“Oh my god, Blaine, I wish you had been there,” Kurt sighed. He had dragged Blaine to the Lima Bean the minute he got back from New York (not that Blaine was complaining). Apparently a lot had happened in New York, and Kurt couldn’t wait to tell him.

            “Rachel got in this crazy diva-off with one of the soloists from another group. They were in the bathroom and we could hear them singing, but suddenly they were screaming. Santana and Quinn ran in to get them and had to drag them out. They were clawing at each other and pulling their hair. It was just like the movies. Mr. Shue was so pissed. Even Finn told Rachel he was disappointed. Of course she just started sobbing and he forgave her.” Kurt rolled his eyes, and then laughed at the surprised look on Blaine’s face.

            “Really, Blaine,” he said, “did you expect anything less?”

            “Well, yeah! Weren’t there scouts and stuff there? She shouldn’t have made a scene like that!”

            “Oh, I’m sure Rachel justified it somehow in her head. Anyway, we got to the awards ceremony and everybody was sitting in the seats and I swear none of us were breathing. When they announced we got third, oh my god Blaine it was such a great feeling. I mean, it would have been nice to win, but we still have next year. Third place, though! It was awesome. We celebrated back in our hotel. Everybody was jumping on the bed and eventually the girls got into a pillow fight and all the boys just watched. Perverts.”

            Blaine chuckled and took Kurt’s hand across the table.

            “Well I’m really proud of you guys. It sounds like an amazing trip.”
            “It was. I can’t wait to go there for college! I’m 100% positive now; there’s no place else I want to go. I absolutely fell in love with that city.”

            Blaine smiled. He liked hearing Kurt talk about New York, especially now that he’d been there. Kurt had such high hopes for himself, such big dreams. Blaine really respected him for that. Kurt Hummel does not settle—he fights for what he wants, and Blaine loved that about him.

            The rest of the day was spent cuddling and making out, having missed each other far too much in the four days New Directions was gone. It had been torture for Blaine, but seeing Kurt so happy definitely made up for it (not to mention the post-separation sex).

            The last day of school came quickly, and everybody chatted excitedly about their summer plans. Quinn was going on a trip to Europe with her mother, which she thought would help her get over her breakup with Puck. Puck was focused on his pool cleaning business (a little too focused to not be suspicious, Blaine thought). Artie just wanted to be done with school, while Mercedes planned on spending most of the summer with her boyfriend. Actually that was about half the glee club’s plan. Brittany and Santana, Mike and Tina, Rachel and Finn, and Kurt and Blaine. Kurt was also planning to help out at his dad’s garage and get a head start on his college applications, but he was declaring this “their summer.” Blaine really liked the idea. Besides Kurt, Blaine didn’t really have too many plans. He wanted to bake and read like he usually did, and he thought maybe he’d spend the summer trying to bake Kurt the perfect delicious-yet-healthy dessert. He thought perhaps he’d try writing, considering how much he liked reading. He thought it might quiet his head a little.

            He and Kurt walked hand in hand through the hallways. The glares had died down a little, though the jocks still gave them trouble. The boys had learned to ignore it, though.

            “It’s so much easier handling them with you,” Kurt said one day, hardly able to meet Blaine’s eye. “It was so hard having to face them when it was just me. I felt so alone, you know? Like I was the only one and nobody understood. Then you came along.” Blaine smiled.

            “I love you, Kurt,” Blaine said, placing a soft kiss to Kurt’s cheek.

            The last day of school was always worthless, and this was no exception. The first half of the day was spent at the senior assembly, where seniors were presented with chords and things to wear to graduation. It was terribly boring unless, of course, you were a senior. Blaine and Kurt sat with New Directions, their hands clasped tightly and Kurt’s head resting on Blaine’s shoulder. When that was over students were given their yearbooks, and the rest of the afternoon was spent eating and signing each other’s books. Kurt and Blaine snuck out as soon as they could. They didn’t really have anybody else important enough to hunt down when they could be spending the time curled up together on Blaine’s bed.

            “Kurt, you better ride that boy of yours all summer. It’s about time you got some action. Santana.” Kurt says, giggling.

            “No way!” Blaine screams, reaching for Kurt’s yearbook. “Oh my god! She actually wrote that! What did Puck say?”

            “Um,” Kurt hummed as he looked for Puck in his yearbook. “’Get some, Hummel.’”

            “My god, Kurt. It’s like they aren’t even satisfied thinking of their own sex lives. They have to think of every bodies.”

            “What did they write in yours?”

            “’Have an excellent summer, lucky bastard. Love Santana’ and ‘Get some, Anderson,’ just like yours.”

            “While I do consider that to be my biggest plan this summer, they shouldn’t have put that in my yearbook. What if my dad wants to look?” Kurt pouted.

            “Oh god. We have to hide these.” The boys laughed then and set the books aside.

            “I love you so much, Kurt. You have no idea how much you mean to me. I don’t even want to think of what I’d be doing right now if we hadn’t met. I’d probably be sitting here glaring at my empty yearbook, so frustrated with myself for not having any friends. Again.”

            “Oh, baby. I’m glad we met too.” Kurt gently brushed Blaine’s curls off his forehead before pressing a kiss to the end of his nose. “My biggest regret is that I didn’t meet you earlier. Sometimes I think about how lonely you must have been and it makes me so sad. You deserve the world, Blaine Anderson, and I’m so happy to be with you.”

            Blaine felt tears in his eyes as he leaned over and kissed Kurt. This man had changed his life, changed the way he felt about himself. Blaine very nearly hated himself before he met Kurt. He thought he was pathetic and destined to be alone forever. He couldn’t talk to people, let alone befriend them. Then Kurt came along and changed everything. Sure, people still made him nervous, but not to the same extent. If Kurt and his friends accepted him, why couldn’t others? Blaine didn’t feel as pathetic as he used to. He didn’t feel pathetic at all.

Blaine thought about the last few months and how everything had changed, even between the two of them. At first Blaine was a love-struck puppy, hanging on Kurt’s every word. He still worshiped the ground Kurt walked on, of course, but things seemed so much more real now. Kurt was more real, more human, in his eyes. They even fought occasionally now, although they preferred to call them “loving debates.” Now, Blaine felt more like an equal. Kurt loved him, and he loved Kurt. Nothing was more important than that.

“I love you, Kurt. I love you so much. I can’t wait to spend the whole summer with you.”

“I love you too, Blaine. This is going to be the best summer of my life because I get to spend it all with you.”

Blaine knew that if anybody were listening to this conversation, they’d probably gag. He knew they were too cute for their own good. Sometimes, he thought, these things just need to be said. There was nothing wrong with reminding each other just how much they loved the other. There was nothing wrong with telling each other just how much better off they were with the other in their life. And that’s exactly what they spent the afternoon doing. They cuddled on Blaine’s bed, hands clasped and faces inches apart. They whispered lovingly to each other, kissing occasionally. They told each other over and over how much they loved each other, and each time warmed them just as much as the previous. They were in love—hopelessly and wonderfully in love. They had each other, and that was all that mattered.