Kurt left the school at lunch time, obvious to everyone that he wasn't going to get any work done, and the kids were staying away, giving him space.

So he went home, where Rachel was waiting for him with a pot of tea and some cookies that she had baked. They sat on the sofa dunking their cookies into the tea, eating as Kurt relayed his and Blaine's earlier conversation to Rachel.

"See I told you!" she exclaimed pointing her free finger at him "I knew there had to be an explanation. Man, those story hounds are relentless."

"Yeah - I guess." Kurt agreed snorting out half a laugh. "Honestly Rach we didn't have a clue that anyone was taking pictures. In fact, we were so smug at the airport the day I got there thinking we had successfully dodged them. Hindsight, we should have known it wouldn't be that easy" he shrugged, taking a bite of his tea laden cookie.

"But Kurt... in your defense... you wouldn't have been aware of it at all anyways. You're not used to being in that type of spotlight - Blaine is. He should have been the one watching a little better" she stated dipping another cookie into her tea and frowning when it falls apart and drops into her mug.

"Aww... Rach... your tea!" Kurt sympathizes with her with a laugh. She looks up at him and they both start giggling, which leads to full out laughing, the kind of laughter where you don't even know why you're laughing anymore but you can't stop.

"Oh my god.... Stop it!" Kurt squeals holding his side. "I swear I'm going to throw up if I don't stop" he says, wiping the tears off his face.

"I can't! Oh my god,.... I'm going to pee my pants" Rachel snorts falling from the couch to the floor, curling up in the fetal position.

Eventually they get a hold of themselves and simmer down, still giggling and snorting every once in a while until they're sure they've got control again.

"Ahh... we needed that!" Rachel decides delicately wiping tears from her eyes. And then all of a sudden she jumps up off the couch "Shit what time is it?" she asks frantically. "I have to get to the theatre" running around now gathering her purse and phone and jacket.

"Um yeah - you're late" Kurt informs her looking at the time on his phone "you better get a cab" as he pulls out a $20 and gives it to her. "I insist - my treat for you being such a good friend and putting up with all my bullshit."

She takes it from him giving him a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. 'And I will accept because I'm really fucking late and it's all your fault!"

She leaves running down the stairs yelling up "make sure you call Blaine tonight sweetie. You two need to talk. And you don't want him being miserable all night - not fair".

"Yeah yeah Ms Berry" Kurt mutters to himself going back into their apartment. "I don't know - maybe Blaine being miserable for one night isn't such a bad thing." he suggests to the empty apartment. After all, Kurt reasons, he really hasn't decided what he's going to do and what he's going to say to Blaine when he finally does contact him. With that thought he goes into the kitchen to see if there is any food.

A couple of hours later Kurt is at the kitchen table. He's had a bit of dinner, accompanied with a lot of wine and was in the final stages of writing out a Pros and Cons list of reasons why he should or shouldn't move to LA with Blaine.

The only thing on the Cons list was Rachel - bolded and underlined many times.

He couldn't think about moving without his heart breaking a bit at the thought of leaving his bestie. He knew he'd still see her often, but it would be the end of an era. They'd never live together again as roomies, share late night pizzas, give each other manis and pedis, have giggle attacks like they had earlier today about absolutely nothing. Their friendship meant so much to him and to say it would be hard to leave her behind would be an understatement.

Other than that, his Cons column was incredibly empty.

Sure his job was great and he'd miss the people, but not enough to make him stay. Even if he didn't work at the Foundation, he could get another job lickity split in a school.

The city was great too, but again, not enough to make him stay. He has loved every minute he's spent in New York, but maybe it was time for a change. It's not like he couldn't come back to visit, which he would, often, to see Rachel.

On the other hand his Pros list was jammed, full to the brim:

Blaine

Warm weather

House in the hills

Get a dog (so Blaine can run the canyon properly)

Work at the Foundation

Gardening with Mr. Takahashi

Dancing at The Abbey (cuz wasn't that a night!)

Pacific Ocean

Disneyland

Convertible cars

Starbucks on SMB with very cute barista boy

No more shitty stories being written about Blaine with other men.

Blaine because he's worth mentioning from beginning to end

Kurt sighs looking down at what he wrote. "Lists never lie." All of a sudden he really needs to talk to Blaine. Everything becoming so clear to him and it panics him to think that earlier today he almost threw it away. Grabbing his phone, he brings Blaine's number up and connects. It rings a couple of times before Blaine answers.

"Hi Kurt... I wasn't expecting to hear from you tonight".

Kurt takes a deep breath, feeling better just having the connection "Yeah, well I've been sitting here thinking all day and just really needed to hear your voice".

He could hear some background voices and Blaine mumbling something away from the mouthpiece.

"Blaine - where are you" Kurt asks suddenly curious.

"I'm just getting out of the cab Kurt. Hold on while I pay him".

Kurt frowned... a cab? Why was Blaine taking a cab in LA?

"Have you been drinking or something Blaine" Kurt asks suspiciously.

"Nooo...why would you ask that"

"Why else would you be taking a cab, if you weren't drinking? You always drive in LA"

"Who's to say I'm in LA Kurt"

Totally confused now, Kurt shakes his head "I'm sorry. Am I missing something here?"

"Maybe" Blaine offers, "Kurt - open your door"

"What?"

"Open your door ... please?"

Kurt goes over to the front door and opens it to find Blaine standing there, phone to his ear, and a huge bouquet of red roses in his hand. He disconnects the call and stands, hoping and waiting to be invited in to the apartment.

"Oh my god Blaine... you're here!" Kurt realizes as he crashes into him crushing the flowers between their bodies.

"Whoa... yes, Kurt. I'm here" Blaine says, holding on to Kurt while trying to rescue the flowers. "I couldn't sit in LA knowing that you were here freaking out about us and possibly making a decision that I wouldn't be able to live with. I had to come and see you and hold you and kiss you and tell you I love you and that I want you to come back...with... me..." emphasizing the last three words with a kiss between each.

Kurt kisses him back and rests his forehead on Blaine's for a minute, trying to take it all in.

"What did you do" he finally asks "hop on a plane the minute we hung up?"

"Pretty much - yup" Blaine nods his head.

"Dork"

"Pretty much" Blaine continues to nod. "Can I come in now?" he asks with a small smile, relieved to see that Kurt appears to be ok and isn't throwing him out on to the street... yet...

"Of course, silly. I'm sorry ...come in. I just made tea." Kurt offers as he takes the flowers from Blaine, burying his head in them to smell their delicate scent.

"Where's Rachel?" Blaine asks as he follows Kurt to the kitchen, taking off his jacket and scarf.

"She's at the theatre. She's an understudy in an off-Broadway show."

"Oh wow! Good for her" he said approaching the table looking curiously at the list sitting there.

Kurt turns around with the mugs of tea in hand, and catches Blaine checking out the list.

"Heyyyy you.... private stuff" Kurt complains half heartedly putting the tea down in a hurry. "You're not supposed to go around reading people's personal stuff" in an effort to cover up his slight embarrassment of being caught writing a Pros and Cons list.

"Well I'm sorry" Blaine dodges Kurt's slap on the arm. "but when you see your name at the top of a list, its kind of hard to ignore" he picks it up now and looks over at Kurt with his eyebrows raised "May I?" he asks politely.

Rolling his eyes, Kurt nods in agreement.

"So I take it that this is a list of why you should or shouldn't move to LA?" Blaine questions. Kurt nods again, folding his arms across his chest, putting on the best bitch face he can under the given circumstance.

"I see.... And I'm definitely a Pro" Blaine reads "and the house and birds yes... yes" he says as his eyes scan down. And then he stops abruptly raising his eyebrows even higher and looks back up at Kurt "cute barista boy at the Starbucks Kurt?" he teases. "Which one are you referring to exactly because I can't quite recall?" now in full mocking mode, knowing damn well that there was a barista there that could have been Blaine's doppelganger if Blaine ever let his hair grow out and left it curly. The boy was adorable and sweet and Blaine knew Kurt had a bit of a crush on him, and it hadn't bothered him at all, seeing as it was his look alike.

"Shut up Blaine Anderson" Kurt now getting defensive. "You know damned well which boy I thought was cute. Do you need your ego stroked that much?"

"Well maybe not my ego" Blaine quips "but you could stroke something else" squealing and ducking when Kurt launches himself at Blaine in an effort to get the list out of his hands.

"Uncle Uncle" Blaine surrenders, laughing out loud "here take your list" offering it as Kurt pulls it away from him "I've seen enough anyways. But seriously, it looks to me that it's really only Rachel that's truly keeping you here?"

Kurt nods looking down still at the paper now in his hands.

"Well, Kurt" Blaine sidles back up to him to put his arms around him "You know Rachel would be welcome anytime to come stay with us...on a visit or permanently" Blaine adds causing Kurt to look up. "What? Don't look so surprised" Blaine laughs. "She grows on a person! I like her and if she wanted to come out and try her hand at the recording industry, I'd be all for it and she could live with us" he states emphatically "initially...for a while."

Kurt drops the list to the table, wrapping his arms around Blaine's neck kissing him softly "and that is why I love you Blaine Anderson. You never cease to amaze me"

"Can I take this as confirmation that you've forgiven me for the events of last night?"

"Well, I don't think you need to be forgiven when you didn't do anything wrong." Kurt admits, "I've come to terms with what happened and it's made me realize that this is just going to keep happening as long as we aren't physically together."

"So... I'm sorry... but does this mean your answer is 'yes' Kurt? Yes, you're going to come to LA and move in with me?" Blaine questions with trepidation in his voice.

Kurt looks into Blaine's eyes and sees nothing but love and warmth and belonging.

"OK.. Well there's another list that you haven't seen" Kurt says, pulling out a folded piece of paper in his pocket, not breaking eye contact with Blaine.

"What's on this list?" Blaine asks, pulling away slightly.

Kurt sighs, and takes Blaine's hand leading him to the sofa on the living room "Sit" he instructs him.

They both settle down on the sofa while Kurt unfolds the paper.

"I believe you when you say nothing happened last night. I truly do. But I really need you to hear what it was like from my point of view, and I had to write it down in case I get flustered."

Blaine nodded, not saying a word, letting Kurt proceed at his own pace.

Kurt took a deep breath and looked from his notes to Blaine.

"First, I love you. I never want any fights or arguments to happen without you knowing that I always love you. Nothing will ever change that."

Blaine lips turned up into a slight smile as he nodded again. "Me too" he agreed, clasping Kurt's forearm for emphasis.

Another deep breath, "When Rachel told me about the story on the internet, my first reaction was 'here we go again'. To see the pictures of you with another man, well. it broke my heart Blaine. It looked like you were out on the town with your boyfriend, and while, deep down I knew that wasn't the case, the rest of the world doesn't know that."

Blaine looked down in his lap, too emotional to look at Kurt's face, because he knew if he did, he'd try and silence him with hugs and kisses. But Kurt really needed to say this,and Blaine really needed to hear it.

Kurt continued, "I started getting phone calls from everyone. It's amazing how word spreads so fast. The most difficult call I got was from my Dad. I had to explain to him how we were together again, and instead of it being celebratory, it ended up being in defense. I think he's ok with everything now that I've explained it, but again, I want to celebrate our relationship Blaine, not defend it" Kurt said ducking his head down determined to make eye contact with Blaine. He reached out and lifted Blaine's chin to see his eyes; filled with unshed tears.

"I'm so sorry Kurt. I never meant for any of this to happen. Fuck, I'm such a conceited prick. I've spent so many years not worrying about others around me, what they think, how they feel, that I think I've lost touch with being empathetic. Does that make sense?" Blaine tries to explain himself.

"Yes, I think I know what you're saying. But in order for us to keep our relationship, you're going to have to start thinking of what the consequences are to your actions Blaine. If you had even text me last night to let me know you met an old friend and spent the evening talking, well... at least it wouldn't have been a shock. I still wouldn't have liked the pictures, but it wouldn't have come out from left field. I wouldn't have felt the way I felt this morning."

The room was silent as Blaine absorbed everything Kurt was communicating to him. It was true - he hadn't thought of any negative consequences. He had danced with another man, had a few drinks, let the man take his hand as they left to his car and all the while, paps were taking photos. Had he noticed the camera flashes? To be honest with himself, yes, he had. But he hadn't connected the consequences. As a result, he hurt the most important person in the world. Made him cry - made him doubt his love; his devotion.

"Kurt..." Blaine begins, enveloping Kurt's hand into his, "I never meant to hurt you. I completely see how my actions have affected you and I truly mean it when I say that it will never happen again. I guess I have to get used to having a boyfriend again, which is so foreign to me now, and be cognizant of everything I do in public. I get that. I really do.. " he explained furrowing his brows. "But what I can't control are the stories and the pictures that are published. They can take a photo anytime and make that snapshot last an eternity. Wrong place - wrong time. So what I need to say to you, is that while you have my word that I will act more appropriately in public, there are going to be stories written and photos published, and I just hope that in time you learn to trust me and not believe them and come to me right away if you have any issues. Being a "celebrity" isn't what it's cracked up to be. I only hope you can learn to live with the pressure." Blaine brought Kurt's hand up to his mouth, kissing it gently and caressing it to his cheek. "We love each other so much. I know we can work it out."

Kurt nods, tears slowly falling down his cheeks. "I know we can too sweetie. Especially once we're living in the same city - in the same house. Sharing the same bed... So ask me again" he requests with a smile.

A smile starts to spread on Blaine's face "Kurt, will you make my life complete and live with me in LA" he asks, still nervous for the final answer.

"Yes Blaine. Yes, I will" he answers with a smile that spreads cheek to cheek. "What I've realized today" Kurt shares "is that we can't continue a long distance relationship without shit like that story today happening again." He cuddles into Blaine, loosely resting his arms around Blaine's waist. "If we're going to make it, then we need to be living in the same city and that city is Los Angeles. So yes, Blaine" Kurt nods "I love you and I'm going to move to LA. I'm moving to LA and we are going to live together. Everything else will just fall into place" and he covers Blaine's mouth with his own before anything more can be said, kissing him deeply, realizing that they'll be doing this now for the rest of their lives and nothing could make him happier.

"Oh, Kurt.... You have no idea how happy you've made me" Blaine jumps off the sofa lifting Kurt up, twirling him around "It's the best decision you've ever made... you'll see" putting him down with another kiss, while gently wiping the tears off his face.

They stand there, content to hug and kiss, until finally Kurt breaks them apart taking Blaine's hand, "Come on. It's been a long day. Let's go to bed" leading him to the bedroom.

As they're getting undressed for bed, Kurt pulls his shirt off and stops. "Hey I just realized. If I'm going to live in the westcoast, then you're not going to be able to call me Eastcoast anymore" he pouts.

"So, I'll just call you Westcoast too" Blaine suggests, shrugging his shirt off.

"Blainnnneeeee... we can't both be Westcoast. That's totally lame and would be very confusing" Kurt admonishes as he steps out of his jeans and briefs.

"Well then we'll just have to come up with another name for you" Blaine tugs his pants off.

"OK but you better put on your thinking cap mister, because it's going to need to be epic" Kurt informs him as he slips into the bed keeping the sheets raised for Blaine to join him.

Fully naked, Blaine slides in, lying quickly on top of Kurt; needing the intimacy of the connection.

"Hi" Blaine says to Kurt with a smile.

"Hi" Kurt answers smiling back. "Fancy meeting you here... been waiting forever."

"Sorry I was late - won't happen again" Blaine promises, lowering his head down for a kiss.

Slowly kissing Kurt's mouth, he begins to travel down his neck to his chest, peppering soft kisses as he continues to move lower.

"Hmmm... want you to suck my dick Blaine Warbler." Kurt murmurs, carding his fingers through Blaine's curls.

"Kurt Hummel, I thought you'd never ask."

And with that, Blaine's head disappears under the covers.