“There’s no such thing as good money or bad money. There’s just money.” – Charles ‘Lucky’ Luciano

Kurt’s thankful when Blaine lets him go straight to bed once they get home.  Skincare routine forgotten, he barely gets his pajamas on before he face plants into the bed.  There’s just enough alcohol still strumming through his system to let him drift off quickly.

He has the most pleasant dream. 

They’re at the beach – him and his dad.  Kurt sits on a towel watching as his dad runs around playfully chasing two small children.  He’s healthy and laughing and when the little girl calls him Grandpa, Kurt feels so happy.  Burt stops playing for a minute and makes eye contact with Kurt.  They both smile and then the playing resumes.  Kurt feels warmth surround him and a ticklish breath on his neck.  Arms wrap around him and he feels so safe.  He turns to look, but the sun is so bright, he can’t quite make out anything. 

Kurt wakes up in Blaine’s bed, sunlight streaming through the window far too bright for his aching head.  It takes a moment for him to remember where he is and then the sleepy smile instantly drops from his face.  He reaches for his phone on the nightstand and sees a note with two aspirin and a glass of water next to it.

I thought you might need these this morning.  Thad will be by at noon to pick you up.  After you’ve visited with your father, go buy a suit.  We’ll be attending a party this evening.  Be home by 8.  –B

Kurt takes the medicine and drinks the whole glass of water before making his way to the bathroom.  He looks like hell, hair sticking in every direction, dark circles under his eyes, and splotchy skin.  Part of him wants to crawl back into bed and cry.  Remembering the events from last night coupled with his dream, his emotions feel like a rubber band stretched too far, ready to break.

***

The silence of sitting with his father that day causes him to break down.  Kurt has cried a lot over the past weeks, but things are different today.  He’d been sullied by Blaine - agreed to it even.  The circumstances didn’t matter.  Kurt was whoring himself out and things had only just begun.

He manages to stop sobbing when the nurse comes in to check his father’s vitals.  She rubs his back in a comforting gesture, but he doesn’t deserve her sympathy.  When they are alone again, Kurt finds his voice.

“One day, this will all be worth it, Dad.  I just hope you can forgive me.”

He squeezes his father’s hand and fights hard to keep the tears from coming again.

“I hope I can forgive myself.”

And with that he walks out the door, quickly making his way to the car knowing that Thad will be right behind him.

As always, Thad doesn’t say a word.  Kurt idly wonders if Blaine told him not to.  He’s pulled from his thoughts as the car comes to a stop in front of a store.  Kurt had completely forgotten about the suit.

A very enthusiastic man greets them as they walk in.  “You must be Mr. Hummel.  We’ve been expecting you.”

Kurt nods and looks around.  This isn’t exactly JC Penney and is well out of his price range.

“I need to get a suit for a party.”

“Yes, Mr. Anderson informed me of what he was looking for.  I have several options for you to choose from – let me just pull them in your size.”

Kurt is ushered to a dressing room as the man flits off to grab the suits.  He ends up trying on three suits, all very similar in their simple sophistication.  Thad has no opinion and the salesman seems to think Kurt looks amazing in all of them.  Once his decision is made, the salesman adds a few pins for minor alterations.

“I’ll have this done and delivered to you this evening.”

“How much do I owe you?”

“Mr. Anderson has taken care of it.”

Kurt wants to argue.  He wants to say that he can afford it himself, but he isn’t sure if he actually can.  Besides, this is Blaine’s stupid party, so he should foot the bill for anything needed for it.

***

“I want to go one more place before we go back to the apartment.”

Thad looks at him expectantly in the rearview mirror and Kurt rattles off the address.  It doesn’t take long to get there, even with the afternoon traffic.

As he walks into the garage, a few familiar faces greet him and ask about his father.  Kurt’s distracted by the lot full of cars and the man sitting in his father’s office.

“—has been really great.”

Kurt turns back to Felix with a curious look.  “What’s been really great?”

“The guys you brought in to help.  I was worried for a while there.  Patrick got rid of Ken and Steve, but that was a long time coming.  Besides, the two new mechanics are practically putting the rest of us to shame.”

“Patrick?”

“Kurt, Thad – good to see you again.  Come on in.”  He’s never seen the man standing in the doorway to his father’s office, but he follows Thad over nonetheless.

When the door is closed, Kurt rounds on him angrily.  “Patrick, I assume?”

“Calm down, kid.  I’m here to help.”

“And who told you to help?”

Patrick looks over to Thad and then back to Kurt.  “Who do you think?”

“Blaine?”

“Ding, ding, ding!”

Kurt still has a scowl on his face, but he’s confused with the situation.

“So you just came in here and fired two of my dad’s guys and brought in some of your own?”

“In case you didn’t notice, kid, this place wasn’t doing so well.  Even before your dad went into the hospital, he wasn’t exactly running a top shop here.”

“How dare you?!”

“Get as pissed as you want, but have you ever seen the lot this full?  I’ve been here three days and things have already improved.”

Kurt was angry; there was no hiding that.  But he had also been very worried about his father’s shop.  While most of the guys knew him, he didn’t know how to run the business alone.  He couldn’t tell you the first thing about how the guys were paid or what to charge for services.  This guy apparently did.

“Fine.  But when my dad’s better, you leave and you take yours guys with you.  This isn’t Blaine’s shop.”

Patrick lifted his hands in mock surrender.  “Whatever you say kid.”

Kurt pushes his irritation aside as he leaves, telling the guys to keep up the good work.

***

His suit arrives that evening, hand delivered by the same man who helped him earlier.  He insists on staying until after Kurt is dressed to make sure everything is perfect.  The man is straightening the back one final time when Kurt hears the wolf whistle.

“I do believe I’ll have the hottest date there tonight.”

Kurt can’t help but blush at the words.  “Well, a fancy suit can make anyone look good.”

“I would argue that point with you, but we’re short on time.”  Blaine winks and strips down to his boxers.  Kurt averts his eyes and mumbles an excuse to leave the room.

Blaine walks into the living room a few minutes later looking almost dashing.  Kurt reminds himself who Blaine is and schools his expression into one of indifference.

“So, do I get your approval?”  Blaine spins in place.

“Yes.  You look very nice.”

Blaine tilts his head, just watching Kurt for a moment.  “Come here.”

Kurt closes the short distance between, stopping just outside of Blaine’s personal space.  Their eyes stayed locked, but Kurt begins to feel extremely uncomfortable just standing and staring.

Blaine grabs the side of his neck and leans in for a sweet kiss that quickly turns dirty.  As Blaine breaks the kiss, he nips at Kurt’s lower lip and then rubs his thumb along where it’s red and swollen.  Kurt keeps his lips slightly parted, unsure what to say or do.

“All mine.”

Kurt’s eyes shoot up to meet Blaine’s again.  He can’t bring himself to match Blaine’s grin.

Blaine drops his hand and walks towards the door.  “Are you coming?”

Kurt nods and makes himself walk, the words repeating in his head.  All mine.

***

The party turns out to be some sort of celebration based on the bits of information Kurt overhears.  Blaine keeps him in sight, but makes his way around the room with Cooper.  Kurt recognizes some of the men in the room – prominent businessmen, an elected official or two.  He reminds himself that this is the lion’s den and he tries not to stare.  Kurt notices quite a few people eyeing him where he stands off to the side sipping his champagne, Thad posted as his babysitter.  Kurt’s not entirely sure why Blaine felt it necessary to bring him to this party.  And it’s not like he’s going to try and sneak out – he has nowhere to go.

“So how’s my little brother’s new plaything doing?”

Kurt’s head snaps to the side, Cooper grinning playfully at him.  With a nod from Cooper, Thad is gone and Kurt suddenly feels very awkward.  He can’t very well get angry and deny he is anything other than a toy for Blaine to do with what he pleases.

He settles for “I’m fine.”

Cooper leans in just a tad too close, but Kurt doesn’t move away.  “Don’t get comfortable.  Blaine tends to get bored easily and his things get…  broken.”

A shiver goes down his back and he looks up with a furrowed brow.  “I’m only here as long as I have to be.”

Cooper looks away for a moment.  When he turns back to Kurt, he has a goofy smile on his face.  He claps Kurt on the shoulder.  “Alright, well have fun tonight and I’ll see you back at the apartment.”

Blaine walks up just as Cooper walks away.  “Having a chat?”

“I don’t think your brother likes me.”

“Cooper likes everybody.”

Kurt sees Cooper watching them over Blaine’s shoulder and doesn’t argue.

“Come on, let’s get you another drink.”

Hours pass and Blaine makes sure Kurt’s champagne glass is always full.  He feels out of place here and tries to just make himself look small in the chair he’s sitting in.  Blaine keeps Kurt at his side, but makes conversation with everyone but him.

Kurt feels flushed.  He pushes his champagne glass away and starts to get up.

“Where are you going?”

He immediately sits back down and looks at Blaine.  “It’s just a little warm in here.”

Blaine smiles at him fondly.  “You’re such a lightweight.”

Everyone around them laughs and Kurt knows he’s being made fun of.  He wants to pout or cry or tell them all to fuck off.  He’s surprised when Blaine just pulls him up and guides him out to the balcony.

Kurt takes a deep breath and immediately feels a little better.

“Are you having fun?”

“Of course.”

Blaine pulls Kurt to look at him, irritation all over his face.  “Don’t lie to me.  Don’t you ever lie to me.”

Kurt is scared for a moment and then quietly finds his words.  “No, I’m not having fun.”

Blaine’s face relaxes and he looks back out over the balcony.  “Why aren’t you having fun?  You’re in a beautiful room wearing a gorgeous suit surrounded by some of the most influential people in the city.”

Kurt will never admit that he loves the feel of the suit.  It probably costs more than his entire wardrobe combined.  And the food and drinks are top quality.  Kurt’s real frustration is that he is here only because Blaine desires it.  For whatever reason, Blaine wants to show him off and Kurt hates the feeling it gives him.

“I don’t know any of them.  I don’t even know what we’re supposed to be celebrating.”

Blaine makes a small noise of acknowledgement, but says nothing else. 

The uncomfortable silence is heavy between them, so he blurts the first thing that comes to mind.

“You put men in my dad’s shop.”

“I said I’d help him and he needed help there.”

Kurt just stares.  He can’t quite figure Blaine out.

After a few minutes, the liquid courage flowing through Kurt prompts him to ask what he’s been thinking about nonstop for the past two days.

“Why didn’t you tell me your brother was Cooper Anderson?”

“Because it doesn’t matter.”

“It does matter.  I made a deal with the brother of a mobster.”

Blaine looks at him with a wolfish grin.  “No, Kurt.  You made a deal with a mobster.”

Kurt’s confused.  “You mean…  you’re in it too?”

“In it?  Baby, I am it.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I’m not a show pony like my brother.  He’s the charming one in the family and he likes for people to know him.  I do everything behind the scenes.  I make the deals, Cooper shakes the hands that finalize them.”

“Why do you do it?”

“This is just how it is, Kurt.  My father did it and he taught me what I needed to know.”

“But, you’re so young.  You could go to college – you could do anything!”

“That’s not my path.  You spent the last four years working on a degree that you’ll probably never use.  I’ve spent that time running a business.”

“So what exactly do you do?”

“We do whatever makes us money.”

“Do you steal?  Blackmail?”

“Like I said, we do whatever brings the money in.  It doesn’t matter where it comes from or what we have to do to get it.  As long as the money is coming in, we’re doing what we need to do.”

“Surely there’s something else you can do.  Something legal.  The piano – do you like music?”

“Stop.  I’m not debating my career choices with you.”

“You consider this a career?”

“No, this is life.  You don’t know what I’ve been through.  You don’t know what’s brought me to be where I’m at.”  Blaine is surprisingly calm.

“Do you kill?”

“If it’s needed.”

“Have you…  have you every killed someone?”

“Of course.”

Kurt stands, mouth agape, unsure what to say.

“Does that scare you?”

Unable to find the words, Kurt just nods.

Blaine crowds him against the banister.  “Don’t be scared.  I only kill people that deserve it.  And I never let anyone hurt what’s mine.”  Kurt’s pulled flush against Blaine, his lips captured in a possessive kiss.  Blaine takes and takes and takes until they pull just far enough apart to breathe.

“Say you’re mine.”  Blaine’s hands on the sides of his neck, their foreheads pressed together.  “Say you’re mine.”

“I’m yours.”  Kurt whispers the words, not trusting his voice.

Blaine lets out a low growl.  “Mine.”

There’s an insistent pressure on Kurt’s shoulders.  This time, Kurt doesn’t say anything.  He just sinks to his knees and reaches for Blaine’s belt.

He’d made a deal with the devil.

***