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It was cute at first.
Kurt noticed it within the first few weeks of knowing him. Kurt would be sitting at the Lima Bean, nursing his coffee when Blaine would come bursting in the front door, babbling about how he had got caught in traffic and that lady REALLY didn’t need to wait for five whole cars before making her turn and spitting out apologies and how this won’t happen again, Kurt, I swear, it was the traffic, really.
Kurt would giggle to himself and watch as Blaine’s cheeks bloomed with red from lack of oxygen and the obvious sprint he had just made from his car to the table. Cute.
But it wasn’t just that once. Blaine was late to everything.
For their first date, Kurt sat waiting on his couch as the clock ticked by- ten minutes, twenty minutes, until Blaine was a whole half hour late. When Blaine finally appeared at the door, his eyes flicking around nervously and his palms sweating as he thrust the bouquet of roses towards Kurt’s questioning face, Kurt felt his annoyance melt away. “I’m so sorry that I’m late,” Blaine said, tears gathering in his eyes. Kurt shook his head and smiled, following him outside. “It’s okay,” he replied.
Kurt began to realize that Blaine was just a late person.
…
Five years later, Kurt and Blaine eventually developed a schedule that could prevent them from being completely late. After all, with two men that value their looks and style as much as them, timing was everything. So, they decided that Blaine would get up an hour earlier than usual, take his morning shower and then begin his primping process. During this time, Kurt would pick out their clothes and start brewing the coffee. After Blaine finished, Kurt would get in the shower and so on.
This worked for a total of three weeks before Blaine started getting cranky about not being able to sleep in. They fought for days and days, Blaine snapping at every one of Kurt's suggestions from a combination of stubbornness and lack of rest. Finally, Kurt got so fed up with the situation that he just scratched the schedule and agreed to be late.
…
Fifteen years later, with two kids and full-time jobs, late was no longer cute. It became a running joke with their friend group, like, “What a surprise, Kurt and Blaine are late again!” filled with eyebrow waggles and innuendos and Kurt angrily huffing that it was not funny do NOT laugh at that, Blaine!
But Blaine would give him that look and suddenly, everything would be okay.
When Hepburn turned five, she began to develop the same habits as her father. She would cry and whine and say “Oh Daddy, please do not make me get out of bed yet! I can get ready so fast!” and Kurt, with his softness, could never refuse. But once she got up, she would take her sweet time getting ready, claiming that she’s “not awake yet” and to please just give her “five more minutes!”
Blaine would chuckle in the background, not ready himself, watching Kurt try with all of his might to tame the little girl’s curly hair and force food into her tiny mouth simultaneously. Tracey, already finished, would be pacing the floor and mumbling about how he doesn’t want to be late again, Papa, please.
“A little help would be nice here, Blaine!” Kurt would yell, sending Tracey into a sobbing fit and Blaine tumbling, a little too late, into action.
The kids would make it to school just after the bell, with their classmates screaming “Hey it’s the Anderson-Hummels, late again!” The teachers would mark another tardy, and Hepburn and Tracey would scramble bashfully into their seats.
Then, Kurt would turn to Blaine with a defeated look, sighing heavily and resting his head on his husband’s shoulder as they walked back to the car. “We are an absolute mess,” he would admit, to which Blaine would respond by pressing his lips to Kurt’s and smiling cheekily, reply. “But we’re the best kind of mess.”
Kurt would study the handsome man in his arms, consider their two beautiful, healthy children and the wonderful life they live and think that maybe some people are worth being late for.