Klaine One Shots

Safe

A short little story of fluff and a little bit of angst

He woke up with a gasp too loud for the quietness of the bedroom. Images of fists flying, pavement getting closer, blood spilling on concrete flash randomly through his head. When he finally gets his bearings again, Blaine takes a deep breath. His heart is still racing, and he feels the sweat beading on his forehead. He takes a quick glance down at the sleeping man next to him, thankful that his nightmare didn't wake up his fiancé. 

Blaine isn't afraid anymore to say that after he was gay bashed, he got some anxiety and would wake up from a bad dream sweating and his heart beating a mile a minute. He just hasn't had one of those nightmares in a while.

He had the nightmares often the first year after the event, and then as time went on the nightmares got less and less. That first week, after waking up every night, he eventually caved and went online to search for some way to deal with the nightmares. He found some people recommending that he create a safe haven in his mind. At first, it sounded like some bullshit reasoning that someone in some random part of the world uploaded onto the internet. But after one night when he couldn't fall asleep without hearing the sounds of his head hitting the concert pavement or the feeling of his breath leaving his body from getting kicked in the stomach, he tried it. And surprisingly, it actually worked. 

He imagined himself on stage playing the piano, the spotlight was on him and he wore his best tuxedo, playing for a crowd packed full. The gentle notes of the piano drowned out the screams from his friend and the laughter of the bullies. The feeling of the keys under his fingertips were more familiar to him than anything he's ever known. Eventually, in the safe space, as the music gets louder and crescendos, his eyes close until he can feel the vibrations deep in his chest with every note, and he somehow manages to take enough deep breaths to slow down his heartbeat. And when he opens his eyes after finishing the piece, which isn't anything specific, just whatever comes to mind the quickest, he isn't as afraid of the loneliness of his dark bedroom.

And it didn't work all the time. Sometimes, the nightmares were too vivid to let him think of anything else. Sometimes he couldn't conjure up the safe space on that stage, his mind too distracted by the trauma to focus. But it helped most of the time. 

Then he met this boy. A boy who reminded him of himself. A boy who was bullied like he was, scared like he was, and traumatized in his own way. Sure, the boy may not have gone through the same experiences he went through, but Blaine could recognize the need the boy had for his own safe space. So, Blaine decided to become the boy's safe haven. 

Little did he know, the boy would end up being his safe haven too. 

Blaine became friends with the boy, who introduced himself as Kurt Hummel. Blaine saw the safety he could offer Kurt, who thankfully accepted it quickly. And Blaine got to watch as Kurt slowly became more and more confident in himself with this freedom awarded by the safe haven given to him. And somehow, Kurt helped Blaine get over his fears without even actively trying. 

And then he started dating Kurt, and as time passed and Blaine fell in love with the boy he didn't even realize he needed more than life itself, Blaine's safe haven changed. No longer did he need to imagine sitting alone on stage playing a piano for the packed audience. He just needed to think about a single person. A pair of blue-green eyes. A loving smile. A strong embrace. The perfect resting spot for his head to rest whenever Kurt holds him. His safe haven became Kurt.

"Hey, you okay?" The sleepy question knocks Blaine out of his mind, and he's still staring down at Kurt. Kurt's turning from his side onto his back, looking up at Blaine with confusion mixed with sleep. 

Blaine nods, not wanting to bother Kurt with something stupid like a dream about the gay bashing he went through his freshman year. After all, Kurt had his own bashing, his is more fresh, so if anyone should be traumatized it should be Kurt, not Blaine. 

"What's wrong?" Of course, Kurt knows Blaine better than that. Even with a mind clouded by sleep, Kurt knows that something's off. Blaine sighs, wiping the sweat from his forehead, which just causes Kurt to look at him even more concerned. 

"Nothing, just a stupid nightmare," Blaine whispers. Kurt's silent for a couple moments, and then he pulls his arms out from under the comforter so he can hold them open in an obvious invitation.

"Come here," he says, and Blaine quickly lays his head down on Kurt's chest, closing his eyes tightly as he feels the strong arms wrap around him. The blanket falls a little, but Kurt quickly reaches for it with one arm and wraps it tighter around the two of them. 

"What was it about?" Kurt asks. Blaine takes a deep breath, his eyes still tightly shut as he keeps getting flashes from the nightmare. But he focuses on the feeling of Kurt's arms around him, on the scent that purely Kurt filling his lungs. Blaine's the first to admit he loves the cologne Kurt wears, but there's something about when it's just Kurt and nothing else that makes him that much more content. 

"Just what happened my freshman year. At the Sadie Hawkins dance," Blaine whispers. Kurt's silent for another moment, but his arms are tightening just the right amount and Blaine wants to cry at how perfect it was right then. 

"You're okay. You're safe," Kurt whispers. And Blaine doesn't say anything back, just wiggles his body that much closer to Kurt and breathes in deep. The nightmare still flashes through his mind, but it's fading with each breath he takes. Because this, right here? 

This is his safe haven now.