On Monday evening Leah and Kurt drove to the Anderson house for dinner. They knocked on the door and were invited inside by Marie, before Kurt was whisked upstairs by Blaine and Leah through to the living room with Cooper.

As much as Cooper hated to admit it, he was trying to take things slowly with Leah. The living room was far more public than his ex-bedroom which now served as a guest room, and he figured there would be far less pressure to do anything.

Kurt and Blaine, on the other hand had left the door to Blaine's room open as his parents insisted, but also so they would be able to hear clearly if anyone went upstairs. They had chatted innocently for a few minutes, but it hadn't lasted long before they had given in and spent the rest of the half hour they had managed to squeeze in exploring each other's mouths.

When Phillip arrived home the couples converged in the living room, where Marie served them finger food as starters, hoping to prompt conversation casually.

"Kurt," Phillip started, with an unusually warm smile, "I'm yet to formally introduce myself. I am Phillip Anderson, Blaine's father." He extended a hand and Kurt shook it, pleased that Phillip was at the very least attempting to be welcoming. Leah then introduced herself, and for some reason he seemed ever so slightly less pleased to have Leah there. He had his problems with Cooper, but he had appeared to have buried the hatchet over them. Phillip never had been too fond of meeting Cooper's girlfriends, perhaps because they had changed so rapidly in high school.

Although Phillip would never admit it aloud, he was largely just happy that Blaine was happy. Three months was a long time for Kurt to just be part of a phase, and Phillip was moving on from that mindset. He could be as homophobic as he liked, so long as he did it quietly. He wouldn't want to upset Blaine, never intentionally. Not anymore.

Blaine and Kurt sat next to each other and Blaine made a point of holding Kurt's hand. Phillip asked Kurt questions and appeared to care about his answers, which was the most cordially Blaine had ever seen him act at a mention of Kurt. There had been a subtle shift in his acceptance of Blaine somewhere that hadn't been expressed until then.

Marie called them all through to the dining room where they ate dinner, the polite chit chat continuing throughout the meal. Blaine volunteered to clear the table and Cooper joined him. "I think it helps that our dates are already friends," Cooper said, "They can back each other up while they get grilled by the 'rents."

"Mom already loves them both, Coop. I wouldn't worry too much. She was over the moon when I mentioned you were dating Leah."

"And dad?"

"You know, I think he's getting over himself." Blaine said, thinking about how he was acting that night versus any other time Kurt had been mentioned.

"Well it's about freaking time."

Kurt and Blaine sloped off to Blaine's room after dinner, while Cooper and Leah went for a walk. Phillip made excuses about having work to finish up in his study to avoid interacting with anyone for the rest of the evening- certainly at least until Kurt and Leah left- and Marie sat herself down in the living room and relaxed with her usual television. It was still a pleasant surprise for her when the kids were out of her hair for a little while.

When it came time for Kurt and Leah to leave Blaine walked Kurt downstairs. "I'll walk you out to your car," Blaine had offered, but Kurt shook his head.

"It's freezing outside, Blaine. Just stay inside. I'm a grown up, I can make it out to my car by myself." Kurt insisted, and so they stood in Blaine's front hallway for a moment. Blaine leaned up and kissed Kurt.

"I'll see you on Wednesday then?"

"Wednesday." Kurt smiled, and kissed Blaine once more.

Cooper stood in the hallway behind them and observed the last kiss they shared. "Get a room, kiddies." He kissed Leah softly on the cheek, promising to call her. Kurt and Leah left, and the Anderson brothers lingered in the hallway a moment longer. "Have fun with Kurt then, upstairs?"

"Yeah, we just talked and stuff, listened to some music." Blaine said, leaving out the details of them dancing around his bedroom and collapsing on his bed in a fit of giggles, sneaking the occasional kiss.

"And the door stayed open the whole time?" Cooper raised an eyebrow at Blaine teasingly.

"Yeah, we didn't have anything to hide, after all." Blaine smiled innocently and shrugged lightly.

"Blainey, with all due respect, I don't believe that for a second." Cooper began to walk upstairs, and so Blaine followed, if only to argue his case.

"What? We aren't- we aren't sleeping together." Blaine followed Cooper into the room that was formerly his, and was now a guest room. Cooper opened his suitcase and withdrew a small bag, and turned to face Blaine.

"You have been dating for three months and you haven't progressed any further than second base?" Cooper paused for a second. "Wait, what even is second base for gay dudes?"

"Yes. And I, uh, I don't really know how to answer your second question. Google it?"

Cooper handed the bag to Blaine. "I got this as part of your Christmas present because I thought you were probably too shy to do it for yourself and-" Blaine opened the bag, finding that he had been presented with condoms and lube, "I want you to be safe, whatever it is that you do with Kurt, okay? And maybe it's time to progress further with your relationship, since you love each other and stuff. It saves you an eventual awkward trip to the drugstore either way though, right?"

"I guess, uh- thanks, Coop." Blaine didn't really want to be holding the bag anymore and hurried from the room, hiding it in the depths of his own. Sex didn't alarm Blaine- he had read the books, and he knew the ins and outs of how it was all meant to work- but he hadn't really thought any further than that. He felt dirty holding the bag, and accepted then that there was something that needed to change before he even really considered having sex. It wasn't Kurt that was the problem, he was undeniably attracted to him; but he had to wait until he was ready of his own accord and not his brother's prompt.

Tuesday became guys' night by all. Blaine invited Wes and over, and the pair of them, alongside Cooper, set up camp in the living room and played video games.

"Don't do it Blaine. No matter what you do, don't do it. You will never, ever forgive yourself for it." Cooper advised. Blaine smirked and chose Rainbow Road anyway. "Goddammit, Blaine. Now we actually have to play this, you know? You just declared a Mario Kart war."

"You're just jealous because I got to Yoshi before you did." Blaine said, prepping himself for the race ahead.

"Hey, hey, I'm perfectly happy being Princess Peach. I just hate Rainbow Road with a passion."

"Dude, actually though- Rainbow Road? What are you on, Blainers?" Wes added.

"What aren't I on?" Blaine said.

"You can't play the cancer card when we're playing Mario Kart, Blaine! That's not fair!" Cooper said, nudging Blaine in the ribs.

"Low blow, dude. Low blow. You aren't going to guilt me into a truce, okay?" Wes agreed.

"Right. Let's roll." Blaine said. The race started, and a lot of swearing followed. First Cooper stalled, then there were some nasty falls off the track, and then at the last moment Waluigi sped ahead and won, overtaking all three of them. They got beaten by the computer.

They played video games until Wes insisted he needed to go home to study for his exam the next day. Blaine eventually gave in and headed upstairs to do some semi-last minute revision himself. Cooper insisted he could win Rainbow Road if he really tried properly, and that was why he didn't end up in bed until two.

Finn and Burt resigned themselves to the fact that they had to do something that would appeal to Kurt, which had resulted in them going out for dinner together and then to a movie. They chose a generic action movie, which Kurt diligently sat through, knowing how much the occasion meant to the others.

"I guess that wasn't really your kind of movie, huh, kiddo?" Burt said as they left, "we can see something you want next time. Of course, you would have to visit Lima for that to happen." He hinted. Kurt laughed.

"Sure thing, dad. Unless something comes up I think the next time I'll be here will be Blaine's eighteenth, and then his graduation. After that you might have to find me more reasons. I would visit if I had a niece or nephew though, Finn." Kurt teased.

"The dating prospects aren't that good at the moment, but I'll keep you posted." Finn said, "I kind of miss you, bro." Kurt suddenly had an overwhelming urge to hug Finn. He saw him the most frequently of any of his family members, but yet he was the one who seemed to miss him the most. They had an interesting relationship, and he would always be thankful that interesting was a good thing.

Wednesday night was date night. Kurt turned up at Blaine's house early in the evening, clothed dressy but not formal. He rang the doorbell and waited as Blaine approached the door. He was the one to answer, and his face lit up when he saw Kurt, even though it was whom he expected it to be. "Hey," Blaine said, kissing him quickly.

"Hi, these are for you," Kurt said, presenting him with a bunch of flowers.

"No reason?"

"No reason. Just because I love you and it's nice to be impulsive sometimes." Kurt smiled. Blaine took the flowers and put them in some water, while Kurt said hello to Marie briefly. Blaine ran into his bathroom quickly to check his hair before collecting Kurt from his mother and leading him from the house.

Kurt drove them back to Lima and they sang in the car, Blaine still thankful for every moment he heard Kurt sing that the general public didn't.

Kurt parked the car in the McKinley High parking lot, one of only two cars there. Kurt produced a set of keys and they snuck in through a side door. "How'd you-" Blaine started, and Kurt silenced him with a quick kiss.

"I had some help from the inside. Don't ask too many questions or you'll ruin the moment." Kurt chose not to share with him the endeavours he had made to persuade Finn to loan him his keys. He had never really brought it up with Blaine what exactly it was Finn did for a living.

Kurt grabbed Blaine's hand and ran down the empty hallway with him as they headed for the auditorium. Blaine had only been to the school once before, so he followed Kurt's guidance.

The lights were off in the auditorium. Kurt knelt down and clicked an extension cord into place, revealing the efforts he had gone to earlier in the day. No one had been using the auditorium since all the students had been in exams; Finn had helped his brother out, setting up for the grand romantic gesture to follow.

With the final extension cord in place, the auditorium lit up.

Fairly lights decorated every surface Kurt had been able to manage, lining most rows of seats and the stage. Kurt smiled at his work. Blaine was speechless.

Kurt slid his hand into Blaine's again and walked towards the stage, while Blaine continued to marvel at the splendour of the auditorium. They sat down on the stage, looking out at the empty house. They ate dinner, talking quietly for fear of being caught, even though everyone had fled the school in favour of break. When the food was finally gone what felt like a small eternity later, Blaine moved closer to Kurt as though it were possible and kissed him.

In kissing Kurt, Blaine lost all sense of time and dimension. He decided then that he would never have kissed Kurt enough times. He would never have had enough of him, he would never grow bored.

Kurt's phone rang, and the pair broke apart. "Sorry," Kurt half-whispered to Blaine before he answered his phone. It was Finn, who pointed out that it was ten to eleven and that Burt was beginning to worry. Kurt had cleared it with his parents earlier that Blaine would be staying the night, which had only meant that they worried more. "We've been summoned," Kurt said, "ready to go?" Blaine nodded and cleared away what was left of their dinner, packing it back in the bags that were miraculously waiting for them. Then he stood up and offered a hand to Kurt, who he helped to his feet, keeping his hand held firmly as they strolled back out of the school and then drove home.

Kurt and Blaine entered the house quietly and slipped up to Kurt's room. "I kind of assumed you would sleep in here. With me." Kurt said, "But if you would prefer, it will only take a couple of minutes to set up the guest room." He was confident he already knew how Blaine would respond, and he had predicted correctly; Blaine reacted perfectly positively. They got dressed (Blaine in the bathroom, because although neither one said it they still weren't totally comfortable changing in front of one another) and then crawled into bed together.

"This is the part I miss most," Blaine said softly, "curling up next to you and waking with you still there. I'm going to stay over at your place all the time when I move to New York."

Kurt smiled. "All the time?"

"Yeah, you'll never be able to get rid of me." Blaine teased.

"Blaine?"

"Yeah?"

"I wasn't planning on bringing this up until your birthday, or maybe even graduation. Not for ages yet... but when you move to New York, I want you to move in with me. I mean, if you want to. I'm not asking you formally, not yet, because that's a little odd when we've only been together for three months." Kurt said, kissing Blaine lightly. "So shh, don't tell Blaine that I'm planning to ask him."

"I promise I'll never repeat a word." They kissed again. "I guess I shouldn't tell Blaine about this then, either?"

"No, I don't mind if he knows about this. If he knows how much I love him. You." Blaine smiled.

"I love you too, Kurt. It can be kind of scary how much I do, sometimes."

"I know the feeling."

"It's just... three months doesn't feel long enough. When we were friends for so long before that."

"I don't think we were ever really just friends, Blaine. It took us long enough to do something about it though, don't you think?"

"Exactly. If we had acted on it sooner we might have been dating for six months now or something."

"Hindsight is a marvellous thing, Blaine Anderson."

"It's been an amazing three months, Kurt. I'm so proud to be yours."

"You know, mostly having a boyfriend is just really convenient." Kurt said. Blaine laughed.

"Care to elaborate?"

"It gives me something to do when I'm in Ohio, it makes finding someone to take to award shows easier, and it gives me a human heat source to snuggle with." Kurt tightened his arms around Blaine.

"Happy to have been of service." Blaine whispered, kissing Kurt's forehead lightly. The soft domesticity of the situation was something that neither thought they would ever grow tired of.

The next morning Kurt woke up and immediately snuggled back into Blaine, who was just beginning to stir. A few minutes later Blaine's eyes were properly open and his brain clicked into gear. "Morning," he greeted, shuffling lower in the bed to be face to face with Kurt, who had been resting on his chest. He leaned forward to kiss him. Kurt grimaced.

"Morning breath," Kurt explained, although he kissed him anyway, "good morning, Blaine. Time for breakfast?"

"Five more minutes?"

Five minutes became ten, and then ten became fifteen, and eventually a whole half hour passed as they lay cuddled up together, because Kurt could never say no to Blaine's adorable puppy dog eyes. They slowly began to slide out of bed, reattaching themselves to each other as soon as possible, arms around waists as they slunk downstairs and began on breakfast. They had slept longer than planned, and neither Carole nor Burt was home.

After they were showered and dressed with brushed teeth and styled hair, Kurt found a perfectly wrapped present from underneath the tree and handed it to Blaine. "Merry Christmas- It's... kind of sappy." Kurt warned, sitting down on the sofa with him. Blaine kissed Kurt quickly, thanking him for the gift, before cautiously unwrapping the present. "You can rip the paper, Blaine. Live a little!" he followed Kurt's advice and tore the paper, exposing a box. He glanced at Kurt, who looked back expectantly. "Aren't you at least a little curious to see what's inside the box now?" he asked with raised eyebrows. Blaine lifted the lid to expose a neat assortment of bowties, that Kurt had come to accumulate from a variety of sources. "I guess I should explain now, right? They're in chronological order, so you should be able to follow okay. So, this one is a Leiyna-Dailey tie, because on that first day we met she was on your phone case." Blaine lifted the tie from its segment in the box, and then replaced it.

"She still is."

Kurt lifted out the next tie and passed it to Blaine. "This one is faux-leather. Because of the leather jackets we wore when you took me on that motorbike ride."

"I remember." Blaine smiled fondly at the memory, of how they saw each other with disastrous hairstyles, shared more about their families than either had with hardly anyone else.

Kurt continued to pick the ties from the box, passing them to Blaine who replaced them in their dedicated, chronological spots. "And this one was made from a t-shirt that they sold at the Highlands tour." He handed Blaine a rainbow tie. "This one is to mark when you came out. This one is covered in glitter- be careful, it will shed on you- for when we went to The Sparkle Pit with Olivia. This one is the tie I wore to the gala, since you already have the one you wore..." Blaine smiled. There was an empty spot in the box for that tie so he could add it later.

Kurt passed him a tacky tie decorated with rain drops. "This is to represent when we went out for ice cream in the rain. This is the one I wore to the showcase. And because you actually gave it back to me, this is the one you wore to the Teenies. And that brings us just about up to date. This last one here is from today- for Christmas." The bowtie was simple, decorated with Christmas trees. Blaine kissed Kurt, much deeper than he had before.

"Thank you, Kurt. It's perfect. They're perfect."

"And it's not a present per se, but you are going to meet me in LA a few weeks from now for the next award show, right?" Kurt looked at Blaine hopefully.

"Of course."

Kurt took Blaine's hand. "Come on," he said, "I've got to drive you home now."

Kurt pulled up in the Anderson's driveway. "You're coming in, right?" Blaine asked, "I have to give you your gift now." Kurt smiled, and the pair got out of the car and hurried into the house to get out of the cold.

"It didn't cost me anything," Blaine explained, "but it's worth a lot." Blaine pulled a small parcel out from under the tree and led Kurt from the room, up to his bedroom. They sat on the bed and Blaine handed the small present to Kurt, who opened it delicately. Inside the soft silver crepe paper lay a simple men's bracelet, a length of plaited leather that was well worn and fading. Blaine took it from the paper and Kurt extended his hand towards Blaine, who secured the bracelet around Kurt's wrist. "It's my lucky bracelet, I guess," Blaine started, "I used to always wear it. I had a diva meltdown once when it went missing before a show choir competition once, because I swore I couldn't sing without it. I know it didn't really make a difference. The first time I met you I was wearing it, because I thought I needed some kind of confidence boost. Maybe that was why I pushed my luck and gave you my number.

"I couldn't find it right before I came out to my parents. I had taken it off to shower and it disappeared when I went to put it on again. It turns out I didn't need that luck. And then when I was at your place and I reconnected with Olivia- that was the kind of luck I had always associated with the bracelet.

"The night of the showcase I didn't wear it, either, because I had totally forgotten about it until I went to bed that night and found it on my nightstand. That was when I realised that you can't put your luck or talent on a bit of leather." Blaine laughed, and Kurt laughed too. They were holding hands now. "But the value of the bracelet stayed- I just realised that it had nothing to do with the bracelet. It was you. You catalysed all the best things in my life at the moment. I didn't need the bracelet, because I had you. You made me forget all about ever thinking I needed it in the first place. If it belongs anywhere, it's with you."

Kurt leaned forward suddenly but not unexpectedly, kissing Blaine. Blaine lifted his hand to the back of Kurt's neck, deepening their kiss.