For Us

41. Punching above his weight class.

{Jon}

While Jon listened to the splash of the shower, he pulled the pillows off the bed and tossed them on the floor. Inspiration hit, and he quickly used the chair and end table to make a little sheet fort at the end of the bed, lit by the lamp standing up in the centre.

He heard Kurt chuckling, before his boyfriend ducked his head through the opening and crawled inside the tent. "We have a perfectly good bed, you know," he drawled.

Cross-legged, his head brushing the sheet stretched over them, Jon smiled. "You said your bed was for cuddling and sleeping only. It's late but I wanted to keep our options open."

"Very reasonable and responsible,"  Kurt said, stretching out beside him. He glanced up, looking far more relaxed than he'd been minutes ago. "Tell me all the boring stories, White. How are your kids?"

Jon lay down facing him, propping his head on his elbow. He caught Kurt up about the Thanksgiving turkey Naomi had roasted to juicy perfection, and Jordin's announcement that she was a girl, and the Kickingbird sibling's visit to the reserve this weekend. His head got tired and he tucked it onto Kurt's shoulder, and the other man put his arm around him, pulling him close.

As they breathed together in the close, warm space, Jon's mind shuttled back to another time, lying in a fort made of Kurt's blankets, in the luxurious garage space he'd lived in then. "Remember the day we made a pillow fort at your place?" he said softly.

Kurt's "Mm-hm," hummed against his cheek.

Jon asked the question he'd always wondered about. "Did you know? That you were gay that summer?"

Kurt made a soft noise. "Oh hell yes. I knew when I was nine years old kissing Davey C. behind the hill at recess."

Jon put his chin on his chest to look in his face. Kurt's eyes were half closed, contented and sleepy. "I didn't guess you were until right at the end. It was so impossible for me to believe that you would like me."

Kurt's hand tightened on his shoulder as he blew a dismissive raspberry. "How could I not. The day you walked in, this skinny kid with a great big soul shining out of your eyes, I wanted to get closer to you. God."

Jon's forehead wrinkled. "How did you know I was gay?"

Kurt laughed to himself. "You're not going to like it." He reached over, brushing his thumb over Jon's cheek. "You're such a blusher, love." Even as Kurt touched him, Jon felt his skin warm.

He laughed, hiding his face against Kurt. "I've never appreciated that quality until now."

"I thought you were so adorable," Kurt said. "And...god, all the things I wished I was. Good. Genuine. Brave." His hand stroked up the back of Jon's neck, rubbing the tension at the base of his skull. "I still think that," he said quietly.

Jon didn't know what to say. He didn't think of himself as brave, and whatever goodness he had didn't come easy. "You know you're amazing, right?" His voice was low, and he put his chin on his arm, slung over Kurt's ribcage, to look in his boyfriend's face. Kurt's eyebrows were lifted like Jon was telling a joke.

"There's no one like you, Kurt Visser." Jon tapped his fingers against Kurt's heart in time with the name. Frowning a little, Jon bit his lip. It turned out he had to say something about this. "That's what bothers me so much about Nicky. He's so patronizing towards you, when you're a capable, amazing person. You're not dime-a-dozen. He's an idiot if he thinks that."

Kurt's face went a little blank and he sat up, pulling away from Jon. "See—" Kurt said, then shoved a hand through his hair, his mouth flat. "I did not want to talk about this tonight," he said to himself.