It was a stupid fight. Blaine didn't even know how it had happened. One second they were talking about Sectionals and the next they were yelling at each other over the phone.
After hanging up, storming out of his room, slamming doors, and visiting with his punching bag for an hour, Blaine had become significantly calmer. He settled onto his bed, leaning against the head board, trying to focus on homework. But it wasn't working. He instead pulled out a notebook and slid over to the keyboard that his parents had given him over the summer. His family owned a baby grand piano but after his dad had seen him staring longingly at a keyboard that had about 500 different special sounds it could make, his parents had gotten it for him. He'd begun to play it more often after Kurt had left for New York because he'd needed a distraction himself from Kurt's absence.
At first he began to just hit random notes and play scales but then he found his own forlorn sounding melody. As he played he began putting words to the tune. An hour later he fell back across his bed with a finished copy of the lyrics that had begun to pour out of him. Now he wanted to play this for Kurt, assuming he still wanted to talk to Blaine during their normally scheduled skype date that night.
Anxiously fiddling with his pencil Blaine waited for eight o'clock to come. He really needed for Kurt to hear this song. It wasn't really about apologizing to Kurt as much as it was about expressing that ache of missing Kurt, and how he knew that it was hard on them both sometimes, and that yes he was sorry for taking that stress out on him, but they both knew that whatever they'd been fighting about wasn't a real issue.
As he logged onto skype that night for their weekly Thursday night date Kurt was a bit anxious. He knew Blaine hadn't meant half the stuff that he had said and that he was just frustrated, but Kurt was still worried that Blaine wouldn't be there to talk about it. It was their first fight since Kurt had left and he knew that he wouldn't be able to fly home solely to make Blaine listen to him if he needed to.
Kurt let out a sigh of relief, when, moments later Blaine's skype icon went from "offline" to "online" and then a video chat request appeared on his screen. Taking a deep breath he clicked "accept." Kurt bounced up and down in his seat nervously as he waited for the video feed to load. When he looked up from where he was playing with his hands in his lap he saw Blaine smiling nervously at him. The second he made eye contact Blaine began talking.
"I'm sorry about earlier, I just had a bad day,-"
"Blaine"
"and I missed you, and instead of just telling you about it,-"
"Blaine!"
"I took my frustration out on you, which isn't fair. I shouldn't do that to you."
"Blaainnne."
Blaine finally stopped to take a breath and looked up at Kurt. "Yeah?"
"I'm not mad at you." Kurt sighed, "I stopped being mad at you about five minutes after you hung up the phone. I would've called you right back, but I wasn't sure if you were ready to talk yet..."
"Oh Kurt, I really am sorry. When I hung up I went to the basement to work off some of my frustrations and left my phone up here anyways. And then when I came back I was nervous that you wouldn't want to talk to me if I tried to call back."
"Blaine…"
"I know, we said after the whole Chandler thing that we wouldn't shut each other out, especially when we are so far away from each other. I just thought you might be too mad at me for going off on you like that that you might not answer any calls I made to you tonight." He glanced down sadly and then returned his gaze to Kurt. "I just wouldn't've been able to handle that. I really hate that I yelled at you for no reason like that too."
"Blaine, it's ok, I get it, unfortunately, that probably won't be the last time one of us takes their frustrations out on the other unjustly. We'll just have to deal with it when it happens." He paused, watching to make sure that Blaine had actually forgiven himself, or at the very least wasn't going to continue apologizing for the rest of the night. He knew Blaine hadn't meant anything by what he said. Sure his words had stung a bit, but after hanging up he'd realized that Blaine wasn't actually mad at him about anything. It was just a bad day or week. Not to mention, they were still fairly new at this whole long-distance thing.
After a few moments Blaine started speaking again, slightly nervous. "I, um. I wrote something. After I finished boxing. I couldn't focus on anything. A-and it spilled out of me after I started playing around on my keyboard."
Kurt watched Blaine as he fumbled a bit explaining to him how he'd written a song, smiling a slightly at how adorable he was sometimes. Ok, all the time. But especially when he was nervous.
"So, um, ok I'm just going to-" Blaine paused and shifted his computer around. After he'd settled in again Kurt could see that Blaine had put his laptop behind his keyboard so that he could play and look at Kurt. "I don't have it all memorized or anything yet, I finished it like 20 minutes before I skyped you…" He looked down and Kurt could see him stretching his fingers out over the keys preparing to play, but then he paused again and looked up at Kurt imploringly. "It's, well, ok. It's about how I've been feeling since you left."
Kurt opened his mouth to speak but Blaine cut him off. "I know, I know, I know. It's not anything about you. Wait. No. I mean." Blaine let out a huff of annoyance at his inability to explain this properly. "It's about you. It's completely about you. Because it's about my heart, and you have that. I meant that it's not about you leaving" he made air quotes around the word leaving "me behind or anything like that. It's just about-"
"Hey Blaine?"
Blaine looked back up with wide questioning eyes "Yeah?"
Kurt smiled at him gently "You know you can just play it right? I'm sure I'll understand the meaning behind it when I hear it. That's the point of the song anyways isn't it?"
"Yeah, I guess it is."
"Ok, so why don't you play it now. I'm dying to hear it. I haven't heard you play anything in ages."
Blaine nodded and then, looking back down, ghosted his fingers over the keys once more. He took a breath, glanced up at Kurt and said "It's called 'A Promise.'"
Kurt watched as Blaine played. It started off as a lonely piano line, but after a few measures, Blaine joined in with his voice.
"I miss you most in the morning.
When a day without you has just begun.
And all the simple things do nothing.
They help the stars chase away the sun."
Kurt felt a slight pang in his chest at the sorrow and the longing that he heard in Blaine's voice. Blaine looked up at him again as he sang the next few lines.
"I know this is hardly what we asked for.
But I'll thankfully make it much more.Close your eyes, hold on tight.
I'm sending you my love from a distance tonight.
Close your eyes, hold on tight.
I'm dreaming of your face cause I miss it tonight."
As Blaine shifted his attention back to his notebook and the keys of the piano, Kurt began blinking back a few tears.
"And even if the dawn goes slowly,
Another night sleep spent on my own.
And all the pillows they do nothing.
I guess a comfort is with you alone.
When Blaine looked up at Kurt again his eyes were glistening with unshed tears."I know this is hardly what we asked for.
But I'll thankfully make it much more.Close your eyes, hold on tight.
I'm sending you my love from a distance tonight.
Close your eyes, hold on tight.
I'm dreaming of your face cause I miss it tonight."
After momentarily glancing to the side to check the lyrics, Blaine returned his gaze to Kurt's face, his voice taking on a slightly rougher quality as he continued singing. "I know that I'm nothing.
I'm trying to be something.
If ever I am then I...
I promise you'll still be,
And you always will be mine.
You'll be mine.Close your eyes, hold on tight.
I'm sending you my love from a distance tonight.
Close your eyes, hold on tight.
I'm dreaming of your face cause I miss it tonight.
As the song came to a close, Blaine slowed it down.I'm dreaming of your face cause I miss it.
I'm dreaming of your kiss cause I miss you tonight."
By the time Blaine finished they both had tears streaming down their faces. Kurt reached out and touched his hand to the image of Blaine's cheek on his computer screen in a fruitless attempt to wipe some of the tears away.
Blaine reached out to do the same thing, and, touching the screen, whispered "I miss you Kurt. I really, really miss you." He sniffed. "And I knew it was going to hurt being away from you like this, but I had no idea how hard it would be sometimes. I know we still get to talk all the time, but sometimes I can't help but to just wish that you were here."
"Blaine…" Kurt choked out.
"I know that you have to be in New York. I know it's your dream, and I don't want you to ever give that up on that or postpone it because of me. And I remind myself every day that come the middle of May it won't matter. You'll be back here, with me, and then we'll both be in New York. Together. And we won't ever have to be separated like this again, but right now it just really sucks sometimes. And, well, I just miss having you physically in a room with me, or even just knowing that I can randomly run into you in the halls at school." Blaine finally stopped talking, and pulled the pillow that Kurt had left for him when he went off to school, to his chest, clutching it tightly and breathing in any remaining Kurt smell.
Kurt was crying in full force at this point. Needless to say, he was incredibly grateful that his roommate was out partying with friends that night. "I miss you too sweetheart. I miss you so freaking much every day. When I get up and grab a coffee and you're not there with me. When I see a couple wander by looking so happy and in love. When I go to sleep at night and instead of saying goodnight to you I only have my roommate to say it too… it's not even like we ever really got to fall asleep at night holding each other more than twice, but," he shrugged his shoulders, tears continuing to fall, "I still miss it. I miss your arms being around me. And sometimes I find myself thinking that I should just take a semester off and come home to you, but then I remember how many people would kill me if I did that, you being first in line." Blaine let out a half-laugh half-sob at this. "…So instead I started making a list of everything we're doing when you live here." Kurt disappeared only to come back moments later with a notebook in his hands.
He opened it up and flipped through about twenty pages smiling sheepishly back at Blaine through his tears. "I may've gone a little overboard with the planning, but I've been trying to channel my missing you into something more productive than curling up in my bed and hugging Build-a-Bear Blaine to my chest until someone comes in."
"Kurt…"
"I'm sorry this is so hard… twenty five days until I come home for Thanksgiving though Blaine. Then in the blink of an eye I'll be back again for a month."
"I know" Blaine sniffed. He reached across to the left side of the bed where his Kurt-bear was sitting next to Margaret Thatcher Dog. Sitting the bear in front of the computer he continued. "He's been keeping count for me. He's also been giving me judging looks every time I just throw my socks on the floor and leave them there. And one time I swear I heard him sigh and say 'seriously Blaine, I need to teach you how to use gel properly'"
Kurt finally laughed loudly at this, raising an eyebrow. "Wearing socks now are we? I'm going to come back and my Blaine's going to be unrecognizable!" he joked teasingly.
"Yeah, well…" Blaine laughed. "I don't really have a comeback for that." He smirked at Kurt, "I guess I just no longer have anyone I need to try to seduce with my bare ankles during class…"
Kurt scoffed and then glared, pointing at Blaine through the screen "You better not be trying to seduce anyone. I'll come over there and tear you both to shreds. You're mine. And if I have anything to say about it you always will be mine."
"I wouldn't dream of being anyone else's, love."
Kurt grinned. "Well now that we've gotten that settled, I should probably go to bed. All this crying has tired me out a bit and I have a presentation in the morning."
"Ok." Blaine blinked sadly at him for a moment. "I've got some homework I should finish, but you'll call me tomorrow and tell me about how you blew your class away with that presentation?"
Kurt smiled. "You bet I will. They won't know what hit'em." Kurt stood up to start his bedtime routine, pausing to bend back down one last time to see Blaine before he ended the call.
"Goodnight"
"G-goodnight Blaine," Kurt yawned. "I love you sweetheart"
Blaine grinned happily "I love you too Kurt"
Authors Note:
The song used is called A Promise by Time and Distance.
I was listening to my iTunes a few months ago and the song came on. I used to listen to it all the time when my ex and I were doing the long distance thing. So an idea for a one-shot centered around it stuck in my head and this is what came out. I was going to have Blaine play guitar for it, but in my head canon of him he only plays piano, and maybe violin, viola, or cello, but not guitar, so I had him play piano with the idea that most of the guitar line is played on the keyboard.
