Fic: Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust, Part Five (Klaine Big Bang)
Title: Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust
Author: Aelora
Beta: WhenIDance
Artist: cassandrareign
Genre: Romance
Word Count: 36,000 +
Rating: R
Summary: After a bad break up with the love of his life, Blaine Anderson, his senior year of high school, Kurt Hummel had pretty much given up on dreams, and instead, focused on reality. Still, it’s kind of difficult to mock the dreams of the brides he plans weddings for, especially once he begins working for the one place where dreams are made - the Disney Weddings Group at Walt Disney World. It’s even more difficult to turn a blind eye to his own dreams when Blaine turns up portraying Disney’s hottest new character, the Swan Prince, and begins a ridiculous campaign of attempting to win Kurt back that includes castles, fireworks, fairy tales and a giant talking mouse. Blaine needs to break past the walls Kurt has built up over the last six years. Is that special Disney magic enough to prove to him that dreams really can come true?
A/N: At the end of the fic.
If Kurt had been teased for his uncharacteristic happiness the week before, his coworkers seem to go out of their way to avoid him the following week. It’s not as if Kurt can blame them. As each day passes by without a text or email from Blaine, Kurt slowly begins to realize his fear is coming true. The bright spot that had returned to his life is fading again, and he honestly has only himself to blame for it. He had allowed what he had needed and wanted to get in the way of common sense. A few hours of sheer heaven in exchange for a lifetime of only half-existence. The truth is, Blaine forces Kurt to feel in a way no one ever has, to open himself up to things that can hurt him, secure in the knowledge that with Blaine there, he will be safe. Kurt got to experience that again for a whole week.
And now his life seems emptier than ever before.
“So was your relationship this ridiculously dramatic in high school? If it was, I think you should sell the story to the CW.”
Kurt looks up as Janelle enters his office. She looks unbelievably pretty in a pale peach sundress he had helped her pick out two weeks ago, her hair pinned up loosely in the back.
“No,” he says after a moment. “We weren’t... Everything seemed very easy back then. Too easy. Like we didn’t even have to try, and we would be together forever. You know how you get into some relationships, and you find yourself wondering if there’s a manual out there for you? Some kind of How-To book to deal with your significant other. Like Men Are From Mars, only helpful? It wasn’t like that with Blaine. When there was problem, it was as if we just knew how to fix it and move on.”
Kurt pauses, running the tips of his fingers over his keyboard. “I think that’s what scared me the most, in the end. That it was easy because it wasn’t real. If it were meant to last, then we should have been struggling for it. It didn’t mean anything to him, so he wasn’t really trying.”
“Hmmm.” Janelle sits on the edge of his desk. “Do you think maybe that’s why you’re struggling so hard now?”
Kurt glances up at her sharply.
Janelle shrugs and picks up a crystal paperweight one of his future brides has given him as a thank you for assisting her in choosing a gown. It’s in the shape of one of those giant old-fashioned keys, and the quote etched within it reads Love is the master key that opens the gates of happiness. Kurt thinks it’s silly, and twice this week he has been tempted to throw it out, except the woman who gave it to him is having a wedding there in five months, and she might notice it missing.
“Have you heard from him?”
Kurt shakes his head. Janelle doesn’t know the details of what happened, but she has figured out that something happened, Kurt is certain of that much. Luckily, she hasn’t pressured him for information.
“I saw Carrie this morning.” At Kurt’s obvious look of nonrecognition, Janelle clarifies, “Morgana. Well, the Morgana that Mouse actually likes. She said they found the swan, Ardwin, dead this morning, just laying there beside the lake.”
“Poor Blaine,” Kurt comments softly as he drops his gaze, remembering another bird long ago, and how its death had hurt so much. “He thought of that bird as his friend.”
“Mmm.” Janelle nods quietly and slips to her feet. “Well, I’m expecting a conference call with Miranda Peterson and her dad, so I probably should get back to my office.”
“Janelle?”
“Yes, Kurt?”
“Would you mind covering things for a few? I know I’m in charge of walk-ins today but--”
Janelle pauses in the door and smiles back at him. “No. Go on. You’re not doing any of us a bit of good right now anyway.”
Rolling his eyes at her comment, Kurt shuts down his computer and grabs his keys. He thinks it’s a testimony to how much Blaine means to him that he is willing to fight his way through the Magic Kingdom on a Saturday in May just to be there in case his friend needs him.
Sure enough, it takes almost two hours from the time Kurt leaves the Wedding Pavilion before he finally makes his way into Fantasyland and up the path that leads to the Swan Prince’s castle. Kurt tries to shake off his annoyance, but being jostled around by sweaty tourists who have no understanding of just how precious his Greg Lauren duffle bag jacket is to him is difficult to ignore. One clueless woman had looked right at him and asked him if it wasn’t too hot to be wearing such an outfit. To which Kurt had promptly responded, “Ma'am, fashion has no regard for weather.”
Besides, Kurt looks good. From his olive green Fluevog loafers to his Lanvin tweed carnation tie pin, Kurt knows he looks more himself today than he has since he first arrived in Orlando. Maybe he is finally comfortable here; maybe he is finally beginning to fit in. Or maybe, after all of these years, he is finally beginning to remember himself.
Of course, if he were truly forced to choose best dressed, it would be the man sitting by himself on the bench beside the lake behind the “cast members only” cordoned off section of the lake. There might not be anything practical about wearing an outfit like the Swan Prince’s out in the real world, but in Kurt’s mind, fashion's not meant to be practical, it's meant to make a statement, and Blaine does nothing but make a statement when wearing his regalia. Kurt would be in trouble if Blaine were to walk around in that ensemble all the time.
Not quite certain what to say, Kurt sits down quietly beside Blaine, following his gaze out toward the lake where he can see the female swan, Morgana, serenely floating past.
“Janelle told me about Ardwin,” Kurt says finally, glancing over at Blaine. He wishes his friend would look at him, but he doesn’t want to push. “I’m sorry. I know what it’s like to lose someone you go to talk to when you just need someone to listen.”
When Blaine doesn’t respond, Kurt grows silent as well. A part of him wants to reach out and take Blaine’s hand, but he has no idea if such a thing is welcome. So he sits there with his hands folded in his lap and waits, knowing that if Blaine wants to talk, he will. Shifting slightly, Kurt glances over his shoulder toward the path that leads up to the castle and out of the hidden area. Kurt can just barely see the tops of the heads of visitors passing behind the wall of shrubs. There doesn’t appear to be many people in the area though. Looking at his watch, he realizes it’s because it’s lunch time, and the majority of the park’s visitors are either rushing for lunch, or rushing to get on the most popular rides while everyone else is eating.
Kurt shifts back to find that Blaine has turned his head just a little, watching him. They hold one another’s gaze for a long, quiet moment before Blaine returns his attention to the lake.
“I feel sorry for her,” he says softly, nodding toward Morgana. “Swans mate for life, you know, unless they’re forced by death to find another. So Disney will bring in some strange swan. And Morgana will have a new mate, whether she likes it or not. His name will be Ardwin, and we’ll all pretend it’s the same, but it really isn’t. At least, not to the one for whom it really matters.”
“Look, Blaine-“
“I get it, Kurt.” Blaine gets to his feet, staring down at him, and there’s something in the tone of his voice and the expression in his eyes that causes Kurt to ache inside just a bit. “Sunday was a mistake. You want to be… friends. We were friends before, right? Friends before everything else.”
Kurt realizes what it is that’s making him hurt inside. Blaine sounds defeated, bitter. Kurt’s never heard him sound like that, and he realizes he never wants to hear it again.
“I wish… I wish I could promise you that what you want is okay. That it’s enough for me.” Blaine looks away. “But I don’t know if I can do that.” He’s staring at Morgana again, worrying his lower lip ever so slightly. “I once told you I had been looking for you forever, and it seems I never stopped.” Blaine brings his gaze back to Kurt, and his eyes are almost too painful to look at for long.
Kurt waits for something more but Blaine doesn’t continue. He just looks away, and his gaze is filled with far more sorrow than Kurt thinks he can stand. He finds he wants to reach out to him-this perfect man in his perfect costume looking oh-so-heartbreakingly perfect. And he can’t understand why he doesn’t.
The truth is Kurt has no idea if he’s just being stubborn or something else, and if Blaine were to ask, he wouldn’t have an answer. Kurt told Blaine he doesn’t love him; he’s told himself this repeatedly since Blaine walked back into his life. But the honest truth is, he’s never stopped loving Blaine-he’s no more certain today than he was six years ago if that’s enough. He’s no more secure now as he was then in the certainty of Blaine not breaking his heart one day down the road.
That’s probably why he’s sitting here watching Blaine break instead, the same way he had six years ago.
God, Kurt Hummel, he thinks. What kind of horrid monster have you turned into?
“I won’t push,” Blaine says quietly, bringing his gaze back to Kurt’s. His eyes are shining amber in the sun, and Kurt suddenly understands why everyone on the Disney property is in love with Blaine ‘Mouseketeer’ Anderson. It’s in his eyes; sincerity, hope, love, joy, sorrow. It’s impossible to be immune, to be able to look away when he looks at you, when his heart is there and he’s handing it to you, and god, Kurt realizes, Blaine hands his heart to every person he meets. He’s just out there, opening himself up to strangers, welcoming them in, filling the void that exists inside of him because if there was one thing-only one that Kurt was forced to pinpoint about Blaine Anderson that he had always understood-it is that Blaine needs love. . He craves it, lives for it, and breathes it like everyone else breathes oxygen.
Blaine had craved it from Kurt. Still craves it from Kurt, and Kurt has rejected it.
He really is like some wicked fairy tale villain. Cruella de Ville has nothing on him. Well, except maybe her wardrobe but he can excuse that by his refusal to wear real fur.
Blaine is speaking again and it takes Kurt a moment to catch up to what he’s saying. “I don’t know if I can be friends with you, Kurt, but I'm willing to try. I can’t imagine constantly running into you around here and just…” He shrugs, eyes dropping to his feet, and Kurt can’t help but think how wrong the sight is-this beautiful prince looking so defeated. “I think… I guess I just need some time.”
Kurt wants to find relief in Blaine’s acceptance of their friendship, but he can’t. Suddenly, the idea of being friends feels like too much, and absolutely not enough, all at once. He just sits there, wondering why everything feels so weird and out of sorts, and why, why can’t anything between them just be easy? Easy like how he’d explained to Janelle. How everything just… slotted into place.
“Anyway, I should probably get back to work. The princess and I have a photo session in a few.”
Kurt realizes Blaine is walking away from him more quickly than he expected. He opens his mouth to say something-what, he doesn’t know--but Blaine is already making his way up to the path, and Kurt, like the idiot he is-like the same idiot he was all of those years ago--is just sitting there, watching him walk away.
It’s odd, the flood of thoughts that come to him over the next moment. The memories that sift through his mind as he stares at Blaine’s retreating back, the white jacket fitting so snugly across his broad shoulders, the gold epaulets sparkling in the sun, the sound of the polished black boots as they fall against the pavement growing ever more distant.
I’m never saying goodbye to you.
Except, he had. In the end, no matter his reasoning, no matter his fears, no matter the insecurities that had driven him to come to the conclusions he had and make the choices he made, Kurt had broke his promise to Blaine. It is understood between them that Blaine should have opened up to Kurt when it came to the colleges in California; he should have shared that information early on, and maybe nothing would have come of it. Or maybe Kurt still would have lost his temper, refused to listen to what Blaine had been trying to tell him. They’ll never know because they weren’t given that choice. The thing is Blaine hadn’t broken a promise. Blaine hadn’t walked away. Blaine had been the one holding out his hand and waiting, at every single moment, for Kurt to take it.
I’ve been looking for you forever. He had. And, like Blaine said, he still was, and always would.
“Why am I so stupid?” Kurt mutters under his breath.
Love is about risk. It’s about hope and faith and joy, and oh god, Kurt doesn’t want for a moment to believe that the message behind everything that Disney sells is love, because it will destroy far too many illusions about his employer being just another mega corporation with a good marketing team out to make a buck off of the little people. Except, it’s right there. Blaine’s here because what Disney sells is what he firmly believes in; Blaine is the epitome of the happiest place on Earth, and there’s a reason why Kurt has felt lost for so long, there’s a reason why he couldn’t bring himself to sing, or to find happiness and joy in the very things that always made him Kurt.
On Tuesday, Kurt had met with Lenore to show her a couple of other sites to consider for the ceremony. During the time they spent together, she had begun to open up to him about her relationship with her fiancé, and how her father and the rest of her family hadn’t been too keen on the union. Apparently, Daniel had come into her life at her loneliest point. Friends first-the closest of friends-and eventually something more, something perfect.
It was what she said near the end that stuck with Kurt, even as he’d tried to ignore it, even as it had immediately set something off in his head and his heart.
“Once you see someone that way, I don't think you can ever see them any differently. It's like they open up their soul and let you in, and I don't think it's something everyone's lucky enough to experience. We were both really scared at first, and those two and a half years until graduation were hard, but we made it. There were tears and there were fights and there were a lot of late night calls and texts full of doubt and loneliness, but we made it work. Nothing else even seemed like an option.
Daniel knows that I like my eggs with steak sauce. He knows I always put my left shoe on before my right because I swear I always have bad luck if I do it the other way. He knows that I only snore if I sleep on my back, and he's learned to sleep through it because he knows I can't get a full night's sleep in any other position. He knows that I love this place because my parents took me here every year for my birthday, and even if I know I don't need a man to save me, I still see him as my dream come true. That's why I'm marrying him, Kurt. Because we both see each other, and we love everything we see.”
“Blaine! Wait!” Kurt bounds up from the bench and jogs up toward the path.
Blaine turns at the sound of his voice, and that, that right there is one of those multitude of reasons why Kurt can’t let go. Not ever again. Because when Kurt calls out to him, when he needs him, Blaine is there for him. Even after having his heart broken.
It’s always been like that between them, and it always will be like that between them, and Kurt doesn’t understand why he ever forgot, why he ever doubted.
“Every Disney story ends with a lesson,” he says as he catches up to him.
Blaine is staring up at him like maybe he’s lost his mind. And maybe he has, just a little.
Kurt rushes to add, “In The Swan Prince, what is it that Ardwin has to do in order to become totally human again?”
For a moment, Kurt thinks Blaine isn’t going to answer him, but then he’s saying, “Have faith, I guess. In love. In the ability of those around him to love him, no matter what he may look like or who he may be.”
Kurt claps his hands together happily as he bounces on the balls of his feet. “Yes! That’s it!”
“Kurt, you’re not making-“
“I get it, Blaine. Don’t you see? I’ve spent all of these years focusing on my own insecurities and blaming you for things you never did, and forgetting the most important thing: You love me.”
Blaine frowns and looks away.
Oh, no, no, no. You can’t start doubting me now!
Kurt grabs his hand, holding it between both of his own and waiting until Blaine finally shifts his gaze back to him. “Look, I know I’ve been horrible through all of this, and I’ve continued to push you away, and I know I told you that I don’t love you, but I do. I’ve never stopped loving you, Blaine. I used to have so much trouble loving myself, and believing that you couldn’t possibly love me, and I’ve projected that on to you for far too long.”
None of the words seem to be coming out right. Kurt shakes his head and tries again. “I keep telling myself that it’s been too long and maybe we’re too different now, and that’s bullshit. You know it is, and I’m finally realizing-Look, I’ve been afraid. You’re everything to me, Blaine. You’ve always been everything to me from the moment you turned to look up at me on that staircase. And I understand now, I do, that I’ve always been everything to you. No matter how many years pass between us or what we say to one another and what we do, this-“ He holds their hands up between them,”-us, what we have doesn’t change. Maybe we’re like swans, or maybe we’re just Kurt and Blaine and there is no explanation for us, I don’t know. And for once, I don’t care.”
Kurt takes a breath, and squeezes that hand he’s holding. “Blaine, I love you. And I’m sorry. I’m not going to let you go this time. I’m not going to let you walk away. Even if I have to… fight dragons or whatever it is princes do to win their fair love.”
A hint of a smile appears on Blaine’s face at that, and Kurt tries not to react too much because he knows he’s reached him; he knows everything is going to be fine now. He continues to cling to his hand, though, afraid to let go.
“Fantasyland or not, we’re kind of running short on dragons right now,” Blaine tells him softly, tilting his head to the side just a little. “I could probably round up a Wicked Witch or two if you wanted.”
“Can we just skip to the and they lived happily ever after part of the story?” Kurt asks. “I mean, it is our story to tell… and we kind of both have to get back to work.”
Blaine’s smiling now, bright and beautiful, and Kurt feels warm and safe just standing there looking at him. “I suppose, just this once, we could do without the heroic battle at the end.”
Kurt nods, and waits, and then finds himself wondering if Blaine has ever actually watched one of these fairy tales. He tugs on Blaine’s hand slightly. “Well?”
“Well what?” Blaine’s brow furrows in confusion, and it would be adorable if Kurt wasn’t impatient for his ‘happily ever after’.
“You’re supposed to kiss me!” Kurt tells him, exasperation mounting as Blaine just appears amused. “Oh, very well, then.”
Kurt cups Blaine’s face between his hands, and there’s a brief, fleeting thought that it’s been so long since he’s done this, tipping Blaine’s head back slightly as Kurt bends to press their lips together. He feels Blaine sigh against his mouth, hands pressing over his waist, and Kurt smiles as he deepens the kiss, remembering absolutely everything about this thing they have always shared. He remembers that Blaine likes it when he licks over the corners of his mouth, and when he has Blaine shaking against him with silent laughter, Kurt smiles against his mouth and kisses him all over again. Blaine’s skin is smooth from a close shave, and warm from the sun beneath the touch of Kurt’s fingers, and he never wants to stop touching him, wonders how he made it so many years without doing so.
Still touching him, Kurt ends the kiss-mostly; at first he can’t stop pressing brief, soft kisses to Blaine’s lips-and leans their foreheads together, smiling at him.
“Can I say it now?” Blaine asks quietly with a grin.
Kurt laughs. “I think it’s only appropriate.”
Pulling Kurt closer, Blaine leans in until their lips are barely touching and whispers, “And they lived happily ever after.”
And they did.
February 2nd, 2021
Blaine still looks amazing in the Swan Prince uniform. As he lingers over the last note of the finale, and Princess Morgana flings herself into his arms--no feathers now, just two arms to hold her--the audience erupts into applause. Kurt applauds right along with them as he peers out from behind the curtains; another full house, another fantastic show. Disney’s Swan Prince stage adaptation would not be leaving Broadway any time soon.
As the cast take their final bows, Kurt steps away from the wings toward the backstage, careful to dodge the crew as they dart around, closing down for the night. He turns as he hears the two familiar voices as they exit the stage and immediately move straight toward him.
“They were on their feet before the song even ended!” Rachel tells him, beaming as she throws her arms around him, pulling Kurt into a slightly uncomfortable hug. “Clearly they know a tour de force when they hear one! I’ve half a mind to give them the encore they all obviously want and deserve!”
“It’s Broadway, Rachel,” Kurt reminds her, turning to press a kiss to Blaine’s lips as he moves up beside him, arm sliding around Kurt’s waist. “You took your bows, the show is over, move on.”
“Well, perhaps all of that should change?” she suggests. “Until I’m in a role where I’m able to fully demonstrate my unmatched vocal capacity, I don’t see that it’s too much to ask to perform perhaps a medley of Disney-inspired love songs after the show? All of them featuring me, of course.”
Kurt turns to Blaine to begin removing the sash and unbuttoning his coat so that they can leave the theater. Blaine is smiling fondly at Rachel, just like he always does, and Kurt has asked him more than once how he puts up with her day-after-day, week-after-week, only to have Blaine remind him that he’s the one who suggested Blaine put in a good word for her with the director.
“I’m sure your immense talent will be both noted and celebrated soon enough, Rachel,” Blaine assures her, stepping away from Kurt to take her hand and give it a quick kiss.
For all that Blaine Anderson and Rachel Berry are the best of friends, she is still no more immune to him as anyone else on Broadway is, and she smiles and flutters her lashes as Kurt rolls his eyes heavenward behind them. There’s a reason Blaine’s nickname followed him all the way from Orlando to New York.
“Well, I suppose I should let you two lovebirds get home,” she says with a smile and a pleased little bounce in her step as she moves past them. Rachel lays a hand on Kurt’s shoulder, and admonishes him gently, “You really need to stop traveling so much. That man right there has been a positive bore to deal with over the last week.” She kisses Kurt’s cheek. “Welcome home, Kurt.”
“I don’t know how you put up with her,” Kurt remarks as Rachel makes her way toward the dressing rooms, bursting into a rather loud rendition of Hello, Dolly.
“Honestly, I think she’s rather charming in all of her forced bravado.”
“If there’s anything forced about Rachel Berry, it’s the bra size she lists on her comp card.”
Blaine giggles and leans up for another quick kiss, arms wrapping around Kurt’s waist as he pulls him close. “Did you have a good trip?”
“As good as any trip to Milan can be spent alone, surrounded by arrogant designers with too much money and too little talent.”
“Which means to say you loved every moment of it.” Blaine smiles, pressing the tips of their noses together.
“Which means to say I wish you had been there with me.” Kurt gives him another kiss before leaning back and giving his sash a slight tug. “Now hurry. I’ve gone a week without my husband, and I have every intention of taking him home and doing all manner of shockingly dirty things to his amazing body.”
Blaine raises an eyebrow at that. “Give me five minutes.”
“You get three minutes,” Kurt says with a laugh as Blaine darts toward the dressing rooms. “Or I’m going back to Orlando to find your replacement!”
“Good luck with that!” Blaine shouts back.
Smiling as Blaine disappears around the corner, Kurt makes his way toward the backstage office where he had left his coat earlier. He returns greetings from the various production crew who know him well before grabbing his coat, scarf and gloves from Penelope, the Director’s assistant.
As he slips his overcoat on, Kurt stares at the framed posters lining the wall, a small smile lingering at the Swan Prince poster. To be completely honest, Kurt had not been a fan of the film the first time he’d seen it, but there was no denying that it continued to impact his life in only the best of ways. First, Blaine had been dropped back into his life at Disney World, and then just as the two of them had pieced their relationship back together, wondering what their future together would look like, Blaine had been offered the starring role as the Swan Prince on Broadway.
It had been quite a leap, to say goodbye to the career he had begun with the Disney Wedding Group, but Kurt had not hesitated when Blaine invited him along. After all, Blaine had decided to follow his dream, and Kurt had every intention of following right along behind him, and somewhere along the way his own future had taken shape.
The biggest question had been their names. While their friends had constantly pointed out that there was no need to change their names at all, Kurt and Blaine had ignored them. They wanted their names to be together; always had since they had first truly discussed marriage back in high school. The problem had always been did they prefer Hummel-Anderson or Anderson-Hummel?
In the end, it had been Kurt’s burgeoning wedding planning business that had decided it for them. Their own wedding had only been a month away as he had worked painstakingly on a wedding gown design for one of his first clients, an actual comtess from France. Rachel had been visiting, flipping through an issue of Vogue on the couch in the corner of the room when she had asked him what the name for his couture wedding designs was. Honestly, Kurt really hadn’t thought about it. At the time, he’d simply been handing out business cards that read Kurt Hummel Weddings, but that had been about as flashy as Rachel’s wardrobe.
One night he and Blaine had discussed it, lying in bed together, taking turns writing out words and drawing designs on a sheet of paper. They had played with Kurt’s name, and his mother’s name, and their names until all of the words began to run together. Then Blaine had written out four simple letters--KeHa. Kurt had stared at it a very long time, loving the concept, but then deciding that the first reviewer who did not like his work would be unable to refrain from changing those innocent letters to Ke$Ha. Of that, he was almost certain, mainly because he would have done it if given the chance. So he had taken the pen from Blaine and wrote in big cursive letters--KEAH.
Blaine looked at it a moment before asking, “Kee-aww?”
“Key,” Kurt replied with a smile.
KEAH Wedding Couture was born, and one month later, Kurt became Kurt Elizabeth Anderson-Hummel.
He’s rather proud of the name, even if it is a mouthful.
With scarf carefully arranged around his neck, and gloves on, Kurt steps up to the backstage door, smiling at the security guard as he slips outside onto the top step, breathing a little shallow while he takes in the dip in temperature and the new layer of snow on the ground. There are about a dozen lingering fans, waiting to get autographs on the covers of their programs and Kurt’s flashes them a tight smile when a few recognize and point toward him. Photos from their wedding had been recently reprinted, when the announcement had hit that Blaine would be leaving the Swan Prince in three months to star in the opening of April Rhodes’ new show, It's A Sin - a musical based on songs by the Pet Shop Boys, taking place in an all-boys Catholic school and centering around two boys falling in love. He would not have even considered it if he and Kurt had not read through the script together and decided it was sheer genius. The songs were lyrically stunning, and the lead role was a perfect segue for Blaine to move from Disney to more challenging roles.
“Okay, I’m ready!” Blaine announces as he comes up behind him, and Kurt turns to find him checking his watch, frowning. “Oh. Hmmm. Seven minutes. That isn’t optimal, is it?”
Kurt sighs, shaking his head as he reaches over to unbutton and then re-button Blaine’s coat, where he had skipped a button hole in his apparent haste. “You’re lucky you’re devastatingly handsome, Blaine Anderson-Hummel,” he tells him with a smirk, moving on to rearrange his scarf after the buttons are properly aligned. “I swear you’re a toddler when it comes to dressing yourself.”
“Did you ever think I just do it because I like it when you dress me?” Blaine asks, glancing up at him coyly from beneath his lashes.
Kurt swats his shoulder before tucking his arm around Blaine’s, and they make their way down the stairs, pausing as Blaine signs autographs and poses for pictures. It is impossible for Kurt’s heart not to swell with pride as he watches Blaine display that very same infectiousness he centers on family, friends and coworkers with his fans. It’s no wonder that The New Yorker refers to Blaine as Broadway’s Mouseketeer, claiming that spending an evening in his presence leaves one with a feeling of such pure joy that not even Disney World itself can provide in such little time. It’s a far more apt description than the one they’d attached to Kurt’s winter collection: Snow White’s Evil Queen meets Alexander McQueen. If anything, his designs were far more Maleficent meets Alexander McQueen, thank you very much.
“So, cab or subway?” Blaine asks once the fans disperse and they’re standing on the sidewalk, beneath the lights of Broadway.
Light flurries are beginning to fall around them, and Kurt watches as Blaine tips his head back, staring up at the gray sky above. Sometimes, Kurt is so struck by how much he loves this man that it leaves him a little breathless.
“What? No magic carpets? No pumpkin coaches?” Kurt pouts. “I’m disappointed. I thought I’d married a prince.”
“Yes, well, this prince can spring for cab fare or subway fare,” Blaine says with a smile, lashes sparkling from melting snowflakes. “I’d find us a horse-drawn carriage, but it’s freezing out here. We’re not in Orlando anymore, Dorothy.”
“I miss it,” Kurt admits, wrapping both arms around Blaine’s bicep as they begin walking toward the subway station. “I mean, not that I’d ever wish to move back there but... it will always hold a special place in my heart.” He glances and Blaine and smiles, flushing slightly as he adds, “To find my prince again, I had to go to the happiest place on earth. Not everyone can say that.”
Blaine shakes his head. “I had to play a prince to get my prince back. I win.”
“I didn’t realize this was a competition.”
“In the game of love, everything is a competition, sweetheart.”
Rolling his eyes, Kurt knocks his forehead against Blaine’s shoulder with a groan. “How you can go from most romantic man on earth to utter idiot in the blink of an eye is beyond me.”
“Hey, you married me.”
“Do I get a do-over?”
“Only if you promise to do me over and over again.” Blaine waggles his eyebrows.
“Blaine Anderson-Hummel, you’re sleeping on the couch tonight.” Pushing away from him, Kurt makes certain to put a space of about four feet between them, and pretends not to know him.
Having none of that, Blaine skirts around the couple passing between them and takes Kurt’s arm in his, pressing his cheek to his shoulder as he blinks up at him. “I love you, Kurt.”
Seriously, how is he supposed to stay even pretend mad at that?
“Very well. You’re forgiven.”
Once upon a time, two boys who once loved one another very, very much were given a second chance at their fairy tale ending.
And they took it.
The End.
A/N: There are so many people I owe thanks to for helping me get through this fic, it isn’t even funny! So please read through their names if nothing else!
whenidance who is not only my beta, my cheerleader and the Chris to my Darren, she’s also my go-to gal for all things Orlando-related. When I needed a karaoke bar, she provided one. When I needed pics, she got me those too. She and others let me drag them around Magic Kingdom, throwing out random ideas and listened to me go on and on with possible Klaine scenarios. When I needed a design for Kurt’s logo, she created one. When I needed karaoke songs, she threw out ideas. When I didn’t want to write, she made me write. When I wanted to quit, she wouldn’t let me. This all sounds wonderful, right? But just so you know, she’s also a bit of an enabler when all I want to do is play in the RP or refresh my dash on Tumblr or look at the latest pics of Darren and Chris or whatever. So basically, she is the reason I both finished this fic, and also almost did NOT finish this fic. Don’t blame Darren. Blame Lucie.
oddmeants, the Kurt to my Blaine, and honestly that’s quite literal here because if Kurt’s wearing it, she picked it out. If Blaine’s wearing it, I picked it out. We’re two halves of a whole when it comes to this pairing. My darling Odd also selflessly allowed me to borrow some of Kurt’s future from her--KEAH is totally her idea. She also wrote out a long, detailed history of Lenore’s relationship with her upcoming bridegroom. I couldn’t ask for a better Kurt.
tray_lord my behind-the-scenes Disney contact. From lurker on LJ to partner-in-crime on Space Mountain. When she saw I wanted to visit Magic Kingdom for ideas, she made it happen. And she kept me on track at the end for all things Disney cast member-related. I cannot wait to head back to Orlando and ride Space Mountain repeatedly again with her!
djgulia my Disney photog. When I said I needed a photo of Sonny Eclipse and the teacup Blaine and Kurt would ride in, she provided it. The majority of the Polaroids you glimpsed throughout the fic? Wouldn’t have happened without her. Also, we totally rode in the teacups together and went faster than anyone. It was a little insane.
fabfemmeboy who took my visual need for Prince Ardwin’s costume and sketched out the design at work before scanning and sending it over to me. Oh yes, the things we do when we should be working!
MASTER ART POST
Author: Aelora
Beta: WhenIDance
Artist: cassandrareign
Genre: Romance
Word Count: 36,000 +
Rating: R
Summary: After a bad break up with the love of his life, Blaine Anderson, his senior year of high school, Kurt Hummel had pretty much given up on dreams, and instead, focused on reality. Still, it’s kind of difficult to mock the dreams of the brides he plans weddings for, especially once he begins working for the one place where dreams are made - the Disney Weddings Group at Walt Disney World. It’s even more difficult to turn a blind eye to his own dreams when Blaine turns up portraying Disney’s hottest new character, the Swan Prince, and begins a ridiculous campaign of attempting to win Kurt back that includes castles, fireworks, fairy tales and a giant talking mouse. Blaine needs to break past the walls Kurt has built up over the last six years. Is that special Disney magic enough to prove to him that dreams really can come true?
A/N: At the end of the fic.
If Kurt had been teased for his uncharacteristic happiness the week before, his coworkers seem to go out of their way to avoid him the following week. It’s not as if Kurt can blame them. As each day passes by without a text or email from Blaine, Kurt slowly begins to realize his fear is coming true. The bright spot that had returned to his life is fading again, and he honestly has only himself to blame for it. He had allowed what he had needed and wanted to get in the way of common sense. A few hours of sheer heaven in exchange for a lifetime of only half-existence. The truth is, Blaine forces Kurt to feel in a way no one ever has, to open himself up to things that can hurt him, secure in the knowledge that with Blaine there, he will be safe. Kurt got to experience that again for a whole week.
And now his life seems emptier than ever before.
“So was your relationship this ridiculously dramatic in high school? If it was, I think you should sell the story to the CW.”
Kurt looks up as Janelle enters his office. She looks unbelievably pretty in a pale peach sundress he had helped her pick out two weeks ago, her hair pinned up loosely in the back.
“No,” he says after a moment. “We weren’t... Everything seemed very easy back then. Too easy. Like we didn’t even have to try, and we would be together forever. You know how you get into some relationships, and you find yourself wondering if there’s a manual out there for you? Some kind of How-To book to deal with your significant other. Like Men Are From Mars, only helpful? It wasn’t like that with Blaine. When there was problem, it was as if we just knew how to fix it and move on.”
Kurt pauses, running the tips of his fingers over his keyboard. “I think that’s what scared me the most, in the end. That it was easy because it wasn’t real. If it were meant to last, then we should have been struggling for it. It didn’t mean anything to him, so he wasn’t really trying.”
“Hmmm.” Janelle sits on the edge of his desk. “Do you think maybe that’s why you’re struggling so hard now?”
Kurt glances up at her sharply.
Janelle shrugs and picks up a crystal paperweight one of his future brides has given him as a thank you for assisting her in choosing a gown. It’s in the shape of one of those giant old-fashioned keys, and the quote etched within it reads Love is the master key that opens the gates of happiness. Kurt thinks it’s silly, and twice this week he has been tempted to throw it out, except the woman who gave it to him is having a wedding there in five months, and she might notice it missing.
“Have you heard from him?”
Kurt shakes his head. Janelle doesn’t know the details of what happened, but she has figured out that something happened, Kurt is certain of that much. Luckily, she hasn’t pressured him for information.
“I saw Carrie this morning.” At Kurt’s obvious look of nonrecognition, Janelle clarifies, “Morgana. Well, the Morgana that Mouse actually likes. She said they found the swan, Ardwin, dead this morning, just laying there beside the lake.”
“Poor Blaine,” Kurt comments softly as he drops his gaze, remembering another bird long ago, and how its death had hurt so much. “He thought of that bird as his friend.”
“Mmm.” Janelle nods quietly and slips to her feet. “Well, I’m expecting a conference call with Miranda Peterson and her dad, so I probably should get back to my office.”
“Janelle?”
“Yes, Kurt?”
“Would you mind covering things for a few? I know I’m in charge of walk-ins today but--”
Janelle pauses in the door and smiles back at him. “No. Go on. You’re not doing any of us a bit of good right now anyway.”
Rolling his eyes at her comment, Kurt shuts down his computer and grabs his keys. He thinks it’s a testimony to how much Blaine means to him that he is willing to fight his way through the Magic Kingdom on a Saturday in May just to be there in case his friend needs him.
Sure enough, it takes almost two hours from the time Kurt leaves the Wedding Pavilion before he finally makes his way into Fantasyland and up the path that leads to the Swan Prince’s castle. Kurt tries to shake off his annoyance, but being jostled around by sweaty tourists who have no understanding of just how precious his Greg Lauren duffle bag jacket is to him is difficult to ignore. One clueless woman had looked right at him and asked him if it wasn’t too hot to be wearing such an outfit. To which Kurt had promptly responded, “Ma'am, fashion has no regard for weather.”
Besides, Kurt looks good. From his olive green Fluevog loafers to his Lanvin tweed carnation tie pin, Kurt knows he looks more himself today than he has since he first arrived in Orlando. Maybe he is finally comfortable here; maybe he is finally beginning to fit in. Or maybe, after all of these years, he is finally beginning to remember himself.
Of course, if he were truly forced to choose best dressed, it would be the man sitting by himself on the bench beside the lake behind the “cast members only” cordoned off section of the lake. There might not be anything practical about wearing an outfit like the Swan Prince’s out in the real world, but in Kurt’s mind, fashion's not meant to be practical, it's meant to make a statement, and Blaine does nothing but make a statement when wearing his regalia. Kurt would be in trouble if Blaine were to walk around in that ensemble all the time.
Not quite certain what to say, Kurt sits down quietly beside Blaine, following his gaze out toward the lake where he can see the female swan, Morgana, serenely floating past.
“Janelle told me about Ardwin,” Kurt says finally, glancing over at Blaine. He wishes his friend would look at him, but he doesn’t want to push. “I’m sorry. I know what it’s like to lose someone you go to talk to when you just need someone to listen.”
When Blaine doesn’t respond, Kurt grows silent as well. A part of him wants to reach out and take Blaine’s hand, but he has no idea if such a thing is welcome. So he sits there with his hands folded in his lap and waits, knowing that if Blaine wants to talk, he will. Shifting slightly, Kurt glances over his shoulder toward the path that leads up to the castle and out of the hidden area. Kurt can just barely see the tops of the heads of visitors passing behind the wall of shrubs. There doesn’t appear to be many people in the area though. Looking at his watch, he realizes it’s because it’s lunch time, and the majority of the park’s visitors are either rushing for lunch, or rushing to get on the most popular rides while everyone else is eating.
Kurt shifts back to find that Blaine has turned his head just a little, watching him. They hold one another’s gaze for a long, quiet moment before Blaine returns his attention to the lake.
“I feel sorry for her,” he says softly, nodding toward Morgana. “Swans mate for life, you know, unless they’re forced by death to find another. So Disney will bring in some strange swan. And Morgana will have a new mate, whether she likes it or not. His name will be Ardwin, and we’ll all pretend it’s the same, but it really isn’t. At least, not to the one for whom it really matters.”
“Look, Blaine-“
“I get it, Kurt.” Blaine gets to his feet, staring down at him, and there’s something in the tone of his voice and the expression in his eyes that causes Kurt to ache inside just a bit. “Sunday was a mistake. You want to be… friends. We were friends before, right? Friends before everything else.”
Kurt realizes what it is that’s making him hurt inside. Blaine sounds defeated, bitter. Kurt’s never heard him sound like that, and he realizes he never wants to hear it again.
“I wish… I wish I could promise you that what you want is okay. That it’s enough for me.” Blaine looks away. “But I don’t know if I can do that.” He’s staring at Morgana again, worrying his lower lip ever so slightly. “I once told you I had been looking for you forever, and it seems I never stopped.” Blaine brings his gaze back to Kurt, and his eyes are almost too painful to look at for long.
Kurt waits for something more but Blaine doesn’t continue. He just looks away, and his gaze is filled with far more sorrow than Kurt thinks he can stand. He finds he wants to reach out to him-this perfect man in his perfect costume looking oh-so-heartbreakingly perfect. And he can’t understand why he doesn’t.
The truth is Kurt has no idea if he’s just being stubborn or something else, and if Blaine were to ask, he wouldn’t have an answer. Kurt told Blaine he doesn’t love him; he’s told himself this repeatedly since Blaine walked back into his life. But the honest truth is, he’s never stopped loving Blaine-he’s no more certain today than he was six years ago if that’s enough. He’s no more secure now as he was then in the certainty of Blaine not breaking his heart one day down the road.
That’s probably why he’s sitting here watching Blaine break instead, the same way he had six years ago.
God, Kurt Hummel, he thinks. What kind of horrid monster have you turned into?
“I won’t push,” Blaine says quietly, bringing his gaze back to Kurt’s. His eyes are shining amber in the sun, and Kurt suddenly understands why everyone on the Disney property is in love with Blaine ‘Mouseketeer’ Anderson. It’s in his eyes; sincerity, hope, love, joy, sorrow. It’s impossible to be immune, to be able to look away when he looks at you, when his heart is there and he’s handing it to you, and god, Kurt realizes, Blaine hands his heart to every person he meets. He’s just out there, opening himself up to strangers, welcoming them in, filling the void that exists inside of him because if there was one thing-only one that Kurt was forced to pinpoint about Blaine Anderson that he had always understood-it is that Blaine needs love. . He craves it, lives for it, and breathes it like everyone else breathes oxygen.
Blaine had craved it from Kurt. Still craves it from Kurt, and Kurt has rejected it.
He really is like some wicked fairy tale villain. Cruella de Ville has nothing on him. Well, except maybe her wardrobe but he can excuse that by his refusal to wear real fur.
Blaine is speaking again and it takes Kurt a moment to catch up to what he’s saying. “I don’t know if I can be friends with you, Kurt, but I'm willing to try. I can’t imagine constantly running into you around here and just…” He shrugs, eyes dropping to his feet, and Kurt can’t help but think how wrong the sight is-this beautiful prince looking so defeated. “I think… I guess I just need some time.”
Kurt wants to find relief in Blaine’s acceptance of their friendship, but he can’t. Suddenly, the idea of being friends feels like too much, and absolutely not enough, all at once. He just sits there, wondering why everything feels so weird and out of sorts, and why, why can’t anything between them just be easy? Easy like how he’d explained to Janelle. How everything just… slotted into place.
“Anyway, I should probably get back to work. The princess and I have a photo session in a few.”
Kurt realizes Blaine is walking away from him more quickly than he expected. He opens his mouth to say something-what, he doesn’t know--but Blaine is already making his way up to the path, and Kurt, like the idiot he is-like the same idiot he was all of those years ago--is just sitting there, watching him walk away.
It’s odd, the flood of thoughts that come to him over the next moment. The memories that sift through his mind as he stares at Blaine’s retreating back, the white jacket fitting so snugly across his broad shoulders, the gold epaulets sparkling in the sun, the sound of the polished black boots as they fall against the pavement growing ever more distant.
I’m never saying goodbye to you.
Except, he had. In the end, no matter his reasoning, no matter his fears, no matter the insecurities that had driven him to come to the conclusions he had and make the choices he made, Kurt had broke his promise to Blaine. It is understood between them that Blaine should have opened up to Kurt when it came to the colleges in California; he should have shared that information early on, and maybe nothing would have come of it. Or maybe Kurt still would have lost his temper, refused to listen to what Blaine had been trying to tell him. They’ll never know because they weren’t given that choice. The thing is Blaine hadn’t broken a promise. Blaine hadn’t walked away. Blaine had been the one holding out his hand and waiting, at every single moment, for Kurt to take it.
I’ve been looking for you forever. He had. And, like Blaine said, he still was, and always would.
“Why am I so stupid?” Kurt mutters under his breath.
Love is about risk. It’s about hope and faith and joy, and oh god, Kurt doesn’t want for a moment to believe that the message behind everything that Disney sells is love, because it will destroy far too many illusions about his employer being just another mega corporation with a good marketing team out to make a buck off of the little people. Except, it’s right there. Blaine’s here because what Disney sells is what he firmly believes in; Blaine is the epitome of the happiest place on Earth, and there’s a reason why Kurt has felt lost for so long, there’s a reason why he couldn’t bring himself to sing, or to find happiness and joy in the very things that always made him Kurt.
On Tuesday, Kurt had met with Lenore to show her a couple of other sites to consider for the ceremony. During the time they spent together, she had begun to open up to him about her relationship with her fiancé, and how her father and the rest of her family hadn’t been too keen on the union. Apparently, Daniel had come into her life at her loneliest point. Friends first-the closest of friends-and eventually something more, something perfect.
It was what she said near the end that stuck with Kurt, even as he’d tried to ignore it, even as it had immediately set something off in his head and his heart.
“Once you see someone that way, I don't think you can ever see them any differently. It's like they open up their soul and let you in, and I don't think it's something everyone's lucky enough to experience. We were both really scared at first, and those two and a half years until graduation were hard, but we made it. There were tears and there were fights and there were a lot of late night calls and texts full of doubt and loneliness, but we made it work. Nothing else even seemed like an option.
Daniel knows that I like my eggs with steak sauce. He knows I always put my left shoe on before my right because I swear I always have bad luck if I do it the other way. He knows that I only snore if I sleep on my back, and he's learned to sleep through it because he knows I can't get a full night's sleep in any other position. He knows that I love this place because my parents took me here every year for my birthday, and even if I know I don't need a man to save me, I still see him as my dream come true. That's why I'm marrying him, Kurt. Because we both see each other, and we love everything we see.”
“Blaine! Wait!” Kurt bounds up from the bench and jogs up toward the path.
Blaine turns at the sound of his voice, and that, that right there is one of those multitude of reasons why Kurt can’t let go. Not ever again. Because when Kurt calls out to him, when he needs him, Blaine is there for him. Even after having his heart broken.
It’s always been like that between them, and it always will be like that between them, and Kurt doesn’t understand why he ever forgot, why he ever doubted.
“Every Disney story ends with a lesson,” he says as he catches up to him.
Blaine is staring up at him like maybe he’s lost his mind. And maybe he has, just a little.
Kurt rushes to add, “In The Swan Prince, what is it that Ardwin has to do in order to become totally human again?”
For a moment, Kurt thinks Blaine isn’t going to answer him, but then he’s saying, “Have faith, I guess. In love. In the ability of those around him to love him, no matter what he may look like or who he may be.”
Kurt claps his hands together happily as he bounces on the balls of his feet. “Yes! That’s it!”
“Kurt, you’re not making-“
“I get it, Blaine. Don’t you see? I’ve spent all of these years focusing on my own insecurities and blaming you for things you never did, and forgetting the most important thing: You love me.”
Blaine frowns and looks away.
Oh, no, no, no. You can’t start doubting me now!
Kurt grabs his hand, holding it between both of his own and waiting until Blaine finally shifts his gaze back to him. “Look, I know I’ve been horrible through all of this, and I’ve continued to push you away, and I know I told you that I don’t love you, but I do. I’ve never stopped loving you, Blaine. I used to have so much trouble loving myself, and believing that you couldn’t possibly love me, and I’ve projected that on to you for far too long.”
None of the words seem to be coming out right. Kurt shakes his head and tries again. “I keep telling myself that it’s been too long and maybe we’re too different now, and that’s bullshit. You know it is, and I’m finally realizing-Look, I’ve been afraid. You’re everything to me, Blaine. You’ve always been everything to me from the moment you turned to look up at me on that staircase. And I understand now, I do, that I’ve always been everything to you. No matter how many years pass between us or what we say to one another and what we do, this-“ He holds their hands up between them,”-us, what we have doesn’t change. Maybe we’re like swans, or maybe we’re just Kurt and Blaine and there is no explanation for us, I don’t know. And for once, I don’t care.”
Kurt takes a breath, and squeezes that hand he’s holding. “Blaine, I love you. And I’m sorry. I’m not going to let you go this time. I’m not going to let you walk away. Even if I have to… fight dragons or whatever it is princes do to win their fair love.”
A hint of a smile appears on Blaine’s face at that, and Kurt tries not to react too much because he knows he’s reached him; he knows everything is going to be fine now. He continues to cling to his hand, though, afraid to let go.
“Fantasyland or not, we’re kind of running short on dragons right now,” Blaine tells him softly, tilting his head to the side just a little. “I could probably round up a Wicked Witch or two if you wanted.”
“Can we just skip to the and they lived happily ever after part of the story?” Kurt asks. “I mean, it is our story to tell… and we kind of both have to get back to work.”
Blaine’s smiling now, bright and beautiful, and Kurt feels warm and safe just standing there looking at him. “I suppose, just this once, we could do without the heroic battle at the end.”
Kurt nods, and waits, and then finds himself wondering if Blaine has ever actually watched one of these fairy tales. He tugs on Blaine’s hand slightly. “Well?”
“Well what?” Blaine’s brow furrows in confusion, and it would be adorable if Kurt wasn’t impatient for his ‘happily ever after’.
“You’re supposed to kiss me!” Kurt tells him, exasperation mounting as Blaine just appears amused. “Oh, very well, then.”
Kurt cups Blaine’s face between his hands, and there’s a brief, fleeting thought that it’s been so long since he’s done this, tipping Blaine’s head back slightly as Kurt bends to press their lips together. He feels Blaine sigh against his mouth, hands pressing over his waist, and Kurt smiles as he deepens the kiss, remembering absolutely everything about this thing they have always shared. He remembers that Blaine likes it when he licks over the corners of his mouth, and when he has Blaine shaking against him with silent laughter, Kurt smiles against his mouth and kisses him all over again. Blaine’s skin is smooth from a close shave, and warm from the sun beneath the touch of Kurt’s fingers, and he never wants to stop touching him, wonders how he made it so many years without doing so.
Still touching him, Kurt ends the kiss-mostly; at first he can’t stop pressing brief, soft kisses to Blaine’s lips-and leans their foreheads together, smiling at him.
“Can I say it now?” Blaine asks quietly with a grin.
Kurt laughs. “I think it’s only appropriate.”
Pulling Kurt closer, Blaine leans in until their lips are barely touching and whispers, “And they lived happily ever after.”
And they did.
February 2nd, 2021
Blaine still looks amazing in the Swan Prince uniform. As he lingers over the last note of the finale, and Princess Morgana flings herself into his arms--no feathers now, just two arms to hold her--the audience erupts into applause. Kurt applauds right along with them as he peers out from behind the curtains; another full house, another fantastic show. Disney’s Swan Prince stage adaptation would not be leaving Broadway any time soon.
As the cast take their final bows, Kurt steps away from the wings toward the backstage, careful to dodge the crew as they dart around, closing down for the night. He turns as he hears the two familiar voices as they exit the stage and immediately move straight toward him.
“They were on their feet before the song even ended!” Rachel tells him, beaming as she throws her arms around him, pulling Kurt into a slightly uncomfortable hug. “Clearly they know a tour de force when they hear one! I’ve half a mind to give them the encore they all obviously want and deserve!”
“It’s Broadway, Rachel,” Kurt reminds her, turning to press a kiss to Blaine’s lips as he moves up beside him, arm sliding around Kurt’s waist. “You took your bows, the show is over, move on.”
“Well, perhaps all of that should change?” she suggests. “Until I’m in a role where I’m able to fully demonstrate my unmatched vocal capacity, I don’t see that it’s too much to ask to perform perhaps a medley of Disney-inspired love songs after the show? All of them featuring me, of course.”
Kurt turns to Blaine to begin removing the sash and unbuttoning his coat so that they can leave the theater. Blaine is smiling fondly at Rachel, just like he always does, and Kurt has asked him more than once how he puts up with her day-after-day, week-after-week, only to have Blaine remind him that he’s the one who suggested Blaine put in a good word for her with the director.
“I’m sure your immense talent will be both noted and celebrated soon enough, Rachel,” Blaine assures her, stepping away from Kurt to take her hand and give it a quick kiss.
For all that Blaine Anderson and Rachel Berry are the best of friends, she is still no more immune to him as anyone else on Broadway is, and she smiles and flutters her lashes as Kurt rolls his eyes heavenward behind them. There’s a reason Blaine’s nickname followed him all the way from Orlando to New York.
“Well, I suppose I should let you two lovebirds get home,” she says with a smile and a pleased little bounce in her step as she moves past them. Rachel lays a hand on Kurt’s shoulder, and admonishes him gently, “You really need to stop traveling so much. That man right there has been a positive bore to deal with over the last week.” She kisses Kurt’s cheek. “Welcome home, Kurt.”
“I don’t know how you put up with her,” Kurt remarks as Rachel makes her way toward the dressing rooms, bursting into a rather loud rendition of Hello, Dolly.
“Honestly, I think she’s rather charming in all of her forced bravado.”
“If there’s anything forced about Rachel Berry, it’s the bra size she lists on her comp card.”
Blaine giggles and leans up for another quick kiss, arms wrapping around Kurt’s waist as he pulls him close. “Did you have a good trip?”
“As good as any trip to Milan can be spent alone, surrounded by arrogant designers with too much money and too little talent.”
“Which means to say you loved every moment of it.” Blaine smiles, pressing the tips of their noses together.
“Which means to say I wish you had been there with me.” Kurt gives him another kiss before leaning back and giving his sash a slight tug. “Now hurry. I’ve gone a week without my husband, and I have every intention of taking him home and doing all manner of shockingly dirty things to his amazing body.”
Blaine raises an eyebrow at that. “Give me five minutes.”
“You get three minutes,” Kurt says with a laugh as Blaine darts toward the dressing rooms. “Or I’m going back to Orlando to find your replacement!”
“Good luck with that!” Blaine shouts back.
Smiling as Blaine disappears around the corner, Kurt makes his way toward the backstage office where he had left his coat earlier. He returns greetings from the various production crew who know him well before grabbing his coat, scarf and gloves from Penelope, the Director’s assistant.
As he slips his overcoat on, Kurt stares at the framed posters lining the wall, a small smile lingering at the Swan Prince poster. To be completely honest, Kurt had not been a fan of the film the first time he’d seen it, but there was no denying that it continued to impact his life in only the best of ways. First, Blaine had been dropped back into his life at Disney World, and then just as the two of them had pieced their relationship back together, wondering what their future together would look like, Blaine had been offered the starring role as the Swan Prince on Broadway.
It had been quite a leap, to say goodbye to the career he had begun with the Disney Wedding Group, but Kurt had not hesitated when Blaine invited him along. After all, Blaine had decided to follow his dream, and Kurt had every intention of following right along behind him, and somewhere along the way his own future had taken shape.
The biggest question had been their names. While their friends had constantly pointed out that there was no need to change their names at all, Kurt and Blaine had ignored them. They wanted their names to be together; always had since they had first truly discussed marriage back in high school. The problem had always been did they prefer Hummel-Anderson or Anderson-Hummel?
In the end, it had been Kurt’s burgeoning wedding planning business that had decided it for them. Their own wedding had only been a month away as he had worked painstakingly on a wedding gown design for one of his first clients, an actual comtess from France. Rachel had been visiting, flipping through an issue of Vogue on the couch in the corner of the room when she had asked him what the name for his couture wedding designs was. Honestly, Kurt really hadn’t thought about it. At the time, he’d simply been handing out business cards that read Kurt Hummel Weddings, but that had been about as flashy as Rachel’s wardrobe.
One night he and Blaine had discussed it, lying in bed together, taking turns writing out words and drawing designs on a sheet of paper. They had played with Kurt’s name, and his mother’s name, and their names until all of the words began to run together. Then Blaine had written out four simple letters--KeHa. Kurt had stared at it a very long time, loving the concept, but then deciding that the first reviewer who did not like his work would be unable to refrain from changing those innocent letters to Ke$Ha. Of that, he was almost certain, mainly because he would have done it if given the chance. So he had taken the pen from Blaine and wrote in big cursive letters--KEAH.
Blaine looked at it a moment before asking, “Kee-aww?”
“Key,” Kurt replied with a smile.
KEAH Wedding Couture was born, and one month later, Kurt became Kurt Elizabeth Anderson-Hummel.
He’s rather proud of the name, even if it is a mouthful.
With scarf carefully arranged around his neck, and gloves on, Kurt steps up to the backstage door, smiling at the security guard as he slips outside onto the top step, breathing a little shallow while he takes in the dip in temperature and the new layer of snow on the ground. There are about a dozen lingering fans, waiting to get autographs on the covers of their programs and Kurt’s flashes them a tight smile when a few recognize and point toward him. Photos from their wedding had been recently reprinted, when the announcement had hit that Blaine would be leaving the Swan Prince in three months to star in the opening of April Rhodes’ new show, It's A Sin - a musical based on songs by the Pet Shop Boys, taking place in an all-boys Catholic school and centering around two boys falling in love. He would not have even considered it if he and Kurt had not read through the script together and decided it was sheer genius. The songs were lyrically stunning, and the lead role was a perfect segue for Blaine to move from Disney to more challenging roles.
“Okay, I’m ready!” Blaine announces as he comes up behind him, and Kurt turns to find him checking his watch, frowning. “Oh. Hmmm. Seven minutes. That isn’t optimal, is it?”
Kurt sighs, shaking his head as he reaches over to unbutton and then re-button Blaine’s coat, where he had skipped a button hole in his apparent haste. “You’re lucky you’re devastatingly handsome, Blaine Anderson-Hummel,” he tells him with a smirk, moving on to rearrange his scarf after the buttons are properly aligned. “I swear you’re a toddler when it comes to dressing yourself.”
“Did you ever think I just do it because I like it when you dress me?” Blaine asks, glancing up at him coyly from beneath his lashes.
Kurt swats his shoulder before tucking his arm around Blaine’s, and they make their way down the stairs, pausing as Blaine signs autographs and poses for pictures. It is impossible for Kurt’s heart not to swell with pride as he watches Blaine display that very same infectiousness he centers on family, friends and coworkers with his fans. It’s no wonder that The New Yorker refers to Blaine as Broadway’s Mouseketeer, claiming that spending an evening in his presence leaves one with a feeling of such pure joy that not even Disney World itself can provide in such little time. It’s a far more apt description than the one they’d attached to Kurt’s winter collection: Snow White’s Evil Queen meets Alexander McQueen. If anything, his designs were far more Maleficent meets Alexander McQueen, thank you very much.
“So, cab or subway?” Blaine asks once the fans disperse and they’re standing on the sidewalk, beneath the lights of Broadway.
Light flurries are beginning to fall around them, and Kurt watches as Blaine tips his head back, staring up at the gray sky above. Sometimes, Kurt is so struck by how much he loves this man that it leaves him a little breathless.
“What? No magic carpets? No pumpkin coaches?” Kurt pouts. “I’m disappointed. I thought I’d married a prince.”
“Yes, well, this prince can spring for cab fare or subway fare,” Blaine says with a smile, lashes sparkling from melting snowflakes. “I’d find us a horse-drawn carriage, but it’s freezing out here. We’re not in Orlando anymore, Dorothy.”
“I miss it,” Kurt admits, wrapping both arms around Blaine’s bicep as they begin walking toward the subway station. “I mean, not that I’d ever wish to move back there but... it will always hold a special place in my heart.” He glances and Blaine and smiles, flushing slightly as he adds, “To find my prince again, I had to go to the happiest place on earth. Not everyone can say that.”
Blaine shakes his head. “I had to play a prince to get my prince back. I win.”
“I didn’t realize this was a competition.”
“In the game of love, everything is a competition, sweetheart.”
Rolling his eyes, Kurt knocks his forehead against Blaine’s shoulder with a groan. “How you can go from most romantic man on earth to utter idiot in the blink of an eye is beyond me.”
“Hey, you married me.”
“Do I get a do-over?”
“Only if you promise to do me over and over again.” Blaine waggles his eyebrows.
“Blaine Anderson-Hummel, you’re sleeping on the couch tonight.” Pushing away from him, Kurt makes certain to put a space of about four feet between them, and pretends not to know him.
Having none of that, Blaine skirts around the couple passing between them and takes Kurt’s arm in his, pressing his cheek to his shoulder as he blinks up at him. “I love you, Kurt.”
Seriously, how is he supposed to stay even pretend mad at that?
“Very well. You’re forgiven.”
Once upon a time, two boys who once loved one another very, very much were given a second chance at their fairy tale ending.
And they took it.
The End.
A/N: There are so many people I owe thanks to for helping me get through this fic, it isn’t even funny! So please read through their names if nothing else!
whenidance who is not only my beta, my cheerleader and the Chris to my Darren, she’s also my go-to gal for all things Orlando-related. When I needed a karaoke bar, she provided one. When I needed pics, she got me those too. She and others let me drag them around Magic Kingdom, throwing out random ideas and listened to me go on and on with possible Klaine scenarios. When I needed a design for Kurt’s logo, she created one. When I needed karaoke songs, she threw out ideas. When I didn’t want to write, she made me write. When I wanted to quit, she wouldn’t let me. This all sounds wonderful, right? But just so you know, she’s also a bit of an enabler when all I want to do is play in the RP or refresh my dash on Tumblr or look at the latest pics of Darren and Chris or whatever. So basically, she is the reason I both finished this fic, and also almost did NOT finish this fic. Don’t blame Darren. Blame Lucie.
oddmeants, the Kurt to my Blaine, and honestly that’s quite literal here because if Kurt’s wearing it, she picked it out. If Blaine’s wearing it, I picked it out. We’re two halves of a whole when it comes to this pairing. My darling Odd also selflessly allowed me to borrow some of Kurt’s future from her--KEAH is totally her idea. She also wrote out a long, detailed history of Lenore’s relationship with her upcoming bridegroom. I couldn’t ask for a better Kurt.
tray_lord my behind-the-scenes Disney contact. From lurker on LJ to partner-in-crime on Space Mountain. When she saw I wanted to visit Magic Kingdom for ideas, she made it happen. And she kept me on track at the end for all things Disney cast member-related. I cannot wait to head back to Orlando and ride Space Mountain repeatedly again with her!
djgulia my Disney photog. When I said I needed a photo of Sonny Eclipse and the teacup Blaine and Kurt would ride in, she provided it. The majority of the Polaroids you glimpsed throughout the fic? Wouldn’t have happened without her. Also, we totally rode in the teacups together and went faster than anyone. It was a little insane.
fabfemmeboy who took my visual need for Prince Ardwin’s costume and sketched out the design at work before scanning and sending it over to me. Oh yes, the things we do when we should be working!
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