That afternoon, Blaine began to devise a plan to win Kurt back. After what had happened between them in the Lima Bean parking lot, he was going to have to do something astronomical to regain Kurt’s trust. But what? He wasn’t good at this sort of thing, let alone with a guy. This was new territory for him.

“Rachel!” Blaine called in the McKinley school parking lot. The short brunette turned on her heel and gave him a soft smile.

“Hello, Blaine.”

“Listen, I need your help-”

“If this is about Kurt, you’re on your own,” she interrupted.

“What? What, no! Please, other than me, you’re the closest with Kurt at this school. I need- I need to get him back.”

“Blaine,” Rachel sighed. “I don’t really know what you did to him, but Kurt’s is pretty torn up right now.”

“You don’t know?” he asked.

“No, he wouldn’t tell me what really happened. Just that he couldn’t see you anymore. That it hurt too much. Blaine, Kurt is a good guy. He might be gay and I know you and Puck look down on that sort of thing, but that’s no reason to-”

“I love him,” he burst.

Rachel stopped, her mouth hung open with unspoken words and her eyes large in shock. Blaine squared his jaw and looked down at her with as much courage as he could muster. This was the first time he had said it out loud and if he was being honest with himself, it felt so right.

Rachel grabbed his arm and pulled him off to the side, behind her car.

“Wh-what?” she whispered.

“I’m in love with him, Rachel. It might have taken me a while to figure it out, but it’s true. I can’t stand to be away from him. He means everything to me and I will do anything and everything I can to win him back, with or without your help.”

Rachel slowly turned her mouth into a smile. She knew that Kurt was in love with Blaine. It was written all over his porcelain face. But this was new information to her. Blaine loved Kurt back. She would have to tell her dads about this.

“Blaine,” she started. “What went on between you and him the other day?”

Blaine flushed deep red. “I-I kissed him.”

“You what?” Rachel shrieked with excitement, “When? Where?”

“Wednesday afternoon, at the Lima Bean.”

“Wait, but why was that so terrible? I mean, if you like him, what’s the problem?”

“I sort of hurt him… I didn’t mean to, I was just so scared. I’d never kissed a guy before. It just kind of happened. And then he gave me the weirdest expression, I’m sure he was so confused because up until that point I had been completely straight to him, well except for that time we went clubbing-”

“Wait, clubbing?”

“-But then I freaked out and told him that I was straight and that I had made a mistake. I think he took it pretty hard because he hasn’t spoken to me since. I-I didn’t mean to. I just wasn’t honest with myself yet. But now I am. I know what I want and what I want is Kurt.”

“Blaine, you hurt him pretty badly,” Rachel explained. “I’ve never seen him like this. He just- just sulks.”

“But he seems pretty alright when I see him. Sure he gives me a look that could make a Dementor cry, but he doesn’t look sad.”

“Kurt is an excellent actor,” she laughed dryly. “When you’re not around, he’s a mess.”

“I need to win him back, Rachel,” Blaine pressed. “I have to let him know how I feel.”

“You really screwed this up, Blaine.”

“I know. I know I did and that’s why I need your help to fix this. Please, Rachel!”

She smiled mischievously. “Let’s call Finn. I think I have an idea.”

“Mr. Schue?” Blaine asked from the back row, raising his hand.

The bell had just rung for glee club to start and all of its members were present and accounted for in their usual places. Next to Brittany, Santana looked happily at her, their hands laced between them. From the other side of Blaine, Puck was leaning over to see around Santana, trying to catch Quinn’s eye who smiled slightly, trying to keep from making eye contact. Mercedes groaned from her seat next to him at his faulty attempts to woo Quinn. On the bottom row, Tina and Mike twined their fingers together, completely caught up in each other eyes. Artie sat next to them, sighing. Finn sat obediently next to his girlfriend Rachel who, as always, had a possessive hand on his knee. Rachel looked reassuringly at Blaine.

On Finn’s right was Kurt. He sat rim rod straight with one leg crossed over the other and fingers laced around one knee. Today he wore a tight fitting grey sweater that swooped around to reveal both his thin shoulders. His legs were clad in red jeans that must have been painted on because there was no way that they made pants that tight. Blaine, who was directly behind him, could hardly take his eyes off of Kurt’ s lean but strong looking bare shoulders.

“Yes, what is it, Blaine?” Mr. Schuster replied.

“I was hoping I could do a song,” Blaine rushed; tearing is eyes away from the boy in front of him. “And it actually pertains to this week’s lesson of “Flaws”.”

“I think that would be a great way to start the class. Take it away, Blaine.”

Blaine motioned for Puck and Finn to follow suit. Blaine and Rachel had called Finn yesterday after their talk and told him to meet them at Puck’s. A few hours later, the boys had rehearsed a song that Rachel thought might just win Kurt over.

“Here we go, another clich� power pop song by the band o’ losers, “We Stinnk”,” Santana sighed.

“Tanny, I thought their band was called “Don’t Blinnk”?” Brittany whispered.

Santana simply grumbled in response, and scooted closer to her blonde friend.

As Blaine stepped down from the risers, he leaned down close to Kurt’s ear.

“It’s not for her,” he whispered hotly.

Kurt shuddered at the closeness. Blaine pulled away quickly, making his way to the front of the room with the rest of his band.

It’s not for her? Kurt wondered. What the hell does that mean? What’s not for whom?

Blaine took his place on a stool in front of Finn and Puck and took a deep breath. Blaine held no instrument, which was weird enough by itself, but why were they sitting? They always stood for their power rock jams, why sit for this one?

Puck started the opening chords of the song and Kurt knew instantly why; they weren’t doing a powerhouse rock song, they were doing an acoustic ballad. Kurt stared hard at Blaine who gazed down during the opening chords. As he sang the opening verse, Blaine looked directly at him:

When I made up my mind
And my heart along with that
To live not for myself
But I’d forgot, somebody said
“Do you know what you are getting yourself into?”

Oh. That’s what he meant. “It’s not for her”. The song wasn’t for Brittany, as everyone surely thought. Blaine was singing to Kurt.

Blaine, trying to seem less obvious than he felt, tried to look away from Kurt, but that was proving to be impossible. Kurt’s electric blue eyes watched him closely, as if to trying to figure out Blaine’s motives, but the rest of his face remained expressionless.

Finn joined Blaine on the next verse with backing vocals.

When I finally ironed out
All of my priorities
And asked God to remove the doubt
That makes me so unsure of these
Things I ask myself, I ask myself
“Do you know what you are getting yourself into?”

I'm getting into you
Because you got to me, in a way words can't describe
I'm getting into you
Because I've got to be
You're essential to survive
I'm going to love you with my life

Please understand me, Kurt, Blaine pleaded silently. Understand that this is for you.

At this point, Blaine simply could not sit still. He got up from his seat, pushing the stool aside. Puck laughed from behind him. Blaine continued to sing with as much conviction as he could muster.

When he looked at me and said
“I kind of view you as the sun”

Kurt was thrust into a memory. A summer afternoon so many years ago. Golden eyes and yellow roses made of sunlight and smiles.

It was them. Kurt and Blaine. The first day they met back on that playground. And-and the flowers, his mother’s golden roses that he had picked and given to Blaine.

And for a second our eyes met
And I met that with a question
“Do you know what you are getting yourself into?”

Kurt’s heart pounded in his chest as the curly haired boy pointed to him. Did he realize what this would look like? Did he realize what the others would see? Did this mean that he really had made a decision about the two of them?

I've been a liar and I'll never amount to
The kind of person you deserve to worship you

You say you will not dwell on what I did but rather what I do you say

Blaine thought of his time with Kurt as children, when things were simpler; Before the Bubbs had hurt them, before Kurt’s mother had died, before Blaine’s mother had run away, before Kurt had gone to Dalton.

He looked at the stunned countertenor with smoldering honey eyes, emphasizing the next line. He turned slowly and took his place at the front of the room. Blaine gazed in Kurt’s direction again.

This is it, he thought. I’m laying it all out on the line for him right now.

I love you and that's what you are getting yourself into

I'm getting into you
Because you got to me, in a way words can't describe
I'm getting into you
Because I've got to be
You're essential to survive
I'm going to love you with my life

He said, I love you and that's what you are getting yourself into

As the song faded out, the room burst into a polite applause, but the two boys might as well have been on a different planet. Blaine’s sunny eyes bore right into Kurt’s blue ones, only seeing each other. Each knew that they had a lot to discuss, but it was going to have to wait until glee was over.

“As nice as that was, Blaine,” Mr. Schue said as the clapping died down, “That wasn’t relevant to this week’s lesson. The whole song was about the person’s perfection and love, not about flaws.”

“No. It wasn’t supposed to be about the person’s flaws,” Blaine responded. He turned away from his teacher’s gaze, staring directly at Kurt as he spoke. “It was about mine.”

Kurt gaped at him.

“Oh, well, then I guess that was sort of relevant. You boys can take your seats.” Mr. Schue continued walking back up to the whiteboard on the wall, “But let’s keep working on it. We need to find something really solid for Regional’s, guys! We need something that will knock the socks off of those judges! Now, some of you are having trouble with…”

As Blaine strode back to his seat, he brushed Kurt’s shoulder lightly, sending a shock between them.

That was static, Kurt told himself. That was just static, right?

As the class began to file out, Kurt gathered his bag slowly, making sure to be one of the last people out of the class. As Blaine passed him, Kurt made eye contact with the dark haired boy. As he walked away, Kurt almost felt like everything had slowed down into slow motion. The look was brief, but purposeful; A plea maybe.

Kurt grabbed his bag quickly and headed to his locker. He still felt lightheaded from Blaine’s performance. He still couldn’t understand what Blaine had been thinking, but he was going to set this straight. He snatched the books he needed for his homework that night and closed his locker, heading over to Blaine’s. As he predicted, Blaine was there, dreamy as ever, reaching on his tiptoes to get a book from the top shelf. Kurt smiled. After all these years, not much had changed.

Kurt stood rigid in front of Blaine who looked back at him like deer in headlights.

“Blaine,” Kurt breathed. Blaine blinked slowly, as if relishing the sound of Kurt’s voice.

“Yes?” he said after a moment.

“We need to talk.”

Blaine’s gaze raked over Kurt’s face like he was trying to find the underlying meaning beneath his words.

“Uh, yeah, yeah okay. When?”

“Now. Is my house alright?”

“Oh, sure, that’s fine.”

“I’ll drive,” Kurt said as he turned on his heel, leaving Blaine to scramble after him.

The ride over to the Hummel-Hudson house was anything but comfortable. The radio played quietly, trying to fill the awkward space that had been created. Neither Kurt nor Blaine spoke on the ride over. Blaine looked out the side window, seemingly fascinated with the houses whizzing past. It was only when Kurt cut the engine that he realized they had made it to the house.

“Are you sure it’s all right if I’m here, Kurt?” he said, looking up at the familiar blue house he knew from years ago. “Your dad didn’t seem too fond of me the last time I saw him and I don’t want to intrude on anything.”

“Blaine, please, the last time he saw you was when we were twelve. We were injured and I think it’s safe to say he was a little frazzled,” Kurt laughed, unlocking the door. He sauntered in, hanging up his coat in the nearby closet and offered to take Blaine’s. Blaine thanked him, handing him his jacket. “Besides, my Dad’s working late on a car that has to be done before tomorrow, Carol has the night shift, and Finn has football practice until 5:30.”

So then we’re alone, Blaine thought to himself. He swallowed hard, trying to keep his mind from wandering where it shouldn’t.

He followed Kurt up the stairs to his room. As expected, Kurt’s room was ornately furnished in the latest fashions. He had a queen-sized bed in the center of the room, made with what looked like very expensive linens.

Only Kurt.

“So Blaine,” he started, sitting on the edge of the bed. Blaine followed suit, sitting up against the headboard with his knees tucked under his chin.

“So, Kurt.”

“What was that?”

“What was what?” Blaine played awkwardly with his hands, avoiding Kurt’s glare.

“Don’t be cute,” Kurt hissed. “You know damn well what.”

“The song?”

“No, your outfit. Of course the song! I don’t understand, Blaine. Are you trying to torture me? Are you trying to hurt me? Break me? What?”

“I think I figured it out…” Blaine muttered.

“Figured what out? That you secretly hate me? That you like to torment people?”

“No. Me.” Blaine finally met Kurt’s eyes. The taller boy’s expression dropped and Blaine took it as his opportunity to continue. “You told me to get back to you once I figured myself out. Kurt, you have to understand, I- I’ve never met anyone like you. Ever. When you transferred schools all those years ago, I couldn’t handle it. My parents had to keep a close watch on me, worried that I might do something to myself. That’s why they gave me a guitar, to focus on something other than how much I missed you. And then my mother left and I felt like I had no one left in the world that cared about me. So I became what others wanted me to be so that they would like me.

“I kept it up for a while, playing guitar and eventually joining a band, learning about sports and how to play them, getting the hottest girls in school to date me, but it never really stopped that little nagging part of my brain that said, ‘This isn’t right. This isn’t what you want.’” Blaine’s shifted on the bed, stretching out his legs. His mouth was moving a mile a minute, but he couldn’t stop now. This was it. He had to keep going.

“Then I went to Dalton and my whole world flipped inside out. That voice- that voice wasn’t yelling at me anymore. Instead, it was telling me to see you more, talk to you more, to learn everything I could about you because that’s what really mattered to me. I won’t lie to you, Kurt. I tried to fight it. I did, because everyone around me, Puck and Brittany, were telling me that it was wrong.  But it’s proved to be impossible.

“You move me, Kurt,” he said, gazing hard into Kurt’s large blue eyes that stared back at him without a word. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t tell you before, but now I know that I will do anything in my power to make you happy.”

“And Brittany?” Kurt whispered after a minute.

“I told her,” Kurt’s eyes widened even more, if that were even possible. Blaine couldn’t stop his heart from beating faster as those gorgeous blue eyes watched him carefully. “I told her after our fight in the parking lot. I told her about you, Kurt. How you make me feel, how I’m confused and excited when I see you, how it’s only you that I feel this with. At first, she didn’t know what to think but ultimately, she said that she understood and that she wanted me to be happy.”

Kurt sat silent for a long time. Blaine had expected this. It was a lot to take in.

“When?” Kurt said suddenly.

“What?”

“When did you know that you had- had feelings for me…?”

“I think it was the very first time I took your hand,” Blaine whispered, more to himself than to Kurt. “That spark. That ever present spark that shoots through me every time your skin touches mine. Kurt, I- please. Please forgive me. I’ve caused you so much trouble. I can tell. Just say you forgive me.”

Kurt made no reply. He sat at the edge of the bed, torso twisted so he could look into Blaine’s eyes. Blaine tried his hardest to look sincere, to show Kurt that this is what he really wanted. That Blaine had finally come to terms with his sexuality, and Kurt was the one he had his heart set on.

Kurt climbed up onto the bed, crawling toward Blaine. Instead of stopping where Blaine’s legs were stretched out, Kurt continued over them until he was straddling the shorter boy and was only a few short inches from his face.

They gazed into each other’s eye for what seemed like an eternity. Kurt’s expression was hard to read, conflicted with an inner battle. This worried Blaine. Maybe he had said too much. Maybe this was a bad time. Maybe Kurt didn’t like him at all and he disgusted him. Blaine suddenly became very worried.

“Kurt I-”

But Blaine was unable to finish his sentence. Kurt leaned forward and captured his lips in a gentle kiss. Blaine reached his hand to the back of Kurt's neck so he could pull him closer. Sweet, slow, and easily they moved together. Kurt’s lips were soft but firm at the same time against his. That familiar spark flooded through them, warming them from the inside out. But this time, it was more intense, as if the proverbial dial had been turned up to maximum power. Blaine sighed into the kiss; this was right, this was where he should be. Their first kiss had been hard and fast, full of misunderstandings and confusion. But this, their second kiss, was anything but those things. They stayed like that for a while, just kissing and holding on to each other.

Blaine’s stomach twisted as he slipped his tongue out to tickle at Kurt's lips, asking for entrance.

Kurt pulled away.

“Kurt-”

“Blaine,” Kurt sighed. “Are you sure about this? I can’t- I don’t think my heart can take it if you’re not able to-”

“Kurt, no, please, l have never been more sure about anything. You’re so amazing, Kurt. I should have told you, back when we were kids, but then you got hurt and your dad took you away and I-I’m so sorry.” Blaine pulled at his curly hair in frustration.

“Don’t be.” He pulled Blaine’s hands away and held them in his own. “Don’t ever be sorry, Blaine. Not ever. God, I’ve had feelings for you too, Blaine, ever since we were kids. But I was too scared to show it. But don’t ever be sorry. Just be with me, that is all that matters.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Blaine whispered, leaning his forehead against Kurt’s.

“Me neither. Not ever again.”

Blaine smiled softly, nuzzling his forehead against Kurt’s as a single tear escaped his eye.

Finally.