Blaine didn't know why it took him so long to notice, but it was true. Everywhere the pair went, they were holding hands, like Mommies and Daddies did. Sometimes, they'd even kiss, which was even more shocking.

Being the ever curious boy he was, Blaine wanted to know more, so he approached his friend. "'Tana, why do you and Brittany hold hands all the time?"

Santana got defensive. "It's none of your business, butthead," she scoffed and walked away.

Not letting his friend discourage him, he approached Brittany, knowing that she would tell him. "Brittany, why do you and 'Tana hold hands all the time?" he asked her the next day.

"'Cause we love each other," Brittany shrugged.

"And the kissing?"

"That's what you do when you love someone, right?" Brittany said.

"I don't get it."

"Well, whenever my Mommy and Daddy kiss, they always say, 'I love you' after. They do it to me too and Santana and I love each other so we kiss and hold hands and stuff," Brittany explained.

"Oh," Blaine murmured, starting to clue in. The image of him and Kurt, kissing and holding hands and stuff came to mind. "Wait!" he called as she started to walk away, "How do you know if you love someone?"

Brittany shrugged. "You just kinda know."

"What does it feel like?" Blaine asked in a whisper.

Brittany thought about that for a minute. "Well, I know when I'm around 'Tana, I get this weird feeling in my stomach like there's butterflies in there or something and my heart starts going really fast... like BOOM, BOOM, BOOM."

"Oh," Blaine murmured again. What Brittany had described was the same way he felt around Kurt like all the time. "Brittany, I think I love Kurt," Blaine said.

"Well, show him!" Brittany grinned and skipped away from Blaine, finding Santana and slipping her hand into hers. Santana gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Blaine looked all around the playground for Kurt from his perch on their bench. He blocked the sun out of his eyes with his hands, making the shape of binoculars. Blaine found him way on the other side of the playground, sitting next to Mercedes. They looked like they were drawing something in the sand with sticks. Blaine ran as fast as his little legs would allow over to where Kurt was.

Kurt glanced up when he saw little sneakers appear in front of where he had been drawing. He really hoped it wasn't Dave again. He kept on coming over to ruin his and Mercedes' drawings.

"He's just jealous," Kurt would tell his friend when it happened.

"Oh! Hi, Blainers!" Kurt greeted happily when he saw it was Blaine, his curly mop of hair sticking to his forehead a little.

"Hi, Kurtie!" Blaine said cheerily. "Whatcha doing?"

Kurt noticed that he sounded a little out of breath and his face crunched up with concern. "Me and 'Cedes are drawing," he answered.

"Well, finish up. I gotta tell you something," Blaine was practically bouncing on his toes.

"What is it?"

Blaine sat down with his legs criss-crossed in the sand, beside Kurt. "Look at Santana and Brittany," Blaine said, pointing in their direction.

"Okay," Kurt stretched. "Why?"

"No, look at what they're doing," Blaine insisted.

Kurt took a closer look this time. "They're holding hands. They always do that, Blainers."

"Yeah, but don't you ever wonder why?"

Kurt shrugged. "I guess so. Why? Do you know?"

Blaine nodded his little head excitedly. "Brittany said it's 'cause they love each other and that's what people do when they're in love and stuff so I thought that maybe we should hold hands and stuff," Blaine rushed the last bit, looking down in the sand as he raked his fingers through it.

"Why?" Kurt asked innocently.

"'Cause we love each other!" Blaine grinned widely, looking into his friend's eyes. "Er, I mean... I love you, but if you don't... I guess..." Blaine trailed off. His own train of thought was getting him discouraged.

"Of course I love you, Blainers!" Kurt smiled, taking Blaine's hand. "You're my best friend!"

The butterflies that had took permanent residence in Blaine's tummy since he met Kurt started to move around even faster, rapidly beating their wings against his insides. Blaine squeezed his friend's hand.

"I-I love you, Kurtie," he stammered.

"I love you, too, Blainers!"

From then on, everywhere Kurt and Blaine went, they were holding hands: On the play structure, at their houses, in the classroom. It was like their hands had been permanently glued together.

Their parents found it cute that the boys were so close. Burt was a bit hesitant and didn't want to encourage it, but Elizabeth assured him it was innocent and Burt tried his best to shrug it off.

Blaine felt so happy when he held Kurt's hand. It was really soft and warm and just a little bit chubby like all kindergarteners hands were and Blaine felt... secure. It felt like the entire world melted away at his touch. It felt good to have Kurt so close to him.

One day, in class, they were doing crafts. The boys were having lots of fun, sticking macaroni and beads and other small knick-knacks to the wooden frame. It was meant to be a present for their parents. "Kurtie, we're all out of macaroni," Blaine announced suddenly.

"Let's get more then," Kurt said, brushing himself off and getting up off the floor. He extended his hand out to Blaine. "C'mon!"

Blaine gladly took his friend's hand, walking over to their teacher. "Ms. Annie, we need more macaroni," he informed her.

"Oh, sure thing, boys!" Ms. Annie grinned, pouring some into a small Styrofoam cup and got up from her desk to get down to their level. She noticed their intertwined hands and blinked. "Um, boys? Why are you holding hands?" she asked in an innocent tone.

"'Cause we love each other!" Blaine grinned widely, looking over to his friend who nodded his approval.

Ms. Annie laid the Styrofoam cup down on her desk. "Boys, let's talk in the hall."

The pair gave each other a hesitant look and followed after her.

Ms. Annie stood above them, much taller than the pair in her five-inch heels. "So, I'm going to ask again, boys... Why are you holding hands?"

"Well," Blaine stretched. "'Tana and Brittany do it all the time, so I asked them and they said it's 'cause they love each other and that's what people do when they love each other. You know, like Mommies and Daddies."

The teacher was silent for a moment. "So, listen, boys," Ms. Annie started, sounding a little uncomfortable, "I know it's fun to hold hands and stuff like Mommy and Daddy do, and I know you love each other because you're best friends, but Mommy and Daddy love each other in a different way," Ms. Annie explained.

"How?" Kurt asked.

"Mommy and Daddy are going to spend their whole lives together," she said.

"But me and Kurtie are gonna be best friends forever!" Blaine argued with a smile.

Ms. Annie closed her eyes for a moment, getting down to their level. "Look," she smiled in a sickly sweet manner. "When two people spend their whole lives together, they wanna have babies. The stork only brings babies to Mommies and Daddies. If you two spend your whole lives together, just like Mommy and Daddy, you can't have babies. Two little boys can't get married... A baby can't have two Daddies," she told them. "That's wrong, okay? It's really, really bad. So, this has to stop here," she demanded. "No more holding hands, no more acting like Mommy and Daddy. You can just be really good friends, okay?"

Kurt hung his head in shame. "No forever?" he whimpered.

"Not like that, sweetie," she told him. She looked between the two boys, seeing that her work was done. "I'll let you guys think for a bit, okay? No running away now! You come back in when you're ready, okay?"

"Yes, Ms. Annie," Kurt and Blaine replied in unison.

Ms. Annie gave the boys a smile, getting on her feet and walking back into the classroom. Blaine looked over at his friend to see tears running down his face.

"Kurtie, don't cry!" Blaine shrieked. "Why're you crying?"

"You said we'd be best friends forever, but Ms. Annie said no," Kurt tried to compose himself. "And I can't hold your hand anymore and I really liked that."

Blaine smiled at his friend. "We can make it our secret," he whispered.

"But it's wrong!" Kurt said in alarm.

Blaine hung his head as an idea struck. "Fine. But can we try something first?" Blaine asked.

Kurt looked hesitant. "What?"

"Ms. Annie said we couldn't hold hands, but she never said we couldn't kiss and Santana and Brittany do that all the time!" Blaine proposed.

"You really think that's okay?"

"She never said it wasn't," Blaine shrugged.

"Oh," Kurt murmured, "Well, okay..."

Kurt shut his eyes real tight and puckered his lips a little, waiting for Blaine to lean in. Blaine's heart began to race in his chest and the butterflies returned. He really hoped he didn't do it wrong or something. Santana and Brittany made it look really easy. Blaine imitated Kurt and leaned in, pressing their lips together. They were still for a minute, simply pressing their lips against each other. Blaine thought it felt heavenly, but from what he remembered of Santana and Brittany's kisses, they were supposed to move around... "I think we're supposed to move and stuff," Blaine said against Kurt's lips.

Kurt did as he was told, opening his mouth just slightly and sucking on Blaine's lip. Blaine gasped. Yeah, he totally got why Santana and Brittany did this. Kurt backed away from him. "Am I doing it right?"

Blaine nodded, unable to form a real sentence and pressed their lips together once more. After experimenting for a few more minutes, Blaine pulled away. "I think Ms. Annie is waiting for us," he said regretfully.

"Oh, okay."

"But I think we should save that for special occasions," Blaine said.

"Why?" Kurt asked. "Was it bad?"

"No, it felt like really, really good so that's why it's special," Blaine said. "Plus, Santana and Brittany don't do it that much either."

"Okay, let's go, Blainers," Kurt grinned, heading into the classroom.

Blaine decided right in that moment that he'd never feel that way about anyone else ever. Kurt was his best friend, so of course he felt that way. Everyone felt that way about their best friend, right? Everyone stared at their best friend cause they're so pretty. Everyone got butterflies in their stomach when they were around their best friend. And for sure, everyone kissed their best friend. Blaine didn't really understand why they weren't allowed to hold hands anymore but it didn't really bother him that much.

They had found a much better way to say 'I love you.'