Nailed Shut

Chapter 4

”Oh!” Blaine fidgets with the hem of his shirt. “I should ask Kurt.” Blaine looks over to Kurt, who is sitting with his mouth open slightly. “I’ll call you right back.” Blaine hears Burt mumble an “okay” before he hangs up the phone. “Kurt?” Blaine asks cautiously.

Kurt hadn’t even thought about there being a funeral for him. Partly because he hadn’t really thought about the consequences of him being dead at all, and partly because he still feels like he is alive. He can talk and sing, blush and cry, touch things and move them… The only thing that makes him feel like he isn’t actually in his own body, alive, is that Blaine is the only one who can see him. Blaine’s voice snaps Kurt out of his thoughts. “What?”

“Do you want to go?”

“I-“ Kurt begins, swallowing hard. “I think I need to.” Kurt thinks that he needs to actually see his own body for this to be real, to sink in.

“Do you want me to come with you?”

“Yes.” Kurt admits but quickly realizes what it is he is actually asking of Blaine. “But you really don’t have to! Funerals are not fun places…”

“It’s okay Kurt. I will do it for you. Okay?”

“Thank you.” Kurt whispers before lying back down on the bed, staring at the ceiling again.

 “I’ll call your father and tell him, then.” Blaine says and sees Kurt nod. He goes to the latest calls in his phone and calls the number that he talked to last. It picks up on the fourth ring.

“Hello?” a woman’s voice answers. “Hummel’s.”

“Hello Mrs. Hummel. This is Blaine Anderson. Could I talk to your husband, please?”

“Oh…” The woman sounds confused. “Sure. Just a sec.”

Blaine looks at Kurt who has raised his head to look at him when he heard him talk to the woman who Blaine assumes is Kurt’s stepmother.

“This is Burt.”

“Hello again, sir.” Blaine says and sees Kurt rolls his eyes. He figures that it’s because he says “sir” in every other sentence while talking to Kurt’s father.

“Blaine. Did you decide?”

“I did. I would be honored to attend.”

“And K- him?”

“He’ll be there.”

“Okay, then. Well, it’s at three. You can come to our house and ride with us to the place.”

“We’ll be there. Thank you sir.”

“Uh… Yeah. Take care. Bye.”

“When is it?” Kurt asks after a sigh escapes his lips. He doesn’t look at Blaine.

“Tuesday. Your dad said we should be at his house at three.”

Two days. My body will be buried in two days. Kurt sighs again.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Kurt says. An automatic response, he realizes. He’s tired of that. “No, actually. I’m not fine…”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Blaine is looking at him with… genuine concern? There isn’t any sign of the pity that Kurt had expected to see when he looked back at Blaine.

“It’s just so… unreal.” Kurt whispers.

Blaine lies down on the bed next to Kurt again. He reaches his hand out to brush his fingers over Kurt’s, but they go through them. His fingers are suddenly cold, and a shiver runs through his spine. He lifts his hand away from Kurt’s and the coldness disappears. He looks up to see Kurt watching what he had just been doing. He looks back to their hands and sees that Kurt is mirroring what he just did. When Kurt’s fingertips brush lightly over his skin, it feels warm. The flesh of his whole hand tingles with something he can’t place. It’s a very pleasant feeling, he decides. “That feels warm.” Blaine breathes into the space between them, before he realizes how silly that sentence is.

“You’re warm.” Kurt breathes back, and Blaine feels less silly.

“When I did that just now, and my fingers just went through yours, I felt really cold. But now that you’re doing that, it feels warm.”

Kurt hums, dragging his fingertips from Blaine’s, up to where his hand meets his wrist. “I guess I’m not… solid, until I concentrate. When I am, I am warm, like when I was alive. But when I’m not, I guess it’s like what people talk about, walking through cold spots and thinking they are ghosts.”

“Can we try something?” Blaine asks, looking at Kurt’s face. He feels hesitant, but when Kurt lifts his blue eyes to look into Blaine’s hazel ones, he feels more confident. Kurt nods so Blaine lifts his hand toward Kurt’s face. “Concentrate on your face, being solid.” The muscles in Kurt’s forehead moves slightly, and a single tiny line appears between his eyebrows. Blaine slowly touches his fingers to Kurt’s temple.

The moment Blaine touches Kurt’s face a tingly feeling of warmth spreads across his skin. Kurt closes his eyes as Blaine moves his fingertips down the side of his face, across his jaw and to his chin, where they disappear. Kurt opens his eyes and stutters. “Wo-wow.” Blaine is smiling at him, and he can do nothing more than smile back. Kurt is exhausted.

“It’s been a long day. We should sleep.” Blaine states, and Kurt nods in response.

Kurt never imagined that concentrating would ever be this hard, this tiring. He gets off the bed and sits down heavily in the armchair. He watches through heavy eyelids how Blaine searches through his clothes to find some pajamas and walks into the bathroom, to reenter the bedroom a few minutes later with his pajamas and glasses on. Blaine gets under the covers and turns to face Kurt. He smiles at him and Kurt feels two things at once; a happy giddiness in his stomach and a throbbing ache in his chest. He decides that he always wants to see Blaine smile. Blaine’s expression changes as his stomach growls loudly, making him blush to the tips of his ears. Kurt realizes something with a small hint of horror. “You haven’t eaten anything.”

Blaine looks at the floor. “I guess I forgot…”

“I’m so sorry.” Kurt whispers.

“That’s not your fault, Kurt. I’ll just have a big breakfast.” Blaine smiles again, and the feeling of horror that Kurt had vanishes. “Good night, Kurt.”

“Goodnight.”

When Kurt opens his eyes they fall on Blaine’s pillow, where a head of curls should be. What is on the pillow however, is a piece of striped paper. Kurt stands, walks over to the bed and bends down to read the note.

“I’m in Warblers practice. I have the afternoon off, so I’ll be back after lunch.”

Kurt checks the time on Blaine’s alarm clock. Eleven thirty. Kurt is amazed that he slept that long, seeing as he hadn’t done that since… well, maybe ever. He is also glad that Blaine will probably be back in just a short while. So he busies himself with looking through the bookshelf beside the door, that he hadn’t really thought about before. There are a bunch of books that Kurt assumes are for school, taking up two entire shelves. On the next shelf are some dictionaries and books about different countries. On the shelf above it are a few books about architecture, which makes Kurt wonder if maybe Blaine wants to become an architect. The rest of the books on that shelf seem to be poetry, some with colorful pieces of paper sticking up from between the pages. The next shelf is filled with books that probably every teen right now knows about, like the “Harry Potter”, “The Lord of the Rings” and “Twilight Saga”-series. The top shelf is full of children’s books. Kurt finds pretty much every story he knew about as a kid among the titles, along with some thicker books that seem to be collections of different stories. He smiles when his eyes land on a pink book called “Princess-stories for Princesses”. Blaine probably gets teased by his friends about that one. 

“You seemed distant in practice today.” Wes says during lunch.

Blaine practically inhales his lunch and doesn’t respond. David is looking at him with concern. “Is something bothering you, Blaine?”

Blaine puts his spoon down in his empty soup-bowl and sighs. “I’m going to be absent from school tomorrow.”

“What? Why?” Wes asks, dropping his spoon into his soup. Droplets of soup land on the table and the front of his blazer.

“I’m going to a funeral.” Blaine states simply and looks up to see two mouths gaping at him.

“Who died?” Wes asks and Blaine winces.

How would he ever explain the situation to his friends? They would think he was insane. “I don’t want to talk about it.” Blaine stands and rushes out of the dining hall, leaving his dishes behind for someone else to take care of.

Blaine enters his room a few minutes before noon and finds Kurt lying on the floor with a book of poetry open in front of him. “What are you reading?” he asks, though he knows the illustration and the poem beside it well. Shakespeare.

Kurt jerks his head up to look at Blaine, as if he had startled him. “Sonnet VIII.” he says, kind of breathlessly.

“Ah…” Blaine says and sits cross-legged on the floor in front of Kurt and the book. “Sweets with sweets war not, joy delights in joy.” Blaine quotes and Kurt looks impressed. “One of my favorites.”

“Is that what these are for?” Kurt asks and points to the colorful paper-pieces. Blaine nods. Kurt closes the book and puts it back in the bookshelf. “How did Warblers practice go?”

“It was fine.”

Kurt sits down on the bed and Blaine follows. They are silent for a while, leaning against the headboard next to each other. Suddenly Blaine chuckles. “Aren’t you going to ask me about the princess-book?” Kurt giggles and his cheeks turn pink. Blaine chuckles again. “You remember I told you that I sing Aimee to sleep over the phone?” Kurt nods so Blaine continues. “When I don’t sing for her, I read stories before she goes to sleep instead. Like when I’m sick or can’t sing for whatever reason.”

“That’s adorable.” Kurt smiles but freezes suddenly.

“Kurt? What’s wrong?” Blaine asks, but he can see what’s wrong the moment he looks at Kurt.

The buttons of Kurt’s sky-blue shirt are becoming unbuttoned by themselves. Neither Kurt nor Blaine are moving, both frozen in shock. When the third button is loose and the top of Kurt’s chest is visible, Blaine moves back and stands, staring at the horrified look on Kurt face. Kurt is panicking. “Blaine!” he chokes out and looks at Blaine with tears in his eyes. The buttons continue to come undone and when the last one is open – exposing Kurt’s chest and stomach – the shirt glides down over Kurt’s shoulders and arms. When it passes his hands it just vanishes.

“What’s happening? Are you okay?” Blaine asks with one hand in front of his mouth and the other wrapping around his middle.

“I don’t know!” Kurt cries, looking down at the bruises smattered across his chest. The button of his jeans comes undone and the zipper opens slowly. “Oh my God! Don’t look at me!” Blaine turns and starts walking toward the door, which causes Kurt to panic even more. “NO! Please don’t leave me!” Blaine turns back and stares as Kurt’s pants start gliding down his hips. Kurt moves down from the headboard, lying flat against the mattress. He sees Blaine turn away from him, but not moving from where he stands a small distance from the foot of the bed. Kurt looks back at the pants sliding down his legs. He doesn’t understand what’s happening. He can’t think.

When the pants slide off Kurt’s shoes they too disappear, just like his shirt did. Kurt can hear Blaine crying but he can’t look away from his legs. They too, are full of bruises. His shoes unlace themselves and disappear, his socks following right after. Kurt’s boxers start sliding down his hips and he gasps.

“Are you okay?” Blaine asks again and sniffles.

“No. Please don’t go, just don’t look.” Kurt answers, still not looking at Blaine.

Kurt is naked. He can’t think of anything besides “please don’t look” as he looks up at Blaine who is shaking with silent sobs. Suddenly there is cold and wetness spreading up his feet and legs. Kurt snaps his eyes back to himself and sees what looks like water droplets coating his legs. The water continues up his body and Kurt lifts his chin as it nears his mouth. That doesn’t stop the water, it just fills his mouth and Kurt splutters. If he wasn’t already dead he would think he was drowning.

“What’s happening?” Blaine asks with panic in his voice. “Kurt?!”

The water has now reached his eyes. He blinks rapidly while trying to see the ceiling above him. “Water!” he chokes out.

“What?” Blaine asks, sounding even more terrified now.

“Just don’t look!” Kurt feels the water flow through his hair and into the wound on the back of his head. It feels kind of nice, Kurt thinks before he passes out. 

Kurt hasn’t said anything in a while, but he told Blaine not to look. So Blaine doesn’t. He holds his breath for as long as he can, trying to hear anything coming from Kurt. He forces his heartbeat to slow down so it’ll stop pounding in his ears. After what feels like eternity he hears Kurt take in a sudden, deep breath. “Kurt?”

“Oh my God!” Kurt exclaims.

“Are you okay?”

“Look!” Kurt gasps.

Blaine doesn’t think he has ever been this relieved in his whole life. He turns slowly and gasps when he sees Kurt. His hair is perfectly styled, except for a bandage on the back of his head. He has a pair of yellow boots on, as well as a pair of white jeans and a yellow knitted cardigan.

“This is my favorite sweater.” Kurt says breathlessly.

Blaine practically throws himself on the bed next to Kurt, but he doesn’t touch him. Kurt meets Blaine’s eyes and Blaine lets out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding. Kurt smiles at him and Blaine can do nothing but smile back. “It’s a fabulous sweater.” Blaine breathes and Kurt blushes.

They are silent for a while, just trying to calm down and make sense of what just happened.

“What just happened?” Kurt asks after a few minutes.

“I think I know.” Blaine says and picks his phone out of his pocket. He calls the number he saved this morning and it doesn’t take many rings for there to be an answer. Kurt just looks at him.

“Hummel’s.” comes Burt’s voice.

“Hello Mr. Hummel. This is Blaine again.”

“Oh. Hello Blaine. What can I do for you?”

“Well…” Blaine hesitates, but he needs to be sure of his suspicion before he tells Kurt. “I know this is a really sensitive thing to ask, but something really strange just happened to Kurt. Do you know if anything was scheduled today?” Blaine almost giggles at the adorable clueless expression on Kurt’s face. Almost.

“Today they are preparing his body for the funeral. I picked out and left some of his clothes at the place this morning... Is he still there?”

“Yes. We just needed to know what just happened. Kurt said that yellow sweater is his favorite. Thank you, sir.”

“Yeah… Um… Tell him I said hi, okay? I need to go by the shop. Bye.” Burt hangs up. Blaine just sits with the phone still to his ear for a moment, in surprise.

“What?!” Kurt whines.

“They just prepared your body for the funeral.” Blaine says and tries to look as comforting as possible, after putting his phone back in his pocket.

Kurt moves up the bed to lean against the headboard again. Blaine does the same and then smiles gently at Kurt. “Your dad picked out your outfit.” Kurt looks away from him, his eyebrows drawing together slightly. He says nothing, starting to rubs his hands together. Blaine continues to smile softly at him, just in case he looks back at Blaine’s face. “He must know you really well, to pick that out for you.”

“He does. But I’m not surprised he remembers that I love it.”

“How come?”

“Well, to begin with I worked extra in his tire shop for two months to save up for it. Also, when I finally bought it I danced around the house while hugging it to my chest for about four hours.” Kurt looks up at Blaine, smiling faintly. “Also, I was singing at the top of my lungs and I fell over, nose-dive into the living room carpet.” He looks back at his hands, rubbing his left thumb across his right palm.

Blaine thinks that Kurt’s story is cute, and he chuckles lightly. He too looks at Kurt’s hands. They must be solid now, Blaine thinks and reaches his hand out to rub the back of Kurt’s right one. Kurt stills his hands and looks back at Blaine with slight surprise. Then he grins. “You think me fracturing my jaw is funny?”

Blaine tries to hold it back, but the laughter escapes his lips as he twines his fingers with Kurt’s. “Fractured jaw? From the living room carpet?” he giggles. “While dancing around hugging a cardigan? You’re adorable.”

“Thank you. So to conclude, I’m not at all surprised my father remembers that it’s my favorite cardigan. I insisted on taking it with me to the emergency room.”

Blaine laughs even more at that, clasping Kurt’s fingers. Wait… My fingers! Kurt looks at his hands, where Blaine still has a firm grip on his right one. “My hands…” Kurt says.

Blaine stops laughing, looking curiously at Kurt. “What about them?” A last giggles finds its way out of his mouth.

“I was- and then not- and they’re still…” Kurt trails off. He looks at Blaine, and he is pretty sure that he can see his thought-process.

“That’s… Good. Maybe you don’t have to concentrate completely all the time?” Blaine suggests.

“Yeah, maybe…” Kurt smiles. “I think you touching my hand might have unconsciously kept my mind there…” He blushes slightly. Blaine just smiles back. Something hits Kurt suddenly. “You should call Aimee.” he says as Blaine’s hand is now grasping the air.

Blaine pulls his hand back. “Yeah, I should. Last time was a few days ago.” He takes the phone out of his pocket again and Kurt sees him press a contact called “Aimee”. Not “Wyland Anderson” or “Monica Anderson”. Not “home”. “I can put it on speaker so you can hear us?” Blaine asks and presses the button before Kurt has a chance to respond.

“No, you don’t have to. It’s your little sis-“

“Anderson residence. How can I help you?” a man with a British accent answers the phone.

“Hello Charles. It’s Blaine.”

Why am I not surprised his name is Charles?, Kurt thinks.

“Sir Blaine! It’s nice to hear from you. How is school?”

Kurt puts his hand in front of his mouth to stop a giggle. SIR Blaine?

“Oh, it’s fine. I was thinking I’d talk to Aimee for a while.”

“Of course, sir. Just a moment.”

There is some crackling on the other end and after a minute a little girl comes on. ”Blaine?” she asks, excitement obvious in her voice.