The only coherent thought in Kurt's mind is Blaine. He's the only one he wants to see right now. Running through the hallway, tears blurring his vision, Kurt searches for him. As he runs by Rachel, she tries to say something, but he ignores her and keeps going. Finally, he remembers Blaine saying he would be outside in the courtyard because he was too nervous to wait for the results. Sure enough, he finds him there sitting with Mike and Tina. Blaine raises his hand in greeting but after seeing Kurt's expression, he jumps up and runs over to him.

"Shh, it's going to be okay," he soothes after Kurt launches himself into his arms. Blaine rubs his back and murmurs comforting words into his ear until the sobs turn to sniffles. After Kurt composes himself, he notices that Blaine is looking over his shoulder to check if anyone else is near them. Kurt looks around too, but the only people present are Tina and Mike, who are still sitting at the table and avoiding their eyes politely.

Blaine puts a hand on Kurt's lower back and steers him over to an empty bench a little ways away. "What happened?"

"I lost the election," Kurt says but then has to stop because the tears threaten to flow again.

"Oh Kurt, I'm sorry," Blaine says while scooching a little closer to him. "But it's like you said, this school doesn't want a real leader, they want a hot cheerleader who gives them pixie sticks. Your speech about bullying was inspiring and in any election with half competent voters, you would have blown the competition out of the water."

Kurt smiles wanly at his praise but says, "It's not just that, though. Somebody stuffed the ballot box with votes for me and the school thinks I did it. They're threatening to suspend or even expel me! I can kiss my dreams of NYADA and New York goodbye if that happens, I'm going to be stuck in Lima forever." This time Kurt can't hold back the tears and they silently run down his face.

Blaine reaches into his bag to pull out a handkerchief and Kurt actually laughs through his tears. He's pretty sure Blaine is the only seventeen year old boy he knows who carries around handkerchiefs wherever he goes. Kurt accepts in gratefully, though, and wipes his eyes. He's aware that he's red faced and puffy eyed and that with anyone else he'd be mortified, but with Blaine it's alright. One would think that you would want to look your best around the person whose most special to you but in reality, it's the person whose most special to you that you feel comfortable looking your worst around.

"You told them it wasn't you, right?" Blaine asks, a confused expression on his face.

"Yes, of course."

"Then that's the end of that," Blaine states matter-of-factly.

"It's not that simple Blaine," Kurt retorts, trying not to get annoyed, "somebody had to have stuffed the box and right now, I'm the number one suspect. It's my word against the facts. Or, what they assume are the facts."

"Well that's not fair."

"Life isn't fair! This isn't Dalton where everything is rainbows and puppies and nobody has to face any consequences. This is the real world." Blaine recoils at Kurt's harsh words, and he immediately regrets them. "Wait, Blaine, I'm sorry. I shouldn't be taking my anger out on you. This has just been a really tough couple weeks."

In fact, Kurt can't remember a tougher two weeks in a long time. Not only is the Glee club completely stressed about the upcoming sectionals, the Troubletones (Mercedes new glee club) still plan on competing against them, but the class election brought a ton of unprecedented drama. Brittney, who had originally been helping Kurt with his campaign, decided to run on her own after Kurt rejected her campaign slogan. Even with Rachel dropping out of the competition to help Kurt, he didn't stand chance against Brittney and Santana's combined popularity. His only hope had been that his speech would somehow inspire the students of McKinley to make the smart choice but obviously, he thought too highly of them. Now these accusations of him cheating, which threaten his entire future, are just the icing on the cake.

"It's fine," Blaine says, reaching out to rub Kurt's back again. After a minute he stands up and extends his hand. "Let's go choir room, it's almost time for Glee."

They walk through the halls with a respectable distance between them; Blaine had dropped his hand before they even entered the school despite it being almost empty now. Blaine's continued insistence that they keep their relationship under wraps hurts Kurt more than he's willing to admit. It's been over a month, and Kurt thought they'd be done hiding by now. Azimio still gives them a hard time occasionally, but it's been much less lately. Apparently, they got bored after Kurt and Blaine continued to ignore them. Kurt had hoped that once that became a less pressing issue, Blaine would open up to the idea of going public. But every time Kurt brings it up, Blaine steers the conversation in a different direction.

After entering the choir room, Mercedes gets up and hurries over to Kurt, drawing him into a tight hug and assuring him that she voted for him. Kurt sees Brittney and Santana sitting in one corner, looking absolutely ecstatic, and knows what he has to do.

"Congratulations Brittney, I'm sure you'll rule with absolute fabulousness," he says, forcing a smile.

"Thanks Kurt!" Brittney responds with such a dazzling smile that Kurt's becomes a little less strained. "Oh wait, Kurt," she calls as he starts to walk away, "would you like to be my vice president? I asked Santana, but she said she was too busy being head cheerleader so she told me to ask you."

Kurt looks in shock at Santana, and she avoids his gaze in favor of glaring at Brittney. "Oops, I wasn't supposed to tell you it was Santana's idea," she says, only after noticing the anger look being directed at her.

"Thank you Brittney," Kurt says, ignoring that last part out of respect for Santana, "I would love to."

Before Kurt leaves, he looks at Santana again and this time she is looking back. He flashes the most sincere smile he can muster and to his surprise, he gets a small smile in return. Kurt goes to join Blaine who is in deep conversation with Mike and when he sits down Blaine nudges his foot slightly in acknowledgement. Tina, who was sitting on the other side of Mike, gets up and moves to the seat next to Kurt.

"How are you holding up?" Tina asks in concern.

"I'm pretty shaken up," Kurt answers honestly.

Tina looks around and lowers her voice before saying, "You and Blaine seemed pretty cozy out there earlier."

Kurt fights off a blush and responds, "We're just really close friends. We spend a lot of time together since our parents are dating."

"Mhmm," Tina hums in disbelief but Kurt knows she'll drop the subject now. That's what he loves about her, she knows not to push.

"But…" Kurt hesitates, "Maybe it would be best if you didn't tell people just how close me and Blaine have gotten."

Tina's face softens, and she assures him she won't say anything. "Hey, where's Rachel?" Kurt asks after a beat.

"I don't know, I haven't seen her since the vote."

No sooner did Tina finish talking than Rachel entered the room looking completely distraught. She clears her throat loudly until everyone looks at her. On the verge of tears, she announces, "Attention fellow Glee club members, unfortunately, due to my suspension, I will not be able to compete in Sectionals on Friday."

Silence follows her statement as everyone processes what she said. Once it does hit, pandemonium ensues. The most pressing question, of course, is why she's suspended in the first place.

"I-" she starts, choking back tears, "stuffed the ballot box with Kurt's name." She ducks her head ashamedly and multiple people gasp, including Kurt. He's relieved that he's off the hook for the crime, but he can't help but feel bad for her. As misguided as it was, she was only trying to help him. Competing is everything to Rachel and having to sit out for Sectionals is going to kill her.

She opens her mouth as if to say something else, but she closes it and sits back down. Kurt almost gasps again because he's pretty sure that's the first time Rachel Berry as even been at a loss for words. Mr. Schue takes over then and says they will be working on their songs for sectionals, so Mercedes and the rest of the Troubletones leave. After they do, the rest of the Glee club lets the true panic sink in at the fact that their strongest singer won't be competing.

Kurt's too tired to really participate in the debate, so Blaine and him sit back and let everything unfold. Finally, after a lot of yelling and arguing, ironically the loudest person being Rachel, they have a new game plan. ABC is still in but Tina has replaced Rachel as the lead. Kurt's happy for her, considering she gets solos even less than he does. Control is basically the same because Rachel only had a background role in that, but the main change is now Rachel can't do her solo. The replacement was Man in the Mirror which featured Puck, Sam, Finn, Artie, and Blaine.

Blaine looks over at Kurt once it's announced, and they have a silent conversation. Blaine's apologetic and slightly uncomfortable eyes say he's sorry that he has another solo in this song when he's already a lead in Control. Kurt just shrugs and gives him a what-can-you-do look because honestly, what could he do? Yes he could complain and demand a solo, but they would have to rearrange everything and that would hurt the Glee club's chances against the Troubletones. Plus, Tina and Mike get fewer chances to sing than he does, and he doesn't want to mess this up for them.

Mr. Schue calls it a day after that, saying that they will have to have extra long practices if they want to be ready for the competition which, unfortunately, is only three days away.

"What are your plans for your birthday?" Blaine asks as they walk out.

Kurt blanches for a moment because with all the drama going on, he'd almost forgotten it's coming up so soon. It's only a week and a half away. "Uh the usual I guess. My dad always takes off work so we can spend the afternoon and evening together."

Blaine nods and asks, "Well what about the day after? Saturday? What are your plans?"

"Nothing so far."

"Great! That's our day, we can do whatever you want," Blaine says, beaming.

"Shopping?" Kurt asks hopefully. His dad stopped knowing what to get for him about ten years ago so now he usually just gets Kurt money. The annual shopping trip is usually with Rachel and Mercedes, but he's sure they won't mind skipping out this one year.

"Shopping it is!" Blaine exclaims, and Kurt laughs because Blaine has no idea what he's getting himself into.

&&&&&

"Blaine, please," Kurt begs as Blaine slowly kisses down his body. He bucks his hips up, trying to relay the message of where he wants Blaine because he doesn't have the words to articulate it.

"Patience," Blaine chuckles, but it turns into a groan when Kurt grabs him by the hair and moves his head towards his erection. Kurt doesn't force Blaine on him, he would never do that, but he needs some relief now.

"Ugh, Blaine yes, more," Kurt whines as Blaine teasingly sucks the head into his mouth. Blaine pulls off a second later, and Kurt feels like screaming in protest but suddenly, Blaine's mouth is back on him and he's bobbing up and down his shaft. He moves back up to the head, swirling his tongue around it a few times, before taking in Kurt's whole length in one move.

Kurt moans loudly and tries to thrust up but Blaine's hands are pinning him to the bed. Kurt sees stars when his cock hits the back of Blaine's throat and, with the tightening in his balls, he knows he won't last much longer. He grasps Blaine by the hair again and attempts to tug him off, but Blaine resists him. He hums long and low, and Kurt cries out, ready to explode-

Kurt jolts awake, panting hard, and before he realizes what he's doing, he's stroking himself to thoughts of Blaine's mouth and coming in record time. When he calms down enough to think coherently, shame rushes through him. He just came in his pants to the image of Blaine sucking him off. Simply saying the words in his head make his dick twitch, as if it's trying to get hard again. I guess this is what being horny is like, Kurt thinks.

Before he started dating Blaine, he honestly didn't think about sex that often. Yes, he woke up hard sometimes, and masturbated too, but it was never this intense. Kurt masturbates way more often now and despite his best efforts, his thoughts often travel to Blaine when he does. Who would have thought getting a boyfriend would make him more sexually frustrated.

Kurt goes to the bathroom and cleans up before crawling back into bed to try and get some sleep. Sectionals are tonight so he needs to be rested and ready for what is surely going to be a tough competition.

Sectionals went well, they won, but better than anything else was afterwards, everyone made up. The Troubletones agreed to join back up as long as they got one song at each competition and then they all did an improv performance of We Are Young. This is what Kurt loves and misses about Glee club. Back during sophomore year, they did stuff like this all the time, singing for fun, and sharing the solos instead of fighting over them. Lately, it seems like there is always some kind of drama going on that takes away from the pure fun Glee club use to be.

The next week flies by and before Kurt knows it, it's his birthday. Blaine gives him the cutest homemade card and Kurt almost tears up right in the middle of the hallway. Other than that, the day was pretty normal, besides the showy version of happy birthday sung to him during Glee which Rachel organized.

As per tradition, Burt takes the afternoon off so he's there when Kurt gets home from school. This year, they decide their bonding activity will be cooking dinner together.

"So you're telling me I just got to pour these onions into the bowl?" Burt asks, rereading the recipe for what Kurt thinks is the thousandth time.

"No no no," Kurt says, shaking his head, "You have to saut� them first."

"Saut�?"

Kurt pursues his lips and says, "Never mind, I'll do it. You just come over here and dip the chicken first in the egg mixture, and then in the breadcrumb mixture."

They work in silence for the next few minutes until Kurt hears Burt curse loudly. He looks over and sees one of the chicken cutlets on the floor. Kurt stares for a minute before starting to laugh and once he starts, he can't seem to stop.

Burt swears again and asks angrily, "What could possibly be funny about this?"

"I'm just wondering how we didn't starve when I was a child and couldn't cook yet," Kurt says once he's calmed down.

"We got a lot of take-out," Burt responds, cracking a smile.

Kurt pretty much takes over the meal after that, having Burt only help when it's absolutely necessary. Even if Burt's not helping in the cooking aspect, it's still nice to have some time together. As they sit down, Kurt realizes that this is the first Friday night dinner they've had in a while. Friday night is usually Burt and Sally's date night, so it turned into Kurt and Blaine's date night too. He's not complaining, he's ecstatic that Sally makes Burt so happy, but he does miss spending time with his dad. It's been just the two of them for so long that it's quite an adjustment having someone else important in Burt's life.

"You're quiet tonight," Burt comments in between bites of chicken.

"Just thinking."

"So kiddo, how's your life been? I feel bad I haven't been around as often," Burt says as if he read Kurt's mind.

"Don't feel bad dad, I'm happy for you. And not too much, I've been working on a proposal for new anti-bullying measures that would raise the consequences for any bullying done on school grounds. I don't know if Figgins will actually go for it but… it's a start."

"That's great Kurt," Burt says seriously, "I'm so proud of you."

Even though Burt saying he's proud of Kurt is nothing new, it still makes him glow. Kurt's sure there's no better feeling than working hard on something and having someone else, especially someone you care about, recognize and appreciate it. They spend the rest of the evening catching up on all the little things that have been happening recently, and Kurt tries to get the details out of Burt about his relationship with Sally.

"Is there going to be any ice at Christmas?" Kurt asks after Burt continues to dodge his questions.

Burt, who was in mid-sip at the time, chokes in surprise. "What- I, I don't," Burt stammers, still coughing a bit.

Kurt smirks at him and shrugs his shoulders. "Just asking."

Burt shakes his head, refusing to answer or even look Kurt in the eyes. "Anyways, here's your birthday present," Burt says, pulling a three hundred dollar American Express cared out of his pocket, "I know it's not the most creative present but-"

"Dad stop," he interrupts, "It's great. I already have a shopping trip planned for tomorrow."

Burt shakes his head, chuckling softly, and says, "I don't know how Mercedes and Rachel can possibly keep up with you when you're shopping."

"Actually," Kurt says, biting his lip, "I'm going shopping with Blaine."

Burt raises an eyebrow and Kurt, determined not to look suspicious, busies himself with clearing the dishes. "You and Blaine seem… close." Burt finally says.

Kurt hums noncommittally and avoids Burt's eyes; he's always been able to tell when he's lying. "We're just good friends," Kurt lies. He desperately hopes Burt believes him because if he questions him any more, he'll probably come out with the truth. He's never had to straight up lie to his dad before and it's an awful feeling. Kurt vows to talk to Blaine soon about at least telling their parents about them because he's not sure how much longer he can do this.

&&&&&

"So how much longer do you think we'll be at this?" Blaine asks after five hours, dozens of stores, and countless pieces of clothing.

They had driven all the way out to Columbus in order to shop in a bigger mall with more selection. It actually happened to be right near where Blaine use to go to school and after a lot of begging on Kurt's part, Blaine gave him a tour of the place. Kurt actually laughed out loud at how preppy the school was, especially after seeing all the boys in uniforms. Blaine's friends were gone for the weekend, though, so they didn't stay long.

"You're not having fun?" Kurt asks seriously, pretending to be very hurt at Blaine's question.

"What? No! This had been great, I-" Blaine stops when Kurt starts laughing at his panic. "You're so mean," he pouts.

Kurt swoops in and kisses Blaine's puckered lips quickly before he can protest. "Am I forgiven?"

"I don't know," Blaine tries, but his huge grin gives him away.

"And don't worry, I'm almost done, I just got to try these on," he says, raising his armful of jeans and sweaters. His theme for this shopping trip had been winter wear.

As they make their way over to the dressing room, Kurt finally gets the courage to bring up the thing he's been meaning to all day. "Blaine?"

Blaine hums in response as he leafs through a rack of fifty percent off cardigans.

"Do you think that after winter break we could come clean with our relationship?"

Blaine freezes but doesn't turn around. "Umm…" he trails off.

"It's just, the jocks haven't been so bad lately, and my new anti-bully measures will be active then so I just thought… I mean, aren't you tired of always having to sneak around?" Kurt asks, a little bit of desperation creeping into his voice.

"Of course I am," Blaine responds, turning around so he can make eye contact. "So," he starts and bites his lip, "yeah, I guess we can."

Kurt jumps a little, squealing, and leans forward to give Blaine another quick kiss. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" He pauses before adding, "Do you think we should tell our parents beforehand. Maybe over the break?"

Blaine shakes his head quickly and says, "No." At Kurt's weird look, he says, "I mean I think it would just be better to do it all at once."

Kurt shrugs his shoulders, not really caring either way. The end of break was only three weeks away and knowing how fast the time around Christmas always moves, the big reveal will be here in no time. They slowly make their way to the dressing rooms, Kurt stopping multiple times to add more things to try on. Out of all the clothes Kurt picked up there's only one thing he really likes. It's cheetah print, knee length sweater, and he even found a matching tie to go with it. Even though he's decided on buying it he walks out to show Blaine anyway.

"What do you think?" he asks, twirling around to let him see all sides.

Blaine's jaw literally drops, and it takes him a moment to respond. "I like it," he says, his voice lower than normal.

Kurt resists laughing because earlier, when Blaine had come out in simply an undershirt, asking Kurt for a different size of something, he responded in a similar way. He walks back into the dressing room and is about to close the door when a body is suddenly pressed up against his back. He gasps loudly but before he can cry out, Blaine's lips are on his as he pushes him up against the wall. In his haste, Blaine's knee accidentally brushes Kurt's crotch, and he bites back a groan as he feels himself hardening.

"Don't start anything you can't finish Anderson," he warns, pulling away from the kiss.

"I'm not," Blaine says, nibbling on his ear. "My family is out for the evening, so we have the whole house to ourselves."

Kurt only has to think about for a second before he's dragging Blaine out of the room and up to the checkout so they can leave. The ride home is long and the tension seems to grow the closer they get to Lima. Kurt's nervous but not in an uncomfortable way. He trusts Blaine, and he wants this with him, but he's anxious all the same. He's never ventured into this territory before and he's terrified of messing something up and making a fool of himself.

When the pull up to the house Blaine's brow furrows and it takes Kurt a moment to figure out why.

"Wha-" Kurt starts, shooting Blaine a confused look because Sally's car is in the driveway. Blaine shakes his head, looking just as confused, and they hurriedly walk into the house.

"Hello! Mom! Are you home?" Blaine shouts the second they're inside.

Sally comes rushing out of her room and asks, "Yes, honey, what's the matter?"

Blaine shoulders visibly slump at seeing her and he asks, rather forcefully, "What are you doing here?"

"Mrs. Green had a family emergency and canceled the party…" she answers, obviously taken aback at Blaine's tone. "Why the interest?"

"No reason," Blaine grumbles.

Sally eyes him suspiciously before saying, "Kurt, happy belated birthday! How would you like to stay for dinner? I invited Burt over and he'll be here in oh," she cranes her neck to check the clock in the hallway, "an hour or so."

Kurt accepts the invitation, and they chat for a few minutes, mostly about how Kurt's birthday was, before he follows Blaine into the basement so they can talk in private.

"Sorry about that," Blaine says as they snuggle up on the couch to watch TV.

"It's ridiculous, our parents don't even know we're dating and they're still the biggest cock blocks ever," Kurt responds, trying to make light of the situation.

It must have worked because Blaine laughs softly and doesn't bring it up after that. Kurt smiles and nuzzles Blaine's neck, breathing his smell in deeply. This might not be what they planned, but it's wonderful all the same.