The Beach House – Chapter Six – The Date

“The surprises from today are just...neverending,” Kurt said when he realized Blaine was still awake. It was a quarter of three in the morning and Kurt had found himself awake, so he went to the bathroom and was back in bed as quietly as he could be. It was of no use, Blaines eyes were shiny in the dark room.

“I thought for a minute there that I was dreaming, but I felt you get up and I couldnt go back to sleep,” Blaine said.

“Im so sorry. You used to be able to sleep through anything – I guess there is one aspect of you that actually has changed,” Kurt teased.

“It comes with parenthood. It didnt take long after I had Danny that I was awake every time he rolled over in his crib,” Blaine chuckled. “Just wait – youll find out when you have children...”

Kurt sat back, his head buzzing as he realized what Blaine was saying.

“You think Im going to be a father one day?” Kurt asked, incredulous.

“Oh, Kurt. You always wanted to be a father, and Burt wanted grandkids even more. I cant imagine you not having a baby of your own – I can just imagine her with long chestnut hair and big blue eyes. I guess I used to dream about the day when we...” Blaine stopped suddenly, his face blushing a deep red.

“Oh, my God, Kurt. I am so sorry...I ...um...I know that is none of my business. Please accept my apology, I didnt mean any harm by what I said.” Blaine hung his head, shaking it back and forth for a few moments.

Kurt sat stiffly, his brain working overtime. He should be offended, but he wasnt. Hed imagined a little boy with Blaines silky curls and his bright hazel eyes – those long eyelashes fanned across the rosy cheeks. Then he realized something. That was the exact description of Daniel. He wasnt ready to admit it, but Blaine was who he thought of when he found the wet and shivering little boy behind the trash can in the pavilion. He wasnt even that surprised when the boy said his last name was Anderson.

Kurt looked up at Blaine, taking in the sheepish look on his face. He had said...? Oh, hed apologized for telling Kurt what he had dreamed when they were together.

“You dont need to apologize, I was thinking the same thing back then. The difference is – I got to see my dream come true. Daniel looks just like you,” Kurt smiled. He reached across the bad and took Blaines hand in his own.

Blaine blushed. He knew there was a resemblance, and he was happy that Kurt saw it, too. He remembered the late night talks about the future, their future together and he recalled that they had always ended it with talking about their children. They wanted two, one of Blaines DNA and one with Kurts. How could he have forgotten that?

“Kurt?”

“Yeah?”

“So, let me make sure I understand whats happened here. You want to try again?” Blaine asked. It was what he wanted more than anything in the world, but he was scared at the same time.

“Yes. Dont you?”

“Yes, Kurt. I really do. I tried to move on, but....”

“...but it was never right? Yeah, thats what happened with me, too.” Kurt finished Blaines sentence for him.

It was quiet for a few minutes, each man with his own thoughts. Kurt moved, his hands now framing Blaines face and just gazed at him. He blinked a few times, as if he couldnt believe Blaine was real, and then kissed him. It was soft and sweet and everything they wanted it to be. Blaine kissed back, his eyes closing as he hummed in satisfaction. They continued to kiss, just soft touching of lips – not deepening it to passion yet. Slowly Kurt moved his body to cover Blaine, resting most of his weight on his knees and arms, and lowered himself so he was touching all of Blaine. He could feel the heat from his body, the stiffness that hardened as Kurt moved gently across him.

Blaine was losing himself in it. His body remembered how to do this, it wanted to respond immediately to this man. But was he afraid. He had been in love with Kurt from the first, and fell deeper in love every day since. He pushed closer, feeling the warmth and remembering how passionate Kurt could be.

“Blaine...” Kurt gasped, letting his emotions run away with him. He kissed Blaine again, his mind drifting off to other days.

“We need to talk this over....” Blaine said, putting a stop to Kurts actions. He froze for a moment, then pulled back. “I think we need to think this over carefully, we need to come back together with no reservations. We cant make that decision in the first hours we see each other again.”

“Yeah, I understand. We need to be sure the playing field is level – that everything is okay between us. How do you want to do that?” Kurt asked.

“How about we take a vacation? I own a small house on the beach, my grandmother left me her summer house when she passed away a few years ago. Would you consider going there with me, maybe stay for a week?” Blaine asked, hoping Kurt would find that a good place to rekindle their love.

“Oh, that sounds perfect,” Kurt said before he had given it any thought. “I can take some time off, lord knows I havent taken a vacation in two years at least. Are you free to go?” Kurt asked, his hope plain on his face.

“Yeah, I just got done with the rewrite of the play theyre doing at the Belasco. They had opening night, so Im free for a while. I know Danny will love it, he loves the beach,” Blaine said.

Kurt startled. He had forgotten about Danny. Would Blaine be able to concentrate with his young son there? Kurt was willing to try.

“Okay. We can make plans tomorrow. Im still so tired, though – can we try to get some sleep?” he asked. Blaine smiled. He knew that Kurt could burn the candle at both ends for a while, but it always came to the day he had to get his rest. Kurt was a marathon sleeper when he was tired.

“Sure, Kurt. Im just going to step into the other room to check on Danny. He might be feeling strange sleeping somewhere other than his own bed,” Blaine whispered, opening the door gently. Kurt gave him a sleepy smile and turned over to fall back asleep.

In the early afternoon, Kurt woke when the sun poured through the window to fill his bedroom with light.

“Blaine?” he asked as he woke up, feeling behind him for his ex. The bed was cold. He got up, pulling on a robe and stumbling into the living room. There was no trace of Blaine or his young son anywhere. The dishes from last night were washed and put away, the counters and stove scrubbed to a bright glimmer. The only thing that was out of place was an envelope sitting on the mahogany coffee table with his name on it in flowing script.

Sitting on the sofa where that darling little boy had been sleeping, Kurt opened the envelope:

Dear Kurt,

I didnt want to wake you, you looked so peaceful.

Danny woke a bit confused and worried. He had such a hard day yesterday – being abandoned by people whom he trusted in the scary thunderstorm took its toll. Lucky for him, an Angel was there to rescue him. He asked me about the Angel this morning and I told him we would go home and maybe we could meet the Angel for supper.

If that fits into your plans, please call me and we can arrange it. Danny wants to say Thank-you.

Love, Blaine

Kurt grinned. Of course he wanted to meet them for supper!

Ring, Ring.

Blaine: Hello?

Kurt: Is this the father of Daniel?

Blaine: (laughing) Yes, it is. How can I help you?

Kurt: I would like to take young Daniel up on his offer of supper tonight. Is that invitation still available?

Blaine: Of course! How does 6:30 sound?

Kurt: Too far away I think...

Blaine: Sure, how about 5:30?

Kurt: Sounds perfect. Where can we meet?

Blaine: Do you know Renais? On 69th?

Kurt: Yes, I do. I love that place. So, I will meet you there at 5:30.

Blaine: The Anderson men are looking forward to it.

Kurt smiled. He had a few hours and decided to go to his studio to take stock of what he needed to work on to get the place ready for him to leave on vacation. He dressed quickly and caught the subway to his old Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood.

Walking into the studio, Kurt looked around in a way he hadnt in a long, long time. Hed kept the loft, maybe as a memento of his time with Blaine, or maybe because he just couldnt let go. He wondered what Blaine would think if he knew – make that when, not if. Kurt was determined to rekindle their romance. Hed spent too many years pining over his lost love not to want to make it work this time.

Kurt walked over to the small space he used for entertaining clients. It was set up like a small sitting room in the space that once held his dining room. Touching the harlequin lamp that Blaine had chosen at the Chelsea Flea Market, Kurt had tears in his eyes at the thought of how he felt so many years ago. He recalled the feeling from that day, as if nothing in the world could touch him in his joy - the joy of being with Blaine, the man of his dreams since he was fifteen years old. And now, after so many years of crying himself to sleep, his life suddenly seemed full of promise once again.

The printer sat down on the old leather sofa, his favorite place to relax in the studio. He glanced over the equipment hed purchased, one piece at a time, making sure he got the best quality his money could buy. He wanted his work to be the best, and he worked hard to make it that way.

Kurt used his computers, he owned several, but loved the old way of making prints more. Hed been lucky to find an older lithographer that was retiring, willing to let Kurt buy his machines because he showed such an interest in the old way of doing things.

Feeling restless, Kurt got up to walk along the far wall where he kept the chemicals used in his trade. There were cans and bottles, tins and containers, all lined up on the wooden shelves where his bedroom used to be. He reached out a hand to touch the labels: linseed oil, calcium nitrate, aqueous solution of gum arabic. He remembered when hed taken classes in lithographic printing – how all these names seemed so exotic and magical. There were acids and bases, pigments and ink, neatly arranged in order of use. Each had a purpose in the process and Kurt knew what to do each one.

He moved to the tall oak cabinets, the large but shallow drawers that he bought from an old defunct map company to hold his prints and papers. Here he had paper from all over the world: mulberry paper from Japan, papyrus from Israel, and hemp from China. He knew how to make paper by hand – hed spent months playing with the pulp, china clay, and chalk to make the bright white paper he wanted. He worked with the frames and screens until hed perfected his process. Just touching the deckled edges of his favorites made him flush with pride. Kurt was a perfectionist at heart and he knew he was good at what he did.

Walking around to the press that stood in the corner, Kurt was careful not to touch anything with ink still on it. India ink could stain. Hed had to re-enforce the floor here, the printing press was so heavy and printing on it was a workout that developed his muscles over the years into hard and defined pectorals, biceps, and triceps. It was real work to run the press, plus the lifting of all the components – boxes of lead type, bottles of alcohol to mix the inks, pumping his foot to raise the platen to the rollers.

A smile came over his face as he thought of all the nights when he was exhausted from school, working his internship at Vogue, and using the press to print innumerable invitations, announcements, and calling cards hed done to earn the money for more equipment. His hand gave him a twinge as he thought about the late nights hed spent hand addressing so many of those - wedding invitations, graduation announcements – with his calligraphy pens and fancy colored ink. He didnt use it as often nowadays, but couldnt bear to part with the ancient press.

On the west wall were some of the antique treasures hed collected – a few etched limestone slabs once used in the early days of lithography that hed found on a trip to Belgium, some copper and zinc plates used in intaglio printmaking, and a collection of small woodblocks that his father had given him for Christmas last year. He smiled, thinking of the wall as his own personal printing museum.

Finally moving to his desk, Kurt sat down and looked through the calendar he kept there. No, there was nothing pressing that he had to have done in the next few weeks. It was a bit of a lull in business this time of year and Kurt was happy that he could go without any jobs hanging over his head.

It was still a few hours before he would meet Blaine and Danny at the restaurant, so he looked around for something to occupy his time. He had some old prints in the back room of circus animals that hed taken from a picture book he gotten at the flea market. He was always on the lookout for something unusual and hed been a die-hard fan of flea markets since the days when he went there with Blaine, Rachel, and Finn.

“Here they are,” he said to the cat, Piers, who he had brought to the studio with him. Kurt found the old book and brought it out into the light. It had bright colors in spite of its age and would be the perfect gift for little Danny. Kurt spent the next two hours cutting mats and framing three of the pictures. He finally looked up from his work, surprised to find that it was time to leave if he was going to meet Blaine on time. He quickly wrapped the pictures in brown paper, tied it all together with a bright orange ribbon and was out the door, hailing a cab.

That morning, Blaine had woken up early in Kurts bed. Well, earlier than Kurt anyway. He looked around, finding the clock on the wall and seeing it was already 8:30. He yawned and sat up. Kurts arms moved to pull him back, but he slid out of his reach and kissed the man on his cheek. Kurt sighed and went deeper asleep.

Walking into the outer room, Blaine was happy to find that Danny was just opening his eyes.

“Daddy?” he asked, looking around him at the strange room. “Where are we?”

“Remember yesterday, baby? You were lost in the park and a man saved you. He brought you to his apartment and called me,” Blaine said to jog his sons memory.

“Oh! Yes, the Angel Man. He wrapped me in his jacket and carried me here. He was warm. I was cold and hungry and that man helped me,” Daniel said, remembering the events of the day.

“Yes, he did. Do you remember his name?”

“Angel.”

“Oh, Danno, I agree, he was your guardian angel, wasnt he? He kept you safe for me. His name is Mr. Hummel,” Blaine explained to his son, hugging the boy tight to his chest for a moment.

“He said for me to say Kurt, not a mister name,” Danny corrected his father, smiling.

“Yes, honey, his name is Kurt and hes a special friend of Daddys,” Blaine said.

“Like Ginny is to me?” Danny asked, using the name of his cousin who lived down the block from them.

“Yes, kind of like that,” Blaine agreed. “Now, we need to get dressed.”

Blaine went to Kurts laundry room and took Dannys clothes from the dryer. He folded Kurts things and left them neatly on the folding table and went back to Danny.

“Here we go!” he cheered, helping his son take off the borrowed T-shirt and put on his own yellow striped shirt and green corduroy pants.

“Can we eat breakfast?” Danny asked. Blaine stood for a moment, wondering if he should wake Kurt, but decided not to.

“Lets see what we can find in the kitchen, pal,” he said as he scooped his son up and walked to the kitchen. He found cereal and milk, got out a bowl and fixed it for Dannys breakfast. While his three year old was eating, he found paper and pen and wrote a quick note to Kurt.

Quickly washing up, Blaine decided to leave before Kurt woke up in case it was awkward. He thought Kurt might need a little while to get used to the idea before they were together again.

The weather was warm and dry today, so he picked up his small son and walked home. It was less than six blocks and Blaine marveled at the fact that they lived so close, but never saw each other before yesterday.

Blaine was doing a few chores around the house, making sure everything was ready for him to leave on vacation. He and Danny walked down the block to his brothers house. Back in Ohio, Quinn had lived near Blaine and they had been friends since high school. When Quinn went to college, she found Cooper was taking classes at the same university. Quinn and Cooper started to date and got married when they finished college. They moved to New York so she could continue her schooling and now she was a Nurse Practitioner. Cooper was a chemist at a medical laboratory.

Blaine had come to see if Quinn could keep an eye on his place, stop by to water the plants and feed the fish while he went to his beach house.

“Im more than happy to help. Hows Daniel?” she asked.

“Fine, now,” Blaine answered.

“What do you mean now?” Quinn asked.

“Well, he got lost yesterday at daycare. When the storm broke, the preschool teachers had taken the kids to the park. He somehow got lost and they didnt discover it for three HOURS. I was frantic. I was at the park looking for him, the police were there...and I got a phone call from a man that had found Danny,” Blaine told her.

“Oh, my God, Blaine!” Quinn swore, her eyes big as she listened.

“Oh, that isnt all. Danny had gotten soaked in the process and was hiding behind a trash receptacle by the back wall of the pavilion. The man had ducked in there to get out of the rain on his way home and found Danny. He knew a three year old shouldnt be on his own, so he took him to his apartment a few blocks away to get him warm. His phone had died, but as soon as it was charged enough, Danny gave him my number.”

“Oh, Blaine...is Danny okay? Was the man a good person?” she asked in horror, pulling her daughter closer to her. Ginny was the same age as Danny.

“You wont believe it when I tell you...”

“What?” Quinn asked, ready for more bad news. She looked at Danny to be sure he was okay.

“I got to the mans apartment – he lives just a few blocks over on 173rd. I knocked and he opened the door. I didnt look at him, just at Danny in his arms. Then I heard a gasp and look up into his face...” Blaine took a big breath. He was trying not to let his emotions take over. Quinn noticed this and put a hand to his cheek.

“Oh, Blaine, honey – you look pale. Who was it?”

“It was Kurt.”

“Ah....Kurt? Wait...Kurt Hummel???”

“Yeah. You could have knocked me over with a feather. Yes, it was Kurt Hummel in the flesh, standing there with Danny in his arms.”

“Oh, my God, Blaine! What is he doing here? I havent heard from him in years. He left NYADA I know, but we kind of lost track of each other after that. Oh...I just cant believe that,” Quinn went on. “How are you now?” She knew about their break-up years ago, knew the toll it took on Blaine.

“I think it was okay. I mean, I was so upset about Danny – thinking he was lost or hurt or...well, you know. He could have tried to cross a street or someone might have taken him. I was so relieved that he was safe, and that was all I was thinking. Then a while later, Kurt made us some soup and we were talking. Danny had fallen asleep on the sofa and Kurt asked if we wanted to spend the night,” Blaine paused, not believing the events of the day before himself.

“Blaine!! You didnt!!” Quinn shrieked. The children had gone into Ginnys room to play but they came running to see what the problem was, looking a bit worried.

“Dont worry, I was telling your mama a story. Everything is fine,” Blaine explained to Ginny and Danny.

“No, Quinn, it isnt what youre thinking. Dannys clothes were soaking wet. Kurt had put them in the dryer and the poor kid was sound asleep after his ordeal – he was really frightened by the time Kurt found him. We were so tired and it was cold outside and coming on to night. We just slept there. Nothing happened. Kurt and I just talked. Im not crazy you know,” Blaine huffed.

“Like a guardian angel...” Quinn said, the look of astonishment morphing into amazement on her face. “Sorry, I shouldnt have jumped to conclusions. Wow, Kurt – living just a few blocks away. This is a small world, isnt it?” she smiled.

“It is. Well, Im going to supper with him tonight. I dont know what will happen, but it was good to see him again, Quinn. So good,” Blaines eyes sparkled as he remembered the night before with Kurt. The fond look in his eyes was not lost on Quinn. “We talked most of the night, and I think theres still something there. I want to find out,” Blaine said, a bit afraid of what Quinn might say. He neednt have worried.

“Blaine, I am glad for you, if this is what you want. Maybe we can get together with Kurt for supper one day, he and I were friends in high school, maybe we can be again,” she said softly. Her mind was on her brother-in-law, however. She worried about what could happen. She had been one of the few people he had contacted after his sudden departure from New York. Quinn had been in Connecticut at the time, finishing her pre-med degree, but she had actually flown out to California to see Blaine a few times and later she and Cooper had chosen to live close to Blaine when they settled back in New York.

“I had best get Danny home for his nap. He had such a hard day yesterday, I know hes tired,” Blaine wound up the conversation.

“Sure. It was good to see you, Blaine. Im happy to help water the plants and all. Youve done it for me often enough,” she laughed. She and Cooper were often on the road for one reason or another. “Hug Kurt for me, okay? And....well, take care of yourself. Im always here if you need someone to talk to,” Quinn said, hugging her brother-in-law.

“Thanks, Quinn. Say hey to Cooper for me.”

Blaine put Danny to bed as soon as they got home. The tired boy was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Blaine sat on the side of the bed, stroking Daniels hair for a few minutes. He seemed a little warm to the touch, but maybe hed just gotten heated on the walk home.

Seeing that his son was sound asleep, Blaine walked back into his own room, putting away laundry, dusting shelves, finding things to occupy his time until they left for supper. He couldnt help but think of all the good times he and Kurt had before the last fight.

After that fateful night of the break-up, Blaine had missed Kurt so much it had hurt more than he had ever thought possible. Was he brave enough to try again? Maybe he should get a second opinion. He dialed his brothers number. Coopers voice came on immediately, giving him instructions to leave a message or call back later. There was no easy way to tell Cooper all he was thinking in a phone message.

Blaine blurted out, “I found Kurt. Call me.” before hanging up.

“Daddy, we need to hurry!” Danny shouted. “Hes already here!” They were in front of the restaurant and Danny could see Kurt through the front window.

“Okay, champ, calm down. Were going in now,” Blaine said, grinning at Kurt as he waved at Danny through the window.