River Flows In You

Chapter 1 - The Creature

In a clearing in the Lima forest there was a small lakelet with completely clear water. In that lakelet a creature resembling a human being was swimming around happily.

I haven't been here in a long time. Not since… The accident. But I love it here. I'm coming back here every day from now on. I can't be afraid of a place as lovely as this, not anymore.

A human boy walked through the trees, a stone-throw away. He emerged into the clearing, the sun hitting his chestnut hair.

Oh, no! Who is that? What are they doing here?

The creature in the water dove under and held his breath.

Good thing I can hold my breath for so long. But I… can… still see him. He should be able to see me too! ROCKS! I have to pretend to be human.

He stood back up and shook some water out of his curly, dark hair.

The boy hadn't noticed him until now.

Oh, heavens! Who is that? What is he doing here? Well crap, I can't just pretend I haven't seen him…

"Hi…" the boy said.

English. I got this!

"Hello. Who… What…" The creature scratched his neck.

"My name is Kurt. What is your name?"

Name? Oh, right! Good thing my neighbor is a half-human.

"My… Name… Is Blaine."

Why is he naked? And why can't I stop staring? Close your mouth, Kurt!

"Nice to meet you. What are you doing here?"

"Bathing."

"I can see that. You… Always bathe… naked?"

"Usually. I can put something on if it is bothering you?"

"Well, I can leave." the boy - Kurt - said and looked away from the creature - Blaine -.

"No, no. You don't have to do that. Why did you come here?"

"I came to… Well… Honesty, I've had a really crappy day. I sometimes come here to calm down." Kurt looked back at Blaine.

"Crappy?" What is that?

He seems nice. I could just tell him… "Crappy because I get bullied a lot at school. And today was especially bad. I came here to think."

Bullied? School? Come on… Blaine. Think! "I'm sorry. What about your… friends?" Yes! I remembered that one!

"I don't really have any. Not that I can talk to about this. They don't understand."

"How come?" Blaine crooked his head to the side and looked at Kurt's wet, blue eyes.

"Because none of them are gay." I'm talking to a naked guy in the forest about this? And crying too? Good job, Kurt. Though you are probably hallucinating…

Gay… Wait, my neighbor told me about this… Males who likes other males. Like me! I totally got this! "I am gay."

"Really?" Yup, definitely hallucinating.

"Really. And you could talk to me if you want."

Wake up, Kurt. You are dreaming. "What are you doing here?" Wait, did I already ask that? That is a very toned chest…

"I came to bathe."

"Oh yeah…" Those arms…

"Do you want to talk for a while?"

"Honestly… I really do." I might as well just indulge until I wake up…

Rocks! He is going to see my tail and run away. I really… Want him to stay… Think fast! "I need to put on my… Clothes! Could you…?"

"Oh! Yeah, sure." Kurt turned his back to Blaine to give him some privacy. Not that I haven't seen… him... already.

Blaine slowly got out of the water, eyes on Kurt's back. He put his brown shorts on (pulling them high, to his navel) and pulled his green t-shirt-looking thing on, eyes still glued on Kurt's back. He rolled his tail up a bit and hid it between his bare back and the fabric of his shirt. Usually he would let it stick out between his pants and shirt, everyone did that where he lived, but Kurt probably wasn't used to that since he was a human.

"You decent?" Kurt asked.

"I have my clothes on."

Kurt turned around. God, he looks amazing like this too. Those eyes!

"Let's sit on that rock!" Blaine said and pointed at a huge boulder a few stone-throws away.

"Sure."

Kurt walked past Blaine, toward the large stone and Blaine followed right behind him. He didn't want Kurt to see the bulge of the shirt on his back. When they reached it Blaine easily climbed onto it.

"Did you actually mean that we should sit on top of the rock?" Kurt asked and crossed his arms over his chest, arching an eyebrow.

"Yes? Do you not want to do that?" Blaine asked, confused.

"People usually don't sit on top of huge boulders. Also, these are designer pants."

Rocks! PEOPLE don't sit on rocks, even though we are used to that… "I'm sorry."

He climbed back down from the rock and sat on the grass, next to where Kurt was standing.

Is he a hobo or something? I'm confused… "So, Blaine… How is it being gay at your school?" Kurt sat down too, accidentally bumping knees with Blaine. Blaine didn't seem to notice.

"I don't go to school." Moss! I should have lied…

"Oh, you graduated? How old are you?"

"No. I… stopped going when my parents died about a year ago. I am seventeen."

"I am seventeen too." What are the odds? Totally a dream. "I'm sorry about your parents. My mother is dead too, cancer... How did your parents die?"

"They drowned here in this lakelet."

"And you swim around in there?" Kurt looked horrified.

"I know people think it is strange. But where I am from, we believe that your spirit stays where you die. Today was the first time I've been here since they drowned. I could… Feel their presence when I bathed there. And I understand if you think it is… odd."

"When I am sad I usually open the drawers of my mother's dresser, lie on the floor, close my eyes and smell her perfume. I pretend that she is there."

"I bet she is." Blaine smiles at Kurt, who smiles back.

This is going to suck to wake up from. Wake up! You better do it now, before you fall in love with him.

"Why are you pinching your arm over and over?" Blaine asks, head tilted slightly.

"Because I want to wake up." Might as well be honest.

"You look awake to me."

"I must be dreaming, though."

"Why do you say that?"

"You can't be real."

Oh, no! Does he know what I am? Did he see my tail? "I don't understand."

"I walk into the forest, where no one ever goes, and I find you. Swimming around naked. And you turn out to be the same age as me, also gay and absolutely gorgeous."

"I'm sorry." He didn't mention my tail…

"So I just want to wake up now, before I fall in love with you."

"You think you could?" Blaine gets a happy, tingly feeling all over.

"Most definitely. You are nice and polite and you are willing to listen to my whining."

"I am. But Kurt… I assure you. I am real."

"Prove it!"

"How am I supposed to prove that I am real and not a dream?" Blaine looks thoroughly confused.

"I don't know! Pinch me or something."

What should I do? His arm is all red now. I don't want him to be hurt. Kurt has closed his eyes and is pinching himself really hard. Blaine stands up on his knees in front of Kurt. He grabs his wrists gently and holds them out, away from his body. Kurt opens his eyes. Blaine's nose brushes the tip of Kurt's nose lightly. Is kissing you going to help? Kurt's eyes are wet again and Blaine's heart aches. He puts his lips slowly and gently to Kurt's while staring into his eyes. Kurt's eyes flutter shut and he flexes his fingers, while deepening the kiss. Blaine lets go of his wrists and puts his hands on Kurt's knees. Kurt tangles his fingers into Blaine's curly hair.

This is the best day of my life. I want to stay just like this forever.

Oh my god! This better not be a dream!

Blaine chuckles lightly and pulls back when Kurt starts leaning back (making them almost fall on top of each other in the grass). Blaine sits on his feet as Kurt leans on his hands.

"See! I told you I am real." Blaine smiles.

"Yes. Which makes what I told you before a bit awkward." Kurt blushes.

That is the cutest thing I have ever seen. "Not at all."

"You don't think?" Kurt says and looks at the ground between them.

"No. I can tell you a few things as well. I am sure I will fall in love with you. You are nice and adorable. You are cute when you blush and I really like your hair and your clothes. Also, you told me about your mom, and about being bullied at school, which you can't even talk to your friends about." Kurt looks at him surprised. "Is it less awkward now?" Blaine smiles.

"Yes. But you… You think I am cute when I blush?" Kurt asks shyly.

"Absolutely adorable. You are gorgeous." Blaine sees Kurt smile widely. "I also like how I can barely see your teeth when you smile. Just the bottom of them. You have cute teeth."

Kurt blushes all the way to his ears. Oh my god! How is he real? Cute teeth? Oh, damn. I'm screwed.

"Thank you." Kurt says and looks at Blaine's brown and slightly green eyes. "Do you want to hang out?"

"Hang out?"

"Like… Listen to music?"

"How?" Music? In the woods? We have no instruments…

"Well, we would have to go to my house. I left my iPod at home."

"iPod?"

"Yeah, I know everybody just plays music on their phones now, but…"

Ah! It's an instrument at his house. I've heard that people have pianos and guitars, but not… iPods… "Sure! I would love that."

Blaine stands up and holds his hand out toward Kurt. Humans do that in those… movies, that neighbor Sean showed me. Kurt looks hesitantly at him for a second so Blaine smiles wider and Kurt grabs his hand.

"Why are we doing this?" Kurt asks as they walk into the forest, under a roof of leaves.

"What do you mean?" Blaine says and ducks under a low branch.

"Why are we holding hands?"

"Don't you want to?" Blaine says and stops, turning to look with concern at Kurt.

"I do. It's just… I thought people didn't just do that. Especially not gay people."

"That's how we do it where I am from." Blaine smiles.

"You do it a lot?" Kurt asks and looks… Hurt?

"First time I've ever held hands." Blaine smiles even wider, his eyes crinkling at the corners.

"Me too. Except with my parents."

They start walking again, in silence.

"So where are you from, Blaine?"

Moss! I can't tell him that I'm from the forest… THINK BLAINE! "A tribe… In Wyoming."

"Oh. Are you like… A native American?"

"You could say that…"

"So where do you live now when your parents are… not with you?"

"I live with my big sister."

"Oh. What is her name?"

What was it that Sean called her?… Oh! That's right. "Blair."

"That's nice. And similar to yours."

"Yes, it is. Do your parents have any other children?"

"My parents only had me, before my mother died. But my father has married a new woman now. And she has a boy that is the same age as me, his name is Finn."

"That is nice."

They walked out of the forest and onto a huge patch of grass. Blaine could see a house about a hundred stone-throws away.

"Holding hands might not be a good idea when we get inside the house…" Kurt says sadly, swinging their joined hands back and forth a bit.

Blaine says nothing so Kurt continues. "First of all, you and I just met so we are not a couple or anything…"

Blaine looks at him with sad eyes. Kurt continues. "We could be if we hang out a lot and still like each other. And second, even if you were my boyfriend my dad is not used to… stuff. So he should meet you a couple of times."

"Sounds like you have a plan." Blaine grins.

"Well, since this turned out to not be a dream I thought a bit. And you are really nice, so… Yeah. Anyway, let's go."

Blaine moves his fingers so they interlace with Kurt's. Kurt looks at him and smiles.

"So, Blaine… What music do you like?"

"I like when people play piano. My neighbor has one, and he showed me some. Other than that I mostly just sing, come up with stuff."

"Would you sing something for me?"

"Right now?" Blaine blushes.

"Yeah. Nobody else is around to hear it, if that makes you feel better." Kurt smiles.

"What do you want me to sing about?"

"Anything!" Kurt says and squeezes Blaine's fingers in encouragement.

Blaine starts singing a low, slow and soft song that his mother taught him when he was little. Rocks! This isn't English, or any other human language! He will think it is really weird.

What is that? It isn't any language I have ever heard before. And I have heard a lot of languages!

Blaine keeps singing, Kurt's neck is starting to hurt from staring at him. He finishes a couple of minutes later with an especially low note. Kurt shivers. Hot damn!

"That was beautiful, Blaine! But what language is it?"

"My native one."

"Oh. What is it called?"

"What?"

"The song, the language, your tribe?" Kurt asks and smiles.

"My mother taught me the song, "Lairani" which means something like… a flowing river. The Americans call our language "Fouri", I think. And my peoples name is "Trillough"."

"Wow…" Kurt's eyes seem to have shifted from blue to green. It's probably the light. "That is gorgeous." he continues.

"Thank you."

"Do you have special names, that are different from your American ones?"

"Well… It's the same name, but different…"

"What's yours?"

"We pronounce it "Blourin". But it is spelled like Americans spell it, since we use your letters."

"What about mine?"

"Kairik."

"Wow…" Kurt says in awe.

They are close to the house now, so Blaine let's go of Kurt's hand.

"You say it." he says and smiles when Kurt stops walking.

"Blourin." Kurt says carefully.

"I thought you were going to say Kairik, but wow… I love how you say my name."

They both blush and then turn to look at the house at the sound of a door opening.

"Hey Kurt! Dinner is ready!" a man calls out. He then stops mid-step and looks confused. "Who's that with you?"

"Coming dad!" Kurt calls back and they walk toward the house.

The man is standing there waiting, eyes fixed on Blaine and arms crossed over his chest. Kurt and Blaine walk up onto the back porch and the man starts tapping his foot.

"Hi dad. This is Blaine." Kurt says.

The man doesn't move. "You gay, kid?" he asks.

"Dad!" Kurt yelps.

"Yes." Blaine says. Wait, there's something humans usually say… "Sir."

The back door of the house swings open and an older woman steps out. "Your waffles are getting cold." she says but then spots Blaine. "Oh, hello. Are you a friend of Kurt's?"

"We met when I took a walk. I asked him if he wanted to come back here and hang out, listen to some music."Kurt rushes to say.

"My name is Blaine."

"Pleasure. My name is Carole, and this is Burt. Would you like some waffles, dear?" the woman asks.

"No, thank you." I should have thought this through. But those eyes… Blaine glances at Kurt's eyes.

"You don't like waffles?" Kurt asks.

"I have a very special diet. Also, I don't want to intrude." Blaine explains.

"Can I eat my waffles in my room, please Carole?" Kurt begs, bouncing on his heels.

"Sure." she says and grabs her husband's arm to tug him into the house.

"Finn, you can eat your waffles by the TV." Carole tells a tall boy that is sitting by a wooden structure. Table… Come on, Blaine. You know this.

I'll just get my waffles and eat them in my room. So Blaine and I can listen to music and talk.

When they come into Kurt's room Blaine stops in the middle and looks around. Kurt has a lot of stuff in his room, but not as much as Blaine has seen people have in Sean's movies. Blaine lets his eyes roam around the room, stopping on as many things as he can, remembering their names. Mirror, lamp, door, wardrobe, chair, desk, floor mat, bookshelf, books, bed and K-Kurt. Kurt has sat down cross-legged on his bed, the plate of waffles in his lap. He is eating them while watching Blaine. I think he likes how I've decorated my room. He looks completely amazed.

"Should I turn on the music?" Kurt asks and puts his empty plate on the bedside table.

Blaine nods. Kurt leans over to the bedside table on the other side of his bed and puts a square object in another bigger square object. Kurt's shirt is pulled up a bit so Blaine can see the pale skin of his hipbone above his waistband. Blaine stares. Kurt touches the smaller square object and it lights up, but Blaine doesn't notice. When the sound of a piano reaches Blaine ears, he looks around for the piano but realizes that the sound is coming from the bigger square object. It must be something similar to the thing that Sean shows me movies on, but you show music instead…

"This is the only music I have that is only a piano. It's Yiruma, I listen to him a lot. This song is called "Kiss The Rain". Do you like it?"

"It's beautiful." Blaine says and closes his eyes.

"Come here." Kurt almost whispers and Blaine shudders.

He opens his eyes again and walks over to sit cross-legged on the bed, facing Kurt with their knees touching. They look and smile at each other in comfortable silence for a while.

"When did you realize that you are gay?" Kurt asks softly.

"When I was new. I mean… young. A child, maybe 7 or 8 years of age. What about you?"

"I'm not sure. I mean, I just never liked girls. But I came out about two years ago."

"Came out?"

"I told my friend Mercedes first and then my dad."

"Ah."

"When did you tell your parents?"

"They always knew. I never had to tell them. It's not unusual where I'm from."

"Oh… So there are a lot of gay boys in your hometown?"

"I guess. But none worth a second glance. None like- like you."

Kurt blushes. Blaine leans over and kisses him quickly. He leans back and can feel his cheeks burning.

"If you are going to blush, I will kiss you every time." Blaine says and smiles.

"Then you will have to do that a lot." Kurt says and smiles back.

"I'm glad."

They talk for a little while until Kurt's stops suddenly, mid-sentence and puts his index finger to Blaine's lips.

"This song is called "River Flows In You", it's my favorite."

"Wait! That's the meaning of it! Lairani! It is the same!" Blaine says behind Kurt's finger. "It's beautiful. Does it have any words?"

"Lyrics? I don't know."

"Can I come up with some?" Blaine asks cautiously.

"Only if it's in Fouri."

Kurt's smile is really wide, crinkling the sides of his eyes. Blaine kisses him again. Kurt restarts the song and Blaine starts singing. He uses all the beautiful and loving words he can think of, making the song about Kurt. He is positive that he has already fallen in love. But I can't tell him about me yet. The song ends and the next one starts. Kurt has closed his eyes so Blaine takes a moment to think. He grabs Kurt's hands and interlaces their fingers. Kurt keeps his eyes closed. I have to know that he is in love with me too, before I tell him. So he won't run away without looking back... That is really selfish, Blaine! I should tell him now, before I break his heart. But those eyes. Blaine realizes that Kurt has opened his eyes and is staring at him.

"That was beautiful Blaine. What did you sing about?"

"You. I can tell you the details some other time." Blaine smiles.

Kurt blushes so once again Blaine just has to kiss him. He does so very gently then pulls back a tiny bit and ghosts his lips over Kurt's. Blaine is not ready for what Kurt does next. Kurt throws himself at Blaine. They fall back so Kurt is on top of Blaine. They untangle their legs while they kiss, until they are lying comfortably. Except that Blaine is lying on his tail, which doesn't hurt his back or his tail, but it is not the ideal place for it in a situation like this. Blaine reaches up and moves his hands through Kurt's unbelievably soft hair while Kurt is moving his hands up Blaine's sides. Good thing the tail is the only thing that would give me away… I never want to go home… I haven't felt this happy since my mother was alive. Oh gosh, he must work out a lot!

"Kurt. Dad says that your frie-" they hear someone saying from the door.

Kurt pulls back and shrieks. "FINN! Get out!"

Blaine tilts his head backwards, he sees and up-side-down Finn standing in the doorway looking really awkward.

"But dad said that your f… he needs to go home. You have school tomorrow."

"Fine! Just leave, please! And don't you dare tell ANYONE about this! I still have that-"

"Okay, okay! I'm leaving." Finn says and closes the door behind him as he walks out.

Kurt kind of smacks his head onto Blaine's chest.

"I'm SO sorry about that. Finn obviously has not learned how to knock." he mumbles into Blaine's shirt.

Blaine chuckles. "I guess I should go home?"

Kurt's eyes are sad when he looks back up at Blaine, which makes Blaine's stomach feel odd.

"I guess you should. But do you… want to hang out again?"

"Definitely. When?" Blaine smiles, hoping that it will make Kurt smile too.

"I can't tomorrow, I have a test the next day. But what about Friday? We could go out and do something." Kurt smiles now and it makes Blaine smile wider.

"Sure. The day after tomorrow, great. Go out and do what?" Chase butterflies maybe?

"Maybe go to a movie? Or bowling?"

"Anything you want." What is bowling? Oh, oh! A movie! I know those! "I've seen movies."

"All of them?" Kurt smirks.

How many can there be? "Some."

"Okay. Let's see a movie on Friday and we can go bowling on Saturday. Okay?"

"Anything you want." Blaine repeats.

Kurt smiles again and gets off of Blaine. He stands on the floor next to the bed and holds out his hand for Blaine, to help him get up. They walk into the hallway downstairs, Finn staring at them from an armchair in the living room. Burt and Carole are sitting on the couch, watching the television. Seems to be about cooking human food…

"It was nice to meet you all." Blaine says before Kurt drags him by the arm out the front door.

"Bye bye Blaine!" Burt and Carole calls in unison, Finn saying nothing.

Kurt closes the door behind them and turns to Blaine who has walked down the front steps and into the grass beside the concrete path that leads to the garage. Kurt walks over to him and they just look at each other for a while.

"It was nice to meet you, Kurt." Blaine says.

"You dork. But yes, it was nice meeting you too, Blaine." Kurt smiles and brushes his hand against Blaine's lower arm. "Wait… Where do you live now?"

The forest. Can't tell him that… "Not so far from here. I'll show you sometime."

"I would love to meet Blair."

"She will probably want to meet you too."

"You are going to tell her about me?"

"I'll tell her that I met you and that I like you."

Kurt blushes and Blaine kisses him. Kurt puts his hand on the back of Blaine's neck to keep him from pulling back. Don't go. Blaine chuckles and removes Kurt's hand gently and then kisses his knuckles.

"Can I have your phone number?" Kurt asks.

"I don't have a phone."

"Oh, right. I didn't think about your… people." Kurt looks sad.

"Don't worry. I'm close by. I will probably hear you if you call out my name." Blaine smiles and takes Kurt's chin in his hand. He rubs him thumb against Kurt's cheek.

"So… Meet you here on Friday?"

"Yes. I'll be here waiting when you get home from school."

Blaine kisses Kurt again, both of them closing their eyes for a moment before they part. I will never see him again… I will stay close by, in case he needs me. Kurt walks up the front steps and waves at Blaine before he closes the door. Blaine smiles wide and waves back, even after Kurt has vanished behind the door.

Blaine begins his walk back home. He is the one. Sometimes I love our ancient stories and traditions… I have to ask Sean if he has a human… calendar, that's it! So I know when Kurt can see me. I will pick some beautiful flowers for him… When Blaine walks into the forest he pulls his pants down a bit and wiggles his tail out of his shirt. He swings it back and forth to stretch it after spending a day curled up under his shirt. Man, that is going to become really uncomfortable after a while… He thinks about Kurt all the way home. He doesn't go into his own tree-house however, but knocks on the door of Sean's place.