Fic: Valentine
Title: Valentine
Artist: heartsasmagnets
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1,500
Summary: AU!fic. Kid!fic -- A young Blaine befriends a shy young boy in his second grade class.
Notes: I probably should have save this until Valentine's Day, but I just couldn't wait to share. It got a little meta with Chris & Darren references, but I enjoy it. Also, big thanks to mod_squad7117 for sharing a real life story that inspired this, and to shia_labeouf & takemejustasiam for being my cheerleaders, as always.
---
Blaine watched as his classmate, Kurt Hummel, hesitantly constructed his valentine box. Kurt seemed to look around self-consciously every few minutes at what the children around him were doing. Blaine ducked his head back down to his work, careful not to get caught watching him. He finished gluing the last corner down on his decorated tissue box, stretching his hand across the rectangular cut he made in the top. He nodded; satisfied that valentines would fit easily inside. Thirty seconds later, he dared to peek.
Kurt was back to work; his small fingers looped through green plastic safety scissors. He’d just finished cutting a heart out of red construction paper. It’s what all the other kids were doing, at least the girls. Neither Kurt nor Blaine teased and chased the girls like the other boys in their second grade class. Blaine thought it was especially rude when they’d steal the girls’ shoes and make them run after them to retrieve their pilfered footwear.
Most of the boys were mean, but not Kurt. Kurt was one of the few boys in class that smiled at Blaine whenever he saw him. He never shoved him or called him names. Kurt had been in Blaine’s class since Kindergarten. He remembered one time they’d played blocks together. Even then Kurt was shy and a little withdrawn, but when they’d played together Kurt was different. He offered lots of helpful suggestions on how to make the tallest tower and they even sang a few bits of Disney songs they could remember - sort of by accident because Blaine was idly humming part of ‘A Whole New World’.
Kurt was different and Blaine liked that.
---
That same day when he entered the lunchroom, he noticed Kurt sitting alone at a long lunch table at the far end of the cafeteria. Kurt didn’t normally sit alone. There were usually at least a few girls with whom he talked excitedly, at least during lunch time.
Blaine meandered his way toward Kurt, walking slowly in case his normal lunch companions were just running late. It didn’t seem that way.
“Can I sit here?” Blaine asked, setting his lunchbox down hesitantly.
Kurt looked up and a small smile lit up his face. “Sure.”
Blaine swung his legs over the bench and sat down across from Kurt, who crunched a carrot between his teeth but said nothing else. “Fruit snack?” He offered, extending the small foil package to Kurt. He took one and popped it in his mouth, but again said nothing. Blaine knew Kurt was capable of speaking, so it was odd that he wasn’t saying anything now.
“I like your lunch box,” Kurt replied, finally, gesturing toward the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles design. Good, he hadn’t suddenly contracted some illness that made him unable to speak. “Raphael is my favorite.”
“Mine too!” Blaine exclaimed. “He’s the coolest with those swords. He kicks butt.”
“They’re called Sai,” Kurt corrected. Then he suddenly looked a little embarrassed and looked down at his PB&J sandwich.
“Cool.” Blaine replied with a smile.
They ate in relative silence for the rest of lunch period.
---
Blaine bounced down onto his bed with the box in hand. At his insistence, his mom had brought him to the store to pick up Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles valentines after she picked him up from school. He tore open the box and dumped them out onto his bed. He rifled through until he found just the right one.
It featured Raphael in all his turtle awesomeness and it read: "I’m shell-shocked! Happy Valentine’s Day!"
This was the one he wanted to give to Kurt. Absolutely. He hoped Kurt would like it.
He took it over to his desk, sat down, grabbed a pen and excitedly scrawled 'To Kurt' and 'From Blaine' on it, before folding it in half with a satisfied sigh.
---
The next day, Blaine watched as Kurt removed his valentine box from inside his desk and set it on top. He looked worried about something. Perhaps that he wouldn't get any cards from the other children. It was silly to worry, because they were all but required to give everyone in the class a valentine. Kurt nervously shuffled his own cards in his hand.
This time, when he looked over at Blaine, Blaine didn't pretend he wasn't watching him. He simply smiled. When the teacher said it was time to exchange and everyone was free to mill around and deliver cards, Blaine was the first one out of his desk and he made it to Kurt's before Kurt even got up.
Looking him straight in the eye, he dropped Kurt's card in the tissue box with an even wider grin than before. "Happy Valentine's Day, Kurt."
Kurt looked shocked; absolutely shocked that someone had rushed to put a valentine in his box. As Blaine continued to put cards in the rest of the boxes, he couldn't help but feel a little glad to have surprised Kurt.
---
After the end of day bell, everyone rushed to their lockers to gather their things and leave for the day. Blaine was just about to shut his locker when he felt a tap on his back. He turned to see Kurt.
"Hi Kurt," he smiled. Not smiling wasn't an option. His face just did it as a reflex.
"I just wanted to say thank you," Kurt began, looking down at his feet. "For the valentine," he added, looking up and almost immediately throwing his arms around Blaine in a tight hug.
Almost before Blaine could lift his own arms to reciprocate, Kurt pulled away and ran off in the opposite direction.
---
"Surely, you don't need all of this stuff," Blaine asked, opening yet another shoe box full of what Kurt described as 'keepsakes'. "It's all pretty random if you ask me. And you can't take all of it with you to the new house."
"Sure, I can."
"Kurt, your dad and Carole told you to get rid of some of it." Blaine chided, taking off his blazer.
"Oh my god," Kurt gasped, pulling out a tattered, folded piece of paper. "I thought I lost this."
"What is it?" Blaine asked, sitting down next to him on the bed.
Kurt stared down at the childish penmanship on the front which bore his name. "This boy. God, it must have been second grade? It was Valentine's Day and he gave me my first valentine of the year. I was starting to feel different than the other boys; I didn't know I was gay yet, but looking back, I totally had the biggest crush on him. He moved away after that year."
"Hold on," Blaine instructed, taking the valentine from Kurt's hand. He opened it, revealing the cartoon sketch of a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle and the words: I’m shell-shocked! Happy Valentine’s Day! "It's not possible," he muttered as both their eyes read the signature at the bottom.
Kurt looked from the valentine, tears beginning to well up in his eyes. "How? Why didn't you tell me?" He immediately snatched the valentine back, staring at it.
"I didn't remember," Blaine shook his head back and forth in disbelief. "I mean, I remember doing it, I just didn't put you and him together. You're so different - so confident and beautiful."
"Why didn't you tell me you lived in Lima when you were younger? I was so sad when you didn't come back the next year."
"I just didn't think it was relevant." Blaine shrugged. He put his hands on either side of Kurt's, which were still clutching the memento. "This is gonna sound really stupid, Kurt, but I'm so glad it was you. I mean, that you are him -- that he was you. God, you know what I mean."
Kurt laughed and set the valentine down on his bed. He wrapped his arms around Blaine's neck, pressing their foreheads together. "I'm glad, too," he agreed. "It's not every day you get another chance to kiss your second grade crush."
"I should have known," Blaine murmured against Kurt's lips. "No one's ever made me smile the way you do."
They kissed, as if for the first time, both remembering those moments so long ago. The feelings they'd felt - now informed by the knowledge of their age - slipped back into their hearts, igniting a newness between them. Blaine squeezed his arms tightly around Kurt, imagining they were back in front of his locker. But this time, Kurt didn't run away. This time he got to hug Kurt tightly and whisper how much he loved him and kiss those soft lips.
The discovery of the silly paper valentine changed everything and nothing between them. Everything, in that they were transformed into new or rather old people, and their history would now include one of the most important moments in either of their young lives. And nothing, because adding something to perfection still yielded perfection.
Artist: heartsasmagnets
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1,500
Summary: AU!fic. Kid!fic -- A young Blaine befriends a shy young boy in his second grade class.
Notes: I probably should have save this until Valentine's Day, but I just couldn't wait to share. It got a little meta with Chris & Darren references, but I enjoy it. Also, big thanks to mod_squad7117 for sharing a real life story that inspired this, and to shia_labeouf & takemejustasiam for being my cheerleaders, as always.
---
Blaine watched as his classmate, Kurt Hummel, hesitantly constructed his valentine box. Kurt seemed to look around self-consciously every few minutes at what the children around him were doing. Blaine ducked his head back down to his work, careful not to get caught watching him. He finished gluing the last corner down on his decorated tissue box, stretching his hand across the rectangular cut he made in the top. He nodded; satisfied that valentines would fit easily inside. Thirty seconds later, he dared to peek.
Kurt was back to work; his small fingers looped through green plastic safety scissors. He’d just finished cutting a heart out of red construction paper. It’s what all the other kids were doing, at least the girls. Neither Kurt nor Blaine teased and chased the girls like the other boys in their second grade class. Blaine thought it was especially rude when they’d steal the girls’ shoes and make them run after them to retrieve their pilfered footwear.
Most of the boys were mean, but not Kurt. Kurt was one of the few boys in class that smiled at Blaine whenever he saw him. He never shoved him or called him names. Kurt had been in Blaine’s class since Kindergarten. He remembered one time they’d played blocks together. Even then Kurt was shy and a little withdrawn, but when they’d played together Kurt was different. He offered lots of helpful suggestions on how to make the tallest tower and they even sang a few bits of Disney songs they could remember - sort of by accident because Blaine was idly humming part of ‘A Whole New World’.
Kurt was different and Blaine liked that.
---
That same day when he entered the lunchroom, he noticed Kurt sitting alone at a long lunch table at the far end of the cafeteria. Kurt didn’t normally sit alone. There were usually at least a few girls with whom he talked excitedly, at least during lunch time.
Blaine meandered his way toward Kurt, walking slowly in case his normal lunch companions were just running late. It didn’t seem that way.
“Can I sit here?” Blaine asked, setting his lunchbox down hesitantly.
Kurt looked up and a small smile lit up his face. “Sure.”
Blaine swung his legs over the bench and sat down across from Kurt, who crunched a carrot between his teeth but said nothing else. “Fruit snack?” He offered, extending the small foil package to Kurt. He took one and popped it in his mouth, but again said nothing. Blaine knew Kurt was capable of speaking, so it was odd that he wasn’t saying anything now.
“I like your lunch box,” Kurt replied, finally, gesturing toward the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles design. Good, he hadn’t suddenly contracted some illness that made him unable to speak. “Raphael is my favorite.”
“Mine too!” Blaine exclaimed. “He’s the coolest with those swords. He kicks butt.”
“They’re called Sai,” Kurt corrected. Then he suddenly looked a little embarrassed and looked down at his PB&J sandwich.
“Cool.” Blaine replied with a smile.
They ate in relative silence for the rest of lunch period.
---
Blaine bounced down onto his bed with the box in hand. At his insistence, his mom had brought him to the store to pick up Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles valentines after she picked him up from school. He tore open the box and dumped them out onto his bed. He rifled through until he found just the right one.
It featured Raphael in all his turtle awesomeness and it read: "I’m shell-shocked! Happy Valentine’s Day!"
This was the one he wanted to give to Kurt. Absolutely. He hoped Kurt would like it.
He took it over to his desk, sat down, grabbed a pen and excitedly scrawled 'To Kurt' and 'From Blaine' on it, before folding it in half with a satisfied sigh.
---
The next day, Blaine watched as Kurt removed his valentine box from inside his desk and set it on top. He looked worried about something. Perhaps that he wouldn't get any cards from the other children. It was silly to worry, because they were all but required to give everyone in the class a valentine. Kurt nervously shuffled his own cards in his hand.
This time, when he looked over at Blaine, Blaine didn't pretend he wasn't watching him. He simply smiled. When the teacher said it was time to exchange and everyone was free to mill around and deliver cards, Blaine was the first one out of his desk and he made it to Kurt's before Kurt even got up.
Looking him straight in the eye, he dropped Kurt's card in the tissue box with an even wider grin than before. "Happy Valentine's Day, Kurt."
Kurt looked shocked; absolutely shocked that someone had rushed to put a valentine in his box. As Blaine continued to put cards in the rest of the boxes, he couldn't help but feel a little glad to have surprised Kurt.
---
After the end of day bell, everyone rushed to their lockers to gather their things and leave for the day. Blaine was just about to shut his locker when he felt a tap on his back. He turned to see Kurt.
"Hi Kurt," he smiled. Not smiling wasn't an option. His face just did it as a reflex.
"I just wanted to say thank you," Kurt began, looking down at his feet. "For the valentine," he added, looking up and almost immediately throwing his arms around Blaine in a tight hug.
Almost before Blaine could lift his own arms to reciprocate, Kurt pulled away and ran off in the opposite direction.
---
"Surely, you don't need all of this stuff," Blaine asked, opening yet another shoe box full of what Kurt described as 'keepsakes'. "It's all pretty random if you ask me. And you can't take all of it with you to the new house."
"Sure, I can."
"Kurt, your dad and Carole told you to get rid of some of it." Blaine chided, taking off his blazer.
"Oh my god," Kurt gasped, pulling out a tattered, folded piece of paper. "I thought I lost this."
"What is it?" Blaine asked, sitting down next to him on the bed.
Kurt stared down at the childish penmanship on the front which bore his name. "This boy. God, it must have been second grade? It was Valentine's Day and he gave me my first valentine of the year. I was starting to feel different than the other boys; I didn't know I was gay yet, but looking back, I totally had the biggest crush on him. He moved away after that year."
"Hold on," Blaine instructed, taking the valentine from Kurt's hand. He opened it, revealing the cartoon sketch of a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle and the words: I’m shell-shocked! Happy Valentine’s Day! "It's not possible," he muttered as both their eyes read the signature at the bottom.
Kurt looked from the valentine, tears beginning to well up in his eyes. "How? Why didn't you tell me?" He immediately snatched the valentine back, staring at it.
"I didn't remember," Blaine shook his head back and forth in disbelief. "I mean, I remember doing it, I just didn't put you and him together. You're so different - so confident and beautiful."
"Why didn't you tell me you lived in Lima when you were younger? I was so sad when you didn't come back the next year."
"I just didn't think it was relevant." Blaine shrugged. He put his hands on either side of Kurt's, which were still clutching the memento. "This is gonna sound really stupid, Kurt, but I'm so glad it was you. I mean, that you are him -- that he was you. God, you know what I mean."
Kurt laughed and set the valentine down on his bed. He wrapped his arms around Blaine's neck, pressing their foreheads together. "I'm glad, too," he agreed. "It's not every day you get another chance to kiss your second grade crush."
"I should have known," Blaine murmured against Kurt's lips. "No one's ever made me smile the way you do."
They kissed, as if for the first time, both remembering those moments so long ago. The feelings they'd felt - now informed by the knowledge of their age - slipped back into their hearts, igniting a newness between them. Blaine squeezed his arms tightly around Kurt, imagining they were back in front of his locker. But this time, Kurt didn't run away. This time he got to hug Kurt tightly and whisper how much he loved him and kiss those soft lips.
The discovery of the silly paper valentine changed everything and nothing between them. Everything, in that they were transformed into new or rather old people, and their history would now include one of the most important moments in either of their young lives. And nothing, because adding something to perfection still yielded perfection.