Blaine and Kurt were laying on their stomachs, fawning over this month's Vogue when Kurt's phone rang. Blaine's eyes roamed over to Kurt as he answered the phone, but he didn't move.

"Hello?" Kurt asked.

"Hey."

"Oh hi!" Kurt seemed happy to hear from whomever was on the other end.

"What are you doing?"

"Reading this month's Vogue. I honestly don't know how they keep topping themselves."

There was a chuckle on the other end. "I wish I could care about any of that. It'd make listening to you yammer on about it easier."

Kurt laughed back. "What's up?" He smiled.

"I know it's getting late, but I wanted to know if you wanted to get some ice cream with me."

"I actually just had some."

"Oh."

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. I just felt like hanging out with you."

"How about tomorrow? I'm a little busy right now."

"Vogue will still be there when you get home. It's not going to grow legs and walk off."

"No. Blaine's here."

"Oh."

Blaine found himself staring at Kurt now. He wondered who he was talking to. By the sounds of things, Kurt wasn't talking Mercedes. Why hadn't he mentioned hanging out with me sooner in the conversation? "Who is that?" Blaine asked.

Kurt waved him off and mouthed 'Hold on.'

"Tomorrow if you want."

"Did you tell him yet?"

"Yeah. I told him and some of my other friends today that I was tranferring back to McKinley."

"How'd he take it?"

"Um…" He glance over at Blaine, who was still staring and when he met Kurt's eyes he turned his face back to the magazine. "Not good, but that was a little expected. Hey, can we talk about this some other time. I feel bad talking on the phone while I have a guest over."

"Yeah, okay. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Bye, Dave." Kurt ended the call and put his phone down on the mattress. He looked back at the magazine and narrowed his eyes as he squinted to make out the details in a garment on the page.

"Dave?" Blaine asked. "Karofsky?" The idea of Kurt talking so friendly with him was still a new concept to him. He didn't know the Dave Karofsky that was nice to Kurt.

"Yeah," Kurt said like it was nothing. "He wanted to hang out."

Blaine made a face. "I'm confused." He sat up and crossed his legs.

Kurt felt another argument coming on. He closed the magazine and sat up as well.

"The way you acted earlier about kissing him, you were embarrassed. The way you talked about him was all negative, but then you answer his phone call and you sounded happy to hear from him."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "The story I told you happened over a month ago. He and I have been talking a lot since then. He set up that meeting and apologized and he cried. I told you that hours ago." There was silence for over a minute. "He's a different person now. Dave's coming to terms with everything and he needs someone. We talk a lot actually."

"How is he going to treat you when you go back to McKinley and he's around his jock friends?"

"He'll probably ignore me, but there's this new anti-bullying club called the bully whips that he and Santana is apart of now that will make it easier."

"Would you call him a friend now?"

Kurt thought about it. "Yeah, sure. I guess so. Maybe."

"You expect your new friend to ignore you. And you're okay with that?"

"I'm indifferent. I don't really care either way."

"Kurt, I'm sorry. I don't understand you. This- what you're doing for him. It doesn't seem like you. You're proud and-"

"It's not about me. Don't you see that? It's about him. I'm not going to out him. I'm just there for him when he needs me."

Blaine sighed, still not willing to let himself understand why Kurt is being so nice to a person who tortured him. "You're too nice for your own good." Kurt smiled closed mouthed, not knowing how to answer. "Answer me honestly. Have you two kissed since the party?"

"Oh God no!"

Blaine exhaled and covered his heart with his hand like he was relieved. This confused Kurt. "Have you two talked about it?"

"No. Not a word. Which is nice. I'd rather not talk about it with him."

"So, what do you two do?"

"Talk."

"That's it?"

"Yep."

"How often?"

"Daily. Either he calls me, texts me, or sends me an IM on AIM. Sometimes we meet up at some place out of town, but we talk."

"You don't… tell him things like you tell me things, do you?"

Kurt tried not to laugh, but ended up making a stuttering noise instead. He closed the distance and held Blaine tight. "No. Dave and I are friends, but not like you and me. You're my best friend. No one can replace you. Not even close."

Blaine held Kurt with everything he had left after the stressful afternoon they had, and closed his eyes. He made a silent wish that things would always stay this way. He wanted them to have the same intense feelings about their friendship in fifty years that they did now.

Dalton

Blaine returned to his dorm room in Dalton by nine o'clock and immediately started taking his uniform off and hanging it up. He breathed out through thin lips as he reflected on his evening with Kurt. Let's see, I yelled at him at the coffee shop then hugged him like I'd never see him again. I stared at him while he was taking his uniform off. I yelled at him after he told me something private, then almost kissed him, and finally, I got mad at him again over Karofsky. I'm a dick.

He didn't know why he felt so upset about everything. He could feel things changing between him and Kurt and didn't like it. When he did he suddenly start wanting to kiss him? When did Kurt get a body that he felt compelled to stare at? At what point did Blaine not like Kurt getting attention from someone else?

He was broken from his thoughts when he heard a knock on the door. Not caring that he was dressed in only his boxer briefs, he opened the door and saw his model handsome boyfriend standing before him wearing only a pair of gym shorts.

Derek was smiling, his eyes shining at the sight of Blaine. "I see you have the same idea I did," he joked.

Blaine smiled wide and pulled his boyfriend into his single dorm room.

An hour later, the two boys lay in Blaine's bed, sweaty and naked, cuddling with the back of Blaine's head on Derek's shoulder and Derek's arms resting on Blaine's chest. "Do you feel better?" Derek asked sweetly before brushing his lips against the side of Blaine's head.

"Better?" Blaine asked curiously.

"You looked stressed or worried when you opened the door. Now you seem a million miles away. Was your evening with Kurt okay?"

Blaine sighed. Derek always knew when something was wrong. He was a great listener and always knew exactly what to say. Derek made complex things so much simpler for Blaine. "It was fine. We had dinner with his family, which is always nice. We read this month's Vogue, and we shared a pint of Ben & Jerry's."

"But…"

"I kept yelling at him."

"Oh." Blaine couldn't see Derek's face, but in that one syllable, he could tell that Derek rolled his eyes and smiled.

"What?"

"You guys remind me of two five year olds on a playground." Blaine narrowed his eyes in confusion, but still didn't look up. "You and Kurt are so close and know each other so well that the slightest change sends you both into a frenzy."

Blaine couldn't believe how spot on Derek was. "The thing is that I'm starting to think that I don't know him as well as I thought."

"Or maybe you just weren't paying attention." Derek started stroking his fingertips in random patterns across Blaine's chest.

Blaine closed his eyes. "That's what Kurt said. Well, kind of. He said that I was so preoccupied that he didn't want to bother me with what he was going through."

"He's probably right. You were beginning a new relationship and blinded yourself. It happens to everyone."

"So this is my fault."

"It's not anyone's fault. There isn't anything wrong per say, Blaine. Things are just different because Kurt being independent when he used to rely on you all the time. You like being relied on. It makes you feel special, and important, and needed. There's nothing wrong with that either, but Kurt is important to you and when you found out that he may not need you as much as you thought anymore, it shook you up to think that you may not be as important to him as you thought… or want to be."

"I do want to be important to him." Blaine paused. He thought that what he just said was a loaded statement. "Does that bother you?"

"No." Derek said it pleasantly. "He's your best friend. You helped him when no one else could. Why do you think it never bothered me to have him around? What's important to you is important to me."

"Is he?"

"Sure." He kissed Blaine's hair. Blaine could hear the smile spread across his lips. "We have a lot in common. He's funny and caring. His fashion sense is impeccable. Frankly, I'm jealous that I don't have a Kurt in my life the way you do. He's a wonderful person."

"Remember when I told you about his last school and that guy, Karofsky, who bullied him?"

"I believe what you actually said was he was a self hating homo, disguised as a jock chique, homophobic, Neanderthal." They both laughed.

"Whatever I said about him," Blaine continued, "Kurt has been spending time with him. He's helping him come to terms with what it means for him to be gay."

"Is that bad?" Derek asked.

"He didn't tell me. Never even mentioned Karofsky. Now refers to him as Dave, like they're friends now."

"Maybe he didn't think you'd understand. He knows how bad things were with your bullies. Would you help them?"

"No."

"See? You can't understand where he's coming from. He was probably just afraid of how you'd take it. He thinks so highly of you that he's afraid of you judging him."

"I think he was more afraid of my finding out that Karofsky kissed him again."

"What?" This was the first time that Derek raised his voice. He'd been calm up until this point.

"He didn't force himself onto Kurt this time. Kurt let him kiss him."

"Ah," Derek said like a lightbulb went on in his head. "Now I get it. You should have lead with that as your problem first."

"But that's not my real problem." He was talking with his hands and becoming animated. His feelings on the subject were creeping up on him now. "Him kissing that Neanderthal isn't at the top of my list of issues."

"Yes it is." Blaine turned his head up for the first time looking astonished at his boyfriend's assumption. He was confused to see the smile on Derek's face. "You both are still on the playground, Babe. Some other boy wants to play a two player game with your best friend when you want to play a three player game with him and me."

He's right, Blaine thought. I want to keep Kurt to myself and away from everyone else. "It's just that, if he stays with me, I feel like he's protected. No harm can come to him if I have him in my sights."

"That's not true though. Do you think he wants to spend the rest of his life seeing you happy and in a relationship when he isn't?"

"I thought about that while we were yelling at each other. It made me feel bad for him to see us so happy." He paused and heard Kurt's voice ringing in his ears. "He said that he only kissed Karofsky because he wanted to feel what it was like to kiss another boy." Blaine turned his head back down and closed his eyes. He was remembering what he did. How he came on to Kurt and almost kissed him. How he wanted to kiss him, but wrote it off to Kurt as if he only wanted to kiss him as a friend. He was thankful he didn't for multiple reasons that he wasn't ready to admit to himself.

There was a silence between them. Blaine was lost in thought, but knew that Derek was as well. If he wasn't offering his advice or asking questions then Blaine knew that the cogs were turning in his head. Derek inhaled slowly and began talking just as slowly. "Maybe," he paused. "Maybe you should kiss him."

Blaine was so shocked at what he was hearing that he turned himself over and knelt up, staring at Derek with wide eyes. "I can't do that!" he exclaimed.

Derek still lay lounged in the same spot, but looked like he was still thinking. "Wouldn't he get a better idea of what it's like to kiss a boy if he kissed someone he actually cared about?"

"But…" Blaine trained off and looked down. He didn't know which reason to give for why he shouldn't kiss Kurt. "I can't kiss someone other than you. That's cheating."

"Not if I give you permission."

"Why would you do that?"

"I care about Kurt too. I want him to be happy. If going back to McKinley is going to make him happy then I support his decision. And if kissing a boy is going to make him feel less lonely, then, as his friend and someone who cares about Kurt, I'd rather him kiss someone who won't hurt him."

"I don't feel right about it." Blaine remembered how it felt to be close enough to kiss Kurt. He also remembered telling Kurt that he wanted to kiss Kurt for the same reasons Derek was telling him to kiss Kurt now.

"You love him, don't you?"

Blaine's eyes shot up in alarm. "No! Why would-"

Derek started laughing and he sat up. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to Blaine. "I meant as a friend. You love Kurt as a-" He paused and cocked his head to the side like a puppy. He batted his eyes and another light bulb went on in his head. "That's it, isn't it?" Derek read Blaine's face like a feature article in a newspaper. "You didn't like hearing that Kurt kissed someone else because you're in love with him."

Why is he smiling? Blaine wondered. "I'm not in love with Kurt." At least I don't think I am. "I'm in love with you."

Derek wore a knowing grin. He leaned forward again and took Blaine in his arms. "I love you too." They stayed like that for a few minutes; just being together and taking in the moment. "It's okay if you love him too."

"No it isn't."

"Yes it is. You can have feelings for Kurt or anyone else on the planet." He pulled back and looked Blaine in the eyes. "As long as you're honest, open, and love me first. Don't give me a reason to be jealous and I won't be."

Blaine closed his eyes and felt Derek's lips on his again. They were warm and inviting. He parted his lips and pressed against him harder. Derek's mouth opened and Blaine didn't hesitate before sliding his tongue past his boyfriend's lips. He wasn't completely sure what his boyfriend was saying, but in the moment he loved him for comforting him and letting him know that whatever he was feeling was okay.

"So, what are you saying exactly? What are you giving me permission to do? Because it sounded like you told me I can hook up with other people as long as I tell you first."

Derek laughed. "No. I'm saying that it's okay for you to have feelings for other people because it's stupid of me to think that you won't look at other people. I didn't say you could act on those feelings."

"But you want me to kiss Kurt?"

"It's not that I want you to. It's that it might help him. It might help you too. You're obviously confused about your feelings for him."

"I thought you didn't want me to give you a reason to be jealous?"

"I'd rather be biting my nails for an evening, knowing that you're making out with Kurt, than watching you torture yourself and pushing thoughts and feelings away without understanding them. If you're not in love with Kurt, awesome. If you are… then we'll cross that bridge if it comes."

"I love you."

"I love you."

Blaine breathed, feeling infinitely better. "I don't want to kiss Kurt," Blaine said flirtatiously as he readjusted his balance on his knees. He was being honest with himself. In that moment, he didn't want to kiss Kurt. He felt bad that he wanted to earlier that night, but right now, he was in awe of his incredibly open minded, open hearted boyfriend.

"I don't believe you," Derek replied just as flirtatiously.

Blaine leaned forward and started pushing Derek backward towards to mattress and pillows. He was giving him open mouthed kisses in random places; his mouth, his neck, his chest, anywhere he could reach. "Turn around," he commanded with a cheshiring grin.

"Why?"

Blaine gripped his hands to Derek's hips and kissed him deeply before turning his boyfriend onto his stomach himself. He leaned down and playfully bit the skin on his right ass cheek. "I'm loving you first." He heard Derek chuckle before Blaine dipped his head down and started tonguing the area around his boyfriend's entrance. Derek moaned and every thought of Kurt washed away… for that moment at least.