Chapter 23

December 10, 2012

"I... I don't want to stay... please," Blaine whispered, lowering his head once again.

Kurt's eyes widened and he was about to protest when his dad stopped him. "How about we don't make rushed decisions, huh? Let's wait for you to get better and then you can decide what you want," the man suggested, probably not surprised by the boy's reluctance to stay.

"Yes, Sir," the slave boy agreed in a small voice.

Kurt only hoped that he didn't thing his right to choose had been taken away from him. Maybe it would have been for the best not to talk about the future just yet.

"When your body temperature goes back to normal and you stop coughing then you can make your decision," the teen suggested. "Now we can focus on you getting your health back instead of worrying about the future."

"Sounds great," Burt supported his son's idea. "I'll go to work now. Call me if you need anything, alright?"

"Of course," Kurt smiled at his dad.

"Have a nice day, Sir," Blaine said politely, shocking both men.

"Uh, you too, kid," Burt said dumbfounded and left.

When they were left alone, Kurt saw the other boy eyeing the soup bowl, obviously not sure what he was supposed to do. "If you want you can finish the soup but it must be cold already so you don't have to if you don't want to."

"May I finish later?" Blaine said, his eyes never leaving the table.

"You don't have to because it will be gross. I will just make something when you are hungry again," Kurt said and went to the fridge to find milk. "I'll make you some warm milk now."

"I'm not hungry, Si– Kurt," the boy whispered. "You don't have to waste any more food on me."

Kurt frowned but poured the milk into a mug nevertheless. "Feeding you is not a waste of food. And this is for your throat. Warm milk with honey makes wonders. I always drink it when I have a sore throat and it actually helps."

"Thank you," Blaine whispered. "I used to– Thank you."

Kurt didn't question the boy's slip up and put the mug into the microwave. Normally he would use the stove but it was easier and quicker this way.

"Do you prefer eating honey and then drinking milk or mixing it together?"

"Anything is fine," Blaine muttered.

Kurt took the bowls of soup and placed them on the counter thinking he could clean them up later when Blaine slept which would probably happen soon. "Personally I prefer mixing them but it's up to you," he said and was met with silence. "Just so you know, I keep your locket as a hostage and if you want to get it back, then you will have to tell me how to make your milk."

It was meant as a joke, said with a teasing smile but Blaine's eyes widened in horror. "One teaspoon of honey mixed with milk with a dash of cinnamon," he said hastily.

Kurt wanted to kick himself. He would have never threatened Blaine if he had known that the boy would take it seriously. The locket was probably his most valuable belonging so it only made sense that the boy got scared of losing it. Of course, he should have expected such reaction but he wasn't used to tiptoeing around people so it would take some time.

"Cinnamon? Interesting," Kurt commented, trying to sound cheerful. "But I must agree it does sound good."

"Can I... may I have my locket?" Blaine asked and bit his bottom lip waiting for the answer.

The microwave beeped and Kurt opened it. "Of course, I was just joking. Noah brought your bag from the factory and everything is safe in my room. I didn't take anything, everything in it is yours."

"Your box is there. I'm sorry for keeping it for so long," the slave apologised.

Kurt shrugged and put a teaspoon of honey into the mug. "You can keep it, I don't mind. If you end up leaving it will be more useful for you than me."

Blaine snivelled and Kurt quickly gave him some paper towel. "Thank you. When can I leave?"

Never...

"As I've already told you, you can leave as soon as you are of a perfect health. No nigh temperature, no coughing or sore throat, or a runny nose that you are apparently beginning to have. After that you are free to leave but I really hope you stay."

"I can't," Blaine whispered.

"Of course you can!" Kurt exclaimed, raising his voice in annoyance. "My dad and I are offering you a warm, safe place to stay. What's better about living in a draughty building where anyone can come and hurt you?"

"Freedom," the boy said almost inaudibly and a single tear rolled down his cheeks.

The sight in front of him broke Kurt's heart and the teen wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around Blaine's thin body. "Oh, sweetie, you are a free person here. I told you, we are equals. Neither I, nor my dad are going to treat you like a slave. It will be like you are my friend staying over. When I was still living in Paris my friend Gérard once stayed with us for a month because his parents were travelling."

The boy wiped his tears with the back of his hand. "I don't belong to you..."

"Of course you don't, in my eyes you are not a slave."

"No, I don't belong to you so you can't keep me. If someone finds out–" Blaine began to explain.

"Then we will make sure nobody does," Kurt shrugged even though he feared that police officers might come any time and take his dad away together with Blaine. "It was dark when we brought you here and if you stay inside we should be fine. I know you don't trust me right now but I'm going to prove that you are safe with us."

The other boy said nothing just watched Kurt put the mug with warm milk with cinnamon floating on the surface in front of him. "Thank you," he said and took a sip of the drink, his eyes closing as the sweet taste filled his mouth.

"After you finish you should take medicine and then we will have to take your body temperature," Kurt explained while Blaine drank the milk. "It seems that you are much better today but we need to check just so we know. Then if you feel like it you could take a nap. Noah should be here around four with his friends so you should probably stay out of sight when they are here. You could talk to Noah after the others leave. And depending on your temperature in the evening, maybe you will be able to take a shower or bath before bed. When you are clean I could help you with the bruises. My dad bought some ointment. So, how does that sound?"

The boy just nodded, his face half hidden behind the mug. It didn't really answer Kurt's question but it was as good as it was going to get.

"I totally forgot. Are you in any pain other than your throat, head, and bruises?"

Blaine shook his head after a moment of thinking.

"Good. We hoped you wouldn't have any broken bones," Kurt said conversationally. "Since we can't really have you here, it would be tricky to get you proper medical help. We just kind of used a lot of google when we found you but it wouldn't be much of help if you had some broken bones. So all is good."

His words were met with more silence and Kurt sighed heavily. He kind of missed Blaine from the day before. The sweet clueless boy, who believed that the toy was their patient. That Blaine was much easier to deal with even if seeing the slave boy getting better made Kurt happy.

The teen watched the other boy finish the last drops of his drink and place his right hand over his stomach. For someone who had hardly been full for a long time Blaine had a lot for breakfast. Maybe he shouldn't have pushed him to have the milk right away, it could have been done at any time later on.

"I don't think you'll be able to drink a glass of water, do you?" he asked but didn't wait for the boy to answer. "I guess you could take the pills a bit later. Now let's go upstairs. We still need to take your temperature and then I will change the bandage on your wrist."

Blaine nodded and went to the sink with the mug in his hand.

"Leave it there, I'll clean it later," Kurt said having guessed Blaine's intentions. "You have been out of bed for too long as it is."

The boy complied and they walked back to the bedroom in silence. On their way Kurt wondered how long it would take for the boy to feel comfortable enough to freely talk to him. He only hoped it would happen soon. Maybe Noah's presence would help later.

They entered the room and Kurt saw his bed already made with Blaine's pyjamas folded on top. "You didn't have to make the bed but thank you," he said to the other boy with a smile. "I'll go to the bathroom to get what I need for the bandage change and you can change back into the pyjamas, okay?"

He waited for Blaine to give a nod and went into the bathroom. It took him seconds to find what he needed since it wasn't the first time he changed the bandage on Blaine's wrist so he kept everything in one place, but he deliberately took much longer so that the boy could comfortably change.

When the rustle in his room stopped Kurt decided that Blaine was done and went back into his room. "Um, please, sit on the bed... under the blankets," he asked trying to show the other boy that he had a choice to argue if he didn't want to do what he had suggested.

Blaine didn't argue though and arranged himself under the duvet. "I... you said... please, can I have my locket?" he pleaded hesitantly.

"Oh, of course," Kurt said and opened the drawer in the night stand where he had put the locket earlier. "Here it is."

Blaine reached for the locket when Kurt extended it to him and pressed it to his chest with eyes closed. It looked like a private ritual and the teenager turned around and pretended to be busy, giving the slave a few moments for himself. When he turned around again he saw Blaine's watery eyes but didn't comment on that.

Having decided that it was for the best to not question the boy about his past or the meaning of his most precious belonging, Kurt took the thermometer and ignored the way Blaine's knuckles whitened at the strong grip on the locket. "Could you keep this in your mouth?" he asked giving the boy the thermometer. "I will take care of your wrist while we take your temperature."

Blaine put the thermometer into his mouth and Kurt took his left hand in his lap. When he took off the old bandage he found out that the wound was healing nicely and was pleased to see that there was no sign of infection. He carefully cleaned the wound, put some ointment that would speed up the healing on it, and wrapped the boy's wrist with bandage. The whole time he could feel Blaine's eyes on him.

"Here you go," Kurt smiled at him and took the thermometer out of the boy's mouth. It had beeped while he was still working on the wrist but the boy wanted to finish with the wound first. "One hundred and a half. You are doing much better than I expected. Do you want to get some sleep now?"

"May I?" Blaine asked hopefully.

"Sure," Kurt said encouragingly. "If you need anything let me know."

"Thank you," the slave whispered and got into a lying position.

"Sleep well," the teen said and sat down on his desk chair ready to work on his homework.

Before he opened his history textbook he decided to text Puck to let him know about Blaine and found a new message that he hadn't heard arrive.

Rachel: Hi, Kurt. Why aren't you at school? While you were unreasonably impolite to us, Mercedes and I decided to forgive you for the weekend so you don't have to avoid us. Just one apology and we will be back to normal. Miss you! xoxo

Kurt rolled his eyes and ignored the message. Trust those two divas to think that he should be the one apologising.

Kurt: Hey, Blaine woke up all slave-like today, thought you should know. Physically he is better though.

Noah: no worries princess ill talk to him and mike is coming so you are covered

Kurt: What?

Noah: nothing my gf found your timetable will bring your assignments nerd

Noah: kiss blainers for me

Kurt: Fuck you.

Kurt set his phone on the table and opened his history textbook, ready to study for the test their class would be taking on Friday. Hopefully Napoleon would distract him from reality.