"Alright, alright." Sam announced over the full booth of close friends at Breadstix. "How about we play a round of Twenty Favorite Questions with Mr. Kurt over here? Only Blainers over here knows him."
Kurt looked to Blaine with a confused expression but answered Sam anyway. "Why not?" He sighed, hoping he wouldn't regret this.
"Ok, I'll start off. Favorite color?"
"That's the lamest question ever. And light yellow." Kurt replied.
"Favorite musical or play?" Blaine asked taking a sip of his water.
"Wicked!" Kurt exclaimed.
"And nobody in all of Oz, no wizard that there is or was is ever gonna bring me down!" Mercedes and Tina turned to each other, took each other's faces in their hands and belted out the famous ending line from 'Defying Gravity', ignoring the glares from people in the restaurant trying to eat while this table sings. Everyone laughed as the two girls turned back to their friends and took a sip of their waters like nothing happened.
"Favorite band?" Quinn asked.
"Hmm, I don't know. I haven't listened to much music lately, but Mumford and Suns or The Maine."
"Who?" Artie asked.
"Oh, no one knows who The Maine are, but they're amazing." Kurt smiled thinking back to his junior high and early high school days and the memories those songs gave him-before his life became a living hell not to long ago.
"Favorite movie?" Tina asked in her sweet, shy voice.
"Easy, 17 Again."
"Zac Effron is so hot!" Blaine, Sam, and Artie said in unison and the group broke into laughter after the statement.
"Favorite celebrity fashion icon?" Mercedes asked.
"Brad Goreski. I need to meet him someday, he is so wonderful, I love him."
"Sensing a crush here?" Artie asked.
"That counts as a question Artie. Um, I guess…? He way older than me but boy oh boy, that man can dress. Plus he has his own show, book, and makes me so happy." Kurt smiled slightly.
"I thought that was my job." Blaine leaned against Kurt's side and gave him the puppy dog eye. Everyone at the table 'aww-ed' and eagerly waited for Kurt's response.
"Next question." He replied and patted the top of Blaine's fluffy hair.
More questions continued until they all lost track of how many they had asked Kurt and so they kept on asking away just for the heck of it.
"Role model?" Sam asked.
Kurt bit his bottom lip and closed his eyes. He could hear her laughter, smell her perfume, and feel her slim arms around him, holding him years ago. "My mom." He choked out through fresh tears.
Blaine and Mercedes slung their arms around Kurt's waist and shoulders because they were on either side of him and everyone felt sad, especially Sam, he had asked the question in the first place.
"When I was maybe ten years old or so, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She lost all of her beautiful hair and went through hell. I've always hated hospitals, who doesn't? My dad and I almost lost her so many painful times." Kurt had to stop and cry some more, he knew he had to finish; he just needed to gather his thoughts once more. "She went in and out of so many comas, became so physically weak. But she was the strongest person I've even known and now she's gone."
Kurt looked up from his cloth napkin that was resting in his lap and saw everyone crying. Tina and Quinn were leaning against each other, Artie was turned to Sam who was also crying, both holding each other. Kurt looked to his left and saw Mercedes' arms around him and then there was Blaine. Clinging to him for dear life, barely shaking form crying, nuzzled into his shoulder.
"I'm sorry for bringing it up, Kurt." Sam softly stated, breaking the silence.
"It's ok. It's a fact of my life that I have to accept and realize. You did nothing wrong, Sam." Kurt reached his hand across the table and rested it on top of Sam's hand for a second.
"Order up. Now, who ordered the chicken alfredo?" The waitress said before she turned to the teary eyed group of young adults.
The food was great and the closer growing group of friends quickly were giggling and having a great time.
Kurt felt Blaine nudge his hand with a napkin. 'Hi' It had said in somewhat messy, typical boy-ish handwriting. He gave Kurt a pen and he responded back with 'Hi' as well.
'Having fun yet?' Blaine quickly scribbled down with a smiley face.
'Yes, this is a blast.'
'Oh good.' Blaine drew another smiley face next to his response.
'Hey, thanks for giving me friends, Blaine. Especially you.' And once Kurt saw Blaine had read the message, he took Blaine's hand between them. Kurt squeezed Blaine's hand and tried to loosed their grasp so he could finish eating, but Blaine didn't budge his grip on Kurt. He didn't want to let him go, at least not yet.
Little did they know, Mercedes saw this entire scene play out without their knowledge and she nonchalantly sent a text to Tina:
'I spy a cute couple holding hands to my right. You see what I see?'
Tina read the text on her phone from across the table and 'dropped' her napkin and when she leaned over to pick it up off of the floor, she spied Kurt and Blaine's joined hands; Blaine's thumb was brushing over Kurt's knuckles slowly and she smiled and sat back up. She replied to Mercedes with:
'I can hear the bells.' Tina loved quoting famous musicals and movies, especially Hairspray.
"Blaine, can I ask you to do me a favor?" Kurt asked as he sat in Blaine's car on the way home from Breadstix. He felt nervous asking him this favor because it wasn't going to be fun, happy, or even a little bit enjoyable.
"Sure Kurt, anything. What is it?"
"It's kind of sudden, I'm sorry," Kurt took a deep breath before speaking again, "but could you go to my parent's funeral tomorrow morning, with me?" Kurt didn't meet Blaine's eyes even though he could feel them on him between looking back at the road that turned into the Kurt's street and Blaine turned off the car when he parked in front of Kurt's apartment.
Blaine didn't say anything. He unbuckled his seat belt, hopped out of the car, came around to the passenger side, opened the door, ushered Kurt to step out and when he did, Blaine engulfed him in the tightest hug he could possibly give his new friend.
Kurt started tearing up again 'Why do I always get so damn emotional, all the time, especially in front of Blaine?' Kurt thought to himself. "You really don't have to come-"
"Of course I'm coming." Blaine interrupted. "There is no way I would miss it."
"Thank you so much Blaine." Kurt mumbled into Blaine's neck.
"Anything you need, I'm at your service. Oh, and speaking of, what time shall I pick you up?" Blaine broke their embrace and ushered Kurt back to his apartment, linking his right arm with Kurt's left.
"Um, the funeral starts at 10 AM, so maybe 9 o'clock?"
"Would you mind if I brought along Quinn, Mercedes, Tina, Artie and Sam?" They had reached Kurt's apartment and awkwardly separated their linked arms as Kurt unlocked the door.
"If they want to come, sure. If not it'll only be you and me. And the guy who is going to perform the funerals, I guess." Kurt looked to Blaine after closing the front door and he was already typing a message to their friends, telling them to come to the funerals tomorrow for Kurt.
"Sorry about that." Blaine put his phone away. "Oh, what attire is required for tomorrow?"
"Whatever you want." Kurt answered "I'm going to wear a suit and tie, as will the cemetery worker will be."
Blaine's phone buzzed loudly, "Sorry, hold on." He dug it out of his pocket and typed a quick response. "That was just Quinn asking what I just asked you. So do you want to go somewhere nice for breakfast tomorrow morning before we go?"
"Sure, I don't care where." Kurt shlumped onto the couch lazily.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Blaine walked over to him and put his hand on his knee.
"You. Why are you being so nice to me? No one in my life has ever reached out to me like this, like you have. Why do you want to hold me hand? Or sing to me and hold me when I'm crying, which I guess is everywhere now. Why you? Why right now when my world is falling apart?"
"Hey, come here." Kurt clung to Blaine and for once didn't cry, to both of their surprise. "I care about you so much, Kurt. I'm here for you whenever you need me, whether you want me or not. I'm so sorry you haven't had people to support you in the past, but you have to keep an open mind that others will in the future. That's what I'm going to do for as long as you let me. I'm going to be here to support you and help you through the good and the bad, ok?"
Kurt took a deep breath and simply said, "Ok."
"So 9 o'clock, be ready to go and we can grab some food."
"Thank you, Blaine." Kurt hugged him tightly once more.
"Think you'll be alright the rest of the evening?" Blaine asked, resting his cheek on the top of Kurt's head.
"Yeah, I guess. Ellen will be on soon, so I guess I can watch that."
"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow morning then." They stood and walked to the door. Blaine turned around to see Kurt with a sad expression on his face, pleading him not to go, to leave him in this lonely apartment. "Aww, look at you. You're getting good at those puppy dog eyes. I'll see you soon and I'm just a phone call away, alright? I'll see you tomorrow." Blaine leaned in, kissed Kurt on the forehead and left.
"Is the donut shop ok?"
"Sure, that's what I had in mind anyways. The cemetery isn't too far anyw-" Kurt opened the door of Blaine's hippie car and was startled by the noise that came from the back seats.
"Kurt!" Mercedes and Tina jumped out of the car and hugged him firmly.
"Oh, hi girls."
"We got'cho back, Kurt!" Artie yelled from the back seat ,which would explain the folded wheelchair that was on the roof of the car.
"You are ridiculous." Sam said with a wink from where he was seated, right next to Artie.
"Hmmm, yes, but you adore it." Artie gently touched the tip of his nose to Sam's and leaned back quickly.
"Such a tease." Sam kissed Artie's cheek.
"Alright you two, enough enough." Quinn said as everyone jumped into the car and they drove off to the duel funeral.
When they arrived, Kurt was already getting a little emotional. But who could blame him? This was the ceremony to officially say goodbye to not only both of his parents, but his support system, providers, friends, and more importantly, his only family. He hadn't realized that he hadn't unlatched his seatbelt or stepped out of Blaine's car. He was frozen. Frozen with fear, sadness, anger; you name it, he was feeling it, all at once.
He felt a hand on his shoulder and a soothing, kind voice bring him back to reality. "Kurt, you ready?" He turned and saw Mercedes standing there in the car doorway with a sincere look on her face.
"Ready as I'll ever be. Mercedes, can I hug you?" Kurt shyly asked, he hated being to anti-social and awkward with people in general.
"Oh course baby boy, come here." She held her arms open as Kurt got out from the car. They stood there for a good moment, trying to keep it all together, holding back tears.
Someone cleared their throat to begin the ceremony and they all took their seats in front of the two caskets, resting side by side. A man who was completely bald, dressed in a dark suit with a navy blue tie stood behind a podium and collected his papers. "Shall be begin?" He stated, rather than asking a question.
For Kurt, the ceremony was incredibly slow and it was impossible for him not to cry. The sky started out cloudy, almost looked like it would start raining any minute. But then the sun decided to poke through some of the clouds and it was a magnificent sight for all. The sunlight that came pouring out from the clouds made straight lines of light that looked to be touching the ground from heaven. Kurt liked to think that this was their 'pathway or stairway to heaven'. It looked like a magnificent escalator of light, bringing his parents, Burt and Elizabeth Hummel, straight to heaven. That made Kurt smile and it sent another tear down his cheek.
He looked around and saw Mercedes to his right, then Tina and Blaine. Quinn, Sam and Artie were sitting in a row of chairs behind them. Kurt looked back to Blaine and saw that he was holding a two bouquets of flowers. 'How did I not notice this before? Aww, that is so nice of him to do that. Blaine is so loving.' He probably should be listening to this guy speak; it's his parents' funeral after all.
"Kurt?" The stranger had finished his job and now needed Kurt to come to the front, in between the two beautiful caskets. He sat down and Kurt took the podium. He touched the ring on his left hand, his mother's promise ring from dad, remembering the people he has lost.
"Thank you all for being here today, it really means a lot to me and it would have been extra hard to come here alone. My parents were the greatest people in my life. They were both so loving, supportive of my life and decisions, they took care of me for so many years and I wish I could make it up to them. My mom was such a fighter. She survived a horrific battle with breast cancer a few years ago and ever since then I always wished that some of her strength and endurance would rub off on me. And my dad, he stood by my side through everything. Through battling with bullies, teachers, and so many others that refused to look past my choices and who I am." He had held it in for so long, now it was impossible to hold in the tears. "Mom, dad, thank you for being the greatest parents I could ever ask for. I hope we can meet again someday soon."
Kurt didn't want to look up at his new friends. He could hear Tina sniffling and he knew if he saw any of them cry again, he'd loose it again. He turned to the speaker guy and nodded.
"My parents and I loved to watch the movie Tarzan together. Ever since I can remember, we would watch it when it would rain. Being the Disney freak that I am, I quickly memorized the songs, then the entire film. It was our way of telling each other that we were so grateful for our family and-and this song is for them."
Kurt pushed a button on the speakers under the podium.
Come stop your crying it will be all right, just take my hand Hold it tight
I will protect you from all around you. I will be here, don't you cry
For one so small, you seem so strong. My arms will hold you, keep you safe and warm
This bond between us can't be broken. I will be here, don't you cry
'Cause you'll be in my heart. Yes, you'll be in my heart. From this day on, now and forever more
You'll be in my heart, no matter what they say
You'll be here in my heart, always
Kurt turned to a white, square basket. He and the speaker lifted the box and released two white doves into the sky. They flew around the site a few times and returned to the front building of the cemetery. Kurt returned to the podium and continued singing.
Why can't they understand the way we feel
They just don't trust what they can't explain
I know we're different but, deep inside us
We're not that different at all
And you'll be in my heart. Yes, you'll be in my heart
From this day on, now and forever more
Don't listen to them 'cause what do they know
We need each other, to have, to hold
They'll see in time, I know
When destiny calls you, you must be strong
I may not be with you but you've got to hold on
They'll see in time, I know
We'll show them together
'Cause you'll be in my heart. Yes, you'll be in my heart
From this day on, now and forever more
Oh, you'll be in my heart. No matter what they say. You'll be in my heart, always, always
Everyone burst into applause. Kurt should have felt good about this. He hadn't sang in front of anyone but the mirror in so long, even before he lost his family.
"And that concludes our ceremony today." The speaker rose and stood next to Kurt. "God bless you guys." And he left.
Kurt remained standing between his parent's new homes. He placed a flower each on the caskets and started to cry again.
Mercedes came up to him and hugged him again. "Kurt, that was so beautiful. You and your voice are incredible. You parents would have loved that, and I know they did because they were hear the whole time, looking down on the amazing and strong son they raised."
They let go of each other and saw they were both crying. "Thank you."
"I know you don't go to church and all, but I've been praying for you and if you need my phone number for anything I can give it to you."
"Sure, thanks Mercedes." She pulled a tissue from her bag and scribbled her phone number on it before giving it to Kurt.
Blaine walked up and placed a bouquet on each casket. He seemed to be whispering something to both of the caskets, but Kurt couldn't hear it whatsoever. Kurt looked back to Mercedes when he met Blaine's eyes. "Kurt, that was so perfect, you parents must be so proud of you." He stated with slightly red, wet eyes.
"Thank you very much." Kurt replied with a sad smile. He took one last look at each wooden coffin, now decorated with flowers, and whispered, "I love you both, see you later." And then everyone jumped into Blaine's car and drove off, all in tears.
"Thank you for coming today Blaine. You surely didn't have to bring those flowers, get us food, drive us there, or invite everybody. Thank you for being there today. How will I ever repay you for everything you've done?" Kurt said as him and Blaine were back at Kurt's place, seated on the couch after dropping everybody off at home.
"It's not about paying someone back just for doing nice things, Kurt. You don't have to make anything up to me."
"Anything? At all?"
"You can sing again for me." Blaine raised a perfectly triangular eyebrow at Kurt and they both started laughing.
"Oh, wait, you're serious?" Kurt's face fell and he was suddenly a little frightened.
"Of course I am. But you don't have to, I'm not going to force you to do anything. However you have an incredible singing voice that I didn't know you had in you. I'm not afraid to say that I cried during your song today."
"I didn't make eye contact with you guys because if anyone was crying, I probably wouldn't be able to finish the song."
"Well it was amazing and unforgettable."
"Thank you." For some reason Kurt just realized what Blaine was wearing. A dark, very fitted suit, his hair was slightly jelled down, taming his adorable, dark curls, and a navy blue bowtie. Also known as adorable in Kurt's eyes.
"Hey, mind if I use the restroom real quick?" Blaine asked.
"Sure, you know where it is." And Blaine left. Kurt eyed the piano across the room. He thought of the lessons and hours of practice time his dad pushed him through. He even become quite good. He hadn't touched it, like lots of things, since his parents passed. He was curious and got up from his seat on the couch and sat at the piano bench. He pressed a few keys to try to 'warm up'. He then touched his mom's promise ring again, to give himself the reminder that they weren't truly gone and started to play a familiar tune that he and his mom always loved.
My mother bought it secondhand from a silent movie star
It was out of tune but still I learned to play
And with each note we both would smile forgetting who we are
And all the pain would simply fly away
Something secondhand and broken still can make a pretty sound
Even if it doesn't have a place to live
Oh, the words were left unspoken when my Mama came around
But that secondhand white baby grand still had something beautiful to give
Through missing keys and broken strings the music was our own
Until the day we said our last goodbyes
The baby grand was sent away
A child all alone, to pray somebody else would realize
That something secondhand and broken still can make a pretty sound
Even if it doesn't have a place to live
Oh, the words are still unspoken now that Mama's not around
But that secondhand white baby grand still has something beautiful to give
Blaine came back from the bathroom and stopped in his tracks. Kurt was singing again. So beautiful. His voice was like velvet and he played so beautifully. In this moment, silently watching Kurt perform this lovely tune in a small, dimly lit living room. 'I think I am in love with Kurt Hummel.' Blaine thought to himself as a single tear slid down his cheek. He leaned his body against the doorframe and listened to Kurt continued to sing.
For many years the music had to roam
Until we found a way to find a home
So now I wake up every day and see her standing there
Just waiting for a partner to compose
And I wish my mother still could hear that sound beyond compare
I'll play her song till everybody knows
That something secondhand and broken still can make a pretty sound
Don't we all deserve a family room to live
Oh, the words can't stay unspoken until everyone has found
That secondhand white baby grand that still has something beautiful to give. I still have something beautiful to give
Kurt jumped when Blaine started to clap. "Well, you got your wish." Kurt sniffled, trying to cover up the face that he was crying.
"You didn't have to do that." Blaine sat next to Kurt on the piano bench and placed his right hand on Kurt's left knee.
"Well I did it because I wanted to and the words speak what my mind and heart are screaming." Another tear fell from Kurt's eyes and Blaine quickly engulfed him in another hug.
"Kurt, you are so strong. You are the strongest person I've ever met and you mean so much to me."
Kurt cried a few more minutes and realized enough was enough, he had to man up and get himself together. "I'm sorry that I always cry around you."
"Kurt, please. It's perfectly ok to show emotion. It hasn't driven me away yet, why would it now?"
"That's true, I guess. Hey, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure, go ahead." Blaine stood to give Kurt some space because he felt he was a little too close and he did want to kiss him, yes, but not on a day like today, his parents' funeral. He could not take advantage of him like that, no one deserved that, especially Kurt. So Blaine decided standing was a good idea.
"Can I go to church with you sometime?" Kurt asked nervously.
Dang these cliffhangers! Sorry. I love you too. Songs in this chapter: You'll Be in my Heart-Phil Collins/Disney, Tarzan Soundtrack and Secondhand White Baby Grand-Smash (the show) performed by Megan Hilty.
And if I haven't mentioned this earlier, thanks for reading and such
AND Quinn's Ice Cream Parlor & Sweets is a real place, I didn't make it up. I go there all the time and it's a quaint little shop like I've described in previous chapters. And no, sadly Darren Criss, Chris Colfer and Dianna Argon do not work there. Boo.
More to come, thanks for being patient and lovely.