dustofstars | for endingpoint

"We will. We'll go somewhere new this weekend," he promises softly. There's a lot still for her to explore, for him to show her, and he's looking forward to it, he realizes. He doesn't even think much about it as he reaches out to rest his hand on the back of her head, stroking her hair idly.

"I'll show you Coney Island, we'll get some hotdogs. I'll take you to Rockefeller Center," he promises.

She smiles softly, means to reply, but then his fingers are in her hair and she just hums, falling asleep standing up right against him. She just feels safe, happy, and secure.

He smiles softly, pressing a soft kiss to her temple before carefully lifting her up into his arms and carrying her to bed. He takes her shoes off, takes the scarf off, moves slowly so he doesn't jostle her too much. Once she seems comfortable and she's tucked in, he kisses her forehead and sets her phone down by her bed with a note to watch the video labeled Kurt when she wakes up. Then he leaves, shutting the door and going to bed.

Taylor sleeps so soundly, and when she wakes in the morning, a little later than normal, she smiles softly because she knows he must have brought her here. When she sees the phone, Jane sits up and smiles, not sure what to expect.

When she watches it, it's herself again.

Taylor, or maybe you're still going by Jane, I don't know. But, once I do this, I'm going to forget Kurt. You won't know him. You won't know that you love him. I think...I think I'll always know. It's a feeling. Like...you're home when you're with him. Being with him is warm and safe and right. And I - you - love him. He's everything, he's...just trust yourself. Because he loves you, I know he does, and he won't stop just because of this. He'll always wait for us.

By the time the video ends, Taylor's crying, and she watches it again, and again. Everything she's told herself is true, and she moves out of her room after changing her clothes, wearing actual pajamas now as she goes to the living room. And when she doesn't see him there, she goes to his room, knocking softly on his door.

Kurt's just woken up when she knocks and he slips a light sweater on, wearing that with sweatpants. He's a little nervous, not sure if she watched the video and not sure how she'll react if she did. But he opens his door to her, a soft smile on his face. It's clear she's been crying, though, and his smile disappears into a frown.

"Taylor - are you kay?"

"You love me," she whispers, swallowing hard as she looks up at him. "You love me." She has no idea what else to say, and then she just wraps her arms around him, holding him tightly. Because she doesn't remember. She doesn't remember, but he hasn't stopped. She knows he loves her because every touch, every look at her, she's seen it. And maybe she didn't know what it was, maybe she didn't realize what she was seeing, but now she does. Now it's perfectly clear.

He closes his eyes when she reaches out to hug him and only hesitates a moment before reaching out to hug her in return, just holding her close to him. "I love you," he whispers, knowing she won't say it back, she can't. She doesn't love him yet. But he has hope now that she really could love him again.

Breathing him in, closing her eyes, Taylor just holds him. "I know you do. And I...thank you, for doing this. For understanding what I needed to do." She pulls back just a little, just enough, and looks into his eyes.

"I know why I didn't want to go out with Sam. It's because...I wanted to go out with you. Even before that video, I knew."

He almost can't believe what he's hearing, but it's wonderful. So wonderful. It's a start, at least, a small step in the right direction.

"You knew? You...you felt it?"

"I don't know what it is," she whispers. "I don't know, but I know...you make me feel like things do make sense, even when they don't. I know you make me feel safe and wanted and like I won't get lost in my own head."

He nods, pulling back a little more and just squeezing her hand lightly. He won't ask or expect anything of her. This is all on her terms, at her pace.

Over the next few days, Taylor feels like she has a new purpose, she goes out with him, she feels like she's finally relaxed. Because everything she was feeling is right, she's supposed to love him.

Three weeks later, while he's working a little late, Taylor picks up Mexican food from the first place he took her, all of their favorite things, and she makes sure she has it when he gets home. It's late, but she's still awake, and dressed, waiting on him.

He gets home a little before eleven so he's not expecting her to be awake. He comes in, trying to be quiet, but then he sees here there and he smiles. "Taylor," he murmurs, obviously surprised. "I didn't think you'd be awake."

When she sees him, just knowing he's home, makes her smile at him, and she gestures a little nervously, because she's never done anything like this before for him.

"I...I bought dinner. It's Mexican food. I thought it might be nice to have something to eat."

She feels like she said something silly, and she clears her throat a little; of course it's nice to have something to eat, and she pushes a piece of hair behind her ear.

"Thank you," he smiles, wanting to reach out to play with that piece of hair she's just pushed back. But he holds back for now. "I'm starving so this is perfect. You gonna eat with me?" He starts dishing out some food, holding out a spoon for her to get some food as well if she wants.

"Yeah," she says with a relieved smile, taking the spoon and fixing a plate for herself before sitting with him, right next to him. "I didn't stick around because I wanted to do this for you," Taylor admits softly, raising her head to look at him.

"It really...it means a lot to me," he smiles at her, pausing just to hold her gaze for a moment. No one's ever done this for him before her. He takes a few bites and then just asks her how she's doing, how her day was, wanting to not think about the case he just wrapped up.

She happily talks to him about the little random things she did, and as she talks, slowly, one hand makes it to his free hand, fingers lightly moving over his wrist. She wants him to know she's okay with this, that she's good with taking these steps together.

It takes his breath away a little when she does that and he smiles, shifting his hand so he can lace their fingers together. It feels good, just to have this connection for a moment.

When they're done eating, she smiles softly and then squeezes his hand. "You look like you're about to fall asleep right here, and I don't think I can carry you. Go to sleep. I'll take care of putting everything away," Taylor promises.

He's exhausted and he doesn't even realize until she says something that his eyes are nearly half-closed. "Yeah," he sighs a little, letting his head tilt back for a moment. "Long day," he murmurs softly. For a moment he just sits there, a soft smile on his face. And then his eyes just close for a second and his head drops forward, but he catches himself, shaking it off.

"Yeah, time for bed," he chuckles, rubbing a hand over his face and standing up.

She can't help but smile and leans in to kiss his forehead. She doesn't even think about it, it just happens once they're standing, and then she pulls back, looking at him like she wonders if that was okay, like she wants to apologize, eyes wide.

He loves that, even just a light kiss, and he's quick to assure her by kissing her forehead in return. He's missed that, missed being touched by her in some way. "Thank you again. Dinner was perfect."

"You're welcome," she says with a soft smile, relaxing. "Goodnight, Kurt."

She cleans up their dinner, putting the leftovers away. She's not really that tired, so she sits on the couch to watch a movie, then winds up falling asleep under a blanket without meaning to, curled up on the couch.

In the morning when he wakes up, he feels rested, a little more relaxed, and he gets some coffee brewing. He notices the television is still on and he goes to check, smiling when he sees Taylor laying there. Kneeling in front of her, he rests his hand lightly on her cheek, kissing her forehead.

"Hey, sleepyhead."

for endingpoint

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