In Ivy And In Twine, Chapter 7
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
The week passed too slowly, and he couldn’t concentrate on anything at school. Saturday was torture, except when he went with Mercedes and Tina to the mall and picked out a good date outfit. Well, it would be good after a few small alterations, which he spent Sunday making. The next week went even slower, and he thought he might actually start failing classes if the weekend didn’t turn up soon. Usually he was intelligent enough not to let real life affect his concentration and grades, but everything about the Blaine thing made him feel hopeless and ridiculous. He tried not to remember Finn’s words about teenagers and their soulmates becoming drooling idiots. What did Finn know about it, anyway?
Mercedes came over on Saturday afternoon to help him get ready, which really just meant she listened to music in his room and periodically approved of things he did to his hair.
The sun finally began to set, and that made it official. It was actually Saturday night. Kurt was delighting in this fact when Mercedes said, offhand, “It’s the Breadstix in Lima?”
He blinked. “What?”
“Well, he doesn’t live in Lima, does he?”
Kurt’s throat felt like it was slowly closing up. “No, I don’t think so,” he answered, barely above a whisper.
“Does he know you live here?”
He shook his head.
She stared at him, and he stared back.
“Oh my God,” he said finally, panic setting in. “Am I supposed to be in Columbus? There’s no time!”
There was a knock at his bedroom door, and Burt poked his head in. “Um,” he said. “There’s something for you downstairs.”
“There’s no time!” Kurt yelled again at his father, not intending to be mean, only because he was genuinely freaking out.
Burt rolled his eyes. “Just go downstairs.”
Mercedes gasped, realizing what this meant before Kurt did. After a beat he thought he might know what it meant, but it couldn’t possibly actually mean that.
He pushed past his father and froze halfway down the stairs when Blaine turned around in the living room and smiled up at him. He wore a nice black suit with a white handkerchief in the pocket, and his hair was tamed down with gel. It looked quite different from his curly hospital hair.
“Okay,” Kurt said from the stairs. “What’s going on? How did this happen?”
“I guess I forgot to mention I’d pick you up,” Blaine said, still smiling.
“How did you even know I live here?”
“The phone book. And a little help from your dad.”
Kurt’s jaw dropped in surprise. He whipped around to confront Burt, but Burt was nowhere to be found. He only managed to catch a glimpse of Mercedes duck back into his room, apparently spying on them. He guessed they were trying to make this first/third meeting as least awkward as possible.
Kurt turned back to Blaine. “I can’t believe you’re... standing up.”
Blaine rolled his eyes. “Come down here!”
Kurt descended the rest of the steps, and then couldn’t really stop himself before he made his way all the way to Blaine, and pulled him close into a hug. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
“I’m fine. I promise.” Blaine squeezed Kurt’s shoulder gratefully. “Don’t worry about me.”
“But how?” Kurt asked, pulling back from him again. “Why weren’t you just like this two months ago?”
Blaine shrugged. “It’s a mystery. And different medicine. I’m taking a lot of new medicine.” He held up his hands to show his shaking fingers. “It’s a lot of caffeine and stimulants. They’re treating me for narcolepsy, even though that’s not what I have. They don’t know what else to do.”
“It’s okay,” Kurt said and took Blaine’s trembling fingers to steady them. “As long as you can handle it. I’d rather have you be here than not.”
Blaine smiled again. “Are you ready? Let’s go.”
In the car Kurt scolded Blaine for driving all the way to Kurt’s house, alone, at night, when he was supposed to be watched at all times.
“It wasn’t very far,” Blaine said.
“From Columbus?” Kurt asked. “It’s almost two hours!”
Blaine looked at him sideways. “My parents live ten minutes from here. I’m usually two hours away at school, but not recently. I was in the hospital in Columbus because my parents thought specialists there would know what to do with me. Turned out not to be the case.”
“Really? You live in Lima?” Kurt sat back in the passenger seat, considering the fact that Blaine had been in the same city as him all their lives, and they’d never crossed paths.
“Sometimes, yes,” Blaine said. “And when I was younger, yes.”
At the restaurant Blaine ordered a lunch portion of plain spaghetti noodles with no sauce, and a glass of water, no lemon and no ice. “I have to take food slowly,” he said to Kurt, who seemed a little shocked. “I didn’t eat anything solid for almost three months.”
Kurt shook his head. “We shouldn’t have come to dinner.”
“I tried to think of something more fun, or interesting, but this town provides very few options. Restaurant, movie, mall. I don’t know if you like movies or shopping, but I assumed you eat, so here we are.”
“I hope you’ve inferred by now that I do, in fact, like shopping. Not that the Lima Mall offers very many brands I actually approve of, but I like looking. I can always find something.”
“I’ll keep the mall in mind for next time, then,” Blaine said, and then mumbled something Kurt didn’t quite catch about a contingency on not going to the Gap.
Kurt smiled nervously at Blaine when he realized it was probably his turn to say something. “So... what’s your relationship to clothes?” It seemed the safest personal question to ask.
Blaine thought about it. “I spend most of my time in my Dalton uniform and my pajamas, to be honest.”
Kurt deflated a little. It was probably a mean question to ask someone who had to stay in bed for the past three months. “Sorry...” he began to say.
“But I do like them. I like to look well dressed and put together, which is why I’m so embarrassed that the first time you saw me I was unconscious and un-showered and probably drooling.”
Kurt laughed. “I didn’t notice any drool.”
“Cooper makes fun of how many cardigans and bow ties I own on a bi-daily basis, so that should mean something.”
“That makes me very happy,” Kurt said. “It seems less likely now I’ll have to give you a fashion intervention.”
“Did I do okay tonight?” Blaine asked, holding out his arms for Kurt to inspect his jacket.
“You did great,” Kurt said honestly. “I’m actually surprised. I’ve never even seen a guy my age dress in something other than what he could find at Walmart or what his mother laid out for him in the morning.”
Their food arrived and Blaine smiled at Kurt’s joke, and compliment, while he twirled his plain noodles around a fork. “This is living large, for me. I had a piece of white bread for breakfast and lunch today.”
Kurt pushed a basket of breadsticks toward him. “At least you can have those. They’re just white bread and... various salts.”
“And oil and butter.” Blaine eyed them suspiciously. “I don’t know...” he said, but took one and put it on his plate for later.
They chewed silently for a while, a distinct feeling of panic settling into Kurt’s stomach for each second that passed and no one said anything. But he didn’t know what to say.
“Shouldn’t we talk about something real?” Blaine asked eventually.
“Probably,” Kurt agreed. Blaine seemed about to say something, but Kurt decided to start first, to get out what had been bothering him. “I’m sorry for being so...” he paused, trying to think of the right word. “Forward,” he said finally. “Especially in the text I sent about...” His face went bright red at the thought, and he stared hard at his pasta. “About what I said to my family. I shouldn’t have told you.”
“You shouldn’t have told me that you told other people you might love me?” Blaine smiled at him. “I should have some right to know when these things happen.”
“I know, but it was just... sort of a family fight, and I was just trying to defend myself and the reasons I snuck out to see you. But...” Kurt paused, remembering what Finn said. “I don’t really know you. I felt a connection with you, but I... I don’t even know what real love is. And it was easy to text you embarrassing things like that when you were practically a vegetable, and I wasn’t sure I’d ever have to sit across from you at a dinner table and look you in the eye and face the consequences of it. And I hope you know I’m not usually that obnoxious. Well, I am, but not about...” he stopped. He couldn’t say ‘boys’ or ‘crushes’ or he would melt and die on the spot.
Luckily, Blaine seemed to understand what he was trying to say. “It’s really okay. Don’t worry about it. Imagine what I said about you to my dad after he kicked you out.”
Kurt’s heart skipped a beat. Did Blaine tell his father he loved Kurt, too? Was that even a possibility?
“Your texts made me happy,” Blaine shrugged. “I didn’t think it was weird.” He took a tentative bite of breadstick. “Remember what you said to me the first night?”
“I can’t believe you remember it, but yes, I do. Which part?”
“About us not getting married. You said you wouldn’t marry me just because we’re supposed to be soulmates. You said you wouldn’t even fall in love with me just because we are. And I agree with you.”
Kurt mumbled something noncommittal into his soda. This wasn’t exactly the turn he’d wanted the conversation to take.
“We should just promise to be friends, forever. We don’t even have to be best friends. We should promise to stay in each other’s lives as much as we can, to pop in every now and then, to try to be there for each other whenever we need each other. I, for one, am in massive debt to you for how much you helped me. The next time you need someone, I’ll be there. I promise.” He held out his hand.
Kurt put down his fork so they could shake on it. “I promise too.” He decided not to think about how much he liked Blaine’s hands and hoped he didn’t hold onto him too long. “Did I really help you that much? I don’t feel like I did.”
“You did. You woke me up.”
“But I told you to do it for yourself, not for me.”
“I did it for my own reasons, which were mostly to get to spend time with you.”
Kurt smiled at him, but Blaine had a strange look on his face suddenly. He turned pale and dropped his gaze to his dinner.
“Are you okay?” Kurt asked, getting ready to duck out of the way in an instant if Blaine threw up.
“I’m... yes,” Blaine pushed his plate away from him, across the table. “I have to stop eating that.” A thin layer of perspiration broke out across his forehead and he swayed slightly in his chair.
“Let’s go,” Kurt insisted, already half standing up. “You’re sick. I should take you home.”
“I’m sorry,” Blaine shook his head, disappointed in himself, and pulled his wallet from his back pocket. “I guess I have to work up to entire nights out of the house.”
“It’s okay, don’t apologize,” Kurt assured him, and threw thirty dollars on the table before Blaine’s slow fingers could get at any of his own money. Kurt held out a hand to him. “Let’s go.”
Blaine’s shoulders slumped. “I’ll pay you back.”
“No. Come on.”
Blaine took Kurt’s hand and pulled himself up to standing. “I’ll pay next time, then. If you’ll ever see me again after this.”
“I’ve seen you in much worse condition and was thrilled with you, I wouldn’t worry about it.”
Blaine wrapped his arm around Kurt’s waist while they made their way out of the restaurant, which was a new and thrilling experience for Kurt. Especially since they were in public. He noticed an older woman staring at them, and when she realized she was caught by Kurt she reddened and frowned into at her plate. Apparently helping your sick friend walk while dressed like a gay teenager was enough to embarrass and anger the conservatives at the same time. Well, Kurt decided he didn’t care. He decided the feeling of Blaine pressed close against him was enough to counter the feeling of a thousand strangers frowning at him. He actually smiled to himself when that woman looked away from him. He felt vindicated for the first time in his whole life, and he was sure nothing could ruin the feeling.
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
The week passed too slowly, and he couldn’t concentrate on anything at school. Saturday was torture, except when he went with Mercedes and Tina to the mall and picked out a good date outfit. Well, it would be good after a few small alterations, which he spent Sunday making. The next week went even slower, and he thought he might actually start failing classes if the weekend didn’t turn up soon. Usually he was intelligent enough not to let real life affect his concentration and grades, but everything about the Blaine thing made him feel hopeless and ridiculous. He tried not to remember Finn’s words about teenagers and their soulmates becoming drooling idiots. What did Finn know about it, anyway?
Mercedes came over on Saturday afternoon to help him get ready, which really just meant she listened to music in his room and periodically approved of things he did to his hair.
The sun finally began to set, and that made it official. It was actually Saturday night. Kurt was delighting in this fact when Mercedes said, offhand, “It’s the Breadstix in Lima?”
He blinked. “What?”
“Well, he doesn’t live in Lima, does he?”
Kurt’s throat felt like it was slowly closing up. “No, I don’t think so,” he answered, barely above a whisper.
“Does he know you live here?”
He shook his head.
She stared at him, and he stared back.
“Oh my God,” he said finally, panic setting in. “Am I supposed to be in Columbus? There’s no time!”
There was a knock at his bedroom door, and Burt poked his head in. “Um,” he said. “There’s something for you downstairs.”
“There’s no time!” Kurt yelled again at his father, not intending to be mean, only because he was genuinely freaking out.
Burt rolled his eyes. “Just go downstairs.”
Mercedes gasped, realizing what this meant before Kurt did. After a beat he thought he might know what it meant, but it couldn’t possibly actually mean that.
He pushed past his father and froze halfway down the stairs when Blaine turned around in the living room and smiled up at him. He wore a nice black suit with a white handkerchief in the pocket, and his hair was tamed down with gel. It looked quite different from his curly hospital hair.
“Okay,” Kurt said from the stairs. “What’s going on? How did this happen?”
“I guess I forgot to mention I’d pick you up,” Blaine said, still smiling.
“How did you even know I live here?”
“The phone book. And a little help from your dad.”
Kurt’s jaw dropped in surprise. He whipped around to confront Burt, but Burt was nowhere to be found. He only managed to catch a glimpse of Mercedes duck back into his room, apparently spying on them. He guessed they were trying to make this first/third meeting as least awkward as possible.
Kurt turned back to Blaine. “I can’t believe you’re... standing up.”
Blaine rolled his eyes. “Come down here!”
Kurt descended the rest of the steps, and then couldn’t really stop himself before he made his way all the way to Blaine, and pulled him close into a hug. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
“I’m fine. I promise.” Blaine squeezed Kurt’s shoulder gratefully. “Don’t worry about me.”
“But how?” Kurt asked, pulling back from him again. “Why weren’t you just like this two months ago?”
Blaine shrugged. “It’s a mystery. And different medicine. I’m taking a lot of new medicine.” He held up his hands to show his shaking fingers. “It’s a lot of caffeine and stimulants. They’re treating me for narcolepsy, even though that’s not what I have. They don’t know what else to do.”
“It’s okay,” Kurt said and took Blaine’s trembling fingers to steady them. “As long as you can handle it. I’d rather have you be here than not.”
Blaine smiled again. “Are you ready? Let’s go.”
In the car Kurt scolded Blaine for driving all the way to Kurt’s house, alone, at night, when he was supposed to be watched at all times.
“It wasn’t very far,” Blaine said.
“From Columbus?” Kurt asked. “It’s almost two hours!”
Blaine looked at him sideways. “My parents live ten minutes from here. I’m usually two hours away at school, but not recently. I was in the hospital in Columbus because my parents thought specialists there would know what to do with me. Turned out not to be the case.”
“Really? You live in Lima?” Kurt sat back in the passenger seat, considering the fact that Blaine had been in the same city as him all their lives, and they’d never crossed paths.
“Sometimes, yes,” Blaine said. “And when I was younger, yes.”
At the restaurant Blaine ordered a lunch portion of plain spaghetti noodles with no sauce, and a glass of water, no lemon and no ice. “I have to take food slowly,” he said to Kurt, who seemed a little shocked. “I didn’t eat anything solid for almost three months.”
Kurt shook his head. “We shouldn’t have come to dinner.”
“I tried to think of something more fun, or interesting, but this town provides very few options. Restaurant, movie, mall. I don’t know if you like movies or shopping, but I assumed you eat, so here we are.”
“I hope you’ve inferred by now that I do, in fact, like shopping. Not that the Lima Mall offers very many brands I actually approve of, but I like looking. I can always find something.”
“I’ll keep the mall in mind for next time, then,” Blaine said, and then mumbled something Kurt didn’t quite catch about a contingency on not going to the Gap.
Kurt smiled nervously at Blaine when he realized it was probably his turn to say something. “So... what’s your relationship to clothes?” It seemed the safest personal question to ask.
Blaine thought about it. “I spend most of my time in my Dalton uniform and my pajamas, to be honest.”
Kurt deflated a little. It was probably a mean question to ask someone who had to stay in bed for the past three months. “Sorry...” he began to say.
“But I do like them. I like to look well dressed and put together, which is why I’m so embarrassed that the first time you saw me I was unconscious and un-showered and probably drooling.”
Kurt laughed. “I didn’t notice any drool.”
“Cooper makes fun of how many cardigans and bow ties I own on a bi-daily basis, so that should mean something.”
“That makes me very happy,” Kurt said. “It seems less likely now I’ll have to give you a fashion intervention.”
“Did I do okay tonight?” Blaine asked, holding out his arms for Kurt to inspect his jacket.
“You did great,” Kurt said honestly. “I’m actually surprised. I’ve never even seen a guy my age dress in something other than what he could find at Walmart or what his mother laid out for him in the morning.”
Their food arrived and Blaine smiled at Kurt’s joke, and compliment, while he twirled his plain noodles around a fork. “This is living large, for me. I had a piece of white bread for breakfast and lunch today.”
Kurt pushed a basket of breadsticks toward him. “At least you can have those. They’re just white bread and... various salts.”
“And oil and butter.” Blaine eyed them suspiciously. “I don’t know...” he said, but took one and put it on his plate for later.
They chewed silently for a while, a distinct feeling of panic settling into Kurt’s stomach for each second that passed and no one said anything. But he didn’t know what to say.
“Shouldn’t we talk about something real?” Blaine asked eventually.
“Probably,” Kurt agreed. Blaine seemed about to say something, but Kurt decided to start first, to get out what had been bothering him. “I’m sorry for being so...” he paused, trying to think of the right word. “Forward,” he said finally. “Especially in the text I sent about...” His face went bright red at the thought, and he stared hard at his pasta. “About what I said to my family. I shouldn’t have told you.”
“You shouldn’t have told me that you told other people you might love me?” Blaine smiled at him. “I should have some right to know when these things happen.”
“I know, but it was just... sort of a family fight, and I was just trying to defend myself and the reasons I snuck out to see you. But...” Kurt paused, remembering what Finn said. “I don’t really know you. I felt a connection with you, but I... I don’t even know what real love is. And it was easy to text you embarrassing things like that when you were practically a vegetable, and I wasn’t sure I’d ever have to sit across from you at a dinner table and look you in the eye and face the consequences of it. And I hope you know I’m not usually that obnoxious. Well, I am, but not about...” he stopped. He couldn’t say ‘boys’ or ‘crushes’ or he would melt and die on the spot.
Luckily, Blaine seemed to understand what he was trying to say. “It’s really okay. Don’t worry about it. Imagine what I said about you to my dad after he kicked you out.”
Kurt’s heart skipped a beat. Did Blaine tell his father he loved Kurt, too? Was that even a possibility?
“Your texts made me happy,” Blaine shrugged. “I didn’t think it was weird.” He took a tentative bite of breadstick. “Remember what you said to me the first night?”
“I can’t believe you remember it, but yes, I do. Which part?”
“About us not getting married. You said you wouldn’t marry me just because we’re supposed to be soulmates. You said you wouldn’t even fall in love with me just because we are. And I agree with you.”
Kurt mumbled something noncommittal into his soda. This wasn’t exactly the turn he’d wanted the conversation to take.
“We should just promise to be friends, forever. We don’t even have to be best friends. We should promise to stay in each other’s lives as much as we can, to pop in every now and then, to try to be there for each other whenever we need each other. I, for one, am in massive debt to you for how much you helped me. The next time you need someone, I’ll be there. I promise.” He held out his hand.
Kurt put down his fork so they could shake on it. “I promise too.” He decided not to think about how much he liked Blaine’s hands and hoped he didn’t hold onto him too long. “Did I really help you that much? I don’t feel like I did.”
“You did. You woke me up.”
“But I told you to do it for yourself, not for me.”
“I did it for my own reasons, which were mostly to get to spend time with you.”
Kurt smiled at him, but Blaine had a strange look on his face suddenly. He turned pale and dropped his gaze to his dinner.
“Are you okay?” Kurt asked, getting ready to duck out of the way in an instant if Blaine threw up.
“I’m... yes,” Blaine pushed his plate away from him, across the table. “I have to stop eating that.” A thin layer of perspiration broke out across his forehead and he swayed slightly in his chair.
“Let’s go,” Kurt insisted, already half standing up. “You’re sick. I should take you home.”
“I’m sorry,” Blaine shook his head, disappointed in himself, and pulled his wallet from his back pocket. “I guess I have to work up to entire nights out of the house.”
“It’s okay, don’t apologize,” Kurt assured him, and threw thirty dollars on the table before Blaine’s slow fingers could get at any of his own money. Kurt held out a hand to him. “Let’s go.”
Blaine’s shoulders slumped. “I’ll pay you back.”
“No. Come on.”
Blaine took Kurt’s hand and pulled himself up to standing. “I’ll pay next time, then. If you’ll ever see me again after this.”
“I’ve seen you in much worse condition and was thrilled with you, I wouldn’t worry about it.”
Blaine wrapped his arm around Kurt’s waist while they made their way out of the restaurant, which was a new and thrilling experience for Kurt. Especially since they were in public. He noticed an older woman staring at them, and when she realized she was caught by Kurt she reddened and frowned into at her plate. Apparently helping your sick friend walk while dressed like a gay teenager was enough to embarrass and anger the conservatives at the same time. Well, Kurt decided he didn’t care. He decided the feeling of Blaine pressed close against him was enough to counter the feeling of a thousand strangers frowning at him. He actually smiled to himself when that woman looked away from him. He felt vindicated for the first time in his whole life, and he was sure nothing could ruin the feeling.