"Bring on the monthly plotting session!" Erica said, "You know, I love it when we get to do this. When I stand up here and look around the room and youre all here without all the glitz and glam," Marley glared at Erica, "but youre also here with the purpose of playing. Its good." Blaine held his hand out to Kurt, and he took it happily. "So today were going to cover some big items. Well start on the regular details, checking up on relationships and plots and stuff."

As the plotter went on everything was going exceptionally smoothly. All the relationships had progressed exactly how they had been expected to at the last plotter (beside "Nightbird/Darcy" on the whiteboard "romantically involved" had been crossed out, "old and married" had been written and crossed out, and "boyfriends" had been written) and the plots that people had brought up had played out appropriately.

"So, Luke and I have been thinking that it might be time to move on from the LARP," Erica said. Kurt looked around the room to find the faces of all the players completely fallen.

"No!" Blaine said, letting go of Kurts hand in the process. Kurt shuffled his chair closer to Blaines so he could wrap his arms around him supportively.

"Are you okay, Blaine?" Erica asked. The boy looked like he was about to cry at the thought. Erica raced across the room and kneeled in front of him. "Hey, honey, dont worry." She rubbed his arms comfortingly, Kurt and her working in tandem as best as they could to prevent Blaine from crying.

"You cant leave us," Blaine said softly, "We- I- need this. I dont know what Im meant to do without you guys."

"Is it just because youre getting married?" Jeff asked.

"Yeah, you two werent meant to get old and boring," Nick added.

"Absolutely not. We just think that you guys are pretty much self-sufficient. We could open a new leg of the same story and have combined sessions without stifling your creativity. You could have all the drug rings you wanted and we would be able to introduce a whole bunch of new people to LARP," Luke explained.

"So you got bored of us?" Marley said brokenly. She sounded as upset as Blaine did, though she was much more reserved in expressing her emotions. Unique was comforting her best friend too.

"Okay, guys, calm down, all of you," Erica said, reclaiming her position at the front of the room, "clearly now isnt the time for us to expand. We didnt mean to hurt anyones feelings. Would you mind if we kept this on the monthly agenda for reassessment? Because currently, were not going anywhere." There were enough mumbled affirmative responses for Luke to note it down, and Erica continued with the plotter. Kurt didnt really pay attention, only responding when he was talked to directly, focussing on monitoring his boyfriend and his reactions.

As the session disbanded, Kurt and Blaine left quite promptly. Blaine was obviously still upset, so whatever it was that it had stirred up in him, Kurt knew to make it right for him and that the best way to do that with Blaine was to follow his lead. Seeing that Blaine kept glancing towards the door and not saying anything, Kurt asked him if he wanted to go, and with Blaines wordless nod, they both headed out to Kurts Navigator. Blaine had left his car parked at Kurts house after being there all afternoon, so it was only logical for them to leave together.

"Are you alright, B?" Kurt asked after they had been driving for a couple of minutes. Blaine, clearly knowing that he was being quiet and difficult, sighed softly.

"Im fine. I just cant imagine my life without them, you know? They kind of saved my life."

"What do you mean?" Kurt wanted to drive slower so that Blaine couldnt leave him and have to keep talking, or a whole lot faster so that he could hug him already.

"You know I go to weekly counselling sessions, right?" Kurt nodded, "well, I have a few issues."

"You dont have to tell me anything you dont feel ready to tell me," Kurt assured.

"I know. Thank you for that, Kurt. But I want to tell you, Im just not sure where to start." Blaine took a deep breath and seemed to think carefully for a few moments, as though carefully selecting the right words to use. "So there are a couple of things that you know already. Like, you know that I was hospitalised after a particularly awful school dance, and that I have a lot of pressure from my parents to excel." Kurt nodded, knowing all of that already. He wasnt sure exactly how that corresponded to the LARP and a superhero costume. "I met Luke and Erica through my dad, actually. Luke was at an audition for one of my dads shows and he had all these cool Marvel pins on his bag, and we got talking while he was waiting. He didnt get the part, but he told me that if I was interested in superheroes then we should talk more. He told me about his girlfriend and her idea to start a Live Action Role Playing group, which naturally I had never heard of before- and bit by bit the group started up. I brought Nick and Jeff along, and slowly we grew to the current size. But back then, I actually felt quite similarly to how you did, or still do, maybe. I had just started at a new school, had to make all new friends, had zero support from my family, I was in a dark, anxious place from all the bullying I had only just fled. I couldnt sleep at night because I was so terrified of the guys coming after me, Kurt. But when I was Nightbird, Blaine didnt matter. It was playing pretend." Kurt knew that feeling well. "Luke and Erica are like my family. Theyve helped me through a lot. I was never suicidal, Kurt, dont even think that- but I would be lying if I said that Id never thought about it."

Kurt pulled into the driveway and Blaine unbuckled his seatbelt and almost immediately went to leave the car. "Hey, wait a moment, silly," Kurt said. Blaine closed the door again and waited for Kurt to continue. "Thank you for telling me all that, B." Blaine leaned across far enough to kiss Kurt softly, a silent no, thank you.

"Come to my counselling session with me," Blaine said, "this week. Come with me."

"Are you sure?"

"Im positive. Please? I think it will be really good for both of us."

"Okay, okay. Youve worn me down. But at least come inside and say goodbye to my dad before you run off home, okay? Otherwise hell be on my back all night about how I never let him see you." Blaine laughed and got out of the car then, letting Kurt take his hand as they walked to the house together. Blaine ended up staying long enough to watch The Little Mermaid before he left, and sure enough, Burt was glad to have seen him again before he drove home.

"Kurt, I have a problem," Blaine said to him on the phone on Tuesday, the only night that week they were planning on not seeing one another.

"A serious enough problem for this to not wait until I see you tomorrow?" Kurt confirmed teasingly. Blaine didnt sound especially exasperated, but he wasnt sure quite why that was. Blaine could be oddly calm about a lot of things.

"Oh, youre right," Blaine said, "Ill just wait until tomorrow then. Nice talking to you!"

"Hey!" Kurt said, "No fair! You got me all curious!"

"I know. You want to know right this second, dont you?"

"Yes, Blaine. Please, do tell me about this problem youre having." He sat down on his bed and got comfortable, not sure exactly how long he would be listening to Blaine. He could be a drama queen sometimes and these kinds of phone conversations always took the longest, no matter which of them was having the problems.

"Theres an annual Special Snowflake dance at my school this time of year, and I have to go to it."

"Why is this a problem?"

"Because usually I get to avoid all dances because Im single."

"But you arent single," Kurt said, "what am I, a sack of potatoes?" Blaine laughed.

"Exactly my problem. The dance is kind of a big deal because it doubles as the winter dance and the Valentines Day dance, and all the Crawford Country Day girls come along. Its sort of a big day in the Dalton flirtation calendar."

"Are you hoping to get a girlfriend, Blaine Warbler?" Kurt teased, "You know how flirty you can be."

"Might I mention that you look stunning today, Kurt?" Blaine joked, laying on the flirtatiousness in his voice as heavily as he could. It didnt stop Kurt from giggling like a thirteen year old girl.

"Were on the phone, B."

"I see your outfit of the day tweets. I know for a fact that you look stunning."

"Thank you, honey. Now, why is this dance such a problem?"

"Kurt, can you come to the dance with me? I need your help warding off flirtatious Crawford girls." Blaine said desperately.

"Are you even allowed to bring dates from other schools?" Kurt asked.

"Yes! I triple checked. The Crawford girls scare me, Kurt. Some of them are lovely at the debating tournaments and stuff, but at the dances theyre just handsy. Help me? Please?" Kurt could imagine the puppy eyes that Blaine was making.

"Ask me again without threatening handsy girls."

"Kurt Elizabeth Hummel, will you be my Special Snowflake this year?"

"Absolutely, Blaine." Blaine practically squealed happily.

"Great! Ill get the tickets from Wes tomorrow. Its this Friday, by the way," he said, rambling quickly.

"Such short notice! I suppose you expect me to just whip out a semiformal outfit on demand."

"Indeed I do. Ive seen your wardrobe."

"You know me so well. Ill know exactly what Im wearing by tomorrow," Kurt promised.

"Take pictures and show me at the LARP. Thanks, baby." His heart did a little leap at the pet name. The closest thing to a nickname that Kurt called him was B, and that wasnt really a pet name, as such. He liked it, though. Baby sounded nice when it came from Blaine.

"Youre welcome. Ill see you tomorrow." They hung up and soon enough, Kurt had chosen exactly the right outfit for the dance. He couldnt wait to see his boyfriends reaction.

Kurt wore his tightest jeans on Thursday after Blaines reaction to his photos of his outfit for the dance the day before. His jaw had literally dropped when he had shown him the pictures and Kurt had found his face being covered in kisses. He knew that dressing up to impress his boyfriend probably wasnt the appropriate attire for a counselling appointment, but he couldnt actually care less.

He crossed and uncrossed his legs a few times impatiently in the waiting room at Blaines counsellors office. It was a nice building and the furniture didnt make Kurt cringe with typical waiting room disarray, and he felt himself actually looking forward to the appointment.

"My counsellor is called Scott," Blaine said quietly as they waited, "hes nice. Youll like him." Kurt nodded, letting Blaine squeeze his hand gently. When a man who was probably only in his early thirties stepped out of the office, Kurt was surprised. He wasnt sure what he had expected, but Scott immediately seemed like a good fit for Blaine. When Scott nodded towards them Kurt hopped up first, pulling Blaine behind for just long enough for him to catch Blaine checking out his butt.

"Hey Blaine, its good to see you," Scott said, fist bumping him as he entered the small office, "this must be Kurt." He extended his hand for Kurt to shake, which he did so.

"Thats me," Kurt replied, "its nice to meet you."

"You too. How are things this week, Blaine?"

"Pretty good, actually. The Warblers are performing tomorrow night at a school dance, which I wasnt especially looking forward to until this one promised to go with me," Blaine said.

"Dances are still a bit of a tough topic for you, huh?" Scott asked. Kurt liked that he didnt just assume that was what Blaine was suggesting, instead making him confirm it. That was his job though, wasnt it? To get Blaine to talk about his issues.

"It wasnt that, so much, but yeah, I dont have the greatest memories associated with dances. Dalton ones are a lot nicer than the ones at my old school, though. I was mostly worried that I had to go to a dance and sing love songs and then have half a dozen Crawford girls hitting on me while I assure them Im gay and they dont stop because I seem straight enough." Scott laughed.

"Is Kurt going with you now?"

"I am," Kurt said, "he only had to ask."

"Hes not the best at romance though, is he? I bet he didnt even ask you in person. An e-card, perhaps?"

"Im right here!" Blaine said.

"It was a phone call," Kurt said. Scott laughed again, mumbling about how he knew it.

"Phone calls dont have dancing puppies though, huh, Blaine?" Scott teased. Blaine glared at him in a way that Kurt figured was him trying to look threatening, but that didnt really turn out that way. "How are your parents going with you having a boyfriend?" Scott asked Blaine.

"Not any different than if I had a girlfriend, if thats what you mean. My dad just thinks that any romantic relationships are going to detract from my studies and my talent and all that. My mom would prefer he was a girl, but shes nice enough about it."

"Have you met them yet, Kurt?"

"Nope. Im okay with that, though," Kurt said, "I feel like it needs to be a left a little longer before I meet them."

"Do you want to meet them?" Blaine asked.

"Do you want me to meet them?"

"Eventually, yeah. I think youre right, though. Well save it a little bit. When Cooper is visiting in a couple of weeks you can meet him. Hes the attractive sibling."

"You mean to tell me that you arent the attractive Anderson?"

"Um, yeah. Can we not talk about that right now? Cooper gives me a few self-esteem problems." Scott noted that down on a piece of paper. Kurt had forgotten that monitoring the conversation was actually what he was paid for, not just to chat with Blaine weekly.

The rest of the session went similarly, with Scott not bringing anything new up, instead encouraging Blaine to just talk freely himself and occasionally asking questions. As their time drew to a close, Scott asked Kurt how things were going with him at school.

"Better in terms of the bullying and stuff? Academically its no better or worse than usual," Kurt answered.

"You dont mind that Ive mentioned the bullying to Scott, do you?" Blaine asked worriedly. Kurt shook his head. "Good. He gave me some advice about how to deal with this all. Its really different being a third party in the bullying."

"It was good to see you both, but I do have other people to get to today, and your session is about up," Scott said standing up to walk them out, "have fun at the dance. And Blaine? Dalton is safe zone. You wont be the only one with a boyfriend there, not by a long shot."

"I know. Thanks, man."

"Youre welcome. Ill see you next week. Bye, Kurt, it was good to meet you."

"You too," Kurt said, and Blaine retook Kurts hand as they walked out to Blaines car. When they were inside and Blaine had started the car up, Kurt asked, "Arent you meant to have piano and singing lessons today?"

"Um, yes. I texted my tutors and told them Im not feeling very well today and that I need to rest up for my performance tomorrow."

"All so you could hang out with me?" Kurt said, "Im touched."

"You had to drive over from Lima for that half an hour, I was going to spend a little more time with you." He said it as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. Kurt didnt want to even ask what would happen with his dad as a result of that decision.

"And I appreciate that."

"Enough to kiss me?"

"Not while youre driving. Lets just get back to your place in one piece first." Blaine pouted for the rest of the car ride until Kurt did finally kiss him when they arrived.

The next night Kurt got ready for the dance as soon as he got home and in record time he was in the car on the drive to Westerville. With the timing of the dance not totally clear to anyone involved, Kurt had arranged to stay the night at Jeffs house- both Blaines and Kurts parents were more comfortable with that arrangement than with Kurt staying the night at Blaines house. When he pulled up in the Andersons spacious carport and climbed out of the car Blaine ran towards him in sweatpants and a Dalton hoodie, throwing his arms around Kurt.

"Hey, B," Kurt said, eventually prying his boyfriend off him, "excited about something?"

"Im just happy to see you. Come inside, its freezing out here." Blaine kept one arm around Kurts waist as they walked into the house. "You look gorgeous, by the way. Sorry about not being ready, I just got out of the shower."

"That explains the curls," Kurt said, running his hand through Blaines hair.

"Oh! Ill look all gelled and dapper in like, thirty minutes, promise. Do you wanna come up to my room with me, or just entertain yourself down here, or..?"

"We cant make out, I cant crinkle this shirt," Kurt said, "Ill just stay down here. You go get ready." Blaine nodded and ran up the stairs, blowing Kurt a kiss from the top before he disappeared into his room. Kurt sat down in the living room and turned on the TV, flicking through until he found something entertaining enough for him to watch.

Soon enough Blaine appeared in the living room perfectly groomed in a classy suit with his Dalton tie and his hair neatly gelled. He was fastening a Warbler pin to his lapel as he sat down next to Kurt on the couch. "Do you not own any other ties?" Kurt teased.

"Oh, we just have to wear them when were performing. Its really lame, I know. But the Warblers are like rockstars, and they need to differentiate us as such somehow," Blaine explained.

"And these nice little broaches arent enough?"

"Apparently not. Oh! I have something to give you." Blaine went to the kitchen for a moment and returned with two sticky labels in snowflake shapes. "This is really lame, but its a Special Snowflake dance tradition. They cut out all these pairs of snowflakes- you know how no two are the same? Well, they cut two identical ones, and each half of the pair takes and wears one." Blaine handed one to Kurt, who happily stuck it onto the lapel of his waistcoat.

"Its quite a cute tradition. I dont think its lame at all," Kurt assured.

"They dont have this sort of cheesy stuff at McKinley? No Valentines Day dance?" Blaine asked with genuine surprise.

"Nope, just my brother setting up a kissing booth."

"People are into that?" Blaine said, wrinkling up his nose. Kurt thought it was adorable how Blaine couldnt even comprehend why you want to just kiss people because they paid for it.

"Hey, I wanted to kiss him once," Kurt said. Blaine wrinkled his noise up again.

"Hes your brother, Kurt."

"Only because I set our parents up with one another so I could spend more time with him. I dont want to kiss him now. I dont know why people want to spend their precious dollars to kiss him, either."

"Hes the football star, isnt he? Thats probably why."

"I guess. Its not like hes even the most attractive guy at McKinley," Kurt said.

"Because thats you, right?" Kurt laughed.

"Exactly! Arent you glad you dont have to pay to kiss me?" Blaine didnt even agree, rather kissing him right away as if to exercise his rights.

Blaine handed over the tickets to the dance as they walked into the ballroom. Kurt still couldnt quite grasp that they didnt have their dances in the gym like public high schools did, that Dalton even had a ballroom to host their dances. Kurt kept hold of Blaines arm as they walked over to a gathering by the stage of the Warblers, ready to perform. They all greeted him enthusiastically, and by extension greeted Kurt with equal passion. Kurt found Nick and Jeff while Blaine was being teased by some of the others about how they had doubted his boyfriend really existed.

When the Warblers finally went on stage, Kurt hung around with Ethan and Jaz. Ethan was wearing a snowflake (suggesting that Leo was around the dance somewhere), but Jaz didnt. He figured that Jaz must go to Crawford Country Day to get her invite to the dance.

The Warblers stood in formation and began their set list of love songs, since it was a semi-Valentines Day dance. They opened with Teenage Dream, a song that Kurt had heard Blaine sing plenty of times in one of their bedrooms or when they were in the car, but that he had never heard with the a cappella arrangement. They segued into Silly Love Songs, and then into Taylor Swifts Love Story. There were no really grand surprises in the list, with Blaine singing every word to Kurt, making the maximum amount of eye contact he could with his boyfriend.

Towards the end of their set, the Warblers began the arrangement for a song that Kurt had heard only once before at Jeffs house, though the a cappella made the song sound totally different to the normal, electronic track.

"This song is for my hero," Blaine said before they started the song, smiling down at Kurt. "To the left, to the right, I can feel them all around; out to get you and I and to try and break us down; they will come with the strength and the fire and the numb beat of drums and the song of the sirens in our ears, and then well bring them all to tears dear," Blaine sang. Ethan nudged Kurt playfully having been similarly subjected to the song in the past. Jaz didnt seem so surprised. Kurt was still reeling from Blaine calling him his hero, when to him it had been so solidly the other way around. "Yes I will fight for you, you and me against the world is nothing new, now and forever true, if youll be mine, then I will fight for you."

"So we stand back to back and we smile as they come, cause they planned their attack knowing weve already won; save the girl and the world will be jealous wouldnt you, if you knew that the truth was the girl would save you too? And theres nothing they can do to you," Blaine looked at Kurt meaningfully as they launched into the bridge and chorus again, wrapping up the song. Because Kurt got it then- with Blaine helping him, he was helping himself. They had made each other stronger in the short month they had been dating and the two or so before that they had been friends.

The Warblers wrapped up their set with an energised version of The Power of Love, and then they all stepped down off the stage. Kurt, usually one to be against public affection beyond hand holding, didnt even hesitate to launch himself at Blaine and kiss him. Blaine, clearly surprised, reciprocated happily. "Thank you," Kurt whispered, and Blaine didnt even need to ask why.