Chapter 14

Early the next day Rachel, Burt and Carole took off to get Finn, while Kurt and Puck stayed at the apartment, preparing the tables and the food (though it would be more truthful to say that Kurt was cooking and Puck was trying to snatch and eat as much of the food as possible). Brittany and Santana went for a walk around Greenpoint, promising to come back before Finn's arrival.

Before noon Blaine came, distracting Kurt with a kiss for long enough for Puck to dip his finger in the cranberry sauce without the cook noticing.

Soon after, there was a knock on the door, and the beaming faces of Mr Berrys appeared. Although they were a little disappointed their daughter left them without a guide, they were quite understanding of her motivations.

'Young love,' sighed Hiram. 'Do you think they're going to marry after all, Kurt?'

'Oh, yes. It's just a matter of time.'

When the girls came back, giggling and holding hands, they were greeted by hugs, kisses on the cheeks and a flood of compliments.

'Santana, beautiful as always!,' said LeRoy. 'You too, Brittany.'

'The rest couldn't come?,' asked Hiram.

'No. Quinn and Artie are too busy with their college stuff, Tina and Mike have some big Asian family gathering, Mercedes is recording her album,' Kurt emphasized, 'and there was something about the studio schedules…'

A catching-up session followed, just to be interrupted by another knock on the door, that this time revealed Burt, Carole and Rachel, who were helping Finn walk on crutches.

'So I assume you're still completely uncoordinated,' Santana greeted him.

And Finn smiled. Uncertainly and fleetingly, but he did, without a doubt.

All was well.

***

The dinner was served and eaten, the food complimented. Warmth and thankfulness were spreading thickly along the three uneven tables put in a long line that went through the whole length of the living room. Toasts were proposed and drunk. Cheerfulness pervaded, and even Finn seemed happy.

'I'd like to just say how thankful I am that all of you came here,' he said, standing up unsteadily with a glass of orange juice in his hand. 'And to Kurt, for putting everything together, Thanksgiving, the show at Keller, everything. And most of all, I'm just grateful that I'm alive.' The mood became more solemn; Carole started wiping her eyes with her napkin. 'And it's kinda a crappy toast, it should be booze, but I'm on drugs, so forgive me that.'

And they laughed heartily, with tears still glistening in a few pairs of eyes. A huge sniff came from the opposite end of the table, where Puck was sitting.

The holiday dinner ended early, and Finn was driven back to the hospital with the same entourage as the one that brought him to Greenpoint. Kurt collected the dishes to wash them, while Brittany and Santana took to packing the leftovers – although they seemed to be spending much more time stealing kisses. Finally, Blaine and Puck could remove the tables and chairs that occupied most of the center of the room.

And when all was clean and tidy, Kurt led Blaine by the hand to his room, and landed a kiss on his lips the second the door closed.

'Do you know what I am most thankful for this year?,' he asked, leaning his forehead on Blaine's.

'Yeah?'

'You.'

Blaine's heart skipped a beat just to resume working twice as fast, when Kurt's mouth touched his once more.

'I'm thankful for you, too. You have no idea how thankful I am,' he managed to cut in between kisses.

'Are you staying for the night?,' Kurt asked, backing out a little.

'I wish I could, but we're leaving for West Point early, and I have to get my clothes anyway. And get my beauty sleep.'

He sent Kurt a smile.

'Too bad. Especially considering you could get your beauty sleep here. And I bet it would be more pleasant than at some dorm.' Kurt grinned playfully. 'But clothes… I get that.'

After they had kissed and hugged goodbye in the doorway, Puck stopped Kurt in the room.

'You two look good together.'

'Thanks,' Kurt said with a smile.

Yes, they did.

***

Blaine returned to Greenpoint early in the morning, just in time to have coffee with Kurt before his parents showed up to pick them and Rachel up for West Point. The others were renting another car, and were supposed to swing by the NYADA dorms and help with the instruments and amps. Even though the concert wasn't starting until five p.m., they had to show up at Keller much earlier, so that everything could be thoroughly rehearsed.

Kurt got squeezed onto the back seat between Blaine and Rachel; he was fine with it only because he had an excuse to snuggle his side up his boyfriend's. Blaine didn't seem to mind it at all either, and took Kurt's hand the moment the car set out. They paid hardly any attention to whatever was going on in the car, unless they were addressed directly – which they weren't very often. They spent the hour and a half on exchanging lingering looks, and enjoying the simple pleasure of each other's touch.

Once at Keller, Kurt announced he had to check whether everything was fine with the lecture hall, and Blaine volunteered to keep him company. They directed their steps down the quiet, almost entirely empty corridors. Kurt's hand wandered into Blaine's palm, their fingers interlocking.

It seemed to them everything was prepared, and soon enough Kurt's cell started ringing.

'So we're here, but we have no idea where to go now,' said Puck on the other side of the line.

They were then forced to make a trip back to the parking lot to guide ex-Glee clubbers and NYADA musicians into the hospital.

As they neared the van that brought the backing band and most of their stuff, Blaine noticed a familiar, yet unexpected figure amongst the small crowd.

'What are you doing here?,' he asked Trent the moment they reached the car.

'Oh, hi, Blaine, Kurt.'

The latter's eyebrows shot up; Blaine had told him Trent had abandoned his d-bag ways, but neither him, nor his boyfriend expected to see him in West Point.

'I just thought I'd help out. And you never know how many people will show up, so if you need to have some fake crowd, I'll be it.'

Trent turned to get an amplifier out of the cavernous trunk.

'Okay, so that was weird,' stated Kurt, turning to look at a shocked Blaine.

'Oh yeah.'

***

The couple of hours left before lunch were spent on intensive rehearsal, until everyone agreed everything sounded just right. In the middle of the practice session Finn hobbled into the lecture hall, just to be kicked out ruthlessly by Kurt.

'You're going to hear it along with all the regular people, now off you go!,' he scolded his brother, shutting the door in his face.

When lunchtime came, the hospital cafeteria was buzzing; they were even forced to wait for a table, the crowd of visiting families was so great. Kurt managed to listen in on some of the conversations conducted around them and establish that the show was a much talked about topic, and they didn't have to worry they'd play for an audience of four.

Suddenly, amongst the hubbub of the cafeteria, Kurt noticed a hand waving at him. It took him a moment to see the body it was attached to, and recognized it – with some uneasiness – as Sean.

'Um- Blaine- Sean's waving at me. Do you think we could…?' He checked Blaine's expression; he could swear his face twitched slightly before he answered.

'Sure.'

Kurt grasped Blaine's hand firmly, and they marched through the crowd, picking their way between tables and people to the other, much quieter side of the cafeteria. Sean was sitting across from a man, whom Kurt recognized as the nurse's boyfriend, at a long, otherwise empty table.

'Hi, Kurt. I noticed you're in a need of a table, so maybe you want to join us?' Sean flashed him a pleasant smile, which Kurt automatically mirrored. 'Oh, and this is Vince, by the way.'

'Pleasure,' said Kurt, extending his free right hand to Vince. 'And this is my boyfriend, Blaine.'

Blaine couldn't help, but beam at the way Kurt introduced him.

'But there are more of us, won't that be a problem?,' Kurt asked, motioning in the direction of the rest.

'Oh, that won't be a problem, I guess. It would actually be a nice thing not to have people turn away from our table, when they don't know how to act around us.' Sean shrugged, but it clearly bothered him.

'Well then, this will probably be the gayest lunch party in the history of Keller Army Community Hospital. Not to mention the most fabulous.' Kurt beckoned to the rest to join them. And he could see Sean's jaw drop a little as he introduced some of his friends. But it was a positive surprise.

***

The show was due to start in five minutes, and patients were filling the room along with their families. Kurt could easily see a resemblance between Finn and the other injured soldiers; some had the dead eyes he had when he was first wheeled into the hospital, others smiled with the same uncertainty as Finn in the last few days.

Few seats were left unoccupied, and familiar faces could be spotted in the first rows. Now it was time. Just a minute more to wait for latecomers.

Blaine gave Kurt an encouraging grin from the first row, where all the performers were sitting.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself down, as he always did when speaking publicly or performing, Kurt ascended the few steps leading onto the tiny stage.

'Ladies and gentlemen,' he began, 'welcome to the first ever Thanksgiving concert at Keller Army Community Hospital. I am very glad to see you in such great numbers. The purpose of this event is to show our soldiers our love and undying support. Let them remember there are people around them, who will always be there for them, who will love them unconditionally, and who will help them through whatever they are coming through. We might not be able to fully understand what they have suffered, but we're here to listen, or to be silent with them, to hug, and to say everything will be fine in the end.' Kurt paused, feeling the first lonesome tear rolling down his cheek. 'I also wanted to thank the person who inspired me to organize this show in the first place. My brother, Finn. Or, as you, soldiers, would call him, PFC Hudson. Thank you for fighting. Both here, and there.' He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. 'And now, let me introduce you to the first of our performers, tonight. Ladies and gentlemen, Blaine Anderson.'

He ran down the steps to squeeze Blaine's hand encouragingly before he went on stage.

Kurt spent the entire performance watching Blaine, as mesmerized as he was the first time he'd heard him sing the song in rehearsal, and almost missed the moment, when he was to announce Santana and Brittany. Only the loud applause that followed reminded him of his responsibilities as the host.

What a shame we all became such fragile, broken things, Santana began the song, and Kurt looked around; the audience seemed to love the performance.

And when his eyes slid down the front row, he caught a glimpse of two hands – one feminine and tiny, the other huge and gangly – interwoven and rested in a girl's lap that was dressed in a Chanel skirt he himself had advised to buy. Kurt smiled; he never doubted there would be a reunion between the two of them. And he was already looking forward to having Rachel as a sister-in-law.

The next performer was Puck, and his rendition of Roll Away Your Stone ended with an applause that could make eardrums burst. He smiled widely and lifted his guitar triumphantly.

'That's for you, dude,' he said, pointing at Finn, who was now positively beaming, for the first time in months.

'Kurt!' Rachel's loud whisper made him look away from the stage.

'What?'', he mouthed.

'Go introduce me!'

He frowned; she was supposed to perform as the last before the group number. He shook his head.

'No, it's my turn.'

'Don't be silly. You deserve the last spot. Go introduce me!'

'Really?' Disbelief shaped his features.

'Yeah! Go!' She seemed not to notice anything strange in the situation. Maybe she didn't remember how she used to fight for the spotlight in Glee club, or maybe she simply matured.

Still somewhat shocked, Kurt went up to the stage one more time.

'And now, miss Rachel Berry will perform Hope for the Hopeless.'

She beamed at him from the first row, before taking the spot behind the microphone.

Rachel sang, and the audience teared up. Carole was practically sobbing into a Kleenex, with Burt's arm around her shoulders.

And when the song ended, Rachel didn't leave the stage. She waited until the last claps died out.

'Now I'd like to introduce to you the man responsible for putting this show together. The most loving, humble, gentle, and honest person I have ever met in my life. My best friend in the entire world, and probably the best friend anyone could have. The best brother in the world, and probably one of the best men there are. And though maybe it doesn't show, one of the bravest I know. Ladies and gentlemen, Kurt Hummel!'

Kurt dried his eyes with a quick movement of his hand, and caught Rachel in a hug on the stage.

The music started, hypnotizing the audience one more time, and squeezing tears from the remaining few still dry eyes.

Lights will guide you home and ignite your soul, and I will try to fix you.

He sang the first chorus looking straight into Finn's eyes, then his eyes drifted in Blaine's direction and never looked away again. Kurt could see the tears swimming in his boyfriend's eyes, mirroring those filling his own.

And for the first time in years he felt perfectly intact. As if the cracks in his soul had never existed. As if his shattered being was glued together with a magic spell, restoring it to its initial ideal form.

And the tears that flooded Blaine's eyes weren't those of sadness. He could feel how the hole in his chest was filling up, mending itself with the happiness that almost couldn't be contained by his body. The chunk of flesh that once had been there was gone forever, but something else replaced it, as if a fragment of another being. Kurt seemed to have crept into his heart, occupying the space that had been empty for so long.

Finally it was time for the last performance, and Kurt somehow managed to call everyone back to the stage. The moment Blaine approached him, Kurt grasped his hand tightly. He didn't care what anyone would think about it, he painfully missed Blaine's touch on his skin.

And they sang Lean On Me together, remembering the one time they had done it in Glee club, so long ago.

The audience looked at them smiling through the tears. And even those who had earlier seemed barely alive, were swaying now in their seats, some even joining them in the song.

***

Kurt led Blaine out into the patch of trees behind the hospital. They had barely had a minute alone the whole day.

'That was really amazing,' Blaine broke the silence, stroking Kurt's hand with his fingers.

'You think so?'

'Absolutely.' He stopped, and made Kurt face him. 'I'm so proud of you.'

Kurt smiled timidly.

'I didn't do that much. And you were incredible,' he murmured, closing in to kiss Blaine.

'You did everything. And thank you,' he said before kissing his boyfriend back.

'You're welcome.'

And then their lips were much too busy to talk anymore.