Tuesday's additional Warbler practice was hectic since it was one of their last run-throughs before Sectionals on Thursday. Wes took one look at Blaine's blazer when he walked in and looked ill at the sight. Blaine quickly informed him he did still have a blazer without the embroidered A for their competition and he calmed after that.

There was no time for chit-chat, running through 'Teenage Dream,' 'Hey Soul Sister,' and 'Raise Your Glass' time after time. When they went to switch places for 'Raise Your Glass' after five renditions of 'Hey Soul Sister,' Blaine caught Kurt staring at him. The realization he'd been caught showed in his face and he offered Blaine a smile, which Blaine returned, grinning widely before turning around for their next formation.

Kurt had left practice before Blaine had a chance to talk to him, but the next morning, they passed each other in the halls after homeroom. "Nice embroidery," Kurt drawled, clutching his books to his chest and Blaine could see 'The Scarlet Letter' peeking out on top. "I meant to tell you yesterday."

"Nice pin," Blaine countered. "Is that a hippo?" The pin was sitting on his lapel, a crest of some sort with an animal head on it.

"Good eyesight," Kurt replied, winking as he passed Blaine's side, and were they flirting? Was that something they did now? "See you at practice, Blaine."

The Warblers passed through to Regionals with flying colors and their attention quickly turned to the Annual Showcase that was coming up shortly. They got started on song lists and held auditions, and Blaine was pleased to find himself singing a duet with Tina (she was dying to do 'Someone That I Used To Know' with him), a duet with Rachel (he hoped he could convince her to sing something a little older, maybe some Elton John?), and a solo for the Warbler's closing number ('Midnight Train to Georgia'). He continued to exchange flirty remarks with Kurt in the hallways, but it never went much further than that. Sometimes they'd chat a bit on the way to their cars after practice, and Blaine really enjoyed the time they spent together.

A week and a half after Sectionals, he was walking across the courtyard to Crawford for lunch with Tina, when two cheerleaders cornered him, Santana and her sidekick Brittany. Blaine had never actually spoken to them before, but their reputation was a bit more extensive than Blaine's, and most likely true. "So, Anderson," Santana said coolly, her expression stony. "A little birdie told me that you didn't actually sleep with Rachel Berry, which makes this a whole lot easier for me – I thought we were going to have to actually have sex with you to add you to our extensive list."

"Wait, we're not actually going to sleep with him?" Brittany asked. "I wanted to pet his hair." She reached out for Blaine's head and he stepped back to avoid it.

He cleared his throat. "I don't know what you're talking about, Santana."

She laughed bitterly. "Right. Well, anyway, this is win-win, because you don't want to sleep with us and we don't want to sleep with you – okay, Idon't want to, Brittany is somehow intrigued by your hobbity, curly locks – but anyways, the point is, we're going to spread this rumor anyway. Do you want input or not? I can also offer you a thirty dollar gift certificate to the Gap for your troubles – I hear you're into that and maybe you could buy yourself some socks, or something."

Blaine swallowed thickly – he might not know Santana, but he knew all about her ways. If she said she would spread a rumor, she would. "I'm actually gay, Santana," he said with a sigh, and she raised her eyebrows as to say, 'So?' He groaned. "Okay, make sure you point out that I was highly intoxicated and minimize the actual exposure I have to your lady bits."

"Done. Pleasure doing business with you, Anderson," she said, tucking the gift card in his blazer pocket and smiling brightly as she twirled pinkies with Brittany while they walked off.

Once the rumor of Blaine, Brittany, and Santana swirled through the schools, things changed. Kurt stopped flirting with him, for one, and stopped waiting for him after Warbler practice. Tina kept asking if he was okay, and he kept lying and saying he was. He didn't want to admit it out loud, because it wasn't as if Kurt owed him anything, right?

One afternoon, when he and Rachel were taking a short break from practicing their Showcase duet, she point blank asked him. "You like him, right? Finn's brother, Kurt?" She and Finn had actually been dating a few weeks and Blaine knew she spent plenty of time at their house.

"I – yeah," he admitted. "We used to talk all the time, and then …" And then I decided to let a couple of cheerleaders ruin all that for me.

Rachel pursed her lips before taking a sip of water from her bottle. "He's a nice guy, Blaine."

"I know. That's why I don't want to screw this up." Blaine rubbed at his temples, trying to release the building tension.

"Then don't," Rachel quipped, patting his leg comfortingly. "I'll put in a good word for you."

The next day at Warbler practice was another surprise – another mid-year transfer, Sebastian Smythe. Sebastian had transferred due to his father's relocation, and Blaine was pretty sure on first glance he was gay.

As Wes was introducing him, he eyed Blaine up and down and licked his lips. Okay, gay then.

Pavarotti was staying with Kurt because Sebastian was allergic to feathers, and Kurt didn't seem too put out by it. Kurt had mentioned he enjoyed taking care of the bird – back when he and Blaine were talking.

Sebastian approached Blaine as soon as practice ended. "So you must be the elusive Blaine Anderson," he said with a grin. "Your reputation precedes you."

Great. He returned Sebastian's smile. "I hope you haven't listened to all of it," Blaine joked, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Kurt slip out of the room, birdcage in hand.

Sebastian laughed loudly. "I can tell we'll be good friends, Blaine. I hear it's your duty to take all new Warblers out for coffee, or is that the part I'm not supposed to listen to?"

Blaine blinked and stared blankly back at him for a moment. He wasn't used to anyone being so forward. "Ah, yes, that is usually the tradition! When are you free?"

"Anytime you want, Blaine," he replied, his voice thick with intent. "Anytime you want. I'm free right now, in fact."

"Great!" Blaine replied, ignoring any and all subtext and throwing his bag over his shoulder. "To The Lima Bean, then?"

"So, I hear you got a new Warbler. Cute?" Tina asked the next day at lunch. It was snowing out, so they were huddled in a corner of the Chickadee study eating. Rachel and some of the other Chickadees were on the other side of the room eating, and Blaine was really hoping they wouldn't ask him and Tina to join them.

"Yeah," Blaine replied quickly, and he was only aware of his tone when Tina's eyebrows shot up. "Shut up. Listen, he's attractive and nice and actually was interested in what I had to say – in fact, he kind of hung on my every word," he mused, thinking back. "It was nice to have a conversation like that from someone who didn't want something from me."

"What about Kurt?" Tina asked, brow furrowing. The million dollar question.

"What about Kurt," Blaine repeated under his breath. "I think I really screwed it up with Kurt. I like Kurt too much to drag him into … all of this." Blaine twirled his hands for emphasis.

"But not Sebastian?"

He turned to face Tina, her eyes searching his. "It's different," he mumbled, because it was even if he couldn't pinpoint how.

A few weeks later, the Chickadee and Warbler Annual Showcase was finally upon them. Both groups were frantically practicing, both together and separate and alone – it consumed them. The showcase drew in donors and alumni, and the administration always made it clear the schools depended on the Showcase's donations each year. (No pressure, though.)

The Warblers met in their study a few hours before the Saturday evening performance, and Kurt was the last to arrive. Blaine could tell something was wrong from the look on his face. "I regret to inform you all that one of our own has fallen," he said quietly, before passing off a cassette tape to Trent and singing his heart out.

Blaine had never heard Kurt sing before, not really. His audition had been attended only by Wes, David, and Thad and he'd only barely been able to pinpoint Kurt's voice in the harmonies behind him as he led them to victory at Sectionals.

Blaine was blown away.

It was in that moment he realized no matter how much he'd screwed up their friendship, or something more, or whatever – he had to fix it. He had to make this right between them. It was a moment, to say the least.

Why had Blaine been so stupid?

There was no time to talk to Kurt privately afterwards, Wes forcing them to run through their group numbers one last time. Just before show time, the deans of both schools met with the Chickadees and the Warblers backstage for a final pep talk. All of the hard work paid off because Blaine and his Warblers couldn't have been more on mark. His duets with Tina and Rachel were flawless, and 'Midnight Train to Georgia' went off without a hitch.

Both groups received standing ovations and backstage contained a mass of cheering and hugging. Blaine found Tina and twirled her around. "Not to brag, but our duet was the highlight of the night," Tina said, scrunching her face up. "I saw Mike in the audience too!"

Blaine let her go so she could go find her boyfriend, receiving more hugs and pats on the back from his fellow group mates. Just as he was letting go from David's shoulders, he turned to see Kurt standing behind him.

"Hey," Kurt said softly, almost unsure. "You – you were amazing."

"You were too," Blaine said, reaching out to pull Kurt close. "I'm so, so sorry about Pav, Kurt," he whispered, his breath ruffling Kurt's hair. "And just – I'm sorry for everything, okay?"

"I know," Kurt said quickly, his eyes a little damp, and shit, Blaine hadn't meant to make him cry. "I know. We'll talk later, okay? I have to go – dinner with my parents," he added with a shrug.

"Yeah, of course," Blaine breathed out, squeezing Kurt's arm one last time. "Thanks." He watched as Kurt wandered through the crowd towards his parents and Finn, Rachel standing by them talking animatedly.

"Hey, buddy," Blaine heard Sebastian say as he felt an arm crash around his shoulders. "Were we fantastic or what?"

Blaine turned to see Sebastian's smiling face and embraced him in a quick hug. He and Sebastian had gone out for coffee a few more times in the past weeks and he wasn't really sure what to make of it – he supposed now he knew it was because he still had feelings for Kurt. "We killed it!" Blaine exclaimed as he pulled away from Sebastian, clapping him on the back.

"You got any plans?" Sebastian asked. When Blaine shook his head, he continued. "You should get dinner with me. Two friends at Breadstix, come on!"

Blaine was poised to say no, now that he had his feelings sorted out, but the way Sebastian had phrased it – surely he wouldn't stop being friends with him just because he had feelings for Kurt, right? "Alright, fine, you twisted my arm," Blaine said before walking off to find his own parents, to inform them he wouldn't be home for dinner.

Dinner with Sebastian was actually pretty enjoyable. The two of them had bantered back and forth, recapping the night's performances, and it was nice to get out with a friend that wasn't going to try to pretend sleep with him. That list was growing shorter and shorter.

They walked out to the parking lot and as Blaine went to get in his car, he said, "Thanks, Sebastian, I had fun tonight."

Sebastian's hand flew to shut Blaine's door and he grinned. "The night's not over yet," Sebastian said, and Blaine must have looked puzzled, because Sebastian whipped out a gift card to The Lima Mall.

Blaine's stomach twisted into knots. That list he was previously thinking of was just down to Tina, it seemed. "What … what are we saying we did?" Blaine asked, because just like Santana, he seemed like the kind of guy who would spread the rumor regardless.

It was Sebastian's turn to screw up his face in confusion. "It's two-hundred bucks, I assumed that would be enough to get me whatever I want," Sebastian said with his usual grin, reaching out to grab Blaine's ass and pull him closer to kiss him.

Oh shit, Sebastian thought he got to actually sleep with me. "Sebastian, that's not how it works," Blaine said, pulling back.

"It's okay, no need to be shy, Blaine," Sebastian said, diving in for another kiss. Blaine pushed him away.

"Sebastian, stop. I'm not actually letting people sleep with me for money … I'm just letting people spread rumors about sleeping with me for money." He backed up further to get some distance between him and Sebastian, wincing at how stupid his words sounded.

"How interesting. After I got to know you, I didn't think you'd actually have it in you, Blaine," Sebastian said, pocketing the gift card. "I mean, youare sex on a stick and you sing like a dream, but you really need to learn to let loose a little."

Sebastian didn't seem too offended, and shrugged his shoulders, starting to walk towards his car. "You know, I liked you, Sebastian. I would have actually gone out with you if you'd asked me without all this." Blaine waved his hands between them, and decided to conveniently leave out the fact that after Kurt's performance this afternoon, that had changed.

"No way to get you to reconsider?" Sebastian asked, turning around. "Because I've had dreams about that amazing ass of yours, Blaine."

Blaine flushed and shook his head. "Sorry."

"My loss indeed. See you around." Sebastian hopped in his car and peeled out of the Breadstix parking lot.

Blaine sighed as he unlocked his car again. He had to stop this. He put the key in the ignition and turned, the sedan stalling. He tried again and again and again, but the engine wouldn't turn over. Of course. He pulled out his wallet and called AAA, and when the lady on the other line informed him it could be over an hour for a tow truck, he started to cry.

Which was stupid – Blaine knew he'd gotten himself into this mess. He had no one to blame but himself. He couldn't remember the last time he'dreally cried – probably a few years ago after his accident – but it felt good to let it all out. Luckily, none of the other Breadstix patrons walking to their cars noticed his sobbing.

The tow truck arrived in less than thirty minutes to Blaine's surprise. He grabbed a napkin from the center console and wiped up his face – he'd expected to have some time to get pulled together. He pulled his AAA card and license out of his wallet in case the tow truck driver needed identification, and to his surprise Kurt hopped out of the truck.

"Blaine, are you okay? I thought your car just wouldn't start – you're not hurt right?"

Crap.

"I'm fine!" Blaine replied a little too cheerily as he walked over to where Kurt was standing alongside the tow truck. "What – since when are you AAA?"

"My dad – well, he gets AAA alerts at home and I saw your name come through and convinced him to let me come. Which – I've done this before," Kurt suddenly blurted out, like Blaine wouldn't trust him with his car or something (if only Kurt knew, Blaine would trust him with everything). "Your car isn't going to go rolling down the highway or anything, I know what I'm doing."

"I trust you," Blaine said and it was insane, but he was so, so happy to see Kurt. It was as if his mood instantly lifted when he was around.

"You sure you're okay? And it really just won't start?" Kurt eyed the car wearily before turning himself back to Blaine. "You don't look okay, Blaine."

"I told you, I'm fine – I just had a bad night." Kurt raised an eyebrow, because how could his night get so awful in the three hours they'd been apart, but he didn't pry further. "Um, if you want to look the car over, I don't know. It drove fine from Dalton to here. I should probably call my parents," he added, grabbing his phone from his pocket.

Kurt nodded and walked over to pop the hood of Blaine's sedan. "Call them, I'll look things over." Blaine watched Kurt hunched over his car for a bit, his breath coming out in misty gusts since it was freezing out, until finally Kurt reminded him, "Didn't you have a phone call to make?"

Blaine called his parents to let them know he was on his way home with a busted car and Kurt told him what he found under his hood, which made no sense to Blaine, but it boiled down to something with his engine. "It's my mom's old car, it's pretty much as old as me," Blaine said as he watched Kurt load the car onto the tow truck.

"Someone's taken good care of her," Kurt said when he was finished. He motioned to the cab of the tow truck. "Hop in."

Kurt pulled slowly out of the Breadstix parking lot to the main road and once they were heading down the street, he broke the silence. "Did you want to talk about it?" Kurt bit his lip as he stared out onto the road, as if he was unsure whether or not he should say anything or if they should keep walking on eggshells around each other.

Not really. "I don't know what to say," Blaine replied after a beat, because he didn't. "Everything's just gotten so messed up."

Kurt took his right hand off the wheel just long enough to reach out and squeeze Blaine's hand. "I want to help," he said, pulling his hand back so he could steer and not end them both up in a ditch. "If you'll let me, I mean."

Blaine's words caught in his throat. He wanted help more than anything; he wanted to tell Kurt so badly – the words just wouldn't come. He stared at his hands folded in his lap.

"Rachel told me you didn't actually sleep with her," Kurt finally said, and Blaine's head snapped to attention so he was facing Kurt. Why would Rachel do that? I'll put in a good word for you. "So, I'm operating on the assumption that you didn't actually sleep with any of them."

"Yeah, something like that," Blaine whispered. How long had Kurt known? "Do people at school really think I'm a prostitute?" he blurted out, which was not what he meant to say at all, but there it was.

"I hadn't heard that one," Kurt said slowly, his eyebrows knitting together, "but I'm guessing someone did?"

"You're two for two," Blaine muttered. He tore his gaze away from Kurt and returned it to his hands. "I just – I know it sounds crazy, but I just wanted to help people and then it really – it just got away from me."

"You're a little strange, Blaine, has anyone ever told you that?" Blaine raised his head enough to see Kurt smirking.

"You haven't met my parents. It would all make sense then," he teased back. "I'm just – I'm tired of it all, you know?"

"If you're tired of it all, just stop, Blaine. Don't worry about hurting people's feelings. Just come out and tell the truth and get on with your life." Blaine thought he might be imagining it, but there was a little glint of something in Kurt's eyes when he said that – hope? "If I learned anything from being at McKinley, it's that you have to look out for yourself."

Kurt was right – Blaine needed to come up with an exit strategy. He needed to be done. "You sounded wonderful on Blackbird today. You – well, you took my breath away. Why didn't you audition for the Showcase?"

Kurt shrugged. "I'm used to fighting to be noticed. The Warblers don't work like that. I'm just trying to figure out my place here, you know?"

"You shouldn't have to fight to be noticed, Kurt. When you sang today, everyone took notice. Your voice is just that beautiful. That was a momentfor me, Kurt. A moment that helped me realize how I felt about you." Blaine turned in his seat to face Kurt, his eyes still on the road, and he reached out to squeeze Kurt's shoulder.

Kurt averted his eyes from the road just momentarily to meet Blaine's. "I should have sang for you all two months ago," he said, chuckling.

"It would have saved us both a lot of grief," Blaine agreed, finally paying attention to their surroundings. They were turning onto Blaine's street. "How – how did you know how to get to my house?"

"Oh," Kurt said, flushing slightly. "That night at Rachel's party. When you insisted on walking instead of me driving you home? I was worried, so I followed you to make sure you got home okay."

"You didn't even know me then," Blaine said quietly. Tina had gushed about me to you all day, and then you thought I slept with a girl and you still wanted to make sure I got home okay. "Kurt," Blaine said as Kurt parked the tow truck outside his house. They both unbuckled their seatbelts and turned to face each other.

"I know, that's kind of stalkery of me, but." Kurt was still blushing and looking everywhere but Blaine's eyes. Blaine reached out for Kurt's hands, holding them in his own.

"That's not the word I'd use," Blaine said, Kurt's palms warm against his even though the air was cold. Kurt finally locked eyes with him and inched closer, closer until he was close enough that they were breathing the same air and their lips were almost touching. "Wait," Blaine said, pulling back just slightly and putting a hand on Kurt's shoulder to still him. "I wasn't kidding when I said firsts should be special, and if there's anything I've learned through this whole mess, it's that. I want to, Kurt, it's just – let me deal with all of this first, okay? The last thing I want to do is hurt you."

"You wouldn't hurt me," Kurt said, his voice breathy and it was taking every ounce of self-restraint Blaine had to not just up and kiss him right then. "I trust you too, you know."

"I'm glad," Blaine said quietly. He was staring at Kurt's lips for far too long and he really had to stop before he did something else he'd live to regret. Change of subject? "I'm also really, really glad you showed up to save me and my car instead of some random tow truck driver."

"I wasn't kidding about wanting to help," Kurt added, squeezing Blaine's hands one last time before letting go.

"I'll keep that in mind."

Part five – When one realizes they might need to get out, that's when shit really gets real.

To say this whole thing had taken over my life was a colossal understatement. I actually reread The Scarlet Letter – you know, in my free time when I wasn't hooking up with the whole school – just to see how Hester dealt with it. She stayed silent.

You can see I took her advice to heart.

Blaine walked across the courtyard Monday afternoon, still trying to formulate his plan to fix all of this, hoping to hammer it out with Tina at lunch, but she'd been out sick (and from texts, Blaine had reason to believe she was cutting to spend time with Mike). Just as he was walking to his fifth period class, before he could even get to Dalton's doors, Quinn walked up to him in front of half the student body, and slapped him across the face before turning on her heel and marching off.

Blaine's hand flew to his cheek – Quinn Fabray didn't mess around. That stung. Also – what the hell? Blaine finally found his bearings and stood back up straight and tall, realizing everyone was still staring. He knew Quinn worked in Mr. Schuster's office fifth period, so he made his way to the guidance office in search of her.

He didn't find Quinn – but he did find Mr. Schuster having a mental breakdown, for lack of a better word. He heard swearing and glass shattering, and he gingerly knocked on the office door, cracking it. "What do you want, Blaine?" Mr. Schuster shouted, and oh god, Tina was right, he was crazy.

Blaine just stared at him, eyes wide, before saying, "I'm actually just looking for Quinn, have you seen her?"

Mr. Schuster swore under his breath. "Why are you looking for Quinn Fabray?"

"She just walked up to me in the middle of the courtyard and slapped me. While I'm sure it's something she wants to do on a daily basis, she's never actually done that before. I was just wondering what prompted her to do that today." Blaine thought this information would calm Mr. Schuster down, since it wasn't about him, but apparently it had the opposite effect. He spun around and literally banged his head against the wall. "Mr. Schuster?"

"That's my fault. It's all my fault, Blaine," Mr. Schuster shouted, collapsing in his chair, and Blaine came through the door and shut it behind him.

"I'm sorry – what?" Blaine asked, sitting down in the seat across from him. Mr. Schuster continued to utter profanities, and Blaine finally said, "As entertaining as this is, Mr. Schuster, I don't think you're supposed to swear in front of students."

"Yeah, well you're not supposed to sleep with them either! Fuck, fuck, fuck," he exclaimed, and what the hell was going on?

"Um, Mr. Schuster, sorry to be blunt, but what in the hell does that have to do with me?" Blaine asked, not really wanting to know the answer, but knowing he needed to.

Mr. Schuster started rambling about how his relationship with Ms. Holiday was on the rocks and this great looking guy started coming in for weekly sessions (wait, guy?), and he's not a minor, so it's perfectly legal, and Mr. Schuster was only so strong, and now the kid somehow got chlamydia, and his parents were flipping out because he's part of Celibacy Club, what was he doing with chlamydia and a light bulb went off in Blaine's head.

Mr. Schuster was having an affair with Thad. Thad has chlamydia.

"Mr. Schuster," Blaine finally said, cutting him. "Mr. Schuster, did Thad … did Thad tell his parents he got it from me?"

That snapped Mr. Schuster out of it. "He didn't want me to lose my job. And he didn't want to get in trouble. And …" Mr. Schuster looked clearly conflicted, which Blaine would probably care more about if he hadn't been dragged into all of it. "I'm sorry, Blaine, I'm going to make it right. I'll just lose my job … and my relationship … and move in with my parents … and become an accountant …" He stared at the wall behind Blaine as if everything was hitting him right then, not, oh, whenever he started to sleep with Thad.

"Mr. Schuster, are you gay?" Out of all the things that were going through Blaine's mind, that's what slipped out?

"No. Well, maybe. I don't know! I'm not into labels like you kids, okay?" Mr. Schuster was getting agitated again.

"Cheater's a good one," Blaine muttered under his breath, but Mr. Schuster caught it.

"I know you think I'm a horrible person, Blaine, which is fine, but I'm not. I help people, Blaine."

Blaine wanted to laugh, because of all of the people to help Blaine these past few months, Mr. Schuster certainly wasn't on the list.

"You know, I could just keep quiet, Blaine, because really, who would people believe? A respected teacher and guidance counselor, or you, a student with a bad reputation already?"

I don't know, but we're going to find out.

Blaine hated himself for what he did next. It was wrong, so wrong, and it was done out of anger – and nothing good comes from doing things out of anger, right? He marched straight into Ms. Holiday's room and found her sitting at her desk, probably getting things together for the next class.

"Blaine, is everything okay?" she asked at the sight of him. He probably looked insane, out of breath from running across the campus.

"Your fiancé is cheating on you with a student and gave him chlamydia and is trying to blame me … and I'm sorry."

The look on Ms. Holiday's face would stick in his head for far too long. He quickly turned and ran.

Out of all the things I did wrong – and yeah, I know, there's a lot of them, how long is this video so far? Anyways – this was the one that hurt me the most, hurting one of my favorite teachers. Ms. Holiday, if you're watching, know how very, very sorry I am. Even if it was true, I hate that you found out from me.

Blaine skipped out on school the rest of the day, heading home and finding his mom already there, so he told her everything.

"You know I can relate, Blaine, I can relate to what you're going through," she said as she preened at his hair, tucking some curls behind his ears.

"What, people spread rumors about you in high school?" Blaine asked, leaning his head on her shoulder as she put her arm around him.

"Yes, people spread rumors about me sleeping around in high school. Though they were actually true, I was kind of open in that way."

"Oh my god, Mom, you're not making me feel any better," Blaine said, wanting to bury his head in the couch pillows, because no one wants to know about their parents having sex. No one.

"What? Don't worry, it was mostly guys too," she teased and Blaine just groaned.

"I guess I know why you didn't have a hard time with me coming out," he offered and she laughed.

"Honey, your father and I are also awesome people. I think that had more to do with it." Blaine turned to his mother and her eyes were twinkling from the sunlight coming through the window, and he had to agree at the awesome part. "So, what is your plan, my wonderful son?" She wrapped her arms around him again, pulling him close and peppering his face with kisses.

"I don't know. I'm sure I'll figure something out," he said in between laughs.

"That you will, Blaine. You'll do much better than I did because you're way smarter than I was at your age." She squeezed at his shoulder and got up. "Now, since you're home early I'm going to put you to work. Come help me with dinner."

The idea came to him that night when he was talking to Tina. A video. Everything in his own words, out on the internet for all to see. It just so happened Crawford and Dalton had a joint assembly the next day to pump everyone full of school spirit just before final exams – it made sense to someone, Blaine supposed.

The Warblers were supposed to perform, of course, so Blaine texted Wes to see if they could meet early before school. He told him everything, and Wes was appalled that Thad would throw Blaine under the bus, so to speak, which meant he was on board with letting Blaine run the Warblers number.

Everything was better with a musical number, right?

Blaine convinced some of the Chickadees to help, Tina, Rachel, and a few of their friends, and when the Warblers were supposed to come out singing 'Hey Soul Sister,' instead five Chickadees and Nick, Jeff, Kurt, and Wes backed Blaine in 'S&M'. Their dance moves were probably the raunchiest the school had ever seen, but Blaine needed to make sure everyone tuned in, right?

When they were done, Blaine informed everyone to be at .com at six pm, which was all he got out before the dean was attempting to drag them off stage. "Before you expel me, you might want to check with Mr. Schuster, I'm sure he'll convince you otherwise," Blaine whispered at him. "I wouldn't have to stoop to this level if it weren't for him." Blaine extricated himself from the dean's grasp, grabbing Kurt with one hand and Tina with the other, shouting his URL one more time before running out of the auditorium.

And that brings us up to date, folks. Sorry for the lack of nudity that you all assumed would be here, but you'll have to find that on some other website, because right now, I have a date with a very special someone, and hopefully the rest of my love life will be none of your goddamn business anymore. Bye!

Blaine left the webcam running, a blank shot of his room as he ran out the door and out to his car. He stopped off to buy some flowers before heading to Kurt's house, a bouquet of roses, pink and red-tipped-yellow ones for thank you and falling in love. He parked in Kurt's driveway and no sooner had he gotten out of the car was Kurt racing down the driveway to meet him.

"You idiot," he shouted as he ran, and Blaine just laughed at the sight of him moving so fast.

"I take it you watched?" Blaine asked, walking to meet him halfway across the yard and extending his hand with the flowers.

"Something like that," Kurt said, taking the flowers and setting them on the ground beside where they stood. Kurt was already changed out of his uniform. Blaine hadn't had time to switch clothes, but he really didn't mind when Kurt reached out for his tie, pulling him closer and colliding their lips together. Kurt fisted his hand in the back of Blaine's blazer as their mouths slid against each other, give and take until Blaine heard a shout from behind Kurt's back.

"Get it, Blaine!" It was Rachel, standing in the doorway with Finn, and they both chuckled at her voice.

"So, Blaine Anderson, was that special enough for you?" Kurt asked coyly, and Blaine kind of just wanted to kiss him again right there.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that since it's your first real kiss?" Blaine asked with a tilt of his head.

"It was the best," Kurt replied, honest and earnest and Blaine couldn't help it, he leaned in to kiss him again, grinning at the surprised noise Kurt made against his lips. "The second one was pretty good too," he murmured when they broke. "I suppose I'll have to ask you to rate the specialness when we move onto other firsts, since you couldn't answer this one for me."

"Good plan," Blaine replied. "I'll be happy if I just get to kiss you again, though."

Kurt chuckled, low in his throat, and said, "Maybe we should move inside since we have an audience and I'm not exactly dressed for the weather, no matter how warm you feel." He picked his roses up off the ground and held out his hand for Blaine to take. "Come on."

Blaine grasped Kurt's hand and followed him inside, giddy for all of the firsts he'd get to experience with Kurt, even if it wasn't tonight. Which was fine – Blaine intended to stick around for a long, long time.