Happy 150th story to me!
It was quiet in their apartment.
Too quiet.
Usually Blaine came home to Kurt playing some music from his iPod speakers while he went about his business, but for the past couple of days, their apartment had been practically silent. Only the occasional honk of a car horn disturbed the stillness until Blaine finally turned the TV on in the evenings so they could catch their favorite primetime shows.
Blaine decided against calling out a greeting to Kurt that day. Instead, he slid his key in the lock – and he would never stop being thankful that they finally lived in a place with a locking, non-sliding door – and pushed the door open gently.
So gently, in fact, that Kurt didn't notice he was there, allowing Blaine to observe what he was doing in their living room.
"Six-two-three-four-five, seven-two-three-four-five, eight-two-three-four-five," Kurt counted as he paced, crossing the room in five steps exactly and never stepping off the yellow squares of their blue-and-gold checkered rug. "And one deep breath – okay."
"Honey?" Blaine asked quietly, knowing that disturbing Kurt usually led to him tensing up for an hour or two. "Is something wrong?"
"Wha- no, everything's fine, B," Kurt said, whirling around. Kurt was a shitty liar, though – his tell-tale sheepish grin was present, just as Blaine expected.
"Uh huh," Blaine said, stepping away from the door frame and into the room. "So you're trying to wear out our floor for fun?"
"I, uh," Kurt began, looking flustered. He cut himself off when a horn honked from the street six stories below them, lifting his left arm and rubbing that elbow with his other hand five times in a smooth circular motion, just like he had been for the past three days.
Blaine reached out and took that hand in his when Kurt was done. "Baby. What's worrying you?"
"Why do you think something's-"
"Kurt, you're making up rituals again. Something's wrong," Blaine said, squeezing Kurt's hand. "I want to know if I can help." Taking a seat on the couch and pulling Kurt down with him, he continued, "Talk to me."
"It's Rachel," Kurt confessed. "When she called us saying she thought she was going into early labor I think my heart almost stopped, and even though the doctor told us she was just having Braxton-Hicks, I can't stop worrying that she'll go into real contractions next time and won't bother going to the hospital and suddenly our baby will be born premature on her bathroom floor or something."
"Oh, Kurt," Blaine said, feeling his heart clench in his chest. "Why didn't you say something?"
"I know it's irrational, but I also didn't want to say it out loud and jinx it," Kurt said, hunching his shoulders ever so slightly.
Blaine just leaned in and caught Kurt in a tight hug. He pulled Kurt even closer when he felt the shoulder of his shirt dampen, running a hand down his back soothingly. "It's not gonna happen, sweetheart. I promise it's not gonna happen."
After a long moment, Kurt pulled back, wiping his eyes. "I just hate feeling so helpless."
"Hey, we both know Rachel's the most stubborn person alive," Blaine said. "She'll keep her legs crossed for weeks to keep that baby from coming out too early if she needs to."
"You may have a point there," Kurt said with a watery laugh.
"And I'm sure Rach would text you updates whenever you wanted," Blaine said, smiling. "Remember how much we learned about her morning sickness? I'll never be able to eat pea soup again."
"Thanks for bringing that memory back up," Kurt said, shuddering. "I had just managed to repress that."
"Sorry, baby," Blaine said. He gave Kurt a quick apology kiss.
"Just for that, you're making dinner tonight," Kurt said, smirking.
"As you wish," Blaine teased. "Are you going to need a foot rub, too?"
"Are you offering?" Kurt asked, visibly perking up. Blaine knew he had a weakness for foot rubs.
"I could probably be persuaded."
"I'll make you those raspberry crepes for breakfast tomorrow."
"Deal," Blaine said, leaning in for one last kiss before pushing off the couch. "Any requests for dinner tonight?"
"Surprise me," Kurt said, grabbing the remote and flicking to HGTV. "I could use a pleasant surprise."
"Done." Blaine headed off to the kitchen, humming happily under his breath. He wasn't sure if he had totally assuaged Kurt's fears, but they were at least out in the open now, and that was a start.