Author's Note(s): This little gem is based off the fact that I too am moving (this weekend yay!) into a basement suite no doubt (on my own/with a roommate) for the first time ever this passing weekend. Since I'm packing and stuff the next chapter will be off regular track so here's a bonus chapter instead to make up for it, yay!
To my lovely reviewers: Hoorah! So many reviews, so many people as kinky as me ;) Thank you all very much; I've taken your considerations and feedback straight to the heart. I will be posting a sequel to "The Apartment" a couple chapters from now (gotta work on some Dark!Kurt) so in the meantime, enjoy this bonus and happy reading!
The Neighbour
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Kurt Hummel had never before had to make friendly with his neighbours.
Such an act was usually left to his father; a man who could sweet-talk to people like it was his duty in life. Sadly after a second heart attack, the mechanic turned hospital patient passed away at the age of forty-five, leaving his son, Kurt, to fend for himself and learn the art of 'sweet-talking' on his own.
And that is how Kurt Hummel found himself a benefactor of being a new neighbour on a small suburban street in an even smaller suburban town then the one he had grown up in.
Having absolutely no clue how to 'break the ice' so to speak, Kurt rang up his fellow pain-in-the-ass best friend, Rachel Berry.
"Bake lemon squares"
"What?"
A huff over the land line made his eye twitch.
"You have that fantastic recipe for lemon squares don't you? The one your mom left?"
Kurt swallowed down the nostalgia.
A halt in the conversation, "…sorry" Rachel murmured, "but nothing says 'accept me as your new neighbour' like a sweet treat. Maybe even find a vegan alternative, they'll love th-"
Kurt hung up the phone with a resounding click. An angry mutter escaped him as he set off to his new kitchen, threw on his patented 'Kiss Me I'm Gay' apron and went digging around looking for the proper ingredients.
A few hours later, a freshly made tray of lemon squares (cooled down of course) were perched in Kurt's hand as he rang the doorbell to an absolutely gorgeous, modern-scale home, with a luscious front yard blooming bright colours that made Kurt's own home look like an all-consuming shadow in comparison.
He smoothed back his hair in the hopes of looking presentable, but all thought was lost as the smooth polished door was opened and there stood a man who was nothing short of breath-taking.
Dark curly hair in a smaller version of an afro framed a face with an impending beard showing. Eyes like molten honey and a to-die-for pair of shiny, plump lips.
Kurt was babbling lost.
"I-I, lemon, your house…neighbour!" he blurted.
The man's honey eyes stared blankly at him, eyebrows furrowing in confusion.
"Sorry, I no understand. English yes?"
Kurt all but swooned at the heavily accented man.
"English? Yes! Yes I-I do speak English." Curse his pale complexion, the heat was travelling all the way down his neck.
The man (clearly Italian by the accent Kurt was hearing) seemed to relax at the knowledge that they weren't about to miscommunicate with each other.
"No newspaper or magazine" the man stated. Again his thick accent made Kurt go breathy.
"W-what? Oh!" Kurt stammered as the man pointed to a sign reading 'No Newspapers, No Magazines, Please.'
"No!" and they both jumped at the shout "I mean no, I'm not here to solicit or anything, I'm your new neighbour. Kurt Hummel" he finished lamely.
"Neighbour?" the man cocked his head adorably then peered over their separation fence towards Kurt's (much smaller) house.
"Oh" and the man's eyes lit up and Kurt had to stop himself from sighing, "Blaine Anderson "he pointed to himself.
"Yes, hi" Kurt breathed "I'm not really good at this whole neighbourly thing, but I brought over a family recipe of lemon squares to welcome…uh…myself to the neighbourhood?" he joked.
His new neighbour was laughing deeply, the small joke definitely ceased any and all tension there might have between them. "Please, you come in?" Kurt beamed at the broken sentence.
"Thank you" he wiped his shoes on the 'welcome' mat, stepped inside and proceeded to toe them off.
Kurt's eyes took in the walk-in area and his mouth dropped slightly. "Wow" the man, Blaine, stepped beside him.
"Kitchen?" he pointed toward an open doorway to their right.
"Oh right, yes" he followed quietly, taking everything in on their small journey.
Every part of the kitchen was either granite or stainless steel. A large island made of dark granite 'floated' in the center of the kitchen, a vase of fresh tulips perched inside sat on the top. There were four bar stools surrounding it; a couple shades lighter in contrast.
Blaine ushered him to a stool of his choice, making his own way to the large steel fridge in search of milk.
"How long you here?"
Blaine placed a glass of milk in front of Kurt a well as a couple of plates.
He cut out the lemon squares, two for each of them, then settling himself on a stool next to Kurt; took a bite, all the while keeping his eyes on his new neighbour.
Kurt blushed darkly at the attention, "I assume you mean how long ago I moved up here?" at Blaine's insistent nod Kurt continued "just two weeks ago."
He sipped from his glass, watching Blaine quietly take in this new information.
"You like here?" Blaine questioned.
Kurt nearly knocked over his glass to face Blaine and grin.
"I love it!"
The Italian man grinned back, his fingers dancing around the rim of his plate.
"Good" he smiled "you want to see rest of house?"
Kurt nodded hastily; shoving the rest of his uneaten lemon square into his mouth and almost tipping his chair back to follow the man back out into his front door area.
Blaine ended up showing Kurt all of the upstairs. The three bedrooms, two bathrooms and laundry room, and then back downstairs to see the backyard/garden, complete with a beautiful marble fountain that spewed water in the shape of an arch, and then back inside to see the living room, den, game room and dining area.
Kurt was most certainly awed by it all, but he was a little confused as to why they kept skipping one of the downstairs doors.
"What's down there?"
Blaine turned towards the mahogany door and pursed his lips. "Just basement rooms for guests, I show next time." He concluded.
The two men proceeded to re-enter the shiny kitchen, Kurt walking forth for another lemon square.
"I am very sorry" Blaine paused, looking on the timer to his stove, "I must go be working, please."
Kurt smiled. Blaine was so adorable when he scrunched his face thoughtfully, as if imagining the words he was going to say next.
"Yes, of course, I don't wish to overstay my welcome."
"You over nothing" Blaine hushed, smiling as Kurt giggled, "I happy meet you Kurt, do not be strange."
"Thank you Blaine" Kurt beamed, "I'll try not to be."
The door locked automatically behind him.
Over the following few weeks, Kurt returned to Blaine's home (now adamant the man was single if not lonely) for lunch and to catch up on how his job was going. Kurt could honestly say he felt like he had known Blaine forever, sharing with the man more than he had ever shared with Rachel.
Tiny thrills would light up his body every time Blaine smiled at him or gently rested his hands on Kurt's forearms. Kurt was %150 sure Blaine was flirting with him, but after Kurt's many fiascos with straight men, he would patiently wait for the other man to make the first move.
And since Blaine had been acting a little off around Kurt lately, he was downright certain the Italian man was prepping himself to ask Kurt out.
Kurt found himself on a number of occasions fantasizing about the way Blaine would ask him and he might have done it again today if not for the fact he was perched at the kitchen island, in the house of said man.
Being invited to Blaine's home for an authentic Italian dinner was like a dream come true, and Kurt was enjoying every minute of it.
"You ever taste real Italian food before, Kurt?" Blaine approached the other side of the island, "Si, it is very much better than the taking out, yes?" he placed a heaping plate of freshly baked lasagna before Kurt. He desperately tried to stop himself from face planting into the aroma of the lasagna. Kurt was truly in heaven.
"Not authentic Italian food no, but I've been to a really crappy version of a fake Italian restaurant back in my hometown. 'Breadsticks?' have you ever heard of that?" He helped himself to the fresh parmesan Blaine set on the table.
Again Blaine pursed his lips in thought. "No, not very likely, I do not eat out often, I like the privacy, si? Much better eating own home food than someone else's, especially if in shitty place, yes?"
Kurt smiled back at him "always better yes. This meal is fantastic; I never knew you were such a good cook." 'Calm down on the flirting Hummel' he thought loudly, 'your patient remember?'
The two men continued to eat, their plates almost empty when Blaine offered up dessert. "Not lemon square, but ice-cream good, yes?"
Kurt sighed delightedly "ice-cream sounds great, thank you." The minute Blaine turned his back Kurt pulled out a small mirror, checking his hair and making sure there was no food on his face. It was back in his pocket before Blaine even blinked.
They finished their dessert and Kurt leaned back with a defeated sigh. "I can't move, sorry, just roll me onto the front lawn and I'll be good."
Blaine laughed "no time for rolling, you see rest of house, yes?"
It took Kurt all the energy he had left to glance over at Blaine. "I thought you showed it all to me, didn't you? The upstairs, the downstairs, the garden; what else is there?"
"You never see basement rooms, yes?"
Kurt nodded as they stood; clearing their plates straight into the dishwasher and then back out to the mahogany door nestled between the stairs to go up and the small hallway that led out.
Blaine took out a special key from his pocket, clicking the door open a second later. "I no like leaving unlocked when none downstairs" he informed Kurt, "if I forget to close door it get windy in house, too cold down there."
They started the trek down the stairs, Kurt instantly placing his arms around himself. "Brrrr, you're right, it's incredibly chilly down here."
"Si, I do not lie about cold" Blaine laughed "I really no like."
"Was it built like that? I mean when they built your house?"
"I build own house" Blaine opened the second door at the bottom of the stairs, leading the two of them into a long hallway, "forget to put in insulation when finished building, bite me often, yes?"
Kurt chuckled, "it must be nice in the summer yeah?" There's nothing like a pool party without the need of a pool, right?"
"Yes, I only need to come downstairs that's the joke?" and he and Kurt both ended up in heaps of laughter. "Yes, si" Kurt grinned, making a mental tally to speak more Italian if it was going to earn him another smile like that one.
"These doors are to bedrooms" Blaine pointed out, opening two of them, which led into smaller versions of the ones upstairs. "There are no beds" Kurt's eyebrows furrowed, "not like the one upstairs."
"Buying more beds is hassle, yes? I have family stay upstairs, none really sleep down here unless sleepover with friends, so I do not spend more money on beds. I tell them to bring bags for sleep or I pull out mattress."
Kurt smiled "do you have a lot of sleepovers?" he peered into the next empty room.
"Many" Blaine shut them closed, re-locking each one before he led Kurt to the room at the end of the hall, it was right beside the bathroom.
"How many rooms do you need Blaine?" Kurt laughed, "You weren't kidding about those sleepovers."
Blaine chuckled behind him. "This room special, yes, I let you open" and he handed Kurt one last key.
Kurt twisted the shiny metal beneath his fingers, looking into Blaine's honey eyes, a reassuring gaze meeting his own nervous one. This room had to be special to Blaine. He kept these keys of his heavily guarded if not with him at all times.
Kurt rested the key into the lock, his breath coming out excited. Here go-
"Hey" Kurt turned back to Blaine, nearly clonking heads with the man, "did you ever think of putting windows in those other rooms" he grinned cheekily as Blaine smirked.
"No, not yet, windows are a hassle too yes? Cold down here enough" Kurt grinned, shaking his head as he turned back to the door. He turned the key, the lock giving a faint 'click.' The door cracked open and Kurt stepped forth.
If there was ever a time to hallucinate or to say someone must have been hallucinating, now would be that moment. Kurt was still in mid-pose, his foot forward with anticipation, but his face was stock still, the smile wiped off completely from his face. Blaine's breath came in loud and clear, almost right beside his ear, a heavy, filthy sound to Kurt's ears.
The air of the room was putrid. Fecal matter, waste and the damp dark odor of vomit filled his nostrils. Sweat and day old food pilings were overbearing in nature. But the rising urge to vomit came swifter than the smell at the sight before him. Rows, quite literally rows of heavy, black chains were attached to the ceiling, and to those chains were six malnourished, crying men; all sobbing, all filthy and all completely naked.
There were whip lashes strewn across their skin. Giant hole like gashes, cigarette burns, scars and even bite marks were littered across every inch. Every man was either screaming or crying.
Kurt's mouth had neither parted nor closed since he opened the door. The man was in a state of shock that froze him to his very core.
Finally he began to gape like a fish, the key dropping from his hands, and his eyes like saucers. He babbled incomprehensible words.
"Surprised?" came a smooth, silky voice. This one came in perfect English, no accent to be heard, no "yes" after every sentence. Blaine stepped closer to Kurt, inhaling deeply at the man's hair. He knelt forward to retrieve the key from the floor, returning quietly as if he had never gone down.
"They're usually a lot more behaved" he ran his hand up Kurt's arm, "much more polite, introducing them is always such a burden" he mumbled.
Kurt caught eyes with one of the men near the front and screamed as Blaine kissed his neck.
"Sorry your first visit had to be cut so short" he gripped Kurt's waist carefully "it was feeding time."
Kurt felt vomit enter his mouth as Blaine touched him. The men didn't notice either of them, but Kurt felt like he was being watched by a thousand eyes.
"U-"
"Sssssshhh" Blaine mouthed hungrily at Kurt's neck; he flipped Kurt toward him, pressing their bodies together as far as he could. "I've got you, I've always got you."
Kurt sobbed in fear, wrenching away from Blaine and making a break for the door, but it had closed behind them, locked instantly and shrouded Kurt from the outside world.
He screamed and clawed frantically at the wood, chips flying from beneath his fingernails.
"It's okay Kurt" Blaine re-approached, snagging him around the waist and taking them both down to the ground in a sitting position.
"It's all going to be okay."
