Black & Gold
Chapter Two
Resistance Times
Chancellor Blaine Anderson: The Revolution We Needed
Massive changes have rocked our country over the past year, thanks, in big part, to our new Chancellor. He, with the help of his new council, is working to make our world a better place.
What has he accomplished so far?
-Replacing the council so that members represent a variety of ages, races, genders, and Classes.
-Eliminating the income limit for each Class.
-Reversing the ban on restricted activities.
-Erasing the interclass communication laws.
-Allowing all Classes to apply for university.
-Changing the procedure for Class ascent/descent by providing clear guidelines.
What comes next?
-Making interclass marriage a possibility.
-Reducing costs of university so education is possible for all.
-Removing Class wristbands.
-Integrating Low, Middle, and High Class communities.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen of the Resistance, Blaine Anderson is the hero we asked for, and he is certainly delivering.
Blaine woke with a start, dragging himself out of his nightmare. He was breathing erratically and sweating, scared to death, yet frozen in place.
It was always the same. In the dream, Kurt was torn from Blaine's arms by faceless figures and taken away while he watched, unable to move or scream for help. Blaine awoke, paralyzed and panting, every time, terrified out of his mind and needing to see Kurt to make sure that he was okay.
Kurt, upon finding out about the nightmares, had once vowed that Blaine would never wake up alone. As if he could sense Blaine's distress now, even in his sleep, he rolled over and nestled into Blaine's arms, breaking the paralysis, and calming his breathing down to a normal rate.
Blaine held him tight, whispering how much he loved him, and how he would never let anything happen to him. Not if he could help it.
"This is impossible!" Kurt threw up his hands in defeat. He had been staring at hundreds of applications for the position of his assistant for an hour and was no closer to finding an appropriate candidate.
"What's impossible?"
Kurt jumped at the sound of Wes' voice at his office door. "What are you doing here?"
"Blaine got your SOS text and thought you could use my help." He grinned.
"Oh my god, you're the best ever. Look at all of these! I didn't even put my name on the job posting, but somehow, word got out that it was for my assistant, and I've had hundreds of applicants. Most of these people don't even know the first thing about fashion. I need to sort through and find a few people I think could be right for the job."
It was like a switch flipped, and Wes went into turbo mode. Within fifteen minutes, he and Kurt had sorted the applications into three piles: absolutely, if everyone else falls through, and no chance in hell. They recycled the no chance in hell pile (though Kurt wanted to burn it). Another hour later, and Kurt was calling the top five candidates to schedule interviews.
"Thank you so much, Wes. Can we just clone you and hire your clone as my assistant?"
Wes laughed. "I don't know anything about fashion."
Kurt appraised his outfit, frowning slightly. "Mm. I know."
"Hey! Watch it! Don't forget that I know things about you and Blaine that you wouldn't want anyone else knowing."
Kurt chuckled. "Fair enough. And sorry about what happened in the car last night, by the way. Sometimes we just get carried away with each other."
"Thanks. I was trying to block that out," Wes groaned, remembering. "You're really lucky I love you guys. Now go home to that waiting boyfriend of yours, and I will be staying far, far away."
Friday night dinners were now a staple in the Anderson/Hummel household. At the very least, Kurt, Blaine, Wes, and Burt typically ate together after work, but Cooper and his family, Sam, Renna, and a few stragglers here and there joined them whenever they were available.
That evening, though, it was only Kurt, Blaine, and Burt around the table, chatting about the new car Blaine wanted Kurt to buy.
"I don't even have my license yet, Blaine, let's slow down just a little."
"Yeah, but think about how fast we could go," Blaine's eyes were far off and dreamy.
"It would be fun," Kurt conceded, then launched into a comparison of the engine options, leading Burt to chuckle and mutter "you're my son, all right."
The chef brought in dessert just then, smelling of delicious, fresh raspberries.
"Thank you, Anthony," Blaine and Kurt said in unison.
"You're welcome, Chancellor Anderson, Misters Hummel."
"I hate being called that," Blaine lamented as Anthony exited the room. "All it does is remind me that I have this irreversible connection to the man who calls himself my father."
"Ya know there's something you could do about that…" Burt looked suggestively between Kurt and Blaine.
"No, Dad," Kurt spoke up. "I could never ask Blaine to give up his name to take mine. When the day comes," he added for emphasis, shooting his father a harsh glare.
But Blaine was looking at Kurt and biting his bottom lip nervously.
"What, Blaine?"
"I...I want that."
"What?!" Kurt nearly spat out his drink.
Blaine took his hands. "Did you know that Cooper took Alyssa's name when they married? He's not an Anderson anymore. When the time comes, I'd like to take your name. I love everything the name Hummel stands for. I'd love nothing more than to be Blaine Hummel."
Kurt could feel that his mouth was hanging open, and barely noticed when Burt excused himself from the table to give them a moment alone.
"You—really?" Kurt asked, still in disbelief.
"Does that freak you out? Is it too much?"
"No, it's...god, it's everything, Blaine."
Blaine saw him mouthing Kurt and Blaine Hummel under his breath and smiled contentedly.
"Good. I know that marriage isn't in the cards for us for right now, but I do think about it a lot, you know. Being your husband."
Kurt's heart melted. He kissed Blaine softly, then they sat, Kurt's hand cupping Blaine's jaw, staring lovingly at each other until they heard shuffling footsteps behind them.
"Yeah, I'm just gonna go," Burt said with a grin as he sidled past the dining room.
"I'm sorry, Dad," Kurt laughed embarrassedly, dropping his hand from Blaine's face. "I forgot you were here for a minute."
"Tends to happen when Blaine's around, doesn't it? It's alright, kiddo. Sounds like nothing compared to what Wes had to witness the other night."
"I can't believe he told you about that!" Kurt's cheeks burned.
"Good night!" Burt gave a little wave and a smirk.
"Fire Wes," Kurt commanded Blaine, sinking his head into his hands.
"I've tried before. He just won't leave."
"Your résumé states that you completed an internship with Ralph Lauren. That's amazing. Tell me more about it!" Kurt urged the nervous looking girl who was his first interviewee.
"Uhh...it was...good?"
Kurt frowned. "What were your responsibilities?"
"Getting coffee. And things?"
Kurt set down the papers he held and sighed. "You didn't really intern with Ralph Lauren, did you?"
She shook her head, looking down at her feet.
Damn, Kurt thought. Her résumé had been the most promising of all.
"Well, thanks for coming in today, but I'm afraid I won't be able to offer you the position."
The next three interviews went similarly, the girls either exaggerating their experience or proving to be completely incompetent at answering the simplest of questions. (Why do you want to work for me? You're dating the Chancellor!) (Would you be willing to sign a nondisclosure agreement? What? I couldn't tell anyone about your life?! What good is working for someone famous if you can't dish the gossip?)
With his hopes all but dashed, Kurt called in the last candidate, eyes widening slightly at how handsome and well-dressed the man was.
"Hi, you must be Chase," Kurt held out his hand to shake.
"It's wonderful to meet you, Mr. Hummel. I've been a huge fan of your work since your days in the market."
"Wow, thank you. Have a seat and tell me a little bit about your previous experience."
Chase obliged, launching into a description of his time at a nearby university studying fashion history as a minor, and his former position as a personal assistant for a mayor of a High Class town.
By the end, Kurt was thoroughly impressed. He shook Chase's hand once more, completely missing the deviously satisified grin from the other man, and scurried home to tell Blaine about his day.
Blaine was close to pulling out his own hair. A black rose hung upside down in his office window — the third he had found this week. At first he had tried to ignore them, brush them off as nothing. But now...it was clear the roses were deliberate, meant for him and him alone, and they felt somehow ominous, like some kind of warning. What did it mean? Were they even real, or was he losing it?
He pulled the rose down and held it between his fingers, twirling it around in an inspection before dropping it into the trash can. The black paint was soft and powdery, and when Blaine looked at his hands, his fingers were covered in black.
Slipping away to the restroom, Blaine scrubbed his hands until they were bright red and devoid of any black paint, breath catching in gasps as he tried to maintain the slipping hold he had on himself. He closed his eyes, counted to ten, slid his hands into his pockets, and left to go home, ignoring any work he had left to do. Only one person could put his mind totally at ease.
Blaine was not sure why he hadn't told Kurt about the roses, even though he would undoubtedly feel less insane if he shared it with him. Maybe he didn't want to scare Kurt unnecessarily before he knew what the roses were really about. Or maybe this was one thing Blaine could do to protect Kurt, something he had failed to do so many times before. Perhaps he simply wanted to preserve the calm happiness that had taken over their lives of late.
Still spinning these thoughts around in his mind while simultaneously telling himself that he wasn't imagining things, Blaine walked through the front door and was greeted by Kurt, who must have just arrived home as well and was removing his shoes.
"Hey, baby," Blaine wrapped his arms around his boyfriend and buried his face in his neck, breathing in the soothing and familiar scent, feeling the tension fade away for the first time since he'd left home that morning.
"Everything okay?" Kurt asked, sounding genuinely concerned as he toed off his other shoe without moving his arms from around Blaine's neck.
"I just really missed you today," he admitted after a brief pause.
"Tell you what. I need to get some sketches done tonight, but I can spare an hour or so for a hot bath first." Kurt smiled as Blaine began stripping off his clothes in the entryway, clearly eager to take Kurt up on that bath.
Once settled and letting the lavender scented bubbles pop against their bodies, Kurt leaned back against Blaine's chest.
"This is what I've been needing all day," Kurt sighed.
"How were your interviews today?" Blaine asked.
"The first four were horrible. A bunch of young girls who really just wanted to work for your boyfriend."
"Ugh. I'm sorry," Blaine rubbed Kurt's shoulders in apology.
"It's not your fault," Kurt waved him off. "The last one was actually great, though. He's definitely the one I'm going to hire. He has experience in being an assistant and in fashion. He was really nice, too. I think you'd like him."
Blaine's fingers had stilled on his shoulders. "Him?"
Kurt nodded. "Guys can know things about fashion too, Blaine," he joked.
"I know that. It's just...he's a young guy who's into fashion. Is he gay?"
Kurt huffed in annoyance. "That doesn't matter. It has nothing to do with Chase's ability to do his job."
"Unless he comes on to you," Blaine pouted.
There were times when Kurt liked jealous Blaine, but he had no patience for it now. Not with this. "I should point out that your assistant is a man."
"And I should point out that you wondered if he was my boyfriend."
"I was in a very vulnerable position at that time!" Kurt defended himself.
"Plus, it's Wes. I've known him since I was fourteen. And he's straight. We don't know anything about this Chase guy."
Kurt stopped himself from biting back a retort. He counted to ten before responding calmly. "I would love it if we didn't talk about other guys while I'm in the bathtub with the love of my life."
He felt Blaine's stomach clench. "That's right, Blaine. You're the only one I love. The only one I can imagine sharing my life with. So get over it," he giggled as he poked Blaine's thigh.
"Okay, you're right. I'm being ridiculous." He kissed Kurt's tattoo.
"You know, our anniversary is coming up…"
Blaine tightened his grip on Kurt's waist. "I know. I have something special planned."
"You do?!" Kurt's eyes lit up like a child in a candy store.
"Of course I do. This last year has been the craziest but most fulfilling, and by far the happiest of my entire life. You have brought me everything I ever wanted, and so much more that I didn't even know I could ask for. God, Kurt, you think I'd miss a chance to show you how much that means to me? To celebrate you and me and what we have together?"
Kurt craned his neck to look at Blaine over his shoulder, emotion written all over his face.
"Yes, I should have known better. You treat me like a prince, Blaine. I'm the luckiest man in the world."
"You deserve nothing but the best. I would spend every damn day making sure you got it."
Kurt swiveled his body around to straddle Blaine. "That's beautiful, but what do you say we move this love fest to the bed so you can get lucky?"
Blaine moved so fast that it startled Kurt, picking him up and carrying him to the bedroom with an excited grin on his face. "Deal."
