As soon as the plane touched down in New York, it was like the world was right again. Blaine hadnt even realized how off-balance hed felt all that time until he got out of the aircraft and left the airport, climbing into a taxi in his familiar city. He was home and he was with Kurt and Bas and life... well, life had never been so good. It was hard to believe theyd only been living in the city for a year. It felt like so much longer that the three of them had shared a space and shared their triumphs and their downfalls, their success and failures, their happiness and utter disappointment and even fear.

Blaine felt closer to the two men he was with than hed ever felt to anyone in his life, and that both excited and frightened him. He was in it deep and he was sure that if anything bad happened between any of them hed be utterly destroyed, but there was nothing that could be done about that now. All Blaine could do was hold on tight and enjoy the ride and hope it never stopped.

The three of them got settled back into their apartment without much trouble, even inviting Eli and Elliot over for a game night which was really more of an excuse to get drunk and prove what horrible people they were by means of Cards Against Humanity. Sebastian argued that it was necessary so they could get rid of the old alcohol and buy new for the new school year, to which Kurt raised a brow, said "youre stretching it," and did a shot of green apple vodka.

It did not go unnoticed that Elliot and Eli were rather... close, and in fact they were more open than they had been during the spring break trip, going so far as to admit to their little relationship once the cards and shots were flying. After a well-placed play of The gays, the two kissed, and Sebastian yelled and kicked Eli for not saying something sooner. Elliot then yelled at Bas to keep his harmful body parts away from his boyfriend, which made Blaine laugh hysterically while Kurt muttered about all of Bastians body parts being painful.

That earned a "thats not what you said last night" and Kurt pouncing at Sebastian, rolling around on the floor until he was sitting atop the taller boy, straddling him and kissing him heatedly.

"My boyfriend is such a slut," Blaine muttered, only to get pulled by the front of his shirt into a sloppy threeway kiss with Kurt and Bas. "Mmm, and I do so love that about him," he groaned. Elliot and Eli eventually got fed up with their makeout session and dumped the bottle of mad dog, which all had deemed too disgusting to drink, over Kurts head. It dripped down onto both the other boys, but mostly soaked Kurts hair and back and made him roar in shock and anger.

"MY HAIR!" he cried, and dramatically collapsed against Sebastian, lying pretty much completely on top of the other man and moaning about the state of his precious locks. Bas rolled his eyes, but patted Kurts back soothingly all the same while Blaine laughed at both of them and their NYU friends leaned against each other giggling drunk. "I cant believe they did that! Ugh. Its all... sticky and it smells like a drunkards wet dream!"

They all burst out laughing again at that point, and the night went on with Kurt and Bas practically sticking together thanks to the booze spilled on them and Blaines hair going completely wild and sticky like a nest for woodland creatures of all sorts. It was a fun night, to say the least.

By the end of it all, they were all very drunk, the apartment was a great mess, and Eli and Elliot had been shoved into the guest room to pass out while Blaine, Bas, and Kurt all snuggled up together in the giant master bed. The next day would be spent cursing their drunk selves for making such a huge mess, but really, if a mess was the worst of their problems, they were all doing pretty well.

The clean up didnt happen until late afternoon after some greasy breakfast to cure their hangovers, and Elliot and Eli decided to volunteer to help with a much larger task of sorting through the apartment as a whole to get it ready for a new year and new adventures. It was easily a whole day event, and Sebastian treated everyone to some Thai take out that they ate while watching Moulin Rouge and singing along dramatically to the songs.

The garbage and donation piles both got rather large, even as the things they were keeping got stored away and took up a lot more room than was strictly expected. It was just too hard to even think about getting rid of any of the pieces Kurt had produced, or the sketches Bas had mysteriously found of new clothing ideas that hed never claim ownership of but were clearly drawn with the pencils hed given Kurt for his birthday but frequently used when he didnt think the others saw. No, Sebastian wasnt artistic at all!

Then there were the instruments that Blaine had started collecting, and those took up a big chunk of space in the living room area... Overall it was pretty tough to organize the small space that the three of them shared, but they did it, and it looked pretty good.

After a full day and a half of cleaning, with Eli and Elliot spending the night again, the apartment was ready for another year and the boys were ready to sign the lease. They were committed to another year together, and really, they were in for so much more. They all knew it, too.

“Are we really sure it's the start of the school year already?” Kurt asked with a groan, falling onto the couch in their apartment and peeling off layers of clothing. It was nearing the end of August and New York was downright hot. Kurt had just been to a meeting with Isabelle to give her a copy of his class schedule and work out his schedule at Vogue, and he was so overheated he thought he might actually die.

Bas sauntered out of the larger of the two bedrooms wearing nothing but a low-slung pair of athletic shorts with an amused look on his face, tanned chest slick with a layer of sweat and hair flopping limply in the damp heat. "Welcome home, Princess. Enjoying this lovely weather, are we?"

Kurts mouth went a bit dry, but he did his best to gape as little as possible before snapping back at the other male. "Dont call me that. And no, for your information, Im not. Im too pale for this much sun and my pores are getting clogged to hell and back. This is dreadful. I cannot believe Im expected to actually go out and work in this weather."

The sneaky smirk that crossed Sebastians lips had Kurt raising a brow, but he was just too hot and too tired to bother giving any sort of real effort to figure out what the meerkat was up to. That gave Bas plenty of time to grab a couple ice cubes and make his way behind the couch, running said ice along the back of Kurts back, then holding one in each hand and trailing them down his bare back and chest at the same time just as Blaine strolled out of the bathroom with a towel around his hips.

"Oh my god, Sebastian! You stupid little rodent prick!" Kurt screeched, while Blaine bit his lip to try and quell the laughter that was practically bursting from his lungs. Sebastian only stopped grinning when Kurt pulled him over the couch and assaulted his mouth, deciding to give in to his carnal desires since Bas wasnt playing fair anyway. Now that his nipples were so hard they almost hurt and he was shivering at the hot air touching his chilled skin, Kurt figured all was fair in whatever war he was waging with Bas.

Whining at the display before him, Blaine made a scene by dropping his towel with a flourish, drawing the attention of the intertwined boys such that Kurt Sebastian pulled himself off of Kurt even while the countertenor held the back of his neck and scruff of his hair, Kurts teeth attached to his bottom lip as he gaped at the nude form of Kurts boyfriend. "Jesus, Killer," he muttered, and Kurt let his lip go.

"Oh my god. Neither of you are fair at all," the palest of the three groaned, flopping back on the couch as Bas subconsciously rocked his hips, barely aware of what he was doing. He was just incapable of not doing something sexual with his body when faced with Blaine, standing there dripping wet and naked, fresh from the shower...

It only took a wiggle of Sebastians brows to tempt Blaine into joining them, and the three were writhing together on the couch. Blaines shower was made pretty much pointless by the time they were half way through their acts, all three so coated in sweat, pre-come, and saliva that they all needed a shower. "Mmm, round two has to involve some cool water..." Kurt muttered, and Blaine grunted his agreement as he rocked his hips against him, working his rigid cock inside of Kurt while the pale boy jerked above him, being ridden by Bas whose legs were wound with Blaines as he leaned over Kurts shoulder and bit Blaines neck possessively. "Watch yourself marking my boyfriend, Meerkat."

By the time they made it to the shower, Sebastian was marked on both sides of his neck by both boys. By the time theyd each climaxed a third time and the steam had stopped rising from their skin and they were actually growing cold in the chilly stream, Bas had begged Kurt and Blaine to keep marking him up, to keep claiming him.

By the time they all collapsed into bed with the fans on high and lights out, curtains drawn against the heat, Sebastian had drunkenly (though none of them had a bit of alcohol in their bodies) slurred "I love you" as he nodded off between the other two men...

Sebastians confession wasnt brought up after it happened. Kurt and Blaine both pretended not to have heard it and Bas pretended not to remember saying it, being too heat-drunk and exhausted to even have known what he was muttering or something of that nature. It sounded legitimate in his head, so why not. Hed go with it. Whatever he could do to avoid the potential awkwardness and the elephant in the apartment.

They went on with their lives, their busy, busy lives, trying to ignore the way their eyes burned with fire when any of the three of them locked gazes and stop that need to touch, feel, taste, be together at all times. They were all in a hopeless whirlwind of needy desire and pleasure and it was going to end badly for at least one of them. Bas wasnt supposed to fall in love. They werent supposed to love him back. This was always just supposed to be Kurt and Blaine with a little side of helping out a friend. Nothing more.

But it was more, so much more, and they were so screwed. Of course, Kurt and Blaine had discussed multiple times how they couldnt imagine life without Bas in it, but would they really live with him forever? Would they stop him from having a real relationship with the potential for a family and... but wait. What made a relationship real anyway? Was it love? Because they obviously had that, especially if they were so worried about hurting Bas.

Maybe they already had a real relationship of some sort with him. It wasnt the same as what Kurt and Blaine had though. It was all very confusing. It almost hurt Blaines head to think about it, and Kurt tended to get angry the more they dwelled on the subject, so they mostly just let it rest.

School started, and with it, Kurts new job adjusted to fit his schedule. He was thrilled with the opportunities hed been given, especially when Isabelle asked him to bring in his designs that he made for class so she could see what he was working on. She was perhaps the most invested in his coming out with his own line by the time he finished his education, and it made Kurt beam with pride. Blaine was all too happy that his boyfriend had found somewhere he fit in, with a maternal figure to boot, and Bas... well, he always knew their Princess had it in him to blow the whole world away.

Or so hed say.

The first Friday night of the semester, Kurt and Bas both had free time to go to the nearby coffee shop where Blaine was playing the piano. They sat up close to his performance area and clapped loudly for him after each song, even throwing money in the tip jar despite the fact that they all put their cash together for most everything on any given day.

It was fun and exciting and they were happy to support Blaine, plus it was a good stress reliever after the first week of classes and the overwhelming amount of information theyd had to soak up.

There was already talk of Halloween parties even though it was barely the start of September, and the boys were trying to decide if they should host again this year. The discussion started one day over lunch, when Kurt had gotten out of classes early and had time to eat on campus with Bas and Blaine before heading to work at Vogue. "I mean, it kind of depends on what other parties were going to," hed reasoned before taking a bite of salad.

Blaine nodded his agreement and Bas looked thoughtful. "We sure as hell arent doing the NYADA party again, no matter what Rachel tries to argue. Im pretty sure weve talked Finn into coming here somewhere around then to get applications and all that for the spring semester, and I am not about to drag him to party with some pretentious assholes and Brody." Sebastians tone was so bitter it left an uneasy feeling in the air, but Kurt was smiling at him. It was the first time Bas had been so protective of his brother, and Kurt was touched.

"I agree completely. Maybe we could do a joint party with Eli and Elliot? Then we wouldnt have to worry about doing something special with them, either..." Kurt mused, taking another bite of salad and chewing thoughtfully. "Im sure well be going out to at least one club. That was decently fun last year... No frat party this time around, though, please, Meerkat."

Sebastian laughed and shook his head. "You are no fun at all, Princess," he muttered, but agreed nonetheless. The discussion then moved on to costumes and how on earth Kurt might manage to incorporate a cat again this year.

When they all decided on a group theme, Kurt was grinning from ear to ear. "Oh, this is going to be a fun side project. You two have no idea what you are getting yourselves into..." he grinned wickedly and Blaine shuddered.

"You shouldnt be allowed to grin like that in public," Bas muttered with a glare, which made Kurt laugh. He soon took his leave, proclaiming that he needed to get to work early to see if he could snag some material for the costumes he had in mind. He was sure Isabelle wouldnt mind, considering shed probably require them to attend the Vogue party once again. "And dont forget, you two are both coming with me to Isabelles soiree." And he was off.