Klaine Advent 2021!
Day 3- Obligation
Summary: Protective boyfriend!Kurt and his chunky boots vs. the Anderson family holiday party…
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
The silence in the room was odd. Usually, Blaine would have a record playing and be dancing around the room, trying to get Kurt to join in. Serenading him and giggling, saying ‘spin me!’ Right now, you could hear a pin drop. The big smile that usually resided on Blaine’s face had been replaced with that look. The one he got when he was thinking way too much about not-so-good things. The one he’d had when Kurt got voted prom queen or when Cooper had shown up at school out of the blue that day and taken over everything.
“Are you suuure you don’t wanna skip? I’ll even take you to that cheesy skating rink at the mall that you’ve been asking to go to,” Kurt ventured.
Blaine sighed, but didn’t move from his spot. “Kurt, I told you already. It’s my parents’ stupid holiday party. I’d love to skip, but I’m obligated to go be paraded around in front of a bunch of snotty rich people all evening while my dad pretends he doesn’t hate me and my mom gets hammered and shoves her hundred-dollar cheeses down everyone’s throats.”
Yeah, Kurt had definitely had the right idea about that look. There wasn’t anything he could really say; he knew Blaine was right. He’d only been around them a handful of times, but that had been plenty.
Blaine was still tugging at his tie. His hands were shaking and Kurt could tell he was ready to explode.
“Here, love. Let me do it,” he said quietly, coming up behind Blaine and taking it from his hands. Blaine immediately softened, taking a deep breath and watching Kurt in the mirror. He tied it perfectly, straightening it out and wrapping his arms around his boy’s neck - now decorated with little red reindeer.
“You look very handsome,” Kurt smiled as he peppered little kisses around Blaine’s face and neck, making Blaine scrunch up and giggle. Kurt finally felt the weight come off his chest. He hated seeing Blaine so sad and not being able to help made it even worse. He knew the feeling of pain he’d had for a long time after his mom died, but he couldn’t begin to comprehend what it must feel like to think your parents don’t love you. He didn’t understand how anyone couldn’t love the precious boy standing in front of him.
Blaine’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts, “So do you. You really don’t need to go, you know? I don’t want to drag you into this mess too.”
Kurt shook his head as Blaine turned around to face him, “Nope. You may be going out of obligation, but I’m not. I’m going because I want to be with you. Plus,” he gestured down to the red velvet ankle boots he had on, “these shoes aren’t only fabulous, but also have a little chunky heel that’s just perfect for kicking your dad right in the warblers if he starts with those snarky comments about us.”
Blaine laughed and took Kurt’s hands in his. Kurt kissed him gently and tilted his head so that their foreheads were pressed against each other. Blaine soaked it up, feeling a million times better than he had a few minutes ago. He had Kurt and that’s all that mattered. They’d get through everything together. “Thank you,” he whispered, “you always know how to make everything better.”
Kurt walked them backwards so they could sit down, pulling Blaine into his lap. They stayed there for a while, sharing sweet kisses and enjoying the closeness. Kurt peered up at his honeybee - a nickname that he’s used and had stuck ever since they were just friends. He’d always thought people were being so dramatic when they’d talk about how perfect their partners were. No one is perfect, he’d said. But he absolutely thought this boy was perfect. And Blaine felt the same way about him. It took him back to the time they’d first said I love you. Blaine had been looking over at him with this dopey look on his face for probably twenty minutes as he babbled about New York. ‘Why are you staring at me?’ He’d asked. Blaine didn’t bat an eye - ‘Because you’re beautiful.’ He’d said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Kurt had blushed so hard he thought his cheeks would catch on fire.
He smiled at the memory and tuned back in to hear Blaine complaining about how they had to go downstairs. “Alright. Up, up,” he prodded playfully at the boy who climbed off of his lap begrudgingly, “let’s go play nice for a couple hours and then we’ll be free. We can go to my house - Dad and Carole are in DC. Finn’s having Rachel over and I was thinking of inviting the rest of the group for some holiday festivities.”
Blaine smiled as he shrugged his suit jacket on, “That sounds really nice.”
“Well, then it’s settled. I’ll text them all.”
Blaine started heading out the door, but Kurt grabbed his arm before he could get all the way out. “Just remember I’m right beside you the whole time, okay? I’m not gonna let them push us around. If they start, we’re leaving,” he said, pressing one last kiss to Blaine’s cheek.
Blaine nodded slowly, giving Kurt a smile that was full of unspoken I love you ’s.
“Okay, now let’s go shove some hors d’oeuvres in our faces and pretend we’re at some stupid Hollywood awards show afterparty,” Kurt said, grabbing Blaine’s hand and leading them down the hallway, starting on a speech thanking the cast and crew of his new Bond movie for helping him win Actor of the Year.
Blaine just laughed, wondering how he got lucky enough to have this stupid, wonderful boy all to himself.
