“Where are you going? Do you see the time?” Cooper asked; his baby sister lying on his chest as he rocked back and forth in the chair. “You have school in the morning.”

“I'll be back.”

“No,” Cooper repeated. “Go to bed, Squirt. You don't need to leave the house at this time of night to go traipsing around the neighborhood.”

Blaine ignored him, pulling a hoodie over his head before kneeling down to tie his sneakers. Ever since he'd seen the photo that Prestige Models of LA tweeted, he knew that he couldn't just hang around all night waiting to hear from Kurt. He'd need to go and do something about this. Who knew if Kurt even had plans of calling him tonight or not?

Honestly, this was definitely the straw that broke the camel's back. It was one thing to do something that Kurt knew his boyfriend didn't agree with—even knowing the reasons he didn't agree with them, but for him to do this while posing with another guy was taking things to a whole new level. Blaine stood up, ignoring Cooper's voice telling him that he wasn't allowed to leave.

“You aren't Dad. Let it go.”

…

“You can't be serious,” Burt said, turning to his son who was fast asleep in the passenger side of his truck. He smiled to himself as he focused on the road, softly shaking his head. Here he was talking, thinking his son was listening, but Kurt was seconds away from snoring.

On the radio was some silly song playing on a station Kurt turned to himself—so it's gonna be forever or it's gonna go down in flames—the tune was going to be stuck in his head all week, Burt just knew it. He glanced back over at Kurt for a moment and thought about how proud he was of him. Things didn't have to turn out this way after their move to the west coast, and he acknowledged that. Who knew how Kurt would be getting along in Long Beach if it weren't for him finding Blaine and the guys so easily? He could've ended up in the wrong crowd, or he could've ended up not really finding a place where he fit in at all. Burt's fear was having his son resent him for the move after a few weeks of being away from his friends, but thankfully, that was something neither of them had to worry about.

It was just after ten so the traffic on the way back to Long Beach was moving freely on the highway. Neither of the two thought that their day would end so late, but between the auditioning process and then preparing for the actual photo shoot, time did seem to fly by. Kurt looked like a professional straight away and the director seemed to love him. How could he not, though? The boy was a Hummel and he definitely had his father's good looks. But one thing Burt could admit was that he preferred his son to model alone. It wasn't that Carl was a bad guy, because he seemed pretty mature and gave Kurt lots of tips as someone with experience should—but Burt hated to think about Kurt hanging around a bunch of sleazy guys who probably didn't have good intentions. Who knew what these guys were into? Drinking, or drugs, or the sex and stupidity that came with the fast life. Most of them seemed more obsessed with their looks than Kurt could ever be and that was saying something…

After a yawn, Burt's inner thoughts quieted down about the scary side of this all. Despite his fears, this much was certain; he wouldn't always be able to protect Kurt. He wouldn't really need to with Blaine around now, and anyone with eyes could see that Blaine cared about him. But at the same time, Burt could lead with a little guidance. If Kurt was going to continue this, it wouldn't interfere with anything else. He wouldn't be working on school days. He wouldn't be doing anything where he'd have to travel away from LA. Burt would be with him as much as he could because there was still a lot about this industry that he didn't exactly know, understand, or trust. They had a lot to learn, and this was going to be a long week.

Even with the fears and concerns, the man couldn't deny how proud he was. His ‘little' boy was grown-up and doing things he was passionate about, and pretty soon he'd be moving away to an entirely different state on the opposite side of the country. It was scary to think about because for so long, it had been just the two of them. Burt didn't know if he was ready to ‘let go', but at the same time he knew for sure that he didn't want to hold his son back. He had some moving on of his own to do.

As he reached for the dial to turn the station, Kurt flinched a little and held the Tommy Hilfiger bag in his lap a bit closer to him. The bag was filled with goodies he'd gotten from the shoot—a checkered casual shirt, some cologne, snacks, a catalogue— but when Burt stopped short and honked his horn at the person in front of him, Kurt jumped up, startled as he looked around.

“Sorry.” Burt indicated left and switched into the other lane. “This idiot in front of me is going to give me a heart attack.”

Kurt shook his head no, slouching back down in the seat. “Dad, that's not funny.”

Burt looked over at him before facing the road again. The kid worried too much. He'd been attending his doctor's appointments and eating that nasty crap they added to his diet, and everything was fine. “We'll be home in like 10 minutes.”

Kurt reached for his cell phone, yawning, and then sighed when he remembered that it had died hours ago.

“You seriously need to go to rehab for that cell phone addiction you have. You and your friends. All of you just sit in a circle just staring down at your phones when they're over at the house.”

“I don't have an addiction,” Kurt replied tiredly, smiling softly. “I just forgot it was dead.” He looked up at the exits to see that they weren't too far. “Blaine's probably concerned… I haven't been able to get in contact with him since you got me from school earlier and… this was a surprise. I didn't exactly tell him where we were going.”

Burt nodded. Surprise. His son changed the station again to that pop crap and Burt sighed. “Don't put this on and then go back to sleep…”

“I'm not. I'm up.” Kurt adjusted his seat a little straighter as Burt drove slightly above speed limit.  “And you love this song. This is Uptown Funk.”

“I've never heard it.”

“I caught you and Blaine dancing to it in the kitchen yesterday.”

“I didn't know what he was singing,” Burt claimed. “He said if I ‘jammed with him' he'd leave me alone.”

Kurt smiled. He was so excited to see his boyfriend and tell him about everything that happened that day. Everything from the photo shoot, to how great they told him he did and how with a few more checks he could have saved up enough to pay for some furniture for their brand new apartment when they made the leap to New York. And it wasn't like Blaine assumed it would be, because no one stood around asking about his athlete of a boyfriend all day. There were a few snobs on the staff, but the rest of the crew treated him like a human being, newbie or not.

Whatever. He just couldn't wait to get home and share everything with Blaine. With a few days before both Preliminaries and the Recital, each of them had a hell of a lot going on, and their time to see each other and spend time together seemed limited. But they'd always make time for each other. No worries.

“I'm thinking about asking Amber to marry me.”

Kurt turned away from the window and stared at his father. Did he hear that correctly? “You're… you're—what?”

Burt got off at their exit and took a deep breath. “I didn't ask her yet, Kurt. I wanted to talk to you about it first. But as you know I've been seeing her for a while,” he began to drive again, and Kurt could only stare at his father; lips slightly parted. “I didn't think I could feel this way about another person after we lost Lizzie. But here we are.” He smiled for a moment, but when Kurt hadn't said anything, Burt snuck a peek at him before facing the road. “I understand if it'd be weird for you, but remember that I gave Blaine a chance when he started skulking around. You can give Amber a chance—” 

“Are you kidding me?” Kurt asked, slapping his father in the arm. He ignored the ouch as he grinned. “Dad, that's incredible! I—what? I'm so happy for you and for her! And I could have a big brother?!”

Burt laughed, obviously a bit relieved that Kurt didn't seem opposed to this. “Yeah. Yeah, I guess you could. So… do you think I should?”

“If you love her and you feel good about this, you aren't going to get any objections from me.” Kurt clapped his hands excitedly. “Did you buy a ring already?”

Burt rolled his eyes at his son's excitement, but he couldn't help but smile too. Amber was special to him, and when he thought about what Elizabeth would want, it would be for him to be happy. Both he and Amber had lost their spouses and it was very hard for each of them to continue on as single parents without the people they fell for, but their bond was strong because of it. They both were strong. “I didn't. I've only been thinking about asking, I haven't exactly gotten that far.”

Kurt smiled, sitting back and looking out the passenger side window. “I'm a fan of the idea. I'll have someone here to keep an eye on you when I move to New York and knowing you won't be alone is important to me.”

Burt nodded. “So you get along well with Blaze, right? He's a good kid.”

“Definitely.”

“Good.”

They were pretty quiet for the rest of the ride, but were content in their own minds. Kurt was excited for his father and for Ms. Knight—they both deserved to be happy after all the heartbreak they'd experienced. And seriously, getting a step-sibling out of this who he got along well with wasn't a bad thing at all.

Before long they were in their neighborhood, and then on their block. Burt slowed down, preparing to turn into his driveway when he saw Blaine seated on the front steps of his home playing fetch with Diesel. It was a bit late for that but since Kurt said they hadn't spoken in a while, he figured the boy was waiting up for them.

“And there he is.”

Kurt smiled when he noticed him. Blaine looked up at the truck pulling into the yard as he threw the tennis ball towards the fence and Diesel excitedly ran over to get it. It was then that Kurt noticed how… out of it his boyfriend looked.

“Aaand, we're home!” Burt took his key out of the ignition and took a deep breath. “What a day.”

Kurt nodded, smiling as he undid his seatbelt and grabbed his bags. “I'm going to catch Blaine up to speed.”

“Sure thing.” Burt opened his door and stretched his legs as he got out. “And I'm going to get in the shower and then bed.” They closed their doors and Burt locked the car behind him, smiling when he was greeted by a huge, bouncy, silly dog. Kurt rounded the vehicle with his book bag on and the duffel bag over his shoulder as he pranced right over to Blaine—a grin covering his lips. Blaine stood up now, watching Kurt approach with a blank expression.

“You forgot a belt again,” Burt said, still petting Diesel as he walked over towards the door. Blaine looked at him for a moment before pulling up his basketball shorts and tightening the drawstring. Kurt raised an eyebrow at his behavior—he didn't seem as happy to see either of them as he usually was.

Burt was no idiot, and he could tell something was wrong with Blaine as he patted the boy's shoulder.  “Be in by 11,” he told Kurt, walking up the steps.

“Alright,” Kurt answered. He watched his father walk inside and looked back at Blaine who was throwing the ball for Diesel. “Hey…”

Blaine let Kurt pull his hood off and turned to look at him. “Hey, Kurt.”

Kurt stared at him. His boyfriend was obviously upset and it caused a lump to form in his throat. “How was your day? Is everything alright?”

Diesel fetched the ball and ran back over. Blaine took it back, watching his dog sit patiently at his feet.

No answer. Kurt waited for a while, and there wasn't even an attempt by Blaine to answer his question.

Blaine tossed the ball towards the back of the yard this time and Diesel barked as he ran back there. The silence between them was tense and uncomfortable, and Kurt knew he wasn't going to like this.  

Did David or Justin say something while they all hung out today? Why else would Blaine be acting like this? Kurt turned his back to the fence as well and leant back, still holding the Tommy Hilfiger duffel bag.

“Well my day was pretty good…” he said.

Blaine nodded in response.

“Are we going to talk at all?” Kurt asked, noticing the way his boyfriend looked off at the palm trees down the block. “Because you obviously know and it feels like you're going to stand here ignoring me. I don't think I want to stand here and be ignored.”

Diesel's bark made Blaine turn to look in his direction. After a few seconds passed by and Kurt was seriously considering giving up, his boyfriend ran a hand through his curly hair. “So what's in the bag?”

Kurt looked down at the duffel bag. “Before we even go there… I was offered the chance to be a part of a photo shoot with Tommy Hilfiger and I thought it would be a great and fun learning experience, so I took it. I wanted to surprise you with the news of this, but based on your attitude, it's pretty clear that you already know, right? Or are you being this shitty over something else?”

Blaine still wouldn't look at him. Kurt shook his head, handing the bag over.

“This was for you. I wanted to be the one to tell you about today and how much fun it was and I wanted you to have a few mementos.”

“No, thank you.” Blaine pulled his phone out of his pocket and opened up to the tweet that he'd seen earlier that night. He didn't want anything that would make him think of this night, or the blatant betrayal he felt. “Here. Take a look at what your Prestige Models posted a little while ago.”

Kurt could sense the fight coming as Blaine's voice began to sound a bit more vicious. He brought the bag back to himself and looked down at the phone.

“It's nice, right?” Blaine asked, a small smirk on his face. He probably simply meant to sound sarcastic, but between the anger of his voice and the blankness behind his eyes, it was coming off more hurtful than anything.

Kurt didn't know what to think of the fact that his ‘agency' had tweeted out photos of him already when he'd only had a three-job contract, or the fact that they had to tag Blaine in it in the first place. He looked up at Blaine right as his boyfriend was putting the phone back into his pocket.

“You know, I was a bit worried. We hadn't really spoken, and no one else had heard from you either. Your dad showing up and signing you out of school… it was weird and I honestly believed something was wrong, Kurt. But luckily it was just so you could do this… be photographed with another man for some clothing line…”

Kurt looked at him. “My phone died, Blaine. If it was charged, you would've heard from me. And that's just a picture… trust me when I say that isn't at all how I wanted you to find out about me doing this, but, I want you to be happy for me at least.”

Blaine pulled out his car keys as he stood there. So much was going through his mind right now, he didn't really know how to organize it into words, but what he did know was he was seriously pissed the hell off.

They talked about this. Kurt asked him how he felt, and he expressed his feelings. Still, none of that mattered. Kurt couldn't even tell him that he was going to do this in the first place? Why did it have to be a secret? Why even pretend to care?

“Can you explain something for me? Because I want to know why you'd even ask if you were going to do what you wanted to anyway?”

Kurt rolled his eyes at the question. First, Blaine was giving him this amount of attitude and barely speaking to him, and then he was going to act as if he disobeyed him. “Firstly, I wasn't asking for permission. I wanted to talk about it with you because that's what boyfriends do… we talk. I wanted you to be proud of me like other people were after I'd spoken to them, Blaine, and to be happy for the guy you're making plans to spend your life with. But you couldn't even crack a smile.”

Blaine shook his head in what looked like defeat. “You expected me to be proud of that? You laying in some guy's lap?”

Kurt began to laugh, but he could tell it was his body's way of making sure he didn't start crying. This wasn't happening. “Are you kidding me right now? It's a fucking picture. This was for work. You pose with your little fangirls all the time and you don't see me sitting around throwing a hissy fit about it, Blaine.”

Blaine nodded before turning to call for Diesel. “This may be a joke to you,” he began. “But it isn't to me. I'm the one who has to deal with this.”

Kurt stood up from the fence and looked at Blaine like he was crazy. “What are you talking about?”

“I'm going home.” He reached for Diesel's collar to steer him out the yard but the dog walked off, still wanting to play. “Goodnight.”

“No. No, Blaine,” Kurt stood in front of his boyfriend who rolled his eyes at him, looking in the opposite direction. Kurt ignored his response. “There's no way I'm letting you come over here and talk to me like this. You're acting as if you're the goddamn King in this relationship, but this is a two-way street.”

Blaine gave a sardonic smile, sliding his hands in his pocket. “I'm not acting any differently. If you want to sneak behind my back and do something like this, and then pretend like I'm supposed to be a fucking cheerleader—”

“Why should I even have had to feel like I was sneaking? Shit!” Kurt dropped the duffel bag and turned away from him, needing to take a deep breath and lower his voice. The last thing he needed in the midst of all of their small-time fame was for neighbors to call the police. Or even worse, for Mikey to hear them.

Blaine stared at the back of his head for a while until Kurt turned around to face him.  He didn't like any of this, and Kurt expecting him to jump out in support after he'd done what he did despite knowing how he felt in the first place wasn't going to work. He didn't think Kurt would ever make him feel the way he felt after seeing that photograph.

“Last time we had a serious disagreement, it was because you were upset that I wasn't on board with you competing—”

“Actually,” Blaine cut in. “I told my uncle I wasn't going to compete, remember?”

“No,” Kurt corrected him. “What I remember is you getting upset with me because I was making decisions for you. It was your choice to join up for Recon and I was being a complete asshole by trying to convince you not to. I apologized for that.”

Blaine looked bored.

“You didn't decide you weren't going to do it and I'm happy about that because it was your choice to make, despite how I felt about it. But what changed your mind was when we found out the date of the recitals,” Kurt explained. “I went out of my way to make sure you could do both. I put my feelings aside and I've been supporting you like a good boyfriend should.”

“Just because I don't think you should be laying with your head in some guy's lap doesn't mean I'm not supportive.”

“If I were in a photo by myself, you'd still be going on this rampage,” Kurt said, ignoring the pain in his chest and the dryness of his mouth as he walked past him. “There should be a limit to how controlling you are in this relationship—get off of me—”

Blaine grabbed Kurt by the elbow as the boy stormed past him and wouldn't let him go. “You want to talk about everything, right Kurt? Let's talk about this.” He let him go and crossed his arms, watching Kurt fix his sweater. “What's fucked up about all of this is the fact that you don't see that it's bullshit. I just came out, telling everyone I love you, and not even 10 minutes later you're in an ad with another model when no one knew who the fuck you were before I opened my mouth.”

Kurt's entire demeanor changed.

“I'm insecure enough over all of this. I'm a human, Kurt. The last thing I want to see is some shit like that. That doesn't make me proud.”

Kurt nodded his head as the weight of everything being said started to become real. “Alright. So because you're having a hard time telling the difference between something being business and something being pleasure, I'm not allowed to do something that I could really enjoy? I'm supposed to let you forbid me from taking some pictures just because some people who you don't know may think that I'm using you.”

“You're the one making the choice,” Blaine told him. Diesel laid down on the grass as they stood there in front of the Hummel home. “This isn't anything new. You know what it's been—how I fucking feel about you, Kurt. I don't want to see anything like that & I damn sure don't want people saying the man I'm in love with is using me to climb to the top.”

“Just come out and say what you really feel,” Kurt's voice cracked and Blaine stared him in the eyes. “You believe strangers on the Internet & you don't trust me.”

Blaine shrugged. “Should I?”

“Should you trust me?” Kurt's eyes were a bit watery but he smiled, shaking his head in disbelief. “Have I given you reason not to?”

His boyfriend stared at him. “All of these moves you're making behind my back makes me think you're not as trustworthy as I would've hoped, Kurt. That's all.”

Kurt picked up the duffel bag and shook his head. “Okay. So just so I'm clear… I'm not trustworthy. Let me guess… you think I'm cheating on you, too? With the random model I met 8 hours ago for work?” They stared at one another and Kurt tried to regain his composure as he continued. “I'm going to give you some time to sleep on this before we do or even say something we regret, Blaine. Right now I don't think I can even look at you.”

Blaine rolled his eyes and turned away, waiting for Diesel to follow suit. “Whatever. Fuck this. I honestly don't need this stress, Kurt. I have enough on my plate right now.”

Kurt didn't bother to wipe away the tear that ran down his cheek as he watched Blaine take Diesel and start to walk towards where he parked. “Really? You're giving up on us just like that?”

Blaine didn't bother looking back as he left, opening the passenger side and letting Diesel in.

“Fine, Blaine!” Kurt shouted after him, his voice breaking in a way he was hoping it wouldn't. “Fine. You always get what you want. Hope it makes you happy.” He turned around and stormed inside, grateful that his father left the front door unlocked.  

Blaine put his hood back on as he glanced back just in time to see the door slam. After standing there for a moment, he thought about going to apologize but decided against it. Some people would call him stubborn, but he wasn't in the wrong here. He knew he wasn't. He opened the door to his Lexus and got in, taking a deep breath as Diesel barked.

What the fuck just happened?

…

Kurt slammed his bedroom door closed behind him and threw the duffel bag across the room. The tears that he'd been fighting to hold back outside in front of Blaine were now streaming down his face as he stepped out of his shoes, locking the door behind himself. He was pretty sure his father was in the shower at this point but he didn't need the man walking in and seeing him like this if he wasn't.

This was just a bad dream anyway, right? There was no way that Blaine had just walked away from him like that and gave up on their relationship. Not like this. Not over this. Kurt wiped at his eyes as he moved over to his bed, looking through his pockets for his cell phone and going a little crazy when he couldn't find it. After searching his sweater and deciding to stop and take a quick breath, he finally found the iPhone in his book bag.

“Fuck,” he mumbled, wiping at his eyes and plugging the phone into his charger. This couldn't be real. No way. The phone flashed the charging symbol as he stood up and started to get undressed.

There was no way they were really not together, right? Like… he and Blaine had made plans for the rest of their lives. He had his name and their anniversary date tattooed on him and vice versa… there wasn't—no. No. Kurt wasn't ready to accept that they weren't together.

“Fuck.” He stumbled over to the mirror as the tears continued…

Maybe he did fuck up. Badly.

Blaine hadn't been this angry with him, and that fight they had over Karofsky texting him was pretty bad. But this wasn't even worth breaking up over in his opinion. Okay, Blaine didn't want him to model, and okay he took a picture with a guy he was hired to take a photo with. It wasn't anything sexual at all… it was modeling. Fucking acting for a photograph to sell some fucking clothing. Blaine could not be that insecure to let a stupid picture make him want to walk away. There must've been something else.

And what really sucked was Kurt didn't try harder to convince him not to come out. Maybe Blaine wasn't ready for this, despite shouting to the world how happy and in love he was. Maybe being labeled gay and associated as a ‘cock lover' for the rest of his life wasn't worth it. Kurt was right to doubt their relationship like he did at first… all of this happened too fast. He knew better. He didn't get happy endings.

Pulling off his shirt, Kurt used the sleeves of it to wipe his face. He tossed it over to the hamper and exhaled, shaking his head at the boy looking back at him in his reflection. The boy looked so small and trampled on. His cheeks were damp and puffy, and his nose and eyes were red. The last time Kurt remembered running into his room and seeing himself like this was probably sophomore year in Lima. He didn't know what felt worse.

His phone chimed letting Kurt know that it had turned on. He wondered if it was Blaine—maybe they'd be able to talk this out tonight and apologize, because this sucked. Kurt didn't want to break up, even though he shouted that it was fine to Blaine.

To his ex.

None of it was fine. They weren't supposed to be apart. Blaine was basically the air that he breathed.

From: Cooper

Hey Kurt. I've been trying to call my brother to see where he is but I'm not getting an answer. I told him he couldn't leave in the first place and I'm 100% sure he was going over to your house. If he's there, please tell him he needs to get home. Mom doesn't need this kind of stress.

Kurt dried his eyes as he sat down in nothing but his boxers. Now Blaine's mom was stressed out. That would ultimately be his fault too, if something were to happen to her. If he hadn't done this then Blaine wouldn't have a reason to leave his home in the first place, right?

To: Cooper

Hi CJ. He was over here but he left a while ago. He should be home in a few. I'm sorry.

From: Cooper

Don't worry about it. Thnx.

Kurt closed out the conversation and went to his twitter app. As he suspected ever since Blaine showed him the tweet from Prestige Models LA, his notifications were blown up. Many of them were from accounts he didn't know following him and congratulating him on the photo shoot, but they hadn't bothered to remove Blaine's handle, which meant all of this was going on in Blaine's mentions too. It would be nothing but more ammunition for him to say that Kurt was latching onto him to get where he was going, and that hurt like hell.

Kurt's friends had left him a few mentions and Kurt tried to be happy as he read the congratulations from Artie, but he couldn't. Trying to sleep tonight with all that was on Kurt's mind was going to be impossible.

…

Blaine put his cell phone on mute as his brother started to call. Again. He walked Diesel into Nick's yard and put his fingers to his lips.

“Be quiet, okay boy? I don't need to wake up Nick's mom. She'd be pissed and he'll probably get in trouble.”

The white dog sat down and Blaine patted him on the head before walking around to the back of the house. Diesel barked and Blaine turned around to laugh, holding his finger to his lips again.

He used to do this all the time when they were younger—climb up and through the window to Nick's room. Honestly, Blaine didn't even know why he was here. His best friend would probably bite his head off when he told him what happened, but Blaine wasn't ready to go home. He didn't want to go to Uncle Don's either, because Kurt was literally right next door. What was needed right now was just not being alone and thinking about something other than the fact that he was single.

The last thing he expected to see when he lifted the window was Nick gripping the headboard as he pushed himself further between Jeff's legs, but the good thing about it was they were underneath the covers. Sure, he was currently breaking into his best friend's home while said best friend was fucking his boyfriend's brains out but at least he couldn't see everything. He rolled onto the floor after diving in through the open window and a ‘what the fuck?!' followed by an even louder ‘fuck' left the boys' lips.

“It's me…” Blaine held his hands up as the light came on and his eyes were closed, not wanting to see anymore. Enough was enough. Jeff was in the process of grabbing another cover to shield his chest when he realized who it was and sighed, falling back against the bed.

“Are you fucking kidding me, Anderson?”

Nick had never lost a boner that fast in his life. He looked from his best friend, over to his boyfriend, and then down at the condom covering his cock. “I was so, so close.”

“I'm sorry, shit. I didn't think Jeff would be over here—”

“Nick?” That was the voice of his mother outside the door. “What's going on? Is everything alright?”

Jeff looked like he was about to hide in the closet, but that was way too cliché. Plus, Nick's closet was a fucking mess and the bedroom door was locked anyway.

“Everything is fine,” Nick answered, rolling over in bed and pulling the sheets up over them and glaring at Blaine. Blaine stood up and lowered the window a little. They were quiet until everyone was sure his mother had walked off and Jeff dragged a hand over his face.

“Should I turn around and let you guys get dressed?”

Nick deadpanned. “You could leave…”

“He came over here because something is wrong, obviously.” Jeff looked away from Nick and turned to Blaine. “Right?”

Blaine looked at them. “So I take it you two had a good date night?”

“We'd be dead men if we broke into Blaine's room while he was doing his boyfriend. Stop being nice to him,” Nick grumbled.

“I don't have a boyfriend,” Blaine replied, sitting down on the beanbag chair and picking up his cell phone. “Not as of 15 minutes ago.”

Both Nick and Jeff were quiet as they looked at him, probably trying to understand what the hell he was talking about. Nick watched Jeff laugh and dig around under the covers for his shorts. He sighed, knowing he would have to get dressed too.

He was so fucking close.

“Alright. What are you talking about?” Jeff asked him as he pulled on what were actually Nick's pants underneath the sheets. If this were serious and not over yogurt again, he wanted to call Ohio right now. Kurt was most likely alone. “I don't think I follow…”

Nick put a shirt on and found his boxers on the floor next to the bed, stepping into them. “What do you mean you don't have a boyfriend?” he echoed.

Blaine sucked his teeth and found a pair of shorts on the floor, throwing them at his best friend. The only bulges he wanted to see were his, Kurt's and Jake Bass's. “Please cover up.”

Nick rolled his eyes, pulling them on. “Answer the question.”

“We just…” Blaine rubbed his face as he noticed Jeff digging through a pair of jeans and pulling out his phone. “We fought pretty badly because he did something fucked up, and it just happened. I said that ‘I don't need this' or something and he freaked out before I realized that it sounded that way, but he was like ‘fine by me'. I'm pretty sure that means that we're over.”

Jeff looked up from his phone screen. “…Why does it sound like you're okay with that?”

Blaine shrugged an answer at first. Was he okay with not being with Kurt? No. He honestly didn't think he could imagine a life where he didn't get to kiss him or hold him or make love to him, or hear that funny little laugh he did when he was trying not to. Honestly he wanted a family with the boy, no matter how mad they were with one another. But with this situation, things were too complicated. Blaine needed a little space. He felt that he respectfully asked his boyfriend not to do something that'd put them even more in the public eye than they already were but yet, his boyfriend is… fuck, his ex-boyfriend was out parading at photo shoots with another guy's hands in his hair. That was only the photo he saw… who knew what the others looked like. Work or not, it was still something Blaine didn't want to see.

To: Kurt

Hey. I'm at Nick's and Blaine just showed up behaving a little erratically. Says you're not together anymore? Can you text me back and let me know what's going on because I'm sure he won't give us anything of substance. Hope you're ok.

Nick shook his head at the silence. “If he didn't cheat on you or murder someone then I don't see what could be so bad that you'd feel the need to walk away. This is the same dude that I caught you looking at rings for 2 days ago, is it not?”

Blaine was too out of it to even show them the picture, or explain why he was as upset by this as he was. “When you both get the chance, log onto Twitter. I'm sure you'll see right away what's bothering me and why all of it blew up…. He's mad at me for not being supportive and I'm mad at him because honestly, none of this looks good. Not for him, or for me. Not for us as a couple.”

Jeff stopped texting Kurt since he wasn't getting an answer anyway and went to the Twitter app. He scrolled for a bit with Nick looking over his shoulder before he saw a tweet from Mercedes congratulating Kurt on his photo. Then he closed his eyes because he fucking knew that this would blow up and turn out to be bad, but David was a lot more persuasive.

“So he did that modeling shoot, I guess?” Nick asked, even though the answer was quite obvious.

Blaine stood up and looked out the window.

“Gimme,” Nick whispered, clicking the tweet and finding the original one Mercedes had been replying to. It was from Prestige Models LA and it congratulated Kurt on a job well done with the photo attached.

“Wow,” he said softly. “His first time out and he got a Hilfiger shoot? That's good… A little more than I would've expected but… I mean it looks good. That's good for him.”

Blaine rolled his eyes.

Jeff took his phone back and went onto Kurt's profile, curious to see if he was on now. His last tweet was 5 minutes ago and was basically thanking everyone who'd begun to follow him and had shown him support. “Thank you to all my new followers and to my friends for the lovely messages. I appreciate all the love and support. Heart emoji.” Jeff looked up. “Five minutes ago.”

Blaine shrugged. “He's getting what he wanted, I guess. I couldn't give him any support so he should be happy with that.”

“You could've,” Nick told him. “It's just that you chose not to because you didn't want to. If you want to be babied, you're not going to get that from me, B. You know better.”

Blaine laughed. “I should've known I'd come here and get preached to by you, Nick. Amazing—” 

“He just posted again,” Jeff said. He'd gotten a text from Kurt too, but didn't say that aloud. Instead, he read the tweet so Blaine could hear.

“He says, ‘This quote helped me understand. I'm sorry.'” Jeff cleared his throat. “And the quote reads, ‘It's better to break your own heart by leaving, rather than having that person break your heart every day you're with them.'”

Nick looked at his best friend for a reaction, and Blaine stood there for a moment, silent. After he'd fished his phone out of his pocket, he started scrolling through Twitter too. Jeff shook his head and looked down at his phone screen.

“Sounds like there's something you aren't telling us,” Nick said. “Maybe this break up was over more than just the modeling…?”

Blaine was staring down at the quote and shaking his head. He didn't like this… it was making everything too real.

From: Kurt

I'm fine. Just tell him to go home. His mom and Cooper are worried.

Jeff bit his lip. “I think I'm going to go check on him before I head home.” He pushed the covers away and began to gather his street clothes. Nick looked like he could cry.

“I… I didn't come yet, baby.”

Jeff made the jerk off motion with his hand and winked. Nick didn't seem to be a fan of that idea. His boyfriend turned to Blaine and spoke. “Kurt says that your mom and brother are worried,” he said tiredly. Blaine was still staring down at his phone. “So you should probably get home or at least let them know you're ok.”

Blaine ignored Jeff. “I said some things about not trusting him because of how he makes so many moves behind my back. I'm upfront with him but with him, it's like everything's a secret.”

They were all quiet.

“He keeps things quiet an awful lot for a guy who gets pissed at me for not wanting to talk all the time. I mean from day 1—keeping me a secret from the people in Ohio and then that blew up in our faces when we got there. Then there was him talking to Karofsky without at least telling me. It didn't have to be a secret. And even though he came to talk to me about wanting to model, I said I didn't want him to do it. He does it anyway without so much hinting that he was going to do it regardless of how I felt, and then I check my Twitter timeline and see him at a photo shoot. Why should I trust him?”

Nick rubbed his hands together as he took in all that his friend said. Sure, things didn't necessarily look good, but Kurt wasn't hiding things to be devious. He was afraid of how Blaine would react, and this time it got him an ended relationship. “I think you should trust him because you love him and you know Kurt would never be unfaithful. I don't think he ever would, Blaine.”

“How do I know that?” Blaine asked. “Because he says so? I think words that aren't spoken are more powerful than the shit he's been saying. Look at his actions.”

Jeff scoffed as he pulled on his sweater. He didn't think he could listen to any more of this. “Turn around unless you want to see my nuts.”

Blaine turned and looked out the window.  

Jeff caught his underwear when Nick tossed it to him and quickly ditched the pants he had on, pulling up the boxers and then his jeans. He couldn't believe what was coming out of Blaine's mouth. Quite frankly it sounded petty and they were all bigger than that. “I know I'm not an expert in anything to do with fashion or modeling or any of that shit,” he began. “But I'm sure that Kurt didn't ask to be in a picture with another dude posing like that. I think that whoever directed the photo shoot wanted it to be that way, and Kurt was good enough to get the job. You should probably relax.”

Blaine turned to look at him once he was sure he was dressed. “I'm relaxed, Jeffrey. I'm pretty fucking calm. Kurt didn't see me as mad as I could be about this, because even if they told him to pose with this guy, he could've given me a heads up so I wasn't bombarded.”

“Someone who was calm wouldn't break up with their boyfriend over that,” Jeff told him, gesturing to the phone. That was completely unnecessary. “It doesn't matter whether or not you meant to. I understand if you're upset because he did something without you being okay with it but at the end of the day, you're supposed to be on his side, aren't you? Kurt is his own person last time I checked—”

“Someone who was calm wouldn't break up with their boyfriend over that,” Jeff told him, gesturing to his phone. “And how can Kurt simply being in a photograph with another model hurt you that much? It's a picture. He's not doing a porno. There's no way you're that insecure.”

“It makes sense that you'd take his side,” Blaine said, not even caring anymore. “Kurt knows me and he knows that I would never want to find a photo of him and another dude, work related or not. And if I hadn't seen it and he'd come home to show it to me, I still wouldn't be ok with that.” He shook his head, putting his phone away. “He knows how I am whether or not people think it's cool. He knows me. And on top of the fact that people have been saying things about us and I've been having to deal with all the stress—”

“That's what's bothering me,” Jeff said, stepping into his sneakers. He looked up at Blaine who had stopped his rambling and was staring back. “You care a lot more about what people are going to say instead of caring that Kurt knows you're proud of him…”

Blaine smirked, shaking his head. “I'm not about to get into it with you, Jeff.”

“You don't have to,” he replied. Nick lazily found his shirt and started to pull it on as well. “What's the difference between him doing super well at the recital and doing super well at modeling?”

“For one, the modeling agency didn't know who he was until I came out with him. With his recital, he's doing everything on his own.”

Nick looked up. “So if he got the modeling gig on his own, you'd be okay with it?”

“He did get it on his own,” Jeff said, walking over to the window to leave. Blaine was blocking him, though. “If you want to say that they're only interested in Kurt because he's your boyfriend, then ok. But why should that even matter? You love him and vice versa—”

“Because people are saying things and it sucks.”

“Please don't start arguing in my room. My mom is obviously still awake—”

“I—” Jeff stopped himself from replying after hearing what Nick said. He nodded and pulled the window up, putting a leg out so he could climb down. He looked at his boyfriend and waved. “I'm going to call you, okay?”

Nick nodded. “Be safe out there, please.”

Blaine nodded goodbye to his friend as he waited for Jeff to climb down. He put his leg out the window as well as Nick stood up, walking over to close it.

“You need to sleep on this, get your head right, and realize that you don't want to break up because of something like that. You love Kurt and you have since you first met him,” Nick said.

Blaine looked at him but he didn't respond. He started to climb down the side of the home, putting his feet in the groves and hopping down next to Jeff who was standing there. Nick closed the window and shook his head.

Jeff started to walk through the yard, making sure he didn't step in Nick's mom's garden. He smiled when he saw Diesel and the dog got excited, jumping and barking. “Hey, boy! Long time no see.”

Blaine realized he was getting another call from Cooper when his phone lit up and he sighed. “Since you're going over there, just tell him I didn't mean to break up with him like that. I was stressed and upset and it came out the wrong way.”

Jeff finished petting Diesel and then went over to pick up his skateboard at the side of the stoop. Blaine grabbed his dog's leash and opened the fence. “I'm not going to play messenger, Blaine. You and Kurt need to talk things out yourself. I'm just going over there to show that I'm still his friend, because knowing Kurt he'll assume that he can't be cool with us because you knew us first or something stupid like that.”

Blaine pulled out his car keys. “Yeah. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” Jeff put his skateboard down and started to kick and push himself in the direction of Kurt's block. He had a lot he wanted to say to Blaine, but maybe it wasn't his place. He never had to come out before and he probably didn't know what Blaine was dealing with, so he didn't want to judge. But at the same time, you don't just say you want to be with someone forever and then get pissed off and quit after a hissy fit. It was the same way you shouldn't say you want to be with someone and then tell another person ‘we should be together if things don't work out in my current relationship'. It's fucked up.

…

Of course when he got home, he found a livid mother and an annoyed older brother. Blaine sat through a lecture from Clarissa about how when she agreed to keep the beach house, he promised he'd abide by the rules. Sneaking out after curfew was a very blatant violation of the rules, so she intended on grounding him without second thought.

His car keys were taken away. His CELL PHONE and laptop and games were too. He could only practice at the skate park and come home, and he'd have to be in by 5 o' fucking clock. Kurt couldn't come over, but little did she know.

Blaine didn't have the strength to fight back. Normally, he would say he's 17, not 9, and it wasn't like he was out selling drugs or prostituting or doing anything illegal. He'd gone out and came back before midnight. What was the big deal? But tonight, he didn't bother. He'd just take the punishment. It wasn't like his friends wanted to hang around him, or he had a boyfriend to spend time with.

The only thing that made Blaine want to smile was how happy Diesel was to meet Melody. Although it sucked to have Cooper ignoring him and his mother mad that he was being disrespectful, his little sister didn't know how much of a screw up he was. He had time before he ever let her down.

Blaine was in his room 10 minutes later. He knew that after he got into his sleeping clothes, he should go formally apologize to both his mother and his brother for making them worry. He usually snuck out after they were sleeping, but this time he just walked out, being so upset and what not. That was stupid. Blaine didn't intend on including any of this in his apology but he did want them to know that he'd take the stupid punishment like a man and that he was sorry.

And he'd ask for his phone back tomorrow morning, because he needed his phone. Come on. That was a necessity.

It was hard to go to bed that night. It was hard to stay still and to close his eyes. The only thing Blaine could think about was Kurt's Twitter post…

“This quote helped me to understand. I'm sorry.”

It hurt knowing that Kurt felt that way—like he was a burden, or that Blaine walking away was the right thing to do. He was upset, he felt justifiably so, and something came out of his mouth that he didn't mean. It was true that this was a lot to be dealing with before Recon—those homophobic idiots he was competing against saying things, people online attacking their relationship, worrying about making it back to California in time for his boyfriend's performance and also worrying about Kurt keeping things from him…

Maybe his reaction wasn't going to make Kurt feel comfortable coming to him with things, but he didn't feel comfortable having things hidden. He hated that most of their friends, if not all, knew about Kurt going to do the photo shoot, yet he didn't. It wasn't fair. Things were going to shit and Blaine hated that.

…

“Can I get you something to drink?”

Jeff walked in, rubbing at the nape of his neck. The first floor was dark and he assumed it was because Kurt didn't want to disturb his father. “I'm fine,” he answered. “We heading up to your room?”

Kurt shook his head no as he turned on the lamp in the living room. “I don't want to be in my room right now. Too much Blaine up there,” he said with a smile. Jeff walked over and sat next to him on the sofa. “I've got pictures of us framed and his clothes are still laying around. I'm wearing this fucking ring,” Kurt looked down at his hand and took it off, looking down at the tan line over his finger. “We're ridiculous.”

Jeff took a deep breath before sitting back. He stared up at the ceiling and swallowed hard. “Can you tell me what happened? I don't want to look at you because I can tell you were crying and that's not something I want to see.”

Kurt smiled. “I was. I hope my eyes aren't so puffy tomorrow morning. My father will notice right away and I don't need that in my life.”

Jeff turned to him. “What happened?”

“We argued,” Kurt said simply. “I came back from the shoot thinking I'd surprise him what the photos, but he was already mad at me when my dad pulled into the driveway.”

Jeff was quiet.

“He'd already see the picture of course, because Prestige tweeted it. And I'm not mad at him for being upset, because I know that he wasn't a fan of the idea and I hadn't told him I was doing it. What I am upset about is how he practically belittled me for doing it. I'm not his child, you know?”

Jeff nodded. “I'm aware.”

Kurt dragged his hands down his face. “He was angry, and he said he was going to leave. I told him I wasn't letting him leave after screaming at me like that… we were going to talk. In retrospect, I probably should've just let him leave.” He took a deep breath. “At least if I let him leave, we probably would still be in a relationship. But Blaine let me know how he felt. …He said that what I did wasn't cool… I should know that he's insecure about me and other guys and that there are people saying shit to him about me… about me using him basically. I don't understand how those people won but I'm really frustrated about that.”

Jeff looked over at him, not sure what to do. He wanted to hug him, but he didn't want Kurt to cry. It wasn't even that he was awkward in situations like that, but he just didn't think he'd be okay seeing his friend crying. “You know he still loves you, right?”

Kurt exhaled, scratching through his hair. “I know. And I know he knows that I love him and… I don't see that changing. But everything he said made me realize that maybe we really do need a break. Maybe I need to give him his space because he's right… there's a lot on his plate right now—”

“There's a lot on everyone's plate, Kurt. We're human. He was upset—”

“I don't think he and I are going to get back together anytime soon, Jeff.” Kurt looked over at him and sighed. “Think about how fast all of this happened. We were together after like 5 minutes, we were practically screwing around after 10, and we barely gave one another any space. It wouldn't have killed to be just friends first, you know? I think maybe we just need to learn how to support each other, and to trust each other as friends instead of … instead of doing what we've been doing the past 6 months.”

Jeff began to laugh. He stretched his limbs out and looked at the time on the wall. “Kurt, I don't mean to be a pessimist but there's no way that you two are going to be just friends. Let's be real.”

Kurt smiled. “I'm serious. I feel bad for what I did, even though I'm mad at him for not being in my corner. Regardless of that, I'm not going to act like a 12 year old who just got broken up with. All of you guys are important to me and I don't want to screw anything else up.”

We'll see how long this lasts, Jeff thought. “Alright. I just wanted to make sure you were doing okay, though.”

Kurt nodded.

“Blaine came over to Nick's like I told you. He was upset. I think he realized that he broke up with you and that it was stupid, but we told him to sleep it off and you two could talk in the morning. I hope you listen to what he has to say if he chooses to actually be a man and open his mouth.”

Kurt smiled, leaning back against the sofa as he twirled the ring in his fingers. “Always.”

Jeff nodded. “Okay, Ohio. Please try and get some rest.” He stood up and Kurt tiredly got up to his feet, hugging him a thank you. “I'll see you bright and early for school.”

“Yeah,” Kurt rubbed his back and pulled away. “Thank you for checking up on me.” He walked him to the door and smiled as Jeff picked up his skateboard and turned around to face him. “I really appreciate it and I promise I'm going to try to sleep.”

Jeff nodded to him and sighed. “Do you need to pick you up tomorrow or what?”

“I'll be all badboy!Kurt and ride my motorcycle. It's not a problem.”

Jeff smiled softly before saluting. He put his board down and skated out of the yard. Kurt sighed, looking at the time on his cell phone and then locking the door behind him. Tonight was hard but it probably would hurt even more when he woke up in the morning. So much of his day had Blaine in it that trying to imagine Blaine not a part in his life was impossible. Kurt leant back against the door and closed his eyes, holding the ring tight.

…

Blaine rode onto the Pace campus later than he would normally arrive at school. He looked around the parking lot and saw people heading into the school building. If he had his car, it wouldn't have taken him so long to get here, but there was no use in complaining.

He locked his bicycle up at the bike rack and pulled out his student ID as he approached the main entrance. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Kurt's motorcycle parked next to Dani's station wagon. If they were together, he'd pick him up for school in his car like he'd been doing everyday this year.

But they weren't.

It hadn't really sunk in, either. Blaine still wanted to text him good morning and ask him what he wanted for breakfast but for one) he didn't have his fucking cell phone and two) that probably wouldn't fly after the argument they had outside Kurt's place last night.

People said hello to Blaine as he entered the building as always—his underclassmen fan club, as Nick would call them. He swiped his ID for attendance and then walked over to Hall D, hoping to catch Kurt at his locker.

“You looked fantastic,” Hunter said with a smile, slapping Kurt harder on the back than he would've liked. “I know you're super into performing and all, and I don't blame you, but modeling could totally be your side-calling. I could see it. New York Fashion Week Supermodel Kurt whateveryourmiddlenameis Hummel.”

“It's Edward.” Kurt smiled as he dug through his locker, trying not to look at the pictures of Blaine inside, or the handwritten note from Blaine inside, or the terribly cheesy artwork from Blaine. He took a textbook from his book bag and replied. “And thank you, Hunter. That's super sweet but I'm going to stick to performing. I can't turn away from my first love.”

Hunter nodded to that as a few students walked by saying hello to Kurt. His celebrity had definitely blown up since that photo shoot. “Understandable. But hurry up. I don't want to be late for class—”

“Hey,” Blaine said, staring at Kurt and pretty much ignoring Hunter. Or maybe he hadn't noticed him. Hunter waved in vain as Kurt turned to see him and closed his locker. He smiled, but softly, looking a bit unsure of what he wanted to do.

“Blaine,” Kurt said. “Good morning.”

“Hello,” Hunter said, not a fan of being ignored.

Blaine looked away from Kurt and over at their classmate. He didn't have time for Hunter being Hunter.  “Hey. Can you give us a minute—” the first bell rang for class and Blaine looked a little dejected. Kurt stood up straight and turned to face a very confused looking Hunter.

“I'll see you in class.”

His friend nodded. “Don't be late. You know how Monsieur Dupree gets…”

Kurt nodded. He waited for Hunter to walk off and took a deep breath, looking back at Blaine.

It was so hard not to kiss him. Stupid. He looked so good in his jogger pants and his AC/DC t-shirt and those stupid fucking curls. Ugh. “Hey.”

Blaine licked his lips and stood up a little straighter. Kurt's eyes seemed a little red and it was hard to look into them right now. “I just wanted you to know that I'm on punishment for leaving last night and my mom took away my cell phone… well, basically everything. So I couldn't get in touch with you, or you with me if you tried….” He looked at Kurt, trailing off. “I'm surprised she's even letting me do Recon.”

Kurt hugged his French text to his chest and gestured with a head nod. “Do you need to go to your locker?”

Blaine shook his head no. “I'll go after first period. Just… I'll walk you to class.”

Kurt nodded, turning and starting towards the staircase. He saw Blaine playing with the straps of his backpack out the corner of his eye. “Well I'm sorry about your punishment. I guess that's kinda my fault, huh?”

“Hardly,” Blaine said. “Cooper told me not to leave and I just ignored him so… I guess I deserved that much.”

Kurt looked over at him as they walked slower than they should have been walking through the Pace hallways. “I'm really sorry, Blaine. I didn't mean to hurt you like that—”

“Don't,” Blaine said, cutting him off. “I should've, I mean… I was really pissed off last night.” He noticed Kurt laughing a little and stopped walking too. “I'm sorry.”

Kurt shrugged as the second bell rang. They were officially late. No need to rush now. “We'll both be sorry, okay?” his smile faded a little. “I hope we can learn to talk things out before we end up hurting each other like what happened last night because that … I don't ever want that to happen again.”

Blaine nodded. “Me neither. We should talk as soon as possible, then. I don't have a phone or a car to meet you somewhere so… during lunch?”

Kurt smiled again. “Sure.”

They stood there for a few seconds staring at one another. Kurt could tell by the look on his ex's face that Blaine was thinking about kissing him and that wasn't an option. The both of them still had a lot to deal with and discuss before any more kissing or boyfriend-ing happened and he couldn't allow himself to get distracted. “I'll just walk myself to class. I'll see you in Math, okay?” He took a few steps backwards before waving, about to turn away when Blaine's eyes focused on his hand.

“Where's…” He stared at it. “You took off the ring.”

Kurt froze in his spot and looked down at his hand, the tan line on his ring finger staring back at him. He was about to reply when Blaine walked off without another word, heading straight down the hall towards his English class.

“Blaine!”

No response. Kurt watched him disappear into one of the classrooms and sighed.

“Why aren't we in class, Mr. Hummel?”

Kurt turned around to see Mr. Riley giving him a puzzled look. To his left was his TA Liam who pretty much mirrored his expression. It was probably because Liam knew something was wrong in the love department and that was the last thing Kurt needed.

“I-I'm sorry,” Kurt pointed upstairs. “On my way now.” He forced a smile before turning away, quickly making his way up the staircase.

Fuck.

…

Blaine walked into his English class, shaking his head no at the teacher when she asked if he had a late pass. She said something else too, but he honestly didn't care to hear it.

Nick looked a bit worried as his best friend took the seat next to him. One of their classmates went back to reading aloud and he pretended to follow along until Ms. McCall was focused on something other than Blaine's distraction. He looked at Blaine, nudging his Adidas clad foot with his own.

“Would it hurt you to return my text?”

Blaine scoffed, staring down at his blank desk. “My mother grounded me so I have no cell phone right now.”

“Blaine,” Ms. McCall warned, holding a finger to her lips. Blaine rolled his eyes at her and stared at the whiteboard.

Nick was bright enough to tell that something was wrong, and it was probably a lot deeper than Blaine being grounded. He looked at his English teacher before pulling out a sheet of paper and writing.

What's wrong?

He passed it to Blaine who didn't even have a pen out. Blaine shook his head no as an answer until Nick dropped the pen onto his desk and gave him a blatant look.

Kurt took off my dad's ring. He told me he'd never took it off and today I saw him not wearing it.

He gave the note to Nick and his friend sighed, slouching down in his seat. Blaine sat there for a while, listening to the discussion going on in class before the note was on his desk again.

You do know that you broke up with him last night and probably even accused him of cheating, right?

Blaine read the note but didn't bother to reply. That wasn't the point.

The point was they had a stupid fight and Kurt took the ring off. He was still wearing the Mikey's friendship bracelet, and the charm bracelet Blaine bought him for his birthday, but not the ring. He promised he'd wear the ring and it wasn't on after their break up. That meant that this was real and Kurt accepted it a lot quicker than he did.

“I'm leaving after this period.”

Nick looked at him, taking the paper from his desk and writing another message. Blaine rubbed tiredly at his eyes. He was going to head over to his uncle's place and get his head on straight while the house was empty. If he went home, his mother would probably go berserk and he'd have even more time added onto this punishment.

“You shouldn't leave,” Nick whispered. “Look, you made a decision that you obviously didn't mean to. Now you have to deal with the consequences and working it out.”

Blaine put his head on his desk and closed his eyes. His teacher walked over to check on him halfway through the lesson, and he lied about a headache. She sent him to the nurse but Blaine only ended up leaving for the day.

…

Kurt expected Blaine to not show up in their math class. Part of him wanted to leave and go find him, but Leonard Riley had seen him that morning. If he skipped class, he probably would be penalized as far as the recital this Friday went, and with how everything else was going right now, he couldn't lose that too.

Dance class wasn't so bad, though. Their instructor talked them up and got everyone excited for Friday. He mentioned all the college scouts that would be in attendance. Jeff, a professional by now, didn't seem interested in doing anything other than watching Anime videos on his cell phone. Kurt was slouched down on the floor, trying not to feel anything. It would be so nice to just be numb for a moment.

“Are you okay?” Liam asked, coming to sit next to him on the dance studio floor. Kurt looked up at the sound of his voice and nodded, closing his eyes again.

“I'm fine. It's been a long week, that's all.”

Liam smiled softly. “I saw your ad with Tommy Hilfiger and I thought it was great.”

“Why are you talking to me after I hit you at the Halloween party? You weren't talking to me since then and now…?”

“Because I deserved that slap and we all know it,” Liam told him with a laugh. “It actually knocked some sense into me and now I've made a vow to leave you alone. Let you come to me…”

Kurt rolled his eyes. “Okay. That's never going to happen. It's a good thing you have Ian.”

“That's not a thing, no thanks to you.” Liam pulled out his cell phone, scrolling through what looked like a Broadway article. “So do you want to talk about whatever happened in the hallway this morning? Lover boy looked pretty upset with you…”

Kurt simply shook his head no as he opened his eyes, watching Frankie go over some dance moves with one of his classmates Maria. “I don't want to tell you.”

Liam nodded. “Look at me, Kurt.”

The boy rolled his eyes before turning to face him. “Yes?”

“You two love each other a lot. Nothing is going to change that, not even my charming, devilishly good looks. Don't let whatever it is take your mind off of Friday, okay? Boyfriend's come and go but the recital is important. And it's 2 days away.”

Kurt looked at him.

“I know that Blaine's great but whatever happened, maybe it happened for a reason… Stay focused on your goal. Boy problems are a bitch.” His blue eyes were bright as he laughed and Kurt looked away from him, across the room. Jeff sat up when he noticed Liam was next to his friend and stared for a while.

“I just wanted to tell you your pictures were fantastic and you should be proud of yourself. And on Friday, I'm going to put in a good word for you with the folks from NYADA. Madame Tibideaux is someone I worked closely with while in New York and I think she'd love a guy like you.”

“Why are you being nice to me?” Kurt asked, staring the man in his eyes. Liam looked taken aback by the question and shrugged, moving a little closer.

“I think,” he began. “If I had someone in my corner when I was younger… your age,” Liam added, looking over at Jeff who was glaring. “I think I'd be further along in my career. I'm happy I'm getting to finish my education at UCLA, don't get me wrong, but, I would love to be on the stage right now.”

Kurt looked away. It was funny how the last guy on earth he expected to say nice things to him was being so supportive right now, but he couldn't get Blaine to have a conversation like this. It sucked.

Liam smirked when he saw Kurt look down at his hands. “Cheer up, kiddo. You better be out of this funk by Friday. Friday is going to be a huge night.” He winked and stood up. “I'll see you in choir and band class.”

Kurt nodded, not looking up though. He remained quiet for a while, knowing Jeff was staring at him but not wanting to look up or even talk about… anything. He wanted to be numb.

His phone buzzed, of course. Kurt sighed, reaching into his hooded sweater for it.

From: Andrew Darby

Good afternoon! I hope you're having a great day after that shoot last night. If not, the news I'm about to give you may help. You're contracted for 2 more shoots with Prestige and I've already heard from a couple clients who are interested in you, Kurt. One is a GUESS shoot over the weekend. The other is for runway modeling for a show in San Francisco. I know that's far and you don't have any experience on the runway, but Prestige has coaches and if you're interested we could get you up to par before the interview. Let me know how you feel, and if you need to talk about anything from the Hilfiger shoot, I'm here for you.

-Darby

Kurt read the message and let his head hit the wall. He closed his eyes again. Normally, this would be exciting.  He'd be ecstatic. But it's nowhere near as fun as fun when you don't have the person you love to celebrate it with.

Kurt ignored the message for now, instead looking through his texts with Blaine. The last few were from him wondering where Kurt was and asking for a reply. He sighed, going to type out a message.

To: Blaine

I know that you don't have your phone so you won't be reading this for a while.

To: Blaine

But when you get to see this, it'll be a reminder that I love you more than anything.

To: Blaine

And that I always will. Xo

He put his phone back into his hoodie and closed his eyes again. Jeff looked back down at his anime once he was sure Kurt was alright.

…

Blaine ended up sleeping in Mikey's room for three hours, and it was a nap he knew he needed badly. His sleep had been shit—up worrying about how bad he'd screwed up last night, and if Kurt was trying to call him to talk, and if he was missing that call. But he got his nap and it was great. Iron Bear was probably the reason. No wonder Mikey loved that thing so much.

Blaine looked at his watch as he walked out of the bedroom. It was just after 2. Pace was letting out, and soon Mikey would be out of school too. He had a babysitter now as of a week ago that picked him up and brought him back here. Blaine hadn't met her, but Kurt told him she was nice. She looked like Farah but with blond hair, and actually sweet instead of a conniving asshole. When he got to the kitchen, he could hear the engine of a motorcycle approaching. Blaine neglected the apple he was about to eat and walked to the door, looking outside. He could see Kurt parking his bike in front of his home.

Kurt pulled out his key and took a deep breath, lifting the navy blue helmet off of his head. He smoothed his hair back before standing up and looking around the neighborhood. Thankfully the mean old neighbor of his that lived across the street wasn't around to glare at him for riding his motorcycle and disturbing the peace. She was so annoying. Kurt started to fix his book bag as he walked towards his front door when he noticed Blaine leaving Don and Pam's house, walking over to him. He paused, not knowing whether or not this was going to turn into another argument.

“You're kinda early,” Blaine said, stuffing his hands in his pockets and not particularly looking at him.

Kurt pulled out his house keys. “My design teacher let us out a few minutes early so I thought I'd come home before Nick and Jeff dragged me somewhere. Not really in the mood.”

Blaine nodded.

“Would you like to come in? I can order a pizza or something if you're hungry,” Kurt said, a little hopeful. He doubted the answer would be yes, but he was happy that he was wrong.

“Sure,” Blaine said. He looked up at his ex and smiled, and even though it looked forced, Kurt was thankful to see it.

They went inside and Kurt kicked off his boots, placing his satchel down at the entrance. Blaine closed the door behind them and locked it, looking around as if he'd never been there before. The atmosphere was awkward and Kurt hated it. Everything between them had been comfortable since the very first day they met, and now they were going through this.

“I guess we can sit down on the couch.”

Blaine licked his lips and walked over. His all black outfit fitted him perfectly—Kurt hadn't really gotten to admire Blaine's ass in those jogger pants, but now he had to rip his eyes away.

Why did life have to suck so much?

He walked over and smiled as he took a seat not entirely close to Blaine but not necessarily far either. Blaine looked over at him like he always did—like nothing else in the world mattered.

“Go ahead and yell at me for cutting class on what was supposed to be my last day of school this week.”

Thursday was supposed to be another promo day, so he'd miss classes, and Friday he'd be in Ohio. He'd have a lot of school work to make up because of this, and Blaine could basically hear his uncle now.

Kurt smiled at him. “I don't want to yell at you. That's the last thing I want to do right now.”

Blaine was quiet, looking down at his hands again. “Well I honestly wanted to apologize this morning and get back on track with you but, seeing the ring off. That really fucked with me.”

Kurt listened to him. He took in everything Blaine said and nodded, because he could understand that. But one thing he didn't want to do, just like he explained to Jeff, was jump back into their relationship with basically no resolve. “Can I tell you why I took off the ring?”

“Honestly, I'm not sure I'm ready to hear it just yet.”

Kurt reached for Blaine's hand and moved a little closer. “Well we've got to get these things out on the table. I want to understand how you feel about things and you need to know how I feel. That way we'll be able to work this out one day, right?”

One day? Blaine turned to face Kurt.

“I know why you gave me your ring. Your dad gave it to you because you asked for it, but he wanted to know that whatever you wanted, he'd make sure that you had it. And that was because he loved you, not simply because he could.”

Blaine stayed quiet.

“And you gave it to me because Senior wanted you to give it to someone you cared for.”

“You promised that you wouldn't take it off, Kurt. I mean, I know we aren't… together anymore but, I guess I don't understand why you took it off. You're still wearing the charm bracelet.”

Kurt turned his body on the sofa, taking Blaine's hand. “I know that I made a promise and maybe I shouldn't have broken it. But I… Blaine I feel like I didn't deserve to wear that ring.”

Blaine shook his head no. “That's bullshit, baby. I want you to always wear it.”

“Okay but you didn't see how pissed off you were last night. I really hurt you and that… that hurt me. And I know what that ring means to you and I didn't feel like I deserved to have it on. I took it off, and I'm sorry. I didn't think you'd be upset about it because of how angry you were with me for… for everything.”

Blaine held the boy's hand a little tighter. “I regret a lot of the things I said last night. I regret how I handled it.”

Kurt nodded. “Me too, Blaine.”

They stared into one another's eyes and Blaine took a deep breath. “I was angry and it was because I never would've expected that from you… you sneaking to do the modeling. I know that everyone knew but me too, and that's. It sucks.”

Kurt looked down at their hands. “I'm sorry. I did the wrong thing.”

“I—”

“Wait… I did the wrong thing by not telling you, I think. Because I'd definitely want to know if you were doing something huge like that. But, I don't apologize for wanting to model. I just should've told you that I was intending to do it.”

Blaine nodded. “Guess you shouldn't apologize for wanting to do it. You're your own man.”

Kurt stared at him. “Do you even mean that?”

“I do. I love you.”

“…Do you think I'm being unfaithful?”

Blaine laughed and threw his head back to stare at the ceiling. “I'm sorry about that.”

“No… be honest if that's a legit concern of yours.”

“I don't think you're cheating on me, Kurt.” Blaine turned to look at him. “I don't think you ever cheated on me, or you would. I just… honestly,” he took a breath. “You have a tendency to keep things from me so that I won't get upset. You know that?”

Kurt was silent, but eventually nodded. “I guess we're talking about that Karofsky situation?”

“It's not only me you keep things from. You didn't tell your friends about dating me when we first got together to protect their feelings… Chandler's too. And that Derrick guy at your dad's shop, I wouldn't have known he was flirting with you if I hadn't visited that day and I don't like that.”

“Let's talk about what you've kept hidden, then? Remember you didn't want to introduce me to your first girlfriend and were making plans to hang out with her when she came back to town? Or about the time that Don's creepy friend was blackmailing you and you kept that a secret too? Should I keep going?”

Blaine looked at him, about to speak, but Kurt held a finger to his lips.

“I love you. You've done things that I didn't like and I've done things that you didn't like. We've hurt one another, but we've also gone out of our way to make sure we each know we're loved, right?”

Blaine nodded when Kurt moved his finger. “Okay. You just said it perfectly. I… maybe we should get down to the real issue here.”

Kurt nodded. “I'd like that.”

Blaine looked forward. “Basically, you warned me that people would be assholes when I came out and I didn't think it'd affect me. Yet, obviously it did…” he rubbed at his temple. “I've always been insecure when it comes to you. And… jealous. I mean I've gotten jealous easily. Since José. You know?”

Kurt nodded. “But why? I don't think I give you a reason to feel that way. Past José, because that night I didn't actually know how you felt. But since then I have been focused on you and on us, at least I thought I was…”

Blaine took a deep breath, shaking his head and taking his hand back. He ran it through his hair as Kurt watched him expectantly. They were quiet, each in their own headspace. The good thing was that this was progress… they were getting somewhere at least. It was a start, right?

“Take your time, Blaine.”

Blaine had his eyes closed. “I think my biggest fear is losing you. Losing anyone I love greatly, honestly… but with you, I don't know Kurt.”

Kurt realized he was holding his breath and exhaled, sliding a little bit closer.

“You remind me a lot of my father… all of the good I saw in him and everything that I wanted to be one day. I look at you and how hard you work and the way you care about the people you love… the things you say.” Blaine forced a smile. “The way you always have an answer for everything, it's like. You're so much like him and I love you. People saying things about me using you for publicity bothered me, but I knew for sure it was bullshit. But when they began to say that you'd leave me for someone better… that fucked with me.”

Kurt started to play in the curls at the nape of Blaine's neck, knowing it would calm him down. He was a little fidgety and anxious and Kurt didn't want to see him like that. “That's bullshit, too. All I want is you. Deep down inside you know that.”

“But part of me believes that you'll realize that you deserve so much more, Kurt.”

Kurt shook his head in disbelief. “You couldn't say all of this before we decided to tattoo each other's names on our bodies?”

“This isn't funny.”

“You're right,” he answered. “It's not. I… Blaine I don't even know what to do to make you see that you're my world. I don't deserve better than the best gift I've ever been given, Blaine.”

Blaine still hadn't turned to look at him, instead looking down at his folded hands. He was staring at the callouses on his fingers and the small scar he'd gotten from falling off his bike when he was younger. Kurt sighed, looking at his own fingers running through his ex-boyfriend's hair.

“What can I do to help you… not feel so insecure?”

Blaine shrugged. “I think that's something I need to work on myself.”

Kurt looked at his facial features, noticing they were softening a bit. He shook his head no. “I disagree with that.”

Blaine remained quiet.

“All I can do for now is tell you that you're the only person on this earth that I want to spend the rest of my life with, Blaine. I guess now all I have is my word and my actions, and if my actions have been saying otherwise then… I'm…” Kurt pulled his hand back to himself. “Then you should be upset for other reasons. Because you can do a lot better than a guy who doesn't… or a girl, who doesn't make you feel like you're the only one in the world.”

Blaine shook his head. “You make me feel loved, Kurt. I'm lucky. I know that.”

Kurt didn't know if he believed him entirely. He took a deep breath after nodding and stood to his feet. “I think I'm going to order that pizza and get something to drink. Are you sure you don't want something?”

Blaine sat back on the sofa and looked up at him. “Just. Some water is fine. Thanks.”

Kurt nodded, stepping over Blaine's stretched out legs and heading towards the kitchen. “Do you want that weird Philly cheesesteak pizza you always get or something else?”

Blaine smiled. “Pepperoni is fine with me. Thank you.” He stared at the TV remote and reached for it. “I'm scared to turn the TV on because my mom might find out I was watching it.”

After a few moments, Kurt came back into the room; phone half-in and half-out his pocket and a couple glasses in his hand. He walked over and handed one to Blaine before picking up the remote. “Are you in so much trouble that she took your TV away?”

Blaine thanked him and took a sip, smiling afterwards. “No. I have my TV but I haven't tried turning it on.” He turned and looked at Kurt as he put the television on MTV, a True Life episode on. “I have a 5 pm curfew.”

Kurt's eyes went wide as he looked at him. “Goodness, Blaine.” He looked at the time and saw it was just after 3. “That's… she was upset.”

Blaine smiled, shrugging. “She didn't seem as mad this morning. Cooper forgave me pretty quickly but he's always been… tolerant of me.” He took another sip before laying his head on the back of the sofa, staring at Kurt who was staring back. “Sort of like you.”

Kurt smiled softly, kicking his feet up on the coffee table and then looking at the TV. They were each quiet, but the good thing now was that it was a comfortable silence. He could still feel Blaine looking at him though and he thought it best to speak, just to make his intentions known.

“You know Jeff stepped by last night, right?”

Blaine nodded. He finished off the rest of the rest of his water and put the glass down. “He hasn't really spoken to me since then, but then again I haven't really seen him I guess.”

He lowered the volume of the TV and looked over at Blaine. “I was telling him that I think you and I should try to be friends for a while.”

Blaine didn't really react to that besides the arching of his eyebrows. He stared forward at the television.

“We jumped into this and I don't regret that, but maybe the consequences of how we rushed are starting to catch up to us,” Kurt said. “And on top of that, I really want the chance to show you that I can treat you how you deserve to be treated without all of the… added extras.”

Blaine finally looked at him, but appeared more amused than anything else. Kurt ignored his smirk. “You're my best friend and I've been hurting you without realizing it, B. I just want you to see that I'm still in your corner and that I'm trying to do better by us—”

“How long do you think this is going to last?”

Kurt licked his lips and shrugged. “I don't know. Until you see that I'm not doing anything to intentionally hurt you… or that I would never up and leave you for anyone else. That I'm not using you to climb to the top and find a more eligible gay guy like people have been saying…”

Blaine shook his head. “I'm not interested in this plan. Once guys find out you're single that'll be it for me.”

Kurt laughed, dragging a hand down his face. “Have you been listening to anything I've been saying?”

“Yes,” Blaine told him. “But I also know how incredibly beautiful and amazing you are and maybe—”

“If you're about to say something demeaning about yourself then I don't want to hear it.”

Blaine shook his head. “Forget it.”

Kurt put his glass down next to him. “I'm doing this to strengthen our relationship, not to run off and date other guys. Can you trust me enough to know that I'm working hard to fix this… whatever doubts you have about me as a boyfriend and even how fucking amazing you are? Please?”

Blaine exhaled very hard before ruffling his curls. “What if…” he looked at Kurt, “what if I want to kiss you? Or hold you…”

Kurt smiled. “I want to kiss you right now.”

Blaine moved closer. “So what's the problem?”

“We have issues to work through,” Kurt smiled when Blaine leaned into his space, putting his hand on the boy's chest. “Stop… tell me you love me.”

Blaine looked at Kurt's lips and nodded. “I love you, Kurt.”

Kurt smiled. “Tell me you want us to work.” He looked in Blaine's eyes as his hand moved up to his shoulders, the dark fabric of his t-shirt soft beneath his touch.

“I need us to work.”

Kurt rubbed his shoulder, still looking in his eyes. “Now tell me that you trust me.”

Blaine nodded his head. “I do. I trust you.”

“Then trust that when this is over, we're going to be even stronger. Right?”

Blaine nodded.

“I'm going to make you very proud of me, and even prouder to be with me.” Kurt kissed him on the cheek and stood up. “I have your gift that you snuck into my closet and saw all ready! Come on so I can show you—”

Blaine laughed as he pulled Kurt down by the hand and the boy dramatically flopped onto the sofa. “That can wait. Let's just watch TV and talk. No small talk. I want to know what's going on with you.”

Kurt scooted forward on the sofa and then laid back, draping his legs over Blaine's lap. “Well, not much I guess. I should be doing homework and rehearsing for Friday night but I'm spending time with you and I'm genuinely happy about that.”

“Okay.” Blaine smiled. “How was the photo shoot yesterday?”

Kurt looked at him, hesitating a bit. “Do you really want to know?”

He nodded sincerely. Kurt swallowed and looked up at him, parting his lips to reply.

“My dad took me to the casting after picking me up from school. I didn't think I was going to get it because all the other dudes there were like. Models. And they looked like… tall, tan, buff.” Blaine started to rub Kurt's shin. “The lady who was casting for Hilfiger recognized me because of our being in the newspaper and what not. She said she was proud of us and hoped that one day we're like NPH and David with a beautiful family.”

Blaine smiled, looking over at the TV. “From her mouth to God's ears.”

Kurt slipped his hands beneath his head. “Like I said, I didn't think I'd actually get it but they looked over my headshot and gave me a little direction and next thing I know, I'm meeting Carl. Carl's the other model.”

“Was he respectful of you?”

Kurt nodded. “Sweet guy. He's been modeling since he was 15 he told me. Anyway, dad drove me over to the shoot. The set was nice. I don't know how I feel about sitting through hair and makeup that long but I guess I should get used to it going into theater, right?”

Blaine smiled. “You probably should, babe.”

Kurt laughed. “Well, whatever.” He started to stretch. “The makeup artist was an egotistical, obnoxious bitch, too. And if I wasn't being an asshole, I would've live-texted you everything. But my phone died before we started the shoot and all.”

Blaine looked down at Kurt's hand, wishing he was wearing the ring. “I wouldn't call you an asshole. I wish things happened differently but I hope I didn't ruin your first modeling experience by not really being in your corner.”

Kurt shook his head no. “You didn't. It wasn't really as special because I kept it from you.”

Blaine looked over at him. “Maybe I can actually go to one of these next time? Supportive friend or… not so overprotective boyfriend.”

Kurt smiled. “I'd love that. But, I'm only contracted for two more gigs… I signed up for short-term just to see if this would work and if I'd like it.”

“In all seriousness, you looked amazing. I know I was bitching but I think you'd be the world's sexiest supermodel, just saying.”

“I'm barely a model, let's not discuss supermodel. And you're biased.”

“I'm honest.”

Kurt smiled. “We'll see what happens.” They caught eyes again and Blaine smiled back.

Buzz.

Kurt reached for his cell phone and swiped at the message.

From: Jeff

Checking on you, Ohio. Let me know if you need company. We can rehearse dances together. :D

He smiled and placed the phone on his chest. “My dad wants to propose to Amber, by the way.”

Blaine slipped the remote from underneath Kurt and began to smile when he actually processed what was said. “Really?”

Kurt nodded, biting his lip. “Really. I'm happy for him. It's great… I like that she keeps him in check, and then I can become even closer to Blaze, and so can you again.”

Blaine pressed the guide button and started to scroll through channels, still smiling. “Burt and Ms. Knight have been together for less time than us, so when we get engaged he can't say it's too soon.”

Kurt sat up, typing on his phone. “He's going to say something just to give us a hard time. You know that old man.”

To: Jeff

I'm fine. I'll call you tonight, Blaine and I have been talking for the past 15 minutes and it's going great. :) TTYL

“Do you think he'd let me be Flower Girl?”

Kurt laughed, rolling his eyes and standing up. “You're an idiot. I'm not even going to reply to that one.”

Blaine turned to a Saved by the Bell rerun and looked over at Kurt to see where he was going. He watched him pick up his backpack and walk back over to him—acid wash jeans hugging his thighs in a way that made Blaine lick his lips. “Want me to do your math for you, friend?”

Kurt sat down and smiled. “I was actually able to pay attention to today's lesson without you there to pass me dirty notes and give me a hard on, so I think I got it.”

Blaine laughed. “That's a good thing.”

Kurt pulled out some of his homework assignments and looked through them. “I know you said we aren't going to do small talk so you can tell me about what's going on in the world of BMX and Recon. I want to know how you feel, getting ready to leave for Ohio in a day and all.”

“It's nothing,” Blaine slouched down and watched the TV as Kurt dug in his bag for a pencil. “A majority of those guys are dicks, and I don't know if it's gameplay because they're trying to get into my head or if they're actually just… just fuckboys.”

Kurt tapped the pencil against his lip. “Care to elaborate for me?”

“About?”

“Their … gameplay,” Kurt said. “I'm curious about what they've been saying to you and I guess if it's because of me.”

“It's because they are homophobic cunts.”

“Wow,” Kurt looked over at him. Blaine shook his head.

“They were talking a lot of shit about me not being good enough to compete… riding my uncle's coat tails, saying I'm dating a boy to get in the headlines and make more people know who I am. They don't think I'll make it past Preliminaries.” Kurt looked at him, and Blaine turned back. “So that could just be them talking shit to mentally take me out of it—”

“Look at me, Blaine.”

The boy stopped rambling and took a deep breath, turning to face Kurt. He smiled a little and scratched tiredly at his forehead. “Yes?”

Kurt didn't speak until Blaine was actually looking him in the eye. Even then he took his hand and moved in closer. “You're incredibly talented. You have the support of myself and our families, as well as some of the goofiest but best friends a guy could ask for. So what I need you to do is go there on Friday morning and destroy every single last one of them.”

Blaine tried to hold it together, but eventually began to laugh. Kurt smiled at him before slapping his hand.

“I'm serious. I know what it's like to have to fight against people who felt that very way about me and it sucks. I think when I got you and we could go outside hand in hand, I actually won. Now you're starting to get a taste of what it's like to have people berate you, and treat you like less of a human being because of who you are and who you love, and it isn't a good feeling.”

Blaine continued to look at him, frowning a little. It wasn't a good feeling. He used to hate thinking about anyone treating Kurt like he was less than a person—like he wasn't worthy to be in their presence because of his preference. Now, he was beginning to understand what Kurt faced back then because his competition had been doing the same thing to him.

“The only way to win isn't by arguing back. I learned that, I think. You win by focusing less on the hate and more on those who make you feel like you're on top of the world. Honestly, those guys aren't worth your time, Blaine.” Kurt squeezed his hand and smiled before looking back down at his homework. “If you lash back, the media will have a field day with that, and right now we should focus on you being out and proud, not a violent gay guy. And in all seriousness, if you don't get into quarterfinals, I'm not going to give you head until next year.”

Blaine's eyes went wide and he started to laugh. “Seriously? That started off so fucking sweet but then you end it like that?”

“Something to think about, I guess.” Kurt shrugged, smirking a little. His ex pushed the books out of his lap and jumped on top of him, pinning him down against the sofa. Kurt laughed and tried nudging him off. “Blaine… stop, seriously my hip.”

The doorbell rang and there were a couple knocks to follow. Blaine smirked down at Kurt before kissing his cheek. “You're very lucky.”

“Go get the pizza,” Kurt said with a laugh, pinching the boy's arm when his hands were finally free. Blaine smiled, going over to the door.

Being just friends would definitely take some getting used to, but they were worth the wait. Each of them realized it.

…

Blaine got home before 5 and dropped his bike onto the deck. His mother was changing Melody when he walked inside, his backpack on like he'd honestly been at school or something. Clarissa smiled when she saw him and looked back down at her daughter.

“You're just in time to change Miss Stinky.”

Blaine walked into the living room and looked at the TV before heading over to where his mom was. “Hey.” He kissed her cheek and then smiled at Melody whose fists were balled up and bumped fists with her. “How was your day?”

“Not too shabby. We'll be going to Don and Pam's for dinner. Mikey wants more quality time with Melody. You coming along?”

Blaine considered it but shook his head no. “I'm on punishment, remember?”

She laughed as she put on the new pamper and leaned in to kiss her daughter on the cheek. “Well I wouldn't keep you from eating dinner because you got in a little trouble.”

Blaine shrugged. “Don't worry. I'm tired anyway. Let me…” he took off his book bag and started to snap up Melody's pajamas. Clarissa looked at him and rubbed his back.

“You seem out of it. Are you okay?”

Blaine nodded. “Kurt and I broke up last night, after I left.”

“What?”

Blaine smiled. “It was a dumb fight that escalated—it was probably necessary, but, we've decided we're going to be friends today and right now that's good enough for me.”

His mother still looked taken aback and almost like she didn't want to accept that as an answer. “O…kay. I… really hope you two work it out. I know how much you love one another.”

Blaine picked Melody up after she was all dressed, cradling her closely. “We will. But I'm just going to hang out here and rest up. Wait for Cooper to get in.”

She nodded. “I wish you would've told me what happened last night. I wouldn't have been so harsh.”

“It didn't matter,” Blaine told her. “I felt like I lost Kurt so you taking away all that other stuff was nothing in comparison.”

The woman pulled her curls into a ponytail and followed Blaine into the kitchen. “I'm going to shower and get ready, okay? Can you two stay out of trouble while I do that?”

Blaine laughed as he looked at his sister, holding her high above his head. “I guess we have to behave ourselves. No bank robbing today.”

Clarissa smiled. “Don't forget you've got a long couple days ahead of you. Just try and take it easy tonight.”

Blaine nodded.

…

“Why is he here?” Kurt shook his head. “I came here to relax…”

Nick looked up and saw the TA. He sighed. “I hear Liam was bothering you in dance class today,” he was walking across the beach with Kurt and Jeff trailing shortly behind him. Kurt rolled his eyes at that, not even wanting to reply. He watched a wave come in and the sun start to set over the horizon as the smell of salt water and roasted peanuts surrounded him.

Jeff was staring down at his cell phone as they walked towards where the surfboard rental shop was. “He looked like he was perving to me.”

“He was acting strange but it wasn't anything to write home about,” Kurt said tiredly. “He's always acting strange. He's a weird guy.”

“He's unpredictable,” Nick said. “And I don't trust him, especially since he's been hanging around John whose attitude this year has been atrocious. Now he's here. That's great.”

Kurt slid his hands into his swim trunks. “Has John not always been that rude?”

“I used to get along with him well,” Jeff said. “He was like… the superstar on campus. Well, he and Hunter.”

Kurt shrugged. “Not my problem. And they can have each other.”

“I just don't want him trying to swoop in while Blaine and you aren't together. That's all I'm saying.”

They approached the surfboard rental stand and Kurt had no intentions on surfing, of course. It was late anyway and he'd probably end up leaving soon. It sucked being a third wheel anyway. Someone smiled at him and said hello and he politely waved back as he waited for Nick and Jeff to rent their boards. A breeze made him button up his unbuttoned shirt, and the voice that protested his actions made him look up.

“Boo! Give the people what they want, Mr. Hilfiger!”

Jeff turned around at the same time as Nick and they watched Liam approach, an ice cream cone in hand. He smiled, winking at them before focusing on Kurt.

“We meet again. Where's your lovely bodyguard boyfriend?”

Kurt buttoned the top few buttons and stared at him. “On punishment,” he answered, not wanting to say that they weren't together. “But you know it's bad enough that I have to deal with you in school. My private time should be private.”

“But you're on a very public beach,” Liam answered, charming smile on display. He was shirtless and in these green trunks that were glued to his legs because they were so wet. Kurt looked away from the man as he licked the chocolate scoop on his cone. “It's almost 8 o'clock. Why are you boys out this late on a school night?”

Nick got his board and turned around. “You know, William. Minding our business. It's a lot of fun, you should try it…”

Liam smiled. “I wouldn't know. Doesn't sound like the life I want to lead.” He turned his attention back to Kurt when Jeff walked over.

“I think I can wait to surf until the unwanted company is gone…”

“I'm a big boy,” Kurt said to his friend. Seriously, everyone trying to protect him was great. Having these guys around in Ohio would've been the best, but right now it wasn't necessary. “And Liam knows not to bother me.”

Liam nodded, smirking at Jeff. “I got slapped last time. I'm on my best behavior since then.”

Nick shook his head and walked towards the sea. “You know where we are if you need us.”

Jeff stared at Liam a little bit longer before following after Nick. He finally turned away when Liam grinned at him and Kurt sighed.

“Listen, I don't know what you want but I'm not interested.”

“I don't want anything,” Liam said. “Just hanging out. Actually I have a few of my performer friends here if you want to ask questions. One is a NYADA alum…”

Kurt looked over to the group of guys and girls Liam had been hanging with and shook his head no. “It's fine. I think I'm about to leave. I should be rehearsing anyway.”

Liam licked his ice cream and hummed acknowledgment. “Sounds like a smart idea. Can I walk you home or will Blaine have a problem with that?”

“I'd have a problem with it,” Kurt answered. “Look… you were nice today for whatever reason, and I appreciate that you want to put in a nice word for me with the college folks, but I want to do this on my own, Liam. I don't want or need your help.”

“Fine. I won't help you.” He smiled and looked around the beach. “I still want to walk you home, though.”

Kurt rolled his eyes and took a couple steps back. “In no universe would I want you knowing where I live.”

Liam laughed, following after him. “Shit. That's not so nice. Can I at least walk you to the boardwalk? I need to talk to you.”

To: Nick and Jeff

Decided to head home. See you at school.

“Sure. What is it?”

Liam took a big bite from his dessert and walked in line with Kurt. “I'm throwing a party after the recital that's exclusive for participants only and I was hoping you'd come.”

Kurt laughed, looking back at him. “What? No. Hell no.”

Liam laughed too. “Why not?”

“Bye, Liam. I'll see you in class tomorrow.”

The man stood there shaking his head. “I'll keep asking until you say yes!”

“Good luck with that.”

…

Blaine got in late the next night, after his curfew, but it was alright. He was working with Don and his mother had decided to let him off punishment anyway. She said his not being with Kurt was probably punishment enough, and she knew he wouldn't do anything disobedient and idiotic again after this.

That much was true. Blaine had gone about 24 hours now without talking to Kurt. They hadn't seen one another or spoken since after Blaine left Kurt's place, and the most they'd done was hug goodbye.

He wasn't a fan.

He was lonely without communication. He was horny. He was anxious about the competition tomorrow, and he missed talking to Kurt. They say you never know what you got til it's gone…

Blaine got his cell phone back and went straight to his room with Melody. She was wide awake at this point, despite it being 10 o'clock at night. The girl was a night owl like Cooper.

To: Kurt

Peek-a-boo. Guess who.

He pulled off his sweatshirt and smiled at Melody, doing a dance that the baby only dead panned at.

“Well excuse me.”

She looked away.

“Sassy ass.”

From: Kurt

Hmmm… I wonder who this could be. I really hope it's Blaine but that'd be too easy, seeing that I have this number stored as Blaine, which would mean I wouldn't need to guess at all.

To: Kurt

Why do you have to be such a smart ass? Jeez.

To: Kurt

I'm off punishment :D Just turned my phone on and it's on like… three percent lol.

Blaine put the phone on the charger and smiled at his little sister, picking her up and kissing her cheek over and over again. “I need good luck kisses for tomorrow morning. My flight's super early, Melly. But I'm going to kick some homophobic ass.”

From: Kurt

I can't tell you how much I missed talking to you. And school is shit without you. Liam is even more of a pain in the ass when he knows you're not there. How was ‘work' Mr. BMX?”

Blaine hadn't replied until after he was in something comfortable—shorts and tube socks. He laid down on his bed with his sister on his chest; the little girl drooling on what he thought was purpose. “You're so rude.”

She smiled.

To: Kurt

Work was work. But I have my routine down perfectly and people are definitely going to know my name after tomorrow. Not just because I like to take it up the bum but because I am damn good at riding.

Heh.

From: Kurt

Classy.

To: Kurt

Liam is a nonfactor. Let's not talk about him.

I'd ask to see you before I leave in a few hours but you'll realize how sexy I am and then, you'll be all over me. The whole ‘just friends' thing we're trying to do won't last.

He smiled after sending the message and then checked Twitter. His mentions were as busy as usual.

Can't wait to see you in Recon, Blaine. Xo – random fangirl

You're so cute! Good luck tomorrow – random fangirl number 2

Then there was someone talking about how he'd get his ass kicked and how he sucked, but Blaine paid it no mind. What did catch his eye was a reply to him and Kurt that said “relationship goals”. He clicked on the tweet and saw it was attached to:

FendiKurt: #ProudBlaineStan ;P

Blaine smirked, seeing it was tweeted the night before. He retweeted it as Kurt replied to his text message.

From: Kurt

Lol. How I missed the ego on single Blaine Anderson. :P But my dad won't let me out the house because tomorrow is my ‘big day' so you'd have to come to me. You can come get your jacket before your flight.

Blaine smiled.

To: Kurt

Can we talk about the picture you posted on Twitter in my jacket or…?

From: Kurt

Did you like it? ;) I think I look cute.

To: Kurt

I love it. You're more than cute. But you have competition

I can't take her picture right now because she's drooling on me so you'll have to take this of how happy she was when big bro came home

From: Kurt

I'm going to kidnap her while you're in Ohio.

To: Kurt

You wish.

From: Kurt

No really. She already loves me more.

So you had a good day, right? Nothing bad to report? I'm so excited for the competition… more so than my recital.

Blaine smiled.

To: Kurt

Nothing bad. Though, talking to you just might be the highlight of my day, buddy. Can we go out tomorrow night after the recital? As friends, in celebration.

Blaine kissed Melody in the hair, rubbing her back.

From: Kurt

I'd love that, buddy. Now Skype me so I can sing you goodnight. You need rest.

Blaine smiled, looking at the text message.

To: Kurt

Will do.