Author's Note:

This is again from Blaine's point of view. A bit of a filler chapter, this one. The next one will be juicier :-)

Warning for a brief mention of Finn dying.

This chapter is unbetaed, because once again, I procrastinated writing it and my lovely beta hkvoyage hasn't read it yet, seeing as I've only just finished writing the last sentence... Updating weekly is proving quite a challenge!

Thank you so much to everyone who sends me feedback - you're wonderful and you spur me on to keep writing :-)

Chapter 8: Thanksgiving

Blaine had been so scared of Kurt finding out his secret, but now that it was out in the open, he felt lighter and freer than he had in years.

There was no judgment from Kurt's end whatsoever, and he knew about magic, and even about people who could break a curse, apparently. Well, that was interesting, and worth looking into. But Blaine forgot about it quickly when Kurt told him how his mother had been cursed.

As Blaine listened, it struck him how small and vulnerable Kurt looked, every inch that little boy again who missed his mom. Blaine scooted a little closer and took Kurt's hand in his to provide some comfort. The pain in Kurt's eyes didn't recede, but his spine straightened, and his words came out more readily, and a bit louder.

The story ended with Kurt's mother dying, and Kurt crumpled again. There was more than pain in his eyes now, and when he refused to look Blaine straight in the eye, it was pretty clear what the matter was. Kurt felt guilty. Guilty because a homophobic woman had cursed his mom.

Blaine took a tissue from the box on the coffee table, and dried Kurt's tears while he reasoned with him, trying to make him see that the fault wasn't his. Kurt nodded, but kept sobbing soundlessly. It broke Blaine's heart to see him that way. Kurt was usually such a positive presence in his life, vibrant and unique, such a sharp contrast to the broken boy now crying his heart out next to Blaine.

What could Blaine do to make Kurt feel better? In the end, he moved in for a hug. It did not have the comforting effect he'd intended, since he was still naked, and the reminder of that shocked Kurt, but it did make Kurt stop crying, so Blaine counted it as a win.

Kurt made Blaine go put on some clothes, and after that, they went outside to walk the dogs Blaine usually joined for play time at the park. It was weird, suddenly being a human alongside Kurt, and holding one of the dogs' leashes instead of trotting next to them and challenging Snowball to a race. Blaine liked it, though. He liked the family feel of it, as if the dogs were theirs, and they went for an evening stroll together every day.

Blaine found himself wishing this could be his reality. If things had been different, if he'd never been cursed, this was what Blaine would have liked to have. A family. Just thinking about it hit Blaine with a fierce stab of longing. He wanted this. He wanted more than a lonely existence, always worrying about when the curse would strike next. He wanted Kurt next to him, capable and comforting and so compatible with Blaine, in spite of their age difference. What was it about Kurt that made Blaine feel so at home with him?

And then it came to Blaine. Kurt was a dog-sitter now. Would he consider becoming Blaine's dog-sitter full-time? It would be pricey, but Blaine had more money than he could spend in a lifetime anyway. But perhaps Kurt was like Trent and would shy away from Blaine in his dog form now that he knew there was a human trapped inside. Would he?

He broached the subject with Kurt, and after some deliberation, Kurt agreed to move in with him and look after him any time he turned into a dog, on the condition that he'd still get to walk other dogs. Well, that was no problem.

Happy as a clam now, Blaine threw a tennis ball for the dogs to catch and did a silly dance waiting for them to return.

Kurt snorted. "Dork!"

Blaine beamed at him. "No take-backs! You promised to stay, so you're stuck with me now."

Kurt's eyes softened. "I wasn't going to take it back. I like you being dorky. You're never afraid to be yourself."

Blaine nodded, crouching down to take the tennis ball from Snowball, pet the dog and throw it again. "There's nothing more bad-ass than being yourself."

Kurt snorted again, cuddling Titus, who made no move to chase the tennis ball but stayed close to Kurt. "You sound like this guy I know from high school. Called himself Puck."

"You should tell me about him sometime," Blaine said, grinning ear to ear at the thought of having Kurt to talk to every morning and every evening. "And what was that about Rachel and a curse breaking her heart?"

As soon as he'd asked, he wished he could take it back and duct-tape his mouth shut for good measure, because his question sniffed out the amused glimmer in Kurt's eyes, and left them haunted again.

Kurt absent-mindedly stroked Titus's fur, looking blankly ahead. "Rachel… We were in high school together, I told you. And we crushed on the same guy, have I ever told you that?"

"No. You only told me about Karofsky."

Kurt nodded and let out a sigh that seemed to come straight from his toes. "Well… Rachel and I… We weren't friends back then. Not really. And we both crushed on Finn."

Blaine frowned. "As in… your stepbrother? Who died?"

"Yeah," Kurt confirmed, accepting a tennis ball from Snowball with a murmur of praise and offering him a dog treat. "Only he wasn't my brother yet at that point. Anyway, Rachel and Finn ended up dating, but they had this on and off kind of relationship. And during one of the off moments, she met Jesse. And fell for him. But she still had feelings for Finn, too. And she made this music video, oh God, it was bad, where the both of them sang with her. Plus Puck, but that doesn't really matter now. And Jesse felt hurt. Like… Like Rachel had cheated on him by singing with other guys. So he broke up with her, and he shouted, 'We're over. There. Now you can be with Finn, like you wanted. I hope you know that you and Finn will NEVER be happy together. NEVER!' And then he stormed out. They were quite the dramatic pair, Rachel and Jesse. Never a dull moment with them."

"Wow," said Blaine. That was more drama than the Warblers had ever been through, to his knowledge.

"And then about a year ago, Finn died," Kurt continued. "And we were all devastated. We still are. But I remember Rachel, during one of our crying sessions at the loft, sitting up straight all of a sudden and going, 'It's Jesse! It's all his fault! He told me we'd never be happy together! He cursed Finn!' And I gaped at her, 'cause it hadn't felt like magic at all, that day in the choir room. But Rachel kept insisting it had been a curse, and even went to a curse breaker to verify it, but there were no traces of magic on her. So she said the curse must only have hit Finn. I don't know. She could be right."

"Wow," Blaine repeated. A wet nose nudged him, and he looked down to see that Snowball was offering the tennis ball to him this time around. He petted the dog and then threw the ball as far as he could.

"I know, right?" Kurt sighed. "Elliott thinks magic is heaps of fun, but in my experience, it's only ever caused bad stuff to happen."

"My… furry problem is the only brush I've had with magic."

Kurt snorted. "Furry problem? A Harry Potter nerd, are we?"

"Hey, you recognised it, so who's the nerd here?" Blaine countered.

Bickering companionably, they called the dogs to them and went home.

K&B

Living with Kurt was easy. They both had a full schedule, but it worked out so that on days that Blaine was home late, Kurt had the time to cook in the evening, and when Kurt was at R/GA until six and had to walk dogs straight after, Blaine made sure he had dinner ready by the time Kurt came home.

On weekends, they walked the dogs together, while sharing more about their lives and family and friends. There were never any awkward silences with Kurt. They never seemed to run out of topics to talk about, and every facet of Kurt that Blaine discovered made him like Kurt more.

Still, he couldn't help but compare this situation to living with Trent, sometimes, and it always made him feel awful that Trent had left in high dudgeon and hadn't contacted him since. Was he still mad at Blaine?

He brought it up with Kurt, who rolled his eyes and said, "If he won't call you, why don't you take the initiative? It's a two-way street. If you miss him so much, call him, go on."

But Blaine, however often he scrolled to Trent's name in his list of phone contacts, and however many texts he composed, always chickened out on calling or texting his friend. What if Trent didn't want anything more to do with him? He didn't think he could bear that.

K&B

Kurt was very close to his dad, and would call him twice a week without fail. When Kurt had moved in with Blaine, Burt had insisted on "meeting" Blaine through FaceTime, and had questioned him thoroughly.

"You're not… taking advantage of Kurt, are you?" Burt asked.

Blaine was quick to say no. "I would never!"

"Cause the kid has a crush on you the size of Texas," Burt explained, while Kurt, behind Blaine, hissed out an affronted "Dad!"

"What? It's true, kiddo, and your guy should know it, if you're living with him."

Kurt sighed. "Blaine does know. I told him. And he doesn't mind, do you, Blaine?"

Blaine smiled and confirmed that it made no difference to him whatsoever, but that didn't make Burt lighten up in the slightest. If anything, his scowl deepened.

"So why do you wanna live with my kid anyway?" Burt wanted to know, and Blaine felt like he had no other option than to tell the truth, and explained haltingly about the curse.

"So basically he's going to be looking after you as long as he's at Parsons?" Burt asked.

Blaine hadn't thought so far ahead, but nodded. "I'll be paying him!"

"You'd better," Burt growled. "And don't you dare lead him on and break his heart."

Kurt had interjected here with another "Dad!" and had taken his laptop to his bedroom, telling Burt off for scaring Blaine.

After that first FaceTime call, Burt hadn't asked to talk to Blaine again, until in early November, Kurt came into the living room and sat down next to Blaine on the sofa, shoving his laptop half onto Blaine's lap so that he could see Burt and his wife Carole on the screen.

"So, uhm, Blaine," Burt said, "I wanted to ask what your plans are for Thanksgiving. Are you coming to Ohio? Kurt mentioned you're from these parts."

Blaine was a bit taken aback. He hadn't discussed the holidays yet with Pam. Usually, Pam split the holidays, spending Thanksgiving with Cooper and then Christmas with Blaine, or vice versa. Cooper didn't know about the curse, and Blaine didn't want him to find out ever, since Coop couldn't keep a secret to save his life. So Blaine hadn't seen Cooper in over a decade, and he only rarely went to Ohio, his mother usually choosing to come to NYC and shop.

"I don't know yet, sir, I need to ask my mom."

"Well, we'd love to have you here for Thanksgiving. And you can bring your mom, if you like. The more the merrier."

Carole nodded enthusiastically. "I'm looking forward to meeting you for real. I've heard so much about you."

Blaine promised to discuss it with his mother, and Kurt went to his bedroom again for the rest of his conversation with his parents.

When Kurt came back to the living room, he sank down on the sofa with a sigh.

"What's wrong?" Blaine asked.

Kurt shrugged. "My dad wants me home for both Thanksgiving and Christmas, like the previous years. The thing is, I already splurged to fly to Ohio this summer, and I'm taking all these extra classes now, so I don't have any money to spare for plane tickets. So either I'm going to have to take on extra dog walking assignments, and then I'll fall behind with my schoolwork, or I'm going to have to drive to Ohio instead of flying, which is exhausting and leaves me less time with my family."

"I'll pay for the plane tickets," Blaine said. "It's the least I can do now that your dad has invited me over for the holidays. No, no, don't protest. Let me do this for you, please, in return for you looking after me whenever I turn into a dog."

"You're paying me for that already!" Kurt protested.

"Well, consider it your holiday bonus, then," Blaine suggested.

Kurt shook his head, but made no more objections, a small smile playing on his lips. "It will be nice to go home. You can stay in Finn's room. And help me and Carole make Thanksgiving dinner."

Blaine beamed at Kurt. "That sounds great."

When Blaine called his mother about her holiday plans, she was very interested to hear Kurt's family had invited him for Thanksgiving. "Are you dating this Kurt now? I thought he was a student of yours? That you payed to dog-sit?"

Blaine rolled his eyes at his mom and said there was nothing going on between him and Kurt. He had a feeling he'd be telling her that often.

Pam had no objection to Blaine coming to Ohio. "I'm in LA with Cooper for Thanksgiving, but I'll be back by Saturday. If you stay the whole weekend, you and Kurt could come over for dinner on Sunday, before you fly back to New York."

So that was Thanksgiving sorted out. Blaine booked their plane tickets and consulted Kurt about the perfect hostess gift for Carole. "Belgian chocolates, maybe? There's this shop that sells not just Neuhaus, but also The Chocolate Line and even Sweertvaegher. Or maybe an assortment of delicacies? Or, you said Carole loves to cook, so maybe a kitchen accessory she doesn't already have?"

Kurt just shrugged and told Blaine not to sweat it. "Carole's not expecting anything. So whatever you bring will be a lovely surprise for her."

Kurt was quite right about that. When they arrived at Kurt's childhood home and Blaine offered his hostess gift to Carole, her eyes went wide, and she took out each item he'd bought her at the delicatessen with so much reverence and awe that he couldn't help but chuckle.

"Blaine, you shouldn't have," she whispered. "This is too much."

"Seeing as I'll be staying here for the entire weekend, I'd say it's not enough," Blaine countered. "Thank you so much for inviting me."

"Oh, you're very welcome, honey. Any friend of Kurt's is always welcome here, and you're more than just a friend, aren't you?"

Blaine didn't quite know how to answer that question, but Kurt swooped in to hug Carole and told her to stop fishing. "We're not together, I told you that. Treat Blaine like he's… Sam. Or Mike."

"Haven't you had crushes on the both of them, too?" Burt asked slyly, and Kurt groaned.

"My point is that they're friends of mine," Kurt explained. "Just friends, and never going to be more than friends, 'cause they're straight."

"But Blaine is gay, isn't he?" Burt pressed on.

Blaine nodded. "I'm gay."

"See?" Burt crowed.

Kurt rolled his eyes and hissed at Blaine, "Not. Helping!"

To his dad, he said, "Yes, he's gay. That doesn't mean he's into me. Gay men can be just friends."

Blaine smiled at him.

Burt fixed the both of them with a piercing look. "Hmmpf. We'll see."

Kurt moaned about his dad embarrassing him a million more times that weekend, but Pam proved to be just as bad on Sunday, showing Kurt Blaine's baby pictures and telling him all sorts of anecdotes about Blaine as a child.

"And I was pouring Mrs Islington more tea when Blaine came storming in, dressed only in a cape he'd made from his comforter, and screaming at the top of his lungs that our house was on fire and that we all had to get out. And all the ladies panicked and hurried out of the dining room before I could tell them that my son was only playing Superman. Well, you can imagine I wasn't too pleased with our little streaker here. So he had to do without television and without dessert for two weeks."

"Moooom…"

But one look at Kurt, giggling his head off, his grin wide enough to show all his teeth, shut Blaine up and made him smile right back at Kurt.

Pam brought them to the airport that afternoon, and they were having coffee at Starbucks waiting for the boarding to start when Blaine felt a tell-tale skin prickle. "Oh, no! It's starting again! I need to get to the restroom!"

Minutes later, he heard a knock on the cubicle he was hiding in. "Blaine? I'm here."

Blaine stopped blocking the door and trotted out. Kurt picked up Blaine's clothes and shoes and put them in a canvas bag.

"Come here, sweetie, I need to put your collar on," Kurt whispered, and quick as a flash, he fastened the collar around Blaine's neck and then attached a leash to it, leading Blaine out of the restroom.

"We're not going to be able to fly home," Kurt continued, louder now. "I'm going to rent a car instead."

Blaine stopped short. Driving to New York City? That would take eight hours at the very least! And Blaine couldn't take over halfway!

Kurt crouched down and hugged Blaine. "Don't panic, sweetheart. I've done this before. I don't really like driving that far, but I can do it. No worries. I'm just glad you didn't transform on the plane. That would have been hard to explain. Has that ever happened before?"

Blaine shook his head. He'd never even thought of that, travelling by plane without a care in the world. But in hindsight, yes, transforming mid-flight had always been a distinct possibility. And he wasn't a tiny dog that could be hidden in Kurt's backpack. He shuddered to think of how the flight attendants might react to a stowaway dog in the cabin, and felt Kurt's embrace tighten in response.

"We really need to break this curse," Kurt sighed. "I asked my dad to make appointments with the curse breakers he took my mom to, so that we can go see them during our Christmas break."

Blaine looked up at Kurt in surprise. In all the years that Trent had looked after him, he'd only ever devised ways of dealing with the consequences of the curse. Trent seemed resigned to the curse. Kurt clearly wasn't. He seemed determined to break it. Would he succeed? Was there hope for a normal life for Blaine?

Kurt rubbed Blaine behind the ears. "We'll sort this out. I promise you. Come, let's go rent a car and go home. We both have class tomorrow."

Blaine felt his tail wag like mad as he followed Kurt, new hope blooming in his heart and new nerves fluttering in his belly. Would Alexei have left a loophole in the curse? Or would he crack down hard on Blaine and anyone helping him to break it?