AN: Many thank yous to my wonderful beta, Christine! And to you, dear reader, for sticking with me!
The rapidly falling rain and even faster falling temperatures made spending Saturdays outside next to impossible; especially when the skies were gloomy and rain left the world soggy. On this particular Saturday in early November, when the Midwest would usually be worried about the threat of snow, Lima—particularly Kurt and Kadie—were being kept inside as the early morning rain morphed into a late morning thunderstorm that lit up the sky and shook the world around them. And even more disappointing than the crappy weather, at least for Kurt, was that Kadie didn't seem all the interested in spending the entire day with her dad. After breakfast she'd disappeared into her room and, for the first time in weeks, didn't have a long list of activities she wanted to do. Slightly panicking that the days that Kadie was going to want to spend with him were quickly dwindling, Kurt settled himself on the couch with a cup of coffee and listened to the sound of the house, accompanied by the constant patter of rain and occasional roar of thunder.
Taking a sip from his cup, flinching slightly at the heat, Kurt looked around the living room and declared that it was time to rearrange the furniture. He'd spent every day since Halloween thinking about the perfect place to put the chair his dad loved so that it was still at a perfect angle in relation to the TV, but he had yet to but any action into his plan. What better time than a gloomy Saturday when his daughter would rather play with her dolls?
He hadn't told anyone about Daniel's phone call, and that was how it was going to stay. If Santana knew, she'd go back to watching him like a hawk, like she had in those first months after his ex had left. She'd ask him if he was okay every five minutes and insist on spending most nights sleeping on his couch. And he didn't need that. Daniel hadn't called again and Kurt was…he was okay. If Blaine knew…he'd certainly lose his chance at finding out exactly how Blaine felt. He wanted to move forward, with Blaine, without the constant reminder of his past coming between them. He could do that, right?
He'd finally gotten around to answering Blaine's texts last Saturday morning and when the group went to the movies that night, Kurt stuck close to Blaine—like he had before—and did his best not to laugh at how squeamish he was the entire movie. Movies as gruesome as the one Santana had chosen weren't exactly his cup of tea either, so he loved an excuse to watch Blaine as he peaked at the screen through his fingers. It was incredibly endearing. And twenty minutes before the end of the movie, when Blaine asked him to escape to the lobby, Kurt was happy to just sit and talk while they waited for the rest of the group. There had been one vacant table, and they sat there, surrounded by couples on dates, and people watched. It was fun and simple, and it made Kurt's heart flip around in his chest. When he got home that night, he promised himself that he would talk to Blaine, see where they stood, hopefully without destroying what they'd worked so hard to build.
Until then, they were still friends, and he could still call Blaine over to help him redecorate. He needed an extra set of hands to help him move furniture and tell him if the end table being in that corner threw off the entire room. And that's what friends were for, right? You're gorgeous, sweet, charming friends.
It took one phone call and thirty minutes, and Blaine was running up Kurt's driveway, out of the rain, and into Kurt's foyer. Blaine's hair glistened in the rain that hadn't let up all morning. Blaine took his jacket off and hung it on the coat rack and Kurt felt a tingle of joy at how familiar Blaine was with his house, how at home he'd begun to feel. He also felt a tingle of something else when he finally took in Blaine's outfit. Usually Blaine dressed…well, like a teacher: a lot of sweaters and slacks. When Kurt mentioned there would be some heavy lifting, he hadn't expected Blaine to show up in a tight fitting pair of jeans and a black t-shirt that looked like it had been worn and washed for many years and just happened to hug him in all the right places. Kurt was dressed in his loosest fitting jeans and a white t-shirt. It was the least dressed he'd been in front of Blaine and he thought for a moment that he caught Blaine's eyes as they took in his appearance, with a look in his eye that definitely mirrored Kurt's.
"So what kind of changes did you have in mind?" Blaine asked, pulling Kurt's attention away from Blaine's outfit and back to Blaine.
"I don't know," Kurt said leading them into the living room, stopping at the entryway to eye the room, and steal another glance at Blaine, "I just want something new, something different."
"A different wall color?"
"No," Kurt shook his head, "I'm not sure I'm ready for that kind of commitment. I just want something I can try, see if I like it. And if I don't, I can change it back."
Blaine nodded and eyed the room, sweeping his gaze over the furniture and this time as Blaine's eyes took Kurt in, they met Kurt's and both men hurried to focus their eyes elsewhere.
"We need music," Kurt exclaimed hurrying towards in the kitchen, returning a moment later with a portable CD player.
"I don't remember the last time I saw one of those," Blaine said with a laugh.
"I'm not buying Kadie an iPod so we have one of these until I give her headphones to drown me out with—when she's my age."
Blaine chuckled as Kurt pressed play and a pop song came through the speakers, upbeat and fun, and Kurt turned up the volume until it was just loud enough that he could still hear Blaine ask, "Where do we start?"
Forty five minutes later, the loveseat was in front of the bookcase, the couch was in front of the window and the chair his father loved was opposite the loveseat in perfect view of the television. The coffee table was in the middle, vacant of the pile of magazines that had been there earlier, and Kurt and Blaine were absolutely exhausted. During the time it had taken Kurt to finally settle on the arrangement, each piece of furniture had been moved at least twice and Blaine had helped move each pieces wordlessly, and with a smile. And when Blaine smiled, Kurt couldn't help but smile himself. A smiling Blaine was one of Kurt's favorite things in the world. A smiling Blaine in a tight fitting t-shirt, moving furniture, his muscles contracting beneath the material, was another. And it was an incredible distraction. So much so that he'd left Blaine straining to hold up his end of the couch until Kurt could focus and give him direction, his face turning red.
From the corner, Kurt took in their work. It may have been the same room, just jumbled up, but it felt different and refreshing, just how he'd wanted it. It was the first of many changes he planned on making, both in his house and in his life.
The song changed—it was still upbeat, but unfamiliar to both of them, however, Kurt was so overjoyed at having marked something off his to do list, he started dancing. It was goofy, without any real rhythm to it, but it was perfect. And when Blaine laughed and then joined him in his insanity, it was even better. For three minutes they were silly, like children. The song changed again. Now it was no longer an upbeat pop song, but an acoustic rock track, a softer tempo. For a moment they both stood there as the song started, and when Kurt looked at Blaine he saw the smile that was capable of melting his insides, especially the part of his heart that had been frozen for so long. Surprisingly, Blaine extended his hand in a silent question. Kurt took a deep breath and nodded, placing his hand in Blaine's. Together they swayed to the music, Blaine's hands around Kurt's waist, Kurt's arms draped over Blaine's shoulders, and Kurt's thoughts drifted to the night of the bon fire, the first night they danced like this. That night felt like so long ago, but the memory was still vivid in Kurt's mind. And the feeling, of being in Blaine's arms, holding Blaine close, was what Kurt had been missing all these months. When his life had been dark and grey, Blaine came in with a light that came from inside him; that drew Kurt to him, even when he was trying his hardest to stay away. He felt safe and his heart danced, like it was screaming, "Finally! Finally!"
Kurt leaned back, but stayed in Blaine's arms, certain that he never wanted to step outside the safety and warmth of them ever again. When he looked into Blaine's eyes and was now certain that there was fire inside them, their warm honey color glowing. He'd remembered the same eyes from the night of the bon fire, before he'd leaned forward and kissed Blaine for the first time. Before his lips met Blaine's and the whole world melted away until it was just the two of them. With a deep breath in, Kurt was desperate to feel that way again.
"I thought you said this CD was for Kadie," Blaine said, his voice a heavy whisper. This song definitely wasn't what a five year old would listen to.
"Sometimes I have to put a little something on there for me."
At some point they'd stopped moving, the song was coming to an end, the voices were beginning to fade and Kurt knew if he didn't do something the moment would be over. They'd move on. So before the last note rang out, he leaned in and placed his lips against Blaine's. He was tentative, not pushing any farther until he knew how Blaine would react. But when Blaine responded with enthusiasm, pulling Kurt closer to him as they kissed, Kurt smiled and wrapped his arms tighter around Blaine's neck, relishing in the softness of Blaine's hair against his fingers. The song changed but neither of them noticed; staying wrapped up in each other. The rain was falling and the wind was howling outside, but inside Kurt's house everything was bright and sunny for the first time in so long.
That was, until the power went out. The music stopped and after a moment their connection broke at the sound of someone coming down the stairs.
"Daddy," Kadie called from the landing.
"It's okay, baby," Kurt said pulling himself out of Blaine's arms, "Come on down and sit on the couch."
Kadie quickly followed her daddy's instruction. It was still early afternoon and the grey sky managed to illuminate the house enough that they didn't need flashlights or candles, at least not yet. And it was easy in the light to see the look on Blaine's face. The abrupt ending to their kiss had left him searching for answers. Answers he wasn't going to get now, not with Kadie in the room, and not while Kurt's phone was ringing incessantly. Kurt grabbed it in a huff from the end table that they'd found the perfect corner for.
"Yeah," he said only briefly seeing that it was the bar calling.
"Hey-uh-Kurt. I know this is your day with your daughter and everything, but the power just went out at the bar and no one seems to know what to do."
It was Chuck. Though, it shouldn't have been Chuck since he'd purposefully scheduled Puck on Saturday afternoons and Santana at night. He trusted them both not to call him like this, to stay level headed in situations like this.
"Where is Puck?" Kurt asked frustrated.
"Called and said he was sick. Tommy's here to watch the bar."
"Shit," Kurt muttered.
"Daddy!" Kadie exclaimed.
Kurt shot his daughter an apologetic look and was almost certain that he could feel Blaine's amused eyes on him.
"I'll, uh, I'll be there as soon as I can," Kurt said and then hung up muttering something about better training and then turning to Blaine, "The power is out at the bar and apparently I didn't hire competent people."
"Anything you need me to do?"
"Yes, actually," Kurt said, "Can you—can you stay here with Kadie? I hate to ask but my dad went fishing and if I wait for Santana to get here I won't get there until after Christmas."
"Yeah, of course. Kurt. Go. I've got this."
"Right, of course. Thank you," Kurt said, his eyes trying their best to apologize, for asking him to babysit and for leaving him without answers for a little while longer.
"Alright, sweetie," Kurt said walking over to Kadie who was sitting quietly on the couch holding tight to a doll, "I have to run to work, but Blaine is going to stay with you until I get back, okay?"
"I'm scared, Daddy," Kadie said, her voice small and trembling.
Kurt was certain that the entire state could hear his heart breaking, "I know baby, but everything is okay, I promise. It's just the wind. Mr. Anderson is going to stay with you, okay? I bet the power is even back on before I get back. It's not even dark, not really. I promise I'll get back to you as soon as possible. I love you, okay?"
"I love you too," Kadie whispered.
Kurt kissed Kadie's forehead and was heading towards the door before he convinced himself that the entire bar could burn down right now and he wouldn't care. He shouted a goodbye to both Blaine and Kadie as he grabbed his keys and jacket and disappeared out the front door.
Children were Blaine's profession. Well, sort of. He could teach them, entertain them, and hell, even charm them. It usually came natural. But standing in Kurt's living room, faced with the task of keeping the tears from Kadie's eyes, the lack of electricity and the echo of Kurt's kiss were making it hard for him to function.
"Can I color?" Kadie asked.
Blaine sighed in relief; Kadie would take care of everything, "Of course."
"Will you color with me, Mr. Anderson?"
Blaine smiled, "I'd be honored."
Kadie disappeared upstairs and came back a few minutes later with a large stack of coloring books and a 64 pack of Crayola. She spread everything out on the coffee table and handed Blaine a Disney princess coloring book, explaining that it was her daddy's favorite, before opening up a Hello Kitty book and grabbing a purple crayon. Mindlessly he took the blue crayon and started coloring in Belle's apron as he thought about the last fifteen minutes. They'd passed in a blur, one minute he was dancing with Kurt, the next minute he was kissing him and now he was coloring with his daughter. The kiss had been wonderful. Every time he'd kissed Kurt had been wonderful, but this kiss had thrown every bit of their platonic relationship that they'd built over the last few months out the window. This changed everything and Kurt wasn't here to figure out what exactly had changed.
The front door opened and both Kadie and Blaine's head shot up, but a second later, it wasn't Kurt coming into the house, it was Santana.
"Auntie Tana," Kadie shouted running to hug her.
"Hey, kid, where's your daddy?"
"He had to go to work."
Santana rolled her eyes and when she spoke she was no longer looking at Kadie, rather at Blaine, "This is all Puckerman's fault."
Blaine shrugged.
"I told Puckerman that unless he was on his death bed, he was to show up for all of his Saturday shifts," Santana said sitting down in the chair next to the couch, crossing her knee high booted legs, "I like what he did to the place."
Blaine shifted wordlessly from the floor to the couch.
"This wouldn't have happened if he would just give someone else a management position. But no, he insists on doing it all himself. Whatever idiot they've got working could have called me to the bar instead. I don't have any power either."
Kadie moved to sit with Blaine on the couch, content with watching the grown-ups chat. Well, Santana was mostly ranting and Blaine was watching her, but it was unlikely Kadie knew the difference.
"I just stopped by to see if everything was okay," Santana said, "But it seems like you've got the little one under control."
"I think we're doing alright," Blaine said, "Right, Kadie?"
"Me and Mr. Anderson were coloring," Kadie said excited to be part of the conversation.
"Can I see?" Santana asked.
With a smile Kadie jumped off the couch and brought the Hello Kitty coloring book she'd been working in over to Santana who smiled and kissed Kadie's temple, "It's beautiful Kay."
Giddy, Kadie moved back to the couch next to Blaine.
"Mr. Anderson, are you my daddy's husband?" Kadie interrogated in a way only a five year old could. Like she'd been waiting her entire life to ask the question and get an answer, even though her attention was solely on the coloring book in her lap. Her feet kicking off the edge of the couch.
Blaine's eyes widened at the question, the air sucked from his lungs. The answer was easy, but the question had taken him by surprise. How long had Kadie been watching them?
"Uh, no, sweetie," Blaine said to Kadie who was still coloring Hello Kitty's shirt green, "Your daddy and I are just friends."
From the couch, Santana made a noise.
"Then why did he kiss you?"
"Alright," Santana said flinging herself off the chair, "I've got a little while before I need to go so why don't you go upstairs and grab that board game you've been begging me to play and me, you and , Blaine—er, Mr. Anderson—here can play while we can still see."
"Okay," Kadie said excitedly and disappeared back upstairs.
"Care to explain yourself?" Santana asked towering over Blaine as he sat, her hands on her hips.
"Would it make any difference if I tell you that he kissed me?"
"No," Santana said bluntly, "What might make a bit of difference is if you tell me what you plan to do about it."
"I-I don't know. I haven't had a chance to think about it. Right after it happened the power went out and then he had to run to the bar and—"
"I think you're an idiot," Santana interrupted.
"I'm sorry?"
"You. You're an idiot. And we're friends now so I can tell you that. You have all these…god, they're not even morals…but whatever it is that is keeping you from getting all up on my friend Hummel, you need to let it go."
"That's not really any of your business."
"Kurt is my business, so it is," she said taking a seat next to him, "Let me be real for a minute. You seem like a perfectly acceptable guy. Kadie seems to think you've hung the stars since she never stops talking about you. And I trust that little girl's judgment. But I can only take this for so long before I start to not like you Blaine. And I don't want to not like you because the two people in this world that I give a damn about seem to like you. You can't just pretend like whatever happened between you and Kurt didn't happen."
"I'm not."
"You are. And I'm breaking all sorts of codes here, but I think he genuinely likes you. You're good for him the way that other piece of s-h-i-t never was. Not in all those years. So please do you, him, and me a favor and figure this whole thing out."
Blaine didn't have a chance to respond—though he wasn't sure he could have found words to say to Santana in that moment—because Kadie was clamoring down the stairs with a box in her hand.
Santana left after playing two rounds of Guess Who?, both that were won by Kadie. The power was still out, but she promised that as soon as she got to the bar, she'd send Kurt home. As the last of the light began to fade, Blaine and Kadie searched the house for flashlights and candles and then settled on the couch with a couple coloring books. When Kurt finally came home, Kadie was asleep, leaning against his arm the way she had the first day Blaine had come over, while he was texting Cooper and Sam.
"I'm so sorry," Kurt said in a whisper when he saw that Kadie was asleep, "I thought the power would be back on now, but according to the power company, that probably won't be until morning. They got an earful from me."
"It's a not a problem," Blaine said.
"Did she give you a hard time?
"No, not at all," Blaine answered thinking about Kadie's questions from earlier. For a moment, he debated bringing it up, to get the answers he'd been waiting for all day, but eventually decided against it. Like the return of the power, it would have to wait for another day, "We hung out. It was fun. Santana came by."
"She told me. I'm sorry I didn't get back sooner."
"Really, Kurt, it's alright."
"I'm probably going to wake her up and make sandwiches by flashlight. Did you want to stay?"
"I'd love to," Blaine said standing, careful not to rock Kadie awake, "But Cooper's basement is flooding and I told him I'd get back as soon as I could."
"Well now I feel like a bigger ass for keeping you here."
"Please, don't. Sam and Jeff are over there, but he could probably use a little more help."
"Of course."
There was a pause, a hesitation; each of them silently hoping that the other would bring up what remained unspoken between them, not let Blaine walk out that door without understanding or clarification.
"I'll see ya," Blaine said instead. And with a nod from Kurt he let the moment slip away, he opportunity pass, as he headed outside into the dark and rainy night.
AN: Thanks for reading, lovelies. Please leave a review and let me know what you think. I should have Chapter 9 for you soon!
Have a great day!
Jen