Chapter 7: The Proposition

Blaine woke up the next day, his still sleepy mind was startled to feel a warm blanket over him. His tired mind refused to open his eyes, knowing that the moment he did he would have to get out of bed. Instead, he wondered when he had gotten a heat blanket that fit him so well.. and why the heat blanket was breathing.

Blaine wrapped his arms around the blanket, only to find out that it wasn’t a blanket, but a human being. The sleep fuzziness evaporated rapidly as he came to his senses and jerked open his eyes.

Realisation hit him when he saw Kurt lying half on top of him, fast asleep. He remembered everything that had happened the night before. His head hit the pillow with a soft thud and he stared at the ceiling, just listening to Kurt’s breathing. Kurt had called him yesterday in a state that only could be described as delirium. He had come rushing to safe him and had found out that Kurt had been using LSD. And then somehow they had ended up in this bed together. Oh. Now Blaine remembered that Kurt had pulled him close and refused to let him go. He smiled a little at that memory.

The boy who had his head on Blaine’s chest was sound asleep. The only indications that he was alive were the small movements he made when he breathed, and the almost inaudible sound of air being inhaled. Locks of hazel brown hair clouded Blaine’s view, and he ran his fingers through it, relishing in its softness. He memorised the texture and feel, just by slowly stroking his hair.

Blaine’s fingers tickled the nape of Kurt’s neck, and the taller boy twitched in his sleep, letting out a soft moan.

“Mmmm… Feels good…”, Kurt’s voice was raspy from sleep and the way he murmured the compliment made Blaine’s stomach do a somersault.

He was truly cute, wasn’t he? Despite everything that had happened the night before, Blaine couldn’t help but admire the boy sleeping on his chest. The boy who was usually guarded and who always had a witty comeback looked totally defenceless. The was an aura of innocence around him, though the logical part of Blaine’s brain knew that Kurt was far from defenceless or innocent. But, that was part of his appeal. The way he carried himself, with the pride he held even though he knew he wasn’t perfect. No wonder Blaine’s heart fluttered every time he thought of the painter.

Though Blaine could stay in this bed and admire Kurt the whole day, he had to get up and call the hospital to inform that he couldn’t make it to work. His stomach was growling at him and the doctor was afraid that the noise would wake the sleeping beauty. He debated internally for a few minutes about how to get up without waking Kurt, though it seemed like a lost cause since the painter had wrapped himself around Blaine.

Finally after much fretting, he carefully slid away from Kurt and wrapped the blanket around him. Evidently Blaine didn’t need to worry, as Kurt hadn’t even moved a muscle. Kurt was obviously a deep sleeper, a trait Blaine noted for the next time. He really hoped there would be a next time.

--

Blaine explained to the hospital that he had come down with something he suspected was contagious, feeling like a schoolboy who had to fake illness to escape class again. Lying was not something Blaine was comfortable with, but he decided that he couldn’t leave Kurt alone in this situation. Plus, Kurt had a serious talk coming his way. He just hoped that Kurt would take him seriously without getting mad or violent.

He made breakfast for them, the best breakfast he had made in ages. Cooking for one was just no fun, besides he wasn’t the natural born cook either. On the other hand, one of the things he had learned over the past few weeks was that Kurt was magic behind the stove. However, the doctor tried his best to navigate in the foreign kitchen and managed to produce a decent breakfast before returning to Kurt’s bedroom.

“Kurt?”, he asked softly, though he suspected that he had to make more noise if he was to wake the older boy. As expected, Kurt didn’t even move an eyebrow.

Blaine sat down on the bed and stroked Kurt’s head softly.

“Kurt?”, he tried again. This time Kurt reacted by snuggling closer to Blaine. Seemed like Kurt was a real cuddle whore, Blaine thought with a smile on his face.

“You have to get up. Breakfast’s ready”, he said louder, firmer.

Kurt clenched his eyes shut.

“No… I wanna stay here forever…”, he mumbled.

Blaine chuckled when he saw Kurt’s expression. His eyes were clenched shut, his nose wrinkled and a frown was visible.

“Come on Kurt.. I have eggs and bacon”, he tempted in a singsong voice.

Kurt opened one eye, peeking sleepily at Blaine. What was Blaine doing here? Oh well, it had to be a hell of a dream if it included waking up to Blaine. But if it was a dream, why did he have to get out of bed? Wait…

Kurt jumped out of bed.

“Blaine?!”, he shrieked, throwing the blanket off him.
“What are you doing here?”

Blaine hadn’t expected that Kurt wouldn’t remember anything from the day before and was startled.

“Uh.. I.. Uh… I made you breakfast!”, he offered with a feeble smile.

Kurt looked at him with suspicion in his eyes.

“Okay.. But why are you here?”, he asked, distrustful.

Blaine cleared his throat. How should he break it to him? It hadn’t occurred to him that Kurt wouldn’t remember the events of last night. That certainly complicated things.

“You don’t remember yesterday?”, he asked, a little amused.

Realisation hit Kurt like a baseball bat to the face and he went from shock to disbelief to embarrassment.

“Right… Yesterday…”, Kurt mumbled, his gaze downcast. Kurt tried to remember every that had happened. He remember the “date”, that Blaine insisted on seeing his apartment, the fight they had and.. the LSD. After that everything was a bit blurry. He certainly recalled being attacked by a mysterious stranger. Had Blaine saved him from that?

Blaine smiled friendly. As a young boy he had learned one thing, to feed people before or while you interrogate them. His mom was from the South, after all.

“Hey, I made breakfast”, he said in a friendly voice and forced Kurt into the living room where there were two plates of food waiting for them.

Kurt almost passed out from the smell of food, and all thoughts of mysterious strangers were instantly abandoned. He hurried towards his plate and almost inhaled the food.
“Oh my god, Blaine..”, he mumbled with food in his mouth. Normally, Kurt would have been dead embarrassed by his behaviour right now, but he was too busy eating every single crumb. He even considered licking his plate when he was done.

Blaine was looking at him with a smug look on his face. He noticed Kurt’s disappointed look when his plate was empty and shoved his own plate towards him.

“Here, you can have mine as well, if you are hungry”, he offered.

Kurt looked as though he was about to refuse out of politeness, but he changed his mind when he saw the crispy bacon and gobbled up Blaine’s plate as well before looking up for more.

He was having a serious case of post-drugs munchies. When he was like this, he could eat for an hour straight without pausing.

Suspecting this, Blaine stood up to make more breakfast for them. As he took out another carton of eggs to fry, he casually looked at Kurt.

“So.. Care to explain last night?”

Kurt swallowed visibly. Why was he getting flustered. It was not like he did anything out of the ordinary last night. He had been upset and settled it the only way he knew how; drugs. He remembered that he had two of the LSD pills left that Santana, one of the girls in his drug gang, had given him. He had tried LSD once before, but he couldn’t really remember the details, so Kurt assumed that the night was pretty awesome. Turns out you shouldn’t take LSD when you’re in a shitty mood. He kinda forgot that warning.

And the consequence for that was the insanely hot doctor in hit kitchen. Said doctor put more food in his plate and Kurt ate a bit slower this time.

“What do you mean?”, he finally asked in reply.

“I mean.. You know, you calling me in the middle of the night… I was so scared, Kurt”, Blaine looked Kurt in the eyes, to emphasize how scared he was, and how much he cared.

When Kurt didn’t reply, he continued.

“I thought something really bad had happened. I thought that you had been mugged or something… You have no idea how scared I was”, Blaine muttered.

“And then when I come rushing here, I find you on your floor screaming you brains out. Lucky for you I found out what you had taken, or I would have had to hospitalize you again. And I know how much you hate hospitals..”, Blaine sighed.

Kurt looked at him without emotions in his face. So he the attack by the mysterious stranger was just something that had happened in his mind. He was ashamed even though he refused to show it to Blaine. Still, he couldn’t get the fact that Blaine actually worried about him out of his head. He knew that the doctor was extremely compassionate and caring, but it felt good to know that he had worried about him.

“You never explained why you slept over, though”, Kurt murmured, not addressing the problem Blaine tried to ask him about. The doctor had cared enough to sleep over so that he could take care of him, Kurt thought with an internal smile.

At this, Blaine actually blushed.

“Uh.. I was going to sleep on the couch to keep an eye on you in case your condition got worse, but you kind of would not let me go..”, he mumbled, his eyes fixed on the buttons on his shirt.
“You uh.. pulled me towards you and held me tight the entire night..”

When Blaine looked up, he was met with a flustered Kurt whose mouth couldn’t quite decide if it was going to stay open or close. Mortification etched in his eyes.

“Oh my god.. I was clingy, wasn’t I?”, he breathed, not trusting his voice to convey his message. He knew he was a cuddle whore, that’s why he didn’t like to spend the night with anyone in the same bed. He had absolutely no control over his body at night.

Blaine grinned sheepishly

“The term I would use is cuddly”

Kurt facepalmed himself. Now Blaine is never going to want to sleep with me again, Kurt thought warily.

“I am never ever ever going to take LSD again!”, he swore, and actually meant it. What was he thinking? Doing drugs that were given to him by Santana – the bitch queen whom he both loved and hated? He should have just stuck to what he knew best.

Blaine nodded approvingly, with a friendly smile on his face. He knew that Kurt didn’t want to quit drugs all together, but it was worth a try.
“That would be really wise. I can set you up with a rehabilitation programme, if you want. I know a clinic that is really good, an-“, Blaine was interrupted by Kurt.

“What the fuck, Blaine?”, Kurt sneered.
“I already told you, I’m not going to quit!”

Blaine’s smile was nowhere to be seen, but he remained calm as usual. He had gotten used to Kurt’s insane mood swings already and embraced the fact that he could be worse than a PMSing lady. In a strange way, he found it endearing.

“I just want to best for you, Kurt. You saw yourself how bad it was yesterday, and maybe next time you won’t be here to talk about it..”, Blaine’s eyes clouded over with pain at the thought of Kurt’s death. He was too precious for him to lose. He couldn’t bear the thought of Kurt overdosing by mistake.

Kurt however felt the fury fill his body like scalding water. He didn’t want to get riled up, but he couldn’t help it. It was almost like he didn’t have control over his own body anymore. Whenever the topic of quitting his “habit” came up, Kurt morphed into someone else – a person he didn’t like very much.

“So what, huh?!”, Kurt felt the control slipping from his fingers by the second.

“So what if I use drugs to escape my shitty life?”, he thundered, fighting the tears that threatened to fall. Every time Kurt got mad, he reacted by crying. He felt like a sissy.

Blaine bit his lower lip, wanting to get away from the confrontation.
“There are other ways, Kurt..”

“LIKE WHAT, Blaine? Pray tell, because I’m tired of trying ways to live a normal life but just ending up here again. I’m tired of fighting. I’m tired of fighting you, everyone else and myself…”, his voice trailed off, and it was replaced with a sniffing sound as he tried to hide his tears.

“Hey, don’t be like that..”, Blaine whispered and tried to pull him in a hug the way he used to do when his sister’s five year old threw tantrums. The doctor should have known better, as Kurt was no five year old.

Kurt forced his way out of Blaine’s arms with an enraged look on his face.
“Oh, I’m sorry if I’m too whiney for you. Or too depressed. You know what? At least you don’t have to go through all the shit I do”

Blaine felt an irritation building inside of him.

“You think you’re the only one who has a tough life? Well, look around you and you’ll see that everyone has rough patches, but they get through it without tending to drugs. I’m begging that you try to do the same”, Blaine countered.

“Because you are worth more than this, Kurt. You can be anything you want, as long as you are free from your own cage”, he finished, hoping that Kurt would calm down. He didn’t want this. He didn’t want to fight with Kurt. He didn’t want to see Kurt upset like this. He just wanted to make Kurt happy and make him smile the adorable way he does when he was happy.

“Why do you even bother?!”, Kurt shrieked exasperated.

Blaine bit his lip and tried to shield the hurt that showed in his eyes.

“Because I care for you, Kurt..”, he muttered. It was not more than a whisper, but Kurt heard it. His anger fell to the floor like pouring rain, leaving him with nothing else than vulnerability. Blaine cared for him? It what way? Did Blaine also feel a flutter in the stomach when he look at him? Kurt nibbled on his bottom lip in the way Blaine thought was the cutest ever.

“You… you do?”, Kurt asked tentatively, the fire from seconds ago had evaporated. Now in the angry man’s place stood a boy with his heart on his sleeve; a state Kurt was seldom found in.

“Of course I do”, Blaine whispered, cupping Kurt’s cheek with his hand. A small smile could be seen in the corner of his mouth. Kurt stared blankly at him for a few seconds while thoughts in his mind raced around him. His heart pounded and he was sure the entire neighbourhood could hear it. The doctor cared for him?

Before Kurt knew what was happening, he had pulled Blaine towards him and brushed his lips against the doctor’s. Kurt didn’t notice that Blaine had stiffened in shock and tentatively kissed the doctor. Blaine’s lips tasted better than he had imagined, and in a moment of euphoria, he grabbed Blaine’s shirt and pulled him even closer so that their bodies met. Once Blaine’s initial shock had passed, he found himself leaning in to return Kurt’s unexpected kiss. Suddenly he became aware of his actions and pulled away.

“Kurt…”, he muttered, blushing.

Kurt gasped in horror. What had he done? He had gone and kissed his best friend! The only friend he had who actually cared about him.

“I am so sorry!”, Kurt said hurriedly.

Blaine stared at his toes, unwilling to meet Kurt’s eyes. He hadn’t pulled away from the kiss immediately. He had wanted to kiss the elder man. He had wanted to press him towards the wall and kiss him senseless. Blaine licked his lips and was relished to find remains of Kurt’s taste on his mouth. There was something raw and honest about the kiss that both scared and fascinated him. He was scared of what it could be. Could Kurt be in love with him? Could he be in love with Kurt? Could this mean the start of a relationship? Could he be in a turbulent relationship with a stubborn drug addict? He cared for Kurt and it would kill him if Kurt didn’t want to be his friend anymore, but love..? Could it be it?

“God, Blaine. Say something…”, Kurt pleaded, his eyes wide open with anticipation. Was there a flicker of regret there Blaine saw?

Of course Blaine didn’t want to kiss him. Why would he want to? He was a mess. A mess that no one wanted to befriend let alone fall in love with.

Blaine drew a deep breath, as if to find courage in it.

“Don’t be sorry”, he said quickly. A red curtain spread in his cheeks, finding its way towards his ears.

Kurt looked flabbergasted.

“I just kissed you, Blaine. I kissed you”

Blaine nodded dreamily.
“I know, and I liked it”, he replied honestly.

Kurt didn’t even have to reply. The expression on his face said it all. It went from disbelief, to shock to a flicker of relief. Could it be that the doctor actually felt something for him, Kurt found himself thinking the forbidden thought. He leaned forward to kiss Blaine again, but Blaine pulled away, with a frown on his forehead.

“I.. I thought you liked it!”, Kurt cried out in embarrassment from the rejection. He could feel another mood swing coming his way.

Blaine’s frown was more prominent now than ever.

“I do… But I can’t do this, Kurt..”

Kurt’s heart fell. The small apartment felt even smaller, and he could feel tears welling up, just waiting to trickle down his cheeks. Damn the doctor for making him feel so vulnerable.

“But I’ll make you a proposition”, Blaine stated with a small smile forming in his lips.

Kurt looked up at him with the fiercest look he could muster, his defence up again.

“I’ll kiss you again if you manage to lay off drugs..”, Blaine finally said.

AN: I really hope you liked it. I don’t know why, but I am a bit afraid to see the reactions on this chapter. Guess I’ll go hide in a corner.