Kurt buried his face on the pillow and moaned loudly.

"Oh god, you're so good at this."

Blaine smiled complacently at him from where he was sitting on the back of his thighs. "Told you I could make you feel good."

"Harder," Kurt demanded.

"Someone's bossy," Blaine leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to the back of his neck.

"I have every right," Kurt answered, as he closed his eyes, reveling in the sensations. "Every fucking muscle in my body is sore and it's entirely your fault."

"My fault?" Blaine feigned shock, as he massaged Kurt's back with a little bit more pressure.

"Whose book store is it? Who put all those renovation ideas on his list, huh?"

"Mm, well, that's true," Blaine hummed. "But I'm trying to make it up to you, right?"

"I'll consider your debt forgotten if you work on the knot that's killing me..."

"Which one?" Blaine asked, as his fingers probed gently.

"Lower, lower... oh yeah, right there," Kurt arched against Blaine's hands when they found the right spot at the small of his back.

Blaine rolled his eyes. "Just stay still. I can't get it if you keep moving."

They had gone straight to Kurt's place at the end of the day, and after a shower, Blaine had made Kurt lie down on his bed, because of his constant grumbling about his sore back, after bashing that wall down. Now Kurt's body was loose and smooth under the palms of his hands, completely relaxed after his shower, and only flinching when Blaine touched a particularly sore spot. It felt amazing having him like this, completely at his mercy, pliant and gorgeous under his hands.

The past few days had been strange, to put it lightly. Neither of them was used to having someone to go home with at the end of the day, someone to share dinner with, someone to discuss anything and everything as they relaxed after work.

Mostly, they went to Kurt's place, since it was closest, grabbing something to eat and going to bed early, because spending hours and hours exploring each other's bodies hadn't gotten old yet. Blaine was pretty sure he hadn't yet memorized every inch of Kurt's beautiful pale skin, and he was determined to accomplish that.

Kurt groaned as the knot in the small of his back finally loosened up, and he tried to arch into Blaine's touch. He chuckled and pushed him back down, dropping a quick kiss to the back of his neck.

"Better?" He whispered.

Kurt nodded without lifting his head from where it was buried in the pillow. "So much better. Thank you."

"You should take the day off tomorrow," Blaine said, without even thinking about it. "You've been working hard for weeks..."

Kurt frowned, as he turned to look at him. "What? We both know you're desperate to open the damn place already! Why would you tell me to take a day off?"

"Because you deserve it? Because I don't want you to get hurt, pushing yourself too hard? I know you're tired, Kurt," Blaine insisted.

"It's okay. I've had to work under worse conditions and been a lot more exhausted that I am right now," Kurt shrugged and patted the spot next to him on the mattress, gesturing for Blaine to move closer, then turned on his side, facing him. "You don't need to get all soft with me just because we're sleeping together..."

Blaine traced the sharp line of his collarbone with the tip of his finger. "I'm not getting soft. I'm being decent. And I'd like to think I'm always a decent person."

"So you have no ulterior motives?" Kurt asked with a smirk, propping himself up on his elbow. "You're not going to take advantage of me having a day off to come join me in my big, lonely, cold bed..."

Blaine bit his lip and averted his eyes. "Well, are you inviting me or...?"

Kurt laughed. "I knew it."

Blaine let him laugh, mostly because it was so refreshing to see him like that. The sound of Kurt's laugh tugged at his heartstrings every single time. "I'm just kidding," he muttered after a moment. "I was planning to buy paint to start on the walls next week, so I'm not going to be at the book store much... well, at all. And one day off won't throw us completely off schedule, so please don't worry about it. Stay home, visit your dad, do whatever you want to do..."

Kurt averted his eyes and bit his lip. "I... I'd rather not, really. I need to do my job, Blaine."

He seemed a little uncomfortable so Blaine decided not to push it. He knew Kurt still had trouble accepting that things were different now, that he was allowed to be tired or to need time for himself, that he wouldn't be judged for any reason. Blaine simply smiled lightly and gave him a quick peck on the lips before standing up to look for his shirt to put it back on. "Whatever you decide is fine with me. I'd ask you to help me choose the paint colors, but it'll probably be boring..."

"Wait," Kurt said, frowning. "You mean you still don't know which colors you're going to be using?"

"Well, I've narrowed it down to a few options, but I'm not entirely sure..." Blaine admitted as he stopped by the doorway. "Why?"

"What are your options?" Kurt glanced at him curiously.

"I was thinking about a light yellow and some blue for the..."

"No," Kurt interrupted immediately. "No, what are you doing? You can't base your color palette on... Blaine, no."

Blaine had to bite his tongue to stop himself from laughing at how concerned Kurt sounded. "No?"

"No. You need transition between each color, you can't just go from yellow to blue, it's not that easy," Kurt stood up as well. "What's your theme?"

"Theme?" Blaine was now truly confused.

"Yes, you need a theme." Kurt blinked as he waited for Blaine's answer, but since Blaine just stared at him blankly, he sighed dramatically. "Screw my day off. I'm going with you or this bookshop will end up looking like something out of an acid-induced hallucination..."

"Hey!" Blaine said, pouting, mildly offended. "My taste isn't that bad..."

"We'll see, dear," Kurt muttered with a condescending grin as he patted Blaine's cheek, before walking out of the room to go downstairs and start dinner. "We'll see."

*

They made a quick stop at the Lima Bean the next morning before heading to Home Depot. It was clear Kurt had definite opinions when it came to interior design, and Blaine could only absorb them after he'd consumed a considerable amount of caffeine first. Kurt had already named so many colors that Blaine didn't even know existed, and he was starting to feel dizzy. Maybe he should've chosen to paint the entire place white. You can never go wrong with white, right?

Any color-related thought escaped Blaine's mind as soon as they parked the car and walked into the store. Kurt went silent immediately, tensing his jaw and stiffening his posture, sure to keep distance between them as they looked for the paint aisle.

"Kurt?" Blaine ventured to say, leaning closer to him. "Are you okay?"

"Yes. Let's just get this done," Kurt answered, in that voice of his that didn't really sound like his, at least not anymore, now that Blaine knew how unique it really was. He was speaking in the lower tone he'd always used those first weeks working for him, and it made Blaine instantly sad to know Kurt couldn't even go into a store without feeling threatened by acting naturally.

For a moment, Blaine considered leaving the store. He considered driving somehwere else, where Kurt wouldn't be constantly afraid of showing who he was. He considered holding onto him until his fears vanished, until Blaine could see the real Kurt, the one he rarely glimpsed vulnerable and panting under his sheets.

Knowing that wasn't possible, Blaine decided to settle for distracting Kurt so that he would forget, at least for an instant, how threatened he felt. It wasn't as hard as he initially thought it would be, because as soon as Blaine found the color samples, Kurt became engrossed in them.

"This color would look amazing with the wooden floors once they're completely restored... oh! And these two would look lovely in that children's area you mentioned you wanted. They're so playful and fun..." Kurt rambled, as he pointed to different samples, so quickly that Blaine barely had time to see which colors he was talking about. "What about this one? What do you think?"

Blaine had actually stopped trying to follow whatever Kurt was excited about, and instead admired the enthusiasm light up his face, in his beautiful, breathtaking eyes. He was fascinated. But then Kurt turned to him, and caught Blaine gaping like a fish out of water. "Oh. Well. Those are... yeah. I like... yeah."

"Are you even listening to anything I said?" Kurt rolled his eyes, feigning annoyance, but failing miserably since a smile was trying to tug at his lips. "This is your book store, you know. You should be the one involved here..."

"Yes! I'm sorry, it's just that you were so..." Blaine trailed off when he realized Kurt's eyes had wandered to something behind him. His smile faded and he went even paler than usual. "Kurt?"

"Kurt?" Someone echoed. Blaine turned to see a couple walking down the aisle with a shopping cart. The man had short curly blonde hair and the woman had big green eyes and beautiful ginger hair. She was also very, very pregnant. It was the man who had spoken, and his face parted in a huge grin when he realized it really was Kurt standing there. "Kurt! I can't believe it's you! I haven't seen you in years!"

Kurt cleared his throat. "Hi, Mr. Schuester... Miss Pillsbury..."

"Oh, it's Mrs. Schuester now," the woman replied, smiling just as widely as her husband. "What a nice surprise seeing you here! We were picking up stuff for the baby's room! He's due soon and there's still so much to do!"

"Yeah. Congratulations," Kurt said awkwardly. Blaine put a hand on the small of his back in support, before he realized it might not be welcome. It evidently wasn't, because Kurt tensed as soon as he touched him.

"Is this your boyfriend?" Mr. Schuester asked him, still smiling.

Blaine pulled his hand away as fast as he could. "No, no." He said, wanting to spare Kurt any more discomfort. "We're..."

"I'm working for him," Kurt finished. "I work in construction now."

Mr. Schuester seemed taken aback by Kurt's words. "Construction? Last I heard, you were going to New York with Rachel Berry to..."

"It didn't work out," Kurt cut him off a little too sharply, effectively silencing the man. "But you'll be glad to know she's doing really well. Now, if you'll excuse me..." He turned back to the samples. "What about this one, Mr. Anderson?" He spoke through gritted teeth.

Blaine ignored the fact that it was the ugliest shade of brown he had ever seen in his life. He simply nodded and waited until he heard the couple walking away.

*

"Are you okay?"

Kurt's fingers tightened on the steering wheel. Blaine had waited until they were back in the car to ask, not wanting to put Kurt even more on edge, but he needed to be sure Kurt truly was okay.

"Yes," Kurt shrugged and turned the engine on. "I mean, I almost had a heart attack when you tried to combine the forest green with that horrible orange, but..."

"Kurt," Blaine interrupted gently. He placed his hand on his knee and squeezed lightly. "You know what I mean."

Kurt sighed impatiently as he pulled out of the parking lot. "I'm fine. I promise. I'm not some fucking delicate doll that's going to break just because we ran into a teacher from high school."

Blaine squeezed once again before taking his hand off his leg. "You seemed upset. I just wanted to make sure."

"I'm fine," he repeated, obviously frustrated. "And I'll be even better when we get to my place and you let me fuck you into my mattress."

Blaine's breath hitched, even though he knew Kurt was saying that to deflect attention, even though he knew Kurt was using sex – him – as a distraction. "I-I thought you didn't want a day off? I thought you wanted to go straight to the book store to finish with the carpet?"

"Screw your pathetic little bookshop," Kurt snapped, as he took a turn a little too abruptly. "It would be a complete fucking waste of my time if you weren't paying me. No one is gonna give a shit about it anyway."

Blaine knew Kurt was only saying those things because he was angry, because he was hurt... but his words still stung. He faced the window for the rest of the ride, not saying anything. When they arrived at Kurt's house, he also followed him inside without saying anything.

It seemed easier that way.

*

Blaine panted harshly after his orgasm, his heart beating wildly, with Kurt still buried deep inside of him. He didn't want to open his tightly closed eyes, and face the aftermath, the reasons why they had torn each other's clothes off and trashed the bed.

Kurt broke the silence, quietly, lips brushing the column of his neck. "I'm sorry, Blaine."

He pulled out gently to get rid of the condom, as Blaine shifted to his side to look at Kurt.

"Kurt..."

"No," Kurt cut him off. "I was such a jerk today. I really, really was. I said things I didn't mean to and I'm sorry. You shouldn't have to deal with all my crap. It wasn't your fault that we ran into someone who said all the wrong things." He started stroking Blaine's hair carefully, undoing everything Blaine had done with the gel that morning, and freeing the curls completely. "If there's anyone who doesn't deserve to be treated that way, it's you. You're so sweet and patient, and I... I didn't mean to take my anger and frustration out on you. It was unfair ..."

Blaine stayed quiet, not knowing what to say. He truly wanted to help Kurt, even if he didn't quite understand why yet, but he couldn't deny that Kurt was incredibly adroit at hurting his feelings.

"I'm just..." Kurt swallowed, awkwardly, blue eyes fixed on Blaine's bare shoulder, unable to look him in the eyes. "I suck at this, okay? I suck at being nice to people because I'm used to everyone being assholes to me. I suck at... at being... intimate with someone." A slight blush crept up his cheeks. "This is the closest thing to a real relationship I've ever had, and now you understand why," he added, the words leaving him in a rush, as if it was particularly hard to admit. "Apparently, I suck at life in general, so..."

Blaine moved forward then, capturing Kurt's lips in his before he could go on, kissing him firmly but sweetly, caressing his bottom lip – so pink and swollen from all the kissing they had already done – with the tip of his tongue, just enough to leave Kurt wanting more.

When they parted, Kurt's eyes were a little darker, wide, and fixed on Blaine's mouth, as if all he really wanted to do was to lean in and kiss him again. "So... does that mean I'm forgiven?"

"Maybe," Blaine replied, but there was an edge of teasing in his voice. He nudged Kurt's foot with his under the sheets. "I'm sort of curious about your past relationships, now..."

"Told you," Kurt said, rolling his eyes. "They weren't exactly relationships."

"I'm still curious," Blaine settled against the pillows comfortably, ignoring his urgent need for a shower.

Kurt sighed, but turned to lie on his back, staring up at the ceiling. "Fine. But if you judge me, I'll kick you out of my house. Naked, for all of Lima to see."

"Sure you will," Blaine poked him on the side and Kurt squirmed away from him, grabbing his hand to keep him from poking him again. "And you should know I would never judge you."

Kurt made a noncommittal sound.

"Come on," Blaine insisted. "Tell me about your first kiss."

Playing with Blaine's fingers, Kurt was, once again avoiding looking at him. "Junior year of high school. The guy who bullied me every single day for being gay, was actually a closeted jock. He forced a kiss on me when we were alone in the boys locker room."

Kurt spoke in a calm voice, as if it wasn't that big a deal, but the way his restless hands kept playing with Blaine's fingers as if he needed something to focus on, told Blaine a whole different story.

"Kurt..." Blaine said horrified. "That's..."

"Yeah, it really sucked," Kurt interrupted. "Luckily, he transferred to another school in my senior year, so..." When it seemed like Blaine was about to say something else, Kurt continued to avoid being pitied by anyone. "That was the high point in my love life while I was still in high school, so that should tell you something..."

"Kurt, stop," Blaine scooted closer. "I'm sorry. That shouldn't have been..."

"It's okay. It happened over a decade ago. I'm over it," Kurt said dismissively. "Worse things happen every day."

"But it was your first kiss..." Blaine muttered sadly. When Kurt didn't reply, he decided to let it go. "Okay. Well... did it get better after high school?"

"You could say that," Kurt shrugged. "At least I wasn't being hate-kissed. I had sort of a boyfriend when I lived in New York, but it didn't last long. I was having trouble making a living there and considering coming back here, so I wasn't really prepared to put a lot of effort into a relationship when my life was kind of falling apart around me. He broke up with me a couple weeks before I came back to live with my parents."

Blaine was starting to regret asking Kurt about his past relationships. The more he spoke, the more bitter he sounded. Blaine hated that most of Kurt's memories were unpleasant, that he had so much trouble trying to find a single positive thing to say about his life.

"Then nothing interesting happened for a couple of years," Kurt continued. He had stopped playing with Blaine's hand and was simply holding it. "I gave up on finding someone compatible in Lima after a while, and ended up going to Scandals every now and then..."

"Scandals?" Blaine asked, not understanding.

"It's a gay bar, just outside of town," Kurt explained impassively, sounding almost bored as he talked about it. "It's the kind of place where kids sneak in with fake IDs and where old guys hide from their wives and kids to be themselves for a few hours every night. It's not very glamorous or exciting, but I guess that's the best you can get in Ohio..."

"So..." Blaine was confused. "You met someone there?"

"I met lots of someones there," Kurt clarified darkly. "Someones I wouldn't have looked at twice when I was living in New York."

"So you ended up dating guys who you wouldn't have if..." Blaine started saying, but Kurt cut off.

"No, Blaine," his tone was flat. "I didn't date them. Going home with them and letting them fuck me isn't what I call dating. Humping a forty year old man with a wedding band on his finger in a dark alley behind a mediocre bar isn't dating."

Blaine frowned, propped himself up on his elbows and hovered over Kurt, looking down at him. "Kurt..."

"So, is this when you start judging me?" Kurt mumbled harshly. "Is this when you realize how disgusting and worthless I am? Is this when you start regretting you ever shared my bed in the first place?"

"No, Kurt, I..." Blaine said breathlessly. He leaned in to kiss him, fiercely. "Nothing about you is disgusting and worthless. Nothing that ever happened in your past could make me stop being with you now, or regret I was with you in the first place," he whispered against Kurt's lips. "Kurt. You're beautiful, everything about you is..."

"We both know that's not true..." Kurt muttered weakly.

"It is," Blaine insisted, looking into his eyes to make his words sink in. "You're beautiful, smart, amazing... and it's not your fault that life has turned its back on you a few times. The things that happened to you... none of them define you."

"I could've made different choices..." Kurt said softly.

"But this is where you are right now. There's no use in wondering what could've happened if you had taken Exit A instead of Exit B," Blaine moved until he was lying on top of him, and cupped his face in his hands. "Believe me, I question myself every day. I wonder what might have changed if I hadn't been such a coward when I was younger – and I still am, sometimes. But in the end, I'm here. And maybe some of my choices weren't the best ones, but I'm here, with you, in this bed, in your arms, right now. And if I could go back in time knowing this is where I'd end up, I wouldn't change a damn thing, because even if this ends as soon as you're done working for me, even if you kick me out of your life as soon as the day is over, it's worth it. You are worth it."

A very slow smile made its way onto Kurt's lips. It wasn't a happy smile, more like a resigned one, but it was good enough, for now. "Is that speech from some book? Because it was really good."

"No, that's an original Blaine Anderson," Blaine teased, tilting his head into Kurt's touch when he started stroking his dark curls again. "But maybe I should write it down for you, just for future reference."

Kurt placed a kiss on the corner of Blaine's mouth. "You're such an amazing guy, Blaine. I don't know why you're wasting your time with me, but I'm glad you are."

"Because unfortunately John Grisham is straight and too old for me, so..." Blaine teased playfully, earning a quick shove on the shoulder from Kurt.

"Oh, is that how it is?" Kurt narrowed his eyes, but the dark cloud in them had vanished. "You're just here because you can't get it on with some dumb writer?"

"Dumb writer? He's a bestselling author, Kurt!" Blaine exclaimed, scandalized. "Do you even know how many books... umph!"

Kurt licked his way into his mouth, silencing him very effectively.

*

"Good morning!"

Blaine walked into the bookshop on Monday morning, carrying a few bags. Kurt was already there, rolling up the carpet to dispose of it later, but when he looked up at the other man, his eyebrows shot up all the way to his hairline.

"Uhm, Blaine?"

"Yeah?" Blaine said as he put his things down.

"Is that a doll?"

It was, indeed a doll, tall enough to reach Blaine's waist, with long, blonde hair and big blue eyes. It was also completely naked, except for a pair of plastic black shoes.

"Yes! Isn't she pretty?" Blaine smiled at him as he propped the doll up against a wall to admire her.

"Uhm," Kurt blinked, wondering if this was really happening. "I think we need to talk about whatever kinky shit is going on in your head right now, because I'm sure as hell not being part of it..."

"What?" Blaine turned to face him, eyes wide, suddenly getting Kurt's point. "No! Kurt, come on! Oh my god!"

"Just please explain what you're doing with that," Kurt pointed at the doll, still grimacing.

"You're such a pervert," Blaine shook his head. "I found her yesterday when I was shopping with my mom and I thought she would be perfect for the display I want to put in the window. I've been thinking of doing a theme every month, and this doll looks a lot like Alice, you know, from Alice in Wonderland. It's such a colorful story, so I thought it would be something fun to start with."

"Alice isn't usually naked," Kurt muttered, with an eyebrow still arched.

"What is wrong with you? Are you trying to ruin one of my favorite childhood memories?" Blaine pouted and crossed his arms over his chest.

Kurt raised his hands in front of himself, defensively. "Sorry. This looks sort of weird from my point of view, you know. So why is she naked?"

"Because I couldn't find the right dress for her. I can't put her in just any dress. It needs to be Alice's dress, the blue and white one. I want it to be perfect," Blaine said sadly. "It's nowhere to be found, though. I went everywhere I could think of. I found a girls Halloween costume, but it's too big for the doll..."

Kurt took the doll and examined her carefully. "What kind of dress came with the doll?"

"A yellow one with daisies all over it," Blaine said. "It was hideous."

"Uhm," Kurt hummed thoughtfully. He put the doll back down. "Well, you still have some time before you need to really worry about this. I'm going to start sanding the floor now. Then with a few layers of varnish, it'll look just as good as new. We can paint the walls once that's done and then the only thing left in your list is to assemble all the furniture, so..."

"I can't believe it's almost done," Blaine smiled as he looked around. His dream was so close to coming true...

"It'll look great," Kurt brushed the small of his back with the tips of his fingers as he moved past him to go back to work. "You'll see..."

"All thanks to you," Blaine whispered warmly.

Kurt simply rolled his eyes and asked Blaine to help him carry the carpet out of the way.

The next few hours were spent sanding imperfections out of the wooden floor, making sure there were no traces of the glue used to put the carpet on so many years ago. After it was meticulously clean, Kurt applied the first coat of varnish, so when it was done, there wasn't much they could do there for the rest of the day.

"What do you say if we go to your place and you let me cook you something for once?" Blaine proposed.

Kurt was throwing his things in the back of his truck. "Oh. No, sorry. I can't today, but I'd love a raincheck for that."

"Sure," Blaine frowned. They didn't go home together every day, but until now, every time either of them had offered to, no one had said no. For a moment, Blaine wondered if he'd done something wrong.

Kurt gave him a little smile before climbing into the driver's seat. "I'll see you tomorrow, then."

"Yeah," Blaine muttered, and then watched him go, until Kurt's truck turned the corner.

When Blaine got home, he realized his apartment had never felt as empty as it felt that night.

*

Saying Blaine was anxious to get to the book store the next morning was putting things lightly. He arrived there ten minutes early, and then stared at the door, waiting for Kurt for a long time, but there was no sign of him anywhere.

There was a knot in Blaine's stomach. Why wasn't he there? Kurt was very rarely late. Something must have happened... first he couldn't spend the evening with Blaine and now this?

Maybe he was tired of Blaine already, and he didn't know how to let him down gently...

Needing to do something, Blaine began preparing the floor for another layer of varnish. Maybe he should do it himself, in case Kurt never showed up. He would probably show up eventually. Even if he didn't want anything to do with Blaine anymore, he had a job to finish. Kurt wouldn't just quit without finishing what he'd been hired to do...

"Hey!"

Blaine's head snapped up so quickly he could hear his neck crack. He winced.

"Oh. Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," Kurt said apologetically. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Blaine answered as he rubbed his neck. He couldn't help the rush of relief flooding him.

"I know I'm late, so don't go all upset boss on me, okay? I went to bed really late last night and I couldn't get my ass out of bed this morning..." Kurt explained as he put his toolbox on the floor.

The knot in Blaine's stomach tightened for a moment. "Oh. Were you... were you out late last night?" He asked, looking down at his own hands, to prepare for whatever Kurt would say.

You're not together. He's not your boyfriend. If he wants to go out, he can. He can go and hook up with another guy. He can do whatever he wants and he doesn't have to explain to you. He doesn't have to...

"No, I stayed home. But I was really busy making this," Kurt replied, putting a paper bag in Blaine's arms.

Blaine frowned in confusion. "What is this?"

Kurt was biting his lip, and he seemed a little anxious. "Just open it."

Blaine obliged, pulling out whatever was in the bag. It was soft and it felt like fabric...

His heart stopped beating for a moment as he unfolded the blue and white dress, the one he had been looking for everywhere, the one he was afraid he'd never find.

He looked up at Kurt, not understanding.

"You said you wanted it to be perfect, so I assumed your only option was to get it custom made," Kurt shrugged, as if it wasn't a big deal. "I learnt how to sew when I was a kid, so..."

"You made this," Blaine muttered, incredulous.

"Yeah," Kurt blushed a pretty shade of pink. "After I left here yesterday, I bought the fabric and then I went to my parents' house and dug out my sewing machine in the basement. I think it should fit alright, but I can fix it if it's not..."

Blaine had been staring at him wide-eyed as Kurt talked, but he couldn't help himself any more. He interrupted him with a kiss, sliding a hand to the back of his neck and pulling him in, ignoring Kurt's sounds of protest.

"Kurt, you..." He breathed shakily after he pulled away. "You..."

"It's just a dress, Anderson," Kurt rolled his eyes, but it was obvious he was trying to play it cool – and failing horribly at it.

"It's not, it's..." Blaine looked down at the dress he was still holding. "Kurt, this is perfect. You have such talent..."

"It's too easy to impress you," Kurt snorted as he turned to start working.

"No," Blaine said, shaking his head. "Kurt, I mean it. This is amazing." He swallowed, knowing Kurt would get upset by his next words. "Kurt, you should really do this for a living. I'm sure you could have a career in fashion if only you'd..."

"Blaine," Kurt's voice was sharp, firm. "Don't. You know how things are. I've already tried it, and it didn't work out. I'm not going to waste any more time with childish dreams. And, besides, it's just a stupid dress for a doll. It's not haute couture."

Blaine had to bite his tongue to stop himself from arguing, but he decided to let it go. He didn't want to make Kurt grieve the life he could've had if things worked out differently. He simply nodded. "Thank you, Kurt. I really... I don't know what to say. It's just what I wanted."

Kurt's face softened. "I'm glad you like it."

"I love it," Blaine whispered. Kurt smiled at him in response.

Blaine looked down at the dress in his hands once again. No one had ever done something like this for him. Maybe it was something trivial in Kurt's eyes, but it wasn't to Blaine. Blaine knew most people didn't get him ... and the fact that Kurt had taken the time to do this, to give Blaine this... it meant the world.

Blaine's hazel eyes filled with tears and he wiped them away hastily, and that's when it hit him. That's how he knew that he was completely, irrevocably, head over heels in love with Kurt Hummel.