Rachel looked round curiously again and Kurt fought to keep his expression neutral.

"Hey, Kurt," Kayleigh replied brightly. "Just calling to give you an update on Blaine's time travel."

"Oh, ok. What did you find out?" Kurt snuck another look at Rachel to find her straightening a stack of fashion magazines on the coffee table. A small wave of relief washed over him - it had been a while since he had done any acting and he wasn't sure how well he would be able to feign nonchalance with Rachel watching so closely.

"The area outside that café is a very old site of magic, so the magic is definitely concentrated enough to enable Blaine to travel home," Kayleigh said. "I'll have to harness a lot of magic from deep within the Earth to get him home, which won't be easy, but I'm pretty positive I can do it."

Closing his eyes for a second, Kurt absorbed what he had just heard. Blaine could go home. If things changed, if he ever felt it would be better for him to return to his own time, it would be possible. He now had the peace of mind he needed - and he knew Blaine needed as well even if he hadn't been that enthusiastic about talking to Kayleigh once he'd decided to stay.

Opening his eyes again, Kurt smiled. "That's great to hear," he said carefully, biting back the dozens of questions about the magic and time travel process that had sprung into his mind.

"If Blaine ever wants to go home then just let me know," Kayleigh continued. "It may take a day or two to get the magic concentrated enough to send him back, but it'll be possible."

"That's all I wanted to know. Thank you so much," Kurt said gratefully.

"No problem."

Kurt looked at Blaine out the corner of his eyes, watching him gaze absently in the direction of the window. "I'll discuss it with him and I'll be in touch if-" He hesitated for a beat. "If he decides to go through with it. Thanks again for everything."

"That's ok. Tell Blaine I said hi."

They said goodbye shortly after that and Blaine looked round as he hung up. Kurt shot him a quick, meaningful glance as he tucked his phone back into his pocket. He wanted to tell Blaine everything Kayleigh had said now, wanted to discuss it all with him now that they finally had what they had been searching for since Blaine had told him his story, but with Rachel in the room and obviously curious about the phone call, it wasn't possible.

"Are you still doing research for work with Kayleigh?" Rachel asked, setting down the papers she'd been fiddling with, completely dropping her pretence of tidying up the messy table.

Kurt nodded. "Yeah, she was confirming one last thing for me." He cast his mind about for a change of subject. "How was your show tonight?"

As he'd hoped, talking about Rachel and her career successfully distracted her from the phone call. The subject wasn't brought up again the rest of the evening and Kurt was relieved that Rachel seemed to have forgotten about it. He was desperate to get Blaine alone so they could talk about not only what Kayleigh had told him, but also about telling Rachel the truth. It was becoming more and more difficult to keep the secret from her as she became increasingly interested in Blaine's life and his relationship with Kurt.

Apparently determined to spend more than a couple of hours with them as had become her recent habit, Rachel spent the rest of the evening with them, so when they all finally went to bed Kurt hadn't told Blaine about what Kayleigh had said. He lay in bed staring across at his desk for a while, thinking about how they would break the truth to Rachel, until he abruptly decided he didn't want to wait until the following evening to talk to Blaine about it all.

Shoving back his bed covers, he swung his legs out of bed and stood up, running a hand through his hair before padding across the room to his door. He opened his bedroom door quietly, not wanting to wake Rachel, and then tiptoed down the hall to Blaine's room. Hoping Blaine wasn't in too deep of a sleep yet, Kurt raised his hand and knocked quietly against the door. He held his breath for a moment, listening carefully, but when he heard no response he eased the door open and stepped into Blaine's room.

"Blaine?" he called out softly.

There was a rustle and Blaine sat up in bed, his hair already slightly ruffled from the pillows. In the little light coming from the lamp they always left on in the living room, Kurt could make out Blaine blinking in his direction.

"Kurt?" There was a hint of worry in his voice.

Kurt moved further into the dark room, closing the door silently behind him, shutting out the thin strip of light which had been illuminating Blaine's bed-ruffled figure on the bed. Blinking rapidly in an effort to help his eyes adjust to the dark, Kurt made his way slowly across the room towards the bed where he could make out the outline of Blaine sitting up watching him.

"Kurt, are you ok?" Blaine asked quietly.

There was another rustle of blankets and Kurt saw Blaine reaching to turn on a light.

"Leave the light off," Kurt told him. The ever-brightening outline of Blaine sat back; Kurt could just make out a small confused frown on his face. "We don't need a light on."

He didn't know why he said that, but there was an intimacy about the hushed silence of the dark room that he didn't want to lose.

Eyes now adjusted to the lack of light, Kurt covered the short distance between him and the bed, stopping when he reached the head of it. He smiled reassuringly in response to Blaine's concerned look.

"I'm fine," he whispered. "I just needed to talk to you about something and with Rachel being around all evening..." He hesitantly fingered with the edge of the bed covers. "Can I-?"

Swallowing, Blaine nodded. "Y- Yeah," he breathed in a trembling whisper.

Kurt pulled back the duvet and climbed carefully into the bed. He lay down somewhat stiffly, suddenly nervous of brushing any part of Blaine. He was barely breathing as he rested his head on the pillow and tugged the covers up to his shoulders.

Blaine watched him lay down with wide eyes, before easing himself back down onto the mattress, his movements slow and controlled in a way Kurt knew meant he was just as nervous about this as he was.

They both lay on their backs for several long seconds, staring up at the dark ceiling and not daring to move an inch. Kurt's heartbeat sounded loud in the silence and he struggled to control his erratic breathing to make sure it wasn't too loud. He felt like even the room itself was holding its breath, the air still and silent. An involuntary shiver ran through him from the chill in the bed which had not yet been warmed by his body. It was then that he realised he was being ridiculous. This was Blaine he was lying next to; Blaine, his boyfriend and friend he felt a closer connection to than anyone else he knew; he shouldn't be so afraid of sharing a bed with him.

Inhaling deeply, Kurt rolled over on to his side so he was facing Blaine. Less than a heartbeat later, Blaine did the same. Kurt smiled as he met Blaine's eyes, which somehow still managed to shine in the dark.

"Hi," he whispered.

Blaine shifted closer until their faces were only inches apart and Kurt could feel the heat from his body under the covers. "Hi," he breathed.

Kurt lifted a hand out from under the duvet and pushed a wayward curl back off Blaine's forehead. As he lowered his hand he let it linger by Blaine's cheek, his fingertips ever so lightly skimming the soft skin of his cheekbone. With Blaine still staring up at him, he caressed his face, the skin feeling warm beneath his cool fingers. He lowered his hand until he was cupping Blaine's face, feeling the slight prickle of stubble on Blaine's jaw. His heart warmed when Blaine leant into the touch, his gaze still not leaving Kurt's face.

A simple touch like this was nothing they hadn't done dozens of times before, but for some reason it felt different, more intimate than anything else they had experienced between them so far. Maybe it was being in bed together and the advancement of their relationship that it symbolised, maybe it was the closeness of their bodies and intimacy of shared body heat beneath the blankets, or the illusion of separation from the rest of the world the darkness and shelter of the duvet and pillows provided them. Kurt didn't know what it was exactly, but the look in Blaine's eyes and the feel of his skin beneath his hand took his breath away and made something blossom inside him, something sweet and exhilarating and more real and raw than anything he had ever experienced in his life before. A declaration rose in his throat, getting caught somewhere behind his lips, tangled in a memory of a phone conversation and a painful reality. He exhaled shakily and with difficulty, his breath catching on the words he wished so desperately to say. His hand slid slowly down off Blaine's cheek, smoothing down his neck before he let it fall onto the small strip of mattress between them. Blaine's pupils were blown dark and his lips were parted as if the same words were hanging on his tongue. His breath stuttered against Kurt's face.

"Y- You had something you wished to discuss with me?" Blaine prompted.

"Yeah," Kurt said breathlessly. His thoughts moved slowly, like honey, and he struggled to remember why he had crept through to Blaine's room in the middle of the night. Blaine's closeness, the tremble in his voice, and the words slipping back down Kurt's throat to rest by his heart clouded his mind and made it difficult to remember what he'd been so eager to tell him. "Yeah, I do." He shifted a little on the bed to try and help compose himself. "It's about Kayleigh's phone call. She said it's possible for her to send you back home."

Blaine was silent for a moment, something shifting behind his eyes, and then he cleared his throat quietly.

"That's good to know," he said simply.

Kurt searched his face, looking for any signs that he was holding something back, that maybe he'd changed his mind.

"You still want to stay? I'll understand if this changes things."

"Kurt." Blaine reached for his hand beneath the covers and entwined their fingers together. "I still want to stay," he said softly. "But - you were right: it is comforting to know I am able to return if - I don't know what's going to happen in the future and some day I may wish to go home." He looked a little worried as he finished speaking, as though he thought Kurt might be upset by this, even though it had been at Kurt's insistence that they continued to find out if a return was possible after Blaine had made the decision to stay.

Kurt nodded his understanding. "I know. I'm not expecting you to promise to stay here forever and the last thing I would ever do is try and force you to stay. If you're ever unhappy here and want to go home just say and we'll go see Kayleigh, ok?" He offered Blaine a smile and squeezed his hand encouragingly when he got one in return. "You don't have to be worried about what my reaction will be if you want to go; this isn't about me."

Blaine frowned at this. "Kurt, of course it is!" he argued, clutching tighter at his hand and giving it a small tug as if to jerk him to his senses. "If we- If we stay together then any decision I make about staying here will affect you. You can't expect me to not take you and your feelings into account."

"I don't want you to be unhappy for the sake of pleasing me. If you're unhappy then I'm unhappy."

"And that works both ways," Blaine said firmly. "I won't be comfortable returning to my own time if you're miserable." They stared at each other for a moment, still clutching at each other's hands, and then Blaine spoke again, this time in a much softer voice.

"But that doesn't matter right now. I'm staying here and we're both happy."

The way Blaine looked at Kurt made him feel like he was waiting for an answer to a question.

"We're both happy," Kurt agreed. The questioning look disappeared from Blaine's eyes and was replaced with a warm smile.

Kurt used his free hand to shove his pillow into a more comfortable position before levelling Blaine with a serious, slightly apologetic look.

"We have to tell Rachel the truth," he told him. "And soon. She's asking more and more questions and we have to lie to her on an almost daily basis - we can't go on like this. I'm sure she's getting suspicious, and with you staying here we have to tell her at some point. It's better we do it sooner rather than later."

Blaine was already nodding before Kurt finished talking. "I know. I've been thinking about this, too. I'll tell her right away. I shouldn't have asked you to lie to your best friend for this long."

"Oh, no, it's not that!" Kurt assured him, sliding even closer to him so their legs were pressed together and he was able to let go of Blaine's hand and squeeze his shoulder comfortingly instead. "I can't say I was entirely comfortable with lying to her, but it was for a very good reason: you were scared of how people would react, and I felt the same way. Plus, it was your secret to tell, not mine, and I could never force you to share it."

"We'll tell her as soon as we get the chance - tomorrow, if we can," Blaine promised.

Kurt eyed him worriedly. "Only if you're happy to do so..." he said uncertainly.

Blaine reached up to cover Kurt's hand on his shoulder with his own. "I am. It's time she knew everything."

Kurt lapsed into thoughtful silence as Blaine rubbed his thumb over his knuckles in a comforting, repetitive motion.

"What will we tell her?" Kurt wondered, voicing the question he'd been stewing over for the last few hours.

"We tell her absolutely everything," Blaine replied without pausing to think about it. Maybe he'd been pondering this for as long as Kurt had. "I'll explain it all, from the day I travelled to Kayleigh discovering it's possible for me to go back. I think it's the best way of helping her to understand why we kept it a secret from her for so long." He bit his lip, suddenly looking worried. "I only hope she believes me."

"Of course she will!" Kurt assured him hastily, giving his shoulder another squeeze. "Of course she'll believe you. Why would she think you were lying?"

Still worrying his bottom lip with his teeth, Blaine shrugged, his hand slipping away from Kurt's. "It's quite a fanciful story."

"But it's the truth," Kurt said, looking Blaine square in the eye as he tried to reassure him. "And she'll see you're telling the truth and believe you - just like I did."

Blaine nodded, still not looking entirely convinced.

"It'll be ok, Blaine," Kurt said quietly. He lifted his hand to Blaine's hair, slowly smoothing the curls back from his forehead. He smiled softly when Blaine closed his eyes at his touch.

"Kurt?" Blaine murmured after a minute or so of peaceful silence; of Kurt rhythmically stroking Blaine's hair, enjoying the feel of the soft curls, normally plastered down with gel, slipping between his fingers.

Kurt hummed to show he was listening.

"Will you- Will you stay here tonight?"

Kurt's hand stilled against Blaine's hair, his heart skipping. Blaine's eyes opened - they were full of hesitancy and hope. A light blush was just discernible on his cheeks.

The prospect of sharing a bed with Blaine both thrilled and terrified Kurt. It wasn't like he'd never spent the night with another man before, and all they would be doing was sleeping, but he felt just as shy and nervous about this as he had the first night he'd spent with Liam. It was probably because of how strong his feelings for Blaine were, how deeply he was cared for him. He'd never felt this way about someone before and he wanted it all - everything - with him so badly that it turned him bashful and made him blush whenever they reached another milestone in their relationship.

But, he hadn't realised how badly he'd wanted this until now.

"Yes," Kurt breathed, closing his eyes and moving to brush his lips over Blaine's. "Yes, I'll stay."

Blaine's arm wound around his waist, pulling him closer as he pressed their lips together again. Kurt cradled Blaine's head and tangled his fingers in his thick curls. It was hot under the covers, but a shiver still ran through Kurt when Blaine's tongue traced his bottom lip. He let his leg slip between Blaine's and tried his best not to groan in pleasure when it brought them even closer together, their hips pressing together. He could feel the muscles of Blaine's chest through the thin cotton of their t-shirts, feel the soft swell of his small belly. He wanted more, but was not yet so far gone that all rational thought had fled from his head, making him give in to the craving. He didn't want to rush into things with Blaine, didn't want all the major milestones in their relationship to blur past them. He wanted everything to be special and to happen at the right time. He wanted Blaine's firsts to be more special than his were. Blaine deserved that.

He gradually slowed their kisses until they became languid. Blaine's hold on his back loosened and Kurt slid his hand from Blaine's hair down to his side, where he rubbed at his waist, his fingertips brushing over the bottom of his ribcage. The heat that had burned between them moments ago was now a pleasant warmth.

Blaine pressed one last kiss to Kurt's lips before turning his head away and tucking it into the crook of Kurt's neck. He nuzzled his nose against Kurt's skin before placing a soft kiss there.

"Goodnight, Kurt," he murmured.

Kurt smiled sleepily. "Goodnight, Blaine."

Finding the right time to tell Rachel his story was harder than Blaine had thought it would be. He'd never taken much notice to how much time she spent away from home, always taking the many hours he and Kurt were alone in the apartment for granted, but now that he was waiting for her to be home for at least a few waking hours, he found himself feeling frustrated when he found out she wouldn't be home until late and cursing under his breath when he got up in the morning to discover she'd left already. Rachel Berry was proving to be as hard to catch and keep in one place as a frog.

Something that added to the difficulty of this was his new job, but this was one added obstacle he was glad existed. He loved his job; it was everything he'd hoped it would be. All the kids and teenagers he taught were fantastic, his new boss had a friendly and relaxed attitude, and he was given a fair amount of freedom in how he conducted his lessons, allowing him to make them as enjoyable as possible for both him and his pupils. He looked forward to going to work and would spend a few hours in the mornings of work days planning his lessons by searching for new songs for his students to play or messing around on the piano inventing fun arrangements of various pieces.

When he wasn't at work or planning his lessons he spent the time he was alone in the apartment during the day working towards achieving his high school diploma. His online course had begun and while it was fairly flexible on how much work had to be completed each week, he was determined to complete it in the shortest time possible and put in a good number of hours of hard work each day. It helped that he'd already graduated high school and had done several years of a law degree, but a lot of his knowledge was extremely out of date and most of the syllabus was new to him.

Kurt was delighted Blaine was enjoying his job so much. He eagerly asked how work had been every time Blaine returned home after teaching and beamed happily when Blaine excitedly described how much one child was improving or how flawlessly a student had played a particular piece. He was also proud of how hard Blaine was working on his school work and how driven he was to get into college. But most of all, he was thrilled Blaine was happy.

"That's what's most important to me," he said one night as they cleared up after dinner. "That you're happy." He pressed a kiss to Blaine's cheek before turning back to the dishes he was drying.

Because of their busy lives it was a full week after Kayleigh's phone call when Blaine found the time to talk to Rachel. She was home after a show, spending a quiet evening in instead of going out with friends, Finn, or people in the theatre world as she so often did.

"An evening at home like this is good for my voice," she explained as she plopped down on the couch in sweat pants and an old sweater. "It's essential I set time aside to rest it."

Blaine caught Kurt's eye and gave him a meaningful look. Kurt's gaze flicked briefly to where Rachel was tucked up on the couch, still prattling away about the importance of having an evening off, and nodded.

Taking a deep breath, Blaine wiped his sweaty hands on his pants. He told himself yet again that it would be fine, that this would go as smoothly as telling Kurt, and looked across at Rachel.

"Rachel..."

The seriousness of his tone made her stop talking and look at him curiously.

"What's up?" she asked somewhat cautiously, as if already anticipating bad or shocking news.

"Um..." Blaine shot Kurt a helpless glance. While he'd acted confident a week ago discussing what to say with Kurt, he'd really just been putting on a brave face to mask the worry gnawing away at his insides. It had seemed so straightforward back then - he would simply tell Rachel everything that had happened to lead him to where he was today - but now the moment was finally here the words dried up in his mouth and fear smothered every other thought in his head, leaving him speechless and with a blank mind.

Kurt stepped in to help him. "We have something to tell you, something we've had to keep from you until now."

Rachel had been slumped in her seat, but at Kurt's words she shot up straight and stared at the pair of them. "You've been keeping secrets from me?" she said incredulously.

"Secret, Rach," Kurt corrected. "There's only the one."

"Well what is it?" she demanded. "I can't believe you've been keeping secrets from me, Kurt!"

Kurt opened his mouth to reply, but Blaine spoke up before he could say anything. It was his secret, he who told Kurt not to share it with anyone, so he should be the one telling Rachel and taking the brunt of her reaction, not Kurt.

"I'm not from Connecticut," he said, watching Rachel closely for her reaction. The confusion mounted behind her eyes. "I'm actually from New York. I used to go to Columbia University here and lived just outside the city."

"Used to-" Rachel repeated slowly. She sounded completely baffled. "What- Why did you lie about where you're from?"

Blaine closed his eyes for a moment and gathered himself together, doing his utmost best to remain calm. He opened his eyes. "I lied because it's not where I'm from that's the problem, it's when."

Rachel stared at him - he could almost see her mind working behind her eyes, see her trying to make sense of what he'd just said.

"I'm not from this time, Rachel. I'm from the year 1923. I travelled to this time several months ago."

Rachel's lips parted and a number of emotions chased each other across her face: shock, disbelief, confusion, and shock once again. Blaine gave her a moment, resisting the rising urge to start babbling in order to let his words sink in. Kurt sat silent and tense, his breath held as he awaited Rachel's response. His hand slid into Blaine's.

"Is it April?" Rachel asked weakly.

Puzzled, Blaine exchanged a glance with Kurt; he looked just as confused and worried as Blaine felt.

"W- What?" Blaine stammered.

Rachel didn't appear to hear him. "This has to be an April Fool's joke; it has to be."

Blaine gripped Kurt's hand tighter, his breath whistling harshly out his of his lungs. This was what he had feared; this was what they'd both feared: Rachel refusing to believe him and thinking he was either crazy or joking.

"This isn't a joke, Rachel," Blaine said as gently as he could, his tone apologetic. "It's the truth. I'm from the year nineteen-"

"Liar!" Rachel interrupted in a shriek.

Blaine jerked back as though he'd been slapped.

"You're a liar! You're a liar and you're using Kurt! You may have sucked him in with your bowties and your charming manner and your stupid pocket watch, but you're not fooling me! Kurt might have been gullible enough to believe your crazy story, but I'm not. I knew there was something strange about you and now I know." She inhaled deeply, drawing herself up taller. "Now I know," she repeated, her voice trembling with anger. "You're a fake. You're a liar and a user and-"

"That's enough!"

Kurt had leapt to his feet, ripping his hand out of Blaine's. He glared at Rachel, his cheeks flushed, his mouth set in a thin, hard line, and his chest heaving. Blaine gazed dazedly up at hm. He felt oddly detached from the situation, as if he were watching it play out in a movie rather than actually experiencing it. He was so stunned by Rachel's outburst that he was now in a state of disbelief. His fears were being realised and he hadn't really been prepared for it; he had no idea what to do or say to defend himself or to try and make Rachel see sense.

Luckily, Kurt wasn't in a similar state of shock.

"Don't you dare call him that! I can't believe you would say such a thing to him."

Rachel jumped to her feet, too. "How can you believe his crazy, bullshit story? What happened to your intelligence, Kurt?"

Kurt's eyes widened. "What happened to yours? What happened to your trust and loyalty? Why isn't that I believe Blaine enough for you to know he's telling the truth?"

"Because he's tricked you, Kurt!" Rachel shot back, her voice rising and her hands balling into fists by her side. "You're too trusting and gullible when it comes to a pretty face - look at Liam! Look how stupid you were to believe him!"

She had gone too far.

Kurt's face, which had been twisted with anger - eyes narrowed, mouth tight - smoothed out into a steely calmness, an expression which only just contained all his anger and disappointment behind closed doors. His eyes held a blazing sort of incredulity and he seemed to exude a soundless anger that had both Rachel and Blaine recoiling. But Blaine could see by the slight slump to Kurt's shoulders and the tiny tremble of his hand that he'd been hurt by Rachel's words.

Rachel knew she'd made a big mistake and hastily tried to take her words back. "I didn't mean that, I-"

"Liam has nothing to do with Blaine," Kurt said in a deceptively calm voice, cutting Rachel off. "Blaine is nothing like him."

Kurt continued to defend Blaine, continued to point out how wrong Rachel was and all the ways he differed from, and was better than, Liam. Blaine sat in silence as he did so. He stared down at the floor feeling more useless and worthless and hurt than he could remember feeling in years. To his humiliation, tears blurred his vision as he listened numbly to Kurt, now trying to make Rachel see sense. He knew he should speak up and say something to prove he wasn't a liar, wasn't what she was accusing him of being, but all he could do was stare at the floor in silence. He couldn't open his mouth or move for the fear he'd break down and start sobbing; as it was, he could barely control the wobbling of his chin or the build-up of tears in his eyes.

As Kurt continued to explain how he'd met Blaine and all the research they'd done together to a now silent Rachel, a tear slipped down Blaine's cheek. The floor dissolved into an indistinguishable wavering blur and Kurt's voice faded to white noise in the background. Lost in his pain, he missed his boyfriend explaining everything he should have been saying and didn't hear anything Rachel said in response. Kurt was being a fantastic, supportive boyfriend and Blaine couldn't even bring himself to focus on him and what he was saying or help him make Rachel believe his story. His pain and humility deepened.

The next thing he was really aware of beyond the burn of worthlessness and the sharp stabbing of liar and fake in his chest was a pair of familiar, warm hands resting on his knees and Kurt's voice repeating his name.

"Blaine?"

Swallowing hard, Blaine lifted his head to meet Kurt's eyes. Upon seeing Blaine's face, Kurt's concerned expression softened.

"Oh, Blaine," he breathed. He cupped Blaine's face with his hand, wiping away the tear clinging to his cheek with his thumb. Blaine had to bite his lip to hold back a sob.

"I had to tell Rachel to look you up online to prove where you are from," Kurt whispered apologetically. "I had no other choice; she was refusing to believe me without solid evidence." He searched Blaine's face anxiously. "I'm sorry."

Blaine knew she could find anything online - his future career, whether he married or not, the date of his death - information neither he nor Kurt wanted to know, but if that was the only way to convince her he was telling the truth then so be it. He would just have to request she kept any information she learnt about his future to herself and hope she did so.

Blaine leant into Kurt's touch, still fighting tears. "It's fine," he assured him, his voice catching on the last word and a small sob escaping.

Kurt's face fell even further, becoming so unbearably sad it made the need to bury his face in his hands and cry fill Blaine more strongly than Rachel's cruel words had done. Another tear slipped down his cheek, Kurt caught it with his thumb.

"I'm so sorry," Kurt whispered, rocking forward until his forehead rested against Blaine's. Blaine's eyes slid shut and he moved his left hand from where it had been gripping the edge of the couch to rest atop Kurt's hand on his knee. "I am so, so sorry. I never thought she'd react like this - never."

Blaien squeezed his hand, trying to convey how he didn't blame Kurt in the slightest through his touch. He didn't even think Rachel was in the wrong, really. While he hated being doubted and called a liar, he understood Rachel's reluctance to believe his story; it was so absurd and fanciful he could scarcely believe it himself some days. It was completely understandable that she wanted to see actual evidence before she accepted his story. He knew he was extremely lucky Kurt had believed him with no questions asked. He was lucky he had met Kurt.

Kurt nuzzled his nose against Blaine's and Blaine felt his tears and the choking lump in his throat receding. His hysterical emotions calmed and the wild thumping of his heart slowed. It was incredible that the same person who could make his heart race, his nerves tingle, and the blood rush through his veins could soothe him and settle his rampant hurricane of emotions. He never realised it was possible for someone to have such an effect on him.

The sound of a throat being cleared made them move back from each other, Blaine opening his eyes reluctantly to see a sheepish Rachel watching them. She twisted her hands together as Blaine and Kurt stared at her expectantly.

"I- I looked online," she said, her voice shaky and uneven. A light pink flush appeared on her cheeks. "I found birth records and a newspaper article about a polo team and-" She broke off mid-sentence when Blaine gave a sudden twitch and Kurt shifted uncomfortably on the floor in front of him. She swallowed. "I'm- I'm sorry. I should never have doubted you or yelled at you or- or accused you of being a liar. But you have to know how crazy and far-fetched what you told me sounds."

She said these last words more strongly and almost pleadingly. Her eyes were glossy with tears as she looked at Blaine, her hands trembling slightly as she twisted them together again and again.

"I'm so sorry, Blaine," she whispered. She sniffed and lifted her chin a little, her voice losing its pleading undercurrent. "I'll understand if you never forgive me."

She stood and gazed at him a moment longer, before nodding her head and turning to walk away.

"Don't worry," she added without looking round, "I won't tell anyone. And I'll keep what I saw on the internet to myself as well."

She was almost at the hallway leading through to the bedrooms when Blaine stood up.

"Rachel - wait."

Rachel stopped immediately, turning back to face Blaine with barely contained hope in her eyes.

"It's ok." Blaine told her. Out the corner of his eye he could see Kurt looking up at him from where he was still kneeling on the floor. "You're right, it is unbelievable what happened to me, and I was wrong to expect everyone to believe me when the only evidence I have is my word. I can't hold that against you."

"I shouldn't have called you those things," she said quietly.

Blaine said nothing to this. He couldn't really agree with her when he had been what she'd accused him of being - he had been a liar and a fake when he'd pretended to be a twenty-first century man from Connecticut.

Rachel smiled at him, just a small lift of the corners of her mouth. "Thank you for forgiving me." She gestured behind her. "I promised Santana I'd Skype her tonight."

Blaine nodded, though he didn't have a clue what she was talking about, and Rachel turned and headed for her room.

There was a moment of silence and then Blaine looked back down at Kurt. They exchanged a long look, passing understanding for how the other felt and what they were thinking through their gazes. Blaine eventually sank down onto the floor next to Kurt. Kurt held out his hand and Blaine took it, slotting his fingers between Kurt's and responding to his smile with one of his own. The day may not have gone as planned, but Rachel knew. She now believed Blaine and they no longer had to lie and pretend in their own home, something Blaine had been longing for since understanding he was gay.