Kurt grinned at the beautiful red dress in front of him, "You are going to be my ticket to New York City," he whispered to it.

"Talking to your dress? I heard that means you've officially lost your mind," Emma said with a giggle.

Kurt sat back on his heels and laughed with her, "I may have. I think she's done though. I just finished fixing the hemline so that it was more appropriate to the time period. I can't believe that whoever had their disgusting, vile hands on this beautiful dress before decided it would be okay to raise the hemline in the front. Mullet dresses are not attractive now, and they would have been shameless before."

Emma ran her hands down the velvet on the front of the dress. Even though Kurt knew Emma would be careful, he did not want her hands on his dress.

Emma seemed to notice his face and pulled her hand away quickly, "You know, you should take a picture of this and send it to those schools your waitlisted at. I'm sure it would attract attention."

Kurt sighed, "I don't want to be a tailor though." The more he thought about his future, the more he had to be in New York. He could picture it: a small but well decorated apartment with Paul, maybe a cat that was prissy and beautiful, and an internship at one of the up and coming magazines that he would spearhead into the future.

It would be fantastic.

Emma shook her head, "You have to take risks, Kurt. You don't go to the best fashion schools in New York because you want to be a tailor. They will know why you are sending the picture – you just have to remind them why they put you on a waitlist instead of saying no."

Kurt was about to answer when his phone vibrated twice against the wood floor. The first message was from Blaine:

Hey! Are we still on for "lunch" today?

Kurt quickly sent back: "Of course, why wouldn't we be?" and checked his next message.

Sry. Cnt go tnght. Ill txt u ltr.

Kurt pouted but sent back a kissy face to Paul. Kurt felt the warmth in his stomach spread when he thought about Paul. They had had a romantic evening the night before when they returned from Sea Isle. Kurt had been explaining the different bridal gowns he had seen with Blaine when Paul suggested they go back to his hotel room. Since his father was one of the upstanding businessmen, Paul got his own room in the hotel.

Kurt would always remember that at the Hilton in room 325, he had his first orgasm with someone else.

Kurt waited for a few minutes but received no response, so he went back to lint rolling the dress.

Emma was still smiling down at him, "Was that the handsome boy with the crazy hair? You always brighten when he's around."

Kurt shook his head, "No. Well, originally yes. But that was my…" Kurt didn't know what to actually call Paul. They'd never used the word "boyfriend" but Kurt thought they qualified for it, especially after the night before. "That was Paul," he finished lamely.

Emma's eyes widened (if that was even possible) but she said nothing.

Kurt blew out a stream of air as he tried to scrutinize the dress for anything else he could possibly do to fix it, "Anything you would suggest?"

Emma twisted her hands together and looked at the dress again, "Other than sending it out? Probably thinking about what kind of display you want for the front window?"

Kurt's head snapped up, "You mean…like you're putting it in our front window?"

"Absolutely," Emma said with a smile. She jumped abruptly when the doorbell signaled that someone else was entering the shop. "I have to go help the customers, but then we'll talk!"

Kurt looked up at the dress and wasn't shocked when the view became misty. He'd never had anyone tell him anything he'd done was worth display.

Kurt pulled out his phone and immediately hit the contact he wanted to tell first. He pushed the phone to his ear quickly with shaking hands.

"Buddy the Elf, what's your favorite color?" the good-natured voice answered from the other side of the phone.

Kurt was momentarily struck silent before he pulled the phone away to check the picture on the caller ID. "Blaine! You freaked me out for a second!"

A low chuckle came from Blaine. "Sorry, I like to have fun sometimes. What's up?"

Kurt's initial giddiness came back, "So today I finished my dress…"

"The beautiful red one?"

"Yes!" Kurt's heart jumped lightly because Blaine remembered, and no one ever remembered anything he did. "Guess what she's doing with it?"

"Um," Blaine was silent for a few seconds, "Making her husband wear it?"

Kurt's nose wrinkled and he nearly choked, "No! She's putting it on display in the front window! Isn't that amazing?"

Blaine laughed again, "That is fantastic, Kurt! Just think about how a picture of it will look at your first store in New York!"

Kurt's heart once again leapt at the thought, but he couldn't get ahead of himself. He couldn't let himself hope when there was nothing in reality that gave him any indication that it would happen. "Stop," he couldn't stop his tone from being embarrassed.

Blaine laughed again into the phone, successfully melting Kurt's heart. "You are amazing Kurt, of course someone is bound to notice it."

"How can you say I'm amazing if you've never even seen my work?" Kurt questioned. He wanted to accept the compliment, but knew he'd never be as amazing as Blaine seemed to think he was.

"I just know," Blaine said simply as Kurt heard the murmur of people behind him.

"Oh god!" Kurt realized that Blaine was at work and probably busy. "I'm so sorry! I forgot you were at work right now!"

"It's fine," Blaine said quietly, "I'm just doing deliveries. We'll talk more about your debut at the courtyard, okay?"

Kurt nodded before realizing that Blaine couldn't see him. "Sure, I'll be there in about an hour!"

"Goodbye, Kurt!"

"Bye," Kurt echoed. He quickly hung the phone up only to call his Dad and send a quick text to Mercedes. He glanced around the shop to make sure Emma was still working with a customer before hitting Paul's face on his screen.

Kurt pressed the phone against his ear and listened to the ringing of Paul's phone.

"Hey! You've reached Paul but I'm probably doing something better than talking to you," his message played.

Kurt sighed, "Hey Paul! I just had some good news to tell you, but I guess I'll wait until I see you again. Tomorrow are you free? I'll talk to you later!" He sighed again as he hung up the phone.

Emma bustled back into the room, "Sorry that took so long! The woman is getting married on the beach in September and wanted to order this lace that just takes forever to work with."

Kurt nodded, plastering the smile back on his face.

Emma saw right through it.

"You look exhausted honey, why don't you head over to lunch? Take all the time you need."

Normally Kurt wouldn't accept the offer because he knew it was poor form in a working environment, but today he couldn't help himself.

"I'll be back at normal time," he said eventually.

0o0o0o0o0o0o

When Kurt arrived at the courtyard, Blaine was already waiting for him. Blaine stood and hugged him tightly.

Kurt felt himself blush but hugged back. Something about touching Blaine still made him ridiculously happy. "How are you?" Kurt sat down next to Blaine, probably closer than was necessary.

Blaine gently laid his head on Kurt's shoulder and made a snoring sound. "Exhausted."

Kurt giggled and brushed his hands through Blaine's curls. "You could always quit one of your jobs. You could sleep more then."

"No," Blaine murmured, "I have to work. I don't need sleep; eventually my body will get used to it."

Kurt worried about Blaine. He worried about how even though the boy spent time in the sun, he always looked pale. He worried about how the bags under Blaine's eyes looked bigger every day. He worried because Blaine was so test lately. "You need sleep. You're grumpy all the time lately. Maybe if you slept, you wouldn't be so grumpy."

He'd meant it as teasing, but obviously Blaine didn't see it that way, "I'm sorry that I can't be happy all the time."

"It's only when we're around Paul," Kurt prodded. He was trying to get to the bottom of why Blaine didn't like Paul. They both had Kurt's heart, though in different ways, and he wanted them to be friends.

"Maybe because I don't like him," Blaine said matter-of-factly, "and I hate that I have to see him to see you."

"You're seeing me right now and he isn't here."

Blaine laughed hollowly, "And we're still talking about him."

"Why don't you like him, exactly?" Kurt questioned. His mind immediately jumped to the worst situation. Blaine was going to make Kurt choose between the two.

"You're different when you're with him" Blaine said loudly with a large hand flourish. "It's like your brain has completely shut off and you can't think...or be yourself...or be anyone really." Blaine's ears were tinged with pink as he spoke, but Kurt could tell from the steely quality in his voice that he was being sincere.

Kurt knew. He could feel how different he was when he was with Paul – he was always afraid to say or even think the wrong thing. He was worried that one wrong move would take him back to the start, and he would have nothing to show for it. "I know," he said quietly, "but I really didn't think anyone else noticed it."

"I did," Blaine said, his eyes shining with emotions, "I missed you."

Kurt ducked his head but said nothing; he had no idea what to feel because everything was surging around inside of him: anger, sadness, apathy, determination, and a hundred other unnamed emotions.

"Hey," Blaine grabbed Kurt's hand, "don't shut me out. What's going on? Why are you some completely different person when you're around him? Why aren't you the real you? Why are you some self-obsessed jerk?"

Kurt sucked in a breath at Blaine's words – was he really that bad?

Blaine clutched onto Kurt's shoulder, "Oh Kurt, I didn't…I didn't mean it that way!"

Kurt felt the anger rise in his chest. For too long he'd had people hate him for who he was and he was NOT about to have someone else do the same thing. "I'm sorry it's hard for you to understand, Blaine, but I have absolutely no idea who the real me is! Well, obviously you do, so why don't you tell me?"

Blaine looked flabbergasted as he stared back at Kurt. "I'm not sure I even really know, Kurt. Was the polite but witty, strong but adorable boy I met that first day really you? Or is the real you the asshole I've been spending time with for the last few days?"

Kurt crumbled his sandwich up, having lost all of his appetite. "And what if that were the real me, Blaine? I'm not sure that's the proper way to foster a friendship between two people. I thought I was the socially awkward one."

Blaine repeated Kurt's actions and crumbled his own plastic back and apple core together, "I'm not sure that the person I've seen the last few days is someone I want to foster a friendship with. But I'm pretty freaking sure that you aren't that person. Ever since Paul walked into the picture…"

"There it is," Kurt spit, "there's the truth."

Blaine stopped, his eyes going impossibly wider.

"You're jealous," Kurt said lowly, "You're jealous of Paul." Kurt knew he'd been spending more time with Paul, but he didn't realize until that very minute that it probably hurt Blaine's feelings.

Blaine just gaped at him, no words coming out of his mouth.

"I finally have someone in my life, Blaine. I'm terrified that he's going to walk away and I'm never going to find that again. I'm terrified that he's going to realize what a loser I am. I'm just a boy from a town where the main export is corn."

"So you're changing yourself so he doesn't leave you?" Blaine's face was red, and any compassion was gone from his eyes, "Well I have a news flash for you…" For a second all Kurt saw was Karofsky in Blaine's eyes. He was looking at Kurt with all of the blind rage that Kurt had seen repeatedly in the hallways of McKinley.

"Stop it, Blaine!" Kurt snapped, "Stop it right now! You have no right to tell me anything! You have no right to say anything about Paul and I!"

Blaine seemed to realize that Kurt was upset about more than just his words because he calmed down visibly rather quickly. "Kurt," his voice came out high-pitched and pained, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I just…you have to believe me. Paul…"

"Don't," Kurt whispered, his voice broken. "Stop trying to pit me against Paul, Blaine. It isn't going to happen. I try to spend as much time as I can with both of you."

"I want to spend time with you, Kurt. The real you. The one I met that day in your room."

Kurt scuffed at the ground with his shoes, "So you've said."

Blaine leaned forward and grabbed one of Kurt's hands into his own, "So why don't you believe me when I say it? Why don't you see what you're doing? Why are you acting like someone else?"

Kurt felt his tough exterior fade away. The last thing he wanted to do was lose the very person who had showed him some semblance of kindness. "Blaine, I don't…I just, I'm growing and I'm trying to change who I am, who I was."

"Why?" Blaine's hazel eyes were filled with tears, "Why in the world are you trying to change someone who was so special, so unique? Kurt, you are worth so much more than that."

Kurt bit his lip. In truth, he wasn't sure why he acted differently around Paul. "What if I act like me and Paul doesn't like, Blaine? What if I push him away because I'm just some weak boy?"

"But you aren't," Blaine was gaining some of the strength back in his voice. "I thought…" Blaine bit his lip and shook his head, "I thought you were finally growing out of the shell, the one you wore to constantly protect yourself. But you're still expecting the worst out of everyone around you, aren't you?"

Kurt swallowed, his eyes frantically searching Blaine's face. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Blaine shook his head, "You know what Kurt? I'm starting to think that the selfish side of you that I saw with Paul might actually be more of who you are than I thought."

Kurt paused, "Excuse me?"

Blaine was gathering his things, "You think everyone is against you to the point that you push away the people who are there for you. People who know what you've been through and are trying to help you not make mistakes that you'll just take out on another person you meet."

Kurt felt the pressure behind his eyes increase, "Blaine…you don't mean that. You're mad."

"You're right," Blaine breathed while nodding, "I am. I'm pissed. You have no idea, Kurt. I've been trying to steer you away from Paul for the last few weeks and you took it as me being an asshole. It's a shame you missed who the real asshole is in this situation. As far as I'm concerned, out of the three of us, I'm the only one who isn't." Blaine turned and stomped down the stairs of the gazebo they were in.

"Blaine stop acting like a child!" Kurt covered the gazebo in a few steps, "Get back here!"

Blaine kept walking, moving incredibly fast, "No. Go cry to Paul, see what he has to say for himself."

Kurt stopped walking, "Fine. I will! You tried to prove to me that Paul is the jerk, but you just showed me who is the real jerk."

Blaine kept walking toward the beach, his body rigid.

Kurt waited for a few seconds before letting the tears fall from his eyes, "Fuck," he groaned. He didn't care that a family was walking nearby. He didn't care that it was a family town.

He may have just lost one of the only friends he ever had.

Kurt grabbed his phone. He needed to see Paul, there was no doubt in his head. His fingers were shaking, but he dialed the numbers quickly.

"Hey! You've reached Paul but I'm probably doing something better than talking to you," the message played for the second time that day.

Kurt hung the phone up and nearly yelled. He needed to see Paul. As quickly as his feet would carry him, he walked out of the plaza and toward the hotel. Blaine had walked that direction, so Kurt took the slightly longer way to the hotel.

Kurt didn't even call again when he made it to the hotel. He figured that Paul had to be asleep to have missed both calls and then never called back. He took the stairs two at a time, too angry and upset to take the elevator. He finally found the room and pounded on the door, "Paul!" he tried to sound slightly happy, but it came out wrecked.

Kurt waited a few more seconds before knocking again, "Paul?"

"Excuse me, sir, are you a registered guest of the hotel?" a shorter, Russian woman asked.

Kurt shook his head, "No…but my…my boyfriend is staying in this room."

The woman looked at Kurt strangely. "Sir, I'm afraid that room is vacant."

"Excuse me?"

The woman pulled out her note pad, "We did a total scrub down of the room today. The last visitors left this morning."

Kurt felt the world blur, "Left? As in, went home?"

The woman shrugged, "It is possible that they went to another hotel, sir?"

Kurt shook his head.

It all made sense: the missed phone calls, the urgency the night before, the dinner with his family, the lack of labels.

Kurt leaned against the stucco wall and breathed out a sob, "He didn't…he used me," he said to no one.

"Sir, I hate to do this but you're going to have to leave…"

"Elisa, he's with me," a familiar voice said.

"Blaine," Kurt croaked out, "Blaine! He's gone. He left. He left without explaining or saying goodbye!"

Blaine nodded, his own eyes full of sorrow, "I know."

Kurt realized then that Blaine had known the check out date because of Paul's sister. Blaine couldn't tell him because of confidentiality, so he tried to tell him in other ways.

Kurt knew he should feel happy that Blaine wasn't a jerk, but instead he felt his heart breaking.

Blaine grabbed Kurt's hand and led him to the sundeck. He sat on a reclining chair and opened his arms, pulling Kurt down. "Shh," he whispered as Kurt let his tears run free, "shh. It's okay, you'll be okay. Forget about him. You deserve so much more."

Kurt clutched tightly around Blaine's waist, not fully hearing his words.

Blaine pressed a kiss into Kurt's hair, "Shh…I've got you. You're okay."

They stayed like that for hours.