Chapter Eighteen

Kurt jumped slightly at the ringing of his cellphone, frowning slightly as he glanced at the unknown number. He brushed his bangs out of his face and finally picked up the phone from his desk.

"Hello?" he asked with slight hesitance.

"Kurt?" came a tiny voice on the other end.

Kurt frowned. "Ella?" he responded questioningly. "Sweetheart, aren't you in school?"

"I am," she responded quickly. "I don't feel good and I wanna go home but Uncle Blaine isn't picking up—"

"Right," Kurt murmured, nodding absently. "He has class today."

"Can you come get me?" she pleaded. "Please, Kurt?"

"Of course, sweetie," Kurt responded. "Let me just finish up, and I'll be there in ten minutes."

"Thank you, Kurt," she said.

"Be there soon." He clicked the 'end call' button and pocketed his phone, quickly saving the article he'd been working on and shutting his laptop. He grabbed his keys and was in his car in moments.

Twenty minutes later, after finding Ella and signing her out at the front office, she climbed into the front seat of Kurt's car, her pink princess backpack at her feet. Kurt looked at her, concerned. "What's wrong, sweetheart?"

She tilted her head, looking vaguely confused for a moment. "Oh, my tummy hurts," she told him, and Kurt looked at her curiously. He narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Your tummy," he said slowly, and she nodded quickly. "Well, I'll get you home then, okay?" She nodded again.

Kurt gripped the wheel, thinking carefully for several moments. Then he shifted the car into gear and started driving in the opposite direction as Ella pressed the side of her face to the cold car window, unaware.

"I'm sorry you're sick," Kurt sighed, pulling into a parking lot. Ella sat up a little bit, her eyes widening as she looked out the window.

"What are we doing here?" she asked, turning to Kurt.

"Well, I was kind of hungry," Kurt told her, off-handedly. "I was thinking that getting some pizza sounded like a good idea. But if you're sick... I guess I'll be eating alone."

Ella squirmed in her seat, frowning. She nodded slowly.

"Come on," he said. "Can't have you sitting in the car during the wait. I'll get it to go, but..."

Ella nodded again and unbuckled her seatbelt. She clambered out of the car and met Kurt in the front of it. Kurt took a deep breath as he looked down at the little girl. "Now, I can give you another option," he told her. "We sit down out here," he said, nodding to the bench out front, "and you tell me the real reason that I came to pick you up from school early."

Ella stared at him, biting her lip and seeming to weigh her options. At last she nodded and Kurt gently placed a hand behind her, guiding her to the bench at the side of the building. She jumped up onto the seat, letting her feet swing back and forth, and staring at the ground.

"I hate school," Ella grumbled, and Kurt sighed, kneeling in front of the girl. "And I hate Andrew."

"Why?" Kurt asked gently.

"Because he's mean," Ella said, sniffing suddenly. She raised her hands to her eyes, rubbing at them.

"Sweetheart, what happened?" Kurt pressed on.

"H-he said th-that my Uncle Blaine is a b-bad man," Ella told him, tears falling from her eyes. "He said th-that it's wrong to—to—"

"To be gay," Kurt finished for her, swallowing thickly. She nodded again, swiping at her eyes. Kurt pushed a few of her dark curls out of her face, a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Sweetheart, I... I am so sorry." He sighed frustratedly. "This isn't... this isn't something you should be thinking ... especially not now, when you're so young."

"I don't understand how it c-could be b-bad," she said, sniveling. "You a-and Uncle Blaine are s-so h-happy!"

Kurt sighed, brushing back her hair again. "I know," he murmured, and he finally got up off of his knees, taking a seat beside Ella. "Some people will never be able to see that. They're just going to always see it as wrong."

"But that's not fair," Ella pressed on. "Everyone should get a fairy tale ending!" Kurt merely smiled sadly at her. "And—and you to love each other so much," she continued, and Kurt raised his eyebrows slightly. "I can tell."

"You can, can you?" he asked hesitantly.

She nodded quickly. "I can," she said. "Every time Uncle Blaine looks at you he gets the same goofy look that Aladdin does with Jasmine." She paused, looking up at him, finally looking less sad. "And you smile at him like Rapunzel," she said simply.

"And that means we're in love?" Kurt asked her with a small smile.

"Of course you are," she said. She frowned. "You do love Uncle Blaine, don't you?"

Kurt licked his lips, feeling the heat rise in his cheeks. "You'll keep it a secret if I tell you?" he asked, leaning close to her, and she nodded. "Promise not to tell," he told her.

"I promise!" she assured him quickly, folding her feet up beneath her and looking up at Kurt expectantly.

"I do love him," he told her with a smile. "A lot."

She beamed at him, but her face fell after a moment. "Can you keep my secret then?" she asked him hopefully. "I don't wanna tell Uncle Blaine what Andrew said. I don't want to make him sad."

Kurt nodded. "I think we can arrange that," he told her. "Now, what do you say to some pizza? Then we can head to my place and you can show me these goofy faces Aladdin makes at Jasmine."

"Blackbird singing in the dead of night," Kurt sang quietly, brushing his son's bangs out of his face. Night had come at last, Ella already fast asleep in the guest room, and now was time for Aiden to be put to sleep. "Take these sunken eyes and learn to see. All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to be free." Kurt listened as Aiden's breath continued to steady out, watching as the boy's eyelashes ceased to flutter. "Blackbird fly, blackbird fly into the night of the dark black night..." He ran his thumb along his son's cheekbone, feeling his breath against his wrist. "Blackbird singing in the dead of night, take these broken wings and learn to fly. All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arise. You were only waiting for this moment to arise. You were only waiting for this moment to arise..."

He pressed a swift kiss to Aiden's forehead, quietly standing up and smiling down at his son for a moment before walking to the door. Kurt silently crept out, shutting the door behind him with a soft click. He turned and caught sight of Blaine leaning against the opposite wall.

"Jesus," he breathed out. "You just scared me half to death."

Blaine chuckled. "Sorry," he murmured. He smiled briefly at Kurt, a strange expression in his eyes. "I can't remember the last time I heard that song," he said suddenly. "Probably when you sang it in high school."

Kurt sighed. "Ah yes, for Pavarotti. May he rest in peace..."

Blaine nodded. He opened his mouth to speak, but he paused, laughing quietly. He shook his head, looking away. "The last time I heard you sing that song, I fell in love with you."

Kurt stared at him for a moment. "And now?" he asked quietly. Blaine looked up at him. However, the quiet was broken the ringing of his phone.

"That'll be Rachel," he murmured, digging his phone out of his pocket. "She said she'd call earlier about Ella's voice lessons... I have to—"

"Yeah, no, definitely," Kurt said assuringly, and Blaine answered the phone, quickly descending the stairs so that there might be less of a chance for Aiden or Ella to hear him and wake up.

After Blaine had disappeared, Kurt slowly walked into his bedroom, settling himself on his bed. He desperately wondered what had possessed him to ask Blaine the question. He wondered what the answer might be. He wondered if he honestly wanted to know.

He glanced up as Blaine returned, pocketing his phone as he stood in the doorway. He licked his lips nervously.

"No," he said.

"What?" Kurt asked.

"The answer to your question is no," Blaine said, slowly approaching, and Kurt felt something inside him twist strangely.

"Oh," he responded lamely. He didn't know why he had half-expected a different answer. But he had, letting himself believe in Ella's fairy tale ideals and now there was a strange, numb feeling in his chest. He stared intently at the objects on his dresser without really seeing them, simply searching for anything else to pay attention to that wasn't Blaine.

However, Blaine reached for Kurt's face, placing a hand on his cheek and forcing their eyes to meet. "But that's only because I was already in love with you," he whispered, and he quickly captured Kurt's lips in his own. It was heated and rough and Kurt was already thinking incoherently, but this was almost too much.

"Oh," Kurt breathed out again as Blaine pulled away to press a line of kisses to his jaw.

He felt Blaine's lips twitch into a smile against his skin. "Oh?" he asked.

"Oh," Kurt repeated, finally regaining control over his mind. He cupped Blaine's face in his hands, letting his lips find Blaine's. "That's good."

"Good?" Blaine questioned in between kisses, and Kurt hummed against his lips response. "Why good?"

Kurt pulled away, his eyes flickering across Blaine's face, still with a hint of uncertainty. "I love you," he responded. He felt a sudden lightness. "I love you," he repeated, grinning a little more surely.

Blaine swept in to kiss him again, pulling the other man desperately close to him. He smiled against Kurt's mouth, and they kissed slowly yet eagerly. Their hands moved gently, softly, always refamiliarizing themselves with the skin they used to know so well, cataloguing each and every change that had occurred over the years. He hoped he never had to miss another moment of this man's life, hoped that he would never have to let him go. He desperately needed this. He needed Blaine.