mix by Elliott’s careful hands), he was dressed the part and barely recognized himself in the mirror when he passed by it. Not in a wholly bad way. Only. You know.. Wow? Wow was a good word! Definitely.. Wow!
Elliott didn’t try to move his hand, content to let Blaine do what he wanted with it for the most part – it was cute, that Blaine seemed so attached to having some touch he’d try to make Elliott keep it there. There was a slight twitch of his fingers when Blaine kissed it mind – more an action of surprise than anything else.
“You’re not going to ruin anything Blaine, I promise. You don’t have to worry so much.” Elliott was good at rolling with whatever happened, letting stuff fall off his back like a duck with water – confrontation wasn’t really his thing beyond the occasional intervention, and his temper had a longer fuse than a regulated explosion for TV.
In short, Blaine had more luck of being cast as Tracy Turnblad on Broadway tomorrow morning than managing to ruin something with Elliott with a few misplaced words.
When he repeated boyfriends, Elliott’s heart started beating faster, although now that word didn’t bring out such a reaction because he was nervous of Blaine’s response, but because he really, truly loved hearing it from the others lips.
“I…is that what you want us to be?” Because dear God, it’s what Elliott wanted them to be.
Hearing Elliott promise he wasn’t going to ruin something, Blaine felt a cool splash of relief flood his veins. His stomach became a bit less tight and that dangerous thing called hope felt just a little more easier to hang onto. Sure, he could counter the notion with a wait and see but why ruin the moment? He’d been forgiven of the blunder his runaway mouth made in the living room. Now, he should let it go and move on rest assured that he hadn’t made a mess of things from the stupid teasing request.
“Sorry. Just habit. I guess letting go and forgetting about my several month string of doing exactly that is a lot harder than I thought it’d be. I’m not normally like this. I hope you can bear with me.” Several months? More like over a year of one mistake to the next. He could swear if you skipped back longer than that, he was a different person. One that he was doing his best to reconnect with. “I’ll get there again..”
And it’d be a whole lot less of this.
Smiling warmly as he slid his feet up and bent at the knee causing globs of bubbles to slide down bared skin, hazel eyes searched Elliott’s and he nodded feeling even more grateful he had someone in his life like the man kneeling beside the tub. “Yeah. I’d like us to be. If you’re willing to tolerate my moments of cluelessness and wanting to stick my foot in the mouth that is.” A wry grin followed. Boyfriends? It’d take some getting used to..but if Elliott wanted to try? So did he.
“Shhh,” Elliott just shushed Blaine with a finger gently against his lips, pairing it with a soft, loving little smile on his face – but it was a way of denial almost. Elliott didn’t always know what Blaine saw in him, especially on days like this when he really was being really rather pathetic, and a hell of a party-pooper.
But he did know he loved Blaine, and for better or for worse, Blaine loved him too.
“Just – hang on a second.” Elliott knelt back on his feet and pulled his now wet flannel off, leaving just the black shirt underneath, which gave him the ability to lean forwards over the tub again, one hand moving to Blaine’s neck. His thumb stroked the others cheek, fondness even in such a simple little action.
“That’s better.” He was much more comfortable like this, and it just felt more natural than leaning all over the place with a half soaked shirt.
“Blaine, baby, I mean what I said. You’re so good for me, and you mean so much to me too. You’re the best boyfriend I could ever ask for.”
Maybe boyfriend. Hopefully boyfriend, or he’d look like a proper idiot right about now.
Blaine’s feet slid against the porcelain as he bent his knees bringing them up as he quieted down. Bubbles that clung in patches against his skin made the faintest crackling noises he heard like thunder in the silence. He didn’t want to ruin this so fast. They were only starting out, after all. But it seemed his mouth was going to get far too ahead of his brain and that might be exactly what he did if he didn’t learn.
A brief nod and he waited. ‘Hanging on’ as Elliott instructed, curious hazel gaze never once leaving his boyfriend as he licked his lips and tasted the both of them on his skin. Elliott coming nearer splashed a wave of warm relief through his chest and helped ease his clenched stomach he hadn’t realized was starting to cramp until now.
Underneath Elliott’s thumb, his cheek shifted up. A hesitant smile freed his lip from the row of front teeth that bit down against it. Baby. Boyfriend. Words that reassured and coaxed him back from the doubt his thoughts were dragging him off to.
“That’s all I want to be,” he confessed while wrapping his fingers around Elliott’s wrist to keep the touch exactly where it lingered. “I’m sorry. I just really don’t want to ruin this.” His head turned and he pressed a kiss to Elliott’s palm before settling his cheek where it moved from.
“Not this time.. Not for any reason. So.. That’s what we are then?”
“…Boyfriends?” You couldn’t blame him for wanting to hear it again. Could you?
“That,” Elliott pulled back just enough to breathe and talk, barely an inch between their faces as he looked at Blaine’s eyes. He could get lost on them any time, distracted by how beautiful he was. Especially at moments like these, without the pristine gelled hair and so innately vulnerable.
Every time he saw it he fell a little deeper in love.
“Was for earlier. I’m sorry about that.” Elliott moved back in for another kiss before Blaine could say anything else, insist it wasn’t an apology he needed to hear or how Elliott hadn’t done anything wrong. He didn’t want to hear that. He didn’t want to hear ANYTHING.
After a moment Elliott breathed out through his nose, making a tiny amount of noise as he opened his mouth against Blaine’s and pushed his tongue into the others mouth. Rising up on his knees slightly, Elliott lent closer, making the most of the kiss while he had the chance. His elbow dipped into the water when he moved, soaking through his sleeve, but Elliott didn’t care. Blaine was more important right now.
When he finally, finally pulled away, Elliott stayed close with his forehead pressed against Blaine’s, smiling softly as he took in a small breath.
“You are THE best thing to happen to me in years Blaine.”
Blaine warily watched every movement the other made as Elliott drew nearer. His stomach still bottomed out by the blunder he made earlier made him too uneasy to trust what might happen. He swore to God if he heard the words ‘we need to talk’ he was going to slip under the water and drown himself before he could hear a single word.
He had enough of ‘we need to talk’s for a lifetime.
The kiss came unexpectedly but it was exactly what he needed to let the knots in his belly unravel and a sigh escape from his nose in a warm caress over Elliott’s cheek. Mouth yielding as it deepened, his toes curled into the bubbles floating on top of the water. Perfectly timed and perfectly sweet, a wet hand came up to touch against the side of Elliott’s neck. Fingertips twitching and then steadying against his skin.
By the time it was over and the taste of Elliott lingering in his mouth, his eyes were closed and he took a deep breath of the warm air between their barely apart lips. I’m sorry was on the tip of his tongue but he knew Elliott didn’t want to hear that. It was why he kissed him so quickly after all. Wasn’t it?
The best thing to happen to him in years? Oh God. Say that again. Blaine leaned back far enough to look up at him with the corners of his lips nudging upwards in an honest smile. “You mean so much to me. You know that. Right? Please tell me you know that..” He needed Elliott to say he understood and if he didn’t? He’d do anything to convince him he meant every word.
Elliott went to cooking, turning the radio right the way up and letting the soothing feeling it came with wash over him. Music made him happy, it excited him, or made him feel at home – and right now, it was doing it’s ultimate job, and being his calming agent. A warm, fuzzy blanket that let him forget his issues to Bowie and Freddie’s beautiful notes and voices.
With everything chopped and neatly divided into their own bowls, Elliott closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath before placing both hands on the counter, trying to ground himself and calm down. A small sigh left his lips as he stood up again, pushing his hair back for a moment before he was making his way across the flat, knuckles rapping gently against the bathroom door.
“Blaine?” His voice was soft when he called out, more a warning he was coming in then anything. Elliott only opened the door a small amount as he walked in, clicking it shut behind him and immediately moving to kneel down next to the bath, finger hooking under Blaine’s chin to pull him into a proper kiss. He felt bad about not responding to the one before, and of how he must be making Blaine feel.
The last thing he wanted was for Blaine to ever think HE’D done something wrong.
Blaine watched as his bare toes kept bobbing out of the bubbles making foam run down the top of his foot to the inside of his ankles before they disappeared again and sank back into the water. It was a mindless distraction as he tried to stop his thoughts from drifting too far away. He had to think of a way to make what happened up to Elliott. What could he do to try to reassure him that he was beautiful? From head to toe and, most of all, inside? His body was gorgeous, his voice was beyond words, his inner light was enough to be a beacon to anyone who felt lost.
Elliott deserved only happiness. To know how one of a kind he was and know that anyone who had the chance to be close to him should consider themselves beyond lucky. And Blaine got to call him his..boyfriend? Lover? His..Elliott. When all is said and done? That’s what matters to him the most and he wanted Elliott to not just understand him but..believe him.
Hearing his name, Blaine sat up straighter in the tub and watched closely as Elliott came close. His throat strained with the effort to swallow down the sound that almost escape when his chin was caught with only one finger. Such a simple gesture but it never failed to make him dizzy and lure him in. Their lips met and Blaine sighed softly through his nose. Oh thank god. A kiss that could melt ice met his mouth and he returned it sweetly.
“What was that for,” his voice remained low but Elliott could hear his smile and the relief he felt. It was impossible to miss. “..And can I have one more, please?”
pianokeysandbowties back up 