Chapter 26

December 10, 2012

Kurt stared at the angry red words, hoping that maybe if he looked at them for long enough they would transform into something else, something less cruel. It didn't though and the teen was left with his jaw hanging open, not able to form any words.

It took him a while to overcome his shock and finally be able to speak. "No," he simply uttered. "No, absolutely not! Neither my dad nor I are ever going to agree to this."

Blaine was startled by Kurt's loud response but spoke through his fear. "I'm sorry, you told me to speak freely and add my rules. These are my rules. I'm sorry if they don't please you, Sir."

"Not a sir," Kurt mumbled and looked through the list again. "You expect me to make you sleep outside when I did whatever was in my power to get you off the streets? And starving you for not cleaning the house? What kind of bullshit is that? Do you really think I could do that? Or my dad?"

The slave boy shrugged but said nothing, too interested in the hem of his pyjamas sleeve, careful not to meet Kurt's eyes.

Kurt sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, trying hard to think of a good solution to the situation. Blaine must have added those rules for a reason but what could be that reason?

Think, Hummel, think!

Nothing came to him and he was left helplessly staring at the list. The rules would have been sort of fine if it wasn't for the punishments set up for breaking them. On the other hand, a few of them would be hard to break. They didn't get much mail so it would be an easy task for Blaine. If the boy stayed with them, at some point they would have asked him to participate in the Saturday cleaning anyway. He wasn't sure about the others.

"Wait here," he said to the slave boy and ran to his dad's bedroom with his phone in hand. There he dialled Mike's number and waited for him to pick up.

"Hey, Kurt, what's up?" the Asian boy's voice came from the other end.

"Hey, Mike, I'm sorry if I'm interrupting anything–"

"You aren't," Mike cut in quickly. "I was just doing Tina's homework. I mean, mine. I mean... I do the same homework as Tina and when she brings hers corrected I correct my mistakes. This is how I study. That's what I meant by 'doing Tina's homework'."

Kurt chuckled. "You don't need to explain yourself to me."

"I kind of do. I don't want you to think that I'm treated as a free person in front of other people but inside the house I'm a slave. Just wanted to make sure we were clear."

"Yeah, no worries, I understand," Kurt assured him, sensing that it was a sensitive spot for the boy.

"Great. So, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

Kurt sat down on his dad's bed. "It's my friend. I followed your advice and gave him some rules. Reading, sleeping, eating fruits... Normal ones, you know? Then I gave the list to him to add whatever he wanted and he wrote stuff like spanking him with a belt buckle or making him sleep in the backyard. I told him to speak freely and he did so now I'm torn. If I don't leave his rules then he will think that speaking freely is a useless thing. If I change the punishments it's like I don't value his opinion. If I leave them as they are and he breaks any of those rules I will have to punish him but I can't! Please, tell me what to do!"

"Okay, give me a second," Mike said and was silent for a little while. "So, I think your friend added those rules because they are familiar to him. Someone must have treated him like that already. In that case, those are the only rules he knows – real slave rules. Your rules seems silly to him. He probably doesn't trust you so he sees your rules as a test. Maybe he thinks they are fake and you are just not giving him the real list and when he breaks one of the 'real' rules, you will show him another list and punish him accordingly. That's why he added his own rules and punishments – so you don't catch him off guard. That's my speculation."

Kurt growled in frustration and rubbed his tired eyes with the back of his free hand. "It makes sense but it doesn't tell me what to do... I can't starve him for not cleaning the house. I just can't."

"I know and maybe you won't have to. If these are the rules he is familiar with, he must be familiar with the punishments as well. I'm sure he will do his best to avoid getting punished," Mike offered calmly. "And if he does, just don't punish him that way. Choose another punishment and tell him you find it more appropriate for the situation. Let him believe that his rules are real but don't follow them."

Kurt contemplated his words for a moment. "I will always be grateful to Noah for introducing us. I would be lost without you."

"You just needed some guidance. I'm sure you would have found some advice online though it's nice to be appreciated," Mike laughed and Kurt could hear a faint voice coming from the phone. "I'm sorry, Kurt, Tina's mom needs some help in the kitchen. Call me or text me later if you need anything."

"Thanks a lot, really," Kurt said and they both bid their goodbyes.

When Kurt went back into his bedroom he found Blaine in the same position as if he hadn't moved at all. He sat down on the bed and looked at the slave boy.

"Okay, I thought about it and I agree to add your rules to the list if it makes you feel better," he said and saved the document. "You can cross them out whenever you want without talking to me about that. It's your rules so you may take them off the list at any time. Is that okay with you?"

Blaine nodded immediately. "Thank you. May I add anything later on?"

"Of course," Kurt gave him a strained smile. He was happy that the slave was asking questions but he knew what kind of rules those would be and he really didn't want to deal with them. "I will print out the list and put it in a well visible place... The fridge maybe? We have this awesome pen magnet so you could cross out what you have done."

"Thank you," Blaine said when Kurt hit the print button and looked at his clock. "May I have Friends now?"

Kurt went to the printer and took a warm paper with a neat table. "You don't have to start with the rules right now. You are still very sick and I want you to relax and get better."

"Please, I want to start today," the slave asked with a little desperation in his voice.

"I– Are you sure you are up for it? I don't want you to get worse."

"I can read and watch Friends in bed, Kurt," Blaine assured him. "I can do whatever you want me to. Please."

Kurt stared at him conflicted but since it seemed important to the boy, he decided to give him what he wanted. "Alright, I'll give you my box set after dinner. Dinner! Fuck!" he cursed and ran out of the room, leaving Blaine in bed confused.

When he got to the kitchen he was glad to find it in a perfect condition. He had expected to see and smell smoke but luckily the stew was cooking just fine no matter how long he took upstairs.

The boy was adding the last touches to the dish when the front door opened and his dad walked in. Minutes later he appeared in the kitchen tempted by the smell.

"Um, something smells good," Burt said and dropped on the chair.

"Hopefully it tastes just as good," Kurt said and set up the table. "Before I ask Blaine to come downstairs I need to talk to you. A friend of mine has a slave so I talked to him – Mike – and he gave me one advice on how to get Blaine to go back to himself. He said we should try setting some rules for him."

"Rules?" the man asked sceptically.

"It's not as bad as it sounds," Kurt hurried to tell his dad before he freaked out. "Something silly like eating one fruit a day and if he doesn't he would have to eat a fruit salad for breakfast. Mike said it will get Blaine into some sort of a routine and he will know what is expected of him so he should start relaxing around us."

Burt gave him a knowing look. "So why do you look so worried?"

Kurt sighed. "I let Blaine add his own rules and he added some ridiculous punishments. You will see... Mike told me to keep them as they are but if Blaine breaks them we shouldn't punish him in his way."

"How bad are those punishments?"

"Really bad..."

"And why do you trust this Mike to know what to do?" Burt asked eyeing Kurt.

"He is a slave but he isn't really," the boy explained. "He was bought by his friend's parents so they got him to go back to normal after training. This is what they did and Mike thinks that the same approach may be useful for Blaine too. I'm willing to try it since we don't have any better ideas."

"Okay... But if we see that it isn't working–"

"We will stop with the rules, I promise. Trust me, I want Blaine to get better."

"Talking of which, how is he doing physically?"

"Still coughing and I think he is getting a runny nose. I haven't checked his temperature for a while but he looked better after he took a nap. If his cold doesn't turn into anything nasty, he should get better soon," Kurt explained hoping that his words would come true.

"Good to know," Burt said and stood up. "I'll go get ready for dinner. Go bring Blaine and that list, I want to look through it."

They both went upstairs and when Kurt came back with Blaine, Burt still wasn't there. The man descended the stairs right on time when Kurt filled three bowls of vegetable stew. He had put all easily stomached ingredients so he hoped that Blaine would feel fine afterwards.

Burt walked into the kitchen and looked taken aback when he saw Blaine. "Looking sharp, kiddo," he said and joined the boys at the table. "Has Kurt been treating you right?"

"Yes, Mr Hummel, your son was very nice to me," Blaine spoke looking at his bowl.

"Good to know. Let's eat, shall we?" the man took his spoon and they started eating.

Halfway through the meal Kurt noticed that Blaine was having some difficulties eating. "You don't have to finish if you don't feel like it," he said.

Blaine put his spoon back into the bowl. "Thank you. May I finish it later?"

"Anytime," Kurt answered. "Just let me know and I will heat it up for you."

Burt, who had originally planned to save the conversation until after dinner, decided to talk to Blaine since it was obvious that the boy would be better off in bed. "So, Kurt tells me you two have made up a list of rules for you, Blaine. I was thinking of adding a few of my own. Is that alright with you?"

"Of course, Mr Hummel," the slave boy said, his face paling a little.

Kurt gave his dad the list and Burt looked through it, disgust visible in his face when he reached the end of it. "I'm not fond of the last punishments but if that's what you want, kid, I will respect that. I will only ask you to not go outside. It's a safety precaution so that nobody sees you but let's make it a rule, okay? As well as you staying upstairs when someone comes over. We can't risk anyone seeing you."

"I understand, Mr Hummel, I won't do that, I promise," Blaine spoke quickly.

"Good to know, good to know... There is no punishment for breaking my rules, I'm just asking you as an adult from an adult."

"I'll write them down to make it official," Kurt told them and added Burt's rules onto the list that he then put on the fridge with magnets. "Blaine and I decided to put the list here. He will mark everything he has done on it so we can all keep the track of it."

"That's a good idea," Burt agreed and finished eating.

"I'll clean the dishes, I see you are tired," Kurt said and Burt left after thanking him.

When he was far enough Blaine stood up and went to the fridge. He took the pen magnet and turned to face Kurt. "I'm happy that you allowed me to take a bath," he said and put a small cross next to one of the rules.

Kurt gave him a soft smile and started washing the bowls. "You can take a bath or a shower whenever you want."

December 11, 2012

Sleeping alone in his bed was kind of weird for Kurt. When Blaine went to the guest room for the night his room felt too empty. He hadn't had the slave boy there for a long time but it already felt like it was missing something. Not to mention that he could hardly fall asleep worrying if the other boy was alright.

When he finally woke up early in the morning the first thing Kurt did was going to check on Blaine. He almost collided with him just like the first time they met because the slave was standing in the dark corridor.

"Good morning," he said in a low voice, rough from the cold.

"Morning," Kurt greeted him. "Why are you out of bed? You need to rest."

"I got my seven hours of sleep already."

"This doesn't apply right now," the teen explained and led Blaine back into the guest room. "You are sick and you will be getting as much sleep as your body needs."

Without arguing Blaine went back to bed and Kurt got ready to face yet another intense day.

In the end it was as bad as he had expected. His day consisted of homework and helping out Blaine with following his rules. He had explained to the curly-haired boy that cleaning was scheduled for Saturday in their household and that they didn't get much mail so there was no need to worry about that. The slave boy mostly read, watched Friends, ate, and slept.

At the time the school ended the doorbell rang and Kurt ran to open the door. Puck had promised to get his assignments for him every day so that he didn't fall behind. His teachers let him submit his work online so he would only have to make up for the tests that he would miss. It was a pretty good deal.

"Hey, princess," the boy greeted him with a smirk. "How are you doing this fine cold day?"

"Homework, homework, and more homework," Kurt rolled his eyes and let the boy in. "Thanks for bringing me more."

"What are acquaintances for?" Puck sniggered and took off his jacket. "Can I get some water? Got thirsty seeing your handsome face."

"Careful. I know Lauren's number and I can always tell her what kind of player you are," Kurt threatened him and they both went into the kitchen.

While Kurt filled the glass of water, he informed Puck of Blaine's condition. The other boy said nothing though and the teenager turned around to see if the mohawked boy was alright. What he didn't expect was to feel a punch to his stomach and be thrown onto the ground.

"Fucking monster!" Puck yelled and raised him by his t-shirt. "I fucking trusted you! I can't believe I fell for your act!"

Kurt tried to catch his breath when his body was thrown onto the table and slid down onto the ground.

"Sadistic jerk! How could you do this to Blaine?!" Puck shouted and drew closer.

"What are you talking about?" Kurt cried out and felt the other teenager's hand grip his hair. When he opened his eyes, the list from the fridge was in front of his eyes.

"What the hell is this, huh?"

"Mike told me–"

Puck released Kurt's head and it hit the floor. "Don't go blaming Mike for what you did. I doubt he suggested you fucking beat Blaine with a belt!"

"No, it's Blaine, he wrote it!" Kurt choked out. "Mike suggested the rules. Mine are in black, my dad's are in a blue pen, and the red ones are Blaine's."

Kurt got onto his knees and checked if his nose wasn't bleeding while Puck looked through the list. "You want me to believe that Blaine wants to be treated like that?"

"Just ask Mike," Kurt panted, retreating further from Puck and resting his back on the wall. "Call him and ask what we talked about yesterday. Or just ask Blaine. He's upstairs."

"I'll do that," Puck said and ran upstairs, leaving Kurt alone to try and comprehend what had just happened.

The teenager decided to give the boys some privacy and stayed in the kitchen until Puck was done talking to Blaine. When he came back, a guilty look was plastered on his face.

"Fuck, princess, I'm so sorry for–"

"Can you just leave? Please?" Kurt asked with his eyes closed.

"Yeah, sure. I'll leave you your assignments on the stairs. Just know that I'm really very sorry," Puck said and soon he left.

Kurt took a few calming breaths and thought over the encounter. He knew that if it had been with somebody else, it would have ended up differently but it was Puck so he expected nothing else from the delinquent. He knew that violence was never an answer but he could see where the boy was coming from. Just before bed he sent Puck a text.

Kurt: I forgive you but you owe me one. Big one.

December 13, 2012

The next couple of days followed the same pattern – Kurt did his homework and Blaine made sure to do everything on his list. He succeeded every day until one time he broke one rule.

The two of them were finishing up making lunch and since Kurt started too late, he asked Blaine to help him out. Everything was fine until Kurt found himself with way too much on his hands.

"Blaine, could you, please, peel the potatoes?" he asked the boy, who was cutting carrots at that time.

"Can't you do it yourself?" Blaine spoke before thinking.

Silence fell over them and the slave boy looked at Kurt with wide fearful eyes.

"I'm sorry! Please, I'm sorry!" he freaked out. "Please!"

"It's okay, Blaine, calm down," the teen said gently. "I'm not going to punish you. You're okay."

"But you have to!" Blaine said looking at the list. "I talked back at you. I deserve to be punished!" Kurt looked at the list to see '3 slaps on the face' written as a punishment for talking back. He played Mike's words in his head and inhaled deeply.

"Fine," he said and closed the gap between them.

Blaine closed his eyes tight and waited for the blow. Kurt saw him jump a little when his hand touched his check gently. The slave's eyes opened in surprise as the teenager continued to stroke his cheek three times as gently as he could.

"Listen to me," Kurt said stilling his hand on the boy's face. "I will never hurt you. Punishment or not, I will never lay a hand on you. Do you understand that?"

Blaine nodded and Kurt took a few steps back. He was about to go back to work when the slave boy took a plate from the kitchen table, held it for a second, and smashed it onto the ground with as much force as his weak body had.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Kurt shouted in surprise.

"Get your belt ready, Kurt," Blaine said, hardly controlling his voice.

"What?" Kurt frowned and looked at the fridge. "Are you testing me?"

"I broke two rules. Fucking punish me already!" the slave yelled.

Kurt crossed his arms over his chest and held Blaine's gaze. "You are my friend and I don't hurt my friends."

Blaine held out his right arm and pointed at his tattoo. "I'm a slave. Slaves are supposed to be hurt."

"You are not a slave to me. The way I see it you are my friend who is staying with us. I don't care about your wrist."

"Well, I care! Stop fooling yourself because I'm not your friend, I'm not just staying here for a little while. This," he held out his arm again, "means that I'm a slave and I will always be one. So stop playing 'House' and start treating me like one!"

With each word Kurt grew angrier and angrier, feeling the bottled up emotions coming out. "You know, you are not the only one, who can shout! Yes, you have a fucking tattoo on your wrist and in other people's eyes you may be a slave but I never treated you like one so how about you stop pretending that I'm your master and start being my fucking friend? Because I have been nothing but nice to you since the moment we met!"

"Well, maybe I don't want to be your friend!" Blaine snapped. "Once a slave, always a slave, Kurt, don't you get it? Stop putting these nice ideas in my head because someone will soon find out about me, your dad will go to prison, and you will hate me forever. And me? I will be out on the streets again, back to being a slave. That's reality!"

"You don't know what's going to happen in the future!" Kurt retorted.

"Oh please, I know better than you!" the slave boy laughed coldly. "I lived this life long enough to know what is going to happen. You are better off ending your charity project now."

Kurt shook his head. "You are not a charity case to me. Think whatever you want but I do care for you!"

Blaine snorted at his words and crossed his arms over his chest just like Kurt. "Yeah right. Let me guess, you came here from France and I was the first slave you saw, wasn't I? And you couldn't sleep, your conscience telling you to do 'noble' things. Hence, all the gifts and such. You don't care for me, you only care about feeling like a good person."

At that point Kurt had enough. "How dare you? I fucking saved your life and this is how you thank me?"

"Well, it's not like I asked you to do that now, did I?" Blaine grimaced. "I would have been better off without you coming to my rescue."

"You would have died!"

"Maybe I wanted to!" the slave shouted but his voice betrayed him and first tears appeared in his eyes.

"Don't you fucking say that again!"

"Dying is better than this life anyway," Blaine whispered looking at the ceiling, trying hard to not spill the tears but they ended up running down his face anyway. "I will never get to finish high school or go to college, or get a boyfriend. I will never live in a little house with a white fence or get a job. That kind of future had been taken away from me long ago and I accepted that. And now you think you have a right to give me false hope. Please, don't do that to me..."

By the end of his speech Blaine was fully sobbing, every word taking more and more willpower to be said. Without a second thought Kurt took a few steps forward, avoiding the pieces of the plate lying around, and wrapped his arms around the other boy. It took a few moments but soon he felt Blaine relax in his arms and tears started to moisten his t-shirt.

"Let it out, let it out..." Kurt said rubbing his one hand over the boy's back and the other one over his head until his sobs subsided. "You will get it one day. The world will change and this black ink under your skin will mean nothing. You will get your school diploma, graduate from college with a degree you always wanted. You will meet someone and start a life with him. You will live in a perfect suburban house with a cute white fence and maybe you will even have a dog."

"A cat," Blaine cried out. "I don't like dogs."

Kurt smiled a little at that. "Okay, a cat. And you and your boyfriend will keep arguing which one of you will have to take care of its litter box."

"He will have to do it," the slave sniffled.

"Well, he will argue but in the end he will. Because you will be too busy..."

"...playing guitar to our cat."

Kurt laughed and made a mental note about Blaine playing guitar. "Yeah, and your cat will meow the lyrics. Do you know what song you will play?"

Kurt felt Blaine shaking his head into his neck. "Something pretty. Maybe I will teach my cat how to sing a lullaby... Can I have kids in my future?"

"If you want to. Maybe a little girl and a little boy?"

Blaine nodded. "A boy first because then he would always defend his younger sister. They will be best friends."

Kurt let his own tears run down his face and whispered, "You will have all that one day, I promise. Just hang in there for a bit longer."

Blaine squeezed Kurt's waist harder to show that he got his message. After a few moments of silence he spoke again. "Kurt?"

"Yeah?" the teen asked dreamily, content to have Blaine in his arms.

"I really need to blow my nose," Blaine said and from his voice Kurt could guess that the other boy was smiling.