Here you go lovelies! See the end of the chapter for notes!
-B
…
Streams of light cascaded through he partially closed blinds, landing on smooth olive skin, the rays tracing delicate features. Never in his entire life, would Kurt Hummel have guessed that he would one day end up here, in this moment, with this boy sleeping soundly next to him, so in love and happy and…safe. He was safe here. Free here. Almost as if the bad and terrible things of the world were unable to reach him here, as if he was untouchable as long as he was at Blaine's side.
It wasn't that Kurt needed Blaine next to him in order to face the world, because he didn't. If there was one thing that Kurt Hummel was not, it was a damsel in distress who needed his boyfriend to pick him up every time he faltered. No, he didn't need Blaine. And that, that, brought some sort of beauty along with it. The idea that he didn't need Blaine in order to live or breathe, but instead that he wanted Blaine. He wanted Blaine, because Blaine's smile could turn the worst of his days into the best. Because Blaine's laugh was a melody that wrapped around Kurt, spreading its warmth through him. Because Blaine's kindness was something that Kurt wouldn't ever be able to find in another human being. Because Blaine's eyes, and the way that he looked at Kurt like he was his absolute everything was something that Kurt would never tire of. Because Blaine had become Kurt's entire world, and just because he could live without him – although it would be a struggle to let go if it did, in fact, come to that – Kurt never wanted to have to live without him.
Reaching out his hand toward Blaine's face, Kurt traced a finger down from Blaine's forehead to his lips, before running his thumb along his cheek bone. Who would want to let go of something like this, anyways?
"Has anybody ever told you that you're beautiful?" Blaine's voice rang out, soft and filled with sleep.
Kurt shook his head, a small smile making its way across his lips. "Your eyes are closed."
"Don't gotta have my eyes open to know that you're beautiful, Kurt. You just are," Blaine explained as he finally let his eyes flutter open, grinning as he did, causing small crinkles to appear next to his eyes.
"I'm dating a sap," Kurt huffed as he flopped back on to the bed, Blaine's laughter cutting into the silence of the room. And there it went again, wrapping itself around Kurt in a blanket of warmth and happiness.
"Maybe so," Blaine agreed flipping himself on to his stomach, folding his arms across Kurt's chest and resting his chin on top. "But don't act like you don't appreciate my charming ways, Hummel. You love the compliments." Kurt huffed once again, trying his best to suppress the smile that was threatening to make an appearance. "How are you feeling?" Blaine asked quietly as he began to trace patterns across Kurt's chest, eyes staring at Kurt in concern.
"I'm fine." Kurt said, eyes falling closed as his lips quirked into a smile.
"Wow, okay. Fine… I made Kurt Hummel feel fine." Blaine sat up. "Good job Anderson, he's fine," he continued mumbling as he straightened up, blanket dropping low on his waist.
"Oh, be quiet," Kurt chuckled. "Fine, I'm better than fine. Amazing, incredible, phenomenal, sensational, magnificent, I'm mind-blowingly stupendous, mag – umph." Blaine's lips met Kurt's softly, sufficiently cutting Kurt off. "I'm amazing…you're amazing," Kurt whispered when Blaine had pulled back.
"Good," Blaine nodded approvingly before beginning to crawl out of the bed.
Kurt pouted slightly, groaning in protest as he reached out to try and grab hold of Blaine's arm to pull him back. "No, where are you going?"
"Come on you dork, I want food," Blaine said fondly, walking over to his dresser and grabbing out two pairs of sweat pants, pulling on one before throwing the other at Kurt with a smirk. "I'll make you waffles."
"Oh my god, I love waffles," Kurt said as he quickly slid into Blaine's sweats, jumping off of the bed and making his way out of the room towards the kitchen, leaving an amused Blaine to follow behind him.
Blaine found his way in to the kitchen, silently beginning to make the waffles as Kurt went and sat at the table, grabbing Blaine's laptop to work on a few things as he waited. It wasn't too long before Blaine was pushing a plate of waffles in front of the boy, smiling as Kurt quickly shut the laptop and pushed it away before digging in to his breakfast.
"Ohmygod," Kurt mumbled around his bite of blueberry waffles, eyes fluttering shut in content. "So good." His eyes opened once again to meet Blaine's which were watching him fondly. "Thank you."
Blaine nodded, smiling before taking a bite of his own waffles, watching in fascination as Kurt continued to eat his breakfast slowly, his eyes repeatedly shutting as he enjoyed the flavors. "Move in with me," he blurted, eyes widening as soon as the words had left his mouth. He definitely hadn't meant to say that.
Kurt's eyes widened as well. He lowered his fork to rest on his plate, hand dropping into his lap as he searched for a response. "I – I… um – "
"That's not how I wanted to ask you," Blaine said quickly, snapping his eyes shut as he took a deep breath. "I, uh, had this whole thing planned out, a speech I guess, that I was going to give you over dinner, but I, um…I guess that's not happening anymore." Blaine paused, opening his eyes to look over at a shell-shocked Kurt. "Kurt, I know that we've just recently gotten back together, and maybe people will say it's too soon, but I want to take this step with you. I want to be able to come home after a boring lecture class and have dinner with you. I want you to be able to come home after a long awful day at work, and we can watch movies together until the stress is gone. I want to come home to you. So, will you move in with me?"
Kurt opened his mouth to respond but let it fall closed as he tried to think through the million thoughts racing through his mind. Was it too soon? What if it's not the way they expect it to be? What if it drives them apart? What if things don't work out again? "Can I think about it?" he asked silently before biting his bottom lip. Kurt watched as hurt flashed across Blaine's features, Kurt's heart clenching as it did. "I – I'm not saying no, I just…need to think." He choked out, hoping to take away some of the worry and pain from Blaine.
"Yeah, no…of course." Blaine nodded, eyes falling to his plate, trying to hide the disappointment that he felt.
"Blaine," Kurt said softly, his hand falling on top of one of Blaine's. "Hey, look at me." Blaine's eyes moved to meet his. "I'm not saying no," he repeated, his eyes pleading with Blaine to understand.
"I know." Blaine nodded, doing his best to give Kurt a reassuring smile. Kurt wasn't saying no. That's not what was happening. But he wasn't saying yes either.
…
"Blaine asked me to move in with him," Kurt said abruptly, causing Rachel's head to snap in his direction from where she was sitting on the couch watching TV. He had left Blaine's not long after their awkward conversation, claiming that he needed to get some work done at home, even though he knew it was really just so that he could think.
"He…what did you say?" Rachel asked curiously, moving to face Kurt who was sitting on the opposite end of the couch.
"That I'd think about it," Kurt said hesitantly, looking away from Rachel as to avoid the glare that he knew was coming.
"You what?!" Rachel screeched, reaching over to slap his leg. "Idiot!" she mumbled.
"Ow! I know, okay? I know."
Rachel rolled her eyes before folding her arms across her chest. "Do you not want to move in with Blaine?"
"No, I mean…no. It would be absolutely amazing. I spend so much time over there already, I just…it's a big step."
"Of course, it is. But if this is something that you want Kurt…"
"But what if it doesn't work out, Rach? What if something happens and we end up breaking up? What if living together doesn't work out the way we think it will?" Kurt asks as he nervously twists his hands in his lap. "What if we can't handle this step yet?"
"And what if the world implodes tomorrow, Kurt? What if you get hit by a car? What if there's an alien invasion?" Rachel retorted, her eyes softening as she looked over her best friend. "Don't play the 'what if' game. You love Blaine, right?"
"Of course, I do."
"And you can see a future with him?"
Kurt nodded, biting his lip once again. "Yeah."
"Then why not take a step closer to that? There will always be the 'what ifs.' Decisions like this are always a gamble, Kurt. But, what if you don't do it, and then regret it later on?"
"They were wrong when they said that you lacked emotional depth in high school," Kurt said with a hint of a smile. "Don't ever let anybody tell you that you're shallow, Rachel Berry."
"Nah, I can be a shallow bitch when I want to be," Rachel joked back, a smile taking over her features. "My best friend just deserves better than that."
Kurt smiled, crossing the couch to pull the girl into a tight hug. "Thank you," he mumbled into her hair before placing a kiss on the top of her head.
"Anytime, Hummel." Rachel nodded against his chest. "Can we watch the notebook now?"
Kurt let out a chuckle before letting the girl go and nodding. "Of course."
…
Kurt let out a breath as he stood outside of the familiar building, holding his phone up to his ear and leaning against the brick wall next to the entrance.
"Kurt?" Blaine answered softly, confusion in his voice, as Kurt had texted him a mere hour before letting him know that he had work to do and that he'd call him later that evening when he could.
"Hey, I um…I have an answer for you, but I'd like it if you could do something with me before I give it to you," Kurt explained cryptically as he looked out over the busy street.
"Yeah, yeah sure, what?"
"Can you meet me at 250 Park Ave?" Kurt asked hopefully.
"Sure," Blaine agreed, and Kurt could hear him moving around his apartment. "I'll be there in ten?"
"Okay," Kurt agreed. "And Blaine?"
"Yeah?"
"I love you," Kurt said, voice close to a whisper.
"I love you, too," Blaine responded, the slightest bit of worry clear in his voice. "Be there soon." He hung up the phone, leaving Kurt to wait patiently, nerves thrumming throughout his body.
"Kurt," Blaine called upon spotting the boy leaning against a building, almost exactly ten minutes after they had ended their conversation. "Hey, what's up?" he asked upon seeing how nervous Kurt looked.
Kurt's eyes moved to the sidewalk. "I um, told you I'd be busy most of the afternoon, and it was because I have a counselling session, but um… I'd like it if you came with me," he finished, swallowing hard. "You – you don't have to, you can say no and walk away, but I – "
"Hey, of course I'll come," Blaine said, cutting Kurt off. "Did you really think I'd say no?"
Kurt shrugged, looking up at Blaine. "Things weren't exactly comfortable this morning when I left, I didn't know if this would make it worse."
Blaine shook his head, leaning into place a soft kiss on Kurt's lips, before pulling back and offering Kurt his hand. "Show me the way."
…
"Alright, there's one last thing that I need to discuss with you," Jamie said as she closed her notebook, laughing lightly when Kurt looked at her worriedly. "It's good, I promise. I think that it's about time we call it quits here, don't you?"
"I don't…what?" Kurt asked, confused.
"Kurt you're doing amazing, you've been doing so well for a while now. You don't really need me," Jamie explained. "You're doing well, work seems to be settling down, or at least you seem to be managing it better now that you've got a great support system," she added, eyes flitting in Blaine's direction. "When's the last time you had an attack? And I mean a bad one, one that you couldn't get control of by using breathing techniques." Kurt opened his mouth to respond, brow furrowing when he couldn't come up with an answer. "Exactly. You're doing absolutely amazing. And if you need a session here and there, then you can book them. But I don't think that you need a regularly booked session anymore."
Kurt bit his lip, huffing out a laugh as he shook his head at the woman. "Yeah," he agreed, a small smile peeking its way across his lips. "Yeah, yeah okay."
"Good," Jamie smiled proudly before standing from her spot. "Then we're done here. Blaine, it was lovely to finally put a face to the many stories. I can absolutely understand why Kurt always has such heart eyes now."
"I do not!" Kurt argued as he and Blaine stood as well.
"You do," Jamie nodded, reaching out a hand to shake Blaine's. "And you," she turned to Kurt. "You've got this. Go kick some Vogue ass, and such."
Kurt made his way to the door, nodding in acknowledgement and gratitude. "Hey Jamie?" he said, turning around to face the woman standing behind him. "Thank you for everything." His smile widened when Jamie sighed before moving to hug him.
"Go," she said as he pulled back.
Both boys made their way out of the room and down the steps. Kurt followed Blaine out of the building and on to the busy New York street, reaching out to grab Blaine's arm, stopping him from walking any further. "Thank you. For coming with me."
"Of course," Blaine nodded, taking Kurt's hand in his own, lacing their fingers together and giving Kurt a soft smile. "You don't need to thank me."
Kurt squeezed Blaine's hand lightly. "I believe that I promised you an answer."
"It's okay, really. You don't need to – "
"Yes," Kurt blurted, grinning when Blaine snapped his mouth shut, eyes looking over him with such hope behind them.
"Yeah?"
"Yes, of course yes. I'll move in with you." Kurt squealed when Blaine moved in to hug him, picking him up and turning him in a little spin. Kurt's responding laugh was different. It was carefree, happy. He was happy. There was no overshadowing feeling of dread, sadness, or darkness. He was just happy.
"You're sure?" Blaine asked as he set Kurt back on the ground.
"Absolutely," Kurt nodded fervently. "I love you, and it might be quick, or whatever, but…you're everything Blaine. I want my future with you, and this is just the first step in that, so let's take it. No fear."
Blaine grinned, shaking his head fondly at his boyfriend. "You're amazing, you know that?" he said, watching as Kurt gave a half shrug.
"Can we go get some cheesecake to celebrate?"
Blaine let out a laugh, causing Kurt to laugh as well. "Anything for you, beautiful."
…
Two updates in one week?! Who knew that could happen. But atlas here it is! This chapter just kind of jumped out of me, and I'm glad because you all didn't have to wait too long for it this time!
Now, I have sad news and happy news, so we'll start with the sad. I have officially decided that Chapter 22 of Breathe Again will be the final chapter… which means this is the second last chapter itself. *Cries* I know, I'm sad too… but this story is officially coming to a close. But happy news! There will be a sequel. Not right away, there's a new project that I'd like to work on before I jump in to the sequel, but I have planned out the basic parts of the sequel so far, and so it will be coming your way soon enough!
I hope to get the final chapter up this week, but we shall see… I don't want to rush writing it, because, you all deserve better than that! So, it will be around pretty soon as well.
Until then, thank you all for your support!
-B