Chapter 26

Kurt Hummel was not one to pace around his apartment in anxiety. Not at all. And that was not what he was doing. He just happened to find himself walking around, nothing else.

Truth was: he was dying with nerves. He needed Blaine to be there and in his arms, now.

It was a bit ironic that, after months of Blaine not going to his place, Kurt was waiting for him there that day of all days. They had been confident for a while that the press was no longer around and Blaine was leaving his car a few streets away just in case. So, they felt safe there again, at least for a little while.

He went to the window and looked down for the third time in the last fifteen minutes. But he didn’t see Blaine.

Rachel came out of the kitchen then, she walked closer to him as she asked, “Haven’t heard anything from him yet?”

Kurt threw her a look that read “Obviously not”.

“Okay, okay.” She responded, sensing his mood. She put a hand on Kurt’s shoulder and walked him to the couch. “Here. You’re going to sit down and distract yourself until he’s here. Time goes slower if you’re counting every second.” Kurt let her gently push him to the couch and took the remote she offered, but he didn’t turn the TV on with it.“I’m going to be hiding in my room for a while.” She said and kissed his temple before leaving him alone again.

Kurt did turn the TV on; he flipped throught the channels but he never stopped on anything for longer than a minute.

However, time did pass a bit faster because, suddenly, there was a knock on the door. He actually jumped over the side of the couch to go to it. The only reason he didn’t run to the door was because their apartment was quite small and he got there in just three long steps.

The moment he opened the door, he had Blaine in his arms, clinging to him as if he was an anchor. Kurt embraced him tight, one hand on his back and the other on the back of his head. He lost track of the time they spent like that, just holding each other, Blaine’s head on his shoulder and hugging him for his dear life.

“You’re okay?” Kurt eventually asked as he ran a hand softly through Blaine’s hair.

Blaine raised his head and faced Kurt, he kept a tight grip around his waist with one hand and ran the other through his once gelled, now messy hair, “Yeah, I... I just needed you.”

“I’m right here” Kurt said and hugged him again, tighter, if that was even posible. He took Blaine’s face in his hands and kissed him with passion, as if proving a point.

“I know” Blaine sighed breathlessly as they pulled away.

They moved to Kurt’s room: Kurt lay against the headboard and Blaine cuddled into his chest. Kurt held him in silence, running his fingers through the boy’s hair and caressing his forehead, until he started to talk softly but steady, telling him exactly how the interview for People had gone.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was almost three hours later and, after a long talk and a short nap, the boys were lying on the couch, Kurt in between Blaine’s legs, his back pressed to Blaine’s front.

“Come on, Rachel! We can totally do this without the ice cream.” Kurt called his friend, irritated with how long she was taking in the kitchen.

“They’re eating ice cream, we need ice cream.” She answered matter of factly as she made it back from the kitchen. She lifted Kurt’s feet, which were extended along the couch, and slipped under them, sitting with Kurt’s legs on her lap.

“We’re just reading it, we don’t need to set the whole scene.” He explained in playful annoyance.

“No ice cream for you, then.” She teased.

Kurt took the spoon from her hand in one practiced move, he grinned and then licked it provocatively. If Blaine made a small, throaty noise into his ear and held him a bit tighter, he managed not to let his challenging expression change because of that.

“Okay, so Rach is reading Jackie, right?” Blaine asked the two of them over Kurt’s shoulder.

“No, I want to be Emily.” She said.

Kurt shook his head. “I’m reading Emily, I called dibs on her.”

“When?” She spatted.

“Like, before we asked you if you wanted to read with us. You’re Jackie, sorry. Deal with it.” Kurt put an end to the discussion trying to sound serious, but resisting the urge to stick his tongue out at her. He knew he and Rachel often acted like kids around each other but, really, it was fun. And their bickering was making Blaine smile. Mission accomplished.

“A sassy character would be good for me to challenge my variety.” She said in all seriousness when she realised she really had no chance of playing Zooey’s character. She handed Kurt the ice cream reluctantly.

Kurt rolled his eyes.

“May I?” Blaine asked nonchalantly even though Kurt knew he was enjoying their exchange way too much.

“You may.” He said, snuggling a bit more into Blaine and holding the new script for ‘On Our Own’ in front of them.

Even though he heard Blaine talk in Josh’s voice every week on TV, to have him sounding so young while being so close to him startled Kurt. The innocence and youth of Blaine’s voice made Kurt feel as if something was trying to pull his heart out of his chest. Apparently that was the effect of your twenty two year old boyfriend being very skillful at sounding as if he was sixteen. That was kind of creepy.

“Why is my bed full of sisters?” Blaine asked in the voice of an annoyed teenager.

“Because it’s also the couch, Joshie.” Kurt tried to smile patronisingly and ended up giggling a little, not because it made sense for Zooey’s character to do so.

“That’s all you two have left me of a bed, so get lost. I’m tired.” Blaine said.

“Poor little baby, he’s tired.” Rachel mocked, making a face.

“Ugh, shut up.” Blaine retorted. According to the script he was supposed to squeeze himself into the couch and between the girls, taking the ice cream from Emily. He didn’t move, there wasn’t enough space and they were all too comfortable, but he stretched to steal the ice cream from Kurt.

“Hey! Give it back!” Kurt reacted. Blaine hugged the ice cream with the arm he didn’t have around Kurt.

“We wouldn’t have these problems if you two actually picked an apartment and we didn’t have to live in Emily’s old one, you know that right?” Blaine, Josh, asked as he attacked the ice cream.

“When dad feels guilty and offers to pay rent for a three bedroom appartment in New York, you don’t just go and pick one at random, Josh.” Rachel said and gave Blaine a look. And okay, she had totally nailed Lucy’s look right there.

Blaine and Rachel continued to bicker back and forward, completely in character. Kurt, however, got lost in thoughts. It was done. It would be another week until it was actually out there, but Blaine had already done his part. He was coming out.

He shifted in Blaine’s embrance so that his ear was pressed to Blaine’s chest, hearing his heart beat. It was done and Blaine seemed to be doing fine. He had narrated the whole interview to Kurt and, even though he had been a bit emotional, he had also looked so proud of himself, so freed. And Kurt was proud of him, too. So proud of him for taking such a difficult step towards being himself in an industry as artificial as the one he was in.

He was not paying attention to the script and that’s why Blaine poked him in the ribs when it was his turn to read. Kurt delivered his line and then buried his face in the crook of Blaine’s neck, content to let the other two to the final lines of the scene as he enjoyed the closeness of being held by his amazing boyfriend.