A/N: Warning for mention of illness and angst.
Things have changed. Things always change. They must change if life is to continue.
Blaine changed when he decided to cheat on Kurt, even though he could never have predicted that he would become a vampire.
Kurt has changed, too.
When Blaine first came to Kurt's window in search of his forgiveness - and his blood - Kurt refused to give in. But over time, he realized how much he missed the love of his life; how, even though they had been ripped completely apart, he would do anything to share a moment or two with the boy that once was.
If that meant spilling a little blood, then so be it.
He never realized how much he would enjoy it – the closeness, the intimacy, the sense of nurturing that comes with fulfilling Blaine's needs.
Kurt became Blaine's favorite midnight snack, and not simply because Blaine was now a creature who sought out blood for sustenance, but because Kurt's blood calls to him. There was a time when Blaine tried to resist that call. He traveled across the world, settling for a while in his parents' childhood village in the Philippines in order to escape it. But even across oceans, he could hear Kurt's blood crying out for him. It called to him with memories of their life together, the future they had planned.
The love that Kurt still kept in his heart that belonged only to Blaine.
That love ached inside Kurt every moment he couldn't be with Blaine. It took the place of oxygen, water, and food, and left him wanting every second of every minute of every day. All the decisions he'd made, all of the changes he had planned on, seemed meaningless without Blaine to share them with.
Which is why, five years to the date that Blaine was turned, they move into an off-the-beaten-path apartment in New York City. Blaine spends the daylight hours in bed with the smell of his beloved to lull him to sleep, make him feel safe and loved and human again. No more hiding out in crypts or burying himself beneath the earth. They black out the windows, put heavy velvet curtains over them to keep out any trace of sunlight. Blaine hunts at night, discreetly prowling the empty city streets, but afterwards, he comes home to his boyfriend.
They accept it as a part of their life together, so they never discuss it.
As long as Kurt gets to spend every night with Blaine - kissing him, touching him, giving and taking from him - Kurt doesn't begrudge Blaine a single thing he has to do to exist in this world.
Kurt gets the chance to live his dream – classes at NYADA, interning at Vogue, and coming home to the man he loves. Sun down to sun up they spend naked in bed, Kurt writhing beneath his boyfriend's cold, hard body as Blaine plants small nips down his chest, traveling along his inner thigh, taking small sips of blood to sate his hunger, but mostly feeding off the moans and whimpers those tiny bites elicit from Kurt's trembling lips, the breathy whispers of, "Yes … oh yes, Blaine … more … please, more …"
Kurt and Blaine didn't wait for change. They made it happen. They found a way to be together.
For a while, everything is perfect, but change is inevitable … and not always kind.
Sometimes it interferes with even the most carefully laid plans.
A few annoying bouts of nausea.
The occasional dizzy spell.
More than one bloody nose that Kurt can't explain.
Kurt jokes with Isabelle that if he didn't know better, he would say he was pregnant. She doesn't think it's funny. She's certain it's serious, and she doesn't let up about it. Eventually, her constant worrying forces him to break down and go see a doctor.
Kurt feels a little guilty handing over his blood to another man, but it's necessary to put Isabelle's mind at ease, to prove to her that everything's fine.
There's nothing to worry about.
Kurt isn't worried.
Until he gets the call.
Two follow-up appointments – one with the doctor, another with a counselor – and his entire life flips upside down.
When he finds out about the new possible change in his life, he pushes it aside, hides his grief until he can be completely sure.
Kurt comes home from work late to an anxious Blaine pacing the living room floor debating between leaving to try and find his boyfriend or waiting patiently even though Kurt isn't answering his phone.
The sight of Kurt finally walking through the door is relief and rapture, and without a word, Blaine takes Kurt into his arms and drags him off to bed. Little does Blaine know that it's just the distraction that Kurt needs. Blaine's body keeps Kurt grounded. Blaine uses all of his self-control to resist tearing the Vivienne Westwood suit from Kurt's body, stripping him of his clothes gingerly and laying them out in the overly particular way Kurt insists upon.
Blaine may be a monster, but he's not a savage, and that contrast makes Kurt chuckle.
But once he's naked, Blaine wastes no time nibbling a path down Kurt's body, eager to feel his boyfriend tremble beneath him, savoring the way his muscles twitch when he hits a spot that's a bit more ticklish than the rest. Lately though, Blaine has had a harder time getting lost in the sinful, decadent taste of Kurt's blood. It's different - the sweet undertone of it tainted by something bitter; not all together bad, just not all together Kurt.
Blaine had wondered when he first tasted it whether it was the city changing Kurt's blood – the new atmosphere, the abundance of pollution, maybe something in the food he was ordering in at work. But some newly acquired animal instinct told Blaine that wasn't it. He had a suspicion, but he didn't want to say it out loud, not willing to squash Kurt's dreams by jumping to conclusions. As he slowly sinks his teeth into the warm flesh of Kurt's inner thigh, he knows for sure.
Blaine stops, pulls away quickly. Kurt immediately notices.
"What's wrong?" Kurt pants, gazing down at Blaine's confused expression with unabashed lust in his eyes.
"You … you taste different." Blaine frowns, and Kurt gasps in embarrassment. "Not bad," Blaine adds, "just … different. Wrong, somehow."
Kurt's eyes dart away, and Blaine knows that Kurt has been keeping something from him; a secret, and big if the way he blushes furious red is any indication.
"I …"
Blaine doesn't let him answer. Kurt is a master of the evade, and Blaine knows he's not about to simply tell him what's going on. Instead, Blaine crawls up Kurt's body and bites his arm, into the soft skin of his inner elbow. This is as close to Kurt's heart as he dares get. He's distracted for a moment by the way Kurt moans wantonly into the open air, and Blaine almost lets it go, willing to put off discovering Kurt's secret to get back to the business of giving him pleasure. But all of Blaine's senses become heightened, and his curiosity overwhelms him.
He takes as much of Kurt's blood as he dares and then closes the wound with his tongue. He sits up on his heels, holding this essence of Kurt's life in his mouth, shutting his eyes to concentrate on chasing that foreign flavor that's starting to take over the one Blaine adores so much. He swallows, and suddenly everything becomes clear. He opens his eyes with a smile on his face, licking his lips.
If he had a heartbeat, it would be pounding out an 'Ode to Joy'.
"Kurt," Blaine says quietly, his red eyes shining in the dark with unbridled happiness. "Kurt, you're dying."
Kurt's face changes - his lips twist into a pained grimace; his eyes shift to a pale, watery blue; and the color drains from his cheeks. "You … you don't h-have to look so h-happy about it."
"How long have you known?" Blaine asks in awe, still so incredibly, morbidly happy that Kurt can almost find it in himself to share in his excitement.
"Not too long," Kurt confesses. "In fact, I was waiting on some more test results to confirm, but I guess that's all moot now."
Blaine takes Kurt's face in his hands and kisses him gently on the lips.
"Don't you see?" Blaine laughs as if every dream he has ever had is about to come true, every wish he has ever made, he's about to cash in on. "I didn't want to change you because you had your whole mortal life to live, but now you don't! There's no reason to wait! You and I … we can be together forever!"
Kurt scoots out from beneath Blaine's body and sits up, looking his boyfriend deep in the eyes. The red in them is unnerving. Kurt has become an expert at imagining the way they once were, hazel and full of life, like the setting sun in the summer sky.
Kurt has become an expert at lying to himself, too - lately especially. He lies to himself that he has a flesh and blood boyfriend. He lies that what he has with Blaine is real. He lies and tells himself that he has more than enough time to fulfill all of his dreams.
But it's moments like this when he has to face the fact that none of it is real.
"Blaine …" Kurt takes Blaine's hand and brings it up to his chest, presses it above his heart so Blaine can feel it beating "… I love you. I do … so much … I'd do anything to stay with you … anything …"
He swallows hard as he feels the mood in the room change, aware that he's making it change. He sees it in Blaine's eyes as they change, too. Becoming cat-like.
Becoming frightened.
"I don't want to die, but … I don't want to be a vampire."