When Blaine looked up from his computer to his students, he was pleased to see that most of them seemed to be doing the work he'd assigned. As his eyes scanned the room, he'd found that all but two students were doing what they were supposed to. The other two, however, were ignoring their work in favor of kissing and groping each other in the back of the room. Blaine raised an eyebrow at the couple before clearing his throat to get their attention. After a few tries, they finally looked up at him, both with wild blushes on their cheeks.
"Keep working, please," he said pointedly at the two. They nodded at him silently before opening their textbooks to what Blaine hoped was the pages he assigned. Once he was pleased with the student's working, he let his gaze return to his computer screen. In reality, he should have been doing work too; putting in grades or making lesson plans, but instead he was emailing back and forth with his soulmate, Kurt.
As he waited for a reply to the last email he'd sent, Blaine let his mind wander, thinking about the teen and what they'd do that night and even later that weekend. The plan was seemingly the same as always; eat dinner together while talking and/or watching tv in Blaine's living room. But, Blaine thought, it might be nice to do something different for a change.
This led his mind to think about taking Kurt out to dinner instead of staying in, which made Blaine realize… they'd never been on an actual date. They'd kissed, had sex, and even agreed that Kurt would be turned into a vampire like himself so that they could spend eternity with each other, but they'd never been out on a real honest-to-gods date in the five months that they'd been together.
Blaine couldn't piece together how he hadn't realized this before; surely Kurt would have said something about it by then, he thought. But maybe neither of them had realized it, Blaine thought. There was a lot going on in their lives in the first 3 months they were together, and they spent so much time together during that time that it probably seemed like they'd gone out even though they really hadn't.
But Blaine decided in that moment that he was going to fix that, and that he would take Kurt out as soon as possible.
(*)
Blaine waited until they were finished with dinner that night to mention this to Kurt.
"You know," he started, "for as long as we've been together, you and I have never been out on a date before."
"Wow," Kurt laughed after a moment. "You're right. How is that?" he asked, turning to face his soulmate.
Blaine shrugged. "I have no idea," he said. "The thought just occured to me at school today."
"Well, we'll just have to fix that, now won't we, Mr. Anderson?" Kurt teased, leaning towards Blaine so that his lips were inches away from Blaine's.
"Mmm, you read my mind," Blaine whispered before closing the distance between them and capturing Kurt's lips with his own. Kurt sighed happily into the kiss; even if they hadn't been out on a real date, Kurt couldn't have been happier with their relationship.
"What should we do?" Kurt asked. "For our first date."
"Well what do you want to do? We could go out to dinner, see a movie, something like that," Blaine said with a shrug. Kurt thought about it for a minute before shaking his head.
"As much as I would enjoy that, we should do something different. Dinner and a movie is so cliche. We could find something a little better to do than that," Kurt said. He leaned his head on Blaine's shoulder and sighed. "I just don't know what else there is to do though."
Blaine stayed silent, his mind working to come up with something fun and unique for them to do on their first date. Not only would it be their first date as a couple, but it would be Kurt's first date ever, and Blaine wanted to make it special for him.
Blaine kept thinking of things as he went to bed that night, without Kurt beside him, much to both of their dismay. Ever since his father had been discharged from the hospital, Kurt wasn't allowed to stay at Blaine's on school nights, and Blaine felt himself always grow sad when his soulmate had to leave for the night. But, it was probably for the best, he thought. Kurt would most likely get more sleep without him there to talk to or fool around with, so it may have benefitted them even though they hated it.
As he drifted off into sleep, the perfect date idea occurred to Blaine, and he hoped he'd remember it in the morning.
(*)
Blaine did, in fact, remember his idea in the morning, and he spent much of his time during school planning their date in his head. They'd agreed to go out that Saturday, which only left Blaine two days to plan, which didn't feel like enough time to him.
Kurt was the light of his life, the reason he was truly happy for the first time since he was turned, and he wanted their first date to be more than perfect to show him just that.
"So," Kurt said, waltzing in the door at the start of third period. "Any ideas for our date yet?"
"Actually, yes," Blaine said with a nod.
"And?" Kurt prompted, coming over to lean on Blaine's desk.
"And nothing," Blaine smiled, standing up and walking over to Kurt. "I want it to be a surprise."
Kurt fake-pouted and crossed his arms. "Please tell me?" he begged. "You know I hate surprises."
"Mmm, but I think you'll like this one," Blaine said before pecking Kurt gently on the lips. "It'll be fun, I promise."
"Whatever you say," Kurt smiled. "Anything specific I should plan on wearing?"
"Um, something warm and comfy," Blaine said. "You don't have to wear anything fancy."
"Okay. I can't wait," he said.
"Me neither," Blaine smiled before pressing one last small kiss to Kurt's lips. "Come on, I have work for us to do."
(*)
Blaine spent the next two days planning their date on Saturday to the smallest detail. He picked up all the necessary supplies from the store after Kurt left his house on Friday night to go have dinner with his dad and his new girlfriend, Carole.
Blaine hated to see him go, especially on a night that they usually would have spent together, but it gave him time to gather the things they would need for their date.
Instead of doing the classic dinner and a movie that neither of them really wanted to do, Blaine opted for a picnic in the park. It was late March, meaning that it was still a little chilly in Ohio, but not cold enough that they couldn't spend a few hours outside. Blaine had gone out a bought a stereotypical picnic basket to put all their food in as well as a blanket that they could sit on. He packed small finger foods that would be easy to eat outside and that would keep without going bad. He included small sandwiches, some fruit and vegetables, and a few drinks for them to share.
And, as he was packing up the car for the date, he decided to throw in his guitar case on a whim. He'd never really sang to Kurt either, save that one time when he sang along with the radio while Kurt was in the car with him. He figured that could be something unique and special about their date too, even if Blaine thought he would probably be a little rusty.
After he finished packing everything into the car and double checking that he was ready to go, Blaine left his house to go pick up Kurt. He spent the drive over trying to come up with something that he could play and sing for Kurt at the park, eventually settling on an older song that he loved and would hopefully convey the message he wanted to give Kurt.
When he reached the Hummel household, he parked the car in the driveway before walking up to the door and knocking. While waiting for someone to answer the door, he smoothed out his clothes and ran a hand over his hair to make sure everything was perfect, feeling like a teenager again.
He smiled at Kurt when the teen opened the door for him and invited him inside.
"I'm almost ready, just give me a few more minutes," Kurt said in lieu of greeting before pecking Blaine on the cheek and rushing back to his room. Blaine stood waiting by the door for a few moments until he heard a throat being cleared next to him. When he looked up, Blaine saw Burt standing before him with his arms crossed and a hard look on his face.
"Yes, sir?" Blaine asked confusedly, not knowing why Burt was staring at him so intensely. Burt didn't reply to his question verbally, but he did jerk his head to the side, gesturing to the living room. He then left, and Blaine assumed he was supposed to follow the man. He did so, but had no idea why they couldn't talk in the front hallway. After sitting across from each other in the living room, Blaine asked, "Is everything alright, Burt?"
Burt narrowed his eyes but didn't reply to the question again. Instead, he made up his own. "What are your intentions with my son?" he asked.
"I-I'm sorry?" Blaine asked, tilting his head in confusion.
"You heard me. What are your intentions with my boy?" he asked again, leaning forward on the couch.
"U-um, my intentions are for Kurt to have a good time tonight?" he said uncertainly.
"Was that a question?" Burt asked, crossing his arms again.
"No? No. That's what I want."
"Mhm," Burt hummed, sitting back against the couch. "I want him home by ten, not a mark on him. You hear me?"
"Y-yes sir," Blaine said with a nod. "Understood."
"Dad, stop being mean to Blaine," Kurt said sternly as he came into the living room. At seeing his son, Burt's entire demeanor changed, much to Blaine's confusion.
"C'mon, kid, I was just messin' with him. I never got to interrogate him like I should have done months ago," Burt chuckled. Kurt laughed quietly and shook his head. He came over to the couch Blaine was sitting on and sat down next to him.
"He wasn't too mean, was he?" he asked, ignoring Burt's shout of "Hey!" Blaine laughed but shook his head.
"No," he said. "He was just making sure that I'm worthy of you."
"And?" Kurt asked, turning to his father and quirking his eyebrow. "Did he pass your test?"
Burt shrugged nonchalantly. "He did alright."
Kurt laughed and shook his head at the man before standing up from the couch and gesturing for Blaine to do the same. "C'mon, we best get going," he said.
Blaine nodded and followed Kurt to the little foyer area to put on their shoes and coats, Burt following behind. After putting on his boots, Blaine helped Kurt into a light jacket.
"You kids have fun," Burt said, opening the door for them. After Kurt had walked out, he turned back to Blaine. "I'm serious about having him home by ten. Not a scratch."
"Of course," Blaine nodded. "I promise."
"Mhm. Vampire or not, you hurt my son I'll have to hunt you down," he said. Blaine nodded but gulped heavily. He may have been much stronger than Burt in every way, but the man terrified him in that moment.
"Dad!" Kurt called. "Let Blaine go!"
"Go on, get," he said good-naturedly, waving a hand out the door. Blaine hurried outside to his car where Kurt was already waiting. He got in and started the car before waving to Burt and pulling out of the driveway.
"Sorry about him," Kurt laughed. "He's always wanted to do that."
"That's okay," Blaine said. "I'll probably end up like then when our kids go out on dates."
"O-our kids?" Kurt asked, turning in his seat to face Blaine. "You want to have kids with me?"
Blaine turned his head towards Kurt but kept his eyes on the road. "Of course I want kids with you. I want everything with you," he said.
"Blaine-"
"We can talk about it later, okay? This is a topic for another day," he said. "Besides, it's only our first date, after all."
Kurt rolled his eyes but smiled nonetheless. "I suppose," he said, and Blaine knew by his tone that they would be talking about it later. Blaine smiled at him before turning on the radio to fill the silence.
(*)
For the date, Blaine had chosen to travel a little over an hour to a familiar park in Westerville. He didn't want to go to any of the parks in Lima and run the risk of being recognized by a student or co-worker, and Westerville seemed safe enough. Plus, he knew the park he'd chosen pretty well having grown up around it, so he had the perfect spot in mind for them to sit and eat.
The drive over was spent talking about random things, such as the rapidly approaching date of graduation. In just two months, Kurt would be a high school graduate and no longer Blaine's student, meaning that in two months, they could come out and be open about their relationship. Both men were looking forward to this as they wouldn't have to hide and be careful to keep their lives together a secret, but Kurt was also dreading what it would mean regarding his friends. He knew that they'd eventually find out, but he was scared to know what they'd think. Blaine had the idea for them to control the situation and have a glee-club "party" at Kurt's house so that they could come out only to Kurt's closest friends.
This was the main topic of their discussion for much of the ride to the park in Westerville. Kurt still had no idea where they were going, and was surprised when they pulled up in the park's parking lot.
"Are we having our date here?" he asked, leaning forward and looking out the front window to the green expanse of park.
Blaine nodded. "Yeah. I thought we could have a picnic here," he said. "If you don't want to, we can always go somewhere else," he added.
"No, this is perfect," Kurt smiled, sitting back in his seat. "It's romantic."
Blaine smiled as he put the car in park. "I'm glad you think so," he said. "C'mon, I know the perfect spot."
The two got out of the car before gathering the things they'd need from the trunk of Blaine's car. Kurt understood the blanket and picnic basket, but tilted his head at the guitar case. He said nothing, though, figuring that he would find out soon enough. Blaine took most of the things, as per usual, and led them to the spot he'd had in mind. The journey was spent in silence, Kurt preoccupied with taking in the beauty of the park. There were hardly any people around, so the park was quiet, and Kurt certainly didn't mind. He wanted their first date together to be intimate and private, so he was pleased with the little amount of people he saw.
As they approached the spot Blaine had chosen, Kurt stared in awe at the magnificent tree that stood tall and strong above them. Blaine came to a stop in front of the tree and laid down the blanket near its base. He took the basket from Kurt and set it down on top before sitting down on the picnic blanket and gesturing for Kurt to do the same.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" he asked, looking up at the expanse of branches and leaves protruding from the giant trunk of the tree. Kurt nodded in agreement. It was beautiful; it looked to be decades, maybe even centuries old, and seemed entirely magical. It reminded Kurt of a magical tree from the movies and fairytales he watched with his mother as a child.
"I've always loved this tree," Blaine began. "I found it when I was about 10 and we had a family get-together here. I guess I needed to be alone, and ran off. I found this place and I've been coming here since then."
"It's so pretty," Kurt whispered. "I've never seen anything like it in real life."
Blaine chuckled but nodded. "I know. I always used to think that it was fake because of how similar it looked to the old magical trees in movies and fairytales," he said.
Kurt giggled softly. "I can see how you'd think that," he said. After a few moments of silence between them, he asked, "So, what did you bring?"
Blaine opened up the picnic basket and started taking out tupperware containers filled with food and laying them out on the blanket. "There's some sandwiches, strawberries, and carrots," he listed as he took out each container. "Then there's a few drinks in here if you want one." Blaine emptied the last of the contents of the basket, including the drinks, just bottled water and tea, and some plates and napkins.
Blaine put two half sandwiches on each of their plates but simply opened the other two containers so that they could pick out what they wanted. They each grabbed a bottle of water before digging into the food; Blaine had prepared the sandwiches the night before and had feared that they wouldn't be good the next day,, but after trying them he thought they were still good and hoped Kurt did too. He'd made Kurt his favorite chicken sandwich and made himself some simple ham and cheese ones. They ate in relative silence, Kurt only commenting on how good he thought the food was, much to Blaine's delight.
After finishing with the sandwiches and throwing their plates away, Blaine plucked a strawberry out of the container and offered it to Kurt. The teen leaned forward and opened his mouth, inviting Blaine to feed him. Blaine smiled softly before placing the berry on the boy's lips and letting him bite down. Kurt moaned softly at the taste; it wasn't quite strawberry season yet, but the ones Blaine had bought were some of the sweetest Kurt had ever tasted.
He picked one up and offered it to Blaine as he said, "Try it, they're really good." Blaine did the same as Kurt had and bit down on the strawberry before sitting back up.
"Those are really good," he laughed after swallowing. Kurt nodded in agreement before grabbing another. Together, the two finished off the tub of berries in no time, feeding most of them to each other. Once they were gone and the two decided they were done eating, Blaine packed up the picnic basket and set it off to the side. They then laid down on the blanket and stared up at the clouds, Kurt cuddled against Blaine's chest.
"That one looks like a bunny," Blaine said, pointing to a fluffy white cloud above them.
"No way," Kurt said with a laugh. "That is so a teddy bear."
"Nah, it's definitely a bunny," Blaine laughed. "See the ears?" Kurt shook his head in denial.
"Nope," he said, popping the 'p'. "They aren't even the same cloud."
"Fine," Blaine laughed. "What about that one?" He pointed to the cloud next to the last one before putting his arm back behind his head. "What do you see?"
"Hmm, it looks like a hair bow," Kurt said after thinking about it for a moment. "What do you think it is?"
Blaine studied the cloud before turning his head to the side to look at Kurt. "I think it looks like a heart," he whispered before pressing a soft kiss to his soulmate's soft lips. Kurt hummed into the kiss, happy and content with life at that moment in time. The kiss wasn't by any means heated or dirty, but Kurt still enjoyed the warm weight of Blaine's plush lips against his own.
"I love you," Kurt whispered against Blaine's lips after breaking the kiss. Blaine smiled and closed his eyes.
"I love you too," he said. "So much."
Kurt smiled back at him before laying his head back on Blaine's shoulder. Blaine's arm came around his back and started drawing abstract patterns on the small of Kurt's back with his hand.
"Thank you for this, Blaine. It was perfect," Kurt said.
"You're welcome," Blaine whispered, pressing a kiss to the top of Kurt's head. "But it's not quite over yet," he said, sitting up.
Kurt sat up with him before asking, "What do you mean?"
Blaine said nothing in reply, but dragged his guitar case over to them and took the instrument out. He strummed a few little chords before looking up at Kurt. "I-I wanted to sing for you, since that's something else we've never really done, and it's something I've always wanted to share with you."
Kurt smiled and nodded, but didn't verbally reply.
Blaine nodded too, taking Kurt's silence as permission to sing for him, before turning his head to look at the neck of his guitar. "I might be a little rusty since I haven't played in a while, so bare with me," he laughed.
"I'm sure you'll sound fantastic," Kurt said, leaning over to Blaine and pecking his lips softly. Blaine smiled wide at his soulmate and began strumming the opening chords to the song he'd chosen. As his cue to start singing came close, he opened his mouth and took a deep breath before launching into the lyrics.
When the world gets too heavy It was always you I'm a fly that's trapped It was always you That I'm skin and bone It was always you
Put it on my back
I'll be your levy
You are taking me apart
Like bad glue
On a get well card
Falling for me
Now there's always time
Calling for me
I'm the light blinking at the end of the road
Blink back to let me know
In a web
But I'm thinking that
My spider's dead
Lonely, lonely little life
I could kid myself
In thinking that I'm fine
Falling for me
Now there's always time
Calling for me
I'm the light blinking at the end of the road
Blink back to let me know
Just a king and a rusty throne
Oh, the castle's under siege
But the sign outside says, "Leave me alone."
Falling for me
Now there's always time
Calling for me
I'm the light blinking at the end of the road
Blink back to let me know
(It was always you)
Blink back to let me know
(It was always you)
After he finished strumming the last few chords, Kurt clapped softly and smiled. "Not rusty at all," he teased. "Thank you."
"Thank you," Blaine said as he put his guitar back in the case. "I haven't played in forever. It feels nice to do it again."
"You should play more often," Kurt said. "You're really good. You shouldn't let that talent go to waste."
Blaine smiled and nodded. "I'll work on it," he said. "Maybe it'll be something we can work on together." After a few minutes, he looked up at the darkening sky and sighed. "Are you ready to get going?" he asked. "I promised your dad that I'd have you back by ten, and it's starting to get late."
"Not just yet," Kurt said after thinking a moment. "There's one more thing I want to do."
Blaine tilted his head before asking, "What's that?"
Kurt shook his head and didn't tell him what it was. "Close your eyes," he said instead. Blaine did so, and listened intently to see if he could figure out what the teen was doing.
Meanwhile, Kurt turned towards the base of the large tree they were sitting under. He laid his hands on the ground between the roots and pushed his magic to his hands and then into the ground, closing his eyes and picturing in his head what he wanted to happen. His hands warmed slightly, and, after a few moments, he felt something start to grow up between his fingers. He opened his eyes and smiled down at his progress before giving one final push of magic finishing it off and drawing his hands away. Where he'd placed his hands now stood a single, brilliant red rose, more beautiful and perfect than he'd ever seen. After pulling it out of the ground and hiding it behind his back, he told Blaine, "Open your eyes."
Blaine did as told and was surprised to see Kurt grinning and hiding his hands behind his back. "What do you have?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at the teen. Kurt smiled even wider before holding out the flower to Blaine who took it gently and stared down at the perfection of it.
"Where did you get this?" he asked, twirling the rose between his fingers.
"I grew it," Kurt said, gesturing to the hole in the ground the flower had come from. "I've been trying for weeks to get it right, and I figured this was as good a place as any to see if I could finally do it."
"Kurt… thank you," Blaine smiled, not knowing what else to say. He held up the flower to his nose and inhaled it's delightful scent.
"The red rose is meant to be a message of "I love you" from the giver to the receiver, so I thought it was appropriate," Kurt smiled. "I kinda want to grow you a dozen more now that I can."
"Well, we'll have to save that for another day because I don't want your dad to kill me for getting you home late," Blaine said, standing up and gathering their things. Kurt laughed and shook his head at the vampire.
"You know he's just a big softie, Blaine. He'd never actually do anything to you." Kurt stood up and helped Blaine fold up the blanket before they started walking back to the car.
"You didn't see the look on his face when he threatened me," Blaine laughed. "He was definitely serious, trust me."
"Whatever you say." They walked hand in hand back to the car in silence. Before they could reach the exit to the park, however, Kurt stopped them.
"What is it?" Blaine asked.
"I just wanted to say thank you again," Kurt shrugged. "This date was perfect and I loved it."
"I'm glad," Blaine smiled. Kurt moved closer to Blaine before pressing a feather light kiss to his lips.
"I love you," Kurt whispered, his lips a hair's breadth away from Blaine's.
"I love you too," Blaine replied, a small smile gracing his face. "Always and forever? "
Kurt chuckled softly and smiled. "Always and forever," he promised.
Kurt smiled softly to himself at the mantra that they'd adopted over the last few months. It meant more to them than just 'I love you', it meant that they would stay together through it all; the good times and the bad, the hard times and the fun. It meant that they'd stick by each other's side for the rest of their lives. And with all the ups and downs of their crazy lives, Kurt was glad to have someone to share it with, no matter what might stand in their way.