Fic: Hope
Kurt has never been more afraid than the day he sees Blaine for the first time.
The usual taunting and name calling he faces in the halls has turned to intimidation and physical violence and there's nothing to be done about it. No one seems to notice or care. His friends can't (or wouldn't) protect him even if they bothered to see what was happening. There's no chance of resolution, only continual fear for his life. So he does the only thing he can think to do. He gets in his Navigator and drives to Dalton Academy - to see what things are like on the other side of the tracks, so to speak.
Upon his arrival, he notices that something is buzzing in the air. Something major is happening, but he has no idea what it could possibly be at two in the afternoon. He stops the first person that seems accessible to ask what on earth could be causing this frenzy he's just stepped into.
The boy looks up at him and smiles, offering his hand and introducing himself. Kurt is struck by his handsome, classy appearance, but more so by his kindness. This is definitely not McKinley High, where you'd be lucky if you only got a bad look for asking a similar question.
Blaine. He likes that name. It's fitting for a prep school boy.
When Blaine takes his hand and leads him to the heart of the action, something shifts inside of Kurt. If for just this brief moment, his heart feels a little lighter.
---
He can hardly believe the scene he's just stepped into. Somehow he'd unwittingly managed to introduce himself to the leader of this reportedly "rockstar" Glee club - this compact, rather adorable, dark-haired boy - whose voice now soared around the room and whose eyes seemed to use Kurt's own as an anchor point.
Kurt feels as though Blaine is singing the words directly to him. But he couldn't be. This performance had been practiced long before he stepped through the doors of Dalton. Still.
"Let's run away and don't ever look back. Don't ever look back."
A shiver runs through him. He's pretty sure that if Blaine asked him to, he absolutely would. Even though he's known him for a mere five minutes.
Running away has never been part of the Hummel vocabulary, but as he looks around the room at the sea of seemingly accepting, supportive attendees, and then back to Blaine, it seems like coming to Dalton wouldn't be running away from something so much as running toward something. Something better.
And Hummels definitely run toward things.
---
Trust doesn't come easily to Kurt, but when Blaine dismisses Wes and David from the table he immediately earns a substantial helping of it. Tears start to flow and Kurt finds himself baring his soul to this near stranger. This should scare the shit out of Kurt, but it doesn't at all. In fact, there's a tugging in his heart that encourages him to press in deeper and say more than just a few words.
"I know how you feel," Blaine begins after an appropriate pause. "I got taunted at my old school and it really pissed me off. I even complained about it to the faculty, and they were sympathetic and all, but you could just tell that nobody really cared."
Blaine continues to speak, and Kurt listens, but he's distracted by the words echoing in his brain over and over again. He's barely able to process that someone else - that Blaine, who seems perfect and put together and strong - has dealt with the same things he's dealing with right now and come out alive and happy. If Blaine can get through this, he can, too.
The hope that he plants in Kurt's heart is enough to bolster him to face the dreaded halls of McKinley another day.
Though Kurt doesn't believe in God or a higher power that controls the motions of mere mortals, he believes, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that fate brought Blaine to him when he needed him most. And he knows that this boy will change his life forever.
---
Blaine has never been more afraid than the day he sees Kurt for the first time.
That day is almost six months after he meets and befriends Kurt. It happens in the midst of what seems like the dumbest argument he's ever had with The Warblers. Kurt bursts into the room and interrupts the meeting. His eyes are damp and he's out of uniform, wearing all black. Pavarotti, the pet bird he'd been given upon joining The Warbler ranks, is dead.
The atmosphere in the room changes from chaos to quiet reverence and before Blaine has time to think, Kurt is singing an elegiac song in honor of the departed bird. Reflexively, he begins to back up Kurt with hushed harmonies. Though his eyes are not fixed on Kurt as he sings, he knows Kurt is there in front of him.
He stops singing when he realizes Kurt has moved. His heart races unexpectedly and he frantically searches the room for him, quickly finding him once more. He looks back to where Kurt had been only moments ago, somewhat puzzled by the loss he feels. His eyes flick back to Kurt's new location and for the first time in his life he doesn't see the boy he's grown to call his best friend; he sees this ethereal, vulnerable, kind soul who makes him feel things he's never felt before.
"You were only waiting for this moment to arise. You were only waiting, for this moment to arise."
A wave of emotion moves through him, something shifts and suddenly he realizes how foolish he's been. Kurt Hummel is his anchor point. Kurt is the person he can always turn to no matter what happens.
Kurt is the person he is desperately in love with.
---
During the next council meeting, Blaine cannot keep his eyes off of Kurt. It's killing him that he hasn't found the right moment to tell Kurt how he feels, and the council is currently arguing about how Blaine should sing the solo for Regionals. It's getting on the last of his already frazzled nerves. He looks back to Kurt, who is completely spaced out, and Blaine realizes he's had enough.
He stands and uses his power to stop the proceedings. After a few moments of argument and explanation, and several looks to a re-engaged Kurt, he gets to the point of what he wants to say.
"I propose we rearrange our eleven o'clock number and turn it into a duet."
The suggestion causes an uproar, but Blaine takes control again.
For months, Blaine has been singing alone because the council depends on him. He's glad to share his voice and his talent, but he's finally realized that singing on his own isn't enough anymore. It's stale and lifeless.
By popular vote, the duet is allowed, and Blaine immediately cuts off discussion of solo auditions.
"I want to sing the duet with Kurt," he says simply, looking to Kurt with a hopeful smile.
For years he assumed it was better to go it alone, because people usually just disappointed or hurt him. Not so with Kurt. He needs Kurt - and so do The Warblers - now more than ever.
---
Blaine takes a deep breath before he enters the room; the same room where six months ago a very scared boy had seen something in Blaine that caused him to open his heart and poured out his fears and struggles. Blaine hadn't taken that responsibility lightly, but in so doing, he'd limited his view of Kurt to his friend, and only his friend, who he would be a shoulder for whenever he needed one.
As time moved on and Kurt grew stronger, they'd come to rely on each other. There is no excuse for Blaine's continued obliviousness to his feelings for Kurt.
Kurt is there, sitting in the midst of a huge pile of craft supplies, and his heart beats faster. He's there under the pretense of asking Kurt to practice their duet for Regionals but he knows this might be his only shot for days to talk to Kurt. Now, six months later, at this same table, a scared and lonely Blaine is about to open his heart to Kurt and confess that he's in love with him.
"Why did you pick me to sing that song with?" Kurt asks as Blaine settles down into his chair. He's thankful for Kurt's question; as it's the perfect segue into what he has to say.
He closes his eyes, sucks in a breath and opens his mouth.
"Kurt, there is a moment when you say to yourself: Oh, there you are. I've been looking for you forever."
He knows how Kurt feels about him or at least how he felt about him around Valentine's Day, and he's blown away by the thought that anyone could love such a bumbling mess, but the hope that Kurt just might love him back is enough to support his wobbly voice and unsteady heart.
He places his hand on top of Kurt's and he's glad when he doesn't flinch or pull away.
"Watching you do Blackbird this week - that was a moment for me. About you." He hates the way the words fall inelegantly from his mouth and he shakes his head, trying to clear it enough to speak in coherent sentences. "You move me, Kurt. And this duet would just be an excuse to spend more time with you."
Kurt's eyes are wide and damp and fixed on him. His breaths are sharper than they were seconds ago. Blaine takes these all as good signs and gives up on words altogether. He surges forward, pressing his lips to Kurt's and cradling his face in his hand.
Kurt doesn't respond right away, but he does. A second later and Blaine would have pulled away for fear that he'd gone too far. Kurt deepens the kiss and brings his palm flat against Blaine's cheek. Fireworks explode in his brain and it's truly the most amazing moment of Blaine's life. When he tries to pull away to take a breath (clearly he had some work cut out for him learning to breathe properly while kissing), Kurt chases him and continues the kiss for just a little longer.
When they do separate, Blaine searches Kurt's face for reassurance that he feels okay with what just happened. Kurt is as breathless as he is.
"We should practice," Blaine suggests, trying to distract from how much he's blushing right now.
"I thought we were," Kurt answers, letting out a tiny, happy laugh. It's the perfect response.
Blaine's heart swells. I did that, he thinks. I made him breathless and happy. And after a thought like that, nothing could keep Blaine from kissing Kurt again and for as long as Kurt will let him. He needs to touch him, taste him and show him just exactly how he feels. In a way he can't with words or even in song.
As their lips meet again, far more needily this time, Blaine can't help but think that fate brought Kurt to him when he needed him most. He may not know much about romance or how to be someone's boyfriend, but he knows how to be with Kurt. He also knows that Kurt has changed his life forever.