Author's Note: This is the end of the angst, I promise. Blaine will make things right again :-) I'm pretty sure this chapter will leave you smiling. Thank you so much to everyone who sends me feedback - you're wonderful and you spur me on to keep writing :-)
Chapter 16: Something to Prove
A dog week had never felt so long to Blaine. Usually, he breezed through it, and since Kurt had arrived, he enjoyed being a dog so much more.
Now, though, he lay in a corner of Paula's kitchen, moping. He hardly ate a bite, and refused to go out, using an old litter box that used to belong to a pet ferret instead.
Paula tried petting him, but when he growled at her, she backed off and laughed. "Okay, okay, I get it, you don't want me, you want Kurt. Better use your time well, then, Mr Sulky, making plans for how you're going to win him over again."
Blaine threw her the vilest look he could manage, but it only made her coo and pronounce him adorable, so he sighed and curled up in a ball. And made plans, yes.
Kurt needed to know that Blaine had never wanted to do… that… with Sebastian. That Kurt was the only one on Blaine's radar. That Blaine was in love with him – he was quite sure of that now.
Blaine wanted to take Kurt out on dates. Wanted to walk on the sidewalk hand in hand. Wanted to kiss Kurt, and wow, that thought made his stomach swoop.
The plotting and planning made time pass a tiny bit faster, so Blaine planned out enough dates to fill the next five years or so. When he was finally back to normal, he hurried to put on his clothes again and ran the six blocks to his apartment with barely a goodbye for Paula before he left.
He hadn't counted on Kurt being gone. Not just away for an hour to go walk some dogs, but gone. There was no trace of him anywhere in the apartment. It was as if he'd never been there at all.
Blaine let out a sob and sank down on the sofa with his head in his hands. What was he going to do now?
He really didn't want to go anywhere, but he needed to know where Kurt was, so he bought Thai take out and showed up on Trent and Ashton's doorstep.
They let him in, but neither of them smiled at him. They seemed… angry?
And then Trent let him have it for breaking Kurt's heart. "Really, Blaine, I really thought you'd LEARNT something from the mistakes you made before! We were all convinced you were falling for Kurt. That you'd kiss him and break the spell any day now. And then you go and wrap yourself around the first slut that comes on to you. Right in front of Kurt! Are you insane?!"
As soon as Blaine could get a word in edgewise, he explained that he'd mistaken the guy for Kurt. That earned him an eye-roll and a stony stare.
Well, if that was his best friend's reaction, it didn't bode well for Kurt's.
Blaine pleaded his case, assuring Trent and Ashton that he wanted to make things right with Kurt, and that yes, he did love Kurt and wanted him as his boyfriend. "So please help me out, okay? I know I messed up, guys, but I swear I'll do whatever it takes to get Kurt to forgive me."
After a wordless conversation between the married couple, they turned to him.
"Okay," said Ashton. "We'll help. But to be clear: we're doing it for Kurt, not for you."
Trent glared at Blaine. "You're on thin ice, mister!"
"Noted," said Blaine. "Trent, do you have any idea where Kurt is? I went home and none of his stuff is there. He moved out."
Trent crossed his arms. "Of course he did. And I advised him not to move back in with you until you've at least proposed to him."
Blaine frowned. "What? Why?"
"Because otherwise, you'll just go back to the way things were before," Trent snapped at him. "Keeping Kurt around because it's convenient. Keeping him pining and unsatisfied. No. You've taken advantage of people for long enough."
"B-but…"
"No buts. You're a grown man, you need to learn how to get through life without constantly depending on someone else to sort out your problems. If you need a live-in dog sitter – because you still haven't broken the curse though you could have done so ages ago – then hire someone else. And do it straightaway or make a note in your Outlook agenda, so that you won't forget. You can't keep counting on me or Paula or Kurt to save your sorry ass every time you're in trouble. You have to foresee your next dog spell and PLAN for it. I can't believe I have to tell you this. For the love of God, man, you're thirty years old, not three! You're as helpless as a baby when it comes to practical stuff!"
Blaine looked at Trent with wide eyes and nodded.
"Well, make a note in your agenda, what are you waiting for?"
Blaine whipped out his phone and made a note to drop off a spare key at the dog walking agency. He wasn't going to hire a dog sitter, though. That would mean explaining his predicament to yet another person. No. A dog walker would have to do, and he'd keep his e-mail to the agency on stand-by and send it as soon as he felt a spell coming on.
"Now, to answer your question," Trent said, "Kurt is in Ohio. Gone to visit his dad. And when he gets back, he'll be dog-sitting again at some place not far from Parsons. Until half February. The 20th, I think he said. So if I were you, I'd plan my proposal on Valentine's day. That gives Kurt some time to think it over and to move in with you if he says yes."
Blaine felt his hair prickle uncomfortably on his arms at the mention of Burt.
Uh-oh. That means Burt knows everything. And he's going to hate me now, for hurting his kid.
Then the part about him proposing sank in.
"Wait – what? You're expecting me to propose to Kurt? Two months from now?"
Trent hummed in assent. "Oh, yeah. Knowing how extra you are, it probably won't take you that long. Now that you've finally realised you have feelings for Kurt, you'll just blurt out 'I love you. Marry me?' the next time you see Kurt."
"Wh… No, I won't!"
Trent and Ashton laughed.
"Seriously, though," said Ashton, "you might want to take it slow. Work up to it. Or Kurt will never believe it's genuine."
"Take it slow," Blaine repeated.
"Think of what you love about Kurt," Ashton advised, and then, when Blaine was about to start listing everything, he held up his hand, "and tell KURT, not us!"
"Right. But what if he doesn't want to talk to me?"
"Then you write him letters," Ashton suggested. "That's way more romantic anyway. And you can send him care packages, too. You're great at gifts. Bake him cookies, give him an accessory or a piece of art that reminds you of him. Show him that he's on your mind. That you know him and know what he likes. That you two fit together well. Convince him that you're worth taking a second chance on."
"Second?" Trent scoffed. "More like millionth. But yes, Ash, that's a really good idea. Go all out, Blaine, but in a Victorian courtship kind of way. Letters and gifts. Kurt is going to love that."
When he got back home, Blaine felt his brain teeming with ideas, but he knew there was one thing he had to do first. Though he was quaking inside, he looked up the landline number for Hummel's Tires and Lube and called it the very next morning.
As he had expected, Burt was less than pleased with him, and reamed him out thoroughly. When Blaine got the chance to say his piece, he told Burt it had been a misunderstanding, and that he was serious about Kurt and planning on proposing to him in the near future, "if I may have your blessing, sir?"
Burt stayed silent for good long while, and then harrumphed. "You'd better make him happy, you hear? I never want to see him as sad again as he's been the past week. Made me think of when he was little and his mom had just died."
Blaine swallowed with difficulty. "Yes, sir. I wanted to ask you something, sir. Kurt mentioned a set of scrapbooks he'd filled with wedding planning. Would you mind sending them to New York, to my address, so that we can use them as a frame of reference? I'll pay for the postage."
Burt harrumphed again. "Stop with the 'sir', okay? It's Burt. And all right, I'll have Carole look for those books, and I'll send them to you. Don't make me regret it."
"I won't, Burt. Thank you."
Blaine wired the money for the postage over to the Hummel's Tires and Lube account, and then set to the task of wooing Kurt the old-fashioned way. He had nowhere to go and nothing to do until his classes started again anyway, so he spent the last week of his Christmas break in a frenzy of activity, writing, designing, shopping, baking, plotting and planning.
As promised, Burt sent Blaine a big box with all of Kurt's scrapbooks. Not all of them were wedding-themed, but they were a goldmine of information about Kurt's likes and dislikes, so Blaine pored over them for days, and marked all the interesting pages with post-its. Pink for gift ideas, blue for proposal and wedding planning, yellow for letter-writing inspiration and green for date ideas.
When Ashton dropped in a few days later, he took in the mess that was the living room and whistled long and low. "What's all this?"
Blaine felt his cheeks heat up. "It's for Kurt."
"What are you, expecting to woo him for the next twenty years?"
Blaine blinked at Ashton. "I don't have that long, you know that. Is it too much?"
Ashton laughed. "Maaaaybe just a little. Look around you, man. It looks like Santa's workshop in here."
Blaine fiddled with his fingers. "I… I guess I like the idea of wooing him."
"Good. I'm pretty sure Kurt is going to like it too."
"You saw Kurt?" Blaine asked. "How is he?"
"Look who's an eager beaver! Yes. He came by to drop off your spare key."
Ashton dangled the key in front of Blaine's nose and then threw it onto the coffee table.
Blaine's heart sank at the reminder that Kurt didn't want to live with him anymore.
"We told Kurt you were never into Sebastian," Ashton continued. "He was relieved. But you still have a lot to make up for. Kurt says you're not to stalk him, though."
Blaine looked up at Ashton, shocked. "I would never. Only… I don't know how I'll get any of this stuff to Kurt. I don't have his address, and I don't think he'll appreciate me giving him letters and presents at school. I'll count myself lucky if he's so much as civil in my classes."
Ashton winked at Blaine. "We've got that covered. You can give your love notes to us and we'll make sure he gets them."
Blaine hugged Ashton. "Thank you!"
"So what's the first package?" Ashton asked. "I'll take it home with me. Trent is going jogging with Kurt tonight, he can give to him then."
When Blaine showed him the macarons, Ashton's eyes lit up. "Did you make some with salted caramel?"
Blaine grinned. "Yep. And chocolate for Trent. I filled you guys a box, too."
"Oh, yay! Thanks, man!"
Blaine clapped Ashton on the back. "Thank you for helping me out."
The next day, Ashton popped in again to tell Blaine Kurt had seemed happily surprised, and to encourage Blaine to keep it up. "Do you have another gift ready? I'm having lunch with Kurt in about an hour."
Blaine nodded. "Here. It's not baked goods this time, but if you deliver it for me, I'll cook dinner for you guys tonight."
"You're on!"
And so the pattern continued, either Ashton or Trent delivering the gifts. Paula, when she heard about Blaine's plans, wanted in on the fun, too, and called Kurt into her office once a week to give him one of Blaine's presents.
During class, Kurt was as diligent a student as he'd ever been, and perfectly polite to Blaine, but he didn't say one word more than the class work called for.
Kurt's friends noticed, and were under the impression that Kurt had finally gotten over his crush.
Blaine overheard Maizie saying, "It's about time. It's been… What? Two years? Oh, now that you're ready to mingle, I have a cousin that I think you'd be perfect for…"
Blaine hurried away and hoped with all his might that Kurt wouldn't start dating someone else.
He chose his gift with special care that day – a black enamel brooch with inlaid gems in the form of a unicorn, lovely and delicate, and wrote an accompanying note.
"Dearest Kurt,
Word at school has it that you're moving on. That you've put me out of your mind. I hope with all my heart that it's not true. That I still stand a chance with you.
I know I took too long to realise what I felt for you, but those feelings have been there from the very beginning, and they'll remain a constant for the rest of my life, I promise you.
Once I'd met you, you were all I saw. You are beautiful inside and out, and every new facet of yours I discover makes me love you more.
You're as unique as the brooch I enclose with this letter. There is no-one in the world quite like you. You were born to stand out, and you are proud to do so, even if it's not always easy. I admire that so much about you.
With all my love,
Blaine"
In his first letters, Blaine had pleaded for Kurt to come back to him or to at least write back, but he'd given up on that after a week had passed without a word from Kurt.
If he has moved on, I can't blame him. But please, please, please don't let it be so.
K&B
Blaine woke up the next morning to find that he'd turned into a dog overnight. With no way of sending an e-mail to the dog walking agency, Blaine had no other option than to push his alarm button and hope that Trent would come.
His friend did come, of course, grumbling a little but doing everything required. "I take it you don't want another dog sitter or walker than Kurt? Is that why you haven't contacted the agency?"
Blaine hung his head, shame-faced.
Trent tsk'ed. "You want me to look after you this week, like before?"
Blaine gave Trent his most beseeching look, and Trent sighed. "I'll be back after work."
That afternoon, Blaine's phone started to ring and ring and ring, and Blaine looked up, aghast, remembering the appointment he had at four p.m.
Looks like I can scratch that bakery from the list. Damn. That was the best of the lot.
A little after five, Trent came and took Blaine out for a walk. Blaine was hungry, so when they got back, Blaine started scrunching as soon as Trent had filled up Blaine's food and water bowl.
Trent rolled his eyes and announced that he was going to look for Kurt's next gift, so that he could hand it to Kurt when they went jogging later. "Is it on the coffee table?"
Blaine looked up and nodded, and then resumed eating.
When his bowl was licked entirely clean, he heard voices in the living room, and he pricked up his ears. Was that Kurt? It was! And he was angry. Why?
Blaine wanted to face-palm when Kurt told Trent a bakery had called him out of the blue about an appointment for a wedding cake. Of course! Blaine remembered that Mrs Peters had insisted on jotting down the contact details of both grooms. Uh-oh…
"Is he crazy?" Kurt shouted. "I mean, the gifts and the notes is one thing. It's sweet, really, and I love it. But planning an entire wedding for us when there isn't even an 'us'? We aren't dating and we never have. We've never so much as kissed, and he's expecting me to marry him any day now? Is he insane? Did you know about this?"
Trent managed to calm Kurt down and went to the kitchen to make them coffee. Kurt sank down on the sofa with a big sigh.
Something caught his eye on the coffee table, and he reached for one of the scrapbooks. He thumbed through it, stopping at every post-it and reading what Blaine had jotted down on it, a smile flashing across his face ever so often.
Next, Kurt grabbed Blaine's wedding planning binder, and soon, he was so engrossed that he didn't even notice Trent when he arrived with coffee and cookies.
Trent backed away, put the tray on the kitchen table and crouched down to whisper to Blaine, "Now's your moment. Go to him!"
Blaine hesitated, but when he heard a broken sob from Kurt's direction, he was up on the sofa like a shot. Kurt was smiling, but crying at the same time, and before Blaine knew it, he had two paws on Kurt's lap and was licking all the salty moisture off Kurt's face.
That didn't stop the tears from coming. Quite on the contrary. Kurt put his forehead against Blaine's and cried harder still. Blaine kept cleaning up the tears, swiping his tongue all over Kurt's face, ecstatic that Kurt didn't push him away, and determined to cheer him up.
Kurt hiccupped and sniffled, and Blaine licked on and on, and felt such a wave of love and protectiveness sweep through him that it overwhelmed him for a moment and he had to close his eyes.
When he opened them again, he saw to his surprise that he'd turned back human. He didn't question it, but took Kurt in his arms and peppered his face with light, barely there kisses, murmuring, "Don't cry, beautiful. Please don't cry. I love you. I love so much."
That made Kurt look up and swallow away his tears. "I… I love you too."
Blaine beamed and kissed Kurt's cheek again.
"Weren't you a dog just now?" Kurt asked. "Has the spell changed? You were human yesterday! Is it a one-day thing now?"
Blaine shook his head slowly. "I… No. I think we broke the curse. Just now. When I licked your face."
Kurt grimaced. "You mean our true love's kiss was a slobbery lick? Really?"
Blaine laughed at Kurt's outrage.
"I feel so cheated right now," Kurt continued. "I want a do-over! With a real kiss!"
Blaine framed Kurt's face with his hands and promised, "You can have as many as you like."
Then he moved in slowly, until their lips met, and Kurt sighed into the kiss and threw his arms around Blaine's neck.
"Yeah, uhm, I'll… I'll just… go," said Trent.
Kurt, now nuzzling Blaine's jaw and mapping out his neck with kisses, didn't even react, but Blaine mouthed 'Thank you' and sent his friend a wink and a smile before tipping Kurt's chin up and claiming his lips again.
They kissed until they were drunk on it and started giggling like mad. Blaine felt like all the blood in his veins had been swapped for champagne – fizzy and heady and leaving him exhilarated and on top of the world. Every sound was suddenly so much clearer, every touch electric, every feeling a million times stronger.
"I love you," Blaine repeated, over and over, and Kurt's eyes shone as he answered in kind.
They ended up lying down on the sofa, their legs tangled, Blaine's arm slung around Kurt's waist, and Kurt drawing hearts on Blaine's chest with his pointer finger.
"Are you really planning a wedding for us?" Kurt wanted to know.
Blaine bit his lip. "I've been… scoping out the market, yes. But I haven't made any final decisions yet. I've just… narrowed down the field a little. Weeded out any supplier that's below par. And I've checked if they can supply what you want for your wedding."
Kurt let out a short laugh. "This is crazy! We haven't even been on our first date yet and we're already talking weddings."
Blaine swallowed. "I… I just… didn't want there to be any doubt about my intentions."
Kurt's eyes softened, and he cupped Blaine's cheek and kissed him. Then he smirked and asked, "So what are your intentions?"
"I want to grow old with you," Blaine said simply. "I want us to share our lives. I want to wake up to you in the morning and go to sleep with you at night. I want to make you happy. As happy as you've made me. I want to love you, now and forever."
Kurt smiled tremulously. "That's what I want, too."
Blaine gave him a bunny kiss that made him giggle, and after that, they kissed some more, and smiled dopily at each other.
"Just promise me something," Kurt said.
"Anything."
"Promise me the proposal won't be as much of a let-down as true love's kiss was."
Blaine threw his head back and laughed until Kurt joined in.
"It won't, love," Blaine assured Kurt. "I'll try and make it everything you've ever dreamt of."
