Chapter 25

BLAINE POV

The invitation arrived in the mail while Kurt was out.

The return address said The Madison Gallery.

I knew what it was. I had seen the early reviews over the past month in the Village Voice and the New York Times. I had just ignored them. But now...it was sitting there staring at me.

Jeremiah had finally finished his new collection.

It would be on display at the Madison Gallery for 3 months before being shipped off to Europe for Curtis Osinka's new building. This was the only time the public could view the paintings unless you planned to have a business meeting in Europe on the 10th floor of Osinka's building.

I wondered how much Osinka had paid him for the collection. I hoped he had negotiated a good price.

Why did I care?

I didn't open the invitation. I knew it was for the VIP unveiling party.

I actually forgot about it. We were getting closer to the show opening and I was busy helping with all the final details and arrangements. It wasn't until one Sunday afternoon when Kurt decided to clean off the hallway table that the invitation resurfaced.

"Hey, what's this?" He opened it. He read it and then gave it to me.

Jeremiah had written a note.

Dear Blaine:

I hope you are well. I hope you and Kurt can attend the unveiling. The collection is as much yours as it is mine. It wouldn't exist without you.

I miss you.

Jeremiah

Kurt looked at me. "Are we going?"

"Do you want to?"

He sat down beside me. "I think the real question here is do you want to?"

I didn't say anything. I didn't know what I wanted.

Kurt took my hand. "Blaine...I think we should go. It's okay if you want to go. He's right. You contributed to this collection. You should get to see what you got for your...sacrifice."

Sacrifice. What an interesting word choice. I assumed he was referring to the 12 hours I'd spent in Jeremiah's studio.

Kurt picked up the invitation and looked at the date. "We have nothing going on that night. We can double with Rachel and annoying ass Jeff. She's been begging for the four of us to go to dinner for a month."

I still didn't say anything. Did I want to go? Did I want to see him?

"Blaine?"

"Okay."

"Kurt, come on! We're gonna be late to the restaurant."

Naturally, Kurt had chosen what we were wearing for the evening. I couldn't help but notice that I looked really, really good. The suit Kurt had picked out for me showed off all of my best features. He had overseen my haircut for the evening and my shave. I wasn't sure what to make of all this so, I let it go. At the last minute, he had changed his mind about his outfit so now I was waiting.

"Kurt! You are gonna look gorgeous no matter what you wear! Come on!"

"Stop yelling, Blaine."

He finally appeared. My dick twitched in my pants. He looked fiercely sexy in some strange black ensemble that showed off his ass magnificently. I pulled him towards me and kissed him.

"You know...we don't have to go this. We could stay here and do...other things." He hadn't tied me to the bed yet...

"Are you kidding? And waste a fabulous outfit? Not to mention how amazing you look? We are going."

He went to pull away but I stopped him.

"Kurt...I'm really, madly in love with you."

"You are?" Why did he sound surprised?

"Yes, of course."

"You're in love with me?"

"Yes."

He looked at me for a moment. "Thank you."

"Why are you thanking me?"

"Oh, just because. And yes, I'm in love with you too."

He turned and walked out the door.

I'm the kind of guy who usually likes everyone and they like me but, I really hated Rachel's boyfriend, Jeff. He was an arrogant, snobby, son-of-a-bitch, who grated on my nerves. I couldn't understand what Rachel saw in him besides his money and his obvious infatuation with her. Rachel could be a trip but, she was likable. You just had to get to know her. This asshole however... I seriously hoped they would break up sooner rather than later.

The only good thing about dinner was that I was left to my own thoughts since neither Jeff or Rachel ever shut up. I was a little apprehensive about seeing Jeremiah again. I wasn't really sure why. Despite Kurt's doubts, I was over him.

Wasn't I?

When we reached the Madison Gallery, I was pleased to see it was packed. Nothing was worse than unveiling a collection and no one bothers to come see it. Of course, the mere fact that this was a one time opportunity to view Jeremiah's work, was a great draw. People wanted to be able to say they had seen it before it was shipped off to Europe.

As we entered, I could feel Kurt tense up a bit.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Hey," I pulled him closer to me, "I love you. You Kurt. Only you."

He smiled but didn't say anything.

I recognized many of the people there. It wasn't until I started talking to people, that I realized how I had suddenly fallen off the art scene radar. People wanted to know where I had been, how had I sold the collection to Osinka, what was Jeremiah working on next. It was a little awkward. I always knew my life had revolved solely around his but, I don't think I realized just how linked the two of us were viewed by the rest of the world. To Kurt's credit, he didn't seem phased. I made a point of introducing him as my boyfriend to everyone we met. The raised eyebrows and curious glances did not get past me.

After chatting for a while, Kurt finally turned to me. "So, are we going to actually look at the art, or what?"

The paintings were arranged in a certain order and were meant to be viewed that way. As we stood in front of the first one, Alicia appeared at my side.

"Hello darling Blaine!"

"Hey!" I hadn't actually seen her since that night at the studio. She looked great. Wearing red of course. I introduced her to Kurt.

"So," she said, "what do you think of the Jeremiah-Blaine story on canvas?"

"What?"

"Have you seen all the paintings?"

"No. We were just starting to look."

"Oh. Well, let me know what you think."

I was intrigued. "Why don't you guide us through?"

"Okay. Well, here's the first one. Notice his use of bright colors. Yellows, reds, oranges. Broad, controlled strokes. Happiness. This lasts for the first four pieces."

She moved us slowly along the wall. "Now, we hit the fifth piece. Notice how the colors change. Black, dark purples with gray intermingled. Probably to represent tears." Her voice became sad. "Now look at canvases 8-12. The colors are all dark. The strokes slow and narrow. Twisting. It represents pain, heartache and longing.

The 13th one is the most interesting. There's touches of yellow and orange but then, it dives back into black in the middle. I'm guessing he started it the night you were with him in the studio, thus the yellow, and then finished it after you left, thus the black. Pieces 14-16 are all dark. He was mourning you. The final four, 17-20 are dark as well but the last two, 19 and 20 have muted shades of gray. Reluctant acceptance."

I was speechless.

Kurt kept looking back and forth between the paintings and Alicia.

"It's a beautiful collection," she said. "I guess the best art really does come from emotion and a place of pain."

"Did he tell you that's what the paintings represent?" asked Kurt.

"Of course not," said Alicia. "He didn't have to. If you were there and you knew him and...what happened...you can see it. It's very obvious."

And with that, she walked away.

Kurt wanted to walk through and study the paintings more but I needed to sit down. I wasn't sure what to think of Alicia's breakdown of Jeremiah's work. It made sense but it left me sad. Sad that Jeremiah's colors had changed so drastically.

And then I saw him.

The crowd had parted a bit and I had a straight view of him. He was talking to a few people. He had cut his hair. His beautiful curls were now very short. It made him look older. Still amazingly beautiful, but older. His eyes met mine. Those amazing, intense green eyes. He didn't smile at me. He just looked...resigned. He nodded and I nodded back and he returned to his conversation. Kurt suddenly appeared.

"Well, what do you think?" he asked.

"About what?"

"What do you mean, about what? About the paintings and what Alicia said? I have to say, I'm surprised she was able to recognize other colors. Every time I've seen her, she's wearing all red."

I looked at Kurt and started laughing. I stood up.

"I think it is time for us to go."

"Don't you want to say hello to Jeremiah?"

"No." Kurt looked at me with a bit of surprise.

"Why not?"

"It's not necessary. He knows I came. Let's go home."

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