"You've missed the last two Friday Night Dinners, Blaine. You can't cancel again. I don't care who they have to call in. It's not your responsibility and it's not even in your availability." Kurt said into his cell phone. He was sitting at his dad's desk in the main office, holding his phone to his ear with his shoulder and he cut his sandwich in two. He was talking to Blaine, of course, who was trying to get out of dinner again. The only other person in the room was Jeff, one of his mechanics who Kurt had now known for years. Jeff seemed too preoccupied with Angry Birds, though, to pay any attention to Kurt and his phone conversation with his boyfriend.
"They asked me to work." Blaine sighed. Kurt could hear loud chattering in the background and knew he must be getting out of one of his classes.
Kurt could feel himself getting annoyed. It started in his stomach and worked it's way throughout his entire body. It wasn't fair that Blaine kept ditching the dinners. He knew Blaine wasn't doing it to hurt his feelings, but it did. It also wasn't fair that the people Blaine worked with kept asking him to work for them, either. Blaine lived out of state. Why did they think he wanted to prolong his drive any longer? Did they just not care what time Blaine got at home at night?
It wasn't just that, though, although Kurt would never admit it. Yes, he hated that people were taking advantage of Blaine. But the real reason that Kurt got so upset was a more selfish reason. He couldn't help it, though. He'd matured, he really had. He would never admit the real reason he got so upset.
And that reason was that he was having trouble adjusting to college. He hated that he'd had to adjust to so many things within the past two years. He missed his family and friends. He tried to not feel jealous of Rachel and Mercedes, who were off having the time of their lives in New York. New York was beside the point though. Well, mostly. Kurt was overwhelmed with more school work than he felt like he could handle. He was exhausted from driving so much on an almost daily basis. He felt like he barely had time to eat and he hadn't used his moisturizers in eight days.
He was overwhelmed and unhappy. When he spent time with Blaine, it felt a little better because he remembered why he hadn't gone to New York, where he could just live on campus, walk places, and take classes with Mercedes while meeting Rachel on weekends. He was reminded why the long drive was worth it—because at night, he got to lie next to Blaine Anderson. Because when he woke up, Blaine sometimes left him sweet notes by the coffee maker or, even better, already had his coffee made for him. He truly loved living with Blaine.
Lately, though, he hadn't seen a whole lot of Blaine. The two were too preoccupied with school work. Kurt's new best friend was his sketchbook and Blaine's new best friend was his laptop, which he was always hastily typing essays and analyses on. Their quality time was muffled hellos and goodbyes, ransacking the entire house looking for Blaine's homework assignment that had been "right there" two minutes ago, and bickering over whose turn it was to pick up the living room—which had remained tidy until about mid-September when the school work got a little harder and the free time got a lot less abundant.
Kurt knew he was about to act irrationally, but he couldn't help it. The more time he went without quality time from Blaine, the more upset and stressed out he got. It was becoming hard to handle, it really was, but he had no idea how to even bring that up to his boyfriend.
"No. You can't. Blaine, you can't. Dad and Carole starting to think something is wrong."
"Why would my working on Friday mean something is wrong? They don't think that." Blaine laughed. "You're just paranoid, Kurt."
Paranoid? No. If the roles had been reversed and it had been Carole who suddenly stopped showing up for dinners, Kurt would have been concerned. He knew what his father and stepmother were thinking. He would have been thinking the same thing to.
This was exactly why Kurt didn't try to talk about how he was feeling. Because Blaine would write it off in the same way he'd written off Kurt's previous statement, stating he was being paranoid. They'd been fine on communication before. They had been making progress. With school in the way, Kurt felt like they'd taken ten leaps back.
"No, I'm not being paranoid." Kurt hissed, well aware that Jeff was now glancing at him curiously. He really should have waited for Jeff to be done with his lunch before deciding to go on his own. Then again, he hadn't thought he'd be arguing with Blaine over his lunch either. "If you don't show up, Blaine, I'll be so pissed. You haven't seen Melody in three weeks. She's laughing now!"
He heard Blaine sigh again, mutter a friendly "excuse me" to someone, and then heard rustling as he switched ears. "Fine. I'll tell them I can't do it."
"If you would rather spend all night at a bookstore and not with family, then you just do that." Kurt snapped, well aware that just contradicted him telling Blaine he had to come moments before. He had to learn to not check his text messages when he went on breaks. Especially lately. Arguing with Blaine over the same thing every Friday only added to his huge pile of stress. When he was arguing, he couldn't string together a single coherent thought and ended up contradicting himself. It was exhausting.
"Kurt…" Blaine sighed. He could picture Blaine doing that thing where he closed his eyes, as if annoyed or upset, and then reopened them. "Kurt, I'll be there."
"No. If you don't want to come, then I don't want you to come."
Maybe it was irrational to get so upset. But was it too much to ask that they have one night they were guaranteed together? Kurt sure didn't think so. It was the beginning of October, meaning it had almost been a year since Kurt was attacked. The boys were constantly preoccupied, but until October Friday had been their day. Kurt went to work, Blaine went to school. They spent time together during the dinner and then, after driving back in their separate cars, they would curl up on the couch and get caught up on their DVR. They would often fall asleep together on the couch and remain there until one of them woke up in the middle of the night and got both of them into bed. Kurt wanted those Fridays back.
Now on Fridays, Blaine worked until six and got home at eight. Kurt usually made it home around nine or ten because he found it nearly impossible to put Melody down—anyone would (and did) have the same problem, though, because she was so adorable. Melody was the sweetest and happiest little baby you would ever see and Kurt still maintained the mind set that his little sister was perfection. By the time Kurt made it home, he had always forgotten all about his Post-Melody-Visit Contentment and he would be so irritated with Blaine that he would shut himself in their bedroom and sketch all night until he fell asleep alone.
Sure, he would always feel better when he woke up and realized he was in his pajamas even though he definitely hadn't fallen asleep in them. He would curl under the warm covers and feel little butterflies in his stomach when he saw his sketchbook closed on the desk and a glass of water on the nightstand, just in case. Unfortunately, and probably because of all of the stress, Kurt found himself waking up more frequently to long coughing fits that required the water. And sure, he'd feel even better when he realized he was pressed close to Blaine, who had gotten into the habit of sleeping late on the weekends since he woke up so damn early Monday through Friday.
But at that moment it didn't matter that in the morning Kurt would feel better, believing Blaine when he said he'd "definitely be there next Friday." Because the following Friday it always came back to the same old thing. This. And Kurt didn't like this. Kurt was sick of this. He needed that. He needed what they'd had two months ago.
"It's not that I don't want to come, Kurt. They just need someone to pick up a shift."
"No. They're taking advantage of you because they know you'll do it. You're too nice. There are tons of other people who work there that actually, oh, you know, live in the state of Kentucky." Kurt whispered harshly.
"Kurt, they aren't taking advantage of me. You don't understand. Ever since Sarah had to leave to take care of her grandmother—."
Kurt had heard this before, but was completely uninterested. It wasn't that he was heartless. It was that Blaine was a pushover. It was that the argument was always exactly the same, just another name taking care of another situation. Kurt had been in the bookstore with Blaine once, the day after what would have been his senior prom had he gone. There had been several employees working at the bookstore. It wasn't like they didn't have people. "Well I'm glad a bookstore means more to you than your boyfriend. Goodbye."
"Would you stop with the guilting?" Blaine snapped. "It's getting really old."
Kurt spoke a little louder, becoming angrier. It wasn't fair that he had to argue in order to spend time with the boy he lived with. It didn't seem right. "You throw a fit so I can only work one day a week but you work two jobs five days a week and one whole Saturday a month? Maybe when you start making this an equal relationship, I won't have to guilt you into spending time with me and my family—our family!"
"I want to spend time with you!" Blaine's voice began to rise, but he lowered it almost instantly. "I'm not going to fight with you over the phone, Kurt. This is ridiculous. You're acting like an immature brat."
"You're such a hypocrite, Blaine. I miss you. I want to spend time with you. Don't work so much. Maybe I'll go get a full time job and see how you like it. Oh, wait, I did. And you made me quit!"
"You can't work that much. Your lun—."
Kurt pushed the "End Call" button, threw his phone into his father's desk, and left the office. He was well aware of the fact that Jeff watched him go, looking extremely confused. He was also well aware that he was hungry, that his lunch wasn't over for another twenty minutes, but that he was now too upset to even think about eating. If there was one thing he hated, it was that Blaine always used his health and his lung against him when they argued about stuff like this.
And if they were in a position where they didn't need money, why did Blaine insist on working so damn much? Or was he really just that much of a pushover? Yes, he was. And it drove Kurt crazy. Crazy, crazy, crazy, fucking crazy.
The phone to the garage rang and, after several seconds, Burt carried it to Kurt, looking confused. "It's Blaine, kiddo. He said you weren't answering your cell phone."
The immediate thought was to tell his father to tell Blaine exactly where he could shove his phone call, but then Burt would know they were arguing. So he grabbed the phone and, in a controlled voice, spoke. "Hello?"
"Kurt, why did you hang up on me?" He heard Blaine sigh.
"Blaine, I'm at work."
"At your dad's fu—freaking garage. You can stop going through paper work and changing oil for two minutes. I thought you said you were on lunch."
Kurt carried the phone out into the parking lot, holding the door open for a customer and then walking towards his car so he wouldn't be overheard. "Don't come."
"I just called and told them I couldn't cover it."
"No. Do it."
"You drive me freaking batty!"
Normally he might have thought it was cute. He had just been thinking that Blaine drove him crazy and now Blaine was saying Kurt drove him batty. They were so alike in ways that it wasn't even funny. But he was still too annoyed to find his adorable boyfriend adorable, and shrugged off the thought. There were other times for thinking about Blaine and his debatable adorableness. In the middle of an argument was not one.
"I drive you batty? Do you know what it's like living with you every single day?"
"Oh, real mature, Kurt. Act your fucking age."
Kurt heard a dial tone and scoffed, quickly dialing his boyfriend's phone number. He probably should have been concerned with the fact that Blaine was actually cussing, which he only did when he was incredibly annoyed. But he couldn't seem to find it in him to care because he was annoyed too. He hadn't properly spent time with his boyfriend in weeks, and then Blaine thought he could hang up on him? Never mind that Kurt just hung up on Blaine two minutes ago. It was expected from Kurt—he was the dramatic one. Well, more so than Blaine, at least. The second Blaine picked up he spoke, not even giving Blaine a chance to say hello. "Don't you dare hang up on me!"
"Then don't be a bitch!"
"Now I'm going to hang up on you, you short curly haired brat! And I'm not a bitch!"
Kurt pushed "End Call" again and walked into the garage.
"What was that about? Was he in a wreck or something?" Burt grunted, looking up from the truck he was working on. The tone in his father's voice, though, showed that he didn't really think Blaine had been in a wreck. He just wanted information without having to directly ask for it, the sneaky man.
"I wish he'd get in a wreck so he couldn't drive to work." Kurt mumbled to himself, and then shook his head and spoke so his father could hear. "No. Everything is fine."
"Ah. You're mad at him. Poor kid."
Kurt shot a look at Jeff, who was off of his break and back in the main part of the garage. "You have such a huge mouth."
"Well you peed in my car when you were five." Jeff retorted.
"Maybe if you hadn't let me drink all that juice like Mom told you, my bladder wouldn't have exploded."
"Maybe if you weren't so spoiled, you wouldn't have thrown a fit for all that juice."
"Kurt, Jeff, shut up!" Another mechanic said from across the room, looking up from a Toyota.
"It's pointless, Harry." Burt said, looking up. "This has been going on since I hired Jeff when Kurt was four. It's their way of bonding."
"It's their way of being annoying." The other mechanic, Harry, mumbled as he returned to his work.
"This is what I get for hiring a nineteen year old fifteen years ago." Burt sighed.
"Not nineteen anymore, Boss!" Jeff said, heading back into the office.
"You just had a lunch! Where are you going?"
"Now it's my fifteen minute on the clock break, Boss!"
"Kurt, change the oil in that Chevy over there, will ya?" Burt sighed. "I need new employees."
…
"So… is he still mad at me?" Blaine asked, shifting his weight back and forth onto each leg.
"If grumbling how he needs to change his Facebook status to single means mad, then yes. He goes through deactivating his Facebook and re-activating it more than anyone I know." Finn said cheerfully, grinning and holding the door open for Blaine. "You didn't have to knock, you know. I never do."
Blaine shrugged, glancing back to make sure he had turned his car lights off, and stepped into the house. Finn had barely closed the door before Carole rushed into the room wiping her hands on her apron. She wrapped her arms around him in a big hug that warmed his heart. He had really missed Kurt's stepmother. They still talked on the phone occasionally, but nothing beat Carole's hugs. "Hello, Carole."
"Hi, hon!" She gave him a tight squeeze and then stepped back, ruffling his hair. "You're in very big trouble. You know the rules in this house."
"Huh?"
"No missing Friday Night Dinners unless it's school related." Carole and Finn both said together.
"But—work—and—."
They both repeated, at the same time, "No missing Friday Night Dinners unless it's school related."
"But—oh, okay." Blaine said, a little embarrassed. Of course he'd heard this, but he thought it more applied to Kurt than himself. He didn't think they'd really mind if he missed the dinners, but apparently they did. He mumbled an almost shy, "Sorry."
"You better be, kid." Burt grunted, coming in through the front door behind him. He flashed Blaine a pleased grin. "I hear Kurt's not very pleased with you. Good luck. I love when he's angry at someone that isn't me."
Carole rolled her eyes, letting out an exasperated sigh. "You're awful."
"I had my fill of Kurt fits when he was little. You can't blame me for being glad his anger is aimed at someone else, Carole. I don't think you understand a Kurt fit. You haven't seen very many. Kid can be downright spiteful."
"Sure can." Blaine muttered.
"Oh, you don't even know the half of it, bud." Burt laughed. "Why do you think he's spoiled rotten?"
"This is true." Blaine gave a sigh, switching his keys from one hand to the other. He hoped this argument wouldn't last. Maybe Kurt would be so happy that Blaine showed up that he'd forget all about it. Doubtful, but who knew? Stranger things had happened.
"Have you had your oil changed recently? You and Kurt both drive your cars a lot and you need to make you sure stay on top of that." Burt asked, after hearing the jangle of the keys. "I meant to ask you the last time I saw you but I forgot."
"Er… It's been a while but think it's fine." Blaine shrugged. He didn't really think about it too much.
Burt took his car keys from him without even asking, turned right back around, and went out the front door muttering, "These three boys not keeping up with their cars are going to kill me."
"Blaine's just getting in trouble all over the place." Finn grinned. "I'm glad it's not me."
Carole ruffled Finn's hair. "Give it time, sweetie."
"I almost dread saying this but—." Blaine began.
"In his bedroom, with Melody." Carole answered, gesturing at the stairs.
"Melon Head." Finn corrected.
"Finn, you cannot go around and call my baby Melon Head." Carole sighed, giving Blaine a look.
"If I start this early, though, she might think it's her name. That'd be so awesome."
Carole covered her face as she shook her head. "Burt's right. You boys are going to kill us. Go on up there, Blaine. Maybe since he has Melody—"
"Melon Head."
"Finn! Maybe since he has Melody, he'll go a little easier on you."
"Not easier." Blaine sighed, standing up straight. "Just quieter with more mean looks."
"Don't know how you do it, dude. Living alone with Kurt and putting up with his attitude?" Finn said. "It'd drive me crazy."
"I could say the same thing about you and Rachel." Blaine muttered.
"Oh, I love Rachel!" Carole gasped. "Do you not like her? Why not? She's just the tiniest little thing. And she's very goal oriented. She balances Finn out nicely."
"And she's hot." Finn added, putting his hands in his pockets. Blaine resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Only Finn would come right out and say that. (Wes probably would too, but that was okay.) "They don't get along well, mom."
"I thought you two went out on a date and had a nice time." Carole said, looking puzzled. "And you and Kurt always went to dinner with her and Mercedes when you two first started dating."
Blaine shrugged, feeling rather awkward. The truth? Well, he didn't have a completely justified reason to not like her, per se. The more time he spent with her, though, he just liked her less. At first it had been okay, but the more and more she said rude things, the less he liked her. And then, right before he had went to UK's orientation about a month after his graduation, and she asked when he was going to get it over with and dump Kurt already when Kurt went to use the bathroom, well that had been that. Sure, Blaine was overly sensitive. This wasn't news to anybody. And yes, Kurt was right and sometimes you just had to look past stuff she said to see the better person… but Blaine didn't have a whole lot of patience. He didn't know how to explain this, so he just shrugged again. "Yeah, it was alright."
Carole ruffled his curly hair. "Go on and find Kurt, hon. Tell him dinner will be ready in about fifteen minutes, okay?"
"Okay." Blaine smiled at her, made his way up the familiar stairs and headed to the end of the hallway, where Kurt's room was. The door was open and he could hear Kurt talking to Melody in a gentle voice. She made cooing noises, but every once in a while she'd let out an adorable loud giggle and then shriek. Every time she did this, Kurt would start laughing loudly, making her giggle turn into a full out laugh—which Blaine thought was absolutely adorable.
Blaine stood there, listening to the two for a few minutes with a silly smile on his face and wondering if Kurt would be so cute with their baby, before hesitantly walking into the room. "Hey."
Kurt, who was lying on the bed with Melody next to him, looked up at him. He didn't say anything, just stared at him. Blaine could see the contentment in his face quickly turn to irritation and he braced himself. Yes, Kurt was still mad.
"You're going to at least say hello, right?" Blaine made his way to the bed, sitting on the edge and scooping Melody up. "Hello there, pumpkin."
Melody let out a string of baby babble, green eyes wide and excited. She was very friendly around most people, and Blaine was definitely included in this category. Carole had even joked that she thought Blaine was Melody's favorite because whenever he walked into a room, no matter who was holding her, she'd always grin just a little bigger. Blaine thought she was just excitable period, but he did like the idea of Melody truly getting as excited to see him as she was to see Kurt or Finn. It made him feel like he really belonged in the family.
"I wasn't sure if you were even going to come." Kurt finally mumbled over his little sister's coos.
"I told you I was coming."
"Yeah, you've said that for three weeks."
Blaine sighed, kissing Melody's chubby and rosy cheek. "I told my boss I couldn't do the Fridays anymore. He said he'd find someone else to do them."
"Fine."
Blaine got the trademark fine? Uh oh, maybe he really was in so much trouble that holding an adorable baby wouldn't get him of it.
He sighed again and smiled at Melody. "You've gotten so big, girlie."
She looked at the door and shrieked again as her father walked into the bedroom, not even bothering to knock on the door.
"Who's got daddy's girl?" He asked, coming over. "Has Blaine stolen you away?"
"Yep. We're taking her home to Cinci with us." Blaine laughed.
"I know you like Blaine, Mellie, but I don't know that you should be around him. I think he's a bad influence. He doesn't seem to think he has to follow the family rules. And that's very bad."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! It won't happen again!" Blaine exclaimed. He really hadn't thought anyone would even notice or care, but apparently they had—seeing as everyone had made sure to comment about it. It did make him feel guilty, but it also made him secretly very happy that his absence had been noticed—that Kurt's family wanted him there. It was so different from everything he was used to, but he was slowly getting used to it.
"Better not." Burt grunted, pointing a finger at him. "Or we'll make you both come back home and live here. Does the idea of driving eight hours a day every day sound appealing to you, kiddo?"
"Not so much." Blaine laughed, bending down and kissing the top of Melody's head. He wiggled her a bit as she stared at him, a big grin plastered on her face. "Aw, she's so cute!"
"No, she's rotten." Burt grinned and scooped her up. "Daddy's gonna get you some mashed sweet potatoes and then we'll get you all cleaned up. Hopefully Kurt won't kill Blaine before dinner."
Kurt rolled his eyes as his father left and then sighed softly.
"Aw, Kurt, come on…" Blaine sighed and scooted closer to him, so their arms were touching. "Don't be that way. I'm here now. And we have all weekend to spend together."
"Actually, we have all weekend to spend on homework."
Blaine rested his head on Kurt's chest, draping an arm around him. He didn't know what to say, so he remained silent.
Kurt ran his fingers through his curly hair, lips pursed together. He was still mad, but the fact that he wasn't sighing or huffing meant that he was less angry than before. "It's weird, being back in this room."
"Hmm, I don't know." Blaine shrugged, making himself more comfortable. He tilted his head up, stuck his lower lip out in an adorable pout, and attempted to make puppy dog eyes. "Are you done being mad at me yet?"
Kurt rolled his eyes. "Stop being cute. It makes it hard to be upset."
Blaine leaned up, kissing Kurt's cheek. "I'm always cute."
"Says who?"
"Only everybody." This time Blaine rolled his eyes, and scoffed.
"If ever anybody has any doubt your gay, Blaine, all they need to do is see you do that."
Blaine just laughed, kissing his cheek again. "Was it cute?"
"No. I'm still mad at you."
Blaine kissed his other cheek. "How about now?"
"Still mad." Kurt said, but it was very obvious he was fighting a smile.
"How about now?" Blaine kissed his nose.
"Yes, Blaine."
Blaine pressed their lips together, placing his hands on either side of Kurt's face to keep him in place. After several seconds he pulled away. "Now?"
"Oh God, Blaine, shut up." The younger boy laughed, wrapping his arms around Blaine and giving him a big squeeze. "You're so hard to handle sometimes."
Blaine grinned goofily at him, leaning back up to kiss his cheek again.
"Oh, are you two doing that?" Finn asked from the doorway. "Never mind. I'll come back."
"No, we're not doing that. We have self-control enough to not go at it when we're left in a room alone for ten minutes." Kurt sighed, ruffling Blaine's hair one last time and then sitting up straight. "What did you want?"
"Finally got Blaine's birthday present. Well, you know. The season tickets." Finn said, reaching into his pocket and pulling several tickets out. "Just in time for the season."
"Thanks, Finn!" Blaine said happily, eagerly reaching for them. "I can't wait!"
"Thank god Dad is going with you and not me." Kurt mumbled. To him, it was just one more day of the week that he wouldn't get to see his boyfriend. "I was hoping you three had forgotten about those."
"As if." Blaine scoffed again, placing the tickets in a neat pile on Kurt's bedside table. "The first game is Saturday?"
"You bet." Finn grinned, almost sheepishly. "I'm playing."
"That's awesome, Finn! Are you all any good this season? 'Cause you better be. We were slaughtered last season."
"We could be better, we—."
"Oh God. I had to spend my entire childhood listening to this. Am I really going to have to hear it until I die?" Kurt interrupted, standing.
"I love football." Was Blaine's only response.
"I know, honey. I'm going to go and help Carole set up for dinner."
"What he means is he's going to go steal Melon Head while mom sets up for dinner." Finn declared as Kurt left the room.
"Her name is Melody!" Kurt called from the hall.
"Really, Finn? You really are going to call her Melon Head on a daily basis so she'll think it's her name?" Blaine laughed, shaking his head after blinking several times at his boyfriend's older stepbrother. He adored Finn, he really did. But some of the things the boy did were questionable.
"I don't see what's so wrong with it." Finn shrugged. "Who wouldn't want a name like Melon Head?"
***WBUCT***
Two weeks had passed since the almost missed Friday Night Dinner, but things had not looked up that much for the boys. They were still knee deep in sketches and readings. They were still constantly bickering over who would do what chore. And they still missed spending time together. But sometimes, like now, it was just hard.
"I don't have time, Blaine."
Blaine crawled onto the couch and into Kurt's lap, kissing down his boyfriend's neck. It was chilly outside and he could practically feel the heat radiating off of the younger boy's body. This was particularly enjoyable because Blaine had just gotten home from a long day of classes, the heater in his car wasn't working as well as he would have liked it to (of course, something else to go wrong), and Blaine was just short of freezing.
"I don't have time, Blaine." Kurt repeated, a little louder. It was useless, though. Blaine wasn't giving in that easy. He was too cold and deprived. All he wanted was snuggles, and perhaps a make out session too. Was that really such a large request? He didn't think so.
"Always time for love." Blaine murmured into Kurt's soft, pale skin.
"I'll have to love you from afar then. I've got to have the sketch done. You know it's Azari's class and that's the only one that the stupid Davis kid and I are tied in."
"What?" Blaine looked up from his Kurt's neck, eyebrow raised. He tried to not be a little annoyed that Kurt was essentially trying to reject him when five days ago it was Kurt pestering him for sex while Blaine had actually been working on something that was due the next day. Blaine knew for a fact that Kurt didn't have any assignments due the next day. He'd checked his planner the night before.
"Alec." Kurt said impatiently. "You know? Public enemy number one?"
"So he's the favorite in two classes. You're the favorite in two as well. Get over it." Blaine shrugged and returned his lips to his boyfriend's neck. He didn't see the big deal if someone was better than Kurt in two classes. There were probably people better than him in every single class that he was taking at UK and it didn't bother him one bit. As long as his grades were good, Blaine didn't care what other people got.
Kurt gave an annoyed sigh, the one he did when Blaine 'just didn't get it'. There was apparently a lot Blaine didn't get, something that came up in a lot of their recent discussions. "No. Azari's fashion illustration class is the only one that we're neck and neck in, Blaine. I am going to do this project better if it kills me."
"No death. Just kisses. Give me kisses." Blaine whined, well aware he probably sounded like a whiny teenager. How could you date a human being as beautiful as Kurt Hummel and not want to kiss him though? That was like a human not wanting air.
"Blaine, you don't understand. He's the best in Figure Drawing and 3D Design. I'm the best in Patterns and Drawing 1. I've got to be the best in Fashion Illustration. We're in five classes together. I have to be the best."
"But you are the best, babe. Your sketches are amazing, your grades are amazing…you're amazing. Amazing and gorgeous. That makes you better by default."
"Just—a few more lines, I promise, and we'll spend time together or something. Go read a book." Kurt muttered distractedly, trying to push Blaine off of him.
"Or something? Fine." Blaine rolled off, scowling. If he'd thought getting sex in Lima was hard, getting sex in Cincinnati lately was twice as hard. Maybe Kurt just didn't like sex anymore and needed to look for excuses. Or maybe Kurt was really still mad at him for almost missing Friday Night Dinner two weeks ago. He stood, tugged off his old Dalton hoodie and shot Kurt a look. "I'm beginning to think you need to have a relationship with that sketchbook, since it's the only thing you ever touch lately."
"Excuse me?" Kurt scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring up at his boyfriend—but he looked like he felt guiltier more than anything, really.
"Oh, you heard me, pretty thing." Blaine's expression softened and he leaned over, kissing the top of Kurt's head.
"You think I'm pretty?" Kurt said, intentionally making his voice higher. He couldn't hide how his lips curved upward in a small smile. Teasing or not, it always gave him butterflies when Blaine called him pretty or beautiful. He didn't feel he was either of those things, but it was nice to hear them from someone as gorgeous as his boyfriend.
"Nah. I just tell you you're beautiful every morning because I want in your pants. Not that I'm getting there very much since you started classes. At least July and the beginning of August was fun." Blaine shrugged, smirking. He then added, "Whatcha gonna do about it, Hummel?"
"Tell my daddy."
"Uh oh, we don't want that. He might pull out a shot gun on me." Blaine carefully picked Kurt's sketchbook up and sat it down, just out of his reach. He made sure to stand in front of it, too, so Kurt wouldn't have the opportunity to dive for it (the boy was fast) and run off. He'd learned his lesson after last time. "It's Tuesday. Your Fashion Illustration class is Thursday. We are going to go to our room and spend some time together, alright? Besides, the American Idol auditions are coming on soon and you know I love those. Nothing is more fun than making fun of people who think they can sing but can't."
"But—" Kurt said, struggling to reach past Blaine to retrieve his beloved sketchbook.
"But nothing, Hummel. Get that skinny ass up."
"You don't understand."
"I understand that this spending more time together works both ways. I'm not working Fridays anymore and am attempting to take classes less days next semester so we have more nights together. You've got to change a little too. And that means not staying up until two in the morning sketching and then getting up early to go to school. I worry about you only getting four hours of sleep a night and driving that far. Also, your only real break is an hour and a half long. The other breaks are ten minutes between classes."
Kurt pointedly looked away, looking even guiltier.
"Kurt, you're doing too much." Blaine leaned down and kissed his forehead. "Please. If you're going to continue to take so many classes, promise me you'll at least get to bed at a decent hour… Sometimes I think you even forget to eat."
He took Kurt's lack of rebuttal as confirmation. His suspicions had been right. He didn't want Kurt to feel bad or anything. He just wanted Kurt to take care of himself. And he clearly wasn't doing that. Blaine was getting worried. He had even debated talking to Burt, but knew that would probably result in a huge argument. Frankly, they both had too much going on to be in the middle of an argument too.
He really was getting worried, though. He didn't trust Kurt driving on so little sleep. And if he was right, and it looked like he was… not eating properly only made his driving on so little sleep much worse. He didn't want Kurt passing out in the car and killing himself.
Maybe he did need to talk to Burt. But maybe he needed to try talking to Kurt a little more himself first. He sat back down next to Kurt, grabbing his soft hand in his own calloused ones. "That's not good, Kurt. You've got to stay healthy. You know the stress alone can—."
"I hate when you do this. I get it enough from Dad, alright?" Kurt said impatiently.
"But you're taking on too much. That's why your Dad keeps trying to talk to you and check on you. You're going to crash and burn if you don't give yourself a break every once in a while." Blaine sat on the couch next to him, sighing softly. Why was Kurt so stubborn? "We just don't want you to overdo it."
"Why can't you all trust me to know what I can handle? I'm nineteen years old, not four."
"Because, my love, you are the type of person who doesn't know they can't handle something until it's well past the point of not being able to handle it."
This time, Kurt let out a soft sigh and leaned against Blaine. "I guess you're right. But there's just so much to do and so little time."
Blaine blinked at him for several seconds, surprised he'd agreed. "Welcome to the life of a college student." He mumbled finally, arms wrapping around him. "You'll find your balance eventually. You just need to take care of yourself while you find it. And once you get into the part where you can use your tablet, it'll be easier, right?"
"They say it will… but I don't get how it would. I feel like it'll be harder." Kurt shrugged a bit. "I've never been so ready for Thanksgiving in my life. A Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of no school will be amazing… it's too bad my winter break is short. It's going to be completely unfair to get up and you stay at home, in bed, all day for two more weeks."
"I would say I'm sorry I get to sleep in more, but I'm not. So I won't say it." Blaine said cheerfully, messing up Kurt's hair. "I am sorry for you, though."
Kurt rolled his eyes and swatted his arm. "Jerk."
"Brat."
"Attention whore."
"Bitch."
"Too far, Blaine Anderson."
"Oh, come on. Everyone knows you can be a bitch. You say it yourself." Blaine pointed out, making his hair stand up straight and grinning adorably.
"I thought we'd moved past this." Kurt sighed, settling against Blaine and making himself comfortable.
"'M never moving past this. It's far too amusing. I just haven't had you still long enough to do it in forever."
The two sat in a comfortable silence, Blaine running his fingers through Kurt's untidy hair and humming Teenage Dream. Kurt's hand was rested on Blaine's side and he slid his fingers underneath Blaine's shirt, stroking the soft skin. Blaine gasped quietly because he hadn't been expecting that, but he quickly scooted even closer to his boyfriend. Kurt initially smiled at Blaine's gasp, but the smile grew when he snuggled right up.
He tried to focus on how good Kurt's cool fingers felt on his skin, but it was hard because he could tell that something was bothering Kurt. Eventually Kurt's smile turned into a small frown and Blaine pushed himself into a sitting position. "What's wrong, Kurt? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine… I just don't want to mess this up." Kurt finally mumbled, looking up from Blaine's waist.
"Mess what up?" Blaine asked, looking him in the eyes.
"School. It's so expensive and if I'm not the best… then it's all for nothing. If I'm not the best, I won't get noticed and no one will take me on. And my grandpa will be right. He wanted me to go to a regular college… This was too much of a risk. God, what if I don't make it?" Kurt covered his face. "Oh God."
"You're going to make it." Blaine laughed. "I promise. Just like I'm going to make it into law school. Everything will work out."
"Not if I'm not the best." Kurt pushed himself into a sitting position also, because he had still been leaning against his boyfriend. "If I'm not the best, this was all for nothing. Nothing. I hope Alec drives off of a cliff and into a cloud and it carries him to another dimension or something. I'd never wish death on a person, but I'd like for him to safely disappear."
Blaine rolled his eyes. "Maybe some healthy competition will do you good. Did you ever think about that?"
"It's not healthy. He's an asshole. He's just trying to be better than me. And he tries to be all friendly and cheerful. I see through it, though. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. You can't try to outdo Kurt Hummel. Oh no, you can't."
Blaine rolled his hazel eyes again, shaking his head. "Or maybe he's actually a nice person like you? Maybe you two could even be friends?"
"No." Kurt said instantly and stubbornly. "The day I'm nice to him without mentally picturing pushing him and his perfect sketches off a cliff is the day that hell freezes over."
"Alright, alright. Come on, though. I think if you get more than four hours of sleep tonight, you'll have a better outlook on life tomorrow."
Kurt stood, muttering something Blaine couldn't quite make out. He was pretty sure he heard the name "Dr. Phil" though. If he'd had the energy, he would have pointed out that Dr. Phil technically was a fraud. But any time the boys got into a discussion like that it required proof and Blaine was way too lazy to go and get his laptop off of the kitchen table to prove his case. It was much easier to keep his mouth shut.
"You know…" Kurt said thoughtfully. "We've been living together alone now for about… five months."
"Dude, that's almost half a year. It doesn't feel like it's been that long. What is this madness?" Blaine stood, linking hands with Kurt and making his way into their bedroom.
Kurt's blue eyes widened in horror. "Soon we'll be our parents' ages. Oh, God. I have to go moisturize, like, right now. I haven't in days. And you need to stop eating junk food unless you want to be the size of a house."
"If by soon you mean twenty years." Blaine laughed loudly. He quickly changed into his pajamas and hopped into bed, tucking his feet under him and watching Kurt get his skin care products out. "Hey, Kurt?"
"Hmm?" Kurt asked, not looking up.
Blaine hesitated and bit his lip. "I was serious. What I meant about you taking too much on and not taking care of yourself… I don't want you to wind up in the hospital again. And I don't want you passing out driving from lack of sleep and food, alright? You can't do that to yourself. You say me eating fast food is unhealthy? Do you know what regularly skipping meals does to your body?"
"It's not that I'm skipping meals. Sometimes I just run out of time."
Blaine shook his head, covering his face. "Kurt, come on. Please. Do I need to buy you Lunchables or something? Or make you sandwiches? And cut my hours so I can be home when you get here with food ready? Or maybe I'll speed to get home first, since you get home about a half an hour before me."
"Don't do this, Blaine. Don't make this into something bigger than it is."
"Okay. It is a big deal." Blaine's voice unintentionally rose a bit and he lowered it. "If I did that, it wouldn't be healthy still… but it would be more okay. I didn't spend however many weeks in the hospital after almost dying. Your body is still—."
"I wish everyone would stop pretending I'm such fragile little flower that's going to break if you walk by it too fast! I'm fine, Blaine! You, Dad, and Carole need to stop this!" Kurt exclaimed.
"You're not fine. You've lost some weight." Blaine pointed out. He could sense this going nowhere good. And fast.
"I had gained weight from the medicine."
"Fine." Blaine laid down and rolled to face the other way. "Suit yourself. But don't expect me to sit by your side at the hospital and drop out again when you hurt yourself. You can find someone else to take care of you."
Kurt made a noise that was somewhere between a scoff and a sigh, tossing his bottle of moisturizer down. "I'm sick of everyone treating me like a baby!"
"Then grow up and stop acting like one." Blaine rolled back around to face him, glaring. "If you won't take care of yourself, then someone has to do it for you. I'm beginning to think that Carole was right and that you should have taken a year off of school to…" He trailed off. He was not going to say 'adjust' because any time that word was brought up… the outcome wasn't good. Because apparently Kurt was adjusting fine and it wasn't anyone else's business anyway, alright?
"So did you want to spend time or just argue with me?" Kurt muttered. "Was this your plan all along? Pull me away from work to fuss at me?"
"I want you to understand that you're doing too much. You quit Express because you understood that. Why can't you understand this? I'd rather you work at Express, sleep, and eat than watch you do this to your body!"
"I'm not doing anything to my body, Blaine! God!" Kurt threw his hands into the air.
"You've been getting four hours of sleep a night, Kurt, and you basically admitted to skipping meals. That is doing something to your body. And it's making me worry about you. A lot."
"If you're so worried, clean up more so I don't have to do all the cleaning too!"
"I do the dishes every single day."
"I'm sleeping on the couch." Kurt said, grabbing his pillow off the bed.
"Take your damn dog with you then." Blaine glared. "Maybe between both of you, there'll almost be a whole mature living being in the room."
Kurt left the room, grabbing his sleeping dog off of the edge of the bed and muttering, "He thinks he's clever."
Blaine sighed, pulling the pillow over his head. Kurt had never slept on the couch before. Never. He hadn't slept without Kurt at his side in months. How on Earth was he supposed to get to sleep now?
***WBUCT***
"Kreacher, Daddy's mad at me!" Blaine loudly whispered as he made his way into the house the next evening after school, carrying a cheesecake. "This will either make him really happy or madder. Either way, I'm getting cheesecake tonight and you're not."
Kreacher sat on the floor and tilted his head sideways. When Blaine walked closer, he nuzzled his leg.
"Oh, you act nice when I've got num nums. Oh God, what has Kurt done to me? Did I just say num nums? Let's keep this to ourselves, okay?" Blaine muttered, bending down and patting Kreacher's head with his free hand.
Kreacher balanced himself on his hind legs, tongue hanging out.
"No. Not for Kreacher. For Kurt and Blaine. Go find some socks to steal or something. Just don't chew on Kurt's shoes. He'll find a way to blame it on me."
Kurt chose that moment to walk in, of course, and scowled.
"Oh, crap. You would come in right then, wouldn't you?"
"I would." Kurt nodded, arms crossing over his chest. He didn't look too mad though, which had to be a good sign.
"I brought you something you'll enjoy." Blaine sang, holding up the white box.
"What is it?" Kurt sighed, but his blue eyes lit up as he surveyed the box.
"Hmm, what do you think it is?" Blaine said, trying to ignore Kreacher who was now on his hind legs, head titled, and pawing at his leg.
"Knowing you, it could be about anything." Kurt moved forward, trying to take the box.
"Ah-ah-ah. Take a guess." The older boy smirked.
"I don't suppose it's an index card reading 'You may listen to Lady Gaga whenever you'd like, xo, Blaine'?" Kurt joked.
"I'm not feeling that generous. Kreacher, stop it!"
"Kreacher, sit down." Kurt spoke in a very firm voice.
Kreacher immediately sat down and tilted his head, eyes on the box. He then inched closer, still sitting, and began nudging Blaine's foot.
"Oh my God, this dog." Blaine moaned. "We will never own another dog again."
"There is nothing wrong with my dog." Kurt said impatiently. "He wants whatever is in the box."
"Yes, well, he can't have it." Blaine said, sending several glares in Kreacher's general direction.
Kreacher responded by tilting his head in the other direction and licking Blaine's shoe.
"See? He does like you."
"No. He likes what's in this box." Blaine said impatiently, moving forward a few steps. Kreacher scooted along after him, still technically sitting. Clearly the dog had spent too much time with Kurt, because he was turning into a smart ass. "Incessant dog! Fine! You can have something but not this, alright? Just stop that!"
"Why can't he have what's in the box?" Kurt bounced a bit, anger forgotten. "What'd you get me, Blaine? What'd you get me?"
Blaine held out the box. "It's a peace offering."
"I like peace offerings. The last time you gave me a peace offering you didn't watch ESPN for two weeks. Those were two very good weeks." Kurt said eagerly, opening the lid. "Oh God, Blaine, I love you. You gorgeous, perfect man."
"Why, thank you." Blaine grinned and took the box back. "But first, there are conditions."
"Conditions?" Kurt asked, eyes remaining on the cheesecake. It was chocolate. He loved chocolate cheesecake. It was his absolute favorite. And it was expensive too. "What conditions?"
"Three meals a day, Kurt. And at least six hours of sleep."
"I don't think that's possible, Blaine. You haven't seen my agenda." Kurt said, almost pitifully.
Seeing that look on Kurt's face made Blaine's stomach knot up and he sighed a bit before speaking softly. "We'll go through the agenda together and come up with some ideas to make sure it happens, okay? We'll make it work."
"I mean, we can try but… I don't see how it's possible." Kurt mumbled.
"Kurt… this is only the first semester. I hate to say this but… are you sure you can handle this?" Blaine looked into his eyes. "Because if you can't, there are other options. Okay? Other schools, other cities… Look, we'll do what we have to do. There's no sense in killing ourselves over this."
"I … I'm just tired." Kurt admitted. "I feel like I'd be better at getting stuff done if I wasn't so tired, but I am so exhausted. I … I just don't know how to…"
Blaine took his hand and led him into the kitchen. "Sit down."
Kurt slumped into the chair, laying his head on the table. Two seconds later a huge slice of cheesecake was placed in front of him.
Kreacher pranced into the room, tail sticking straight up. He came to a stop at their feet and looked between the two expectantly.
"Hold on." Blaine laughed, going to the cabinet and pulling out a bag of Pretzels.
Kreacher always begged for food, no matter what Kurt and Blaine were eating. Usually they didn't mind to give him bits but seeing as it was chocolate cheesecake, the safest route was giving Kreacher his favorite 'people snack.' They hadn't even learned Kreacher liked pretzels until Blaine had left a bowl on the coffee table one day and came back from the bathroom to find the bowl empty and Kreacher standing over it, yipping for more with his tail wagging.
"You better eat it all too, you pretzel stealer." Blaine said as he put a handful of pretzels in Kreacher's food bowl.
Kurt pushed himself back up into a sitting position and scooted his chair closer to the table, nibbling on his cheesecake.
"So… you're not mad at me, right? Because I totally drove like a maniac to get back home before they closed. And you know me. I don't speed." Blaine flashed Kurt a grin. "C'mon, you can't stay mad at me after I brought you this. It's heavenly, if I'm remembering what you said last time correctly."
"You remember correctly." Kurt laughed quietly, forcing a smile. "I don't want you to be mad at me… I'm not intentionally… doing this stuff, you know? Sometimes I get in the moment and I don't think to eat or go to sleep. It's not that I'm trying to put myself in the position to get sick again… because I don't want to get sick again… I never want to be in a hospital again."
Blaine reached over and placed his hand over Kurt's, much like he did before their first kiss. "I know. That's why tonight we're going to look your agenda over and… we'll figure something out. And if we can't work it out this semester, next semester we'll do something else. We'll make it work."
"Do you really think I should have taken a break?" Kurt mumbled, looking down.
"I think that was a bit of anger talking." Blaine admitted. "I think you have a lot going on at once and that we're both sucking at time management and communication right now."
"We were doing better." Kurt looked back up. "We're both so busy. It's not either of our faults…"
"I haven't been helping. I didn't know my working Fridays was bothering you so much…"
"And I didn't know you were so worried about me. Or feeling sex deprived." He smirked a bit. "Like being back at home, isn't it?"
"No." Blaine rested his chin in the palm of his hand. "We had more sex then."
Kurt rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay, you're right. But I'm not going to let you schedule in a day for us to have sex, Blaine Warbler. I'm not that old."
Blaine buried his face in his hand and let out a moan. Kurt wasn't sure if it was over Blaine Warbler or sex scheduling, but he laughed either way and reached over to ruffle his boyfriend's curly hair.
"I love you, Blaine." He giggled.
"Love you too." Blaine responded, voice muffled by his hand.