A/N: And two chapters today because I LOVE YOU GUYS~! Please send me your love~? :'D I'd love if you guys dropped me an ask on Tumblr (seerofdespair) or Twitter NikoBoussniere or reviewed with some lovin~!
I meant to post the first 3 chapters of my Niff fanfiction today that goes parallel to this, but idk. It might be a bit late. It's my brother's birthday today so I can't really make much headway. Plus babysitting and Glee :P
Disclaimer: If ONLY I owned Glee.
A shrill scream woke the Hudmel household on February 14 at 2 A.M. in the morning.
More specifically, it woke Finn, who had been sleeping peacefully in his bed. He wasn't expecting the high-pitched noise to assault his ears, and he wasn't expecting his step-brother to fly into his room and cling to him like a baby koala.
A shivering, sobbing baby koala.
"Woah, woah. What happened?" Burt asked frantically, entering Finn's room holding his shotgun.
"It's nothing. I think Kurt just had a nightmare," Finn answered a bit groggily, holding out his arms since it would be kinda awkward to embrace and cuddle Kurt. Burt sighed.
"Hey, bud, are you gonna be okay?" Burt asked, taking steps towards the two boys. Carole had also come and was standing in Finn's doorway.
"I-I'm fine. Sorry for waking you up," Kurt muttered, trying to quell his tears. Burt looked at him skeptically before turning and ushering Carole out of the room.
"Night, Kurt. Get some sleep," he said before closing the door.
By time he left, Kurt had quelled his tears and pulled away from Finn, settling on the edge of his bed and shaking.
"Dude, are you okay?" Finn asked, placing his hand on Kurt's shoulder. The shorter boy flinched away from the touch.
"I-I'm fine…" he said. Finn tried not to scoff at the obvious lie. He rubbed his eye and finally noticed the smell of iron.
"No you aren't!" Finn said, inspecting Kurt to find out where he was bleeding. It was his arm. It was clawed open, and the skin around the wound was red and angry. He groaned, and Kurt looked down shamefully.
"That's it. I'm calling a therapist," Finn resounded, standing up, albeit fumbling a bit as he found control to his feet, and crossing the room to where his cell phone was.
"No! You can't call a therapist!" Kurt argued, getting up to tug at Finn's arm.
"What do you want me to do?" Finn snapped.
Saying that the jock was angry was an understatement. He had already sat back and watched terrible things happen to Kurt without trying to stop it, and he wasn't going to let it happen again. He was so sick of just doing nothing when Kurt was physically harming himself. He couldn't stand to see it.
"Let me call Blaine…" Kurt muttered, taking Finn's phone from his hand.
"What's Blaine gonna do?" he asked lowly, knowing that there was some reason behind Kurt's suggestion but not knowing what it was.
"I can only sleep when he's with me," he said, looking into Finn's eyes and hoping for the understanding.
He didn't like it. He didn't like admitting he wasn't able to help Kurt but some barista at the Lima Bean was. But if it's what Kurt needed, then Finn wouldn't keep him from it.
"I'll go get you some water or something." And with that, the taller boy left the room.
Surrounded in darkness, Kurt could feel the panic constrict his chest. His gaze darted around as he quickly punched in Blaine's number. He was all alone, sitting in this dark, empty room, and he could feel his subconscious working to torture him again. Those hollowed, rotten eyes. The stench of decay. With each moment they crept up on him, and his breathing became labored as the phone rang.
"Please, please, please answer," he mumbled, the mantra keeping his mind preoccupied as he attempted to block out the inevitable terrors by screwing his eyes shut.
"Hullo?"
"Blaine! Thank god," Kurt sighed, feeling his uneasiness ebb away at the sound of the other's groggy voice.
"It's 2:16. What's wrong, dear?" Blaine said a bit clearer now that he was waking up. Kurt's heart skipped at the pet name.
He didn't know how he was supposed to word everything. His judgment was hazy and his mind was shot.
"I just…I just really need you right now," he said in a whisper, curling into a corner of Finn's room.
"Shit…okay. I'm on my way. Can you wait 30 minutes? Should I stay on the phone?" Blaine questioned, the interrogation running on and on. Kurt giggled a little.
"Watch your mouth, Warbler. Yeah it can wait. I can wait for you to get here; Finn will keep me occupied until then," he answered, already feeling heaps better with just the phone call.
"Sorry, and alright. I'll be there as soon as I can, okay?"
Kurt smiled and stood up, actually deciding it would be best to get out of the darkness. Might as well do something since he was up.
"That's fine, I'll see you when you get here," Kurt hummed, leaving Finn's room and walking down the hallway quietly.
"Okay. I love you."
Kurt froze.
Sure he had told him that before, but that was in the closet, and things were kind of emotional. Color rushed to his cheeks as the gravity of his words sunk in.
"I love you, too," he answered, walking down the stairs, although his legs were like jelly.
"I'll see you soon. Bye."
"Bye."
Kurt hung up the phone and entered the kitchen, where Finn was attempting to make coffee.
"So he's coming over?" Finn said, not taking his fixed gaze off of the coffee mix container.
"Yeah," Kurt said breathlessly, walking over to the counter and taking the container from Finn's hands.
"Do you have a fever? Your face is pretty red," Finn said, starting to search the cabinets for a thermometer.
"No, I don't. And would you just sit down? You're doing five things at once," Kurt ordered, measuring out the right amount of coffee and starting the coffee maker. Finn sighed and sat down at the table.
"Alright. But why call Blaine? I mean, I understand he's your friend and everything…"
"Well," Kurt started. "I don't know what it is, but whenever I always fall asleep around him, I never have nightmare." He leaned against the counter and looked down at his feet.
"So Blaine, like, chases all the bad guys away?" Finn asked, running his hand through his hair.
Kurt snorted. "If you wanna look at it that way." His gaze went over to the clock on the stove. Silence engulfed the two, and after ten minutes of no conversation, Finn stood up.
"I think I'll head back to-"
"Wait!" Kurt said frantically, grabbing Finn's arm. Looking into those glasz eyes, he could see all the fear that was normally masked.
"A-at least until Blaine gets here. Please," he begged. Finn sighed and sat back down at the table. No one could refuse a groveling Kurt. Mainly because he never begged or pleaded with anyone, so seeing him so low just to ask for social company definitely trumped any argument.
"How's French coming?" Finn asked, not really knowing how to start a conversation with the other boy.
"It's fine. The class is struggling with the future tense. Tu sais. 'J'irai au petit magasin pour voir Cynthia.' Yadda yadda," he said, flawlessly flipping his French and English. Finn stared at him.
"Don't try to comprehend, Finn. You barely understand when people are speaking English," Kurt said jokingly, hopping up and sitting on the counter.
"I do too!" Finn rebutted, sitting up straight. Kurt raised an eyebrow at him, an action that was becoming his signature.
"Oh really? 'My mistress's eyes are nothing like the sun-'"
"What's a mistress?" Finn asked. Kurt only smirked.
"I thought you understood when people spoke English, Finn." The taller boy only groaned.
"You can't go spewing that Old English crap!"
"Well, it wasn't Old English. Shakespeare was a Modern English playwright. The original Beowulf was Old English, and it was closer to garble than a coherent language," Kurt scoffed, inspecting his nails in a flippant manner.
"Dude, you have got to stop hanging out with those prep school boys. I could understand better when you talked about that musical, Evil."
"Do you mean Wicked?" Kurt asked, hoping that he didn't mean Wicked.
"Yeah. The one with the ogre lady."
Kurt only stared at his step-brother in shock. He was so culturally challenged, and Kurt was living under the same roof as him.
"First of all. Elpheba is not an ogre! She's a misunderstood-"
Their conversation was interrupted by a sharp knock at the door. Kurt held his breath. That had to be Blaine.
"Well, I guess I'll turn in now. Night, Kurt," Finn called, dashing up the stairs before Kurt could stop him. Or give him a play-by-play of another musical. Really. He had enough of that by listening to Rachel.
Kurt went to open the door and embraced Blaine.
"I missed you," he mumbled into Blaine's shoulder. He heard a light chuckle.
"I missed you too." They held each other for a few minutes before breaking away. Blaine cupped Kurt's cheek with his hand, and Kurt nuzzled into the contact.
"What happened?" Blaine asked, worry etching his features. Kurt looked away from Blaine, and it was then Blaine noticed the gash on his arm.
"Oh my god, Kurt! What happened?" he asked, obviously panicking at the sight of Kurt physically injured.
"Ssh. Come help me get it cleaned up and I'll tell you," he said solemnly, pulling Blaine into the bathroom and running some water.
Blaine knew there was something wrong. Those sleepless eyes and the dark circles should have given it away that there wasn't something right, but Blaine just ignored it. He knew that Kurt was too pale and that his fidgety attitude and jumpiness weren't traits he was just gifted with.
"Who did this to you?" Blaine asked as Kurt started pulling down antiseptics and bandages. He didn't answer, only focusing his attention on getting everything settled.
Blaine waited patiently for Kurt to start talking. He had waited this long, he could wait a little longer.
"I did it."
"What?" The shock on Blaine's face would have been hilarious if this were a laughing matter. Kurt swallowed and repeated himself.
"I did it. I wasn't aware but…" he shivered and Blaine pulled the taller boy into his arms.
"How about you take your shirt off? We can talk while I help you," the shorter boy said lightly, gently pushing Kurt to sit on the toilet lid. Kurt did as he was told and unbuttoned his shirt.
The other's torso made Blaine take in a sharp breath.
Yes, he had the most perfect toned chest with sinewy muscles rippling under soft skin. His skin was so milky and smooth, so akin to porcelain. But what surprised Blaine most were the scars that peppered his chest. They looked like claw marks and they terrified him.
He dipped a cotton ball into the hydrogen peroxide and knelt down to dab at Kurt's arm. The countertenor hissed in pain at the sharp sting of the chemicals, but quickly quieted down.
Kurt chose to speak first.
"My guidance counselor calls it sleep paralysis," he started, voice low and shaky. Blaine nodded for him to continue as he cleared away all the dried blood on Kurt's forearm.
"It's when your body and mind fall asleep but you're still conscious about things going on around you. I tend to…" Kurt took a deep breath. "Hallucinate. Badly. A-and…"
"It's alright," Blaine said, wrapping his arms comfortingly around the other boy.
"It's terrifying. I rarely ever sleep because when I do, they're there and it's driving me crazy!"
Blaine pressed a light kiss to his temple. Those few words explained a lot, and Blaine was going to be as supportive as possible.
"We'll get through this, Kurt. Did your counselor tell you anything else?" he asked, as consoling as he could muster.
"She said that there wasn't a cure for it. And that…usually repressing a traumatic experience…" he trailed off, mumbling the rest of his sentence.
"Hmm?"
"It's Karofsky." The name sent a horrifying shiver up his spine. "I haven't ever opened up about it."
"Kurt, what does he have to do with your sleep paralysis?" Blaine asked, pulling away from his embrace.
"Ms. Pillsbury said sleep paralysis is related to narcolepsy and your subconscious trying to bring up traumatic experiences you don't want to face," Kurt said. Blaine decided at that moment that he didn't want to look at the nasty wound on Kurt's arm and grabbed the bandages to wrap it up.
"So talking about it will make you feel better hopefully?" Blaine asked, leaning his back against the bathtub behind him.
"Yeah. That…and you," Kurt said, looking at Blaine from behind long eyelashes. The other smiled.
"Me?" he asked, running his fingers through his messy locks. Kurt didn't really notice it before, but he really liked the way Blaine's hair looked down. It was much more relaxing and very attractive.
"Yeah. You know how you let me borrow your jacket the other day?" Kurt asked, his cheeks slightly coloring.
"Ah. I wondered where that went." Kurt smiled.
"I kind of…slept with it. And those nights that I did, I was able to go to sleep without….y'know," he said bashfully.
"That is adorable," Blaine responded, taking Kurt's hands in his own.
"And I fell asleep in your car that one time," he added. It was truly as if Blaine was his midnight terror panacea.
"Now I'm starting to see why you invited me." Kurt rolled his eyes.
"Sorry for waking you up this early," he said, running his thumb over Blaine's knuckles. The younger boy shrugged.
"I planned on spending Valentine's Day with you anyways. A few extra hours aren't anything to complain about."
They looked into each other's eyes for a long moment, both knowing that they wanted the same thing in that moment but neither was daring enough to initiate it.
"Is it alright if I…"
"Please."
The two boys leaned in closer and pressed their lips against each other. Fireworks exploded behind closed eyelids, and all the cliché feelings that neither of them wholeheartedly thought happened were felt, making believers out of the two young boys. They kissed, soft lips rubbing against each other perfectly, for a few moments before they pulled away for air. Kurt smiled and rested their foreheads together.
"That was amazing, but I'm really tired. Can we sleep now?" Kurt whispered. Blaine kissed the tip of his nose.
"Yeah. Show me the way."
Kurt stood up and helped Blaine to his feet, the two not dropping their hands as they walked to Kurt's bedroom.
"I never thought I'd actually see the day where Kurt Hummel was leading me to his bedroom shirtless," Blaine joked as the door shut behind him. Kurt nudged him in the ribs, causing the curly-haired man to grab his side in mock agony. Kurt only walked over to his bed and plopped down on it. Blaine followed suit and tucked himself comfortably beside Kurt on the opposite side of the bed, earning him a pout.
"Blaine."
"Yes, darling?"
Kurt blushed at the name. "I wanna spoon. What are you doing over there?"
Blaine smiled and crawled over closer to Kurt.
"Only if I get to be the big spoon," Blaine reasoned, placing a kiss on Kurt's forehead. Now that he was allowed to kiss the older boy, he was going to make up a lifetime's worth of kisses, because that's how long Blaine reasoned he should have known Kurt for. A lifetime.
Kurt rolled over and faced the wall. "I wouldn't picture it any other way."
Finn easily covered for Kurt, telling Burt that Kurt was sick and just needed sleep and shouldn't be bothered. Burt, of course, trusted him and headed off to the garage, unknowingly leaving his son and the object of his affection at the house alone.
Not that it was a problem. Kurt knew to be on his best behavior. And he pretty much slept all day anyway.
When Blaine had woken up, Kurt was still sleeping like he was dead, not stirring. He settled with cuddling Kurt and memorizing all of his physical details. He could pick out some scars on his neck, and a few yellow tinted spots from healing bruises. Blaine sighed. He knew that Kurt needed his sleep so he didn't attempt to rouse him. He was, however, becoming worried that Kurt might sleep the whole day away and that the special plans he made for Valentine's Day would go to waste.
Of course, if Kurt did sleep the day away, Blaine wouldn't mind. Who knew when Kurt was able to get a good night's sleep?
At around 1 in the afternoon, Kurt began squirming and he turned around, cuddling closer into Blaine's chest.
"Hey, beautiful. Are you up?" Blaine said, running his fingers through Kurt's hair.
"Sadly," he responded, taking a deep breath of Blaine's scent. "I haven't slept like that in months."
Blaine tried to ignore the pang in his heart from the truthfulness of the statement.
"If you're feeling up to it, I had a date arranged for tonight," Blaine mumbled, neither of them moving out of the embrace.
It took a few moments for gears to kick into place, and Kurt remembered it was Valentine's Day. He shot up.
"Oh, I'm so sorry! I totally forgot! I probably ruined it didn't I?" he said, starting to panic. Blaine sat up and wrapped his arms around the other.
"No, it's fine. They weren't until later. It's only 1," Blaine said, resting his chin on Kurt's shoulder. The countertenor visibly sighed in relief.
"Well alright, give me some time and we can go out. Does my dad know you're here?" Kurt asked, crawling out of bed and stretching.
"I don't think so. Finn said something about you being sick and not going to school so he shouldn't bother you." Kurt clicked his tongue at the information and yawned.
"Well alright then. I'll call my dad and tell him I'm feeling better and that we're going out tonight. I have to take a shower first…" Kurt said, inspecting his body.
"Well, I'll be here. Not eagerly waiting your return," Blaine said with a smirk, leaning against Kurt's wall.
"Oh, Blaine Anderson, how you wound me," Kurt said, clutching at his chest dramatically.
He walked to his closet and pulled out the clothes he was going to be wearing that day. He would have to try to keep his shower and bathroom ritual as short as possible, which usually meant he could take anywhere from 45 minutes to and hour and a half. He picked up his phone and sent a text message to his dad, relaying that he would be fine and his plans later on with Blaine and ignored the multiple texts from Rachel and Mercedes asking where he was. He walked into the bathroom and began his rigorous schedule of hygienic duties.
"You know, you could have texted them earlier or something."
"And risk waking you up? No way," Blaine laughed as he cleared out his inbox. Kurt had offered to drive so that he could do just that.
"Well now you've scared your friends halfway to hell," Kurt replied, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel.
"Speaking of friends at Dalton. Have you talked to your dad about switching schools?" he asked, looking over at Kurt. The older boy sighed.
"I mentioned it when he was leaving for work and he said we'd have to talk about it later." Blaine settled with that and he pointed at a street for Kurt to turn onto before returning to cleaning out his inbox.
"Where are we even going?" Kurt asked. He didn't really recognize any of the surroundings.
"You'll see when we get there," Blaine answered, not removing his gaze from his phone.
A few more turns and moments later, Kurt was pulling into the parking lot of a fancy restaurant he couldn't even pronounce the name of.
"Blaine!" he squeaked, his wallet hurting just by looking at the cleanly trimmed hedges. They were perfect.
"What? I made reservations so you can't turn me down," Blaine said, stepping out of the car smiling. Kurt took a deep breath, knowing that this was going to steadily become a thing if he was going to court Blaine.
Or was Blaine courting him?
Wait. Were they even courting at all?
Blaine handled the reservation details with the maître d' while Kurt was ogling the insides of the restaurant. It was simply too beautiful to describe.
Blaine took his hand and led them to where the waitress was leading them.
"Am I just going to have to guide you everywhere we go?" Blaine asked playfully as they sat down.
Kurt didn't really hear him. In fact, he couldn't even remember many details from the dinner. It was all just too extravagant and mind-blowing that even his rejuvenated brain couldn't comprehend.
He did remember that the food was delicious, that they sang along with a jazzy Valentine's tune the live entertainment was playing (but Kurt couldn't remember the name of the song for the life of him) and that they ended up kissing outside of Kurt's car.
He might grow to love Valentine's Day.
"Thanks for the date tonight. It was lovely," Kurt said, kissing Blaine on his cheek.
"Not as lovely as you," Blaine retorted, taking Kurt's hand and kissing it like he was some delicate princess.
"Wow, you are so cheesy," Kurt said rolling his eyes. The scarlet on his cheeks notified Blaine that he liked it.
"Well it's true."
Blaine's phone rang and effectively shattered the romantic air. Awesome.
"Hey, Jeff. I'm kinda b-"
Kurt furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as Blaine's voice cut off.
"Hey. Jeff, listen- No, no. I'm with Kurt right now," he said, worry lacing his voice. Kurt walked over to him and took his hand.
"I'll tell David. He'll understand. You can stay in my room until I get back, alright?" Blaine said gently. From this distance, Kurt could tell Jeff was crying. Blaine's features suddenly softened.
"I know you do, and it's hard, I know. But I'm pretty sure he's just going through a tough time right now. He treasures you too much to not love you back." Kurt was only more confused.
"Alright, I'll see you later," Blaine said, closing his phone.
"What's wrong with Jeff?" Kurt asked, laying his head on Blaine's shoulder.
"Nick."
"Ah…" The two got into the car, and Kurt pulled out of the parking lot.
"Should I take you back to Dalton?" he asked when he was driving.
"Well, my car is at your place, so we should just go back there."
Oh yeah. Blaine had come over at 2 A.M. He was glad that Blaine had enough foresight to park on the street a few blocks away. Kurt's father never even knew Blaine was there the whole day.
The car ride went swimmingly, as it always did, with light conversation and singing along to Katy Perry or Lady Gaga on the radio. Kurt was upset when they finally pulled into his driveway.
"I'll call you tomorrow," Blaine said, climbing out of Kurt's car. Kurt pouted, and he turned the car off and shut his door.
"Yeah; I'll still miss you though," he pouted. Blaine gave him a sweet but chaste kiss on his lips.
"So will I, but we'll see each other soon, alright?"
Kurt nodded. "Happy Valentine's Day."
Blaine smiled. "Happy Valentine's Day," and he kissed Kurt again before trotting over to his car.
Kurt stifled a defeated sigh when he watched Blaine leave and entered his house.
"Hey, kiddo. How was it?" Burt asked when Kurt sat down on the couch beside where his father was watching football.
"It was fine," he said. He then bit his lip. Now was the perfect time to tell his father. "Dad, I have to tell you something."
Burt sighed and turned off the TV.
"I knew it'd come soon enough. So you and Blaine, huh?"
Kurt blushed.
"N-no! I mean, yeah, but I need to talk to you about something else, too," Kurt said, looking down at his lap.
"Well, shoot."
Kurt took a deep breath.
"Dad. You remember Karofsky, right?"
Burt nodded, and Kurt noticed a stitch appear between his eyebrows.
"Well, there are some things I haven't told you…"
Oh cliffhangers. A tragedy that was introduced to writers for some reason. Please review~! I love them and I love you! Happy Valentine's day! 3
