He could still hear the other boy just on the level above with his parents. Wes and David had promised to send them on their way by eight and to keep Kurt entertained on the second level afterwards. Blaine hoped they’d come through.

The change happened differently every night for the twenty seven days that it took the moon to move across the sky. The worst was the full moon – it stayed up there longer and it had so much control over him that it was those nights he could barely remember what he’d done. Those were the nights he usually locked himself up. The New moon wasn’t all the gentle for him either, but the other phases he could deal with a little better.

Blaine didn’t need to lock himself up all the time and even this night wouldn’t be so hard the moon being at a crescent, but he was taking all precautions with Kurt in the house. He didn’t know what his alter ego would do. It was the unpredictability of it all that drove him crazy.

He grabbed the cupcake he’d been eating and bit into it with a moan. He tasted every ingredient down to the cocoa powder that Kurt must have used and that only made it better. Kurt was definitely a fantastic baker.

The door up in the first floor opened and Kurt was saying his goodbyes. All of his necessary things had arrived including three suitcases full of clothes that Kurt had squealed over earlier even while reprimanding his father about wrinkles. Blaine almost couldn’t stand knowing that Kurt was being separated from his family like this. Still though, if Kurt really was the one that would break the curse then it wouldn’t be forever. Blaine still didn’t know if he wanted to put all of his hopes on the fashionable boy.

He finished the cupcake and closed his eyes, lying still and waiting. Only half an hour later he felt the change begin.

The change began like a tickle under his skin right at the small of his back and then it spread and it was when the hair began to grow, as if it just popped out of his skin. It was soft to the touch at his stomach, but wiry in parts of his legs and arms and as it all grew in his bones too started changing and it was lucky that the breaking and changing of his bones broke was pain that he could block out. It was part of the curse, the pain that came from the change just didn’t register in his brain, the chemical reaction that occurred in one’s body that alerted the brain of the pain just didn’t happen and even though he could feel a kind of pressure as everything happened and changed, the pain was almost none existent.

Blaine closed his eyes and let it happen. There was a certain amount of time in which he felt uncomfortable and awkward in his body as it adjusted, and breathing was hard through all of it but in general Blaine had gotten so used to it that he tried to take it calmly and not move as it happened.

Upstairs Kurt was with Wes and David walking towards the stairs and finally going up to the second level. He let out a harsh breath. One last thing to worry about.

When the hair was all grown, covering all of his body including his face, and his bones on his arms and legs made him more apt for four legged walking, the transformation was complete and Blaine tried to hold back the howl that wanted to rip right out of his throat. His face had changed a little too. He had a bit of a snout, though not as extended as one would see on an actual wolf. Wes had joked once that he was kind of like a shit szu, with the squished nose.

The scents around him were even stronger, now, and his eyesight had gotten much better. He could see everything around him as clearly as he could see anything a few inches in front of him. As soon as he could he was up, first on his hands and legs and then on his legs.

It was awkward to stand like this, but he could manage and he preferred it that way too. His back ached a bit where his spine had changed some, but generally he’d be fine. He walked to the book he’d left out earlier and grabbed it with hands that had long fingernails but that hadn’t changed much more than that.

The cuts came from those nails, sharp and long on nights when he was locked up and the moon was full he couldn’t help causing himself harm and he hated to even admit to himself that sometimes he did it on purpose. Sometimes feeling that pain was the only thing that kept him feeling.

- - -

Wes and David had told him that it’d be better if he didn’t leave his room at night, but they hadn’t told him why.

For a while they hung out up there while Kurt was putting away his things and making sure everything was to his liking, but they’d both gone after a while and then Kurt had been on his own and there was so much he could do with the closet and wardrobe space. Once he finished putting as many of his clothes as he could Kurt had gotten bored and then he laid down on the bed and thought and it was only then that everything really hit him.

Reality and Kurt crashed into each other hard and suddenly it wasn’t worry for his father driving him or a need to make sure that Burt stayed away from the Dalton house. Now, he was there and there to stay and he wouldn’t see his dad or Carole until the next time they visited and Kurt couldn’t even be sure that the master would agree to it. He’d been weird about them leaving as quickly as possible before he’d gone off and never come back.

Kurt was stuck there at this house that was cableless and internetless and phoneless with a bunch of boys that wore some sort of school uniform and a master of the house that still had not showed Kurt his face. As it all finally fell into his head Kurt couldn’t help but let the dread what could come next wash over him.

Would he ever leave the house and see the outside world again? Would he ever be able to accomplish his dreams? Go to New York and fall in love and be on Broadway and achieve all the fame that he knew he deserved? Would he ever go shopping again for the latest trends?

Nothing was certain and yet everything told him that he was going to be stuck in that house with the other boys until whatever magic was holding him, let him go or if his dad took his place and that definitely wasn’t an option.

A howl broke through the house then and Kurt paused and gasped. What was that? The howl came again. He wanted to go out and figure out what it could be just as much as he wanted to curl up on the bed and pretend that he wasn’t hearing anything at all.

He took a look around the room. His life was going to be this; this room that didn’t describe him at all, and couldn’t hold all his clothes and didn’t accommodate for someone with a facial cleansing routine.

A knock on his door startled him, but then it opened. Thad stepped inside.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

Kurt nodded. “What was that, the howling?”

Thad stared at him for a while as if he were weighing Kurt to see how he would take it.

“It’s part of the curse,” Thad said, “and you’re going to find out soon enough anyway. He turns into a beast, a wolf sort of, every night.”

Kurt gasped. “But how?”

“I can’t tell you everything,” Thad said, “he has to, but he’s in the basement and he’s harmless really except if you anger him and he won’t hurt you so there’s nothing to worry about.”

Kurt somehow doubted that. Of course there was something to worry about. The master of the house was some sort of werewolf and even if he was locked up in the basement of the house Kurt couldn’t help but be scared for his life.

“Please don’t treat him differently,” Thad added, “it’s not his fault.”

“The scars,” he blurted out, “on his arms, they’re a part of this right?”

Thad only nodded. He made Kurt promise to not leave his room and now that he knew what was out there Kurt was definitely going to abide by that rule. Then, Thad left and Kurt was alone again.

He sat on the bed, right dab on the middle of it and he knew that sleep wouldn’t come easy if it even did at all. Never before had he felt so alone, not even with all the bullying at school had he felt this way because then he would have his room and his dad and he had glee club.

Glee club. Kurt hadn’t even though of them, and really no one could blame him for not. But he’d forgotten about his friends. What kind of explanation could they get? He might be able to talk to them on his cell phone still but only if he could get a signal in that house and it had been hard enough earlier when his dad called. The call had almost been cut off.

He didn’t let himself worry about them, though. Somehow they would get through and wouldn’t end up even needing him. They might even forget him if he spent enough time stuck in this house away from the rest of the world.

Kurt didn’t know when he fell asleep or how he even managed sleep, but sometime during the night he’d laid back and then just fallen asleep. When he woke up it was because he was cold and he heard another howl and scratching and whining. It was still dark out and Kurt got up to turn on the lamp.

He heard movement in the house, the creaking of a floorboard, the rustle of clothes, and footsteps and then a door slammed somewhere downstairs and then there was running. Kurt stood by the lamp, almost shaking, remembering there was a beast, as Thad had called the master, in the house.

His door was thrown open and he screamed.

“Kurt, oh my god,” Wes said, a hand coming to his chest, “are you okay?”

Kurt glared at the other boy. “You suck,” he told him, “you absolutely suck I thought…you’re a horrible person.”

Wes stared at him shocked. “You know?”

“Thad told me and it probably wasn’t a good idea to freak me out that way.”

“I was only coming in to ask if you wanted a snack,” Wes said, “maybe not the best idea?”

Kurt sighed. He really couldn’t hate Wes. “No, you know what, I could use a snack.” That’s how he found himself in Wes’ bedroom with some of his own baked goods, pop corn, and a movie playing on a TV that looked like it was at the very least some ten years old – definitely not the plasma flat screens he was used to.

“Don’t tell Thad or David I took you out of your room – they like stickling to rules and you were technically supposed to stay put.”

Kurt was already sure that he was really going to like Wes best out of all of them. He was after all the one that had gotten him to his dad. Kurt didn’t even fault him for now being stuck in this house away from his dad.

He fell asleep next to Wes and Wes must have dozed off at some point too because when Kurt woke up the next morning it was in Wes’ room with the other boy’s head on his shoulder and a crick on his neck.

Kurt crawled out of the bed and stretched, rubbing at his neck for a while before he checked the clock on Wes’ wall. It was only 6 am, but Kurt was used to waking up early to get himself ready for school. And since his dad’s heart attack he’d also been preparing his dad breakfast as well as leaving ready to just be warmed up lunch and making sure all his pills were out for him. He wasn’t surprised that he was up so early and not entirely tired.

He couldn’t hear anyone else up in the house, but he decided he could go make breakfast for everyone anyway. Even though he was a reluctant guest, Kurt couldn’t help but want to be a good one.

- - -

Blaine woke up on the stairs, fully naked and with fresh bruises and cuts marring his skin. His body was sore and hurt all over, but he still stood up and grabbed the extra clothes that he’d left out and slipped them on. He unlocked the door and closed it behind him and walked towards the kitchen to grab a water bottle. His senses were a little thrown right when he awoke, as if they too were groggy and just cranking up so he didn’t smell or hear anyone in the kitchen when he entered, but he did see Kurt and worse, Kurt saw him.

He was frozen on the spot and Kurt’s eyes had widened but they didn’t leave his uncovered face but neither did he act revolted or with some form of pity, all he saw was sadness and curiosity and shock.

“How are you?” he asked suddenly and it was then that Blaine was struck by how different Kurt was from anyone else.

“I – it was alright.”

He nodded and hummed, “I’m making breakfast.”

“Oh. You don’t have to.”

He grabbed a glass out of a cupboard and filled it up with water. He looked towards Kurt and watched him as he walked around the kitchen as if he already knew where everything was. He really was like nothing Blaine had ever expected.

“I know,” Kurt said, “I want to. You can help me if you want?”

Kurt also didn’t avoid looking at him. When he asked him to help, he turned directly towards Blaine, eyes not looking past him but directly at him.

“Why?” he asked and the question came out before he could stop it.

“Why what?” Kurt asked.

He was opening the bread bag, but paused to look at him again.

“Why aren’t you freaking out? My face, my scars, I’m a monster.”

“But you’re not,” Kurt countered, “you’re covered in scars that I can’t imagine are not painful and I know a lot of people would treat you differently because of it and even make fun of it, I don’t know – there are horrible people in this world – but I think being this monster because of a curse is a better fate than actually acting like a monster and so far I haven’t seen you do that.” Kurt smiled at him, and added, “now, can I ask something?”

Blaine nodded. “Yes?”

“Are you the Blaine Anderson in that picture out in your living room? The resemblance is uncanny but you’re…you can’t be that old…”

He was that Blaine Anderson. He was the boy in the picture that he remembered having to stand so still for. He was surprised that Kurt even knew his name, but then Kurt would never stop surprising him.

“I am,” he said.

“Wow,” Kurt muttered, “looking good for your age.”

Blaine laughed. “It’s part of the curse, Kurt. I don’t age – I won’t age, until it’s broken.”

“But it can be broken?”

He nodded. Of course it could be broken, there was only a question of if it ever would. Too many moments of false hope had left him not hoping at all and suddenly there was Kurt and Blaine didn’t want to let himself hope too much that this time it would be broken, that this time he’d found the person that could do it.

“I just don’t know if it ever will.”

Kurt returned to making breakfast, but he reached over and squeezed his arm. “I think it will.”

That made him hope more than ever.

“So, Blaine,” Kurt said, “how old are you, then?”

“Eighteen.”

Kurt rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean? And seriously, I don’t want to go through the whole Twilight convo because that’d be ridiculous.”

Blaine snorted. “Twilight, Kurt, really?”

Kurt shrugged. “Don’t judge me, I have a weakness for Taylor Lautner and you might even appreciate that I felt that way all things considered.”
“Thad told you?”

Kurt nodded. “I was wondering about the howling,” Kurt said and continued to scramble the eggs in a bowl while he looked at Blaine, “you know I won’t make you lock yourself up if that isn’t what you do normally.”

“It’s a precaution.”

“Not necessary.”

Kurt finished making breakfast quickly, as if it was something he did every day and Blaine couldn’t understand just why Kurt seemed to know his way around his kitchen better than Blaine.

“Should we wake the other boys or just leave them food?”

“Let them sleep,” Blaine said even though he knew Wes and David were probably going to start waking up soon. He wanted more time with Kurt on his own and if he had to lie to get it then he would.

“Okay,” Kurt said and sat down after placing two plates with food at the kitchen table.

- - -

Kurt found that he wasn’t too surprised that Blaine was such a likable guy. He looked almost nothing like the boy from the painting but Kurt found that he was glad that Blaine wasn’t the handsome boy that Kurt would have immediately crushed on without really getting a sense for a personality. For all that he knew to look past appearance, Kurt couldn’t deny that he did have an eye for beauty.

None of the other boys appeared while they ate breakfast and Kurt was glad, he was glad that he had this time with Blaine to really get to know the boy that had been cursed all those years ago. He wanted to know everything about the curse and how it had led Blaine to staying young for that long and how it fit with the whole turning into a beast every night thing. But he didn’t ask.

Instead, he let Blaine ask him questions.

“Is baking something you wanted to pursue?” He asked, “your cupcakes last night were delicious.”

“My mom was a baker,” he admitted, “she had a book full of recipes she’d gathered since she was little – some of them passed down through family, but a lot ones she made up or fixed up from a different source and before she died we baked together a lot and it’s something I do for her sort of, but it isn’t my dream no.”

Blaine hadn’t hesitated to grab his hand, a move of comfort, and Kurt had almost smiled at the gesture because now that he was finally getting to know Blaine, Kurt was sure that the cursed master of the house tried to act like the monster he thought everyone perceived him as even though really he seemed like the kind of guy that had just been wronged. Kurt intended to find everything about the curse out and break it if he could or find a way for someone else to do it.

“I’m sorry about your mom – I did wonder about Carole.”

“My dad’s girlfriend,” Kurt explained, “I think they’re going to get married someday. It’s actually…I set them up.” He couldn’t help a small laugh because of how ridiculous his reason had been for it all.

“Then what are you interested in? What did you want to do?”

Kurt paused before he answered. “I wanted to perform. Broadway. Or maybe go into fashion – but New York definitely. I guess…I guess I can’t do that anymore though.”

At that Blaine immediately closed down, he looked helpless as he stared at Kurt, as if he wanted to just in that moment say that he could go and that he wouldn’t hold him back like this, or make him part of his curse.

“It’s not your fault,” Kurt told him at once, “it’s the circumstances, and maybe…maybe we’ll find a way to break it and we’ll both be free.”

Blaine didn’t respond to that.

When they finished breakfast, Blaine decided to go get the other boys up and Kurt started cleaning up even though Blaine told him not to. But Kurt had been cleaning after everyone for as long as he could remember. His dad often made fun how he’d started dusting when he was three and really, truly liked it.

Wes, Thad, and David appeared a while later but Blaine didn’t and Kurt let them serve themselves while he finished up and then left the kitchen again.

He knew better than to wander around the house after the whole mess that had been caused by his father’s exploring, so instead he went back to his room and pulled out a notebook from the bunch he’d been brought. He needed to start writing notes on the curse and he needed to get as much information as he could on it. Kurt didn’t have much to start with, but he had asked his dad to bring his old books from back when he was fascinated with the Dalton house and the Andersons. So, he pulled them out and dropped them on the desk. He was going to get them out of this and not only because Blaine didn’t deserve this life, or the boys that had attached themselves to him, but neither could he give up his dreams.

He opened one and began reading.