Bleeding Heart - Chapter 5

[I do not own Glee or any of its characters.]

In the crisp dark morning air in their apartment, Blaine woke to the soft buzzing glow of his cell phone against his sheets, 5:15AM. His hair was pushed up on his forehead in all different directions, and he slipped out from between the sheets in a quiet swish, feet landing on the cold hardwood floor. Shivering, he tip toed to the boudoir and pulled on his track pants, hoodie, and running shoes, before delicately kissing a sleeping Kurt's warm forehead just peeking out from under the covers. Grabbing his earbuds and keys, he threw one last look over his shoulder at the rumpled pile of sheets and clothing strewn across the bed, remembering Kurt's hot breath in his ear last night as he cried and poured into him. The tiny grey cat head curled up in the middle of the scene summed up the feeling perfectly. Happy.

"I love you," he whispered into the room, and set off on his usual morning run.

It was 6:18AM when Kurt's phone exploded into a frenzy of flashing lights and Lady Gaga instrumental on the night stand. Bleary eyed, he reached over groggily to make the seemingly ear-splitting sound stop when he noticed it wasn't his alarm, but his boyfriend's face lighting up the screen. Always with the early rising.

"Blainey, 5 more minutes.." Kurt whined into the phone, rubbing his eyes. On the receiving end, all he could hear was a crackling sound and the panicked whoosh of heavy breathing.

"Kurt…" Blaine wheezed.

"Where are you?" Kurt demanded, bolting out of bed and grabbing his keys.

"Down…stairs.."

Kurt was running full speed from the bedroom, grabbing the emergency kit by the front door, and flying down the four flights of stairs through the front door of their building. Blaine was sprawled out across the concrete leading up to the steps of their building, his phone cast aside next to him, his whole body shaking. Kurt was beside him in two strides and rushed to place his palms on either side of his trembling head. Staring down into Blaine's face, he started counting. No more than a minute. No more than a minute. 26, 27, 28…

"I love you," Kurt said more forcefully than he intended, "I love you, you're gonna be ok, baby," he stammered. 39, 40, 41…Baby your lips are blue… 49, 50…

Kurt's hand flew to the emergency kit he had thrown down next to him and ripped open the Velcro top, flipped on the switch to charge the device the doctor gave him to shock his boyfriend in a life or death emergency. Reaching forward and ripping open the zipper of Blaine's hoodie, he prepared to go into full emergency meltdown and had already dialed 9-1 before Blaine's shaking subsided suddenly. 57…58… Blaine's chest was rising and falling peacefully as though he could almost be sleeping, and Kurt clutched his hands against the sides of his face once more, watching exhausted tears leak out of the corners of Blaine's eyes.

"Blaine, baby, open your eyes," he demanded clearly, "Blaine, open your eyes." After a pause, Blaine's long lashes lifted a millimeter and a tiny whine escaped his lips, he squinted upwards. A flood of relief washed over Kurt as he almost smothered Blaine in kisses. "You're okay, look you're okay, oh my god, Blaine, you're okay, I love you," Kurt breathed hugging him from any angle he could find. Immediately, his hand dove back into his emergency bag and dug out a host of pills, beta blockers, potassium and a mini water bottle. "Take these now, right now," he ordered, slowly pulling Blaine into a sitting position, and gently rolling the pills into his open mouth. Blaine was too weak to lift his arms but was opening and closing his fists slowly. Kurt tipped the water back into his mouth and Blaine swallowed weakly, some color returning to his face. Kurt rocked him back and forth for a few minutes like that, their breathing becoming one.

"Feeling better?" Kurt asked gently, as he wrapped his arms tighter around Blaine.

"Yeah," Blaine whispered, sniffing as another tear made a delicate smack against the skin of Kurt's bare arm, "… thank you," he breathed. "I was so…scared, I thought—" he started. Kurt shushed him gently, "You're okay, I'm here, and everything is working."

"Where are your shoes?" Blaine asked quietly.

"Oh," Kurt looked at his naked feet, "I forgot." Suddenly he became aware that he was wearing only his boxers and a V-neck, and it was easily 30 degrees outside. "Let's get you inside," Kurt said, lifting Blaine's arm over his shoulder. "Oh wait, let me grab—" he reached down to flip off the AED and Blaine noticed it next to them for the first time.

"You were going to—" Blaine started.

"Almost," Kurt whispered, kissing Blaine's temple, "but you're okay." Pink flushed in Blaine's cheeks and his brow furrowed.

"I love you," Kurt said softly. "Now let me show you how strong I am. Blaine Warbler, I am going to carry you to the 4th floor," Kurt stated grandly, as if it were fact. A smile twitched at the corners of Blaine's eyes.

"Kurt, I don't think you—" he started.

"I WILL CARRY YOU TO THE TOP!" Kurt shouted, and a full smile burst across Blaine's face.

"Okay okay," Blaine chuckled, "let's go then."

Kurt heaved Blaine up into his arms and huffed awkwardly up the six steps to the landing at the front door of their building before setting him down, exhausted, both of them laughing tiredly.

"Alright, fine, you can walk, I'll let you," Kurt sighed, "but we are taking it slow."

"You know how I like it slow," Blaine chuckled under his breath, shooting a weighted glance at his boyfriend as Kurt shifted himself under Blaine's arm to help him up the steps.