Fic: Hail to Whatever You Found in the Sunlight That Surrounds You 11/12
Title: Hail to Whatever You Found in the Sunlight That Surrounds You
Author:water_nix
Artist: tortugax
Word Count: 30 400
Rating: NC-17
Characters/Pairings: Blaine/Kurt, Cooper, Mr. & Mrs. Anderson, Burt/Carole, minor OCs
Warnings: homophobia, mention of gaybashing and bullying, underage drinking
Summary: On the third of August in Blaine Anderson's ninth year, something momentous happens: he sees a boy crying on the beach and decides to do something about it. What he gets in return is a best friend, a confidant, an ally to help him through the ups and downs. They spend one month together every summer. One perfect month until they are old enough to escape together. Eleven Augusts and the letters in between.
Nineteen - August 2013: The Summer When They Arrive and Leave Together
Blaine still smiles every morning when he wakes up with Kurt there next to him, miles of milk pale skin against the dark grey of their sheets. He looks over at the clock and sees that the alarm is due to go off in five minutes, so he leans in and presses his grin into Kurt's bicep.
“M'too comftubble,” Kurt slurs, a hand reaching out blindly to pet at Blaine. He makes contact with Blaine's face instead of his hair, a finger just above his eye and another nearly up his nose. Blaine huffs a laugh and snuggles up higher so he can kiss Kurt's stubbly jaw.
“Alarm's about to go,” Blaine murmurs into his ear. “We need to get up. Don't want to be late. I know how you hate rushing about at the airport.”
Kurt whimpers and sticks his lip out and Blaine can't help but to roll half on top of him in order to take it into his mouth. He sucks on Kurt's pouty lip until he laughs and smacks him. “Get off, ya lug. Crushin' me.”
“You love me,” Blaine sing-songs.
“Yeah, yeah. Shower. Can't deal with your rainbows an'....” Kurt opens his mouth in a wide yawn and rubs at his eyes. “Sunshine an' optimism 'fore I'm awake. Ugh.”
“You're a grump,” Blaine tells Kurt as he slumps out of their bed. He taps him on the ass and leaps out at his side. “But don't worry - you're my grump and I love you regardless.”
“Uh-huh,” Kurt mumbles and Blaine smacks him on the ass a second time.
~*~
The airport is a mass of tourists coming and going and staying. It takes them several minutes to locate Blaine's parents in the crowd. His mom pulls him into her arms and over his shoulder he sees his father greet Kurt, shaking his hand and clapping him awkwardly on the shoulder. He smiles to himself, hiding it in his mother's scarf. It's awkward as hell, but at least it's something. And something can always shift and change and be built on. Something isn't hopeless.
His father hugs him after his mom has let him go, rubbing a hand over his back and squeezing him tight against his chest. He looks sad when Blaine pulls away, and Blaine figures that's something, too.
When they get to the beach house Blaine's mother offers them the guest room with its bigger bed and more adult decor, but they opt to stay in Blaine's room instead - cuddled close on his single bed surrounded by the comfort of the familiar and well-loved.
They have brunch with Kurt's grandparents the next day, the other members of Kurt's extended family thankfully absent. The Tinseys are quiet and polite and thoughtful. Blaine has never really known how to take them; their silences do not carry the same cold strain as the ones he grew up with, but his life has made him wary of silences, like they may turn around and bite him once he has been lulled into a false sense of security.
They talk about their apartment and New York. They talk about the cost of housing there and how crazy it is to own a car. Mrs. Tinsey smilingly tells Kurt that they have left him the house in their will while her husband smiles and nods but doesn't speak. They talk about getting married here on the beach once they have finished with school. Mr. Tinsey speaks up finally, shyly offering their garden for the reception party. When he smiles his eyes twinkle just like Kurt's and Blaine finds he can relax at last.
Blaine's father has driven the vintage Chevy that they restored to the beach this summer. It's a horrible rattle-trap, but he seems to cherish it - keeping it washed and waxed and pristine. Blaine used to feel nothing but resentment watching his father go through this meticulous routine, but now he wonders if he misinterpreted his father's love for the car. As he beckons Blaine over to help him buff it to a shine, Blaine realizes that it had to do with him all along. And not in the way he had imagined.
He isn't sure what happened or what was said at dinner with his parents and the Hummels in New York on the day they moved into their apartment, but he's pretty sure he's got Burt Hummel to thank for his father's effort over the past year. Like his son, Burt Hummel is a king among men.
They talk and laugh and joke around as they finish detailing the Chevy and Blaine feels content. It has been years since he felt such calm and comfort around this man, that they have seemed to be on the same wavelength. He remembers one scorching day the summer before kindergarten, aches and scrapes and bruises and lessons in riding his brand new midnight blue bike, but nothing since. He hopes there had been more days like that one, and that his father holds onto those memories. Maybe one day they will be close enough that he might share them.
A wasp lands on the chrome next to his father's hand and he shrieks and jumps and flings his rag at it. They stand in silence for a moment before cracking up with laughter. Blaine bends down and retrieves his father's discarded rag and hands it back. They share a simple smile.
~*~
The sun is setting, warm oranges and reds and the barest hint of indigo. They sit shoulder to shoulder, staring out at the water, passing a dish of ice cream back and forth. The lady at the ice cream parlour remembered their favourite and had given it to them on the house. It was as though she had known that this was their last summer. That next year and all the years after, there would be jobs they couldn't leave and other such adult responsibilities. They would be regulated to meagre weeks of vacation that would have to be split evenly between one family and then the other. It's like saying goodbye to their childhood in a way, but trading it in for something so much better.
There is an eerie cry from above and a lone seagull swoops down at the water. The water answers back with a roar of waves and beside Blaine Kurt shivers in the late summer evening's chill. Blaine looks over at the boy he has loved for more than half his life and feels an infinite wholeness that leaves him steady and at peace. The sun is setting, the waves crashing on the beach, their lives stretch on ahead and Blaine has never been more optimistic.
~*~*~
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Author:water_nix
Artist: tortugax
Word Count: 30 400
Rating: NC-17
Characters/Pairings: Blaine/Kurt, Cooper, Mr. & Mrs. Anderson, Burt/Carole, minor OCs
Warnings: homophobia, mention of gaybashing and bullying, underage drinking
Summary: On the third of August in Blaine Anderson's ninth year, something momentous happens: he sees a boy crying on the beach and decides to do something about it. What he gets in return is a best friend, a confidant, an ally to help him through the ups and downs. They spend one month together every summer. One perfect month until they are old enough to escape together. Eleven Augusts and the letters in between.
Nineteen - August 2013: The Summer When They Arrive and Leave Together
Blaine still smiles every morning when he wakes up with Kurt there next to him, miles of milk pale skin against the dark grey of their sheets. He looks over at the clock and sees that the alarm is due to go off in five minutes, so he leans in and presses his grin into Kurt's bicep.
“M'too comftubble,” Kurt slurs, a hand reaching out blindly to pet at Blaine. He makes contact with Blaine's face instead of his hair, a finger just above his eye and another nearly up his nose. Blaine huffs a laugh and snuggles up higher so he can kiss Kurt's stubbly jaw.
“Alarm's about to go,” Blaine murmurs into his ear. “We need to get up. Don't want to be late. I know how you hate rushing about at the airport.”
Kurt whimpers and sticks his lip out and Blaine can't help but to roll half on top of him in order to take it into his mouth. He sucks on Kurt's pouty lip until he laughs and smacks him. “Get off, ya lug. Crushin' me.”
“You love me,” Blaine sing-songs.
“Yeah, yeah. Shower. Can't deal with your rainbows an'....” Kurt opens his mouth in a wide yawn and rubs at his eyes. “Sunshine an' optimism 'fore I'm awake. Ugh.”
“You're a grump,” Blaine tells Kurt as he slumps out of their bed. He taps him on the ass and leaps out at his side. “But don't worry - you're my grump and I love you regardless.”
“Uh-huh,” Kurt mumbles and Blaine smacks him on the ass a second time.
~*~
The airport is a mass of tourists coming and going and staying. It takes them several minutes to locate Blaine's parents in the crowd. His mom pulls him into her arms and over his shoulder he sees his father greet Kurt, shaking his hand and clapping him awkwardly on the shoulder. He smiles to himself, hiding it in his mother's scarf. It's awkward as hell, but at least it's something. And something can always shift and change and be built on. Something isn't hopeless.
His father hugs him after his mom has let him go, rubbing a hand over his back and squeezing him tight against his chest. He looks sad when Blaine pulls away, and Blaine figures that's something, too.
When they get to the beach house Blaine's mother offers them the guest room with its bigger bed and more adult decor, but they opt to stay in Blaine's room instead - cuddled close on his single bed surrounded by the comfort of the familiar and well-loved.
They have brunch with Kurt's grandparents the next day, the other members of Kurt's extended family thankfully absent. The Tinseys are quiet and polite and thoughtful. Blaine has never really known how to take them; their silences do not carry the same cold strain as the ones he grew up with, but his life has made him wary of silences, like they may turn around and bite him once he has been lulled into a false sense of security.
They talk about their apartment and New York. They talk about the cost of housing there and how crazy it is to own a car. Mrs. Tinsey smilingly tells Kurt that they have left him the house in their will while her husband smiles and nods but doesn't speak. They talk about getting married here on the beach once they have finished with school. Mr. Tinsey speaks up finally, shyly offering their garden for the reception party. When he smiles his eyes twinkle just like Kurt's and Blaine finds he can relax at last.
Blaine's father has driven the vintage Chevy that they restored to the beach this summer. It's a horrible rattle-trap, but he seems to cherish it - keeping it washed and waxed and pristine. Blaine used to feel nothing but resentment watching his father go through this meticulous routine, but now he wonders if he misinterpreted his father's love for the car. As he beckons Blaine over to help him buff it to a shine, Blaine realizes that it had to do with him all along. And not in the way he had imagined.
He isn't sure what happened or what was said at dinner with his parents and the Hummels in New York on the day they moved into their apartment, but he's pretty sure he's got Burt Hummel to thank for his father's effort over the past year. Like his son, Burt Hummel is a king among men.
They talk and laugh and joke around as they finish detailing the Chevy and Blaine feels content. It has been years since he felt such calm and comfort around this man, that they have seemed to be on the same wavelength. He remembers one scorching day the summer before kindergarten, aches and scrapes and bruises and lessons in riding his brand new midnight blue bike, but nothing since. He hopes there had been more days like that one, and that his father holds onto those memories. Maybe one day they will be close enough that he might share them.
A wasp lands on the chrome next to his father's hand and he shrieks and jumps and flings his rag at it. They stand in silence for a moment before cracking up with laughter. Blaine bends down and retrieves his father's discarded rag and hands it back. They share a simple smile.
~*~
The sun is setting, warm oranges and reds and the barest hint of indigo. They sit shoulder to shoulder, staring out at the water, passing a dish of ice cream back and forth. The lady at the ice cream parlour remembered their favourite and had given it to them on the house. It was as though she had known that this was their last summer. That next year and all the years after, there would be jobs they couldn't leave and other such adult responsibilities. They would be regulated to meagre weeks of vacation that would have to be split evenly between one family and then the other. It's like saying goodbye to their childhood in a way, but trading it in for something so much better.
There is an eerie cry from above and a lone seagull swoops down at the water. The water answers back with a roar of waves and beside Blaine Kurt shivers in the late summer evening's chill. Blaine looks over at the boy he has loved for more than half his life and feels an infinite wholeness that leaves him steady and at peace. The sun is setting, the waves crashing on the beach, their lives stretch on ahead and Blaine has never been more optimistic.
~*~*~
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