Sorry for the wait (if anyone is actually continuing to read this in which case thank you), I am catching up to where I've written and I hadn't had time to write this weekend, what with Christmas and all. :)
When they got to the dining hall, they were greeted by a group of boys sitting around a table. As soon as a boy with dark hair waved them over, the questions began.
"Nick said Blaine has big news. What's going on?"
"Jeff, why's your face so red?"
"Holy wings, who's pet is that?"
"Wait, Blaine, did your parents seriously buy you a pet?"
"Can I touch it?"
"Is it staying at Dalton? But the walls are so thin…"
Kurt stiffened, freezing up under the boys' questioning gazes.
"Calm down, baby," Blaine whispered for only Kurt to hear, pulling out a chair for him. He felt the rest on the Warblers' stares on him. Most pet owners made their pets perform small tasks like pulling out chairs for them, not the other way around. Suddenly all the little differentiations between master-pet relationships and normal human relationships—differentiations that Blaine had made sure to keep absent from his relationship with Kurt—were popping up into his mind now that they were out of the seclusion of his house.
"So…," one boy started, eyeing Kurt nervously, "I see you're being a bit unconventional."
Blaine let out an anxious laugh. "Yeah, Wes, we are," he said. His throat suddenly felt extremely dry, and he felt almost as nervous as he had when he had come out to his parents. Telling Nick and Jeff about the nature of his relationship with Kurt had been easy like he knew it would be; they were easy-going and accepting of almost everything. The rest of the Warblers, though, had many and varied opinions and he was starting to think that telling them with Kurt right there was not a good idea. No, he thought, steeling himself, These are your best friends. They're going to understand. "Very unconventional." Now or never. Reaching over and clasping Kurt's hand in his own, he said, "I… I'm in love with him."
There was a moment of silence as Blaine's words sunk in. Trent, who everyone was sure had a crush on Blaine, looked like he was going to cry. Flint's cup of water had stopped halfway up to his face. David was grinning and nudging Thad, who was also smiling and whispering excitedly into David's ear. Kurt seemed to be trying to disappear into his seat, his wings slowly curling around himself.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Wes asked, his face concerned.
"What do you mean?" Blaine asked.
"You know what I mean, Blaine," he said. "You and I, and everyone at this table knows that a lot of people think that having feelings for a pet is disgusting, and—"
"Two things. One, some people think being gay is disgusting, and we both know better than that. Two, Kurt isn't just some pet. He's an angel."
Another shock went through the table, though this time the reactions were split between awwing at Blaine's declaration that Kurt was an angel, and nervously looking at each other waiting for Wes' retort.
"Look, Blaine, I'm not trying to make you mad or upset or anything. Hell, I'm just as happy about this as Thad over here," Wes said, "It's great to see you happy. But you're just setting yourself up to be hurt here—physically and emotionally. How do you know that it—he loves you back? A lot of people say that pets can't actually feel human emo—"
"Okay, that's enough," Kurt finally spoke up. "I am right fucking here." Blaine squeezed his hand in an attempt to calm him down as he glared with a smile across the table at Wes, who looked rather taken aback. "And I would really appreciate it if you would not undermine my feelings for Blaine when you've only just met me."
"Kurt, I'm sorry, I—"
"Don't worry about it," Kurt said, "I'm not one to hold a grudge based on first impressions."
There was an awkward silence where no one knew what to say until David called out, "Wes just got told!"
Laughter went around the table, everyone eager to ease the tension at the table.
Standing up, Nick said, "Now, I love gossip as much as the next guy, don't get me wrong, but I came here for food." Wordlessly, Jeff stood up from his seat and joined him in search of something to eat.
"Hey, do you want something to eat?" Blaine asked Kurt, moving to stand up.
"No, I'm fine," he replied. "If you get something good I'll just take it from you."
"I don't have to take this abuse, you know," he said, kissing Kurt's cheek and leaving the table.
"So, Nick and Jeff… Are they ever apart?" Kurt asked, watching the boys in question shoving each other as they loaded up their plates.
Thad laughed, scooting over into the seat next to Kurt that Jeff had just vacated. "Never," he said. "They're attached at the hip."
"Good to know," Kurt laughed.
"Oh, by the way, I'm Thad," he said, reaching out a hand.
Smiling, he shook it. "Nice to meet you, Thad."
"It's nice to meet you," he replied. "You seem like quite the character."
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Kurt asked.
"Oh, it's a good thing," he replied, nodding. "You can keep Blaine on his toes."
"Well, it's relatively easy to keep Blaine on his toes," Nick replied, walking up with Jeff and Blaine. "Just ask a relatively tall shelf."
"Or just a shelf," Jeff added. "Maybe a little on the short side."
"Do you see this, Kurt?" Blaine asked, gesturing to Nick and Jeff and shaking his head. "I have to deal with this, all the time!"
"It must be hard being you," Kurt said, rolling his eyes good-naturedly. Smiling, he added, "It's a good thing you've got me." He leaned over and gave Blaine a quick, chaste kiss on the lips.
If either of them had looked around the table at that moment (which they didn't, because when you're young and in love, you develop tunnel vision and stop caring as much about the other people around you), they would have seen smiles on every Warbler's face, including Wes'.
The next day, Kurt sat on the floor folding Jeff's clothes that had been unceremoniously tossed straight from his hamper to the floor. Jeff had taken Blaine off to do something (Jeff had been exceptionally vague, worrying both Blaine and Kurt), and Kurt had found the pile of clothes appalling and unacceptable.
Kurt started at the sound of a knock at the door, simultaneously glad and terrified that he was the only one in the room—no one saw him jump, but on the other hand, there was someone at the door and no one else was there.
He frowned, looking at the door as another knock sounded. He should probably just leave it. Whoever it was was probably looking for Blaine or Jeff and they'd go away if he waited long enough.
"Kurt? Are you in there?" Or maybe they weren't looking for Blaine or Jeff. Quieter, the voice continued, "I figured you'd be in here. Well, maybe you're sleeping. Anyways, it's Thad, and I thought you might want to hang out."
For a second, Kurt hesitated. But then he remembered how David and Thad had been so excited at lunch yesterday and how Thad had been so welcoming, and he knew that he could trust him. Besides, this was one of Blaine's friends. If he couldn't trust these boys, then who could he trust?
He stood and walked to the door, rolling his shoulders and adjusting his wings as he got to the door. Opening it, he saw the dark-haired Warbler turning to walk away.
"Oh, you're here!" Thad said, looking pleasantly surprised. "I was about to leave. Glad to see you, though, unless you were coming out here to tell me to leave."
Kurt laughed, stepping out the door and shutting it behind him. "Don't worry, I'm not," he said.
"Thank goodness," he replied, "I would have felt like such an ass. But anyways, I just thought you might go a bit stir-crazy if you had to stay in there all alone." He turned and started to walk off, gesturing for Kurt to follow.
"I don't have to stay in there," Kurt pointed out.
Thad seemed surprised for a millisecond, then nodded and smiled. "Right, this is Blaine we're talking about. I can't imagine him forcing you to stay somewhere." After a moment, he added, "Come to think of it, I can't really imagine him doing anything typical of a pet owner. He doesn't have a mean bone in his body."
Kurt sighed happily, comforted by the statement; it told him that Blaine's kindness wasn't just a façade, even though he was already fairly certain of that by now anyways. "Wait," he said, frowning. "Blaine didn't tell you to do this, did he?"
Thad shook his head. "Just thought you might want to spend some time out of your tower, Rapunzel," he replied. As an afterthought, he added, "Though, that does sound like something Blaine would do, doesn't it?" He laughed to himself.
The full impact of what had transpired over the past minute or two hit Kurt then. This boy, who he had just met the day before and even then only briefly, had been entirely willing to sneak him out of the dorm room if it had been necessary. There were good people in the world that weren't Blaine. This was a fact that he needed to remind himself.
"So, Kurt, what do you do for fun?" Thad asked, curious.
Kurt frowned. Up until Blaine had bought him (adopted him? There really wasn't a way to say it that didn't make it sound bad, Kurt realized), fun hadn't really been much of an option. "I read," he said.
He nodded. "I guess that was a bad question to ask, huh?" he said.
"It's a normal thing to ask a person," Kurt reasoned, "it just so happens that I didn't really have that option. But now I have Blaine." After he said it, he realized that it was probably a bad thing to say. The phrase 'I have' implies a sort of possession, and he didn't own Blaine. Blaine owned him.
But Thad smiled and said, "Glad to hear it. Glad to know he has you, too, you know. He's always had a smile on his face, but you always sort of wondered. With you here, though… there's no question. The boy is happy."
For a bit they just walked in silence, Kurt letting the extent of what Thad had just said sink in. But no matter how hard he tried, he could not wrap his head around the idea of Blaine being anything other than the happy, caring boy he knew and loved.
Thad led them out into the crisp winter air and they walked side by side on the sidewalk. A sort of tension crackled under Kurt's skin. He was out in the open, in public, without his owner anywhere near him. He lowered his wings, as if them being slightly closer to the ground would make them any less noticeable.
"Problem?" Thad asked, brows furrowed.
For a second he was surprised that the other boy had had to ask. He had allowed himself to get so used to Blaine, who had seemed to develop an intuition towards Kurt's problems lately. "Just… people could see us, and pets aren't supposed to go anywhere without their masters, and I was told that from day one, and even if Blaine says—"
"If it becomes an issue, then we can just say you're my pet, can't we?" Thad suggested.
"We can't lie," Kurt protested, his eyes widening at the idea.
"People do it all the time, Kurt," Thad said. "And besides, it's not usual for people to walk up to a person and a pet and start asking after the pet's ownership."
He relaxed slightly. "If anything happens, though," he said, "you're the one doing the lying. I can't lie."
As they walked, Thad chattered beside him about this thing or that, but Kurt couldn't focus on what he was saying, ghosts of hands striking his face. He was suddenly aware of every person around him, the thought crossing his mind that any one of them could a spy of some sort and knew what that he was misbehaving and his master was nowhere in sight.
A shift in Thad's tone brought Kurt out of his slightly panicked reverie. "I also have something to say on David's behalf," the Warbler was saying. "Or rather, David told me to tell you, on Wes' behalf. None of us really know the details except for David and Wes—they're best friends, you know—and even if we did know more, we probably wouldn't be able to tell them to you, but Wes has had a bad experience with a pet."
"What?" Kurt asked, frowning.
Thad nodded. "Like I said, I don't really know any details," he said. "Wes was pretty quiet about it. I think he honestly loved her. Which is why he's so hesitant about you. Obviously not all of you guys," Kurt noted the fact that he avoided using the word 'pet' in relation to him, "are not all the same, but I guess it's hard for him to see that. And we all really, really care about Blaine, so we're really protective of him."
"Why are you telling me this?" he asked quietly.
"Look, Kurt," Thad sighed, looking down. "I'm not trying to make excuses for Wes' behavior. He was rude to you, and I think deep down even he knows that. I'm just trying to help you understand so you might not hate him."
"I don't hate him," Kurt said firmly. "Like I said, I don't make judgments based on first impressions. When you've been in my position, you realize that it really, really sucks to have people make decisions about you or who you are based on what they've heard about people like you."
Thad nodded. "You could really teach people a lesson in being human," he replied quietly, as if in awe.
Kurt laughed. "Too bad they'd never listen, huh?" he said.
"Maybe someday."
They spent the next hour walking around Dalton's campus, talking about things of little consequence because you can only have so many serious conversations in a day, and besides, Kurt was nowhere near focused enough to hold up a real conversation. His mind was swimming with memories, terrifying memories of his days at the facility, and he was only just barely managing to anchor himself in reality by trying to listen to the lull of Thad's voice.
When Thad deposited Kurt back in front of his door, Kurt was pleased to find that it was occupied by his boyfriend and no one else.
He collapsed into the bed where Blaine sat and curled up against him, rubbing his face against Blaine's shoulder.
"You're cuddly," Blaine remarked, looking up from the textbook page he was reading.
"Your sweater's soft," Kurt replied, slipping his arms around Blaine's waist and pulling him in tightly against him.
"Are you okay?" he asked, leaning his chin on top of Kurt's head.
"Mmm-hmm," Kurt affirmed, nodding slightly against Blaine's shoulder.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
"I am now," he replied.
"But before?"
"I'm safe as long as I'm with you, Blaine," Kurt mumbled, tilting his head to press a kiss to Blaine's neck. "Simple as that."
"What happened? Did Thad do something, because I swear to God—"
"Isn't that taking the lord's name in vain?" Kurt asked. "And from what I've gathered, taking the lord's name in vain is frowned upon."
"You're deflecting."
"Just trying to distract you because everything is fine and nothing happened. I'm just happy to be here with you."
"I'm just trying to figure out why it is that you're suddenly so happy to see me," Blaine said, wrapping an arm around Kurt's waist. It wasn't that Blaine wasn't happy to have a cuddly Kurt in his arms, of course not; it was just that the angel wasn't usually like that.
"Because I love you," he said. "And when I'm with you I don't think about all the bad things that could happen, or what happened to me before or anything…"
With that, a puzzle piece slid into place in Blaine's mind. "Did you have a flashback today?" he asked.
Kurt simply made a little noise of affirmation, tightening his grip around Blaine.
"Oh, Kurt," Blaine murmured, kissing the top of Kurt's head. He moved so they were both laying across the bed, Kurt still clinging to him. He knew how it felt to have your mind cruelly bring up painful, terrifying memories.
"But it's okay," Kurt said softly. "I told you, I feel safe with you."
"I want you to feel safe all the time," he said.
"And I want to be a normal person," Kurt countered.
"You are normal," Blaine said, frowning.
A smile graced Kurt's lips. "I love you," he said.
"I love you, too," Blaine replied, reaching out and tugging Kurt closer to him.
There was a long silence after that, in which Blaine's hands ran slowly up and down Kurt's back.
"This is the first time I've actually felt scared since before you told me you wouldn't do things to me," Kurt said softly. "I think that's why it's affecting me so much."
"Baby, you don't need to explain yourself to me," Blaine whispered in reply.
Kurt cracked a smile. "I never figured I'd like being called baby," he said.
"But do you?" Blaine asked. "Because if you don't, I can stop and—"
Kurt stopped him with a kiss. "I love it," he replied. "It's another reminder of what we have, you know? You don't run around calling everyone you know 'baby'."
"That you know of," Blaine replied, causing both of them to start laughing.
"Careful, now," he replied, making an effort to keep his face straight. "You might make me jealous."
"Jealous of who?" he asked, amused.
"Everyone," Kurt said, nodding seriously.
"That's a lot of people."
"Are you doubting my ability?" One thin eyebrow went up.
"And now this sounds like a challenge to make you jealous of everyone," Blaine replied.
Kurt laughed, but after a second he shook his head. "I wouldn't, if I were you," he said warningly, "or else we'll break up and I'll make out with some random guy just to get your attention, and—"
"You wouldn't do that," Blaine replied.
"Watch me," he said.
Their banter went on and eventually declined into mumbled half-words and phrases that barely had any intended meaning as they grew drowsy but didn't feel like ending their conversation.
Hours later, when Jeff returned to the room for the night, he found them curled up tight against each other. It didn't take much convincing from Nick to take a picture. It was a cute picture, after all, and maybe they'd appreciate it when they got old and wrinkly (Jeff knew they'd never break up, and even if they did, he was happy with the delusion).
Kurt hated it when Blaine had classes. Considering the fact that Dalton was a school, that was a lot of the time.
He had brought the books Blaine had given him for Christmas, of course. But there was only so much reading one could do before he got bored. Not to mention the issue arose that while reading he would lay down on Blaine's bed, which smelled like Blaine's shampoo and was highly distracting.
In theory, he could go out and find something to entertain himself on campus. In the time since classes had started up again, he had made two trips outside while Blaine was in class. Both times, though, he had felt the stares of the students milling around Dalton's campus on him—after all, he had wings—and quickly returned to Blaine's room or one of the various study rooms that were usually empty during classes.
There was one option, however, that he had not tried out yet.
On one of Kurt's first days at Dalton, David had offhandedly mentioned the fact that Dalton had a coffee shop which was, apparently, empty most of the time, save the workers in it. Most of the Dalton boys would pop in to get their coffee on their way to class, and go on with their day. Occasionally the Warblers would have casual, unofficial meetings there to discuss song selections or how they had done at competitions and how they aimed to do better. Because of these meetings and a shared addiction to coffee, they had all grown fond of the place and individual Warblers could often be seen leisurely enjoying a cup of coffee and collecting their thoughts. Other than the Warblers, though, no one stayed in the shop for all too long at a time. As far as options went, Kurt had definitely heard far worse ones.
Kurt had been trying to convince himself to go for weeks now. But today, he was definitely going.
As he stepped into the quiet and, sure enough, nearly empty coffee shop, it struck him as a bit funny that he'd spent so long trying to work up the nerve to go for a cup of coffee.
Smiling from that thought, he stepped up to the counter, where the sole man working the shop was finishing up a drink for a boy in a Dalton blazer. The barista reached the cup out to the boy who said a quick 'thank you' and left the room.
The barista looked over at Kurt, his head physically moving backwards in surprise, which made sense considering the fact that he was an angel literally unsupervised by anyone.
"You're Blaine Anderson's 'angel', aren't you?" he asked, complete with air quotes.
He didn't sound hostile, though, so Kurt nodded. "Yes," he said quietly.
He nodded appreciatively. "Good man," he said. "What can I get for you?"
Kurt ordered a grande nonfat mocha and watched in silence as the man prepared his coffee with care.
The barista set the cup down on the counter. Kurt noticed this move. Despite the fact that the man in front of him seemed to have no problem with him, he was still reluctant to risk their hands making physical contact.
That fact made Kurt slightly uncomfortable as he grabbed the coffee and sat down at a table. But he forgot his discomfort as soon as he brought the cup to his lips. The coffee had to have been crafted by God himself (if there was a God, of course). He was in love.
When Kurt told him that he had made a trip to the coffee shop, Blaine was overjoyed. He knew that Kurt was bored but was too polite to say anything about it, and he was glad that he had found another place he felt safe.
That said, Kurt was the sort of person who should not be in one place for too long. Blaine was still trying to figure out how Kurt had managed to spend about half of his life in the facility and came out not only sane but also one of the greatest people he had ever met.
There was a park not too far from Dalton's campus, and while it wasn't much, it was enough to let Kurt get some fresh air and new sights.
"Where are we going?" Kurt asked, staring out the window of Blaine's car as buildings and trees passed by.
"When are you going to learn that I'm never going to tell you where we're going?" he asked, smiling over at Kurt.
"Never," Kurt replied with a grin. "Because maybe someday you'll cave and tell me."
"You'd be disappointed that the game is over."
"You'd be disappointed that you lost. You hate it when you lose."
Blaine sighed and nodded. "Right you are," he agreed. "Which is why I am never going to lose."
Kurt didn't say anything, just smirked at him from his place in the passenger seat.
"No, don't take that as a challenge," Blaine protested quickly. "That was not a challenge, Kurt. You will lose."
"You're going to lose," Kurt replied simply, grinning.
Blaine sighed, frowning over-exaggeratedly at Kurt. "It hurts when you underestimate me," he complained.
Just as soon as Kurt opened his mouth to reply, Blaine stomped on the breaks. "Here!" he declared.
Kurt blinked. "Why did you do that?" he asked.
"Because you didn't expect me to stop," he replied. "I'm spontaneous."
"You're insane," Kurt said, getting out of the car and unfurling his wings; he had developed a skill for holding his wings compactly yet comfortably in the car.
Blaine pouted. "You like it, though," he said, moving to Kurt's side.
Kurt smiled at him. "I like you," he said, kissing Blaine's cheek. "So, tell me, what's Blaine's master plan here?"
Blaine shrugged.
"Really?" Kurt asked. "I was expecting you to have a plan."
"My plan was mostly to spend the day with you," Blaine admitted. "I figured we could go for a walk or something. I mean, it's a park. The possibilities are endless."
Kurt grinned. "Seriously, Blaine, I… there's no way you're real," he said.
One thing Blaine would always love about Kurt was that he genuinely had no idea how clichéd and cheesy some of the things he said were when it came to romance. "I hope I'm real," Blaine replied. "I'd hate to think I'm just a figment of—"
"Is that a duck?" Kurt cut him off, staring over his shoulder at something.
When Blaine turned around to see what Kurt was looking at, he found a duck waddling through the grass away from them.
"I don't think you understand. I love ducks," Kurt said before darting off after the duck.
Not surprisingly, once the duck noticed the person running after it, it took off into the air to get away.
"No, come back!" he called out, taking off running after the duck. "I want to be your friend!" He didn't seem to care that the duck neither understood English nor showed any intent of landing any time soon.
Blaine chuckled to himself, glad to see such a carefree, genuinely happy Kurt. He followed Kurt as he chased the duck, seemingly completely reluctant to give up the pursuit. Eventually the duck led them to a pond, which it safely landed in the middle of and quickly joined a group of other ducks.
Kurt sat down by the edge of the pond, glaring at the water. "I just wanted to be friends," he said. "He could have just said no."
"Kurt, he's a duck. He can't say anything," Blaine pointed out gently.
Kurt frowned. Looking down at his clothes, he asked, "Do you still have towels in the car?"
"Yeah, why?" Without answering, Kurt was on his feet. "Kurt, no, you are not—" There was a splash and then Kurt was in the water, effectively cutting Blaine off. "Oh my god. What are you doing?"
"Birds of a feather, Blaine! Birds of a feather!" Kurt called back to him, awkwardly moving his arms and wings to stay afloat.
"That is not an excuse to just jump in a pond," he retorted. Watching Kurt's inelegant movements in the water, he asked, "and do you even know how to swim? I thought you were supposed to be the sane one."
"You didn't expect me to jump in the water! I'm spontaneous," Kurt replied, echoing Blaine's earlier statement as he turned to swim into deeper water.
Blaine watched his boyfriend splashing through the water with a sigh. "You are going to be all wet, and you are going to regret it," he said.
Kurt didn't say anything as he continued swimming. Once he got close to the group of ducks, they all scattered and he let out a loud sound of exasperation.
"I told you you'd regret it!" Blaine called out to him, though there was no mistaking the amusement in his voice.
Once Kurt got back to the edge of the water, he climbed out slowly and shook himself off. Flapping his wings and sending droplets of water flying in all directions, he said, "If I ever do something stupid like that ever again, you really need to stop me."
"Aw, but—"
"He's right, son." They both turned to see a man who looked to be in his thirties or forties looking at them with a frown on his face.
"Excuse me?" Blaine asked.
"That is your pet, and it is your responsibility to keep it under control," the man said.
"He didn't hurt anyone," Blaine argued. He was growing tired of having to defend Kurt or their relationship; not because he didn't feel like doing it anymore or that did didn't think Kurt was worth it, but he really didn't think he should need to explain.
"It made a spectacle of itself, and as its master, it is your responsibility to keep it under control. It's like a dog. If you don't train it, it will never respect you and it will start to act wild. As its owner, it is expected of you to control it."
"As a person, it is expected of you to mind your own business and be polite to others," Blaine said, glaring at the man.
The man frowned. Turning away, he said, "If you don't discipline it, it will forget that it is your possession."
"Good!" Blaine continued to glare at the man as he walked away. "I honestly can't—Kurt." When he looked at Kurt, he saw his angel's eyes downcast and with a frown on his face. He stepped forward, holding his arms out to pull him into a hug, but Kurt stepped away from him quickly.
"I'm wet," he offered by way of explanation.
"I don't really care, baby, you're upset," Blaine replied.
"Blaine, it's fine, really, I just—" It was made all the more clear to Blaine that it was not fine, really, when Kurt's voice cracked. He moved to hug Kurt again, but he stepped back quickly.
Blaine was suddenly filled with a complete and utter anger towards the man. "You know he's wrong, don't you?" he asked. "He's just… he's just a fucking asshole. You are not at all comparable to a dog and you are not just another one of the fancy things I own." Kurt didn't say anything. "You never will be just that. You are my whole heart."
"I'm just so tired of…" Kurt started, trailing off with a sigh and turning and starting to walk back towards the car.
"Tired of what?"
Kurt didn't say anything until they reached the car. Pulling a towel out of the trunk, he started drying himself off. "I'm tired of everyone, everyone always going on and on about how I'm your pet, or your possession, your Kurt," he said. Looking up at Blaine, he quickly added, "Don't get me wrong, I am so, so proud to be yours. Don't even for a second think that I would ever even hesitate to proudly declare myself yours. But we're more than that, you know?
"Like you just said that I'm your heart. Well, see, Blaine, you're my heart, too. I am entirely serious when I say that you are my everything. You matter so much to me that sometimes it's scary, and no one seems to see that."
When he heard those words, Blaine decided that he didn't care how wet Kurt still was, he needed to hold him. He rushed forward, pulling Kurt into his arms. "I'm yours, too, Kurt," he whispered into Kurt's ear. "In every way that matters, I am yours."
"But I'm more yours than you are—"
"Kurt, I don't give a damn about the fact that some papers say that you're my property. We are equals, and before anyone else thinks that, you need to believe it, too."
Blaine wasn't sure whether it was a tear or just a water droplet that ran down Kurt's cheek just then. "I love you," he whispered.
"I love you, too, Kurt," he replied. "Now let's just get back to Dalton and cuddle while we play Apples to Apples with Nick and Jeff and pretend to get annoyed by their comments."
Blaine knew that Kurt was lonely and, he assumed, still upset about the fact that he would always be thought of as Blaine's, and he really wished that he knew what to do about it. He wanted to curl up in bed with Kurt and over and over declare himself Kurt's. Or at least spend time with Kurt to remind him that he appreciated him more than anything in the world. But time was the issue. He just didn't have any of it.
He spent almost all of his time that he wasn't in class or at Warbler rehearsal with Kurt, and it was almost starting to feel like he was three separate people: Blaine, the attentive student; Blaine, the lead singer for the Warblers; and Blaine, loving boyfriend to an angel who went by the name of Kurt.
Granted, those lives did have some overlapping. When he did his work for his classes, Kurt would sit beside him and help or ask questions if there was something he was curious about, and the Warblers would all ask him how Kurt was doing or they would include Kurt in some of their activities.
As Blaine sat in yet another Warbler meeting in which Thad and Trent were, apparently, insulting each other's honor, a thought struck him.
"Guys, if you'll put aside your bickering," he said, causing both Thad and Trent to look down a bit shamefully, "I have an idea."
As you may have noticed, this update was a bit shorter than the rest. Originally the scene in which they play Apples to Apples was included in this part, but as I wrote it, it got increasingly cracky to the extent that I was basically just dicking around with it. If anyone is interested,I've been considering posting it and some other alternate/deleted scenes once I've finished the fic as a sort of blooper reel. If anyone is interested...?
Assuming all goes to plan, the next update should include (at least) a serenade, a fairytale (as only Nick and Jeff can tell it), and an overheard proposition.