Thursday the 7th of April 2011

“Hush, Blaine. You’re okay.” Kurt dropped the letter and moved back on the couch, Blaine wrapping his arms around Kurt’s neck and hiccupping wetly into his hair. “Shh…” Kurt cooed softly, which only brought on a new wave of sobs from Blaine. Kurt circled Blaine’s waist with his arms and pulled him closer, so they were hip to hip. Kurt could feel Blaine’s tears drip down below his collar, and his wet lips against the skin behind his ear.  

After what felt like an hour to Kurt, Blaine stopped crying, but still had his face against Kurt’s neck. “I’m sorry.” he mumbled, pulling back and twisting his hands on his lap.

Kurt took one of his hands in his own, making Blaine look up at him. “Stop. You have nothing to apologize for.” He smiled softly and wiped a tear off Blaine’s cheek with the pad of his thumb. “Now will you please talk to me?”

“I got a letter from Bel.”

“What did it say?”

Blaine drew a shaky breath then motioned to it with his head. Kurt bent forward and picked it up, still holding Blaine’s hand.

Beloved Blaine.
I really hope you’ve recovered some since my previous letter. First of all, I want to apologize again for the situation I put you in.  I also want to apologize for my parents’ behavior. I knew they were hesitant about the baby, but I never thought they’d do what they did.
I hear you and Bella are at a fancy private school now. I read up on it and I am very happy that you are safe from what they put us through at our old school.
I am still where I went when I first left, and I still won’t be giving you any of my contact information. ‘Cause if you actually aren’t angry and would contact me, it would just kill me. It’s easier to write to you if I pretend you’re dead or just a creation of my imagination. Okay, that sounded horrible, but I hope you understand what I mean. It hurts less this way.
I got a job actually. I’ve been working at a coffee shop for about six months now, and I really like it. It gives me enough money to pay for food and where I am living at the moment. I’ve made a couple of friends too, and one of them reminds me of your mother, believe it or not.
Anyway, with this letter I also send you one for Bella, which I hope you’ll save for her. But as I said in my last letter, I totally understand if you burn anything I send you.
I miss you both incredibly much. I wear the necklace you gave me every day.
I still believe you can do this. I love you both.
Love, Bel.

“She’s…” Kurt bit his lip.

“Selfish?” Blaine offered darkly.

“Untactful.” Kurt decided, folding the letter and putting it down. Blaine bit his lip and looked to the ceiling, tears forming in his eyes. Kurt leaned his head on Blaine’s shoulder and rubbed the back of his hand with his thumb. “I’m sure she didn’t mean it that way…”

Blaine whined and Kurt sat up, gently taking hold of the curly-haired boy’s chin to make him look Kurt in the eyes. A tear rolled down Blaine’s left cheek and Kurt caught it with his nose. “Don’t cry, Blaine.” He softly pressed their lips together, and after a sob-like intake of breath through his nose, Blaine kissed back.

They kissed for a couple of minutes. Not heated or needy, but feather-soft and comforting. A few more tears fell from Blaine’s eyes but Kurt wiped them away carefully, holding Blaine’s face gently in his hands. Kurt pulled back and smiled softly. “Do you want me to hold you for a while or do you want to go sing an angry song in rehearsal?”

“Can we just stay in here?”

“Of course.” Kurt smiled and pecked Blaine’s lips once.

They settled down close together, Kurt wrapping an arm around Blaine’s shoulders as they aimlessly watched TV for a while. “Blaine?”

“Yes, Kurt?” Blaine leaned his head against Kurt’s arm and met his eyes.

“What did Bel’s parents do?”

Friday the 30th of July 2010

Blaine walked into the kitchen after getting back from the store. He put the bag of groceries on the counter and started unpacking the items he’d bought. There was no sign of his parents, so Anna was probably upstairs with Bella and Herman was most likely still at work.

When Blaine put the last item into the fridge the front door opened and slammed shut.

“Dad?” Blaine walked into the hallway to find his father angrily yanking his tie off. “Rough day at work?” He leaned against the doorframe and watched his father carefully.

“Come sit with me in the living room.” Herman mumbled and dropped his suitcase carelessly onto the floor.

Blaine followed him into the living room and sat down on the couch. “Dad? What happened?” Blaine said cautiously.

“I just got a call from Stanley.”

“Bel’s dad? What did he say?” Blaine’s eyes flickered from his father’s eyes to the angry set of his jaw.

“They moved.”

“What?! Where? Why?”

“He called me on my way home just to inform me that he and Lauren moved to Idaho. They want nothing to do with us, you or Bella.”

“Why? She’s their grandchild.” Blaine’s lower lip trembled, and his father moved closer to him. He put an arm around Blaine’s shoulders and the anger was gone from his face.

“I don’t understand it either, son.”

Blaine sniffled and rubbed his eyes angrily.

“It’s okay Blaine. We’ll be okay.” His father squeezed him and dropped his head onto Blaine’s.

Thursday the 7th of April 2011

“I’m so sorry, Blaine.” Kurt didn’t know what else to say.

“They were nice and all, until they found out Bel was pregnant. They pushed me away after that, so I was mostly just angry that they’d do that to Bella.” Blaine looked back at the TV, toying with his bracelet.

“You still wear that bracelet?” Kurt asked. He hadn’t thought about it ‘til now.

“I told Bel I’d wear it every day the day she gave it to me. I didn’t wear it for a few months after she left, but I put it back on some time in September, when I stopped being angry at her.”

“You are too nice for your own good.” Kurt mumbled, stroking his fingers through the hair at Blaine’s neck.

“I try.” Blaine smiled weakly and they continued to watch the current TV show.

Friday the 24th of September 2010

“I’m home!” Blaine announced as he walked into the hallway of his parents’ house, carrying Bella’s portable chair, the diaper bag and his messenger bag.

Anna scrambled out of the kitchen in an apron. “Hi honey! You came just in time, dinner is almost ready.”

“Great.” Blaine put the bags down and walked over and hugged his mother. “We missed you.”

“I can’t believe you haven’t been home for a month!” Anna bent down to talk to Bella. “Oh, you’ve grown so much little girl!” she squealed.

Herman entered the hallway from the living room with a big smile on his face. “Welcome home, son.”

“Hi dad.” Blaine hugged his father too, before taking Bella out of the chair and following his parents into the kitchen.

They ate dinner and talked about Blaine’s time at his new school. After dinner Blaine helped his mother with the dishes while Herman watched TV with his granddaughter.

“I got your room cleaned up while you were gone.” Anna said as she dried her hands on a kitchen towel.

“Thank you, mom. I am big enough to do that myself though, you know.” Blaine grinned.

“Oh! That reminds me. I found something while I was vacuuming.” His mother walked over and got something out of a kitchen drawer. “This was on your floor.”

She held a black cord bracelet out toward Blaine. He grabbed it and quickly stuffed it in his pocket. “Thanks, mom.” Blaine started walking toward the hallway, but his mother stopped him with a hand on his arm.

“Wasn’t that your birthday gift from Bel?”

“It was.” Blaine replied as he stroked the cord of the bracelet in his pocket. “I took it off when she left.”

“Oh.” His mother moved a lock of hair out of her face.

“Blaine, your daughter is fussing!” Herman called from the living room.

“Thanks, mom.” Blaine left the woman standing in the kitchen as he walked into the living room and took Bella from his father. “Thank you for looking after her. It’s her bedtime now, so I’ll be in my room.”

“Goodnight, son.” Herman said and picked the remote up from the coffee table.

“Goodnight.” Blaine walked past the kitchen and said goodnight to his mother too before going upstairs and preparing a bottle of formula for Bella.

Blaine put Bella down in her crib and went into the bathroom to get ready for bed. He brushed his teeth and removed his cardigan, shirt and pants. Something fell onto the tile floor with a small “clink”. Blaine sighed and picked the bracelet up, turning it over in his hand. He walked into the bedroom and put it down on his bedside table before changing into his pajamas and getting into bed. The bracelet caught his eye as he turned onto his side, facing the crib. He reached out and picked it up, running his thumb over the engraving in the cool metal. “Courage.” he mumbled and sighed again.

Blaine had been devastated when Bel left. He’d been lonely and angry for a while now, hiding pictures of him and Bel away in a folder deep on his computer hard drive. He’d tried not to think of her eyes or her laugh, but it kept creeping into his mind every day. He missed his best friend. More than any other feeling he got when he thought about her now was that he missed her. He picked his phone up with his other hand and went into his email trashcan, opening a picture Bel had sent him of the two of them at the beach. They were smiling, wet and with sand in their hair. Blaine smiled. He didn’t feel angry anymore. His eyes moved between the picture and the bracelet a few times before he put his phone away and put the bracelet on his left wrist. The little silver plate gleamed in the light from the bedside lamp and it felt cool against his skin.

Friday the 15th of April 2011

The boys’ one month anniversary arrived, and Kurt was (according to himself) all giddy, acting like a lovesick thirteen year-old girl.

He and Blaine went to a restaurant after school and ate a delicious meal. Kurt had been allowed to have a sleepover at Dalton, but that meant they had to be back at school before curfew.

When they got back it was already dark outside, and when Blaine unlocked his door Kurt realized the lights were on. “Did you forget to turn the lights off?”

“Seems so.” Blaine said and shrugged. He motioned for Kurt to sit down on the couch. “I’ve got something for you.”

Kurt sat down and raised an eyebrow at his boyfriend. “What is it?”

“I’ve been working on something. Wait here.” Blaine went back into the hallway and returned a minute later with a guitar. “It doesn’t have any lyrics, but I hope you’ll still like it.”

Blaine sat down beside Kurt, facing him with the guitar in a firm grip. He started playing a soft, slow melody which got a little “happier” toward the middle, just to end soft and slow again. Kurt watched Blaine closely as he concentrated on playing. The tip of his tongue poked out a little and his right eyebrow twitched a couple of times.

“That was beautiful, Blaine.” Kurt leaned over the guitar and kissed Blaine hard. “Thank you.”

Blaine grinned, his cheeks a bit pink. “I know it’s nothing huge or amazing, but I thought about you while I came up with it.”

“It was amazing.” Kurt smiled and was about to say something more when Blaine’s phone started making noise.

“Time to get Bella.” Blaine said and stood, leaning the guitar against the wall, taking the phone out of his pocket and turning the alarm off. “Rita already had her a while longer than usual.”

Kurt followed Blaine to Rita’s room and when they arrived Bella was already asleep. Blaine picked her up carefully, leaning her against his shoulder with a hand on the back of her head as they tiptoed back to his room. He put her down in the crib and then sat on his bed. “Come here.” he whispered to Kurt, who stood by the light switch on the wall that he had switched off when they got back.

Kurt walked over and sat down close to Blaine. “Can I sleep here tonight?”

“You want to?” Blaine looked kind of surprised.

“If you want to.” Kurt felt the heat of a blush on his cheeks.

Blaine grabbed Kurt’s hands and smiled shyly. “I do. We’ve been dating for a month, and we cuddle a lot anyways…” Blaine mumbled a bit nervously.

“And it’s a pain to carry the mattress up the stairs from your storage room.” Both boys grinned. “I need to brush my teeth after the garlic bread we had for dinner, though.”

They switched into their pajamas and brushed their teeth. Blaine spat and rinsed his mouth out first. While Kurt did the same Blaine had sat down on his bed. “I have another surprise for you.” Blaine grinned as Kurt sat down on the other side of the bed, tucking his legs under the duvet.

“Now? What is it?” Kurt looked around skeptically.

“Lie down.” Blaine instructed and Kurt disobeyed his hammering heart as he did what Blaine said. He kept his eyes on Blaine as he too got under the covers and lay on his side, facing Kurt. “Look up.”

Kurt looked up and was met by the sight of bunches of glow-in-the-dark-stars stuck to the ceiling, placed so they were spelling out “Kurt”. He laughed a little under his breath, his eyes adjusting to the slightly green glow of the tiny stars. “Oh, Blaine.” Kurt whispered. “You’re adorable.” He turned to face his boyfriend, who was grinning widely.

Kurt inched closer, pressed their lips together and ran his hands into Blaine’s hair. Blaine moved his arms around Kurt’s middle and pressed him even closer by pressing his palms against Kurt’s back. They kissed for what felt like forever, never deepening the kisses, just sharing each other’s warmth.

Kurt pulled back and ran his thumb across the skin above Blaine’s eyebrow. “Thank you, Blaine. That was so sweet of you.”

“I’ll leave them up so Bella can look at them too, when she gets older.”

Kurt kissed Blaine again slowly. “Goodnight.” he murmured against his lips.

Saturday the 11th of September 2010

Blaine had made the mistake of telling his new friends in the Warblers that he had a daughter, and that he brought her with him to Dalton. Most of them had begged and pleaded that they would get to meet her, and Blaine couldn’t refuse them. What harm could it do?

“Just remember to-“

“I know. Support the head.” Trent smiled as Blaine handed Bella over to him. “I have a much younger sister, so I remember since she was little.” He looked down at the little girl who had her eyebrows slightly pulled together. “Hi Bella. My name is Trent and I’m a friend of your dad’s.” Trent cooed and bounced on his heels.

“It’s my turn now!” Jeff exclaimed, jumping up and down while poking Trent in the arm. “Gimme!”

“Stop poking me!” Trent whined but turned and handed the baby over to Jeff, who instantly became super still.

“Hey Bella. Since your dad is a Warbler now, that means I’m your uncle Jeff!” Jeff said happily.

The other guys rolled their eyes and Jeff laughed. He turned to Nick and carefully handed him Bella. Nick was the one who looked most afraid out of the guys that had come with Blaine to his dorm to meet Bella. “Hi Bella. I’m Nick.” he stammered, and she started whining.

“Oh my God, Nick! We need to get one of these sometime! Sooooo cuuuuuute.” Jeff grinned at his boyfriend who looked skeptically at the little girl in his arms.

“Maybe in ten years.” he replied, followed by a barely audible mumble. “When I don’t have to take care of the little kid I’m dating now, anymore.”

Bella whined louder and Blaine took her from Nick, making her go silent the second she was snuggled into her father’s arms. “You’re doing great guys. She seems to like you.” Blaine smiled and ran his finger down her little nose. Jeff was back to jumping again, gripping Nick’s arm and occasionally standing still to whisper something to him. “Wes, you ready?” Blaine asked and held Bella out toward him.

“I guess I must.” he said and took the dark-haired little girl. “Hello Bella. My name is Warbler Wesley Johnson.” Bella started whining and Wes tried to shush her by swinging her back and forth just like Blaine instructed him too. This only caused Bella to start screaming at the top of her tiny lungs. “Oh no. No, no. Shush you!” Wes exclaimed and faced David. “Take her!”

David accepted the baby and her cries died down a little. “There we go, little one. I’m David.” he said and smiled at Blaine, who was about to have a panic attack from letting so many new people meet his daughter at once.

Blaine smiled back as best as he could. Then Bella threw up on David.

“Oh, dear God!” David exclaimed, holding the baby out toward Blaine and looking in horror at his now ruined blazer.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. I’ll pay for that, I promise.”

“No, no. No need.” David smiled. “This happens with babies. I have seven little siblings, so I know.”

Blaine gave David a relieved and thankful smile as he ushered the other Warblers from Blaine’s room so he could get Bella cleaned off.

Yeah, what harm could it possibly do?