Nightmares

by KhCcGlee

When somebody commonly experienced pain, whether it be emotional or physical, dreams were sacred. It was an escape from their reality and when nightmares invade a safe place like a person's subconscious, it was not at all pleasant. Kurt was no exception.

I don't own Glee.

Nightmare- A terrifying dream in which the dreamer experiences feelings of helplessness, extreme anxiety, sorrow. A condition, thought, or experience suggestive of a nightmare. A monster or evil spirit believed to oppress a person during sleep.

When somebody commonly experienced pain, whether it be emotional or physical, dreams were sacred. A dream could be held onto; they could be the shining light at the end of the dark and seemingly endless tunnel. It was an escape from their reality and when nightmares invade a safe place like a person's subconscious, it was not at all pleasant.

Kurt Hummel was no exception.

Nightmares had been common in his life and he had grown accustomed to dealing with them by himself. There was always something else in his life that caused a new wave of nightmares. His mom dying, the bullying, his dad's heart attack, Karofsky and his gang, the kiss, and many other unpleasant various events.

His bedroom was located conveniently in the basement; far away enough to muffle the whimpers and rare shouts (he didn't scream out that much anymore. It was probably because he knew that no one would come) that sometimes over took his dream land. Eventually, when his subconscious decided he had had enough torture for the night-because he didn't go through enough of it during the day, right?-he would wake with a start and calm himself down.

When his nightmares had started after his mother died, he didn't want to be any more trouble to his father than he felt he was. In Kurt's eight year old mind, he saw his dad taking on all of his mother's rolls and he knew that his daddy needed his sleep. Little Kurt took on all the chores he could at the time, trying to lessen the burden he thought he was. He had learned from an early age to take care of himself.

Kurt was a boy who liked his routines, and that's what he turned it into. A routine to calm himself down. He would make himself a glass of warm milk and clean his face with cold water seeing as there was usually a faint trickle of sweat at his hairline and sometimes hot tears on his cheeks. After flipping the pillow to the colder side, pulling his blankets up to his chin, and curling into a fetal position, he was able to fall into a peaceful sleep. Well, peaceful compared to what he had just woken up from.

Then Finn had moved in downstairs and Kurt was so blinded by the fact that he was going to have his crush living in the same room as him that his mind completely skipped over the fact of his nightmares. It wasn't until he shot up in bed one night with a silent scream that he realized he might have a problem.

Kurt remembered the night clearly. He remembered looking cautiously over to the bed on the other side of the room and waiting to see if the long lump moved. The brunette remembered the feeling of relief and a small tinge of disappointment at the fact that either Finn was a heavy sleeper or was choosing to ignore the awkward situation that Kurt had created. He pushed the feeling of disappointment form his mind, telling himself that he didn't need anyone else to survive and take care of him.

That night he had carried on with his routine as usual and fell beck to sleep as usual and nothing changed.

In the time before he fell asleep again after his nightmare, Kurt would frequently find himself comparing himself to a turtle. It was a horrible comparison, but he couldn't help but point out the similarities. It wasn't so much of the fact that they were animals or slow moving, but more of the whole concept of a turtle and his shell.

Kurt put up a hard exterior, looking strong to anyone who passed or watched him be thrown into dumpsters or pushed into lockers. He always found people like Blaine telling him how strong he was to put up with that, but Kurt knew it wasn't true- that it was all a charade. In the end, he ended up transferring and running away from his problems because deep down, inside his shell, he was soft and scared.

That soft part of him would often wonder what it would be like if someone was ever there to take care of him after he woke up. That part wanted someone-a particular Warbler someone-to take care of him, but he shut that feeling away with the many other emotions and carried on being his strong and happy self.

There were only a few people that had come close to or seen through his mask and that included his dad and Blaine. Blaine always seemed to be able to tell what the younger boy was thinking and Kurt couldn't decide if it was a good or bad thing. Blaine had learned how to crack through his shell and Kurt had learned to open up to Blaine about Karofsky and his many other troubles, but there were still things he refrained from unloading onto the curly haired boy. The nightmares were something that Blaine definitely didn't know about, and that was how Kurt planned on keeping it.

A part of Kurt wanted to tell Blaine everything and have him be worried for and held, but before he ever got close to telling him, he always stopped himself. He had already put so much of his problems on Blaine's shoulders and honestly, it really wasn't fair for Kurt to be so selfish. At least that's what he told himself.

Kurt was currently snuggled under a heap of blankets on the left side of Blaine's large bed sleeping. Blaine had fallen asleep on the right side, but had somehow ended up with an arm thrown over Kurt's waist under the blankets. It was close to four in the morning on a Saturday.

Blaine had invited Kurt over for a movie night-study party for exams-sleepover thing and Kurt gladly accepted, once again being so blinded by the fact that he would be sleeping near the boy he loved that his mind slipped past the whole nightmare situation.

It was exactly six past four in the morning when Kurt started to squirm under the older boys arm. Lately, Kurt's dreams had been centered on the kiss and the death threat that Karofsky had so kindly bestowed upon him and tonight was no different.

Kurt's squirms were soon accompanied by whimpers that were slowly escalating in volume. Blaine had never been a heavy sleeper. He would always wake up by simple sounds like a door slamming or a phone ringing in another room, so when the small boy started moaning in his sleep he was pulled from his peaceful sleep to consciousness.

Blaine pulled himself into a sitting position, rubbing his eyes and looking around the room for the source of the strange sound before his eyes landed on Kurt. His thick eyebrows quickly knotted together with concern as he saw the look of pain on his face.

"Kurt? Its okay, just wake up. Please, wake up." Blaine pleaded as he watched helplessly while Kurt's cries became louder. He wanted nothing more than to see a happy look in his beautiful eyes and a smile on his pink lips.

"Kurt? Come on, open your eyes. It's okay. It's just me. No one's going to hurt you, I promise." Blaine gently cupped Kurt's flushed cheek in his hand and used his other hand to rub his arm soothingly.

"Please wake up. Kurt, please wake up." Blaine's voice dripped with concern and got louder with every word at Kurt's obvious distress.

"Kurt!" Kurt was slowly pulled back to reality by the comforting rubbing of his arm and the soothing calling of his name. He sprung up in bed and looked around fearfully before his eyes landed on Blaine.

"Kurt! Oh thank god, I was so worried. Are you okay?" Blaine rushed out after a large sigh of relief and pulled a dazed and confused Kurt to his chest, holding him tight. The other boy was tense as Blaine rubbed small circles into his back.

"I'm sorry." He murmured quietly against the soft cotton of Blaine's shirt.

"What are you talking about? You have absolutely nothing to be sorry for! It wasn't even your fault you had a nightmare." Blaine reassured incredulously and gently pushed Kurt away to look him in the eye. "Are you okay?"

Kurt was silent for a moment. "I didn't mean to wake you up and I'm fine… I just… can I have a glass of warm milk?" He finished sheepishly and ducked his head against the other boys' shoulder, mad at himself for having a nightmare and waking Blaine up.

"Kurt." Blaine started firmly, grabbing his pale hands in his. "I'm glad that you woke me up. I want to be woken up when you are scared or need me and of course you can, you don't even need to ask."

The older boy pulled a speechless Kurt out of bed by the hand and led him through the quiet house into the dark kitchen. He flicked the lights on and pulled out a glass from the cabinet, followed by the milk and held them out to Kurt who slowly nodded his thanks and quietly made his glass of milk.

"Kurt? What was your dream about?" Blaine asked as he hopped up to sit on one of the counters.

Kurt stopped what he was doing and looked up at Blaine curiously. "Why do you want to know?"

"I'm worried about you and I want to help. Its okay if you're uncomfortable with answering, you don't have to. I'd understand." With those words Kurt felt like he might explode. He felt as if his chest would burst with emotion. Those emotions being love for his best friend and shock that someone was actually caring about this.

Kurt shook his head and waved his hand to brush it off as no big deal. "Just the usual, you know Karofsky and the others. Nothing new, it's not anything to worry about really."

Blaine vehemently protested, his eyes clouding with anger and concern. "Kurt, it is a big deal. You said it's 'nothing new' and that this was 'just the usual'. You have theses nightmares a lot, don't you?"

Kurt took a sip of his milk and debated on his answer, taking longer to swallow down the milk than necessary. Blaine noticed but gave Kurt the time he needed, knowing the boy was very closed off from everyone and it might be hard to open up more than he already had.

"They started after my mom died." Kurt began in a quiet voice, knowing that it was better to be honest and deep down he really did want to talk about this. "When I first started, I used to cry out, but after a while I stopped. I don't know why I cried out this time, but that's not the point. They do happen often, not every night, but often enough for me to have a routine on how to deal with them."

"Kurt… why didn't you tell anyone?" Blaine asked in a pained voice and grabbed Kurt's hand, trying to convey comfort through that small touch.

"It's not that big of a deal. I didn't need to worry other people with my problems." Kurt was a great actor Blaine decided, but not good enough to fool him. Blaine could see Kurt try to shrug off the concern, but he could also see the look of hope hidden deep in his eyes.

"It's not a worry at all, though." Blaine reassured. "In fact, it would worry me more if you didn't tell me about your problems. I can't help you if you don't talk to me."

Kurt looked down into his empty glass longingly. Silently, Blaine hopped off the counter and made him another glass while Kurt watched on with a look of awe. Kurt whispered his thanks when Blaine slid the glass across the surface into the small boys pale hand.

Blaine leaned backwards against the counter and watched as Kurt relaxed. The dark haired boy went over the conversation in his head and frowned at a comment he remembered Kurt making.

"When I first started, I used to cry out, but after a while I stopped. I don't know why I cried out this time, but that's not the point."

"Hey, Kurt?" Blaine called out and Kurt peered over the top of the glass to look at Blaine. "I think you called out this time because you knew someone would be there for you."

Kurt's lip quivered. "How is it that you always say the most perfect things?" He asked in a voice thick with unshed tears and set his cup down with a small clink.

"It's easy when your talking to someone so perfect." Blaine's lips turned up in a small smile as he leaned closer to Kurt.

Kurt didn't know if it was from the lack of sleep, nightmare, or the fact that Blaine was being so perfect right now, but he found himself filled with so many emotions he couldn't name them all. At that moment, Kurt had never been more in love with his best friend that was the only person who knew almost all of his secrets and would never judge him; just help. Blaine was leaning close in towards his face and Kurt peered at him from under his eyelashes, biting his bottom lip gently with a small blush threatening to take over his pale complexion. "I'm not perfect." Kurt whispered, remembering Blaine had said something.

"Pretty damn close." Blaine breathed out, leaning closer with every second.

That was it for Kurt. If Blaine didn't want Kurt to kiss him then he shouldn't have acted so darn charming, Kurt decided. He pecked Blaine's lips and pulled back quickly, judging his reaction.

It was only a second of contact, but it was enough to make Blaine's heart skip a beat and then thump like lightning. Kurt was biting his lip again and looking worriedly at the older boy like he wouldn't love what just happened.

"I'm sor-"

Kurt never got to finish his apology, for Blaine had pulled Kurt to him quickly and crashed their lips together. Kurt froze for a moment as his brain tried to process what was happening, but when he realized what was happening he kissed back with more passion than he ever thought he could. His slender arms wrapped around Blaine's neck and his fingers idly found a loose curl to twirl around his pale fingers. Blaine's arms found their way around his waist and he pulled him closer, filling the non existent space between their bodies. The younger boy tilted his head to deepen the kiss and was immediately met with strange vibrations going through his lips. It took a moment to realize that Blaine was laughing.

Actually laughing.

Kurt took a step back and stared at Blaine in shock. A thousand possibilities raced though his head and he felt a blush creep up his neck.

Was he really that bad at kissing? Did Blaine not want to kiss him? Was kissing him really that laughable? Was this just a joke to him?

He looked down at the ground in attempt to hide the many emotions that were probably showing up on his face. This was exactly why he had put up a wall around him. Whenever he let someone in, it always ended badly for him and this humiliation was sure to bring on a new round of nightmares.

The older boy peered curiously at Kurt. When he realized what was wrong, his heart constricted painfully and he began to shake his head furiously. "Kurt, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that."

"Then why did you?" Blaine was sure his tone could make hell freeze over.

"You taste like warm milk." Blaine said simply and took a step closer to the other boy.

"Way to ruin a moment Anderson." Kurt tried to glare, but it ended up not being as effective as he hoped seeing as a small smile was growing on his pink lips.

"You know you love it." Blaine countered and kissed Kurt's porcelain cheek softly. He pulled away when he noticed that he had gone quiet. When he took a step back to look at Kurt he could practically hear the younger boy thinking.

"Kurt?" Blaine pulled Kurt back to reality with his questioning.

"I do." Kurt admitted, softly biting his lip and looking up through his long lashes. Blaine was always able to read Kurt's emotions through his eyes which were like windows to his soul. Right now they shone with hope, fear, and love.

"You do what?"

"Love you." Kurt had never been a shy person so when he ducked his head against Blaine's shoulder to hide his face, the older boy couldn't help but find it completely adorable.

"Me too." Blaine whispered and grabbed Kurt's chin to lift his gaze to meet his own. Once again, Blaine connected their lips in a sweet and slow kiss, pouring all his love into it. When they finally broke apart, their foreheads rested against each other and their hands intertwined.

When somebody commonly experienced pain, whether it be emotional or physical, dreams were sacred. A dream could be held onto; they could be the shining light at the end of the dark and seemingly endless tunnel. It was an escape from their reality and when nightmares invade a safe place like a person's subconscious, it was not at all pleasant.

Kurt Hummel was no exception, but now he had his dream and it lessened the pain of everything else. His nightmare's still invaded his sleep, just not as often and when they did, he found himself finally calling out and allowing himself to be helped. Slowly but surely his shell came down and it was thanks to one Blaine Anderson.

Maybe having someone there to wake you up, hold you, and just tell you that everything would be okay wasn't such a bad thing. And now Kurt always had someone there for him.

How did I do? Review?