dustofstars | for endingpoint

Kurt's not expecting the hug but he responds quickly, holding onto her almost tightly for a moment. Taking a deep breath, he says, "Knowing you can sleep at night without terrible dreams - it's all worth it for that." Even if she never comes back to him the way she was, he's just glad she can be at peace.

Softly, Taylor kisses his cheek. "Goodnight, Kurt," she says softly, deciding to leave him alone. But she's grateful to him. She's thankful she has him, and she wants to know him, more now than ever.

"Goodnight, Taylor," he murmurs, saying her name for the first time out loud. He smiles a little and shuts the door after she leaves.

A few days later, while Kurt is at work, Taylor decides she wants to go for a walk. She can figure it out, she has her security detail, and it should be fine. But then she gets swallowed by such a large Christmas crowd, and she can't see the men, and they can't see her. She doesn't have the phone, and she doesn't know his address to even try to get home.

She doesn't know what to do, so she finds the only thing that looks familiar, the hot chocolate stand, and just sits, completely lost, feeling like a failure, like she can't even navigate a few blocks.

Kurt is panicking when he hears that she's missing, and he thinks he's lost her. Again. He keeps losing her, over and over again. It takes a few hours, with them searching the city to no avail. Finally Patterson asks him if she's been anywhere recently, if she'd think to go anywhere in particular. So he goes to the Mexican restaurant first and when she's not there, he tries to think. The hot chocolate vendor. He can't remember exactly where it is, so he just jogs down Fifth Avenue, calling out her name. Finally, he spots her.

"Taylor!"

When Taylor hears him, her head snaps up, and when she sees him, she jumps up and launches herself into his arms, holding onto him tightly. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I thought it would be okay with the security detail," she says quickly.

But clearly this was a mistake and she's shaking a little - partly from cold and partly from fear.

His heart is pounding with fear and he takes a deep breath as he holds onto her just as tightly, closing his eyes a moment and just feeling grateful that she's here, she's safe. His hand rests on the back of her head for a moment, keeping her close.

"You're safe, it's okay. It's all that matters." He pulls back then, shrugging out of his coat and draping it over his shoulders. "Come on, I'll take you home."

When she sees how close they are to his apartment she feels even worse once he lets her inside. "I didn't...I didn't realize how close I was, I should have been able to find my way."

"It's okay. Really. It's easy to get turned around," he assures her, squeezing her hand. Then he leads her upstairs to his apartment.

"Just relax now, okay? Sit down, I'll make hot chocolate." It's too late in the day for coffee, but he figures a warm drink will soothe her nerves a little. Once the drinks are made, he brings over two mugs, sitting with her on the couch.

"Thank you," she murmurs, and she's sitting close to him because she just needs to be close.

"I didn't...want you to feel like you had to be my babysitter. But as it turns out, I guess I need one," she says as she looks down into the mug.

"Nah, I don't think so," he says nonchalantly, trying to get her to loosen up. "Don't beat yourself up, okay? It worked out, it's fine."

She's trying to relax, sinking down into the couch as she drinks her hot chocolate. They watch a random movie, and once she's done with her drink, the mug goes to the coffee table. And then, as the minutes tick by and she's warm and knows she's safe, Taylor begins nodding off, until her head falls heavily on his shoulder.

Kurt turns his head just slightly, seeing that she's fallen asleep. He takes a deep breath and then kisses her temple softly, wrapping an arm around her waist. He holds onto her until the movie is over and then he gently and carefully lifts her up into his arms, carrying her to her bed and tucking her in. He pauses a moment, just watching her breathe and sleep peacefully with no fear of nightmares. He wants to whisper that he loves her but he can't take that chance right now. Instead, he kisses her forehead and leaves, letting her sleep.

When she finally starts going to the office again, everyone seems to tiptoe around her and Taylor feels a little self-conscious. But she likes being there on her own time, whenever she can help Patterson with anything, she does. The two of them become fast friends and go out every now and then for drinks, but she always comes home to Kurt.

For the next three weeks, they steadily get closer, with Kurt opening up more and more. Kurt thinks she might be ready to watch that video about him soon, but he still waits. There's a guy at work, though, who's been getting friendly with Taylor. He's nice, friendly, makes her laugh a lot. The guy is always smiling, wears his heart on his sleeve. He's nothing like Kurt; his emotions aren't locked down, he's not closed off, he's just kind and has a big heart. And he likes Taylor a lot.

Kurt tries to ignore it, but on a Friday afternoon, he's making his way to the lab to ask Patterson and Jane something. Then he sees the guy - Sam - standing by Taylor, smiling at her. They're laughing and having a good time. He leans in, resting a hand on her arm, and asks her out on a date that night, after work. It's then that Kurt walks in and he hears the question posed to her.

"Ah. Sorry. I'll give you a minute," he says, walking right back out. He doesn't want to intrude but he also doesn't want to hear Taylor agree.

She's honestly flattered by it all, if not a little overwhelmed. Sam's nice, and she likes that he makes her laugh, she likes that they have some inside jokes. But something just doesn't feel right to her heart.

But the second she sees Kurt, she feels it, and then it's gone again. He's gone, and the light that flickered for a second burns right back out. Going through the rest of the day, Taylor's right there next to Kurt in the loner room once it's empty, ready to leave with him. Not with anyone else.

He slips his coat on, looking at her. He wouldn't blame her for wanting to be with Sam, he sees how easily she smiles with him. Kurt doesn't feel like he makes her smile that often, that easily. Does he give her much to be happy about?

"You're not heading out with Sam?"

"He's sweet, but..." Taylor shrugs just a little, reaching into her locker for her coat as well, pulling it on. "I don't know, something's telling me he's a good friend, and that's all. Just a...gut feeling, I guess."

A good friend.

So he hasn't lost his chance, then. Kurt nods, not trying to make a big deal out of it. But there's a small smile on his lips. "It's Friday night. We don't need to rush home." He grabs a scarf from his locker as well, moving to her and wrapping it around her neck loosely. It's warm and smells like him and with the chill from the Hudson, this will keep her from getting too cold. "Come on. I've got a surprise for you."

When he puts the scarf around her, she smiles a little, and it's small, her smiles can be with him. But the difference, if he can tell, is that her eyes light up too. It's a real smile, no matter how small, just for him.

"Technically, anywhere we go is a surprise for me," she teases lightly.

"True," he chuckles softly. He's trying to make her smile more, not wanting her to feel out of place with him for any reason. And then he leads her out of the building with a hand lightly resting at her back. It's a short walk to the ferry terminal and though it's cold, Kurt implores her to sit outside at the top with him. He even buys hot chocolate to help keep her warm.

"Best view in the city," he tells her.

She sits snuggled against his side - for warmth - and sips at her hot chocolate, looking out at everything. "It's calm up here. It makes it seem like the city is more calm than it really is."

Taylor's quiet for a few moments as she just looks at everything, taking it all in. And then, she looks up at him.

"I'm glad I'm seeing it like this with you."

"That's why I like it sometimes, when I just need to clear my head," he nods with a soft smile at her before sipping his drink.

He's not sure what to say in response when she mentions how much she likes seeing this with him specifically. "You make it fun."

Smiling softly, Taylor sighs happily. And then it just coms naturally when her head rests on his shoulder as she watches the lights on the water. They're the perfect height for each other, and to her at least, it just feels perfect.

He takes a deep breath in when her head comes to rest on his shoulder and then he decides to rest his cheek against her head, quietly sipping his hot chocolate and taking in the lights of the city.

for endingpoint

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