Happy Wednesday, my dears.
Hope you're all having a wonderful week. Thank you for your support and kind comments on this story so far.
Love and gratitude for Christine, who's been my beta for forever now, and to Sofi, who encouraged and cheered all through the writing of this story.
I hope you enjoy this new chapter!
Blaine leaned against the doorway, watching as Kurt placed the leopard in his study, right next to the Zen garden, before standing back to admire it. Kurt had removed his jacket and rolled up his shirt sleeves, the tie long gone now, the collar popped open. This was the most casual Blaine had ever seen him. It felt like he was allowing him to see him in a way no one else was ever allowed to, with a few less walls between himself and the rest of the world.
"It looks perfect there," Kurt muttered with a tone of cool satisfaction.
He turned around and regarded Blaine. He, too, had lost a few layers. His jacket was somewhere in the living room, tossed carelessly after what had been a very long day. The ends of his bowtie were hanging tantalizingly around his neck, as if begging to be pulled.
Blaine also looked perfect there, like he belonged right here in Kurt's apartment.
"Are you sure?" Blaine asked, slight hesitation in his voice. "It's okay if you don't like it. You don't have to…"
"I'm sure," Kurt interrupted, and gave him a little smile.
The truth was that even if the exotic beast had looked ridiculous in that room, Kurt would have displayed it proudly anyway. It was, after all, a present from his new husband.
His new husband.
There was something intoxicating about that – Blaine was his, and he was Blaine's. He hadn't had time to savor the huge pleasure he felt knowing that, even though it had been in the back of his mind ever since he had walked out of the courthouse with Blaine earlier that day. He let himself feel it now.
Even though he had been touched that his family had wanted to have a little celebration – despite the fact that Carole and Joanna were visibly suspicious of his intentions – he was glad they were gone now. He had been looking forward to being alone with Blaine all day. He had even sent Santana home a few minutes ago.
Blaine let out a tired sigh and sat down on the armchair he had usually chosen when he came over as a consultant. He sprawled in it, a mess of limbs and ran a hand down his face. "At least the formalities are over. No offense, but there was a point when I thought your family was never going to leave. And they certainly had a lot of questions for me."
Blaine had been more than quick on his feet when answering them, Kurt had to admit. "I was beginning to think I was going to have to ask Santana to toss them out."
There was a tiny smile on Blaine's lips at that, as if he found that funny. "Well, they do think this is a real marriage, after all. I guess we can't exactly blame them for being happy for us and wanting to celebrate. Where is Santana by the way?"
Kurt decided to ignore Blaine's comment on their very, very real marriage. He knew he would change his mind eventually. "She has her own apartment in this same building. She's down on the sixth floor."
"She's such an odd woman. There are times when she looks like some sort of robot, and others when she looks like a trained assassin ready to cut your head off," Blaine commented distractedly, as he touched his own hand. His fingers grazed the gold wedding band and he seemed to startle by its presence. "Oh! I almost forgot. You can have your ring back now that the ceremony is over…"
"Don't you think it's better if you keep it on?" Kurt said at once. "We don't want people to speculate. We need to appear solid, secure, steady."
Blaine frowned down at his own hand, as if he couldn't recognize it. "I didn't think I would have to wear a ring all the time. But I suppose it won't hurt…"
Kurt came towards him and reached for his hand, sliding the ring back into place. He liked Blaine's hands. He had long, thin fingers, graceful like a pianist's. He didn't miss the slight tremor that went through him when Kurt touched him. Something settled inside of him, a certainty that he hadn't known he needed as badly as he did until this moment: Blaine wanted him too. He had not been wrong about him.
Kurt realized he had to let go of his hand, but he didn't want to. Blaine looked up, big doe eyes fixed on him, a question forming in them, his hand twitching as if he was about to pull away.
"Come with me," Kurt said impulsively, fingers tightening around Blaine's. He pulled him gently to his feet.
"Where are we going?" Blaine asked.
Kurt could feel something akin to hesitation in Blaine. Despite how sure, how bold, how determined he had been with all his schemes, all his plans to save his brother's company, despite how much he had reassured Joanna that he knew what he was doing, here he was now, alone with him, and looking as anxious as a baby deer learning to take its first steps.
"I just want to show you something," Kurt said softly. "It's up on the roof."
Blaine did his best to cover his uncertainty by being extra cheerful as he said: "Are we going to look at the city lights?"
"No," Kurt replied. He was going to explain, but decided against it. He wanted to see Blaine's reaction when he saw the greenhouse. This wasn't something he shared with a lot of people, but he wanted to share it with him.
He wanted to see what his husband looked like, standing amongst his orchids.
Blaine followed him, hand still trapped in his, biting his lip with a smidge of apprehension. "Kurt, please don't feel like you need to entertain me just because we're kinda married. I don't want to alter your life any more than I already have. You can feel free to… oh."
Kurt was delighted by Blaine's obvious surprise as soon as they went out onto the roof. The impressive glass structure seemed to reflect the lights of Manhattan, twinkling in the night. Kurt headed straight for the control panel right outside the greenhouse door and tapped the screen.
"What is this?" Blaine asked, his nerves swept away by his awe.
"My own private little world," Kurt said softly as the greenhouse was illuminated. He opened the door and they were welcomed by the scent of the earth and the colorful blooms.
"Wow," Blaine said reverently. "This is so gorgeous. Look at all these flowers! Are they all orchids? It's like a secret garden…"
Only then did Kurt release his hand, let him wander into the greenhouse, getting lost amongst the green leaves and the white, purple, pink petals. He watched him as he examined each row, like every little flower was worthy of his attention. Kurt had been right: Blaine looked completely at home there, in his favorite place in the world.
"I thought you'd enjoy it," Kurt commented in a low voice, unable to hide his pleasure.
"It's so absolutely beautiful," Blaine murmured, reaching out to touch a large yellow flower carefully with the tip of his finger.
"Do you like orchids?" Kurt asked.
"Of course. But I'm afraid I'm horrible with plants," Blaine said rather sadly. "I can't tell you how many ferns I've killed. I've even killed a few succulents, and I'm told they're the easiest plants to take care of, so…" He moved further into the greenhouse to take a better look. "How long have you been interested in them?"
"Not very long. I've always liked flowers, but I only got into growing orchids three years ago, or so," Kurt explained, as he began to pace down an aisle. "They felt like the perfect distraction after a long, exhausting day at the office. Something I could do for myself that I actually enjoyed."
Blaine tilted his head as he considered this. "I thought you enjoyed doing business."
"No, not really," Kurt admitted, and this, too, was something he didn't share with anyone. "Going into business was the last thing I wanted. I actually went to college to study fashion design."
Blaine looked even more surprised than when he had seen the greenhouse in the first place. "What made you change your mind and go into business?"
Kurt paused in front of a tray where he was growing tiny orange orchids. They wouldn't be ready to be transplanted for a few more weeks, he thought. "I'm sure Cooper told you what my ex-fiancé did."
The evident pity in Blaine's eyes was all the confirmation Kurt needed, but he still nodded. "He told me he ran away with your family's life savings. That you lost everything."
He didn't like the note of sympathy in Blaine's voice, but knew it was well-meaning. He just wasn't sure how to deal with it. "He left behind a lot of debt, a lot of devastation. What he did ruined my father's life. And on top of that, he tricked a lot of other people, too, who came knocking at my door looking for the money they were owed."
"You felt like you needed to fix everything he broke," Blaine guessed, and Kurt nodded briefly. "And you took care of your family."
"I brought him into their lives. It was only fair I gave them back what he had taken from them," Kurt said. But the truth was, he would never be able to return the most important thing Jordan had taken. No matter how much money he made, he would never have his father back.
"It must have been so hard," Blaine said, again with that hint of sympathy. "But you seem to be as good at business as you are at growing orchids."
"Well, they have one thing in common: they both require a lot of patience and self-control," Kurt shrugged and began to move down the row of orchids again.
"And you have plenty of both," Blaine murmured under his breath, but Kurt heard him perfectly.
"I do," Kurt said. He paused to look at a particularly large orchid. He grazed the baby pink petals with his thumb and not for the first time wondered if Blaine's bare skin would feel just as soft. His hands were. But he wanted to touch the rest of him, too.
He found Blaine's eyes fixed on his fingers, following the way he was touching the petals. Maybe he imagined it, but it seemed like his pupils grew, making his eyes darken.
"Don't you worry sometimes?" Blaine asked then. "About being too self-controlled, I mean."
Kurt couldn't help the smile that appeared on his face. It was such an innocent question. "I don't think there's such thing as having too much self-control, actually."
"Well, I guess it makes sense, right? It got you to where you are today," Blaine said, and seemed to have to force himself to look away from Kurt's thumb.
"Exactly." Kurt took a step back from the orchid and went down the row and around it. He began to walk down the aisle towards Blaine.
"You had to pay a price for it, though," Blaine said.
Kurt met his eyes. "There's a price on everything, Blaine."
Blaine frowned slightly, looking like he didn't quite believe that. "I guess…"
Kurt stopped just a few steps away from him. "About Noah Puckerman."
Blaine startled at the sudden change of subject, blinking owlishly at him. "What about him?"
"I was thinking that it would be better if we didn't tell him about our arrangement," Kurt said softly.
"Why not? He's Cooper's most trusted employee…" Blaine retorted, confused.
"You saw him this afternoon. He was very shaken by the news that we got married. I just have the feeling that he wouldn't be able to keep the secret, and the last thing we need is Cooper's most trusted employee babbling to our investors and suppliers, or god forbid, the press, about the real reason behind our sudden wedding," Kurt explained carefully.
"The fact that he was shaken by the news is exactly why I want to tell him the truth," Blaine replied. "He deserves to know."
Kurt leaned against the work bench in the middle of the greenhouse and crossed his arms over his chest. He studied Blaine in silence for a second or two, and then murmured: "Go ahead, Blaine. Ask me. Ask me what that whole thing was about."
Blaine inhaled sharply, like he hadn't expected Kurt to go straight to the point. He lifted his chin, trying to look determined and brave, but there was an underlying nervousness that he couldn't quite hide. "Very well. What was Puck talking about? What he said about… about that man… What was his name?"
Kurt's blue eyes found the outline of Manhattan right outside the greenhouse, and he focused on it for a moment. "Jacob Taylor."
Blaine waited impatiently for a few seconds, but when Kurt didn't say anything else, he prompted: "And?"
Kurt was a bit surprised at the sudden asperity in his voice. "A few years ago, I took over a medium-sized manufacturing firm. I decided to keep one of the former partners as a high level manager. That was Taylor. He seemed to know what he was doing, and he had been quite successful at introducing the company into foreign markets." He paused and looked at Blaine before he continued. "Cooper had just been put in charge of security. One morning, he came into my office and told me he had good reasons to suspect that Taylor was dirty. He thought he had been shipping more than the tools we produced to some of his foreign customers. So we decided to start a little investigation."
There was quiet intrigue in Blaine's face. "What happened?"
"He was an arms dealer. He had been shipping black market weapons hidden with our merchandise to different clients in the south Pacific."
Blaine looked incredulous. "That's… insane. What did you do? Did you go to the FBI?"
Kurt shook his head. "We didn't even have time to do that. Cooper and I had no idea what we were onto at first, so we went looking for evidence. Cooper discovered an irregularity in a shipment that took us to a small South Pacific island, and we saw that Taylor was rerouting shipments from there." He paused again, knowing that Blaine wouldn't like what he was going to say next, and trying to decide exactly how honest he needed to be. "We travelled there to see what was going on, and stumbled into one of Taylor's meetings. He was with a client. Things… got out of hand."
"What does that mean?" Blaine demanded, frowning.
"In the process of getting things straightened out… Taylor was killed," Kurt said carefully.
There was no denying the horrified look on Blaine's face. "Who killed him?"
Kurt glanced away. He realized there was no use in telling Blaine he had been the one to shoot Taylor in order to save Cooper's life. It had been a dangerous business, one that still haunted him sometimes. He didn't think he would ever be able to forget what it felt like, seeing a body bleeding out on the ground and knowing you were the one who took the deathly shot.
Back when Kurt was still in college, when his father was safe and sound in Ohio, when all he had to concern himself with was finding the perfect fabric for the designs he had in mind, he had never imagined he would be able to take someone's life, even if it was to protect someone he cared about.
"Cooper and I were armed," he explained slowly. "We didn't know what we were walking into, but we thought it was better to be prepared. As soon as we went in, all hell broke loose. There was a shooting, and when it was all over, Taylor was dead. It happened far away from here, so it wasn't in the news, no one found out."
Blaine was pale. He pressed a hand to his face. "A shooting? Someone was killed? Oh my god, I can't believe Cooper never told me about this. He could have been hurt. He could have been killed. When he returns, I'm going to strangle him for this..."
"Calm down, Blaine. He was probably trying to protect you…" Kurt murmured. "He knew you'd get like this and overreact."
"I am not overreacting. I'm furious," Blaine exclaimed sharply.
"It was years ago," Kurt said in what he hoped was a calming manner.
"It doesn't matter. And it doesn't matter if he was trying to protect me, I'm his brother," Blaine said fiercely. "He's the only family I have left, and he should have told me if he was in some distant island somewhere, carrying a gun and putting his life in danger."
"Blaine…" Kurt tried to say, only to get interrupted.
"I hope you're not intending to keep things from me like he did," he said, pointing a finger right at Kurt's chest, menacingly. "I am not going to be treated like less than a full partner in this little arrangement we made. You will not keep me in the dark. This was my idea, and we're going to do things my way."
Kurt arched an eyebrow, staring down at the finger poking him in the middle of his chest. "I will keep your wishes in mind, Blaine, I promise. But you don't need to know the day-to-day details. You have your own business to take care of…"
"I don't care," Blaine said, and now it was obvious he was outraged. He took another step, right into Kurt's personal space. He smelled as good as his flowers did. "You listen to me, Kurt Hummel. We're in this together, so either this works with us as a team or I'm pulling the plug on my own little plan."
Kurt had to tap into his endless resources of patience. "That's not the way I do business, Blaine."
"It is now," Blaine muttered seriously.
Kurt had to lean his head to be able to look into Blaine's eyes. He quite enjoyed the slight height difference. "Blaine, you married me because I know how to do business. You need to trust me. Let me do my job."
"I don't care," Blaine repeated once more. "I want to be part of the process. I want to be part of every decision you make. I need to learn how to manage the company, in case… in case…"
It was obvious he didn't want to say it.
"I'll keep my word and teach you everything you need to know, Blaine. But it's not going to be easy at first, when I need to steady the company. It's not going to be easy, managing Anderson Unlimited and teaching you at the same time. So I'll need some space at first."
"But Kurt…" Blaine started to protest.
Kurt reached up and touched his cheek gently. "Blaine. Please, trust me. I'll take care of everything for you."
Blaine deflated, as if realizing this wasn't a battle he was going to win, at least not today. "I thought we were going to be a team."
"I've never been much of a team player, to be honest," Kurt muttered.
"What a fine time you choose to tell me that…" Blaine groaned.
Kurt let his fingertips trail down Blaine's cheek, feeling the roughness of his growing stubble across his jaw. "Can you trust me?"
Blaine exhaled slowly, clearly trying to calm himself down. "I'm overreacting, aren't I?"
"Just a bit."
Blaine closed his eyes and took a step away, wrapping his arms around himself. Kurt immediately hated the distance between them.
"I'm scared, Kurt," he admitted in almost a whisper.
"I know," Kurt said.
"I don't want to be fooling myself. I thought this plan was going to keep me from falling apart, to give me a sense that I'm doing something for Cooper. I can't go out there and search for him – all I can do is take care of his company, make sure there's something for his child if he doesn't come back," Blaine wiped at his eyes before the tears could spill down his cheeks.
Kurt didn't want to tell him that it was nearly impossible for Cooper to be found alive at this point. He didn't want to hurt Blaine by saying that. He just didn't think the world was such a wonderful place. Sometimes bad things happened to good people, no matter how much hope you had.
"You don't have to worry about Cooper's company, Blaine. I will take care of it for you."
There was a bit of despair in Blaine's eyes when he turned to him once more. "You understand why I'm doing this, don't you?"
Kurt simply nodded.
"You had to find a way to hold things together for your family too."
"I did."
Blaine deflated a bit, giving up. He seemed to know when there was no way of getting Kurt Hummel to do things exactly like you wanted him to.
"Are you hungry?" Kurt asked, wanting to change the subject. "I instructed Santana to leave dinner ready for us."
Blaine couldn't hide his surprise. "Santana cooks, too?"
"She does whatever I ask her to," Kurt said with a shrug.
Blaine started following him out the greenhouse, but put his hand on Kurt's arm to stop him before they could reach the door. "I'm sorry if I gave you the impression that I don't trust you. I wouldn't have married you if I didn't."
"Thank you, Blaine."
He smiled a bit, softly, his golden eyes catching the light from the ceiling. "You're nicer than people give you credit for. I think your basic problem is that you don't know how to communicate with others. But you're alright, Kurt Hummel. More than alright."
Impulsively, it seemed, Blaine stood on his tip toes and placed a swift kiss to Kurt's cheek. Kurt wasn't expecting it, just like he wasn't expecting the rush of fire that went through him at the simple touch. It took every ounce of strength he had not to press Blaine against one of the work benches and kiss him senseless, to touch him, to find out exactly what sounds he made when he was aroused…
It looked like Blaine saw some of the fire in Kurt's eyes, because he took a step back, and his warmth turned into wariness.
Kurt cleared his throat. "I don't care if other people think I'm not nice. But there's something I need you to know, Blaine."
"What's that?" Blaine asked curiously.
"I'm not a monk," Kurt replied.
Blaine's face went red so quickly, it almost made Kurt laugh. He was truly mortified. "Oh god. I'm so sorry I said that. I didn't mean it as an insult…"
"Blaine…"
"No, no, I didn't want to imply that I thought you were like a prude or anything…"
"Blaine…"
"I just don't want you to get the wrong impression. I really do think of you as a man…"
"Well, that's good to know…" Kurt murmured dryly.
"Oh god, here I go again. I mean that I think you're normal."
"Normal," Kurt repeated, looking at him. "Normal but strange, right?"
"In a very interesting way," Blaine said almost desperately. "But I don't want you to think…"
"I'm going to stop you right there," Kurt cut him off, before his face got any redder. "Interesting is good. I like interesting."
"Really?" Blaine bit his lip, unsure.
"Yes. And I think you're very interesting, too," Kurt said, his lips curving slightly up in the hint of a smile.
He knew it was too soon, but he was finding it harder and harder to resist the urge to touch him. Leaning against the work bench behind him, Kurt parted his legs to make room and, holding onto Blaine's waist, pulled him between them. He only resisted briefly, mostly out of surprise, but then he seemed to start leaning against him a bit, his warm, solid body perfect against Kurt's.
"Kurt?" He whispered, hesitant, and his name on his lips, the slight widening of his eyes, the obvious anticipation growing in him…
It was all Kurt needed.
He leaned in and kissed him. His lips were as soft as the petals on one of his orchids, and they parted so willingly, so instantly for him that Kurt dared to deepen the kiss at once, pouring into it everything he had felt since the night he had seen him for the first time at Cooper's engagement party, everything he had felt since he had married him this afternoon. His hands held onto his waist, pulling him even closer, until their bodies were flushed together. He felt Blaine reaching up, pressing his hands to his shoulders, holding on for dear life.
It was so much better than Kurt had imagined it would be.
The deeper the kiss, the looser Blaine became, like he was going weak in Kurt's arms. Kurt was perfectly happy to support him, to hold him still, to tighten his grip around him and press him even closer to his body. He wondered if Blaine could feel that he was half-hard already, but didn't have to wonder for long because Blaine shifted and pressed right against his crotch.
Kurt swallowed his gasp into the next kiss and realized Blaine's lips were moving, but not exactly kissing back. He was saying something.
"What was that?" Kurt asked reluctantly. He didn't want to stop. He took advantage of the interruption to kiss up Blaine's jaw towards his ear.
Blaine's voice was a little breathless when he replied: "I said, I'm pretty sure this would highly complicate matters."
Kurt caught his earlobe between his teeth. "No, I think it would make things so much easier…"
There was no doubt now that Blaine wanted him just as much as he wanted him. If he could just take him downstairs, into his bedroom, Kurt would show him just how easy things could be between them…
Blaine tilted his head so he could look at him. "How can you say that?"
"Blaine, I want you," Kurt said plainly. "You want me. We're married. Don't you think that's the easiest thing in the world?"
It only took about a second for Kurt to realize he had made a big mistake. The arousal that had been growing in Blaine's eyes vanished at once, and he put his hands against Kurt's chest, pushing to get some distance between them, forcing him to let go.
There was wariness and a slow-burning anger in his eyes. "Exactly how did you think this little business arrangement would work?"
Kurt didn't try to touch him again. He gave him his space. "Any way you want it to work," he replied kindly.
That seemed to appease Blaine a little bit. He frowned. "Well, I did kiss you back. I could have stopped you before and I didn't."
"I think there's no denying there's a big attraction between us," Kurt said simply. "There's nothing wrong with that."
"Really?" Blaine seemed a bit incredulous.
Kurt arched an eyebrow at him, a bit of his old sass peeking through his now usually steely exterior. "Isn't it obvious?"
Blaine pressed his hand to his forehead, half in relief, half in dismay. "Oh god, I thought it was just me."
"Plus you thought I was a monk," Kurt teased him, earning a glare in return. He lifted his hands in a defensive manner. "Fine. No more jokes about that."
"I already apologized," Blaine muttered. "And this is so awkward, Kurt. What are we going to do?"
Kurt thought he had made his intentions very clear by now. He just needed to find out one thing. "What do you want, Blaine?"
Blaine began to pace up and down the aisle, and whatever internal conversation he was having with himself, it seemed quite serious. Finally, he stopped and looked right at Kurt. "I don't know," he admitted. "I never thought what would happen if we ever got involved. I mean, physically. Aside from our business arrangement." He paused and sighed heavily. "This changes everything."
An alarm went off inside of Kurt. He couldn't let Blaine go down that road – if he did, he would lose him before he even had him. "Blaine, whatever happens between us, it doesn't affect the deal we made. I'm going to take care of your brother's company."
"You are?" Blaine murmured, hopeful.
"Of course," Kurt said, forcing himself to remain calm. He didn't want to spook him. He didn't want Blaine to wake up the next morning and decide an immediate divorce was the right way to go. He cursed himself for being so impulsive. He should have learned from his past mistakes that nothing good ever came out of it. "You know I have a lot to lose if Anderson Unlimited goes bankrupt. I will protect my investment, just as much as I will protect Cooper's legacy. That was the deal."
"That's true. And I need you," Blaine said, and when he realized how that sounded, his cheeks tinged with red. "To help me save the company, of course."
Kurt nodded. "Yes. And you know, the way I see it, these are two separate issues." He studied Blaine's face, watching for any sign of rejection or fear. "Our relationship is one thing, me saving Cooper's company is another one. We could handle them independently."
Blaine didn't seem to understand. "What do you mean?"
"How about we divide the responsibilities?" Kurt proposed calmly. "I'll take care of the business problems. You can make the decisions when it comes to the personal side of things."
"Me?" Blaine said, blinking owlishly at him.
"Why not?" Kurt shrugged. "Don't you think you can decide whether you want us to be roommates or lovers?"
The last word seemed to echo in the greenhouse. He could see the slight tremor in Blaine's hands. He could feel the hunger deep inside of him – god, he wanted him. It had been a while since he had wanted someone that much.
"Of course I can make a decision like that!" Blaine spluttered awkwardly. "That's not what this is about."
"Then what is it about, Blaine?" Kurt asked, still as calmly as he could.
"I already know it's a terrible idea for us to be anything other than roommates," Blaine said, crossing his arms over his chest. "I just… I don't believe it."
Kurt tilted his head a bit, considering him. "What is it that you don't believe?"
"That you can be so rational and cool and calm about something like… like…" Blaine faltered.
"Sex?" Kurt prompted.
His cheeks were slightly pink still, but Blaine lifted his chin, defiantly. "Yes, like sex."
Kurt watched him. He was flustered and a little uncomfortable, but deep down inside, Kurt could tell that Blaine wanted him just as badly.
It just wasn't the time to keep pressing for more. He needed Blaine to feel safe in his new home, he needed him to be sure that Cooper's company wasn't going to be affected by whatever they decided in the bedroom.
"Well, you obviously haven't had much experience with monks," he commented, and a startled little laugh came out of Blaine, helping him relax. "What do you say we go downstairs and see what Santana left us for dinner? I'm starving."
Blaine nodded slowly, as if a bit dizzy from the sudden change of subject.
Kurt began to walk out of the greenhouse. His body was claiming for more, but he ignored it.
He could wait. He knew it would be worth it, in the end.
Things are slowly starting to heat up between them, don't you think? ;)
See you next Wednesday! Thank you for reading!
L.-