It was quite a beautiful day, Kurt thought as he continued swinging lazily in the hammock that had been placed in the garden the day after Kurt came to live with the Andersons, when he was only twelve years old.
Kurt had never had any reason to complain. His youth had been spent with his father, until the day he died from a heart attack. The pale boy remembered crying and being nothing short of absolutely terrified to be placed in a foster home.
But as it turned out, the Andersons were very kind and understanding.
And they didn't look at him in a judging way, like a lot of other people tended to do as soon as they noticed his cat ears and tail.
Of course those had to be the first thing they noticed if he didn't hide it. And when they did, they tended to treat him either like an ordinary pet or as if he was stupid or deaf. He hated it when people did that.
The Andersons weren't like that in any way. They treated him just like their two sons. He had to help around the house, just like Blaine did. And Cooper, whenever he visited.
He didn't visit very often, though.
Bella had once told Kurt that Cooper lived in California, trying to pursue a career as an actor while working part time jobs here and there for a living.
Kurt would never say it out loud, since he despised insulting people or being insulted, but he didn't think Cooper was a very good actor. And thankfully, Blaine shared his opinion on that.
Blaine himself, however, was a whole different kind of story. He was very kind and didn't mind spending time with Kurt. Actually, he even seemed to enjoy it, making it that much more fun for Kurt.
And if Kurt wanted to play, he usually hurried to finish his homework early to spend time with the hybrid.
So Kurt hadn't expected his Friday to turn from happy to heartbreaking in a matter of words.
Kurt sighed happily once again as he swung gently from side to side.
But when he heard the front door being opened, his ears twitched in attention. He smiled and quickly wrestled himself out of the hammock, running towards the front door. But he found that Blaine had already gone upstairs, which he thought was strange.
Blaine always greeted Kurt when he got home.
A frown appeared upon the young boy's face, as he looked up the stairs just in time to hear a door being slammed shut, causing him to cringe.
Blaine never slammed the door. Ever. So Kurt couldn't help but think that something might be wrong, although he wasn't quite sure what it would be.
Either way, he knew what always made him feel better, so he started making his way up the stairs and towards Blaine's bedroom.
Softly, he knocked on the door. Once he heard someone vaguely groaning a reply, he pushed it open, putting his best smile on his face.
'Hi, Blaine.'
The curly-haired boy was lying face-down on the bed, but when Kurt entered, he lifted his head with what seemed to be some trouble.
'What is it, Kurt?' he asked rather tiredly and not sounding too kind for the first time in all the years that Kurt had known him. The hybrid frowned.
'I was just wondering if you wanted to come play with me. It is weekend after all, so...'
But he didn't finish the sentence as Blaine rolled his eyes and turned away from Kurt, lying on his side.
'Is something wrong, Blaine?'
Honestly, normal people would be hurt by someone rolling their eyes at him, but Kurt knew Blaine wasn't the kind of person to be that rude. At that moment, he was more confused than anything.
'No. Just leave me alone.'
'But...'
'No!'
'I just wanted to ask-'
'Kurt, I don't want to throw a stupid ball with you, alright?'
He sounded incredibly frustrated, but Kurt was too focused on what Blaine had just said to notice his tone.
'You usually don't mind that, though.'
'No, usually, I just don't give a shit about keeping you entertained with something childish and pet-like, like playing with a damned tennis ball, but right now I just want to be left alone. Or are you too much of a cat to understand such a human concept, huh?'
His tone had been menacing, ruder than it had ever been and he'd said the one thing Kurt hated to hear. He'd compared him to an ordinary pet. But instead of snarling something back, like he usually would, he just gaped at him, tears quickly forming in his eyes. When normal people said it, he could at least somewhat shrug it off, but this was Blaine. The boy who'd been so sweet all those years and now he was lashing out at him for no apparent reason at all.
Kurt's chin started wobbling and he slammed the door close behind him, vaguely picking up Blaine's offended 'Hey!', but already dashing down the stairs anyway.
In the doorway that led towards the dining room, he almost bumped into Bella, who was more than a little confused and shocked at the tears streaming down the hybrid's face and his hurry to get back to the small shed. He had only mumbled a barely audible apology, before he flew out the back door, tail swishing behind him and ears turned downwards, making him look even more depressed than he already looked like.
Kurt threw the door of shed open with a bang, immediately closing it behind him, squeezing his eyes shut and trying to even out his breath, which had become more and more hitched the further he'd ran away from Blaine.
He took a deep breath, before turning and sliding down, his back against the door.
Never, not once had he expected Blaine to say something like that. Yes, of course he sometimes was in a terrible mood, but so was everyone else at times. Kurt would freely admit it when people said that he was everything but the nicest person on the planet when he got up in a foul mood.
But for Blaine to say something like that, no matter how bad his mood had been...
It was rather easy to say that Kurt felt more than a little hurt by it, but, as wrong as his thoughts may have been, it got him thinking.
Maybe he was meant to be nothing more than a stupid pet that should not understand any human things or feelings. Maybe the fact that he was already different thanks to his cat ears and tail had only been a sign of just how NOT human he was supposed to be.
Maybe he was just a freak of nature that wasn't supposed to happen.
And maybe, just maybe, the Andersons had just wanted to take him in and try to get him to be a normal boy.
And it was that thought that led Kurt all the way to the hospital.
Blaine sighed as Kurt slammed the door close.
He shouldn't have said that. Not one word of what he'd only just said was meant, but he couldn't help that he'd had a terrible day and wanted to be alone for a while.
It had all started when he'd gotten to school, only to find out that he'd forgotten the books for his first class. The teacher was always very strict when it came to having your books ready and your homework done, and Blaine had sufficiently forgotten both.
So the teacher had lectured him loudly, causing the entire class to silence and listen to what was going on. Then, the man had sent Blaine to the principal's office, telling him to stay there until he came to get him and he'd set a time for detention.
So, Blaine had grabbed his bag and was making his way towards the door, when he heard the whispers.
'Wow. The nerd has gotten himself a detention.'
'I thought gays were supposed to be overachieving teacher's pets?'
'Either that, or he's just really stupid for so-called forgetting his books for this class.'
It had only caused Blaine to walk a little faster, accidentally slamming the door close behind him. But just as he was making his way through the double doors that led to a new corridor, he'd heard his teacher throw open the door and starting to reprimand him for throwing doors closed, making some of the people in both corridors stare at him to see what was going on.
But, instead of listening to the man, he'd stubbornly stalked on, ignoring all the new whispers around him.
Come lunch, he'd already had detention, but then, that day only got worse and worse.
He'd just gotten himself a tray of food, looking forward to eating it as his stomach was grumbling so loud by that time that the person behind him actually chuckled, pretending not to have heard it.
But of course, as he wasn't exactly the students' favourite person, what with being gay and all, this time of the day had to be ruined as well.
Making his way towards the group of three friends he'd managed to make, he tripped because someone had stuck out their ankle right in front of his feet, causing the tray to fly out of his hands.
Right over the most popular girl in the school. Head cheerleader Jessica.
Her friends had laughed, but she'd looked downright pissed, pulling spaghetti out of her hair and wiping the tomato sauce off her chin. Once again, Blaine was yelled at without being able to do anything but ignore and avoid the gazes of the audience.
Then, the lunch lady had flat out told him to go clean himself up and by the time he was done, the break was over, though he still had to help clean the mess 'he made', according to the popular kids, that was. Either way, it made him late to his next class and that led to having to sit together with one of the biggest idiots in school, who also happened to be on the football team and who spent the entire hour making Blaine's life a living hell.
Jessica spent the rest of the day spreading god knows what kind of rumours about Blaine, who had to endure slurs and yells from the football team.
At the end of the day, he was relieved school was over, but that relief washed away immediately when he remembered the detention he had to go to. Once there, it took ten minutes for the teacher himself to show up, claiming he had other stuff to do as well, but it was obvious he'd just almost forgotten about Blaine.
So Blaine ended up having to handwrite five entire pages from his (or rather, his teacher's, as he was so kindly reminded again and again) textbook.
Needless to say he was everything but happy when he got to his bike, only to find out the tires had been cut for the third time that month.
So he'd known beforehand that he'd come home immensely grumpy, which had led to him locking himself in his room to avoid any more human (or other) contact.
But then Kurt had shown up, clearly a little confused as to why Blaine hadn't come to say hello like he usually did. He seemed a bit concerned as well.
And Blaine just basically called him a stupid freak of nature.
He felt awful.
So, with a deep sigh, he got up and walked downstairs.
Just as he wanted to walk to the backyard to get to shed, a voice distracted him.
'Blaine? Do you know what's wrong with Kurt?'
Blaine gaped at his mother, not sure whether or not to tell her the truth about what he'd done, fearing her reaction more than anything.
'I...'
'He seemed really upset. I'm pretty sure he was even crying. But I thought leaving him alone for a bit would be for the best, since I have no clue as to what's wrong with the poor boy.'
Boy.
That was exactly how she'd always seen him. Not a cat. Not a hybrid. Just a boy like Blaine and Cooper.
'I said something really stupid.'
Bella looked up from where she was drying her hands on a towel, eyes suspiciously searching her son's face. The question itself? It didn't have to be said out loud for Blaine to know.
'I called him a cat...'
Bella sighed, clearly angry and disappointed.
'I'm sorry, okay! I had a really bad day and he just barged in at the wrong moment.'
'That is no excuse to say something like that and you know it.'
Her voice wasn't raised, wasn't loud in any way. There wasn't even anger in it all that much.
Just a lot of disappointment.
And he hated it.
'Listen, I'm going to apologize to him now, okay. Could you maybe make him his favourite meal for tonight?'
'I actually think you should do that for him. Just go, okay? And don't you dare to ever call him that again.'
A mutter of an apology and he was stepping into the backyard. From the back door, he could just see a pair of cat ears and a bit of hair sticking out above one of the windows of the shed.
Taking yet another deep sigh and dreading Kurt's sad face, he began walking.
Maybe he wasn't even sad. Maybe he was angry. Or maybe he wouldn't even speak to Blaine. He wouldn't blame him.
But what he saw wasn't anything he expected.
The door creaked open and the air was immediately filled with sobs as Blaine stepped inside.
'Kurt, I'm really sorry about what I-'
But the words that were supposed to come couldn't leave his mouth as he took in the situation.
There was blood. Lots of blood. The stench of it was overwhelming and it made the boy want to gag. Sitting in the middle of the puddle of blood was Kurt, crying uncontrollably and slowly crawling towards Blaine, begging for help as he threw a pair of scissors meant for hedges aside.
'Blai-ine.' He sobbed.
But Blaine ran. He ran inside the house, screaming for his mother to call an ambulance.
'What?'
'Just do it!'
'What happened?!'
His mother yelled after him, grabbing her phone and almost panicking immediately as several scenario's shot through her head. As she dialled 911, she ran towards where Blaine had run back to: Kurt.
'Alright, Ma'am. The stitches are done, wound is disinfected and Kurt can go back home.'
'Thank you, sir.'
And with that, she walked after Blaine, who was busy carrying a sleeping Kurt towards the car his father had driven over. Lucas pushed himself off the car he'd been leaning on, opening the door of the backseat so Blaine could put Kurt in it. Five minutes later, despite having some trouble, Kurt was lying in the backseat, his head on Blaine's lap, fast asleep.
Lucas carefully threw the door close and turned to his wife.
'May I ask what the hell happened that I got a call at work to come pick you guys up from the hospital?'
Bella opened her mouth several times, but couldn't really come up with an answer.
'I'm not sure. All I know is that Kurt was upset about Blaine calling him a cat or something. Then Blaine went after him and barely a minute later, he came running back, screaming for me to call an ambulance. When I got to shed, all I remember is seeing a lot of blood, and Blaine trying to help Kurt the best he could while Kurt's tail was half-off. Literally.'
'… Do you think...'
'I don't even WANT to think about it.'
They stared at each other for a while, both of them hoping that Kurt hadn't actually tried to cut his own tail off in hopes of becoming a normal boy.
He'd never be normal. People would never treat him normal and that was that. As much as Lucas and Bella tried to forget it, they would always be aware of how little everyone in the world thought of people like Kurt, despite his inability to actually do something about it.
– – –
Kurt had already woken up by the time they got home.
'Hey, how are you?' Blaine asked softly.
Kurt stared at him for a long time. For a second, Blaine thought that he was still a little high on medicine, but that little spark of hope was soon gone when Kurt frowned and resolutely turned his back to him, hissing a little as he felt his tail collapse with the backseat of the car.
Blaine's stomach dropped and several times, he tried to get Kurt's attention, but every single time, he was either hissed at or winced away from, until his mother told him to leave Kurt alone.
The guilt in his chest expanded to an impossible level when Kurt refused to let him help him get inside of the house.
The rest of the night went by in the same fashion, with Kurt avoiding Blaine at all costs and ignoring him when he tried to apologize.
Eventually, Bella had gone upstairs to help Kurt change his clothes, get bathed and put into bed.
Blaine and Lucas were downstairs, both of them pretending to be watching television, while in reality, Blaine was trying to push away the guilt that was making him feel choked up to the point where he could barely breathe and Lucas was trying to figure out how to ask what happened in the most polite way he could think of.
But in the end, he only sighed, turned off the volume and turned to face Blaine properly, immediately seeing him cringe and trying to make himself as small as possible.
'Blaine, what happened with Kurt today?'
'…'
'Blaine.'
'I just... had a really bad day at school and Kurt came upstairs because I usually greet him, especially on Friday afternoons. But I was really grumpy and he came into my room at the wrong moment, asking if I wanted to come play catch or something. And my frustration, which by the way had been building up for the entire day, just came out at him when he didn't leave.'
'What did you say to him?'
'… Something about asking him if he really was as stupid as an actual cat that didn't get it when he had to leave me alone. And then he ran away and when I came to find him, there was blood everywhere.'
'You really shouldn't have said that. But what happened that there was blood in the first place.'
'You know those scissors for hedges?'
'Yes?'
'He had one. And I think he tried to...'
He couldn't even say it. It was too horrible and Blaine knew it was his fault for making Kurt feel that awful in the first place. But though he had no desire to talk about what happened, he knew it was important to his parents what happened with Kurt.
His father had fallen silent.
His mother came back into the living room not ten minutes later.
'He's asleep.'
The men nodded.
'Is he alright?'
'I think so. He mostly just seemed very sad, though he didn't really say anything at all.'
She bit her lip. Blaine knew that it was a sign she was worried, or maybe she just hesitated to ask something.
'I really do think you should leave him alone for a while, Blaine.'
He looked down at his mother's quiet words, giving a small nod.
Kurt trying to cut off his own tail for the sake of being normal, for the sake of not being called a freak of nature anymore was not what Blaine had expected his own words to have done. At most he'd expected Kurt to cry, to be angry with Blaine or to avoid him, to be huddled up in the shed, where he usually went if he was upset and wanted to be alone.
But walking in on a bleeding Kurt was one of the last things on his mind, not to mention that he never ever wanted to see such an image again. He just wanted Kurt to be safe.
'I think I'm just going to go to bed now.'
With a heavy heart and a feeling as if his body was freezing with fear, he made his way upstairs, slowly and quietly.
He had to pass what had once been the guest room but was now Kurt's room on his way and he couldn't help but peek inside.
A bundle of blankets moved only when the boy underneath it breathed. Only the tips of his cat ears were visible and the tail, which Blaine knew usually swished when Kurt was either asleep or trying to get to sleep lay practically lifeless on the mattress. Blaine wasn't sure if that was the doing of the scissors or if Kurt was just sad or in pain.
Either way, Blaine decided to follow his mother's advice of leaving him alone now that he was at least sure Kurt was safely in bed.
– – –
Half an hour later, all the lights in the house were out, his parents having decided to go to bed early as well.
But Blaine couldn't sleep, though usually, he was asleep in ten minutes.
But no. He kept tossing and turning and overthinking what had happened today, tempted to just get up and walk to Kurt's room again.
After yet another toss, faced away from the door, he resolutely closed his eyes, telling himself he wasn't going to open them anytime soon.
Vaguely in the background, he could hear a rustling sound, a pair of very light footsteps and then, seemingly out of nowhere, a knock on the door, so quietly that Blaine had to strain his ears to hear it.
'Yes?' He stage-whispered.
The door creaked open and soon, he saw half of Kurt's appear.
'Blaine?' His beautiful, high voice whispered back to him.
The boy sat up, not entirely sure what to say, so he only jerked his head a little as a sign for Kurt to come in.
And so he did. Before long, he was standing next to Blaine, holding his tail in a clear effort to keep away some of the pain, though it didn't seem to help.
'Are you alright?'
Blaine didn't trust his voice to say anything more.
Biting his lip, the cat hybrid shook his head, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, mumbling something about a nightmare under his breath and looking away.
Blaine shuffled towards the left side, letting Kurt climb on the bed, watching him wince and hissing quietly as he plopped down on his butt.
They laid down, Kurt nestling himself against Blaine's side as the boy wrapped an arm around him, neither of them hesitating.
'I'm really sorry about what I said.'
'Why did you say it?'
'I just had a horrible day at school and just wanted to be left alone because I knew I was incredibly frustrated. I really should not have taken it out on you, though.'
'Am I really just a stupid, childish cat to you?'
'No.'
No, you're so much more. But he couldn't say that.
Instead, he just heard Kurt hum, felt him try to get closer to him and put his head on Blaine's chest.
Without saying another word, Blaine pressed a kiss to Kurt's hair, then both of them drifted off to sleep.