Kurt and Blaine Wake Up Married

Chapter 8

Blaine sits on the couch in his ugly little apartment. He has just finished a call with his nonna, and they agreed to meet this afternoon, which fits fine with Kurt's plans of shopping. She is curious why he wants to talk to her so urgently, and curious of course about his husband, and she has promised to have cupcakes ready for them. He loves her.

Kurt is wandering about the apartment with a notepad, planning the changes he wants to make and deciding what they will need to buy. Blaine watches him, answering the occasional question, but otherwise keeping to himself. He agrees that his apartment says a lot about his skills in interior decorating, and nothing of it positive, so it's best to let Kurt do the planning, though he will have to help with the actual work.

"Do you want to paint the walls?" Kurt asks. "I could live with this off-white or whatever you want to call it for while I'm here, but we could make it nicer for you after I'm gone."

"Well, I think I should make use of your superior taste while it's still at my disposal, so yes," Blaine says.

Mostly, he just wants to see Kurt in old clothes with maybe paint on his nose or so. Also, together with his resolution yesterday to stop mourning Sebastian, this feels like a new beginning, and he wants to change as much as possible. It feels good.

"Tell me about Rachel," he says.

Kurt flops down on the couch beside him. The couch doesn't take it well, it groans and throws Kurt for a moment against Blaine when the too-soft surface gives way too much.

"We were in high school together," he says when he's righted himself. "I hated her. She was the star of my glee club, something I felt I was entitled to, of course -"

"Of course," Blaine agrees. It's not meant ironically. He has heard Rachel sing, he loves her voice, but Kurt is otherworldly. He can't imagine anything Kurt isn't the star of.

Kurt shoots him a grin. "New couch?" he asks. "One that actually deserves the name, perhaps?"

Blaine wants to say no, but then he stops and thinks. He has never done something about the place, never wanted to do anything, because it was always just a place to sleep when Sebastian had once again thrown him out. Home was Sebastian's place, but now, he realizes, it isn't. It can't be anymore, never again. And this apartment, although it seems crowded with the two of them, is a decent size for him alone, and the distance from work and everywhere he likes to go is okay. With Kurt's help, maybe it could be home.

"New couch," he agrees. Kurt writes it down on his notepad, then leans back and continues his story.

"We were always competing for solos, and honestly, she was obnoxious. Hugely talented, and she knew it, and one always felt like the talent didn't quite warrant her attitude. But, well...we were both lonely. We dueted a few times—we sound really good together—and gradually, somehow we became friends."

He hesitates, grows serious as he asks, "Did she tell you about Finn?"

Blaine shakes his head.

"Finn was my step brother, and her fiancé. All of us thought they were crazy when they got engaged, they were so young...anyway, he... died, and it kind of brought us closer together. We were roommates when we went to New York for college, up until she went to L.A. to shoot that stupid pilot. And then she just disappeared."

Once again, Blaine resists the urge to take Kurt's hand. Kurt's posture doesn't allow it, it's as rigid as the couch allows. Blaine doesn't even find the courage to say, "I'm sorry."

So instead he says, "I'm glad you found each other again. Now, this couch—should it be one someone could sleep on? Without ruining their back, I mean?"