"Blaine!" Kurt called, the second the cardigan-and-bowtie clad boy rounded the corner at the airport arrivals gate. Blaine quickened his pace, and Kurt walked towards him at the same time, where they met in the middle of the crowd and quickly wrapped themselves into a tight embrace. "I missed you," Kurt said.

"I missed you too. Skype just doesn't do you any justice." Blaine said. Kurt felt a blush begin to creep up his neck, and decided to distract Blaine from the fact by kissing him. He usually had a fairly strict no PDA policy, but sometimes he got so caught up in the moment, in the Blaine, that he couldn't possibly care whether or not they were in public.

"Now let's go get your bags so we can get started on this LA adventure." Kurt slid his hand effortlessly into Blaine's. They naturally fell together and their fingers interlocked, a physical reminder they were in the same place- an anchor to reality.

They collected Blaine's suitcase and left the airport, ready to get to their room. Unlike on other occasions where Leah got a room on the same floor, the group had been separated. Leah had made it out to be a tragedy, but Blaine and Kurt heavily suspected it was so she could stay at Cooper's and that they would never know the difference. They rode the elevator up, swiped the key card and entered the room. Blaine put his bag down, and was immediately tackled onto the bed by his boyfriend. Kurt kissed him, and kissed him, and kissed him again for good measure. Some kisses were quick, others slower, deeper.

"What happened to the adventure?" Blaine asked.

"I thought it could wait," Kurt said, "any complaints?" Blaine shook his head and pulled Kurt down again. Eventually they separated again, exchanging small smiles as they worked around each other in the hotel suite, sorting themselves out for the night ahead. Once Kurt had assembled all his skin and hair care products in the bathroom, they had hung up their suits, and that Blaine had finally decided on which tie to wear, they sat together on the sofa, taking up a lot less space than they had available, sitting close to each other.

"I've been thinking," Blaine started. Kurt raised his eyebrows at him.

"Honey, I told you to stop doing that, you might hurt yourself." Kurt teased, leaning forward to kiss Blaine on the forehead. "Sorry. Go on."

"Thinking... about something you said on New Year's."

"You're going to have to be more specific. I said a lot of things."

"Well, when we got home you may have- okay; let's put it this way then. You know how we've been dating for four months, and I'm still yet to see you shirtless?"

Kurt laughed. "Well yeah, we have talked about it a few times, and you've kept blogging manipulated shirtless photos of me. I know how we stand on the matter."

"When you were drunk, you may have suggested that you wanted that to change, and-"

"Oh man, I didn't, I mean, we didn't- did we? I must have had a lot more to drink than I thought..." Kurt dropped his head into his hands. Blaine placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, looking at Kurt so he could meet his gaze.

"Relax, Kurt." Kurt looked up, locking eyes with Blaine as he had predicted. "No, we didn't do anything. Like I was saying, you said- and if you still want to, then I think I'm ready to change that."

Kurt smiled. "I do, if you do."

Blaine leaned forward and kissed him. "Okay."

"Okay."

The pair went out for lunch followed by shopping, their hands linked for as much of it was physically possible. Blaine stole kisses whenever Kurt was least expecting it, and he was distracted by his craft frequently. Kurt may have given breathtaking performances between his acting and his singing, but he was truly in his element with fashion, as he fingered fabrics delicately and searched for his size on the racks. Blaine sat patiently as Kurt tried on outfit after outfit, and then smiled sweetly when he was pushed into the dressing room by an intimidating boyfriend and was more or less forced to try on whatever Kurt suggested. He had to admit that he looked good, that Kurt knew exactly what he was doing. They returned to the hotel a few hours later with more clothes to fit into their suitcases to go home again.

They changed into their suits, each dressed in one perfectly cut for them and flaunting all their best assets, Blaine in a simple black with a signature bowtie, Kurt in a classy dark gray. Leah met them in the lobby, although she wasn't dressed for the occasion.

"You two look fabulous!" she gushed, giving them each a hug, "the pictures will be beautiful. You're going to be the most photographed couple there."

"Thanks, Leah," Kurt said, "do you have any big plans for tonight?"

"Cooper's coming over later and we're just going to watch a movie, order in room service..."

"Tell Coop I say hi," Blaine said, "and that it would be cool to at least see him before I go back, if you aren't going to hog him all weekend."

"I'll let him know." They said goodbye as the limo arrived. The pair held hands as they drove to the event, Kurt giving Blaine's hand a reassuring squeeze.

"It's only your second real event," Kurt said, "are you okay?"

"Of course. I love you, and it means so much to me that I can come all this way to spend the weekend with you for these things."

"I love you too." The car pulled up and Kurt pressed his lips to Blaine's quickly. "Ready to go?"

The room quietened. In one swift motion, The Cast of Highlands was announced; Kurt was pulled to his feet by Cassidy and in turn pulled Blaine up, as they all cheered. Kurt kissed Blaine, somehow perfectly bordering being passionate for the two of them to share and classy enough for the cameras to have access to. Blaine continued to clap as Kurt was whisked onto the stage and somehow pushed in front of the microphone, being made to accept on behalf of the whole group on stage. "As a cast tonight we would like to thank our amazing writers- after all, there is no drama without you- and our producers, directors, editors, set designers, wardrobe department, camera operators, personal assistants- the list is endless. There is so much work that goes into bringing a show like Highlands to life, and we could never thank everyone individually. This is for all the crew over on set, because without you we would just be a bunch of actors reading scripts around a table and not anything close to the characters you have all spent so much time dreaming of. Thank you." The applause thundered again as the cast members were ushered off the stage, and then made their way back to their seats from well placed side doors.

"That was a good speech," Blaine congratulated, "I'm so proud of you."

"I do have some improv skills. I just know I will have missed someone important, but I tried to keep it general since I was speaking for so many of us."

"You did well. Relax."

Kurt paused for a second. "I forgot to thank you. I forgot about mentioning our friends and families. Oh well. Next time, right?" he kissed Blaine softly. "Thank you, Blaine, for being my biggest fan in all aspects of my life."

Cassidy pulled Kurt in for a hug as everyone began to process out of the room. "Are you two coming to the after party?" she asked, flicking a look at Blaine.

The pair exchanged a glance, and both smiled. "Actually, we already had other plans. I'll see you on Monday, okay?" Kurt said, and grabbed Blaine's hand, ready to pull him from the premises and back to their hotel room. They headed out and into the car, never once letting their fingertips leave the skin of the other.

Kurt woke up to Blaine drawing circles on his bare chest with his fingertips, a smile plastered to his face. When he saw his boyfriend was waking up, he let one hand leave Kurt's chest to cup his chin instead, as he brought their lips together.

"Morning, beautiful." Blaine half-whispered.

"Good morning." Kurt replied at equal volume.

"You really are, you know."

"Are what?"

"Beautiful. Gorgeous. Angelic. Alluring. Stunning."

"I could say the same for you." Kurt ran his fingers through Blaine's messy morning hair before delicately tracing the line of his face with feather light strokes. Blaine kissed him again.

"You're so perfect, Kurt. I love you."

"I love you too, Blaine." Blaine snuggled back down next to him.

"Do we get to stay here a little longer?"

Kurt nodded. "Anything for you." The pair stayed in bed for too long to keep track of, before finally slipping out of bed in favour of showering. They were hardly pressed for space in the large shower, and they weren't left with any reason not to share it.

They found themselves falling back into bed after their shared shower, and finally pulled themselves together enough to get dressed as they gave each other small smiles wordlessly, exchanging quick glances at each other, just to check they were still there, still real.

They checked out of the hotel and went out for brunch together, choosing to spend the day doing whatever they felt like doing as they felt like doing it. They revelled in the freedom of having not planned anything until it was time to go to the airport. Kurt's flight was booked to leave not too long after Blaine's, so they stayed together until that time came for them to separate. Leah sat nearby but never intruded, keeping completely to herself. She seemed lost in thought, and it was easiest to avoid popping her bubble.

Eventually they said their farewells and Blaine boarded his flight. Kurt turned to Leah and crossed his arms. "So what's up with you?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" she replied, as they continued to walk back through the airport.

"You seem... pensive, but kind of elated. What did you get up to this weekend?"

"Well, Coop and I spent a lot of time together." Kurt rolled his eyes.

"I had gathered that much. Blaine thought he might get to see him, but alas, he didn't." Although Blaine had been mildly disappointed that he hadn't had a chance to spend some time with Cooper, he wasn't totally cut up about it. Kurt may have been milking it a little. He pulled her closer and dropped the volume of his voice. "Tell me all the details about your Anderson brother and I'll share mine."

"We spent most of last night in my room... and in my bed." Leah blushed as soon as she said it. Kurt grinned at her. "You don't get any more detail than that."

"Honestly... Blaine and I were spending our night similarly." Leah stopped in her tracks to look at him.

"Shut up!"

"Well thanks, Leah, for that incredible vote of confidence."

"No, but you- you mean- I'm so proud of you, baby!" She threw her arms around him and Kurt hugged her back awkwardly before she let go and they kept walking. There was a subtle change in both of them since the day before, and both were perfectly happy with that.

Although they had discussed previously that Kurt would go to Ohio for Blaine's eighteenth, in the weeks leading up to it they had hardly mentioned it at all. Leah had booked Kurt's ticket for Friday, so he would be there before Blaine had finished school for the day. Blaine hadn't asked, and Kurt suspected that it was because he was trying not to get his hopes up. He wondered if maybe there was something deeper there, that he had asked someone else who couldn't make it.

Kurt parked down the road from the Andersons' house and called Blaine. He answered on the second ring. "Hey," Blaine said, "I wasn't expecting you to call. Is everything okay?" Kurt smiled at how Blaine always thought to ask about his wellbeing first. He really was the sweetest thing.

"Everything is more than fine. Are you home from school yet?"

"Yeah, I got home about ten minutes ago. Why d'you ask?" Kurt was pleased with his estimating effort, that he knew roughly when Blaine got home from school each day. He stepped out of his car and locked it.

"No reason."

"Are you busy? We could Skype." Blaine sounded hopeful, although he seemed to be incredibly tired.

"Actually, I am a little busy at the moment, since you mention it."

"Oh," Blaine's voice fell, "why are you calling then?" Kurt bit his lip. That sounded a bit more defensive than ideal. He couldn't drag this conversation out too much longer.

"We can still talk, silly. I have a couple of spare minutes."

"Maybe you shouldn't waste them on me," Blaine sighed, "No one else wants to waste time on Blaine, on the disappointment, on the prodigal gay."

"Blaine, what are you talking about?" Kurt was worried now, and he hoped he sounded calm and level headed, although he felt anything but. He quickened his pace.

"It doesn't matter. What matters is that no one even cares what happens to me anymore. I could just give up and die, and no one would even notice."

"I care! Don't even say that, Blaine. You aren't giving up." He was practically running now.

"But you don't mean that! No one means anything they say any more!" He turned into the Andersons' driveway and kept going. He just had to get to the door.

"Blaine, I need you to do something for me. Please, please, just take a deep breath, and go downstairs and get a glass of water or something. Anything. Just calm down. For me, please, Blaine." Kurt heard Blaine inhale deeply. He arrived at the door just as he figured Blaine would be making his way downstairs, and rang the doorbell. Blaine opened the door; Kurt hung up and pocketed his phone. Blaine threw himself into Kurt's arms and buried his head in Kurt's neck, breathing deeply, just feeling that Kurt was there.

"You're here." Blaine said, "You're really here."

"Shhh," Kurt held Blaine close, but pushed him back into the house so he could close the door.

"I'm sorry," Blaine mumbled, "I didn't mean to take it out on you."

"It's okay, honey. I'm here." Kurt lost track of how long he stood in the hallway, just letting Blaine hold him. It didn't matter. Eventually Blaine dropped his arms and gave Kurt a small half smile.

"To think you came all this way and I didn't even say hello properly." Blaine said, letting out a lifeless laugh. He kissed Kurt softly. Kurt laced their fingers together and Blaine pulled him up to his bedroom, where he sat on the bed, up against the headboard. Kurt shuffled up next to him, and Blaine collapsed into his side.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Kurt asked gently, stroking Blaine's hair absentmindedly.

"I came out to my grandma. Well, it wasn't even me, really. I went to visit her with my mom, and we were talking, and I mentioned going to New York. My mom happened to say how my boyfriend already lived there, and my grandma just lost it. You- you met her at the showcase and everything. I suppose no one ever put the two together for her. She told me to leave, that she couldn't have faggots in her house. My mom just sort of nodded at me, and I left, because it wasn't worth the fight. She stayed to smooth it over for me. She came home and told me that grandma wouldn't be coming to dinner for my birthday." Blaine twisted Kurt's shirt in his hand. "I'm really sorry for what I said earlier, though. There's just a lot going on right now and I guess I haven't coped with anything as well as I could have. You're my everything."

"I love you." Kurt said simply.

"I love you too."

"And I mean it, Blaine. I mean every word of everything I say to you. You can tell me anything, you know that? You can call me any time, and I'll always be there to listen, whether it's about your grandma, or your new medication, or about school or the Warblers. No matter what."

"Thanks," Blaine whispered.

"Don't worry about it. What matters is that I'm here, and that my surprise was successful. And that you're turning eighteen tomorrow. You'll have aged out of the Wish Factory system and our relationship won't have anything to do with them, anymore. You can vote, and get married, and be basically regarded as an adult."

"I don't want to be an adult, Kurt. All this growing up is scary."

"Growing older and growing up are two totally different things. There is no rush to actually be an adult; you'll just be seen as one. That was all I was saying."

"When did you get so wise?" Blaine looked up at Kurt with wide puppy dog eyes.

"I've been living away from home for years now, Blaine, but I still have a lot of growing up to do. We can do it together."

Blaine smiled, and Kurt had to smile back. "Together."

Marie arrived home and, noticing that Blaine wasn't around downstairs, knocked politely on the bedroom door and entered. She noticed Kurt there, with Blaine asleep in his arms, and stepped into the room. Both boys were fully clothed on top of the covers, so she couldn't easily accuse them of having done anything more. "Kurt," she greeted, her voice soft, as to not startle Blaine, "when did you get here?"

"I flew in earlier today," he said, "I didn't really tell anyone I was coming."

"It was a well timed visit, sweetie. He really needed it."

"I know. I'll wake him up soon, otherwise he won't sleep tonight."

"I don't think he's been sleeping very well lately- it will do him some good. I'll come up later to let you know when dinner is ready. You're staying, right?"

Kurt nodded. "I can hardly leave now."

"You're welcome to stay the night, if you like."

"Thanks, Marie." Kurt smiled. Marie left.

Blaine woke up and smiled as he remembered the events from earlier. "You're still here."

"Where was I going to go?" Kurt asked, as Blaine sat up properly.

"I'm still trying to believe that you were ever here in the first place. It seems too good to be true." Blaine kissed Kurt, and he knew he would never get sick of it. He would never, ever get bored of the way his lips felt, or the soft feeling of Kurt's fingers on his cheek.

"Your mom came up a few minutes ago to say that dinner was ready. Do you want to come downstairs with me?" Kurt asked. Blaine stood up and stretched, and then extended a hand to Kurt, who took it. With a simple exchanged of smiles they slipped from the room, knowing they would have time for the rest later.

After dinner Kurt offered to help with the dishes, which left Blaine with no choice but to follow suit. Kurt washed and Blaine dried as they chatted about what Kurt had been up to since their trip to LA a couple of weeks earlier. Blaine shared about his life too, until they ran out of things to talk about, almost certain they were up to date with every minute of each other's lives. "...and so we decided we are going to do a boy band bracket. I want to go with 90's groups, but the others are set on doing One Direction. Only time will tell." Kurt flicked bubbles at Blaine, who cautiously put down the plate he was drying. "Did you just bubble me, Kurt?"

"It looks like I did." Blaine swirled the tea towel around a few times before snapping it in Kurt's direction. Kurt loaded up his scrubbing brush with more bubbles and held them defensively at the ready. "We are not going to start this, Anderson. Put down the towel and no one gets hurt." Blaine nodded once, and put the tea towel on the counter. Kurt launched the bubbles at him and then stashed the brush in the sink. "Woops. It just sort of... slipped?"

"Well now it's on," Blaine declared, while he grabbed Kurt around the waist and attacked his face and neck with kisses, while Kurt squealed and insisted that Blaine won.

Later that night Blaine and Kurt cuddled up in the living room, the credits to a movie rolling. Kurt glanced at his watch- the one Blaine had gotten him for their anniversary, and saw it was almost midnight. "Are you ready to take your nineteenth trip around the sun?" Kurt asked.

"I think so. My eighteenth has been quite good, I think. I mean, I met you, and then after all that you're here, as my boyfriend. I don't know how my nineteenth will top that."

"You never know what the year will bring." Kurt saw his watch tick to midnight. "And it is officially your birthday. Happy birthday, Blaine." He kissed him, and it was happily reciprocated.

"Well if that's how my birthday is going to be, I have no reason to worry about my grandma, do I? Because I am definitely gay." Kurt laughed. "You know my parents went up to bed hours ago, and they will be long asleep..."

Kurt moved to whisper in Blaine's ear. "I'm pleased you're gay, babe, because if you weren't then it would be awfully hard to explain all the birthday sex, wouldn't it?" Blaine couldn't pull Kurt upstairs fast enough.

Blaine woke up before Kurt and let everything that had happened settle over him. Kurt had flown to Ohio to surprise him, and he had gotten mad over the phone for things that had nothing to do with him. Kurt had proven to be the perfect cure for his problems, not only taking his mind off them but also helping to unpick them back to the cause so he felt genuinely better about it all. He never realised quite how much he missed Kurt until he was in his arms. And then the early hours of the morning... well.

Kurt woke up sufficiently to mumble into Blaine's neck, "whattimesit?"

Blaine looked at the clock on his nightstand. "Half past eight."

"I probably should have snuck into one of the guest rooms."

"Mm... probably. But I much prefer this."

"Likewise. I left your present in the car, but we can get that later, right?"

"You mean you turned up on my doorstep yesterday and woke up naked in my bed, and neither of those were my birthday present?"

"Exactly. What are your parents up to today?" Kurt asked.

"I don't know. I haven't really ventured out of the room." They opted to slide out of bed and get dressed for the day, and then headed down to the kitchen together. There was no sign of life in the house, except for a note on the counter.

I made you and Kurt pancakes, but you might want to heat them up a bit, I didn't want to wake you and by the time you get this they could have been ready for hours. Happy birthday! We'll do presents later, okay? I should be back around four. XXX

"Do you think she knows I was in your room, then?" Kurt asked, sliding his arms around Blaine's waist.

"Honestly? I don't care."

Blaine heated up their pancakes while Kurt went back out to his car, moved it into the driveway so it would be ready when he left later, and brought Blaine's birthday present inside.

"You know we've been dating for five months, and we've been friends for twice as long as that?" Kurt said as he sat down at the table, across from Blaine.

"Of course."

"Just checking. Happy birthday." Kurt slid a small box across the table to him- there weren't many things that came in boxes that small. Blaine untied the ribbon and stalled for a second, before finally opening the box to reveal a key.

"It's the key to my heart," Kurt teased, giving him the best heart eyes he could manage, "I had to beat your Christmas present symbolism, right? No, but it seriously is a functional key."

"Is it now?"

"In fact, it's a key to my apartment. You don't need to move in with me when you come to New York, if you want to live with some other friends or in a dorm, but it will make things a lot easier either way when you come to visit me, right? And if you want to sneak in to plan extravagant candlelit dinners again, you won't need to be in cahoots with Leah." Blaine smiled, wondering if he had set his own bar too high when he planned their first date. "and I wasn't really sure when the next time you were coming to see me or I was coming to see you or we were both going to LA to see each other was, so I may have planned you a flight to New York for next month. You can take one weekend off from everything, I'm sure."

Blaine walked around the other side of the table to hug Kurt, who stood up to meet him. "Thank you," he mumbled into Kurt's neck, before leaning up to kiss him. This birthday was infinitely better than any other.