Chapter 6

Hey, everyone! Hope youre liking the fic so far. See below for the playlist in order for this story, per an anonymous request. Enjoy!

Give It All Away: In Order

Kurt throws his overnight bag down on the ground of the terminal and dials the phone number the car rental company gave him for when he arrives.  He tucks his cell phone into the nook between his ear and shoulder as it rings and slings the bag back over his shoulder, clearly exhausted from having just endured a painful, last-minute, middle-seated flight.  His flight to Ohio felt like a million years; he couldn't get Blaine's well being out of his head the entire time and because of that, he found himself restless.  He hurries through the airport after he informs the car rental company that he has landed, cursing his life and making a vow to never fly Delta ever again if he can help it – the planes are just uncomfortable.

As he approaches the exit for Lima in the tiny Honda Civic he's rented, he works out a story in his head to convince the hospital he should see Blaine right away.  He smirks at the memory of a fucked-up little boy, five years ago, lying about marriage just to sit next to Kurt after his attack.  He thinks about the insane routine Blaine forced himself to adapt to while Kurt was recovering and because of it, Kurt healed easily.  He plans to do exactly this for Blaine now with the roles reversed.

“Husband, Blaine's my husband.  I'm here to see my husband, Blaine Anderson… Hummel.  Blaine Hummel-Anderson?  Shit!”  He says it out loud, practicing, but can hardly stop himself from choking on the words.  He's breaking down and no one is there to hold him steady.  He gives up, hitting the power button on the radio.  He loses himself in the music. 

Sprinting from the parking garage to the emergency room in what feels like three seconds flat, Kurt is entirely unsure if he even shut the car off.  He swings his body into the waiting room, catching the countertop with his hands to prevent his feet from continuing down the hall in search of his Blaine.  His Blaine, who he singlehandedly pushed away, thus causing him to seek love in a mother who has never shown any interest.  His Blaine, who is now laid up in the very same hospital Kurt was placed in all because they love each other.  Why does every demon have to focus on only bringing them down?  Kurt's sure this is Christian Anderson's fault somehow.

“H-Hi.”  He takes a deep breath and smiles faintly at the woman sitting in front of him.  “I'm here… I'm Kurt Hummel, to see Blaine.”  He tries to catch his breath.  “Blaine Anderson, my-” Saliva gets stuck on his tongue and he feels bile at the back of his throat.  He swallows.  “Husband.  Blaine's my husband.  Where is he?”

“Mister…”

“Hummel… and also Anderson.  Hummel-Anderson.  I'm Kurt Hummel-Anderson.”  It does have a nice ring to it.

“Mister Hummel-Anderson.  Your mother-in-law asked for absolutely no visitors.  She is to be the only one back there with him.”

Kurt stumbles back, blinking furiously and trying to decipher the words that are being said to him.  There's no way Blaine's mother cares enough about him to dictate who can and cannot visit.  This has to do with Kurt specifically.

“Yeah.  It appears we don't particularly get along too well.”

“I'm sorry.  If you could just take a seat-”

“Excuse me.  Blaine is my husband and I have every right to see him.”  Does he, as one half of a same-sex marriage, have the right to see his pseudo-husband within Ohio state borders?  Kurt's not sure but still, he continues.  “I will be seeing him, regardless of what that witch said about me.”

“She said no visitors, sir.  Especially…” The receptionist cuts herself off, most probably deeming the sentence Blaine's mother spat out earlier in the afternoon inappropriate beyond all ethical laws and suggestions.

“Uh huh.  And do you value your job?”

“Mister Ander-”

“Or would this hospital prefer a lawsuit regarding a gay man being refused his rights to see his husband, then?  I will own you, little girl.  And when I'm your boss, I have a concrete rule directly pertaining to homophobia.”

“No, sir, I-”

“What did she give you?”

“Sir, I-”

Kurt removes whatever cash he has from his wallet and hands it to the woman.  “What room is my husband in?”

She types frantically on the computer laid out in front of her.  “220, sir.  Around the corner on the right.”  Kurt watches as she presses a button that enables the automatic doors to open and he takes off around the corner and to the right.

xK&Bx

Kurt can't believe the rush of feelings slamming into his heart, now that he can see with his own eyes that Blaine is alive.  All the air deflates out of his lungs and he thanks whatever lucky stars are with him as he witnesses the rise and fall of Blaine's chest.  He feels attached again, a tangibly intense love lying in front of him, stealing his breath away not because of the way he looks but for who he is (but also for the way he looks because damn).

Although he has minor injuries – an immobile arm with a cast up and over his elbow, several cuts on his face and chest, about twenty dissolvable stitches at his hairline – he's (barely) awake, staring at the blank screen of the hoisted television.  Kurt can't believe how grown into himself Blaine looks.  The few months have really done wonders on him, although it's probably a result of the almost three years since Kurt's truly seen him, rather than just looking.  He was too preoccupied to notice last time, but he looks fuller, older; he is older, a constant reminder that Kurt was not there to see the transformation.  He looks good, especially for a guy who almost died today.

“You have a beard.”

Blaine whips his head toward Kurt's obvious voice all too quickly and smiles shyly.  They stare at each other, goofy grins plastered despite the terrible circumstance of why Kurt is here.  “The first thing you say to me while I'm laid up in a hospital is ‘you have a beard.'”  He goes to flatten his hair with his free hand.  “Hi.”

“Are you okay?  You have a beard and it looks really, really good on you and you're not allowed to die.  Ever.”  Kurt tilts his head and leans up against the frame of the door, folding his arms and openly checking him out, regardless of how small and fragile Blaine looks in the cot.

Blaine's eyes soften as though, in the past few seconds, his soul had been repaired. 

Kurt's familiar with the sentiment; he's confident he has repaired himself just by looking at Blaine in the light he's supposed to be seen. 

“Come here.”  Blaine pleads, patting the bed repeatedly.  “Please?”

Kurt doesn't budge.  “I thought I lost you forever because of some stupid shit I said in the heat of the moment and I feel terrible that I suggested you should run to your mother of all people!  I mean, unless you want to of course.  I'm all for you reconnecting if you think it's good for you.  Is it?  Are we here because of what I said?  I feel terrible.”  He knows he's rambling and it's okay because it feels good, natural, right.

“An almost-apology for being a dick.”  Blaine mimics Kurt's smile then bites his lip and looks away.

Kurt drags a chair over, speaking over the obnoxious noise of the legs dragging across linoleum.  “Seriously!  I'm such a dick, but you know that's only because I love you and clearly I was taking you for granted?  I always sorta did, and I don't want to anymore.  Take you for granted, I mean.”  He sits in the chair he pulled over, right next to Blaine's bed.  “Sorry.  You just scared me and I thought I lost you without getting my second chance.”

“It's… Kurt, why are you here?  I mean, our phone call…”

“Are you listening to me, Blaine?  I just… it was just instinct to get my ass to Lima to make sure you were okay.  Because I love you.”  He sighs.  “It sounded really bad when my dad called me.”

“Mmm, I guess it was… but I'm still here.  Pretty boy.” 

Kurt can't help but roll his eyes fondly.  “I'm glad, because Rachel lost Finn when they were on a break and I-” He takes Blaine's hand and squeezes.  There's a beat as he figures out a way to attempt a seamless segue.  “You know, your mother put me on a blacklist.  Evidently, I'm not allowed to visit you at the hospital.”

“Mmmm, that's because you're so gay.”  Blaine drawls out the “so”, surely for comedic relief, and winks at Kurt.  “Obviously, you straightened it out...  Slipped through the back door?  No pun intended, of course.”

Kurt drops his chin to his chest and laughs.  “Oh my God, Blaine!”  He chuckles and raises his head again.  “You know, the girl at the front desk actually charged me admission to see you.”  Kurt trails his fingers up and down Blaine's cast.  “It's like you're a zoo animal.”

“How much am I worth to you, Hummel?”

“Like, a hundred bucks and me making sure the girl valued her job enough to let me in.  I might have openly offered it to her, in the midst of a desperate moment, but what matters now is that I'm here for you and you're alive.  Also, we're both in Ohio and that is just unacceptable.  Didn't we hate it here?”  Kurt laughs, in turn making Blaine laugh, and soon enough, they're both giggling like teenagers.

It fades away awkwardly and the silence is deafening.

“I also might have told the zookeeper out there that we're married and that she had to let me back if she didn't want a lawsuit.  I got a little scary for no real reason, considering Ohio is still not required to recognize our everlasting vows, is it?  Identical to the opportunity you saw last time we were here, if I'm remembering correctly.”  He preens a bit; he's proud of what he said to the receptionist.

“I believe that was Carole's idea, actually.  I didn't even know what was happening back then.”

Kurt waves him off.  “You're supposed to take credit for grand romantic gestures like that, B.”

Blaine looks at him and laughs an uncontrollable bark from the pit of his stomach but stops quickly and winces in pain.  “Shit.”

Kurt stands and puts a gentle hand on Blaine's casted arm, awkwardly slipping into his fingers after a few seconds.  “You need anything?”

“No.  Just a little sore.”  He takes a deep breath in and looks at Kurt again, a wicked grin spreading on his lips.

“You are a child.”  Kurt attempts seriousness but can only rush the words out through a fit of giggles.

“You really wanted to see me that bad?”

“Of course.  I was on the first flight out as soon as my dad called.”

“My mother is here somewhere, you know.”

“Are you two… working it out?”

Blaine shrugs.  “Nah.  All of this happened after a very short phone call letting her know that I was coming over to talk… after we…” He clears his throat. “After you and I talked.  Flipping an SUV tends to second-guess the events leading up to it, and I was only trying to find a family outside of yours because it was what you wanted.  I see that you don't really want that now, do you?”

Kurt offers a sad smile.  “We'll figure it all out and get you better.  Do you want me to stick around even with your mom here?”

“If she wants to kick my husband out, then she can say goodbye to me, too.”  Blaine's grip on Kurt's hand tightens and they sit in silence for minutes that blend together.  Kurt's smile radiates in the bright lights of the hospital's interior.

Eventually, Blaine breaks the silence and says, “I really fucking miss you, Kurt.”

Kurt nods.  He feels like he's the king of the world right here in this room.  “I can't settle for a life just wondering how you are.  I think we should be friends, get back in touch.  Learn each other again?”

“There are a lot of things I want from you but I must say that I have never thought about being your friend.” 

Kurt smiles again and lifts an eyebrow.  “Okay.  Secret lovers.”

“Shut the fuck up, Hummel.”  Blaine grins, obviously happy in spite of himself. He sits up straight on the bed so he's sitting flat against the headboard of pillows he's created.

“Blaine?”

Blaine's eyes flicker toward Kurt where they glimmer and shine, misty with moisture.  “Yeah.”

“I'll force you to friendship for now; we both know how stubborn I can be when the task at hand is important to me.”

“Mmhmm.  If I know anything at all, it's how stubbornly frustrating you are.  Somehow, it worked for me though.”

“Well, I sure hope the four years of our lives together worked on some level.”

“They did.”

“Look, today just really reiterated how short life is and how everything I know could be gone in a flash; how it has been gone in a flash and I think we should really work on us.  We can start over and just take it from wherever we feel is good.  I can't have you be a mysterious silhouette in my life from this point forward.  I don't want to miss you anymore.”

They both pointedly turn back toward the dark television set hanging and swaying from the ceiling.

Kurt continues, but to the wall.  “And please don't think that I'm only here trying to fix us because you're hurt.  I've been trying to figure out my feelings for a few weeks… since the last time I saw you in New York and I would have come to my conclusion with or without a broken elbow or whatever, okay?”

“Okay.” Blaine sighs, nodding slowly as if he's come to a revelation.  “Kurt?”

“Mmhmm.”

“I'm quick to say yes to this friend thing because I've missed you, but I don't think I could handle jumping right back into full-blown Kurt and Blaine like we were.  I'm just really…”

“What do you propose, husband?”

Blaine gives him a pointed look and continues.  “I don't know.  Maybe we can omit all the… awkward.  Pretend it's not there.”

“Mmmm.  My brand new BFF has the best ideas.”

Blaine laughs.  “Go fuck yourself.”

“Blaine.”

“Don't reference our acquitted sex life, Hummel.  Do not.”

“No.”  Kurt laughs.  “I just wanted to say that I love you.”

Blaine tilts his head.  “Oh.”

“Is that okay?  That I still do?”  Kurt clears his throat dramatically and looks at him.  At Blaine's nod, he repeats himself.  “I love you, Blaine.”

“Loveyoutoopretty.”  Blaine mumbles and snaps his neck to look out the window. 

xK&Bx

It is a half hour of mundane talk and pointless conversation before anything of substance happens.

“What is with the incompetence of administrative hospital professionals these days, for God's sake?”  A voice is heard by both, too feminine to be Burt but with enough spiteful venom in it to clearly be an Anderson.

Kurt pulls his eyes off of Blaine to glance at her in disgust.  He turns straight back to Blaine and smiles at him.  “Move over, babe.”

Blaine does what he's told, watching what appears to be a stake-out between the love of his life and his mother, starting with Kurt completely disgusted with her presence.  This is not going to end well.

Kurt climbs up on the bed and lies on his side facing Blaine, his elbow propping up his head.  “That okay?”  His voice is quiet, like a hunter in the forest approaching a pack of wolves.  Blaine nods, so Kurt smiles again and bops Blaine's nose.  Kurt drops his voice to a whisper.  “Do you really want to fix whatever it is that you had with your mom or were you just doing that to make me happy?” 

“It's funny...  I had been thinking about seeing her and then we talked and you're here with me and I realize I've never needed any of them.  You're my family.”

“Damn right I am, and don't you forget it.”  Kurt grins into the small kiss he gives Blaine because he can't not and smirks at the surprised look he finds when he pulls away.  “Sorry.  I had to.”

“Hey!  You get the hell away from him!”

Kurt reacts to Blaine's worried expression by scooting in closer, dropping one of his legs over Blaine's hips and nuzzling intimately into his hair.  “Just focus on me, B.  She'll go away, even if I have to make her.  They're just words.”  There's a beat as they listen to her heels clicking across the floor, the epitome of an angry Asian woman with obvious disgust boiling well above the desired temperature.  “We're stronger than your parents, baby.  Always were, right?  Now, tell me what happened in your accident.  You sure you're not uncomfortable?”

“I'm fine.  It was so weird, like it happened so fast but every second felt like an hour.  The nurse has been waking me up every half hour since I've been here so I don't slip into a coma or something because of the concussion.  I'm just really sore and tired and over being here but I'm really happy you came.  Thank you for coming.  It means so much, like we actually might have a chance to know each other again.”

“Good, honey.  Just rest and you'll feel better.  I'm sure you can go home to rest soon.”   Kurt gently pulls him in closer and kisses into his hair.

“You're being mighty boyfriendy, pretty.”

“I believe the correct term is ‘husbandy.'”  Kurt smiles.

“Right.”  Blaine rolls his eyes and smiles.

Kurt jerks and arches his back at the feeling of claws poking into his shoulder blades.  He turns to his other side so he doesn't hurt Blaine getting off the bed.  He looks her up and down and scoffs.  “Excuse me.  What the hell is your problem?”

“You.  Get out.”

“With all due respect, Sondra, do you really think I'd leave with my tail between my legs just because you suggest it?  I think you should go.”

“I am his mother!”

“In the six years I have known Blaine, I have never thought of you as his mom.”

“I will call security.”

“You and your husband sure do a great job of keeping me away.”  He rolls his eyes.  “I'm always going to be here for him, and it's hilarious you still don't get that.”

“You don't deserve my Blaine.”

“Huh.  You and I finally agree on something.”

Kurt sighs and sits at the foot of the bed, if only to take a break from the snarky firing back and forth that comes to him naturally.  He looks back at beautiful Blaine sitting and staring at him in awe, the gold specks floating in his eyes especially vivid, shocked, full of unconditional love.  Kurt smiles and shakes his head fondly before finding Sondra's eyes.  “I'd always hoped for a mother-in-law who was a bit kinder and maybe willing to share some crock pot secrets.  I guess I can't get everything I want.”  He smiles at Blaine and kisses him quick.  “The trade-off is decent, most of the time.”

Blaine smiles and whispers, “Thank you.”

Kurt turns back to Blaine's mother, searching for the last zinger that could end this conversation.  “Oh, I'm sorry, Mom.  Your invitation to the wedding must have been lost in the mail.  Two years ago.”

Blaine's mom is openly gaping at them until the doctor comes to check in and she makes a show of storming out.  The doctor doesn't seem fazed by her as he explains that Blaine is free to go home as soon as the paperwork is finished, and Kurt should follow the nurse to the registrar's cubicle to go over some insurance logistics.  The doctor gives them a minute of privacy.

“I think we need to solidify the lies before we get in any deeper.”

Blaine laughs.  “Whatever.  I'm pretty confident I won't be seeing her any time soon.  Grab me my wallet?”  Blaine points to the clear plastic bag with his belongings from the accident.

Kurt crosses the room and grabs the bag, sitting on one of the hideous chairs near the window.  He delivers the wallet to Blaine and lets him go through it, immediately back to fold the clothes in the plastic bag neatly, cringing at the drops of blood at the collar of the shirt.

Blaine digs his insurance card and driver's license out of the designated slots and hands them to Kurt with a smile.  “Thanks for taking care of me.”

“Always.  I'll be right back.”  Kurt kisses Blaine's forehead and disappears after the doctor.

xK&Bx

For the most part, Blaine feels fine.  Once he's situated on the couch, Kurt fetches a blanket for snuggle time (but not nap time) before asking if he needs anything else.   At Blaine's request, Kurt graciously delivers water along with a few brownies he finds from Carole's most recent baking stint.  He sets everything on the coffee table and opens the bottle of water for Blaine.

Blaine takes it and openly checks out his ex-lover.  “God, Kurt.  You look good.”

Kurt blushes and smiles, looking down to try to hide it.  “I was just thinking that I should get back to Ohio for the sake of a Friday night dinner.  It's still home, somehow.”

“You know you didn't have to come rescue me.  I mean… we could have just – I could have called you if I needed you.  Carole would have –” He sighs.  “Shit,” he whispers, “why is this so hard?”

“Blaine.”  Kurt smiles and sits next to him, facing his body toward him completely.  “Remember what you said?  Forget the awkward tension.  I'm still me.” 

Blaine lifts his eyes to meet Kurt's.  When Goldschläger meets deep ocean blue, Blaine offers him a half-smile.  “Yeah.”  He sighs.  “No, I know that.”

Kurt nods.  “I think you should stay until at least Thanksgiving.”

“Are you?  Staying until Thanksgiving?”

Blaine gets pulled closer into Kurt's body so he's leaning on his chest, jaw open with a smile sneaking out from the sides. 

“I always loved how tiny you are.”

Blaine snuggles harder, like a puppy, proving it difficult with an arm that won't reposition.  He remains.  “Did you run away from Clunky Gumby to be by my side?”

“Among other things.”

“Remember how it was weird being here without you?”

“Yeah?”

“Even weirder with you.”

“Thanks.”  Kurt's snark is apparent, but it's light enough to be taken as a joke.

“Are you sure you're okay, though?  You've been… I can tell something is bothering you, I guess.”

“I'll be okay.  I ran away from a boy who is suffocating me.  I mean, my running away was all in the works… it just came sooner when you needed me.”  Kurt takes a moment to think back to his first fight with Oliver, and about Blaine, at that. He sighs.  “Also, I'm still coming down from the possibility of losing you for good.  I thought you were dead, Blaine.”

Blaine pointedly ignores the last comment and jumps ahead to the boyfriend troubles for obvious reasons. “What did he do?”

“He's just…” Kurt releases a sigh.  “Nothing.  He's done nothing.  He's sweet and nice enough, I guess, whenever he's not beating you up.  He says he's really happy with me and that he trusts me, but I just don't feel it.  I think his feelings are deeper than mine, and I know they always will be.  It's such a dead end.  I'm sorry.  It's silly to talk to you about.”

“You don't have to hide from me, Kurt.”

“I know that.”

“Besides, I'm the one who should be sorry.”

Kurt shamelessly wipes an escaping tear and looks at Blaine, expectant for him to continue.

Blaine nods.  “For leaving you like that.  Like you had no say at all in where we should live just because I couldn't do New York.”

He sighs.  “Oh.”

“Yeah.” 

“Well, if we're talking about this finally… Columbia was haunting you, B.  You had to get out of New York with or without me for your own sanity and actually, I'm glad you were able to survive all of that.  I'm proud that you did what was best for you at the time, even if it broke my heart.  I wish we had talked about it more while it was happening, but I'm happy we can put it behind us now.”  There's a pause and Kurt looks down at his own tangled fingers, his own sweaty palms he's wringing out like the laundry.  “I think I'm going to stay in Ohio through at least Christmas.”

“Mmmm.”

“I'm running away from him.  I'm old now and just as lost as I was straight out of college.  I'm not happy in New York and I think a break would be good.  You're here for a while and we can hang out again, and there won't be any stress here.  I can leave the Bean with Santana for a while.  She just started dating this girl that works there and she's really blossomed in her new city life.  I can help out at the original and be fine here with a strong support system in my parents that I can't really find anywhere else.”

“You've thought about this.”

“It was a restless plane ride in between hoping I wasn't walking into a funeral.”

“I think New York might be a curse for the both of us, huh?”

“Understatement of the year.”

“You should come home if you're going to be happier here for a while.  Spend some extra time with Burt and whatnot?  And there's always your best friend, the tiny delinquent you love.”

There's a beat.  Blaine thinks.

“Kurt?”  Blaine knows that the unspoken question will convey the way it's supposed to.  They've always had a way of communicating with their eyes.  “Talk to me.”

“I don't... Blaine, I really don't want to love anybody else besides you, and that's why I'm keeping Oliver at an arm's length.  I don't know if I can love anyone else.”  He shivers.

Blaine needs a minute; he escapes Kurt's grasp and paces, brushing his knuckles alongside the back of the couch, turning on his heel and going back to the starting point.  He repeats the movement twice then circles the couch and sits back down, exactly where he was.  He continues the conversation as if he never got up in the first place.

“How are your nightmares?  We're getting close to-”

Kurt looks at him, eyes glistening with moisture.  “It's like no time has passed at all.  I was fine when you were… around.  I looked at you and saw the positive parts of Christian.”  Blaine takes his hand.

“There are no positive parts of Christian, Kurt.”

Kurt turns his whole body toward Blaine.  “There's you.”  He offers.  “You loved me so fully, despite you not really knowing what love was growing up.  You turned out normal, even though he was your only example.”

“Love.”

“What?”

“Love.  You said I loved you so fully.  I still love you.  I hope that's doesn't freak you out.”

“Not in a bad way.  Does it freak you out that… me too?”  Kurt lets out a shaky breath. 

“Not in a bad way.”  Blaine smiles, clearly urging Kurt to continue.

“When I knew you weren't in New York anymore, the nightmares came back so strongly.  I started seeing him on the streets, on the subway, in my apartment… like hallucinating.  Which is ridiculous because he's actually here, locked away to rot two hours away from us right now.  How is it that I feel better here with you than I do in New York, eight-hundred miles away, by myself?”

“I don't know.  I feel the same in California.  We both went through these tragic events that no one in the world will ever understand better than we will for each other.  If for no other reason at all, that's why we should be friends again.”

“We were never friends, B.”  Kurt smiles at him.  “But we will be now.”

“We were!  Just because you were my boyfriend doesn't mean you weren't also my best friend.  Isn't that how it's supposed to be?”

“Ah, which brings me back to Oliver.  He won't stop making it all more serious.  He proposed like it was so natural to him, and I hardly considered us dating then!  Now, he's sneaking more of his shit into my closet, and Jesus… he's so fucking clingy!  He constantly wants to know where I am and what I'm doing and if he can make dinner or pick up groceries on his way over to see me.  He thinks I'm from Indiana, Blaine.”

“Kurt.”

“I don't want to live with him… I don't even know if I want to be with him at all, especially with these new… developments in my life with an old boyfriend getting back in touch.”  He coughs and looks at Blaine, clearly for a reaction.

Blaine keeps a straight face and continues to listen.

“He wants to know everything about my past, things I'm not ready to share, like the Christian of it all, and he constantly asks me details about you, because Santana is a fucking bitch and always, always mentions you in front of him on purpose.”

“Well, obviously.  You can't expect anything less from her, Kurt.”  He smiles.

“She only starts shit because she knows it makes me uncomfortable.  She said that hopefully it will make me uncomfortable enough to call you.”

Blaine laughs.  “I'll have to thank her, then.”   

“Shut up.  He's just so obsessive and determined to keep me forever, or something.  It's really fucking annoying.”

“I don't know why I'm defending him, but you do that to a guy.  Remember how adamant I was?  You make us all bat-shit-crazy about you without even doing anything in particular and we never let you out of our sight, but as soon as we do… well, it's our biggest regret.  And need I remind you that I, myself, am obsessive and determined to keep you forever.”

Kurt rolls his eyes and continues.  “You're different.”

Blaine shrugs.

“Besides, I'm not sure I can truly give myself to someone without them understanding that it's non-negotiable that I jump whenever anyone in my family needs me.  And when you needed me, I came here, despite his bitching about how you're ‘just my ex' who I shouldn't care about anymore.  I'm not ready for him to be possessive like that.”

“I'm still your family.”

Kurt laughs.  “Out of that whole rant, you only hear that you're family.  Didn't we already establish this at the hospital?”

“So like, bros helping bros, or… might as well get married and buy a crib?”

“Fuck off.”  Kurt hits Blaine's chest in a playful way.  “I'm glad we're able to talk like this instead of biting each other's heads off.”

“I'm going with bros helping bros for now, with the potential of turning into husband-daddies.  I want to donate the sperm for our baby girl if you jack off to make the boy.”

“Oh my God.”

“I'm serious, Kurt.  The only regret of my life is leaving you.  Any guy would be the luckiest guy in the world to call you his forever, and I'm not gonna stop until that's me.  Obsessive to keep you forever.  Got it?”

“Stop.”  Kurt rolls his eyes and rubs at his cheeks as though he's trying to disguise the inevitable blush rising now to the tip of his ears.

They cuddle until they can cuddle no more and Kurt proceeds to wake Blaine up every few hours that night with a nudge and a friendly reminder that concussions cause comas.