Title: Just Listen (20/20)
Author: foreternityblue
Pairing: Blaine/Kurt
Rating: PG-13
Chapter Word Count: 4, 000
Summary:
Blaine Anderson was McKinley High School's social enigma from the moment he stepped through into the hallways his freshman year. Everyone loved and adored him and he was energetic and loud-until an incident in the middle of sophomore year that absolutely no one could figure out. Kurt Hummel was the bullied gay kid who always had a secret interest in the mystery that was Blaine Anderson. When they get partnered for a long project, maybe, just maybe, Kurt will be able to solve the mystery of what happened to Blaine personally in their sophomore year. Klaine AU

Author's Note: Oh my, this is the last chapter... and it's a lot shorter than the last two chapters... that sounds kind of odd, but oh well. It's really just a sweet wrap-up chapter that I felt obligated to write, really. I must say, though, that I really did love writing this story so much and I love everyone who has read it all. You're all amazing and you mean so, so much to me, every last one of you.

Someone asked if I could write a sequel to this story, though, and... well, it's a possibility, but I wouldn't count on it. At all. I'm still trying to figure out something for the sequel to "Perfect" and I'm not entirely sure where I'd take a sequel to this story. If it does happen eventually, then it'll happen, if it doesn't... well, don't be surprised. I will be writing a lot this summer, though, with my new awesome beta whom I adore very, very much, so maybe these stories will be better with her help

The sun was bright an unyielding high up in the sky—a sure sign that it was the middle of summer. Blaine and Kurt walked through the grassy field in the park, hand in hand, while Serena and her friend, Johan, ran towards the swing set. Kurt had a picnic basket hanging in the crook of his right arm, and Blaine had a blanket draped over his left arm and an umbrella in hand. They talked lowly and smiled at each other and laughed, walking closely because there was no one else around—no one else was crazy enough to go outside and eat in the weather that they were having.

When they reached a nice, grassy spot they could spread out in, Kurt set the basket down and grabbed one end of the blanket, helping his boyfriend—Kurt still grinned whenever he thought of that—spread the soft, but thin, fabric out. While Blaine was crawling around on the blanket, pushing outwards on any odd creases, Kurt grabbed the blanket… and just stood there for a while, thinking about the past few months since they had become a "thing".

Of course New Directions took it well when Blaine decided it'd be a great idea to spontaneously kiss Kurt on the huge steps in the back of their school only a week after their kiss in the rain. It wasn't like that type of reveal was planned or anything, but it did work to an extent. Mercedes hadn't really been surprised—well, no one in the glee club was really surprised, actually. They said something about expecting it since Kurt came back from the hospital or something—since Kurt had told her almost immediately after their kiss the next time he saw her.

The rest of the school? Well… there was definitely an interesting reaction. The main first reaction was definitely shock. No one was angry for the first day after Blaine decided he'd be a spontaneous idiot (when Kurt asked him why he bothered to kiss him in probably the worst place for two guys to kiss in McKinley, Blaine just said, "You looked really cute," like the smooth, compliment-giving guy he was), even though some of the anger set in a day after.

Mostly, it came from the football players, of course, both due to the fact that Blaine came out of the closet and because he was with Kurt of all people. Not that Blaine really even cared that slushies were reinstated and mainly targeted at both him and Kurt, nor did he care that people started treating him completely differently. Being a popular straight guy like how he had been the year before was completely different from being a popular gay guy, which he couldn't be since… well, he was gay.

Yes, the thought pissed Kurt off because he knew that they wouldn't let Blaine back on the soccer team due to stupid prejudiced behavior that always pissed him off, so much. Once again, Blaine assured Kurt that he didn't care, and just held his hand happily and proudly, despite the fact that Kurt could tell that Blaine did care that everything was changing again.

At one point, the weekend after their relationship was revealed, actually, when they were lying on Kurt's couch watching TV, with Kurt's head in Blaine's lap again, a commercial came on and neither made a move to change the channel, so Kurt just turned his head away from the television and stared up at Blaine, who was watching it with a blank expression. Kurt stared up at him for a while, until Blaine became aware of his staring and looked down in response, a small smile appearing on his face automatically when he looked down at Kurt. His hand moved and weaved it self softly and slowly through Kurt's hair, causing the brunet to close his eyes in a small (large) amount of bliss.

"Are you doing okay?" Kurt asked softly, opening his eyes again only partially.

Blaine gave him a confused look, his head tilting to the side slightly like he always did when he was questioning something, "Of course I'm doing okay," he responded easily, "why wouldn't I be doing okay?"

Kurt sighed and shook his head just enough to give the clear message that he was, indeed, shaking his head, "Blaine, everything started changing this week for you. People didn't use to touch you or ridicule you. Now that you've come out, and you've come out not only as a gay but also my boyfriend… the abuse has only just begun, Blaine." The words were said quietly, but bluntly so Blaine would get the message that Kurt was trying as hard as possible to send to him.

As a first response, Blaine brushed his thumb lightly across Kurt's forehead—what he could reach, anyways, "I know that, Kurt," he responded, leaning over slightly so that their faces were closer, "You know that I know that. I don't exactly understand what you're trying to tell me by reiterating this."

"You can break up with me, if you want," Kurt said, appearing outwardly indifferent even though mentally and emotionally, the thought really, really hurt. They hadn't even been together a full two weeks… but Kurt wouldn't lie and say that he was afraid that everything that was happening to them would eventually cause Blaine to drift away. "I-I mean," he hurried on, looking away from Blaine before the dark haired teen could really respond properly, "eventually… eventually you'll probably start to fade away from me and I don't think I could actually deal with that if you stay with me."

There was a soft and short laugh before Blaine brushed his lips faintly across Kurt's forehead, "Kurt… I don't want to break up with you. I swear to you, that I'll never let the bullying affect how I feel about you. What we have between us… it's bigger and better and more important than any amount of abuse thrown my way—our way. Don't… say stuff like that, because we both know it's not going to happen. I bet you anything that you convinced yourself to think that." Kurt said nothing in return to that and just returned his gaze back to Blaine, who was still leaned over him, staring down at him.

"I won't lie," Blaine continued after a small moment of silence, "yes, the bullying does… bother me, quite a bit, but… you are truly worth it all. If anything, it actually all strengthens my feelings for you, in an odd way. We haven't even been together two weeks and this is probably sudden, but I never want to break up with you. If anything, you'll have to break up with me and…" there was a pause, before he changed his train of thought, "You have absolutely nothing to worry about, Kurt. I'm honestly not about to break up with you because of some kids at our school—I thought that you had more hope in me than that."

Kurt stared up at Blaine with wide eyes, before letting his own small laugh rush out of his mouth, "How do you always know what to say?" he asked.

"I don't," was Blaine response, and Kurt opened his eyes again, and Blaine's eyes were right above his own in all of their beautiful hazel glory.

Kurt's hand reached up and around Blaine's neck, pulling him down for a soft, light and brief kiss, arching upwards into it since there wasn't really much Kurt could do from how they were lying, before he let go of Blaine and let him sit up again, since that position couldn't have been comfortable.

"Kurt," Blaine's voice intruded his thoughts, and Kurt blinked, finally realizing that he had been staring off into space for a while, and he looked down at Blaine, who was staring up at him with a mixture of confusion and amusement, "I've been trying to get your attention. Set up the umbrella and get down here, silly."

Rolling his eyes, Kurt walked around the blanket and dug the large umbrella into the soft grassy ground, before carefully stepping onto the blanket, not wanting to crawl over due to grass stains, "So demanding," he huffed playfully. At Blaine's laugh, he fell onto the dark haired teen's chest, letting Blaine wrap his arms entirely around him. "I can't believe that you convinced me to do this, though."

Blaine laughed again, and Kurt could feel it more than he could hear it, "No one else is out here, though," he said in response, pulling them both up to more of a sitting position, spreading his legs and letting Kurt sit in between them snuggly, "so we can cuddle as much as we want." As if to prove a point, Blaine's arms tightened around Kurt's torso for a moment.

"Ah, yes, the cuddling," Kurt shot back, tilting his head back completely to find Blaine smiling at him, "We could have cuddled at my house or your house, though. I honestly don't think that you have a legitimate reason for dragging me out here on one of the hottest days of the year."

Another small rush of laughter came from Blaine, spreading out across Kurt's face, causing him to heat up even more than he already had. Even wearing shorts and a soft t-shirt with a vest was causing Kurt to become heated enough by the weather to be a little more easily irritable than usual. "Let's just say it's for the kids—I mean, they're having tons of fun." One arm loosened from Kurt's body and gestured towards the playground, where Serena was climbing a ladder to get to the top, Johan taking the stairs instead.

Kurt watched them for a few moments, before smiling a little bit and nodding, leaning his head back less dramatically so that it fell against Blaine's chest, "Fine, it's for the kids—I am very proud of Serena, by the way, she seems to be getting so much better. The only thing I wish for now from her is for her to talk, but you said that she has said a few words, so I'm absolutely sure that she'll get better before the school year starts," Kurt rambled, breaking off from the original subject. Blaine didn't seem to mind, though. Actually, when Kurt glanced back at him shortly, Blaine was just smiling in an almost admiring manner that was just a little odd. "I repeat once more for emphasis, for the kids, not for you," Kurt added quickly.

A small kiss was pressed to the top of Kurt's head, and Blaine shook with muted laughter once more, "I'm glad that I have such a loving boyfriend," he retorted playfully, and Kurt couldn't even think of a proper response to that because his brain just melted and his heart basically just did a back flip from that one word.

Boyfriend.

"You did that on purpose," Kurt muttered in response, moving his elbow quickly to jab Blaine in the side. The dark haired teen let out a small noise that was probably a mixture of surprise and pain, before asking Kurt what exactly he meant. "You used the word boyfriend on me, on purpose," Kurt repeated, twisting his head again to give Blaine a look.

Blaine looked a little confused, before smiling again, "Well, I can assure you that I didn't do whatever I did on purpose. If it helps at all…" Blaine leaned down, his face ridiculously close to Kurt's suddenly when it had already been pretty close. "The word probably gives me about the same reaction that it give you."

Kurt rose an eyebrow, attempting to act nonchalant at Blaine blatant attempt at flirting, "Says the guy who ran and tried to say bye after our first kiss." Kurt knew very well that was a pretty bad blow, but Blaine knew that he was kidding—especially because he adopted a playfully wounded expression, his mouth falling open slightly in a way that Kurt just had to laugh at.

"Haven't I explained this to you?" Blaine mock-whined, causing Kurt to laugh a little more. The small smile on Blaine's face broke the already poor illusion of Blaine being upset, and he chuckled a little and fell back, obviously bringing Kurt with him onto the blanket completely.

Kurt rolled off of Blaine, and instead laid next to him, facing him completely on his right side while Blaine faced him, lying on his right side, "I am still a little angry at you for that, by the way," Kurt whispered truthfully. It wasn't like he was about to go in a rage angry, just more like a little bit hurt angry. Sure it wasn't really a good idea to dig up things that happened months ago, but he couldn't really help it—he did bring on the subject, after all.

A more serious, sorrowful expression found its way to Blaine's face, and he reached slowly for Kurt's left hand, holding it gently, "I know that you are," he whispered, inching just a little closer to Kurt. "You do have every right to still be angry at me for that. I was upset and frazzled, so I wasn't really thinking, and something in my mind told me to say goodbye and… well, I did stop myself because… I never, ever want to say goodbye to you." A thumb brushed across the slightly sensitive skin on Kurt's hand, adding to whatever his heart was feeling that made it hurt in probably the best way possible. "Saying bye to you would have been the biggest mistake of my life, in my honest opinion."

"We need a change of subject," Kurt muttered, squeezing Blaine's hand back gently, "today is supposed to be light and happy. We shouldn't be talking about serious things…" he trailed off, and glanced down at their hands, intertwined between them as they normally were, "You never did tell me why you have such an obsession with my hands, and I really want to know."

A small smile broke across Blaine's face again, even though that expression was still in his eyes that almost ruined the sweetness of the smile. Slowly, though, it started to fade from his hazel eyes completely as he brought Kurt's hand up to he mouth and pressed a gentle, fleeting kiss against the knuckle of his ring finger, "Mm, my odd obsession with your hands," he whispered against Kurt's pale skin, causing a slight shiver to run up his spine. "Do you know about that Egyptian—I think it was Egyptian anyways—myth that stated that there was a vein that went straight from your ring finger to your heart, without taking any detours?"

Kurt gasped just a little bit as Blaine pulled their hands apart and turned the palm of Kurt's hand towards his face, and began lightly tracing his index finger from the tip of Kurt's left ring finger across the palm of his hand to his wrist. It was a ticklish feeling, that made him squirm a little, but not unpleasantly ticklish, "Yeah, I know about that," Kurt whispered, watching Blaine's finger slowly trail across the underside of his soft forearm, "That's why engagement and wedding rings are always on the left ring finger."

"Exactly," Blaine whispered, his index finger stopping briefly in the crook of Kurt's elbow, before continuing up Kurt's upper arm, "I mean, part of the reason I love your hands is because they're so soft, but it's also because of that. It's really just a myth… but I like going by it for some reason." His finger reached Kurt's shoulder, and then his chest, before Blaine pressed the palm of his hand gently against where Kurt's heart was beating under his skin and ribcage, "It's almost like a direct link to your heart. That's why I'm always touching your ring finger more than anything else."

Kurt lifted his gaze from Blaine's hand, and looked at Blaine himself pensively… before smiling just a little bit. "That's so… romantic in an odd way," he murmured in response, his left hand rising up again to press itself over Blaine's hand gently. "I do have to wonder, though…" he began, and Blaine made a noise that confirmed that he could continue with whatever question it was about to ask. "Does the fact that engagement and wedding rings are always placed on the left ring finger, as I said before, have anything to do with it?" Maybe Kurt was overstepping the boundaries of their new relationship, but he couldn't help but think back to that dream where they were engaged.

A light blush spread across Blaine's face, and his eyes darted to the side briefly, before he looked back at Kurt and laughed somewhat nervously, "I… I can't tell you yet," he finally said, leaning his head forwards so that their foreheads touched gently, "We've only been together a few months. I don't feel the need to drive you away from me just yet with my weird awkwardness."

"It's a yes or no question, Blaine," Kurt said teasingly lowly, moving so that their noses brushed together, "I just want to know if it has anything at all to do that that small fact. How long we've been together has nothing to do with it—yet. And you won't scare me away no matter what your answer is." Actually, Kurt could figure out the answer from Blaine's reaction, but he really just wanted to hear the dark haired teen say it aloud for him to hear, as well as for confirmation.

"Yes, is does have something minor to do with that."

"I thought so."

They stared at each other for a while longer, before breaking out into huge smiles and light laughter. Blaine leaned forwards and pressed their lips together in a sweet, chaste kiss that was broken by another stream of laughter from the both of them. "I thought it was a thing for people to freak out if their new significant other gives any indications at all that they want something more permanent in the future," Blaine said around the random fit of laughter that really just came out of nowhere.

Kurt's laughed died down just a little bit and his eyes opened again to look over at his boyfriend with a soft expression, "If that was even true in our case, you would have broken up with me immediately when you forced me to tell you about my dreams that I've had of us."

"True enough," Blaine responded, before leaning in for yet another soft kiss that only lasted a few moments, before they broke apart and smiled at each other again, just a little goofily.

Honestly, Kurt always felt a little lighter when they vaguely brought up the topic of marriage… that was a bad thing, wasn't it? He always had to remind himself that getting ahead of himself was a horrible idea and he just needed to take a step back, and breathe for a few moments, because he and Blaine had only been together for a few months and early desires of marriage were a bad thing. He totally blamed the dreams that he had, though. Their entire fault… well, okay, that would mean it was his subconscious' fault, which meant that it was his fault.

He really couldn't win this mental battle.

Suddenly, a weight was on top of them and pushing them to the side slightly, and Kurt looked up confusedly to see a smiling Serena sprawled across them, laughter shinning in her eyes. Kurt looked over to the side slightly and saw Johan standing there, smiling and looking a little guilty. At this, Kurt just laughed lightly, and Serena tugged on Blaine's shirt, "Hungry," she said softly, before lowering her head and hiding behind her bangs a little. It was clear that she still felt a little funny talking, and Kurt couldn't help but pull her into his arms.

"We can eat now, if you want," Kurt said, before Blaine said anything, hugging Serena closely to him. She giggled a little bit, and twisted around in Kurt's arms, pressing her face against his chest, hiding herself in such a cute, childish manner.

Blaine laughed a little and stood up, walking over to the basket and opening it, as Johan sat next to Kurt. Serena twisted around again so that she was sitting in Kurt's lap properly, and smiled over at Johan, reaching out for him with one hand, which he took. Kurt smiled at them, before looking over at Blaine who was bringing over some sandwiches as well as a bowl of fruit.

Blaine seated himself next to Kurt, and handed to kids their food. When Serena got her food, she hopped out of Kurt's lap and seated herself next to Johan, resting her head on his shoulder as she ate, her mouth moving slightly every so often. She was probably whispering to him, since the only people she would actually speak choppy sentences to, according to Blaine, was both Blaine and Johan, obviously. Kurt was getting there… slowly.

"Thank you," Kurt said when Blaine handed him his food, and he unwrapped it carefully.

"No," Blaine whispered, pressing a sweet kiss against Kurt's cheek, "Thank you. I've told you this already, but really. You really, really did save me, Kurt."

Kurt looked over at his boyfriend, and smiled a little bit, leaning his head in Blaine's shoulder gently, "I know I did, and you saved me and everything is okay. We've been through this," he said in a teasing tone, taking a small bite from his sandwich and Blaine laughed gently. "I love you," he whispered, really more liked breathed, but all the same. His heart sped up slightly at the words, and he could feel his face start to heat up again slowly.

"I love you, too."

With a small, soft hum, Kurt let his eyes fall closed and a small smile spread across his face as he took another small bite of his sandwich. He listened to everything that was around them… the buzzing of a few bugs, the soft wind that fluttered across his face and moved leaves in the trees that were near them. He heard Serena talking softly and Johan responding just as quietly, and he heard Blaine's soft, quiet breathing between his own bites of food. Everything was fine… everything was okay. At that moment, Kurt could just listen and faintly, just faintly, he could hear the soft sound of music, as if it were so far away that someone had to strain their ears to hear.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy, when skies are gray…

Serena suddenly shrieked with laughter and Kurt heard her fall over, and Blaine had to stand up to go see if everything was okay, and Kurt sat up completely and opened his eyes, looking over at Blaine who was leaned over Serena, who was basically rolling around on the blanket and the grass. Blaine was staring at her with a confused expression, before he started to laugh himself, which just caused Johan to start laughing.

Kurt watched Blaine lovingly, until he turned back to Kurt and grinned over at him. Kurt smiled back, softly, and the music started playing somewhere again, and he mouthed the next lyrics to Blaine.

You'll never know, just how much I love you.

In response to the mouthed words, Blaine's eyebrows rose from surprise… and then lowered as a sweet, caring smile appeared on his face. They were like that for a while, Kurt sitting and staring up at Blaine, and Blaine standing and staring down at Kurt.

It was okay. Everything was okay. After basically a year of hell… everything was okay.

So, please, don't take my sunshine away.