Only Time, Chapter Eighteen.

17 Weeks.

The end of Kurt’s Seventeenth week of pregnancy couldn’t come quickly enough. Things had started to cool down a little; Wes’ regionals schedule seemed never ending as competition day drew closer and closer. But realistically the amount of hours of practice had cut severely after Kurt’s collapse, instead Wes spent the time they would have spent practicing going over and over his ‘game plan’ as he liked to call it. Some moments almost had Kurt wishing they would just have a fully-fledged practice the amount of time his friend spent worrying over the details.

In fact, Wes had given in so much that Friday night practice, the day before competition mind you, only lasted one hour.

“Okay, okay that’s enough for tonight boys. Remember, meet here in full uniform tomorrow at noon.”

Wes waved them way, most of the Warblers were happy to finally have their Friday nights to themselves again as practice would only be stepped up to more than twice a week as they got closer to Nationals, if they got through that is. Thought, not that any of them dared get drunk tonight in fear of Wes’ wrath if they turned up with a hangover.

Not that Kurt and Blaine were big partiers. Mostly they would only go out if it were for dinner or a movie, not that their group of friends were the most raucous of groups so even the fact they weren’t big on drinking didn’t often leave them excluded. The scandals incident earlier in the year left Kurt and Blaine, Kurt especially, unwilling to try and get into the clubs and bars of Columbus with the fake ID’s Sebastian had supplied them with.

So, tonight, Kurt and Blaine would let the Warbler boys get up to their usual Friday night antics and instead they were going to dinner in downtown Westerville since neither of them were in the mood to drive all the way to Breadsticks. Blaine smiled and held his hand out like a real gentleman as Kurt stepped out of the car. It was like their first date all over again as they shared beaming yet nervous smiles, their hands clasped together were clammy but now fit together with practiced ease; it was like coming home.

Kurt smoothed down his clothes as they waited to be seated; today he was dressed in black pants that had a grey pattern with a black shirt and light grey vest with a pocket handkerchief for added effect along with his ‘bitch boots’ as Blaine had so fondly named them. It was the most elaborate outfit Kurt had worn in weeks, for a while his clothing had stayed limited to jeans (skinny of course) with various button ups or sweaters.

However, there was one thing very different about tonight than their first date. Wes had wave them away as had become usual in the past few weeks, telling all of the Warblers to get some rest, his eyes momentarily flickering to Kurt and Blaine, flashing them a smile before walking off. The two had returned to their dorm holding hands tightly with smiles on their faces, if Kurt’s eyes were a little tired he didn’t say a thing because it had been so long since their last real date night. Their tradition of Wednesday date nights had gone downhill over the last few weeks as Kurt was always so tired, but tonight he was determined to make it through dinner with his boyfriend.

“Blaine, do you mind if I shower first so I can pick out my outfit?” Kurt said sweetly as they arrived back.

Blaine instantly spotted the shy twinkle in his lovers’ eyes that appeared when he wanted something. “Of course honey.” Blaine kissed Kurt’s pale forehead softly with a smile, though held onto the taller boys hand for a moment. “If you’re tired Kurt we can stay and watch a movie in bed, tomorrow’s going to be a long day.” Kurt merely shrugged him off. “No Blaine, it’s been a long time since our last date night and I want this.” Kurt replied softly. It was true, all he really wanted right now was to regain some sense of normalcy in his life, or at least be a teenager while he still could, or at the very, very least to just spend some quality time with his boyfriend. Was that too much to ask?

Well, according to the universe, it appeared that was in fact too much to ask. Kurt had showered, washing and conditioning his hair then styling it to perfection. He had picked out the perfect outfit whilst he danced casually around his room to the Wicked soundtrack in his underwear. Finally he was ready to put on his outfit when the universe clearly decided too many things were going right for Kurt Hummel this week.

Yes Kurt’s skinny jeans had always been very skinny, so skinny that in the words of Blaine they appeared ‘painted on’. But never had he faced this much trouble trying to get them over his hips and fastened. “Blaine-“ Kurt swallowed the lump in his throat, his voice small as he tried to fight back tears that were threatening to spill over.

“Honey what’s wrong?” Blaine peered out of the bathroom sans shirt. “I can’t, I can’t get my pants fastened. I'm getting fat.” A sob broke through at the end of Kurt’s sentence as a silent tear ran down his cheek. “Come here.” Blaine pulled Kurt into his arms, running a soothing hand over his boyfriend’s back. “You know this is a good sign, right?” Blaine pulled back, lowering his hands to Kurt’s exposed abdomen where he could feel a clear change.

Maybe Kurt had been growing at such a slow rate thus far that no physical change could be easily spotted to someone who saw him on a daily basis but now that Blaine was touching his stomach, alongside the clear evidence of nonfastening pants, it was obvious to the palms of Blaine’s hands touching Kurt’s swollen abdomen. Blaine kissed Kurt’s forehead before kneeling down in front of the beautiful pale boy.

“Hello there sweat pea, its Daddy, well, your second Daddy. I think you gave Daddy Kurt a little shock there, you see he wears these super tight pants, and I'm pretty sure that’s the reason you are here in the first place, well anyway, now that you’re here he can’t get them fastened, but that’s okay, because he is still the most beautiful man I have ever met. I love you sweetie.” Blaine stood back up and kissed Kurt firmly on the mouth and kissing up his face to dry the tears that had ran down the taller boys face.

“She’s growing Kurt, she’s going to be happy and healthy, and that’s all because of you. Don’t ever call yourself fat, no matter what you will still be the most beautiful man I have ever laid eyes on.” Kurt sighed and let his head fall into the crook of Blaine’s neck where the shorter boy could feel a smile. “I think I like sweet pea better than peanut.”

Blaine couldn’t help but laugh, “Me too, Kurt, me too.”

And so here they were, unable to stop smiling as they ate together; their hands brushing each other’s every so often causing soft affectionate eyes to meet over the table. Maybe it wasn’t breadsticks, but maybe that was a good thing. There were no masses of McKinley students for them to try and avoid, there were actually very few people their own age despite the fact it was Friday night and students would have no classes the next day. The quiet atmosphere of a middle aged population allowed Kurt and Blaine to bask in each other’s company, in soft conversation over the hundreds of topics laid out to them; some of which they would easily agree on and some of which their shared a friendly rivalry in opinion.

The drive back to Dalton showed the truth of Kurt’s exhaustion, they had barely been driving five minutes when he passed out against his side door window.

Noon on Saturday found Kurt and Blaine in the Warblers common room waiting for Wes to finish his usual pre-game speech as the boys called it. Most were of the opinion Wes could probably coach even the worst of football teams to a win with his single-minded determination alone. Most of the younger Warblers didn’t dare talk over Wes’ competition speeches but Kurt and Blaine were well passed that point, in fact they were having a whispered argument in the back corner of the group.

“I can’t believe you let me sleep so late Blaine! How could you! You know how long it takes me to get dressed, especially on completion day! Now my hair won’t go right because I didn’t have enough time and you seem to think reducing my hairspray use is conducive to my lifestyle. Don’t you know me at all Blaine?” Kurt huffed out a sigh, crossing his arms with more attitude than Blaine had seen in a long time.

“I tried to explain hon-“ He was cut off with a glare. “-Kurt, you were tired last night, you fell asleep in the car, today is going to be a long day, I just wanted you to get as much sleep as you can.” Blaine countered in a slightly raised whisper, earning a dose of Kurt’s infamous bitch glare.

“Okay boys, let’s get going!” Wes shouted with a large grin plastered across his face. But Blaine could read into the others expression. They hadn’t practiced nearly as much as Wes had wanted, especially after cutting down hours after Kurt’s collapse. He wasn’t nearly as confident as usual. Not that it would make much difference, it had been years since the Warblers had made it past Regionals, and sometimes even sectionals. It seemed in the twenty first century the judges just weren’t as impressed by A-Capella as they once were.

The drive to Lima was a long one. This year’s regional competition was being held at McKinley High School and Blaine knew Kurt was somewhat excited to be going. Blaine knew Kurt missed his friends in New Directions, especially Mercedes. Yet, instead of appearing excited or enthusiastic about the competition and seeing his friends, Kurt was point blank ignoring Blaine. The brown eyed boy could only assume the earlier discrepancy about the lack of time to do his hair had left Kurt in a mood with Blaine that would more than likely last all the way to competition time, if he was lucky.

Blaine couldn’t help but sigh, earning him another death glare from his boyfriend. The mood swings and hormone induced rages left Blaine rather exasperated, but by now he was becoming very aware there was nothing to do but allow Kurt to come back to him by himself and just help him along; be it by a gentle hand over Kurt's or just a touch of an arm around a waist or shoulder, when Kurt was ready he would relax into Blaine’s touch and mumble apologies about childish tantrums. 

However, the almost two hour bus ride found Blaine with his arm limp behind Kurt’s back, waiting, as usual, for the taller boy to relax back into his arm, but it never happened. The entire journey was spent in a silence thick with tension.

On sight of Rachel and the New Directions Kurt’s whole demeanour seemed to change within a moment. There was a smile plastered across his face as he jogged lightly across the parking lot to the back doors of the school where he flung himself into an awaiting Mercedes’ arms. Blaine felt a small pang of jealously (and then gilt because of said jealously) because he couldn’t seem to make his boyfriend smile like that today.

Blaine blinked hard and sighed, hanging his head as he watched Kurt talk animatedly with the girls of New Directions. Things were like a roller coaster with Kurt of late, he just wanted things to go back to normal. Okay so they could never go back to normal, things had changed for good now, but he wanted them to stay on the same path for a while, hoping this feeling of up and down and round every which way would become smooth sailing soon. Yes, this was never going to be easy, but lately he didn’t know which Kurt he was going to get when he woke up in the mornings, much less when he blinked and the Kurt from less than a second ago was replaced by the cold hard Ice Queen. 

Wes began herding the Warblers into the school to their dressing room for his usual pre-competition pep talk. Blaine sighed and walked slowly over to get Kurt to come along or Wes would probably get agitated very quickly. Blaine sidled up beside the chestnut haired boy quietly before whispering in his ear. “Come on, time to go.”

Kurt jumped a little in surprise but laughed it off, sliding his hand down to grasp Blaine’s “Okay” he muttered before turning back to the girls who had watched the exchange with wide eyed expressions as though they were about to squeal over the cuteness.

“Hey Blaine.” They chorused with happy smiles as usual. Rachel and Mercedes gave him hugs and Finn greeted him with a “Hey dude” and a fist bump. “Hi you guys, sorry I have to steal Kurt away or Wes will go mad.” Blaine laughed and the others joined in. Over the summer Kurt and Blaine had introduced the Warblers and the New Directions and by now both teams were getting on like a house of fire.

It was almost as though that morning had never happened as Kurt and Blaine waited with the rest of the Warblers back stage. Blaine was gently massaging Kurt’s shoulders as Kurt leaned back into his chest, eyes closed as the curly haired boy muttered soft words into the taller boys’ ear, breath ghosting over the sensitive spot behind his ear. “You’re going to be great; we are going to be great. Like I said the last time; it’s adorable, you’re adorable.” Kurt chuckled lightly, remembering the first time he had a duet with Blaine in front of a competition audience.

They had been just weeks into their relationship; everything was new as they found how they worked together; not just vocally but as people. Now here they were a year later, knowing each other inside out so their bodies moved in synch without even realising they were doing it and their voices and minds so perfectly harmonised. This time they were singing a song they knew so perfectly, it was so them, it was everything that was just so KurtandBlaine.

Made a wrong turn once or twice Dug my way out, blood and fire Bad decisions, that's alright Welcome to my silly life…

This time both boys were filled with confidence as they sung. Even though there future was unclear, the path now lying before them was not one they had ever expected but they were finally accepting it with open arms because they knew that no matter what they had each other and that was enough to make it through.

Pretty, pretty please, if you ever, ever feel Like you're nothing, you are perfect to me.