Two Steps Back
Disclaimer: I'm not RIB, so I don't own Glee or any of the characters. If I did, I'd be rich and probably not writing fanfiction! This fic will dive into MPREG, so I'll be using my go-to MPREG explanation like I did in When We're Older aka the Reddin gene. The gene is based on the Reddin character from the 1994 movie Junior. You should really watch it if you like mpreg. It's a good movie, I promise (I also don't have any rights to it either!) I also don't really own anything mentioned in this except for the crazy storyline so... I OWN NOTHING. The title is inspired by a Paula Abdul song called Opposites Attract by the way.
It smelled so bad.
The locker room reeked of sweat, bile, and the artificial smells of flavored syrup; yet Kurt stayed put, arms wrapped tight around a shivering, sobbing Blaine. "Shh," he murmured, stroking his hands along Blaine's sticky scalp as the younger boy clung to him. Rachel was off in the background, voice chattering a million miles a second as she frantically tried to explain to one of her dads that he needed to get to the school as soon as he could. Behind her stood Finn, expression drawn tight as his eyes flickered between the two Berry siblings and his own brother who sat on the vomit and slushie covered floor with a boy who was two seconds away from having an extreme breakdown.
"Kurt, is he-"
Before Finn could finish his sentence, Blaine tumbled forward, shoving Kurt out of the way as he fell onto his hands and knees, body shakily hovering over the concrete as he began to throw up once again. Kurt quickly pushed himself up and placed a steady hand on his friend's trembling spine, rubbing the tense muscles beneath as Blaine gasped and cried out as more bile spilled from his lips and added to the puddles on the floor.
"Oh Blaine-"
"Daddy's on his way." Rachel said softly, dropping back to a kneeling position as she too began to try to soothe the ill boy beside her. If anything, she looked more scared than Blaine was (if that was possible), and Kurt wondered if maybe this whole situation reminded her of the night she found several of their schoolmates slamming Blaine's bloody form into the concrete in the parking lot of their old school.
"Rachel?"
The girl ignored him, instead leaning down lower to take the edge of her sweater to wipe against Blaine's soiled chin. She calmly rubbed the vomit away from his trembling lips and neck and then let him fall into her arms, shaking her head as the tears she'd been holding back began to fall. "It'll be okay. Daddy's on his way. It'll be okay." Kurt watched her struggle to calm his former lover down; the more she spoke, the harder Blaine cried and finally, after several seconds of hearing Blaine fight to breathe, Kurt squeezed in between the siblings, tugging Blaine back against him to hug him tightly against his chest.
"I've got him. You should go get cleaned up, Rachel."
"But I-"
"Maybe you and Finn can go meet your dad in front of the school? I'll stay with Blaine."
Rachel reached up, wiping the tears from her cheeks as she looked down at her distraught brother. "I-" She stared at Kurt for a second, nodding slightly, and then she turned towards Finn, reaching out her hand for his. "We'll be back," she whispered, shooting one last look at her younger brother. "Watch over him."
"I already am."
With that, the other couple left and Kurt carefully scooted himself and Blaine closer to the lockers, one arm tucked around the smaller teen's shoulders while the other wrapped around his waist and gently settled on the boy's round belly. He tucked his head against the bend of Blaine's neck and when they were successfully wrapped around each other, he began to hum, smiling sadly when Blaine's weeping started to quiet down until it was nothing but a few whimpers and several succeeding sniffles.
"I've got you. It's okay."
"Th-They know," Blaine whined out, his voice broken and high pitched. A hard shiver rolled down his body and Kurt hugged him a little closer, ignoring the sticky, coagulated gunk that was now causing Blaine's clothes (and body) to cling to his own. The rancid, sweet smell was stronger now that the two of them were meshed together, strong enough that it was getting overwhelming, but Kurt wasn't about to go anywhere, not when Blaine needed him like this. Humming, he brought the hand that was holding Blaine's shoulder up towards the crying boy's face and he cupped Blaine's red stained cheek, swiping his thumb over the mixture of colors that painted his face.
"I know, Abs. I know."
"I'm so scared."
"I know. I am too."
"What if... what if they try to hurt her?"
"I won't let them. They'll have to get through me first."
"I-"
"Shh." Kurt held Blaine against him, shushing him once more when the boy started to try to talk again. Thanks to the vomiting spells, Blaine's voice was croaky and soft and Kurt knew he was going to have a hell of a time communicating later; so, he quieted him down then, hoping that by silencing the boy, he'd be able to help Blaine save his precious voice. "Don't say anything. Rest your throat."
"I-"
"Blaine."
The other boy went silent and Kurt was forever grateful, squeezing him a little tighter as the two of them sat quietly on the floor. Outside the locker room, he could hear Coach Beiste's voice booming through the halls and he wondered if she was heading their way... and whether or not she had any of the guys who attacked Blaine with her either. For a second or two, he listened to the woman yell, ears trained on her voice as she shrieked some of her trademark country nonsense at a few people before she began demanding answers about why there were students gathered around the locker room. At that, Blaine shrunk down, having also heard Coach's loud questioning, and Kurt shook his head, nuzzling his cheek against Blaine's slush ruined hair.
"Ignore it."
"But I-"
"Forget them. Beiste will take care of them. She'll fix it." Or at least he hoped she could. She wasn't there to witness anything (or at least he was sure she wasn't) so he knew that she wouldn't be of any help when it came to getting those involved in trouble, but she had his and Blaine's backs in the past and she knew of Blaine's previous problems with those same guys so hopefully she'd be able to help out. Shaking his head, Kurt rubbed Blaine's stomach, hoping deep down that the baby wasn't too affected by all the stress that the incident had brought upon her father. He pressed his hand against the spot that he always saw Blaine rubbing and then he kept it there, using his other hand to warmly stroke against his friend's cold, sugar hardened scalp. "Once your dad gets here, we'll get you cleaned up and back home, okay?"
Blaine nodded and Kurt kissed his forehead, scowling when the fake taste of cherries, grapes, and raspberries slipped between his lips.
"They got you with the whole rainbow didn't they?"
Another nod.
"God, Abs... I'm so sorry." He dropped his hand from Blaine's hair and let it rest on the boy's hip, squeezing softly as he leaned back further against the cool metal of the lockers. "I should've been here."
"Not your fault."
"It was-"
"Not. Your. Fault."
Kurt's mouth clamped shut and he shook his head, ready to argue when the door to the locker room swung open and Coach Beiste, along with Rachel and Finn, came stepping into the room. Rachel was back to talking a hundred miles a minute and Finn was trying to add his two cents in; in Rachel's hand was a bag of clothing, so - while she was distracted, Kurt got up and swiped the bag from her hands, reaching down to help Blaine up off of the slippery floor and into the showers. Behind them, Rachel was crying to Beiste, telling her about what they walked in on and as the girl told her story, Kurt gently helped Blaine out of his ruined clothes and into one of the empty stalls.
As Blaine stepped beneath the warm spray of water, he began to cry again and Kurt (without any fucks to give about his already ruined clothing) ducked into the stream of steady beating water as well, sliding his arms around Blaine's trembling, naked form as he held the weeping boy up.
"I'm so sorry, Abs. I'm so sorry."
It was something he repeated until the second Rachel drove off with Blaine in tow hours later.
::::::::::
The clothes that Blaine had worn the day his pregnancy was outed were still sitting in Kurt's room.
That fateful night, Kurt brought the soiled clothing home and spent hours trying to get the stains out of Blaine's sweater and pants, miraculously cleaning them enough that they were able to be saved. For weeks, he planned on giving the garments back, but he always forgot about them, somehow forgetting to grab them up before he went to Blaine's for the afternoon or what not.
And now he'd never be able to give them back.
It had been two weeks since that awful night at Scandals, two weeks since the night Blaine caught him in a bathroom stall with another man. Those weeks slowly dripped by and not one word was spoken between the two of them, no matter how hard Kurt tried to communicate with the guy who was pregnant with his child. Every single day, Kurt called Blaine's cellphone and never got an answer. He called Rachel a few times too, but she would just yell at him and then hang up; so that was a bust... and the Berry dads? Hiram tried to get Blaine to answer the phone, but the boy wouldn't do it, and Leroy was never home when Kurt called, so he didn't have to deal with him.
But... it was still hard.
Deep down, he knew neither of Blaine's dads knew that what exactly happened that night because if they had known any little bit of what occurred that evening, they would have never bothered to answer Kurt's calls. Rachel told him that downright one evening when he called her and while Kurt was thankful that Blaine's dads had no idea about what happened at Scandals, he still felt terrible that they assumed their son and his ex-lover had just had a minor spat and not the huge explosion that occurred just a few weeks prior. Hiram, who had been warming up to Kurt quite a bit over the last few months, would probably go right back to hating Kurt's guts... and Leroy? His dislike for Kurt would probably grow tenfold.
The whole family would hate his guts and it would put a serious damper on future relations with the Berrys, especially when it came to seeing his daughter.
And, god... the baby.
Kurt worried about the baby all the time now that he and Blaine weren't communicating. He worried about Blaine's stress levels and whether or not their growing daughter would be okay. He worried about something happening and him not being able to be there to make sure Blaine was alright. But most of all, he missed being a part of the pregnancy. Ever since that day Kurt all but ran out of Blaine's bedroom following the blow job that never should've been, he hadn't seen or heard of anything in regards to the baby and he knew that Blaine had to have been going to his doctor appointments and getting his shots. It had been a month and he heard nothing except for a passing mention from Finn about Blaine getting ill again and needing to go the hospital. That was it... and it hurt. Because he was a part of this too.
Or at least he thought he should be.
"Kurt?"
A voice snapped him from his usual thoughts of his future daughter and he looked up, tired eyes falling onto his father, who looked just as exhausted as he was. "Yeah?"
"Carole and I are debating about our Thanksgiving plans and we'd like you and Finn to join us downstairs for it. We're having a family meeting."
"I really don't give a shit where we go, dad. I don't feel like celebrating. So, there. That's my opinion. You can leave now."
"I... kiddo, please don't shut me out. I know you're upset but-"
"You don't know anything," Kurt grumbled, rolling onto his side as he stared blankly at the wall. "No one knows anything. Just leave me alone."
"You've been like this for weeks now and I know that you're upset with what happened with Blaine, but things will get better. Blaine'll come around."
"It's been a month. How would you have felt if, when mom was pregnant, she shut you out of knowing anything about me for a month?"
Burt sighed, stepping further into the room. He took a seat at the edge of the bed and took off his baseball cap, rubbing a hand over his balding head. "It would've hurt like hell... and I know you're hurting, Kurt, and I'm sorry that you are, but you can't keep on shutting yourself away like this."
"I just want Blaine to talk to me again."
"I know you do. I wish he'd talk to you too, but no one can force him into anything. You know we tried to get Hiram and Leroy to get him to talk and he wouldn't; it's all up to him now. He'll come around though. He won't keep you out of the loop forever. That's not like him."
There was a sniffle and Burt's heart fell.
"He might... especially after what I did to him."
"Kurt-"
"Can you just... leave now? I don't care what you guys do for Thanksgiving. I'm staying here."
"Please-"
"Just go, dad!"
Sadly, Burt stood up from the bed, eyes gazing on his restless son as the boy wrapped his arms around his thin waist and fought the tears that were trying their hardest to escape. Quietly, the older man whispered a soft I love you and then left the room, shaking his head as his own heart ached over the pain his son was in - pain that he just couldn't fix.
::::::::::
"Thanksgiving's in two days and we're not ready for it and now this happens!"
Rachel paused the movie she was watching and trained her ears to listen to the high-pitched whispers that were coming out of the main hall. Her dads had disappeared there just moments before when Hiram's cellphone began ringing incessantly; obviously something that wasn't good had occurred and now the family's plan to spend Thanksgiving at home was in jeopardy, if judging Hiram's erratic voice told Rachel anything.
"Daddy?" She called out, climbing off of the couch to peer into the hallway. She froze in her spot when she caught her dad's watery gaze, Leroy rubbing his hand soothingly as the two of them stood in the hall. When she got their attention, Hiram shook his head and held his arms out, biting back a sob when Rachel darted into his arms. "Daddy? What's wrong?"
"Sweetie, you remember Mrs. Ames? That woman who took care of me and your dad when we hit a rough patch?"
"Yes," Rachel said softly, nodding at her other father while Hiram hugged her close.
"She's dying, honey. Her daughter just called and said she's very, very sick. She's got pneumonia and it doesn't look like she's gonna bounce back from this."
"Oh, that's awful."
Rachel knew about her father's history with Mrs. Ames. They fell on hard times right after their engagement and they needed a place to go - Mrs. Ames was the guardian angel who stepped in to help. The woman offered her basement apartment to them to stay in rent free while they got back on their feet and without her help, the men wouldn't be the successes they were today. Neither Blaine or Rachel really knew Mrs. Ames very well, but they'd both met her as children and Hiram and Leroy tried to go see the woman at least once a year (which was something they usually did at Christmas.) However, now that the woman was deathly ill, it looked like they were going to have to leave sooner, thus halting the family's thanksgiving plans.
"I'm afraid your dad and I will have to miss Thanksgiving. If you and Blaine don't mind, we can celebrate a few days later. I just- I would like to be down there when she goes. She was always so good to us and we owe her that respect." He pulled away from his daughter and reached back to take his husband's hand again. "I'd take you and Blaine with me but if she's really that sick, we can't have Blaine around anyone just in case he catches what she's got - and he cannot get sick right now."
Rachel nodded, looking at both of her fathers steadily. "We can stay here. We can push back Thanksgiving; it'll be okay. Blaine won't mind and I definitely don't. Go to the Ames', we'll be fine here. I'll keep an eye on everything."
"You sure, sweetheart? I don't want to burden you."
"I'm positive. We'll be fine."
With one last blessing from Rachel (and later on Blaine, after he'd woken from his nap), the Berry men piled in their car with their hastily packed suitcases and went on the several hour drive to their old landlord (and lifelong friend's) home. Once they were gone, Rachel plopped down on the couch and went to text Finn about her delayed Thanksgiving celebrations and Blaine laid down on the other side, pulling a throw blanket off of the back of the sofa. It took him a few tries to get himself cocooned in it, but finally he wrapped it tight enough around his body and slipped back into a much-needed sleep, Rachel's worried eyes on him as he slept on.
::::::::::
"Blaine, it's me. Please call me back. I'm... I'm so sorry. Please talk to me."
Delete.
"Blaine, please pick up the phone. Please?"
Delete.
"I... Blaine, it's me again. I know you're mad, but I- can you please call me? I'm worried about you."
Delete.
"It was a huge mistake. That guy didn't mean anything to me. I was drunk and I... that's not an excuse, I know, but you have to believe me. I was so angry and I wasn't thinking and I drank too much. I... I'd rather talk to you in person, so can you please call me back?"
Delete.
"Finn told me that you had to go to the hospital again. I wish you would've called me. Is everything okay? Is she okay? Please let me know."
Delete.
"I appreciate Rachel telling Finn about everything being okay, but I still wish you'd call. Please, Blaine."
Delete.
"This is the last time I'm calling you, Abs. I just... I really am sorry, okay? I made a mistake and I know I hurt you - I just keep doing that, but I don't mean it. I just... I hope you're okay and that maybe one day we can be friends again or something - for her sake. Sorry for bothering you. Stay safe."
Delete.
::::::::::
"So you guys really aren't celebrating Thanksgiving? Why?"
Carole wasn't the kind of mom to snoop through her son's things; she wasn't the kind of woman that listened in on her son's conversations either, but she couldn't help but overhear Finn's loud voice as the teen rummaged through the refrigerator in the room next to her, his tone curious and somewhat sad over what he was hearing.
"That sucks. So she's dying? How come you guys didn't go with- oh. No, I get it. I wouldn't make Blaine go to that either, especially with how sick he's been. Poor guy. Is he feeling any better?"
That was someone she hadn't heard much about lately either: Blaine. Ever since that night that Finn dragged Kurt into the house, drunk off his ass and panicky, there was no word about Blaine (or the baby) minus a few hushed whispers between Finn and Rachel whenever the girl would come over for a few hours after school. She never stayed very long anymore and whenever she was over, she was as polite as ever, but she was also highly guarded, especially around Kurt. When it came down to it, Carole still didn't know what had happened that night, but if Kurt's drunken babbling meant anything, he may have been caught in a compromising position with someone else by none other than Blaine himself... and that's why no one in the Hudson-Hummel house had seen the wide-eyed pregnant teen around anymore.
The lack of Blaine around really took it's toll on Kurt. Carole's rainbow-haired stepson hid away most of the time anymore; he went to school and came straight home in order to go up to his room or he'd work his ass off at the tire shop for hours on end. However, there were also some nights when Carole would hear him murmuring softly to his phone and she wondered if he was calling Blaine again, begging his ex-lover to return his calls and just let him know he was okay. According to Blaine's fathers, the boy was doing better, still tired and somewhat flustered by the stress he'd been under, but still, not being able to see or speak to Blaine really did some work on Kurt's nerves, and that broke Carole's heart.
Sighing, the woman stood up from the dining room table and picked up her empty coffee cup, quietly making her way back into the kitchen to get a fresh cup before Kurt came down and swiped the carafe for himself. As she walked, she let her hearing focus in on Finn's words as her son kept on discussing someone else's (Rachel, her mind reminded) plans for the upcoming holiday.
"So are you and Blaine just gonna stay home and do nothing on Thursday? Really? Man, not even some turkey- no, no I didn't forget you don't eat meat, but I meant- Rachel, c'mon. I know you're a vegetarian. Wait, you're a vegan? But you ate ice cream with me and- Rachel? Rach? Shit." The boy pulled his phone away from his ear and rolled his eyes, setting the device on the counter before he went back to digging in the fridge.
"Girlfriend troubles?" Carole asked, her voice teasing as she poured herself the last of the coffee and went to make another pot before Kurt came sniffing around for the drink.
"Yeah. Rachel's just being herself again. You know how that is."
"Mhmm. So... what are the Berrys doing for the holiday?"
"Nothing really." The teen's words were muffled since he was busy trying to eat a few strawberries while he searched for something else to eat. "Rachel said her dad's friend was dying and they were going to go see her and that she and Blaine were staying home until their dads got back."
"Oh, that's a shame. So they aren't going to do anything on Thursday?"
"Guess not."
Finn went back to pulling out packages of lunch meat and cheese to make a sandwich and while he was in the midst of figuring out what kind of condiments to use, Carole came up with a bright idea, quietly slipping from the room to go call Blaine and Rachel's parents. Hopefully her plan would work, especially since it might just get Blaine and Kurt talking again.
::::::::::
Blaine yawned, sitting up as he threw his comforter over his shoulders and stood up from the couch, sleepy eyes struggling to focus as he trudged his way through the living room and towards the front door - the door that someone was repeatedly knocking on. "Give me a sec!" He called out, pausing to fix the blanket around his pregnant form just in case the person at the door wasn't someone he knew. Once he was sure his belly was well hidden beneath the layers fabric, he stood up on his tippy-toes and peered through the peephole, eyes widening when he saw who was outside.
"Is that Finn? Let him in." Rachel called from down the hall.
"It's Finn and Burt," Blaine hissed, stepping back from the door to glare at his sister. "What are they doing here? It's Thanksgiving! Shouldn't they be at home spending time with their family?"
"That's why they're here silly," his sister scolded, pushing past Blaine to open the front door. The chill from the late November air came spilling in and Blaine curled the blanket tighter around himself, shielding his body from the cold. "Hi Finn! Hello Mr. Hummel! Happy Thanksgiving!"
"Happy Thanksgiving, Rachel... Blaine." Burt greeted, eyes dropping to fall onto the cocooned teen before him. Blaine peered up through a tiny opening in the blanket and he shivered visibly.
"Mr. Hummel."
Rachel slammed the front door shut and directed the men to wait just a moment before she disappeared to the kitchen. As soon as she was gone, both Burt and Finn glanced over at Blaine, curious minds wondering what in the world the pregnant boy was doing.
"Dude, why aren't you dressed yet?"
"I... what?"
"You're having dinner at my house. Why aren't you dressed? Or are you dressed already and I can't tell because you're hiding underneath that blanket?"
Blaine stared at Finn in horror, mouth falling open as he took in Finn's words. They were having dinner at the Hudson-Hummel house tonight? What? He let the blanket cape he had wrapped around him fall a little as he thought about what he was wearing beneath it. Earlier that morning, he woke up and got in the shower (per Rachel's orders) and then he threw on a pair of baggy sweatpants, t-shirt, and hoodie (all with the Dalton logo on them - gifts from the Warblers when he revealed that his clothes were getting too tight for him anymore.) He wasn't planning on heading out and he was under the assumption that he and Rachel were having tv dinners and watching whatever early Christmas movie was on tv that night as their "Thanksgiving." However, now he was learning that he was supposed to be having dinner with Burt and Finn... and Carole.
Oh, and Kurt.
Bile rose in his throat and he swallowed the lump, shaking his head back and forth as he looked down at the floor. "I can't."
"Oh c'mon, why not?" Finn asked, voice hopeful. "You guys are family. You should be having dinner with family even though your dads are out of town."
"I... can't."
"If this is about Kurt," Rachel interrupted, ducking past Blaine to press a tin-foil covered casserole dish into Finn's hands, "then you don't have to worry because he doesn't know yet."
"What?"
Ignoring her brother's question, Rachel disappeared into the living room for a second and then came back with two duffle bags, her eyes bright and excited. "Okay! We're ready!"
"Now Rachel, wait a minute." Burt put a hand up to stop the girl from squeezing past him to put her bags into the car. "I thought you said you told Blaine about this and he was fine with it."
"I did. I told him that we were going to have Thanksgiving like we planned-"
"I thought you meant when our dads were coming back! Not this!" Blaine yelled, the angry sour feeling in his belly returning full force. "You never told me about this!"
"Because you wouldn't want to go! I'm not dumb! You would've said no. Now please come on! I have your bag packed and everything! It's just for a night or two! Carole really wants us to come. Please, Blaine?"
"No." Blaine crossed his arms over his chest, letting the forgotten blanket fall to the floor. He shook his head and stepped back, stumbling a bit over the mound of comforter on the carpet. Two sets of hands came darting at him to catch him just in case he fell, but he was quick to right himself, slapping at the hands who tried to touch him. "Stop! I'm fine."
"Blaine," Burt started, green eyes falling onto the guy who carried his grandchild. "Now, I won't force you to come with us, but it would be nice to have you over for dinner. We haven't seen you in a while and... well, we'd like to spend some time with you and see how you're doing and how the pregnancy's been." His voice was soft, comforting, and Blaine hated the fact that he wanted nothing more than to turn and walk away from the group of wishful thinkers in front of him. He didn't want to go to Kurt's house for Thanksgiving. He didn't want to see Kurt at all. Just the thought of seeing the guy who broke him so badly made the teen want to cry and scream and hit something more than anything else in the world.
But...
There were three other people other than Kurt who missed him too. Finn commented a lot about not seeing Blaine around anymore and he mentioned how much Burt and Carole missed seeing him too, though Blaine was sure the only reason they missed him was because he was having their first grandkid and that's all he was important for anyway. Nervously, he tightened his crossed arms and bit his lower lip, blinking back the sheen of tears that had settled in his eyes.
"I don't think I can."
"We won't make you go, Blaine. If you don't think you're ready, we'll go."
Blaine could feel his sister's fiery eyes on him and while he didn't want to disappoint her, he really wasn't sure he could face Kurt right now. It had only been two weeks since that night and while he and Kurt had been on the fritz for a few weeks before that, nothing hurt more than thinking about seeing Kurt with that other guy at Scandals. A shaky sigh slipped from his lips and he unlocked his arms, bending down to pick up the discarded blanket before he walked away from the group and into the living room. Ignoring the people behind him, he began to fold the blanket, carefully laying it on the recliner in the corner before he turned back around to the group before him.
"Well?" Rachel asked, her dark eyes narrowed in a glare.
"I'll go," he relented quietly, tucking his shaking hands into the front pocket of his hoodie. The nauseous feeling that had been bothering him since the second he heard the plans of the day stayed with him the whole ride over to Kurt's and only increased when they finally pulled into the Hudson-Hummel driveway.
Here goes nothing.
::::::::::
Kurt set the fork down on its holder and put the lid back on the pot of boiling potatoes, sighing as he glanced at the clock and rolled his eyes over the fact that his dad and Finn still weren't back from getting a few packages of cranberries from the store. He specifically wrote the damn things down on the grocery list with several red lines beneath it because they needed cranberries and somehow Finn forgot to grab them, claiming he just didn't see them on the list.
"Bullshit," Kurt muttered to himself, running a hand through his sweaty hair before he stepped out of the hot kitchen and into the much cooler dining room. Carole was standing over the table, several mixing bowls scattered around her with various ingredients inside, her eyes scanning a well-worn cookbook as she stirred another bowl of what looked like soon-to-be green bean casserole. "Do you need any help?" He asked her when he paused by the table. They were almost done with cooking really, but the green bean casserole and some other dish that Carole insisted on making were still unfinished.
"No. I'm fine. Thank you for asking. You've done enough today. I can finish these last two things."
"Are you sure?"
"Yep. Thanks for helping me today, hun."
Kurt barely had the time to say anything else to his stepmom before his dad's voice bellowed down the hall, "Hey! Carole! Could you come help us please?"
It's a fucking bag of cranberries not a sofa, Kurt's mind grumbled and he patted Carole's shoulder, telling her to stay put because he would help them bring whatever the hell else they brought back. Already plotting a verbal lashing for the inevitable overspending his father and stepbrother did, Kurt stormed out of the dining room and into the hall, body halting in its steps when he spotted not only his dad and Finn standing in front of the door, but also two very unexpected guests... and one of them was holding a bag full of fresh cranberries against their very pregnant stomach.
"Blaine?"
The guy in question stood there frozen, eyes locked on Kurt as Burt came up and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Rachel and Blaine'll be having dinner with us. Their dads had to go out of town due to an emergency and we all agreed they shouldn't miss having Thanksgiving on the actual day, so they're here." Burt offered his son a half-smile, "Family should stick together."
Family.
The word repeated itself in his mind and Kurt's gaze dropped to where Blaine's belly pressed tight against the hoodie he was wearing. A heavy unbuttoned pea coat covered the lounge outfit Blaine wore, but even Kurt could see how strained the material was on his ex-lover. Blaine had grown... and Kurt missed it all.
"You got the cranberries?" He asked, mentally berating himself for asking about the fucking fruit before he even said a word to Blaine (not counting the second he breathed out his name when he spotted the boy standing in his house.)
Blaine held out the bag and waited until Kurt took them before he dropped his now empty hand to his stomach. Neither boy said another word to each other and they both remained stuck in their positions even after Finn and Burt went to take the rest of the groceries (as well as the cranberries that they pried from Kurt's frozen fingers) into the kitchen; Rachel, meanwhile, watched them carefully, her brown eyes gauging Kurt for any sort of reaction.
"Do you have any place for me to take our things?"
"You're staying?"
"For a night or two. I'm going shopping with Carole in the morning." The tiny girl hefted the two duffle bags over her shoulder and shot another look at Kurt, tapping her booted foot against the hardwood floor as she stared at him. "Well?"
"I'll take them. I'll put yours in the guest room and... Blaine can have my room."
"I really don't think-" Rachel began to protest, but Kurt waved her off, swiping the bags out from under her.
"I'll sleep on the couch, okay?" Before anyone else could say a word, he ran up the stairs with the bags and once he was out of their sight, Blaine slumped back against the door, closing his eyes as he ran a hand up and down his upset stomach. The baby kicked hard at his hand and he shuddered, shrugging away from his sister's touch when she reached out to try and reassure him that everything would be okay.
"Blaine-"
"This was such a bad idea."
"I don't think-"
"Rachel! Blaine! So glad you two could make it. Oh honey! You've grown so much!" Carole swept into the room, effectively silencing the siblings from further discussion as she gave Rachel a quick hug and then stopped in front of Blaine. "Wow. What a difference a month makes, hmm?"
"Yeah. She's big enough to sit on my bladder now," Blaine joked weakly, smiling when Carole wrapped him up in her arms then suddenly stepped back, eyes wide.
"Did she... did she just kick?"
"Yeah."
"She's kicking now?" A voice asked from the stairs and the family glanced up, Blaine swallowing nervously when he spotted Kurt staring down at him. "I mean... hard enough for others to feel?"
"Yeah."
Carole glanced over at Rachel and the two of them moved out of the way; Rachel was hesitant to leave her brother alone with the guy who broke his heart, but the look in Carole's eyes told her something else, so she followed her boyfriend's mother into the living room, tossing a cautious look over her shoulder at Kurt before she left. Once the two boys were alone, Kurt finished coming down the stairs, his eyes on nothing else but Blaine. Blaine, meanwhile, stayed put in his position near the door, though his cheeks were flushed and his eyes were gleaming in the bright light of the hallway.
"How... how long has she been doing that?"
"A few weeks now. I just- I haven't told anyone. This is the first time she's actually kicked someone... other than me, of course." Blaine's gaze lowered to the floor. "No one else has felt her move yet."
"Why?"
"Because you were supposed to be the first." The words came out super soft, barely audible over the noises coming out of the kitchen and the living room, but Kurt was able to pick them up... and they broke his heart.
"Blaine-"
"Can I just ask why? Why him? Why some random guy you met at a bar? A bar, Kurt."
"It was a mistake."
"A mistake? Huh." The exasperated noise Blaine made after that cut Kurt to the core and the taller boy shook his head, willing all the anger that had begun to radiate off of his former best friend to just disappear. He hated that he was the one making Blaine so upset and most of all, he hated that there really wasn't anything he could do to fix it.
"I regret it so much, Blaine. You've got to believe me."
"I just- I just want to know... did I ever have a chance with you?"
"You-"
"Because I was stupid enough to think that I did."
"Blaine, no-"
The dark-haired boy reached up and rubbed his palm across the apple of his cheek, brushing away the tears that were beginning to run down it. "I thought... I thought that maybe one day you'd look at me and think, Hey, he's not all that bad, but I was wrong. God I was so fucking wrong and so fucking stupid because why would I ever think that? You regretted sleeping with me, you regretted knocking me up. Hell, you've regretted every single time we've ever touched each other, so why else would I think you'd ever want me?"
"Blaine-"
"Obviously I'm dumber than I thought. I mean, I..." He bit back a shaky gasp and shook his head, "I'm letting you know this now, ok? You don't have to worry about me or about this anymore. We're having a child together and that's that. That's what you wanted, right? We're just friends who just so happened to accidentally fuck one night and conceive a child and we'll have that child and raise her separately. We can... we can sort out everything later, but right now, we're just Kurt and Blaine: two friends who met in high school, fucked, and had a baby together."
"Blaine, stop-"
"I... I don't regret what happened between us, okay? And I don't regret making her or- or falling for you-" More of Kurt's heart shattered, "I just... I just regret letting myself be so blind and so stupid when it came to you." Sniffling, the pregnant teen reached back and opened the front door, turning and heading out into the cool afternoon before he shut the door behind him. As soon as he was gone, Kurt collapsed on the steps and burst into tears, hating that he broke Blaine enough to make the one person he loved so much feel that way.
A/N: Ugh. I planned to update this a LONG time ago and a lot of shit happened and I had to just step away from writing for a moment to gather myself back together. I'm back for now and I'm hoping that my writing mojo will stay with me long enough to finish up this and MBGAS. For those of you who liked WWO, I have a new drabble up called What Could've Been that's based on WWO and will involve prompts for future chapters (seeing as how I really need to get back into writing things and hopefully the prompt thing can kick my butt into gear.) Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter and let me know what you think will happen next or what you HOPE to see happens between the two of them. Coming up: more holiday madness AND some baby-related talk.