"I got a job!"
Kurt looks up from his laptop in surprise, and taking out his earbuds, he goes to him, sliding his arms around his neck and kissing his lips. "What?! Tell me more."
"Professor Scarbo asked me to tutor his kids," Blaine says, positively beaming with delight. "He has a thirteen year old son and a sixteen year old daughter. His daughter struggles with her math, but the rest is just giving her grades a boost, because she wants to go to Yale, and his son has just been diagnosed as dyslexic. They've put together a special study program at his school to help him, but suggested a tutor might be able to help him come to terms with it and boost his confidence. You know, to help him work around it rather than get weighed down with it. They suggested a couple of names, but Professor Scarbo asked me, because he thought I have the right temperament, and also, I'm young, so he figured I might be able to relate to him a little better. He asked me, Kurt! Me! And he wants me to do it four times a week, and he'll pay me two hundred dollars! I'm like...me! Why me? But yay me!"
"Yeah, yay you!" Kurt cries happily, planting a massive kiss on his lips. "That's the most words I've ever heard you say at one time," he teases. "You said yes, I take it?"
"I did! And oh, he wants me to go home with him tomorrow after class to meet the kids, and have dinner with them."
"That's lovely."
"And he told me to bring you."
"Huh? What? Oh...no." Kurt turns awkward and shy, stepping away to busy himself in the kitchen. "You don't want me there. I'll embarrass you. I don't fit with professors and smart kids like that. I'll say something dumb."
"Kurt!" Blaine follows him, closing the fridge door and manhandling him into his arms. "Listen to me. You are so smart! I don't get why you would think you wouldn't fit in. Not only are you smart, you're funny and witty, and your comments are the things that make you so great! Please come. I want you to. I want to show you off. Professor Scarbo means a lot to me, and I'd really like it if he could know you a little better, because you're my fiancé. You're the man I want to spend the rest of my life with. Please?"
"I don't want to embarrass you."
"You never would!"
Kurt chews his bottom lip as he thinks, then looks up and gives a small nod. "Okay, I'll come. I can do demure for a couple of hours, I guess."
"Oh don't you dare," Blaine says, frowning. "If you come, I want you to be there as yourself, or not at all. Please, this is important to me. I want my Kurt there. The one who sails just a touch too close to the wind, my sassy guy. Please? I love you, Kurt. Demure is not in your repertoire."
"I don't embarrass you?"
"No."
"You really want me there?"
"Yes."
"Okay. I will. I'm terrified though, you realize that? Teenagers scare the shit out of me, and the last professor I really met was..."
"I know, but Scarbo isn't a closeted gay," Blaine laughs. "He really likes you."
"Yeah, he's nice but...he knows, doesn't he? He knows about Jeremy and I. I remember when I first met him, Jeremy and I were out for dinner, which was bizarre and awkward, since we never really went on dates, and he came into the restaurant with another professor. Jeremy told them that he tutored me, but I knew they didn't buy it."
"Yes, he knows. So what? He also knows that we've been together for three years, and that we're getting married in May. He's a good man, Kurt. He's not gonna sit there judging you on past mistakes. Have faith in yourself, because you're a beautiful person."
"It's only you who thinks I'm beautiful."
"No it's not."
"I love you," he says with a pout, and Blaine laughs and kisses his cheek.
"I love you too."
"And Blaine?"
"Yeah?"
"Congratulations on the job. You'll make the perfect tutor."
"I didn't have a nightmare!"
"Huh? What?" Kurt sits, rubbing at his eyes and trying to read the numbers on the clock. Six twenty. "Why do you always wake like a child on Christmas morning?"
Blaine ignores him, tackling him back against the pillows in a shower of kisses.
"You really are a puppy," Kurt says gruffly, laughing in spite of himself, as Blaine kisses all over his face.
"The dream," Blaine says excitedly, his face inches from Kurt's. "It didn't happen! The therapy is working!"
"We went to one session," Kurt says. "The therapy isn't reason the dream didn't happen. The reason it didn't happen is because these last few weeks, your confidence has soared again and with good reason. We've had a fun vacation, you've closed the door on those dickheads, you've had your test, got a job..."
"I haven't gotten the results though."
"I know that, but you will soon enough. While the results will have an effect on you of some sort, so much else has built you up recently. That's why the dream didn't happen, because you're out of that headspace now."
"I'm out of that headspace," he says slowly and quietly, sitting cross legged on the bed. "Yeah. I'm out of that headspace!"
"Now can we please go back to sleep?"
"I'm gonna go for a run. Wanna come with?"
"No I do not. I'll ride you later, that'll be workout enough."
"So charming," Blaine laughs, then he leaves Kurt to sleep.
He runs, he comes home and takes a shower, and then he makes breakfast. He likes Tuesdays. His third year schedule means he doesn't have to be in class until eleven, and Kurt likes to go in late too, meaning they often have breakfast together, and then take a leisurely stroll to campus before Kurt heads off to the subway.
Today, he would really like to stay home all day with Kurt, because he's still overjoyed that he managed to sleep for the whole night through, and he feels like having stupid, giggly, romantic sex, but he will settle for a flirtatious breakfast instead, but no sooner have they started, than Blaine's cell starts to ring.
"For fucks sake."
"I'll be two minutes," Blaine says, but when he takes the call, he turns pale and rushes into the living room.
"Right," he is saying, when Kurt follows him, and he hates not being able know what the other person is saying. "Okay. Yeah. Yeah."
"Hospital?" Kurt whispers, and Blaine gives a small nod, grateful when Kurt wraps his arms around him and holds him tight.
"So what does that...? Oh. Okay. And there's...yeah. Okay. Thanks. Thank you."
He hangs up and faces Kurt, blinking like an owl.
"Well?"
"My results," he chokes out, his eyes swimming with tears. "Um..."
"Oh Blaine." Kurt wants to fold him up and run far away, and he's already plotting his ultimate revenge, but Blaine suddenly grips him tightly around the waist, and looks him in the eye.
"Um... Kurt, I wondered if you'd like to have a baby with me one day? I mean, as in, me fathering a child."
"Huh? What?" Kurt stares, his heart beginning to race very slowly, Blaine starts to smile.
"Because I can, if you want to. I mean, I can swim. Well, you know I can swim. But they," he says, pointing downward. "They can swim. Very well."
"Blaine? You're fertile?"
"Yes!"
"We can have a baby?" Kurt says, the hysteria creeping in. "A curly haired one?"
"Yes!"
"Holy freakin hell!" Kurt screams, and he leaps into Blaine's arms. "Baby! Oh Blaine, we're gonna make so many babies. Blue eyed ones, dark haired ones...mini Kurt's, mini Blaine's. Oh my god! OH MY GOD!"
He suddenly becomes aware that Blaine is crying, an endless stream of tears. Relief, mixed with joy, mixed with the promise of their future, all conspire to make Blaine break down completely, and he sets Kurt back down, before he falls onto the couch. "I can have kids," he sobs, suddenly realizing just how very, very important this is to both of them. "I can father a child. Kurt..."
"My darling Blaine."
Kurt holds him close, soothing, kissing into his hair, and then, when he's ready, Blaine looks up and just beams. "You and I..."
"We've turned that corner, haven't we?" Kurt asks.
"It's all behind us, Kurt. Every last bit of it. We can move on."
"To our future, which will be filled with hundreds of dark haired babies."
"Um... one or two."
"Hundreds."
"One. Or. Two."
"Fifty seven, at least."
"I love you so very much, Kurt."
"I love you too, my beautiful Blaine, and I can't wait for us to be parents. We are gonna be like, the best parents ever. Shit." He suddenly stares off into the distance, shaking his head in disbelief. "I didn't know," he says, in total awe. "I didn't know how much this meant to me. How much I'm ready for this to happen. I mean, not right now, but...the future. Our future. Kids. Blaine... not just having a baby, but having the whole family life thing. I'm ready for it all. The house, the little picket fence...fuck, I'll even be happy to drive a minivan! What if we have a son and he plays little league?" Kurt cries happily. "Oh my gosh, how cute will he look? Oh. But who's gonna take him to all the practices?"
"If we have a son who does little league, then we say 'Oh Grandpa Burt, Blaine junior really needs to go to little league practice, and he'd really like it if you take him.'"
"Good one," Kurt smiles.
"And then we can have sex all over the house," Blaine grins.
"Oh, but what about the other kids?"
"Hmm, well, baby Kurt will be taking a nap, because we will be awesome parents who schedule our son's nap time for when the other son is out of the house, meaning the daddies can get it on."
Kurt thinks this over, nodding in agreement. "That's good. But what about daughter Kurt? Where will she be?"
"She'll be at softball. Oh, and we carpool with other parents, meaning we only have to take her every other week. This is a week that Sophia's mom from across the road takes her."
"Nice."
"And other mini Blaine is having a music lesson, so..." Blaine stops, kissing just below Kurt's ear. "We can have sex all over the house."
"Hold up. We can't do that if other mini Blaine is having his music lesson in the house."
"Fine. We're in the bedroom then, and the door has a lock."
"But what if baby Kurt wakes up?"
"Kurt, am I ever gonna get laid once kids come along? Because I might have to rethink this."
Kurt laughs loudly, overcome with happiness. "I will always want your hot piece of ass," he teases. "But right now, we need to get to school and work."
"What?" Blaine cries. "No fair."
"Hey! For those babies to happen, we need to work hard."
Kurt pulls Blaine to his feet, and together they get ready to leave the apartment. "I can have babies, Kurt," Blaine whispers happily, as they step out onto the street. "It's gonna happen."
Their happiness continues. The dinner with Professor Scarbo and his family goes well. The kids seem nice, and not at all bothered that Blaine is engaged to another man. Once Amy, the daughter, learns that Kurt writes for Marie Claire, she is pretty much lost for the rest of the evening, totally enthralled and asking question after question, which Kurt answers happily. Ben, the son, is shy and quiet, his confidence at an all time low. Mrs Scarbo explains that he was so badly bullied at his old school, that they moved both children to a private school, which they had started only three weeks ago. He reminds Blaine very much of himself at thirteen, and as a result, he doesn't push conversation much during dinner, but afterward, when everyone heads into the den, he takes the time to have a quiet conversation with Ben in the corner of the room, and he is rewarded when the boy starts to open up a little more.
Both Kurt and Blaine come away with their confidence boosted, and Kurt starts to realize that maybe teenagers aren't as scary as he first thought.
Of course, they stop in the doorway of their building to make out, and they're interrupted after a while by Brian.
"Hello lovebirds."
"Hey Brian," they chorus in unison, making him laugh.
"I'm shocked and surprised as ever to catch you in the doorway. Oh, I've been meaning to ask, are you two free this weekend? I thought we could catch up over dinner."
"Oh, we'd love to, but I'm going away Friday into Saturday," Kurt announces. "I'll be back around six or so. Free Sunday though."
"What?" Blaine asks in surprise. "Since when are you going away? Where are you going?"
"Work thing," Kurt says quickly. "Upstate somewhere. Makes more sense to stay over."
"Oh."
"Well...Sunday," Brian says tentatively, because Blaine looks very upset all of a sudden. "Dinner at my place? At seven? That gives me time to get to Loic to say goodnight."
"We'd love to," Blaine says, and Kurt nods his agreement.
As soon as they're in the apartment, Blaine follows Kurt around, as he hangs up his jacket and takes off his shoes. "How come you didn't mention this before?"
"Sorry."
"But how come?"
"I just forgot."
"So where are you going?"
"Upstate somewhere, I told you."
"Kurt," he warns, and Kurt turns around, looking wide eyed and innocent.
"What?"
"Are you planning something?"
"No! Look, I'm sorry I didn't mention it, it just slipped my mind, that's all. We've been busy dreaming of babies."
"I guess," Blaine says, but he still has a nagging feeling about what Kurt is up to, and by the time they settle down to sleep, he is convinced he's going to surprise Blaine with a wedding venue when he returns on Saturday.
His suspicions are only confounded when he calls home on Friday night, and Angie tells him that Burt has gone to visit a friend for the weekend, and he will be back on Saturday night. He doesn't mention that Kurt is also conspicuously absent as well, he just chats with her about her imminent move across the country, and then hangs up. He spends a long time that night trying to figure out if he's happy or annoyed that Kurt has taken it upon himself to choose a venue without him, but he figures it's one of those things that he'll just have to put down to Kurt being Kurt.
Six o'clock on Saturday evening brings Kurt back to the apartment, and Blaine is waiting.
"Hey."
It's strange, the way Kurt greets him, his voice higher than usual, and also, there's no kiss. He just busies himself putting his shoes in the hall closet, then walks really quickly into the bedroom with his bag, then the bathroom, and then he reappears again with the laundry basket.
"I'm gonna do some laundry." Blaine sits up on the couch in alarm, but Kurt is already heading toward the door again. "It's building up."
"I did it yesterday!"
"Yeah, but I have my clothes from yesterday, and..."
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Kurt?" Blaine's voice clearly shows that he's hurt, and Kurt stops with his hand on the doorknob. "Please look at me."
"Ah...shit. Can't hide it forever," he mutters, and turns around, setting the laundry basket on the floor.
"What the hell happened to you?" Blaine yells, leaping to his feet. "Fucking hell, Kurt!"
Kurt has a large scrape down one side of his face, as if he's fallen hard on some concrete, and a fat lip, rather like he has been punched. "Have you been fighting?"
"No."
"You have!" Blaine says, still yelling loudly. "Oh my God." He takes Kurt's chin in his hand, tilting his face this way and that. The scrape is red and angry, the skin puffy and raw. It runs from his temple down to his jaw, and on closer inspection, Blaine can see bruising around the edges. "Kurt! Why? I mean, I get you have this rebellious streak but...what did dad say?"
Kurt's eyes go wide. "What?"
"I'm not a total idiot. I called home, and mom said he had gone to visit a friend. Please tell me you didn't get into a fight with a wedding planner."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"At the venue, or whatever. I know that's what you've been doing, both of you. You went to choose the location for our wedding, didn't you?"
"Uh...no, I didn't," Kurt answers honestly. "I have been with dad, though."
"Is he sick? Are you sick? Oh my god!"
"Calm down, Blaine, please. No one is sick. Look, I think you'd better sit down."
"You're killing me," Blaine whines, but he sits back on the couch and Kurt sits next to him.
"I have something for you, and I want you to promise me you won't get mad."
Blaine frowns, feeling completely confused. "What the hell is going on?"
"I got your money back," he says quietly, taking a check from his pocket. "Your savings."
Blaine stares at the check as everything starts to fall into place. "Holy shit, Kurt, you went back."
"I know it's over for you, and that's great, but I'm not as noble as you, Blaine, and neither is dad. Spencer took what was rightfully yours, and it's not okay that he is able to get away with it."
"Kurt!" He reaches out, smacking the top of his arm. "You idiot!"
"I love you, Blaine, and dad loves you too. We wanted you to have your money back, and so we went and got it for you."
"How?"
"What?"
"How did you get it? I'm assuming there was a fight?"
"Well, he wasn't happy," Kurt says with a shrug. "And he threw a punch, but we got in the house and..." He stops. He's not going to tell Blaine that he had broken Spencer's nose again, or that Burt had smashed every window of his truck before they fled. "He wrote the check," he shrugs, "Then literally threw me out onto the driveway. Nevermind. I have your money."
"This is insane," Blaine whispers, in shock. "I didn't need you to fight for me, Kurt. I went there and I said my piece, and I was happy to walk away."
"I know but, actually? I could have left it, but I knew I would spend my whole life looking at you and wishing your dream hadn't been so cruelly taken, babies or no babies. Dad and I discussed it, and I said I would wait to see how I felt after your results had arrived. Well, the answer was no different. And this isn't about me babying you, or fighting your battles. This is about me wanting justice for you, wanting a good thing to happen to a nice person. I know you're mad at me, and I'll take it. I'll take whatever you want to give, and I'll never be sorry, not one bit, because if I am? That's like being sorry for loving you, and that's never going to be the case."
"I don't know, Kurt," Blaine says, holding his head in his hands. "I just don't know what to think. Before, I guess when it wasn't affecting me directly, it was kinda funny to think I have this big bad fiance who plans these sneak revenge attacks. But now? Now I can see the results, and it's not revenge from afar, it's face to face, and you say he just wrote the check, but I'm not dumb. I know something went down, and I guess I'm scared. I'm scared that they'll find me again, to deliberately annoy you. I'm scared this will rage on and on. I'm scared that the nightmare will come back, when I'm sleeping, as well as when I'm awake.
"Maybe something did go down," he concedes. "But you know what? I promise you, faithfully, that I will never go looking for them again. And they'll never come back, Blaine. I think it's safe to say dad made him realize what the consequences would be if any one of them ever tried looking for any of us."
"Oh God."
Kurt can still hear the death threat ringing in his ears. It had shocked him, really, considering all he had ever really known from his dad was love. Sure, he had seen the occasional burst of temper, but seeing him that enraged was something else.
"I want you to promise me something else too," Blaine says, and Kurt tunes back in and takes notice. "If we have kids together, I want you to teach them things my way. I think, and mom thinks, and my dad thought too, that the best form of revenge is holding your head high and walking away. That doesn't make you weak, or a loser, it makes you stronger, and so much better than everyone else. My problem with all this, Kurt, is that you've lowered yourself to his level. I love you for getting my money back, for wanting to do that for us, but I don't like the way you or dad have gone about it, and I need for our children to be taught about this the Anderson way, you hear me? I love you, and dad, with all of my heart, and you have both taught me so much about life and love, but on this we don't agree."
"Okay." Kurt nods, and takes his hand. "I promise we will teach our kids that they don't go seeking revenge."
"And neither you nor dad will go seeking it for them," Blaine adds, and he knows Kurt was already thinking that one over, because he sighs heavily. "I mean it! What if we have a girl? And she has a shitty ex-boyfriend? I don't want you hunting some teenager down and nearly killing him! I'll want you at home with me, holding our little girl, and teaching her that she's prettier, smarter, and brighter than he will ever know, and that he's not worthy of her. Please, Kurt, tell me you understand all of this."
"I understand, and I promise you," Kurt says seriously. "If you take the money."
Blaine thinks. He looks at Kurt, who looks so scared that he's gone too far, and his heart fills with love for a man who would put himself in so much danger, just to get back what was rightfully his. "I'll take the money, and we won't ever revisit this," Blaine says eventually.
"Thank you!" Kurt tackles him back against the arm of the couch, and kisses his cheeks, eyelids and nose. "I'm sorry, Blaine. I was only trying to finally make all this right, and I knew you would freak out if I told you what we were up to, so..."
"Well I still am freaking out, internally," Blaine admits. "And when I speak to dad, you can be sure I'm going to give him complete hell after all he gave to me for going there, and I didn't even hit anyone! He's sixty three! What in the world was he thinking?"
"He was thinking he loves you more than he loves his own life," Kurt says seriously.
"Wow." It hits home for Blaine then, and he realizes. He can't preach to Kurt about not seeking revenge, because he knows, that if their daughter does ever have a shitty boyfriend? He'll be the first one to throw a punch. He's not about to divulge that right now, though.
"Yeah, well," he stammers instead. "He's a moron, and we will be having words."
"And as for me?"
"As for you..." Blaine grins, sliding down the couch and pulling Kurt on top of him. "You're just a badass, Mr Hummel. A total rebel, and I love you for it."
