Hello again! I'm here with a new short story. A friend of mine asked me to write a short Klaine fic based on the song Forever and Always by Parachute, but since the story is very sad I decided to change it a little bit. I hope you like it! There are some major warnings, but I really encourage you to read it until the end, you'll see why. Don't read the warnings if you don't want spoilers. Anyway...enjoy!
WARNINGS: There's a major character death, but it's just part of a dream...so it all turns out well in the end. The ending is up to discussion, though.
Forever & Always
It was one of those rainy days that sometimes hit the city that never sleeps. Raindrops were crashing against the windows and lightning bolts were lighting up the sky. It was a little late, and Blaine—Kurt's fiance—was not home yet.
"Where are you?" Kurt whispered to the air. Blaine was never late. The whole universe could conspire against them, but Blaine would never miss one of their traditional Friday night dinners—ever.
Kurt took out his phone and called Blaine for the millionth time today, but the damn phone was still off.
Where are you, B? He wondered.
Kurt walked to the window and looked out. The view of the apartment was lovely despite the fact that they didn't live in the main city, but this place had its own beauty. Brooklyn was also a great place to live.
Kurt was still admiring the view when a thunderbolt cut the sky in half and all the windows rattled with the cracking sound.
"Where are you, Blaine?" Kurt asked out loud.
If there was something Kurt hated in life were thunderstorms. Since he was a kid he used to hide under the bed whenever storms like this one hit the small streets of Lima. Now, of course, he knew it was impossible for him to run and hide under the bed, but every time a storm hit New York City, Kurt didn't have to worry. He had Blaine to protect him. His fiance always offered his arms as a shelter. But since he was not home yet, Kurt found himself wishing he was still small enough to fit under the bed.
"Please come home soon." Kurt whispered, taking a seat on their couch to wait for him.
A not so distant memory crossed his mind and Kurt smiled broadly. He was with Blaine in that very same apartment, boxes were all around them and although it looked like the sky was falling outside too, Kurt was not afraid because they were happy. They had just moved into the new apartment and the only piece of furniture that they had was a small couch that Rachel had donated them. They had no refrigerator, no table and no bed, so they had had to sleep huddled as close as possible for two days, sharing that hideous couch.
Kurt laughed at the memory.
Despite the back pain that sleeping in that position had caused them, it had been the best two days of their lives. They had taken full advantage of the proximity to whisper sweet I love you's into each others ears and to be practically glued together all the time—as koalas to bamboo.
Maybe the apartment had been a mess at that time with all the boxes scattered around them and the open suitcases in the middle of the halls, but Kurt had never been happier in his life. They hadn't had much, but at the same time...they had had everything.
"We still have..." Kurt murmured, and smiling, he waited for Blaine to come home.
o-o-o-o-o
The moment the clock struck 7 p.m., Kurt began to worry. He couldn't explain why, but he knew that something was wrong, so he walked to the bookshelf at the far end of their apartment and contemplated his favorite picture in an attempt to calm himself down a bit. It had been taken after the impressive proposal almost three years ago. Blaine and Kurt were sharing a kiss while all their friends cheered excited in the background. Kurt loved that picture. He liked to think it showed how much they had loved each other, better said, how much they still loved each other.
Kurt took a deep breath and tried to remember every single feeling that his heart had felt that day. The confusion, when his dad had taken another road that did not lead to the airport, the fear of the unknown even though he already knew what was happening, the surprise when the band and all those choir groups had started to serenade him, the uncertainty of what he was going to respond, the wonder of what Blaine had done for him, and the love...all that love he had felt for that boy from the moment their eyes had met at that iconic staircase in Dalton.
Kurt couldn't complain, since then, his life had been like a dream come true. Everybody said that they were living their own fairy-tale, and Kurt couldn't agree more. They had done it all and now they were living together, conquering the big old city and just waiting to get married in a couple of months.
Kurt was lost in those thoughts when suddenly the apartment phone rang, making him jump. Nobody—ever—used that number. Only Burt, Carole, and Pam—Blaine's mom—but it was very rare. Kurt wondered who could it be, but deep down he knew it couldn't be good.
With trembling hands, he reached the phone and picked it up, taking a deep breath before speaking. He had a bad, bad feeling about it.
"Yes?" Kurt answered cautiously.
"Kurt, you need to come to the hospital immediately! Blaine had an accident!" It was Sam, Blaine's best friend. "Really, Kurt! You have to hurry, the doctors say things are not okay. He's seriously injured…they are not very hopeful."
Kurt didn't reply and dropped the phone, already running to the door. He took his keys and went straight to the hospital. The distance between the apartment and the Bellevue Hospital Center—where Blaine was—seemed endless, but he hurried, and some minutes later he was entering the place.
"Nurse! My fiance had an accident, a friend called and told me he was here! Where's ER?" Kurt managed to ask. His whole body was shaking uncontrollably.
"Follow the hallway to the left and you'll find ER." The nurse said, pointing out the directions with her hands.
Kurt ran down the hallway and reached the ER waiting room. His friends were already there; Sam, Rachel, Mercedes, Mike, Santana, Elliott, Artie, Tina and Brittany—they all were crying.
"Is he alive?" Was the first thing Kurt asked.
Sam nodded and Kurt breathed again. He hadn't realized he'd been holding his breath this whole time.
"I need to see him!" He demanded.
"I'll take him." Rachel said.
Kurt followed Rachel down the hallway. She was talking and talking, trying to explain Kurt what had happened, but Kurt was not listening. His mind was far away, lost in the idea of seeing Blaine's hazel eyes again.
Rachel grabbed the handle of the door marked with the number 21 and gave Kurt a this-is-going-to-be-a-shock kind of look. Kurt took a deep breath and walked into the room, following Rachel.
His entire world crumbled down the moment he laid eyes on Blaine. His fiance—the love of his life—was lying unconscious in bed. His gorgeous face was all bruised and swollen, and the beeps of the machine next to his body were marking every beat of his weakened heart.
"I'll leave you two alone." Rachel said, walking out the room.
Kurt walked hesitantly near the bed and took Blaine's hand on his, squeezing it softly. Blaine opened his eyes and tried to smile at Kurt, but the smile died somewhere between his cheeks. He looked very tired.
"Ku-"
"Shhh, don't try to talk, B. Everything is fine, you'll be alright." Kurt said, fighting back the tears that were pooling up in his eyes.
"I-I-I'm not sure about that." Blaine said, breathlessly.
"Shhh, you'll be fine, did you hear me? In a few years we will be laughing loudly about this moment while our kids play in the sandbox that we're going to buy for them. Picture that in your head, Blaine. You and me, watching our two little kids playing happily in that big garden in our new house in Cali. Because we're going to move there eventually. I mean, we can't be big Hollywood stars if we are not in Hollywood." Kurt said, trying to lighten the mood. "I want a big house near Beverly Hills with a swimming pool, a big yard, and a lot of rooms. It's going to be amazing! Our kids will grow up there and maybe one day they are even going to get married in our backyard. And we're going to end up our days there together and surrounded by all our grandchildren. We will be older and maybe a little ailing, but we'll be fine. I think I'll be a grumpy old man, don't you think?" Kurt asked, smiling at Blaine and fooling himself with the silly idea of a future together.
"I love you." Blaine said with tears rolling down his face.
"I love you more." Kurt whispered, fighting back his own tears.
In that moment the doctor entered the room and started checking Blaine's charts. Kurt gave a fake-reassuring smile to Blaine as they waited for the doctor to say something. But the doctor just looked at Kurt and his eyes revealed the unsaid, but evident words: he's not going to make it.
Kurt's heart skipped several beats and he stopped breathing. All his hopes had vanished with that look. He was going to lose the love of his life, his best friend—he was going to be alone.
The doctor left the room and Blaine closed his eyes, falling asleep almost immediately. Kurt stood up and walked toward the waiting room with his eyes filled with the tears that until now, he had refused to shed.
"What happened?" Mercedes asked worried, noticing the expression on Kurt's face.
"Nothing…yet," Kurt said, "but he's not fine, I need you all in the room in five minutes, okay?" He said, and they all nodded. "Does anyone have a key-chain?" He asked, and Rachel nodded immediately, handing Kurt her keys.
Kurt removed two split rings without saying another word and walked to the room again, calling a nurse the moment he closed the door behind him.
The lady in white arrived two minutes later. Blaine was still fully asleep.
"I need to ask you a favor." Kurt whispered, without even looking at the nurse, his eyes were fixed on Blaine's face.
"What can I do for you?"
"I need you to call a priest…my fiance is dying and I want to marry him." Kurt said.
The nurse blinked quite confused, but nodded, giving Kurt a reassuring smile and walking out the room.
A couple of minutes later, their friends entered the room and the nurse brought the priest. Everyone started to cry the moment they understood what was about to happen—they were going to get married on Blaine's deathbed.
The priest gave a brief sermon, clearly understanding the situation, and asked for Kurt and Blaine's vows.
"I, Kurt Hummel, take you, Blaine Anderson, as my husband to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until death do us part." Kurt said, struggling with those final words.
"I, Blaine Anderson," Blaine said, breathlessly, "take you, Kurt Hummel, to be my husband…to have…and to hold…from this day on, for better…and for worse…" he said, but his voice sounded tired and weaker with every passing second, "-in wealth…and poverty, in sickness and in health-" he said, almost with no air left in his lungs, "-to love you and to cherish forever…and, Kurt-" he added, using his last drop of air, "I love you forever. Please just remember…even if I'm not here, I'll always love you, forever and always."
The priest pronounced them husband and husband. They both smiled at each other and Kurt leaned down to kiss Blaine. The moment their lips touched, the beeps emanating from the machine ceased, and with one last breath Blaine closed his eyes forever.
"Blaine?" Kurt said, but his husband was no longer there.
Kurt started to cry uncontrollably and to scream Blaine's name, shaking him violently and trying to wake him up. He was not ready to say goodbye.
The sky roared with thunder, but even the deafening sound wasn't enough to overshadow Kurt's desperate cries.
"Blaine! Blaine! Blaine!"
o-o-o-o-o
"Kurt? Kurt? Wake up, honey." A voice said.
"What?" Kurt asked confused, opening his eyes completely disoriented. The room was dark and it was still raining outside. He was at home, sitting quite uncomfortably on the couch where he had been waiting for Blaine to come home, and not in that hospital room with a dead version of his fiance.
"Oh my God!" Kurt exclaimed, lacing his arms around Blaine's neck. "You're alive! You're alive!"
"Yes?" Blaine said completely confused, and taking a seat next to Kurt who was still clinging to him. "Soaking wet, but alive."
"I was having a nightmare, you weren't home and then the phone rang and Sam told me you'd had an accident, and I rushed to the hospital and you were dying and-"
"Relax, relax, Kurt." Blaine said, hugging Kurt tightly. "I'm fine, see?" He said, leaning over and giving him a quick peck on the lips.
"I was so scared! You were late and your phone was off, and I guess I fell asleep at some point, but it was so real! It was horrible! You were dying and we got married and when I kissed you, you died!" Kurt said, sobbing loudly.
"Don't worry, Kurt." Blaine said, embracing his fiance. "It was just a nightmare. I'm fine...we're fine. Sorry I was late. I was trapped inside the theater because of the storm and my phone's battery died. It won't happen again, I promise."
"I love you." Kurt whispered relieved.
"I love you too."
Kurt smiled and rested his head on Blaine's chest, synchronizing his breathing with his fiance's and trying to forget the horrible nightmare he'd had. Blaine placed a kiss on top of Kurt's head in a tender way while a new lightning struck the sky startling them both. Kurt placed his hands above his fiance's chest to feel more secure and it was only then that he realized that above his white gold engagement ring—the one Blaine had given him almost three years ago—he was wearing a split ring.