For lillibug618
Who was the 200th reviewer for You Had Me At 'Sesame Street'
And who wanted a Klaine story with a reference to Kurt never saying goodbye to Blaine
Five Times Kurt Didn't Say Goodbye
... And One Time He Did
-prologue-
2011
...
The courtyard was empty. Which was strange, really, because objectively speaking Kurt knew that it wasn't. He knew that Finn was there, because somehow he'd ended up in his arms, surrounded by his smell, a smell that screamed home so loud and clear that it made Kurt sway, made him grateful that it was his brother holding him up.
And other people were there as well. Mercedes and the rest of the New Directions. The Warblers too, or at least those who had been able to get out of class. Blaine, of course.
Of course.
Blaine, singing beautiful, sweet nothings so intimately and so dearly it was as if he too had been transported to this parallel universe where there was no one watching them. A universe without Karofskys and Azimios and people who hated so cruelly – so surely – despite not really knowing what it was that they adamantly opposed. A universe where one boy could look at another like that, like his entire existence was balancing on his shoulders.
As Blaine hesitated, only for a moment, breathing out one last note, Kurt felt like Atlas. He felt like this entire fragile world was crushing him from above, and if he made one wrong move it would shatter and be gone. But then Blaine was in his arms – or he was in Blaine's, it was impossible to tell which – and somehow the weight lifted. Suddenly, it wasn't just Kurt holding it all at bay, trying to make it on his own. It was them.
Kurt had never been part of a 'them' before.
So he gripped Blaine tightly, wanting to somehow impress his body upon him, become a part of him permanently, inalterably. Change him so immensely that no distance between them could make him forget who Kurt was to him and who he was to Kurt.
But that was impossible, so instead Kurt closed his eyes tight for a moment and then opened them and whispered, "I'm never saying goodbye to you."
It was a promise, one almost as scary as I love you, which neither of them was quite ready to say yet. Because, even if this wasn't the same sort of declaration, this was a promise of forever, of eternity, of an infinitely long future spent together.
Blaine didn't reply, but his silence spoke volumes, and as the real world came slowly back into existence, Kurt felt the weight disappear from his shoulders altogether. This wasn't a parallel universe anymore, it wasn't a fantasy: something too perfect, too unreal, like Dalton had been. It was reality. He didn't need Blaine's help to maintain the illusion of safety. He just needed Blaine to look at him like he was now, with a tender gaze that was enough of a reply.
With eyes that silently said yes, yes, yes to Kurt's promise of forever.
More coming soon!
Also, please do me a favour and read the A/N I wrote for this on my tumblr, which there is a link to on my profile page. I know it's a pain to have to click over to a new page, but this story is going to get very serious, very quickly, and I would really appreciate it if you could spare a moment to see why my head produced this the way it is.
Thanks, padfoot