Chapter 22

“Here is the address; the car is waiting. You know the procedure,” Tom said and gave him a piece of paper and left Blaine alone. He unfolded the paper and memorised the address. A soft touch on his shoulder made him jump. It was Tina.

“Tina, you scared me,” he laughed. “What are you doing?”

“Tina?” they heard Mike’s voice and they looked at him. “Hey, Blaine. I thought you had left already.”

“How did–”

“Jeff,” Mike laughed. “Didn’t expect to see you before you leave. There are no classes anymore so Tina and I decided to go to the swimming pool.”

No classes, huh? the girl thought.

“But only to fool around, enjoy the swim a little. You know how different it is when you do something for pleasure and when you are working your ass off to improve your skills.”

“I know what you mean,” Blaine smiled. “Anyway, I should be going. I’ll see you soon, guys.”

“Good luck, Blainey,” Mike patted his shoulder.

The boys were not expecting what happened next when Tina pulled Blaine into a tight hug. She took Blaine by surprise so it took a moment for him to respond and hug her back.

“Take care of Kurt, okay?”

She let him go and nodded.

<~*~>

 Kurt didn’t know what to do. When he was with someone, he wanted to be alone. When he was alone, he wanted to be with someone who could keep his mind off Blaine. But whenever he was with someone, there was only a tense silence. The dinner went just like that. Kurt, Finn, Mike, Tina, Wes, Nick, Rachel and Sugar were sitting at their regular table. Sebastian and Sam were nowhere to be found. They were all silent, trying to eat something but failing.

It feels like some fucking funeral, Tina thought pushing her plate away.

Santana came in a minute and sat down. Nobody even looked at her. “Are we just going to ignore the fact that Blaine went on a mission where Dave had died, and not talk about it?” Nick finally asked.

“Does it look like we are ignoring it?” Wes asked rolling his eyes.

“Yeah, we are just sitting here chatting gleefully as always,” Sugar mocked him.

“Stop it,” Santana frowned. “I see that you’re throwing a mourning party but if you stopped for a second you may realise who we are talking about. It’s Blaine. As far as I know he is one hell of an agent.”

“So was Dave,” Mike whispered.

They all started arguing, talking about how Blaine may die as well, so nobody noticed when Kurt started crying. It was only when Tina realised that and went to hug him, they stopped talking.

“Hey, it’s going to be okay. I’ve knwon Blaine for years – he will come back before we do,” Finn smiled at his brother. Nothing else was said.

<~*~>

“Ready to travel back in time?” Finn tried to make Kurt smile but it didn’t work. “I can’t wait to go home. It seems I haven’t been there forever.”

“Me too.”

Finn buckled his seat belt. “Listen, Hudmel, I get it, you’re worried. And so am I. But now we are going home and you need to be all jolly and excited to be home for Christmas.”

“How?” he asked buckling his own seat belt.

“Acting classes. Use the experience,” he smiled and Kurt nodded, not sure how he was going to pretend that everything was alright when in reality Blaine was the only one he could think of and the worry was killing him.

<~*~>

“Finn, Kurt!” they heard a familiar voice and saw Burt with Carole, both smiling widely and waving at them. They ran towards their parents and hugged them tightly to show just how much they had missed them.

“It’s so good to finally see you, boys,” Burt said still holding Kurt while Carole showed no intention of letting Finn go. “The house was too silent, too empty.”

“We missed you both a lot,” Finn smiled at Burt and went to hug him while Kurt kissed Carole’s cheek and hugged her.

“You have everything?” Burt asked and the boys nodded. “Let’s get going then.”

On the way home Finn told them stories about the trip around Europe while Kurt lied all about his studies and projects he had been working on. All the time Burt and Carole were smiling, listening to how excited their sons were.

“Home sweet home!” Carole laughed letting everyone in once they reached their house. “I’m sure your beds missed you just as much as we did.”

“I don’t sleep in it much, mom,” Finn giggled, putting his suitcase on the floor in the corridor.

“Don’t remind that to your poor mother,” Carole cupped his cheek, never getting enough of touching his son to make sure he was real.

“Hey, Kurt, you are kind of pale. You feeling alright?” Burt asked a bit worried.

Kurt attempted a smile. “Just tired after a long trip, dad. Jet lag and stuff, you know.”

Carole smiled at him fondly. “Why don’t you, boys, go unpack and take a shower? I will quickly make something to eat and then you can go to bed early. How does that sound?”

“Perfect,” Kurt smiled and hugged her.

“Okay, Kurt, let’s go to our room,” Finn grinned. “I like how it sounds.”

“Dork,” Kurt rolled his eyes playfully, took his suitcase, and they both went to the room.

Once he was in the room he heard the doors being closed. He turned around to see Finn, uneasy look on his face.

“What?”

Finn sighed. “You are not doing well, Kurt. Burt noticed something. You have to be more careful from now on,” he said.

“Well, I’m sorry that I’m afraid for my boyfriend’s life,” he snapped.

“I get it, Kurt. I know what you are going through. You know, I have Rachel and I feel the same way when we are not together. And even when we are, I’m afraid she may get hurt. But you have to learn to hide it better. Yes, today you can say you are tired. What excuse are you going to use tomorrow? Just listen to me, I know it’s hard but you can do it, Kurt, I know you can. Just remember what you have learnt in the C.A.T. and it’s going to be fine.”

Kurt’s eyes became tearful. “What if something happens to him?” he whispered.

Finn sat down and motioned Kurt to join him. “Kurt, we are talking about Blaine. He is like immortal. And now that he has you, he has someone to live for. He is even more determined to survive. I’m pretty sure he is more worried about you worrying than about the dangers of the mission.”

“You are right. I shouldn’t doubt him,” Kurt finally put a brave mask on his face; if he could fool Finn, he could fool everyone else as well. “Go take a shower and I will start unpacking.”

“That’s the Hudmel I know!” Finn patted his shoulder and went to the bathroom.

<~*~>

When Kurt woke up the next day it was only five in the morning. He cursed the jet lag and got up because there was no need to stay in bed. He got used to that in the C.A.T.; the only reason to stay in bed used to be being close to Blaine. Now he couldn’t bear staying in bed because it would mean thinking of the boy he loved. No, he had to do something to keep his mind off the painful thoughts.

So he got up, took a long cold shower, and went to the kitchen to start making something for breakfast. By the time he was washing the fruits, his phone beeped. Kurt’s heart started racing – maybe it was Blaine texting him to tell he was okay. Or maybe someone from the C.A.T. to tell him that Blaine… No, he couldn’t think about that. He quickly dried his hands and left the fruits in the sink, the water still running.

James: On the plane now. Can’t wait to see you again!

Kurt didn’t know if he was more relieved or sad by the text he got. It could have been worse, it could have been better. It could have been from Blaine, even though he knew the boy wouldn’t text him while he was on a mission – too dangerous. Kurt’s mind started wondering what Blaine was doing at that moment and he had to remind himself to stay calm. Maybe James would help him to forget for a little while.

<~*~>

Kurt heard the door bell ring and quickly got up. But his father was faster and opened the doors.

“Good afternoon. You must be Mr. Hummel. I’m James Branson, Kurt’s friend from New York,” Kurt heard James saying.

“Come in, boy, we have been waiting for you. We would have come to the airport to pick you up, you know,” Burt said and let him in.

James waved his hand to show that it’s no big deal. “I didn’t want to bother you even more. I’m very thankful you let me come and stay a night. I really missed your son.”

“And his son missed you,’ Kurt smiled behind James’ back.

“Kurt!” James shouted excitedly and went to hug his friend. “We have so much to talk about.”

Kurt smiled. “That we do! Come on, let’s go to the guest room and get you settled. Then I will show you around. We will be having lunch soon as well, you must be starving.”

“I could use some food,” James smiled as Kurt showed the way to the guest room.

<~*~>

The time with James went very quickly. Kurt always found it nice to be with him and it really helped this time in his situation. Kurt realised that he thought about Blaine less often when he was with the other boy. It was comforting so they spent every minute together. They even fell asleep on the couch watching a movie together, curled under the blanket like they used to do when they were dating.

Next evening it was time for James to leave. This time Kurt insisted he took him to the airport so the boy had no other choice but to accept the offer.

“It was fun to see you again. I can’t wait for you to come back to New York,” James said holding Kurt’s hands. “I really miss you. I miss us…”

“James–” Kurt started but James didn’t let him finish as he placed a soft kiss on his lips. Kurt pulled away as quickly as he could. “What are you doing?”

“I… I thought you wanted this… I mean you were so, I don’t know, clingy but in a good way. I’m sorry if I misread your signals,” James rambled, his face dark red.

Kurt sighed. “I’m sorry if I sent some wrong signals. I just really needed a friend. And you are a great friend, but that’s it.”

James nodded. “I understand. Sorry, Kurt. Text me?”

“Of course,” Kurt smiled. “You are my friend after all.”

“See you soon, friend,” James smiled sadly before turning around.

“Goodbye,” Kurt said not sure if he was going to see him ever again.

<~*~>

The next day was very busy. They were all getting ready for Christmas – cleaning the house, decorating it, cooking, and singing all day long. After the Christmas dinner Finn and Kurt went to bed and fell asleep the second their heads hit the pillows.

Kurt didn’t expect to be woken up by a phone call. It was from an unknown number.

“Hello?” he said sleepily.

“Good morning, sleepy head. Merry Christmas!”

“Blaine!” Kurt shouted and it woke Finn up. “Why are you calling? It’s too dangerous.”

Blaine laughed. “Remember when in the very beginning I asked you to tell me twenty random facts about yourself? You told me then that Christmas was your favourite holiday. I just had to call you. I can’t wait for us both to come back to the base so we can be together again.”

Kurt could hear Blaine smiling and he smiled as well, trying not to cry.“Merry Christmas, I miss you.” Finn showed some weird gestures with his hands and head. “I think Finn says he misses you as well or something like that. I can’t understand.”

“No, I told you to talk quicker. You can’t–”

“Blaine?”

There was some hustle on the other end. He heard the phone dropping on the floor.

“Hey, I think we have just found the rat. Go get the boss,” Kurt heard someone saying.