He finds Blaine by following the smell of his blood. It’s the same sweet smell contained inside his veins, but it’s mixed with the smell of asphalt and concrete and comes with the sickening realization that there is blood spilling out of his body. He can follow the smell to where it gets stronger until he knows he’s right up on it. It’s coming from a shadowed alley and Kurt braces himself for what he’s about to see.

Blaine is slumped at the foot of the brick wall that makes up the side of the right building. Kurt listens for a heartbeat, breathing out a sigh of relief when he hears one, no matter how faint and sluggish it might be.

He drops down to his knees beside his barely conscious boyfriend. “Blaine, sweetheart.”

Blaine opens his eyes weakly and mumbles something that sounds like Kurt but Kurt shushes him. God, he’s dying. There’s blood where it’s not supposed to be inside his body and his heart is slowing down and threatening to falter in its rhythm.

“Hey, honey, I’m here.” His eyes dart around restlessly and he knows it’s now or never. And the option of living without Blaine isn’t something he can handle. He lifts his wrist to his mouth and bites down hard enough to draw blood before holding it out to Blaine. “Blaine, sweetheart, you’re dying. If you drink you’ll come back.” Blaine’s eyes slip closed again as though it’s a struggle to keep them open. “Blaine, look at me.” He manages a half-lidded stare. “Please, Blaine, drink.”

Kurt’s voice is frantic now. He can hear the rhythm of Blaine’s heart slowing and his breathing becoming shallower. Tears are falling freely from his eyes now, but he has no time to pay attention to his own emotions. “Blaine!” He’s shouting now and holding his wrist to Blaine’s mouth as his head lolls listlessly on his shoulders, smearing blood around the corner of his lips. “Drink! Please, Blaine!”

He shakes Blaine hard in an attempt to jostle him into awareness and it works just long enough for Blaine to press his lips closer and take one drink before Kurt hears his heart stutter once and then stop. He doesn’t know how much is enough. God, what if Blaine didn’t drink enough? What if he’s not going to come back? He tries to think back to how long it took before his heart started back up, but he doesn’t remember.

The entire transformation is a blank, unconscious spot in his memory. He lifts Blaine effortlessly and sets him in the back of the Navigator, parked right next to where Blaine was slumped. Blaine’s body is limp and broken and Kurt feels his own tears pouring down his face now as he watches Blaine lying lifelessly over the back seat. 

“You’re okay, sweetheart,” Kurt’s voice cracks in anguish. “You’re going to be alright.”

He’s not sure who needs the assurance more because it kind of feels like he’s the one dying.

Panicked and on the verge of shaking apart, he climbs into the driver’s seat and lays rubber as he pulls out of the alley and points the car toward Finn’s.

————————

“Jesus, Kurt! What happened?” Finn is on his feet in a second, but Kurt doesn’t answer, instead carrying Blaine’s limp, broken body up the stairs. Finn is right on his heels. “You didn’t…?”

He wants to spin and glare at Finn for even entertaining the thought that he could have possibly done this to Blaine but he just keeps moving, shoving his bedroom door open with his foot and laying Blaine down on the bed only to drop down next to him, feeling just as lifeless as Blaine looks.

Finn crosses over and sits down next to Blaine on the bed and Kurt fights the protective urge that wants to slap Finn’s hand away. Blaine wouldn’t want to be poked and prodded. Finn’s hand quickly freezes on Blaine’s wrist. “H-He’s not unconscious, is he?”

“No.” His voice is detached and wooden, sounding cold even to himself.

Of course Finn would just think he was unconscious. He can’t hear that there’s no heartbeat, can’t hear that there’s no breath in his lungs. Can’t hear that Blaine is dead. His hands are shaking with rage or grief—maybe both—probably both, but above all else is terror.

“What if I was too late?” Kurt asks, his voice small and shattering like brittle glass. “Finn, what if I was too late and I couldn’t save him? He only had a little bit and I don’t know how much I’m supposed to give him. I don’t remember how much I drank.”

He’s coming apart at the seams and Blaine still isn’t showing any signs of life—or whatever the vampire equivalent is. He ignores Finn and leans over Blaine, brushing a bloody, matted curl from his forehead and pressing a kiss to a patch of clean skin. “Just please be okay, Blaine. Please.”

“Kurt?” Finn asks, his voice uncharacteristically solemn and quiet.

“Yeah?” He doesn’t take his eyes off Blaine as he answers, reaching down and lifting the back of Blaine’s unresponsive hand to his lips.

“I’m here for you, Kurt. No matter what happens, okay?”

Kurt nods and offers an obligatory thanks. He just wants a sign. Anything to tell him that he wasn’t too late. That he’s not going to lose his reason for being.

“Do you want some time?” Finn asks. He’s always been perceptive.

“Please.”

Finn nods and pats Blaine on the shoulder. “Come on, buddy,” he encourages, “You can do this.” He gives a parting nod toward Kurt and quietly makes his exit, leaving Kurt alone with Blaine’s body, broken and lifelessly limp.

“I swear to God, Blaine,” Kurt starts, his voice coming out as a growl through gritted teeth. “I will kill the sons of bitches that did this to you. Why should they get to live if they’ve taken you away from me? They waited until you were alone because they’re fucking cowards. They snuck up on a vulnerable boy and beat him.” He lets himself fully survey the damage. “God, what did they hit you with, honey?”

There are contusions on his skull that would fit the pattern of being struck by something heavy and unforgiving like a pipe or a baseball bat. The thought makes Kurt want to tear their throats out. Anger swells and crashes over him and his hands are trembling with pure hatred. “They don’t to take you away from me, Blaine! You don’t deserve this! God, you deserve everything good in the world and you just keep being punished!”

The tide of anger goes out, leaving behind fear and doubt that threatens to break him. “Sweetheart, please be okay. Come back to me, baby, please. Just…give me some sign that I wasn’t too late.” Tears are falling helplessly down his cheeks and he feels lost. Absolutely lost and desperate. If he loses Blaine, he has nothing else. His voice is choked and thick as he whimpers, “Please, baby. Don’t leave me.”

In the silence of the room, there’s a quiet tremble of a sound. It’s almost imperceptibly slow, just enough to stir the blood inside of Blaine’s body, but a fresh wave of tears fall from Kurt’s eyes like the burst of a dam.

Blaine has a heartbeat.

It picks up slowly, settling into the slowed pace of normal vampire rhythm, and Kurt feels like he could fly. He wasn’t too late.

“Blaine, sweetheart,” he rushes a whisper of pure elation. “You’re going to be okay, baby. You’re going to be okay.”

The toxins in his blood are flowing through Blaine’s body, fixing what’s broken and molding him for immortality. It’s only a matter of time now. He kisses Blaine’s still unresponsive lips and settles in to wait. And cry.

————————

Kurt dips a washcloth into a basin of warm water, wrings it out, and brings it to dab gingerly at the blood on Blaine’s forehead. The wounds healed hours ago so Kurt sets to the task of cleaning up the blood. He waits until he’s sure the worst of Blaine’s broken bones have set before lifting him and carrying him to the bathtub.

He talks the entire time, murmuring soothing words as though Blaine can hear him as he scrubs away the dirt and dried blood from his dark curls. “You’re going to be so perfect, Blaine,” Kurt says quietly, running his fingers over Blaine’s scalp to rid his hair of the last remnants of conditioner. “Not that you weren’t always perfect,” he amends, smiling softly because he has a reason to. “God, you’re going to be amazing.”

He shuts off the water and presses a kiss to Blaine’s damp forehead. Blaine is breathing, slow and even, and it seems as though he’s just asleep. He dries Blaine off and dresses him before laying him back on the bed, stripping off the bloody quilt to be washed.

There’s a quiet knock on the door before it cracks open. “How’s he doing?”

Kurt brushes a wet curl from Blaine’s face. “He’s going to be fine. Look.”

Finn crosses the room slowly and shakes his head in disbelief. “It’s like nothing happened. He looks…”

“Beautiful,” Kurt finishes and Finn nods.

“That wasn’t quite what I was going to say, but it works. He looks different…more like you somehow.”

“He is more like me,” Kurt says quietly. “And I’m not sure how he’s going to feel about it. I mean, we talked about it and everything, but we never expected anything like this to happen, but I couldn’t let him die, Finn. I know that people are supposed to die and that’s the way it is, but I just…”

“You did the right thing, Kurt,” Finn assures, clapping a hand on his brother’s shoulder. Kurt raises a hand to cover Finn’s and mumbles a quiet “thank you”. “When he wakes up…or whatever…he’s going to need blood, isn’t he?”

Kurt takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. “Yes. God, I don’t think I can stand to watch him go through the sickness.”

“The sickness?” Finn is confused.

“Remember how I told you that I don’t feed on people like the movie vampires?” Kurt asks, breaking it down in a way that Finn will understand. Finn nods his acknowledgment. “Well, that comes at a price. When I feed off of animals or from a blood bag, I get sick. It’s like someone is trying to suffocate me and I can feel my blood pumping and it burns.”

He eyes Kurt speculatively. “You seem fine to me? Does it hurt all the time?”

“That’s the thing, I haven’t had the sickness in a couple weeks, because Blaine saw me in pain and made me drink some of his blood—“

Finn’s eyes go wide. “You drank Blaine’s blood?!” Kurt nods, guilty. “And it helped?” He nods again and Finn lapses into thoughtful silence. “What are you going to feed him?”

“I’ve got a blood bag for him,” Kurt says, pointing toward the mini-fridge in the corner of the room. It’s a torturous thought to think about Blaine suffering, but he’s pulled from his angst by Finn speaking carefully.

“He’d just need a little human blood in order to be okay, right? I could just let him take a little of mine,” Finn suggests.

“You’d do that for him?” Kurt is touched by the gesture and it warms him to realize that Finn is still the same kind-hearted person he’s always been, unchanged by the intervening decades.

There’s a thoughtful expression on Finn’s face and he nods quickly. “He’s just a kid, Kurt. No kid should have to go through this and suffer like that. Whatever I can do to make this a little easier for him, I’ll do.”

“Thank you, Finn,” Kurt answers, earnest and quiet. “I think it might kill me to see him hurt like that.”

Finn says nothing and they lapse into silence for a few minutes, watching Blaine lie on the bed and getting lost in their respective thoughts before Finn speaks. “I’m glad you’ve got him, Kurt. I mean, like this.”

Kurt’s brow knits in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“It makes me feel better that you’re not going to be alone anymore. You never did well with alone. So, I’m glad you don’t ever have to do that again,” Finn explains, squeezing lightly at Kurt’s shoulder.

He doesn’t get a chance to offer thanks because he catches movement from the bed, just a twitch of Blaine’s fingers, and he runs over to sit next to him and take his hand. “Blaine, baby, can you hear me?”

“Is he awake?” Finn asks, sounding confused and more than a little curious.

“I don’t know. Maybe you should wait outside. I’m not sure how he’d react to having a human in the room when he wakes up. He won’t be able to control himself very well and I don’t want to take any chances.” Kurt’s voice is distracted and he brushes Blaine’s cheek with the back of his hand. Finn nods and steps outside. Kurt can hear him make his way downstairs. Good. “Sweetheart, if you can hear me, open your eyes.”

Slowly, Blaine’s eyes flutter open, and Kurt’s heart soars with relief, but it takes less than a second for the joy to shift to pain when Blaine jolts to a sitting position and his face crumples as he folds in on himself, darting panicked looks around the room. “How did I get here? What happened? I remember talking on the phone—why does my voice sound different?”

His thoughts are disjointed and clearly racing and Kurt reaches out to take his hand, but quick as a flash—something that seems to startle Blaine further—his hand flashes back to his lap. Kurt tries again slowly and Blaine lets him take his hand, his eyes widening when their palms slide together, no doubt noticing that they’re now the same temperature. Actually, Kurt’s skin is warmer than Blaine’s because Blaine hasn’t fed, still using up the last little bit of human blood in his system.

“Blaine, you were attacked, honey. Do you remember?” He keeps his voice soothing and slow. Blaine nods. “Okay, what do you remember after that? Think very hard.”

“They knocked me out with a piece of wood or something and when I woke up, you were there, and you were crying and telling me…” He trails off and Kurt can almost hear the pieces click together in his mind. “Oh my God.” Tears start sliding down Blaine’s cheeks and Kurt aches to comfort him, but he’s not sure that’s what Blaine needs at the moment. “I’m…?”

Kurt nods and slides his hand over Blaine’s. “Yes, sweetheart. I’m so sorry, but I just…I couldn’t let you die, Blaine. I thought you were dead and I was afraid that I didn’t give you enough or that you didn’t drink it in time. I was so scared, sweetheart.” There are tears falling from Kurt’s eyes and he shakes his head in disbelief. “But you’re okay. You’re alive.”

In an unexpected lurch, Blaine throws his arms around Kurt’s neck, catching him off guard with how fast he moves, and squeezing tightly. Kurt returns the embrace, hugging Blaine for all he’s worth and refusing to let go, not that Blaine tries to pull away.

“You’re okay, sweetheart,” Kurt promises, pressing a kiss to the side of Blaine’s neck.

They fall into silence and Kurt waits. He knows what comes next. He doesn’t have to wait long before Blaine pulls away, his eyes just a little manic with the thirst. “I feel strange…”

“You’re thirsty,” Kurt answers in a sigh.

Blaine seems to think about it for a second before his eyes go wide and his hand flashes to cover his mouth as he cries out in pain. “Kurt!” His hands are pressing against his mouth so hard the skin around them goes white and Kurt pulls his hands away, soothing over the skin with his thumbs. Blaine barely opens his mouth but it’s enough to see the points of his canines trying to cut through his gums for the first time.

“Honey, I know it hurts right now, but you have to let it happen. The more you fight the long it will take for them to descend.” He rests a hand on Blaine’s cheek. “Just take a deep breath and close your eyes. Let the instinct take over.”

Blaine breathes out a shaky breath and whimpers in pain. Kurt just murmurs quiet encouragement until Blaine’s eyelids drag open, revealing the vivid honey-hazel of his irises. “So beautiful,” Kurt breathes. He knew Blaine would be perfect but he’s almost struck dumb by the way the transformation has affected his eyes.

“C-Can I see?” Blaine asks, his voice sheepish and tentative.

Kurt smiles and takes Blaine’s hand, tugging him over toward the mirror on the back of the dresser. “Look.”

Blaine’s eyes go wide as he stares at himself in disbelief, raising a hand to touch his reflection. Kurt kisses the side of his head and crosses over to the mini-fridge in the corner, taking out a bag of blood and tearing it open. “Here, sweetheart, drink this.” He offers it to Blaine who takes it with a shaky hand, eyeing it strangely.

He wrinkles his nose as the smell hits him and Kurt breathes out a quiet laugh. “It doesn’t smell nearly as good as the real stuff, but at least this isn’t hurting anyone.”

“Won’t this make me sick?” Blaine asks, furrowing his brow in confusion.

“I’ve got it covered, honey, just drink. You’ll feel better,” Kurt runs a hand through Blaine’s curls as he slowly brings the not-really-a-straw on the bag up to his lips and takes a drink, his eyes widening as he realizes that he likes it.

That had been the weirdest part of Kurt’s transformation as well. The realization that he actually enjoyed drinking human blood. Blaine’s eyes squeeze closed and he starts drinking in earnest, draining the bag in seconds before looking up to Kurt, his eyes a little wild. “I-I’m still thirsty…”

Kurt does laugh at that. “Of course you’re still thirsty. You’re new.” Kurt takes the empty bag from his hand and sets it on the dresser. “Now here comes the hard part. Finn wants to help you. Remember how I used to drink your blood so I wouldn’t get sick?”

Blaine nods.

“Well, you’re going to drink some of Finn’s blood,” he finishes and Blaine’s eyes fly open wide, hunger clearly fighting with fear within him. “I won’t let you hurt him. You can do this.”

He sticks his head out the door and calls for Finn. Blaine is nervously tapping his foot as Kurt turns around and Finn follows him inside.

————————

“Hey, kid,” Finn starts, sounding a little awkward. Not that Blaine can blame him. He’s not sure how he’d react to walking into a room with a new vampire who until recently had been just a kid. “How ya feeling?”

“Better, sir. Thank you,” Blaine starts, remembering belatedly that he’s not supposed to call him sir anymore. “K-Kurt says you want to help…?”

Kurt nods between them and puts a hand on Blaine’s back. “Blaine, you need to be very careful, okay. I have no doubt that you can handle this, but I just want you to focus on keeping yourself in check.”

“I trust you, Blaine,” Finn says confidently. Blaine wishes he had half the confidence that Finn and Kurt seem to have in him.

“Alright,” Kurt begins instructing. “I want you to close your eyes again and take a deep breath.”

Blaine follows directions and there’s a flare of a dry flash burn in his throat as he smells what he’s been craving since he opened his eyes. It’s warm and thrumming through Finn’s veins. Despite his calm exterior, he can tell that Finn is nervous. He can hear it in the quickened beat of his heart and his mouth waters as he fights against the urge to spring forward and just take.

He understands what Kurt meant when he explained the lack of control, how hard it is to defy instinct, but he’s going to do it. He won’t let Kurt down and he sure as hell won’t hurt Finn. Not if he can help it.

“What do you smell?” Kurt asks, clearly using this as a teaching moment.

It aches to say the word. It aches because it’s what he craves, what he knows he needs and he yearns for it. “Blood.” He swallows against the sandpaper dryness of his throat.

“Finn, are you sure about this?” Kurt asks and he hears Finn hum out in the affirmative. “Okay. Blaine, come here.” He opens his eyes and steps forward, so close to Finn that he can feel the heat rolling off his body in waves, can almost feel the thrumming of blood beneath the skin. Finn lifts his arm toward Blaine and Kurt nods for him to take it.

Blaine takes a deep breath and accepts Finn’s wrist, taking it gingerly between his fingers and turning toward Kurt. “You—You won’t let me hurt him, right?”

“Of course, sweetheart. Just take a little bit,” Kurt encourages, putting a hand on Blaine’s back in a way Blaine is sure is supposed to appear comforting, but it really feels like a restraint. He’s glad for it.

He wets his lips and brings Finn’s wrist to his lips, the smell of blood flowing beneath the skin too intoxicating to ignore anymore. Slowly, he opens his mouth and bites down hard enough to break the skin and a rush of euphoria washes over him as the blood touches his tongue. His instincts scream for him to drain every last drop of the warm, addicting blood from Finn’s body and he forgets why he’s supposed to be fighting against it when this blood is like cool water to a man stranded in the desert.

“Blaine,” Kurt pushes at his shoulder. “Blaine, stop.”

There’s a slight edge of panic to Kurt’s voice and his insistence becomes more forceful and he shoves hard at Blaine’s shoulder. “Blaine, you’re going to hurt him.”

Oh. That’s why he needs to stop. Finn took him in when he had nowhere to go. He’s selflessly offering his blood so that Blaine doesn’t have to go through the sickness. It’s enough for Blaine to squeeze his eyes shut and, with a monumental effort, pull away.

He feels alive. The blood in his body is no longer flowing lazily through his veins, it’s surging. He feels powerful and strong in a way he never has before and he thinks this must truly be what it feels like to feel invincible.

Kurt is ushering Finn to sit down and wrapping a bandage around his arm despite Finn’s insistence that he’s fine and that Kurt should be tending to Blaine right now. The door closes behind Finn and Kurt is at Blaine’s side immediately, brushing back his curls. “How do you feel?”

Blaine surges forward and kisses Kurt, hard and claiming, in response, shoving him backward onto the bed and climbing over top of him to kiss him deeper. Kurt just laughs and wraps his arms around Blaine’s shoulders, letting Blaine take charge for a moment before pulling away and sighing. “We can’t stay here now, you know that right? Your story was on the news tonight. Luckily, no one saw your face or, even more miraculously, my car, but it won’t be long before people start to get curious.” 

He rolls off Kurt and stretches out on the bed, contemplating what it means to never be able to go home again, not that he ever really had a home to begin with. “Then we’ll leave tonight.”

Kurt pulls him tightly against his side and kisses the top of his head. “I was so scared, Blaine. I thought I lost you. I thought I was too late.”

“Shh, sweetheart,” Blaine turns his head and presses a kiss to Kurt’s chest through the fabric of his shirt. “I’m okay.”

“You didn’t choose this,” Kurt argues. “I took the choice away from you.”

Blaine sits up and pulls Kurt with him. “Kurt, you saved my life,” he says earnestly before smiling and poking Kurt’s nose with the tip of his finger. “You are two for two on saving Andersons, Kurt Hummel. You should get some kind of medal.”

Kurt throws his head back and laughs once, a warm, happy sound, and kisses Blaine full on the lips. “I did. Well, they gave it to my dad, but…” He laughs again and wraps his arms around Blaine’s neck. “I love you, Blaine. I was stupid to think that I could ever live without you, that I’d be able to handle it if you stayed human and died of old age, because I’m pretty sure that I need you by my side forever.”

“That’s where I’ll be,” Blaine answers, his voice quiet and sure. “Forever.”

————————

They keep true to their plan to leave that night.

“I feel like I just got you back and you’re leaving again,” Finn says, hugging Kurt tight to his chest.

Kurt sniffles and holds on. It’s a strangely intimate moment of Kurt taking comfort from his big brother in a way that makes him seem almost as young as he appears. “I’ll come back. We’ll visit for Christmas when everything dies down a little. You have my number.”

Blaine kind of hates that he’s the reason they have to leave so soon, but he refrains from voicing it since the first time he said it, Kurt nearly bit his head off for trying to take any sort of blame.

“Blaine, I am so glad my brother found you. You both deserve each other, so don’t ever let go, alright?” There’s warmth and honest concern in Finn’s voice and Blaine nods.

“I’ll follow him wherever he goes, Finn. He can’t get rid of me now.” Kurt smacks him playfully on the shoulder and Finn holds out his hand for Blaine to take. “You take care of yourself and Kurt, kid, got that?”

An unfamiliar sense of family settles over Blaine and he smiles as he shakes Finn’s hand and voices his understanding and his goodbye. With a final hug and goodbye, Blaine follows Kurt out to the car and climbs in. He hears the barely perceptible sound of Kurt sniffling once. He reaches across the console and takes Kurt’s hand. “Sad to be leaving?”

“I’m not sure,” Kurt answers, his voice thoughtful and honest. “There’s just this sense of closure that I never had before. I feel like…I’m not sure what I feel like, but I’m not sad anymore. These last couple of months, I’ve gotten everything I could have ever wanted, plus a thousand things I never even thought to ask for. I just feel…happy.”

Blaine is smiling as he lifts the back of Kurt’s hand to his lips and presses a kiss there. “I hope so. I want you to be.” Kurt returns his smile and Blaine continues. “You deserve to be happy, sweetheart.”

They fall into silence, the only sound is their quiet humming along with the radio as they drive down the quiet, two lane country road on the outskirts of town and Blaine realizes where they are.

“Baby, turn in here,” he instructs, pointing toward the driveway into Lima Memorial Cemetery. Kurt seems to understand because the car pulls to a stop on the driveway next to George Anderson’s headstone.

It should be too dark to see by this time of night, but everything is as clear and vivid as brightest day. The only difference is the grayish purple cast everything seems to be bathed in. It’s beautiful, Blaine thinks, and he finds himself looking around at all the things he can see and hear that he’d never experienced before. It’s all new and completely captivating.  

He reaches down to take Kurt’s hand and they fall into step beside each other until they stop at the headstone and Kurt laughs out a quiet breath of a sound as he looks down at the stone. “God, George, I can’t imagine what you think of all this.” He laughs again and squeezes Blaine’s hand. “But I’m going to take care of him. He’s still going to college and he’s going to follow his dream. He’s stronger than you were, George, but I’m sure you knew that already. He stood up for himself. I know how much you always wanted to do that but never did. He’s going to do all of the things you never got a chance to do and I’m so proud of him.”

There are tears in Kurt’s voice now and Blaine winds an arm around his waist and pulls him close. He’s sure whatever Kurt is saying is something he’s wanted to say for awhile, so he lets him go. 

“I miss you,” Kurt continues, sniffling once. “I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to see you before you died. I should have. It shouldn’t have been so long between visits, but I guess at least this time, it really was your time to go. You got to have a family just like you always talked about and you got to get old and gray with Marianne and that’s everything I ever wanted for you. I know you were sad for me even when you said you weren’t. I could tell. You were sad because you got to have the house and the family and I didn’t.

“When we were kids, you always said that one day, we’d have the houses with the white picket fences right next door to each other, but sometimes things don’t turn out like you expect them to. Remember how I used to tell you that it felt like I was looking for something? Well, I found him. And it’s because of you. Everything happens for a reason. There’s a reason you lived and I got turned and I know we were both trying to figure out what the reason was, and I’m just sorry you aren’t around to see that I’m finally happy. I am. I am well and truly happy now. I have Blaine and Finn—”

He breaks off with a watery laugh before continuing.

“Oh, and get this, Finn actually helped Blaine with his transformation. You should have seen his face when he saw me here a couple weeks ago. He told me you used to go over and stay with him after Rachel died. He said it meant a lot to him. You never told me that you did that, but I should have guessed that you would. I just—God, I wish you were here, George. I want to tell you how happy I am and how in love I am—“

Blaine leans to the side and kisses Kurt on the neck and rests his head against his shoulder. “I’m sure he hears you, Kurt. Just keep talking.” He kisses Kurt again.

Kurt takes a deep breath. “I really hope Blaine’s right and that you can hear me…wherever you are…because I just really miss you. I’m so glad that I saved you, George, because it wasn’t your time then. You needed the family and the house and the kids. You and I both know that I was never going to have that—it was a different time then and people like me weren’t allowed to want things like that for ourselves—but things are different now.

“I’m taking Blaine to New York with me. We could get married there if we wanted to. And I really want to.” He looks toward Blaine and smiles before turning back toward the stone. “We both got all the things we wanted, George, it just took me a little longer, but what else is new. I’m happy and I have everything I could have ever wanted, and it’s because of you. I miss you every day and I just wish I’d gotten to say goodbye and to say thank you.” He pauses as he leans down and brushes his hand across the lettering of the stone and sighs, straightening up and wiping at his eyes. “Rest well, George. You gave me more than you’ll ever know and there’s no way I could ever repay you.”

Blaine wraps Kurt up in a hug and feels Kurt bury his face in the side of his neck and sniffle.

“Are you alright, baby?” he asks, petting Kurt’s back. Kurt nods against his shoulder.

“Y-Yeah. I just. I loved him, Blaine. He was my best friend…”

Blaine tightens his arms around his boyfriend’s waist and just holds him. “I know, sweetie.”

Kurt straightens up and turns himself around in Blaine’s arms so that Blaine can hook his chin over his shoulder. “Was there anything you wanted to say,” he asks, petting at Blaine’s arms around his waist.

“I think you pretty much covered it,” Blaine says quietly. He clears his throat. “I miss you, grandpa. The house just wasn’t the same without you there. I hope, wherever you are, you’re happy. Because I’m happy and I’m safe now. I know you worried after what happened, but…” he trails off, unsure how exactly to finish.

A warm summer breeze rustles the leaves on the trees and wraps around them like an embrace as they stand at the foot of the grave. “I’ll come visit you soon and I’ll drag Kurt with me, I promise,” Blaine says. “We’re coming back to visit Finn around Christmas, I think. I love you, grandpa and I miss you so much.”

He leans down and pats the top of the headstone, brushing away some loose grass from its face before standing and nodding toward Kurt. “Ready, honey?”

“Yeah,” Kurt answers slowly, reluctant to leave his friend. “Bye, George.” His voice is quiet and he looks down toward his feet as they turn to leave Lima behind.

————————

There’s a motel in the middle of Pennsylvania they stop at once Kurt is too tired to drive. Though he hasn’t mentioned it, Blaine’s thirst is starting to overpower most of his other thoughts. He opts to wait in the car when Kurt goes in to get their room key, it’s warm outside and the woman behind the desk has a fan blowing behind her, sending the scent of her blood drifting out through the open door and into the car. Blaine rolls up the window and holds his breath as best he can, but it’s enough to have him white knuckling the armrest.

Inside the room, Blaine lets himself gasp out a breath and fall face down on the bed. “God, is it always this bad?”

Kurt laughs once and comes to sit next to him, carding a hand through his loose curls, still ungelled from being washed earlier. “No, honey. It’s not always this bad. You’re just new. It gets easier over time. You’re doing amazingly. Better than I expected, actually.”

“I’m just so thirsty,” Blaine whines and his stomach growls. “Why am I hungry? Do vampires get hungry?”

“Blaine, you are ridiculous,” Kurt laughs, leaning down to kiss him on the lips. “You are a vampire. Your stomach just growled because you are hungry. And you just asked if a vampire can get hungry. Why don’t you try and figure out the answer to your little brain teaser?”

“I think I want some potato chips,” Blaine says by way of an answer and Kurt laughs again. Blaine smiles because it’s the most he’s heard Kurt laugh since they met. It’s untroubled and free and Blaine loves it. He plans to do anything to keep Kurt this happy. “I think there’s a vending machine down at the end of the balcony.”

He takes Kurt’s hand and leads him out the door and along the black metal railing overlooking the courtyard pool.

Shouting from the room they’re passing makes Kurt stop, tugging on Blaine’s hand. “Wait…”

The sound of a slap resounds through the inside of the room and Blaine tenses by Kurt’s side, fighting the anger swelling up in him. There’s more shouting and the sound of a woman crying. Kurt is frozen beside him, but instead of angry, he looks deep in thought and a small, sly smile crosses his face. “Come on, let’s go get your chips and go back to the room. I have an idea.”

————————

They look around on their way back to the room and notice that there are no cameras trained on their particular row of rooms and Kurt casually pauses outside the maid’s closet and twists the handle until it breaks, the door able to be easily pushed open and he nods to Blaine.

“Remember, behind the door where he can’t see you,” Kurt reminds and Blaine nods again.

Blaine pauses outside the couples’ room and knocks on the door lightly, standing with his back against the side of the building so the man won’t see him when the door opens. Luckily, the man is a little drunk when he pulls the door open and steps outside. Blaine brings a fist down hard right on the crown of his head and the man collapses, unconscious to the ground, his female companion asleep and none the wiser in a chair in the corner.

He drags the man to the closet where Kurt is holding out a blood bag. “Here, drink this first. I already had one.”

Kurt’s eyes are shining the same vivid ice blue that Blaine remembers from the times he let Kurt feed off of him and his canines are the razor sharp vampire teeth. Blaine nods and sucks down the blood bag like he was starving for it—even if it tastes like a watered down version of what he really needs, what he smells coming from beside him.

“I think he cut his hand on the way down,” Blaine points out and Kurt’s eyes flash with an epiphany.

“Blaine, that’s it!” he all but shouts, lifting the man’s arm up and exposing the deep gash in his palm before lifting it to his mouth and taking a drink. “Here.” He offers it to Blaine. “Just drink a little.”

Having drank so much today, Blaine’s feeling a little more sated so it’s easier than before to leave the man alive and well on the floor.

“We didn’t even have to bite him. No one will suspect that this was vampires. They’ll think the dumbass just got drunk, stumbled into a maid’s closet, and somehow cut his hand.” Kurt’s eyes are bright. “And do you know how many people there are just like this guy in New York?” Kurt laughs.

Blaine smiles widely. “We never have to get the sickness.”

Kurt hops over the man and throws his arms around Blaine, kissing him, and Blaine chases the intoxicating flavors of Kurt and the blood on his lips as he deepens the kiss. “Let’s go to bed, Kurt. I really, really want you right now.”

The beaming smile that lights up Kurt’s face is breathtaking and he can’t help but feel a little giddy as he sweeps Kurt off his feet and runs back toward their room, Kurt giggling the entire way.

In no time, Blaine is kicking the door closed, Kurt’s legs wrapped around his waist as he kisses him urgent and deep, and it’s all Blaine can do to carry him over to the bed and undress him, because the idea of just ravaging him right there against the door is almost too tempting to pass up.

Kurt hits the mattress with an oof and a quiet, playful laugh as he’s reaching forward to tug Blaine onto him by the front of his shirt. “You’re so perfect, Blaine. I love you so much,” he says in a breath, stroking down Blaine’s cheek and smiling widely. “I can’t believe you’re mine.”

“Forever,” Blaine promises, leaning down and kissing him. Because they have that now. They have forever. “I’m yours forever, sweetheart.”

There’s emotion deep in Kurt’s eyes and he’s shaking his head. “Kiss me. Just—Just kiss me, please.”

Who is Blaine to deny such a request? He surges forward and kisses him, more needful and urgent than ever and he’s not sure when exactly they managed to get their clothes off while kissing, but the next thing he realizes is that he and Kurt are both naked on the bed as they kiss, clothes strewn wildly across the floor.

Hands are everywhere, caressing, squeezing, clawing and Blaine gets lost in it all, lost in being able to move like this with Kurt. There’s no fear or hesitance anywhere to be found on Kurt’s features and Kurt looks almost wild in a way Blaine never expected to see, but now that he has seen Kurt so out of control, he finds himself addicted to it.

He kisses him all over just to hear what sounds he makes, touches him all over for the same reason, and soon Kurt is arching into the touch. “P-Please, Blaine. I need—“

“Shh, baby, I know.” He does know. Because he needs it too. Kurt’s pushing him onto his back then and stretching out over top of him with a quiet growl that makes heat pool low in his stomach. Kurt’s hands slide down his stomach and over his thighs before settling between his legs. Blaine’s breath hitches as he watches the muscles in Kurt’s arms shift and flex as he fingers him. He takes in the flawless expanse of smooth, pale skin and hears himself breathe, “God, Kurt, you’re so beautiful.”

Kurt smiles widely, his eyes dark in a way that sends a shiver down Blaine’s spine. He feels soft kisses being pressed to the insides of his thighs. “Ready, baby?”

Blaine nods and reaches down for Kurt. “Please.”

He’s not sure what he’s pleading for, but Kurt smiles as he slicks himself up and stretches over Blaine to kiss him, pressing inside as he kisses him and Blaine whines against his lips as his arms come to wrap tightly around Kurt’s shoulders. “Move, Kurt,” Blaine whines, because God, it’s too much. It sparks a current through his entire body that feels like he might explode if Kurt doesn’t start moving soon.

“Is—“ Blaine swallows thickly and tries to form a thought. “Is this what it feels like all the time?”

Kurt kisses him again softly. “I’ve only been with you, sweetheart, but yes. It’s amazing.”

His body feels electric as Kurt sets a steady rhythm, hand roaming all over the stretched out expanse of Blaine’s body, thumbing over his nipples and dragging blunt nails over the sensitive skin stretched across his ribs until Blaine is arching and moaning into the touch. It’s so much, but not enough. “Kurt, touch me, please,” he whines with abandon.

“I am touching you,” Kurt teases, amusement and adoration dancing in his eyes and God, Blaine’s sure he’s never felt more loved than he does in this moment. All he can do is whimper out a groan that makes Kurt laugh again and kiss him. “I know what you want, baby.”

Blaine doesn’t get a chance to beg again before Kurt’s hand is wrapping around his cock and stroking him with the same steady rhythm of his hips. Kurt whines high in his throat as Blaine starts rocking back to meet his thrusts.

“Are you close, babe?” Blaine manages to ask, fingers tangled in the back of Kurt’s hair as he nods. Kurt’s hand quickens as he starts to snap his hips forward more erratically. “Come on, Kurt. Let go for me, baby.”

Kurt whines loudly and that’s it. He pitches forward and Blaine can feel him pulsing out his release deep inside and it’s enough to set him off, coming hard over Kurt’s fist until he’s panting and batting at Kurt’s hand to move away. Kurt just kisses him, murmuring soft endearments into his flushed skin until Blaine feels like he could fly.

They come down together, kissing and touching softly until Kurt sighs contentedly and snuggles against Blaine’s side. “This is how I want it to be forever.” He kisses him again. “Just us.”

 “We’re in this together now, baby,” Blaine says. There’s nothing but warm adoration in his voice. Kurt lights up at the words, so Blaine presses a kiss to the top of his hair.

“Are you sure that you’re okay?” Kurt asks, concern creeping into his voice. Blaine shakes his head because he can’t have Kurt worrying. Not now. Not when everything is perfect like this.

He leans down and kisses Kurt full on the lips to silence his worry. “I get to spend eternity with the most amazing person I’ve ever met in my life. Why would I not be okay?”

Something thoughtful and warm touches Kurt’s eyes and he whispers, “Eternity?” And then a smile. “I think I like the sound of that.”

Blaine kisses him again just because he can. “Me too, sweetheart. Me too.”