"Just tell us what's going on." Kurt whined to his father nearly a week after Blaine had gotten sick. He had been begging Burt for nearly two hours to tell him what the 'big family announcement' was about to no avail.
As Burt knew, if there was one thing you had to learn to live in a house with Kurt Hummel, it was how to ignore incessant questioning about things. For as good as Kurt could be about pestering someone, Burt was just as good at ignoring it.
"Finn should be here soon. We'll all talk about it over dinner." Burt said to Blaine. While Kurt had been sick Friday Night Dinners had kind of fallen by the wayside, but as of the last few weeks they had begun their family tradition again. Sometimes Finn, who was home a lot more because it wasn't football season, was able to make it and sometimes he wasn't. Either way, this dinner was apparently a big one and it was, as Carole joked, mandatory attendance.
Kurt huffed when it became apparent that Burt was once again ignoring him. Blaine had just gotten home from his history class looking a little pale but considerably better than he'd looked a week before when he'd been taken to the emergency room. Kurt took a seat at the table, scowling at Burt before putting his chin in the palm of his hand. Burt was completely unaffected by this, though, and sat out five glasses on the already set table.
"It never takes Finn too long to get here." Carole said from over the stove. "He drives like a maniac. Both of our boys do. Do you drive like a crazy person, Blaine?"
Blaine gave a small cough and then cleared his throat. "No, I'm a very good driver."
"He's never even gone through a yellow light." Kurt muttered.
"Good!" Carole beamed, looking very happy. "At least one of my boys knows how to drive!"
"Don't mind Kurt." Burt said. "He's not too pleased with me at the moment."
"Why?" Blaine asked quietly.
"Because I want to know what the surprise is! I hate surprises!" Kurt whined, sitting up straight and poised to begin his questioning again.
"Carole, are you sure we can't tell him?" Burt finally sighed. "It would make life easier on all of us."
"Yes, I'm sure. Everyone in this family is going to find out at the same time. So don't you ask if we'll tell you now either, Blaine." She pointed a spoon at him. "Go put your books up, take the last day of your medicine, and sit by Kurt."
"No one may want to sit by Kurt until he finds out this surprise." Burt muttered, but he said this as he took one of the empty seats by Kurt. "He's never had much patience for anything, Carole."
"He gets it from you. Blaine, go take your bag up." Carole waved him on, as if she were his mother. "No special treatment, no matter how adorable you look when you don't fix your hair. Go on."
Blaine hauled himself up the stairs, glad he only had one class and his bag was light. He set it down inside Kurt's room—were they at the point where he could say their room, yet?— next to the door. The room was of course perfectly spotless. Between both Kurt and Blaine, there wasn't a whole lot of opportunity for the room to get messy. Both boys liked things neat and tidy.
When he was coming back out Finn came up and grinned. "'Lo, Blaine."
"Hey, Finn." Blaine smiled back. "How's school?"
"Ready for finals. As usual." Finn moaned, tossing his bag into his room. He shrugged when it knocked something over and just shut the door. "Mom said you got strep. Feeling better?"
"Yeah. I'm a little tired though." Blaine shrugged.
"I hope this dinner goes fast. I kind of promised Rachel she could come over tonight and watch a movie."
Oh god, Kurt and I have got to make plans. I cannot spend the night with Rachel Berry. My head will explode.
"I'm sure it will go fast. Any idea what the annouc—."
"WILL YOU TWO HURRY UP IN THERE?" Kurt called loudly. "IT'S RUDE TO KEEP PEOPLE WAITING!"
"It's also rude to yell at people, dude!" Finn called back as he rolled his eyes.
The two boys made their way downstairs. Blaine took the free seat next to Kurt and Finn sat down between Burt and Carole. Kurt was staring fixedly on his father, growing more impatient by the minute.
"Kid, you have got to learn patience. It is a virtue." Burt said gruffly, grabbing the bowl of mashed potatoes and spooning some onto his plate.
Kurt heaved a huge sigh. "It's a dumb virtue. What good does waiting do for anyone?"
"Alright, alright." Carole said. "Burt and I have some very… shocking news. Shocking in a good way, I hope."
Burt nodded. "Carole's pregnant."
Finn dropped the spoon he was holding and Kurt's mouth fell open in shock.
"Congratulations!" Blaine said happily.
"Thank you, Blaine!" Carole smiled at him.
"Wait, you two have sex?" Finn asked slowly.
Kurt rolled his eyes at Finn before looking at Carole. "Although I'm not happy I will no longer be the youngest, this is very exciting!"
"You'll still be the youngest boy." Carole smiled. "We're having a girl!"
Kurt's mood seemed to brighten immediately. "A little girl? How far along are you?"
"I'm four months. We found out shortly after Thanksgiving but we thought it would be a good idea to let things settle down a bit before we told. There was enough stress going on." Carole smiled. "I hope you boys aren't mad. If you are, though, it's a little too late for objections now."
Both Carole and Burt laughed.
"No, wait. Really? You two have sex? Dude, that is so gross." Finn repeated.
"Finn, could you use the word sex at the dinner table any more tonight?" Kurt looked at his older brother impatiently.
"Sex, sex, sex, sex, sex."
"I guess they aren't going to be as adult about it as I thought." Burt snorted. "At least Blaine is mature."
"You have no sense of manners whatsoever, Finn." Kurt sighed and then, sitting up straight, turned to face Carole again. "This only gives me five months to design an entire nursery. I saw the cutest paintings when Mercedes and I were at Bed, Bath, and Beyond the other day and I just have to get them. How do you feel about a light green nursery? Or would you rather light blue and light pink? No, that leaves me four months. Blaine and I are moving to Cincinnati in the middle of June so he can take summer classes. At least I have more weeks notice this time, I guess."
"I'm sure whatever color you choose will be wonderful, sweetie. Since you and Blaine basically share your room, I figured we'd just use the guest room. We're of course going to leave your boys' rooms like they are for when you come home. Because you all three have to come home. A lot."
"Dad's going to go crazy without me around. Aren't you?" Kurt grinned.
Burt grunted. "I sure won't miss you hounding me about the food I eat."
"Yes you will. You'll call me at dinner time just to give me the opportunity."
"I wouldn't take it that far, kid."
"Burt, you'll probably call him every twenty minutes." Carole stated. "For at least a month."
"Well with Blaine gone at classes all day, the kid will need someone to talk to."
Finn's phone began to ring as he cleared his plate. "Hey, Rach… yeah, we're eating dinner now. An hour will be good, yeah. We'll watch whatever you want to watch."
Blaine stood with his plate and nudged Kurt. Kurt stuffed the last bit of his roll into his mouth and stood. "I'm being summoned away."
"Go on." Burt waved them off. "Carole and I will get the dishes in the dishwasher. But you two have to empty it when it's done."
Kurt gave thumbs up and followed Blaine to the sink.
"Want to go get ice cream?" Blaine whispered.
"You just don't want to see Rachel." Kurt rolled his eyes. "I've told you, Blaine. She's a good friend. You're going to have to spend time around her."
"Why can't we spend more time around Mercedes? I actually like spending time with her. She's nice."
"Rachel's nice." Kurt rinsed off his plate and rolled his eyes at Blaine's facial expression. "Don't give me that look. You've only seen her under high stress situations and she's always unbearable in those." Blaine's look did not leave. "Oh, Blaine, she's not that bad."
"She kissed the boy you liked. What kind of good friend does that?" Blaine questioned.
"Do we really want to go there, sweetie? Because you knew I liked you, you didn't want to screw this up, and yet you were perfectly happy to make out with her. Not just once, Blaine, but four times. Finn had to drag you away when it was time to leave."
"I was drunk." Blaine muttered, looking down.
"Blaine, I'm not like you. Everyone loves you. I only have a few close friends and I don't want to lose them."
"Kurt, she doesn't treat you very well. She visited you in the hospital and asked about set lists and costumes for regionals. She—"
"Is my friend." Kurt said firmly. "I appreciate this whole protective thing you're trying to do, but it's really not necessary. You can stay upstairs and work on homework if you really don't want to see her. But it wouldn't kill you to get to know her. I mean, know her without sucking her face."
Blaine rolled his eyes. "I think it will. I don't like her very much."
"Well I didn't like Thad very much either but I didn't go around telling you that." Kurt sighed softly. "I think Blaine's version of the song is better than the original. Puh."
"Hey, I sang that song very well!"
"Of course you did; you always do and Thad always hanged onto your every word. He was in love with you."
Blaine rolled his eyes. "No. I'm sure you're wrong, honey… he had a girlfriend. Are you sure we can't go and get ice cream? It'll be nice… and we can stop at Bed, Bath, and Beyond and look at stuff for our new apartment again… maybe I'll even buy you those plates you wanted." He pushed back some of Kurt's hair and made eye contact.
Please, just say yes. I don't like Rachel; I don't want to see Rachel. I'll buy you a house if you give me an excuse to leave without being rude. I don't handle being rude well and it will be totally obvious why I'm doing homework on a Friday night.
"You are a terrible person, Blaine." Kurt sighed. "Fine but let me change pants. These are way too tight on me right now."
"Do you have to?" Blaine said without even thinking.
"Have to what?" Burt asked coming over with his plate.
"I have to see those plates again. I can't get them out of my mind." Kurt said smoothly as Blaine turned a light shade of pink. Kurt was getting good at this, because Blaine tended to say stuff like that all the time now. It was all of the sexual frustration getting to him. Kurt knew that much because the frustration was getting to him as well.
It was awful. They lived together, they slept together in the same bed, and yet they rarely had sex. It was kind of awkward having sex though. Not the sex itself. That was clearly amazing, considering how much they both thought about it. It was awkward to have sex or to think about it, though, when Kurt's parents slept two rooms down from their bedroom.
"Fine, it's Friday but you two be careful and don't stay out all night. We're getting up early to go look at those apartments. With any luck, we'll have you two a place set up by the end of this weekend. Only then we'll have to worry about furniture. You're an expensive child, Kurt. I don't know what Blaine's going to do if he doesn't go to law school. You'll break the poor kid."
Blaine laughed because he had thought the same thing many times himself. He had been thinking about their future a lot, actually. He guessed it was normal. They were taking the next step, moving in together, in four months.
In just four months, he would be living, alone, in an apartment with Kurt Hummel. They would go to school in the morning, Blaine was going to work around his classes at Kennedy's Book Store and the William T. Young library like last year, Kurt was going to work part time somewhere, and they would come home to each other at night. They would have sex if they wanted without feeling awkward or rushed. They would stay up in the living room and sing loudly with musicals or dance during Dancing with the Stars if they wanted. They would go for walks at two in the morning, make coffee runs in the middle of the night. Then again, they didn't have to do that. They could just cuddle. They could do anything. Because they would be living on their own.
God.
That was really scary, but really exciting. It was definitely more exciting than scary.
Kurt kissed Blaine's cheek. "I'll be right back. I'm going to change."
Blaine kissed his cheek back and nodded. "I'll go heat up the car."
Kurt headed upstairs, humming cheerfully.
"Don't let the kid talk you into buying a lot of stuff. He'll try."
"Oh I know he will." Blaine laughed. "But I'll do anything to not see Rachel Berry."
Burt snorted, patted his shoulder, and went back to clear the rest of the table. Blaine tugged on his jacket and went out to his car, turning the heat on. By the time Kurt finally emerged the car was very toasty and Blaine was singing and dancing along with a Katy Perry song.
"You're never going to grow out of her, are you?" Kurt asked as he hopped into the passenger seat.
"Of course not. If she asked me to marry her, I'd probably say yes."
Kurt rolled his eyes. "Well if that's the case, should I risk losing you and still take you to that Katy Perry concert?"
Blaine, who was about to put the car in drive, turned and stared at his boyfriend. "You're totally joking, right? Right?" He asked worriedly.
"I'm joking, Blaine." Kurt grabbed his hand and squeezed it. "I do wish you'd try to get to know Rachel though… she really likes you."
"I'm sorry that I don't want to be best friends with an arrogant girl who won't even learn my last name. Can we not talk about her? The whole point of leaving was to avoid her."
"Fine, fine." Kurt leaned back against the seat and only let go of Blaine's hand long enough for him to back out of the driveway. Once they had backed out, Blaine held his hand out for Kurt to take and Kurt, of course, did. "So what classes are you taking this summer?"
"Two English classes." He answered. "They're long classes… but I don't know. I'll feel more caught up if I do that. I'm taking the four online and night classes now, two this summer… so I'll really only be two or three classes behind. I may be able to get caught up that way I can give your dad some of that money back."
Kurt played with his fingers, smiling a bit. "Okay."
"Are you excited about CCAD? You know you'll get in. And with that portfolio you've been working on, you'll probably get at least a partial scholarship. It's really amazing, Kurt. You're going to do great."
Kurt's smile grew and he sat up a little straighter. "Thanks… I still can't believe Carole is pregnant! I mean, I guess I shouldn't be that surprised. They're married and all… but a baby… wow. It's going to be so weird, isn't it?"
"You've adjusted well enough to Finn, haven't you? You two sure act like regular siblings. I think it'll be a bit strange at first and you'll probably get jealous all the attention is somewhere else." Blaine turned and flashed him a charming grin.
"I really am the baby, you know?"
"Believe me, I know. Burt has spoiled you rotten. All of those clothes in your closet? A Lincoln Navigator for your sixteenth birthday? My first car was an old Camry."
"Toyota's are awful." Kurt cringed.
"I actually loved it. Her name was Katy."
Kurt rolled his eyes. "Really?"
"Duh." Blaine gave him another grin as he pulled into a parking spot. "But Katy met her demise one day when a deer hit me."
"You hit a deer?"
"No. A deer hit me. I was stopped at a red light and it hit me."
"Was it okay?"
"I guess. It just pranced on. I still don't think Mom and Dad believe me." He snorted a bit and turned the car off, not moving to get out. He felt Kurt's hand squeeze his own. "I'm fine, Kurt. Really."
"Are you sure? I know you don't like thinking about them."
"I'm sure… I'm not changing myself for them. If they can't accept who I am, I don't want to be around them. Besides, I'm very happy right where I'm at. I can't believe we're going to go and look at stuff for an apartment, Kurt. Isn't this insane?"
"It is." Kurt whispered. "What's it like? Living on your own?"
"It's very quiet… and strange. A bit scary at first, too. But it's nice to have that freedom. You can do whatever you want. That's what's nice about it."
"What'd you do when you were home alone? When you weren't reading or doing homework, I mean."
"I laid in bed and read Vogue a lot." He laughed. "And watched ESPN. Sometimes both at the same time."
Kurt gave him a blank look and then shook his head, smiling. "You're so… you."
"Well I'd hope so." Blaine laughed louder this time and opened the car door. "Let's go look around. You can show me that cute baby stuff you were telling Carole about too."
Kurt got out of the car, locked his door, and linked hands with his boyfriend. The two spent three hours looking at the living room section before they finally made it to the baby section. Blaine watched as Kurt got very excited, touching random things and making noises. It was very cute how excited he was to be looking at baby stuff, and it reminded him of that dream he had had. It seemed like that dream was ages ago.
"Think we'll ever have kids?" Kurt suddenly asked, looking up from the stuffed animal he was holding.
"Yes." Blaine's answer was instant. "Yes, Kurt. We will."
Kurt positively beamed. "Great. Because I want a little girl to spoil. I mean, I'm sure I'll spoil this baby. But it's different when it's your own kid, I'm assuming. I really want a little girl."
Blaine leaned over and kissed Kurt gently. "You will have your little girl one day. I promise. I'm going to go to UK and you'll go to CCAD. After you graduate, I will buy you a second puppy to keep Kreacher company while we immerse ourselves even further into the land of learning. Then I'm going to law school and you'll get your Masters in Design somewhere. While in grad school someone totally awesome will discover you and you'll make it big. I'll finish law school and get an excellent job in a huge law firm. We will buy—no, we will build— the absolutely perfect house for us. And it will have a swing on the porch, just like you asked."
"You remember me asking for a porch swing?" Kurt whispered, looking into his eyes.
"I remember everything." Blaine tapped his own head. "It's all the gel. It's got super powers."
"Continue with our life story." Kurt put the stuffed animal down, looped his arm through Blaine's, and began walking.
"Hmm… The house will have a porch swing. The door will be red." Blaine said thoughtfully.
"Hmm. Red." Kurt nodded. "I could live with that. But it has to be the right shade of red. If it's too bright it will be too tacky and if it's too dark it will just look ugly."
"Of course." Blaine nodded in agreement. The more he talked, the more excited he got about his future with Kurt. It was giving his stomach butterflies, but in the best way imaginable. "The house will have three bedrooms. One for us, of course. One for our daughter, and the third will be a guest room that will eventually become the bedroom of one of our children."
"One of? How many are we having?" Kurt questioned, leaning against him.
"Two at least. With you being an amazing designer and me being an awesome lawyer, we'll have plenty of money to go around." Blaine ruffled his hair ("You did not just mess up my hair in public!") and pulled him close. "See? This is a much better way to spend our night than with Rachel Berry."
"Way to ruin that moment." Kurt elbowed him lightly.
"Every moment is perfect when I'm with you." Blaine grinned, watching Kurt's face. He loved how when he said stuff like that Kurt's breath would stop and how his eyes would widen, as if he wasn't even sure Blaine was talking about him. It was weird for Kurt because he'd spent most of his life wanting someone like Blaine, someone who could say breathtaking things like this, someone who actually wanted to be with him. It was hard to believe he had finally found him.
"You're too good for me, you know?" Kurt said finally, resuming their walk. Soon it would be closing time and they would have to leave, but that was okay. They would still be going home with each other.
"You deserve much better than me, Kurt. No one that dated you would ever let you go. Luckily I'm the first gay guy you ever fell in love with or else I'd probably be very lonely right now."
"No." Kurt whispered. "You'd be at Duke playing soccer."
"And having sex with every gay member of the team." He laughed. It was funny, really. And who knows? Maybe he would have. If he was that lonely, that is.
"Don't joke about serious stuff like that. What you went through when you were fifteen and sixteen isn't funny, Blaine."
"I didn't go through anything. I subjected myself to it." Blaine stated, squeezing his hand. "The sex at least."
"It's still not funny. You were very unhappy…" Kurt looked down.
"Maybe you saved me?"
Kurt looked back up at him with bright blue eyes. Blaine loved those eyes. "You were fine before I came. Wes and David were taking good care of you."
"In a sense, I guess… I didn't know how unhappy I really was until you came. I mean, I know there are other gay people at Dalton but I spent most of my time with the Warblers and the soccer team. All of those guys were straight. So it was… I mean, it wasn't bad or anything. Then I met you and you were so adorable. After you left that first day, Wes about killed me."
"Why?"
"For leading the spy right to our 'impromptu' performance… and then not getting your number."
Kurt laughed loudly at that.
"He was all 'A gay kid walks right up to you, you basically impregnate everyone in the room with your eye sex, and then you don't even get his phone number?' He called me a slut for two weeks." Blaine laughed too. "And then he and David argued over who would be the girl, which one of us was taller, and how long we'd know each other before one of us proposed. Wes guessed a week. This all happened in that first night."
"How long did David guess?" Kurt laughed. He hadn't known his visit would have led to such interesting discussion between the Warblers. In fact, he'd been sure all of them, especially the gorgeous and elegant Blaine, would have forgotten about him by dinner time.
"David is convinced that we're going to get engaged within a week of graduating college. He maintains that to this day."
"That's very specific." Kurt stated, leaning against Blaine more as they finally left the store. He snuggled close when Blaine's arm tightened around him, keeping him warm.
"David's like that. He's got his entire life planned out. He's even planned out what classes he's going to take at what semester for his entire college career. Not just undergrad, but graduate too."
"That boy has entirely too much time on his hands. I feel like I can barely plan an entire week."
They reached the car and Kurt stepped out of Blaine's arms and looked at him. Blaine's hazel eyes met his and he smiled. "That's okay. I've already got our lives planned through our first two children's births, at least. That ought to keep us covered for a while."
Kurt leaned over and kissed him softly, bringing his hand to the boy's cheek. Blaine's arms went around his waist and pulled him closer so that their chests were pushed together. Blaine kissed back eagerly, leaning back against his car. Their feverish kiss continued until some boy walking by whistled.
Kurt pulled away sheepishly and bit his lip, blinking down at Blaine. "Whoops?"
Blaine just grinned and kissed his cheek. "It's only ten, so we need something else to do. I vote for going to Wal-Mart and playing with all of the kid toys."
"Only –Only— if you promise—promise—not to fill up a water gun and spray me again like last time."
"That was Finn's idea, not mine! I thought you were going to kill me right then and there. I've never seen you look so mad." Blaine giggled. "Y-you looked like how your dad looks when you t-tell him he's old."
"Get in the car, you." Kurt gently pushed him away. "I'm done with you for right now."
"You love me, Kurt. You're stuck with me forever so you better get used to it." Blaine said cheerfully as he made his way to the driver side of the car. "I really wish I'd bought that water gun when I had the chance last summer."
***WBUCT***
"I can't believe we picked out an apartment. We picked out an apartment."
Burt had gotten out of the car and gone inside a few days after the baby announcement, but Blaine and Kurt still remained buckled up in their seats. Kurt's hands gripped the steering wheel tightly and he stared ahead, eyes wide. "Blaine, we picked out an apartment! We. You and I. Picked out."
"An apartment. I know!" Blaine interrupted him, laughing. "Your excitement is very cute."
Kurt unbuckled his seat belt and pulled his legs under him, facing Blaine. "This is big, Blaine. This is huge. It's like… a big step up. We're like adults now. We're going to be living together in four months. Wow." His blue eyes were still wide and he looked at Blaine, barely blinking.
Blaine smiled at him, making Kurt's stomach do a little flip. Well, he said a little one but it was more like one hundred little ones.
"No. It really puts stuff into perspective, you know?" Kurt sat up a little straighter. "Living on our own is going to be kind of scary, don't you think?"
"It's okay. We'll get a nightlight." Blaine laughed.
"Hey, I'm being serious. You've lived on your own. You boarded at Dalton and had an apartment in the fall. But the longest I've ever been away from home is two weeks. And that didn't go very well. I went with Taylor to this convention when I was eleven. I was crying to come home after the fourth day." Kurt said very seriously. "It's not a very big deal for you to live on your own, but it is for me."
"It's not a big deal for me to move out… but it's a very big deal for me to move out with you." Blaine looked Kurt in the eyes. "It's not only a big step in growing up, Kurt. It's a big deal for us."
And so it was.
Kurt hadn't been thinking about that, though. He had gotten so used to Blaine living with him that he… Well, it was second nature to him. It was completely normal and natural for the two to be moving in together. Now that he did think about it, though, he realized the importance of what they were doing.
"It's going to really change things, isn't it?" Kurt asked softly.
"It'll make us closer… but I'm sure there will be more arguments too… like over all the junk food I bring home from the store when you send me out to get tea—which I will have forgotten to pick up in my excitement over pizza rolls. Or whose day it is to do the dishes and cook. Whose turn it is to clean the bathroom." Blaine whispered, reaching over and putting his hand over Kurt's. "And there will probably be more stress. Working and school, you know. I'm going to try to work it so that I can mainly work around my classes, but that might not always happen… and you'll have to work too and I'm sure you'll spend a lot of Saturdays and Sundays at school finishing projects. Or I'll be up until three in the morning working on a big paper or finishing a huge book. Being tired and stressed out will make things a little tough."
Kurt swallowed and looked out the window. The way Blaine was talking was making him very nervous. He knew Blaine was being realistic, but he'd kind of built it up in his head that outside of school they would just lounge around, kiss, cuddle, and cook. And obviously have as much sex as possible, considering that there was a serious lack of that in their current lives. He knew he'd have to find a job but he didn't think about doing school, work, and doing work for school. Stressing out about making rent payments. And how in the hell did you actually pay bills?
"What?" Blaine whispered. "What's wrong?"
"I guess I hadn't thought it through as well as I thought." Kurt admitted. "I don't even know how to do bills. What if I can't find a job?"
"You'll find a job, babe. Why wouldn't you?" Blaine laughed a bit. "You may not find the most enjoyable job ever, but you'll find one."
"Everything is just so different. I mean… in August I was all excited for my senior year and keeping my GPA up and taking AP French 2 and helping to get New Directions to nationals… but then I was in the hospital for forever and all of this stuff with your parents and applying to schools and my grades aren't as high as I want them… What if I don't even get into CCAD? Mercedes is going to New York near Quinn and Tina and Mike are getting married and everything is just…" He trailed off, not knowing what else to say. Everything was different, everything was changing. He felt like he was thirteen but at the same time felt thirty. Part of him still wanted to go to New York or LA. A very small part, but it was there. He hated the fact that he kept wondering if he'd made the wrong decision.
"Tina and Mike are getting married?" Blaine asked.
"Yeah. I feel like we won't ever get that." Kurt wouldn't meet Blaine's eyes. "My aunts have been together for fifteen years and they're not married. And it's not fair, Blaine. They should be happy."
"This isn't just about Tina and Mike getting married, Kurt."
"No, but it's been bothering me. I'm happy for them and all. But they're my age. Why am I not getting married? Why them? Why not Paige and Taylor?"
Blaine scratched his head and looked out the window, sighing. "I really and truly believe we will get married one day. I know they keep turning it over in states but… but I don't need a signed paper saying we're married, okay? And if we want one, we'll go to Canada and get it."
"We shouldn't have to."
"Well as of now that's how it is. I'm not any happier about it than you are, Kurt… and… can I be honest with you?"
Kurt met his eyes and nodded.
"I wouldn't propose to you."
Kurt took a sharp intake of breath, eyes widening.
"Not at eighteen. Not right now." He grabbed Kurt's hand. "I think that marriage is… is special."
"What, am I no—"
"Let me finish." Blaine said firmly. "It's special. And so many people are just going around and getting married for whatever reason. Not because they're in love. I think two people should be together for a while before they get married. People should have to work for that, because otherwise it isn't as special anymore. I'm not saying Mike and Tina won't last… but I'm saying that when I propose to you, I want to know we'll last. I want to know that there is nothing else in the world that will make us happier. I know I want to be with you forever, Kurt. And I know that one day, when you least expect it, I'm going to propose to you. And it's going to be just as special, if not more special, than it would be if I did it right now. I want our marriage to be as special as you are."
Kurt nodded, but he still felt irrationally jealous of his friends. "Blaine, I couldn't be with anyone else. You're perfect for me."
"You'll never be with anyone else. I promise." Blaine reached over and hugged him, stroking his hair. "I promise. In a few years I'm going to propose to you. It's going to take your breath away, Kurt, and we'll get married and we'll have babies and puppies and kittens and a porch swing."
Kurt gave a quiet laugh. "You're really set on that porch swing, aren't you?"
"I want you to have everything you want, Kurt. You deserve everything that you want. You—." Blaine trailed off and let go of Kurt as a police car pulled up into the driveway next to them.
"What?" Kurt turned around and his eyebrow arched.
"Come on, let's get out." Blaine opened the door as Kurt turned the car off. "Hello."
Kurt got out of the car also, feeling his stomach knot up. He recognized the two officers. He had given them his statement back in October.
"Hi, Kurt. We wondered if we could talk to you inside? This won't take very long."
Kurt felt Blaine move next to him, grabbing his hand. His hand squeezed Blaine's nervously. "F-Fine, yeah."
He led them into the house. "Dad!"
Carole, who was on the couch reading, looked up and her eyes widened. "Burt, come in here!"
"Can't I even use the bathroom without someone needing so— Oh. What's going on?"
The tallest officer, a young man, shook Burt's hand. "How are you, Burt?"
"I'm fine. What's going on?" Burt moved to stand by Kurt, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"There was another attack last night. In the same place as your son's." He turned his attention to Kurt. "It was three middle aged men. They were caught in the act. They've been arrested."
Kurt's eyes widened in shock.
"Excellent. So they're locked up?" Burt asked.
"It's… it's not that easy. When they were pursued, the attack had just started. There's no doubt that these aren't the men that did this to your son and those other kids, but… as of now, we can only get them on assaulting a minor… Kurt, would you be able to recognize them?"
Kurt had let go of Blaine's hand and was hugging himself, feeling sick to his stomach. "N-no. I didn't really see their faces. It was really dark."
"Could you recognize their voices? This is very important. Unfortunately, it could be very easy for these men to get out on this lesser charge. Two of the other victims will not testify. The other one is… well, physically unable to. If we have your case, Kurt… the men who physically harmed you would be charged with Menacing in the Second Degree. That's a Class E Felony." The man spoke very softly. "There's a big chance that, just with you confirming it's their voices, you won't even have to be at the trial."
"What's a Class E Felony?" Burt questioned, hand squeezing Kurt's shoulder so hard that it was almost painful. "What does this mean for Kurt?"
"These men attacked 5 teens. A Class E Felony means imprisonment for up to 15 years and for each attack they made there will be an additional 2 years added on. These men could be put away for 25 years." The other police officer explained. "And they need to be put away. The kid who was attacked right after your son is still in a coma."
Kurt's chest was very tight and he continued to hug himself. "I gave a statement though. Isn't that enough?"
"Your statement doesn't link those men to your attack."
"I don't want to see them." Kurt's voice came out sounding very high. "I don't want to see them."
"Kurt…" Carole said softly.
"No. This is my choice. I'm 18 and I don't want to see them again."
"You can put these men away, Kurt." Burt said gently. "For 25 years. That's not enough for what they did to you, but…"
"I don't want to see them. I don't want to see them. I don't want to see them."
Burt steered Kurt into the kitchen.
"No, Dad. No." Kurt whispered, voice shaking.
"Kurt, stop." Burt said gruffly, putting his hands on Kurt's shoulders and looking at him. "Kurt, you're an adult now and I'm going to be very honest with you."
Kurt's lip began to tremble and he stared out the window.
"These people almost killed you, Kurt. They destroyed your computer, your phone. But most importantly, they destroyed you. I know that things are just starting to get back to normal but… but you've got to stand up against this. I told you that these men were going to pay for what they did, kid, and they are. They're going to pay for your bills, for your suffering, and they are going to rot in jail. But you are the only one who can do it to them. I can't do this for you."
"Please, no." Kurt shook his head and gasped for breath, feeling his entire body begin to shake. "No, Daddy. I can't."
"Yes. You can. The man said you probably wouldn't even have to testify, Kurt."
"I don't want to see them. I don't want to know what they look like. I don't want to have faces in my nightmares, Dad." Kurt began to cry. "I don't want to do it."
"You are a very strong person and you know that sometimes we have to do stuff that we don't want to do." Burt pulled him into a hug. "These men need to be in jail, Kurt. For a very long time. Don't you want to put them there?"
"No. No, I don't." His cries turned into sobs. "I can't do it. I can't. I won't. No. I can't. "
Burt moved and he felt different arms wrapping around him. He buried his face in Blaine's chest and sobbed helplessly, fingers wrapping around his shirt in the same way they had when he'd cried after Blaine had told him he would stay in Ohio instead of going back to UK. Blaine whispered soothing noises in his ear, kissed the side of his face, and rocked him gently. "It's okay, my love… it's okay. Shh. Calm down, babe."
"I can't." He sobbed.
"You can so calm down." He whispered, rocking him back and forth. "If you only heard their voices you wouldn't even have to see them, per se. They would take you in a room with one of those mirrors. The lights on the other side would be turned off, but you'd still be able to hear them. You wouldn't have to see them, honey. You would just have to tell the officer whose voice you recognized."
Kurt gasped for breath, trying to calm himself.
"They wouldn't see you. They don't even know your name, so you don't need to be scared." Blaine continued, hugging him close. "Your dad and I will be right in there with you."
"What i-i-if I have to testify?"
"Honey, they'll probably plea out for some kind of deal. They won't want a trial slandering their name. They'll probably go before a judge and be sentenced."
Kurt's hand did not let go of Blaine's shirt. He cried for several more minutes into his boyfriend's shoulder. He had hoped this wouldn't come. Especially not now, with everything starting to fall back into place. He was about to graduate, go to college, move into his own apartment with the most amazing person he had ever known. The attack had been five months ago. He had thought that meant the men would not be caught, that he could move on for good.
"Shh, my love. It's okay. You're okay. Shh." Blaine rocked him slowly, pressing kisses to the side of his face every so often.
Kurt could feel his father's eyes on them, but that wasn't important. He was too upset to feel awkward. He just needed to be held and comforted because he was about to have to do something that he had dreaded for five months. Something he didn't want to do, but knew he had to. His father was right. He had to help the police put those men in jail.
"I know I h-have to but I really don't want to." Kurt whimpered.
"Of course you don't have to." Blaine whispered. "But you should. You'll regret it if you don't… Put these men away, Kurt."
He gave a small nod into Blaine's chest, signaling he would go with the police; his fist clutched Blaine's shirt tighter if that was even possible.
He heard footsteps as Burt went to consult with the two police officers.
"D-D-Don't l-leave me. Don't g-g-go." Kurt clung to Blaine.
"Never. I'm right here, baby. I'm not going to leave your side even to go to the bathroom." Blaine pulled him closer and stroked his hair.
"Whenever you're ready we're going to go down there, kid." Burt said gruffly, coming back into the kitchen. "But take your time."
"We need a few minutes." Blaine said softly, hugging Kurt closer. "It's going to be okay, Kurt. I promise. Here, let's get you some water."
He moved them towards the sink and filled one handedly filled a glass of water.
Kurt sipped the water, feeling a bit better Blaine still had a hold of him and he leaned on his boyfriend. Suddenly the fact that he wasn't engaged didn't matter so much. That was right. Life always had to come and knock some sense into him. He watery hiccoughed, hand clutching Blaine's. "L-Let's get this over with. Before I c-change my mind."
Blaine set the glass in the sink, kissed him gently, and steered him from the room.