The school was oddly peaceful. Kurt walked past a group of footballers, and, despite a few threatening stares, he didnt receive one single comment, nor a physical attack. It wasnt until he saw the first campaign poster for prom and saw Karofskys face next to Santanas that everything dawned on him. He needed to win that competition, and his sudden attitude reform seemed to be helping that out.

After glee practice, Santana tugged Kurt aside, refusing to let go of his sleeve until they were safely inside an empty classroom. "Santana, I cannot stretch this-" Kurt complained as she finally released him.

"We need to have a lady talk, Hummel," she said as he sat down on one of the desks.

"Is that meant to be a slur?" Kurt asked. He was used to girly talks- not that he appreciated being referred to as a girl by his other friends- but not with Santana.

"Fine, a real talk, bitch to bitch." She took a deep breath before she continued. "Ive got your back." Kurt raised an eyebrow at her.

"Is this because of the Karofsky thing? Youre being his beard in return for him not bullying me?" he asked. He had certainly noticed the silence from him and how it seemed to be coupled with Santanas constant presence. Why Santana would be prepared to pretend to date someone so awful was beyond him.

"Kind of. Its just that you know hes gay and I know hes gay. And he knows Im gay, so its only fair that you know too. That Im gay," she said. Kurt smiled, quietly content that it was only half to do with him, that he wasnt forcing something onto Santana.

"Oh."

"Dont sound so surprised."

"Do you want a hug now, or…?" he offered, "do you want to talk about coming out? Or uh, the equal marriage bill?"

"Fuck it," she mumbled, and opened her arms to him. They hugged somewhat awkwardly, Kurt fully aware that Santana was not the hugging type. "You dont need to worry about a hazing ceremony, honestly. Just… you deserved to know."

"Thanks, Santana. I really appreciate that you wanted to let me know." He released her then, and she adjusted her posture so she was standing back at her full height.

"Dave needs me, glee needs you, and you need Dave to keep off you. It all works out quite nicely, dont you think?" Kurt nodded. "Keep this between us though, okay?"

"Im not here to out you. Why do you think Karofsky- Dave- can play it straight still?" he quipped. She grinned, walking towards the door. She knew as well as he did, that for all Kurt was treated like crap at school, if he wanted to bring down Karofskys reputation, he could do it single-handedly.

"You coming?" she asked, cocking her head to signal for him to follow. Kurt hadnt ever thought that they were friends, but never before had he been so grateful that they were something friendlier than they had been a year ago.

Kurt arrived late to the LARP after spending another twenty minutes chatting with Santana. They never once brought up her sexuality or anything related to it, nor did they discuss Karofsky- they simply talked as though they had been friends forever, and it was really nice.

He slipped on Darcys jacket and sunglasses and walked across the park with Darcy in his stride. There was a certain confidence he got from the character that oozed out effortlessly. Blaine, who was talking to Ethan, lit up as soon as he saw Kurt, which made him melt a little bit on the inside. He wondered why he had ever thought that Blaine didnt love him when he was greeted with such enthusiasm.

"…and your boyfriend is standing behind me, isnt he?" Ethan said. Blaine nodded before Ethan turned around. "Hello, Darcy. Ill leave you two to it." He was quick to leave, probably terrified of third wheeling when they were so hopelessly lovey dovey these days.

"Hi," Kurt said.

"Hey," Blaine replied, stepping closer to kiss him chastely in greeting, "youre late," he said, but he said it factually, teasingly rather than upset.

"I am. I had some reports that needed filing before I could leave the office," Kurt excused for Darcy, taking Blaines hand, "what are we going to get up to today?"

"I was thinking we could go and sit over there," Blaine gestured towards one of their usual spots, "and you could congratulate me for the last big save of the town." He smiled suggestively at Kurt, all but waggling his eyebrows.

"You just want me to kiss you," he teased.

"Do I ever not want you to kiss me?" Kurt shrugged and led him over to their spot anyway, feeling himself starting to slip character ever so slightly as Blaine breathed "god, I love you," into his ear.

The session ended and Kurt stood with Blaine nestled against him, one arm over his shoulder, as Erica ran through her notices. "Were only weeks away from the wedding, so I need to confirm your RSVP status. Is anyone not coming to the reception?" Kurt raised his arm slightly. She raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for an explanation.

"I joined the LARP after you had gotten engaged. I never really got an invite."

"Oh my god, Kurt, of course youre invited. But neither of you are getting plus ones, okay?" she said, pointing accusingly at them, and then at the other couples, "same goes for all of you."

The circle disbanded, and Blaine pulled Kurt aside before anyone else could nab them. "Have you thought any more about prom?" he asked, "because Id still like to go. For you."

"And I dont really want to go at all. Things have calmed down a bit with everything, and I was talking to Santana- thats why I was late- and I think I could go and leave relatively unscathed. But Id prefer to do something else, you know? We can wear fabulous suits at the wedding." Blaine didnt seem upset by the decision.

"Okay. In that case, I have an idea. Would you be completely against a single event LARP? I mean, its not superheroes, but I think it could be fun. We can organise our characters together."

"You know what, I think that sounds like the perfect prom alternative for us. Id be honoured to LARP with you." Blaine grinned, leaning up to kiss Kurt quickly in his excitement.

"You boys dont have to sit down here just because Im home," Burt said, coming across Kurt and Blaines brainstorming set up at the table in the kitchen. "I know what studying means, you dont have to keep up appearances." Blaine promptly turned quite red. No matter how much time he spent around Burt, he almost seemed permanently embarrassed, as though Burt had mind reading abilities and would know just what he talked about with his son.

"Dad, we arent studying," Kurt explained, "were organising our prom alternative."

"You arent going to prom? Is this about that Karofsky kid again?" Burt sounded genuinely concerned for the scenario.

"Is it that hard to believe that I honestly dont want to go to prom?"

"Youve been talking about it pretty much your whole life, kiddo. I find it a little bit of a stretch to think you wont take the opportunity to dress up. And you have a boyfriend to take and everything."

"Weve already talked about this. We get to dress up for Luke and Ericas wedding in a few weeks time, were going to a single event LARP, and we get to go to prom next year, and the year after that, if we want. Skipping this one just means that were avoiding an easy chance for something big and dumb to happen. Everything has been so quiet at school lately, I cant help but be a little sceptical," Kurt explained. Blaine nodded, taking Kurts hand to demonstrate his full support. Kurt appreciated the tiny gesture, even if it went almost undetected by Burt.

"Well, if you cant persuade him to go, Blaine, then no one else stands a chance." Kurt had to agree with that, and Blaine didnt exactly argue either. Burt left not long after as they got stuck back into their character creation. They were fortunate in that the organisers of the event had published character sheets to fill out and return- everything that needed deciding was right there in front of them, along with an outline of the major characters and plot and suggestions for roles that could be filled.

They decided to be Harry and Maxwell, a pair of fiercely patriotic hunters. Their shared goal for the session was to track down and assassinate the prince, who they didnt want to marry into their kingdom. The prince had his own goals, of course, which is what made their job entertaining.

With their backgrounds established alongside all the details they could imagine to embellish the characters without forgetting something on the day, they retired to Kurts room. They didnt do much more than cuddle, simply enjoying one anothers company. They didnt have anything to talk about, and they didnt want to, either.

On the night of prom a few weeks later, Kurt put on a suit to take pictures with his friends and with Blaine, filling the gap in Caroles albums that she insisted would be present. They joined their friends at Breadstix for the standard pre-prom dinner, and, as they all left for the dance, Blaine and Kurt headed back to Kurts house to change before the LARP. Burt smiled supportively, reassuring Kurt that he had nothing against his decision.

The LARP was much more tightly run than things were at Dreamweaver. They checked in and had their names ruled off a list, and were then debriefed on all the rules. Blaine suggested they have some light in character conversation prior to the actual start of the event to get their minds in Harry and Maxwell, helping them to stay separate from Nightbird and Darcy, too.

At the beginning of the session they sat down beside one another in a formal wedding set up, and were soon informed that it was the wedding of Princess Galatia to Prince Fernando- who was suspiciously absent. Kurt looked around the group to find that there was a much larger group than he expected. Alongside the ten major characters, there were at least twenty other people there, all of whom must have contributed originals. Blaine took his hand as though anticipating some grand event, and neither was disappointed as a (mock) gunshot fired and the crowd scattered, a lot of the chairs knocking over. They ran together into the trees surrounding the garden and paused to catch their breath. Blaine grinned at Kurt.

"I suppose we should focus on finding Fernando, eh, Max?" Blaine said, "I know the wedding just got called off, but we dont have a lot of time to keep it that way."

"Absolutely," Kurt agreed, tightening his hold on his plastic crossbow. Blaine raised a finger to his lips as there was the sound of footsteps behind them. "Identify yourself," Kurt called out, hoping for some sort of response.

"Do you think Im crazy?" a female voice replied, "I doubt the guard would be lurking in the forest, but you could kill me, for all I know. What if you have a motive to do just that?" she stepped out from behind a tree, walking teasingly around in front of them, "Ill fight you. Im armed."

"We dont want to hurt you," Blaine said, "not unless you give us reason to."

"Well youre no fun," the girl said, "Ill identify myself if you tell me who you are, first. No point bullshitting me. If youre the royal guard, say so. It will make things more interesting if you wont lie."

"Im Maxwell and this is Harry," Kurt introduced, realising that he would probably never hear the girls true name. Whatever she had named her character was going to stick in his mind forever. They were probably the same way for her. "We arent the royal guard. Just a couple of deer hunters." She snorted.

"Not at the wedding, youre not. Ill choose to believe you. Im Kira, I am quite the wanted criminal, and Im heading for the border to see if I can track down a certain prince Fernando."

"Were looking for the prince too," Blaine said, "what do you have against him?" he seemed to think that any help they could get towards their goal was worth taking, and Kurt didnt disagree. Any pointers were better than nothing, and Kira seemed safe enough. A risk worth taking, perhaps.

"Aside from that hes marrying my best friend against her will?" Kira quipped.

"Okay, okay," Kurt said, "were looking for the same target. We may as well work together," he suggested. Kira nodded.

"Alright. But if you try anything, youre both dead. I have the highest kill count around here, I dont need you two punks messing it up by taking my final shot. Two to the total is nothing." The trio set off to the area that had been designated as the border between the kingdoms in search for the prince. Kira chatted with them and even they never found out anything more about her beyond the character, she at least seemed nice. She explained to Max and Harry that the princess had a secret lover that she wanted her to marry, and that the closest she could come to helping that out was to kill Fernando. Her excuse seemed better than theirs, and they agreed that if he died they met their goal- she could have the final hit and they were happy to be accomplices.

"So why exactly are you worried about the royal guard?" Kurt asked, as they sat behind a bush, waiting for some other people to eventually run by.

"Because I have enough charges against me that Im likely to be killed on sight. But everything Ive done has been done for the greater good. Id rather live a life on the run and keep everything as it is than live a cushy life somewhere else and have no adventure," Kira explained. "How exactly did you two get into the assassination business?"

"We really are deer hunters," Blaine said, "but we have the experience to hunt down a prince who will mess up our country, so why the hell not?"

"Are you two partners?"

"Yeah, weve always hunted together."

"No, are you like, partners?" she winked exaggeratedly, and they shared a look, trying to decide quickly if their characters were a couple or not in the way that Kira had meant. They hadnt discussed it, and they had been trying to separate these characters from themselves better than Darcy and Nightbird; but in the end, it was a single event LARP, they could afford to slip a little bit.

"Only on the down low," Kurt said after a moment, and Blaine nodded.

"We dont need to cause any more trouble," he agreed.

"How long have you two been together?" Kira asked, Blaine answered without hesitation.

"Four months." Kira smiled. She knew that the lack of hesitation was a pretty solid indicator of their life outside the LARP, answering the question she really wanted to ask.

"I dont mind, you know." The sudden sound of chatter in the distance caused all of three of them to jump, especially as the noise got rapidly closer. They all waited quietly for them to give any hint of who they were.

"Our job is to keep Fernando safe!" one argued, giving them exactly the indicator that they needed. Kira counted down on her fingers from three, and then they all jumped up and ran towards them. All of them raised their plastic weapons, ready to resolve the issue.

"Two young men with crossbows, and oh, a defenceless young girl!" one of the guys, who was now clearly a member of the royal guard Kira had so desperately been avoiding. She pulled a plastic dagger from her boot, and, from what they had learnt about her before, Kurt was confident she had plenty of other concealed weapons.

"Go, Kira," Kurt urged, "well take them. You worry about the other." At the words, the guards moved forward to attack them. Kira slipped off, throwing one last glance over her shoulder. Their long range weapons were no good against the guards swords, and soon Kurt was faking his death. The guards almost waited expectantly for Blaine to cause a scene before they killed off Harry.

"Max!" Blaine yelled, running over to where he was lying on the ground. He was close to tears, and took all of Kurts best acting skills and determination not to sit up and comfort him.

"Hey, you," Kurt said softly, "Kira is reaching our goal for us. Its okay. We can stop our journey here."

"I dont want a journey without you, Max," Blaine whispered, lying down next to him. After Kurt dramatically passed away, Blaine was stabbed by a guard who had been standing by and watching the whole ordeal. With both their characters dead, they tied red ribbons around their wrists, which was apparently the rule with the LARP, allowing them to move. It was much better than lying on the ground for another hour or two, or until another character dragged their bodies off.

Once their characters had been officially signed off, they headed to Kurts car, and fell into the backseat together. It wasnt hard for them to find a way to pass the time until the wrap up of the event, as they let their hands and mouths explore one another. Their hands stayed strictly above the waist, as the rule had been the whole time they were dating, but the car didnt allow a lot of room for careful hip placements, which made things a whole lot steamier than Kurt perhaps would have liked, not that he cared in the moment.

"I refuse to lose my virginity on prom night. Not when I didnt even go to prom," Kurt said. Blaine pulled away quickly, baffled by Kurts comment.

"Were you planning something?" he asked. He very awkwardly managed to get off Kurt enough for him to sit up, and then filled the space beside him. He snuggled quickly into his side, not letting anything keep them separate.

"Oh, um, no, I just wanted to be clear that…" he trailed off.

"Its fine, Kurt, Im not ready either. I hadnt even thought about it, cliché or not. Besides, we have the whole summer to figure this stuff out together, if you wanted to… but really, theres no pressure." Blaine leant his head against Kurts shoulder. "Oh god, its awkward now."

"I still love you," Kurt said quietly. Blaine wrapped his arms loosely around Kurts shoulders, nuzzling him softly.

"I love you too." They stayed quiet for a moment in comfortable closeness before Kurt initiated a few soft kisses, relieving the obvious tension still hanging between them. He hadnt meant for it get awkward, but awkwardness now was probably better than regret later.

Blaine sprang away in surprise as best as he could in the car when Kurts phone rang. Kurt reached over to the front seat to find where he had left it. He glanced down at the screen, surprised by the caller; it was Tina.

"I should probably take this, Tina never calls me," Kurt explained, and Blaine nodded, shuffling closer so that he would be able to hear it easily enough. There was no room for private phone conversations in their relationship anymore. "Hey, Tina."

"Kurt!" she almost squealed, "You were written in as prom queen, oh my god, it was awful. Karofsky won prom king."

"Oh?"

"Yeah! Because you werent here to get it, Quinn collected it on your behalf. The bitch." Kurt couldnt help but laugh at her reaction.

"Thanks for letting me know, Tina. Ill see you on Monday." He ended the conversation and turned to his boyfriend before bursting out into laughter. Blaine smiled at the reaction, but didnt fully understand. "This is why everything has been quiet the last few weeks, not because of Santana. Its all one big convoluted scheme, and it didnt work, because I didnt even go to prom." Blaine laughed then too, and Kurt suspected he was glad they hadnt gone. Kurt had been correct in his judgement that prom provided the perfect platform for something big to go wrong with them, and he was happy that Blaine had helped with their alternative so much.

"Well, your prom highness, could I have this dance?" Blaine asked, and Kurt nodded. They stood outside the car together and Blaine looped his arms around him, holding him close.

"There isnt any music," Kurt murmured as they began to sway slowly together.

"I dont think that matters. Do you want me to provide some music?" Kurt didnt say anything, but Blaine somehow took that as his cue to sing softly in Kurts ear. "Never knew I could feel like this, like Ive never seen the sky before…"