Title: Caligo Nox Noctis
Author: AoiTsukikage
Rating: R overall
Characters/Pairing: Finn/Kurt overall; some minor Blaine/Kurt and Blaine/Sam
Chapter: 35/38-ish
Word Count: 3170
Spoilers: Let’s say everything to be safe :)
Summary/Warnings: (Vampire!Kurt, so completely AU) The good news about all of this is that there’s a cure. The bad news, of course, is what the cure actually is.
Disclaimer: I, unfortunately, do not own these characters, no matter how sad that makes me. I do, however, promise to return them when I’m done with them. :)
Caligo Nox Noctis
Chapter Thirty-Five
Quinn’s shriek as they get to the scene is nearly earsplitting, but Blaine can’t blame her. Kurt’s lying in what’s literally a pool of his own blood, curled up on the floor, and there are smears of blood behind him that suggest he tried to crawl for at least a while before…passing out, Blaine decides, because he’s not dead.
He can’t be dead.
“I think I’m gonna be sick,” Santana covers her mouth and Blaine notes that Finn’s already bent over, looking about a minute away from vomiting himself.
“He’s not dead.”
“Britt, look at the blood!” Santana snaps. “Nobody could lose that much and still be alive!”
“But he doesn’t need the blood, right? He’s a vampire!” Brittany looks proud of that and shoves at Kurt’s shoulder. “Hey, wake up, Kurt!”
“Britt…” Santana walks closer, swallowing, and sets a hand on Brittany’s shoulder. “Brittany, he’s not going to…”
“Kurt?” Sam asks slowly and Blaine follows his eyes, seeing Kurt staring dully back at them.
“I told you!” Brittany looks like she’s about to engulf Kurt in a hug so Santana holds her back.
Kurt struggles to get to his knees, hacking and making the most wretched sounds, but a second later his entire body heaves and a bullet flies out of his mouth, landing on the hallway floor.
“Ew,” Sam mutters and Blaine can’t help but agree, because people spitting out bullets is not something you see every day.
“Finn,” Quinn has a hand on his back and the tall boy hasn’t looked up yet. “Finn, it’s okay. He’s gonna be okay.”
“What?” Finn finally raises his head, eyes locking with Kurt’s.
“Blood?” Kurt croaks hopefully and Finn’s over there in a flash, skidding through the blood and making an even bigger mess in the hall (and how exactly they’re going to cover this one up Blaine doesn’t know. Maybe they can pawn it off as a Glee project. Somehow).
What follows is simultaneously one of the most disgusting and one of the most erotic things Blaine has ever seen, and he’s a little uncomfortable watching it (until he notices that Quinn, Santana and Brittany are watching it very, very closely). Finn drops to his knees as Kurt pulls himself up and sinks his fangs into Finn’s throat, and Blaine’s never seen the whole thing before so yes, it’s a little interesting.
“Kurt…Kurt, dude, you’re…”
“Sorry,” Kurt pulls back, his eyes wide. “I’m sorry! I didn’t…”
He doesn’t finish because Finn yanks him forward and kisses him deeply, both of them pulling the other as close as they can, covered in blood and, for once, Blaine can tell that Kurt really doesn’t care.
“God, I thought I’d lost you,” Finn murmurs, almost too quiet to hear, and Kurt nods and turns his face against Finn’s neck, mumbling something the rest of them can’t make out. “Nah, you didn’t take too much, dude. It’s cool.”
“You’re crying,” Kurt pulls back enough to note, his own eyes suspiciously shiny.
“So’re you,” Finn laughs through the tears and pulls Kurt close again. “Don’t ever do that again.”
“It was useful,” Kurt shrugs. “Now we know I’m immune to bullets.”
“Still made a mess, though,” Santana notes and Kurt turns to look at all of them.
“Sorry, guys. If I scared you,” he amends. “I really thought I was dead for a moment, but I guess it just takes a while for the vampire abilities to take over,” he tries to stand and nearly ends up slipping on the blood so Finn scoops him up and staggers upright, ignoring Kurt’s protests over the treatment.
“We’re just glad you’re okay,” Quinn cautiously treads over the floor, reaching the two of them and reaching to stroke Kurt’s hair back from his face. “You really scared us, Kurt.”
“I know,” he promises. “And I’d take your hand or something but I’d just get blood everywhere. I just…think about what would have happened if it had been any of you that he’d shot at…”
“It wasn’t,” she shakes her head. “We’re all fine.”
“Thank goodness for that,” Kurt looks rather exhausted, Blaine thinks, and he pulls away from Sam enough to dig out his phone and make a call.
Better safe than sorry, after all.
000
“A doctor?” Kurt asks wearily as Blaine nods, snapping the phone shut. “Hate to tell you, Blaine, but no doctor’s going to believe me when I tell them…”
“Wes probably never told you, but his uncle actually is a doctor. He doesn’t come to the hospital very often which is why he wasn’t around much when I was there, but I phoned Wes to ask and he’s willing to explain everything to his uncle so we can at least figure out if the blood loss is going to be worrisome,” Blaine says patiently, crossing the floor and reaching to grip Kurt’s shoulder. “You won’t notice it now, but if you break the curse soon I’m worried that you won’t be fully recovered and you could die when you become human again.”
“I’d never even have thought of that,” Kurt admits with a sheepish smile.
“That’s why you keep me around,” Blaine teases gently. “So? Good idea?”
“Definitely. I don’t want anything going wrong when I turn fully human again, and if I have to wait a couple of weeks because of that I’m willing to do it,” Kurt nods, glancing behind him at the obscene amount of blood on the floor.
“Okay. Are we good to head to Westerville right now?”
“If you’re driving,” Kurt replies. “I’m useless and I don’t trust Finn with the amount of blood I just took from him.”
“I’ll drive,” Quinn decides, holding a hand out for the keys. “And if you three want to come you can follow in Sam’s truck.”
“Sure,” Sam agrees.
“Really, guys, you don’t have to…” Kurt cuts off when Santana glares at him. “Okay. Come if you want.”
“Yay, road trip!” Brittany jumps and claps her hands as they leave the school, Kurt looking back at the mess from his perch in Finn’s arms.
“Hey, what about the blood?” Sam asks, and they all turn and shrug.
“What can we do, really?” Santana puts in. “I mean, we can leave a note or something about how it was a drama project or whatever, but we can’t do much of anything.”
“Still, whoever comes in here and finds a pool of blood in the hallway is going to freak out and call the police, and we need to avoid that,” Blaine says rationally, still staring at the mess.
“Guys, what are you still…” Mr. Schuester comes down the hall, obviously coming from his office, and he stops dead at the sight of the blood. “…Guys?”
“It’s okay, Mr. Schue,” Santana waves her hand vaguely. “It only looks bad.”
“What happened? I was out at my car for a little while, but then…”
“Gunshot,” Quinn supplies, holding out her hand as Kurt passes the bullet over and she lifts it up so he can see. “But it’s okay.”
“A…wait, who was shot?”
“Me,” Kurt waves, slumping against Finn’s shoulder. “I’m immune to bullets, though.”
“Thank God for that,” Mr. Schuester still looks a little pale but he smiles at Kurt. “Where are you all off to, then?”
“A friend of mine has an uncle who works as a doctor in Westerville; he knows about Kurt’s condition and he’s willing to check him over and make sure there won’t be any lasting effects when Kurt turns back into a human,” Blaine explains.
“Okay. So all of this blood…”
“It’s mine,” Kurt admits. “But since I’m more or less dead I don’t actually need it to survive at the moment.”
“Okay,” Mr. Schuester says again, still looking shocked. “Right. Well, you all go off to the hospital, then. I’ll…think of something to explain why the hallway’s full of blood,” he tells them.
“Thanks, Mr. Schue,” Finn staggers slightly and Kurt grips him tightly. “I’m fine, Kurt. Just got a little dizzy for a sec.”
“Don’t drop me,” Kurt warns him as they turn and start to head out of the school.
000
“So? What’s the good word?” Blaine hands him a mocha and Kurt grabs it gratefully.
“The good word is that, for whatever reason, there’s nothing physically wrong with me that could be attributed to blood loss. Maybe the blood I’ve been getting from Finn is replenishing my own supply or maybe I just had excess blood because I haven’t really needed it for the last few months, but whatever the reason, he thinks that whenever I want to turn back I’m safe to do so,” Kurt rushes through this before gulping down his coffee.
“Thank God for that,” Blaine sits down carefully on the bed with his own cup of coffee as Wes pulls the door almost shut behind him. “So you’re still waiting?”
“He’s still out there, and I’m not optimistic enough to believe that he thinks he’s finished me once and for all. He may be delusional, but he’s not stupid,” Kurt snorts and continues to sip at his drink.
“Where’s Finn?”
“With your uncle,” Kurt directs this to Wes, who nods. “I took a lot of blood from him today so they’re just making sure he’s okay.”
“Knowing what I know of Finn, I’m sure he’ll be just fine,” Blaine assures him, smiling at Kurt as Kurt sighs and looks away. “What is it?”
“I kissed you.”
“I was wondering if you’d bring that up,” Blaine drinks his own coffee (and it’s probably just regular coffee; that’s how he always takes it) and thinks for a moment. “I don’t blame you, Kurt. You had no idea what he was going to do to you, and this is you we’re talking about: if your final goodbyes were anything less than horribly dramatic I’d think there was something wrong with you,” he teases.
“So you’re not mad?”
“Of course not. You’re an amazing kisser,” Blaine reminds him. “And Finn’s not mad either, before you ask. He’s just so relieved that you’re okay he probably doesn’t remember. I would, however, suggest never letting it happen again,” he says quietly, and Kurt can tell that he really doesn’t want that but it’s for the best.
“I know. It won’t,” Kurt reaches to lay his hand over Blaine’s and smile reassuringly at him. “Besides, you don’t need me anymore. You’ve got Sam, now.”
“Mm, that I do,” Blaine smirks and Kurt lightly shoves his shoulder, knowing that they’ll be just fine.
He’s barely finished talking when the door slams open and Finn bounces into the room, crawling onto the bed and immediately folding Kurt up in his arms. “Coffee!” Kurt sputters, trying to keep his mocha away from the tall boy’s flailing limbs. “I take it he’s okay, then?”
“He’ll be just fine,” Wes’ uncle nods. “Based on his physical condition he’s really no worse off than somebody who’s just had a blood test done or gone in to give a donation, so I’ve given him some juice and cookies like we would any other volunteer and he’ll be just fine.”
“Doctor,” Kurt sighs in resignation. “You’ve given him sugar. He’ll be up all night, now.”
The doctor looks at Finn, who’s currently behaving like a hyper puppy, and gives Kurt an apologetic look.
“It’s fine. I’ve dealt with him before,” Kurt promises, stroking Finn’s hair as the other boy curls up against him. “Not that I like dealing with him when he’s overactive, but I can manage.”
“Regardless, it’s getting late, and unless you want to spend the night in Westerville you’d probably better get going,” Wes suggests.
“I see no reason to keep you overnight, so you have my permission to leave,” his uncle adds and Kurt thanks him as between himself and Blaine they manage to get Finn off of the bed and out the door.
000
“Hey,” Finn comes down the stairs, blinking tiredly. Now that the sugar high’s worn off the stress of the day has caught up to him and he’s about ready to drop, so he staggers over to Kurt’s…their…bed and drops onto it, mumbling into the pillow.
“What’s that?”
“I said, what did your dad say when you told him why we were late?”
“He knows that Nationals is soon so he didn’t really question me when I said we had extra practice,” Kurt pops his head out from the bathroom, rubbing some kind of scrub on his face. “There’s absolutely no way he’s ever finding out I was shot; can you imagine how he’d react?”
“Dude, I still can’t quite believe it happened,” Finn reaches over to the night table where the bullet’s resting, picking it up and looking at it. “What are you gonna do with this?”
“Souvenir? The day I cheated death?” Kurt jokes and Finn gives him a rather steady look. “Finn, if I joke about it, I don’t have to think so much about how close I came to dying.”
“Okay, that’s fair,” Finn flops back on the bed and throws an arm over his eyes. He can hear Kurt rustling around and really wants to avoid the next conversation, but Kurt’s been evasive ever since they got back from Westerville and he knows they have to have it. “Kurt?”
“Yeah?”
“What’s bugging you? And don’t say ‘nothing,’ ‘cuz I know you too well to believe that,” he stops Kurt before he can protest and the other boy sighs and comes out of the washroom, turning the chair in front of his…makeup station? Finn’s sure it has a name, but he has no idea what it is…around and sitting on it.
“I’m sorry. For kissing Blaine,” he clarifies, looking lost and a little afraid, and Finn laughs and sits up enough that he can look at Kurt properly.
“Dude, you thought you were gonna die! I don’t blame you,” Finn promises.
“Yes, but I just thought about how I’d feel if our positions were reversed and you’d kissed Quinn or Rachel…”
“Quinn and Rachel haven’t done for me what Blaine’s done for you,” Finn says quickly, really wanting this to be a non-issue because in his mind that’s how he sees it. “He almost died for you, man! I don’t blame you for wanting to kiss him.”
“Really?” Kurt’s looking skeptical so Finn tries to appear as earnest as he can and finally Kurt nods, looking marginally happier.
“Thank you. For not freaking out,” Kurt gives him a sad smile and Finn motions him over to the bed, watching as he shuffles across the room. There’s something else that’s been bugging him; something about the curse and the fact that to begin with saying ‘I love you’ was never part of the deal; they just had to kiss and mean it.
Finn’s pretty sure he’s in love at this point; at least, there’s nothing else he can do to make himself fall farther, so…does that mean that Kurt’s not really in love with him?
This is too confusing, he decides, so he reaches out and grips Kurt’s wrist, deciding to test out his theory once and for all.
Kurt might hate him for this, but right now he’s pretty sure nothing’s going to happen so they don’t have to worry. “I love you,” he says, as honest as he can make it, and Kurt tries to get away from him as Finn bodily hauls him onto his lap and kisses him, pulling away when it’s evident that Kurt’s still obviously a vampire.
The smaller boy is looking at him with wide eyes, breathing heavily, and Finn moves away and lays back down on the bed. “You want to explain this to me? ‘Cuz I’ve been going crazy trying to figure out what else I can do to fall in love with you when right now it seems like I’m the only one that’s in love.”
“I…”
Finn forces himself to stay calm because getting angry at Kurt right now isn’t the best way to go about these things. He’s just had enough of people lying to him and cheating on him and telling him something when they really mean the opposite.
Not that he thinks Kurt’s lying, but he still would like an explanation because he’s kinda been freaking out wondering what he’s been doing wrong, and finding out the answer is ‘nothing’ is a little hard to take.
“I’m not mad at you, Kurt,” he says softly. “I just…I thought that it was me.”
“It’s not. You love me, I know you love me,” Kurt reaches to stroke his hair, rubbing his scalp lightly as Finn leans into the touch. “And I know that when you feel something, you feel it with everything you have, so I’ve been the one holding back whenever we’re together. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner but I wasn’t sure how you’d take that.”
“Dude, I kinda wish you would’ve,” Finn admits, turning onto his side and shifting so his head is lying on Kurt’s stomach as Kurt continues playing with his hair. “At least that way I wouldn’t have felt like I was doing something wrong.”
“You’re not,” Kurt promises. “You’ve been amazing about everything, so never feel like you’re doing anything wrong, okay?”
“Yeah. Cool,” Finn closes his eyes and tries to relax, knowing that they’re going to be okay, but a sudden thought creeps into his mind and he snaps them open again, reaching an arm to curve around Kurt’s hips, fingers tightening instinctively as Kurt stops petting him.
“What is it?”
“I’m just really, really glad that you thought of doing that, man,” Finn’s voice sounds choked to his own ears and he swallows, not wanting to cry. “If you …if you hadn’t, and we’d broken the curse, then you’d…you’d be…”
“Shh,” Kurt shushes him, long fingers running through his hair again, and Finn clutches Kurt so tight that it’s probably painful for the other boy but he doesn’t protest. “I’m okay, Finn. It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not,” Finn shakes his head, feeling Kurt’s stomach raise and lower as the other boy breathes, and he can at least take a bit of comfort from that. “It’s not okay.”
“Okay, then,” Kurt sounds resigned and just keeps touching him, stroking his hair and down his arms as far as Kurt can reach from their current position. “But I’m here, Finn, and I’m not going anywhere,” he vows.
“I love you,” Finn says again, closing his eyes and feeling Kurt’s hands still for a moment.
“I know,” Kurt sighs. “And since you’ve apparently figured out my secret, I have no fear of saying it back anymore: I love you, too.”
Finn smiles at that admission, feeling a little better about everything.
But just a little, because Mr. Brown’s still out there, and Finn knows he’ll be back.
And this time, he swears that no matter how dangerous or stupid it may be, he’s not going to let Kurt face him alone.
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1. Sorry this took a while; it may be the last week of school but of course that’s when all of the final assignments that I’ve been putting off are due…>.>…
2. For anybody that doesn’t know yet, I now have a tumblr account:
here, so if you’re on tumblr give me a shout :)
3. I think that’s it. There were a lot of Finn/Kurt looks in last night’s Glee so I’m rather happy about that, even if they still haven’t had an actual conversation. :)