Kurt and Blaine stand in the doorway in silence.

“I can spell the floor soft!” Blaine squeals out and then coughs. Great. This is making the entire situation even more awkward.

“We can also ask for another room. It’s just a misunderstanding,” Kurt says. He sound way calmer than Blaine.

Why isn’t Blaine calm? Kurt’s right. It can be cleared up. But he also doesn’t want to give the innkeeper more work, so he insists that he’ll just spell a part of the floor soft.

“But what about a blanket?” Kurt challenges.

“I’ll manage,” Blaine says.

“If you insist-”

“I do,” Blaine immediately says, and Kurt’s face falls.

“Okay. Thanks,” Kurt says, sounding a bit annoyed. Did Blaine mess things up? Is this not polite in Kurt’s world, or why is Kurt acting this way?

Blaine’s about to apologise for whatever he did, but Kurt says he needs to use the bathroom. That’s that, then.

Blaine gets woken up when he hears something shatter.

He has no clue what just happened, since it’s dark and his eyes have to adjust to it. He quickly casts a spell that grants light, and the candles automatically turn on as if Blaine flicked a switch.

He sees Kurt sitting in the bed, with his head in his hands, and his body is shaking. The shards of a decorative vase are next to the bed, close to Blaine’s sleeping spot. That’s the thing that woke him.

“Kurt?” Blaine calls out.

“Yeah?” Kurt sounds shaken.

“What is wrong?”

“Nightmare.”

Blaine gets up from the floor and sits down next to Kurt on the bed.

“Want to talk about it? It’s okay if you don’t.”

“It’s just… It makes no sense!”

“What makes no sense?” Blaine asks.

“What happened to me,” Kurt groans, “I don’t- I can’t understand…”

“The, uh, world travel?” Blaine asks.

Kurt nods.

“What do you dream of?” Blaine asks. He hopes he doesn’t push Kurt too much, but it might be another clue, and they need those.

Besides, if Kurt doesn’t want to talk, he won’t, and that is fine.

“That’s the thing I don’t understand!” Kurt cries out, “I don’t remember. And it- it- I don’t know.”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. I am here,” Blaine awkwardly puts his arms around Kurt, but Kurt leans against him.

“I can’t talk about it.”

“You don’t have to,” Blaine reminds him.

Kurt sniffs.

“No. Really. I don’t understand. What happened. I don’t- I am so confused. Same with what happened at the liar.”

“You mentioned experiments, right?”

Kurt nods.

“But I don’t remember those either. I only know I got hurt. And that- Or… I don’t know.”

Kurt lets out another frustrated groan and Blaine hopes he’s not waking up others, but Blaine also doesn’t care. Kurt needs to let this out.

“Three days. It must’ve been more, Blaine.”

“I can understand that.”

“I just don’t remember. There were experiments. They put stuff on me. That’s what I know for sure. They- They were testing something. And I didn’t get enough to eat.”

Blaine remembers that Kurt looked really thin when the rancher brought him in.

“You’re safe now. And we are going to get you home,” Blaine reassures him.

“Thank you. Truly. I know this whole thing with The Cooper Chronicles is a lot for you to deal with too.”

“Kurt-”

“No, really, Blaine. I also don’t know what I would do if I find out I am a work of fiction for others. But you are still here.”

“I’m not leaving you until we find answers,” Blaine says. He wants to help Kurt. He truly does. And he also wants to learn more about this whole fiction thing. It’s terrifying, definitely, but Blaine wants answers as well.

They sit together for a while. Blaine holds Kurt as he calms down.

“Are you, uh, okay?” Blaine asks awkwardly after a while, but to his relief, Kurt nods.

“Yeah. I think so.”

“Think you can go back to sleep?”

“I’ll try. I want to be rested when we go up north. I want to find my way home.”

“We will,” Blaine reassures him again, and he slowly starts to move away so that he can go back to his spot on the floor, but Kurt puts his hand on his arm to stop him.

“Stay here,” Kurt says.

“Oh. Of course.”

“Only if you want to.”

“I do!” Blaine immediately says.

“Good night, then.”

“Good night,” Blaine says. He blows out the candle and lies down next to Kurt.

Blaine wakes up with Kurt against him, and it feels nice, but they need to get going. They have a mission! Blaine slowly wakes Kurt.

“Our carriage awaits,” Blaine whispers, “After breakfast, of course.”

“Hmm. Five more minutes,” Kurt snuggles against Blaine.

“Wake up, Kurt. We have a long road ahead of us.”

And they don’t even know where exactly they’re heading. They’re just going to visit the northern towns and ask around, hoping to find more clues. It’s all they can do right now.

“Kurt,” Blaine pokes Kurt’s side, “Come on.”

Kurt slowly opens his eyes and Blaine can see him waking up. When Kurt’s awake and realises he’s basically clutching Blaine, he looks at Blaine with shocked eyes, but Blaine doesn’t mind.

“Morning,” Blaine says.

Kurt lets go of Blaine, which is nice, so now Blaine can get ready. He gets out of bed and talks about their plans and Kurt nods along, still looking a bit confused.

Is he still a bit rattled from the nightmare? He did sleep peacefully after it.

“Right. Yes. The quest,” Kurt says and throws the sheets off him, “Let’s go.”

They pack their stuff, leave the key at the reception and go to a local tavern for breakfast. There’s a weird air around them, and Kurt’s more silent than usual. Normally, Kurt’s off making snappy remarks or bold claims, and Blaine admires that about him. Now, he’s trailing behind Blaine.

When they’re at the table with breakfast, Blaine decides to address this.

“Is there a reason you’re feeling unwell?” he asks.

“I’m unwell?” Kurt frowns.

“You’re being a bit weird. Was it about last night?” Blaine asks.

“Yes,” Kurt answers.

Yes, that explains a lot.

“It’s understandable if you get nightmares.”

Kurt’s frown deepens.

“Oh. Uh. Thanks? But that’s not what I meant.”

Blaine wracks his brain. What else was unusual last night?

“Are we not going to talk about it?” Kurt asks.

“Talk about what?” Blaine is confused.

“We shared the bed.”

“Yes? So?”

Kurt asked him to stay. Of course Blaine obliged. Kurt was in a state of distress and Blaine wanted to be there for him.

“So…” Kurt prompts, but Blaine has no idea what Kurt is asking of him

“Sorry. Is that a big deal in your world?” Blaine asks.

“It could be,” Kurt admits, “But it’s fine. It’s… fine. Good to know it isn’t here.”

“Good?” Blaine says, although it sounds more like a question.

They finish their breakfast in silence, but the awkward tension is gone. It’s time to hit the road and find the other books.