Chapter 41

January 9, 2013

Burt finally snapped out of his shock and looked away from Blaine. "Yeah, son, I can hear you now," he said to Kurt. "What flavour ice-cream do you want?"

"Anything, really. I just want to freeze my brain," Kurt's chuckle came from the speakers.

"Alright. I have to go now. See you soon, son," Burt said and Kurt hung up after saying goodbye. "So, um, any chance you didn't hear this conversation?"

Blaine gave the man a pointed look. "I'm afraid I heard every single word of it."

"Well, maybe you could pretend you didn't?"

"I could but I won't," the boy said. "Why would I ignore it when I know the boy I like likes me back?"

"You like Kurt?" Burt gaped at him.

"Who in their right minds wouldn't like him?" Blaine asked as if it was the craziest question ever asked. "I just... wow, I can't believe he feels the same way about me."

"So, um, what are you going to do about it?"

"Nothing, I guess," the slave boy shrugged. "He'll get over it."

The man frowned looking at the road. "What do you mean? Shouldn't you be over the moon and race to him and say cheesy things and get together? He likes you, you like him. Simple as that."

"It's not that simple," Blaine sighed tracing random patterns over his wrist tattoo. "I'm a slave, I can't give him what he deserves. What kind of relationship would that be? He deserves someone who can actually arrange romantic dates and surprise him. Someone who can take care of him. Someone he could marry one day and have kids with. What I can offer is a joke of a relationship. He deserves better."

"What if he wants you and there is nothing better for him?"

"He doesn't really know what he wants. I know how things are for gay boys in Ohio, there aren't many options for us. Kurt will graduate next year and he will probably go to New York where he will meet many eligible guys. And I'm sure he will be very popular among them. He doesn't need to settle for his slave. If he does it now he will regret it in the future because we would need to break up and the holidays when he comes over would be just awkward. I'm going to save us all this trouble."

Burt shook his head. "You youngsters are making things way more complicated than they should be. But if that's what you want to do I can't do anything about it."

"Just don't tell Kurt about the phone call, okay? I don't want him knowing I overheard him. If he knew I was aware of his feelings and did nothing would hurt him more than he's hurting now."

"Of course I won't tell him. He would kill me," Burt laughed and Blaine smiled too.

It was for the best, he tried to convince himself. Sure he had imagined being with Kurt many times but it was all fantasies. Now that those dreams were so close to becoming reality he felt silly and insecure.

He looked down at the drawing he had on his knees and decided to change the topic slightly. "I can't wait to tell Kurt about Cooper and Cassie and everything that happened today."

"Wait until Puck hears about it," Burt smiled. "He'll be angry we didn't invite him to come with us when he spent all that energy to get you a fake ID."

"I'm so lucky I've met him that night," the slave breathed thinking of last winter. "He's the most loyal friend I've ever had."

"And now you two can freely hang out and do stuff," Burt reminded him. "You could finally meet Mike too."

"Yeah, my life is about to change..."

"Where are we going?" Blaine asked when he saw them passing the sign showing the direction to Lima and it wasn't the direction they were taking.

"I thought there was someone else you would like to see today," Burt said and not long after they pulled over into an empty parking lot. The sign said Green Lawn Cemetery.

"Oh," was the only thing Blaine managed to say. There was only one person there he could visit.

"Cassandra told me where your brother was buried," Burt said. "If you aren't ready to visit his grave you don't have to. But if you do, you have all the time you need."

"Thank you, I've been ready for a very long time," the boy said and opened the door.

"Wait," Burt called out and took his jacket off. "It will be too big for you but you can't stay outside in those clothes. Here, put this on."

"Thanks," Blaine said gratefully climbing out of the car, threw the jacket over his thin shoulders, and placed the drawing safely on the seat. "I'll be back soon."

"No need to hurry," the man said and the slave boy closed the door with a smile.

It took time to find the grave he needed. There was snow everywhere and the number of graves grew over the two years so it was hard but after good ten minutes Blaine found himself standing in front of the grave he didn't know he would ever see again.

"Hey, Coop," the slave whispered in the empty cemetery after a couple of minutes of just standing there silently, "I'm sorry I haven't visited you for so long. But at least I'm here now, right? Yeah...

"I missed you so much. Life has been hard ever since you left and only the thought of you kept me going. Whenever things got too hard I would think to myself, 'Cooper would want you to fight' and I would, I would go on with my life trying hard to survive. You gave me the strength I needed. And now I have other people who help me too. I'm not alone anymore. I feel like I have a family again.

"And I just got my old family back. Cassandra is helping me and Coo– Mini Cooper is just the most adorable kid I have ever met. He looks just like you and he loves his daddy so much. I promise I will take a good care of him for you. He will get so much love from everyone and while nobody will ever replace you he will be surrounded by people who will constantly remind him what a great man his father was. You will never be forgotten."

Snowflakes started falling from the sky and Blaine held Burt's jacket around himself tightly, wiping his tears with the sleeve.

"I'm happy right now, you know. I have friends just like I used to before I became this. I also have a father figure which I never had. I got so lucky... I just wish you were here to see it for yourself. I'm not the boy I was when I came to you from the training centre and not even the boy I was when I ran away. I'm stronger and more confident. Most of the days I don't even feel like a slave anymore. When I'm around Burt or Kurt, or Puck I feel like a free person I used to be. And Mini Coop... he makes me feel so normal. He had never seen me and the first instinct he had when he first saw me was to run to me, no questions asked. I finally feel like myself.

"You know, so many people saved my life and I thanked all of them but I don't think I ever voiced my gratitude to you. You are the first one who saved me. If you hadn't bought me I don't know where I would be now. Thanks to you I am where I am now. I will be a person you would have been proud to call your brother, I promise, for you.

"I love you, big brother. I'll come back to see you soon," Blaine finished and with one last look at the tombstone he walked away.

When he climbed into the car Burt gave him a sympathetic look. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Blaine said and finally he believed himself. "I'm okay."

They didn't talk much during the rest of the drive home but the silence wasn't uncomfortable like it was during the drive to Columbus. Blaine's mind was buzzing with excitement the closer they got to Lima. Visiting Cooper gave him a sort of closure and he felt at peace with himself.

When he finally stepped out of the car he sprinted to the door only to be disappointed he would have to wait until Burt came to unlock the door. They finally got inside and Blaine ran upstairs looking for Kurt. He opened the door to the boy's room without eve knocking and came face to face with the said boy since he was on his way to leave the room upon hearing them downstairs.

"Blaine–" Kurt's eyes lit up but Blaine didn't see much of them as he threw himself at the boy and hugged him as tightly as he could.

"I'm yours, I'm all yours," he said squeezing the boy's body. "Nobody can take me away from you now."

"What? I don't get it," the boy said confused but Blaine didn't care. He had Kurt in his arms and nobody could separate them now.

Luckily for Kurt Burt soon appeared in the doorway with some documents in his hands. "Hey, Kurt. I have an early birthday present for you," he said with a smile. Blaine let go of Kurt because he wanted to see Kurt's face when he heard the news. "I got you a slave."

"What?" it only made Kurt more confused.

"Well, not a slave, the slave," Burt laughed and winked at Blaine.

"I'm yours, Kurt," he said with the biggest toothy smile. "Legally."

"But..." the teen looked between the two of them trying to comprehend what was happening. "How... I mean, it's impossible... Lauren couldn't have that done. And it's just... What happened?"

Burt gave Blaine the documents and patted him on his back. "I need to go to the shop now. Blaine can explain everything. I'll be back in an hour or so. If police comes just show them these papers and call me if you need anything, alright?"

"Sure," Kurt said and watched his dad leave. "Now, um, please, explain me what's going on because I'm lost here."

"Okay," Blaine smiled. "Can we sit down? My calves are killing me."

Kurt raised an eyebrow but didn't comment on that. They sat down on the bed and Blaine arranged himself comfortably so he was no longer in pain.

"These are my real ownership papers," he said and gave the documents to Kurt, who started flipping them over. "They have your name now. I'm your slave now."

"I... wow," the boy looked over the documents with wide eyes. "How..."

"It's a long story," Blaine said smiling. It was a long and painful story but it now had a happy ending so it was a pleasure to tell.

Kurt got to the last page and looked at it funnily. "What's that?"

Blaine looked at the paper Kurt raised a little and laughed. "My nephew drew it. It's me with him," he explained.

"Your..."

"Nephew, yes," Blaine nodded. "My brother's son. He is almost two years old and he is so cute. You'll have to meet him. Only if you want to, of course."

"Um, I... just... I'm at a loss of words," Kurt shook his head a little. "I really need the full story here because for all I know you went to Lauren's last night and today you come back with your authentic ownership papers and a drawing made by your nephew?"

"Okay, I'll start at the beginning...."

And he did. He told everything he had told Burt before and more. He told him about the boy his parents saw him with. He told him in more detail about the training. He told him all about his brother's failed attempts to bring him back to normal after buying him. He told him more about his life with Karofskys. And then he got to the part where he and Burt went to Columbus. He talked and watched Kurt's facial expressions change, going from sadness to relief, from crying to smiling.

Somewhere in the middle of the story they ended up lying on the bed facing each other. They were close but not close enough to touch.

"You've been through so much but you are still the most positive person I've ever met," Kurt said through his tears when Blaine told him how he and Burt drove back to Lima. "You inspire me to be strong."

Blaine watched the boy in front of him and he felt like something in him gave in. All those insecurities were gone now. This kind boy was giving him his heart and he should treat it with love and respect, not just ignore it. If Kurt really thought he could make him happy then he would spend every waking moment trying to do so. If Kurt believed in him he could believe in himself too.

"I can't imagine my life without you," he said and saw Kurt smile. "You complete me, Kurt. All the missing pieces of my life came together today but there is still one, the most important piece missing and it's you. I know you are right here but not in a way I wish you were.

"The first time I saw you my first thought wasn't 'be a slave-like, kneel, bow,' all I could think of was how pretty you were. And then I got to know you and I saw that you had the most beautiful soul. You know, if I was a free person I would get all my friends to help me serenade you and I would shower you with compliments until you gave in and agreed to go on a date with me.

"But I am what I am, just a silly slave falling for his owner no matter how movie cliché that is. I know you deserve better than me but if you do feel the same way about me then I'll do everything in my power to make you happy. I just, um, wanted to let you know this. So yeah, that's all."

He felt stupid now. Kurt was staring at him with his eyes wide open and Blaine panicked. Maybe he misinterpreted Kurt's words. Maybe he liked him but didn't want to be together. He probably just ruined his friendship with the boy.

"Are you saying what I think you are saying?" Kurt asked in a shaky voice. "That you want to be with me?"

"Well, yeah, that's what I'm saying," Blaine blushed and lowered his eyes. "Don't worry if you don't want to, I won't make things awkward, we will just pretend this never happened."

"I can't pretend this never happened," Kurt said and Blaine looked up again. "Remember the day we met in the park and there were swans in the lake? You were starving but you still threw the food I gave you into the water so the birds wouldn't starve to death. That's when you stole my heart. And I would be honoured to call you my boyfriend."

"You mean it?" Blaine's heart started to beat faster as hope filled his chest.

"Absolutely," Kurt said and took his hand.

"I really want to kiss you right now," the slave boy blurted out.

"I won't stop you," Kurt smiled.

Blaine eyed the other boy's face trying to see any doubt. "Are you sure? Because after what happened with–"

"You are ruining the moment, Blaine."

"I just want to be sure that you will be okay if I kiss you."

"I will be better than okay if you do that."

"Okay," Blaine smiled and inched towards Kurt.

He felt the boy's hand squeezing his as if to reassure him it was alright and finally all worries left Blaine's mind. He closed his eyes as he felt his lips touching Kurt's. It felt like home.