A/N: Hello again! I got a lot more watches/favourites on this story than I expected, so thank you so much! I really do appreciate it. If you notice there's anything that ought to be fixed (because I don't have a beta) Then please tell me! Other than that, please review! If you wanna talk to me, start a conversation and such, then please go to my tumblr, bitcheslovepolkamusic. (I wouldn't mind a follow either ;) Anyway! It's really late (early) and I need to go to bed.
Kurt awoke to the smell of toast accompanied by some cheery whistling. At first, it was more than welcome. He hadn't had a real breakfast in over a year. Then, his mind caught up to things. He lived alone, and someone obviously had to be here with him in order for him to hear whistling and smell toast.
Rolling out of his bed and landing silently in a crouch position, Kurt became hyper aware. The only thing he was concentrating on was the back of someone's head in his kitchen and the lazy way he moved about. He was just about ready to pounce when he realized something else.
This wasn't his kitchen. This wasn't even his apartment. His breathing quickened and he straightened out his back, letting his eyes dart around wherever he was. When he spotted two sets of dress clothes folded neatly at the end of the bed, he remembered where he was. Sighing, he slumped back against the bed, all adrenaline immediately leaving his system.
Running a hand lazily through his hair, Kurt looked back up at the man in his kitchen. It sounded like he was whistling a tune from Mulan. He chuckled to himself, because of course Blaine would do that.
Kurt was actually quite surprised the man had stayed there. He expected to either have to tie him to the bed or knock him out. Standing and stretching, Kurt made his way lazily over to the kitchen, leaning against the doorframe and watching the other man work on breakfast. Without knowing what he was doing, Kurt found himself fantasizing about Blaine being there to do that every day, and some days waking up next to the man and making him breakfast instead—
'No.' he thought fiercely. That was not allowed. He wasn't here to marry the man; he was saving someone he felt was innocent and didn't deserve to be murdered. That's what Kurt had decided on last night before he went to sleep, anyway; he'd convinced himself that that was the only reason.
Clearing his throat to get the other man's attention, he opened the fridge to find a half full carton of eggs and some expired milk. He sighed and glanced up to see if Blaine had heard him.
He had, and was now staring at the intruder in his kitchen. Unable to make out what the expression meant, Kurt simply waved a little and stared back. A moment passed where neither of them said anything before the older of the two shook his head and smiled broadly, clapping his hands together. "Morning!" he called cheerily, turning back to the toaster and staring at it impatiently.
"Morning," Kurt returned cautiously, leaning back up against the door frame. Not liking the odd silence that Kurt kept settling over them, he spoke up. "So, how do you ah… How'd you sleep?"
Blaine removed his eyes from the toaster to stare at Kurt, smiling again. It seemed forced somehow. "Best I've slept in years." Kurt thought he was joking at first, but from his honest tone of voice and the way his eyes regarded him, he decided he meant it.
"That's… Good. You remember what you're doing here, right? You seemed pretty hammered last night." Blaine just laughed, shaking his head and continuing to stare impatiently at the toaster.
"I didn't at first," he admitted. "My first thought was that I somehow managed to pick up a guy at my party and had sex with him," he blushed, rolling his eyes. "Then I noticed we both had our lower halves covered and that that couldn't have been the case. So I tried to remember what happened last night and I remembered being on a motorcycle with you. Then I recalled meeting you and dancing with you," he paused to let out a quiet 'aww' when his toast popped up and was burnt to a crisp. He put it in the garbage can and got two more slices, putting them in the toaster at a lower setting.
"And then," he began again, looking up at Kurt. "I remembered what you told me right before we went to bed. At first I thought I would just leave, but I decided if what you said was true then I could die if I left." His tone took on a lighter quality as he gestured to the toaster. "So now I'm making toast."
Kurt nodded slowly, surprised at how honest this man was. He strolled into the other room, slipping on his pants and putting his shirt on. He left it open since it was summer and he was pretty sure this place didn't have air conditioning, which kind of defeated the purpose of putting it on anyway, but he just shrugged and left it. When he came back he watched as Blaine's toast came up, once again burned to a crisp. Letting out an irritated groan, he took it out and put it in the garbage, hitting the toaster and crossing his arms.
Unable to help himself, Kurt let out a small chuckle. He thought Blaine was furious when he first looked up, but his expression quickly changed to one of amusement as he laughed along with him. Their laughter died down slowly and soon they were once again standing there in an uncomfortable silence.
Allowing himself another glance, Kurt couldn't help but feel envious at how good this man looked, even after just waking up. He had slight circles under his eyes and still had some sleep crusties in them, but looked fully alert. His hair was smashed down on one side from having slept with gel in it, and his boxers were crooked on his waist.
Blaine's confused expression let him know that he had been openly ogling at him and he averted his eyes quickly. The other man just laughed and said, "I'm gonna go shower, alright? Do you need the bathroom?" Kurt shook his head, deciding to try and making some toast since Blaine seemed to be having so much trouble.
"Alright! Oh," he began, seeing Kurt put toast in the toaster. "Good luck. That toaster's evil." Shooting one last glare towards the toaster, he shook his head and walked into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.
Chuckling, Kurt turned the toaster down to the lowest setting and opened the fridge to find some butter. Of course, there wasn't any. He was in a hotel. He sighed, leaning against the counter as he heard the shower start. After about a minute he heard the beginnings of a song.
"You think I'm pretty without any make-up on, you think I'm funny when I tell the punch line wrong…" At first Kurt laughed, because this man was amazing. He was supposedly some rough, manipulative business man, but here he was burning toast and singing Katy Perry songs. Getting over the fact that this guy was so fruity, he realized he had an absolutely amazing voice.
Kurt found himself practically swooning as he began the chorus, and absently began to hum along with him. Why was this guy running some boring company when he easily could get a record deal and be famous in no time? All of the sudden the shower stopped and, to Kurt's disappointment, so did the singing. He sighed, going over to the toaster to find that his toast had finished cooking and was a perfect golden brown.
"That wasn't so hard, now was it?" he muttered to the toast, putting it on a plate. He just about jumped out of his skin when a voice from directly behind him laughed and asked, "Talking to the food? Do I need to call someone?"
Twirling around, Kurt leaned against the counter and stared. "Don't do that! I just about dropped my toast," he said, faking a horrified tone of voice. "Oh, and speaking of toast…" he reached behind him and held up a perfectly cooked piece of toast. "You kind of fail."
Blaine scrunched his eyebrows together, staring at the toast with what appeared to be amazement. Without asking he reached out and took it, biting into it.
"Hey!" Kurt cried indignantly, putting his hands on his hips. "That's my toast!"
"You we'we tauntin' me wiff it!" Blaine responded, mouth full of toast still. Rolling his eyes at Blaine's classiness, Kurt grabbed his own toast and went over to the table, pulling it up to the bed so they could sit at it.
Blaine dove onto the bed next to him, nearly falling off and knocking the table over. He got situated and began to hum happily, eating his toast still.
Looking over to object, Kurt found something he'd missed a moment ago. The only thing Blaine had on was a towel, and when he dove onto the bed it almost revealed some things that Kurt really should not be seeing.
Quickly averting his eyes, Kurt took another small bite of toast, scrunching his face up at the lack of butter. When the man next to him cleared his throat he looked up and let out a soft "mm?"
"I'm confused about something. Care to enlighten me?" Blaine asked, tilting his head to the side. When Kurt nodded for him to continue, he looked at his lap a moment before doing so. "Last night… You said you were here to protect me. Like a body guard. Right?"
"Yes," Kurt responded slowly, unsure of where this was going. He swung his legs back and forth quietly, trying to savor his toast.
"Okay. Well… Okay." Blaine made a face, as though he couldn't decide what to say next. "I'm just gonna ask. Why did I come up to you first? I mean, not to sound creepy, but I'd been watching you for a while, and you didn't look like you even noticed me, let alone had the idea to come up to me." He took a deep breath. "I just… It seems odd."
Kurt suddenly found it difficult to swallow and forced his toast down his throat. He was silently thanking whatever non-existent gods there were that he was a good on-the-spot liar. "I was. Watching you, I mean. But I also had to keep an eye out for anyone suspicious. So of course I wouldn't just be staring at you. I was also instructed not to make contact with you unless absolutely necessary, but last night it ended up being necessary because I got word from my boss that someone was being sent out after you. Make sense?"
The shorter man looked pretty shaken from hearing that last part, but nodded. "Yeah. Makes sense. If you weren't supposed to have contact with me though, then why'd you agree to dance?" Kurt just shrugged.
"I don't know. I didn't want to shoot you down; it would be downright cruel the way you were acting. You remind me of a puppy." At this Blaine laughed, a real, loud and pleasant laugh. Shaking his head he wiped his hands on the bed to get rid of toast crumbs.
"Now you sound like my sisters." Kurt smiled at him, nodding and finishing the last of his toast. "Well! I should get dressed, huh?" he laughed again, though something seemed to be missing from it. It seemed wrong somehow, after that last one. Kurt just nodded and pointedly looked at the wall as a signal for him to do so.
The room was quiet for a few minutes other than the sound of fabric on skin and someone zipping up their pants. Kurt felt the bed dip and looked over to see Blaine wearing his clothes in the same way he was.
There was another long silence between the two of them, although this time it wasn't uncomfortable. Kurt's mind began to wander and he found himself worrying about the immediate future, something he hadn't done for years.
A thousand things were going through his mind all at once. He knew they would need new clothing soon, because going around like this in the summer was bound to draw attention to them. The only problem was he would have almost no money after paying for the room, and he couldn't just call his work for a change of clothes and some cash like he usually did.
He supposed he could just sneak out of the hotel with Blaine since they had no luggage and it would be pretty easy. But what then? There was a good possibility that someone from his agency would spot them. Hell, for all Kurt knew they already knew their location and had them cornered. There was probably a hit out for Kurt too, since he took a target and was now MIA.
Speaking of targets, what was he going to do about Blaine? His friends and family were bound to notice his absence. Even if they didn't, his company surely would. Maybe they already had! What if they filed a missing person report? Then his face would be everywhere and it would be impossible for someone not to find him. Then they'd be dead.
Maybe he could have Blaine call someone and tell them he was vacationing. The phone lines in the immediate area were probably bugged and Sue would have their location if he spent more than a minute on the phone. Then they'd be dead.
Perhaps Kurt could tell the police about his organization? Then he wouldn't have to kill anyone ever again and he and Blaine would be safe. Although if he did that, people would wonder how he knew about it and he would end up in a cold jail cell getting raped nightly. Sue would probably be able to escape all charges and… Then they'd be dead.
Kurt let out an irritated noise, running a hand through his hair. Surely there was a way he could do this without getting them killed. Maybe he should just stop thinking about it; he could just wing it. He'd done that with tons of things in the past, and it always seemed to work out fine for him. Nodding to himself, Kurt began to play with his hair absently, running a hand through it. It wasn't until he saw a pair of snapping fingers in front of his face that he realized someone was speaking to him.
"Hello-ooo? Kurt? Yoohoo? Anyone home? You're freaking me out here, man." Blinking, Kurt shook his head and looked up to see Blaine looking at him expectantly. "Welcome back to Earth, Kurt," he drawled sarcastically. "What's wrong?"
He only shook his head and plastered a smile on his face. "I'm just trying to come up with a way to get out of here successfully. There's a lot of factors involved." Blaine nodded, folding his hands in his lap. He had a towel wrapped around his head, which Kurt just noticed. "What's with the towel?"
When he heard him, Blaine looked almost embarrassed. The beginnings of a blush started near his collar again, but it never actually made it to his face. "My hair's wet and there's no gel here."
Kurt frowned. Why did that matter? "So? Why do you need gel?" Blaine laughed and shook his head, looking at his lap.
"My hair's kind of insane. It's probably dry now, so here." He removed the towel and ran a hand through his hair, shaking it out a bit. Glancing expectantly up at Kurt, he held out his arms and shrugged. "Ta-dah."
Kurt had to bite his lip to keep from laughing. His hair was a lot longer than it looked when it had the gel in it and was a horrible mess of tight little curls. He barely looked like the same man anymore—Wait. "Hey!" Kurt practically shouted, pointing at Blaine. Said man nearly jumped out of his skin, staring at Kurt.
"What? I know it's bad, but—" Kurt shook his head and held a finger to Blaine's mouth, smiling.
"No! No. You're missing the point. It's not your hair. It's not bad. That's not what I'm talking about." He smiled broadly, clasping his hands in front of him. Blaine just stared blankly at him, obviously not following this. Letting out an exasperated sigh, Kurt rolled his eyes. "You look like a different person. That'll be good if we don't want my or—" he cut off mid-sentence, catching himself. "If we don't want anyone finding you." Apparently missing the slip up, realization dawned on Blaine's face and he nodded, scratching his head.
Looking further, Kurt noticed that he had a bit of stubble starting and smiled. "Also, don't shave. Make a point of looking disheveled, okay?" Blaine nodded again, moving his hand to run over his cheek and chin, frowning.
Feeling pleased from his sudden realization, Kurt stood up and practically skipped into the bathroom, looking at himself in the mirror. He couldn't actually grow a beard, and on any other day he would count that as a blessing. His eyes were, unfortunately, a dead giveaway anyway; it wouldn't have mattered. Reaching in a drawer, he pulled out a comb with a few teeth missing and sighed, knowing it would have to do. He proceeded to comb his hair down and out of its usual style, deciding against showering.
He figured if he went without moisturizing then he would look a bit different. If he didn't wear a shirt today then maybe he could get a tan. Already thinking of other ways to change his appearance, he was interrupted by someone clearing their throat in the doorway. He looked up to find Blaine standing there, arms crossed, watching him.
"So, what's the plan for today, boss?" he asked, looking the other man over. Kurt smiled and put the comb back, leaning on the counter.
"We need to get out of here. I hope you're good at climbing, because we're leaving through the window." When Blaine opened his mouth to object, Kurt held up a hand to stop him. "I know, I know. It's not ideal and it's immoral, but we have to do it. I don't have enough money to pay hotel fee and survive for the next few weeks." Blaine just nodded. "Anyway, we need to find a clothing store. We ended up on the coast, so it'll be easy enough to just get some swim shorts or something like that."
Blaine nodded again, looking thoughtful. He sighed and stretched, looking in the mirror. "Damn. I haven't seen myself like this in a while." He laughed, shaking his head. "It's sad, really; there hasn't been a day in nearly a year where I didn't have to shave and gel my hair and look nice for someone." Sighing again, he looked away from the mirror and back to the taller man.
Kurt was just about heart broken by this confession. It shouldn't have bothered him; it was Blaine's choice to be doing what he was, and it was just a passing comment anyway. But it did bother him. He recalled his file saying that he'd started the company when he was nineteen and had been a success since. It seemed to Kurt that the man in front of him never really gotten a young adult life; he never got to have fun. From his high school transcripts, it looked like he didn't get much out of his teenage years either. Kurt felt bad for him.
Not only that, but it didn't even seem like he enjoyed running his company. His smile almost never reached his eyes, and almost every time he laughed it seemed fake. But natural at the same time, as though he'd been faking it for years.
Once again, Kurt found himself spacing out when he was being shaken lightly on the shoulder. "What?" He asked, looking up. His eyes were still glazed over a bit.
"You really need to stop doing that," Blaine told him. "It's freaky." Kurt just laughed and looked down, shaking his head.
"Yeah. We should probably get going." Moving around Blaine, he went and stood by the window, opening the curtain and looking down. It wasn't nearly as far as he thought, but he knew he should go down first since Blaine probably didn't do things like this that often. Biting his lip, he opened the window and was hit with a wall of warm, humid air. Making a face, he stepped back and removed his shirt.
Blaine was at the window in an instant, smiling and looking out. He looked like a little kid that had woken up on Christmas and found snow outside. Raising his eyebrows, Kurt went up next to him and looked over, wondering what he was thinking about. Kurt watched as he removed his shirt and reached out to take the screen eagerly. It took a minute, but he got it off with a decent amount of ease. He set it gingerly on the bed, turning back to stare out the window happily.
"Ready?" Kurt asked, folding his arms across his chest. Blaine nodded eagerly and stepped out of the window, grabbing the top for support. "Whoa!" Kurt shouted, stepping forward and grabbing the other man's bicep. "Are you sure you wanna do that? When's the last time you did something like this?" Blaine just laughed and shook his hand off, climbing out the rest of the way and holding on by the window frame.
Kurt leaned his head out the window, staring down at Blaine. He was beginning to panic, because Blaine looked way too at ease to be doing something like this. Kurt's muscles tensed as the other man began swinging his legs around, laughing lightly. It was a real laugh this time; nothing forced. The pale boy softened as he watched the tired, beat-down part of Blaine disappear and be replaced with a more childish and carefree side.
Blaine looked down and put his foot on a piece of siding that was sticking out too far and tested its strength. It seemed to hold him well, so he shrugged and stepped onto it all the way. He reached his hands down and found a place similar to the one his feet had found and grabbed it, moving his feet off the other ledge. Kurt watched in what was almost awe, because he looked like climbing out of buildings was something he did as an everyday pastime. Touching down at the bottom, Blaine laughed and stepped back from the building a bit, smiling up at Kurt. "That was awesome!" he called.
Laughing and shaking his head, Kurt stepped out of the window and grabbed onto the ledge in the same way Blaine had. Just as he was getting a good foothold on the siding piece that Blaine did, a bird flew by and caught him off guard, making him lose his balance. With a small yell, he slipped from the window frame and fell backwards. He reached his hands out to grab at anything he could find, but it was too late. He began to fall and shut his eyes, going limp and hoping that the impact wouldn't hurt anything.
But the impact he was expecting never actually came. Instead, he found a pair of warm arms. He felt a small shake, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. He slowly opened his eyes to find Blaine laying below him, laughing and staring up at him. He had his arms wrapped around Kurt and looked like he was completely at ease.
Realizing that he'd fallen on top of Blaine, Kurt blushed a bright red and made to get up. He was stopped when Blaine tightened his grip and wouldn't allow him to move. Looking down to protest, he found a worried look on his companion's face.
"Wait. I shouldn't have laughed. Are you okay?" He asked, his triangle eyebrows drawing together. Of course he would ask that after he was just about crushed by Kurt. The younger man just rolled his eyes and nodded, relaxing into his hold a bit.
"I'm fine. I should be asking you that! I fell on you and just about crushed you to death!" Blaine laughed, shaking his head.
"Correction: You slipped and I caught you. I just happened to stumble backwards. Not your fault." Kurt sighed and rolled his eyes again, staring down at Blaine.
"Thank you," he murmured, playing with a piece of grass. Blaine nodded, smiling at him. It took a minute, but soon Kurt remembered what kind of position he was in. Blushing brightly, he pushed Blaine's arms off and stood, brushing himself off and offering a hand to the other man. Kurt swore that he saw sadness in the other man's eyes when they separated, but convinced himself that he was just being hopeful and imagining things.
"Well! That could have gone better," Kurt said, looking around. They were in back of the hotel, so no one saw them. Blaine nodded, putting his hands on his hips. "I suppose we should get going and find some clothes. I remember a little strip being about a block down; I'm sure there's a clothing store somewhere along there." Nodding again, Blaine gestured for Kurt to lead the way.
He did so, making sure to avoid the windows in the front of the hotel so that the receptionist wouldn't see them. "Why aren't we taking the motorcycle?" Blaine asked, looking longingly back at it. Kurt just chuckled and told him, "The owner's probably noticed it's missing and we don't wanna be caught with a stolen bike." As soon as he saw the shocked expression on the other man's face, Kurt knew he'd said too much.
"I—what? Stolen? You stole that motorcycle? I thought you were on the good side here." The other man just sighed, running a hand through his hair.
"I know, I know. It's a bad thing to do. But I had to. It was for your safety, alright? I was dropped off by my boss and I knew I wouldn't have time to call someone and get them there before the killer got there." It wasn't a complete lie, but Kurt still felt bad not being able to tell the whole truth.
Blaine looked torn between being pleased with this and being upset about stolen vehicles, so he just shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets. After a few minutes of walking, they came to the strip that Kurt had mentioned earlier. Most of the stores looked pretty tacky, but they came to a touristy shop with clothing in it and they knew it would have to do.
"Hello, hello!" The man at the counter called, waving at them. The two of them smiled politely and nodded at him, immediately going through the pants on the rack. "Buy two keychains, get two free boys!" He called, smiling a bit too enthusiastically. They nodded again, not really paying attention to him.
Blaine stepped over to Kurt, who appeared to be deciding between two different pairs of shorts. Every few seconds he would glance around suspiciously. "Hey," Blaine whispered. The younger man jumped and looked over at him. "It smells like weed in here." Kurt chuckled, shaking his head.
"No kidding." He finally decided to get both pairs of shorts and sighed, grabbing a red t-shirt that said "Oregon Coast" on it. He was appalled at the clothing choices, but knew they would have to do and that wearing designer clothes would get him noticed. He grabbed a couple other shirts identical to the red one, except in pink, blue, and green. Kurt looked expectantly to Blaine, who was holding five pink and purple V-neck shirts and two pairs of blue plaid shorts, currently browsing the sunglasses rack.
Kurt rolled his eyes and ran his hand through his hair. This man was so strange. He walked over and grabbed the first pair of sunglasses he touched, putting them on and glancing in the mirror. They looked fine on him so he just shrugged, glancing around nervously again. He tugged on Blaine's sleeve impatiently. "C'mon, hurry up," he whispered. The older man nodded and grabbed a pair of sunglasses for himself, putting them on and smiling. While they looked stupid on the rack, he pulled them off surprisingly well. Kurt just shook his head and pulled him to the front of the store, making him set his things down on the counter. He turned around and grabbed a pink and a green backpack, setting them on there as well.
"Jeez, Blaine, got enough pink in your wardrobe?" Kurt asked, raising his eyebrows at the other man's clothing choices. Blaine just laughed and shrugged.
"It's my favourite colour, but I never get to wear it because it looks 'unprofessional'." He pulled his hands out of his pockets to make sarcastic air quotes, making Kurt giggle.
"Will this be all, boys?" the clerk asked with a smile. They nodded and Kurt got the total, paying him quickly. Grabbing Blaine's arm, he pulled him to the back of the store and into the changing rooms.
"Change," he commanded, poking Blaine in the chest.
"Yes, sir," he said, saluting him and stepping into the changing room. Kurt just rolled his eyes and stepped into the adjacent one, changing into his shorts and the green t-shirt quickly. When he came out, he saw that Blaine was already changed.
Although it didn't match and his outfit looked hideous on the counter, it looked fantastic on Blaine. He stood in a relaxed stance, leaning up against the wall with his eyes closed and his head tipped back slightly. He had the sunglasses on and he moved his hands around in his pockets a bit.
But what Kurt liked most was the pink shirt. It was just a bit too small and stretched across Blaine's chest, accentuating his biceps nicely. Luckily Kurt caught himself practically drooling before the other man could open his eyes. "Ready to go?"
Blaine's eyes opened and he smiled, nodding. "Definitely. The pink bag's mine, right?" Kurt nodded and handed it to him, taking his own and putting his clothing in it. He put his sunglasses on and ran a hand through his hair one last time before swinging his backpack onto his back and sighing. He'd taken his shoes off to put in there, and looked over to see that Blaine had had the same idea. They said their goodbyes to the man at the front and stepped out into the harsh sun. Kurt groaned, putting a hand up to protect his eyes even though he had sunglasses on. He hated the sun, especially when he didn't have any sunblock. He'd decided not to buy any, however, because getting a tan would do him good. Besides, the sun on the west coast wasn't nearly strong enough to burn him.
"Where to next, boss?" Blaine asked, making him forget about his aversion to the sun momentarily. He looked around briefly at the various buildings and people in the area, then at the trees and the sky; he didn't find anything suspicious and shrugged.
"I don't know. We should find a payphone so you can call your sisters and tell them… Something. Tell them you decided to take an impromptu vacation or something. That way people don't get suspicious and try looking for you before we have everything sorted out."
"Alright," Blaine answered. They went a few shops down to the nearest payphone and Blaine put a quarter in, dialing Rachel's number. Kurt mouthed 'one minute or less' at him and he nodded, listening to the phone ring only once before his sister's panicked voice could be heard from the other end.
"Blaine? Blaine! Good lord, Blaine, where are you? You're two hours late for the breakfast we had planned and I was worried sick! Don't tell me you got drunk and slept in or something like that." Kurt could hear her from where he was and smirked as Blaine flinched and held the phone away from his ear.
"No, Rachie, nothing like that. I just… I had to get away. Everything was getting too much and I needed a vacation. I'll run the business from here and stuff, but I couldn't stay in the office another minute." Everything he was saying sounded completely true, and from what Kurt saw in the short time he'd known the man, it probably was.
Her voice became quieter and Kurt could no longer make out what she was saying. "Oh. Well. Alright. Blaine Anderson, you could have at least told me. That's what brothers are supposed to do," she scolded lightly. "But I'm glad you're getting away. You needed a break."
Not for the first time, Blaine's expression just about broke Kurt's heart. It was full of obvious love for his sister and just as much guilt. "I know, sissy. I'm sorry. I gotta go, but I'll call you, okay?" a mumbled 'okay' and 'love you' came from the other end of the line. "I know. I love you too, Rachie." And with that, he hung up with a loud groan.
"I can't stand making her sad," he told Kurt, scratching the back of his head. Kurt just nodded, not actually being able to relate. He didn't have any siblings and hadn't really felt much of anything for anyone in the last few years since highschool.
"We should get going." Kurt told him quietly after a moment, wrapping his arms around his chest. Blaine nodded and adjusted his sunglasses, offering his elbow to Kurt.
Kurt just stared at it. "What?" He asked after Blaine gave him an incredulous look.
"You're supposed to take it!" He told him, shaking his head and letting his hands grab the backpack straps instead. Kurt blushed, looking down.
They began walking down the strip in silence. Neither of them were really sure what to say. Eventually they came to a pier and sat down to rest, looking around. Kurt was running his hands through the water when Blaine suddenly cleared his throat and whispered, "Thank you."
Caught off guard, Kurt looked up at him. "'Thank you'?" he repeated, furrowing his brows in confusion. What was Blaine thanking him for?
"For getting me out of there and saving my life and risking your own. For being here and letting me sleep next to you when I was drunk and for letting me call my sister. For the clothes and the cool sunglasses. For everything."
If Kurt wasn't heartbroken before, then he certainly was now. Why was this man so honest with him when they met just last night? He was full of surprises. Kurt could feel himself fall for him just a little bit more than he already had. "You're welcome," he murmured quietly. 'But you have nothing to thank me for,' Kurt added silently to himself.
Blaine just nodded and looked out at all the shops. Kurt was staring at him, desperately trying to decipher his expression, when suddenly he spoke up again. "How long until I'm safe again, Kurt?" The man in question raised his eyebrows. He sounded so… Vulnerable. Like a child. Kurt felt his chest constrict painfully at how sad this man sounded.
"I don't know," he whispered honestly. For all he knew, he would have to be doing this for the rest of their lives. Although, the rest of their lives may be coming a lot sooner than either of them ever anticipated. Sue had a lot of people, all of them cold and manipulative just like herself. She would probably find a way to get them. "Could be a couple of weeks, months." He didn't have the heart to say it may never end.
"Years," Blaine mumbled sadly. Kurt just nodded, running his hand through the water again. He felt truly horrible about doing what he was. Maybe it would have been better to just let the man die, then he wouldn't have to be going through all of this and he would be safely up in heaven, or wherever people went when they died.
Unable to figure out how to broach the subject, Kurt just asked him right out. "Why might people be trying to kill you?" For once, Blaine appeared to be the one caught off guard. He looked up at Kurt and had his eyebrows drawn together. "It'll help me with protecting you," Kurt added quickly. Blaine nodded, scratching at his arm absentmindedly.
"I don't know. That's what I've been trying to figure out. I don't think I've done anything bad." As much as Kurt tried to mentally deny it, it sounded like he was holding something back; like he was lying. "But even if I had, then the only people I would have told would be my family, which is my sisters Santana and Rachel. But I know they would never try and hurt me."
'You have no idea,' Kurt thought sadly, watching Blaine play with his feet. "Alright," he finally said. He stood and turned to Blaine, holding a hand out to help him up. When he was standing, their fingers lingered on each other just a little bit too long before they stepped apart.
"We should probably get out of town," Kurt told him, adjusting his backpack. He looked up at the sun and squinted, estimating it was around two in the afternoon.
"Where're we gonna go? California or Washington?" Kurt looked thoughtful for a moment before deciding they should go to Washington since Sue's operation was based in southern California.
"Washington for now," he responded slowly. "Then I'll see how things are."
Blaine just nodded and looked out on the shops one last time. "Sounds good." They walked on in silence for a while, not really going any place in particular. The entire time Kurt was glancing all around, hoping not to see any familiar faces or gun tips poking out from the bushes. It may seem paranoid to anyone else, but he knew exactly what would happen if he let his guard down.
"I'm scared," Blaine suddenly admitted after nearly an hour of walking, lifting his eyes from the ground to look at Kurt. The taller man's chest twisted once again at the vulnerable sadness that practically radiated off of this man.
"Hey, don't be scared," Kurt told him gently. He took his hand and twined their fingers together, squeezing slightly. "I've got you. You're safe." He smiled at Blaine softly. "Now let's get some food, alright?"
A/N part TWO: If anyone out there wants to beta, please message me on tumblr at bitcheslovepolkamusic!