Chapter Four:
AN At last, we get to the beginning of the good stuff. Yippee! (wow, am I mature or what? )
When Kurt sat up, I had been far too distracted with thinking how to explain my dream without utterly embarrassing myself and destroying our friendship forever to notice that Kurt, too, had deigned to go to sleep shirtless. This was probably for the best, because if I had, I wouldn't have moved to sit right next to him, very close to avoid falling off the bed. Dalton beds are large, but Kurt had a long body pillow and several fluffy throw pillows piled up beside him, and the space left over was narrow to say the least.
He wrapped an arm loosely around my bare shoulders, and I felt him shiver.
"Cold?"
"Uh, yeah, a little. So, what was the dream? I don't think I've ever seen you looking this upset."
"Well, you… see…it's kind of hard to explain", I began tentatively. I put my own arm around his waist to warm him up, grateful for the excuse to touch him but worried it would make talking about the nightmare ten times more difficult. But he wasn't wearing a shirt, and when I touched his skin, I lost my train of though completely. "Umm, Kurt, why aren't you wearing a shirt?"
"I could ask you the same thing."
"You could, but there wouldn't be much point in that, would there, since I asked first?"
He shot a not entirely pleased look at me, and I smiled a little and said "OK, OK, fine. I almost always sleep shirtless. It's just more comfortable to me. But I was sure you normally wore several layers on top to bed."
"I do. It's just, I was so tired last night I fell asleep before I could put them on. I usually wear like three flannel shirts in the winter."
I found myself grinning teasingly. Yet another of his endearing habits. "So you must be freezing, then," I said without really thinking about it.
"Yeah," he agreed softly. "You mind if I snuggle up a little, while you tell me about your dream? For warmth, you know?"
I almost told him he should go get a shirt before he became a living icicle, but thankfully stopped myself just in time. You idiot, I thought furiously to myself. Kurt is actually asking if it's OK to press his bare chest against your bare chest, and you're gonna tell him no? "Of course," I said hastily, afraid the pause had been too long and he'd think I found the idea of being close to him unappealing. "I mean, of course not!"
"Thanks," he said, even softer than before, and wrapped both arms securely around me, resting his chest along my side and his chin on the skin of my shoulder. I could barely breathe. I sucked in a deep, deep breath, hoping to control my sudden trembling, and hugged him close. He was practically on top of me, and I couldn't quite recall what we'd been talking about or why I was here, but boy was I happy to be.
"Blaine?" Kurt asked, and I remembered. Stalling for time in hopes of prolonging this moment, which was definitely the best in my life so far, I said "Hey, you mind if I climb under the covers? It is pretty cold, you know."
He was silent for a long moment that felt like an eternity, his face very still, as if making a monumental decision. Finally, he murmured, "Of course you can, Blaine." And I climbed under the covers. And everything changed irrevocably.