Chapter 9

Blaine winced at the memory. Would things ever be like that again? Even if Drew recovered as the doctors predicted he would, Blaine would have to tell him about Kurt. It was the right thing to do, wasn't it? He had no idea; no idea what was the right thing to do in this situation. He couldn't believe this was happening; and, what made him feel worse was that he couldn't believe it was happening to him.  He felt terrible just thinking that, but he couldn't help it.

He heard the door open behind him and quickly wiped his tears with the sleeve of his shirt. He kept his eyes down. He watched himself rub his hands together nervously for a few seconds before remembering that someone had entered the room. He assumed it was Sophie; he hadn't called anyone else.

"Hey, Soph. Did you get thro-"

"How is he?" That wasn't the voice Blaine had been expecting. His head snapped up in shock at the sound of Kurt's voice. Kurt was staring straight at Drew, his eyes glazed in concern. He was still wearing his outfit from the reunion. Blaine guessed he hadn't been home before getting to the hospital.

"Kurt. What're you do-"

"I had to see if he was okay. And if you were." Kurt moved his gaze to Blaine and gave a half-hearted attempt at a smile.

Blaine was shocked; he'd expected things to be far more awkward than they were. Well, shouldn't they be? But things felt easy. He'd almost forgotten what he and Kurt had done a few hours earlier. Almost.

"He's doing okay. I mean he's still unconscious...obviously. I, uh, don't know the specifics - couldn't really concentrate on what the doctor was saying with Drew just...lying there." Blaine admitted, returning his eyes to look at his hands. He heard Kurt hum in agreement and Blaine wondered why. His mind went back to Kurt telling him something so many years ago. Kurt had been in an incredibly similar (yet completely different) situation with Burt.

"I get that." Kurt pulled the other chair up beside Blaine's and sat in it. "And what about you?"

Kurt's genuine concern made Blaine raise an eyebrow. Blaine hadn't really spent the time to think about how he was. "Me?" Blaine questioned. "I'm fine. At least, I am under the circumstances."

Kurt heard the tone of voice Blaine used and rolled his eyes - although, the action went completely unnoticed by Blaine. "That's nice. Now tell me how you actually are, Blaine."

Blaine returned Kurt's cerulean gaze with his golden one. Before he could answer with words, tears spilled over his eyelids. He turned away, unable to face Kurt in his current state. He stared both at Drew and into nothingness and made no effort to clean the tears from his cheeks. Surely he'd stop crying soon. It had to get better in one way or another, right?

"Hey...stop that." Kurt placed his hand on Blaine's shoulder. It hurt him to see Blaine this upset. But, he had no idea what the appropriate conduct was for comforting you ex-boyfriend, who you just kissed, because his current boyfriend was lying in a hospital bed. He wanted to hug him so tightly that neither of them could breathe. He wanted to whisper reassurances in Blaine's ear. But he knew he couldn't do any of that. So Kurt settled for the awkward ‘hand on the shoulder' way of comforting.

Blaine's eyes made an attempt to look at Kurt, but otherwise he remained still. He wasn't sure if he liked Kurt's comforting gesture - or rather, if he was supposed to like it - or if he should shy away from him. He stayed still.

"It's my fau-"

"Don't you dare say that," Kurt interrupted, "Blaine, none of this is your fault. You know that."

Blaine stayed staring ahead, trying with all his strength to stay still. If he was honest with himself, he needed to be held. He wanted someone to hold him and refuse to let go until he stopped crying. But, unfortunately, he couldn't have that right now. "Thank you." Blaine whispered, finally turning his gaze to Kurt.

Kurt smiled at Blaine when their eyes met. Blaine loved Kurt's smile. It was one of the first things he really noticed about him. He also noticed how, when Kurt smiled, it was physically impossible not to smile back. The way Kurt's light blue eyes seemed to sparkle, how his eyebrows moved ever so slightly. In short, Kurt's smile was perfect. That was how Blaine found himself smiling. It wasn't a half-hearted smile either; it was a genuine, uplifting smile. He told himself to stop, that he shouldn't be smiling. But he couldn't stop himself. Before he knew it, he was laughing almost uncontrollably.

Kurt looked at Blaine like he'd just sneezed fairy dust. "You okay there, Blaine?" he asked warily.

Blaine laughed hysterically into the hand he'd clasped tightly to his mouth. He nodded as he gasped for breath. Once he'd calmed down slightly, he tried to answer the other man's question. "Yeah...fine." Blaine took a deep breath. "I mean, it's kinda funny, though. Like, I finally managed to start to move on with a guy who really likes me. Then you show up," he gestured to Kurt, "knowing me better than I know myself. And all I can think about is that kiss and how I don't regret it." Blaine had no idea how to stop himself talking. "I don't regret a single moment of it, even though my boyfriend is lying unconscious in a hospital bed. But all I can think about is you, how you must feel being dragged all of this and how much I just want to kiss you again." It wasn't until after his little speech that Blaine realised how hysterical he sounded. And...wait - had just told Kurt he wanted to kiss him again? Oh god, he had.

Kurt didn't move. He didn't retract his hand from Blaine's shoulder. He simply sat there and looked at the hysterical man in front of him. He felt Blaine tense and he knew what Blaine was about to do. "Don't you dare apologise, Blaine Anderson. Don't even think about it." Blaine looked up at Kurt's words. How did Kurt know he was about to apologise? He heard Kurt sigh. "When your shoulders tense and you close your eyes, it normally means you're about to say sorry for something. But you...you have nothing to worry about, okay?"

Blaine smiled when he looked at his ex-boyfriend. "Thank you," Blaine whispered so quietly that only Kurt would be able to hear him.

Kurt smiled and moved his hand back to his lap. "I mean it, Blaine. We were always honest with each other. That shouldn't change just because we haven't spoken in years." Kurt lowered his gaze and cleared his throat. "I still...really care about you, Blaine." Kurt gulped quietly. Why was he so afraid to tell Blaine how he really felt? Why couldn't he say that he still loved him? But then Kurt heard the steady beep of the heart monitor and remembered why. They weren't back at Dalton, singing flirty duets and seeing where things went. They were in a hospital with Blaine's unconscious boyfriend. That was why Kurt couldn't say anything.

"I have no idea what I'm doing, Kurt. Not a single clue. It's all just so...difficult. W-what am I supposed to do?" Blaine sobbed.

Kurt couldn't take it anymore. He stood up, pulling Blaine along with him and immediately wrapped his arms around the shorter man. Blaine didn't argue. He didn't have the energy to fight it even if he wanted to. He just let himself be comforted by Kurt. Everything about the hug was perfect - well, other than the circumstances. Blaine visibly relaxed as Kurt rubbed circles into his back with his thumb. Kurt started to hum a familiar tune in Blaine's ear and Blaine laughed. To anyone else, the tune wouldn't be significant. Hell, they wouldn't even know it. It was a stupid tune but the memory of it always made Blaine smile.

***

"Blaine!" Kurt giggled as he tried to wriggle out of his boyfriend's grasp. "B-Blaine, get-t off me!"

Both boys were laughing loudly as Blaine tickled Kurt's sides. "Say you're sorry, Kurt!" Blaine grinned.

"Sorry for what?" Kurt squealed breathlessly.

Blaine tickled Kurt's ribs harder. "You know what?"

Kurt sighed, but his smile made no attempt to leave his face. "Fine! I'm sorry." he giggled.

Blaine smiled triumphantly. "See, that wasn't so hard." Blaine moved off of Kurt and stopped pinning him to the couch. He sat upright and pretended to be watching the television - which had rapidly become background noise to the couple anyway.

Kurt stood up and made his way over to Blaine's bedroom mirror. "Oh my god, Blaine! I look like a mess!" he whined, smoothing down his now wild hair and re-tucking his shirt into his jeans.

"Oh shush, you look amazing." Blaine stated as if it were some kind of obvious declaration.

Kurt was about to turn around when something on Blaine's desk caught his eye. "What's this?" He asked, almost to himself as he picked up the paper. It was sheet music. Sheet music with ‘Kurt's Song' written in his boyfriend's handwriting across the top. Blaine had seen what Kurt had found and leapt off the bed.

"That's, uh..." Blaine went to grab the paper from Kurt's hands, only for him to move it further away. Kurt read the first few bars of music and hummed the tune back to himself. Blaine blushed furiously as Kurt hummed his original song. "That's not finished," Blaine dropped his hands, knowing that Kurt was reading the lyrics, "and it's nowhere near perfect." He gave up any hope of getting the sheet music back from Kurt. "It was going to be a surprise when I finished, but...yeah..." Blaine rambled, "Sorry if it's a bit w-"

"You wrote this?" Kurt interrupted, "You wrote this...for me?"

Blaine looked up at his boyfriend and nodded. He saw that Kurt had tears in his eyes. "Kurt, baby, are you okay?" He asked warily.

"I..." Kurt smiled and sniffled, eyes still on the paper, "I never thought anyone would actually do this for me."

Blaine smiled and placed his hands on the other boy's shoulder. "Kurt, you're the love of my life. I would give you the entire world if I had the power to."

Kurt sealed his mouth over Blaine's in a soft, loving kiss. He pulled away after a moment or two and looked into Blaine's eyes.

"I love you, Blaine Anderson."

"I love you too, Kurt Hummel."

***

Blaine smiled into the space over Kurt's shoulder. "I can't believe you remember that." He gasped.

Kurt shrugged. "It's not everyday that the man you love writes you a song."