Author's Note:

It's been awhile, and for that I sincerely apologize… but I hope that almost 3000 words makes up for it. This has become the longest thing I've ever written, which is super crazy and exciting for me.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you like it :)

Mirrored Image

Chapter 7

"Blaine?"

Blaine ignored Wes as he walked quickly toward his room, wanting nothing more than to get into the quiet solace of his room and wallow. Shakily unlocking his door, he finally got inside, throwing his keys on his desk. He flung the door behind him to close it, but it bounced off Wes' hand as the other Warbler followed him in, pausing cautiously at the doorway. "Hey…."

Blaine didn't respond, just kicked off his shoes and collapsed on his back on his bed, staring up at the ceiling.

Wes slipped all the way into the room, leaving the door open a crack behind him. "I'm going to take a guess that things didn't go well at McKinley?"

Blaine let out a snort. "That's putting it lightly. I blew it."

"What did he say?"

Kurt's hurt expression flashed in his memory, and Blaine winced. "He was really mad that I'd been lying… but I think he was also upset about the bullying problem he's having at McKinley. My timing was pretty bad."

"But you told him you were into him, right?" Wes prodded.

"Not… specifically, but he has to know," Blaine replied, sitting up on his elbows, feeling less certain by the minute. He tried to replay the conversation in his head, but all he kept remembering was how he felt when Kurt walked away. "Problem is the lead singer from Vocal Adrenaline played one of their girls last year to mess with them on purpose before competition. Of course he's going to have a hard time believing that I would never do that."

Wes thought for a minute. "It seems like there's a lot for him to process right now… maybe you need to talk to him and be really clear about your feelings."

"I tried… he didn't really give me a chance."

"Give him a day before you try again," suggested Wes. "And don't obsess about it too much. I don't think you should call this one a loss just yet."

Blaine looked at him skeptically. "How do you know?"

Wes shrugged. "I don't… just a feeling."

"For my own sanity, I'm going to believe you," Blaine said, cracking a reluctant smile. "And thanks."

"No problem." Wes said, leaving Blaine to ponder his next course of action.

Over the next few days, Blaine made several attempts to contact Kurt, none of which garnered a response. He did his best not to sound desperate in his first few texts, but when he progressed to voicemails, he knew he had started to sound a little like he was begging.

"Its me again… I know I sound like a broken record, but I really am sorry, I really want the chance to talk, explain everything… please don't shut me out, I'm worried about you. Please call me…" Blaine trailed off, and finally hung up with a sigh.

"No luck?" Wes said quietly. Blaine shook his head, pocketing his phone.

"Well, he's going to be at Regionals, right? So no matter what, you're going to get to see him in two days," Wes offered.

"Yeah…" Blaine supposed once he saw Kurt in person, it would be kind of hard for Kurt to avoid him… but the cold shoulder in person was bound to be worse that the virtual one.

"I think that's him," David whispered, pointing at the slender boy in all black with a maroon tie. Wes looked over the rest of the group in similar outfits, immediately ruling out the one in the wheelchair and the one with a mohawk. "Yeah, I think you're right."

"Do you want to go or should I?" David asked.

"No, I'll do it. This whole stupid thing was my idea," grumbled Wes. "And I really can't handle another day of Blaine walking around looking so crushed."

David patted him on the back. "Good luck."

Wes sighed and started toward the group, focused on Kurt, who was facing away from him. His path was immediately blocked a girl in a flowy white and black dress.

"Can I help you?" she said, the question sounding more like a challenge than a genuine offer of assistance.

Wes swallowed. His uniform was a dead giveaway, and from the looks he was getting from the people facing him, it seemed like all of New Directions knew exactly what had happened between Kurt and Blaine. Well, what it looked like at least, which was not too good.

"My name is Wes, I go to Dalton with Blaine…" his voice trailed off in the face of her glare. She was seriously intimidating.

"Mercedes. Kurt is my best friend. And I don't take kindly to anyone playing him like your buddy over there did."

"Its really not what it looks like," Wes stammered. "I mean, it is, Blaine was there to spy on you, but that was my stupid idea, not his, we sort of forced him into it."

Mercedes' ire seemed to have lessened marginally, but she continued to stare Wes down, arms crossed, waiting for him to finish.

"Look, Blaine is one of MY best friends, and I have never seen him look like this. He's a mess, and I know it's because of how he feels about Kurt. Kurt won't talk to him…" He stopped mid-sentence as the person in question came up beside Mercedes.

"Its ok, Mercedes," Kurt said, resting a hand on her shoulder.

Mercedes gave Wes one last glare before retreating back to the group, all of whom had pretty much only been pretending not to pay attention to the Warbler's conversation.

"I'm Wes."

"Kurt," he replied shortly, arms crossed.

"I owe you an apology," Wes started. "Sending Blaine to spy on you guys was stupid, not to mention unsportsmanlike, and for that we apologize. To his credit, Blaine didn't really tell us anything about your group, and to be honest, all he kept talking about was one person that he had met."

Kurt's expression tightened, but he remained silent. Wes shifted uncomfortably.

"That's our formal apology, but I hope you allow Blaine the chance to speak, I know there are… things he wants to say," Wes said.

"Is he here?" Kurt asked quietly.

"Yeah," Wes said. "Do you want…" he waved his arm vaguely back towards' the Warblers' assigned green room.

Kurt turned to look back at the New Directions, who all hastily returned to their own conversations. "I'll be back, guys." Mercedes looked like she wanted to protest. "Really, its ok," Kurt said to her, turning to follow Wes.

Blaine sat, fingers drumming on the armrest of the chair restlessly. Most of the other Warblers were out wandering around the venue and grabbing snacks, even Wes and David had left him alone with his thoughts. He really didn't want to go onstage without at least having tried to talk to Kurt, but he also didn't want to have to perform right after getting his heart broken if Kurt rejected him. The clock continued to tick its way closer and closer to the beginning of the competition, and Blaine could see his window of opportunity narrowing.

"This is ridiculous," Blaine muttered, coming to a decision. He had to at least try.

The second he stood up, the door opened and there he was, Wes hovering behind him.

"Kurt," Blaine stammered. Wes glanced around the room, and seeing it was empty, backed out and closed the door, leaving the pair to stand in tense silence.

"I am so sorry, Kurt," Blaine blurted out, taking a step towards Kurt.

"I know," Kurt said, cautiously coming closer, his eyes flickering over the Dalton uniform. "And I want to believe you. Maybe too much."

"What do you mean?"

"I like you, Blaine. But that hasn't… always gone well for me. It's a lot easier to believe that this… you… is just too good to be true."

Blaine felt hope surge with Kurt's admission of his feelings. "It was real," Blaine said insistently, resisting the urge to reach out for Kurt's hand. "It IS real. I wanted…" Blaine blushed furiously. "I wanted to kiss you at the wedding, but I couldn't do that without you knowing the truth."

"I know now," Kurt said quietly, waiting.

Blaine stared back at him for a moment, confused. Kurt's eyes flickered down for a split second to Blaine's lips, and suddenly the light bulb clicked on. Oh.

The hum in the air was back, along with a delicious tingle in his fingertips, and this time there was nothing stopping Blaine from reaching out a hand to slide up and grip lightly at the back of Kurt's neck, pulling him down, leaning forward and up to meet him halfway.

The initial press of their lips was tentative, and Blaine felt Kurt's hands ghost up under his blazer to rest lightly on his waist, his palms warm through the material of his dress shirt. Encouraged, Blaine tightened his grip, parting his lips slightly as they moved against Kurt's. Kurt melted into the kiss, angling his head and pulling Blaine closer in response. The kiss deepened and Blaine felt lightheaded, everything but the sensation of Kurt's mouth moving against his fading away.

A chime sounded over the intercom, and a voice saying something about how much time was left before the competition was scheduled to begin. The words were fuzzy in Blaine's ears, his focus now on the telltale flush that had spread over Kurt's face as they parted. He didn't bring his hand down, instead lightly brushing his thumb over the curve of Kurt's cheek. Kurt held Blaine's gaze, a shy smile creeping up at the corners of his mouth.

A knock sounded at the door, and Wes poked his head in. "I've held them off as long as I could, but we have to do warm-ups, Blaine." He glanced back over his shoulder. "And I'm pretty sure the New Directions are going to bodily remove me from this door if Kurt doesn't come out soon." He disappeared again, leaving the door open a crack.

"I should go," Kurt said as he dropped his hands, still smiling.

"Yeah…" Neither boy moved for a moment, and they both finally laughed, breaking the tension.

"I'll see you after," Kurt said, backing up a step before turning to head for the door.

Blaine followed him quickly, impulsively grabbing Kurt's hand and pulling him in one more time. Kurt made a surprised noise as their lips collided, but responded eagerly, his hands coming up to grip the lapels of Blaine's blazer. The kiss lacked the delicate hesitation of their first, but they more than made up for it in enthusiasm. Blaine felt himself out of breath when Kurt pulled away, grinning.

"Good luck?" Blaine offered weakly.

"You too," Kurt said, opening the door further and slipping past an uncomfortable looking Wes.

"You might want to…" Wes waved his hand vaguely at Blaine. "Before everyone else comes in."

Blaine frowned, then glanced in one of the mirrors. His jacket was askew, his shirt was coming untucked, and his hair… Blaine hurriedly tried to put it back in a somewhat presentable form as the other Warblers filed in. Most of them took no notice, but he reddened as David gave him a cheeky thumbs up.

The stage brightened as the curtain rose, and Blaine kept his eyes focused downward as he heard the other Warblers begin the backing intro. He had no doubt whatsoever that he was still wearing a dopey smile as began to sing, finally raising his head on the second phrase. He always managed to tap into some hidden resource of energy when he sang, but this time he was fueled purely on the high he was still feeling from the tingle that remained on his lips.

As his eyes adjusted to the stage lighting, he spared a few searching looks into the audience, finally locating where the New Directions sat clustered together. Rachel still looked incredibly annoyed, and Mercedes was glancing bemused at Kurt, who was looking directly at him, a smile still playing around his lips.

For a second time, Blaine found himself singing directly to Kurt.

I can be myself now finally

In fact there's nothing I can't be

I want the world to see you be with me.

Blaine found their roles reversed when New Directions took the stage, unable to keep the smile off his face as Kurt danced and sang his way through both of their selections, locking eyes with Blaine at every possible opportunity.

As the Warblers took their place in between the Hipsters and New Directions, Blaine edged closer to the stage left side of the Warblers, earning a curious glance from Jeff as he scooted by him… only to find himself almost shoulder to shoulder with Mr. Schuster, who was standing in the space between the Warblers and New Directions, blocking him from Kurt, who was directly on his left.

Blaine hastily took a step back out of Mr. Schuster's line of sight, narrowing his eyes slightly at Kurt, who was suppressing a snicker. Forcing his gaze straight forward, Blaine did his best to focus on the reading of the results.

When the tie was announced, both groups broke into smiles and clapped, hugging each other, and Blaine took the opportunity to duck even further away from Mr. Schuster, not wanting to have to explain himself quite yet. It was really the best outcome he could have hoped for, he felt a little torn between his loyalty to the Warblers and his desire to support Kurt. Of course, this meant that technically he and Kurt STILL were on opposing teams, but that could be a hurdle for another day.

For now, Blaine was trying to move in the crowd of blue blazers back toward the dressing rooms while keeping an eye on Kurt, who was surrounded by the New Directions. Kurt pulled back as they bottlenecked at the doorway to the back hallway, and Blaine slid over next to him, both boys letting their teammates filter through ahead of them. As they stood seemingly innocently off to the side letting others pass, Blaine moved his hand towards Kurts', brushing their fingers together. Kurt kept his face impassive, not looking at Blaine. A moment later, Blaine felt slim fingers twine into his, and Blaine fought to keep his face as neutral as Kurt.

They fell in behind the rest of the group, moving with the masse of people back toward their assigned dressing rooms. As they passed an open doorway, Blaine grabbed the opportunity to pull Kurt into what appeared to be some kind of storage room filled with unused lighting equipment. As soon as the door clicked closed behind him, Kurt's mouth descended on his, the kiss pressing him back against the door as Kurt crowded him against it. He wrapped his arms around Kurt, pulling them flush against each other.

When they finally paused for air, Kurt leaned his forehead against Blaine's, his breathing labored. "We should get back out there, they'll miss us…"

"I know…" Blaine reached out and straightened Kurt's collar and tie, smiling as Kurt did the same for him, laughing softly to himself.

"What?"

"Not used to this," Kurt replied, eyes still focused downward as he smoothed the lapel of Blaine's jacket.

"Me either," Blaine replied, slipping his hand into Kurt's again. "I'm almost afraid to ask… but what made you change your mind?"

Kurt thought for a moment, his thumb idly rubbing against Blaine's hand. "Last week at McKinley… it was too much, too fast. I couldn't deal with everything that was going on at school and try and figure this out at the same time. But I really missed you. I guess I just decided it was worth the risk."

"I'm glad you did," Blaine said. "Have you thought about what I said about Dalton?"

"Yes, a lot. But I don't think I can leave McKinley. I can't leave my friends. Competing with them, singing with them… I don't think I can give that up. They've really stepped up since the wedding, been really supportive of me, even when I was upset about… you." He waved off Blaine's attempt to interject. "I feel stronger now, with them, and now with you."

"As long as they're looking out for you," Blaine said reluctantly.

"You can tell them that yourself, since you're going to have to re-introduce yourself to the New Directions," Kurt said slyly, reaching around Blaine to open the door. "They weren't too happy to find out that you were actually our competition the whole time."

Blaine winced. "This is going to be really uncomfortable, isn't it?"

"Hey," Kurt said, "I'll put in a good word for you." He smiled reassuringly as they headed down the hallway toward the dressing rooms, not making any move to let go of Blaine's hand.

Blaine could see the varying looks of suspicion and surprise as they approached Kurt's friends. A few of the boys definitely looked intimidating, but Mercedes broke out into a knowing smile as she took in their joined hands. He glanced over at Kurt, who looked unapologetically happy.

He smiled. Yup, so worth it.

AN Deux: Thank you so much for sticking with me to the end. I know I'm not the fastest writer, so thank you again for your patience.

Until next time!

Meridith