CHAPTER 17

The next few days brought changes in Kurt's routine that he wasn't quite ready for, even though he'd known they were coming for a long time. This weekend marked the beginning of work on the new show they were preparing, and while for Kurt it mostly meant costume drafting and brainstorming, it all involved other people and meant he had to spend long hours at the theater every single day.

Not for the first time, he realized that he really, really hated the fact that he wasn't a completely independent designer. Sure, he worked on a relatively free schedule, but there was a price: at times like this, before every new show, there were weeks when he would work every day, including weekends. And this time, he was surprised to realize how much he resented the actors and directors for being such free spirits – because really, would it hurt them to be on time sometimes, so that he could finally go home and not cancel the dinner date with his boyfriend for the third day in a row?

The boyfriend he only had ten days left with before they'd be separated by too many miles to count?

They'd taken to spending every free moment together and Cooper no longer even said anything when Blaine stayed overnight at Kurt's. But it was too little, never enough, and when Kurt had to leave the warm bed where his gorgeous boyfriend was sprawled, naked, loose and pliant, a faint tremor of release still dancing under his skin; when a coffee-tasting kiss ended too soon because how did it get so late, he felt like time was running away from him and he could do nothing to keep those moments from slipping between his fingers.

He hated this feeling.

By Tuesday, Blaine started to accompany Kurt on his way to work. They'd kiss goodbye a block from the theater and Blaine would go to the gym. Even this additional half hour together was precious at this point.

Thursday promised to be crazy from the get-go.

At eight Kurt was awakened by a phone call from the frantic director and summoned to the theater immediately. They'd just gotten news that the lead actress in their current show collapsed this morning and was rushed to surgery with internal bleeding due to ectopic pregnancy. They had an understudy, of course, but the girl was new, she hadn't had a chance to perform with them yet and, of course, the costumes needed quite a lot of alterations for her to fit in them by the evening. Kurt was forced to get up and rush through his morning routine, which meant the results were far from satisfactory for his standards. Of course, as it usually was on those days, nothing else went well. His hair decided to misbehave, no matter how convincing Kurt was with the products, he cut himself while shaving and he had no time to grab any breakfast. At least he had good, extra-strong coffee, thanks to Blaine heading to the kitchen the second he heard Kurt needed to get up and go.

They ended up going together anyway, since Blaine refused to stay and get some more sleep, and Kurt was secretly happy about it. Who knew how long he'd have to stay at work today? He had two meetings planned for the afternoon, both about the new show, and with the addition of major last-minute costume changes, it promised to be a long day. They may not see each other until late this evening, and Blaine had promised Cooper he’d come home for the night.

Overall, Kurt's mood was far from good when they were riding the subway towards their destination, coffee cups clutched in their hands, standing close like sardines. At least he knew that Blaine didn't mind him rambling.

"I mean, I've told them more than once it would be safer to have an additional set of costumes for the understudy, just in case – I could tell on the first day she wouldn't fit into Karen's. She's bustier and curvier in general, and altering a dress like this is way more complicated than simply letting some seams out. But no. They're too cheap for that, and they were so certain it wouldn't be needed anyway since Karen's so serious about her roles, she's never had a day off, not once in three years. And now, surprise, it turns out that emergencies happen even to the best of us, and I have to save their asses, and – fuck, what now?"

Kurt's phone was ringing in his pocket, loud and annoying, and he rolled his eyes, doing some serious acrobatics to try and take it out without elbowing any of their fellow passengers. They were almost to their stop now and the crowd around them was pushing and moving, trying to get premium positions for the exit.

Kurt glanced at the screen. It showed an unknown number and he almost wished it was some fool trying to sell him something. He'd have an outlet for his annoyance then.

He answered just as the train rolled to a stop.

"Kurt Hummel," he announced curtly.

***

Blaine watched as Kurt answered the phone, feeling almost sorry for whoever was on the other end. Kurt was at his bitchiest this morning and even though Blaine himself was probably safe – Kurt never really snapped at him even when he was like this – the rest of the world should be scared. He wondered who it was, the unknown caller about to be verbally eviscerated, but what followed wasn't a typical Kurt Hummel cutting comment.

Kurt actually paled, his fingers tightening their hold on the phone and his body going completely still in the ever-moving mass of people. Immediately, Blaine felt anxiety crawl up his throat; something was wrong.

Kurt's voice was high and breathless when he spoke.

"Oh! Hello, sir. Yes, of course I remember." He was so focused on what he heard, his eyes going wide, that he didn't move even when the train stopped and people started to push them in their hurry to exit.

Embracing Kurt's waist, Blaine led him off the train and away to the less crowded end of the platform, narrowly avoiding being tripped by a feisty old lady armed with a pink floral umbrella that she wielded like a fencing saber. Kurt was still tense and uncooperative in his arms, listening intently, but when an angry-looking businessman collided with him full-force, he snapped out of it.

"Excuse me, I'm just getting off the train, do you mind if I call you back in five minutes?" He nodded, listening to the response, and smiled, making Blaine's pounding heart slow down at last. "Yes, of course. Five minutes."

It couldn't be that bad if Kurt smiled, right?

Wrong.

The smile disappeared the second Kurt disconnected the call and was instantly substituted by full-fledged panic blossoming on Kurt's face. Blaine held him tighter.

"What's wrong?" Kurt just shook his head, looking like a deer in the highlights. "Kurt, you're scaring me, what happened?"

Kurt took a deep breath, then another, looking like he was going to hyperventilate, but then seemed to get himself together enough to speak.

"La Nuit Designs, remember them?"

Blaine nodded, frowning. "Like I wouldn't remember your favorite modern designer company."

"They called me." Kurt's face was completely white now and Blaine didn't understand. It was good news, right?

"Kurt, that's incredible, but... why?"

"I... I sent them an email with a presentation of my designs. It was a moment of insanity. I never thought they'd even look at it. But they did, and they liked it, and now they want me to meet with Julian, their head designer."

Blaine beamed and squeezed Kurt's hands. "Oh my god, that's amazing!"

But Kurt only shook his head furiously. "No, it's not! He's only in New York for a day and he wants to meet in two hours, that's the only window of free time he has. And today, of all days, I can't go back home to take the designs and the samples, or even get changed – god, I couldn't possibly meet him like this, even if I had anything to show him with me."

Kurt looked dashing as usual, but Blaine knew that jeans and a simple black turtleneck, no matter how well-fitted, wasn't what Kurt considered a fashion statement.

"Fuck, of course it had to be today, when I have literally no chance to make it happen. I should be used to it by now, life teasing me with things I want most and then snatching them away from me."

Blaine was alarmed to hear tears in Kurt's voice, some bitter kind of resignation that had never been there before. Kurt's shoulders slumped and he cleared his throat, trying to get himself under control. He let himself be held when Blaine gathered him into a tight embrace.

Something had to be done.

Blaine's brain worked frantically, and when Kurt pulled away a moment later, he already had a plan.

He wasn't sure he was as smart as Kurt gave him credit for, but one thing he knew for certain: he was good at thinking on his feet.

Kurt took a deep breath, straightening his back again, but the defeat in his eyes tore at Blaine's heart.

 "Okay, I'm fine. I'm okay. I'll just call him back and tell him I can't meet today. With any luck, they may give me another chance or –"

Blaine took the phone away from Kurt's hand and pulled him to a nearby bench, his mind all calm now.

"No, you won't. Here's what we're going to do. You call back and set the meeting somewhere close to the theater."

Kurt shook his head. "But I don't –" Blaine silenced him with a squeeze of his hand.

"Shh. Then you will go to work and do as much as you can so that you can get away later. In the meantime, I'll take a cab to your apartment and get your portfolio and the samples."

"But the drawings are all over the place, I've been working on them again and –"

"I'll put them in order and get the portfolio ready. I've watched you work on them, I've listened to you talk me through the process. I know them by heart, Kurt. I know how they should be set and ordered. Don't worry about it. I'll bring you a change of clothes, too, you'll just need to tell me what you want. I'll be back with time to spare, trust me. Now come on, make the call. Don't keep the man waiting."

"But..."

He could see Kurt was itching to listen but hesitated, with so much out of his control. It wasn't that Kurt didn't trust him, Blaine knew. It was that with some things, including his designs and outfits, he trusted no one but himself. Still, it was accepting Blaine's plan or losing the opportunity.

"Come on. I'm not going to let you pass up this chance without trying. Please trust me, Kurt."

It only took a few seconds, and he'd never seen Kurt's eyes so unguarded, with a spectrum of emotions there, including a whole lot of fear, but he did take the phone.

"Okay," he breathed out.

Once the meeting was set, Kurt went into what could only be called stage fright mode. He was pacing in front of the bench, trying to simultaneously plan an outfit and instruct Blaine on where the drawings and the sample clothes were, and how they should be set, his hands shaking and his eyes a little crazy. Blaine let him do that for about a minute before he realized it didn't help Kurt calm down at all. He stood up and put his hands on Kurt's shoulders, stopping him.

"Okay, breathe. You need to go, I can handle this. Your pictures are numbered and I know where you left them. I know where the portfolio is and how to pack the samples. I'll call you when I'm standing in front of your open closet so that you can tell me exactly what I should choose. I'll take a cab so everything will be safe. Now go. You have a costume emergency waiting. I'll call you in a half hour."

Kurt went.

Thanks to a bit of luck and a hefty tip for the cab driver, Blaine managed to get everything ready and back to Kurt in just under an hour and a half. There was still time for the portfolio and the samples to be checked (twice), for Kurt to change into the new outfit and obsess about his hair, and for Blaine to assure him precisely six times that he looked fantastic; classy yet original, and exactly what a successful fashion designer should look like. He even had time to offer a stress-relieving blowjob but, unsurprisingly, Kurt wasn't interested.

He walked Kurt to the coffeeshop five minutes ahead of time. With a single kiss and a whisper of "Remember, you are amazing", he sent him on the way that would lead him, Blaine was pretty sure, exactly where Kurt deserved to be: to the very top.

When Blaine's phone rang an hour later, Kurt's voice was so bright and happy, it brought a wide grin to his face.

"He loved them, Bee! Julian absolutely loved the designs and they're taking them, and he wants more. He wants me to work for them, as a freelance designer for now, but he says my vision and ideas fit the company perfectly! So if this line goes well, I can expect a more steady job offer and... Oh my god Blaine, my designs will be at La Nuit!" Kurt let out a small squeal of delight and Blaine beamed even more.

"I told you, you are amazing! God, I'm so proud of you. Are you back now?"

"Yup. At the theater, trying to stop bouncing so that I can get back to sewing, but it's proving impossible."

"Okay, before you do, open the door."

There was a gasp in the receiver and then the door was pulled open. Kurt's face was the happiest Blaine had ever seen it and he only managed to hand him the bouquet, a dozen red and yellow roses, before he was pulled into a one-armed hug, Kurt laughing and sniffling into his neck at the same time.

"I couldn't have done it without you. I could never... just, thank you, Bee. Thank you so much."