Rachel's plan of having the glee girls join the McKinley football team so they could compete in the state finals worked out. They only had to play the first half because then the rest of the team decided during halftime that they would un-quit. Blaine and his dads watched from the stands, proud of Rachel for putting her vanity aside for a few hours to help her classmates.

The end of January came and went with not much of a fuss. By the beginning of February, Valentine's Day decorations were out in full force. It was already one of Blaine's favorite holidays, but this year he had an extra spring in his step because he was in love.

Or at least he thought he was.

Having never had a boyfriend before, he had to assume what he felt for Jeremiah was the real deal. The flirty texts that were borderline PG-13, the brief phone calls to discuss Jeremiah's latest contribution to the Sunday morning adverts in the paper ("I know it's only JCPenney, but did you see how much bigger I was on the page than that other guy?" "I know Jeremiah! You looked amazing!"), and now a time and place for their second official coffee date.

Blaine spent the morning of his coffee date freaking out over his appearance. He hadn't had a reason to dress to impress in awhile and was worried about making a good second impression. For any other clothes problem, he would default to Kurt. However, even though he and Kurt were trying to be more open and honest with each other, Blaine was still avoiding telling Kurt about Jeremiah. It wasn't that he was embarrassed - far from it - it's just that Kurt still hadn't spilled the beans about how he started dating Landrick the same afternoon he almost kissed Blaine, so Blaine felt justified in keeping his budding relationship with Jeremiah a mystery too.

After trying on multiple outfits and nearly tearing out his hair in the process, Blaine finally settled on a dark pair of cuffed skinny jeans, a white and black striped Henley, and the cranberry cardigan he bought at the Gap the first time he met Jeremiah. In the bathroom, he brushed his teeth for the third time that day before tackling the mess of curls atop his head. Blaine remembered Jeremiah complimenting his hair even though he was pretty sure he looked a hot mess that day. He knew he couldn't just leave his hair frizzy, but he also didn't want to completely gel his curls into submission, so Blaine carefully combed out his hair to make it look like it just ended up that way; messy but artfully so. He thought Kurt would be proud, but would not allow himself to text the other boy about his accomplishment.

Any nerves he had while walking into the Lima Bean melted away when Blaine saw Jeremiah seated at a corner table waiting for him with a huge smile on his face. Jeremiah all but leapt up from his chair and threw his arms around Blaine as he stopped next to the table. "Hey you! It's great to finally see you again outside of the Gap! You look amazing!"

Blaine blushed at the contact, compliment and Jeremiah's enthusiasm. "Thanks. I'm really glad to see you too. Shall we get some coffee?"

They wandered to the line and stood next to each other while they waited for their turn. It took all of Blaine's willpower not to grin like an idiot when Jeremiah purposefully bumped into his shoulder every now and again. Once it was time to order, Blaine asked for a Medium Drip, Jeremiah requested a Mocha Frappucino and then ordered several pieces of biscotti. Blaine reached for his wallet in his back pocket but stopped when Jeremiah threw an arm around his shoulder. "I got it." Before he could protest, Blaine watched as Jeremiah grabbed his own wallet, dug out a $10 bill and thrust it at the cashier. "Keep the change," he mused as he winked at the girl behind the counter. She giggled while Blaine just kind of gawked at what just unfolded. How did he get so lucky to be out on a date with this guy?

Back at the table, the boys sat across from each other and smiled coyly as they sipped their coffees.

"So, you've been busy at work?" Blaine asked, feeling brave and hoping to spark some sort of conversation.

Jeremiah nodded as he swallowed his coffee, "Yeah, working retail over the holidays is killer. I need a vacation."

Blaine chuckled as he nodded in agreement. "I hear ya. I can't wait until Spring Break. I mean, I know I just had winter break, but I could use some more time off, for sure."

"Spring break. Now there's one thing I totally missed out on by not going to college right away. Where do you go to school?" Jeremiah asked.

"Oh, uh, Dalton," Blaine answered before grabbing a piece of biscotti.

"Dalton," Jeremiah repeated, looking confused. "Never heard of it. Is that some sort of community college or something?"

Now it was Blaine's turn to look confused. "Dalton Academy?" He took a bite of his biscotti, but then saw Jeremiah shake his head, as if Blaine's answer didn't clarify his confusion. Blaine put a hand over his mouth and talked while he chewed and swallowed. "It's a prep school over in Westerville. The drive sucks, but my dads won't let me board because they said I should 'wait until college to have that experience.'" He used air quotes and rolled his eyes while he quoted his fathers.

"Wait, you're not in college now?" Jeremiah was really confused.

"No. I mean, I'm smart for my age, but not Doogie Howser smart," Blaine commented along with a gesture of his hand, lifting his coffee cup up in the air.

"Who's Doogie Howser?" Jeremiah couldn't stop shaking his head. He was so lost. "Wait, are you in high school?" As he swallowed another sip of his coffee, Blaine nodded his head. "Are you a senior?" Blaine cocked his head and shook it. "A JUNIOR?"

"Yes," Blaine said, but then shook his head as he thought better of his answer. "Kind of. Well, no, I guess not. I mean I'm taking all junior classes, but technically, I'm a –""

"-Sophomore?!" Jeremiah's eyes were wide. "How old are you?"

Blaine could not understand why Jeremiah was acting weird. "Sixteen. Are you okay?"

Jeremiah was staring at the table, but nodding his head yes even though one look at his eyes would argue otherwise. He flashed his watch in front of his face, but didn't even glance at the time. "Oh, shit, I forgot I had a thing." He shook his head at his lame excuse and thought quick to make up another one, "I told my boss I would cover for Jacob later." In one motion, Jeremiah pushed his chair back and bolted upright.

"Oh, okay." Blaine slid his chair back and stood up too. "Well, it was great seeing you, Jeremiah. Maybe we could do this again sometime?"

"Yeah, maybe," Jeremiah said without really meaning it, but Blaine was too smitten to realize he was being blown off. "Goodbye, Blaine."

"Bye," Blaine said and waved at Jeremiah's back as the older boy grabbed his coffee and coat before rushing out of the Lima Bean.

…

Landrick had a dentist appointment after school on Thursday, so Kurt asked Blaine if he wanted to go out for coffee instead of their normal study session. Kurt had acclimated to Dalton's rigorous course load so they didn't have to study together as much, though they still tried to get together a couple days a week.

Walking into the Lima Bean, Blaine couldn't help but smile to himself about the coffee date he had with Jeremiah in that very establishment mere days prior. Ever since he got home that afternoon, he felt giddy and didn't quite know how to express his feelings. He thought long and hard and had an idea that he wanted to run by Kurt. Perhaps their coffee outing would provide him the opportunity to ask his best friend his opinion about his master plan.

Blaine was still thinking about Jeremiah when Kurt shoved two kissing puppy stuffed animals in front of his face. "Okay, I'm all for flair, but these Valentine's Day decorations are just tacky, I mean, what the hell is this supposed to be?" Kurt asked, completely not impressed.

"That's clearly puppy love," Blaine responded. "It's cute, come one." Kurt accidentally pressed one of the puppy's paws as he went to set it down and the toy started making obnoxious kissing sounds. Blaine's eyes lit up, "Adorable!"

"That's just creepy," Kurt muttered under his breath as he tossed the toy back on the table as the inched forward in line. "It's a simple excuse to see candy and greeting cards on a holiday." For someone who had a boyfriend, Kurt was super bitter about all the Valentine's presents that were presently surrounding him.

"Not true!" Blaine exclaimed as he shook his head at his friend. "People have been celebrating Valentine's Day for centuries. And call me a hopeless romantic, but" he paused momentarily to suck in a breath of air, "it's my favorite holiday."

"Really?" Kurt was beyond surprised to find out this new bit of information about Blaine. Yes, they had become best friends over the past couple months, but he never heard Blaine gush about anything other than music, so to hear him so enthusiastic about a romantic holiday when Blaine never even so much mentioned love or feelings around him was a bit of a shock.

Blaine plowed ahead with his monologue and spoke animatedly with his hands, "I think there's just something really great about a day where you're encouraged to just lay it all on the line and say to somebody…" he turned toward Kurt and looked him in the eye, "…I'm in love with you." There were those hands again; arms out wide and hands motioning in the air as if to drive home the point.

Sometimes it surprised Kurt that Blaine was related to Rachel, other times it did not because they shared similar mannerisms and a flair for the dramatic. This was one of those other times. Kurt just stared, trying to process what Blaine just said, but the younger boy just kept talking.

"You know? And this year, I want to do something really radical, so I need your opinion." Blaine looked Kurt in the eye quickly before his attention veered back down toward the baked goods in front of the cash register. "Well, there's this guy that I sort of… like…" Kurt's attention was piqued. "And I've only known him for a little while, but I want to tell him that I think my feelings are starting to change into something, well, deeper," Blaine chuckled to himself as he looked Kurt in the eye again. "So, I have to ask…," he got real serious all of a sudden. "Do you think it's too much to sing to somebody on Valentine's Day?"

Kurt was taken aback by Blaine's question, and completely missed that Blaine confessed he only knew the other guy for a little while. He swore in that moment, Blaine was definitely talking about him, and his snap judgment was that he was completely okay with that. "Not at all."

Blue eyes stayed locked on Blaine's everything as he leaned stepped up to the cash register to order his coffee.

The young woman behind the counter smiled at Blaine as he approached. "What can I get you?"

"Um, a Medium Drip and a Grande Non-Fat Mocha for this guy," he said, briefly looking over at Kurt. "And maybe I can him to split one of those cupid cookies." Blaine was on cloud nine and nothing could bring him down in that moment. He was having coffee with his best friend, and his best friend jus assured him that serenading Jeremiah was not too much for Valentine's Day.

"You know my coffee order?" Kurt asked, astonished.

Blaine snapped out of his reverie to throw a no shit, Sherlock look at Kurt. "Of course I do." Blaine shook his head and grabbed a $10 bill out of his wallet to give to the cashier when she told him their total was $8.40. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kurt reach for his wallet. "Don't even bother, dummy, it's on me." He elbowed Kurt in the side as he thrust his money toward the woman behind the counter. "Keep the change." He flashed her a smile and she cracked on in return.

Kurt was still dumbstruck by Blaine's plan to serenade him, that he knew his coffee order, and that he just paid for both their drinks. He may have been going out with Landrick, but this was feeling more and more like a date. As he went to follow Blaine toward the other end of the counter, he couldn't help but lean over and tell the cashier, "I do believe I have a new favorite holiday!"

Though plans for serenading and Valentine's Day shenanigans were not discussed the rest of the time Kurt and Blaine spent together at the Lima Bean, both boys spent the entirety of their time together with large smiles on their faces.

…

The next morning before class, Kurt was sitting in a comfortable leather chair in one of the beautifully mural-lined hallways of Dalton. His new school was so much more beautiful than McKinley and he often found himself content to just relax in a corner and doodle drawings and write names inside the front pages of his notebooks. That day's drawing was a giant red heart, and in it, so far, he had written his name in carefully blocked letters. Tongue poking out of the side of his mouth and in deep concentration, Kurt drew a sizable plus sign under his name. Without stopping, he moved his pen down to the next logical area and drew a thick, vertical line. Instead of drawing a matching thick horizontal line to make an L, Kurt's pen swooped around to the top of the vertical line and headed right, drawing the start of a letter B.

"Hey! Whatcha doing?" Landrick walked up to his boyfriend with a deliciously sly look on his face.

Looking down and noticing the B, Kurt slammed his notebook shut and put on a pleasant smile. "Nothing! Just, uh, daydreaming. Plotting weekend outfits…" As soon as the fib came out of his mouth, he felt a twinge of guilt. Kurt had never outright lied to Landrick. Sometimes he wouldn't tell him he was hanging out with Blaine instead of studying, but he had never actively gone out of his way to lie to his boyfriend. Landrick knew Kurt and Blaine were best friends and dealt with that as best he could, but he was never completely enthusiastic about it.

Kurt stood up and hugged Landrick, which was a bit awkward because Kurt wasn't a huge fan of PDA. However, he felt like he needed to show Landrick that he cared about him. Kurt was not in love with Landrick. He didn't even think he loved him… but he did care, and they were boyfriends, so Kurt thought he should make some extra effort in being present in his relationship even though a bigger part of him was now apparently thinking about Blaine.

Landrick was a bit shocked by the unexpected hug, but gladly accepted it, letting his hands travel down Kurt's back toward his waist. Kurt felt his boyfriend's hands move and pulled out of the hug, though kept the smile on his face.

"Well, come on. You're going to want to see this," Landrick told Kurt as he grabbed his hand. "Blanderson called an emergency meeting of the Warblers Council."

Kurt furrowed his eyebrows at the nickname Landrick insisted on calling Blaine, and the fact that Blaine called such a meeting. Though he had only been with the Warblers a couple months, Kurt knew emergency meetings were rarely called; especially by a non-Council member. "Sounds serious," Kurt commented as he shoved his notebook into his satchel with a free hand and then shouldered the bag.

With a chuckle, Landrick started dragging Kurt toward the practice room, "Let's hope not. I think I overheard him say that he wanted to ask for a, and I quote, 'tiny little favor.'"

Once in the practice room, Kurt and Landrick found two empty seats together on a couch. Just as they settled in, Wes banged his gavel at the Council desk. "This emergency meeting is called to order. Junior member Blaine Anderson, the floor is yours."

As Blaine smiled and nodded at Wes in thanks, Landrick leaned in and whispered to Kurt, "This better be good or Blanderson's going to get it." Kurt shushed his boyfriend and smacked him on the leg as he prepared to pay full attention to his best friend.

"Esteemed council, I'll be brief," Blaine started as he stood in front of his Warbler peers. "Simply put, I'm in love." Murmuring sounded throughout the room and a few people wolf whistled as Blaine's eyes darted around with slight embarrassment. However, when he saw Kurt and focused on his best friend, he relaxed, especially as the older boy smiled at him. This silent encouragement allowed Blaine to continue on with his confession. "I'm not really good at talking about my feelings. Um, I'm much better at singing them…" Kurt's attention was fully on Blaine as if there were no one else in the room. Blaine was grateful and it was easier to talk if he was just looking at Kurt. "But still, I could use a little help, which is why I'm asking to enlist the Warblers to help serenade this individual, in song," he took a breath before finishing his request, "off campus."

The room exploded into shouts of "what?" and murmurs that Blaine was crazy to ask such a thing. Kurt held his breath as he watched Blaine hold strong even though his peers were not on his side at the moment.

Wes banged his gavel again to bring order back to the room. Before he could say anything, Blaine spoke up for himself. "I-I-I know what I'm asking is s-slightly… unusual –"

"The Warblers haven't performed in an informal setting since 1927," Wes exclaimed as Blaine rolled his eyes, "when the Spirit of St. Louis shot the tarmac and plowed through seven Warblers during an impromptu rendition of 'Welcome to Ohio, Lucky Lindy.'"

As Wes's sentence drifted off while he was in deep though, David jumped in and demanded, "Why would we even consider what you're asking?"

Although Blaine was shaking on the inside, he had long since adapted a steadfast composure in front of the Warblers and instinct took over. "I firmly believe that our reticence to perform in public nearly cost us a trip to Regionals. We're becoming privileged porcelain birds."

More shouts erupted from the Warblers as Wes and David shook their heads. Council member Thad sneered at Blaine, "You mock us, Sir."

Blaine was surrounded by a room full of identically dressed seething boys and only Kurt could tell that his School Blaine façade was on the verge of cracking. His heart was breaking as Blaine stood alone, repeatedly getting shot down for wanting to sing him a song. Without really thinking about his actions, Kurt shot an arm up into the air, almost hitting Landrick in the face as he did so. "May I please say something?" Before anyone gave him an aural okay, Kurt got up from the couch and pulled focus off Blaine. "With respect, I believe Blaine has a point." Blaine sighed as he locked eyes with Kurt, thankful that his best friend was sticking up for him. "The Warblers are so concerned with image and tradition that sometimes I think we miss out on opportunities to… step outside our comfort zones."

Normally Kurt was fine with all attention being on him, but he found himself a little nervous speaking in front of his fellow Warblers. He was still the newest member of the group and was constantly worried about fitting in. He was sure this was not helping his cause, but he would do just about anything for Blaine, so he kept talking. "Now, when I was on New Directions, we performed in front of hostile crowds pretty much anywhere we went. I mean, mattress stores, shopping malls… I had a cat thrown at me at a nursing home once." A wave of chuckles from around the room gave Kurt confidence to keep going. "But, it, it gave us confidence." Kurt looked at Blaine who nodded in agreement. "It kept us loose."

"And, where would this performance take place?" Wes asked, though he still didn't sound completely convinced that the Warblers should grant Blaine his request.

Landrick side-eyed Kurt as he finally sat back down and then both boys turned their attention to Blaine as he answered. "At the Gap, at the North Hills mall." Kurt cocked his head at the mention of the location. Why would Blaine want to serenade him there? They had never been to that store, let alone that mall together. "I'd like to call it, 'The Warblers Gap Attack,'" Blaine announced, coaxing another round of chuckles out of his peers.

Kurt's curiosity couldn't take it any longer. "Why the Gap?"

Blaine couldn't keep it in any longer. He knew if he wanted to get the Warblers in on his plan, he had to tell them the truth. "The guy that I like is a Junior Manager."

Kurt's smile dropped fast and his eyes lost their usual sparkle. He heard Wes bang his gavel again and ask if all were in favor of Blaine's request, but he didn't see that everyone else in the room – including Landrick – raised his hand in agreement.

A Junior Manager? Blaine never mentioned liking anyone, let alone a Junior Manager at the Gap. Kurt felt sick to his stomach. He was so sure than Blaine was planning on singing to him. How could he have been so stupid?

Landrick draped an arm around his boyfriend's shoulders and that grounded Kurt back in reality. "Ha! For a minute there, I thought Blanderson was going to say he had a crush on you! That would have been hilarious!"

"Hilarious," Kurt repeated, his voice void of emotion. He saw Blaine flash him a huge grin before the rest of the Warblers swarmed the younger boy as they clapped him on the back.

…

That night found Kurt sprawled across Rachel's bed wearing pajamas and eating pizza. Blaine was dogsitting overnight for a friend of the family, so there was no risk of running into him in the house like Kurt often did when he spent the night at the Berrys.

Though they were watching Rachel's favorite movie, Funny Girl, her attention was focused on her silent and sad friend next to her instead of her idol up on the screen. Rachel grabbed the remote control and paused the movie.

"I can't take this anymore. Spill, Kurt. Or I'm going to make you tell me what's wrong." Rachel grabbed the slice of pizza out of Kurt's hand and set it back in the pizza box before crossing her arms over her chest.

Kurt rolled his eyes, "You can't make me doing anything, Rachel."

"Well, maybe not, but I know something's wrong because you didn't tell me to stop singing when Barbra was singing," Rachel pointed out matter-of-factly. Kurt sighed in defeat. "So, what is it? Are you worried you're going to lose at Regionals next month?" Kurt scoffed out of his nose. "Did you walk in on Finn…touching himself again?"

"Ew! No, Rachel!" Kurt smacked her with a pillow.

"Well what then? Boy troubles?" Rachel was being facetious, but realized she hit a nerve when Kurt tensed up. "Oh my god, that's it, isn't it? Did you break up with Landrick?" Silence. "Did he break up with you?"

"What? No!" Kurt's eyebrows shot up.

"Then what is it Kurt?"

"It's Blaine." Kurt immediately brought a pillow up in front of his face so he wouldn't have to see Rachel's reaction.

Rachel's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Blaine? My brother, Blaine?" Kurt nodded, causing the pillow to move up and down. Rachel grabbed the pillow and lowered it so she could look Kurt in the eye. "What about him?"

Kurt couldn't keep eye contact. He dropped his chin and suddenly found his hands to be the most interesting things in the room. "I think he's in love with… someone."

Rachel was puzzled, but then remembered the way her brother had been looking at Kurt during dinner the other weekend. "Oh, sweetheart…"

"And he wants the Warblers to help sing to him. At the Gap."

Rachel was confused. "Wait, I don't understand."

Kurt dared to look back up at Rachel, though he had the beginnings of tears in his eyes. "He's in love with a Junior Manager at the Gap."

At the Gap? Rachel didn't know about her brother liking someone at the Gap. As far as she knew, she thought her brother had a crush on Kurt… and that Kurt might have a crush on her brother. Her eyebrows furrowed in understanding at why Kurt was so upset, but he really didn't have a right to be. "But, Kurt… you have a boyfriend."

Kurt looked back down in shame. "I know."

Rachel reached out and took one of Kurt's hands in her own. "Hey, it's okay."

Shaking his head, Kurt whispered, "No, it's not."

"Are you… jealous?" Rachel asked.

Kurt shrugged and shook his head. "I don't even know. Like, he's my best friend, and I'm upset he didn't tell me about this other guy. But at the same time, I thought he wanted to sing to me… and then when he said he wanted to sing to someone else… Oh, god. Don't even listen to me. I'm just being stupid."

"Kurt," she said compassionately.

He shook her off, "Don't. Please."

After a few moments of silence (save for some sniffling), Rachel asked delicately, "Are you going to go? To the Gap?"

"Sh-should I?" Kurt asked through the last few tears.

"That's up to you. But you said it yourself; Blaine is your best friend. If you were him, what would you want your best friend to do?"

Kurt sighed. "You're right. I should go."

"That's there spirit. Go scope out the competition!"

"Rachel!"

"What?" Rachel asked defiantly. "I've seen the way you two look at each other." Kurt's eyes got wide. "Look, you may be fooling yourselves and everyone else at your school, but I've seen it, Kurt. And I don't want either of you to get hurt because of it."

…

Jeremiah was working the 10-6 shift at the Gap on Sunday February 13th, so the Warblers planned their serenade for 2:00pm.

Though it should have seemed odd for twenty high school-aged boys in prep school uniforms to gather in a clothing store, no one said anything to mall security. The Warblers split up and walked around different areas of the store, waiting for Blaine to give them a signal to start.

Blaine was excited and nervous at the same time. He had grabbed Kurt by the arm and dragged him to a coat rack across the store from where Jeremiah was folding sweaters. Jeremiah hadn't seen him come in, nor did he notice Blaine staring at him as he haphazardly sifted through some winter coats he had no intention of buying.

"That's him," Blaine said to Kurt, nodding over toward Jeremiah. "The blond one folding sweaters." Kurt glanced up and followed Blaine's gaze toward the object of the younger boy's affection as of late.

"I can see the appeal. That is quite a head of hair," Kurt said, internally seething. It wasn't that the other boy wasn't attractive – he was – but it was that he was too attractive. Like, model-attractive.

"His name is Jeremiah," Blaine continued with a sigh. "You know, if he and I got married, the Gap would give me a 50% discount." Kurt's eyes rolled on their own accord and he could feel his insides tightening. He couldn't tell if he was more upset that Blaine was already talking marriage, or that Blaine was talking marriage about a guy that he didn't even know about. But, as he saw Blaine's body language melt into uncertainty, Kurt's attitude shifted. "This is insane," Blaine muttered to himself as he shook his head and started to retreat. "I don't know what I'm doing. We haven't even really gone out on a date. I – we shouldn't do this."

Blaine tried to brush past Kurt and on instinct Kurt grabbed Blaine by the shoulders to stop him. Regardless of his own confused feelings, Kurt couldn't take seeing Blaine close in on himself like that. Over the past few months, Kurt was glad to see Blaine open up and speak his mind. So, to see Blaine start to second guess himself and try to run away from the situation made Kurt's heart hurt more than it did seeing Blaine pine after someone else.

"Okay, come on. Come on. Man up," Kurt told Blaine as he turned him around and guided him back toward the direction Jeremiah was in. "You're amazing. He's going to love you." Blaine turned his head and locked eyes with Kurt before he stepped away on his own accord. Small smiles were exchanged and Kurt nodded his best friend on even though it pained him to do so.

It hurt Kurt to watch Blaine walk toward Jeremiah, so he tore his eyes away from his best friend and scanned the store for Landrick and found him standing near the Warblers Council members, awaiting Blaine's signal to start singing. Landrick glanced over at Kurt and gave him a wide grin, a waggle of his eyebrows and a wave of his fingertips. Kurt pursed his lips to keep himself from grinning at the other boy's silliness.

When the Warblers started harmonizing, Kurt whipped his head back toward Blaine and saw him take a moment for himself before he put up his School Blaine façade and strolled toward Jeremiah. His mouth almost dropped as he watched his friend flip some sort of imaginary switch. But, as much as he admired Blaine's sudden confidence, Kurt couldn't understand why Blaine would have to assume this persona if he had such strong feelings for this Jeremiah guy.

Kurt and the Warblers accompanied Blaine on his serenade song of choice; Robin Thicke's "When I Get You Alone." Upon learning the lyrics to the song, Kurt almost choked when he got to the parts about sex toys and changed last names. Blaine must have been telling the truth when he said he was in love and it pained Kurt that Blaine didn't trust him enough to tell him about this other guy.

Though it killed Kurt to watch Blaine sing to someone else, he had to remind himself that he was dating Landrick and Blaine was free to fall for whomever he wanted. Just because they almost kissed before Christmas didn't mean that Blaine was in love with him, even though that wouldn't have been the worst thing in the world.

Blaine was pouring his whole heart and soul into the performance, but that didn't seem to be making the right kind of impression on Jeremiah. Kurt watched as the other boy's eyes widened in shock as a group of identically dressed guys started singing to him. Every now and again, he would get some sort of message over his earpiece and tried to avoid being cornered by Blaine and his peers, but to no avail. A wave of relief washed over both Kurt and Jeremiah as the song ended. The other customers in the store clapped and cheered for the impromptu song, but Kurt could tell that its recipient was not overjoyed with the attention.

Post-serenade, a majority of the Warblers decided to go for pizza in the food court. Blaine broke off from the group and went outside to wait on the bench, hoping to get a chance to talk to Jeremiah. Not wanting Blaine to wait by himself, Kurt told the other boys he had to make a phone call and excused himself outside. Landrick gave him a knowing look, disappointed Kurt was opting to go sit with Blaine instead of be with the group, but decided not to say anything. Kurt was grateful for his silence, even though he could tell his boyfriend was not happy.

Outside, Blaine looked up when he heard someone approaching; hoping it was Jeremiah but not entirely displeased to see it was his best friend. Wordless, Blaine slid over and Kurt sat down next to him. They sat in silence for a while as Kurt watched Blaine's knee nervously bounce up and down.

"Do you think it was too much?" Blaine finally asked, looking up at Kurt. The two locked eyes and though Kurt didn't have the heart to tell Blaine that it was a bit much, Blaine could read Kurt's attempt at a blank expression like a book. "Yeah, it was too much. It was..." Blaine couldn't bring himself to finish his thought. He shook his head to himself and began to close his shoulders in when a jingle of a bell indicated the Gap's backdoor was opening. Blaine shot up off the bench as Jeremiah walked out of the store toward the bench. "Jeremiah! Hey!"

The Junior Manager glared at Blaine before pulling his hood up over his hair. Kurt knew in a heartbeat that Jeremiah didn't want anyone to see him talking to Blaine. This was not going to end well. "What the hell were you doing?" His tone was icy at best.

Blaine's innocent smile and utter confusion about the situation was endearing to Kurt, but not to Jeremiah. "What?"

"I just got fired," Jeremiah retorted. Blaine and Kurt's heads jerked back in unison, neither expecting this as a possible outcome for Blaine's serenade. "You can't just bust a groove in the middle of somebody else's workplace." He chuckled, but it was condescending in the sense that he couldn't believe Blaine's idiocy.

Blaine still couldn't understand how what he did was a bad thing because it had gotten a good response from the other people in the store. It may have been too much, but it was a crowd pleaser. Blaine always strived to be a crowd pleaser. "But, they loved it."

"Well my boss didn't," Jeremiah snapped back as he shook his head. "Neither did I." Blaine's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as Jeremiah leaned forward. "No one here knows I'm gay."

Kurt could tell Blaine was at a loss for words, so he cut in with what he thought was a humorous barb. "Can I be honest? Just with the hair, I think they do…"

Jeremiah rolled his eyes at Kurt and then turned back toward the speechless Warbler. "Blaine. Let's just be clear here. You and I got coffee twice. We're not dating." At this, Blaine shook his head and nodded it, trying to acknowledge that he understood what the other boy was telling him, but failing spectacularly. His face flushed pink with embarrassment. "If we were, I'd get arrested because you're underage." Jeremiah punched him on the shoulder twice, trying to let him down gently, but just coming off like an uppity douchebag. He walked away without so much as a goodbye leaving Blaine standing alone, at a loss for words.

Kurt winced as he watched the aftermath of the situation unfold before him. Jeremiah was obviously a jerk and his heart broke for his best friend who just stood there, unable to do anything but look like a kicked puppy. Blaine turned to Kurt for solace, but the older boy could only give him a supportive half a smile. Kurt didn't have the words either.

…

On Monday February 14th, Kurt was greeted in homeroom with a single rose on his desk and a small heart-shaped box of chocolates. He couldn't help but smile as he snatched up the accompanying note and read the clichéd words scrawled in Landrick's lopsided handwriting. "To my Valentine… from his Valentine." It was his first Valentine's Day with a boyfriend and as much as Kurt thought he was against the excuse for commercializing romance, even he had to admit feeling giddy for receiving presents from his boyfriend.

Before Warblers practice, Kurt grabbed Landrick's hand and dragged him to the corner of the rehearsal space. He planted a quick peck on Landrick's cheek and whispered in his ear, "Thank you for being my Valentine, Valentine." With a smile on his face, Kurt opened the flap to his satchel and pulled out an envelope. "Happy Valentine's Day, Landrick."

Landrick's eyes widened with glee as he grabbed the envelope out of Kurt's hand and tore it open. He quickly glanced at the homemade card Kurt had made and focused his attention to the coupon he found inside. "Breadstix. Fun! They're bringing back that all you can eat pasta bar. Thanks, Kurt!"

A gavel from Wes indicated that rehearsal was starting, so Kurt didn't have time to linger on the fact that his boyfriend didn't even mention the card, which took him hours to make the night before. Landrick grabbed his hand and the two of them made their way to the couch to listen to the Council's agenda for that day's practice.

Time flew by as they began practicing a new potential Regionals song and soon it was the end of rehearsal. Blaine accidentally grabbed Kurt's satchel by mistake and started to walk out the door with it when Kurt ran over to catch up to him. "Hey Blaine, wait! That's my bag!"

The younger boy stopped in his tracks and turned around to walk back toward Kurt. "Sorry. I thought it was mine…" He shrugged the strap off his shoulder and held it out to Kurt.

Kurt took his bag and thanked his friend, but noticed Blaine looked miserable. He wasn't surprised; not after the rejection he faced yesterday and then the fact that it was now Valentine's Day and he was stuck listening to everyone else talk about their significant others. Kurt wanted to talk to Blaine, but not at school. They had a half-day since the seniors were having some sort of college-prep assembly that was going to take up the whole afternoon. Kurt was planning on just going home before he went out to dinner with Landrick that night, but suddenly had an idea.

"Since we have a half day today, do you want to go get coffee after school?" Kurt asked Blaine. "You look like you could use some caffeine."

Blaine scoffed out a laugh at Kurt's comment. "Is it that obvious?" Both boys smiled, but Blaine's faded quickly. "But wait. Don't you have a date with Landrick?"

Kurt could see the sadness behind Blaine's eyes. "Yeah, but not until dinner. I though we could talk because it seems like I missed out on some things with you over the past few weeks."

Blaine's eyes widened, mortified. "I-"

A bell rang, cutting Blaine off and causing Kurt to groan. "Crap! I have to go to Pre-Calc. Lima Bean later though, yeah?"

Kurt didn't even want for an answer before he ran out the door. Blaine found himself alone before he had a chance to answer. "Yeah. Sure. Happy Valentine's Day to me. Coffee with my best friend before his dinner date with his boyfriend. That's not sad at all."

...

That afternoon, Kurt and Blaine stood shoulder to shoulder in line at the Lima Bean. Kurt didn't quite know how to start their conversation, but got out having to come up with something when Blaine suddenly grunted next to him and muttered, "Ugh. Don't they have anything here that isn't covered with stupid little hearts? Gross."

"Well, you certainly changed your tune," Kurt said lightly, hoping to ease the tension with sarcasm.

Blaine sighed, "I don't think I've ever made that big a fool out of myself, which is really saying something because I've performed at theme parks." Self-loathing and embarrassment dripped off each word as Blaine slouched where he stood. He may have been dressed like School Blaine, but Home Blaine was the person standing next to Kurt. "I just can't believe I made it all up in my head." If Blaine weren't staring at the floor, Kurt would have been able to see his eyes rolling at himself.

Kurt's heart hurt for Blaine, but he was still wondering why Blaine hadn't told him about Jeremiah to begin with. He wanted to help, but didn't know how because Blaine kept this from him and he was worried that their friendship wasn't as solid as it seemed. "Okay, can I ask you something? Because we've always been honest with each other… You and I – we hang out, we sing flirty duets together, you know my coffee order. We're friends right?"

Blaine had no idea where Kurt was going with this. "What do you mean?

With a deep breath, Kurt decided to just plow ahead with what was on his mind. "I thought the guy that you wanted to serenade on Valentine's Day… was me. It's just that you never told me about Jeremiah, so when you were asking me all that stuff last week, I thought you were talking about… me."

After a few moments of speechlessness, Blaine managed to choke out, "Wow. I really am clueless." He looked up and locked eyes with his best friend, searching for the right words. "Look, Kurt… I don't know what I'm doing," he said with surrender. "I pretend like I do, and I know how to act it out in song. But the truth is…" Blaine's voice dropped to a whisper. "I've never really been anyone's boyfriend." There was pain in his voice, as if this was something he was ashamed of.

Kurt figured as much with Blaine's lack of relationship experience, but he didn't think it was something Blaine should feel bad about. "I'm not an expert in this field either, you know."

"I really care about you, Kurt," Blaine said with a sad smile before dropping his gaze back down to the floor. "But you have Landrick." He sighed. "I know I'm not very good at romance, but I don't want to screw this up. You're my best friend."

Kurt's heart melted at Blaine's admission. "You're my best friend too, Blaine, which is why I don't get why you didn't tell me about Jeremiah."

"And what would you have done? Tried to stop me?" A curt laugh slipped from Blaine's lips. "I thought I really liked him, Kurt. I just wanted to be happy."

"I want you to be happy too, Blaine."

"Oh really? You just want everyone to be happy, don't you?" Blaine asked bitterly. "Especially yourself."

Kurt was confused. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Does Landrick still think he's your first kiss, Kurt? Does he know you don't need me for a tutor anymore?"

"Where the heck is that coming from? We weren't talking about Landrick, we were talking about you."

"We can't talk about me without talking about Landrick, Kurt. Don't you understand?"

"No, I really don't."

"Well let me spell it out for you, Kurt. We almost KISSED before Christmas and then you started dating him that same afternoon. For the past couple months, I've watch him treat you like SHIT, which frankly I'm tired of, and then you tell me you thought I was going to serenade you. You can't have it all, Kurt! You can't be with him and still expect me to wait around for you until you finally realize that I've been here all along!" Kurt's eyes were wide as he was painfully aware everyone in the Lima Bean was staring at him and Blaine. He had never heard Blaine raise his voice before and now there he was, practically shouting at him in the coffee shop. "So, Happy Valentine's Day, Kurt. I hope you and your ass of a boyfriend have a great time at dinner tonight. You two were clearly made for each other."

Blaine stormed off before Kurt even had a chance to respond. He wouldn't have known what to say, anyway.