A/N: So...I honestly wasn't going to write this because I knew that no matter what I wrote – prequel or sequel – it would be depressing, but I went ahead and wrote a prequel anyway because I'd have more to work with and there was surprisingly quite a few people who were asking me to.
Blaine had managed to arrive at the Hummel-Hudson household just when he planned to. Of course he wished there would be more time so Kurt could try on the gift he got him, but he figured there was always tomorrow. As it was, there was just enough time for Blaine to give Kurt his present – and probably listen to him protest for a good couple of minutes – before they had to leave for the play.
Getting out of the car, Blaine grabbed the neatly wrapped box and happily went up the walk to the front door. He was quite excited for Kurt to open his birthday present, to say the least.
"Blaine!" Kurt exclaimed cheerfully when he opened the door. He was standing there in a rather fabulous and, as always, fashionable outfit. Blaine groaned inwardly at the sight of Kurt's tight skinny jeans. Why did he always have to wear those? Didn't he know what those did to his poor boyfriend?
"Hello! Happy birthday, gorgeous. I love you and here you have to open this!" Blaine excitedly thrust the present into Kurt's hands.
"Oh goodness." Kurt laughed, reaching around Blaine to shut the door. Then he dragged Blaine over to the couch so they could sit. "You're way too excited about this. Should I be worried?"
Blaine shook his head, barely able to sit still in his excitement. "Nope. Not at all! Though I'll be if it doesn't fit..."
Kurt looked rather curious now and carefully unwrapped the present. Most people might find it annoying to watch someone else open a present as carefully and slowly as Kurt does, but Blaine loves it. Sure he couldn't wait to see Kurt's reaction to the cardigan he had gotten him, but, at the same time, he loved the look of concentration on Kurt's face as he carefully removed the paper, taking care not to rip it.
The box was plain white – Blaine did not want the surprise to be ruined by the original box – but the wrapping paper was ridiculously sparkly, to which Kurt laughed. "You know me so well, Blaine, I- BLAINE!" Kurt's mouth literally fell open. Blaine cackled gleefully at the shocked expression on his boyfriend's face. "This is- oh my god, you didn't- Blaine." Kurt turned to give Blaine a look.
"Why, thank you, Blaine. Oh, you're welcome, Kurtsie." Blaine laughed. "Come onnn, Kurt! Don't tell me you aren't dying of joy inside right now."
"It's- Blaine, this is- I can't-" Kurt looked lost for words.
Blaine knew exactly what Kurt was trying to say and he was not going to listen. "Nope. No way. I'm not taking it back. It's your birthday present. You love it; I can see it in your eyes, Kurt. So..."
Kurt giggled shyly and nodded, his face having gone a light pinkish color. "You're right. I do love it. I just...thank you, Blaine." He set the box carefully aside so he could hug Blaine tightly. "I love you."
"Mmm, I love you more." Blaine grinned, kissing Kurt softly. "I'd love to see you in it now, but..."
"Yeah, we have to go." Kurt nodded, kissing Blaine once more. "I promise you can see me in it tomorrow. How about that?"
Blaine nodded in agreement. "Sounds great." He pulled Kurt close to whisper in his ear. "Can I take it off then afterward?"
Kurt's face flushed and he giggled as he slapped Blaine on the shoulder. "Maybe. If you're lucky."
"Guess who's wearing their lucky underwear tomorrow?" Blaine grinned, wiggling his eyebrows at Kurt who burst into another fit of giggles.
Of course then Finn, Kurt's step brother, had to walk in, which made Kurt laugh more, his face a lovely shade of pink. Finn paused in the doorway, giving them both a look that said he probably did not want to know what they had just been talking about.
"Hey, Finn." Blaine waved cheerfully.
"Hey...um, why is Kurt laughing so much?" Finn asked, giving Kurt a confused look.
Kurt snorted, carefully brushing some of his neatly styled bangs away from his eyes. "Let's go with our usual 'you don't want to know', alright?"
"Oh." Finn nodded in understanding, though he still looked somewhat confused. "Well, anyway, mom's working late tonight and Burt's gonna be home soon. He told me to tell you two to have fun and be careful tonight."
"Thanks, Finn." Kurt smiled. "We'll be careful."
"And he said that...um," Finn looked quite uncomfortable all of a sudden, "if you two, you know, to be...safe-"
"FINN!" Kurt's face went bright red as he exclaimed in protest. Blaine found his boyfriend's response utterly adorable, and he could not help laughing at the awkward look on Finn's face either.
"Hey!" Finn held his hands up defensively. "Don't shoot the messenger! Anyway, I have to go call Rachel so...see you two later, I guess."
Blaine was still laughing as he waved farewell as Finn left the room. "Poor Finn..."
"Oh my god." Kurt shook his head, hiding his red face in his hands. "Why?"
"Hey, your dad's just looking out for you." Blaine smiled, leaning over and kissing Kurt's cheek. "Now, how about we get going? Wouldn't want to be late, would we?"
"Of course not." Kurt grinned.
They both stood up and headed for the front door hand in hand. Blaine knew Kurt would tease him for being cheesy, but it was Kurt's birthday and Blaine loved treating him extra special on days like this, plus he knew that secretly Kurt loved it. So he ignored Kurt's pointed 'you're being cheesy again' look when he opened the car door for him, and he especially ignored the look when he put in a CD he put together himself which consisted of all love songs he knew Kurt swooned over.
"You're perfect. You know that?" Kurt told him softly.
"Not like you." Blaine replied, leaning over to kiss his boyfriend. "I love you, Kurt. I feel so lucky every day to have you in my life and...I never want this to end. Yes, I know, overdoing the cheesy factor right now, but-"
"No goodbyes, ever; no matter what." Kurt replied quietly, reaching over to touch Blaine's cheek lightly. "Now, cheeseball, let's get going." Blaine laughed, giving Kurt a loving smile as he started the car and pulled away from the curb.
The drive was only about forty-five minutes long. They listened and sang along to the songs on the CD, between talking about how excited they were to see the play of course. About ten minutes away from the performance center they reached a red light. Blaine reached over and turned the music off for a moment, nervously ignoring Kurt's questioning look. There was another surprise Blaine had for Kurt's birthday, something he had been thinking about since pretty much the beginning of Kurt's senior year. Time was running out; before they knew it Kurt would be off to New York for college and their amount of time spent together would dwindle to occasional weekends and holidays, until Blaine himself graduated high school and could move to New York as well.
Of course he had accidentally forgotten the promise ring at home, but he was sure Kurt would just love the anticipation of getting to see it tomorrow. Maybe the best idea would be to wait until tomorrow as well to bring the subject up, but Blaine was feeling slightly impatient with his plan. So talk today, ring tomorrow...if Kurt accepted it, which Blaine was kind of keeping his fingers crossed for.
"Kurt...I don't really know how to say this, but, well, I love you. I truly, deeply love you and I know most people would say we're too young to make a decision like this, but..." Blaine took a deep breath, "I want to- to make a promise to you. That I will always love you, always care for and be there for you, and by always I mean forever and always. No goodbyes. And I, well, I got you a promise ring too, but I sort of forgot it at home so I'd have to give it to you tomorrow if you accepted it; which I hope you do, because I really do hope to marry you some day, Kurt Hummel." He gave Kurt a shy smile.
"Blaine, I-" There was a huge smile on Kurt's face, his eyes brimming with what were, hopefully, happy tears.
Before Kurt could finish his reply however, there was a loud squealing sound as tires skidded close by, and then suddenly another vehicle slammed into the front left side of Blaine's car. Blaine gripped the steering wheel tightly, but his head smacked into the window which shattered along with the impact of the vehicles colliding. He felt his car rammed to the right and then stop at an odd angle, tilting slightly downward on Kurt's side...Kurt!
Despite the pain it caused him, Blaine whipped his face to the side to see if Kurt was alright. The sight that met his eyes about made him want to throw up and his heart stop. There was a lot of blood, most of which was running down the side of Kurt's face. He caught a quick glimpse of Kurt's eyes, which looked rather unfocused, before they slid closed. "Kurt!" Blaine yelled, removing his seat belt to lean closer to his boyfriend. "Oh god, Kurt! Open your eyes, please! You can't close them, baby. You can't-" Suddenly the car shifted and they were sliding down a hill, lack of seatbelt doing Blaine no good whatsoever. At the bottom of the ditch there were some rocks which made the final jolt of the vehicle smack Blaine's forehead against the steering wheel.
Black spots were clouding Blaine's vision and he was pretty sure he would throw up at any moment, but he knew one thing for sure: he could not pass out. He had to stay conscious and take care of Kurt. Ignoring the pain he felt all over his body, Blaine weakly managed to shove open his car door. He stumbled out onto the rocks and grabbed the open door for support. Whoever had hit them...were they alright too? There was not a second vehicle down in the ditch so Blaine assumed they were at least still up on the road. Surely someone would drive by soon and see the accident. Blaine had no idea where his cell phone was now; it had slipped out of his pocket. A wave of dizziness overtook him and he clutched at his head. After the dizziness passed his hand came away sticky with blood. Swallowing the growing feeling of nausea that was attacking his stomach, Blaine made his way over to the passenger side as quickly as he could.
"Kurt?" He opened the passenger side door, slowly making sure Kurt was not leaning up against the door causing him to fall out. There was still no response from his boyfriend though. A sob tore at Blaine's throat and he sagged against the vehicle as he reached for Kurt's wrist. "Please open your eyes, Kurt, please..." His fingers felt numb as he fumbled at Kurt's wrist, trying to find a pulse.
Vision blurry, Blaine was having difficulty locating the proper spot. Desperation quickly became overcome with panic and Blaine started sobbing before he even realized it. "No, no, no, wake up! Why can't I find-" a loud sob choked his voice, "please, Kurt, don't leave me. I love you. I love you so much and we have our whole lives ahead of us, please!" He dropped Kurt's wrist to link their hands together instead as he cried. He couldn't find a pulse. Why couldn't he find a pulse?
The paramedics arrived before Blaine even heard the sirens. At the sight of the medics, Blaine clung tighter to Kurt's hand. When they tried to pull him away from the car though, Blaine went hysterical. They could not separate him from Kurt! Not now.
"No!" Blaine screamed, refusing to budge. "I can't- he's dead. Oh god, he's dead."
One of the medics tried to carefully lead Blaine away but Blaine struggled and accidentally smacked the guy in the face with his elbow. "Leave me alone! I'm not leaving him! I won't; I refuse! He's- he's gone. No, no, no...please, Kurt!"
The medic Blaine had smacked came back with another medic and they both took hold of Blaine, trying to be mindful of his injuries yet firm enough to get him away from the vehicle. Blaine screamed in protest, not even caring that he was probably hurting his self more by struggling to get away. He had to though. They were putting Kurt on a stretcher and taking him away and Blaine did not want that. He wanted- no, had – to be with Kurt, even if it was the end...
No goodbyes, ever...
"KURT!" Blaine finally broke free of the two medics, running off after the other ones carrying Kurt's stretcher. Kurt was his love, his life, and he just couldn't be gone. There was no life without Kurt. How could he ever be happy again?
Another wave of dizziness overcame Blaine as he ran, black spots blurring his vision. "Kurt!" Blaine screamed through sobs. "Kurt!" He stumbled to the left a bit and tripped, falling down to land painfully on the rocks. Closing his eyes Blaine felt everything start to fade away, though he still heard himself desperately calling for Kurt.
He did not want to lose consciousness, yet...maybe it would be better. Blaine managed to crack his eyes open a bit. Through his blurry vision he could no longer see the medics who had Kurt. His boyfriend was gone. Blaine wanted to be gone too. If he was gone then he and Kurt could be together again. That was all he wanted. All he could ask for...
Kurt would not want him to give up though. The sudden realization hit Blaine hard in the chest, causing a loud sob to escape him. No, he could not give up; Kurt would want him to live on, live on for the both of them.
Blaine felt numb and distant as the paramedics got him on the stretcher and up to the ambulance. He heard them talking to him but he could not, would not, respond, because none of them would say anything about his boyfriend. The ambulance sped off and Blaine could hear the sirens slightly as he started to drift off. Sleep...yes; even if he wasn't going to give up, he still needed sleep. If he was lucky maybe Kurt would visit him in his dreams...
"Hey," the paramedic Blaine had smacked leaned over and gave him a concerned look, "don't go to sleep on us yet. We need you to stay conscious-"
"Blaine." Blaine mumbled quietly. "My name is Blaine, and Kurt's..."
"You'll see Kurt again, Blaine. Don't worry."
"No...He's gone." Blaine replied slowly, his eyes drooping close once more. "Have to live- both of us...Kurt..."
"Blaine!" The paramedic was trying everything he could to keep Blaine awake.
Blaine let his eyes fully close as he ignored the man next to him.
"Blaine!"
Blaine...
Blaine...
"Blaine..."
Blaine opened his eyes, wincing at the bright sunlight streaming through the window. He was at home.
"You gonna sleep all day, cheeseball?"
He turned his head slowly and smiled sleepily up at his boyfriend who was watching him with an amused look. "No. Not when I could spend it doing other things with you."
"Sounds promising." Kurt winked, flopping down to lie next to him and snuggle up close.
Blaine laid an arm across Kurt's waist, kissing the tip of his nose softly. "If you're lucky that is." A sudden jolt of pain attacked Blaine's chest and his face scrunched up in pain.
"Blaine! Are you alright?"
The pain was gone almost as soon as it came and Blaine sighed heavily. "Don't know where that came from...it was like someone shocked me in the chest or something. I feel better now..." Though he could not shake the feeling that had came with the headache, the feeling that something was not right.
"Aw," Kurt pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead, "I don't like it when you're hurt."
"I'll be okay. Everything's okay when I have you by my side." Blaine grinned when Kurt gave him the 'you're being a cheeseball again' smirk. "So, what shall we do today?"
"Well..." Kurt suddenly got a mischievous look, "my birthday just so happens to be in a two days so you could always tell me one of my surprises?"
Blaine laughed. "Nice try, Kurt. It would totally ruin one of your surprises if I just so happened to tell you we were going to a play the night of your birthday- oops? Did I say that?" He gave his boyfriend an innocent look.
"A play?" Kurt squealed, rolling over practically on top of Blaine, and kissed him happily. "I won't ask what play it is since that will really ruin the surprise, but oh my gosh, a play!"
"Man, if you're this happy over the play I can't wait until you see the other surprises." Blaine laughed as Kurt's eyes widened comically.
"You're the best!" Kurt grinned, kissing him once more. "And you're making it harder and harder for me to want to leave for New York once college starts."
"Then don't go." Blaine replied, only half-jokingly. He couldn't meet Kurt's gaze, not wanting Kurt to see how sad he really was over the fact that they would soon be too far apart for either of their liking.
"I won't."
Blaine's head shot up and he stared at Kurt in confusion. "What?"
"I won't go." Kurt replied simply. "You don't want me to leave you and honestly I don't want me to leave you either."
"Kurt-"
Blaine?
Blaine was pretty darn sure he had just heard that voice in his head, bringing back with it the feeling that all was not as it was supposed to be. Maybe he needed more sleep. Now was not the time to dwell on it though. Not when he and Kurt were having such an important discussion. "Kurt, you can't put your college career, your dreams, on hold because of me. I will drag you to New York myself."
"Can't we even compromise on it?" Kurt whined, pouting sadly at him.
"No." Blaine replied stubbornly. "You know this – going to New York – is what you want, what you have wanted for years, and I'm not letting our relationship get in the way of that. We'll have skype dates and I'll come visit you every chance I get. I know it's going to be difficult, but we're going to make it. We're strong. It's selfish, me asking you to stay, but it would upset me more to see you not go to New York than it would to see you go, because when you go you'll be living out your dreams and having all these amazing experiences. If you don't go...you'll be bored with me within a month."
Kurt laughed, shaking his head. "I could never get bored of you, Blaine. You're right though..." he sighed, "I wouldn't be happy staying here, but that's just because I can't stand this town and I know I'm meant for big city life where people won't criticize me just because I like to wear women's clothes on occasion..."
"That one top was actually pretty cute." Blaine grinned. "I liked the safety-pinned-on pink bow."
Kurt giggled, slapping Blaine on the shoulder. "You liked that until Mercedes tried to put it on you." He snuggled closer, sighing contentedly. "Blaine, you know I'll never leave you though, right? No matter what happens. I'll be with you here," he placed a hand on Blaine's chest above his heart, "always."
"Myself as well." Blaine replied, placing one of his own hands upon Kurt's chest above his heart. "I will never leave you, never say goodbye-"
No goodbyes, ever...
Kurt kissed him again. "I love you. Now...do you want me to make you breakfast?"
"Love you more, and oh my god, yes please!" Blaine responded, nodding enthusiastically.
"Guess you'll have to actually get up then!" Kurt laughed, hopping off the bed and heading for the bedroom door. "Oh," he paused before leaving the room, "beware I'll be trying to get you to tell me my birthday secrets all day! I'm thinking this will be the best birthday yet!" He skipped on out of the room.
Blaine smiled knowingly, thinking of the promise ring he had stashed away in his dresser drawer. "You have no idea."
A/N: First off, I just want to thank everyone for reading! It's a great confidence boost, knowing people enjoy what I write and spend lots of time on. Many hugs and cookies for you all! :D And now I shall apologize for this rather long author's note to follow...
I think I need to explain this prequel a little bit, considering I myself got confused while writing it – though that may be thanks to my sudden attempt to make this story way more complicated than it was originally intended. The first half of this prequel takes place the day of Kurt's birthday. The second half is, of course, Blaine in his coma, which takes place two days prior to the coma-Blaine parts of 'Better than Real Life'. While the Kurt part in "BtRL' is seven months after all of everything else written.
BUT...
Me, being such a huge lover of extensive and creative plotlines, I had this brilliant idea which confused me at the same time. For some reason it popped into my head that maybe I could turn this story all around and somehow make it into this huge thing where you wouldn't be able to tell which part – the coma-Blaine part or the afterward-Kurt part – was the real life part and which one wasn't. Trying to turn everything every which way in my brain though required waaay to much brain power and confused me, leading me to figure I'd probably just confuse you all as well. Even though it did have quite the potential if I pulled it off.
So BASICALLY: I went with my original plan. To better explain it: Blaine goes hysterical and really believes Kurt is dead. He doesn't want to give up on life, knowing Kurt would hate it if he did so, but the dream/coma state he slips into (sorry if it seems like I took some liberties with this...hey, I'm no doctor and this is just a fanfic so votever!) he basically does not remember the accident and ends up pretty much living out his life with Kurt happily, starting two days prior to Kurt's birthday and in this dream the accident does not happen. So Kurt lives, no one's hurt, and they all live happily ever after...
...way better than a real life where Kurt's dead, in my opinion.
The 'voice' he hears is literally Kurt talking to him in the hospital. And...well, I took more liberties with the time lapse as well, considering I realized after I finished it that 'two days prior' and 'seven months' is a might big difference. We'll just say coma-Blaine was knocked out again for a long time. *blinks*
WHY DO I WRITE STUFF LIKE THIS? ...WHY DO YOU PEOPLE READ STUFF LIKE THIS? OH MY GOD ON A GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH...LET'S READ FLUFF NOW. FLUFFY KLAINE IS GOOD. I PROMISE YOU FLUFF NEXT TIME. ANY SUGGESTIONS?