By halfway through October through all the mic-nights, small bar shows and restaurant singing, along with his YouTube channel and the advertising the record label have been doing, a quiet buzz follows Blaine around. He’s stopped in Starbucks one day by a shy teenager about four years younger than himself and asked if he’s Blaine Hummel from YouTube and he replies proudly yes, yes he is. He signs an autograph and gives her some advice when she asks about the horrors of High School and he sees not just a little bit of himself in her, just before he found Kurt and knew what true love and loss were. A week later he’s asked to fill in for an already established artist on the label at a gala show and suddenly people know his name.

Kurt, for his part quietly generates buzz through his column in Vogue where people already know he’s engaged to the up-and-coming star. The label never asks them to tone down their relationship, hide or lie for his career’s sake. They’re building Blaine as a normal, very talented kid done good, the star everyone could be, honest, down to earth and happily in love with his best friend and boyfriend. A beacon to those who need a little light. Kurt couldn’t be prouder.

The first interview happens on the red carpet, he’s dressed in a dark blue tux Kurt had designed and convinced Isabelle to get made, it matches Kurt’s own down to the little canary cufflinks they’d trawled the internet for. They’re at an event for the record company to show off their new stars, proudly showing off Blaine as well as the others newly signed to the label, a few of which Blaine and Kurt have become friends with. Kurt watches proudly, a little smug as his fiancé smiles for the cameras, charming and sweet. His hair is gelled for the first time in almost a year, but just a little to keep the newly cut curls from looking too wild. Kurt had taken him to the hairdressers and told him that this once, they could cut the curls down to nearly the length they were when he was in school, then they’d be grown out again to the carefree, styled mop they are usually. Blaine had almost cried. Mr Messick – Jason, he’d told them to call him – had come to them during a photo-shoot and asked them how things were going and if Blaine could cope with the flashbulbs going off at the event. Blaine had just bitten his lip and shrugged so they’d asked the photographer to set up the other two cameras he had with them and set it up like the red carpet would be at the event. For the first few seconds Blaine was blinded and closed his eyes but after the initial shock he started smiling and relaxing into it, posing just a few times. In the car, Blaine had grinned into his flipcam and talked a mile a minute, excited for his first red carpet and the exposure it would generate. Now here they were, walking the red carpet, smiling and posing with member of the record company, other stars, established stars who’d come to support them, hands clasped together every second.

An interviewer from E! is waving at them and Jason who was assigned as Blaine’s mentor as soon as he signed and the label was told about him, takes Blaine’s shoulder gently and ushers him over, Kurt’s hand slipping from his to stand back while Blaine gets interviewed.

The woman is beaming at them when they walk over and Blaine can’t help but grin back, feeling the excitement rise, his first real interview. “Hi there Blaine! This is Blaine Hummel, one of Columbia Records’ newest stars,” She speaks half to him and half to the camera and Blaine is fascinated, imagining all those people watching. “Blaine how did you get into singing?”

“I was in my high school glee clubs. I love singing, I can’t stop singing. My boyfriend,” He gestures over at Kurt who flashes them a sweet smile. “He says I sing how I feel more than say things.” He grins at the camera and woman and she giggles.

“Aww that’s so sweet, so this is your boyfriend?” She asks, ushering Kurt over who walks over, taking Blaine’s hand again. “How did you two meet?”

Blaine looks at Kurt then the camera, then the woman, feeling a little confused at which he should look at first but Kurt’s squeezing his hand so everything’s ok. “We met in high school. We were at rival schools for a little while…uh, our glee clubs took part in competitions with other glee clubs, like championships and stuff then Kurt came to my school then went back to his and I went to his for my junior and senior year.”

The woman’s staring at them in awe and snaps out of it after a second, smiling at them both. “That’s great. So who are you wearing today?”

The smile that spreads across Blaine’s face could have split it in half; this is the question he’s been waiting for. On a night where he’s shown off to the world, the one time he can show off his amazing fiancé. “Kurt made them! He works for Vogue and he’s going to be a designer one day. I get to say I own a Hummel original.” He says proudly, preening as the interviewer’s shocked gaze and open mouth lands on Kurt while Kurt blushes into his hand.

“Wow, well it looks like we’ve got a new Hollywood super-couple here. Good luck to you both. Thank you.” She says when she gets her senses back and Kurt has to stop Blaine from hugging the poor woman before they smile and walk away, shown into the building by Jason and the attendants.

The night passes in a flurry of introductions, shaking hands, charming smiles, names and nodding heads. When Blaine takes the stage he practically lights it on fire and Kurt looks around the room to see almost everyone’s jaws swinging open and their eyes glass over with awe. He looks back up and 16 year old Kurt in his head says ‘my Blaine Warbler, hell yeah’.

He gets many pats on the back with many people telling him what a great husband and talent he has there, most people assuming they’re already married. Kurt never corrects them and never tells anyone about the conversation a week or so previously as Jason Merrick and one of the higher ups in the label discussed their plans with them and convinced them to wait, to let time pass before they married now that the official name change had happened and Blaine was legally a Hummel anyway. They’d agreed, their career and the idea of marrying after Blaine, and possibly he, was a name warm and tight in their chests.

Three weeks later, the beginning of November Blaine logs onto Tumblr and reads down his dashboard, feeling the flutter in his chest at all the things people say about him, about them. Since he started he gained a small army of followers that grew as he became better known. These people are everywhere, taking pictures, videos and discussing everything from Blaine’s shoe size to the colour bowtie he’s wearing that day. He watches the fan videos and gifs, the fan fiction; yes, fan fiction already. Most are about meeting him, his future but some are of him and Kurt and what they do in the privacy of their apartment and some who have really done their research are about their past, drawing on the titbits Blaine’s told the media and the things online and the people he knew from back then. One or two have sold a story or two about him but nothing too bad.

He scrolls down and a link he clicks makes his mouth drop, his heart hammer and tears spring to his eyes. “Kurt! KURT!” He screams and socked feet skid around the corner as Kurt hurries to him.

“What’s the matter sweetie?” Kurt asks, breathless from his run from the bedroom where he’d been organising their closet to the kitchen where Blaine’s at his laptop. Blaine points shakily but the phone rings before Kurt can look and the glasz eyed man grabs it, eyes on the shaking form of his love. “Yes? Ja-Jason…yes, yes ok see you in a minute.” Kurt hangs up and leans down to read what’s so clearly upset his boyfriend. The link is to a blog, and on that blog is a post from someone in Blaine’s graduating year with the title ‘Blaine Hummel: Victim and His Triumph’. It’s blatantly someone cashing in on their knowledge of Blaine’s past and the horrific happenings last year and in a very misguided attempt at showing how inspiring Blaine is; has revealed the one secret they had to the whole world. Kurt clicks the back button and reads the comments, most are amazed, some are sceptical, some are deriding it as nonsense, some are tearing strips off the poster and the person, people, who are reblogging and a few are defending the blogger.

Kurt’s phone starts beeping with Twitter notifications and he looks down at it before the phone starts ringing. Blaine’s breath starts hitching and Kurt grabs him yanking out of the chair and drags him into a hug, shushing and whispering into his ear before a full panic attack descends.

Finally the black-haired teen calms down to the point where when Kurt points him in the direction of their bedroom he goes willingly, quietly.

Kurt logs onto Twitter which is exploding with tweets from fans, celebs and their friends. He reads the ones from their friends first, discarding the people he doesn’t know so save for the public tweet he’ll make after they’ve talked to Jason and their family.

@Puckzilla  What dick wrote that blog? I want to tear them a new hole for their crap to come out!

@SEvans @Puckzilla Some guy from our year called Steve or something.

@Puckzilla @SEvans Well he needs to learn to keep his something shut. How aren’t you angry at this??

@SEvans @Puckzilla I am angry I’m just not freaking like you.

@DivaCedes @SEvans @Puckzilla Guys you know people can read your tweets, right?

@Puckzilla @DivaCedes Yeah but we’re not the famous ones; no-one cares what we say.

@Da_Snix @Puckzilla @SEvans Yeah chrome dome but K and B can and their followers can see us following them.

@Puckzilla @Da_Snix Oh. Crap…NOTHING HAPPENED

@RachelBarbraBerry @Puckzilla Well done Puck you solved all the world’s problems!

@Puckzilla @RachelBarbraBerry Shut up. You do better.

@FinnHudson Guys I’m on the next flight out, who can come?

@Artiefied @FinnHudson How do we even know they want us there?

@CooperAH OK children! When you’re all done who can get here do. On my way to theirs.

@Puckzilla on my way. I repeat, NOTHING HAPPENED!

@QueenFabray Shut up Puck.

Kurt had to giggle at their friends, even a year and a half gone by and the many things that changed them, nothing truly changed; they still fought like kids, and still came together united.

The doorbell rang and he walked over to let Jason in. The man burst through the door and looked around for Blaine. “Hi. Have you heard yet?”

Kurt nodded and motioned towards their bedroom. “That the world is cruel? Yes. He’s in our bedroom. Our brothers are on their way, along with some of our friends. They’re also talking about it on Twitter.”

“Can you shut them up?” Jason asks and Kurt shrugs.

“Easily. I just need to know what we’re going to say.”

“The truth. We promised relate-ability and honesty, that’s what we’ll give them.” Blaine’s voice sounded as he walked into the room, his face pale and drawn.

Kurt and Jason gaped at him for a second before the older man recovered. “Are you sure Blaine?”

“It’s a bit late now. It’s all over the internet,” Blaine scoffed and he took Kurt’s phone, scrolling through the Twitter feed still rolling. He handed the phone back and motioned for Kurt to type. “People throw rocks at things that shine. For my true story, ask me.”

“Blaine…” Kurt whispered.

Blaine walked over and kissed Kurt before pressing send. “We’ll be ok.” He whispered just as Cooper came through the door, followed by Puck and Mercedes. They all hugged and in the end Kurt sent another tweet that their friends retweeted. @K_Hummel Blaine Hummel is my inspiration, others make choices, theirs made him stronger.

In the end they choose Ellen for their interview after everyone that can come has and Kurt’s talked to his parents, calming the torrent that is Burt Hummel upset. He’s handled the fallout of Blaine’s past before, he can do it again. The night before the interview they sit on the floor of the apartment, couches pushed back. Around them are Cooper, Finn, Rachel, Sam, Mercedes, Santana, Brody, Puck, Jake, Marley, Brittney and Jason who is on the phone pacing and muttering under his breath.

“So what do you think she’s going to ask?” Mercedes asks, biting into the pasta Blaine had made for dinner.

Blaine shrugs, mouth full of malfadine pasta, cheese and tomato. Kurt smiles and replies. “We’ve had the question list; it’s mainly about what really happened, how it affected Blaine, our relationship, about us and our family.” He leans over and wipes a bit of sauce off of Blaine’s chin and he automatically preens and stretches like a cat.

The others smile fond smiles and silence wafts through the apartment like the garlic that Blaine had loaded into the tomato and cheese sauce he’d laden the thick ribbons of pasta with, save for the clink of cutlery on china and the occasional burp and giggle.

The sun shines bright through the window, lighting surfaces and stirring dust. Blaine’s been awake for about an hour, leaving the warmth of his bed and Kurt for the balcony, treading softly around his friends. The salty-sweet air, already thick with the morning smog from the highway is full of expectation. He’s nervous, as Cooper says, rightly so. Today he answers the questions that have long evaded him. He has no-one to ask them to. Cooper doesn’t know, hates talking about it. Kurt doesn’t know, his eyes mist when he thinks of it but he’ll talk long hours into the night about every second leading to it and after it, he never talks about walking into it. Finn doesn’t know and just wraps his arms around him when he looks confused. No-one can answer the questions buried deep in his heart but today he’s got to drag them out and force them into the open, try to answer them and stay calm the way he’s been taught. No-one can truly answer because the man who knows, maybe even he didn’t, is no longer around to hurt or answer his question; why?

Arms wrap around him and he leans back into his fiancé’s warm embrace. Lips drift along his neck and he shakes slightly. There’s something he needs to know before they face the world. “Awake already baby?” Kurt’s voice, still deep from sleep and creaking from underuse whispers against his neck.

Blaine nods and turns in his arms, wrapping his own around the pale, lithe body. “Kurt?” He asks and their eyes meet, honey-hazel to glasz. “I need to know something.”

Kurt nods, understanding. “We heard the scream from the sidewalk. We ran into the house, Cooper ran straight in, how he didn’t slip, I don’t know. There was glass and blood everywhere. Your bag and school stuff was all over the floor. Cooper screamed and I ran into the room. Baby, you were…your dad had you against the wall, strangling you. There was blood all over you,” Kurt’s fingers trail over the memories of blood, cuts long healed. “My baby. Cooper tried to get him off, he was too strong, he hit Cooper a few times. I dialled 911 and when we heard the sirens I screamed, it distracted your dad long enough for Cooper to punch him, it broke his jaw. You slumped to the floor…Blaine. You were so cold. I was so scared I’d lost you.”

“You saved me.” Blaine whispers.

Kurt smiles, his fingers trailing down the tanned cheek he’s spent years touching, mapping, memorising. “I had to. You’re mine, I can’t lose you.”

Blaine rests his forehead against Kurt’s their eyes locked together, slowly rocking together in a shadow of a slow dance.

Behind them, eleven sets of eyes widen in shock and awe.