Day 4: Handle With Care – The Traveling Wilburys
Kurt is putting the final bit of seasoning in the soup on a Friday evening when he hears the door open. Finally, he's home, he thinks to himself. Wiping his hands on a towel, he crosses the kitchen to the entryway, arriving in time to see Blaine unceremoniously drop his messenger bag to the floor. He stands for a moment, chin tucked down and shoulders slumping with a heavy sigh that ends in a slight cough. Kurt tilts his head to the side in sympathy. The boy may as well have a stamp on his forehead that reads "Handle With Care."
"Hey, you," Kurt greets, closing the few steps between them. Blaine looks up and gives him a wan smile.
"Hi," he manages before swiftly turning his head away to cough into his elbow. "Sorry," he croaks afterwards.
"Aw, Blaine," Kurt coos, already moving around his boyfriend to divest him of his winter gear. Gloves, hat, coat, shoes – all are removed and quickly stowed. Kurt puts a hand to Blaine's forehead, which feels a little warmer than it should, but not too bad.
"I'm okay," Blaine tries, but Kurt gives him a look that says he knows better. "Maybe okay is overstating it a bit," Blaine concedes.
Kurt had tried to convince Blaine to stay home from class this morning, but Blaine insisted that there were things he couldn't miss and that he'd be all right. It was just a cold, after all.
"Well, you made it through the day, and you're mine now. I intend to coddle you all weekend until you feel better, and I won't hear any arguments, mister," Kurt says, not unkindly. He leans forward to give him a kiss on the cheek, but Blaine pulls back, saying he doesn't want to get Kurt sick. "Please," Kurt scoffs. "I never get sick from you. I am impervious to your germs. You are the one with the immune system that is too polite to say no to a virus."
Blaine chuckles, accepting the peck on the cheek and letting his head fall to Kurt's shoulder. "Thank you," he whispers.
Slipping an arm around his shoulders, Kurt guides him down the hall. "You're going to go take a nice warm shower," he instructs, "and put on the pj's I've laid out for you. When you're ready, I've got fresh soup waiting." Leaving him at the bathroom door, he kisses him on the forehead and returns to the kitchen.
Fifteen minutes later, they are settled on the couch with bowls of warm soup and bread. Kurt queues up Blaine's favorite show on the TV, and they eat in companionable silence.
Come Monday, Blaine will be well and they'll both be back in class. When Kurt wakes up sneezing on Tuesday, Blaine will lovingly return the favor of handling him with care.