Author's note: Hi, everyone. So, I'm in my last week of schoolwork, and the following week is exams and graduation, so I have a lot going on right now. And right after graduation, I go to my future college to finalize everything, and the day after that I have a huge event coming up at work. But I am trying to keep up my writing! Anyway, not a lot happens in this chapter. I think something pretty major will happen in my next chapter, but I'm still thinking about it. That's about it... I hope you like the new chapter, and every chapter I write in the future! I just realized that I'm practically halfway through this book, which is yay! :)
Kurt drew Blaine into his bedroom as the lights outside dimmed, the sky turning a soft pink that shined through the window, making a bright streak across the floor that warmed Kurt as he walked through it. With the sky that was slowly becoming blacker and blacker, only a few speckles of stars blinking open as they woke up for their nocturnal jobs of cutting through the darkness with their dull glows, Kurt flipped on his lamp, shedding light on the gray shadows that stretched across the floor. He dropped by his closet, looking for something to do because he wasn't sleepy yet, and he pushed the door aside. "Come in, Blaine." He said to the boy who had been stuck in the doorway for the past few minutes, as if he couldn't believe that this home was really his home. "What storybooks did you bring with you?" Pulling Blaine's abandoned bag out of his closet, he unzipped the top of it and looked in at the few things that remained in there, a couple of toys and a bunch of books.
He tugged the books free and looked them over, but couldn't tell what many of them were about unless he glanced at their pictures. He made out what seemed to be Hansel and Gretel, and maybe Rumpelstiltskin, but his eye was quickly drawn to a fair princess who laid upon a bed of silk, her blond hair flowing over the edges of the mattress. A handsome prince hovered above her, caught in the moment before he pressed a kiss to those pale lips. "Sleeping Beauty." He murmured, lifting that book away from the rest and pressing it into Blaine's dark hands. "Can you read this to me?"
Blaine boosted himself back up to his feet, helping Kurt up by grasping those little hands, and he guided him over to the bed. Peeling the heated sheets back, he nudged Kurt up first and waited until he flopped down to climb in beside of him. He plopped onto one of the plumped pillows, feeling Kurt curl into his side, one little hand raising to Blaine's head. Those tiny fingers tangled in his heavy curls, idly stroking and scratching. Blaine helplessly rumbled as those oval nails scraped his scalp. Pushing into Kurt's palm, Blaine became hot in his face as Kurt giggled at his surprising affection, and he rubbed against his cheek, a soft purr making his lips vibrate. As Kurt pecked Blaine's jaw with soft kisses, Blaine snorted at the ticklish feeling of his lips buzzing against his skin. Dragging Kurt closer to himself, he tucked him under his chin so he couldn't distract him anymore, and he flipped the book open to the first page. Kurt finally settled in and quieted down, readying himself for their new story, so Blaine cleared his throat and said, "On a dark night, the first star was born to shine through the blackness, a beautiful, baby girl with glowing hair. The day this girl was presented to the gloomy land outside her window, the people of all the villages celebrated, claiming that they finally had brightness in a world that was shadowed by the gray mountain that hovered above them. In that mountain was a fairy, like the ones who lived among the humans, but one who had been exiled long before the babe's birth. With the arrival of this star, Maleficent cried out in horror, because there was finally a power much stronger than hers, that of the golden hair that flowed from Aurora's fair head. In her spite of the innocent baby who had unknowingly shed light on the darkest corners of Maleficent's tower, she came down to the festivities and interrupted with the howl of a crow."
Getting to the end of the page, Blaine lifted his finger and pointed at the picture of Maleficent, who had electricity bursting off of her heavy cloak. Her eyes were flaming, almost burning through the page, and it must have scared Kurt because he cried and turned his face into Blaine's shirt. He quickly turned the page and found a picture of the fairies fighting back to Maleficent, "Maleficent bitterly cast out her spells, the dark magic so strong that it picked up every person in the room and swung them around. But baby Aurora, although upset to tears, was not harmed, except for the blowing of that long hair in the wind. She swore Aurora to prick her delicate finger on a needle by her sixteenth birthday, and forever go to sleep. Her light hair would dim, and her pale skin would gray. After Maleficent darted from the room in a flurry, leaving the room and everything in it turned upside down, the people settled themselves. Outfits were brushed off, and hair was combed back into place, but no one was more devastated than Aurora's protective parents, who quickly gathered the baby up."
"The fairies tried to help the beloved child, doing everything they could to reverse the curse by, instead of death, letting Aurora be lulled into a deep sleep, soon to be awakened by true love's kiss. Her parents still worried over her, so she was sent away with the fairies, taken into the dark woods that had long since decayed after the sunlight was drained away from them the day that Maleficent made her home outside of the kingdom walls. But before the babe was gone, another royal from the kingdom that rested across the stream, the prince that had been promised to marry her, watched her go into the blackness, leaving a trail of light whichever way her hair swung. And though they were naïve children, he still thought she was beautiful, and he smiled after her, his grin illuminated by the fading brightness that she left behind. It had been such a long time since he'd seen the sun, so, a curious child of how warm the sun must have been in contrast to the chill that had crept into every crevice of the nearby kingdoms that Maleficent's mountain loomed over, he went after her."
Blaine was almost disappointed when he got to the last sentence of the chapter, and he thought about spoiling Kurt with another, but when he tilted his chin down to Kurt's little face so he could see if he was happy or sad about the new story, he smiled because he found Kurt with his eyes fallen shut but his mouth hanging open. Even though he wanted to keep reading, he set the book aside because he knew he wouldn't be able to keep himself from telling Kurt about the exciting things that happened before he was able to read to him, and he shifted his weight so Kurt would be more comfortable. Taking Kurt's tiny body onto his chest, he felt a pair of thin arms loop around his chest, a soft cheek squishing to his heart. He leaned down for a kiss to the top of Kurt's blond head, watching a small smile tug at the corners of Kurt's lips as he listened to the drumming of Blaine's heart.
Kurt peeled the thin curtains apart, welcoming the bright light that had seeped through the light fabric and striped the carpet in yellow. Closing his eyes as the warm sun hit his cold cheeks, he turned his face this way and that, trying to bathe in the heat so he could wash off the looming chill that had floated around him since his baby's death. It'd been days since Hunter had been taken away, but, to Kurt, it felt like years had passed. As he looked out on the lawn, though, his eyes caught on a curly head, the springy hair bouncing as Archer trotted through the fallen leaves. Nearby, another curly headed man sat against a tall tree, his knees drawn to his chest and his arms wrapped around them. Unlike the little boy, the man wore the same expression that Kurt often did, one of concern and fret, with a furrowed brow and a chewed lip. Kurt remembered when Blaine used to don that expression often, even when he was deep in slumber, and Kurt had sometimes worried that those deep lines in his forehead, and at the corners of his eyes, and next to his lips, would stick there.
As he thought of two years ago, when both of them were only eighteen and still so clueless as to what the future held, he drifted back to the long nights of waking up soon after he curled around himself to snooze, being jerked up by the awful screams that tore from Blaine's mouth. On nights that followed days in which he was hit by Karofsky, the shouts were especially horrible to Kurt's ears, like glass shattering. Kurt wondered if his nightly shrieks would fade again, as they did after he'd been away from Karofsky for long enough. Maybe if time passed from the day their child died, that weary expression would soften. Kurt, who was usually so alert, hadn't realized he'd allowed himself to think, something he tried to keep himself from, but when something wrapped around his wrist, he jumped and instantly pulled away.
A blond head appeared in his wide eyes, and Kurt breathed out heavily, so upset that he let Karofsky, the one person he refused to even consider, open the door to his mind that he'd desperately attempted to close and lock away. He and Blaine had silently agreed, after one of them let the name out, to keep Karofsky as far away from their family as they could when both of them had startled at the closing of a door from down the hallway. Blinking Karofsky's face out of his mind, Kurt glanced over at Keegan, whose blond curls were unkempt, unlike how he always smoothed them down. He hadn't looked so untidy since several years ago, after his Evie's death. Seeing him so frazzled made Kurt frown. "I didn't mean to scare you." He said quietly, reverting back to the language that had been engrained in him since he was young, even though he was capable of making sentences out of English after many lessons between he and Kurt. "Are you okay?"
Kurt turned back to the window, avoiding looking at those turquoise eyes that were squinted with uneasiness. From outside, Archer pounced on a stack of leaves that had been collected into a small pile. The tiny baby disappeared between the brown and red that was lightly dusted with white snow, and Blaine finally leaned away from the tree so he could pick through the leaves until Archer popped back up again. Blaine quickly fixed the blue hat that had once covered Archer's pink ears but had started to slip off, gently covering him so he could stay warm. Too tired to keep his head up, Kurt rested against the windowsill. When Archer, who had been digging through the leaves as if he was hunting for treasure, whirled around to Blaine, he forced a smile for his baby, and he bent to pick him up. Swinging him into the air, Blaine fell back on the ground and stared up at Archer's blue eyes, which were glittering with enjoyment. At the sight of his baby's happiness, Kurt's own eyes sparkled, but with wetness that Archer's didn't have. "He's trying so hard." Kurt whispered, his voice breaking halfway through his sentence.
Keeping his damp eyes on his husband, who tossed Archer into the air and caught him in his strong hands again, making the baby laugh so much that Kurt heard the pretty sound through the glass, he sighed as a soft hand came to his back and rubbed small circles. Keegan shifted closer to him, hooking an arm around him and pulling him against his side. Kurt collapsed into that hard chest, seeking comfort from his best friend who he'd had to comfort long ago. "Kurt…" that airy voice muttered almost silently, and Kurt made a sound, but didn't want to make any other noises because he feared opening his mouth or else he'd sob. "Do you remember… when Evie asked me why I wouldn't take you as my husband? When he still didn't want to be with me… because he thought he was ruined?"
Kurt's blue eyes peeled open, and he turned his chin up to Keegan's drained face. "Yes… I remember. He thought you should take me because I'd never been with a man before. He thought I would be better suited for marriage… for being a husband."
Keegan made a low sound that time, and he dropped his head to Kurt's and pressed his lips to his blond hair. His kiss was soft, and it gave Kurt a sense of relief that he was loved by someone so very much. It reminded Kurt of the days that he felt beside of himself, and his brother would kiss him on his forehead to make him feel better. "I probably would have asked you to marry me… had I not found Evie. You would have made a good husband… but… not for me. I needed excitement, and you needed calm. And I did think about it for a long time… marrying you. It only made sense. But you would have rejected me if I had proposed to you… because you knew all along, didn't you?" Those dim eyes flicked to where Kurt had been looking, and Kurt followed his gaze to Blaine, who was rocking Archer into a deep lull. That dark head bobbed as the worn out baby dozed off, only to snap back up every few seconds in a failed effort to keep his eyes open because there was so much more fun to be had. "You knew that you would end up with him. Even years after your memories of him went away, you still knew that someone out there needed you… and loved you in a way that someone like me couldn't. It's the only reason you found each other again."
Kurt had been able to bat away the tears that quivered on his lashes, but one of them finally slipped down his cheek. Sliding his hand under Kurt's chin, Keegan brought his face up, and he stared into those misty eyes. After years of reading Kurt like an open book, Keegan knew exactly what he needed, and he tugged him against his powerful chest. "Shh… you don't have to be scared. You'll be okay." Touching Kurt's cheeks, Keegan wiped away his tears with his thumbs, trying to catch all of the little diamonds that were so valuable to him. "I would never… let anything hurt you again. I promise." Squeezing Kurt tighter to himself, Keegan stroked his blond hair off his damp face. "Kurt, do you want to go somewhere with me? We won't be gone long."
Kurt, who knew that some fresh air would be good for him, glimpsed out the window one last time before he nodded his head. Deciding that it was best if he didn't disturb his husband and son, who looked very peaceful as they held each other so close that there was no space between them, he swished over to the front door, knowing that the two outside were too involved with each other to bother with coming inside and notice his and Keegan's disappearances. "I would like that." Kurt laid his hand in Keegan's, letting him guide him out the front door and into breeze that blew their hair. Taking in the woodsy smell that also wafted off of Keegan, Kurt dropped his tense shoulders and spread his hands. He remembered the careless days of his childhood when he would romp around outside, climbing trees and skipping through the grass, and he thought about how Archer and Hunter would often do the same, until he was killed.
He blindly walked beside of Keegan, trusting him to take him wherever he pleased, and clung to his arm, needing to be near one of the best friends he'd ever had. The walk wasn't a long one, and even though Kurt enjoyed strolling around to get his mind off of things, he was even more delighted when grass crunched under his heels. Lifting his drooping lids, Kurt gasped at the place he hadn't been in so long, both of them beneath a thinned out tree that once had cherries hanging from the limbs. The pink leaves had rumpled and browned, but Kurt still reached up and brushed his fingers against one of them, loving the feeling of the beautiful thing tickling his fingertips. Spinning in a circle under the tree, Kurt looked at every branch that swung down from the slender trunk. "How pretty…" he cooed, feeling the pink that had washed out of the blossoms color his cheeks. He whirled around to Keegan and clasped his hands in front of him, "Keegan, you don't know how I needed this. Thank you so much!"
Keegan, who had sat down near the edge of the nippy water that he idly swirled his fingers through, twisted around to face him. A crooked smile yanked at a corner of his mouth, "You're welcome." He muttered, then he glanced down at a patch of grass which flowers grew from, and he ran his fingers over the petals of a daisy. "He loved daisies… so I gave him the most beautiful of all the daisies I could find."
Kurt padded across the itchy grass, and he knelt down by Keegan's side, laying both of his hands across the silky flowers. "I miss you, Evie." Putting his hand on his lips, he blew the flowers a kiss, then he nuzzled under Keegan's chin. "I didn't know him like you did… but he was one of my very best friends, anyway."
Keegan wrapped his arms around Kurt again, "I remember when you were little… I used to take you up here every day. You loved coming here… especially during the summer. You used to run through the grass, and you'd climb the trees. One time, I found you all the way at the top of the cherry tree. But you would always come back to this spot… and you'd sit… and you'd play with the flowers I planted here. I always loved watching you… you looked at these flowers like you treasured every one of them. I was proud to be your best friend. When you left… coming here wasn't quite the same. I could still be with my Evie, which made me happy, but I was happier when I was here with you next to me. You made me less sad." Running his fingers through Kurt's blond hair again, Keegan rested a palm behind him, and he reached out with his other hand and pulled Kurt onto his lap. "I used to hold you like this when you were little. You haven't changed much. You still have those bright eyes… and these pretty dimples when you smile. You look so childlike. Sometimes… I have to remind myself that you're twenty years old… you're married and you have children—" Keegan quickly cut himself off, careful not to hurt Kurt, "—a child—of your own. You know, this can be your spot… if you need somewhere to just… be with Hunter… even if you don't have… him. Have his body… I mean. This can be yours."
Kurt spun around to Keegan and flung his arms around his neck, and neither of them said a word more. He might have cried, but he couldn't remember. All he knew was that when he went home, he wanted so badly to bring Blaine to his spot, so both of them could be with their baby. At the end of the day, when he and Blaine laid in their bed and twined around each other, Kurt felt peace and slept through the night, and, for the first time in days, Blaine didn't scream himself awake.
Hunter closed his eyes as a rough thumb skimmed over his wet lashes, a heavy sigh breaking from his lips after hours of not breathing. Dropping his shoulders, he curled around himself, trying to keep Karofsky out, but a large hand scraped over his side and down his thigh, pulling his leg around his waist. He'd never felt so humiliated that he could cry, and he didn't know why he was embarrassed, but those meaty hands drawing patterns over his skin made him want to shrink into himself until he was no bigger than a piece of dust. Part of him knew that this wasn't normal. After an unknown amount of time had passed, three minutes or three hours, Karofsky had finally rolled off to the side, waking Hunter from his stupor as he counted the spots on the ceiling. Karofsky had rumbled and stretched, then those brown eyes had flipped open. Hunter had dreaded when those eyes crossed over him, and he knew he should have tried to leave before he was discovered beside of him, but he was losing the stamina that he had once thought was unbreakable. Time after time of trying to pull away and only being drawn closer had Hunter at his wit's end, and the fire his daddy had claimed he had was burning out. Maybe he wasn't as strong as his parents had once thought he was. He hated that he had fooled them into thinking he was anything more than the piece of dirt that Karofsky was.
Sucking in his breath as that hand drifted back up, Hunter pulled in his stomach in his last attempt to escape Karofsky's horrible caresses, but that hand paused in between his thighs. He pressed himself into the mattress, desperate to get away, but it was no use. Hunter gave in and laid still, letting Karofsky have him any way he wanted. Karofsky rubbed that object as he often did, and Hunter wished that he could just take it off if that was all he wanted of him, that way he could go back to his family with nothing important lost. Hunter probably would have missed his arms or legs had Karofsky ripped those off, because he needed those to hug his parents, to wrap himself completely around them, but he scorned that object between his legs. As far as he knew, he had no use for it except to urinate. Karofsky could have that, but he couldn't have Hunter.
Beside of him, Karofsky hacked like a cat, drawing Hunter out of his own head and back into reality, neither of which was lovelier than the other. Now that Karofsky had tainted his body, he seemed to have ruined his mind, too. Turning away from Hunter, Karofsky coughed even more violently, and Hunter winced as a string of black saliva spat from his mouth. "Fuck—" Karofsky grumbled in between gasps, "Damn cigarettes."
Hunter didn't know what he was talking about, and he had no interest in finding out, so he rolled onto his back and returned his eyes to the ceiling. He tried to pick up on the spot he'd left off, but he couldn't remember if he had counted one hundred or two hundred spots. Blowing out heavily, Hunter laid his cheek on the pillow, and he didn't move from that position when he felt a calloused hand stroke his hair. "I wish you would love me." Karofsky said quietly, and Hunter raised his eyebrows, but Karofsky couldn't see the change in his expression. "Because I love you, baby… so much. I don't understand how you can't see it… I'd give my life for you. I would do anything for you." Scooting over to Hunter, Karofsky pressed himself to his back, but nothing except a bulging stomach touched him. "Did I ever tell you that I once had a lover? He was beautiful… like you are. I loved him with all my heart. I did everything for him… I would have taken a gunshot for him."
Peering over his shoulder, Hunter looked at Karofsky, who had a scrunched face. His eyebrows were furrowed and his lips were pulled into a frown. "One day… he just… left me. Someone else came into the picture… and, before I knew it, he had slipped through my fingers." Karofsky's eyes fogged over, and Hunter finally revealed an emotion to him, a small frown. "I came to him after that… I begged him to be mine again… and he told me that he hated me." Karofsky shook his head just once, clearing a terrible image from his mind. "I took a rope around my neck soon after that… I was going to kill myself, Hunt. But then… I found out about you… I found out that I was going to have a baby… a son… and… I realized that I could have someone who I could love… and who could love me back. I was so scared that your awful mom would kill you… but… I never gave up hope… and I asked about you. And, the next day, you showed up on my porch. And… Hunt… I'd never seen anything so perfect before. I'd never had anything perfect… that could just be mine."
Even though Hunter had listened to what Karofsky was saying because he wanted to understand what made him so wicked, he recoiled at that last. Little did Karofsky know, Hunter couldn't be just his. One day, Hunter would go home, even though he did feel a slight pang of remorse for the man who had probably been raised in devastation and disappointment. Rolling his eyes at his own pity for the man he swore he wouldn't cave to, Hunter flipped over to face Karofsky, and he wrapped his arms around as much of his body as he could, which wasn't much. He laid his cheek against Karofsky's heart, but he quickly pulled away because of his fear that he couldn't make out a heartbeat. Hunter knew that, after so many parts of Karofsky had shriveled up with each wrong that had been done to him, he had already died long ago. It was then that Hunter figured out that Karofsky would never love him.