Summary:KurtxBlaine. Set after 2.14 - After Blaine and Kurt's argument in the coffee shop, they don't quite make up. Contains Wevid hilarity, copious amounts of Katy Perry and Suspenders!Blaine.

Author's Note: This is collaboration between me and Alice (lettheobsessionbegin).

Alice: So, this took us how long to write?

Charlotte: Umm... 3 months? 4 months? A ridiculously long time, anyway.

Alice: Well, whatever. It was nicknamed the Ultimate Klaine Oneshot for a reason. 15000+ words. I'm impressed. Of course, we don't own glee, or the characters, do we?

Charlotte: No. Well, you don't. Kurt's all mine... In my head.

Alice: And Darren is mine in my head. Wait, what? I think we should shut up.

Charlotte: And let the lovely people read? Yeah, we probably should.

Wes and David sat on their beds, on opposite sides of their room, and stared at each other in alarm. They could quite clearly hear Teenage Dream being blasted not from one adjoining dorm room, but both.

"This is just getting ridiculous." David groaned.

"I want to bang their heads together." Wes muttered.

"They'd probably feint from the contact. After all, Blaine goes into spasms whenever Kurt so much as looks at him."

Wes nodded solemnly. "And Kurt practically has a fan-girl fit every time Blaine sings."

"Which is a lot." David added, and then they lapsed into an almost-silence.

Wes and David were tired. They had spent weeks watching Kurt and Blaine mope around, gazing dreamily at one another and almost kissing. The worst part of it was that they had been so close to becoming an official couple before they'd attended the New Directions' party and then Blaine had gone and kissed Rachel. Wes and David hadn't ever been told the full story of what had happened in the lima bean between the two, but it was clear that they had argued and still hadn't completely made up. Despite the awkwardness between the two boys, there was still an undercurrent of I-want-to-suck-your-face-off that they were both studiously ignoring.

Wes was fed up at having to resist the urge to whip out his sexual tension jellyfish (David had shouted at him the first and only time he had actually done it) every time Blaine or Kurt blushed at something the other had said, and David was seriously concerned about the amount of girly music that could be heard from both boys' rooms. The friends were reaching breaking point, and the latest rendition of Katy Perry's ode to underage sex was pushing them over the edge.

You think I'm pretty,

Without any make up on,

You think I'm funny,

When I tell the punch line wrong-

"It's on repeat!" Wes wailed, clutching his head in his hands.

"Right, that's it." David jumped up and removed his shoes.

"Ooooh, good idea!" Wes agreed, pulling his tie off. He was just beginning to unbutton his shirt when David looked up from his shoes on the floor.

"What the hell are you doing?" He half-shouted.

"...I thought we were going to distract them with our delicious bodies?"

"No!" David shouted hastily, and flung a pillow at Wes.

"What are we doing then?"

"This." And then David picked up one shoe in each hand, and hurled them at opposite walls.

Nothing happened, and Wes laughed. "Well, that was a fail. Thick walls, remember?"

David glared at Wes. "Well, have you got anything better?"

"As a matter of fact," Wes grinned, "I do." He leaned over to reach under his pillow, and pulled out an air horn. David eyed him warily.

"Why on earth do you have an air horn, Wesley?"

"For when the gavel doesn't cut it." He motioned to David to cover his ears, and then pressed the button.

The effect was instantaneous. From one wall, a loud shriek could be heard, and from the other, a large bang as something was knocked over. Then, after a few more seconds, both Kurt and Blaine turned off their music.

"Glorious peace!" Wes whispered, hugging the air horn.

"KURT! BLAINE! GET OUT HERE NOW!" David yelled, already halfway out of his shared dorm room.

Wes peered over David's shoulder - since David was blocking the doorway - and watched in amusement as Kurt threw open his door. His amusement then turned into laughter as Blaine hopped out his dorm room, clutching his foot and muttering darkly.

Blaine - who was used to loud, unexpected noises at eight am on a Saturday - cut off his mumbled complaints as soon as he saw Kurt .The younger boy clearly hadn't been awake for very long; his hair was tangled and sticking out at adorable angles around his pale face. His eyes (Blaine's favourite feature) were half-covered by drooping sleepy lids and his mouth was hanging open as if in mid-yawn. He was completely adorable.

And it was because of this adorableness that Blaine completely forgot about his sore toe and the fact that they weren't meant to be best friends at the moment. And it was because of this adorableness that he then tripped when attempting to walk towards Kurt without actually letting go of his foot.

Blushing crimson, he looked up at Kurt, but the younger boy hadn't actually seen Blaine fall - he was too busy glaring at Wes. Wes, in an attempt to appear innocent, hid the air-horn behind his back, but Kurt was not having it.

"This better be of extreme importance, Wesley," he hissed, rubbing his eyes furiously.

"Oh, it is." David answered. "We are imposing a ban on all things Katy Perry."

That bit of information woke Blaine out of his Kurt-induced haze. "What?" he exploded. "You can't do that!"

At the same time, Kurt also exclaimed. "NO! You can't, I need that song to- to, err...to..."

"To daydream about how dishy Blaine's eyes are?" David helpfully supplied. Kurt flushed scarlet and glared at the smirk on the boys faces while Blaine spluttered in embarrassment. Trust David or Wes to say something completely inappropriate; knowing his luck, that would just add more tension to his and Kurt's present relationship.

"That is not what I was going to say. I was going to say I needed it to...energise me."

"Kurt, I don't want to hear about your masturbation fantasies, thank you." Wes replied, grinning wickedly.

Blaine watched, embarrassed, but he was also furious at Wes and David, because he knew what they were up to. They had done things like this before. They interfered, and tried to play cupid, and usually ended up just ruining things. And he didn't want things to be ruined with Kurt, because he was a very good friend, and he couldn't stand the thought of not having him to lean on.

He grimaced at his friends. "You can't ban Katy Perry just because Kurt and I like listening to her music."

Wes huffed. "David and I would be fine if you just liked her music. But there is a difference between liking her music and listening to 'Teenage Dream' on repeat twenty four hours a day because the song reminds you of your current infatuation."

Blaine sighed, trying to ignore the mounting tension between him and the blushing boy. "Kurt, just go back to your room and ignore these two idiots. Wes, David?" And he looked pointedly at their dorm door.

The two boys trooped back into their room. As soon as the door was closed, Blaine snapped.

"What the hell, guys? Did you really have to go and do that? Are you aware of how uncomfortable you've made Kurt? We still haven't made up after the whole party fiasco and I don't want you two to make it worse! I've told you about trying to meddle - it doesn't work, and usually ends in tears, so please stop. I don't want to lose him." Blaine's voice softened until it was so quiet that his two friends could barely hear him. "He means a lot to me - and before you even start, not romantically. He's a brilliant friend to me. He's the first gay guy I've actually ever been able to talk with openly, and I don't want to lose that either. I love you two, but when I want to discuss the latest edition of vogue, or go and see a musical at the theatre, you aren't ever interested, and Kurt just is."

"We know he means a lot to you, Blaine," David said, "because you haven't shut up about him since you two first met. And as for your fight – we all know it's about something stupid and could be fixed in a heartbeat. We've tried to stay out of this and let you two move at your own pace, but there's a limit to how much eye-sex we can stand before we try to intervene. Stop maintaining that you don't see him on any level except that of a friend, because we see through your bullshit."

"And that limit was reached this morning when you both woke up and immediately turned on Katy Perry," Wes added.

On the other side of the wall, Kurt was haphazardly throwing clothes across his bed, searching for an outfit to wear. He was also trying hard not to think of how sexy Blaine looked when barely-awake, but that was beside the point.

He needed the perfect outfit to wear when taking Blaine back home to Lima.

He also needed to pick an outfit for Blaine himself.

Blaine had given Kurt permission yesterday to choose suitable clothes for him – in the first real conversation they'd had since the Rachel fiasco. Of course, Kurt could tell that Blaine was nervous about seeing New Directions again – seeing as the group knew about their current disagreement and the last time they'd seen Blaine he had been making out with their lead vocalist (except Rachel herself - the last time he'd seen her, he'd declared his definite attraction to boys, and boys only).

It was hard enough to find clothes for himself; he was already half an hour behind on his morning schedule and adding Blaine's wardrobe to this seemed like mission impossible. But Kurt had always enjoyed working in the face of adversity – after all, he had been a member of New Directions ever since it began. It was with this mental attitude that Kurt began furiously moisturising his face, his mind racing through his impressive mental catalogue of outfits. Before he had even begun to wash the creams off, he had narrowed down his selection to five fabulous ensembles. However, Blaine was still a lost cause.

While Kurt pulled on the different mixes of designer pants and shirts, his eyes skimmed over various t-shirts as he imagined Blaine in each one. By the time he had finally settled on his own outfit, Kurt was ready to let his friend go topless... Not that Kurt would have any objection to that whatsoever.

Blaine would object to anything too 'flashy'. Ever the one to blend in, the older boy's wardrobe contained a medley of Dalton uniforms, white tees, black jeans and some darkly coloured sweaters. Every time Kurt tried to subtly hint that colour wasn't a bad thing, Blaine would roll his eyes and fiddle with whatever bland combination he was wearing.

I wish he would let me spice it up a bit, Kurt thought morosely as he pawed through his never-ending collection of scarves. His desperate eyes fell on a drawer full of accessories just as someone knocked on his door.

"Come in," Kurt called as he bent over to pull the drawer open, his eyes lighting up at his find.

"I was wondering whether you were planning on giving me clothes any time soon," Blaine's voice said from the doorway. It was light and casual – but a little too polite to be the Blaine Kurt knew and loved. "I've followed your instructions and resisted the urge to 'throw on some poorly made, disgusting, bin-worthy garment' but I'm getting kind of cold and we need to leave soon."

Kurt let him say this without interrupting as he was rather distracted by Blaine standing in his doorway. Shirtless. He was wearing a pair of black sweats, but nothing on top.

"Kurt?" Blaine asked tentatively. "You okay?"

"He's stunned by your nakedness." David's voice floated in from the open door as he and Wes appeared.

"So are we," Wes added. "Please put some clothes on, Blaine, before we throw up and Kurt melts into a puddle on the floor."

Kurt glared at them, willing his blush to go away, before turning back to his closet and grabbing the clothes that would go best with the accessory he had found hidden underneath his belts. Purposefully keeping his eyes trained on Blaine's face, he threw the materials at the older boy.

"Wear this with your black skinny jeans." The one article of Blaine's clothing that Kurt approved of. It had nothing to do with the Katy Perry lyric, of course.

Blaine took the clothes from Kurt, irritated at himself for having made Kurt uncomfortable. Why did you not just chuck a shirt on? I mean, is it really that difficult Blaine? Now you've just taken another fifty steps backwards in trying to fix your friendship. Well done.

He smiled politely as he backed out of the room, clutching the small pile of clothes. It didn't look as bad as he was dreading – he had only agreed to become Kurt's Barbie doll to break some of the ice that had frosted over their friendship. He had been expecting designer labels and bowties. Instead, Kurt had handed him a plain white shirt (that was obviously made out of some ridiculously expensive fair-trade cotton) and suspenders.

...Pink suspenders. And not just baby pink, oh no. These were luminous, in-your-face, obnoxious pink.

As Blaine pulled on the shirt and exchanged the comfy sweats for his skinny jeans, he wondered if they had been picked specifically to remind everyone that Blaine was gay (one hundred percent gay) or whether Kurt had just liked the thought of Blaine in them. Whatever the motivation, he wasn't going to argue: Blaine loved suspenders.

There was a polite knock at the door. "Are you ready?" Kurt's voice asked from the other side of the door.

Blaine ran a hand through his hair (he had decided to leave it curly for the day, seeing as Kurt had admitted he preferred it that way) and picked up the overnight bag he had packed. His eyes darted across the room, mentally checking that he had everything he needed.

"Yep," he said, pulling the door open.

Kurt – flanked by the very hyper Wes and David – smiled at him as he absentmindedly spun his car keys around his fingers. He couldn't help but let his eyes trail up Blaine's outfit. It was perfect for him. But Kurt had known that already. It was just a testament to his talent in fashion.

"Okay then, let's go," he said and turned away from Blaine before he could do anything stupid, like start drooling.

Wes and David chuckled in synchronisation, and Kurt could feel the red blush creeping up the back of his neck. Trust those two to notice the things he didn't want to become public.

"So, Kurt," Wes began, "I think you've outdone yourself with Blaine's outfit."

David nodded in agreement. "Yep. Is the fact we can practically see through Blaine's shirt intentional?"

"And those jeans leave very little to the imagination."

Kurt sighed and glared at the two of them. "He needs to make a good impression on my friends, and he's not going to do that in those hideous clothes he usually wears."

"I heard that," Blaine said, falling into step next to Kurt after elbowing Wes out the way, wearing his most charming grin, "and my Dalton blazer is hugely offended by your comment."

Instead of the normal sarcastic comeback Blaine had expected, Kurt just smiled slightly and walked a little quicker to get to his car. Blaine's own smile fell from his lips, replaced by a frown. He ignored Wes and David's sympathetic noises as he allowed them to overtake him, forming an effective barrier in between him and Kurt.

Wes and David grimaced at each other.

"How are they ever going to get together if they refuse to say more than three words to each other?" David moaned in a whisper. "I can't deal with the eye-sex anymore, Wes, I just can't."

"Well, we've got all weekend to sort this problem out. And Mercedes seemed like a pretty cool person when she invited us – maybe she'll be up to helping our little lovebirds." Wes whispered back.

The day after Finn called Kurt and informed him of the New Direction's meet up; David had received a call from Kurt's old friend Mercedes, telling the boys that everyone wanted to meet Kurt's new friends. Blaine, of course, was already being dragged along by his not-boyfriend and Wes was hardly going to miss out on a weekend with his best friends. Also, with Regionals rapidly approaching, Wes had to make sure that the Warbler's set list wouldn't be revealed by any loose lips. Even outside of rehearsals, Wes had an unhealthy devotion to his Glee Club.

Blaine had offered to drive them all in his car, but Kurt had insisted on taking them all in his Navigator (apparently he wanted his Dad to inspect it) which had been fine at the time. Now, it was just plain awkward. David took one look at Blaine – as he tried to decide whether to sit next to Kurt or crawl into the backseat and hide for the next two hours – and yelled shotgun. He didn't miss the grateful glances thrown his way by both Kurt and Blaine.

David decided that the next couple of hours were going to be hell. This view was proved correct when he switched on the radio – to cover up the awkward silence – and Teenage Dream came blasting out of the speakers. David was pretty sure that he couldn't have hit the off button any harder if he tried.

"But that song is good," Blaine moaned from the backseat.

Wes and David both said in unison, "It has been banned."

"I can't believe you're actually trying to stop Blaine from listening to Katy Perry." Kurt shook his head in disbelief. "It's not going to work."

"Listen to Kurt and give up on this crazy idea," Blaine said. "And turn the radio back on."

David crossed his arms across his chest defiantly.

"Remember you three," Wes said, "if New Directions even has a hint of our set list, I am going to set fire to you all."

The whole Katy Perry discussion was forgotten as the three boys groaned. Gavel!Wes sometimes appeared outside of Warblers rehearsal (when he felt that the Warblers might be in trouble) and he was always ultra-paranoid if they were outside the walls of Dalton.

"We're not going to leak our own set list, Wes," Kurt said. "Please have a bit of faith in us."

"Besides, I doubt we're going to be talking about Glee Club. That scary lead-vocalist will be screaming at us if we do." David shuddered at the thought of her piercing voice.

Blaine helpfully added, "Her name's Rachel."

"The one you made out with?" Wes asked from the backseat. He realised his mistake after David sent him a death-glare and the other two boys went silent. Blaine's eyes fell to his lap and Kurt's eyes locked onto the road ahead.

The quiet lasted a full ten minutes before David admitted defeat and switched the radio back on.

-taste of her cherry chapstick

I kissed a girl, just to try it

I hope my boyfriend don't mind it.

As the familiar chords of Katy Perry's 'I Kissed A Girl' drifted into the car, it took all of David's self-restraint not to repeatedly hit his head on the dashboard until he either knocked himself out or died.

Blaine practically sprinted out of the car as soon as Kurt stopped in front of his house. There was already a mass of vehicles – Blaine assumed they were the New Directions' – parked up on the sidewalk. He saw Mercedes' grinning face at the window before she disappeared to run down the front path and greet her friend.

"Hey white boy!" she called as she pulled Kurt into a tight hug. "Dayum, have you got even skinnier since you last visited?"

Kurt looked more relaxed than Blaine had seen in a while as he laughed. "Mercedes, if I lost any pounds, I would be celebrating with you immediately."

Mercedes nodded happily and released him, her eyes brushed over David and Wes – she offered one of her beaming grins to the two boys – and then settled on Blaine. The smile faded and her eyes were intense as she studied him from head to toe. Kurt had told her all about the Rachel/Blaine scenario and she knew how much the boy had hurt her friend; however Kurt had made her promise to be nice to Blaine. The two emotions battled with each other before she finally smiled at him and motioned for them all to go into the house.

The members of Kurt's old Glee club were gathered in his living room already. The boys were mainly grouped around the TV where Mike and Finn were playing Call of Duty. Puck was sitting on the couch with Lauren – obviously trying desperately to catch her attention, but she was more interested with the huge volume of snacks on the coffee table. The girls were scattered around. Some (Santana and Tina) were watching the boys' game, while the others were lounging on the floor, chatting to one another.

Rachel was sitting next to Finn, talking loudly in his ear, though it was clear that no one was listening to her until she announced, "The Warblers are here! Remember the rules, people: no Glee talk."

"Kurt!" the girls squealed as they leapt to their feet to hug him.

Blaine couldn't help but smile as the countertenor was immediately sucked into a conversation with Quinn – he looked so happy.

The New Directions all smiled and waved at Wes and David, but they shared Mercedes' reaction to Blaine. Finn didn't bother pretending to be polite - his glare informed Blaine that Finn wasn't prepared to forgive him yet.

"I've missed you guys," Kurt was confessing. "Even though it's only been a few weeks."

"Oh, are we not good enough for you?" David teased as he perched on the couch's arm rest, next to Tina.

Kurt shook his head in mock seriousness. "Sorry guys, you just can't compare to the New Directions' drama."

"I beg to differ," Blaine said. "Remember that time Wes choked on a grape?"

"Sadly, I do. He threw the rest of the bunch at us and it ruined my hair." Kurt glared at Wes, who had seated himself on the floor. "I'm still going to get you back for that."

New Directions laughed and the tension broke slightly. Mike motioned for Blaine to come and join their Call of Duty gathering and he slipped easily into the guys' small talk.

The conversation turned to New Directions' memories as the third game finished. Though Blaine didn't recognise some of the names, he could tell that the club had had more than its fair share of trouble.

"And then you all made Kurt own up to Coach Sylvester about putting it in YouTube!" Tina was squawking.

Blaine's attention was immediately captured by the mention of Kurt's name and he asked, "What was this?" as he moved closer to the group of girls. He sat down next to Rachel as she scooted over to make space for the new arrival.

"Kurt and Mercedes were in Sue's office alone one time, and they found this video of her singing Physical by Olivia Newton John. And then Finn convinced them to put it on YouTube," Rachel informed him. "When they finally decided to own up to it, they made Kurt go do it."

"I was wetting myself," he confessed. "I was convinced she was going to rip my Cheerios uniform off my back with her claws."

The others laughed while Blaine, Wes and David shared a look. Kurt had mentioned the Cheerios of McKinley High School, but he hadn't even hinted being a part of the elite club.

"You were a cheerleader?" David asked. "You never told us that before."

"He was an amazing cheerleader!" Quinn said. "He won us Nationals. I think that's why Coach Sylvester likes him so much."

Blaine's eyes widened as he imagined Kurt in a cheerleading outfit performing all of the complicated twists and flips that he had seen on the TV. 'Please, please let there be videos', he prayed.

"How come you never told us this?" Blaine asked as Kurt blushed.

"It's embarrassing!" he moaned. "I much prefer telling you about all of the stupid things the rest of New Directions do."

Mercedes grinned at the Warblers. "Don't worry - we can tell you all about Kurt and his history."

"Like the time he dated me," Brittany said.

"He joined the football team," Puck added.

"Mellencamp."

"Single Ladies."

Kurt groaned and his face fell into his hands. The others laughed.

Wes stood up - followed by David - and said, "Before you tell any of these hilarious sounding stories, I haven't been to the toilet since I woke up this morning."

Kurt leapt to his feet, eager to avoid the embarrassment, even for a little while longer.

"This way." He ushered them out of the door and up the stairs.

When the living room door swung shut, everyone went quiet and turned to face Blaine, who suddenly felt rather threatened by the ten pairs of glaring eyes.

"Listen, Anderson," Finn started, "I've only met you once before, so I don't know you, but if you hurt my stepbrother I'm gonna punch you."

"Yeah," Mercedes put in. "If you make my baby sad again - I will break your face."

"Again?"

Rachel dropped her gaze as the others sent pointed stares her way.

Blaine nodded. "I don't have any intention to repeat past mistakes. I'm still trying to fix them." He looked at Rachel. "No offense."

"None taken. Just don't hurt him." She put a hand on his shoulder and said - with a completely straight face, "Or I will have to follow you around singing very loudly in your ear. And trust me: I can sing loud."

The serious atmosphere was broken and the group rushed to assure Blaine that Rachel could sing very loud and very high for a distressingly long time. Blaine – being the polite young gentleman he was – complimented Rachel's voice from Sectionals and she smiled and allowed her hand to crawl around Blaine's shoulders as thanks.

That was the situation that Kurt walked in on; his friends laughing while Rachel and Blaine were practically hugging each other. His breath caught, but he tried to crush the all-too familiar jealousy. There had to be a good explanation, he assured himself as he sat down again.

None was offered, however, and after Wes and David bounded in and sat down – demanding the embarrassing stories they had been promised – Kurt stopped hoping that someone would tell him what was going on.

"So, Cheerio Kurt?" Wes and David prompted. Blaine looked up at Kurt, having been distracted by chatting quietly with Rachel. Kurt tried to ignore that they seemed very cosy.

Mercedes grinned at Kurt – who was glaring darkly at everyone – and started talking. "It's all thanks to Madonna, really. Sue was playing it through the school and Mr. Schue was inspired to base our weekly assignment around her..."

Kurt tried to catch Blaine's eye, but the older boy seemed to be ignoring him by keeping his eyes firmly on Mercedes. Kurt eventually gave up and crossed his arms defiantly, taking all of the embarrassment on the chin.

Blaine look at Kurt once, and threw him a grin that usually would have made Kurt's heart stutter and turn his cheeks red – but at that moment, he was too angry at Blaine to let his hormones take over. Instead he just pointedly turned his face away. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Blaine's hand drop from Rachel's shoulder as a bemused frown passed over his face. No one else in the circle gave any indication of witnessing the exchange between the two as they pondered whether the football team were good enough to be Beyonce's back up dancers.

"Where're you going?" Rachel asked as Kurt got to his feet.

"To put the pizzas in the oven." To get away from the boy sitting next to you.

There were cheers from the boys, who had managed to eat all of the snacks. The fridge was full of pizza boxes, thanks to Carole. When she and Burt had heard about the proposed Glee Club weekend, they had stocked the kitchen full of food and then decided to have a mini-honeymoon on that weekend. Burt had been a little resistant to leaving sixteen teenagers alone in his house for two days, but Carole had talked him round.

He revelled in the silence of the kitchen as he waited for the oven to heat up and freed the pizzas from their wrappings. The vague snippets of conversation, laughter and a few lines of song drifted through the door that were usually so enticing to Kurt, held no appeal. Every time he heard Rachel talk (which was a lot, as she seemed to be dominating the conversation) the image of her and Blaine making out would pop into his head and he would retreat back to staring at the oven, waiting for it to announce it was hot enough. Blaine's laugh echoed loudly through the closed door. Kurt drew in a deep breath: at least Blaine was getting on well with his friends – when the whole Rachel thing blew over, Kurt knew he would be grateful for this. But right now, he could only angrily imagine Blaine and Rachel, laughing and bonding and being very close in his own living room.

The kitchen door opened, and Kurt whirled around to see the object of his thoughts standing in the doorway, still chuckling to himself. He smiled when he saw Kurt.

"People want snacks," he explained. "Rachel said you'd know where they were..."

Kurt was momentarily stunned by how good Blaine looked in those suspenders. He regretted making him look so sexy, because it was definitely back-firing on him now, as he stared at the mouth-watering delicacy that was Blaine Anderson. Forget snacks, the boy looked delicious enough to eat-

Whoa. Stop thinking like that. Give him the damn snacks and stop acting like a hormonal teenage boy, Kurt ordered himself. Besides, you're angry at him. And he just mentioned Rachel, again. He had to tear his eyes away from Blaine's body before his brain allowed him to turn away and grab a few more bags of crisps out of the kitchen cupboards. When he turned back, his anger had returned in full effect.

"Thanks," Blaine said as he took them from Kurt. "Hey – are you okay? You look a little... off."

"Yeah, yeah. Just a little tired... and overwhelmed by the craziness in there. I was getting used to the general calm of Dalton." He lied.

"Calm?" Blaine raised an eyebrow. "Wes and David woke us up with an air horn this morning."

"General calm," Kurt repeated, enjoying the easy banter that Blaine and he managed to slip into, but struggling to keep the anger at bay. Stop being jealous Kurt, you know he's not interested in Rachel. "When Wes and David aren't around – Dalton's remarkably boring."

"But seeing as they stalk us 24/7, Dalton's hardly ever boring. Besides, you also make school interesting." Blaine grinned at him.

However, before Kurt could quiz him on what he'd meant by that, Lauren shouted from the lounge, "Oi! Warbler boy, why is our food taking so long to arrive? I'm hungry."

Blaine gave Kurt one last smile before striding back into the madness of the New Directions and Wes and David. Kurt sighed and shoved the pizzas into the oven – wondering what exactly Blaine had meant by Kurt being 'interesting'.

The girls pounced on Blaine as soon as he had thrown the bags of crisps to the guys – who were gathered around the TV again. Apparently Kurt was the girls' first choice when they needed relationship advice, and as he was busy in the kitchen, they had nominated Blaine to be his replacement. As the tales of woe started (in hushed tones so that the boys in question couldn't hear what was being said) Blaine was shocked by the complicity of the bonds between the members. It seemed as if they had all been together at one point, and all of their history kept coming up and getting in the way of the future. Kurt had told him the horror stories of the New Directions' drama, but it was quite different when you were being asked to sort out these dramas.

As Quinn finished her Finn-related sob story and Rachel started hers, Blaine's respect for Kurt grew tenfold. Mercedes' watched this with a small smirk on her face.

"So?" Santana asked after Rachel and Quinn finished bitching about what an ass Finn was for keeping them both in a constant state of confusion. "What should we do?"

Blaine blinked, dumbstruck. "You guys are insane, have you ever been told that?"

Mercedes' smirk burst out into full laughter while the other girls looked mildly affronted.

"It's not our fault," Rachel protested. "It's theirs!"

Realising that the girls wouldn't let him go until he had given them some viable advice, Blaine said, "Have you tried talking to them?"

Quinn snorted derisively. "They won't listen – they're guys."

"I'm a guy."

"Yeah, but you're gay so you don't have the same view of being the superior sex and all that crap," Quinn continued. Blaine decided not to take offense at her comment.

"I don't think they think that either. They're just stupid – like all teenage boys are. Just sit them down and talk to them until you've sorted out your problems. And don't get angry at them, no matter what ridiculously idiotic thing they say."

Kurt opened the door with his hip as both of hands were busy juggling the three pizza boards. Blaine, once again, was sitting with Rachel right next to him. The other girls also sat in a ring around him but none seemed quite as... cuddly as the two of them were. Blaine didn't even bother getting up to help Kurt with the food like he usually would; he was busy watching Rachel intently as she babbled on in her annoying, whiny voice.

It was Wes – who had been waiting for his turn to have the controller – who took the boards off Kurt so that he could clear a space on the coffee table. Blaine only looked round as the pizza hit the surface with a slight bang and gave Kurt a vague smile before turning back to Rachel. Kurt made an excuse about the bathroom or something as he stormed out. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mercedes stand up in an attempt to follow him, but he shook his head at her angrily. Thankfully, she got the message and sank back down onto the chair, but continued to watch his march out of the room with a concerned expression.

Despite what Kurt thought, Blaine did notice Kurt walk out with a face resembling a hurricane and it only took him a few minutes to excuse himself from the circle of clamouring girls.

"Tell me if it's something serious," Mercedes whispered to him as he made his way out of the lounge. Blaine nodded.

Kurt was sat on his bed upstairs.

"Kurt, what's up?" Blaine asked. "Have I done something wrong? It's as if you're avoiding me but I can't work out what I've done..."

Kurt concentrated his attentions to the book on his lap. It hurt a lot that Blaine didn't even realise what he'd been doing. He knew from the Valentine's Day debacle that Blaine was oblivious to most things in life, but seriously – this was just beyond ridiculous. He felt the bed dip as Blaine perched next to him on the mattress.

"Kurt..." Blaine said, resting his hand on the younger boy's shoulder. "Kurt, please. Tell me what happened. I hate being shut out like this. I need to know if there's something wrong. I really do care about you, Kurt."

That last sentence made Kurt's head snap up. "Oh do you really? You care about me, huh?"

"Y-yes. Of course I do... I've told you that already. I know we had an argument, but that doesn't stop me caring about you. You're still my friend, no matter what little tiffs we have." Blaine smiled slightly, and let his hand run down Kurt's arm – intending to grab his hand but Kurt leapt to his feet and backed away from the other boy.

"Don't, Blaine. Just don't."

"What? I'm not lying – you know that, right? Kurt! What's wrong? Stop being all mysterious and just spell it out for me."

Kurt exploded. "I'm not being mysterious! For heaven's sake, Blaine, I want you to realise what you did!"

Blaine couldn't be more confused. "What? I have done anything."

"Apart from get all snuggly and cosy with Rachel. You two have been practically eye-fucking each other since we got here and it's driving me mad, Blaine. I thought you had sorted this out." Kurt crossed his arms and retreated further into the corner of the room as Blaine jumped off the bed.

"You're joking," Blaine stated, dumbstruck. "You have to be joking."

"I didn't realise this was a laughing matter to you." Kurt replied dryly.

"What the hell, Kurt? There's nothing between me and Rachel at all. I'm gay; she's madly in love with your step-brother. We're friends and that's it! Just friends."

"Friends don't interact like you two do! Friends don't hold hands, talk incessantly and spend every second together."

"I honestly don't get what you're saying, Kurt! I would never date Rachel. I'm gay, and I'm almost one hundred percent sure that Rachel's a girl. It kind of turns me off."

"So, what, you're just leading her on? Blaine, she's my friend."

Blaine felt like knocking his head against a wall – it was what this conversation was turning out to be like.

"Shut up and actually listen to what I'm saying for a second, Kurt. Can you do that? Or are you going interrupt with a snide, uninformed remark?"

Kurt's hands clenched into fists, but he didn't say anything. Blaine took this as a positive sign and tried to calm himself slightly before saying something rash and stupid.

"That was uncalled for. I'm sorry. But can't you see that you're accusing me of something ridiculous? Rachel and I are friends and nothing more." He took a few small steps towards his friend. "Kurt, I've learnt my lesson from last time – Rachel is hardly my type in any case."

"Well that's not what it looks like to the rest of us, Blaine! She was sitting in your lap for almost an hour!"

"We're just friends! How many times do I have to say that?"

"Obviously a few more because I just don't believe you!"

"What the hell is your problem, Kurt? Because there has to be something else! You wouldn't react like this if it had been Brittany sitting on my lap, or Mercedes, or Tina. You definitely wouldn't care if it was Wes or David or any of the guys, and I'm more likely to have a secret relationship with one of them."

"Because I've seen you go through this with Rachel before so I know that you're up for experimenting," Kurt hissed.

Blaine threw his hands up in frustration; Kurt just wasn't listening to him. "I'm not experimenting with Rachel! I did that a few weeks ago and I sorted everything out. I know I'm gay – I know I'm not attracted to girls in any way whatsoever! Why are you being such an jackass about this?"

"I thought you cared for me, Blaine. Or do jump from affection to affection that quickly?"

"I do care for you, but you make it so hard sometimes!"

"Oh, do I? I'm sorry about that, your highness. Sorry that I have inconvenient problems and annoying feelings! I know you would much prefer me if I was just another generic Dalton copy, wouldn't you?"

"Why are you being so irrational, Kurt?"

"Me? Me? Irrational? You're leading on my one of my best friends and you don't even realise you're doing it!"

"Oh, this is not about Rachel. This is all about you, Kurt. I don't know what I've done to wind you so much, but I know that that's the reason you're so angry right now. You don't really care about your friend."

"What the fuck are you talking about, Blaine?" he hissed. "I, unlike you, do want my friends to be happy. This has nothing to do with me."

"I do want my friends to be happy!"

"Then why are shouting at me and calling me a jackass?"

"Because you're acting like a jackass! And to be honest, right now, you're hardly a good friend."

"Well, I'm sorry that my presence is so distressing for you!" he yelled. "Maybe you should go and talk to your friends."

"You know what, I think I will." Blaine pushed past Kurt on the way to the door. "I don't want to waste anymore of my time talking to you, you unreasonable little-"

His insult was cut off by a very angry Kurt yelling, "Just fuck off!" and slamming the door in his face.

Blaine stormed downstairs to where the New Directions, Wes and David were all standing silently, looking at him as if he was a particularly malevolent form of the bubonic plague.

He only paused for a second before marching out of the house and down the road. He didn't have a clue where he was going – but he knew that he had to get away from the house and Kurt. It was hard when he didn't have a car or any idea of the geography of Lima. Perhaps that was why it took all of two minutes for Wes and David to catch up with him, a few blocks away from Kurt's house. In Wes' hands were the three overnight bags they had packed earlier that day.

David grabbed his shoulder to stop him. "Would you kindly inform us what the hell that was?" he demanded.

"Just leave it."

"Why were you yelling at him?" David wasn't giving up without an answer.

"Just leave it, David." He tried to walk away again, but was stopped by Wes.

"What was that fight about?" Wes' tone was gentler, however Blaine knew that Wes used the polite tone to stop himself exploding.

"Why are you guys angry about this? I thought you were mean to be my friends."

"We are," David protested.

"So why are you siding with Kurt?"

Wes held up his hands. "Calm down! We're just as pissed off at Kurt as we are at you. We're not taking sides until we know why you two idiots just had that little screaming argument."

"I didn't do anything! Kurt thought I was leading Rachel on, or something ridiculous like that! And he wouldn't listen when I tried to explain that we were just friends. He just kept going on and on about how I said I cared about him, and how I was lying." Blaine groaned in frustration, raking his hands through his ungelled hair. Even when it was put in front of him so bluntly, he just couldn't see why Kurt had overreacted so much.

David seemed to get that Blaine wasn't in any mood to analyse his and Kurt's argument right now. He looked more in the mood to collapse onto the sidewalk and sob. So, being a good friend, he put an arm around his shoulder in a comforting gesture and glared at Wes to prevent him asking anymore questions.

"Shall I call a taxi?" he asked. "Seeing as we were relying on Kurt for our ride back and I think putting you two within twenty feet of each other will result in a murder..."

His attempt at a joke fell flat as Blaine simply crossed his arms protectively over his chest and muttered, "Please."

It was safe to say that the cab ride back to Dalton was tense.

For the next week, Kurt and Blaine studiously avoided each other. Kurt began to study in his room instead of in the Senior Commons where Blaine had set up residence. Blaine ate breakfast in the last ten minutes before lessons, knowing that Kurt preferred to get up early. They moved seats in the classes they shared. Warblers rehearsals were conducted with no input from either boy as they both stared resolutely in opposite directions.

The Warblers watched all this in despair. They had actually believed that the two boys were making enough progress to be together by Regionals. Obviously fate had decided to torment them: Thad and Jeff – with much input from nearby Warblers – spent a whole evening discussing whether the awkward tension was worse than the previous eye-sex. Wes and David tried their best not to take sides – swapping study partners and lunch buddies every day - and were, for the most part, successful, however they couldn't help but lecture their two friends on how they were colossal idiots.

"Just apologise," David practically begged Blaine. "Please."

"But I didn't do anything wrong! I was just being polite and nice to Rachel."

Before Blaine could attempt to walk away, David grabbed his shoulder and met his glare calmly. "Kurt thinks that you did something wrong – maybe you should try and have a civil conversation to find out why he had such a problem with it. It's obvious to this entire school that you two still like each other enormously and want to suck each other's faces off."

Blaine closed his chemistry book and grabbed his stuff off the table, glaring at David. "I'm going to study in my room tonight," he said stiffly and marched out of the commons.

It took all of five minutes for a disgruntled Wes to drop into Blaine's newly evacuated seat. His frustrated expression was almost identical to David's.

"Did Kurt throw you out?" he asked sympathetically.

Wes groaned. "I only suggested that he talked to Blaine! I didn't even tell him to try and sort it out, I just said talk. If those two don't sort out this stupid fight soon..." He trailed off, not needing to finish his sentence – David understood. Wes closed his eyes and shook his head before pulling his French books out of his bag. "I need to study. Can we forget about angry, hormonally charged, gay teenagers for the rest of the night please?"

In his bedroom, Kurt was doing much the same as Wes and David – trying desperately to stop thinking about Blaine, who he had just heard storm into his room and slam the door. He tried to remind himself that the deadline for the mammoth English paper was looming and he really should start working on it but his mind just wouldn't let him focus on The Great Gatsby.

He glared at his phone as it vibrated with yet another message, undoubtedly from one of the New Directions. Sure enough, Santana's name popped up onto the screen.

Seriously Kurt, me and Puck will shoot prep boy if you need. He's an asshole. – S xxx

Kurt didn't even bother replying to that one. In the past week, his inbox had been flooded with messages from McKinley High students. Some (ones from Tina, Brittany and Quinn) were condoling and comforting; others (ones from all the guys and Rachel, Santana and Lauren) threatened Blaine's life in a multitude of colourful ways. None of them made Kurt feel any better.

He gave up on English – closing his book and shoving his papers off his bed and onto the floor, too distracted to care about the mess he had just made in his pristine room.

So, he liked Blaine. Even after their fight, the sight of the annoyingly oblivious curly-haired Warbler made his IQ drop significantly. Without with the usually ever-cheerful Blaine by his side, Dalton lost nearly all of its glamour and appeal that normally enticed Kurt. A very big part of Kurt (mainly the part around his heart) was ordering him to go to Blaine's room and apologise profusely until this fight was forgotten and they were friends again.

However a part of him agreed with what Santana had said: Blaine was an asshole to him. Yes, maybe Kurt had overreacted a little bit – he had been forced to admit that there was nothing going on between Blaine and Rachel after she left him a twenty minute apology voicemail – but Blaine had definitely reacted in a less-than-perfect way.

He bit his lip. Maybe I should apologise, he thought before frowning and correcting himself mentally. No, Blaine is the one in the wrong; he should be the one saying sorry. But I was a bit cruel to him; I'm also guilty in this...

After half an hour of going in circles, Kurt angrily pushed himself up and stormed into the shower, promising to himself not to think of Blaine until they had won Regionals. He had enough stress with the competition looming without having relationship dramas as well – he couldn't understand how Rachel and Finn managed it pretty much every single time.

While the warm water rushed over him, he turned his mind back to the harmonies he was required to sing for their second number. It had hardly been practised and Wes had almost knocked Thad unconscious with the gavel last rehearsal when he messed up his part. Kurt had been given the highest part, though it was still well within his range. Then again, the Warblers hadn't yet chosen a song that even challenged his voice.

Singing softly to himself, Kurt finished rinsing the conditioner out of his hair and shut off the water. He climbed out of the shower and pulled on some pyjamas. Going back into his room, he decided to pull his door open, hoping for a distraction to pass by. Unbeknownst to Kurt, Blaine had also propped his door ajar, but he had found distraction in the form of his guitar. The noise of his stumming floated down the corridor and into Kurt's room. Kurt heard the boy playing his guitar, and rose off his bed to investigate. He had never been able to resist his friend when he played the guitar: he had never been able to resist Blaine when he did anything remotely musical.

Blaine was lost in his own world, and he didn't notice the figure hanging at his doorway.

"Comparisons are easily done
Once you've had a taste of perfection"

While Blaine sang, he closed his eyes, and saw Kurt. All he could ever see was Kurt. Whenever he was with someone else, he was always thinking something about Kurt that was better.

"You said move on, where do I go?
I guess second best is all I will know"

But Blaine had blown it with him. Kurt had been brave enough to bring up his feeling for Blaine, and Blaine had evaded them. And now things were tense between them, and he missed just hanging out with Kurt and feeling like nothing else mattered.

"'Cause when I'm with him I am thinking of you
Thinking of you, what you would do
If you were the one who was spending the night
Oh, I wish that I was looking into your eyes"

Jeremiah had been a huge mistake. Blaine hadn't ever really been into him, he'd just been pretending to himself because he didn't want to accept the truth - that maybe, just maybe, it was actually Kurt that he was attracted to. Whenever Jeremiah said something, or did something, Blaine was always thinking how Kurt would do it differently - better. Blaine was just too clueless to realise what that meant.

"You're like an Indian Summer in the middle of winter
Like a hard candy with a surprise center"

When they'd first met, Kurt was in a bad place. He used sarcasm as a defence mechanism, and lashed out at people who only wanted to help. But Blaine had seen behind his mask - and the real Kurt was a lovely, caring boy who just wanted someone to understand his absolutely horrific situation. Kurt didn't deserve what Karofsky did to him, but he was so brave, refusing to back down. In the end, it had been Blaine's terrible advice that had ruined him. Why did I tell him to fight? Blaine wondered, horrified.

"He kissed my lips, I taste your mouth
He pulled me in, I was disgusted with myself"

No matter what way you looked at it, Blaine was the reason that Kurt followed Karofsky into that locker room, and Blaine was the reason that Karofsky stole Kurt's first kiss. He was also the reason that Karofsky had then threatened his life. And the knowledge made Blaine feel physically sick. His hands shook with anger, but he just played his guitar louder.

"'Cause when I'm with him I am thinking of you
Thinking of you, what you would do
If you were the one who was spending the night
Oh, I wish that I was looking into"

He remembered staying at Kurt's house after the train wreck of Rachel's party, and he remembered the fight they'd had afterwards. He was such an idiot - even then, he had his suspicions that Kurt liked him, and what did he do? He kissed Kurt's friend and then had been just as friendly and cuddly with her the next time they had met up. Blaine knew there was some sort of girl-code rule about that, and he knew that Kurt probably agreed with said rule. Which means he had definitely upset Kurt. Of all the people to experiment with, you had to pick Rachel, didn't you Blaine? His thoughts mocked himself.

There was a sound of something heavy dragging across his carpet, and when he looked up, Kurt was standing a few feet in front of him; his hair was wet and dripping down the sides of his face. Good, let him hear this. Maybe he'll realise that I really didn't mean to hurt him.

"You're the best, and yes, I do regret
How I could let myself let you go"

Blaine made sure to look at Kurt pointedly whilst he sang, in the hope that Kurt really understood why he was singing this song. He needed Kurt to forgive him for not understanding why he was so upset about Rachel and Blaine's friendship. He needed his Kurt back.

"Now, now the lesson's learned
I touched it, I was burned"

He stumbled over the word burned, as he remembered how happy Kurt made him feel, how alive he was when Kurt was with him.

"What you would do
If you were the one who was spending the night
Oh, I wish that I was looking into your, your eyes
Looking into your eyes, looking into your eyes"

He had returned to watching his fingers pick out the chords, but as he let the last line fall between them, he looked up to Kurt again, trying to convey what he felt.

"'Cause in your eyes I'd like to stay, stay"

Blaine's chest rose and fell loudly as he waited for Kurt to say something, anything.

"Wow," Kurt whispered, finally. "That was...uh, yeah. Okay. Um." He fidgeted awkwardly, and Blaine sighed, placing his guitar back in its stand, and then patted his bed.

"I think we need to talk, Kurt." Kurt nodded, but didn't move. "Oh, for heaven's sake!" Blaine exclaimed, and then he jumped up and grabbed Kurt's hand, and pulled him towards the bed, shutting the door behind them before tugging them both down onto the bed.

Kurt made an odd sort of squeak, and stared at their linked hands intently.

"Friends don't hold hands..." He murmured, and Blaine looked at him sharply.

"Kurt, we hold hands all the time. Aren't you being a little hypocritical?" Kurt seemed then to remember himself, and jerked his hand out of Blaine's grip. He perched stiffly on the edge of the bed, and glared in Blaine's general direction, but made sure to avoid eye contact. He couldn't handle seeing those hazel eyes when he was so angry with him.

"Blaine, we used to hold hands all the time. Then everything happened, and ever since then, things have just been awkward. Friends shouldn't hold hands. It complicates things." Kurt said this with more sass than intended, but he figured Blaine deserved it, and so didn't bother apologising.

And Blaine knew this was his chance - his chance to explain everything to Kurt. Like a band aid, he thought. "What - what if...I like things complicated?"

Kurt blinked at him, disbelief evident on his face. "Don't be ridiculous. Nobody likes things complicated."

Blaine sighed again. He seemed to be sighing an awful lot these days. "Kurt, you're missing the point of what I'm trying to say."

"Just say it then! I've been direct with you; can't you extend me the same courtesy?" Kurt's impatience leaked through his composure, but he took a calming breath.

"I'm tired of pointing you in the right direction. I just want to stop running ahead, and actually enjoy the scenery, but I don't know how to." Blaine closed his eyes, and missed Kurt's look of utter confusion.

"Blaine, that wasn't any more direct," Kurt sighed, but some of the anger had drained out of his voice.

This is one painful band-aid.

"Right. Sorry. What I mean is: I don't want to be your mentor any more Kurt. I want to be... more. But I need time to figure this all out. I'm sorry, I'm just so confused. My feelings aren't making any sense to me right now." And then to himself, please don't make me spell it out.

"More?" Kurt choked on the word, not quite sure if he was hearing correctly. Blaine wanted more out of their relationship. Surely he didn't mean...?

"Yes." Blaine replied, tersely. He tensed, waiting for Kurt's reaction.

"...As in?" Oh, for the love of- why did he have to ask the one question I don't have the answer to? Blaine had struggled for days to clear the foggy haze of confusion from his mind in regard to his feelings for Kurt, but it refused to move. Kurt leaned towards Blaine unconsciously, slowly unfolding from his defensive position. Blaine, however, sat rigidly, facing forwards, avoiding looking at Kurt.

"Kurt, I wish I knew. I really, really do. But you've asked me the one question I can't answer, I'm sorry. I just need some time to figure this all out. Can you give me that?"

"Time." Kurt had waited months for Blaine to work it all out. Ever since he'd first heard Blaine sing the opening lines of Teenage Dream, he'd been waiting. And he didn't want to wait any longer. But he was going to have to. "I guess, yeah. But I won't wait forever, Blaine. I've waited a long time already."

"Thank you." Blaine whispered, but inside he was panicking - he didn't want Kurt to give up on him. Not yet. "And, Kurt? For the record - you aren't a jackass. And you aren't a terrible friend either. You didn't deserve for me to say that, I'm sorry."

"It's alright, Blaine. We both said things we didn't mean, so let's just put it behind us." Blaine nodded in agreement, and they lapsed into a comfortable silence - the first in a very long time.

"Kurt?" Blaine asked, after a few minutes.

"Yes?" He replied, sounding amused.

"How'd you know to come in, when I was singing?"

"I heard you playing... I can never resist listening to you play guitar. And then you started singing and I just wanted to see whether the song meant what I hoped it meant." Kurt smiled slightly and added, "Wes and David will be happy that we've made up. I think our fight might have annoyed them slightly."

Both boys laughed, and everything was right again.

Blaine was nervous. Not the usual butterflies-in-your-stomach type nervous, but proper I-think-I'm-about-to-throw-up nervous. Of course, being the lead soloist for the Warblers, Blaine was so used to performing in front of audiences that it didn't feel any different to singing to his reflection in the bathroom mirror. Regionals – although it was very important to the Glee club – wasn't anything special for Blaine.

But Kurt was.

Blaine was well aware that Kurt was waiting patiently for him to sort out his feelings but with every passing day he could see Kurt grow more and more agitated by his indecisiveness. Even though Blaine couldn't work out what he wanted from Kurt, he knew that he didn't want to lose him. In fact, just the thought of losing Kurt caused his stomach to twist in the most uncomfortable way.

Hence the I'm-about-to-throw-up feeling.

A very stressed, gavel-bearing Wes stalked past Blaine's position in the wings and onto the stage, where a large group of Warblers were milling around chatting. Blaine noticed Kurt laughing with David at the edge. From the other side of the heavy curtain, the indistinct hum of the audience reminded Blaine that they were about to start.

Obviously Wes was thinking along the same lines.

"If you are not in position within the next ten seconds I am going to knock you out with the gavel!" he practically yelled at the chaotic boys who had all stopped talking to look at him with a mixture of fear and amusement.

But they all followed his orders and assembled into the neat rows that the Dalton Academy Warblers were notorious for. Wes quickly hurried offstage to set his gavel down, before merging seamlessly with the group.

Blaine managed to catch Kurt's eye one last time and they shared a grin before a hush spread through the room.

The curtain rose as the lights faded in from black to create a blue tinge over the stage. It illuminated the Warblers, standing frozen on a staircase of three steps. The only part of them that moved was their mouths as they began the low hum of the backing track, and then Blaine was walking onstage and singing.

"I walked across, an empty land
I knew the pathway like the back of my hand
I felt the earth beneath my feet
Sat by the river and it made me complete"

He walked across the stage, past all of the Warblers, and then sat on the bottom step on the last line. He had been singing to the floor, looking as if he was debating something, but as he reached the chorus, he looked up to the audience.

"Oh simple thing, where have you gone?
I'm getting old and I need something to rely on.
So tell me when you're gonna let me in
I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin"

As Blaine sang through the chorus for the first time, the rest of the Dalton Academy boys finally broke rank, and separated to each side of the stage. The group on the left surrounded Blaine, and Kurt, who was in this group, reached a hand out to help Blaine up. As he did, Blaine squeezed his hand in reassurance.

Blaine spun around Kurt and climbed up to the top step, so that he was directly in the middle of the stage, before singing the second verse.

"I came across a fallen tree
I felt the branches of it looking at me
Is this the place we used to love?
Is this the place that I've been dreaming of?"

When he reached the third line, he gestured out to the audience with his hands and then slowly walked down the stairs.

"Oh simple thing, where have you gone?
I'm getting old and I need something to rely on
So tell me when you're gonna let me in
I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin"

Behind him, the Warblers slowly spread back out across the staircase, crossing past each other and slotting in as a group.

"And if you have a minute why don't we go
talk about it somewhere only we know
this could be the end of everything
so why don't we go somewhere only we know?"

The group were swaying now, moving in unison.

"Somewhere only we know
Somewhere only we know"

Blaine continued to sing, but stepped back to unite himself with the rest of the group. He lowered his volume, and the rest of the boys raised theirs, so that they were all singing as one.

"And if you have a minute why don't we go
talk about it somewhere only we know
this could be the end of everything
so why don't we go, so why don't we go?

And if you have a minute why don't we go
talk about it somewhere only we know
this could be the end of everything
so why don't we go somewhere only we know?

Somewhere only we know,
Somewhere only we know."

The song ended, and the audience exploded into cheers and applause. All of the boys grinned, and Kurt, who had ended up right behind Blaine, pushed him forwards and gestured to him as if to say 'Well, how good was he?' Blaine laughed self-consciously, and bowed to the audience. They began to quiet, so he stepped back into his place. The lights fell again, and the boys all dropped their heads so they were looking at their feet.

Someone took a deep breath, and that was their cue to begin the nest song. Trent, who had won the first solo, stepped out from the ranks (he was strategically placed in the mid-left of the group) and climbed down the stairs in an almost predatory manner.

"Weep for yourself my man, you'll never be what is in your heart.
Weep little lion man, you're not as brave as you were at the start.
So rate yourself and rake yourself, take all of the courage you have left.
Waste it on fixing all the problems that you made in your own head."

As he sang the word courage, although Blaine and Kurt could not see one another's face, they both smiled slightly. Trent, however, was gesturing angrily, and it was easy to see that he was putting passion into his singing. Blaine rejoiced inside, because he was sure that they had a very good chance of winning with this performance.

"But it was not your fault but mine, and it was your heart on the line,
I really messed it up this time, didn't I my dear?"

Trent stopped his angry pacing, and belted these words to the audience. Blaine could feel the desperateness of the song, and he wasn't the slightest bit jealous of Trent's obvious talent. Of course not. Because that would be petty, he thought to himself as he watched Trent pour his heart out into the song.

"Tremble for yourself my man, you know that you have seen it all before.
Tremble little lion man, you'll never settle any of your scores.
Your grace is wasted in your face, your boldness stands alone among the wreck
Now learn from your mother or else spend your days biting your own neck."

As Trent sang his last verse, other lyrics began to weave their way into the song, sang by Eli, who had never had any solos before. In fact, he was normally a very efficient beat boxer, and Kurt had been surprised to hear him sing. The warblers who were not singing on lead had begun to click their fingers, and were following Trent's initially predatory climb down the stairs. They held themselves low, crouched at the knees, and the effect was quite scary.

"But it was not your fault but mine, and it was your heart on the line,
I really messed it up this time, didn't I my dear?"

Trent stepped back amongst the group just as Eli stepped out from it. The main body of the Warblers stopped in their forward motion, and spun around, almost prancing back up the stairs.

"Oh her eyes, her eyes. When they're not shining.
Her hair, her hair. Without her trying.
And she's so beautiful, and I tell her every day.
Oh, you know you know you know I'd never ask you to change,
If perfect's what you're searching for then just stay the same,
So don't even bother asking 'Do I look okay?',
You know I'll say,"

Eli's dancing was a lot less structured than Trent's had been, and it reminded Kurt very much of Blaine's usual dance style - it was very spontaneous, and involved a lot of twirls and flapping of hands. But it worked for the song, because Eli looked to be gushing to the audience about the love of his life. And the audience clearly loved it, for they were clapping and whooping and singing along. Blaine grinned, as did every Warbler on stage. They were definitely in with a good chance of winning.

"When I see your face, there's not a thing that I would change
'Cause you're amazing, just the way you are.
And when you smile, the whole world stops and stares for a while,
Girl you're amazing, just the way you are.

Girl you're amazing, just the way you are."

The song ended on a flourish as all the boys made their way downstage and filed into a single line. Those who didn't fit ran offstage, and those who did pointed to someone in the audience and sang the last line to them. Once again, the audience cheered and clapped very loudly. Kurt, who was in the middle, took a moment to address them.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you very much for the wonderful encouragement. We are the Dalton Academy Warblers, but you already knew that. I'm Kurt Hummel, and as the newest member of the group, I was told it was up to me to make everyone look good. No pressure there, then." He paused, and the audience laughed. "No, in reality, all we wanted to do was to make sure you were having a good time. So, are you having a good time?" He asked, and raucous cheering ensued. "I'll take that as a yes, then!" He grinned. "Now, this is our last song, so we hope you enjoy it as much as you did our other ones. Thank you very, very much for your support today - it's been amazing to be standing on this stage."

He grinned, and the audience clapped. Eventually they fell relatively quiet again, and Blaine took that as his cue. In reality, Kurt's little speech had just been a stalling tactic so that Blaine and the other Warblers who had all run offstage could prepare themselves for the next performance.

"Ba-ba," the group of boys right next to Blaine sang as they pushed their way onto the stage from the right. On the other side, the other half of the Warblers were approaching the centre, humming out the melody to Misery.

Blaine himself was proclaiming the words "Oh yeah!"

"So scared of breaking it that you won't let it bend.
And I wrote two hundred letters I will never send."

Blaine skipped back out into centre stage, enjoying the cheer of the crowd as he began singing. Most were on their feet already, bopping along to the Warbler's humming. A few were imitating Blaine's awful dance moves, and Blaine could see Kurt laughing slightly in the corner of his eye.

That simple show of emotion made him smile and throw himself into the song with more energy than he even knew he possessed. Most of the song passed without him even realising it – he was too busy concentrating on every bright, sparkling feeling that flitted across Kurt's face.

"I am in misery,
There ain't nobody who can comfort me, oh yeah!
Why won't you answer me?
The silence is slowly killing me."

He reached out to grab Kurt as he twirled past, pulling the taller boy close to him and forcing him to dance across the stage before releasing him back into the swell of dancing Warblers. He caught Kurt's wink just before he turned back to sing at the audience.

"Girl you really got me bad,
You really got me bad.
Now I'm gonna get you back,
I'm gonna get you back."

The whole group finished – freezing in whatever position they happened to be in – and the audience went wild, clapping and cheering for the boys. Blaine was the first to move again and bowed low – quickly followed by Trent and Eli and then the rest of the Warblers.

They group bounded off stage, each of them hyper on the post-performance rush. Blaine was pulled into the centre of a huge group hug as soon as all of the boys were in the wings, though they were quickly ushered away so that the New Direction's could start setting up.

The New Directions were good – very good, in fact – but they didn't have the same energy or spark that the Warblers had managed to present through all three of their songs. Although, Blaine thought he had to give them a lot of credit for being brave enough to use original songs in such an important competition.

But, if he was being completely honest with himself, he wasn't at all surprised when the Warblers were announced as the winners of Regionals and the boys around him exploded in a manic craze of elation. In a spontaneous fit, Kurt pulled off his blazer and threw it into the air. The rest of the Warblers were eager to shed themselves of the extra layer followed his lead, covering the stage in a sea of blue and red.

Kurt picked up two blazers that had been ignored by the other boys and checked the name tags. His was one of them (he wrinkled his nose at the streaks of dust that had stuck to the blue fabric like glue) and the other was, of course, Blaine's.

"Blaine," he called out before the other boy disappeared through the stage door to claim his seat on the bus, "I've got your blazer."

Blaine stopped, allowing the rest of the Warblers to exit before moving back over to Kurt. As soon as the door swung shut behind Jeff, the room seemed eerily quiet.

"I think that we deserved that trophy," Blaine said confidently. "And I'm pretty sure that that was the best that the Warblers have ever performed."

Kurt grinned and held out Blaine's blazer. "We were rather epic, weren't we?"

Blaine couldn't help but smile back as he pulled on the jacket. Kurt wrinkled his nose as he saw the grey coating of dust and muck that it had gathered from its brief period of lying on the floor and stepped closer to Blaine without thinking, gentled brushing the dirt off the other boy's chest.

His hands paused, palms flat on the lapels of Blaine's blazer. Shyly, he peeked at Blaine's expression – trying to gauge how awkward the situation was going to be.

But before he could even get a decent look, Blaine's lips were pressed against his own. They were soft and dry and had a taste reminiscent of peppermint. Unconsciously, Kurt's tongue swiped across Blaine's lower lip, trying to work out where the taste came from. Blaine moaned into his mouth, his lips parting slightly – allowing Kurt's tongue to explore deeper. One had rested on Kurt's hip, but the other was curled around the back of his neck, pulling the countertenor deeper into the kiss.

Kurt's mind was reeling from the unexpected - but not unwelcome - kiss. It felt amazing, like they fitted together just right. There was something about being just slightly taller than Blaine that made him shiver in delight.

It was over far too quickly for Kurt's liking. His heart was in his mouth as Blaine pulled away, his hazel eyes wide with desire and shock. Before either of them could say anything, Blaine spun on his heel and retreated out of the door, leaving a confused Kurt standing alone in the empty wing.

What. The. Fuck.

Blaine rolled onto his side to check the time on his alarm clock. 1:13 am. Three minutes since he last checked the time. He grumbled and tried to get comfortable enough to sleep until morning, when he could see Kurt again and they could work out what was going on between the two of them. But sleep was eluding him, leaving him to toss and turn nervously and imagine every possible way in which his and Kurt's relationship could go wrong.

Stop thinking. Just go to sleep, his brain commanded. Traitorously, his eyelid opened and he snuck a glance at the time. 1:13 am.

With a groan, Blaine flung the covers off and pulled on a dressing gown. Earliness be damned, Blaine was going to talk to Kurt now, otherwise his body wouldn't let him get any rest. He knew it was pathetic that he couldn't last one night without seeing his friend (or was it boyfriend? Did he have the right to call Kurt that, even though he'd ran away?) It was that doubt that made Blaine sneak past Wes and David's door and knock quietly on Kurt's.

He wasn't expecting the countertenor to still be awake, so when the door opened to reveal a disgruntled Kurt, he jumped a little.

"Blaine." The glower receded from Kurt's face to be replaced with confusion. "What are you doing here? Why are you awake?"

"I couldn't sleep... I wanted to talk to you." Blaine saw Kurt attempt to stifle a yawn. "Sorry, I should've waited until the morning – it was a bit rash. I'll let you go back to sleep."

"No," Kurt said, and reached over to grab Blaine's wrist to stop him walking away. "It's fine – I was awake anyway. Come in."

Blaine complied, following the boy awkwardly into his absurdly tidy bedroom. Kurt's bed was still made, which indicated that the boy hadn't even attempted to sleep that night. A pang of guilt hit Blaine as he realised that he was probably the cause.

"Kurt... I'm sorry. I know that these few days have probably confused the hell out of you."

Kurt smiled slightly. "Just a bit."

"Some mentor I am," Blaine mumbled to himself.

"Can we sort this out tonight please? I... I miss you Blaine. I hate how awkward everything is at the moment. And, well, you kind of left me reeling today." Kurt sank onto the bed; Blaine sat down next to him.

"I miss you too," he said quietly. "Life's boring when we're not talking. I'm sorry about running away, I was just very overwhelmed."

Kurt sighed and rubbed his forehead. Blaine didn't make life easy for him: one moment, he would be a kind and compassionate mentor and the next he would be kissing him after Regionals. Kurt knew which one he preferred, but he was willing to settle with either – just to get his Blaine back.

"Blaine, what are we? Are we friends or more than that? Because, despite our arguments, I still feel the same way I did on Valentine's Day. I know you said that your feeling weren't making any sense, but I just want to know so I don't start hoping for anything that's not going to happen. I mean, I'll happily just be your friend if that's all you see me as – but I need to know so that my brain will stop trying to understand every single move you make."

Blaine was silent for a minute, shocked by how much Kurt had been thinking of him. The silence was awkward, and Kurt lost the confidence that had allowed him to tell Blaine his honest feelings. He lowered his eyes to his hands, which we entwined on his lap. It was the vulnerability that flashed in the younger boy's eyes that made Blaine's mind up for him.

Gently, he placed a finger under Kurt's chin and tilted his face up so that he could stare into the other boy's beautiful blue eyes.

"I... Kurt, you mean the world to me. These past few weeks have been... Well, I would say 'hell' – there were times when I thought I was in heaven. Like after Regionals." Blaine's free hand reached out to cover the other boy's. "I love being your friend, but I want to be more than that to you. I want to be able to hold hands all the time, kiss you whenever you do that adorable pout and I want, most of all, to go up to people and say 'this is Kurt Hummel, my boyfriend'."

It took a moment for Kurt to regain the ability to speak as his brain furiously tried to catch up with what Blaine had said.

"You really mean that?" Kurt breathed, clutching Blaine's hand tightly in his own.

"Yes." Blaine cupped Kurt's face and brushed his thumb over the boy's cheek.

Neither of them could say who kissed who. It was as if the barriers between them fell simultaneously, allowing them both to fall against each other's lips. The kiss was everything Kurt had ever dreamt of – gentle and warm until their mouths opened slightly and it became hot and wanton.

Blaine moaned slightly as he felt Kurt's tongue slip into his mouth. How the hell does he know how to kiss this well? Blaine thought to himself as Kurt began exploring the inside of his mouth. He groaned again as Kurt's fingers began tracing abstracting patterns on his back. Could this boy get any more perfect?

His hands wrapped around Blaine's waist, pulling the older boy impossibly closer. Blaine's hand moved from Kurt's cheek to play with his hairt. Blaine made a mental note to ask Kurt to leave it natural more often.

"We should've done that a very long time ago," Blaine said when they broke apart.

Kurt laughed breathlessly. "I did try to tell you," he teased.

Blaine smiled and pecked his nose. "Next time, I'm just going to listen to you instead of waiting for my oblivious brain to work it out."

Kurt tilted his face up and pressed his lips against Blaine's. Their second kiss was sweet and gentle, without the urgency of the last. Kurt kept his hands entwined in his boyfriend's (it gave him chills just to think that word) curly hair as their mouths separated but they kept their foreheads resting against the other.

"I'm sorry for being such an ass," Kurt apologised. "I knew that you weren't really leading Rachel on: I was just jealous."

"You're definitely forgiven." With a sigh, he added, "I guess I should be going back to my own room. We do have classes tomorrow after all."

"Or you could stay here?" the countertenor suggested with a blush.

Blaine's breath caught in his throat. "Here? As in, in your bed?"

"No, as in, on the floor." He deadpanned. "Yes of course in my bed," Blaine blushed in response. "So ludicrously dapper," Kurt sighed to himself as he wrapped his arms around the other boy's waist and pulled him down onto the bed, twisting the variety comforters and blankets until they suitably covered them both.

He leaned in to give Blaine a goodnight kiss and smiled as the shorter boy leaned in impatiently for another one. His mouth opened slightly as he panted, and Blaine took the opportunity to slip his tongue into Kurt's mouth. How was it fair that the boy could taste of mint chocolate at one in the morning?

Kurt was pretty sure he had to wake up from whatever dream or fantasy this was when Blaine started peppering kisses along his cheek and down the side of his neck. He paused at Kurt's collarbone and sucked hard. The whimper that escaped his mouth was completely involuntary although Blaine considered it to be one of the hottest things he had ever heard.

"Blaine," Kurt moaned, wrapping his fingers in Blaine's hair. "As much as I love this, we do need to get a bit of sleep tonight." Plus, he thought, if he gives me a hickey, I'll kill him, and then my dad will kill him.

Blaine grumbled and released Kurt's collarbone. The skin was already slightly purple.

"Goodnight then," he sighed as Kurt cuddled up to him – tucking his head under Blaine's chin.

"Night night." Kurt could safely say that he was the happiest he had ever been as his boyfriend's hand slipped into his own.

Blaine was woken by obnoxiously loud voices coming from the doorway. It took him a few seconds to concentrate on them – he was too interested the warm body his arms were wrapped around and the way Kurt mumbled protests about not being asleep. Sadly, the other voices pierced his consciousness and forced him to pay attention to the surroundings.

"Yes, Wes, I do believe that that is hickey."

"Hickeys and sharing a bed on the first night? Our boys do move fast, don't they?"

"Go away," Blaine groaned into his pillow. Of course he wasn't allowed just to wake up, and enjoy Kurt – he had to put up with his friends' smug, gloating expressions first.

"Nope. We were just popping in to tell Kurt that he was missing a Warbler's celebratory meeting, and we stumbled upon this glorious sight. Have you two finally embraced what the rest of us knew all along?" David asked cheerily.

Kurt threw a pillow at his head.

Blaine turned to him with a smile on his facing, pecking him on the cheek. "Good morning."

Before Kurt could reciprocate, he was interrupted by a chorus of 'aw's from the doorway. He propped himself up on his elbows, glaring daggers at Wes and David, who were making little hearts with their hands and blowing kisses at their friends.

"Get out," he said, pointing at the open door. "Blaine and I will be at the Warblers meeting soon."

Wes and David exchanged a glance before Wes said, "We will. But first, David and I would like to make sure that we are going to get some credit for putting up with you two."

"The eye sex..."

"The endless Katy Perry..."

"The eye sex..."

"The pointless arguments..."

"The eye sex..."

"The bitching and moaning about how you aren't loved back..."

"The eye sex..."

Kurt's next pillow hit David square in the face, shutting him up effectively.

"What do you want?" Kurt asked.

Wes was the one to answer. "Well, there was a bet between all the Warblers on when you two would finally get your acts together and make out," he started, ignoring the sounds of protest from Kurt and Blaine. "And there is now quite a lot of money in this bet that David and I think we should win."

"However the two of you were most inconsiderate and had to get together after Regionals," David continued, "when Wes and I bet that it would be after one of your many sexual-tension filled duets."

Blaine rolled his eyes at his friend's antics. "So, if Kurt and I come down and sing a duet and then announce our relationship, will you two leave?"

"Yes."

"Fine. Give us ten minutes."

Wes and David high-fived before running out the room whooping loudly. Blaine turned back to Kurt, shaking his head in amusement that the two boys managed to keep up their 4.0 GPA averages even though they were both so mentally deranged when it came to certain things.

He was stopped short by the view he was presented with. Kurt's eyes were slightly bleary with sleep and his hair was stuck up at odd angles. There was a purpling bruise on his collarbone that made Blaine grin and brush his fingers lightly across the mark, enjoying the feeling of Kurt shivering under his touch.

"You look so beautiful," he whispered reverently.

Kurt blushed and leaned in to extract a kiss from his boyfriend's lips. It was sweet, but far too brief and Blaine whined as Kurt pulled back to hop out of bed and towards his expansive wardrobe. It was the weekend, so Kurt would be making the most of being able to wear his own clothes as always.

"Come back?" he asked, pouting slightly.

"I would, but you only gave me ten minutes to get ready. I'm not going to perform a duet with you in my pyjamas with bed hair."

"But you look good," Blaine said, getting up to wrap his arms around Kurt's thin waist, leaning his head on Kurt's shoulder.

Kurt swatted him away, blushing. "No – go to your room and put some decent clothes on. Then we will go and sing a song for Wes and David quickly and then I will be all yours. As long as you brush your teeth thoroughly to get rid of your morning breath."

Slightly horrified, Blaine slapped his hands to his mouth and bounded out of Kurt's room and into his bathroom, grabbing his toothbrush and scrubbing furiously at his teeth before pulling on any old clothes. He knew that Kurt would disapprove, but with so little time to get ready, he would have no time to worry about Blaine's outfit.

True enough, when Blaine knocked on Kurt's door ten minutes later, he found the boy hunched in front of the mirror, raking his hands through his hair to get it to lie perfectly on his head before engulfing it in hairspray.

"Are you ready?" Blaine asked.

Kurt pursed his lips as he looked himself over in the mirror. "Yep. But never give me ten minutes to get myself ready again – I want at least half an hour's warning."

"Got it."

They were halfway down the stairs when Kurt frowned and asked, "What are we going to sing?"

Blaine paused and ran through his extensive list of songs, trying to work out the right one to sing to introduce Kurt as his boyfriend to the Warblers. Most were too cheesy or too mainstream and Blaine wanted it to be special – their first duet as a couple was a big thing.

"Do you know 'Candles' by Hey Monday?" he asked.

Kurt's eyes widened. "I was waiting to hear which Katy Perry song you thought fit our relationship," he joked, "I'm impressed."

"So you approve of my choice."

Kurt quickly squeezed his hand as they reached the door to the choir room. "It's perfect. Now let's go and entertain some Warblers."

Impatient calls of "Finally!" greeted the two boys as they stepped into the Warbler-filled room. Everyone was already there, lounging on the couches and the floor as they waited for the two last boys to enter.

Wes banged the gavel on the sounding block to call the boys to order, but not before giving Kurt and Blaine a slight smile.

"First things first, I would like to congratulate you all on a splendid job at Regionals. Blaine, Trent, Eli, your solos were wonderful and it was a pleasure to have you three representing the Warblers." There was polite applause and some cheering. "Now, onto the less important notices... Yes Warbler Blaine?"

Blaine had raised his hand in the air to get Wes' attention and now stood in the centre of the room, all eyes on him. He grinned at Kurt before saying, "I was wondering, Council, if you might let Kurt and I sing a duet?"

"Is there any reason for this request?" Thad asked, looking confused while Wes and David looked smug.

Blaine shrugged. "I just have some things that I want to say, I guess."

"Well, we don't have much scheduled for this meeting, so the floor is yours."

Blaine nodded his thanks and moved to the centre of the room, closely followed by Kurt, who couldn't keep the smile off his face. Blaine noted with slight disappointment that the polo-neck jumper Kurt had chosen to wear completely covered up the hickey.

I'll have to place it a little higher next time, he thought with a grin.

Though neither of the boys had rehearsed or even talked about arrangements, the song just seemed to divide itself clearly between the two. So Kurt had no doubts as he opened his mouth and let the words flow out.

"The power lines went out and I am all alone,
But I don't really care at all not answering my phone."

Blaine couldn't stop the elated grin that spread over his face. Kurt's voice was similar to that of an angel's and he couldn't listen to him sing without feeling a little bit closer to heaven.

"All the games you played, the promises you made,
Couldn't finish what you started only darkness still remains."

They launched into the chorus together, their voices mixing in the silence of the room.

"Lost sight, couldn't see, when it was you me.
Blow the candles out, looks likes a solo tonight,
I'm beginning to see the light.
Blow the candles out, looks like a solo tonight,
But I think I'll be alright."

Unaware of the grins appearing on each of the Warblers' faces as they realised the meaning behind this song, Kurt launched into the final verses, pouring his heart into the song. Blaine would have been content just to let Kurt sing the rest of the song so that he could marvel at his voice, but the slight glare from the boy told him that Kurt was just as keen to hear Blaine sing.

"One day you will wake up with nothing but your sorrys.
And some day you will get back everything you gave me.
Blow the candles out looks like a solo tonight,
I'm beginning to see the light.
Blow the candles out looks like a solo tonight,
But I think I'll be alright."

Unable to resist any longer, Kurt gripped Blaine's hand and pulled the boy close to him, bending down slightly to press his lips against Blaine's. Around them, the Warblers erupted into a chaos of wolf-whistles and cheers, but neither boy paid any attention to that (or the soft click of David's phone as he took pictures to text to the New Directions and probably put on Facebook) as they were too wrapped up in the euphoric feeling that had exploded in their chests.

Amidst the catcalls and congratulatory pats on the back, Blaine stretched up to press his lips against Kurt's ear, and Kurt clutched him tightly, laughing at the celebrations.

All was well.