So I finished a basic map for the rest of this story, and there are only three chapters left, making ten parts in total. I hope this won't affect anybody's enjoyment of the fic! :)
Heart Puppeteer
Part Seven
Blaine awoke tangled up with Kurt, his feet like ice against his ankles, Kurt's arm thrown across his waist and Kurt's breath tickling the back of his neck. He rolled over carefully, so as not to disturb the sleeping boy, and propped himself up on his elbow, looking down at Kurt. He was so beautiful in sleep, all the anger and the hurt gone from his face, peaceful, a slight smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Wondering if Kurt knew how long his eyelashes looked with the weak morning light falling across his face, Blaine hoped with all his heart that he could be the cause of that sweet smile.
He steeled himself, wondering all the while why this seemed so hard, and dropped a kiss to Kurt's forehead. Kurt's eyes fluttered open, blinking blearily around before they fell on Blaine's face. Blaine smiled, framing Kurt's face with his hands and leaning down for a kiss. "Hi," he breathed, their lips inches apart.
Before Blaine could kiss him, however, Kurt turned his head to the side, away from him, the ghost of his sleeping smile fading away into a pinched, worried frown. "Don't," he murmured, pulling his arm from Blaine's waist, avoiding his eyes. "Don't kiss me. You can't."
"Of course I can," Blaine said, confused by Kurt's reaction, reaching out to lace their fingers together where one of Kurt's hands rested on his stomach. "After last night. Everything that happened. I can kiss you."
"Last night was…it was a mistake," Kurt said quietly, pushing Blaine's hand away, refusing to meet his eyes. "I shouldn't have done it, but then there was you and your ridiculous little seduction routine and I couldn't…but I shouldn't have, and I'm sorry. I can't be with you. Please go back to your room."
"Why was it a mistake?" Blaine asked, pursuing the issue, refusing to let Kurt slip from his fingertips yet again. "It wasn't a mistake. Not for me. You're my soulmate, Kurt, and I mean that figuratively as well as literally. I don't want to leave, and you don't want me to leave. What is so wrong about this that you refuse to see the good side of it?"
"It's your Mark, Blaine," Kurt murmured, sounding almost choked with emotion. Blaine reached out and took his hand again and, this time, he didn't pull away. "It scares me. It's my name and it means you're going to fall in love with me and want to marry me. I haven't been Marked yet, and what if it isn't your name? I can't be friends with you, I can't fall for you, because if you're not my soulmate then I'll lose you, and I couldn't take that."
"It doesn't mean we can't take advantage of what we can have here and now," Blaine said softly, sitting up and guiding Kurt with him. "I could still be your friend, Kurt, even if fate sent you off with someone else."
Kurt sniffed and kissed him, draping his arms around Blaine's shoulders, his grip tightening until it was almost painful. But Blaine didn't push him away, just kissed slow and sweet until Kurt broke away and buried his face in Blaine's shoulder, sniffling quietly into his shirt. "It'll be okay," Blaine reassured him softly. "Don't give up hope, ever. We'll figure something out. Like…are we going to be boyfriends now?"
"No, I'm not ready," Kurt said immediately. Blaine's hurt must've shown on his face because he hastily added, "Not that I don't want to, but I'd rather date you after I get Marked. Whenever that is. You'll wait for me, right?"
"Of course I will, you're my soulmate," Blaine promised. "So, in light of last night, what does that make us? Fuck buddies? Friends with benefits?"
"Ugh, I hate both those terms," Kurt groaned, shuddering. "It sounds so sleazy. Let's try just being friends. Just friends, not boyfriend, no benefits. I need to spend a little less time hating you and more time learning to like you."
"Deal, I'm going to be hanging around for a long, long time," Blaine said with a smile. He leaned in to kiss Kurt once more, but Kurt leaned away, chuckling softly to himself.
"Blaine. Just friends."
"I know, we just made a deal, and I'm sealing it with a kiss."
"Just friends means no kissing."
"Damn. This is going to be harder than I thought."
Hope you enjoyed, and please let me know if you did! And prepare for drama-llama as we wind this tale down.
