GSJwrites
Oct. 27, 2012, 5:06 a.m.
Postcards: Epilogue
E - Words: 735 - Last Updated: Oct 27, 2012 Story: Complete - Chapters: 17/17 - Created: Aug 14, 2012 - Updated: Oct 27, 2012 1,397 0 20 0 1
Author's Notes: What the hell. Let's get this thing finished!
Los Angeles
April 2023
Kurt strolled up the steep, winding driveway of the Hummel-Anderson property, distractedly thumbing through the day's mail.
The water bill. The Wednesday onslaught of supermarket mailers. The Nordstrom summer season catalogue. A credit card advertisement. Amidst the morass of paper, he nearly missed the simple white bonded envelope.
But then he saw it, and paused. Rather than follow the block walkway to the entry of the hillside mid-century modern that had been their west coast home since their marriage four years earlier, Kurt turned left, down a tree-lined garden path that led to the pool area. He settled in a shaded lounge, and turned the envelope over in his hands.
The right thing would have been to call Blaine and open the letter together, prepared for better or for worse by being at each other's side. But Kurt Hummel-Anderson didn't always do the right thing.
****
Blaine wasn't in his studio, a lofty name for what had been originally built as guest quarters. Now rigged with acoustic tile and recording equipment, it was both his office and retreat, where he could go to tinker on songs that were not quite there yet, both for himself and his growing list of clients. It is also where a variety of guitars, keyboards and musical instruments resided that Kurt couldn't always identify.
The Steinway inhabited the glass-walled living room, looming over the Hollywood Hills. On the stark white wall behind it, a colorful splash of pop-art: A sunset-hued oversized recreation of a 1950s "Greetings from California" postcard. On the opposite wall, the Grammy, the platinum album and framed sketches from Kurt’s first collection under the KHA label.
The grand piano was the inevitable centerpiece of parties or dinners with close friends, but it played a far more important role in this contented household. Because on their nights alone, the evenings they treasured most, they sat together, playing old familiar songs, harmonizing and deferring to each other like they had been handed a weekly New Directions assignment.
It was here that Kurt knew he would find Blaine, because the music drifted down from the home this afternoon, making the sounds of joy, not work. He leaned back in the cushions, sighed and smiled to himself. He looked down the hill, toward the pink-tipped skyline of downtown Los Angeles, then further west toward the ocean, and he considered how easily this moment might never have happened. How one lapsed moment could have blocked even the possibility of this afternoon, this evolving sunset, this life.
He rose and started to walk toward the house, noticing a lull in the living room rhapsody. Kurt rounded a corner and caught his breath. After 14 years, the sight of Blaine, dressed simply and comfortably in cuffed Levis and a slim-fit polo shirt, was enough to stop him in his tracks.
"Why'd you stop?" Kurt asked.
"I came to find you," Blaine said with a shrug and one of his loopy grins. "Everything OK?"
"Just got a little sidetracked getting the mail," he said, using his nose to point west. "The sun's about to set."
He reached for his husband's hand, and led him back to the modular lounge, where they stretched into the cushions, curled forehead-to-cheek.
"To think I almost rejected this," Kurt said. "What was I thinking?"
"I always knew you'd come around. You just had to discover it for yourself," Blaine said.
"And if I hadn't?"
"Never would have happened," Blaine murmured, earning a wicked side-eye from his husband.
"I can be a little stubborn, Blaine. ... C'mon, I'm serious, don't give me that look. What if I'd never left New York?"
Blaine's 'Oh really?' smirk evolved, leaving a grin in its wake. "Home is where you are, Kurt. It's not an address. I would have moved. This just felt so right for us. Why are you thinking about this now?"
Kurt leaned his head back and crinkled his eyes, part of a full-faced, closed mouth smile that shouted his happiness.
"You've said that before, you know."
"I remember," Blaine said earnestly. "In high school."
"In high school. And when you proposed. You told me that your home was with me." Kurt looked around the lush property, then drifted back to Blaine. "So a house is not a home, you say? A home, it's ... wherever you are, right?"
"Kurt?"
"I'm just wondering if it might be time to move."
Blaine shifted, the look on his face somewhere between confused and concerned.
Kurt smiled.
"I'm not sure this place is child-friendly," he said, handing Blaine the mail.
End Notes: I can't believe I wrote close to 40,000 words (with short chapters). Holy cow. Like overeating at Thanksgiving, I feel just a little full right now.Full of gratitude for the advice, words of support and occasionaly little flails (I'm not gonna lie, I love that). Thanks to Zavocado and Wordplaying, who told me to just do this thing when I told them about my silly idea for a postcard tour of Los Angeles. And to KlaineAddict/IconicKlaine, whose support helped it find an audience. You guys are awesome.One last little thing, since we don't have a postcard in this epilogue. How about a picture of the Hummel-Anderson home?
Comments
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Such a perfect and hopeful ending for our boys. Thank you for--literally--a wonderful and affirming journey :)
Chin-hands and kicky-feet, you know how this makes me feel.... Thank you! Makes me want to keep writing ...<img src="http://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/27600000/Klaine-3x09-gifs-kurt-and-blaine-27647502-500-282.gif" alt="Klaine" width="500" height="282" />
Thank you so much! (And I feel the same way ... just the start ...)<img src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/psychopiratess/GIFS/Glee/Klaineapproves.gif" alt="Klaine approves" width="336" height="246" />
I just let out such a big sigh ... This is exactly what I want for our guys. Thank you, I've loved every moment of this. I'm sorry it has to end, but it feels like it's just begun ...
Thank you so much for such a beautiful story! I am sad it is over !! Looking forward to reading more of your stories!!!
Thank you! And I'm ... *looks around nervously* ... working on it. A hint:<img title="Sotto Voce" src="http://www.foursightwines.com/images/foursightwines.com/Image/Charles%20Vineyard,%20pumphouse%20-%20thumbnail.jpg" alt="Fall Vineyard" width="133" height="100" />
I think this is such a fantastic story. It's mature and thoughtful and a true journey of what it means to be in a relationship. Terrific ending that is super positive and just lovely.
<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lyjcltKs9z1qh9sh6o9_250.gif" alt="Hands" width="160" height="160" />Can't imagine anything but a happy ending for our guys ...Thank you!
<img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lqe3lsAkQf1qjhmw1.gif" alt="Klaine shock" width="245" height="134" />
I want to meet the kids...
Only found this recently and this is such an amazing story! I kept on wishing the postcards would be neverending, but I guess it's better that they got together at the end. Lovely brilliang work!!!
Thank you! I'm so glad you found (and enjoyed!) it ... <img src="http://i1207.photobucket.com/albums/bb469/tamasys/GIFs/tumblr_lme57c4o1G1qfyk5n.gif" alt="ah shucks blaine" width="500" height="230" />
I have been meaning to read this story for some time now and I finally got round to it yesterday. Why it took me so long, I'll never know. I'm so glad I read it. It was so beautiful and romantic. I loved the whole tour round Los Angeles, showing me a different side to the city. I've never been (living in Europe prevents this) but it's somewhere I wanted to go. You showed me a world beyond the real tourist areas and into the heart of the city. Thank you for writing such a beautiful story set around your city and my favourite fictional couple.
When I started on it, I didn't intend to write a travel logue, but in part that's what it became ... A lot of people have told me that they feel like they've been to LA now, and that's GREAT. It's certainly GSJ's LA... these are some of my favorite thins, and I can definitely see my favorite fictional couple cuddled up on a blanket with a picnic at Cinespia, or savoring an evening at the Hollywood Bowl. Yup, they'd do that. I'm so glad you read and enjoyed it, and thanks for letting me know!<img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lmv1siBWJ61qcryj1.gif" alt="" width="440" height="248" />
Thanks you! (And congratulations on being successful high school sweethearts ... that's awesome! My parents met at teens and their marriage lasted 55+ years.)<img src="http://i1115.photobucket.com/albums/k560/ClubsDeuce/tumblr_lskk4rUovi1qbjrw4o2_r1_250.gif" alt="" width="245" height="138" />
Whew, this story was an amazing roller coaster! I think you did a fantastic job of capturing the challenges of a long-distance relationship, even among an established couple. I think both boys would definitely need to do a bit of finding themselves as separate people, as all successful high school sweethearts must (speaking as one myself). You did such a good job of making them grow up but still be in character and so very in love. Oh, and I was definitely in tears by Blaine's proposal.
Thank you!!<img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lraax4u8nV1qhh7ao.gif" alt="" width="300" height="169" />
Okay, so I started reading this on AO3 like three days ago and I'm sorry, but I couldn't wait for it to be posted up there, I HAD to find it here IT'S AMAZING!! I love love loved it!!!! How it was thought out, how it was written, the pacing, the hesitation and the pure unadulterated NEED Blaine had for Kurt to experience it and the fear and trepedation Kurt had about California!!And the ending... possibly one of the most adorable and amazing things you could have done. I love it, all of it. It was amazing from start to finish. Well done!!
this was a great story!!!!!!!!!
I still can't believe I stumbled across this story while looking up another one with the word "postcard" in it's title. And now that I am at its end, drying my eyes as I write, I simply want to tell you "thank-you" (again) for such a beautifully crafted verse. I have enjoyed it so very much.~ Valerie