Everyone were seated around the table for dinner. They were all dressed up at some degree; Blaine was back in his red shirt with the blue-red-white bow tie. Kurt matched him with a blue shirt and a red tie. Blain was feeling good, he had slept nearly three hours in Kurt's embrace before he woke up. Kurt had showered him with kissed when he had woken up. Blaine turned to look at him as he sat next to him at the table. He kissed him light on the cheek when he saw Carole stand up.
Carole cleared her voice and the group went quiet and looked at her expectantly.
"I have an announcement." She started and smiled at Blaine. "As most of you know, we've adopted Blaine. The adoption went through in April. And when Blaine and I were at the hospital now, we managed to fix the last things. And yesterday, we got the last letter, the letter we've been waiting for.
"So, it's a great pleasure and honor to present to you, our third, but second oldest, son - Blaine Hummel!"
Blaine smiled at her with tears in his eyes. When he blinked, a single tear of happiness made its way down his cheek. Finn cleared his throat and looked at Blaine, he had also tears in his eyes.
"That's awesome! Welcome to the family, bro!"
That made the whole group move. They all cheered and got up on their feet to hug Blaine. Burt had more shredded tears than un-shredded when he hugged Blaine.
"Son! I'm so proud of you!" he said.
When everyone was moving back to their seats again, Blaine turned to Kurt, who hadn't said anything. He leaned closer to him.
"What's wrong?" He whispered.
Kurt looked at him with a pained expression.
"Now you don't have to marry me." He whispered back.
Blaine took him in his arms.
"Did you think I want to marry you for your name?" He said and pulled him even closer. "I want to marry you for your body, haven't I showed you that?
He felt Kurt smiling and giggle. He released Kurt to be able to look him in the eyes.
"Kurt, I want to marry you because I love you. I'll be the proudest husband on the face of the earth that day." He said to him before he leaned in and kissed him. Their kiss was interrupted by Martin who threw hiss napkin on them.
"Martin?" Kurt said and turned to face him.
"You two are so sweet I lost my appetite. You should get a room. Or, wait, you have a whole sex-house her!" Martin said too loud which made both Blaine and Kurt blushed.
Kristen smacked him on the back of his head.
"Don't listen to him, he's just jealous!" She stated and stuck her tongue out to him.
The dinner was chatty as always with these people. Blaine enjoyed his first Independence day as a Hummel. The food was among the best he ever tasted. They ate and talked for hours. Blaine felt his energy slowly drain. As always when he was surrounded with lots of people who talked and laughed he become tired, it didn't matter that he had taken a nap. He leaned against Kurt and placed his head on his shoulder. Kurt kissed his hair.
"You full?" He asked. He felt Blaine nod.
"Tired?"
Blaine nodded again. Kurt leaned back on his chair and took Blaine with him.
"You wanna go inside or down?"
Blaine shook his head.
"Okay." Kurt said and leaned his head against Blaine's. Soon he felt Blaine's head becoming heavier and the muscles in his back started twitching as always when he fell asleep. Kurt raised his eyes and met Carole's who smiled at him.
"Kurt, is he sleeping again?" Mercedes said. She sat opposite to him. He nodded to her.
"I don't get it, he slept so many hours down at the bridge, how could he be tired again?" She asked Kurt and Carole who sat next to her.
"He's going to sleep a lot during this summer, it's a lot of things that is draining his energy; he's on a lot of sedatives for one. I don't think either of us would be awake at all if we took the same dosage. Right now, I think he's feeling safe and loved, and then he can relax. I'm guessing all of us talking is tiresome as well. But I think when we wake him, it will be easy to wake him and he'll be able to stay awake."
"I feel so sorry for him." Mercedes said.
"Don't feel sorry for him for being tired. This is just him relaxing, there are a lot worse things to feel sorry for, but not for him sleeping. Feel happy for him that he feel safe enough to fall asleep." Carole said.
"Yes, but still..."
"I think we should try to not feel sorry for him. We can feel with him, but not for him. We should just treat him as normal and somewhat let him just be. Right now he needs sleep, then he sleeps."
"Okay." Mercedes said.
Kurt smiled to them. Carole was right, Blaine didn't need his friends to treat him any different. He had his family and his fiancé (Kurt smiled at the thought) who looked out for him. He would be fine. It was a long way to go, but he was doing fine. Kurt looked down at him and pressed a kiss on his hair.
Blaine didn't sleep long, he woke up by himself after just ten minutes. He didn't woke up with a jolt, he woke up slowly, he opened his eyes and looked around him without moving. He closed his mouth when he realized it was open. Then he raised his head from Kurt's shoulder and smiled at him as he turned to face him.
"Hi." Kurt said.
"Sorry I slept on you."
"I love when you sleep on me, honey. You wanna sleep more?"
"No, but I could eat some more." Blaine said.
Rachel, Puck, Finn and Mercedes were cleaning the table but Blaine was fast enough to fill his plate with some meat and salad. He ate another portion, it was so good.
"Good to see you eating more and more." Carole said.
Blaine nodded between bites.
When the table was cleared and the dishes were done they all went down to the bridge where Martin and Kristen had lit a fire. They brought snacks and drinks and guitars down and sat and looked at the fire. They sang, talked and laughed.
At 11 pm they watched firework from Cincinnati, even though it was far away, the clear night made it easy for them to watch. Kurt stood behind Blaine and hugged him. He placed his head on Blaine's shoulder.
"I love you so much." He whispered.
"Me too." Blaine said.
It was an impressive firework and after it they all sat down. Burt, Carole, Martin and Carole went up to the big house after the fireworks. Blaine played on his guitar and sang with his friends. Kurt watched him and enjoyed his boyfriend, no, fiancé, having fun and being relaxed. After a while, Blaine put down his guitar and leaned against Kurt. They were all sitting on the sun beds.
Kurt hugged him and felt him relax against him. Kurt kissed his had before he turned back to Rachel and took up their conversation about the new Pink album. After a while Rachel cleared her throat and got Kurt's attention. She nodded towards Blaine and showed him her watch. It was 2 am and Kurt nodded.
"Blainey? Shall we go upstairs and to bed?"
Blaine shook his head and scooted closer to Kurt.
"That's okay, how about taking off your shoes so you can get a little more comfortable?"
"In a minute." Blaine mumbled.
Rachel chuckled at the sleeping Blaine and stood up from the sun bed next to the one Kurt and Blaine were on. She leaned down and took of Blaine's green Converse. Then she went inside and came out with a blanket that she spread over them.
"You want me to do anything else?" She asked Kurt.
"Yes, please, can you get Blaine's medicine?" Kurt asked and told her where to find it.
She was back in no time and Kurt shook Blaine who sat up and with closed eyes took the medicine before he slumped against Kurt again. Kurt smiled at him, removed his bow tie and opened some of the buttons in his shirt.
"I know you hate me asking, but what's the medicine for?" Rachel asked.
"Now it was sedatives, one of two antidepressants and sleeping medicine."
"Is he gonna sleep out here or will you be able to wake him?"
"No, when he's out, he's out. But I'm counting on Puck's or Finn's help to carry him upstairs when I go to bed."
"Oh, okay. I don't get how he goes from playing the guitar and singing to sleeping in less than three minutes." Rachel said.
"That's Blaine. It's really late as well, he isn't use to staying up this late."
"Was that Blaine before this as well? Falling asleep that fast?"
"I have no idea, we hadn't slept together before this happened. And he is more tired and exhausted than he was before this, I guess."
"Is it strange sleeping with someone?"
"It's strangely normal." Kurt said. "When he was at the hospital, both last time and this time, I tried to sleep in my own bed, but after two hours I gave up and went down to Blaine's bed, at least it smelled like him. I'm so used to have him there all the time."
"But doesn't he wake you up if he turns and snores?"
"No, not at all. I thought I'd never be able to share a bed with someone, just for those reasons, but, no, he's never woke me up. I didn't even know he snored before the car trip here, when Carole informed me he does snore every night." Kurt said.
"So... you sleep in the same bed every night, how do you keep yourself from... you know..." Rachel said.
"What?" Kurt asked, he didn't follow her thoughts.
"You know..."
Kurt blushed when he understood what she meant.
"Oh... Well we don't..." He said and blushed even more.
"You don't what?" Rachel asked.
Kurt looked down at Blaine to make sure he was fast asleep and then at Puck, Finn and Mercedes who were about to take another swim.
"Look, this have to stay between us."
"You can trust me."
"I know, you've never told any of my secrets before. But still."
"I promise."
"Okay... we don't keep ourself from that..." Kurt blushed.
"Oh... You... you've... oh, right." Rachel said.
They sat in silence for a while, watching Finn and Puck splashing water at Mercedes who gave back. Blaine moved in Kurt's embrace to find a comfortable position and he sighed content when he found it.
"Did it hurt?" Rachel asked in a soft voice.
"Rachel!" Kurt said.
"I'm sorry, I just wanna know, I'm kinda scared it ill hurt."
"Well, first at all, it is completely different thing with two males and one female and one male."
"I know that, I'm not stupid!"
"Well, you asked a weird question..."
"Yes... sorry..."
"It's okay. To answer, it did hurt. But Blaine was the best. But it did hurt, but then it didn't anymore." Kurt blushed further.
"Oh, okay. How was Blaine the best?"
"Ummh... he was gentle, he made me feel good. He didn't pressure me. He showed me that he loved me."
"Did it hurt for him?"
"We haven't done it that way."
"Oh."
"We've only done that once. We usually do other stuff."
"What made you decide to do it, Kurt? How did you know that Blaine was the one?"
"Why do you ask? Are you thinking about it?" Kurt asked.
"Yeah..."
"Well..." Kurt thought about how he would put it.
"We had had a really good talk that day, right before." He didn't feel the need to say it had been earlier that same day. "He confessed, or explained, how he felt for me. How he looked at our relationship. It wasn't really anything I had thought about, to be honest. I had been happy doing the other stuff for the rest of out lives, but then, in the heat of the moment, it became clear that I wanted to do it, with Blaine."
Kurt looked down at the man in question and stroked his cheek and played a little with his hair.
"Do you think it will be the two of you forever?"
"Yes. Yes, I do. I don't think I would have done it otherwise to be honest." Kurt said.
Rachel sighed and looked at Finn.
"You know, I've spent so much time pining over Finn, but I can't see us together forever."
Kurt looked at Rachel but didn't say anything.
"I don't know. Neither of us share that much about ourselves." She continued. "About out feelings, thoughts, dreams... We have fun together, but when you see you too you can see that you're made to be. But I don't think it's the same for me and Finn."
"But, you need to remember, Rachel, that one of the reasons that we're close is everything that has happened since March."
"But, you were close before." Rachel said.
"It might have something to do with our sexuality, or rather that we both have been... let's just say that we have both have experience homophobia. And, when we both are extremely aware of that we could be jumped or have words thrown to us if we show our love in a mall in Lima, or at McKinley, so when we are with our friends and family where we feel safe, we are more affective than you guys are. I don't know."
"Oh, Kurt... I wish there wasn't homophobia in this world."
"Yeah, I know, me too."
"Are you serious with that you hadn't thought about sex before you did it?"
"Well, of course I'd thought about it, but... How can I explain it? Blaine has gone through hell, and he's been at the hospital a lot, and before school ended I had ridiculously much to study. It wasn't like I didn't think about it, but we were doing other stuff. And when Blaine was at the hospital it honestly hadn't been on my mind, I was busy worrying. Sex was the least important thing."
"What was the most important thing?"
Kurt looked down at Blaine before he turned back to Rachel.
"That he was going to stay alive."
"Kurt... I can even begin to think how hard it's been for you."
"Yeah, and that's nothing compared to how it's been for him." Kurt said and looked down at Blaine again. He ran his fingers through Blaine's hair while he smiled.
"You think the worst is behind him?" Rachel asked.
"I hope so. But no one can say really. Right now, he's at a point where he needs to just be. His mind needs to catch up with everything that happened. What's gonna happen after that doesn't anyone know. Only time will tell."
"Are you okay in this?"
"I am. Carole's the one who has been there when it's at the worst, she's the one who've heard all the bad things and who've seen the anxiety close up. I'm fine, really. I've talked a lot with Carole and even some with Hannah, Blaine's therapist."
"That's good." Rachel said.
They sat in silence and watched Finn, Puck and Mercedes, still in the water.
"Kurt, you know you can talk with me as well, right?" Rachel sat after a while.
"I know Rachel, thanks." Kurt said. "But, the thing is, Rachel, that Blaine has trust issues. And, now, when he's trusting me, I don't want to break that trust, even if he tells me it's okay for me to talk. I feel like I can talk all I need within our family, and as long as I feel like that I don't gonna talk with anyone else.
"It's not about you, it's just that I feel like I want to keep Blaine's secrets. It's so much he's never talk about with anyone. He needs to decide who he wants to talk with about that. It's not my secret to share, you know?"
"Yes, I get it."
Mercedes came up from the water and sat down on Rachel's sun bed.
"Isn't it cold?" Rachel asked her.
"Nah, it's fine." Mercedes said. "You two okay? You look so serious."
"We're fine. We've talk about serious stuff, but we're fine!" Kurt said and smiled to her.
Puck and Finn came up and joined them. They sat there talking until 5 am when they headed to bed. Puck took Blaine in his arms and carried him up to the loft. He carefully put him down on the bed.
"You need help with the clothes?" He asked Kurt.
"Yeah, if you can help me holding him up to remove his shirt, that would be nice." Kurt said and opened the buttons on Blaine's shirt.
When they all were undone, Puck raised him to a sitting position. Kurt removed the shirt and pulled on a t-shirt before Puck eased him down on the bed.
"Kurt, he's so thin." He said in a low voice while looking at Blaine.
"Yeah, we know." Kurt said.
"Kurt, I'm so glad you have each other." Puck said.
"Thanks, me too." Kurt said.
"So, wanna help with his trousers?"
"No, I got it."
"Okay, see you tomorrow then. Sleep tight."
"You too, thanks for the help." Kurt said.
Puck went downstairs and Kurt removed Blaine's socks and jeans. Blaine didn't stir when he was moved around. Kurt did a real short skin care routine before he went to bed and crawled next to Blaine. Kurt smiled at him, he hadn't moved one bit when the clothes removed but when Kurt laid down on the bed he immediately shifted and scooted closer and slung an arm and a leg over Kurt's body. Kurt leaned down and pressed a kiss on Blaine's forehead. He closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.