Sugar Baby

Twenty-Two

Kurt was floating. In Blaine's arms, against his body, kissing his lips, warm and safe and sweet. Blaine was nuzzling his nose against the sensitive skin at the crook of Kurt's neck, one hand curving neatly over his belly, leaning down to press a kiss beneath his ear, to the underside of his jaw, his cheekbone and finally moving to his mouth, whispering, "I love you," against his lips before kissing him hard.

Blaine was at his side, eyes shining with tears of joy as the lusty cry of a newborn baby filled the room, and a smiling midwife, her face swimming in and out of focus beyond a veil of tears, crossed the room to lay their son in Kurt's arms, as he sniffed and tilted his face up to kiss Blaine sweetly, in thanks, in a promise of their future.

Candles laid out a path to heaven as Kurt hung up his jacket at the end of a long working day, following the trail to find Blaine in their bedroom on one knee, a ring glittering with neatly arranged small circular diamonds in his hand, and he threw himself into Blaine's arms with a shriek, knocking him backwards and spending the night in his arms, crying joyfully into his chest.

A gold ring glittered on Blaine's left hand as he chased a small boy, with wild dark curls, freckles scattered like stardust across his cheeks and the bridge of his nose, shining gold-green eyes and a wide, curious smile, catching him and tickling him into a spiral of shrieks and giggles as Kurt watched from the shade of the porch, sipping lemonade and caressing the swell of his belly, their daughter's tiny foot kicking out at him as if demanding to be part of their happy little family picture.

But it all burst into flames. It drifted down into ash, parting like a curtain to the scene of bedsprings creaking stiffly, entwined bodies sliding slickly together, shining with sweat, slim and muscular and enchantingly entwined, to Blaine and Sebastian kissing and biting at each other, raw and animal and wanting, and Kurt screamed, the slice of pain through his heart almost worse than the slash of a knife across his side.

The seven of them sat in the hospital reception, sipping lacklustre, cooling coffee from cups held in trembling hands, not one of them saying a word except to check the time, how long they'd been sitting in padded blue chairs clutching cups like lifelines, only to fall silent again but for the occasional sniff from those recovering from tears. Blaine couldn't help but think of it like Kurt was going to die, and he would miss him more than words could ever say, and he would never get to tell him the truth, that he loved him, and the last thing they had ever done was fight and cry and scream at each other before Kurt turned his back on him and walked out of his life, and now it truly could be permanent.

Finally, Sam cleared his throat, and turned to them all. "Quinn, where are you going to stay while the police are investigating this?" he asked, eyes concerned and gentle on Quinn. "You can't stay at your apartment, it's too dangerous, and we have to find somewhere else for Kurt too. Normally, I'd suggest moving in with Blaine and I for a while, but Kurt can't be near Sebastian, particularly if this puts him at a higher risk of miscarriage."

"There's room at our place for you, Quinn, but we don't really have another place for Kurt, especially if he needs special care or something, we're both just too busy," Santana said apologetically, throwing her cup into the trashcan and rubbing at her temples. "Can't you just fire Sebastian? It would make it easier on all of us."

Sam rolled his eyes at her, and they all stood as one when a dark-haired nurse called out, "Kurt Hummel?" from the doorway, and beckoned them over with a carefully neutral expression. "I can tell you that father and baby are both stable. Kurt has been very lucky, and his most severe injuries are a nasty bump to the side of the head, lacerations on his hands and arms and a broken ankle, which will render him confined to a wheelchair for six weeks while it heals. You may go in to see him, but he is on sedatives and pain killers right now, so he may seem woozy and might not remember much of your visits."

Quinn and Puck went in first, and Blaine wore down the floor with his endless pacing, not knowing what to say or what to do, whether to try and even talk to Kurt about anything serious, knowing he might not remember it when the painkillers wore off. Alas, soon everyone dispersed back to their cars with comforting hands clapped against his shoulders and small smiles in his direction, and he was left to open the door, finding Kurt sleepy and quiet in the bed, smiling dreamily up at him. "How do you feel?" he asked softly.

"I'm kind of sleepy, and I can't really feel any pain, which doesn't make sense because I should be, and I'm a bit sad, but I always am, so mostly I'm okay!" Kurt chirped, and Blaine fell for him a little more, sitting down next to the bed and determinedly keeping himself from reaching out to stroke his cheek or brush the errant strands of hair back from his forehead. "You really hurt me, Blaine."

"I know, Kurt, and I'm so sorry," Blaine said softly, biting his lip hard to hold back the tears that wanted to spill down his cheeks. Kurt looked up at him, eyes wide and bright and a little dazed, and he took Blaine's hand in both of his and pulled it down to cup around his cheek, leaning into the touch, nuzzling his face against Blaine's hand.

"But I still love you," he confessed in a whisper, blinking up at Blaine. "Love isn't like a light switch. It doesn't just go on and off. It's crazy and messed-up and all discombobulated. I think maybe you'll be that person who I always love, no matter how far away we get. Because I'll always know that we were meant to be together." He yawned and pressed his face into his pillow, dropping Blaine's hand. "Can you go now? I'm really tired."

Blaine nodded gently, and pulled the comforter over Kurt for him, wincing at the thick bandages wrapped around his hands, spotted with the scarlet of blood, hesitating a moment before pressing a soft kiss to his forehead, carding his fingers gently through the hair on the side of his head not swollen from a hit. "I love you," he whispered, and Kurt snuffled slightly as he drifted away like a ship unmoored from its anchor, and Blaine stayed, watching his eyelids flutter as he began to dream, dreaming himself of a future where they could be happy, of a past where he hadn't made the same mistakes, until a nurse peered around the door and politely asked him to leave.

He reached the house to find everyone seated around the table behind mugs of steaming coffee, faces serious and solemn, postures ramrod straight, all of them turning as one to look at him when he walked into the room. "We've decided Kurt is going to move back here, solely for the security and the caretaking available to him here, but this is no excuse for you to try and rekindle the relationship before he's ready, if he ever is," Sam said sternly, and Blaine nodded as he took his seat. "And I've fired Sebastian. We'll start looking for a replacement next week. I know I'm supposed to consult you, but I was sure you wouldn't oppose me on this one."

Blaine shook his head with a slight smile, and the atmosphere seemed to relax a little, all of them falling into easy chatter, drinking their coffee and teasing each other, the way it was supposed to be. But they all felt the absence of Kurt in the empty chair, and all of them wanted him back with them, the way it had been before. He felt it heaviest of all, and he gazed at the opposite wall without seeing, Brittany and Puck's conversation fading into little more than static as he dreamt of a future when Kurt would be sitting beside him with a baby in his arms, head on his shoulder, exchanging soft smiles and tender eyes with three words predominant in blue and gold.

I love you.

He was heading up to bed, leaving Santana and Sam playing a friendly but very much overly competitive game of darts while Brittany and Jeff cheered them on, only to be accosted by a belligerent Sebastian, arms folded over his chest. "Did you know Sam fired me?" he asked angrily. "You have to go back in there, baby. Persuade him to keep me on. If you let him go through with this, you'll lose me."

His arms slid around Blaine, pressing them close, but Blaine leaned away, revolted, and stepped back, saying, "I don't care about you leaving. At this point, I welcome it. If I let you stay, then I'll lose the person most important to me right now."

"Who, Kurt?!" Sebastian exclaimed, scoffing at the very idea. "He's a child, he doesn't deserve you. Look at him, he couldn't even hide from one attack, and he's in hospital. If he'd lost the baby, you wouldn't still be taking care of him. He's not important to you at all."

"You never could read my emotions, Smythe," Blaine spat, bristling at the way he spoke about Kurt, like he was nothing, just a complication. "I cared about Kurt long before the baby, and I would never send him back to Ohio, with that family that doesn't even care about him, if he did lose the baby. I would support him and let him find his way back to who he wants to be, whether that's with me or not. I'm in love with him, and I fully support Sam's decision to fire you from this label and never allow you back into the fold."

"You're...you're what?!" Sebastian exclaimed, utterly shocked, and Blaine felt a little thrill fly through him at admitting that aloud to someone, at claiming the words as his own. He was in love with Kurt Hummel, and he wanted to whole world to know it. "But you don't fall in love. You could've fallen in love with me, our relationship was exactly what you had with that kid before he complicated it all with that baby."

"It takes two to tango, Smythe," Blaine reminded him. "And maybe I could've fallen in love with you, if you weren't a smug, self-centred, self-righteous asshole who expects everything handed to him on a silver platter and brings out the worst in me. Kurt is sweet and smart and ambitious and he doesn't rely on anyone, he can take care of himself, he has more talent in his little finger than you have in your entire body, he...he's everything you're not, and he's everything to me." He smiled to himself at the thought of everything Kurt meant, and Sebastian just stared at him.

Both of them jumped at a squeal from behind them, and Blaine nearly stumbled when someone threw themselves at his back, two slim arms wrapped around him in a tight hug, and he was spun to face a beaming Brittany. "Did you really mean that?" she asked, voice high with excitement. "Every word of it?"

Blaine nodded, eyes shining, and Brittany hugged him again, squealing in his ear, happy and grinning and bobbing on the balls of her feet, spinning around like a tongue of flame whipping through the night to shout, "Guys, Blaine's in love with Kurt. He says Kurt's everything and Kurt's amazing and Sebastian won't ever show his meerkat face again! Isn't it amazing?!"

Everyone surrounded him, clapping him on the back in congratulations and kissing his cheek and sternly telling him to make sure it was the truth, to give Kurt everything he deserved, and he nodded fervently with every word, intending to give Kurt everything he had and what was left after that too, because he deserved the world and Blaine was only a small fraction of it, but he could do what he could to make Kurt shine the way he had to. To make Kurt the light of the dark black night.

To make Kurt happy.