Kurt and Blaine: It Gets Better, by aspiringtoeloquence

May, 2024:

The grainy image shifts for a few seconds, and then, all of a sudden, we see them. Or rather, we see an arm. An arm clad in a dark green sweater, an expensive sweater that was on back order at every high end store before Christmas, but, through sheer iron will (and few pulled strings), had made it under the Christmas tree by December 25th. Accompanying the arm is a voice, affectionately exasperated.

"I know I saw the button - no, it was there. The instruction manuel? I don't need the - no, I've got it. No, babe, I've got it. See. There. Oh. yeah."

The arm shifts, and so does our view. We can now see that there is a couple sitting on a creme colored couch. The man in the green sweater is settling in, turning instinctively to his partner, who is fixing his hair.

"You look great," he assures him. "Don't worry." He takes his hand gently, and the other man stills his movement.

"I just… I want to be perfect. I want to be what they want the future to be." Blue eyes look uncertain, the camera forgotten. The man in the sweater smiles.

"We are." His smile is infectious. "You ready?" A nod. "Okay then, let's do this."

The green sweatered man turns to the camera and smiles. "Hi, I'm Blaine Anderson-Hummel."

The other man speaks up, tugging slightly on their joined hands. "And I'm Kurt Anderson-Hummel. And we're here to tell you that it gets better."

They each take a deep breath, and Blaine squeezes Kurts hand before letting go to speak directly to the camera.

"When I was in high school, and even in junior high, I tried to pretend that it didn't bother me that I was different. I'd known for a long time, and once I came out the bullying got worse." He closes his eyes briefly. "Sometimes I thought that it was my fault, that maybe if I tried to be what everyone else wanted then maybe I could finally be happy. Maybe if I pretended to be straight, to like girls instead of boys, it might become true, and then they'd leave me alone." He pauses. "But the thing is, that didn't work. It would never have worked. Because the only way for me to be happy was to be myself, and once I found a safe place to be, once I found people to talk to, people who cared about me, I realized that every second that I was myself… that made me stronger. And…" he looks over at Kurt. "I wasn't alone."

Kurt speaks up, his voice a little uneven. "I - I was more obvious. Than Blaine, I mean. What I mean to say is… it wasn't possible for me to even try to blend in. And everyone knew I was different without my telling them. And it was hard. It was really hard sometimes to… to believe that there was a place, that there was a town, a city, communities where gay people - and not just gay people, but anyone different - could live their lives without being tossed into dumpsters, or having ice cold drinks thrown in their faces." He takes a deep breath, then smiles a little. "And I was lucky. I mean, I had family who… who supported me the best they could." He looks over at Blaine. "Not everyone has that."

Blaine takes his cue. "And then, one day, while we were both feeling alone, Kurt came to my school, and… he became my best friend."

"We knew what some of it felt like, feeling like we didn't belong. And that… that mutual understanding…" - Kurt smiles shyly- "well, it eventually grew into something more."

"I fell in love with him," Blaine smiles.

"Took you long enough."

"I cannot believe you are still bringing that up."

"I am still too embarrassed to even look in the window of a GAP." Kurt is still smiling slightly fondly, even though his eyebrow is raised.

"Anyway…" Blaine turns back to the camera. "We got married six months after it became legal -"

"Weddings take time to plan!" Kurt objects. Blaine just rolls his eyes indulgently.

" - and now we've been together for fourteen years -"

"Married for four. The color scheme was perfect," Kurt contributes.

"Of course it was." Blaine smiles, then turns back to the camera again. "But if we hadn't waited, kept going when we thought we were alone… well, none of this would have happened for us. I wouldn't come home from work to make dinner for two, I wouldn't wake up every morning to remember that yes, this is my life, I have all of this…"

Kurt's eyes are shining, but he continues. "We wouldn't be in the process of adopting a child - a beautiful baby girl - and I wouldn't go to sleep every night knowing that I have found someone who knows how to make me laugh, knows when I just need to be held, or need a little space, loves me despite my flaws… and maybe even sometimes because of them. And I wouldn't have learned that being myself isn't one of those flaws. Being gay isn't something I chose, but living my life is. Having hope, being happy is. Blaine… Blaine is."

Blaine kisses him on the cheek and whispers something quickly in his ear before speaking again. "So we're making this for all of you, everyone who feels like they are alone. Because you have a future waiting for you, and you need to see it. Please, see it. And if it feels like too much, if the pain becomes too much, please find someone to talk to. Your friends, family… or the people at the Trevor project. They all - we all - want your future for you. Because it is so, so worth it. You are worth it. So we - Kurt and I - are here telling you…"

They look at each other briefly, their hands still joined, and then both speak at the same time.

"It gets better."

The video fades out slowly, and we just glimpse Kurt leaning into Blaine, Blaine placing a quick kiss to his husband's forehead, and Kurt lifting his head so that their eyes meet. They smile.

If you are a youth who is feeling alone, confused or in crisis, please call The Trevor Lifeline at 1-866-4-U-TREVOR for immediate help.

Originally posted on my tumblr.