Kurt's hand was pressed to the small of Blaine's back, gently guiding him into the apartment and turning the light on at the same time. Blaine huffed a little when Kurt assisted him in removing his jacket.

“Kurt, honey, I didn't have an accident. You don't have to fuss over me like this,” he said, half amused, half impatient.

“You look like you were in one. Do you want me to get you anything to drink?” Kurt asked, as he looked around the apartment. Blaine's place wasn't entirely unfamiliar, but they certainly spent most of their time together at Kurt's.

“No, it's fine. Thanks. I think I just need a good night's sleep,” Blaine answered, running his fingers down Kurt's arm in a soft caress. “Will you stay? Or do you have to go?”

“I can stay,” Kurt murmured, smiling sweetly at him. “Let me help you to bed.”

Blaine sighed in contentment as soon as they were safe under the covers, veiled by the darkness of his bedroom. He tried to shift on his side, but winced. There was a very impressive bruise forming there already. Kurt made a sympathetic sound and hovered over him for a moment, as if making sure he was okay.

Kurt's blue eyes travelled all over Blaine's face, taking in the swollen eye and cracked lip. He frowned, wishing he could take away all the pain, but knowing this was what Blaine chose. He chose to get on that ring and get hurt – and he had reasons that Kurt was slowly starting to understand.

“It looks really ugly, doesn't it?” Blaine asked in a whisper, sounding self-conscious for the first time that night.

Kurt almost leaned in for a reassuring kiss, but he didn't want to cause Blaine any extra pain, so he just pressed his lips to an unharmed spot on his forehead. “You're the most handsome man I have ever seen. With or without those bruises.”

Blaine fell asleep feeling safe, warm and loved.

*

Blaine was one step away from insanity, and he was pretty sure that Kurt was enjoying watching him spiral down into it.

“Kurt, come on…” Blaine whined, almost pathetically. It had been three days since the fight. “Just one. That's all I'm asking…”

“No, Blaine,” Kurt said, with a teasing smirk that was driving him crazy. “I'm not going to kiss you. Your lip looks like it went through a meat shredder. I'll kiss you when you're healed.”

“That's not true!” Blaine complained stubbornly. “It doesn't look that bad. Just one little kiss. It won't hurt me, I promise.”

Kurt leaned in, sighing deeply. His mouth was just an inch from Blaine's. He could feel the warmth of his breath and the scent of his peppermint toothpaste. Blaine closed his eyes in sweet anticipation.

“Nope,” Kurt breathed against his lips, and then he was gone.

Blaine groaned, frustrated. “Is this a punishment? Because it feels like it's bordering on torture…”

Kurt giggled. The bastard.

Blaine knew when to admit defeat. He leaned back against the couch and crossed his arms over his chest, staring resolutely at the television and not at the tantalizing sway of Kurt's hips as he went back into the kitchen to retrieve their dinner.

A pair of soft lips pressed against his temple, and the loveliest voice spoke right into his ear. “You have plenty of other spots for me to kiss. I just don't want to cause you any more pain.”

Blaine couldn't fight the smile that appeared on his face, as his eyes met Kurt's bright blue ones. There was a beautiful tingly sensation travelling all through him as he stared at this man – this perfect man who somehow, for reasons Blaine still couldn't understand, was interested in spending time with him, in taking care of him, in kissing him. And god, Blaine really was lucky, when he stopped and thought about it.

Being in love with Kurt Hummel was like a rollercoaster, and he never wanted the ride to come to a stop.

*

It was unusual for Kurt to be the first one to arrive at the bar for his weekly hangout with the girls. He had miraculously ended with a meeting a lot sooner than expected, and he was ready to relax with a glass of something and a few laughs with his friends.

He entertained himself texting Blaine while he waited, sipping a glass of white wine. Blaine had gone back to work today, and Kurt couldn't help being worried that he would train too hard too soon. Blaine was quick to reassure him – he knew what he was doing, after all. The fight Kurt had seen hadn't been the first one Blaine had taken part in. He was, by all means, a professional.

From: Blaine

Just got home. I went out running with one of the guys, and that was pretty much all I did. I promise I was good.

Kurt hummed, happy with the answer.

From: Blaine

And you still owe me a kiss.

Kurt had to hide his huge grin behind his hand, because he didn't want the whole bar to see him smiling like a maniac at his phone.

To: Blaine

I gave you a very thorough kiss last night.

The reply made his phone vibrate only ten seconds later.

From: Blaine

That was a blowjob, Kurt, not a kiss.

To: Blaine

I didn't hear any complaints last night.

From: Blaine

And I am NOT complaining. I encourage you to follow through on your promise to kiss all the other spots you want to kiss. I'm just saying… I miss your kisses, your lips on mine.

Kurt swooned. Was it possible that he was swooning when the conversation he was having included the topic of blowjobs? It had to be the wine. Yeah, he was not swooning. He had just had too much wine.

Damn you, Blaine Anderson.

“Hi Kurt!” A familiar voice said, making him look up. Rachel was approaching the table, smiling at him widely. He could see Santana and Dani entering the bar at the same time. “Have you been waiting long?”

“Not really. Twenty minutes or so. How are you?” Kurt asked, and soon his girls were taking the seats all around him and asking the waitress to bring them drinks.

Conversation always flowed easily. There was a lot to talk about during their weekly hangouts – there were always complaints about work, arguments with spouses, vacation plans that were starting to take form, ideas for future hangouts.

Santana had finished listing her reasons to eviscerate her boss when Dani patted her hand and turned to Kurt. “So, how's Blaine?”

With that very simple question, all the attention was on him. Rachel's eyes narrowed like she was a coyote focusing on her prey.

“Yes, how is Blaine? Is he still in the dark or have you decided to be a mature adult and talk to him?” She said, her tone accusing.

Kurt groaned in annoyance. “Oh god. You're not my mother, Rachel.”

“I wouldn't have the need to mother you if you weren't being such a child, oh my god,” Rachel replied, shaking her head in disbelief. “Does this mean you haven't told him yet?”

“You know, I rarely side with Berry, but she's right about this,” Santana said, swirling her whiskey around the glass. “You're being terribly stubborn about this and it's just stupid.”

“Why won't you tell him?” Dani asked, frowning at him.

“I don't know, okay?” He said, irritated. He gestured the waitress to bring him another drink. “We're having so much fun together, I just don't want to ruin it. Why make it end so soon when we can still enjoy a little longer?”

“Why are you treating this as if it wasn't serious?” Rachel insisted, leaning over the table. “Kurt, you're being really thick.”

“I'm not. I'm just being realistic. We have sex, Rachel. That's how this thing started – there was a connection, we went home together, we had sex. That was it. And then he came back for another round, so it's just… you know, practical, to have this,” Kurt said, avoiding looking at them. “Why go look for other men to have casual sex with if we can keep this up?”

“Look, Hummel. I generally believe sex is the reason and cause for everything,” Santana said, crossing her arms over the table and looking at him in the eyes with her own dark ones. “Sex makes life better, it gives us purpose, it keeps us from going insane and killing people. So yes, I know you're not lying when you say that's why you two started this…”

“Thank you!” Kurt said, throwing his arms in the air, grateful.

“But that's not what this is about anymore,” Santana continued, without paying attention to him. “That guy is crazy about you. He's in love with you. So if you don't come clean about the baby, you're really going to hurt him. I'm not saying you have to marry the guy and be a happy little family. But if you aren't serious about it, if the only thing you want from him is to have him naked in your bed… then just put an end to this now.”

Kurt was silent after that. It was very rare to hear Santana talk like that.

“I know you've had some shitty relationships, Kurt. But he's not one of those assholes who would just dump you when they got bored, who wouldn't commit, who couldn't understand you. Blaine cares about you. So stop waiting for him to walk away like all the others did, because I don't think he's going anywhere,” Santana said, softly. “Not unless you give him a really good reason to.”

The words sat heavy in Kurt's stomach for the rest of the evening. He didn't want the girls to be right. They couldn't be right…

Could they?

*

Kurt looked down at his wristwatch – a tasteful Hugo Boss watch with a black leather strap, thank you very much – and realized he had almost two hours to kill. One of his clients had just called him to cancel a meeting, not bothering to let him know until Kurt was halfway to the coffee shop where they had agreed to meet and discuss menus and guest lists.

He took a glance around and it only took him a minute to realize he was a couple blocks away from Blaine's gym. He didn't even think about it before heading in that direction – maybe Blaine would like to take a little break for lunch and that kiss Kurt had promised to give him.

The scent of sweat and testosterone hit Kurt's nostrils as soon as he stepped into the gym. It looked a lot bigger than when he had been there for the fight, without the chairs for the public. Now that Kurt wasn't nervous about Blaine being punched to death, he found more details about it, especially the wall near the entrance, with pictures of all the boxers and competitions that had passed through Mendez Gym. It didn't take long for Kurt to find Blaine – there were at least ten pictures of him, some several years old. He could see how his body had evolved, muscles growing, chest and shoulders widening…

“Can I help you?” A voice behind him said, startling him.

Kurt turned around and found a man with tanned skin and dark eyes. His hair was so short he was almost bald, and his muscled arms were crossed over his chest, as he looked Kurt up and down.

Kurt gulped. Yeah, he was still very out of place here.

“Oh, hi. I'm looking for Blaine? Blaine Anderson.”

“Kurt?” Blaine's voice said, coming from a few steps behind the man. Kurt looked over his shoulder and instantly smiled at the sight of him. Blaine smiled back. “Hi! What are you doing here?”

“I was just in the neighborhood and I was wondering if you had time to have lunch with me? It's okay if you're busy, though…” Kurt replied, eyeing the man with some reservation.

“No, that sounds great!” Blaine immediately agreed. He looked a lot better – his eye wasn't swollen anymore, the crack on his lip had practically vanished, and except for a few bruises still taking their sweet time disappearing, he was almost back to his usual charming and attractive self. “Oh, how rude of me. Kurt, this is Carlos Mendez. He's the gym's owner,” Blaine said. Kurt offered his hand for the other man to shake. “Carlos, this is my boyfriend, Kurt.”

Kurt almost froze mid-handshake. The word sounded so natural on Blaine's lips, but it sent a cold shiver down Kurt's spine, like he had just been pushed into a pool full of iced water. With just that one word, two syllables, Kurt felt like everything his friends had been telling him was slapping him on the face, making him stop refusing to see the truth in front of him.

He had been so blind, so stubborn. Had he and Blaine ever been on the same page? Or had he been kidding himself from the very beginning?

Blaine leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, not noticing the way Kurt's world had started falling apart around him. “Let me get my wallet and we can go.”

He had to put a stop to this. It was time to tell the truth.

*

Kurt planned to talk to Blaine on Friday night, when they agreed to have dinner at Blaine's apartment. But as Kurt was taking a deep breath to gather courage and start talking, Blaine came up behind him and sucked on his pulse point, making Kurt's knees go weak.

He couldn't remember what he was supposed to tell Blaine after that.

But on Saturday morning, he woke up with a heavy feeling in his stomach, a knot forming there that wouldn't loosen up, and he knew he had to stop getting distracted. Blaine was sleeping next to him, blissfully naked and peaceful, so Kurt slipped out of bed, put on his underwear and a t-shirt, and headed to the kitchen. All serious conversations were easier when there was coffee involved.

By the time Blaine stepped into the kitchen, sleepy and with a mess of curls on his head, Kurt had a fresh pot of coffee and some scrambled eggs almost ready. Blaine pressed himself against Kurt's back and hid his face on his shoulder, breathing deeply as if there was nothing like the scent of Kurt's skin in the morning.

Shit.

“Hey you,” he mumbled.

“Good morning. These are almost ready. Why don't you take a seat?” Kurt said, because he honestly couldn't think with Blaine against him like that.

“Thanks, honey. I have some whole wheat bread, do you want toast?” Blaine asked as he opened a cabinet and grabbed the bag of bread.

“Yeah, sure,” Kurt replied distractedly.

They sat at the kitchen table with their coffee, their toast, their scrambled eggs, and Kurt's inner freak out. How do you tell the guy you've been sleeping with that you're not, in fact dating? And that he probably doesn't want to date you anyway because you have a baby on the way that you totally neglected to mention in the past few months?

“What do you say if we catch a movie later? There's a new one I've heard it's really good…” Blaine said after taking a good sip of coffee.

“Yeah,” Kurt answered, not really sure what he was agreeing to. He cleared his throat and his fingers tightened around his cup of coffee. “Actually… there was something I needed to talk to…”

There was a knock at the door. Kurt froze mid-sentence and Blaine glanced at the door with his mouth full of eggs and toast. Kurt would never admit just how relieved he was for the interruption. He practically flew out of his seat to get to the door.

“I'll get it!”

Kurt didn't even stop to think that he was in his underwear before he pulled the door opened. He was just too happy to get to delay the conversation a little bit more. But when he saw who was there, his eyes widened, and he wished he had at least put on a pair of sweatpants when he got out of bed.

“Cooper… hi,” he said, and he was sure his cheeks were bright red.

Cooper's face lit up in surprise and a huge smile followed right after. “Kurt! What a surprise finding you here!” He looked down at what Kurt was wearing, and he seemed so ridiculously happy that Kurt was tempted to shut the door on his face.

“Yeah, uh… well, Blaine and I…” Kurt trailed off, not knowing where he was going with that. He decided avoiding the topic was probably the best tactic at the moment. “How's Michelle doing?”

“Splendid, beautiful, amazing…” Cooper replied, still grinning like an idiot. “What about you, Kurt? How are you?”

Before Kurt could come up with an appropriate reply, Blaine appeared behind him. His face was unreadable, but there was something hard in his eyes that Kurt didn't really like.

“What are you doing here, Cooper?” Blaine asked in a cold voice.

Cooper's smile hesitated, but stayed on his face. “Just dropping by to see my favorite brother. It's been a while,” he said, with a shrug. He entered the apartment without waiting for the other two to invite him in.

Kurt, feeling too awkward to stay, pressed his hand against Blaine's arm in silent support. “I'm gonna go get dressed.”

He slipped out of the room before anyone could stop him, and softly closed the door behind him. He hadn't expected his attempt at a confession to get so derailed.

He took his time locating his clothes and putting them in. Then he stretched the blankets on Blaine's bed and folded the t-shirt he had borrowed, placing it on the dresser. When he knew he couldn't find more excuses to avoid coming back out, he took a deep breath and left the bedroom.

Cooper was leaning against the kitchen counter, talking non-stop, as Blaine simply stood in the middle of the kitchen, arms crossed over his chest tightly and mouth set in a firm line.

“… but it was a great honeymoon. Michelle loved every minute of it,” Cooper was saying. He smiled at Kurt when he saw him, clearly glad that he was there, since Blaine was a very uncooperative conversation partner. “It's so great that you guys met! Was it at the wedding? I was totally thinking about introducing you guys.”

“I'm sure you were,” Kurt said, not sure what else was there to say. “And yes, it was at the wedding. We…”

“You still haven't really answered my question, Cooper,” Blaine interrupted bluntly. “What are you doing here?”

Kurt thought that Cooper was a very brave or a very stupid man for looking at Blaine with that huge grin on his face, like he couldn't detect the upset tone in his voice.

“Well, we haven't talked in a while…” Cooper replied, as if it was obvious. “And I thought it would be nice to catch up. You still haven't properly met Michelle. She would love to have you over for dinner. Both of you, actually!”

“That's really sweet, Cooper, but…” Kurt began to say, trying to find a way out of this situation.

“And you two should totally come see my show!” Cooper exclaimed, like it was the most brilliant idea ever. “It's amazing, and there's a lot of rumors that I'll be getting a Tony nomination for this one. Blaine hasn't seen it yet! It's a really great play, I…”

Something snapped inside of Blaine. Kurt should have seen it coming, should have noticed it in the way he clenched and unclenched his fists, in the way his jaw went taut with tension. But even if he had noticed it, Kurt wouldn't have been able to stop Blaine, who moved towards Cooper with the strength of a wrecking ball ready to tear him apart.

Cooper swayed back with the force of Blaine's punch, hitting the back of his head with the kitchen cabinet. The fist had landed on his cheekbone, and Cooper cried out in pain as soon as he felt it. Kurt was startled by it – even though he knew their relationship wasn't the best one, he wasn't expecting Blaine to punch his brother in the face like that.

“Blaine, no!” Kurt exclaimed when he saw him put his arm back as if to swing at Cooper again. He moved forward quickly and placed his hand on Blaine's elbow to stop him. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Get the fuck out of my house,” Blaine murmured in a low, menacing voice. His eyes were fire, set on Cooper. “Now.”

“Blaine, Squirt, I…” Cooper said, as his own eyes filled with tears and he held a hand to where Blaine had hit him.

“I'm not going to say it again, Cooper.”

Kurt hurried to put himself between the brothers, grabbing Cooper's arm and pulling him towards the door. “Come on, Cooper. Let me help you out…”

“But, I…” Cooper mumbled, and looked over his shoulder at his brother as Kurt made him move. Blaine was stiff, his back to them, breathing heavily. “Kurt, I don't…”

“Are you okay?” Kurt asked softly. There was a purpling bruise already forming on his handsome face. “Will you be okay to get home on your own?”

“Yes, I'm fine, it's just…” Cooper blinked, and it seemed like he was considering pushing past Kurt and walking back to his brother.

“Leave him,” Kurt said. “Just go.”

Cooper nodded reluctantly. Once Kurt opened the front door, he walked down the hallway and out of their sight without another word, but Kurt could see how much every step away from Blaine cost him.

There were so many things Kurt didn't understand.

And it looked like Blaine was one of them, after all.

Kurt stood very still by the door once it was closed and they were alone again. He glanced towards the kitchen and saw Blaine running his hands down his face and breathing deeply, as if trying to regain control. The conversation they had been about to have was the farthest thing from Kurt's mind right now. He realized he couldn't talk to Blaine – not now, not like this.

He walked towards the couch, where he had dropped his satchel the previous night, and grabbed it. Blaine's eyes snapped to him when he did.

“Kurt…” his voice was pleading, pained, but Kurt couldn't even look at him now.

“I should go.” Kurt headed for the door, as every emotion inside of him swirled in a confusing storm.

“No, please,” Blaine said, and stepped between him and the exit. “Please, hear me out…”

“I don't think there's a lot to say right now, Blaine. I really need to go,” Kurt replied, hands tightening on the strap of his bag. He finally lifted his eyes to meet Blaine's. “Let me go.”

He would have sworn Blaine's lower lip trembled slightly. “I would never…”

“I have to go,” Kurt interrupted, as his chest tightened with the need to cry.

Blaine looked away, and he seemed embarrassed. He moved away from the door, letting Kurt open it and slip through it to get out of the apartment. Kurt didn't look back, didn't know if Blaine was watching him go or not.

There might not be need to tell the truth, after all, Kurt realized. Maybe things were already broken beyond repair.

Maybe this was the end he had been waiting for.

*