Fic: Care Package
Title: Care Package
Word Count: ~3,000
Rating: PG
Summary: "When Blaine receives the first package in the mail, it’s a surprise. The sight of the New York address makes his heart skip after he stands at the mail box in confusion for a few long moments. It’s from Kurt."
When Blaine receives the first package in the mail, it’s a surprise. The sight of the New York address makes his heart skip after he stands at the mail box in confusion for a few long moments. It’s from Kurt. Kurt, who has been in New York for two weeks now; the longest two weeks of Blaine’s life.
Blaine runs inside his house, throwing the other mail on the kitchen table without a backwards glance and hurries up to his room. He tears open the box like an excited five year old on Christmas morning. It’s small, only a bit bigger than his hand and had fit comfortably in the mail box between junk mail and bills.
When it’s finally opened, Blaine cries.
Cradled inside the box is a thin white bowtie with miniature red apples decorating it.
After Blaine stops crying long enough to see straight, he finds the note under the bowtie, which he handles delicately. His hands shake as he takes in Kurt’s neat, familiar handwriting.
Dearest Blaine,
When I found this little thing tucked in the back of a souvenir shop here in New York, I admit I burst out into laughter because the first thing I thought of was you. Honestly, you’re all I think about these days, when I’m not worrying about settling into my apartment or about school in a few weeks. Of course I bought it for you. It’s your piece of the Big Apple until you can be here with me.
I love you,
Kurt
Of course Blaine wears it the next day when he hangs out with Tina at the mall, which had become a usual hang out for them this summer. He hands her his phone, telling her to take a photo. It’s close up, with him reaching up with both hands to touch the bowtie on the sides.
He sends it to Kurt with a simple “I love you” message attached.
ooooo
The bowties come without any real pattern. Sometimes, Blaine gets one a month, other times, it’s twice or even three times a month.
Every bowtie, always a beautiful, unique or silly design, comes with a note from Kurt, in which he gives the story behind it.
A grey bowtie with blueprints on it is sent second, and Blaine blinks down at it, because it’s beautiful. Blaine picks it up, already itching to read the note from Kurt.
Dear Blaine,
I found this little shop today with Rachel that has just all sorts of hand made accessories. They had piles and piles of bowties, but this one stuck out to me the most. God, it sounds so cheesy, but you’re in the blueprint of my whole life, Blaine. Oh wow, see, even cheesier written down so that I could read it.
You’ll always be in the plans of my life, Blaine.
I love you and miss you,
Kurt
The next day, Blaine wears the bowtie and takes another photo to send to Kurt.
The next is a peach bowtie with tiny, almost purple, octopuses on it. The moment Blaine opens the box, he bursts into laughter, pulling out the thin bowtie with a wide grin.
Dear Blaine,
Please put some blame on Rachel for this one. We were in this random store when she saw it, insisting that you would look adorable in it. I can’t quite tell if it’s a strong, independent statement in fashion or a slap in the face to everything it stands for. I figure it will look amazing on you, though.
I love you so much,
Kurt
P.S. You should definitely wear this with your purple polo shirt.
As instructed, Blaine pulls the purple polo from his closet and wears the bowtie with it the next day. He’s pretty sure it actually looks good, and if Kurt’s smiley face in return to the text is any indication, he does too. (Rachel also texts him later that day, saying that she knew it would look amazing on him).
Another bowtie is a rich blue one with small white anchors on it that Blaine immediately falls in love with. It’s a rough, stiff fabric, and so perfect.
Dear Blaine,
I saw this and thought of you instantly. Not only do the colors match half your wardrobe, but the boats and anchors reminded me of that photo Cooper showed me of you in your cute little whale pants. You definitely were drawn to ocean related things back then, so I hope this brings out the “kid” in you.
xoxox,
Kurt
And on and on it goes. Most of all, Blaine appreciates that Kurt is actually thinking of him when he sees these bowties, something that automatically brings him to mind. One bowtie, Kurt admits in his note that he bought a matching one for himself, only in a white, while he'd gotten Blaine the navy blue. It's something that makes Blaine’s heart jump. His boyfriend, who is in an amazing city meeting amazing people, thinks of him all the time. They talk as often as possible, something that actually isn’t that big of a problem at all, where Blaine thought it would be, and he has the bowties to look forward to. It’s all Blaine could have hoped for.
It’s after he gets the second bowtie in the mail that Blaine knows that this is an unspoken “thing” between the two of them. Blaine doesn’t mention anything else about the gifts besides a photo of him wearing it the next day. It’s just a way Kurt has found to “connect” with Blaine, despite the miles and miles between them.
Blaine wants to do something similar for Kurt.
For a while, Blaine doesn’t know what to do. Kurt loves scarves, obviously, just as much as Blaine has a thing for bowties, so he entertains that idea for a while. Finally, it gets debunked. Kurt has all of New York’s shops at his disposal, so why would he want a scarf from Lima, Ohio? Besides, Blaine doesn’t think he could pick out scarves Kurt would approve of.
Blaine can’t decide what to give Kurt. Everything here is just…Ohio. It’s old news to Kurt, after all. Stuff from home probably can’t compare to New York things.
But then, Blaine wonders if maybe they could.
For Blaine, this is different. He doesn’t want to send one thing at a time, and instead he constructs a care package. It’s something that he probably spends too much time on and doesn’t actually get sent until two months into school (by which time he has received four bowties).
The box Blaine sends his items in is much bigger, because it’s not just a bowtie. Blaine has been collecting things for Kurt for weeks and weeks. Some things remind him of Kurt, while others are things you might actually find in a college care package. Really, it’s anything Blaine thinks of.
First, there is a plastic Lima Bean to go cup that he buys at the coffee shop the day he sees it. He and Kurt have been talking about how he hasn’t quite found a coffee shop in New York that can match the Lima Bean, mostly because Blaine isn’t there. Blaine figures that the coffee mug might at least let Kurt pretend when he has to settle for making instant coffee in his apartment when rushing for class in the morning.
One day Blaine goes to the mall with Tina, as usual, and they’re walking by a toy store when Blaine stops short. Inside a display is this stuffed black cat with huge eyes, just like Blaine’s Margret Thatcher dog (which has taken up permanent residence on his bed since Kurt left). Blaine drags Tina in without much explanation and buys it, immediately adding it to the box with a note saying, “Margret Thatcher needed a friend, and this is Kate “Kitty” Middleton. For now, she can keep you company until you come back to both her and her owner!”
Blaine makes sure to buy a few boxes of Kurt’s favorite candy, because he never buys it for himself, claiming it will ruin his figure. So Blaine always made sure to buy it for him once and a while, surprising him at his locker in the morning and loving the way his face lit up as he took it, all the while protesting against the fat and calories.
Blaine finds this really lame Lima souvenir shop in the mall one day when waiting for Tina to finish in the nearby restroom. He finds a small Lima, Ohio calendar, which in itself raises an eyebrow. Blaine buys it anyway and later, at home, turns to December (it’s a photo of the park) and folds it so it’s the first thing visible whenever he finds it in his care package. He marks neatly on December 15th: “Kurt and Blaine reunited here.” Then he draws in red Sharpie a long arrow from that day to January 13th (“The day Kurt goes back to NY (with a frown face)”). He blushes, even though he’s alone, when he writes on the lines “Insert amazing sex, since we need to catch up on the last few months.”
He stuffs the calendar at the bottom of the box so no one else can possibly see it before he mails it.
At some point, Blaine caves and finds a scarf (that he had agonized over picking out) to also include in the package. After all, he
won’t know if Kurt absolutely hates it and never wears it. In a moment of completely weakness, Blaine sprays the scarf with his cologne. Kurt always said he loved it on him and well, he attaches a note with the scarf. “I hope you wear this all the time (even if it isn’t as fabulous as something you could have picked out) and it reminds you of me.”
Two weeks before he sends the package, he finds a disposable camera deep in one of the drawers of his desk. For a few moments, Blaine is confused. He hasn’t used a disposable camera for years, since he has the digital one he’d gotten for his 14th birthday…
Then Blaine remembers. It was last summer. He and Kurt had driven a few towns over for a fair. They hadn’t realized they had both forgotten their cameras back home until they were driving into the town. Blaine insisted on stopping at a Walgreens on the way and buying a cheap disposable one instead so they could take photos together all day. But it had become forgotten, apparently, mostly because Blaine hadn’t needed to get a disposable camera developed in years.
The next day, Blaine goes to the Walgreens in town and gets the camera developed in an hour (which he spends nervously puttering around the store). He goes through the stack of photos, which he’d gotten doubles of, in his car because he can’t wait till he drives home.
Each picture sparks a memory of that day. It was so, so new in their relationship, just happy to spend a seemingly endless, amazing summer together. There is one of himself, mid lick with a huge ice cream cone that they had decided to split a few minutes after getting to the fair, since it had been so hot out. The next is of both of them in a cart on the Ferris wheel, smiling, with their heads pressed together. The next few are more of the same, as they make their rounds on the Ferris wheel. One of just Blaine, the fair grounds stretched out behind him. Then one of just Kurt, lips exaggeratedly pouty and eyes sultry. “Give me sultry!” Blaine had teased him next, which earned a glare with the next camera click. He even looks gorgeous like that. The final one on the Ferris wheel is a soft kiss, knowing that high above the ground, they were completely safe.
They move locations in the next photo, which is of Blaine trying to win a stuffed animal for Kurt. He ends up getting a stuffed bear, barely smaller than his hand. Kurt steps up and wins one of the big stuffed giraffes after that, and Blaine had snapped a photo of his win, looking pleased. After that they had passed off the stuffed animals to a brother and sister, who had struck out at the same game.
On and on they go. Photos of them on rides, sitting together as they eat funnel cake, and finally the very last photo in the pile. It’s of them standing in front of the fair’s entrance together, the sun setting beautifully with Kurt’s arms around his shoulders and Blaine’s on Kurt’s waist. They’d given the camera to a girl around their age, who didn’t seemed bothered by the closeness they’d shared in the photo.
Blaine doesn’t realize he’s crying until he reaches the last photo, but even through the tears, he’s smiling and laughing as he remembers how much fun they had.
Blaine picks out his two favorite photos, the one of them together in front of the fair at the end of the day and their kiss on the Ferris wheel, putting them in two picture frames he’d found. One had small, yellow birds around it, and another was a more gender neutral color (also a soft yellow) with the words “I Love My Boyfriend!” on the top (which he put the kiss photo in). He put the frames, plus copies of all the other photos in the box. This note he rewrites several times.
“I can’t wait to spend another day like this with you. But the deal will have to be: buy a disposable camera or two, and do it right.”
Finally, Blaine spends hours, with Artie’s help, recording songs on his AV equipment. He sings “Teenage Dream” over a prerecorded audio of him playing the piano melody to it, which Artie edits for him. For other songs, he gets the instrumental music online and sings over it. “Somewhere Only We Know,” which he chokes up a few times trying to sing. Finally, he sings Perfect as a solo, instead of the duet they usually make it. He also records a fairly short message, which he feels strange saying into a microphone, but Artie promises he won’t listen to it.
“Hi, Kurt,” he says, laughing nervously as he eyes the mic. He’s never really just spoken into one before. Sang, of course, but speak? Especially knowing this is going to Kurt… “I know this is probably the silliest care package ever. I just…I wanted to let you know that I think about you everyday. And I want you to have a piece of home - a piece of me - in New York with you. Even though I know you have never felt completely comfortable here in Lima…it is where you’re from. It’s your home.” Blaine pauses and chuckles again. “So I hope you like everything I’ve put in it. I thought they were good, but who knows, maybe they’ll be so cheesy you’ll laugh at everything. That’s okay, though, because you look beautiful when you laugh. I wanted to tell you how much I love your bowtie gifs. They’re the thing I look forward to most, besides the times I get to talk with you personally. I love you so much, Kurt.” Blaine’s voice breaks. “I hope you’re having the time of your life in New York, because it’s where you can shine as bright as I know you are. I can’t wait to be there with you, Kurt. I love you.”
Blaine seals the box the day Artie hands him the CD, sending it off to New York and hoping it gets to Kurt alright.
A week later, Blaine’s phone rings as he’s doing his homework. He answers, his heart jumping, when he sees “Kurt <3” light up the screen, a photo of him at prom this last year.
“Hi!” he says, breathlessly.
“I love you,” says Kurt, so quickly Blaine is surprised.
“I love you, too?” Blaine doesn’t mean it as question, of course, but it’s so sudden.
Kurt laughs, the sound like music and it makes Blaine shiver down to his toes. “I got your package,” he says as explanation.
“Oh,” says Blaine. “I - did you - I guess you liked it?”
“I sort of cried,” admits Kurt. “Rachel wanted to know what happened, but I was clutching Kate Kitty Middleton to my chest and couldn’t even talk, oh god. I can’t tell you how much I -” Kurt stops and Blaine hears him take a deep breath. “I loved it, Blaine,” he says softly. “It feels like you’re in my apartment, now. The photos are on my bedside table and I scanned the rest to my computer.
The mug is in my kitchen and I’m wearing the scarf right now, and it’s like I can smell you leaning up against me. And even though I want to freaking frame the calendar on my wall, I put it in my desk and can’t wait to make good on that schedule, Blaine.” He giggles and Blaine blushes, neck growing hot at that thought. “And your voice, Blaine. I don’t know if I’ll listen to anything else.”
“I’m - I’m glad you liked it,” says Blaine, sheepish. “I just wanted to pay you back for everything you’ve given me.”
“You never have to pay me back, Blaine,” says Kurt.
“But I’ll never stop feeling like I need to,” he counters.
“Same,” admits Kurt with a laugh. “And one thing?”
“Yes?”
“My home is wherever you are, Blaine.”
Kurt sounds so earnest, Blaine’s heart beats so loudly he can hear it thudding in his ears. He closes his eyes and for a few moments, Blaine can swear that Kurt is there in the room with him. Just like when he wears the bowties that Kurt has sent him, Blaine feels closer to Kurt all day.
“Wherever you go,” Blaine sings into the phone. “If my heart was a house you’d be home.”
Kurt chuckles into his ear, then sings in return, “If my heart was a house you’d be home.”