Chapter 26.
'Stupid door,' Kurt thought as he wrestled to fit the key inside of the lock, he was weighed down with bags from Vogue, several pieces of the latest fashion trend apparently, which he was meant to look at, comment on, and then change to better suit the target market.
He had come to quite like his job again, after the incident, he never thought he'd be happy just working for the online section once more, however, it seems that being close with Isabelle has its advantages.
She took his old job, of writing about the less important fashion trends, and gave it to a new intern. Then she promoted him, kind of, he was still writing for the website, but his official title of, uh, well he's still yet to get an official title, it allowed him to be more creative with his posts. He got to work alongside and close to Isabelle, changing fashion and making a statement.
Last week he was given a piece from the new Gucci line, and told to analyse it, make improvements and have someone model it against the original. He was a main part of the system now, people came to him with simple jumpers from the local supermarket, and they asked him to work his magic. He wasn't popular with the magazine writers, oh no, they hated him, the designers too, in fact.
But popularity wasn't what Kurt was aiming for, he was making the world a more fashionable place, and if being unpopular with a few designers and the stuck-up bitches over at the magazine meant he didn't have to see people walk around in, what could only be described as something pulled from the garbage, he was more than certainly happy.
Except when his key wouldn't go in the lock and he's made to stand in the hallway looking like an idiot.
"For the love of God," he shouted at the door, he rattled the handle a few times, before trying his key again, and what do you know, it worked.
He shoved his way through the door, kicking off his shoes and shaking off the cool spring breeze, as he kicked the door shut behind him.
"Honestly, Blaine, we need to fix that door," he said and waited for a reply as he dumped his bags down next to the shoe rack, still yet to look over at the couch. "Blaine? Honey, I'm sorry I'm…" Kurt trailed off as he turned around and noticed the baby carrier sitting on top of the coffee table. He almost laughed at the way Tap seemed to be glaring at the inanimate object.
He stepped forward, cautiously closer to the sofa, thoughts flying through his brain, wondering whether Blaine had adopted a child since he'd left for work that morning. Honestly, when he told him to 'go crazy', he didn't mean it literally.
However, all thoughts suddenly melted out of his brain as he caught sight of his sleeping boyfriend, who was supporting a rather cute baby on his chest. His heart almost leapt from his chest at the adorable sight and he struggled to find words to explain how adorable the scene really was.
The baby, Kurt guessed was India, by the looks of the gold stars covering the carrier, which he didn't catch sight of before, was snuggled, with her head resting under Blaine's chin. Her arms and legs were curled up, as she'd rolled herself into a ball.
Kurt bent over the back of the sofa, his arms folded and rested on top of the cushions, as he admired the peaceful look Blaine had. Both of his arms were wrapped safely around the little girl, and a smile hinted at the corner of his lips.
He looked over to the clock hung from the far wall, to see it much later than the time he originally thought he'd be home. He sighed to himself, and wondered how on earth Rachel Berry's child had ended up in his apartment, with his boyfriend looking after her. But, that was a story he'd just have to wait for.
He couldn't bring himself to wake Blaine up, even though Blaine's lips has pursed within the last few seconds and they looked irresistible. He forced himself to stand up and, whilst considering if Blaine had eaten, decide whether or not to cook or order take out for dinner.
His stomach grumbled at the thought of take out; he had to check Blaine was still asleep because it was so loud. He hadn't eaten in almost eight hours and he knew that wasn't healthy, he also knew the noodles and chicken he was about to order wasn't healthy either, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He ordered extra, just in case Blaine hadn't eaten, and then moved to their bedroom to change and wait for the food.
He kept an eye on the clock, he ordered just after 9pm, and his stomach kept on growling as the time passed by.
Kurt was a little saddened as he crept by the sofa and back into the kitchen for a glass of water, he hated working late, as if meant less time spent with Blaine. He'd originally planned to leave work at 5pm, like he usually does on a week day. However, when Isabelle called a crisis meeting, he knew it wouldn't be until after at least half past six before she got out.
He'd sent Blaine a text warning him of his late arrival, but he had no idea how long Isabelle was going to keep them for. Someone had tried to hack into their system, and they almost succeeded, Isabelle's paranoia had kicked in, as she spent almost three hours going over why they couldn't let this happen again, and how they, designers and bloggers, were going to stop this from happening.
Honestly, if he wasn't afraid that Isabelle might've fired him for butting in, he'd have stood up, alerted her as to how none of the people in the room had any experiencing of hacking, or preventing hacking, and then left.
The bell for the outside door rang just after half nine, and Kurt, after having specifically told the Chinese take-out place not to ring the bell, squirmed as Blaine showed signs of waking up. He frowned and put the extra tip money he'd got ready back on the counter before going downstairs and meeting an annoyingly cocky delivery boy. He wasn't cocky for too long as Kurt gave him the exact money for the food and then stared him down, until he left with his shoulders hunched over.
Kurt ran back upstairs to find Blaine now in a seated position, holding the, surprisingly, still sleeping India in his arms. He smiled as he boyfriend grinned sleepily towards him.
"I ordered in," Kurt spoke softly and lifted the bag, before watching Blaine's eyes light up with the mention of food. He smiled and nodded, and then, with great difficulty, placed India back into her carrier, without waking her up.
"Apparently that girl can sleep through anything," Kurt commented as he sat down next to Blaine, placing a tender kiss on his cheek.
"Hmm, missed you." Blaine said, still sleepy, into Kurt's neck as he moved to breathe in his boyfriend.
"I haven't been gone for a month, Blaine."
"Any time away from you is too long," the elder replied, with his eyes closed. He didn't see the totally in love smile that took over Kurt's face, as he took the Chinese containers from the bag, but he did feel the tiny shiver of happiness that ran through his boyfriend's body.
"Come on, food time." Kurt said, he handed one of the boxes to Blaine, and practically had to force Blaine's fingers around the carton, so it didn't fall to the floor.
They ate, resting shoulder to shoulder, in a comfortable silence, until India would make an adorable snoring sound, causing Blaine to giggle happily.
The late hour passed quickly, when Blaine rested his head on Kurt's shoulder and promptly fell asleep again, leaving the younger man with the soft comforting sound of Blaine's light breathing, and the thoughts revolving in his mind.
A knock echoed from the wooden door, shocking Kurt from his nap.
He rolled Blaine, who had seemingly forced them into a horizontal position and then put all of his body weight onto Kurt, and then went to answer the door.
He wasn't surprised to see Rachel stood in their doorway, looking way too awake for such a time.
"I'm sorry I'm late, the traffic was just horrendous trying to get out of the theatre." She started blabbering as soon as the door opened, she pushed past Kurt and walked straight over to her darling child, giving no thought to Blaine, who was somehow still sleeping, with his face buried in the cushions.
"Its fine, Rach."
"How's she been?" She asked, glancing up at Kurt and then finally taking notice of Blaine's unconscious-like state. "That bad?" She continued in shock horror.
"No, she's been asleep since I got home, I think he's just tired," he said with a loving glance to his boyfriend's sleeping body. Speaking of the devil, as if he knew they were talking about him, Blaine let out a rather unattractive loud snore, which had both Rachel and Kurt covering their mouths to stop the laughter.
"We need to catch up, Kurt. It feels like it's been far too long since I've talked to you properly," Kurt frowned.
"It was just a few days ago, Rach,"
"Oh come on, I was more focused on India, than I was on our conversation. I think you lost me just after Isabelle's proposal for your designs? Which, by the way, I am intrigued to hear more about!" Rachel was bouncing on her feet with excitement, so Kurt found it hard to be mad about the fact he may have talked to himself for half an hour the other day.
"How about we go for a drink, a proper drink, just us on Friday? Finn can watch India, and Blaine could come around. They can watch football, whilst we paint the town baby pink."
"Baby pink?"
"Don't want to get too wasted, I have a voice to protect."
"Sure, Rach. That sounds good,"
"Great," she started, grip firmly around the handle of the baby carrier, as she marched herself towards the door. "I'll call you and set up times, thank Blaine for me," she pressed two kisses to Kurt's cheeks and gave him a quick hug, before spinning around and walking out of the apartment.
Every time she leaves in a hurry, Kurt has to remind himself it's nothing personal, she just likes her diva exits. He chuckled to himself, before he found the energy to clear up the Chinese containers, and before he found the heart to wake Blaine up once again, and help him to bed.
He stripped Blaine down to his boxers, and threw the covers over his boyfriend; then he did undressed himself and got in beside Blaine. The older man gravitated towards him as soon as his back hit the mattress, an arm was slung around his waist and a body was pressed against his, soft puffs of breath hitting his neck every few seconds.
"I love you," Blaine mumbled in his already sleep driven state.
"I love you too, B." He replied, his head tilted to rest on top of Blaine's and his breath evened out after a few minutes.
A few days later, Kurt was at work, typing rapidly on his keyboard, and listening to a demo of one of Blaine's songs. He was in his own little world, when his office door was swung open and in marched Isabelle.
She forcefully slammed a folder down on his desk, just millimetres away from his coffee, and then fixed an unimpressed glare upon Kurt's head, until he raised his eyes to meet hers.
To say Kurt was worried; confused, was an understatement, the look Isabelle had on him was one which he'd used many a time, and not one he ever thought he'd be on the end of.
"Hi," he said quietly, afraid of whatever Isabelle was about to say.
"Kurt," she started, not moving her glare. Kurt pulled his headphones off, leaving the music quietly playing from the speakers. "Look in the folder," she told him.
After a few minutes of hesitation, he pulled the folder closer to him and with a glance at Isabelle, he opened it to the first page. Inside the folder, were a lot of designs, for men, for women and for children; clothes ranging in all different styles and colours. Each outfit was individual, each piece of clothing was precisely worked out, every detail marked out to almost perfect accuracy.
And the one special thing about all of them, as he flicked through the pages, was that they were designed by him.
He frowned once he finally realised that the designs he was admiring were his own, from his own design folder he kept at home. He looked back up to Isabelle, who's glare, although still menacing, had softened and the corner of her mouth had turned up into a miniature smirk.
"How did y-," He asked.
"I'll ask the questions, if you don't mind." Isabelle cut him off. She pulled out a chair and sat down, almost on the edge of the seat, she crossed her legs and took up a dominating pose.
"Sure,"
"Why did you not show these to me?" Was the first question, which Kurt then struggled to answer.
"I.. uh," he replied, eyes flicking around the room, searching for the answer.
"How many more do you have? The note just said 'few',"
"Note? What note?" was
"Honestly, Kurt, these are amazing." Isabelle continued, Kurt couldn't decipher whether she didn't hear him or was blatantly ignoring him. "We could easily have some of these drafted up and walked down a runway for the whole world to see."
"What note?" He asked again, choosing to play Isabelle at her own game,
"In fact, we shall draft some up, if you want to do that, but why would you say no, I may have to talk to that boyfriend again. So, yes, let's walk your designs!"
"You talked to Blaine?"
"Is that all you got from that, Kurt? I'm saying let's give your designs a runway and some models. Let's show the world Kurt Hummel Designs!"
"Oh,"
"Well, what do you say?" Isabelle asked, a hopeful grin plastered onto her face, as she awaited Kurt's reply.
"Uh, uhm, I mean," Kurt fumbled for words, too shocked to thing about everything, and mind still wondering what Blaine had to do with all of this.
"Do not turn this down, Kurt."
"Of course not, I, well, yes." He shrugged, almost in disbelief.
"Yes?"
"I might need some help, but yes."
"Great. Brilliant. Oh Kurt, this is fantastic," Isabelle babbled. She clapped her hands as she stood up. "Okay, so I'll set the date, sort the venue, the music we can look at together. I'll get the models and the measurements for you," she started pacing the length of the room, gesticulating wildly with her hands and mentally checking off every important bullet point that zoomed through her mind.
"And you can have the same team as you did for the YouTube event and then, its up to you. You choose the outfits you want to make; you can even decorate the runway. It's your show, Kurt. We'll get tons of press to cover, we'll invite designers recognised all over the world." As she continued to list things Kurt didn't even know they had to worry about for a fashion show, he found himself fantasising about the perfect show, the perfect clothing, hairstyles and music. Blaine.
"Blaine could play the show," he interrupted. Isabelle stopped still in her pacing, and her words stopped tumbling from her mouth, as she turned to him with a broad grin and wide eyes. It looked like the thought had never even crossed her mind, until he'd mentioned it.
"Perfect, it'd give the show even more publicity with his fan base. It'd give the clothes a wider market, Kurt, you're a genius."
He blushed under the praise, before Isabelle rambled some more and promptly left the room with promise of an official meeting the next day, and orders for Kurt to go straight home and thank 'that boyfriend of his'.
On his walk home he allowed himself to day dream, to wander that space in his mind where everything was perfect.
He planned everything, in the twenty minutes it took him to walk from Vogue to the apartment he shared with Blaine. He planned the show from start to finish, he imagined the clothing mass-produced and hanging on a rail in his own shop. He imagined going home to Blaine everyday, pretty much like he was at that very second, and watching the videos his boyfriend made before they were uploaded.
And then he imagined Blaine going on tour, and singing at his fashion shows in the future, people fighting for tickets to the sold out events, whilst he created more designs and ran his own stores.
Kurt imagined the next possible five years of his life, in a twenty minute walk, and found himself smiling once his mind remembered his wedding suit design. He bit his lip, to hide his grin as he came up to their apartment door.
He opened it and was greeted with an armful of Blaine. His bag fell off his shoulder, before he wrapped his arms around Blaine's neck and relaxed into the older man's hold.
"My love," Blaine whispered into Kurt's neck, peppering little kisses under his jawline.
"Mmm," the taller man hummed, loving the way the vibrations of his throat, sent shivers down Blaine's back.
"You're home early," Blaine said, as he slowly, but not so inconspicuously, spun Kurt around so he was facing the now closed door.
"Ahh, so the attack was to hide what, exactly?" He laughed.
"You know me so well,"
"You aren't subtle at all, Blaine." The elder pulled back from the embrace, resting his back on the door, and taking Kurt's hands in his, preventing him from turning around.
"Do you think you could close your eyes so I can take you to the bedroom?" He asked Kurt, rolling his eyes as soon as he realised how that sounded.
"Ooh,"
"Get your mind out of the gutter, it's just so I can hide the surprise."
"If we're going to the bedroom, I don't want you to hide anything," Kurt winked, and then laughed when Blaine groaned. "I'm sorry, please, my charming Prince, escort me to the sleeping chambers,"
Deciding that his boyfriend was an absolute nutcase, Blaine kissed the back of Kurt's left hand and whisked him away; making sure to hide his 'surprise' from view.
"Stay right here," he said once they were in the bedroom. Kurt, if he was being completely honest, was feeling really excited. He couldn't quite work out what was so important but he was loving every second of mysterious Blaine.
A while later, and it was a while later, Kurt had had the chance to change, go through his skincare routine, thoroughly, and start to flick through his designs, putting stars next to the ones he loved and leaving the ones he just 'liked' blank.
Blaine knocked on the door, it was just a light knock, but loud enough for Kurt to hear over his thinking. The younger man's stomach flipped for some reason as the handle turned and the door was pushed open. His breath caught in his throat at the sight of Blaine, standing in the doorway, hands resting on the doorframe with his body leaning forward. He stood there, his hair gelled, in a suit with a bow tie, Kurt had made him for their one-year anniversary.
The smirk that Blaine was wearing gave Kurt chills, and he was glad that he'd changed into jeans and a button down shirt, instead of the sweats he'd considered.
"Its ready," Blaine said smoothly, he had an air of confidence surrounding him, but a glint in Blaine's eyes reflected the nervousness he felt inside. The feeling had Kurt worried, excited and emotional all at the same time.
Kurt slowly moved his folder from his lap and stood up, he gave Blaine the once over with his eyes before moving towards his stunningly gorgeous boyfriend.
"Should I be scared?" He asked quietly when Blaine took his hand and led him into the darkened corridor.
"Definitely not," Blaine smiled a breathtaking smile, his eyes met Kurt's just before they rounded the corner into the living room and Kurt's breath caught once more.