Blaine sniffles as Kurt shoulders his bag and opens the door to Finn’s house.

It’s plain to see that Kurt is furious. There’s subtle tension in his shoulders that he’s trying to hide, and Blaine’s sure that it’s for his benefit but he can’t bring himself to really care. He just kind of feels numb down to his toes, his brain fighting against processing what has happened.

Finn heaves himself off the couch with a groan and crosses over to where Blaine is standing woodenly in the entry and rests a hand on his shoulder. “Kurt told me what happened and you’re welcome to stay here as long as you want. He had no right to do what he did.”

“Thank you, sir,” Blaine offers, his voice flat. He really is grateful, but he’s not sure he’s capable of sounding anything other than detached.

“I’ve told you, kid. Call me Finn. I’m the same age as your boyfriend and you don’t call him sir…or at least…if you do, please don’t tell me about it.” He finishes with a wry smile that Blaine can’t help but make the attempt to return.

“Jesus, Finn,” Kurt groans, rolling his eyes as he grabs Blaine’s arm and pulls him toward the stairs.

Finn holds out a hand toward Blaine, looking more serious now. “I mean it, though, Blaine. You can stay here as long as you need.”

Blaine is looking at the floor as he mumbles his thanks, feeling weaker by the second as his body fights against breaking down. He’s vaguely aware of Kurt’s hand on his elbow leading him upstairs and into his bedroom. A hand slides up and down soothingly over Blaine’s bicep. “Why don’t you go lay down, honey. I’ll get some of your things put away.”

“No,” Blaine shakes his head, “Please come lay down with me. I just…” He trails off, unsure of what he just. Kurt nods and laces their fingers together, pulling Blaine toward the bed and letting him cuddle against his side. Blaine splays his fingers across Kurt’s chest and stares blankly at them, feeling lost and very, very small. “I don’t know what I did wrong, Kurt. I mean, I must have done something—“

Fabric rustles as Kurt shakes his head against the pillow. “No, honey, you didn’t do anything. You did everything right. And I am so proud of you.”

Silent tears slide down Blaine’s face and he sniffles once. “Thank you,” Blaine whispers weakly, his voice thick and croaking.

Kurt kisses the top of his head in reply. “Why don’t you try and take a nap? You’ll feel better when you wake up.”

“Will you stay?” He shifts a little closer and tightens the arm he has draped over Kurt’s stomach. He really, really doesn’t want to be alone right now. Even if he is asleep.

“Of course, Blaine.” The words are comforting and they’re punctuated by the soft press of Kurt’s lips against his forehead.

Kurt starts humming and the quiet sound is enough to lull Blaine to sleep.

————————

From the faint purplish orange glow of the sky, it’s just before sunrise and Blaine feels the pressure of a building headache pressing down behind his eyes. Everything is crisp and vivid even in the darkness of the predawn streets of Lima.

He’s standing in a part of the city he’s always been warned about. Never go to Lima Heights after dark. Somehow, he’s not afraid. There are a few people roaming the streets, talking in quiet voices as they’re huddled together. By the way they keep sneaking glances at Blaine, he’s sure they’re unhappy that he might be close enough to overhear their conversation.

The dark look in their eyes should evoke the familiar feeling of anxiety that Blaine always feels. The deep-rooted anxiety that he’s had ever since a very similar group of guys cornered and attacked him when he was fourteen. He’s been ashamed of how jumpy and distrustful he is around people ever since and these men should make him want to run. He’s been scared into a panic attack by less.

But he’s not even nervous. He feels powerful and it takes a minute for him to realize why.

There’s an alley to his left where movement catches his eye, a quick flash of pale skin, and he turns to see Kurt coming to a stop at the mouth of the alley, smiling a warm, easy smile that Blaine can’t help but return. He’s by Kurt’s side before he even realizes he’s made a conscious effort to do so and Kurt’s smile widens.

“Beautiful, Blaine,” he whispers in disbelief as he leans forward to kiss Blaine. “You’re absolutely beautiful.”

Kurt’s lips taste faintly of something addictive. Something Blaine feels like he can’t get enough of. Masked behind the sweet, heady taste of Kurt, is the taste of blood. He kisses deeper, chasing both of the equally intoxicating tastes. He’s kissing Kurt in public, in the worst part of town, after dark. It’s the single most dangerous thing he’s ever done and the idea makes him feel even more powerful. There’s nothing that can stop him now.

He hears the sound of footsteps drawing closer. “Hey!”

He just smiles against Kurt’s lips, untroubled by the indignant shout of one of the men down the street. They don’t matter. They’re part of a different world. But apparently those men don’t know that. He shouts again and this time Blaine looks up, lips still quirked up into the tranquil smile that always comes from kissing Kurt.

In a whisper so quiet he’s sure human ears could never catch it, Kurt whispers, “They can’t touch us.”

Blaine turns toward the approaching men and they falter back a step, their eyes widening as they land on his face. The pull of the blood from Kurt’s lips must still be evident in his eyes, an almost glowing honeyed-hazel color looking distinctly inhuman in the darkness. Kurt’s words echo through his mind and he reaches down to lace their fingers together and take a step toward the slowly approaching trio of men.

He can’t help toying with them just a little as he asks, “Is there a problem?”

The one spearheading the group swallows thickly and Blaine can hear his heart racing, the pulse of hot blood through his veins making Blaine’s mouth water and his throat burn dryly. The man shakes his head and takes a step back.

“I didn’t think so.” Blaine smiles as he tugs on Kurt’s hand, pulling him past the group. Kurt throws his head back and laughs as the men all but trip over themselves to get away.

He wraps his arms around Blaine’s neck and kisses his smile, his voice playful and bright. “My hero.”

————————

When Blaine opens his eyes again, it’s dark. Kurt’s hand is still sliding in a soothing pattern over his back and he lets himself drift for a minute, content and warm in Kurt’s arms. It’s a comforting feeling to a boy who is so often afraid to know that he’s completely and totally safe. He shifts unconsciously closer to Kurt’s body.

“You’re so perfect, Blaine,” Kurt breathes, his voice the same warm, reverent whisper Blaine remembers from his dream.

He’s too content and comfortable to really form a response so he hums out an acknowledgement and they lapse back into silence, Kurt’s fingers coming to card through the back of Blaine’s sleep-mussed curls.

In the soft, peaceful silence of the room, Blaine’s dream swirls in his mind. The power he felt coursing through his veins, knowing he could protect Kurt—not that Kurt needed protecting—and keep him safe, knowing that he and Kurt could be together forever.

“Do you think I’d be a good vampire?” Blaine asks without really thinking the question through and he feels Kurt’s chest rise and fall with a sigh beneath his head.

“Sweetheart, you’re a good human,” Kurt answers quietly. “This really isn’t something I even want you to think about. Just because I’m a vampire doesn’t mean that you have to be too.”

Blaine takes a deep breath. “What if it was what I wanted?”

Kurt is silent for a beat before asking, “Is it you want?” in a slow, quiet tone.

“I’m not sure,” Blaine answers honestly. “I mean, I know we’ve talked about it a little, but I don’t know. I have a million questions. Will I still be me? Am I going to want to kill everyone?” He’s well aware he’s rambling but can’t seem to make himself stop even if he’s sure he sounds like a bumbling idiot.

“You’ll still be you, Blaine. If there was any doubt of that, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation,” Kurt assures before sighing. “Unfortunately, the thirst is part of becoming a vampire. It’s always in the back of your mind, but you learn to live with it. I hardly even notice it unless it’s been too long since I’ve fed, but there are times when it feels like it could get the best of you. It’s happened when I was with you and that scares the hell out of me, because I couldn’t live with myself if I hurt you.”

Blaine shudders at the thought. “But you didn’t.”

“But I thought about it,” Kurt argues, shaking his head. A shudder of fear runs down Blaine’s spine and Kurt pulls him closer. “I would never consciously hurt you, Blaine, but instinct is an unconscious thing that I have to fight to control sometimes. A lot of vampires look at humans as just a food source. The way you would think of cows: put on Earth simply to be fed on. You don’t think twice about eating a hamburger, do you?”

It’s a rhetorical question so Blaine doesn’t bother with a response, more curious as to how this fits into Kurt’s argument.

“It’s so deeply engrained that cows are food that there’s never a moment of doubt. It’s like instinct. I have to fight every day not to hurt someone, because it is natural for a vampire to hurt humans. And for people like us, Blaine, it’s like torture. Your body is instinctively craving something that it goes against the very core of your morality to obtain. You have no idea what it’s like to know that you’ve taken someone’s life.” Kurt’s voice is pleading and serious by the end.

Blaine is silent as he turns over Kurt’s words. Could he live a life that is controlled by the constant drive to feed? Would he be able to be strong like Kurt and withstand the compulsion for human blood to instead feed on something that makes him sick?

“Blaine, I would do everything in my power to keep you from hurting anyone, but you have to understand that things happen that are beyond your control. Especially when you’re young and the craving is so much stronger. You’ll do anything for it and, honey, I know you. If you ever hurt someone, it would kill you,” Kurt says with quiet sureness.

“I was different than you are. I joined the army so that I could feel like I was protecting the country and I stand by everything I did there. When the German soldier jumped out and tried to take a shot at your grandfather, I didn’t think twice about shooting him. He was trying to kill my best friend. I don’t regret what I did to make sure George was safe and I’d do it again. But there’s a difference between “kill or be killed” and indiscriminately killing in order to feed,” Kurt says, serious and slow.

Blaine is shaking his head. “You saved that woman’s life, Kurt. He could have killed her—“

“But I killed him.” It’s a simple statement of fact. “It wasn’t war. He wasn’t coming after me. I was in no immediate danger for my life. I just killed him. Somewhere, there was a family who was never going to have their son back. Just like my family. No one deserves to die like that, Blaine, and I had no control over what I was doing. I was so consumed by my thirst that I took a life and I can never take that back.”

Kurt takes a deep breath and sits up, pulling Blaine with him in order to look directly in his eyes, taking his hands and squeezing them gently. “Blaine, I want you to understand that I will love you no matter what choice you make. No matter what happens or what path you choose, I will always be there to support you,” He speaks with such deliberate sureness that Blaine is enraptured by the words, positive that no one has ever meant anything more than Kurt means what he’s saying now. “But I want you to tell me why you’re even considering this life for yourself.”

His voice is small and quiet, but Blaine manages, “Kurt, if I stay human, I’m going to die.”

“People die, Blaine. It’s the way life is supposed to go. If you want to become a vampire because you have a fear of death, let me tell you that this isn’t the right path—“

“No. I’m not afraid of dying.” Blaine shakes his head vehemently, trying to clear his head and think about what he wants to say. “Kurt, if I die, you’ll be alone again and I don’t ever want you to be lonely again. I’m already sure that I want to spend the rest of my life with you…it’s just a matter of how long that life is actually going to be. I can’t stand the thought of you being alone.”

Kurt sounds a little upset when he starts, “Blaine, there is nothing I want more than to be with you forever, but if you’re doing this for me—“

But Blaine shakes his head. “I’m not doing it for you—well, I am sort of—but this would be something I’d do for myself, too. I don’t know what I want yet. There’s so much to think about. I mean, on one hand, I’d never have to live without you—“

“You never have to live without me now,” Kurt interjects.

“You know what I mean, Kurt,” Blaine replies. “I’d be able to see everything with you and you wouldn’t have to be alone again. You wouldn’t have to lose me. But,” he continues, “I’m scared, Kurt. I don’t want to lose myself along the way. You said that killing someone changes you and I don’t want that. I’m so afraid that I’m going to be so blood-crazy that I’m not even going to know who I am anymore.”

Kurt squeezes his hands again and looks into his eyes. “Blaine Anderson, I firmly believe that you are my soulmate. I believe that the reason I was put on this Earth eighty-eight years ago was to one day find you. I have waited that long to be with you and I intend to treasure and cherish every single second I have with you and not take a moment for granted.

“Whether you choose to stay human and I lose you one day or you choose immortality, nothing about the way I feel for you will ever change. And if you do decide to become a vampire, I hope you will have waited until you’ve actually had a chance to live, because I wish that I had the chance to do that. Had a chance to do all of the human things you take for granted without even realizing it, because when you become a vampire, everything is more difficult. Behind every action there is always that constant nagging thirst to remind you that you’re not human. So please, for me, promise that you’ll wait to decide what you want, because there’s no rush and if you do decide to choose immortality, I couldn’t stand to think that I transformed you before you ever even got to learn what it is to be a human first, because, Blaine, you’re just a baby.”

Kurt smiles a little at his own words and kisses Blaine softly on the lips. “You have no idea what you’d be missing, what you have to give up. I wasn’t able to hold my father’s hand when he died, Blaine. I had to find out that my father was dead through your grandfather over a year after it happened, because you can’t go home.”

“I can’t go home now,” Blaine replies dejectedly.

“And I am so sorry for that.” Kurt’s hands frame Blaine’s face and he kisses him again, slow and lingering. “I want to take you back to New York with me and I want to watch you pursue your dreams. See you teach music or play in a coffee shop or perform on Broadway. No matter what your dream is, Blaine, I want you to do it, and I want you to be human when you do.” There is fire and passion in Kurt’s eyes and Blaine is absolutely positive that he has no idea how much this means to Kurt, but he already finds himself nodding in agreement.

He can imagine the life Kurt is painting for him, the lights and dreams of a bright future and God, it’s more than he ever imagined. And he wants it. He wants the city and the music and the life. “I love you so much,” Blaine breathes, surprised by how thick with emotion his voice sounds, surprised by the tears sliding down his cheeks. “I’ll wait, Kurt. I promise, I’ll wait.”

He throws his arms around Kurt’s neck and kisses him, deep and urgent. No one has ever made him feel as whole and wanted and absolutely alive as Kurt makes him feel and God, he just needs him. Right now.

“Blaine,” Kurt breathes against his lips and it’s not until then that he realizes he’s been voicing his thoughts.

In for a penny… “Please, Kurt. I know you wanted candles and romance, but I just need you right now…”

Kurt kisses him and pulls back, stroking hands down his cheeks. “This is all I’ve ever wanted.” He frames Blaine’s face. “You. I don’t need candles or music to make it romantic. I have you. I love you, Blaine. So much.”

There’s no time to answer before Kurt is pushing forward and easing Blaine back against the mattress, hands roaming everywhere. Blaine’s body arches up into Kurt’s touch unconsciously and he thinks he might understand just a little about what it means to truly crave something.

He fists his hands into the fabric of Kurt’s button up shirt and pulls him down flush against his body, pulling a surprised whine out of Kurt before he comes to and kisses Blaine on the lips, hard, and rocks his hips down, grinding against the hard line of Blaine’s cock through his jeans, and Blaine’s eyes roll back as he feels Kurt equally hard and straining at the denim of his own pants.

“More, Kurt, please,” Blaine manages in a pathetic whine, his fingers coming to clumsily undo the buttons of Kurt’s shirt until it’s hanging open and he can slide his hands across the strong, smooth planes of Kurt’s chest before doing his best to pull the shirt off. Finally, Kurt helps him and the shirt flutters to the floor, quickly joined by Blaine’s—taken off with much more graceful ease by Kurt’s sure fingers.

“Kurt, you are so beautiful, baby.” He’s knocked breathless by the sight of Kurt shirtless and he literally aches to see more. Kurt kisses him full and deep, there’s urgency and passion, but Blaine can feel Kurt’s lips turned up into a smile against his own and can’t help but relax and coast on the perfect sureness that he feels. Kurt is the one. Nothing will ever feel as right as being with Kurt like this.

Kurt’s lips pull away with a quiet smack and when Blaine’s eyes drag open, Kurt is just far enough away that Blaine can see how dark his eyes are. He feels a swell of pride to know that he did that to the most beautiful person he’s ever known. “Blaine, are you sure this is what you want?”

Blaine nods and stretches up to kiss Kurt again only to have a restraining hand pressed into his chest, soothing the rejection by sliding in idle patterns over his skin. “You’re not just upset about your dad and I made you feel better so—“

“Kurt, baby, I love you, but you think too much,” Blaine says, a warm adoring smile on his face, and Kurt breathes out a self-deprecating laugh. “I’m doing this because I love you and I want my first time to be with you. Now.”

The tension fades from Kurt’s shoulders and he leans down to kiss Blaine on the lips again, soft and loving, until Blaine’s head swims with it. There are no more protests or questions and Kurt’s hand slides over Blaine’s chest, kneading the muscle beneath his fingers and rolling his hips down as though he can’t help it.

Slowly, his hand moves to the button of Blaine’s jeans and he pulls back just a little to whisper, “Okay?” against Blaine’s lips. Blaine nods frantically and reconnects their lips as Kurt pops the button and eases down his fly, fingers dipping below the waistband and cupping him through the straining cotton of his underwear, dragging the heel of his hand over the length of his cock with just enough pressure to drive him insane, his own hands scrambling down to return the favor until Kurt is panting into his mouth.

“B-Blaine, stop,” Kurt breathes, hot breath fanning across Blaine’s bee-stung lips, and Blaine’s hand stills immediately. He’s just about to ask what’s wrong when Kurt kisses him quickly to quell his fears. “If we don’t get our pants off soon, none of this is going to happen, sweetheart.”

Even through the lack of blood flowing to his brain right now, Blaine sees his point and laughs quietly, lifting his hips as Kurt shimmies his pants and underwear down his legs and tosses them aside, leaving him lying naked on the mattress. He fights the urge to instinctively cover up, because this is Kurt. He doesn’t need to be shy.

“Y-You too, though,” he chokes out, gesturing to Kurt’s pants.

Kurt swallows thickly and nods before standing beside the bed and turning with his back toward Blaine, easing his jeans down and pulling them off gracefully, tossing them aside to joins Blaine’s in a heap on the floor.

Blaine’s eyes are glued to Kurt’s back, trailing down the broad expanse of his shoulders to his tapering waist before landing on the perfect swell of his ass. He wants to reach out and touch but finds himself frozen, just admiring Kurt like fine art. Because, damn it, he is.

When Kurt doesn’t move, it becomes apparent that something is wrong. “Kurt, honey, turn around,” Blaine says with concern, reaching out to touch his back in a way he hopes will comfort. Kurt takes a deep breath and slowly turns and all of Blaine’s thoughts and comforts go out the window, struck dumb by the pure, untouched beauty that is Kurt.

His eyes are apprehensive but they soften immediately upon seeing Blaine and he sits down beside where Blaine is lying on the bed and takes his hand. “I’ve been around a very long time, Blaine, but I have never felt more nervous and vulnerable and absolutely human than I do right now.”

“I love you, Kurt.” It’s all Blaine can manage, but goddammit, he means it from the bottom of his heart.

Kurt smiles and brushes at a stray curl on Blaine’s forehead. “I love you, too, Blaine.” His expression sobers and he rests a hand on Blaine’s cheek. “If I hurt you…”

“You won’t,” Blaine promises, but Kurt is shaking his head, unwilling to be dismissed.

“But if I do…If you love me, you will tell me if I hurt you, because nothing is more important to me than you’re safety.”

Blaine nods. “Of course, Kurt.” He rests his hand over top of Kurt’s on his cheek. “I trust you. I wish you trusted yourself as much as I trust you.”

The words are hushed and reverent and Kurt gives a small, loving smile before leaning down and kissing him again. “Thank you, Blaine.”

“Don’t thank me,” Blaine dismisses before smiling. “Kiss me.”

Kurt laughs, soft and untroubled, and kisses him, really kisses him, and Blaine lets himself get lost in it, the feeling of Kurt’s lips sliding against his own, knowing that they’re not stopping. Not now.

He wraps his arms around Kurt’s shoulders and holds him in place, kissing him deeper as his hands map the planes of muscle of Kurt’s back as they shift beneath his fingers. Kurt rocks against him, his cock dragging perfectly along the length of his own and making him whine breathlessly against Kurt’s lips.

Without breaking the kiss, Kurt reaches over and pulls open the drawer of the nightstand, retrieving a bottle of lube and Blaine pulls away, quirking an inquisitive eyebrow, a smile tugging at his lips. Kurt shrugs.

“You’re monumentally impatient, so I knew it was only a matter of time before I gave you what you wanted. I can never seem to deny you anything,” Kurt teases, smiling, calm and happy. Blaine’s just about to mumble something back when Kurt’s lips find his again and he forgets what he was going to say because who the hell cares.

Kurt reaches between them and slides a hand over Blaine’s stomach, the back of his hand bumping against his cock before finally wrapping his hand around the length of it and stroking him languidly. Blaine reaches down and returns the favor until Kurt stops him, citing the same reason as before, before darting a kiss to his lips and taking the bottle of lube and settling between Blaine’s legs.

He takes his time with prep until Blaine is sure he’s losing his mind, begging Kurt to please just do it already. But Kurt keeps petting his thigh because he “wants to make sure,” but finally he presses a parting kiss to the tender inside of Blaine’s thigh and reaches back up across the bed to dig in the nightstand drawer again, pulling out a little foil square and tearing it open, his eyes never leaving Blaine’s as puts it on and stretches back over top of him.

Blaine gasps as the unfamiliar but amazing feeling of Kurt’s cock nudging against his ass, sliding along the crease of his thigh and sending sparks of arousal shooting all through his body as he pulls Kurt down to kiss him. It’s not long before Kurt pulls away to settle back between his legs, lifting them until Blaine’s calves are resting on his shoulders, his ankles knocking together around Kurt’s neck, and leaning forward to kiss him again.

“Ready?” Kurt asks, and Blaine feels the pressure of Kurt’s cock starting to press inside. He nods, not trusting his voice and Kurt kisses him as he slowly pushes inside.

Blaine squeezes his eyes shut at the pain but says nothing. He doesn’t have to, because Kurt is already trying to soothe. “It’s okay, baby. I’m sorry.” The words come out stilted as though Kurt’s trying to restrain himself, and Blaine tries to focus on anything else as Kurt bottoms out and goes completely still.

It’s unlike anything he’s ever felt before, so much more than the few times he’s dared to try using his fingers when he was alone. Kurt is everywhere. He focuses on the feeling of being completely surrounded by Kurt, his smell, the warmth of his skin, the taste of his lips, and soon the pain dulls into something more akin to pressure and he nods. “Okay.”

“Okay?” Kurt asks, sliding a thumb across the apple of Blaine’s cheek and looking him in the eye.

Blaine nods again. “Yeah. M-Move.”

So Kurt does and Blaine’s head falls back against the pillow and a low moan rumbles in Kurt’s chest. He starts rolling his hips slowly, in and out, until Blaine is grabbing at the sheets for any sort of hold on reality and Kurt takes it as his cue to pick up the pace and thrust forward hard. Blaine has to cover his mouth to keep from crying out loud enough for the neighbors to hear. Kurt quickly bends down and kisses him as he keeps the same steady rhythm. He’s sure neither of them are going to last long but he can’t find it in himself to care, not with the beautifully urgent, needful little sounds pouring out of Kurt with each increasingly desperate thrust.

“So beautiful, Blaine. You feel so good,” Kurt babbles between kisses. “I’m not going to last—“

“Don’t care,” Blaine manages, the words cracking in odd places and sounding more like a whine. “Just please, don’t stop.”

Kurt pitches forward and captures Blaine’s lips in a bruising kiss as his hand comes between the two of them to fist quickly over Blaine’s cock, catching Blaine off guard and causing him to moan out a frantic, desperate sound into Kurt’s mouth. “I’m close.”

“Me too,” Kurt whimpers, his hand never stilling on Blaine’s cock and he just needs a little more to push him over the edge, already so close, and he finds it when Kurt kisses down his neck, sucking roughly at the skin before sinking his teeth into the spot where Blaine’s pulse is pounding rapidly beneath the skin.

His vision whites out as he comes hard over Kurt’s fist, his back arching off the bed and his head falling heavily against the pillow as he gasps for breath. He’s just coming back to when he feels Kurt go rigid above him and he gets to see his face twist in ecstasy and something that sounds like a frantic moaning cry of Blaine’s name tear out before he relaxes, his chest heaving as he tries to catch his breath, a feat that is made nearly impossible by the fact that he won’t stop kissing Blaine long enough to let either of them breathe.

They’re kissing as they come down, hands lazily exploring each others’ bodies until it becomes entirely too much effort. Blaine pushes down a hiss of discomfort as Kurt’s cock slips out, but Kurt silences it with a kiss before reaching down to the floor and grabbing a shirt to clean him up with, cleaning himself up quickly and dropping the condom in the trash as he tosses the shirt to the floor.

“Wow,” is all Blaine can manage as he’s being pulled into Kurt’s arms. Kurt laughs breathlessly and kisses the back of his neck.

“Oops,” Kurt says, his finger trailing over the side of Blaine’s neck. His voice sounds more amused than troubled but still lined with something too serious for the mood.

“What?” Blaine reaches up to touch where Kurt’s hand is and feels something wet and sticky against his fingertips. “You bit me, didn’t you?”

Kurt kisses the back of his head. “I didn’t mean to bite you that hard. I guess I got carried away.” He sounds apologetic and Blaine doesn’t want that.

“No, sweetheart, it was perfect.” He lifts the back of Kurt’s hand to his lips and presses a kiss to it. “I love you and I wouldn’t change anything.”

He feels Kurt’s lips turn up into a smile against his skin so he shifts back more fully into the circle of Kurt’s arms.

“I love you, too,” he says. The words sound like a promise. “Thank you for trusting me, Blaine.”

Blaine hums sleepily and nuzzles sleepily against the pillow. “I knew you wouldn’t hurt me.”

They lapse into silence, Kurt’s hand sliding over Blaine’s chest and Blaine is just about asleep when he hears Kurt whisper, “I’d never hurt you, sweetheart.”

————————

Kurt taps his foot impatiently and checks his phone again. It’s not like Blaine to be late.

Now that they only have a couple days left before Blaine comes back to New York with him, they’ve been rushing around to get all of Blaine’s things. Against his father’s wishes, Blaine’s mother has been letting them into the house to pack up Blaine’s room but otherwise offers no comfort or support for her son.

It must be heartbreaking, Kurt thinks, to have your son be forced to move out, but Mrs. Anderson either supports her husband’s decision or just doesn’t care. Which might be the saddest part of all.

But Blaine seems fine with the entire situation, taking it in stride and looking brightly toward the future. (Not that Kurt had expected any less from him.) Tonight is supposed to be their last trip to the Anderson house to pack up the last of Blaine’s belongings and they ran out of boxes.

Kurt had gone with Finn that afternoon to run some errands and gave Blaine the keys to his car, suggesting they meet up for coffee around five before heading over to pack up his room. He watched Blaine pull away and that had been the last he’d heard from him since two. He sets his coffee cup down on the table and picks up his phone, deciding to call one more time before actually leaving the coffee shop to go find him.

It turns out to be unnecessary because Blaine picks up on the third ring, answering immediately with, ‘Hey, sweetheart, sorry I haven’t called. I’m leaving now. I’m in the alley behind the hardware store. They let me pull up to the back door and take a few boxes. I’ll be there in about five minutes.”

Kurt laughs a little in relief. “I was starting to get worried. It’s not like you to not call.”

“I’m sorry,” Blaine apologizes. “I just—“

Blaine breaks off and Kurt can hear the sound of someone shouting in the background on the other end of the phone. “Blaine, what’s that?”

“I-I’m not sure,” Blaine answers, his voice slow and nervous, and Kurt can’t help the swell of nervous fear that settles over him. The voice in the background sounds closer to the phone now and Blaine’s voice sounds genuinely afraid now. “Kurt, I think it’s the guys from the mall…”

Kurt is truly panicking now. “Blaine, get in the car.”

He’s sure Blaine doesn’t hear him because the voice on the other end of the phone is now speaking, cold and menacing and there’s cruel laughter. Oh god, there have to be at least three people. Terror is pounding through Kurt and he’s on his feet and out the door.

The sound of something—a body—colliding with the side of a car with a loud crash has Kurt crying out toward the phone. There’s a tortured shout and the dull, sickening crack of something hard meeting flesh and an agonizing scream before the phone clatters to the ground and goes dead.

There are tears streaming down Kurt’s face as he all but flies down the sidewalk, uncaring that people are beginning to take notice of the inhuman speed with which he’s running. He just prays to a God that he doesn’t recognize that he’s not too late.