A/N: First off, I would like to say thank you to every one who read/ reviewed the last chapter (especially those Guest reviewers that I can't thank personally – you're very kind).
Secondly, I have noticed a few inconsistencies which hopefully I have now rectified, plus some unforgivable punctuation errors in the first few chapters (don't look too closely in case I've missed some).
Lastly, I am absolutely mortified that I got the lyrics to the first line of For Good from Wicked wrong! I sing that song around the house absentmindedly all the time, so it's seared into my brain. I can't believe nobody called me out on it either – I would have deserved it! Apologies for the sacrilege – it has been corrected.
Anyway, rant over.
This chapter may have a few POV issues, but what the hell – that's just the way I roll ;)
Chapter 12
Kurt opened his eyes to find himself looking at the back of Blaine's head, hair all messed up and curly, and that little area on the back of his neck that was extremely kissable...
He quickly shook himself from his thoughts when he realised he was spooning Blaine. How on earth did they end up like this? He had meant to have a short doze and then leave Blaine when he knew he was asleep, but not only had he slept there all night, but clearly Blaine had attempted to move away from him and Kurt had clung on. Kurt's panic eased slightly when he realised that Blaine was holding his arms around his waist – he obviously didn't mind too much then...
No – it was still wrong and Kurt had to do something. He very gently leaned over to see Blaine was still asleep and snoring softly. He had to smile at how cute he looked – he loved his bed-head before it got gelled into submission, but Blaine wouldn't entertain the idea of going without his trusty hair product. He also loved the way Blaine felt in his arms...
Speaking of which, said former boyfriend (yes, former - he would do well to remember that) was now moving slightly and clutching Kurt's arms tighter around him; if he didn't do something soon, there was no way he would extricate himself from Blaine's vice-like grip without waking him.
Kurt very gently tried to tug his arms from Blaine's grasp, testing which might be the easiest to try and slide out. The right arm actually moved quite easily, but he became complacent and must've accidentally tickled Blaine's side, causing him to giggle in his sleep a little. Okay, Kurt had got away with that one, but his left arm was stuck underneath Blaine, and his attempt to release it caused Blaine to stir and complain at the disturbance. Kurt's panic returned when Blaine started to roll onto his back while still murmuring, but it gave him the break he needed to pull his arm free and jump back off the bed into a standing position before Blaine fully awoke and opened his eyes.
"Hey sleepyhead, how you feeling?" Kurt asked in a hushed voice. "I just came in to see if you wanted some breakfast, or maybe painkillers?" Outwardly, he managed a teasing demeanour, but inside he was filled with relief that he seemed to have got himself out of that potentially awkward situation.
Blaine tried to sit up, and flopped back down on the bed, wincing. "I'm thinking those painkillers might be a good idea, actually. Thanks, Kurt."
"Coming right up." Kurt smiled at Blaine, probably a little longer than was appropriate, before setting off into the bathroom to get the tablets.
Blaine watched him leave, feeling a little confused. When had Kurt left him?
Blaine had woken up during the night to find himself with his arm and leg curled around Kurt. Embarrassed, and really hoping he hadn't done that before they fell asleep, he had gently unwrapped himself and checked to make sure he hadn't woken his bed partner. His gaze lingered on Kurt's sleeping form. Tonight there was no smushing of his face into the pillow – likely because Blaine had pinned him on his back – and he looked so peaceful, almost angelic. He brushed his fingers ever so gently down Kurt's cheek; his skin was so soft, he just wanted to lean down and kiss him...
So he did. He placed a very soft kiss on Kurt's cheek, then very carefully ran his hand over Kurt's hair, which was nearly as soft as his skin.
Blaine was suddenly overcome with hurt and regret, and he turned over onto his side as tears started to roll down his face. He felt a movement behind him, and was worried he had woken Kurt, but as he pushed himself up on his arm slightly to turn around and check, he felt a warm body behind him and arms wind around his waist. He stayed stock still for a moment, but Kurt's breathing told him he was still asleep. Blaine lay back down very carefully, and Kurt pulled him closer and nestled his head against the back of Blaine's neck. Blaine grasped Kurt's hands in his own, and concentrated on the warm, even breathing he could feel on his shoulder through his shirt. Smiling at the comfort Kurt gave him even when he didn't realize, Blaine brought one hand up to kiss it before holding it over his heart, and he very quickly and contentedly drifted back to sleep.
So when had Kurt left him? Had he woken up feeling awkward and left as soon as he could? He hadn't mentioned it, so were they just supposed to forget it had happened? It obviously hadn't held the same meaning for Kurt as it had for him then.
All these unanswered questions and feelings churning around were killing his head – where was Kurt with those painkillers?
As if summoned, Kurt appeared through the curtain with the pills and a fresh glass of water. He sat down on the bed and passed them to Blaine.
"What are we going to do with you, Mr "I-couldn't-hold-my-drink-if-my-Vogue-collection-d epended-on-it", huh?" Kurt teased, desperately trying, but not succeeding, not to focus on Blaine's throat as he swallowed the pills.
Blaine groaned, putting the glass on the bedside cabinet before laying back down again. "I'm never going to learn, am I?" He ran his hands over his face and then through his hair before tucking his hands behind his head, and looking back at Kurt. Unfortunately, the short sleeved shirt he was still wearing emphasised his impressive biceps and Kurt gulped, deciding it was time for a swift exit.
"Nope. Probably not. Right, so you go have a shower and I'll make you some breakfast." With that, he got up off the bed and went out to the kitchen area. As he opened the fridge and looked inside, not really registering what he was looking for, he sighed and leant his head against the edge of the fridge door. This was all getting so complicated. How much did Blaine remember from the night before? He hadn't said anything, and Kurt couldn't find out without letting on that there was something to remember-
"Arghhhh!"
Kurt was pulled from his thoughts by the cry of pain from the bedroom.
"Blaine? Are you okay?" Kurt shouted as he rushed over. He found Blaine sitting on the bed, clutching his foot. He also observed that Blaine had unbuttoned his shirt, and had an appealing amount of flesh on display – for god's sake, focus! He's in pain!
"What the hell happened to my foot?! It felt tender when I tried to get my sock off, and then when I stood up it was agony!"
"Ah yes. Sorry, I'd forgotten about your foot. The alcohol numbed it. Roxy stepped on it with her stiletto heel-"
"Roxy?" Blaine's confused expression quickly gave way to one of pain when he shook his head questioningly and regretted the action. Painkillers clearly hadn't kicked in yet.
"The drag queen?" Kurt looked at Blaine's bewildered expression and realised that Blaine obviously had no clear recognition of the night before. Well that answered that question then. He felt a pang of disappointment. "We were dancing and- you know what, never mind. Can you walk, or do you want me to help you to the bathroom? Have a nice warm shower and then maybe we could try putting some ice on it? Well, frozen peas. I don't even know why we have them – neither myself nor Rachel are a big fan. We must have known you were coming for a visit, Klutzy Anderson."
Blaine managed a smile and took a couple of steps. "I think I can get myself to the bathroom thanks." As he hobbled away, Kurt heard him mutter "Who the hell is Roxy?"
"Hey Blaine!" Kurt called to him, poking his head out from behind the curtain. Blaine turned to look at him, holding the door frame with one hand for support.
"I guess we won't be going to the Statue of Liberty today then..."
"Goddamnit!" Blaine exclaimed. "Why do I have to be so stupid? I really wanted to see it too!" He looked so upset and fed up, Kurt felt sorry for him.
"You know what that means?"
"What?" Blaine almost whined.
"It means you'll just have to come back and visit again." Kurt smiled at him fondly.
The transformation in Blaine's expression made Kurt's insides go all gooey. His face lit up and Kurt got the first truly warm smile he'd had all morning. Scratch that – he got the big dopey grin he loved so much. Before a really intense look that he couldn't quite decipher.
Blaine's eyes were sparkling as he said softly, "Sounds like a plan." He held Kurt's gaze until the very last inch of the bathroom door closed.
Kurt's knees felt weak. He scolded himself for letting Blaine have such an effect on him.
What was wrong with him this morning?
As Blaine let the warm water wash over him, some of the events from the night before started to come back to him. He vaguely remembered the dancing and the stiletto heel incident (now he knew who Roxy was – six feet tall and huge size 12s – no wonder his foot hurt so much). Then he recalled watching Kurt dancing – and who Kurt was dancing with. His heart sank as he remembered encouraging Kurt to dance with some hot stranger, and telling him to get his number. What was he thinking? Oh yeah, he felt like he was holding Kurt back. So he'd thought it was a good idea to push Kurt right into – what was his name? Leo? Lee? Oh who cares – some other guy's arms? Blaine thumped the tiled wall in frustration.
"You okay in there, Blaine?" he heard Kurt call.
"Yeah, sure, just dropped the soap!"
He heard Kurt chuckle. "You wanna be careful doing that!"
But Blaine didn't feel like joining in with the joke. He finished up his shower and got himself dried and dressed. He wondered if there was any way he could find out if Kurt was really interested in this guy without sounding like he was encouraging him any more.
When he emerged from the bathroom, he saw – and smelled – that Kurt had made pancakes. Blaine loved pancakes and Kurt knew it. But then Kurt knew about all his favourite things. Nobody knew him like Kurt. He felt another twinge of pain inside as he watched Kurt setting out plates and cutlery, and thought about how he had imagined what this would be like: living together – waking up together every morning and having breakfast together, even going to college together. What if he had screwed this up for good?
"Come on, sit down and eat before they get cold. How are you feeling now? You look a little better." Kurt smiled and pulled out a chair for him.
Funny, Blaine didn't feel any better.
At that moment, the apartment door slid back and Rachel came bustling in, dumping her bag on the floor and taking her hat off and throwing it on the couch. "Hey guys! Oooh Kurt, that smells good! Is there enough for me?"
"If you're vegetarian today then yes. If you're vegan then no. Pancakes do contain eggs and milk you know." Kurt raised an eyebrow at Rachel, who stuck her tongue out at him and got some bread out for toast instead.
"I'm sure she doesn't really know what a vegan is," Kurt whispered to Blaine, clearly not quietly enough, as he got hit around the head with the remainder of the loaf of bread. "Ow Rach!"
"You deserved that. Now are you going to ask me why I came home early?"
"Actually, no. More juice, Blaine?" Kurt deliberately ignored her.
"Kuuurrt!" Rachel whined. "Sometimes I don't think you care about me at all," she pouted.
Kurt rolled his eyes and Blaine laughed.
"Ok, well go on then," Kurt said in his most bored voice, before adding sarcastically, "regale us with tales of your adventures in Lima. I hardly think I can contain myself."
Rachel just ignored him. "Well, when I got home, my dads informed me that my Great-Aunt Millie had been called in at short notice for surgery and they had to go to Cleveland the next day to take her home and look after her."
Kurt's expression turned to one of concern, and Blaine asked, "I'm sorry to hear that Rach, is it serious?"
"Haemorrhoids." was Rachel's blunt reply.
"Rachel!" Kurt exclaimed, and Blaine struggled not to spit out his pancake while trying not to laugh.
"What? They were really bad! And it's not funny you know!" She glared at Blaine, who looked a little sheepish. "They're really painful. Not that I'd know!" she hastened to add.
"We're not saying it's not serious, but it's hardly a topic for the breakfast table, is it?" Kurt rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"Yes, well, the point is, as you can imagine, I didn't really want to go with them. There might have been dressings to change or something." She screwed up her face. "So, I came back to New York. And I'm so glad I did or else I wouldn't have seen Blaine!" Apparently she had forgiven him for laughing at her great-aunt's predicament, as she flung her arms around him, and nearly knocked him off his chair.
"Gees, Rachel, careful – he's injured!"
"Why, what happened?" Before Blaine had a chance to answer, she carried on. "What are you doing here anyway?"
"Way to make our guest feel wanted, Rachel!"
"He knows what I mean Kurt, don't you Blaine?" Grinning, she pulled out the chair next to him and squeezed his arm. "Tell me everything you've been up to this weekend – when did you get here? When are you going back?"
"Rachel!" Kurt flung his arms up in exasperation. "Give him a chance to answer! And yourself a chance to breathe!"
Blaine chuckled at the pair of them before telling Rachel all about their movie night ("Oh yes, with the foot rub?" she teased, with a wink), their mad touristy adventures around the city, and finally the story of the club and how Blaine hurt his foot. And got drunk.
"How on earth did you let Blaine get into that state, Kurt? You know he can't handle his drink?"
"I'm right here, Rachel," Blaine said indignantly, "and besides, I seem to remember a certain instance when you didn't handle your drink too well either..."
What possessed Blaine to bring that up, neither he nor Rachel could fathom, but Kurt seemed to find it amusing. Until Blaine blurted out the only thing he could think of to change the subject. "Anyway, you can't blame Kurt, he wasn't with me all the time. He was otherwise..." Blaine trailed off to a whisper, as he realised his mistake, "engaged..."
"Oh really?" Rachel's raised her eyebrows at Kurt in expectation, which then turned to a frown and a concerned look to Blaine, before a glare at Kurt. She really had got all those facial expression changes down to a fine art. She would make a great actress one day. At least she hadn't blurted it out in true Rachel Berry fashion-
"In front of Blaine?" she stage-whispered, with a horrified look on her face.
(Ok, Kurt had spoken too soon. But he hadn't even spoken, just thought it – how was that even fair?)
"He was hot, Rachel - Kurt would have been mad to turn him down." Again Blaine had spoken to try and dissipate the tension before thinking, and now he seemed to be encouraging him again. Cursing himself inwardly, he stood up quickly to take his plate to the sink, but forgot about his foot, so shrieked, causing both Kurt and Rachel to rush to his aid.
When they deposited him on the couch, and Blaine made another attempt to change the subject. "To answer one of your many earlier questions Rachel," he smiled, and she slapped his arm playfully, "I am going home tonight. My plane is at 9pm."
"So you'll need to leave here about 6.30?" Kurt enquired. Blaine nodded. "Ok, well that gives us about eight hours together." Blaine's stomach flipped slightly at the use of the word together. "So what can we do that involves the invalid moving as little as possible?" Kurt bumped Blaine's shoulder lightly.
"Movies!" Rachel yelled, making the other two jump. "I just got a new copy of Fame, after Santana sat on mine last time she came here," she scowled even though Santana wasn't there to see it, "let's watch that!"
Blaine had been assuming they would be spending their remaining hours together alone, but Rachel appeared to have other ideas, and they couldn't exactly kick her out, could they? Blaine certainly couldn't, as he didn't live here and she did – it would probably be considered a little rude. He caught an expression on Kurt's face that told him he would dearly have loved to get rid of her though, and it was nice to think that Kurt had wanted him all to himself.
So, they all settled down to watch Fame – with Rachel sat between the two boys.
Fame, Singing In The Rain, The Bodyguard and a chinese takeaway later, Kurt helped Blaine pack up his stuff to return home. He'd insisted on going with Blaine to the airport, saying there was no way Blaine would manage to drag all his bags with that foot.
At 6.25, finally packed, Kurt took Blaine's things out into the hall and called the elevator, while Rachel gave Blaine a big hug to say goodbye.
"Come and see us again soon, Blaine," said Rachel, before pulling Blaine close again and whispering in his ear, "I know someone would really appreciate it. He really misses you." She pulled back and gave Blaine a knowing smile.
"Thanks, Rach." He regarded her fondly; he really did miss her, despite all her crazy. Much as he loved the New Directions newbies, there was no replacing the originals. As he waved goodbye and got in the elevator, he was reminded of something.
"Kurt, you are coming home for Christmas in a couple of weeks right?"
"Yeah, of course. Why?"
"Do you know about the New Directions big reunion on Christmas Eve? I think we're having it at Brittany's house as her parents are going away."
"How come Brit isn't going with them?"
"Apparently the aliens are coming back for her on Christmas Day night. Don't ask – it's Brit, enough said."
Kurt nodded, "True. Er, yeah, if I'm invited, I would love to come."
"Of course you're invited Kurt! And be sure to tell Rachel. You know what Brittany's like – she'll have left Lord Tubbington in charge of the organisation." Blaine rolled his eyes. Kurt laughed.
They made their way out to the taxi and set off to the airport. Both boys were quiet on the journey.
Kurt was thinking about the taxi ride back from the club, when Blaine was cuddled up to him. Admittedly he had been drunk, but it all felt so familiar and nice. And right. But it was all so confusing and Kurt was still unsure of what exactly Blaine wanted the nature of their relationship to be. He was getting so many mixed signals; one minute Blaine was looking at Kurt with that intensity that he swore he reserved only for him; the next he was encouraging Kurt to dance with some other guy and get his number. Then there was the snuggling together in bed, that Kurt had loved, but Blaine didn't seem to remember. He wished he was clear on what Blaine wanted, but he was too scared to ask in case it wasn't the same as he was hoping for. He couldn't take Blaine breaking his heart again. All Kurt knew was right now, all he wanted to do was cover the short distance between them and take Blaine's hand.
Blaine was thinking about how much he had enjoyed being close to Kurt again. How amazing it had felt to be able to spend time with him, doing all the little things that they used to do, that he had taken for granted. And how good it had felt to wake up in his arms. He wanted to tell him, but he was scared in case Kurt wasn't ready, if he ever would be ready for them to be together again. He hadn't even so much as mentioned them sleeping in the same bed, wrapped up in each other. Had he thought it was a mistake? Blaine wished he knew what Kurt wanted, but he didn't want to risk pushing him and setting things back. More than anything, he just wanted to be close to him again. He wished he could just reach out and take Kurt's hand.
They turned and looked at each other at the same time, both trying to decipher the feeling in the other's eyes without having to ask the question. They never looked away from each other's face, so didn't see that both their hands were inching slowly closer together...
"Ok fellas, we're here."
The taxi driver's voice broke the spell, and startled, they hurriedly got out and Kurt got the bags out of the trunk while Blaine paid the driver.
Kurt told Blaine to stay where he was while he went and got a trolley, and on returning and loading up, they made their way into departures. It was time for Blaine to get checked-in; Kurt waited for him, but Blaine insisted he not be too late going home in a taxi alone, so they decided they would say their goodbyes and Blaine would make his way through security and wait in the departure lounge. He double checked he had everything, and then turned to Kurt.
"Well, I guess this is it." He stepped forward and enveloped Kurt in a huge hug. "Thanks so much for this weekend Kurt – it's been amazing. And I'm definitely coming back to see the Statue of Liberty." Kurt pulled back, with an offended huff, and Blaine laughed and dragged him back into the hug. "But mainly to see you though, obviously." He grinned and he could feel Kurt chuckling into his shoulder, before letting out a deep sigh. Blaine sighed too.
Neither seemed to want to let go, but eventually Kurt released Blaine. "I'll see you back in Lima in a couple of weeks though, right?"
"Yeah, I'll look forward to it." Blaine gave Kurt one more huge smile, before picking up his little carry-on bag and heading for security.
He turned to give Kurt a little wave, and a lump caught in his throat.
A short while later, Blaine sat down to wait until his flight was called, and stared out of the window at all the planes taxiing.
He was an idiot. All this being noble and not holding Kurt back crap. What was he thinking? He knew they belonged together. What happened to him fighting to get Kurt back? Somewhere along the way, after all the progress he had made in getting close to Kurt again, he had wimped out at the final hurdle.
Well there was only one thing for it. He had to start making plans for Christmas.
A/N: I realise it got a bit mushy and cheesy at the end there, but cheese is ok in moderation right? I'm sure you'll let me know if not :)
