To Shield and To Protect
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To Shield and To Protect: Chapter 20


T - Words: 5,846 - Last Updated: Dec 04, 2012
Story: Complete - Chapters: 21/21 - Created: Oct 03, 2012 - Updated: Dec 04, 2012
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Author's Notes: Wow. Here we are, the last chapter. The epilogue will be published in an hour or two!

 

 

Kurt looks gorgeous. That's the only thought that seems to rush through Blaine's mind, squashing everything else – how gorgeous Kurt looks, how beautiful with his hair a little tousled and the uppermost buttons of his shirt open, revealing a small sliver of pale skin. Blaine's body aches from longing, missing Kurt's touch even more now that he's so close to him, so close that he could just reach out and take his hand, hold him close and never let him go, and Blaine really, really wants to do that. It feels like he will break if he doesn't get to touch Kurt right now, and he has to wonder how on earth he survived all these months without Kurt when the reaction he's getting right now is so intense.

"Blaine," Kurt says under his breath, his hand still resting on the door handle and his other one still clutching his phone. "What are you... You're here? How?"

Blaine can see the way Kurt is holding back and keeping the distance between them, can see the hesitation in Kurt's eyes, and that's what stops him from reaching out, what makes him bury his hands deeper into his pockets. He can't touch Kurt. He can't, not yet. He needs to make this right first, needs to trust his words for once, and then maybe, if everything goes well, if he's very, very lucky, he can reach out and touch Kurt again. But not yet. Maybe not ever, but Blaine tries to concentrate on his hopes instead of his fears, tries to remember everything that Cooper and Wes said.

"The... The doorman remembered me," he manages to say, nodding towards the elevator. "He let me come up."

Kurt shakes his head. "No, Blaine, I mean... What are you doing here, in New York? Aren't you supposed to be in college?"

"Oh." Blaine wants to scratch the back of his head, wants to cross his arms over his chest, but if he takes his hands out of his pockets he's sure that they will immediately reach out for Kurt, and that can't happen. Not before he has said everything. "I graduated. I got my diploma less than a week ago."

"So you're a teacher now?" Kurt asks, and when Blaine nods, his eyes soften. There's still some hesitation in them, but at least they do soften. "That's great, Blaine. I'm happy for you. Congratulations. But... That still doesn't explain why you're here."

Blaine smiles – he can't help it, not when Kurt is standing in front of him, when Blaine feels like he can breathe again, like the cage is crumbling down around his heart – and there's only one thing he can think of saying right now.

"Because I'm in love with you."

Kurt startles, his arms falling to his sides, his phone slipping from his hand and falling to the floor with a soft thud. He stares at Blaine with his eyes and mouth wide open, as if he can't believe the words, and Blaine realizes belatedly that his carefully practised speech just flew out of the window. His own eyes widen as well, and this time his hands do reach out.

"No, that's not – I mean..." He shakes his head, frustrated. "I wasn't going to say... to say that yet, I had all these other things I needed to say first, all these apologies and explanations and other words, but I'm – I'm not good with words, Kurt." Kurt closes his eyes for a moment when Blaine says his name, taking a shuddering breath before opening them up again, and Blaine keeps going, trying to get everything out. "I'm not, not at least when it counts, and I actually had a plan, this mental list of all the things I need to say and in what order, but I just... I am in love with you, Kurt, I'm not going to take it back or anything, I would never take it back, but could I maybe, just, start again and try to get it right this time? Please?"

Kurt looks at him, his eyes still a little wary, but then he nods, a slow movement of his head that makes Blaine's heart speed up once again, even though it feels like it's been racing ever since he got off the phone with Wes.

"Can I... Can I come in?" Blaine asks carefully.

Kurt nods again after a moment and takes a few steps back, letting Blaine in. Blaine breathes in deeply and steps into Kurt's apartment, immediately overwhelmed by the familiar sense of belonging and home as he notices the same framed posters he saw the first time he was in here, the same furniture and the same scent in the air. He closes the door behind him and contemplates leaning against it, trying to get some support, but then he thinks about Dalton-Blaine, about Bodyguard-Blaine, about all the other personalities he has had during his life. He doesn't want to have any roles or additional support this time. He wants to just be himself, be all the Blaines he has ever been, all wrapped up in one. He wants to be whole in the way Kurt makes him feel like he is.

Kurt is still looking at him, his arms crossed over his chest and his gaze waiting. Blaine clears his throat. He kept Kurt safe when he was his bodyguard, he went back to college even after everything that happened and got his degree. He can't be so afraid of failing, not anymore.

Courage.

"I'll... I'll try to make this understandable, so let's start with the main idea." Blaine takes a breath. "I... I was an idiot. It's probably a constant state of mind for me, for all the Andersons according to Cooper, but I was even more of an idiot than I usually am in the hospital. I thought you wanted to move on, Kurt, that you wanted to keep living the life you had before the anonymous stalker and before me, and I didn't want to... hold you down, I guess. I wanted to give you a chance and to get away from you so I wouldn't constantly remind you of those awful months of your life when you had a bodyguard and got anonymous letters, but I..."

"So you were trying to be noble?" Kurt interrupts him, one of his eyebrows raised.

Blaine laughs, a little overwhelmed, and runs his fingers through his hair. "No, not really. I was just getting to that, actually. I was, in all honesty... Scared. I was terrified. You... You make me feel more than I ever have before, Kurt. You move me and challenge me and make me want to be myself, and you... You make me feel like being myself is enough. And I was scared of it, I was scared that I was reading too much into it and making it all up in my head, thinking that I don't deserve you and that you don't deserve someone like me, someone who always messes things up."

Kurt's eyes soften again, his whole posture loosening. "Blaine..."

"No, let me finish, please?" Blaine pleads. "I need to get this out now, or I'll never get it all out again."

Kurt nods and gives a small smile, the first smile since he saw Blaine standing in the hallway, the first smile Blaine has seen in too many months, and it shakes something loose inside of him, something that feels a lot like his heart, like the cage around his feelings. It gives him more strength, more courage to pull through.

Blaine takes another breath. "So I... I panicked, I guess. I watched you at that concert and then you kept saying that you wanted to move on, and it just... It brought back all these fears and insecurities I have – I did mention one of my ex-boyfriends to you, didn't I? He, um, left me because I cared too much about him and then he just moved on without me. I'm over him, I've been over him for years, but I didn't want to go through the same thing all over again. I didn't want to care and then fail in something important anymore. I was... scared, like I said, and I guess I convinced myself that you wanted to be free."

He stops, shakes his head almost angrily at the words failing him again. "No, not free, that sounds stupid, you're not some caged animal, Kurt, you never could be. I thought you wanted to... To leave it all behind, anonymous letters and stalkers and visits to the police station and me, so I decided to save you the trouble and be a coward and run away before I had to hear you telling me to leave. My parents were already talking about going back to college, doing something less life-threatening, so I thought that why not go now, why not go back to Ohio and be a coward and get a degree at the same time."

"But I... I was so stupid that I didn't realize that you were the reason I was able to go back to college in the first place." Blaine lifts his head and meets Kurt's eyes that are still the most beautiful pair of eyes he has ever seen, that still make him want to drown in them. "You're nothing like that ex-boyfriend of mine. You're nothing like any of the other people in my life. You trusted me and made me trust you and made me feel like I could do anything, and I would probably still be slacking off in LA if I hadn't met you. And then I got my diploma a week ago and understood that the only place I wanted to be in was here, in New York, hopefully with you, and then both Cooper and Wes helped me make sense of everything, and I... I was an idiot, Kurt." He gestures with his hands again, the nervous energy thrumming through his muscles. "I was an idiot because ever since I met you all I really wanted to do was to tell you how I feel about you and how amazing I think you are and how terrified I was to feel this way, but I couldn't, not with being your bodyguard and all that, and then when I finally had the chance to get it right, I – I blew it. I screwed everything up and ran away and left you when all I wanted was to never ever leave you."

Blaine pauses and runs his fingers through his curls again, making them stick into every direction but for once not caring about that at all. "And I'm... I'm sorry, Kurt. I'm so, so sorry for pushing you away and leaving you and being an idiot. I have no excuses, except my own fears and stupidity – and wow, I'm really saying the word stupid a lot today, but it doesn't make it any less true. And you don't..."

He swallows. This is the hardest part, the part he doesn't really want to say but needs to, so he keeps going. "You don't have to forgive me. You don't have to feel anything for me, you can kick me out the minute I've finished this very disorientated and messy speech and that would be okay, you have the right to do that, but the thing is that... I'm in love with you, Kurt. I know it probably sounds silly when we haven't seen each other for several months and I was your bodyguard and we had a very exceptional professional relationship, but it was exceptional because I was in love with you. Because I am in love with you. Because I don't want to live without you. God, that sounds huge, but it's true. I could live without you, but I don't want to. It makes me miserable and sad, and I didn't want to lie to myself anymore. I don't want to be afraid of failing anymore. So I guess what I'm doing here in New York is... asking for a second chance. If you would like to give me one."

It's silent when Blaine finishes talking. He feels out of breath, his mouth dry and exhausted, as if he just poured out all the words that have been locked inside his mind for months. He can't remember the last time he said so much in one go, if he ever even has before, and he doesn't remember if he managed to say everything, if he managed to put emphasis on how stupid and scared he was and on the fact that he's in love with Kurt. All of his carefully crafted plans have scattered around his mind, all the thoughts Cooper and Wes had given him disappeared from his head, and he's too afraid to lift his head and meet Kurt's eyes again. This is the one thing he desperately doesn't want to fail, but if Kurt doesn't want him, if Kurt has never even wanted him, no matter what Wes and Cooper believe – well, at least Blaine tried.

"I guess I should be angry at you," Kurt says quietly after a long time. "I should never want to see you again, after the way you treated me in the hospital when I was still thinking that you could have died and was having an internal panic attack because of it. After you said all those things to me when I thought you were my best friend, not just my bodyguard."

"I understand," Blaine says under his breath. "You don't have to..."

"But the thing is," Kurt continues, his voice getting a little louder, "I was an idiot as well. I should have remembered what you told me about your past, Blaine. I should have tried to understand. I should have listened to you instead of shutting you out in a moment of irrational anger – god, that really wasn't a nice thing to do at all. I should have talked to you. I should have said something earlier, especially when..."

He stops, suddenly sounding a bit shy, and Blaine's head snaps up. There's a small smile on Kurt's face, a hesitant but beautiful smile, and the feelings in Blaine's chest start fluttering their wings, like birds shaking the last remnants of sleep from their bodies.

Kurt looks Blaine straight in the eyes and says, "When I'm in love with you as well."

Blaine blinks dazedly. "You... are?"

Kurt nods, the hesitancy disappearing. "Of course I am. How could I not be? Blaine, I tried to move on for three months but I just can't, not without you, not when I always meant that I wanted to move on with you, ever since I started talking about it before that concert. I didn't want to do anything when you were still my bodyguard and I was scared as well, so incredibly scared, but I was going to tell you how I feel when I came to visit you in the hospital, but then you..."

Blaine groans, burying his face in his hands. "Oh god. I am such an idiot."

Kurt laughs, the sound bright and loud in the quiet hallway. "No, Blaine – you're not. You made some odd choices, but that doesn't make you an idiot. Besides, I should have realized that 'moving on' wasn't exactly the best possible word choice, all things considered." He shrugs. "Maybe we were both idiots."

"Maybe," Blaine repeats into his hands.

"I forgive you, by the way," Kurt remarks. "I already forgave you months ago."

"You did?" Blaine asks, lifting his head and staring at Kurt, not quite believing that this beautiful man in front of him is actually saying all these things, that this isn't just another dream he has in the middle of the night when he finally falls asleep. That he might actually get his second chance.

"I did." Kurt smiles. "I thought that you didn't want me, but I forgave you because I missed you too much not to." He pauses, looking a little hesitant again, his hands starting to move nervously. "I just... I hope you can forgive me for being stupid and scared as well?"

"Of course I can," Blaine breathes out, taking a step towards Kurt. "I mean I do, I do forgive you, Kurt. I missed you as well – I should have just said that somewhere in my speech, I had planned to say it, but I didn't... I was so nervous that I just..."

"Blaine," Kurt interrupts him. "That speech was lovely. You are lovely."

"And you're in love with me," Blaine says, the sentence sounding like a question because he's not sure he has grasped it yet, has understood it completely, has let the hope growing inside of him turn into reality.

Kurt laughs again and nods, and Blaine has to take another step towards him, has to move into his personal space now that he can. They are suddenly standing so close to each other that their breaths are almost blending together in the air between them, and Kurt's breath smells like coffee, like the distant mornings when they sat together in the kitchen and talked about everything and anything. Blaine wonders if Kurt's mouth tastes like coffee as well, if he could taste the countless mochas Kurt drinks if he just closed the remaining inches between them and kissed him.

Blaine really wants to kiss him.

Kurt's eyes are wide open and staring into his, completely unafraid and unabashed, almost challenging him to take the first step. Blaine's eyes dart to Kurt's lips, and he can see Kurt swallow, the only sign of nervousness creeping through. Kurt's hand rises slowly to Blaine's chest, resting against his racing heartbeat, and that touch is all it takes. Blaine can't be still anymore. He can't hold himself together anymore.

His own hand moves to cup Kurt's cheek, and then he's angling his head and closing the distance between them, meeting Kurt's lips gently and closing his eyes to just feel Kurt – feel his soft and wonderful lips against his own, his nose against his cheek, his delicate skin against his hand. Kurt's fingers grasp his shirt tightly, pulling him even closer, and suddenly Blaine's senses are full of Kurt, Kurtkurtkurtkurt, and why on earth did he wait this long to kiss him?

Everything about their first kiss is slow; there is no rush, no hurried movements, and Blaine thinks absent-mindedly how fitting it is for them. Their whole relationship has been about slow build, evolving from professional to good acquaintances to friends to this, this wonderful world full of colors and kisses and touches and Kurt. Blaine knows it's sort of his fault, that he was the one distancing himself and running away (like he always does, he always runs) – but he came back. He figured everything out, eventually.

He is done with running. With being afraid.

Blaine opens his eyes for a moment, still pressing his lips against Kurt's, and sees that Kurt's eyes are open as well. He is staring at Blaine like he can't believe this is happening, like this is too good to be true, and Blaine feels his heart skip a beat when he realizes that Kurt thinks he's too good to be true, when Blaine has always been the one thinking that Kurt is unreal.

He breaks the kiss, his lips still brushing Kurt's lightly, and takes a deep breath. "I'm sorry it took me so long," he says quietly, hoping Kurt understands how much weight the words have.

Kurt rests his forehead against Blaine's and gives a laugh. "Apology accepted. I'm sorry it took me so long as well," he whispers, and then he surges towards Blaine, sucking Blaine's lower lip into his mouth, wrapping his arm around Blaine while his other hand sneaks into Blaine's hair, grabbing his curls and holding him tight.

It's desperate and passionate, all slowness gone and forgotten, and if Blaine thought slow build was nice, this is so much better. His own hands flail in the air for a moment before they settle on Kurt's back, pulling his whole body closer until there's no space between them, no kilometers or doubts, no barriers of professionalism or distance.

Kurt's mouth does taste like coffee. Like the sweetest coffee Blaine has ever had.

Blaine can feel Kurt's fingers, warm and long, roaming his back, mapping his muscles and shoulder blades, and that seems to be the permission Blaine has been looking for, because suddenly he realizes that yes, he can touch Kurt now, it's allowed or even expected. He can measure Kurt's shoulders and waist, he can let his hands acquaint themselves with the back of Kurt's neck, with the soft short hair at the nape of his neck, with the barely visible freckles spread across his cheeks, with the soft strands of his hair, with the warm tongue exploring Blaine's own mouth.

Kurt is taller than him, not much but he is, and even though Blaine has always been aware of the height difference it feels even more prominent when Kurt leans into the kiss, crowding Blaine backwards until his back hits the door. Blaine gasps into Kurt's mouth, all his senses tingling from so much contact, so much heat and pressure against his body.

Until he feels something wet on his cheek.

He blinks his eyes open and carefully disentangles himself from Kurt, leaving his hands on Kurt's hips. Kurt chases his mouth, looking at Blaine with confusion. His pupils are dilated, the collar of his shirt askew, his hair a mess and his lips red and a little swollen (and Blaine did that, he made that happen) – but then Blaine notices the few silent tears falling slowly down Kurt's cheeks.

"Kurt?" Blaine asks, suddenly worried. "Why are you... What's wrong? Oh god, I didn't hurt you, did I?"

Kurt laughs, watery and choked up, but he shakes his head, still clinging to Blaine's body, leaning against Blaine's chest. "No, god, nothing like that. I just... I thought I'd never get to do this. I never let it show, but I really thought I'd lost you before I even properly had you."

Blaine feels a pang in his heart and he quickly drops several soft kisses on Kurt's lips. "I'm sorry, god, Kurt, I'm so sorry –"

"It's alright. We both messed up." Kurt's lips turn into a smile against Blaine's lips. "But you're here now, aren't you?"

Blaine nods fervently. "Yes. Yes, I am. And I will stay here, for as long as you'll let me."

Kurt blinks his eyes, more tears falling down his cheeks, and then he twines his arms around Blaine, resting his head against the curve of Blaine's neck and leaning into his body so that they're completely wrapped around each other, the heat of their bodies merging together in the nonexistent space between them. Blaine strokes his hands down Kurt's back, feeling the tiny tremors there, and he draws him even closer, as close as he can. He can't believe he almost let this all go. That he almost lost it.

Kurt shifts against him, his hair brushing Blaine's cheek. "... Blaine?"

"Hm?"

"I'm... I'm never saying goodbye to you. Not anymore."

Blaine's hands stop their movement. The feelings inside of him spread their wings even more, the bars of the cage rattling harder and harder until they snap, breaking into tiny pieces like they're made out of glass, and then his feelings are fluttering their feathers, shaking off dust and starting to sing. Blaine feels like he can't breathe, like he's going to be crushed under everything, like he's drowning on himself, like he's too full and he's going to burst soon – and is this what it feels like to be in love? Is this what it feels like to be loved in return? To be free?

"Kurt –" he gasps out. Kurt lifts his head from Blaine's shoulder and then their lips meet again, desperate and insistent, their hands exploring every inch they can reach, their whole bodies sliding together like they can't get enough. Before he even realizes it Blaine's hands slip under Kurt's shirt, touching the radiating skin, running over faint hair and trembling muscles, making Kurt shiver against him. Kurt’s own hands start dipping lower and lower on Blaine's back, pulling at the hem of his shirt. They are both panting into each other's mouths and Kurt's thigh is pressed between Blaine's legs, warm and real, and Blaine thinks he has never felt more alive, more complete.

"Do you... Do you want to take it slow?" Kurt asks with his lips still pressed against Blaine, mouthing his skin like he can't get enough of it. He's breathless and gorgeous, his cheeks flushed and his eyes hooded in a way that makes something swoop low in Blaine's stomach.

"Not anymore," Blaine whispers and kisses him again.

 

-

 

The Chinese take-out never arrives, and Kurt's phone is left on the hallway floor, completely forgotten. It buzzes a few times when Rachel tries to reach him.

No one answers.

 

-

 

Kurt wakes up to sunlight shining into his bedroom through the drapes. The dawn is breaking, and there are small specks of dust dancing in the beam of light, only noticeable when the sun hits them in just the right angle. Kurt blinks his eyes sleepily, barely awake as he watches the dust specks move across the room, letting his mind take its time to catch up.

There is a weight over and next to him, a warm arm slung over his stomach and a naked body pressed against his own, his legs tangled up with someone else's. The only voices in the whole world seem to be the distant hum of the city outside the bedroom window and the soft breathing of the person lying next to him, puffs of air tickling the sensitive skin of Kurt's chest.

Kurt doesn't look down, not yet. Instead he just keeps watching the sparkling dust specks, lazy and blissful, wanting to drag out this moment for as long as he can. He doesn't want to see the person on the bed with him yet; he wants to feel him for a moment longer, feel the weight and warmth now that he can, now that he's allowed and maybe even expected to touch, to move his fingers slowly across the sweaty skin.

Kurt closes his eyes, the sunlight painting the insides of his eyelids red and orange, and he can feel his own lips turn into a smile. The man next to him snuffles, burying his face against Kurt and then giving a quiet contented sigh, like he never wants to get up, and Kurt thinks he might feel the same way. Everything he needs and wants is right here, on this bed with him, in the beat of his heart, in the knowledge that there is another heart beating right next to him.

He trails his left hand down the man's spine, feeling the small bumps of bone against his fingertips, and thinks about how complicated humans actually are. They might look simple, just bones and flesh and skin, all of them assembled together from the same ingredients, all of them feeling things in a similar fashion, all of them holding a shield in front of themselves, whether it's clothes or words or fear. All of them so fragile in the end. So breakable, both physically and mentally. But it isn't that simple, it never is, because humans are not as simple as they look like. They have endless depths, complex feelings, inexplicable beauty, reasons that sometimes make them act and sometimes don't, strength to keep going no matter what happens. Isn't it actually quite remarkable to find someone who feels the same way as you do in the middle of all those complexities, to share something in common with that someone despite all your differences? To have something this simple and complicated after all the hardships and mistakes, after all the wins and accomplishments?

"You're awake," Blaine mumbles against his chest.

Kurt blinks his eyes open, not stopping his hand on Blaine's spine. "I am. How did you know?"

"Your breathing changed. And I could feel your fingers moving down my spine. Deliberately." Blaine's voice is heavy with sleep, but he shuffles closer, and Kurt could swear he can feel Blaine's eyelashes on his skin, feather-like and faint.

"Sorry," Kurt breathes. He stills his hand. "I just couldn't stop touching you."

"Mhm. I don't mind. It felt nice."

Now Kurt can definitely feel Blaine's mouth curve into a smile, dry lips against his own heated skin, and he finally bends his head and looks down at Blaine. Blaine's eyes are still closed, his eyelashes quivering on his cheeks, but he is smiling like he's perfectly happy, like everything is right in the world. Kurt doesn't think he has ever seen Blaine look so content, and the realization that Blaine looks that way because of him, because of Kurt, fills his insides with something warm and gentle, something inexplicable.

Blaine's curls are ruffled, and when Kurt looks at his other hand resting on Blaine's arm he notices how much darker Blaine's skin is, tanned against his own paleness. He hasn't noticed it this well before. He has never been this close to Blaine before, with absolutely nothing between them.

There are still things they don't know about each other, things they have to work out, things that the world will throw in front of them, obstacles and problems, but as Kurt entwines the fingers of his right hand with Blaine's over his chest, watches the way their hands slot together, he thinks that they'll be alright. He can feel it, somewhere deep inside of him, how things are only going to get better from now on. It feels a lot like coming home. Like he won't be alone anymore.

Blaine stirs against him. "You don’t think this is weird?" he murmurs.

"What do you mean?" Kurt asks, resuming the movement of his left hand on Blaine's back, drawing patterns and spirals on his skin.

"Us, in bed," Blaine explains. "When three months ago I was your bodyguard. When I was a stupid idiot three months ago."

Kurt laughs softly. "I told you, we were both idiots." He presses a small kiss on top of Blaine's head and Blaine hums. "Besides, I don't care about the fact that you used to be my bodyguard. I care about you."

Blaine opens his eyes slowly and gazes up at Kurt with a goofy grin on his face. "You're so much better with words than I am."

"Yes, that is one of my talents," Kurt answers, preening a little. "But don't sell yourself short – you gave quite an impressive speech last night." Blaine huffs out a laugh, but then Kurt remembers what they were talking about, sobering and narrowing his eyes. "Do you... Do you still think of me as your client?"

Blaine shakes his head immediately. "No, of course not. Haven't thought for a long time. I guess it's just..." He laughs, his voice still low and laced with sleep. "It's an unusual way to meet your... What are we?"

Kurt bites his lip. "Boyfriends?" he suggests.

Blaine smiles, gentle and amazed. "Boyfriends. I like that." He hooks his naked leg over Kurt's thigh, as if he's trying to get even closer to him, skin against skin. "I like that a lot. It's an unusual way to meet your boyfriend, that's all."

"Well, yes." Kurt rolls his eyes. "But I guess the point is that we met. Not how we met."

Blaine is silent for a moment, breathing against Kurt's side. When he speaks again, his voice is quiet and shy, another thing that Kurt has never heard before, another thing Blaine is allowing him to have, and it makes him feel like flying.

"I think... I think you might be that person, Kurt."

Kurt had almost forgotten how much he loves the way Blaine says his name, how he draws the vowel out like he wants to treasure it in his mouth, like he's kissing Kurt just by saying his name. Kurt never wants to forget it again.

"What do you mean?" he asks with a smile.

"You know," Blaine says, grasping Kurt's hand tighter, "that person who makes you stop and say to yourself... 'Oh, there you are. I've been looking for you forever.' I... I think you might be that person for me."

Kurt can't help but laugh, watery and overwhelmed. "Blaine. That sounds so silly."

"What?" Blaine whines. "I was trying to be romantic! You were saying all those nice things and massaging my back in a way that makes me want to purr, so I..."

Kurt grabs his face, angling his own head a bit more, and then he kisses Blaine on the lips, stopping the words that are about to rush from Blaine's mouth. It's slow and sweet and still so new, the slide of their lips against each other, the way Blaine's lips open under his, willing and trusting. When Kurt eventually pulls away, trying to get his breath back, Blaine's lips try to follow his, as if he can't get enough of Kurt. He probably can't, judging from the way he has folded himself around Kurt, but Kurt doesn't mind. His walls and personal space issues seem to fly out of the window when it comes to Blaine, and he isn't going to miss them.

Blaine licks his lips, staring into Kurt's eyes. Kurt doesn't think he'll ever get over the way Blaine looks at him – like Kurt is the most beautiful and wonderful thing he has ever seen, like Blaine can't believe he's actually here. Kurt has a feeling that Blaine can see the same emotions reflected in his eyes, and if Kurt can, if he's allowed to, he will spent the rest of his life proving to Blaine that he's not going anywhere, that he's not letting go of Blaine again.

Kurt smiles, smoothing Blaine's curls and feeling like the silly romantic dreams of his childhood just came true.

"I think," he whispers, leaning closer to Blaine. "I think you might be that person for me as well."

 


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