Title: A Sibling By Any Other Name
Author: an-alternate-world
Rating: M (starts mild, rating will go up in future chapters)
Characters/Pairings: Blaine/Kurt
Word count: 7,831
Summary: When Blaine is forced into finding a new family, he never expected to meet the people he did. He never expected his life to turn out this way. He never expected to fall so hopelessly in love so early in life. He never expected any of this. AnderBerry siblings, eventual Klaine.
Warnings/Spoilers: A vague re-writing of canon Glee, but there are some huge differences, which you'll see as you go along. Angst, fluff, a little bit of smut.
Disclaimer: I am in no way associated with Glee, FOX, Ryan Murphy or anything else related to the Glee universe.
Rachel getting banned from Sectionals meant increased badgering at home after rehearsals. He tried to explain that Finn and him were working it out, that the lack of females didn't mean they were going to lose, but Rachel wasn't convinced. Several times he caught her on the phone to Quinn, harping on about poor singing abilities and offering lessons, which partially explained Quinn's shitty mood at school recently. It had been noticeably tense between Quinn and Puck and as much as Blaine wanted to ignore it, it seemed New Directions had their ways of airing grievances publicly. Oh how he missed Dalton sometimes!
Sebastian had apparently gotten the message from Kurt and left him alone, which decreased his anxiety about getting caught 'cheating' and making Kurt upset again. He'd also spent far more time with Kurt, even if it was merely choreography, in the hopes Kurt stopped feeling so alone and worthless. He'd forced Kurt into mailing the NYADA application and helping his sister fill out hers, even though it broke his heart a little that they were both going to leave and he was going to be left behind. Without warning, the terror of being abandoned would engulf him and leave him gasping for air and fumbling to turn on the light, casting shadows over his room. His difficulty sleeping did allow time to be spent on assignments and homework, but it was starting to show, light bruises forming beneath his eyes and his movements slightly sluggish from exhaustion.
It all came tumbling out three days before Sectionals, when he dozed off in History. Tina had touched his shoulder to wake him when class ended, and he'd fallen out of his seat with a scream. Horrified, Artie had gone to find Kurt while Tina crouched in front of him. He knew where he was, but it was the sudden fright, the abrupt wake-up from nightmares of looming bodies beating him into the concrete.
"Blaine?" Kurt dropped his bag by the door and rushed over to where he was trembling on the floor. "Hey honey, it's me. It's Kurt. What's going on?"
"He dozed off and I woke him," Tina explained, biting her lip anxiously. "I didn't know. I'm so sorry."
"Hey, it's okay," Kurt assured with a gentle smile before touching Blaine's ankle lightly. "Blaine, honey. Look at me. You're okay. Wherever you went in the dream, you're safe now."
Blaine's fingers shook as he fumbled for Kurt's hand and curled into the warmth of his body. His scent was so familiar and safe and calming and finally, finally, he could breathe again.
"I'll head to Math and let Martinez know Blaine's not well," Artie said, frowning with concern as he wheeled out of the classroom.
"You're safe," Kurt whispered again and again, cradling Blaine and rocking him gently. Tina felt awfully like she was intruding but Kurt indicated she should stay.
When Blaine could put his thoughts together, his first words were an apology. "I don't know what happened. I don't...I just got startled."
Kurt's nails scraped at the back if his neck soothingly. "Flashbacks? Bad dreams? Exhaustion?"
Blaine nodded, looking down at their clasped hands which rested in his lap.
"I've noticed you get progressively more tired on your feet for the past week. I'm surprised it didn't catch up with you sooner."
"I just…I don't know what's wrong with me…" Blaine admitted softly. "I can't…I keep thinking about my parents. About their faces and their deaths and I just…I wish they could see me. I wish they could see us…"
Kurt's head rested on the top of Blaine's as he rocked them back and forth. He glanced at Tina, feeling lost for words. "I know you miss them, baby. I miss my mom too. I can only imagine how bad it would have been if dad died last year." He tilted Blaine's head up gently and kissed his forehead. "Do you want to go home and get some sleep? I'm not sure you're really fit to be at school at the moment. You need some rest."
Blaine shrugged, suddenly feeling overwhelmed by his emotions and exhaustion. He stifled a yawn against Kurt's shoulder before Kurt started coaxing him to his feet with Tina's assistance. With slow steps, Kurt led him to the reception office and signed them out for the rest of the day. The receptionist watched Blaine swaying with fatigue as Tina held him up and patted Kurt's hand.
"Make sure Mr Anderson is right for Sectionals on Saturday," she said with a nod in his direction.
Kurt looked back at Blaine who was struggling to keep his eyes from sliding shut. "Thanks. I'll take care of him."
She gave him a brief smile and ushered them towards home.
Blaine fought to stay awake on the short trip to his house but his head barely touched his pillow before sleep claimed him. Kurt sent a quick message to Rachel explaining he'd taken Blaine home due to extreme tiredness, switched his phone to silent, and cuddled up behind Blaine, tucking the blankets around him and humming quietly to keep Blaine soothed.
Admitting his worries out loud meant they eased up a little and he slept decently the next few nights. However, it seemed that no matter if he had Kurt or Rachel by his side, he was a bundle of nerves as he stared around the auditorium. He'd seen Sebastian and looked away immediately, catching Kurt's glare being sent at the taller Warbler who made Blaine feel distinctly uneasy. Rachel disappeared just after the Unitards performed and Blaine clutched Kurt's hand against his knee as he watched the Troubletones, who performed a surprisingly good mash-up.
But then the time came, and Quinn's eyes were rimmed red and Puck was trying to find out what was wrong until she punched his shoulder and walked away to find her place. He squeezed Kurt's hand briefly and dashed to his mark, wondering if being sick on stage was a terrible idea. He loved performing but he was always nervous and he hated it. Rachel never felt fear. She walked out on the stage and just owned it with her presence.
He missed a few steps and thought he might have harmonised with Finn wrong, but they still received standing ovations and his arm linked with Kurt's out of a need for security and comfort. They'd done all they could do and now they had to wait.
Rachel was confident, even as she cut off circulation to Miss Pillsbury's fingers, and certainly had to be screaming the loudest when Mr Schue hoisted the trophy above their heads. It was another one to add to the small collection in the choir room, another reason to feel proud and delighted. He tried to talk to Santana, Brittany and Mercedes but none of the girls wanted anything to do with him or anyone else in New Directions. He chewed the inside of his cheek as Rachel rushed around, squealing as she hugged Finn and barrelled into Kurt and then flung her arms around Blaine with excitement.
"You were amazing," she gushed. "I'm so proud of you for pulling this together without my guidance. You've really grown up a lot in the last few years."
He touched her cheek and smiled. "So have you," he acknowledged.
She blushed and nuzzled her nose into his shoulder. "I'm trying, Blaine. I'm trying."
"I know. I appreciate it," he replied with a kiss to her hair.
She smiled and then ran off to congratulate the band boys that they'd roped in at the last minute to make up numbers. Kurt sidled over and slipped his fingers into Blaine's.
"I love you," he said, tilting his head to lean on Blaine's shoulder.
Blaine squeezed his hand, his thumb brushing over the knuckles of Kurt's fingers. "I love you too."'
"Okay, so, I've had an idea," Kurt said as he flicked through his Math textbook to the assigned homework pages.
"Hmm?" Blaine looked over Life of Pi with a raised eyebrow.
"About Christmas this year. I…I just…I want to do small things. Things with meaning, rather than things that cost a bomb."
Blaine lowered the book and rubbed his right eye with his index finger. "Small things, huh? Like what?"
"I don't know," Kurt shrugged, dropping his head to rest against the open pages of his book and staring at Blaine. "Things with meaning. Things that mean more than their price tag."
Blaine rubbed his hand over the back of Kurt's leg, tickling behind his kneecap. Kurt giggled and squirmed away, crawling up the bed to snuggle against Blaine's tummy.
"Do you mind? I just…I don't want to go out and spend a fortune on something you mightn't like," Kurt mumbled, biting his lip.
"Do I mind? Kurt, I'd be happy with just you for Christmas because I didn't really have you last year," he said, combing his fingers through Kurt's hair. "I'm sure I can come up with something."
Kurt clapped his hands together. "Brilliant. Okay. I hope you don't mind the second part, which is that I can't see you this weekend."
"But I thought you just said-"
"It won't be for shopping. It's um…well, I can't explain. But…I can't see you."
Blaine sighed, the pad of his thumb stroking over the apple of Kurt's cheek which was flushed pink. "Okay. I can still text you, right?"
"Of course!" Kurt beamed, leaning up and kissing Blaine softly. "Although I'll be driving a bit so I mightn't get back to you straight away."
"You're driving? Where are you going?" Blaine asked curiously as Kurt slumped back over the bottom of his bed and started writing out answers to his Math problems.
"That's for me to know and you never to find out," Kurt replied smugly.
Blaine frowned at him for a few minutes but when no more information was forthcoming, he picked his book off his stomach and tried to resume reading.
Kurt's secretive weekend trip apparently included Rachel, if his sister tossing an overnight bag in the back of Kurt's car and driving away with him was any indication. He'd tried asking his fathers if they knew anything but they'd both shrugged and said they trusted Kurt and they trusted Rachel's friendship with him, so they knew she'd be fine. She called every four hours to say that she was okay, and Blaine would receive a text every now and then from Kurt in response to his own letting him know that they were travelling safe and that Kurt loved him. He was filled with mixed feelings because he had no idea what was going on and while he agreed with his fathers that Kurt could be trusted, he still didn't quite know what they were trusting him with. Did he have an audition for NYADA in New York? Was he trying to find a present out of state? But no, he'd said meaningful things. Blaine eventually settled on an audition process which explained why Rachel had gone as well.
He finished Life of Pi, feeling vaguely like his mind had been blown up by complicated literary techniques, and set about plotting out the essay he had to answer on it, before discarding it in favour of a History paper he'd been avoiding. The lack of Rachel or Kurt that weekend certainly meant good things for the completion of several large homework assignments that was for sure.
It always amazed Blaine that even though Rachel insisted she was Jewish, Thanksgiving was always smaller than Christmas, or Chanukah, or Christmakah, or whatever she deigned to call it that year (she'd gone through an O.C. phase and insisted on using Seth Cohen's word for several years). And she was hopelessly distracted that year at Thanksgiving by the Christmas special the Glee club had been asked to do. Even though it was Artie's directorial responsibility, Rachel still spent much of the meal telling her fathers about herplans for the Christmas special and what songs would showcase her voice best. Leroy and Hiram were polite and nodded frequently, but Blaine caught Leroy's subtle eyeroll and choked on a mouthful of peas.
He and Rachel went to the Hummel-Hudson's house after they finished the dinner, Burt and Finn insisting Blaine come over to watch a game with them. Kurt and Rachel went scurrying up to Kurt's room and he found himself gazing up the staircase on several occasions, wondering what on earth his sister was getting up to with his boyfriend and what he was being excluded from. His heart ached at the idea of NYADA and Kurt and Rachel being so far away from him.
Sam and Quinn's refusal to participate in the Christmas spectacular episode infuriated Rachel. She complained on and on about the great opportunity, but they both insisted that the soup kitchen was far more important to them given the years that each of them had had. She dragged Blaine into performing a song she'd written in a rush during the week since she'd sung River and Artie had torn it apart, thanking Blaine multiple times when Artie was far happier with the second performance. She still wasn't happy that the whole idea was based around Kurt and Blaine's house but she handled it with better poise and grace than Blaine or Kurt had expected from her given previous encounters when she didn't get the lead vocals or starring role.
At the same time, Kurt became simultaneously more affectionate and more distant, holding Blaine's hand frequently in the hallways, but declaring he was too busy after school to hang out and rehearse. Blaine had asked Rachel but she'd smiled and cooed so condescendingly about him missing Kurt and being like an old married couple before he was even eighteen that he stopped asking and started moping around the house. Even folding the gum wrappers into an origami ring felt forced and fake, like he was making a ring for someone who was no longer truly invested in the relationship. Occasionally he'd catch himself crying while carefully folding the pieces of plastic-y paper and roughly brushed off the tears. He needed to stop being such an over-attached baby. Kurt and Rachel were both going to New York one way or another when the college semester started. He had to get used to the time apart. He had to get used to the heartache. He had to get used to being alone.
He just didn't expect it to hurt this much.
Blaine couldn't understand how a Christmas special that they'd worked hard on organising could be pulled at the last minute because someone else decided to put on a movie that had been repeated so many times no one watched it anymore. To go to an ad break and be told they could pack up and go home made him furious, but not nearly as enraged as Kurt or his sister, who started screaming obscenities and how it was discrimination and dysfunctional and unfair. Rachel eventually had to be escorted out of the studios by a couple of security guards but Kurt calmed down enough to storm out with his bag over his shoulder.
He looked over at Puck and Finn who were standing and gaping. "Well, I guess we can get to the soup kitchen now and help out Sam and Quinn, huh?"
"Kurt, can you…" He glanced at the rush of students around and pulled Kurt to one side where the noise in the corridor was less. "I know we said we'd do exchanges closer to Christmas but I…I finished my gift for you three days ago and I just want to give it to you already."
"Blaine-"
"And you can insist that you don't want it, but I would hope you won't. I want you to take it. I want you to know that it's symbolic for me, but it can mean whatever to you. I…I want it to be something that's special. I want it to be something you can take to New York with you and look at and enjoy whenever you're feeling lonely or missing me." He stared down at his hands and forced back the tears that had welled in his eyes. "I love you, Kurt. I love you so much and I- I just want you to know that, okay? And…and will you take it? Please?"
Kurt held his gaze for several moments before adjusting the strap of his bag and nodding.
Blaine fumbled in his pocket before he held out the small box. He held it in his palm as Kurt stared between the box and his face.
"Blaine, I thought we weren't going to spend anything."
"I didn't," he said. "Well, not much. You'll understand if you just open it."
Kurt clearly looked doubtful as he reached for the box and held it between his fingers. "Blaine-"
"Please just open it?" he begged, shoving his hands in his pockets to hide how badly he was shaking.
Kurt sucked his bottom lip between his teeth as he cracked open the lid of the box and opened it. He squinted and looked closer. "What-"
"It's like a promise ring," he said, shifting nervously to lean against a wall. "I know it's…I know it's not exactly the prettiest thing and it probably won't hold together too well for very long but-"
"Blaine, shut up," Kurt interrupted, tears glistening at the corners of his eyes. He touched the ring reverently before extracting it from the box and easing it onto his finger. Blaine swallowed the sob that bubbled up his throat as Kurt grinned. "It's perfect."
"But it's-"
"Shut," Kurt said firmly, stepping close, "up." His hand touched Blaine's cheek and Blaine moved automatically to meet Kurt's lips halfway. He didn't care that there were lingering students in the hallways as his hands rested on Kurt's hips to tug him closer. He could taste the salty tang of Kurt's tears and when he pulled away to wipe Kurt's cheeks, Kurt thumbed away the tears that leaked down his face too.
"I just love you so much and…and I know we're young but I feel like you're my entire world, Kurt. I want you to know that. I want you to know that wherever you are, however you might feel, I'm still here, I still love you. I'll always love you and one day, I want to marry you and follow you until the end of the earth."
Kurt sniffled, pressing his cheek to Blaine's as he wrapped his arms around Blaine's neck. "You're the most perfect boyfriend in the entire world," he whispered.
"I think that crown belongs to you," Blaine murmured, holding Kurt against him.
Kurt snorted through his tears. "I have enough tiaras. You can have one."
"Why thank you, is that my Christmas present?" Blaine chuckled, kissing Kurt's cheek.
"Definitely, definitely not," Kurt replied, a quick kiss to Blaine's forehead. "But for now, I need to get to French and you need to get to Geography so shoo, shoo! You'll get yours at the appointed Christmas-present swap time of Christmas Eve."
"But Kurt, that's another week away!" Blaine whined as Kurt ran down the corridor.
Kurt waved at him and disappeared. With a huff, Blaine headed in the opposite direction to Geography.
The week until Christmas Eve felt like the longest week of Blaine's life. He pestered Kurt mercilessly but Kurt turned up his nose and walked away on more than one occasion, refusing to answer Blaine's questions of what he had gotten Blaine for Christmas.
But finally, finally it was Christmas Eve and Kurt had brought over a large-ish box and sat with Blaine and Rachel's fathers with Finn and enjoyed the dinner that they had made while Blaine twitched like a small child on far too much sugar, knowing the gift was in the other room and wanting it so badly. Kurt kept rubbing his thigh beneath the table and hushing him, while Rachel glanced frequently between the two with a smile on her face.
Finally, finally, Leroy gave him a wave that said he could leave the table and he scrambled free from his seat and rushed into the family room where Kurt's present rested on an armchair, perfectly wrapped with a green bow around it. Kurt followed him into the room with Rachel and Finn trailing behind.
He bounced into the sofa and looked up at Kurt, eyes bright and expectant, while Kurt rolled his eyes.
"I'm dating a child," he stage-whispered to Rachel, who giggled into her hand. He picked up the box and crouched in front of Blaine. "This is a gift not just from me, but the entire Glee club and Rachel and your fathers. It's also something you can look at while I'm in New York, or maybe while I'm away and you're…" Kurt paused for a moment and his cheeks turned pink. "And you're looking after our children or pets or something."
Blaine's eyes widened at the implications of children, but he kept his mouth shut.
"I love you. I love you so much sometimes that it hurts, and hiding this from you for over a month has driven me almost mental so many times," Kurt admitted with a shy smile. "But I hope you'll like it. I hope you'll cherish it and remember that no matter what, you are loved and you have so many friends who adore you."
Blaine's forehead creased with curiosity as Kurt moved the parcel onto Blaine's lap.
His fingers touched the ribbon softly before pulling the bow apart and discarding the ribbon to one side. He felt terrible for tearing Kurt's perfect wrapping as he carefully opened one end of the present, until Kurt rolled his eyes and basically ripped the paper away.
"Hey! I was going to save that!" Blaine protested as Kurt rolled it into a ball and tossed it at Rachel.
"I'll give you what was left on the roll then," Kurt replied, poking Blaine's shin.
Blaine's eyes dropped to the box in his lap which was fairly plain and non-descript on the outside but far larger than the box that had held Kurt's ring. He pulled the lid off and gazed at the cover of a book, decorated with pictures of him and his name. His gaze flicked to Kurt and then Rachel as he eased the book out of the box and opened the front page.
Blaine Thomas Anderson: Born March 28, 1994
Mother: Marie Barker
Father: Richard Anderson
"You…you found my birth certificate?" he blinked at the page, fingers tracing over the words of his parents' names.
"Keep going," Kurt urged softly, moving to sit on the couch beside him. Rachel sat on Finn's lap in the armchair while his fathers stood in the doorway and watched.
He turned the page and was greeted with a double-page spread of pictures of him as a child at all different ages, even as a tiny baby well before he went to school. He gazed at the small boy and could barely reconcile that it was him staring back.
Barely holding in his tears, he turned the next page over and a sob escaped from his throat. Kurt's arm surrounded his back and his hands shook as he touched the pictures.
"But how…?"
"Rachel and I drove to Akron, which is where your dads adopted you from, where Carla and Jack still live and foster kids in the hope of them getting adopted out. They remembered you, and they directed us to where you originally came from, which was Youngstown, close to the border of Pennsylvania. We then managed to track down your primary school, and then your primary school teacher who also remembered you. She gave us the names of several kids who you'd grown up with, including Mandy, and their parents had numerous photos of you and your parents at parties when you were growing up and were more than willing to share."
A tear splashed onto the plastic-covered pages of the scrapbook as he kept looking back and forth between the faces of his parents. "I remember them. Kurt, I remember them."
Rachel burst into sobs against Finn's chest and he patted her back awkwardly.
"Kurt…I can't even…" Tears streamed down his cheeks as he looked at his boyfriend who had an equally shiny pair of eyes. "This means the world to me."
Kurt sniffed hard and kissed Blaine's shoulder. "Rachel and I… We've been talking about it for a while. We just weren't quite sure how to do it. We weren't sure we'd even get pictures but there were so many that we didn't even know what to do with them all. There are copies of every picture that we got copies of, so you can put them in your room or make up a separate album or just do whatever you want with them. We chose the best ones for this, obviously."
Blaine cried silently as he turned the next page, which had messages from Tina on the left and Mike on the right.
"No matter where you are, we wanted you to know that you're always loved by all of us," Rachel whispered, wiping her eyes. "I know I've made some really awful assumptions about you. I know I've hurt you and I've said the wrong thing and done the wrong thing. I know at times I've been the worst possible sister and a terrible friend and an outright failure as a person, but…but I truly love you, Blaine. You're my baby brother and I don't know who I'd be without you in my life."
Kurt squeezed his knee as he heaved a shaking breath, deciding to leave the close reading until later, because there was a page from each Glee club member filled with words and drawings and decorations. Towards the back of the scrapbook were pages from Wes, Thad, Nick and Jeff.
"Sebastian heard about it and wanted to be included, but I told him he could take his paper and swallow until he choked on it," Kurt informed him mildly.
Blaine started laughing, kissing Kurt's cheek so hard Kurt slipped on the couch. "I wish you'd taken a photo of his face."
"I wish he had too," Rachel spoke up. "It was absolutely priceless."
Blaine tried to quieten his hysterical giggles, turning the page again and finding a double-page spread of Rachel's swirly handwriting and gold stars everywhere.
"I'm going to read this all in-depth later, okay?" he said, and she nodded and wiped her cheeks again.
Another turn and it was a double-page spread of pictures of him and Rachel through the years, half of which he didn't even remember. There were photos of him and Rachel clearly yelling at each other, of them hugging, of the two of them curled up asleep around each other.
"I remember you telling me you always remembered the bad things about your relationship with Rachel growing up," Kurt said softly.
"The two of you were utterly devoted to each other, but you had squabbles all the time like normal siblings," Leroy said from the doorway.
"We used to bath you together and Rachel would make you sing duets into your plastic boat while she sang into the rubber duck," Hiram recalled.
Kurt started laughing at the stories they had, while Rachel and Blaine stared at each other with wide eyes.
"I've seen him naked and I don't remember it?" Rachel shrieked.
"I've been in a bath with girl parts?" he returned equally loudly.
"Ewwww," they each shuddered, leaving everyone else in the room laughing.
Blaine turned the next page and found photos of him and Kurt growing up. He'd never thought of himself as close to Kurt growing up but there were pictures of him kissing Kurt's cheek, of Kurt cuddled into his lap, of Kurt holding his hand as they walked down the street together, or dressed up in gaudy and utterly ridiculous clothing.
"Why don't I remember this?" Blaine mumbled, trembling as he touched the photo him with his lips pressed to Kurt's face.
"My guess is that you were so traumatised by losing your parents and being moved around, and then finally settling in and then my mom dying, that you just got lost in grief and sadness for years and it's what you remember the best," Kurt explained, pointing to the photo of him in Blaine's lap. "I vaguely remember that one. It was a few months after mom died. It was spring I think and dad was working double shifts to make ends meet so I came over after school a lot and one day, I hadn't slept well and you were just so warm and safe and comfy…"
"When your father arrived to take you home, you clung to Blaine's neck and wailed so loudly we thought the neighbours might think someone was being murdered," Leroy chuckled.
Blaine snorted and kissed Kurt's nose softly. "You were adorable even then."
"You weren't so bad yourself, Mister Cutiepants."
Rachel giggled and Blaine turned another page, this time covered in Kurt's loopy scrawl that was tiny to fit in what looked to be at least a thousand words.
"I think I'm going to need a magnifying glass to read everything you wrote here," Blaine teased as he squinted.
"My wrist ached for days trying to write that small."
"All I heard one morning was him saying to Burt his wrist ached," Finn said suddenly. "I started yelling really loudly to block out the rest of it. You were just writing?"
Kurt openly gaped at Finn as everyone erupted into laughter again.
"Dude, I'm sorry!" Finn said, hands up in surrender.
"Finn Hudson, you are the absolute worst," Kurt said, face red with a shocked blush.
Blaine kept turning the pages, more collages of him and various friends from New Directions or the Warblers over the years. His eyes burned with tears which he kept trying to wipe away but they just kept flowing until it was ridiculous. When he turned the final page, it was a series of newspaper clippings about his parents and their death. And even though his stomach turned at seeing the charcoaled shell of a house that he only vaguely remembered, he had some evidence of who his parents were and the date they died and information he had sought online for so long.
"Kurt, I don't even know what to say," he breathed when he shut the book.
Kurt took his quaking hands and held them in his. "You don't need to say anything. Or you can say thank you and I love you. You have memories in there, you have thoughts and encouragement and words of love and support. It was funny telling Wes and Nick they could only write one page. You might end up with books of your own from them at some stage because they said there was just 'far too much to love about Blaine Anderson for one goddamn page, Kurt'," he quoted.
"That was totally Wes," Blaine smiled. Kurt nodded. "I feel like my ring is so small compared to all the work you've put into this with Rachel."
"The ring is about your future," Rachel said gently, hopping free from Finn's lap to sit on the arm of the sofa. "This book is about your present and your past. It gives you memories you'd forgotten and maybe gives you the strength you'll need on days that are bleak. You'll always have me and you'll always have Kurt, and I suspect you'll always have Wes and Nick too because those two adore you." Blaine snuggled into her side and she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed the top of his curly head. "It's about bringing you together as one complete person and reminding you of how loved you are."
He could feel Kurt's arms surround his waist as he sobbed into Rachel's side. It felt like so much, so much, and yet it was just so utterly perfect that he had no words.
"I love you," he said, looking up at Rachel. She wiped his tears with her thumb and kissed his forehead. "And I love you," he said, turning to look at Kurt.
Kurt smiled through his tears and kissed him deeply. "Merry Christmas, Blaine."
On Christmas Day, Blaine and Rachel opened presents from their fathers. Among the usual sorts of things – clothing and book vouchers, a necklace for Rachel and some cufflinks for Blaine – were two envelopes with 'Kurt' and 'Finn' written on them. Frowning, Rachel turned the envelopes over until Hiram tsked her and she stopped.
"But what are they?" she pleaded.
"They're our presents to the boys," Leroy said. "We know you're both heading over there for Christmas dinner so you can give the envelopes to each of the boys later."
Rachel fidgeted impatiently with the envelope until Hiram took it off her and assured her he would give it back before they left.
The wait until dinner dragged, even though Rachel took two hours to get ready and Blaine fussed with the gel in his hair. He didn't want to squash it down as much as he usually did but he still needed it otherwise the crazy mass of curls drove him insane. He put the new cufflinks through the cuffs in his shirt and adjusted his bow tie before heading downstairs to wait for Rachel.
When she finally descended in a pale blue dress, Leroy clapped and rushed off to get the camera and take some photos. She rolled her eyes and blushed with embarrassment as her fathers insisted on taking some photos of her, and then Blaine, and then them together.
"It's not prom," she complained.
"Just let him take his photos," Hiram said, nursing a cup of eggnog.
Finally, finally, Hiram handed the envelopes back to each of them and Rachel kissed each of her dads' cheeks before she walked out the door with Blaine. The drive to the Hummel-Hudson's was quiet as Rachel picked at the envelope, trying to sneak a peek at what was inside.
"I'm going to take it off you in a moment," he teased, glancing over at her and slapping her hands lightly.
She pouted and put the envelope in her lap. "I just want to know what it is."
Blaine had barely put the car into Park before Kurt was rushing down the sidewalk with Finn behind him. He braced himself for Kurt's arms around his neck and only stumbled a little bit.
"Merry Christmas!" Kurt grinned, kissing his cheek.
"Merry Christmas," Blaine returned, nuzzling close and breathing in the scent that was just so Kurt.
Finn and Rachel were exchanging too much saliva for Blaine to want to witness, so he tugged Kurt inside the house and left his sister on the sidewalk.
"Hi Mr. Hummel, Carole."
Burt rolled his eyes as he strode through the archway from the kitchen. "Burt."
"H-hi Burt," Blaine stuttered shyly, shaking Burt's hand and kissing Carole's cheek when she popped out of the kitchen with a handtowel over her shoulder.
Rachel walked in chatting brightly to Finn, kissing Burt's cheek and then disappearing into the kitchen to help Carole with the cooking.
"Dad," Kurt whined, making some sort of gesture with his hands.
"After dinner," Burt said firmly, returning to the couch to watch a re-run of one of the games.
"But-"
"No buts. Go take Blaine to your room or something until dinner's ready."
Kurt froze and stared at his father. "Did you really just say that?"
Burt paused and then looked over his shoulder slowly. "Is it too late to take it back?"
"Nope! Call us when it's ready!" Kurt yelled, hauling Blaine up the stairs and into his room.
"Door open!"
Kurt rolled his eyes as he flounced onto the bed, holding his arms out for Blaine. "Did you read the scrapbook?"
"I read some of it, until I got too emotional and realised I should probably do it in small doses or I'll lose my mind," Blaine grimaced, climbing onto the bed and cuddling into Kurt's lap.
"Just as long as you remember we love you," Kurt smiled, nuzzling behind Blaine's ear.
Blaine smiled back and revelled in Kurt's soft but soothing touches, which ended far too soon when Carole announced dinner was ready.
Dinner at the Hummel-Hudson's was once again a monstrosity of food that was nearly all eaten after a nearly hour-long sitting.
"Is it time yet?" Kurt asked, bouncing in his seat a little.
"Time for what?" Blaine asked, patting Kurt's arm.
"We have envelopes with your name on them," Finn explained. "We weren't allowed to give them to you until after we ate."
"Oh! We got envelopes like that too! Blaine, what happened to them?" Rachel squealed.
"I think they must have stayed in the car," Blaine admitted, handing over the car keys. "Off you go."
"You're a jerk," she hissed, stalking out of the house to retrieve the envelopes.
"Fine," Burt sighed, hauling himself out of the chair and going to the family room.
Kurt clapped excitedly as he gathered the two envelopes and passed the one with 'Blaine' written on the front to Blaine and the one for Rachel to Finn. Rachel stomped back into the house and tossed Kurt his envelope and then settled into the seat beside Finn and swapped envelopes.
"Okay, so before you rip into them, these are presents from your dads," Burt said with a nod to Rachel and Blaine, "and from Carole and I. We're hoping you kids know well enough how to be safe now and look out for each other so I guess we're trusting you rather a lot but we hope you enjoy yourselves and…Carole? Did you want to say something?"
"Nope," she said with a smile and sat on the arm of the chair beside Burt. "Open up!"
With an excited shriek, Rachel started opening her envelope while Finn, Kurt and Blaine were a little more reserved.
"Florida?" she screamed, covering her mouth as her eyes shined. "We're going to Florida?"
Kurt and Blaine looked down at the travel itineraries in their hands and then at each other.
"You're all scattering next year for college so we all thought it would be nice for you to get away and see the beach and the ocean and chill out for a week or two without parents hanging around," Burt explained.
Rachel and Kurt leaped from their places to hug Burt and Carole while Finn and Blaine were more sedate in offering to shake hands or kisses on the cheek. Then Kurt's arms were flung around Blaine's neck and he stumbled a little to retain his footing.
"We're going to Florida!" he said, squeezing Blaine tightly.
"Apparently we are," Blaine nodded, kissing under Kurt's jaw.
Carole shooed them away and insisted Burt help her clean up from dinner. Blaine and Rachel tried to help but she stuck fast and Kurt ended up tugging Blaine upstairs to his room.
"Good Christmas present?" Blaine said, crawling onto the bed and collapsing in a heap against Kurt's pillows.
"Definitely a good one. I mean, my skin will hate the heat and humidity but two weeks with you and no parents?" He grinned impishly and hovered above Blaine. "Do you think we'll leave the hotel room?"
"I dunno," Blaine murmured, hands drifting over Kurt's hips. "It's mighty tempting. The aircon. Cable. Room service."
"Me."
"You," Blaine agreed as he nodded to himself. "Yeah, we mightn't leave much."
Kurt giggled and kissed him gently. "I hope this doesn't overshadow Rachel and my scrapbook."
"What?" Blaine said, eyes widening. "No way! That book…God, Kurt. They're going to have to bury me with that! I love it so much I never want to lose it or damage it."
"Good," Kurt smiled, laying down against Blaine's chest and listening to his heart beating. "I love you."
Blaine's fingers carded through the silky strands of Kurt's hair. "I love you too."
As much as he didn't want to think about Rachel and Finn being in her room with the door closed, Blaine hoped she was thinking the same not-thoughts about him and Kurt being in his room with the door closed. They'd each opted to watch their own TVs in their bedrooms while their fathers went out to a party being held by one of Leroy's colleagues from the firm.
So Kurt had snuggled up against Blaine, his thumb occasionally rubbing across the fabric of Blaine's hoodie covering his chest and giggling at the terrible television they put on in the final hours before the New Year celebrations started.
"It's funny how much has changed in a year," Blaine mused during an ad break, massaging the back of Kurt's neck.
Kurt tilted his head up to meet Blaine's eyes. "What do you mean?"
"Well, last year we weren't together," Blaine said. "I remember spending so long wondering what an appropriate addition to the text you sent me was. Should I send a smiley or an x like a kiss? I drove myself insane with wondering what was too forward, what you might do."
Kurt covered his mouth to stifle his laughter.
"And now, here you are. We're both at McKinley rather than Dalton. I have you, and I love you, and I want to love you forever. You gave me back my parents, and some of my childhood. And I just…I never thought that could all happen in a year."
Kurt pressed his elbows into the bed to reach up to Blaine's face. "But it did happen. It's real, Blaine. You don't need to pinch yourself anymore."
"I'm trying to cut down on that. The bruises on my arms from the constant pinching weren't so good," he joked.
Kurt rolled his eyes and pressed a gentle kiss to Blaine's lips. "I'm here for you, always. I love you."
Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt securely to hold him close and kiss him. "I love you too."
Kurt's nose slid down Blaine's cheek and across his jaw. "I don't suppose we could usher in the new year fireworks with some of our own?"
Blaine blinked and started laughing. "That was so incredibly corny."
"You must be rubbing off on me," Kurt grinned with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh really?" Blaine questioned, raising an eyebrow in return before rolling them over quickly and pinning Kurt to the bed. "I can definitely rub off on you in a different way if you'd prefer that. More balls dropping or something."
"Blaine!" Kurt snorted, slipping his fingers beneath Blaine's hoodie and across the smooth skin of his back. "You're terrible."
"You started it," Blaine breathed against Kurt's neck, tiny kitten-licks along the muscles that flexed and moved and made Kurt groan.
"Just make sure that whatever you start, you finish," Kurt warned.
"Wouldn't dream of anything else," Blaine smirked, before starting on poking the buttons through the eyelets in Kurt's vest.
It was slow, gentle, filled with soft touches and loving gazes and probably would have watched some people puke with the fluffiness of the moment. And as Blaine rocked his hips into Kurt, savouring every gasp and choked-off moan, he vaguely kept an ear out for the time until Kurt got pushy and demanding and the mood shifted and the tempo changed.
He realised after that they'd missed the ball dropping in New York, they'd missed the screaming celebrations and the cheering and the fireworks. But as Blaine stared into Kurt's eyes, brushing his sweaty hair off his forehead and kissing him over and over again, he also realised that nothing mattered as much as the boy in his arms, who healed him when he hadn't even realised he'd been breaking apart and who he'd loved for an easy majority of his life.
"I love you," Kurt whispered, trembling fingers clutching the shaking biceps of Blaine's arms.
"And I love you too," Blaine whispered back, curling his body protectively over Kurt's and basking in the love that thrummed through his whole body and shined straight back at him from Kurt's eyes. "I never thought I'd say my life had been lucky the way it turned out with my parents dying and stuff but…but I was lucky because everything that happened led me to you."
Kurt's fingers laced with his and he squeezed their hands gently. "Maybe thinking bad thoughts has unexpected benefits?"
Blaine muffled his laughter into Kurt's neck, making him squirm. "I can think of some good thoughts that have very good and very expected benefits," he said with a wiggle of his eyebrows.
"Oh my God," Kurt gasped as he broke into laughter again. "You're insatiable!"
Blaine grinned and bit down gently on Kurt's collarbone. "I just really love you."
Kurt hummed and stretched with a blissful smile on his face. "You're perfect, so perfect, to me."
Blaine opened his mouth to say something else but stopped when Rachel's voice filtered through the door. "Can you two keep it down in there? You're killing my mood with Finn."
"Images that I totally didn't need, Rach!" Blaine called out.
"Images of you and Kurt are ones I totally don't need!" she retorted.
"Just as well the door is locked then or you'd actually be seeing those images!" Kurt shouted.
They could hear Rachel spluttering from the other side of the door before she shrieked an obscenity and they heard her door slam shut.
"Nothing like a sister to spoil the mood," Blaine sighed, rolling onto his side and grabbing some tissues from the bedside table for Kurt.
"I dunno," Kurt muttered, wiping his chest clean and then climbing on top of Blaine. "We're both performers. We could put on a show for her or something. How much do you like the idea of people listening in?"
Blaine exploded into laughter. "I like the way you think," he wheezed out through chuckles.
Kurt grinned and kissed him hard. "I like the idea of making sure Rachel knows that when you're visiting us in New York, she needs to get the hell out of our apartment."
"Mmm," Blaine agreed, sucking Kurt's earlobe into his mouth.
"Oh," Kurt shuddered. "Yeah so um…yeah."
Blaine nodded his vague agreement and even though Rachel knocked on the door several other times during the night, he and Kurt both came up with excellent comebacks that left her stomping away with curses on her tongue.
And when the birds started chirping, Blaine breathed a deep sigh of exhaustion and happiness, snuggling his now-aching body against Kurt's equally aching body, and knew that no matter demons his past might have contained, his future contained Kurt and all the light and love Kurt so freely gave him, and he knew, he knew, he'd be totally okay as long as he had Kurt.
A/N: I still have reviews to reply to from the last chapter and yet here I am putting up this one. Whoops!
But as they say on Looney Tunes, that's all folks!
...for now.
I often get struck by ideas while in the shower (I don't know why, I wish I did, I'd do something different like sing under the water and...no, I don't want to do that, I can't sing!) and so a couple of days ago, a sequel started taking form in my head. It's now pretty well-established. I have several other projects on the go at the moment that I simply have to spend more time focusing on, and I'm going away for the next week (sorry those who read WYGC or anything else or sometimes like the odd one-shot that pops up unexpectedly, nothing will be seen from me for a week). I do, however, really hope to get lots of writing done while I'm away (fingers crossed my laptop doesn't die on me while I'm there...it has a 'may die at any time without warning' warning on it, so I'm just praying that it lasts the week) so there should be chapters of WYGC and other things written by the time I get back, yay!
Sequel timing news is, therefore, a little difficult to pinpoint. I do write very quickly for the most part with stories that steal my soul (e.g. I wrote most of chapters one to four for this over the Christmas break) but I would hope that it would start appearing by the end of the month. It's tentatively titled A Family By Any Other Name and actually combines a couple of ideas I've had for a while but didn't like putting into a one-shot because the ideas were too large and developed. I'm also thinking it's more likely to be told from Kurt's point of view (whereas this one I really forced myself to stay within Blaine's mind), beginning with the Florida trip (oh hey, an excuse for smut!) and issues Kurt will have during his first year of college. I'm thinking it could be quite angsty, I don't necessarily know if moreso than this, but it very well could become that.
As always though, I'm open to suggestions and what you might like to see me do with the idea of a sequel. I could drift between Kurt and Blaine if you didn't mind the changing points of view, seeing as they're in different places. I would hope most of you know how receptive I am to your thoughts by now, so please leave them with me here as a review, a private message, or on Tumblr, because I truly, truly value them.
If I'm not on your author alert, it could be a good idea for seeing the sequel pop up. Alternatively, I'd highly advise (as always) that you follow my Tumblr (an-alternate-world[dot]tumblr[dot]com) for any writing news and updates that I might post up regarding the sequel, because I honestly don't know when it will start getting posted (nothing has been written yet, it's all just ideas at this stage) but I do have other things I need to work on first before taking on something else. Alas, my life as a writer!
Okay, this is getting to be huge. Thank you, as always, for reading. I have been truly blown away by the reception to this. I am so incredibly blessed. Thank you. I hope to see as many of you as possible return for the sequel, and perhaps even starting in on other stories that I've written.
- Kami xoxo