A/N:
Hello! What can I say? I'm just not good at fast updating. I'm really sorry to have kept you waiting again. Since my last update a lot of things happened.
In June I went to London to see Chris at his book signing, which was absolutely amazing.
Then I got nominated best mystery writer and best mystery fic for NO REGRETS. Thank you all for your votes. The outcome has not been announced yet, because of what happened on July, 13.
Cory's passing was a shock for me as it was for everyone else. It still hurts thinking about it and I guess we will feel the loss again once season five starts.
Let me just say that I love all of you guys! All my faithful readers who stick with me and bear with my slow writing. As long as you're here to cheer me on I'll never stop writing this. Reviews are love and motivation! :)
Chapter 53 – I Might Bleed
When Reed got backstage he let out a huge breath of relief, so proud of himself that he had made his way on the catwalk without stumbling or embarrassing himself any other way.
He was excited that he had just made it through his first walk ever.
For a second he allowed himself to admit that part of the excitement was seeing Shane again. A big part. And Blaine, of course. Granted, from what Reed heard about the Anderson family situation Blaine had the heavier cross to bear.
But it sure wasn't easy for Shane, either. Being the one to stand by, not able to do something, being damned to being useless. That was hard, too. Never getting a chance to prove oneself.
For a second Reed shut his eyes and leaned back against the wall.
Then someone grasped his arm, making him jump. His eyes flung open and he could just succumb an embarrassing yell by glasping his hands over his mouth. It was just his mother. Jeez, Kurt's conspiracy theories made him all paranoid, too.
However, his mother's face wasn't its usual calm and severe expression, instead she seemed upset.
"Your friend just fell!" She was pointing towards the stage. "In all my years in this business never did a model fall off stage!"
Reed was slow to catch up. "He fell? Kurt? That can't be! Kurt is the most graceful and sure-footed person I know."
Hilde took him aside and together they snuck a peek around the curtain.
Reed peeked to the stage and tried to make out where Kurt was – he definitely wasn't ON stage anymore.
Reed was utterly confused. "I can't believe he fell off stage... unless..." It finally sunk in. "Oh, my God. Oh My God! OH MY GOD!"
He noticed a little turmoil in the audience and made out the heads of Kurt and Blaine making their way through the crowd with the McVaughn siblings following them.
"I need to help him!" Reed said and head over heels he ran out on stage again – his mother not able to stop him.
He forgot about the lights and the cameras and the press. He just ran to the end of the stage, not even worrying about stumbling in his heels. He just worried about not making it in time. He didn't even realize the uproar of applause when the audience recognized him again and thought his return and his frantic running was part of the show.
"Shane! Wait for me!" Reed called out before he reached the end of the stage. The tall darkhaired boy turned instantly to look up, his face a mix of pure delight and astonishment and wonder.
When Reed neared the end of the stage he noticed too late that he had too much momentum to stop. He knew he would fall off stage – and probably break his neck in doing so.
Apparently Shane saw it, too. His happy face turned serious and shocked and he lunged forward, jumping over the seats in front of him and just reaching the end of the stage as Reed did.
"Woaahhh!" Reed tried to halt but his heels didn't come with breaks. Inevitably he fell with a yelp.
Shane was there to catch him.
For a second they may have looked like Baby and Johnny doing the iconic lift scene from the Dirty Dancing finale.
But then Shane collapsed and together they fell on the ground, the lightweight Reed on top of the lanky boy.
Reed didn't hear the loud "ohs" and "ahs" from the audience and the rising applause; apparently the people thought if anything this stunt was part of the show.
Reed was only aware of the boy who acted as his personal airbag, catching him and taking the blow of the fall for him.
"Hi," Shane breathed, his grey-green eyes piercing right into Reed's, carrying both a spark of awe and cockiness.
"Uhm... hi..." Reed replied, getting up on his elbows, straddling the boy beneath him.
"I may have dreamed of this," Shane admitted with a smirk, his hands still around Reed's back, now trailing down to rest on Reed's thighs.
"We have an audience," Reed whispered, noticing how Shane's eyes were now on his lips, turning kind of hazy, and Reed couldn't help wondering about the details of Shane's dreams about him.
"In my dreams we were alone," Shane muttered and now it was Reed's turn to stare at the other boy's mouth. "That is if you don't count seagulls."
Reed blinked, irritated. Then he sat up and quickly got off of the youngest Anderson brother.
"Uh... thanks for catching me."
"Anytime." Shane got to his feet and offered his hand to the boy in heels. "But hopefully next time you jump me we'll land on a soft mattress and without a gawking audience."
Reed took the offered hand, scrambled to his feet and brushed off his clothes, his face tomato-red. Then he remembered what he had jumped off the stage for. "Hurry! We need to follow Kurt and Blaine!"
"Ah, they've got a good headstart, I think," Shane replied nonchalantly. "And Devon's not the fastest on foot anyway."
Shane winked at him. "And now smile and wave and slowly walk out as if this was all intended."
"Oh my," Reed muttered out of the corner of his mouth, putting on a brave smile while he was the focus of snapshots. "I don't want to read the tabloids tomorrow."
The audience cheered him, but Reed was sure his mother was livid backstage.
"How about we just wait it out?" Blaine breathed against Kurt's lips, pressing him into the wall behind him. "Val probably thinks we're in a cab already, far gone."
"Mh-mmh," Kurt agreed with a hum, but then changed his mind, parting lips with Blaine with a smack sound. "No, we should keep going."
As if to demonstrate Kurt freed himself from Blaine's embrace and went down a couple of stairs, dragging Blaine by the hand with him. However, walking down the stairs in heels turned out difficult and after stumbling a couple of times, Kurt sat down and started unlacing his shoes.
"I'd better take these off," he explained. "Before I hurt my ankle and you have to carry me down."
Blaine settled down next to him, close next to him, and nestled to his side.
Kurt felt a shiver run down through his whole body when Blaine put his hand on Kurt's lower back and leaned his chin on his shoulder, starting to nuzzle into the side of Kurt's neck.
Kurt wanted to say out loud how much he had longed for a moment like this – to be close again. But he choked on his words, overwhelmed by a sudden intense emotion.
"Kurt?" Blaine asked, concerned. "What is it?"
Kurt couldn't answer. He just nodded silently and turned to hug him, clasping his arms around Blaine so tight that Blaine felt like he was being crushed, but he didn't mind at all.
"I'm just so glad that you're still you." Kurt inhaled deeply, taking in the scent of Blaine's after shave mixed with sweat and something else, something that so smelled like Blaine.
"I'm not sure I'm still the same person I used to be," Blaine admitted tentatively. "I feel different."
Kurt nodded as if he understood, but the truth was that Blaine's words scared him.
"You still look the same to me," Kurt said, laughing a bit to cheer up the mood. "Even with your messy hair." Crossing his hands behind Blaine's neck to draw him in for another kiss, Kurt added, "And you still taste the same."
Their lips touched and Kurt closed his eyes, wanting this moment to linger. But Blaine drew back a little, waiting for Kurt to open his eyes again and look at him.
"I think I've changed," Blaine went on carefully, his eyes never leaving Kurt's. "Inside I mean."
Kurt swallowed, fighting to keep his high spirits up. "But you still feel the same for me, right?"
"Yes! Of course!" Blaine hurried to say. "Nothing could ever change that!"
"I hope so," Kurt whispered, trying to mask his fear of heartbreak. "Do me a favor? Kiss me like you have wanted to kiss me for the past couple of weeks."
"You have no idea," Blaine breathed and he framed Kurt's face with his hands, attacking Kurt's mouth hungrily.
Kurt was in no hurry to get back to their friends. Once they were back in company they wouldn't get to kiss for the next couple of hours. If Kurt had learned one thing in the past few weeks it was to live in the now and don't pass on chances.
They lost themselves into each other's kiss, devouring one another. It felt like they had all the time in the world to kiss and reacquaint themselves. Kurt felt estatic. To tell the truth, kissing Blaine had never felt this good. Most of the time when they had made out Kurt hadn't been able to shut off his brain, constantly worrying about his looks and his breath and the little embarrassing noises he made, thinking that Blaine would be turned off by the silliest things.
Now everything that filled Kurt up was the joy and excitement and love, pure love for this person. He put all his adoration and happiness and hunger into this kiss and it felt like they were kissing – really kissing - for the first time.
With one hand Blaine was feeling up Kurt's thigh, the other one claimed residence in Kurt's hair. Giggling, they moved even closer together, their legs and arms tangled just as their tongues.
They were so engulfed into each other that they only heard the footsteps when it as too late already. Someone made their way up the stairs. But it was only when this someone made the loudest Ugh-sound followed by retching noises that Blaine and Kurt jerked apart.
"You guys are gross!" Devon was standing a few steps below, looking like he didn't dare to get close to them in fear of infection. This would have been fine with them, but the couple didn't have such luck.
After the initial shock of running into them kissing, Devon continued upstairs.
"Game over," he growled at Blaine. "We're leaving. There's a party you have to attend."
"Without me!" Blaine shouted at him and pushed Kurt's arm to make him move faster as they rushed up the stairs. "Leave me alone!"
"I'd love to," Devon replied, already panting from climbing five stories high. "But without you there's not going to be a party tonight and then Val's going to be pissed and I already can hardly stand her when she's in a good mood."
"Sounds like true family bonds," Kurt responded dryly.
Blaine caught Kurt's eye for a second on their run and saw that Kurt was anything but fearless. The way he was clasping Blaine's hand fiercely, almost painfully as they stormed further upstairs, told another story. After all, Devon was the man who had beaten Kurt up only a couple of weeks ago.
"Stop running!" Devon barked. "We'll get you one way or another."
"Never!" Blaine yelled back and sped up.
Devon put his phone to his ear. "Sixth floor," he huffed into it. "Almost seventh."
"Got it!" his sister answered.
Hearing Valerie's voice made the boys run faster.
Kurt was glad that he had taken off his heels. Speaking of... In a moment of breath-catching Kurt stopped and raised the boots high above his head. "Hey, you! Moron!"
He waited for Devon to stop and look up. "What?" the big guy asked annoyed, but his eyes grew wide when he saw the heavy boots Kurt was holding up.
"This is for betraying Blaine's trust!" Kurt yelled.
Devon tried to duck his head, but Kurt took good aim and tossed one shoe at Devon, hitting the young man by the shoulder.
"And this is for New Year's Eve!"
Kurt threw the second heel and hit their pursuer on the forehead.
"Good shot!" Blaine laughed when Devon glared up at them to check if they had more amunition to throw at him.
"May Hilde forgive me for ruining her shoes," Kurt murmured.
"I bet she'd approve of your innovational usein this case," Blaine said with a wide grin.
"Hello, boys," a voice drawled from above them.
With a terrible sense of dread Blaine turned to see Valerie standing right there, blocking their way with her arms crossed.
Apparently she had entered the stairway from the door on the seventh floor.
"Sorry to interrupt your sweet little reunion, but we have to go and, Blaine, you'd better come with us."
Blaine took hold of Kurt's hand again, firmly keeping him by his side. "Get out of the way."
"Not without a fight, sweetheart," Valerie smiled maliciously at them.
"Good, because I've no problem with fighting a girl," Blaine shot back and stepped forward to push her out of the way, but this was what she had wanted. Quickly she opened her arms, presenting a spray and aiming for Blaine's face.
Blaine was able to jerk back, so the amount of the spray didn't hit him. But the little attack caused enough commotion for Devon to move forward and try an attack of his own.
With a skilled move Devon grabbed for Kurt's arm, pulling at him and making him lose his balance until Kurt tumbled down a couple of stairs right into the firm hold of Devon's lock-up embrace.
"Hello, faggy," Devon growled, clutching Kurt closer to his chest. "Here we meet again."
Kurt struggled against him, but Devon's strong arms were fastened around him and the man dragged him further down the stairs, away from Blaine. Kurt tried to wrench his hand from Devon's grasp but the man grabbed Kurt's arm and twisted it behind the boy's back until Kurt screamed out in pain. Instantly Devon clasped his hand over the boy's mouth and squeezed to keep him from more screaming. The sound dampened in the palm of his hand.
"Stop it!" Blaine yelled hysterical, his voice on the edge. "Don't hurt him, Devon!"
"Come with me, Blainey," Valerie said threateningly. "Or Devon will break his arm and make it look like the poor clumsy boy fell down the stairs."
As if to demonstrate the seriousness of this threat Devon continued to bend Kurt's left arm back even more until Kurt moaned in pain.
"Let him go," Blaine said, his voice tense.
But Devon kept a vice grip on Kurt.
Blaine was paralyzed on the spot when he saw the spark of pleasure in Devon's grey eyes; Devon enjoyed torturing Kurt and he would happily oblige if Valerie told him to break bones. Blaine wanted to attack Devon, he wanted to kill him, but he didn't dare to move a finger in order to keep Devon from hurting Kurt even more.
Why had they decided to take the stairs? There were no people around, no surveillance cameras. They were on their own and no security guards were around to help them.
His eyes met Kurt's who was silently telling him not to give in. Not to leave with Valerie.
Blaine gave a slight nod; he didn't intend to follow Valerie and leave Kurt at the young man's mercy.
"What will it be?" Valerie asked him, a bit impatiently.
"Let him go first, unharmed," Blaine demanded with a firm voice although his whole body was shaking with anger and fear. "And I'll come with you."
Kurt shook his head no and tried to speak around the fingers gagging him, but his words remained incomprehensible.
"How about we all walk to the elevators together," Valerie suggested calmly. "Kurt can bid you goodbye at our car. Sound good?"
Devon let go of his tight grip on Kurt, but kept a firm hand on the boy's shoulder, ready to grab him again if he should bolt. He pushed him forward and Kurt shot a death glare over his shoulder. "I can walk on my own," he growled, anything but happy about the turn of events.
Valerie linked arms with Blaine and led him to the door out of the stairway and into the hallway of the hotel rooms. They slowly walked to the elevators and Blaine felt like walking towards the gate of hell. His brain was working overtime, but he didn't know how to escape the situation.
They were silent in the elevator on their way down.
But once they stepped out into the lobby Kurt felt weak and desperate. He couldn't let this happen. He couldn't let Blaine walk out of his life again.
"No," Kurt said, almost inaudible. "I won't let you take Blaine with you." Determined, Kurt stopped in his tracks and stood there, motionless. "You'll have to kill me first."
"That can be arranged," Valerie replied without batting an eye.
"Gladly," Devon added with a smirk, pulling a little rougher on him.
"Stop talking like that!" Blaine yelled at them, totally freaked out. "I told you I'm coming with you! Just leave Kurt out of this!"
"Shh," Valerie put a finger to her lips and eyed the people in the lobby. "I'm warning you, both of you. Don't make a fuss. What are your choices anyway? Call out for the police? I dare you do it. I will tell them that I'm Blaine's legal guardian and he's in my care. You'd better think twice before you dish them a story about kidnapping. Besides," she put her smart face back on. "If you don't do as I say I'll just have to tell Daddy Anderson that I think Blaine's not ready yet to confront society."
She turned to smirk at Blaine. "I helped you get out of that awful place, but I can also help put you back in. I have a lot of plans for you, Blainey, but we can wait another couple of months if we have to."
"You're a monster," Kurt growled, his hands balled tight into fists.
"She's right," Blaine hated to admit it. "Kurt, there's nothing you can do to help me."
"No," Kurt pleaded. "No, Blaine, don't go with them."
"I can't let them hurt you," Blaine tried to explain, walking backwards. "I'm so sorry, Kurt," he was near tears.
"HEY, YOU!"
They were all startled by a yell behind them. Kurt turned around to see that it was one furious Shane followed closely by Reed, stopping short at the scene.
"LEAVE THEM THE HELL ALONE!"
Shane lunged at Devon with the intention to shove him aside, away from Kurt. But Devon was a bull compared to the lanky boy that was Shane. It took Devon no effort to keep Shane at arm's length while the boy tried to punch him.
"Can I break his arm?" Devon asked his sister with a devilish grin. "Please, I want to break his arm."
"No! Don't!" Reed was pale with fright and instantly grabbed Shane by the wrist to pull him away from the big bad guy.
"Shane, don't make things worse!" Blaine moved towards his brother, but was held back by Valerie who just gently put her hand on Blaine's arm. A seemingly harmless small gesture with great effect. He stayed put, but his face was pure desperation.
As everybody was freaking out Kurt was watching Valerie who stayed completely calm during the mess. It made Kurt wonder if she really was still in control of the situation or if she was panicking inside – like he was. He hated her even more for acting like nobody and nothing could come across her plans.
"Shane," Valerie finally addressed the younger boy. "Why is the model here?"
The off-topic question caught Shane off guard. He realized that up until now he had done everything to prevent this from happening, to keep Valerie from shifting her focus on Reed and probably harm the boy once she made the connection.
"Him? Oh, he... he's just the son of the woman running this show," Shane stammered and instinctively stepped in front of Reed protectively.
"Yeah, right!" Reed stood straight. "I'm a VIP around here! And you'd better not mess with my bestie Kurt or else I'll call security on your card and I can tell them a bunch of lies, too. I can say that you were molesting me and my Mom'll have you locked up for just breathing down my neck!"
"Whatever," Valerie replied, unimpressed. "We're out of here." She yanked at Blaine's arm and pushed him towards the door.
"No!" Kurt jumped forward to get a hold of Blaine, but Devon got in the way and roughly pushed Kurt aside, making him collide with Reed. Both boys tumbled to the ground.
The McVaughn siblings used the commotion to stir Blaine out of the door onto the street.
"Follow them!" Reed shouted to Shane, but the Anderson kid was already on his way out.
Reed helped Kurt to his feet which was hurtful, because Kurt had hit his knee hard in an attempt to soften Reed's fall. The two of them stumbled outside, but they only saw Valerie's car drive away.
"That's them!" Reed called out in frustration. "In the car! Shane's in the car, too!"
Kurt stood for a moment on shaky legs, then his knees buckled and he sank to the ground of the sidewalk in silent despair.
Reed let out a cute sounding yelp, knelt down next to him and wrapped his arms around him. "Kurt! Don't cry! We're going to get him! I promise!"
But Kurt wasn't crying. He was too exhausted and crestfallen to be able to shed tears.
"Come on, let's take a cab!" Reed got to his feet again and started hailing for a cab.
Kurt just sat there, resting on his heels in socks, clasping his hands tight.
A cab stopped in front of them and Reed yanked the door open. "We need you to follow the BMW that just drove off!"
"Allrighty," the cab driver said and Reed helped Kurt climb onto the backseat.
"Go!" Reed shouted at the driver and pulled his seatbelt on. "We can't let them get away!"
"Easy, boy," the driver replied, stirring the cab on the street. "This may be Hollywood, but we're not on TV, guys. Although you're dressed like you're in the middle of a shoot for a comedy show."
"It's called haut couture," Reed replied sassily. "And it's none of your business why we're dressed up."
Reed turned to Kurt to give him a roll of his eyes at the driver's ignorance, but then his gaze fell on Kurt's socks and the apparent lack of footgear.
"Oh, my God! Where are your shoes?" Reed exclaimed.
"I lost them." Kurt's voice was shaky and soft, hardly audible.
"You lost them?" Reed repeated in utter bafflement. "Where?"
"In Devon's face."
For a second Reed stared at him, then he burst out laughing. Kurt allowed himself a tight smile at the image of Devon's dumbstruck face after the boots had hit him hard.
"Damn," he muttered at the sight in front of them. "They're driving off on the freeway."
Kurt was leaning forward in tension, trying to keep his eyes focused on the black BMW Valerie was driving, but once they hit the freeway the traffic got thicker and it was harder to keep track.
"What?" After a long tense moment Reed suddenly turned to Kurt. "What were you saying?"
"Nothing," Kurt replied, irritated, but realized that he must have been murmuring lyrics of a song that was stuck in his head. Only now he knew he wouldn't be able to forget these lyrics for quite a while.
And if you're trying to cut me down
You know that I might bleed
Cause if you're trying to cut me down
I know that you'll succeed
Songs in this chapter:
Annie Lennox - Walking On Broken Glass - AGAIN! I know the last couple of chapters have been all under Annie's wing. Next up is a Bon Jovi classic. I think you're going to love it. ;)
A very special thanks and hugs to Normallyweirdm, I don't know what I'd do without you. :)
Also big thanks to ffacowgirl89 - your last couple of reviews made me very, very happy!
And Zephyrin, I'm so glad to have met you - deutsche Fans sind so schwer zu finden! Knuddel!
Reviews are love and motivation! :)
