a/n: I'M SO SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG FOR ME TO UPDATE OMG. my laptop broke and all but ok here's the next chapter. there's going to be more some day, i have no idea when but someday. yay. :D thank you all for comments ily
apparently kurt's age was a bit unclear - blaine and santana are both 19, kurt is 18. :) = it's been 5 years since blaine gave kurt food aw.
Kurt can't really remember what his life was like before he got adopted for the first time.
He has flashbacks sometimes, but they're mostly just colors or noises or feelings – what his father's ears felt like under the tips of his fingers, what his mother smelt like, what color their Christmas tree was the Christmas when Kurt was three, that one time he got stuck between the wall and their couch... Things like that.
But if you asked him what his mother looked like, or what color the curtains in his room were, he wouldn't have the answer. He doesn't even know if his parents are alive. He doesn't even know if "Kurt" is his real name. He has no idea.
The only thing that has something to do with his family he remembers crystal clear is the night he got taken away. There were bright lights and loud voices, his mother's arms around him as she screamed and he thinks there might have been gun shots. He was scared and the lights kept flickering, big footsteps echoed though their house and his dad cried.
He's learned not to trust people, probably because of all that. No-one ever gave him a reason to trust them, though, mostly not talking to him save for the "bad boy" or "bad cat" they threw at him when he didn't do what he was supposed to do.
That's probably why he's not even nearly convinced when Blaine says that there will be no punishments. There have been more than one (or even two or three) times when people have told the same thing to him, eyes earnest and he had trusted them – but once they'd realized what a bad cat he really was they'd forgotten all of their promises. He's still got scars as reminders of those times.
No matter how nice and good person Blaine has seemed to be, Kurt really doesn't want to believe him. It will only hurt more when he leaves him.
Nevertheless, Kurt knows that he has to look like he believed everything he's been told if he wants to be treated even nearly decently – he really doesn't miss the beatings, the bruises and constant pain... He really doesn't.
So, he smiles a little too wide when Blaine asks him to trust him with this.
Kurt Hummel doesn't trust. Period.
It's not like Blaine really expected Kurt to become completely comfortable within mere hours, but really, this is getting ridiculous.
They're doing just fine, or maybe Kurt is a bit rigid and tense beside him but mostly just watching the television with his knees tucked under his chin, when the doorbell rings.
"Fuck", Blaine swears. No-one usually stops by, not without calling him first, anyway. It's not the best situation for visitors with Kurt so scared and suspicious of everything, and he's tired himself too.
Kurt heard the doorbell too. He's trying to hide it but it's obvious that he's afraid – his tail is fluffy and tense, flicking around his legs and his ears are almost flat against his head as he twitches nervously. Blaine doesn't really know why he's so scared, it's only a doorbell, after all.
"It's okay", he says, tries to sound warm and honest, but Kurt just looks straight through him with wide, terrified eyes with his teeth digging into his knees. Blaine sighs. The boy's whole posture screams "scared" and he thinks that if he wasn't so scared of what Blaine would do he'd crawl under the couch. Or maybe the table.
He gets up, anyway, because he is a decent person, walking to the door and yawning widely before opening the door.
"Blaine! Hi and all that shit, I'm staying in New York for a while and I don't really have money and I figured I could as well crash on your couch – what the fuck is that? Oh my god, Blaine! A hybrid? Really?"
"Santana -", Blaine starts, rubbing his temple with the back of his hand. He can already feel the oncoming headache throbbing dully in the base of his skull. Great.
"When did you get him? What's his name? Kitty kitty kitty, come here..."
"Santana!" he exclaims, horrified. He's always known that Santana isn't really the one to beat around the bush, but jesus, does it still annoy him sometimes. "I got him yesterday from the shelter. His name is Kurt and please, please, keep it down. You're scaring him", and yes, Kurt's looking like he might just dive underneath the couch anyway, all fear of what Blaine might do forgotten, and Blaine has never seen him this scared, his eyes wide and ears flat against his head as he whimpers quietly. "He's still a bit timid", he adds, quietly. Santana eyes him with an unimpressed expression.
"A bit? Wow, what the fuck happened to him?", she asks, her voice hard and sharp as broken glass and Blaine winces. He so doesn't need this right now.
"I don't know, but could you please shut up now. You can take the couch. Please don't break anything". He really hopes she won't. Break anything. Or anyone. Blaine's still a bit scared that she'll try to talk to Kurt anyway, and God knows that won't go well. Santana looks at him for a long, long time, her eyes cold and calculating but eventually she nods, her eyes softening just the tiniest bit.
"There's soup in the fridge, you go ahead if you're hungry, I don't care, I'm going to sleep now because I, unlike you, actually have to wake up tomorrow", he waves his hand towards the kitchen, and he isn't lying – Kurt's got an appointment at the shelter tomorrow, some kind of a health check he guesses. Nobody really told him much about the appointment – only that it's important they go and that it shouldn't take much time. Santana nods shortly, her eyes lingering on the stiff posture of the boy on the couch, but she does go to the kitchen, her bag slung over her shoulder heavily.
"Kurt?" he calls softly from the bottom of the stairs. The boy looks at him, ears twitching and looking still so very scared. "You wanna go to sleep?" he asks, because frankly, it would be plain cruel to leave him there alone with Santana. Even though she's not exactly mean, at least not intentionally, not anymore anyway, God knows what she would get up to if left alone with Kurt, no matter how scared he was. Even though they've made progress he still doesn't know how to say no, at least not to other people and Santana isn't afraid to ask if there's something she's thinking about.
Kurt practically jumps off the couch and runs to him, his side pressed against Blaine as he looks at Santana suspiciously, his tail flickering slowly as he walks. Santana doesn't turn to look at them as she tells them goodnight but Kurt still flinches, and Blaine fights the instinct to wrap his arm around Kurt's shoulders.
He walks Kurt in his room (still plain blue with black and white sheets; they really need to go shopping someday) and Kurt returns to the goodnight with a tight smile before disappearing into the darkness.
Kurt hasn't had nightmares, not really. He doesn't think he ever has, at least not since he was six. He didn't have much time to sleep at his previous homes, and the times he had gotten sleep he had been so tired he had went down like a light and dreamed about absolutely nothing. His life had been more like a nightmare than any nightmare could ever be, anyways – more than once there had been someone to wake him up in the middle of the night to beat him up or scream abuse at him, and there was never a point to have bad dreams on top of that too. Most of the time he had been too tired to be properly scared.
He can't fall asleep tonight, though – there's someone strange downstairs, someone he doesn't know, someone he doesn't know the intends of. He's feeling restless and it's frustrating, because he knows that he should be sleeping. He's got to wake up early, and on top of that he's dead tired, his lids drooping.
What happens next isn't something Kurt is proud of; not only does it break all of his rules but it's also so, so humiliating for him and his cat instincts, but the uneasy feeling has begun to disappear already on his way towards the other door, the slight sliver of light coming out as he gently pushes the door open.
Blaine is luckily already asleep, a book still in his hand, his arm limp over the edge of his bed and his breath coming out in little puffs, his face turned a bit towards the door. He looks so content and warm and Kurt positively can't turn around now, his tail swinging unhurriedly behind him as he purrs a bit, it's a bit breathy and feels raw at the back of his throat because of the lack of use. It looks so warm there.
He curls up under Blaine's arm, against his side with his head on his own hands and feeling warm in a way he doesn't think he ever has felt before.
Kurt Hummel doesn't trust, but Blaine smells like home and feels safe.
Blaine wakes up slowly to the sound of birds chirping and water running. He blinks softly, stretching his still arms that feel like they're still asleep. He's a bit too warm, and it feels like he's fallen asleep in his hoodie and jeans again, a horrible, horrible mistake he had hoped would never happen again. It's not as horribly uncomfortable, though, mostly just warm and a bit weird, and he groans softly as he rolls onto his back.
And freezes. Wow.
There's something alive in his bed. Fucking hell, is that a fucking dog? Because he can definitely feel the ears and the fur between them, his fingers buried into the mess of it. The hair feels silky and smooth and slightly human-ish, and Blaine twists his fingers searchingly, brows furrowing. So okay, it feels a bit weird but oh so calming.
It isn't until he more feels than hears the quiet grumbling and slight movement of the chest behind him and against his side that he realizes what is happening. Kurt. Sweet, lovely, little Kurt is sleeping next to him, his purrs shaking the bed as he stretches his arms in his sleep and paws at the front of Blaine's shirt with a pleased expression.
It's still a little over seven am and he's got time to sleep... So he falls right back into the pink, warm, fuzzy-on-the-edges sleep he had woken up from.
The next time he wakes up it's almost nine and he's alone. He's still got a little time before he has to properly wake up, so he takes his time stretching and just thinking – Kurt is all gone so he's got room to go over the whole stretching ritual with his limbs spread like a starfish, yawning loudly as he throws the blanket off his body. The bed is still warm where Kurt had slept, so he guesses he hasn't been gone for long. He's probably gone back to his room to get ready, Blaine did say they'd leave at half past ten and he knows how long it takes for Kurt to get dressed and do the thing with his hair where he paws at them until he's satisfied with how it looks. Blaine's thinking about buying him hairspray. The expression on Kurt's face when a carefully placed strand of hair falls right in front of his eyes is, although highly amusing, a bit pitiful, and he thinks Kurt could appreciate the hairspray. He doesn't know if he'd like to use it, though, being part cat and all – Blaine knows he smells things most people don't, and Blaine sure as hell smells hairspray. It must smell awful as hell to Kurt.
He's going over his options, scrolling up and down the (short) mental list of hair products that don't smell very bad, or strong, or, at all. The (even shorter) list he comes up with consist of three products, one of them being hair gel, which he, unsurprisingly, has. He should probably add that to the shopping list he has. Kurt might want to have his own gel, if he wants gel at all.
Blaine lets his head fall back into the pillow with a dull "thud".
After an hour Blaine is freshly showered, shaved, gelled his hair down and sitting at the breakfast table next to Kurt, who's still shivering, looking just as scared as yesterday, and Santana, who's sitting on his other side looking unhappy, grumbling about Blaine not having cereal. She's eating an apple, her hair in a bun and Kurt keeps staring at her, his ears up and eyes attentive. Every time a strand of hair escapes the messy bun Kurt's eyes follow the movement before carefully returning back to Santana's face to watch her in case she gets up or does something possibly threatening. It looks like he's a lot less guarded, though, and Blaine is so proud of him. Santana keeps her eyes off Kurt, staring at the apple and scowling at it from time to time. Blaine has never seen anyone eat an apple so aggressively before, but he's so, so grateful that Santana's not looking at Kurt, or talking to him, or being too threatening. Except towards the apple.
Kurt's only picking at his omelet, which Blaine guesses is only natural, because it's really hard to eat without watching what you're doing. They're in a bit of a hurry, though, and he really wishes Kurt would eat something before they leave. He even made Kurt his favourite kind of omelet, but today it looks like he has no appetite whatsoever.
"Okay", he says brightly, tries to smile as wide as possible without looking creepy. His smile falters a little when Santana turns to look at him with her best "I'm going to cut you" -expression, but he quickly turns his head so that he's looking more at Kurt than at Santana. Kurt is, of course, still visibly shaken and his ears are flat against his head, eyes wide, almost comical and Blaine would laugh but this is really not a good time. So, he schools his expression back to something more serious, while still happy and encouraging (at least he hopes that's the message he's sending).
"So today I was thinking we go to the shelter first, and then we can spend the rest of the day shopping?" Blaine winces as the sentence comes out with a questioning tone. He probably shouldn't sound so unsure all the time. Kurt's ears aren't drawn as tightly against his head, and he's listening with a slightly suspicious expression on his face. Blaine can't blame him. He nods anyway. Blaine hopes it's because he wants to go shopping and not because he's afraid that Blaine will beat him up if he doesn't agree. The thought makes him feel uneasy. He doesn't let that show though; the smile he plasters on his face is blinding. Kurt smiles back at him, and thought its small and unsure it feels like sunshine after years of darkness.