Kurt slams the front door behind him when he gets home. It's partially because of the grocery bags attempting to escape his arms, but mainly slamming is the most effective way to channel his frustration. After seemingly endless hours of sketching and the even more endless drive home and trip to the market across the street and two blocks down, Kurt is more than ready to take a bath and go to bed.
"Blaine?" he calls into the quiet apartment, sitting the grocery bags on the table in the foyer so he can unwrap his scarf and take off his coat. "I'm home."
"Kitchen," Blaine replies shortly, and Kurt sighs. Nothing good ever comes of it when both of them are grumpy and tired.
Kurt bravely scoops up the bags once more and heads into the kitchen with the cheeriest smile he can muster. "Hey, dinner might be a little late because I was planning on taking a quick bath first," he explains as he bustles around the tiny room, putting away groceries. "I was thinking about making chicken, so it would have to marinate anyway..."
Kurt trails off, realizing that Blaine hasn't made his usual move to gather all the perishables and stuff them in the refrigerator for Kurt to organize later. Kurt turns around to see his boyfriend sitting at their small table, staring at him blankly, and his heart drops into his stomach. "Bad day?" he asks gently, hoping it doesn't cause Blaine to blow up.
Blaine just remains eerily calm and glances at the doorway to the living room pointedly. "We got an interesting message on the machine today. Maybe you should hear it."
Kurt's mind races as he silently crosses the room and approaches the ancient answering machine. Were they being harassed? Had someone died? All of the horrible possibilities flit through Kurt's brain until he presses the play button and holds his breath.
"Good evening, Mr. Hummel," a warm female voice greets him. "This is Sharon from Dr. Fallon's office. We just wanted to let you know that your test results came back negative. However, we do recommend that you make an appointment with us to discuss your future options. Please call us back at your earliest convenience at-"
Kurt hits the erase button before Sharon can read back the number, and it takes all of his strength not to just curl up on the floor and cry. Despite the strange mix of relief and disappointment he fells at the news, the most pressing issue right now is dealing with Blaine. Kurt inhales deeply, bracing himself before going back into the kitchen and sitting across from Blaine.
"So, care to tell me what exactly is going on?" Blaine's carefully hidden anger is beginning to rise to the surface.
"I take it you've done some research? Called Dr. Fallon's office?" Kurt asks coolly, trying to slow his racing heart.
"It only took about a minute of Googling to tell me everything I needed to know," Blaine shrugs. "Why don't you explain to me why you were sneaking behind my back to see an OB-GYN?"
Kurt can't find his voice to defend himself. "I... I-I-"
"Why didn't you tell me you're a carrier?" All of the irritation has seeped out of Blaine, leaving confusion and hurt. "This is something we should have talked about a long time ago."
"I didn't know!" Kurt shouts, raising his gaze from the table to Blaine's pained hazel eyes. "I just found out last week!"
"And in all that time, it never occurred to you to mention it to me?" Blaine's tone is becoming more pleading with every passing word.
"Yeah, just picture that conversation. 'Oh, my day was fine. I turned in my sketches and found out I can have babies and may or may not be pregnant. How was work?'" he spits defensively, feeling tears of shame sting at his eyes.
"Isn't that better than nothing? I would rather have an awkward conversation than-"
"Well, gosh, Blaine. I must have forgotten to take your feelings into account while I was trying to avoid a mental breakdown." Kurt's breath hitches as he tries to blink back his tears. He can't help but feel betrayed, like if Blaine would only try to understand why he did what he did, none of this would be happening.
"Kurt, baby, don't cry."
It's only the panicked tone in Blaine's voice and the feel of Blaine's hand gently covering his own that alert Kurt to the fact that he's started sobbing softly. "I'm so sorry I didn't tell you," he whispers, trying to calm his breathing so he's not hyperventilating. "I was so scared. I didn't know what to do. What if I told you and I turned out not to be pregnant? What if I was pregnant? What would we do?"
Blaine stands slowly and moves to stand at the other end of the table, wrapping his arms around Kurt from behind. "We would figure it out, okay? We would be fine."
"I'm sorry, Blaine," Kurt sniffles, using the sleeve of his (very expensive) shirt to dry his eyes. "I should've known it would be worse to try to ignore it, because if, God forbid, something happened and I did get pregnant-"
"Would that be so bad?" Blaine interrupts, kneeling next to Kurt's chair with their fingers laced together. "I mean, do you not want a family?"
Kurt shuts his eyes. "That's not what I meant."
"But that's what I'm asking," Blaine presses, rubbing his thumb in circles over the back of Kurt's hand in what he hopes is a soothing manner.
"Do I have to decide right this minute?" Kurt snaps. "God, just give me two seconds to figure it out!"
Blaine jerks away as if he's been burned. "Okay. We'll talk about it tomorrow. Why don't you go take a bath while I start marinating the chicken?"
Kurt takes a deep breath and exhales slowly. "I'm sorry for yelling. It's been a long day, and I know that's not an excuse, but-"
"Go. Bathe," Blaine says softly, pressing a kiss to Kurt's hair as he rises. "I'll cook. We'll have some wine with our dinner and watch a movie and just... relax," he whispers, brushing his fingertips over the bare skin at Kurt's hip where his shirt has ridden up, making Kurt shiver. "I'm sorry if I overreacted. I just... This is the kind of thing we need to talk about. I understand you being worried about what I would think, but we need to be honest with one another."
"I don't blame you. Really, Blaine," Kurt adds at his boyfriend's skeptical expression, "I would've done the same thing."
Blaine gives him a small smile. "I know. Now go take that bath while I try not to burn the house down."
With that and a gentle kiss to Kurt's temple, Blaine is off to rummage for the chicken in the freezer while Kurt can't help but take a moment to reflect on how lucky he is. Lucky for what, exactly, he isn't sure, but the warmth of contentment he gets when he watches Blaine struggle to measure out the right amount of herbs for the marinade is enough for now.