READ: For anybody who has been complaining that I left yesterday's story where it was and asking/demanding for a sequel, I did state in yesterday's authors note that the sequel is already up. Demands irritate the hell out of me as well. Just saying.

Updating early for work again. Yey. At least I'm awake during the day at the moment.

We put our Christmas tree up today. I love Christmas :)

From cornflakesareglutenfree: So kurt ends up with bruises/scratches on his face, from falling up some stairs, or maybe trying to hang decorations on a wobbly ladder, maybe falling into a prickle bush, what have you. blaine, being the great friend he is, is helping kurt clean up his face and put medicine on his scratches. they reminisce about how when you were little a kiss could make it better, so blaine kisses each scratch, etc.…

Those of you who follow me on Tumblr will know that I talked about a chapter that Angela dubbed as LOVE. EXPLOSIONS. about a month ago. This is it. Enjoy!

Accident

Kurt Elizabeth Hummel was graceful, far more so than almost any other teenage boy he had ever met, certainly not accident prone or best friends with a first-aid kit like so many of the other boys Kurt had met, both at Dalton and McKinley. Especially McKinley.

Although that fact was rather hard to press home when Kurt was gingerly pulling himself to his feet, cradling one wrist to his chest and trying so hard not to think about what he knew was the blood dripping down his face from multiple scratches, and trying really hard not to think about the far more important and worrying fact of the matter.

This is not going to go down well with Blaine.

Ever since Kurt and Blaine had started rooming together - well, ever since Kurt had started at Dalton but whatever - Blaine had gotten super protective of him. Some times it was nice, like when Kurt was having a bad day and needed everybody else kept out of the room. But some times it really sucked, especially now when Kurt was going to walk into their room, looking like he had gotten into a fight with the parking lot.

...The fact that that was what had actually happened was significantly irrelevant at this point in time.

Ignoring the strange and concerned looks he was getting, Kurt focused on getting across the foyer without anybody catching a proper glimpse of his face. Honestly, it wasn't his fault that Mercedes and Rachel had kept him up nearly all night and he had been so tired driving home that he had nearly run up the back of four cars. And then so tired that he had forgotten about the ankle height parking barrier and tripped straight over it, faceplanting straight into the gravel. Unfortunately his face didn't see it that way, and his roommate probably wouldn't either. Bracing himself for a lecture, Kurt knocked once lightly - an agreed upon method for politeness sake - before opening the door gingerly with his good arm.

Blaine was sprawled on his bed, phone pressed to his ear and weekly planner spread in front of him. "... and just questions four to ten from that chapter." There was silence and Blaine smiled. "Anytime. Are you feeling any better? I still can't believe you never got chicken pox as a kid." Kurt rolled his eyes, assuming Blaine was talking to Wes who had been out all week. Dropping his bag on his bed alerted Blaine's attention to him, the boy glancing up once with a smile before literally doing a double take. "Kurt! What - Wes, I've got to go. Feel better soon." Blaine quickly hung up and jumped to his feet, crossing the room to stand in front of Kurt. "What happened to you?" he demanded. "Did someone -?"

Kurt shook his head. "I became intimately acquainted with the parking lot," he said quietly, ducking his head a little because hey, it was kind of embarrassing.

"Who did -?"

"Me," Kurt said quickly. "I tripped over the parking barrier on my way in."

Blaine paused. "Oh," he said carefully. "Right. Is this a, uh, a common pastime of yours?"

Kurt hit him. "I was just tired," he said defensively, trying to ignore the smirk making its way across Blaine's face. "Fine, be like that. I'm going to the nurse."

"Hey, no, wait." Kurt turned back curiously, trying to work out why Blaine would put his teasing above Kurt's wellbeing. His face was really starting to sting, after all, and it would be nice to get the shards of gravel out of his skin sometime soon. "You don't have to go down there. I can take care of you."

Ignoring the shiver that ran down his spine at the thought of Blaine looking after him, Kurt frowned. "What do you mean?" But his question was answered as Blaine reached into the top of his closet and pulled out a first aid box. "You have your own first aid kit? Really? You seriously are Mr. Prepared."

"Force of habit," Blaine said, his voice suddenly tense. "From Westerville."

Oh.

"I'm sorry," Kurt said quickly, putting a hand on Blaine's arm before wincing, remembering he had injured that wrist. "I didn't think -"

"It's okay," Blaine said, relaxing visibly. "I know you didn't mean anything by it. Now," and here Blaine suddenly took on an authoritative tone, surprising Kurt with it, "sit down and tell me where it hurts. Your face, obviously, and I think you've done in your wrist too?"

Kurt nodded as he sat. "I think that's it. My knees hurt but they're not cut, I checked."

Blaine was already pulling out lengths of gauze and bandages, setting them up on the desk. "Okay, give me your hand?" Kurt gave it, feeling the familiar warm feeling spread through him at the contact... until Blaine bent it down and pain blossomed through his wrist. Blaine looked up at Kurt's hiss of pain, wincing. "Sorry, sorry. Had to check. I think it's just a sprain, if it starts swelling or feels a lot worse in the morning though I'll take you to get some proper medical attention."

"I think it'll be fine. I've had worse."

Blaine paused as he reached for the bandage and the hand still holding Kurt's tensed slightly. "I forget, sometimes," Blaine admitted. "You're so strong and nobody would ever know what you've been through unless you told them."

"Or if I took my shirt off and showed them the bruises on my back."

Kurt didn't mean for his voice to sound quite so bitter and winced again. Blaine still hadn't let go of his hand, his grip tightening to the point where it was almost painful. "Is this one of those times that you need to talk about it?"

"No," Kurt said quickly and honestly. "No, it just - I'm okay. Appearances can be deceiving is all. And speaking of appearances," he added, trying to get Blaine back on track because the intensity in his eyes was just almost too much for Kurt to handle. Especially when Kurt was so painfully aware that it didn't mean the same thing to Blaine that it did to Kurt.

Blaine blinked and nodded. "Right." He fumbled for the bandage and finally released Kurt's hand, cupping his wrist instead. "Tell me if I hurt you," he warned as he began to wrap the bandage around Kurt's wrist with a practiced ease that nearly broke Kurt's heart because Blaine shouldn't have to be good at this sort of thing. Nobody should, not for those reasons.

Kurt grimaced as Blaine tied off the bandage, but had to admit it was feeling better already. "Thank you," he said, twisting his wrist around a little and nodding. "I think it'll be fine."

But when Blaine ducked back into the kit and pulled out the alcohol swabs, Kurt couldn't hide a preemptive wince. "I know," Blaine said apologetically, catching it immediately. "This is going to be the hardest part."

And Kurt wasn't sure which one of them it was going to be the hardest on because Blaine was now staring down at the packages like they were poison, like the last thing in the world he wanted was to hurt Kurt. It was almost too endearing for Kurt to handle and all he wanted to do was close the distance between them and kiss that gorgeous little half-pout off Blaine's face.

Of course that wasn't going to happen. If Blaine had found him at all desirable before - and of course he hadn't - Kurt knew there was nothing appealing or attractive about someone with blood dripping down their cheeks.

"Come over to the bed," Blaine said suddenly, a light blush touching his cheeks when Kurt looked at him curiously. "I want you to be as comfortable as you can. I know this is going to hurt."

That made just enough sense for Kurt to obey, especially when Blaine made it clear he wasn't going to lie Kurt down, rather have him rest against a mound of pillows on the headboard. It was very comfortable, Kurt mused, and for a moment it took away from the fact that he was still in pain and bleeding. But when Blaine returned to his side with cotton balls and alcohol solution, yeah. Kurt couldn't forget.

"I'm sorry in advance," Blaine said as he prepared the cotton buds. "I'm going to make it better though."

Kurt sighed impatiently, just wanting to get it over and done with because it was just a little bit too difficult to have Blaine practically lavish him with attention and not feel the way Kurt wanted him to. "Blaine, I'm not a small child, I don't need -" Kurt cut himself off, letting out a hiss of pain as Blaine swiped at the first of the cuts. "God, that hurts!"

Instead of apologizing again or stopping - two things that definitely would have irked Kurt more at that point - Blaine simply held out his other hand, the invitation clear. Kurt took it, squeezing hard every time one of the cuts stung. Of course he wasn't going to cry, that would be ridiculous and babyish and as long as he kept his eyes shut, Blaine didn't need to know just how hard he was fighting not to. You're the idiot that fell over, Kurt reminded himself firmly, squeezing Blaine's hand again as he dabbed at one of the cuts under Kurt's eye. Suck it up.

"Okay, that's the worst part over with," Blaine finally said and Kurt cautiously opened his eyes to see his friend discarding the cotton buds. "You alright?"

Kurt nodded, releasing Blaine's hand somewhat reluctantly and frowning when Blaine flexed it. "Did I hurt you? I'm sorry."

"Considering what I just did to you, I think it's okay." Smiling, Blaine reached over to grab the antiseptic cream and quickly skimmed through the directions. "Okay, I'll just rub this into your skin and we'll be all done for now."

Kurt stared at the tube, trying to remember why it looked so familiar. Then it hit him.

"This is the one my mom used to use on me."

Kurt wasn't even aware he had spoken until Blaine stilled, watching him carefully. "I have to be honest, I'm not sure what to say here."

And Kurt had never loved Blaine more because he actually knew when not to talk. Such a refreshing concept.

"It's the strangest things that bring back memories," he began to speak quietly, not really sure why he was talking or where he was headed, just that it was good to talk about the little things without having to get mega-serious. "Just things like places she took me for the first time or - or brands she introduced to me. And it doesn't make me horridly depressed or even that sad, it's more like I'm glad I can still remember her through the small things." Another memory suddenly flashed back to Kurt and he smiled. "Last time I did something stupid and got all scratched up, I was seven. I ran crying to Mom and she did the same thing, cleaned me all up. But as she did, she kissed every single scratch and told me it would make them feel better."

"And it always did, didn't it?" Blaine was smiling too, clearly remembering events from his own childhood. "No matter how flawed the logic, a kiss always made it better."

Kurt nodded before wincing slightly as the action flared up one of the scratches near his ear. "I could really use some of that magic right now," he admitted, once again just feeling really ridiculous for ending up in this state.

Blaine didn't respond and Kurt frowned. "Blaine? I -"

And then Blaine was leaning in, ducking his head to kiss the scratch underneath Kurt's ear gently and Kurt bit back a gasp as heat blossomed from the area because holy crap Blaine had just kissed him.

"Did that help?"

And as stupid as it was.. "It actually did," Kurt said quietly. "But there's a lot of scratches that could use the same kind of lo - magic right now."

"Of course," Blaine murmured as if there was no question about it. "I'd better make a thorough inventory of just how injured you are anyway."

And that was such a Blaine thing to do - talking seriously one minute, kissing every scarred section of Kurt's face the next. At least Kurt presumed it was a Blaine thing, after all they had kind of never done this before. All he could do was close his eyes and try not to do something really stupid like grab Blaine who was kissing his forehead and kiss him properly. But no. Blaine was doing him a favor, nothing else.

It was meant to be strange, Kurt realized after a little while. It wasn't exactly normal, after all, to have your closest guy friend kissing your wounds in such an intimate way. But Kurt couldn't bring himself to feel anything but right.

"Seventeen," Blaine said against his skin, jerking Kurt back to awareness as he placed one last kiss to Kurt's neck before lifting his head. "Unless I missed somewhere?"

Take a chance.

"Actually... my lips hurt a little."

Blaine blinked twice, his eyes widening ever so slightly but the rest of his face remaining impassive. "Would you like me to kiss them better?" he asked, just like they were talking about the freaking weather or something.

"Yes, please."

Blaine nodded and, without preamble, leant in to finally - finally! - kiss Kurt on the lips.

It took everything Kurt had not to melt against Blaine, to pull him into his lap and wrap Blaine in his arms and kiss him until they physically couldn't kiss any more. But this was still all presumed and Kurt needed to be sure. So when Blaine pulled away, asking, "Did that help?" in a slightly lower pitch than usual, Kurt shook his head.

Blaine looked like someone had kicked a small animal in front of him but was desperately trying not to show it, and Kurt just had to laugh, a low chuckle that immediately caught Blaine's attention. "No, I think you need to try again."

Thank goodness Blaine wasn't clueless all the time, especially not now. Because now they could - really could - kiss each other, properly, and Kurt actually could wrap his arms around Blaine's neck like he had desired so many times and focus all of his attention on memorizing the feeling of Blaine's lips on his and just hope and hope that he wouldn't have to memorize, that he could do this again and again forever.

But there was no reason to presume, not even when Blaine was still kissing him, not even when Blaine pulled him closer like he needed Kurt in his arms. Because this was still unnamed, unsure, almost unreal. Kurt would believe he was dreaming except his mind had never been this good at making up how amazing the first kiss would feel.

And then reality hit with a certainty as Blaine pulled back, blinking in surprise and of course he regretted it now, of course he didn't really want to -

"I've wanted to do that since the moment I saw you on that staircase," Blaine said in a rush, stopping Kurt's heart completely. "I just - Kurt, please tell me that meant more to you than just a kiss because I don't know if I can go back to spending every day pretending that I don't want you to be mine."

"You are far too good at pretending, Kurt stated as he looped his arms around Blaine's neck again, "and far, far too clueless."

"I -"

Kurt kissed away his protests before breaking away with just the smallest of smirks. "I'm kind of in love with you," he explained calmly. "Kind of since forever."

"I see," Blaine said, his tone thoughtful but also slightly amused. "So does that mean you kind of want to be my boyfriend?"

"No, I definitely want to be your boyfriend," Kurt replied immediately. "I'm kind of waiting for you to ask but kind of considering skipping that step and going back to kissing."

"And which one wins out?"

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "Why don't you ask and find out?"

"Kurt," Blaine began in the tone of someone who already knows they've won, "will you be my -"

So Kurt pulled him in and kissed him again because no, Blaine hadn't won. But then again, neither had Kurt.

They both had.

Love explosions?

No MusicalEscape today. Understandably so.