Jackpot

A/N: Like a lot of Americans, I won absolutely nothing on the big Powerball drawing this week (for those of you outside of the USA, Powerball is a multi-state lottery – this week's drawing was for more than 1.5 BILLION dollars!).Anyway, I figure somewhere in an alternate universe, Blaine and Kurt were playing along, too.Look for a blink-and-you-miss-it-shout-out to Chris Colfer in here, as well.

Kurt was just finishing up making dinner when Blaine came through the door a few minutes later than expected. He rid himself of his winter coat and boots as he made his apologies. "Hi, Kurt! I'm so sorry that I'm late, but the line at the store for lottery tickets was unreal. I've got the winner, though!" he said, waiving a small slip of paper in the air. He crossed their loft apartment to the kitchen and slipped a hand around Kurt's waist, kissing him on the cheek but being careful not to bump his arm as he stirred the sauce for their pasta.

"Hello, yourself," Kurt giggled, bumping his hip against Blaine's. "I was beginning to wonder where you had gotten to. So, the lottery, huh? Is the prize big this time?"

Blaine's mouth dropped open. "Kurt! Are you kidding? Have you been under a rock lately?"

"What? You know I've been busy in rehearsals the past few weeks. I've been working with the choreographer and vocal coach during the day and studying my lines at night - I haven't really bothered with the news or anything lately." He removed the sauce from the heat and turned to Blaine. He put his arms around his husband, gave him a hug and pulled back for a sweet kiss. "Hi," he said softly, adding a peck to Blaine's cheek as well.

"Hi," Blaine smiled back. "What was that for?"

"I didn't get a chance to greet you properly before, that's all." He squeezed him tighter for just a second, then released him and gave him a light swat on the backside. "Now grab the salad and go have a seat – dinner's done. You can tell me all about the lottery."

Laughing, Blaine took the bowl of salad from the counter and set it on the table while Kurt brought the pasta and sauce. "It's not just the 'lottery' Kurt, this is Powerball," he said, his voice booming with emphasis. "It's the ultimate multi-state drawing. The jackpot is over a billion dollars! A BILLION dollars, Kurt!"

"Seriously?" Kurt asked unbelievingly.

"Yes, seriously. Do you know what we could do with that kind of money? I mean, even after taxes, that's hundreds of millions of dollars."

"But really, what are the odds of us winning? I mean, I have a better chance of being struck by lightning, Blaine," Kurt said, shaking his head.

"I know the odds are against us, but that's kind of the fun of it, don't you think? Besides," Blaine continued, brushing his foot against Kurt's leg under the table, "since when do we let the odds stop us from trying anything?"

"Touché, my love," Kurt responded as the two of them began to eat. "Okay, so tell me. If we win…"

"When we win," Blaine corrected good-naturedly.

"My mistake," Kurt said in mock apology. "When we win, what do we do with the money?"

"God, what couldn't we do, Kurt? I mean, we could get a better place – anywhere, really – pay off our student debt, take care of your folks, my folks, help our friends, give to charity – ooh, start a charity! We could fund scholarships for kids in the arts, and help LGBTQ youth, and…"

"Easy, there, Moneybags," Kurt said, reaching a hand out and patting Blaine's. "You have to breathe or you won't live to spend all that money."

"Okay, okay," Blaine conceded, taking a forkful of salad and taking a break from talking. Kurt filled the silence.

"You know, I never really thought about it, but you're right. We could do an awful lot of good with that money." He got a thoughtful look as he talked between mouthfuls of food. "I like the idea of doing charitable work, and helping our families and friends, of course." He smiled. "It would be great to know I could take care of my dad, though you know he wouldn't give up working in his shop no matter how much money he had."

"That's the truth," Blaine agreed.

"You mentioned getting a better place anywhere – did you mean," Kurt faltered, unsure how to continue.

"Did I mean what, babe?" Blaine asked with concern.

"Well, I mean, I know this place is kind of old and run-down, and the neighborhood isn't the best, but…"

Blaine dropped his fork as he realized where Kurt was going with this. "Kurt, you can't be serious. Do you mean that if we became multi-millionaires you'd want to keep living in this loft?"

Kurt hesitated before answering. "Um, no…yes…Idunnomaybe?" he blushed, knowing the idea was more than a little foolish. "I know it doesn't make any sense, but this is our first place together, you know? I'm not sure I'm ready to give it up. And when you said 'anywhere' I thought maybe you meant not only leaving this loft but leaving New York, and I'm really not ready for that."

"What? No, of course I didn't mean leaving the city. I love it here, just like you. I did kind of picture a place uptown by the park, maybe. But now that you mention it," his voice softened as he looked around the room and back at his adorable, sentimental husband, "this place does have an irreplaceable charm all its own." He huffed out a quiet laugh and smiled at Kurt.

"What?" Kurt asked as Blaine reached over to take his hand, raising it to his lips and kissing his knuckles gently.

"Nothing. It's just that once again, you zig when I think you're going to zag. If you had all the money in the world you'd stay here, even if just for a while, because it's our first place and you wouldn't want to let it go. That's about the sweetest thing I think I've ever heard."

Kurt blushed again, this time under the loving gaze of his husband.

Dinner was finished while they continued painting pictures of all the ways they could use the money – some of them frivolous, some of them very worthwhile. After everything was cleaned up, Blaine helped Kurt run some lines, then they sat down to unwind in front of the TV. Finally, the time came for the big drawing. Blaine was a little too excited, bouncing up and down on the couch ("No more caffeine for you after 9 p.m., mister," Kurt scolded), so Kurt dutifully wrote down the numbers as they were drawn. Blaine retrieved the ticket from his secret "lucky spot" in the apartment (which Kurt knew was underneath a framed photo of the two of them from Dalton) and checked it against the numbers Kurt had written down. Kurt could tell by the small sigh that escaped Blaine's lips that they wouldn't be changing tax brackets any time soon.

"How'd we do?" he asked.

"We didn't win," he said, sounding and looking deflated.

"Well, there's always next time," Kurt said, rising from the couch. He stood in front of Blaine and took the ticket from him, laying it on the table before taking both of Blaine's hands in his and pulling him up. "However," he added, winding his arms around Blaine's neck and kissing him on the jaw, "you still have a chance to get lucky tonight, and you have much better odds of winning this time," he said in a low voice.

Blaine knew he was the luckiest man alive.