Absence and the Heart (3a/10)
Media: Fanfic
Title: Absence and the Heart (3a/10)
Rating: PG
Pairings: Klaine
Other Characters: Wes, Jeff, Nick, and all the other named Warblers (because I'm not ready to let them go yet)
Spoilers: Up to s2e18, with some speculation of that scene in e19
Warnings: Fluff, angst
Word Count: 2,213 approx
Summary: Blaine copes with the first ten days of not having Kurt around every moment of the day; the Warblers cope with Blaine.
Saturday
He sleeps in a lot later than usual. Mostly because his ankle started to hurt and he spent the rest of the night trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in with an immobile leg, finally falling asleep on his back.
He’s woken by the sound of his phone ringing. Fumbling for it, he answers without checking to see who’s calling.
“Hello?” His voice is still fuzzy with sleep.
“Oh, my god, Blaine did you just wake up?! Do you know what time it is?!”
The voice makes his heart tingle even though Kurt’s just about yelling at him. He glances at the clock, which reads 11.
“Good morning to you, too. Yes I did, and I do now.”
“Well get up and get dressed. Mercedes, Tina, Finn and I are heading to the mall for some Spring shopping, and we need your help to convince Finn that men’s Spring fashion is not confined to t-shirts, jeans and letter jackets.”
Blaine is about to rise and do as Kurt asks when he remembers his busted ankle and sighs. He’s supposed to rest it, and it still hurts, and he doubts Kurt and the girls are going to want to help him hobble around on one foot. He flops onto his back again and groans.
“Blaine?”
“I can’t make it today,” he says softly.
“Oh… do you have other plans? I… I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed…”
Kurt sounded disappointed, hurt and just a little scared. Blaine wants to shoot himself for making him feel those things.
“Not at all! No,” he replies. “I’d love to go with you and the girls and Finn. I just can’t… I had a small accident yesterday and-.”
“Oh my god, are you alright?!”
“I’m fine. Kurt, I’m fine. Just took a little tumble during track-and-field; twisted my ankle slightly. No big deal, didn’t even have to see the nurse. I should be alright in a day or two if I rest it.”
There’s a pause on the other end and he can just picture Kurt sitting down on his bed and taking a few deep calming breaths. “So you’re really okay? Do you want me to come over?”
(Yes, I want to see you. I miss you so much) “No, Kurt. It’s alright. You sound like you’ve had this shopping trip planned for a while. Don’t let me put a damper on it. You guys go on and have fun.”
Because he’s not going to sound like a clingy, needy insecure little puppy. Kurt had his life back, he got his family and friends back, because he was strong and he fought for what he knew he wanted. Not like Blaine who, behind the charismatic performer, still doesn’t quite know what he’s doing.
So he’s not going to whine about being lonely and wanting Kurt to drop all his plans just to come and mother-hen him.
“Are you sure?”
Miraculously his voice stays steady. “Yes.” He smiles a bit. “I’ll be alright. We knew this whole distance thing was going to take some getting used to, and if we’re going to get through it, we’ve got to trust that we’ll be okay and not freak out when one of us gets a papercut.” He wasn’t sure if he was saying it to convince Kurt or himself.
“You’re lying in bed with a twisted ankle. That’s not in the same league as a papercut.”
“I know, but I’m not dying either. It really doesn’t hurt as long as I stay off it, and it’s a Saturday so I don’t have to walk around from class to class… and the other Warblers are looking after me.”
“They’d better be if they don’t want me coming up there and plucking off a few figurative feathers.”
Blaine grins. “Aww, are you being protective of me?”
“It feels like that, doesn’t it?”
“It does, and I love it.” He sits up finally and rubs his eyes, trying not to yawn into the phone.
“I still think I should come up there and check on you.”
And he wants to say yes, he wants very much to say yes, but he knows that it’s not his right to monopolize all of Kurt’s time, and he really doesn’t want to come across as needy. He’s supposed to be the strong one for crying out loud! What on Earth would Kurt think if he saw him falling to pieces because of a little distance?
“Kurt, it’s really alright.” He checks on his ankle. “Besides, Finn needs your help more than I do.”
“Mmm, this is true. I can’t tell you how glad I am that, despite the excessive wearing of red, navy and charcoal grey variations of the Dalton uniform, you can at least put an outfit together that doesn’t scream discount bin.”
When Blaine laughs he feels like the sun has finally come out. It’s almost like the clouds have parted and allowed that one little beam of light to fall on him. He feels just the little bit warmer inside and that empty space in his heart feels like it’s filled up just that little bit more.
“Well thanks, I think.”
“I’d best be going then. Mercedes hates it when I keep her standing around for too long - I swear that girl gets more diva-licious every day… And you, stay off that foot, or I WILL come up there and strap you down.”
“Rope or leather?”
He can’t help himself. Not with a threat like that. He thinks he can hear Kurt splutter on the other end, trying to come up with some kind of witty reply, and he grins triumphantly when all he gets is a long-suffering sigh.
“You can clean out that gutter you call a mind while you’re resting.” Then Kurt’s voice grows a little tender. “I’ll talk to you later.”
The call ends and Blaine feels like the clouds have covered up his sun again, and all he wants to do is crawl under covers and sleep till he’s well enough to go and see his boy again. Only, he’s not going to do that. Wes was right - he and Kurt haven’t broken up. They’re just apart. It’s just miles and hours and empty space between them, that’s all.
He hauls himself out of bed eventually and puts his phone to charge on the floor at the foot of the bed - where he won’t be distracted by it - before hobbling to shower and get freshened up.
This being the weekend, he knows that his friends (mostly the Warblers) who board at Dalton for the week have probably left for their homes the night before. He could have gone home, too, but the busted ankle ruled out any possible driving, and it was not like he had anything to return to. Just an empty house and parents who worked all the time. The only times he went back were for a fresh batch of clothes and a change of books. Sometimes he feels like he lives at Dalton and boards at home for a while.
Sitting down at his desk with his injured foot propped up on a stool, he goes through his options for the day. He still has that science project to start on, and he has no idea what to do for it; he also needs to look for songs to sing at that concert so that he and Thad can work on harmonies and arrangements.
He logs into the Warblers’ private site and skims through the details Wes has put up about the performance. Next Saturday. Well that doesn’t give him a whole lot of time, but thankfully they’re only expected to perform about 3-4 songs. More details about songs and solos will be given at Monday’s practice. Blaine makes a mental note not to miss anymore practices.
Deciding to kill two birds with one stone - and isn’t that a morbid phrase considering he’s a Warbler and their mascot is a bird - he sets his iTunes to shuffle while he pulls up webpages looking for something he can do for his science project.
He’s in the middle of reading up on coral bleaching when an Elton John song comes on. Idly he listens to the words and suddenly sits up like he’s been struck by lightning. He checks the album it’s from and then smiles to himself. Well, that’s two songs covered.
As he scribbles the names down and looks for blank paper to start writing a capella arrangements, there’s a soft tap on his door. Strange. He calls out permission to enter and is surprised when David walks in with two bowls of baked pasta.
“Figured you might be hungry,” the other boy says as he passes one bowl to Blaine who glances at the clock and sees that it’s almost 1pm. Oh, lunchtime. “And with your ankle… thought you might need lunch.”
“Figured you’d be home on a Saturday,” Blaine replies, accepting the bowl and tucking in. He hadn’t realized how hungry he was.
David shrugs. “Parents are on vacation. Sister’s having a sleepover. Don’t really fancy hanging out with a bunch of pre-teen girls and the nanny.”
Blaine winces. “Ouch… yeah, I can see Dalton’s appeal in light of that.”
“Besides, I also figured you might need help with the science project. Talked to the prof and he’s willing to let us pair up for it.”
“Oh, thank god. Please tell me you have some idea of what to do.” Blaine praised whatever higher powers had made David so smart.
“I do indeed. Wait for it…” the taller boy grins from his cross-legged perch on Blaine’s bed. “A rotary engine.”
Hold the praise. “What?”
David nods to the laptop on Blaine’s desk. “Go read up on the Mazda RX-8. That’s a car, by the way”
“I know what it is,” he snaps, but Googles it anyway and reads the information listed. Seems the rotary engine is one of the unique features of the car. “You want us to build this?”
“Or something like it. C’mon Blaine, I know you’re not stupid around cars. Neither am I. We can do this… unless you have something else in mind.”
He didn’t.
“And maybe we can get Kurt to help.”
Oh that’s right. Kurt’s dad is a mechanic. Perfect excuse to drop by and see Kurt at some point over the weekend. Praise to David indeed.
“I don’t know if Kurt will be too keen on getting his hands dirty, but… that’s a really good idea, David.”
The darker boy smiles. “Yeah, I thought you might agree once you knew the benefits. Anyways, I had some free time so I already started work on it, with the design and stuff, and the professor helped me come up with a working model. So we just need to get the parts and we’re good.”
“I think I love you.”
“Just don’t tell Kurt. I rather like singing the lower register.” He grins and then nods at Blaine’s foot. “How’s the ankle?”
Blaine shrugs. “I iced it, and I’m keeping it up. Still feels sore though.”
He’s rather surprised when David gets up and gently moves his foot off the stool, sitting down and resting the injured limb in his lap. He produces a small jar of ointment and light bandage. The younger boy can’t help but flush just that little bit, even though he and David have been pretty good friends for almost two years now.
“Umm… thanks.”
David rubs the ointment into where it’s swelled and then gently wraps the bandage securely around his ankle. “Not a problem. I don’t think anyone wants to have to tell Kurt that we let his boyfriend hobble around with an injured leg.” There was a playful twinkle in his eye.
Blaine remembers back when he first joined Dalton, how Wes had helped him treat the bruises those first uneasy nights when he still didn’t know who to trust and what to make of touches that were non-threatening. So he knows David would have helped him even if Kurt hadn’t been in the picture.
“That… does feel better actually.”
“Good. It should help you to walk around a bit. Care to go outside for a bit of air?”
“I would actually love that. Just let me grab a few things. Change of environment might help me work on these arrangements.”
David takes out his phone and sends off a text to someone, and a few minutes later, Logan’s peeking around the door.
“You buzzed?”
“Our lovebird needs some help getting outside,” David tells the tall blond. “Figured we’d lend him an arm or two.”
Logan smiles and comes in. “Be glad to.”
David pockets Blaine’s iPod and Logan gathers up the sheets of paper into an empty folder that he tucks under his arm, before the two of them carefully help Blaine up, letting him lean on them and supporting his smaller frame easily. Together the three of them make it into the hall and head for the exit to the courtyard.
“Thanks guys,” Blaine says, with a bit of a sigh of relief. At least he doesn’t have to spend his Saturday afternoon alone in his room.
The boys only grin at each other over his curly head.
===
Chapter 3b
This thing keeps getting longer and longer O_O;
The second half of Saturday should be done soon...
Thanks for sticking with this everyone, and as always, feedback is welcome!
Title: Absence and the Heart (3a/10)
Rating: PG
Pairings: Klaine
Other Characters: Wes, Jeff, Nick, and all the other named Warblers (because I'm not ready to let them go yet)
Spoilers: Up to s2e18, with some speculation of that scene in e19
Warnings: Fluff, angst
Word Count: 2,213 approx
Summary: Blaine copes with the first ten days of not having Kurt around every moment of the day; the Warblers cope with Blaine.
Saturday
He sleeps in a lot later than usual. Mostly because his ankle started to hurt and he spent the rest of the night trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in with an immobile leg, finally falling asleep on his back.
He’s woken by the sound of his phone ringing. Fumbling for it, he answers without checking to see who’s calling.
“Hello?” His voice is still fuzzy with sleep.
“Oh, my god, Blaine did you just wake up?! Do you know what time it is?!”
The voice makes his heart tingle even though Kurt’s just about yelling at him. He glances at the clock, which reads 11.
“Good morning to you, too. Yes I did, and I do now.”
“Well get up and get dressed. Mercedes, Tina, Finn and I are heading to the mall for some Spring shopping, and we need your help to convince Finn that men’s Spring fashion is not confined to t-shirts, jeans and letter jackets.”
Blaine is about to rise and do as Kurt asks when he remembers his busted ankle and sighs. He’s supposed to rest it, and it still hurts, and he doubts Kurt and the girls are going to want to help him hobble around on one foot. He flops onto his back again and groans.
“Blaine?”
“I can’t make it today,” he says softly.
“Oh… do you have other plans? I… I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed…”
Kurt sounded disappointed, hurt and just a little scared. Blaine wants to shoot himself for making him feel those things.
“Not at all! No,” he replies. “I’d love to go with you and the girls and Finn. I just can’t… I had a small accident yesterday and-.”
“Oh my god, are you alright?!”
“I’m fine. Kurt, I’m fine. Just took a little tumble during track-and-field; twisted my ankle slightly. No big deal, didn’t even have to see the nurse. I should be alright in a day or two if I rest it.”
There’s a pause on the other end and he can just picture Kurt sitting down on his bed and taking a few deep calming breaths. “So you’re really okay? Do you want me to come over?”
(Yes, I want to see you. I miss you so much) “No, Kurt. It’s alright. You sound like you’ve had this shopping trip planned for a while. Don’t let me put a damper on it. You guys go on and have fun.”
Because he’s not going to sound like a clingy, needy insecure little puppy. Kurt had his life back, he got his family and friends back, because he was strong and he fought for what he knew he wanted. Not like Blaine who, behind the charismatic performer, still doesn’t quite know what he’s doing.
So he’s not going to whine about being lonely and wanting Kurt to drop all his plans just to come and mother-hen him.
“Are you sure?”
Miraculously his voice stays steady. “Yes.” He smiles a bit. “I’ll be alright. We knew this whole distance thing was going to take some getting used to, and if we’re going to get through it, we’ve got to trust that we’ll be okay and not freak out when one of us gets a papercut.” He wasn’t sure if he was saying it to convince Kurt or himself.
“You’re lying in bed with a twisted ankle. That’s not in the same league as a papercut.”
“I know, but I’m not dying either. It really doesn’t hurt as long as I stay off it, and it’s a Saturday so I don’t have to walk around from class to class… and the other Warblers are looking after me.”
“They’d better be if they don’t want me coming up there and plucking off a few figurative feathers.”
Blaine grins. “Aww, are you being protective of me?”
“It feels like that, doesn’t it?”
“It does, and I love it.” He sits up finally and rubs his eyes, trying not to yawn into the phone.
“I still think I should come up there and check on you.”
And he wants to say yes, he wants very much to say yes, but he knows that it’s not his right to monopolize all of Kurt’s time, and he really doesn’t want to come across as needy. He’s supposed to be the strong one for crying out loud! What on Earth would Kurt think if he saw him falling to pieces because of a little distance?
“Kurt, it’s really alright.” He checks on his ankle. “Besides, Finn needs your help more than I do.”
“Mmm, this is true. I can’t tell you how glad I am that, despite the excessive wearing of red, navy and charcoal grey variations of the Dalton uniform, you can at least put an outfit together that doesn’t scream discount bin.”
When Blaine laughs he feels like the sun has finally come out. It’s almost like the clouds have parted and allowed that one little beam of light to fall on him. He feels just the little bit warmer inside and that empty space in his heart feels like it’s filled up just that little bit more.
“Well thanks, I think.”
“I’d best be going then. Mercedes hates it when I keep her standing around for too long - I swear that girl gets more diva-licious every day… And you, stay off that foot, or I WILL come up there and strap you down.”
“Rope or leather?”
He can’t help himself. Not with a threat like that. He thinks he can hear Kurt splutter on the other end, trying to come up with some kind of witty reply, and he grins triumphantly when all he gets is a long-suffering sigh.
“You can clean out that gutter you call a mind while you’re resting.” Then Kurt’s voice grows a little tender. “I’ll talk to you later.”
The call ends and Blaine feels like the clouds have covered up his sun again, and all he wants to do is crawl under covers and sleep till he’s well enough to go and see his boy again. Only, he’s not going to do that. Wes was right - he and Kurt haven’t broken up. They’re just apart. It’s just miles and hours and empty space between them, that’s all.
He hauls himself out of bed eventually and puts his phone to charge on the floor at the foot of the bed - where he won’t be distracted by it - before hobbling to shower and get freshened up.
This being the weekend, he knows that his friends (mostly the Warblers) who board at Dalton for the week have probably left for their homes the night before. He could have gone home, too, but the busted ankle ruled out any possible driving, and it was not like he had anything to return to. Just an empty house and parents who worked all the time. The only times he went back were for a fresh batch of clothes and a change of books. Sometimes he feels like he lives at Dalton and boards at home for a while.
Sitting down at his desk with his injured foot propped up on a stool, he goes through his options for the day. He still has that science project to start on, and he has no idea what to do for it; he also needs to look for songs to sing at that concert so that he and Thad can work on harmonies and arrangements.
He logs into the Warblers’ private site and skims through the details Wes has put up about the performance. Next Saturday. Well that doesn’t give him a whole lot of time, but thankfully they’re only expected to perform about 3-4 songs. More details about songs and solos will be given at Monday’s practice. Blaine makes a mental note not to miss anymore practices.
Deciding to kill two birds with one stone - and isn’t that a morbid phrase considering he’s a Warbler and their mascot is a bird - he sets his iTunes to shuffle while he pulls up webpages looking for something he can do for his science project.
He’s in the middle of reading up on coral bleaching when an Elton John song comes on. Idly he listens to the words and suddenly sits up like he’s been struck by lightning. He checks the album it’s from and then smiles to himself. Well, that’s two songs covered.
As he scribbles the names down and looks for blank paper to start writing a capella arrangements, there’s a soft tap on his door. Strange. He calls out permission to enter and is surprised when David walks in with two bowls of baked pasta.
“Figured you might be hungry,” the other boy says as he passes one bowl to Blaine who glances at the clock and sees that it’s almost 1pm. Oh, lunchtime. “And with your ankle… thought you might need lunch.”
“Figured you’d be home on a Saturday,” Blaine replies, accepting the bowl and tucking in. He hadn’t realized how hungry he was.
David shrugs. “Parents are on vacation. Sister’s having a sleepover. Don’t really fancy hanging out with a bunch of pre-teen girls and the nanny.”
Blaine winces. “Ouch… yeah, I can see Dalton’s appeal in light of that.”
“Besides, I also figured you might need help with the science project. Talked to the prof and he’s willing to let us pair up for it.”
“Oh, thank god. Please tell me you have some idea of what to do.” Blaine praised whatever higher powers had made David so smart.
“I do indeed. Wait for it…” the taller boy grins from his cross-legged perch on Blaine’s bed. “A rotary engine.”
Hold the praise. “What?”
David nods to the laptop on Blaine’s desk. “Go read up on the Mazda RX-8. That’s a car, by the way”
“I know what it is,” he snaps, but Googles it anyway and reads the information listed. Seems the rotary engine is one of the unique features of the car. “You want us to build this?”
“Or something like it. C’mon Blaine, I know you’re not stupid around cars. Neither am I. We can do this… unless you have something else in mind.”
He didn’t.
“And maybe we can get Kurt to help.”
Oh that’s right. Kurt’s dad is a mechanic. Perfect excuse to drop by and see Kurt at some point over the weekend. Praise to David indeed.
“I don’t know if Kurt will be too keen on getting his hands dirty, but… that’s a really good idea, David.”
The darker boy smiles. “Yeah, I thought you might agree once you knew the benefits. Anyways, I had some free time so I already started work on it, with the design and stuff, and the professor helped me come up with a working model. So we just need to get the parts and we’re good.”
“I think I love you.”
“Just don’t tell Kurt. I rather like singing the lower register.” He grins and then nods at Blaine’s foot. “How’s the ankle?”
Blaine shrugs. “I iced it, and I’m keeping it up. Still feels sore though.”
He’s rather surprised when David gets up and gently moves his foot off the stool, sitting down and resting the injured limb in his lap. He produces a small jar of ointment and light bandage. The younger boy can’t help but flush just that little bit, even though he and David have been pretty good friends for almost two years now.
“Umm… thanks.”
David rubs the ointment into where it’s swelled and then gently wraps the bandage securely around his ankle. “Not a problem. I don’t think anyone wants to have to tell Kurt that we let his boyfriend hobble around with an injured leg.” There was a playful twinkle in his eye.
Blaine remembers back when he first joined Dalton, how Wes had helped him treat the bruises those first uneasy nights when he still didn’t know who to trust and what to make of touches that were non-threatening. So he knows David would have helped him even if Kurt hadn’t been in the picture.
“That… does feel better actually.”
“Good. It should help you to walk around a bit. Care to go outside for a bit of air?”
“I would actually love that. Just let me grab a few things. Change of environment might help me work on these arrangements.”
David takes out his phone and sends off a text to someone, and a few minutes later, Logan’s peeking around the door.
“You buzzed?”
“Our lovebird needs some help getting outside,” David tells the tall blond. “Figured we’d lend him an arm or two.”
Logan smiles and comes in. “Be glad to.”
David pockets Blaine’s iPod and Logan gathers up the sheets of paper into an empty folder that he tucks under his arm, before the two of them carefully help Blaine up, letting him lean on them and supporting his smaller frame easily. Together the three of them make it into the hall and head for the exit to the courtyard.
“Thanks guys,” Blaine says, with a bit of a sigh of relief. At least he doesn’t have to spend his Saturday afternoon alone in his room.
The boys only grin at each other over his curly head.
===
Chapter 3b
This thing keeps getting longer and longer O_O;
The second half of Saturday should be done soon...
Thanks for sticking with this everyone, and as always, feedback is welcome!