A/N: Hello hi I'm not dead this story is alive and well! I won't get too into the nitty gritty of where I've disappeared to - but long story short I had a brief bout of pneumonia, got a major promotion at work, and signed a lease for an apartment in a neighborhood I've wanted to live in my whole life - so a truly mixed bag. But I'm back! One more chapter to go, woo!
Blaine felt as though the wind had been completely knocked out of him. The sight of Kurt in tears, eyes red rimmed and swollen, body shivering in the unheated hallway, caused his heart to clench. This, coupled with the pure shock to the system that came with the news that Kurt had been fired was enough to make him grip the doorway for balance. He did his best to shake off the blaring thoughts running through his mind to reach out and wrap an arm around Kurt, pulling him into the apartment and closing the door behind them. Maybe there had been a misunderstanding – maybe Kurt had just misheard something – maybe everything could still be okay.
"Take a deep breath, tell me everything," Blaine commanded calmly, running his palm in soothing circles along Kurt's back, willing his fingers to stop trembling.
Kurt took in several deep breaths, dabbing his tear stained cheeks with the ends of his scarf before he finally found the courage to speak.
"Sue was in a bad mood. I mean, she's always in a bad mood, but this one was particularly bad." Kurt trailed off for a moment, eyes locked on his fingers as they toyed with a loose thread on his scarf. "I brought her her afternoon tea and she threw it across the room. It didn't hit me, thankfully, but some of the hot water splashed off of the wall and burnt my hand."
Blaine swallowed hard as he caught sight of the harsh red blister on Kurt's right hand – still as fresh as though it had just appeared.
"I ran out of the room before she could do anything else. I was in the kitchen trying to bandage my hand when she told me to get out. I thought she meant she wanted me back at my desk, but she was yelling and screaming about getting me out of her sight until I made it to the elevator. Before the doors closed she told me to never come back."
Kurt finished his story in a whisper, fingers curling into white knuckled fists as he struggled to bite back yet another wave of tears. He'd cried enough over this today, he didn't want to waste anymore of his breath. Blaine frowned – everyone could see that Sue was hard on Kurt, to say the least, but he had never expected such an intense level of cruelty from her. It was practically a lawsuit waiting to happen, and even Sue Sylvester seemed smarter than that. Before speaking Blaine pulled Kurt firmly into his arms, letting the taller boy rest his head on his shoulder, sniffling quietly into the soft material of Blaine's polo.
"She didn't even let me grab any of my stuff. I had to wait for two hours in the coffee shop across the street until Santana could bring me my bag and jacket," Kurt added with a choked whimper.
Blaine sighed, taking a moment to pull Kurt in tighter against his chest. "I'm sorry you had to deal with all of this. No one deserves to be treated that way."
The two allowed the silence to stretch between them, Blaine taking those few moments of silence to recollect his thoughts. Maybe it had been a coincidence that Sue had decided to fire Kurt the same weekend Sebastian had discovered the truth about their relationship. Sebastian hadn't even been in the office yet this week – when would he have had the chance to tell her? From what Blaine knew of Sue she was prone to frequent bursts of anger – granted, she'd never fired someone during one of her fits before, but who's to say this wasn't the first time? His mind managed to conjure up hundreds of reasons why this sudden disruption had nothing to do with him and Kurt's relationship, but despite them all he knew he'd have to find a way to talk to Sebastian.
"Is it okay if I stay here tonight? Rachel's staying at the apartment and I don't want… I don't want to tell her yet," Kurt admitted sheepishly, ducking his head to hide his shameful reddened cheeks.
Kurt's high profile job had been the one thing he had going for him, a fact Rachel knew well. Now he had nothing, and the thought of having to confess it to the girl who had everything was soul crushing. With Funny Girl's first official preview in just two days the last thing Rachel needed on her plate was a depressed and unemployed roommate, along with the weight of wondering how Kurt would be able to pay his half of the rent if he couldn't find something else before his savings ran out.
"Hey," Blaine protested as Kurt ducked his head, taking the other boy's chin in between his index finger and thumb and lifting it until they'd locked eyes. "You're always welcome here," he assured, heart warming as the smallest of smiles blossomed on Kurt's lips.
With one last kiss to Kurt's forehead Blaine sent Kurt to relax on the couch. The sight of Kurt in his apartment was odd, his designer clothing and perfectly primed appearance standing out amongst the mismatched, worn down furniture and cluttered table tops. Kurt curled in on himself, pulling the couch throw blanket around himself, smiling at the faint smell of Blaine's cologne on the blanket. Blaine offered to make him some tea, which Kurt gladly accepted. By the time Blaine returned to the couch with the steaming mug Kurt had closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Kurt had spent most of Sunday evening tossing and turning throughout the night, unable to keep himself from obsessing over the idea of Sebastian revealing the truth about him and Blaine to everyone in the office on Tuesday. The physical exhaustion coupled with the emotional exhaustion of Sue's tirade had left him completely spent by the time he stumbled up to Blaine's apartment. Blaine set the mug down on the coffee table, wrapping the throw blanket more comfortably around Kurt's sleeping form. He quickly glanced at his phone – he still had another hour and a half before Mike would be back from his last class of the day.
Given his current state Blaine figured it was safe to assume Kurt wasn't up for meeting Mike just yet. Blaine shot a quick text to his roommate, claiming that he was feeling sick and would probably spend the rest of the night in his room. It wasn't his best lie, but it was the best he could do. Blaine peeked over at Kurt, confirming that the other boy was still fast asleep before sending a new text to Sebastian.
"We need to talk."
Blaine stowed his phone away quickly, struggling to ignore the guilt lingering at the forefront of his mind. What he needed was some fresh air, something to distract him from his intense need to scream in frustration. He threw on his jacket and closed the door to the apartment as quietly as he could, rushing out of the building and into the cold evening air. He didn't go far – just around the corner to the bodega whose cheesecake Blaine had often told Kurt he needed to try. He used the ten minute journey to calm himself down – everything would be fine. If Sebastian was to blame for Kurt's sudden firing then maybe he could use that same sway to get Kurt his position back. But the thought of what Sebastian might want in exchange made his stomach churn.
Blaine had just stepped back into the apartment, cheesecake in hand, when his phone went off. He tossed his things haphazardly onto the kitchen counter as he pulled his phone out at lightning speed.
"Breaking up with me a second time? Harsh," read Sebastian's reply.
Blaine rolled his eyes – leave it to Sebastian to respond with snark over a serious matter. He bit his lip as he mulled over how he would respond to Sebastian, jolting and shoving his phone back into his pocket when he noticed that Kurt had begun to stir.
"Where'd you go? How long have I been asleep?" a sleep ruffled Kurt asked as he blearily looked around the unfamiliar room.
Blaine rushed back to his side, wrapping an arm around Kurt and pulling him against his chest, feeling him begin to relax once he was safely in Blaine's arms.
"You've only been asleep for a few minutes," he assured. "I got you some cheesecake – you mentioned that it's your favorite stress food," Blaine added shyly, realizing guiltily that he shouldn't have left Kurt alone, especially now, even if it was only for a few minutes.
Kurt didn't seem bothered by Blaine's brief disappearance, eyes lighting up at the mention of cheesecake. Blaine grabbed the plastic container and fork from the coffee table and handed them off to Kurt with a smile. Kurt's gaze flickered from the dessert to Blaine for several moments before he gingerly set the dessert aside and turned to face Blaine properly. Blaine's brow furrowed, but before he could protest Kurt's lips were on his with such force that it nearly knocked him over. His hands instinctively flew to Kurt's waist, holding them both steady as he happily returned the kiss.
"Not that I'm complaining, but what was that for?" Blaine said with a quiet laugh when they pulled apart with a wet smack.
Kurt's palms drifted down to rest on Blaine's chest, his cheekbones dusted with a light blush. "Today has been one of the worst days of my life, and I'm not the type of person to let myself dwell too long on the negatives. Today has thrown me a lot of negatives, but if there's one positive in all of this it's that now I can let the world know how much you mean to me," Kurt confessed, voice threatening to crack as he felt another wave of emotion come over him, this time one of gratitude as opposed to sorrow.
Blaine's lips parted in surprise, his brain finally giving in and completely short circuiting. In all of his panic about Sebastian and his role in Kurt's firing he'd forgotten the one small bit of hope there was in this mess of a situation. Kurt retreated as Blaine remained unresponsive, curling back in on himself.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to move too fast, I know we said two months—"
Before Kurt could finish Blaine cut him off with a kiss of his own, Kurt's words melting into a whimper as he was knocked onto his back. Blaine happily slotted his body along Kurt's, hovering carefully over him and letting their legs get entangled in the blanket between them. His palm cupped Kurt's cheek as they pulled apart once more. "Please don't ever apologize for wanting something more with me. I'm still not fully convinced these past four months haven't been one tortuously detailed fever dream," he teased, his heart soaring at the sight of Kurt giggling.
"Besides, there's one more positive that can come out of this," Blaine mused as he helped lift Kurt back up into a sitting position.
"And what would that be?" Kurt asked with a raised brow.
Blaine took Kurt's hands in his, squeezing them lightly before he spoke. "This is an opportunity to find a workplace that appreciates all of the hard work that you do and doesn't take you for granted."
Kurt nodded, eyes falling to his lap as Blaine spoke. "That's if Sue doesn't have me blacklisted from every production company within a 200 mile radius," he said with a frown.
"Sue Sylvester isn't the end all of all be all. Besides, her temper isn't a secret. Someone out there will know better than to listen to what she has to say about you, and they'll be lucky to have you," Blaine assured.
Kurt gave him a weak smile, but a smile nonetheless. For all Kurt knew Sue had emailed the theatre industry en masse that her former assistant was to never be employed, as an actor, assistant, or otherwise, for the foreseeable future. While he was sure Santana would have let him know if that was the case, he knew now that he couldn't put anything past Sue Sylvester when it came to cruelty.
The two wordlessly agreed to drop the subject – choosing instead to focus on something more entertaining for the both of them: mindless television and cheesecake. Blaine gave Kurt full reign over the television as they settled back against one another, Blaine's arm resting casually around Kurt's shoulders. Kurt settled on a rerun of one of the Real Housewives shows – which one Blaine wasn't entirely sure, he'd never been able to keep up with them. They fell into an easy, distracted silence, laughing when appropriate and commenting occasionally. It succeeded in finally getting both of their minds over the situation at hand, even if only for a few minutes.
The brief peace was disturbed when Blaine felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He pulled it out and glanced at it quickly, swallowing hard at the second message from Sebastian.
"So are we going to talk or what?"
Blaine bit his lip – this was hardly a conversation to have over text message, and even so he still wasn't entirely sure what he wanted to say to Sebastian. Before Blaine could think too deeply about his next move Kurt's phone began to ring just moments after his. Rolling his eyes in annoyance Kurt paused the TV and pulled his phone out of his pocket.
"Probably one of those stupid telem—" Kurt cut off as he caught sight of the caller ID, immediately getting to his feet.
Blaine tensed up as he watched Kurt suddenly head towards the door. "What's going on? Is everything okay?" he asked, getting off of the couch to follow after Kurt.
"Emma's calling me. I'm going to take this outside," Kurt called out before heading out of the apartment, not even bothering to grab his coat or scarf before heading straight for the stairs.
Blaine frowned – Kurt had finally started to pull himself out of his slump and Emma had managed to throw him right back into it. With a sigh he propped the door open slightly, leaving it open for Kurt once he was done with his call. Blaine reluctantly pulled out his own phone and scanned Sebastian's message once more. He didn't have much time, but the guilt and anxiety had crept up once again and threatened to eat away at him until he got the answers he needed. He stepped into his room, closing the door behind him and calling Sebastian before he could second guess his decision.
"A phone call, how very old fashioned of you," Sebastian answered as opposed to a standard greeting.
Blaine rolled his eyes once more, biting back a groan. "Look, I don't have that much time to talk. Just… Did you tell anyone about me and Kurt?" Blaine asked, wanting to cut right to the point.
"What?" Sebastian said with a laugh. "No, I haven't – and for the record, I doubt there's anyone I could tell that would actually care what you two get up to on the weekends. Why?"
Blaine hesitated, debating whether it was worth telling Sebastian the truth. It didn't sound as though Sebastian was lying, and he was bound to find out what had happened to Kurt when he wasn't at his desk Tuesday morning. "Sue fired Kurt today," Blaine said cautiously.
"Huh," Sebastian replied, humming before responding. "Well, that sucks for him, but I can assure you it had nothing to do with me. Not that I could've done anything if I wanted to anyway – might I add," Sebastian said defensively.
"Weren't you the one that said you could've had Kurt fired at the drop of a hat if you wanted to?" Blaine shot back, refusing to let Sebastian paint himself as entirely innocent.
"You thought I was serious?" Sebastian replied incredulously. "Jesus, Blaine, I'm not a Disney villain. It was a joke."
Blaine collapsed onto his desk chair. After all this time, the threat that Sebastian had made had just been a joke. The words that had hung over him every time he allowed himself to get closer to Kurt had meant nothing.
"It isn't funny, Sebastian," Blaine snapped, doing his best to keep himself as composed as he could, knowing he would have to face Kurt as soon as the call was over.
"Easy there tiger. Now we know we don't have compatible senses of humor." Sebastian paused, calling out to someone that he'd be back in a second. "This has been fun, but I've got to get back to rehearsal. Go squeeze a stress ball or something and I'll see you tomorrow."
Before Blaine could give Sebastian a piece of his mind the call had ended, Blaine groaning in frustration as he tossed his phone onto the bed with more force than was unnecessary. He knew he should've been relieved, Sebastian's assurance that he hadn't told anyone about what he'd seen yesterday flushed out the guilt that had been eating at Blaine since Kurt had showed up at his door. And yet he couldn't help but be frustrated – more so with himself than everything else. It had all been a joke and Blaine had completely believed Sebastian, never even considering that it all might've been a joke. Blaine knew well that Sebastian had an unusual sense of humor – he should've thought to question the passing threat rather than let it linger and fester in the back of his mind.
Blaine lifted himself off of his bed with a sigh and made his way back into the living room, not expecting to see a wide eyed Kurt standing a few feet from the door to his room.
"Hey, how'd your call with Emma—"
"Sebastian threatened to have me fired?" Kurt asked before Blaine could finish his own question.
Blaine swallowed hard, his cheeks ablaze as he stammered out his reply. "I-I, well, yes, b-but it was a—"
"And you never thought to tell me about this?" Kurt interrupted once again.
"I-It was a joke," Blaine answered, his complete lack of confidence evident from the shaky tone of his voice.
"You didn't know it was a joke until a minute ago." Kurt crossed his arms firmly across his chest.
Blaine had seen Kurt annoyed before, but he'd never seen him angry – or at least not like this. His fingers were gripping his arms so tightly they left harsh red marks in their wake, his shoulders trembling as he struggled to keep himself as composed as he could. Perhaps it had been wishful thinking on Blaine's part to think that he could keep what Sebastian had told him all those weeks ago a secret from Kurt – but at the very least he'd hoped he would've been able to tell Kurt on his own terms. Then again, he had no one to blame but himself for his getting caught in a lie.
"Kurt, I'm so sorry, I should've told you about this sooner," Blaine pleaded, attempting to take a step towards Kurt, only for the taller boy to take several steps back.
"Why did he threaten to fire me?"
Blaine sighed, eyes falling to the ground. "After he saw our duet at Callbacks he got suspicious that there was something going on between us. I told him there wasn't, and he said if you got in between us he could have you fired," Blaine said reluctantly, realizing just how awful everything sounded when he was forced to say it out loud for the first time.
Kurt's lips parted in an expression of what could've been shock, disgust, anger, or a combination of the three. His eyes had glazed over as he took his first step towards Blaine, pointing a finger accusingly at him. "And you knew this entire time! You knew that if Sebastian found out that he could have me fired, and you never thought to tell me."
Blaine winced at Kurt's tone. He hated to admit that he was wrong, but there was no way out of this – Kurt was right, and Blaine knew all along that keeping this from him was wrong, but he'd been so blinded by the newness of everything with Kurt and the gradual process of falling hard for this boy that he kept an enormous secret from him, a secret that could've put them both in jeopardy.
"I-I'm sorry… I don't know what else I can say, but I mean it, Kurt. I didn't want to worry you, and you were already so hesitant about everything with me that—"
"That you just let me fall for you," Kurt interrupted once again, tears now streaming down his cheeks. "You knew that I wouldn't have let this happen if I knew about Sebastian's threat so you kept it to yourself. You let me put my job, which is my entire life at risk, Blaine."
Kurt wiped at his cheeks angrily, turning on his heels before Blaine could reply and grabbing his coat and bag.
"Kurt, wait, please don't leave," Blaine pleaded, finally pulling himself together in time to rush after Kurt, grabbing his arm gently only to have it wrenched out of his grip.
Kurt paused for a moment, turning to face Blaine but keeping his eyes fixed on the ground. "I got my job back. That's why Emma called. She said Sue always fires her assistants every few months, then brings them back the next day."
"That's… that's good," Blaine said weakly, too taken aback to come up with much else to say.
"I don't think we should be doing… this anymore," Kurt said quietly, gesturing to the space between them.
"W-what? Kurt, please, I know I messed up but please don't—"
"I need time to think. By myself," Kurt cut off, grabbing his bag off the floor and heading straight for the door.
Blaine called out in protest, but kept a safe distance from Kurt this time, wincing when the other boy exited the apartment and slammed the door behind him. Blaine's mind was racing faster than ever before – in mere minutes everything that he and Kurt had built together – their friendship, the trust they had for one another, had come crashing down. And he had no one but himself to blame. His shoulders trembled as he staggered back to the couch, wanting to scream and punch and kick in frustration but settling for burying himself in the blanket Kurt had been wrapped up in just minutes earlier. The door opened once again and Blaine shot up, halfheartedly hoping that it was Kurt but slumping back onto the couch when he saw that it was just Mike.
"Dude, was that the guy from Scandals? The one who's your boss ?" Mike made sure to place extra emphasis on Kurt's job title.
Just like that, two secrets Blaine had worked so hard to keep as such were blown. In a matter of hours things had gone from hopeful and wonderful and promising to absolutely, completely fucked.
