Welcome back! Apologies for the unexpected extended wait in getting this written! Life - Eurgh, who'd have one! Anyway - on with the show...
"Kurt? What a surprise!" Belinda opened her door a little wider allowing the 2 men in her doorstep to enter her apartment. "This must be Stephen! Hey there little guy"
Stephen hid his face against his daddy's leg. Today had been quite eventful and he was getting tired.
"Belinda, I'm sorry to just appear without warning but I need your help." Kurt and Blaine took a seat on the couch in Belinda's living room. Stephen curled up on Kurt's lap and drifted off to sleep as the older people talked amongst themselves. Kurt & Blaine recounted their day with the occasional gasp and mutter from the attentive Belinda. "So, yeah, Stephen & I are technically homeless until I can get in touch with my dad properly but we definitely can't go back to the apartment. As for Blaine, we don't know what to do now."
"I thought I'd been careful, watching my surroundings but when I thought you were in there..." Blaine's voice trailed off as he recalled his fear when he saw the flames. He dropped his head between his hands, reassured slightly by the hand rubbing his back.
"Stephen had been watching them watching us and we didn't even realise it." Kurt handed over his sons notebook, rocking the boy slightly as he watched Belinda scan through the pages.
"Let me make a few calls. You should be really proud of your son Kurt, this may just be what the DA needs to put this case to rest." Belinda moved into her home office to make her calls whilst Kurt shuffled a little closer to his boyfriend.
"Babe I'm fine, we're all fine. Try to focus on that okay? I sent my dad a text to let him know we're all okay and not to leave the house until he hears from me. Stephen got to see the fire engines and we still have each other." Kurt ran his fingers through Blaine's dark hair before pulling him close for a hug.
"I'm so sorry Kurt, this is all my fault. If I'd just kept my mouth shut in the first place you and Stephen would be fine."
"Hey, don't do that to yourself B. You did the right thing and ended up in an impossible position. You could have walked away at any time but you didn't. We're both better for having known you and I'm grateful we met." Kurt kissed his boyfriends forehead and held him closer.
It was nearly a full half hour before Belinda returned, dropping her phone & Stephen's notebook onto the coffee table.
"Ok, so the bad news is that your apartment is completely gone - not only is it still a crime scene but whatever they used completely gutted the place. I'm really sorry Kurt." Blaine's jaw dropped and guilt flooded his body as he turned to look at the pale man next to him.
"It was just a building, all my important documents and things are at my dads place." Kurt shrugged. "After the last time I didn't want to take any chances if they came back so all my photos and stuff are safe." He smiled softly as Blaine's face changed from guilt to surprise.
"The good news though is that there is cctv footage from several local businesses which clearly shows two men breaking into your apartment then returning to their vehicle - and the cops got a licence plate! Y'know for mob goons these guys are idiots!"
"What do you mean?" Blaine asked, confusion evident across his face.
"They hired a car, used their own ID and ran a stop sign three blocks from Kurt's apartment." Belinda looked between the men waiting for their reactions. "Do you even understand what I'm telling you?"
Kurt & Blaine looked at each other before turning back to Belinda and shaking their heads.
"How the hell did you two both come so good at your jobs when you can't read between the lines! Guys, the city police pulled them over for running a stop sign, checked their licences and ran background checks , found outstanding arrest warrants from four states and took them both into custody. The detectives who responded to the arson call put out a BOLO for the same vehicle and that's when it came to light that the guys responsible were already at the station. Once everything came out and they were faced with evidence of what they'd done - well, they broke and confessed! They gave up their boss to try and save themselves but we've got them on attempted murder, assault, witness intimidation, failure to stop - and that's just the Lima charges! The Seattle office are working on their charges and apparently there's enough evidence to bury their boss!"
Kurt stood up and hugged his boss while Blaine sat back against the couch.
"Blaine? Blaine, are you okay?" Kurt sat back down beside him whilst Belinda knelt on the floor.
"Blaine, it's over. The Seattle operation has been shut down and the evidence against them is overwhelming. They're saying you don't even need to testify anymore if you don't want to. You're safe."
"I-I'm safe? We're safe?" Blaine asked in disbelief as Belinda nodded. "We're safe!"
Blaine hugged Kurt tightly before turning and hugging Belinda.
"Thank you, both of you. You've no idea what you've just done." Blaine smiled widely, tears of happiness running down his face as he turned and noticed the small sleeping form of Stephen. "Oh, Kurt...I've caused you so much pain. You've lost your home, your life was threatened, and Stephen... Kurt I'm so sorry."
"Hey, stop. You didn't do this." Kurt held his boyfriends shoulders, squeezing them softly, "you didn't cause any of this, none of this was your fault. Do you understand me? Stephen is safe, I'm safe, you're safe. That's all that matters."
Blaine nodded, trying to take comfort in Kurt's words as Stephen began to stir.
"Is it time for ice cream yet?"
The three adults laughed softly as the tension in the room began to fade.
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~*~ 2 years later ~*~
"Don't you dare drop me!"
"If you stopped wriggling there would be less chance of that happening!" Blaine carried Kurt over the threshold of their new house and carefully placed him back on his feet. "See, never dropped you!"
"My turn!" Stephen stood on the doorstep holding his arms up as the two men laughed. Blaine scooped him up and carried him inside their new home. "That was fun! Can we do that every time we come home?"
Before waiting for an answer, the excitable boy had run upstairs and began the search for his new room. Kurt turned, wrapped his arms around his boyfriend and kissed his lips softly.
"Isn't it supposed to be newlyweds who carry their partners over the threshold?" He smiled, pressing another soft kiss to Blaine's lips.
"Well, I guess we could give that a go too." Blaine grinned as he held up a simple band of silver. "What do you say? Wanna marry me?"
"Yeah. Yeah I do." Kurt grinned and kissed Blaine deeply as Stephen watched on and giggled from the top of the stairs.
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Thank you for reading this. I struggled to find a way to end this that allowed the boys to get their happy ending without dragging things on for a dozen more chapters. I hope you've enjoyed this story.