Blaine spent his time at home on Sunday evening posting the pictures hed taken on Saturday. The Statue of Liberty, Times Square, street performers, and the Hummel-Hudson family all littered his Facebook. There were a few pictures that Finn had snapped of him and Kurt together, grinning like the fools theyd become while treating the city as their playground.

There was one picture of Kurt using flash photography at the Met, which had garnered a stern warning from a security guard and made Kurt nearly wet himself. Blaine had howled in laughter at that while Carole patted Kurts back reassuringly, hiding her own grin. He got a picture of that little grin, too.

By the time school started on Monday, everyone had seen the pictures and Rachel was gaping at their matching shirts. "Oh. My. God. Kurt Hummel I hate you so much!" she screeched dramatically, making Kurt roll his eyes. "Thats our show, Kurt! How could you?"

Kurt responded by handing over the signed soundtrack and matching shirt hed bought her while they were there, which placated her enough to stop glaring daggers at Blaine. "Leave him alone, Rachel. I got you swag and now you can drag Finn to the show once you two are in New York together. He already accepted his fate in that department."

The rest of the day went by in a blur of catching up on what was missed during the New York trip and trying to calm everyones nerves about the next day. As many times as they all say theyre going to win, they all have their doubts. Blaine reasoned that it was only natural for them to be nervous, and that he wont have a nervous breakdown before they even get to Columbus. Kurt was helping Finn console Rachel, who was in full on panic mode over her solo. The jocks didnt even bother to mess with the gleeks, since they were doing themselves enough damage for a change.

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Blaine picked Kurt and Finn up on his way to the school on Tuesday morning, bringing coffee with him as it was only about four oclock. Car pooling seemed like a good idea when they were just getting to the school so they could get on a bus that would drive them to the city. They had to leave so early so they would get through traffic and still reach the competition with time to rehearse.

Most of the group slept on the bus so that they were properly awake upon arrival. The bus driver got confused and a little lost, however, which meant they werent as early as they had hoped, and there was rushing around to use their designated stage prep time. They all paced out the stage, then ran through some of the more complicated choreography to make sure they knew where they needed to be on the stage. It was stressful yet exhilarating, and by the end of their stage time, Blaine was just ready to get out there and perform.

Costumes were donned and make up was perfected by Tina with some help from Quinn. Santana inspected everyones outfits to make sure there were no snags or flaws while Kurt and Rachel went through their scales together. Blaine did a sort of meditative breathing exercise to calm his nerves and strengthen his breath control. Mike and Brittany were working on their dance moves despite Mr. Schue warning them not to overdo it and hurt themselves.

Nervous jitters were obviously flowing. It felt like no time at all before they were being rushed out to the audience to watch their competition, then ushered up on stage themselves to prove their worth.

Rachel started them off, which excited and terrified her. Of course, the performance went just as expected. When she sang, everybody wanted to be part of her girls having all the fun. It was that voice of hers. No matter what she sang it seemed to hold some kind of magic. No one could ever really blame her for being overconfident in that area. She was born to sing.

The group number was full of perfectly-timed dance moves and well-delivered verses that showed off just how harmonized the New Directions were. By the time Blaine took center stage for his solo, he was feeling like they had this in the bag. He knew he was singing, but it all went by in a blur and suddenly the song was over and he was panting and bowing with the rest of the group, only to race back to the audience to finish observing the other competitors.

"Blaine, you did so good! I really think we could win this. I mean, I know we all said we were going to win but you never know you know? But now I really think I know. I mean, were going to win this! We really, really are!" Kurt was babbling, but that was okay. Blaine was feeling pretty much the same way. It was like they couldnt be touched by the meat-headed jocks or the homophobes of the world. They were going to win Regionals. Nobody could rain on that parade.

Waiting for the results was the worst. Everybody was tired, their feet hurt, the costumes were growing uncomfortable, and they just wanted to know if theyd done well or bombed. Of course, nobody thought theyd bombed since they all thought theyd done very well, but the judges could have felt differently and that was kind of terrifying. They were silent and sulking until, finally, the call button lit in their green room and they were beckoned to the stage for the presentation ceremony.

It was as if the whole group held one collective breath until finally it was announced. First place. From Lima, Ohio. The New Directions. Blaine screamed and jumped in the air, grabbing onto Kurt and wrapping his arms and legs around the brunette who held him close and took his weight without issue. They hugged so tightly they couldnt breathe, but it didnt matter. Theyd just won Regionals. They were going to Nationals. Theyd done well.

"You guys, we did it!" Rachel screeched and the all fell in to a large group hug accentuated with elated giggles that made it seem like they were drunk on life, which they kind of were.

Puck screamed "take that, fuckers!" at the other show choirs which had Mr. Schuester yelling at him while trying to apologize to the other groups for the rude behavior. Finn shook his head but fist bumped his best friend. Quinn, Santana, and Brittany were discussing what it was like to have trophies for both cheer and glee, since it was such an odd yet good feeling. Artie was doing wheelies with different people in his lap at any given time.

It was hard to get on the bus and head back to McKinley when all they really wanted to do was either keep celebrating or crawl into bed. Nobody wanted to be on an uncomfortable bus for hours only to have to drive their asses home before collapsing from exhaustion. The high from their win wore off quickly as the miles passed beneath the buss wheels. The trophy was safely stored in the choir rooms display case and they all agreed that theyd celebrate later. Eventually. Whenever. They just wanted to go sleep.

Blaine somehow managed to drop Kurt and Finn off at their house and make it back to his without passing out at the wheel. He didnt even have the energy to pull on pajamas before falling face-first on his bed and slipping into a deep sleep. He and Kurt would celebrate together tomorrow night. Burt agreed to them going to Blaines house after school as long as Kurt was home by eleven as usual. For that evening, however, it was high time for slumber. Theyd done well, theyd won, and they were going to Nationals. Life was good.

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The Regionals win was wonderful for the members of the New Directions. They werent being picked on nearly as much, as some of the student body actually seemed impressed with them. On top of that fact, Coach Sylvester had threatened bodily harm and expulsion on anyone who slushied one of her Cheerios, and since Kurt and Mercedes had both once been on the squad, she proclaimed they counted as well. The jocks werent about to attack anyone who was anywhere near a Cheerio- current or former- so they were all enjoying a great reprieve.

It would only last for so long, though, since Sue had her big competition at the end of the week. Still, a full week without dumpsters or slushies was a very nice thing, and when they considered the time spent in New York, Blaine, Kurt, and Finn had been slushie-free for almost two full weeks.

Maybe that was why the following Monday, only a few days before Valentines Day, the trip into the dumpster took Blaine by such surprise. "Shit that stings…" he muttered, having just flown into an empty metal box and slammed his elbow and hip on the landing.

He grumbled at the laughter that floated back to him as the jocks congratulated each other for the toss and headed for the school. They hadnt caught Kurt, at least, not that Blaine knew where his boyfriend actually was. He hadnt noticed the Navigator in the parking lot before he got snagged by Azimio. He hadnt even thought that maybe Finn had driven the two of them to school until he heard Kurts high-pitched voice demanding that Puck get his ass over and help Finn retrieve his boyfriend. The fact that he openly referred to Blaine as his boyfriend meant there was nobody else nearby at least, so he didnt have to be too embarrassed.

It was mere moments before Blaine was hauled back over the side of the dumpster, Finn and Puck each taking him under a shoulder and proving their strength, setting him safely on his feet as Kurt stalked up and brushed invisible dirt from his clothing. "Morning, dear," the brunette said softly, satisfied with Blaines cleanliness and leaning in for a quick peck on the cheek.

"Morning. Thanks, Finn, Puck," He shifted his bag on his shoulder and took up stride with the other three boys, heading for the doors of the school as if nothing had happened. "I dont think Ill ever get used to the dumpster tosses. Everything else, yes. Dumpsters just… just no."

Kurt snorted at that and playfully whacked Puck on his arm. "Noah here used to be the head jock in charge of those dumpster dives you know," he said teasingly while Puck growled. "I cant even count how many times he decided my trash-scented fate. You know, Noah, you should really still be making up for those days… Youre lucky I let you off without consequences."

Puck grumbled about the consequences being the use of his first name and his being at Kurts beck and call 24/7, but Kurt pointedly ignored him. "You have the final copy of our English project, right? Finn has the powerpoint. Dont worry, I took out all of his strange sound-effects and artistic details that would give an epileptic a seizure." The quarterback looked at them with confusion, but no one bothered to explain what epileptic meant.

They dropped their things off at their lockers, gathering what they all needed for the morning and Puck headed off for his first class with a wave. The other three stalked off to English, where they gave a rather good presentation of their project (despite the fact that Finn had managed to edit a lot of his silly sounds and flashing slides back into the powerpoint without Kurt knowing) then wrote notes through their classmates presentations.

Thursday were going to dinner, right?

Kurt rolled his eyes as he responded to the note, but Blaine liked to solidify his plans!

Yes, for the tenth time, Blaine, Thursday. Dinner. Breadstix. Youre coming home with me and Finn is going out with Rachel and dad and Carole are doing something romantic in Columbus I think he said. Whatever. Valentines Day and the house to ourselves. Im a little surprised you want to go to the trouble of going out.

The more he thought about it, the more Blaine considered just making them a fancy meal and staying in. Maybe hed change his mind… Maybe hed wait and see how the actual day part of Valentines Day went first. He might not be in any shape to cook dinner after his planned stunt.

Yeah, we might have to change the out part of dinner. I didnt really think about how busy theyll be…

That earned him another eye roll, then he caught a note from Finn which really surprised him.

dude do you have sheet music for some sappy broadway thing? it would totally shock Rachel if I sang something like that to her on v-day but I cant ask Kurt cause hell just rag on me for weeks.

Now it was Blaines turn to roll his eyes, which made Kurt snort, which earned them all a glare from their teacher. Blaine quickly answered Finn, promising to bring him some sheet music tomorrow that he thought would impress the diva that was Rachel Berry. That would give Finn a couple days to practice the piece, so hopefully he wouldnt mess it up.

The rest of the day passed by without incident, and Blaine spent all of Glee trying to decide what song to sing when it was his turn to perform the next day. Obviously he wasnt going to do the big song, since that was saved for Thursday and not just for the Glee club. He had an idea while he listened to Mercedes belt out I Will Always Love You which wasnt really a love song per say, but Mr. Schue was okay with.

He had a great, fun love song in mind. It was plenty diva and sure to make Kurt grin and tease him. It would be perfect. Since his idea was formed, he was able to properly pay attention when Kurt started singing the familiar Jem song right to him.

"Maybe Im amazed at the way you love me all the time

Maybe Im afraid of the way I love you…

Maybe Im amazed at the way you pulled me out of time

And hung me on a line,

Maybe Im amazed at the way I really need you,"

His eyes sparkled when he sang of needing Blaine, which made the tenor blush as his heart beat a little faster.

"Maybe Im a boy and maybe Im a lonely boy

Whos in the middle of something

That he doesnt really understand"

The song was so raw. Blaine had told Kurt before that he loved this particular song because of the soulful quality. The clear emotion in the vocals and the fact that it was actually a deep love song despite the slightly somber tones.

"Maybe Im a boy and maybe youre the only man

Who could ever help me

Baby, wont you help me understand"

Blaine felt like they both helped each other find meanings in life. They completed each other. Kurt was the only man for him just as much as he was the only man for Kurt. The next verse made him smile wider, the entire room tuned out as Blaine only had eyes and ears for Kurt.

"Maybe Im amazed at the way youre with me all the time

Maybe Im afraid of the way I lead you

Maybe Im amazed at the way you help me sing my song

Right me when Im wrong

Maybe Im amazed at the way I really need you…"

As Kurt finished the song, Blaine stood and pulled him into a warm embrace, kissing him softly as Santana catcalled and Puck whistled until Schue told them to please take their seats and that Kurts song was very well-sung.

"Ill help you sing every song if you promise to never stop needing me," Blaine whispered, and Kurt smiled, resting his head on his boyfriends shoulder. Yeah, there was no way Blaine could compete with that emotional song. Instead, hed go for entertainment and hed get just as much of a smile from Kurt as Kurt did from him. This week was a good week.

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The next day, after getting a slushie to the face with Kurt and laughing as they threw melting grape-flavored ice at each other in the bathroom, Blaine sang his song in Glee club. Quinn, Santana, and Brittany did his shoop shoops and other backing vocals while he took the lead.

"Does he love me

I wanna know

How can I tell if he loves me so

(Is it in his eyes?)

Oh no! Youll be deceived

(Is it in his sighs?)

Oh no! Hell make believe"

Kurt was laughing as Blaine strutted from Cheerio to Cheerio, answering their questions. It was great. Flirty, fun, and absolutely hilarious.

"If you want to know

If he loves you so

Its in his kiss

(Thats where it is!)"

When it came to warm embrace, Blaine went over and rubbed Kurts biceps as he answered "Oh no! Thats just his arms" which had Kurt playfully smacking away Blaines hands. The girls each got behind one of the other guys, Rachel and Tina getting into the fun as well, while Blaine grabbed Kurt and pulled him to the front of the room as they sang about hugging and squeezing their men.

The final line was met with a kiss to Kurts lips, while everybody giggled. Mr. Schuester clapped and laughed and they all had a great time.

Yep. This was the best week ever.