Kurt doesn't come home that night. Santana sends a text to Blaine after midnight, telling him that he's there, and will sleep over. He hasn't gone to Solomon, but that doesn't give Blaine any relief at all. He hasn't come home, and that hurts deeply.
So deeply, in fact, that he doesn't go into school the next day, but sits at home instead, waiting for Kurt to return, but he doesn't.
By eleven, he calls him at work, something he never does, because he wouldn't want to land him in trouble.
"It's me."
"What do you want?"
"You didn't come home last night," Blaine says, stating the obvious. "Or this morning."
"I'm at work, Blaine, and I'm not in the best of moods. Unless you're calling to apologize for your unreasonable attempt to control my life, please leave me alone."
"Kurt, I'm sorry, but I don't think I was being unreasonable," Blaine starts, and Kurt blows.
"You don't think! You don't ever think! I don't tolerate people telling me what to do, Blaine! I never have and I never will. This is my life and I'll live it how I see fit."
"That's just the thing though, Kurt. It's your life, yes, but you've asked me to share it with you."
"Share, not take over!"
"How would you feel if I insisted on pursuing a friendship with a guy who liked me in that way? Answer me that."
"I'm not answering you shit!" Kurt yells, and cuts the line dead.
Kurt contemplates not going home again, but he's now been wearing the same pants for three days, and he also knows that another night on Santana's couch will ruin his back. He trudges home, dragging his feet. He had avoided Solomon all day, by asking Kate if he could be sent to a shoot in Bryant Park. Though it was not usual to send an intern to assist with a shoot that had nothing to do with their department, she had agreed, sensing all was not well. Kurt had left the office before they returned.
The truth is, he knows Blaine has a point about Solomon. Things had changed from when they had first met, and Kurt now felt deeply uncomfortable in his presence, and more than a little put out by the way he kept referring to Blaine as a boy, hinting that he didn't think they'd make it.
The trouble is, Kurt is nothing if not incredibly stubborn, and if Blaine had approached things in a more subtle way then maybe he would have listened. But telling Kurt that he wasn't allowed to do something was like a red cape to a bull and now they were stuck in this stalemate, which he knows Blaine hates as much as he does.
He's not sure how it's going to be resolved, and he senses things are going to get worse before they get better, but he is shocked to his very core when he enters the living room to find Blaine sitting there having coffee….with Jackson.
"Get him out," Kurt says through gritted teeth, looking directly at Blaine.
"Oh, hey Kurt," Blaine says with a bright smile. "Jackson and I were just catching up. Did you know he's studying at Tisch? Oh yeah, you did know that, didn't you? Because I remember how mad you got at the mention that he was in the same city."
"Get him out, Blaine, I mean it. Now."
Jackson shifts uncomfortably on the couch, his eyes darting between the two. "Um….what's going on here?"
"Leave," Kurt snaps, not even looking at him, but right at Blaine who has risen to his feet as if ready to take on his wrath. "I don't know why you're here, but you're not welcome, now go."
"Blaine invited me."
"I did," Blaine confirms, staring Kurt right in the eye. "I can be friends with who I want, right?"
"Wrong. Now get him out. You've seen me break one man's face, and I'll do it again, I swear."
"Me, or him?"
"Fuck you," Kurt spits. "I would never hit you, would I? You're being a dick, but I still love you."
"Then stop being unreasonable, and listen to me when I tell you how unhappy you seeing Solomon makes me."
"I was listening! You know me, Blaine," Kurt cries sadly. "You know I go off the deep end and get pissed when people try to order me around. You know what? I was coming home hoping to resolve this, and now you've invited this jerk into our home!"
"Am I in the middle of something here?" Jackson asks. "Is this some sort of game?"
"This is my fucking relationship, you moron, now stay the fuck out of it. Blaine and I are together and very happy."
"Yeah, seems like it."
"We are," Blaine says quietly. "I'm sorry, Jackson. I invited you here because I knew it would piss Kurt off, and I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry to both of you."
"You..." Jackson starts, but Kurt and Blaine are still staring across the room at each other, and he shakes his head, grabbing his jacket from the back of the couch. "I never thought you could be so callous," he chokes out, then runs from the apartment.
"Good." Satisfied, Kurt falls into the armchair. "Now can we talk?"
"No. I've gotta... I have to apologize. Shit."
He chases Jackson out onto the sidewalk, and grabs his wrist just before he can cross the street. "I'm sorry, that was really low of me. Truly, I'm so sorry for using you like that."
"You know what?" Jackson says sadly. "I knew you two were engaged, because Rachel told me. I knew, and yet I still didn't give up hope. You know what else? I deleted your number, took you off my Facebook, Instagram, all of it, because I couldn't do it, Blaine. I couldn't live my life properly because I just spent all my time stalking you online, or holding my phone in my hand trying to gather the courage to dial. When I got into school here, I knew I had to let go. Do you know how hard it's been, not to look you up? Rachel reminds me all the time that we only went out for a week, but it was so much more to me, Blaine. You have no idea how desperately I wanted you to love me."
He wipes at angry tears, as Blaine kicks at the sidewalk, embarrassed, and feeling like the world's biggest bastard.
"Every relationship I've had has ended, simply because they're not you. I have been hopelessly in love with you since I was sixteen years old. The ironic thing is, you've loved Kurt since the same age too, only you've been lucky enough to know what it feels like to be loved in return. My heart soared when you called, Blaine. I mean, I was dismayed when it became clear you were still with Kurt, because I'll never think he's right for you, but I was so hopeful that this meant you had been thinking of me. Now I realize you have been, but for all the wrong reasons. You used me to get to him, and right now I hate you for it. I hate you, and yet I still love you."
"I am really, so sorry," Blaine says, and he reaches out to place a hand on his shoulder. "Yeah, I used you, and I'm not proud at all. In fact, I kinda hate myself right now too."
"So that's it, I guess? You're gonna go back in there and make up with him, aren't you?"
"Yes." Blaine nods, stuffing his hands in his pockets and rocking back on his heels. "You're right. I've loved him since I was sixteen. He will always have my heart. I'm sorry, Jackson, and I hope you find happiness one day, but I'm Kurt's fiancé, and I will love him for the rest of my days."
"Okay." Jackson looks up at the sky, blinking back tears. "Just...do me a favor, please. Delete my number? I won't be able to survive if you play me for a fool again."
Blaine gives another small nod. "Sure."
"Have a nice life, Blaine."
He turns and walks away, and Blaine trails back inside to confront Kurt, who has been staring out the window watching the whole thing.
"That looked intense."
"It wasn't pleasant."
"I can imagine." Kurt doesn't turn back from the window, but keeps watching the traffic and the busy rush of commuters starting up, while Blaine stands against the opposite wall, staring at his back. "If I was in his situation I'd have punched you."
"I'd deserve nothing less."
"We're a mess, aren't we?"
He is taken by surprise when strong arms wrap around him from behind and hold him close. "No we're not. We're angry at each other, and we need to stop. This has not been our finest hour, for either of us, but we're not a mess, Kurt. I love you so much, and I'm pretty sure you still love me just as much. We'll work past this."
Kurt turns so he's facing him and wraps his arms around his neck, hugging him hard. "I do love you," he whispers. "So much. Just... .wait there."
"What?"
"Please. This conversation can't move on until I've done something," he says, and shuts himself away in the bedroom. He's back in ten minutes to find Blaine standing in the exact same spot, staring down at the roads below. "Blaine?"
"Yeah?"
He wraps his arms around him once more, happy when Blaine hugs him around his waist. "Solomon is moving departments starting Monday. I'm going to work from home tomorrow so I don't have to see him. Kate was very gracious about it all, she said she had figured he was after me. She also said, and I quote, that no one was getting in the way of her favorite ship."
Blaine gives a tearful, squeaky laugh, dropping his head onto Kurt's shoulder.
"Listen a minute," Kurt says, gently lifting his chin. "I'm sorry. You're right, and I knew you were right days ago. Solomon does like me in that way, and it's been making me increasingly uncomfortable. Yesterday I was a dick. I went for a few drinks with him after work, and he basically challenged me, hinting that I was scared of upsetting you. You know me, Blaine. I can't back down. I wanted to prove to him that I was my own person, so that's why I invited him back. It was torture. I was just waiting for you to come home. And then you did, and everything happened, and….well, I know, at thirty two, that I should be able to listen to you, and respect what was a perfectly reasonable request, but I didn't, and I can only apologize for that. I just...you got my back up, and that's my fault, not yours. For a moment, I reverted back to how I used to be, and I think that I've been doing that a lot recently, snapping at you, and you've just taken it. This time you couldn't, and I understand that."
"It was too important to me," Blaine tells him. "To sit by and say nothing. I can take you yelling at me because we're late, or because I haven't paid the florist. I just think 'oh it's Kurt,' roll my eyes, and move on, but you and me? I can't let stuff like that slide, because I don't want us to fall apart."
"I'm glad. I'm glad it means so much."
"It means everything. Us, our relationship, our life together."
"It does to me too. I just feel like lately...I don't know. Like it's just passing us by, you know? Like I'll be standing at the altar in one hundred and eleven days, and wondering where all the time went."
"You know how many days it is to our wedding?"
"Of course I do," Kurt says in surprise. "Don't you?"
"Well I do now."
"Blaine, I don't want us to bury ourselves in work and planning this thing. I'd marry you at city hall if I had to."
"You would not."
"Well, okay, no, I wouldn't, but do you get what I'm trying to say?"
"I do, and you're right. We've been so busy and everything around us is so rushed...you know what? I can't even remember the last time we just watched a movie together, or had brunch on a weekend. That's both our faults, I guess, and we've got to make that right."
"We haven't had sex in forever, either."
"Well yes, Kurt, but I was trying not to point that out."
"Oh."
"Here's what we're gonna do. We're going to make time, every day, for at least an hour together, where we do nothing but just be together. No nagging, no working while we chat, no doing chores, no wedding planning, just us. Whether it's having a long breakfast, dinner without the TV on..."
"Taking a bath?"
"Taking a bath together….we're gonna make the time, because no one is going to keep this relationship going for us. I know mom's biggest regret is that she just let time with dad slip by, and I don't want that to be us. I don't like to harbor regrets anyway, but especially not when it comes to you."
Kurt gently cups his cheek, leaning in to kiss him lightly. "You feel bad about Jackson, don't you?"
"Yeah. That was...that was really low of me, Kurt. I'm not that person."
"Exactly, you're not, so you need to put it down to a momentary slip and move on."
"I didn't realize the depth of his feelings for me. I mean, I still had his number, because I'd never even thought about it, you know? Like it had never occurred to me that I hadn't deleted it. I'd never really thought about him, apart from when he finished school and I heard he was coming to NYC. To hear him stand there and tell me the pain he's been in for the last four years, because of me...wow. Well, I already felt bad, but that just made me feel so much worse."
"So you know what you have to take from this? How lucky we are that our love for each other is reciprocated." He stops when Blaine laughs. "What?"
"That's what he said too."
"Oh fuck."
"He didn't say that though. He's not as foul mouthed as you."
"Hmm. You love my mouth."
"I do."
Their kiss is deep, filled with a longing to reconnect on this most basic of levels, after their days of fighting. Kurt walks backward to the couch, pulling Blaine with him and down into his lap, and all the while they just keep kissing. "I love you," he murmurs against Blaine's lips, and then he kisses under his jaw. His fingers make light work of his bow tie, undoing the top button of his shirt, for his lips to find their way to the hollow of his throat, and briefly, his tongue. "I love you so much, my beautiful Blaine."
"I'm not a bad person, am I?"
Kurt looks up, giving a warm smile, and, he hopes, a reassuring kiss to his lips. "No, you're not. You're wonderful. You are loving, and kind, and sweet….but you're human, my darling, and we all make mistakes. Look how many I made with you. I know you feel bad, but really, he will get over this. He'll meet someone who is just right for him. He might think, right now, that it's never gonna happen, but it will. He's a good enough kid, just intensely annoying."
"And Solomon?"
"He's more annoying," Kurt decides. "More predatory, that's for sure. At least Jackson has respected our relationship enough to stay away from you all these years."
"I don't think respect plays a part, more like sheer terror," Blaine says with a smile. "You're quite intimidating, Kurt."
"Good. You know what though? When you squared up to Solomon yesterday, I was actually scared you were going to hit him."
"I was about to," Blaine admits. "But I didn't want to break my hand."
Laughing, Kurt squeezes him tight, content to just stay there, but it seems Blaine has other ideas. "Let's go out. We could go to the movies? Or bowling?"
"Not bowling," Kurt whines. "I can't. Scared of the shoes. Other people's..."
"Feet, yeah, I know," Blaine laughs. "Okay. What do you want to do then?"
"Hmm. Well, can we stay here and take that bath?" Kurt asks hopefully.
"At least let me buy you dinner."
"Sushi?"
"Fine by me."
Blaine gets to his feet, pulling Kurt up and into a long kiss. "I love you, tiger. And I'm sorry I pulled that stunt with Jackson. It was really awful of me. Just so you know? This was never about me not trusting you. I have complete faith in you, I just didn't trust Solomon's motives, and I was at a loss as to how to communicate that to you. I went about it all the wrong way though, and I'm really sorry."
Kurt nods, playing with the buttons on his shirt. "Thank you. And I'm sorry too, for everything I said. Your contribution to this house, to our relationship, is entirely equal. Please don't ever think otherwise."
"I do wish I could pay for more stuff though."
"You're saving so we can have a child, Blaine! That's...that's massive. If it makes you feel better, we can pool all our money to pay rent, utilities, food and then save what we have left over, but I just always get the feeling you want to save for this yourself."
"I really do, yeah."
"So let's leave things the way they are. But you can buy me dinner," he adds, as an afterthought, and Blaine laughs and starts to fasten his bow tie.
"Come on then, I guess I'd better go show my fiancé off to the world."
The atmosphere is lightened between them, and during dinner they deliberately keep things fun, talking about which wedding guests to invite, and plotting the worst possible seating plans just to annoy everyone, before deciding they really couldn't go through with it.
They take their bath, but both are weary from the emotions of the day and too tired to contemplate doing anything other than soaking in the water before cuddling close in bed. Kurt is supposed to work from home the next day, but being Kurt, he feels like he must have the final say, so he takes himself into Marie Claire, and tracks down Solomon in the promotions department.
"So Blaine got his own way," Solomon says, when he notices Kurt standing there. "That's what babies do, isn't it? Throw a tantrum and then watch as everyone runs around them."
"I wouldn't know," Kurt says lightly. "But I hope to find out one day when Blaine and I have kids of our own."
"Why, Kurt? Why him? He's whiny, he's small, he's weak..."
"Oh don't you..." he starts, and then is physically restrained by the three women listening in on the conversation. "Listen here, you ignorant bastard," he says, losing his cool completely. "You will never come between me and my fiancé, got it? Now keep your mouth shut and lie low in this department for the remainder of your time here, or I'll have you fired."
"What happened to you?" Solomon asks, shaking his head. "You know, I was at a bar last night, and I was telling some guy about you. He recognized the name, only, it couldn't be the same Kurt, I don't think, because the one he was describing was totally wild."
Kurt stands tall, looking down on Solomon where he lounges arrogantly against a desk. "Oh that was me," he says with a nod. "Without a doubt. Then I fell in love, and suddenly I didn't need to chase other guys to feel good about myself. Blaine gives me all I'll ever need, and so much more besides, because he loves me. Blaine will always win, Solomon," he adds darkly. "So don't even try to compete."
"Your boo's in your office," Kate tells him, as soon as he's out of the elevator.
"Oh please, he's not my boo."
"Your puppy dog then."
Kurt stops dead and whirls around. "How do you know about that?"
"Oh my god!" Kate cries, elated. "That's what you call him?"
"No it is not," he snaps, but the speed at which he walks away from her, and the red cheeks, tells her otherwise.
"That is so cute!" she calls across the office. "What does he call you?"
"Go away!" comes the reply.
"Don't forget to shut the blinds, Kurt!"
"We're not doing that!" he calls back, then closes the door and leans against it. "Women. Ugh. Hello." Blaine is sitting formally in the visitors chair, but his face brightens when Kurt gives him a smile.
"I did tell her I wasn't here for that."
"Yeah, she's all pleased with herself because she apparently stood behind Solomon in the Starbucks line this morning, and had a very loud conversation with Sara about how awesome you are."
"Me?"
"She thinks you're adorable," Kurt says, and he leans down, kissing his lips lightly. "And you are. It's nice to see you."
"You were supposed to be at home."
"I know, but I had to see a man about a dog. Puppy."
"You didn't need to fight back," Blaine says with a frown. "Things were fine as they were."
"Whatever. So..."
"So I came by because I love you. Nothing more and nothing less."
"Stand up."
Blaine does so, not even noticing the open blinds. He only notices Kurt's arms draping over his shoulders, pulling him close. "Take me home," he whispers. "Undress me, take me to bed. I want to spend the rest of the day making love with you."
"It's not even one thirty," Blaine stutters out weakly.
"I know."