Blaine was awoken gently by a hand shaking his shoulder. He opened his eyes and noticed the room was still dark, before the smell of coffee filled his nostrils and Carole's face became barely visible next to him.

"Good morning, dear," she said softly. "You'd better get up if you want to join Kurt on his crazy Black Friday crusade."

"What time is it?" He sat up against the pillows, rubbing his eyes, confused.

"Almost five in the morning," Carole said, putting the cup down on the bedside table. "Kurt wants to be out of here before six. Earlier, if possible, so you have to start moving."

"Sure, I'm coming," he mumbled, still a little sleepy.

Carole chuckled as she left the room. Blaine reached for the lamp switch and turned the light on. He felt as if he had just gone to bed, even though he had slept so well he couldn't remember the last time it had been that way. The house was mostly silent. He could hear what he assumed was Burt's snoring in the distance and something that suspiciously sounded a lot like a hair dryer and was probably coming from Kurt's bathroom.

He started sipping his coffee, hoping it would help him get rid of his drowsiness. The bed was warm and comfortable and he didn't see the appeal in getting out of it to go fight his way into crowded shops, but Kurt was really excited about going, and that was all that mattered to Blaine.

Just as he was about to put down his empty coffee cup, Kurt leaned against the doorway, completely dressed and quirking an eyebrow at him. He looked absolutely fantastic and Blaine almost choked on the last drop of coffee he was swallowing. The jeans he was wearing weren't as tight as the ones Blaine normally saw on him, but they were still perfectly fitted. He had a white long sleeved t-shirt with a black vest over it and his hair was perfectly styled… at five in the morning. How could he look so stunning at five in the morning when Blaine was still in sweatpants, an old Harvard t-shirt and his curls completely messy on top of his head?

"I see you made a lot of progress while I was finishing in the shower," Kurt teased with a smirk.

Blaine felt the urge to cover himself up completely with the blankets. "I… I'll be ready in ten minutes, I promise. Just need a quick shower, then I'll throw some clothes on and get my hair…"

"Don't," Kurt interrupted, narrowing his eyes a little as he studied Blaine intently. "Don't gel your hair down. The curls look cute on you."

It was way too early to blush this much, Blaine thought as he cleared his throat. "Uhm, thanks."

"You're welcome. I'll be downstairs having breakfast. Come down when you're ready!"

Blaine showered very quickly, decided to leave shaving for when they were back because they would be late if he did it now, put on jeans and a black hoodie (it was too early to have fashion sense. He wasn't Kurt) and then stood in front of the mirror with the bottle of gel in his hand, trying to decide what to do. He finally put the bottle down, fingered the curls into some sort of order and, praying for the best because he knew how wild his hair could be, went downstairs to find Kurt.

Kurt was about to take a bite of his wheat toast when Blaine came into the kitchen and he suddenly dropped it onto the plate. It wasn't the first time Kurt noticed just how gorgeous Blaine really was, but right now he looked so natural, so perfect, so accessible that Kurt was starting to wonder if he wasn't about to have a heart attack, because it couldn't be normal for his heart to be beating that fast.

Blaine looked down at himself, self-conscious. "I know this sort of falls into a completely unfashionable category but, uhm… I figured we would be walking around a lot today and I wanted to be comfortable."

Kurt just kept looking at him, mouth slightly open. He just couldn't tear his eyes away.

Blaine started tugging at the hem of his hoodie. "Okay, fine, I'll go get changed…"

"No!" Kurt practically yelled, causing Blaine's eyes to widen. "Uh. I mean… you look… you look really good. Really, really good."

Blaine smiled slightly, a sparkle lighting up his eyes. "Do you really think so?"

"Yes," Kurt replied, maybe way too eagerly. He tried to cover it up by drinking his coffee. "But don't tell Finn I said that because I've been trying to convince him to wear something more than just jeans and hoodies for years."

What Blaine ended up planning to actually say to Finn was that he had been right. Kurt dragged him from store to store for hours and Blaine was convinced his feet were bleeding inside his shoes. Kurt was an enthusiastic shopper (and a very fierce, scary one, too. He almost ripped a woman's head off when she tried to take the scarf he had set his eyes on) and seemed to be lost in his own happy place as the number of bags in Blaine's hands kept increasing.

But it didn't matter just how tired Blaine was or how much his feet were begging for him to stop and sit down, since seeing Kurt so happy, especially after experiencing what Kurt looked like when he was sad and upset the day before, was enough to keep him going forever. He willingly carried Kurt's bags around when he wanted to go in a particularly crowded (and violent, too) sale that he didn't want to miss. He rescued the pair of boots Kurt wanted from two other pairs of greedy hands and had tried on at least a dozen outfits that Kurt was convinced would look good on him even though Blaine insisted he had nowhere to wear them to, because he wore a suit for work and comfortable jeans or sweatpants at home, and he never really went anywhere else.

"I'll take you out to dinner just so you can have an excuse to wear it," Kurt had said, his cheeks slightly flushed as Blaine realized that Kurt had just covertly asked him out.

Blaine ended up buying all the outfits Kurt approved of.

They stopped by midday to recharge their energy at a coffee shop. Blaine bought the biggest coffees they had and two chicken sandwiches while Kurt sat at their table, typing on his phone as he checked for the list of stores he still wanted to go to.

"I forgot to ask you why Carole didn't come with us," Blaine said as he took his seat across from him at the tiny table. "I thought she was going to."

"She had to work, she had the morning shift," Kurt explained distractedly and finally put his phone back into his pocket.

"How many more stores do we have left?" Blaine wanted to know, tilting his head to the side, curiously.

Kurt smirked. "Getting tired already?"

"No, I'm just asking," Blaine smiled and took a sip of his coffee.

"Just a few more," Kurt answered, chewing thoughtfully at his sandwich. "I know you must be exhausted. I'm sorry. I promise we can take a nap when we get home."

Blaine's mind wandered before he could stop it and he suddenly pictured himself wrapped around Kurt, with a soft blanket covering them as they drifted off to sleep together, lying tightly against each other on the couch. He could almost smell Kurt's delicious coconut shampoo…

"Don't worry about it," he replied, forcing himself out of his daydream. "I'm actually having fun."

"You are?" Kurt asked, hopeful, and Blaine laughed at how innocent he looked right then. It was especially comic since Kurt had been looking everything but innocent all morning.

"Of course I am," Blaine gave him a warm smile. It was hard for Kurt to read the meaning behind it.

I'm having fun because I'm with you.

The last few stores weren't such a crazy experience as all the previous ones, mainly because they were both tired and thinking about that nap Kurt promised. When they finally headed back to Kurt's car, Blaine could swear he could hear his feet cheering.

Blaine helped Kurt carry the ridiculous number of bags up to his room. They put them on the floor, neatly, aligned against the wall so they wouldn't trip over them. Kurt sighed, thinking about the herculean task of having to hang up everything in his closet once he went back to Columbus. Kurt dropped down on the bed, sighing deeply and closing his eyes. He could still feel Blaine's presence, awkwardly standing near the door.

"You know, I told you yesterday we could listen to some of my records but we didn't get the chance," Kurt mumbled, turning on his side so he could face Blaine. "Would you like to do it now?"

"Yeah, sure," Blaine answered with a smile. When Kurt made a gesture for Blaine to pick something, he went over to where Kurt had his records very well organized and scanned the titles for a while before choosing one of his favorite Beatles albums.

Once the first song was playing, he looked around the room for somewhere to sit down. He was about to walk towards the desk chair on the other side of the room, when Kurt patted the bed beside him, his eyes already closed, a sleepy grin on his lips. Blaine couldn't resist it and he laid down next to him, careful to keep a decent distance.

Kurt was too sleepy to actually care. As soon as the bed shifted with Blaine's weight, he moved closer and snuggled against his side, burying his face in his neck, loving how soft the hoodie was against his skin in contrast to the scruff growing on Blaine's jaw. He inhaled with a contented sigh, loving Blaine's masculine scent mixed with something that could've been cologne or body wash.

Blaine held his breath as he felt Kurt cuddling him without a second thought. He stayed very still, afraid any sudden movement would make Kurt pull away, but he didn't. He hummed happily along with the songs, and by the third one, Blaine felt confident enough to actually intertwine their hands together. That was the most he could move, trapped as he was in Kurt's embrace.

One of Kurt's hands sneaked up and he lazily let his fingers tangle in Blaine's curls, playing with them as I Want to Hold Your Hand started filling the room. Kurt's voice sounded low and beautiful next to Blaine's ear as he began to sing. Blaine melted completely, noticing how the love he felt for this man was taking over his body, his mind, his soul. Kurt already owned his heart.

The house was silent and empty. Blaine knew Burt was at the garage with Finn and Carole's shift at the hospital hadn't finished yet. This was his perfect chance. He could kiss Kurt now and there and just tell him everything…

He couldn't bring himself to interrupt the song, though, so he waited, he patiently waited as Kurt's voice enveloped him like a caress. It was getting slower and less and less audible. Kurt stopped singing before the last chorus and just nuzzled against his neck. Blaine could feel the smile against his neck.

Here I go, he thought, taking a deep breath.

"Kurt?" He said softly, not wanting to disturb the beautiful atmosphere that had been built around them. There was no answer, just the regular, gentle puff of breath against his neck as Kurt breathed in and out. "You're asleep, aren't you?" He whispered, with a sigh.

Kurt's only response was to tighten a bit the grip where their hands were linked together on Blaine's chest. Blaine smiled. This was good enough. This was more than he had ever dared to dream of. He tilted his head slightly, so he could press his lips against Kurt's temple. He looked so peaceful, so happy. Blaine couldn't bring himself to wake him up.

He just laid there, snuggling Kurt close, listening to his breathing mix with the songs still playing and he closed his eyes, falling asleep almost immediately, and realizing that the sensation gradually growing somewhere in his chest was a pure, sheer happiness he had never felt before.

Blaine woke up feeling warm, with an unusually big smile on his face, not too long after that. He rolled to his side a bit and opened his eyes when the strong, sweet scent of Kurt filled his senses. He was still in Kurt's bed, though the other man was nowhere to be seen. There was a furry, soft blanket draping him and the image of Kurt putting it on top of him so he wouldn't be cold sent shivers of intense emotion down his spine.

He allowed himself a few more minutes to just bask in the strong, freeing sensation of that happiness he had discovered earlier, the one that had been growing inside of him since the moment he had seen Kurt for the first time, before sighing in contentment and deciding to get up. He straightened up the bed, putting the pillows in their original position and folding the blanket. He could hear the quiet sound of voices coming from downstairs. It was nice, he thought, waking up to a house full of life, to hear more the usual silence of his apartment with only the noise of Robert's paws against the wooden floors. It was nice knowing he wasn't alone.

Blaine went downstairs. The voices came from the kitchen and they unmistakably belonged to Kurt and Finn. They seemed to be arguing about something and Blaine's smile immediately disappeared from his face, until he realized the tone of the argument was actually a bit playful.

"Come on, Kurt, it's not like I've never done it before," Finn was saying.

"Well, that just makes it even worse. I'm wondering how you manage to stay thin with the amount of food you shove into your mouth," Kurt answered as Blaine stood at the doorway, looking at them. Kurt was making a sandwich that looked rather big, with a clearly disapproving expression on his face.

"It's your fault for cooking so well," Finn crossed his arms over his chest. He obviously had just arrived from the tire shop, because he was wearing a dark blue coverall with his name embroidered in cursive, red letters on his chest.

"He has a point," Blaine muttered from where he was leaning against the doorway.

Kurt jumped a bit at the unexpected sound and turned around, one of those bright smiles of his spreading across his face immediately and causing Blaine's heart to skip a few beats. "You're up," he said a little breathlessly.

"Yeah," Blaine replied, incapable of tearing his eyes away from him. Kurt must have showered once he woke up, because his hair wasn't styled and shaped with product anymore, but a little damp at the ends and much more casual. He was also wearing loose sweatpants and an old McKinley high school red hoodie.

Finn rolled his eyes. "Would you mind finishing my sandwich before you two start staring lovingly at each other?"

Blaine gaped. "We… we don't…"

"No, we just…" Kurt raised his hands in front of him, as if he was trying to hold Finn's accusation away from him.

"I mean, not that I wouldn't…"

"It's not that I don't find him…"

Finn burst out, his laughter filling the kitchen as he clutched his stomach, almost bent in half. "You guys should see your faces right now."

Kurt felt himself blushing furiously and turned his back to Blaine to cover it, returning his attention back to Finn's sandwich. "Shut up."

"Whatever, just give me my food," Finn started tapping his foot against the floor, impatiently.

Kurt dropped the finished sandwich on a plate, carelessly, letting some of the filling fall out of it. "I hope you choke on it, Finn Hudson."

Finn even dared to give him a smug smirk as he left the kitchen, winking at Blaine when he passed him on his way to the living room.

The silence extended between them for a few seconds until Blaine cleared his throat. "So… where are your parents?"

"Grocery store," Kurt answered simply, taking an especially long time cleaning the counter, making sure there wasn't even a bread crumble left on it. When he knew he couldn't keep pretending anymore, he looked at Blaine. "Uhm, would you like a sandwich, too?"

"No, I'm fine," Blaine smiled gently. "Thank you."

Kurt looked for something to talk about that would deflect the situation from Finn's awkward comments. "My dad asked me to go to the garage with him tomorrow, to help him like I used to."

"Oh," Blaine said. He looked down at his feet and then back at him. "Okay. That's great."

"Yeah, I really like doing that. We had our best bonding moments when I helped him there after school," Kurt explained, opening the fridge to grab a bottle of water.

Blaine nodded. He had been with Kurt since Wednesday night. He still had a bit more of time to be with him during the rest of the weekend. Kurt deserved to spend some time with his dad. Blaine had no right to feel left out or to be sad because he couldn't spend every second of his day with him. He couldn't be that naïve. Monday would come and punch him in the face if he allowed himself to be.

"I'll probably go out for a walk with Robert, then," Blaine said, hoping he didn't sound needy.

Gosh, he hated sounding needy.

"I…" Kurt shifted uncomfortably on his feet. "I was actually going to ask you to come with me, if you wanted, but if you want to…"

"Really?" Yup, he definitely sounded needy now.

He wondered if Kurt would notice if he started banging his head against the wall.

Kurt smiled encouragingly. "Yeah, well, I did bring you here this weekend to spend time with you and so you could meet my family."

"I don't know anything about cars," Blaine bit his lip.

Kurt's grin shouldn't have been as happy as it was. "I'll show you."

The next morning, Kurt was almost done with his moisturizing routine when there was a knock on the door. Assuming it was his father (Burt always wanted to know when his son would be done putting things on his face so they could just leave), he kept tracing circles over his cheekbones with one of his many facial creams as he exclaimed, "come in!"

But when it was Blaine who peeked inside with a shy smile, Kurt wanted to throw himself under the covers of his bed and out of sight.

"Blaine! I… hi, I…" he lowered his face as much as he could to hide the traces of light green spread over his pale skin.

"Good morning," Blaine said. "I was wondering… do you have anything I can wear? I didn't bring many clothes and the ones I brought are definitely not comfortable enough to work on cars."

Kurt grabbed a paper tissue and wiped his face quickly, completely defeating the purpose of his routine. "Yeah, sure, I can find something for you."

He stood up and walked to his closet, searching through the old clothes he kept there. He found his own coveralls, which he had planned to wear, but they were too long for Blaine. He fished out a pair of sweatpants that he had used for gym before his last growth spurt at high school and an old Hummel Tires and Lube hoodie.

"These should fit you," he put them in Blaine's hands and they smiled at each other. "I'll be down in ten minutes and maybe we can have a coffee before we have to leave?"

"Of course," Blaine reached out and wiped a bit of facial cream from the tip of Kurt's nose. Kurt blushed and closed his eyes, half in embarrassment, half overwhelmed by the contact, as if it was too early to feel so much. "I'll be waiting."

And just like that, Kurt's heart melted like ice-cream on a hot summer day inside his chest. Was Blaine flirting? Was he really flirting?

Because Blaine never flirted. Or didn't as bluntly as then, at least. And yeah, he had opened up a lot, Kurt had seen a lot of different sides of Blaine in the past few days and their friendship was showing a slow yet steady evolution but… flirting? Blaine Anderson flirting?

Kurt had to admit he loved it.

He finished his moisturizing routine very quickly and changed into his coveralls. He had never really liked wearing them, but it was the most practical thing. He was convinced no one in the history of humanity could look good in coveralls. It just made his body look disproportionate and weird. He sighed as he walked down the stairs: he should've thought thorough it better before inviting Blaine to join him at his dad's garage.

"Good morning kiddo," Burt said from his place at the stove, where he was serving some bacon out of the pan. Kurt glared at him, hoping he wasn't planning to eat it himself. When Burt rolled his eyes and placed the plate in front of Blaine at the table, Kurt sighed and poured three cups of coffee.

"Good morning, dad," Kurt sat down in front of Blaine only to realize his hazel eyes were fixed on him. He smiled slightly, trying not to show how much he liked seeing Blaine in his clothes (even if they were unfashionable and old).

Blaine tried to hide the hungry expression in his eyes at the sight of Kurt in coveralls. He knew Kurt could make pretty much any outfit in the world look good, but he hadn't been expecting that: the way it fitted around his body, like wrapping paper, molding every curve, every muscle. "Would you like some bacon?" He asked, only because he couldn't think of anything else to say.

Burt laughed before Kurt had a chance to answer. "Kurt doesn't eat bacon. He doesn't eat any of the good food."

"What you call good food is what made you have a heart attack," Kurt eyed the plate as if it had personally offended him. "If that's what good food does to you, I don't want to know what you consider to bebad."

Burt ignored him pointedly, joining both boys at the table and looking at Blaine. "Do you cook?"

"Not really. Just basic stuff, enough to survive, I guess," Blaine shrugged and chewed on a bit of bacon, a little bit self-consciously. "I do make a decent lasagna, though."

"Really? You said you eat only take out," Kurt quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Because I hardly ever have time to cook," Blaine answered. There was a pause and then he gathered the courage he needed to force the next words out of his mouth. "I could… I could cook for you someday, you know, for a change."

Kurt smiled. "I'd like that."

Burt hid his grin behind his cup of coffee but when a couple of minutes passed and Blaine and Kurt were still looking at each other with that almost sickening spark in their eyes, he cleared his throat and put his cup down, rather loudly. Blaine jumped a bit in his seat.

"We're leaving in five minutes, you two better finish your breakfast," he said, as he stood up and left the room, deciding to give them a bit of privacy.

Burt's shop was huge, Blaine discovered as soon as they got there, climbing out of Kurt's dad's truck. Five cars were parked inside and there still was room for maybe another five or six. There was an old wooden counter at the front, with a metallic displayer right behind it, where there were several bottles of lubricants and other products that Burt sold as an added service. A door on the left was, as Kurt pointed out on his tour, the office.

"I spent a lot of time there when I was a kid," Kurt told him, pushing the door open so Blaine could peek inside at the simple room, which contained a desk, a chair and a few cabinets where they probably kept all the important papers. "Especially when I was still too young to help my dad. He would bring me here after school and I'd do my homework or read or distract myself with coloring books."

Blaine let his eyes wander around the little office. It didn't have a window. It looked a bit sad, with its old paint on the walls and the creaky desk that was probably the same one on which Kurt had done all of those things. But still, Blaine could perfectly picture a little Kurt Hummel sitting there, tiny pink tongue poking out in between his lips in concentration as he gripped tightly a red pencil, trying to color without crossing the lines.

"So… ready to work on your first car?" Kurt said, snapping him out of it and Blaine straightened up, smiling and nodding enthusiastically.

Sometimes it was hard to concentrate as Kurt explained how to change the oil or how to maneuver a certain tool, because seeing Kurt there, in a place where he had never imagined this boy could belong, it was mesmerizing. Blaine was used to seeing him in the sweet surroundings of his bakery, not in a dirty, oil-smelly shop. The black stain on Kurt's cheek seemed completely out of place, almost an offense against the flawless pale skin, but at the same time, Blaine found it so adorable that he couldn't bring himself to let Kurt know about it so he could wipe it away.

Blaine felt a bit incredulous when he realized he was actually having fun. Working on cars had been one of the many options his father had tried on him to see if he could make Blaine more of a man. The car that Walter Anderson had bought him for his fourteenth birthday and that was pretty much garbage, but that Blaine had been supposed to work on so he could have it working by the time he could get his license, had remained untouched and ignored since the day he had gotten it. Blaine knew that if maybe his dad had shown some interest in helping him with it, he would've ended up working on the damn thing, but Walter's intention hadn't been to spend more time with him and bond, but to try to straight him up.

It was different with Kurt. Everything was. There wasn't any hidden meaning behind what they were doing. Kurt had genuinely wanted to share something with him, something that had always been part of his life. And Blaine loved it. He loved how he got to see so many different sides of Kurt, sides he hadn't even imagined could exist under the surface. But there they were, all exposed for him to see now, making him wonder if Kurt had any more secrets, any more things he's like to show Blaine in the future. Blaine was sure that there were.

Once Finn and some of the other employees arrived, the shop was buzzing with activity. No one seemed to mind Blaine's presence and most of them greeted Kurt with a huge smile because they had known him since he was a kid. Blaine wondered if any of them thought he was Kurt's boyfriend. If they did, they showed no sign of disapproval or disgust. Acceptance seemed to be as common as oxygen there and Blaine had to stop a second to process that.

Kurt was patient with him if he made a mistake and helped him realize what he was doing wrong. When Blaine discovered Kurt would put his hand on his to show him how to use a certain tool or how to feel his way into the different parts of the car, he made sure to mess up a few extra times just to feel the slide of skin against skin, the way Kurt leaned next to him, so close that he could feel his breath against his neck.

Burt glanced up from the hood of the car he had been examining and his eyes fell on the two boys two cars away from him, talking in whispers, as if showing Blaine how to do an oil change required Kurt to be as close as he was, as if it was a big secret no one else should hear, as if there was no way Blaine could do it without Kurt's hand on his, guiding him.

Finn stopped at his side, reading a form that contained information about a car that had arrived a few minutes ago. Before he could open his mouth to ask Burt whatever it was he had come to ask, Burt nudged him with his shoulder and nodded towards his son and his friend.

Finn followed his gaze and rolled his eyes. "I don't know what they are waiting for. They're so obviously crazy for each other it almost hurts to look at them."

"They're scared. Blaine hasn't had an easy life," Burt sighed.

His step-son shook his head. "How do they manage to make those puppy-dog eyes at each other while they're covered in grease in the middle of a tire shop? It's like they don't even remember they're here."

"I like Blaine," Burt said as an answer. He shrugged when Finn turned to look at him.

"I like him, too, but he needs to get his shit together," Finn muttered. When Kurt started laughing softly at whatever it was Blaine had just told him, his attention returned to the form he was holding. "Anyway, I need help with this."

When it was time for lunch, Burt drove to the nearest diner and bought food for the four of them. They sat together at the desk in the office, after dragging a few more chairs inside, and joked around as they devoured their burgers and fries (Kurt had a salad, thank you very much).

"You're doing great, kid," Burt patted Blaine's shoulder, who was sitting next to him, squeezed in between the older man and Kurt.

The absolutely amazed and happy expression in Blaine's hazel eyes at those words didn't go unnoticed by Kurt or Burt. Kurt smiled gratefully at his dad from beside Blaine, who immediately turned around to face him as if he couldn't believe what had just happened.

During the afternoon, Blaine alternated his time between helping Kurt and walking around the shop taking pictures of everything that caught his eye. Most of the time his camera ended up pointing towards Kurt, but it wasn't his fault, really. Kurt shouldn't have been allowed to look as beautiful as he did as he changed a tire or slid under the car to take a look at whatever he was looking at under there. None of the others guy did. Maybe it was a Kurt thing: maybe it was impossible for him to look unattractive even when doing things like those.

When it was closing time, the three of them piled in the truck again and went back to the Hummel household. Carole was there already, back from her shift at the hospital, and had brought a few movies they could all watch together and was already working on dinner. Kurt said he would shower and be back down to help her. Blaine followed him upstairs, thinking he should shower, too.

Saturday was almost over, he thought as he let the warm water fall over him. Kurt had mentioned something about going back to Columbus the next day right after lunch. He needed to be at the bakery to get things ready for Monday and though Blaine understood, he wasn't happy about it. The smile he had been wearing all day was washed away like the vestiges of soap on his skin. It wasn't as if he was saying goodbye to Kurt by going back to his dull apartment, the job he didn't feel passionate about and the family who didn't love him. He wasn't. There was no way he was letting Kurt slip away from his life any time soon, or ever, if he could help it. But the longer you live in a perfect fantasy world, the more you want to stay there, surrounded by the fairy tale you've been waiting for your entire life.

Robert was waiting for him in Finn's room when he got out of the shower. The dog wagged his tail at him, happy to see him. Blaine looked around, the sound of water running in the other bathroom somehow echoing across the upper floor, which meant Kurt was still in the shower.

He needed air. He needed to breathe before he returned to the cage his life had turned into.

"Come on, buddy," he said, and Robert followed him down the stairs. Blaine put on his coat, a blue beanie on his damp hair and a scarf before going outside to the backyard with his dog. Robert immediately started running around and barking at birds in the trees.

Blaine leaned down, grabbed a bit of snow, made a ball and threw it across the backyard. Robert chased it and sniffed the place where it landed. When he looked at him expectantly, Blaine did it again, throwing it at the opposite end of the backyard.

He imagined what it would be like if throwing away his worries and all of the things he hated about his life could be that easy. He imagined what it would be like if consequences could just melt into nothingness, just like snow.

Robert was bored after a while and stopped chasing the snowballs, but Blaine kept throwing them, maybe a little too hard, as if he couldn't stop. He was so lost in it, he didn't hear the door behind him until his favorite sound in the world filled his ears.

"What did the snow do to you to make you that mad?" Kurt asked and when Blaine turned around, he found him smiling playfully, but with a bit of concern hidden in his eyes. He had his coat on and his hair was perfectly styled, as if he was ready to go out instead of about to spend a night in with his family. He was breathtaking.

"Nothing, I was just… thinking," Blaine answered, letting go of the snow he had in his hands. It fell between his feet and he stepped on it to make it flat.

"Anything you want to talk about?" Kurt was close, but not close enough. He couldn't feel his warmth even if he could just reach out and pull him against his chest.

Blaine shrugged. "Not really. I was thinking about going back tomorrow and how I don't want this weekend to be over."

Kurt's smile was sweeter now. "Part of me wants to stay here, too. I love coming here… and I love that you're sharing it with me this time."

Kurt leaned against the wooden column on one side of the porch, Blaine leaned against the opposite one. They faced each other and it was as if nothing needed to be said. It was all there, in the air, in the snow, in their eyes.

"I have something for you," Kurt said at least, a note of eagerness and nerves to his voice that caused Blaine to tilt his head in curiosity. "I've… I've been waiting for the right moment to give it to you, but… I guess this one is just as good as any other."

He fished an envelope out of his coat's pocket and extended it to Blaine with a shaky hand. If it was because of the cold or because of what the envelope represented, Blaine didn't know.

"What is it?" He asked, because he couldn't help himself.

"I… I want to think it's not something silly. I want to think it's something good for you," Kurt said, hesitantly, crossing his arms over his chest. "It's… just open it."

So Blaine did. He opened it, extracted the paper inside and stared at it for what seemed a very long time. He could feel Kurt shifting on his feet in front of him, probably waiting for his reaction, but his brain had seemed to slow down.

"What…" He babbled.

"I know I should've asked you, but I thought you'd say no if I did," Kurt started saying, even more nervous. "I know you're free after six at the latest and I thought it would be perfect for you…"

"You…" Blaine glanced, perplexed, between Kurt and the paper still in his hands. "You signed me up for photography classes?"

"Yes," Kurt replied, and it was more a shivering hiss than a word. He took a deep breath. "Blaine, you deserve to be happy. I hate to know you're miserable, I hate to see you thinking you're not worth even a try at happiness." He looked at the paper Blaine was clutching as if it was a lifeline. "They are expecting a call from you. I didn't know how advanced you are or some of the personal information they asked me. I just thought you wouldn't do it for yourself."

"You… you're right. It wouldn't have even crossed my mind," Blaine whispered.

"So… will you at least consider it?" Kurt wanted to know, a tiny spark of hope in his tone. "I know this may not change everything, but… Blaine, you only have one life and you shouldn't hate living it. You deserve much more than you give yourself credit for…"

Blaine raised his eyes to him. The hazel was blurred by the tears pooling there. "Kurt…" was all he managed to say, his voice broken.

Kurt closed the distance between them before he even realized he was moving, and he threw his arms around Blaine to hold him close. Just the look on his face was enough to make Kurt want to cry, too, but he didn't. He wiped Blaine's tears away, gently. "You're wonderful, Blaine and don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise. Don't let anyone convince you that you're not this amazing, sweet, gorgeous man I see every time I look at you."

Blaine let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, his fingers digging into Kurt's back, the paper wrinkling slightly with the pressure. He moved forward, because he just couldn't stop himself anymore, but it was Kurt who actually closed the gap between them and crashed their lips together.

At first it was so overwhelming that neither of them knew exactly what to do. Their lips were dry and warm against each other and they seemed to ache now that they had finally met, as if it was too much, as if after all those times they had wanted to do this, nothing had ever really prepared them for the moment it actually happened. But then Kurt cupped Blaine's face in one of his hands and pushed a little, deepening the kiss, feeling Blaine responding under his mouth, tasting like coffee even though it had been hours since he'd had a cup. It was sweet and perfect in so many ways: how their lips slid together as if they had been doing this forever, how Blaine willingly received when Kurt pushed a little farther, how Kurt couldn't help but shift his hand to the back of Blaine's head and sneak it under the beanie to touch the still damp curls underneath.

Everything that needed to be, was there. The initial spark, the fireworks, the butterflies that seemed to be trying to move from Kurt to Blaine and from Blaine to Kurt as the kiss didn't die.

Eventually, breathing became essential again and they pulled away, slowly, keeping their eyes closed for a moment longer as if that way they could prolong it. Blaine rested his forehead against Kurt's and felt the other man's breath against his skin. His hands were shaking where he was clinging at Kurt's coat.

When their eyes opened, hazel stared right into blue, the intensity in each other's gazes making their hearts skip a few beats. And then Blaine leaned forward again, because this time he could, because the fear of Kurt pushing him away had vanished and seemed impossible now that he felt Kurt's arms wrapping around him and tugging him closer, as if their bodies weren't already glued together.

"Thank you," he whispered against his lips.

Kurt smiled, nuzzling his nose against Blaine's slightly stubbly cheek before pecking him on the mouth. "You're welcome." He placed a few more kisses, all quick and short on Blaine's lips, before sighing. "You do realize Carole, Finn and my dad are spying on us from the kitchen window, right?"

Blaine closed his eyes and moaned in embarrassment. "Oh God."

"It's okay," Kurt chuckled, not caring about the three people who obviously thought were really good at hiding behind the curtains. He kissed Blaine again. "They were all rooting for us."

A genuine, happy smile spread on Blaine's lips, and stayed there even as Kurt kissed him one more time.