"Blaine, it's time to wake up," Mrs. Anderson said as she shook her son out of his slumber.

Ugh, he thought to himself. Why does school have to come so early?

"Mom, do I have to go to school today?"

She laughed lightly. "Blaine, it's a Friday. And more importantly, it's the day before your birthday. Nothing can be bad on Birthday Eve!"

Birthday Eve was a term Blaine came up with when he was a child. He thought the night before your birthday should be just as special as your actual birthday, just like how Christmas Eve felt equally as magical and special as Christmas Day. He was sorely disappointed when he learned that it wasn't actually a holiday, but his parents had instituted some Birthday Eve traditions when he was a kid and some of them stuck – even now when he was turning 18.

"I guess for the sake of Birthday Eve, I should get up."

"That's the spirit. I'll have your breakfast for you downstairs. If you hurry up, I'll be sure to make cake batter pancakes for you tomorrow."

With the promise of his favorite sugary breakfast, Blaine practically leapt out of bed and darted to the shower. While showering, he thought about dressing up for his last day of being 17, but there wasn't really a point. It was just another Friday as far as he was concerned and though it was Birthday Eve, he just wasn't as thrilled about turning 18 as he thought he'd be. He thought he'd feel as if the cosmos were going to instill him with a greater sense of wisdom or he'd feel different somehow, but even the day before his big birthday he felt exactly the same. It was kind of a let down – Cooper had been building up his 18th birthday as if it was a huge deal, but it just didn't feel like it was different than any other birthday. Tomorrow, he'd wake up and technically be a year older. The fact that his age would be 18 was of no importance to him.

Besides, his birthday celebration wasn't going to be a big deal either. After he hung up with Kurt, he apologized to his parents and told them how he felt about the potential move. His dad was receptive to his thoughts and said he'd genuinely take his feelings into account. They ended the night in a group hug and a promise that his birthday festivities would still go on as planned – despite Blaine's outburst regarding his party.

Blaine decided on a small dinner with friends was a good alternative and it wouldn't be too expensive, so he wouldn't feel like he was making his parents spend money on him for something as trivial as his 18th birthday. He initially wanted to have it at their house, but his parents insisted that they go out to dinner, so he chose to invite his friends from New Directions and a few of his lingering Warbler buddies to a Thai restaurant that had just opened in town.

Once Blaine was ready, he grabbed his Birthday Eve bagel (Asiago cheese with chive cream cheese spread), kissed his mom on the cheek, and left for school. As he pulled into McKinley's parking lot, he collected himself for a minute, double-checked his hair in the rear view mirror, grabbed his bag, and headed inside.

When Blaine got to his locker, he saw that it had been decorated with balloons on the outside. It was commonplace at McKinley for people to have their lockers decorated for various occasions – big football games, anniversaries, and birthdays – so Blaine was touched that he was one of "those people" who had a decorated locker too.

"Hey man, happy early birthday!" Sam said as he poked one of the balloons taped to his locker. "Do you feel any different?"

"Nah, not really. I thought I would, you know? Our 18th birthdays are so built up – like they're some big right of passage – but it just kind of feels like any other birthday."

Sam nodded. "Yeah, I don't think it'll be a big deal. My birthday isn't until the spring, but I have a feeling it won't be some huge deal either. It's not like we're turning 21 or anything."

He laughed. "I'm not sure my liver is ready to turn 21 yet. I've pretty much sworn off alcohol – it does not have a positive effect on me."

Sam chuckled with acknowledgement. "It's cool, man. Well I gotta head to class. Hope you can actually get to your lock with all these balloons. Whoever decorated it really wanted to do a thorough job with the whole decorating thing."

"Wait, you-" Blaine asked, puzzled. He assumed that Sam had a part in decorating his locker. Then again, it wasn't something most of the guys did. "I bet it was Sugar," he said to himself.

"Bet what was Sugar?" Blaine heard, snapping his head to see Sugar standing in front of him.

"Oh, hey Sugar. I was just thinking I thought that you were the one that decorated my locker for my birthday. I know you're into that kind of stuff..."

"Oh – uh - yeah! It was Brittany and I. I hope that was okay…"

Blaine clasped her shoulder. "It's more than okay. Thanks Sugar. I'll have to thank Brittany later, too."

Sugar beamed. "Of course! We're so excited about… uh, your party tomorrow."

"Yeah, it's nothing special though. Don't expect it to be a blow-out or anything."

She giggled. "Oh Blaine, it will be so much fun, I'm sure of it. Well, I'll see you at glee, right?"

"Obviously," he scoffed.

"It's going to be awesome," Sugar added with a wink before skipping away, causing Blaine to roll his eyes.

Girls are so weird, he thought to himself as he jogged to his Spanish class.

"Blaine, do you realize that you're one of the only people at this school who brings actual silverware with their lunch?" Tina asked as she took a bite of her mystery meat concoction on her tray.

He shrugged. "My mom packs my lunch. I wouldn't care if I used real silverware or not."

"I think it's weird your mom still packs your lunch. I mean you're about to turn 18. Doesn't it seem a little elementary school?"

"I'm not complaining. It beats whatever – that – is," Blaine said as he gestured to the dish on Tina's tray.

She pushed her tray away. "Good point," Tina said as she pushed her tray away. "Speaking of food, are you excited for your birthday dinner tomorrow?"

He shrugged, "I mean, I guess. It just feels sort of anti-climactic. Turning 18 is supposed to open up a ton of doors or something. It really just feels the same to me. I guess I'm just not in the celebrating mood or something. I know I should be more excited, but I'm just… not." He took a pause and looked at Tina, who looked at him expectantly. "But I'm really glad you and the rest of glee club is going to be able to make it to dinner. Between that and seeing some of the Warblers, it'll be good."

"But you wish Kurt would be there too, don't you?" Tina asked.

"Of course. But he'll be here for Thanksgiving, which is right around the corner, so it's not like I won't see him soon."

She smiled. "Well, I know the minute you see him, you'll be blown away."

He laughed. "I usually am anyways."

She laughed before turning back to her food, leaving Blaine to think of what exactly he wanted to do when he'd finally see Kurt again.