WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2

BLAINE

"God, it feels good to be back in the studio," Jeremy said as he sat down in the cushy chair next to me carefully placing his coffee on the soundboard in front of us. "I have liked my time at home and all that, but being in the studio makes me feel alive, ya know?"

I nodded in agreement. "Yeah, totally." I wasn't quite as intimately involved in the studio process as Jeremy was, but I could appreciate his sentiment. The time on vacation for the holidays had been nice, but I was bored sitting at home all day and night and the only thing I had accomplished during the downtime was writing songs and thinking about Kurt.

"What were you up to over the holidays?" he asked as he sipped on his coffee.

"Not too much, really. Spent time with the family in Ohio, spent time with my boyfriend, wrote some stuff. Nothing super exciting. You?"

"Wrote stuff?" he questioned, ignoring my own inquiry about his holiday in Atlanta.

I shrugged. "Yeah. Songs, lyrics, stuff like that."

"Wow, I didn't know you wrote."

"It doesn't happen often, only when I'm inspired – which has been infrequent in the past few years," I conceded.

"I get that, man. So what inspired you this time?"

I shrunk back for a minute. I knew Jeremy was a cool guy and he already knew about Kurt. "Love," I replied simply.

Jeremy chuckled. "Man, I know how that is. Love brings out all kinds of lyrics and melodies; some devastating, some full of hope. I hope yours are mostly of the hopeful persuasion."

"For the most part," I said, wincing when I realized I probably had said more than I should. Though Jeremy was great and we had worked up a kind of camaraderie behind the soundboard, that didn't mean that we were best friends or anything.

"It wouldn't be true love if it was all sunshine and rainbows," he admitted. I shrugged noncommittally and pulled out my notebook that held my notes from our sessions. "Well?" Jeremy asked.

I looked up to meet his eyes. He looked at me expectantly. "What?" I asked.

"I want to see them."

"See what?"

"Your songs, Blaine. Do you have any of them here? I'd love to see what you wrote," Jeremy replied.

Suddenly, I was nervous. It wasn't just because someone was going to actually look at my songs for the first time, but because it wasJeremy Reedwho would be the first person to look at my songs.

"Uh, sure," I said, pulling out the small notebook that I'd been using to write in the past few weeks. I handed it over to him and he looked at it for a moment before flipping open to the first page. He thumbed through a few pages as I sat silently and anxiously.

After he'd perused a few songs – complete with lyrics and guitar tabs – he flipped to the song on the third page and held it out to me. "Play this," he stated simply.

"I don't have my—"

"Blaine, we work in a music studio. There's a guitar around here somewhere. In fact, I know there's one still in the booth because they recorded something yesterday since we didn't use the studio. The artist was going to come by today to pick up the guitar, so you can just use theirs."

"But what if it's—"

"Just play, Blaine."

I nodded silently and made my way into the booth to retrieve the guitar. It was acoustic electric and very simple with a deep cherry wood and a plain black strap with the letters E.D. sewn into the strap. I threw it over my neck and placed the black book onto the music stand and started to play.

Wish enough, wise man'll tell you a lie

Window broke, torn up screens

Who'd have thought that you'd dream

Of a single tragic scene

I just wanna sing a song with you

I just want to take it off of you

Cause Blue Eyes

You are all that I need

Cause Blue Eyes

You're the sweet to my mean

As I played out the final chords, I could hear clapping coming from the other side of the booth. In my playing, I had somewhat forgotten about my role model being on the other side of the glass, so I smiled with relief when I heard how well it was received.

"That's a great song," an unfamiliar voice echoed from the speaker.

"Uh, thanks?" I said, wondering who the voice belonged to.

"Come on out, Blaine. I have someone who'd like to meet you," Jeremy stated as I removed the guitar from my neck. "Bring the guitar with you, though."

Curious, I removed the guitar from my neck but kept it in my hands as I forced the door open into the booth area. What I saw there was not what I expected.

"Hi, I'm Ed," the other man in the room said, extending his hand toward mine. I shook it nervously with bulging eyes – I couldn't believe who it was.

"This is Blaine," Jeremy replied when I seemed to have lost my voice. "I'm working with him on an album with this band for Rialto."

"Are you in the band?" Ed asked. I shook my head. "I didn't hear much of your song, but I heard enough to know that you'd do alright in a band. And where'd you get that song from?"

"I wrote it," I replied, trying to maintain some sort of calm in my voice.

"Impressive," he said stoically. I knew most artists generally weren't impressed – especially a guy like Ed Droste – but even the one word compliment was enough for me to feel some sort of validation in my songwriting ability. "Did you write that for your girlfriend?"

"Boyfriend," I corrected, and his brow quirked with interest in response. Ed Droste was a well-respected artist in the indie music industry – and he also happened to be gay. His band Grizzly Bear had been playing regularly for years and was one of the bands I thoroughly enjoyed. He kind of became a role model when he married his long-time boyfriend when I was in high school and I was thrilled that a front man for a band could be gay and play music and people wouldn't think less of him because of his sexuality.

"I was just telling Blaine how love isn't always predictable or easy, but that it can create some wonderful lyrics," Jeremy added.

"Definitely," Ed agreed. "Those lyrics were pretty angsty for someone so young," he stated.

"Like you said, it's not always sunshine and rainbows," I contested.

They laughed lightly. "Indeed," Ed said. "Well, I'm going to take this back now," he said, removing the guitar from my hands. "Jeremy, we'll be in touch. Let me know when you have an open window in your week and we'll hang out."

"Certainly," Jeremy said, shaking Ed's hand.

Ed put his hand out again for me as well. "I hope to hear great things about you, Blaine. See you later." With that he strapped the guitar to his back and exited the recording booth.

I turned back to look at Jeremy with a face full of wonder only to be met with Jeremy's amused face. "I'm taking it that you like Ed."

"He's just—that's—"

He laughed. "Don't worry, your internal fanboy-ing didn't show too much. Ed is really cool. Really sarcastic and dry, but genuinely loves music and appreciates good musicians. The fact that he even commented on your song is a good sign."

"Yeah?" I asked.

He nodded. "He's a songwriter. He can understand the songwriter's plight and appreciates the process and he doesn't give compliments unless they're deserved."

I grinned. As I was realizing that I had met Ed Droste and managed to not be a total idiot, Zach and the crew from Atticus Finch busted through the door, laughing and dragging their instruments with them.

"Hey guys," Zach said cordially as the group entered the booth. "How was the holiday?"

"Good," Jeremy replied.

"Same," I retorted and Jeremy chuckled silently beside me. I hadn't shared too many details about my holiday, but the man could figure that there were details that I hadn't shared that would imply more happened than I had let on.

"What?" Zach asked, as if he wasn't in on the joke.

"Nothing," Jeremy responded. "We're just glad to be back in the studio."

...

"This is great, guys. I think we've laid down a total of 5 tracks and we're well on our way to hitting the 10 mark that we're all hoping for. If all goes well, we should have this album wrapped by the end of February or early March," Jeremy said as the band had regrouped in the recording booth area after they'd laid down the final touches on one of the tracks from their album. "Do you have the next few tracks picked out? I have some thoughts, but wanted to see what you guys wanted to record next so we can think about the structure and flow of the album."

"Actually," Zach said. "I have a new track that I'd like to propose. We practiced it a bit during the break, but I wanted to get your perspective too to see if it's worthy."

"It's not from your list of tracks?" I questioned.

"No. I wrote it over the break. It just... I couldn't... it just came to me and I couldn't help but write it down," he replied meekly.

"Don't worry, I totally get it," I agreed. "Let's hear it."

Zach pulled his guitar from his case and sat it on his lap. The opening chords resounded and the picking of the strings eased into a beautiful intro as he began to sing.

I'm looking for a lover not a friend
Somebody who can be there when I need someone to talk to
I'm looking for someone who won't pretend
Somebody not afraid to say the way they feel about you

And I'm looking for someone who understands how I feel,
Someone who can keep me real and who knows (the way)
The way I like to have it my way
And I'm looking for someone who takes me there,
Wants to share, shows he cares
Thinking you're the one that I've been waiting for

Is it you? Is it you?
Maybe you're the one I've been waiting for
Could you be the one for me?
Could you be the one I need?

He stopped playing and looked up at us expectantly. "That's just the first part. I'm still working on the lyrics for the later part."

I was shocked. Impressed, really. Zach was a great front man and had written some really great songs to contribute to the album, but this one seemed to be drastically different from anything else that he'd written. It had a bit more of a pop flavor to it, but the lyrics seemed so... honest. It would certainly be a great song to include in the album – especially once they had secured a strong fan base. It would make the girls go wild.

"Wow," Jeremy said, mirroring my surprise. "That's a really great start. It's really different, but in a good way."

"Thanks," he replied sheepishly. "I wasn't sure if it would work for this, but I thought I'd try to get it included into the album."

"I see why," Jeremy replied. "What do you guys think?" he asked Zach's band mates. They resonated their support for the track and Jeremy smiled. "Track number 11 is now officially added."

Zach breathed a sigh of relief and his band mates all slapped him on the back in encouragement.

"I don't know where that came from, but keep it up," Jeremy said as the door swung open to reveal the band's manager and my high school friend at the doorway.

"Hey guys," David said. "I wanted to see if you guys wanted some dinner. I was getting ready to order from the place down the street if you guys were interested."

They all agreed and started shouting out their orders while David scribbled them down. "I'm going to need some help getting this. Who wants to help?"

The band all grumbled – not wanting to go out in the cold – but I stood. "I'll help. I could use some air."

David laughed. "Well, the air you're going to get is bitchin' cold, so be sure to bring your coat and scarf."

I grabbed the items and threw them on before joining David at the elevators. "How's it going in there?" he asked as we entered the empty elevator.

"Great, actually. We've finalized 5 tracks and Zach just proposed another one."

"The one he wrote over the break?" he asked. I nodded. "I heard them working on it the other day. It sounds really good with all of them together. Did they play it for you?"

I shook my head. "No, just Zach. But his acoustic version was really good. Depending on how it sounds with the band, I might recommend that they keep it simple. The song was pretty intense so putting a band behind it might dull the sentiment behind it, ya know?" David laughed and I turned to him. "What?"

"You're just really good at this, Blaine. Not that I'm surprised, it's just nice to see you in your element, you know?"

"I guess," I replied. It was still weird being friends with David again but he and I were making strides at building up the relationship that had been abandoned before. "Did they tell you at all what made him write it? It's not that I don't think the song is great, but it's just really different from the other tracks on the album."

"You mean you're surprised that the track is about a crush as opposed to their New York-based teen angst?" I laughed as David continued. "Not too much. I know that Zach said he had been inspired for the past few weeks and he could finally get it down onto paper. I'm guessing that he's basing it off experience though."

"Who knew romance could be an issue when you're 19!" I exclaimed sarcastically. David was aware of the drama we'd seen in high school though we had left relatively unscathed – probably due to the fact that we went to a small school and we tended not to date our classmates either because they were the wrong gender (in David's case) or we just weren't interested (in mine).

"Either way, the track was good and it seems like we'll be adding it to the track list," I added. "Now, let's go get this food and rush back. I want to hear all about your break."

KURT

I had spent a good portion of my day finishing up laundry before I heard Wes come bustling in.

And based on the sounds coming from the kitchen, he wasn't alone.

Curiously, I lay my unfolded jeans onto the bed along with the rest of my clothes and peeked out into the kitchen, which I could see from my bedroom. The things that I saw were definitely not what I expected.

There was my roommate and my high school friend, completely devouring each other's faces as Lauren was perched on the kitchen counter and Wes was in between her legs, pushing her back so she was practically inside the cabinets. Tiny gasps were escaping them as the loud smacks of lips and tongues permeated the formerly silent kitchen.

I chuckled – possibly a bit too loudly – before Wes and Lauren stilled. "Hi Kurt," Wes said, his mouth pressed somewhere against Lauren, causing his voice to sound muffled. Lauren was panting slightly but shot a look toward my door before I stepped out.

"Sorry, friends. Was I interrupting?" I questioned jokingly as Wes eased Lauren off the counter with the help of his hand to guide her onto the floor.

"Yes," Wes said, irritated.

"Nothing we can't start again later," I heard Lauren mutter and I laughed harder. "Oh god," she said once she realized I could hear her.

"You don't have to hide yourselves from little ol' me, there's nothing I haven't seen before." Lauren glanced at Wes with an icy look before I corrected myself. "Not like he's brought a bunch of women home, Lauren. Just that it wouldn't be the first time I've seen a straight guy attack his girlfriend's face in the kitchen. I did grow up around Finn and Rachel, after all."

She laughed before she took Wes' hand into her own and guided him toward the couch. "Either way, sorry that we were totally all up in your kitchen. We'll keep things from the public areas in the future." Wes still looked fairly embarrassed at the whole situation, but nodded in agreement with his girlfriend.

"No worries. Though I am glad you're both here. I feel like I haven't seen either of you very much these days," I said as I took a spot on the armchair.

Wes and Lauren sat on the couch, somewhat snuggled together. "I just saw you at work yesterday, Kurt," Lauren admitted as she joined her fingers in between her boyfriend's.

"Not the same thing when we're both rushing around trying to deal with somewhat hungover actors and crew while trying to hammer out an afternoon performance on the day after everyone has been drinking," I noted.

"Fine, fine," she conceded. "How was your break Kurt?"

"He's had better," Wes muttered before Lauren turned to me, quizzically.

"What does that mean?" she asked.

"Well, Blaine and I had a... miscommunication."

"Miscommunication?" Lauren asked blankly.

"Basically, he freaked Kurt out so much that Kurt came running back to New York and left Blaine hanging in Ohio," Wes added. I hadn't fully explained what had happened to Wes since we hadn't had time, but Wes knew that I had been hurt but Blaine and I were over it now.

"I'm so confused," Lauren stated and Wes rolled his eyes.

"Welcome to the life of being Kurt Hummel's roommate," he said.

I groaned. I relayed the whole story to Lauren and Wes – who finally seemed to understand why I had been upset and how it really was a miscommunication in the end.

"You're such a drama queen sometimes," Lauren said.

"You're not wrong," I admitted. "But we've worked past it now. And I forgave Blaine and I told him how I'm going to work more at being honest with him. This whole thing wouldn't have happened if I had just told him about William or talked to him about why I was upset. I can't shut him out – it's not fair to him or to us as a couple."

"That's really good of you, Kurt. Blaine seems like a nice guy and it would suck to let something like that get to you guys," Lauren admitted.

"Trust me, I was not of the level of calm when it first happened. I was pissed and hurt and angry – mostly at Blaine – and I realized after a while that it wasn't his fault and we should have talked; both of us. But god, I felt horrible for putting all of that on him. He was so...wrecked in the aftermath of what happened. I still feel guilty for putting him through that. I didn't realize how bad it was until Santana said something on New Years Eve."

"Maybe you could make it up to him somehow," Wes suggested. Lauren nodded in agreement.

"But how?" I asked. It wasn't that I hadn't thought of it already, but how could one "make up" for something that harsh? I had put Blaine through a lot of angst and had left him in the dark when I should have been honest with him. It's not something you can just buy him flowers and expect everything to be okay.

"Maybe you show him exactly how much you're trying to talk to him more about things. It seems like the base of your issues with Blaine has been how you have held things back." I shot Wes a glare before he corrected his statement. "I'm not saying it was a bad idea. You've been hurt and it's okay to hold a few things back at first. But you love him, right?" I nodded. "Then you have to be better since you want this to go somewhere. And you do want this to go somewhere, right?" Another nod. "Then prove to him that you're putting the miscommunication in the past and put everything out there. Tell him everything."

"I already told him about William," I noted.

He smiled. "That's a huge step, Kurt. I know it wasn't an easy time for you, but if you open up to Blaine about things like that moving forward and tell him about your past triumphs and trials, it'll be better for your relationship as a whole."

"Have you told him about McKinley?" Lauren asked warmly. I knew what she meant, so I shook my head. "That seems like a good place to start if you ask me."

I agreed. "Thanks guys." I sighed. "Geez, who knew that being in a relationship could be so taxing?"

Lauren and Wes chuckled. "Yeah, it can be tough, but it's worth it," Wes said, squeezing his girlfriend's knee.

"And judging by how you didn't come home the other night, I imagine that you're getting some sort of... benefit... from your relationship with Blaine," Lauren said with a wink.

I rolled my eyes. "It's so not like that and you both know it," I replied. Yes, Blaine and I had partaken in a few very heated and very messy grinding sessions, but it hadn't evolved into anything further. Yes, we were technically having sex, but to the eyes of our friends it was just foreplay.

"Whatever. I know those red pants are Blaine's. I've seen them on him before," Wes noted as he pointed to the pants I was wearing.

"It's laundry day," I groaned as I brushed the imaginary lint off the pants. They were Blaine's and I had borrowed them in order to take the train back to my place without looking like I had made a mess of myself. But could I help it that the pants fit me well and made me think of my boyfriend?

They both laughed lightly and I was thankful that they let it go. We chatted for a bit longer, me hearing about Lauren's Christmas in Brooklyn and Wes telling me about this case he was going to shadow on at the firm, before they both decided they were going to finally go out for dessert and left me to do laundry in peace.

As I folded my laundry, I couldn't help but smile at the way a few of Blaine's things had inadvertently made it into my collection of clothes. I only had three items of clothing from him – the red pants, an undershirt, and a black pair of boxer briefs that Blaine had handed over unopened with a slight blush as we changed after an especially orgasmic encounter on Blaine's bed – but I was liking how Blaine was slowly infiltrating my life.

It wasn't just his clothes that were invading my life – it was all of him. He was one of my favorites on my phone, had taken hold of my thoughts and dreams, and I was starting to consider plans with Blaine for future things. No longer could I think of the upcoming spring festivities without thinking "I'll have to see if Blaine can make it."

The first time I'd said it was while I was talking to Mercedes regarding her offer to visit her in Chicago. I said I'd have to see if Blaine would be able to come too and she squealed to learn how my boyfriend would likely be accompanying me to visit my best friend. She was just glad to know that she would get to possibly meet Blaine, but in my heart I was glad to be incorporating Blaine into my life in any way possible.

We could vacation together, visit each other's families, and spend spring evenings eating on the patio of The Frying Pan. The prospect was exhilarating.

I folded the last of my clothes and carefully stored them in the dressers along my wall. I debated pulling out Blaine's clothes, but decided he could just come get them himself.

Then it came to me – Blaine hadn't ever been to my place. If there were one way to get him quickly integrated into my life, it would be to see where I lived and see my day-to-day.

Eager with the prospect of seeing Blaine again, I sent him a text message. I knew it was his first day back in the studio so I didn't want to bother him.

How would you like to come over on Sunday afternoon? I'll cook for you. –K

I didn't have to wait long before I got a reply from Blaine.

I'd love to. –B

A few seconds later, my phone dinged again.

Oh, and I love you. –B

I grinned. Dork. But he wasmydork. I smiled as I replied.

Great, I'll be sure to cook something good. And I love you too. –K