Notes:
So I wrote this chapter almost a month after the last one because I was working on the Kurtbastian ending and it was surprisingly hard to write but I liked what came out of it so I hope you guys do as well. Enjoy.
Ending 2 - Klaine
Chapter Twenty Seven
"I was so scared," Kurt mumbled into Blaine's shirt.
Blaine ran a comforting hand over Kurt's back and he didn't know if he could quite imagine the fear that Kurt must have felt when he couldn't find him.
Blaine had been far more concerned about his students at the time of the fire. He'd been watching one of the classes for a few minutes because Mrs. Adams just hadn't been feeling too well when the fire alarm went off and when Mrs. Adams just didn't show up again had taken the responsibility of trying to make sure everyone that was supposed to be under her charge was present. Then, there had been of course the matter of having to stay put in the right zone which had meant a good couple of hours just hanging out with a class of juniors none of which were a part of the Warblers but had plenty of questions to ask him anyway.
They had been an excellent distraction from the smoke and the flames they could see coming from Dalton and Blaine had tried to keep his emotions inside because he was watching his school and his home burn and he couldn't wrap his mind around what it would mean for the students or for the faculty or for his nostalgic mind which would always consider Dalton home.
He finally saw Kurt hours later once the fire was put out and it was safe for them to walk around the building out to the front and to the parking lot. The Headmaster and others had made work of sending e-mails to parents and students and some of the parents were already there ready to take their children home and others were pulling out their phones to confirm they were alright.
Blaine had been in the process of making sure the students he was with would be fine, when Kurt threw himself at him and then after hugging him tightly, hitting him hard on the chest repeatedly before Blaine was pulled away by a teacher.
"I just," Kurt said and he played with a lose thread on Blaine's shirt, "the thought of you being gone. Of you being hurt. I – I wouldn't know what to do without you."
Blaine hugged him tighter. "I'm alright," he said.
Kurt nodded. "I love you so much," he whispered and pulled back, "and the thing is I've been afraid of taking the risk to be with you again. We've had so many problems and road blocks and it's been so hard at times but I can't control everything. We can't see the future and we can't know what's coming. Had things been different you could have died today, Blaine, and I just – I'm in, alright. I'm all in. You're it for me."
"Kurt, you were just afraid of losing me today. You don't have to—"
Kurt shook his head quickly and pressed a kiss to Blaine's lips. "Honey, I was coming to Dalton to talk to you about this before the fire and everything. That just – it made it more clear to me. People lose the people they love every day and this circling around each other thing we're doing which is completely my fault, it's not really helping us."
"Okay," Blaine said.
"Good," Kurt said, "because I'm ready for us to be us again."
Blaine pulled Kurt back down to cuddle with him and Kurt settled into him, fitting against him like a puzzle piece.
"I think we've been steadily gaining ground on that with the last couple of dates," Blaine said.
It was true. They had only gone on three dates but they had all left him feeling like he was back where he belonged.
"You're right," Kurt said.
"You know," Blaine said, "it's kind of sad the things that make us realize how we feel. Pavarotti died and I really saw you for what you were and now Dalton is gone and you realized I was what you wanted."
Blaine could tell that Kurt was rolling his eyes at him and he sighed. It still really hadn't sunk in that Dalton was essentially gone. The fire had taken a whole wing of the school, but there was damage everywhere else from both the smoke, flames, and the water used to stop the fire. There had been no decisions made yet, but there was one thing that was certain: Dalton wouldn't be operational through the rest of the school year.
"That's a little morose," Kurt said, "poor Pavarotti. And what's going to happen with Dalton? What about The Warblers?"
Blaine hadn't really considered what would happen to The Warblers. He'd gotten a chance to see a few of them before he and Kurt left Dalton, and they had all looked upset.
"I didn't read the whole e-mail everyone was sent," Blaine said, "but they're encouraging the students to enroll in other nearby schools. There's a few private ones listed and of course the public ones. Most of these kids come from rich families though so it won't be hard for them to find somewhere else just as prestigious as Dalton considering the circumstances. My guess would be we're out of the competition though."
"That sucks," Kurt said.
Blaine laughed.
It wasn't until the next day that Blaine got to really hear what would happen. He heard from the Headmaster's secretary who told him that they were closing the school for the time being and in the process of refunding students for the remainder of the year.
"We're also encouraging the faculty to find other positions," she said, "we don't know what's going to happen, but for now we're just dealing with the paperwork."
Blaine had seen it coming.
Kurt hugged him tightly after the phone call.
"Oh, Blaine," he said, "I'm so sorry. You know we'll take you at McKinley. Rachel and Mr. Shuester won't have room to protest."
"Yeah, I guess," Blaine said and he thought about how Dalton had never been meant to be a permanent place for him.
Maybe it was supposed to be the wake up call to get on with his life and go back to school and actually try and accomplish his dreams of performing.
Kurt stayed with him instead of going to McKinley after a call in to Mr. Shuester to let him know that he would need to take care of the glee club on his own. Rachel had gone off to New York City again to try and get her spot in NYADA back and had let Kurt and Mr. Shuester to continue coaching the glee club for a few days. A part of Blaine wondered if he should have been doing the same.
They spent the day watching Meg Ryan movies in Kurt's living room and Blaine kept himself tucked into Kurt's side.
It was during lunch, eating pizza, that Blaine thought to check his e-mail again and he was surprised when he found a few e-mails from a couple of the members of The Warblers. Reading through them he found that a few of them had gotten together to try and figure out a way to keep The Warblers together.
Kurt distractedly mentioned Mr. Shuester's attempts at getting them more members ever since they'd gotten Myron and Spencer and Blaine suddenly had an idea.
"Hey, Kurt," he said, "if some of The Warblers transferred to McKinley they'd be welcome in the glee club right?"
Kurt stared at him. "Well, I wouldn't have a problem with it. The circumstances being what they are I don't think anyone would have a problem with that. Is that something they want?"
"I don't know," Blaine said, "I just got a few e-mails and maybe this will help. It will keep them together and in the competition. As a plus it means we wouldn't be competing."
"There is that," Kurt said, "ask them. See if they really are interested and we can talk to Mr. Shuester while Rachel is still away."
The integration of The Warblers into The New Directions was easier than Kurt had imagined after a few road bumps. Most of The Warblers were still mourning Dalton and it was hard to bring them all together when the Warblers were so used to their own ways of doing things.
"Was it this hard for you?" Kurt asked after a long day at McKinley.
They were making some headway and Rachel's return had brought other things into play. She was upset about the response she'd gotten from NYADA and Madame Tibideaux who had basically laughed at her for trying to get back to the school.
"What, leaving Dalton?" Blaine asked.
Kurt nodded.
"No," Blaine said, "I mean, I did it for you. It was easy to do because it was for you and because it meant we could be together all the time. And I already knew everyone by that point. Not to mention that Dalton was always still there just in case, you know."
"Right," Kurt said.
He'd been thinking about Dalton a lot since the fire because despite everything it had meant a lot to him. Not only had he met Blaine there, but he had fallen in love with Blaine there. Of course there was also the fact that Dalton had come into his life right when he needed it. There was nothing that could diminish what Dalton meant to him and knowing that it was gone and that he could never step inside or walk through the not so short shortcut that Blaine had taken him on when they first met was sad and wrong.
"On the upside," Blaine said, "I get to be with you now too."
Kurt grinned and he reached over to grab Blaine's hand. They hadn't gotten to really talk after Kurt told him that he was definitely all in. Blaine had been busy talking to The Warblers and their parents and the Dalton Headmaster. Somehow, though, he just knew that they were on the same page again.
"Coffee?" Kurt asked.
"Sure."
They stopped at the Lima Bean, and after picking up their orders with a couple of cookies, they sat down and Kurt felt a little bit like he was in the past.
"I've been thinking," Blaine said.
"What about?"
"The future," Blaine said with a sigh, "just all of this with Dalton has made me realize that it really wasn't going to be where I ended up. I mean, this was just a stop. Temporary."
Kurt nodded and watched him. He broke a piece of cookie off and put it in his mouth, chewing slowly.
"Are you thinking about pulling a Rachel and going to NYADA to try and get your spot back?"
Blaine shook his head. "I considered it," he said, "but who knows how Carmen Tibideaux might react. I was cut. She tore me to pieces about how I was throwing my life away and how you weren't. It was kind of horrible and I got a letter a little bit after that really sealing the deal. Granted I did miss a lot of class and assignments. I was a wreck."
"Oh, honey, no," Kurt whispered and reached for his hand, "this was all my fault."
"And it's in the past too," Blaine said, "but I just know I couldn't go back there. I don't think the school was for me really."
Kurt nodded quickly. "I guess not," he said, "so, what are you going to do, then?"
"Apply to other schools," Blaine said, "I, um, I started looking. I know you'll be back in New York at some point and I want to go back too. I was thinking about NYU and CUNY."
"I'm so proud of you," Kurt said.
Blaine ducked his head, but Kurt could tell that he was smiling.
Blaine ran into Sebastian a few days later at The Lima Bean. He'd stopped to pick up coffee for himself, Kurt, Rachel, and Mr. Shuester, and almost ran straight into him.
"Oh," he said.
Sebastian gulped and stared at him for a moment. "Hi," he said eventually, "um, how…how is Kurt?"
"He's good," Blaine said.
Sebastian nodded. "Good, good," he said, "um, just tell him I'll call him soon. I just needed some time. I'm happy for the two of you, by the way."
"Thank you," Blaine said and stopped before he turned away from Sebastian, "hey, Sebastian, I just wanted to say that he's the way he is because of you. He hasn't said anything, but I know he misses you. I'm not – it will take me some time to get used to it but I'm not going to stop him from seeing you, obviously. Just, thank you for being there for him."
Sebastian nodded. "See you around," he said and left quickly.
When Blaine got to McKinley he set the coffee down on the piano in the choir room. Kurt was in the middle of sorting through sheet music and he watched him before joining him, bumping his hip against him.
"Took you long enough," Kurt said.
"I stopped for coffee," Blaine said, "and I ran into Sebastian."
Kurt's breath caught and he looked up, eyes wide. "Sebastian," he said.
Blaine nodded. "Yeah. He, um, he said he'd call you soon. Wanted to know how you were."
"Oh," Kurt said.
"I know you miss him," Blaine said.
"I – yeah," Kurt said, "I do."
It was just a little bit on the weird side to talk about Sebastian especially with all the history that he had with them and yet Blaine knew that he wouldn't just disappear from their lives. Kurt wasn't one to discard friends and it was obvious how close Kurt had gotten with Sebastian. Blaine couldn't be one of those boyfriends that was jealous of his boyfriend's friends or insecure about his friendship with his ex. Things wouldn't work out for them if he became that and furthermore Blaine trusted and respected Kurt enough and it seemed that Sebastian wasn't going to try and break them up either.
"He said he'll call," Blaine said.
"I hope he does," Kurt said, "you were sort of his friend once too. I mean, I'd like for you to get to know him better."
They got caught up with the glee club when most of The New Directions arrived with some of The Warblers and even though things were going better it seemed that there were still arguments about what they would be wearing during competition and Blaine could tell that they were only arguing because they were still feeling the loss of Dalton. It made him think that he needed to find a solution to the problem and also that he was definitely feeling the need to mourn Dalton as well.
The next few days he found himself getting everyone's measurements from the file kept in the choir room and going to order new blazers for everyone. He mentioned it to Kurt only after he'd placed the order.
"It will make the boys feel better," he explained.
"What about everyone else?"
"It's just for the competition," Blaine said, "and something was going to be picked eventually."
Kurt nodded. "Sure. I mean, it'll take off one more thing off the list of things to worry about."
There was a lot going on. Sue and Mr. Shuester were having some sort of war again and then of course there was Rachel and how easily her disappointment about NYADA not immediately taking her back had fallen away when she got the call about the role she'd auditioned for.
"And we should probably start work on a set list," Kurt said.
"But we can worry about that tomorrow," Blaine said, "and instead we can just relax a bit."
Kurt nodded and grinned. "Sounds like a plan."
They put a movie on, and cuddled together on Kurt's couch, but it wasn't long before Kurt was placing kisses along his neck and Blaine turned to press their lips together into a lazy slow kiss.
Kissing was as far as they went which Blaine found to be a little bit weird and different for them considering what happened the last time they were broken up and yet he also enjoyed the simplicity of it.
Kurt ran his hands up Blaine's sides, pushing the shirt up a bit. He pulled him even closer and giggled against his lips when they stopped to breathe before diving in again. The kiss turned into something else, like all their kisses did and it was familiar and easy and Blaine lost himself to the sensation of Kurt. No one had ever made him feel like Kurt did and he could only hope that the same could be said for what he made Kurt feel.
Kurt's fingers were cold as they ran over the skin of his back and he groaned, pulling back and Kurt's eyes fluttered open and Blaine felt like he could see right into his soul.
"What?" Kurt asked.
"I just love you," Blaine whispered.
Kurt laughed and he lifted himself onto his elbows, leaning his head up to capture Blaine's lips and falling back, his hands going back under Blaine's shirt and pressing him down even closer. For a while they just kissed languidly and then Blaine dropped his head against Kurt's shoulder, tucking his face against Kurt's neck and Kurt muttered something before gently pushing Blaine up.
"We're in the living room," he said, "my dad and Carole will be back soon."
"It's like we're back in high school all over again."
Kurt laughed and he quickly kissed Blaine again. "We sort of are, aren't we?"
Author's Note: So a few things came up over the last few weeks that forced me to stop writing for about a week or so which has been horrendous but I haven't had the time. So due to that reason and because I will be out of the country for a week without my laptop or a lot of internet access the next chapter will probably not be posted until next Thursday 4/23. At the earliest it would be Wednesday 4/22. However, I am hoping that I can get some writing done while I'm gone and that updates will go back to being regular after that. I just have had to basically do all of my homework for last week, this week, and next week in advance this past week so fic and writing has not been a priority but I figure I would let you guys know why chapters won't be posted as regularly as they have been in the past.
Thanks for reading.