March 28, 2015, 7 p.m.
With you, I can breathe again
Reaction fic for 6x05. Kurt and Blaine are trapped in the elevator. Blaine is claustrophobic.
T - Words: 2,097 - Last Updated: Jun 01, 2022 1,181 0 0 0 Categories: Angst, Characters: Blaine Anderson, Kurt Hummel, Tags: hurt/comfort,
I suck at coming up with titles. Sorry.
He can feel something is wrong the moment he sets foot in the elevator. He can't explain how or why, but it looks different from any other elevator he's ever seen, and he's pretty sure that it's placed exactly underneath the French classroom, so that would mean there's nowhere for the elevator to go. Then again, Sue made quite a few changes to McKinley after he left, so it is possible that the classroom isn't there anymore. That's the only logical explanation, right? Still, something about this elevator smells fishy.
He's proven right not even a minute later. Kurt presses the button to go up and the doors close, but other than that, there's no movement at all for about fifteen seconds. Then, the lights start flickering, and after half a minute, they fall out completely, leaving him and Kurt standing in complete darkness.
"I don't think this is a real elevator," Kurt says, but Blaine can hardly hear him over the beating of his own heart and the rushing in his ears. No. Nonononono, this can't be happening. He stumbles to where he remembers the control panel to be and furiously presses every button, but the doors remain closed.
"Oh no, come on, this is not happening. Please tell me this is not really happening," he mumbles, more to himself than to Kurt, as he balls both hands into fists and starts banging on the doors with all his might and shouting for help.
"Blaine, it's no use," Kurt says. "We arrived late. The invitational starts in two minutes, so everyone's probably already in the auditorium."
He does his best to make sense of what Kurt just said, but he can't focus on the words. He feels the panic overwhelming him, making beads of sweat form on his forehead. His breath is becoming more and more laboured and he's really not okay, he just needs to get out of here, he can't be stuck here he really can't he needs air he needs to get out -
"Blaine, you need to calm down. I'll get us out of here, okay? I'll call Rachel. With a little bit of luck, they won't have started yet and she'll be able to send help."
Blaine doesn't react. Instead he tries to pull the doors apart with his hands, knowing it is no use, but he needs to try anyway, anything to get him out of here.
"Honey, please stop that," Kurt pleads, "you're only going to hurt yourself."
Right now, though, Blaine doesn't care about hurting himself. He doesn't even register the endearment that slipped off Kurts tongue before he could stop himself. All he cares about is getting out of this stupid fake elevator. He's startled when he suddenly feels Kurt's hands on his.
"Please, Blaine, don't. I know you want to get out of here, but this is not going to help."
He looks up at Kurt and when he sees the concern in his beautiful eyes, he's instantly reminded of how much he's missed Kurt looking at him like that. Like Blaine is something precious he needs to protect. Like he still loves him. But Kurt is not his anymore. Blaines moved on and so has Kurt, so it can't be love he's seeing in Kurts eyes... can it?
"I'll do whatever I can to get us both out of here as soon as possible," Kurt promises, "but I need you to calm down first, okay? Take a couple of deep breaths for me, like this," he instructs as he puts Blaine's right hand on his chest, so he can feel Kurts lungs expand as he breathes deeply.
He'd almost forgotten how touching Kurt in any way had always managed to make him feel calm and safe. It takes him a while to get his breathing under control, but eventually he's able to do as Kurt asks and match his own breathing to Kurt's.
"There we go," Kurt whispers, both hands still covering Blaine's on his chest. "I'm going to let go of your hands now so I can take out my phone and call Rachel, okay?"
Blaine just nods and when Kurt releases his hand, he sits down on the floor with his back against the wall, hugging his knees to his chest, trying to keep his breathing even.
Out of the corner of his eye he sees Kurt fishing his phone out of his pocket, dialling Rachel's number and putting the phone to his ear, but after half a minute of silence, Kurt hangs up and heaves a frustrated sigh.
"She's not picking up. The show's started, probably."
Rachel's not picking up. Which means she can't send help. Which means they're going to be stuck here for God knows how long. When it finally hits him, he feels the panic rising up all over again. He lets out a quiet whimper, feels his breath quickening and his whole body starting to tremble.
Immediately, Kurt is by his side. He crouches down next to him and puts one hand on Blaine's arm. With the other, he urges Blaine to scoot forward a little so he can rub soothing circles on his back.
"Shhh, it's going to be alright. You're going to be fine. I'm here with you." Kurt continues to whisper soft encouragements in his ear until he can feel his breath slowly evening out again. He takes another deep breath and then lets his head rest on Kurt's shoulder, closing his eyes and just focussing on the feeling of Kurt's body against his.
"That's it, you're doing great Blaine." Blaine hums, thanking him for the encouragement, but not saying anything else. It's silent for a while, then -
"I had no idea it had gotten this bad," Kurt admits. "Has it been this way for long?"
"It got worse after we broke up." He doesn't mean to blurt it out like that, doesn't want to make Kurt feel guilty about this, but it's still the truth.
He feels the movement on his back halt, but it picks back up after what seems like ages of uncomfortable silence.
"I'm really sorry," Kurt whispers.
Blaine sits up a little so he can look at Kurt. "Don't be," he says. "It's not your fault."
Kurt shakes his head. "But I feel like it is. If I hadn't broken up with you..."
He leaves the sentence unfinished, but Blaine doesn't need to hear the rest to know what Kurt's trying to say.
"No, please, don't think like that. Kurt, you couldn't very well stay with me just to prevent my claustrophobia from getting worse. You can't keep a relationship going on that."
Kurt hangs his head, not looking Blaine in the eye. "Yeah, I guess you're right." He's stopped rubbing circles on his back, but he keeps his hand there nonetheless. When he doesn't saying anything else, Blaine rests his head back on Kurt's shoulder.
They stay like that for what feels like hours, but in reality is no more than a few minutes. They've been sitting so still, almost unmoving, that Blaine startles when he feels the hand Kurt still has on his back start inching higher, until it reaches the nape of his neck. He softly runs his fingers through the hair there. Blaine tries, he really does, but he can't stop the hum of contentment he lets out. He's always loved it when Kurt played with his hair. Loved it especially during sex, when Kurt would use the grip on his hair to pull his head back so he could start kissing and nipping at his neck -
But he can't think like that anymore. They're not together any longer.
However, he can't stop himself from thinking like that. He knows Kurt is still single, since his date with Walter didn't go as planned, and Blaine broke things off with Dave after the whole ex-boyfriend parade/family tree debacle. And despite the fact that Kurt broke up with him and broke his heart in the process, he can't deny that he still loves Kurt. He's pretty sure Kurt feels the same way, even though he hasn't made any attempts to win him back after that night at Scandals. They've been apart for quite some time now, and they've both learned from it. They've both been working on their individual problems with their therapists. They know now where it went wrong, so maybe they can fix it. Would it really be so wrong to try again? Can it be wrong if even the slightest touch from Kurt still feels so good?
He must have moved closer to Kurt without realizing it, because he finds himself pressed even closer into Kurt's side. He turns his head slightly and noses at that sweet spot where Kurts jaw meets his neck. Kurt's breathing is growing heavier and so is his own.
"I've missed this," Blaine whispers, his lips brushing Kurts skin, and he feels Kurt shiver in response.
"God, Blaine, so have I, but what are we doing? We should talk about this."
"And we will," Blaine assures him, "As soon as we get out of here, we'll talk about it. Right now, I just need you to know that I miss you, I still love you, and I'm willing to try again, if that's what you want too." He says all of this with his head still tucked into Kurt's neck, his hand now against Kurt's chest, where he can feel his heart racing.
"I still love you too," Kurt says, his voice trembling, "and of course I want to try again. I shouldn't have broken up with you in the first place -"
Blaine interrupts before he can say anything else. "Shhhh, we'll talk more later. But for now..."
He pulls back slightly, just enough to be able to look Kurt in the eye. "Just kiss me? Please, Kurt -"
"God, yes."
And just like that, their lips meet and they're kissing. It isn't anything like that first, soft, tentative kiss they'd shared back at Dalton. It's passionate and deep and dirty from the start, but it's exactly what they both want right now. Blaine's hand is tugging at Kurt's shirt as if he wants him to take it off, and Kurt strengthens his grip in Blaine's hair and pulls just like Blaine fantasized about only minutes ago. Blaine moans and allows his head to pulled back, giving Kurt unrestricted access to his neck, where he starts sucking immediately. He feels his cock throbbing in his pants, and Kurt must have noticed that he's hard, if the hand slowly inching closer to his groin is any indication.
Suddenly, the lights flicker back on, making them pull away in surprise. After a moment of silence, an awfully familiar voice sounds through the fake elevator.
"Well, I was going to tell you that you couldn't leave until you'd kissed each other, but I can see that you don't need my help for that anymore," coach Sylvester says, sounding entirely too pleased with herself.
"Wait, I can see?" Kurt says incredulously. "You mean she has a camera in here somewhere?"
Blaine can't form a sensible response, since he's trying too hard to will his boner away.
"Porcelain and young Burt Reynolds, I have underestimated you." And just like that, the doors open.
"Seriously?!" Blaine yells. "She made me go through a claustrophobic attack just so she could watch us make out?"
"Hey," Kurt says, as he stands up and brushes off his pants, "we got each other out of all of this, right?" He reaches out his hand towards Blaine, who flashes Kurt that smile that is especially for him and takes his hand. "Yeah, we did."
They'll go somewhere quiet and talk about all of this, and afterwards apologize profusely to their teams for missing the invitational (and give Sue a piece of their mind when they find her). But all of that will come later. Right now, all that matters is that they found each other again. And that they get out of this fake elevator as soon as humanly possible, Blaine thinks as he rushes towards the open doors, Kurt's hand clutched tightly in his.