AN: Wow, this is so not tomorrow from when I posted the last chapter. I apologize.
So, this is the end. The last chapter. My reasoning is this- This was the end I'd originally seen, stuff just kept popping up between the beginning and the end, so I kept writing. I had some stuff I was going to have after, and change where it ended, but then I got to it and it just felt so right I knew I couldn't. I'll probably have the couple of scenes I was going to write turn into oneshots later.
And it's gotten harder to write the last few chapters, because I have all these other fic ideas running around my head. I want to get some of those out and I want to have this story done and yet again, it just feels right.
And lastly- If I end it now, there will be SEVEN CHAPTERS.
AND THEN MY CHAPTERS CAN BE MY HORCRUXES.
I'm really excited about this.
So this is my final thank you. To every single person who reviewed me, to the the people who reviewed me again and again, to the people who crowd my inbox with notifications telling me I've been put on alert and put on a favorite list. It makes me so happy. So absurdly happy.
And since I've refrained from this- Thank you to my RL people who've supported me. Kitty and Kina, Becca and Tasha and Sophie and Olivia B, and Blueberry, my moms. I love you all and you make me so happy.
And Reilly gets a special thank you. Because she reads this, and she doesn't even watch Glee.
I'll be seeing you guys again soon.
OH MY GOD I'VE FORGOTTEN A DISCLAIMER FOR EVERY SINGLE CHAPTER.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Glee in any way, shape, or form, and I never have. I have nothing to do with Glee. I am a fangirl. The only way I could make money off of this is by writing it while the kids I'm babysitting are asleep. And that so totally doesn't count.
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Somehow, conversation flowed from the serious subjects to the silly ones. Somehow, they stopped talking about being attacked and harassed to talking about broadway and Abercrombie models.
Their voices stayed quiet, so quiet that they probably shouldn't have been able to hear each other. But they could. The time went by so quickly, Blaine had been convinced that his pocket watch- the one that his grandfather had left him when he passed away last year- was running fast again. Kurt had to show him the time on his phone to convince him. He actually had to refrain from whining about it.
"I don't think it's fair that the night has to end, really." He complained, standing up reluctantly and pulling on his jacket. Kurt nodded, doing the same.
"At least we have another hour in the car." He said. Blaine loved that optimistic streak in Kurt. He was pretty sure there was nothing that could happen to Kurt that he wouldn't eventually bounce back from.
"There is that," He conceded. "But I can't hold your hand when you're driving. I can't stare into your eyes like some incredibly cheesy person. I can't kiss you."
"You're not kissing me right now." Kurt pointed out, a smile playing on his lips.
"Oh really?" Blaine asked, and without thinking about it for a second, he grabbed his hand, pulled him around, and kissed him swiftly on his lips. It wasn't anything fancy. It was a kiss that conveyed, more than anything else, that they had many more kisses to come.
It was suddenly very quiet in the little coffee shop. Blaine and Kurt exchanged a panicked look. It was one thing to go out to dinner and hold hands in Westerville, which wasn't exactly large. They were being pretty out there when they did that. But Blaine didn't even know the name of this town. It wasn't even on a map. And everyone they knew was at least an hour away.
And they hadn't exactly just been holding hands.
Luckily, nobody jumped up and started screaming at them about how 'Man Shall Not Lie With Man As With A Woman', or whatever it was. Nobody said anything, in fact. They just looked at the two suddenly very out boys. Some people looked confused. Some angry. The barista looked worried.
A few thoughts ran through Blaine's head. He knew that they wouldn't be able to come back here, at least not for a long while. They were safe right now, he could tell. But word would get around, as it always did, and the next time they were there things could be different. And there was no way he was dragging Kurt back into that kind of situation. No matter what. So they wouldn't be back. So maybe they could give everyone a show.
"Yeah, I just kissed a boy," He said, in his actor voice. It was smooth, it was confident, It was steady. He projected, and he held himself differently, and he gestured with his hands. "Because I adore this boy. Because I like him. I like him like him. And I don't do it to be radical, or to freak people out, or because I'm the spawn of satan. I like him, and I kiss him, and I'm still a good person. I'm just me. And he's just him."
He knew it wasn't exactly eloquent, but at the moment, it was the best he could do. Kurt was looking at him, clearly wondering if he was crazy. Blaine was starting to wonder the same thing. Nobody said anything. They just stared. God, this was awkward.
"Um, so, yeah. Just thought I'd introduce the theory that being gay isn't actually bad. And now I'm going to leave." He mumbled, not using his actor voice anymore. Kurt got the message, and he led the way out. With a smile, Blaine noticed a little extra something in Kurt's walk. It looked like he was on a runway in Paris. Bitchy and cold and fabulous. It was sexy as hell.
And he kept walking like that until he got into the car.
"What was that about?" Kurt asked as he turned the key in the ignition.
"Eh," Blaine shrugged. Not sure, really. Righteous anger? Pent-up frustration at living in this state? Not wanting people to look at my-" he blushed, looked away, and had a brief panic attack. Were they together? He didn't want to kiss anyone else. He didn't want Kurt to kiss anyone else. He wanted them to be boyfriends. Was that rushing into things? How did this work? Oh shut up. You've had boyfriends before. He told himself. Yeah, but they weren't Kurt. He argued. Argh, his sentence was just lying there, waiting for him to finish. "-Kurt. Not wanting people to look at my Kurt like that? Queer hatred at societal norms?"
"Blaine?" Kurt said, looking away from the road and into his eyes for a split second.
"Yeah?" Blaine asked, his face still warm, still self-conscious of his slip-up.
"I'm totally your boyfriend," Kurt said. His voice was rich and full and confident. Blaine struggled to find words that fit the way he was feeling- words to tell him how happy this made him, how relieved, how excited. But he was stunned, and nothing came out, and when Kurt spoke again, he didn't sound nearly as confident. "I mean, if you want me to be. We don't have to be, I just thought-"
"I want you to be my boyfriend, Kurt," Blaine insisted. There was no way he was going to let the other boy think for a second he didn't want that. "That's an understatement. I want you to be my boyfriend more than I want Prop 8 to be repealed. More than I want Judy Garland to come back to life. More than I want this night to never end. I- I really like you." He said.
"I really like you too." Kurt said, his smile spilling through his voice.
"Good." Blaine said, and he placed his hand gently on Kurt's leg. They shared a quick look, a look that spoke volumes. That's my boyfriend I'm looking at. Blaine thought, and that bubble of happiness filled his whole body.
Sometimes, silence is exactly what's needed. Sometimes, it feels so comfortable, breaking it would be insanity. That was the silence in the car on the way to Blaine's house. It was so warm and tangible, the feeling between them. Finally, every piece had fallen together.
And to think, five and a half hours ago I wasn't even sure if this was a date. Blaine marveled. Five and a half hours ago, I was freaking out about my shirt. I had no idea that tonight would be like this. I hadn't kissed Kurt. He felt sorry for five-and-a-half-hours-ago Blaine. Right-now Blaine was the happiest person on the face of the earth.
"I can't believe it took us two whole months to get together," Kurt said, about ten minutes from Blaine's house. "When we both liked each other the entire time." For the second time in two weeks, Blaine was caught entirely breathless because of a mention of the length of time they'd known each other. Until right now, the memory of that incident had been mortifying. But now, looking back, it made him laugh.
"What?" Kurt asked, sounding offended.
"I just- remember when you called me on Thanksgiving?" He asked, smiling. Kurt nodded. "And you were saying all these sweet things, and I was dying a little inside from how much you were making me like you-"
"Wait wait wait," Kurt said, his eyebrows raised. "I did not make you like me, mister. That was all you."
"Oh, because I'm the one who just walked up being totally gorgeous and talented and actually gay. I'm the one. Not you." Blaine rolled his eyes.
"Um, you kinda were," Kurt pointed out. "Totally gorgeous? Check. Talented? Check. Actually gay? Check," He shot a triumphant glance at Blaine. "Beat that."
"That wasn't the point at all," Blaine said, knowing he'd let Kurt win pretty much any silly argument they had for the rest of their lives. "The point was that we were on the phone, and you mentioned how long it had been since we'd met. And it wasn't just like 'about three weeks'. It was exact. To the day."
"I remember that!" Kurt exclaimed, grinning. "And then you squeaked and there was a thud and you told me that-"
"I stubbed my toe, yeah. I was lying." He admitted.
"Oh?" Kurt asked, looking curious.
"Yeah. I- well, I fell off my bed." Blaine told his boyfriend. His boyfriend laughed uproariously. In his head, Blaine decided he wasn't ever going to refer to Kurt as anything other than "his boyfriend." It made his heart do stupid things. Like stop for a second.
"You fell off your bed?" Kurt asked incredulously. "You actually, seriously- you- you fell off your bed?"
Blaine nodded.
"Oh my god. That's the best thing I've ever heard," He said, gasping for breath a little. "I have this image in my head now of you falling out of bed, and it's hilarious, and it's just playing over and over..."
"You probably shouldn't be driving and picturing me in bed at the same time. It could end badly." Blaine said, unsure if he wanted Kurt to notice if he'd gone from falling out of bed to simply being in bed.
"Oh, I do that all the time." Kurt responded simply, a pleased smile playing on his lips.
"Oh really? Now it's really getting interesting." Blaine commented, and realized how blatantly he'd been flirting with Kurt before they'd ever said anything about how they felt for each other. This conversation wasn't really that different from any other they'd had. The only difference was that they'd been pretending they didn't mean the things they meant when they said the things they said.
"Well, you know- long drive to school every day. Lots of highway, lots to daydream about." His boyfriend told him, and he felt all giggly inside, thinking of Kurt daydreaming about him. He began to say something about how he daydreamed about him too, when he noticed they were in his neighborhood. In fact, they were pulling up to his house. How had he not noticed? He hadn't looked away from Kurt for the entire ride. For a whole hour, he'd done nothing but stare at his boyfriend. He was impressive.
"Oh, damn." Blaine muttered, and gave Kurt a sad look.
"I'll walk you to the door?" The boy offered, a similar pout on his lips.
"Please. I don't want a second I could be spending with you to be lost." Blaine said, and as he watched Kurt smile, as he heard Kurt squeak in happiness, as he watched Kurt step out of the car and practically bounce around to open his door, he felt a surge of gratitude that his boyfriend seemed to appreciate his cheesy and romantic side. A million plots ran around his head, most of them involving roses and horse-drawn carriages and serenades by moonlight. But they were forced out by the simple sight of the boy who opened his door. The amazing, beautiful, laughing boy who opened his door.
It wasn't like Kurt had changed since they'd left the coffee shop an hour ago. Same hair, same face, same showstopping clothes over the same body he'd stared at a thousand times. But the look in his eyes- Blaine had never seen that before. And he knew without a doubt that their eyes mirrored each other, and he was wearing the exact same look.
He slipped out of the car, and closed the door, and wrapped his arms around the waist of the taller boy.
There was a thought Blaine had pretty often when he looked at Kurt. It just popped up, and before tonight, he'd always fought it off with his ever trusty mental pitchfork. It wasn't the kind of thought that was proper in the situation they'd been in. When you're not even dating someone, the word Mine is one that's a little out of place. A little crazy.
But now? He invited it in. He let it envelop him, wrap around his head until that was all he could think. Mine mine mine mine mine. He thought. So mine. And when he looked into Kurt's eyes, the same word was shining through. Now, that thought was exhilarating. He was just barely grasping that Kurt was his when he came to the conclusion that he was Kurt's.
"I'm so lucky." Blaine murmured. Kurt took his hand, and they walked up to the door. He didn't utter a word until they were standing on the doorstep, and facing each other again.
"I'm having a bit of trouble believing this is real," Kurt said softly, his voice just above a whisper. "I'm standing here and looking at you and just- I can't believe it. That you can feel so lucky to have me, when I feel like I've been bestowed some gift from the heavens I don't believe in. I mean, we can't both be lucky. I don't know," He looked away for a second, then locked eyes with Blaine again. "I just can't remember the last time I felt so happy. It's unreal."
"I know what you mean," Blaine replied. "I can't remember either. But you know what? It's-" He kissed Kurt on the forehead. "All-" He kissed Kurt's nose, which made him giggle. "Real." And he placed the last kiss on his boyfriend's lips.
They kissed for a few minutes, slow and gentle and deep. Blaine's heart seemed to be beating somewhere around his ears, making his head pound pleasantly. When they finally managed to pull apart, they just stared at each other. Blaine couldn't look away. He was in a trance, a trance where all he wanted was that face and that body next to his own. That was all.
"I don't want to say goodnight." Kurt said sadly. Blaine nodded.
"What are you doing tomorrow?" He asked hopefully.
"Spending time with you?" Kurt asked back, just as hopefully.
"Hells yes," Blaine replied. "I'll text you. I might have plans with David and Wes, but you're more than invited over. They're going to want to mock us for being all cute and couple-y."
"I get to be cute and couple-y with you." Kurt said, his face lighting up.
"For as long as you'll have me." Blaine said softly.
They looked at each other. They had a moment. It had been two months since they'd met, but now the clock reset. It had been two hours, thirteen minutes, and a few seconds give or take, since they'd kissed.
And for the rest of their lives, they counted from that moment.
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THE END
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