Kurt allowed his boyfriend to drag him by the hand all the way out to Blaine's Lexus in the student section of the school parking lot. Blaine hadn't said much of anything since their guidance meeting ended a few minutes ago, but what had been said was enough to let Kurt know that something was definitely wrong. Even if Kurt didn't have Blaine's ‘Tell me you love me' to go on, the boy's actions spoke very loudly; Blaine was tense, there was minimal eye contact, he seemed to be in a rush, but nothing was more telling than the way he held on to Kurt's hand so tightly. It was almost like if Kurt pulled away, Blaine wouldn't be as steady as he stood now.

They made their way over to the black vehicle and Blaine opened the door for Kurt as always. Kurt gave him a quick, curious look before saying thank you and climbing inside. His boyfriend waited until he was settled in; backpack in the second row and seat adjusted comfortably before he closed the door behind him. Kurt watched Blaine pull off the scarf of his he'd been wearing and look around campus as he rounded the car, opening his door and climbing in. He sat back and took a deep breath, still not looking in his boyfriend's direction.

Kurt turned to look out the passenger window instead. “So where are we going for lunch?” he asked.

For a moment, he hadn't received an answer. Kurt closed his eyes and inhaled before letting it go. This had to have been Blaine changing his mind about going to New York with him, right? What else could it be? Maybe the seriousness of what they had just dawned on Blaine; they had been moving extremely fast since day one. It was almost like they were continuing their relationship from a lifetime before and it never stopped; they simply picked up where they left off. That could be a lot to take in for a guy like Blaine who wasn't exactly the settle down type before meeting Kurt again. After all, Kurt prided himself on being a young man who knew exactly what he wanted. He had short-term goals and long-term goals, and back-up plans thanks to his several career interests. Now, they were going from being boyfriends, to less than a year from now living together on their own. Maybe he'd been too hard on Blaine, forcing school and music on him the way he did—

“Did you hear me, beautiful?”

Kurt looked to his left and raised an eyebrow. And apparently while he was lost in thought, his boyfriend had said something. “Huh? I'm sorry… I spaced out.”

Blaine stared at him and reached over for his hand. “What're you thinking about?”

Kurt shrugged a bit and looked down. “A lot. Im getting nervous about things. Maybe Im just psyching myself out."

His boyfriend waited for the rest; hazel eyes focused on the prettiest lips they ever laid eyes on. Kurt didnt know whether or not pressuring Blaine about this here was the best thing but he hated it when Blaine didnt open up to him, and to be frank, his attitude was making him nervous. He took a look at Blaine and sighed.

"If you're not ready to talk about moving away together or… I guess everything that we talked about with Mrs. Williams… I just want you to know that you shouldn't feel pressured to. We can work something out and take things slower if it'd make you feel more comfortable.”

Blaine laced their fingers together as a small smile covered his lips. “What're you going on about, amore?”

Kurt sat back and looked ahead of them. People were coming back from lunch and these two hadn't even left yet. “...I know that something is bothering you, and I can't even contribute it to the fact that I know you so well because I'm pretty sure that anyone would be able to look at you right now and tell that there's something wrong.”

Blaine watched him for a moment and took in what was said. There was a reason that Nick was the drama student and he wasn't. Blaine thought he was doing a decent job keeping his frustration over the fact that these were the cards that were dealt to him tucked away, but apparently he sucked. He looked out the driver's side window as Kurt continued.

“I don't want to be responsible for you settling on something that I want just because you love me, while all along you're unhappy. It's the same thing we went through with your competitions...” Kurt squeezed his hand, urging Blaine to look at him and continuing when he had eye contact. “I was being selfish about that and imposing things I wanted on you and that wasn't fair. If this is going too fast or you're not ready or whatever the case may be, just talk to me.”

“I told you that this is what I want, Kurt."

Kurt shook his head and looked down. That tone of voice was in no way convincing.

Blaine turned in his seat a little. "I've been looking at apartments in Manhattan and Brooklyn and Queens too, and more than anything I want our life to start there… our family's lives to start there.”

“Then what is it?”

“Nothing.”

“Don't—” Kurt pulled his hand away. “Don't lie to me, Blaine. I think I'm being fair. You asked me what was bothering me and I was honest with you.”

Blaine looked away and pulled out his car keys. His boyfriend watched him before crossing his arms and facing forward.

“I'm not really hungry. I think Im going to go back inside.”

Blaine was halfway to sticking the key in the ignition. He looked at Kurt and sighed, dragging a hand down his face. “Oh my fucking goodness. I'm not lying to you about anything—”

“I don't understand why it is that you don't trust me enough, or care enough to talk to me about things, but it does make me upset. If you don't want to talk then I'll be the one to say that.” He turned around and reached for his bag in the back seat and Blaine stared ahead at the school building. He watched as a couple freshmen stood up from beneath the palm trees and headed towards the entrance as well.

Kurt turned around and reached for the door handle but Blaine in turn reached for his arm, grabbing it tightly. Kurt tried to pull away but it was in vain. The rider was too strong.

“Blaine…”

"Im not letting go," Blaine answered, using his other hand to lock the car doors after Kurt unlocked his. "Stop it. I'm not letting you go back in there angry with me."

Kurt sighed and pulled his arm away, again no luck. "You know I wouldnt be angry with you if you just said what was on your mind, right?" He pulled at the door but it wouldnt open.

Blaine let go of his arm but kept his finger on the button that locked the doors. "Im upset because you keep trying to get out of the car and also because you think that I dont want to move to New York with you. Why would I even lie about that?"

"So that I wouldnt want to get out of the car."

"Thats ridiculous. You're being ridiculous."

Kurt pulled opened the lock but Blaines finger was quick on the button to lock it right back. The younger teen glared at his boyfriend.

 "I guess Im keeping you hostage until youre not mad anymore."

Kurt tossed his backpack into the second row once more and slouched down in the seat. He could feel Blaine watching him; hand still hovering over the lock button. "That isn't going to happen until you start talking. So I take it we arent actually going to get anything to eat?"

Blaine made a grunting noise of agreement. "If you hurry, you can probably get to the cafeteria and at least get a salad." He unlocked the door and looked at Kurt. The boy watched him for a while, skeptically, slowly turning around to grab his bag again and then reaching for the handle. Only Blaine locked the door again.

"Too slow!"

"I freaking hate you," Kurt said with a laugh, dropping the bag. He shook his head, knowing that Blaine had a goofy smile on his lips but not wanting to turn and see it. If he turned to see it, hed definitely be forgiving Blaine and then the next time, his boyfriend would know hed get away with this again.

Blaine bit his lip after he stopped laughing at the boy. "Can I have a kiss?"

"No."

He nodded. "Then lets talk, ok?"

Kurt turned to him and gave a sarcastic smile. "That would be lovely."

Blaine smirked and took his hand, finally letting go of the lock. "Youre right, Im wrong. Youre not right about me not wanting to go to New York with you, because thats the furthest thing from the truth, but something is bothering me."

Kurt was quiet as he waited for the rest. Blaine scratched through his curls and then shrugged.

"I know this wont exactly help things right now but I would prefer to talk this through with my uncle first before I discuss it with you."

His boyfriends eyebrows went up before a hurt look covered his face, but he quickly recovered with a smile. "Ouch." He laughed but Blaine knew that Kurt didnt like the sound of that at all.

"Its just that it has to do with BMX and competing and I want to run what Im thinking by him first before—"

"Its perfectly understandable, Blaine. I get it."

Blaine looked out his tinted windshield and let his head fall against the rest.

Kurt shook his head. Now he kind of felt like he wasnt good enough, but he pushed those thoughts into the back of his mind and patted Blaine on the hand.  "Thanks for letting me know something I guess.... I'm going inside now."

Blaine nodded. "Youll know everything tonight."

Kurt didn't reply to that.

“And I could totally be mad at you for thinking I'm lying about how serious I am, Kurt. Because you doubt that I'm telling the truth about wanting to be with you after we graduate when I've been the one changing everything around for you. The fact that I'm sitting in this school parking lot should speak volumes, as well as the fact that I'm applying to fucking colleges.”

Kurt sighed, still not looking at him. “That's exactly what I'm saying, Blaine.”

It was Blaine's turn not to answer.

“I realize now that I was being selfish and controlling and it's fucked up.” He looked down at the bag in his lap. “I'm sorry about that. The reason I doubted it was because of your reaction while we were talking about colleges and leaving Southern Cali and I thought that maybe it hit you that you didn't want to do that right away.”

“Which is ludicrous.”

“I don't know that, Blaine, because you won't fucking tell me what it is—you know what…” Kurt took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a couple seconds. When he opened them, Blaine was back to staring out his driver's side window. “It's whatever. You say that you're fine with it and I believe you. I'm—”

“You should believe me.”

Kurt nodded. “I'm going to wait until you've decided I'm good enough to talk to and then when you're ready, I'll listen. Deal?”

Blaine smirked a little and shook his head. “Your attitude is amazing right now.”

Kurt put his satchel over his shoulder. “I'm going inside.”

“Yeah,” Blaine unlocked the door and then turned to look at him. “Give me a kiss.”

Kurt opened the door successfully this time and got out, ignoring his boyfriend's request. He slammed the door shut and Blaine rolled his eyes before getting out and chasing after him. Kurt had been walking towards the main entrance of Pace and hadn't gotten very far when he was grabbed from behind and lifted into the air—Blaine pressed against his back. He tried to remove the strong arms from around his midsection but it was all in vain as Blaine carried him back to the front of the car and turned him so that they were face to face.

Kurt looked everywhere but at the boy in front of him and Blaine laughed, pecking his lips. “I love you, bae.”

“I'm not talking to you.”

“It sounds like you are.”

“Well I'm not.”

“I see,” Blaine said with a smile. “Well you're a little touched in the head if you think I'm letting you walk away without giving me a kiss.”

Kurt still refused to look at Blaine even though the teen had pushed him onto the hood of the car and moved in between his legs. Kurt looked off campus and pretended not to be affected by the kisses trailing over his jawline. “If memory serves me correctly, you also said you wouldn't let me out of the car and back into school if I was angry with you, but here I am pissed off and outside of the car.”

Blaine laughed, sliding his hands down to Kurt's waist. “You're really sexy when you're pissed off.”

“I know.” Kurt moved his hands away. “Too bad you aren't getting any.”

Blaine lifted an eyebrow. “Want to bet?”

“I'd love to.”

The rider stood up straight and looked up and down his boyfriend's body. “I am staying the night. I bet I could get you to fuck me. If you give in I'm eating all your Yoplait.”

Kurt scoffed. “If I win, you give me your Rolex.”

Blaine's eyes went wide. “How can you even take yourself seriously? Do you know how big a price difference that is—”

“I'm going to class—”

“You don't even like wearing watches. And there's like 20 minutes until sixth period so slow down.”

“Fine, but you have to do my math homework for the next two days.” Kurt moved Blaine's hands away from his waist again. A teacher's assistant walked by on her way to her car and looked at them so the teen was trying to keep it friendly. “And I wanted to get a salad or a banana or something while I still can.”

Blaine licked his lips and leant in close, kissing Kurt softly. He had eye contact when he pulled away. “You've got a deal. I'm winning anyway. But, I don't like it when you're mad. I especially don't like it when you're mad at me.”

Kurt smiled at him.

“Unless we're in between the sheets, because that's different. That's anger I can work with—”

“I don't like being mad at you but I'm nervous about all of this. You scared me back there.”

“And for that, I'm sorry.” Blaine kissed him again and this time, Kurt began to reciprocate. “You know that I love you. You know that I'm going to tell you everything. I promise.”

Kurt sat back on the hood of the Lexus and played at the designs on his boyfriend's shirt. “I love you too.”

“Then give me a kiss.”

He smiled and scooted forward, placing his lips over Blaine's. As he spoke, their mouths touched. “You promise me you're going to tell me the truth after you and Donnie talk, correct?”

“Cross my heart and hope to die.”

Kurt stared into the gorgeous hazel eyes and tried not to roll his own at the smirk Blaine was wearing. He leant in and kissed him, not too deep but just enough to make Blaine chase him when he pulled back. They both smiled, and before long Kurt was pecking kisses gently across Blaine's lips.

“I gave you seven. That should last you.”

Blaine watched as a car pulled out of the lot before placing his hands on Kurt's ass. “Does that mean you're not mad at me anymore?”

Kurt smiled. “I'm not mad.”

“Good.” Blaine kissed him again and let him up. “You're free to go.”

The teen stood up straight and fixed his clothes before adjusting his satchel. He reached for Blaine's hand, about to lead him inside. “We can look at these college brochures while we—babe? Why aren't you moving?”

Blaine smiled and gestured back to his car. “I've gotta make a quick stop.”

He was given that look that pretty much said ‘what the hell are you talking about?' from Kurt and Blaine squeezed his hand, quick to answer the unspoken. “I need to go to Odyssey and talk to my uncle.”

Kurt turned around and looked at the huge clock on the side of Pace's building. He faced Blaine with an obvious expression. “You do realize that by the time you get there, Mr. Riley's class will be starting, right? You're not going anywhere.”

Blaine smiled, taking his hand back. “I'll only be a minute.”

“Blaine.”

The teen went back to his car and opened the door. Kurt was staring at him and there was no question that he was upset again. Blaine bit his lower lip. “I'll see you soon, beautiful.”

Kurt stood there until Blaine got in the car, started it up, started blaring ‘Am I Wrong' by Nico & Vinz, and put the car in reverse. He rolled his eyes and took a deep breath, walking towards the school building.

…

“Blaine! What's up man? Long time no see.”

Blaine nodded to Steve as he walked into Odyssey. There were a couple other employees present, none that Blaine knew well. He turned to Steve and gestured to the back. “Good to see you. I'm going to go chat with my uncle really quick.”

As Blaine started to walk to the back, the Fez look-alike stopped him. “Mr. Kinsella actually didn't come into the shop today. He won't be back until Wednesday as a matter of fact.”

Blaine turned to him. “Really?”

Steve nodded. “Shouldn't you be in school anyway, man?”

Blaine looked at his watch. Chorus and Band were starting in the next minute. He considered going back but he'd be late anyway. “I should be.”

“But you're getting ready for the Recon Tour,” Steve said with a smile. “I'm excited to root you on, man. And tell Kurt not to be a stranger. I miss his company.”

Blaine smiled back at him as he dialed his uncle's number, walking to the exit. “I'll let him know. See you around man.”

“Alright, B!”

Blaine stepped in front of the shop and looked around the busy street; phone pressed to his ear. It began to ring a couple times and finally, a voice answered. That voice belonged to Aunt Pam, though.

“Blaine? Everything ok?”

Blaine looked to make sure he dialed the right number before putting it back to his face. “I could ask you the same thing. Where's Unc?”

“He's in the shower. We decided to take a couple days off and help your mom do some baby proofing around the house. Why aren't you in school?”

Blaine went to his car and got in. “I need to talk to Unc. It is my lunch break and it's super important. I'll be there in like 5 minutes.” He of course neglected to leave out the fact that there was only two minutes left of his lunch break, but that wasn't very important.

“Ok.” She told him to drive safely and Blaine promised he would before starting the car up. As soon as their call was disconnected, he got a got a text from his boyfriend.

From Kurt:

You have one minute to get back here and sit at the drums.

Blaine chewed on his lip as he sent a reply and didn't bother reading Kurt's answer to it when it did come. He knew it'd be an angry one. He'd fix that later.

To Kurt:

Running late. I'll see you in Improv class. Love you.

…

When Blaine showed up, his uncle opened the door as he towel dried his curly dark hair. He hadn't yet put his glasses on and his face was doing that squinty thing damn-near blind people did. “Well if it isn't my lovely nephew, a boy after my own heart, skipping class to come and see me. To what do I owe the honor?”

Blaine smiled at him as he stepped in. “We really need to talk.” He headed for the kitchen to get something to drink and maybe an apple. Don closed the door and then followed behind him, sitting at the table as Blaine kissed his wife hello.

“What is it that's so urgent? I hope this is about you nailing your routine for Preliminaries. Are you excited yet?”

Blaine looked through the fridge. “Not really.” He found a bottle of water and went to the sink to wash off the Granny Smith apple he'd found. “I need a new competition. I know there's one at Disney World in January. I'll sign up for that.”

Pam looked at her husband whose face changed at his nephew's request. “What? Why—”

“I need to pull out of the Recon Tour.” He turned around and looked at Don, stepping a little closer and leaning against the counter. “As great as the opportunity is, and as grateful as I am for it, I can't take part in it this time around.”

Don simply stared at him. The man was certain his nephew had lost his mind. There was no way he was for real. “You're joking.” He stated it even though it was sort of a question, because he really wondered if Blaine was going crazy. Don had been working hard to get his nephew ready for this.

But, Blaine took a bite of the apple and shook his head no.

“Blaine. I'm sorry to inform you but that's not going to happen. You're not pulling out of Recon. The exposure you're going to get from it is going to take you from being nephew of Don Kinsella, Southern California BMX star Blaine Anderson, to National BMX star, possibly having your own little action figure Blaine Anderson. I'd be stupid to let you walk away from that. I don't get how you could want out…”

Blaine swallowed and knew from the way his aunt was looking at him that he'd better have a good reason. “Like I said, I'm extremely thankful that you got me in and that people want to see me compete on a national scale to begin with, but I just learned that the day of Preliminaries is the same day that my boyfriend will be having his first dance recital at Pace. I don't know if that would seem like a big deal to you or to anyone else, but it means the world to him, thus meaning it means the world to me, and because of that, I'm willing to opt out of Recon and do something else.”

Don looked at Pam, but she only focused on a very confident Blaine as he spoke. The man reached for his glasses and put them on. “Blaine, I'm very proud of Kurt, and that's all very sweet of you, but—”

“There is no ‘but', Unc.” Blaine sat at the island and was adamant as he spoke. “Unless I can qualify for the competition on a different day then that's it. I'm pulling out.”

Pam turned to her husband. “Shouldn't you respect his wish?”

The man smiled. “Honey, I respect Blaine a lot. His turnaround over the past couple years has been amazing and I'm thankful for Kurt because of that.” He looked at Blaine now. “But, there is a ‘but', Blaine. I need you to realize how unprofessional this will look. For starters, there are already fans and even your sponsors campaigning for you. You have so many people you don't want to let down by not showing up at all. If you were to lose, at least you would've been there. But dropping out?”

“I can rectify all of that later. I'm 17. There will be other opportunities, Donnie. That's why I'm asking for your help on this.”

Don rubbed tiredly at his face.

“I had Kurt by my side for the entire summer. From Preliminaries until I got my trophy, he was in the stands. It wasn't even a question anymore, I'd look out and I'd see him and it felt fucking amazing. I felt on top of the world.—”

“Language, Blaine.” Aunt Pam warned.

“Sorry.”

Don spoke. “I understand that—”

“I don't think you do,” his nephew said, interrupting. “I got to experience what it was like, and Kurt's going to be able to look out into the front row of seats and see me there for him on his big night, giving the loudest standing ovation in history, and maybe it isn't as big a stage as my competitions, but one day it will be even bigger, and I'm going to be right there again,” Blaine told him. “Because that's the type of relationship he and I have and I'm not sacrificing that so I can go qualify for a stupid competition. I've had my time to shine, years worth. He's been fighting for years, Unc. I'm going to be front row.”

Don shook his head. Pam looked at him. She'd been to a bunch of Blaine's competitions and she was no doubt one of his biggest fans, but this was definitely a moment she was most proud of him.

“You're my manager,” Blaine began, “I just ask that you do what's best for me like you should. Winning first place or having all these different companies plaster my face on t-shirts isn't always what's best. Sometimes, my personal life is going to have top priority and if you don't agree with me, maybe I should manage myself.”

Don smiled and looked up at the boy. Blaine had so much of his father in him. “That's a terrible idea.”

Blaine stood back up. “I'm going back to school.”

Pam smiled at him and grabbed the teen by the wrist before he could get far. “Listen, champ. We'll get this figured out. I for one respect your decision and I love that you're willing to do that for Kurt. Just relax and keep out of trouble, ok?”

He nodded. “Thank you, auntie.”

Don sat back in his seat and smiled. “Well, I've gotta take your mom and aunt to Babies ‘R' Us. I'll see what I can do, ok?”

That wasn't good enough. Blaine nodded anyway. “Bye.”

“No more skipping class.”

“I won't.” He took another couple bites of the apple and tossed it into the trash before bailing. Don took a look at his wife and smiled before exhaling hard, dragging both hands over his face. “Just when I think that things are going well…” He shook his head. “I spoke too soon earlier. I was thinking that everything was great.”

Pam stood up and smiled at him. “Can I ask you something?”

Don nodded, looking up at the woman he loved. “Anything.”

“I just need to know what you would do if you were in Blaine's shoes? Keep in mind that Blaine has been winning BMX titles since he was prepubescent and that Kurt hasn't really had his chance to shine…”

Don smiled as he watched her walk to the sink. It was obvious whose side she was taking. “If I was in Blaine's shoes I'd definitely do the same thing.”

“Alright then. That should make your decision as his manager a bit easier.”

Her husband nodded, standing up. “I guess I'm going to make a few calls.”

…

Kurt said goodbye to Hunter once they were outside of the auditorium. He rubbed tiredly at the nape of his neck and started towards his locker. Chorus + Band class was interesting today to say the least. They went over their set list for the upcoming competition—something called the LA Classic which was basically the Sectionals for this area. The TA was on drums since Blaine decided that he wasn't going to show up for class and Kurt wasn't at all surprised when he was followed out of the auditorium by him.

“So where'd your boyfriend run off to?” Liam asked with a smile, a little closer to Kurt than he probably needed to be. “I saw him in Orchestra this morning before I watched you work in Dance class…”

Kurt moved aside a little as he made his way through the halls of Pace High, trying not to bump into any of the other students. Liam stayed pretty close though. “He had an emergency.”

Liam hummed acknowledgment before grabbing Kurt by the hand and pulling him aside. Kurt looked at him like he was stupid before pulling his hand back. “Can I help you?”

The man smiled, his piercing blue eyes locked on Kurt's. Kurt honestly hated how handsome the TA was. “Listen, we don't exactly talk anymore. I used to think we were a little bit closer, right?”

Kurt leant against the wall and folded his arms. “Well that was of course before you asked me to do your dirty work for you with a guy who's dating someone else.”

“Speaking of which,” Liam began. “I do remember helping you out that day and as a result, you got a passing grade, but I got absolutely nothing. Do you think that's fair?”

Kurt looked down the busy hallway. People didn't seem to be paying much attention to the two of them. “I don't care. I didn't agree to anything, Liam. You did that on your own.”

The TA smiled, licking his lips as his eyes moved down Kurt's physique. “Maybe that's true. But I did it for you, just like I convinced your dance instructor Frankie to give you a lovely spot at the recital, but I may have to reconsider that since you treat me like an outcast. I only help my friends.”

Kurt felt his phone begin to vibrate as he rolled his eyes. “Your blackmail means nothing to me, Liam. I've got to get to class.”

“Improv, right?” Liam smiled as he stepped back. “Have fun. I hear you have a substitute today. I gotta get back to campus anyway.”

The teen glared at him. His phone vibrated again. “I'll just tell Mr. Riley about you scamming me if you think that's a good idea, so don't do it.”

Liam winked at him and stared a little suggestively. He saw Nick out of the corner of his eyes and turned to him, smiling. “Well if it isn't my favorite up and coming actor. Nicholas Duval! Faculty loves you, man.”

“Thanks.” Nick nodded to him and then looked at Kurt. “I was waiting for you by your locker. Everything ok?”

Kurt nodded, standing up straight. “Yeah. Let's go.”

“Hey Nick,” Liam said, stepping close. “Do me a favor and let Blaine know that it's been a lot of fun sharing Kurt with him.”

Kurt turned around just in time to see him wiping his lips, suggesting they were kissing. “Fuck you.”

“Shouldn't talk to a TA like that, baby. I'll see you boys around tomorrow.” He winked again and walked off. Nick watched him go with an eyebrow raised before he felt Kurt storm off. The late bell rang and Nick cursed underneath his breath, following after his friend.

“Do you want to tell me what that was about?”

Kurt turned the corner, still pissed off, and Nick wasn't so sure he'd ever seen him pissed like this. He wasn't sure he ever wanted to see him pissed like this ever again in his hopefully long life. “I can't stand him. I thought he was such a great guy when we met him but he's a fucking scum bag.”

Nick watched as Kurt began to open his locker. “Did he try to make a move on you?”

Kurt popped the lock after putting in the combination. He was fuming. He tossed his backpack into the locker and slammed it shut. “He's mad because I won't give him the time of day, and apparently because he does all these nice things to supposedly help me, not that I asked for any of it…” He shook his head and looked at Nick. “I guess I'm supposed to kiss his ass. But since I won't he's threatening me with the Dance recital.”

Nick took in everything he was told and shook his head. “Wow. Ok first, I'm telling Blaine all of this.”

Kurt reached into his pocket for his cell phone, thinking it was Blaine that'd been texting him, only it was Sam. He gave the phone a confused look at that. “Oh, I'm telling him too. You don't have to worry about that.” They began to walk to Improv class. “By the way, we have a substitute today.”

Nick nodded. “Jeff told me. He wanted to skip his seventh period and come hang out but I told him no. But back to this Liam thing…”

Kurt noticed the halls cleared out now and they were pretty much the only two walking. “I'm telling Blaine. I'm nervous he's going to do something that gets him kicked out but I don't want him to hear something from someone else and then think I'm cheating on him or some… some bullshit.”

“Don't worry about that. He's not stupid,” Nick told him. “Where is he anyway?”

Kurt shook his head, taking the opportunity to read the messages from Sam. “He said he needed to talk to Don and never came back to school so I don't know.”

From Sam:

Yo! Kurt, we miss you.

From Sam:

I'm in glee club right now and everyone says hi. We're wondering if we'll be seeing you November for Blaine's competition here in The Buckeye State. Dude, we all bought tickets to quarterfinals and we're hype. So he better fucking make it to quarterfinals.

From Sam:

Well, we all didn't buy tickets… but most of us did :)

Kurt smiled. He seriously hoped he'd be able to make all of the competitions. He listened as Nick mentioned how much of an idiot Blaine was for skipping Mr. Riley's class of all classes as he typed out a response.

To Sam:

I hope I can make the weekend of the competitions but I don't see why I wouldn't be able to. I can tell he's excited to be back in action. But why didn't you guys just get tickets for Preliminaries where you would definitely be able to see him perform?

“He may be an idiot, but he's my idiot. And I'm definitely dealing with him later.”

Nick smirked. “Wanky.”

“And stop video messaging Santana. You're getting equally annoying,” Kurt said with a laugh. He looked down at the message as they walked into Improv class.

From Sam:

Well because Preliminaries is so long and you have to sit through all of the crap people who won't qualify as well as the super good ones so you're in the stands for a while. Besides that, it's on a Friday. On November 9th. That's a school day. We could skip but no one wanted to spend money to watch him qualify. We want to see him kick some ass! Preferably on a weekend where we could all chill afterwards, too.

Kurt stopped walking and Nick didn't notice, leaving him standing there in the doorway. He spotted his best friend and shook his head at him as Blaine looked up at the pair from where he lay on the mats in the improv classroom, listening to one of the junior girls play her guitar. The substitute teacher seemed to be pretty mellow.

Blaine sat up and slapped five with Nick before pulling him down beside him. The boy laughed as he tumbled, and then looked over at Kurt. Blaine looked up at him too.

“You're late to class, Hummel,” Blaine teased. But then he saw the look on Kurt's face and it wasn't a good one. “Babe?”

Kurt read the message a couple times. He began to piece together the puzzle. Mrs. Williams, their guidance counselor mentioned Kurt's dance recital being on November 9th. That was at the end of the meeting. That was also the time that Blaine started to act super weird and distant. So basically, he gathered that his recital would be the same day that Blaine was in Ohio qualifying for a BMX competition, and he understood why Blaine didn't want to talk to him, instead going to Don instead.

Blaine stood up and walked over to him. Kurt shook himself out of it and pocketed his phone. “What's wrong with you, beautiful?”

Kurt took a deep breath and looked at him. Blaine's eyes were scanning his own and he tried to smile. “Mr. Riley is upset with you for skipping.”

Blaine stared at his boyfriend. “I don't give a shit if he's upset with me for jumping, I want to know what's wrong with you.”

“Did you talk to your uncle?”

Blaine nodded to him and took his hands. “I did. And we should probably talk about that—”

“Are you telling him about Liam?”

Blaine looked back at Nick and then to his boyfriend. Kurt gave Nick an exasperated look. “What's going on with Liam?” Blaine asked.

Kurt pulled back and walked over to the mat on the floor. He sat down. “He's an idiot. What happened with your uncle?”

Blaine looked at Nick who slouched back, interested in the answer to that too. The girl playing guitar laughed at a couple of their classmates as they began to rough house in the corner. He looked at Kurt and walked over, sitting on the mat beside him. “I went to tell him that I don't want to compete.”

Kurt looked up at him and nodded. He took a deep breath. “Why would you do something like that? You do want to compete.”

Blaine shrugged. “November is a busy month for me. My little sister is due next month. We've got the LA Classics and I've got to get ready for winter recital. Juggling that with BMX would be really hard.”

Kurt ignored his vibrating phone and nodded.

“I told Unc I'll do the next competition in January. It's in Florida… Disney World. I can take you and Mikey and your Dad and his girlfriend and Blaze and we'll have an amazing time.”

Kurt took his hand. “The competitions are really just one weekend, right? This Recon Tour, I mean. You've got The Round of 16 and then Quarterfinals and then Semis and then the Finals, right?”

Blaine nodded. “Right. But think of prep time, and then press too. I'll be busy.”

Kurt sighed. “Uh huh. And this in no way has anything to do with your Preliminary being the same day as my Recital?”

Blaine froze; his hand going limp in Kurt's. His boyfriend watched his change in demeanor and shook his head.

“You're an asshole for lying to me.”

Blaine looked away. “I'm sorry. I'm— I didn't want to tell you that it was the same day because you'd fucking blame yourself and this is in no way your fault.” He looked back to Kurt. “Ok, I seriously feel like a dick but the other reasoning is true, too.”

Kurt smiled at him. “But the main reasoning is because of the recital, correct?”

“Because I'm not missing that recital for the world, Kurt. I'm not missing your big night. The Recon Tour can honestly suck a dick.”

Kurt lay back on the mat. He could see Nick getting guitar lessons from the junior behind them. Blaine lay down on his side; hand placed on the boy's hip. He teased the boy's piercings through his shirt. “I'm so sorry about all of this.”

“Can we get one thing straight?” Kurt looked over and Blaine nodded. He looked so beautiful. Kurt could tell he was really sorry and he only wanted to protect him in all of this, and nothing Blaine ever did was malicious. “Good.” He leant up to kiss Blaine after the boy nodded and then laid back against the mat. “If you ever lie to me again, I'm twisting your nuts and pulling them off.”

Blaine gave a closed lip smile after the fearful look melted away from his face. “I'm sorry about lying. I just couldn't let you tell me to do the competition because you'd have other recitals or performances that I could go to.”

“But I will,” Kurt told him. “And I love that you want to be at this one but there will be others. I'm not going to lie to you and say that it doesn't suck that you have to miss it, because I am excited and I'd love for you to be there, but I'll have Aunt Pam record it or we can buy the production copy from the school and after you kill it at your qualifier, you come home to me and we'll watch it together.”

Blaine shook his head no. “It isn't that I simply want to be at this one, it's that I'm going to. We're not going to argue about it.”

Kurt smiled. “I'm not arguing with you, I'm merely suggesting—”

“I'm not interested,” Blaine told him. “The only thing I'm interested in is being in the front row and recording how amazing you are myself so that when we have children of our own, we can all watch it together and I can tell them that their father is fucking awesome. I don't want to come back here and watch something that I wanted to witness on a DVD copy.”

Kurt looked up at the ceiling. They fell quiet and the sounds of their noisy classmates around them filled the space between the two. Kurt had to admit that he had the most amazing boyfriend he could ask for, but he did try to stop being selfish and understand things from Blaine's perspective after their last fight. He wanted to continue that streak. “You know that you have a lot of fans counting on you, right? You've been working hard practicing and working out and I know that you're excited about it.”

“I'm not missing your performance.”

“So what happens one day when we're both successful and we both have something going on? Maybe it'll be me performing at a show and you having a tour of your own, musically or sports related to attend. You can't just turn away from that.”

Blaine smiled. “What you and my uncle are failing to realize is that I can't always put everyone else first. My fans are wonderful people and I'm lucky to have them but because they exist, I can't just push you and my family aside to do BMX tricks. My priority is you.”

Kurt nodded.

“In the future, things may be different. I won't be able to make every performance, and you won't for me either. But right now, I am making the choice to cancel my appearance. If a fan doesn't understand that I have a life outside of the sport then they probably aren't a fan.”

“I love you, Blaine.”

“I love you too.”

“I just…” Kurt looked at him and smiled. “I won't argue with you. I love you. Thank you for wanting to support me regardless and thank you for being honest with me from this point going forward.”

Blaine nodded, smiling at the serious face his boyfriend gave him at the latter. “You don't feel guilty, right?”

Kurt shrugged. “I wouldn't say guilty because I know this was out of our hands, but I feel a little sad. I wanted you to be able to do what you love and now…”

“I love seeing you be the star I know you are, Pollux.” Blaine kissed him softly and brushed his thumb over the teen's cheek. “You're the brightest star. I'm not missing it for the world.”

Kurt smiled, refusing to get teary eyed. “I really, really love you.”

Blaine kissed him again. “Do you want to tell me about Liam now or while we're shopping for our Press Dinner suits later on?”

Kurt exhaled as he thought about it. “He's being really disgusting towards me because of everything with Ian and José and how I can barely stand being around him now because of that. …I swear that if you retaliate and end up getting kicked out I will cry, Blaine.”

Blaine looked in his boyfriend's eyes. “I'm listening.”

“I'm serious.”

Blaine took his hand. “I'm not making any promises not to retaliate but I do promise I won't get kicked out, or suspended, or any of that. I just want people to know they're not supposed to mess with what's mine.”

Kurt turned onto his side a little. He played at the designs of Blaine's shirt some more. “He said that because he bailed me out with the whole Dance thing, and that I didn't hold up my end of the deal—one of which I didn't even agree to by the way—”

“I know,” Blaine said. Kurt continued.

“He thinks that I should be kissing his ass, for lack of a better term. Then Nick shows up after he told me that he got me such a great spot on the night of the dance recital, because Nick usually meets you and me by my locker, and Liam told him to tell you that he's having fun sharing me with you, or something along the lines. He then wiped at his lips as if we were kissing.”

Blaine continued to look at Kurt before staring to the front of the classroom. Kurt rubbed from his arm to his shoulder.

“If you didn't skip class he wouldn't have cornered me, you know.”

Blaine smiled, but it was definitely a fake one. He was pissed off. “I'm sorry, babe. Trust that I'll handle it in a civil way. He'll keep his distance, ok?”

Kurt wasn't so sure of that promise. He nodded anyway. “Alright.”

Blaine sat up now; muscles tense. He turned and watched Kurt reply to the messages from Sam before rolling his neck a bit. “After school, I'm going to stop at my place and pack clothes for tomorrow and then we can go shopping for the Press Dinner.”

Kurt smiled at him, rubbing his back. “It's going to be a lot of fun. Nervous at all?”

Blaine smirked. “About what?”

“Showing me off to the public. Making a statement for LGBT across the country. Possibly getting a lot of hate from people who won't like that. Things like that.”

His boyfriend laughed a little and looked back at him. “I'm your ride or die, Kurt. I actually give negative three fifths of a fuck about people who don't like that.”

Kurt sat up and took his hand. “You know I'm going to be by your side through any and everything, right?”

“I know that with all my heart.”

Kurt smiled. “Perfect. Now let's do our homework so we have more time to hang out later.”

Blaine nodded at that. “Perfect.”

…

The rest of the day went a lot better for both Kurt and Blaine. Burt told Clarissa it was fine for Blaine to stay the night, despite them having school the next day. Blaine was happy about that. He missed getting to sleep with his boyfriend. Holding Kurt in his arms was his favorite thing to do.

They hugged and kissed Mikey for a while before Blaine and Kurt got in the car and got on the interstate. Kurt almost died from immense euphoria when his boyfriend said that they were going shopping in Beverly Hills. He couldn't help but laugh at him.

No, he wasn't driving all the way to Beverly Hills because he knew that it'd result in him getting some tonight and winning the bet. That wasn't what this was at all.

Lol. It kind of was.

Blaine turned the radio up a little before wrapping an arm around Kurt's seat. Kurt nodded his head to the music and spoke.

“I love this.”

Blaine nodded. “His whole album is pretty good.”

Kurt smiled. “Jordin Sparks is so damn lucky. I'd for sure lick Jason Derulo from head to toe for free.”

Blaine started laughing. “I guess I have to kick Jason Derulo's ass after I kick Liam's ass.”

Kurt smiled. “I'll pretend I didn't hear that. Where are we going specifically?”

Blaine switched lanes as he played in his boyfriend's hair. “The Beverly Center. I was thinking Dolce & Gabbana. And then we'll get something to eat afterwards and head back home.”

Kurt grabbed Blaine's hand and held it in his lap. “That sounds amazing. We should wear matching ties.”

Blaine nodded with a smile. It was hard to get him to care about clothes, but this was going to be a lot of fun. “We should. We should also roll our windows down and sing this song at the top of our voices to all the people along the I-105.”

Kurt smiled as the windows were lowered. He began first.

“Every time that you get undressed
I hear symphonies in my head
I wrote this song just looking at you ooh, oh
Yeah the drums they swing low
And the trumpets they go-”

Kurt laughed, doubled over as Blaine obnoxiously made the trumpet noises in the song, getting looks from their neighboring cars. Blaine smiled at him and held his hand tight, the both of them continuing to loudly scream the lyrics.

Yeah. He loved being Kurt's ride or die.

…

That evening, while his boyfriend and father were downstairs watching ESPN before watching the Monday night football game (massive eye roll), Kurt sat on his bed with his laptop and cell phone in hand. He did some research on the Recon Tour in Ohio with every intention of finding a way that Blaine would be able to compete if he wanted to, and still make it to his recital.

Preliminaries were taking place from 9 that morning until 2 in the afternoon. Kurt didn't exactly know how it worked. He remembered Blaine went relatively earlier during the summer competitions because it was on a last name basis, but this had the potential to be different. He could go up last for all Kurt knew. If that was the case, it'd take roughly four and a half hours for him to get back to California from Ohio. The recital was to begin at 6:30 P.M. It was an extremely close call.

Kurt took a deep breath as he thought things through. Anything could go wrong. It was going to be November in Ohio. It was cold on the east coast, and sometimes the snow did come early. There could be flight delays or anything. The last thing he wanted to do was get his or Blaine's hopes up, but, he did want to give him the opportunity to at least get back in the swing of things.

The league that was running this competition was actually located in Sacramento. Kurt noticed a contact name on the website and quickly dialed the number provided. He didn't know if this was going to be in vain, and it probably was, but nothing beat failure but a try, right?

The phone rang a couple times and Kurt wondered if the office was closed. It was after 6 P.M now. He almost hung up when a gentleman answered the phone, a heavy voice entering his ear.

“BMX World. Gary Thompson speaking.”

“Hello? Hi, Mr. Thompson!” Kurt sat up straight and pushed the laptop off his legs. “Hi, I'm um, I have a couple questions for you if you have the time. About the Recon Tour.”

“The Winter Recon Tour?”

Kurt made a confused face. “Um. The BMX one next month?”

“Oh,” the man answered. “May I first ask who I'm speaking to?”

Kurt didn't know whether or not he should be honest and say he was Blaine's boyfriend. He gave a general answer instead. “My name is Kurt. I'm calling on behalf of Blaine Anderson.”

“Ah. Ticket sales definitely rose when Blaine signed up. He has a lot of fangirls, and Adidas is promoting him as well.”

Kurt smiled at the fangirls part. How cute. “Well my question is do you have any specific order for Preliminaries? I know it's going to be a lengthy competition. We were curious about the order he'd perform.”

There was a hesitation on the other line and Kurt waited patiently. “Let's see… we have Blaine Anderson to go 49th. It's based on the order that the person enters the competition and he was a late comer.”

Kurt inwardly cursed. “How long do you estimate each ride to perform?”

Mr. Thompson cleared his throat. “A few minutes. The routines aren't anything too elaborate when it comes to Preliminaties—I'm sorry but can I ask why you're asking this? I'm a bit curious.”

It was time to come clean. Kurt rubbed at his forehead. “I don't want you to think we're asking for handouts, sir, but my—Blaine, he is considering dropping out of the Recon—”

“WHAT? Why?”

Kurt held the phone away from his ear for a moment; the loud shout scaring the hell out of him. “Well… something came up the same day as Preliminaries here in California, and he doesn't want to compete because he wants to… handle that situation. I however would like him to compete for his fans and because he really wants to—”

“Oh, Kurt. We kind of need him to. We've already got him and the other stars on the website. Like I said, people have bought tickets for the finals hoping he'd be there. He can't drop this.”

Kurt nodded his understanding. “I know this would be a lot to ask, but if it was possible for him to perform earlier…”

“Shit,” the man answered. “I'd definitely have to check with my boss.”

Kurt resumed, his hope rising a little. “Please do. The idea is to have him on a flight back to California by noon.”

“I understand,” Mr. Thompson said. “Can I have your information? I'll call you back to confirm, but for right now I'm penciling him in as one of the top ten to go up. We don't want to lose him in this Tour.”

Kurt smiled, jumping up and down before falling back on the bed, composing himself, and taking a deep breath. “Yes, sir. I understand.”

He calmly gave him his number and Gary Thompson promised he'd call back soon with confirmation. When they hung up, Kurt threw up his hands in victory. He grabbed his computer again and went to buy a ticket for The Round of 16 and Quarterfinals, the day that his old friends from McKinley would be going to see Blaine compete.

…

“Hey stranger,” Blaine said to his boyfriend as he came down the stairs. “I've missed you. And you're lookin' mighty fine.”

Burt ignored him as Donny laughed a little, lifting a beer bottle to his lips. “Kurt! Where can I get tickets to this recital of yours?”

Burt cut in. “I already bought 10. You can have one. The whole shop is coming.”

Kurt smiled at that as he held a ticket of his own he'd just printed out in hand. “I'd love for you to be there, Don.”

Blaine smiled at him before looking back at the TV. “My uncle was just telling me that he signed me up for that Disney World competition in January, babe.”

“Yeah,” Donnie said. “Tomorrow I'll have to prepare a statement about Blaine not doing Recon, but I support his decision.”

Burt looked at Blaine and nodded. It must've been hard but he respected that too. He looked at his son. “Come sit down. We're watching Sports Center.”

Kurt glared at him.

“What's in your hand?” Blaine asked curiously. That's when the teen smiled and jumped a little, unable to stay calm for much longer.

“Ok. I think there won't be reason Donnie to write a statement saying you won't compete.”

Burt looked at his friend who looked at his nephew. They both then turned to Kurt, mirroring Blaine's confused expression. “Why wouldn't I?” Donnie asked.

Kurt felt incredibly happy, so if Blaine said no he would've been crushed. “I spoke to BMX World, the people running Recon—”

“I'm familiar,” Don said with a smile. “You spoke to them?”

“Yeah!” Kurt said excitedly. He looked at Blaine over his father's huge head. “I just got confirmation that you can be one of the first ten to perform. I spoke to this guy first, but his boss called me back because they don't want you to drop out. If you qualify, do a quick interview and promo, and then get on a flight, you'll be back here in time with some to spare so that you can see me perform at the recital!”

Blaine slowly started to smile. “Wait… you called them? You worked that out for me?”

Kurt nodded. “Of course. I don't want you to have to miss this competition. I don't want to miss it either. And I have faith that Melody will wait until you're back home to come. I had a long talk with your mother's stomach and by the way Melody kicked I'm sure we came to an agreement.”

Burt laughed, looking at Blaine.

Don grinned excitedly. “Kurt, that's amazing. That's … maybe you need to manage him.”

Blaine looked at his uncle. “Maybe he does.”

Burt laughed again. “Alright, everyone, calm down. My question is what if there is a flight delay? Are you sure you want to take that chance?”

The boy looked nervous now, and Kurt nodded. “That's the thing. But I at least had to make sure that there was a chance. Fingers crossed, everything will go to plan. And I'm designing your helmet and jacket. Purple and black.”

Blaine smiled at him; his cheeks red.

“I also bought Mikey a ticket for the next weekend so that my friends in Ohio can meet him, if that's ok with you Donnie? It's on a Saturday so he won't miss school, and I'll watch him while you work with Blaine. I promise.”

Don smiled and looked at his nephew. “I think that's something we can do.”

Kurt smiled. He didn't even see it coming when Blaine attacked; pouncing and picking him up into the tightest, bestest hug. It felt like the first time Blaine had come home after that trip of his in time for his birthday. It felt great. Kurt laughed and hugged him back.

“You see if you would've just told me, we could've worked this out earlier. No fear.”

Blaine smiled, nodding. “I know baby. I learned from that. And I love you.”

Kurt kissed him quickly, knowing his dad was right there. “I'm going to cook, ok? We'll go upstairs to talk after dinner. And you can get all of the yogurt you want…”

Blaine bit his lip, smiling. “I can't wait. But I'm still going to do your math homework just for the hell of it…”

Burt looked over at Don. “That sounds like code talk for sex to me.”

Kurt's face changed. “And he just ruined the moment.”

Blaine smiled as his boyfriend pulled away quickly, going into the kitchen. The teen wasted no time clattering pots and pans. His uncle and Burt were laughing, and Blaine shook his head at the both of them.

Truth be told, he'd won a lot more than a bet today. He won the knowledge and confirmation of knowing that his boyfriend would move mountains for him. That was a beautiful thing.