"No February 4th," Kurt emphasizes through gritted teeth. "Yes I realize that is three weeks away." He pauses and fights the urge to scream at the condescending tone of the woman on the line. "I know you're busy," Kurt responds, unable to keep the agitation out of this voice. "I just need to know, can you do it or not?" He waits for an answer and sighs in relief when he gets one. "Thanks, that's perfect, I'll come by the shop tomorrow."

Kurt hangs up the phone and pulls the worn paper from his pocket to cross "cake" off his list. He's already planned the music, the Glee club at his dad's insistence, and the catering, Breakstix. The idea still makes him shudder, but it was the only restaurant in the area willing to do it on such short notice. Flowers were a no-go because Sally is allergic to almost all of them, so the decorations are limited to strung lights and little lanterns to sit on the tables. Kurt had wanted doves, but Sally shot him down. Since it's winter, the wedding must be indoors, but Sally wants a minimalistic and natural feel to it. The only other thing to do was get the clothing; the part Kurt is most looking forward to.

Closing his eyes, Kurt tries to put everything together so he can get the gist of what the wedding will be like. The venue is a huge historic house down the street from them, and it's going to hold both parts of the wedding. The ceremony will be upstairs in a small living room (that will be cleared out of course) and the reception will be on the main floor in a ballroom type area. It's not what Kurt would have chosen but like his dad keeps reminding him, it's not his wedding.

"Come on Kurt, you're going to be late for school!" Burt calls up to him.

Kurt looks at the clock before grabbing his things and hurrying out the door. The day passes with him following his new routine, which is like his old routine except sans Blaine. The two of them aren't talking at Kurt's request that Blaine give him space. Kurt hopes then can be friends one day but right now, just seeing his face makes his stomach twist and his chest ache. Therefore, he's surprised when Blaine seeks him out after lunch.

"I know you wanted some space, but we really need to work on our bottle rocket project." Blaine has been doing a good job of appearing normal, but Kurt can hear the sadness in his voice. He definitely isn't as unaffected as Kurt originally thought.

Kurt nods and says, "Okay, when's it due?" He maintains eye contact with Blaine as not to be rude but keeps a straight face, determined to keep this completely formal.

"Monday."

Kurt sucks in a breath and his eyes widen. He knew he had been avoiding this project, but he didn't realize for how long. "Then we're doing it this weekend I guess. How do you want to do this? We'll have to go out and get the materials first… where do you suggest we go?"

"Uh actually, I already got them," Blaine admits. "I just… you didn't seem to want to talk to me, but I wanted to get started. But if you don't like them we can always get other stuff, I really don't care," he assures him.

"No that's fine. Thank you," Kurt adds with a small smile. He should at least make an attempt at friendship because honestly, having Blaine as a friend is better than not having him at all. Plus, they're going to be stepbrothers in just a few weeks so he better get used to being around him.

"Great," Blaine says, returning the smile. "You can come over to work on it since all the stuff is at my house."

Kurt agrees and then they stand there in strained silence, neither quite sure what to do. "So…" Blaine starts but whatever he was going to say gets cut off by the bell. Pretending he hadn't heard him, Kurt shoots Blaine one last forced smile before turning away and heading to class.

&&&&&

Saturday comes too soon, in Kurt's opinion. He finally makes it to the Anderson's stoop ten minutes after he was supposed to arrive. He rings the doorbell and hears Sally's shout from inside that the door's open. Taking one last deep breath, he turns the knob and walks into the house.

"Hey Kurt! It's nice to see you," Sally says as she pulls him into a quick hug. "Haven't seen you around here in a while."

"I've just been busy I guess," Kurt responds, fiddling with a button on his coat. Changing the subject, he asks, "So how's the dress hunt going?"

"I found the one today!" she exclaims, eyes lighting up. "I'm going to pick it tomorrow so we can have the fittings sometime this week. Now enough stalling, Blaine says you guys have left your entire physics project to be done today," she scolds.

"It's shouldn't take too long," he assures her, and himself, before moving towards the staircase.

Sally shakes her head at him and points to the garage door. "He's in there."

As Kurt approaches, he notices the door is slightly open and he peers inside. Blaine, clad in a pair of sweats and a t-shirt, is leaning on a small table and reading over what must be the project instructions. He shakes his head which make his ungelled curls bounce and sticks out his tongue slightly in concentration. Clearing his throat, Kurt pushes the door open to announce his presence.

"Kurt, hey!" he greets loudly. "Come on over here and take a look at this."

Blaine spends the next few minutes explaining the project and steps they need to take in order to build the rocket in simple terms. Kurt tries to focus on what's he's saying rather than the way Blaine's shirt rides up when he talks with his hands but isn't too successful.

"Got it?" Blaine asks when he's done.

Kurt hums and nods his head even though there's still a lot he's unsure about. Physics is definitely not his subject. His job is to cut the top and bottom off a two liter bottle of coke so they can use it as the body of the rocket while Blaine is busy sawing the fins.

"Are you even affected by all this?" Kurt blurts out and then immediately regrets it. He must have been possessed there for a second because there's no way he would have asked that question in his right mind.

"What?" Blaine asks, putting the tool down and turning to look at him.

"Nothing," Kurt mumbles and goes back to cutting the bottle as if it's the most important task he's ever been given.

"No don't be like that," Blaine says, taking a step closer. "What did you mean?"

Kurt reluctantly drops the bottle and says, without making eye contact, "You just… you seem so unaffected by our whole breakup. It's like, did it even mean anything to you?"

"Oh Kurt, of course it did. You made me happier than I've ever been," he says softly. "As for why I seem unaffected, because trust me I'm not, I don't know. I guess I always knew-"

"Always knew what?" Kurt interrupts, his tone going cold. "That you were going to break up with me?"

"No, no of course not!" The panic is clear in Blaine's eyes, and Kurt does nothing to placate him. "I mean- well I just- I always hoped that- but-" he stammers until Kurt cuts him off again.

"You did, didn't you," he accuses. "You always planned to break up with me. Every time we kissed, you were probably thinking about how you were going to end it." Kurt knows somewhere deep down, that he's being irrational but it's easily ignorable. If he can make Blaine the bad guy, if he can find some way to hate him, then maybe getting over him won't be so hard.

"Kurt, no please, you have to believe me, it wasn't like that," Blaine pleads. He's on the verge of tears and is trying desperately to get Kurt to look at him.

"I can't- I have to go," Kurt says and he stands up to leave.

"Wait no!" Blaine calls after him, but Kurt is already out of the garage and on his way to the front door.

What the hell did I just do? Kurt thinks as he drives home. Ignoring Burt's inquires about being home so soon, Kurt spends the rest of the day in his room lying face down on his bed. When evening rolls around, he realizes they still have to do their project so he picks up his phone and, after writing and rewriting multiple texts, he sends this:

Hi Blaine, I realize we still need to work on our project so I will come by tomorrow afternoon to help finish it.

He didn't apologize because he's still not sorry. Yes, he went a little overboard, but Blaine knew from the beginning their relationship wasn't going to work, that he was going to hurt him, but he still went for it. That's way worse than the little bit of yelling Kurt did. The response from Blaine comes within minutes.

Kurt I am so, so sorry for what happened today. It was all a big misunderstanding. I already finished the rocket but if you want to come by tomorrow and look at it or change anything feel free to. In fact, I'd really like it if you did.

Kurt bites his lip as he reads the text. The rocket is a huge part of their grade but it's not like he knows that much about physics anyways. Blaine was always going to be the brains behind the project. Plus, not going has the advantage of not having to see Blaine. At least he thinks that's an advantage, although the slight feeling of disappointment in his chest says otherwise. Eventually, he decides against going.

Thanks for finishing it, that was really nice of you, but I don't think I'm going to have time to come by. Still lots of wedding planning to do. Thanks again.

Oh, that's fine, I'll see you on Monday then!

Kurt's phone buzzes with the message before he's had a chance to set it down and after reading it, and trying to decide on a reply, he just throws the phone down without sending anything. Despite it being early and a Saturday night, Kurt shuts off his light and crawls into bed, falling asleep almost instantly.

&&&&&

The bottle rocket project ended up going fine; they came in second place and both received As. Kurt still feels slightly guilty about it, but Blaine did all he could to assure him it was fine. He also took the time to try and convince Kurt it was a misunderstanding but Kurt wouldn't listen.

"Kurt, about what you thought I was going to say," Blaine had started, but Kurt stopped him there.

"Blaine, it's fine, you don't have to explain anything to me. You don't owe anything to me," Kurt had responded.

Blaine had continued to try and get Kurt to listen but was unsuccessful. When Kurt wasn't in the mood to listen, it just didn't happen. Anyone who knows him knows he has a stubborn streak a mile long.

Now, he's standing in the Anderson's foyer and pretending to text someone so he doesn't feel so awkward. Having gotten his and his dad's suit the day earlier, the two of them were over to get alterations. Instead of taking them to a professional place, Sally decided she would just do the alterations herself considering the wedding party only consists of five; Kurt as best man, Hillary, Sally's best friend, as the maid of honor, Maria as flower girl, and then Sally and Burt as the bride and groom of course. And then there was Blaine, who although wasn't technically part of the ceremony, needed help too. The workload seems a bit much for Sally to handle on her own, so Kurt's planning on offering to help out.

Sally finally comes out from her room and waves at the two of them to come up. Kurt's never been in her room before, but he guesses the absolute mess of clothes and sewing materials strewn around isn't normal.

"Wait no, go back!" Sally squeals, shoving Burt out the door before he can fully step inside. She then ducks back in, quickly moves something into the closet, and rushes back to a stunned Burt.

"Alright you can come in now," she says with a smile.

"What the-"

"Wedding dress," Kurt interrupts. "She didn't want you to see it."

Kurt's eye is immediately taken by the longer and skinnier suit he knows is his and he walks over to it, fingering the material lightly. It fit almost perfectly but the sleeves needed to be shortened and the waist brought in a bit.

"I can handle the alterations to my suit on my own," Kurt directs at Sally.

"Really?" she asks, her shoulders sagging and a smile lighting her face, "that'd be great." Biting her lip, she asks hesitantly, "Could you maybe help Blaine with his too? It's not much work, but I'm already swamped with Hilary's and Burt's stuff…"

Kurt groans internally. The last thing he needs right now is to spend time with Blaine, alone, where he will have to get up close and personal, and where clothing will be shed. But the look on Sally's face is all the convincing he needs, and he finds himself nodding a second later.

He works agonizingly slow on his own suit to stall time but there just isn't enough work to be done to stretch it that far. The markers were already in so all he had to do with the sewing. When he finishes he walks over to Sally to find out where Blaine is.

"In his room, I guess," Sally says without looking up from Burt's suit, but a second later she frowns. "Actually, I'm surprised he hasn't come out. He could have been keeping you company."

Kurt shrugs in response, thankful that all the craziness keeps her from pushing the subject, and takes Blaine's suit carefully in his arms before walking down the hall. Pausing as he gets to the door, he lifts his hand and holds it up for a few seconds before getting the courage to knock loudly twice.

"Come in," calls a muffled voice through the door.

Kurt slowly opens the door and sticks his head in cautiously. "Blaine?"

Blaine, who was sitting at his desk, spins around wildly and jumps to his feet. "Oh, hey, wow I wasn't expecting you. I mean, I knew you were here of course but-" he cuts himself off and his eyes meet Kurt's with a hopeful expression.

"Uh, your mom asked me to help tailor your suit…" Kurt trails off stepping a little more into the room.

Blaine's expressions falls, but the smile is quickly back, only now it's fake. "Right, yeah of course. Let's get this over with so you can get out of here." He tries for a self-deprecating smile, but Kurt doesn't miss the hurt on his face. And he feels bad about it. His intention wasn't to hurt Blaine, it never is.

Unable to come up with a response, he settles for handing Blaine the suit and saying, "Here, put this on."

After hanging the suit on the closet door, Blaine grabs the hem of the sweater he's wearing and pulls it up over his head. For one heart stopping moment, Kurt thinks he isn't wearing anything underneath but then Blaine tugs down the plain white t-shirt that had gotten caught up in the cardigan. Once his head is free, Blaine looks up at Kurt and his face colors. "Oh, god, Kurt I'm so sorry," he stammers, eyes wide. "That was so inappropriate of me, I'll just go to the bathroom to change."

Still trying to collect himself, Kurt manages to wave him off. "No, no it's fine. I'll just turn around while you, uh, yeah." Not stopping to see Blaine's reaction, he turns to face the other way and puts his hand over his eyes for good measure. This is ridiculous. He should not be this worked up by a little skin. He sees guys shirtless all the time. He's seen Taylor Lautner shirtless so really, this is nothing. Closing his eyes tighter, he tries to conjure up that image to rid his mind of the other but it backfires; all he can see is Blaine.

"Ahem," comes a small cough. "I'm finished."

Kurt turns to find Blaine tugging at the sleeves of his tux and shuffling his feet, not meeting his gaze. "It looks good. Fit-wise I mean," he amends quickly. And otherwise that annoying voice in his head chimes in.

Blaine nods, "The jacket is fine. It's the pants that need some work."

Taking his time, Kurt slowly walks around Blaine so he can see the pants from all angles. Yes, that's why he did it, it definitely wasn't so he could check it his ass. "The waist needs to be taken in. You have such a tiny waist," he adds, a smirk lighting his face.

"I'm surprised you didn't make a short joke," Blaine teases back.

"Too obvious," Kurt scoffs. "We are going to need to shorten the legs though." Blaine's fake smile has been replaced by a genuine one, and it makes Kurt's heart swell. Maybe he could manage to be friends with Blaine after all. Even with the debacle over the weekend, that still sends a pang through his chest when he thinks about it, he doesn't want to be without Blaine in his life.

"Alright so do I take it off now?" Blaine asks. His head is tilted to the side in the most adorable way and Kurt bites his lip to keep from "aww"-ing.

"What? No," Kurt says laughing. "You really don't know anything about this do you? I'm going to need to stick some pins in the pants so I know where to sew." Deciding to start with the legs, Kurt bends down and grabs a handful of fabric. Pulling it up so the hem reaches just at his feet, he asks, "Is this good?" Blaine nods so Kurt sticks the pin in and does the same for the other.

"That was easy," Blaine comments as Kurt stands back up.

"That wasn't really the part that involves any work," Kurt reminds him. He takes a step closer, so close that he can smell Blaine cologne, and minty breath, and manly scent that's just distinctly him. He starts to lean down but the angle is extremely awkward. "I um," Kurt starts, willing himself to just spit it out, "It'll be easier if I just get down on my knees."

When he drops to his knees, Blaine waist is level with his head, and he looks up at him. Blaine was looking at him but as soon as he meets Kurt's eyes he looks away, his cheeks looking pinker than usual. It's not lost on either of them what this position insinuates, and Kurt wills his hands to stop shaking so he can start working. He pinches the waistband in a little on each side so it fits more snugly around Blaine's hips. "Is this good?" Kurt asks, his voice breathy.

Blaine nods his head jerkily but offers no verbal response. He drops one side of the pants so he can fasten the other, his hand gently brushing Blaine's hip bone. Blaine shudders at the touch and murmurs an apology. Kurt doesn't envy Blaine in this moment; he's not sure he would be holding up as well. Finally the job is done and Kurt hastily gets to his feet, wiping his hands on his pants as he does.

"You can take it off now, just be careful not to shift the pins." Blaine nods and Kurt hesitates, unsure of what to do. "I guess I'll just go into the other room and you can bring it to me there."

"Okay," Blaine says, still not looking at Kurt. Just before reaching the door, Kurt glances over his shoulder one last time and sees Blaine, his eyes closed, murmuring to himself. Chuckling slightly, he walks out into the hallway. Once there, he pauses for a second and takes a couple deep breathes. His life is going to be fraught with sexual tension from now on isn't it?