In Ivy And In Twine, Chapter 2
Blaine Anderson/Kurt Hummel
M
A fill for this prompt on GAM. A semi-AU. Kurt and Finn hate the idea of soulmates, mostly because neither of them know the name of theirs. But all their friends are a little obsessed, and decide to try to find Kurt's soulmate for him. What they find instead is Cooper Anderson, who says if Kurt doesn't visit a mysteriously ill Blaine in the hospital soon, they both could be in danger.
Also here: http://archiveofourown.org/works/540842
And also here: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8623353/1/In-Ivy-And-In-Twine
32,698 words
Chapter 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
He didn’t really wake up again until late into the afternoon. Finn, Rachel, Burt, and Carole were all laughing and smashing dishes together obnoxiously loudly. It was the smell of food -- of roasting turkey and a lot of vegetarian side dishes for Rachel, cooking in the oven. It was comforting, despite that Kurt’s body ached and shook with chills.
He sat up slowly, resigned to the fact that his flu had returned completely. Somehow, beneath all the noise his family and Rachel were making in the kitchen, he heard a familiar ring of music coming from far away. It was his cell phone, which was all the way upstairs on his bedside table. He’d put it there yesterday, when Rachel dragged him and his bag to his room, and demanded he put on pajamas for movie night. He knew he’d never make it upstairs in time to answer it, so he let it go.
He wobbled to the kitchen and deduced from the look on everyone’s face that he looked awful. “Okay,” he said before any of them could say anything. “I’ll go shower and get dressed.”
“Dinner’s almost ready, Kurt,” Burt called after him as he shuffled to the stairs. “Maybe some good food will make you feel better.”
He saw his phone blinking by his bed while he gathered clothes. He just didn’t care.
He took a long shower, but when he felt like he was going to pass out, he decided it was a good time to get out. He had to lay in bed for a few minutes before he could get dressed, biting his tongue to stay conscious and waiting for his heart to stop racing. Okay, he admitted to himself, something was wrong.
He finally felt well enough to get dressed, and did so before anyone came to check on him and found him naked. Sure enough, as soon as he pulled on a second argyle sock, Finn barged in and offered to help him down the stairs.
“Are you --” Finn asked, but stopped when Kurt’s phone rang again.
“I’m fine,” Kurt answered. “Let’s eat.”
“Aren’t you going to answer that?” Finn looked at the phone.
“No,” Kurt shook his head. “No. It’s Thanksgiving. It’s dinner time. I’ll call them back later.”
Finn looked at the phone and then at Kurt, and then at the phone again, and back to Kurt. “Okay,” he said finally.
“Okay...” Kurt said slowly. “Let’s go.”
When Kurt sat across from Rachel at the table she gave him a weird look, too. She smiled nervously at him and looked back and forth from him to Finn.
Kurt sighed. “What is going on?”
“Nothing,” Rachel said, spooning potatoes onto her plate.
“Tell me!”
“Tell you what?” Burt asked, entering the room with Carole.
“Nothing!” Finn said. “What are you talking about? Is hallucinating part of your flu?”
Kurt tried not to blush and dropped the subject. Fine. Maybe he was crazy.
“Do you want to go to the doctor, Kurt? I could take you to the hospital, if you want. Get you checked out.” Carole smiled at him. He wondered if she was nervous about him, too.
“No,” Kurt said. “I’m fine.”
He passed dishes around the table, ate and laughed and tried to be normal. Kurt really did feel better after eating. He was tired, but he could actually concentrate on the conversation.
When Carole left to get her pumpkin pie from the oven, Rachel seemed to pause and listen to something. “Is that your phone, Kurt?”
Kurt sighed. He was sure she was screwing with him. She and Finn must have something to do with the caller. But he was too sick to run up and down the stairs. He wanted them to just confess. “I guess so.”
“Who would call you tonight?” Burt asked.
“Maybe I should go get it,” Finn said, which was weird. All three of them frowned at him.
“Why?” Kurt asked.
Finn shrugged. “Maybe it’s important, if they’re calling tonight. Maybe it’s an emergency.”
“No,” Rachel told him, and then tried to save face when she saw Kurt staring at her. “I mean, no, I doubt it’s anything so bad as that. It’s probably... Mercedes, or something. Maybe she wants pie.”
“Everyone’s going to want some of this pie,” Carole called from the kitchen.
“Alright,” Kurt said finally, slowly getting to his feet. “I’m going upstairs, to get the phone. I’m not going to get there in time, but I’m going to call them back, and find out what’s going on. And then I have a feeling I’m going to yell at both of you.”
They just smiled up at him, while Burt looked as confused as Kurt felt. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
He didn’t recognize the number, which made their weird conspiracy even weirder. But he called it back, completely unaware of what he was getting himself into.
The other line barely rang before someone immediately answered it. There was a static, scratchy noise like he was connecting with another world. And then someone said, “Kurt?”
“Um,” Kurt said. “Yes?”
“My name is Cooper. Your friend Rachel gave me your number.”
“Why?” Kurt began to ask, but stopped midway through the word. For the first time since he’d woken up that day, he remembered movie night, and everyone staring at the phone, and him, and telling him he wasn’t on that website. They were lying. He felt the whole world go out from under him. He didn’t want to just talk to this guy, like it was a normal thing to do. He wasn’t ready. His thumb moved toward the button that would end the call.
“Don’t hang up,” Cooper said. “It’s not me. It’s my brother.”
Kurt didn’t know what to say. He was just trying to remember to breathe. “Oh,” he said eventually, without thinking.
“Kurt, I’ve been trying to get ahold of you, for him, for two months now. I’m so glad you called. I was getting desperate.”
He took a breath. He’d actually forgotten to breathe for a few seconds. He stared at the argyle on his feet and his vision went blurry. But it wasn’t because of the flu, this time. It was because of the phone call.
“What’s his name?” he asked finally, afraid to say it very loud. It was almost all he wanted to know.
There was a pause. “I thought you might not know. It’s... his name is Blaine. Blaine Anderson. He’s sixteen, relatively handsome, has a 3.9 GPA and sings a lot of really annoying pop songs when he’s in a good mood.”
Kurt sort of laughed, but he really wanted to burst into tears. He put his free hand to his eyes.
“Anyway, he’s sick, Kurt. The doctors don’t know exactly what’s wrong with him. He was always a sick little kid, but he always pulled through, you know. He always seemed to have a cold. And that’s how it started this time, but he kept getting worse and worse. We took him to the hospital, but it didn’t help. He sleeps all the time, and it’s hard to wake him up. He can hardly keep any food down, so they put him on an IV, but now he’s practically wasting away. I thought of you a while ago. I thought, maybe if you could just come talk to him...”
Kurt shook his head. He felt awful. “I can’t.”
“But...”
“I can’t just show up there and try to save his life. I don’t even know him, and I don’t... have that kind of power.” He imagined a room full of extended family clutching rosaries and hovering over them in a drab hospital room, waiting for a miracle.
Cooper sighed. “I was always a jerk to him when we were younger. And then I moved out, and left him there alone, even though I knew our parents weren’t much better. But I’ve been sitting with him here more than they have. I guess it’s because I feel so guilty.”
Now Kurt felt worse than ever. He’d initially thought Rachel and Finn convinced someone to prank call him. Now he was in the middle of a stranger’s guilty soliloquy, while simultaneously trying to accept the fact that he was simply being handed a soulmate on a silver platter, except that the soulmate was also apparently dying. It was a little much for someone with the flu. He was going to start breaking down if it didn’t stop soon.
Cooper was still rambling on. Kurt tuned back in when he said, “What would it hurt, just to try to talk to him? Just once?”
Kurt sat up straight, ready to end the conversation. “You’re right.”
“I am? Will you come? Rachel told me you live in Lima. We’re at the University hospital in Columbus. It’s like an hour and a half away.”
“I...” Kurt said, not knowing what he was saying. “Okay.”
“I could come pick you up.”
“Isn’t it after visiting hours?” Kurt asked, not knowing why he thought of something logical, all of a sudden.
“I don’t care. I’ll tell them you’re family. They’ll let you in. I have a way with the night nurses.”
“I can...” He stopped. He was in a daze. “I can drive myself.”
“You’ll come tonight?”
He would have to ask his father. His father would certainly say no. He couldn’t explain who it was or why he was going, and Burt would never let him drive as sick as he was, as late as it was, on a holiday. “Sure.”
It was like something had disconnected between his brain and his tongue. Cooper thanked him a million times and finally Kurt hung up.
He went back down the stairs slowly, dazed, and sat at the table. It was almost like nothing had happened. His family and Rachel were down to the crusts of their pie. Carole scolded him that his had gone cold.
“Sorry,” he said.
Rachel stole a glance at him, but said nothing. She just joked with Burt, even though she knew what had happened. He looked at Finn, who avoided looking back. Finn knew, too. Rachel must have told him when she went into his room that night. She must have called Cooper then, while Finn sat next to her. He was furious with them both. So furious that he couldn’t do anything but eat his pie in silence.
When they had all finished he said, “I have to go out.”
Of course Burt and Carole shot the idea down, and even Rachel and Finn looked confused, like they didn’t think putting Kurt in touch with Cooper meant he had to go out at eleven at night on Thanksgiving when he was sick.
“Where do you plan on going?” Burt asked. “Nothing’s open.”
Kurt just stared at Rachel. This was all her fault. She could think of an answer. “Oh...” she stammered. “It’s... it’s Mercedes.”
“Yeah,” Finn agreed.
“That was Mercedes on the phone, right?” she asked, wanting Kurt to at least nod. He didn’t move. “Sam dumped her for no apparent reason and she’s heartbroken, especially because... Thanksgiving is such a romantic holiday.”
“... Yeah,” Finn agreed.
“It is?” Carole asked.
“We should try to cheer her up. We’ll bring her some ice cream from the gas station. I’m sure the gas stations are open.” Rachel stood, already ready to go. Finn followed her, and Kurt stood last.
“Be back in an hour,” Burt said, obviously angry with them.
“No,” Kurt said. “We can’t.”
Rachel looked at him. “Mercedes is really, really upset.”
“Fine, be back at one. If you aren’t here by 1:01 I will ground all three of you until spring break. Don’t think I can’t,” Burt pointed at Rachel.
She smiled. “We promise.”
They piled into Kurt’s car. Finn drove, and Kurt stretched out in the back, fully intending to sleep the whole way. After he turned the car on, Finn asked where they were going.
“Ohio State University hospital in Columbus,” Kurt mumbled.
“That’s almost two hours away!”
“We’ll get there by 1:01,” Kurt said. “We just won’t be back by then. And this is all your fault, so don’t try to blame me.”
“I just... Rachel thought it would be good for you.” He pulled out of the driveway and made his way toward the highway. “He’s sick, right? You’re sick. We thought it might be connected, or something.”
“You don’t even believe in it, Finn!” Kurt yelled, not knowing where he found the energy to do so.
“But I’m worried about you, okay?” Finn yelled back.
Rachel intervened. “I saw on that website that Cooper was looking for you because... because Blaine is sick, and I thought you might both get better if you meet.”
Kurt rolled his eyes even though he knew she couldn’t see him.
“And what if he dies, Kurt?” she asked. “You could... I don’t know, be in danger. They say that it’s possible.”
“No, no,” Finn said. “Kurt is not going to die.”
He stopped listening to them then. He wanted to sleep, but when he closed his eyes he felt tears roll down his cheeks, tears he didn’t even know were there before. And he was acutely awake, behind his closed eyes, for the whole ride.
M
A fill for this prompt on GAM. A semi-AU. Kurt and Finn hate the idea of soulmates, mostly because neither of them know the name of theirs. But all their friends are a little obsessed, and decide to try to find Kurt's soulmate for him. What they find instead is Cooper Anderson, who says if Kurt doesn't visit a mysteriously ill Blaine in the hospital soon, they both could be in danger.
Also here: http://archiveofourown.org/works/540842
And also here: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8623353/1/In-Ivy-And-In-Twine
32,698 words
Chapter 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
He didn’t really wake up again until late into the afternoon. Finn, Rachel, Burt, and Carole were all laughing and smashing dishes together obnoxiously loudly. It was the smell of food -- of roasting turkey and a lot of vegetarian side dishes for Rachel, cooking in the oven. It was comforting, despite that Kurt’s body ached and shook with chills.
He sat up slowly, resigned to the fact that his flu had returned completely. Somehow, beneath all the noise his family and Rachel were making in the kitchen, he heard a familiar ring of music coming from far away. It was his cell phone, which was all the way upstairs on his bedside table. He’d put it there yesterday, when Rachel dragged him and his bag to his room, and demanded he put on pajamas for movie night. He knew he’d never make it upstairs in time to answer it, so he let it go.
He wobbled to the kitchen and deduced from the look on everyone’s face that he looked awful. “Okay,” he said before any of them could say anything. “I’ll go shower and get dressed.”
“Dinner’s almost ready, Kurt,” Burt called after him as he shuffled to the stairs. “Maybe some good food will make you feel better.”
He saw his phone blinking by his bed while he gathered clothes. He just didn’t care.
He took a long shower, but when he felt like he was going to pass out, he decided it was a good time to get out. He had to lay in bed for a few minutes before he could get dressed, biting his tongue to stay conscious and waiting for his heart to stop racing. Okay, he admitted to himself, something was wrong.
He finally felt well enough to get dressed, and did so before anyone came to check on him and found him naked. Sure enough, as soon as he pulled on a second argyle sock, Finn barged in and offered to help him down the stairs.
“Are you --” Finn asked, but stopped when Kurt’s phone rang again.
“I’m fine,” Kurt answered. “Let’s eat.”
“Aren’t you going to answer that?” Finn looked at the phone.
“No,” Kurt shook his head. “No. It’s Thanksgiving. It’s dinner time. I’ll call them back later.”
Finn looked at the phone and then at Kurt, and then at the phone again, and back to Kurt. “Okay,” he said finally.
“Okay...” Kurt said slowly. “Let’s go.”
When Kurt sat across from Rachel at the table she gave him a weird look, too. She smiled nervously at him and looked back and forth from him to Finn.
Kurt sighed. “What is going on?”
“Nothing,” Rachel said, spooning potatoes onto her plate.
“Tell me!”
“Tell you what?” Burt asked, entering the room with Carole.
“Nothing!” Finn said. “What are you talking about? Is hallucinating part of your flu?”
Kurt tried not to blush and dropped the subject. Fine. Maybe he was crazy.
“Do you want to go to the doctor, Kurt? I could take you to the hospital, if you want. Get you checked out.” Carole smiled at him. He wondered if she was nervous about him, too.
“No,” Kurt said. “I’m fine.”
He passed dishes around the table, ate and laughed and tried to be normal. Kurt really did feel better after eating. He was tired, but he could actually concentrate on the conversation.
When Carole left to get her pumpkin pie from the oven, Rachel seemed to pause and listen to something. “Is that your phone, Kurt?”
Kurt sighed. He was sure she was screwing with him. She and Finn must have something to do with the caller. But he was too sick to run up and down the stairs. He wanted them to just confess. “I guess so.”
“Who would call you tonight?” Burt asked.
“Maybe I should go get it,” Finn said, which was weird. All three of them frowned at him.
“Why?” Kurt asked.
Finn shrugged. “Maybe it’s important, if they’re calling tonight. Maybe it’s an emergency.”
“No,” Rachel told him, and then tried to save face when she saw Kurt staring at her. “I mean, no, I doubt it’s anything so bad as that. It’s probably... Mercedes, or something. Maybe she wants pie.”
“Everyone’s going to want some of this pie,” Carole called from the kitchen.
“Alright,” Kurt said finally, slowly getting to his feet. “I’m going upstairs, to get the phone. I’m not going to get there in time, but I’m going to call them back, and find out what’s going on. And then I have a feeling I’m going to yell at both of you.”
They just smiled up at him, while Burt looked as confused as Kurt felt. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
He didn’t recognize the number, which made their weird conspiracy even weirder. But he called it back, completely unaware of what he was getting himself into.
The other line barely rang before someone immediately answered it. There was a static, scratchy noise like he was connecting with another world. And then someone said, “Kurt?”
“Um,” Kurt said. “Yes?”
“My name is Cooper. Your friend Rachel gave me your number.”
“Why?” Kurt began to ask, but stopped midway through the word. For the first time since he’d woken up that day, he remembered movie night, and everyone staring at the phone, and him, and telling him he wasn’t on that website. They were lying. He felt the whole world go out from under him. He didn’t want to just talk to this guy, like it was a normal thing to do. He wasn’t ready. His thumb moved toward the button that would end the call.
“Don’t hang up,” Cooper said. “It’s not me. It’s my brother.”
Kurt didn’t know what to say. He was just trying to remember to breathe. “Oh,” he said eventually, without thinking.
“Kurt, I’ve been trying to get ahold of you, for him, for two months now. I’m so glad you called. I was getting desperate.”
He took a breath. He’d actually forgotten to breathe for a few seconds. He stared at the argyle on his feet and his vision went blurry. But it wasn’t because of the flu, this time. It was because of the phone call.
“What’s his name?” he asked finally, afraid to say it very loud. It was almost all he wanted to know.
There was a pause. “I thought you might not know. It’s... his name is Blaine. Blaine Anderson. He’s sixteen, relatively handsome, has a 3.9 GPA and sings a lot of really annoying pop songs when he’s in a good mood.”
Kurt sort of laughed, but he really wanted to burst into tears. He put his free hand to his eyes.
“Anyway, he’s sick, Kurt. The doctors don’t know exactly what’s wrong with him. He was always a sick little kid, but he always pulled through, you know. He always seemed to have a cold. And that’s how it started this time, but he kept getting worse and worse. We took him to the hospital, but it didn’t help. He sleeps all the time, and it’s hard to wake him up. He can hardly keep any food down, so they put him on an IV, but now he’s practically wasting away. I thought of you a while ago. I thought, maybe if you could just come talk to him...”
Kurt shook his head. He felt awful. “I can’t.”
“But...”
“I can’t just show up there and try to save his life. I don’t even know him, and I don’t... have that kind of power.” He imagined a room full of extended family clutching rosaries and hovering over them in a drab hospital room, waiting for a miracle.
Cooper sighed. “I was always a jerk to him when we were younger. And then I moved out, and left him there alone, even though I knew our parents weren’t much better. But I’ve been sitting with him here more than they have. I guess it’s because I feel so guilty.”
Now Kurt felt worse than ever. He’d initially thought Rachel and Finn convinced someone to prank call him. Now he was in the middle of a stranger’s guilty soliloquy, while simultaneously trying to accept the fact that he was simply being handed a soulmate on a silver platter, except that the soulmate was also apparently dying. It was a little much for someone with the flu. He was going to start breaking down if it didn’t stop soon.
Cooper was still rambling on. Kurt tuned back in when he said, “What would it hurt, just to try to talk to him? Just once?”
Kurt sat up straight, ready to end the conversation. “You’re right.”
“I am? Will you come? Rachel told me you live in Lima. We’re at the University hospital in Columbus. It’s like an hour and a half away.”
“I...” Kurt said, not knowing what he was saying. “Okay.”
“I could come pick you up.”
“Isn’t it after visiting hours?” Kurt asked, not knowing why he thought of something logical, all of a sudden.
“I don’t care. I’ll tell them you’re family. They’ll let you in. I have a way with the night nurses.”
“I can...” He stopped. He was in a daze. “I can drive myself.”
“You’ll come tonight?”
He would have to ask his father. His father would certainly say no. He couldn’t explain who it was or why he was going, and Burt would never let him drive as sick as he was, as late as it was, on a holiday. “Sure.”
It was like something had disconnected between his brain and his tongue. Cooper thanked him a million times and finally Kurt hung up.
He went back down the stairs slowly, dazed, and sat at the table. It was almost like nothing had happened. His family and Rachel were down to the crusts of their pie. Carole scolded him that his had gone cold.
“Sorry,” he said.
Rachel stole a glance at him, but said nothing. She just joked with Burt, even though she knew what had happened. He looked at Finn, who avoided looking back. Finn knew, too. Rachel must have told him when she went into his room that night. She must have called Cooper then, while Finn sat next to her. He was furious with them both. So furious that he couldn’t do anything but eat his pie in silence.
When they had all finished he said, “I have to go out.”
Of course Burt and Carole shot the idea down, and even Rachel and Finn looked confused, like they didn’t think putting Kurt in touch with Cooper meant he had to go out at eleven at night on Thanksgiving when he was sick.
“Where do you plan on going?” Burt asked. “Nothing’s open.”
Kurt just stared at Rachel. This was all her fault. She could think of an answer. “Oh...” she stammered. “It’s... it’s Mercedes.”
“Yeah,” Finn agreed.
“That was Mercedes on the phone, right?” she asked, wanting Kurt to at least nod. He didn’t move. “Sam dumped her for no apparent reason and she’s heartbroken, especially because... Thanksgiving is such a romantic holiday.”
“... Yeah,” Finn agreed.
“It is?” Carole asked.
“We should try to cheer her up. We’ll bring her some ice cream from the gas station. I’m sure the gas stations are open.” Rachel stood, already ready to go. Finn followed her, and Kurt stood last.
“Be back in an hour,” Burt said, obviously angry with them.
“No,” Kurt said. “We can’t.”
Rachel looked at him. “Mercedes is really, really upset.”
“Fine, be back at one. If you aren’t here by 1:01 I will ground all three of you until spring break. Don’t think I can’t,” Burt pointed at Rachel.
She smiled. “We promise.”
They piled into Kurt’s car. Finn drove, and Kurt stretched out in the back, fully intending to sleep the whole way. After he turned the car on, Finn asked where they were going.
“Ohio State University hospital in Columbus,” Kurt mumbled.
“That’s almost two hours away!”
“We’ll get there by 1:01,” Kurt said. “We just won’t be back by then. And this is all your fault, so don’t try to blame me.”
“I just... Rachel thought it would be good for you.” He pulled out of the driveway and made his way toward the highway. “He’s sick, right? You’re sick. We thought it might be connected, or something.”
“You don’t even believe in it, Finn!” Kurt yelled, not knowing where he found the energy to do so.
“But I’m worried about you, okay?” Finn yelled back.
Rachel intervened. “I saw on that website that Cooper was looking for you because... because Blaine is sick, and I thought you might both get better if you meet.”
Kurt rolled his eyes even though he knew she couldn’t see him.
“And what if he dies, Kurt?” she asked. “You could... I don’t know, be in danger. They say that it’s possible.”
“No, no,” Finn said. “Kurt is not going to die.”
He stopped listening to them then. He wanted to sleep, but when he closed his eyes he felt tears roll down his cheeks, tears he didn’t even know were there before. And he was acutely awake, behind his closed eyes, for the whole ride.